When Satellizer was told to go to the Principal's office she knew it was a bad. When she arrived in the reception area and saw who else was there she realized just how bad it was.
"Well, gang's all here." Annette said. Elizabeth and Rana were also present.
"What is going on here?" Stella demanded.
"Well I don't know," Annette admitted. "I'll give you three guesses what it's about though and the first two don't count."
"Obviously this has something to do with Kazuya." Elizabeth said sounding bored.
"I think it is only fair that I tell all of you that you should give up." Rana said suddenly.
"Oh? Why is that?" Elizabeth asked.
"Because Kazuya-kun and I are soul mates! De arimasu!"
Rana fully expected the other girls to be completely crushed by this news. Instead they merely looked back at her as if wondering if there was anything more.
"Soul mates? Seriously?" Annette began to giggle. "That's cute."
"It is so! He made by Tears of Kulen quiver and shake!"
"Your Tears of Kulen? Is that what you call your special place?" Annette asked with a smirk.
Rana narrowed her eyes at the girl.
"You can't put some sort of special claim on Kazuya just because he gives you special feelings too." Satellizer said.
"Too?" Elizabeth said.
The attention shifted to Satellizer.
"Did Kazuya-kun also make your Tears of Kulen tremble? De arimasu?"
"What happened between Kazuya and I is a private matter." Stella said primly.
"What'd you do?" Annette asked. "Let him touch your hand?"
Satellizer blushed slightly. "I, I made him a nice dinner and we ate together."
Rena looked devastated.
"You cooked for him?" Elizabeth said with a well-practiced condescending tone. "How domesticated. I held a catered celebration in his honor and served him four star cuisine."
"I took him out dancing and got him drunk." Annette said.
Now all eyes turned to her.
"You got a freshman drunk?" Elizabeth said sternly.
"Oh don't even try," Annette said. "We were off campus. Any way weren't you serving him alcohol too?"
"I had champagne and wine served to all my guests. I certainly wasn't trying to get him drunk."
"Too bad," Annette said smirking. "Kazuya's a lot more fun once he loosens up."
"Did you do anything to Kazuya?" Stella asked clenching her fists.
"Did I do anything?" Annette tapped a finger against her chin as if trying to recall. "Well that depends. Does grinding up against him on a dance floor count?"
Satellizer clamped her teeth down. She understood that she and Kazuya were not a couple and she had no real claim to him. In spite of that knowledge she couldn't help but feel a spark of jealousy come to life. She didn't understand what there was between them, but she knew he was special to her.
"That… that is very very shameless of you! De arimasu!"
"Oh, then I had better not mention the fact that we kissed. Oops! Did I say that out loud? My mistake."
Rena's jaw dropped and black clouds surrounded her. "You kissed him? My soul mate?"
Elizabeth was silent but clearly unhappy about the revelation.
"Guess I'm one up on the rest you, huh?" Annette said.
"No," Stella said suddenly. "We've kissed as well." She hadn't intended to tell anyone about that, but hadn't been able to hold it in any longer.
"You?" Annette said. Her smugness was gone in an instant. "You kissed him?"
Satellizer's face reddened a bit and she dug the toe of a boot into the carpeted floor. "Actually he kissed me."
"You didn't beat him up after that did you? De arimasu?"
"Of course not!"
"It's a fair question Untouchable Queen." Elizabeth said. "You have a reputation for hurting anyone who so much as touches you."
"Kazuya is different." Satellizer said.
"Obviously." Elizabeth said.
"Well I'm impressed I didn't think you had it in you to seduce someone." Annette said.
"I didn't! It wasn't anything like that! It just… it just, sort of happened."
"So did you also let him feel you up?" Annette asked.
"What?" Stella choked out.
"Oh come on don't be shy. You've got an amazing pair and any guy would love to get his hands on them." Annette said.
"Satellizer-san you did not so such a thing did you? De arimasu?"
"No! We haven't done anything like that."
"Yet." Elizabeth annunciated the word with deliberate care.
Satellizer's face turned an even deeper shade of crimson.
"Maybe Kazuya-kun prefers small supple breasts? De arimasu?" Rena said sounding desperate.
"What are you all talking about?" The principal said from her office door.
The four Pandoras all looked at one another.
"We're just comparing notes Principal." Elizabeth finally said.
"I see," Sister Margaret said clearly not believing it. "Well in any case come in I need to talk to all of you."
XXX
"A mini-Carnival?" Satellizer said. The surprise in her voice was reflected in the faces of the other girls. "When I suggested it you said no right away."
"Things have changed a bit since then." The principal said.
"I asked to have a one on one session with Kazuya." Elizabeth said clearly unhappy. "Why are the others being included in this?"
"Kazuya has a very important role to play. While no one is going to force him to choose a partner Central Command is, shall we say eager, to have him make a choice sooner rather than later."
"Are you trying to just use Kazuya-kun? De arimasu?"
"No," Sister Margaret said. "He is still a student here and has all the rights and privileges of any other student. That said, the fact he remains he is unique. There is no getting around that. All of you who come here are being trained to go to war. In a very real sense all of you are soldiers the moment you are enrolled here. Fair or not Kazuya has had certain expectations placed on him."
"That still doesn't explain why the others were added to what should have been a private training session." Elizabeth said.
