Apologies for the delay. I honestly wasn't sure whether to post this or not. In fact, I've agonized over it for a few days now. Since this is only a draft, I may very well rewrite it for the final release.

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Chapter 1.

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(Caelum)

Semester One. School Week One.

Monday morning.

The start of a new school year.

I walked through the open east gates of Galatea Academy in Habitat One, Island Three but I did not fear for I was surrounding by hundreds of Aventis girls – many of them gorgeous – such that I did know where to look.

Thus distracted, I crossed into the school grounds like a kid in a candy store.

Granted, there were hundreds of male Aventis students also entering the school for the first day of the semester, but my brain was carefully filtering them out, thus allowing me to focus on the girls.

“So this is Galatea Academy.”

“Why are you acting like you’re seeing the place for the first time?”

True. I’d attended the orientation weekend a week ago.

Caprice walked beside me. She carried her school carry-bag by the straps slung over the crook of her left shoulder, wearing her customary deadpan expression.

I carried my bag by the straps and slung over my back.

At Caprice’s remark, I looked down at her.

Caprice’s raven dark hair shone in the morning light from the habitat’s mimetic sky-field that simulated clouds and so forth.

I noticed there was more red mixed in with the raven black than there had been at the beginning of the year. Not a lot more, but enough for me to notice the red more easily than I used to.

I frowned inwardly in thought, and wondered if a little of Arisa was going into Caprice every time she drank Arisa’s blood.

I’d drunk my fair share of that buxom vixen’s blood, though not as much Caprice, but my eyes were still dark and my hair was still black, and thankfully I wasn’t growing her breasts.

At that thought I shivered uncomfortably.

Caprice noticed and gave me flat look, so I quickly regained my composure.

In any case, Caprice’s hair was looking a little more differently these days, but I was more interested in the ongoing developments in other areas of her body. By my best guestimates, Caprice was sporting more than an A-cup. In fact, I was convinced she was encroaching on the domain of a B-cup.

True, I’d been rejected on New Year’s Eve, but that wasn't going to keep me away from her.

No sir! Not when I had the prospect of being enraptured by the sight of her nubile young body in a bikini.

I discreetly wiped my lips dry, and then blushed when I remembered the softness of her lips.

Thinking of cup sizes, bikinis, and soft lips, I looked at the girls around me.

“Aventis girls sure are pretty,” I observed after surveying the girls for a short while.

I heard a long, heavy sigh erupt from Caprice. “Not all Aventis girls are pretty. Besides, you don’t like the Aventis.”

“I don’t mind them as much as I used to.”

“Oh, how magnanimous of you.”

“Hey, I’m not saying I forgive and forget. I’m just saying that I don’t mind them as much as I used to.”

“Because you find the Aventis girls pretty.”

“Yeah.”

Caprice’s eyebrows twitched, catching me by surprise.

If those slender, perfect eyebrows were twitching then it meant she was mad.

As I’ve said before, the untrained eye would fail to appreciate the extent of the range of her emotions. Having known her for almost eight months, I was indeed familiar with her subtle ways of expressing anything from happiness to a black rage with the merest curling of her lips to the narrowing of her eyes by a micrometer.

Right now, I figured she was pissed.

“Caelum,” she said in mechanical voice.

“Y—yes?”

“You’re beyond redemption.”

I relaxed a little. She wasn’t going to verbally lash me, but I would have to tread carefully for a while.

After a moment, I said, “I’m not the Regular I once was. I can see things differently now.”

That was indeed true. I guess becoming a Familiar and obtaining the Kaiser’s Blessing had opened my heart and mind to other possibilities – such as the thousands of pretty girls attending the Academy – so I had decided to shelve my resentment for the Aventis.

However, I only reserved that decision for the girls.

The guys were definitely worthy of a beating if they crossed paths with me.

Caprice glanced at me then shook her head ever so faintly.

As I walked by it, I waved at the statue of Galatea from ancient Greek mythology.

