Chapter Text
It's another late night at NEDF’s Lumina branch. Zhu Yuan sits at her desk, yawning into her third can of nitro fuel as the last employee leaves the building.
"See you, Yuan!" They say, and the clatter of the closing door echoes throughout the building.
She gives a lazy wave as the clock on her desk hits 11. It's not often she stays up this late, but she had a bulk of paperwork to go through after a particularly complex case has been closed.
The phone on her desk rings. Zhu Yuan puts her pen down and answers promptly. "New Eridu Public Security, Lumina branch."
The person on the other end complains with an exhausted voice about loud noises coming from Lumina Galleria, the mall across the road. Strange, Zhu Yuan thinks, it shouldn't be open this late at all.
"Very well, I'll go check it out." Zhu Yuan says, hanging up and bringing her equipment out of her office. Any other officer would likely ignore something as simple as a noise complaint this late at night, but Zhu Yuan is nothing if not committed to her job.
Holstering her modular service weapon, she exits the police station and crosses the street, examining the mall on the corner. There is definitely a sound coming from what seems to be the second floor, and she pushes the sliding doors open, thankful that it's unlocked.
It's not hard to find the source of the commotion once she’s inside. The mall is dark, save for a light on the next floor.
She walks up the disabled escalator and through the lone illuminated hallway. It seems to be composed of an array of conference rooms, and the sound grows louder the closer she gets. Laughing, shouting, hooting, and hollering all echo past the door and throughout the empty galleria.
The officer knocks on the door. "Public Security," She warns with a deep, commanding voice.
The noise stops. There's whispering from the other side of the frosted glass in the door as footsteps approach, and it cracks open toward Zhu Yuan. A head of pink hair greets her, slipping out of the door and smiling up at her. "Oh, Officer Zhu Yuan," She adjusts her previously crooked glasses and stands up straight. "How can I help you?"
Zhu Yuan's eyes widen and she, too, straightens her posture. "E-Executive Officer Tsukishiro Yanagi! I... apologize, I definitely didn't expect you to be here." She clears her throat. "I received a noise complaint coming from this building, so just keep it quiet, please.” She tries to peek around Yanagi. “…whatever you're doing in there."
Yanagi bows. "Apologies, I'll make sure everybody tones it down." She pushes up her glasses. "Actually... it's good to see you here. As far as I'm aware, you aren't yet part of our club."
A club? This seems less and less like official HSO activity the more Zhu Yuan learns. Especially with how many voices are coming from inside and the jubilant atmosphere.
Zhu Yuan tilts her head. "Er, pardon?"
"Come in! Everyone would be very excited to see you, I'm sure." Yanagi puts her hand on the door handle behind her and lightly tugs it open just a crack. A subtle invitation.
Zhu Yuan rubs the back of her head and looks down the hall she came from. "Well... I suppose I can take a look. My paperwork isn't due until next week, anyway. I’ll just clock out remotely."
The door opens and Zhu Yuan is greeted with a large conference room that's been converted into more or less, a bar. The long conference table that would have been in the middle of the space has been folded up and put to the side, and in its place are smaller circular folding tables surrounded by repurposed office chairs. There's a makeshift bar at the back of the room, too, using a bigger plastic folding table as a bar top.
There's upwards of 30 people in this room, so it's no wonder there was a noise complaint. What's more is that Zhu Yuan recognizes a lot of the women here; well-recognized agents with high ether aptitudes known for their exceptional combat skills, among many other feats. As her eyes scan the crowd, she spots a familiar rat tail swishing at the bar.
"Jane...?" Zhu Yuan dares to step closer.
Small thiren ears twitch at the voice and Jane turns around, drink in hand and a growing smirk on her lips. "Well, look who's finally shown up. I was wondering who was at the door." She holds an arm out to gesture at the room. "Welcome to New Eridu After Dark."
Zhu Yuan blinks and looks around before meeting Jane's gaze, standing next to her coworker. "W-what is this?" She double takes at another woman sitting next to Jane. "Qingyi!?"
The small twin-tailed automaton wiggles her fingers at the officer. "Hello, Zhu Yuan. I’m glad you’re here."
Before Zhu Yuan can parse the situation further, a gentle hand taps her shoulder. She turns around to see a grey-haired woman, smiling and floating just above the ground.
