nemuinikoi

[nemuinikoi]

"I want to make a visual novel but don't know how"

visual novels are one of the most diverse and varied mediums out there and can be so much fun to make. if you've ever wanted to make one, it's pretty easy to get started!!

Overall Guide

this is a lengthy guide I made going over different parts of visual novels and how people make them! now let's go over some parts~

What Are Visual Novels?

Visual novels are a medium of video games focused on storytelling through the use of static or low-gameplay mechanics. Most can be considered a subsection of interactive fiction. A lot of visual novels have no gameplay or minigames, but some do feature light gameplay. The important aspect is that the gameplay in visual novels is never the focus, and instead the game focuses on a story delivered through dialogue & narration in textboxes on the screen.

Some visual novels are romance, some are fantasy, some are mystery, some are NSFW, some are cutesy, some are kiddie. Visual novels come in all shapes and sizes.

Visual Novel Misconceptions

Visual novels have been around for several decades now, but parts of them are still misunderstood by wider audiences. Here’s some frequent misconceptions about visual novels.

"Every visual novel has sexual content."

Visual novels come in all shapes and sizes, which includes content. Not every visual novel has sexual content, nor is it required to sell well. Visual novels are a medium for storytelling rather than a genre, so they can be anything you want them to be.

"Every visual novel is a dating sim."

Similar to the last one, some people think every visual novel is a romance game or a dating sim. Not every visual novel has romance in it, nor is it required to sell well.

"Every visual novel has choices and multiple endings."

Some of the most popular visual novels out there like Umineko When they Cry don’t have choices. Choices and multiple endings aren’t required to make a visual novel—completely linear experiences are fine.

"Visual novels need to be long."

Some of the top visual novels on itch.io right now are under 25k words, which puts them under 2 hours of playtime. Visual novels don’t have to be a certain length—they can be as long or as short as the story needs them to be. There’s even an annual visual novel jam, O2A2, that focuses on making a visual novel under 1k words with limited assets.

"Visual novels don’t sell well."

This is very much your mileage may vary. Some visual novels sell very, very well, such as how the recent Our Life: Now and Forever Kickstarter gained almost $300k. Marketing is an entire field just like art and writing and isn’t something you can skimp on or push to the end.

"Visual novel players hate reading."

A vast, vast majority of visual novel readers want a visual novel—they want a game that is light on gameplay and heavy on reading. You don’t have to add gameplay to a visual novel to keep people interested. Rather, minigames added at random can deter players. Visual novel players want an engaging story—if you’re worried of losing their attention, then focus on a tighter script or cinematography.

"Visual novels need to be anime style."

Visual novels originated in Japan and most do have an anime style, but visual novels do not need an anime style to sell well. The art style for a game will change the audience for the game—players who want something anime style probably won’t be interested in a semi-realistic style, but other people will be. It’s all about finding the right style for your story and finding the audience who responds well to it.

Visual Novel Terms

Here’s a list of terms you might encounter in visual novel and game dev communities.

EVN / OELVN – stands for English Visual Novel and Original English Language Visual Novel. Two terms used for describing Western VNs that are made in English, although EVN is used more frequently nowadays. An EVN/OELVN is specifically a visual novel made in English first, not a visual novel that has an English translation (and was made in a different language first). There are several variations of this, such as JVN meaning Japanese Visual Novel and RVN meaning Russian Visual Novel.

Kinetic novel – a visual novel that’s linear with few or no choices. Has only one ending. Also called a linear visual novel, linear game, etc.

Game jams – an event where developers have a set amount of time to make a game, ranging from a weekend to several months. Some jams have themes that the games must follow as well as other restrictions while others are more freeform. Nowadays, most jams are hosted on itchio. You can find a list of visual novel game jams here.

Game engine – a piece of software used for developing video games. The most popular ones for making indie VNs in English-speaking areas are Ren’Py and Unity, though Tyranobuilder is very popular in Japan for indies.

Text/code editor – when programming, you’ll need another piece of software to edit and write code that works with the game engine. Some popular text editors are Visual Studio Code, Sublime, Atom, Notepad, and more.

Character sprite – the individual character art that changes expressions and can move around the screen. Can include multiple outfits, pose changes, and more.

