“...Then… take care of yourself, ...I’ll... get going.” Evie’s reluctant voice behind the door fades away. After making sure she was gone, I turned my back towards the door and sighed.

I stare at my wound-riddled hands that were not completely healed by the potion.

“...I’m… pathetic.”

I couldn’t let her in even after she'd taken the effort to send me home.

Sorry, Evie-san… 

But I had my reasons.

Letting you into my apartment wouldn’t be a good idea from now on.

It’s... already past midnight huh.

Wearily, I shuffled my feet towards the living room. The gloominess of the apartment made it seem like no one was home. I don’t see Ruru anywhere.

Just then, I almost fell when my foot caught on something on the floor. As I recovered my balance, I bent down and picked up the article.

..What’s this…?

 

These are… my clothes? There’s also a weird substance on it.

It’s… sticky… and has a distinctly strange smell.

Isn’t this...

 

“—Master.” 

“Hweah?!” My body jumped from the whisper behind me. A pair of hands embraced me from my back. Their coldness pricked my skin, and a familiar softness pressed against my back.

“...R-Ruru? Y-You scared me!”

Turning back, I could see the faint silhouette of a person. One of the lamps turned on, finally revealing Ruru under the light. She seemed to have acquired weary bags below her eyes from waiting for me past bedtime. 

Still, was she waiting behind the door the entire time?

...I couldn’t even notice her until she was right behind me.

I turned around and gave Ruru a hug to comfort her. Poor girl must have been lonely while I was away… but somehow… she didn’t receive it like I had expected her to.

“...Ruru?”

Was she hungry…? That’s right, I remembered. 

I promised to cook dinner…

“I’m sorry I'm late… s-something came up… hang on, I’ll cook something simple—”

As I tried to turn towards the kitchen, I was unexpectedly stopped. 

Ruru was pinching the hem of the borrowed coat, her expression unable to be discerned with a lowered gaze.

Gradually, her grip further extends to all five of her fingers.

“...R-Ruru? Is something wrong…?” I stammered nervously.

She didn’t look… normal.

Ruru remained silent to my question. And for a moment there, I thought an empty, broken smile had formed on her face. 

“Ruru?”

With a low growl I had never heard before, the wolf-girl suddenly pounces on me. She starts sniffing me heavily while I was pinned on the ground. And as if picking up on something unbearable, Ruru’s shoulders shuddered for a moment, and her arms gradually began to constrict around my body as if to completely prevent me from escaping—

“ Y-You’re hurting me… Ruru? St…nggh!!” 

Her fingernails began to press deeper into the back of my skin, causing me to flinch in pain. It was then that I could finally see Ruru’s face hidden behind her fringe. Her eyes were glowing a bright blue in the dark. An aberrant, emotionless look to them. She seemed to be in a daze, as if lost in her own world. 

I’ve seen her like this before back when she had forced herself onto me. 

The look of uneasiness, of rapacious desire. Almost as if she wasn’t herself, but someone else entirely. 

...A ravenous beast relying on instinct alone.

 

...When I opened her status window, my apprehension became certain.

Her emotional indicator had turned orange. And as each second passes, her trust in me seems to be dropping rapidly. 

This drastic change in her psyche had caught me off guard momentarily, but I could deduce the reason shortly after.

I had left her alone during this time, I thought Ruru would at least be able to endure for a few hours without being by my side. But Ruru’s enclosed reality was far more severe than I had thought.

I’m sure of it. Her actions right now… were driven by an unconscious within her. Betrayed, neglected… And of all people, I should have known this the most.

Her quivering in her sleep as she hugged me tightly. Her frequent nightmares in the middle of the night. Ruru… needed me.

“It’s alright… I’m here now.” I smiled weakly under her body. 

The wolf-girl paused, and shivered heavily. She must have heard me.

“Ruru, it’s alright.” I caressed her back again, and stroked her tail while enduring the pain.

“Your master is here, with you.”

Almost as if those words were a streak of electric current, her body jolted in my arms.

"A-Ahh... Aa..." She muttered unintelligible words out of her sloven mouth.

Ruru looks around herself with half-opened eyes, and proceeds to mutter unintelligibly for a few seconds… Finally her gaze refocused, and centers on me.

Her eyes returned to a state of peace, and her heart beat began to calm down as well.

“...Ma… ster… b...ack?”

“I’m back… I’m back…” I’m glad… Looks like it was only a temporary relapse. Her trust level had returned to normal as well, almost as if nothing had happened before.

