Realization always hits right after when it shouldn't.. or before things even happened..
After a few seconds of Xio's unexpected words, a slow burn crept up his cheeks. He felt a profound, almost dizzying sweetness. Since when did he become this poetic again? Xio couldn't help but ask himself, the thought feeling intensely deep... and romantic.
He swallowed hard, making a conscious choice not to do anything stupid that might shatter the moment and, more importantly, ruin Kirihito's mood. He wasn't eager for another "snake bite." Xio kept his expression as natural as possible, but inside, he was a frantic mess, desperately hoping he didn't resemble the flustered romantic hero of a bad story. He felt acutely, miserably weird.
The silence that settled was heavy, yet surprisingly not uncomfortable, even with Xio's internal turmoil. He watched Kirihito's signature smile bloom—a clear sign of happiness at Xio's spontaneous poetry.
Poor Xio, however, was blissfully unaware that he'd have to get very used to Kirihito's fangs. Kirihito tilted his head, an expression of purest joy gracing his features. Though he was a spatial-grade yokai, a snake, his innocent movement made him look like a curious bird. This slight head tilt, paired with his beaming smile, was a known sign of the spatio-spatial grade yokai's great impressment, as was his rapidly growing attachment and fondness.
Xio felt an odd mix of emotions: a sense of winning a reward, the slow, gratifying process of earning a bird's trust, and an unexpected, free education in poetry—a subject his uncle had prevented him from pursuing.
Then, another sound of clapping echoed—Kirihito's, this time. The other crow yokai, still visibly shaken by one of their friend's recent, sudden death, exchanged quick, nervous glances. Then, in a flurry, they began to flap their wings together, filling the room with the sound of displaced air, a careful imitation of applause. Clearly, no one wished to be the next crow to cross the dangerously satisfied snake yokai.
"Wha! Xio, really, in my black-gold butterfly!" Kirihito exclaimed loudly, his voice instantly becoming high-pitched, childish, and utterly innocent again, his fangs gleaming. His long, silky black hair flew everywhere with the speed of his clapping, whipping the poor white snake wrapped around his neck. The slick strands repeatedly slapped the snake's face, causing it to struggle just to maintain its vision.
The entire situation was both hilarious and deeply embarrassing in a strange way. Xio froze, then offered a strained chuckle, unsure if he should be proud or mortified. "Ah... um... thank you so much," Xio mumbled softly, his smile one of sheer discomfort.
"I love it! I love it too much!" Kirihito repeated with overflowing, high-pitched excitement. Xio nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden, intense surge of energy.
Everything was fine until Kirihito, in his overwhelming excitement, lunged toward Xio to bite again. Xio's eyes went wide with sudden panic. All this time, he'd been trying to avoid Kirihito's bite, yet he had no effective way to escape him.
"No! Stop! Don't you dare bite me again, Kirihito!" Xio cried out, his face flushing a vivid, frantic red. He raised a hand to ward off the snake yokai, but it was useless. Kirihito landed on top of him, and with a loud thud, they both tumbled off the bed. The crows scattered and found new perches, becoming silent onlookers. Xio gasped softly as a sharp impact hit his back.
He could feel the sharpness of Kirihito's fangs before they even broke the skin. Time seemed to drag, making him intensely conscious of their intertwined bodies. It felt like an eternity before the sharp fangs snapped into the already-bruised flesh of his neck.
"AHH!! IT HURTS, YOU FREAKING SNAKE!! STOP MAKING HOLES IN MY NECK!!!" Xio cried out, his scream of pain arriving slightly delayed, as if he'd just realized, I should be screaming right now. He desperately tried to push Kirihito's head away by pulling at his hair. The familiar burning venom instantly flared, and his panic intensified as he remembered the consequences of staying like this too long. "GET AWAY FROM ME, OR MY BLOOD WILL BURN FROM YOUR VENOM AGAIN!! ARE YOU WILLING TO KILL ME?!" This only seemed to worsen Kirihito's mood.
"Stop pulling my beautiful hair, or I'll take back the phrases I gave you, insect Xio!! You're truly ungrateful for my satisfaction!" Kirihito warned, his fangs still firmly lodged in Xio's neck, hot, fresh blood welling up around his lips. His long hair was tightly wrapped around Xio's hands to prevent him from pulling.
"AT LEAST STOP FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR DRAGON FRUIT SUPPLY, KINDLY!!!" Xio cried out again, his eyes widening as he felt the familiar, painful burn. He started slapping Kirihito's back while yelling louder, "I SAID LET GO OF ME!!!"
The white snake around Kirihito's neck, offended that Xio was pulling its master's hair, joined the fray. It began to bite as well, twisting and turning the flesh. This made Xio growl in frustration. He grabbed its head to restrain it. "WHY does this snake always have to interfere like a bone of contention?!" he hissed almost dangerously, then threw the snake up onto the bed.
"My Snakie! Insect Xio, how dare you throw him?! He's my lovely friend! You're moving your fingers in me too much!" Kirihito complained, his nails now digging into Xio's flesh. His words held an unintentional double meaning. Xio froze, his face immediately burning with weird, inappropriate thoughts. What kind of slip of the tongue was that?
"Why does it bite me when you do?! You're both an annoying black and white snake! And it's called 'crossing boundaries,' not what you just said!" Xio snapped in pure annoyance, noticing his black collar was now dark with his blood.
"I have a name too! It's Kiri-hito! Is it too hard to put into your head?! It's also my will if I call boun...boun-daries 'fingers' or 'tongue'," Kirihito said, annoyed that Xio either forgot his name or kept trying to correct his peculiar way of speaking.
"Yes, it's hard for me! Your name isn't the only thing I need to remember!" Xio growled, his face heating up further at the word "tongue." He struggled to push the yokai away. What was that again? He couldn't believe something so seemingly innocent could constantly utter things with such bizarre double meanings. "Stop saying those kinds of things right into my ear!"
But Kirihito was now wrapping his legs around Xio. He couldn't move too much, or he risked being squeezed deadly again—this time, his hips might truly break. The crows simply watched, not daring to intervene.
Suddenly, one crow yokai transformed into his full yokai form: a man with half-white and half-black hair, powerful wings, and eyes black as a dark valley. This was the crow yokai, Xì, and he landed right where the white snake was resting. The white snake blinked, utterly surprised by the transformation. It hadn't expected this yokai—the one who had bullied it earlier—to turn out to be so... beautiful. It also overheard Kirihito call it his friend and started to blush.
"What's so special about you without your skin? Boring for Xì," the yokai said dismissively in the first person and carelessly dropping the snake. The snake hissed in annoyance, feeling low for being pushed away so easily. It bit at Xì's fingers, but nothing happened. Xì simply pushed it away like one would swat an ant.
"Hmph... Impressing or understanding him seems harder than Xì thought," he mused thoughtfully, as if Kirihito were a difficult project. The white snake learned the yokai's name was Xì. It hissed in jealousy, realizing that Xì's motive was likely mating, just like the other crows, yet he looked subtly more conscious than the rest.