The rain hadn't let up since the incident; in fact, it had even picked up, accompanied by a few claps of thunder. It wasn't as if that was much of a problem in a city with Musutafu, aside from the bad luck of anyone who had to go out without an umbrella.
Reiji was one of those unlucky ones; several hours had passed since the disaster in the comrcial district, and yet his appearance didn't reflect that. He looked up slightly and saw his doorfra in front of him; he took out his keys and entered the house.
His sneakers left small wet marks on the entryway floor as he moved slowly inside the house in complete silence.
He felt awful.
The sll was the worst part.
Not so much the sewage. The rain had helped quite a bit with that on the way back. The real problem was still the blood. He could feel it clinging to his body even after hours of hiding in alleys, drains, and side streets, trying to make sure nobody was following him by cops, heroes, or caras.
The tallic sll was still trapped inside his nose. He could detect every living being around him, no matter how small, the more he tried to ignore it, the worse it got.
He closed the door behind him and stood still for just a mont in the entryway. The house was empty. All he could hear was the constant patter of rain against the windows and the faint hum of the refrigerator from the kitchen.
A small sense of relief washed over him.
He needed a few minutes alone.
He went straight up the stairs, dragging one leg slightly as he felt the regeneration continuing to work beneath his skin. The major wounds were already closed, but that didn't an they were healed. He had to replenish his energy, but he couldn't do that until he consud so blood; otherwise, his body would reject it. Still, he was much better off than when he fled the battle.
He pulled the wet phone out of his pocket and quickly checked the screen.
Several ssages from Himiko and his mother, though he only checked Himiko's ssages.
"We'll have an extra activity; I'll stay a little longer."
"I'm going to be late; the rain delayed us."
"Don't wait for for dinner; I'll be ho around 10 PM."
"Are you ho yet? Are you asleep? Why aren't you answering?"
He didn't reply. He left his phone on the living room table and went upstairs.
He entered the bathroom and turned on the shower almost imdiately. The hot water poured over his body as he pressed both hands against the damp wall and slowly lowered his head.
The hunger for blood does not disappear.
He clenched his teeth tightly.
'Get a grip...'
Steam slowly filled the bathroom as the water washed away traces of dirt, dried blood, and mud down the drain. His dyed hair began to lose so of its dark color under the constant hot water, and the skin around his healed wounds remained too sensitive.
Then he heard the front door open downstairs.
"I'm ho!"
Himiko's voice echoed through the house, accompanied by the wet sound of shoes rushing into the entryway. Reiji closed his eyes for just a second.
'Shit,' he repeated to himself as the sensation suddenly flared up again.
He heard movent downstairs for several minutes. Drawers opening. Bags shifting. The sound of the TV turning on. Then sothing started cooking.
The sll reached all the way to the bathroom. Himiko was cooking, sothing strange even for her.
Reiji finished his shower much faster after that. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he still felt that strange sensation—too hot, with a dry throat. The hunger was still there. The need, too.
He dressed in dark, comfortable clothes, partially hiding the makeshift bandages under the long sleeves before slowly making his way downstairs.
The warm atmosphere of the kitchen hit him imdiately.
Himiko had her back to him as she stood at the stove, wearing comfortable loungewear, her hair still slightly damp from the rain and a huge sweatshirt that clearly belonged to Reiji. The sound of sizzling oil partially filled the silence as she stirred food in a frying pan with complete ease.
It looked like a normal scene. And for that very reason, the impulse inside Reiji cald down just a little, especially as he flatly refused to hurt Himiko in any way.
The re idea was like a bucket of cold water being poured directly over him.
Himiko barely turned her head; she sensed his presence just by looking. She had an innate gift for recognizing Reiji.
"It's about ti. "I thought you'd drowned in the shower,"
"I wish…" Reiji replied with difficulty, slowly approaching the door.
She let out a small, nasal laugh before refocusing on the food.
"Did you eat anything today?"
