Starving Man

Lucas slowly opened his eyes with a low, throaty grunt.

—ACHK!

His head throbbed like someone was hammering nails into his skull, and the first thing that greeted his blurry vision was sunlight—obnoxiously cheerful sunlight.

"Nghk! Too… too bright…"

He squinted, winced, then groaned like a dying cat.

"Ughm… what's going on…?"

Everything hurt.

His body felt like it had been run over by a dump truck, then tossed into a washing machine on spin cycle. He rubbed his temples, hoping to massage away the pain—but paused when his fingers touched something sticky… wet… itchy.

He pulled his hand away slowly.

Blood.

His hand was drenched in it.

And not just a little—like someone had dunked his whole palm in a bucket of the stuff.

"What the actual fuck…?"

Panic slammed into his chest like a sledgehammer, and he jolted upright.

That's when the full horror of it hit him—he was naked.

Naked, and drenched in even more blood.

His skin was painted in red, smeared across his chest, his arms, even down his legs like someone had tried to finger paint with a dead raccoon.

Speaking of which…

Lucas's breath hitched.

His eyes darted around and widened in pure horror.

Dead animals. Everywhere.

Black bears.

Wild turkeys.

Raccoons.

Rabbits.

Chipmunks.

Coyotes.

It looked like Noah's Ark had exploded and the survivors got mauled by a goddamn demon. Their bodies were torn apart, shredded into unrecognizable heaps of meat and bloodied fur and bone.

And none of them looked shot.

This wasn't some hunter's work—this was savage. Feral.

Like something big and wild ripped through the woods and went on a blood-drunk rampage.

Lucas stood up slowly, legs trembling, chest tight.

"This is crazy… d-, did I… do this…?"

He shook his head fast, then faster, until he looked like he was trying to physically shake the thought out of his skull.

"Aha… ahaha… no way. I-, I mean, sure, I work out, but snapping a bear's neck and clawing it open with my bare hands?"

He forced a laugh—thin, panicked, unstable.

Then he coughed.

Hard.

A thick, wet glob launched up his throat and he hacked it into his hand.

He stared.

It was a hairball.

"… Holy fuck."

He flung it away like it was cursed, and then collapsed to his knees with both bloody hands clutching his skull.

"SCHOOL!!"

･･･

A little over an hour later…

Lucas stepped out of Mr. Robinson's front door looking brand new—clean uniform, hair barely tamed, the faint scent of river water clinging to his skin.

He exhaled sharply as he adjusted his tie.

"Phew… lucky I found my uniform in the woods. Unlucky that it was caught in a damn bush… took way too much time to scrub all that blood off in the river."

As he took a step toward the street, the screen door banged open behind him.

"LUCAS!"

Mr. Robinson stormed out.

He was surprisingly nimble for an old man.

"What about your food?! Your mom was very specific about you eating it as soon as you got home. And where the hell were you last night?! You better start explaining, young man!"

Lucas groaned and waved lazily over his shoulder.

"Uhm… just tell her I ate it."

Robinson adjusted his glasses, unconvinced.

"Wouldn't that be lying?"

Lucas was already out the yard, hand in his pocket.

"Ehhh… think of it more like… creative wording."

---

Several minutes later…

Lucas was just a few blocks from school, but his mind was not on class.

He kept replaying this morning in his head.

That pile of torn animal corpses, the blood, the nakedness, the freakin' hairball.

He glanced down at his uniform.

"There's no way I ate them, right…?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his damp hair.

"Speaking of eat… damn, I forgot to call Mom about lunch money. And I was supposed to ask if she was done with that police station thing… ugh…"

Slouching a little, he slipped his hand into the pocket of his blazer—and felt something soft.

Cottony.

He paused. Frowned.

Pulled it out.

GASP. "PANTIES?!"

He stared at the underwear like it was a cursed artifact.

People walking past glanced at him—some with disgust, some with horror, but no one said a word.

"… Incredible dimensions…"

He whispered, turning it over with gentle curiosity.

