Rika sat cross-legged on the cold marble floor, her back against the wall, breathing shallowly. The room was cramped, dimly lit by a pale blue light that emanated from the object at its center—the Spike. It hovered silently between two cylindrical structures, one embedded in the ceiling and the other in the floor, like an eerie sculpture defying gravity.

The elongated octahedron glimmered faintly, spinning slowly on its axis. It looked deceptively delicate, almost elegant, but Rika knew better. This was no ordinary bomb. The Spike didn’t produce fire or heat—no inferno would swallow the building. Instead, it unleashed a devastating shockwave of pure Marma energy, capable of reducing everything within its radius to dust in the blink of an eye. There were several of these things scattered throughout the facility. That knowledge sat like a rock in the pit of her stomach, her anxiety gnawing at her nerves with every passing second.

'What if we don’t make it out?' The thought repeated in her mind, stubborn and relentless. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, knuckles white from the tension.

Across from her, Kazuki leaned heavily against the opposite wall, slouched and motionless except for the slow, shallow rise and fall of his chest. His eyes were dim, sunken from exhaustion and pain. But beneath the fatigue, there was something else—a raw, feral hunger gnawing away at him.

Rika could see it clearly now, flickering like a dangerous flame behind his dark, tired eyes. It wasn’t just hunger—it was a gnawing, ravenous need, something that went beyond mere food. He looked like a predator on the brink, as if the very act of restraining himself was eroding his sanity.

'He’s starving,' Rika realized with a knot of unease tightening in her gut.

This was common in Ghouls. It started small: lethargy, dizziness. Then came the cravings, the loss of control. If left unchecked, hunger like his could spiral into madness—into something violent, uncontrollable.

Now that Rika though about it, Kazuki had been here for a couple of days now, and had fought a few fights, manifested Aura, and even killed. Last time he drank the blood was when they were still home. The resilience Kazuki had shown was insane. No Ghoul could have done it. He wasn’t even consuming meat, just the blood.

“Hey,” she whispered, her voice quiet, almost drowned out by the hum of the Spike. “You hanging in there?”

Kazuki’s head tilted slightly, and he blinked at her slowly, as though the effort of focusing on her face was too much. His lips were dry, cracked, and his breath came out in slow, shallow bursts. But he managed a weak smirk, the kind of smile that carried no joy—only exhaustion and desperation.

“Just peachy,” he muttered, his voice hoarse. His fingers twitched at his side, as if clenching invisible threads of patience.

She shifted uncomfortably, trying to suppress her rising anxiety. They had to stay focused. They had to hold on just a little longer.

Rika silently got up and slowly made her way towards Kazuki.

She took off her cloak on her way, revealing the familiar tracksuit she wore underneath. She then calmly sat beside him. Not a single word escaped her lips. Both of them sat together, their hearts beating, and souls crushing with the weight of the impending future.

“Kazuki,” She said, her eyes still looking straight ahead and not at Kazuki, “I want you to take a bite out of me.”

Her head turned towards Kazuki.

Kazuki’s eyes which were filled with a blurred chaos were now calm with stillness of shock.

“What are you saying?” Kazuki blurted out.

“You can feel it too, don’t you?” She said calmly as she unzipped her jacket.

“Feel what? I don’t feel anything.” He said, even the darkness couldn’t hide his lie.

“A prey is sitting beside you, while you are hungry.” Rika said, “Even then you are choosing to control the hunger.”

“You will go insane in a while. The hunger, it will consume you.”

“And, I don’t want to see that crazy Kazuki again.” She said as her jacket came off revealing her crop top.

Kazuki chose to stay silent.

“Now, come on, take a bite.” She whispered as she sat with her back against him.

She settled her hair on one side and then signaled him to bite her trapezius shoulder muscle.

Kazuki gulped.

***

Kazuki’s throat tightened, his lips trembling as he tried to swallow down the dryness clinging to his mouth. The gnawing hunger in his gut twisted and burned, sending jagged waves of agony through his body. His muscles ached from restraint, every fiber screaming for release—screaming for meat.