"Do not worry, officer. Greetings, I am Alexandrina, but you can call me Rina. Allow me to explain: every Friday night the notable women of the city get together to relax. All of our differences and titles, if any, are put to the side. Simply, it is a time and place where we can ‘let our hair down’, so to speak.
“Additionally, the location changes every week. So, if you do decide to join us, you will be notified every Saturday of the next location. The idea came from our bartender, Burnice, though Miss Tsukishiro and I have taken the roles of president and vice president, respectively."
Zhu Yuan nods along to the explanation, and looks at the blonde bartender in question. She has short pigtails and an energetic aura about her as she mixes a drink and flirts with a feline thiren across the counter.
"We need to get her initiated, Rina." Jane smiles into her glass as she leans her back against the bar.
"Er, I don't know if I shou..." Zhu Yuan starts, but out of the corner of her eye, she spots someone entering the room. A tall pair of black fox ears flick and Zhu Yuan swallows hard. It’s Hoshimi Miyabi, the officer’s close friend and crush ever since the two of them attended school together. She’s drying her hands with a paper towel, seemingly having just returned from the bathroom. Zhu Yuan’s eyes shoot back at Jane with pink cheeks as she hesitates, "...I-I guess it can't hurt. What's the initiation?"
Jane's grin widens so far it threatens to break the boundaries of her face. "I'll be honest with you little birdy, initiation involves each and every member of the club lining up in seats, with the initiate receiving a kiss from each of them in succession."
Rina cuts in. "I would like to express that the number one rule here is to keep everything above the waist and relatively appropriate."
Crimson covers Zhu Yuan's face. She swallows hard. "U-uh... t-that's..." Her eyes flit about the room, glancing at everyone again—her eyes lingering on Miyabi—and she briefly imagines each of them kissing her. "Like… just a kiss on the cheek, right?"
"It's entirely up to the kisser what they do," Jane puts on a fresh layer of nude lipstick. "So, what do you say? Interested?"
Are all of these women really... into other women like that? Zhu Yuan runs her hand along her collar anxiously and she licks her lips, looking back up at Jane. "O-okay. I’ll do it."
Jane's ear twitches. "Perfect. With you, we'll finally have everybody on the roster."
Apparently Burnice had been keeping a second ear on their conversation even while flirting with that other woman, and she cups her hands around her mouth. "Attention NEADies!!" She shouts. "It's initiation time!~"
The room turns toward Burnice, and upon hearing the announcement an excited chatter fills the space. They start moving their chairs in a row against the room-length window of the conference room.
27 different women sit before Zhu Yuan, and Yanagi quiets them all down. "I recommend starting from left to right." She pats Zhu Yuan on the back before sitting in her seat.
Considering the first person in that order is Qingyi, a familiar and trusted friend and coworker, Zhu Yuan thinks Yanagi’s idea is a good one. Not wanting to tarry, she approaches the automaton, who stands up in front of her.
Even standing up Qingyi comes nowhere near Zhu Yuan's height. She gives her a genuine smile as the other women watch on and trade idle chatter. "Sorry I didn't tell you about this place, Yuan. We have to keep it a secret outside of these walls."
"I understand..." Zhu Yuan chuckles and rubs her arm. "I'm no stranger to confidential info."
"Well, can't keep the others waiting." Qingyi says, then stands on her tiptoes as she closes her eyes.
Zhu Yuan hasn't really been attracted to Qingyi in the past, but she can't deny that she's wondered what it would be like to kiss an automaton—especially Qingyi. As their lips meet in a brief but meaningful kiss, Zhu Yuan's cheeks light up. Her lips feel no different from a human’s, which she figured as much, but there’s still a certain uniqueness to it that she can’t quite place. They're only friends, but... it feels nice to kiss her. No deeper meaning or feelings between them is needed. It only lasts a second, but Zhu Yuan finds herself smiling as a giddy sparkling feeling rises in her chest, momentarily forgetting the many eyes on her. She wouldn't mind if they kissed more often outside of this, but who knows what opportunities they could have for that to happen.
Qingyi smiles back, her typically neutral stare softer than Zhu Yuan is used to seeing. Before her thoughts can go any further, Qingyi gestures to her left, indicating it's time to move to the next club member.