CGs – although it typically stands for Computer Generated, CGs in visual novels typically means the cut scene art where no sprites are shown (unless there's a side sprite on the textbox). CGs are usually reserved for special scenes and are the type of artwork you’d see in a CG Gallery or as promotional artwork.

UI / GUI – the User Interface / Graphical User Interface. This is what the player interacts with such as the textbox, main menu, save / load screen, settings, and more.

ADV mode – the standard reading mode for visual novels, short for Adventure mode. The textbox is located at the bottom of the screen. Popular examples of this are Steins;Gate, AI: The Somnium Files, and Amnesia.

NVL mode – a different reading mode for visual novels, short for Novel mode. The textbox covers most of the screen. Popular examples of this are Fate/stay night, Tsukihime, and Umineko When they Cry.

Dating simulator – dating sims are some of the oldest forms of visual novels and are essentially stat raisers where you spend time with various characters with the goal being to romance them by getting your stats high enough. In Western spheres dating sim has become synonymous with a romance game, where stat raising is not involved, but it’s important to note that dating sims refer to stat raisers a lot of the time. Unlike otome, a dating sim doesn’t refer to a specific sexual orientation.

Otome / Otoge – roughly translates to “maiden’s love” and is used to describe games with a female demographic, usually dating sims & romance games which feature male love interests and a female protagonist. Some otome games feature female and other gendered LIs, but male LIs are still the primary focus.

Eroge – an erotic game. If a game has sexual content in it, it’s an eroge. The original Fate/stay night (not the remastered version on Steam) is a popular example of an eroge.

Resources

And now, let's look at some tools and links for actually making visual novels.

Engines & Programming

Ren’Py – free visual novel engine

Twine – free text-based game engine (usually used for interactive fiction)

Naninovel – Unity-based tool for making Unity VNs

tiny tools – collection of various game dev tools

Ren’Edit Add-On – Ren’Py script editing & feedback tool

Ren’Py Accessibility Add-On

Feniks Ren’Py resources – various add-ons and tutorials by Feniks

Game Jam & Short Dev Advice

Game Jam Survival Guide - Essential Tips and Tricks

Releasing 8+ games (ft. game jams) and when to take a break

making game development backup plans

Advice for Leading VN Game Jam Teams

How to Make a Visual Novel Solo

How to Finish Your Visual Novel

Design

How to Make Visual Novels

Visual Novel Conference Talks

Visual Novel Cinematography & Design

Art Direction & Execution in Visual Novels

Making Impactful, Impressive Character Sprites

Post-production Techniques for VNs

Vimi’s Visual Novel Design

Writing

Writing Interactive – guides for narrative games writers

Visual Novel Conference Talks

Writing Mystery Visual Novels

How to Design Interesting Choices in VNs

The Intrigue of Ambiguity

Artwork

Clip Studio Paint

Krita

FireAlpaca

Medibang

GIMP

FastStone Photo Resizer – batch photo resizer and editor

FotoSketcher – various settings to apply artistic filters to photos

Marketing

How to Market Visual Novels

Marketing Visual Novels FAQ

Marketing Fundamentals for Indie Game Developers

Marketing your first indie game – What we learned from releasing the same game twice

The stairstep approach to indie game marketing

Marketing your Visual Novel for Kickstarter

Visual Novel Press-Kits

Audio

Eric Matyas music & SFX

Vita-chi SFX & graphics

Free Music Archive

Free Sound

dova-syndrome

Misc.

Lemmasoft Creative Commons Forum

itch.io visual novel resources

Google Fonts – free fonts

Uncle Mugen backgrounds

Canva – browser & desktop graphic design tool

Unsplash – free photos

Wrapping Up

all in all, visual novels are a fun medium to explore and play around with. if you want to make something short as a test run, try joining a game jam! if you want to see how varied visual novels can be, try playing some indies from itchio! at the end of the day there's no bad way to start making your own visual novel. hit the ground running and go for it!!

I've been developing visual novels for over 10 years now, blogging about them on my own blog and releasing visual novels through my studio Crystal Game Works. I hope this guide helped shed light on how to get into the medium!

