By Zephyria 
Was it because the surroundings were so dark? Or was it because Aska’s touch was so gentle? In a strange place, unable to move or speak, I released all tension and fell asleep.
In the darkness where I couldn’t see an inch ahead, I vividly felt the gaze fixed on me, and I slept soundly without even dreaming.
“……”
How long has it been since I had such a refreshing morning?
Aska clearly collapsed the entrance, but the front was wide open. When did he clear away the fallen stones? And I didn’t wake up once during all that?
Several questions arose, but I cleared my mind and enjoyed the refreshing feeling while looking at the blue sky.
Looking closely, it seemed like there was a transparent film covering the entrance.
While I was sleeping, Aska cleared away the stones, put up a film presumably for camouflage at the entrance, and went somewhere. Left alone, I woke up leisurely and slowly raised my upper body.
My arms and ankles were still tied, so it took a lot of effort just to sit up.
“……”
Moreover, I still couldn’t make a sound.
The only slight change was that the unidentified white ropes around my wrists and ankles were connected and fixed to the floor. It was like a dog leash…
Just in case, I pulled my arm. As expected, it was meant for restraint, and the rope was pulled taut, preventing me from moving from my seated position. I could tell without bothering to get up and walk.
With this length, I couldn’t even touch the film at the entrance even if I stretched out my hand.
“……”
Have I ever been treated like this in my life?
It wasn’t the first time, but it was always part of a planned operation.
Of course, I am well aware that Aska’s condition is not normal. But regardless of that, I couldn’t help but feel annoyed.
How much further do I have to put up with? I’ve always been bad at this, so it was hard to decide how to deal with it. Normally, I wouldn’t have just stood by and taken it, but Aska is not in his right mind right now.
That was the biggest problem.
“……”
Where did he go without a word in that state?
I couldn’t tell if I was angry at being treated like a house-sitting dog or annoyed that Aska was gone when I woke up.
Should I bite my tongue and draw blood? For some reason, Aska could tell when I bled. Even if I got hurt, it would heal quickly, but if I bled even a little…
I was about to do it, but I stopped.
I still didn’t know how my injuries affected Aska. I was going to ask about it naturally yesterday, but suddenly I couldn’t speak…
“……”
I sighed silently and inadvertently turned my head. I saw some stones piled up in the corner. Were those there before? I tilted my head and belatedly looked around.
Aska was gone, and I was so busy looking outside that I started to notice things I hadn’t seen before.
There were layers of wide, long leaves laid out where I had been lying. They were so insignificant and no different from the stone floor that I didn’t even recognize them.
In the corner, there were several slightly larger stones piled up as I had seen before, and when I looked closely, they seemed like a stone tower. It was much smaller, but I saw something similar in my dream.
Definitely in the Greenhouse…
I narrowed my eyes and searched my memory when I heard the sound of flapping wings near my ear. I quickly turned my head and stared outside. Unlike the sound that was getting closer, I couldn’t see anything.
Then, Aska’s head suddenly popped out from under the entrance.
“……”
“……”
Aska, with only his face peeking out just above his nose, stared at me blankly. I thought some time had passed and he might have come to his senses after waking up, but seeing him like that, it seemed he hadn’t.
What are you doing there?
I couldn’t make a sound, so I just moved my lips. I saw his pupils dilate and then contract as he looked at my mouth.
Come quickly.
I said it again and even gestured for him to come, but Aska still didn’t move. Why is he doing that? He was like a wary beast, and I couldn’t understand him.
After a moment of staring, I turned my back and fell over. Actually, I didn’t mean to fall over, I just meant to turn my back and lie down, but I lost my balance.
My arm was bent behind me, so I couldn’t react and hit my head hard on the floor.
“……”
No, just as I was about to hit the floor, Aska quickly came over and put his hand between the floor and my head. Aska lowered his face over me, and his long hair fell down.
His face looked no different from before I fell asleep. His horns seemed a little bigger, but it was a slight difference. I admired Aska’s face for a moment and then raised my head and headbutted him.
