A few seconds passed, and Luna raised her head from beside mine. Only inches from my face, she looked at me with a longing hunger, her eyes showing that all reason had departed them.
"Sleep…" she said softly, her voice echoing in my head. In front of my face, the purple haze appeared again, albeit this time it felt like I consumed it completely, breathing it in myself.
As she had commanded, I suddenly felt my body become lighter. She was really putting me to sleep!
"I'm sorry, Souta. I can't control myself…" she said, as she squirmed atop me.
I looked up at her helplessly as my eyes began to close, when I noticed hers had suddenly changed.
Though the enchanting purple hues of her irises remained, her pupils became cat-like in their shape, and a scarlet red glow emanated around them.
"Urghh. What… is happening?" I slurred, as control of my body became impossible.
Though I couldn't move anymore, I could still feel. My body ran hot, and my abdomen, my wrists, and my thighs all felt electrified.
Everywhere she's touching me… It feels like… Something is surging inside me… I feel like I want to vomit.
The scent of plums on her breath overwhelmed me as it filled my nasal cavity, and this time, my lungs too. It was as if we were sharing the same breath – like we were kissing.
This is bad. It feels like I'm getting drunk again.
My head spun as I lay under her. Perhaps it was still the alcohol from earlier, or just the fact that I was in such a situation with a woman, but no matter my efforts, I hadn't been able to get a grip on anything.
This is the worst day of my life.
My eyes struggled desperately to remain open, while her assault on my senses continued. I felt the tips of her fangs lightly scraping across and tracing the arteries in my neck. It felt like she would plunge them into me at any second. Maybe she was playing with her food.
Though my consciousness was fading, my sense of touch was at a level I'd never experienced. I squirmed under each of her movements, remaining vigilant in resisting her. But as she adjusted her grip from my wrists down to my elbows, I felt something wet suddenly slide from the base of my neck, extending upwards towards my jawline. Her sharp fangs had already nipped at my skin, but this felt soothing.
!!!
It's… It's her tongue! She's licking my neck, up and down! Urgh…! I can't… Take this! Is she… Really trying to feast on me?!
Luna continued tasting my neck, and gradually, her licking turned into light kissing. With each kiss, I felt my state of awareness deteriorate, falling deeper into the mental abyss. Slowly, I resigned myself to the fact that this would be the place of my death. It felt like the gate of life would shut on me any second.
Ahhh…
The warmth of her thighs and her breath… I can even feel her chest pressed against mine… Her long, silky hair is brushing against my skin… It's like I'm melting. She's like a forest fire.
…
Shit… I'm really going to pass out.
…
I'm sorry, Mother, for dying in a place like this… Akari… Shit, I hope she doesn't find me. At least, Luna said she needed me. Even if I wind up dead, I guess it was nice… To be needed by someone…
…
Luna suddenly stopped what she was doing and finally, slowly freed my arms from her grasp.
…
Seconds passed, and silence filled the air. I was still barely conscious, but I didn't hear her or feel anything.
…
Is she gone?... Ah… Am I dead? Is this what death is? Black?
…
"No. Stop." she called out from the nothingness.
Her voice echoed towards me, and reeled my consciousness towards her. I really was something she'd caught. Hook, line, and sinker. A servant, already obedient to the power of her words.
"I've decided," she continued, her declaration sounding more like a command.
…
My eyes slowly began to open on their own, and Luna still sat exactly where she was, right on top of me.
She studied my face with her eyes, and her cheeks were even more flushed than before. Her breath was ragged, and her lips shone like glass.
The butterflies I'd felt in Shibuya were back. I could do nothing but stare, my body completely paralysed. Even though I wanted to scream, "Get off me, you crazy monster!" I couldn't.
What I felt atop my body was certainly that which appeared like a monster, but was nonetheless a woman. A woman, who was looking at me, who said she needed me for something.
As she looked down at me, her next words shocked me to my core.
"I don't want this."
…
Ah. There it is.
Mizuki's parting words, "…Sorry," echoed in my head as I recalled her face.
Luna continued.
"I'm sorry for having done this to you. The truth is, I came here to create a contract with you tonight… But I can't, in all good faith, bring myself to do it."
Well, it's not like this is a surprise. The moment I started to feel like I should just give in and accept whatever this is, she casts me aside as well. Just like everyone else.
"I'm sorry for being so selfish," she added.
"That's what they'd want – for me to choose from their options. But if I can be even just a little more selfish, I can't betray how I feel. With you, I… I mean, with me, I want you to… Umm… I…"
"You want to what?" I managed to whisper, looking deeply into her eyes.
No sooner than I had asked, did she slide her fingers up and into mine, clutching them softly.
Her skin was warm and soft. Her palms were ever so slightly clammy. These hands, which were so much smaller and far more delicate than mine, felt as if they possessed so much power.
