It had been hours since Ichijou had left, and an unpleasant prickling feeling stirred within her gut. Etsuko sat impatiently in her bed, fidgeting and twiddling her thumbs as if she were some prisoner in an insane asylum. Her eyes reflected that of someone mad, glimmering psychotic flames but harboring a dullness that was blunt and dry like sand. Despite her weakness, she paced around the apartment slowly, every step treated as though it could potentially shatter half the bones in her foot. Still, she paced, and continuously twisted her snowy hair over her twitchy index finger, gnawing on her bottom lip and trying to contain the anxiety that gnawed at her in turn.

In the hours of his absence, she had wandered into the kitchen several times, her gnarling belly taking authority over her brain in terms of movement and actions. In those quiescent, painfully slow hours, she had tried eat the remaining coffee beans in her cabinet in desperation, experimenting with them in different forms as an attempt to ease her starving belly. However, whether they were whole, ground, mashed, scorching hot or freezing cold, no matter how much she manipulated the beans, she would end up feeling sick enough to vomit, just as if she had eaten any other morsel of human food.

She was anguished, yearning for nourishment. Anyone could see it in her dying eyes that she was in need of something of substance to satisfy her monstrous appetite. The coffee at home wasn't good enough anymore - at least, at this point in time. She hadn't had a bite of flesh for such a long time, and though she had endured such traumatizing tragedies over the course of her rather short life, she could conclude confidently that this hunger was the epitome of all torture. Nothing felt so uncomfortable and agonizing than starving as a ghoul, and she had been oblivious this feeling up until now. Her parents had always kept her well fed, even if the flesh they had offered to her was revolting and bitter in both morals and taste. She would choose cannibalism over starvation without any hesitation, unconditionally; this was just too much.

The hours Ichijou had remained out felt like days, and the seconds grew to feel like centuries as more time ticked by. She grew restless still, and her pacing became more violent. Her eyes were wide, bulging out of her skull like billiard balls and her cheekbones sharp like ridges. She was close to snapping, if she hadn't already, and the skittishness built up inside her until it grew too unbearable.

Her hypersensitive ears pricked up at the sound of familiar heavy shoes tapping up the steel stairwell, and she practically flew to the door right before he had even reached the second level. She remained there with her eyes trained on the large figure, her nostrils flaring as she sucked in a violent breath, her belly spiking and snarling and fighting against her skin so brutally she wobbled in place and collapsed against the doorframe.

"Etsuko-chan!" Ichijou called out to her, the sound of jingling keys and frantic footsteps growing louder as he rushed to her side. He knelt beside her, a large but gentle hand resting upon her bony shoulder. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"I..." she started, but her voice failed her as the smell came back, and her hands gripped the wooden frame so hard it splintered a little under her ribbons of fingers.

So that's where he was all this time.

"Let's go back inside," Ichijou said, his voice soft. "It's freezing out here."

Etsuko only nodded weakly, allowing his strong hands to lift her from her underarm. He assisted her back inside the apartment, a plastic bag tightly gripped in his other hand.

He helped her into a seat at the kitchen bar, setting the bag gently on the table in front of her. Her eyes lit up, staring blankly at the four steaming cups of coffee in those plain white cups, the white plastic lids pure and untouched. She could see them through the bag, along with some other human goods, resting in a cardboard cup holder.

She tore her eyes away from the unbelievable sight and lifted them up to Ichijou, who stared back at her intently.

"You went to Anteiku...?" she asked breathlessly.

The man just shrugged.

"You were being so stubborn about it," he commented gruffly. "And I didn't really feel like fighting about it anymore, so I decided to wait until it opened to get it for you."

Etsuko's eyes sank back down to the coffee, that divine smell swirling around her and gripping at her throat like talons. She gulped.

"Did...you tell them it was for...?" she started.

"Yeah," he said matter-of-factly. "They put these odd sugar cubes in there. Was it...something like brown sugar?" he inquired, quizzical.

Etsuko blinked her eyes, stunned beyond this world. Her eyes shimmered in a gargantuan lust for substance, and as a result, reached out a shaky hand to tear at the plastic bag and entangle itself with one of the paper cups.

The warmth of it thawed her chilled flesh, radiating a blissful shiver down her spine. She blinked only twice before swiftly bringing the cup to her trembling lips and gulping down the scorching hot liquid.

It burned her throat and she sputtered a bit, but that familiar metallic but sweet taste upon her tongue drove her into a frenzy; she couldn't stop if she had tried.

"O-oi! Etsuko-chan!" Ichijou exclaimed shakily. "Slow down! You're gonna burn yourself!"

She slammed the empty cup on the table, her chest heaving and her belly now purring in satisfaction. She instinctively reached for another.

