Archive of Our Own

“You see that video of the guy trying to rob a store with a banana? Went viral,” Rin says.

Sae raises an eyebrow and puts his glass down on the sticky club table. Empty glass feels heavy. “What? A banana?”

“Yeah. He held it like a gun. The cashier just stared at him,” Rin says.

“That’s some next-level idiocy.”

“I know, right? The internet’s full of geniuses.”

“You’re just watching nonsense. Why don’t I ever see stuff like that? My feed’s all sports and nutrition.”

Rin snorts. “Yeah, okay. Like you don’t waste time on random crap too.”

“What random crap?” Sae says. Neon lights flash across his face in bursts of blue and pink. They flicker in and out of focus. 

“Dunno, you tell me. You were obsessed with that baking show for, like, a month.”

Sae looks mildly offended.

“Excuse you. That was Gordon Ramsay.”

“Oh, right, my bad. Totally different. Yelling at people over risotto is so productive,” Rin says. “And you’ve never cooked us anything.”

“I cook for Ryuusei.”

“Not the same.”

“He’s family too.”

“Mom still hasn’t forgiven him,” Rin says.

“Yeah, I know,” Sae sighs. “I just… don’t understand why she hasn’t—”

“Dude,” Rin says and leans back, “you were turned into a child. She freaked,” he says. “We all did.”

Sae doesn’t answer right away. He orders them another round of drinks, though his voice feels like it’s dragging itself across the conversation.

“It wasn’t his fault,” Sae says in the end.

Rin shrugs. He puts his chin in his hand. “So then? How’s it been in paradise?”

“Every time we argue, he sets the kitchen on fire.”

“Really?”

“No. He’s not like that,” Sae says and sluggishly taps his fingers on the table. “Everything’s good. He’s protective after… you know.”

“He’s a demon. Maybe he’s just marking his turf,” Rin snorts.

The bartender hands them their drinks and interrupts Sae’s glare.

“Has… Meguru marked his turf yet?”

Sae floats through it, blinking hard. Rin doesn’t seem to notice.

“Or is it you marking the turf then?” Sae says.

Rin glares at him. “Come off it.”

Sae snorts into a lazy smile, then frowns again. Rin… blurs at the edges, all soft and unfocused. Sae blinks again, harder this time. “Thought so,” he says and takes a slow sip of his drink.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Sae says, sluggishly, after drinking his fill. “Nothing.”

Rin narrows his eyes. “You good? You’re talking weird.”

Sae could sense Rin’s gaze, but he couldn’t put his mind to what they are discussing. The lights are brighter and sharper, and yet the bar around them feels like it’s melting. Sae rubs his face.

“Gonna… wash up,” he mutters, “alcohol hitting.”

“What…?” Rin laughs more bewildered than amused. “Be quick,” he calls after.

Sae’s legs wobble as he stands, and his vision swims for a minute before he blinks it clear. He’s a little dizzy. They’ve had a few drinks.

He pushes through the crowd. The club’s neon lights pulse in time with heavy bass that thrums through Sae’s chest. People brush past him, faceless blurs in the dim haze.

When he feels the hand on his waist, he thinks it is someone jostling for space. But the grip tightens, a little too possessive. A voice, smooth and casual, whispers too close to his ear, their breath foul. “Let me help you upstairs. You don’t look so good.”

Sae turns his head, but his limbs feel sluggish. Something is wrong. The man’s smile is too sharp, his eyes gleaming with intent.

Sae tries to step back, but his body doesn’t respond the way it should. His legs feel heavy, as if they’re sinking into the floor, and his thoughts are muddled, slow to piece together what’s happening.

“I’m fine,” he mutters, or at least tries to. The words slur slightly, they’re barely audible over the pounding bass. Sae blinks hard, but his vision blurs again.

The man’s grip on his waist tightens. “No, no. You’re not,” the man says. “Let’s get you somewhere quiet. Just need to lie down for a bit, yeah? I’ll help you.”

Sae’s heartbeat doesn’t match the frantic beat of the club’s music. It thuds, a slow, sick beat. He tries to pull away, but his body refuses to cooperate. He feels like he’s moving through water.

His head spins, and the edges of his vision darkens.

“Come on,” the man urges, more insistent now. His grip turns almost painful as he steers Sae toward the shadowed staircase leading to the second floor, where the private rooms are. “You’re not gonna make a scene, are you?”

