“Aina…”
Kaoru Hoshitani’s voice rang out in the dark, humid Bathroom.
It was very soft, carrying an unusual, almost breathy tremble, yet it was as clear as if it were striking directly against Aina Saiten’s eardrums and the tip of her Heart.
Water vapor condensed on the walls, slowly dripping down with a tiny “tap,” emphasizing the suffocating silence that followed this call.
“…You can be… rough with me…”
This sentence was less a request and more a sacrificial ignition cord with self-destructive tendencies.
Every word was saturated with complex emotions—deep self-loathing, a Despair-filled longing for atonement, and a distorted yearning for the pure state of “being owned by Aina.”
He knelt on the cold tiles. His upturned face was only a blurry and fragile silhouette in the extremely faint diffused light filtering in from outside the Door, but the slightly trembling line of his shoulders and the tense lines of his neck exposed a posture that was almost sacrificial.
Any Woman, especially one with a latent sense of possessiveness and protective desire for her partner hidden deep within, would find that when she heard her cherished, seemingly delicate and beautiful Boyfriend issue such an “invitation” in such a posture and tone, the more primitive and intense Female “tyrannical” factor buried deep within her Gene and Survival Instinct—coexisting with her gentle protective desire—would be almost instantly ignited and activated.
That was not simple violence, but a complex impulse mixed with extreme Possession, desire for conquest, loss of control over protective instincts, and boiling lust.
It was an impulse to completely mark, control, and even… break this beautiful existence that was “initially showing weakness” and “requesting dominance” just a little bit.
Aina Saiten was also a Woman.
The moment she heard her Boyfriend’s words, she felt her brain go “buzz,” as if some solid barrier had been shattered.
In the darkness, she could not see Kaoru Hoshitani’s specific expression, but she could sense with incomparable clarity his fragile posture of allowing himself to be taken as one pleased, as well as the thick, almost material sense of self-deprecation and devotion in his words.
She looked at the blurry figure kneeling on the ground, and her gaze changed instantly.
It was no longer the usual gentle care, nor was it the confusion and worry from a moment ago; instead, it was a suddenly rising, dangerously hot glow, like a Predator in the dark night locking onto its Victim, filled with an oppressive sense of possessiveness and an almost out-of-control aggression.
However, her long-standing deep love and protective instinct for Akane acted like a final, fragile dam, blocking the surging tide that was about to pour out.
She bit her lower lip hard, tasting a faint hint of rust.
She closed her eyes, her chest heaving violently. She took several deep, hurried breaths, trying to suppress the impulse that was nearly bursting from her chest.
But the nails digging deep into her palms, bringing sharp pain, served as a Reminder that the impulse had not disappeared; it was merely being temporarily suppressed, crashing wildly inside her body, searching for an exit to vent.
“…Akane…”
Her voice squeezed out from deep in her throat, having become unusually hoarse and dry, as if her vocal cords had been rubbed by sandpaper.
“Don’t… don’t say that… let’s just… forget it…”
She was refusing; she was refusing both his request and the wild beast roaring to get out of her own Heart.
How could she… how could she be rough with him?
She loved him and cherished him more than anything. Hurting him even a little would cause her unbearable pain.
Hearing his Girlfriend’s desperate Thread of Restraint and even her pained struggle in her refusal, Kaoru Hoshitani’s Heart felt as if it were being squeezed hard by an icy hand, sending a sharp, wringing pain.
He knew that Aina was desperately restraining herself because she loved him and cared for him.
This unchanging cherishing and protection felt like sharp daggers at this moment, repeatedly slicing through his guilt-ridden Soul.
Precisely because he was being loved and cared for so incomparably by Aina, held in the palm of her hand, he felt even more like he was being “used” in the gentlest, most distressing way, like a Toy without a will.
The intense contrast and the huge sense of irony almost tore him apart.
[I would rather… I would rather Aina treat me like this… at least… at least it’s what she… desires.]
This thought wrapped around his Heart like a poisonous vine, carrying a self-destructive impulse.
He would rather endure Aina’s potentially out-of-control “roughness” as a Punishment for his betrayal and as a distorted ritual to “re-belong” himself as Aina’s Possession, attempting to use new marks from Aina to cover up those sickening memories from Rika Kawasaki.
His Little Deer Eyes, which should have been as agile as water in the darkness, were now completely dimmed like extinguished stars, leaving only bottomless Despair and Despair.