Zhu Yuan steps to the side and a green haired woman stands up, just barely taller than her. Despite her broad build and intimidating aura, an unmistakable bashful expression colors her face.
"Name's Caesar." She says.
The name and the face look familiar, and Zhu Yuan shortly recognizes her as the leader of the Sons of Calydon, the most prominent biker gang in the Outer Ring. Public Security has a file on them due to their nature, but they've rarely needed the attention from the police, not that there's much they could do out beyond the city limits. Zhu Yuan certainly never expected to meet the Overlord of the Outer Ring, let alone kiss her.
A pink haze surrounds them as Caesar steps closer, and Zhu Yuan's eyelids flutter. "I... yes, you're the overlord, and leader of the..."
Caesar's hand reaches up to caress the outline of Zhu Yuan’s chin, and she suddenly feels like a part of a romance manga as their lips rest only a breath apart.
"...Sons of Calydon..." Zhu Yuan whispers, her eyelids lowering as she glances down at Caesar’s lips and back up to her comforting eyes.
"Acting Overlord," Caesar corrects, but smiles and leans in as they kiss. Soft, but confident and tender, like the love interest in a shoujo anime whose tough exterior gives way to someone incredibly caring and passionate. Pink bubbles rise around them as Zhu Yuan lets herself get whisked away in the fantasy for a brief moment.
And brief it is, as Caesar pulls back and the apparent haze dissipates. Still, its rosy effects linger on Zhu Yuan’s cheeks.
Someone clears their throat to Zhu Yuan's right, and she looks down to see what looks to be another member of the Sons of Calydon. Based on the records, this seems to be Luciana de Montefio. Once a part of the proud Montefio family, she fled to the Outer Ring and has made quite the name for herself since.
Lucy grabs Zhu Yuan's wrist and pulls her in front of her rather aggressively. Then she curtsies, and takes Zhu Yuan's hands again. "You two had enough time," She says, her fingers fiddling with the straps keeping the officer's gloves on. "You shouldn't keep one waiting, you know. Now, you won't be needing these."
Zhu Yuan isn't sure what to say. Lucy seems awfully in control, and it doesn't seem all that useful to use words at all. As her gloves come off, Lucy raises Zhu Yuan's hand up to her face as she gives a kind smile toward the taller woman.
Lucy, even in her biker leathers, gives off a royal aura that makes Zhu Yuan feel like her hand is being held by a princess. And yet, as Lucy kisses the top of her newly bared hand, Zhu Yuan feels more like the princess in this moment.
A gentle kiss, but one that still has Zhu Yuan blushing. It shouldn’t be anything special, but to be honest with herself, she’s always loved the idea of a woman kissing her hand like this, and it makes her heart flutter more than she thought. Lucy looks up from her hand with one eye closed and a smirk on her lips. "You should be grateful. I don't have to kiss you at all, you know."
"T-thank you..." Zhu Yuan stutters. It very well may be the most tame kiss during this initiation, especially since she knows Jane is here. Though sometimes softness can make the heart soar in a way that rivals something perhaps more intense.
Lucy gently pushes Zhu Yuan over toward the next woman, one about as short Lucy, but no less blonde.
She yawns but gives Zhu Yuan a genuine smile, waving lazily as she speaks with a slower drawl. "Hey there, officer. Call me Piper."
"Nice to meet you..." Zhu Yuan says, eyes wandering a little before Piper's hand reaches for her tie, pulling her face to face.
"Hold your breath." Piper grins, and leans into a deep kiss.
"Mmh!" Zhu Yuan doesn’t actually get much time to parse the suggestion, and her eyes widen as she's pulled into the kiss, but her eyelids slowly close as she feels Piper's lips on hers. Zhu Yuan loses her balance a little as Piper continues kissing her for longer and longer.
Her breath’s quite literally taken away, and even trying to breathe through her nose yields insufficient oxygen. Zhu Yuan begins to let out a few small grunts of effort, her eyes squeezing shut now as her head starts to buzz. Is it the loss of oxygen, or the way Piper's kissing her that's making her feel so woozy? Likely both.