Sae struggles weakly against him.

“You’re such a pretty boy.”

Sae shudders and thinks of Shidou. Only he calls him a pretty boy. If Shidou knows he’s in trouble, he’ll come. He always does. Sae stumbles, leaning heavily into the man’s side as if he’s giving in. But he doesn’t feel himself.

“You don’t want to do this,” Sae slurs, fading out of lucidity. “When Ryuu finds out… he won’t be happy.”

The man laughs, a short, cruel sound. “Your Ryuu doesn’t scare me.” He leans in, his lips brushing against Sae’s ear. The man is stupid, Sae thinks.

Sae tries anyway.

“If you let me go now,” Sae mumbles, words slow,  “I’ll talk him out of it. But if you hurt me, he won’t listen.”

The man’s smile fades. His hand tightens on Sae’s arm. He yanks Sae closer, and his eyes narrow, no longer amused. “What games do you think you’re playing, huh?”

Sae winces.

“You think you’re in a position to negotiate?” the man snarls.

They reach the foot of the stairs. The crowd is thinner here, and the noise is muffled. The man doesn’t slow down, hauling Sae up the first step, then another. Sae’s shoes scrape the edge of the steps, his legs dragging.

They’re on the second floor. Private, dark rooms. No one would see anything.

Panic twists in Sae’s chest. He tries to yank his arm back, but it’s like pulling against solid stone. His strength is gone.

His mind feels thick, as if every thought is trapped in a fog.

“You... don’t have to do this.” Sae’s breath is shallow, his words barely a mumble. 

The man sneers, dragging Sae up the stairs. “Shut up. You talk too much.”

Sae stumbles again as they reach the top of the staircase. He crashes into the wall, his body limp, but the man doesn’t stop. His grip tightens as he pulls Sae down a dimly lit hallway lined with heavy doors, one of them cracked slightly open.

The man shoves the door fully open with his foot. The room is small, dark—just a bed and a window with heavy curtains. The music from the club is barely heard.

Sae tries to turn, tries to push against the man’s chest, but his arms feel like dead weight. 

The man scoffs and throws Sae into the room. He lands hard on the bed, the mattress sinking under him, the world spinning as his head hits the pillow. The ceiling sways above him, the lights flickering in and out of focus.

“Ryuu’s not coming, sweetheart,” the man says. He locks the door behind him. “He’s not here. It’s just you and me.”

Sae tries to sit up, but something in his system pulls him back down. His breath comes in ragged gasps, and panic starts to claw at his chest.

“If... if you do this...” Sae struggles to form the words, his voice slurred and weak. “He’ll kill you.”

The man’s smile turns cruel as he looms over Sae. His shadow stretches across the bed. “I’ll take my chances,” he says coldly, grabbing Sae by the collar and yanking him up, his face inches from Sae’s. “We’ll have so much fun.”

Sae’s lungs hurt, and he is shaky.

He can’t do anything when the man’s hands roam freely, rough and impatient, not like a lover’s touch, when he and Shidou make love, but like a butcher carving into raw flesh. They brush over his stomach, his chest, ripping button after button from his shirt.

“Don’t...” Sae breathes, barely able to form the words. “Don’t do this.”

His other hand moves to Sae’s trousers and tugs at the belt. Sae freezes and then instantly begins to struggle.

“No—”

“No one’s coming to save you, my boy,” the man says sweetly.

Fingers hook into the leather, working it loose, and fear twists Sae’s features as he realises what’s about to happen. The world shrinks to just this—just the sound of that belt loosening, the horrible metallic clink, and Sae’s heart pounds so loudly it drowns out the noise of the club around them.

The man pulls his trousers down impatiently. Sae pushes against his chest.

“So soft,” the man murmurs. He leans in, inhaling deeply, breathing in the scent of Sae’s skin as if he’s savouring every second.

His skin feels stretched too tight, oversensitive.

Sae pushes harder, but his muscles tremble uselessly. His hands press against the man’s chest, but the effort barely moves him. The man’s teeth graze his throat, and Sae’s body shudders involuntarily.

To his horror, a low, unwanted ache begins to build deep inside him, a warmth pooling in his belly that he cannot suppress.

