Evan turned off the alarm. He rolled over in bed and got up. He listened to his body.
Yesterday had put a heavy strain on his psyche, but he had managed to sleep well. Relatively well.
He felt something strange, though, and listened to his body again. He was rested and ready for the day, but there was something else.
He was hungry.
At first he thought it wasn't ordinary hunger, but a moment later he dismissed that as absurd and decided it was just a normal emptiness in his stomach, then went downstairs.
The girls were bustling about in the kitchen.
"Evan." He turned at the sound of his name. Callisa was standing next to him. "How do you feel?"
He turned toward the kitchen. An image flashed through his mind, but he immediately pushed it aside.
"I'm fine."
Callisa went into the kitchen. Evan's eyes lingered on her ass. She noticed and shook it. At least one normal thing since the collar went on. He looked at her little ass again. It was soft and definitely juicy. Unconsciously he licked his lips and felt his stomach growl. Saliva started to well up in his mouth.
"Hang on, breakfast's almost ready."
"Yeah," he laughed, embarrassed, then paled slightly, but a moment later decided it was ridiculous. How could he even think of Callisa's buttocks as meat. Those soft buttocks, and her legs too. She jumped on them pretty well, so they must have good structure.
When he realized what he had just thought, he started slapping himself on the head. Where had that even come from.
"Did you sleep badly?" Frida asked.
"Uhhh…" He didn't know what to say.
"I get it. It's because of that bunch of losers."
"What losers?" Aiko was surprised.
"Our whole school. Ever since Evan came back from the office, they've been kissing his ass so hard it's not even funny. I even had to shake up my own gang. Jesus…"
"Everything's okay, Evan? Right?" Aiko was clearly worried.
"I'm managing. I'm not made of porcelain."
Aiko flattened her ears.
"Let's not talk about it for now. Let's eat, or we'll be late for school and we won't have any excuse."
Everyone started eating. Evan ate. He felt like he wanted meat.
At school he found it hard to focus on studying.
In the hallway he passed classmates. They were still groveling in front of him, but that was somewhere else in his head.
Callisa and her little ass were running through his mind. He saw two scenes in turns.
The first was familiar. Callisa gets his consent and goes back on the plate. Then they have a wonderful dinner-date. He was used to that by now. Partly because before, the girls had constantly fed him visions like that.
Now, though, he was seeing something else. The vixen asking him to cook her. He had fantasies of her climbing onto the table sensually and asking him to make something delicious out of her. She swayed her delicate little ass. She stretched her perfectly meaty legs. Several recipes flashed through his head.
At first he was scared, but then he remembered something from the beginning of their life together in the dorm. Callisa had buried him in various recipes for him, then asked how he would cook her. On top of that he had heard and read more than once about other people's fantasies of being the cook for their partners. Besides, Rufus had once admitted that he had those kinds of fantasies too.
He exhaled. Everything was probably fine, but he didn't feel relief.
Strange. It should have been fine.
He had tasted meat, so fantasies like that were probably normal.
Even so, they kept pushing themselves into his head.
He passed some girl in the hallway. He looked at her legs. Well built.
He passed some muscular guy. He thought he was probably a bit tough.
A moment later he saw a rabbit. Muscles tight from stress. The legs looked taut. As if they were about to bolt at any second. Hunched posture and drooping ears.
"Just 29 more days…"
"Just 29 more days…"
"Just 29 more days…"
Then Evan looked at his face.
"Rufus?"
"Oh, Evan." He spoke as if there was no life in him.
"Did something happen?"
"They kicked me out…"
"From where?"
"The track and field club."
Evan felt his jaw drop. Track and field was Rufus's passion. Thanks to it he had such good meat quality… wait, why had he thought that?
"For what?"
"What do you think?"
"The photos?"
"They say it's dangerous to stand next to me. They said I can come back in a month."
Evan felt his fists clench. If Rufus couldn't train, the stress would eat him up along with his qualities… Why was he thinking about that again?
"Maybe I can help somehow?" At last this being "big and important" could be useful.
"Better not. The principal might get pissed."
"Right."
Finally the bell rang and classes started.
After lessons he went to Arslan's private kitchen.
There he began his studies. First a few quick control dishes, and then, while Evan was preparing a piece of meat, he rubbed it with herbs, salt, and pepper. He imagined it was Aiko's ass, or Callisa's.
"Master."
"Yes, Evan."
"I have to tell you something."
Evan confessed to his master about his recent feelings and fantasies. Arslan fell silent in thought.
"It's not that unusual. Especially at your age. And you're right to assume it — everyone has fantasies like that."
"So it's nothing strange?"
"No, though I'm surprised it's happening this fast. I assumed things like this might show up in a few weeks."
Evan swallowed.
"Although it's possible it's because of overstimulation. In some time it should calm down."
"So there's no reason to worry?"
"There are always reasons to worry, but not to panic. Not yet."
"So for now it's okay?"
"Considering what you've been through, yes."
Evan exhaled. Arslan looked at him sternly.
"Just in case, I'll give you a lesson right now."
Evan straightened up like a soldier on watch.
"There are two types of good cooks. Those who can push good meat away from themselves, and those who believe that pushing good meat away is wrong."
Evan tilted his head.
"You don't understand. This is only the beginning of your path as a cook, so it's nothing strange. I'll try to explain it to you."
He thought for a moment.
"Imagine this scene. Two cooks have someone standing next to them who is practically perfect as a dish. One will want him, but if law or custom don't allow him to turn that someone into meat, he'll give it up, though not without pain. The other won't hold back. He'll do everything to possess that someone. He may treat him with respect, but to him he will always only be meat."
Evan thought for a moment.
"So I should stick to the rules and wait it out until everything calms down."
"In the broadest sense, yes."
Evan exhaled.
"Are you ready to continue?"
"Yes, Master."