Before Zhu Yuan completely loses consciousness, she's standing back up straight, gasping for breath as saliva starts dripping down her lip. She staggers again as she wipes her mouth and pants, looking down at the short trucker who's similarly dabbing her lips, but with much more of a smile.
This feeling of weakness and the sight of the older woman leave Zhu Yuan wondering just how well she's going to handle the rest of these kisses. She's strong, though, she can do it... right?
The image of a familiar rat flashes across her mind at that thought, and her jaw tightens, but saves those thoughts for later.
Zhu Yuan slowly steps to the side to see a masked thiren... glaring? She's familiar, Zhu Yuan thinks, but for the most part she fits in with the Sons of Calydon's aesthetic. Another blonde woman? It's more of a dirty blonde, though.
Based on her body language she seems averse to the officer's presence, and she glances to her side at the bartender, Burnice, who’s responsible for this whole thing to begin with.
Burnice squeezes Pulchra's hand subtly and the masked woman turns to Zhu Yuan, taking her mask off and exposing a blush that's evidently been there the entire time.
"Cute..." Zhu Yuan mouths, and immediately she feels daggers on her from Pulchra's glare.
"Shut up." She grumbles, stepping forward and grabbing the back of Zhu Yuan's neck without hesitation, launching into her lips.
Zhu Yuan's eyes close and she takes in a sharp breath. She's never kissed a full thiren before, and it feels much more pleasant than she thought. Her fur is soft and it tickles her lips in a way that doesn't bother her at all. Of course, who could be bothered kissing a woman who looks like she could kill Zhu Yuan on the spot? Okay, maybe Zhu Yuan has some repressed kinks, but still…
Soon enough Zhu Yuan opens her eyes and Pulchra already has her mask back on, though now her blush is apparent even with it. Burnice beside her seems very pleased with the result, and Zhu Yuan takes a few steps to be in front of the blonde. (Okay, at this point there is no way it's a coincidence that every woman but one in the Sons of Calydon is blonde.)
Burnice's smile grows wide as she looks Zhu Yuan up and down. She steps closer and her arms move up to rest on Zhu Yuan's shoulders. "Has anyone ever told you how pretty you are?" Burnice chirps, her voice like drops of honey.
"U-uh... no…" Zhu Yuan still has some brain fog from Piper's kiss, and she doesn't notice Burnice undoing her capelet from her back.
"That’s surprising! Especially considering…” She gets up close to Zhu Yuan’s face. “Your whole face! I'll be honest though, this cape thing is too weird, even for me..." She giggles, sliding Zhu Yuan's blazer off of her shoulders. The sturdy vest underneath unbuckles, and she looks down to find she's been stripped down to her white dress shirt.
It's always been a satisfying feeling to get out of uniform at the end of a long work day, but to have a pretty blonde bartender do it for her? That's another magnitude. Her lips stutter and her cheeks burn as Burnice continues, untucking Zhu Yuan's shirt and lifting it up to expose her stomach. "Ah... you're...!"
"I know we're supposed to keep it above the belt, but this is ridiculous! Your pants are super high-waisted!" Burnice laughs, bending at the knees and planting kisses down, up, and around Zhu Yuan's stomach. "It's a shame your belt covers your belly button..." Burnice mumbles against Zhu Yuan's skin, giving several extra tender kisses.
Zhu Yuan has no idea what to do with her hands. Should she… hold Burnice's head? Is that too intimate? For now, she keeps her hands raised slightly above her hips, as if she's just let go of something that she just saw had a bug on it.
For the most part though, she bites her lip as Burnice's kisses send prickles along her skin, and she's surprised at how good it feels. Clearly this girl has experience. Experience with what, Zhu Yuan isn't quite sure. Lesbian orgies? Is this... basically a lesbian orgy?
Warm hands grab at Zhu Yuan’s waist as Burnice’s repetitive lips make sure to leave no skin unloved. Her shirt covers the girl’s head, and that she can’t see—only feel—what Burnice is doing really makes her body feel hot. After enough waist fondling and tummy kissing, Zhu Yuan's shirt falls and Burnice lands back in her chair, a contented smile on her face.
The officer swallows a lump in her throat and turns her head, finding that beside Burnice is somebody she most certainly recognizes. For somebody who refused the title of Void Hunter, she definitely didn't lose any of the fame or grandeur.