“No,” Sae chokes out. “Stop…”

But the man’s hands roam lower, fingers slipping beneath the waistband of his underwear. He tugs them down, the fabric sliding over Sae’s hips, exposing the soft skin there. No one had ever touched him like this—crudely and unkindly, without his consent. Shidou was always gentle with him, always patient, treating him like something precious, not a thing to be used. Now, Sae feels stripped of that safety, humiliated as his body lay vulnerable, powerless beneath the man’s grasp.

The man growls in annoyance, when Sae jerks in protest. He grabs his wrists and pins them above his head. Terror surges up in Sae.

“No—please—don’t,” Sae is shaking his head, blinking back his tears. He feels hot, as though heat just coiled tighter inside him.

“You will enjoy it, I promise,” the man says gleefully and begins to unbutton his own pants.

Sae’s whole body jerks again, so desperate and fragile. His eyes open in horror. 

“I don’t want to, please…”

His heart is beating in his ears; Sae forces himself to breathe.

“Stop…” Sae gasps.

“Just let it happen, boy.”

Sae flinches when the man leans in to kiss him. A tear slips from the corner of his eye, rolling down his temple, cold against his burning skin.

Then—the weight is gone.

The crushing pressure of the man’s body vanishes so suddenly that Sae gasps, his entire frame jolting in shock. A deafening thud follows and rattles the room.

Sae lies there, heart pounding in his ears. He doesn’t know why the man’s weight is gone. Maybe he’s stepped back to tie him up, to do something worse. Everything feels off, wrong, he desperately wants to get out.

He tries to move, but his limbs are leaden, unresponsive. Alcohol courses through his veins, sapping his strength. All he can do is curl onto his side, off his face and clumsy. He tries to sit up, but his arms give out, and he collapses back onto the mattress.

Someone touches him. And Sae recoils as if burnt.

“No,” he whimpers. “Please… I don’t want to.”

He blinks several times too hard, and a tear comes racing down his temple. But the hand doesn’t force him. 

“Sae.”

Sae makes a soft, heartbreaking noise.

“I’m sorry. I’m here now.”

Sae’s breath hitches, body still trembling, but he forces his eyes open, blinking rapidly away the tears. Relief and confusion swirls within him. Blond hair, concerned eyes, a familiar face that feels like home, that he sees.

“Ryuusei?” he whispers.

“Yeah,” Shidou replies, and Sae lets out a small sob.

He latches onto Shidou.

A lone tear escapes down Sae’s cheek. Shidou reaches out, gently wiping it away with his thumb. “Don’t cry,” Shidou whispers. His jaw tightens, but his eyes remain soft as they meet Sae’s. “He won’t hurt you,” he says. “I promise.”

“He tried to…” Dry sobs shakes his slim body. “I didn’t… I asked him to stop.”

“You don’t have to explain.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Please don’t.”

“I can’t… I can’t stand,” Sae admits.

“That’s okay,” Shidou says. “Lean onto me.”

Sae won’t stop shaking. His shirt is ruined, torn where the buttons had been, skin pale and exposed. Shidou wraps his coat around Sae’s shoulders. It falls like a blanket. Despite himself, Sae’s breath turns shallow and uneven, cheeks flush with heat.

“I’m going to button your trousers,” Shidou says. “I won’t touch you more than I have to.”

Sae clutches the coat tightly to his chest. He feels unsafe.

“Okay,” Sae whispers.

Shidou fastens the buttons carefully. Once he’s done, he gently looks up at Sae. His eyes are sorrowful.

“C’mon,” Shidou says quietly. “Let’s go home.”

“…Rin’s waiting.”

“I’ll send Meguru.”

Sae nods.

With Shidou’s support, they both stand. Sae’s legs wobble beneath him, and the room spins wildly, but Shidou gently holds him by the waist, and without thinking, Sae presses his forehead against Shidou’s chest and breathes heavily through his mouth.

“I’m dizzy,” Sae says.

“I’ve got you,” Shidou answers.

His body feels strange, as though it isn’t his own. His heart races for reasons that have nothing to do with fear but a warm tightness building where it shouldn’t. Sae shifts uncomfortably. He wants this to end.

But it doesn’t. The feeling grows stronger, and Sae realises, with a growing horror, that he’s… hard. His body is reacting, betraying him in the worst possible way, and he doesn’t understand why.