— Arimia

[nemuinikoi]

(*´ω`*)

DIABOLIK LOVERS Love Bloody Letter Kuji ☽ Prize C-7R ☽ Ruki ver.

Original title: DIABOLIK LOVERS 吸愛ブラッディレターくじC賞(７)R ルキ English translation by @otomehonyaku Scans kindly provided by @nemuinikoi!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Please do not reuse or repost my translations elsewhere or translate my work into other languages without my permission. Also, do not repost the image above without @nemuinikoi's permission.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Please, look at me one more time. The words we whispered to each other in the darkness faded away, fleeting, but you silently turned towards me and smiled all the same. Your smile was like warm sunlight gently enveloping the earth. Or, rather, you were like a goddess, drawn in by the bright pull of life. I do not mind falling into hell so long as I have you.”

—Ruki M.

[nemuinikoi]

DIABOLIK LOVERS Bloody White Day Letter Kuji ☽ Prize C-7R ☽ Ruki ver.

Original title: DIABOLIK LOVERS BLOODY WHITE DAY LETTERくじC賞(７)R ルキ English translation by @otomehonyaku Scans kindly provided by @nemuinikoi!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Please do not reuse or repost my translations elsewhere or translate my work into other languages without my permission. Also, do not repost the image above without @nemuinikoi's permission.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Chocolates? Well, it is not as if I am particularly against sweets.  I will accept them, but the taste could be better. I must compliment you for your courage to give me a handmade gift, though. I suppose a reward is in order. Let me feast on your blood from that neck of yours, just the way you like it. For Livestock such as you, there is no better way to return the favour, is there? You should wait like a good girl and prepare yourself."

—Ruki M.

[nemuinikoi]

Royal nd K-fashion outfits ?

[nemuinikoi]

Can’t wait to buy more of these T^T !!!

DIABOLIK LOVERS Bloody White Day Letter Kuji ☽ Prize C-7R ☽ Ruki ver.

Original title: DIABOLIK LOVERS BLOODY WHITE DAY LETTERくじC賞(７)R ルキ English translation by @otomehonyaku Scans kindly provided by @nemuinikoi!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Please do not reuse or repost my translations elsewhere or translate my work into other languages without my permission. Also, do not repost the image above without @nemuinikoi's permission.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Chocolates? Well, it is not as if I am particularly against sweets.  I will accept them, but the taste could be better. I must compliment you for your courage to give me a handmade gift, though. I suppose a reward is in order. Let me feast on your blood from that neck of yours, just the way you like it. For Livestock such as you, there is no better way to return the favour, is there? You should wait like a good girl and prepare yourself."

—Ruki M.

[nemuinikoi]

otomehonyaku writes ☽ a puppet loosely strung (Ruki × OC, paid commission)

☽ Contains subtle NSFW, first time, light gore, blood and bite play, choking, depictions of violence and copious amounts of Ruki thirstposting, as always. ☽ This commission, the stunning artwork and OC Koizumi Ira are all courtesy of @nemuinikoi! Please check her out because she’s insanely talented (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈) ☽ Full text under the cut.

SUMMARY | A little while ago, @nemuinikoi approached me about commissioning an original short story from me featuring her OC Ira! I don’t usually do commissions for creative writing (since writing is quite a personal, subjective thing for me) but I couldn’t have wished for a kinder, lovelier and more patient first commissioner who just let me go wild with it (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)♡ Also, fear not: my fellow Ruki enthusiasts (even those not into OCs) will be able to enjoy this one hehe

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Please do not reuse or repost my writing elsewhere or translate my work into other languages without my permission.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was one thing to make sacrifices for the one you love. Parting with copious amounts of your own blood at their beck and call, however, felt a little excessive when you could not even be sure your love was reciprocated.

The moment I had laid eyes on the Mukamis’ eldest in the moonlit hallways of the academy, still oblivious to who and what he was, it was almost as if I knew that I would offer my body and soul to him if he so wished. Hair as black as night, sterling silver eyes, broad shoulders that narrowed into a slender, athletic body. A low, smooth voice that held such command that it surely left many women begging to be conquered by him. 

Every part of Ruki was honed to perfection.

And yet the man had never spared me so much as a glance. 

