Chapter 15: The Length of the Leash
Long after the two strangers had departed, Vee cautiously entered the outskirts of the abandoned campfire site, making absolutely sure no one spotted her as she snuck in.
Reaching the center of the camp, Vee found that it was dead silent. There was no one inside. The only traces that anyone had ever been there were the charred wood of the fire pit and a few pools of rapidly drying blood in the snow.
"Looks like someone got here before us," Vee muttered, warily scanning her surroundings.
[It seems so,] the System agreed, its panel floating beside her. [However, there are no bodies left behind.]
"Yeah... the monsters must have eaten them," Vee said, her brows furrowing. "There doesn’t even seem to be any signs of a scuffle or a struggle. It looks like they were killed without putting up a fight at all."
[Then we can rule out ordinary feral monsters as the cause.]
"Which means there is someone out here with the strength to execute a clean kill without leaving a trace," she said, her expression dropping into deep concern. "We better get moving before whoever they are comes back."
Far away in the distance, something moved with an unnatural, terrifying silence. Its silver-white body glided effortlessly through the freezing peaks of the demon mountains. Despite its massive, imposing size, it moved at an incredible, almost imperceptible speed.
The creature slithered its way through the winding trees and rocky terrain, eventually perching itself atop a high cliff edge. Looming directly over the forest below, its six milky-white eyes methodically traced every single thing that moved within the valley.
Its eyes darted from left to right before suddenly locking onto a powerful essence signature. But a microsecond later, as if it didn’t even exist, that signature completely vanished from its perception.
The creature growled, its white eyes narrowing in sheer annoyance. Another great, foreign being dared to enter its territory without its permission.
That would not stand.
"Yuki, I’m back!" Vee called out, finally returning to the cave from her scouting mission.
Yuki’s head instantly popped up from his work. "You’re back! How did it go? Did you find anything?"
"Nothing much. The camp was completely empty. Someone or something took the soldiers out easily," she said, the worry visibly growing on her face. "Are you finished butchering all the wolves?"
"Yeah, I am! And I already sold all the meat and materials that we won’t be needing," Yuki said proudly, wiping his hands.
"That’s good. Let’s get back to moving," Vee said. She nervously walked over to Yuki, her rabbit ears twitching with hidden anxiety. She hesitated for a moment before clearing her throat. "Give me your hand. I can’t have you wandering off again."
"..." Yuki tilted his head. "You... want to hold my hand?"
"Yes."
"..., If you want to hold my hand, you can do it whenever you want," Yuki said, a soft, teasing smile spreading across his lips. "You don’t have to make up an excuse about me wandering off."
Vee’s ears instantly shot straight up, rigid with embarrassment. "W-What?!" she stammered, her face turning bright pink. "I don’t want to hold your hand, idiot! I just don’t want you disappearing on me again!"
"Hmph." Yuki chuckled. With a smug grin, he walked over to a nearby rock and picked up his handmade backpack, slinging it over his shoulders before slowly walking right back toward Vee, his smile widening.
"What are you doing?" Vee asked, thoroughly confused by his confidence.
"Making things better for you. I found a way for me to stay close to you without forcing you to hold my hand."
"You do?"
"Yes."
"Umm... what is it?"
"Open your hands," Yuki said, stepping directly into her personal space.
"Okay...?"
Slowly, she stretched her hands out, palms facing upward.
He, he, he. Chuckling like a total idiot, Yuki placed a pristine white leather collar in her left hand, and a matching leash in her right.
"..." Vee stared down at the items. "Yuki... what exactly is this?" she asked, her mind going completely blank with shock and utter confusion.
Yuki didn’t bother answering her question. Instead, he simply lifted his chin, fully exposing the vulnerable line of his neck to her.
"Go ahead," he said, stepping even closer.
Vee’s hands began to tremble violently. ’This is NOT what I had in mind! I just wanted to hold his hand! How do I get out of this?!’ "Um... Yuki, we really don’t need to do this. I’m completely fine with just holding your hand," Vee said, desperately trying to backpedal out of the strange situation she had found herself in.
"No."
"Huh?"
Yuki stepped forward until his chest was practically pinned against hers. Vee froze, her entire face turning a deep, vibrant pink as she looked down at him.
Staring directly up into her eyes, Yuki said slowly and deliberately, "Put. It. On. Me."
With a soft, definitive click, Vee reluctantly fastened the collar around his neck and connected the leash, her hands shaking the entire time.
"Alright... it’s done," she muttered, quickly looking away to avoid his intense gaze.
"Thank you! Now I won’t get lost," Yuki said, terribly failing to suppress a laugh.
A few minutes later, Vee was walking down the snowy trail, awkwardly holding a leash with Yuki happily trotting along behind her.
’What am I doing? What am I actually doing?!’ Vee screamed internally, her mind a chaotic mess. ’I put him on a leash! A leash! For chaos’ sake, he has me wrapped tightly around his little fingers... Ugh, I can’t believe myself right now!’ She shook her head furiously, trying to clear her thoughts.
[I honestly cannot believe you actually made her do it,] the System’s text box popped up in Yuki’s field of vision.
’I told you, I am a literal professional at seduction,’ Yuki replied proudly in his mind, waddling happily behind his flustered familiar.
[I learn something new about you every day. And every day, my calculations regarding your lack of shame grow stronger.]
’How so?’
[You literally just let her collar you. And it wasn’t just to win a point, because if it was, you wouldn’t look so incredibly happy still wearing it.]
’It’s way better this way! I have both of my hands free in case we get attacked, and I won’t accidentally wander off anymore,’ Yuki reasoned flawlessly.
[...] The system paused. [Wanna make another bet?]
’Sure! What are you thinking?’ Yuki asked mischievously.
[Remember that you are technically supposed to be treating Vee like your wife for a week as part of her avatar contract.]
’Yeah?’
[Whenever she does anything, just agree with her, and... wait, you already do that. Never mind. Let’s see how much you can actively test her patience before she completely loses her composure,] the System suggested casually.
’Deal.’
Ahead of him, Vee suddenly felt an unexplained, ominous chill run down the back of her neck. She shivered, pulling her collar up.
"Is it... suddenly getting a lot colder out here?" she wondered aloud, completely unaware of the dynamic duo plotting behind her.
