EP.4.5 Under the Moonlight -1
EP.4.5 Under the Moonlight -1
The sharp sting of alcohol and the faint smell of gunpowder.
It was the smell coming from my body, now bearing one through-and-through wound and two grazes from bullets.
"Uuuu, normally I'd be the one to heal wounds like this... I'm sorry."
Seeing Miho so genuinely dejected she drooped like a wilting flower, I couldn't help but let out a wry smile.
"Nothing you can do about it, right? You already used up all five uses of your ability for today."
"Nnng..."
If she could use her Materialization Ability, the wounds could be made to disappear as if they had never happened.
In fact, when I took a bullet to the leg from Majo's gun before, Miho's ability erased the wound so completely that I hadn't even needed to go to the hospital.
But on this mission, Miho had already exhausted every use of her power, which meant the Materialization Ability that could make my wounds vanish was unusable.
Even if the bullets had barely missed my organs, any human would die if the holes still leaking blood weren't plugged.
If I had been a Divine Beast like them, I might have endured it. In reality, I was only a fragile human.
This time, I'd decided to quietly rely on the power of modern medicine, since it was simply impossible for someone like me to hold out until tomorrow on willpower alone.
"As soon as it's past midnight, I'll heal you right away, so please just bear with it a little longer."
"No, you don't need to. I just got treated. Wouldn't people find it strange if I was completely healed in a day?"
"But you'd still be in pain until it's all the way healed, wouldn't you, husband?"
"Well, yes, but it's fine. I'm used to being in pain, anyway."
The gunshot wounds I'd picked up this time were a joke compared to the agony of being hit by a truck and feeling like I was going to die.
Apart from the wounded areas, the rest of my body could move freely, and the injured spots themselves were at least in a state where I could move them if I endured a certain amount of pain.
On the other hand, when I'd had surgery after being hit by that truck, I'd been stuck for an entire month unable to move a single finger, and every time my body shifted even slightly, the feeling of my bones grinding against each other had forced me to scream in agony.
So I really couldn't complain and whine that my body hurt then.
"Oh, now that I think about it, husband. Do you know where that thieving crow wench went?"
"If you mean Yata, she went back to her old city for a bit. She said she'd pack her things and come to live with us at our place starting tomorrow."
"Our newlywed home is going to be defiled by that crow wench's feet... I'll have to disinfect the place as soon as we get back."
"Don't be so cold to her. Yata helped us out a lot this time, didn't she?"
"Are you referring to how she showed up at the very end and snatched you away when I was about to catch you?"
"No, not that..."
According to Yata.
[There were some snipers setting up near the abandoned building to shoot at you, dear husband, so I went and killed every last one of them!]
Meaning if Yata hadn't been there, I might well have ended up a bullet-riddled mess as I fell and met a miserable end.
So I was sincerely grateful to Yata.
The terrorists' sniper placement was a variable even I hadn't anticipated at all.
"That's simply what one should do as your Companion Animal. If you had permitted me my freedom, husband, I could have slaughtered all those insects in an instant myself!"
She seemed regretful that she hadn't been able to.
"Anyway, it is true that the crow wench did something good, but you don't need to be too grateful for it! Is that understood?"
"Uh, uhhuh..."
Miho's jealousy remained as potent as ever.
Still, maybe because her jealousy this time lacked its usual terror, it came across as a tiny bit cute.
Was it because the sight of a jealous fox puffing out both cheeks was so refreshing, compared to her staring at me with those dead eyes?
"Oh, speaking of which, Miho, I've been wondering about something."
"Yes? What is it?"
"Do you, uh, have something special going on today?"
"Every single day I spend with you, husband, is special to me."
"No, not something like that. How should I put it... something like a cycle, maybe?"
"If you happen to be asking about my ovulation day! It's in two days!"
"Forget it, just pretend you didn't hear that..."
The reason I'd suddenly fired off such a question at Miho was because of the advice Yata had given me before she'd left this place.
[Oh, right. You'd better be careful of that beast-wench tonight, dear husband.]
[Huh? Why?]
[I'm sorry, but if I tell you the reason, the future will change drastically, so I can't tell you that.]
[Then could you at least give me one hint?]
[A hint... well, if I have to pick one, I suppose you could say it's the moon.]
[The moon? What about the moon?]
[You'll know once you see it for yourself. Anyway, you must be careful.]
I still had no idea what Yata meant by those words.
Why had she warned me in advance that I needed to be on guard against Miho?
"Husband, you must be thirsty, right? I brought you some water!"
