Андерс Каран К.

The Book of Firsts

Author’s Note

Spelling is Australian English.

One

The first day of the last year of high school brought me a fresh consignment of strangers. The idea that I might know some of this batch for more than a few months had preoccupied me ever since I’d arrived in Helios. With parents who changed countries on average twice a year, there’d been precious little continuity in my life, but the approach of final exams had won me an apartment of my own, and an uninterrupted year at Corascur High, a gateway school to one of the top universities in the world. If I didn’t sabotage myself, I’d be in this city for at least the next six years.

Corascur made this change of pace doubly odd. Both selective and expensive, it was the kind of place politicians and CEOs sent their children. Behind a double-high fence, buildings formed islands among a sea of trees. I spent the morning on the fringe of the junior orientation tour, half-listening to an excess of tradition and rules, and then tucked up the back of an enormous theatre, ignoring the speeches.

Some of it filtered through. Clubs. School trip. A festival. Sports day. A dance. Talk of school spirit, and growing together. These were things that didn’t resonate with me in any meaningful way. I had always been the new girl, the girl leaving at the end of the term, the one who arrived after the festival, or left just before. Even a single year in the same place, with the same people, would be a very new experience. If it wasn’t finals year, perhaps I could appreciate it, but the course I wanted had an annual intake of only fifty, leaving me less confident than usual in my academic abilities. I couldn’t waste energy playing around: this year I would be the boring girl who did nothing but study.

After the speeches, we were released early for lunch and directed to an enormous multi-floor servery capable of dealing with the hundreds of students descending upon it. The main dining hall was vast, with grand arched windows overlooking a slope, and then several tiers of sporting fields. There were currently plenty of free seats, but the place was loud, all clatter, chatter, and scrape of chairs, so I bought a simple cheese sandwich and took a side door.

Past a handful of patio tables there were gardens, and a tangle of hedges. The clipped bushes bordered a number of paths, but I slipped through a gap in the hedge instead, and wandered into a cluster of trees between high walls. This turned into a T-junction dead end which, beneath dense canopy and crowded trunks, felt dank and damp even on a late summer day. I solved that by climbing. Above the heavy lower branches, I found the mix of temperature and peace I wanted out of a lunch place. Then, over the high stone fence, I spotted an even better location: an enclosed rectangle of greenery next to the main administration building, dominated by an octagonal summer house decked out with pink climbing roses. There was even a wooden picnic table in a sunny spot to its right. Just waiting for me.

I immediately jumped down, narrowly avoiding an outdoor café table and two chairs set immediately below, and crossed to the summer house.

Set against the wall of the administration building, it was roomy enough to comfortably fit at least a half-dozen for lunch. The rose trained over it was a pale pink, plump and heavily scented. Wandering around to where the blooms were thickest, I took a couple of photos, and incidentally discovered a faucet beside a wall-mounted coil of hose, and an open window into the summer house. The door was open as well, and, unable to resist, I circled around and stepped into the spacious interior.

To my right a custom couch filled three segments of the octagon. To the left was a shelving unit and desk, along with a wooden chair. The only other furniture was a heavy square coffee table, closer to the window. All very nicely appointed. Perhaps the principal had lunch here?

An array of cups and glasses filled the open sections of the shelving unit, and a kettle sat on the desk next to a leather-bound book. This had a locked clasp, key currently inserted, and I couldn’t resist turning it, and taking a look. Someone had practiced their calligraphy on the title page:

The Book of Firsts

The beautifully flowing script continued in smaller letters below: "Let the Best Player Win".

Curious, I turned the page, and found a numbered list, the content completely outside of my expectations.

1. Kiss—no other touch. One minute max.

2. Seated massage (fifteen minutes). Clothes remain on.

3. Twenty minutes, above the waist only. Clothes remain on.

4. Strip each other, and exchange three hickeys and one kiss.

5. Missionary.

6. Oral.

7. Doggy.

8. Her on top

9. Face down.

10. On a table.

11. Butterfly.

12. On a chair.

13. Simon Says.

14. Standing up.

15. Sleeping bag.

16. Rough.

17. Fantasy Costume.

18. Bondage and blindfolds.

Bonus. Everything she likes best.

I laughed. It seemed the kind of thing scrubby twelve-year-old boys would write, and yet…not. Wishing I had some idea of the context, I flipped through blank pages all the way to the end, and finally found what looked like a scoring system. But before I settled down to read it, I rested a hand on the desk and felt radiant heat. The kettle. It had been recently boiled.

Hastily, I relocked the book, left the summer house, and managed to get myself to the top of the wall before a murmur of approaching voices told me how close I was to discovery. I hopped as lightly as I could manage to the nearest branch, pressed against the trunk of the tree and, partially concealed by sprays of dark leaves, held myself as still as possible as three boys came through the gate.

"Already more than the expected amount of running off to answer summonses," the first boy was saying. The tallest—at least six foot three—he wore his light brown hair twisted up into a loose half-knot that somehow managed elegance instead of disorder. His voice was gentle, with a soft French accent.

"Much trouble?" the second boy asked. Above average in height, but still at least a couple of inches shorter than the first boy, he wore his sleek black hair stylishly cut, and had, at a guess, Korean or Japanese heritage.

"A minor test of patience," the first replied. "We should postpone trying the Jade Dragon—I don’t want to waste it by hurrying."

The last boy didn’t say anything, drinking from a carton of flavoured milk before arranging his blazer on the picnic table and lying down. This position left him with a dangerously direct view of my tree branch, but all I could do was put my hopes on the shielding foliage, and the fact that his pale blond hair hung over his eyes. Fortunately, I’d kept my own blazer on, since the white uniform shirt would have stood out like a beacon.

Entirely fascinated, I watched the tallest emerge from the summer house with two steaming cups balanced on the leather book. Thankfully he was looking down at the cups, and not up. He passed one cup to the sleekly finished boy, and they dropped out of sight—probably sitting at the café table directly below me.

"Any other issues?" the tall boy asked. "Beyond the obvious."

"The obvious is a rather large point," the second boy said. He had a fabulous voice, deep to the point of mesmerising, despite a dust-dry tone. "But add that the scores should be kept secret until after completion. Knowing how we’ve been rated might change our behaviour. Not that I see any way to stop the girl from marking the one of us she likes most the highest, no matter who has the better technique."

"Will you claim bias if you’re rated last?" the tall boy asked. "Any additions to the challenges?"

"Too many and we’ll end up distracted in the exam period. We need to factor in delays, weeks when we’re busy. And we have more than enough to keep us occupied the last half-term."

"Tuesday and Friday have free study or club activity directly after lunch, so those will be the challenge days. Are you fine with Thursday morning being the second-place decider?"

"What do you want to do for days we can’t row?"

"Rock Paper Scissors?" The tall boy laughed, a soft, throaty sound. "It needs to be something where we’re relatively evenly matched."

"That will do for now. We can alter it later if necessary. The first-place decider we’ll map out week to week—so long as we keep away from our particular areas of strength, there should always be something coming up."

"Which brings us back to the obvious question. If you’re still confident someone suitable will agree."

The boy with the beautiful voice let out a derisive snort. "Rin. It’s us. Every second girl in the school would say yes, so long as we treat her with common courtesy, and it’s kept secret."

"I’m not arguing that point," the tall boy—Rin—replied. "Just whether we can find an every second girl who isn’t chatty."

"True. I can’t think of many who wouldn’t hint heavily to at least one friend. Not to mention one who lacks a boyfriend and a strong opinion about our relative merits. Every second girl is rapidly becoming one in a thousand."

"No opinion of us could only be found among the freshmen," Rin replied. "Where we will not tangle. Among Seniors, there are only a handful who are reasonably likely to judge us equally, yet aren’t a sure recipe for drama and recrimination."

"Hanni, Anika or Shan," the second boy said. "All of them have a detachment that I suspect is necessary."

"Not Anika," Rin said, firmly.

"Hanni’s in love with you, Kyou," added the third boy. "Has been since first year." His voice was terrible, a smoker’s croak out of place with the beauty of his features, but he spoke with utter certainty.

"Well, that leaves Shan. Shall we decide on our approach?"

"I vote for the kitten up the tree," said the third boy. "Nice legs."

Silence, then the others sprang into sight, backing so they could follow the third’s gaze. I didn’t move, except to say: "I’m more Cheshire than kitten," and bit the inside of my cheek to add to my nerve.

The one called Kyou eyed me coldly, while the third boy remained sprawled on his bench. It was left to the tallest, Rin, to laugh gently and say: "Please, give me a moment to be at a loss for words while I think back on all the Completely Innocuous Things we were talking about."

"Would it help to mention that I flipped through that book you’re holding while I was trying to figure out what this place was? What is this place, by the way?"

"The Student Council President’s private garden," Kyou said, voice travelling briefly to Siberia, but then returning to a more pragmatic zone. "And you have the advantage of us. Shall we make polite introductions, then discuss terms?"

"Terms?" I moved from the branch to sit on top of the wall. "Are you thinking of surrendering something?"

"Smallish breasts though," offered sleeping beauty, seemingly unconcerned by any prospect of scandalous gossip.

I helpfully arranged my legs to show them to their best advantage and said: "Before we head down the path of cross-purposes, I’ll mention that I came to this school to cram for my preferred course at Helios U. I’ve no interest in starting my year embroiled in a pointless furore about a…sporting challenge."

Rin’s smile relaxed a little, but Kyou remained on guard. Then he paused, and the edged expression he produced made me shiver.

"But are you interested in challenges?" he asked.

"Really, Kyou?" Rin asked, but he looked up at me in a different way.

"You have to admit a certain serendipity. And Bran’s right about her legs." Kyou smiled up at me. "You’re a transfer into the senior year, yes? Someone who doesn’t know us, with no pre-existing ideas. It’s the best chance we’ll have at anything resembling objectivity, especially if we have nothing to do with each other outside this garden. It would be ideal if we could stay almost strangers, and focus all interaction on the challenges. If you’ve read the book, you know the concept—every Tuesday and Friday over and after lunch until you can make all the ratings. What do you say?"

The twist of his lips and direct gaze were an outright dare, one I refused to blink before, though I had to take a slow breath. My answer should be an automatic no. This was a year where I would have little time to spare, and that conversation had been arrogant to the brink of insufferability. And yet, if I were to look at this pragmatically, this might even be a solution to one of my biggest problems.

"You’d need to give me the results of some amazingly thorough STD screenings before I could even begin to answer that," I said briskly. "I’ll get one too," I added, before they could respond. "After all, you don’t know where I’ve been."

Kyou laughed, somewhere between surprise and appreciation, and said: "Reasonable," but then paused in response to the nearly-inaudible summons of his phone. He looked at the screen, then said: "Winston’s hunting for those uniforms, Bran. Rin, make arrangements for where to put the test results."

Kyou nodded to me as if matters were entirely settled, and headed for the gate. The third boy, with the face of an angel and the voice of a crow, said: "Goodbye, Cheshire," and followed him, leaving me to the one called Rin, who was shaking his head.

Sliding forward off the wall, I landed neatly on the grass, a little closer to him than I expected. I wasn’t used to feeling towered over. His body, all long limbs, could look gangling, but he turned it into articulated grace.

"I only read the list part of the book," I said. "What are the rules?"

Rin looked down at me. "Are you truly thinking of doing this?"

"Thinking being the operative term. A lot will depend on what I hear about you three over the next few days—and the results of the tests. I take it you’re the student council?"

"Part of it. I’m your President, Rin Laurent. The Vice-President decorated the table: Bran Ashten. Kyou is our Treasurer. Kyou Westhaven."

"I’m Mika Niles. This is my first day. I find your school unexpectedly entertaining."

"I, too, am entertained," he said. But then added very steadily: "It will be something to remember, if we go through with it, but absolutely nothing any of us can repeat. I say that as both assurance and threat."

"Give me credit for some measure of intelligence. So, the rules?"

His eyes were tilted, long-lashed, the irises a very pale gold. They were like Champagne-coloured glass when his face was solemn. He surveyed me a moment longer, then nodded.

"Simple enough. Comparative merits for each challenge, with a side-contest of whoever completes all the challenges first winning an individual bonus game worth a single point. Each week we’ll compete among ourselves, and the two who win will present themselves up here on Tuesday and Friday, and try to impress."

"Those days are when you’re not likely to be interrupted?" I said, and he nodded.

"Club activities are usually outside lesson hours, but there’s two periods—Tuesday after lunch, or the last two periods on Friday, which can be used for anything from self-study to Club—you just can’t leave the school grounds. Pick a club that’s flexible about attendance. The nature appreciation club, or the library club, or most of the art ones. Once all of us have completed a challenge, you would score us on which was better. Put aside whichever of us you like more and focus just on the experience. Each first is worth ten points, second is six and third is four. After all the challenges are complete, we’ll total it up, and acknowledge the winner. Then ritually burn the book, and never speak of it again."

"Some of those steps didn’t exactly sound like they’re focused on my experience. Fantasy Costume?"

"I think the idea with that was picking something that made you feel…excited."

He smiled down at me, reminding me that we were standing quite close, and were very much alone. And yet, I didn’t have any real sense that he was likely to try something. If anything, this Rin Laurent seemed only vaguely amused by the situation.

"You don’t seem the type to get involved with a competition like this."

"Ah, well, this started because we overheard a girl talking about us—someone Kyou had gone out with, and I’d pursued briefly the year after. Last year she won a kiss from Bran in a fundraising auction at the school festival, and she was telling her friend that Bran was by far the best kisser. We spent a few days joking about that, but then Kyou said that we should get a definitive answer by blindfolding a volunteer." He shrugged. "We’re very competitive, and none of us would admit we would lose, and matters escalated. Besides…"

"Besides?"

He hesitated, then said: "A year ago Bran had a long-term relationship end. And he…stopped. Didn’t go to class. Didn’t play. Barely ate. For months. We’ve managed to get him showing up for class, and he’s eating, but he still hands in blank exam papers as often as not. Something about Kyou and I making an idiotic list of items for comparison sparked his imagination, and so we’re running with it."

"Sounds like you three have a lot of history."

"We share a great-grandfather," Rin said. "We grew up in the same neighbourhood. Same kindergarten, same schools, same excruciating family events. Same classes, same sports. Same absolute determination to be the one to win, every time, and if we lose, to win the next one." He frowned, glancing at the now empty picnic table. "The important thing is that Bran is finally interested in a new game."

"It’s definitely an original way to make sure someone passes their finals," I said, and was reminded of my own worries on that count.

"Well, I also want to prove my superiority," he said, and for a moment did make me feel a little dangerous.

"Will this place only be used by you three?" I asked, refusing to be flustered.

"No, we’ll occasionally invite other members of the council for meetings. And the gardeners and faculty both have a spare key. The faculty isn’t supposed to come in unannounced, though, and the gardeners usually do their mowing and trimming in the mornings. The access path runs straight past the main teachers' office windows, though, so they have a good idea who comes in and out—by the gate, at least."

"If we’re not going to have anything to do with each other outside this garden, what happens if plans change? Email?"

"Hm. Better not. I have sisters who snatch my phone. Look for something cat-related on the school forums for the moment. And I’ll also show you a secret of the garden."

He turned and headed into the summer house, pressing two places on the shelving above the desk. A small door opened to reveal an empty space.

"Only the senior council members know this is here. It’s where we’ll keep the book, especially after this early lesson in never leaving it about, even when we only think we’re leaving for a moment. We don’t have anything else of value in there." He closed the door, and had me try triggering the hidden latch. "We’ll put our screening results in here next Monday—presuming we can get results that quickly. And then—" He met my eyes. "Then it will be Tuesday and I will kiss you."

"You’re that confident of winning? Not to mention me agreeing?"

"Well, I find that I hope that you will. And I am at least confident of the first battle we three had agreed on."

"Well then," I said, deciding I did want to kiss him. "Good luck."

Two

The first period of my second day at Corascur, and the alphabet had set me up at a double desk in the dead centre of my new Home Room: 12-8. I’d arrived early, around the same time as my short blond desk mate, who introduced herself as Lania Nichols before being drawn off to the windows by friends to exclaim at being in the same form class.

Taking out my tablet, I explored the resources of the school website until a warning beep sounded over the intercom, about five minutes before the hour. The class quieted immediately, even though our teacher hadn’t yet arrived. Orientation had informed me that it was a strict rule of Corascur for the class to put itself in order when the warning sounded, and I reflected on the mixture of freedom and high expectation of my new school, and the likelihood of expulsion if caught indulging in sporting challenges in the student council’s private garden.

When Lania returned to our desk, I gave her a quick smile in return for her apologies, and glanced down at the picture currently displayed on my tablet.

"Are there no girls on the student council?"

"Six, including me," she said, and followed my gaze. "That’s just the executive. There’s ten people on the council this year. Even the Three Kings couldn’t manage everything Corascur gets into during the year."

"Three Kings?"

"No guesses why we call them that. They’ve had the title since they were new to the school. The early rumour was they were all royalty, but that’s not true. They’re just, well…" She flicked her fingers at the picture and said, almost disdainfully. "Resplendent."

The previous night I’d spent some time hunting through the school forums, and found plenty about these three boys. Rich, talented, smart. Considered equable when dealing with most people, but dangerous to cross. Inseparable. Above all, gorgeous.

The picture certainly showed them to advantage. Blazers buttoned and ties straight, they stood with Kyou at the forefront, arms folded and expression serious, with Rin and Bran a step back and to the sides. Rin was smiling with a gentle warmth that did not at all match the person I’d met, while Bran’s eyes were focused somewhere slightly above the camera, giving him the look of a mystic visionary. A sublime, otherworldly creature.

"So, they got in on their looks?" I asked, allowing a hint of disparagement to colour my voice.

"Oh, no. They’re the school’s top students as well. Not to mention excellent sportsmen, with a bucket of talent in the arts. They’re so overendowed with skills and graces they’re almost nauseating." Lania grinned. "Almost."

I remembered Kyou’s beautiful voice: Rin. It’s us.

"Better still, all of them are available this year," Lania continued. "Or, rather, word’s gone around that they’ve temporarily sworn off girls in favour of study. Naturally this has been interpreted as Open Season."

That was hardly surprising. I looked down at the picture again, conflicted. Despite my careless pose when Kyou first raised the idea, I still wasn’t sure I’d go through with it. It had never occurred to me to kiss someone I hadn’t established at least a friendship with, let alone try the rest of the things on that little numbered list.

But, like Bran, my imagination had been caught. Which of them would be the best kisser? Which would touch me in such a way that I would think them best? Would one be hot and hasty, another slow and careful? I wouldn’t even know, week to week, exactly which of them would come to the garden. The arrogance of that "It’s us" only added a piquancy, since I would be sitting in judgment on them. The Three Kings of the school, serving themselves up for my consideration.

Dangerous.

Delicious.

* * *

That afternoon I met my Home Room seatmate again.

"Mika—I didn’t realise you were planning on joining the Art Club!"

Lania, detaching herself from a handful of students gathered around some partially constructed canvas stretchers, came to greet me, and drew me back to the group.

"Mika’s new to Corascur," she explained. "Sits next to me in Home Room."

"Welcome to the Art Club," said the student who seemed to be in charge—a serious boy my own height, with blue dyed hair and unforgettable cheekbones. "I’m Carr. We’re just talking through what we need to produce this term. You’re familiar with the role of the Club?"

"Doing the backdrops for the Theatre Club, posters for events, and any incidental artwork requested?"

"That’s right. We work on school projects on Tuesday’s study break, and Wednesday after classes. The Friday afternoon session we work on personal pieces, except in the lead-up to the festival, or when there’s an urgent request. Today we’re starting our first task of the year: themed paintings to go with the Patron’s Lunch. Do you have a particular area of strength?"

"Construction," I said. "And illustrations of buildings."

"We need ten stretchers," he said. "So, construction sounds ideal just now."

Stretchers were a simple task. Saw bits of wood for a frame, glue and staple it together, and then staple canvas over it and prep it with a white base. As we worked, Lania made a string of introductions, which ran together into suenataschaseananikarick, and naturally I focused on the Anika part. The candidate Rin had ruled out. A petite girl, with neat brown hair and fabulous, enormous blue eyes, giving her calm expression an almost preternatural detachment. I wondered what her expression would be reading that list.

"Construction, huh?" asked the tallest of the boys, round-cheeked and sporting a bleached crewcut, who I think was the one called Rick. "You aiming to be an architect?"

"Civil engineer via an engineering physics degree," I said. "Though I’m also interested in design generally."

"What got you into that?"

"A bridge. One called Galloping Gertie." I smiled in response to the group’s bemusement. "The Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the US. It started twisting and bucking in the wind, and eventually collapsed. I saw a video, when I was around five, of a roadway of steel and concrete flapping like a piece of cloth. It didn’t seem possible."

"And so, an obsession was born?" Carr waved a piece of cut canvas thoughtfully. "There’s video? Could make a great theme work."

Stretcher building took a break in favour of watching YouTube, and I explained that one of the reasons I wanted to go to Helios University was not only because there were so many bridges in the city, but for the specific course overseen by the civil engineer who had designed the most recent of Helios' bridges.

"Can’t deny there’s countless bridges in Helios," Rick said. "Never thought it would be the reason to come study here, but to each their own, I guess."

"Speaking of obsessions…" Natascha, at the window, gestured to something below, and was immediately joined by Sue, Sean and Lania.

"There should be a law against them dressing like that," Sue groaned.

"I’d prefer a law requiring they dressed like that all the time." Sean leered in exaggerated appreciation.

I glanced at Carr, who rolled his eyes. "We need to get these done, people. If you want to join the Rowing Club, you’re free to do so."

"And get up at five in the morning? Not a chance." Sue lifted her phone and took a picture, then returned and showed it to me and Anika.

Three boys wearing only skin-tight hip to knee swimsuits, presumably on their way to their Rowing Club for some not-at-dawn practice. I only gave the image a brief look, but it was one to thoroughly imprint itself on the mind.

The number of times I thought about that picture while finishing off the stretchers started to concern me. I’m not a distractable person, nor normally so susceptible to a well-toned body. If even the idea of playing games with these boys had me so caught up, how would I manage for the rest of the year? The first challenges particularly seemed designed to leave all participants in a welter of unsatisfied lust. Would I be able to keep the Three Kings as a twice-a-week indulgence, or would they threaten my focus? I did not need, nor want, any new obsession.

Pushing the question aside, I turned to other considerations, and when Lania showed me where the supplies we’d been using should be stored I asked: "Do you know a quiet place to eat lunch? Preferably outside, somewhere sunny, with not a lot of students about?"

"Depends on what factions you’re in with."

"Faction? For lunch?"

"Corascur is, well, competitive. And competition means rivalries and factions and politics. The clubs you join can have a big impact because another thing we often end up competing for is resources and space to show off—and students. Not to mention the prime lunch areas, where there’s covered pavilions to use during wet weather. Most of the sports clubs use the grass, fences and tables under the trees that sit between the basketball courts and Sports One. The music-related clubs and the Broadcasting Club gravitate to the West Wood, which is not far from the auditorium. There are dozens of places that make nice lunch spots, but they’re all more or less someone’s territory, while the cafeteria is more neutral ground."

"Does the Art Club have a place to eat? Are we part of one of these factions?"

"Art Club in some ways is a resource—lots of the clubs ask us to do posters for them. But we’re nominally aligned with the Politics, Social and Newspaper Clubs, who all eat in the Herb Garden and the Rose Garden."

"Is that the same place as the Rose Court?"

"Ah, the Rose Court is a private club not a location. There was a period, thirty or so years ago, where the hottest girls in school were targeted in a kind of harassment campaign—they thought it was a student but it turned out to be one of the cafeteria staff. While it was going on, the girls banded together, watching each other’s backs, having their lunches at the Rose Pavilion, which is part of the Rose Garden, and using a buddy system after school. That became a tradition, and now it’s an invite-only Club." Lania made a face. "Tremendously exclusive."

"Is there nowhere that’s just a quiet, sunny place to have lunch and read, without making some sort of statement of allegiance?"

"Well, there’s lots of grounds. The further you go, the fewer people there’ll be."

"Yeah, if you’re willing to take a hike every lunch," Rick said, heaving the roll of canvas back into place.

"The library patio’s the best place, if all you want is to study while you eat," Carr said briskly, producing the storeroom key and shooing us out. "It’s popular, but there’s a strict rule of quiet. Just go early to make sure you snag a place to sit."

"Thanks, Carr," I said, and won myself a thoroughly charming smile.

"Clubs are meant to be a support unit as much as anything else. Don’t hesitate to come to us if you have a problem."

Collecting my bag on the way out, I paused by the windows and looked at the path leading down the gently sloping hill. Three boys were returning from the river, their swim suits replaced by tracksuits in the school’s blue and grey. Kyou and Rin were in the lead, with Rin talking and Kyou making apparently sarcastic responses. Bran followed, hands in pockets: a brooding fallen angel.

As if he knew I was there, he lifted his eyes and looked directly at the art room windows. His expression didn’t change, and I’m not altogether sure he could see me, but he kept his gaze fixed on the point I stood, until the path took him out of view.

Three

Tuesday of my second week at Corascur, and I was sitting in the office of Ms Lezecki, the guidance counsellor, listening to her catalogue my classes.

"It’s not that I don’t think you perfectly capable of mastering this curriculum, Mikaela," she said. "But these additional IB credits are very intensive, and you may have underestimated the workload." She held up a hand as I started to speak. "I have no intention of wasting your time or mine attempting to persuade you to change your courses. But I am suggesting you consider putting in a special circumstances application to Dorner House. Since you have no relatives in the city, I’ve no doubt the application would be accepted, moving you to the top of the waiting list for a room in the dormitories. With your study load, you don’t need the added burden of travel, let alone the practicalities of living alone."

She handed me a pamphlet about Corascur’s boarding facilities, and I promised to consider it, tucked the pamphlet away, and then headed to pick up a sandwich before climbing a tree. I wasn’t going to rush just because I might be going to kiss someone—and didn’t quite know who.

My self-restraint paid dividends as I neared the top of the wall. Voices. I froze on a lower branch, listening.

"…pity to leave it empty. Why don’t you eat lunch here every day?"

"I’d be a poor president if I cut myself off so frequently. Going around and about at lunch gives people a chance to raise issues with me informally—and I’ll hear more of the gossip. Besides, I like the idea of this garden as a special retreat, a place where I can shut myself away and concentrate. Along with holding the occasional council meeting. You sure you’ve got everything this time?"

The question held both a smile and an ironic note, and though I was too low to see over the wall, I could well picture Rin’s expression. A few muffled, indeterminate sounds followed, and Rin laughed.

"No, Vicki. Really and truly no."

Rin’s companion made an exasperated sound. "I’m not fooled by this story about only focusing on study this year. No-one believes you mean it. What’s going on?"

"What people believe doesn’t matter," Rin said lightly, to the accompaniment of the faint squeak of the gate. "And it will always be really and truly no, Vicki."

That last sentence had held a great deal of flint. I would wince to be on the receiving end, and felt a rush of sympathy for the unseen Vicki.

Swinging my feet, I waited as the gate shut once again, and the key turned. I had no classes in common with the Three Kings, but even without reading the forums, simply keeping my ears open the previous week had provided a wealth of detail. Not everyone was a fan, but they all seemed to have an opinion, and a general picture had built up. Bran was troubled, distant and eccentric. Kyou, despite a weakness for jibes, was competent and helpful. Rin, warm and kind, had by far the best reputation—that of a perfect gentleman—but there had been a mention of a dislike of being pushed, and an occasional hair-trigger temper. He hadn’t struck me at all as warm and kind, and I found the contrast intriguing.

"I feel like I should call here kitty kitty," Rin said, from beyond the wall. "Are you there, Cheshire?"

I climbed up from my branch to perch again on the wall. "A proper Cheshire would just sit here, spouting cryptic comments and snark," I said.

"A maddening creature, to be sure." He was gazing up at me with a faint, gentle smile that I didn’t trust at all.

"And you were right about winning, I see." I jumped down, and was struck once again by how tall he was. I wasn’t used to feeling short.

"Nothing like being first," he said, voice dropping a note in tone. "Thank you for playing, Cheshire."

Because being there at all meant I’d agreed. I would kiss Rin now, and later Bran and Kyou, then progress down a list. I suspected I was going to enjoy myself immensely.

"Ready when you are," I said.

Rin placed his hands behind his back, then leaned forward. An unhurried brush of the lips, and a gentle taste. No clumsy attempt to thrust his tongue down my throat, but instead an incremental increase in intensity, until I found myself pressed against the wall while Rin, hands still held so there was no chance of touching me, sent tingles all through me.

At last, he lifted his head, enough so that we were no longer touching. I needed a moment before I could speak.

"I think that was more than a minute."

"I wasn’t counting," he replied, still smiling faintly. "And I begin to understand that the next couple of weeks might constitute a peculiar form of torture."

His mouth was still very close to mine, and I laughed softly, knowing he would feel my breath.

"You three are the ones who came up with that list. Didn’t you think over what it would do to you?"

"A slow build up makes the pay off all the better. In theory. Whether I can get through the next few steps…"

He drew back a little, kissed me on the cheek, then stepped away.

Rin was not the only one the drawn-out nature of the challenge was going to test to the limit. Deciding that, with today’s encounter complete, there was no reason to remain, I climbed back to the top of the wall, glanced down at him watching me, and then dropped down to the nearest branch.

I was going to have to exercise the strictest mental discipline over the next couple of months. And start bringing spare underwear to school.

Four

Friday was overcast, rain threatening but not emerging. I had an irritating morning in Mr Mullen’s class, a teacher whose style involved light mockery for any student who didn’t have the answer to his abruptly rapped-out questions.

Determined not to let him get my back up, I secured my sandwich and went to climb a tree. Since Tuesday had been taken by Rin, today would be Kyou or Bran. I couldn’t decide which one I would rather find.

No voices this time, but no sign of anyone in the garden either. I munched my sandwich until the faintest whisper caught my attention. Paper turning? Tucking my empty wrapper away, I transferred to the wall, and found Kyou sitting at the café table, flipping through a sheathe of papers.

"The tea’s getting cold," he said, without looking up.

Two cups and a cast iron teapot were sitting on the table, and so I dropped down and took a seat. Kyou poured: green tea, still quite hot.

He waited until I was drinking to continue.

"Would you prefer we use condoms?"

Entertained by this blatant attempt to make me choke, I took an unhurried moment to consider. The test results, expensively expedited and shared on Monday, had been clear all round, so disease wasn’t a factor. I’d also contributed a record of a three-year contraceptive implant. The brand boasted one of the highest prevention rates available, but few birth control methods were infallible, and condoms would add certainty while saving some cleaning up. However, they would also be evidence, the kind of thing that, if not carefully disposed of, could cause large consequences.

Putting my cup down, I mimicked his serenely indifferent tone: "So long as you don’t do anything to impact those admirably spotless medical records, I’ll leave that to your choice. What happens on rainy days? Climbing that wall won’t be fun on wet winter days."

He picked up the other cup and sipped. "There are arrangements which can be made regarding rainy days. But it’s clear that we need a method of communicating issues like Rin’s visitor. I’ll have Bran put something together."

I didn’t comment, drinking my tea and considering the garden. If someone arrived while I was here, I could lurk around by the tap, but there was no real hiding place.

"Anything on the list that you want to change?" Kyou asked. "Any requests or suggestions?"

"Clean is better," I said. "Shower beforehand if needed."

He nodded, his gaze heavy-lidded as he studied me, searching for reactions. "All this is hardly binding," he said. "You’re free to back out at any time. But if you’re having second thoughts, it’s better to tell us early."

"I’ll keep that in mind," I said, and he smiled at my bland tone.

"You came here from Spain?" he asked then, and I blinked, before realising that as a student council member he probably had, if not access to my records, a lot of contact with those who did.

"Yes. My mother’s last project was in Barcelona. She’s a consultant—goes to various sites and points out all their problems. Her current project is in Singapore."

"Let me know if there’s anything you need for school transition."

This was said without his usual edge of challenge, so I asked about lesson plans for the previous grade, and he pulled a tablet from his bag and took me through the more obscure corners of the school website, including a cache of old exam papers to practice with. I found this both useful and an excellent excuse to simply listen to him. His voice was wonderfully deep and resonant.

I had a strong suspicion he was well aware of its effect on people.

Still, he was being helpful. "Would you recommend Dorner House? The guidance counsellor wants me to apply."

"It’s convenient. Reasonable room size. The new supervisor is less militant than the previous one, so the atmosphere tends to be relaxed and social. And if there’s somewhere around the city you want to visit, they’ll often get up group trips on the weekend and drive you there."

"Quiet? Good place to ignore everyone and study?"

"Definitely not. Do you have long to travel to get here?"

"About twenty minutes to the west gate."

"Not too bad." A single, heavy drop of rain landed on his neglected papers, and he glanced up at the threatening sky, then collected everything into his backpack, and went to put away the cups, returning with an umbrella. "On that note, I’ll show you the solution for rainy days."

Pulling my own umbrella out of my backpack in readiness, I followed him to the entry gate, reflecting that Kyou was a game player. Acting the role of helpful student council member, trying to trip me with words, but never betraying a consciousness of a scheduled kiss.

Kyou’s approach only made me determined not to be the first to blink in his little game of brinkmanship. I watched without comment as he turned a heavy key which he’d left on the inside of the gate’s double-sided lock, and opened it onto a long walkway. On the left the stone of the garden wall merged with the administration building, leading to a stretch of windows and then double doors: the staff entrance from their car park. On the right was a clipped box hedge backed by a forbidding spiked fence.

The hedge did not run quite the whole way, and directly next to the gate was a section blocked only by bars. After locking the gate, Kyou twisted one of the bars and lifted it free, then repeated the action with a second.

"After you."

Slipping off my backpack, I ducked through, and waited until he had followed and replaced the bars. We stood in an area shielded on three sides by fence and hedge.

"This way," Kyou said, and led me back along the wall of the student council garden. It was the same wall I’d climbed over, but not the same area I’d been in, which was blocked off by another wall running perpendicular. We followed it to a path that ran along the outside of the school fence, set a little back from the footpath, with a few slender tree trunks about, but otherwise clear views in three directions.

"We call these dovecotes," Kyou said, as we reached a small wooden building resembling a two-person bus shelter. "Primarily because birds often nest in the roofs. They’re a convenience for people waiting for their ride when it’s raining. I imagine you can put together the solution to the wet weather problem. Here."

He handed me the key to the garden, then raised his umbrella to cover us both as another spatter of raindrops peppered the ground.

"A copy?" I asked.

"We already had one cut for each of us. Strictly against the rules, but so many things are."

Then, in full sight of anyone who might follow the path or drive out of the nearby staff carpark, he bent down and kissed me. My eyes went wide, but I responded after only a moment’s lag.

Every second that ticked by, my heart pounded all the more. The path, while not a main thoroughfare, was unlikely to be left empty for long. Half the point, I guess. I’d certainly never reacted so intensely to a kiss since my very first, and I was pleased that Kyou was breathing just as heavily when he lifted his head.

He didn’t speak, only smiled, then turned and walked toward the staff car park, leaving me to hastily raise my own umbrella as the rain came down in earnest.

Five

By Tuesday I’d organised my home life sufficiently to bring sandwiches with me, rather than wasting time standing in line at the school refectory, and so I was first to the student council garden. Not knowing who it would be was one of the most exciting parts. Would I be kissing Bran and making my first comparative rating, or enjoying a massage? Rating was definitely going to be one of the more difficult parts of this challenge. Had I enjoyed Kyou’s or Rin’s kiss most? Both had left me wanting more.

The faint squeak of the gate made a useful warning bell, and I peered cautiously over the fence.

Kyou. A massage then.

He was still making a game of it, not even glancing in my direction as he crossed to the summer house and opened the doors. I sat on the wall, enjoying the sun, and hopped down only after he’d set out two cups and poured.

"Give me your mobile," he said, and spent a few moments transferring an app from his to mine. Opening it on my mobile, he pressed the screen, made a few selections, then held it out to me. "Use your right thumb to create a login," he said.

I obliged, tapping my thumb over and over until the app could recognise me. My login was rewarded with a black and white image—perhaps taken from the early Alice in Wonderland books—of the Cheshire Cat, grinning in a tree.

"This can be used to both store the ratings—somewhere even you can’t access them after you’ve entered one—and, if necessary, exchange messages. The main purpose, though, is the garden status."

I’d found that portion of it already: a little map of this section of the school, where a simple touch would let me indicate my current location—in the trees, or down at the dovecote. Kyou picked up his phone, and a green dot appeared in the garden. A red dot would mean he was there, but it wasn’t safe to approach. A dot with an x across it would mean cancelled.

"We’ve also set up a tiny electronic tripwire across the entry path—nothing likely to be found—which will give us warning of someone approaching whenever the app is in active mode. Only registered thumbprints can open the app, and certain portions of it require passing security again."

"You’ve decided not to use the book, then?" I asked, finding that opening up the list of challenges required me to offer up my thumbprint a second time.

"After Rin so neatly demonstrated its potential to be left about? No. We’ve removed the pages, and transferred everything to the app. The medical reports have been shredded as well." He gave me a faint smile. "Once this became real, we needed to be a lot more serious about secrecy."

I put my phone down, the screen displaying several of the things he would be doing to me toward the end of the year, and sipped tea, looking at him.

"Which of you is the best rower?"

"Technically, me," he said. "But both Rin and Bran have a slight advantage in strength. When they’re on their game, they’ll usually win, but I’m far more consistent."

"And what did you win to be here today?"

"A capture the flag run in Dare to Fall."

I laughed. "Do you usually win the gaming challenges?"

"No." Kyou put down his phone and stood, circling behind me. "No, I was making a particular effort." He rested his hands on my shoulders, and then, instead of my expected massage, he slid his hands forward to cover my breasts.

I straightened; the tea I was holding almost spilling. He was testing me again, and I refused to give him the reaction he sought, simply putting the cup down, and dropping my arms to my sides.

Unhurriedly, Kyou cupped me through my shirt, then began a gentle kneading, not using any great pressure, just a pleasant, rhythmic motion. A massage after all.

Leaning against the back of the café chair, I let myself enjoy it. Sunlight, tea, and a very attractive boy. But I wanted to add his beautiful voice to the mix.

"Did it take a lot of time to put the app together?"

"That one’s not exactly complex—just an adaptation of an established secure framework. Took Bran about ten minutes."

Resting my head against his stomach, I closed my eyes. His boundary testing only made me want to push back, and I was liking this interpretation of a massage, but I was starting to really feel the need for more, wanted to see what he could do with his mouth, given how much I was enjoying his hands.

Kyou’s phone beeped, and his hands stilled immediately, though he didn’t move away, standing with my breasts just a little lifted. We were breathing almost in unison.

Then he went for his phone. As he shut off the alarm, I straightened my shirt and picked up my tea. Beyond being a little flushed, neither of us gave any sign of what had passed, and after I’d finished my drink, I left without a word.

Six

Friday was a perfect day to test out the Cheshire app, along with the new route, as it was positively pouring. But a check of the app showed no cancellations, and so I dutifully made my way down to the dovecote and poked my phone’s screen to indicate my location. After only a couple of minutes a green dot appeared in the image of the garden.

It was not a day to be outside, and though my folding umbrella kept most of the wet off me as I navigated my way behind trees and hedges, I was still feeling a little damp by the time I reached the removable bars.

Rin must have been waiting just inside the gate, since it opened as I reached the fence. "Let me get that for you, Cheshire."

He unscrewed the bars, and held his own umbrella high so I could fold mine and duck through.

"I’ve no idea whether this was by accident or design," he said, returning the bars to their proper place. "But I thoroughly appreciate the convenience."

"Not a day for wall climbing," I agreed, part of my attention on the long stretch of path to a pair of double doors that could emit teachers at any time. The hedge shielded most of our activities, but this was still a tiny moment of risk.

"Tuck your umbrella just outside the door," Rin said, after locking the gate and ushering me to the summer house. "I’ll just get something for the floor."

I hesitated in the shelter of the eaves as Rin fetched a couple of towels out of a storage space beneath one of the seats, and used them to mop up his damp footprints before folding them into a pad before the door.

"There really should be a mat here," he said. "I’ll bring one in. It didn’t occur to me when I was putting in supplies."

I slipped off my shoes, and crossed to inspect the space beneath the seat. Too small for hiding in. "This didn’t come with the summer house?"

"Some of it. The glasses and the table and so forth. The rest is ours."

There was a basin, a couple of bath sponges and some shower gel in with the towels. For challenges that required cleaning up after, I presumed, and grimaced wryly.

Rin was watching with the gentle smile he wore in official photographs. "If there’s anything you want kept here, let me know."

I suspected a spare underwear stash would not be wise, and just nodded. "The app came in handy right away," I noted.

"One of Kyou’s better notions, and Bran put it together without problem."

A faint undertone caught my attention, and I examined his expression as he checked the level of water in the jug and set it to boil.

"You’re still worried about him?" I asked, and he shrugged, a simple gesture made beautiful by his natural grace.

"I didn’t expect to win the race yesterday—I was behind."

Sitting down, I considered. "This isn’t something you’d want to force anyone into."

"I didn’t think I was. Bran doesn’t go along with things he doesn’t want to do, and he was definitely fascinated by the idea."

"Anyone can have second thoughts. But if he does keep losing—deliberately or not—then it’s going to be a little difficult to score these challenges."

"And since the entire point was a comparison with Bran…" He hummed softly, then turned to pour tea. "No point wasting energy on that. If Bran is no further in a month, we can reconsider." His long lashes shaded his eyes—and his thoughts—and then he said: "How are you finding the school, Cheshire?"

We chatted lightly about the need for more lunch places, particularly inside to cope with the crowds that crammed into the refectories on wet days. Then he folded a blanket into a pad, sat me on the floor between his feet, and fell silent, concentrating on rubbing any hint of tension out of my shoulders.

Rin was strictly circumspect, but also very good at finding knots, and I let out a long breath and melted. His efforts left me beautifully relaxed all weekend, despite a constant downpour that would otherwise be less than amusing. It put me in an excellent frame of mind for study, and I made solid progress on catching up. Literature was a weak point for me here, since every country had its own set of books it considered important, and I was going through works studied in previous years so I had the same foundation as the rest of the class.

If Bran continued to not participate… Well, it was better not to think of that right now.

Seven

"So, what’s your view on the Seniors' Ball?"

I looked up at Lania from my assigned task of cutting out dozens of cardboard gingerbread men.

"That’s some time in Spring Term, isn’t it? Do I need to have a view now?"

"You obviously haven’t been paying attention." Rick turned from the group painting cardboard cut-outs into gingery life. "Now’s when everyone has a view. The nominations for the theme close next week."

"What are they likely to be?"

"The frontrunners are Old Hollywood, Steampunk, and Black and White Ball."

I snipped around the arms of my current cut-out. "From a practical viewpoint, Black and White sounds easiest."

"You have no soul, Mika." Lania dropped another cut-out on her pile. "The last and biggest social event of our school lives, and you talk practical."

Carr looked up from painting the elaborate cardboard house we’d spent most of the previous week’s after-lunch session constructing. The decorations for the school’s bake sale on Friday were going to end up outshining the cakes.

"What would you suggest if you weren’t being practical, Mika?"

"Venetian Masque," I said promptly. "I think I’m easily influenced though—there’s a poster at my bus stop for an exhibition of the costumes. Bright and elaborate things. But not practical."

"Exhibition? Where at?"

"The—it was a museum in some awkward-to-get-to place. The Traf—Tralafa Museum?"

"The Trafala?" Lania said. "Over in Highview. There are buses, if you really wanted to see it."

"I looked them up—express services on school days, but a tour of all the back streets during the weekend. Not worth it."

"I can give anyone who’s interested a lift this Saturday," Carr said, whorling delicate white filigree onto the gingerbread house. "Call it a club research trip. Venetian sounds more interesting than black and white."

"Wild masks." Sean waved a painted gingerbread boy as if it was a fan. "Yards of brocade. Sumptuous colours. Anonymous kisses. I’m in."

"Seems fun," Sue said. "But we’re going to have to sell the Rose Court on the idea. Meggan lives near there—I’ll see if we can get her interested. Let’s make a day of it. Have lunch."

It was the kind of school where the difficulties of producing elaborate Venetian costume would be overcome by the relative wealth of the students. Since I hadn’t any intention of going to the Seniors' Ball, I probably shouldn’t have been suggesting themes. But it definitely would make for interesting posters.

* * *

The Saturday outing was at the forefront of my mind on Tuesday, as I sat watching Kyou pour tea. The Art Club had welcomed me wholeheartedly, offering up uncomplicated friendship. The Three Kings were far from simple, and yet would probably end up knowing me better than anyone else in this school. While pretending not to know me at all.

Promising myself that I wouldn’t let doubts detract from the benefits, I accepted the cup Kyou held out.

"What degree are you aiming for?" I asked him.

"A Masters of Finance and a Masters of Fine Arts."

That came as a surprise. I’d managed to completely miss that Kyou studied art, since I didn’t attend the art classes, only the club.

"Do you have a specific end point that joins those two together?"

"Yes."

The brevity of the response was another minor test of wills, but I serenely passed it by. "Running an art gallery?"

"Independent game studio. Kybirn. We released our first app over the school break. A small thing, just to establish a presence."

"Bran for programming, you for the art work and Rin for…?"

"Music. He composes."

While the forums had told me Rin played the violin, they’d also suggested he planned to become a doctor. I’d heard no mention whatsoever of games.

"Does this constitute something of a secret?"

"It does. Only Bran’s family wouldn’t vigorously oppose the move, and that’s because he long ago scotched their plans for him."

"I appreciate the gesture of trust."

He raised one eyebrow. "The four of us are already past gestures. Next week I’m going to strip you naked. Over the coming year the three of us will create a secret considerably juicier than career choices." He put down his cup and turned his chair a little. "Come here."

I didn’t move immediately, meeting and holding his gaze while taking a final sip of my tea. But he had himself well in hand, wearing an expression entirely suitable for a member of the student council as he waited until I rose and crossed to stand in front of him.

"Sit down."

I kept my expression as neutral as his, and moved forward, straddling him.

"You don’t strike me as a Petruchio," I said.

His eyes narrowed at my words, and then he said: "Come, sit on me?" correctly identifying my reference. He slid his hands down to my behind and pulled me closer. "You wouldn’t be here if I were a Petruchio."

"Hm, true enough." I glanced down as he began unbuttoning my shirt, but didn’t comment, for all that the challenge had specified clothes stay on. "I’d find anyone who had some idea of taming me unspeakably tedious."

"You don’t match the Katherina type, anyway." Having unbuttoned my shirt, he reached around and unfastened my bra, then pulled it and my tie away so that he could enjoy a clear view of my breasts. "I wonder if Cheshire is truly appropriate, however."

"Baffling and amused?"

He kissed me then, ignoring the breasts he’d carefully exposed. It was a relaxed, exploratory kiss, and I responded in kind, wrapping my arms loosely around his neck. I’d not been certain how well I would handle this game as it grew more intimate, but despite his game-playing, I found Kyou very comfortable to get along with. Instead of being annoyed when he took extra steps, I only wished he’d go further.

Again, the alarm on his phone signalled we’d reached the time limit, and he stopped immediately, and shut it off. Eyes steadily on mine, he tilted me back a little and then bent and licked my right nipple. I took a second wavering breath as he shifted to my left breast and inhaled it whole, sucking hard. Just once, and then he straightened, and I could see that he was pleased with the reaction he’d provoked.

I responded by hooking my ankles around the chair legs and tightening my legs, an act which pressed me firmly down on the lump beneath me. That won me an intake of breath in return, and I smiled, then stood up, pulling my tie off.

My clothes were in complete disarray, so I stripped off shirt and bra as well, and dressed before Kyou’s appreciative eyes. As I was fastening the last button, he picked up my tie and knotted it neatly around my throat.

"I’ll see the rest of you next week, Cheshire."

* * *

The app had a message Friday morning: "Don’t eat lunch." I couldn’t tell which of the three it was from—the messages were displayed simply as part of the log, and could be viewed by all four of us.

I was musing over this when a green dot appeared in the garden, to match the one I’d placed in the trees outside. I climbed over the wall, jumping down lightly.

Rin, sitting on blankets spread on the grass, examining a pile of boxes containing sweets. Mostly a huge variety of cupcakes.

"You obviously shopped hard at the bake sale."

"In all the time I’ve gone to this school, I’ve never attended one. The day almost functions as a second Valentine’s, and we’ve always been bombarded with samples. There’s great interest in which, if any, we eat. I usually take all my offerings home for my sisters, but thought today was picnic weather."

"And no-one can see your choice here," I noted. "I hope your sisters like cupcakes."

"They’ll be waiting in ambush at the door when I get home."

"They don’t go to Corascur?"

"They start high school next year. Banana or chocolate milk?"

"Banana. How many sisters do you have?"

"Four. Two sets of twins. They all have a weakness for sugar."

"Do you remember who gave you which?" I asked, selecting a ladybug decorated cupcake.

"Some of them. That’s from a boy in tenth year. Keedy, I think his name is. This one—" He looked down at a rainbow frosted cake. "A red headed girl I don’t remember ever seeing before—must be new this year—shoved it at me wordlessly and raced off. They do it on dares. Not just with us three, of course, but we receive extra attention because we come as a set."

"It’s us, after all," I murmured, and he laughed.

"Perhaps once we get to university, we’ll stand out less."

I doubted that, but asked him about his plans. He told me about his passion for game soundtracks, of wanting to make music that enhanced an experience, that illustrated stories. I watched him, tall, slender and effortlessly graceful, the sun turning his light brown hair golden, as if the world itself wanted him burnished and on a pedestal.

And then he put down his empty milk carton, leaned over and kissed me.

He tasted, unsurprisingly, of sugar, and offered sweet, brief kisses before guiding me to lie down on the blanket with him. Not in the mood to be entirely reactive, I slid one hand beneath his shirt and explored his back. He paused, then began to copy me. That became an entertaining game, both of us lying relaxed, watching each other’s faces as my hand moved from back to side to stomach, and his hand mirrored my path, dipping low as mine did, circling in teasing avoidance of quite touching the breast area, watching his faint, entertained smile fade toward intentness, until finally I gave in, slid my hand flat across his pectoral muscles, and closed my eyes in pleasure.

Gradually, my bra was pushed out of the way, and I unbuttoned his shirt. His chest was lean, faintly tanned. We sampled each other’s skin, a hint of salt to combat sweetness, until a small, piping alarm broke the spell. Rin shifted away, then lay on his back, putting a hand over his eyes until his breathing slowed.

"Amazing stupidity, the early stages of that list," he remarked to the sky. "Next week will be even more painful to stop."

I stood up and began dressing, and he watched me, eyes unreadable beneath the shadow of his hand. He looked like he’d been misplaced from a photoshoot for some expensive perfume advertisement, and I wondered if he modelled. There was something complex in his half-hidden gaze. Not regret, nor dislike, but not affection either.

The next step with him would be nakedness, but nothing much more. That meant I had at least another fortnight to decide if I truly would have sex with this boy.

Eight

Rin and I hadn’t revisited the question of whether Bran was choosing not to compete, but I had occasion to think about it on Saturday, during the visit to the Trafala Museum.

The outing was going very well. Carr had collected me just after breakfast, and we’d rounded up Rick and Sue on the way, meeting Lania, Anika and Sean there, along with two members of the Rose Court: Meggan and Celeste.

Meggan was in my Literature class, and Celeste I’d seen in Calculus. Both were exceptionally good looking, and together they made a contrast that brought them a great many second glances while they waited for us on the museum steps, for Celeste had a strong resemblance to Nefertiti, while Meggan was ivory-skinned with a fine drift of shimmering red-blond hair.

They’d both been polite, more reserved than friendly, but had quickly seen the possibilities in Venetian masks, though doubted the elaborate costumes would be practical.

"Very bulky," Meggan said to me after we’d finished touring the museum and were walking down to a nearby collection of restaurants and shops. "But we could adapt the concept. Masks, colour, mystery. We’ll have to source tailors, and perhaps the Art Club can get mask forms in bulk, for those who don’t want to rely on local stores or try importing."

"It still needs to be voted on," Celeste reminded her.

"That shouldn’t be a problem if the Art Club puts together a few brilliant posters. Though it may be worthwhile sticking a few gears on one of the masks, since Steampunk has a core support group." Meggan paused, surveying our lunch options. "The cafés look busy. There’s a nice eating area across the street. Why don’t we grab what we want and meet there?"

Snagging a filled roll and juice, I added a soft serve cone dipped in chocolate and wandered vaguely in the direction Meggan had pointed, but diverted into a criss-cross of hedges, my attention caught by a vertical twist of white at the centre.

I was eyeing the tiny cracks that revealed strain in the feature sculpture when a harsh voice said almost directly into my ear:

"What are you doing?"

My first time seeing Bran up close. He truly was beautiful, features exceptionally finely cut, pale skin flawless, his eyes a pure and currently stormy grey. Poorly disguised anger only enhanced his looks, and seeing all that unexpected nearly stole my breath. It was the strangeness of the question that saved my composure, since I was patently eating an ice cream while looking at a statue, and doing nothing that could deserve such a tone of accusation.

I bought a moment licking the cone, then said: "Art Club outing. You’ve been to the museum as well?"

My answer didn’t seem to quite satisfy him, but the sense of anger died down.

"What exhibit?"

I explained the masquerade proposal, and he gave me a searching look, and then relaxed.

"Over here," he said, walking out of the double square of hedges through an exit at a right angle to the one I’d entered by.

Following, I looked when he pointed to houses hidden among the trees on one of the hills overlooking the museum.

"I live there," he said. "Rin—do you see those red-roofed buildings? That’s where Rin lives. Kyou is a street behind us."

I laughed. "That explains the incredulous expression. No stalking tendencies here, I promise."

He didn’t smile, the hostility now replaced by a neutrality that wasn’t exactly friendly. More indifferent than anything.

"Why did you agree to this?" he asked then.

Deciding to be honest, I shrugged.

"At my last school, I decided to try out having a boyfriend. Since we both knew I was leaving soon, we approached the experience more as a casual friendship, but did get into bed the week before I left. It seemed to me that week that sex really helped with my insomnia. Which is important to me, since I’ve been worried about not being able to sleep before big stress events. But I’m not interested in one-night stands with strangers, and the idea of making a boyfriend just to confirm whether sex helps me sleep seems…unkind." I shrugged. "Besides, from my observation, boyfriends are a lot of work, always expecting you to go watch their rehearsals, or stand around on the edge of sports fields cheering. I can’t afford that amount of time this year. This challenge will hopefully let me confirm something important to me without misleading someone into thinking I care more than I do. And, well…" I smiled at him. "You three are very attractive."

This only produced a cynical expression, as badly suited to that angelic face as his crow’s voice. "We’re also strangers," he said, and walked off.

Hardly an encouraging development. I was more than puzzled, given he’d been the one who’d suggested me for their competition in the first place. Perhaps he really had changed his mind—but why?

That was the kind of question that could lead a girl down a rabbit hole of self-doubt, so I tried to shrug it off over the next couple of days. But I had to wonder if I’d want to go through with these challenges if Bran approached the game with that hostile attitude.

Tuesday hadn’t settled the question for me, but I’d been districted into trying to guess whether I’d be stripping Rin or Kyou that day. Relaxing on a branch beside the garden wall, I told the app I was there, and began on lunch. I’d just finished my sandwich, and was swallowing the last mouthful of a bottle of apple juice, when the whole tree quivered.

I grabbed for an extra hold, though the tree proved solid enough to support the additional weight of the boy climbing up to join me. He stopped on a branch just below me, but was standing, so ended up looking down at me. I had a moment to recognise Bran—just as stormy as last time—before he bent his head and kissed me.

Surprised but not unwilling, I responded, and was glad of the hold I had on the tree, for Bran proved to be an exquisite kisser. I couldn’t pinpoint any particular technique that made the difference, and he displayed no delight in the task, and yet I was transported.

Far too soon he lifted his head, and immediately started down. I caught only a brief glimpse of his expression, and thought him grim. Impossible to know what to make of that.

After a moment I took out my phone and resolved the question that had started the entire game: Bran was without doubt the best kisser. Second and third place was much harder to decide, but eventually I put Rin second and Kyou third. Kyou’s kiss had revolved around the risk of getting caught, and not the kiss itself.

Scores entered, I wondered if I would have any chance of more. Had Rin and Kyou deliberately thrown whatever competition had been this week’s decider? Was that the reason Bran seemed almost resentful?

My confusion only increased when I headed to my next class, and immediately heard gossip about the Three Kings going all out before lunch in a basketball match so intense it was the nearest thing to a fist fight.

Curiouser and curiouser.

* * *

"Cheshire."

Rin caught me as I slid down from the wall, held my waist for a moment, then lowered me to the ground.

"Thirsty?" he asked, and led me into the summer house when I nodded.

"I was wondering if I’d even see you this week."

"It was a close-run thing."

"Lots of rumours about your basketball game Tuesday. Was that the decider?"

"Yes. I had people ask me about it afterwards, how serious we all were. Bran was determined to win."

"Did he tell you I met him on the weekend?"

Rin paused and looked back at me. "Where?"

"The Art Club had an outing to the Trafala Museum. Me showing up within sight of his house must have looked very strange to him."

"He wasn’t too rude, I hope."

"Not overwhelmingly. I’m surprised the things I said led to him deciding to compete."

"Why, what did you say?"

"I told him I was hoping to use you three as a sleep aid."

That made Rin miss a step, and so I explained, and he laughed.

"How pragmatic. Do you have that much trouble sleeping?"

"I can usually manage it, but there are occasions I have caused myself major problems, and this year is important to me."

"Well, I can at least admit to having thought quite a bit about my part in helping you sleep."

I smiled, then said: "I thought Kyou was the better rower."

"He is. He missed his stroke, and Kyou usually doesn’t do that. He’s livid. As the basketball game demonstrated, we have become more than usually competitive about these challenges. I fully intend to be here next Tuesday as well."

"If you survive today."

"It’s going to push my control to the limits," he agreed calmly. "Let’s go outside."

In the dappled light beneath the one tree allowed to overhang the yard I grabbed one of the patio chairs to hold discarded clothing, and considered him: tall, elegant, wearing the faint, gentle smile that seemed to be his public mask. I reached up, watching his expression, and unknotted his tie, making a tiny production of sliding it loose. The smile didn’t waver. He waited until I’d put the tie to the side, and then deftly followed my lead.

Blazers next, and then a tangible increase in mutual excitement as I began unbuttoning his shirt. No rush, just a steady unveiling. His body type was naturally skinny, and rowing had given him a nice amount of definition, while not adding much bulk.

He took his time with my shirt, working his way upward, each button an opportunity for fingers to brush skin. He treated the cloth as if it was tissue, and slid his hands down my shoulders as he coaxed the sleeves free.

I sat down, the lawn comfortably thick with clover, and gestured for him to do the same, then prosaically took off his shoes and socks.

"Ticklish, Cheshire?"

"A little."

He pulled my laces undone, then slipped off my shoes, placing them neatly beside his. With delicate care he removed first my left sock, then my right. His fingers brushed my instep, the hollow of my ankle, and my heel, but he didn’t attempt to tickle me.

Standing, he held his hands out, and I let him lift me to my feet. He took the lead now, reaching for my pleated skirt, the ease with which he found the clasp suggesting a certain familiarity with the Corascur girls' uniform. I reflected once again that he had the most beautiful eyes, and held his gaze, not looking down as I reached for his belt. Without a fumble I unbuckled it, drew it loose, and dropped it on the chair.

He took a breath as I reached for his waistband button, but remained still as I drew down his fly, taking care where the zip strained over the bulge beneath. I briefly cupped his buttocks as I drew down his trousers, and entertained myself by allowing my shoulder to brush against the front of his dark blue boxer briefs when I straightened.

They were barely taking the strain, completely at odds with the calm expression he still managed to maintain. Smiling faintly, I folded his trousers over the chair, then reached for his briefs and drew them down as well. Remembering some of the things I’d read about Rin on the forums, I watched frankly as his penis, finally free from restraint, moved upward. Large, but thankfully not as shockingly enormous as gossip suggested.

He knelt as I stood up, and looked up at me, then wordlessly hooked his thumbs into the sides of my underpants and drew them down, his hands tracing the entire length of my legs as he did so.

"I’ve been thinking hard on where to put these love bites," he said, gazing up at me.

I didn’t answer immediately, because Rin, naked and aroused and kneeling at my feet, did things to me. I shivered, then forced a prosaic note: "I’ve been thinking that I’ve seen you three running about shirtless."

"Yes, I’ll have to remember my modesty." He rose slowly, and circled me to unhook my bra. He put it down, and then stood still, directly behind me, not quite close enough for any part of us to touch. "Have I mentioned that I think you’re very beautiful?"

"You have now," I said, in an obliging tone.

He laughed softly, and wrapped his arms around me, one crossing my stomach, the other above my breasts, pulling me against him so that his erect penis pushed hard into my back.

"You sound like you don’t believe me, Cheshire. I don’t say things I don’t mean."

"Then I appreciate the compliment."

He bent his head and pressed his lips to the top of my shoulder.

It was both frustrating and delightful. Sunlight, warm arms wrapped around me, mouth hot on my skin, but a set limit to what I could do. As Rin finished one mark and swapped to my other shoulder his hands moved to cover my breasts—not doing anything more than pressing down, but enough to make me shift in return, pushing against him.

His breath burst out in a gasp and he lifted his head. "I am not a devotee to rules, Cheshire. None of us are."

"Thank you for the warning," I said, wondering what he’d do if I suggested we forgot the childish little list. "My turn?"

Twisting in his hold—and not incidentally causing the rigid length of him to scrape across my hip and stomach—I found a spot I’d been thinking about in the hollow of his shoulder, licked it lightly and then fastened my lips on it.

We went very quiet then, unless one counted Rin’s increasingly audible breathing as I made a diagonal across his chest and abdomen, leaving a small bruised point on his otherwise pristine skin at his shoulder, one shortly above his navel, and the last on one hip. This final mark, created with his penis brushing my cheek the entire time, was obviously a snapping point, and he lifted me abruptly, and pulled me hard against him, pushing between my legs, though not into me, and just holding me against him.

I squeezed my thighs together.

He shuddered, took a gulping breath, but then tilted me so he could fasten on a point two or so inches to the right of my left nipple. The mark he left there was small and very dark, and he gave it a satisfied look before shifting his hands to my buttocks and pulling me forward. I slid effortlessly.

"Just a kiss left, Cheshire," he said. His hips gave an experimental little buck.

I responded by pressing my thighs together again, gripping his penis as tightly as I could manage. His breath puffed out, and then he moved back and slid forward, keeping himself angled so he couldn’t push inside me, but rubbed along me instead.

As his mouth found mine for a deep, hungry kiss, he continued to slide back and forth between my thighs, sending waves of tingling warmth through me. I dug the fingers of my free hand into his shoulders, fighting an urge to hook my legs around his hips, channelling my building need into pressing my legs harder and harder together as he gave up trying to kiss me and simply thrust faster and faster.

The heat and movement all began to build toward something for me, but Rin was far further along, and came in a spurting explosion.

We both wobbled, and Rin relaxed his hold, then pressed me beneath his chin. Unable to see his face, I wondered what his expression was now, but when he finally dropped his arms, I glanced up and found he looked mildly amused, not as impacted as I thought.

"Technically not a skip ahead to the next challenge," he said. "Would you like a drink?"

I nodded, and then found the hose to clean myself—and the summer house wall—before returning to separate out my clothing. Rin took a few moments longer, and stood with a towel watching me dress before putting the main parts of his own uniform on. He brewed me a cup of green tea, and we were silent for a time.

"I enjoyed the game you three released," I said eventually. "Other than it being very short, that is."

"Did Kyou tell you the name? A sampler app. We plan a series of free releases over the next few years, tiny things that function as prequel stories for a very ambitious RPG." He smiled lazily. "This year our focus is exams…and a different game."

"What’s your next challenge? More basketball?"

"No, for balance’s sake we’ve drawn up a varied schedule, trying to alternate physical and non-physical. This weekend we’re playing Go, which all of us are competent at, without being at competition level. But I believe I have an edge." He drained the last of his tea. "So, I’ll see you Tuesday, Cheshire."

Nine

On Monday I kept seeing the Three Kings everywhere, always together. First in the corridor as I was heading to class. Then, because I’d forgotten to bring lunch, standing in the line next to mine and slightly ahead of me, in the main refectory. Then as I was heading to the bus.

It seemed I’d need to keep myself extra busy Mondays and Tuesday morning, or I’d spend all my time thinking of them, particularly now that I didn’t know whether my day would involve hickeys, a massage, or the next big step. Tuesday lunchtime, I admit to being disappointed seeing Bran. Gorgeous he might be, but I’d connected with him less, and was wary of the way he’d spoken to me on the weekend. And I’d wanted it to be Rin, wanted something vigorous and non-teasing and hopefully satisfying.

He was standing in the middle of the garden with hands buried in blazer pockets, staring at his shoes. By the time I was over the wall, I’d set aside frustration and replaced it with curiosity. He’d been an incredible kisser. Would he win effortlessly today as well?

He looked up, and I caught a glimpse of open doubt before his expression switched to something completely neutral.

Deciding this needed to be settled, I said: "The initial question’s already been answered. Do you want to leave it at that?"

"You’re backing out?"

I could see I’d surprised him, as if it hadn’t occurred to him that his attitude toward me might dim my enthusiasm.

"I’m saying that you’re free to," I said, firmly. "This isn’t a game that will work if one of the players is in two minds about participating."

"You think you know my mind?" he said, harsh voice cracking, but he caught himself up, met my eyes a moment, and then turned his back on me.

I went across to the big wooden picnic table tucked into the corner where the wall and the administration building met, and sat cross-legged on top of it. "Liked the idea better in abstract?"

"That’s—" He stopped, scowling. "I don’t know you," he explained. "I’ve no reason to trust you."

"Trust?" I laughed. "What do you think I’m going to do? If this story gets out, yes, I suppose you’d be spattered with a bit of mud. I’d be drowned in it. An ocean of hate. It would probably even undermine my plans for the future."

"Then why are you doing this?" He crossed to stand before me. "Whatever you find relaxing, you still don’t know us. Even if you trust us not to be people who’d use this against you, how can you do…so much with utter strangers?"

"But I’m not." I considered him, then said: "I think you need a massage way more than me. Sit down. Sit."

He almost baulked, but gave in, sitting down on the bench attached to the side of the picnic table. I shifted so I could comfortably reach his shoulders.

"Rin’s a little confusing because his public reputation doesn’t match the way he talks to me," I said, working with an extremely tense set of muscles. "He’s obviously close to his family and you two, and acts obliging and polite, but I have the impression he operates on light goodwill with most people while not actually liking them very much. Kyou…Kyou is stimulated by a certain amount of risk-taking, but it’s carefully calculated, and I doubt he’d go near anything which had only a small chance of success. He enjoys ritual, and likes to push boundaries, and likes even more when he meets friendly resistance, but for all that he’s very courteous and gains, I think, genuine enjoyment from helping people. You…"

I paused as he shifted beneath my hands, and I dug my fingers into his shoulders extra enthusiastically before going on.

"You’re extremely private, and I don’t know you particularly well yet. I suppose it amused you to suggest me for your competition when you saw me listening, but you didn’t expect it to go anywhere. Now that Rin and Kyou seem enthusiastic, you don’t want to disappoint them by ending the game early."

He snorted, and I grinned.

"Don’t tell me what parts of all that I’ve got wrong—I’m sure some of my impressions are a little out. The point I’m making is that I’ve come to know you a little. We shared a kiss after I’d spent a week or two finding things out about you three, and Rin and Kyou at least talked to me first. Later, they gave me a nice massage and we chatted, and I decided I liked them enough for more kissing. And so on. It never was a single decision, and any of us might back out at any time. Tell me about rowing."

"What?"

"Rowing. I’m guessing that’s not something you three have been doing since kindergarten. How’d you get into it?"

He clicked his tongue, but the tension had gone out of his shoulders.

"We tried a bunch of clubs first year here, and rowing was the one with the fewest gawpers getting in the way. And Kyou likes it. Rin is more neutral because he doesn’t like the early morning cold. I just wanted to pick something and stop changing clubs. Swap places."

I moved without comment, and sat quietly as he explored my shoulders and began experimentally kneading. Not a practiced masseuse, but attentive to my reactions.

"I saw Venetian Masquerade made it on to the voting list for the dance."

"Mm. The Art Club is working on posters now, and some people from the Rose Court are going to sponsor it. All very complicated just for an end-of-year dance."

"End of school. End of friendships. The dance is taken very seriously."

"Really? Well, if nothing else, I’ll enjoy the costumes."

Bran checked the time on his phone, then said: "There’s a segment of formal dancing lessons every year here, as part of the sporting curriculum. Have you learned any?"

"One session a couple of years ago. A big group dance."

"I’ll teach you. Next time."

He stood, and in a single swift movement climbed from the table to the top of the wall, and walked along it a few steps before jumping down the far side.

An improvement. I still wasn’t entirely sure I could continue the challenge with Bran, but would probably know after the next session.

And now I had a second challenge to rate. This one was a reversal, with Kyou in first place, for while he had taken the definition of a massage to an extreme, I had enjoyed it enormously, while Rin’s effort had been several steps up from Bran’s. I entered the ratings, and mentally totted up the scores. First and last combined amounted to fourteen points, while two seconds gave Rin twelve.

It would be impossible for me to not keep a mental tally. And too tempting to keep things even, to balance results so none of them lagged significantly behind. None of them would enjoy being last, but they wanted an honest competition, and so I would do my best to give them that.

* * *

Friday brought a brilliant blue sky and a warmth to defy the slide into autumn.

"Mika! Come eat with us. I’m not taking no for an answer."

Smiling at Lania, Carr, and a curly-haired girl I didn’t know, I casually flipped shut the cover of my phone. "You’ll have to, I’m afraid. I’m all booked up today."

"This is Hanni," Carr said. "Once Art Club, but we lost her to hockey."

I managed not to react to the name, exchanging greetings.

"You seriously need to play more often, Mika," Lania said. "Do you ever do anything except study?"

"Art Club."

"Where we work you mercilessly." Carr offered me a slow smile. "And, since the model for the cake stall was very popular, we’ve plans for several more. If you’re busy now, how about after school? We often get together on Friday afternoons down at the Tokley Centre. Surely your study schedule can manage a couple of hours."

"Have you seen my study schedule?"

"You’ll work better after a good meal and a bit of fun," Lania said. "And since we drive, you’ll probably get home only a little later than you would taking that bus."

The bus trip, though relatively short, was my least favourite part of my day, but it was the particular day of the year that made me hesitate. My nineteenth birthday, and I’d woken feeling the emptiness of my small apartment, and the long distance between me and my family. After a moment I said: "You make a good point. Thanks guys."

"Great! It’ll be fun!"

The curly-haired girl’s gaze was focused past my shoulder. "You should come too, Ky. The Tokley Centre fountain at four for the game centre and then dinner."

A familiar voice immediately behind me said: "I’ll pass." Direct, disinterested, and absolute.

Aware of a wash of unexpected cross-currents, I turned to discover Kyou and Carr in an exchange of not-quite-unfriendly looks.

"More important things to do, Westhaven?" Carr asked, surprising me with his flat tone.

"Other things."

"Have you met Mika, Kyou?" Lania put in hastily. "She’s new this year."

"Exam papers," Kyou said, looking at me. "Did you find what you needed?"

"Yes, thanks," I said, matching his casual tone, and I suddenly knew, just from the way he held himself, that I would be having Kyou for my birthday.

"You’re not doing mock exams already? Mika, you’re insane."

"Competitive course." I smiled at Hanni and felt a little awful for her, remembering Bran telling Kyou the girl was in love with him, causing her name to be immediately wiped from their list of prospects. I watched her face as Kyou nodded to our group and left, and let myself for a moment think about the number of people in this school who felt as she did for the three who were my lunchtime entertainment.

By the time I’d made my goodbyes and left the Art Club behind, a green dot had appeared on the phone app. I climbed over the wall, and was seated neatly at the table when Kyou emerged with the steaming teapot.

"No missed strokes this time?"

His expression didn’t flicker, but I could just imagine a virtual Challenge Level Increased sign over his head.

"None," was all he said, and set the tray.

We drank tea, and talked a little about exams, and the professor whose Engineering Physics course I was aiming for at Helios U, which would hopefully lead me into the Marden Institute, a government-funded physics and engineering lab which was my ultimate goal. All the time his eyes held mine, and the air filled with tense anticipation. We drank only one cup, and then Kyou took the tray back inside, and I looked up at the brilliant sky.

"You’re getting along well with the Art Club."

"Yes." I shot him an amused glance as he walked towards me. "That was a good suggestion of Rin’s."

He smiled faintly, then walked behind me.

My hair was currently just over shoulder-length, and I had it in a high ponytail. Kyou pulled the tie loose, and rearranged locks carefully, then circled to consider me. I matched him, stare for stare, but couldn’t resist a little juddering breath of anticipation when he reached forward to remove my tie.

"Feet," he murmured, placing the tie on the table.

I lifted one foot, and he dropped to his haunches to remove my shoes and socks. He put them neatly together beneath the table, looked up at me, and then slid his hands along the top of my thighs, up under my skirt, his thumbs lightly tracing the curve of flesh. Finding my underpants, he hooked fingers into either side of them, and I had to lift so he could pull them down.

One thing this competition had prompted me to do was invest in some nice underwear sets. Just matching cotton things, and today’s was a red tartan pattern which Kyou held up, cocking an amused eyebrow, before neatly folding them next to my tie.

Standing, he drew me up so we were very close indeed, brushing my stomach as he removed my skirt. He slid his hands up my spine to unhook my bra, and I had to wriggle a little to help him take it off while leaving my shirt on. Then he undid every button but the topmost, and stepped back a second time to enjoy the result.

"Something to keep the sun off?" I asked, glancing down. I rather liked this look. Kyou obviously did.

Deciding to redress the imbalance in clothing, I found his belt and made a slow business of unbuckling it, enjoying the way he kept his gaze fixed on the small glimpses he could catch of my breasts as I moved. In turn, I kept my attention focused entirely on his face, watching every nuance of his expression, not even glancing down at the body I was revealing, even when I knelt to remove his shoes, and then his underpants.

My shirt came off last. He settled it neatly over the back of one of the chairs, and looked at me expectantly. Always with him it was this challenge, this anticipation of pushing boundaries, of not backing down.

I stepped forward, still watching nothing but his expression as all those naked parts of us pressed together. He was hard against my stomach. My breasts flattened against his chest. Both of us inhaled, and then let our breath out at the exact same moment, and I smiled, and finally dropped my gaze as I lowered my mouth to the same spot in the hollow of the shoulder where I’d marked Rin.

I’d decided to put their hickeys in the same spots, for all that it would be problematic if they wandered around together with their shirts off. But the symmetry of it pleased me, and so I worked my way down Kyou just as I had Rin, though Kyou reacted differently at first, curling his hand around the back of my neck, and then tangling his fingers through my hair. He stopped that, though, as I worked on the third hickey, and I made sure to give him a particularly thorough one there, and when I was done, I looked up at him through lowered lashes, my cheek still pressed against him.

His eyes were very wide, but then they narrowed, and he stepped back. Reaching down to the seat of the unused patio chair, he picked up a folded blanket and, walking to the centre of the biggest stretch of grass, spread it with a flick of his wrists.

"Lie down. On your stomach."

Challenge upon challenge, and my own smile widened as I paced with slow deliberation toward him, keeping my eyes once again focused only on his. Stopping when I felt cloth beneath my bare feet, I knelt, and paused for a long moment gazing up at him. Even naked and erect he managed an appearance of calm control—though I suspected it was a thin veneer at the moment, as I leaned forward on my hands, and then lay flat, folding my arms beneath my chin.

Closing my eyes, I found myself supremely aware of all the little things that usually went on in the background. The breeze making leaves clatter, and playing across my sun-warmed skin. Distant shouts from the sports fields, and a hum that must be the chatter from the refectory. A deeper, lower rush from the nearest road. The faintest, tiniest sound made by Kyou’s steps as he walked behind me.

I knew that he’d stand there, not moving, until both of us could hardly bear it, and when he finally knelt and bent over me, the movement was so careful that I didn’t hear it at all, only felt the weight on the blanket. It took everything I had to not tense up, to not show how excited I was, how badly I wanted him to abandon all these silly rules and just do something.

I felt his breath, then his tongue, the faintest graze in the small of my back. I grit my teeth to prevent an audible response, but he had won this round, the tiniest sigh escaping me as his mouth fastened on my skin.

The next hickey he placed between my shoulder blades, and all the while his swollen head rubbed against the back of my legs. I had to give it to him—Kyou had a ton of control.

He tested himself even further by sliding slowly up, an inch-by-inch progress that had to be maddening for both of us, to whisper into my ear: "Turn over."

I turned. Not in a rush, but impatience was winning with me—for all this was not going to go anywhere satisfactory—and so I did not draw it out, simply shifting in the small amount of room I had between the cage made by his arms and legs. At least I managed to keep my face calm as he looked down at me, letting his weight come down on me before he fastened his mouth to the side of my throat.

Not a cautious choice, not what I’d expected from Kyou, who balanced risk and excitement so carefully, and had to realise that a love bite in a visible spot would start people wondering who had given it to me. But my confusion vanished as I remembered the afternoon get-together he’d passed up. Whatever was going on between Kyou and Carr, it had spurred him to mark me. A little game of possession.

He was more than thorough, but finally raised his head.

"I’m not sure it’s possible for a person to look any smugger."