“Sae?” Shidou’s voice is soft, full of concern. He must have noticed Sae’s sudden tension, the way his breathing has changed.

Sae sucks in a breath and feels a soul-shrinking shame. He can’t bring himself to look up, to meet Shidou’s gaze. How could he explain this? How could he possibly make him understand? He feels tainted, broken, his own body reacting in ways he can’t control or even comprehend.

“I… I don’t know…” he whispers. He tries to ease the uncomfortable tightness, but the movement only makes things worse. The heat spreads through him in a way that makes his skin prickle with embarrassment.

Shidou seems to sense his distress. He reaches out and gently rubs grounding circles on Sae’s back. “It’s okay,” he murmurs, voice steady and calm. He looks conflicted. “Whatever you’re feeling… It’s okay. You’re safe with me.”

Sae squeezes his eyes shut, and a tear slips down his cheek. “I… I don’t understand,” he chokes out. “My body… is reacting, and I don’t know why. I’m sorry. I don’t… I don’t want this. Please…”

He doesn’t want Shidou to think he wants this, that he enjoys something so wrong and painful. Sae feels a knot in his stomach. He’s terrified that any sign of desire might make Shidou misunderstand him.

Shidou’s arms tighten.

“It’s not your fault,” Shidou says. There is a pause, and then says miserably. “You were drugged.”

“Drugged…?”

“With aphrodisiacs,” Shidou says glumly. “Everything you’re feeling is the drug’s doing. You don’t have to feel ashamed.”

“I…”

“Lean on me,” Shidou says. “I have you.”

“I want to go home,” Sae asks.

“Okay.”

“To yours.”

“Okay, love,” Shidou says. “I’m going to lift you now.”

Sae asks to go to Shidou’s, because he doesn’t want to be alone. He wants to be somewhere he feels safe, somewhere he feels protected. And that place, for him, is with Shidou. Nothing bad could happen there.

Shidou crouches and puts one arm beneath Sae’s knees. He grips the coat tightly around Sae’s shoulders. Slowly, he lifts Sae into his arms, holding him gently.

“Ready?”

Sae puts his head on Shidou’s shoulder. He looks behind him. On the ground lies the man, bleeding from a head wound and unconscious. There’s a visible dent in the wall.

“Please,” Sae whispers, closes his eyes, and leans into Shidou.

“All right.”

In a sudden flash, the world around them blurs, and instantly they find themselves in Shidou’s chambers. The room exudes opulence and comfort. It’s as it belongs, befitting a future King with its regal and luxurious ambience. The bed is king-sized, curtains of the most exquisite fabrics, rugs of the finest materials.

Shidou gently lowers him onto the bed and pulls away.

“Where are you going…?” Sae asks.

Shidou looks conflicted.

“You’re going back…” Sae realises.

“I’ll take a minute.”

“But why?”

Sae searches his face and finds only raw, genuine emotions. He is angry, and he is only holding back for Sae’s sake. The man defiled Sae, and he cannot go unpunished, that’s just how things work.

“You know why,” Shidou says.

Shidou hadn’t acted violently because Sae was there. Because Sae was what mattered most, and Shidou held back out of respect and concern for him. But now, away from Sae’s immediate view, his restraint was slipping. He couldn’t let him go. Not after he forced himself on Sae.

In the house of demons, Sae was considered royalty—a figure of high status, respected and untouchable. If it had been humans who discovered Sae, perhaps there would have been careful investigation and procedure. But justice meant something entirely different to Shidou.

“I will make him wish he’d never looked at you, let alone touched you,” Shidou says. “It’ll be a minute.”

And a minute it is.

Shidou comes back before Sae can blink, as promised. Sae is lying in bed, curled up under a blanket. His cheeks are pressed and eyes glassy.

“You didn’t kill him,” Sae says.

“No,” Shidou says. After a pause, he says, “But I will.”

Sae doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to. Shidou came too soon for him to have killed him. But he will go back. And when he does, it won’t be quick. Shidou’s anger is like a slow poison—patient, dark, and deadly. The man is locked in the dungeons.

Sae has been to those dungeons once before, and his skin had set with goosebumps how terrifying it was. The air was thick, rotten, like the inside of a lung that hasn’t breathed in centuries. Stone walls swallowed every sound, and it was cold. Heavy door groaned like it was in pain every time it opened, and the chains on the walls clinked softly, as if something was still pulling on them in the dark.