"..." He couldn't even utter a word; the scent of blood coming from Reiji overwheld everything else.
"That answer ans no."
Reiji stood still for a few seconds; he could explain it to Himiko later, but staying ho and not satisfying his hunger was an even bigger problem.
He made a quick decision.
He moved slowly toward the front door, trying to advance without making a sound—sothing he should have been an expert at, even in his current state.
He didn't even make it three steps.
"Where are you going?"
Himiko's voice stopped him imdiately.
Reiji barely turned his head.
"Outside…"
"I'm cooking."
"Yeah…"
"Then sit down."
Her tone still sounded casual, but there was sothing strange behind her words now. As if she sensed there was sothing else Reiji wasn't telling her, especially with his strange one-word answers.
Reiji tried to keep walking, ignoring his sister's order, trying even harder to suppress the urge.
Himiko appeared in front of him before he reached the front door, leaning against it with her arms crossed and a clearly suspicious expression.
"Reiji"
"What?" Reiji was startled was startled, then fear began to wash over him.
"You're acting weird."
"No…" He took a step back, trying to look away.
"I've known you since I was born; don't use that excuse on ."
Reiji clenched his teeth, trying to stay calm. The problem was that the longer he spent near her, the harder it beca to ignore the scent of blood circulating beneath his skin.
And he hated that.
Himiko narrowed her eyes slightly as she studied him more closely. He was still too pale. His posture remained tense.
And even though he'd showered, Himiko could sll the blood just as much as Reiji could. The wounds still hadn't fully healed, which intensified the scent, and Himiko noticed it.
Then the TV in the living room, still on but silent, automatically switched to a news summary.
"On this rainy afternoon in the city of Musutafu, seven incidents were reported—a low number for the past few weeks—but the impact on the XXX comrcial district was the greatest, where the…"
They both turned their gaze almost at the sa ti. Their reasons were very different.
Images of the disaster imdiately appeared on the screen. The skeletal creature destroying vehicles. Heroes arriving in the pouring rain. Police evacuating civilians.
And then… A blurry recording of a boy walking away amid the chaos after escaping the beast; because of the rain, the cara couldn't focus and the image was fuzzy, yet even so, one could make out a few details.
Black hair. Dark clothes. Visible wounds. Blood running down different parts of his body.
He didn't even really look like Reiji; he was the average image of most people in Japan.
But Himiko stood completely still, staring at the screen.
She didn't need anything else. She didn't need to analyze it too much.
She just knew.
Her eyes moved slowly from the TV to Reiji.
"...It was you." Himiko's voice sounded more like a statent than a question; she could recognize her brother just by looking at him, and the one on the TV was her brother.
Reiji remained silent for a few seconds.
And that ended up confirming it completely.
Himiko watched him now with much closer attention. Once she knew it was Reiji who had been in the midst of the disaster, everything began to fall into place far too quickly in her mind. The stiff tension in his shoulders, his held breath, the slight tremor in his fingers, that evasive gaze.
But there was sothing else. Sothing she recognized all too well.
"How long have you been feeling this way?" she finally asked, lowering her voice slightly as she slowly moved closer to Reiji.
Reiji didn't answer right away. He looked away slightly toward the damp floor of the entryway as he tried to gather his thoughts, but the problem was that he could barely do it anymore. The sll of blood remained trapped in his head, mingling with the heat of the house, Himiko's closeness, and the physical exhaustion that had built up throughout the night.
"I didn't want you to know…" he admitted at last, his voice much lower than usual.
And it wasn't a lie.
He had always done everything in his power to hide that part of himself from her. Not because he thought Himiko would reject him. Quite the opposite. He knew perfectly well that she would accept him without hesitation. That was precisely why he wanted to avoid it.
Because Himiko never knew when to stop when it ca to Reiji, and she didn't have the regenerative abilities that Reiji possessed.