"I want to help Kazuya to choose a partner. I felt that would be easier if he got to see all of your abilities rather than just a single girl's."
"So whoever wins gets to be Kazuya's partner?" Satellizer asked. Looking around the room at her potential opponents it would be hard, but she would never lose. She was more than ready to fight to be with Kazuya.
The Principal shook her head. "I told you before; he is not a prize for you to win. This is a chance for him to grasp your abilities and better judge who he should work with. The four of you will be fighting against him. You are specifically for bidden to battle one another. Doing so will result in suspension and loss of class rank."
"You want all four of us to attack him?" Annette asked not believing it. "We'll kill the poor boy!"
"Don't be so certain of that," Sister Margaret said. "This will be his first taste of real combat, but he is far from helpless. Central Command is actually quite eager to see the results. I expect all of you to fight seriously. Remember this is a chance for each of you to impress Kazuya with your abilities."
There was a short silence as the girls considered that.
"In that case I will definitely, definitely beat Kazuya-kun up and make him like me the best! De arimasu!"
"I'll be you were a very popular girl back in third grade." Annette said.
"What?" Rena asked lost.
Sister Margaret smiled at all of them. "I look forward to this Saturday, I am certain none of you will disappoint me. You are free to go. Satellizer please wait a moment I want a word with you."
What did I do now? She waited as the others left.
"Yes Principal?"
"I didn't want to say this in front of the others, but Kazuya mentioned to me that he likes you more than any of the others."
"He did?" She felt a sudden flutter of joy.
"He did," Sister Margaret confirmed. "He didn't share any details but he did mention that he felt a certain connection to you that he didn't with any of the other girls." The Principal didn't mention the possible reason for that. Whether the nature of Satellizer's stigma were responsible or not she didn't know and saw no reason to bring it up. "He is not ready to choose yet, but I thought I should at least tell you his feelings."
"Thank you, I really appreciate it."
Stella felt a great deal of relief. When Annette had mentioned kissing him Stella had wondered if the feeling she had were not being returned. He had completely surprised her and gotten past all her defenses with just one single kiss.
If Kazuya had told the Principal that he had special feelings for her then it had to be true. He wouldn't have had any reason to lie about that. I want to win your heart Kazuya. Please just give me a chance and I will prove myself to you.
"I know you have had a difficult time here Satellizer-san. However I truly hope that you do not give up and fight for whatever it is you want."
It was very rare to hear encouragement from anyone. Knowing the Principal wanted her to succeed was certainly a pleasant surprise. "I will."
"Well that's all I wanted to pass on to you, you're free to go."
Once Satellizer left Sister Margaret reflected on the words she'd spoken. They were true, but not quite as innocent as they appeared. There were many things going on behind the scenes. Wheels within wheels were turning and all sorts of plans were being made. The V Project was moving forward and certain sacrifices would have to be made.
To save humanity everyone had to be expendable.
XXX
Leaving the office Satellizer was surprised to find the other girls still there waiting on her.
"Let's go somewhere and talk," Elizabeth said. "I have a proposition for all of you."
The four girls wound up in Annette's room.
"I think we all agree we each want the chance to really shine in Kazuya's eyes." Elizabeth waited as each girl nodded her agreement to that. "If all four of us attack him at once it's likely to be over before he even knows what's hit him. No one really wins that way."
"Are you suggesting we fight each other first to see who faces him?" Stella asked.
"The Principal said we can't do that, de arimasu." Rena said.
"Very true," Elizabeth agreed. "As usual Satellizer you fail to understand that there are other methods to decide things besides fighting."
"What are you suggesting then?" Stella asked.
"We have to fight him seriously and not fight each other… but no one said we had to fight all at once. My suggestion is that we face him one to one and we all agree not to interfere until either the girl or Kazuya wins. That way he will get a real impression of who he is fighting."
Satellizer thought about it carefully. "I'm game, but how do we choose the order? Obviously whoever fights him first has a huge advantage. If she beats him none of the other girls even get a chance."
"We can draw lots and choose the order that way." Elizabeth said.
"No," Annette said immediately. No lots, no cards, no dice, no slips of paper in a hat; nothing that can be rigged."
Elizabeth turned a frosty glance Annette's way. "Do you not trust me?"
"Not even a little."
"I have the perfect solution! De arimasu!"
"Oh this should be good." Annette said.
"Rock, paper, scissors! It is completely fair and will let us each determine our own fate! De arimasu!"
"You want to settle this with a child's game?" Elizabeth said coldly.
"Actually I'd be okay with that." Annette said.
"It seems as fair as any other way." Stella said.
"Fine then." Elizabeth said.
"You each have a very fair and reasonable kulen! Let's break into pairs and have it be best two out of three. The winners face each other to decide between first and second. Losers to decide third and forth."
Without any discussion the two third years faced each other as did the two second years. Stella was confident she would win out. She would never lose.
Three minutes later
"I can't believe I lost!" Satellizer said. "I lost twice!"
Rena was jumping about excitedly. "I knew my kulen would not fail me! I shall thoroughly beat up my soul mate and make him like me the best! De arimasu!"
The order was Rena first, Elizabeth second, Annette third and Satellizer fourth.
"I knew I should have pushed for a drinking contest." Annette muttered.