My aim was off, and I hit his eyebrow bone instead of his forehead. Aska, who could have avoided it but took it quietly, looked down at me with a blank expression.
Where did you go?
As I moved my lips, I finally heard my voice.
“To get food.”
Aska gently lowered my head, which he had been supporting, to the floor and straightened his back. When his hair, which had been covering all sides like a curtain, disappeared, I saw various kinds of fruits scattered on the floor.
Fruit out of the blue? Here? It didn’t seem like there was any soil for plants to grow. Was there water in a specific place like an oasis in the desert?
While I was thinking that, Aska picked me up and sat me sideways on his lap. He bent one knee and had me lean against it, and he put his arm around my shoulder to make me comfortable.
“Let’s eat breakfast first.”
Aska picked up a fist-sized fruit from the floor and brought it to my mouth. I wasn’t hungry, and I wasn’t in the mood to eat anything right now.
I just stared at him with my mouth tightly closed, and Aska tapped the fruit on my lips as if knocking.
“I tried it, and it’s not poison. It’s a little sour, but it’s also sweet, so it’s delicious.”
“……”
What is this really? Playing house?
I turned my head to express that I didn’t want to eat it. And I said with my lips.
Let me talk again first.
I was so frustrated that I felt like I would get indigestion if I ate anything in this state. But Aska, who didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so, just stared at me blankly and brought the fruit to his mouth and took a bite.
The flesh was quite firm, and the sound of his teeth sinking in was quite loud. I had a feeling from the moment he put the fruit to his lips, and as expected, Aska lowered his head and kissed me.
It would have been strange to resist, so I had no choice but to open my lips, and the flesh came inside. I looked at Aska with a bewildered face and moved my jaw.
“It’s not too hard, is it? This was the only one with some texture. I’ll go further out and look for more later.”
It was a bit hard at first, but it became moderately soft as I chewed. There was also more juice than I thought, so it quenched my thirst a bit. As I chewed a few times and swallowed, Aska took another bite of the fruit and passed it to me with his mouth.
It was a slightly larger piece than before. After repeating that a few times, one fruit quickly disappeared.
“Do you want to try this too? This one is a bit mushy.”
Aska was holding something green, blunt, and long of unknown origin. The surface was smooth, and it was quite large, about the size of an arm.
I stared at it for a moment, sighed, and moved my lips.
Either untie my arms or let me speak, do one of the two.
I was going to bite my tongue this time if he said no again, but Aska, who seemed to be thinking for a moment, said.
“Then don’t say you want to go home. Can you do that?”
Does he really intend to live only the two of us in this wasteland? I thought it was something I said without thinking because the things I had been holding back had burst out, but Aska seemed serious.
Whatever the case, it was important to have my mouth free, so I nodded.
Aska rubbed my lower lip with his fingertip and then suddenly kissed me. He closed his eyes and licked inside, then took my tongue into his mouth and sucked on it, and his face looked somehow desperate.
The movement of his tongue was cautious, but the force of sucking was so strong that my tongue root hurt. I let him do as he pleased for a while, and then I moved my tongue towards my canine tooth.
I had been wanting to touch it because it was subtly visible whenever he spoke.
It just barely touched, but the flesh split and hot blood flowed.
“……!”
Aska looked up in surprise. Then he covered his mouth with both hands and looked at me with a shocked expression. I was just bewildered by his excessive reaction.
“Why are you so surprised?”
Oh, my voice is back.
“Blood!”
“What?”
“Blood!”
What about the blood? He’s been eating it just fine all this time, why is he suddenly acting like this?
Tears welled up in his eyes as if the world was collapsing. I rubbed the area that had been bitten by my canine tooth against the roof of my mouth. The wound had already healed a long time ago.
“Do you want more? Is it not enough yet?”
“I was holding it in so well!”
Aska screamed and squeezed his eyes shut. Tears started streaming down his cheeks.
“Holding what in? Don’t cry and explain.”
“Why did you feed it to me!”
“It wasn’t on purpose, it was an accident. And you started the kiss first. Why are you suddenly getting mad at me…”
I stopped, about to ask if he was angry.
Something was touching my butt.