I really didn't think it'd be that big a deal. But in hindsight, I should have figured. After defeating that Two-Headed Serpent, I was swiftly whisked away by Kumar to the second floor, where a bunch of the other instructors and the headmaster were waiting for me.
I was then thoroughly interrogated on the technique I used, a technique that none of them had seen before. I explained that I accidentally figured it out while training with someone, while avoiding mentioning who it was, of course, and that I used it today since I had no other options.
I told them that anyone could probably do it, so they tried it out...but that turned out to not be the case. I was afraid that they might figure out that I'm an Anomaly, through this unrelated clue, so I wracked my brain to appease their skepticism...and suggested that maybe only people with the Dark Attribute can do it. Fortunately, Instructor Joan Anderson, the theory teacher for my class, had the Dark Attribute.
And while her control was kinda unstable since she's a regular Paragon who never uses her XFE, she did manage to establish a shaky control over Kumar...and with that, I was allowed to go home. Before I left, they informed me that they'll probably go public with this newly discovered technique, and asked me if I wanted to be mentioned as the person who discovered it and take the credit or if I wanted to stay anonymous.
I considered it carefully...I don't want too much attention drawn to me, but this might be worth putting my name on...because, let's face it, if someone else took credit for it later on, I'd be pretty pissed, and I wouldn't be able to definitively prove it. And so...I gave them the okay. With that settled, I rushed out, since I had a more pressing matter to attend to...
"Really sorry to keep you waiting!" I apologized, as I caught up.
"No worries, I heard what happened. Did you really take control of that blonde chick's body?"
"Uh, well...yeah, something like that."
Right, so the pressing matter I was talking about...I was going over to Suri's place to pick up the sweets I asked her to have her mother get from Delectables. All day, it had been on the back of my mind, consuming my thoughts...it won't be much longer now before I'll be able to consume those sweets instead...
We took a bus to the Teleportation Point and teleported to the North Quadrant, after which we teleported to the Residential District. There, we got on another bus, which would take us to the area she lived in. I could hardly wait...!
"Chill out, dude, you look like you're gonna pop a blood vessel," Remarked Suri, snapping me out of it.
"Huh? Oh, sorry...I'm just having trouble containing myself is all," I replied sheepishly.
"Well, I kinda get it. I'd have never guess you like sweets so much."
"I suppose, but hey, right back at you," I retorted teasingly.
"...you're the type that's usually quiet but can be kind of a dick when you get used to talking to someone, huh?"
Was I?
"Uh...I can't say for sure, I mean, I can definitely count the people who I currently talk to regularly on one hand, so it's not like I have an especially big sample size," I replied with a shrug.
"On one h-...wait, you mean there's currently less than five people in your life that you talk to on a regular basis? That's kinda, uh..."
Sad? Yeah, I guess that's fair. Let's see, there was my sister and Kumar, for starters...Ruby too, I planned to make an effort to keep in regular touch with her since I wanted to have a good relationship with the person who makes my weapons...hm, who else...I guess Kiran counts too...and Suri...and...uh...nope, I don't speak to anyone else frequently enough to be called regular.
I did sometimes greet and return greetings to classmates like Alex, Seila, Jian, Taayin and Zoya, along with a couple of others, but I never really had full-on conversations with them, let alone on a regular basis.
"I don't really see a problem with it, actually, I kinda prefer it that way, I guess you could say I kinda have trust issues. What about you? I don't see you talking to people much either," I pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, you got me there...I do want to talk to people sometimes, but I'm not good at initiating conversations...and I like spending quiet time alone, there's that too," She admitted with a sigh, "Now that I think about it, I could probably count the number of people I talk to on a regular basis on one hand too."
Huh, at the Academy, I don't think I've seen her speak to anyone besides me, she sometimes made remarks to Kiran if he happened to be there too, but I'd never seen her talk to him if I wasn't around, and besides that, she barely spoke to any of our other classmates unless spoken to.
Anyway, we soon reached the area she lived in, and walked over to her building. Hm, should I visit Ruby afterwards, since she's in the same building too? Nah, maybe another time, I probably shouldn't drop by on such short notice, I'd hate it if someone did that to me. Even my sister had to always text me at least a couple of hours ahead of time if she planned to come over, otherwise I just wouldn't let her in.
