Chapter 14

Tsuki was breathing heavily as she pinned me against the wall in the storage closet. Despite her small stature and being magically restrained, she was inhumanly strong. Her eyes glowed like a demon, and her mouth started to drool. Her face flushed completely red, and her breathing was totally erratic. She leaned close to me and pressed her face into my chest, inhaling deeply.

“I... I need it so bad, Ryuki...” she muttered.

“Ts-tsuki! What the hell? Stop this!” I struggled.

She lay against me and looked up at me, resting her head on my shoulder now. Her face burned with what I could assume was desire as mine filled with confusion.

“Tsuki, you said it was nothing like... well like this, what are you doing?! Get off of me!”

“Oh, it’s not what you’re thinking. I just... I need...” She leaned in close to my ear and let out a breathy whisper. “I need your mana...” She then pressed her face against mine, licking my cheek.

“Eugh, what? Why do you need my mana?”

She backed away, still holding my arms back. “I don’t specifically need yours, but you just have so much of it. And it’s so... strong, intoxicatingly so. Just, please, let me have some? Having this chain on me has been making me feel insane! I can’t naturally gather mana so now my body is desperate for it and I can’t control my cravings.”

“I’ve never heard of a mage needing to consume mana like that.” I started to form a minor spell of lightning at my fingertips, but just as quickly Tsuki took my hand and pressed it to her lips, the spell dissipating instantly, as if she was drinking the mana from it.

“Just like that, do more of that!” Tsuki said, the glow in her eyes intensifying.

“This is because of the chain? Then let me take it off. Just, let go of one of my hands. I promise I’ll take it off.”

Tsuki paused and looked at me, her face making it clear she was debating internally. Meekly, she let go of the hand she was pressing against her lips. Slowly I reached around to the back of her neck, grabbed the locking piece of the chain, and crushed it. I unclasped the chain and took it off her neck to reveal that there was a deep red rash around her neck.

“This was doing that to you? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I wanted you and Marie to trust me.” She said, her eyes looking away. “Thank you, though. I feel a lot better just from that.”

“Is there a way for you to get mana that doesn’t involve... this?”

“There is, but I doubt Marie would be happy.” She smirked slightly.

“And that would be?”

She then just stared at me, her mouth coiling into the shape of one you would see on a cat.

***

Ichiro awoke in the morning, having heard what he thought was a loud crash. He sluggishly crawled out of bed and got to his feet. He didn’t bother changing out of his clothes the night prior, as he had no sleepwear, and stayed in the same clothes as he left the room. Unsurprisingly, he looked no different than he normally did. He made his way back to the main room, yawning out tiredly as he climbed the stairs. He heard another loud crash. Once reaching the top of the stairs he instantly saw the cause of the loud noises. He saw Marie standing in the doorway to Ryuki’s room; her fist lodged through the opened door, which had another hole in it already, most certainly the source of the earlier crash.

“What’s with all the noise?” Ichiro yawned out.

Marie’s tilted her head back to look at Ichiro, her eyes glazed over with fury and her face twitching with anger. Ichiro wasn’t one to react with his face, but even he showed a spark of fear at the sight of the woman’s face.

“Oh, it's you. That sound was just me venting my frustration of an intrusive pet onto an inanimate object, a way to remove stress that does not harm another living thing.” Marie said, her voice struggling to stay monotone.

“I don’t understand. Did Ryuki do something?” Ichiro walked toward the room and Marie pulled her fist out of the hole in the door and stepped aside to let him see. As Ichiro peered in, he mouthed ‘oh’ as he nodded and left the room, heading back to his own. “I understand. Goodnight.”

***

I sat upright in my bed, hands in the air, and my head bowed in surrender. Marie just stared at me, demanding an explanation as her eyes burned with fiery hatred. The reason for her anger, of course, was due to what was lying next to me, sound asleep and purring like a cat.

“It’s one hundred percent not what you think. I promise you Marie.” Another loud crash echoed the bunker as Marie punched a third hole into my door.

“Why is that she-demon in your bed, nearly naked, with a satisfied smile on her face and purring like a cat, Yagami?”

Family name; that is how I knew she was truly and unimaginably angry. Marie had been the only one to call me Ryu as she rarely used my full name, and she almost never called me by my family name. That was, of course, if she was beyond frustrated with me. This had only occurred one other time, and it took moving the earth to repent to her. For a woman that hid her true feelings so well, when she was brought to extremes, she returned it in kind.

“Again, I was going to explain everything. I didn’t anticipate you to wake up first and try to wake me up. I appreciate the tea you made, even if it is splashed across the floor now.”

I heard the sound of teeth grinding as Marie’s stare intensified on me. Somehow, Tsuki did not wake up during all of this. Perhaps the mana withdrawal she was going through combined with the sudden sustenance caused her body to succumb fully to the fatigue. I didn’t know for sure, but what I did know is that it is a blessing that she was still asleep. I slowly got out of my bed, crawling around Tsuki as I walked toward Marie. I was taking a gamble as I didn’t know if she would punch me if I got close, but I needed to exit the room. I gestured to the couches and Marie slightly nodded.

We both sat down, her on one couch and me on the other, as she continued to glare at me. I took a deep breath and let out a sigh, calming myself and forming my words carefully to not add more suspicion onto myself and to avoid unneeded details, such as the closet. I recounted the previous night to her and told her about the mana withdrawal that Tsuki was having and that she needed contact with a high-mana body to restore it.

“And lastly, I don’t think Tsuki is a regular human, or let alone a regular mage.” I leaned forward and continued in a low voice. “I think there’s more to her name Tsukumo than just a code name the Secular gave her.”

Thankfully Marie seemed to calm down slightly, her menacing and murderous aura dissipating as she slouched slightly in the couch and her posture became more casual. She sat in silence for a few moments before clearing her throat and speaking, her voice back to her usual, calm and collected monotone demeanor.

“I still don't agree with the method that was used to refill her mana." Her eyes narrowing briefly. "If she isn’t human, we should tell the agency about her quickly. I know you wanted to assess everything on our end first, but this might need some extra eyes on it.”

“I agree. And we can get some answers on why we were never told she was our target to begin with.”

Suddenly, I felt Marie’s murderous aura start to rise again. I quickly spun around and saw that Tsuki had woken up, exiting my room and stretching her arms wide as she yawned.

“That was the best night of my entire life!” She looked over at me, winked while striking a cutesy pose, a peace sign sideways over her eye. “Thanks, Ryu!”

I closed my eyes in resignation as a loud crash rang out from behind me.