Vol 1 Chapter 10 – The Time I Discovered a Twisted Fetish【Vol 1 — A Happy Childhood】

By the time the sun was approaching its zenith.

This is bad. Emergency situation.

Even if I can endure it, Aria probably can’t…

“Hey, why can’t I drink the water you made with magic?”

Aria’s been asking me that over and over since earlier.

Looks like she’s thirsty. This is seriously bad.

From Aria’s perspective, it must seem bizarre that she can’t drink water made by magic. After all, it’s such clean water.

But I heard from Sophia that drinking water created by magic can cause severe stomach problems.

At first I was skeptical, but thinking about it carefully, I found a reason that made sense.

Basically, it’s too clean.

Water created by magic is purified water—in other words, completely pure water. That such water can cause adverse effects when ingested is knowledge from my previous life. I remember learning it in middle school science class.

But asking Aria to just accept that is pretty harsh. She hasn’t actually gotten sick from drinking it, and it looks perfectly clean.

What’s worse, it’s winter. The air is dry. There’s a very real chance Aria could become dehydrated.

Aria isn’t so young that she can’t endure this in an emergency, yet she keeps asking me about it. Her throat must be much drier than I imagined.

“Aria, sorry, can you come here for a second…?”

“Huh? Huh, Will!? Awawawa… nn? Nnn…”

I cup Aria’s cheek with my left hand and thrust my right hand into her mouth. I touch my finger to the mucous membrane inside her cheek, but…

Yeah, she’s seriously parched… At this rate, it could be dangerous.

“…Huh, Will… huh?”

…This is basically my fault anyway.

I have to do something about it.

Just deal with a little pain.

I’m pretty sure human blood can be consumed for hydration.

With that resolve, I bring my left hand to my mouth and bite a thin cut into the pad of my thumb.

“Ouch…”

“Ahh! W-Will! What are you—mmmph! Mmmm!”

It hurts… Hurt more than I thought. Biting through your own finger—when you really think about it, that’s not something a sane person does.

“Mmm! Mmm!”

“Sorry, Aria. I know it’s gross, but please bear with it and swallow. It’s for your sake, right? Your throat’s dry, isn’t it? Please.”

“…Nn?”

What I did was force my wounded finger into Aria’s mouth, letting the blood slowly flowing from the wound drip inside. It’s definitely not some weird plaything, and it’s not my hobby either. It’s to keep Aria from getting dehydrated. If she got dehydrated out here, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

At first Aria resisted, but she seemed to understand what I was trying to do, and bewildered as she was, she accepted it surprisingly easily. In other words, her throat was that thirsty.

I can feel Aria’s small tongue licking the wound on my finger repeatedly.

Maybe embarrassed, Aria closes her eyes and wraps both her hands around my left hand, hesitantly sucking on the bleeding thumb.

…Th-this is kind of erotic.

I said earlier it wasn’t my hobby, but I might have just awakened to it.

Wow, I’m seriously messed up.

Having a girl suck my wounded finger as a fetish—that’s a new one. Opening up new genres.

While I’m thinking about all this, I can feel the blood flowing out from my finger.

Aria looks like she’s in a trance as she sucks my finger—that’s probably just my imagination. I didn’t realize my own depravity had gotten this bad.

After a while, Aria pulls away from my finger. There was still a faint trace of blood seeping from the thumb.

“…Sorry, Will. Aria was being selfish. Thank you, okay? Is your finger okay?”

“Nah, this is nothing, don’t worry about it. I don’t want to see you suffering, Aria.”

Was that a little cheesy?

As I’m reviewing my own line, I see Aria blushing happily. Aria licks the small bit of blood on her lips.

“Thanks, Will! It was really delicious!”

“…Ah, yeah… yeah? …T-that’s good then.”

Delicious…? The blood?

It feels like a slightly off reaction somehow, but if Aria’s feeling better, that’s all that matters. Surely my childhood friend isn’t a vampire or something.