"Hey, uh...everything okay, you look kinda worried," I remarked, as we got in the elevator.
"It's nothing, really...well, maybe not nothing, per say...um...I just hope my mom isn't home right now."
Huh? That sounded like she was saying-...no, wait, if I jump to the wrong conclusion, I could end up looking like a total asshole...gotta make sure we're on the same page...
"Oh, I see...any particular reason?" I asked, in a casual tone.
Not very subtle on my part, but whatever...
"She's just, uh...kinda...very intense. I don't want to get into it. So, yeah, it'll be better if she's not-...," She began replying, before her eyes widened and her face turned red, "W-wait, don't get the wrong i-idea, I didn't say that because I was trying to imply that we'd be alone or anything, I mean, y-yeah, we'd be alone, b-but don't get any ideas!"
...thank God I didn't just jump to the seemingly obvious conclusion. Huh, wait, I could've just used my Tier One ability...oh, well, whatever.
"Er, right...I figured you just worded it poorly unintentionally, so don't worry, I wasn't assuming anything," I said, as the air around us felt awkward.
"R-right, that was my bad," She apologized sheepishly, her face still a bit flushed.
We got off the elevator and headed for her place, she unlocked the door and let me in...and no one else is here.
"Guess your mom's not here, huh."
"Yeah, thank goodness. Come on, the sweets should be in the kitchen," She remarked, gesturing to me to follow after her.
I gulped in anticipation as she led me into the kitchen, and sure enough, there were two bags from Delectables in here. Today's limited item was pretty intriguing...they were sphere-shaped, with a shell of smooth, rich chocolate on the outside, inside of which was a layer of combined brownie, chocolate cake and red velvet cake, along with dark chocolate chips, followed by warm chocolate lava with melted marshmallows, and at the very center, was a gooey core made of soft toffee mixed with caramel and butterscotch.
They were called Choc Mouth Bombs, and were bite-sized, coming in boxes of eight bites apiece. Suri's mother had gotten three boxes, since that was the limit of how many one customer could order. Well, I'd have liked two, but if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't even be getting one, so I was definitely not going to complain.
"Give your mom my thanks, this genuinely means a lot to me," I remarked, as she handed over one of the boxes to me.
"Sure, no prob. So, hey...if you're not in a hurry or anything..."
Actually, I was kind of in a hurry, I REALLY wanted to get home and try these, but...even I wasn't going to be rude after she'd gotten this for me...
"No, I'm not especially in any particular hurry...what's up?"
"Well...I was thinking, maybe we could share one of my boxes? I definitely plan on eating one completely by myself, but two might be a bit much, so...wanna stay for a bit and eat it with me?"
"...are you a Goddess?"
"H-hey, quit it with that! So, um...I take it that's a yes?"
"I mean...hell yeah, it is."
Well, talk about an unexpected bonus. I then followed her into her room, which was...pretty normal. A bed, a desk and chair with a laptop, bookshelf, closet and a beanbag.
"Yeah, I know I don't exactly have a lot in here, but I want it like this, it's so much easier to clean when there aren't too many things, you know?"
"Totally agree with you on that. I don't have much more than the bare minimum at my place too."
"So, hey...how do you take control of a person's body? Can you do it to me, I'm kinda curious to see what it feels like," She asked with a look of intrigue.
"Nah, not a good idea...since I have the Dark Attribute, it'll poison you if I take control of your XFE."
"Oh, I see...never mind then."
She then pulled the beanbag towards her bed, sat down on the bed, and gestured for me to sit on the beanbag. As I sat on it, I felt myself sinking into it...I have a beanbag at my place too, but hers feels more comfy...I think it's bigger.
And then, we began digging in...just as always, Delectables didn't fail to disappoint. The outer chocolate shell was sweet and silky smooth, and the brownie and cake inside had absorbed the chocolate lava inside it, which made for a deliciously moist and warm mouthful. And the core on the inside was nice and chewy. The only problem was that when you bit into it, it was hard to keep the chocolate lava from dripping out, but taste-wise, it was another hit.
"That was so good," Suri let out a satisfied sigh a few minutes later, flopping back onto the bed.
