Kotori quickly undid her pajamas. She wasn't wearing anything underneath, and in the dark room moonlight seemed to bloom all at once.
Her skin was milky-white and almost translucent, like warm jade.
Just looking at her made Shichen swallow; his appetite stirred.
He found himself craving strawberry milk pudding again—the kind with small berries, two to a bite.
"Onii-chan…"
Being stared at so directly, Kotori got embarrassed again. She lowered her head, ears burning red, but didn't raise her hands to cover herself.
"Kotori." Shichen pulled her into his arms. She was so small and soft that holding her felt like cradling a plush doll.
"Onii-chan…" Pushing past her shyness, Kotori lifted her eyes to him, gaze blazing.
Shichen didn't say anything more. He lowered his head and kissed her.
She was tiny and soft, and he was instantly addicted.
"Mmh…" Kotori felt the heat coming from him, closed her eyes, and let him invade.
Their tongues twined together.
Kotori obviously didn't know what she was doing, but Shichen wasn't rough—he guided her gently.
Before long they broke apart, Kotori panting, her cheeks bright red.
Shichen held her, feeling her skin's warm, jade-like smoothness and the slight tremors running through her.
He knew she wasn't afraid—she was excited, worked up.
Shichen lowered his head to her neck; fangs slid out.
"Kotori."
"Mm." Kotori tipped her head to the side, exposing the pale line of her throat, and shut her eyes.
Without any warning, his fangs pierced her skin, and two thin red lines welled up.
"Uhn!" Kotori gave a small cry of pain, brows knitting for a moment before relaxing again.
This wasn't the first time Shichen had drunk her blood, but the last time had only been a light taste, like a dragonfly skimming the water.
Back then she'd still been very inexperienced; he'd been afraid that drinking too much wouldn't be good for her, and that the side effects of his bite would hit her too hard.
She really hadn't been ready to handle that then.
This time Shichen took his time tasting Kotori's blood. Its sweetness was pronounced, without the heavy thickness of ordinary blood; it went down like something fresh and soothing.
Come to think of it, Kotori really wasn't big at all.
That thought made Shichen feel a twinge of guilt—but she was already a spirit now. From here on out her body probably wouldn't change much; her build might always stay like this.
Besides, she had been the one to take the initiative.
Shichen had no intention of pretending otherwise. Guilt was guilt, but he was genuinely moved as well.
And if he was moved, he would act. They weren't ordinary people anymore; they'd long since stepped beyond the limits of society.
After savoring quite a bit of Kotori's blood, Shichen started feeding his own back into her again; one transfusion definitely hadn't been enough.
As his blood flowed into her, Kotori's expression began to change—eyes going hazy, her young face flushed with a kind of soft, dangerous charm.
When Shichen lifted his mouth from her neck, he noticed her expression and froze for a second.
So that was how enchanting Kotori could be. Her small face was veiled in pink, looking almost bite-sized.
He'd always known Kotori was cute and irresistible, but he had never really taken his time to look at her like this and let himself be drawn in.
Maybe it was partly the bite's after-effects—but the girl in front of him was still her.
"Kotori…" Shichen's voice dropped as he called her name.
"Onii-chan…" Kotori couldn't fight her own reactions. She hugged him tight, rubbing against him as she sought out his lips.
Shichen kissed her again.
The room was perfectly quiet, and yet it was noisy in its own way—the sounds were just very soft.
At some point, Shichen began guiding Kotori to open her mouth and sing. Her voice was sweet and delicate at first, a soft murmur, and then it grew bright and soaring.
After that, he joined her. Their voices intertwined in harmony, a teasing, lingering duet filling the room where no one else could hear.
This duet, more than anything, was an expression of love rather than desire. In his heart, Shichen was thinking only of Kotori's satisfaction.
As for himself—he didn't much care.
There would be plenty of chances later.
…
When morning came and Shichen opened his eyes, his gaze was clear and his mind awake.
He turned his head to look at Kotori sleeping beside him. Her cheeks were still rosy; her brows were adorably furrowed, yet the corners of her lips were curled up.
Smiling, Shichen reached out and smoothed her brow.
Then, without making a sound, he slipped out of bed, pulled on his loungewear, and left the room.
Even as a spirit, Kotori still needed plenty of sleep. Even if he hadn't really gone all out last night, she was still on the petite side and needed time to recover.
Just thinking about it—how, not long ago, she had still seemed so inexperienced—made Shichen feel a pang of guilt. But the way she'd been last night had been so beautiful.
