A Guide to Raising Snake Spirits - Chapter 36

In the observation room, one entire wall was covered by a mirror. In reality, it was one-way glass. The Sentry didn’t know if someone was behind it watching his every move, but he suspected there was.

 

The most terrifying thing about one-way glass compared to the transparent kind was that Shiraishi晴 could see his own snake tail at any moment. The upper body of a human was stitched onto a snake tail over ten meters long, complete with non-human slit pupils and a flickering, forked tongue.

 

The way he appeared to others was reflected vividly in the mirror. When a person stares into a mirror for too long, they begin to doubt their own existence.

 

Am I me? Who am I? And who are you?

 

Instead, Shiraishi was wondering: Would the Guide be afraid of me like this?

 

He still remembered the panicked looks of bystanders during his berserk state. To a Sentry’s heightened hearing, those whispers sounded like screams in a sealed, silent room.

 

It felt like it wasn’t the first time this had happened.

 

In Shiraishi’s memory, there were the piercing shrieks of a man and a woman.

 

“Monster! How could I give birth to a child like this!”

 

“He clearly wasn’t like this before. What a nuisance. Monsters like Sentries and Guides shouldn’t even exist.”

 

“Let’s just send him away.”

 

Shiraishi’s mood was frighteningly calm. He felt that the Guide wouldn’t be like that.

 

Because when Mitsuki希 shared his breath with him, Shiraishi had seen surprise, worry, and a kaleidoscope of complex emotions in those misty, grey-blue eyes, but there was no disgust.

 

Those lips, which were incredibly soft when kissed, would become picky and stern when a student made a mistake.

 

Even when the Guide was angry, he was beautiful. His usually upturned corners of his mouth would turn down, and his tone would become stiff, yet the fluctuations coming through the mental link were entirely filled with concern and worry.

 

Mitsuki had been afraid for a fleeting moment, but fear was a natural instinct. He had overcome that instinct to save the Sentry.

 

Special breeds were a group of people governed by instinct. Fate used compatibility to tell them who was the right person, skipping the cost of trial and error, but at the same time, they had to fight against those instincts their entire lives.

 

The grey-haired Sentry was in an observation room almost identical to the one Mitsuki had been staying in, furnished with only a single bed.

 

Shiraishi’s long snake tail flicked across the floor as he stared through the glass.

 

“We injected him with a drug that can dissolve the mental fusion state, but as you can see, the effect wasn’t great,” Teacher Zhang shrugged. “His own willingness to cooperate isn’t strong either.”

 

After half a month apart, Shiraishi’s appearance hadn’t changed much. He wasn’t missing any limbs or “legs,” and not a single scale on his tail had fallen off. With a Sentry’s recovery power, it was impossible to see any needle marks on his arms.

 

Mitsuki thought to himself that while he had found the Sentry, he was now locked up as well.

 

The research institute hadn’t made any big moves yet, but what would happen later?

 

As that internal string finally slackened, the Guide realized just how anxious he had been. He had been like a frantic ant on a hot griddle, maneuvering between various factions, maintaining a forced calm to evaluate and arrange everything.

 

Now that he had transitioned from a state of high tension to a relatively safe environment, Mitsuki suddenly felt exhausted. Even standing there in front of Teacher Zhang, he didn’t want to lift a single finger.

 

The situation hadn’t actually improved, but at least he could see the Sentry now.

 

Teacher Zhang pulled out a remote control and gestured with it.

 

“This is an adjustable glass pane. Currently, it’s one-way. We can see him, but he can’t see us.”

 

Mitsuki commented, “Truly perverted.”

 

Teacher Zhang remained indifferent. “The temporary mark between Teacher Mitsuki and him is about to fade, isn’t it? I imagine you also hope Shiraishi can change back?”

 

“We hypothesize that once you mark him again, his mental fusion state will dissolve.”

 

Mitsuki crossed his arms. “And if I refuse?”

 

Teacher Zhang acted with total confidence. “You haven’t forgotten about the bomb, have you, Teacher Mitsuki? Besides, we always prepare a Plan B for our experiments.”

 

The Guide’s mental whip and Teacher Zhang’s syringe were deployed almost simultaneously. A Black Mamba materialized in mid-air, opening its mouth to reveal sharp fangs and a pitch-black throat. It grazed the back of Zhang’s hand, leaving a red welt before vanishing instantly.

 

“Hiss… that does indeed hurt.”

 

Zhang’s smile faltered. His head was ringing now, and he dropped the empty syringe.

 

“The reputation of a mental attack precedes itself.”

 

“I can’t afford to take a loss, can I?”

 

The dark-haired Guide leaned one hand on the table while covering his neck with the other, laughing with an air of arrogance.

