Chapter 95 | An Unholy Bargain with an Orange-Haired Fox

My head snapped toward her.

Aurora grinned. "Your squad cleared a D-rank scenario this morning with an A rating. First-year squads don’t do that. Especially not lottery squads."

"We got lucky."

"Also bullshit." Aurora stretched her legs out. "I reviewed the simulation logs. Publicly posted. Your squad moved like you’d been training together for weeks. Perfect formation. Zero communication delays. Naomi’s output jumped at least thirty percent compared to her baseline."

She looked at me directly.

"That’s not luck. That’s enhancement."

I said nothing.

Aurora’s smile widened. "And Belle’s been walking around bragging about her improved detection range all afternoon. Said she could sense items at eighteen meters now instead of fifteen."

"Good for Belle."

"Belle’s ability doesn’t improve through training. It’s passive. Fixed at whatever rank she awakened."

Aurora leaned closer. Her green eyes bright.

"Unless someone boosted it."

The ocean crashed against rocks below us. Loud in the silence.

I could deny it. Play dumb. Act confused.

But Aurora already knew.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"To understand." Aurora pulled a piece of candy from her hoodie pocket. Unwrapped it slowly. "You’re a first-year lottery kid who shouldn’t matter. But you’ve got Naomi following you around like a puppy. Belle defending you at lunch. Misato actually trying in your training sessions instead of phoning it in."

She popped the candy in her mouth. Spoke around it.

"And now Blair’s threatening you. Which means you’re important enough to threaten."

"Your point?"

"My point is you’re either really good at playing people or you’ve got something that makes you valuable." Aurora’s eyes stayed on my face. "And I collect interesting things."

"I’m not a thing."

"No. You’re a person." She tilted her head. "An interesting person who’s having a terrible day and looked like he needed someone to talk to who wasn’t going to judge him or want something."

I looked at her. Actually looked.

Aurora sat relaxed on the grass. No agenda visible on her face. Just someone being present.

"You want something," I said.

"Everyone wants something." Aurora shrugged. "But I can wait until you’re ready to tell me what’s actually going on."

The honesty surprised me.

Most people at this school operated on hidden agendas and political games.

Aurora just sat here eating candy and admitting she was curious.

"I’m dying," I said.

The words came out flat. Matter of fact.

Aurora stopped chewing. "What?"

"Not metaphorically. Actually dying. I have six days left unless I find a way to extend it."

Her green eyes searched my face. "You’re serious."

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Supernatural bullshit. My ability keeps me alive. But only if I use it."

"On women."

Not a question. A statement.

"On women," I confirmed.

Aurora processed this. Her expression cycling through surprise, understanding, calculation.

Then she laughed.

Short. Genuine.

"Holy shit. You’re a walking vampire system."

"Pretty much."

"And Naomi?"

"Knows. Agreed to it."

"And Belle?"

"Same."

Aurora leaned back on her hands. Looked at the sky.

"That’s why they’re mad. You broke some kind of rule."

"I didn’t deliver what I promised Belle. And I hurt Naomi by being with Belle."

"Yikes."

"Yeah."

We sat quiet for a minute.

The sun finished setting. Purple twilight spreading across the sky.

"So what are you going to do?" Aurora asked.

"Survive Friday. Try to fix things with my squad. Find more sources."

"More sources." Aurora’s tone shifted. Interested. "You mean more girls."

"Yeah."

"And you need them willing."

"Yeah."

"What do I get?"

The question caught me off guard.

I looked at Aurora. She looked back. Completely serious now.

"If I help you," she said. "What’s in it for me?"

"A buff. Twenty-four hours. Your ability jumps up a rank."

"Silver to Gold?"

"Yeah."

Aurora’s eyes went distant. Calculating.

"That would make me unstoppable. For a full day."

"Pretty much."

She smiled slow. "What’s the catch?"

I could lie.

Tell Aurora some sanitized version where the buff worked through hand-holding and positive thinking.

But lying to Belle about the full extraction process got me into this mess. Hiding details from Naomi about needing other women caused that awful conversation at the elevator.

Obscuring the truth kept biting me in the ass.

Aurora sat there watching me with those sharp green eyes. Waiting.

She’d figure it out eventually anyway. Girl was too smart to stay in the dark.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone," I said.

Aurora’s expression changed. The playful edge dropped away. Something serious took its place.

"I promise."

"I’m serious. Not Belle. Not Jordan. Not your roommate or your friends or anyone."

"I promise." She crossed her heart. "Scout’s honor."

"Were you actually a scout?"

"No." Aurora grinned. "But the gesture still counts."

I rubbed my face. How do you explain supernatural lactation to someone without sounding completely insane?

Just say it. Rip the bandaid off.

"My ability copies other people’s abilities," I said. "But it only triggers after a threshold."

Aurora shifted closer. "What threshold?"

"Three orgasms. In one session."

Her eyebrows climbed toward her hairline. "That’s weirdly specific."

"Yeah, well." I shrugged. "My ability doesn’t explain its logic. Just gives me the rules."

"So you have to make someone cum three times?" Aurora’s tone stayed neutral. Clinical almost. Like she was working through a puzzle. "And then you get their ability?"

"Yeah." I kept going before I lost momentum. "When someone hits that threshold, their primary ability gets copied into my library. Starts at Copper rank regardless of how strong the original was."

"Holy shit." Aurora processed this. "So you could steal anyone’s ability if you made them cum three times?"

"Yeah."

"That’s insane." She paused. "Wait. You stole Naomi’s ability already?"

"Wave Motion. Copper rank. Still learning how to use it properly."

Aurora’s mind clearly raced behind those green eyes. Running scenarios. Calculating implications.

"And Belle?"

"Treasure Sense. Also Copper."

"Jesus Christ." Aurora laughed. Short and genuine. "You’ve been here for a week and you already built an ability collection?"

"Trying to survive."

"By fucking people’s powers right out of them." Aurora shook her head. "That’s the most ridiculous and impressive thing I’ve ever heard."