It was easier to admit in hindsight, but the attention I was used to getting as the academy’s—albeit infamous—modelling prodigy had left me vulnerable. I should have seen it coming. I could have known that Ruki was inhuman, purposely ensnaring me in his trap with his cold treatment because he knew I wanted him so badly. I could have realised that I would eventually have to pay for my morbid curiosity with my blood.

So, so much of my blood, flowing straight from my veins into his greedy mouth. 

While I sincerely doubted that I lived up to Ruki’s expectations of a demure, obedient Eve, it had certainly made him hellbent on finding out how far my blood could take him.

I sat on the window sill in the Mukami mansion’s guest room, my feet propped up onto the narrow surface while I bathed in the light of the full moon. The page I had been trying to write on was now crumpled in my fist. Foolish as I was, I had hoped that a journal could be an outlet for my frustration, but to no avail. I tore the paper from its binding and tossed it to the floor with a grunt. 

Rain beat tirelessly against the window. It was almost as though the weather gods were mourning my freedom along with me. 

As obsessed as I was with Ruki, I hated being reduced to prey. 

“The role suits you well, I assure you.”

The vampire spoke quietly from the shadows. The sound was like the low rumble of thunder after a flash of lightning, but it startled me all the same. Had I been thinking aloud? My head whipped around in the direction of Ruki’s voice. His eyes shone like beacons in the dark corner of the room. 

I quickly regained my composure and scoffed at his remark. “What do you want?” 

“Ira.” Ruki enunciated each syllable of my name with such restraint that it rooted me to my spot. 

It was all I needed to know. 

“Don’t—don’t come near me…” For a moment, I despised myself for sounding so weak, but the palpable tension in the air made my heart stutter. 

There was always a certain intimacy in the violence Ruki inflicted on me—the kind I found myself craving in his absence. I felt like I might wilt if I went without it for too long. In some deliciously morbid way, I enjoyed challenging him. I enjoyed the way my spine intuitively straightened when he was near, anticipating his retaliation.

I realised it had been a few days since Ruki had last bitten me, and even a fool could tell that he was at the mercy of the full moon. The hunger all but radiated from him. I swept my legs over the edge of the window sill and turned to face Ruki directly, prepared to defend myself. My efforts backfired immediately. 

I had inadvertently given Ruki an opening to step between my legs as though I was welcoming him with open arms. Was I? Did I lose control over my body that easily around him? Ruki closed the distance between us, seizing the opportunity immediately. 

A lick of ice ran down my spine at his proximity. In my head, I shouted a string of profanities at myself in an effort to silence the little devil on my shoulder who was ecstatic at this turn of events. I needed to take my mind off of Ruki fast. Off of the feeling of his hips, clad in the woolly fabric of his uniform slacks, brushing against my inner thighs… 

Well, shit. Ruki somehow always managed to get me exactly where he wanted me. 

“Look at you, always so eager to be touched. It has been a while, hasn’t it?” Ruki loomed over me, twirling a strand of my amethyst hair between his fingers before brushing it behind my shoulder with a chuckle. “Well, worry not. Just for tonight, I will give you my undivided attention.”

I shot him a glare. “Get over yourself.”

“No use lying. Your pulse is all but screaming my name, little witch.” His voice was a lover’s caress, sweet and thick like honey. “I must feed. I would advise you to offer your blood to me yourself if you prefer it to be pleasurable.”

A tempting offer, but my sense of self-preservation kept me from answering. How dare he call me a witch?

In the blink of an eye, Ruki jerked my chin upwards with his hand and buried his face in the sensitive spot in the crook of my neck. 

A familiar sharp pain made my vision go white. I stifled a cry.

No matter how many times Ruki bit me, it never felt the same. Never routine, no matter how inextricable the pleasure and agony. Today, however, it was clear that Ruki made it hurt just to spite me. His fangs ravished my skin, sinking in all the way to his gums while he drank deeply. I gritted my teeth. Soon after, his venom settled over me like a warm blanket, numbing the pain until an equally intoxicating jolt of pleasure made my legs clench around his hips, beckoning him closer.

Ruki tipped his head back to revel in the taste of my blood, a satisfied noise coming from deep within him. 