 

“Even if our compatibility is only ten percent, I’m confident I can make you howl with a few lashes. I’ve been sick of you for a long time.”

 

Mitsuki continued, “Besides, humans share fifty percent of their DNA with bananas. Unless you’re worse than a banana, Teacher Zhang? Or perhaps you’re a rare Dark Sentry? But a Dark Sentry wouldn’t be working here as a researcher.”

 

While Mitsuki and Zhang were in their standoff, a massive boom echoed as the one-way glass vibrated violently, causing the table under the Guide’s hand to shake.

 

The grey-haired Sentry had a dark expression. His snake tail was coiled tight, and using the power of his waist and core, his beautiful physique flashed as he twisted, turned, and whipped his tail.

 

Thud!

 

The barrier between him and the Guide began to crack.

 

Teacher Zhang’s expression changed drastically as he watched the specialized glass, designed to withstand tons of explosives, begin to buckle under the Sentry’s heavy blows.

 

“Then I wish Teacher Mitsuki and his Sentry a happy union.”

 

With that parting shot, Zhang hurried out the main door.

 

The moment the door locked, Mitsuki caught a snippet of a hurried voice communication Zhang was sending.

 

“Re-evaluate the physical strength of experimental subject T-071.”

 

Mitsuki had been gambling, betting on whether the institute would be willing to simply scrap him and Shiraishi. As for the result… he had won the bet, and yet he hadn’t.

 

The Guide released his neck, his body beginning to heat up. A flush of crimson stained his cheeks and his ears began to burn. Shiraishi’s pheromones were drifting through the small cracks in the shattered glass.

 

The rich aroma of coffee was more direct than anything Mitsuki had smelled before.

 

It was a drug to trigger a Heat. There were no suppressants like the ones he had prepared back on the desolate planet.

 

A Guide’s Heat would quickly trigger the matching Sentry’s. There was no way to resolve it without bonding, short of medical intervention.

 

The Guide felt his own pheromones leaking uncontrollably, and the scent of lemon soon filled the entire laboratory.

 

“Sentry-damned…” Mitsuki frowned, touching the small lump where he had been pricked, cursing under his breath.

 

The space in the observation room was too small for Shiraishi to exert full force. He backed up again, coiled, twisted his body, and slammed his tail heavily against the same impact point.

 

The crisp sound of glass shattering was a rare pleasure to Mitsuki’s ears, like the breaking of a long-held shackle on his heart, or taking a deep breath of cold, fresh air in a sweltering greenhouse.

 

If the Sentry still had legs, I bet that roundhouse kick would be pretty cool, Mitsuki thought, briefly condemning his own suddenly lustful mind.

 

If possible, Mitsuki didn’t want to do this. This damn lab definitely had cameras. There might be a dozen researchers watching them right now. Marking someone in public like this was no different from streaking in the street.

 

After breaking through the window, the Sentry glided in front of the Guide in an instant, moving so fast he was almost a blur.

 

Will the broken glass cut the Sentry’s tail? Mitsuki took a moment to worry, his eyes scanning Shiraishi’s tail. It had a beautiful iridescent sheen under the light, and the scales were perfectly intact.

 

However, when he finally reached Mitsuki, Shiraishi stopped. Facing the delicious-smelling Guide who was radiating bonding signals, he was actually restraining himself.

 

“Come here.”

 

The dark-haired Guide beckoned to his Sentry.

 

In this situation, such a gesture was a blatant invitation to Shiraishi.

 

Then, he heard the Guide say:

 

“Mark me.”

 

Compared to three months ago, when Mitsuki hadn’t even had time to react and was bit in the middle of the night without knowing what was going on, his perception was much clearer this time.

 

This damn institute really doesn’t care about the electric bill, Mitsuki cursed in his mind. The place was lit up so brightly that the white glare reflecting off the floor made his eyes ache.

 

The Guide leaned against a cold, experimental table of unknown purpose, and Shiraishi pressed against him.

 

Mitsuki’s “Mark me” was like dropping a Mentos into a bottle of Coke. After a dizzying whirl, he was pinned to the table by the Sentry.

 

Why isn’t Shiraishi’s spirit animal a wolf? Is a python really this greedy?

 

Mitsuki’s mind was filled with random, disorganized thoughts, trying to hypnotize himself into ignoring the discomfort of the Sentry’s cool breath puffing against his neck.

 

His mind went from complaining about the laboratory to the Tower, cursing every brick and tile of the place.

 

The Sentry pulled a piece of cloth from somewhere and draped it over himself and the Guide’s upper bodies, casting a deep shadow.