"Etsuko-chan," Ichijou said again, a little more firmly.

The woman blinked and took a sip of the coffee, lifting her goldenrod eyes back up to him. He was sent back in a state of mild shock, seeing the improvement in her once dying eyes already.

"Thank you for the meal," she said softly.

Ichijou huffed a little laugh in bland amusement, twitching his lip up a bit.

"Drink up," he said, easing the tension in his shoulders a bit. "I bought all of it for you."

Etsuko felt a light blush attack her cheeks, and she shrugged up her shoulders to hide the rosy tint behind her curtain of white hair.

"Thank you," she murmured again, her voice barely audible.

Ichijou only responded with a curt nod, his stern gaze lingering on her figure. She sipped her coffee once more, staring at the remaining two cups whose steam swirled like ominous mist. She then saw a pair of large hands dig through the plastic, pulling out a clear pouch with something that looked like a bun inside. The golden pastry's coat glistened in a layer of amber, sticking a bit to the clear wrap; even to a ghoul's perspective, it looked quite tasty.

"Is that what you're eating?" Etsuko asked him quietly.

The man turned his gaze to her and gave her a small, warm smile.

"I thought since I was at Anteiku, I might as well grab something for me, too," he explained. "I stopped by the convenience store to look at some things, as well. You need your fridge restocked, Etsuko-chan."

She grimaced, choking a little on her coffee.

"The only restocking I need right now is to get more coffee beans," she muttered blandly.

Ichijou scoffed, ripping the clear wrap open and taking a bite out of the bun.

"Are you ones of those coffee addicts I hear about all the time?" he sputtered, leaning on the bar and waving his pastry at her lazily. "So you were facing starvation and withdrawals? Jesus, Etsuko-chan, you're quite the character."

She took a moment to let that sink in, curious. If she had refused to eat human flesh for the past six weeks, which was the only type of substance that could sustain her ghoul body, and she had been only surviving on the few cups of coffee she could down, would that actually make her an addict? Technically, if it wasn't for the coffee, she wouldn't have much time to go on from this point, which would mean that she needs coffee in her system in order to live. So theoretically, she was a coffee addict.

She raised a thin eyebrow in a vague intrigue.

"I guess you could say that," she murmured, looking down at her steaming cup. "At least being quite the character is better than being a rather bland one."

Ichijou laughed a hearty laugh, a genuine smile pinned to his flushed face.

Oh my. That was certainly a sight.

"You're not wrong," Ichijou chuckled, taking another bite of his bun, which seemed to be stuffed with some barbeque pork filling. "God gave you some gift for jokes, that's for sure too."

Etsuko blinked a few times, puzzled.

"Are you religious, Ichijou-kun?" she mewed softly.

The question was rather random, but he didn't seem fazed by it at all. Ichijou just smirked back at her, chewing his bite of pork bun intently.

"No," he chuckled again. He stopped chewing and flashed a glance at her. "Why?"

Etsuko shrugged, taking a swig of her drink.

"You tend to use some religious innuendos while you talk," she pointed out. "You also address 'God' and 'Jesus' and not 'gods.' Were you raised by a Christian?"

"My mother was a devout Christian," he confirmed, tearing another bite from the bun. "She made my sisters and I go to church every Sunday."

Etsuko brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs and scooted so she faced him.

"So why aren't you worshipping now?" she asked.

Ichijou eyed her, his gaze hooded.

"I hated it," he muttered, finishing the bun. "I didn't like the idea of being confined to worshipping one divine power; or any divine power, for that matter. I don't like feeling helpless. I like control, and setting my faith in one being made me a little uncomfortable."

Etsuko nodded, her eyes trained on her cooling beverage.

"I see," she murmured, her voice trailing off. "Does that mean you want to be a god?"

Ichijou sputtered, laughing that vivacious laugh once more.

"As tempting as that sounds, I don't think I'd be up for that kind of responsibility." Ichijou snickered, shaking his head as he reached back into the plastic bag and pulled out the last item from it: a bottle of milk. "And I honestly think I'd go mad with that kind of power."

Etsuko pursed her lips in a rare fascination. It grew beyond its limit, and far beyond the boundaries she had confined it within all those years. So, she pressed on.

"You're a ghoul investigator," she said bleakly. "So you've been blessed with a quinque - doesn't that make you a sort of god already?"

Ichijou spat in disgust, drawing his lip up in irritation.

"If anything, having permission to use that godforsaken weapon would make me a demon," he snarled. His eyes darkened as he stared at his clenched fists upon the bar in disgust. "Just like them."