The sudden sight of the column of his neck, stark white and on full display, awakened an unexpected, almost primal sensation deep inside of me. 

It was an instant relief of pressure, like the snap of a bowstring that had been pulled taut for much too long. A dull ringing in my ears drowned out all noise around me, if only for a moment. Even Ruki’s ragged breathing faded to the background. That small stretch of his skin was all I saw. 

Before I realised what was happening, my head tipped forward and my teeth found their way to Ruki’s cool flesh as if on instinct.

Part of me felt a little silly, like a milk-toothed child trying to bite into an apple for the first time, but that feeling ebbed away soon after I pierced his skin with some effort. It was unclear whether Ruki had gone into shock at the unexpected assault or, for some Godforsaken reason, simply allowed me to have my way with him, but I felt his body go rigid under my touch. My fingers curled around the collar of his uniform shirt to pull him closer as I drew blood. I barely suppressed a moan when the thick liquid pooled on my tongue. 

The taste took me completely off-guard. It was not the metallic taste I was expecting, nor was it necessarily sweet, like he tended to describe my blood. It was strong. Heady, yet refined, like an aged wine. Even a slight bitterness that reminded me of a strongly brewed coffee, and a hint of spice that warmed me despite our differences in temperature. It nourished me. It felt like coming home.

Never in my life had I given thought to consuming another person’s blood, let alone Ruki’s—I was clearly at the bottom of the supernatural food chain—but it was difficult to imagine I could ever go on living without this. There was a hint of something familiar and yet I could not quite put my finger on it. Whatever the case, the blood of this damned vampire was undeniably my poison of choice. I already dreaded the strings I would have to pull to get more.

The flush of heat it sent through my body uncoiled my muscles and paralysed my senses to the point that all I could focus on was Ruki—my lips on his skin, our chests pressed together, his presence between my legs so close that I only now realised my skirt was hiked up. It was intoxicating, the way Ruki’s blood unravelled me. 

I felt like I now owned a part of him, whereas up until this point, it had been a one-sided game of possession. Ruki had only laid his claim on me. 

Well, not entirely, at least. Not yet.

In a bout of anaemia and under the debilitating spell of Ruki’s blood, my head pounded with a stronger desire than I had ever felt for him before. 

The mere thought of Ruki claiming the last of my innocence made me weak at the knees. In all honesty, this was not the first time I fantasised about it. It had been before he had reeled me in like the deceptive,  bloodthirsty creature he was—we were alike in that sense—but the fact that Ruki was inhuman only heightened the excitement. The proof of his own desire brushing against my lower abdomen certainly did not help, either.

Fuck. This was bad.

A hand cradled the back of my head, tendrils of my hair twisted around Ruki’s fingers while my tongue lapped at his skin. I took it as encouragement, but with one sharp tug, Ruki forced my head upright. 

“What do you think you’re doing, Livestock?”  

His derogatory nickname for me still irked me, but it went right over my head in the moment. I was still trying to blink through the blood-induced haze. “Almighty Mother of—”

Ruki yanked my hair again, making me cry out. The shock of pain it sent through my scalp called me back to reality but did nothing to dispel the heat spreading through me like a wildfire. If anything, it only fanned the flames.

 I whimpered, my senses completely confused.

Ruki’s face hovered over mine. “Hold it. You should know better than to curse me. Explain to your master what you’ve just done.” Little puffs of his breath brushed against my lips as he spoke with enough authority to make me shrink in on myself. His eyes searched my face warily, almost as if he were at a complete loss; his pupils, though, were still dilated with hunger, the misty grey of his irises only a thin rim around them. 

Had nobody ever bitten him before? It seemed implausible. You would think humans and creatures alike would claw each other’s eyes out to get a taste of this vampire.

My eyes trailed down to his neck again, fixating on the two small crescent moon-shaped indents left by my teeth. The skin was already stitching itself back together, but little flecks of his blood stained the collar of his shirt. It was a much darker shade of red than my own, almost black. 

I felt a twang of guilt despite the desire flooding my belly at the sight of him, especially as dishevelled as he looked right now.  “I-I’m sorry, I just—”

“I did not ask for an apology. Yet.” Ruki tightened his grip on my hair, urging me to confess my sins.