"Thanks."
Even as I nursed those suspicions, I was receiving Miho's devoted nursing care.
Without a trace of hesitation...
***
"Nnngh...?"
My consciousness was slowly trickling back.
The accumulated fatigue in my body must have been inescapable, because it seemed I'd fallen asleep right after dinner.
I couldn't tell the exact time I awoke, but it was around the time when the full moon hung right in the middle of the sky.
I'd woken up at an awfully awkward hour.
I wished I could have slept straight through until morning...
But unfortunately, a strange sensation coming from my lower body had forced me awake.
"What the...?"
Still in a half-asleep daze, I pulled back the blanket...
"Haaah... ♡ Haaah... ♡ The smell of my husband... ♡"
Miho was there, her nose buried against my underwear, drool dripping in a steady stream, and at that sight, my fleeing sanity came back all at once.
"M-Miho?! What are you doing right now!"
Just when had she pulled my pants down?!
"Ah...! Husband! You're awake? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you..."
"No, that's fine, but would you mind explaining exactly what you're doing right now?"
"Your scent, beloved husband, it's so wonderful, I couldn't help myself... I was just smelling it for a moment ♡"
With a mouthful of amylase already pooled inside her mouth, her claim somehow carried not one ounce of credibility.
Didn't she look more like someone desperate to have a taste?
And just imagining that sent a chill down my spine.
"I don't mind you smelling me, but burying your nose right in my crotch is a bit much, don't you think...?"
"But this is where your scent is the thickest, husband, you see? So much that once you start smelling it, you can never get enough... ♡"
Since when had my crotch become a drug?
Well, there was that slang about "tail-caine" out there, I suppose...
Anyway, the sight of a woman smelling my crotch and drooling was completely beyond all common sense.
No, "beyond" doesn't even cover it—it was more like it had smashed straight through the boundary of common sense and departed entirely.
"So, I was wondering... would it be okay if I kept smelling it just a little longer?"
Of course it was not...!
"Or perhaps, just a tiny little taste? Only the very tip... ♡"
Seeing Miho smack her lips and lick them with such relish, only one thought surfaced.
Had she gone completely insane?!
Something was wrong. Even on a normal day, I acknowledged Miho was crazy, but she'd never been this overt about it.
But the Miho right now was, to all intents and purposes, openly panting like a dog going, Master! Let's do it...!
"S-sorry!"
I shoved Miho away, scrambled out of the hospital bed, and went straight out of the room.
"Yata was right! Miho right now is dangerous...!"
I ended up shouting it again inside my own head.
Damn it...!
Her prophecy had been spot on.
"...Husband? Why is that cheap crow-skull wench's name coming out of your mouth right now?"
"Ah...!"
The instant I realised I had spoken a forbidden word aloud, I clamped a hand over my mouth. It was already too late.
"Huhuhu... is that so? So you like that crow wench more than me, husband?"
"Th-that's not it at all!"
But my cry didn't seem to reach Miho's ears.
"You were always meant to be my Human Companion alone...! I've watched over you for 20 years straight and loved you...! And yet you like some wench who showed up out of nowhere in a single day that much?"
Every sense in my entire body started screaming at me to run away right that instant.
"I'm done holding back now. At the very least, I'm taking your first experience for myself before some other wench can steal it...!!"
Those hollow eyes of Miho's that I had seen countless times before.
But the madness dwelling within them was shining brighter than it ever had.
"Help! Anyone, I don't care who, please, help me!!"
I knew in my head that I was supposed to be quiet in a hospital, but even my head was telling me right then to scream for my life.
If I did not scream...!
[Early this morning at a hospital in Central City, a man in his 20s was found deceased...]
[On the hospital bed where Mr. Y, a man in his 20s, had been lying, a large quantity of bodily fluids was discovered, and Mr. Y's cause of death was determined to be death by autoerotic asphyxiation...]
[Hospital CCTV yielded no clue as to the suspect, and the hospital is reporting it as suicide by extreme masturbation...]
The news reels automatically started playing inside my head, showing me a horrific future.
That last headline, above all, had to be avoided at any cost.
That would have been no different from killing my already-doomed self a second time.
"Is there no one out there? If you're there, please, save me!!"
"It's no use, husband~ ♡ I've already cast an illusion over every single person inside the hospital, you see!"
'I... I was screwed!! What would I do now? What the hell was I supposed to do!'
A hospital in the middle of the night, with no help to be hoped for.
I'd ended up in a situation where I had to run for my life and survive against my own Companion Animal in heat.