In the end, feeling guilty was pointless. He knew exactly what sort of person he was.
Better to be honest with himself.
Leaving the bedroom, Shichen headed for the kitchen to make some nourishing congee for Kotori, to help replenish her blood and energy a bit.
She wasn't like Kaguya and Yuzuru; they were more or less fully mature and used to everything. Kotori still had a ways to go.
Becoming a spirit had only made her a little tougher.
Once the congee was ready and still no one else had woken up, Shichen carried the bowl back to the bedroom.
To his surprise, Kotori was already awake, her pretty face showing a trace of panic.
"Kotori, what's wrong?" Shichen quickly went to the bedside, worried.
"Onii-chan… thank goodness. Last night wasn't a dream." Kotori let out a breath of relief.
"A dream?"
"When I woke up and couldn't find you, I got scared…"
"I see."
Shichen relaxed as well, then teased, "How could it be a dream? You can't tell what condition you're in right now?"
"Uu… Onii-chan, you're awful." Kotori pouted, half shy, half annoyed.
"Hehe~ How do you feel?"
"I… kind of can't just walk around casually…" Kotori checked herself carefully and frowned.
"That's normal. You're so petite…"
"Uu, Onii-chan! Do you not like small girls or something?"
"How could I not? I love it."
"Hey! That's not what I meant!"
"Then what did you mean?"
"As if you don't know! You were… like that last night…" Just remembering how greedy he'd been made Kotori's face burn.
"What was I like?" Shichen continued to act clueless.
"Onii-chan!" Kotori finally couldn't take it; she raised a hand and gave him a light smack.
"Hehe~ All right, I won't tease you. Don't worry about it too much. It's summer break anyway, and I can heal you."
"Oh, right, I almost forgot about Onii-chan's powers."
"By the way, can't your own ability heal you automatically?" Shichen remembered Kotori's power and asked curiously.
"It doesn't seem like it… this doesn't count as an 'injury.'" Kotori shook her head.
"I see…"
"Onii-chan, you sound a little disappointed," Kotori noticed from his tone.
"Not at all," Shichen denied immediately.
"Hmph! You totally are! Why would you be disappointed? What's so good about me not healing… wait—Onii-chan! You're a pervert!"
Kotori thought it through and suddenly understood what he'd meant, flushing even deeper.
"I never said anything. You're the one making wild guesses," Shichen said quickly.
"I don't believe you! Onii-chan is a total lech, actually wanting me to keep bleeding like that!"
"All right, all right, I was wrong, okay? Let's drop the subject."
"Uu… Onii-chan, do you really want me to self-heal?" Kotori pressed again.
"No! I definitely wasn't thinking that. No matter what you're like, Kotori, I like you."
"Is that so…"
"Anyway, the congee's probably cooled enough. Eat up, and I'll heal you afterward."
"Okay… Onii-chan, can you feed me?" Kotori asked, clinging to him.
"Of course I can."
Kotori's appetite was pretty good; she finished the entire pot, her little belly rounding out a bit, looking almost like last night.
Afterward, Shichen healed her so she'd be able to move comfortably.
With Kotori, there was no need for any little tricks—the condition that he had to "touch the wound directly" to heal didn't need to be taken so literally.
Once she was healed, he told her to rest a bit more while he went to prepare breakfast for everyone else.
By the time the breakfast spread was almost ready, people began shuffling out of their rooms one after another. Tohka even snuck a bite in the kitchen.
He didn't make a fuss about it.
Kotori didn't join them for breakfast; Shichen casually gave an excuse that she hadn't slept well last night and wanted to sleep in.
It was summer break and they were at home—everyone just ate when they felt like it, so nobody thought too much about it.
No one suspected a thing, either. After all, Kotori still looked so small and innocent.
Shichen didn't rush to deal with Kurumi's past or his connection with the others. He decided to use this summer break to spend some proper time with all of them.
Otherwise, there'd come a day when he wouldn't have the time.
When he told everyone he planned to spend the whole vacation with them, they were thrilled—each more excited than the last, eager to head out right away.
Of course, if they were going to go have fun, they'd all go together. Which meant they had to wait for Kotori to wake up.
Close to noon, Kotori finally came out of her room, cheeks rosy, spirit bright and clear; she looked like she'd slept great.
Even though there was a faint sensuality in her expression, nobody thought anything of it.
When she heard about Shichen's summer plans, she was just as excited, wanting to leave immediately.
So, once everyone was ready, Shichen took them all out on a trip.
~~~
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