Himiko frowned slightly as she closed the distance between them even further. Her eyes swept over Reiji's tired face before slowly drifting down to his trembling hands.
"Is it the sa for you?" she asked softly. "Does the blood calm you?"
Reiji let out a small, restrained sigh before nodding barely.
"Not that often…" he murmured. "But today… it's been hard."
The explanation was brief, but Himiko understood everything imdiately. The state he was in, the visible exhaustion in his body, and the simple fact that he'd tried to go out again in that rain made it clear just how desperately he was trying to keep himself under control.
"And you were planning to leave like that?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. "Alone?"
"I didn't want to involve you."
The answer ca imdiately.
Himiko stared at him for a few seconds. Those words clearly struck a nerve.
"You always do that…" she murmured as she took another step forward. "You try to carry everything on your own even though you clearly can't."
Reiji barely opened his mouth to reply, but the scent of blood pulsing beneath Himiko's skin hit his head too hard at that mont. The impulse coursed through his body like a hot, automatic jolt. His fangs ached slightly, and he looked away imdiately.
That small gesture was enough.
"Do you want my blood?"
The question hung between them with unsettling naturalness.
Reiji closed his eyes for just an instant before slowly shaking his head.
"No."
A lie.
His entire body was screaming the exact opposite.
"Reiji"
She raised a hand and placed it delicately on the boy's cheek.
"Look at "
Looking at her was difficult.
Much harder than it should have been.
When he finally looked up, he found Himiko watching him with a dangerous mix of concern, affection, and sothing much deeper.
"I don't want to use you like this…" Reiji murmured honestly. "You're not… sothing to solve my problems."
Himiko took another small step forward until she was practically pressed against Reiji. The rain continued to beat against the living room windows while the sll of food simring on the stove slowly filled the warm atmosphere of the house.
"Then don't think of it that way; you can accept my help."
Before Reiji could react, Himiko gently pushed him backward. It wasn't real force, but Reiji's weakened and restrained body gave way easily. His legs bumped against the edge of the sofa.
Himiko approached delicately, straddling Reiji's lap. Her hands rested on Reiji's shoulders, and he had to brace himself with his own hands behind him to keep them both from falling.
The heat of their bodies was palpable even through their clothes; Reiji was utterly paralyzed as the scent of her blood grew stronger with every passing second. Their breathing was heavy, as were their bodies.
Reiji swallowed slowly.
"Himiko..."
"Don't overthink it."
Her voice was much softer now. More intimate. Whispering directly into his ear, pressing her neck right up against Reiji's mouth. The boy's fangs tingled with anticipation, accompanied by a tingling sensation impossible to ignore.
"You know it doesn't bother ."
And that was precisely what unsettled him the most.
Ever since they were little, Himiko had always been like this. Too close. Too emotionally dependent on Reiji. But as the two of them grew older, that childish obsession had begun to mix with things much harder to ignore.
And Reiji knew it.
He could tell by how she constantly sought to touch him, hug him, or stay glued to him even when they were no longer little kids. The problem was that lately Reiji had also started to get too used to it, even though he was fully aware that it wasn't healthy for either of them.
Himiko slowly raised a hand to cup his face, forcing him to keep his gaze fixed on her.
"Trust …" she murmured softly. "Just as I trust you."
The distance between them vanished almost completely as Himiko pressed herself even closer to his body, allowing Reiji to free his hands and hold Himiko by the waist; the only separation now was the clothing they both wore.
The warmth of her breath. The brush of her legs. The gentle pressure of her fingers on his skin. The comforting sensation of her resting against his chest.
Hunger, exhaustion, and warmth began to blur together until it beca impossible to think clearly.
Reiji felt the control he'd been holding onto for hours finally start to break.
"Himiko…" His voice ca out hoarse this ti.
She tilted her head slightly, slowly exposing her neck while continuing to look him straight in the eyes. There was no fear in her expression.
