"Aaaa, stop it!" I yelped, my body thrashih her weight as she shamelessly buried her face against my neck. Her breath was warm, her grip unyielding, and the way she inhaled deeply, like some deranged bloodhound sav a st, sent an uling shiver down my spihe soft glow of the bedside ntern flickered, casting elongated shadows across the vish silk sheets and ornate furniture. The rich st of vender and old books filled the room, but all I could focus on was the eerie sensation of being trapped beh her, pletely at her mercy.

  Vio ignored my protests entirely, her grip on my wrists uing. "Mmm… you smell delicious," she purred, her voice dripping with satisfa. Her railed along my skin, her warm breath sending an unfortable shiver down my spine.

  "Stop sniffing me, you lewd dense cabbage!" I swisting my body in a frantic attempt to escape. My efforts felt as futile as trying to move a mountain with sheer will alone. Vio didn’t even flinch. Her grip remained firm, her presening over me like a predator toying with its prey. The dlelight flickered, casting eerie shadows across the ornately carved walls, the st of aged wood and vender hanging thi the air. My heart pounded as I gritted my teeth, gring up at her unshaken, teasing expression.

  She chuckled, a sultry, teasing sound that only made me more irritated. "I ’t help it," she murmured, her voice a zy purr. "You have this… sweet st. A mix of fox magid something otherworldly, even more thaher foxes." She leaned in slightly, her warm breath grazing my skin, making my hairs stand on end. Her violet eyes shimmered with curiosity, a predator sizing up something rare and intriguing. The flickering dlelight cast shadows over her sharp features, emphasizing the smug amusement dang across her face as she studied me like an enigma waiting to be unraveled.

  Her words made me stiff. Otherworldly? Did she somehow sehat I wasn’t inally from this world?

  Vio suddenly pulled back slightly, her violet eyes gleaming as she studied my face. "Hmm… now I’m even more curious about you, little shrine maiden."

  "I'm not your meal!" I shot back, gring up at her.

  She smirked. "Oh, but you look so tasty when you’re all flustered."

  "That's it!" I yelled, finally mustering enough strength to kick her away. My foot ected with her stomach, and she let out a soft oof, staggering back slightly. It wasn’t enough to send her flying across the room, but it gave me just enough space to scramble off the bed.

  I shot to my feet, my body tense, I put some distaween us. My heart ounding, both from frustration and from the sheer weirdness of the situation.

  "Tell me, what’s going on here?!" I demanded, pointing a shaky fi her. "Why am I here?! Where are Yuzu and Catherine?! And most importantly, why were you sniffing me like some kind of crazed pervert?!"

  Vio, pletely unbothered by my outburst, straightened her posture and stretched her arms, looking more amused than anything. “Well, that was quite the rea,” she said, a slow, pyful smirk spreading across her lips. “You didn’t seem to mind that much a sed ago, little shrine maiden~”

  I gawked at her. "Excuse me?! I was literally fighting for my life just now!"

  She chuckled, c her mouth with her fiips as if she found my suffering adorable. "Oh, don’t be so dramatic. I was just… getting a good whiff of you."

  "THAT MAKES IT WORSE!"

  Vio let out a dramatic sigh, as if I was the one being unreasonable. “Fine, fine, no more sniffing. For now.”

  I felt my eyes twitch. What do you mean ‘for now’?!

  “As for your little friends,” she tiwirling a strand of her long violet hair, “I have no idea. Probably still at the shrine, w where you’ve disappeared to.”

  I ched my fists. "Then why am I here?"

  Vio’s smirk widened as she sauntered closer, slow and deliberate. "Well… that’s the fun part, isn’t it?" She leaned in slightly, her violet eyes gleaming with mischief. “Why don’t you take a guess, Mashiro?”

  "You’re… a pervert…?" I answered, my voice trailing off.

  Vio bli me, then burst into ughter. Not just a small chuckle, full-on, amused, cag ughter. She doubled over slightly, clutg her stomach as if I had just told the fu joke in the world.