The Shifu of Yunkui Summit sits before Zhu Yuan, as if it's no big deal that she’s hanging out at a club like this. Certainly this kind of thing would be beneath somebody of her status, but then again, Miyabi is here, too. Zhu Yuan supposes even Void Hunters need enrichment of some kind. If Zhu Yuan’s definition of enrichment is even correct...
Yixuan stands up as the tips of her fingers glow with gold light and she holds her index and middle fingers up in front of her. She rubs the fingers over her lips, coating them in a glossy, black, ink-like substance. It isn't magic, but Zhu Yuan wouldn’t be surprised if she had that kind of ability. "It's a pleasure to meet you, officer." Yixuan's voice is like a blanket, and the way she looks with this "lipstick" on lights a fire in Zhu Yuan's mind.
She chokes. "Y-yes, Shifu. You, as well..." And Zhu Yuan finds the stark-haired older woman leaning toward her, her fingers subtly interlacing with the hand at Zhu Yuan's side. Such a sensation feels more sensual than it should, and she wonders if that’s because of some technique, or if this woman just has that kind of natural effect?
Yixuan raises their joined hands up to Zhu Yuan’s shoulder, and her black lips firmly press against the corner of Zhu Yuan's, her heart swelling. The cold imprint of the inky kiss lingers, and Yixuan continues to leave a trail of black lipstick marks along her cheek, toward her ear as she brushes Zhu Yuan's hair out of the way. Yixuan's other hand meanwhile tightens the lacing of their fingers, and Zhu Yuan finds that she never wants to let go of this hand.
"Shifu..." She croaks, not even realizing she's spoken at all. When Yixuan pulls back, it's far too soon. Zhu Yuan finds herself missing that closeness—the air of assurance that Yixuan keeps about herself. It takes a moment for the officer to open her eyes again and recollect herself, feeling Yixuan’s fingers slipping past her palm in a subtle goodbye. She must look like a wreck already, with her uniform disassembled and patterns of black lipstick making constellations on her cheek.
A high pitched squeak rises from the girl next in line, and Zhu Yuan looks at the rabbit thiren. Funnily enough, this very same girl was on the news some time ago due to her actions regarding releasing ether research to aid science all over New Eridu.
"I have high respect for Yunkui Summit, but Yixuan Shifu," Alice says to the older mystic. "You could have at least made your marks symmetrical!"
Yixuan laughs. "I beg your forgiveness."
Alice sighs. "It's fine..." She says, mostly to herself. Alice looks down the line, seeing that most of the women are idly chatting with each other but for the most part, all focus remains on Zhu Yuan. Alice gives a worried look to a girl with red twintails who smiles at her and gives her a thumbs up. Alice then faces Zhu Yuan with a serious expression and stands up, leaning in.
Eyes squeezed shut, her lips plant perfectly on Zhu Yuan's, though not for very long. Still, it's notable that she's managed to line up their lips so precisely. "I can't fix those marks on you, but a perfectly symmetrical kiss should suffice...!" Her cheeks are bright red and once again she glances at Yuzuha for validation, who is silently clapping.
Now, the very woman Zhu Yuan had met when she opened the door to this place stands up before her, adjusting her glasses. "It's good to see you, Zhu Yuan."
Zhu Yuan holds some resentment towards Tsukishiro Yanagi, for reasons along the lines of "stealing" Miyabi from her. Yanagi is a good woman, though, and now isn't the time to be worrying about that kind of baggage anywa—
While lost in thought, Zhu Yuan fails to pay attention to the gentle pulling at her ponytail. Her eyes widen as the hand carefully pulls back, and she looks up at the smiling office woman. "I-it's good to..." She stammers, feeling Yanagi's fingers weaving through her hair and tugging at her hair tie. "...see you, too.”
Yanagi's face is tantalizingly close to hers, and Zhu Yuan feels her hair tie wriggle out. Yanagi's hand, however, doesn't. In fact, she keeps pulling her head back, making Zhu Yuan feel smaller than the woman who just a second ago was objectively shorter.
The Deputy Chief leans over Zhu Yuan's face, their noses touching for a second’s breath before Yanagi’s lips dive into hers. She shouldn't feel this good, Zhu Yuan thinks. Other than her hair being pulled, it isn't exactly a remarkable kiss, but maybe that's just it.