“Do you think she was really so beautiful that he fell in love with her?” I asked.

“Who? Oh, you mean Pygmalion.” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Well he certainly gave her quite the rack.”

“Dear gods, is that the only thing you can say about it?”

“Well take a look for yourself. See how big he made her? That man knew what was important.”

“I swear I’m going to hit you,” she warned me with a flat tone.

I snorted softly and shut my mouth.

By entering the school from the east gate, we had to walk past the middle school buildings, then the admin building, before getting to the high school region of the academy.

From a bird’s eye view, the buildings spelled out the word HIH.

The ‘I’ in the middle represented the admin building.

To the left – or the east – was the H shaped building where middle school students had their classes.

To the right – or west – was the H shaped building where high school students had their classes.

Simple. Right?

The H-shaped buildings were further categorized by the west wing and the east wing, each of them five stories high.

The bridge between the two wings was intersected by a giant donut of a building. This donut was the cafeteria and it was truly enormous, with nine floors to cater for the five or six thousand students in either high school or middle school.

So if we take the two cafeterias into account, a bird’s eye view of the school buildings would read: H-O-H I H-O-H.

Simple…right?

Leaving the middle school grounds behind, I noticed the quality and maturity of the girls walking around us jump up a notch.

Then I noticed one girl, a brunette with short hair walking to my ten o’clock.

She wasn’t an Aventis, but a Familiar, and wore the black collar that marked her as a Special.

She was quite attractive, with large brown eyes that I glimpsed when she looked off to her right at the giant cafeteria we were walking past.

As pretty as she was, what attracted my attention was the way she walked.

She had the same fluid grace that Caprice had, only more refined.

I had the clear impression that she’d been training for longer than Caprice and I combined.

But she also gave me the impression of a knife just waiting to be unsheathed.

“Caprice, who is that?”

“Trouble. Stay away from her.”

“What?” I looked down at Caprice. “So you know her?”

“No. I know of her.”

I leaned toward Caprice. “And? What do you know?”

“That’s the eldest daughter of the Sora Pride’s Primatriarch.” Caprice looked up at me. “Her name is Maya Khayman afil Sora.”

The daughter of a Primatriarch? The daughter of one of the women that led the Prides here on Pharos?

I could hardly believe it, and spun my head around to look at this girl under a new light.

As luck or misfortune would have it – take your pick – she was looking at me as well and our eyes met.

I gulped and then smiled at her, offering her a polite bow as I continued to walk beside Caprice.

The girl, Maya, regarded me with cold indifference, but then her gaze fell on Caprice and I saw her eyes narrow.

Peeking at Caprice, I saw that she too was looking at Maya.

Although Caprice wore a disinterested, apathetic expression – one that surfaced from time to time – I could see her eyes shone with a hard light.

Neither girl was breaking eye contact, and I wondered if I should risk getting burned by stepping between them.

But out of nowhere, a short girl with chestnut hair tied into twin-tails jumped on Maya’s back with a gleeful squeal, almost knocking her to the ground.

“Mayaaaaa!”

Khayman stiffened. “Wh—what the Hell are you doing?”

Still clinging to Khayman’s back, the girl with twin-tails giggled. “Did you see the room assignments? We’re in the same class! Isn’t that awesome?”

Awesome indeed, I thought as I stared unabashedly at Twin-Tails’ awesome bosom.

“No! It’s not awesome. It’s a disaster!”

“Maya, I know you’re happy for us,” Twin-Tails laughed warmly as she hugged Khayman’s back. “Be honest.”

“Honestly—get off me!” Khayman yelled and then succeeded in tossing the other girl off her back.

The short brunette laughed as she landed lightly on her feet, her twin-tails slashing through the air like a pair of scythes…and her enormous bosom bouncing not once, not twice, but three times before it settled down.

“Gah!” I chocked and stumbled. Catching my footing, I hurriedly turned to Caprice and whispered hastily, “Did you see that?”

