First of all, he only knew Carla through an online dating app, and as a young, handsome, and rich fellow, he had no lack of potential options. He simply chose her from the lot because not only was she the most interesting, but she was closer to his type.
Kaizer only went out on dates like this because he wanted to return to normalcy. He wanted to rekindle that youthful spirit he once had and return to being a normal guy. He did not and did not consider himself to be the protagonist of a web novel, where he had to act macho and indifferent all the time in order to display his masculinity.
He, too, craved to be silly with the boys, chatting about the stupidest stuff and watching shounen shows while they roared in support of their favorite characters. He wanted to have a significant other he could share his worries with and hopefully spend his first time with in a romantic and meaningful manner.
Meaningful.
Yes, in summary, what Kaizer wanted was to have meaning. Not entirely so for his life, but for his experiences, and especially, for his ability. He wasn't the type to take what he had for granted; he had asked questions and done research the moment he felt he was different, but he could not find the relevance of it.
It was because of this ability that he was like this, so it had to have a reason for being in his life other than scarring him as a kid, right?
More than half a decade had passed since that day, and he had been able to recover a lot. When he wasn't focused, he would return to being reticent, but he had cultivated a social persona that was relatively capable in public, as long as he did not turn on his ability.
It was funny when you thought about it. There were plenty of males out there who would kill for an ability that let them know how their dates felt in real-time, so that they would know if they were making progress or not. Meanwhile, Kaizer, who did have that ability, refused to use it and wanted to blaze through while going blind.
Even as he paid for the meal and left the cafe with his date, Kaizer was not entirely sure he had made any progress. Carla was still smiling and had enjoyed the conversation with him, but whether she truly liked him or not was only within her head.
He was initially tempted to try, but he noticed that Carla had slowed down and was leaning against the body of a nearby pillar, covering her mouth as if she were about to vomit.
Kaizer frowned and walked over to support her. "If the food was that bad, I can go back and make sure they know. I'm sorry for putting you through this."
Carla recoiled slightly when he touched her, seemingly trying to push him away. "N-No, it's okay…"
Thinking that she was uncomfortable being seen like this, Kaizer was about to let go and step back to give her space, but she surprisingly clutched his shirt tightly. Her words were slurred, but Kaizer was surprised to find that her grip was quite strong, like a vise.
"…I-it's just that… after so long… I-I can't…"
Her voice suddenly echoed, like a reverb effect was placed on it, and her grip on Kaizer's shirt became even tighter.
"I can't hold back anymore~~~" she almost moaned, her body trembling.
However, Kaizer only felt his hairs stand on end as he saw her raise her head to reveal an expression of endless desire, which would normally be exciting if her brown eyes hadn't shifted into serpentine slits and her mouth split at the edges to reach her ears, showing a vast array of jagged teeth.
"What the f—" Kaizer only had time to utter as he tried to pull back, but the woman, Carla—if that even was her name—pulled him back sharply with her mouth wide open.
"Just a bite! Let me take a quick bite!" she almost begged as she bit toward Kaizer's arm.
"Go to hell!" Kaizer shouted as he raised his leg and kicked, knocking her backward and freeing himself from her grip.
He patted his shirt casually and looked around, only to realize that it was surprisingly dark and somehow, there was no one around. His expression became grim as he turned to run toward his car, aiming to drive away or run over this thing that posed as his date.
Before he could even take a few steps, he gasped and dodged to the right, only able to see a black shadow flitting past him at speeds his eyes couldn't follow. He saw the shadow gracefully land near the entrance of the car park, revealing the form of a humanoid female in a quadrupedal posture.
Carla was physically different in totality. Her brown eyes had changed to an amber color with narrow slits, while two fluffy ears poked out from the top of her head. Her soft hands had manifested sharp claws, and her fair skin now sported light yellow fur around her back, along with some black stripes, and soft white fur on the front of her torso.
Most importantly, her eyes were completely fixed on him as saliva dripped from her mouth, and Kaizer didn't even need to use his ability to sense her hunger.
"What the hell are you?" Kaizer asked almost softly, backing away slowly while keeping his eyes on her.
"I'm sorry for the rudeness. Usually, I tend to use my skills to make my prey enjoy a blissful final moment before devouring them, but you simply smell too good for me to wait." Carla spoke in that strange echoing voice, taking slow but measured steps toward Kaizer.
Kaizer, from the moment Carla struck him, had fully activated his ability because with it, he would be able to sense her position based on her emotions and general thoughts. Unfortunately for him, this Carla was almost like his cousin, with her thoughts completely blocked off, but her emotions were clear to him.
That was how he sensed her previous attack and dodged; otherwise, there was no way an untrained young man like him would be able to avoid something that moved at such speed.
And now, he sensed a strong murderous intent at once and dodged to the side, which helped him avoid a sudden pounce from his assailant, which was faster than his eye could follow. The moment she was stuck in her movement, he rushed toward his car, hoping to gain some advantage.
Luckily for him, Carla did not seem to take this too seriously and seemed intent on playing with her prey as she flourished her claws and spoke with interest.
"Precognition? A sharp intuition? Or just luck? Let's find out."
She grinned and made a simple leap, but this immediately brought her onto the hood of the car as if she had teleported, glancing through the windshield with a smile to see Kaizer, who was grabbing something from his glove compartment.
"Well, the chase is over. Sigh, why can't any of them last longer than a few seconds, huh~" Carla complained as she raised a single claw and aimed to decapitate Kaizer through the windshield.
However, just as she was about to move, she felt a sense of fatal danger as she saw that Kaizer was pointing a gun at her, his face cold as he resolutely pulled the trigger.
BANG!