I woke up to the sound of chains rattling.
Mine.
My wrists were bound to the headboard. Ankles too. Silk rope enchanted with runes I didn’t recognize. My breath ca in short gasps. My chest was bare. My skin glistened with sweat I didn’t rember sweating. And my brain?
Empty.
Except for one thing.
Akane.
I could feel her. Sll her. Sowhere beyond the wall, her scent called to like a siren—warm, sweet, sinful. My entire body ached to be against hers again. Every breath I took burned because it wasn’t filled with her. Every second I wasn’t touching her was agony.
I twisted against the bindings. Hard.
The door opened.
Sora walked in, wearing full tactical gear and holding a crossbow.
A crossbow.
"Don’t even think about it," she said flatly, cocking the thing like she was hunting a werewolf. "One more attempted breakout and I’m tying your legs to a concrete slab."
"You don’t understand," I rasped. My voice didn’t even sound like anymore. "I need her. Now."
"You need a cold shower and a lobotomy."
I lunged. The ropes burned with a magical flare, locking down.
Sora didn’t flinch. "Tried that already, lover boy. You lted the last ice cube with your groans."
From the hallway, a crash.
"AKANE’S OUT!" Rin’s voice. Panicked. "SHE’S GONE FERAL AGAIN!"
Sora’s eyes widened. "Oh hell—"
Then I heard it.
Footsteps. Fast. Barefoot.
A soft voice—half-moan, half-growl:
"Rennnnnnnnn~"
My entire body ignited.
The ropes snapped.
I tore through the bedroom door just in ti to see Akane sprinting down the hall, hair wild, shirt clinging to her curves in all the worst/best ways. She leapt, and I caught her mid-air like we’d practiced it in a thousand past lives.
Our lips collided.
Her legs wrapped around my waist.
My hands went under her thighs, and her fingers buried into my hair like she’d never let go.
"Oh my god, no, NO—"
Aya tackled us both from the side.
We went crashing into a pile of laundry.
"I SAID NO CONTACT!" she shrieked, dragging by the shirt as Akane clawed at her like a starved jungle cat.
"I NEED HIM!" Akane howled. "LET TASTE HIS TONGUE!"
"Elira, fix this!" Aya scread.
"I’m TRYING!" Elira yelled from the kitchen. "The antidote is still brewing! I need three more drops of moonvine nectar and Rin keeps knocking over my tray!"
"I’M BUSY CHASING A FERAL NAKED WOMAN THROUGH THE HALLS!" Rin barked. "MULTITASKING IS HARD!"
i popped out from behind a couch holding a walkie-talkie and a banana.
"Team Harem to Base," she said into the banana, nodding seriously. "Subject A and Subject R have breached containnt. Operation Cold Shower is a failure. Repeat, failure."
"I CAN STILL FEEL HER SCENT IN MY BONES!" I roared, trying to climb the laundry pile with one sock in my mouth.
"STAY BACK!" Sora shouted, firing the crossbow.
The bolt hit a wall beside and exploded into glittering ropes that wrapped around my legs like sentient tentacles.
I scread. Akane scread louder.
"RENNNNNNN—!" she wailed, being dragged away by Rin and Aya like a possessed demon bride. "DON’T LEAVE , MY LOVE! I’LL DIE WITHOUT YOUR TOUCH!"
"WE’LL BE TOGETHER SOON!" I bellowed, choking on the sock. "I’LL CRAWL TO YOU, EVEN IF IT KILLS !"
Sora climbed on top of and sat on my back, panting. "Sobody better finish that damn potion now."
---
Two Hours Later
I was locked inside the upstairs linen closet.
Literal chains this ti. Cold, iron, magically sealed, bolted to the wall.
Akane had been locked in the storage shed in the backyard.
From opposite ends of the house, we scread each other’s nas like tragic lovers separated by fate.
"AKANE!"
"RENNNNN!"
"I MISS YOUR SLL!"
"I MISS YOUR TONGUE!"
Elira walked past holding a giant bubbling flask, looking dead inside.
Sora followed her, muttering, "I’m gonna throw all his clothes in the lake."
Aya had developed a full command center in the living room. She’d drawn maps of the mansion with red Xs and labeled the danger zones "HEAT POINTS."
Rin rotated guard shifts with a kitchen tir.
i built a literal tripwire system. She nad it the "Boner Alarm."
It went off six tis in one hour.
---
Hour Four
The spell wasn’t just strong. It was evolving.
I started to sll her through the walls.
I heard her heartbeat through the air vents.
At one point, I reached my fingers under the closet door and she reached hers in from the backyard shed window, like two lovers crawling across a battlefield.
Our fingertips brushed, through the portal she created.
Ti stopped.
And then—
Rin saw us.
"GET YOUR HANDS OUT OF THERE!" she said smacking my fingers with a ladle. "No touching! That’s Rule One!"
"YOU MADE A RULEBOOK?" I cried.
"Yes!" she shouted. "Because you two are monsters!"
---
Hour Six
Elira announced that the antidote would be ready at sundown.
The girls were running on caffeine and fury.
i had rigged a water balloon turret. Aya threatened to summon her phoenix if we tried another breakout.
Sora set a password on the pantry. I failed the test. The floor collapsed beneath .
Straight into a bean bag trap.
And Akane was waiting at the bottom.
Our eyes locked.
Oh no.
"Oh YES," she whispered.
