Chapter 78 | My Girlfriend Decided To Chaperone My Seduction

Belle pulled. I stood up. The world tilted slightly before settling back into place.

Naomi got to her feet on her own, slower, with the careful movements of someone who didn’t trust their legs completely. She brushed grass off her shorts. Adjusted her braid. Looked at Belle, then at me, then back at Belle.

"I’m coming too," Naomi said.

Belle’s eyebrows went up. "Yeah?"

"Yes."

"It’s going to be kind of boring. Just sitting there while he touches me."

Naomi’s jaw tightened. "I’m. Coming. Too."

Belle looked at me. I looked at Belle. We both looked at Naomi, who stood there with her pink and black hair catching the sunset light and her shell necklace visible at her collar and her entire body language screaming that she was absolutely not okay with this but was also not going to say that out loud.

"Cool," Belle said. "The more the merrier."

She started walking toward Building C.

I followed.

Naomi fell into step beside me, close enough that our shoulders touched. Her hand found mine again. Squeezed once. Hard.

"This is fine," she whispered.

"Completely fine," I agreed.

"I trust you."

"I know."

"But if you look at her chest one more time in front of me I’m going to use Wave Motion on your face."

"That’s fair."

We walked across campus in the dying light. Jordan had finally escaped Misato’s training session and was stumbling toward the dorms like a man who’d been spiritually broken by shadow manipulation drills. Misato stood alone on the field, hands on her hips, watching her squad disperse with the expression of a general surveying troops that might actually survive the coming battle.

Belle walked ahead of us, her blue ponytail swinging with each step. She had this way of moving that looked effortless. Like she’d mapped out every muscle required for forward momentum and eliminated anything unnecessary.

"She’s very pretty," Naomi said quietly.

"Yes."

"And she knows it."

"Also yes."

"And you noticed."

"I have eyes," I said. "They function."

Naomi made a sound that wasn’t quite agreement and wasn’t quite protest. We kept walking.

Building C appeared through the landscaping. The Obsidian banner hung from the entrance, black raven on purple crystal. Students filtered in and out of the lobby. A couple of third years stood near the elevator having an animated conversation about gate rotation schedules.

Belle hit the elevator button and turned around.

"So," she said, looking between me and Naomi. "How exactly does this work. Your ability. Do I need to do anything specific or do you just touch me and things happen."

The third years stopped talking.

Belle realized what she’d said approximately two seconds too late.

"I meant," she said, louder, "for ability enhancement training. For treasure detection range improvement. Which is what we’re doing. In a professional capacity."

The third years looked at each other.

One of them grinned.

"Good luck with your professional training," he said.

The elevator arrived. We got in. The doors closed on their laughter.

Belle stared at the elevator ceiling. "I hate this school."

"You said that earlier," I said.

"I’ll say it again. Multiple times. It’s a very hateable school."

The elevator climbed. Naomi’s hand remained locked around mine. Her pulse beat against my palm, fast and irregular.

Fifth floor.

The doors opened.

We walked down the hallway to apartment 5E. My key card worked on the second try. The door swung open on silent hinges.

The apartment was dark.

And empty.

No Hikaru at the kitchen sink. No evidence of recent occupancy. Just the clean, neutral space of a dorm apartment where one roommate actively avoided the other.

"See?" I said. "Not home."

Belle walked in first, scanning the living room with the casual efficiency of someone assessing real estate. "Nice place. Better than mine. Probably because you only have one roommate."

She headed straight for my bedroom door.

Naomi and I followed.

My room looked exactly like I’d left it that morning. Bed made. Desk organized. Floor clear. The window showed the ocean in the distance, dark water reflecting the last of the sunset.

Belle sat on my bed without asking permission. Bounced once. "Comfortable."

Naomi hovered near the door, uncertain.

I closed it behind us.

The three of us stood there in my room. Belle on the bed. Naomi by the door. Me in the middle.

Belle looked at me expectantly. "So. How does this work."

My brain attempted to process the logistics of what was about to happen while running on reduced capacity and several competing priorities.

Option one: explain the ability honestly, demonstrate at a low level, see if it actually helps her detection range.

Option two: lie about the full extent of what Euphoric Feedback does, keep it clinical, extract zero points and maintain operational security.

Option three: tell Belle the truth about everything and see if she’s as transactional about essence extraction as she is about literally everything else in her life.

"It’s touch-based," I said. "Works better with direct skin contact. I can enhance nerve sensitivity, which should theoretically amplify your ability’s detection range."

Belle processed this. "Theoretically."

"I’ve only done this with Naomi. You’d be the second test."

"That’s fine. I trust empirical evidence more than theory anyway."

She started unzipping her jacket.

Naomi made a strangled sound.

"What," Belle said, pausing with the fabric halfway down. "It’s skin contact. He just said skin contact works better."

"You can’t just," Naomi gestured vaguely. "Take your clothes off."

"Why not. You did."

Naomi’s face went nuclear.

Belle looked between us with dawning comprehension. "Oh. Oh. Your private training sessions are very private."

"Belle," I said.

"No wonder you both crashed this afternoon."

"Belle."

She pulled the sports bra back down. Looked at Naomi. "Sorry. I didn’t realize. Jace said you two were a thing but I thought he meant like, dating thing. Not full thing."

"It’s complicated," Naomi said quietly.

"Everything’s complicated." Belle turned to me. "So. New question. How exactly are we doing this if skin contact is required but clothes need to stay on."

I sat down on the desk chair. Pulled it over to the bed. "Hand."

Belle extended her right hand.

I took it. Her skin was warm. Soft. The calluses I’d expected from her lottery background were there if you knew where to look.

"Ready?" I said.

"Yes."

I activated Euphoric Feedback at level two.

Belle’s eyes widened.

"Oh," she said.

The warmth spread up her arm. I could see it in the way her shoulders relaxed. The way her breathing changed.

"That’s," she said. "That’s really nice."

Naomi watched from the door. Her expression was complicated.

I pushed it to level three.

Belle’s fingers twitched in mine. "Okay. Yeah. I can feel my ability responding. The detection range is expanding."

"How much."

"Maybe twenty percent. Normally I can sense things fifteen meters out. Now it’s more like eighteen."

"Good," I said. "Let me know if it gets uncomfortable."

"It’s not uncomfortable. It’s the opposite of uncomfortable."

Level four.

Belle made a sound. Her free hand gripped the sheets.

"That’s," she said. "Um."

"Too much?"

"No. No it’s good. Keep going."