Caprice’s eyebrows twitched again a heartbeat before she dropped her apathetic mask and scowled at me. “Would you behave!” she hissed at me.

I whispered back, “But they bounced three times! Three time! I’ve never seen a pair do that before!”

“Never seen what do that before?”

“Never seen breasts bounce three times—huh?” I spun to my left and met the glaring eyes of Maya Khayman afil Sora. “Oh…hello there…?”

The girl was standing with her arms crossed under her modest but well proportioned bosom, tapping one shoe angrily on the ground.

Behind her, the girl with twin-tails and bouncing chest looked on in a panic. “Maya—calm down! This happens all the time. No need to be angry. Happy thoughts, Maya. Think happy thoughts.”

Khayman’s eyes burned hotly as she ignored her companion. “You—what’s your name?”

I swallowed nervously and pointed at myself. “Who? Me?”

“Do you see me talking to anyone else.”

I swallowed again and bowed politely to her. “Caelum Desanto…afil Lanfear.”

When I peeked up at her…after briefly glancing at her chest…I noticed that her eyes had widened slightly.

“You’re Lanfear Pride?”

“No. I’m just acquainted with them,” I replied.

“Do you have a problem with the Lanfears?” Caprice asked sharply, stepping around me to face Khayman.

As the two girls glared hard at each other – yes, Caprice was indeed glaring – behind Khayman the girl with twin-tails bobbed around as she frantically waved her hands.

“Maya. Chill. Chill. No need to be so angry. Boys will be boys. You can’t blame them.”

The more she bobbed, the more her breasts bounced like balloons.

I would have enjoyed basking in the glorious sight of her heaving bosom, but the cold chill radiating from Caprice and Khayman was robbing my body of its heat. Any colder and I feared my teeth would start to chatter.

After staring hard at each other for a while, Khayman remarked, “Silent Doll. How disappointing that we’re not in the same class.”

“Khayman the Terrible, you should be counting your blessings.”

Khayman lowered her arms and clenched her hands into fists. “I’m going to settle things with you this year.”

“Shall I remind of the score so far?” Caprice asked in a steely yet flat voice. “My eleven victories to your seven.”

“I’m ready to start turning things around,” Khayman answered. “Same time. Same place?”

“Fine by me. It’ll be your funeral—again.”

The twin-tailed girl bounced on her feet and squealed. “No! Please don’t fight! Not again!”

I regarded both Caprice and Khayman with growing confusion. “Wait? You two know each other?”

Caprice smiled thinly, and my heart jumped in fear. “Unfortunately we do.”

“But you never mentioned her?” I complained. “Why not?”

“She’s one of the more unpleasant elements of my high school life. I try to forget she exists twenty-four seven.”

“Well, thanks for sharing,” I muttered.

Caprice exhaled loudly. “She’s a bug that I keep squashing but she keeps popping back up.”

Khayman narrowed her eyes. “So says the worm that I keep slicing and dicing for fish bait.”

“You’re running out of insults,” Caprice said. “Come up with new material.”

“I prefer to let my blades do the talking.”

“All they’ve done so far is cry for help.”

“They’re done crying.”

Caprice pressed her lips tightly for a moment. “Then I don’t mind crossing blades with you.” She cocked her head and smiled invitingly at Khayman. “In fact, I’ll cross blades with you here and now if I have to.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing?

Was Caprice challenging this girl to a fight?

Had her switches truly been flipped?

Was this the Caprice that I’d known for the past seven months?

A conflict of emotions broke out across Khayman’s face as she stared at Caprice. “Fine with me.”

Twin-Tails squealed in a panic, and I held my hands up in a hurry and slotted myself between the two girls.

Facing Khayman, I hastily said, “Wait! Wait! Wait! If you summon your Fragments your collars will go off. Do you want to get shocked?”

Khayman snarled at me, but then quickly calmed down. “Agreed. I’ll settle things with her later. But for now”—her knee came up and connected with my groin—“I’ll settle things with you.”

