Akane's squirming subsided, and she hung her head in shame as she quietly spoke.

"I... surrender."

Shizuru smiled with satisfaction and allowed her trap to loosen slightly. She gently pulled on the chain to bring Akane close enough for the injection. Akane responded with an obvious look of anxiety, trying to remind herself that she had better chances listening to Shizuru than she did resigning herself to certain death.

"Smart girl. Now, just relax. This shouldn't hurt any more than when you first had your nanomachines installed."

With Akane still held in place by the tangled naginata chain, Shizuru inserted the needle just below the frightened girl's left shoulder. So far, everything was working just as it should. The needle was specially designed to puncture an Otome's nanomachine shielding, and the clear contents of the syringe entered Akane's system without resistance. When she was finished, Shizuru pulled away from the defeated Otome and quietly observed her reaction.

Akane was quickly overcome by weariness. Her eyes grew heavy as she heard Shizuru quietly laugh. Her head drowsily slumped downward, and she felt the chain restraint being completely removed from her arms and legs. When Akane drifted into a peaceful sleep, the anti-gravity rings on her ankles and wrists destabilized, and her unconscious form would have been left to plummet thousands of feet below if Shizuru hadn't been inches away to catch her.

A week had passed since Chaldea lost contact with their Meister Otome.

"Lady Shizuru, here's the prisoner you requested."

Two Coral Otome dragged Emperor Kazuya into Garderobe Academy's courtyard. His bruised face showed signs of days of interrogation and beating. He had been captured easily, as there was no way for his kingdom to retaliate or even defend itself from invasion as long as its Otome was missing. He looked up from a forced kneeling position and stared at the uniformed Five Columns standing in front of him, struggling to keep a black eye open.

"You bitches. You haven't even told me what I'm charged of!"

The group of young women only laughed at the powerless Emperor. Mahya Blythe, the tan-skinned Column Otome, was first to speak.

"You're guilty of treason against the Columns, of course. Not to mention conspiring to use your Meister to rebel against us."

Natsuki, the blue-haired Otome, stepped forward and kicked Kazuya in the gut. She taunted him as he lay groaning on the floor.

"Consider yourself lucky. Normally we don't even take the time to explain ourselves to criminals like you before their execution."

Kazuya was overcome with dread at those words, but held on to the hope that Akane was coming to rescue him. After all, if the Columns had killed her, there was no way he could still be alive. Natsuki turned to Shizuru as Kazuya sluggishly climbed back to his knees and silently questioned his fate.

"We've said enough, Shizuru. Send for the executioner."

Shizuru calmly nodded.

"Very well, my Lady."

Shizuru left the courtyard as the remaining four Columns stayed to make sure the prisoner made no attempt to escape. A few minutes after Shizuru left, another, shorter figure emerged from the same doorway. Despite his damaged eyesight, Kazuya recognized the new girl's brown bob cut almost instantly, and a new expression of hope appeared on his face.

"Akane, you're here..."

As she came closer, he saw she was wearing her formal Meister uniform. When she reached the center of the courtyard and stood alongside the four Columns, Kazuya realized what he first blamed on his blurred eyesight was something he was actually seeing. Atop Akane's head were two black cat ears, and emerging from the back of her miniskirt was a white cat tail with black stripes on its tip. She looked down at the captive Emperor curiously, tilting her head to the side as her new set of ears twitched with excitement.

"Huh. Who's he?"

Dread returned to Kazuya's face.

"Akane, what did they do to you?!"

The Emperor desperately cried to his former Otome.

"N-nevermind! Let's get out of here!"

Akane answered his pleading with only the same curious expression as before. She stepped forward and gently knelt on her knees, being careful not to stretch her dark pantyhose. She was at eye level with the pleading Emperor, and she crawled onto all fours as she leaned closer to his face. Her tail waved into a slow pattern as her nostrils gently flared.

"Hmm. Your scent is a little familiar. Have we met?"

Natsuki abruptly stomped her foot to gain Akane's attention. So far, the injection had worked perfectly and Akane had lost all memory of her previous self, but there were some minor doubts that too much socializing with past relationships may reverse the psychological effects of the process. Akane's tail stood up with surprise at the noise, and she curiously looked over her shoulder.

"Akane, enough! You know what we need you to do."

Akane frowned at Natsuki's words.

"Aww, but can't I at least play with him for a few more minutes? He seems funny."

Natsuki shook her head and coldly looked back down on Akane.

"Remember how he tried to hurt Shizuru? It's dangerous if he's alive even a few seconds longer."

Listen to Natsuki: Go to Chapter 14

Ignore Natsuki: Go to Chapter 23