Tell Me the Truth. You Like This Too, Don't You?

Man, you're staring like you're about to kill somebody.

Is getting smacked with a frying pan and tied to a bed really that unpleasant?

Hmm, I suppose it would be unpleasant.

It might've been less unpleasant if you'd been hit from the front, but even I think getting struck in the back of the head would feel awful.

To my friend, who was tied to the bed and looking at me with murderous eyes, I said with a sly smile.

"Who knows? Did I cut out his liver and eat it? Or did I suck out all his vital essence and toss him out the window?"

I hadn't particularly intended to tease him, though.

His serious expression was so hilarious that I ended up teasing him without meaning to.

How am I going to deal with the consequences?

Whatever. Future me can deal with it.

Just as expected.

My provocation seemed to hit hard, because he stared at me with a genuinely pissed-off face and began thrashing.

"You fucking bitch? You killed him?"

"Who knows? He might still be alive."

"Don't fuck around. If that bastard's dead, you'll definitely die by my hand. Tear through these ropes, and I'll send you right next to him."

He threatened me with murderous eyes and pulled the rope taut; soon, a crackling sound came from it, and it slowly began to snap.

"Oh, fuck, he's actually going to tear through that?"

"Just wait a little. I'll tear you apart too."

"Yeah, right."

Bam!

Just before the rope snapped, I brought down the frying pan I'd prepared onto his skull again, and after taking the hit, he passed out once more with his tongue lolling out.

"This guy's a fucking insane gym bro. He's literally ripping apart the ropes I tied him up with so he wouldn't get loose."

Though it was only for an instant, I really thought I was going to die.

I'd never seen my pushover friend this furious, and I had never before felt like someone was going to kill me with nothing but his eyes.

"I need to reinforce this. One length isn't nearly enough. I'll have to wrap at least three around him."

- ...Why on earth is there rope in an ordinary household? I truly cannot understand.

"I prepared it for emergencies. You never know when some intruder might suddenly break into my studio apartment and threaten my life, right?"

- There is an even better restraint tool right beside you. Why use rope?

"Idiot. A frying pan is a cooking utensil, not a restraint tool like a Taser. Have you ever seen anyone beat a person with a cooking utensil?"

- Did you not just swing it at your friend twice? Perhaps that tool is not a cooking utensil, but a restraint tool?

Oops.

"Well, situations do arise where you can hit someone with a cooking utensil. Like right now."

- That's some serious rationalization. Isn't that just calling it an earring when it's on your ear and a nose ring when it's on your nose?

"Yeah, I guess. Anyway, that was a close one. How the hell did you even think you could tear through something this thick?"

- You must have been confident in your strength to pull that hard. From the looks of it, your friend isn't an ordinary human either.

He isn't ordinary, that's for sure.

Just being able to put up 800 kilograms on the big three lifts puts him far beyond the realm of mere normies, doesn't it?

"You can tell just by looking at his body, can't you? Anyone who could look at these murderous muscles and call him an ordinary person needs to have their eyes ripped out."

- Pfft... I suppose you're right. I stated something utterly obvious.

After tying three lengths of rope that thick around each of his arms and legs, I fetched cold water from the refrigerator and poured it over him.

"Cough... cough... Ugh... My head..."

"Don't be such a baby. Your brain is packed with muscle, so what's there to hurt?"

"Why don't you say that after getting hit yourself? Once I tear through these ropes, I'll smash your head first with the frying pan."

"If you can. But do you really think you can break free in this situation? I've wrapped you in three layers of sturdy rope."

As I taunted him right to his face while explaining his situation, my friend slowly calmed his anger and asked me in a composed voice.

"...Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What happened to my friend? It doesn't smell like semen or blood in this room, so it doesn't seem like you killed him."

"Sharp of you. I thought a guy who knows nothing but muscle would simply get angry."

I hadn't thought a pushover, an idiot, and a muscle-obsessed guy like him could think this calmly.

Is this some kind of awakening at the brink of death? Not that I ever planned to kill him.

"How would you know? It's pretty unpleasant when a demon I've never even encountered acts like it knows me."

"Who knows? We've been meeting for quite a while to say we've never seen each other."

"No, we haven't met. There aren't many fox demons left who can transform into human form. Those bitches are too busy hiding to show themselves to an exorcist, aren't they?"

"I've been dropping hints this whole time. Are you pretending not to know, or do you really not know? And you were an exorcist?"

I distinctly remembered him saying last time that he wasn't an exorcist but a personal trainer.

Had he changed careers into an exorcist who hunted down demons in just a month?

Then again, judging by those muscles, he looked capable of subduing even the monsters from fantasy or martial-arts stories.

In a way, exorcist might actually be a fitting job for him.

As I looked at him, satisfied with my reasoning, he stared at me with an incomprehending expression and said,

"Wouldn't a demon recognize an exorcist right away? Especially a gumiho like you, whose demonic power ranks among the highest—you should've noticed me even from a distance. No, wait. You smashed me in the head with a frying pan the moment you came in, so in a way, I suppose you did recognize me immediately?"

"Haa... You are seriously dense. Stop deluding yourself, you fucking idiot. I thought your intelligence had improved, but nothing about you has changed."

"Deluding myself? What are you trying to say?"