Now that man is down there, alone, waiting for Shidou.

Sae almost feels sorry for him.

Almost.

“Does Rin know?” Sae asks, looking anywhere but him.

Shidou kneels beside the bed. “I didn’t talk to him,” he says. “Meguru’s with him.”

“He’ll worry I disappeared.”

“I told Meguru you were drugged.”

Sae’s breath hitches. He looks deeply embarrassed. Shidou told Meguru told Rin. It was an inevitable chain.

“I’m never going to a club again,” he mutters.

“You are,” Shidou says.

Sae frowns. 

“You enjoy going out with your friends,” Shidou says. “Just because of some… bastard…” His jaw tightens. “He doesn’t get to take that from you.”

They look at each other for a moment, then Sae looks away. He curls up.

“It hurts,” Sae whispers.

Shidou brushes a strand of Sae’s hair out of his eyes. “Do you want my help?” Shidou asks gently.

Sae presses his thighs together. The ache deepens, hot and throbbing, almost painful. The need feels almost bruising. His skin is oversensitive, prickling at every touch, every brush of fabric against his body. Even the air feels choking, feeding the fire. It’s overwhelming, humiliating—the way he’s trapped in this unbearable need, blushing, helpless, unable to make it stop.

“Aren’t… aren’t you disgusted…?”

“Disgusted?”

Sae stares down at his hands twisting in the blanket and miserably smiles. Tears glisten in his eyes.

“A… another man touched me.” There’s an awful silence. “I couldn’t stop him. I… I tried, but…” Shame heats his face. “He touched me, and I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t make him stop.”

He squeezes his eyes shut, and a tremor runs through him. “I’m scared that you’ll look at me and… see his hands on me,” Sae says. “That you’ll touch me and find me disgusting because of it.”

Shidou listens and lets Sae’s words settle. He doesn’t rush to fill the silence. He lets Sae’s pain have space, lets him feel heard. Then, when Sae’s voice dies out, Shidou moves a little closer, his gaze soft but unwavering.

He looks at him full of love.

“Sae,” Shidou begins. “Nothing that happened could ever make me disgusted with you. Nothing.”

He reaches out, carefully, as if giving Sae every chance to pull away, and stills his restless fingers. “When I look at you, I see you. I see the person I love. That man—what he did—isn’t your fault.”

Sae’s eyes flicker up.

“I don’t see his hands on you,” Shidou says softly. “I see someone brave. Someone who’s gone through something terrible and is still here. I see someone I care about, deeply. Nothing he did can change that.”

He hesitates. “If you need time, I understand. If you need space, I’ll give it to you. But I’ll be here, whenever you’re ready. And… if you want me to touch you, it’ll only be with love. With respect. With care.”

A tear slips down Sae’s cheek, and Shidou brushes it away with his palm. “I love you. And I’m not disgusted with you.”

“Okay,” Sae whispers, nodding his head, over and over. “Make it stop… please.”

Shidou nods, fingers brushing along Sae’s jaw, gentle and warm. “I will.”

He gently kisses him. He gets into the bed, climbing on top. He looks at Sae like he matters.

“I’m gonna take off your shirt now.”

Sae nods.

Shidou’s hands slide to the hem of Sae’s shirt, slips his hands beneath the fabric, and lifts it gently, guiding it up over Sae’s shoulders and off his arms. The cool air brushes over Sae’s heated skin.

For a time, Shidou just looks at him, admiring. And Sae aches. He feels seen, cared for, valued.

“You’re so beautiful,” Shidou whispers and leans down.

He presses his lips to Sae’s throat. Trails gentle kisses downward, so sloppy and warm, nothing like that man, rough and unkind, but tender and warm. Moist lips move along Sae’s collarbone, down to his chest, planting soft kisses after kisses that soothe and reassure.

Shidou’s mouth catches as he mouths a pink nipple, giving it a gentle suck, tongue brushing over the sensitive bud. Sae gasps, a small, quiet sound, his back arching slightly, pressing himself closer to Shidou.

Shidou takes his time. He moves to the other nipple, giving it the same careful attention, sucking gently, letting his tongue trace over it, again and again, until Sae is trembling beneath him, breathless.