"Let me give that a try," he replied, and did indeed seem even more pleased with himself as he bent his head to finish the challenge, kissing me thoroughly.

In response I slid one hand between his stomach and mine, taking hold of him. He jerked once, but then kissed me harder, and I amused myself by gripping him even more firmly, then rubbing my thumb slowly on his head. He couldn’t keep still with that, pushing forward.

I was so ready for him, really aching, and it would have been so simple to get him inside me. But instead, I reached down between my legs with my free hand and then brought my fingers up slick and sticky, and wrapped both my hands about him. I doubted his expression was at all smug then. He shuddered, and began to pump.

I did my best to keep my hands in place, and thought Kyou lucky that I don’t have long fingernails. He didn’t hold back, going fast and hard, making my stomach and hands hot from the friction. Even though he wasn’t where I wanted him, I still gasped a little when he came.

For a moment he let his whole weight rest on me, then lifted his head and looked down at me. A most unreadable expression, not smug at all. Then he brushed my forehead with his lips before shifting so he was beside me. For a minute we just lay there, watching a red and gold butterfly chart its erratic course across the brilliant blue above.

Kyou sat up, grimacing down at his lower chest, then looked down at my stomach. His expression changed subtly, and he slid two fingers through white, then leaned forward and pushed them inside me.

I’d anticipated him, just, and so simply said: "Additional firsts?"

But I was excited, hopeful, and not inclined to hide it completely as he moved a little further along the blanket and pushed those two fingers deeper. His left hand touched my thigh, then settled so the fingers rested on the crease of my leg. The thumb slid gently down, demonstrating he had a working knowledge of female anatomy, and I closed my eyes as he made a circular motion in a very good spot indeed.

When I opened them again, I didn’t look back at Kyou, but gazed up into the blue-drenched sky, and listened to the wind, and the distant hum of a school full of people who had no notion of the leisurely progress Kyou made with small, unrelenting touches, and steady pressure. He had slender hands, and managed to get a large portion of one inside me, while never ceasing the movement of the thumb of his other hand. I felt as if I was floating, and at the same time completely focused, until at last the sky disappeared in a grey static haze, and my body tightened so intensely it hurt.

Kyou freed his hands, and I unclenched mine. I’d been holding the edge of the blanket so tightly the stitches were imprinted into my skin. My other hand was full of blades of grass torn loose. My heart pounding, I took a gulping breath and then lifted my arms to close around Kyou’s neck as he lowered himself back on me, and we kissed at length, my legs wrapping around him. I already wanted him again, and tangled my fingers in his hair as his kisses began to rove to my throat, and then he settled into sucking my breasts, very hard, occasionally moving to add several more love bites around the one Rin had marked.

His phone rang.

Kyou growled, but got up immediately, explaining: "Rin wouldn’t call now unless it was an emergency."

Sitting up, I watched him cross to fish his phone from his blazer pocket, and then followed his gaze as he turned abruptly and stared above the trees. The vast blue I had fallen into was smudged with grey.

"Be right there," Kyou said, put his phone on the table and strode briskly to the rear of the summer house.

Hearing the tap running, I stood and fetched a couple of towels and brought them around, then paused to enjoy Kyou rinsing lather from his front. Handing one of the towels over, I said: "What’s on fire?"

"The boat house."

He was already on the move, drying himself as he headed back inside. I didn’t hurry, soaping myself thoughtfully, not interested so much in a fire as thinking back on what we’d just done, and being pleased. And I was further pleased when, knotting his tie, Kyou ducked around the corner again and leaned close to whisper in my ear: "Next week. Without fail."

I took my time dressing, and cleaned up the hidden garden, wondering what impact a burning boat house would have on who won the Thursday competitions.

Bran had left his run too late. He could not possibly catch up on what I knew they considered one of the most important firsts. But either way, next week I would have one of them. Kyou or Rin.

* * *

After school, I headed to the student carpark and spotted Lania waving at me from the front passenger seat of Carr’s blue station wagon. He’d explained during the museum trip that he’d chosen it to fit canvasses and art supplies. I climbed in, wondering if it would be worth it to talk my parents into purchasing a car, since the buses seemed to be increasingly crowded, and once or twice I’d had to wait for the next one. But getting a licence involved a set number of co-driving hours, and that just wasn’t practical on a number of levels.

"Hey Mika," Carr said, pausing a moment for me to buckle up before he pulled out.

"Yay, Mika!" Lania was hyped. "We’re winning you away from your books."

"At least for the afternoon," I said.

"What happened to your neck?" Lania asked, peering at me sympathetically.

It took some effort not to lift one hand to hide evidence, but I’d been clever about incriminating hickeys and said "Scratched it on a twig," with the faintest of shrugs and total truth, since I had taken a twig and scored a red mark right through the centre of Kyou’s little declaration, and then stuck a round sticking plaster over the top, so that the ends of the scratch were visible on either side.

"How often do you do these outings?" I asked, to avoid further questions.

"Once or twice a month. Sometimes we meet later, and do a proper Friday night thing, but too many of us have annoying curfews."

"Mainly people from the Art Club?"

"I guess that’s the core," Carr said.

"No, Class 7C is," Lania said. "During first year our Home Room was Class 7C, with Hanni, Anika, Sean, Dao-Ku, Raj. Everyone else is people from our clubs, or people we’re dating, or just someone who comes along."

"Sounds like a long-time group. Are you all planning to go to Helios U as well?"

"It’s the first choice for those continuing with study," Carr said. "If your course is as competitive as you say, what will you do if you don’t get in?"

"The other primary options are in the US, Britain, or the Netherlands," I said. "I haven’t decided yet. MIT, perhaps, but it’s just as competitive to get into."

"And so you’ll move on again and have to get to know a whole new set of people?" Lania asked. "I don’t know if I could stand that!"

"Well, I’m working to avoid it," I said equably, and let myself enjoy their care in introducing me to their friends, and seeing that I wasn’t made to feel an outsider. I particularly appreciated the serving of gossip everyone handed out about the fire at the boat shed.

"Most likely someone smoking," the muscular boy called Raj said authoratively.

"Wrong!" Sean’s eyes were wide with the delight of gossip. "I got down fast—before half the school turned up and the teachers sent us back—and you could smell the petrol!"

"Arson?" Anika, one of the many loosely crowding three tables of the buffet-style restaurant, exchanged a fascinated and unhappy glance with Hanni. "Someone who has it in for the Rowing Club? Or the school generally?"

Sean, with a glance at Carr, added: "Or just the Three Kings?"

Ten

The question of whether they were being targeted was the very thing I asked Rin on Tuesday.

"I wish I could believe it was just an accident," he said, handing me a steaming cup of peppermint tea. "But it doesn’t look that way, and not being an accident means it’s something that could happen again, in some form. At this stage there’s no way to know whether it’s a random arsonist, or targeting someone in the Rowing Club, or just the school."

"The police are investigating?"

"Yes, though the school uses a security firm that will probably be more involved. There are quite a few cameras on the grounds—fortunately nowhere that can monitor the ins and outs of this garden—but there were none down at the boat shed."

"What happens to the Rowing Club? And the challenges?"

"No Rowing Club for a while. All the sculls were destroyed. Insured, of course, but we’re unlikely to get replacements before the mid-term break, and we don’t row in winter. We’ll probably take up a temporary club, which is a whole world of complications in itself. Until then we’ll randomly draw challenges." He smiled slowly, producing an expression very different from the warm, gentle version he used for his student council role. "We had a foot race for you on Sunday, Cheshire. My advantage."

"Did Bran try to win?" I asked, curiously.

"Bran’s good at keeping his motives to himself. How was he last week?"

"I think he would have preferred this challenge with someone he already knew and liked," I said. "But he has offered to teach me to dance, so I guess he’s planning on trying to get to know me enough to not be entirely uncomfortable getting me naked." I gave Rin a straight look. "Next challenge, he’ll either relax with me, or this will stop."

Rin sighed. "Yes, we can’t go ahead if he doesn’t want to do it. You need to learn to dance, Cheshire?"

"Well, I’ve never had occasion to waltz or anything like that."

"Corascur has its own ballroom dancing club, and it’s worked into the sports curriculum, since a solid portion of the students will eventually attend formal balls. There’ll be a handful of slow dances, which will allow the majority of students to participate. The rest will mostly be waltz, some foxtrot and quickstep, and probably at least one tango. I can only help on the waltz and foxtrot, though—you’ll need Bran for anything more complicated."

"Bran dances that well?"

"Meggan is part of the Dance Club, so he didn’t have a lot of choice, though I’m fairly sure he enjoys dance for its own sake. That’s an odd change of expression, Cheshire."

"Meggan Forster is Bran’s ex-girlfriend?"

"Your study of us missed that? Yes, ever since the beginning of middle school, until last year. I take it you’ve met?"

"Meggan was one of the Rose Court members with us at the Trafala. No wonder Bran was so strange. I was walking down the street with her."

Rin put down his cup, eyebrows lifted, seeming primarily entertained. "And he managed not to be unforgivably rude? I’ll take that as a good sign. Usually, Bran’s mood drops massively if he sees Meggan anywhere. The question of whether he really wanted to play with you must have distracted him."

I thought about asking why they’d broken up, but decided it fell into the category of none of my business.

"What made you three run for school council?" I asked, instead. "It seems to be a big time commitment."

"It is. In part family expectation—we’re walking a line between conforming and readying our plans this year. Next year will be confrontations and yelling, but we’ve been working toward making our choices possible for a long time."

"I hear you’re going to be a doctor."

"The expectation is more medical research combined with business administration, but there’s no objection to starting with practice."

"Are you interested in any of that?"

"Not in the slightest. But both sets of parents—I have two steps—all absolutely expect me to follow their lead, going through medical practice into pharmaceuticals. It took Bran and Kyou to let me realise there was even the possibility of something else. I did briefly mention that I wanted to be a musician, around the time I was nine, but never made that mistake again. What about your parents, Cheshire? Do they approve of engineering?"

"They’re very supportive. The only negative I can hold to their account—and it’s not really a negative, since I don’t think I’d change the way I’ve grown up—was obliging me to switch schools a lot, which has done interesting things to my academic record. But my parents will cover all course and basic living costs for whatever degrees I want."

"What are they like?"

I told him about my parents. My mother, whose interest in how things work had developed into a career as a highly-valued problem-solver. And my father writing under countless pen names, which over nearly twenty years had built from next-to-nothing to an income able to afford Corascur’s over-the-top school fees.

"Which of them do you take after more?" he asked, leading me into the summer house.

"Most people will say I’m the image of my mother," I said. "I think my sense of humour’s more like my Dad’s, though. Quiet amusement, a tendency to sit on the sidelines eating popcorn, a little teasing."

"More than a little, from what I’ve observed." He paused, turning serious. "Despite my enthusiasm last week, before going further I wanted to confirm that you’re comfortable doing this. Today particularly. I don’t want you to feel pressured."

"I’m very good at saying no to things I dislike. Having second thoughts?"

"The one thing Bran did talk about was the consequences of exposure."

I nodded. My year here would be very uncomfortable if this got out, and might follow me for all of my life.

"Now that that book’s been destroyed, the only likely exposure is overheard conversations, and I’m going to trust to your collective intelligence to not be chatting about me anywhere it’s possible to be overheard. Otherwise, even if someone did walk in here at just the wrong moment, that’d only reveal me as having a tryst with whichever of you happened to be here at the time. That one would sensibly tell people I’m their latest girlfriend, and we’d get in trouble for having sex on school grounds, which from what I’ve read on the forums is not all that remarkable. As scandals go, very minor, and more likely to impact you than me."

He tilted his head, eyes half-closing, then nodded. "If that happened, it’d be best to end the competition at whatever challenge we’d all completed." That said, he looked down at me. "With music or without?"

"Wouldn’t telling you my preferences be cheating?"

"Cheating is a viable strategy," he said, and scrolled through his phone, then set it down as it started playing something languid and instrumental.

Reaching out a hand, he pulled me onto his lap and kissed me, slow and sure. No hurry, and no lack of control today. His hands moved over me, holding mine still when I tried to respond. He didn’t pause in his kisses even as he removed my shirt and then my bra, only stopping when he took off my skirt and then underpants, lifting me easily, as if I was a doll. Being with someone as tall as Rin continued to disconcert me, and with me naked, and him fully dressed—not even his tie askew—I felt at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, he seemed to realise. His hands stilled, and then he said huskily into my ear: "I really liked it when you undressed me. Now I can enjoy the view while you do. What is it you do to keep yourself fit, Cheshire?"

I slid off his lap, regaining equilibrium. "Usually jogging in the afternoon, since exercise helps me sleep, though I’m not in a good area for it this year. Yoga every second or third morning."

"Yoga? I look forward to seeing how flexible you are." He seemed entertained, then then frowned. "Kyou seems to have lost count."

I glanced down at my very-decorated breast. "I think he liked that you’d see them."

Rin laughed. "I’ll restrain myself from sending a return message, or you’ll end up with no undamaged skin." He ran a thumb lightly across the series of hickeys Kyou had put on me, making me shiver. Then he lowered his lashes and looked at me through them as he added: "Cheshire, I’m feeling overdressed."

Rin going into flirtatious mode gave me a vision of an endless field of women collapsing at his feet. "You’re dangerous when you want something," I remarked, and pulled loose his tie.

He really did like it, not hiding the intensity of his reaction. When he stood up so I could remove his pants, I slipped around behind him and curled my arms around him before working on his belt buckle. His stomach quivered in reaction. When I reached the stage of removing his boxer-briefs, I drew them down, and then amused myself exploring the shape of his penis. Long, with a large head.

"I can feel your pulse," I said.

"Is this your definition of a little teasing?" Rin asked, his voice uneven.

I traced a fingernail along the underside of his shaft. "Could be."

He took a very firm hold of my hand, and then captured the other one when I tried to use it instead. Turning, he let go of my hands and lifted me by my armpits, walking over to the blanket he’d placed beneath the window and setting me down.

"Too much?" I asked.

"Call it…off-script," Rin said, pressing downward on my shoulders and kneeling with me when I responded. He stroked a finger along my jaw, tilted my chin, and kissed me lightly.

I stopped playing around, and simply allowed myself to be touched. He began working his way down my throat, across my right shoulder, and then down my arm. Tiny butterfly kisses. Autumn sunlight filtered through the window and caught his face as he kissed my palm, and then each of my fingertips. The Three Kings all had fine eyelashes, but Rin’s were particularly good: light brown and very long, perfectly complementing his pale gold eyes. They glimmered in the light, as delicate as his touch.

He crossed to my other hand, and repeated his path in reverse. When he reached my throat, he guided me to lay down, then worked his way down my chest between my breasts. Ghost touches across my stomach, my hip, and down my leg. I lay obediently still, looking at the sky through the window and tortured by the slow build, but also highly pleased by it.

Rin did not make the mistake of pretending to be romantically engaged, but left me in no doubt that he was enjoying himself. Kyou even more so. Bran…would I be able to do this with him?

By the time Rin had kissed the hollow of both my ankles and worked his way to my breasts, I really wanted him to stop kissing me and start doing other things, but since he’d managed the whole production after I’d teased him rock-hard, all I did when he began kissing each of the hickeys Kyou had left was catch a lock of his hair, wondering what he looked like with it down. It was fine hair, mostly straight, but with a loose curl visible at the ends, and it slipped through my fingers as he moved up to face me.

His eyes were so dilated I could only see a rim of pale gold, and he stared down at me for a long moment before saying: "Tell me if this hurts."

He went very slowly, having trouble because while I was very wet, my insides had all tightened with anticipation. I worked to make myself relax more, and I think it helped because he slid forward soon after, part of his weight coming down on me. I felt very full, but it wasn’t painful.

Height came into play again, because my face was positioned at his lower throat. I kissed his collarbone and murmured: "Do Kyou and Bran know you have an…advantage in this game?"

Rin let out his breath in a tiny snort, but said: "Sometimes it’s a handicap, so I expect it will even out."

After gauging my reaction, he began a slow, steady movement. I experimented with shifting the position of my legs, and finally wrapped them around him, holding on tight. This seemed to reassure him, and he increased his pace, and even put some strength into it when I gasped and clenched my legs tighter.

I came very quickly, digging my fingers into his ribs and lifting myself toward him as I did, then loosening, and he responded by slowing, then speeding up again. His breath was harsh in his throat, and the continued motion made me feel I was suspended in a tingling sea. I tightened my legs again, keeping our bodies as close as possible until he flooded me with heat, and then stilled.

Shifting his weight off me, Rin lay on his back beside me, one of his hands finding mine and tangling together lightly. A companionable gesture.

"I like this music," I said. "It reminds me of the ocean."

He lifted his head to look down at me, wearing a sudden, pleased expression quite unlike either his gentle mask, or the more edged smile he had previously offered me. But then he lay back down again.

"Do you like the ocean, Cheshire?"

"I like water. I’ve lived on a couple of islands, and I often listen to ocean sounds to help me sleep. Is the music yours?"

"I suppose I was being very obvious. Yes, my latest piece, background for an underwater section. Are you musical, Cheshire?"

"I can read sheet music. Whenever I changed schools, I used to pretend I’d never learned anything and let the teacher suggest an instrument. Piccolo, saxophone, xylophone, guitar, and recorder. Piano four times, so I can play to a low level, and I can find the chords on the guitar. Occasionally I was shuffled into the choir. If I had infinite time, I’d probably continue with the piano. But there’s never enough time for everything I want to do."

He hummed softly, a solemn sound, then started kissing me again.

Eleven

"Mika, share a room with me on the school trip."

"Not going," I said, sliding my laptop into my backpack.

Lania hesitated, then ducked her head closer to mine, and whispered: "Is it a money thing or a too busy studying thing?"

"Studying," I said, laughing.

Lania pulled a face, then grabbed her bag. "Walk to assembly with me?"

"Sure," I said, wondering if she was unconvinced about the money.

We slipped out of the classroom, and joined the throng heading toward the day’s Special Assembly.

"Celeste says you’re really smart."

"Nice of her."

"I mean, really really smart. A hundred percent on all the class quizzes in calculus so far."

"Maths is fun for me. I’m planning to take a bunch of course credit exams so I can skip some units when I get to Helios U. Which will hopefully help me with the getting into Helios U part."

"You don’t have much problem with the other classes, either, though. It’s all easy for you. So why are you studying so madly?"

"Everyone applying for the course I want will also be really really smart. The Marden Institute, where I want to at least intern, does cutting-edge development, and only takes the absolute cream. Meanwhile, my academic record is skim milk."

"And so, a regular study routine makes sense and no doubt will pay off. But, Mika, you need to give your head a break every so often."

"I do. I give myself time to play games practically every day. Usually on the bus, because the endless stop-starting makes studying impossible."

"I bet you have it all scheduled on a calendar, too. But the school trip’s not just a break: it’s specifically about being with your school friends, making memories that last a lifetime. Look, I know that we’re all more or less still strangers to you, and none of the things that happen this year, none of these end of an era events, are going to feel quite the same way to you. But give it a chance Mika. Is it really going to make that big of a difference if you spend four days not studying? Look, all I’m saying is that you can still submit the form by five o’clock today, and I’d really love it if you were my roommate."

Lania touched my shoulder lightly, only to be jostled away by the crowd, leaving me alone to find a seat in the auditorium. The subject of the assembly was the senior class trip, and so only the oldest two grades had been required to attend. I was unfamiliar enough with the school to not even be sure if I was sitting with people in my year, and that was of course one of the reasons the class trip held no real meaning for me. If I went, I’d have to attach myself to the members of the Art Club to have anyone to talk to.

I closed my eyes, wishing the air conditioning was set higher on this muggy, unseasonably warm day. The senior advisor gave us a summary of the standards of behaviour expected of Corascur students when on outings, and the consequences of stepping over lines. Then came a short lull, followed by a familiar gentle voice, describing some of the group activities planned for the island resort that was the year’s destination. Our Student Council President, looking like a model who had drifted away from his photo shoot. How Rin managed to transform a standard school uniform into couturier fashion was beyond me.

Bran, standing behind him, was studying his feet. It was definitely an achievement for someone so generally unsociable to be voted vice-president. By contrast Kyou, a few steps away, was scanning the audience methodically. He only stopped when he reached the point where I was sitting, and then he turned his attention back to Rin.

Kyou’s expression had been entirely appropriate to the occasion, and he didn’t look at me again, but a certain aura of anticipation left me unsurprised when I found him later that day in the garden, contemplating the vivid sky.

"Worried it will rain?" I asked.

"Almost wishing it would. The summer house is very unpleasant today."

I went inside, and had to agree. Muggy air, baking sunlight, and no trace of wind. I put down my backpack and opened the window, but it made no difference.

"Let’s work with it," Kyou said, and took the picnic blanket around to the far side of the summer house, then returned and began rapidly shedding clothes, folding everything on the coffee table. I looked at him a moment, then followed suit: in this weather, nakedness was a better option, even if the idea of physical activity was less than compelling.

He closed the window, then went back outside, and after a moment’s confusion I followed him around, only to be met with a stream of water to the face.

Managing to stop myself from shrieking—the water was actually hot from the sun—I dashed forward and we wrestled for control of the trigger nozzle. Gouts of water, thankfully cooler than the first spray, drenched us and our surroundings, and then cut off abruptly as Kyou and I dropped the hose and grabbed for each other instead.

He was hard and I was ready, and we more or less crashed down onto the blanket he’d prepared, and wasted no time fitting our bodies together. This was a different Kyou to our previous encounters, abandoning gameplaying for a straightforward enthusiasm that I happily matched. He kept trying to kiss me deeply while pumping, but had some difficulties, and I found myself having to stifle giggles and gasps. And I very much hoped there was no-one wandering out-of-the-way paths when he came, because our panting in the aftermath seemed highly obvious.

"Good adaption to environmental conditions," I murmured, when I could, and he laughed, and rolled off me, then pulled me to him and kissed me hungrily.

We wrapped ourselves together and kissed until I felt we were cooking in the heat. Kyou briefly shifted to his favourite preoccupation of trying to swallow my breasts, then rolled me onto my stomach and found the fading hickeys he’d left on our previous encounter and renewed them, then began biting the small of my back, my hips, my buttocks, my shoulder blades, the back of my neck. He held me in place when I tried to roll over, and I could sense that his mood had shifted. He began rubbing against the small of my back while continuing to nip and bite at me lightly, until my whole back felt like it was burning.

Finally, he rolled me over, and knelt over me, looking very hot and flushed. Sweat was shining on his forehead and cheeks, and his eyes were black. He very deliberately captured my hands and pinned them beside my shoulders, then lowered himself and pushed slowly back inside me.

It had grown cloudy while he toyed with me, and a roll of thunder accompanied his descent. The wind picked up as he began to move, but it wasn’t until I was writhing in sweaty ecstasy beneath him that the heavens opened and drenched us.

Kyou spent himself completely soon after, and made no effort to keep his weight off me. I didn’t mind. I needed to cool down, and was not sure I was capable of standing anyway. It was only when the downpour shifted from stinging hard to sheets of water that he made some gesture toward moving, gave up on it for a few breaths, then managed to get to his knees and help me up.

We staggered into the summer house and dripped all over the floor near the door. Kyou fished in the under-seat compartments while trying not to soak everything in sight, and, finding myself dizzy, I sat straight down on the floor after he gave me a towel.

"Dangerously close to heatstroke," Kyou said, dropping beside me and feeling my forehead.

I felt his in return, since he’d been the one putting out the most energy. "Maybe a sprinkler would have been the optimal solution."

He smiled, and began to dry his hair. "Let me know if you start to feel sick," and we sat watching the rain.

"Did Bran try to compete this week?" I asked. "We’re getting very far ahead of him."

"I think so. It’s not necessarily surprising that there’s a week without Bran, but Rin and I discussed what to do if he keeps losing." He glanced at me. "If he hasn’t progressed by the time of the school trip, we’ll ask him if he wants to stop."

A jolt of disappointment made me pause, but then I nodded, and kept towelling my hair. "Do you ever regret becoming part of the student council? All these school events seem to involve a lot of work for you three."

"For the trip, it’ll be an advantage," he said, his eyes hooded in a faintly derisive expression. "It gives us some control over events, and also a ready-made excuse to leave whenever someone’s scheming to throw themselves on us."

I laughed. "You three aren’t the only good-looking boys in this school."

"I know. A group name apparently gives us mystique. But there’s no denying we’re a target for a lot of people, for all manner of reasons, and being busy and always needing to rush off is very useful." He shrugged, then added: "Because so many people are watching us, we’ll have to avoid you like the plague on the trip. I’ll apologise in advance."

"I’m not going, so there’s no effort involved."

He paused, putting down his towel, then shifted his face into a comically disappointed moue. "I was very much looking forward to seeing you in a swimsuit."

I stared at him, then down at my naked self, and raised my eyebrows.

"I know, but it still counts." He stood up and started sorting out his clothes. "Do you truly need to study eight days a week to get into your course?"

"I don’t know," I admitted. "It depends on the calibre of the other applicants. But because I can’t control the possibility of people being smarter than me, it becomes one of the things I can’t mentally put down when I’m trying to sleep. I want to be able to pass my exams with my eyes closed, because I’m scared I won’t be able to prop them open during exam week."

He pulled on underpants and trousers, then sat down on the heavy coffee table. "You thought we’d help your sleep issues. Haven’t these last couple of times made any difference?"

"It has." In fact, there’d only been a single night in the last week when I hadn’t managed to sleep in less than half an hour after turning my lights out, which for me was an excellent week.

"So, your concern is actually lack of sleep during the exam? Then my recommendation is to make this first term a clear, full experiment on the impact of regular sex."

"It’s not that this doesn’t sound tempting…"

"No arguing. Years of being expected to spend my holidays at the family business tells me you’re a typical high-achiever who burns out. Lack of sleep isn’t the only consequence of stress—work some proper breaks into your schedule." He hauled his laptop out of his backpack and soon had the application form for the school trip on screen. There wasn’t a lot to fill in, and he had most of it done in a moment, before passing the laptop over to me.

"You won’t see much of any kind of swimming costume if you keep covering me in hickeys," I remarked, but took the laptop.

"What do you usually do when you’re not trying to study yourself into a competitive field?" he asked, as I filled in the final details.

"Design fantasy cities, read novels, play games, go running or swimming. Lots of things." I handed him his laptop back.

"And have you been doing any of those this year?"

"Just Battle of Lothra on the bus."

"Oh? What’s your ID?"

"Isambard."

He found his phone, and while he poked at the screen I slowly dressed, watching him occasionally glance at me with appreciation.

Kyou’s game ID was Tiny Glittering Flower, which I did not comment on. For the next hour we waited out the rain and played the MOBA, first with some light duelling, and then randomly grouping in the five-man teams that were the mainstay of the game. He was good, I was good, sometimes the rest of the party was good. I enjoyed myself a lot, in part because he insisted I sit next to him with my legs across his lap. And also because the random players decided Tiny Glittering Flower was my girlfriend, and kept complimenting me on her skills—along with a lot of less polite comments. Since neither of us were using voice chat, and typing took too much time, I would just laugh and queue for another battle.

Just when the downpour was finally fading to a more regular rain, Kyou received a call, and chose to exit the game rather than ignore it. While his current champion stood uselessly before the enemy tower, I worked frantically to make up for the sudden absence. We were too close to victory to just give up.

"Hey," Kyou said to the phone.

I couldn’t hear precisely what was said, though I guessed from the voice that it was Bran. Kyou, previously warmly relaxed beneath me, turned to ice, and rapped out a series of terse questions.

"What happened?"

"How bad?"

"Where are you now?"

"On my way."

At that I abandoned the game and lifted my legs off him. Kyou grabbed his tie and looped it around his neck, then looked for his shoes.

"Rin’s been injured; he’s unconscious. Ambulance coming."

"I’ll tidy up here," I said.

He lifted a hand in acknowledgement, grabbed his backpack and hurried out. Whatever mystique the Three Kings did or didn’t have, there was undoubtedly a deep bond between them.

Hoping the rain would stop, I took my time drying the floor and hanging towels on hooks, but it looked like it was going to drizzle on interminably. Retrieving my folding umbrella from its pocket in my backpack, I detoured to fold the picnic blanket over the back of one of the outdoor chairs, then headed out of the garden. Gate locked, bars removed and replaced, and then a quick walk down to the dovecote to decide how I wanted to get home. While it was only five minutes to my next bus, the stop was on the far side of the campus. There’d be a twenty-minute wait until the next.

I contemplated my contact list, which held precisely two local numbers: Lania and Carr’s, which I had thanks to the outing to Trafala.

Experimentally I texted Lania: "Still need that roommate?"

She called me back immediately, speaking from somewhere loud with voices. "Mika! You decided to come? Have you put the form in?"

"Yes, an hour or so ago."

"That’s so great. I promise … show…time."

"Where are you? I can hardly hear you."

"Sorry." The noise dropped a little. "It’s a madhouse here."

"Are you at the mall?" I asked, trying not to be too obvious about the reason I’d contacted Lania.

"Nope, still at school, watching the show."

"What’s going on?"

"Our beloved student council president was doing a facilities tour with the Theatre Club when about twenty years of old props fell on their heads. Rin shielded the others and took the brunt of it, and he’s out cold. We’re all watching a couple of Theatre Club members redefine the term histrionic while waiting for the ambulance. Though I’m feeling a bit guilty about being such a gawper, so perhaps we should shuffle off. Do you want to come out with us tonight, Mika? We’re going bowling."

I was about to agree gratefully when she added: "Come over to the auditorium if you’re nearby and you’ll see Kyou with the funniest sunburn. He looks like he fell asleep outdoors lying on his side."

My voice froze in my throat, and I looked down at my hands, then cautiously touched my face. I did feel warm.

"Another time," I said, regretfully, and called a taxi.

Twelve

I didn’t have to wait out the weekend to get news, since Kyou posted a picture on the school’s unofficial forums of a wan Rin sitting on a hospital bed, still somehow managing to look elegant. The caption read: "No concussion, hairline fracture to forearm."

The forums also obliged me with a photo of Kyou with a distinct red tinge to only one side of his face and throat. By Monday, my matching flush had faded to the point that I was no longer concerned about my photograph being circulated in turn, and listened without comment in Home Room to the gossip continuing to rage about the accident. The problem being that the Drama Club insisted that their props were stored carefully, and someone had moved them.

All the school could talk of now was The Vendetta, though they couldn’t decide if the target was Rin or the Three Kings. It had been very educational reading the speculation as to why anyone would have a vendetta against Rin—most theories focused on rejection or a rival—but so far there was little in the way of proof.

Given his injuries, Rin was the last person I expected to be waiting for me Tuesday morning. He was sitting at the café table, drinking tea and reading from his tablet, and smiled at me when I dropped down beside him.

"Thirsty, Cheshire?"

The question was blatant teasing, but I ignored dual meanings and simply nodded and sat opposite him, pouring myself a cup. I sipped, finding a light, faintly floral green tea, and studied Rin. A slimline sky-blue cast bound his right arm. A suggestion of pallor made all the more obvious a dull purple line that crossed his left temple, pointing to a lightly blackened eye. It emphasised his ethereal look, but made me wonder if we should postpone. And yet, something in the way he was looking at me made me hesitate to propose that. His very calm expression for some reason made me remember rumours of his lightning temper.

"Do you have any suggestion for what I should do if you pass out?" I asked finally.

His expression darkened before he summoned an amused look and said lightly: "Don’t let me end up looking like Kyou?"

I was right: Rin was in a stinkingly bad mood, but hiding it.

"He looked very funny, didn’t he?" I said, calmly. "So did I, but thankfully I managed to get a taxi without anyone seeing me. The taxi driver kept staring at me in the rear-view mirror. You look sick to death of talking about who wants to drop things on your head, so I won’t ask. Tell me about the school trip instead. Not that student council president speech, but gossipy things that you’re not supposed to admit to."

He looked at me a moment, then put his cup down. "If you want to chat, come sit over here." He indicated the café table between us.

Since today’s challenge was oral, I wondered whether I should take my underpants off first, but compromised by slipping off my shoes after moving the cups and teapot to my chair. Rin moved his seat closer in after I sat down, and pushing between my legs so my knees were on either side of his shoulders. His face was almost pressed into my diaphragm, but he looked unaffected, simply reaching up and unbuttoning my shirt with his left hand.

Not wanting to end up naked while he remained dressed, I slipped off his tie and undid what buttons I could reach of his shirt. That had the effect of mashing my chest into his face, and as I tried to reach for the lower buttons, he made a sound low in his throat and pushed my bra up, immediately engulfing a breast.

I bit his earlobe, and he bit me in return, and we engaged in an entertaining little wrestle of nibbles, kissing and sucking while trying to remove clothing. I was worried about hurting him, so took care drawing off his shirt, and managed to hide any reaction when I glimpsed great patches of purple across his back. Turning, I placed his shirt on the chair we were using to hold our clothes and looked down at him. I had only underpants and socks left, while he was fully dressed from the waist down, and would have to stand up if I wanted to get anything else off him.

Rin tilted his head, looking at me through those long lashes. "Would you call yourself a mere dabbler in yoga, Cheshire, or a devotee?"

"Journeyman. Mind the table doesn’t tip."

I lifted myself on one hand as he held the table with the other, and drew off my underpants. I set myself back down, then smiled, rested my feet carefully on his shoulders, and once I was sure I wasn’t pressing on a sore spot, leaned back down to kiss him.

Rin’s response was quite forceful, so I knew I’d successfully distracted him from his bad mood. I could feel his cast pressing against my back as he clasped me close, but then began to lower me as he worked his kisses down my throat, my chest, my stomach. When he started licking my inner thigh I lay back, trying to control my breathing. It really was a very small table to be doing this on, and my shoulders and head weren’t supported. I was glad I’d remembered to take a shower first, even though I’d thought that today would most likely be Bran.

One thing was clear: I’d discovered Rin’s area of expertise. Although I was working from a comparison of none, it was hard for me to imagine a better progression from flickering exploration to deep probing to a firm and steady sucking that had me squirming, my feet making involuntary movements, my hands gripping the sides of the tabletop. My only disappointment was that I came far too quickly.

Rin kept sucking for a few more moments, which was exceptionally enjoyable, but then straightened and stood, pulling down his trousers as he did so. He pushed against me, gauging resistance, but then thrust in deep and hard, and began a less cautious motion than last week, only to almost immediately falter. I caught the clear signs of pain on his face before he tried to pick up the rhythm again.

Not sure if it was the bruises or the arm bothering him more, I shifted and partially sat up, putting my hands over his. "My turn now. You might have to give me some feedback—I don’t have any practical experience for this."

"You’ve never?" I’d clearly surprised Rin, who released his hold on my hips.

Sliding my legs down, I sat up, somewhat distracted by what it felt like to do that while he was inside me. "I’ve had one boyfriend, and it took him until a week before I was leaving to get me into bed. We did practice diligently, but most of your list is going to be new to me."

I couldn’t read the expression on his face, but after a moment’s pause he pulled out of me and sat back down. I hopped off the table, and gestured for him to move the chair a little so I could kneel on grass instead of path.

"There’s nothing complicated," he said, a note of amusement entering his voice as I contemplated the oversized mouthful before me. "Lots of licking, especially along the shaft. Cover your teeth with your lips when sucking. You’re not going to be able to get much more than the head in, but you can use your hands as well. Feel free to move your tongue about when sucking, but once you start sucking, I like it best if you don’t let up."

Glancing up at him, I found he’d recovered his faint smile, but with a hint of malice that lent him the air of a dissipated god. Rin really was not at all like the true gentleman image he presented in school. But I found this interesting as well, and leaned down to experimentally give the shaft of his penis a tiny, glancing lick.

It twitched in response, and I blinked, then lightly ran my tongue along one of the veins forming a bulge along the shaft. Another twitch. Deciding now was not the moment to start making comparisons to small animals, I tried poking my tongue at the very base of his penis and then running up the length of it.

"Do that again," Rin said.

I glanced up at him, and saw his eyes were now a mere glimmer beneath heavy lashes. He’d grown very intent, very quickly, and I could hear a shift in his breathing as I obeyed.

"Again, but this time just blow on it."

I obliged, and then followed the next instruction, and the next, and grew very certain that the Simon says challenge was one of Rin’s suggestions. His voice grew huskier the further we went, and I knew he was struggling to hold himself back, even before I did my best to get his penis into my mouth.

As he’d predicted, I couldn’t manage to get much further than the head, but obeyed orders to clasp my hands around the shaft, and rub while I sucked. I choked a little when he came, but recovered, and followed his command to keep sucking as he shrank. That, at least, allowed me to fit more of him in my mouth.

"Come back up here, Cheshire."

I stood up at his gesture, and sat sideways on his lap. He wrapped his unbroken arm around my waist, and began nuzzling my throat, but in a lazy fashion. This went on for a pleasant interlude until he leaned back on the iron chair and then flinched upright, and I remembered the bruises on his back.

Wriggling free, I circled him and contemplated the patches of deep purple. He’d been hit by some heavy stuff, and was lucky to not have broken ribs—or a cracked skull.

"Painkillers wearing off?" I asked. "Want me to make some more tea?"

He sighed, but then said: "Please."

I grabbed my clothes and dressed while the water was boiling. Rin didn’t stay sitting, but put his pants back on and fetched a couple of pill bottles. He also soaked a face towel with the remaining hot water and asked me to hold it on his back. We sat on the couch and drank while I held the towel to his back. He clearly wasn’t inclined to chat, the good mood I’d fostered having dissipated almost completely. Deciding it was a losing game trying to coax him out of the sullens, I left as soon as the towel had grown cold.

Thirteen

Friday was the last school day before the mid-term break. I was hoping for Kyou, but found Bran sitting on one edge of the picnic table. I straddled the top of the wall for a moment, contemplating him. If it had been Kyou, I would have asked why Rin was in such a filthy mood, and then we would have enjoyed each other a lot, and I would have slept well tonight. Reminding myself that, if nothing else, Bran was an exquisite kisser, I dropped down into the garden and walked over to him.

He looked at me expressionlessly, then took out one of his wireless earbuds and offered it to me.

I tilted my head, put the earbud in, and listened to the strains of The Blue Danube.

"Now, if I see you wearing headphones, this is what I’m going to picture you listening to," I said.

"You wouldn’t necessarily be wrong," he said, his harsh voice flat. He stood up and held out a hand to me. "Basic waltz is simple enough. Once you’ve learned the steps it’s more a matter of practice so that you can talk to your partner and avoid colliding with things."

Lessons at Corascur. Today, dance steps. Yesterday, a guide to oral sex. I worked to hide my amusement, taking Bran’s hand and putting my other on his shoulder. He talked briefly about hand position, and then had me listen for the beat in the music.

"We step with each beat. First beat, right foot back, next beat, left foot back and left. Shift weight to your left foot without moving your right. Slide your right foot to your left."

Once I discovered Bran and Meggan had been dance partners, I’d had some doubts about waltzing with him, but he sounded mainly bored, not upset, so I decided there would be little drama and concentrated on the dancing. I didn’t master the motions immediately, and had to count to keep the beat, but I at least didn’t step on him.

"A couple of sessions should be enough to at least get you looking somewhere other than your feet," Bran said, at a point where I’d grown thoroughly sick of The Blue Danube. He let go of my hand and turned off the music.

"I’ll thank you for your patience in advance, then," I said, handing him back the earbud. "I usually pick up sports reasonably quickly, but keeping to the beat seems to be tripping me up somehow."

"You can download waltzes where the 123 123 is dubbed over the top of the track, which can help in the early stages. Shadow dance to it until the basic motion is automatic."

This said, he reached out one hand to partially frame my face, lifted my chin a little, and kissed me.

It can’t be overstated enough that Bran really is an impossibly good kisser. I got very caught up very quickly, and found myself breathless and flushed and wanting more. And realised he had hold of both of my hands, keeping them firmly down by our sides whenever I made a motion to move them.

He didn’t want me to touch him?

I didn’t know how to react to that, letting him kiss me without making any effort to respond, for the first time really regretting agreeing to this game. If he didn’t want to be here, I didn’t want to do this anymore. But before I could decide whether to declare that twenty minutes were up after no more than five minutes, he let go of my hands and put his hands on my shoulders, a downward pressure that I realised meant he wanted us to sit down.

The move caught me off-guard, and I knelt before I thought it through, then drew my breath to end things, only to be pushed onto my back so abruptly I let out a little squeak.

He stopped moving, frowning eyes checking my expression. His own was very intent, and his porcelain pale skin had been consumed by a hectic flush which made me re-evaluate his level of involvement. When I only blinked at him in confusion, he turned his attention to my body, and began undoing my shirt, placing a great deal of concentration on carefully undoing each button, all the way to the waistband of my shirt. He pulled it completely open, then almost tentatively shifted my bra upward, and then just sat regarding me.

"Smallish was an overstatement," he said. "Invisible when lying down."

"Don’t like them, don’t eat them."

The smile this produced was positively wolfish, and he bent his head immediately and bit me. Not lightly, either. I responded by pulling his ear, only to have my hands captured again, and pressed down so that Bran could spend what I swear was considerably more than twenty minutes appreciating my chest, thankfully with no more biting. He then lay on top of me and kissed me for a good ten minutes more.

I couldn’t be more surprised at this shift from moody and reluctant to ravenous and enthused, but it did make me a lot more comfortable going ahead. He was very aroused, and so was I, and I think he came very close to skipping a few challenges. But instead, he hauled himself off me as abruptly as he’d pushed me down, and turned away.

"Back in your tree, Cheshire. We’ll play again some other day."

I reassembled my clothes, picked up my backpack, and left without a word, but had to find the nearest restroom to splash my face a lot and change to my spare underwear. It was impossible to deny that Bran’s behaviour had aroused me far more than it had annoyed me.

Only when I’d completely regained my composure did I head on to the Art Club, which was quieter than the last time I visited since there were no major Club projects on.

"Hello stranger!" Lania said, smiling at me as I came in. "I was beginning to wonder if you’d ditched the Club."

"Just caught up in things."

"I’ve been meaning to ask what changed your mind about the school trip."

Shrugging, I put my backpack down on the chair beside hers and considered the delicate watercolour she was close to completing. "I ended up in an impromptu counselling session and have been told to calm down or burn out. I don’t fully agree, but I thought of a constructive compromise that I’ll enjoy. Do you know what are the limits to how much we can use out of the storeroom?"

"As long as you’re not hauling supplies home, or simply wasting them, there’s not a lot of restrictions. And you can order in stock within reason, if you explain the project. Here, I’ll show you how."

She took me out of the room to a small office and showed me the ordering facility.

"The teachers and the Club President can approve purchases. Carr will be around later, so fill in anything you want. I don’t expect there’ll be any problems."

I thanked her and went to the storeroom to review what was on hand. They didn’t have the array of fine cutting tools I preferred, but I had that at home and could bring them in as necessary, and the rest was just a matter of increasing what supplies were already on hand. I filled in the order form and submitted it for approval, and then went to the workroom attached to the storeroom to build a base.

By the time Carr arrived I had finished attaching four bevelled strips of wood to the edges of a suitably-sized piece of composite board, and was looking around for a good storage spot for the overlarge rectangle.

"But what are you planning to make?" Carr asked, giving the base a curious glance.

"Just an architectural model. It’s good practice for me, can be used for my portfolio, and I love doing them, so it works out in all ways. But I’ll go through a lot of foamboard and card stock. I also need somewhere flat to keep it, since it can’t be stored vertically like the canvases. It’ll take several months, so I can’t just use up a table."

"The top of the coat cupboard’s probably the best, then," Carr said. "How heavy will it get?"

"Probably twice this," I said, raising one corner of the base.

He tested the weight, then nodded. "Use the stepladder from the storeroom, but don’t put it up and down without help."

I fetched the stepladder, and cleaned the top of the coat cupboard first. The school’s cleaners weren’t slack, but I always liked to keep my models dust-free. Carr helped me lift the base up, and decided the amount it jutted over the cupboard edge didn’t constitute a safety hazard. Then he reviewed the stock order and approved it.

"We’ve plans to keep you busy later in the year with the festival and then the dance, so now’s a good opportunity to do a meaty personal project. The school likes it if we have display items for the festival as well."

"What’s the festival like?" I asked as we returned to the main room.

"Hectic for us," Carr said.

"Competitive," Lania added, looking up. "There’s a vote for best display or performance by each Home Room, and a photo competition, which I’m in charge of organising this year, worse luck. There are special awards and privileges that everyone wants to win. Plus, because it’s wretchedly cold at that time of year, everyone squabbles over the best indoor locations, wanting more space than just their Home Room. And then parents get involved, and there’s always some sort of drama, and why did I join the student council? I must have been mad."

"The price you pay for wanting to know everything that’s going on," Carr said, with an indulgent smile.

Lania laughed, but blushed. "I’m a gossip, I admit it. Mika, does your new-found determination not to burn out mean that you’ll come with us to the Tokley Centre? It’s Dance Dance Revolution night."

I hesitated. "Would it be bad for me to come along and then ditch you? I need to go shopping for a swimsuit and other necessities for the trip, now that I’ve been talked into going."

"I need to update my swimsuit too! We can go early and shop before the meet-up time, and Carr can tell us which ones look best on us."

Carr, possibly in response to a faint shift in my expression, said: "I’ve preparations of my own to do, so you’ll need to give each other your opinions."

"Let’s do it!"

Lania looked effervescently happy, which made me laugh. I don’t think going to pick out swimsuits with me was really a big deal for her, but I appreciated her efforts to make me feel welcome.

My problem, of course, was the line of hickeys down my spine, which had not quite faded. Given hickeys were Bran’s next challenge, and I could not guarantee that Kyou would not continue to mark me, I made my selection from the sun-wise swimsuits, picking an electric blue and black two-piece with a boy-style bottom half, and a top that covered my stomach, back, and shoulders. With the addition of a towel, a black and white striped piece of sheer cloth that could work as sarong or wrap, and a pair of flip-flops, I had my beachwear.

"Your legs, Mika…" Lania sighed, and glanced down at her own red and white ensemble. She was a short girl, attractively shaped, but definitely at a disadvantage for leg comparisons.

"Your chest," I replied, because Bran had been perfectly honest about mine.

Lania adjusted her bikini bodice complacently, then bounced up and down a few times.

"Have to make sure I won’t pop out," she explained.

"Now you’re just boasting," I said. "All that’s left to find is some kind of small bag I can wear, for hotel keys and my phone."

"Oh, good plan."

We met up with Carr soon after, and I allowed myself to be persuaded down to the game centre. It wasn’t until I returned home after an inexpert evening of dancing that I remembered that I hadn’t scored the now-completed third challenge.

I placed Bran last. Whatever else, for a moment he’d made me not want to be there, and that had to be an immediate fail. Rin and Kyou were a lot more difficult to separate. Kyou, as usual, had been teasing and challenging. Rin—and his cupcakes—had been deceptively sweet. I was conscious of Rin not having been placed first in the earlier two challenges, but even so, I decided I had to give first to Kyou. I’d sit on him any day.

Next week was a break, and I had already decided I’d spend it studying to make up for the time I’d slacked, and to give myself permission for Friday to truly be a break day.

Fourteen

Autumn had made inroads on the trees around the Student Council President’s garden, giving far less cover. Before climbing the wall on the Tuesday next, I walked around judging sight lines. The T-junction shaped nook of trees meant I could hide from sight to eat my lunch, but without the shielding top canopy, it would be wise to get over the wall efficiently.

When the app signalled the arrival of the day’s challenger, I climbed the trees, but paused among the partially denuded branches to check out the sight lines, and then lowered myself back down again. Without shielding leaves, this spot would be more visible than I liked. Shifting several metres to my left, I climbed back up again, and then paused to get a good estimate of whether anyone would be able to see me when the trees were bare.

Bran was sitting on the picnic table, and watched me without reaction as I craned my neck, then moved along the wall and peered about again.

"Should be okay," I said, after jumping down. "I think I found a point where only someone walking into that dead end would see."

He didn’t comment, only standing and offering me the earbud again. Not The Blue Danube again, thankfully, but the beginning of a series of more modern music suitable for waltzing.

"Did you practice?"

"Not assiduously, but I think I’ve improved."

He nodded. "With the basic footwork embedded, you can start to pay attention to posture. Don’t worry about our movement around the floor: as long as you follow my lead you won’t hit anything. Try to keep your eyes on my face."

That was far easier said than done, not because I was having any trouble remembering the steps, but because Bran seemed to have misplaced the atmosphere of the waltz, and found the tango instead. All I could see when I looked into his eyes was: "I am going to fuck you".

Relieved that he’d abandoned his reluctance, I did my best to keep my feet in line, and my eyes full of a calm: "Come and try it". Waltzing, I decided, was kind of fun.

The third track was a torch song version of Crazy for You. Bran said: "Slow dance time," and drew me all the way to his chest, pressing me so close we were cheek to cheek. "There’ll be a few of these, to give the students who don’t know anything more complicated a chance to be on the dance floor."

As he spoke, one hand slid under my shirt to unhook my bra. I started to draw back a little, but he had an arm firmly trapping my waist, so I compromised by undoing his belt. He unfastened my skirt and tossed it casually toward the nearest piece of garden furniture.

It isn’t possible to undress fully while dancing cheek to cheek, but with occasional pauses we ended up wearing only our shirts, socks and underpants by the time the music changed. Then we waltzed again, with Bran occasionally letting go of my waist in order to undo another button of my shirt. When the last notes died away, he took the earbud out of my ear and dropped his phone on the café table, and then pulled my shirt and unfastened bra off with considerable efficiency. He threw them in a random direction and pushed me gently backward.

The picnic table was a few metres behind me, and I realised he wanted me to sit on it and did so, then lifted myself up a little when he immediately tugged at my underpants. These were also flung randomly away, but he slowed down when he reached my socks, and drew them off far less hastily.

Holding my right foot, he dropped both socks to the ground, and then looked at me. Just looking, I think, at completely naked me, in that very exposed position. Then he looked at my foot and licked the little hollow below my ankle before putting his lips to it.

This felt very strange, not quite tickling, and I shifted a little, but made myself stay still. When he raised his head, I could see the blotchy mark he’d left, unexpectedly large.

Still holding my foot, Bran stepped forward, then shifted his grip to my knee, and moved forward again, bending as he did so. I had to admit that I quivered a little in shock. Despite the content of our next challenge, and the things I’d done with Kyou and Rin during this stage, I wasn’t expecting Bran to jump ahead.

His lips fastened on my inner thigh, not where I was anticipating, though the sucking sensation was remarkably effective at making me squirm. Nor did he let up any time soon, only switching to my other thigh when I swear, he’d have to have left a permanent imprint.

When he finally straightened up, he bent over and kissed me lightly on the lips before he stepped back, and I could immediately see he’d grown right out of the top of his boxer-briefs. Expressionlessly, I stepped forward, but instead of stripping him I marked his shoulder just as I had Rin and Kyou. When I bent to do the second mark, I could see that his hands were clenching and unclenching at his side as he held himself as still as possible.

Kneeling, I looked up at him, and saw that he was staring at the far wall. The muscles in his stomach juddered when I started to draw his briefs down, and I decided not to drag things out too much longer, slipping his socks off neatly as part of the process. Then I straightened, put my lips on the pure alabaster of his hip, and began to suck.

I’d barely made a mark before Bran backed away, then turned and walked hurriedly around the far side of the summer house. The sound of the hose told me he’d decided he needed an immediate cold shower, though I couldn’t decide whether this meant he had more willpower than Rin and Kyou, or less. I hesitated over how to react, but then shrugged and found my clothing.

Bran seemed intent on hosing himself forever, so I climbed over the wall and went to see if I could win a seat in the library.

Scoring was again difficult. I decided I liked Kyou’s session most of all, not least because when we’d strayed over the lines, he’d made sure to satisfy me as well. It was much harder to differentiate between Rin and Bran. In the end I decided on Bran, purely for the advantage given by his dancing.

Fifteen

"I’m starting to be nervous of meeting you on Friday," I said, as I sat with Kyou at the café table. "It always seems to be the prelude to drama."

"Only a trend if we hit a third instance," Kyou said. "Since Bran and Rin are in a faculty meeting going over the school trip arrangements, I think it will be an achievement to cause either of them trouble. Don’t you think you’re a little overdressed, Cheshire?"

"For tea drinking?"

"A good tea can’t be truly appreciated until all conditions are correct. Atmosphere is as important as the temperature of the water."

I gave him an amused look, but rose and went into the summer house, and came out a minute later bare from the waist down, though most correctly dressed above. Kyou’s expression was wholly appreciative as he watched me walk back.

"I’ll heat a fresh pot," he said. "This has cooled."

I played with my phone until we were both sitting again, correctly dressed. The scent when Kyou poured surprised me, and I sipped experimentally. "I didn’t know there was liquorice tea."

"You like it?" Kyou smiled when I nodded. "One of my favourites. Do you have preferences?"

"Masala chai, mainly. With plenty of milk and sugar. Otherwise, I like the green teas. Does this have sugar in it? It tastes sweet."

"Liquorice root has a sweet taste."

"Where do you buy it from?"

We talked about tea over two small mugs of liquorice, and then Kyou glanced up at the sky and said: "Let’s go inside."

"I have a great photo of my matching sunburn," I said, trying not to laugh. "Hidden in the cloud."

"It was fortunate we didn’t do that on a Tuesday," Kyou said, amused in return. "I was so distracted at the time that I didn’t even realise why everyone was looking at me so strangely."

"Has there been any progress on the investigation?"

"They’ve proven that many of the props had been moved, thus making it almost certain their fall was deliberately arranged. Because there’s no productions active at the moment, that ceiling hatch wasn’t likely to be open by anyone except someone making a full tour. Whether Rin was the target, and who was responsible are harder to pin down. They can use security cameras to identify almost everyone who entered the auditorium since the last time the hatch was opened, but that’s a two-month period, and will capture the entire student body, since assemblies are held there. They’re focusing on after-hours entries during the last week, but it’s not necessarily going to help."

"Aren’t there indoor cameras?" I asked, watching Kyou spread a large towel on the couch, and then obediently sitting on it at his gesture.

"Not enough, it seems. This school would not be attractive to students if there were cameras in every room."

He pressed me downward, and then lay beside me, hooking our legs together, before moving so that I was on top of him. The difference between clothed top and unclothed below was quite distracting, and allowed me to clearly feel Kyou’s increasing enjoyment as we kissed, his hands running constantly over my behind and upper thighs. When he was fully erect between my thighs, I made a little game of slowly shifting backward down his body until I was well-situated to put Rin’s lesson into action.

While I doubted Kyou counted as small, he was a lot easier to fit into my mouth than Rin, and I immediately tried to see how much I could manage. Not all the way, but enough to make him let out a muffled little cough at being so immediately devoured. I sucked lightly as I moved my head back, then began licking points around the base of his shaft, seeing if I could coax any more noises out of him. It was fun to find the things he particularly reacted to, and to give him more, and have him tangle his fingers in my hair because he was struggling to calm down. And he seemed to share Rin’s preference for me, once I started sucking hard, to not let up.

"Cheshire," he said, in the panting aftermath. "Is that really only the second time you’ve done that?"

I laughed, sitting up so I could see his face. "Do you three compare notes? Yes, I was putting Rin’s instructions into practice there."

He was looking at me with half-lidded eyes, apparently deep in thought. "What would it take to make you blush?"

"Is that your goal?" I considered the question. "I do blush, but not frequently. Next time I notice myself doing it, I’ll try to remember why. Talking about sex isn’t going to make me blink, not after reading so many of my Dad’s books."

"Your father writes about sex?"

"He writes a lot of gay erotica," I said, and grinned at Kyou’s startled cough. "I like to tell people that when they start to show off parental careers. No-one ever knows what to say."

Kyou, who had indeed looked dumbfounded, slowly smiled. "I’ve been picturing you as a victim of your parents' careers, always adrift. Now I’m starting to understand that you’re someone who enjoys a new set of toys with every school."

"Well, that’s true of this year, at least."

His eyes narrowed, and then he moved with unexpected speed, so that our positions were reversed and he was sitting above me, hands already pushing to spread my legs. "I don’t know about making you blush, but let’s see if I can win that tiny little mewling noise out of you instead."

"Mewling noise?"

"You made it last Friday."

"You must have had heatstroke."

He started to respond, then stopped, staring at my inner thighs. "Bran’s so inventive," he said, after a moment.

"You have no idea how difficult it is to buy swimsuits that cover all these marks."

Eyes sparkling, Kyou abandoned the challenge for the moment in favour of three dark spots circling my navel. Then he moved down, giving me another on my hip, and then the join of my leg. It was quite some time before he moved on to exploratory teasing, and a more purposeful sucking, and—

Mewling.

Not me. The proximity alarm in the Cheshire app Bran had created, which had an alert that sounded like a hopeful tomcat looking for romance. Kyou cursed, and sat up immediately, snatching his clothes from the coffee table.

"If it’s faculty, we’ll say I’ve been tutoring you," he said, already pulling on his underpants.

I reached for mine, attention worriedly on the gate just visible from where I sat. Very few people had keys to this garden, so there was every chance that whoever was approaching would only try the gate, or perhaps call out to Kyou. The sound of that heavy lock would at least be—

"What is it?" Kyou asked, pausing in his dressing, no doubt in response to the complete confusion blanking my face.

I looked at him, and then quickly back at the gate, but the strange movement had already ceased, and the proximity alert sounded before I could even manage to say anything. Whoever had been there had already left.

"This school is certainly exciting," I said, as I pulled on my pants. "And I think you’re this week’s star attraction."

Kyou stared at me, then ran swiftly toward the garden entrance.

"Don’t touch the bars," I said in a low voice, hastily following him.

I wrapped and fastened my skirt before approaching, and stayed back so that I couldn’t be glimpsed from outside, but close enough to see how the bars around the lock had a faint, glinting sheen, just noticeable in the sunlight. Kyou hunted in his pockets and pulled out a folded handkerchief, using it to wipe one of the bars. He showed it to me—a pale orange smear, glittering with something fine and barely visible.

"Glass?" I murmured, risking a cautious glance down the path outside and seeing nothing.

"I’m not sure."

He pointed back at the summer house, and we returned to put on our shoes.

"What did you see?"

"A hand holding a paintbrush," I said. "Ordinary small house painting brush, with a red handle. It came through the bars and painted them. Then I think it painted the outer side."

"Anything distinctive about the hand?"

I shrugged. "Black gloves that covered the wrist. Tiny bit of arm. I think maybe Caucasian?" Closing my eyes, I tried to recapture the image. "Looked slender, but not necessarily female. Couldn’t see any other clothing or their legs or anything."

He nodded, face grim. "Okay, that’s what I’ve just seen, but I only glimpsed it, and my reactions are slow. You get over the wall and find yourself an alibi. This is…"

"Drama." I nodded, grabbed my backpack, straightened my tie, and left.

Sixteen

I’d been at the art facility peaceably working on my model for at least an hour before Sean and Natascha came excitedly in to tell the club members that the police were at the school.

"Lots of them," Sean said, eyes wide. "They’re searching for something around the administration building."

Anika, Carr, Lania and I all paused in the middle of our projects, and glanced at each other.

"Searching for something big, like a person, or small, like marijuana?" Carr asked, after a moment.

"That’s a very specific example, Carr," Sean said, distracted into teasing. "Guilty conscience?"

"A working memory," Carr replied. "Did you miss the reason for the no illegal activities on school grounds lectures we suffered through two years ago?"

"That was because of marijuana?

"They’re apparently looking under bushes and sifting through the rubbish bins, so not a person," Natascha said, her eyes on her phone. She was a bubbly, freckle-spattered girl whose voice had a tendency to squeak when she was excited. "Best guess so far is a gun."

"No ambulances?" Carr asked, apparently giving up on further work. He started to clean his brushes.

"Not so far."

Wondering if Kyou had remembered the motion sensor, I decided that my best option was to continue to build layers of topography for my architectural model. The rest of the Art Club spent their time viewing the forums and making wild guesses—at least until a teacher walked in with a uniformed police officer and a person who looked to belong to a forensics unit.

"Carlisle, does the art department have any larger brushes in stock? Not artist’s brushes, but the kind used for house painting?"

After a moment of complete blankness, Carr nodded. "We use them when prepping canvasses or doing theatre backdrops," he said. "There’s a box in the store room, and several below the workbench where we build stretchers."

"Can you show us, please?" the police officer said.

This was far too distracting, so I asked Lania to help me put my model back on top of the cupboard, and then we joined the small cluster of fellow club members in the far corner of the main room.

"Why paintbrushes?" Lania said, with complete confusion. "This doesn’t make any sense."

"Particularly scurrilous graffiti?" I suggested.

"What graffiti could possibly get this level of police response?" Sean was wavering between excitement and concern as he posted on the forums. "What is going on with this school this year?"

"You mean it’s not usually like this?" I asked.

Carr came back then, his expression very neutral. "They’re fingerprinting the store room," he told us. "But we don’t have to stay."

The initial response was outright incredulity, then Sean said: "Let’s go early to the Tokk."

The original plan for that Friday had been bowling, but it ended up with a horde of Corascur students—far more than the usual gathering—clustered in the sprawling mall/entertainment complex’s central atrium, speculating wildly while heating up the forums and chat network. We hadn’t even arrived before a photograph of Kyou leaving the school in a police car was circulated. From then on, the debate fell to whether he’d been arrested, or been the victim of another attack.

There wasn’t a lot I felt inclined to add to this, though I had to admit to appreciating an opportunity to listen to a rehash of the extended background of the Three Kings. Former girlfriends, likely enemies, and information about the Laurent-Beaulieu clan, and their shared great-grandfather, Arinn Laurent-Beaulieu. Kyou and Bran were descended from Arinn Laurent-Beaulieu’s twin daughters, while Rin was direct line from the oldest of three sons, and considered highly advantaged in a battle for favour between the descendants of the Great Man. Then the discussion wandered into whether Rin, Bran and Kyou were now secretly attacking each other in order to become heir apparent.

Deciding I’d had enough of gossip, I looked up bus timetables, waved to Lania and headed out, only to find Carr matching my steps.

"Need a lift?"

"If you’re heading in the same direction," I said, for I’d been feeling guilty about cadging rides repeatedly.

"I just want an excuse to not listen to this anymore."

I hesitated, then nodded, and followed him into the parking garage. Carr’s station wagon had a familiar scent of oil paint, and was thankfully quiet after the endless chatter of the Tokley Centre. I stayed silent as we drove, and I put aside gossip in favour of enjoying the approach to the Sunseeker Bridge during early dusk, and the glimpses of the nearly-complete HSR bridge.

"I hope that didn’t upset you," Carr said, as we started along the more boring drive down the main road to my apartment, which featured an endless strip of commercial buildings with no interesting highlights.

"Not really," I admitted. "None of the theories sound real to me. Competing for inheritance. Hidden sabotage. Given we’re dealing with real people, it’s probably something more sordid, not to mention not at all enjoyable for the people involved."

"The idea that Rin, Kyou and Bran are attacking each other is complete rubbish," Carr said calmly. "I don’t know what’s going on, but that will be the furthest thing from the truth."

"That just means there’s a complete unknown, but none of the suggestions sound at all credible. Would you drop a ton of props on someone just because they turned you down?"

"I’d hope not. Though it should be pointed out that I’m a suspect."

I glanced at him, but saw only a faint smile. "You are?"

"Didn’t you notice all the sideways looks I was getting this afternoon? Kyou and I have had a strained relationship for years. And I have access to paintbrushes, which is apparently quite a suspicious thing."

"Why do you and Kyou have bad blood?"

"Rivals. Always going after the same artistic prizes. Sometimes I win, sometimes he does."

"Is that a reason for a strained relationship?"

"Probably not. We used to be, well, friendly acquaintances, if not really friends. But he has such talent, and he treats it so lightly. His future plans are all about chasing money, instead of…of living up to himself. Besides, he loves to taunt me, and has a talent for getting under my skin."

"Thinking someone isn’t living up to themselves hardly seems a motive to me. You’re not also part of this Laurent clan, are you?"

He laughed. "No. Fortunately, since there genuinely is a battle for inheritance in that family. But I am wondering if I’m facing some awkward conversations in future."

Simple rivalry mightn’t be a motive, but I guess prize money could mean a great deal to Carr. I didn’t know what kind of background he had.

"You have an alibi, don’t you?" I said, hiding sudden doubt. "You were at the art department all afternoon. When did you arrive?"

"Halfway through lunch. But if it was another booby trap, alibis won’t count."

I relaxed. Unlike Carr, I knew he’d just completely eliminated himself from the group of suspects. I also thought his hands were larger than the one I saw.

My phone made a mrrping noise, another cat sound tied to the Cheshire app. I logged in and saw a message had arrived. Just three letters.

LSD.

Seventeen

By Monday, the whole school knew that Kyou had discovered another boobytrap, but not the details. Nothing more leaked out, and the response of the Three Kings to questions was that the police had asked them not to talk. I was fortunate to have a way to satisfy my curiosity the very next day.

"It’s been a while since I met you on Tuesday," I said, dropping down by Kyou.

"Trying to avoid interruptions," he replied, pouring me a green tea. "I am very bored with having to run off."

"Did you remove the motion detectors?" I asked, sitting down. "Or did the police discover them?"

"I remembered them just as I was walking past the faculty office windows," he said, with a faint grimace. "And crawled hastily back as soon as I was out of sight. Not my most dignified moment. I bought an explanation for any delays by looking around the area for suspicious people, and then going to school security rather than simply walking into the faculty office."

"So, are we now in danger of people walking up unannounced?"

"No, Bran reinstalled them yesterday. And if they’re discovered from this point, we can openly say we put them in because we were worried about the same thing happening."

"It could have been bad, right?"

He nodded. "LSD isn’t something that would absorb easily through the palms, but those tiny glass shards may have been enough to get a massive overdose into my bloodstream. Even if I realised and took myself off to the hospital straight away, I’d likely have faced hours of hallucinations, panic attacks, paranoia. I can’t be thankful enough for that alert."

"Were you the target, or was it Rin?"

"No evidence either way. The use of a drug might be an indicator, since I’m known to be humourless about them. And I’ve been using this garden the last few Fridays. Whether other people know about that, or were just aiming for anyone who comes here, is impossible to say. The school—and my father, for that matter—are taking the incident very seriously, and there’s likely to be more security cameras and patrols, but I think there shouldn’t be a real impact on this game. Though we’re going to be taking special care about line of sight from that gate, and making sure our clothes are always within reach."

I considered Bran’s choice to throw my clothes in random directions, and smiled wryly. "Taking the fun out of it, Kyou."

His eyes sparked. "I seem to remember I was going to make you mewl, Cheshire."

"You can try."

We moved back into the summer house, tidying away the tea apparatus carefully. Kyou then closed the doors of the summer house and snagged an arm around my waist, drawing me to him. "I’m very goal-oriented."

"But how are you at getting results?"

He picked me up and dropped me onto the couch, startling a gasp out of me. Before I recovered from my surprise, he was kneeling above me, lips on mine. The kiss started gentle, but quickly grew heated, and we rolled together, robbing each other of breath, and occasionally of pieces of clothing. Once I was left with only a single sock, he started working his way down me, licking and sucking, until he could pick up from where he’d been interrupted on Friday. Since I was already thoroughly excited, it wasn’t long at all before the ceiling dissolved in a shower of sparks, and I had to bite my lip to keep myself from crying out. Even then some sound escaped.

"That wasn’t a mewl."

He moved up so he was propped on one elbow above me, and toyed with a strand of my hair.

"You’re looking far too smug for a simple gasp."

"Few things please me more than achieving what I set out to do," he said. "Roll over Cheshire. I have something to give you."

I laughed, but wriggled under him obediently, and when he shifted off me, raised myself on my hands and knees. He slid his hands up my thighs, and spent some time squeezing my butt before moving to grip my hips, and then easing inside me.

Kyou tested my responses first, shifting his angle a couple of times before establishing a steady rhythm. He had excellent self-control, holding himself back until he roused small reactions from me, and then increasing his pace. I shifted so my shoulders were closer to the cushions, because that felt very excellent, and wriggled a bit to see what that would do to him. He dug his fingers into my skin and pulled me back against him just as he thrust, and that made me gasp again, though I very carefully made no sound at all when my body tensed more urgently.

We tangled for a while in the aftermath, exchanging short, relaxed kisses. Then I went to clean myself up, thinking that it would be a good idea to set out a couple of small towels beforehand. Perhaps one damp and one dry. Once it was colder, running around to sluice myself at the tap wouldn’t be pleasant at all.

Kyou had dressed while I was gone, and watched me appreciatively as I hunted out my clothes and put them on.

"Time for a few games?" he asked, lifting his phone to show me Battle of Lothra.

"Sure."

Tiny Glittering Flower and I won several matches in a row, with occasional distracting touching between rounds. "I plan to aim for the drama-less Tuesdays in future," he said, as we walked out of the summer house after our time ran short. "But I regret giving up those completely clear Friday afternoons, because you really need to be naked again right now."

"You can see me again next week." I climbed the wall, then paused at the top. "Well, probably. Better win or, with the school trip, it’ll be all see, no touch for a while."

His smile turned dangerous. "Cheshire…"

I grinned, and vanished from his sight.

Eighteen

On Friday I found Rin was listening to music when I arrived, his phone docked in portable speakers. The sound was very different to the floating vastness of the water piece he’d played before: discordant piano, full of fractured rhythms. I truly hoped he didn’t want to have sex to that.

His own mood seemed to be much better than last time, at least. He smiled at me warmly, and poured out a black tea that had a distinct orange scent.

"I’m going to end this year a tea connoisseur."

"It’s the role of the student council to guide and lead." He leaned back, watching me beneath lowered lids as he sipped his tea. "You don’t like the music?" he asked, having perhaps noticed me glancing at the speakers.

"I suppose if I wanted to go out and hit things," I said. "Is it another of yours? Background music for an argument?"

"Not for a game. Just processing."

I was puzzled for a moment, then said: "Your temper last week, huh? Are you feeling more confident about finding who’s responsible?"

"Not really. But my back’s stopped hurting, which makes a lot of things easier for me." He glanced at me. "I injured my spinal cord when I was seven, and went through months of rehabilitation. Back pain is a nightmare for me."

Picturing this innately elegant creature struggling with movement stopped me cold. And then another memory added a further point. "Kyou told me he’s very anti-drugs," I said slowly.

"His mother died of an overdose."

"What’s Bran’s worst nightmare?"

Rin’s mouth tightened. "He says it would be getting his voice back."

"Back?"

Rin reached for his phone and paged through a few screens, and then handed it to me. A roughly recorded music clip, with Bran instantly recognisable, though much younger. Twelve or thirteen, playing a guitar. Then he began to sing, and my jaw sagged. Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, with a purity of tone that cut right to the soul.

"That face combined with that voice meant Bran had his entire life mapped out for him since around five years old. The strictest of training, and a constant expectation that he project a very specific image. The problem being that he hates performing, and loathes above all the way audiences feel they know him, own him. His parents signed contracts for him before he understood what was going on, and refused to accept objections, but about two days before he was due to go into the studio to record a final version of that track, he drank a cup of—well, he says he thought it was water. I think he just poured everything he could find in the house into a cup and gargled it, and even if it didn’t damage anything on its own, the amount of vomiting he did afterwards left him barely able to speak. And as soon as he recovered enough to perform, it happened again. After the third time, he developed nodules on his vocal cords. By then his parents were finally willing to hear him saying no, and turned their focus to his younger brother, who at least enjoys that kind of thing. They haven’t technically disowned Bran, but he lives like a ghost in their house, because they are very much the kind of people who don’t forgive defiance."

"Are yours?"

"I expect they’ll get over it after four or five years."

"Next year really is going to be exciting for you."

He shrugged. "I used to think so. Right now, it seems simple." He took back his phone, and said: "Let’s take our minds off this frankly rotten subject. I seem to recall saying I’d help with your dance lessons."

Bran might be a more expert dancer, but Rin was grace incarnate. His height was a small disadvantage, since I had to tilt my head back to make eye contact, but we truly floated around the small garden.

"With a bit more practice with promenades, you should have no trouble."

I suspected that at least half of my ease with dancing would go away with a less expert partner, but still smiled—and then stumbled on the edge of the path and fell.

Rin caught me easily, holding me suspended for a moment, then lifting me back up. "And there’s always dips for added flourish."

"Nice catch," I said.

"I’ve often wondered how I’d feel about dancing if I had to do it backward. I suspect I’d enjoy it far less."

"Are you looking forward to the Seniors Dance?"

"Not particularly. Too many dance partners, not enough me. And it will be the last time I’ll see many of our classmates, so I can expect a half dozen confessions, which are always a little difficult. Are you confessed to very often, Cheshire?"

I thought about it. "About three times per school. It depends on what kind of look I decide to go for."

"Look? What does that mean?"

"Well, this year I’m wearing the longest skirts available, no makeup, and I’m keeping my hair in a short ponytail—mainly because hair and makeup take a lot of time I don’t want to spend. When I was fourteen, I went to a school that had no uniform code, so I bought all-black clothing and a lot of eyeliner, dyed my hair, and wore these glowing cat-ear headphones all the time. Two years ago, it was thick-rimmed clear lens glasses, and a fringe cut to hide a lot of my face."

"Leaving you with no confessions?"

"Four, actually, but I get different groups of people confessing depending on which look I go for."

Rin laughed. "So how much of this year is the real Cheshire?"

"Badly phrased question."

He looked puzzled, then raised his eyebrows. "Still, I think you named yourself accurately. How much of this year is persona?"

"No personas. The trick is to behave much the same, no matter how I’m dressed." I gave him a half-smile. "You should try it."

Rin considered me beneath lowered lashes, and dropped his gentle smile for the edged one.

I tripped, and fell backward, and this time Rin didn’t catch me. Because this time Rin had tripped me. He’d chosen a grassy spot to do so, and kept his grip on my hand, breaking my fall just a little before I hit the ground. And then he was on top of me, not sparing me his weight, hands trapping mine, those champagne eyes gazing directly into mine.

"What are you saying, Cheshire?" he asked. "I don’t understand."

"My mistake," I said, laughing, and hooked one of my legs around his, flipping us over while he wasn’t expecting it.

We fought a little for top position, but he had advantage in both size and strength, so as soon as he stopped playing, I was pinned again, and kissed very hungrily. We shed clothes with an urgent lack of care, and I entertained myself raking his nipples lightly with my fingernails, for I’d already noticed that Rin was very sensitive there. He captured my hands again, and looked down at me, nothing gentle in his expression.

Discovering the series of hickeys left by Kyou, Rin’s lips tilted into a distinct smirk, and he added several more, so that my whole lower abdomen was mottled with spots of different shades.

"I’m really going to have to start giving you three back two for every one of these you put on me," I said. I was feeling itchy, because they’d mowed the grass recently. Wriggling a little in his hold, I added very softly: "Stop playing around."

Rin responded to this by turning me onto my stomach and adding several more love bites to my shoulder blades, and then moving down and starting one in the curve of my waist, which tickled horribly and made me squirm and try to break away, hands over my mouth to stop myself from squealing. Apparently pleased with this reaction, he did the other side as well, but then obviously couldn’t hold himself back any longer, pushing me onto my stomach and then hooking both hands around my stomach and lifting me upward, trying to push into me. He met resistance, but I had learned from last time, and did my best to relax myself, so it only took him a little extra pressure.

It felt so good. I’d never want to have sex with Rin without working up to it first, but I thoroughly appreciated him when conditions were right. His stamina and self-control were probably the greatest challenge, because I was limply exhausted by the time he decided he’d had enough, switched up his pace, and rapidly brought everything to an end.

I’d given up supporting myself on my hands by then, and was lying on folded arms. Rin lowered the rest of me, then lay down to enjoy looking at my sweating face.

"Tired?" he asked.

I glanced at him, then rolled on my back. "And I thought no-one could look smugger than Kyou."

Rin’s chuckle was entirely evil as he inched a little closer to me and whispered: "Mewling."

That did make me laugh, but then I said: "Can I institute a no comparing notes rule?"

"We don’t really." Rin rolled onto his back beside me, sighing. "Just very occasional things. Well, that’s a lie because this is very fun to talk about. And we want to pay attention to things that seem to upset you."

"So, you can repeat them to me?"

"You were far more upset about being naked while I was fully dressed than you ever will be about the tiny noises you make when you come. Though they are highly adorable noises, and tremendously on-point thematically."

"Bah," I said, but in a mollified tone of voice.

"We’re all game-players in our way. Just remember that we don’t actually want to upset you, and make sure to tell us to stop when we push you too far."

"Okay."

We lay there in silence for a while. My thoughts were on sunburn, although the day was overcast, and we at least hadn’t been laying on our sides. That, and a thousand tiny irritations.

"Rin?"

"Mm?"

"This grass is so itchy."

We had a pleasant interlude soaping and sluicing each other under the hose, and then talked practically about dealing with garden trysts in late autumn and winter. I studied Rin’s back, which was a landscape of fading blues and greens, but didn’t ask him about potential suspects, and left for Art Club feeling happy with my game of kings, and happier that there’d been no dramatic interruptions.

Enough already.

Nineteen

"You’re determined to avoid Fridays now, huh?"

Kyou poured me a cup of very pale green tea, and offered me the faintest hint of a smile. "I’ve been fighting for Tuesdays all along. Fortune simply matched determination recently."

"What was the qualifier this week?"

"Go bang."

I looked at the smirk he couldn’t repress.

"I’m pretty good at go bang. We’ll have to play some time."

"I’ll bring it along next, oh, after the school trip."

"All prepared to fend off the hordes of devotees?"

"You ask that as if you don’t think it’s true."