 

Mitsuki felt a bit of comfort, at least they weren’t live-streaming the whole thing to the cameras, but the dim, half-hidden light made the distance between him and Shiraishi feel even more intimate.

 

Mitsuki’s heart was drumming. This was his first time being marked voluntarily.

 

Amidst his wandering thoughts, Mitsuki was caught off guard as Shiraishi licked the back of his neck. He shuddered, a numbing sensation traveling from his neck to his lower back. The Sentry’s cool tongue flicked against the sensitive gland.

 

Because he was in such a hurry, Mitsuki hadn’t had time to take off his neckband. The black band was pulled halfway down by Shiraishi, creating a sharp contrast against the Guide’s pale skin.

 

Shiraishi was also gradually being drawn into a Heat by the lemon-scented pheromones. He sensed the Guide’s wandering focus and, feeling somewhat dissatisfied, he grabbed the Guide’s hand. He forcefully interlaced his fingers with Mitsuki’s, pinning the Guide’s hand to the table from above.

 

Mitsuki instinctively struggled for a moment but was pressed back down against the section of the table he had warmed with his body, causing him to tremble.

 

Through the gaps in the equipment, Mitsuki could see the Sentry’s tail twitching in dissatisfaction.

 

Shiraishi sucked and licked at the sweet skin but hesitated to sink his teeth in.

 

The Sentry’s snake tail slowly wound back around, coiling from the Guide’s thin ankle up to his calf.

 

Rubbed raw by the sensation, Mitsuki’s neck and face turned a deep red. He gritted his teeth and hissed, “Can you stop dragging this out?”

 

Having been urged by the Guide, Shiraishi finally bit down. The coffee crashed into the lemon, brewing a pot of lemon Americano.

 

After his outburst, Mitsuki felt a sharp pain in his neck, but because the area had been licked into numbness, the pain wasn’t that sharp. Instead, it gave rise to a different kind of intimacy.

 

The Guide bit his lower lip, suppressing the sounds escaping from his mouth.

 

The Sentry smelled his Guide being saturated with his scent once again. The fading mental link was reinforced, and he was finally satisfied. The previous anxiety, irritability, and bloodlust were extinguished like a bucket of cold water being dumped on a flame.

 

This time, Shiraishi’s bite was much gentler than the first. The Sentry lingered, licking away the small amount of blood.

 

Mitsuki’s vision went dark, and he gasped for breath. If the Sentry hadn’t been holding him up, he would have collapsed onto the table.

 

Shiraishi simply stood behind him quietly, acting as a human brace.

 

After a long while, the Guide remembered what Teacher Zhang had said. He patted the Sentry’s hand away and stood up to straighten his rumpled neckband.

 

Mitsuki asked, “Do you remember if they injected you with anything strange?”

 

Shiraishi replied, “I don’t know.”

 

The Sentry currently looked like the definition of “peace and tranquility.” As long as he wasn’t separated from the Guide, he would do anything, even if the sky fell.

 

Mitsuki placed his hand on the Sentry’s chest, feeling concerned. Through the supple, elastic pectoral muscle, the Sentry’s heart beat powerfully against his palm.

 

Shiraishi obediently let him check.

 

“Teacher Zhang said he installed a bomb in your heart,” Mitsuki frowned. “I don’t know if he was telling the truth. Let’s find Mengmeng and see if she can check you over.”

 

The Sentry’s good mood from the marking suddenly vanished. His unreasonable possessiveness made him unwilling to hear any other names from the Guide’s mouth, even if it was the female Guide Bian Mengmeng, and even if looking for her was for his own sake.

 

Sensing the Sentry’s thoughts through the link, Mitsuki was speechless.

 

Seriously, is a Sentry’s possessiveness this irrational? Shiraishi wasn’t like this before, was he?

 

Mitsuki chose not to argue about it and instead asked, “Can you retract your snake tail now? That guy said you’d be able to control the mental fusion once we marked.”

 

Shiraishi focused his mind to sense his Green Anaconda. The spirit animal, which had previously been unresponsive, now gave a faint, flickering response after the re-marking.

 

The Sentry reached out to hook onto that tiny tail-end of a reaction from his spirit animal.

 

The moment they connected, Shiraishi seemed to realize why his mental fusion state had been out of control.

 

A spirit animal is supposed to be one’s other half, the most loyal partner. But Shiraishi had rejected his spirit animal from the bottom of his heart.

 

The denial of his Sentry identity by his parents, the fear and disgust from others, and the years of not truly knowing himself had all manifested in the spirit animal.

 

The Anaconda had swallowed his most hated and painful memories, preserving them until now. When Shiraishi’s mental domain shattered, it instinctively protected those memories, and now that the domain was being repaired, it was spitting them back out, bit by bit.