Not long afterward, a heavy breath escaped Shuten's lips, accompanied by a sharp tremor that ran through her body.
A moment later, a lingering warmth spread outward, soaking into the dark fabric beneath her like rainwater sinking into fertile earth after a summer storm.
At the same time, the serpent that had been wandering among the field of petals, tracing circles around a forbidden garden, finally came to rest.
Their faces drifted apart.
Kuro withdrew his left hand and glanced briefly at his fingertips before a faintly mischievous smile appeared on his face.
"Looks like the warming-up is finished," he said. "And you've melted quite enough already."
"Fufu~"
A soft laugh flowed from Shuten once more.
Her right hand rose to his cheek, caressing it with surprising tenderness.
"In that case..." she murmured. "May we begin now, Danna-han?"
Kuro chuckled quietly, sensing the impatience hidden beneath her relaxed smile.
Without hesitation, he loosened the final barrier between intention and action.
The serpent that had lingered at the edge of the garden was finally allowed to continue its journey, gliding through dew-covered petals toward the heart of an ancient cup waiting beneath the moonlight.
The moment the currents met, Shuten's body trembled ever so slightly.
At the same time, Kuro's brow furrowed.
Something felt wrong.
Or perhaps, far too right.
There was a heat there that should not have existed, like molten gold flowing beneath the skin of a living legend.
"Ugh..." Kuro exhaled with a crooked smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I take it back. You didn't melt, but burning."
Before answering, Shuten's hand drifted from his cheek to his chest.
Her touch was gentle, almost affectionate.
Yet beneath that gentleness lay the nature of an Oni.
The power known as One Kind of Oni flowed through her very existence—a fusion of overwhelming vitality, demonic instinct, monstrous strength, charisma, and magical energy woven together into something uniquely hers.
Something that felt less like heat and more like standing beside a bonfire beneath a winter sky.
A satisfied smile curved her lips.
"Danna-han..." she whispered. "Doesn't it make your heart race even faster? Like sharing a cup of sake beneath the moon."
Kuro answered with nothing more than a faint smile and allowed the serpent to continue its teasing dance.
At first, its movements were slow, like a piston warming an engine before a long journey. But little by little, the rhythm changed, becoming faster and more relentless as the pace continued to rise.
"Nnh..."
Shuten's breathing flowed into the quiet space around them, filling the bar with a warmth all its own. Her eyes had become half-lidded, their focus gradually slipping away.
For some reason, the longer the dance continued, the more she felt as though she were attending a magnificent festival beneath an eternal blue moon.
A celebration without end.
Without even realizing it, her arms had wrapped themselves around Kuro's shoulders, clinging to him like an anchor suspended between reality and dream.
At the same time, the unnatural heat surrounding her began to take its toll.
A burning point appeared far sooner than Kuro had expected.
"Ugh..."
His jaw tightened.
At that very moment, the warm current flowed into the cup's hidden core.
Yet the vessel waiting to receive it proved far too small for such an overwhelming tide.
Shuten's grip on his shoulders strengthened.
"Haa..."
A faint tremor passed through her body, and a quiet breath slipped from her lips.
"It feels like drinking a sake that's far too strong."
Kuro remained silent.
He simply allowed her to experience the flow for as long as it lasted.
Until the very last drop.
And when the current finally settled, not all of it could be contained within the cup.
Some of it overflowed, slipping past the narrow edges and leaving traces behind. The surface of the sofa beneath them grew damp once more, as though it had been caught beneath a sudden summer rain.
Yet neither of them paid it any attention.
Not while the lingering warmth of the current still remained between them.
After the warm current subsided, Shuten gradually steadied her breathing and gathered the fragments of her wandering thoughts.
"Even you were too quick?" she asked with an amused smile. "It seems the path to an Oni's core is far too comfortable for you, Danna-han."