I considered him, then said: "I’ve seen how most of the Art Club ogle you out the windows, but do people actually try to push themselves on you? Aren’t they worried they’ll get expelled for, you know, assault?"

"Most people are more sensible. But there’s a lot of accidental falling, and wardrobe malfunctions, and doors that are mysteriously locked. I’ve only had someone actually throw themselves on me a couple of times."

"It sounds tiring."

"One of the reasons we go about together so much is to limit opportunity. We’ll share a suite and watch each other’s backs on this trip." He grimaced. "With even more reason than usual."

"Any progress with the investigation?"

"Only with the headache it gives me. Let’s not talk about it."

"There’s definitely something more fun we could be doing. Oh, before we start, fair warning. Every hickey from now on will get two in return, in very obvious places."

"Spoilsport."

"If you and Rin want to send messages to each other, you can do it on each other’s chests."

"Not nearly as fun. Did he go a little overboard? Let me see." He leaned forward and unbuttoned my shirt. "Where? These are all mine—oh, there’s a couple. That doesn’t seem that excessive. How about I let you put one on me for every one you have?"

"Two. In very obvious places."

"I’m almost tempted, Cheshire. Come to think of it, telling everyone I have an out-of-town girlfriend would be an excellent strategy for reducing the pursuit."

"An out-of-town girlfriend you visited during Tuesday lunch?"

"Mere technical detail."

I shook my head, because speculation centred around the times we met was too great a risk. "Let’s go inside."

We went into the summer house, and paused to rinse the teapot and cups. Then I took off Kyou’s tie.

He reached for me, but I caught his hands and shook my head again, and went on undressing him, taking my time. Occasionally his hands would quiver as he held himself back from an active response, but he didn’t disobey, which pleased me.

Once he was naked, I found his tie and slipped it around his neck, tying a neat Windsor knot, and said: "Lie down."

His eyes were quite wide, but he did as he’d been told, and then looked up at me with a tiny smile on parted lips. "I feel this urge to say yes, mistress."

I smirked, and finished unbuttoning my shirt. "Maybe you should mewl."

He took in a breath, staring up at me, and said: "I’m finding that I may be kinkier than I thought."

"How kinky did you think you were?" I asked, dropping my shirt and tie on the coffee table, and unfastening my skirt.

"Well, I did think dom/sub play would be interesting, but I thought I was the dom."

"Oh?" I shed my pants, then sat on his lap, snug against his very erect penis. I looked down at him, then reached out and grabbed the tie, pulling so that he had to sit up. "So now you think otherwise?"

"My urge to press you down and punish you suggests maybe not." He slid his hands to my behind and squeezed firmly.

I nibbled on his collarbone, thinking about it. "I don’t think I could do that seriously. A bit of pretending, perhaps, but wrestling for control would be more fun. I’m not a sub, you’re not a sub, but we can dom at each other all you like."

His response was to firm his grip and lift me up. He balanced me precariously on one arm for a moment, using his free hand to reposition himself, and then slowly lowered me.

"See, you’re not good at being sub at all," I said, wriggling a little so that he was completely inside me.

"Theoretically, the sub is the one in control," Kyou said, his voice husky. "Cheshire, you better start moving soon, or I’m going to pound you into the floor."

"Impatient," I murmured, but it matched my needs anyway. I kissed him, tried grinding just a little, then pushed him backward and, keeping a grip on his hands, began to ride.

On top wasn’t something I’d tried before, but I liked that I could see Kyou’s expression, and that I could shift around in order to find a spot that felt extremely good. It was a lot more work, and took longer for me to come than I’d expected, but it also brought a different kind of orgasm, more whole-body. I sagged in the aftermath, and leaned forward on the support of Kyou’s hands.

"Tiny, but mesmerising," Kyou said, which confused me enormously until I followed the direction of his gaze and realised he’d been watching my breasts bounce.

"Have you decided if you’re a sub or a dom, yet?" I asked, squeezing him as best I could internally, and moving slowly up and down.

His eyes widened, then he said: "Do that thing with the tie again, and I’ll let you know."

Lashes lowered, I let go of his hands, but kept grinding on him slowly as I reached forward to catch hold of the tie. I pulled him upward hand over hand, as if raising an anchor, until his shoulders were conveniently within reach and I could use them for stability. I kissed him, trying to keep my movement going, only to have him press me backward against the couch’s arm and try to pound me into it in a short but enjoyable frenzy. He lay on top of me, panting, then nuzzled my throat.

"Cheshire, I think I’m going to have to experiment some more before I’m sure."

I laughed, and wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him, and we settled side by side for a long session of pleasant aftermath, followed by a couple of games of Lothra while spooned together before time caught up with us and we reluctantly dressed.

"Why Lothra? It’s so old. Play Tyranny with me."

"I’m bad about games until I master them, so this year I’m only playing things I know I can put down. Well, I’ll play Signus III when it comes out, but I’m even going to have to skip Nocturnal Sky IV because I won’t be able to resist platinuming it."

"Does that mean you’ll not play games for all of university as well?"

"No. Once I’m in, I shouldn’t have any problems, other than signing up for everything that interests me, which is half of everything. But I don’t think I’ll have issues with the course itself."

Kyou frowned at me. "I’m really having trouble understanding you, Cheshire."

"I thought I was a typical burn out high achiever."

"I’d say you have self-confidence issues, but you’re about the most confident person I’ve ever met."

"I put up a good front, at least." I picked up my backpack and shrugged it on. "For my core subjects, I’m usually far ahead on the reading, and only need the most basic revision for exams. Sometimes I don’t even bother, because I know I’ll pass. But when it’s things I really want, or things where I can’t control the variables going in, I get worked up, don’t sleep for days before, and aren’t at my peak when I need to be. I’m self-defeating, in other words. Because it’s not often I really want something, I don’t have a lot of experience in stopping myself from getting worked up, and I’ve never been able to fully manage my sleep. So, this one year I’m going to stress myself into a heap, and then next year I’ll relax and go back to normal."

"What were the things in the past that you really wanted?"

"When I was seven my mother said she’d take me to Disneyland if I won this spelling bee. And when I was twelve my dad said he’d buy me a top-of-the-line gaming laptop if I placed in the top five of a maths competition. Maths is easy for me, but I wanted that laptop so much I didn’t really sleep for almost a week beforehand. I made so many stupid mistakes on that test."

"You’re over-preparing because then you have more chance of getting to sleep? Doing some psychological self-hypnosis?"

"Exactly."

"Would you like us to change the timeframe of the last challenge round so it falls on the afternoons the days before your critical exams?"

I blinked, and then said: "That would be extremely convenient of you."

"A simple enough thing. I’ll let the others know, and we can work out the details when the exam schedule is published." He smiled. "Make sure to parade around a lot in your swimsuit next week, as a way of thanking me."

I shook my head, smiled, and left.

Twenty

Friday was full of rain.

Making my way to the dovecote, I decided to add some lemon and ginger to my shopping list, and to make sure I ate particularly healthy as autumn grew colder and wetter. I couldn’t afford many sick days this year. Folding my umbrella, I settled myself on the bench in the dovecote, feeling that it wasn’t a very pleasant place to wait on the days it was actually needed. Wondering if it would be Rin or Bran today, I marked myself present on the app and idly scrolled through the school forums while I waited.

Half an hour later, I deactivated the Cheshire app and went off to Art Club, not sure whether to be annoyed or anxious, since it was a Friday, and possibly time for another boobytrap. Could Rin or Bran be lying somewhere hurt?

Worry made it difficult to work on my model, but there were at least plenty of people in Club that afternoon, providing helpful distraction. I could, of course, send a message through the app, but I’m not a person completely without a temper, and being left in the rain without any kind of apology made me disinclined to reach out.

The forums proved invaluable for getting through the day, since there were threads specifically devoted to taking pictures of the school luminaries, and soon enough a photo of Rin and Kyou together showed up. The chances of Bran simply choosing to stand me up were much higher, and so I relaxed a little, but didn’t truly let go of worry until a photo of Bran walking in the rain caused a little stir of excitement.

He did look beautiful. And I was relieved that he wasn’t hurt. But mainly I was sorry, because this meant the end of my game with the Three Kings.

It had been clear all along that Bran couldn’t decide whether he wanted to participate, but leaving me to sit in the rain without sending a message had consequences. Even if he changed his mind, I couldn’t put up with that level of discourtesy. Nor was it a game that could continue without Bran, since he had been the purpose of it all in the first place.

I went home, not in the mood for socialising, and didn’t even bother to try to sleep, despite having a flight to catch in the morning. Insomnia is as much a mental as a physical issue, and my head was in the wrong place, so it was better to indulge in one of the computer games I’d been denying myself rather than waste energy trying to will myself not to think about what today had lost me.

There was no question that the game was over, but what kept my mind working overtime was whether Rin and Kyou would ever have anything to do with me again. This was something I’d known I would face from the very beginning—it was inevitable this game would end on a low note, with an air of regret and loss. I’d still chosen to play, but I found I’d started thinking of Rin and Kyou as friends quicker than I expected. The sex was a trivial issue. There were plenty of attractive boys in the school, some of whom I liked, and suspected were interested in me. But I was seriously going to miss the wicked Rin hidden behind that mask of perfect student, and Kyou’s mixture of challenge and companionability.

For the moment I’d do nothing, and see if they would try to transition from this behind-the-scenes game to an open friendship.

It didn’t seem likely, but I couldn’t resist hoping.

Twenty-One

Several hundred students all travelling to an island resort makes for noisy airport lounges. Perhaps because I’d signed up at the last minute, I was on a slightly later flight than all but a handful, and told Lania I’d meet up in our room. Tired and feeling low, I wasn’t in the mood for chatting anyway, but the seven-hour flight to Arcadia was useful because airplanes had long symbolised transition for me. Usually, I was leaving a whole school behind, but this time it would only be the Game of Firsts. This time, I still had friends to meet up with, and greatly appreciated Lania’s warmth and care, and her insistence on drawing me in.

Thinking of Lania prompted me to reply to an email from my last school roommate, who had been a great deal of fun, and who was making an earnest effort to keep in touch with me. Usually, emails from old classmates died off within a few months, but I thought perhaps I could make more effort this time around. My last school had been exciting, and different, and I had truly regretted leaving. Not that Corascur could possibly be described as dull.

By the time the shuttle bus arrived at the hotel, I had moved beyond tired into a floaty enervated haze, but also reached a state of acceptance. I would hang around with the Art Club and enjoy this handful of days, and then refocus on my study plan. The games I’d played with the Three Kings would become a unique memory.

My assigned room held a variety of scattered luggage, but no Lania, so I unpacked, put on some precautionary sunscreen, and texted Lania that I was going to look over the activity sheets. These were many and varied, since Arcadia was a large island in the centre of a vast archipelago, with massive resorts at the tips of three different peninsulas. I was narrowing down my selections when I was hugged enthusiastically from behind.

"Sign up for the sandcastle competition on the last day!" Lania ordered. "Art Club is going to field a team."

I obeyed with a smile, then said: "Any other recommendations?"

"I want to go to the Butterfly House, and maybe jet skis, but other than that, I’m still deciding. What about you?"

"Reef diving," I said.

"Don’t you need some kind of licence for that?"

"C-Card," I said. "Already have one, but you could probably fit an intensive certification course in, if you’re interested. Diving is a lot of fun."

"By the time I was done getting certified, we’d be heading home."

"But then we could hire some equipment and go diving around Helios."

Lania shuddered. "Helios lakes are cold even in summer. Most inappropriate city name ever."

"How about reef snorkelling? Looks like it’s tied in with the diving trips, so we could travel out to the reefs on the same boat."

We worked out a schedule, sometimes doing the same activities, and at other times diverging. Lania already knew what most of the Art Club was doing, so it was easy enough to coordinate a couple of group sessions, though I decided to skip the trivia competition that night, and went and walked on the beach after dinner instead. Once away from the resort, there were plenty of options for a quiet walk, and I trailed all the way out to the end of the narrow peninsula and then back up the other side.

Ocean sound is very calming for me, and when I met Lania back at our room, I asked if it was okay to keep the balcony door open, and only took an hour or so to get to sleep.

Twenty-Two

Lania, Anika, Sean and I spent the next day visiting art galleries and a butterfly enclosure, and then met up with the rest of Art Club for dinner at a comedy theatre. It took longer to sleep that night, but I managed it after a couple of hours.

"Did I keep you up last night, Mika?" Lania asked the next morning. "It took me ages to get to sleep. I was thinking too much about today."

Since Lania’s breathing suggested to me she’d dropped off within five minutes of lights out, I smiled blandly and said: "Are you looking forward to snorkelling that much?"

Lania blushed, and said: "A bit nervous about going around in this swimsuit."

"Don’t be. You look fantastic."

"It doesn’t make my legs look stubby?"

I shook my head, doubting that anyone who saw Lania would even notice her legs.

After a brief check in the bathroom to make sure my own costume revealed nothing I didn’t want it to, I wrapped my matching shawl around my hips. Those inner-thigh marks were almost gone, but it was better not to risk questions.

"Have a good breakfast," I warned Lania. "Not heavy, but you want a lot of energy."

"In case we need to escape from sharks?" she asked, with a light laugh.

"Outswimming sharks—interesting idea."

"I looked up statistics. There hasn’t ever even been an attack here."

Lania really was nervous, but I didn’t think it was about sharks, or even her swimsuit. In truth her legs were a little short, but not so much they detracted from a petite hourglass figure, or a pointed, heart-shaped face. In a bikini she went from pretty to bombshell, but she didn’t even seem to notice how much attention she drew when we went for breakfast.

The dive trip involved catching the hotel shuttle to the centre of the island, and then a small boat out to a floating mooring on the reef, where we’d be split up according to activity. Lania and I decided to go early, checked in with the tour operators, and managed to squeeze onto the first boat.

The other occupants all looked the age to be Corascur students, but there were only two familiar faces. I smiled at Carr and Meggan and said: "Lania and I thought we were going to beat the rush."

"Great minds, etcetera," Carr replied. "Are you snorkelling or diving?"

"I’m snorkelling, Mika’s diving," Lania said.

"You know you can’t dive without a licence," said a fine-boned brunette.

"Yes, they asked for my C-Card when I checked in," I said, wondering at the faint note of hostility.

"This is Mika, who transferred to Corascur at the start of term," Carr said, and then nodded to those immediately around him. "This is Katerina, Tomas, Alexa and Daphne. And you know Meggan already, of course."

"Presidents of the Broadcasting Club, the Literature Club, the Social Club, and the Newspaper Club," Lania murmured.

"And Art and Dance? Is it some kind of board meeting?"

"More a get-away-from-the-clubs club," Meggan said, smiling. "Have you been enjoying Arcadia?"

"Yes, a lot," I said. "I’m impressed by how much there is to do, though I’m a little unused to school trips that don’t involve constant roll calls. The teacher presence is very low."

"I expect Corascur’s a little beyond the scope of your previous school," the brunette—Alexa—said. "There are different expectations."

"Oh, definitely," I said, very seriously. "My previous school’s class trip was to a bordello."

Silence greeted this pronouncement, until Meggan laughed and said: "I expect that was educational?"

"Absolutely. The teachers were particularly enthusiastic, though not at all inclined to let us go off alone." I smiled. "It was a performing arts school, and they were filming an advertisement for a stage production of Moulin Rouge."

"You sing, Mika?" Carr asked.

"Not if I can help it. Because there weren’t a lot of suitable schools in the area, my dad called in a favour and I spent a few months being background support at a school I’d never get into otherwise. There were way too many spectacular singers around for me to try to push my way in front of the cameras, so I learned about set design, theatre lighting, and things like that. Watching the science faculty decked out in striped corsets performing Lady Marmalade will forever be the apogee of my school experience. They were so big and beardy, and the corsets so small."

"I never know whether to believe the things you say, Mika," Lania said, shaking her head.

"Why, what else has she said that you don’t believe?" the Newspaper Club President, Daphne, asked.

Lania suddenly flushed, and looked guiltily at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You said, uh, your father writes…"

"An author?" the Literature Club President, Tomas, said, giving me an interested glance. "Anyone we’d know?" He was a handsome boy with a romantic tousle-haired look.

"My dad writes under the name Rock Hardison," I said, hiding my amusement. "He’s pretty well-known: you can look him up."

The name always gives the genre away, and I enjoyed their careful lack of further questions, although they didn’t immediately haul out their phones to confirm their suspicions. It wasn’t until we had disembarked at the sprawling floating mooring on the reef that the usual range of reaction was sent my way.

"Let me give you another layer of sunscreen before you head out," I told Lania, rather than immediately join the line-up for wetsuits and tanks. "I’ve always burned myself into a brick going snorkelling

"You tell people about your father as a test," Lania observed, as I slathered a thick layer of white over her back and neck.

"You spotted that? My dad has a whole bunch of pen names, and I could always tell people the mystery writer one, or the travel writer one, but Hardison is his oldest, and such a great definer of character. There’ll be people like you, and Meggan, Carr, and Daphne, who are startled and a little embarrassed, but who otherwise just treat it as a surprising extra bit of information about me. And then there’s the Alexas, Tomases and Katerinas, whose interactions with me from now on will always have that hint of disdain. It’s a useful way of quickly working out who’s worth talking to."

"But I also—"

"You were worried about whether I’d be embarrassed. Very different to deciding it makes me inferior. Though I have the impression that I’d already been categorised as…how shall I put it?"

"Not quite people," Lania said, dryly. "There’s a lot of that at Corascur."

"Does it bother you?" I asked. Lania seemed to get along with everyone, so it was hard to imagine her not being classed as people.

"Only when it’s from someone I don’t expect," Lania said. "My first couple of years I struggled, especially when Sirocco—she’s now the President of the Rose Court—talked me into applying to join. I didn’t understand that the Court had changed from its original purpose to a collection of people who are Somebody. I’m at Corascur on a partial scholarship, my parents are both accountants, I’m a low-key computer nerd, and I will never in a million years qualify for the Rose Court." She shrugged, and glanced across at the group collecting wetsuits. "Thankfully, I soon realised I shouldn’t want to."

"Low-key computer nerd? I never did ask you what you were planning to study at Helios U."

"Robotics."

"Nice." I wondered if the low-key part had come about because of this Sirocco, but decided now wasn’t the moment. "I’ll see you at the morning tea."

Spotting another boat heading toward the floating platform, I put my towel and small backpack into a locker, and joined the others in being issued with a wetsuit to struggle into.

"Hi there, we’re Rashid, Rachel and Kip, your dive leaders today," said a lanky man with gorgeous brown eyes. "First step today is to pair everyone up into buddies, and then do a buddy check of your gear. Before you all pick a partner, first split into two groups by your certification level: supervised on my left, autonomous on my right."

I shuffled obediently over to Rashid’s right, along with Carr and two boys I didn’t know.

"Hi buddy," Carr said. He was carrying a very professional and expensive-looking camera. I smiled at him, glad I’d not ended up with any of the Rose Court.

"You’ll see the depth levels on this chart," Rashid went on. "Rachel, Kip and I will each take two sets of buddies into the green area. Autonomous divers, you’re free to move anywhere within the circled area."

"What happens if we get lost?" Daphne asked, just a touch nervously.

"The platform provides a large and obvious navigation aid. Since most of the water depth here is no more than ten metres, and it’s a bright day, there’ll be no issues with visibility. Autonomous divers, watch your air, and please be sure to surface before forty minutes are up. Buddies, if you lose track of your partner, surface safely and signal for help. Now, before we go further, it’s time for a buddy check of equipment."

"I want to photograph the two wrecks," Carr said to me. "One each dive. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure."

Carr was clearly an experienced diver, running through the checks with me in a methodical way, and then leading the way to the first of the wrecks, which was in the green area.

Diving always makes me feel incredible. Movement, colour, light, weight. The awareness of breath. Most of the other divers also headed to the wreck, and I followed the crowd, enjoying the patterns they made in the water, and also thinking it was convenient of Carr to be carrying such a large camera, making it easy for me to keep track of him. We surfaced a little ahead of time, and took a short break, sampled the light snacks set out, then went down with fresh cylinders to find the second wreck.

This was in the yellow area on the map, where the water was deeper, increasing the consumption rate of our air tanks. There was less coral, fewer fish, and the light changed to deep blues and greens. The second wreck was the prow of a ship, tilted forward, with a still-intact figurehead of a woman, arms held back to mingle with flowing hair.

We swam in a circle around the wreck, and found only sand and greenery inside the severed hull. I floated upward, then followed the slope of the deck downward so that I could more closely examine the figurehead. The details were blurred, hidden by a fine layer of algae, and I couldn’t guess if it was intended to represent a specific woman.

Carr tapped lightly on my arm, and when I turned to him, performed a little pantomime, pointing to me, then the area in front of the ship, and then describing a small circle with one finger. I obediently swam forward, and then turned around, and watched as Carr swam off to one side and raised his camera. Understanding the kind of image he was aiming for, I gazed up at the figurehead, trying to work out what position and angle would give the best composition, occasionally checking Carr’s responses, and maintaining my location once I saw a thumb’s up signal from him.

After further thought, I reached up and pulled off my hair tie, letting my hair float freely. Then I made a tiny stroke forward, keeping in mind the position of my arms.

Once Carr was done, we swam back to the platform, and hurriedly changed out of our wetsuits in hopes of catching the next boat back.

"Thanks for waiting for me," I said to Lania as we crammed into the last seats under the canopy. "Are you tired?"

"I’m glad we didn’t schedule anything for the afternoon," Lania said. "I’m definitely down for a big lunch and then lolling around an airconditioned hotel room."

I nodded my agreement. The evening event was a pool party, which I wasn’t in the mood for at the moment, but perhaps an afternoon indoors would change my mind.

"Did you get what you needed, Carr?" Alexa asked, watching Carr slot pieces of his camera into a customised backpack.

"I won’t know until I review," Carr said. "Ocean scenes may be a little too obvious for the Majesty in Blue theme."

"Are you entering the Mirion?" Lania asked. "Wasn’t the deadline yesterday?"

Carr ticked up a corner of his mouth. "The entries just involve submitting a link. I submitted a link to an image I took a while ago, which I’ll replace hurriedly if I’ve produced anything better today." He glanced around at us: "If any of you are in shot, do I have your permission to use your image?"

Amused that he asked generally, but paid attention to my response, I nodded. I’d seen advertisements for the Mirion Prize for Photography, and could only wish Carr luck, for the competition would be fierce. But if he won with a picture of me, I’d consider it payment for all the free rides.

Twenty-Three

Lania and I over-indulged at lunch, and spent the afternoon digesting and playing Battle of Lothra. Her game ID was Circuit Breaker, and she proved a dependable player with a preference for tanking, just a little rusty because she hadn’t played for a while.

"You really haven’t played Tyranny at all? Even though it launched at least a month before school started?"

"I’ll play it after final exams. Lothra’s so old I can pick it up and put it down, but if I start Tyranny, half an hour on the bus each morning and afternoon is not going to be satisfying and I’ll end up playing it instead of winding down to sleep."

"How can you have the willpower to not play at all, but not have the willpower to not play late at night?"

I shrugged. "So, why haven’t I ever seen any sign of computer nerdery at school? Sean and Rick were talking about Tyranny on Friday and you acted like you didn’t know what it was."

"Quite a few gender essentialists at Corascur," Lania said, briefly.

I blinked at this, and decided it meant someone had been annoying about what games girls should play. I’d thought Lania one of the most popular girls at school, but it seemed that was a surface façade, and that she had been effectively hiding a large part of herself.

"And yet you told me. Thank you, Lania. I’ll take it as a compliment."

She glanced up at me, her face flushing red, and then cursed and looked down at her phone as her hero died sadly.

"Whatever else, I don’t think you’re going to judge me from what brand of bag I’m carrying," she said.

"Are you going to play Signus III? I’m going to let myself play the story mode, since it releases in the break after the mid-year exams. Want to co-op it with me?"

"Sure!"

We lost an afternoon to virtual heroes, had a light meal, then got ready for the pool party. I wasn’t in the mood to spend more time in my swimsuit, so wore a simple shorts and t-shirt combo, bringing along my towel in case I was splashed.

"I don’t know how much swimming anyone plans on, anyway," Lania said, double-checking her own shirt knotted over swimsuit look. "I did get a little burned, despite all that sunscreen, so I don’t think I’ll stay too long."

"We could go to the movie room. They’re playing, um, the whole Fast and Furious series."

"Seen it too many times."

We went down to the interconnected open rooms, pools and gardens booked out for the Corascur party, and headed straight to the buffet tables to put together a selection of snacks. Meeting up with part of the Art Club, we snagged a set of bamboo couches around a coffee table and settled down to watch the sunset and compare notes on our island adventures.

"Drama alert," Rick murmured. "Check out the scene near our dear leader."

I’d seen Carr and Tomas earlier, and glanced over to find that Carr had been bracketed by Alexa and Katerina, who were giving each other none-too-friendly glances.

"He’s very good at acting like he doesn’t notice," I observed.

"Plenty of practice," Sean said, rolling his eyes. "Corascur’s most eligible and all."

"Really?" I said, surprised. "Not one of the Three Kings?"

"The Kings are higher profile, but among that set Carr is definitely the one to aim for," Rick said. "The difference between sole heir and a bunch of potentials. Plus, his looks are on par, and he’s a good deal more approachable."

"Then why do you fanboy over the Three Kings so much when Carr’s right there in the room with you?" I asked, curiously.

"Hoping he’ll get jealous," Sean said, with a grin. "Besides, those three have, I don’t know, an aura. When they’re there, it’s always something special."

"So exaggerated," Rick said grumpily. "And no, I’m not just jealous because that piece Kyou is working on makes the wannabe grandmaster in me weep."

I regretted bringing up the Three Kings, so found a diversion.

"Do you think he’s trying to channel Byron, or Shelley?"

They all immediately knew who I was referring to, turning to stare at Tomas, hooting into laughter, and then hastily looking down when the sound attracted attention.

"So true," Sean said. "Pale, interesting and foppish overlaid by an air of being dangerous to know. And not, sadly, very convincing."

"He has his points," Anika said. "I hear Meggan thinks so, anyway."

"For real?" Rick asked.

I hadn’t seen any sign of particular closeness between Meggan and anyone during the day’s outing, but still couldn’t resist watching with interest when she and Daphne arrived a short time later.

"Sitting beside him, good start," Rick commented in a low voice. "Polite chitchat, proper posture. Oh, sweet murmurs in her ear. She’s not moving away. Joking. Warm compliment. Handholding. We have handholding!"

Not entirely interested in high school romance as a spectator sport, I emptied my drink, looking away, and then froze, trying to keep reaction from my face. Through the slatted windows I could see a garden path leading down to the south beach. A figure was standing there, visible only as an outline against the soft blues and deep greys of the vista, watching the scene inside.

Bran.

He turned away and walked down the path, leaving me full of doubts. Bran and Meggan had broken up the better part of a year ago. The week before last, Bran had devoured my breasts with every sign of enthusiasm. They’d both moved on. The sinking feeling in my stomach was sheer overreaction.

No problem here.

"I’m really not in the mood for this," I murmured, leaning over to Lania. "I might go watch that movie. See you later?"

"Okay."

I left not toward the beach, but the opposite side of the room, and wound my way past the central pool and another covered area until I reached a path that would take me to the north side of the peninsula instead of the south. Then I tripled my pace, striding on sand left firm by the receding tide. If Bran kept to the southern beach, then I’d be able to see him once the peninsula narrowed.

The rocky ground that separated the two beaches rose as it narrowed, then started to drop, leaving me a partial view of the south beach. I began to wonder if I’d walked too quickly and passed him. But, no, there he was less than ten metres ahead.

Now that he was within sight, I slowed my pace, and started to feel foolish. He was clearly only going for a walk, and I would be in an awkward position once he reached the end of the peninsula, especially if he did as I had the first day and simply made the return trip by the beach I was using. He would certainly have a few caustic words for me, and while that wasn’t such a big deal, I’d still prefer not to be caught genuinely stalking him.

A near-full moon was rising in the direction we were walking, which would make me easily identifiable, but I decided the light would work to my advantage, for it created inky shadows along the ragged edge of dividing land. I slowed my pace again, deciding that if Bran turned back in my direction I would simply sit down in the shadow of a rock and stay still until he’d passed me.

The dividing land dropped to waist-height at the end of the peninsula, and I stopped walking, tucking myself into shadow while I waited to see if Bran was going to stop for the view, or turn immediately back.

He did neither.

Twenty-Four

Cursing, I came out of my hiding spot and trotted hastily up the beach until I could see him swimming steadily away from the shore. He hadn’t been dressed for the water, had been wearing knee-length cargoes and a tropically-patterned shirt. One of the pair of the thick-strapped flip-flops he’d been wearing floated back toward me on a wave.

I shed my own sandals, my towel and bag, and went after him, trying to remember the chart of rips and tides I’d looked at when I’d arrived at the resort. The peninsula hadn’t been marked for safe swimming, but that might only be because there were no lifeguards.

Bran’s pace was not hurried, but he was still a taller, stronger person than me, so we were a considerable distance out by the time I caught him. He noticed me before I had to call out, and stopped swimming, turning in obvious shock. I stopped swimming as well, and floated in the swell, just looking at him. It took several beats before he actually recognised me in the vivid light of the moon, and then he scowled.

"So eager to fuck me?"

"Less than eager to have to tell Kyou and Rin that I passed up a chance to warn you about cramp, and the dangers of night swimming."

He stared at me, furious, then said: "You think too much," and turned and swam back to shore.

I followed him, relieved to discover that while the tide was going out, it wasn’t insurmountable, though my muscles were feeling the burn by the time we reached shore. I hadn’t been swimming at all lately, beyond the day’s languid SCUBA session.

Bran reached the peninsula and stood just outside the wash, rigidly upright. I ignored this display, searching the shadows for my belongings and collecting them together. Then I sat on a rock and began towelling my hair.

"Go back," he said, roughly.

"I spent enough time on Friday wondering if you were dead. I don’t plan to repeat the exercise tonight."

"Friday? Why—?" Bran paused. "Oh, the attacks. I didn’t think of that."

"Just thought ending the game as impolitely as possible was the way to go?"

"Didn’t care one way or another."

"Honesty," I noted, with a short laugh. "Do you want me to find Rin or Kyou and send them down here?"

He was backlit by the moon, so I couldn’t be sure of his expression, but I thought he’d stopped glowering.

"No need. I was only swimming."

"Sure. Totally convincing. You go back then."

He sat down on the sand instead, possibly just to be contrary, or perhaps because he needed to. He was facing away from me, so I couldn’t be sure, but there was a weariness in his posture I hadn’t noticed before.

His tone, however, was still acerbic. "Have you somehow mistaken yourself for a friend? Someone who has a right to interfere?"

"I thought I was the judge. Nor does friendship have much to do with how anyone would react to seeing someone walk fully clothed into the ocean." I tilted my head, trying to decide whether it was safe to leave him here, or if I should keep him talking. "No, I don’t think we’re friends. Passing sparring partner would fit better."

"Passing?"

"You think you three won’t cut all ties with me once the game is done? I sure do."

He glanced around at me, then turned back to the moonlit water. "I’m surprised you’re so self-aware."

"One of the first things I checked was whether any of you were likely to end up in the same faculty as me at Helios. I wouldn’t enjoy constantly running into you three next year and have you all treat me as a stranger."

"Doesn’t that bother you? Used and discarded?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Discard would imply me being in a bin somewhere, instead of simply, y’know, not having anything to do with you anymore. No matter how popular you are at Corascur, you’re just three people among billions. Not the centre of the universe." I sighed, and slung my towel around my neck. "Yes, there are complications to this game that could lead to me getting hurt. But the fact that it has an end date isn’t a major one. I’ve changed schools more often than I have favourite games, and simply choose to enjoy whatever I encounter, rather than cling to things I can’t keep."

The words applied equally well to him as me. He knew it, and responded by sending me an irritated look over his shoulder. But then he lay back on the sand, staring up at the stars, and I thought that maybe we’d passed a critical juncture, at least in terms of him trying to swim out to sea.

"Have you ever been in love?" he asked.

"No."

"What about your boyfriend?"

"I liked him a lot, but more in a very fun person to be around way than anything I’d call love."

"Has anyone ever told you you’re quite cold?"

"No. Why do you think I’m cold?"

"Nothing seems to bother you."

"I think I’m similar to Rin—difficult to move profoundly. I suspect I’m by default a little warmer, though. He strikes me as someone who gives everything to the handful of people he respects, while being indifferent to the rest. Layered over with that kind and gentle persona."

"So, you’ve never cared about anyone enough to need them, to not be able to give them up."

"What does that even mean? People aren’t oxygen. I’ve been sorry to leave some people behind, but their lack isn’t going to make me go blue in the face." I paused, then continued: "I went diving with Meggan today. She’s pretty nice, and I can understand why you’re finding it hard to get over her. But it’d also be polite to listen when she tells you she doesn’t want to be with you."

"But she hasn’t."

"What?"

"Meggan hasn’t said she doesn’t want to be with me. She said that I have to walk away from Rin and Kyou to be with her."

I stared. Bran was still gazing up at the stars. The irritation had gone from his face, and his harsh voice was matter-of-fact.

"Okay, my opinion of Meggan just fell off a cliff," I said. "What a shitty thing to do. What does she have against Rin and Kyou?"

"Nothing, really. We’ve all known each other since we were kids. She and Kyou will mock each other gently, but never with any edges. Rin treats her as a fifth sister. I just spend all my time with them. I care about them more than her. All my future plans revolve around them, not her."

"According to you or Meggan?"

"I thought my future revolved around Kyou, Rin and Meggan, but even there I had to concede her point. Why should she settle for an equal place in my heart? I love you as much as my best friends is a pathetic romantic declaration."

"I could understand asking you to spend less time with them, but did she really expect you to abandon them?"

"She told me I would always choose them over her. Turns out she was right."

I thought about it, trying to picture myself in love with someone who would never make me first. "Did you keep standing her up on dates? Forgetting her birthday?"

"No, I am an extremely attentive and thoughtful boyfriend," Bran said, sounding sarcastic, though possibly telling the truth. "But once comparisons get in your head, how do you stop counting?"

"You made this decision almost a year ago. Why are you walking into the ocean now?"

"I was going swimming," he said, without heat. "I wasn’t thinking about what I was wearing, I just wanted to take my mind off things, nothing more."

I found myself believing him, though still felt it was a dangerous thing to do. "Try taking your mind off things somewhere with life guards, next time," I said, standing up. "I’m going back."

"Can I undo last Friday?" he asked suddenly.

I stopped. He was still lying on his back, staring up at the stars.

"I’m not a forgiving person," I said. "Particularly when my time’s been wasted."

"But you wouldn’t have even stopped walking if there wasn’t a possibility," he observed. "What do I have to do?"

"Crawl over broken glass."

He laughed. "You sound like you think I wouldn’t do it."

That gave me pause. Bran’s past demonstrated his self-destructive tendencies—or a willingness to damage himself in a purely calculative way.

While I hesitated, he climbed abruptly to his feet and crossed to stand behind me.

"I’m sorry," he said, lowering his harsh voice and speaking directly in my ear. "I was looking forward to it too much, and couldn’t accept that, and ran away like a child. I won’t be so discourteous again." His voice dropped further. "Haven’t you ever heard that if you save a life you’re responsible for them forever?"

"Not a real proverb," I said, trying to keep the temptation from my voice. "Not a real rescue, either, according to you."

"Let’s give it a partial credit," he said, moving to stand in front of me. "Be responsible for me for the rest of the year."

He bent to kiss me, and I didn’t move away. Bran in the moonlight by the ocean was a little beyond my ability to resist. And his kisses truly were exquisite.

We spread my towel on the sand, and undressed each other in an unhurried way, then lay together for more kissing, and some exploratory touching. Bran’s skin tasted of salt. He was a little more cut than Rin and Kyou, and I traced the distinct abdominal lines, and then his already-erect penis, and delighted in the way his breath shuddered in his throat, and the way he fought to stay still, and how he failed, hastily pressing me down, fumbling into position.

The sensation surprised me. I’d already seen that Bran’s penis curved to the left, but I hadn’t expected how distinctly I’d feel that. His breath was hot on my cheek as he began experimenting with pace, clearly paying attention to how I reacted, but repeatedly starting to pump faster, and then reining himself back. This constant change of rhythm wasn’t unpleasant, but it kept me from progressing very far before he ended.

Bran slumped down, panting, his cheek pressed against mine. He took two breaths, letting slip a ragged, very exposed sound, and after a moment I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck and just held him. I would have had to be blind to miss that Bran regarded this as the end of his relationship with Meggan, a final step away. I wondered if he’d talk, or go through another whiplash change of mood, but he simply started kissing me again.

I had discovered a lot about Bran this evening, but what I found over the next few hours was that he learned fast, and had seemingly boundless powers of recovery. Possibly he could have kept going the entire night, but my phone cut through the nth round of kissing.

It was the generic ringtone I used for unknown contacts. I considered ignoring it, for there were very few people who knew my phone number, and all of them had unique songs assigned, but then I reached back a hand, found the thin strap of my carry bag, and hauled it over. Bran switched to eating my breasts, so I shifted onto my back as I pulled the phone out and swiped the screen.

"Hello?"

Kyou’s very recognisable voice came to my ear. "Cheshire, have you seen Bran?"

I paused, then passed the phone to Bran. "For you."

He took it, activated the speaker function, and then put it on my chest. "Sorry, I killed my phone."

Against the background of soughing waves, Kyou’s silence was as loud as a shout. Then he said: "See you soon?"

Bran hesitated, then said: "Yeah, heading to the room now. Ten minutes."

"Okay."

The call was cut, and Bran sat up. "How to make your friends want to strangle you in one easy step," he said.

"Are you going to tell them you were just swimming it off?"

"You can. They’ll be sure to ask. I’ve been a lot of work for them this past year, but they don’t seem to have tired of me yet."

I put my phone away and sat cross-legged, watching him dress.

"I’m going to wait here for a while," I said. "I can’t risk both of us coming back at the same time."

"Good idea," he said, buttoning the top two buttons of his shirt, but leaving the rest free. He knelt beside me then, but instead of kissing me as I expected, he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. "Thanks for the safety tips," he said, and left.

I stayed where I was until I could no longer hear his footsteps in the sand, and then I took my towel into the surf for a little clean-up session before spreading it on a rock in the vain hope it would dry quickly. After dressing, I sat down and thought about the night and the moon and games that had inevitable endings.

The conclusion was going to be hard, but I had already accepted that. Nor did I regret changing my mind. Bran was definitely more work than Rin and Kyou, but he interested me. I mourned the loss of the voice I’d only heard once, but had to admire the determination he’d shown in escaping family control. I suspected I’d enjoy talking to him now that he wasn’t trying to alienate me. I’d also never had so much sex before, and was very sore, but regretful we’d been interrupted. The kissing alone was worth it.

My phone chimed to announce a text message. Come to the Four Seasons View.

That was a café on the roof of the hotel that wasn’t open in the evenings. I texted 10mins, picked up my towel, and walked back, checking the time.

Half past eleven, and the pool party had wound down. This was, after all, still a high school trip, where drinking alcohol wasn’t permitted no matter our ages, and a host of activities were waiting the next day. I arranged my damp towel around my neck before hitting the lighted areas, unsure if Bran had left visible marks places I’d regret. A mirrored panel in the elevator gave me a chance to examine myself carefully as I rode to the top of the resort’s main building, but I couldn’t spot anything.

Four Seasons View wasn’t much more than a collection of tables in one corner of the roof, with currently-closed umbrellas in the middle of each, and chairs stacked nearby. Brightly moonlit, it would be a bad place to meet, if not for one corner cast into pitchy shadow. I walked directly toward this, as it was the only logical place Rin and Kyou could be waiting.

"Have a seat, Cheshire," murmured Rin, as I paused on the edge of the shadow, waiting for my eyes to adjust. He took my hand and led it to the back of a chair and then, from the sound of it, sat down himself.

"You probably heard the gossip from the pool party," I said, feeling my way into the chair.

"Meggan and Tomas?" Kyou said. "Yeah. Bran saw it?"

"Saw it, walked directly to the end of the peninsula, did not stop, was heading straight on 'til dawn when I finally caught up with him."

"Damn." Rin, barely audible.

"He said that he was just swimming to take his mind off things, and I ended up more or less believing him, but I think there’s sometimes not a difference between planning to do something and putting yourself in a situation where you run out of options. What kind of person is Meggan, really?"

"Aspirational," Kyou said. "Will probably end up running some large charity somewhere, and doing it very well. Doesn’t suffer fools, rescues stray animals, has a surprisingly silly sense of humour, but otherwise thoroughly trained to be ladylike at all times."

"Has she had any other boyfriends, after dumping Bran?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Bran didn’t show up on Friday," I said. "Which annoyed me a great deal, but gave me plenty of spare time to think about Bran, and the attacks on you two. Particularly how Rin had said Bran’s worst nightmare was getting his voice back."

"Bran said that," Rin corrected.

"But Bran’s not a kid anymore, and having his voice back wouldn’t change anything substantive. Meggan seems to be by far the most powerful avenue of attack, and though I don’t know how open-ended the whole them or me thing was, seeing her finally move toward a different relationship—"

"Back up," Kyou said. "What them or me thing?"

"He didn’t tell you that?" I hesitated, then shrugged and went on: "Meggan didn’t dump him. Meggan said something in the order of separate yourself from Rin and Kyou or lose me."

Silence. I could hear one of them shift position. Then Rin said: "Noted," in the coldest voice I’d ever heard from him.

"Anyway, these attacks seem targeted at points where you’re particularly vulnerable. Meggan is Bran’s weak point. But only Meggan could control the timing of her publicly moving on. So, what kind of person is Meggan, really?"

"No," Kyou said, after a moment’s pause. "I don’t believe Meggan would attack us, let alone do anything to Bran. This ultimatum…that does explain a lot about why Bran has seemed so stuck this past year, but Meggan has always loved Bran, and she’s not so unbalanced as to twist to hating him just because she couldn’t change how much of him he was willing to give her."

"The entire school would know that Meggan moving on would impact Bran," Rin said. "But there’s a very limited number who could influence Meggan, or at least be sure she was moving that way. We’ll think that over. How did Bran seem when he left you?"

"Calm. But Bran’s had a different mood every time I’ve met him, so I’m not the best judge. For what it’s worth…" I paused, then continued: "I think for these challenges, more of them have been newer to Bran than they are to me."

"New…really?" Kyou was outright surprised.

"I suppose they might have wanted to wait for marriage," Rin said. "Admirable self-control."

"Not that I’m quite in the same league as swimming out to sea, but I think maybe he’s made a big step toward leaving her behind tonight." I shrugged. "I’m not sure. I find Bran really hard to read because sometimes he’s so…forward, and then he turns around and behaves like he’s being dragged from his maiden bower, and neither seems like an act to me."

"Bran’s both a jaded cynic and an ardent romantic," Kyou said. "And the image of you dragging him from a maiden bower is…well, I’ll send you something later. And then," he sighed, "we will erase tonight’s phone logs, and I suspect I will have to face Bran competing properly for Tuesdays. I haven’t seen you at all this trip, Cheshire, swimsuit or otherwise."

I chuckled. "Well, it’s too late to sign up for the sandcastle competition, but you can always watch," I said, standing up. "Just remember that my extremely unrevealing swimsuit is all your fault."

Twenty-Five

Lania had been asleep when I returned, and was up well before me. Eyes half open, I watched her try on three different outfit combinations, and then start on a fourth.

"Aren’t you just going for the hike up Mount Reparo?"

"Sorry, did I wake you? Yes, the hike’s still on. Have you changed your mind about coming?"

"Too lazy."

"Where did you go last night? I looked for you, but you weren’t in the movie room."

"Night swimming," I said. "Don’t tell any teachers."

"Mika! So dangerous."

"And tiring," I said. "But far less sunburn. Make sure you wear a hat."

I went back to sleep, and woke near lunchtime. There were three texts waiting on my phone. The first was a cartoon of Bran, dressed in a princess gown and clinging to a flower-decked pagoda while a cat girl hauled on a leash attached to a dog collar around his neck. The cat girl wasn’t recognisable as me, but the next image…

A highly detailed pencil portrait of a dovecote in the rain, and two figures beneath an umbrella. The faces were covered, so you could only see throat and chin, but it was clear the taller figure had bent for a kiss. Even with the shielding spokes of umbrella, it was more than recognisably Kyou and me, and I marvelled at how he’d managed to convey that this was a kiss that was exciting because it was hidden. Had I touched his arm in half-protest like that? The long fingers and short nails matched my hand almost exactly.

The third text simply said: Clearing logs now. It had been sent at 3 am.

Uploading the two images into my personal cloud, I committed Kyou’s phone number to memory, and then deleted the texts and logs, opening the Cheshire app instead.

Scoring missionary was reasonably straightforward. Bran, despite the spectacular setting and rapid improvement, had been new and inexpert, and so was last. Rin has been pleasant, cautious, and second. Kyou had turned bad conditions into something intensely memorable.

Scores done, I put a half-hearted effort into yoga before heading off to lunch. The sandcastle competition didn’t start until four in the afternoon, but it was easy enough to fritter my time away in the games room until the competition drew closer. I visited the beach to have a look at the preparations, and around three went back to my room to meet up with Lania and change clothes.

Lania had been crying. She tried to avoid letting me see it, being very busy reorganising her suitcase, but a freshly-washed face couldn’t hide the red eyes.

"How was the hike?" I asked, pretending not to see anything.

"Great!" Lania said. "The views were spectacular. Though it was a little hot—I might lie down for the rest of the afternoon."

I didn’t comment on that. "Who else went?"

"Oh, a ton of people. Everyone from Art Club, and a lot of others."

"Anyone from the Rose Court?"

The faint stiffening was enough to give me my answer.

"Do they bully you often?"

"No-one’s bullying me," Lania said, quickly.

"That kind of thing can get pretty subtle. Just a slow glance and shared smile is sometimes all it takes to make a person feel rotten all day."

"I’m not so feeble."

"Okay." I lay down on my bed. "The day really was hot. Let’s stay in."

"But, Mika, you can’t! The team will be two down."

"You’re way more artistic than I am," I said. "If the Club can get on without you, then I’m not going to make much difference."

"Mika!"

"So, what did they do?"

"They didn’t do anything. I—I just was really slow going up the mountain. They’d stop and wait for me, and start off once I caught up. I was completely red and puffing by the time I got to the top. No-one was impatient, but they started calling me the little engine that could and…" Lania sighed. "I just don’t want to be here right now."

" Was everyone doing this?" I asked. "All the Art Club? If so, we’re seceding and forming the Gaming Club."

"There already is a Gaming Club."

"Joining it then. What assholes. You’re short so you have a smaller stride, and then you don’t get to have a chance to rest going up a whole mountain? You’re telling me Sean and Anika and Carr and everyone just laughed along with this?"

"No. We ended up broken up into a long line. The only one from Club near me was Sue, and she’d never dare make a fuss around Katerina or Sirocco, or any of the Rose Court."

"I think I’ve noticed a theme here. What does this Sirocco have against you? Why did she pretend to invite you to the Rose Court in the first place?"

"Oh, because of Rin. It’s so stupid."

"Rin? Mr Student Council President?"

"He was just Rin in first year at Corascur. And, well, I would blush whenever I saw him, even though he’s not really my type, but I’d never seen anyone so sophisticated before. That slight French accent, and that grace. After he was nice to me a couple of times, just casually pleasant the way he is, Sirocco started encouraging me to apply for the Rose Court. I can’t say she’s ever done anything that would be called bullying, but anyone who starts chasing Rin always seems to encounter some reminder that Rin and Sirocco are from a different world from most people, and it’s pointless to forget your place."

"Have they ever dated?"

"No, but there’s something going on with their families. Not an arranged marriage or anything archaic, but definitely some parental nudging. I think the idea is Rin will become a surgeon, and Sirocco will manage the hospital he works in, or…who knows? Anyway, that was years ago, but if I happen to stumble into her field of view, Sirocco always seems to manage to say perfectly unobjectionable things that somehow make me feel awful, but she never openly sticks knives in like Katerina or Alexa. I can’t even be sure she’s trying to be mean because she really is, I don’t know, genteel." Lania sighed. "I started out admiring her a lot."

Wondering absently if this Sirocco would be happy to manage a gaming start-up, I looked at the time on my phone, then picked up my swimming costume. "You were looking forward to this competition so much. Why let her take it from you?"

I chivvied her into changing clothes without much trouble, and we headed down to the wide northern beach, where hotel staff had been prepping for the competition. They’d obviously had long practice in arranging such competitions, having prepared numerous forms and shovels, and even using a mini-dozer to create a number of sand piles and wet them down. Participants were gathering well ahead of time to watch the dozer wetting down the last of the piles. We easily spotted a clump of Art Club participants on one edge. They did not look happy.

"Lania!" Sue saw us and came over immediately. "I’m sorry, I was pathetic today. I should have just stayed with you."

"I don’t think that would have stopped anything," Lania began, then broke off as most of the rest of the Club came across and enveloped her in a massive hug. "Oh, guys, you’ll make me cry."

"Then cry," Sean said. "We all feel like it, right now."

"Why? What’s happened?"

"Carr wrote his name on the wrong group by accident," Rick explained. "And Macy filled our last slot."

"What?" Lania took a step back in shock. "How could Carr get the wrong group?"

"It was right below ours. Pure accident."

I knew this wasn’t true. I’d been the last to sign up for the Art Club group, and had written my name directly below Carlisle Carstairs. Even if I didn’t have an excellent memory, I wouldn’t forget this, because it was the first time I’d seen Carr’s full name, and I’d almost burst into laughter at the fact that the guy I kept cadging lifts off was called Carr Carr.

"Never sign in pencil," I commented. "Who’s Macy?"

"Judo Club member. Nice guy, but not in any way a substitute for Carr."

I surveyed the throng, spotted Carr walking our way, and moved to meet him for a quiet word. "We can’t just swap people around?"

He grimaced. "We can, but it could turn into a lot of unnecessary drama. I’ve already had it pointed out to me that it’s not a good look that the Art Club apparently can’t do without me, and I don’t particularly want that repeated to their faces."

"Is this Macy person someone we need to worry about in terms of sabotage?"

"Not his style."

"And what’s Lania’s strongest points in terms of composition?"

Carr looked at me, startled, then hit me with a full-wattage smile that may have weakened even my knees, just a little. "She’s a big fan of Mucha."

"Nice. Adaptable to most themes."

He nodded. "She dismisses her work as pastiche, but the fundamentals are excellent, and she only needs a little encouragement to shine. I, on the other hand, feel thoroughly uninspired."

"Oh, no, give us a little competition. If they think they’re going to win, it’ll be ever so much more satisfying when we crush them."

Carr laughed. "Something tells me they’ll regret not poaching the Civil Engineer."

He walked on to talk to the rest of the Club, but Alexa and Katerina soon arrived to bear him off in triumph.

"This sucks," Sue said. "And I don’t believe for a moment Carr signed for the wrong group."

"Even if we win, we’re competing against our own," Sean said, darkly.

"You think Carr would really mind if we won?" I asked.

"Not likely," Anika said. "He was super annoyed, as much as Carr ever gets annoyed. You can tell by the way he puts his hands in his pockets."

"Then let’s stop talking and go to the opposite beach for a little practice before the competition starts," I said. "Time is always a big factor for sand sculpture, so we’ll need to be efficient."

Lania stared at me, then said: "Mika, have you done this before?"

I surveyed the fingernails of one of my hands with an air of studied nonchalance. "I’m obsessed with building things, and I study soil mechanics. What do you think?"

* * *

A small, well-organised troop returned to the competition beach at the assembly time. I’d taken them through the basics of compaction, of designs to be avoided, and then some techniques for sculpting. After gauging general levels, I’d assigned everyone roles for each stage of the build, and was confident we’d get something done within the time limit. Macy, an inarticulate boy full of blushes, proved unexpectedly adept, and was also usefully muscular.

"I tested the sand quality earlier," I was saying, as we hung back from the edge of the crowd. "The sand toward the east edge has a better cohesiveness, so if there’s any choice over which position we have, head there."

"Aye aye, Captain!" they said, saluting in unison, which was not something I’d drilled them to do, but which seemed to give them enormous satisfaction.

"Looks like we’re starting soon," Anika said. "There’s Rin."

"Is the Student Council judging?" I asked, spotting a microphone in Rin’s hand.

"If only it was that simple," Natascha said, with a faint sigh. "The Three Kings would at least probably only be a little biased. Instead, we have one teacher, one member of the Student Council, and one member of the Rose Court. Rin and Mr Richards should be fine, but Sirocco…"

"Seriously?" Lania murmured.

I patted her shoulder. "Complete bias would only make her look bad. Let’s start heading toward our chosen spot, so we’re close when they start talking."

Everyone headed off, but I paused to consider the two people with Rin. One was a teacher I didn’t know, and the other a pale blond. She had a delicate, timeless beauty, and a poise that equalled Rin’s elegance, and I had to admit they were perfectly matched on a visual level.

"You look considerably less stressed than I expected," murmured a familiar voice.

I looked back to find Kyou and Bran standing just behind me. Bran was shirtless, which would be distracting enough, but in the sunlight I discovered that the hickeys I’d given him more than a week ago had not faded completely. Kyou, at least, was wearing a t-shirt.

"I only have trouble with tests if I haven’t slept," I said, smiling blandly. "And I slept very well last night."

Bran snorted, but the way his stormy eyes narrowed suggested a predatory mood rather than irritation. Kyou simply looked me up and down.

"Utterly disappointing," he murmured. "And don’t tell me it’s my own fault."

"If you’re so obsessed with swimsuits, there is that fantasy costume round," I pointed out. "Do you know if the scoring is transparent on this competition?"

He quirked a corner of his mouth, then said: "It will be," and walked off, trailed after a moment by Bran.

The Art Club had noticed me lagging behind and waited for me, so I crossed to them. Sean immediately grabbed my arm.

"Tell me Bran’s chest wasn’t my imagination," he said.

"Both chest and abs were definitely there," I said mildly.

"And here we were talking about Meggan moving on, when Best Dog has obviously long found a new playmate." Sean sighed, gazing after the departing pair. "And it’s not me. I’m crushed."

"Best Dog?" I repeated, startled.

"People would say Meggan had him well trained," Anika explained, with an embarrassed laugh.

"If it weren’t for Rin and Kyou, I’d say Bran’s more Lone Wolf," Sue said.

"Okay," I said, amused. "Anyway, I asked if the scoring was transparent, and apparently it will be, so we don’t have to worry about more than a small skew from the Rose Court."

An audible hum warned us Rin had turned on his microphone, and the crowd clapped and cheered in response.

"If only it was always so easy to win applause," he said, lightly. "I’ll be brief. After we draw the theme, you’ll have two hours to produce your best interpretation. Only team members can participate—everyone else stay this side of the pathway. Any interference with the work in progress will be punished by burial up to the neck below the tideline."

He waited until the laughter died down, and went on: "Mr Richard, Sirocco and I will be ranking each sculpture for both technical execution and artistic merit, but you’ll all be given your say with a popular vote. The first three teams will be awarded School Vouchers."

"Perks for everyone, baby!" someone yelled.

"Once the time limit is up, all work will cease," Rin said, ignoring the interruption. "No-one is allowed across the path until judging and voting is over, which is a small but important hint to competitors as to which direction you should face your masterpieces. Before we draw the theme, each team should select one of the tables and wear the armbands there. Don’t begin until the competition officially starts."

"Grabbing the last table," Rick said, and wormed his way through the mill in the direction I’d recommended. With ten groups competing, the last slot was well away from the centre of the crowd.

Beside each of the piles of sand was set a table with a couple of seats, a supply of water, armbands, paper and pencil for design work, and a collection of shovels, spray bottles, various tools that could be used for sculpture, and large and small forms for shaping and compacting sand—primarily fifty-litre bins with their bottoms cut out.

I inspected all this as we donned our green armbands, nodding in approval. "The resort is very well organised." I handed Lania the paper and pencils. "Remember, give us a rough sketch for general shape first, and then work on details while we compact sand."

"You—you’re all sure you want to trust me with this?" Lania asked.

"Hell, yeah," Sue said. "I love your pictures."

"You think we should do one of my abstracts instead?" Sean asked.

"You can do it Lania," Anika said, with quiet certainty.

"Carr said you were excellent," I added, which I knew would seal the deal. It at least turned Lania a nice shade of pink.

The loudspeaker hummed again. "All teams are in position? Very well, Sirocco, can you please draw the theme?"

There was a rustle, then a clear, cool voice said: "The quiet before the storm."

"A reminder that your mid-year exams are coming up," a deeper voice said, presumably Mr Richards. "Teams, you may start."

"Remember, just the rough shape first," I told Lania, taking a shovel. "Okay, everyone, first we’re going to build up a base."

Checking the tide line, I led my troops to build a raised rim of sand, then used water and stamping feet to compact the sand piled within the rim. When they were ready to add another, slightly smaller layer, I left them to it and went to check on Lania.

"What do you think?" she asked, anxiously pushing a page at me, while working furiously on another.

A page half full of thumbnail sketches, with a single more detailed sketch below. Lania had followed my advice not to attempt anything too vertical, and given me a bust of a girl in repose, lying on her arms over a desk. Long hair swirled around her, interspersed with a collection of items apparently swept downward from a study session. Pens, a tablet, books, curling pieces of paper. The barest outline in this sketch, but more than enough for me to go on.

"As if she’d stepped from a Mucha print down for a rest," I said, approvingly. "This is just what we needed. Tighten up the design and then start doing detailed sectional diagrams from different views. We’ll block out the rough shape and get back to you. Remember that we’ll be working from the top down."

Lania nodded, and kept working. I took a look down the beach and saw that all but two other teams were still working on design, and hadn’t even started roughing out a form. A loss of precious time they’d regret. Cheerfully, I did some height estimates, then went back to direct the others where to build up sand further.

Two hours was not much time, but the design was eye-catching, and the sand kept a line nicely. With the circular shape, a large group were able to work simultaneously, with the primary figure taking up the bulk of the back of the circle, and a small pathway left for me to walk out, once the fine detail work was complete. Narrowing my focus, I tuned out everything until my main job was done and then I was able to wander around helping the others with small fixes.

By then, a large portion of the spectators had gravitated to the path right above us, which told me all I needed to know about how we were comparing with the other teams.

"Everyone go up to near the path and look for things that seem out of place," I said.

"I think we should stop touching it now in case we mess it up," Natascha said, frankly. "It’s nearly time, and it looks great."

I had to agree, so we all took a drink from the table instead, and then went down to the water’s edge to paddle and wait for the judging and voting to be over.

"Win or lose, this was fun," Rick said, after we’d tired of splashing.

"What win or lose?" Sean asked. "We’re going to cream everyone."

"Which is definitely fun," Anika said. "And we also found a hidden gem. Macy, you should think about joining the Art Club, if you get tired of judo."

Macy ducked his head and blushed, which was his response to everything addressed to him. I had yet to hear him speak, but I agreed with Anika’s assessment, and nodded my endorsement.

"We’re allowed to be in more than one club, aren’t we?" I said. "Come to the Art Side, Macy…"

Before we could learn just how red Macy could get, the speaker system gave its warning hum.

"Thank you for your patience, everyone," said the teacher, Mr Richards. "I know you’re all starting to think of your dinners, so if the leaders of each team can come to the red flag, we’ll announce the results."

"Off you go, Mika," Sean said, saluting. "You might have been quiet in club before this, but you’re officially Captain from now on."

"Drill Sergeant," I said mildly, grabbing Lania’s wrist and giving the rest of the team a conspiratorial smile.

They understood me, and followed along excitedly to join the throng around the red flag near the midpoint of the beach.

Rin had the microphone again, and once we’d all gathered announced simply: "For the popular vote, third place goes to red team Just us Schlubs, second to orange team Misplaced Presidents, and first to green team Art Club!." He waited out the applause, then said: "And to save time and duplicate speeches, this is exactly the same result as the judged award. Team captains, please come up and honour us by sharing your wisdom."

The leader of Just us Schlubs was a boy I’d never seen before, obviously a candidate for school clown, easily drawing laughter from the crowd. Katerina, leader of Misplaced Presidents, spoke graciously about the pleasure of competing. Then it was my turn.

"Thank you to the whole team for working so hard today," I said, straightforwardly. "We started with a brilliant design, and halfway lived up to it. Without that, we would be nowhere. Thank you, Lania."

I handed the microphone back to Rin, turned to Lania, and applauded. The rest of the Club, waiting in readiness, immediately joined in, shortly followed by the rest of the crowd. I smiled my satisfaction at seeing Lania covering her face, overwhelmed, before she vanished in another group hug.

"Meet you back at the room," I told her, when I could get near, and spent a little time touring the competition. I would not, I decided, ask Carr to go all out again. If he’d had a competent team, victory would not have been nearly so complete.

Twenty-Six

The last evening of the school trip was uneventful, featuring a banquet meal that I left early. Lania brought me into a few different chat circles, allowing me to watch any number of people speculating over who had left marks on Bran’s chest, and analysing Meggan’s every reaction.

Since she didn’t go to the banquet, consensus was that Meggan indeed didn’t like that Bran had apparently stopped languishing after her. My own feelings about Meggan were complex, since I couldn’t decide how I’d feel in her situation. Her ultimatum had been unfair, but probably whatever hurt had prompted it had not been possible for her to bear. Jealousy. I hoped to never suffer from it.

The remains of the trip week were free study, and didn’t require campus attendance, so I spent my time profitably getting through household tasks, shopping for some winter clothing, and then reviewing my study plans, setting out a schedule that would calm my nerves while hopefully not exhausting me completely. So long as Bran didn’t flip-flop again, and I had my Three Kings branded sleep aids, I could return to enjoying my studies rather than frantically trying to make fractional gains in subjects I already knew.

And then on Tuesday, as I waited once again in the rain, I reminded myself that it would be important not to become too reliant on outside factors. Managing my sleep was something I would always need to do, and I absolutely could not rely on other people to help me with it.

The green indicator appeared on the garden before my patience ran short, and I headed along the fence to find the bars already removed, and Bran waiting underneath a large, black umbrella.

"Sorry, held up," he said, looking unhappy.

"It happens," I said, closing my umbrella and ducking through the fence.

Because we were at a risky place, I didn’t say anything further, and simply turned and replaced the bars while Bran held the umbrella.

"Can rain trigger that motion sensor?" I asked, after he’d locked the gate.

"Hail might," he said. "I’ve also added a second sensor at the very beginning of the path, and a camera above the gate. I’ve prepped an update to the app so it automatically displays the camera feed when the sensors are triggered, along with adding better chat features."

Inside the summer house I put my umbrella aside and dug my phone from my backpack, handing it to him.

"Do you program?" he asked, sitting on the coffee table and drawing his own phone from a pocket.

"Basics of MATLAB, Python, C, and C++. I’ll wait until classes start to decide whether I need them in more detail."

He handed me back my phone, and I opened the app, then laughed, surprised. The background had become the picture Kyou had sent me of Bran and a cat girl.

"I never know how much of conversations you three will repeat to each other."

"Sometimes word for word," he said, shrugging, and then pulling blankets out from the couch storage. "There’s a few subjects we know to stay away from, but we don’t have a lot of secrets."

Meggan, and her ultimatum, being something he hadn’t been able to talk about, evidently. I couldn’t decide if he was now at peace with the breakup, or simply in a more neutral mood today. He certainly seemed calm as he spread the blankets below the window.

"What was behind that very pointed speech last week?" he asked, pulling off his tie, but then added as I lifted my hands: "Don’t get undressed—I want to strip you."

I watched him take off his clothes, while explaining the hike, and the background to it.

"Would this Sirocco really target Lania just because she blushed in Rin’s general direction years ago?"

"Rin liked Lania the first couple of years here," Bran said. "But he was shy at the time, and has since developed a phobia about short girls—thinks he’ll hurt them—so he moved on. Perhaps not surprising that Sirocco picked up on his interest: she’s very sensitive to Rin’s behaviour."

"But would she enjoy managing a game company?" I asked, repeating a thought I’d had previously, while wondering what Lania’s reaction would be if she ever learned this piece of history.

"We’re all looking forward to seeing how she reacts to next year," Bran said, with a savage grin. He dropped his socks on his shoes and stood naked and already half erect before me. "In the meantime, I’d appreciate it if you redid these love bites."

"Another kind of pointed speech?"

"Your name didn’t appear anywhere on the list of possible suspects," he said, sounding cheerful. "Not sure why the frontrunners are all teachers. I’m not known for paying attention to teachers."

He stopped as I moved to stand in front of him, and I remembered him telling me he was looking forward to it too much, and noticed that his eyes had widened ever so slightly, though he maintained his otherwise amused expression.

Ignoring love bites, I wrapped my arms slowly around his neck and kissed him. His arms closed around my waist as he responded, and tightened with every minute that passed. I moved to kiss the side of his face, and then did as he asked and reapplied the mark at his shoulder, and then moved down.

I spent by far the longest time on the mark on his hip, feeling the way he shifted and then tried to hold back eager impatience. His hand touched the top of my head, drew away, and I tried his self-control for a count of thirty before I turned my head and licked his penis. It was tempting to then just stop, but I decided not to tease him too much, following Rin’s instructions with solemn gravity, until heat filled my mouth, and Bran had to clutch at the window frame to keep on his feet.

Sitting back on the coffee table, I watched him breathing deeply, eyes nearly shut. He looked more beautiful every time I had a chance to study him. His faintly curling oat-coloured hair had fallen forward to cover his eyes, and his porcelain skin had a hectic flush. The three hickeys I’d given him stood out like signal flares.

"It’s getting a little cool to be running around with your shirt off," I pointed out.

He’d regained some composure, and was now looking at me with deepening intensity. "Rin, Kyou and I are temporarily in the Basketball Club," he said. "Plenty of opportunity to pull up the shirt to wipe my face. And I’ll wear something sleeveless."

He sat beside me, and I had to wonder what anyone who managed to get into the garden unexpected would make of me fully dressed and Bran very naked, sitting side-by-side.

"You’ve cut your hair," he observed, pulling it free.

"Had it trimmed," I agreed.

"To maintain this dressed-down look?"

"Because the longer it gets, the more time I have to spend drying it and conditioning it. Some years I have the patience for that, but this year it made going diving and swimming a lot less work-intensive."

"I like longer hair," he remarked.

"Looks like you’re out of luck this year."

"The breasts are more satisfying than I expected."

I had to laugh. "Are you trying to provoke me?"

"Well," he said, pulling off my tie. "In one respect it was a compliment."

He slid my blazer off my shoulders, so I shifted to let him pull it free before he moved on to unbuttoning my shirt.

"The exam schedule will be out tomorrow," he said. "Do you want us to rearrange days for the mid-years?"

"No need. They don’t have any impact on Helios admission."

Leaving my bra, he tugged me to my feet and worked on skirt, and underwear, then had me sit back down so he could take off my shoes. That left him in a kneeling position before me. He paused, then said: "It’s like some kind of public art project. Or graffiti."

He meant the faded hickeys that decorated my chest, stomach and sides.

"I’d threaten you with two in obvious places for every one you give me, but I suspect that’s going to be less effective than it was with Rin and Kyou."

"It doesn’t look like it was very effective with them," he said, reaching behind me to unhook my bra, a process that apparently required him to press his cheek against my unexpectedly satisfying breasts.

He threw my bra across the room, and kept rubbing his cheek against my chest, like an affectionate cat, occasionally catching glancing kisses and licks, that turned into longer contact, bringing his hands up to rub and knead, then darkening each of the faded hickeys in turn.

The improvement from the first time he’d indulged himself was considerable, and I felt my face growing increasingly flushed, and had to grip the table to control an urge to twitch and make small, involuntary sounds. I was very impatient by the time he began to work his way down my stomach, and had to breathe deeply to keep myself still as he reached my thighs, and lifted my legs in turn to reapply the two hickeys he’d given to me on the tender inside skin.

I leaned back as he began the oral challenge in earnest, jumping straight to sucking hard. My backpack was behind me, and I used it as a lumpy pillow, and made little patterns on his shoulders with my feet.

Limp in the afterglow, I gasped when he immediately rose up and pushed into me, but then he said: "I suppose this counts as on a table?" and we moved to the blankets he was kneeling on.

I’d intended to go to Art Club after lunch, but ended up nearly being late for my next lesson, because Bran’s powers of recovery had not faded, and I’d neglected to set any kind of alarm.

An enthusiastic Bran was vastly preferable to a reluctant one, but his apparent desire to announce that enthusiasm might cause difficulties. The attention focused on the Three Kings was even greater than I’d initially understood, and I could only hope he was sensible enough to not make the timeframe of those hickeys too clear.

I didn’t score the challenge until I’d finished homework that night, in part because I’d really enjoyed all three encounters, and couldn’t decide firmly between them. In the end I put Rin first, Bran second, and Kyou last, but the decision was influenced as much by flipping coins as anything else.

Twenty-Seven

It wasn’t until Wednesday evening that the subject of hickeys resurfaced on the school forums. There were several excellent photographs from the Tuesday afternoon basketball game that brought speculation about Bran’s new girlfriend back to fever pitch. Thankfully Rin and Kyou, similarly dressed, no longer had their matching marks, or who knew where gossip might have led.

There wasn’t much about me on the forums, all of it revolving around sandcastle, and none of it connected to any kings. I’d faltered in my plan for a low-profile year, but it seemed I would be able to return to the background.

Friday was a mild day, neither warm nor noticeably cool, but the upcoming change to winter uniforms had me thinking again about practicalities of cold weather. The quick shower I had before these meetings posed no difficulties, but I’d be less than keen to sluice off under a hose in a typical Helios winter. It would even occasionally snow in this city.

There were few leaves left on the trees, and the brown carpet they’d made crunched as I headed into the wooded nook, the sound mixing with a few notes plucked on a guitar, and then a brief melody from a violin, high and sweet. I hesitated, double-checking the app, because those two very distinct instruments were just on the far side of the wall from me, but the green dot remained steady, so I shrugged and climbed the nearest tree so I could see into the garden.

Bran and Rin, holding acoustic guitar and violin respectively, but no-one else. I slipped over the top of the wall, dropping down lightly.

"Threesomes weren’t on that challenge list," I said mildly.

Rin laughed.

"We could change that," Bran said, with a sudden doubling of intensity.

"But who gets the points?" I asked, glancing at a scattering of handwritten sheet music on the café table. "Sudden inspiration? Want me to come back later?"

"Be our audience," Rin said, lifting the violin back to his throat. "There’s something tangled in the central phrase, and I’m determined to unpick it, but if this playthrough doesn’t get it, I’ll try again another day."

I sat obediently, sliding my backpack down to rest on my feet. Bran picked up the guitar and sat down. Rin crossed to stand near him, making it usefully easy for me to ogle them both at once. Very beautiful boys, elegant and lightly burnished by sunlight, the golden wood of their instruments gleaming, hands moving with complete confidence, expressions abstract. The music was primarily a guitar piece, steel strings vivid, with the violin in counterpoint, and I wondered if there were accompanying lyrics. The tone moved from melancholy to what felt like anger and defiance.

Rin played like he did everything: with consummate grace. Bran was relaxed, almost sprawling on the chair, and apparently entirely unconcerned, so I could only presume his dislike of performance didn’t extend to exclusive concerts. I was trying to decide if I had any useful commentary when Rin stopped playing and walked quickly to the café table, snatching up a pencil to make a few deft marks. Bran lazily followed, and read the changes as Rin made them. Then he handed the guitar to me.

"I hear you know a few instruments, Cheshire. How about you give it a shot?"

"Not a precise restatement of what I said," I murmured, but took the guitar, and slid the sheet music over.

Rin raised his violin again to accompany me, and although my unpractised hands had none of Bran’s virtuosity, I was at least able to pick out the notes. But after only a quarter of the song, I gave up, handed Bran back the guitar, and blew on stinging fingertips. "Now I remember why I stopped playing."

He laughed, and took up the tune where I’d left off, leaning against the wall as he played. I found myself catching my breath. Truly, Bran had all the charisma.

A faint noise caught my attention amidst the music. I reached down, pulled my phone out of my bag, and flipped open the cover to discover the video feed Bran had told me about. Then I briskly grabbed my backpack and strode off behind the summer house. Bran looked surprised, but didn’t miss a note, and continued playing as I sat down on the grass near the tap and hastily muted my phone.

The feed showed five people, two I didn’t recognise and three I did. First was the Principal, who was a very distinctive man, all beaked nose and swept back hair, like a white-crested hawk. Immediately behind him was Katarina, and then Sirocco. From the resemblance, one of the strangers was almost certainly Sirocco’s mother, and the other a man of around sixty, very expensively clothed. At the distinct clunk of the garden gate’s lock, I immediately regretted not risking a quick scramble directly over the wall, or even staying sitting at the table. If any of them came around the back of the summer house, instead of being an innocuous audience, I would look peculiar and guilty.

Rin and Bran had kept playing. I thought through my options, then pulled a couple of books out of my backpack, arranging them artfully around me. Next, I pulled out headphones, lay down using my backpack as a pillow, and began to play Battle of Lothra with the sound up high.

I’d only completed a single game when movement at the summer house’s corner caught my eye. I glanced, saw with relief that it was only Rin and Bran, and sat up, pulling out an earbud and raising my eyebrows in query.

Rin offered me a bemused expression in return. "Even from you I didn’t expect this level of insouciance."

"I was going to say you told me I wasn’t allowed to listen," I explained. "Though why I was here in the first place, and what was so secret is something I’d have left to your ingenuity."

"Bran’s new girlfriend, hanging around irritatingly, barely tolerated by me, so distracting," Rin said, with a curling smile. "I hate nosy ants listening when I’m composing. They always interrupt."

"Would she still be my girlfriend if they’d found her bouncing up and down on you?" Bran asked, with a low chuckle.

"That would be an interesting sell," Rin said. "At any rate, I’m finding this garden to be far less secure than I expected. And yet I can’t think of a better location."

"Steal the key?" Bran suggested.

"Maintenance has the spare, and then there’d be questions."

"Break the key," I said. "Bend it just enough that it can’t turn the lock, buying us enough time to…stop bouncing."

"That’ll work." Rin fished in his pocket and handed a lightly tarnished key to Bran. "Break mine, and then switch with the faculty copy. The rest all look too new."

Bran went and found his own key, gave it to Rin, and then paused to pull me hard against him and kiss me breathless. "You’re still not anywhere on the list of potential girlfriends," he said, letting go and picking up the guitar. "Cheshire lurking in the shadows, and all the hunters blind."

He left, and Rin locked the gate after him, then came back to me.

"Do you think he’s truly gotten over Meggan, or is this flaunting all about her?"

"If she didn’t still matter, he wouldn’t be flaunting," Rin replied. "Bran usually hates anyone knowing anything about his private life."

"Will he flaunt enough for me to be worried?"

"I am one hundred percent sure he will no longer jeopardise this game. It seems to be feeding quite a few of his fantasies." Rin packed away his violin and sheet music, expression wry. "In fact, I think this game has shown us that Bran and Meggan would never have worked out. She’s essentially very proper, and from what I’ve seen so far, Bran is not at all vanilla. I expect he would have added threesomes to the list in a heartbeat, if you’d sounded interested."

Was I interested? Probably. But: "I still don’t see how I’d allocate points," I said, shrugging. "What was the impromptu visit about?"

"Tour for a new patron. And unnecessary nosiness, which has soured my mood considerably." He picked up his phone. "Kyou said you’ve been playing Lothra with him. Let’s hope you’re a little better with it than you are at guitar."

I stuck out my tongue, but followed him into the summer house, and settled down to play, again sitting with my legs across my team-mate’s lap, a pose Rin insisted upon. His game handle was Downward Spiral, which I recognised as an album reference, and in the lulls between games we talked about the types of music and games he admired.

"I’ve always been fascinated by game music," he said, giving up on Lothra in favour of running his hands up and down my thighs. "But Journey was the point where I knew I couldn’t stand to do anything else. I replay it whenever I’m hating the world because it invariably resets my frame of mind. I want to create something that does the same."

Journey, a wordless and exhilarating trek, was definitely a game where music could whirl you away. "What part of your game were you working on today?"

"Today was a sideline. Bran and I compose and arrange popular music. We’ve yet to produce a sizeable hit, but we can reliably sell songs." He smiled faintly. "We’re going to need a lot of money to fulfil our ambitions, and can expect no support from our families."

"What degree are you taking?"

"Master of Music and Master of Music Technology and Sound Design."

I laughed. "Are you trying to cover all the roles in a game studio just between the three of you?"

"For the size of the games we want to make, three people is a drop in the ocean, but we each have core areas we’ll lead, and want to understand them thoroughly. We have one game in current production, which will only require a small team, primarily in the graphical area, while the second is an enormous undertaking that we aren’t ready for."

His roving hand had found its way to my underpants, and he hooked a thumb and pulled.

"What’s your favourite game, Cheshire?" he asked, dropping my pants on the coffee table.

"Tetris."

"Be serious."

"I enjoy things that involve building—Minecraft, Bridge Builder, so on—but perhaps less than you’d expect given how much I like design. I don’t particularly enjoy really busy little micromanagement or time management games. Always appreciate puzzles. Love big open world RPGs. I try out a lot of the MOBAs, though I mainly like the ones that focus on the champions and don’t have a lot of troop management. I guess Mass Effect 2, if you need a game that isn’t stacking blocks, though I agree that Journey is inspirational."

He had unbuttoned my shirt as I spoke, and now began trying to take my bra off while leaving the shirt on.

