Chapter 82: "I find your narcissism incredibly annoying,"
At the very end of the corridor, a heavy titanium door stood slightly ajar, a soft yellow light spilling out from the gap—a sharp contrast to the harsh, sterile white of the fluorescent bulbs outside.
Hana pushed the door open.
Inside wasn’t another storage rack or a piece of machinery. It was a compact, self-contained living quarter.
A single metal frame bed sat in the corner, topped with a faded, industrial-grade mattress. Next to it was a small steel desk, a single chair, and a dead terminal screen covered in a thin layer of dust.
It looked like a tomb for a ghost who had died long before the beastmen ever walked the earth.
"Oh, what’s this?" Raiden murmured, stepping past her. He didn’t hesitate to throw his long frame onto the mattress, leaning his head back against the metal frame. His nine tails draped over the edge, fluffing out instantly. "Mmm. Hana, you said your ancestors built these things, right? Well, they really knew how to make a surface. It’s firm and more solid than the one back home. Can we keep it?"
Hana ignored his lounging, her eyes drawn straight to the steel desk. Resting right beside the dead terminal was a thick, leather-bound book, its edges frayed and stained with old oil. She walked over, picking it up and wiping the dust off the cover with her thumb.
It was just like the other one, but she hoped she could at least make better words out of his one and not just one code encrypted.
She opened it and found yellow pages, covered in tight, frantic handwriting in English—clear, undeniable proof.
Day 412.
The perimeter sensors at the surface went dark hours ago. The radio is nothing but static now. Central Command isn’t coming back. The swarm hit Sector 4 last week, and I’m down to my last three rations of synthetic protein. I’m just counting the days now. Guarding a power grid for a world that’s already rotted to the bone. If anyone finds this... the automated systems are set to stand by. Don’t let the air scrubbers fail.
Hana stared at the ink, her expression tightening into a grim line. It was another confirmation.
This world, this primitive wilderness she was currently trying to conquer, was built right on top of the carcass of her own era.
The man who wrote this had starved to death in the dark while the undead tore the surface apart, completely unaware that centuries later, a bunch of multi-tailed foxes and dragons would call his workstation a ’sacred curse.’
What a joke!
But then, where were the bones of the man who wrote this? She wondered.
She hadn’t found bones in the other either, and just a small blood-stained teddy. There were a lot of questions, but she could not find the answers just by thinking about them.
Hana let out a short, heavy sigh and snapped the book shut, tossing it onto the steel desk with a dull thud.
"Didn’t find anything?" Raiden’s voice was suddenly much closer than before.
Before she could turn around, two strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind, pulling her back against his bare, warm chest.
Raiden rested his chin in the crook of her neck, his breath warm against her skin. The pink fur of his tails brushed against her legs, wrapping around her in a protective, tight hold.
But he wasn’t laughing. The usual sarcastic, arrogant tone was completely gone, replaced by a low, uneven whisper that vibrated against her shoulder.
"Thank you," he murmured, his grip tightening just a fraction beneath her breasts. "For what you did out there. For making them look at me and realize they couldn’t touch me anymore. I’ve spent years making them look like fools, Hana... but today, watching him choke on his own pride while you held his life in your hands... I’ve never felt so alive."
He was getting emotional, his voice dropping into a rare, vulnerable territory that didn’t fit his face or character at all.
Hana crinkled her nose. Ugh. Enough of this.
Suddenly, she brought her hand up and flicked him hard right in the center of his forehead.
"Ow!" Raiden winced, his grip loosening instantly as he stumbled back a step, his hand flying to his head. "Hana," he whimpered.
Hana didn’t give him time to recover. She turned and planted her palm firmly against his chest, shoving him backward. Raiden stumbled on the edge of the bed and fell back onto the mattress, his elbows propping him up in place as he stared up at her with wide, startled emerald eyes.
But before he could say a word, Hana stepped over the frame, straddling his hips and pinning him down with her weight. She leaned over him, her dark eyes dead cold and focused, staring directly into his gaze.
"Listen to me, Raiden," Hana said, her voice dropping into a cool, commanding tone. "You belong to me now, which means you never bow your head to anyone out there. Not your father, not your Elders, not anyone. You don’t get to look small, and you don’t get to act like a pathetic, broken victim in front of me."
Raiden’s breath hitched, his emerald eyes tracking her lips as she leaned closer, the scent of her skin completely filling his senses.
"I find your narcissism incredibly annoying," Hana continued, her fingers gripping his chin firmly, forcing him to keep his eyes locked onto hers. "But don’t you dare start being less of a stuck-up bastard just for another’s sake. The mischief, the arrogance, the stupid pride—that’s what you use to survive. Keep it. I don’t want a soft, weeping fox in my den. I want the trickster who fouls altars and takes what he wants."
Raiden’s lips parted, a sudden, fierce heat igniting in his eyes as her words sank in. The vulnerability vanished, replaced instantly by that familiar, dangerous spark she liked to see.
"As you wish, Hana," he whispered, a slow, wicked, proud grin spreading across his handsome face.
Hana didn’t waste another second talking. She leaned down and kissed him, hard and possessively.
Raiden didn’t know why, but he assumed this was just like two days ago, when she asked him to do it with her quickly before anyone found out and interrupted them.
They were alone now, too, and she was definitely heading in that direction.
Raiden groaned into the kiss, his nine tails instantly flaring out and wrapping around both of them like a heavy, pink blanket, pulling her down into the mattress.
"Hana," he panted against her lips. "I’ll make it quick."
> [QUEST COMPLETED: THE BOND’S NURTURE]
> Objective: Individual session with Mate: Raiden.
> Reward: +15,000 Karmic Points
> Current Balance: -902,880