We tackled each other.
Ripped shirts. Moaning. Tongues. Chaos.
Aya had to dump an entire bucket of snow on us from the freezer.
Sora actually tased . I was about grateful.
---
Hour Eight – Sundown
The antidote was done.
A glowing blue potion in two crystal vials.
Everyone gathered in the living room. I was restrained between Aya and Sora. Akane between Rin and i, who was now wearing dieval armor made of pots and pans.
Elira held up the vials like she was presenting holy relics.
"This is it," she said. "One sip each, and the spell should end."
"Should?". i muttered
"No," I growled. "Let taste her one more ti."
"Ren!" Aya snapped.
"Elira," Akane purred. "Forget the antidote. Just throw into his arms and let fate do the rest."
"You’re not Roo and Juliet!" Rin barked. "You’re horny and cursed!"
Elira sighed. "Okay. On the count of three. Ready?"
We both thrashed against our captors.
"ONE—"
"LET LICK HER—"
"TWO—"
"REN MY TONGUE IS READY—"
"THREE!"
She forced the vial between my lips. Aya held my jaw shut while I swallowed.
Across from , Rin did the sa to Akane.
We both choked it down.
The change was... almost imdiate.
Like a light flickering back to normal.
The haze started to lift.
My chest stopped burning. My fingers relaxed. For the first ti in hours, I could breathe without tasting lust in the air.
I blinked. Looked around.
Akane was sitting across from , drenched in sweat, cheeks flushed, shirt torn at the shoulder. Her hair was a disaster.
She blinked back.
"...Hi," I said, my voice a lot less growly than earlier.
"...Hi," she replied softly.
Aya stepped forward, cautiously. "Do you feel... normal?"
I tilted my head. "I think so. I can... think again."
Akane nodded. "Yeah. It’s like the fog’s finally gone."
Sora exhaled and tossed her crossbow onto the couch. "Thank the gods. If I had to fire one more glitter rope at your pants, I was going to lose it."
"I’m never making another potion again," Elira said as she collapsed into the armchair, exhausted. "I don’t even want to drink tea anymore."
Aya clapped her hands. "All right. New rule—no drinking anything left unattended in this house ever again."
"Agreed," Rin said, tossing the ladle aside.
i leaned on the table, smirking. "Sooo... are we still counting that as first base, or...?"
"I!" the rest of us yelled.
She just laughed. "What? Just asking!"
Everyone started to relax. Elira stood and stretched. Rin turned toward the hall. Sora reached for the fridge.
And then—
I looked at Akane.
She looked at .
That fog?
It wasn’t gone.
It was gathering.
Our eyes widened—together.
"Oh no," Aya said. "Don’t you—"
We leapt.
Like animals.
I tackled her to the floor. She t halfway, hands in my hair, my lips crashing onto hers like a wave slamming a cliff. Her legs wrapped around . My hands clawed at her hips, greedy, wild.
"NOT AGAIN!" Sora shouted.
Aya lunged forward, but just as she did—
FWOOM!
A blinding flash.
A glowing pink barrier erupted around us, sealing us inside an arcane do pulsing with runes.
"No way," Rin gasped. "Akane just cast a barrier spell—around them!"
"They’re locked in together?!" Aya scread.
"I’M NOT WATCHING THIS!" Elira cried, turning her back instantly.
Inside the do, I had Akane pinned against the rug. She was laughing breathlessly, lips parted as I kissed down her throat.
"I knew we weren’t cured," she moaned.
"The second I saw your eyes," I growled, "I knew I was still yours."
Outside, chaos.
"Break it!" Sora yelled. "Break the damn do!"
"I’m trying!" Rin shouted, hamring it with a kitchen chair. "It’s... absorbing the hits!"
Aya summoned a ball of fire and slamd it into the barrier. It bounced off and hit the fridge.
"WATCH THE APPLIANCES!" i shouted.
"I CAN SEE THEIR TONGUES, GUYS," Sora groaned, shielding her face. "THEIR ACTUAL TONGUES."
"They’re devouring each other like demons!" Rin howled. "Why is he shirtless again?!"
"I think she ripped it off this ti," Elira mumbled, peeking through her fingers in horror.
Inside, Akane clawed at my back, hips grinding against like we were the last two bodies in the world. I could barely think. I didn’t want to.
All I wanted was her.
Outside, soone retched.
"I’M COVERING MY EYES!" i shouted, dropping her banana walkie. "I CAN’T LIVE LIKE THIS!"
But then—slowly—the barrier shimred.
Cracks ford.
The heat in my chest faded.
Akane’s movents slowed beneath . My head dipped against her collarbone, breath shallow, heart racing.
I looked down at her.
She was blinking slowly, dazed.
"I... think it’s fading," she whispered. "For real this ti."
The barrier cracked again—then burst, shimring dust raining around us like broken magic.
I pushed myself off her, just barely. Still panting. Still aching. But in control.
The girls stared down at us in stunned silence.
I was shirtless. She was flushed, lips swollen, dress askew.
We both stared up at them.
"...Hi again," I said.
"Still poisoned?" Aya asked, exasperated.
Akane groaned. "Not anymore."
I nodded. "It’s gone now. Really."
Rin crossed her arms. "Prove it by keeping your hands to yourself for five minutes."
I stood up slowly. Reached down to help Akane.
Our fingers brushed.
We both flinched.
Everyone scread.
---
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