It was unbearable.

He clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms, drawing thin lines of blood. His mind fought tooth and claw to keep from spiraling, from letting the hunger overwhelm him. It felt like trying to hold back a flood with cracked dam walls—every second spent not giving in made the urge more relentless, more intimate.

And then there was Rika. Sitting there, so close, the warmth of her body radiating against his side. He could hear her heartbeat, steady but controlled, as if she were determined to drown out her own fear. The scent of her skin reached him—salt, sweat, the iron tang of life beneath the surface—and it sent a shiver down his spine, a shiver that stirred something feral deep inside.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

‘She's offering herself to you.’

A voice echoed in his mind, low and insidious. Maybe it was his own, maybe it wasn’t. Kazuki couldn’t care less.

‘She knows you're starving. She knows what you are. Why are you still holding back?’

Kazuki squeezed his eyes shut, trying to drown out the noise, but it was no use. The hunger roared through him like a second pulse, pounding louder than his heartbeat, louder than her words. Every instinct screamed at him to bite, tear, devour—to feed before it was too late, before he lost the small, fragile sliver of control he still clung to.

‘I can’t do this. I can’t…’

But the hunger didn’t care. It twisted inside him, making his insides churn with nausea, making his hands tremble as he tried to steady his breath. Every second without food was like a blade cutting deeper, wearing away at his will.

Rika shifted, pulling her hair to one side, exposing the pale curve of her shoulder. The sight of her bare skin sent a fresh jolt of hunger down his spine—a wave of such sharp need that he gasped, his teeth aching, mouth watering despite himself. He hated this part of himself. Hated how close he was to snapping.

“Now, come on, take a bite.” she whispered softly, as if coaxing a wounded animal.

Kazuki’s fingers twitched at his sides, nails scraping against the ground beneath him. He could feel the ache in his jaw now, feel his canines sharpening with every second that passed. His breath came out in ragged bursts, hot against the cold air. He was slipping, and he knew it.

‘Just a bite,’ the hunger whispered seductively. ‘Just one bite, and you’ll be fine.’

He leaned in slowly, as if moving too fast would shatter what little control he had left. His head hovered just above her shoulder, and the scent of her skin filled his senses, intoxicating and unbearable. His lips parted, and his breath ghosted over her bare flesh. She didn’t flinch.

‘She trusts me,’ he realized, the thought both grounding and terrifying.

His jaw tightened, and for a moment, he thought he might pull back—thought he might find the strength to resist. But then the hunger surged forward like a tidal wave, drowning out reason, drowning out everything except the need to feed.

A sharp growl escaped his throat—low, animalistic, and involuntary. He could feel his sanity slipping, piece by piece, like sand through his fingers. His mouth closed over her shoulder before he could stop himself, and the moment his teeth sank into her flesh, the world went silent.

The warmth of blood flooded his mouth, metallic, sweet and rich, and for a brief, horrifying moment, it was bliss. Every nerve in his body lit up, the hunger momentarily sated as his teeth dug deeper into the soft muscle of her trapezius. He felt her flinch, heard the sharp intake of her breath—but she didn’t scream, didn’t push him away.

Kazuki wanted to stop—needed to stop—but the taste was overwhelming. His jaw tightened instinctively, and his hands shot to her shoulders, gripping her like a lifeline. A twisted part of him didn’t want to let go. The hunger whispered sweet nothings in his mind, urging him to take more, to lose himself in it.

His jaw closed around her flesh, and with a sickening tear, the chunk of meat pulled free from her shoulder. It came away smoother than he expected, warm and pliant, like silk unraveling under a sharp blade. The texture was soft, almost tender, and for a brief, horrifying moment, it felt as though it were dissolving on his tongue—melting into his senses like the answer to a need far deeper than hunger. The taste hit him immediately: metallic, raw, sweet, and rich, coated with the faint salt of her sweat and the bitter undertone of iron.

