Cohabitation (2)
"Tonkatsu delivery!"
The moment I pushed open the night-duty room door and called out, a flash of red hair rocketed up from the bed like a lightning strike.
"You're late."
Elise flung her tablet aside and lunged at me—or, more precisely, at the takeout containers in my hands.
"Three minutes late. I almost burned you to ash, but I held back."
"The elevator was under maintenance, so I ran the stairs. Cut me some slack."
Still panting, I set the tonkatsu out on the table. The smell of crisp fried batter and sweet sauce filled the room, and Elise's brow finally smoothed.
"Hmm. The smell passes."
She snatched up a fork and speared a cutlet without hesitation. Then, right before it reached her mouth, she flicked her fingers out of pure habit.
Fwoosh.
"Ah—Inmate! If you reheat fried food, it goes soggy!"
"Shut up. I don't eat cold food."
Only after she'd deep-fried the tonkatsu one more time in hellfire did she finally bring it to her lips.
Crunch.
A bright, cheerful crackle. Thankfully, it hadn't turned into a lump of charcoal.
"How is it? The cafeteria lady specially fried the meat extra thick for us."
"Not bad. Pass."
She chewed with her cheeks stuffed full, and with her free hand she tugged at my sleeve.
"You sit too. Standing there gets on my nerves."
"Yes, yes."
I sat across from her and opened my own lunch box. We ate facing each other across the narrow table—an S-rank witch and an F-rank warden sharing a meal. Anyone else who saw it would have frothed at the mouth and collapsed on the spot.
"Hey."
"Yes?"
"Those rat bastards from earlier. You take care of them?"
"Take care of them? I just scared them a little."
"Boring. You should've just burned the whole lot."
Elise licked sauce from her lips as she said something bloodcurdling.
"I left my scent on you, so they won't touch you for a while. If they do again, tell me. Next time I'll turn them into real ash."
She wasn't bluffing. I still remembered how the venom Cell 304 had been pouring out evaporated in an instant. A marking branded onto me, I supposed. A kind of shield—and, somehow, a claim of ownership.
I'm grateful, but… it's a little terrifying.
The second the meal was over, Elise crawled straight back onto the bed. Full stomach, warm back—drowsiness seemed to be settling in.
"Haa… hot."
She whined. Whether it was the heat after eating or something else, the temperature in the room was creeping steadily upward.
"Want me to turn the AC down more?"
"No. It's this clothes."
She tugged at her outfit—the red dress the warden had issued her. Pretty design, terrible synthetic fabric that didn't breathe at all.
"It itches. It's stifling."
Riiip—!
"…Excuse me?"
With a bright tearing sound, the dress's shoulder strap ripped clean off. I couldn't believe my own eyes.
"Uh, Inmate? What are you doing right n—"
"I'm taking it off. It's pissing me off."
She didn't hesitate for a second.
Whoosh.
The red dress hit the floor in a heap.
"Hhk—!"
I spun around on pure reflex. Was she insane? This was a guy's room!
"Why'd you turn around? Aren't you going to cool me down?"
"Y-you have to put clothes on before I can do that!"
"I took them off because I'm hot, I said. Do you not understand words?"
Rustling sounds came from behind me. My imagination started running wild on its own. An S-rank beauty. Half-naked. Locked room.
Oh, shit.
"I'm done. Come here."
"I'm not going! I can't go!"
"Ugh, you're really playing hard to get. Fine. I'll come to you."
The bed creaked, and a wave of heat closed in on my back.
Grab.
"Eek—!"
She latched onto me from behind. One thin slip. That was the only barrier left between us. The soft touch and scorching body heat against my back came through with zero filter.
"Don't move. If you run, I'll kill you."
She mumbled it into the nape of my neck. Hot breath tickled my skin. I froze solid, like an ice statue.
"I-Inmate. This is a little…"
"Cool…"
She wasn't listening at all. Craving the cold rolling off my body, she wrapped her legs around my waist and clung like a cicada.
Absolute Calm
Target excitement level is high. Increasing cooling efficiency.
The skill fired whether I wanted it to or not. When her burning skin met my cold back, I could almost hear a faint hiss.
"Haa… nice."
A languid moan slipped from Elise's lips. Her hand roamed across my chest and stopped over my heart.
"Your heart's racing like crazy."
"…I got startled."
"Liar. It's because you like it."
She snickered. I couldn't deny it. Any healthy guy in his twenties who felt nothing in a situation like this would be the weird one.