The moisture of her lips, the way she doesn't kiss her for too long or too short, all Zhu Yuan can think of to surmise what she’s feeling; it's... a perfect kiss. As Zhu Yuan catches her breath and Yanagi lets go of her hair, she realizes exactly why this woman is the president of this club.
Before she can make any further realizations, her hand is taken to the side, joined with Alexandrina’s. Zhu Yuan looks down to see the head maid’s thumb rubbing along her knuckles. She stands up at not quite Zhu Yuan's height and lifts her hand to her lips, kissing her knuckles and smiling. "I'm sure you've been welcomed enough already, but…" She moves her hands graciously along Zhu Yuan’s back, one hand moving up to guide her head against Rina’s chest. “Welcome.” She kisses the top of her head and strokes her messy dark hair.
Zhu Yuan's face is hot again, but she truly appreciates Rina’s embrace. She feels and smells incredibly comforting, especially now that Zhu Yuan’s hair is down. It would be very easy to fall asleep right here, listening to her heartbeat and breathing. And, being quite the opposite of Yanagi, she realizes why Rina is the vice president.
Much to Zhu Yuan’s dismay, Rina soon relinquishes her cradling, facing Zhu Yuan towards the next woman in line. Zhu Yuan rubs her eyes, wondering if she really did nap for a few seconds there as she looks down at another maid.
She's leaning forward, resting her cheek on her hand with a red lollipop dangling from her mouth. Zhu Yuan stands in front of her for a moment, waiting for her to notice her before realizing she's... asleep.
"Ellen," Rina's voice chimes. "You have a client."
The shark thiren's crimson eyes crack open and she looks up at Zhu Yuan standing in front of her. Her eyebrow raises. “Woah. You… look a lot different than when you came in.”
Zhu Yuan looks at her confounded. She gestures at the line of chairs to the left, some of which are now empty with Burnice back at the bar, and others getting different seating to watch the rest of Zhu Yuan’s initiation. “Y-yeah! They happened!” She stammers, glancing at the chairs then back at Ellen. “Did you not see…?”
Ellen’s eyes shift to the side. “I kinda fell asleep when I sat down.” She stands up and after stretching, her hands gently lay on Zhu Yuan’s collarbone. “So, wanna look… more different?” She gives a tiny smirk. Her fingers trail around Zhu Yuan’s shirt collar, loosening her lime green necktie. Her bright red nails glide down to find the top button of her dress shirt and carefully she pulls it free.
“I-I don’t mind…” Zhu Yuan says, her voice much quieter as she watches Ellen’s fingers undo the buttons one by one.
“Good, I don’t want to button you back up.” Ellen steps closer, her hands stopping once she undoes the button just under Zhu Yuan’s bust, exposing the officer’s light grey sports bra—though there’s evidence of sweat build up all over, making it a bit darker grey in places. Ellen’s right hand moves up to the side of Zhu Yuan’s neck, moving the loosened shirt to the side to expose the skin of Zhu Yuan’s trapezius—between the neck and shoulder. She flashes her teeth and her head moves under Zhu Yuan’s sight as she kisses her neck with warm, careful lips.
The sight of Ellen’s rows of sharp teeth makes Zhu Yuan’s muscles tense. Zhu Yuan’s head leans to the right, closing her eyes when Ellen starts peppering kisses onto her skin. She makes a circular pattern with her kisses, and every moment Zhu Yuan anticipates a sudden sharp pain on her neck. With Ellen’s warm breath against Zhu Yuan’s neck, she makes that sting real.
Her pointed teeth sink in, and Zhu Yuan takes a sharp breath of pain, and her body tenses again on instinct. Her hands jolt up to hold the maid’s back, and the teeth bury deeper, puncturing her skin. Zhu Yuan, for a moment, thinks it isn’t too bad. It even feels good, as the adrenaline dampens the sensations.
Then the reality of it spreads through Zhu Yuan’s nerves, and as she becomes extremely aware of the sharp objects stabbing into her, she’s also feeling just how Ellen’s lips are kissing her bleeding skin. Zhu Yuan trembles, and her throat creates a whimpering, pleased noise that she didn’t know she had made until it came out. “Hah…” She squeaks.