"You said it yourself. Since there was no smell of semen or blood, I couldn't have killed him. Add to that a gumiho acting like it knows you awfully well. Doesn't that remind you of anything?"

"A gumiho that ate my friend's memories and is pretending to be him... You really are a nasty piece of work. So what did you do with my friend, now that he's lost his memories?"

...The fox deity could absorb memories too?

Wait, if that's the case, bringing up embarrassing memories won't work either, will it?

I'm seriously fucked, aren't I?

Realizing the situation was heading toward disaster, I left my bound friend alone and spoke to the fox deity.

"Hey, let me ask you one thing."

"What?"

"No, not you. I'm talking to the fox deity. What did you do to my body? Did you bring in some bored gumiho, implant my memories in her, and dump my original body somewhere, just like he said?"

- Hah, do you think I would use such a lowly method on my apostle? Of course I transformed your entire body. And I did it with the tiny scrap of demonic power I had left.

"Really? Then my original body doesn't exist in this world anymore?"

- That's right. I am sorry for changing your body without permission, but using such a lowly method could have damaged your mind.

"Couldn't you just have not changed my body? Then this bastard wouldn't be staring at me like he wanted to kill me."

- ...I did not want to die the moment I awoke from my seal. You were also at fault for enjoying yourself while looking at my naked body, so I hope you can be understanding about that much.

Understanding my ass.

Getting turned on by a man and masturbating is instinct.

And this bitch is spouting bullshit about that instinct being a sin, the goddamn mutt... no, bitch.

Once I knew the fox deity hadn't swapped my body with someone else's, I approached my friend and spoke with a smile.

"She says she didn't swap me with anyone. She just transformed my body."

"Don't be ridiculous. That's beyond the laws of nature. Even most great demons don't do such insane shit."

"What if she's not a great demon, but a demon who has risen to the rank of a god? Isn't it possible? I know absolutely nothing about that sort of thing, so I really can't say."

Please stop talking in terms only you understand and use terms I know, you fucker.

This story is so fucking complicated I can't follow it.

"Let's drop the complicated shit, asshole. This demon-and-exorcist crap isn't fun or moving at all. I'd rather spend that time discussing the aesthetics of fox-beastfolk hotness."

Maybe it was because the conversation had finally turned to a subject he found arousing too?

Even while bound, his eyes lit up as he spoke to me.

"...Fox beastfolk? Do you mean something closer to a human appearance, or something closer to an animal's?"

"Obviously the kind closer to a human appearance. If you masturbate to something closer to an animal, that makes you a pervert with abnormal sexual desires, not a normal person, right?"

"Ha, how laughable. The appeal comes from having the form of a beast—having a more primal appearance, you know-nothing bastard."

"This bastard's saying that shit again. People should get turned on by people. If you get turned on by beasts, doesn't that make you a pervert with abnormal sexual desires?"

"Is fucking a fox that looks like a person any different from fucking a person that looks like a fox? Either way, it's bestiality, so there's no need to discriminate."

This is fucking maddening.

But he was right, so I couldn't argue.

Unable to refute his dead-on point, the fox deity, who had been looking at me contemptuously from the side, held her head and said,

- Like attracts like, and I suppose that saying isn't wrong. Still, I never expected your friend to be a normal exorcist.

"Even if you don't count his tastes, he's more normal than me. He's good at socializing, too."

- Aren't his most important tastes abnormal, though? Does that exorcist have a lover right now? Judging by the strong smell of virginity wafting off him, it seems he doesn't.

"Hey, if he really put his mind to it, he could get a girlfriend. He could even lose his virginity. That guy's face... Hmm, no. He couldn't get one."

After looking at his lethal muscles and ferocious features, I shook my head and said that, and he began growling, making his already fearsome face even more menacing.

"You fucking bitch?"

"What? It's true. Look in the mirror and think about it honestly. Is that really the face of someone who can get a girlfriend?"

"...Muscles don't lie."

"Right, they tell you the truth: that you can't get a girlfriend. So I guess it's true they don't lie."

"..."

After continuing to tease my friend, I carefully approached him and began tickling his ear with my fluffy tail.

"So at this point, isn't it fair to admit it? Who else but me would debate a stupid topic like this, smack his friend's skull with a frying pan, and be fanatically obsessed with fox beastfolk?"

"...First, get this fucking tail out of the way before you talk. Before I tear it off."

"You call this a fucking tail? A tail this fluffy and soft-looking, like it'd feel cozy to touch, is a fucking tail? That's not something you should be saying."

"D-Don't talk nonsense. I will never submit to some fluffy, sexy tail like this. Do you think seeing a sexy tail will make me submit?"

"Yeah, judging by how red your face is, you look like you'll submit soon. One tail isn't enough, so shall I try another one too?"

As I said that, I tickled his remaining ear with another tail, and he trembled from the tickling and spoke in an excited voice.

"I! Will! Never! Submit! No matter how many fucking sexy tails you add! I will never feel sexual desire for the likes of you!"

"Hey, tell me the truth. You like this too, don't you? It's about time you acknowledged me as your friend. Then I'll let you taste paradise."

"I-I..."

To my friend, who refused to declare his surrender to the very end, I used a third tail to cover his face and said,

"If you can endure even this, I'll acknowledge you. But do you really think you can endure it?"