Finally, he spoke again, and the words he uttered completely washed away the last and most fragile line of defense on Aina Saiten’s dam of Rationality:
“The… The Owner…….”
This address was strange and a Forbidden Source, carrying complete submission and self-objectification, Piercing Aina Saiten’s eardrums ruthlessly.
“Please… please be… a little bit rude to me…”
These final words were less a request and more a final Key—a Key to completely release the imprisoned Predator deep within Aina Saiten’s Heart.
“Thud!”
A dull sound of impact was exceptionally clear in the narrow Bathroom.
Aina Saiten pressed down on top of him, her hands clasping his wrists like iron pincers, pinning them deathly hard against the tiles.
Her breathing became extremely heavy and hot, panting against his face and neck with a burning heat.
Even in such dim light, Kaoru Hoshitani could see her eyes right in front of him—
Her normally gentle eyes were now blood-red, burning with wild flames.
All Rationality, gentleness, and Thread of Restraint had been incinerated in that cry of “The Owner,” leaving only the most primitive and direct desire for possession and conquest.
Looking at his Girlfriend’s completely out-of-control appearance, as if she had become a different person, the corners of Kaoru Hoshitani’s mouth curled up extremely bitterly and weakly.
It wasn’t a smile, but more of a despairing, resigned curve.
He did not struggle; instead, he relaxed his pinned wrists and even actively raised his arms, making a gesture of giving up all resistance and opening up completely, as if saying in a wordless language:
Look, now… you can do anything.
He even slightly tilted his chin, exposing his fragile neck—covered in the deep and shallow red marks and bruises left by another Woman—without reservation to Aina Saiten’s burning breath.
Of course, in the dim light, Aina Saiten could not see clearly at this moment.
The out-of-control Aina Saiten did not hesitate. Like a Predator stimulated by the smell of blood, she suddenly lowered her head, opened her mouth, and bit down hard!
It was not a gentle kiss, but a tearing bite carrying the intent of Punishment and marking.
Teeth sank into the delicate flesh, bringing sharp pain.
However, the expected expression of pain did not appear on Kaoru Hoshitani’s face.
On the contrary, on his face—which appeared increasingly exquisite and broken in the dim light—there actually surfaced an extremely complex expression.
There was pain, but even more so, there was a sense of relief that was almost like liberation, even mixed with a trace of distorted satisfaction.
It was as if this mark from Aina, carrying violence, was washing away and covering up those humiliating memories from earlier in the day.
While enduring the sharp pain in his neck, he actually raised one hand that was not completely pinned down and, trembling yet exceptionally gently, stroked the back of Aina Saiten’s head as she was buried in the crook of his neck.
His fingertips passed through her sweat-dampened hair, stroking her lightly with an almost soothing rhythm.
A drop of scalding tear fell from the corner of his tightly closed eye without warning, quickly vanishing into the damp hair at his temple.
“…I’m sorry… Aina…”
He murmured this apology in an extremely faint breath that only he could hear, for his “betrayal,” for the “inducement” of this moment, and for everything that was about to come.
But Aina Saiten, who had long since been completely dominated by wild Survival Instinct and was filled with layered emotions and desires, how could she possibly capture this weak, pain-filled apology?
Let alone ask for the reason.
From the cold, slippery Bathroom tiles to the soft Bed in the Bedroom that seemed to have turned into a gladiatorial arena, this night became the most violent, primitive, and “bloody” encounter since their first intimacy.
The air was filled with sweat, lust, and a hint of the metallic smell of rust from teeth and wounds.
During the process, many of Aina Saiten’s movements were actually still influenced by the protective instinct for Akane deeply planted in her subconscious.
She would subconsciously control her strength, trying to brake at certain overly intense moments to avoid causing truly serious harm to him.
In her chaotic mind, remnants of Rationality still flickered weakly, reminding her that the one beneath her was her most cherished Akane.
But Kaoru Hoshitani was always able to keenly perceive this—
Perhaps it was her pause at a critical moment, or a subconscious softening of her strength.
He would then look at her with those misty, broken eyes carrying the shimmer of water, and then spit out some highly stimulating, even humiliating and self-deprecating teasing words, or use a more active and accommodating fragile posture to provoke and stimulate her already precarious line of Rationality.
He seemed to be actively pushing himself into the center of the storm, praying for a more complete “destruction” and “covering.”
And so, the remaining Rationality was washed away time and again as she hardened her heart, following the more violent guidance of her Survival Instinct.
