Around noon, after finishing the busy work, Shichen ate lunch together with Tohru and Chisato.
Tohru made a lavish meal, and both of them kept giving Shichen food, leaving him no chance to pick up dishes by himself.
Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't come back; Shichen didn't notify her either. In the afternoon, when school let out, he planned to pick her up to give her a surprise.
After lunch, Tohru and Chisato became rather clingy. While there were no customers, they each held on to Shichen from one side, unwilling to let him go anywhere.
He certainly didn't dislike the two of them being so affectionate—if anything, he enjoyed it.
They told him all that had happened during this past month, but honestly, there wasn't much; it didn't differ much from when he was around. No one had bothered them.
Originally, he'd figured someone might try to make a move on either of them while he was gone, since they were both so attractive that anyone could be enthralled. Opposite sexes do tend to attract each other.
Yet it turned out there was no such thing, which was good—saved him any jealousy.
"By the way, how come those customers call you 'Chisato-chan'? Did you already capture their hearts so quickly?" Once their stories were finished, Shichen couldn't help but ask Chisato.
"That's all Tohru's fault," Chisato said, giving Tohru a mock-annoyed look.
Shichen also turned to look at her.
"Tohru: 'What does this have to do with me?'" Tohru asked, baffled.
"Isn't it because you call me by name so loudly every day, so the customers overheard?"
"Oh, so you're saying they all picked up on it themselves?" Shichen nodded in understanding.
"Yeah," Chisato confirmed with a broad grin at Shichen. "So why did you suddenly ask about that, Chen-nii? Don't tell me you're jealous?"
"Huh? Can't I be?" Shichen admitted generously.
"Aww, that makes me really happy!" Chisato beamed brightly.
"Is that right?" He smiled as well.
"What's this about jealousy? Why would Chen-dono be jealous of Chisato? Did something happen? I want Chen-dono to be jealous of me, too!" Tohru, not following at all, simply chimed in enthusiastically.
"All right, all right. Next time for sure."
"Hee hee~"
In the afternoon, Shichen changed into his manager uniform, returning to his post at the cashier. He had little to do since there were no customers for the moment.
Meanwhile, Chisato and Tohru stayed in the kitchen, studying new recipes. They wouldn't let Shichen watch.
Truth be told, many of the dishes they'd made at lunchtime were already the result of their experiments, so presumably they'd succeeded.
But if they hadn't fully succeeded, then as girls, they'd be too shy to show the partially finished results.
Since Tohru soon came out from the kitchen pulling Shichen along to go shopping for ingredients, the lesson didn't last long.
Buying groceries was typically Tohru's responsibility, because transporting them back was easy for her. Even with Shichen accompanying her, Chisato didn't suspect much.
Yet that wasn't how Shichen saw it. Indeed, as he'd suspected, not long after they left the café, Tohru cast an invisibility spell and then transformed into her giant dragon self, carrying Shichen skyward.
He didn't argue with her. He actually wanted to take his revenge from last time.
This time, he'd show the dragon maid how strong he'd become.
"Chen-dono, we've arrived."
"It's still here, huh." Shichen stood up, finding they'd come to the same place as last time beneath the open sky.
Clouds quickly gathered, forming a bed of cotton so large that Tohru could sprawl on it.
Once again, with a single mutual sense, Tohru soared down upon it. Shichen casually let himself drop down onto it.
"Chen-dono, you—?" Tohru noticed something different about him.
"Didn't I say? I went off to gain power, not to sightsee." Shichen looked up at her, his hands on his hips, showing off.
"Chen-dono is amazing!" Tohru genuinely felt proud, truly glad that he'd become stronger. Then she returned to her giant dragon form, soared in the sky, and quickly shrank into her human shape, once again entirely unclothed, descending onto the clouds.
"That means I'm pretty strong now. Soon, I'll be able to avenge you," Shichen said, his gaze roaming across Tohru's body without concealment.
"Mhm, I trust you, Chen-dono!" Tohru, naive about human modesty, didn't mind.
"You're not curious to see just how strong I've gotten?" Shichen teased.
"Chen-dono, now isn't the time to be talking!" Tohru smiled broadly, stepping toward Shichen.
"Well…just watch. Soon you'll see," he smirked.
"Huh?" Tohru tilted her head, confused.
Shichen looked her up and down, remembering to confirm. "The barrier is set up, right?"
"Yes, no one will notice anything that happens here!" Tohru grew more and more eager.
"Great."
"Chen-dono, allow me to help take your clothes off." Tohru couldn't wait, reaching her hands forward.
"…All right." He pursed his lips and turned his back to her.
"Hee hee~" Tohru slipped her arms around from behind him, undoing his buttons.
Feeling her softness pressed against his back, Shichen's breathing quickened.
He freed one hand and lightly caressed Tohru's hair.
"Chen-dono…," Tohru whispered, and in no time, his manager uniform had fallen to the clouds, leaving only his boxers.
Shichen turned around, eyes locking on Tohru's soft fair skin, heated desire in his gaze.
"Chen-dono?" Tohru was puzzled by his reaction.
"Tohru…" he said, breathing raggedly. "I…might need a bit of your blood."
"My blood?" Tohru blinked. "My blood is poisonous to humans."
"For me, it should be fine."
"I see. Then take all you need," Tohru smiled warmly.
"Mhm!"
Unable to contain his instincts, Shichen pulled Tohru tight, lowering his mouth to her neck. His newly emerged fangs sank into her flesh.
"Mm…!" Tohru's eyes grew drowsy, letting out a soft murmur.
This wasn't just feeding—nor purely an act of drinking blood. For a vampire, it was its own kind of pleasure.
Tohru had been stirred to passion.
Shichen greedily sucked at her boiling-hot blood. He had thought it might taste metallic or tangy, but instead it was sweet like nectar.
He dared not drink too much. As soon as one of the Divine Fragment inside him began to glow, he pulled back.
"SKREE—!"
Just then, a crisp, resounding call rang out from inside him. With it surged a massive wave of magic from his body into the sky.
That wave of magic stopped at the top of the barrier, gradually forming into a colossal, multicolored avian beast, which began to circle and glide in flight.
"…That's…!" Shichen recognized it at once.
So these were his familiars?
No wonder the Fourth Primogenitor's beasts hadn't matched him—compared to these, they were overshadowed.
"Chen-dono…" Tohru's dreamy voice sounded once more.
Shichen lowered his gaze onto Tohru's enchanting face, her neck stained in blood.
Now clearly wasn't the moment to worry about familiars.
He bent down and claimed Tohru's lips.
She rose up to meet him in a passionate response.
"SKREE—!"
Above, the multicolored bird screeched. On the sea of clouds below, a girl's softly resonant melody echoed.
The two combined, rather than feeling odd, seemed strangely harmonious.
~~~
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