Kazuki froze mid-chew, panic clawing at the edges of his mind, but the hunger drowned it out. The flesh was dissolving—each bite sliding down his throat too easily, as though his body had been waiting for this moment all along. His tongue moved on instinct, savoring every part of it, each nerve igniting in primal satisfaction. The sensation was intoxicating, dragging him deeper into a fog of animalistic pleasure.

The hunger surged forward like an unstoppable tide. He swallowed reflexively, his throat convulsing as the bite disappeared down into the empty void inside him. A wave of relief washed over him—brief, fleeting, but euphoric. His entire body shuddered as the fire in his gut flickered, momentarily quelled by the flesh he’d consumed.

But it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

His vision blurred at the edges, dark and hazy, and his hands trembled as they rested on her shoulders. His nails dug into her skin, involuntarily clenching as his instincts screamed for more. One bite wasn’t enough—it never was. The gnawing, insatiable emptiness within him clawed its way back almost instantly, wrapping around his mind like barbed wire.

‘Just another bite,’ the voice in his head whispered, seductive and relentless. ‘One more, and it’ll stop. You can make it stop.’

His breath came in harsh bursts, ragged and uneven. He knew if he didn’t pull away now, he wouldn’t stop. The hunger would take over, dragging him into a place he couldn’t return from. The edges of his sanity were crumbling, each second threatening to plunge him deeper into a madness that terrified him more than anything.

But then, through the fog, he felt her hand—steady, firm—gently tap his thigh.

“Kazuki.”

Her voice was soft but clear, cutting through the haze like a knife. It wasn’t a plea, wasn’t fearful. Just a reminder.

Kazuki’s eyes snapped open, and reality crashed back in. He released her shoulder with a gasp, pulling away as though her skin had burned him. Blood dripped from his lips, warm against the cold night air. His chest heaved, and for a moment, all he could do was stare at the mark he’d left—a jagged bite wound, deep enough to scar, but not enough to cripple.

Rika shifted, rolling her shoulder experimentally. Her face was pale, her breath shallow, but she didn’t seem angry. She looked back at him with a mixture of exhaustion and understanding—like she’d expected this.

Kazuki wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, disgusted with himself. The hunger inside him was quieter now, but it hadn’t disappeared. It never truly disappeared. It just waited, lurking beneath the surface, waiting for the next moment of weakness.

“I…” His voice cracked, and he shook his head. What could he even say? Sorry wouldn’t cut it.

Rika gave him a small, tired smile, as if to say, ‘It’s alright. I knew what I was asking for.’

The shame hit him harder than the hunger ever had.

He turned his gaze away from her, fists clenching once more. The taste of her blood still lingered on his tongue, and deep down, he knew one thing with absolute certainty.

This wasn’t the last time he’d have to fight the monster inside him.

***

Kazuki sat slouched against the wall, his face bathed in the dim blue light radiating from the Spike, its glow casting a stark contrast against his haunted expression. The taste of Rika’s blood still lingered, sharp and grounding, the clarity it brought like a jolt to his senses.

His eyes lingered on her as she sat cross-legged, jacket thrown back on, her eyes closed in focus, she looked beautiful as she worked on mending herself.

“Even though that Ghoul said no one’s likely to show,” Rika spoke, her voice calm but threaded with a steel-like resolve, “if someone does come, we fight them together. But if, at any point, I tell you to run—you’re going to run.”

Kazuki snapped out of his daze. “What? No—”

She cut him off, her voice steady as she tossed her phone towards him, which he caught on reflex. “Just listen. You’ll run, and you’ll bring back help. Eiji, Endo, my dad—anyone.”

He gripped the phone tightly, jaw clenched as he looked at her, but Rika’s eyes held no room for argument. “I can probably handle most threats,” she said, her pupil glowing Cyan, her sclera black. “Unless… the other party’s an Epithet holder.”

Kazuki didn’t argue any further. He had realized that Rika was right. She was way stronger than Kazuki, so it was more probable for her to survive against a powerful foe.