[Kyosuke POV]

Hot breaths tore through my lungs as I raced out of the building and onto the nearby sidewalk. My shoes were not designed for running but I couldn’t help it. I had to get as far away as I could.

I didn’t look back. I couldn’t look back. The reality of what I had just done came crashing into me.

Why did I do that?! Did Devil Shoko actually possess me?! Has my spirit been compromised?!

Several pedestrians passed sharp glances in my direction, but I didn’t care at this point. I had to get home as fast as I could. Thankfully, I splurged for an apartment about 20 minutes of casually walking distance which meant at the pace I was going, I’d be there in under 10.

I was nearly exhausted by the time I reached my apparent complex. Mine was on the 14th floor and as much as I wanted to be alone, I didn’t have the strength to run up that many flights of stairs. I panted, clutching my knees after pressing the call button. I thought it was going to take longer but the door appeared to open in no time at all.

“Oh, Kyosuke-san. Good evening.”

Mustering enough strength to look up I caught a glance of my floor neighbor Inue-san. She was a sweet old lady who worked part time at the convenience store not too far away from here.

“G-good evening, Inue-san. Heading for work this evening?”

She nodded with a smile.

“Yes, I’m covering a shift for a high school student while he’s attending cram school.”

I couldn’t seem to regain my composure as heavy breaths still pumped out of my lungs. I had no idea I was this out of shape.

“T-That’s… N-Nice of you.”

“What’s the matter Kyosuke-san? Are you not feeling well?”

She looked genuinely concerned. That’s how nice she was. I didn’t want to lie to the old woman, but I couldn’t exactly tell her the truth either.

“No, no! I actually wanted to see how fast I could get home if I ran all of the way.”

It hurt to laugh but I did it anyways. My lungs were still desperate for air.

“My, how nice it is to be young.”

She walked past me with a wave. I responded in kind while entering the elevator and smashing the button for the 14th floor. Despite being alone for the first time in what seemed like forever, I still couldn’t catch my breath. The threat of someone from another floor popping in her for a ride up was small but I couldn’t take that chance.

As soon as the doors opened, I resumed my sprint and raced for my apartment. My hands were shaking too much from the excess adrenaline combined with exhaustion and I couldn’t muster opening the door with keys if I tried. Thankfully, there was a numeric keypad lock that would be a lot easier to manage.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

I took a deep breath, input my six-digit code as carefully as I could. The green light greeted me and I turned the handle without a second wasted, entering my building and slamming the door behind me.

What the hell just happened?!

I leaned back against the door taking in as many breaths as I need to calm down. While my lungs finally returned to a state of normalcy, my heart was still racing. I couldn’t get the image of what just happened out of my mind. Her delicate aura, tender lips, and seductive sent.

“Damn it!”

Rifling through my hair in frustration, I headed for the bedroom, took off all of my clothes and then jumped across the hall into the bathroom. There was no time for a bath so I turned the handle on the shower and popped right in.

The immediate blast of cold water caused me to shiver uncontrollably for a few moments. Maybe that’s what I needed to pull me out of this state of shock. I shivered for a few moments as the soundof running water and my teeth chattering were the only audible sounds I could focus on. Once the hot water came in, I pressed my head against the tile wall and tried to process everything.

Okay, I kissed Abukara. There’s no denying that.No coming back from that. But why?! WHY DID I DO IT?!

The answers weren’t coming to me, so I took a breath as steam cascaded around me and retraced my steps.

I surprise her. I confronted her. I yelled at her. She yelled at me. We yelled at each other. I got in close. She stared back at me with those cute eyes. Her lips were trembling and then I –

My head was doused in shampoo as I started to scrub it maniacally.

DAMN IT! It doesn’t make any sense how could I –

The image of her fiery passionate body in my arms reappeared. Blood began to swell in my cheeks as well as other regions of my body.

“Traitor!”

I unleashed a hearty punch against my crotch immediately regretting my actions as the immense pain forced me to my knees. Knots built in my stomach as water rained down upon me.

That’s it. I’m going to get fired. I might even go to jail. Sexual Harrasser Kyosuke is what they’ll call me.

I closed my eyes and held back the tears with limited resolve. There’s no way I’ve ever seen Abukara like that. I can’t think of one time where I ever imaged her in such a romantic or passionate way and then suddenly, I was all over her.

My fingers graced my lips still sensing the sensation of her soft kiss. Even know her scent still permeated in the air.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

I jumped up onto my feet and immediately started scrubbing every inch of my body with soap. There couldn’t be any traces of her perfume or aura on me. I had to do a proper cleanse.

Curse you Devil Shoko!

Perhaps a prayer would help me exorcise the evil spirits that had taken over me in that one moment of foolishness. I lost count of how many times I ran that bar of soap over my skin by it felt significantly smaller when I was done.

Once the soap had finally flushed down the drain, I grabbed a towel and dried myself off before wrapping it around my waist. I headed into the kitchen and immediately seized a can of beer. Typically, I don’t drink during the week unless I’m with friends or clients but today was an exception.

I cracked the can open and within ten seconds the entire contents were dumped into my stomach. A hearty gasp followed as the delicious liquid swam joyfully within me. I couldn’t imagine falling asleep being easy after today.

My mind swelled with thoughts as I entered the bedroom. I didn’t bother organizing my discarded suit and just slipped into my sleepwear. The bed never felt more comfortable as I flopped down on top of it.

The white ceiling stared back at me while I contemplated my situation. While I couldn’t take back what I did, perhaps there was another way out of it.

Maybe Abukara hit her head against the wall and forget everything. Yes, that would be amazing!

I sighed and reminded myself this was not a comic book and stuff like that didn’t happen.

Perhaps she was so repulsed with what I did she just wants to forget it ever happen. Sure, that could be it.

Another sigh left my body as I thought about how we got into this fight. She was plotting to get be fired and this was a golden opportunity to pull that trigger. There’s no way she’d just let it go.

Suddenly, my cheeks started to warm up as I considered another option.

Or maybe, she felt the same thing I did at that time and was kissing me back!

Hold on a minute. What was she doing while we were kissing? I remember hold her back and head in my hands, but I can’t for the life of me thing about what she was doing? Was she struggling? Squeezing? Pushing? Pulling? Resisting? Moaning?! Crying?!

I viciously clutched my head and squeezed it tightly trying to juice the memory out of it like an orange.

“Son of a bitch! Why did I go and do that?!”

My body flopped like a starfish as a droning sigh escaped my lungs. Thinking about what to do next I took a deep breath and tried to honestly find a rational approach.

Maybe I’ll just avoid her. Yea, that’s possible.We speak through emails for the most part anyways.I could use my subordinates as an intermediary between use for any other communications.

I sat up excitedly and smashed my fist into my awaiting palm.

“That’s perfect! I’ll just stay away from her every day for the rest of my career!”

Laughter echoed into my bedroom as I finally found a bit of solace in the absurdity of what happened. I reached over to my fallen pants to retrieve my cellphone and see if I had any messages.

Suddenly, today’s date blared into me like the barrel of a gun.

Tomorrow is Tuesday. Every Tuesday we have a department to department meeting in the conference room to discuss our upcoming strategies for the week.

I collapsed back onto the bed. My breathing was shallow as my eyes rolled over into the back of my head. Life itself was being drained from my body. There was no way I could avoid this. I was going to have to confront the devil head on.

Maybe I should call in sick tomorrow…