“I… bit you and… drank your blood without your permission.”

“So you did. And?”

If I did not own up to my desires, we would be going round in circles for hours until I did. Emboldened by Ruki’s blood in my system, I leaned in a little closer, the tips of our noses brushing. “You taste better than I expected.”

“Is that all?” Ruki let out a scornful laugh. “I appreciate your honesty, but you have no idea what my blood will do to you, do you?”

Fine. Two could play this game. 

“I think I’m well underway, actually,” I breathed, a conspiratory smile on my lips, “and I think we might be able to help each other. It’s just as obvious what my blood does to you. Want me to play your little Eve? Let me drink from you more often.” 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,.” Ruki’s hand closed around my chin and forced me to look him in the eye. “You’re sorely mistaken if you think the two of us are on equal footing. I own you.”

Did Ruki feel threatened by me? The corners of my mouth twitched, my smile growing a little wider with the realisation. All it had taken was a few drops of his blood on my tongue. Maybe that meant that, one day, I might get him on his knees for me if I worked hard enough. 

I made a show of running my tongue over my lower lip, savouring the last traces of his essence. The taste elicited a soft hum from the back of my throat. 

“Humour me,” I taunted.

“Oh, believe me,” Ruki cooed, dipping his head so I could feel his breath hot against my ear, “I will ruin you.”

My shirt buttons were flying across the room faster than my mind could process.

Ruki all but tore my uniform apart to expose my upper body. He took a brief moment to appreciate the marks of his ownership that were already dotted across my chest before closing his mouth over the peak of one of my breasts. 

It was one of the few patches of skin that had been left unharmed—possibly for this occasion, I realised. I cried out at the white-hot sting of his fangs penetrating me deeper and deeper, and yet the slightest flick of his tongue had me buckling my hips against his.

The act of drinking blood tended to be pleasurable for both sides to begin with, but this unusually forward approach had me cursing under my breath. I clawed at the lapel of Ruki’s uniform, arching desperately into his touch. I caught his sharp inhale when my nails accidentally grazed the marks my teeth had left in his neck.

Interesting. I thought to tease him with my newfound knowledge of this weakness, but his teeth struck me again before I got the chance. 

Ruki’s hands soon found their way to my bare thighs. Long fingers inched up the length of them all the way under the hem of my skirt, leaving goosebumps in their wake. A wry sense of dread formed in the back of my mind. As much as I wanted him and as drunk as I was on this delicious concoction of his blood and his venom, I had not considered the possibility that he would take me up on my provocations. My cheeks burned at the prospect.

At last, Ruki’s fingers hooked under the lace trim of my panties.

"This is your first time," he whispered feverishly against my skin, simply stating the fact, while he peppered kisses all the way from the fresh cuts on my breasts and past my throat until his lips reached the shell of my ear. I could feel the deep red stains he left on me along the way. "I am going to hurt you, but you aren’t exactly opposed to that, are you?” 

Losing my virginity to this man seemed nothing short of terrifying, but the ache in my lower abdomen demanded relief. Lust dictated my every move, my every word.

The slightest shake of my head was all it took.

In the span of a breath, my panties were reduced to tattered scraps of fabric on the floor. The chill of the air hit my burning skin. I whined against the cold, but was cut short when Ruki’s fingers found the apex of my thighs. 

Nothing else mattered.

Through half-lidded eyes, head tipped back against the window while his fingers pleasured me unabashedly, I clung to Ruki’s hungry gaze as though it was my anchor to this very world. I watched in awe as he raised the same two digits to his mouth and hollowed his cheeks to relish the unfamiliar taste. It struck me as a little odd when his jaw tightened around his fingers, though before I could give it any thought, he thrust them between my lips. The fresh, rich blood on my tongue sent me into a frenzy once more.

Tears pricked in the corners of my eyes while Ruki claimed my innocence with such ferocity that it stole the air from my lungs. Skin on skin, teeth on bone, each other’s blood on our tongues. We were both drunk and delirious. It was impossible to do anything but surrender to my senses. The world became blurry around us. Ruki was all I knew.