"Hey, air conditioner."
"…Yes."
"Look at me."
She grabbed my shoulders and turned me around. I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Open them. That's an order."
"I can't. I have human rights too."
"What human rights does an F-rank have? Open them already."
She pinched my cheek. It hurt. I had no choice but to crack my eyes open a slit.
"…"
The sight in front of me knocked the breath clean out of my lungs. A black lace slip. The pale collarbones and shoulder line rising above it. A face flushed red with heat, and those hazy, unfocused crimson eyes.
This was a monster?
She was just an absurdly pretty girl. As long as she wasn't spitting fire and kept her mouth shut, anyway.
"That's better."
She leaned back against the headboard like my staring didn't bother her in the slightest, then patted the spot beside her.
"Get up here. Be my arm pillow."
"That is absolutely not happening. The warden is watching the CCTV."
"Oh, right. That thing."
She glanced toward the corner of the ceiling. The lens she'd burned out last night still hadn't been repaired.
"It's broken. Can't see anything."
"They can still hear! The mic is alive!"
"Tch. So picky."
She pouted, then grabbed my hand and planted it on her thigh.
"Then massage. My legs hurt."
"…This is a massage. A medical procedure."
I hypnotized myself as I started working her calves. Smooth, springy skin. The moment I pushed cold through my palms, her eyes narrowed in pleasure.
"There. A little higher."
"I can't do there."
"Why? It hurts."
"That's… way too high."
The hem of the slip had ridden up to a dangerous height. I had no idea where to put my eyes, so I stared off at a distant mountain that wasn't there.
"Your ears are red."
"It's hot in here."
"Pervert."
She giggled. Not her usual vicious laugh—something full of mischief, like a girl her own age. Her guard was down. In this space, at least, she wasn't looking at me as a "warden" or an "enemy." Just a comfortable presence that cooled her heat. A safe one she could bare herself around without getting hurt.
…This is dangerous.
I was grateful she trusted me. But the direction of that trust seemed to be drifting uncomfortably toward "pet household appliance," and that made me nervous.
"Hey."
"Yes?"
"You smell good."
She said it out of nowhere.
"Not the rose scent. Just your skin."
"That's probably sweat."
"No. It's a cool smell. Like a snowy morning."
She lifted my hand to the tip of her nose and sniffed.
"I want to keep smelling it. I think I'm getting addicted."
"…I'm not a drug."
"Close enough. Without it, I get anxious."
Her eyes were serious. This wasn't a joke.
"So don't run away. Got it?"
"I'm not going. I've got a debt to pay off."
"And when the debt's paid?"
"That's… something I'll think about when we get there."
Apparently she didn't like that answer, because she sank her teeth into my hand.
"Ow!"
"Even if you pay it all off, you're not leaving. I'll just make you more debt."
"Are you a loan shark?"
"Yeah. My interest rates are steep."
She kneaded my hand again and yawned.
"Sleepy. Gonna sleep."
"Please rest. I'll get some work done."
"Don't go. Stay next to me."
"I'll be right here. Holding hands is fine, right?"
I dragged the chair right up against the bed. She clasped my hand in both of hers and buried her face in the pillow. Lying there completely unguarded in nothing but a slip—I hurriedly yanked the blanket up to her neck.
"You'll catch a cold."
"I don't catch colds. I'm a witch."
"Cover up anyway. I'm the one who's embarrassed."
She wriggled under the blanket, then peeked out with just her eyes and looked at me.
"Air conditioner."
"Yes?"
"Good night."
It was a first. The first time she'd ever told me good night. Usually it was nothing but "I'll kill you" and "get lost." And calling me that gently? That might have been a first too.
I blanked out for a second, then huffed a quiet laugh and answered.
"Yes. Sweet dreams, Inmate."
Her eyes drifted shut. Steady breathing filled the room. Without pulling my hand free, I watched her sleeping face. Stripped of all that venom, she looked gentle. Like this, she was nothing more than a twenty-year-old girl.
Why did the world call her a monster and lock her in a place like this?
…She's got a story. Obviously.
With my free hand, I flipped through paperwork. The soft rustle of pages was the only sound left in the room.
Day two of cohabitation, separated by a single wall. The distance between us had already closed far tighter than the thickness of that wall.
Inmate 001's Trust has increased.
Current Status: This one's mine. (Safe)
Safe, huh.
Well. My heart didn't feel safe at all.
I rubbed my burning ears and let out a long sigh.