Reiji slowly brought his face closer until he felt the warmth of her skin against his lips. The scent hit him full force now—fresh, alive, incredibly intense after so many hours enduring only the aroma of his own blood.
His breathing beca ragged.
And when he finally bit her, the whole world seed to stop.
Warm blood imdiately filled his mouth, his fangs draining the elixir with ease.
A brutal, addictive clarity coursed through his entire body in a matter of seconds. The pain vanished. The ntal exhaustion shattered like glass, and the unbearable pressure inside his head vanished suddenly, replaced by a warm, intense, and dangerously pleasurable sensation that made him tighten his fingers around Himiko's waist.
His body reacted before his mind did.
His fingers dug into her waist with force, pulling her even closer, as if that would allow more blood to flow.
And the taste only made things worse.
Because he wanted more.
So much more.
Himiko's blood was unlike anything he had ever imagined. Sweeter. Cleaner. More intense. Every sip made the urge inside Reiji grow even stronger instead of fading.
That was the terrifying part. It wasn't calming him down.
He had never tasted human blood before; there was sothing about it that Reiji clearly couldn't help but get caught up in. His fangs dug even deeper into the girl's neck, while his lips pressed lightly against the area.
"Mmm~" Himiko let out a small, stifled gasp as she felt Reiji's bite begin to lose its gentleness. Her face flushed a deep red, and far from feeling pain, the realization that Reiji was drinking her blood sent heat through her body.
Her fingers unconsciously clung to Reiji's clothes as the heat coursed through her entire body.
Reiji barely opened his eyes upon noticing this, and the slightly clouded vision of Himiko finished shattering what little rational control he still had left. His pupils were completely dilated, and his breathing was as irregular as Reiji's.
"See?" he murmured. "You don't have to carry this alone."
Reiji didn't respond. He just stood there, his mind trying to make sense of the situation again, he was acting almost entirely on instinct now.
"Now it's my turn…" Himiko said, her face flushed, before sinking her fangs into Reiji's neck. At that mont, Reiji's clarity returned…
'Shit… this…'
The heat from the bite shook him more than he expected. His erratic breathing settled, and his lips pulled back slightly from Himiko's neck, as did his fangs.
'A sibling relationship isn't supposed to be like this. But…'
In his two lifetis, he had never felt real physical desire. He didn't need it, he didn't want it. There were more urgent things than that. However, now with Himiko clinging to him, her face flushed, her body so close, he couldn't ignore what his own body was screaming at him.
'This isn't right'
He closed his eyes tightly, trying to erase everything he shouldn't be feeling. The sensation of Himiko's lips, her rapid breathing against his neck, the pressure of her legs around his waist…
'I'm a responsible adult. I have to handle this another way…'
When she pulled away, her face was flushed. Her eyes, slightly misty, didn't hide the racing excitent coursing through her.
Reiji forced himself to look at her firmly, even though his heart was pounding just as hard.
"Himiko…" he said in a dry tone, but without harshness. "You have to finish cooking. Thanks for the blood, but I'm done..."
"Huh...? But..."
"No buts."
He sat up and gently pushed her off him. His strength had returned in full, allowing him to lift her even in an awkward position and step off the couch with ease, leaving her seated where they had both been devouring her blood just monts before.
Himiko looked confused at what had just happened, and Reiji didn't dare look at that sight, for fear of succumbing to Himiko's desire.
***
Okay, here's the chapter. Technically, yesterday's post was chapter 22, but I ssed up the schedule and accidentally posted it 12 hours early. Still, it could have been worse.
After reading your comnts and noticing the translation had improved, I started polishing the previous chapters using the sa thod. There are probably still so inconsistencies, even in this chapter, but I'm trying to minimize them.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the little bit of fanservice. It actually plays an important role in the story (yes, they're the main couple). That said, I don't want to rush things and I want their relationship to develop in a relatively believable way within a society where incest is more normalized than in our world.
I'd appreciate your support with so stones to help et the weekly goals and such.
See you tomorrow.
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