"A boy?" Rokujo repeated, aghast.
"Yes," Tamao said. She had managed to get a one-on-one with Rokujo after that day's council meet, just after Nagisa and Shizuma left.
"And what did this boy do?"
Tamao's gaze fell, her surety faltering. It didn't feel right to tell Rokujo about the "angel", but that boy gave her the creeps. No matter what Nagisa said, Tamao didn't like him. Period.
"From what I could tell, he renewed the closeness between Nagisa and Shizuma, but that's not what's bothering me. He hasn't appeared since Nagisa-chan and the Etoile started this 'soulbond' thing, and..."
Rokujo held a hand up, her expression flat. "Not another word." She stood up, straightened the paperwork on her desk, and said, "Take me back to that clearing. Now."
They saw him at the clearing, along with a stunningly beautiful, curvy woman of about nineteen. She had black hair tied in a ponytail, and all of her clothing was purple save for a large, pink ribbon tied around her waist. She had a card in her left hand, and was frowning at the boy, who, Tamao saw, was sitting on a log, arms crossed and also frowning.
Rokujo stepped forward. "Excuse me."
The boy looked up, and the pair turned to face Rokujo, who folded her arms and stated: "May I ask what you are doing here?"
The girl gave her an appraising look, then turned back to the boy. "Guess we attracted someone's attention, after all." She sheathed the card down the front of her chest, still addressing the boy, "I'll keep an eye on those two. Don't overdo your mission, okay, Mike?"
"Thanks." He muttered, and without another word, the girl tossed a gray ball, and vanished in a puff of smoke. The boy named Mike got up, brushed himself off, and turned to give a cold stare at Rokujo.
Rokujo flinched, but stood her ground. "I asked you what you are-"
"I heard you the first time," Mike interrupted, "And it's none of your business."
"It is my business if you do not have permission from the Head Mistress to be here," Rokujo said coldly, "I'll ask again: What are you doing here? And who are you?"
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he said, "It's impolite to ask for someone's identity without introducing yourself first. And I stand by what I said before: Why I'm here and what my purpose is does not concern you."
"But it concerns Shizuma and Nagisa?!" Tamao exclaimed. She walked forward, next to Rokujo, and pointed an accusing finger at him. "What did you do to my best friend?! Hypnotize her?!"
The boy blinked in surprise. "How do you...?" His face changed smoothly to stony blankness. "She told you."
"She did!" she cried.
"Then you have nothing to worry about. Their soulbond is a blessing, not an illusion."
"You're not making any sense," Rokujo said.
Again, he didn't answer quickly. Hands in his pockets, he stared at the ground for a moment, apparently thinking. Suddenly, he said, "If you know those two, then I have a favor to ask."
Rokujo and Tamao stared. "A favor?"
"Shizuma and Nagisa don't know all of what the soulbond entrails. Until they complete the bond, what they don't know will hurt them." He withdrew a white envelope from his pocket. "I'd like for you to deliver this to them the next time you see them."
Tamao took the letter, perplexed. "But why-?" She looked back up, and the boy had...disappeared.
"It's so easy to spread gossip around the school," Sayashiki Momomi murmured.
"Indeed," her girlfriend, Kenjou Kaname, agreed, "And with the school in such an uproar, it'll be impossible for Amane to secure the position of Etoile." She lathered her breasts, her eyes closed in deep thought. "Maybe this will give Tomori time to reconsider."
Momomi laid herself on top of her lover, breasts rubbing together pleasurably. "Maybe so. Maybe not. We just need to wait and see." She kissed Kaname, reaching her hand inside her.
"Yes," she whispered, "Wait and see."
"So, there is someone here who is tainted with darkness?" Sheena asked.
"Yes." Michael said. He and Sheena were back in the clearing, protected by a dome of Spirit meant to redirect anyone who got within thirty feet of them. "I cannot tell who, but there is darkness here. It's that darkness that is the source of the school's dissent."
"And you think it might interfere with the girls' soulbond?"
Michael closed his eyes, his hands balling into fists. "I don't think it will. I KNOW it will." His eyes snapped open, pupils shrinking until they disappeared, his eyes a radiant, whirling brown and glowing with power in the natural darkness of the night. "And it needs to be stopped."
Sheena sighed, "Okay, your call. But try not to draw more attention to yourself." She stood up. "And try to keep your power under control. If you don't, you might have another Outburst, and that's the last thing we need."
He gazed at her. "Come to think of it, why did you offer to help me with this mission?"
Sheena smiled, wrapping her arms around him. "I want to help, that's all. Is that wrong?"
Michael's hands relaxed, and he smiled too. "No, not at all." He extricated himself from her. "I must go. I can feel the first thread being forged." He gave her a quick kiss, then stepped back and got on one knee.
In a flash of light, he was gone.