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Torn Between Shadows

TATSUYA

T he moment she touched me, something shifted, and the battle began—inside and out.

My body was a battleground, a split-second of chaos where my mind and the demon inside me fought for dominance. Her fingers against my skin had ignited something deeper, something twisted, and now it was as if we both claimed the same space, both fighting for control of this broken, raging vessel.

Tatsuya's thoughts, memories, feelings—they collided with the raw, primal force of the Oni, the rage and hunger gnawing at me. Every inch of my being wanted to claim her. Every instinct screamed that she was mine, that she belonged to me. But the Oni, it wasn't just a creature of desire—it was born of fury. And right now, it was clawing at me from the inside, wanting to tear her apart just as much as it wanted to consume her.

The two of us, entwined, were battling over her. Her touch, her kiss, it had woken something inside me, something so vile and powerful that I couldn’t keep it contained.

" She belongs to me, " the Oni growled, voice deep, laced with hunger. The demon was asserting its dominance, roaring from the core of my being. " No one else touches her. No one else gets to claim her. She will bow to me. "

But the voice that answered wasn’t the Oni’s—it was mine. "No," I hissed. "She’s not some prize to be taken. You can't just?—"

" I can do whatever I want ," the Oni snarled, cutting me off. " I’ll break her and remake her in my image. She is nothing but prey. She will be mine, whether you like it or not. "

I felt the anger boil inside me, a white-hot rage, which was only intensified by the Oni's presence. The two of us clashed, and the battle between my human self and this demon inside me played out in my very soul. My chest heaved in the effort to push it down, but it wouldn't listen. It wouldn't relent.

Momoi stood there, watching us, eyes wide, a strange amusement flickering behind her gaze. She was fascinated, and that infuriated both of us. The Oni was driven by its hunger, its need to possess, while I... I just wanted her to stop this madness, to stop playing this game.

" You think this is a game? " the Oni growled at her. " You think you can play with me like this? " Its voice was a deep rumble of fury, but she didn’t flinch. She never did.

"Game? No," I muttered, the tension thick in my chest. "This isn’t a game. You’re not playing with her, and neither am I. Just... just leave her out of it."

But the Oni just laughed, the sound dark and cruel. " You can't stop me, boy, " it sneered. " She's already mine. She doesn't even know it yet. Let me have her. "

The force of the two of us fighting, our wills clashing, surged through my veins, and I couldn’t keep the demon back anymore.

Momoi stepped closer, her eyes glinting with mischief, and I saw how her gaze flicked between the two of us as if she could sense the war going on inside me. She tilted her head, as if she was watching some grand performance unfold. It made my blood boil.

"You know," she said softly, almost teasing, her voice laced with an amused edge. "I’m starting to think both of you are really bad at this."

The Oni growled louder. " Shut up, " it snarled, but even that command couldn’t stop her from provoking us. " You’ll learn your place soon enough. "

“Well, that’s rude,” she huffed, crossing her arms. That was when I noticed her torn clothes, the bruises blooming on her skin, evidence of the violence those men had done to her.

My stomach churned, a visceral reaction to the image of her hurt, and a tide of fury swelled within me. It was a deep, suffocating rage that gripped my chest. I hadn’t been able to stop those men from laying their hands on her, and that fact was eating away at me. The demon, the Oni inside me, fed off that rage, its hunger intensifying with every bruise on her body.

I clenched my fists harder, the muscles in my arms straining as I fought to suppress the overwhelming pull of the demon. But it wasn’t enough. The fury I felt on her behalf was too much. It twisted inside me like a beast gnawing at its cage, urging me to break free, to destroy everything in my path. My breath came faster, chest rising and falling with the effort to regain control, but the demon only laughed, pushing against my every restraint.

“You couldn’t protect her, but I can. I’ll make them pay,” the Oni growled inside my mind.

I felt its influence creeping closer, the darkness pressing against my thoughts. The lines between Tatsuya and the Oni blurred, and it was becoming harder to tell where I ended and the demon began.

Her bruises—her pain—stirred something in me that was both protective and violent. I wanted to shield her from all of it, but the more I thought about what they did to her, the more the rage threatened to consume me. And the Oni? It didn’t care. It was only fueled by it.

I gritted my teeth, trying to push the demon back, trying to hold on to my humanity, but the pull of the darkness was getting stronger with every breath I took.

If I couldn’t stop this, if I couldn’t find a way to keep the demon in check, I wasn’t sure what would happen next. But one thing was clear: I wasn’t the only one fighting for control anymore.

"You don’t get it, Momoi," I said, my voice strained, battling the demon’s influence, trying to keep my focus. "You’re not some... game. You don’t belong to either of us. You’re more than that."

The Oni’s voice was a roar in the back of my mind. " She belongs to whoever can take her. You’re too weak, too human. I will take what I want. "

Momoi’s smile grew, and she tilted her head again, her gaze almost challenging. "Is that so? Well, I guess I’m just going to have to enjoy watching you two fight for my attention, then."

That did it.

I don’t know what broke inside of me, whether it was the demon or the desire to make her understand just how much this wasn’t a game, but a wave of frustration washed over me. I wanted to break free of this, to push away from this battle, but instead, it intensified. I could feel myself slipping further into the madness, the darkness wrapping around me like a shroud.

Momoi, though... she was still watching, her amusement a flame dancing just out of reach, taunting me. She hadn’t run. She wasn’t scared. She was feeding it. She was feeding the demon inside me, and I couldn’t stand it.

"Stop it," I hissed through clenched teeth, my voice a mix of human desperation and demonic rage. "Stop watching. This isn’t?—"

But it was already too late. The demon inside me didn’t care what I said. It only wanted her.

Before I could even fully process the situation, the Oni surged forward, pulling me toward her with an intensity that left me breathless. My hands, no longer my own, gripped her arms tightly, forcing her into my chest. The moment our lips met, a dark, hungry part of me that I’d tried to bury came to life, taking control with a brutal force.

She gasped, but before she could pull back, I deepened the kiss, my lips claiming hers as if I had every right to. Every rational thought vanished in a rush of primal hunger. Her warmth, her pulse, the scent of her skin—it all consumed me. My body wasn’t mine to command anymore. It was as if the demon had marked her as his own.

I could feel Tatsuya, the man I had once been, screaming inside me, raging with jealousy and fury. He hated this—hated that I was taking what should never be mine. But the demon didn’t care. It only wanted more, dragging me deeper into the kiss, its power pushing against every shred of control I had left.

I was caught between the man I used to be and the beast that wanted her, being torn in two. Tatsuya was screaming, furious that the demon was claiming her— his woman. But the Oni? He wasn’t concerned with Tatsuya’s feelings. He reveled in the sensation of her closeness, her vulnerability, her surrender.

Her hands pushed weakly against my chest, but she didn’t break away. And that, more than anything, infuriated me. She wasn’t fighting, not like I expected. Instead, she was letting it happen, even if only for a moment.

The sensation of her lips against mine ignited something darker inside me. And that little voice in the back of my mind —the one that belonged to Tatsuya—screamed, Stop. This isn’t who you are. This isn’t what you want.

But the demon only growled, the words thick with hunger. She’s mine. All mine.

A surge of rage mixed with jealousy overwhelmed me, but I couldn’t stop. My hands, the demon’s hands, tugged her closer, forcing the kiss to deepen. The line between Tatsuya and the Oni blurred more with every second. This wasn’t a kiss. This was a claim.

Somewhere deep inside, I knew this was wrong. This wasn’t who I was meant to be. But the demon? It was taking everything I had to hold back from devouring her completely.

I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take.