Time lost its meaning amidst the intense entanglement and panting.
By the time everything finally subsided, sweat had soaked deep marks into the sheets, and the intense gasping gradually turned into heavy, exhausted breathing.
An exhausted Aina Saiten seemed to slowly wake up from a long and frantic nightmare.
The intense emotions and physical depletion receded like a tide, and Rationality began to arduously piece itself back together and flow back.
She struggled to climb up from the Bed, her whole body aching, her brain still a mess of chaos.
The Bedroom was pitch black, with only the faint light of the City night shining through the window.
She fumbled around and turned on the small desk lamp on the nightstand.
The warm yellow, soft light instantly dispelled the darkness in a corner by the Bed.
Then, she turned her head and looked at the figure slumped in the messy bedding on the Bed beside her.
With just one look, Aina Saiten felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
She suddenly gasped, and cold air instantly filled her chest, bringing a piercing chill.
She subconsciously covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes widening to the extreme, her pupils contracting in horror.
She had never… never seen Kaoru Hoshitani like this.
His… his appearance at this moment could almost be described as “unbearable to look at.”
His fair skin had, at some point, been covered with a sickly flush, yet in some areas, it was an abnormal greenish-white.
The bite mark she had left on his neck was now frighteningly red and swollen, seeping fine streaks of blood.
Around it, bruises of varying depths also spread—those were the marks left by another Woman, interlaced with her own bite mark, forming a shocking contrast.
His lips were chapped and peeling, and there was even a trace of dried blood at the corner of his mouth; she didn’t know if he had bitten it himself or if it came from her.
His Little Deer Eyes, which were usually moist and bright, were tightly closed.
His long eyelashes were wet and stuck to his eyelids, and traces of unshed tears remained at the corners of his eyes, making his exquisite face look so fragile at this moment that it seemed it would break at a touch, while also carrying a kind of broken beauty of being completely devastated.
His arms and chest were also covered with mottled red marks and scratches; those were the marks she had left when she lost control, varying in depth, and some places were even slightly bleeding.
And his whole person just curled there, like an abandoned, seriously injured young beast. Even his breathing carried a faint tremble, making him look utterly devoid of life.
Aina Saiten’s Heart felt as if it were being squeezed hard by an invisible hand, hurting so much she could hardly breathe.
A massive, overwhelming sense of panic and remorse instantly drowned her.
The halo of the desk lamp was soft, yet it was enough to illuminate the mess on the Bed.
Kaoru Hoshitani looked as if he had been completely dismantled and reassembled.
He lay there powerlessly on his back, eyes closed, his long, wet eyelashes casting fragile shadows on his pale cheeks.
His skin, which was originally as smooth as jade and flawlessly delicate, was now covered with shocking marks—
Large patches of red marks formed by excessive friction and forceful gripping, and some places even drifted into deep red, as if the capillaries under the skin had already burst.
His neck, Clavicle, chest…
These areas were the hardest hit. Deep and shallow, new and old overlapping cyan-red Love Bites and tooth prints were densely packed.
In some places, the flesh was slightly swollen, looking exceptionally gruesome under the light.
His lips were red, swollen, and broken. On the side of his neck where she had just bitten him, a clear ring of tooth marks with blood scabs remained, contrasting sharply against his pale skin, like a cruel brand.
Aina Saiten’s mind went blank, her ears buzzing.
She couldn’t believe her eyes, and she even more so couldn’t believe…
Were most of these marks actually caused by her?
She subconsciously looked down at her hands; the knuckles were somewhat red, and there seemed to be a tiny bit of skin that didn’t belong to her under her fingernails. Besides her, who else could it be?
Just now, on this Bed…
Boundless fear and overwhelming self-reproach instantly submerged her.
As if she had been burned, she suddenly threw herself back onto the Bed, her hands frantic yet not daring to use force as she touched Kaoru Hoshitani’s body.
She carefully helped him up a bit, letting him lean into her embrace.
His body was incredibly soft, his breathing weak and hurried, his brow still tightly furrowed in pain.
“Akane! Akane! Wake up!”
Aina Saiten’s voice shook uncontrollably, filled with panic.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I… I didn’t know… I don’t know how I could…”
She apologized incoherently, tears gushing out like a burst dam, dripping onto his scarred chest and shoulders.
She looked at the gruesome tooth mark she had left on his neck, and her stomach churned with a wave of nausea and remorse.
What exactly… had she done to him?