“So, I take it you all had some fun out there?” asked Roxanne with that playfully leering grin on her face.  “If the sounds from Arnett and Creo were any indicator, then I’d be so bold as to say that you most certainly did.”

“Oh shut up,” grumbled a blushing Arnett.

“Come on now, Arnett,” replied Attia.  “If you’re going to engage in something as intimate as a massage from Kazuya, you’d have to know that there was going to be at least SOME teasing once you wrapped things up…especially when you let Kazuya touch your weak spot.”

“The same for Creo, don’t forget,” added Ingrid.

‘Weak spot?’ thought a somewhat confused Kazuya.

Seeing the confusion on the Limiter’s face, Chiffon decided to run as referee and pulled the young man aside (and into her lap as she sat back on the beach chair by the pool).

“Miss Chiffon, what by chance are you doing?” asked Rana, equal parts curious as well as envious that Kazuya wasn’t in HER lap at the moment.

“Just giving Kazuya a little update on something without running the risk of embarrassing others, that’s all,” Chiffon replied with a grin.  Of course that made several of the other Pandoras oh so curious as to what the Unmatched Smiling Monster was going to tell Kazuya.

“Y-yes, Madam President?” asked a somewhat embarrassed Kazuya.  No matter how many times he was picked up or handled by these women, his heart would soon after be aflutter with equal parts excitement and nervousness.  Though over time, it was becoming more of the former over the latter, given that Kazuya WAS becoming more comfortable around these amazonian beauties, as well as the simple fact that he NEVER was bored with the idea of direct physical contact with them - especially when it involved skin-on-skin contact to boot.

“Please Kazuya, we’ve gone over this so many times now,” replied Chiffon with a chuckle.  “No need for titles where I’m concerned, especially when we’re at home.”

“Right, sorry Chiffon,” said Kazuya with a blush.  “You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks and all that, right?”

Chiffon simply replied with a mild chuckle, followed by a quick smooch on the young man’s lips (no doubt to the jealousy of several of the other Pandoras nearby).  She then proceeded to do what she set out to do.

“You see, the thing is, Kazuya,” began Chiffon once more at little more than a whisper (to keep it private between herself and Kazuya), “you may or may not be aware of this, but we Pandoras had a certain ‘weak spot’ on a part of our bodies.  The spot in particular varies from Pandora to Pandora, and it’s a part of our bodies which is particularly…well, how to say it…delicate, for lack of a better word.  In Arnett’s case, it’s her left shinbone, while for Creo, it’s the soles of her feet.”

“And…this weak spot,” replied Kazuya, “when somebody makes contact with it…”  At that moment, Kazuya was thinking back to the massage session with both Arnett and Creo and the sounds they made as well as the vibrations running through their bodies.  That trip down memory lane brought a blush onto Kazuya’s cheeks, with the young man realizing just what kind of reaction he had witnessed among those two beauties.  The grin on Chiffon’s face at his facial expression pretty much conveyed that she knew that he knew.

“And like I said earlier,” continued Chiffon, “every Pandora has her own exclusive weak spot.  For instance…”  Without saying another word, Chiffon gently took one of Kazuya’s hands and placed it upon her own collarbone.  Not a second later, the world’s top-ranked 3rd-year Pandora was immediately vibrating with pleasure as she slowly tilted her head back, opened her mouth, and breathed deeply as she shivered in pure bliss.

Kazuya was quite taken aback by Chiffon’s rather direct approach, though it certainly did the job in conveying what making contact with a Pandora’s ‘weak point’ entailed.  As he enjoyed the view of the young woman whom he was currently drowning in pleasure by the simple act of touching, he started to recollect from the number of times he bathed along with ALL of his partners.

