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 directly.
"That’s not luck. That’s enhancent."
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 ters 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 soone 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 ans you’re important enough to threaten."
"Your point?"
"My point is you’re either really good at playing people or you’ve got sothing 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 soone to talk to who wasn’t going to judge him or want sothing."
I looked at her. Actually looked.
Aurora sat relaxed on the grass. No agenda visible on her face. Just soone being present.
"You want sothing," I said.
"Everyone wants sothing." Aurora shrugged. "But I can wait until you’re ready to tell what’s actually going on."
The honesty surprised .
Most people at this school operated on hidden agendas and political gas.
Aurora just sat here eating candy and admitting she was curious.
"I’m dying," I said.
The words ca out flat. Matter of fact.
Aurora stopped chewing. "What?"
"Not taphorically. 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 alive. But only if I use it."
"On won."
Not a question. A statent.
"On won," I confird.
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?"
"Sa."
Aurora leaned back on her hands. Looked at the sky.
"That’s why they’re mad. You broke so 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 an more girls."
"Yeah."
"And you need them willing."
"Yeah."
"What do I get?"
The question caught off guard.
I looked at Aurora. She looked back. Completely serious now.
"If I help you," she said. "What’s in it for ?"
"A buff. Twenty-four hours. Your ability jumps up a rank."
"Silver to Gold?"
"Yeah."
Aurora’s eyes went distant. Calculating.
"That would make unstoppable. For a full day."
"Pretty much."
She smiled slow. "What’s the catch?"
I could lie.
Tell Aurora so sanitized version where the buff worked through hand-holding and positive thinking.
But lying to Belle about the full extraction process got into this ss. Hiding details from Naomi about needing other won caused that awful conversation at the elevator.
Obscuring the truth kept biting in the ass.
Aurora sat there watching 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. Sothing 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 soone 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 the rules."
"So you have to make soone cum three tis?" 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 montum. "When soone 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 tis?"
"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."
User Comments
0 comments from readers