Just as I think that, Aria takes my left hand again.

“Ah, it’s spilling…”

I look and see blood about to drip from the tip of my thumb. That finger is brought to Aria’s mouth by her hand.

A wet, sticky sound echoes.

Aria’s throat, white as fresh snow, pulses with a swallowing motion. It’s strangely sensual. Not something a four-year-old should be doing.

“…Nnn”

She looks like she’s in a trance—that really is just my imagination, right…?

While Aria sucks my thumb, I desperately suppress my thoughts that keep trying to run in weird directions.

“Yeah, this should be fine.”

Ehehe, Aria smiles at me.

So cute. She’s cute, but something… yeah, what is this feeling?

“Aria loves Will.”

“…Huh?”

What’s with this sudden confession…

Wait, calm down. A child’s “love” can’t be trusted.

It’s the same as when little kids tell their dads, “When I grow up, I’m going to marry Daddy!”

But maybe… could this mean I’ve taken one step closer to my long-cherished harem…?

I don’t know.

While I’m worrying about all sorts of depraved things, Aria puts her hands behind her back, her bright smile mixed with a little shyness.

“Will came to save Aria when she was in really big danger and really scared. And Will helped Aria when she was really tired and really hurting. Even though it hurt Will too, he did it for Aria.”

Caught off guard by this sudden praise-fest for me. Man, little kids really are in their own world.

Maintaining some composure despite my fluster, I respond, “Ah… yeah, thanks.”

Why am I getting flustered over a four-year-old! Don’t look down on this virgin! What am I even saying, me!

“So, Aria really loves Will!”

Declaring it with a bounce, spreading both her hands wide, Aria takes a step closer to me.

I unconsciously sense something strange in the atmosphere.

I take a step back.

…Why did I just retreat?

Am I actually being pushed back by a four-year-old girl?

Me, whose mental age should be at least eighteen?

Aria takes another step forward, and I take another step back.

Ah, but when it comes to experience with the opposite sex, I don’t feel that different from Aria!

“Um, hey. Will…”

“…Y-yeah”

Before I knew it, I was backed against a large tree, cornered by Aria. Help.

Aria blushes, her gaze somehow feverish as she looks at me.

“Aria… doesn’t actually hate kissing Will, okay?”

Saying that, Aria brings her face closer to mine.

When we’re close enough that our noses almost touch, Aria stops. Both her hands are placed on the tree on either side of me, caging me in.

Slowly, she closes her eyes.

Somehow, Aria’s breathing seems ragged.

Hey, what does that mean? Wait, seriously wait. Wait, wait. That’s too much for a virgin.

And this doesn’t feel like something that should be happening between a three-year-old and a four-year-old!

It’s too soon! It’s too soon. Everything is too soon!

Someone save me!

Whether my desperate plea got through or not,

“Will-kun!! Where are you!? Will-kun——!? Are you with Aria-chan too!?”

“…Sophia onee-chan?”

From relatively nearby, a familiar voice echoes.

It’s Sophia calling for me and Aria.

…Why? Did she know we were in trouble?

If so, how did she find this place?

Well, I should just be grateful that help has arrived. In more ways than one.

“Sophia onee-chan!! We’re over here!!”

I raise my voice to let her know our location. That’s when it happened.

A gust of wind swept through the area.

Closing my eyes reflexively against the sudden gust, when I open them again, there’s Sophia, her shoulders heaving and a scary look on her face.

I realize instantly. Crap, I’m going to get scolded.

I carefully untangle myself from Aria, who’s frozen with her eyes wide open at the sudden turn of events, fixing her posture while fixing my own.

Then, I look up at Sophia. I’m ready, sis. Thanks for everything.

“…”

Sophia catches her breath and glares at me and Aria…

“You’re not supposed to go into the forest on your own! How many times have I told you!!”

Sophia onee-chan’s thunderous rebuke echoed.

That’s another story, involving the words “You big dummy, Will!” and the red handprint left on my cheek.