Ruki pressed his forehead to mine after what felt like eternity, our laboured breaths mingling and the scent of iron heavy in the air. Stars plagued my vision and my head spun even after I had come down. Being with Ruki was almost like being on a never-ending carousel. 

I was glad to still feel the shape of his mouth on mine in a deep, demanding kiss. It chipped away at the remains of my consciousness.

“You insufferable woman,” Ruki chastised, his voice no more than a whisper. “You haunt me, Ira.”

Good enough for me, I thought, smiling triumphantly against his lips before I let the darkness take me.

[nemuinikoi]

Amen

otomehonyaku writes ☽ it's possession that will set me free (Ruki/Yui)

Ruki/Yui scenario with some yandere tendencies, bite play & semi-spicy aftercare. Full text under the cut. Implied NSFW.

I blindly patted the bed sheets around me when I came to. My eyes squeezed shut to block out the light—it must still be very early in the morning if the sun blinded me like this—but I could feel that I was alone this time. 

Flashes of last night flooded my mind. Ruki had never been this rough with me before.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Yesterday, Ayato had confidently positioned himself as a competitor when he pulled me aside after class to ‘introduce’ himself. It was fortunate that Ruki had been close by and sensed the danger immediately–the realisation that other, less cordial vampires were coming for me had kicked my adrenaline into full gear, after all–but my relief soon turned into dread when Ruki took me home.

The situation had clearly struck a nerve and ignited a fierce possessiveness in him that I had never seen before. Ruki had dragged me into his bedroom and unceremoniously ripped the uniform from my body until I was left in my underwear. I had simply stood there with my back pressed up against the door, holding my breath, my mind hazy in a flurry of both fear and anticipation. Ruki had towered over me, eyes ablaze with frustration and hunger as he growled at me to hold still. 

I had tried to reassure Ruki that I wanted nothing to do with Ayato. That he hadn’t hurt me, and that I would never let him hurt me, either. I grasped the collar of Ruki’s shirt in an effort to get through to him, but I was imprisoned in his arms. I don’t think he even heard me. 

His body was suddenly flush with mine, his face buried in the crook of my neck. His lips ghosted over the delicate skin of my collarbone. He inhaled deeply. Savoured my scent. A final attempt to ground himself. 

“You are my Eve. Mine alone.” His whisper had been quick and frenzied, his composure gone. “I’ll carve it deep into your body so you will never forget.”

No matter how hard I bit down on my lip, I couldn’t keep myself from screaming Ruki’s name every time his fangs penetrated me, piercing veins and scraping bone. The others undoubtedly heard me. Lavender bruises in the shape of his fingertips had come to flower all over my body since then–my wrists, my waist, even my thighs–where Ruki had held me down firmly while he overrode any possible traces of the other vampire.

It always took considerable effort to keep myself together when I let him feed on me. I had come to manage it over the past weeks. Indulge in it, even. That night, however, his frantic bites and touches had made my composure crumble in the blink of an eye. Every whisper of my name left me reeling. My cheeks were soon wet with tears. The bizarre concoction of agony and ecstasy overwhelmed me. Intoxicated me.

Ruki was devouring me whole, and I let myself succumb to his greediness completely.

“Yui. Look at me.” 

Ruki’s breathing was ragged. He grabbed my chin roughly and forced me to meet his gaze when my eyes threatened to roll into the back of my head. His other hand erratically roamed my skin, as if I could disappear at any moment. My whimpers spurred him on even more.

It was getting difficult to focus, but I managed a pleading look at him. “Ruki…”

The taste of iron flooded my mouth when his lips collided with mine.

Ruki’s desperate desire to monopolise me hadn’t worn off until my head began lolling off the side of the bed. I drifted in and out of consciousness. From that point, I only vaguely remembered him carrying me down the hall and into the bathroom. 

At least I hadn’t been completely naked. Ruki had draped his bloodied shirt over my shoulders as a courtesy, but it did very little to keep the chill of his bare skin away as I lay defeated in his arms.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

In a wave of sleep-induced, blind panic, I instinctively reached for my bra with one hand and the other down under the bedsheets to my panties. They both felt slightly damp to the touch. I relaxed a little. Right. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The remaining blood in my body had crowded in my cheeks when Ruki coaxed me under a hot shower to clean up, all with a surprising amount of patience and care. 