"I won't deny it," Kuro replied. "And you enjoyed it too, didn't you? Besides, judging by that look on your face, you didn't seem to want it to end so soon."
"Fufu~"
Her laughter flowed out once more.
"Of course. A party that ends too soon is terribly boring."
Kuro answered with nothing more than a smile. He shifted slightly and guided Shuten into a new position before drawing her arms gently behind her, like a rider taking hold of a pair of reins before continuing a journey.
The serpent soon resumed its familiar dance, tracing the heated path that led once again toward the hidden cup at her center.
Shuten's breathing immediately faltered.
The focus in her eyes slipped further away, as though she had wandered deeper into an endless celebration beneath a blue moon.
Meanwhile, Kuro continued moving with the same steady rhythm, allowing the strange festival that existed only between them to continue.
Each passing moment seemed to chip away at Shuten's awareness, not through force, but through the overwhelming joy of the experience itself.
Before long, the boundary between reality and that endless moonlit celebration became increasingly difficult for her to distinguish.
***
Some time had passed, and their positions had changed.
Shuten now knelt on the floor, allowing the fragile boundary between them to be erased by something serpent-like, settling comfortably into its chosen nest.
Across from her, Kuro sat on the sofa. His left hand rested against the side of her head, steadying her, yet he otherwise allowed the oni girl to remain in control.
Shuten's movements were simple, almost resembling a serpent adjusting itself within its den.
"Mmmm... Ngh..."
The soft sounds escaping her lips flowed gently through the room, yet somehow seemed restrained at the same time.
Not long after, Kuro felt that faint, overly familiar sensation beginning to rise once again.
A sign that was becoming impossible to suppress.
Without hesitation, he reached out and pulled Shuten closer.
And in the very next second, Shuten felt a warm flow moving through a forbidden path that should never have been touched, like a spring of life suddenly overflowing from beneath the earth.
Her body tensed sharply.
"Mgh—?!"
A muffled sound escaped her throat.
Yet she did not pull away.
She simply remained there, trembling faintly as the overwhelming warmth continued to flow faster than she could properly handle.
"Nnh... gh..."
Her breathing turned uneven.
Her eyes slowly lost focus little by little, unable to fully process the unbearable heat filling her senses all at once.
Kuro could feel her fingers weakly gripping his clothes tighter.
"Kh... mmh...!"
Shuten tried to say something, but the words dissolved into another soft, muffled sound instead.
The sensation reminded her of accidentally swallowing sake that was far stronger—and far hotter—than expected.
Until at last, a small portion of that warmth slipped past the space between their lips, dripping slowly like night dew falling from leaves after a long rain.
"Cough— gh...!"
Shuten finally pulled back just enough to breathe, her cheeks faintly flushed while she struggled to regain steady breaths.
"Hah... ahh... Danna... han..."
Her voice came out unsteady, breaking apart between breaths.
A short laugh escaped her throat, only to turn into another cough.
"Kh... haha..."
She closed one eye briefly.
"That's... too much..."
The complaint sounded less like genuine protest and more like an oni who had just attempted to empty an entire jar of burning sake in a single gulp.
"You really don't know how to pour slowly, hm...?"
When she looked up from her lowered position, she found Kuro frowning slightly, clearly unimpressed by being blamed so casually.
"That's not my fault," he replied. "You were the aggressive one from the start."
A soft laugh escaped Shuten.
Then, as if the conversation had never happened, she resumed her earlier pace, allowing the last traces of distance between them to disappear once more. The familiar serpent returned to its winding path, seemingly no more satisfied than before.
The reaction was immediate.
Kuro suddenly tensed and reached out, stopping her before she could continue.
"Careful," he said. "Your fangs are digging in."
Silence followed. For a brief moment, Shuten simply stared at him. Then another quiet laugh slipped from her lips.
This time, when she resumed her movements, they were noticeably more careful—like an oni handling her favorite sake cup, unwilling to leave even the smallest crack upon its surface.