Mai jolted. A sharp, completely undignified squeak slipped out of her.
Before she could push him away, he ducked his head, pressing his mouth against the bare curve of her neck. He dragged his teeth lightly over her pulse point, biting down just enough to leave a mark before sucking hard against the skin.
Mai let out a shaky breath, her fingers digging desperately into his shoulders to keep her legs from completely giving out.
Ren pulled back just enough to brush his lips right against her ear.
"Consider that my payment, princess," he murmured. "When are you available to pay the next installment?"
The flush on her face darkened to an absolute, burning crimson. She shoved both hands hard against his chest, finally managing to push him back half a step.
"You..." She stammered, genuinely struggling to find her footing. She pointed a finger at his chest, completely flustered. "You just do whatever you want! I can't control you at all. You just keep bullying me!"
Ren just smiled, slipping his hands casually back into his jacket pockets.
"I mean it," Mai threatened, crossing her arms tightly as a defense mechanism, though her eyes kept darting back to his mouth. "The second she gets back from Hokkaido, I am telling my sister you treat me like this."
"Go ahead," Ren laughed, stepping back to give her space to breathe. "Tell the girl with the Heavenly Restriction that I squeezed her twin sister's ass in a train station. See how that conversation plays out for both of us."
Mai opened her mouth to argue, realized exactly how Maki would react to that information, and snapped her mouth shut. She settled for glaring daggers at the linoleum floor, though she reached up to lightly touch the warm, stinging mark he had just left on her neck.
"Come on," Ren said, nodding toward the main corridor. "Let's go get a coffee."
They walked out of the service corridor and merged back into the station's heavy foot traffic. Ren found a small, busy café near the west exit. After grabbing two coffees from the counter, he bypassed the open tables in the center and slid into a padded corner booth.
Instead of sitting across from him, Mai slid into the booth right next to him. She kept her jacket collar pulled up slightly, her shoulder brushing against his as she took her cup.
Their legs pressed together under the table. Mai took a slow sip of her drink, keeping her eyes locked on the plastic lid. The combative energy from the alcove had dialed back into a quiet, hyper-aware shyness. She shifted slightly, clearly hyper-focused on the physical contact but making no effort to move away.
Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He unlocked it, tapped the camera app, and held it up, switching to the front-facing lens so they were both in the frame.
Mai frowned, instantly leaning away from the camera. "What are you doing?"
"Taking a picture."
"Put that away," she muttered, raising a hand to block the lens. "We aren't a couple of junior high kids on a field trip. Taking selfies in the middle of a café is childish."
"You're just mad because your face is red," he pointed out.
"It is not—"
Ren wrapped his arm around her shoulders, ignoring the protest, and pulled her flush against his side. He snapped the first picture. On the screen, Ren was grinning lazily, while Mai was mid-scowl, glaring daggers at the lens with her hand half-raised in a blur.
"Terrible," Ren noted, swiping to view it. "Let's try again. Look like you actually like me this time."
"I don't," she lied smoothly, staring straight ahead at the sugar packets on the table.
"Okay. If you don't cooperate, I'm just going to start kissing your neck again right here next to the pastry display."
Mai's eyes darted nervously toward the barista counter and the elderly couple sitting two tables over. "You wouldn't."
Ren just tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.
She let out a long, defeated sigh. "You are exhausting."
He held the phone back up, adjusting the angle. He tapped his own face with his free hand. "Right here."
Mai rolled her eyes, but she didn't argue. She leaned in, closing the distance between them. As Ren's thumb hit the shutter button, she pressed her lips against his cheek. The screen flashed, capturing the shot perfectly—her eyes closed, the silver pendant resting against her collarbone, and Ren looking straight at the camera with a satisfied smirk.
Before she could pull back to her side of the booth, Ren shifted his grip, catching her around the waist and pulling her slightly off balance onto his lap. She let out a short, surprised laugh, trying to swat the phone out of his hand.
Click.
He lowered the device and opened the gallery. The third picture was slightly blurry, but it caught the exact moment her guard dropped. Mai wasn't posing or glaring. She was caught mid-laugh, looking up at him with a soft, completely genuine smile.
She leaned over his arm to look at the screen, her chin resting near his shoulder. "Delete that last one," she murmured. "My hair looks terrible."
"Not a chance," Ren said. He locked the screen and slipped the phone back into his pocket.
"That one's my new lock screen."
Ren pulled his phone back out to check the screen. The bold white numbers read 11:14 AM. The entire morning had evaporated.
He tapped his fingers against the table. "I need to get back to Tokyo. If I ditch Nanami for much longer, he's going to actually cleave me in half."
Mai nodded, the quiet bubble of the corner booth popping as reality set back in. She grabbed her empty cup and slid out of the booth.
They tossed their trash and navigated back to the central concourse. The midday crowds were thicker now, tourists and businessmen swarming the ticketing gates. They walked side-by-side, skipping the overt physical contact but staying close enough that their shoulders brushed every few steps.
Down on the Tokyo-bound platform, the wind whipped past as a bullet train rushed through on the opposite tracks. The electronic departure board blinked, signaling the next Tokyo-bound Shinkansen was two minutes out.
The heavy rumble of the approaching train vibrated through the concrete platform. The silver cars slid into the station, the brakes hissing loudly as they slowed to a halt.
Ren turned to her. "Use the necklace if you need it. Don't hoard the energy just to be stubborn."
Mai didn't pull her hands out of her pockets, but she subtly pressed her forearm against her chest, right over where the metal pendant rested beneath her shirt. The faint, steady hum of the stored energy answered her.
"I'll figure it out," she said. She looked up at him, keeping her voice casual. "Try not to get killed in Tokyo. Maki would never let me hear the end of it if you died."
"I'll do my best to avoid it."
The automated boarding chime echoed over the platform speakers. The doors slid open behind him.
Ren stepped backward onto the train. He didn't pull her in for another kiss, just gave her a lazy, two-finger salute.
Mai rolled her eyes, but a genuine smile slipped through. She stayed rooted on the platform, watching him until the doors sealed shut. As the train accelerated out of Kyoto Station, pulling him back toward the ticking clock of Halloween, he watched her figure shrink and vanish into the crowd.
...
The vending machine swallowed the coins with a heavy clank. A cold can of black coffee dropped into the metal tray.
Megumi bent down, grabbed it, and tossed it over his shoulder without looking. Yuji caught it easily, already holding two sodas of his own.
"I still think we should have checked the station bathrooms," Yuji said, popping the tab on his cola. "What if he passed out in there?"