"Afraid of them coming back?" I asked, wriggling the straps free.

"It’s difficult to not think about it," he said. "But it’s more that I like this look." He ran a finger down my exposed chest.

"So, your fantasy costume is going to just be one of your shirts?"

He pulled me forward so that I was sitting properly on his lap, and kissed me in answer, his hand sliding to squeeze flesh he’d exposed. I moved so I was straddling him, the better to enjoy his growing arousal, but I stayed kissing him without anything further until, a hectic flush highlighting his cheekbones, he tugged off his belt impatiently.

"Not enough bouncing, Cheshire."

I laughed, and moved off him so that he could adjust his clothing. I ran a finger lightly up the bloom that immediately sprouted, then moved back, slowly settling, watching him close his eyes in pleasure. But I held off on the bouncing, instead unbuttoning his shirt.

"You have beautiful collarbones, Rin."

"Thank you."

I draped my arms across his shoulders, hooking them behind his neck, and raised myself up a few inches. "Great leverage," I added.

He made an amused sound, but also wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me even closer to him, so that when I moved up and down my breasts rubbed against his chest. He also propped his feet on the edge of the coffee table, changing all the angles ever so slightly, and this felt so good I murmured approval. Rin’s size in this position went from almost too much to exactly right, and I came before I’d hardly started, but kept going after the tiniest pause because I wanted the feeling again and again. When it was finally his turn to stiffen and gasp, I immediately afterwards went limp against his chest, exhausted.

Rin stroked my back. "You’ve worked hard. Well done."

I poked him in the ribs, then tested to see if he was ticklish, but that only led to me being pinned on the couch while he delicately bit my breasts, and then kissed me.

"I don’t think leaving most of our clothes on works," I said, a while later. "If someone came now, I couldn’t just pull myself together. Also, I think my skirt probably needs washing."

"More technical difficulties than I anticipated," he agreed calmly. "Would still do again."

We paused for laundry, discovering that Rin’s uniform also needed cleaning, and played Lothra in our underwear while our clothes dried in the sun.

"The season’s getting a little too cool to rely on this," I said, donning my still-damp skirt. "I guess I’ll add more spare clothes to the underwear I’m keeping in my locker."

"There’s always the sports uniform," Rin said calmly, knotting his tie.

"There’s only so many weeks I could get away with changing into my sports uniform on Tuesday before someone wanted to know what the heck I was doing during lunch. I’ve got to go buy my winter uniform—I might need more than two sets."

"Go for the tights over the trouser option," he said.

I snorted. "You run around in tights in winter and I’ll join in."

"Always an option," he said, unfazed. "The uniforms are theoretically unisex."

I paused, then said: "If all three of you wear the tunic and tights on the first day of winter uniform, I will wear tights on the not-entirely freezing days."

"Done."

"Was fantasy costume one of the challenges you added?"

He offered me the gentle, opaque smile that hid so much of him. "Your tunic has to be at least mid-thigh, but preferably higher."

"Any underwear preferences?"

"White and delicate."

"I’ll see what I can do," I told him, and left.

Twenty-Eight

"Are you wearing delicate white underwear?" Kyou asked, as I dropped down from the wall.

I laughed. "Yes."

His mouth curled. "The effort I put in once I heard that…"

"No-one likes the tartan?"

"I like both," he said, offering me a cup of pale straw-coloured tea. "But Rin should never have told us he’d made special requests if he didn’t want us to go all out taking it away from him."

"I bought two sets," I said, sniffing suspiciously at the cup. "I’ll wear the other on Friday."

"He still won’t have seen it first," Kyou said. "Have you tried yellow tea before? This is Mo Gan Huang Ya."

I shook my head, and sipped. Flowers, fruit. "Are there any teas you haven’t tried?"

"Thousands, especially if you count teas that aren’t true teas. Rin and I are working through a list of interesting ones. Bran prefers coffee, though there’s a few teas he finds acceptable."

"I drank a lot of chamomile tea once, but it never seemed to help me sleep."

"My—" He stopped, then said: "What about sleeping pills? They don’t work either?"

"I don’t want a dependency," I said. "My Dad is completely non-functional in the morning until he drinks coffee, and that put me off ever needing something to be able to do everyday things. How would I manage during the zombie apocalypse, after all? Besides, I’m scared they’d leave me groggy on exam day. How did the garden key sabotage go?"

"We switched the office key yesterday, after some rigorous testing to make sure Rin’s key couldn’t be forced to turn. Bran did a nice job of making it not look too unnatural, and we set up an excuse for the damage by loosening the screws of the cabinet where the entire school’s keys are kept. Next time someone opens it, the whole thing will fall off the wall, and about a hundred keys will go everywhere."

"Fun job for whoever has to pick them up."

"They’re all sensibly labelled." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a go bang board, and a wooden box with a sliding lid which he opened to reveal white and black counters.

"Care for some strip go bang?"

"You’ve been waiting weeks to say that, right?"

"Puns are usually beneath me, but some deserve an exception. Are you okay with the swap2 rule, and a ten second move timer?"

"Sure. And we can change who is black each game as well."

"End when one of us is naked."

We played four games in rapid succession, fighting to be the first to create a line of five. Kyou was very good, but paused after the fourth game to grimace at me while pulling off his tie.

"When you say you’re pretty good at something, should I translate that to exceptional?"

"Were you expecting to win?"

"I was hoping to draw even. Well, no, I was hoping you’d be half-naked by now."

I’d only removed my blazer so far, compared to his tie and both shoes.

"You’ve stumbled onto one of my strong points. Console yourself with the knowledge you’d effortlessly beat me in rowing. And that you’ve impressed me by winning even one game."

"Let me rock that complacence a little," Kyou replied, and went on to lose another three games in a row before finally taking one.

I took off my tie, and smiled at him. He narrowed his eyes in return, took up a counter with increased determination, and only lost two before winning another. By now I had a fine view of the lightly defined muscles of his chest and arms. Deciding to give him something in return, I took off my shirt.

"Very tasteful," he said, appreciating the dainty embroidered blue flowers on the otherwise white bra. "At least with this win/loss rate I’ll get to have the fun of taking it off you."

"I’m looking forward to it."

He grinned, and played with full intensity to lose the final two games. Then he sighed, stood, and peeled off his underwear with a flourish.

"Very nice," I said, leaning back in my seat. "Do a little turn for me."

As I expected, Kyou’s response to this was a narrowing of the eyes. "How fast can you run, Cheshire?"

"Who says I want to run?"

Standing, I walked very deliberately toward him, stopped an inch away from him, then smirked and stepped to one side to circle him. He whirled, arm snaking around my waist, and then he snatched my breath away altogether by lifting me off the ground, and throwing me across one shoulder. I hadn’t expected this, gasped, then stifled a near-irrepressible giggle, secretly impressed that he could lift me so easily.

He strode into the summer house and upended me onto a number of blankets spread on the couch. Then he held out a hand. "Skirt."

I took off my skirt and handed it to him, slipping off my shoes at the same time. This left me in white bra, panties and little white ankle socks with lace edging.

Kyou looked me up and down, then said: "I think the only appropriate way to treat such a display of maidenly plumage is to take it off with my teeth."

I blinked, then lifted one foot, toes elegantly pointed. He caught it, cupping the heel in his hand, and lightly bit my ankle.

"Missed," I murmured.

He glanced at me, then leaned down, one knee on the couch, and licked one of the hickeys still lingering on my inner thighs. Then bit it, quite hard.

"Do you have underwear preferences?" I asked, working not to squirm.

"Absent."

He straightened, nipped the lace of the sock he held, and pulled it neatly off. I offered the other foot, and he repeated the motion adeptly.

"Have you been practicing?"

He let go of my foot and said: "Roll over."

I obeyed, remembering our hickey challenge, and not certain if my sudden increase in excitement was due to the memory, or if something about lying face down, waiting for this beautiful and very aroused boy to touch me, was a thing I particularly enjoyed. Tiny shifts of weight warned me that he’d kneeled down again, and I thought I felt his breath on the small of my back. Then he bit my butt.

"Missed again," I said, with a rising chuckle.

He bit the other cheek, but this time caught at my underpants with his teeth and pulled. I helped by lifting myself in the right places as he moved his way down my legs. Then more weight came onto the couch, though he was working not to touch me as he worked to undo my bra strap with teeth alone. This wasn’t simple, and Kyou struggled with it for a while, and let out a relieved breath when the last eyelet was released.

"I think I should get a consolation prize, Cheshire," he said, resting his forehead against my shoulder blade.

"Like what?"

"I’ll tell you later."

"What do I get for winning then?"

My prize was immediately delivered. I moved one of my legs off the side of the couch to better appreciate it, and took a long breath. Kyou moved his arms to bracket mine, kissed the side of my throat, and then kept his movement slow and deliberate so he could continue to nuzzle my throat. I had no idea why this felt so good, but something about the contact of him all along my back, and those tiny kisses, completely got to me. I felt boiling hot, and couldn’t help gasping every time he moved. Kyou, far from unobservant, soon found ways to work me up even more, and played me for a short eternity.

"You’ll make me feel smug, Cheshire," he murmured, lying with his full weight on me.

"As if you need any help with that."

I shifted, and he moved to lie beside me, and then kissed me hard, wrapping his arms around me. It was a long time later, when he’d decided to visit my breasts, that I asked: "What’s the consolation prize?"

He propped himself on an elbow, smirking at me. "Wear my underwear preference for the rest of the day."

That required a moment’s thought, then I snorted. "Okay, I can lose the underpants."

"What, you need help holding these up?" He dropped his head momentarily to lick my chest. "You’re not even using those bras that make it look like you have cleavage."

"Get off me and I’ll show you why."

Leaving off the bra, I put the white uniform shirt back on, then pressed it close to my skin.

"Okay, that’s far more obvious than I expected."

"If only threats about hickeys worked on Bran," I said, taking the shirt off again. "He’s been reviving everything that faded."

"He’ll stop if you tell him you mean it. No, I’ll tell him you mean it. We’ve pushed the limits of your patience, haven’t we?"

"Getting there."

"We’ll make up for it by wearing those tunics the entire day next week, instead of changing out of them halfway through the day."

"Will it bother you? I don’t want you to do something you’d find humiliating."

He laughed. "It’ll be fun. We’ll make that uniform look good, and give the school some excitement. Keep watch for us - we’re planning to arrive almost late for Home Room, and walk down the path between the two main class buildings."

"If you’re going to do it at all, do it thoroughly?"

"That’s the aim."

Kyou stood up, and kissed me very thoroughly, and after we’d dressed he stood right below me and watched as I climbed the wall without any underpants.

Twenty-Nine

Rin was again working on his song on Friday, but this time alone, playing small sections on the guitar and then making minor changes to the sheet music. Discovering the teapot to be cold, I went and brewed a fresh batch, picking the ginger infusion from the collection of canisters on the table.

I poured a cup for Rin, but didn’t talk, since his attention was clearly on the music. I was starting to suspect, however, that he was playing a game with me, or trying to test me, because there were surely many opportunities for him to compose, and none of them required my presence. But many years of airline travel had honed my patience, and I appreciated the warm drink on a cool, overcast day, so I simply read the school forums, looking for gossip about the person I was about to enjoy.

Speculation about Bran continued to be hot news, especially because a short time ago Meggan, Tomas and Bran had met outside the faculty building, and then Meggan had gone somewhere with Bran.

"Why the frown?"

Rin had put down the guitar, and was studying me as he sipped his tea. I handed him my phone, and he read expressionlessly, swiping up a few times, then gave it back.

"Jealous?"

I felt strange, but jealousy didn’t seem to fit the feeling. "I don’t want to find myself in the position of the other woman. I could never do that."

"There is precisely zero chance of Meggan and Bran getting back together."

Ice cold certainty, accompanied by a completely unsmiling expression.

"Why are you so sure?"

"Because Kyou and I won’t permit it. Bran is the most intensely loyal person, and Meggan knows that perfectly well, and yet she gave him such a choice. She watched him shred himself for a year. And this play-acting now with Tomas makes me want to empty a bucket of tar on her."

"Play-acting?"

"Handholding in the most public of settings, but no follow up. Not that Tomas isn’t in pursuit, but she put on that show for Bran. Still trying to make him choose. I thought she was better than this."

He sounded genuinely upset and, perhaps having shown more than he’d intended, he immediately put down his cup and stood up.

"Another dance lesson?"

There was no music. Rin simply hummed, keeping up an effortless melody, and whisked me around the garden. I found I had to devote less of my mind to where my feet were going, and could trust Rin not to run me into a wall—at least if I didn’t provoke him first.

"What’s funny?" he asked. He’d stopped humming, but kept us moving as I decided whether to answer, and offered me his warm, gentle and entirely untrustworthy smile. "I’m more tolerant than you seem to think."

"I was picturing you dancing with Lania," I admitted.

He gave me a look, but then curled a corner of his mouth, amused. "I enjoyed your pointed speech. She looked very happy."

"Do you really have a phobia of short girls?"

"Which one of them told you that?"

"Bran."

"I’ll thank him later. And, no."

"Then why didn’t you date Lania? Or was Bran wrong?"

"Believe it or not I was a little shy my first year here, and hadn’t worked out a good way to deal with the way people react to me. Lania wore her hair in these tremendously cute pigtails, and I spent most of every maths class watching her playing League of Legends under her desk, but she would turn crimson and run away if I looked liable to go nearer. I didn’t figure out a way to talk to her until second year, and by then she was dating Rick."

"Lania dated Rick?"

"For about two years." His eyes narrowed. "And yet Sirocco still targets her. She’s been very subtle—I didn’t know at all."

"Let’s not talk about Sirocco. Bullies are so boring."

Rin smiled, and I had a strong intuition that something uncomfortable was going to happen to Sirocco in the not-too-distant future. I had to wonder how far he’d go, and whether he’d step over a line that would make me dislike him, but for now I appreciated the gesture on Lania’s behalf.

"Did you regret very much telling Kyou about your underwear preferences?"

"The knowledge that you were running around school without your pants on Tuesday more than made up for it," he said, then lifted his hand from my waist so he could pull my shirt forward and peek inside. "We’re overdressed for this dance lesson."

We shed our clothes in a leisurely way, and slow-danced in our underwear until the wind picked up and I started shivering.

"I’ll bring an oil heater next week," Rin said, leading me inside. "But, other than a bucket of hot water, we’ve yet to think of a solution for cold weather clean-up that isn’t very suspicious. It’s bad enough that we’ve taken the covers for all these cushions to be laundered a couple of times, which we can only hope hasn’t been noticed by the gardeners." He took my hand, guiding me to lay down on the blanket-draped couch. "We’re trying to be better about putting down covers before you arrive, because we tend to forget as soon as you lose your shirt."

"Tiny but mesmerising?" I said.

Rin, sitting on the edge of the couch, smiled. "Bran or Kyou?"

"Bran’s was more satisfying than expected."

"And you didn’t hit either of them? You’re so tolerant, Cheshire." He leaned down and ran a finger along one strap of my bra. "It makes me want to see how far I can push you."

"But will you enjoy the knee to the groin that’s likely to follow hitting my limit?"

"I wonder. We’re learning a lot about ourselves with this. But probably not." He slid his hands under the fabric of my bra. "Almost a B cup?"

"Almost," I agreed.

He stroked me very gently. "I spent the week thinking about your underwear. How foolish. What did you think about this week, Cheshire?"

"What you three will look like in tunic and tights," I said, smiling wryly. "And about playing Signus III with Lania after the exams, which will be a bit complicated since I’m going to my parents over the break, and I don’t know where they’ll be yet."

"What does that mean?"

"My mother’s finished her current job, and is deciding between various offers. They all have different start dates, so depending on what she picks we could spend Christmas in whatever country the job is in, or at my grandmother’s, which is where we stay when between jobs. But my aunt and cousins have descended on my grandmother, so my parents are talking about going hiking in Patagonia instead. Which should be fun, but not an ideal gaming environment."

"That sounds infinitely more enjoyable than what we’re going to endure over Christmas. The whole clan parading themselves before our great-grandfather and trying to make each other look bad."

"Is there a reason you’re going? You’re all adults, and I presume you’re preparing to move out when you do your big reveal for college. Why not move up the schedule?"

"To avoid the follow-up argument. Children in high school leaving home is a drama. University students living closer to classes is nothing out of the ordinary, making moves to bring us back into line much easier to shut down. Besides, I like my sisters. Since we have to come back from our trip for the family Christmas activities, I’ll be able to take them to the Helios Book Festival, possibly for the last time for years. "

Rin slid his hands out from beneath my bra and reached around to undo the hooks, pulling it free and putting it on the coffee table. He added my underpants, and then looked down at me, mouth curling. "I’m going to miss seeing these," he said, stroking the partially faded hickeys. "Childish and meaningless and…"

He glanced at me beneath those long lashes, then bent his head and pressed his mouth to the mottled patch on my breast. I didn’t move, and wasn’t surprised when he only licked me and then laughed, lifting his head.

"Cheshire, am I really so transparent?"

"If you were someone who didn’t respect a firm no, I wouldn’t be here," I said, catching a strand of his hair.

"One day I’m going to shake that calm."

"I think I might be looking forward to that," I said.

He caught at my hand as I twined another strand, and pressed it down, kissing me with a sudden, surprising urgency. I used my free hand to pull his hair out of his usual loose topknot, and he immediately pinned that hand as well, and then we wrestled for a while. This kind of play was definitely a favourite of Rin’s, and we came close to falling off the couch a few times until he had me properly pinned facedown, and pushed urgently into me. I wriggled to escape, mainly because I knew he would enjoy it, and laughed a little as he stopped holding back his strength and controlled my movement completely. The facedown position again felt supremely good to me, especially after he snatched up one of the small cushions and tucked it beneath my hips. Rin’s size only added to the experience, although his height did mean our upper bodies fitted together less neatly than I had with Kyou.

"You three have too much stamina," I said, a long time later.

He chuckled, then bit my ear lightly, not reducing his weight on me in the slightest. "We made a few side-bets," he murmured. "Once we discovered how easy it was to make you come."

I parsed this, then let out my breath, disgusted. "If it wasn’t so enjoyable, I think I’d be annoyed."

Rin nipped my other ear, then turned me over and kissed me with a leisurely enjoyment, then lay on his back and allowed me to appreciate his collarbone. He started humming, and I couldn’t decide if that was a sign of him being in an especially good mood, or if his mind had wandered back to the song he was composing.

But apparently not entirely, since after a while he asked: "Is there any challenge you’re looking forward to in particular?"

"That depends on who gets to do the talking in Simon Says."

"Absolutely not you."

"Then the blindfold challenge."

"Oh, really?"

"You sound way too pleased by that." I paused. "You feel way too pleased by that."

Rin showed me how pleased he was for an extended period of time, leaving me to wander into Art Club very late, feeling far too tired to achieve anything on my model.

The previous week the room had been deserted, but this week Art Club had a full complement, busy creating screen-printed posters about studying for exams. Blockish pieces in tangerine and watermelon shades, of kids buried in books, or with twenty pens in their hair.

"Rick’s designs," Lania said. "He’s so good at shape."

"Call-backs to our sand sculpture," Rick said, bopping over. "Though they almost didn’t get past the faculty, since being overwhelmed isn’t the message they want to sell. But the text is all about not letting that happen."

"I don’t think I’ve seen actual screen-printing before," I said.

"Digital’s so much easier, after all," Rick agreed. "But I love the variation you get from screen-printing, particularly if you play with the colour mix."

He showed me how to print a layer, giving me a peach colour. Since the drying time between layers wasn’t short, they’d done the base colour for four different designs earlier in the week, and now were adding the second layer. I enjoyed the results, particularly when he added a swirl of lime into my tray.

"I might try to create something like this myself," I said, surveying the result. "I’m terrible at colour, but I like the idea of thinking in shapes."

"Tall, blond and broody alert," Sean said, from the sinks by the window.

"Any sign of Meggan?" Anika asked, wiping at a watermelon streak across her nose.

"No-one else. But he is being very broody. Hands dug in pockets, head all the way down, own personal thundercloud. Heading for the river."

I tensed, then made myself relax. Bran was a difficult person to predict, but I very much doubted he would take another swim without destination. Especially not on a school day where too many people were around to interfere. And the school gossip network, transmitted via Sean, soon confirmed that Bran had met Kyou by the site of the now cleared-away boathouse and were joined by Rin and several faculty members a short time later. I should have expected something of the sort: Rin and Kyou were on high alert about Bran’s welfare at the moment, and would not ignore drama about Meggan.

After I finished my stack of posters, Rick showed me how to clean the screen, and I was putting it away when Carr came in.

"Mika, can I borrow you for some paperwork? It’ll only take a minute."

"Sure. About that supply order?"

He shook his head, leading the way to the office, and handed me a printed form. "A model release," he said. "I should have taken care of it before, but completely didn’t think about it until I received a nudge from the rules committee."

"You found a shot you liked? Can I see?"

He nodded, picked up a tablet, and showed me the figurehead of the ship. Not quite the tiny scuba diver before large boat image I’d expected, but after I’d stopped posing and swum closer. Both the carving and I were shown as three-quarter figures, and I recalled that I’d lifted my hand to touch the carved face, but remembered the request not to interfere with the wrecks and drawn my hand back.

"That lighting," I murmured. We’d been relatively deep, and so the blues had been heavy, but a bright column had descended conveniently on the figurehead, catching me in the edges, producing an array of beautiful shades.

"I had more trouble deciding which shot to use rather than whether any suited," Carr said. "But this one was outstanding."

"Being pushed to get your paperwork in order might be a good sign."

"Possibly. I’m trying not to get my hopes up."

"Are you more interested in photography or painting?" I asked, skimming through the clauses of the release he’d given me.

"Twin loves. Sometimes I’ll reproduce in paint photographs I’m particularly proud of and display them as a series. Before you sign, I should warn you that the shortlist is used in promotional material."

"I’ve seen advertisements for the Mirion before."

"Because Helios is the competition home city, there’s a month where it seems like the pictures pop up everywhere." He smiled. "It’s not what got me into photography, but I have to admit I’ve long burned to see my own work celebrated that way."

I signed the release, and handed it back to him. "Win or lose, I’d like a copy of that picture when you’re ready to circulate it. Though I’m now dying for it to be shortlisted just to see whether my parents recognise me. Or anyone here, for that matter."

"Even with the mask and mouthpiece, I think you’re unmistakeable. Are you coming to the Tokley tonight? Another bowling session."

I shook my head. "Tired myself out."

"Next week will probably be a movie night."

"Sounds good."

Though if Rin, Kyou and Bran really did have a side-bet, chances were good I’d sleep through almost any movie.

Thirty

"Your legs, Mika. So unfair."

I laughed at Lania, and posed briefly. True to my agreement with the Three Kings, I had not found an extra-long tunic, and was showing a nice length of dark blue thigh in my winter uniform.

"I have to admit to liking the way it looks," I said. "But I’m switching to trousers as soon as it gets properly cold."

"Helios doesn’t get too cold during the day," Lania said as we sat down. "There’s some wicked awful nights, though, particularly if it’s sleeting."

"I’ve good news about our Signus III co-op. My mother took the Québec job, which means I’ll spend the break in Canada. They’ve promised me they’ll find a place with the best internet on offer."

"Nice! Though I was liking the idea of you trying to play from Patagonia."

"I probably could, if we stuck to a city, but my parents really want to go hiking off in inaccessible places. They’re still going—have already left, in fact. Two weeks of backpacking in the Patagonian summer, and then Christmas in Québec City."

"Even with all the travelling they do already, they’re up for more?"

"Just the way they’re built," I said. "I’m still adjusting to the idea that I’ll be here next term. I’ve never been anywhere for a whole year before. And university will be an even bigger—"

"Oh. My. GOD."

I couldn’t hide my smile, but no-one was looking at me, everyone staring at the students whose desks were by the window. And then most of the class was there, and I joined them, using my height to look over the shoulders of some of the shorter girls, to enjoy the sight of Bran, Rin and Kyou sauntering along one of the school’s main pathways wearing, as promised, the unisex school uniform of blue tunic and tights, along with long-sleeved white undershirts.

"They make that look good," I commented, taking out my phone to snag a couple of pictures.

"Rin has his hair down," someone reported. "It’s longer than I ever realised."

"He completely looks like a model."

"Female model."

"That is the best I’ve ever seen Bran. He totally pulls it off."

"No-one should be able to smoulder that much while wearing a skirt."

"Who knew Kyou had such fabulous legs?"

"I’m pretty sure that tunic is shorter than school regulations."

I went back to my seat, and was the only person sitting down when our Home Room teacher came in and read everyone the Riot Act before taking attendance. I spent the rest of the day amusing myself with the school forums, and all the photographs of the sensation I’d commanded. My favourite picture was a posed one, with the Three Kings as Charlie’s Angels, and I really couldn’t decide which of them looked better. The best guesses for the purpose of the outfits were the trio were either involved in a photo shoot for the school uniform catalogue, or had lost a bet.

The forums also informed me that Bran kept the tunic the next day, although matched with trousers instead of tights, and so I was not surprised when I saw him dressed this way in the garden.

"Your legs really are your best feature, Cheshire," he said, gazing up at me appreciatively.

"Thanks," I said, dropping down lightly. "Yours are pretty good too. You should have kept the tights."

"Is that a run in yours?"

I looked down, found only a streak of cement dust, and shrugged. "Not designed for climbing walls. But tights hold up better than stockings, at least." I looked at the table and said: "More strip go bang?"

"I couldn’t resist. And Kyou bet me I couldn’t improve on his win/loss rate against you."

"Do you normally beat Kyou?"

"Maybe three out of five times."

"Hm. Well, I guess it’s win/win for me, either way." I smiled and sat down opposite him. "Do you three ever not compete against each other?"

"Only on important things. The rest is just fun, no score-keeping necessary."

Except on the app we shared.

I shrugged off the thought, then trounced Bran thoroughly in go bang. He didn’t speak the entire time, playing with a quiet concentration that completely didn’t match his usual temperamental and broody demeanour.

"Took one game longer to get you naked," I told him. "I think there were the same number of clothing articles involved."

He stretched lazily, not apparently upset by the loss. "Do you think anyone would notice if we wore each other’s tunics back to class?"

"I’d be astonished if mine fit you," I said.

I had again stripped off my upper clothing first, leaving myself in bra and tights. Reaching down I snagged my tunic and tossed it to him. He shrugged it partway on, then gave up and handed it back.

"We had to get ours tailored. Gave the staff at the outfitter some thrills."

"Any blow-back from the faculty?"

Bran snorted. "They called the school photographer and took promotional shots. The Principal is more progressive than people realise, and very adept at balancing the conservative elements of the school. He thought it an excellent demonstration that the uniform truly is unisex."

"Are you going to keep wearing it?"

"May as well. It’s comfortable enough. Rin and Kyou said they’d wear theirs if they get the tunics back."

"Back?"

"Confiscated as soon as they got home. Would you like to learn to foxtrot, Cheshire?"

"Is it harder than waltzing?"

"No, foxtrot’s fairly basic. First step is to get rid of excess clothing."

"Do you have a favourite dance?" I asked some time later, once I’d begun to be able to follow the basic footwork.

"Of these traditional ones? Lindy-hop, perhaps."

"You do more modern dance as well?"

"I was trained to perform," he said, with a faint shrug.

The harsh voice had been as mild as it was capable of sounding, but I looked up from my study of my feet to check his expression, and found him watching me with cynical amusement.

"Did you like any of it?"

"That’s hard to separate. I’ve never disliked music. I’ll play when I’m alone, particularly when we’re working on a new song."

After hesitating I asked: "Did you ever sing, just for the love of it?"

He didn’t answer, lifting a hand to use the control on his wireless earbud to flip through several songs. "Perhaps slow dance is my favourite."

I let him pull me close, and we stood in one spot, barely moving our feet, our bodies pressed together. Bran kept running his hands down my back, almost like he was stroking a cat, and we went through two slow songs before he started breathing into my ear, and I responded by kissing his throat. Then we kissed for several songs more, before Bran moved to stand behind me, hooking an arm around my lower stomach and the other across my chest, and gently guiding me to kneel.

Mood is a complex thing. Until this point, doggie style definitely didn’t fit how we were interacting. Long caresses, slow kisses, gentle nuzzles, all felt like they were leading up to something tender and heartfelt. The position couldn’t carry any of that feeling. Bran seemed to struggle with the shift, moving slowly and stopping and starting a couple of times, but settled into a steady rhythm before becoming increasingly forceful. It felt good, but I appreciated the return to kissing afterwards, and would have kept going if my phone alarm hadn’t warned me I was in danger of missing class.

"I’m beginning to see how Kyou got that ridiculous sunburn. It’s easy to forget the time." Bran sat up, frowning. "We’re still competing hard for the Tuesdays, but I have to admit the Fridays are the better day. Particularly when we’re coming up to a break like this. What are you doing after the exams, Cheshire?"

"Going to Canada."

He looked surprised. "For the skiing? We’re going to Banff."

I explained my arrangements for the next few weeks as we soaped ourselves with water that was far too cold, even on a relatively warm early winter day.

"We’re definitely going to find a better solution for cleaning up," Bran said, tossing me a towel. "Decembers aren’t too cold here, but February is a bitch." He stood watching me dry and dress myself, a provocative half-smile curling his lips. "Between study break, exams and the holiday, it’ll be a full month before you can enjoy any of us again. How will you sleep?"

"Much as I normally do—after a couple of hours of trying not to think. Well, over the break I’ll probably stay up until I crash and pass out, which is my other sleeping option. Are you going to play Signus? My ID’s the same on all services."

"You’re going to play something other than that dead game you dragged Rin and Kyou back into?"

"Just Signus III. Mostly the duo co-op with Lania, but I haven’t lined up anyone for the four-person campaign." I scrambled up the wall and paused to appreciate him, beautiful and still naked, looking up at me. I grinned. "Or we could duel, and see whether your win/loss rate is a little better online."

I dropped down the other side, and walked away to the sound of a croaky but surprisingly pleasant chuckle.

Thirty-One

Scoring the doggie challenge was a little easier, since I felt that Rin had taken the best approach. I put Kyou second and Bran third, though it was not as if Bran had been bad. If I’d been scoring him on the kissing, he’d win every time.

"Will you three really not be bothered by the final score?" I asked Rin on Friday, finding him contemplative over a cup of tea, and at least not composing this time around.

"Final—?" He looked blank for a moment, then shrugged. "Probably a little. But then we’ll tell each other that whoever won was just your type, and do something uncomfortable to the winner, and only brood about it occasionally."

"Has your tunic been unconfiscated yet?"

"I believe it was donated to a second-hand store." He poured me a green tea. "Did you enjoy your treat, Cheshire?"

"Very much. Would watch again, any time."

"It’s good to stir the school up occasionally."

His smile hadn’t faded, but his eyes were distant. I considered him as I sipped, then asked: "No progress on the investigations?"

"Nothing. Well, extensive surveys of the security cameras have given us a list of people who couldn’t be a candidate for gate-painting, which in turn gives a list of staff and students who fall in the suspect pile. But it’s such a long list, and I really can’t think of anyone who hates us that much. There’s more than a few that would enjoy us being uncomfortable, embarrassed, or even given a thorough beating. But these have been things that had the potential to kill."

"Are you in danger of being beaten up regularly? Or are you all black belts or something ridiculous?"

"We attend a very practical self-defence course, for common sense’s sake rather than any devotion to fighting. Kyou practices kendo in order to please his maternal grandfather."

"Is there a Kendo Club?" I hadn’t seen anything on the school forums.

"No, it’s entirely after hours. We make something of a game of keeping as much as possible outside school private."

"Mm, I hadn’t heard anywhere that you’re going to Banff over the break, so there’s one success. Just you three, or a family thing?"

"Just us. First the Book Festival, then clan kowtowing over Christmas before heading to Canada for the New Year. Our families think we’re going to Saint Moritz, and I hope Sirocco enjoys her time there very much."

I considered that purely cold smile.

"Your family is actively trying to get you together?"

"Both my sets of parents consider Sirocco charming and capable. My mother and my step-mother both socialise with her mother. My father and her father crew the same boat for competitive sailing. They consider us an inevitability. Sirocco, despite a firm no, thinks I will mature into her. Do you ski, Cheshire?"

"Yes, though I prefer snowboarding. I won’t, however, be going anywhere near Banff."

"A month seems like a very long time, just now."

He was looking at me through his eyelashes. I smiled back at him blandly.

"I was wondering if you were also going to let me trounce you at go bang."

"Let’s play a game you’re bad at instead."

"That doesn’t sound fun at all. We also need something with relatively quick rounds, unless you want to take all day to get me naked."

"Hm. No, let’s skip the formalities."

"Okay? Pick a table then."

"Is outside too cold?"

"Not if we’re in the sun. I expect we’ll heat up nicely anyway."

It wasn’t like Rin to be impatient, so I watched a little surprised as he took the tea things inside, and brought out a couple of the blankets to spread over the picnic table.

"To avoid giving you splinters in awkward places," he explained.

"Fun conversations with the school nurse."

"I’m sure she’s seen it all." He turned from making a little pillow out of one of the blankets, then said: "Will you strip for me, Cheshire?"

I considered him, trying to gauge his mood, then shrugged and kicked off my shoes, and then pulled off my socks. With a faint curl of my lips, I stepped up onto the bench and then the picnic table and tossed my tie down onto him.

Rin is most interesting when he stops smiling. He watched me silently, moving only to catch the clothing, but his very lack of expression spoke volumes about what would happen next. When only my bra and pants were left, the white with tiny blue flowers pair Kyou had enjoyed, I stopped, looking down at him.

"I think you should catch up."

He stripped completely, eyes never leaving mine, moving with an efficiency that seemed unhurried but spared very little time. When he was done, I walked to the edge of the table, then paused as I felt it shift a little at the imbalanced weight.

"Having this thing catapult me onto you isn’t quite the effect I’m going for," I said wryly.

Rin lifted one hand and slid it up from my knee to my inner thigh, and then skipped upward a few inches to hook my panties and pull them slowly down. I stepped out of them, then gaped when he turned away and crossed to the café table where his backpack was sitting, tucking them into a pocket.

"You have a collection?" I asked.

"Kyou described these in great detail," he said, coming back to me. "I’m going to leave them on the floor of our hotel suite on New Year’s Day."

I laughed, then covered my mouth, because I’d been louder than I usually allowed myself in the garden.

"Sit down, Cheshire. I can’t quite reach."

Once I had obeyed, he unhooked my bra, but left it with the rest of our clothes on the bench. Then he kissed me.

The table was a good height. I wrapped both my arms and my legs around him, and felt him grow harder with every passing moment. Eventually he pushed into me, but then leaned me back so he could taste my chest, not riding at all. He lowered me further, so I was flat on the tabletop, and followed me down to kiss me more, and I gasped because of how that pushed him into me. Knowing he worried about being too big, I wrapped a hand behind his neck and kept kissing him, and after a moment’s hesitation he began to gently thrust.

Rin’s intention appeared to be another long, drawn-out session, but he lost himself somewhere along the way, straightened and sped up, thrusting harder and harder, and coming almost before I did.

"Big fan of tables?"

He chuckled, and relaxed down on top of me, nuzzling my throat. "We’re all having new experiences with this. I had no idea." He licked my neck, then said: "Cheshire?"

"Mm?"

"Did any of that hurt you? Be honest."

I thought about it, wondering if he’d really given a girl a painful experience, then said: "You haven’t hurt me at all so far. I do have to relax myself when you’re going in, which is something of a mental exercise. But, Rin, I’m not reticent about things like this. I’m pretty physically strong, and I’m not in love with pain. If you’re hurting me, I will tell you. If you don’t stop, you’re surely going to notice me boxing your ears, or trying to kick you where you’re tender. I suppose in the positions where you can get really deep, it might hurt if you let go, but so far it seems to me that your endurance is more likely to make me sore."

"Hm."

He didn’t say anything further, just gathering me up and lifting me easily off the tabletop, though only to take a couple of steps to one side and sit down on one of the table’s benches with me in his lap for a long session of touching and tasting. I really do have an enormous appreciation of Rin’s collarbones, and the awareness that I wouldn’t be touching them for a month gave them an added attraction. But it was also too much fun to scrape his nipples lightly with my fingernails and watch him get increasingly worked up. He was so sensitive there.

The fourth time I did it, he stood up abruptly, catching me around the waist before I spilled onto the ground, and then with a sudden flurry of movement he had me face down on the table, pushing inside me.

"Is this too deep?" He pushed back and forward a couple of times.

I laughed, and the sound came out unexpectedly husky. "Let’s find out."

He allowed himself to be far less restrained than any time previously, and I was grateful for the blanket he’d spread, because otherwise I would definitely have had a few splinters after being ground into the tabletop. There was no immediate pain, though I suspected I might be quite sore later, and fortunately Rin didn’t draw things out, letting go not long after a muffled mewl escaped me. No matter how I tried, I found I couldn’t stop myself making that tiny noise, and couldn’t decide if I’d made it with my first boyfriend, or had been brainwashed into doing it. Just a moment when my body tensed up completely, and a little bit of breath escaped me.

Rin bent forward and bit my shoulder, a slow and deliberate pressure that also didn’t really hurt, and probably wouldn’t leave a mark. He lay there for a few breaths more, then murmured: "It’s going to be a very long month," before moving off me.

I agreed, but decided not to analyse too deeply whether he was talking simply about a lack of sex, or specifically playing games with me. Of course, I had no guarantee they wouldn’t hook up with someone on their holiday, which would be a physical risk to me, and also something I would rather didn’t happen during the time of our challenge. Overall, I felt they wouldn’t, and so simply listened to Rin humming as we cleaned up.

The background music paused when I pulled spare underpants out of the pocket of my backpack and put them on.

"You’re not going to give me something to think about all afternoon?" Rin asked.

"Art Club’s going to the movies tonight, and being pants-less would distract me. Besides, the tights would completely change the effect—mainly by riding up uncomfortably."

He smiled, and continued his humming, finally bidding me goodbye with a light kiss on the forehead.

Thirty-Two

Rin’s enthusiasm left me with a few twinges, but otherwise didn’t bother me, so I made good progress on my model, and happily squeezed into Carr’s station wagon for the trip to the Tokley Centre.

"Nearly dark already," I reflected, looking up at the roof of the atrium as we ate an early dinner.

"Such a badly named city," Lania agreed, sighing. "We’ve actually been pretty lucky so far this December, since it usually rains endlessly, and blue sky is reduced to a memory. There’s a reason most people go away for Christmas and New Year."

"Bahamas for us," Sean said. "I’ve been working on my beach bod in prep."

"Seychelles," Rick added.

"Aspen," Anika said. "Where are you going, Carr?"

"New Zealand."

Sometimes I forget that almost everyone at my school comes from a certain level of wealth. Not the ridiculous affluence Carr and the Three Kings' clan apparently possessed, but enough that international holidays were a matter of course. I watched Lania keeping her attention firmly on her crepe, and wondered if her plans for staying home and playing games with me was due to family preference, or monetary restraint.

"Is the entire winter miserable?" I asked, thinking about being naked in a summer house.

"Later on it’ll be less rainy, but a lot colder at night. December’s the worst, just because of the rain."

After eating, we headed for the mall’s cinema on the roof level, and I manoeuvred so that Lania and I were trailing the crowd once we started on the gauntlet of escalators.

"Why don’t you come to Québec City with me? It’ll be colder, but it apparently does really beautiful New Year events. I’ve been researching things to do, and they have this toboggan run that sounds like a lot of fun."

"Oh, I couldn’t…"

"And we wouldn’t have to deal with bad ping playing games together," I added.

"Mika, you haven’t seen your parents for months. How could I butt in on your family time?"

"I often don’t see my parents for months—we make up for it with video chat. Since the company hiring my mother is renting an apartment for the winter, there won’t be any issue with accommodation, and it will be a change for me to see a new city with a friend."

Lania had gone a lovely shade of red, and almost looked like she wanted to run away, making me think of Rin’s attempts to date her.

"At least think about it, and let me know next week," I said. "I don’t think visas are required, but I’ll want to book flights soon. Because my family flies so often we have a ton of frequent flier points and things, so I can get us discounted airfare."

"I—I’ll ask my parents," Lania said.

Before I could be too thoroughly pleased with myself, the smile I’d just coaxed fell from Lania’s face. I turned as I reached the top of the last escalator, and saw that among the crowd on the wide upper landing was a selection of very beautiful girls. My own smile faded a little, recognising Meggan, but it would be the trio of Sirocco, Katerina and Alexa which had surely spoiled Lania’s evening. An outing of the Rose Court.

During the inevitable spate of greetings I said hi to Celeste, who was always pleasant in the classes we shared, and waited patiently until the discussion turned to which movie to see.

"We’re here for Sky of Diamond," Katerina said. "Nothing else showing could beat another May Brunsfield Simon Courtney adaptation."

"Period yawnfest," Rick said, though not so loud people couldn’t pretend not to hear. "Our only decision is between Cryosis and the new Bond."

"You go do that," Alexa said, sounding bored.

"There’s no reason everyone can’t go to whatever movie they want," Carr said mildly. "There’s little chance we could all sit together anyway."

"True, true," Sean said. "And I am all for Sky of Diamond. I’m Simon Courtney’s biggest fan, can’t wait for the next book."

"Totally," Anika said.

We began to sort into loose groups, and I noticed Lania’s hesitation.

"What are you going to see, Mika?" she asked me softly.

"None of the above," I murmured. "But if you’re worried about Sky of Diamond seating, just wait until they buy tickets and make sure to ask for something that isn’t near them."

"Can’t decide?" Carr asked, noticing us hanging back.

"I’m sure as the daughter of an author, Mika plans on Sky of Diamond," Katerina said, inevitably following wherever Carr’s attention went.

"No, I’m going to see the Disney," I said. "I missed it when it came out."

Katerina managed not to laugh, but the sneer wasn’t well hidden. Sirocco, following her over, gave me an encouraging smile.

"Come to Sky of Diamond," she said. "It’s a brilliant story."

I shook my head firmly. "The Courtneys are all a little too samey for me. Beautifully written, of course, and May Brunsfield is an amazing director, but it’s always the same pattern. Introduce a bunch of fascinating people, make you like them, destroy their lives, end on a note of hope."

"Literary analysis for the ages," Katerina said. "Your father would be proud."

"No, he likes tragedies." I wasn’t going to waste my time trading barbs about my dad. "Let’s buy our tickets before the line gets too long."

"Can’t I change your mind?" Carr asked, after we’d lined up. "Leaving you by yourself feels very rude."

"It’s the movie I want to see most out of those on offer," I said, shrugging. "My only worry is whether or not to overdose myself on popcorn right after having dinner."

The lines were fast-moving, and we soon separated off into different theatres. Afterwards, I caught a bus rather than hang about, sending a text to Lania so she would know not to look for me. In truth, I had planned to see Sky of Diamond, but not at the price of extra time around the Rose Court, particularly Meggan, who I didn’t hate, but couldn’t forgive. Besides, Rin had worn me out, and the Disney movie was the shortest.

* * *

On Sunday Lania called to accept my invitation to Québec, and I arranged our tickets before settling down to a week of study break, which I spent doing practice papers. There wasn’t anything that gave me trouble, so I just used the topics as a handy structure for revision. Since these exams had no impact on the university entrance scores, I wasn’t worried about self-sabotage, and slept with my standard level of difficulty the night before, waking around 5 am.

At which point I ran into the bathroom and vomited excessively—fortunately mainly in the shower stall. That was the end of sleep. My bones ached quite unreasonably, and I kept having to heave up tiny amounts of sour liquid. I’m not a person who gets sick very often, but ever since I ignored a cough into pneumonia, I’ve been very good about going to a doctor as soon as my health wavers. There was a medical centre within walking distance, and I took myself down there just on opening time, juggling my umbrella and an empty ice cream container. Fortunately, the daily downpour that had marked study week hadn’t started yet.

For a little while, sitting in the medical centre waiting room, I half-convinced myself that my birth control had failed, and that I was facing a situation I’d never expected. I really couldn’t think that through, and clung to the fact that I felt pretty bad overall, postponing all thought until I had the doctor’s verdict. Which, after a bit of waffle, was likely a virus.

"Can I go to my exam?" I asked, still clutching the ice cream container I’d dry-heaved into twice in the waiting room.

"Not unless you want to sabotage your friends," she said, briskly. "I’ll give you something for the temperature. If the vomiting doesn’t ease, come back in."

I made it back home before the rain started, vomited up two attempts to take my medicine, and remembered to call the school admin office before going back to bed. I felt too achy to sleep, and entered that vague partial-consciousness that I suffer whenever I try to sleep on planes, with occasional added stomach spasms. My phone rang a few hours later—Lania calling to find out why I hadn’t showed for the morning exam—and I think I did sleep a little after that, but mostly I had a headache that merged with a pounding that I eventually realised was my front door. Then Lania was scolding me, ostensibly for leaving a spare key hidden in a flower pot.

"Hi," I said, after she stopped talking.

"You’re so hot, Mikaela," she said, pressing my forehead.

"That’s what they tell me," I said, laughed, and then groped for my ice cream bucket for some unnecessary retching.

"Hot and very dehydrated," another voice said. "Lania is now going to pack you a bag, and help you get dressed, and then we’re going for a small drive."

I focused with some difficulty on Carr, then said: "Bring along the hand sanitiser."

It was pouring, and Lania and Carr’s efforts to get me to his car without getting soaked weren’t entirely successful, but I was privately glad for the cool drops on my forehead. I curled on the back seat, refusing to let go of my ice cream bucket, but it was gone the next time I was really aware, lying in an examination room discovering a needle in my arm.

Lania and Carr were standing by the foot of the cot doing serious faces at each other, but before I could speak my phone rang: the unknown caller ringtone.

Noticing I was awake, Lania forestalled my attempt to reach for the bag tucked by my side, and fetched my phone for me. She didn’t glance at the screen, thankfully, though perhaps she wouldn’t have recognised the number. I did, and so answered the phone with: "Hi, Dad."

My throat was dry and the words came out very croaky, which might explain the long pause that followed, and then a soft and strangely muffled voice said: "How are you?"

"I seem to be having a saline drip. Lania and Carr played cavalry and rode off with me." I paused and looked back at my rescuers. "Am I spending the night here?"

"You are staying with Lania for the rest of the week," Carr told me. "The doctor doesn’t think whatever you have is too serious, but they don’t want you alone."

I smiled at him, then said into the phone: "I’m lucky to have people here who check up on me."

"You are," my caller replied. "I suppose the signal from the wilds of Patagonia might be rather bad."

"It is. I can hardly hear you."

"Then I think my connection is about to be abruptly severed. Thank Lania—and even Carr—on my behalf. They’ve relieved my mind. And…have a great holiday, Cheshire."

"You too," I said. "I—Dad? Oh, the call dropped out." I looked up at Lania and Carr. "He said to thank you. You guys are lifesavers."

"Probably not that serious, but I’m glad we could help," Carr said, sitting down on a chair by my cot. "Living alone is something millions of people do, but it seems so perilous."

"Mm. I’m supposed to send my parents a text every day, so they would have raised the alarm before too long, though the signal where they’re hiking isn’t great. Please tell me that you lathered yourself with hand sanitiser at every opportunity, because I really don’t want to have given this to you."

"We’ve been careful," he said.

"Maybe we can borrow a couple of face masks," I said, and insisted on wearing one when we left.

The hospital, in return, insisted on a wheelchair to Carr’s station wagon, which made me feel very silly, but although I felt fathoms better, I didn’t really have the energy to demonstrate that I didn’t need it.

The rain had slackened to a mild drizzle, and Carr followed Lania’s directions along roads brilliant with reflected street light, following a tram line to a fairly distant part of town. It was later than I thought, well past the after-work rush hour.

"You’ll be able to catch the tram all the way to Helios U next year," Carr said, when we finally turned off the main road and into a side street, pulling up in front of a comfortable looking two-story home.

"Yes, so lucky," Lania said. "It’ll actually be quicker for me than getting to Corascur, even though Corascur is closer."

Her voice was a little high, nervous, and I wondered if her parents were perhaps not sanguine about taking in a virus-riddled stranger. They met us at the door: a small woman with faded red hair, and a big, bluff blond man. They seemed welcoming enough, Lania’s mother taking over guiding me upstairs while Carr stayed down to talk to her father. I noticed that Lania relaxed considerably after this, and decided she hadn’t wanted Carr to see her slightly untidy and heavily Lego-themed bedroom.

"We’re putting you here because Lania’s room has an en suite," Mrs Nichols explained, settling me on a freshly-made bed. "Do you think you’re able to drink a little light soup? Or perhaps some lemonade?"

"Start with water?" I suggested.

In the end I was able to keep down a little honey water, and decided not to risk anything more ambitious. Once Lania had gone to bunk down in her kid sister’s room I called my parents to catch them up on my new living arrangements, and then slept.

Thirty-Three

Lethargy and aching bones fought a battle for my consciousness for most of the week, but there at least was not much more vomiting. Carr and Lania avoided catching whatever I had, and so I didn’t interrupt their exams. My own would be delayed until school recommenced, and I could only be glad I’d decided to be sick in the middle of the school year instead of during the finals.

Once the first couple of days were past, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Nichols. Mrs Nichols worked from home for the week, brushing off my embarrassment by telling me she was glad of the excuse, and refusing to allow me to go back to my apartment once I’d gotten over the worst. Mr Nichols kept baking cookies. Lania’s clone younger sister and studious younger brother spent their afternoons trading victories with me on a series of racing games. In the evenings I coached Lania on some of her weaker subjects. Most of the time I slept.

I was ninety percent recovered by the time we were due to fly to Québec, and Mrs Nichols dropped by my apartment for packing before driving us to the airport, since we were taking an evening flight. Lania could hardly sit still, and finally went to grab us a couple of juices rather than try to keep her seat in the waiting lounge any longer.

"She’s so excited," Mrs Nichols said, smiling. "Arcadia’s the furthest she’s ever been before, and I think this feels far more grown up than a school trip. And it will be her first real white Christmas, since the snow here is mere garnish."

"Having now seen Helios weather in December, I properly appreciate the mass exodus."

"Dreadful, isn’t it? It’s one of our busy times, so Michael and I never travel at this time of year, which is particularly hard on the kids because so many of their friends go away. While it sounds like you’ve never spent Christmas in the same place."

"My mother’s work usually falls outside the end of year season, so we visit my grandmother quite often, and stuff our year’s accumulation of things we want to keep into her garage. Being in one place for so long, I’m going to have to be careful or," I smiled and raised my voice a little, "I’ll end up with as much Lego as Lania."

"When I have my own house, I’m going to have display cases for it all," Lania said, poking her tongue out at me. "Well, for the ones that took forever to put together, like the Falcon."

"What would you put in your house, if you had one long-term, Mikaela?" Mrs Nichols asked.

"Paintings I like on the walls. Pot plants. I’ve never really been able to keep plants. Probably some architectural models."

"Mika’s doing this amazing model of the Sunseeker Bridge, Mum. She built up the lake banks first and we recognised where it was even before she started on the actual bridge."

"That bridge is the main reason I want to go to Helios U," I said. "Or, rather, Maya Tremaine, the primary engineer. She’s brilliant, and I want to study under her more than anything in the world."

"The only time Mika sounds really passionate is when she talks about Maya Tremaine," Lania said, pretending to pout from jealousy. "Are you going to sit there with those stars in your eyes during her lectures?"

"Probably. Isn’t there anyone whose feet you’d like to worship at, Lania?"

Lania went bright red, and I laughed, then patted her shoulder. "I’ll spare you my guesses. Let’s hit the bathrooms before boarding."

At such a peak time of year, there were lines for everything, and by the time we were back we were ready to get into another.

"I’ll let Sorenson know you’ve boarded," Mrs Nichols said, after giving Lania a final hug. "Have fun, both of you."

My mother and Lania’s were well on the way to becoming firm friends, having several chats after Mum called to thank Mrs Nichols for hosting me. I still texted to confirm we’d boarded, which was a long-standing requirement, and then settled down to read books and play games, knowing I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Lania, in the window seat, planned to stay up with me, but passed out soon after the cabin crew dimmed the lights, and only woke when the lights came back up for breakfast.

"Why didn’t you wake me?" she asked.

"You’ll enjoy it more if you’re not too tired," I said. "It’s apparently a clear day, so we should get a good view on landing, and on the drive in."

Since travelling costs don’t come out of my daily living expenses, I had no qualms taking a taxi all the way to the apartment my parents were using, which was in Québec City’s old town. While not overly large, it was warm and nicely appointed, and currently filled with the scent of the coconut curry that had become a tradition for my homecoming on the occasions when I’ve lived in boarding schools. My dad, wearing a flowered apron, answered the door, hugged me aromatically, and shook hands with Lania before dashing back to the kitchen.

"He frets over that curry more than he does any book," my mother said, looking over from the lounge. "They’ve just arrived Rachel. Have a great Christmas."

"This is my Mum, Sorenson Niles," I said. "And my dad, Gareth Teyrn. This is Lania, who I am alphabetically next to in Home Room. One of the two biggest pieces of fortune I’ve had since going to Corascur."

My mother laughed. "If Mika’s sweet-talking, it means she likes making you blush. Come on, let me show you two your room."

It was a twin-bed room with a dormer window that looked toward Château Frontenac, currently beautifully backlit by a sunset.

"It’s like a dreamland," Lania sighed.

"One of the best views we’ve had," my mother agreed. "All paid for by the company I’m working for. I’ll leave you two to recover. Food will be half an hour, best guess."

Lania spent some time taking photographs, and posted the best shot to her Instagram before hastily washing up for dinner.

"Dad’s curry is the best," I said, as we sat down at a table before a wall of windows with an even better view of a snow-covered city crowned by a chateau. "One of his fans gave him the recipe years ago and he’s been perfecting it ever since."

Lania was immediately struck speechless, as I knew she would be. My mother leaned over and rapped me with a spoon.

"Stop teasing the child," she said, and smiled at Lania. "I take it Mika’s been boasting of her dad’s career at Corascur?"

"Best test," I said. "Super effective."

"It really did work at spotlighting people I wouldn’t recommend," Lania said, gulping a little. "But now you have half the Rose Court low-key mocking you."

"Yes, it’s so much fun." I sighed happily, then added to my father: "Lania’s actually a fan of yours too. I saw a copy of Blue Sky, Steel Sky in her room."

"Oh, a hard science fiction fan?" my dad said. "I’ve never quite taken off with those, so it’s relatively rare to meet a reader."

"Wait—you’re Atherton Mullahy? Really?" Lania almost sprang out of her chair. "I’ve read all of your books! Mika, why didn’t you tell me!"

"Dad has, like, ten identities. If I ran around reeling them all off to everyone, I’d look super strange."

"I was thinking you looked familiar, Mr Teyrn. I must have seen an author photo in one of your books."

"I don’t think Mullahy has an author photo," my dad said. "Probably, it’s my extreme resemblance to Martin Freeman that’s making me seem familiar."

Lania looked dubious. "I…maybe?"

"Almost certainly," my dad said, nodding with great seriousness. "Just picture me with hairy feet, making eyes at Thorin Oakenshield."

"Picture him eating this curry before it gets cold," my mother suggested.

Lania, looking a little relieved to change the subject, sampled the curry and smiled. "It’s really good!"

"Isn’t it?" I said, approvingly. "It has about a million steps, so I can only get it on special occasions. So worth it. And cold weather just makes it even better—this is a great view, Mum."

"What kind of company are you working for, Mrs—um, Ms Niles?"

"A mine. An unusual request, and one I had to do some ethical soul-searching to take, but I think I can bring in a positive result on several levels."

"They want you to make the mine more efficient?" I asked.

"Yes, though the primary aim is to reduce the amount of theft and sabotage they’re experiencing."

"Sabotage?" Lania’s eyes were like saucers. "So, you’re going to go in like a detective?"

"Not strictly. This is a risk minimisation task, to identify points of weakness and improve processes to prevent opportunity. I’ll review historical CCTV first, and won’t actually see the mine for some time, and certainly aren’t here to hunt thieves. In such a large operation, theft isn’t possible to eliminate entirely. The goal is to put into place methodology that makes it very obvious when items are out of place, or lower in stock than expected."

My mother’s job can sound dull, but she’s brilliant at it. It was a lot of fun to see Lania fall deep into the rabbit hole of tiny changes that saved millions for the hospitals, airports, and other large-scale operations that compete to hire her.

"Your parents are both the coolest," she said later, when we were preparing for an early night.

"I like them a lot," I agreed, carefully drying my hair. "I like your parents a lot, too."

"Accountants who never go anywhere?"

"Really funny, and warm, and nice. And your Dad makes great cookies. And you wouldn’t swap them for mine for the world."

"You’re right. But your parents really are super cool. Though, with the books he writes, do people ever think your dad…"

"He’s bi," I said, smiling at her. "But very monogamous. He thinks my mother is super cool as well." I paused to yawn hugely. "I’m not going to be able to stay up much longer."

"I knew I shouldn’t have slept on the plane. Will it keep you awake if I read?"

"Only if you read out loud."

"Okay." She settled on the second bed with a thick fantasy novel, but still hadn’t started reading until I’d changed into a sleeping shirt and pants and slid under the covers. "Mika?"

"Mm?"

"What’s the other big piece of luck you had since starting at Corascur?"

I laughed. "Finding a good spot when looking for somewhere to have lunch."

Thirty-Four

After the snow of Québec City, Helios in January felt quite temperate. I added a pullover, scarf and gloves to my morning prep, but by the middle of the day felt free to tuck gloves and scarf into my bag. Monday was a constant stream of catch-up and gossip, with a visit to the faculty office for me to check the arrangements for students who had missed the exams. I would not have any free afternoons for the rest of the week.

Tuesday brought me Kyou, posture particularly upright as he poured me a steaming mug of tea, his expression cool and distant. I sat down, considering him curiously, then spotted the pair of white underpants with blue embroidered flowers neatly folded beside the teapot. Picking them up, I tucked them into my backpack.

"Rin enjoyed himself?"

"Far too much. Bran ended up hunting down Lania’s Instagram to confirm you weren’t in Banff."

I grinned, and saw from Kyou’s narrowed eyes that I would pay for it, but that only made me smile even more.

"Did Sirocco show up to share the fireside rug?"

That distracted Kyou from his plans to roast me. "You saw the forum discussions of where we were?"

"To my confusion. People were posting that they’d seen you in Saint Moritz."

"Our family rented us a chalet. And we obligingly headed off to the airport to catch our flight to Switzerland, but met up with some actors Rin had found. They took our flights and we took theirs."

"You hired doubles?" I snorted into laughter, and covered my mouth. After a calming breath and a sip of tea, I went on: "You actually found three people who look the same as you?"

"A rough resemblance, no more. They left bags at the chalet, booked in at three separate hotels under their own names, and only met up occasionally. Enough to convince those who saw them at a distance that we were there, but whenever anyone came close they’d find a stranger. It helped that this is a season with a lot of head gear. Sirocco still managed to track down Rin’s double multiple times, and had a very frustrating time of it. The third time, the double delivered a lovely little I promise you I am so not interested speech to her in front of a small but entertained audience. That hasn’t shown up on the forums yet, but the fake Bran was there and recorded it, so it will."

"A neat revenge," I said, approvingly. "Not actually harmful, but endlessly annoying to someone with an agenda, a strong sense of entitlement, and a lot of pride."

"It doesn’t quite balance years of trying to put Lania in some imaginary place, but it was well worth doing. Meanwhile, Lania seems to have thoroughly enjoyed visiting every bar in Québec City with you."

"I was teaching her how to not get drunk in social situations," I said cheerfully. "I think I’ll go back there one day, if only for the poutine and maple taffy. And the epic sledding."

"How ill were you, exam week? Are you going to switch to the school residences now?"

I grimaced. "I was ill enough that I would probably have called someone next time I woke up. And I am now avoiding the school counsellor, who wants to sit down with me and no doubt tell me to be sensible."

"You’re so very against living at the school?"

"The forums are full of the fun hijinks to be had at the residences. Some of which sound entertaining enough, but not if I can’t get away from it. I can be social, but I really value quiet time. It’s given me a lot to think about for next year’s accommodation, since I was considering the residences at Helios U, but if anything, they sound even more distracting."

He nodded. "We passed on the idea for any number of reasons. If you’re thinking of renting in the area, you’d better start looking early, because it’s highly competitive."

"I’ll probably find somewhere further out, but along the tramline. Though even there, I gather there’s a fairly brisk market. Not being certain I’ll get into the course means I have to postpone signing a lease anyway, but, if necessary, I’ll just keep my current place and take several buses until something better frees up."

He drained his cup, frowning slightly, then said: "Let me show you our winter preparations."

He took the teapot and cups inside, and I followed to discover that the desk and wall cabinet had been replaced with a somewhat wider bench featuring a deep sink.

"Hot and cold," Kyou said, rinsing the cups. "And we found a column oil heater that doesn’t take up too much room. Today is deceptively nice, but on any windy or rainy day this time of year, this is going to be very necessary."

"How did you convince the school to do this?"

"By covering the cost," Kyou said, shrugging. "Under the guise of wanting to thank the school for the privilege of its use, and to pay forward to future student councils. We’ll also more regularly have council meetings out here, but Rin retains official custody of the key, so there shouldn’t be an issue with other council members thinking they can wander in as they please."

"Any chance the broken key was discovered over the break?"

Kyou shook his head. "We checked yesterday." He put the tea service away, and then picked up two folded blankets and headed back outside. "This is not a challenge I want to do on a coffee table," he said.

"Oh? Surely there’s some possibilities."

He placed the blankets neatly on top of the café table. "Possibilities, perhaps, but I think this is far more suitable."

I touched the blankets, and decided their purpose was to save me from chilly metal—or perhaps the decorative pattern of the table being imprinted on my ass. Kyou didn’t seem to be in a hurry to use it anyway, sitting back down on his chair and beckoning me over.

"Seems like forever since we last did this," I said, straddling him.

"It’s been a long month," he said, moving me against him even more snugly, and then contemplating my tunic and undershirt. "For all I like the tights, I prefer being able to unbutton you. But I have thought of a compensatory point."

"What’s that?"

"It’s unlikely any marks on your skin will show through all this cloth."

"Kyou…"

"You should have thought a little more before giving Rin those very unmistakeable panties." He pulled me forward, bending his head to my throat, but only nipped me lightly, and straightened up. "Not that I’m silly enough to go against a firm no, but the scene New Year’s morning was truly something, Cheshire."

"Sheer logic had to have told you that the chances of me leaving my parents—and Lania—in Québec…"

"I know. But Rin managed a momentary flash of dismay that was more convincing than anything he said afterwards. It quite overwhelmed common sense."

"You three have such a fun relationship," I said, laughing. "Do you ever get annoyed with each other?"

"Sometimes. I have felt like strangling Bran a few times this last year. Particularly on the school trip. We all have faults, and we snap at each other occasionally. Bran—well, you’ve had a taste of Bran’s bad points. Rin is the opposite of moody, but he could also be outright raging yet never show it on the surface. Sometimes I want to yell at him to just say something."

"He works it out in his music, right?"

Kyou nodded, though his attention had moved to easing my pullover and tunic over my head.

"He only snaps if someone interrupts him when he’s composing, and has managed to get a reputation for temper purely because of that. You heard the song he was working on end of last year, right? Did he show you the lyrics?"

I shook my head.

"It’s called You are not my friend, and I hope they sell it to someone big enough that Meggan will hear it everywhere for decades to come."

"It’s very pointed?"

"It leaves out the names, but not much more. It’ll definitely sell: a very strong song."

"Does—do the lyrics bother Bran?"

"Well…he can’t argue with them. He’s accepted that Meggan really isn’t his friend, either, or at least not a good one. That doesn’t mean he’s any better able to put down the years of feelings he had for her, but he’s made a lot of progress." Kyou paused, lightly stroking my breasts through the heavy cloth of my undershirt. "This game is being as successful as we hoped in distracting him. Doubly so now that he and I are doing our utmost to keep Rin away from you for reasons that Rin entirely deserves."

I smiled, but reverted back to an earlier topic: "So what do you consider your faults?"

He’d shifted to sliding his hands around beneath my shirt, slow and sensual.

"Do I admit to any? Ego, I suppose. Sometimes I think I’m far cleverer than I actually am, and that’s caught me out a few times. And occasionally I provoke people for entertainment." He squeezed my breasts, quite hard. "I like best the people who see it as a game, and return fire."

Instead of rising to provocation, I slipped a hand behind his head and pulled him closer for a kiss. It had been a long month for me, too. He immediately shifted his hands to my back, pressing me firmly against him, and we tasted each other for a while before I began working on removing some of his winter layers.

While it was a sunny day, it was still more than cool enough for our skin to be goose pimpled once we’d succeeded in shedding. Kyou’s mood had shifted, and he touched my skin lightly, then lifted me just enough to park me on the table. His mouth and hands roved, his breath feeling delightfully warm, but he was impatient too, and wasted no more time before pushing into me.

"I hope you don’t need use of your legs for the rest of the day," he murmured.

"Big talk," I said.

I knew how he’d react. It had been a very long month.

"I don’t know about walking, but I’m going to have trouble keeping awake for my next class," I said, a long time later.

"Your sleep issues continue to be a mystery to me, Cheshire," Kyou said, nuzzling my now-sweaty throat. "I know sex is supposed to help, but does it really help several hours later? And why can’t you just…take care of yourself?"

"I was fourteen when a sleep therapist suggested I try masturbation as a way to get to sleep. He was in his fifties, and looked far too much like Santa Claus. There was no way I was going to explain to him that masturbation doesn’t really seem to work for me. Or, I can, but it takes an enormously long time for me to get anywhere."

Kyou helped me off the table, and picked up the blankets. "A vibrator’s no use?"

"I did try one of those at my last school," I said, following him back to the summer house. "Millie—my roommate at the performance school—bought me one, halfway as a joke, and halfway in an effort to be helpful. It felt extraordinarily uncomfortable."

"Being given it as a gift, or actually using it?"

"Using it. Millie was very nice and tactful giving it to me. I’m trying to keep in touch with her: she was a great roommate."

"Have you had many?"

"Roommates? Mostly I live with my parents, but I’ve stayed at five different boarding schools. They never seem to give you a room to yourself. One of the early ones had six of us in one room, which I found excessive."

The sink made a big difference to cleaning up, and Kyou running a warm wet handtowel over me was not only preferable to a hose in winter, but so enjoyable that it was lucky I had remembered to set my alarm.

Thirty-Five

Friday was windy, and far colder than I expected. I kept my scarf on even in class, and felt very unenthusiastic about heading to the garden. I wished I’d at least brought the jacket I’d worn in Québec.

"The wind’s coming over the snow on the mountains," Bran explained, as he closed the summer house door. "The absolute worst is wind from that direction when it’s drizzling. Let’s play a game until the oil heater makes the idea of naked skin bearable."

"Sure. Any preferences?"

"How does a round of Am I the Asshole sound?"

"…do I have to be tactful answering that question?"

He smirked, and pulled me to sit on the couch, tucking me under one arm and then pulling a blanket over us. Since he was a good deal warmer than the rest of the room, I had no objection, just kicking off my shoes and curling my feet up.

Bran pulled his phone from a pocket and navigated to the unofficial school forums. His user name was Amelia, and he started a new thread under the Goss section titled "Fun Scene on the Snow". Then he uploaded a video.

"You’ll have to show me the details before I decide whether that was assery."

The video opened on a figure a few feet away, waiting for a ski lift. He was wearing clear goggles, a scarf shielding his jaw, but no beanie, leaving his distinctive gold-brown hair visible, though caught apparently in a low ponytail rather than Rin’s habitual topknot.

"This really does look like Rin."

"The other two aren’t nearly as close. But Rin’s was the important one for this game. The right body type and shape for the face, plus long, rather fine hair. The colour’s a dye."

An elegant girl in a snug blue and white outfit slid to stand by the first figure’s elbow. He didn’t seem to notice her, so she reached out and touched his arm lightly, and said: "You’re so elusive."

For a moment, the scene was postcard-perfect, with two matching figures side-by-side, Sirocco’s beautiful profile clear, head tilted to look up at his face. Then her slight smile dropped, and she tried to step back on her skis and failed as a rather high-pitched voice with a distinct Bronx accent said:

"Again? Lady, I don’t know how to tell it to you any clearer. You are so not my thing, and this is beginning to be creepy."

Sirocco’s self-control was good. She kept her head high, and simply turned and skied off, with only purely crimson cheeks to betray her embarrassment.

"Who filmed this?" I asked Bran.

"Fake me. Here’s a longer clip—can you see who he’s standing behind?"

The second video was focused on two girls standing together. They spotted the fake Rin, spoke briefly, and then separated. As they did so, the person filming moved behind the first girl, and obviously stayed in her shadow as the scene played out.

"Was that Katerina?"

"She and Sirocco are very good friends. They have a sort of shared interest, because Katerina’s convinced Kyou is eating his heart out for her."

"Really?" I hadn’t heard any gossip on that front. "Has Kyou been flirting?"

"No, in this case it’s entirely misunderstanding. A few years ago we were dragged to one of the interminable social get-togethers that our families seem to think worth their while. It was at a sculpture garden, and Kyou and Carr started comparing opinions on the works until Katerina sectioned Carr off for a personal tour. Shortly after, Kyou and Carr started their minor cold war, and Katerina is convinced they fell out over her."

"Hasn’t Kyou had girlfriends since then?"

"One a year—but apparently this is just additional proof to Katerina that he can’t get over her." Bran refreshed the forum, snorting faintly. "Not that Kyou didn’t enjoy himself saying a couple of ambiguous things, once he figured out her views. A kindness to her ego, perhaps, given Carr’s unwavering lack of interest."

"No-one can turn their emotions off," I said, neutrally.

"True." He glanced at me, but didn’t comment on his own inability. "What I object to is that smug territoriality. Anyone who dares to like the object of their interest is due a lesson."

There were a dozen comments on the thread already, rich with glee. Sirocco’s pursuit of Rin had never been a common joke in Corascur, in part because she didn’t make it too obvious, but perhaps also because many thought she’d be successful in the long run. Now it would be a piece of hilarity that she’d not be able to wash away, at least for the rest of the school year.

"Usually, I’d say you were the asshole for doing this, but she made Lania cry."

Bran put his phone on the coffee table. "Why do you like Lania so much? Or are you just generally protective of the girls around you?"

"I’ll undercut a bully wherever I can, but I like Lania for Lania. We have similar interests, she’s fun to hang with, and she wants to go into robotics, which I find very cool. She’s also the type of person who tries to endure and overcome in silence, which brings out a protective streak in me, I guess."

"What would you do if Sirocco tried to bully you?"

"The kind of mockery that Sirocco seems to have aimed at Lania doesn’t work very well on me, because social standing isn’t important to the things I want to do. If she started putting rubbish in my locker or something, I’d probably…" I paused. "I’d probably film her doing it, and then laugh, because how childish. If she kept escalating, it would eventually become actionable, and I’d be able to have her arrested. Though she doesn’t strike me as stupid enough to go so far. Katerina might do something like that, while Sirocco seems unlikely to go past needlepoint on her rivals' self-confidence."

Bran’s hands were roving beneath the blanket, hiking up my multiple layers so he could find some skin.

"Not stupid at all. She also used to be a more interesting person. Mad for horses, passionate about film and literature, and I never knew her as a bully. Something about the idea of being with Rin—or her family pushing her to be with him—seems to have changed her. And Katerina’s definitely a bad influence. Perhaps she’ll go back to her former self once she learns what Rin’s really like."

I wriggled because Bran’s explorations were tickling me. "Feel free to film her reaction to gamer dude Rin and post it on a forum too."

"Gamer dude Rin." Bran paused a moment. "I like the idea that that’s how you see him."

But the topic didn’t hold that much interest, for he next shrugged away the blanket and attempted to remove my pullover, tunic and undershirt all at once. My arms immediately became trapped above my head.

"These uniform trousers are so ugly," he said, stripping them off while I struggled to work free of the tangle. Then there was a little pause, and he added: "And you’re going to pay for these underpants."

"No regrets," I murmured, as I finally emerged from my tunic. "Revenge yourself on Rin."

"We did. We tossed him over our balcony into a snowdrift. Gave our neighbours a treat, since he wasn’t wearing much."

I grinned appreciatively, but Bran was really looking too gorgeous for more chatter. His clear skin was flushed on each cheek, and a tangle of loose curls had fallen into his eyes. I grabbed hold of the scarf he’d yet to shed and pulled it free, and he wasted no time helping matters along by removing his uniform a good deal more efficiently than he had mine. His intention, once clothes were no longer a factor, was clearly to pounce, but I put a hand on his shoulder to quell the move.

"Slow down," I said. "I want to look at you."

Sitting beside him on the couch, I was able to look down at him, and use my hands to frame his face, marvelling at the lack of flaws. His eyes were that stormy grey, and they visibly dilated when I brushed a thumb lightly over his lower lip.

Thinking of the night we’d spent on the beach, with everything in shadow, details impossible to pick out, I wanted to use this challenge to really study his beauty. I knew very well that Bran was feeling urgent, wanting to rush ahead, and so I appreciated that he reined himself back, allowing me to explore his face, to kiss his temples, to see the skin I was tasting. He even managed to keep his hands down by his sides until I finally lowered myself on him. Then he clutched me closer, fingers digging into me.

"I was going to draw this out a lot longer," I murmured, "but it’s still really cold in here."

"Draw it out much longer and we can forget about the on top concept," he growled.

That made me laugh, and I tickled him lightly, but then began to move, and watched his face as he gave himself into sheer pleasure. There was nothing remarkable, of course, about enthusiasm for sex, but Bran’s attachment to Meggan had clearly left him in a complicated place about physical intimacy. On the beach he had struggled at least momentarily with being with me. This position, more than practically any other, made it difficult for him to pretend he was with anyone else.

Watching him closely, I don’t think I saw a shadow until the very end, just before he hid his face against my neck and squeezed me achingly tight. Then we rearranged the blanket, and lay together to kiss, but instead of another extended session, Bran stopped after only a short while.

"What’s the perfume you’re wearing, Cheshire?"

"Either no split ends shampoo, or don’t put streaks on your clothes deodorant. Take your pick."

He shifted to inhale by my head, then sniffed my armpit. "Must be the deodorant."

Given the wrinkled brow, I guessed I wasn’t about to receive a compliment. "You don’t like it?"

"I have a scent allergy triggered by some common perfume ingredients. This mustn’t be very strong, because it didn’t hit me until now."

"It makes you feel sick?"

"Mild migraines. Nothing too bad unless I’m stuck in a confined place with it."

I sat up. "I’ve some paracetamol in my bag. Will that help?"

"Unlikely to make a difference. This isn’t too bad—it’ll pass if I stay quiet for a while."

Since I was the source of the problem, I left him on the couch and washed myself thoroughly, then dressed while Bran lay on the couch watching me. I ran him a glass of water, and put it on the coffee table.

"Are there any safe brands?"

He named a couple, including one I’d been using the previous year.

"I got this one in Canada. I’ll swap back to the one I usually use—at least on Tuesdays and Fridays."

Picking up one of the spare blankets, I put it over him, not quite sure how serious the problem was. He’d gone very subdued.

"It’s only a headache," he said, not hiding impatience. "No need to mother hen me."

"I’m sure you’ll appreciate the blanket once I go out," I said, picking up my backpack. "Or would you like me to leave the door open to prove your manly manliness?"

"No," he said, and smiled faintly. "See you next week Cheshire."

Since I was heading over much earlier than usual, I was the first to reach Art Club, and had to ask a passing teacher for help lifting down my model.

"We’ve had students with an interest in architecture come through in the past, of course," she said, "but your attention to detail and precision is truly impressive. Do you think you can finish it in time for the school festival? It would make a wonderful centrepiece for the art exhibition."

Four weeks. I’d only begun on the bridge, and wasn’t in the mood to rush. But perhaps it would be good practice for working on a time limit.

"I’ll try."

Before settling down to work, I opened the app and scored the on top challenge. Rin had won this one, and I gave second to Kyou, and third to Bran. Business done, I made good progress until Gossip entered the room. I’d forgotten about Sirocco entirely, but heard too much about her over the next couple of hours.

Noticing that Lania played only a limited part in the discussion, I corralled her during cleaning-up to ask what was wrong.

"Is it stupid that I feel sorry for her? I’d just be so humiliated if someone filmed me like that."

"Hopefully you’re too sensible to chase someone who doesn’t like you all over a ski resort," I said, patting her shoulder. "And perhaps if Sirocco had a little of your empathy, she wouldn’t have annoyed someone enough that they were willing to post that video. And the forums wouldn’t be dripping with Schadenfreude."

"You’re right, I know." Lania gave me a conspiratorial look. "If she ever starts in on me again, I’ll be able to tell her that whatever she wants is so not my thing, and no matter how she reacts it will feel awesome."

"Who’s coming to the Tokley?" Rick called. "Bowling night!"

"I’ve got my last make-up exam," I said, and waved them off, glad to have a reason to avoid further gossip. It wasn’t that I felt exactly sorry for a wealthy beauty, but I saw no need to kick her now that she was down.

How would she feel, I had to wonder, if she knew that Rin was the mastermind of her humiliation?

Thirty-Six

"I see the effort to keep you out of here fell through in short order."

Rin offered up that deceptive gentle smile. "This week’s challenge wasn’t one where they could gang up on me."

"I hear you were dropped into a snowdrift."

"And locked out the chalet. Some very helpful neighbours rescued me and filled me with hot chocolate until Kyou and Bran got over themselves."

"Was it worth it?"

"Absolutely."