From what he could recall, there were times when the Pandoras came off as rather embarrassed, shy, and extra delicate in their demeanor - even the more serious types like Ingrid and Creo - when Kazuya was washing their bodies.  It always seemed to vary from girl to girl, but Kazuya didn’t pay it too much mind at the time.  But as he gave it a good long thought, Kazuya began to recall minor details among the Pandoras.  Whether it was Arnett’s shinbone, Creo’s feet, Attia’s scalp, Ganessa’s underarms, Ticy’s neck, Chiffon’s collarbone, Elizabeth’s nape…and Satellizer’s prodigious bosom…each and every Pandora seemed to be lost in a sea of pleasure when Kazuya proceeded to wash those specific body parts regarding each specific Pandora.

Ingrid was a particularly interesting case insofar as she didn’t have much of a weak point per se.  Whether it was her ears, her underarms, her bosom, or pretty much anywhere else on her body, the normally stoic and no-nonsense redhead made the cutest moans, gasps, and whimpering whenever Kazuya proceeded to wash her body during bathtime.  It seemed that in Ingrid’s case, her whole body was practically one big weak point, at least when it came to Kazuya’s touch anyway.

In light of reliving and reminiscing about those rather “intimate” moments in the bathing area in prior days, Kazuya felt rather embarrassed that he wasn’t aware about a Pandora’s weak points earlier on (granted it wasn’t the kind of thing that was going to be brought up during formal class sessions; not even Miss Elize would be so blunt as to have it become of the curriculum).  Now that he was made aware of such a sensitive topic (pun intended), he was at least a little relieved that he was now “in the know” as they put things.  It was something which Kazuya liked to think that he would become more wisened by, if for no other reason than to know exactly where said “weak spot” was and to avoid accidentally causing a scene, especially in a public setting.

Of course, if anything - given how increasingly intimate these ladies were becoming with Kazuya over time - most (if not all) of them didn’t really have a problem with him touching them on their weak points, at least in private.  That was somewhat understandable given how they were trying to bond more and more with their collective Limiter, as comrades in arms as well as romantic love partners.

“Well now…” said Kazuya, trying to find something intelligent to say while his hand rested upon Chiffon’s collarbone.  Honestly, he was considering pulling his hand away, though Chiffon had it tenderly secured in her larger hand, making sure Kazuya’s palm and fingers rested on her weak point.  Apparently, the Unmatched Smiling Monster wasn’t just yet ready to end her period of ‘Kazuya Time’ and was enjoying herself rather thoroughly.  Even if she came off as particularly delicate and rather maidenly in her demeanor, pretty much like all the other Pandoras when touched on their weak point, she most certainly still WANTED Kazuya’s touch all the same.

“Yes Kazuya?” asked Chiffon with  a subtle chuckle and a big grin on her face, clearly enjoying the mildly flustered look on the young man’s face.

“Umm,” resumed Kazuya, “by chance, would it be okay if I pulled my hand back now, Chiffon?”

“Ohh, alright then,” sighed Chiffon, clearly deflated that her moment of skinship was coming to a close.  But before she relinquished Kazuya’s hand, she leaned in and planted a slow and rather sensual smooch on Kazuya’s lips before releasing his hand.

Once that was over, somebody else decided to get her share of ‘Kazuya Time’ right there and then.

Just a few seconds afterwards, Kazuya was lifted up out of Chiffon’s lap and found himself in the arms of one Ganessa Roland.

“Gotcha!” declared the pigtailed 2nd-year as she twirled around, holding Kazuya in her embrace in the traditional “bridal style” form of carrying a person.

“Careful now, Ganessa,” said Chiffon, ever the cautious type and always cognizant of Kazuya’s well-being.

“Don’t worry, I’m being careful,” replied Ganessa as she finished spinning around.  “I just wanted to get in on my share of the action, that’s all.  It’s hard enough trying to compete with a gaggle of third-years as it is, so I’ve gotta stake my claim when the opportunity presents itself, you know?”

Some of the other 3rd-years were about to step in (mainly Satellizer and Rana), but Chiffon raised her hand towards them as a motion to back down, trying to mediate the situation.

“It’s alright, ladies,” Chiffon told the others.  “Ganessa DOES have a point in that regard.  It’s only fair that she gets a turn, right?”

