Infinite Skill Devourer
Chapter 76: Skin Reactions Or Something Else II

Chapter 76: Skin Reactions Or Something Else II

Yurei pulled back from the kiss after a few moments.

Her breathing was uneven—rushed and slow at times—as she stepped away.

She went low to lift up the blanket, clutching it tightly as she wrapped it back around her body.

Her face was flushed, and her eyes burned with both anger and embarrassment.

Ryuen didn’t move from his spot; his smirk became softer, unlike the mock-filled one he usually wore.

"Get out of your head, Yurei," he said as he walked past her, brushing his shoulder against hers intentionally.

"You’re going to overthink this to death."

"Overthink?!" she snapped, spinning around on her heels to face him.

Now, he was lying at the edge of his bed, leaning back casually with his arms behind his head, watching her with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"You kissed me, and now you’re just sitting there like you didn’t do a damn thing!" she half-yelled, her grip on the blanket tightening.

"What the hell was that?!"

Ryuen’s brows curved into a questioning look. "A harmless kiss," he answered nonchalantly.

"Don’t tell me you’ve never tried one before."

Yurei’s face turned an even deeper shade of red.

"Y... yes..." she paused and pointed her finger at him. "Don’t play dumb with me! Why would you... ugh!"

She took a few steps away, trying to calm herself down, then turned back to him, glaring.

"You don’t just kiss people out of nowhere! Especially those you haven’t known for long."

"Hm?" Ryuen sat up and tilted his head. "What do you mean? It’s just a kiss. I do more than that with girls I’ve just met for the first time."

Her eyes slowly widened. "You’re joking, right?"

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as he looked up at her.

"I’m not. Besides, you didn’t seem to mind all that much," he said with a smile. "In fact, if I remember correctly, you were the one who even pulled me closer, when you should’ve pushed me away."

She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued.

"If you hadn’t pulled away, I would’ve actually done more, to the point where you wouldn’t be able to think of scolding me."

Her jaw dropped almost immediately, and she withdrew her hand to cover her burning cheeks.

"You... you arrogant..."

"What? Arrogant what, Yurei?" he challenged, now smirking with a knowing gleam in his eyes.

She exhaled and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. "You’re impossible and insufferable! And..."

"And you’re interesting," he interrupted, earning a glare that would have set him on fire if possible.

"I am not interesting!"

"Oh, but you are," he replied and raised himself to his feet slowly.

Just a single stride was enough to close the distance between them.

She instinctively stepped back until she felt the wooden table against her legs.

"Stay back," she warned, trying to keep her tone steady, perhaps intimidating, but she failed due to the tremble in her voice.

Ryuen stopped, his expression softening slightly. "Relax, Yurei. I’m not going to kiss you again," he said with a light chuckle. "At least, since it’s your first, correct?"

"I’ll make you pay for this," she growled lowly, holding a finger to his chest, which she immediately withdrew when Ryuen chuckled.

"You know, you’re actually quite adorable when you’re not giving off murderous vibes."

"Tsk," she scoffed and crossed her arms. "If you hadn’t taken me by surprise, then I bet we’d be on the ground with a pool of blood under you."

"Oh really?"

"Definitely."

"So what if I didn’t take you by surprise then?" he asked, leaning in again, causing her to move closer to the table, leaning backward as well.

Until she felt his hand on her lower back, pausing her movement.

His other hand moved to her face, cupping her cheeks and squeezing gently until she was pouting.

"What do you think you’re doing?" she asked, her tone low and muffled.

Ryuen just shrugged and raised his eyes to hers. "Trying not to take you by surprise."

"Eh? No!..." she trailed off when he tightened his hold on her face—not enough to hurt—then chuckled.

"You actually look good," he said, placing a gentle kiss on her lips before dropping his hands. "So tell me, what is it you keep hiding under those straps?"

Yurei huffed and looked away, lightly licking her lips. "Stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Just stop it."

"Hm?" He tilted his head to get a better look at her. "Relax, I already told you, you’re not my type," he chuckled. "I’m not going to do anything you don’t—"

"If I’m not your type, why would you kiss me?" she interrupted, now raising her head to look at him.

For a brief moment, Ryuen felt his heart skip a beat, but not in a good way.

"Well, I did that because I felt like it," he shrugged. "Like I said, I don’t have to know you to do anything with you, as long as no one crosses boundaries."

He watched her bite her lips and lower her head, throwing him into confusion.

"Hey... hey, I didn’t mean I didn’t actually like you, just not that deep."

"Don’t explain, idiot. I’d never be upset over something so useless," she mumbled.

At that moment, Ryuen realized something had changed. Her tone seemed detached, like when he first met her, but this time, it felt disturbing.

"Yurei..."

She raised her head, a smirk playing on her lips. "You know, if I didn’t have this condition, I’d probably let you go ahead and do whatever you wanted, till maybe..."

She leaned closer and whispered, "You’d be the one begging."

Ryuen was taken aback by the sudden change. He wanted to say something, but the second her fingers touched his bare chest, he shivered.

"What are you doing?" he asked, lowering his gaze, but she just chuckled and moved the blanket on her arm up.

To her surprise, it was spotless.

"Hm?" she hummed lowly, waiting for a few seconds until a loud gasp escaped her lips.

"No way!"

"You’re scaring me now."

She ignored him and proceeded to place her palms firmly on his chest. She waited for a rash or a painful burn, but nothing happened.

"That’s not right," she said, raising her gaze to him. "Can you do that thing you did with my face again?"

"Uhm..." Ryuen trailed off but nodded. He raised his right hand to her face and cautiously but slowly squeezed her cheeks until she was pouting.

She raised her hands to her eyes and froze.

Nothing was happening.

No red marks.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

She slowly shifted her gaze to Ryuen’s worried face, and at that moment, her gaze softened.

"You dense idiot," she mumbled lowly with a chuckle, masking how shaky her voice was.

"I’m a little lost here," he said as he dropped his hands and stepped back. "Is everything alright?"

She nodded, moving her gaze to her wrist. "It seems Kaori was actually right."