"Judging by the elasticity and the stretch marks on the band… her hips are at least an eighty-five."

His eyes narrowed dramatically.

"Minimum."

He slapped his forehead and chuckled like a sleazy professor discovering ancient relics.

"Man, sometimes I even amaze myself."

But then…

"Wait… who owns these panties…?"

He paused.

No way any sane girl gave him their panties willingly.

Then, like lightning, a flushed face filled his brain—trembling, shy, her curvy figure shrouded in moonlight.

"… The beast girl…?"

His eyes snapped open wide.

"SO IT WASN'T A WET DREAM?!"

He held the panties high like Simba being presented to the world.

"Wait, but why'd she just give them to me and leave…? I can't really say that makes any sense. Was that her way of making a statement? Or… or…"

His voice dropped into a deep, serious tone.

"… Does she want me to return the favor tonight… with my boxers? Like… equivalent exchange?"

He shook his head fast.

"No, no. Their species can't be that advanced yet…"

･･･

In the dark alley nearby, Lena clutched the wall like she was about to collapse.

Her face was redder than a lobster fresh out of the pot.

"Son of a bitch…"

She nervously nibbled on her nails.

"I didn't give him my panties!"

She stomped her foot as her bushy tail swished behind her in frustration.

"And who the hell decided exchanging underwear means evolution?!"

Thunk.

The sound of her foot made Lucas's ears twitch.

His eyes snapped to the alley.

"Hmm?"

Lena squeaked and ducked behind the shadows, pressing her back against the brick.

Lucas blinked, shrugged, and looked back down at the underwear.

"Still… I should be way more concerned about the fact that she was a beast girl. Like, dog-wolf hybrid? Personally, I'm more into cat girls. You know, the type that looks at you like you're trash and still demands head pats… Mmm."

A perverted smirk curled his lips.

"Focus, damn it!"

He slapped his cheeks and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, okay… think. I've seen those cheesy, twenty-tens supernatural flicks. Guy gets bitten by a werewolf, suddenly starts acting weird, waking up in forests and shit…"

He stared at the panties in his hand.

"… Except this time, it's not a bite… it's panty contact that gave me the power?"

He paused.

"… That sounds stupid as hell, but…"

He nodded seriously.

"Yeah. The power came from her panties."

He neatly folded them and slipped them into his pocket like they were a sacred artifact.

Lena peeked from the alley, red-faced and steaming like an overboiled teapot. She bit the hem of her white crop top, cheeks puffed with anger.

"Can we just get this over with already?! I just want my panties back, dammit!"

Her tail flopped around wildly behind her as she stomped in place.

･･･

Lucas was finally nearing the school gates.

But even as the towering building came into view, his thoughts refused to settle.

His mind kept flashing back to the blood.

The bodies. That twisted forest.

What's happening to me…?

Then—

"My my~ that frown doesn't suit your cute face. What's on your mind, I wonder?"

It was such a sweet voice.

Lucas's eyes snapped forward.

Standing under the shade of a cherry tree, black hair flowing like ink and lips curled into a teasing smile, was Lilith.

The school's queen.

Lucas froze.

She looked exactly the same as always.

A little too perfect. Too composed.

And her eyes… they always had this look.

Like she was desperately thirsting for something but pretending not to be.

Like she was mocking you, but still offering her hand.

『Mmm, too sexy…』

Lucas didn't say anything.

He was too busy staring at her thighs.

She was wearing black thigh socks again. And that little gap between the top of the sock and the bottom of her pleated skirt?

Delicious.

Lilith followed his eyes.

… Mmm~?

She innocently placed a finger on her right cheek, then tilted her head with elegance.

"Do my thighs catch your eye that much?"

Lucas, without hesitation, nodded.

She giggled.

"My, how bold~ ❤️"

Her eyes narrow in a way you could only sexy.

Lucas chuckled shamelessly.

"You're lucky all I can do is stare…"

Lilith blinked. "Eh…?"

Behind her, the hulking, dark-skinned guy holding her parasol took a single step forward.