While Zhu Yuan reels in the emotions, Ellen takes the opportunity to move her head up toward her face. The officer can feel the blood dripping down toward her shirt, her bra, staining them red. Ellen’s lips meet hers, and the coppery tang is apparent, paired with what tastes like… cherry? Zhu Yuan can’t quite tell, what with her own blood mixing with hers and Ellen’s spit.
As Ellen’s tail curls toward the front of her, she sits back down and grins up at Zhu Yuan, who looks down at the source of her searing pain. It isn’t as much blood as it felt like, but it trails down from the bite mark very visibly.
Ellen reaches behind herself and hands a first aid bag to the next girl in line and nods her head. Then, after wiping her mouth of blood and unwrapping a fresh lollipop, she nods off again.
Zhu Yuan looks at the small woman beside Ellen. An orange cat thiren? No, those rounded ears are much closer to a tiger. She’s never seen a tiger thiren in person before, and the girl beams at her.
Ju Fufu puts the first aid bag beside her and stands up, frowning when she finds her head only reaching Zhu Yuan’s chest. “Grrr… no fair.” She pouts. “Well, I can make do…”
“Do you need me to crouch down?” Zhu Yuan asks.
“No!” Ju Fufu whines. She reaches up and pulls Zhu Yuan’s head down enough so that Ju Fufu needn’t crane so far to kiss her. This comes at the cost of Zhu Yuan’s loose hair falling all over Ju Fufu’s face, and the two of them work together mid-kiss to pull her hair out between their joined lips.
During that escapade, Zhu Yuan fails to notice that Ju Fufu’s hands had moved under Zhu Yuan’s arms, her hands grasping the white work shirt. When an array of sharp pains dig into her back, suddenly Zhu Yuan finds herself finally noticing.
Again her body tightens from the series of stabbing sensations, and she inhales as the girl kisses her and tiger claws scratch through the back of her shirt. They leave lengthy red scratches on her skin, though unlike with the previous woman’s actions, no blood leaves her body.
“Nnngh…!” Zhu Yuan lets out a similar sharp gasp as her body shudders. Ju Fufu lets her stand back up straight with a bright smile on her face. Zhu Yuan, though, is not smiling. Overall it feels good, but tears of pain roll down her cheeks, leaving dark patches under her eyes where mascara used to be.
Still, a mystic from Yunkui Summit is hardly ever uncaring. Ju Fufu takes the first aid bag and prepares alcohol and beckons Zhu Yuan to lean down to treat the woman’s wounds. “Let’s get you patched up before you do the second half…” Ju Fufu says, listening to Zhu Yuan’s sharp inhales through her gritted teeth as she cleans off the wounds on her neck.
With plenty of bandages now covering Zhu Yuan’s neck and back, she swallows hard and takes a deep breath in front of the girl who marks the halfway point. This… is only the first half? There better be no more bites or scratches from the next few women, or Zhu Yuan’s going to have to use some PTO earlier than planned.
“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you.” Giggles a bright, bubbly voice. It’s the same woman Alice was looking toward earlier, seemingly for approval to kiss Zhu Yuan at the time. They must be… good friends!
“Thanks…” Zhu Yuan rubs her shoulder.
“I’m Yuzuha! If you ever need any ghost stories or Porcelume handicrafts, I’m your girl!” She smiles, but a hint of mischief lingers on her lips. “…Oh, what’s that?” Yuzuha tilts her head to look at something behind Zhu Yuan, and Zhu Yuan turns to look, too.
When she turns around having not seen anything remarkable, it’s directly into the laughing lips of the vermillion-haired girl. Yuzuha’s hands move to hold Zhu Yuan’s face as she pulls back and laughs.
Zhu Yuan can’t help but laugh too, and she certainly appreciates the light, simple kiss especially after the last two. Yuzuha lets her go, and Zhu Yuan’s smile shifts as she looks to her right.
While Yuzuha’s lips may carry the mischief befitting a prankster, the woman beside her instead smiles like a sadistic hunter that’s laid eyes on its next meal. With half-lidded eyes the hunter locks gazes with her coworker.
And now, Zhu Yuan’s the prey.