I sat down, glad of the steaming tea since the day, while sunny, was not exactly warm.

"Do you revenge back now, or call it quits?"

"It’s rare we’ll keep going after one round. The last time we kept escalating, Bran and I ended up in a fist fight. We were only ten, and he was taller than me then, so I lost badly."

"Did Kyou goad you and watch?"

"Ha. No. Kyou likes his games light-hearted. When things get too serious, he’ll cut his losses and walk away. Or, on that particular occasion, be tremendously upset. We’ve all learned over the years not to take a joke too far."

I thought this over, sipping my tea.

"And will you leave Sirocco alone now?"

"So long as she stays away from me."

"Does she suspect you?"

His eyes narrowed with amusement. "She suspects Katerina, at least of posting that video. Bran’s double chose his filming position very carefully."

"Oh?" That made me smile. "I find Katerina the more annoying of that clique, so won’t waste my sympathy. How do you go about finding body doubles, Rin?"

"Acting agency casting call."

"If you told Sirocco you were behind it, that might be more effective than anything else at turning her off you."

"If she continues to make herself ridiculous, perhaps I will, even though it will cause some home drama for me. But I have been very blunt with Sirocco in the past, and it hasn’t discouraged her. Besides, it’s too entertaining watching her freezing out Katerina."

"I feel a little bad for them. But not enough for regrets." I finished my tea, frowning over the events of the last few months. "I’m more bothered that there’s no progress on the investigation into the attacks on you three."

"We’re waiting for another attack in order to narrow down our suspects."

"You don’t have any frontrunners?"

"A handful. Obnoxious as we can be, we couldn’t think of anyone who had a real, substantive reason to hurt us. So, we went through the list of people who weren’t eliminated by security cameras, and picked out people who had anything resembling a motive. Rivals. Poor losers. That kind of thing."

"Was there useful footage from the boathouse fire?"

"No-one went near for at least an hour beforehand, but since the police think that it was a device on a timer, that doesn’t tell us anything. The ability to obtain incendiaries and LSD is an additional factor in narrowing the list." He grimaced, and then picked up his teacup and pot and stood. "We’ve been told to leave it to the authorities, but I’m tired of double-checking everything for traps. Messing with Sirocco was only a secondary reason for our holiday switch."

For safety. I hadn’t even thought of that, and frowned as I followed Rin into the summer house. My own theories were limited, since I knew only a fraction of the students at Corascur, but I really didn’t enjoy the idea of Rin, Kyou or Bran walking into another pitfall.

Rin had obviously turned on the oil heater before making tea, and it had managed to cut the chill from the air. I sat down to warm my hands while he washed the tea set.

"Which one of you added this position? I had to look it up to even know what was involved."

"Kyou. He said we needed at least one that seemed difficult."

"It mainly looked awkward to me," I said.

"If it turns out to be uncomfortable, there are countless other things I can do to you," Rin said, with that gentle smile. "Come here, Cheshire. It’s been a month since I…kissed you."

I went willingly, walking straight in close so that we were immediately pressed together, and wrapping my arms around his neck. While Bran would always and ever have that certain something when it came to kissing, that by no means meant I didn’t enjoy kissing Rin. Up close and slowly shedding clothes was one of my favourite parts of these weekly encounters. And I liked that Rin wasn’t in an impatient mood, so we could ignore complicated positions in favour of sitting on the couch and tasting each other’s exposed skin.

"Your breathing changes when you’re getting toward your limits," I said, some time later. "That hint of rasp."

"We all have our little vocal idiosyncrasies," he said, lightly tickling me. "Are you ready to try this?"

"Almost keen."

He chuckled, then picked up one of the blankets and spread it over the coffee table. "In theory you could lie on the floor, but the height difference seemed a little extreme to me. Let’s see how this goes."

I lay down obediently, and Rin kneeled by the coffee table, moving a little closer as I hooked my legs around his waist, and then sliding his hands under my upper thighs and supporting me as I raised up so only my back and shoulders were on the table. Since his hands were occupied, I reached down to help guide him into me, working to relax myself.

"Lucky you’re so flexible, Cheshire," Rin said, looking down at me.

"I don’t know why this is called butterfly," I said. "Feels more like wheelbarrow to me."

He narrowed his eyes, and dug his fingers into the flesh of my thighs. "Don’t try to make me laugh."

"Or…?" I asked, curling my lips provocatively.

He answered me, causing me to skid slightly on the coffee table. I hastily tightened my legs around his waist.

"Okay," I said, eyes widening as he upped his tempo. "I can see some…features."

"I can see some features, too," he replied, with an exaggerated leer.

"I feel this is not a very attractive angle for me," I said, gasping a little as I struggled to maintain my even tone. It might be awkward, but it felt good.

"Almost gives you a double chin," he said. "Play with your breasts to distract me."

I considered him, lifted one hand toward my chest, and then dropped it back.

"Simon Says is a different challenge."

I paid for that. It was worth it.

Thirty-Seven

Friday was bitterly cold, wet and windy. Even wearing all the heavy clothes I’d picked up in Québec, I still felt damply miserable following the path to the faculty carpark, and was relieved when the app showed I could head immediately into the garden. Beneath umbrella, fur-lined hood and scarf, I wasn’t even certain whether it was Kyou or Bran who met me until we were in the summer house and Bran shed his outer layers.

"You get all the bad weather," I said.

"Seems like," he said, kicking a draft stopper into place before the door. "But this time I thought ahead and turned on the heater before school started. How’s the temperature?"

I hung my damp jacket on a hook just inside the door and paused for consideration. "No gooseflesh."

The summer house could never really be warm on a day like this, but he’d succeeded in making it tolerable.

"Do you drink coffee?" he asked. "Or do you want one of these things of Rin’s?"

"Coffee’s fine if there’s milk and sugar. You’re not interested in drinking your way through a world of teas?"

"A thousand flavours of dishwater? Not likely."

Bran filled the kettle, and took a French press, ground coffee, milk and sugar from his bag while the water heated.

"Download Tyranny," he said.

"No. No Tyranny. I’ll play it to death."

"And? From what I can see, you’re so far ahead on your subjects you might as well not attend class. And the exams are months away. Spend the entire weekend on it to take the first edge off the compulsion, give yourself an hour each evening for your study addiction, and spend the rest of it on the game. By the time exam prep comes around, you’ll have moved on from mastery to ranking, and there’ll be no real issue putting it down unless your ego’s so big you can’t stand the rankings drop."

"I’d rather do all that after the exams are behind me."

"Waiting until after the exams means you’ll still be in mastery stage when classes start at Helios U. If that course is the most important thing in your world, why set yourself up to be distracted from it?"

While I considered this unexpectedly good point, he turned back to the coffee, and by the time he put two steaming mugs on the coffee table, I had downloaded the game.

"Take off your clothes."

"Tyranny as foreplay?" I said, but obeyed, enjoying watching him unhurriedly shedding his own layers.

We settled together in a nest of blankets, coffee within easy reach. I set up my account and selected one of the base characters at random, running some solo training before joining Bran’s Yo-Yo for some duelling.

"Yo-Yo Ma?" I asked, after seeing the name.

"Mm. I had to Google yours."

"No surprise that I name myself for an engineer. Do you play cello?"

"Yes. It didn’t match the focus my parents wanted, so my foundation isn’t as good as I want, but after they gave up on that I was free to practice. They used to complain about the noise, but I moved to a converted garage attached to the house, which made a lot of things easier."

"I expect so," I said, sampling my mug, and then smiling in faint surprise. "You make good coffee."

"Hard to go wrong if you start with a good blend."

After I had the basic skills down, I switched to a random match. Tyranny’s central focus involved teams of four, but Bran didn’t join me, putting his phone down and entertaining himself roving his hands under the blankets while giving me occasional tips about the game’s particular quirks. I only lasted two games before I put my phone down and climbed into his lap.

"I’d like to think I have the willpower to play while you do that, but I don’t."

"Weak," Bran growled, nipped at my ear, then pulled me even closer. "I’d prove it was possible, but I need to pound you senseless."

"Time for both," I started to say, but was cut off when his mouth sealed to mine.

Bran liked to hold me extremely tight, barely letting me up for a breath from his kisses, and keeping as close as possible as we shifted, only stopping kissing me when he finally guided me onto my stomach. Then he delivered the promised pounding.

A long time later, he moved to lie beside me and gathered me close. "Kyou was right."

I was panting into his chest, not close to recovered. "About?"

"He said you like this position most. Rin said you like being on top most."

I laughed, and wiped at my face. "They’re both right. This was best with Kyou, and on top best with Rin. I didn’t realise I was that transparent."

"Even if you don’t caterwaul, it’s not hard to spot when you shift from enjoying yourself to seriously enjoying yourself. For one thing, you outright look happy. And you tend to do this little clutching thing with your hands."

"I’m learning so much about myself," I said, not entirely pleased by this analysis. "I liked this with Rin too, but being on top was extra good with him."

"Is it easy to judge?"

"Sometimes there’s a standout, sometimes I flip a coin. None of you are bad." I glanced at him, testing his reaction to a mischievous smile. "Well, you caught up extremely quickly."

He snorted, then said: "Rin said tickling you is a hilarious thing, because you have to hold back your laughter."

Bran was merciless, and did not stop until tears ran from my eyes. Efforts to tickle him back weren’t nearly effective enough, so I had to capture his hands to make him stop.

"Weren’t you going to prove you could play no matter what the distraction?"

"Play and win."

Having succeeded in distracting him from tickling me, I then curled beside Bran and watched him play with unimpaired competence despite the gentle stroking of my fingers. Just when I thought that he’d actually succeed, he tossed his phone onto the coffee table and pounced on me. There was no more Tyranny that session.

Still, the game now had its hooks in me, and I was itching to play it during Art Club. My thoughts kept straying back to it as we started on the massive pile of requests the Club had received for the upcoming school festival, but I decided that Bran was right in encouraging me to play now, rather than at the beginning of university.

"Mika, you should work on your model next," Carr told me, after we’d created several wooden forms which would be painted up into ghosts and ghouls for a haunted house display. "We can manage the painting. Besides, Ms Taylor will give me stern looks if I keep taking you away from that piece, because she’s planning a whole display around it."

"I’ve been coming after class each day, so I’m fairly confident of finishing in time," I said. "Help me lift it down?"

Even though the materials used for its construction were light, the model had naturally grown heavier as I added layers, and I had to hold it firmly to prevent wobbling.

"Other than locking it in the teachers' room, I can’t think of any safer place to put it," Carr said apologetically. "And even that wouldn’t really be safe."

"They always end up with fingerprints if they’re left within reach," I said, surveying my progress and frowning at a new dusting of fine particles. "I keep not getting around to making a drop cloth. Do we have anything lighter than the canvas material?"

"I don’t…" Carr began.

"We could ask over at home economics," Lania said, peering around Carr to study the model. "They always have a collection of off-cuts. "I’ll go check after we’ve done the haunted mansion pieces. This is so much further along since last time I saw it—how late have you been staying, Mika?"

"A couple of hours. It’s good to work when there’s fewer people around because there’s less distraction."

"Or interruptions, I’d bet," Carr said. "But you shouldn’t be here that long now it gets dark so early. Let me know when you’re staying late and I’ll give you a lift."

"I’m ahead of schedule at the moment, so won’t need to be staying so late. Besides, I figured out you live in the exact opposite direction to my apartment, so can’t in good conscience, etcetera."

"I don’t mind at all," Carr said, smiling warmly.

"Well, I don’t say I won’t hold you to that on the really cold and wet days," I said, heading to the store room to collect supplies. "I’ve now been thoroughly schooled on what people meant by bad winter here, and am quite prepared to be shameless out of fear of numb extremities."

The main superstructure of Helios' famous suspension bridge had already taken shape, and I intended to use varying thicknesses of string to represent the cabling. I’d shopped on the weekend for these supplies, not trusting an online order to get exactly what I needed, and now laid out a number of needles and did some test sections. Since this wasn’t the first suspension bridge I’d modelled, it was a matter of refining previous attempts, and I was quite satisfied with the result, managing to complete a small section of the cabling before the end of Club.

"Are you coming to the Tokley today, Mika?" Lania asked, appearing with a hemmed square of lime green stuff which would make a very vivid dust cloth.

"Not this week." I leaned over and whispered to her: "I accidentally started playing Tyranny, and all I want to do is collect all the champions."

"Really?" Lania, who had seemed subdued, brightened and laughed. "I’ll match with you, then. You going to play on the bus back?"

I nodded, borrowed Rick to help lift the model back to its perch, and played with Lania all the way home. The day’s other game I didn’t remember to score until quite late that night, putting Kyou first and Bran second. Rin’s third place still represented a very enjoyable experience, and I hoped we could revisit it for one of the less position-specific challenges.

Thirty-Eight

"What’s with all the names?" I asked, peeking at the sheets of paper Lania was shuffling. "Your personal grudge list?"

Lania laughed and groaned at the same time. "I could never hold a grudge long enough to get a list this long. This is my price for joining the Student Council this year: I’m in charge of organising the photo competition. It’s a ton of work."

"Are those all the people who have entered?"

"Oh, no, this is everyone in our grade. My job is to collect and print pictures of everyone graduating this year who is willing to give a photo, and the competition is to correctly identify them. The person who identifies the most people wins a prize. The problem is we have so many rules about the photos. We aim to collect non-standard looks to make it a little harder, but the photo can’t be more than four years old, the face mustn’t be obscured, not too outlandish a makeup job, not too distant, and so on. We want the maximum number of people to put in their photos, but some get really annoyed if you keep going back to them saying the photo doesn’t fit the rules."

Our Home Room teacher arrived then, a little late, and rapidly took attendance before going into details about the upcoming school festival, and finalising arrangements for contributions to the class stall, which was a straightforward bake sale.

"I think I saw a poster," I said, as the bell rang to release us from Home Room. "But I didn’t read the details."

"That’s half the problem," Lania said, sighing. "Everyone loves the photo competition, but no-one remembers to put their pictures in, let alone ones that match the rules. Plus, I have to mount the printed photos in special covers, which takes forever."

"I can help with that," I said. "It’s not like I know enough people in this school to ever enter the competition."

"Really? That would be awesome, Mika. Meet at the Student Council offices at lunch?"

"Sure," I said, and at lunchtime went to explore a floor of the main building I’d not before ventured. This was the location of a lot of the indoor clubs, like the Newspaper and Media Clubs, and had quite a few people busily coming and going.

The Student Council offices were clearly marked, and the door was open, but I didn’t see anyone inside, so I paused to text Lania. A moment later she emerged from an inner doorway.

"Hey Mika. Thanks so much for coming! Everyone on the Council is snowed, and looking at the pile of photos to process is giving me heartburn."

"Just show me what to do," I said, and followed her into a room furnished with two computers with large monitors, a colour printer, and a central table currently stacked with multiple piles of printouts and pamphlets.

"It’s simple really. Take one of these pieces of cardboard, cut four slits in it, staple another piece of cardboard at the top to make a cover. Then slot in a photo, and write the photo number on the cover." She sighed. "At least it seemed simple until I looked at the pile building up while I’ve been chasing around after new photos and getting them verified."

"Verified?"

"A few years back, someone thought it funny to swap in a couple of non-student photos, and things got rather heated, so now all photos have to be verified by two Student Council members to make sure the name matches the face. It’s easy enough for most people, but there’s some students we actually have to meet up with, because no-one here knows them."

We worked uninterrupted for about half an hour, and then a handful of other Student Council members arrived, some grabbing pamphlets and leaving after a word, but two sitting down at the table with us to sort one of the stacks of paper.

"This is Vicki and Habib," Lania said. "Mika’s helping me with the photo mounting because she has no chance of winning the competition. I’ve added her to the disqualified list."

"How far are you to complete?" Habib asked. He was very skinny, with fuzzy hair and a flashing smile.

"At the halfway mark. I’m sure I’ll get to the sixty percent average, though people are being very bad emailing non-qualifying photos."

"Try to get to at least eighty," Vicki said. "This is the largest graduating class Corascur’s ever had. We don’t want to half-ass one of the main events."

I examined Vicki with interest, remembering her voice as the girl who’d been hitting on Rin in the garden. Athletic, with short, glossy black hair, fantastic dark lashes, and bronze skin, she glowed with health. She looked at me in turn, a brief survey, then said: "I saw you at the sandcastle competition. It’s a pity you haven’t been here long enough to put a picture in."

"She has," Habib said. "A full semester."

"Isn’t it six months?" Lania said, surprised. "That’s what last year’s notes said."

Habib leaned forward to tweak one of Lania’s braids. "Take it from a future lawyer—always read the actual rules, not what someone tells you are the rules."

"Hold on a sec," Lania said, and went to rummage through a cupboard, dragging out a weighty folder and bringing it to the table to leaf through. "We really need to convert this to digital."

"At least the official rules," Habib said. "The rest is useful history, but the important stuff should be something everyone can read. I’ll try to find a chance this week to compile a definitive copy, with all the amendments, and post it on the intranet."

"That would be awesome, Habib," Lania said, smiling at him brilliantly. "And you’re right—it says one full semester here, which means…" She turned to me. "Mika, your photo?"

I chuckled. "Sure. Where do I send it?"

Lania rattled off an email address, so I pulled out my phone and selected a suitable shot from last year to send.

"With you here we can verify it straight away," Lania said, putting the folder away and sitting down at one of the computers. "Super handy."

I watched her with amused anticipation as I reached for the next printout, but then turned my full attention to the photo pile, eyes widening. Kyou. Kyou at fourteen or fifteen, in full kendo gear, holding a wooden sword. There was a touch of roundness to his cheeks, and his jawline wasn’t yet so cleanly defined, but the biggest difference was to his hair, caught up in a short, high ponytail, and also softly framing his face.

Lania shrieked, a single high exclamation of astonishment that would make me think she’d dropped something heavy on her foot if I hadn’t been anticipating it.

"What the hell, Lania?" Vicki said, covering her ears. Habib craned his head to see the computer screen, and then laughed.

"Mika, is this really you?" Lania gasped.

"Doesn’t it look like me?"

"Your hair! When was this?"

The door opened, and I turned my head to see Kyou staring at me, with Rin and Bran looking over his shoulders. I immediately held the kendo photo up and widened my eyes at them, then put it down again, and answered:

"Last, um, last April, I think that was."

"Here I was thinking we needed the first aid kit," Kyou said, strolling in after the shortest of pauses. "What’s the fuss?"

"Millie, my roommate from last year, is studying to be a professional makeup artist," I explained. "She basically used me as a dress-up doll for my entire time at that school. No amount of makeup could transform me into Sinéad O’Connor, but Millie certainly managed to produce a resemblance."

"You let your roommate shave your head?" Habib asked, staring at the image of me in a black turtleneck against a black background, miming a looking down and to the right pose from the Nothing Compares 2 U film clip.

"No, that was for a cancer charity event the previous week," I said, watching with amusement as Rin, Kyou and Bran went to take a closer look while maintaining a pose of only vague interest. "I’d never had really short hair before. I’m not sure I’ll be able to go back to having it long."

Vicki gave me a puzzled glance. "What do you call your hair now, if not long? What did it look like before you shaved it?"

"Hm. Well, this is the last picture I have from before it was shaved."

I emailed another photo, and waited until our ears were split again.

"Making you shriek is my new hobby, Lania."

"How long is that?" she asked.

"It’ll grow to my thighs if I don’t cut it. I usually keep it around waist length, but it was just under full length there."

"I want to know what the hell is going on in this picture," Bran said.

I went to join the crowd around the computer, snugging myself between Bran and Kyou, both of whom briefly put a hand on my waist, but quickly let go.

"It was supposed to be a poster for a play called A School for Scandal, but since I wasn’t actually in the play, they decided not to use it." I considered myself, precariously balanced on two legs of a chair, my feet lightly touching a school desk, knees bent at different angles. This made me more-or-less horizontal to the floor, and my hair—in its usual high ponytail—hung straight down to pool on the floor. A highly provocative position, made only more so because of the tiny skirt, thigh-high blue socks, and the boy crawling across the desks toward me.

"Who’s the guy?" Vicki asked. "He looks familiar."

"Cristophe," I said, then added very deliberately. "My boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Lania stared at me. "Not ex?"

"Well, technically we never broke up, but he does live in another country. There’s a chance we might go to Peru together after the school year ends, but I’m not sure I’d call that officially dating. It’s all a bit up in the air this year, but guess I’ll find out eventually."

Kyou and Bran’s reaction to this was transmitted to me through the sudden tension in their bodies, but I think neither of them believed me, because they almost immediately relaxed.

"It’s weird. He does look familiar," Vicki said.

"You’ve probably seen Sky of Diamond," I said.

"Yeah, and—" Vicki stopped, eyes widening. "The Margrave!"

I nodded. "He only had two lines, but running around without his shirt, and in those skin-tight pants, sure made him memorable."

"That’s Christophe Barrington?" Lania gasped, and leaned forward to examine Christophe in more detail. Pale-skinned, with tangled dark curls and long lashes. Stunning blue eyes, though they wouldn’t be able to see that in this photo. "I heard he landed a role in Crusaders."

"Well, acting aside, this second photo doesn’t qualify for the competition," Rin said, in full student council president mode. "The first one can be considered verified. Try to halve the decibel of shrieks in future, Lania."

He smiled with mild amusement and left, followed by Kyou and Bran.

"And we’re nearly out of time," I said. "I’ll help you again, um, how about Wednesday, Lania?"

"Deal. And you can also show me all the photos of you with long hair," Lania said, firmly.

Thirty-Nine

Tuesday brought the exact same request, though more as a demand as Kyou handed me a cup, then held out his hand: "Photos."

After taking a sip of a very floral tea, I unlocked my phone, selected an album, and handed it over.

"I promised Rin and Bran to send a share link immediately," he warned, and entered a few email addresses before he began paging through the gallery. "What was behind that very fascinating discussion of not-quite-ex boyfriends yesterday?"

"Using gossip channels to discourage Carr from asking me out."

Kyou looked up at me, then back at the screen. "Oh? And is Carr on the verge of asking you out?"

"At the moment he’s just very happy to offer me lifts, any time, no problem, doesn’t matter if it’s out of his way. I’m not sure how long it would take for that to transition to maybe going to a movie together, just us, but I think that’s where he’s heading. I’m not a hundred percent sure because so far as I can tell Carr avoids dating due to his excessive popularity."

"Not attracted?"

"Oh, he’s very attractive. But what would I tell him? I’m turning everyone down until I graduate because of a sporting competition? While lying doesn’t bother me, there’s contexts where I prefer to avoid needing to."

"So, your actor works as an ambiguous possible-boyfriend to hold things off, and you’ll date Carr later?"

"No. Lania likes Carr." I hadn’t failed to note the combination of happiness and occasional nerves Carr brought out in Lania, nor how she tried to hide her reaction to signs of his interest in me.

This time Kyou put the phone down to examine my expression closely.

"Just because Lania likes him you’d give him up?"

"Well, if I fell in love with Carr, I’d date him. But I wouldn’t date him just to see if I’ll fall in love with him, if you see what I mean?"

"A useful distinction. Don’t fall in love with Carr, Cheshire."

Before I could decide how to respond to this command, my phone vibrated in his hand, and a measured drum beat sounded. The opening of Drive, by The Cars, an old Eighties tune I’d found when setting up ring tones. Kyou raised his eyebrows, then handed my phone back.

"Hi Carr."

"Mika." Carr’s voice brimmed with joy. "I’ve been shortlisted."

"Really?" I was genuinely surprised, and then very pleased for him. "That’s incredible."

"The announcement will be later this week. I just wanted to…share the moment."

"Congratulations! It’s a fantastic achievement."

"Would—I’d be glad if you’d come out with me to celebrate this weekend, Mika. I could show you the sights of the city."

Wincing, I hesitated, then said: "I’m in a rather complicated relationship, Carr. It makes it difficult for me to do that."

"I see." He paused a long time, then said with a dimmed but resolutely pleasant tone: "Well, if it ever becomes possible, there are some beautiful views around Helios."

I smiled. "Congratulations again, Carr. See you at Club."

I ended the call, then looked across at the highly entertained Kyou.

"Evidently the news about this actor of yours hasn’t spread. I might mend fences with Carr out of sheer sympathy."

"Lania needs to gossip more."

"What were you congratulating him for? The Mirion?"

"Shortlisted."

"Very nice. Carr has an excellent eye. How long would it take you to grow your hair back, Cheshire?"

"A few years? My hair grows fairly fast, but it wouldn’t be more than twenty, or maybe twenty-five centimetres in a year. It depends in part on diet, and the amount of care I put in and so forth."

"What would it take to get you to stop cutting your hair—at least for the rest of the year?"

I laughed. "A copy of that kendo photograph? And go back to the ponytail look?"

"Done. And cheaper than I expected."

"Not cutting my hair for a few months amounts to no effort. It’s winter, so it’s not like I’m going swimming, or doing other things where the excess length becomes annoying, and it won’t get long enough by the end of term for me to have to put real work into it. I was surprised to see your photo because I thought you’d kept the kendo from general consumption, so to speak."

"Something to stir things up, add to my confession tally."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you three compete on that as well?"

"This year, anyway. Previously Bran’s been in a committed relationship and Rin and I in various states of girlfriend possession, which impacts numbers. You must get a hell of a lot when your hair is long."

"No, it’s about the same. I think I might even seem more approachable this year, since Carr counts as number four so far."

"Oh? Who else?"

"Someone called Carl, who came up to me out of nowhere, maybe a junior? Rebecca from literature class. Macey."

"Macey?" Kyou laughed. "Was this a verbal confession? Or did he just stand there going crimson at you?"

"Wrote me a poem. A very good one. Macey’s a bit of a sweetheart."

"You like them tongue-tied? What about your actor? Are you really going to Peru with him?"

"I’m probably going to Machu Picchu with Millie, if her work complexities allow. Christophe has fallen madly for Millie—a totally understandable thing, because Millie is awesome—and he is very keen to come along in hopes that he can win her."

"A lot of partial truths, hm?"

"Did you believe I currently have a boyfriend?"

"Maybe for a nanosecond. But odd as it is to say about someone who lies so glibly, you’re far too honest. And were too clearly enjoying our reaction."

"Yesterday was so much fun. I need to do more things to make Lania shriek."

"That sounds wrong. Or too right." He began to collect together the tea set. "Do you think I could make you shriek, Cheshire?"

"Not with wheelbarrow."

He put down the tray, and circled me to swat my behind lightly, then picked the tray up again.

"If you try to make me laugh during the good bits, I’ll stop and spank you."

"I wonder if I’d like that more." I thought about it, following him into the summer house. "It doesn’t really draw me. Would you like me to spank you?"

"Not at all."

With the heater going, the summer house was relatively warm. Kyou had spread blankets on the couch already, and I sat down to watch him wash the tea set, then decided to amuse myself shedding my shoes and pants as silently as possible. He turned back, paused for a moment at the sight of my bare legs, then walked directly to me and slid his hands from my knees to the top of my thighs.

"Should I take this as a sign of enthusiasm?"

"In general, or specifically for today’s challenge?"

Sitting on the coffee table, he cocked his head. "Did you really dislike this position? We can change things up if it doesn’t work for you at all."

"It’s okay. I just feel silly, so I crack jokes about it." I shrugged. "Your task is to get me to like it."

"Challenge accepted," Kyou said, and kept sliding his hands upward, lifting my tunic, but instead of trapping me as Bran had, he stopped when he could reach my bra, unhooking it and then rubbing his palms in gentle circles over my breasts while he nuzzled and lightly licked my stomach.

This could also make me feel silly, but the slow movements got to me almost immediately, so I responded by removing layers, until there was nothing to stop Kyou’s touch. He pushed me to lie on the couch, and kissed me all over, occasionally pausing to shrug off a piece of clothing. He eventually worked his way to my mouth, and we twined together.

Kyou was clever, finding every place he knew would make me react, and paying a great deal of attention, until I stopped caring about the position, and was focused entirely on the fact that he wasn’t inside of me. When he finally drew back and kneeled on the couch, all I did was immediately hook my legs around his waist, helped when he hoisted me up, and gasped when he finally pushed forward.

"Did you feel silly?" he asked, a suitable time later.

"Only a tiny bit. Doesn’t it feel silly to you?"

"Only when I think of it as wheelbarrow. But I fully endorse you trying to make Bran laugh until he can’t hold it together."

"He’d tickle me to death."

"How meek. Has he tamed you after all, Cheshire?"

I ran fingers lightly across his stomach. "Does not poking a bear make me tame?"

"A bear, huh? I would have put Bran down as a wolf."

"I guess so. Gives off the appearance of being a lone hunter, but very much a pack animal. While Rin is a smiling fox, and you—"

"You’re about to say something uncomplimentary, I can tell."

"You don’t fit into categories so easily, do you? Businessman Artist. If I were to take the school’s general opinion of you, it would be a snake, but that doesn’t really fit you at all."

"Why not?"

I glanced at him. "Because you’re very kind, Kyou. You get almost as big a kick out of helping people as you do teasing them."

"You’ll make me blush." His voice was dry. "But if this is leading up to calling me an adorable dove or something else, I think I’ll stick with snake. I can just be a generous snake."

"I think they’re guardians of treasures or something, so it sort of works."

"Hm." Kyou, looking distracted, rolled onto his back. "You keep giving me ideas for pieces, Cheshire, but this game makes it impossible to use them."

"If you draw me as Cheshire, then wouldn’t I only be a smile?" I asked.

"A grin without a cat?" He grimaced. "I want to show off all the drawings I could do of you."

"More umbrellas," I suggested, and propped myself up so I could kiss him, adding: "Let’s not risk this game by getting over-confident."

He nodded, then pulled me closer. "Umbrellas it is."

Forty

Friday brought a still morning, heavy with frost, followed by a day of gusting winds. I scurried straight to the summer house door and whisked myself inside, shuddering. Rin handed me a cup of tea without a word, and I clutched it through my gloves, then sat down on an upright chair he’d placed next to the heater.

"Your nose might be a little blue."

"This wind."

My teeth were chattering, and I watched with approval as Rin carefully nudged a draft stopper in place before the door, and then wound something around the window latches to keep them from rattling. He placed a towel along the base of the window, then sighed, and came to sit on the couch near me.

"Best I can manage," he said. "Short of bringing a half dozen heaters."

"It’s not too bad," I said, drinking the tea in quick sips. "I just have to get the chill out."

"Here," he said, handing me something black and white and warm.

"What?" I examined it, then laughed and hugged it. A hot water bottle in a panda-patterned cover. "You’ve put a lot of thought into this, huh?"

"There seemed little likelihood of you being naked in this weather without sufficient heating," Rin said, picking up a cup and then moving some blankets over his legs.

"Close to none," I agreed, tucking the hot water bottle inside my pullover. "Do you actually want to take your clothes off right now?"

"I want to know if you still have those socks."

"Oh?" I grinned at him. "I knew that fantasy costume challenge was yours. So, one of your white shirts and a pair of thigh-length socks, huh?"

He stirred, then took my near-empty cup away and pulled me over so I was sitting sideways on his lap. "Answer the question, Cheshire."

"I could be wearing them right now," I said, and felt him go still.

"You’re not," he said, after a moment.

"I am wearing thermal underwear," I announced. "In a quite pleasant shade of plum."

"Not for much longer," he said, and began stripping me with no mind for the cold, but tucked us both under the blankets once we were bare.

The hot water bottle was trapped between my back and the couch, which kept a part of me warm until Rin heated up the rest of me. The room temperature still didn’t make the move to the upright chair attractive, but I didn’t protest when Rin shrugged off the blankets and drew me to my feet. He sat down again immediately, and I settled down on top of him. Rin was just magic in on-top positions.

"No jokes this time?" he asked.

"None." I tested moving on him, watching his expression. "It’s occasionally worth being serious."

"Sometimes I doubt you’re ever serious, Cheshire," Rin said, so softly I barely caught the words.

We both knew our encounters were light-hearted for good reason, so I didn’t answer him, just leaning forward to kiss him. Rin responded by pulling me even closer, and kept his arms locked around me so that I ground against him. It was so satisfactory, and though the close hold meant I could no longer watch his reaction, I gloated privately when he outright groaned with pleasure.

The cold crept back too quickly in the aftermath, turning the sweat on my back and brow clammy, but I didn’t move, staying with head tucked against Rin’s throat, arms wrapped around his neck, listening to him breathing. Nor was he relaxing his hold.

Before either of us was driven to move by the chill, a notification on Rin’s phone sounded. Not one of the cat noises Bran had built into the Cheshire app, or the very subdued chime that occasionally sounded, but a brief rat-tat that made Rin glance in the direction of his bag.

"Urgent?" I asked, unwinding my arms.

"No, just Kyou." He let go of me with a sigh. "But I suspect we’ll have you sick again if we stay sitting here."

"I’m quite healthy, usually."

"Tell that to someone who didn’t have a fun two hours waiting to risk calling you after Lania skipped a Student Council meeting because you weren’t answering your phone."

"Is that why Kyou called me that night? I was wondering how he knew I was sick."

"Picture all three of us listening to that very odd conversation and trying to decide if you were lucid."

"That was a perfectly sensible conversation," I said, heading to the sink for a little clean up.

"Perhaps, but you sounded very strange. Slurred and vague and not at all yourself."

That didn’t match my memory, but I decided to accept his probably sharper recollection. "Lucky I was in hospital."

"That did save us from foolishly trying to ride to your rescue." He was looking at his phone. "What about the Mirion would make Kyou ask me to spank you?"

I laughed, but only said: "You’d have to ask him."

The sink was so convenient for cleaning up, for all I sometimes felt awkward scrubbing myself with a warm wet hand towel before an audience. Though I’d noticed they would all turn away to give me a minute or two of privacy at critical moments. Rin was half-dressed and paging through images on his phone when I turned to find something to put on. I pulled on my tartan underwear and plum thermals, snagged a couple of blankets and arranged myself beside him to look at the Mirion shortlist.

"Ah," Rin said eventually, increasing magnification on an underwater photograph. "Carr called you about the shortlist not simply because he was riding on a bubble of high spirits."

"I must be much more recognisable than I expected, despite all the SCUBA gear. Hopefully the organisers put it on big posters somewhere my parents can see. Though they’re supposed to be heading off to a mine site when the snow melts, so the chances are low."

"You enjoy surprising people, don’t you Cheshire?"

"Setting things up and waiting for the payoff is the best," I said. "My dad thinks I enjoy it a little too much."

"I understand Kyou’s urge to spank you. Are you sure you wouldn’t enjoy that?"

"Would you?"

"Possibly. So long as you were on the receiving end."

"I don’t see what about being photographed by Carr would prompt any kind of punishment," I said, gesturing for him to continue viewing the rest of the shortlist. "Is this part of this artistic rivalry Kyou has with Carr?"

"Photography isn’t one of Kyou’s areas. This is more that Carr’s been able to do things Kyou can’t risk, though now enormously balanced by being able to witness you turning Carr down." Rin laughed. "I truly think Kyou and Carr will end up better friends because of you."

"I still don’t fully understand why they fell out."

"Ah, well, Carr is—" He paused. "Actually, I’d be interested to know your opinion of Carr. Would you date him if Lania wasn’t a factor?"

"I doubt he’d date me in a friends with benefits way. And I don’t think our personalities align enough for me to be serious. He’s…conservative is the wrong word for a blue-haired somewhat soulful artist, but he has a traditional streak. There’s plenty of things I like about Carr, but I’m more inclined to enjoy hiring body doubles than Carr’s approach to bullying, which I think may have been a few quiet words of disappointment in Sirocco’s direction."

"Ineffectual," Rin murmured.

"Hm, I don’t know. Carr is a natural mediator who has a habit of staying out of things, but I don’t think he’s incapable. Is ineffectual the reason Kyou has issues with him?"

"No. Carr thinks Kyou is going to abandon art to follow a financial career. Kyou thinks Carr—who will inherit a fortune and is entirely supported by his family—has never been in a situation where he hasn’t been able to follow his heart, and so was irritated when Carr started being disappointed at him. And, being Kyou, instead of explaining, he started goading Carr. Would you like to see Lania and Carr together?"

"I wonder. You and I might find Lania’s ability to recite The Lego Movie from end to end just a little bit adorable, but would Carr? Does he even know she’s pure gamer geek? And would Lania be able to cope with Carr’s most eligible whatever? She’s not strong against social pressure, so unless Carr changes somewhat, I don’t think they’d work out. Of course, Carr’s not shown any signs of return interest, so it’s all a moot point."

"She might get him on the rebound."

I raised my eyebrows. "Katerina might get him on the rebound, too. Which of them has higher odds?"

"Lania. Completely. Carr isn’t so stupid."

"But—"

I broke off, because an alert had popped on Rin’s phone, and he’d immediately checked it, whole body tensing. Then he sighed, disappointed, and sat back.

"You’ve set up another hidden camera?" I asked, watching as Vicky walked into a room containing three office desks and put a pile of papers on the largest.

"We’re hoping the next trap is in one of the obvious places we’re monitoring."

"The school’s been very clear about its increased security, so perhaps whoever it is has been scared off."

"Never finding out who did that to us would be a lifelong irritation," Rin said, dropping his phone on the coffee table and turning to me. "Time to work off some frustration, Cheshire."

I hadn’t expected to start again, but at least under the blankets I wasn’t so reluctant to shed my layers, and Rin himself was very warm to tangle with. His need to work off energy did mean I arrived at Art Club well after everyone else. The whole room buzzed, everyone busy, chatting, having fun, and getting a lot of paint everywhere.

"Almost thought you weren’t coming, Mika," Lania said, turning from a poster that seemed to have transferred its every colour onto her face.

"I had to steel myself to walk outside," I said, hanging my scarf and outer coat among the many by the door. "What’s today’s project?"

"Yours is still your personal project, Mika," Carr said, walking over with a smile. "Let me help you get it down."

Carr being graceful and avoiding any post-rejection awkwardness was only to be expected, so I smiled back at him and went to fetch the step stools from the storeroom.

"You’ve made a lot of progress," he said, after we set it on a table as far from the centre of activity as possible. "And it’s even more incredible than I expected. I never guessed you’d do the cabling with string and thread."

"It makes it a more fragile model, but there’s no real way to do a suspension bridge just using construction foam and paper. Not one that I’d want to show people, anyway. I went through a string art phase, which gave me a foundation before I moved on to cabling."

"What’s string art?" Rick asked, coming closer to admire, but not near enough to risk his paint-daubed self coming into contact. "Like macramé?"

"No, you create shapes using nails and string stretched between them. It gives a nice Bézier curve effect."

"I don’t know what that is, but I’m sure it’s pretty."

"Maths," Lania said, coming over, but again stopping a cautious distance away. "Knowing Mika, that’s probably why she did the string art. I can’t believe how much progress you’ve made, Mika. Do you think you’ll finish today?"

"The bridge, yes," I said. "Then next week I’ll have fun making little models of all the buildings on the foreshore."

With only another week until the school festival, everyone was too busy to stop working for long. In a noisy environment, it took me a little while to get into the right headspace, but I did so by rechecking all the measurements, and turning the laying out of my tools into a small ritual. Model building will always be one of my favourite things, and I was particularly enjoying recreating the Sunseeker Bridge.

The Mirion was an international award, and one of the largest art prizes in Helios, so it wasn’t a surprise to me when the Principal himself came down to congratulate Carr. It did make me wonder how Kyou had found out a few hours earlier than Carr’s in-room fan club. Luckily my model was safely back on the cupboard when celebrations boiled over, since some of the excitement washed over onto me as the subject of the photograph.

All things considered, I still skipped the trip to the Tokley Centre. Carr was graceful, but I was sure he could use a little more moving-on time.

Forty-One

Monday lunch hour brought me an elbow in the back just as I started down a flight of stairs. Someone had knocked into me, as if by accident, but then helped things along with a jab.

Since I’d been distracted thinking about my model, I tumbled into a head-first dive, but fortunately had just put a hand on the railing. Managing to cling to it, I still fell forward, twisting my wrist but stopping only a few stairs down.

"Whoa!" gasped a junior boy who’d been a step ahead of me—and who’d barely escaped being dominoed. "Oh, man, that was close!"

I ignored him, dashing back up to the stair and into the stream of just-released students heading along the cross-corridor toward the refectory. Quickly pulling my phone from my pocket, I double-pressed the power button to bring up my camera, set it to video and walked swiftly through the crowd, capturing as much of the mass as possible, not obnoxiously, but not hiding anything either. Reaching the refectory, I walked straight forward to a seat, sat down and turned my phone so it would catch everyone coming in behind me.

My initial flood of anger and adrenaline began to fade, and I became more aware of my racing heartbeat, and aching arm. I stayed filming until I no longer felt jumpy, and the stream of students had slowed to the occasional late arrival, but then took myself off to the school’s well-staffed medical office. After a brief examination, and much application of ice, they decided I should have an x-ray to be safe, and a nurse drove me to the nearest hospital. Fortunately, it was only a moderate sprain, nothing broken, though I would need a brace and sling.

Corascur of course had procedures they step through when a student is injured at school, and so my parents were called during all this, and my mother certainly recognised the neutrality of my tone when I explained that someone had jostled me when I was walking down some stairs. She told me she’d talk to me again when I got home, and I called her as soon as I’d had an early dinner delivered.

"What’s going on?" she asked, crisply.

"Pushed," I said. "I have a few suspects, but no evidence."

"You said you weren’t being bullied."

"Today’s a first. I think I might have been a bit too high-profile the last couple of weeks."

"Should I call Rachel and ask her to babysit you again?"

I wasn’t tempted to revisit my stay at the Nichols. I wanted quiet.

"No, I’m fine. I have a fun gel bandage that I can apply as a cold treatment at appropriate intervals, and I’m allowed to take my arm out of the brace to do ordinary things. I’ve a couple of days off school, and some relatively mild painkillers."

"Let me know if there’s any developments, then," my mother said.

"Will do," I said, and hung up after catching up on how they were going in Canada.

Transferring the video I’d recorded to my laptop, I settled back to eat and watch, and by the time I’d finished dinner, the day’s classes had ended. I opened the Cheshire app and sent a message: Call me when you’re free.

Since I knew they’d be going into a Student Council meeting, and the day was catching up with me, I had a quick shower, put a timer on my heater, and curled up in bed to read on my phone. My unknown caller ringtone woke me up perhaps a half hour later, and, recognising the number, I said: "Hi Dad."

There was a pause, which I knew would be Kyou wondering if I had an audience, so I converted the call to video and held up my injured arm.

"Meet my new friend Medical Brace. No wall climbing for me for a while."

This produced another pause, and then return video feed, showing me all three of them in the Student Council Executive’s office, frowning at the screen.

"What happened?" Rin asked, voice crisp.

"Elbowed down a flight of stairs. Must have been neatly done, because there were a lot of people around, and no-one seemed to notice. I don’t suppose you installed any hidden cameras on the upper walkway that leads from Sciences to the Refectory?"

"No." Bran was glowering, but probably not at me. "How badly are you hurt?"

"Just a sprain. No strenuous lifting for at least a week. I’ve been told to not do much at all with it for a couple of days, so won’t be in until Thursday. I’ve uploaded to that shared image folder a video I took after, trying to work out who it was. I admit I jumped to the conclusion that it was one of Carr’s fans, upset he’d been taking photos of me, but I didn’t spot any of my main suspects. I don’t know enough about the people in this school to be able to do more than say no-one was looking particularly guilty, so I’d be glad if you could have a look at it to see if there’s anything I missed."

Bran opened his phone and they watched the video while keeping the line open with me.

"Nothing immediately stands out," Kyou said. "We’ll go through it in more detail. I think this is the first time I’ve seen you truly annoyed, Cheshire."

"I can’t work on my model," I said. "And just when I’d reached the fun, easy stage. It’s going to itch at me terribly, especially if I’m expected to let it be displayed without being what I consider finished."

"Don’t push yourself to get back to it early," Bran said. "Festival isn’t until next Thursday."

"We’ll do our best to help you to achieve glorious revenge in the meantime," Rin promised.

I felt warm. For this year at least, these three people had my back, and I liked knowing they would be upset and angry on my behalf.

"Last request before we let you go, Cheshire," Kyou said.

"Mm?"

"Pan down."

I laughed, put down the phone briefly so I could push back my blankets, and then held the phone up high so they could get a good view of my long t-shirt decorated with chibi Star Wars characters.

"Sorry, I don’t have anything in the way of white and delicate nightwear."

"Works for me," Kyou said, doing something with his phone which I bet involved a screenshot. "Have a good rest."

He cut the connection, and I prepared to do as bid, but changed my mind and rang Lania.

"Do me a favour?"

"Sure, what’s up?"

"Can you borrow Rick or Carr or someone, and find a safer place to put my model? I’m going to be out of school a couple of days and I’m worried someone will mess with it."

"Why would—" Lania stopped, then said: "Will do."

"Thanks, Lania. See you on Thursday, probably."

Forty-Two

Next morning, I was woken by a call around eight.

"I’m enjoying the excuse to telephone you, Cheshire," Kyou said. "I’m going to struggle not to make a habit of it, but unfortunately I think we’ve already been a little too carefree."

I was slow in responding because, with only a short break in the middle, I’d slept for a very long time, particularly for me, and was feeling overslept rather than refreshed.

"Bad, or just dubious news?"

"Jury’s still out," came Rin’s voice. "But we have a prime suspect for you."

"For all of us," added Bran, harsh voice made even more jagged by a growling note.

"Who?"

"Tomas Mikkelveldt," Kyou replied, lightly. "You may have met, or at least seen him. President of the Literature Club, and Meggan’s not-really new boyfriend."

"Oh, yeah, he was on the dive trip. But I don’t remember seeing him at the Refectory." I curled onto my side, then hissed in pain.

"Cheshire?" Rin asked.

"It’s too cold to get out of bed to take my painkillers," I said. "I’m working my way up to it."

He laughed, but then said: "Go medicate, and we’ll call you back in five minutes."

The connection immediately cut out, which made me blink, but I guessed he understood me enough to know my curiosity was stronger than my dislike of being cold. I debated taking my blankets for a walk, but my wrist objected to the idea, so I dashed quickly around my apartment, and was back under the covers by the time Kyou called back.

"I don’t remember seeing Tomas at the Refectory," I repeated.

"You passed him in the corridor, just outside the door. He must have stopped and turned around when he saw you filming, which is why we’re focusing on him."

"But what does he have against me?" I asked, snuggling down so the blanket was over my head. "Or—do you think he’s the person targeting you?"

"He was on our long list of suspects," Kyou said. "Tomas is both clever and cautious, which fits being able to pull off these boobytraps. He’s also been fourth place in a lot of exam rankings, and I know he resents that. But most of all there’s Meggan."

"Played loyal knight for years," Bran said, sounding disgusted.

"You said a while back that only Meggan could control when Meggan moved on," Kyou continued. "But Tomas, who has been offering her a shoulder to cry on, could certainly suggest a little pretence to in theory make Bran jealous, but in reality try to push him over the edge. Or at least create circumstances Tomas could use to completely eliminate his rival."

I processed that. "You mean, he could have done something a little more direct to make Bran not come back that night? And everyone would blame Bran’s disappearance on Bran’s feelings for Meggan." I paused. "I have a sudden sinking feeling I know why he would risk offering a sly shove to a near-stranger. At least, I doubt that was some kind of literary comment on the genre my father writes in."

"If he was watching to ambush me that night, he missed his chance," Bran said, sounding completely disgusted. "But he might have seen me coming back. And then you."

"I did wait a long time, but there’s nothing else in that direction, so it probably would raise suspicion for anyone paying attention."

"And after the trip Bran was flaunting evidence he has a new girlfriend," Kyou continued. "With the result that Meggan is upset, wavering for the first time since her ultimatum. If Tomas is as vindictive as this chain of attacks suggests, then injuring you could purely be because you’ve indirectly hurt Meggan—but more likely it’s a test to see how Bran reacts. Confirming that you’re Bran’s girlfriend, bringing it out into the open, could push Meggan toward letting Bran go. Or perhaps hurting you is simply a way of striking at Bran."

"Being around hot guys is so dangerous," I murmured. "So, what now?"

"First, all of us are going to behave very much as usual, in order to get Tomas' attention off you," Rin said.

"And in future suppress our tendency to take second looks when we see you passing," Kyou added. "We’ve grown too complacent."

"Our previous plan was to give our pest an opportunity to poison Bran," Rin said. "We proposed a Festival cake competition, and were hoping for arsenic sprinkles."

"Unfortunately, this occurred to faculty as well," Kyou said. "They’re very firm on the subject of risk minimisation."

"First a hidden camera in the Literature Club," Bran said impatiently. "And a keyboard logger on the PC in there, along with his laptop if we can get our hands on it. The aim being to see what passwords he uses, unlock his phone, get some software on it. Once we have that, we can track him everywhere."

"Even with that, we have to catch him in the act, and he’s not silly enough to fall for obvious traps," Kyou added. "Nor is he the personality type that will confess everything once we’ve pulled off the mask. We certainly can’t go to the faculty with our little collection of supposition."

"Bringing him to justice is nice in theory. Bringing him to his knees is the primary goal."

Rin’s tone was light, but I was left in no doubt he meant exactly what he said. Not that I was in any mood to object.

"We’ll move after we’ve confirmed to our satisfaction that he’s responsible," Bran said, softly. "And you, Cheshire…"

"Will restrain yourself from kicking him down any stairs, at least until we’re around to watch and applaud," Kyou said. "Or, at least, until you can do so without being expelled."

"I haven’t confirmed to my satisfaction that he’s responsible, either," I pointed out. "I’ll be taking precautions to avoid being an easy target."

"Do you need anything while you’re off?" Rin asked.

"I plan to catch up on some reading while avoiding today’s particularly horrible weather. I doubt I’ll even go outside until Thursday."

"No wall climbing for now," Kyou said. "So, I’ll meet you at the fence on Friday, Cheshire."

"See you then," I said, reflecting that Friday would be the first time I knew which of them I’d meet.

After the call ended, I spent even more time considering the word wavering, then put the whole question aside and read the first draft of my Dad’s latest book. Other people’s feelings would never be in my control. For my own, I could only be sure I didn’t want Bran and Meggan to get back together.

Forty-Three

It annoyed me to need to take an attitude of caution to school, to check my surroundings before heading down flights of stairs, and think about the few places I frequented in terms of booby-traps and pitfalls. It irritated me especially to continue to stay away from my model, but a discussion with my doctor had convinced me not to stress my wrist with too much fine motor work at least until a full week had passed.

Friday brought a frost-decked morning, but at least no wind, and so the summer house didn’t seem such a horrible prospect as I took an extra-cautious route around to meet Kyou at the gate. He glanced briefly at my wrist, though the brace was hidden by my bulky coat, then moved to swiftly replace the bars while I went into the garden, not waiting for him before heading straight to the summer house.

"Environmental factors really can have an impact on these challenges," I said when he caught up. "At least it’s not completely wretched today."

"Luck’s a part of every competition," Kyou said. "Though I’d probably be less equable about that if I was dealt worse cards. Let me help you with that."

My coat had caught on the brace. I let him ease it over my wrist, though it really wasn’t that much trouble.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Mainly only if I poke it, or accidentally pick up something heavy, or twist it beyond a certain limit. I’m not supposed to wear the brace constantly, so I put it on when I’m wrangling my school bag or doing things where I think I need a reminder not to put weight on it."

He hung up my coat, mouth a little turned down, but moved on without further comment.

"Are you in a coffee mood today, Cheshire? Cold weather always puts me in a mood for Vienna Coffee."

"Is that the one with Irish Cream in it?" I asked, a little startled.

"No, just pouring cream, and a dusting of cocoa powder."

"Oh. Sure. Two sugar."

The heater had made enough of a difference today that I didn’t feel the need to immediately bury myself under blankets, and so I curled up with Kyou to sip some unexpectedly delicious cream coffee.

"Do you drink?" I asked curiously. "If you’re humourless about drugs?"

"Socially," he said. "Not enough to lose my senses. So many things are technically drugs—caffeine for instance—that there’s a limit to how humourless I can be. What about you?"

"I’m not humourless, just a coward. Even when they’re legal, I’m too worried about what they’ll do to me to think of them as fun. I can drink socially, but have only been drunk a couple of times, and the aftermath took all the fun out of it. There’s too many other things I want to do to be wasting my time with hangovers, or forgetting the night before." I thought about things that were my idea of fun, then asked: "How’s the spy game going?"

"We’ve logged his passwords, infiltrated his personal laptop, and explored various email inboxes, but we haven’t managed to get hold of his phone yet. We know the unlock code, though, so it’s just a matter of creating an opportunity."

"Very efficient."

"We’re crawling in our own skins with impatience," Kyou said, chuckling. "We had a serious debate yesterday about whether it would be simpler to just put a sack over his head and give him a kicking."

"So, you’re sure now?"

"Getting there. A trawl through his email didn’t give us anything, but we discovered a few sock puppets he uses on forums to…make remarks. Mostly about Bran."

"You already knew he probably didn’t like Bran, though. It’s a big leap from forum sniping to trying to give you hallucinations."

"That’s true for every single suspect. And anyone who is willing to push you down a flight of stairs for possibly hooking up with Bran isn’t exactly being proportionate."

"I think lots of people would at least consider giving me a sly shove for hooking up with any of Corascur’s notables." I took another sip of coffee. "Lania says Carr thinks it’s his fault."

"You told them you were pushed?"

"I asked Lania to put my model somewhere it can’t have an accident," I said. "Combine that with being jostled at the top of a flight of stairs and we have Carr’s more possessive admirers as culprits. Lania, who was respecting my privacy quite against my intentions, has promised to talk excitedly about Christophe at every second opportunity. Or at least tell Sean, who apparently will tell the world, and then ask me to supply him with autographs." I wriggled, because Kyou’s free hand had strayed inside my clothes. "I’m skipping Art Club this week, so they’ll have a good chance to gossip."

"Not going to have fun watching Carr trying to maintain his expression?"

"I thought you liked Carr."

"I do. I’ve been relentlessly friendly toward him this past week. He’s so confused."

"Only you could turn being nice into a form of trolling."

"I try my best. I’m enjoying knowing more about you than he ever will. You’ll be wanting to work on your model a lot next week, I’d bet."

"I want to finish it."

"Then we’ll skip next Tuesday. Thankfully I have today—it’s been too long."

Kyou put down his coffee, took the last of mine away from me, and drew me to my feet.

"It’s rare that I feel disinclined to remove all your clothing, Cheshire, but even on milder days like this, a single heater is not truly up to making this place comfortable. Let’s see if we can make each other forget about the temperature."

The upright chair they’d brought in was already set near the radiator, and he sat down, making an inviting gesture, but instead of joining him I took off my shoes and sensible winter trousers, leaving mint green thermal underwear covering my legs.

"Technically I’m wearing underwear, but since I knew today was you, I left off the usual sort."

"No panties?" He investigated, looking pleased, and then pulled me forward so that I had no choice but to straddle him or fall across the chair.

"Just think," I said, adjusting my position slightly. "At any random day, I could be wandering around this school without my underwear, and you would never know."

"I’m willing to do spot checks." He slid his hands up my back, but then laughed, and bent his head so his forehead rested on my shoulder. "Cheshire, we’re supposed to be trying not to ogle you when you walk by. How am I going to keep my eyes off you now?"

"It’s a good thing we’re not in any of the same classes."

"There speaks someone failing to appreciate the effort I put in to not go anywhere near Art Club." He turned his head, and began nuzzling my throat. "And the things I might do to you in that storeroom."

"Probably wise," I said, responding in kind. "With Carr there, the temptation to mark territory might be a little too high."

Kyou chuckled, and began sucking my neck, just enough to make me wonder if he meant it. Then he switched to kissing me, and we lost ourselves in that. It wasn’t long until we reached the clothes-shedding stage, which took a little longer than usual because we were being careful of my brace. The bouncing stage, however, proved difficult, because resting my injured arm on his shoulder made it ache, and holding it down by my side made it throb.

"Cheshire," Kyou said, as I lost my rhythm. "I would rather forfeit this challenge than watch you wincing."

"I think this position might be too aerobic for me right now," I said regretfully.

"Let’s try something else," he said. "Hold on."

Arms supporting me, he stood up, brought me over to the sofa, and lowered us both down.

"Tell me if your wrist keeps hurting," he said, and continued on where I had left off.

With Kyou doing most of the work, my wrist stopped throbbing, so I rested it on the arm of the couch above my head and let myself enjoy him.

"How is it?" Kyou asked, a while later. "I could get some ice if that would help."

"I have a gel bandage in my bag," I said.

We cleaned up, and I took off my brace and let Kyou examine my arm before I wrapped it in the cooling bandage. When comparing the two, my right wrist was still perceptibly swollen, and for some reason I’d ended up with bruising down inside my elbow, which had started to fade.

"It bothers us a lot, the idea you were injured on our behalf," he said, settling us back on the couch and drawing up a layer of blankets.

"What about if I was injured on Carr’s behalf?"

"Well, that would bother me too, but in a different way."

"Have you had that kind of issue in the past? People bullying girls who are connected to you?"

"It’s happened. The second year we were here we made several forum posts about how much we dislike people who harass friends and acquaintances. That had a fairly strong effect, but sometimes even girls who’ve never even spoken to one of us get hassled because it’s somehow wrong to admit to a crush. More than we’ll ever know, since the subtle stuff like Sirocco and Lania is easy to miss."

"What about Meggan?" I asked, curiously.

"So far as I know, mostly not. She and Bran were together from the start of high school, and he’s always been very clear about not being interested in anyone else. Thankfully, most of our admirers are not as extreme as Tomas. Corascur would be a little challenging if everyone set boobytraps." He snuggled me comfortably against his chest. "Do you want to play a few matches in Tyranny, Cheshire?"

"I can’t. The doctor told me not to do anything that involved extended fine motor control. Otherwise, I’d be at Art Club working on my model."

"So, you’ve been off school, but not able to play? Now that’s true pain."

"I’ve been reading a lot instead. Tell me about the games you three are going to make. Rin said you were working on two, but that one was enormous."

"Echoes of Samerkel, an RPG that’s been our shared ambition since primary school. Fantasy with an advanced tech frame. Echoes is in pre-production, and we’ve arranged a series of rolling internships with a major developer to give us exposure to the challenges we’ll face. Currently we’re working on One Step More, which is much smaller, and Rin’s pet project."

"Journey remake?"

He laughed. "Not quite, though there’s elements of Journey, along with things which we hope are unique."

"Are you more into character design or environment?"

"I love both. I very much like the idea of people being able to step into images I create, and games give me that."

He grabbed his phone and showed me concept art he’d done for One Step More, and tried to describe the kind of game they wanted it to be. The art was brilliant, using great washes of colour along with delicate line detail, and I found myself a little sad that I probably wouldn’t get to see the Three Kings go through the stages of bringing this world into being.

I’d play it, though, and think back to warm blankets on a cold day, and Kyou’s beautiful voice building a painted world.

Forty-Four

Lania and I had volunteered for the baking component of my Home Room’s festival contribution, and so spent Thursday morning making banana bread in the home economics block. After that we were free to wander the school looking at all the other stalls, and appreciating the relatively mild weather.

"We’re starting into the better part of winter," Lania explained. "Technically colder, but not usually wet. The nights might be frigid, but the days can be quite nice. I’ve yet to see bad weather for the festival."

"You don’t have to babysit that photo competition?" I asked, after we’d bought hotdogs for an early lunch.

"I’m on the last shift for it, when we mark all the entries and announce a winner. And then, thankfully, will never have to think about it again. Even finals will be a cakewalk in comparison."

"People wrangling. The worst part of any undertaking."

"Will you need to do much of that in engineering?"

"Depends on the project. I’d hope to be working on large enough projects to never need to be primarily responsible for human resource issues, but it’s certainly a leadership role."

"I don’t ever want to supervise anyone," Lania said, firmly. "I want to be the rock star employee that gets cossetted and indulged while I work on my genius inventions."

"Is that how robotics is as a career?"

"Only in anime. Mostly it seems to be a desperate scrabble for funds, with periods of working out of your parents' garage."

"At least your garage is pretty big," I said equably.

We strolled through all the snack stalls, not restraining ourselves, then headed toward the school’s outdoor amphitheatre for some recovery from stuffing.

Because we’d circled outside the main concourse, we approached the amphitheatre from the performers' entrance, listening to what sounded like an enthusiastic choral performance. Before we reached a way in, we discovered several clumps of people all focused on a pair of girls, one of whom was talking urgently on her phone. The expressions of this audience ranged from sympathetic to gloating.

"Looks like things aren’t running smoothly," I said.

Lania had already left me behind. "I’m from the Student Council," she said, walking directly up to the pair. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

The smaller of the two girls, a diminutive freshman, glanced at her, then said in a soft, calm voice: "Can you play bass?"

Her friend ended her call, saying: "Carla said that even if she were free, she doesn’t have the instruments at school. They did it deliberately, Saskia. This is so unfair." She blinked rapidly, obviously holding back tears, then focused on Lania: "You said you’re from the Student Council? Do you know anyone who could sub in for two missing musicians in about five minutes? Lead guitar and bass?"

"I…let me make a call."

While Lania called Sean and ran through a list of musicians they both knew, I smiled at the taller of the girls. "Who did what deliberately?"

"Charlotte and Min-Jun," the girl replied. "Our so-called bandmates. We’ve been rehearsing together for months, but Charlotte’s been getting more and more jealous of Saskia. She knows how important today is—the people who are attending could make a real difference for us—and so she waited until just before we’re due to go on to call and say she and Min-Jun went out to dinner last night and got food poisoning."

"Simple but effective," I commented. "There’ll be other school festivals, though, so even if you don’t perform today, you’re only delayed by a year."

"I know," Saskia said, in an even tone. "Though a lot can happen in a year."

"It’s more the idea of Charlotte winning that I hate," the older girl said.

"That’s the way the world works, Camila." Saskia shrugged, but I was fairly sure her calm was merely a front to shield herself from further disappointment.

On cue, Lania gave up on her call. "No luck, sorry."

"Thanks for trying," Saskia said.

"I know of one person at this school who plays guitar that you probably haven’t called," I murmured to Lania. "Why don’t you see if your Student Council connections can produce an Executive mercy dash?"

Lania looked blank, then realised who I meant and gave me a frankly startled look. "He doesn’t perform."

I shrugged. "Can’t hurt to ask. Or see if he or his friends know anyone else who might be available."

After a moment’s hesitation, Lania nodded. "I’ll try. Tell the amphitheatre coordinator to push back the performance."

"He won’t," Saskia said. "We already asked."

Lania paused in poking at her phone, assumed an unexpectedly stern expression, and walked over to a boy holding a tablet, part of the interested crowd.

"I’m sure it would be far less work to change the performance order than it would be to explain to the Student Council why you can’t," she said, coolly. "Or are you planning to leave a gap where no-one performs? Shuffle up the next act, and if they’re somehow claiming they’re not ready, then the one after."

This was a whole new side of Lania, which I appreciated thoroughly, and equally enjoyed her change of expression as she moved to one side and made a very tentative-looking phone call. Then, wearing a surprised look that told me everything, she moved back to the two girls and said: "What’s the set list?"

"Sweet Child O' Mine, Believer, and an original composition," Camilla said. "Even if we find someone, we’ll have to drop that."

This had apparently been audible over the open line, because a faint murmur came from the phone, and Lania said: "Do you have the sheet music for the original?"

"Just-just on tablet." Camilla exchanged a disbelieving look with Saskia. "Did you actually find two people? With instruments?"

Lania paused, listening, then nodded. "They’ll take maybe fifteen minutes to get here, but if we push you back a couple of slots in the performance schedule, it should work out fine. Hunt out the music so they can study it."

"And you acted like you were bad at people management," I said, as the two girls stepped away to up-end a backpack.

"I have my moments." Lania gave me a conspiratorial grin. "This is going to be entertaining. Check out that group over by the coordinator."

"A little too obvious," I agreed, watching them muttering with their heads together. "I think they’re hoping that whoever subs in can’t handle the performance. Which is possible, I suppose, but unlikely from what I’ve seen."

"I’m still a little shocked. I thought maybe Rin would help, since I know he can play more than violin, but he said he and Bran will both bring their instruments down. This is going to cause a riot."

"Have you ever seen Bran perform?"

"Only that video of him singing Hallelujah. He’s never performed anything at Corascur."

"Perhaps because it’s his last year? I gather he’s not behaving as usual this year."

"He’s been a lot more active in the Student Council meetings lately. Sean and I have been having a lot of fun theorising over why. Which reminds me…" Lania fished her phone back out of her pocket and made another call. "No, it’s okay, we found replacements. That’s why I’m calling back." She smirked. "Do everything you can to get out of that booth and get your ass down to the performer entrance of the amphitheatre as soon as humanly possible. You’ll thank me for the rest of your life."

She ended the call, despite the confused sounds coming from her phone, and grinned.

"Finding out so much about you today, Lania."

"Sean’s fun to tease. And would probably self-combust if he missed this. Bran’s biggest fan by far."

Sean managed to arrive before our substitutes, trotting up just as the next act was going on. Panting, he looked around, then turned a reproachful stare on Lania.

"You have no idea what it took for me to get here."

"Good things come to those who are patient." Lania glanced down at her phone, then smiled over at the two girls. "They had to go pick up their instruments, but they’re back at the school, just finding somewhere to park."

This puzzled me enormously, since I knew where Rin, Bran and Kyou lived, and it was at least twenty minutes away in good traffic. But I put the mystery aside, and watched the two performers trying to hold onto their nerves. There were only ten minutes left before the revised performance slot, and it would be more difficult to change it again.

Sean grabbed Lania’s arm, an urgent, almost unconscious movement, and Lania and I turned to look in the direction he was staring.

Two boys, one with shoulders slightly hunched but bearing an aura that drew eyes no matter his attitude. The other, almost a head taller than him, slender and graceful, expression warm. Each carried guitar cases and an amplifier.

"No," Sean said, with absolute delight.

"Yes," said Lania.

"I will love you forever."

"I deserve it."

Others had noticed, and a murmur of shock went through the waiting performers. I checked the two girls, and enjoyed their stunned disbelief. Even the generally stoic younger girl was gaping, and then apparently had to work to control her breathing.

"It’s like they carry their own set of spotlights around with them," I told Lania. "How do you manage a weekly meeting?"

"Fortunately, frequent exposure has toughened me up," she replied. "First year I was here I came close to falling over whenever I was within ten feet of Rin."

Rin was just far enough out of earshot not to have heard this as he came up to Lania, giving her that gentle smile.

"No parking, so we abandoned Kyou with my car. Where’s our band?"

"Just here," Lania said, with enough pink to her cheek to suggest that toughened didn’t equal immune. "Saskia and, ah…"

"Camila," said the taller girl, stars in her eyes. "Are you really, can you—"

"We’d better get a look at that original song while we have time," Rin said easily. "And did you have any particular arrangement for the third guitar in Sweet Child O' Mine? "

"I’m on rhythm guitar," Saskia said, recovering enough of her composure to respond, though her voice was a nervous thread. "Both the covers are direct takes of the originals. I’ve got a recording of one of our rehearsals as well."

"We’d better go get seats," I said, as the four moved aside to talk. "Before the horde arrives."

"Good point," Sean said, busy with his phone. "We want the best filming position."

The amphitheatre was less than half-full, so we had our choice of seats, and hesitated between the central seats, and a good diagonal position nearer to the performers' entrance. Eventually we decided to stay closer to the entrance because Sean wanted to catch Bran and Rin coming in.

"The forums are blowing up," Lania said, laughing. "Are we saving seats for anyone?"

"For everyone, but whether they’ll get here in time is another question."

"I think the question might be whether those two girls can even perform with all this fuss," I said.

"Talk about pressure," Sean agreed. "What’s the story behind all this?"

Lania explained, and he nodded along while sending more messages on his phone.

"I’ve heard of this Saskia," he said eventually. "Music Club’s been fussing over her. Apparently, she’s got a Voice, but she’s short on social graces. You know the type: just wants to play music, oblivious to pecking orders."

"Sounds familiar," I said, amused. "Let’s see if she stares at her feet through the whole set."

The first wave of Three Kings fans arrived then, and we put bags on seats, managing to save spots for Sue and Anika, who wriggled in just before the current act finished. I would feel sorrier for this small band currently belting out not-bad renditions of Ariana Grande hits to the distracted flood, but they’d been part of the gloating faction in the waiting area, so my sympathy was muted as they finished up to polite applause and filed out.

Saskia and Camila, both looking a little pale, appeared next, causing a little stir of murmurs. After a couple of beats, Rin and Bran followed, and were greeted by wild applause and a few squeals, which made the two girls who were meant to be the focus of this performance hesitate, before heading rather grimly toward the small stage, where a drum kit and various chairs and microphones waited.

"I kind of feel like I sabotaged them," Lania said.

"If you want to be a performer, you need to be able to deal with anything," Anika said. "Including not being the most interesting person in the room."

While the girls adjusted microphones, Rin and Bran plugged in their amps, and arranged a couple of chairs by the side of the stage, on which they propped up tablets. Then they sat down—fortunately at an angle that worked for Sean’s video attempt—and tested a few chords on their guitars. Bran had both an electric guitar and an acoustic, and spent a little extra time setting up a foot pedal.

I took my own phone out, unable to resist a personal record of this, though I kept the main focus on the two girls. Camila was on drums, looking more assured once she’d adjusted the kit and microphone to her height. Saskia set up two microphones, one oddly low, set her own guitar aside for the first song, and then looked at Camila enquiringly. Camila nodded, so Saskia looked at Rin and Bran, received Rin’s nod, and turned to face the noisy crowd.

Just when I was wondering if she’d manage to make herself audible over the chatter, she clapped her hands once, right next to the lower microphone. The sharp cracking sound brought the audience down to a murmur, and then she lifted a hand to signal Bran, who somehow produced a strange reverb, along with delicate notes from the acoustic guitar.

Believer is a song that builds to a powerful drop, but Saskia owned the performance from the relatively quiet first words. She had a Joplin-Winehouse sort of voice, all rasp, very powerful, completely incongruous coming out of that diminutive frame.

"Made us believers," Anika commented, applauding with the crowd.

"I’m glad," Lania said. "I was feeling I’d done something wrong."

Rin and Bran poked at their tablets, and then Rin started on bass and Saskia followed him into the original song. This had a catchy beat, and a chorus that told someone "You’re tricky, you’re mean, you’re nothing," which was angry and very memorable. The closer, Sweet Child O' Mine, was an old rock song I must have heard somewhere before, since the riff was familiar. Bran didn’t play staring at his feet, but at the tablet or his guitar, and never looked up once. I couldn’t decide if he was nervous, or just completely indifferent to the crowd. He still oozed charisma, an effortless cool, and if Saskia had had any less of a voice, she would have been completely overwhelmed by him. Even Rin receded a little into the background beside Bran with a guitar.

The applause at the close of the short set was thunderous, and a portion of it was even for the main performers.

"Now I feel sorry for whoever’s supposed to come out next," I remarked.

"They’re probably in the audience drooling as well," Sean said happily. "So hot. So HOT! What a way to make the festival memorable! I just wish I knew why, after refusing for so many years, Bran was willing to get on stage—even if only to sit on the side of it."

"I suspect he’s showing off for his girlfriend," said a beautiful and very familiar voice.

We all turned, shocked, and found that Kyou was sitting directly behind us, not quite hiding his amusement at our expense.

"He really has a new girlfriend?" Sean asked, excitedly.

"Well, I’m not the one covering him in love bites," Kyou said. "Though I appreciate all the muscle definition you’ve given me in your, ah, illustrated theory on Bran’s night life."

"You saw that?" Sean wavered between horrified and delighted, and settled on delighted. "One of my best pieces."

Sue hid her face in embarrassment. "You read that thread? Oh, my god, I might die."

"I don’t have nearly as much time as I’d like to trawl the forums, but that had so many likes, how could I not look?" Kyou said, standing up. "So many excellently-done fantasies."

"Tell us more about Bran’s girlfriend, and I’ll happily add some truth," Sean said quickly. "She goes to this school?"

"Well, she said she’d visit the festival," Kyou said neutrally. "She’s a little older than Bran, so…" He shrugged and moved off, having spoken the exact truth in a most misleading way.

"Kyou’s been in an awfully good mood lately as well," Sue said, once he was out of earshot. "So much for this no girlfriends, we’re studying year."

"Which thread were you talking about?" I asked, and was pointed to a forum that I didn’t even know existed, where the racier gossip about Corascur lived, along with a great deal of RinxKyouxBran fanart. Even some CarrxKyou art, which I appreciated greatly.

The rest of the afternoon was less dramatic, as I toured exhibitions with Lania, and helped her out scoring the photo competition. Only once I was back at my apartment did I watch the video I’d recorded. Rin and Bran, very much central to this school, but seemingly apart from it. I couldn’t tell if Bran was uncomfortable, because he acted as if only he and Rin were present. That might be his way of coping with the crowd, or a sign that whatever problems he’d had with the stage in the past had been resolved.

I couldn’t be sure, but I was glad he had done it. Both as a kindness to two deserted performers, and because Rin and Bran were born with a presence that even managed to make me feel a little privileged to see them. A fun day.

Forty-Five

On Friday, Bran met me at the fence and once again silently conducted me inside and offered me coffee.

"How’s the wrist?"

"A bit meh. Despite holding off, I think I stressed it working on my model, so I’m just going to avoid doing anything much at all for a couple of weeks."

"It wasn’t until we saw the thing yesterday that any of us understood why the whole faculty was cooing over that bridge. I’d been picturing something far less detailed. What will you do with it now?"

"Given that they’ve already built a display case for it, I’ve donated it to the school. I’d have no table space if I tried to take it back to my apartment."

"Would you have kept it if you could? If you had a house?"

I thought about it, sipping the coffee he’d handed me. "That one, possibly. It’s a beautiful bridge. But unless I had a museum-sized house, I’d rather reserve space in it for the bridges I design."

Bran’s attention had strayed to my legs, clad in tights thanks to the relatively good weather. He’d also reverted to tights for the first time since the Three Kings had debuted their unisex uniforms, which meant that we were basically dressed identically.

I crossed my ankles and said: "Did Rin and Kyou’s parents really throw their tunics out?"

Bran smirked. "Their toes were all curled up in horror. Those branches of the family are so caught up in image." He glanced at me. "So are mine, just a different image."

"Which one is going to react worst to game development as a career?"

He shrugged, then thoughtfully slid a hand along my thigh. "Rin’s. Not that Kyou’s father won’t be furious, but Kyou’s shown signs of straying off the right path the last few years, while Rin has basically kept his mouth shut for the last decade. They’ll be blindsided right in their complacency."

"His family’s the story behind the model president façade?"

"Mostly. It gets him other things he wants—Rin has a streak of two-faced politician in him—but without maintaining that lie, Rin would have had to spend half his life being reasoned out of doing the one thing he loves. As it is, he’s got two sets of parents who are going to go apocalyptic on him. We’ve been preparing for anything up to and including the police being called ever since they wouldn’t let him sign up for music camp."

"Guess I should stop sniping at him about not showing his true face."

Bran laughed, then took my coffee cup away and pushed me down onto the couch. "I think he likes how low your opinion of him seems to be."

"My opinion of Rin isn’t low," I said, as he began to ruck up my tunic. "Rin is very fun."

"Would you like him if he really was a perfectly proper president?"

"Probably. I have a lot of time for people who are very warm and kind. They make the world a better place."

He snorted, but concentrated on stripping me, and we didn’t talk for quite a while after that. Today’s challenge was supposed to be on a table, and Bran had brought the café table indoors in apparent preparation, but ignored it in favour of enthusiastic missionary on the couch. Having prior appreciation of Bran’s powers of recovery, I didn’t make any comment, and simply enjoyed how much he’d improved, and the attention he continued to pay to my reactions. We’d also reached a point where snuggling together comfortably in the aftermath felt only natural. Once Bran had given up fighting with himself, he’d stopped taking it out on me, and now almost treated me like an old friend.

Wondering how open he’d now be with me, I asked something that I’d been curious about since yesterday. "Where did you get the instruments?"

"Mm?"

"You live all the way off in that semi-enclave suburb, but drove somewhere to get instruments that was less than ten minutes away."

"Oh. The office for our company. We keep our servers there, though it’s mainly a place for Rin to hide his ever-increasing collection of musical instruments. He’s only officially been playing the violin lately, and his parents would never believe he’s following their master plan for the rest of his life if they knew he had fifteen guitars, let alone the rest of it."

I laughed. "How many instruments does he play?"

"All of them. Just some he hasn’t spent time on yet."

"Wasn’t performing yesterday exposing himself early, then?"

"He passed it off as feeling obligated as Student Council President to help out."

"And he just happened to being completely competent playing bass?"

"I taught him, apparently." He slid a hand down my back. "And he was also willing to help me out in trying to impress my girlfriend."

"You decided displaying hickies wasn’t enough?"

"Revealing that I’m with someone was stupid of me," Bran said, bluntly. "But it’s done, so damage control is necessary. Not publicly reacting to your injury won’t be enough to get Tomas' attention off you, so we’re going to flesh out a completely fake relationship. A slow drip of details, until the whole school knows everything about my college-going girlfriend except her name."

The school forums were still melting down with the double hit of Rin and Bran performing, followed by confirmation that Bran was dating. Kyou’s few words had been embroidered almost beyond recognition, but older woman had stuck. Whether it would prevent further attacks on me was another question.

"How’s your spying progress?"

"We still don’t have his phone. That was always going to be the hardest, but he’s particularly careful with it. We’re setting something up so we can access his locker without being caught by the school’s monitoring."