“I suppose,” muttered Rana in turn, while Satellizer simply puffed her cheeks in response, giving another one of her rather adorable pouts at Kazuya being in the clutches of somebody who wasn’t her.

Ganessa proceeded to make her way towards her own beach chair and plopped herself down on it, with Kazuya’s stomach resting against her own, which of course meant that Kazuya was facing Ganessa directly as his head was nestled directly between her own generous D-cup bosom, with the pigtailed beauty gazing at him with her own endearing smile.  While she was trying to convey as much confidence as possible, Kazuya could tell from the blush on her cheeks that Ganessa was rather nervous underneath it all…a trembling maiden at her very core, which Kazuya couldn’t help but find adorable in a way.

“So…” began Kazuya, trying to break the ice, “would you like me to do something for you, Ganessa?”

The pigtailed redhead’s eyes pulled off to the side in thought as she pondered Kazuya’s offer.  After a few seconds of waiting while she hummed in consideration, an idea came to mind.

“As a matter of fact,” Ganessa said with a slight grin, “there IS something you could do for me, if you don’t mind of course, Kazuya.”

“Yes?” inquired the young man.

Lifting Kazuya up by his armpits and lifting him out of her lap, but still keeping him right beside her as the two sat on the beach chair, Ganessa leaned over towards the nearby short table beside her beach chair.  On the table was a bottle of lotion, which Ganessa presented towards Kazuya.

“If you don’t mind,” began Ganessa as she handed Kazuya the bottle, “would you be willing to rub some of this moisturizing lotion over my body?  Of course, I’d be willing to return the favor and do the same for you when you’re done.”  As she spoke, the blush on Ganessa’s cheeks became all the more apparent.  The young woman’s heart must have been pounding with the intensity of a sledgehammer going through its paces, she was so damn nervous.

Wanting in part to keep the young lady from having a breakdown and/or becoming crestfallen at the potential of Kazuya refusing, the freshman Limiter simply gave a genuinely endearing smile before responding.

“I’d be happy to, Ganessa,” Kazuya replied with that trademark calming warmth of his.  That in turn made Ganessa so giddy and bubbly with happiness on the inside that she was on the verge of having bright pink heart-shaped symbols glowing within her pupils (hypothetically speaking of course, but the overall sentiment should be understandable enough).

Kazuya proceeded to sit propped up on Ganessa’s buttocks as he proceeded to rub the lotion over the expanse of her back.  Every few minutes, he could make out a subdued moan or grunt from Ganessa as his hands went back and forth, pushing the moisturizer into her skin as much as possible without going too hard.  He started with her back, then proceeded to do her shoulders, neck, upper arms, and then switched over to her lower half, working down the length of her legs and ending at her feet.

“Don’t forget…my…my…” said a heavily blushing Ganessa as he was wrapping up her legs.

“Your?” asked a curious Kazuya.

“M-my…tushie,” said Ganessa at less than a whisper, given how red in the face she was at that point.

“A-are you sure you want that, Ganessa?” asked a slightly flummoxed Kazuya.  “I mean, I don’t want this to get weird if you’re not okay with-”

“I’m okay with it, honestly,” Ganessa cut off the young man.  Though her eyes were trembling pretty damn hard and her face was on the verge of becoming as red as her hair, the look on Ganessa’s face pretty much said, “Yeah, this is a little embarrassing, but I want this.  I want YOU to touch me, please.”

“Uh…um, okay then,” replied Kazuya as he squirted another palmful of lotion out and lathered it up.

Ganessa proceeded to hike up her bikini bottom and effectively use it as borderline floss between her flawless buttcheeks in order to reveal as much of her hindquarters to the young man without downright stripping.  Once she had finished basically giving herself a wedgie, she looked over her shoulder and motioned with a nod for Kazuya to proceed.

With some initial hesitance, Kazuya placed a hand on each of her asscheeks.  Ganessa immediately stifled a teasing whimper, and her whole body instinctively shivered in response to Kazuya’s touch.  That in turn made Kazuya speak up.