Each touch, each kiss, is soft, tender, meant to heal. Shidou’s hands slide up and down Sae’s bare sides, loving, caressing. Shidou pauses at the waistband of Sae’s trousers, looking up, waiting. Sae nods, his breath shaky, cheeks flushed.

With careful fingers, Shidou unfastens Sae’s belt and slides his trousers down over his hips, baring him. Sae is wet, hard and leaking through the fabric. Sae’s face flushes with embarrassment, and he looks away.

He is gorgeous like this.

Shidou brushes his thumb over the dampness, sending little shocks through him. “It’s okay. Let yourself enjoy it.”

With gentle hands, Shidou hooks his fingers around Sae’s waistband and slides his underwear down, leaving Sae all bare to his eyes. Sae’s cock is hard — achingly so — flushed and wet at the tip, leaking onto his own stomach.

Any other time, Sae would have basked in Shidou’s gaze, proud of the desire he could inspire. But now, Sae’s heart stutters, and a wave of shame creeps up his neck.

“Is this okay?” Shidou murmurs.

He reaches out and wraps his hand around Sae’s length. Sae gasps, and the shame doesn’t have anywhere to hide, doesn’t have any choice but to loosen as Shidou strokes him, slow and careful.

Sae’s heart pounds, and he nods, swallowing hard. “Y-yeah…”

Shidou leans in, pressing a comforting kiss to Sae’s forehead. His mouth trails lower, over flushed skin, over his chest, his belly, until he’s pressed a kiss just above the base of Sae’s cock. Sae shivers at the heat of his mouth.

Slowly, Shidou’s tongue traces up the length of Sae’s cock, tasting the salt of his skin. He feels every tiny shudder, every sharp inhale, each quiet gasp that slips past Sae’s lips. One hand cups the soft weight of Sae’s balls. He holds them carefully, feeling their warmth, the way they rest heavy in his palm. His thumb brushes over them in soothing strokes, and Sae’s hips thrust weakly.

Sae throws his head back into the pillows. He comes embarrassingly quickly.

Shidou wipes the corner of his mouth and brushes his thumb lightly over Sae’s hip, grounding him.

Shidou comes to him, kissing his shoulder.

“Did it help?” Shidou asks. “Did the ache ease up?”

Sae covers his eyes with his arm, breathing heavily. “Yeah…” he says in the end.

His palms move along Shidou’s shirt, at the lines of his collarbones, down the centre of his chest, fingertips smoothing the soft cotton of Shidou’s shirt, lovingly, caressing. He grounds himself in the warmth beneath his hands.

Shidou watches him, still and quiet, a faint smile softening his features. He doesn’t move, doesn’t say anything, just lets Sae’s hands wander, feeling the warm, ticklish brush of his fingers.

After a moment, Sae’s hands come to rest, settling against Shidou’s chest..

“Thank you,” he whispers, barely audible, his eyes downcast. “If you weren’t there…”

Shidou’s smile fades.

“I’m sorry I took so long,” Shidou says.

He had felt Sae’s distress, a ripple at first, easy to dismiss as something minor. It was the kind of feeling he’d noticed before—like the quiet tension Sae gets before meeting someone new, or the spark of nerves before a press conference, just the edge of excitement woven into his worry. That had felt normal, something familiar, something he didn’t think twice about.

But then, slowly, that feeling changed. The worry deepened, turned heavy, like a storm gathering on the horizon. It twisted into something darker, harder, sinking claws into his chest. Panic—raw and suffocating—pushed through, like a hand closing around his throat. 

“I should have known sooner,” Shidou murmurs, his gaze dropping, as if ashamed. “I should have come right away.”

Shidou stood then, he didn’t say a word to his father or his people who had gathered at that high-states meeting. And disappeared.

Sae gently covers his mouth with his hand.

“If you apologise, then I have to too,” Sae says. His hand slips down. “We’re okay.”

“We’re okay,” Shidou echoes.

Shidou noses into his neck. “How’re you feeling?”

“Sleepy.”

“You should rest.”

“Stay,” Sae asks again.

Shidou nods. “I’ll be right here.”

Sae curls up in his arms, and Shidou caresses his hair. That night, they lie in bed in each other’s arms, until Sae falls asleep. Shidou gently kisses his head and when Sae doesn’t stir, he stands and leaves the room.

The same night, the man dies by Shidou’s hand.