  "Oh, Mashiro," she said between ughs, wiping a tear from the er of her eye. "That’s adorable. But no, dear, I’m not just a pervert.” She stepped closer, her eyes gleaming with amusement and something else, something I really didn’t like.

  I instinctively took a step back. "Then what do you want?"

  Vio pced a hand on her chest, feignihought. “Hmm… how do I put this?” She tapped her before fshing a sly grin. “Let’s just say, I have a very keen i in you, little shrine maiden.”

  I felt my entire body tense up. "That doesn’t sound reassuring at all."

  She only chuckled, her violet eyes twinkling with mischief as she reached out, fingers poised to ruffle my hair like one would a pet. I immediately ducked, barely avoiding her hand, the air shifting as her fiips grazed past where my head had just been. Her amused smirk only deepened, as if she found my rea utterly adorable, while the dim dlelight cast flickering shadows across the elegant room, making her seem all the more predatory.

  "Fox-kin have a special st, you see," Vio purred, her violet eyes gleaming with mischief as she took a slow step forward. "They all feel... otherworldly, as if some part of them came from another realm entirely."

  I tensed, my instincts screaming at me to stay on guard. "And that has what to do with you sniffing my neck like a weirdo?" I shot back, rubbing the spot where she had just invaded my personal space.

  Vio let out a soft chuckle, her expression unreadable. "Curiosity, little shrine maiden. Some sts are irresistible, like yours."

  I stiffened. "Okay, ew. That's the creepiest thing you’ve said so far."

  She merely griilting her head as if she were enjoying my rea far too much. "Oh, don’t act so surprised. Didn’t you ever wonder why fox-kin are so rare? Why are they always at the ter of myths, legends… and flicts?"

  I frowned, crossing my arms. "What are y to say?"

  Vio’s smile widened, but she didn't answer immediately. Instead, she sauntered over to a nearby chair, sinking into it gracefully, one leg crossed over the other. "Let’s just say… the power within your kind doesn’t just belong to this world. It’s borrowed. And anything borrowed be taken back."

  Vio smirked, lifting her hand with a slow, deliberate motion. Suddenly, shimmering portals flickered ience beside her, like floating mirrors into other worlds. I gasped as my eyes darted between them, each portal revealed a pletely different civilization.

  One shorawling futuristic city, its skyline dominated by sleek, glowing towers and airborne vehicles gliding effortlessly through neon-lit pathways. Another revealed a medieval town bustling with armored knights, mert stalls, and t castles surrounded by massive stone walls. Then, my gaze nded ora one, a massive turtle, its shell carrying aire vilge on its back, moving slowly across an endless o.

  Vio zily waved her hand, shifting the ses before me like she was casually flipping through TV els. “You see, fox-ki just creatures of this world,” she mused, her voice dripping with amusement. “They exist everywhere, woven into myths, hidden in shadows, thriving in pces most people never even dream of.” She tilted her head, her violet eyes gleaming. “A, despite being so widespread, they always share ohing in on.”

  I swallowed, suddenly feeling uneasy. “And that is…?”

  Vio’s smirk widened. “They ruly belong.”

  I stopped to think, my gaze shiftiween the portals, eae a glimpse into a world I had never know somehow felt drawn to. The hum of magi the air sent a tingliion down my spine.

  "I will give you a pce where you belong," Vio murmured, her voice velvety as she took slow, deliberate steps towards me. The flickering dlelight cast shifting shadows across her face, atuating the predatlint in her violet eyes. My breath caught in my throat as she closed the distahe warmth of her presence pressing against me. Before I could react, she tilted my up with a sieasing finger, her touch featherlight yet anding. Then, without hesitation, she leaned in, her lips brushing against mine in a lingering kiss, both soft and possessive. A shiver ran down my spine as her voiow a whisper against my lips, sent an eerie thrill through me. "If you let me use your power."