“Something wrong?” he asked.  “We can stop right now if you want.”

“N-no!” Ganessa spoke out in reflex.  “Your hand just felt a little cold, that’s all.  Please, continue.”  The trembling in Ganessa’s voice was becoming more apparent as this carried on, though despite her embarrassment, she was effectively all-in on having Kazuya touch and rub the vast majority of her body.

Kazuya proceeded with his ministrations, covering every square inch of Ganessa’s rear end (short of her buttcrack or her maindenhood of course) and certainly appreciating both the feel of her skin as well as the plumpness of her posterior.  Some small part of Kazuya’s more primal instincts felt tempted to be bold enough as to give it a playful little kiss or to blow on it, just to see how Ganessa would react.  But, erring on caution and not wanting to risk getting a rise out of the other Pandoras, Kazuya simply kept to his work and massaged Ganessa’s body more and more as he continued applying the moisturizer.

Once he had wrapped up Ganessa’s entire backside, Kazuya expected to be done…only to have Ganessa get up and proceed to undo her bikini top before speaking.

“N-now then, the front side if you would be so kind,” declared the pigtailed redhead (who was still sporting a raging blush as red as her hair).

“All the front?” asked Kazuya.  It was clear enough that he was implying Ganessa’s chest along with everything else…minus what her bikini bottoms were covering, of course (at least he ASSUMED that was the case anyway).

Ganessa merely nodded her head in response, too embarrassed at that moment to continue verbally at more.

So once again, Kazuya was propped up on Ganessa Roland once more, crawling along her body as he resumed pressing, rubbing, and kneading her skin with the lotion.  Starting along her feet, he moved up across her legs, making sure to get the sides along with the front.  By the time he had reached her navel, Ganessa was once more whimpering and moaning, despite her best efforts to bite her lip and stifle her responses so as to not let on just how damn pleasurable Kazuya’s touch REALLY was.

Initially a bit hesitant once he had finished everything below her bosom, Kazuya proceeded to ask before continuing onto Ganessa’s breasts.

“Are you sure about this, Ganessa?” he asked.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, stop being so damn considerate and just…well…you know…get on with it,” grumbled the redhead.

“As you wish, milady,” replied Kazuya as he set his hands upon her bosom.

There was a brief gasp from Ganessa as the young man went to work on her breasts, massaging them slowly and appreciating their buoyancy as he went back and forth on them.  No matter how many times he placed his hand upon another woman’s bosom, Kazuya NEVER grew tired of the sensation.  It was hard to explain, but Kazuya considered himself somewhat of a “breast man” in terms of which part of a woman’s body he most enjoyed.  That wasn’t to say that he couldn’t appreciate the other parts of a girl’s body of course (legs, rear end, thighs, etc.), but something about breasts - large ones in particular - got his blood pumping extra hard.

Kazuya proceeded further upwards, once again making sure to get Ganessa’s sides as he moved across her chest area.  It just so happened that as he was covering her body, Kazuya happened to brush along her armpits and her underarms as he worked…which of course elicited a rather sensual gasp from Ganessa followed by moaning as she buck her hips, shut her eyes, and arched her back in sheer instinct.

‘Guess I hit her weak spot,’ thought Kazuya in reflection.

“Sorry,” said the young man.  “Didn’t mean to startle you, I swear.”

“There you go again,” grunted Ganessa.  “You have a bad habit of apologizing for making your partners feel so damn good.  It’s as annoying as it is endearing how sweet you can be sometimes.”

“Sorry about that,” replied Kazuya.  “Old habits die hard, as they say.  Maybe I just have an outdated concept of what I consider to be gentlemanly behavior, I suppose.”

Instead of dignifying a response in kind, Ganessa simply wrapped her arms around Kazuya, pulled him into her embrace (making sure to press his chest deeply against her bosom), and proceeded to French kiss him in response.  Apparently, even after being somewhat startled, the pigtailed British 2nd-year was still quite “in the mood” as it were.