Pain washed through my body.

I collapsed to the ground, thinking my jewels had been cracked.

While I was cavorting in agony on the paved path, I heard the shouts of students running away, and the zing-zing sound of piercer-fields slashing the air.

Someone approached me and through the blinding agony, I looked up to see Twin-Tails reach down and then drag me along the ground.

“It’s not safe here! It’s not safe here!” she kept repeating as she pulled me away from the sounds of nearby fighting.

My uniform was going to be ruined, so I struggled up to my knees and crawled away in deep pain.

Dear gods! Does Khayman have steel capped knees?

After fleeing a few meters, I dropped exhausted to the ground and Twin-Tails kneeled before me with a look of deep worry on her face.

“Mister, are you alright?”

She wasn’t being careful so I could see between her thighs at the treasure under her skirt.

“Summer…Rose…,” I gasped.

“What was that?” she asked as she cocked her head.

I swallowed, the pain blasting out of my groin easing a little. “Summer Rose for Girls. Last year’s summer range.”

The girl frowned then realized what I was talking about. After a moment, she smiled sadly down at me. “You’re a pervert.”

I shook my head as I lay on the ground. “Not a pervert. A connoisseur.”

She shook her head as well. “No. You’re a pervert.”

She leaned forward and patted my head. I could feel the heat radiating from her bosom as she drew close to me.

Ah, what a glorious warmth.

I wanted to bury my head in between those pillows.

The girl sat down cross-legged on the ground beside me. “Ah, I knew this was going to happen. They just can’t get along.”

Though I was still in pain, I managed to sit up and observe an incredible scene.

With both their forearms wrapped in shimmering air that looked like they were wielding translucent swords, Caprice and Khayman were furiously slashing, striking, and parrying at each other.

A crowd of students had formed a wide circle around the girls, Twin-Tails, and me sitting on the ground.

However, I doubted Caprice and Khayman even noticed the spectators.

Both girls were too busy locked in battle.

I knew Caprice was fast, but even so I was surprised by the speed she was demonstrating.

As for Khayman, she moved with an incredible economy of motion, but looked to be struggling with the pace Caprice was maintaining. In other words, Khayman had technique, but Caprice possessed speed and power.

The battle was truly a spectacle to behold, but as enthralling as it was my attention was captured by the vista beneath their high flouncing skirts.

With my mind overclocked to better appreciate the view, I noticed that Caprice was wearing black panties while Khayman was adorning her derriere with crimson lace.

Sitting beside me, Twin-Tails gasped in surprise. “Oooh—Maya-chi's wearing her fiery red.”

“And Caprice is wearing her daring black.”

We both looked at each other, then quickly pulled out our palm-slates.

Dropping onto our bellies to capture the best low angles, I momentarily forgot about the pain in my groin as Twin-Tails and I busied ourselves snapping away with our cameras.

Cushioned on her breasts, the girl was surprisingly vocal.

“Looking good, Maya. Keep it up! Show me some leg. More leg. Yes, that’s it! Another one please. Oooh—what a lovely view!”

While I wasn’t being vocal like Twin-Tails, I did manage to keep pace with her, snap for snap. However, I soon started hearing more and more click-clicks and realized that every guy with a palm-slate – and some of the girls too – were busy taking photos of Caprice and Khayman in action.

“Ah, damn it,” Twin-Tails muttered glumly. “My memories have just been sold.”

Distracted, I gave her a puzzled look. “What?”

She leaned toward me. “How many did you take?”

“Um…fifty-eight.”

“I have sixty. Wanna trade later?”

“Huh? Oh, sure.”

“Then let’s trade details.”

Cushioned on her breasts, Twin-Tails leaned over some more and tapped her palm-slate to mine. After a moment both devices shared details and Twin-Tails was added to my contacts list.

“There we go,” she declared.

The girl pushed herself up off her belly – and breasts – and sat cross-legged on the ground.

