By Zephyria 
The terrible pain from that brief moment had completely subsided. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, and the scratches on my side from my fingernails had already healed, leaving no discomfort.
At first, I thought it was just a pleasant and welcome phenomenon, but the moment I suspected it might be related to Aska, my heart grew heavy.
If Aska’s ability was really healing me, and if my injuries were somehow harming Aska in any way…
“…”
Without knowing any of that, I had been recklessly using my power, essentially hurting Aska.
As soon as numerous assumptions converged on a conclusion, my vision blurred. Of course, all of this was just speculation, but it seemed so plausible that it was hard to dismiss as mere nonsense.
The problem was, why the hell was Aska doing this?
“Aska.”
I wasn’t sure if provoking him was the right thing to do, but I couldn’t bear the curiosity. As soon as I called his name, wanting to resolve this question somehow, a blood-red gaze landed on me.
He was the one who knocked me down and sucked my blood, yet he looked at me as if to say, “Why is this thing here?”
“If you’re done eating, come down. You’re heavy.”
“…”
“Actually, you’re not heavy. Anyway, you can understand me, right? We were talking just fine a moment ago.”
“…”
I spoke calmly, using the kindest and gentlest voice and tone I could muster.
Perhaps it worked. Or maybe he just calmed down from drinking blood, but thankfully, he didn’t show any violent movements. He just stared at me, his blood-smeared hand gently caressing my face.
He leisurely stroked my forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks, and lips, then spread his five fingers wide. Then, as if he had made some great discovery, he stared intently at his hand with widened eyes.
“…”
Aska, who had been gazing at his bloodied hand for a while, stuck out his red tongue and began to lick it.
“…”
The horns, which had been like grains of rice before, had grown larger in the meantime, now about the size of a pinky fingernail. They protruded only slightly on his left forehead, making him look particularly cute even in this situation.
Then, Aska, having licked all the blood from his fingers, lowered his head towards me. Was he going to eat more? How hungry was he? Whatever the case, it seemed best to feed him until he was full. Before Aska could even touch me, I turned my head to the side and offered my neck.
But Aska didn’t put his mouth to my neck; instead, he roughly grabbed my chin and turned my head back forward. Then, like a cat drinking milk, he licked around my mouth.
“…”
His tongue wasn’t rough like a real cat’s. It was soft like down and strangely hot as it moved cautiously. I didn’t even blink as I observed Aska’s face up close.
I had been too preoccupied before to examine him in such detail.
Was this form closer to his original appearance? Then what was that mass I saw in my dream? Could that have been his infant form? Maybe he looked like that when he was young and changed like this when he became an adult.
It was hard to imagine such a creature existing, but Aska was a Magical creature. There were flying earthworms, so it was possible.
While I was thinking that, Aska’s tongue passed over almost every part of my face. He was even licking the boundary between my forehead and scalp now. He seemed to dislike the feeling of hair on his tongue, wrinkling his face and shuddering with his tongue sticking out.
Then he bit the roots of my hair and started pulling hard.
He was acting no different from a beast.
If I went bald because of this, it would be a disaster, so I gently pushed Aska’s shoulder.
“Don’t pull, it hurts.”
“…”
There was no way a beast would listen to human words. The force of his biting and pulling grew stronger. Eventually, I put my hand on Aska’s lips and pushed his face away.
“I said stop it. My hair will fall out.”
“…”
“Just stop…”
The moment I put strength into the hand pushing Aska away, my wrist was quickly grabbed. Long nails dug into my skin, and I felt a pressure that felt like my bones would break. My fingertips quickly went numb from the lack of blood flow.
“Okay, bite. Tear it all out. Do whatever you want.”
I pushed my head towards Aska and said in resignation. Did he think my hair was weeds? He was like a rabbit pulling grass.
After that, I relaxed my body and stayed still, and naturally, Aska’s grip also loosened. I glanced at my wrist to check its condition.
There were clear marks from his nails digging in and handprints. Extreme pain like a fatal wound would have been easier to endure. The throbbing and stinging from these minor injuries were more irritating because they bothered my nerves.
While I was thinking that, the bleeding stopped and the nail marks disappeared.
While I was looking at my wrist, Aska kept licking the center of my forehead. I didn’t know why he was doing this when there was no blood on it anymore.