Muscles tensed. His aura screamed try it and die.

But Lilith raised a delicate hand.

"Albert. No, no. Bad boy…"

He stopped. Bowed. "Apologies."

Lucas could feel Albert's eyes drilling into him through those sunglasses.

And not just him.

Everyone nearby was staring.

Eyes wide. Mouths agape.

That can't be helped.

In front of him is the school's idol, Senior Lilith.

Why the hell is she talking to him?

"It's just so unfair!" one guy screamed.

"She's a third-year, damn it!"

"She's pitying him! She wants him to reform!"

Lucas could feel their hate.

Still, he couldn't stop staring.

He wasn't even trying to hide it anymore.

His eyes were locked onto Lilith's thighs like they were divine scripture etched in smooth caramel. Just the perfect stretch of skin between her short pleated skirt and those black thigh-high socks was enough to keep his mind occupied for at least three separate reincarnations.

Lilith didn't seem offended.

If anything… she seemed amused.

Slowly, she leaned forward—just a bit—but enough to make Lucas instinctively lean back. Not because he was scared… but because her beauty, this close, was overwhelming.

It was only the second time he'd actually spoken to Lilith Sinclair, and this was the first time he'd gotten close enough to breathe in her scent. Jasmine flowers… but not the delicate kind—like someone had crushed them and soaked them in strawberry oil under a full moon.

It didn't just smell good… it invaded him.

It tickled his brain, ran through his blood, made his chest feel tight.

And like a fool, he started sniffing the air around her.

Albert's jaw visibly tightened.

His gloved hand twitched slightly at his side like it wanted to remove Lucas's head from his neck.

Lilith, on the other hand, didn't even flinch.

She calmly reached forward and placed a slender hand on Lucas's jaw, her thumb softly massaging his chin with such deliberate care it almost felt like she was trying to break him with tenderness.

Lucas's body froze, and all he could see now were her eyes — those brilliant crimson irises that shimmered like rubies soaked in moonlight.

Her lips curled into a faint smirk as she purred.

"My, my… if you keep looking at me like that, I might just have to punish you~"

Her voice was smoother, silkier… wicked and sweet.

"Then again…"

She whispered, leaning in closer until her hot and sugary breath kissed his face.

"… there's another side of me that's badly aching to play with you."

The world around him disappeared.

There was only her scent.

Her voice.

Her eyes.

Her everything.

"So…"

She hummed.

"… don't you want to play with your President~?"

Lucas's face was plain. Blank. Not even a twitch.

Not a single touch of emotion.

He was completely unreadable.

『This is a trap…』

He could tell because there was something between his legs that should've been standing by now.

Lilith's thumb never left his chin.

She took another step forward, now practically pressing against him. Her thumb kept stroking, soft as a pillow, while her smile stayed sweet and sly—like honey with a hint of poison.

Then, her eyes glowed.

A deep, vibrant red that pulsed like a heartbeat.

And inside them, magic circles spun slowly—arcane runes dancing like discs.

"Hmm~ ❤️"

She said with a soft giggle.

"I've never really been a fan of consent. Whether it's yes… or no… how can I resist playing with such an eager little thing~?"

And then—

Lucas moved.

His hand rose.

But instead of reaching for her, instead of pulling her in or flinching away—

He gently placed his palm on her shoulder… and pushed her back with a calm, featherlight touch.

His voice came low, cool, and relaxed, like water slipping over rocks.

"At ease, my queen…"

Lilith blinked.

There was an enlightened smile on his face.

"If I'm eager, then you're the one dangling the bait. Pretty cruel to tease a starving man, don't you think~?"

With that, he turned around and left.

Lilith watched him walk away with a quiet expression.

And then… she smiled.

A true, amused smile.

Not the seductive one. Not the teasing one.

But the kind of smile a lioness gives when the prey turns around and asks her to behave.

She tilted her head slightly, letting her long black hair fall over her shoulder as she whispered to herself:

"… Interesting."

Albert stayed silent, but the way his knuckles cracked behind her said everything.