After a moment, I sat up as well, relieved that the pain in my groin had subsided to an ache in my lower belly and little else.

Twin-Tails pocketed her palm-slate then looked over at me. “By the way, I’m Rina. Rina Sayen afil Sora.”

I noticed the black collar around her neck, then held out a hand to her. “I’m Caelum. Caelum Desanto afil Lanfear.”

She shook my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“And it’s very nice to meet you too.”

She giggled and pointed at her face. “I’m up here.”

“Indeed you are.”

With a smile, she reached over and patted my head. “You silly pervert.”

I looked up into her expressive brown eyes. “Could I ask you something?”

She rocked coquettishly. “I’m single.”

“Oh…no, that wasn’t what I was going to ask.”

“Really?”

I pointed at the ongoing duel. “Does this happen often?”

“Yeah. It’s fire and brimstone whenever they step on each other’s tail.”

“So this is not a rare occurrence?”

“Oh no. Definitely not.”

I frowned as I realized the monumental secret Caprice had been keeping from me. “Have they ever been suspended? What about detention?”

Caprice was never late for training, but surely this behavior didn’t go unpunished.

Rina Sayen shrugged. “Not that I know of. Maya-chi’s mother keeps her out of jail whenever she’s in a fight. And Silent Doll has powerful family connections as well. So they both have get out of jail cards.”

Caprice had powerful connections? Did she mean Arisa who was the niece of the Primatriarch of the Lanfear Pride? Either way, I was having trouble assimilating these new revelations. To think that I knew nothing of what her school life really was like. I mean, I knew that she was friendless and the Aventis girls in her class enjoyed taunting her. But I never suspected she had such a violent running dispute with another Familiar.

To think that she was keeping all this a secret from me.

Or was it because I wasn’t making the effort to understand her, or to know her?

I decided it was time to have a talk with her, but I would need to be gentle.

After clearing my throat, I asked, “Is it true that Khayman’s mother is the Sora Pride’s Primatriarch?”

Sayen nodded. “Yep. It’s true. She’s the daughter of Sora Pride’s leading lady.”

“No kidding? Hands down that’s the truth? Like you’re being completely honest with me?”

“Yep. Totally honest. And she’s the only Familiar in the family. Her younger sister Katalina attends middle school here. She’s a senior.” The girl sighed and her bosom heaved dramatically such that I almost lost my train of thought. “Those two had a run in this morning. I guess it set Maya-chi in a bad mood.”

“Those two?”

“Maya-chi and her sister.”

“Oh….”

“Katalina is an Aventis. She’s a Pureblood. But Maya-chi wasn’t born a Pureblood. She Awakened as a Familiar about a year and a half ago. They used be close sisters but after Maya-chi’s awakening Katalina hates her. Doesn’t see her as a sister. Claims that Maya-chi isn’t blood related to her.”

“How come?”

“Well because Maya-chi is the first member of the Khayman Family to ever Awaken as a Familiar. So there was a rumor that her mother had an affair with a Familiar and Maya-chi is the result of that dalliance.”

“A dalliance?”

“Yep. So Katalina kicked up a storm—I mean she went Cataclysmic—so Maya-chi was kicked out of the house. Maya-chi is living in the girl’s dormitories.”

“She was kicked out? By her own family?”

“Yep. Maya-chi’s mum did it to restore peace to the Family. At least, that’s what my mum tells me. But I think she did it to protect herself and her position.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s an Aventis and Maya-chi is a Familiar.”

“So she kicked the runt out of the litter. Is that what you mean?”

“That’s one way of putting it. Anyway, Maya-chi has been living in the Academy dormitories for the past year. I asked my mum to enroll me in the dorms too. That way we could be together and I could keep an eye on her. Mum agreed.”

Sayen abruptly looked sad, and I felt the urge to keep the conversation going. “Are you childhood friends?”

“Yep. But she’s also my cousin.” Sayen shrugged. “So we’re family.”