Etsuko flinched back so hard that the coffee splashed out from the small hole in the cap and splattered her silken top with the stuff. She squeaked out in surprise, feeling the heat seep through the fabric and drench her skin.

"Oi, Etsuko-chan!" Ichijou called to her, grabbing the cup of coffee and placing it on the table. He turned his lip to the side, sighing in exasperation. "Would you care being a little more careful?"

"S-sorry..." she replied, averting her eyes to the side.

His fingers grazed against the satin top, letting out a breath again.

"We'll get this washed. In the mean time, change into something else - preferably into something that won't taunt me."

His gaze burned into her figure, half joking and half deadly. Etsuko pouted her lips, a smirk appearing on her lips in amusement. She huffed.

"I'll see what I have, then," she puffed. She hopped off of the chair and sauntered her way over to her room. Before entering, she whirled around with a mocking expression. "But what's wrong with the style of clothes I have on now?"

Ichijou's eyes widened a bit upon hearing the question.

"Are you kidding?" he choked. "What are you even thinking about wearing that kind of clothing in the presence of a man you've only just met? Shouldn't a woman have a little more dignity?"

Etsuko growled in annoyance.

"Shouldn't a man be a little more polite in the presence of a woman?" she spat back. She slammed the door as a result, anger boiling within her as well as a little bit of a teasing irritation. She raised an eyebrow in anticipation, a mischievous smile appearing upon her lips.

Ichijou waited by the bar, having finished with his bottle of milk and wishing that he had bought some more food on the way back. It was then he decided that he would run to the store to grab a few groceries for later that night.

"Ichijou-kun!" Etsuko called from her room, the door shut.

"Hmm?" Ichijou replied, raising an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Can you come in here for a bit?" Her voice rang like a bell, even through the walls. "I want your opinion on a few things."

"Jesus, just put on a big t-shirt or something," he hissed, getting up and making his way to the door leading into her room. He knocked twice on the door, waited a few moments, and then allowed himself to enter. "I'm coming in. Now what's all the fuss abou - "

Ichijou's eyes grew incredibly round as he set his eyes upon her, standing in front of the mirror in the open bathroom. She was analyzing herself from different angles, her white hair draped down like a cascade of white sand and that dress - if it was even considered one - dangling on her slim figure. His jaw dropped.

She knew she caught him. Her collection of lingerie had never let her down in her Mad Temptress days. Whenever she's lure some unsure man in, the sight of her in one of her sets would stamp his mind and set it like glue - it was the dealmaker, and ultimately her promise to getting a meal that night. However, this time it was different, surely enough. She wasn't after any flesh, as awful as that sounded, and this was only simply for display.

Or torment. Whichever one was most applicable.

He gawked at her bright figure, dressed in a translucent dark lace top that frilled down just past her hips, her fair-sized breasts covered in shells of black silk and her lady region masked by a tiny pair of matching panties. Her face was innocent, as if she were wearing a turtleneck and sweats rather than that. He tried in all of his power to tear his eyes from the taunting sight, but failed miserably. He gaped at her still, a hand coming up to run through his wavy tresses. He clenched his jaw.

"What the fuck are you doing," he said darkly.

Etsuko blinked at him, batting her lashes.

"Whatever do you mean, Ichijou-kun?" she mewed, tugging her bottom lip down with her index finger. "I'm just changing into something else like you told me to do."

Ichijou opened his mouth to spit something back, but all that came out was some inhuman, strangled noise. He sputtered, pointing an accusing finger at her, locking his jaw so that he could at least ensure that nothing of profanity could escape his lips. His eyes burned with something mixed between rage and unbearable lust, his eyebrows furrowed so deeply it caused deep wrinkles to dig into his forehead.

"You're doing this on purpose," was all that he could manage to choke out.

Amusement glinted across her amber eyes.

"I'm doing what on purpose?" she mumbled. "Do you not like this one? I can try on another one."

"Just put one some damn clothes," Ichijou growled, spinning around on his heel and storming out of the bedroom. "And make sure that at least fifty percent of your skin is covered by some solid material. I don't want to end up destroying you."

Something crawled up her throat, her abdomen rippling as she fought to keep the noise back, snorting in response. It hurt to keep it back, and her trachea began to ache; a chiming laugh broke through the barrier, sending her to double over on the bathroom counter. Propped up on her hands over the sink, her body rippled in giggles as she gasped for breath, tears creeping past her narrowed eyes.

Upon hearing the heavenly sound, Ichijou stopped in his tracks, stunned, and slowly turned back around; his face was spread out in an expression that bled shock.

"You're killing me, Ichijou-kun," Etsuko wheezed through gaps in her laughter.

Ichijou blinked a few times, puzzled beyond comprehension.

"Was it something that I said...?" he mumbled.