After a few seconds of hardcore making out, there was a gentle grunt/cough from one of the nearby Pandoras which broke up the kissing session.  Kazuya looked around and saw a gaggle of several of the other Pandoras circled around him and Ganessa, some of them with amusement on their faces, while others had tinges of jealousy/envy on theirs in turn.

“Sorry to ruin the good time and all,” stated Attia, “but we figured that in the spirit of goodwill amongst the group that we’d make sure to keep things from getting too hot and heavy…at least until we’ve all formally had our Baptisms of course.”

“Oh phooey,” groaned Ganessa in response, figuring that her share of ‘Kazuya Time’ had come to its end.

For a moment, Kazuya pondered whether or not to bring up that Ganessa had technically promised to rub lotion on Kazuya’s body after he was done with her.  But deciding to err on caution and not create any further sexual tension among the group, Kazuya chose to relent and simply not bring it up.  The way he saw it, there would be plenty enough time for quality skinship sessions among himself and his partners; no need to push his luck and risk any unpleasantries or the chance of a catfight kicking off.

“Ladies, it’s starting to get late in the evening,” stated Chiffon for the whole group. “What say we wrap things up and head upstairs for dinner?  I figured that Holly and Kaho should be finished or close to finished with preparing things.”

“Sounds good to me,” chimed in Roxanne.

The rest of the group was in line with Chiffon’s proposition and so decided to make their way back up towards the upper levels.  There was only one person who wasn’t in the immediate group whom Chiffon called out to.

“Hey, Elizabeth,” hollered Chiffon, “we’re gonna head back upstairs now for dinner.  You coming?”

“Sure thing!” replied Elizabeth from across the other end of the pool, currently standing on one of the diving boards.  Aftera a few jumps, the blonde-haired British beauty gracefully dove into the water, taking to it like a fish as she swam and wiggled her way through the pool water.  In less than a minute, she had reached the opposite end of the gigantic pool and lifted herself up out of the water…in all of her nude glory.

“I must say, Elizabeth,” said a smiling Roxanne with a hint of teasing in her voice, “you’re REALLY one to show the goods, aren’t you?”

“You’re not far behind in that regard, Miss Elipton,” replied Elizabeth calmly, pointing out the fact that Roxanne was wearing her trademark gold-colored one-piece swimsuit that left very VERY little to the imagination, given that the straps of it just barely covered her buttcrack, maidenhood, and her nipples (even exposing bits of her areolas at the edge of the fabric).

“I’d have to agree with her on that,” stated Rana.  “In a way, you might as well not be wearing anything at all.”

“Is that an invitation to strip, Miss Linchen?” asked Roxanne, her smile getting even more pronounced.

“Please don’t…” muttered a particularly embarrassed Cassie in response.

“Now now, ladies, enough fun and games,” interjected Chiffon.  “Elizabeth, while I respect your desire to…how to put it…swim freely, I suppose, please make sure that you’re wearing something once we’re back upstairs.”

“Duly noted, Miss Fairchild,” grinned Elizabeth in response.

As the group finished up their swimming session, somebody decided to strike up some conversation with Kazuya once again.

“You alright, Kazuya?” asked Rana.  “You look like you have your mind on something.”

“Oh, um just taking in what we heard about today in class, that’s all,” replied Kazuya, who at the moment was propped up on Ingrid’s hip as the group walked (figuring it was her turn for a little ‘Kazuya Time’ as they made their way upstairs).

What Kazuya was referring to specifically was the notification that they received during Miss Yu-Mi’s class was that Kazuya’s Baptism with all of his partners would be occurring within the next six weeks or less.  This was somewhat unorthodox, given that it usually happened between freshman Limiters and their selected Pandoras at least a few months after enrollment.  While six weeks was still quite some time away, it was certainly not what was considered typical.  Even Pandoras like Chiffon waited a solid two months before entering into a Baptism with their chosen Limiter.