"What I really want… is this," she said, as she shut her eyes tightly and leaned down towards me.
Is this—? Screw it. I'm done thinking. I want this. If it is my fate to die as the sacrifice to a succubus-vampire or whatever, then so be it.
I braced myself.
A fraction of a second later, her wet, glassy lips locked with mine, our teeth gently clashing in the embrace.
!!!
What the?! Wait. I was… right?! Am I… Really, having my first kiss right now?!
…
I couldn't fight back. This, at least, I didn't want to fight. Our lips messily slipped all over each other, but the feeling was surreal.
Her lips are so… soft. So this… Is what a kiss feels like… Just my luck, haha. My first time being my last would be a poetic way to go, anyway.
The kiss was short, but it felt like an eternity.
A warm wave of calm washed over me, enveloping my entire body within it. My body was alive, as if it were electrified, and as her chest pressed up against mine, I could feel our hearts dancing in sync with one another.
"There," Luna said between her breaths. "You'll forgive me, right? I'm sorry for taking your first… But I… just wanted to give away the only thing that I can control,"
Why is she sorry for taking my first kiss? I mean, sure, it's important, I guess?
This was usually the point at which it all went wrong, but this was the furthest I'd ever come.
Despite the absurdity of the situation, if it meant I could die with my first-kiss virginity having been taken, then I'd gladly accept this last-first kiss as my final birthday present.
As she slowly pulled away and licked her lips, her eyes returned to normal, and she collapsed into the crook of my neck. She huffed, struggling to breathe, and her cheeks burned my skin.
She seemed just as overwhelmed as I was.
"Your lips…" I whispered. She continued to pant, breathing harder into my neck, when suddenly.
…
Ba-dum!
…
"Nnkkk!" I spat, my chest feeling like it had collapsed under an enormous force.
Out of nowhere, just seconds after we'd finished kissing, a powerful jolt seized my chest. It was right around my heart. The strength of its beat felt like I'd been sucker punched.
My eyes widened in pain, and the 'vomit' that felt like it was churning within me felt as if it was going to come up.
"Aghhhhh! Aghhhh! Aghhhh!"
As I screamed in pain, a bright pink light slowly emanated from the depths of my chest before exploding into the room, enveloping the two of us.
Stunned, Luna quickly looked up and gazed towards the ceiling pierced by the pink light.
"W-what is this?!" she exclaimed.
She looked back down at me, and immediately got off of me, kneeling by my side on the bed. I could barely keep my eyes open, only seeing flashes of what occurred above me.
"H-hey! Human!" she said, her voice cracking, "What's happening?! Hey!"
The whites of her eyes were completely visible, and her hands erratically pushed down on my chest to resuscitate me. Whatever was happening, she also hadn't accounted for. Her breathing became even more erratic than before, and her hair became stuck to the sweat which now drenched her face.
Inside the hole that opened up from my chest, a mixture of red and purple bolts of electricity discharged themselves, crackling into the air. A literal storm felt like it was emerging from within me.
As the electricity snaked its way up the column of light and to the ceiling, Luna gasped.
"No… Th-there's no way… You can't be!" she yelled.
God, what now? Haha. This is insane. What a spectacular end to a mediocre life. This entire night has been a fever dream.
My eyelids began to close, barely able to hold themselves open anymore. As I had before, I began to see the abyss. When she had told me to sleep, I drifted towards it. This time, I plummeted.
There's that feeling again. My strength is gone. This is actually the end this time… I know it. What a day from hell.
…
As the pink beam widened from inside my chest, it grew brighter and brighter before eventually exploding like a blast from a grenade. Luna continued talking to herself.
"Th-this can't be! You're an Irregular?! They're… They're not even supposed to be alive! What is the meaning of this?!"
In a final flash, through the back of my eyelids, I watched the pink light disappear, along with all of my energy. My eyes slammed shut, and my vision went black. The last thread of my consciousness hung on to Luna's final words, as her voice faded into a distant echo.
"Hey! Hang in there! Don't close your eyes! This is not how this was supposed to go! What if they find out?!"
Just how was this supposed to go?
What the hell even happened here between me and this… What did she say she was again? A succubus? A vampire? Ah, that's right. It was both.Luna Gremory. The succubus-vampire.
Luna Gremory…
Oh. Now I get it.
Gremory. Gremory Life Insurance.
…
"Hey! Hey!"
…
Together, Luna's voice and my consciousness sunk down into the abyss. I could no longer move my body, and I couldn't think any more thoughts. I was as good as dead.
But for the first time in my life, whilst sinking deeply into the nothingness, I felt something I'd never felt before: like a weight on me – a weight that I'd always carried on my chest, had been lifted.