“Your cousin? That means her mother is—”

“My aunt.” Sayen grinned but I didn’t sense it was happy.

For the moment, I was lost for words so I turned away to look at the ongoing duel and noticed the crowd was cheering Maya and Caprice on.

Supporters on both sides were considerably loud, and their cameras continued snapping away.

“What the Hell?” I muttered under my breath.

Sayen cupped her hands and yelled, “More leg Maya. Remember to kick higher.” She lowered her hands then remarked, “I think lemon yellow suits her better.”

“But I think the crimson looks good on her, too.”

Sayen giggled again and threw me a sidelong glance. “Oh? Has Maya-chi caught your eye?”

I pursed my lips pensively for a moment. “She does have nice legs.”

“Oh? Is that all?”

I frowned then regarded the buxom girl sitting beside me. “Rina Sayen?”

“Yes?”

“I like you. Will you go out with me?”

She tilted her head and then smiled. “Okay.”

Disbelief shoved all other thoughts out my skull. “Huh? You will?”

She leaned closer to me, and I noticed the sweet scent of her perfume. I suspected it was Kristina Dior, but I wasn’t certain. Also, I was having trouble concentrating because Sayen had drawn extremely close to me.

Damn, this girl is cute!

Sayen changed her smile and it became wicked. “I’ll go out with you if you obtain Maya-chi’s consent.”

My eyes widened. “But she hates me….”

“Exactly.” Sayen drew in a little closer. “But are you giving up without trying?”

I ran my gaze over her before meeting her eyes. “Hell no. I’ll make mountains move if I have to.”

Sayen blinked and then drew back a few inches.

I do believe she was faintly surprised, and I do believe she was blushing just a little.

“Okay then,” she said and giggled girlishly, making her bosom bounce hypnotically.

Move mountains? Hell, I was going to kick planets out of their orbits.

Sayen tapped her lips. “But don’t you already have a girl who likes you?”

She threw the two dueling girls a pointed look.

My breath caught in my lungs for a heartbeat or two, then I smiled weakly at her with a suddenly heavy heart. “No, it’s nothing like that.”

“Really?”

I sighed loudly. “I confessed but she rejected me.”

This time Sayen looked unmistakably surprised. “Why? Did you grab her boobs without permission?”

“No! Not at all. I kissed her but she ran away.”

Sayen blinked quickly for a long while. “Oh wow. You scared her off.” Abruptly she frowned. “Did you use too much tongue?”

“Huh?” I frowned. “No, I don’t think so.”

“It wasn’t a French Kiss?” Sayen gave me a look of pity. “Wow. How disappointing. No wonder she ran away.”

“Hey—it was my first kiss! It’s not like I’d practiced beforehand.”

Sayen waved a hand at the fighting girls. “So then why are you together with her?”

“Together…is that how it looked?”

“Oh definitely. I thought you two were a couple when I first noticed you.”

My eyebrows rose sharply and my voice broke. “Huh….”

Sayen looked puzzled at my reaction.

I glanced at Caprice just as she executed a spinning kick that kept Maya back while also flashing her black panties at the crowd. “No…no, we’re not dating. We’re not a couple. We’re…just friends.”

“Just friends?”

I was growing empty inside. “Yeah, just friends….”

“Hmm. If you says so.” Sayen sat back on outstretched arms. “That must be hard.”

“Yeah, it is….” Sitting on the ground, I stretched my legs out in front of me.

“So you’ve given up on her?”

I stiffened then gave her question serious thought.

Had I given up on Caprice?

“Well?” Sayen asked.

I couldn’t give her a straight answer because my feelings toward Caprice grew jumbled. It wasn’t the first time this happened since my impromptu failed confession four weeks ago. I’d spent the past month somewhat in limbo with regards to my feelings for her, especially since Caprice acted as though that kiss never happened.

“You confessed to her once,” Sayen said. “Why not do it again?”

I looked at her. “And get rejected again?”

“So you have given up on her.”

