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For how long will I be held back by these shackles, I wonder? Crim’s mind whispered that, her body creaking and refusing to move while her eyes dulled and appeared lifeless.

Crim was a Noble Red, and she had to spend some of the blood she had accumulated to preserve her youthful appearance during the day. But the last time Crim had taken some blood was the day after she defeated the Strongest Monster, when George decided to serve her some of his.

Even that had not been enough to top up her reserve though, only filling around half her stomach. Since then, she had only consumed the bare minimum necessary to not revert into an infantile body, while being assaulted by her past trauma the entire time. Still, that had allowed her to stretch out her reserve until today.

That had changed during the last fight though, thanks to the Hemomancy spell she used. The result was now obvious to everyone…

“Eheheh…smol Crimmie ish sho cuteeee!”
“…You still haven’t had enough?”
“Just a little more!”

Crim had once again regressed to her infantile body, which instantly put Freya in an exhilarated mood where she would not stop clinging onto Crim.

As the game was rated for all ages, Crim’s shrinking did not mean her clothes fell off, and her underwear shrank accordingly with her. But the rest of her clothes, maybe as a prank from the developers, became rather baggy and accentuated her unnatural state even more.

That appearance also seemed to trigger Freya’s adoration, leading to her petting and cuddling Crim incessantly.

“Umm…Frey and Hinagiku already went to hunt, are you sure you want to stay behind?”
“Mm… Just let me get a little bit more of you, I’m almost charged up!”

Freya replied while burrowing her face into Crim’s silver hair, who just wondered exactly what was being charged up.

“I’m sorry…Frey and Hinagiku worked so hard earlier…and I just held you back.”

Crim could feel her trembling against her back. Usually Freya was rather cheerful and unbothered by others, but it seemed like that recent event had shook her deeply.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing new for us. It happened before, happened now, and probably will keep happening.”
“Ah, now that’s just meannn.”

That last portion had made Freya pout angrily, but the hidden message of “That’s why I’m never going to hate you for it” was also passed on successfully. Crim also felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, noticing Freya had been cheered up from her sudden slump.

“… Alright!”
“Hm? Freya, what are you getting so worked up about?”
“Crim…come here for a bit!”
“Wah- W-Wait..!”

Without waiting for Crim’s reply, Freya pulled her away, or rather picked her up and abducted her.

Freya eventually stopped on top of a slightly elevated meadow, out of sight from the place where Frey and Hinagiku were training.

“Alright, I doubt Hinagiku will be able to see anything over here!”
“Umm, Freya? Exactly what are you doing there…”

Crim asked nervously, as Freya had turned away and seemed to be shuffling with something.

“Say, Kou…do you want to drink my blood?”
“Wha-?!”

When Freya turned back, she had loosened the neck of her robes, leaving the area around her neck bone exposed. Seeing her neck, shoulder, and even a portion of her chest laid bare made Crim gulp loudly.

“Wh-Wh-wh- Hijiri! What are you-?!”
“I mean, if you stay that way you won’t be able to take care of us, will you?”
“Well, yeah…but…”
“And Kou, you do realize I’m aware you’re still worrying about what happened way back then, right?”
“That’s…”

The young girl Kou had once bitten on impulse in real life when he was still small had been none other than Hijiri, who still carried the mark on her neck. But even after that she forgave Kou for it, and was always kind to him.

She even protected him when their classmates kept teasing Kou for having hematophilia after the incident. She forgave him, but Kou never forgave himself, knowing he was the reason why she was branded with such an unsightly scar.

“You know, it’s hard for me too. I don’t really feel anything about it now, but it’s hard to watch you flinch and scowl at yourself every time you see my neck, it hurts…”

As she spoke she pressed the spot where the mark was on her real body, even if her avatar of Freya had no scar there.

“Kou… Please, could you stop running from this? I really don’t care about it anymore, so could you accept those feelings instead of brushing them away?”
“Hijiri…I…”

Hearing Hijiri’s entreating voice, Crim slowly raised her trembling hand.

I’m at my limit, I can’t hold back anymore.

Regardless of his emotions towards blood, an intense appetite had started assaulting Crim’s mind the instant she saw the artery running along Freya’s white neck.

“I…” Crim could no longer resist the urge. She held onto Freya’s shoulders and leaned into the area where the artery ran. “I’ll try to be as gentle as I can..!” Her nervousness turned her voice into an excited whimper.

“Mhm…I know you will…” As Freya’s voice quivered with embarrassment, Crim’s sharp fangs slowly burrowed themselves in her neck.

“Umm…does it hurt?”
“No, don’t worry. I guess I feel a little light headed though?”
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine, I forgive you.”

Freya was lying down on the grass, while Crim, who had regained her normal body, rested on top with her head using Freya’s chest as a pillow. Crim’s voice was rather timid as she asked that question.

But Freya dispelled those worries, speaking softly while gently combing through Crim’s white hair with her delicate fingers.

“To be honest…it actually felt kinda amazing…”
“Mm…it was really tasty too, I enjoyed it a lot…”

They eventually stood up and made their way to a nearby decayed tree. Their faces turned as red as apples as they sat down, with Crim covering her mouth and Freya pressing the spot where Crim had bitten her.

“S-somehow I feel really awkward now!”
“Y-yeah, I know!”

They had gotten really into it earlier, and now they were starting to get embarrassed about it.

While they were classmates, Hijiri had been born in April, but Kou was born in March the next year, which was how they ended in the same school year while being born nearly a year apart. Because of that Hijiri had acted more like an older sister for Kou, though in all their years together they had never gotten so close and physical as now.

“So how do you feel, do you think you’ll be alright now?”

Freya asked as she embraced Crim’s head against her bosom, whose mind’s position was starting to reverse between real life and in-game. After a bit of thinking, Crim gave her honest response.

“…I don’t think that’s so easy to change.”
“I see…”

At the very least she would keep feeling averse to eating meat, and tasting someone else’s blood would send her into a panic. Her trauma ran deep, so she knew revising her diet would not be so easy. But then…

“I don’t think I can change a lot about that…but…I’d like to suck yours again…”
“…I see.”

Unable to look into Freya’s eyes, Crim just nuzzled against Freya’s neck, her voice thin and frail. But as low as that voice was, her childhood friend was able to hear it clearly.

“Eheheh… I see…if you’re alright with mine, then go ahead Kou~”
“D-Don’t tell anyone though…that we’re doing something like this.”
“Mhm mhm, I know~”

Somehow that made Freya laugh giddily.

Seeing that tempted Crim to get closer to the neck again, and she gave in, sinking her fangs onto the two red marks from earlier for just one last draw of blood.