"You said it," I agreed contentedly, letting myself sink further into the beanbag, before reluctantly getting up, "Well, I should probably get going, I don't want to overstay my welcome or anything."
"Not really, I don't mind if you stay over a bit longer if you want," She responded, starting to stand up.
As she stood up a bit shakily, her knees wobbled and she lost her balance. She automatically grabbed me to steady herself, but I ended up losing my balance too, and she ended up pulling me with me, as she fell back onto the bed and I landed on top of her, my forehead bumping onto hers.
"Ow...," I muttered quietly, before opening my eyes to see that her face was just inches in front of mine.
"S-sorry about that, are you oka-...," She began, before stiffening and trailing off as her gaze met mine.
My body was pressing down on her, and it was making me notice how soft her body was and how smooth her skin was. Huh, she usually had a frowny expression on her face, but right now, with her face all red, she looked pretty cute...crap, I'm getting really distracted, I need to hurry up and get up before-...
And then...she closed her eyes, her lips parting slightly...woah...yeah, there's no way I can resist that...I wasn't expecting this, but I sure wasn't complaining about it...I tilted my head down lower and kissed her softly, caressing her lips with mine. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders as a slight moan escaped her lips. We then pulled apart for a bit to catch our breath, as her hands ran through my hair on the back of my head.
"You...taste like chocolate," She whispered, her face flushed and her breathing heavy.
Woah, pretty sure that was unintentional, but it was really seductive...
"So do you," I replied, my gaze trailing down to her lips.
"I...I want another taste," She whispered, leaning up and kissing me again, sending shivers down my spine and making my heart race.
That caught me by surprise-...and suddenly, I got taken by surprise again as she kissed me more aggressively and pushed her tongue between my lips, wrapping her legs around my waist. She really isn't holding back, and at this rate, I won't be able to either. As she reached for my jacket and began to take it off, the sound of the front door being unlocked echoed through the apartment. Suri sat up as if she'd been electrocuted, her forehead hitting mine again.
"Ow..."
"Crap, my mom's home...oh, sorry, you okay? Anyway, you better go, trust me on this, she's very overwhelming," she remarked with a look of urgency.
Something told me she wasn't kidding around, though I couldn't deny that I wasn't curious...well, the second hit to my forehead got me out of the mood anyway, so I guess I might as well leave. I got up and picked up my box of sweets, before she grabbed my wrist and pulled me along with her into the living room and towards the front door, which opened and a woman walked in...her mom, huh, she looks just like her, except older and with longer hair.
"Oh, hello...are you one of Suri's friends from-?" She began with a friendly smile.
"He has to go somewhere, mom, no time for introductions!" Interrupted Suri, pulling me out through the doorway and shutting the door behind us, "W-well, um...I'll see you tomorrow, Kilzachs."
"Yeah, sure...see ya later, Suri," I replied, a bit awkwardly.
She waved as I headed for the elevator, her face red, before going back into her apartment, pushing her mother's head back inside as she peered out when she opened the door. Well...that was an unexpected surprise...but definitely not a bad one...after all, I ended up getting more dessert than I expected...
...
...
As it turned out, I passed all three of this month's exams safely. After that, things were pretty uneventful for a while, there were no major changes to speak of. I continued to pass the exams with relative ease, and before I knew it, it was the final month of my Level J classes, and I had already accumulated enough points in the exams of the first five months to make it through to Level Q even if I failed all three of the June exams.
Things had sort of remained the same with Suri, she seemed too embarrassed to talk about what happened, so I didn't bring it up, and eventually, I sort of forgot about it. And nothing much happened since then either, we did make out a few times after that but nothing beyond that. We do talk pretty often these days, more than before. I suppose I'd tentatively call her a friend.
Like I said, things had been uneventful for a while, but towards the end of June, some strange reports starting coming in from X-Warriors, while their death rate was starting to increase as well. A lot more X-Warriors were dying out now, and as for the strange reports...they came from X-Warriors who had survived attacks from what they described as...humanoid intelligent creatures.
They apparently had tough reptile-like skin, along with appendages like tails and wings, but otherwise looked almost human, and could speak. They were really powerful too, and capable of using XFE attacks. That was pretty concerning news, but hopefully, I won't get caught up in it. Hope I didn't just set off a flag...
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