‘I’m guessing the old man had a hand in this,’ thought Kazuya as the group made their way upstairs.  ‘This kind of suddenness has Gengo written all over it.  Who else would consider moving up the timetable like that?’

Sensing a touch of seriousness emanating from Kazuya, Ingrid instinctively increased her hold on the young man as she carried him, pressing his head against her bosom as a means of comforting him.  While the gesture was certainly appreciated by Kazuya, it was more arousing than it was calming.  Whether Ingrid knew this already or if she was honestly unaware of it was anybody’s guess.  All the same, Kazuya was glad for her concern.

“I’m sure everything will be fine, Kazuya,” said Chiffon with her usual bubbly demeanor as the group made its way towards the bedroom to change.

After switching into their nightly attire (Elizabeth included), the group made its way to the dining area, where sure enough dinner was ready.  Chiffon announced over the general intercom to all the others to come downstairs for dinner of the compounds speaker system, so as to avoid having to hunt down for all the others one by one.

With that, Kazuya and the others proceeded to enjoy their meal, with Kazuya sitting on Cassie’s lap as the group ate.  He was actually quite surprised that the Godspeed of the East was willing to join in on ‘Kazuya Time’ like the others, given her somewhat meek and shy demeanor.  Perhaps she was more attracted to the young man after the incident involving her and Julia, given that they were at ground zero of the Freezing area which Kazuya inadvertently unleashed.  Whatever the case, as they ate, Kazuya could feel Cassie instinctively hug him tighter against her body and occasionally bury her nose into his hair, sometimes kissing his scalp gently as a term of endearment.

Kazuya could only hope that she didn’t end up running her hand over his crotch, given the excitement which was building up from all of the playful touching she was engaged with as she held the Limiter in her lap.

After dinner, the group proceeded to put away the dishes and prepare to make for bed, given that it was getting late in the evening.  The only thing left to settle at that point was who would be Kazuya’s sleeping partners for tonight.

As it turned out, it ended up being a shared pairing up between the shorter Pandoras of the group, meaning both Charles and Attia.  Given that it had been a while since either of them had a turn with Kazuya, it was seen as somewhat fitting.

“Now don’t go getting too worked up with him now, little Miss Tempest Phoenix,” teased Roxanne.

“Oh hush, you big-boobed zombie girl,” grumbled Charles in response as she rolled her eyes.

With that, the group proceeded to call it in for the night, with Kazuya nestled between both Charles Bonaparte and Attia Simmons.  Even though they didn’t outwardly come off as “head over heels” for Kazuya compared to those like Satellizer, Rana, or Roxanne, both Charles and Attia were certainly willing to get up close and personal when it came to “pressing the flesh” with their Limiter.  And even if their bosoms were comparatively smaller compared to the other Pandoras in Kazuya’s group, they were still certainly more than a handful from his perspective…and certainly QUITE soft as they sandwiched his head from each side.

And so with the day at an end, Kazuya Aoi drifted off to sleep once more in the tender and warm embrace of the two ‘smaller’ Pandoras of his harem.

Meanwhile, in an office within the administrative wing of West Genetics…

A certain Elize Schmitz was going over something on a laptop as her fellow instructor Yu-Mi Kim entered the office, holding a coffee mug in each hand.  Passing one of the mugs over to Elize, Yu-Mi started up some conversation.

“Pulling an all-nighter?” asked the super buxom Pandora to her slimmer cohort.

“I suppose you could say that,” answered Elize as she focused on the computer screen, sipping from the mug briefly before continuing to type away.

“What exactly are you looking at?” inquired Yu-Mi.

“Well, in light of what Sister Margaret told us about moving up the timetable for Kazuya’s Baptism, I found myself rather curious as to why such a development would take place.  So I decided to pull up the medical records of Kazuya and all the Pandoras whom he is currently partnered with.”  Elize explained with a touch of intrigue in her voice.

“Find anything interesting?” asked Yu-Mi as she sipped from her own mug.

“Well, one thing in particular…” Elize trailed off.

“That being?”