"Has he done anything that you can count as evidence that he’s the attacker?"

"Other than obsessively comment about me on the forums? No."

"What does he say about you?" I asked, tracing his admirable abdominals.

"Huge manwhore seems to be the current theme, with a side order of raging ego and complete lack of manners."

"Two out of three," I murmured, laughing. "Do you think you’ll be a huge manwhore one day?"

Bran gave me an unreadable look, then stood, picked me up, and plunked me down on the café table. The surface was chilly so I squeaked, hopped immediately off, and grabbed one of the blankets to cover the table before sitting back down.

"I don’t think I’m the one with the ego problem around here," Bran said, watching me.

"Maybe," I said, consideringly. "I’m usually low-key, but I’m not that modest. I don’t know that pretending would improve me much, though." I reached out a bare foot and tried tracing his abs with a toe. "I’d offer to put on a persona for you, but my acting is fairly limited."

"And I’m not into fakes," he said, grabbing my foot. "I expected you to ask me how it felt to perform."

"I couldn’t see any sign of nerves," I said. "And by now you’re used to a slavering audience, regardless of whether you’ve a guitar in hand. So, I figured you must have found that it wasn’t a big deal."

Bran had stepped closer, experimentally lifting my foot and setting it on his shoulder. "You think you can see through me?"

"Okay, I’ll go with the story that thinking of your college girlfriend got you through it," I said, hooking my other foot behind his legs. "I’m sure she thought you had incredible stage presence, and were quite the hottest thing she’s seen…" I gasped, and took a steadying breath. "…the hottest thing she’s seen all year."

Bran clicked his tongue, but I don’t think he was displeased, since he then spent a lot of effort making me particularly limp and tired, and looked quite smug when we moved back to the couch.

"Are you going to Art Club?" he asked, arranging us in a spoon so that he could comfortably nuzzle the nape of my neck.

"No. I told Lania I’d stay away since I can’t do anything. They’re only doing a few Valentine’s Day posters, nothing major."

A small pleased exhalation told me that Bran still had plans for the remainder of the afternoon. But then he shifted so he could compare my wrists.

"It does still look slightly swollen. I’d have suggested a few rounds of Tyranny otherwise."

"Not being able to play has been the worst. I’ve been training myself to use the mouse with my left hand, and exploring ancient point-and-click adventures instead."

"Oh? Which ones?"

"Space Quest, King’s Quest, so many quests."

"Classics."

We talked old games. Bran seemed to have played everything, but was particularly interested in anything that had a strong story, since narrative was his primary focus in the games he planned to make.

"We want Echoes to be high stakes, but not grimdark," he said. "An RPG with severe consequences to some decisions and failures—more than just reloading a save and continuing on. You can bring about some rotten endings, but to balance that you can also recover mistakes, and do extra to avoid bad losses."

"Are you already working on the scripting?"

"We have been for years. Admittedly, we’ve had to abandon a lot of the early stuff, due to it being embarrassing, and also as we began to understand what we were trying to write, not to mention just how hard it is to design a game which truly accounts for player choice."

I nodded. "My dad looked into game writing once, but was scared away by the skip button. He couldn’t stand to do all that work and have it just blur by in a series of clicks."

"Write a compelling enough story and only the irredeemable skippers will miss out. Though I admit your father’s books are very readable."

My eyes widened. "You’ve been delving into Rock Hardison?"

"The prose was far better than I expected. He’s very strong with dialogue."

"He’s won awards for it," I said, finding myself pleased. "When I tell people what he writes, not many people actually go and read my dad’s books."

"If nothing else, I need to source a lot of writers for Echoes. There’ll be multiple potential romances, so if he’s looking for work in a year or so, send him our way."

That made me laugh. "Sure, if you’re still talking to me then, I’ll get my dad to write a romance for your game."

Displeasure was immediately transmitted through the whole of his body. "You haven’t given up this idea we’ll break off contact with you after this?"

"You agreed with me last time," I pointed out, a little surprised.

"And nothing’s changed?"

There was no way this could be a productive conversation. I suppressed a sigh, then decided to be up-front with him.

"I think maybe you’ll start out trying to be just friends with me. I don’t think it will work, but I’ll welcome the attempt if you three decide to go that way."

"Don’t underestimate us," he growled.

The words were firm, and so was the way he pressed me down afterwards, but the light frown he was wearing when I left told me that he was not so certain as he pretended.

But perhaps I was the one who was wrong. Rin, Kyou and Bran truly weren’t people to be underestimated. When they moved on to having girlfriends again, there would undoubtedly be a period of awkwardness, probably a gap when they avoided me, but maybe in time they would be able to treat me as a friend again. Maybe my dad would even write a romance for their game, which he’d probably enjoy a lot.

Not a future I’d bank on, but I decided to cautiously let myself hope for it.

Forty-Six

"Valentine’s Day at Corascur has been regulated from way back, even before the Rose Court was established. Too many lockers where people have tried to wedge chocolates through the ventilation slots, or girls who couldn’t walk five metres without being presented with bunches of flowers."

"This is certainly less spontaneous," I said, reading through the little form I’d found on my desk. "And rather extreme." All gifts, even cards, had to be given via the teachers, stripping away true anonymity, and would then be handed over at lunchtime.

Lania shrugged. "This year has to be very extra because of the boobytraps. We don’t know if they’re confined to the Three Kings, after all, and so all edibles have to be completely identified."

"I’m surprised they weren’t more controlling about the food at the festival, if they think poisoning is an option."

"They even considered cancelling the festival, at one point," Lania said, tucking her copy of the form into her bag. "But all the advice is these attacks are targeted, and doing something to the food at the festival would be more in the line of random poisoning."

"I’m glad they’re still so vigilant, despite nothing happening since the mystery paintbrush incident, but I’m even happier I wasn’t planning on giving anyone Valentine’s gifts."

"A good year to give it a miss," Lania agreed. "Are you doing anything special over the break next week, Mika? We’re going to Dorsey National Park for a couple of days—it’s a four-hour drive south, and will be busy because there’s hot springs and everyone runs there this time of year—but there’s some really lovely walks around Dorsey Lake."

"Wouldn’t I crowd you?"

"Sascha isn’t coming—a friend lured him to a week-long gaming session—so there’s a free seat in the car."

"Then I’d love to come. Though a week-long gaming session also sounds like fun."

"Don’t I know it. It’s how I plan to spend the rest of the week. How’s your wrist? Back to normal function?"

"I think so. I’m still being relatively careful with it—it’s been interesting training myself to use my left hand for things—and I’ll avoid doing anything intensive for a few weeks more, but I think it’s done otherwise."

I picked up the form on my desk and folded it in half, wondering how many cards or chocolates I’d get this year. But lunchtime rolled around, and there was no notification from the school app that anything was waiting for me. I had to laugh at myself for having turned all my prospects down, but still expecting gifts. Too much ego.

Forty-Seven

"I feel your hair’s looking longer," Rin murmured, when we met at the garden gate.

"It grows a little faster than average," I told him, once we were safely inside. "And a lot of the things I like to eat are good for healthy hair growth."

"Oh? What things?"

"Nuts, avocado, sweet potato, berries. Things with a good vitamin load are usually helpful."

"How very clean-living of you, Cheshire. Did you at least wallow in chocolate yesterday?"

I laughed. "Lania gave me some of a box she received from someone called Antoni, who is a freshman. He wrote her the most outrageous poem, stanza after stanza to make sure she knows that she has amazing breasts. She was mortified, but the chocolate was good. Cherry liqueurs. We giggled at every one we ate."

Rin raised his eyebrows. "Admirably suggestive. Perhaps one day I’ll steal the, ah, allusion."

"I was wondering if Kyou would manage to steal the first at this challenge from you," I said, putting down my backpack.

"He tried his utmost, but luck was against him," Rin said, sitting down and eyeing my tight-clad legs with open pleasure. "He even tried to get inside my head and sabotage my enjoyment."

"How so?" I asked, accepting a cup of green tea.

Rin made a shooing gesture, as if to swat away a fly. "It pains me to partially concede his point, but I know you well enough by now to see that it would be very easy to go wrong today."

"Simon Says that you’re probably right about that," I said, amused. "At least, you’re not going to score highly simply by enjoying yourself telling me what to do."

"I wonder," Rin said, thoughtfully. "To a certain point, I think it would entertain you to indulge me." His lips curled into a predatory arc. "Of course, this is only one challenge among many. I think there’s a lot to be said for accepting a loss."

I snorted. "Well, we’ll see how good an idea that is."

"Should I find the line, in order to decide whether to cross it?"

"Me making suggestions probably goes against the spirit of competition," I said. "Do you want traditional Simon Says rules, or do you just want me to do anything you say?"

"I just want you to do everything I say," Rin said. "Without quibbling or poor attempts at humour. Start by making a new pot of tea."

That was a mild enough beginning, so I collected the tea things onto their tray and headed for the summer house.

"When you return, I want you to be dressed more appropriately," Rin added, as if I’d worn ripped jeans to a black-tie event.

Without quibbling or poor attempts at humour meant I couldn’t tell him I’d forgotten my maid’s outfit, so I held my tongue and continued into the small building. Then I stripped while the water boiled, leaving only the white with blue flowers underwear set that I tried to remember to wear whenever I knew there was a chance of Rin. The weather, while not bitter, wasn’t exactly panties-in-the-garden warm, either, so I chose a ginger tea, and enjoyed the pure pleasure in his eyes while I slowly walked back.

Since he watched without speaking, I simply set the tray on the table and sat down. The metal café chair had a mild chill, but at least wasn’t icy.

"I enjoyed the performance last week," I said, as he poured. "The original song was unexpectedly good."

"I set up a meeting for Saskia and Camila with someone I know in the industry. A little fine tuning and the song could take off."

"Given the popularity of videos of that performance, I think you’re right. Though, of course, there weren’t many who focused their cameras on the singer."

"You did."

I must have looked startled, because Rin reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, navigated a few pages and then passed it to me.

"Kyou filmed me?" I said, discovering an angled view of my face from behind.

"So he could show us your reaction. You can see the focus of your camera occasionally."

"Well, I made sure I got a good recording of the whole band," I said, smiling. "I try not to have too much about you three on my phone."

Rin played with his cup, then emptied it. "Bran’s set us up so that if someone grabs our unlocked phones, they’re not going to be able to browse certain locations easily. Though we’ve decided we have to resist keeping anything too compromising, much as I would like to film you now."

"Pictures last long enough to get careless, after all," I said. "And given how quickly you three got Tomas' passwords, I’m feeling far less secure about my own."

"Let’s not talk about Tomas today. Take the tea things back inside, Cheshire, and bring out two blankets."

This was easily accomplished, though I began to wonder if Rin really would deck me out in a maid’s uniform when we got to the fantasy costume round. I placed the folded blankets on the café table and looked at him with interest, curious as to where he’d go next.

"Strip me."

It had to be said that Rin, dropping his voice a note lower, deepening that light French accent, could rival Kyou in the sexy voice stakes. Or maybe it was just the anticipation in his eyes that sent a shiver down my spine. After a moment’s thought, I moved my chair over to use as a clothes-stand, and then began methodically from the top.

Even though we’d stripped each other on multiple occasions, it still felt extraordinary to peel layers off him, and reveal his lean and graceful body. Rin clearly found the whole thing as stimulating as the first time I’d done it: his champagne eyes were almost entirely black, and his breath grew increasingly audible.

He stood when it was time for me to work on his pants, and spread one of the blankets over his chair before sitting down again. I folded the last of his clothing onto the chair and looked at him enquiringly.

"Take off the underpants."

Since he didn’t mention my bra, I left it on, and deposited the panties on top of his clothes.

"Come over here."

I was barely an arm’s length away, but walked forward obediently until my knees were almost touching his. Glancing briefly at his truly impressive erection, I tilted my head.

"Turn around."

I had to admit that I was getting into this, even though the commands were unremarkable. Turning, I stood gazing at the summer house, and wondering when he was going to touch me. For a long pause he did nothing at all, and even though I knew he was deliberately drawing out tension, I still caught my breath, just a little, when he ran a finger up my spine.

This movement stopped when he reached my bra. He lifted the strap an inch or so, then let it go.

"Sit down."

I hesitated, then very tentatively began to obey, since his lap was currently not in a state for just sitting. A light touch on my hip guided me, and he had hold of himself, correcting our alignment. He was, of course, his own generously sized self, and I had a little more trouble than usual making myself relax. But it felt very pleasant going down.

Rin wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against his chest, and for a few moments we both just breathed.

"I don’t know why this feels so good," I said at last.

He leaned his head forward, so his cheek was pressed against my ear. "I’m going to take that as a compliment, rather than a comment on previous performance."

In this position, I could not only enjoy the sound of his voice, but I could feel it through the contact with his chest. The only issue I could see was that it would be considerably more effort for me to move up and down. Lacking orders, I held off on trying, and closed my eyes and breathed through his careful touches of my chest through my bra.

"Take it off," he murmured.

I reached around and unhooked, managed to neatly toss the bra onto the clothes-stand chair, and then waited with interest to see what he’d say next. This was a completely different experience than I’d expected from the Simon Says challenge, but I was appreciating it enormously.

He slid his hands down to cover mine, then shifted them so that my hands were on top of his.

"Touch yourself with me," he said.

This was only momentarily confusing, and then I hooked my fingers down between his and lifted his hands, admiring them. Long, slender, neatly manicured. I brushed the left gently across my stomach, and shivered at the faint roughness of musician’s calluses. I slid his other hand along my arm, paused to take a breath, and then floated between dreamy exploration and an impatience to move on him. But he solved this dilemma himself, pulling his right hand free from my grip and dropping it down to explore between my thighs, and move there with considerable purpose. Soon I was clutching his other hand in both of mine, biting my lip to keep back any noise, and bracing my back against his chest.

Once he’d reduced me to a puddle, Rin freed one hand to spread the second blanket on the table, then murmured: "Hold on."

I didn’t really need to, but still clutched his arm as he lifted me and rose, repositioning us smoothly so that I was tilted over the table. It was a far from graceful position, but more convenient for Rin to abandon some of his restraint.

"Sore?" Rin asked, settling me into his lap afterwards.

"Not yet," I said, then slid my arms around him, and rested my cheek against his shoulder. Rin stroked my back pleasantly, and further deepened my relaxed mood, making me want to just sit for a while, but a light cloud cover had arrived, and I started to shiver.

"I’m glad the sunlight lasted until now," Rin said, reaching for the blanket on the table. "Without it…well, let’s go in."

We relocated, and Rin made another pot of tea, set his phone to play a violin piece, and then curled up with me on the couch.

"Do you really have fifteen guitars?" I asked, snuggling against him.

"Next week I will have sixteen guitars. There’s a custom Gibson 335 that I can’t resist."

I laughed. "Are they your favourite instrument? Or do you have twenty-one drum kits as well?"

"Violin is my favourite, which is why I made it the one I officially play. I’m drawn toward strings, am weak in brass, and percussion is my indulgence."

"From now on I shall picture you letting loose on the bongos."

"You may laugh, but I do have some bongos. Two tabla. A pandeiro. Two different drum kits—one electric."

"Do they all fit in this secret office? You’re going to end up needing a warehouse."

"It shouldn’t be a problem next year—we’ve located what could become the perfect combination of office and residence. Currently a failed dance studio, with excellent large rooms that we can use for mo-cap and other activities. We’re hoping to sign off on the purchase this week."

This made me smile. "So, if you tell your parents you’ve bought a dance studio, do you think they would be relieved when it turned out to be for game development?"

"Sadly, I doubt I could convince my parents that I was interested in dance."

"You could be supporting Bran’s ambition to win a competitive tango tournament."

He shook his head. "I suspect my parents would consider traditional dance superior to game development. But anything outside medicine or business administration is going to disappoint them."

"Are they passionate about medicine?"

"They’re the kind of people who would devote their lives—or my life—to curing cancer, but would make sure to have a significant stake selling the cure. Setting the price to fair, which means returning the kind of profit that, while not so high it provokes public shaming, matches the achievement."

"What about you?" I asked, after digesting this. "Where would you set the price, after curing cancer?"

"Hm." He paused in toying with my hair, and lay back to consider the ceiling for a few moments. "I, too, would ensure a profit for myself. But I think I might err closer to the side of affordable to the masses. I hope I would, at any rate. Those are the kind of decisions that you can’t truly take credit for until you’ve made them irrevocably."

"You’ve a cynical view of yourself," I said, in a tone of compliment.

"I have to live down to your estimation of me, after all," he said.

Then he threw away words in favour of action. For this much-anticipated Simons Says challenge, he spent hardly any time ordering me about. It was only much later, after he had let me out through the fence, that my thoughts returned to Rin’s view of himself, and I wondered what my impression of him would have been if our first encounter hadn’t involved him agreeing that every second girl in the school would have sex with him.

Even though that was probably true.

Forty-Eight

"I hear you’ve been discussing mock tests with the grade coordinator. Are you tediously immersed in study once again?"

Shrugging, I followed Kyou into the garden. "In part. I’ve set up a study plan, and have revision targets every week, but I’ve left enough time for some touring about and incidental death matches with Lania. She’s quite formidable at Tyranny."

"Touring about?"

"Lania’s family’s visiting Dorsey Lake, and have a spare spot in the car."

"Possibly the most crowded time of the year to go there, and no doubt doubly so with Dorsey headlining the news this week. Are the Nichols rushing up in hopes of exploring fantastic crystal caverns?"

"We’re going to the west part of the lake, not where they’ve found those caves. They mightn’t ever let the general public near that, anyway, since there’s only one other site in the world with such large selenite formations." I took the vividly green tea he handed me, and added: "I can only feel sorry for the HSR engineers."

Kyou raised his eyebrows. "You think the caves will cause problems for the high-speed rail project?"

"Delayed for years, I would expect. Even if they decide that the vibration doesn’t pose a risk to the crystals, and no-one files a lawsuit to protect them, the cave system sounds extensive. Discovering that the only corridor through those mountains is completely riddled with near-surface caverns is going to mean, well, a hell of a lot of survey work before they continue construction. Makes me wonder what kind of survey they did previously."

I paused, because Kyou’s expression had gone very strange.

"You—your family wasn’t involved in the survey work, were they?"

"No, but they’re heavily invested in development around the HSR stations." He picked up his cup, put it down again, and smiled slowly. "Ten years, and most of the rest of the track far further along. For some reason the section through the Ramparts left to last. I really, really do have to wonder about that survey work."

"You mean…sabotage?" I asked. "Does your family have dramatic life-long enemies to go along with the internal fighting?"

"Well, competitors. Is rail construction something that interests you, Cheshire?"

"There’s usually plenty of bridges involved in HSR, so yes. Also lots of fun physics in the air pressure of very fast things. Almost everything about physics and engineering and architecture interests me, which is going to be one of my challenges because I won’t be able to resist signing up for a mass of extra courses at Helios U."

"Remember to at least leave your books behind on your trip."

"There won’t be much chance for study—we’ve a full schedule of nature walks and fishing. Staying at a camp site, but the Nichols have rented this multi-bunk cabin rather than trying out tents in winter. We’re going to toast marshmallows and freeze our butts off while telling ghost stories. What about you three? Other than buying a guitar?"

"The guitar’s in Shanghai, so no camping. The only other definite thing on our agenda is a sky walk, but there’s plenty of museums and concerts and a whole massive country for which a week isn’t nearly enough."

"Oh? Go to Guilin, if you get the chance. One of my favourite places on the planet. Scenery to die for."

"Site of another of your mother’s projects?"

"Research for my dad. He’s been working on a romance about a missionary who is secretly an atheist, and who gets caught up in a ghost marriage ceremony in China a couple of centuries ago. And it feels like he’s been writing it for a couple of centuries—he was pushing himself to improve as a writer, couldn’t decide on the ending, and threw up his hands to write a sequel to an earlier book instead. His fans will be happy to get the sequel, and I guess I’m happy with the delay, since we’ve been to Guilin four times in the last three years. But he’s very frustrated with himself. My dad’s usually able to write three or even four books a year, and he’s never spent so long on anything before."

"I hear we’ve recruited him to add racy sex scenes to Echoes," Kyou said.

"Every game sex scene I’ve ever seen has been more awkward than racy," I said. "But Dad said a game romance sounded fun. Though not this year, because he’s bounced off the Guilin story again, and his brain is melting, so he’s relaxing with some erotica."

"Does he usually have trouble with endings?"

"No, it’s because he’s trying to be literary to prove a point. Someone who tried to win my mother away told my dad he would never win the Booker Prize writing romances, so he’s trying to produce a story with a happy ending that critics will like."

Kyou laughed. "I very much hope he succeeds, then. Having a Booker Prize winner adding racy romances to Echoes will save us half the marketing budget."

"So long as he stays hung up on finding a Booker-worthy conclusion, I don’t think he’ll ever finish it." I sipped the tea, then grimaced and put it on the coffee table. "That’s truly awful."

Kyou sipped, paused, sipped again, then took our cups and emptied them into the sink. Then he picked up a small packet of tea from the bench and dropped it directly into the bin. "I’ll warn Rin to avoid it."

"How do you want to approach this challenge?" I asked, settling myself

"It’s only fair if we do everything the other tells us to. And think how much I’ll learn about your tastes when you tell me to get on my knees so you can step on me."

"Sounds like we’re going to learn more about your tastes. For me…" I slid my hands beneath his shirt. "I want you to talk, Kyou."

"Deploy my greatest weapon, hm?" That incredible voice dropped to an even more mesmerising note, and he pulled me closer. "Shall I recite some French poetry, Cheshire? Will that make you melt?"

"You speak French?"

"Technically, I am French, since I was born in Provence. The ancestral lands. Our great-grandfather prefers to speak it, and we get Looks if our accent isn’t up to standard. But all that infant strictness at least means I know some of the great French masterpieces for your appreciation. Let’s start with An Ode to Making Your Pants Fall Off."

This last was in French, and accompanied by a deeply sultry look. When I didn’t respond with anything other than a pleased smile, he began to describe my body parts, and how much he wanted to suck them, bite them, rub them with things that throbbed, and various combinations of all three. It took something for me to keep a suitable expression for the first few sentences, but Kyou’s voice is truly something special, and French only doubled its effectiveness, so it wasn’t long before the desire to giggle faded.

He managed to keep up a poetic-sounding monologue during all the process of shedding clothes, and then interspersed additional lines between doing exactly as he was describing, and didn’t tail off until well after he pressed me down on my stomach, when the tempo got too much for him.

"You just love it like this," he murmured in my ear, after he’d recovered enough breath to regain the seductive cadence. "And I swear, you come as easily as breathing, little cat. You go so tight I can barely hold on. It makes me want to pound you into eternity."

I shifted beneath him, moving so we were side-by-side and I could wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him for long minutes. Then I lightly bit his ear, and murmured in my not nearly so correctly accented French: "Have I ever mentioned that I’m a natural polyglot?"

His breath came out as effectively as if I’d hit him in the stomach, and then he laughed helplessly, and tightened his arms around me. "Cheshire, you wretch."

"French poetry sure is graphic," I said.

"You kept your expression perfectly. I was convinced you didn’t understand what I was saying."

"Different from what I asked for, but still highly evocative." I shifted back a little, smiling at him. "We have a similar weakness for amusing ourselves privately."

"Maybe Minx would be a better name for you."

I gave him what might pass as a cat-worthy grin. "Want to play some Tyranny, then revisit more French classics?"

He laughed, and slid a hand down my back. "Absolutely."

Forty-Nine

The trip with the Nichols made me miss my parents. Every Nichols family joke, minor squabble, or simple discussion over whether to take a break at the next rest stop were a constant reminder of similar trips, and brought home the fact that I had stopped in this one place, and my parents would keep moving.

I don’t often feel lonely, but the last few days of the week-long break made me reconsider my accommodation options for next year. Perhaps the dormitories or a share house might bring more benefits than annoyances. It wasn’t something I could arrange until after the exam results, so that remained the priority. Winning a place at Helios U meant I’d be starting a new school with pre-existing friends. A novel experience.

The atmosphere at Corascur was definitely shifting now that winter was almost over. There was a Sports Carnival and a concert sometime this half-term, but then the serious business of the final consolidation of years of study, followed by an exam prep break. I had been wondering how the Three Kings planned to help me de-stress during exam week, given the challenges would run out well before then, but decided it wasn’t worth raising at this point. I had, as I’d expected, reached the point of shying away from the inevitable end to this game. But I’d learned years ago to properly enjoy the things I liked while I had them, rather than focusing on departure dates and goodbyes, and refused to spoil my own fun.

All that avoidance left me unsure which of the three I’d most like to see, but when I reached the top of the wall on Tuesday and spotted Bran sunning himself on the picnic table, I found I was pleased. Even though the challenge wasn’t one of my favourites, I was always happy to spend time kissing Bran.

"How was China?" I asked, plumping myself onto one of the table benches and smiling at him.

"Near to overwhelming," he said, turning his head to look at me, and then back up at the sky. "Smoggy. Brilliant food. Too much to see. We didn’t even get out of Shanghai."

"Did Rin get his guitar?"

"Rin added two guitars, a thing called a pipa, and a variety of bamboo flutes to his collection. And a massive wind chime, taller than he is, which produces superbly low notes, and is destined for the new office rear courtyard."

"The dance studio place? Did you manage to buy it?"

He shrugged minutely. "Our offer’s been accepted, and we’ve exchanged contracts. Settlement date’s in a few weeks, and then we can start renovations."

"Is that the fun part, or tedious?"

"Probably both. We expect to have this place for at least a decade, and we’ve been dream-designing it for about the same amount of time, but the fine details of home renovation could go die in a fire so far as I’m concerned. I’m in charge of the tech spec, and Rin will take care of the rest. He likes that sort of thing."

Propping my chin on a fist, I gazed down at Bran’s face. Despite his tendency to bask in the sun, his skin remained improbably clear and white. Meggan’s frustration and ultimation had come about because Bran’s life plans were focused on best friends, not girlfriend. Would it have worked out if she’d decided to adapt to semi-permanent housemates, or would they always be getting in the way of each other’s relationships?

"Do you think you three will live together even after you get married?"

"Haven’t thought that far ahead. But that’s part of the advantage of an office with living space—even if you have a home outside, the shared building has purpose. We can overnight there when needed. For now, it’s walking distance to the university, and close to the tram line, so it’ll be convenient for both study and employees coming to the office."

"You have employees?"

"Part-timer at the moment. When we ramp up to Echoes, we’ll need larger premises to cope with the numbers, but next year we’ll only take on a staff of five to ten, depending on how quickly our development on One Step More progresses. We’ll start hiring after we’ve settled in at Helios U, and have some estimation of how much of our energy we’re going to have to reserve for our course load."

"Are you planning on multiple degrees as well?"

"Bachelor of Computer Engineering and Bachelor of Computer Science. I haven’t decided whether to go on to a PhD after that."

"Helios doesn’t offer degrees specifically focused on game design?"

"It’s not a pre-eminent university for it, but their offering isn’t bad. We’ll probably pick up some electives, but we’ll probably get more out of the internships we’ve arranged than we would out of a degree. I want to polish my software engineering skills, since one of my goals is my own game engine."

"We might be in a few classes together," I said, thinking about how awkward that could be if this particular game ended badly. "Some of the maths and physics."

"Possibly. I’m skipping the intro levels. If you do take more C++, you might come across Kyou or Rin. I’ve taken them through the basics, but they want to get a better understanding, even if it’s not their primary role." A slow smile curled the corners of his mouth and he turned his head just enough so he could look at me again. "I hear you’ve a talent for languages."

I laughed. "That was so much fun. Turns out I love French poetry."

"Or hoisting Kyou on his own petard." Bran snorted, but then added: "When the rest of us are all decrepit, he’ll still have that voice. Before puberty hit, he used to be this squeaky-voiced wisp, but then he suddenly shot up and started talking as if every word was buttered."

"While everyone around him started melting."

"People who are easily moved, at any rate," he said, dismissively, but then reached out a hand to me. "Come over here."

"Do you think I’m easily moved?" I asked, relocating to straddle his lower abdomen.

"Only so much as the wind is easily moved," he said. "I’ll be away next week, so you’ll have to rely on Rin and Kyou to move you."

"An extra holiday?" I asked, surprised.

"Surgery." He gestured vaguely at his throat. "Polyps."

"New ones?"

"Same ones, just larger. Impacts my breathing when I’m lying like this."

So naturally he chose to sprawl out on the picnic table to properly appreciate shortness of breath. Bran, I suspected, was feeling Complicated, and not quite able to hide it.

"Is there any risk?"

"Surgery always has some risk. Since I’m not concerned about losing my singing voice, the major one is a bad reaction to anaesthetic. And losing my patience with the recommendation not to talk for a week afterwards."

"What was your voice like, before you wrecked it?" I asked, keeping my own very level. "Speaking, I mean. Rin showed me you singing."

"No butter involved. Don’t go expecting you’ll get a second Kyou."

I tilted my head a fraction. "How are you at French poetry?"

He croaked out a few lines of Mignonne, allons voir si la rose, prompting me to roll my eyes.

"Yes, all roses fade. But will reminding me of my mortality win you this challenge?"

That brought out a crooked smile. "Well, we haven’t fully explored your tastes. Take off your top, Cheshire."

"Checking me for signs of deterioration?" I said, but shrugged off my pullover and tunic and dropped them on the bench.

"You’ll probably age quite well," he said, judiciously. "What does your mother—no, your grandmother—look like?"

My backpack was on the far end of the bench seat, and I had to lean back almost flat to grab it.

"Yoga is a bonus," Bran observed, after I straightened.

I pulled out my phone and found a family album, showing him my mother.

"Looks just like you."

"This is my paternal grandmother," I said, changing the picture. "I can’t show you pictures of my maternal grandmother, since she threw my mother out of the house for getting pregnant in high school." I adjusted my position slightly. "Teens, so horny, so careless."

"No wonder your mother looks so young. But this isn’t the 1800s—a little teen pregnancy isn’t that big of a deal. And no reconciliation after twenty years?"

"Because of my dad. This dirt-poor bi college kid who was always front and centre at every rights march, and whose only career plan involved writing frantically until something sold. It worked out for my parents in the end, but my mother’s family made everything a lot harder, so Mum has no interest in reconciling. Not that my maternal grandparents have ever tried to reach out or anything." I shrugged. "There are few perfect families. Will yours be waiting to see if your voice is worth something after the surgery?"

He laughed, a rough sound full of scorn. "They don’t know I’m going in. But, no, they’ve also moved on from the idea of me being the key to the circles they care about. That’s what my brother’s for."

"Your parents don’t know you’re having surgery?" I stared at him. "They’ll get a shock if the hospital needs to call next of kin."

"They would. But Kyou and Rin have Power of Attorney, and will be the ones getting any calls."

For a moment I was truly speechless. "When you three decide to start a company together, you really commit."

"We don’t want any of them making decisions for us."

I’d responded lightly, but struggled to hide my shock. While I was regretting moving away from my family, Rin, Bran and Kyou could not wait to escape from theirs. Bran I could understand, since his parents seemed to have pressured him to the point of breaking down, but what had Rin and Kyou’s done beyond regarding art and music as hobbies rather than careers? Of course, if my parents treated my bridges as a hobby, I’d want to cut them out of my decision-making as well.

"This is a very depressing conversation," I said. "How about we either play Tyranny, or you take off your clothes and try to make me not laugh at wheelbarrow?"

I knew which one he’d choose because I was sitting in the ideal spot to be sure where his thoughts had strayed. Rather than take his own clothes off, he sat up and plucked my bra free, tossing it aside so that it ended up dangling from the ivy covering the nearest wall. Then he ate my breasts thoroughly, followed by the rest of me, stripping my tights and pants off and sucking me until I could barely take it anymore.

Then, wearing a mildly triumphant expression, he picked me up and transferred me to the grass, leaving most of his own clothes on while giving me a thoroughly emphatic rendition of butterfly.

"Okay, I didn’t laugh," I said, a long time later. "I might need to cry mercy, though."

"Do that in game," he said, helping me up. "Do you want some coffee?"

"Sure."

Since the day was still quite warm, I walked around to the outside tap to wash up while Bran went into the summer house. Then I regretted the decision, since the water was two steps from ice. I collected my scattered clothing, wrapped myself in a towel followed by a blanket, and curled on the couch. We drank, and played Tyranny, and Bran seemed to be in a far less dour mood than before, stroking my arm between games, and occasionally nuzzling my throat. When it was time to go, he sat watching me dress, smiling lightly. But an alert from his phone made him frown. He glanced at the screen, and put it down again.

"We managed to get Tomas' phone," he told me. "There was nothing we could use to prove his involvement, but we can track him now, which will help for any future attempts. Take extra care, and let us know if you see him around you."

"Okay," I said, though with the private caveat that this meant more than the occasional glimpse that was usual for people in the same year.

Putting on my backpack, I looked at him, frowning just a little myself. Then I bent down and very lightly kissed him.

"Take extra care yourself," I said, very seriously, and left.

Fifty

Since Bran’s operation wasn’t until the next week, it was pointless for me to fret about him during this one, but I still managed to think about him a great deal over the next couple of days. In part it was simple curiosity, wondering what his voice would be like after the operation, and remembering how clear and perfect it had been in the video Rin had shown me. Even climbing the wall on Friday, I had at the back of my mind to ask how Bran was going, which was perfectly stupid since he was at school. Reaching the top of the wall, I spotted Kyou standing by the café table, and dropped down with a smile.

I had a wry remark ready as he turned to me, but forgot those casual words as he immediately pulled me close and sealed his mouth to mine.

Kyou likes ceremony, and it was unusual for him to depart from the little ritual of sharing tea that had opened almost all of our time in the garden. But I didn’t object to him mixing it up, and I appreciated a little impatience now and then. Shrugging off my backpack, I wound my arms around his neck, ready to settle in for a solid session of kissing. Kyou was more urgent, hands already beneath my tunic, hooking into the waistband of my tights and pulling down. He groped exposed flesh, fumbled with his fly, then pushed me against the bricks of the wall I’d just climbed over.

Surprised, I turned my head just enough to avoid thumping my skull, and then gasped as Kyou thrust into me. Fortunately, I’m usually already a little warmed up when I climb into the garden, so it wasn’t painful, though I would have preferred more time. He didn’t pause, pounding me against the wall.

This wasn’t at all how I’d expected Kyou to approach the standing up challenge, but surprise didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy it. With my underwear and tights at half-mast, I couldn’t hook my legs around him, but I did what I could, and he responded emphatically. He didn’t rush to the finish, instead seemingly determined to increase pace and strength while keeping me pinned against the wall. I found this unexpectedly exciting, and shifted experimentally, then bit back a second gasp as he shoved me harder into the wall and slammed so emphatically I could feel it through the whole of my body.

I was all over tingles when he finally sagged, and we were lucky to have the wall for support because our legs weren’t helping. I took two deep breaths, then chuckled softly, pecked him on the cheek, and said:

"I thought rough was next month."

He went still, then straightened, expression dismayed. "Oh, damn, Cheshire, did I hurt you?"

"If you’d hurt me, I would have thumped you," I said, studying the blue shadows beneath his eyes. "How about we clean ourselves up, and you tell me why you’re acting like you lost something important."

"Not something—everything," he said, then grimaced. "That sounds over-dramatic, but it’s close to true. I keep trying to put it in proportion, tell myself it’s only money, but—" He stopped, perhaps aware that pantless and somewhat messy wasn’t the best setting for explanations. "I’ll go make some tea."

He let me go, and I took the opportunity to slip off my shoes, and then strip my underwear. Because I’d once again sent the boy to use the sink, I went around and cleaned myself at the tap. At least the water wasn’t quite so cold this time.

Kyou looked more himself by the time I got inside, sitting on the couch, fiddling with the handle of the teapot. I sat beside him, stretched my legs under the coffee table and said: "I never thought I’d see you losing your head."

He made a sound not quite a laugh. "No. I’ve been half-mad today. The only thing that got me through the morning was anticipating this challenge. Just, for a little, being able to forget how badly I’ve fucked up."

"But what happened?"

"I fell into a trap. Followed my ego and jumped right in."

"Who set the trap?"

"My father and aunt. The usual."

"What, traps are a family tradition?"

He waved a hand. "It’s, oh, a recent escalation. I’m too valuable, you see." He gave me a sketch of a smile. "Too good at making money. And I haven’t been discreet enough, have been too clearly disinterested in the company, too obviously drifting out of their control. Too arrogant."

"Everyone needs a defining flaw," I said, taking the teapot from him. "But what was the trap?"

"An opportunity to make a lot of money. A company about to announce a significant software development. I threw everything I could into it and its subsidiary."

"Turned out the be vapourware?"

"Oh, the software is solid. But then a tax evasion investigation and a rights dispute came along, and before murmurs about that had even begun to spread, a hostile takeover developed at the precise, perfect moment to send the stock price through the floor. The acquiring company is known for stripping assets and abandoning the shell, and while the rights dispute is hot air—a clear setup designed to gain money for nothing—it’s not possible to make that clear in time to prevent the takeover."

"And this was somehow all a setup for you?"

"Let’s just say my family has some close ties with the acquirer. I knew how stupid I’d been even before the ultimatum came along."

I poured tea, and handed him a cup. "So, making you lose money wasn’t just spite?"

Kyou took the cup, but put it down on the coffee table, turning it restlessly.

"If it was just my money, I could stand the loss. But I can’t do this to Rin and Bran. They’ve been handing me eighty percent of everything they have since we were ten. It’s not just the funds for our company. It’s our university fees and living expenses. We’re not only going to have to give up on our ideal office, we’ll lose the deposit. Multiple deposits, since we were already working with a designer, not to mention ordering all the most fiendishly expensive equipment. And the timing—Bran about to go into surgery, and Rin practically choking on preparation for a career he couldn’t be less interested in."

"But what does your family actually want you to do?" I asked, a touch plaintively.

"Sign a ridiculous employment contract that would tie me down for the next decade. Sell myself to cancel the takeover."

"Wouldn’t it be possible to sign and then walk away?"

"If I did that, my father would bog Kybirn down in endless legal hassle and attacks, and might even win the penalty damages in that contract, which are so formidable that even my ego doesn’t think they’re warranted." He let out a long breath. "I need to put this into perspective. The employment terms they want me to agree to aren’t even full-time. I like finance, and could still work with Rin and Bran. Going along with them isn’t the end of the world."

Having reached this point, he picked up his teacup and drank, full of shaky resolve.

"Ultimatums are always enlightening," I said, slowly. "I’ve not met your family, but I don’t think they’d be great people to work for."

"I’m not going to sacrifice my friends because of a part-time inconvenience."

He’d gone so quickly from meltdown to arguing for servitude that I almost laughed. "You three are so close you’ve signed powers of attorney for each other, but you keep doing this not telling thing. Have you forgotten the year you spent trying to stop Bran from tearing himself apart, all because of an ultimatum you didn’t know existed? If only you’d give these life-changing decisions the same amount of discussion time you apparently do the sounds I make during orgasm."

"But the sounds are so cute," Kyou said, with a fractured hint of a smile. "Really, I can’t do it, Cheshire. I can’t make Rin and Bran give up on their dreams to pay for my mistake. You wouldn’t either."

"Who said anything about giving up dreams? Yeah, your development plans will have a bit of a delay, you’ll have to let go of this dance studio, and you probably won’t be able to live so close to the university. But if you three weren’t smart enough to find a way to afford your courses, a commute, and enough ramen to get you through the first semester, you’d never qualify for those courses in the first place. After that, Rin and Bran will sell a couple more songs, you’ll do whatever it is that supposedly makes you a financial genius, and your game development plans will be back on track."

"Very logical. You have a knack for turning mountains into molehills, Cheshire. Would you really be so sensible if someone took your bridges away from you?"

"No. If someone tried to break my dreams, I’d find whatever they cared about most, and raze it to the ground. Otherwise, how would they know never to try again?"

Kyou managed a brief laugh. "Crude and direct. I like it."

I finished my tea, and took the cup to the sink. "When’s Bran’s operation?"

"Tomorrow."

"Then you haven’t a lot of time for heartfelt discussion. I’ll leave. You call Rin and Bran over."

"Simon Says was last week," he said.

"Bonus round."

Kyou sat looking at me, jaw tight.

"I’m not saying don’t go down fighting, mind you," I added. "Even if there’s no way to stop this takeover, by all means make it as rough as possible. Smash a few things. Make them regret every penny they cost you."

He shook his head, but then paused. "I admit, ramen would taste much better served by a bonfire. I wonder what kind of mess I could make…"

He reached for his phone.

Fifty-One

"Thank you for talking sense into Kyou."

"So, he didn’t sign?"

Rin shook his head, and I sighed with relief.

"Nothing’s resolved yet, and I gather by Friday there’s a strong chance we’ll be—well, not destitute, but likely needing to sell our cars and perhaps half my guitars to fund next year. We’ll lose a lot of deposits, but not the core necessities. One More Step won’t be delayed significantly, and _Echoes_…" He shrugged. "An extra two-year design phase won’t kill us."

"Looking forward to ramen?"

He smiled. "We might have a regular ramen dinner just to celebrate that it isn’t really necessary. We’ve plenty of potential income streams, and Kyou has a true gift for turning money into money—that’s part of the reason his family is so determined to control him. He might even enjoy fooling around with the resources of the family business, if not for it being the family business. Giving people he hates power over him would be the worst path."

"Why does he hate them?"

"Because of his mother’s death, mostly. I won’t go into it. Let’s just say they treated her badly."

I nodded in understanding, and sipped today’s tea, which was a strong mint.

"How’s Bran?"

"Fine. Sleeping on the couch at our rented office, avoiding things that might make him want to talk. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of voice he has after this. While the operation was smooth, the doctors say there’s little chance he’ll sound exactly the same. Not least because he’s no longer thirteen."

"Do his parents still not know he had surgery?"

Rin shook his head. "We went to a hospital down in Sunderry, one not affiliated with our family, and it looks like we’ve managed to avoid gossip getting back. If he keeps his mouth shut around them, there’s every chance they won’t know for years."

"I was a little worried he’d postpone the surgery because of your upcoming plummet from the rich list."

"He decided it’s better to get it done while we can afford it so it won’t interfere with next year and our probable need to work more than expected." Rin swirled the dregs of tea in his cup, looking wry. "I’d say that worrying about finances isn’t ideal for his recovery, but he’s too busy obsessively watching our Tomas-locator to pay much attention to money."

"Have you finally spotted some suspicious activity?"

"It depends on whether you consider sitting outside Meggan’s house late at night suspicious."

"Ah. Is he taking up Bran’s favourite spot?"

"It wouldn’t surprise me. Well, no, if Bran did ever sit gazing up at Meggan’s window, he hasn’t done it lately. He’s made a lot of progress the last few months." Rin’s eyes curved to match his habitual smile, turning it into something lightly mocking. "You are wonderfully distracting, Cheshire."

"I try not to bore," I said, amused. "Have you given up on the idea of other suspects?"

"We don’t discount the possibility. But Tomas' display of forum-sniping is definitely obsessive. He occasionally has a shot at Kyou and I, but he outright hates Bran, far beyond anyone else I’ve encountered. While Bran’s demonstrations of advanced brooding wins him a few enemies, they’re all minor in nature, nothing compared to the vitriol Tomas is dishing. And he’s getting worse."

"Escalation?" I stopped taking this lightly. "Rather than waiting for him to attack you again, have you considered just handing over what you know to the police?"

"Skipping how we found out? We’ve considered it, but the problem is that police attention is the one thing almost guaranteed to prevent another attack. Which, unless he’s helpfully kept evidence of the earlier attempts, means that he never gets paid out for them."

"I thought you were only looking for enough evidence to satisfy yourselves."

"Ideally, we want both. Giving him a beating behind the sports hall isn’t so permanent a solution as an arrest. Or at least some mandated psychiatry." He put his cup down, and considered me. "I’m sure there’s a reason you aren’t naked yet."

"It feels like it’s your turn to strip for me," I replied mildly.

"Probably. But you do it so nicely, Cheshire."

Though the words were lightly provoking, I caught a weary note behind them. Rin might have shrugged at their upcoming financial set-back, but he was the one most constricted in his current life. Facing nearly ten years of planning falling into a heap, he couldn’t be nearly as calm as he acted. Rin was also the least likely to suddenly share the things that troubled him most.

Deciding I had no reason not to do as he asked, I stood, but then walked around behind his chair and leaned against him. Then I began a leisurely strip, occasionally having to move away from him, but always returning so that I was pressed against his shoulders, handing him each item of clothing in turn, and waiting while he folded it neatly and placed it next to the tea tray. Listening as his breathing slowly thickened always gave me a sense of achievement, and I was in a thoroughly good mood by the time I was naked, and he was unable to restrain small, restless shifts on his chair.

Wreathing my arms around his neck, I leaned forward and kissed the side of his face. "So, was that good for you?"

Rin laughed. "Only you could make not watching you strip so ridiculously…" He turned on his chair, pulled me into his lap, and kissed me hard.

A long interlude of kissing interspersed with further clothing removal followed, and then a relocation to the doorway of the summer house. Standing was a challenge very suited to Rin, and the doorway a good choice of location, since I could brace my legs against the opposite side of the door frame, though he barely had any head clearance.

We shifted to the couch after, and played some Tyranny. Rin proved to be the most aggressive of the three at the game, and several rounds of close battles seemed to work him up considerably, which led to an emphatic aftermath. I wasn’t entirely sure if it was the game or rapidly approaching poverty that had turned him silent and forceful.

Watching him dress, I decided to try to head off a third potential crisis, and said: "Do you have any dilemmas that you’re not sharing with Kyou and Bran? Can I encourage you now to talk to them before walking off a beach, or selling yourself into servitude?"

He glanced at me, expression not entirely amused, but then smiled lightly. "I’m the one who isn’t hot-headed."

"How badly is this money thing going to hit you? Really?"

Rin finished buttoning up his shirt, but eventually decided that I deserved the courtesy of an answer.

"It depends on how much we lose. Kyou is…well, spending money in a last-ditch attempt to save it. Bran and I gave our blessing, but failure has larger consequences. We really will have to sell most everything we have, and give up the internship we’d arranged over the break. Not to mention making the audition process for the Conservatorium far more complicated for me, since I was planning to do that in Sunderry to avoid notice. Just selling the cars will probably kick off my parental issues far sooner than I wanted, which in turn will spoil my sisters' birthday parties, and I particularly don’t want that."

"You’re the model big brother, huh?"

"I try to be. Fortunately, I bought all their presents ahead of time. Hopefully, I’ll be able to give it to them in person."

"Your parents would really forbid you from seeing them?"

"They know it’s the best way to control me."

"You keep making me glad my family is so relaxed," I said, shaking my head. "But you’re way too inventive to really be separated from your sisters."

"True enough." Rin shrugged. "I just find drama tiresome." He tucked a stray strand of my hair behind my ear. "Time to climb the wall, Cheshire. I do my best fretting alone."

Fifty-Two

Friday morning brought an icy cold wind, but by lunchtime the day had transformed to sun-touched warmth. We were definitely making a shift into spring. I appreciated the change, but my thoughts weren’t on the weather when I climbed the wall into the garden. The last few days had been full of rumours about Bran’s absence, with the forums rife with speculation about whether he’d run off with his new girlfriend, or done something to himself due to the failure of his romance. The gossip whipped into a storm thanks to Rin and Kyou’s tired and drawn faces, but knowing the true story didn’t help me. As encouraging as I’d tried to be, I hated that their plans had fallen into a heap.

The garden itself was empty, but I found Kyou sitting on the couch in the summer house, working with intent concentration on his laptop. He only glanced at me as I came in, his eyes red-rimmed and shadowed.

"Sorry, just finishing up. It won’t take five minutes."

"Any tea preference?" I asked, noting the scattering of empty cups. Had he been here all morning?

"Coffee."

I found the French press in the sink, cleaned it and brewed a fresh batch. He sipped, but then continued to work. Not able to decipher what he was doing, I simply started revising. It was more than half an hour later when Kyou sat back with a sigh, then firmly closed his laptop.

"Making a last-ditch effort?" I asked.

"In a way." His expression was savage. "Throwing all the remaining money we had into razing something to the ground."

I stared, then said: "So, ramen for breakfast, lunch and dinner?"

"Possibly." He looked at his cup, rejected the contents, then said: "I’m going to go have a shower. Can you wait?"

I nodded, wondering if it’d be more sensible to postpone. His phone, forgotten on the table, kept buzzing furiously, but even without it Kyou’s mind would definitely not be on me.

"I’m surprised you went with the destruction option," I said, when he returned, hair damp and face a touch less weary. "You lost your temper that much?"

"I lost my temper very much," he agreed, pulling me to my feet. "But in truth I’m also gambling. They tried to hold hostages, so now I’m doing the same, with an upcoming project that is a massive clan investment, and which will cause an explosion across all our families if it falls through. I’ve spent the last week looking for a way to break it, and discovered a critical vulnerability which my father and aunt just failed to seal. If they don’t step back from our funds tonight, something a good deal larger falls tomorrow."

"The high-speed rail project?"

"No, but I have to thank you for the hint that it will likely be delayed. That was helpful as an added pressure point."

His phone was buzzing again. He glanced at it, then turned it off.

"A game of brinksmanship," he said, taking hold of the scarf I was wearing and unwinding it. "Would you like to distract me, Cheshire?"

"Sounds like a plan. I was thinking that the sleeping bag challenge came a little late—I would have greatly appreciated it on one of those icy and wet winter days."

He laughed, and pulled me to him. "I’ve been debating whether to try to undress inside or outside the bag. It would have been fun to see you shivering just so I could warm you up." His hands were already sliding beneath my tunic. "Oh, and a favour for the future—when we actually do reach the rough challenge, wear something you don’t care about, because I’m going to tear it off you."

His kiss was hungry, similar to the energy of the previous week, but without the lack of restraint. He broke away almost immediately, and began efficiently losing layers of clothing. I followed his lead, forgetting all assorted distractions.

The sleeping bag—a spacious type we’d have no trouble fitting into—had been draped over the back of the couch, and he simply spread it on the cushions, then slid in, and held the mouth wide so I could join him. He tickled me lightly as he helped me down, and then manoeuvred immediately on top of me and disappeared from sight, kissing and biting at my neck, my shoulders, my chest and then my breasts: quick little clasps with his teeth, like a cat showing affection. Constrained by the sleeping bag—Kyou was more or less crouching toward the bottom of it—I could do little more than tangle with his hair, or stroke his shoulders, but I didn’t object to simply experiencing this. I had definitely warmed up, and grew impatient very quickly, shifting and then pulling him so he moved upward.

"Go hard," I whispered.

Kyou caught his breath, paused, then slid his hands down and hooked them under my thighs, pulling my knees upward. The sleeping bag almost bound my legs in place, but the zip along the side parted under pressure and he was able to get me as he wanted, with my knees high and his weight braced on my legs. Then he did as I asked.

I’m not vocal during sex, and always make an effort to keep any kind of laughter or gasping to a minimum in the garden, but he drove several muffled cries out of me, and I came within the shortest of times. As I tried to catch my breath, he responded by increasing in intensity until the sound of us pounding together was a clearly audible smacking, and I clutched at his arms, my entire body lifting beneath him, a prolonged tightening shifting close to agony, until he groaned, spasmed, thrust two times more, then collapsed.

He let go of my legs—it felt like his fingers had left imprints on my thighs—and I straightened up, then wriggled a little to one side, prompting him to shift his weight off me. His arms slid around me and we just panted together for a while. My whole body felt fuzzed out, as if it couldn’t remember how to function properly.

"Hard enough?" he whispered at last, and I laughed into his throat, and then kissed his collarbone, and rubbed my cheek against his chest.

"Quite," I murmured, and lay there happily, listening to Kyou’s breathing grow less jagged. "This would be considered a successful distraction, I’m sure," I added.

A tiny snore was the only response.

I lifted myself onto one elbow to regard one exhausted boy, sleeping peacefully. I leaned forward and kissed the slight upward turn at the outward corner of one eye, then slipped out of the sleeping bag, quickly cleaned myself up, picked up my physics textbook and slid back in, doing up the zip. He’d earned a short rest.

* * *

Weight, pressing down. I stirred, blinking at blackness, found myself pressed by bare skin, and wriggled out from underneath. I tugged the edge of the sleeping bag down, winced, and pushed it back up again. Sunny midday had been replaced by frigid darkness, cold enough to make my nose sting. I peered more cautiously this time, keeping my lower face covered, and could barely make out the outlines of door and window. Full night. I could hear no sound at all, outside Kyou’s steady breathing.

Briefly, I considered waiting until morning, but the temperature might be even worse then, and the darkness at least would cover what was probably some necessary sneaking.

Wondering if he’d missed the proper moment to prevent the fall of his family’s financial empire, I stroked Kyou’s cheek, then gently shook his shoulder.

He woke almost immediately, and I enjoyed following him through the same little stages of confusion I’d gone through, down to the wincing withdrawal from the air outside the sleeping bag.

"Cheshire?" he said.

"You’re not sure?" I snuggled against him. "Kyou, has anyone told you that you’re a wonderful hot water bottle?"

"That’s definitely a first." He risked another peek outside the safety of the sleeping bag, then ducked down again. "Any idea what the time is?"

"It feels late. I can’t hear any traffic."

"Huh." He lay still for a while, then shrugged. "Well, it’s over now, one way or other. Master level distraction, Cheshire."

"Lack of sleep contributed more than I did, I think," I said. "What’s the night security on the school like?"

"A patrol, cameras. Don’t forget there’s dormitories over on the east side." His hand gently touched my hip, then slid to the small of my back. "How are you feeling, Cheshire?"

"Starving, and need to pee," I said with a chuckle and faint regret for my lack of midnight romantic urges. "I just can’t bear the thought of leaving the sleeping bag and finding my clothes. Dare we turn on a light?"

"I’ll wake my laptop."

He unzipped the sleeping bag, letting in knives of ice to stab our exposed flesh. He swore, groped, and took several long seconds to conjure light. I moved as soon as the glow of the laptop gave me better guidance, and pounced on the tangle of clothes draped on chair and coffee table, tossing a shirt to Kyou before hastily hauling on my underpants and trousers. My teeth were chattering by the time I found my tunic. I decided not to care about my bra, adding only my outer layers. Then Kyou draped his parka over the top.

"Keep the hood up," he said. "There are security cameras on the parking lot where my car is, and if anyone should ever review them, you’re the one who needs to be unidentifiable."

I didn’t argue, finding my scarf and then putting on my shoes, and tossing everything else in my backpack. Kyou rolled up the sleeping bag, and I rescued my textbook from the floor where I’d dropped it.

It was even colder outside the summer house, and our breath came in clouds. We walked briskly, not running, faces swathed in our scarves, hands in pockets. I had arranged my backpack under Kyou’s parka, and the fur-lined hood pulled so low I almost couldn’t see. Everything I was visibly wearing was standard school issue, so no-one would be able to identify me from camera footage, but even so we detoured out through the removable bars, and then walked into the school grounds from the teacher’s carpark, as if we’d come in from outside.

No-one met us, and I didn’t see any movement at all, thankfully. A single security guard or student could complicate my life enormously. Kyou’s car was a low-key but internally luxurious electric model, which he started as soon as we were inside. The dashboard told me it was 2.30 am.

"Check who went over the brink," I said, as he turned up the heater. "Or I’ll spend the weekend wondering."

He reached into his backpack, grabbed his laptop, and balanced it against the steering wheel. A few screens, and his change of posture told me everything I needed to know.

"Congratulations."

He started to smile, then paused, frowned, and began typing furiously, hands dancing over the keyboard. I decided not to interrupt, and instead picked up the phone he’d left on the console. Usually, I wouldn’t step over this line, but it was a night for forgetting boundaries.

There were more than thirty missed calls, and dozens of texts. The most recent was from Stormcrow, which I knew immediately would be Bran. The next most recent was from I Am The Very. The majority of other names were insults: Little Weed, Finger Wagger, Bully in Manolo Blahnik. I put the phone back without reading any more, and restrained the impulse to urge Kyou in the direction of a toilet, hot food, and a shower.

As soon as I put it down, Kyou’s phone buzzed, and the dashboard lit up with a call from I Am The Very.

"Answer," Kyou said, without pausing in his typing, and added: "Hey," when the call signal changed.

Twin sighs came over the car’s speakers, replete with a mix of relief and annoyance.

"We’re in your bedroom," an unfamiliar voice said, and it took me a moment to realise it must be Bran, with all the harsh edges smoothed off. "Where the hell are you?"

"Not stupid enough to be in my bedroom when my father is on the warpath. Get out of there."

"Why didn’t you call, idiot?" Rin said. "We were picturing you on a rooftop."

Kyou glanced up, then said: "I’d think you know I’m not the rooftop type. Anyway, we’re clear, they folded."

"They really folded?" Rin said, and there was a catch in his voice I’d never heard before. "Now I’m free to admit I’ve been sick to my stomach all week."

"Prepare for a celebration tomorrow. The cancellation of the takeover has created an opportunity. I’ve just sold all the shares in the subsidiary, and am grabbing everything I can in the main company while the price is still so low. The profit on this exercise will be high."

"Madman." Bran’s voice was full of affection. "Do you need anything? Should I clear room on the couch until your dad gives up on choking you? Or are you holed up in a hotel?"

Kyou chuckled, that beautiful, rich voice adding a note of gloating. "I’ll come to the office after I’ve finished making sure we get the most out of this, and have dropped Cheshire home."

Silence.

"Did—did you fall asleep in the summer house?" Rin asked. "Until now?"

"So cold," I murmured feebly. "So hungry."

Bran’s laughter filled the car. "Kyou, make money later."

"Getting there. I’ll see you in an hour or so." Kyou brushed the console touchscreen, then looked at me.

"Make money in the parking lot of the nearest fast-food joint," I said. "Presuming there are any open at this time of night."

"I know of a possibility," he said, and handed me his laptop before shifting the car into drive.

I wasn’t familiar with trading websites, but the charts on the screen and a small amount of mental arithmetic left me dizzy. Stupid of me to overlook what type of school this was. I’d been thinking in the realm of hundreds of thousands, but had forgotten the Three Kings came from Money. Kyou had been trading in British pounds, and the investment he’d rescued was currently in the region of thirty million.

Wondering how my parents would feel about three high schoolers with more money than they’d earned in their lives, I did a quick historical search on the former price of the hostage company’s shares, then decided not to think about it anymore.

There was a chicken restaurant only five minutes away. Kyou ordered while I went to the bathroom, and when the food came, I took it back to the car while he washed up. We were parked in a corner, and were undisturbed as I played with my phone and ate fries and Kyou munched absently as he continued to work. It was only another ten minutes before he closed the laptop with a snap and started on a sandwich.

"Don’t turn your head," he said. "Someone just took a picture of the car."

"So long as they don’t follow us home," I said, but then wiped my fingers and replaced the scarf over my face.

Kyou grinned. "I commend you for remembering to keep the hood up."

He wrapped the remainder of his food and restarted the car. "Address?"

"I’m surprised you don’t know it."

"I do. I’m pretending."

I laughed, and sat back as we made excellent time through the quiet streets, stopping in a no-parking zone outside my apartment block. "I’ll stay here until you’re inside."

Nodding, I slipped out, and was about to shut the door when I remembered borrowed clothing, and said: "Oh, your parka," my hand going to the zip.

"Keep it. I’ll daydream of you walking around in it and nothing else."

"Then I’ll do that some time. Goodnight, Kyou."

"See you soon, Cheshire. And…thank you."

Fifty-Three

Kyou’s late night food run enlivened the forums over the weekend, but the general consensus was that his companion was Bran, being talked off a ledge. Fortunately, whoever had been taking photos arrived after we’d left the store, since no-one who’d seen me dashing to the Ladies would think I was Bran. Monday brought more rumours because Kyou was absent, while Bran had reappeared.

"Caught a cold," Rin told me on Tuesday.

"Damn, now I feel bad. He lent me his coat."

"It’s a stress reaction. He gets sick after competitions he cares about, too. Last week was the most stressed he’s been in his life, and now he can’t even get out of bed. He and Bran are staying in a hotel—separate rooms because Bran really doesn’t need a cold."

"They’re not planning to go back home?"

"Kyou’s too angry—not to mention liable to earn a black eye—while Bran’s curious to see if his parents will notice if he only goes home once a week to fill up his laundry basket. We’ll get a short-term rental."

"That will cause much joy for the Kyou/Bran enthusiasts. How’s Bran’s throat? I barely recognised his voice on Friday."

"No sequelae so far. He’s entertaining himself only responding to people in grunts, or so softly they can’t catch the change in his voice. He’s going to try to get to graduation without anyone noticing."

"And how are you?" I asked, as he handed me a cup of green tea. "Planning extra presents for your sisters?"

"Yes, actually. Horrible as it’s been, we’ve ended up well ahead of where we expected to be financially, and so we’re indulging ourselves. Mainly by upgrading our motion capture rooms and sound studios, but also in small things."

"Another ten guitars?"

"Only one so far. But it is a very expensive guitar." He sighed, leaning back on his café chair. "Kyou’s set aside a living expenses fund separate from the company investments, so we won’t face anything so dire again. We should have done that anyway, for accounting purposes and what-have-you. We’ll be more formal about these things from now on."

"Your taxes must be interesting."

"We throw them to an accountant. Who knows what she’ll make of them this year? Did you enjoy waking up with Kyou, Cheshire?"

"Once I’d wriggled out from underneath him. Whose idea was the sleeping bag challenge? Bran’s?"

"Bran likes to camp." He glanced at me. "And Meggan doesn’t."

"What about you and Kyou?" I asked, not willing to be drawn. "Camping?"

"We all like getting off the road and exploring. I’m not one for tents, though, so I’ll sleep in my car wherever possible."

"Sounds uncomfortable."

"I chose my car based on its ability to transport awkwardly shaped instruments, so the one thing it has is room. I’d demonstrate how well it fits sleeping bags, but the couch will have to do."

His smile had turned meaningful, so we relocated to the summer house, and spent some time indulgently stripping each other. Rin spread out a sleeping bag even larger than Kyou’s, but then paused to set an alarm on his phone.

"Tuesday is not a good day to overstay."

"Neither was Friday," I said, wriggling into the sleeping bag ahead of him. "That was too careless of me—I’m not used to falling asleep accidentally."

"Once we’d recovered our nerves, Bran and I were quite sick with jealousy," Rin said, in a tone that didn’t show any hint of green. "Did you sleep with your actor?"

I blinked up at him, then shifted a little as he ran his hand over my chest through the thickness of the sleeping bag.

"No, Kyou is officially the only person I’ve ever slept with in the literal sense—at least outside infancy, or sharing rooms with dorm mates. You can tell him that, some time you want to cheer him up." I smiled mischievously. "And you’re the only person who has ever borrowed my underwear. How does that sound?"

Rin’s response was to turn to my pile of folded clothes, and move underpants and bra to a pocket of his backpack. It was the tartan set today, and I wondered if I would get it back, but didn’t say anything as he returned, and carefully slid into the bag beside me, trapping me against the back of the couch.

Teasing Rin often results in him punishing me with enthusiasm, but today the kisses he gave me were slow and gentle. A rare mood for Rin, and I let myself fall into it, occasionally opening my eyes so I could appreciate his ridiculous lashes, and the delicate strokes of his eyebrows. For all his height, he was the most fine-boned of the three, his face an almost perfect blend of masculine and feminine.

We moved together very gradually, staying on our sides and, in the aftermath, Rin held me close with my head tucked beneath his chin. Not being sure what to say, I kept my mouth shut. I’d always felt Rin approached the challenges with a certain level of detachment, and a willingness to be entertained. It was an attitude I’d appreciated, and I hadn’t expected such an extended serving of tenderness.

The interlude was interrupted by the persistent vibration of my phone. Rin stretched a long arm back and snagged it from the coffee table, paused to glance at the screen, then handed it to me. I looked, then answered.

"Hi Christophe," I said, wondering how Christophe would react if I opened up video chat.

"Darling, did you know?" Christophe asked, without preamble. "You must have known! Why didn’t you warn me?"

"How could I be sure she’d cast you?" I responded.

"Mika. Don’t even. I still have to go in for a reading."

"Do you have the script yet?"

"I’ve been devouring it. I always said he’d come to a bitter end, but didn’t expect the twist. Such a juicy role. Darling, I’m going to owe you for the rest of my life."

"Not really. Do you know when she’s going to shoot? Is this going to impact your enthusiasm for Peru?"

"May asked about my availability from September. Thankfully I didn’t have anything firmed up. Peru should still be a go, though now I’m wondering if Millie might be able to crew on Sea of Silver. Pull some strings for me?"

"My influence on hiring decisions is precisely zero. Aren’t you the one who gets to pull the strings now?"

"Maybe! But I don’t want to put Millie under the spotlight."

"Just me?"

"Fortunately, you stay off socials. Though the ideal is to have no-one under scrutiny, just vague talk about a good friend. Are you actually running around telling people we’re together?"

"No, just that we haven’t formally broken up, and are still in touch."

"Good. I’ll stick with a similar story. There but for ten thousand miles, etcetera."

"I’m happy to be your one that got away."

"Darling. Can we at least call it catch and release?"

I snorted, said: "Talk to you closer to Peru," and hung up.

Rin’s expression was very mild. "Perhaps not as enjoyable as listening to you turn Carr down, but still intriguing. What has your ex so excited?"

"He just found out that the sequel to Sky of Diamond has his character as the protagonist," I said.

"Really? I heard there’d be a new Courtney soon, but didn’t know it was about the Margrave. Why was he thanking you?"

"My mother’s a friend of May Brunsfield. May met Christophe because I took him to gawk at the set just when she needed a sexy Brit to fill a bit part vacant at the last minute."

"Oh? So, you’re the one with all the connections? How did your mother get to know May Brunsfield?"

"Worked as her production assistant, back when I was around…four, and May was just as penny-pinched as my parents. During the filming of Sky of Diamond, May wanted to streamline her production process, so brought my mother in to consult. That’s how I ended up at a performing arts school—not to mention being an extra in the movie for one of the crowd scenes. My parents live very interesting lives, and I get juicy benefits tagging along." I paused. "Well, I did."

"Feeling left behind?"

"In a way. They’ll never automatically be there with me again—it’ll always be an arranged get-together. Is that how you’re feeling about your sisters?"

"In part. Since I’ve been swapping households for years, my idea of belonging is reasonably complicated."

"Do your sisters get along with each other?"

"Usually. Some occasional friction, but they enjoy nothing more than ganging up on me."

"Takes four of them to hold you down, huh?"

I attempted to tickle him, and he responded as I expected, which gave me plenty of enjoyment until the alarm on his phone interrupted.

Fifty-Four

Friday brought me Bran, sitting at the picnic table, focused on his laptop.

"I hear you’re in a foul mood," I said, sitting beside him.

"Not talking to people is not easy," Bran said, writing a formula in a cell of a spreadsheet. "I’ll probably have to give up the idea."

This was the first time I’d heard his voice directly, and I found it more recognisable than it had been over the phone. "It’s like I’ve only ever known you when you had a rotten cold," I said.

"Most of this school has only known me when I had that voice," he said, with a twisted smile. "Where’s somewhere really public I can suddenly start talking loudly?"

"Aren’t you three doing presentations or something at the Sports Carnival?"

"I’ll never last another week—not unless I want to write lines for being impolite to teachers."

"Have lunch in the cafeteria and chat a lot?"

"Probably simplest." He did something that highlighted a handful of names on the screen. "This won’t take me long."

The spreadsheet seemed to list competitors for the Sports Carnival. "And here I thought your contribution to the Student Council was purely decorative. What are you checking?"

"People signed up for more than three events. Theoretically something the teachers should be on top of, but they love nothing more than putting students in charge of these things."

"I’ll enjoy the view while waiting then."

Propping my chin on my hand, I settled in. He glanced at me, but didn’t say anything else, turning back to the spreadsheet and ignoring me while I catalogued his features. Excellent proportions, lovely jaw, extraordinary skin quality. Oatmeal-coloured hair shadowing dark brows and grey eyes in a fatal combination. His lashes weren’t as long as Rin’s, but they were dark, and made his eyes stand out even more. He had the best cheekbones of the three, almost on Carr’s level.

Currently, he also had a hint of pink to the tip of his ears, making it impossibly tempting to tease him. Who knew the surly, irredeemably gruff boy had a touch of marshmallow to his innards? I restrained myself, opting for small talk.

"Rin said you like camping. What’s your ideal camping trip?"

Bran saved his spreadsheet, mailed it off, and shut down the laptop before answering.

"The best we’ve had so far was Lake Carnavan in mid-autumn. We canoed to an island, fished, and roasted the only thing we managed to catch over the fire. The weather was just cold enough to appreciate the fire without truly needing it. Carnavan’s up north, if you don’t know it—well away from any cities. We could see the Orion Spur."

"Sounds beautiful," I said, in part because his voice was so easy and pleasant now, with only a hint of a burr. "You managed to get Rin not to sleep in his car?"

"That was before he had one. Given their hiking in Patagonia, I take it your parents aren’t averse to wilderness trips?"

"They try to fit in a week every year. They used to be very gung-ho, but now they usually do the thing where you carry just a day pack, and your camping supplies are waiting for you at a point on the trail ahead. Which is a philosophy that works well for me."

"Do you have a favourite trip?"

"Not strictly camping, but we took a boat and toured all these tiny islands in Indonesia, and each afternoon we would anchor on the prettiest, string up hammocks, and sleep beneath the stars. I was fourteen, and very into SCUBA diving, so I just loved the whole experience." I laughed. "Also my dad’s least favourite trip because that’s where we met this guy who has persistently shown up in front of my mother to shake his tail and suggest that my dad’s is a little moth-eaten. My parents have turned shutting him down into a private sport, but it’s still annoying."

"Bugs always try to work their way in," Bran said, which might be a reflection of his long relationship with Meggan.

"Any French poetry today?"

Bran snorted. "How many languages do you actually speak?" he asked.

"I can more or less understand around twelve, but speaking is a different question. I have a rough grasp of Mandarin, for instance, but I’m hopeless speaking it. I’m only considered fluent in English, French, Pinyin, and Spanish."

"Only?" he said, with a twisted smile. "I think I need to give you another dancing lesson to balance out my ego."

"Have I been that bad a student?"

"You can dance to a basic level if you’re concentrating on it," Bran told me, tone making it clear this was a very low bar. He picked up his phone and made a few selections. "Let’s try you with waltz first. This is a medley of suitable music. Rules are no stopping, no looking at your feet, and no counting out loud."

These rules proved difficult to follow, but Bran expertly corrected me when I fell out of step. Dance isn’t something I had the time or motivation to take up properly, but I had to admit that when you had a good partner, there was a unique feeling I’d not encountered before.

"Cheshire is the perfect name for you," Bran said, after three songs. "The way you smile when you’re particularly enjoying yourself almost leaves afterimages."

"Thank you," I said, with a laugh. I tilted my head a little, then added: "I’m trying to work out if that’s the first compliment you’ve given me. Oh, no, wait. Nice legs. You started out strong."

"Are you going to continue to wear unnecessarily long skirts next year?" he asked, pulling me closer as the music shifted into a slow dance.

"I haven’t really thought that far ahead. Most of my current wardrobe is school uniform, so I’ll have to shop." I shrugged. "I’ve been enjoying being low key this year. Perhaps the same number of admirers, but a lot less talk about me on forums."

He smirked. "The talk about you lately has been highly amusing."

"Ye-es." Lania’s obedient attempts to spread word of my long-distance boyfriend had given me a reputation for being a delusional fangirl. "Perhaps I’ve been dressing a little too far down."

"Don’t you have any photographs to prove you’re not making it up?"

"Sure. But what fun would that be?"

"Preferable to be mocked on the forums?"

"Preferable to have them mock me openly, let them gloat for a while, and then have Christophe post something on his Instagram. A good face-slapping needs build-up to be truly relished."

"We all have our little hobbies," he said, and kissed me.

We danced, shedding clothes all over the lawn, and finally found one of the café chairs. This was a great position with Bran, because I could kiss him a lot before and after the energetic part. For kissing, Bran truly is incomparable.

"Is Kyou feeling any better?" I asked, much later.

"Three quarters recovered. He’ll be back next week."

"Did you end up getting an apartment together?"

He nodded. "We looked for one in your building—and there actually was one available—but we regained our sanity and found something a block away from the school instead."

"Tomas would certainly have found you moving in next door to me interesting," I observed, glad I wasn’t fooling around with extreme idiots. "Has he done anything incriminating yet?"

"Nothing. I’ve decided to provoke him." He glanced at me, expression complicated, but then started looking for his clothes.

Wondering if it was the potential danger or something else that had produced a sense of evasion, I weighed my responses, but simply told him to be careful and tidied myself off to Art Club.

"Mika. Got a minute?"

Lania had asked me in Home Room if I was planning on Art Club today, so I knew there was something she wanted to talk about even before hearing her faintly worried tone.

"What’s up?" I asked, as we strolled toward the long building that housed all the art rooms.

"Can I ask, um, oh, this is going to sound weird."

"Intriguing! Is it something we can safely talk about in front of Sean, or do you want to walk down to the river to chat?"

"River’s probably a good idea."

We followed the path past the building, and I remembered seeing Rin, Bran and Kyou going by here, what seemed like centuries ago.

"New boat house is nearly finished," I observed as we approached. "Now the weather’s improved, I think I might have lunch down here occasionally. I’m surprised more people don’t."

"The walk back up is hell on the calves," Lania said. "And if you’re not paying attention, it’s easy to end up missing class."

And in early spring, it was chilly and damp by the river, despite the sunshine. We found a bench sunbathing on a low rise and sat down.

"This is going to sound really nosy, Mika, but how—how rich are your parents?"

I paused, then shrugged. "When I started at this school, I thought they were positively rolling in it, but they’re certainly low on the rich list of parents here. Five or six years ago they were comfortably middle-class, but then we hit a really rough patch: my paternal grandmother got tricked by some phone scam and nearly lost her house and my parents took out a lot of loans to help her out. Just as we were reduced to living on rice and the smell of cooking from downstairs, both their careers went up a notch. My mother can earn around a half million US a year now, as a special consultant. My Dad is more complicated. Atherton Mullahy, for instance, only earns him about $15,000 a book, but the rise of self-publishing turned Rock Hardison into a steady income stream, and he has a loyal readership there. For his more literary pen name he signed with a new publisher who really supported him, and he’s been popular enough there that his backlist has been reprinted, and there’s been a bunch of translations and other deals that all added up. What felt like endless money falling from the sky is still small change here, I know, but they’re legitimate multi-millionaires now, and they did it from nothing. Is it important for my parents to be rich?"

"Yes," Lania said, firmly. "Last night my dad told me that your mother has been suggesting that my parents could start their own boutique accounting firm, and that your parents could be their first clients."

"Really?"

That startled me considerably, mainly because I knew and liked my parents' accountant, so after a moment’s thought I fished out my phone and called my mother, setting audio to speaker.

"Mum, is Evelyn retiring?"

"Working her way to it," my mother said. "Probably the beginning of next year."

"Wow. End of an era."

"She says she’s going to wallow in the Seychelles with her 'attendants'."

"That sounds like Evelyn. How do the Nicholls come into it?"

"I recommended them as a handover possibility. Ryan already deals with unusual cases, and Rachel’s got a solid foundation in international tax law, along with being creative. Evelyn said she’d test them out on a couple of accounts, to see if they have potential, starting with me and a client local to Helios. I think they’ll do well, and if they do, Evelyn will take them on as junior accountants, and spend the rest of the year teaching them all her tricks. Not all Evelyn’s clients will take the handover, of course, but enough will to give Rachel and Ryan a foothold."

"I can only pity them if they end up trying to keep Dad’s taxes in line."

"Now that Gareth has a more…contactable agent, that’s no longer such as Sisyphean task. How’s school, kiddo? How are you sleeping?"

"I’m doing pretty well. How’s the mine?"

"Depressing. Interesting on a technical level. The Chief of Operations is tolerable. But I’m in the busiest phase now, so I’ll chat to you later."

"Okay. Bye Mum."

I killed the connection and smiled at Lania.

"Evelyn’s this incredible New Yorker: tiny, about seventy, has a voice like gravel, and wears a bobbed platinum blond wig to set off her blood-red lipstick. She runs an international tax service for billionaires who try to cling to their ethics as well as their money, so it’s all about tax minimisation without actually being tax evasion. One of my Mum’s clients recommended her when we were still digging Nan’s house out of its multiple mortgages, and my parents went to meet her and ended up on this incredible bar crawl that started in Manhattan and somehow ended up in Chicago. The first thing she did after they all sobered up was tell my dad to change his agent because his current one was not only a flake, she was cheating my dad in every way possible. If Evelyn does recommend your parents to her wildly diverse clientele, not only will it be just about as interesting as accounting can ever get, but, well, it’s lucrative enough that Evelyn not only keeps a toy boy, she keeps several. She likes to oil their abs. So, I definitely think it’s a good idea for your parents to at least give it a shot."

Lania laughed unevenly. "For the abs?"

"I’m not sure they come with the business."

"Mika, everything seems to take a turn for the fantastic when you’re involved."

"I’d offer to be your manic pixie dream girl, but I don’t think I’m nearly quirky enough. Feeling less worried?"

"Still thinking about the abs."

Fifty-Five

Monday brought forum excitement, as Rin, Kyou and Bran made one of their infrequent appearances at the main refectory to hold a lively discussion primarily revolving around World Cup soccer, though the topic was insignificant compared to the revelation that Bran’s voice lacked the fifty pack a day rasp that was as much a part of him as a brooding gaze directed at his feet. In an impressive display of control, the Three Kings kept up an even conversation while people at neighbouring tables openly filmed them, and finally one brave soul—inevitably Sean—walked up, leaned on their table and said to Bran: "Oh, great god, let me save you a day of whispers and ask outright. Your voice! How?"

