Chapter 137: Feeding a Fledging…

Thirty minutes later, the three of them: Akira, Rina and Ayaka were on the roof, which was the only place private enough for this conversation.

Ayaka stood with her arms crossed, looking Rina up and down with a critical eye, like a doctor examining a patient with a once-in-a-lifetime symptom.

Rina sat on a bench, looking miserable and guilty, clutching a bottle of water Akira had bought her.

“Mana Fever,” Ayaka diagnosed instantly with an unimpressed to e. “Classic Fledgling mistake.”

“Fledgling?” Rina asked weakly.

“You’re a newly awakened host to a Lust-type seed,” Ayaka explained, walking around Rina like she was inspecting a used car. “Basically, you’re a baby demon. And babies need to eat constantly because they don’t know how to manage their energy.”

She stopped in front of Rina. “You tried to run on an empty tank. The Seed panicked and forced your body into survival mode. If Akira hadn’t been there to… fill you up… you would have jumped the first male you saw. Probably the Coach.”

Rina turned pale green in disgust. “Eeeeww… don’t say that.”

“It’s the truth,” Ayaka said bluntly. “You’re dangerous right now. To yourself and everyone else.”

“So what do I do?” Rina looked at Akira, her eyes pleading. “I can’t just… have sex with Akira five times a day! I mean, I wouldn’t mind, but we have school, and he has a life, and…”

“And he’d either die of exhaustion or from Mia finding out,” Ayaka finished dryly.

“Mia won’t be an issue.”

Ayaka scoffed at that comment, but decided not to pursue it. Instead she focused on the first part of her earlier statement. “Akira has high stamina, but even he has limits. You need to learn Passive Feeding.”

“Passive Feeding?”

Ayaka smirked, her demeanor shifting from clinical to predatory. “Direct contact… I mean sex, is like a full meal. It’s a steak dinner. But you don’t need a steak dinner every few hours. You can survive on snacks.”

“Snacks?”

“Ambient lust,” Ayaka explained. “Desire. Attention. Want.”

She leaned in close to Rina. “You’re a cheerleader, aren’t you? Popular? Pretty?”

Rina nodded slowly.

“When you walk down the hallway, boys stare at you. They undress you with their eyes. They imagine what you look like naked. Before, that was just annoying or flattering. Now? That is food.”

Ayaka tapped Rina’s chest, right over where the Soul Seed lived.

“You don’t need to touch them. You just need to let them want you. Absorb that energy. Pull it into the seed. It’s like breathing. If you learn to do that constantly… sipping on the lust of the crowd, you won’t go into Mana Fever again. You’ll only need Akira for the… special occasions.”

Rina blinked, processing this. “So… I just need to be looked at?”

“You need to revel in being looked at,” Ayaka corrected. “You need to own it. Tease them. Show a little skin. Flip your hair. Make them hungry. And when you feel that heavy, sticky gaze on you… inhale it.”

Rina looked at her hands, then at Akira as a slow, realization dawned on her face. The shame from the shed began to fade, replaced by a spark of something new. Something confident.

“I can do that,” Rina whispered. She stood up, smoothing down her skirt. Her posture straightened. “I’m good at making people look.”

“I bet you are,” Ayaka grinned. “Welcome to the food chain, Rina. Try not to eat the whole school.”

Akira watched them, feeling a mix of relief and trepidation. Rina wasn’t just a victim of the seed anymore; she was learning to use it.

“Just… keep the teasing to the other guys,” Akira added, standing up. “I’d prefer if the ’steak dinners’ were reserved for me.”

Rina looked at him, her eyes flashing with a hint of that violet light… this time, it looked controlled. She stepped close, brushing her hand against his chest.

“Don’t worry, Captain,” she purred, her voice dropping an octave. “I know where my loyalty lies. But a girl’s got to eat.”

[RINA KUROGANE STATUS UPDATED: FLEDGLING SUCCUBUS]

[DEPENDENCY REDUCED]

[HAREM UTILITY INCREASED]

Akira’s hand shot out, grabbing Rina by the chin and tilting her face up.

His grip wasn’t painful, but it was firm, possessed of a sudden, heavy intensity that made the air on the roof feel thin.

He immediately activated his [Aura of Dominance].

“Let’s get one thing straight, Rina,” Akira said in a low voice that vibrated with the command the skill gave. “You eat. You survive. But you do not belong to them.”

Rina shivered, her pupils dilating as the aura washed over her. “Akira?”

“Ayaka said you need their attention,” Akira continued, his thumb brushing her lower lip possessively. “That’s fine. Let them look. Let them drool. But that is where it ends. You don’t touch them. You don’t flirt with them for real. And you definitely don’t let them think they have a chance.”

He leaned closer, his dark eyes locking onto her violet-tinged ones.

“You are mine. Your body, your pleasure, your ’steak dinners’… that’s all exclusive property. Do you understand?”

Rina’s knees buckled slightly, her breath hitching. The dominance didn’t scare her; it grounded her. It silenced the chaotic hunger of the Seed and replaced it with a clear, singular directive.

“Yes,” she breathed, her face flushing. “Only yours. I don’t want them, Akira. I promise. They’re just… batteries. You’re the only one I want inside me.”

Ayaka leaned against the railing, looking bored but nodding in approval. “He’s right, you know. Passive Feeding isn’t about exchange. It’s about exploitation.”

She gestured to the students walking in the courtyard below.

“Think of them as livestock, Rina. You don’t fall in love with a cow. You don’t date the cow. You just milk it. They look at you, they project their lust, and you skim that energy off the top like a mosquito drinking blood. It’s predatory, not romantic. If you actually engage with them emotionally or physically, the essence becomes tainted. It tastes like… fast food. Cheap and greasy.”

Ayaka pointed a sharp nail at Akira. “His essence is pure. High-grade. That’s why it stabilizes you. The other stuff is just filler to keep the engine running.”

Rina looked at the boys below, then back at Akira; the difference was stark. The hunger she felt for the crowd was cold and distant, like looking at a buffet table. The hunger she felt for Akira was hot, personal, and overwhelming.

“I get it,” Rina said, stepping closer to Akira and wrapping her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. “They’re just snacks. You’re my… main dish… my… master.”

Akira stroked her hair, feeling the [Heart Strings] bond solidify. The Silver-Blue thread of loyalty was thick and unbreakable. There was no room for anyone else in that connection.

“Good girl,” Akira whispered. “Now, go wash up. We have class.”

[RELATIONSHIP UPDATE: RINA KUROGANE]

[STATUS: DEVOTED THRALL]

[PARAMETER SET: EXCLUSIVE INTIMACY LOCKED]

[Any attempt by others to initiate physical intimacy will trigger ’Repulsion Instinct’ in Rina.]

As they headed back to the stairwell, Ayaka hung back for a second, falling into step beside Akira.

“Nice display of territory marking,” she murmured, amused. “Afraid someone would steal your new toy?”

“No,” Akira replied, his gaze steely. “Just making sure the toy knows who winds it up.”

Ayaka chuckled. “Careful, Kanzaki. You’re starting to sound like a real Demon Lord.”

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