“Kazuya’s file,” stated Elize slowly.

“What about it?” asked Yu-Mi with a raised eyebrow.

“Much of it was redacted when I accessed it,” stated Elize with a more serious tone of voice.

“Now why would that be?” asked Yu-Mi, equally confused and intrigued as to why that would be the case with the freshman Limiter.

“My thoughts exactly,” continued the green-haired Pandora.  “So I did a little sleuthing around and used some backdoor algorithms and such to peer into just what would be so important as to keep secret.”

“Elize, you hacked the database?” asked an alarmed Yu-Mi.

“Hacked is such a dirty word, wouldn’t you say?” teased Elize.

“Elize, you understand that if it’s found out that you hacked into personal information, you’ll be reprimanded in some way.  We’re talking time in the brig, a demotion, a forced transfer…maybe even something more severe.”  By this point, the tone in Yu-Mi’s voice was getting rather serious.

“Sorry, Yu-Mi,” replied Elize.  “Guess I’m just too damn curious for my own good.  But you’ll be rather interested to see just what I found.”

“I’m not sure I wanna know, if I’m being honest,” replied the brown-haired Korean Pandora.  “Otherwise, I’m at risk of being your accomplice in this.”

“Just take a quick look, will you,” Elize goaded her fellow instructor/comrade-in-arms to look as what she uncovered.

Sighing and leaning in to gaze upon the screen, Yu-Mi looked over the data file pertaining to Kazuya’s biometrics and other health-related information.  After a minute or so of perusing, her eyes opened up wide at what she saw.

The information she saw had one key piece of information that stuck out like a massive sore thumb, the kind of thing that made her instinctively choke up a bit as she sipped her coffee:

Kazuya Aoi, age 15

1st-Year Limiter, enrolled at West Genetics (Japan)

Over 30 Percent Stigmatic Makeup

“Th-thirty percent of Kazuya’s body is stigmata?” asked an incredulous Yu-Mi.

“Mature stigmata at that,” stated Elize in response.  “We’re talking at a level seen in that of 2nd-year Pandoras at minimum, probably more so on the level of most 3rd-years.  It would also explain what I’ve surmised about Kazuya’s…ability.”

“What ability?” asked Yu-Mi.

“From the way I’ve seen him interact with his Pandoras, I’d wager that he has the ability to initiate a Freezing area and even an Ereinbar Set with them.  I haven’t seen an actual field test, but from the way they act around him, it’s sort of a gut feeling of mine,” explained Elize.

“How do you mean?” inquired Yu-Mi.

“How to put it…” Elize stated deep in thought before continuing, “the sort of ‘goo-goo’ doe-like look in their eyes when they're around him.  It doesn’t always show, but whenever I’m able to catch a sideways glance at them when they think I’m not looking, they have that sort of look as if they’ve been bonded for months, even years.  Like they’ve ALREADY formed a Baptism.”

“But that’s impossible,” stated Yu-Mi.  “Kazuya is a newly inducted Limiter.  He shouldn’t even HAVE stigmata in his body yet.  Were they implanted prior to him being enrolled here?”

“Not sure,” answered Elize.  “But whatever the case, Kazuya DID have those stigmata in his body before coming here.  Whether they were implanted into him at childhood or if he was born with them is anybody’s guess.  But that would explain why he is able to initiate a Freezing area and Ereinbar set with those lovely ladies, assuming he is capable of doing so of course, which I’m guessing he is.”

“What in the world is going on?” asked a rather surprised Yu-Mi Kim.  Clearly this sort of information was top secret for a reason, and almost assuredly Gengo Aoi both knew about it in advance and had a hand in keeping it secret.

Ironically enough, as the old saying goes, “Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.”

Not a moment later, the computer screen went black for a moment, before a new image appeared on the screen.

A live feed of Gengo Aoi himself staring directly at both women.

“Good evening, ladies,” stated the Aoi patriarch.  “Find anything interesting?”