He had agreed to leave my underwear on. He hadn’t even bothered to take off his own slacks, for that matter. My memory was spotty, but I was sure Ruki would make me remember every millisecond of it if he had. It was already torture enough to have to clutch onto his bare upper body to keep myself from falling over.

Losing consciousness had turned out to be the least of my problems. I winced at the pain of the warm water flowing over the fresh wounds on my skin, but arguably much worse was having to endure the full extent of the healing properties of Ruki’s saliva. I appreciated the gesture, of course. The punctures, especially this deep, would take weeks to heal otherwise. However, whereas Ruki’s feeding mostly incapacitated me–it made it hard to form a coherent thought at all, really–it was unbearable to be wholly conscious of his mouth in such intimate places.

Ruki expertly ran his tongue over the wet skin of my neck to close up the punctures, occasionally sucking without drawing blood just for the sake of it. By the time he had knelt between my legs to heal the one bite mark on my inner thigh, I was completely out of my mind. The steam clouding the shower cabin seemed to be coming out of my ears. My hands were braced on his broad shoulders, and I nervously looked down at him. 

Streaks of his dripping inky black hair fell in front of his eyes as our gazes met. I shivered involuntarily when the light caught the tips of his sharp teeth, making them stand out. Those teeth had been in me. Ruki held my gaze, his face slowly leaning in to nudge my thighs apart…

For a fraction of a second, I recalled him forcefully parting my legs as I lay bleeding and writhing underneath him on the bed. He’d taken a brief moment to savour the sight of me, his expression dark with desire, before making me cry out when he greedily drew blood from the innermost part of my thigh.

Embarrassment had gotten the better of me in the cramped space of the shower. I swatted him away before I could stop myself.

“I’m sorry,” I whimpered.

Ruki had stood back up with a low chuckle. The devious twinkle in his eyes suggested that he enjoyed my reaction.

“If you insist,” was his only reply.

With heavy-lidded eyes but no less interest, I had watched the lean muscles of Ruki’s back shift under his skin as he washed his hair. To say that his feeding had always been an intimate experience was an understatement—sharing the very thing that keeps you alive does that to you, I suppose—but this had actually been the first time I’d seen so much of his body. Ruki casually showed me the lacerations on his back, the sole reminder of his human past. It had been humbling. The bite marks he gave me would always fade away with time, but even in death he was quite literally branded for life. Merciless as he could be, he had once been a human boy with hopes and dreams for the future.

At the same time, the plain carnal desire for the vampire—the man—before me had hit me like a battering ram. Anyone could see at a glance that he was beautiful, unusually so. He was equally apt at using his handsome features and gallant façade to effortlessly lure people in like moths to a flame. Upon a closer look, then, the inhuman poise with which he carried himself was nothing short of predatory. A chill ran down my spine when I realised how much he must have held himself back before I knew about his true nature. Now that no holds were barred, Ruki both relished his bloodlust and yet had the unnerving restraint to kiss me like I was as fragile as a porcelain doll. Perhaps the precarious balance between the two was what drew me so much to him. 

While my eyes followed the V-shaped line of muscle in his lower back until it dipped below the waistband of his slacks, which were drenched to the skin, any lingering resolve to run away faded in an instant. Instead, I had come to entertain the thought of Ruki taking me to bed and claiming the last part of me that I hadn’t surrendered to him yet.

I wanted him to ruin me.

Ruki turned around, and so my gaze had been promptly and undeniably trained on the front of his slacks. The soaked fabric left little to the imagination.

“You really are an indecent woman, Yui.”

I inhaled sharply and looked away so fast my head spun. 

“Try not to stare so much,” he said, sounding unfazed. “Unless you’re hellbent on fainting, your heart rate is much too fast for an anaemic.”

Ruki silently grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower. 

I stayed behind in the cabin for another while, trying desperately to regain my composure, but I had to cover my burning face with my hands when I caught the wet sound of his slacks falling to the bathroom floor.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Now wide awake, I rolled onto my stomach and groaned into my pillow. I was glad to know that at least some of my modesty had been preserved. But then again, the throbbing pain up my leg reminded me that I’d lost most of it already.