Growth and Malady

17 - Rui

Time to jump right back into what might be the scariest thing I've written all year T~T

Ecstasy quickly filled my head as Hinoto returned the brief kiss, and I pulled away before I got too lost in the addictive emotion. Turning my head away bashfully, new thoughts began to swarm me.

What am I supposed to do now?! I- this has never happened to me before, I don't know what happens next!!

A warm giggle filled my ears; I could practically hear the smile on Hinoto's face.

"Stop thaaaat," I whined jokingly, stepping out of the hug and laying down on my back. "I'm still mortified!"

Hinoto copied me, laying on his back as he mocked my tone playfully. "Stop being adorable, I'm too in looove!"

I jolted up, fixing my gaze on the boy laying just a few feet away. "Repeat that for me?"

"I'm so in love with youu," he laughed, throwing his hands out above his head.

"O-okay then," I said in a tiny voice, blush covering my cheeks. "I uh... like you like that too." My arms wrapped around my legs as I brought them close to my chest.

Hinoto's smile only grew as he took in the words.

"My face hurts," he grinned. "This is too much smiling, but I can't stop!"

"Why not?"

"Im too happy to not smile."

The beginnings of a laugh bubbled up inside me, a small smirk was all that showed I was amused.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Hinoto sat up, scooting closer to me. "You left your spider pet back at camp when you ran off." He pointed to his sleeve, where Kumo was standing, testing the air with his front two legs. "Kumo climbed onto my sleeve and wouldn't get off, so I just let him stay there..."

I scooped the small spider off the fabric gently, holding it in the palm of my hand. "Thanks for taking care of him, Hinoto."

"Of course! But um... I think he's hungry, I didn't know what to feed him."

"That's alright. I'm a master at catching bugs. I am a spider demon, after all!" I smiled as I drew a few webs, twirling them between my fingers.

Hinoto watched the threads with fascination. "It's still so amazing that you can do that," he stated. "How does it work?"

"I.. don't know, actually. I just command the webs to do something, and they do it."

"Can all demons manipulate spiderwebs?"

I shook my head, snagging a fly out of the air with a web and wrapping it up. "No, just me. Some demons don't even have a blood demon art." Seeing Hinoto's confusion, I tried to explain better. "A blood demon art is like a special ability or power than a demon can have.  No two demons have the same one."

"That makes you even more special, then!" He pressed his side into mine affectionately. "Truly one of a kind."

"You're so cheesy!" I snorted, leaning into the touch.

"Better believe it, you're stuck with me now, Spidey."

"Spidey?"

Hinoto blushed and smiled brightly. "Just ignore that..."

"What?! No!" I shoved him playfully. "I'm not going to go down in history as Spidey!"

As he laughed his head off, I turned my attention grumpily to the now-dead fly. Pulling a web taught between my index and middle fingers on one hand, I made a small cut on the pad of my thumb. A few beads of blood welled up, which I let fall onto the fly.