Gouenji expected Kira to follow through on her words and put forth the next part of the challenge the following day but she didn't say or do anything. She had her breakfast and then spent the rest of the day in the library.

Gouenji kept waiting for her to say something, anything about the challenge or other events of the previous night but she did not emerge out of the library. Eventually, he decided to go to her and talk to her.

He made his way to the library and walked up to the door. He could see Kira sitting on the chair with a few books on the table. He fumbled for a while thinking if he should say anything or not, pacing and stopping abruptly in arbitrary directions.

His confused little dance was caught by Kira who looked up briefly when she sensed some movement in her peripheral vision. She knew what he was doing that for, but didn't bother to speak to him. Eventually, he walked away too and that was the end of it.

...

This particular evening Gouenji decided to join Kira for dinner in hopes she will speak. His glass of scarlet beverage was served to him on the other end of the table. He now confidently sipped from it because he no longer needed to hide the truth.

He occasionally glanced towards Kira who was calmly eating her dinner. Whenever she caught him glancing she smiled softly in his direction but remained tight-lipped about her plans further.

Her silence was driving him crazy but he didn't want to be the one to seem eager. He had been patient all day waiting for her to speak but now his patience was wearing thin.

He finally sighed in exasperation, accepted defeat in this day-long charades, and began,

"So..."

"We should take a walk in the garden after dinner. It's a lovely night. " He was immediately cut off.

...

They dispersed briefly after dinner and then met at the front door again. Kira had put on a scarf to prepare for a chilly night. She approached Gouenji who was waiting for her and interlinked her arm with his and together they walked out rather ceremoniously for such a mundane task.

They walked around quietly for about five minutes. Gouenji glanced over to Kira and found her enjoying the moment to the fullest. She didn't notice him looking at her and let out a faint happy sigh as she remained lost in her thoughts.

A gust of wind made her shiver and press closer to Gouenji. At this, she finally made a remark,

"I'm glad we can do this now. It feels so nice being close to my husband. " She punctuated that with a light giggle.

Gouenji exclaimed involuntarily at being addressed that way. He wasn't sure of her opinion of the bizarre way they were married, until then. She hadn't spoken of her opinion or made any comments about when he addressed her as his wife.

"About that. You mentioned something about there being left of the challenge. "

"I'm tired. I'd like to go to bed now." She abruptly announced and walked in ahead of him.

...

Gouenji anticipated for Kira to reveal her plans further for a couple of days after that but when she didn't say anything he eased up. Even though every once in a while he became apprehensive, most of the time he was content, enjoying Kira's company. Eventually, he barely, if ever, thought about it and things returned to normal.

One evening, it began drizzling and before long it turned into a thunderstorm just like the one that had once made Kira rush to the mansion.

But this time, she was cosy and dry and safe. She started a fire at the fireplace. No one other than her cared to do that since they never felt the need but once it was going, Gouenji took one of the two chairs facing it to keep Kira company.

Kira was sitting on the other chair, enjoying the warmth of the fire and the view of the storm. The empty tea set was still sitting on the table between them as she had just finished it. She was now meticulously cleaning a small ornate knife with a silken handkerchief and was engrossed in this activity.

"Where did that come from?" Gouenji asked out of curiosity after watching her for a while.

"This has been my most loyal companion along my journey. I kept it in case I came across any dangerous situations. " She looked at it with a certain fondness.

"It's beautiful. " He remarked, eyeing the carvings on the base end of the blade.

"It's silver. " She replied with a hint of pride.

"Clever. So it will protect you from humans as well as werewolves. " Gouenji joked.

"Do they exist too?" Kira asked in surprise.

"I don't know." He chuckled.

For something that had warranted a discussion like that, Gouenji sure hadn't seen it with her ever before. He was wondering what prompted her to bring it out when she spoke again,

"I make sure it never goes blunt." With that, she struck it across the tip of her index finger and it was instantly bleeding.

Gouenji jumped up and stepped away in a split second, rapidly spiraling into a state of chaos.

"Why did you do that?" He exclaimed in crisis.

"Today is the day it will be over." She announced as she got up and began walking towards him with her bleeding finger up, "Resist this." She instructed.

The pull Gouenji had always felt towards her, the one he thought he had successfully tamed was now amplified several hundred times more. He thought everything he had worked for would be undone at any moment.

"Why... did...you...do...that?" He spoke with difficulty, "Aren't you afraid?" He leaned against the large window closing his eyes, gasping.

"No." She responded dismissively and didn't entertain the thought any further as she continued to move towards him.

She was now standing close to him as he was pushed against the window, the torrents of rain hitting it constantly with loud thunder and lightning. Gouenji could no longer control himself and with one quick motion, he caught Kira by her arms and picked her slightly off the ground.

Kira calmly looked into his glowing eyes. "Just remember what's at stake here. " She commented.

And it was enough too as Gouenji suddenly snapped out of his state. He let go of her and she dropped on the floor and stumbled to stop from falling. He then began calming down gradually as Kira stood there and waited for him to completely return to normal.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. " He began repeating as soon as he was returned to normal. He held her hands delicately and pulled her close.

"The challenge is complete. " Kira softly announced as she ran her bloody finger across his lips. She was about to pull back when Gouenji caught it and brought it back to him. He licked his lips clean and then licked the blood off of her finger too. She winced slightly in pain but didn't protest.

"I should tend to it. " She then said and put the finger in her mouth so that it didn't bleed further and strolled away.

Gouenji remained unmoved, pushing his head back against the glass. He sighed in satisfaction thinking about the sample he just had.