"Took time off for surgery," Bran said, with an impatient frown. "Isn’t that obvious?"

"But—but, what changed? You’ve not been able to have an operation until now?"

Bran shrugged. "A friend encouraged me to risk it," he said, picked up his tray, and headed toward the servery hatch. The camera caught Rin and Kyou’s glance at each other before they followed suit.

Part one of the Tomas provocation. Part two was an afternoon encounter with Meggan, closing with Bran walking off with her.

"The forums sure have been lively," I told Rin on Tuesday.

He handed me a green tea, then sipped his own. "Tomas has been practically living on them. And—" He put his cup down. "We finally have something definite."

"Really?"

"He logged into an account he’d not touched the entire time we’ve been watching him, one he doesn’t have bookmarked, and which he cleared from his history after visiting. The keyboard logger captured his password, so we not only have what he ordered this time, but his purchase history."

"What’s in it?"

"Chemicals. A previous order for ergotamine tartrate, which is a step toward making LSD."

"Is the President of the Literature Club chemist enough to make a Breaking Bad sequel?"

"He’s a strong science student. He’s theoretically going into medical research."

"What did he order this time?"

"Just a suspension fluid."

"Are you going to go to the police now?"

"We’re hoping we can convict him without implicating ourselves. But we’re also being extremely careful with our safety, and we want you to be as well. Check everything you handle, don’t leave your drinks about, that kind of thing."

"Does he pay any attention to me on the forums?"

"He added a couple of pics or it didn’t happen type comments to the discussion about your actor."

"Hm." I pulled out my phone and texted Christophe. "We’re heading toward the part of the year where I absolutely can’t risk getting sick or hurt. Speaking of which, is today’s challenge one of Kyou’s picks?"

"Has he been keen to pin you down?"

I smiled. "He had a special request, which you’re going to end up being the first to benefit from, I guess."

"Turnabout is fair play. I’ll make sure to gloat." Rin looked thoroughly pleased, but then sobered. "We’ve set some serious ground rules for this challenge, though, because the last thing we want is to actually be rough. Stop will always mean stop. Absolutely no slapping, hair-pulling, anything resembling actual violence."

"I wouldn’t want to hurt you, after all," I said, approving of the thought they’d put into this. "I figured it would be fun to add a little sub-challenge."

"Oh?"

"Let me get changed first."

I took my bag into the summer house, and emerged a couple of minutes later, barefoot, wearing only a pale-yellow shirtwaist dress I’d found in a second-hand store.

"Kyou wanted me to wear something he could tear off me," I said. "How about you pick a song that’s three minutes long, and if I’m naked by the time it’s done, you win."

"What do I win?" Rin asked, without changing expression. But he’d gone very still.

"Boasting rights?"

"I want more than that."

"More underpants?" I suggested. "You could have a series framed on your wall."

"Amusing as that would be, I think bonus sex sounds more entertaining. An extra lunch hour of my choosing."

"And if I win, I get my tartan set back."

"Deal. Let me do some preparation first."

Rin browsed through his phone for a song, then stood up and stripped, leaving himself only a pair of boxer briefs. I looped my hair up into a makeshift bun so that we didn’t end up accidentally breaking the no hairpulling rule.

"Three minutes, two seconds," Rin said, touching the phone screen.

Finger-clicking. I ran before Freddie Mercury launched into Killer Queen: around behind the summer house and then immediately through the windows that I’d opened in preparation. Then I waved at Rin, knowing that his size gave him a distinct disadvantage in terms of leaping through windows. If he tried to follow me, I could run out the door, around the summer house, and repeat over and over again. Rin, however, wasn’t stupid, and simply reached to pull the windows shut.

In danger of being trapped, I dashed out, aiming to get to the picnic table before Rin could get around the summer house. This worked in the same way as the summer house: as soon as he ran around one direction, I went the other, but I underestimated the reach of his arms, and almost went over backward when he snagged the collar of my dress. With a desperate leap, I broke free in a spray of buttons, and got myself around the opposite side of the picnic table again.

Rin climbed on top of it.

I backed away, but it was too late. His leap brought him beside me in a moment, and he simply hooked an arm around my waist and brought me down.

Now it became a different sort of fight, with Rin trying to pin me and pull off my dress while I wriggled and pushed. Cloth tore, and my shirtwaist transformed into a skirt, but I got myself out of arm’s reach and rolled, then staggered to my feet. My new skirt wanted to fall right off, and I had to clutch it while dodging his lunges, hopping backward.

He was being strategic now, herding me into a corner, and my only choice was to try to dive under his arms after an attempted snatch. That did not go well, and we tumbled to the grass. He pinned one hand, and it became a battle of strength, with each of us with only one hand free to fight over my shredding dress. Rin, of course, had the advantage, but I was a wily and wriggly fish, and it was only as electric guitars were fading that cloth tore completely and he raised the remains of my dress triumphantly.

By that time, we were both far too worked up to care about competitions, and so my only response was to drag Rin’s straining briefs down, and align myself a little better. He wasn’t so far gone to not take a little care at the very beginning, but then he made me thoroughly know him.

"So, which of us won?" I asked, sometime later.

"I think both of us did."

"I suppose it was a little close to call," I said, tracing a fragile lock of hair that had strayed from his topknot. "Incredibly fun, though. Great song choice."

"Perfect," he murmured, and gathered me close for long kisses, and a second round that involved far less fighting and a lot more cuddling.

"The problem with playing chase in a garden is you end up itchy all over," I said, later again, turning on the hose and testing the water temperature.

"I don’t object to giving you a bath," Rin murmured, moving into the sun before taking the hose from me.

Squirting liquid soap generously, I lathered us both up, faintly regretful that time constraints meant we couldn’t go for a third attempt. We became a little distracted, but controlled ourselves, and went inside to dry off and dress.

"I wonder if my creativity reaches to the point of convincing the faculty that this garden needs a bed?" Rin said, buttoning his shirt.

"I happen to love hammocks," I said, hopefully.

He thought about it, but shook his head. "Highly tempting, but too risky. The one thing we absolutely need to do is keep attention away from this garden. And second to that is for you to stay as, well, I don’t think you’ve truly been low-profile, but until this whole mess with Tomas is cleared up, there should be no hint of connection between us."

"Even without Tomas," I said, thinking of how the forums would rage with even a hint of the truth. Checking my phone, I smiled, and then showed Rin a picture recently uploaded to Christophe’s Instagram. "Recognisable, do you think?"

He studied the photograph of two girls facing away from the camera, trying to sort out a massive tangle of feather boas, clearly with an immense amount of hilarity. The only text was "Miss you so much M."

"The other girl is Millie," I added. "One of the best people in the world."

"Excellent sleight-of-hand," Rin said, with a nod of approval. "That will shut the forums up nicely, and might even convince Tomas."

"Which still leaves you three in his sights. Don’t ever be careless."

"Cheshire, you’re missing the bigger picture." Rin’s eyes were champagne behind ice. "We’ve set a trap. And Tomas, he is going to walk into it."

Fifty-Six

"Even though you weren’t trying at the start, I’m starting to think you might catch up. Despite having a week off for surgery, you’re now only two challenges behind Kyou."

"I always enjoy an underdog victory," Bran said. He was sprawled on the couch playing Tyranny, and only glanced at me as I came in, before turning his attention back to his phone. "Strip and join me," he said.

Simon Says, although I couldn’t guarantee that Bran wouldn’t take the same approach to any other challenge. I shed layers obediently, grabbed my phone, and arranged myself against him.

"Summer uniforms next week," I noted, running a finger along the neckline of his tunic. "No more tights."

"Are you going to wear that ridiculously long skirt again?"

"I’d probably be expelled if I didn’t."

He snorted. "Given your tendency to run around with no underpants?"

"Blame that on Rin’s underwear collection."

"Collection?" Bran looked up from the game, and promptly died. "More than those white pants?"

"He’s got the tartan set. Possibly framed."

"Bastard. I hope his sisters find it."

"He can’t be silly enough to keep them at his house. Houses."

"Must be at the office. I’ll check later. Hurry up and log in."

We found a comfortable position to lie together, with Bran partially propped up on cushions, and me lying against his chest, angled so both of us could hold our phones to play Tyranny without completely getting in each other’s way. Bran played well for two games, but having his wrists on my chest was far too distracting—for both of us—so after the second game he tossed his phone onto the coffee table and said: "Strip me."

He didn’t seem inclined to make it easy for me, lying watching me through dark lashes as I began trying to work his clothes off, barely shifting in response to my tugging. In return I treated him like an unwieldy sack of potatoes, repositioning him without trying to coax him to cooperate. When I was done, I settled myself on his legs, curious to see what he’d say next, but it seemed he’d lost interest in the game, sitting up in a fine display of abdominals and wrapping his arms around my waist.

"No orders for me?" he murmured into my ear.

I laughed, and took hold of him in turn. "Stop playing around."

He did as ordered, so thoroughly that I only arrived at Art Club halfway through production of the posters for next week’s Sports Carnival. After completing my model, I’d been a little casual about showing up at Club, but was trying to increase my attendance now that Carr had had time to recover.

Sean and Sue were full of discussion of the newly-released Sea of Silver, and the announcement that Christophe would be reprising his bit part as the Margrave, a development which had made his most recent Instagram particularly hot gossip in Corascur.

"I don’t think I’d call myself his girlfriend," I said, in response to a question from Sue. "We dated, I left the country, we keep in touch, we might be going to meet up next big holiday."

"Isn’t that just another way of saying long-distance relationship?" Sean asked, eagerly. "And can you get me his autograph?"

"Possibly and probably. Would you like a signed photo from Macchu Piccu? I’ll bring a couple back, presuming that I end up going, and everyone qualifies for their courses and so on."

I found myself with a half-dozen orders for signed photos—no surprise, since Christophe’s popularity had sky-rocketed since the release of _Sky of Diamond_—and then rather firmly shut the conversation down. Even if I wasn’t trying to hide the past nature of our relationship, there was a limit to how far I’d discuss exactly what I’d done with Christophe.

Glad that the days had lengthened so it would still be light when I reached home, I headed out, and found myself walking alongside Carr.

"The scenery on my morning commute was particularly interesting," I told him.

For a moment he looked completely confused, then smiled. "Have the posters gone up in your area? I heard they’d arrive soon, but I haven’t seen any."

"Enormous cloth placards in the curves of the streetlight poles," I said. "Impossible to miss. Sadly, my parents are currently in the Canadian wilds, and very unlikely to pass any posters, but I’m going to subtly send them links to things that happen to mention the Awards."

"I’m starting to suspect you feed off astonishment like a vampire does blood. Though perhaps it’s the build-up you enjoy most."

"Well spotted. I’d call it my only vice, but that would be overlooking all the cake."

He chuckled and then, reaching the point where our paths diverged, lifted a hand in farewell. I headed for the buses, pleased with him, and even a little sorry I hadn’t been free to date him. I doubt it would have worked in the long run, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t have enjoyed him.

Fifty-Seven

Tuesday brought me Bran, cross-legged on the couch, frowning at his laptop.

"Homework? Or another financial crisis?"

He glanced at me, touched the keyboard, then turned the laptop in my direction. I looked at a screen full of grey on black, and leaned closer to try to work out what I was seeing. The video was so bad I couldn’t even be sure it was a person.

"I’m guessing this is Tomas, but where is it, and what the heck is he doing?"

"It’s the tent set up down by the sports field for the Student Council to use tomorrow. Rin and Kyou are down there now, trying to work out the what part."

"Nothing yet," came Kyou’s voice, and I realised that Bran had a call on speakerphone.

"Waiting until after you’ve fallen into the trap to report to the police is very noble," I said. "Tomas will be pleased."

"We merely stand on the edge of the precipice," Kyou replied. "Tossing in stones, watching for leviathans."

"We’re looking for a reason to actually call the police," Rin said. "We can be forgiven for installing cameras in places we will be, but we need something a touch meatier to explain why we’re so sure some vague blurs at two in the morning are important."

"We were stupid to not use an infrared camera," Kyou added.

"The tracking software might make matters completely obvious to us, but unless we want to admit to it, all we have at the moment is a barely visible blur that we happen to know is Tomas."

"If we can’t find anything, let’s backtrack his route," Rin said. "One of the places he stopped last night must be a private rental of some sort."

Bran tapped the keyboard again, bringing up a map of the city, and we watched a dot tour half a dozen places over a period of several hours before returning to a residential distract, standing still until well after midnight, and then heading for the school.

Bran ran through the map route again, marking the places Tomas had stopped. I tried to picture the area, which wasn’t all that far from where I lived, but I wasn’t familiar with the building names on the screen. Bran finished, and the recording again showed him approach to the school, spend a bare minute in the tent, and then head back to the residential district.

"Zoom in more and play back the bit after the tent."

Bran glanced at me, then restarted the recording.

"What’s there?" I asked, touching a point on the screen.

"Where?" Rin immediately asked.

"Go out the south exit of the sportsground, follow the path to just short of the fence, and then go about ten metres to the right," Bran said.

"Please don’t be trolling us," Kyou said. "I’m starting to tire of triple-checking everything I eat. What did you—oh. A bin."

"It could just be GPS wobble," Bran said. "But it looks like he headed there."

"If it’s been emptied, I might start pulling my hair…" Rin muttered, just loudly enough for the phone to pick it up.

"How to see inside is the question," Kyou added. "One of those covered, cabinet-types."

"Try…good, it’s not locked."

There were interesting noises, and then Bran’s phone displayed a video request. He touched the screen, and we were treated to an inner view of a plastic-lined bin containing several crumpled cans, a banana peel, and a small pot of something transparent and brown-tinged, with a paintbrush still sticking out of it.

"So, we know he’s painted something," Kyou said. "And if we can find what it is, we can tell the police we spotted it, and went looking for evidence, which will explain our sudden interest in waste disposal."

"Stay here," Rin said. "I’ll check."

"Be careful."

Bran dialled Kyou into the call, and we all waited as Rin went back to the tent.

"Found it," Rin said, only a minute later. "The front rim of the chairs have been painted with something. If I wasn’t looking for everything brown, I’d assume it was just weathering."

"I’ll call school security," Kyou said. "And ask them to send someone down in a low-key way. Hopefully Martin will successfully keep Tomas distracted, and he won’t know we’ve spotted it."

"Take down the spy camera," Bran added, and cut the call. He closed his laptop lid, then leaned back and closed his eyes.

"You look tired," I said, slipping my shoes off and curling into a corner of the couch.

"Not punching him is exhausting."

"Will other members of the Student Council be using that tent, or is it just you three?"

"Primarily the Executive, but everyone will be in and out. We’re all signed up to different events, so will trade off on taking care of the various duties. You sound like you’re also considering hitting things. Because Lania might have been impacted?"

"Yes. Not least because it’s an escalation. He targeted you individually, and maybe gave me an opportunistic shove, but a trap not only for the three of you, but anyone who works in that tent? So dangerous."

"The pile of props in the theatre was also something that took out bystanders, even though Rin was sure to take the brunt because of his height. But, depending on what that brown stuff is, I agree this is more serious." He cracked his eyelids enough to look at me, then closed them again. "If the police manage to not excite the whole school, and we somehow get to tomorrow with Tomas thinking his trap is still in place, I’ll invite Meggan to have a rest in the tent."

"Good plan," I said. "And maybe necessary, unless he was stupid enough to leave fingerprints."

"I’m fairly sure the route he took is a blind spot in the school’s monitoring." Bran shifted restlessly, then sat up again and reached for his phone, scrolling through several screens impatiently. "Nothing on the forums about Rin and Kyou taking a sudden interest in garbage. They must have had the sense to not stay right up by the bin." He sent a text message. "I’ve suggested they ask security to guard the evidence, and have the police not show up until lunch is over."

"And here I was thinking the Sports Carnival would be relaxing."

"You’re just audience. Bring popcorn. What events are you signed up for?"

"1500. Like I said, relaxing."

He snorted. "I take it you’re not planning on winning?"

"I’m not sure I could—there’s some very sporty girls in this school. But I admit I’m not planning to try. Are you three competitive against people other than each other?"

This produced a purely arrogant curl to one corner of his mouth, a tiny dismissal of the entire concept of rivals that weren’t Rin and Kyou. Then he tossed his phone down and reached for one of my feet, pulling me toward him. Since this week was the beginning of Summer uniforms, he could then run his hand up to my bare thighs.

"No long skirts next year."

"I don’t have any non-school skirts, so you’ll get your wish."

"Go shopping."

I smiled, but shook my head. "I am very unlikely to wear short skirts to classes. My chosen field is still relatively male-dominated, and I have no interest in wasting my time on the inevitable harassment from idiots who think clothing is an invitation."

"You really think wearing jeans will stop you from getting hit on?"

"Hasn’t so far," I admitted, wriggling as he tugged at my underpants. "Still not going to be buying any micro-minis."

Bran tossed my pants away, but then paused to study my face. "Bridges make you compromise," he observed.

Reminded that this was a very smart boy, I nodded. "Yes. I particularly want this engineering physics course above all others because it has a strong focus on innovations around the physics of large structures." I shrugged. "I don’t know how conservative she’ll be, and there’s limits to how much I’ll censor myself, but I don’t have any reason to make my dream professor’s first impression of me be all about my legs."

"She might appreciate them," Bran suggested, taking a firm hold of the legs in question.

We got down to the serious business of losing clothing, remembering only very late that it was supposed to be a standing challenge. Sadly, a text from Rin brought Bran’s mind back to Tomas and traps before we could embark on a second round, and I decided not to try to win his attention back.

Besides, I was distracted myself, and checked the forums constantly for the rest of the day. There were no rumours of police visits, just bets on who would win what event. I decided to get up a little earlier tomorrow morning, and make a lot of popcorn.

Fifty-Eight

"So delicious! What’s the flavour?"

"Lemon pepper." I tilted the bucket so Sean could grab some more. "So, is the Sports Carnival all dramatic rivalries and tripping each other in the relays, or just a fun day without lessons?"

"From the popcorn, I can see your attitude," Sue said. "For the rest of us, it depends on who it is. In theory you want to win points for your Home Room, but in practice it’s either clubs or personal rivalries that matter."

"Is there anyone whose nose we’re supposed to rub in the dirt?" I asked, cheerfully munching.

"I wouldn’t mind tripping the Boxing Club," Anika said. "Arde and that Craig."

"Have they been snatching resources again?" Rick asked.

"The number of supplies that have gone missing from Gardening and Gymnastics are enough to start their own store. And they’re outright intimidating if you go looking."

"I’ll add petty theft initiatives to the SC agenda," Lania said, leaning across Sean to grab some popcorn. "See if anyone can think of a solution this time around."

"Hidden cameras?" I suggested, amused, then said: "I thought you were doing Student Council stuff today, Lania."

Lania waved a hand. "Someone made an anonymous accusation of a rigging and betting scheme, so the faculty took most of the organisational responsibility off us."

"Scandals!" Sean said, excitedly. "I always said Kyou had the heart of a mafia boss."

"I don’t think anyone actually believes it—they’re just covering everyone’s back. The Executive said they could handle what little’s left themselves." Lania turned her head, and then quirked one eyebrow. "Mostly by providing eye candy, apparently."

We all looked at the Student Council’s tent, located at the pivot point of the three spokes of sporting fields currently seething with students. I’d taken a slow walk past on my way to the stands: it was one of the tents that had been used at the Festival as a snack shop, with a heavy metal frame, and a wooden counter built into the front. Inside was a table stacked with clipboards and a dozen bottles of water. And four chairs, a white outdoor variety. The transparent streak of brown at the front of the seat had only been noticeable because I’d been looking for it.

Bran and Kyou were currently sitting on the counter, and had very obligingly taken off their shirts. They swapped, and put the replacements on, completely ignoring the little chorus of shrieks that rose up around them.

"Do—do you suppose they somehow accidentally got them mixed up getting dressed this morning?" Sean asked, sounding breathless.

"Probably," I said. "Though, given they’re similar builds, I’m not sure how they could tell they had the wrong shirt."

"But they were already dressed when they came to school," Sean said excitedly.

Happy speculation followed, which I listened to with half my attention, the rest of it on Rin. He’d been leaning languidly against a pole, but now circled the tent and went inside. I’d arrived early so that I could choose seating in the stands that had the best view of the inside of the tent, but hadn’t anticipated Kyou and Bran sitting in the way. I could barely make out Rin standing by the table flipping through one of the clipboards. Having established that, I returned to trying to spot Tomas, with little luck until I grew some sense and looked for Meggan’s fiery head instead. And there was Tomas, hardly five feet away from me, watching Rin. Waiting for Three Kings to fall into his trap.

I hated to think about how effective it might have been if the phone tracker hadn’t been active. I’d spent some time Googling topical poisons the previous night, which had given me a couple of unlikely but rather awful candidates. Presumably the brown stripe had dried already, but if a hot, sweating person wearing shorts sat down, there was a reasonable chance that some of it would end up on the back of that person’s thighs or knees. Unless it had immediate effect, symptoms might never be linked to the chairs.

The call went out for contestants to assemble for the first round of events. Since I was only signed up for one race late in proceedings, I promised to watch everyone’s belongings, and settled in with my popcorn to enjoy Rin, Kyou and Bran thoroughly indulging themselves teasing Tomas. There was always one of them at the tent, and they constantly popped in and out, but somehow they never quite managed to sit in the chairs. Rin stacked two of them together and tidied them into a corner. Kyou piled the tracksuit jackets they’d previously had tied around their waists onto another. Bran sat cross-legged on the table.

The day wore on. Tomas and Meggan both went off to participate in events and came back. Meggan cheered Tomas on in the two hundred metres, where he came third behind Rin and Kyou. Tomas came back, and Meggan left. Lania placed fourth in shotput, but took it philosophically, especially when Rick and Sean joined her in the Fourth Place Club."

"You have to do your best to join us, Mika," Lania said. "No trailing along at the back of the pack."

"Sure," I said, comfortably. "I’ll do my best to just miss out."

"Eye candy alert!" Sean said, urgently.

We all immediately looked at the Student Council tent, where Bran seemed to be showing Kyou a shuffle routine. Indeed worth watching, but I’d seen something potentially far more interesting, and took out my phone.

"He’s been in such a good frame of mind since he found his college girl," Sean said. "It’s the only thing that makes up for him not being on the market anymore."

I started filming. Not Bran and Kyou, but Tomas, who had spotted Meggan and Celeste coming back from the hurdles race on the far field. He shifted a little as the two girls paused to watch Bran’s display, and then went still when Rin waved at Celeste, and started up a conversation.

"They all seem to be in a good mood today," Sue said. "Chatting with anyone who passes. I should go push my luck and ask Rin if he’s in the market for a date to the dance."

"I already tried," Sean said, with a sigh. "He said they’re all planning to run solo this year."

"Doesn’t that translate to them going with each other?" Rick said, laughing.

Tomas stiffened, head up, eyes wide with concern. Glancing away from him, I saw that Rin was leading Meggan and Celeste around behind the tent, and could almost hear him gently offering them a place to sit out of the sun, and some water to drink. Unable to keep back a slight curve of my lips, I made sure to catch the moment when Tomas shot to his feet, and then bounded down the stands, scattering backpacks and jerseys in his haste.

"What the hell’s up with him?" Rick said.

"Meggan!" Tomas shouted, not even trying to be low-key. "Meggan, wait a minute!"

Bran stopped dancing. Kyou turned around. Rin, inside the tent, had already pulled out a chair and Meggan, though clearly startled by the shout, sat down automatically. I had to wonder what Rin would have done if she hadn’t, and couldn’t help but remember his ice-cold Noted, back on the school trip, and the song he had written to mark the end of their friendship. Smiling fox that he was, he’d never shown a hint of anger to Meggan, and now he handed her a bottle of water, and said something with a wry expression that was enough to keep her seated as he pulled out another chair for Celeste.

"Serious over-reaction," Sean said. "What does he think Rin’s going to do to her?"

"Ask her to the Seniors' Ball?" I suggested.

"Unlikely," Sue said. "Even though Bran’s moved on, I think Kyou and Rin wouldn’t ever Go There."

My grip on my phone tightened, and I had to control myself to keep the image straight. Tomas' outright panic told me more than enough about whatever was on those chairs, what he’d been willing to inflict not only on the Three Kings, but everyone else in the Student Council. I no longer doubted that he was responsible for my swift shove down the stairs: anyone so lacking in a sense of proportion would consider it a minor matter to break a random girl’s bones to check whether Bran was dating her.

I’d not noticed any outright security presence, but multiple teachers started to converge, so promptly it was clear they’d been waiting for developments. Fortunately, Tomas was blind to anything except Meggan, sitting in his own personally created nightmare. He raced straight into the tent, shoved Rin aside, and pulled the highly startled Meggan to her feet. Then he grabbed a water bottle from the table and tried to upend it over the back of her thighs—an action hampered by Meggan’s not-unnatural instinct to avoid him.

The tent was too far away for me to hear what was said, now that volume had been reduced below a shout, and the entire gathered audience were murmuring their astonishment. I could guess some of it, as Rin played a nice game of hero protecting damsel, and Meggan continued to avoid, until Tomas said something that made Meggan look horrified, and then hastily grab the wet cloth Tomas was waving at her, and swipe at the back of her knees.

Teachers arrived, and pulled Tomas out of the tent while he shouted frantically at them, the whole of his being focused on Meggan. Rin followed them out, and leaned forward, saying something to Tomas that turned him to a statue. And then the shorter boy broke from the two teachers and threw himself at Rin, only to be intercepted by Bran, who hauled back and punched him.

"This school sure is dramatic," I said, and finished the last of my popcorn.

Fifty-Nine

"Thallium," Kyou told me Friday, nudging green tea in my direction.

"Damn. I wondered if it was possible when I was looking up contact poison, but I could hardly believe he would go so overboard."

"He’s claiming it was supposed to be a light dose, just enough to make our hair fall out. The concentration in the jar we found doesn’t make that very likely."

"Is there any proof other than whatever he said while panicking?"

Kyou waved a dismissive hand. "The police will work on that. But there’s no stepping back from him telling Meggan she’d been poisoned. Even possession of Thallium is illegal, and smearing it on chairs people are going to use is more than enough for a conviction."

"Will they find traces of your spy work?"

"Bran thinks he’s managed to remove everything remotely." Kyou shrugged. "If traces are found, it’s likely to go unremarked, and even if it’s linked to us, we’re likely to be forgiven thanks to the provocation."

"That looked like a satisfying punch."

He laughed. "One of us had to get one in. I only wish he’d tried to come at us again, so I could have a turn."

I poked at my phone, and handed it to him as the video I’d recorded Wednesday started playing. Kyou watched it fixedly, not restraining his grin.

"You are the gift that keeps on giving, Cheshire." He transferred the video to his own phone, and then forwarded it to Bran and Rin. "And now we can concentrate on the next important item for the year—getting you through the exams."

"I endorse this set of priorities."

"If we turn the bonus round into a final challenge, then we can arrange ourselves before your critical exams. Perhaps in the afternoons, rather than lunch hours, to better match up whatever it does for you and the hours when you need to sleep."

"Falling asleep in the exam would probably be a bad idea," I agreed. "I really can’t decide if it’s purely psychological, or chemical. Something I’m usually missing that stays in my system for at least half a day would explain a lot."

"Always happy to experiment in the name of science," Kyou said. He glanced down at his phone, then added: "Rin wants to know how many people have asked you to the Seniors' Ball."

"Just one," I said, smiling.

"Carr?" Kyou asked, eyes widening.

"No, Carr is convinced by Christophe."

"Macy?"

I shook my head.

He narrowed his eyes, then rolled them. "Lania."

I laughed, and nodded.

"Never would have thought Lania would end up as competition. You like them busty, hm?"

"Well, I admit to a little jealousy there. I am really confused as to why Lania’s not madly pursued. A gamer girl with big breasts and a cute face, but no boyfriend."

"She keeps the gamer girl part quiet, you know. But the main problem is she completely doesn’t realise when people are hitting on her. I’ve watched a few attempts—it’s quite funny."

"Oh, so she ended up dating Rick because he’s so straightforward?"

"There’s a good chance."

"How’s Meggan taking the downfall of her most ardent admirer?"

"Unnerved. Furious at us for not warning her."

"Are you two still as angry at her?"

Kyou sighed. "We might get to the point of polite acquaintances one day. Using her to catch Tomas eased Rin’s temper a little, but there’s no going back."

While his expression was regretful, the tone was firm. Meggan was no longer their friend. It was ironic that, since no detailed explanation had been given, the student body had taken exactly the opposite view of Wednesday’s showdown.

"Some of the forum theories must be annoying Rin a lot right now."

"Love quadrangles." Kyou shook his head. "Meggan is so completely not a good match for Rin. Not for any of us, as it turned out, but Rin is far too layered for Meggan to cope with." His smile turned meaningful. "She’d never agree to being chased around a garden until her clothes were in shreds."

"Do you prefer green or white for your shreddable clothing?" I asked.

"What shade of green?"

"Mint."

"Show them to me."

I pulled the two dresses out of my backpack and tossed them to him.

"Is this cloth or tissue paper?" he asked, holding up the white dress in amazement. "People actually wear this?"

"Best I can guess is that it was enthusiastically bleached by someone. The fabric seems to be breaking down, and it wasn’t that strong in the first place. Cheapest dress I’ve ever bought."

"And the other one has all these buttons. This is a hard choice, Cheshire."

"Pick the one you think Bran would like most, and I’ll wear the other."

"Am I that generous?"

"Probably," I said. "All else being equal."

He made a face, then tossed me the white dress. "Tissue paper it is, then."

"Bran likes buttons, huh? Wonder if he could bite them all off?"

"Stop making me regret my choices."

"I’ll go change," I said, collecting the mint dress as well, and taking everything into the summer house. I had to concentrate to get the white dress on without tearing it, and wondered if it was as transparent as it seemed. Kyou’s fixed gaze suggested probably.

"Do I get to chase you around the garden now?" he asked, standing up.

"No, today I want to play a different game. How about Ten Minutes of Torture?"

"Sounds appalling. What are the rules?"

"For ten minutes, I do anything I please to you, and you’re not allowed to lift a finger unbidden. Next ten minutes, our roles reverse."

His eyes widened, and then he said: "Cheshire, you spoil me."

I’d brought several blankets out, and first spread them over a wide area of grass, since I was tired of ending up itchy. Then I set a timer on my phone, put it on the table, and grabbed Kyou by the collar, hooking a foot behind his ankle then pushing.

He fell, landing heavily enough to be lightly winded. Before he could catch his breath, I knelt, trapping his throat with one knee, though being careful to not put any weight on him.

"Good to know you’ve not neglected some self-defence courses," Kyou said, a little thinly.

"Advantage of surprise there," I said. "I don’t have enough of a foundation to bring you down when you’re actively trying to defend yourself."

Easing out of the pin, I straddled his waist and surveyed him, making sure I hadn’t actually hurt him.

"Are you going to voice any of the characters in your games?" I asked, loosening his tie.

"Probably. I know what I sound like." His tone was matter-of-fact, not shaded by either modesty or pride.

"Are you interested in acting?"

"Not as a career. Long hours, big loss of privacy. Voice acting’s a little more tempting, but there’s far too many other things that come higher on my list of ambitions. Tissue paper dresses currently coming close to first."

"What’s first then?"

"What’s inside the dress."

I smiled at him, then bent and bit off his collar button, which was more difficult than I expected, but gave me a sense of achievement when the threads finally parted. I straightened, turned my head and spat it out, then sensibly worked on the rest by more traditional methods.

"I’m learning things about myself I never imagined," Kyou said. He seemed completely unable to hold back his grin.

"Would you like this if you didn’t know that an epic turning of tables was coming up?"

"Maybe. Not nearly as much. Were there any more of those tissue-paper dresses available? I’ve changed my views for the fantasy costume challenge."

"This is one of a kind. Enjoy it while you can."

I began working his clothes off, methodically moving him as needed, and finally rolled him on his stomach, watching him hastily adjust position to factor in being highly aroused. Then I cruelly sat on his toned but untanned ass. Kyou let out his breath, and tensed his muscles to save himself some pain, but didn’t otherwise react, so I leaned forward and scraped my fingernails the whole length of his back—not so firmly it would break the skin, but certainly enough to make him tingle. Then, even as he caught his breath, I leaned all the way down so I was lying on him, and nipped sharply at one of his earlobes.

Ten minutes is far too short a time, and I hadn’t nearly begun to exhaust the things I wanted to do to Kyou when my phone began a subdued chime. I was sitting on his thighs at the time, giving his stomach the same treatment I’d given his back. He’d been clenching his hands and controlling his breathing ever since I’d turned him over, his eyes narrowed to slits. The instant the alarm sounded, he surged upward, took two handfuls of dress, and wrenched.

"Tissue paper," I said, or started to, but my breath whooshed out of me as Kyou adeptly reversed our positions, and proceeded to make me pay.

A long afternoon of torturing each other left both of us sore and exhausted, but similarly pleased with the experience.

"I think I’ll skip Club," I said, lounging half-dressed on the couch while Kyou made us some recovery tea. "Lania would probably send me to the nurse’s office for my tendency to lean limply on the nearest support."

"If you walk down to the bus shelter, I’ll drive around and give you a lift home," Kyou said, filling the teapot.

"Too risky. Though I’ll dip into the taxi fund to celebrate end of term. Are you three heading to another internship over the break?"

"First up is a trip down to Sunderry for stage one of Rin’s blind audition. And then a week or two of breath-holding, in hopes that no-one who knows the family happened to wander by in the process."

"Rin is someone you could recognise from across a football field, just by the way he carries himself. But how much chance is there that someone who knows him will be there?"

"We think it’s around eighty percent safe. If we hit the twenty percent, well, we have a spare bed at the rental. All Rin’s doing with the blind auditions is postponing a separation that’s inevitable."

"How’s your office renovation going?"

He smiled, handing me a cup. "It’s officially ours, and we’re on revision three of the design plans. Highly self-indulgent. But we’ll be living there a long time, so it’s good to be able to get it close to our ideal. Do you think you’ll live in Helios after you get your degree?"

"If I can get into the Marden Institute through the graduate program, then yes. There’s nowhere in the world that doesn’t need engineers, but Marden’s ideal for giving me the chance to explore what’s possible and push the boundaries. They have countless fascinating projects under their belt. Glory Stadium. Four-ways Towers. The Adderson Dam. And Professor Tremaine was lead for both the Sunseeker Bridge and the new HSR bridge. Brilliant solutions."

"Now if only someone talked about me the way you talk about edifices of steel and concrete."

I laughed. "I’m willing to bet I could find a dozen or so candidates in an afternoon, if you really want to listen to them."

"A dim chorus," he said, dismissive. Putting down his cup, he extracted the torn pieces of my dress from the pile of clothing I’d placed on the coffee table, folded them neatly, and tucked them into his backpack.

"This trophy collecting habit…"

"No, no, I’m going to put it to practical use, don’t worry."

I looked at him doubtfully, but didn’t argue, so finished putting on my uniform, and summoned the energy to go find a taxi.

"Wish Rin luck in his audition for me—for his performance, or for avoiding discovery, whichever he prefers."

"Luck isn’t something Rin needs where music is concerned. But I’ll pass on the sentiment."

Sixty

Details about the reason for Tomas' arrest slowly trickled out during the two-week break, and by the time we were back for the final term it had all been thoroughly hashed out on the forums, and the only question was whether his parents would push for a psychiatric defence—and whether Meggan would now get back with Bran.

Why this was even a question had me confused until a few photographs were posted of Meggan and Bran at a café. It bothered me, and I took a day or so to examine that feeling, but there was nothing really surprising. I liked Bran. I liked all three of them, had become very used to being a hidden fourth in their friendship, and was going to face an uncomfortable time next year as they drifted into new relationships. However, I very much doubted Meggan was going to be part of their future, especially when the photographs showed Bran sitting upright. A formal posture and a solemn face didn’t suggest a positive conversation when Bran was involved, any more than his usual brooding scowl.

Dropping down into the garden on Tuesday, I found him lying face-down on the picnic table, seemingly asleep. Or arranged so I could admire his beauty.

"Should I check for head injuries?" I asked, sitting on the bench beside him.

Sooty lashes quivered, but he didn’t move otherwise as he said: "Nothing’s fallen on us lately."

"But you can’t be sure he didn’t leave you any surprises."

That opened his eyes, and after a moment he shifted to lie on his back, gazing up at the sky. "We’ve cleaned and replaced everything we can think of, but even though he’s locked up, I doubt we’ll ever accept anonymous edibles again. Even though he didn’t succeed in his schemes, he’s permanently marked us."

"What are the chances he’ll come for you again after he’s served whatever sentence he ends up with?"

"Greater than zero. We don’t want him living in our heads for the rest of our lives, so we’ve hired a firm of investigators to monitor him. A much easier task with all the passwords to his accounts that we’ve provided. They’ll send us a bill once a year, and contact us if he steps over certain lines."

"Oh, good sense. I’m not sure I would have thought of doing that."

"I hate wasting time on people that don’t interest me."

"Rather go camping?"

He smiled, a rare glowing expression that transformed him from gorgeous to heart-stopping.

"I’d say I like the silence, but the woods are so noisy. Especially at two in the morning, when you’ve been telling each other ghost stories."

I laughed. "Terror is the attraction? You’d get along with my parents. My dad tells the best horror stories, and my mother likes deconstructing them, as if she was Velma, pulling off the latest villain’s mask."

"Does he have a horror pen name?"

"Blake Sevenmore."

"Never heard of him."

"No, it’s not a very successful genre for him, though they’re super creepy novels. He’s written half a dozen, and hasn’t given up hope of them one day taking off. It’s nice when he gets a burst of popularity on one of his older names—reprint and translation money comes in—but the Hardison pen name has been the only one that’s been earning relatively well all along. That’s one of the reasons I always lead with it when talking about my dad—Rock Hardison has paid a lot of rent."

"Five percent of the reason. Ninety-five percent enjoying the reaction."

"Probably ninety-eight percent," I said, smiling down at him.

"At least you’re honest." He reached up a hand, curled it around the back of my neck, and pulled me down for a kiss.

The top of a picnic table wasn’t ideal for snuggling, so Bran soon let me go and hopped off the table. His sleeping bag was waiting in the shade of a few tree branches hanging over the garden wall. Kicking off his shoes, he slid in smoothly, then looked up at me.

"Waiting for an invitation?"

He’d chosen a smaller bag than Rin’s and Kyou’s, but it wasn’t too hard to wriggle in with him.

"This is certainly a good city for camping. So many national parks within a day’s drive."

"We fit in a couple of days over the break. Ad Astra Park, which I’d never been to before, since it’s so far south."

He shifted me so my elbow was no longer in his stomach, and then threw away talk for more kissing. Since the sleeping bag challenge had been one of Bran’s, I was not at all surprised when his mood after undressing me turned subdued. Camping was something he loved, and Meggan in a sleeping bag surely a fond fantasy. He’d become much better at controlling his reactions, however, and put aside unhappiness in favour of a tender and extended encounter that made me wish we really were by a lake in the wilderness, without the hum of cars and occasional shouts from the sports fields drawing attention.

"Are you going to tell me ghost stories now?" I asked much later, snuggling lower into the bag. Bran was warm, and more than pleasant to curl up against.

"Needs a fire and pitchy shadows to make worthwhile," he said.

"The faculty would definitely notice if we started toasting marshmallows," I said, finding my eyelids were a little heavy. Pushing temptation away, I said: "How did Rin’s audition go?"

"Nothing surprising. He has to go through a second stage, but he was among the best tier there."

"Would you ever be tempted to follow him into the Conservatory with your cello?"

"Perhaps. But my interest in performance is…I don’t think I’ll ever untangle my feelings about performance."

"How did you feel after filling in for those missing band members?"

"Like a bone surrounded by a pack of hungry dogs. But also exhilarated. Stupid to enjoy something I hate."

"Or to hate something you enjoy. I love fresh cut pineapple, but if someone made me eat it for every meal for years, I’d probably vomit at the sight of it. Maybe after a long break I’d recover my taste for it, though."

He clicked his tongue. "You don’t love pineapple like you love bridges. If you were forced to…is there a part of designing bridges you don’t enjoy?"

"I’d probably be very bored if someone made me do the calculations for the exact same bridge every day. I expect I’d be able to do it on autopilot soon enough, though, and then let my thoughts wander. Still, I’m not sure how anyone could manage to force me to design bridges, and if we’re proposing that my parents took leave of their senses when I was a kid and ruined the fun of maths for me, I think I’d be too different a person now, and would have a different set of emotions about quite a lot of things, and couldn’t begin to guess how I’d feel about anything."

"Let’s not get into causality. Do you like to perform, Cheshire? Are you the shining moment of every karaoke party?"

I shrugged. "I’ll take my turn, but I don’t get a particular thrill out of it, and my voice is pretty mediocre. Not on my list of important things."

"Bridges, your parents, Lania."

"Lania and Millie. A few other things." I kissed him, because it didn’t seem to be a good idea to continue the conversation, and we indulged until my phone alarm ended our day.

Sixty-One

"So, is it going to be your shirt, or your shirt?"

Rin, particularly expressionless, poured out two cups of tea, put down the pot, then nudged one cup a few millimetres toward me.

Fully entertained, I picked it up, adding: "With or without delicate white panties?"

His lips thinned, and I laughed, but decided to stop teasing him.

"Phase one of entering the Conservatorium passed unnoticed?"

"It was a blind audition, so there were very few people who actually saw me."

"Convenient."

He shrugged. "The benefits of a corruption scandal a decade or so ago. Though any Conservatorium worth attending does blind auditions to eliminate unconscious bias. The statistics on who made it through before and after the fully blind process are so embarrassing that they don’t even use it to promote the current system."

"Is there a chance you won’t make the cut?"

"Possibly. It’s a similar situation to you—I’m very good, but there are many applicants and not many places, which inevitably puts a too-large percentage around my level."

"Do you self-sabotage like I do?"

"Not usually. But perhaps I’ve never wanted anything enough."

"I thought music was the darling beloved of your existence."

His long lashes lowered a moment, then his graceful pose became something imperious, immortal. "The Conservatorium is one way to romance my beloved, but she’s mine even without a candlelit dinner. I have…" He stopped, snorting briefly into laughter, transforming from twisted god into something far more human. "Damn, now I’ve got the most atrocious violin piece in my head. Wait while I write it down."

He pulled a tablet out of his backpack and began poking at the screen. Smiling faintly, I watched him as I sipped my tea, thinking it ironic that sometimes Rin was very similar to the person he pretended to be. Not gentle, but with a warmth reserved for people he liked and trusted.

"Do you think Bran could get into the Conservatorium with his cello?" I asked, when the intense drafting session turned into occasional pecks.

"He hasn’t spent enough time on it yet to be truly competitive, but after another year I’d say yes."

"What about Kyou?"

"He’s technically competent at piano, and might get through first round auditions, but not further. His heart belongs to illustration."

"Other than the two pictures he sent me on the island, I haven’t seen anything Kyou’s done. He didn’t exhibit anything at the school festival."

"He’s been working on a thing in oils for much of the year, but most of his energy is spent digitally for our games, which is not something he can show others." Rin picked up his neglected cup, tested the temperature, then put it down with a grimace. "He just recently started a mixed media piece that you’ll probably enjoy. Involves a shredded dress."

"I wondered what he wanted it for. Does he have any ambitions for things like personal exhibitions? Work displayed in galleries?"

"I’ve never asked him that. Most of his non-digital work is deeply personal—sometimes things he doesn’t want to forget, but mostly things he’s angry about. He’d probably like the portrait he’s been working on this year to be exhibited because it’s…not very complimentary to the subject."

"Someone he’s related to?"

"He reserves his sharpest knives for a select few family members."

"He must be enjoying living away from home, then. Or are he and Bran already arguing over the housekeeping?"

"They’re in a fully serviced apartment, so there’s not much housekeeping involved. So far their biggest problem is mixing up their clothes. Speaking of which, why are you still dressed?"

"Now, I didn’t predict nothing to be your fantasy costume, but I suppose it saves some time."

Not bothering to get up, I stripped, folding my clothes neatly as I went. It bothered me less now, to be naked while Rin was still fully dressed. We knew each other better, and I doubted he’d be able to keep his clothes on for long.

Sure enough, as soon as I was finished he pulled off his tie, shrugged off his blazer, and unbuttoned his shirt. Which he threw at me, along with a purely sour expression.

"Put it on."

Not hiding my grin, I slipped into the shirt, pulled my hair out of its ponytail, and then stood up and turned around for him. "Shall I take a little tour of the garden so you can properly enjoy it?"

"Come here," he said, a touch grimly.

I went over, but before sitting down I reached for the phone he’d left on the table. He had it set so you could trigger the camera function without unlocking it, so I arranged the shirt to display a generous amount of what little curve I had, and took a chin-down shot that was suitably anonymous. I considered the image afterwards, then handed the phone to Rin, commenting: "Could be anybody."

"Not at all."

He put the phone down, then pulled me into his lap, and only several months of getting to know him let me spot the tiny smile that betrayed his happiness.

We took it slow. I kept the shirt on the whole time, and rather liked the way Rin wrapped his arms around my waist beneath it. Being on top is always far more energetic for me, so I suspect the shirt was a touch fragrant by the time Rin put it back on, but perhaps that was the point. He didn’t seem bothered, anyway, and the blazer and tie helped hide its limp condition.

"I like being right," I said, shrugging on my backpack.

"Another of your little vices."

"They’re what make me fun," I said, pausing to kiss him before climbing the wall.

Reaching the top of the wall, I started to hook my leg over the top, then stopped, and lowered myself swiftly back down into the garden. Rin, in the act of reaching for the neglected tea set, froze for a moment, then put the cups on the tray, and led the way into the summer house.

"Problem?" he asked softly.

"There was someone at the corner of the dead-end area," I told him. "I just had a glimpse of blazer. Thankfully the leaf canopy has grown back, so I wouldn’t necessarily be visible to them."

"Were they heading in, or leaving?"

"Hard to say—they seemed to be just standing there."

He frowned, then began washing the teacups.

"From the corner, they’re unlikely to have heard anything," he said. "But there’s no guarantee they didn’t come closer. We’ll take some preventative measures, starting with letting you out the gate, and me sitting here watching videos on my phone with the volume up high, to produce the maximum amount of ambiguous sound."

"Postpone next week," I said, firmly.

"Probably wise," he said, after a pause. "Good thing we left a couple of weeks spare leading up to exams. I’ll also have Bran set up a camera in that garden area, to see if anyone’s actively monitoring it."

Bran’s early warning system at least made us fairly confident that we could approach the gate safely. Rin went out first, removed the bars with three dextrous twists, and replaced them almost as quickly once I’d stepped through. Then he gestured to me to wait, lowering his head toward me. I leaned closer to the bars obediently.

"Lucky you’re not a yowler, Cheshire."

"Asking for your nose to be tweaked," I said, waved at him, and left smiling.

Sixty-Two

The following week involved displays of studied innocence, while the camera Bran set up gathered footage. When he uploaded it for review the next weekend, we discovered that my neglected nook was a popular make-out site. Four separate couples steamed up the lens, including a pair of teachers. There were also visits from three solo wanderers, one of whom was eating lunch there in much the same way I did, just a little later in the lunch hour. On the following weekend we discussed options over the Cheshire app, which Bran had upgraded again with more chat functions.

Kyou: I am going to feel thoroughly self-conscious next challenge, knowing that Josh Macintyre is on the other side of that wall inhaling yoghurt.

A Certain Cat: I don’t know where I found the luck to go for the better part of a year without seeing anyone in there.

Bran: Did you make that seat?

A Certain Cat: Yes—an exercise in creating something without using fasteners. If anyone tries to pick it up, it’ll fall apart, but it was fun to do.

Kyou: Is that a seat? I thought it was the beginnings of a bonfire.

Rin: Anyone recognise the person who came in on Friday?

I moved the video nearly to its end, and surveyed the shoulder of a blazer. Bran had positioned the camera to capture people who came all the way into the nook, but this person had stopped at the corner, and stayed leaning there.

A Certain Cat: Same position as the person the Friday before.

Kyou: Not eating lunch.

Bran: Occasionally checks phone. Waiting for someone, perhaps?

Rin: Possibly. But no guarantee that someone isn’t Cheshire. We’ll use the other entrance exclusively for now.

* * *

Tuesday brought a humid morning, looming clouds, and epic rolls of thunder accompanied by a few heavy droplets as we started into lunch. I pulled my umbrella from its backpack pocket and made my way around to the dovecote, paying more attention than usual to whether anyone seemed interested in my meanderings. There was no-one in sight both when I settled in to register my presence on the app, and when I emerged a minute later to follow the stone wall around to the entrance of the garden. Bran was waiting, twisting the bars free as I approached.

More fat droplets chased me through the fence, but Bran and I beat the downpour, safely shutting the summer house doors moments before deluge.

"If we’re lucky, it’ll die off by the time we need to head back to class," Bran said, brushing a few droplets from his face. "Coffee?"

"Sure."

I kicked off my shoes and curled into a corner of the couch, watching him with open enjoyment.

"I am less than comfortable with this challenge," he said bluntly, as he brought two mugs over. "Rough is not a concept I find attractive."

"Well, interpretation’s up to you," I said. "You can try to trounce me at Tyranny, if you prefer. Pity to waste the dress, though."

He looked at me over the rim of his mug, then said: "Strip Tyranny."

I laughed. "Sure. Do you wear the dress if I win?"

"If that’s what you’re into."

"I wonder if it’d fit? You have much better chest development than I do."

"Your only flaw," he said, managing to make mild mockery sound affectionate.

"What do you consider your biggest flaw?" I asked.

This won a shrug, as he sat on the opposite end of the couch. "What do you think?"

Not the easiest question to answer, since Bran seemed to have quite a few. I drank some more coffee, then said: "Being in two minds?"

His face went still, then he looked wry. "Rin was complaining about your ability to see through us."

That made me smile. "If he didn’t want me to guess what his fantasy costume would be, he shouldn’t have made it so obvious. You and Kyou, however, haven’t given much away, beyond Kyou thinking you’d prefer one of the two dresses I showed him."

"I can’t decide whether I’d prefer to see you dressed up or dressed down."

"Hiking outfit?"

He shook his head. "I’ll figure something out. The aim now is absence of clothing."

Bran picked up his phone meaningfully, and I obediently launched Tyranny. The position he’d chosen on the couch had already signalled that he was going to take the battle seriously, and so we duelled without the distraction of snuggling together. On tactics, I was perhaps more creative, but his hand speed exceeded mine, so I couldn’t dominate the matches, though I took every third game from him. That still left me with nothing left by the time he was shirtless.

"Let’s see this dress," he said, putting down his phone.

"Of the three, this is probably the one I would have bought to wear," I said, pulling folded cloth out of my backpack.

"Are you sure that’s a dress?" Bran asked, as I worked on the dense row of buttons that went all the way to a choker-style halter neck. "Looks more like a shirt."

"Technically a tunic, I think," I said, glancing down at the vivid blue material that brushed the top of my thighs. "I’d pair it with a pair of black skinny jeans, or maybe some tights." I turned, and the tunic flared from the waist down, while staying nicely tailored to my body further up. Lifting my arms, I admired the same effect in the long sleeves that left my shoulders bare, and had an excess of material to cover my hands, flaring below the elbow. There was a subtle pattern woven into the cloth that was only visible when it caught the light. "There’s a lot of engineering in this shirt. I’m amazed I got it so cheaply."

"If you like it so much, why offer it up as something to be torn off you?"

"I’d never iron it," I said. "It’s bad enough ironing the school uniform."

"Pay someone," he said, impatient.

"Even if my parents gave me that big a budget, I’m not sure I could bring myself to pay people to do my ironing. I spent too many years doing odd jobs in order to scrape together the cost of the latest game, or model building supplies, or fancy cakes."

"Start thinking of your time as a commodity," he said. "There’s no point leaving money to sit around when you can use it to give yourself more freedom."

"Believe me, I value my time, but while my parents give me enough to cover rent, utilities, food, and even disposable clothing, outsourcing labour is expensive. I’d have to spend more time tutoring to afford ironing. Besides, I’m getting the impression that this tunic isn’t in danger of manhandling."

"Come here and you’ll find out."

Bran really did like buttons. He undid every one of them extremely slowly, with an intense focus that was enough to heat me up even without the occasional brushes of fingertips against bare flesh. When there was nothing left to undo, he slid the cloth free and placed it carefully on the coffee table.

"Wear it with short shorts," he recommended, sliding his hands up my back. "Last day of classes is mufti—we don’t need to wear uniforms. I’d enjoy seeing you in that. Especially if you wear your hair up."

"Hm. Well, I’ll check the rules to see if short shorts are allowed," I said, shifting closer. "Shall I parade about somewhere you can see me? Other than the garden, I don’t seem to intersect with you three at all."

"More than you’d think," he said, pulling me onto his lap. "We’re forcing ourselves to go off on a tangent whenever we see you, much as it pains us. There’ll be a grade assembly on mufti day, so try to sit on the rightmost side as near to the front as you can get."

"I’d say I’ll sit behind your fan club, but that would put me toward the rear of the auditorium."

"Shut up," he said, and kissed me.

Kissing Bran will never get old, though I still couldn’t work out what added the extra level of tingle. Perhaps his sheer magnetism leaked through his saliva. Already heated, I allowed myself to be drawn in completely. Bran really was too too engrossing.

My alarm interrupted the encore performance, but we ignored it, and then had to rush to clean up and sort scattered pieces of school uniform.

"I definitely need to try for more Fridays," he said, as I fastened my skirt. "Tuesday isn’t long enough."

"We just took a long time to start today," I said, tucking the blue tunic away and then putting on my shirt.

"Friday allows for play before play." He finished his buttons, slung his tie loosely around his neck, and then paused to watch me. "Does your father have any plans to write another Blake Sevenmore story?" he asked as I put on my blazer. "The last came out over three years ago."

"Probably. He likes writing horror, much to the dismay of his agent, who wants him to focus on better-selling pen names. But there’s always long gaps between the Sevenmore ones, because he only does them when he thinks up a really twisty situation. Maybe that’s why those books never really take off—too spaced out to build momentum. Did he give you nightmares?"

"He gave Kyou nightmares. Do you have a favourite book of your father’s?"

"Hard to say. I think maybe his travel guide for Malaysia. His travel guides are basically my Dad telling funny stories in a super dry tone, plus social commentary. The early ones are really strange for me, because I was too young to remember most of it, but occasionally get strong flashes for the places and the food and some of the things he’s turned into anecdotes."

"What’s the travel writer pen name?"

"Eirich Mailer."

"One I’ve actually heard of," he said, as we headed for the fence. "Haven’t read them, but I’ve seen them in bookstores."

"Mailer was the first name that he got front of store treatment for, with a brief feature of the book on California. It was a huge event for us, because it brought a bunch of reprint and translation deals for his other travel books just when we were starting to try to dig my grandmother out of the money pit she’d fallen into. His subsequent books on that name haven’t quite matched the success of the California one, but it’s a respectable income stream. Have you ever wanted to write books instead of games?"

"I’ve thought of it as a way to improve my writing. Maybe I’ll novelise the plot of Echoes as a way of trying to refine it. If I have time, I’ll take some literature classes over the next few years to give myself a better structural appreciation."

He pulled the last bar free as he said this, and I waved a hand and hastily ducked through the fence, then tried to jog inconspicuously along the outer path in hopes of reaching class before the bell. Barely making it in time, I sat trying to slow my breathing, and thinking ahead to other deadlines. The most important exams in my life were now six weeks away, and I wanted them to be done already, but then all this would be over.

I wished I shared Bran’s confidence that we’d be friends after. Even ignoring all the sex, I was going to miss the conversations I had with these three boys.

Sixty-Three

Friday brought a warm day with clear skies, and Kyou, waiting for me at the fence.

"It’s been nearly a month," I whispered, with a pleased smile.

"Be assured, I’m more than aware," he said, beautiful voice low and compelling. "Worse still, I can only blame myself."

Mindful of the risk, I didn’t linger while he fixed the fence, but paused a few steps inside the garden, discovering an easel and canvas. Along with a palette and some tubes of acrylic, several mid-sized bottles of paint were sitting on the picnic table. The canvas looked complete, a vivid rendition of the summer house, festooned with roses.

"Impressionist? Not what I expected."

"Just an exercise in technique. Not to mention an excuse for bringing a lot of paint in here. So long as they don’t look at the labels."

I read the nearest, and laughed. Today was fantasy costume, and Kyou had brought body paint. "I didn’t guess your costume at all. Maybe because I’ve never seen you painting, despite you telling me your future plans. That was blind of me."

"I’m almost hurt, Cheshire," he said, sliding his arms around my waist. "Art is integral to my existence."

A complacent smile accompanied this statement, and he slid his hands down for some exploratory kneading.

"How would you describe your usual art style?" I asked, my gaze drawn back to the painting. A shimmering scene, a remembrance of a warm, tranquil, and private space.

"Hyper-realism. Occasional experiments in other areas. But enough talk—there’s a lot to get through today." He took my hand and led me to the summer house, adding: "First to take the edge off, because I don’t think it’s possible for me to finish any kind of painting right now without being entirely distracted."

He’d already spread blankets on the couch, and pulled me down into a hot embrace. When I had space to speak, I murmured: "What, no tea?"

Kyou snorted, and stopped my words again. We shed layers with just enough care to not lose buttons, and surged together. He was very hungry, fingers digging into my back, mouth hot, every action emphatic. It made me want to wrestle him, so I did, and laughed at the excitement in his eyes.

"Green or black?" he asked, much later.

"Green," I said, stretching, then went outside to clean myself up while he boiled water.

"Put your hair up to keep it out of the paint," he said, when I came back. He handed me a cup, adding: "And because it’s one of my favourite looks."

I looped my hair up with practiced twists, then sat down to sip my tea. "I’ll have a neater effort for Casual Friday, since Bran already put in a similar request."

"Oh? What’s the rest of the look?"

"That blue tunic dress and short shorts."

"Sounds delectable. Make sure you wander about somewhere I can see."

"Bran wants me to be conspicuous at a morning assembly."

"I wonder if I can arrange for the audience to be filmed?" He paused. "Parading about with those legs will result in a lot of attention for you that I won’t like on a few levels. I’ll dial up my impulse control in advance."

"My rendition of a glasses-off transformation scene. Saving it for the last day of classes is nicely dramatic. I might even wear makeup."

"Hm. Make sure Lania takes lots of pictures," he said. "Speaking of which, did you really let Rin take a photograph? He claims that one exists, but won’t let us look."

"Technically, I took a photograph. So long as I’m not identifiable, I think a photograph is quite a suitable keepsake for this particular challenge."

He didn’t respond immediately and, looking up, I caught an almost grim expression on his face. Then he wiped it away, smiled, and said: "Can I negotiate the number? I’m going to paint front and back."

"One’s only fair."

"Who said I wanted to be fair? Let’s get started."

Back at the picnic table, he picked up a roll of heavy plastic and spread it to cover much of the tabletop, then used it as a palette, mixing a large amount of midnight blue.

"I debated endlessly about what to paint," he remarked, as he made the first, dark stroke down my arm. "Initially I thought Alice in Wonderland themes, of course, and perhaps I’ll add a little fading grin somewhere, but it doesn’t really match the moments that have given me my deepest impression of you. Of course, there’s a few too many, including half-face sunburn, but can you guess one of my strongest images of you?"

"Seems to involve night," I said, watching it wash across me in broad strokes. "Sleeping bag adventures?"

"That certainly left an impression. But, no, it’s the school trip, watching you walk across that hotel rooftop in the moonlight, and then being swallowed up by the shadows, come to tell us how shallow Meggan’s heart is."

"Doesn’t sound a very positive association."

"Well, for once you hadn’t covered up your legs. But it was more…" He paused, drawing a long line from my throat to my stomach. "Shared secrets, I suppose you could say. Or mutual indignation. You sounded entirely disgusted when you explained the Them or Me Thing. Besides, I was so furious afterwards that I had to spend the whole night drawing pictures of you in an effort to not go and yell at Meggan."

"More than just the two you sent me?"

"Oh, absolutely. Using a sketchbook that comes with its own lock. Also framed to avoid identifying features, which is very painful to me."

He was sensible enough to not take the risk, which I appreciated greatly, so I said: "One front photo, one back photo."

Kyou leaned forward to kiss me, then added in a low, triumphant purr: "And I thought I’d have to spend the rest of the afternoon coaxing you."

"It’s the voice," I said, shivering a little as he sent the brush across my left breast. "Undermines all my resistance."

He chuckled, and proceeded to talk as he painted, covering my back while telling me I had beautiful shoulder blades, and discussing the view while I stood on the picnic table to make it easier for him to paint my ankles.

"You’re making me want to step on your face," I said, smiling down at him.

He stopped painting, eyes widening, but then shook his head. "I’m not a submissive, but I think it best you keep such remarks to yourself until I’ve finished dressing you up."

I was midnight from throat to toe by then, and watched with interest as he stopped chattering and started applying shading to the background he’d laid. Variations of white, picking out shapes glimmering in moonlight. I leaned forward, trying to work out the image, and realised it was the leaves and a flower from the potted Bird of Paradise plants that had decorated the rooftop café.

"I’d probably have agreed to a second photo around about now anyway," I remarked, after I turned around so he could continue the image. "Once I realised I would have no idea what you painted on my behind."

"Crude penises," he said, comfortably.

"Nothing new, then."

Kyou made an amused sound, but didn’t keep talking, concentrating on transforming me. After I moved down off the table, I decided not to look any more, thinking back to the island visit, and then over the next few weeks until the exams. One of the reasons I’d agreed to photos is because I wanted them myself. Keepsakes. Kyou hadn’t liked me framing them that way.

I had plenty of practice in not wallowing in upcoming departures, so soon shifted my thoughts to turning over mock exam questions, interspersed with watching Kyou’s face while he painted. Of the three, he had the best jawline, and I also appreciated his naturally arched eyebrows. His hair was at least two inches longer than when I’d first seen him, and strands of dark hair shaded his eyes. A little longer and it would frame his face nicely.

He noticed my gaze, and paused in his painting.

"Penny for them, Cheshire?"

"I was thinking that maybe you’d be able to wear your hair in a ponytail soon."

He grinned. "Looking forward to that?"

"Yes," I said, frankly. "It really suits you."

He bent his head and kissed me, careful to keep the rest of our bodies apart, then murmured: "You’ll make me blush." After that he switched to painting my back, perhaps because the tips of his ears really were a little red.

"And done," he said, perhaps a quarter hour later. "You’ve been very patient."

"It’s interestingly meditative, once I managed to stop myself squirming."

He dunked his brush, wiped his hands and took his mobile phone, then spent some time deciding on the best lighting for his photos. When he showed them to me, I was briefly speechless.

Kyou had painted Bran on my back, head lowered, posture brooding, hands in the pockets of his shorts, and his Hawaiian shirt flapping back from a single button fastened at the top. He’d placed Rin on my left rib cage, giving a café chair the air of a throne, his expression cold as ice. A painted Kyou stood beside him, head located neatly between my breasts, eyes downcast, one hand clenched.

I remembered Rin saying that Kyou’s non-digital work was usually deeply personal. On me, he’d captured two losses: one avoided at the last moment, and the other the discovery that a person they’d thought a friend had been selfishly destructive. Not fun or romantic or happy images, but remarkably vivid, outlined by moonlight paint on my skin.

"This is way more symbolic than I was expecting."

"This past year would have been completely different if you hadn’t happened into this garden," he said, voice low. "I doubt the alternative…well, let’s not spoil the moment. I find I’m in the mood to bathe you."

I accepted the change of subject without comment, following him around to the hose. "Have you ever washed away one of your paintings before?"

"I’ve shredded a lot of bad sketches. If it’s a canvas, I usually paint over the truly irredeemable."

"I’m not sure I could do that. I like to see my progress."

"Do you sketch, Cheshire?"

"I draw cities."

"Of buildings, or just bridges?"

"Both. I have sketchbooks full of them, stored in the boxes we keep at my grandmother’s. Fewer lately, since my mother bought me a laptop with AutoCAD installed, and I’ve been focusing on my technical skills there. I’ve only done a few pages since I came to Corascur."

"Do you have one with you?"

I shook my head, then wriggled as Kyou squirted a generous amount of liquid soap over my back and shoulders, briskly rubbed it in and sluiced it. Then, before I could turn around, he leaned over my shoulders, added a generous amount of soap to my front, and began a leisurely massage.

"Brings back memories," I said, relaxing against his chest. "Mainly of you testing to see whether I was easily startled."

"Pure impulse," he said, chuckling. "I was intending to be extremely decorous."

"Lies."

"Well, I intended to start decorously." He let go of my breasts, but only in order to turn me around and start kissing me. "But now, I plan to be quite the opposite."

There was quite a lot of dark blue paint on Kyou by the time his phone chimed a warning. He sighed, sat up, and looked down at his chest. "There are possibly traces of Rin’s face smeared across my ribs," he said. "I’ll tell him that later."

"I expect he’ll enjoy the imagery. But now we have to be particular about ensuring no trace remains. Matching body paint would be almost as obvious as those twin sunburns."

We scrubbed enthusiastically, double-checked each other for traces, and then I trotted off to Art Club, and walked into a strategy meeting. Carr, sitting on one of the workbenches, smiled at me as I came in: "Good timing. This is a discussion I really wanted to have you here for."

"Oh?"

"We can finally say goodbye to posters for the upcoming exams, and move on to early work on the Seniors' Ball. Given the theme, I was wondering if a gondola would be within your technical capabilities?"

"A gondola?" I shrugged. "I suppose so. One people sit in, or just background decoration?"

"If we’re talking interactive, a bridge would be a better option," Sue pointed out. "People could take photos standing on it, and they’re less likely to trip than they would getting in and out of boats in big floofy dresses."

"Good idea," I said, vastly preferring the idea to a gondola.

"Here we are planning a ton of work, and there’s Mika, glowing like she’s been given the biggest treat ever," Lania said, laughing.

"Do you think they’d let me build the Rialto?"

"Do you think the Rialto is doable?" Carr asked. "I seem to recall it being elaborate."

"Give me the resources, I’ll give you half of Venice. Well, show me the venue first, and I’ll do up a design plan. Is the dance on campus?"

"In Sports One," Carr said.

"Sounds very utilitarian, but it looks nice when swathed in sufficient layers of gauze and satin," Sue added.

"I don’t think I’ve been there. Do you mean the indoor basketball courts?"

"It’s multi-purpose. Lania, can you take Mika over to get a feel for the place while we work on poster planning?"

"Sure." Lania grabbed her backpack and led the way out. "Fair warning, the Seniors' Ball is a hot potato, and most of the school has an opinion. Particularly important are the faculty and the Social Club, though, really, it’s the Rose Court who ultimately decides. We haven’t been asked to do a full design, just come up with some features. There’s a proper meeting about it on Monday."

"No problem. I do design specs for fun and practice. I’ll put something together over the weekend just for the entertainment value. Though it would be handy to know particular requirements—things that have to be in the room."

"I’ll ask Celeste. She’s the important one on the Committee. I’ll email you if she gets back to me."

Sports One was an air hanger of a place, massive enough for multiple courts. Basketball and badminton were currently featured, with a scattered audience in the bleachers. I had vaguely wondered if I’d see Bran or Rin playing, but there was no sign, so I simply paced out some rough dimensions, checked out the side rooms, and headed back to Club.

"I’m vastly more interested in this Ball, now. I spent some quality time with the set design crew at my last school, and have been itching to try out some of the things they talked about."

"And here I thought you were looking forward to slow dancing with me," Lania complained.

"That part will also be fun."

"Any chance your boyfriend would be able to come?"

"Christophe continues to be my ex-boyfriend. And, no, he’s got a short role in some detective show. Described it as bad boy who dies. Early signs of being typecast."

"Why keep emphasising the ex-boyfriend when you’re going trekking with him in Peru? He’s—" Lania broke off, and jerked her chin forward to warn me.

I’d already seen them: Rin carrying the easel, Kyou his painting of the garden, and Bran clutching an assortment of brushes and paints—though, notably, none of the bottles of body paint. They’d come from a different path, and were several feet in front of us, heading for the Art building. Lania and I exchanged mutual expressions of appreciation, and followed along behind. It was so rare for me to see the three of them together, and especially when they weren’t aware of my presence. Bran and Rin were talking about something, but not loud enough for eavesdropping. Kyou seemed a little withdrawn, trailing a couple of steps behind his friends as they walked down the art-festooned corridor outside the club. He must have caught the sound of our footsteps because he looked back, raised his eyebrows, and smiled. But then his face went very blank as Sean loudly proclaimed from inside the room:

"I tell you, if there really are photos of all of them with this Cheshire, I’ll pay anything to see them. A girl that can wrap the Three Kings around her finger might be enough to turn me."

By sheer willpower, I managed not to stumble, and shot a quick look at Lania. She was clearly also trying to control her reaction, and glanced back at me, widening her eyes in consternation. I took a breath, wondering if I’d gone noticeably white, hoping to redirect Lania’s attention. Thankfully she looked back at Kyou, who was no longer facing in our direction. Rin and Bran had stopped, and spotted me. Bran scowled in a way that Lania was sure to misunderstand.

Rin maintained a completely blank expression for a moment, but then smoothed his face to his usual gentle mask, and took the final step to the door of the art room.

"I don’t think I’m flexible enough to be wrapped around anything. But I’m very interested in photos. Who has them?"

Silence has never been so loud.

I tugged Lania’s elbow and walked forward as the three went into the room

Rick, braver or more stolid than the rest, finally spoke. "Post about it blowing up on SunChat. But no actual pictures shown."

"Oh, hot air." Rin walked with his usual grace toward the storeroom, and Bran followed him, still scowling. Kyou went in the other direction, toward the racks where paintings could be stored safely. Lania and Sean immediately exchanged exaggerated grimaces, while I decided to put on an attitude of watching a good show, postponing my actual reaction until I could confirm whether there truly were pictures.

What if there were? What would I do?

Taking a long, slow breath, I looked around for Carr and found him busy at the corner workbench, ignoring the fuss.

"I’ve got enough to go on with," I said, crossing to him. "I’ll email you a design plan Sunday. No harm if they don’t go for it—it’s good practice for me. Are there any features you’d like included?"

"To not go over the budget? Which hasn’t been finalised yet."

"I’ll give you a cost breakdown," I said. "It shouldn’t be too daunting." A least not for this over-the-top school.

With a faint wave, I left the tense atmosphere behind me, cutting school a little early to go to the bus stop, where I immediately searched the Corascur section of the city-wide forums.

LittleBird

Who’d like to see photos proving our Student Council Executive are all hooking up with the same girl?

Naturally, along with a lot of derision, the overwhelming answer was: Me! A dozen replies down there was a second post by LittleBird.

Her name is Cheshire. First photo is released at 6pm.

Waves of nausea spread from my stomach to my throat, and I put my hand to my mouth, then bit it to keep myself under control. Even if it was only one boy, I would hate for photos of me having sex to be released on the internet. I’m a generally easy-going person, but there are some things I don’t want to share with the world.

The bus came, I found a seat by autopilot, and stared out the window in a daze. Name-calling I could handle, but how would this impact my plans to go to Helios U? And the Marden Institute? In an ideal world my private life wouldn’t have any impact on my application, but even consensual relationships between adults could count against you with photos on the local forums. That kind of thing would never go away. Any rival for any job I ever went for could use it to pull me down.

I paused, thinking things through, then pulled out my phone and logged into the Cheshire app. Unsurprisingly, Rin, Kyou and Bran had all sent messages saying they were looking into it, and would do everything to stop the photos from being uploaded.

A Certain Cat: It’s fake.

A Certain Cat: Or, at least, not me.

Kyou: Wishful thinking, or a reason?

A Certain Cat: If you were inclined to publish pictures, and had photographs of any one of you having sex in the Student Council President’s private garden, why would you wait for more? Unless you’ve been having extremely imprudent discussions where people can hear, there would be no reason to think there could be more, and a single naked photograph would be enough to generate all the drama anyone could wish. Has there been any activity on the camera installed to watch the wall I climb over?

Bran: Just more people necking. No-one climbing the wall, or putting cameras over it.

Rin: Cheshire’s right. Recent photos are unlikely, and if the photos were older, they would surely have been used already.

A Certain Cat: And any photos outside the garden won’t be of me.

Bran: What girl have we all been in contact with recently?

Kyou: Twenty, at least. The rest of the School Council, half the Club leaders.

Rin: No, unless this is total hype, there has to be something more substantive than school meetings.

Bran: To get more substantive, you’d need to take photos outside of school.

Rin: People do. And if someone had a grudge, and had perhaps overheard us saying something ambiguous about meeting Cheshire, then I suppose it’s possible they might even follow us about.

Kyou: There would definitely be some interesting gossip if they did that.

A Certain Cat: Are your career plans about to be exploded?

Kyou: Possibly our architect is about to be annoyed at us.

A Certain Cat: Okay. Well, I’m going to wind down from the adrenaline high and try to work on the design plan I was all excited about before this blew up. I’m ninety percent certain this isn’t about me, but I don’t think I’ll convince myself until we hit six o’clock.

I logged out of the app, but then just continued to stare out the window. My otherwise very positive day had been ruined, and I felt muddy and flat. As soon as I reached home I took a hot shower, and then curled up on my couch with the TV on. Background noise. Unexpectedly, I fell asleep. Even after nearly a year, I’m still not used to the easy sleep that the garden sessions give me. I woke up hungry around nine, and immediately checked the forums, scrolling down to six o’clock to see a picture of Rin with a girl hanging off his arm, pulling him toward an instant photo booth.

Not a person I’d seen before: a petite creature with smooth black hair cut asymmetrically. She smiled up at Rin brilliantly, and he wore a look of wry tolerance.

Frowning faintly, I scrolled down further to messages posted at seven pm, and found Kyou and the girl, toting bags of takeout and walking into an upmarket apartment building. Eight pm brought Bran, sitting at a table at an outdoor café, with the same girl bending down to whisper something in his ear.

I have to admit, I felt a little green-tinted. This was someone who had the friendship I thought I’d developed with these three, and while I trusted them enough to know they weren’t actually in a relationship with her, she had the freedom to associate with them in ways that the challenge prevented me from doing.

But then, she was also the one stuck with her photos all over the internet. I logged into the Cheshire app to see what they had to say.

Kyou: Darcy!

Rin: This has suddenly become hilarious.

Bran: Darcy is Kybirn’s first and currently only employee.

Rin: Our admin manager, but will be transitioning to equipment design. He’s studying history at Helios U, and plans to do a thesis on fashion and gender. His clothing is very deliberate.

Kyou: I think you’ll like him.

This had been sent at six, and the timestamp showed a gap in messages until half an hour ago.

Kyou: Darcy, fortunately, thinks it’s funny. It shouldn’t have too much impact on him.

Bran: This post is going to reach a whole new level once someone identifies him.

Rin: A convenient explanation for why we haven’t dated anyone lately.

Kyou: The photos are all from the last fortnight. We’re working on finding out who has been following us about. Will let you know.

Wondering what they’d made of my extended silence, I replied.

A Certain Cat: Sorry, I fell asleep. Good luck finding the culprit. To be safe, I think inside the summer house with the doors closed from now on, no exception.

I tossed my phone on the table and put the whole mess out of my head, grabbing my laptop to start researching the Rialto Bridge.

Sixty-Four

Darcy remained an anonymous girl until just before start of school on Monday morning. Walking to Home Room felt like the aftermath of a national disaster, with every second person I saw either glued to their phone, showing images to friends, arguing, or whispering in corners.

"Your expression is so funny, Mika," Lania said, as I sat down. "So perplexed."

"Ultimately, they’re just three boys. They’re attractive and talented, but the fact that they have a pretty male friend doesn’t nearly warrant this reaction. Especially over what turned out to be thoroughly innocuous pictures."

"It’s just the idea of it, I think," Lania admitted. "Even if the foursome part isn’t true, the idea of any one of them being gay or bi is, well, fun for Sean."

"Given all the art Sean’s posted on exactly that subject…"

"Yes, but there’s a big difference between fantasy and one of them actually running around with a boyfriend."

"Mm." I paused, bit back a lot I wanted to say about everyone deserving privacy, and asked: "Any guesses who’s been following them about with a camera?"

"Could be anyone. Ever since the drama with Tomas, I’ve felt that people I’ve known for years might be completely different below the surface."

"Like you and your secret nerd nature?"

Lania laughed, and shrugged. "I think I’m getting out from underneath the shadow, enough I can’t imagine what ever made me think I needed to hide it. You, at least, make no bones about your obsessions. How did the design go?"

"Good. I couldn’t do the full bridge justice, of course—not without taking up too much of the dance floor—but a scaled down version of one side of it, along with some judiciously painted backdrop, could be spectacular. I sent the plans and rough costings off to Carr, who liked it, and sent it on to Celeste, who very much likes it. They think there’s a good chance it will be approved, particularly if the woodworking teacher passes it."

"It’ll be on the Student Council agenda, then. Council items are considered by the faculty the next morning, so you’ll probably have an answer by tomorrow lunch."