He licked my forehead, then used his teeth to scratch my brow bone, and now he was touching my eyelashes with his tongue. At first, I just endured it with my eyes closed and my face scrunched up, but then I suddenly became curious and cautiously opened my eyes.
“…”
I wondered if he would really do it, but without the slightest hesitation, his tongue licked my eyeball. This was a new experience for me. It wasn’t a very pleasant feeling, so I closed my eyes again, but Aska forced me to lift my head.
When I reflexively opened my eyes, Aska was looking at me with an unpleasant expression.
“Why do you keep licking me? It’s not like you’re drinking blood. Are you a dog?”
“Not dog.”
Then, language finally came out of Aska’s mouth, not panting or groaning.
“Oh, he’s talking.”
I smiled brightly with delight and asked,
“Are you more conscious now?”
“Not dog.”
“He’s still not in his right mind.”
“Say not dog.”
“Then what are you?”
I was hoping he might tell me his identity, but what came out of Aska’s mouth was like something a five-year-old would say.
“Me Aska.”
“…”
I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t say anything and just moved my lips. Then Aska lowered his head again. He looked like he was going to lick my lips for a long time again.
But I couldn’t just lie here and let him do this. I waited for a moment and stuck my tongue out at the moment Aska stuck his tongue out.
When our tongues touched, Aska was surprisingly startled and stood up abruptly. I was the one who had been licked all this time, but judging by his expression, you’d think he was the one who had been victimized.
Aska covered his mouth with his hand and looked at me with trembling eyes, then cautiously lowered his head again. The tongue peeking out from his parted lips was trembling. His tail was also wagging faster than before, but it wasn’t threatening.
He seemed to be expecting something, so I stuck my tongue out one more time as he wanted. Our tongues touched for a longer time than before. It was only a few seconds, but Aska couldn’t stand it and stood up again.
This time, he didn’t just raise his upper body, but stood up completely and took several steps back. He had only touched me, not even kissed me, so why was he so embarrassed? We had already done more than that.
Anyway, I thought this was my chance and quickly got up and took a stance.
Aska, who was covering his mouth with both hands and crouching down with his back turned, quickly turned his head towards me as soon as I stood up. His face, which had been full of excitement, instantly contorted.
“Don’t move.”
It was an overreaction. I took a step back slowly, feeling puzzled. Then, in the blink of an eye, Aska approached me and reached out his hand.
I had a feeling that if I got caught by that hand, I would at least suffer a fracture, so I unconsciously dodged it. As soon as the distance widened, Aska came close again. As I reflexively dodged this way and that, I even ended up swinging the sword I was holding.
“!”
I hadn’t consciously attacked; my body had moved on its own. Fortunately, Aska dodged it easily, but he stopped in his tracks, surprised.
“Why run away?”
Aska asked with an expression mixed with anger, bewilderment, and sadness.
“When did I run away? You’re the one who ran away.”
“Never do that.”
“You left me alone earlier.”
“Never!”
Aska shouted anxiously and charged again. After talking to him a few times, I could tell for sure. Whether he had regressed to a childlike state or was just driven by instinct, his mental age didn’t seem very high.
There had been similar situations when I was young. Back then, he would just cry, saying he was in pain, but was it because he had become an adult? Still, he seemed to be able to say more than he did back then.
“Why do you keep running away!”
“Because you can’t control your strength.”
“You hid inside and wouldn’t let me touch you!”
“When did I? And you’re the one who put up that barrier, not me. Don’t you remember?”
I had managed to run away somehow, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Aska was going easy on me. Whether he had regained some of his sanity or was still rough, he was trying in his own way not to hurt me.
Otherwise, there was no reason why Aska couldn’t catch me like this. For now, I’ll keep running away in this state and have a conversation…
That’s when it happened. Aska, who had been moving fine all along, suddenly stepped on his own hair and stumbled, falling down with a loud noise.
“Aska!”
I was so surprised that I unknowingly threw away the sword I was holding and ran over. I didn’t expect his head, which was bowed deeply, to lift. Had he fallen badly and injured a bone? As I reached out my arm with concern, Aska grabbed my wrist tightly, as if he had been waiting for it.
“…”
“…”
From the look in his eyes, full of anger and glaring at me, I realized belatedly that I had been tricked.