Page 23

23

Between Fire and Flesh

MOMOI

I could feel it—the heat, the dark thrill of the kiss. His lips were brutal, demanding, but underneath all that, there was something else. Tatsuya. I knew he was still there, hidden somewhere beneath the surface, torn apart by the beast the Oni had become. It should have been wrong, and yet... I couldn’t stop myself from sinking into the kiss, letting the wave of fire and fury overtake me. It felt like the collision of two worlds, two versions of him battling for control.

And I loved it.

I shouldn’t have. I knew I shouldn’t. But as his hands gripped me tighter, pulling me deeper into the kiss, there was a spark, a thrill of something forbidden, something dangerous. I felt the pull between the man I knew and the monster that took over. Both of them—Tatsuya and the Oni—fought for my attention, and somehow, I was caught in the middle.

Was it wrong for me to want them both? To feel that strange pull toward both sides of him? The tenderness of Tatsuya’s broken soul and the raw, consuming hunger of the Oni were at odds with one another, but something about that tug-of-war sparked a fire inside me.

I finally pulled away, breathless, my heart racing. The world seemed to stop for a moment as I tried to regain control of myself. His eyes—those eerie yellow eyes—burned into me, and I could see the internal struggle in them. He wasn’t just fighting to control the demon inside. He was fighting me, too.

“Enough,” I whispered, my voice shaky but commanding. I stepped back, putting a small distance between us, though the tension in the air was palpable.

The Oni’s breath was ragged, and his fangs glinted in the dim light. But I could see the flicker of confusion in his gaze. And beneath that, a surge of anger.

I crossed my arms, steeling myself, knowing I was playing with fire but unwilling to back down now.

“If you really want to keep me,” I said, my voice a bit firmer, “then you're going to have to figure out how to get us both out of this mess because I can’t go back to my apartment with you like this. Not when they’re still looking for me, not with you in this form.”

I could see the demon’s rage bubble up, but I pressed on, knowing it was the only way to reach him.

“The Yakuza will find us. They’re already close. And right now, the last thing I need is to be caught between you and them. They’ll think you’re some kind of threat... and they’ll come for you, for both of us.”

The words left a bitter taste in my mouth, but it was the truth. I had to face the consequences of my choices, and so did he. I didn’t want to backpedal now, not when things had escalated this far, but I had no choice. This—whatever this was between us—had to stop before it destroyed us both.

“You think you can protect me? Protect us?” I raised an eyebrow, my heart pounding in my chest. “Then prove it. Because we’re not safe. And you heard the guy earlier; he’s about to sell this little hideout of ours.”

He stared at me, a low growl vibrating in his chest, but for once, I didn’t flinch. I wasn’t afraid of him. Not yet.

“Figure it out, Tatsuya,” I added, my voice softening, but still firm. “You owe me. Now, it’s time to return the favor.”

I stood there, waiting for his next move.

The tension between us hung in the air, thick and suffocating. His yellow eyes burned into me, his chest heaving with every breath, but I could see the internal conflict brewing beneath the surface. The Oni raged, clawing for dominance, but Tatsuya… Tatsuya was still there, still fighting to break free.

“Do you think you can just command me?” he growled, his voice a dangerous mix of Tatsuya’s usual restraint and the raw edge of the demon that had taken over. The Oni’s claws flexed, the knuckles cracking with a bone-chilling sound.

I didn’t flinch, though part of me knew I should. But this wasn’t the time to back down.

“I don’t need to command you,” I snapped, taking a step forward, refusing to let the monster intimidate me. “But if you want to keep me alive—and not just drag us both into your own personal hell—you’ll listen. This mess is bigger than your pride. So fix it.”

His fangs glinted as he bared them, a silent promise of violence. I could feel the weight of his presence, the danger of the situation pushing against me, testing me. But I wasn’t backing down. Not now. We were stuck together, and he, they, knew it.

The Oni stared at me for a long moment, his face a twisted reflection of both rage and something else—something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. But in that flicker of time, I saw a vulnerability buried deep within the beast. And it made something in my chest twist just slightly.

For a moment, the fury seemed to ease.

“Where are we going?” His voice was softer now but still threaded with anger, still dangerous. The demon’s influence wasn’t gone. Not by a long shot. But Tatsuya was trying to take the reins again, just barely.

I swallowed hard, trying to push past the rush of adrenaline that still surged in my veins. “We need to disappear. Lay low until we figure out what the hell to do next. And that means no more running from the Yakuza. No more being caught off guard.”

The anger flared up again, and he shook his head, his claws curling into fists. “I don’t run.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” I shook my head, exasperated. “This isn’t about pride. This is about survival. If you don’t want the Yakuza to find us—and if you want to keep yourself from being hunted—you need to stop fighting your damn self.”

There was a long pause. I could see the battle raging inside him. The Oni wanted to rip everything apart; Tatsuya wanted to protect what little was left. But both of them had their own way of doing things. And neither of them were willing to let go.

“Fine,” he growled after a moment, stepping back. “We lay low. But we’re doing it my way.”

I smirked, feeling a strange mixture of relief and frustration. “Your way. Of course.”

“I don’t like being controlled,” he warned, his voice low and rumbling with that same growl from earlier. But he stepped back further, the fight draining from his form, for now.

“Then get used to it,” I said, my voice almost teasing. “Because whether you like it or not, we’re in this together now.”

The silence that followed was almost suffocating. There was so much I didn’t understand about this situation, him, or us. But for the first time, the monstrous tension that had been coiling between us seemed to relax—just a little.

For now, we had to survive.

“Let’s move,” I said, the first flicker of command in my voice. "You lead, I'll follow."

He turned, moving with the same grace and lethal elegance that I had come to associate with Tatsuya, even if it was now twisted by the presence of the Oni. He was predatory—dangerous—and yet, there was still something…human. Something I couldn’t shake.

Despite everything, despite the monster he had become, I knew he wasn’t gone.

Not yet.

And for the first time in this madness, I wasn’t sure whether that was a blessing or a curse.

But as I followed him out into the shadows, my mind was already racing ahead, trying to figure out the next steps. We weren’t out of danger. Not by a long shot. But for now, I needed to keep us both alive. And that meant trusting him—or at least hoping the demon wouldn’t get the best of him.

The Yakuza were still out there. And they were coming for us.