Etsuko scoffed, another ground of violent laughter attacking her, her scrawny body quivering from the giggles. She remained like this for a few moments, panting and gasping for air as the fit died down. She slowly faced the man, wiping the tears away from her honeysuckle eyes, gleaming with a lustful amusement.

"You plan to destroy me, Ichijou-kun?" she mused, a smirk appearing upon her lips. "In what way?"

From the bathroom, she began to snake her way over to him, who, upon meeting his eyes to her own enticing ones, remained paralyzed in that single spot. He was done for, and he knew it.

Ichijou gulped.

"I-it was just...a figure of speech," he stammered.

Etsuko pouted, tilting her head to the side so that her white hair tumbled along with it. She closed the space between them with every alluring step she took, her eyes anchoring the tall man in place. Her lips were slightly apart, and the yellow light of the bathroom set her white skin ablaze in a divine, golden glow. Her lacy dress fluttered slightly, and he could see her breasts bounce a bit with every step.

Oh lord save him.

"So you weren't serious?" Etsuko whined, finally reaching him. She outstretched a single hand, thin but flexible, and set it flat against his abdomen; he flinched. "What a shame," she hissed, "I was really looking forward to having a good time..."

"Etsuko-chan," Ichijou coughed out, his voice strangled.

Her hand began to creep up his torso, feeling every sinew and tendon she could get her fingers to graze. He was extremely well built, with a very defined abdomen, a strong, broad chest, and his serratus anterior rippling violently like solid waves down the sides of his ribs and towards the center. She could feel every muscle constricting as she ran her fingers over them, through the white button-up shirt that hung loosely on his figure. Her breath hitched.

"Etsuko-chan," Ichijou barked again. He seemed as though he was in pain.

"There's no harm in looking, is there?" Etsuko breathed, her eyes trained on the excellent specimen in front of her. She was short enough to reach the center of his chest, so that he had to tilt his head down to look at her. There was something of pain definitely brooding in his eyes.

Still, she continued to run her fingers over him, drawing both hands over his stomach and reaching across to slide them against his strong back. He closed his eyes; he clenched his jaw tightly as if he was going to die, and exhaled a long, chilling breath.

Her hands ran through the smoothness of the back, feeling him tense and the muscles rippling in turn. She skimmed over every bump, making her way with both hands towards the dip of his spine, running down his back like a trench. Her finger traced the inside of the dip, making the man she embraced shiver in what now seemed to be in delight.

She smelled him. Drinking in the scent of paper lingering with ink and metal and cigarette smoke, her eyes rolled to the back of her head as her nose intertwined those scents with that luscious aroma of human flesh; the flesh that she was tracing with her fingers, as though she was a butcher getting ready to dismember her next corpse.

Her eyes grew dark, and she brought her hands back to the anterior of his torso, climbing up still towards the first button of his shirt. She popped it open, along with the next one, and spread it wide open so she could see that tender flesh. Her white hair shielded her demon eyes as she brought her lips up to kiss the dip of his chest, causing the man to moan in response. With shaking fingers, she undid the next few buttons, dragging her lips down until she ran out of shirt to undo. She reached for the bulge that was fighting so hard against his jeans, but was snatch up by two insanely strong hands.

"Don't even start," he rumbled, his voice low and threatening.

Etsuko only giggled, smirking and her eyes glittering like stars. Her palm reached up to rest against his cheek, tilting her head to the side as she did so. He closed his eyes, sighing as he leaned himself into her hand; she felt the arms wrapped around her tighten, bringing her closer to him. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against the top of her head, letting out a staggering sigh as he kissed her hair.

She was pressed up against his bare chest, hearing his heart thumping wildly inside his ribs like a monster desperately trying to escape its cage; in turn, she felt her own flutter like a hummingbird. She felt his hot breath breathing onto her scalp, which was a surprisingly soothing sensation, and was only intensified by the gentle circles rubbing on the small of her back. She felt her mind melt, at ease and serene as though she was truly in heaven. This was as close as she would ever get, and she savored it with all of her being.

She closed her eyes, pinned against his hot skin and smelling his scent for the first time as not flesh to eat and ravage, but flesh to tenderly kiss and caress and snuggle up against to forget everything in the world that has ever done misfortune to her. She felt her chest tighten, her face stone hard as she flexed her jaw, struggling to breathe. Her eyes, however, told no lies.

"What are you doing to me?" she whispered.

~~~✿~~~

Here's another chapter for y'all!! Ughh I'm so excited to write more for this you don't even knowwww

Anyways, please don't forget to VOTE, comment, and to add this story to your library so you can keep up with the new chapters to come!!

And as always, thanks for reading!!