“You’re okay… you’re okay…” I hugged her again, patting her back as if comforting a child. 

Ruru appears flustered and confused, as she stammers her words. “M-Master?! ...Wh-wh-what… Ru...ru is...”

It was then Ruru’s gaze rested on my bare chest. Her expression stiffens when she finally sees the wounds on my body. 

“...M-Master…!! I-Injured!” She exclaims with tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.

It was then that I felt a wet sensation on my wound. The wolf-girl began slathering her tongue over my chest, and a light glow began to emanate from the places where Ruru was licking.

I realized then, that the wolf-girl was casting her healing magic on me. 

That’s right, I had almost forgotten the fact that Ruru was a proper Mage.

I had read from a medical book that exchanging bodily fluids from the caster of the healing spell was more potent than administering it indirectly… and after experienced it myself now, I could definitely feel its effects. Starting from the internal bleeding, a cool sensation fills my body. This must be the feeling of HP replenishing. Volumes of lost blood returns to me, momentarily causing a light-headed feeling. Alongside the giddiness however, the painful aggravations began to recede as well. When the healing was completed, signs of injuries were already hardly noticeable.

“This is…” I sighed in admiration.

The pain was completely gone!

Not just that, the soreness in my legs and my shoulders were also dissolved without a trace. My body felt significantly refreshed, as if some kind of stamina enhancement spell had been cast on me.

 

This was… Ruru’s Gift?

 

 

“...Master, feels better?” Ruru looks at me apologetically.

That look of hers with those narrowed, upturned eyes… unexpectedly had a strong effect on me. I couldn’t help but return her a hug filled with emotions.

“I do… I feel much better already…”

“...U-Un… R- Ruru doesn’t... get what, happening… but… Ruru happy… when Master happy.”

M-My heart...

Rubbing her hair where it seemed to be most enjoyable for her, Ruru’s eyes narrowed in bliss from my touch, her tail frolicking to and fro.

 

“...Ne, Master…?”

“Mn?”

“...Ruru wants, to mate.”

 

“...Ah.” The warm atmosphere between us was lost immediately from those words. And even when I knew what was coming next, I wasn’t able to react a second later—

 

Ruru toppled my sense of balance in an instant as I felt myself being carried into the bedroom. I was pushed down onto the bed forcefully as Ruru jumps onto the bed after me, mounting my body in an experienced fashion. Her eyes turn lidded, and her breathing heftier.

Just as I was about to push her away on instinct, I heard her whisper in my ear.

 

“I’m sorry… Master…”

I saw the crystal droplets forming around the corner of her eyes. Seeing that, my eyes softened…

 

“...Ruru…” I smiled wryly. This girl… she was faintly aware of what she did huh.

Was this… her way of apologizing? With her body? As the wolf-girl closes in on me, I relinquished all thoughts of resistance… Ruru’s fingers interlocked with mine, as she plants a deep kiss onto my lips.

 "Don't think of this as punishment. This is a reward."

"R-Re...ward?"

I nodded, and made out with her as gently as I could. When I parted the soft touch of her lips, I looked at Ruru's snow white face, intoxicated with a faint heat on her cheeks.

Her tail swiveled behind her, as her eyes continued to follow mine with eager anticipation.

Caressing the side of her face, I whispered.

“Ruru, you deserve more than this, and now that I am your master, your man, I want to make you happy."

Ruru’s cheeks blushed as she looked at me affectionately from my words. Her tail seemed to be zapped once more, and it coiled around my legs from underneath.

I had a thought, that perhaps as much as Ruru needed me, I too, depended on this girl for comfort. Even today, after experiencing something horrible, I felt like I was healed in her arms. 

For a moment, I even thought that it would be fine if things remained this way, that maybe… this parasitic relationship that Ruru and I have with each other was acceptable.

Perhaps this is another effect of Ruru’s Gift. A gift that even heals wounds of the heart.

“Haawaa… Master… R-Ruru, Ruru loves Master… very much.” 

The girl lightly touches the side of my face as she made her confession.

It was a little clumsy, but that clumsiness of hers made it even cuter. I couldn't resist putting my arms around her back again, and pressed my face against her breasts.

I could feel from her rising heartbeat, that Ruru wanted me. And I...

“...I… do too.”

Words were no longer necessary, as we looked into each other’s eyes. Our bodies drew closer naturally, and for that night, I only had Ruru on my mind.