I turned away. “I don’t want to give up on her….”

“Then don’t.”

“It’s not so simple,” I snapped, then quickly added, “Sorry.”

In the corner of my eye, I saw that Sayen was watching me keenly.

An angry cry cut the air, then Khayman shouted, “You ripped my skirt!”

“Payback for my blouse!”

Then the two resumed their battle, and Sayen continued studying me intently.

Growing uncomfortable under her scrutiny, I glanced at Sayen. Hoping to distract her, I asked, “So, why do they hate each other?”

The girl blinked slowly and a faint smile curved her lips. “Because of a boy.”

“Huh?” Shock ran through me and I stared at her wide eyed. “Because of a guy?”

Sayen nodded. “Maya-chi said something about a boy Silent Doll likes.”

“A boy she likes?” The painful emptiness again consumed my chest as I stared gutted at Sayen. “Are you talking present tense? As in a guy she likes right now?”

Sayen nodded and her smile grew a little stronger. “Yeah, she had a photo of this good looking boy on her slate. Maya-chi saw it and said something—I can’t remember what—and Silent Doll went ballistic.”

Caprice has a guy she likes? Who the Hell is this dude? Damn it! Another secret she kept from me!

I realized I was grating my teeth together and forced myself to stop. But I couldn’t keep down the emptiness that continued consuming me from within.

I asked Sayen, “Do you know who the guy in the photo is? Do you know who she likes?”

Sayen’s eyes widened and this time a huge smile split her face before she laughed. “Ah…well…all I know is that he’s a student at this academy.”

“He goes to Galatea Academy?”

Sayen nodded. “Yep. He definitely attends Galatea Academy.”

Those feelings yet to be consumed began to froth. “What did he look like? Can you point him out in a crowd?”

Sayen stopped laughing for a moment, then she burst into laughter again. “He’s really good looking. Yeah, he’s really easy on the eyes. I can definitely point him out for you.”

Her laughter was killing me. “Hey—you don’t have to be so cruel!”

Sayen wiped at her eyes. “Sorry. It’s just hard not to laugh.”

“You’re kicking me in the gut and you find it funny?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

She didn’t sound sorry at all.

My heart wilted and my frothing feelings sank into the ever expanding emptiness within me. “I was wrong about you. I don’t like you at all.”

Sayen waved her hands between. “Sorry. It’s just too funny. But are you giving up on me?”

“Yeah, I’m giving up on you.”

She leaned toward me and her bosom wobbled. “You’re really giving up on me?”

My gaze was being reeled down to her chest. “Yeah—yeah, I’m giving up on you.”

Sayen assumed a glum expression and then leaned away. “You’re no fun.”

I yanked my gaze away from the girl’s melons, relieved to be free of their influence for the moment, and I glared emptily at Caprice.

So she had a guy she liked and he goes to Galatea Academy.

I shook my head slowly.

If there’s someone she likes then why did she invite me out on Near Year’s Eve? Why torture me like that? No, maybe this is why she rejected me. But she could have at least told me. Why didn’t she say anything?

Before I could feel impossibly any worse, a loud siren filled the air and I realized with a start that it was coming from the collars that Caprice and Khayman were wearing.

Both girls jumped apart and stared at each other in fright as they breathed heavily with beads of sweat running down their faces.

Yes, Caprice actually looked frightened.

Khayman yelled at her, “This is your fault!”

“Serves you right for kicking him!”

“I’ll get you for this!”

“Right back at you!”

Then the siren stopped and lightning flashed from their collars, its tendrils caressing their bodies for a few seconds.

When it died abruptly, smoke drifted up from their collars, and then both girls flopped bonelessly to the ground and lay still.

Rina Sayen sighed heavily, her bosom heaving gloriously on her chest. “Ah, Maya-chi. What am I going to tell your mother this time?”

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Thank you to all the readers for making it this far.
I'm having some second thoughts about Caelum so I may end up rewriting this.
I guess it's like a crisis of faith in him.