"Good morning, good morning! Have breakfast and go to school!" Minase Nayuki's soft voice came from the phone's speaker, acting as an alarm clock to wake Naga, who was still immersed in the afterglow of her dream.
Despite successfully completing a dream-devouring mission, Naga had a lingering feeling that his abilities were rapidly declining. This time, Miku being dragged into the dream seemed to have exhausted his last remaining strength. In the end, before he could even end it, the dream abruptly ended.
Is something wrong? Naga thought nervously, stretched, and prepared to get up.
"Were you dreaming too?" Before even opening her eyes, she heard Miku's strange voice beside her, which was tinged with confusion and even more nervousness.
Knowing what she was asking, Naga didn't open her eyes and lazily nodded.
After a moment of silence, a sigh-like exhale came from beside her. "It's...a very strange feeling. So, I...you've already...done that with me twice in my dreams?"
"Hmm." Naga shook off the lingering sleepiness and opened his eyes. "It's clear how much I've missed you." Changing the subject was necessary; he didn't want Miku's not-so-stupid mind to connect the first erotic dream with the idea of a curse.
It seemed that Miku had been up for a while, but she was still wearing her pajamas, sitting on the inside of the bed with her knees drawn up to her arms, tilting her head to look at him. "You're just saying nice things. How am I supposed to know who else you've dreamed about?" Miku pursed her lips and shook her head slightly. "Ugh... my head hurts so much. I never want to drink again in my life."
"You drank too much yesterday." He got up, put his hands on her head, and massaged her temples.
She gave a soft, comfortable hum, leaned forward to get closer to him, and whispered, "Who told me that alcohol can make people forget unhappy things? That guy is such a liar. I... I remember everything so clearly."
"Miku...uh...I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I'll do anything you ask if it will make you less angry." At this moment, he truly made a sincere promise. For Miku, even if it was a pity, he was willing to give up those beautiful toys, give up his various collaborations with Asami, and even give up his promise to Fujikawa Kengo.
A surge of emotion welled up within him, and he almost wanted to say, "As long as you're willing to wait for me, I'm not afraid of going to jail."
Before he could even speak, Miku had already thrown herself into his arms, her arms tightly wrapped around his back, her forehead pressed against his chest as if trying to relieve her headache. She turned back and forth a few times before saying in a low voice, "It's incredible. It was just a dream, but I feel like I've been reborn. I feel so much better. Naga, when you have time, let me read those books about dreams you've been reading."
"Okay, if you want to see it, I'll go to the library and borrow it for you."
He glanced at his phone; it was almost time to get to work. He hesitated, unsure if Miku's mood had really improved. Last night's Dream Eater didn't seem to have been very effective, which made him quite uneasy.
"Um... Miku, I'm going to be late."
Miku kept her face buried in his chest, her hands groping and crawling up to his collar, unbuttoning his shirt one button at a time.
"You...you are..." What does this mean? Did you feel it wasn't enough in the dream and plan to do it in real life? Naga thought with some excitement.
Miku slowly peeled off his shirt, revealing his left shoulder. Then she raised her head and kissed his chest, collarbone, and down to his shoulder. Then she opened her mouth and bit down on the muscle of his left shoulder.
"Ugh! Ugh—!" This wasn't some playful banter between husband and wife; it was real, forceful exertion. Naga looked at Miku's head pressing against his shoulder in alarm, feeling the hard teeth slowly digging into the flesh of his arm. The intense pain made his entire left arm lose all strength. "Miku, it hurts, it hurts so much, what are you doing?"
Blood trickled from the corner of Miku's mouth, but she still bit down hard. Tears welled up in her reddened eyes, and her mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood.
She didn't let out a scream until she had almost bitten through Naga's entire muscle. She released her mouth, sat back against the wall, and stared blankly at him, her full breasts heaving violently.
"Miku…" Naga looked at the teeth marks on his shoulder. They were really bad; he had to use all his strength to stop himself from shoving Miku away. He knew he deserved this bite; for Miku, this scar should be a sign of the end.
Miku didn't answer. She silently climbed off the bed, retrieved gauze and medicine, and quietly went behind Naga. She disinfected and bandaged his wound, then stroked it, whispering, "I've been in pain too. You've been in pain too. So, let's both move on..."
The heavy stone in his heart finally rolled away, and Naga grimaced as he put on his shirt. He kissed Miku on the lips and said, "You scared me to death. I thought you were going to bite me to death."
Miku wrinkled her nose, and Naga's familiar smile returned to her face. She deliberately poked the wound on his shoulder, "Bite you to death, it will only make my heart ache more, so I'll just take a bite as a token gesture. Your flesh is really awful, salty and smelly."
"It's my fault. Next time, Shimokawa-senpai, please let me know before you speak. I'll definitely go and wash up nice and fragrant first, so you'll want to take a second bite after the first one... Eh? Then won't I get bitten to death?"
"Ugh, stop talking about this. I was so upset, I couldn't take it anymore. I don't know why, but I really wanted to forgive you. But the anger from yesterday was so strong, it felt like it was going to explode... Hey... does it really hurt?" Miku frowned, feeling a little sorry for her as she stroked the bandage through her shirt.
"Ah...it's okay, as long as you're happy, you can take ten or eight more bites without any problem, it's all easy and enjoyable." Naga hugged her with a grin, the cold sweat on his back finally stopping.
"Oh no! I'm going to be late!" He realized that he was way past the warning line. If he wanted to leave now, he would have to drive that secondhand car as fast as Bloodhound SSC.
Miku hugged him tightly, not letting him leave, and whispered, "Don't go to work. Take the day off."
"Huh?" Naga was taken aback. "Is there something wrong?" Could it be that they were going to have a real-life passionate encounter in this house that was about to be sold? Damn it... He quickly smacked his head. How come his mind was full of erotic thoughts after last night's dream?
Miku was silent for a few seconds before answering, "Come with me to a few places."
Compared to that unimportant work, Naga certainly knew what was more important right now. He didn't dare contact Ami at a time like this, so he called Matsushima Kae and casually arranged the day's work.
"OK, Shimokawa-senpai, I'll be your personal driver for the whole day."
"Then I won't be polite." Miku smiled, got up and headed to the bathroom to get ready. When she reached the bedroom door, she turned back as if she remembered something and said, "By the way, could you please change your alarm clock next time?"
"Huh? You don't like it? You said last time that you had watched Kanon, so I specially changed it."
"Uh... it's not that I don't like it, it's just that Nayuki's voice makes me want to sleep." Saying something similar to the male protagonist Aizawa, Miku stretched and walked out the door, seemingly having regained her composure.
Naga, rubbing her aching shoulder, got up and drew back the curtains.
Outside the clear glass window, the sunlight shone brightly like a curtain...