Both Pandoras seized up as their eyes went wide and they stared like deer in the headlights at the white-haired gentleman looking at them on screen.  Given how witty Gengo Aoi was, it was clear enough that he was letting them know that he knew damn well what they had just seen for themselves.

“Mr. Chairman,” began a somewhat nervous Yu-Mi, “to what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Well, I just happened to get a notice on my computer that the database had apparently been hacked by somebody, so I decided to have a look and see what the case was.  I must confess, I’m somewhat impressed by your skills, Miss Schmitz.”  Oddly enough, the tone in Gengo’s voice was remarkably calm.

Elize simply hung her head in defeat, knowing that the gig was up and she could expect a severe reprimand of some kind coming from the de facto “king of the world,” especially for snooping around in top-secret files pertaining to a member of his family no less.

“Sir, I apologize for going out of line,” began Elize in a gravely serious tone.  “I only ask that you not punish Miss Kim as well as me.  I alone was the one behind this hack, so I accept full responsibility for it.  Miss Kim merely walked in as I was working, and…”

“Say no more, Miss Schmitz,” replied Gengo.  “You’ll be happy to know that there won’t be any reprimand or punishment regarding tonight’s actions.”

Both Yu-Mi and Elize blinked rapidly in response to Gengo’s statement.  Normally this type of thing would result in time in the brig, a formal court martial, a demotion, or even formal dismissal from both West Genetics and probably Chevalier itself, given that it involved hacking into and accessing information beyond their clearance level.

“Sir?” asked both Yu-Mi and Elize simultaneously, wondering if they heard the man correctly.

“Listen, ladies,” stated Gengo, “it’s getting late, so I don’t want to take too long in stating this.  Just know that I will summon both of you as well as some of your colleagues for a personal sitdown with me.  We have important matters to discuss, and they do to some extent pertain to the file you just went over.  I’ll look over your scheduling to find a time slot that is convenient for the two of you.”

This was quite remarkable to hear, given that Gengo could simply ORDER them to drop everything and come directly to his office at a moment’s notice, given the military nature of Genetics facilities.

“Understood, sir,” replied Yu-Mi, who was at a loss for anything more to say.

“Yes, understood, Mr. Chairman,” said Elize.

“You can expect to hear from me in the next few days,” Gengo continued.  “Until then, I’d be very appreciative if you could keep what you two saw to yourselves.  In time, all will be explained.  Understood, ladies?”

While the tone in Gengo’s voice was calm, both Yu-Mi and Elize could pick up the sense of a threat laced within the man’s friendliness.  They knew damn well that if they decided to share this information with anyone else that there would most likely be hell to pay in one form or another.  If there was one thing that was assured with Gengo Aoi, it was this:  Cross him and he will find some way to exact punishment from you, whether it was done subtly or bluntly.

“Understood, sir,” replied both women as they instinctively saluted in turn.

“That’s good to hear,” stated Gengo with a mild grin.  “Well then, goodnight Miss Kim, Miss Elize.”

And with that, the screen went black once more.  The office was silent for a good twenty seconds before Yu-Mi decided to speak up.

“What the hell just happened?” asked the Korean Pandora, quite bewildered at this point.

“We just got made,” answered Elize.  “I guess we’re on thin ice with the chairman now.  I’m just curious as to what this summons of his is going to entail.”

“Guess we’ll find out one way or another,” stated Yu-Mi.  “I figured that if he wanted to threaten us, he would have simply done so right there and then.  He also mentioned colleagues of ours…wonder who that entails?”

“We’ll find out when we cross that bridge, I suppose,” sighed Elize.  “I’m calling it a night.  How about you?”

“Yes, let’s,” answered Yu-Mi.  Though admittedly, she wagered she would have some trouble falling asleep tonight, given the revelations found in Kazuya’s biometric datafile as well as Gengo making it perfectly clear that he was aware of them snooping around now.

“Like Alice said during her journey through Wonderland,” muttered Yu-Mi.

“What was it she said?” inquired Elize as they left the office.

“Curiouser and curiouser,” answered Yu-Mi.