Lania’s prediction came true, and I was delayed Tuesday lunchtime for a meeting with a Ms Johnson to discuss the practical aspects of building a large structure in the sports facility. Ms Johnson was short, round, redheaded, and possibly my soul mate. If she hadn’t had a faculty meeting, I may have forgotten Bran altogether in favour of excitedly talking over the strange and amazing models we’d built. We made an appointment so I could show her the thread technique I’d used on the Sunseeker Bridge model, and then I made my way to the garden, trying not to too obviously check behind me for errant photographers.

Bran was waiting at the fence, and opened the bars with practiced twists. I went straight to the summer house, leaving him to tidy up behind, and realised as I put my backpack down that even without seeing a single person on that path, my shoulders were stiff with tension.

Obedient to my request, Bran shut the doors after coming in, then stepped forward and folded me into his arms.

"I’m sorry," he said.

Startled, I lifted my hands to his chest, but didn’t push him away.

"Couldn’t do this last Friday, but I think you needed it then. You were completely white."

"I felt I might be. I tried to carry it off."

"Lania didn’t seem to notice. And you kept your expression well. But you should never have had to face the possibility in the first place."

I decided to let the Mika from last Friday appreciate the moment, and leaned against him, remembering how sick and panicked I’d been.

"Few things strike me as less desirable than to be supporting actor in any form of revenge porn. Have you worked out yet who has it in for you?"

"No." He let go of me, but only to shift us to sit together on the couch. "Someone using a VPN. Not even necessarily a revenge thing—they could just think of it as exciting gossip. Do you usually go to sleep as soon as you get home?"

"I think that was a shock reaction. My pulse stayed through the roof until halfway through my bus trip, when my brain finally started to break down likely cause and effect." Bran’s arms tightened in response, and I let myself enjoy the clear care. "Without photos, I think I could brazen it out, even if people thought I was, um, playing around with you three. But photos would have destroyed a lot of things for me."

He stroked my hair. "We thought we were being careful. Now, we truly will be. I even did a scan of the whole garden, looking for signals from hidden cameras. It helps that people truly believe at least one of us is hooking up with Darcy."

"Does that bother you?" I asked, curious.

Bran snorted. "There’s always talk about us with this person or that person, most of whom I wouldn’t be seen dead with. Darcy’s decent—it’s not an embarrassment to be associated with him. We’ll not bother to deny it, at any rate."

His voice dropped lower and lower as he said this, thrumming in my ear. He rubbed his cheek against mine, then began to kiss my throat. I slid a hand up his back, and responded unhurriedly. Leisurely touches, deepening kisses.

The slow, tender style Bran had started to prefer always left me feeling very contemplative in the aftermath, and more vulnerable than I liked. Taking a few breaths, I watched a pulse jumping in his throat as he settled, then deliberately chose a light note.

"Does the school uniform count as your fantasy costume, or do you have a dress hidden somewhere?"

"It’ll do."

"In all its oversized, knee-length glory?"

"Other than perhaps what you wore on the beach that night, your uniform is the look I associate most with you. And it’s so unnecessarily bulky, I’m always glad to take it off you."

I laughed, and snuggled against him. "Do you want a photo?"

"Not for the purpose you seem to mean it," he said, a little flatly.

Lifting my head, I considered the hint of storm in his eyes, then lay back down and very deliberately started talking about a scheduled update for Tyranny. Casual conversation, firmly moving the tone back to the friendly basis which seemed safest.

After overcoming initial hurdles, Bran had lost interest in the structure of the game, and focused simply on enjoying his time with me, not hiding that he felt leaving Corascur wouldn’t mean it was over. The challenges had simply become excuses to meet. But then, I hadn’t recorded the result for any of these encounters for months. When the whole thing was over, I’d work out some credible scores that left them almost evenly matched, and flip a coin as to who won the game. There was no way I’d hurt one of them by leaving him trailing by any significant amount.

I’d gotten too involved as well, and all I could do now was enjoy it while it lasted, and minimise the damage.

Sixty-Five

"I’m a little surprised blindfold and bondage is only one challenge," I said, as Rin closed the summer house doors on a late Spring shower. "They’re not quite the same thing."

"We thought we might run short of time," he said. "And didn’t want to be distracted after the midsummer break. I’d say I regret not spreading it out, but…" He paused, and gave me his gentlest smile. "I think this way will be the most fun."

"Having me completely at your mercy?"

"Exactly."

"Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to tie you up instead?"

"Leave that to Kyou. He’ll appreciate it more."

This seemed true to me, and I smiled as I curled onto the couch, noting that Rin had moved the coffee table over to under the window.

"Picturing him in handcuffs?" Rin asked, picking up the teapot.

"More or less. I think he’d like it if there was a way to break free and get his revenge."

Rin laughed, and handed me a steaming cup. "I’ll pass on the suggestion." He sat down, sipped his own cup, and added: "We’ve been researching tying people up, and for most of it our conclusion was Cheshire would hate that."

"Google certainly showed me a lot of things that looked more uncomfortable than fun," I said.

"I’ll try to remember to let you enjoy yourself."

He, at least, was enjoying teasing me. Being tied up was not something that drew me particularly, but I gave all three of them credit for having sense enough to try to avoid me actively disliking it.

"Have you given up on finding out who your photographer is?"

"Not precisely. We suspect it might relate back to Tomas again. He was released on a restricted parole, and his parents have bundled him out of the city, theoretically under psychiatric supervision.

"How did your family react to the small matter of someone attempting to murder the future discoverer of a cure for cancer?"

"Are you sure today is a day you want to provoke me, Cheshire?" he asked, expression not shifting.

"I am, of course, speaking purely from the perspective of those who have missed your Guitar Hero core."

He snorted, but then said: "I haven’t played that in years. Bran and I used to have the most epic battles. As for the family reaction, we’d already had a clan conclave, back when Kyou was nearly poisoned. That vacillated between trying to decide if it was an attack on L-B Corp, or whether Kyou had done something to provoke retribution."

"Just Kyou?"

"I am considered too well-behaved to attract serious enmity, and nothing they’re aware of had happened to Bran."

"I guess provoking people as a hobby comes with a price."

Rin smiled, and put down his cup. "A lesson you should take to heart, Cheshire," he said, then added: "Take off your clothes."

He reached for his own tie as he spoke, and I watched with due enjoyment as I shed my own uniform and folded it onto the coffee table. While Rin maintained a balance between a slender build and a fit physique, rather than being cut like Bran, I thought his body was truly beautiful—or perhaps that innate elegance made everything about him look good.

"Has Kyou ever painted you?" I asked.

Rin, who had been reaching for his backpack, paused. "Not the way he painted you. Kyou likes to draw the people he cares about, and he has a sketchbook for each of them. Mine is onto a fourth volume. Bran is still on the third, but his third sketchbook is a little thicker." He lifted a piece of cloth from his backpack. "Your sketchbook has a lock, and he hasn’t shown us the pictures. Yet. Would it bother you if he did?"

"I’m not sure," I said, as Rin fastened the blindfold with Velcro. "Anyone other than you and Bran, absolutely, even if the drawings are as anonymous as Kyou claims." I paused. "I almost walked away from this, because of the photos. I’ve never had a whole-life-crashing-down moment before, and I don’t want to repeat it."

Rin, who had been moving about, came back and folded his arms around me, much the way Bran had.

"The fact that someone heard the name Cheshire means we haven’t been nearly as careful as we thought," he admitted, stroking my back. "No game is worth harming you. We can stop right now, if you think the risk is too great."

"I wouldn’t still be showing up, if I thought that," I said, leaning against him. "Bran told me Tuesday that bridges make me compromise, and that stuck with me. It made me realise that being very rigid about the specific goal of Helios U and the Marden Institute isn’t good for me. Not that I’m putting it down, but they’re not critical to my future. Engineering, physics, math, chemistry—I can not only study those anywhere, I can excel at them. Like Kyou and his financial crisis, there’s always a way to recover."

"But meanwhile we’ll make sure nothing that can be used against you ever leaks out," he said, in a very definite tone.

Pleased with him, I amused myself tracing my way to the nape of his neck, then stretched up to kiss him. He cooperated with me briefly, enough to increase the pace of my breathing, but then moved away.

"Put this on," he said, draping some cloth over my shoulders.

I fumbled, found sleeves, and slid my arms into them. It felt like his shirt again, the material still slightly warm from his body heat. Given the challenge, I decided not to tease him about it.

"Wrists together in front of you."

He fastened pliable cuffs around my wrists, tightening straps. There was something soft inside them, making them not uncomfortable, but they were linked closely together.

"If people saw your recent shopping list, your image would be totally shot."

"What makes you think it’s recent?" he purred into my ear, obviously enjoying himself.

"New leather smell."

"Hm."

He moved away, and I heard a slow clinking sound, and had to control my expression because I hadn’t expected chains. He hooked what seemed to be a very solid chain to the join between the two cuffs, then moved away again. Possibly he stood on the couch: it felt like he moved upwards.

Translating the sounds I was hearing into probable causes, I said, only a little incredulously: "Have—have you attached a pulley to the ceiling?"

His response was to continue to pull the chain, drawing my hands inexorably up. And then the rest of me.

For a moment I was blankly astonished, but then I laughed. "Dangling from the ceiling ranks highly among things I never imagined I’d be doing at school."

"Is it hurting?" he asked, standing behind me.

"Not yet."

He hummed in acknowledgement, and touched my neck, just a glancing contact, before moving again. I probed for the ground with my toes, but couldn’t manage it. I couldn’t be too high up—the summer house simply wasn’t tall enough.

Something touched my stomach, just a tickle, but it didn’t feel like his hand. A lock of hair, perhaps?

Rin might be invisible to me, but his pleasure was palpable as he teased me with feather-light touches, so soft I was barely sure they had happened. And, then, when I had started to not expect it, a sudden inhalation of my left breast, sucking intensely, and not neglecting to scrape a little with his teeth before he moved away. Then an outright bite on my behind, hard enough that I felt I’d have to check it later for broken skin. He licked my throat, then roughly gripped my thigh.

I swung lightly on the chain, gasping, caught somewhere between excitement and faint distress. My belief that Rin would not push me too far was beginning to fray, but thankfully a moment later he stopped me swinging.

"Is it hurting you? You’ve gone pale."

"I’m not sure I’m cut out for bondage."

He paused, then hoisted me with an arm beneath my butt so he could unhook me. Then he pulled free the straps on one cuff so I could get my wrist free.

"Is that better, or do you want to stop?"

I steadied myself, gripping his shoulder. "Just—just have a little less fun from now on."

"Stopping," he said, very firmly, and took a couple of steps so he could sit us down on the couch, settling me on his lap. He freed my other wrist, tossed the cuffs aside, then stroked my back. "Too far, sorry."

"The swinging set me off, I think. Made me want to kick out. Probably not the reaction you were looking for."

He took off my blindfold. "I’ve been itching to shake your calm for months, Cheshire, so perhaps it was precisely how I wanted you to react. I didn’t enjoy it at all."

"Feeling guilty?" I asked.

He tidied stray strands of hair out of my eyes. "Reminding myself of the obvious point that this will only be fun if you’re having fun. Let’s take a break. Would you like to listen to some music?"

"Sure."

"I’m practicing for a performance on the Friday before study break," he said, putting me down and lifting a violin case from beside the couch. "An original piece."

He sat cross-legged on the opposite end of the couch, elegant and very naked, long fingers handling the polished wood of the instrument as tenderly as he’d just stroked my cheek. Then he touched bow lightly to the strings, and they made a tiny, now-familiar sound.

"Very funny."

"Bran and I had a competition to see which of us could reproduce it first," he said, again summoning a faint mewling noise from the violin.

"Is that what you’re planning to play to the year assembly?"

"Don’t tempt me," he said, and lifted the bow.

I don’t have the foundation to know whether Rin is a brilliant violinist, or simply one who succeeds in drawing me in whenever I hear him play. The piece this time was playful, full of sudden bounces and little runs, but then shifted into a more dramatic tone, driving and frantic, and then flew up into a final, exhilarating release.

"Is this another for your game?" I asked, when he lowered the bow. "I feel like something just chased me down and nearly ate me."

He smiled, a vividly pleased expression. "It’s called Will-o-the-wisp. The player encounters one, tries to catch it, and is nearly caught by something rather larger."

"Are you being symbolic, playing it at the last official school assembly?"

"Primarily I just want to perform it, because it turned out well. But I might waffle about childhood’s end or something, if pressed."

"You’re going to have your fans rushing the stage, if you’re not careful." I paused, then added. "I don’t understand how your parents can possibly believe music is a hobby for you. Do they never look at you when you play?"

"They see what they want," he said, smile fading.

"Sorry, that spoiled the mood, didn’t it?" I picked up the blindfold, and put it back on. "Let me make it up to you."

Sixty-Six

I spent the beginning of my last formal week of classes at Corascur happily finalising plans for the Rialto Bridge with Ms Johnson. Actual construction wouldn’t begin until the exams were over, but we worked out costs, ordered material, and wrote up a detailed assembly schedule.

"Does your family work in the industry?" Ms Johnson asked, as she looked over the plan on Tuesday lunch. "You’ve obviously had plenty of exposure."

"My mother visits a lot of sites," I said. "I tag along as often as I can—it’s always fascinated me to watch the process of making massive structures. At one site they gave me a time lapse of the deconstruction of a skyscraper in order to build a subway station, and then erect a new skyscraper over it. The complications of the foundation took longer than the rest of the project."

"Do you have it on you?"

"I’ll email it to you," I said. "I’m running a little late to meet a friend."

She nodded. "Good luck on the exams, if we don’t chat earlier. Remember to check in with your counsellor if you’re having any issues."

I waved and headed off, remembering halfway to be cautious. There’d been no sign of anyone following me, but the closer we got to the exams, the more risk-adverse I became. My low-profile style had worked well for me earlier in the year, but it was inevitable that after so many months my classmates recognised me, and perhaps would notice the direction I wandered off to on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The app indicator turned green while I was still en route and so, with a glance over my shoulder, I directly followed the wall to the adaptable fence. Turning the corner, I saw Bran just coming out of the gate, and smiled. He didn’t look in my direction, walking past the barred gap toward the entrance to the administration building. I hesitated, then heard a voice, and took a few steps back to the corner of the wall.

A pleasant female voice said his name, followed by something indistinguishable. I recognised Celeste. Since she was moving closer, I left, heading back to the dovecote. I added a quick message to the Cheshire app, then settled down to play a game of Tyranny.

"Mika?"

Carr’s voice. Moments from winning the battle, I didn’t glance up, but smiled. "You’ve found my hideaway."

"Do you come out here every lunch?"

"No, it’s a bit dank when it’s not sunny, but it’s good for bright days like this. Only problem is it’s not strictly still inside the school grounds, so I try to avoid the teachers noticing I go here."

I popped my ultimate, clearing the field, and then looked up at Carr and Natascha, who were unexpectedly hauling buckets filled with flowers.

"Flash florist?" I asked, blinking.

"For the Rose Court Afternoon Tea," Natascha said, with a shrug.

"I didn’t know you two were members," I said, vaguely recalling that there was a social event later in the day. "It’s some kind of handover ceremony?"

"We’re not members, just pushovers," Natascha said. "The members are busy primping. The flowers are for awarding attendees, and if you’ve been identified as a Rose Court candidate, you’re given a specific colour, but the colour changes each year, to ensure everyone is at maximum anxiety and low self-esteem levels, and spends all their time judging by who got what colour."

"The intention is to celebrate all female students," Carr said.

I looked at him, and he couldn’t hold back a wry curve of the lips.

"The Club has evolved a very long way from its original purpose," he admitted.

"Heading toward Hunger Games territory," I said. "I’m glad I missed that part of the Corascur experience."

"Behind the scenes it’s about business interests," Carr said. "People connecting on behalf of families."

Natascha snorted lightly. "Yeah, it’s the junior social set of the local powers that be. The only problem is, they like to pretend people outside that set might qualify." She glanced at Carr. "We’d better get on—not least because I’ll be accused of monopolising you if you don’t show up, with or without flowers."

Pretending not to hear that, I waved, and sat back, checking my phone. There was a message from Bran in the app, giving the all clear, but I waited until Natascha and Carr were well out of sight before heading up.

Bran was leaning against the open gate, where he had a view of both the walkway and the gap through the hedge. He moved quickly as I came into sight, twisting the bars free, and replacing them almost before I was through. He closed the gate firmly behind us and locked it with a twist of the key, letting out his breath as he did so.

"Worried more of the Rose Court will try to drag you off to give out flowers?" I murmured, as we headed to the summer house.

"Guessed that, did you?" He shut the summer house door, tossed the key on the coffee table, and dropped down on the couch with a disgusted expression. "Bad enough spending years putting up with the right people doing proper activities, but nothing could force me into an exercise of rubbing social gaps into the noses of the excluded."

"Is this what Sirocco used to humiliate Lania? Lania was very quiet this morning—I’ll have to check on her. It’s strange that Corascur can be so progressive, but tolerate something so retrograde."

"The school’s owned by one of the founding members of the Court." Bran had recovered his temper a little, and was examining me with a frown. "Did you cut your hair again?"

I grimaced. "Yes, but only because a brat sitting behind me on the bus decided to fill my ponytail with chewing gum, and I was too focused on Tyranny to notice until it was thoroughly clogged. I managed to get most of it out, but had to sacrifice a chunk. I’m surprised you can tell."

"What did you do to the kid? Wasn’t it supervised?"

"His mother was with him, but either didn’t notice or didn’t care, and wasn’t interested in apologising. So I pulled out the biggest wad I could manage, dropped it down her décolletage, and got off a stop early."

Bran nodded with faint approval. "No time wasted arguing, but still made your point." He reached out a hand and pulled me into his lap. "I hear you don’t like being tied up."

"I didn’t like Rin’s interpretation. I don’t know how I’d feel about milder forms."

"We changed the challenge to blindfold only. What point ruining one of these afternoons seeing how much you can tolerate something that you’re already dubious about?"

"How do you think Rin would feel about being tied up?"

"Hate it like fire. He can’t stand anything that restricts his mobility."

"What about you?"

Bran didn’t seem to have considered it before, and tightened his arm around my waist. "Might be fun. I’ll—" He paused, looked down, then reached for his backpack and hooked out a strip of white cloth. "You should be wearing this."

I obediently fastened it over my eyes, then adjusted it against a tendency to slip. "Blindfolds are enjoyable, but have a big negative of not being able to see you."

"Ogle me afterwards," he said, pulling me even closer, but only to bury his face into my throat. It didn’t seem to be an upset action, so I began to explore his back with my hands, and found that he seemed to want me to take the lead despite the blindfold.

Stripping a compliant Bran while not being able to see him was oddly exciting. Both of us were breathing hard, even before I got his pants off. When he was finally naked, we tangled for a while, all hard kisses and hot hands. I gradually tipped him onto his back and then sat myself on his thighs, and held him down until he stopped moving. Then I slowly stripped off my uniform.

When gasping from urgency, Bran would try to hold himself back, then slip his leash a little before restraining himself again. It worked exceptionally well with the blindfold, because it was harder for me to spot when he was about to lose himself. Bran had gained a lot of control since our first time on the school trip, and we kept working each other to new levels of intensity, not stopping for the longest time.

Tugging the blindfold off, I looked at his profile. His skin glowed under a light sweat, he had his eyes closed, and his brows were drawn slightly together, as if he were thinking of something difficult. I had come close to disliking Bran, when that was what he was trying to achieve, but now we had established a comfortable accord, and my first instinct was to try to cheer him up.

But it was too easy for me to guess what he was trying to conceal, and I had no solution for that, so I sighed silently, and kissed him.

Sixty-Seven

My skin is good, and for many years I’d been impatient with the time and expense involved in makeup, doing not much more than using a moisturising sunscreen. Millie had taught me to see makeup as an artform, and for the last day of formal lessons I took the time to do a nude makeup, refining my features while trying to retain a touch of the natural. My hair was twisted into a loose ball on top of my head, leaving my long bangs as a frame for my face, and a few spare tendrils to emphasise the length of my neck. Short shorts and the thigh-skimming tunic completely highlighted my legs, and I’d found a pair of low platform sandals to add to the effect.

I wouldn’t say my usual look made me ugly, but the bulky, overlong school uniform had a muting effect, while the double-takes at my bus stop today left me in no doubt that I’d highlighted my best features. I can’t claim to hate this kind of attention, as long as people keep their hands to themselves, and so I strolled onto school grounds with a sense of anticipation, while pondering what kind of look I’d go for at university, when uniforms were no longer a factor.

Given my own laziness about non-essential things, and Helios’s weather, it would mostly be jeans and t-shirts. My wardrobe didn’t run to a lot of options anyway.

Since the idea was a grand entrance, I’d taken the latest possible bus, and the school paths were relatively deserted. My phone miaowed, and I found a message from Kyou telling me not to eat lunch, and one from Bran, asking me to warn him when I was about to arrive. Since I was nearly at the auditorium, I paused to tell him which door I’d enter through, and then texted Lania to check if we were still sitting where we’d planned.

Getting confirmation, I headed in, spotting Bran, Rin and Kyou on the stage. Bran had his phone out, apparently filming the massed audience, and after a glance I ignored him, trying to spot Lania in the distance as I made my way past all the front seats. The way the volume of chatter dropped briefly was quite gratifying.

"Mika!" Sean, at Lania’s side, made expressive gestures. "Too, too hot! Steam is rising."

"I think you’ve broken our Executive," Lania said. "They stared at you the whole time you walked over."

"Probably trying to decide whether I’ve pushed the dress code too far," I said, laughing. "Let’s sit down before there’s no seats left."

As student representatives, the Three Kings were all wearing their uniforms and, after their initial lapse, managed to keep themselves to a matching level of decorum as they ceremonially handed over duties to the incoming Student Council. I paid more attention than I had the first day of school, appreciating how well they looked together, and the fact that Kyou had managed to grow his hair long enough to pull some of it back. The look was simply excellent on him.

Rin played his violin, Kyou gave a speech, and Bran stood in the background displaying his resting broody face. The new Student Council cleverly kept their own speech to a minimum, and then various faculty trod a careful line between extolling the importance of the coming exams and reassuring us that exams are not the end of the world. A girl I didn’t know sang the school song. Then we were released for classes.

Last days are never destined to be focused on study, so the next half hour involved a lot of chat, occasional photographs, and three invitations to the Seniors' Dance. None of them from people I knew, but at least one who appeared enormously confident that I’d accept, and who left looking puzzled.

"Should I know that guy?" I asked Lania, as we headed back to the classrooms for a token lesson.

"Kade Arnassan. He’s in our year, but only comes to school for exams and the occasional special event. Obscenely rich, unnecessarily good looking, and way too aware of it. But also rather smart, and inclined to anonymously help people out."

"And a leg man, I guess," I said, shrugging. "Lucky I’m pre-booked."

"I wish we’d found the dresses already," Lania said. "I wanted to paint my mask today to match."

"Do it next week. They’re saying we can come in any day of the week for study sessions, so I’m sure a little artistic interlude is permitted. In fact, didn’t Carr talk about that?"

"Yeah, he’s considering lunchtime sessions for the inevitable many who don’t get their act together until the last minute. But there’ll be plenty there this afternoon."

Art Club was holding a mask-making event, for those who wanted a personal touch to their masks. Matching masks to clothes was a big deal, it seemed. I spent the lesson before lunch thinking about dresses, not willing to blow my budget buying something I’d only wear once. Lania and I were going to the largest store in the city on the weekend, and there’d surely be something there that fit without being foolishly pricy.

Amusing as it had been, I was already regretting my transformation scene because being eye-catching made it difficult to wander off unnoticed for a lunchtime get-together. I took a circuitous route, not heading to the dovecote until I was sure no-one was paying attention. The app showed no change since the messages this morning, so I sat texting my parents for a while, then was distracted by an exciting development on one of the professional forums I followed. When the pop-up from the Cheshire app notified me that it was safe to head up, I was surprised to see that nearly half the lunch hour had gone by.

Even more unexpectedly, I found Bran waiting for me at the fence.

"Minor drama," he said, once we were safely inside. "Kyou’ll probably be another ten minutes, given the mess he was in."

"Mess? Literal or figurative?"

"He exceeded you and managed to nosedive down a flight of stairs."

"Another attack?" My heart thumped. Foolish. Even Bran wouldn’t be nearly so calm if Kyou was seriously injured.

"Two juniors with more guts than sense decided to ambush hug him. Unfortunately, Kyou wasn’t paying attention, but was holding a picnic basket at the top of a flight of stairs. Only a short flight, or his neck would probably be broken. As it is, everything in sight was decorated with strawberries, brie, and chocolate cake, along with a lot of sparkling apple juice and glass. Kyou got more cake than glass, but still needs a couple of stitches. And probably something for bruises, since those idiots landed on top of him."

I stared, then quickly found the school forums on my phone, currently featuring an excellent picture of a very dishevelled Kyou, lying at the foot the main building’s entry stair, chocolate frosting smeared across his uniform, and crying girls sitting on his stomach and legs. Blood dripped from the hand he’d raised to cover his face.

"I can never truly get my head around how your fandom behaves. Do they leap on you often?"

"Relatively rare, fortunately. More inclined to try to get us drunk, which is one of the reasons we don’t socialise much." Bran leaned over to look at my phone, then shook his head. "Kyou hides his face when he’s lost it."

"It’s a miracle he didn’t deck them."

"We’ll have a week of posts on the school site about inappropriate touching, now," Bran said. "Lucky we gave up on the bondage part of this challenge."

He pointed to an innocuous black patch in the photograph, smirked at my reaction, then pulled a strip of cloth out of his pocket.

"I don’t think I could have smuggled a lot of rope and leather away nearly so neatly." His phone beeped, and he checked it, then said: "Back in a minute."

Scrolling through the post comments, I couldn’t see any discussion of blindfolds, but plenty about the other contents of the picnic basket, which had led speculation down a path of possible romance. This had produced some fiery debate until Rin and Bran, emerging from the medical office, briefly discussed buying a replacement lunch.

This hadn’t entirely quelled the romance speculation, just sent it on imaginative tangents. I was laughing at one of Sean’s posts when Bran returned with two pizza boxes, and a bottle of soda.

"Were we all going to have a picnic?"

"Rin and I were meant to sneak off out of school, but that’s fallen apart." He put the pizzas down, and took out some glasses. "Unless they decide to send Kyou to hospital just to be safe, we’re having a replacement lunch and then I’m driving Kyou home, while Rin hangs around to take care of the things we were supposed to do this afternoon."

Both our phones chirped a warning, and he checked his screen, then began pouring soda. "Looks like they managed to ditch the faculty."

Kyou and Rin paused at the gate to lock it, then headed to the summer house. Kyou was wearing his sports uniform, had one hand bandaged, and brought an almost tangible black cloud with him.

"It’s my fault," I announced, as they came in. "I shouldn’t have asked you to grow your hair out. That style looks way too good on you."

Kyou stopped short, then smiled. "And I didn’t think anything could cheer me up."

I took his hand after he sat down, and examined the bandage. "Any tendons involved?"

"No, thankfully," he said. "It’s going to irritate the hell out of me for a week or two, but then can be displayed as a war wound."

"And you’ll tell all the girls tales of your glomping injury?" Rin asked, opening a pizza box.

"As if that news needed any help spreading," Kyou snorted, reaching for a slice. But then he frowned, and fished his phone from his pocket instead. "Speaking of which, better nip the backlash in the bud as best I can."

He found the school forums, but then handed the phone to me. "Type for me?"

"Sure."

"No major damage. Always gain consent before hugging! But also remember that everyone makes mistakes. I can forgive enthusiasm causing a minor accident, but I have no patience with bullies exercising outrage on my behalf."

"They timed their idiocy well," Bran commented, offering me pizza as soon as I finished posting. "They’ll have study break to hide at home, exams to distract everyone, and by the time school starts up again we’ll be old news."

"It might work that way," I said. "So long as they don’t read the forums, and no-one knows their social media accounts, and how likely is that?"

"Faculty will work with their parents," Rin said, on a dismissive note, then turned to more immediate subjects. "Above and beyond on the outfit, Cheshire."

I swung a foot, admiring my tall sandals. "Not good for wall climbing, great for getting invites to dances."

"Who do we need to kill?" Kyou asked.

"Still Lania," I said. "Do you have any dress preferences? We’re going hunting this weekend."

"Green," Kyou said, immediately.

"Backless," said Rin.

"Something that doesn’t get in the way," Bran finished.

I laughed. "Well, I’ll try for at least one of those. How’s the studio progressing?"

"Coming up to our first major hiring phase," Kyou said.

"The new office will only be ready for use about two weeks before we start at Helios U," Rin added. "We’ll advertise now, interview while we’re on an internship we’ve arranged, and set the new hire starting date for a week before classes start. That way we can fully focus on training and sorting out issues before we’re hit with too many distractions. We’re aiming for a second quarter release date next year, and good hires will have a big impact on whether we succeed."

"So soon?"

Kyou shrugged. "We’ve been working on One Step More for three years."

"Bones are in place, game functions on a mechanical level, still at least six months of work to go," Bran said.

"What we’ll focus on for the next few months is our management and coordination skills, since the bulk of the scripting, core programming, concept art and music are all done. Now we just need the manpower to finish it off. Practicing people wrangling is also one of the reasons we went in for the Student Council." Kyou rubbed his face. "Hopefully we can successfully encourage our employees to not throw themselves on us."

"Put it in your company code of conduct," I said. "You’ve been working on Echoes for even longer, right? When do you expect to transition to it?"

"We’re never not doing something in relation to it, but the next major stage is around Christmas," Rin said. "We want to see how we go with the upcoming phase of One Step before deciding how ambitious we’re going to be with Echoes."

"Whether to be Triple A or mid-level?"

"No, definitely Triple A," Kyou said. "More the extent we commit to major branching paths in the story."

"And how much of the development engine we build from scratch," Bran said. "We’re using existing tools for parts of One Step, but there are long term costs involved in those."

"Bran’s been fiddling around with his own engine for years," Rin added.

"What’s involved in a game engine?" I asked.

This led to a mini crash course about physics engines, rendering software and a great deal more, which I enjoyed at least in part because it was Rin, Bran and Kyou not hiding their enthusiasm for their pet project. Perhaps next year we would be able to continue this way, but if not, I was glad to have this day. The greatest compliment these three boys could give me was making me feel like a fourth in their friendship.

"About to pass out?" Rin asked, pausing in describing how sound is managed in games.

I looked at Kyou, who had his eyes closed.

"More that everything’s throbbing. And not in the good way."

"Give me your keys, and I’ll bring your car around," Bran said, standing up. "Take you to the pharmacy to fill that prescription."

"I’ll play distraction for the faculty," Rin said, and followed Bran out after Kyou handed over his keys.

"Sorry, Cheshire," Kyou said, rubbing his face with his uninjured hand. "This is far from what I had planned."

"Not your fault. Were we going to play a game of guess what’s in your mouth now?"

Kyou choked. "That’s not quite how I’d have phrased it. But you’ve captured the essence."

"It looked delicious. Though the pizza was also nice. I’ve never had a chance to just sit chatting with you three before."

"That will change. This place is convenient, but it increased the need to pretend not to know you. Our comings and goings will be less obvious at Helios U."

I was less than certain about that. It seemed to me that they’d just gain a larger audience. But now was not the time.

"I’d crawl into your lap, but it looked like they broke you."

"My mouth still works," he said.

A brief stint of kissing barely touched on the things I’d wanted to do with Kyou today, but I didn’t prolong the encounter, and had him let me out before Bran returned. The school was too stirred up, and I was too eye-catching. Being particularly cautious, I emerged at full alert from the twists of the wall, and only went so far as the dovecote to play some Tyranny before heading to Art Club. That was crowded and enjoyable, since I was far from the only one caught by the mood of final day of school proper. I let myself enjoy it, a small bit of indulgence before it was time to start seriously reviewing.

All I needed to do was stop thinking about three boys. And last times.

Sixty-Eight

"There’s a lot of possibilities on their website, but whether any look good on me is another question," Lania said, as we headed toward the southern suburbs and Helios' largest formal wear store. "Too many dresses make me look like a pigeon."

"This is definitely not something to be left to online shopping," I said, enjoying an outing that didn’t involve a bus. Lania had borrowed her mother’s car, and was driving with a tight frown of concentration. "Are you stressed about the dress or the weird turns needed to get over the tram tracks?"

"Both. I really should drive more. I haven’t done more than go to the supermarket since I got my full licence."

"I’ve never driven anywhere with trams."

"Do you have a licence already? I was wondering if you’d like lessons."

"No licence. Some fooling around with cars. I’m not sure whether it will be worth getting a licence, since I’ll look for a place near the tram line, or somehow within walking distance. A car would only be worth it for me if I ended somewhere out of reach of public transport." I stretched in my seat lazily. "There’s still a lot to be settled."

"You’ll get into your course," Lania said, firmly. "Even if you only get an hour’s sleep, you’re more than capable of acing the exams."

"I’m certainly going to try to," I said, finding myself oddly relaxed about the most important test of my life. Whether it was psychological or chemical, I’d greatly increased my chance of getting sleep during the exam week, and felt that I very likely would manage to be functional. This didn’t change the possibility that I’d simply be outclassed, but I’d reached the stage of accepting I could only do my absolute best.

Sunglow Plaza was a massive creamy block of a shopping centre, a major hub for the sprawl of residential suburbs that sat south of Helios' city centre. I stayed considerately quiet while Lania negotiated the complex parking lots, searching for a space, and thought idly about the design of this kind of building. It wasn’t something that drew me, but I’d seen some I liked, particularly those with big atrium ceilings to let in some light. Sunglow, sadly, didn’t live up to its name, being almost entirely artificially lit.

"Lunch and then dresses, or dresses and then lunch?" I asked.

"Dresses first. Then we’ll be able to hit the food court without worrying about fit."

"Good plan."

There were a wide range of dress stores offering formal wear, but Lania and I headed straight to the budget warehouse. It was the time of year for exams and goodbyes, and Corascur far from the only school in Helios, so the first thing we saw was the line for the dressing rooms.

"This…" Lania began.

"Let’s do a quick browse, see if there’s anything we’re in love with, and then decide whether the line is worth it."

"Okay."

Looking for green, backless dresses was a simple enough task, but the only things that even came close were designed for bustier women. I reviewed non-green backless dresses, and green dresses with backs, and decided I was a little more invested in how I looked at this dance than I’d realised.

It might be the last time I saw them.

"Any progress?" Lania asked, finding me standing gazing dubiously at a lot of gold lamé.

"Only in developing an allergy to sequins. Let’s do lunch and regroup."

The food court was packed, but we found a quieter café and soothed ourselves with cake and milkshakes.

"It’s not that I couldn’t spend more money," Lania said, twirling her straw. "I’ve been saving, and Dad would probably pop for anything not too ludicrous if I looked sad enough. It’s just that…"

"…if I’m going to spend, I’d rather do it on a new computer," I finished. "A dress I’m only going to wear once and then keep in a suitcase…"

"We could probably resell them," Lania said. "I did look into renting something, but that comes with its own set of issues. Much as I try not to care about the Rose Court, I don’t want to go into this event feeling like I’ve painted a target on my back."

"Not my area of expertise either." I paused, then picked up my phone. "My budget might be limited, but one thing I do have is connections."

I sent a text to Millie to get a number, and then another text, since time zones made direct calls potentially very unkind. I was pleased to receive an immediate call back.

"Hi Jojo."

"Hello little girl!" replied a high squeaky voice that did not at all match the big, burly man it belonged to. "Are you coming to be an extra again?"

"No, I’m looking for advice. School formal dance in three weeks, very dressy, overloaded with snobs, and my friend and I have no idea what kind of dresses would suit us, let alone how to find them."

"Not the oddest request I’ve had today. What does your friend look like?"

I sent him a recent photo of Lania that gave a good idea of her proportions, and heard him laugh.

"Have you ever heard of Laurel and Hardy?"

"No. But I have a feeling you’re not being polite."

"Beanpole and dumpling—a classic combination."

"Ouch."

"But I think I can work with it. Let me send you some sketches. Do you have any preferences?"

"Anything that comes close to green and backless would hit my special request quota." I looked across at Lania. "Anything you really want or don’t want?"

"Not baby pink. I don’t mind low cut, but not so people fall into it."

Jojo obviously heard this, laughed again, and promised to get back to me.

"Who was that?" Lania asked, after I’d ended the call.

"Jojo de Court," I said. "Lead costume designer for Sky of Diamond and Sea of Silver."

"Seriously?"

"My mother and I spent a few afternoons sorting his archives for him, and I figure I can call in that favour."

Lania shook her head. "Sometimes I think you’re an elaborate dream, Mika."

"I’ll take that as a compliment. Well, I’ll take credit for my parents knowing a lot of people. Want to go to the movies, now we have free time?"

"Sure."

By the time we were out of the movies, Jojo had sent sketches. For Lania, a fuchsia piece, tight under the breasts, flaring to a skirt of layered gauzes. For me, white and green, with a cowl neck to distract from my lack of chest, and a matching but deeply plunging cowl back. The long, flaring skirt was apparently based on a Ginger Rogers classic gown.

"I’ll get them to you next week," Jojo said. "Find a good local seamstress to take care of any minor adjustments. Mail them back when you’re done."

After profuse thanks, I hung up, then smiled triumphantly at Lania. "He’s going to add them to the costume budget and use them for outfitting some extras, which means we not only get to play Cinderella, we have a bonus game of Spot My Dress when the movie comes out."

Lania worked her mouth silently for a moment, then said: "Help me figure out a good gift to send him in return."

"For Jojo, it’d be brandy. We’d best ask an expert for a good variety. Do you think we should go shoe shopping now, or wait until we have exact fabric to match?"

"Better to wait." Lania recovered a little, then said: "So who requested green and backless? Christophe?"

I laughed. "I did group polling. Want to come back to my place for a while? I admit it’s a box, but I have the newest console."

"Why not? We could check out that underwater battle royale."

We returned to the car, but Lania didn’t start it immediately, looking again at the dress design I’d forwarded her.

"To be honest, I really wasn’t looking forward to this dance," she said, slowly. "Partly because it’s a big goodbye, but also because I figured I’d dance with you and Sean, but spend most of my time feeling like…like, well, the short scholarship kid straying among the expensive gazelles. Instead, I’m going to have an exclusive frock and take Ginger Rogers to the ball. I never thought I’d go in for princess fantasies."

"Should I find us tiaras? That reminds me—when we get these dresses and shoes, we’re really going to need to have a day of practice. It occurs to me we’ve been busy adding a layer of dance difficulty I haven’t negotiated before."

"Backward and in heels," Lania quoted, and started the car.

Sixty-Nine

I visited Corascur a couple of times over the study break, ostensibly to use the library, but mainly to make it not so unusual for me to be there on Sunday afternoon, the day before the start of exams. The very first exam was one of my most important, and should really be the easiest, since maths has always been fun for me, but despite a lot of careful meditation and structured routine, I was struggling with my nerves. Rin took one look at me, and shook his head.

"You look exhausted," he murmured, replacing the bars.

I pulled a face, waited until we were inside the garden, then said: "My inability to sleep when stressed is always an excellent reminder that I’m mere and mortal."

"Mortal perhaps, but hardly mere," Rin said, drawing me into his arms. "Do you think you’d be able to do the exam in your current state?"

"Sure. But when I’m tired, it’s too easy to slip up on tiny details. And tomorrow I’ll move from forgetting my bus pass to struggling to spell my own name."

Rin smiled. "I never thought I’d enjoy the role of sleep aid."

"If I do sleep well tonight, you’ll be more of a lifesaver," I said.

He squeezed me tightly, but then released me. "Let me look at you properly. I’ve barely ever seen you out of school uniform. Except in the most literal sense."

"This is my default," I said, letting him view my jeans and dark red t-shirt. "Because I move so often, I keep to a few staples." I wrinkled my nose. "I’ll be in trouble if I have to move cities this year because now my things don’t fit in my suitcases anymore."

Rin wordlessly drew off my t-shirt, then shrugged off the long-sleeved jersey he was wearing and placed it over my head. I laughed, a little startled, then obligingly slipped my arms through the sleeves. Then I unhooked my bra and did some minor contortions to remove it, followed by my sneakers, jeans and underpants.

"Happy?"

"Very." He rearranged the shirt so that it was slipping off one of my shoulders, added: "One more touch," and drew a blindfold from his pocket.

"You think I don’t like looking at you?" I asked, amused.

"You’ll get your fill later," he said, blocking my sight. "Stay still a moment."

He stepped away, and I stood patiently, shifting a little when a gentle woodwind piece started to play. Recorders, I decided, but ones with deep voices. They wound about each other in a leisurely way, and very much fit the mood of the embrace that Rin drew me back into. He’d shed his clothes, and grew increasingly aroused during the slow kisses that followed, but never seemed to approach the limits of his self-control.

Finally, when I was considering slamming him to the ground and having my way, he let me go for a few moments, and then wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. Nuzzling my throat, he lifted me a little and pushed carefully inside me. Then his arms tightened, and he sat down.

We’d done this position before, back during the Simon Says challenge. I think Rin liked it because I reacted so strongly, pressing back against his chest, but also because, to use the most appropriate cliché, he could play me like an instrument.

I liked it because it felt ridiculously good.

Rin’s excellent self-control meant that by the time he was inclined to move on, I was already a limp rag. The hazy murmurs I made when he finally let go seemed to please him enormously, and he hugged me back into his arms afterwards, covering my face with tiny kisses. I floated, caught by the winding music and complete relaxation, but then gripped his arms and made myself sit up.

"Falling asleep here would be a mistake," I said.

"I was wondering whether to let you." Rin stroked strands of hair out of my eyes. "But I agree it’s too risky. Get dressed and I’ll drive you home."

"That’s…"

"I borrowed a car that people won’t recognise," he assured me. "In case this really did help. Passing out on public transport would be dangerous."

"You’ve obviously not ridden on enough buses if you think you could sleep on one for more than five minutes. I’d shoot out into the aisle on the first corner. Which I guess is also dangerous."

I went outside to clean myself up and came back in to give Rin back his shirt, and enjoy watching him get dressed. He was such a coat hanger, all collarbone and angles.

We didn’t linger or try to stretch out the moment. He let me out through the fence without a word, and I heard the gate being pulled shut behind me as I walked slowly down to the dovecote. Ending things without fuss, which was not unsurprising from Rin.

Since the day I had encountered Carr and Natascha at the dovecote, I no longer felt the spot was entirely safe. The view might currently be deserted, but anyone could decide to walk along here at just the wrong moment. Still, my body felt somehow both floating and heavy, and it was probably a good thing that Rin had decided I wasn’t capable of managing a bus trip, especially since my bus came less frequently on the weekend. It was not too long before a nondescript white sedan drew up at the curb, and I could slip quickly into the passenger seat.

"Can you send me a copy of that instrumental piece?" I asked. "Were those recorders?"

"Yes, and yes. Does it draw you as a sleep aid, or do you want it for the associations?"

I laughed. "No, because it made me think of towers, and I want to design an unlikely city around the sound."

He glanced at me, then back at the road. "I think that’s perhaps the most complimentary thing anyone has ever said about my music. Will you show me your city, Cheshire?"

"Sure. They take me a while to do, though. My cities are very detailed."

"Something to look forward to."

I hoped that he’d still be interested in seeing it when it was done, and changed the subject. "Are you worried about your exams? Have you had another audition?"

"The final is next week. The exams this week…" He shrugged. "There shouldn’t be any issue. Other than battling Kyou and Bran, of course."

"The important part."

"Of course. That, and getting you through these exams. If you haven’t fallen asleep by ten, feel free to message me, and I’ll come over and exhaust you."

"I hope it won’t—hmm, that’s the wrong way to put it. A tempting offer, but I’m almost convinced it won’t be necessary."

"Make sure to let us know your level of delirium tomorrow morning."

"If I’m delirious, I’m not sure I’d even manage my phone password, but I’ll try."

The trip that usually took twenty tedious minutes by bus was already over. Unable to find parking, Rin let me off at the curb, simply saying: "Save the first dance for me, Cheshire," before he drove off.

I watched him go, then shook my head. The chances of me getting anywhere near him at that dance were dim. But I’d like it very much.

Seventy

After getting home, I immediately felt more awake, but still carefully prepared as if I would be able to get to sleep at a proper hour. I set two alarms, checked my school bag, and nested on the couch with some light snacks and my revision notes. And woke at four in the morning. Other than the stiff neck, this suited me fine, and I cleared my mind with a yoga session and a long shower. Carefully choosing a breakfast unlikely to upset my stomach, I checked my bag again, then caught an early bus. Only after it had arrived did I send a message over the Cheshire app: "Safely reached school after over ten hours of sleep."

Three return messages arrived within a minute, all variations of good wishes for the exam. I spent the remainder of the time before the bell reading my notes, and then checking on Lania for good measure. My mood was extremely good, because the day’s first exam was Helios U’s first year Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calculus, and a major part of my plan for getting into my Engineering Physics degree. Tuesday and Thursday were also important, but a good day today would very likely create a virtuous circle and help me through the rest of the week. And that wasn’t even factoring in my afternoon sleep aid.

"I don’t even need to ask how you went," Kyou murmured, after locking the gate. "You’re positively glowing."

Relief hit me all of a sudden, and I wrapped my arms around his waist, squeezing tightly. I think I startled him, but then he squeezed me back.

"Feels like I’m getting the reward for Rin’s achievements. I’m sure he’ll forgive me. Eventually."

"Sorry," I said, relaxing my hold. "I had a flash of how this day might have gone."

"Believe me, I have no problem with you hugging me. Consider permission permanently granted. Are you more confident of getting into your course after today? I have been wondering what you will do if this professor you idolise has feet of clay."

"If she turns out to be a certified Karen or something? Her personality isn’t the reason I want to take her course. Some things would bother me, but probably not enough to make me regret the choice of school. I think, if I keep up today’s performance, I have a very good chance of getting in." I followed him into the summer house. "Is the Fine Art Department at Helios U good?"

He shrugged. "Possibly not quite so elite as your Engineering course, but not too bad. There’s a couple of teachers there I want to spend some time with. Formal instruction isn’t absolutely necessary for an artist—if I was job hunting, my portfolio would matter more than any degree—but I think structured classes will challenge me in interesting ways. Push me out of my comfort zone. What kind of tea would you like today, Cheshire? I brought a variety."

"Liquorice or ginger."

"I guessed right," he said, and quickly conjured a faint scent of liquorice.

"Do you think you’ll beat Rin and Bran in the exam rankings?" I asked, after he handed me a cup.

"Not with Bran in his current form. If he was still in deep brood, perhaps. But while Rin and I have some measure of brain, Bran is a genius—at least in the various subjects we’re being tested on. And can match Rin in music, for good measure." He sat down next to me, and looked at his cup contemplatively. "I’d almost forgotten the whole reason we got into this. It worked out better than we ever expected."

"Is there any chance he’ll revert?" I asked. "When this is over?"

"He says no," Kyou said. "And Rin and I think it’s unlikely. If Meggan had simply broken up with him, I don’t think he ever would have reacted so badly. But Bran is loyal to the core, and she was asking for something impossible for him." He let out his breath. "I’m never not going to be furious with her. She watched him fall apart. And has the gall to regret it now he’s finally recovered."

"Meggan’s trying to win him back?"

"Does that bother you?" he asked, looking interested.

"I doubt a day goes by without someone trying to get with you three, but I’d be bothered if Bran agreed to Meggan. She seems very wrong for him."

"I’m not sure they would have been together if they hadn’t been neighbours. Not that Meggan doesn’t have her good points. I seem to recall being a little jealous of Bran, back when we were around twelve. When he was being crushed by family ambition, she made a real difference to him emotionally. But…I think she’s devoted to an idea of Bran that’s only a small fraction of who he is. Sensitive, vulnerable, creative. And, if she had her way, hers in a way that excludes us."

Grimacing, I drained my cup. "This is a depressing subject."

"A better one being why do we still have clothes on?" he murmured, leaning close to my ear.

"Your voice is a crime against nature."

"Triumph. Triumph of."

He’d dropped an octave, and vibration sent a shiver down my spine. It took sheer force of will to not visibly melt as I said: "You practice doing that."

"Pure natural talent. And, if I remember correctly, today is everything you like, and I’d like to see you deny enjoying listening to me."

"Is there going to be French poetry?" I asked, interested.

Kyou chuckled. "That wouldn’t be half as fun for you when we both know you understand what I’m saying. Instead, I’m actually going to take a suggestion from the peanut gallery."

While I tried to work out who the peanut gallery was meant to be, Kyou brought in one of the café chairs, and methodically stripped off his clothes. Then he pulled out silk rope and a blindfold from his backpack, handed them to me, and said: "Treat me kindly."

I remembered a conversation with Rin, smiled slowly, and said: "So which do you think you’ll enjoy more: being tied up, or breaking free?"

"I think how tightly you tie me will tell me a lot about your tastes."

"Or my knot-making abilities. Sit down."

There was no denying my excitement level had gone through the roof. Kyou is such a game player, and this one suited both of us extremely well. I put the blindfold on him immediately, then paused to contemplate my treat.

Kyou’s physique sits roughly in between Rin’s slender elegance and Bran’s cut level of fitness. His skin has a wheat tone, and there were blue shimmers in his black hair. The short ponytail suited him incredibly well, and the blindfold only emphasised his clean jawline. I traced a finger along it, and watched him smile.

"Are we going to skip the tying up part? I thought you’d like that especially."

"Are you sure you’re comfortable with it?" I asked, very serious. "What about your hand? Are there still stitches?"

"Gone," he said, lifting his hand to show me a vivid red line. "Not even sore. And I don’t know how comfortable I am with being tied up, but I trust you to let me go if I ask. Or even look mildly unhappy."

This was perfectly true, and so I smiled, and dropped a light kiss on his forehead. "Going to drive you out of your mind," I murmured.

If I’d known Kyou’s plans, I would have studied up on knots, but basic knowledge was enough for me to secure each arm straight down the wrought iron back of the café chair. Then I stepped away and shucked my clothes, knowing he would hear the faint rustling. He was already hard.

Kyou had placed the chair so I could walk around him freely, and so I returned to stand behind him, then leaned forward so my diaphragm was pressed against the back of his head. I slid my hands from his shoulders to his chest, and began a light massage.

Pressed against him, I could clearly feel the slight movements as he continually tested the bonds holding his arms. He also occasionally tested my limits, but on the whole was endlessly considerate, not to mention quite similar to my own temperament. I closed my eyes for a moment, sliding my hands down to his ribs, wishing there was some way…

Then I took a step back, and began to tease him in earnest.

I’d had enough experience wearing the blindfold to know that guessing where I’d be touched next was half the fun, and so I tortured Kyou with longer and longer pauses, and slighter but ever more intimate touches. Finally, I knelt beside him, and blew sharply on his swollen head, and watched him convulse.

"You’re killing me, Cheshire," he said, breathing heavily.

"Ready to cry mercy?"

"Not in the slightest."

Thoroughly enjoying this response, I slid myself onto his lap, and kissed him for a short eternity before moving on to more strenuous activity.

"I think that might be the closest I’ll ever have to an out of body experience," Kyou said, a long time later.

"Learned anything about yourself?" I asked, pulling his blindfold off.

"That the ropes definitely need to be looser." His eyes were bright and hot.

I pressed against him, but only so I could reach behind to tug free the slipknot that was holding his bonds in place. He wriggled free, then immediately squeezed me half out of breath.

"Are your arms sore?" I asked.

"Not to the point of regret. Though parts of me are regretting I didn’t put anything to cover this wrought-iron seat."

I laughed, and we moved to lie on the couch for a long session of slow kissing, and an eventual return to more energetic contact, followed by more kissing. Both of us were reluctant to make a move to end things, but eventually the sky started to darken, my stomach rumbled, and Kyou’s arms relaxed.

"Shall I take you to dinner, Cheshire?" he murmured, almost too low to hear.

"We couldn’t even get fast food at three in the morning without showing up on the forums," I said, sitting up. "If I hadn’t been on the verge of passing out, I wouldn’t have dared let Rin drop me home on Sunday, let alone go to dinner."

Kyou grimaced, then sighed, and got off the couch. "Secrecy was all very exciting until not being seen within ten feet of you became impossibly irksome."

"It’s…" I began, but stopped. Saying it was nearly over would only make us both feel bad. "Do you think there’ll be much talk if all three of you dance with me next week?"

"There’s a few people we’re all planning to dance with," he said, fetching out towels. "Protective camouflage. Have you been practicing, Cheshire?"

"Lania and I have been taking turns being the lead," I told him. "We had a fun family ball at her house, trying to master our heels."

"No blisters, I hope."

"Well, we know where to put the preventative sticking plaster," I said, and went out to clean up.

We didn’t speak again until we were dressed. I was reaching for my backpack when Kyou put his arms around me from behind and said: "Stand a while, Cheshire."

I leaned back against him, and we were simply together under the fading light. I thought about all the goodbyes I’d said in the past, casual and practiced, and hoped this wasn’t one. Although I believed Kyou, Rin and Bran thought we could be friends, intention and circumstance too often went in different directions.

The sky was two degrees darker when Kyou gently kissed the side of my throat, then let me go. He led the way out of the garden without another word, and stayed at the fence, watching me walk away.

Seventy-One

I only had four exams over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, none of which were particular challenges. My main concern was Friday’s theoretical and practical Chemistry, since I’d seen the most meticulous of students hit hurdles in practical exams: beakers that shattered, faulty gas lines, not to mention the tiny, critical mistakes that inattention could bring.

After my literature exam Thursday morning, I spent a few hours in the library reviewing Chemistry, and then headed down to the garden for the last time.

Thinking about it in those terms was sure to depress me, so while I waited in the dovecote, I put aside everything except speculation about how Bran would interpret Everything She Likes Best. This exercise kept me entertained until my phone signalled that Bran was waiting. I headed up, and saw him at the fence. Then, in a moment of déjà vu, a girl called his name, and he moved away.

It had been Celeste last time. Today, Meggan.

I was very close to the fence, and stopped immediately, then slowly began to back up. I could still see Bran’s back. And, of course, I could hear them.

"What is it?" Bran asked, tone far from welcoming.

"I never thought there’d be a day when you’d look at me like that," Meggan said. "Don’t worry. I’m only here to tell you a couple of small things."

"Go on."

"I’m applying for Oxford."

Only the back of Bran’s head was visible to me, but the way he straightened was enough to reveal his surprise.

"You’ll do well there," he said, after a long pause.

"I hope so. Reading Classics isn’t practical career-wise, but it will make me happy." I think she stepped forward. Bran, at least, moved slightly back. "I made you unhappy, Bran. I’m sorry."

"It’s…" He hesitated. "It’s in the past."

"Like too many things."

I’d reached the corner of the wall, stepped around it, and then sat down. It wasn’t a completely sheltered position—a person looking at the right angle could spot me if they were paying attention—but I didn’t feel inclined to head back to the dovecote. This distance was enough to turn their words into vague murmurs.

For a while, I examined feelings. I’d been outright pleased to hear Meggan say she would be heading to an entirely different country to study. Distance would cut the last lingering threads of what her ultimatum had torn apart. Or work whatever magic a long absence could conjure. Bothered by the fact I was bothered, I crowded the whole thing out of my head with some handy numbers.

"What are you thinking about?"

Bran. He sat down beside me, glancing at the currently empty path.

"Reciting pi," I said.

"How many digits?"

"A couple hundred."

He made a vague sound of approval, then asked: "Want to go ride along the coast road?"

"Yes," I said, after a pause. "But not today." Knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to simply put aside the conversation with Meggan, I stood up. "Let’s play Tyranny until our mood’s better."

We went back through the fence, which Bran had left dangerously unbarred, and curled together on the couch, losing ourselves in a series of increasingly intense duo arena matches. We worked well as a team, and I found myself glad that our time together today had turned into something companionable. Friendship had become a very important thing to me. I wanted more afternoons just playing games with them.

"How greedy you’ve made me," I murmured.

"What?"

"Nothing." I put my phone down and turned to him.

Bran did not complicate matters. We kissed, fumbled clothes to the floor, moved together, then repeated with slight variations.

"How long will you be in the country after the dance?" he asked, when I finally decided it was getting late, and sat up.

"Three days."

"You’re still going to Peru with that actor?"

"I’m going to Peru with Millie. We’re letting Christophe tag along, which seemed harmless enough before his profile blew up after Sea of Silver was greenlit. We’ll keep him permanently in sunglasses and large hats, and hope for the best. Did you manage to arrange another internship?"

"Yes—we’ll be flying out a week after the dance. We’ll be back three weeks before the start of classes. When do you come back?"

I could see he was controlling his expression, and couldn’t resist reaching down to touch his face, gently rubbing a thumb across his cheek.

"Acceptances come out around mid-July. If I do end up going to a different country, I’ll be back for a couple of days to give up my rental. Can we take that coast road ride then?"

"We’ll do that whatever happens," he said, pulling me down for another kiss before letting me go so I could clean up.

We parted without further words, and I caught the bus back, lost in thought. It had never been clear to me whether Bran had been clinically depressed, or simply struggling with Meggan’s ultimatum, but I couldn’t help but be worried about how he would manage the end of this game. My problem now was whether I was doing the wrong thing arranging days out with him. We’d enjoy ourselves, sure, but given the attention constantly focused on Corascur’s Three Kings, openly running around with the three of them would be certain trouble, without even bringing into question how we’d all deal with each other outside the structure of this game. A clean end might be better for all of us.

I sighed, and played around with the Cheshire app on my phone, doing some calculations in my head before starting to enter overdue scores. I made Bran the narrow winner, purely because it settled the question of who was the best kisser. I hesitated over deleting the app, but decided to leave it for now.

This past year wasn’t something I would regret, but I could already tell it was going to take me a long time to get over it.

Seventy-Two

"You look like a flower fairy," said Lania’s younger sister, Nuala, deeply envious.

"You do," the makeup artist agreed, stepping back from her close work on Lania’s face. "All done."

Lania stood up and gazed down at herself.

"Like it?" I asked.

"I love it so much that I desperately want to keep it," Lania said, turning in a slow circle, a vision in fuchsia and damask rose. "Is there any way, Mika?"

"Money," I said, with a shrug. "I’ll ask Jojo."

"You have to keep yours. It’s a total goddess look."

I glanced at myself in the mirror. The dress hid my weaknesses and emphasised my strengths, transforming me into a graceful willow with a long length of sexily exposed back. I’d been saving my online tutoring money for my Peru trip, and really did not have the budget for ballgowns, but I had to admit I was tempted. I wanted to dress like this on days when I was bored, and dance barefoot with three beautiful boys.

"Take a photo," I said. "I’m going to be unsubtle at my parents."

Lania and I posed for photos. Her brother Sascha produced some excellent shots, which I sent to Jojo with effusion, and to my parents with regret. Then it was time to send off the two experts we’d hired to primp us, before setting off with Mrs Nichols to the school.

"Who do you want to dance with most?" Lania asked, fidgeting with the layers of her gauzy skirt.

"The Three Kings," I said, honestly.

Lania laughed. "Get in line."

"I know. I figure I might get to see them from the back of the crowd. But it would be a nice last memory of Corascur to have that romantic ballroom scene." I hesitated. "I’ve had a chance to chat to them occasionally, and they almost live up to their legend."

"Yeah." Lania sighed. "Super smart and talented at practically everything. Rin somehow gets more beautiful every year. It’s so annoying."

"Is he who you want to dance with most?"

Makeup hid much of Lania’s flush, but then she shrugged. "No, I want to dance with Carr. And I probably will. Carr’s very good like that."

The tone was resigned, a little sad. I turned over my impressions of Carr, then asked: "In your first year here, did you go to that Rose Court Afternoon Tea?"

"Oh yes." Lania did not hold back a caustic edge. "Sirocco drew me in very neatly. I thought I was living in one of the sweeter varieties of Otome novel for a while there."

"All girly chums and shared confidences?"

"I used to come home and talk about all the amazing friends I’d made. Sirocco’s actually a really interesting person, but she’s a bit stuck in her mother’s expectations." Lania glanced at her own mother, driving without comment. "She’s also really, genuinely, deeply besotted with Rin, and I’d feel sorry for her if she didn’t feel the need to nip potential rivals in the bud."

"Hasn’t Rin had girlfriends? Did she do anything to them?"

"Four girlfriends. None of them lasted longer than three months. That’s nothing to do with Sirocco, who never went near them, so far as I know. More that Rin’s so untouchable."

"Not according to the forums. Unless all that stuff about him matching his height is pure fanfiction."

"Untouchable emotionally," Lania said, giggling, but then sobered. "Among the Three Kings, Kyou’s actually by far the nicest. Rin is very courteous, but I don’t think he’s interested in people. With a few exceptions, people are something he tolerates. I think that’s why I eventually started liking Carr. Carr is outright kind."

I hummed deep in my throat, then said: "My impression of Carr is that he’s thoughtful, considerate, and a peacemaker. He doesn’t stir trouble, and he looks for amicable solutions. Definitely kinder than Rin. But would Rin ever participate in any way in a game of Rub Your Nose in the Pecking Order?"

"You mean the Afternoon Tea? Carr was too polite to turn down helping out."

"Sometimes you have to be a little rude, if you’re going to stand up for people."

Lania looked at me in surprise. "I thought you liked Carr."

"I do. But that disappointed me."

The fact that Carr had done precisely nothing about Lania being bullied on the school trip might also have been an underlying reason I turned him down. Of course, he might have acted without me knowing, or at least spoken to the culprits, but I’d seen no sign of it.

"Nearly there," Mrs Nichols said, breaking the depressed atmosphere. "Don’t forget your bags. Make sure to use rated drivers on your way home. Call me if there’s any issue. And have fun!"

"Big entrance time," I said, putting on my mask, and then collecting the tiny clutch that held my phone and key.

"Judging from the crowd streaming in, we’d need to be fashionably late to really make a big entrance," Lania said, as her mother entered the curving driveway that cut across one corner of Corascur’s grounds, allowing a mass number of cars to drop off students with the least amount of fuss.

Gathering my skirt, I slid out of the car, thanked Mrs Nichols, and admired some of the impressive vehicles, and equally impressive outfits within view.

"I’m feeling extra glad we didn’t go with the off-the-rack dresses," I said.

"Same," Lania said, waving goodbye to her mother. "I’ll never be a person who can recognise whether a dress is this season, last season, or unearthed from the mists of time, but I have discovered that a gown made specially for me makes me unspeakably happy. I’ve decided to become the kind of person who can afford such treats."

"Good plan," I said. "I wonder if I could ever make myself rich enough to build my own bridges?"

We spotted Celeste, who was positively spectacular in a pale lemon chiffon, and caught up with her to say hi and exchange compliments before being side-tracked into discussing which classes we were heading for next year. Celeste was deeply interested in bio-synthetics, and innovations for artificial limbs, so she, Lania and I would have some intersecting classes, while not being enrolled in the same degrees.

After spending the last couple of days in Sports One helping with the construction and decoration, its transformation came as no surprise, with only the final touches of flowers and balloons added since our last visit. A miniature Venice, with the Rialto Bridge proudly dominating one wall, and backdrops painted with elaborate buildings and gondolas to hide the stark steelwork of the hall.

Although it was almost ten minutes before the dance formally started, we still walked into a wave of music and chatter. Perhaps two thirds of the attendees had already arrived, most entirely recognisable despite masks both simple and elaborate. I couldn’t help but look immediately for Rin, whose height would make him easy to spot even in a throng, but there was no sign of him.

"Lania. You’re looking…sweet."

Time for the Inevitable Mean Girl Encounter. Katerina, flanked by Alexa and Daphne, her no-doubt sour expression hidden by a deep blue mask. Helpfully, Sean also arrived at this moment, and spared us the need to answer.

"Lania! Oh, my god, that dress. You look Adorbs!"

"I know," Lania said, happily. "I love it completely."

"You’re looking thoroughly fabulous yourself," I told Sean, appreciating his vivid emerald suit.

"Why thank you. I spent a century looking for something I liked, and then Lania told me you were going with custom made, and I decided that was really only logical."

"Custom made?" Katerina asked. "Who was the designer? Or did your mother run it up for you?"

"No." Lania paused for this much-anticipated moment, then said: "Jojo de Court."

"Never heard of him." Katerina almost sounded relieved.

"Someone from a local dress shop?" Alexa asked, in a pitying tone.

"Not everyone can afford Valentino," Katerina murmured to Daphne, not bothering to keep her voice low. "Well, enjoy yourself you two."

She started to move away, but paused to stare at Sean, who had apparently been struck by lightning.

"Sky of Diamond Jojo de Court? Oscar winning costume designer Jojo de Court?"

Lania nodded. "Remember Mika said she’d had a chance to be an extra? She also helped out the costume design crew."

"Colour me agape," Sean said. "Lania, how did you not tell me?"

"It was a struggle. Especially when it arrived and was even more than I hoped for."

"It’s beautiful," said a new voice.

Turning, I saw Sirocco, ethereal in white and ice blue. She nodded at me casually, smiled at Lania, then said to Katerina: "Jaxon is looking for you. Didn’t you promise him first dance?"

The reminder prompted me to try to spot Rin again, but then I shrugged and gave up the idea. "Let’s check our bags," I murmured to Lania, and left rather than spend any more time with people I didn’t like.

We headed straight for the corner where a temporary room had been constructed to keep belongings secure, and changed our bags for silver rings engraved with numbers, which I thought a useful variation of a bag check ticket.

"Welcome to the Fifty-Second Corascur Seniors' Ball," someone from the Broadcasting Club was saying as we emerged. "Find your partners, please, for the first waltz of the night."

"I’m set to dance with Sean for first dance," Lania said, glancing at me a little worriedly. "Are you—?"

"In that dress, could you really be worried she’ll play wallflower?"

Kyou, flanked by Rin and Bran, was standing behind me. He wore a black cat mask, while Rin wore a white fox, and Bran a silver wolf. For a moment I couldn’t understand where they’d appeared from, then realised they must have been inside the bag check area.

"With me, Mika?" Rin asked, holding out a hand.

Almost tangible envy filled the room as I accepted, and I noticed Sirocco in particular, staring transfixed. Then she looked down and away, and I felt a little sorry for her. Liking is a terrible thing.

"Willing to dump Sean?" Kyou asked, holding his hand out to Lania, who immediately looked stricken. Kyou laughed, and added: "Bran will take care of him, don’t worry."

Sean’s reaction was perfect, jerking upright as if electrified, and then turning wide eyes on Bran, who held out his hand in response. "Leading or following?" he asked.

"F-follow," Sean said. "Anywhere." The tone was light, but his hand trembled as he took Bran’s.

"In the mood to make people’s dreams come true?" I asked Rin softly, as he led me to the centre of the floor.

"Combining a determination to avoid certain people with acknowledging a few that we generally respect. Sean’s an ardent admirer of Bran in particular, but he’s never pushy about it, and he does a lot for marginalised students. Why not make him happy on the last day of being students here? Speaking of which, this dress is beyond everything I hoped for, Mika."

"It couldn’t get much more backless, at any rate," I said. "I’m not sure I can adjust to you calling me by my name."

"The beginning of a new stage of knowing each other," he said, as the first gentle notes of music sounded. "And also safer."

We stopped speaking, at least in part because it was the first time I had danced in such a crowd, and I had to concentrate. I also wanted to admire the way my skirt flared at every opportunity, which was extremely enjoyable. Once I’d grown in confidence, I looked up at Rin, and found him smiling in a way that very much fit his mask.

"You’re very beautiful tonight, Mika. It makes it difficult not to kiss you."

"That would definitely cause some excitement," I said, quite tempted. "Would you tell people you were suddenly overwhelmed by the occasion?"

"Moved by the spirit of dance? Not likely. It’s your eyes that bewitched me."

Rin in full compliment mode was something to adjust to, but I can’t say I disliked the hint of mischief, the lazy sense of power. A very different version of him than the perfectly gentle Student Council President.

"You don’t enjoy dancing?"

"With you, yes. Usually, not particularly. I associate it with events we didn’t want to attend, dealing with people that bored us." He shook his head, and closed his eyes briefly. "Just my sisters' birthdays to get past, and I can take the last step out of the cage."

His voice throbbed, and he was no longer smiling. I really could not understand Rin’s parents, who had taken a boy who lived for music, and taught him to wear a mask.

"I’ve drawn the map of your city," I told him softly. "And started on the approach to the central aeolian towers."

His hand tightened on mine, then he murmured, "Entirely impossible not to kiss," but only leaned forward a little before stopping himself. "I won’t reward you by painting a bigger target on your back than I already have."

"Lucky I’m about to leave the country," I said. "By the time I’m back, today will be old news. And even if someone did target me, well, you’re not the only person who likes to set people up and sit back to watch the fun."

He laughed, then grimaced as the music shifted into its final movement, and for a moment looked deeply unhappy. "We’re only going to dance with you once each tonight, Mika, but I’ll talk to you later."

Dance done, he bowed, and I belatedly curtseyed in response, and then looked around for Lania. I spotted Sean first, bowing to Bran and then hid his eyes as if too completely overwhelmed by his treat. I walked, over, smiled at Bran as he followed Rin toward the announcer’s podium, and said to Sean: "Overwhelmed?"

"Floating," Sean said, laughed a little wildly, and then hugged Lania as she came over. "Best. Day. Ever."

"Kyou said they wanted to dance with the people they respect the most," Lania said. "Then spent a lot of time teasing me about blushing."

Sean shook his head, said: "I didn’t think this could get any better," and hid his eyes again.

This declaration from Kyou added an extra level of entertainment to proceedings, as dances were interspersed by brief speeches, and Corascur’s Three Kings actively sought out dance partners while showing no hesitation in refusing many of those who made requests. I danced in turn with Rick, Lania and Sean, and then a foxtrot was announced.

A tall, dark-haired boy wearing a dragon mask stepped up to me, and lifted a hand, saying: "My turn," but before I could react Bran arrived, took my hand, and simply walked away with me.

"I have no idea who that was," I said.

"Kade," Bran said briefly. "Full of himself. Cousin."

The revelation that there were more of the Laurent-Beaulieu clan attending Corascur made me lift my eyebrows. Vaguely recalling the name, I said: "Oh, I know. He asked me to the dance on the last day of classes. Lania said he doesn’t come to school often."

"In France usually, winning hearts at the old head office. Most likely to win the dog fight for inheritance of the majority of shares once Rin and Kyou completely walk away from it."

"Aren’t you considered a contender?"

"I’m too unstable."

He didn’t sound bothered by this statement, although his general mood seemed to be serious verging on sombre.

The music lifted, and I gave up talking because foxtrot required more of my concentration than waltz. Bran effortlessly made up for my occasional misstep, and my heart raced as we crossed the floor, weaving between other dancers, registering to me only as flutters of gaily coloured skirts, and the glitter of sequinned masks.

"Exhilarating," I said, as the music died. "I might actually do this some other time."

"You’ve been practicing," he said, finally smiling.

"With Lania and her family. But it’s so different on the larger floor."

"One advantage of buying an old dance school is that there’s many big rooms. We’re keeping enough open space in the one with the best floor that we’ll be able to dance there." He started to speak, but then glanced around us and let go of my hand. "My turn for a speech," he said. "Talk to you later."

Hearing this, I stayed where I was, even though my feet had started to complain, and I’d planned to sit the next dance or two out.

"You and Bran looked incredible together," Lania whispered, coming up to take my arm.

"I didn’t know he was going to speak. His Vice Presidency seems to mainly involve glowering at his feet."

"He does a lot of the technical work, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do any public speaking."

We weren’t the only ones surprised, and a small hush fell on the room as he stepped up to the microphone situated neatly at the apex of the miniature Rialto Bridge.

"More people than I can remember reached out to me the last couple of years," Bran said, without preamble. "Even when I pushed them away, they still watched out for me. Never underestimate how a few words, a chance encounter, can change the course of your life." He glanced at Rin and Kyou, looked down at his feet, and then out over the assembled dancers. His voice dropped to a lower note as he added: "I can’t thank you enough."

Ignoring the scattered applause, he walked away, joining Rin and Kyou. They left through the exit opposite the bridge, where the first aid and administration tents were set.

"Less by-the-book than the rest of the Executive," I said, hoping I wasn’t visibly flushing.

"He sounded so heart-felt," Lania said, surprised, then grimaced as a slow dance was announced. "Let’s go out."

"I want to take these shoes off for a while," I said, agreeably.

Lania led the way to the area set aside for rest and refreshments. We grabbed bottles of water, found a corner seat, and immediately slipped off our shoes.

"Is the strategic sticking plaster not holding up?" Lania asked.

"Working well, mostly," I said, picking at the edge of the one that had slipped. "It’s more running back and forth with my heels jacked up several inches. My toes are asking what they ever did to deserve it."

"I thought about going with flats, but I’m so glad I left nothing to criticise. I swear my back must be a pinboard with how many darts Katerina has been shooting my way."

"Have you danced with Carr yet?"

Lania shook her head. "I saw him early on, but I haven’t seen him dancing. I am two out of three on Kings, though, which has been fun."

"Same."

"I’m hoping Rin dances with me just to see Sirocco’s expression. She looked…" Lania hesitated, then said: "Well, she looked very sad when he danced with you. Sometimes I wish Sirocco behaved like Katerina—then at least I could hate her properly."

"Making yourself feel better by watching people bully your rivals isn’t worthy of sympathy."

"No. But sometimes I can understand the temptation. Do you ever think you’ll eat your heart out for someone, Mika?"

A few months ago, I would have answered with confidence. Now…

"I’m sure—fairly sure—that I wouldn’t be like Sirocco. If I liked someone who seemed indifferent or even actively disliked me, I’d mope for a while, then move on. But I also think it’s possible that moving would be…" I stopped, and started again. "I do think it’s possible to become so accustomed, uh, to find yourself fitting so well, that their absence…"

Lania was looking at me with a very odd expression.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Who is what?"

"I’ve never seen you so disordered. It can only be because there is someone you feel that way about. And not Christophe Barrington. You don’t talk about him like that at all."

"Well," I said, after a pause. "Which person in this school would you say I’ve become accustomed to?"

Lania tilted her head, then laughed. "You weren’t going all disjointed over me. Try again."

I smiled, but turned the conversation to whether to skip the next dance as well. Eventually, I would probably give Lania some form of the truth. She had become a real friend, and one I would keep even if I didn’t manage to stay in this city. But I doubted I could talk about my emotional entanglements for at least six months. Maybe a year. Now, with only a dance with Kyou left, I was completely unsure of my ability to move on to being just friends. Which would be harder: to torture myself being close to what I couldn’t have, or to cut ties completely?

Rin, Kyou and Bran were noticeably absent for the next few dances. I did take a turn with Carr, who was carefully correct, and thankfully saw he went on to ask Lania for the next foxtrot. I decided to sit this one out as well, perhaps because I spotted Kade heading in my direction, and decided I didn’t want to dance with him at all. That my turn had rubbed me the wrong way.

Taking the simplest way out, I went to the bathroom and lurked for a little while, fiddling with strands of hair in the mirror. Then I went and wandered along the path between Sports One and the library, sorting out my thoughts.

Enjoy where you are now. It had been my philosophy for as long as I could remember. Leaving people behind was a part of life, and I had never been so resistant to the idea before. But I would cope.

"Mika."

Kyou’s voice, so distinctive and rich. I turned and looked at him, his face hidden by the black cat mask, his body lean in his closely-tailored suit.

"The south lawn seems an excellent spot for dancing," he said. "Would you like to test it out?"

The south lawn wasn’t far away, but it was surrounded by hedges, and so I nodded immediately, and followed him through the trees.

"How did you know where I was?" I asked.

"Saw you leave the building. Had your fill of socialising?"

"I didn’t want to dance with your cousin."

"Who? Oh, do you mean Kade? Was he obnoxious? He doesn’t actually mean to be—he’s just so used to people falling at his feet that he can’t help but treat them as carpet."

Slipping off our shoes, we walked out onto the south lawn. The moon, not quite full, was more than bright enough to show our features, and I glanced back at the area’s entrance, wondering if I could make out the shape of someone watching.

"Rin and Bran, ready to fend off passers-by," Kyou said, noticing my gaze. "Speaking of which…" He slid a phone out of an inner pocket and made some quick adjustments. "They did something we could dance to recently."

A long, low cello note sounded. Kyou arranged his phone in his breast pocket, and took my hand as a sweet violin joined us beneath the cold moon. A light breeze played with my skirt as we took our first steps, and the stars were bright. Unfettered from my heels, I floated across the lawn.

"This music is so beautiful," I murmured. "Is it another piece for one of your games? Is there a dance scene?"

"For One Step More, and not exactly. It’s meant to bring to mind a waltz, and is one of the most important pieces in the game. Rin’s shed blood over it."

I half-closed my eyes, trying to guess what the scene would be like from sound cues alone. It made me think of flying. And, like all good things, it was over too soon. I dropped my hand from Kyou’s shoulder, and he automatically moved to shut off his phone.

"I couldn’t have planned a better setting for this dance," he said, softly. "If only freezing time were practical."

He took my hand in a grip that was a little too tight, and led me unhurriedly back to our shoes, and then to two other tall figures, waiting by the path.

"Serious talk time?" I asked, gauging what I could make out of their expressions in the shadow of the trees.

"Well, catching up on a thousand postponed conversations," Kyou said. "We decided—it seems a very long time ago now—that the one thing we had to do was get you through the exams before unloading any spare feelings on you."

"Shift location," Bran said, and led the way along the hedge-lined paths to a large gazebo surrounded by flower beds.

"Is this where the Rose Court has lunch?" I asked, looking around. "I can almost see why people want to join."

"No lunch spot is worth the hoops they put people through," Kyou said, sitting down.

I picked a seat just by the stair, Bran and Rin sat opposite me, and then there was a little silence. We’d wound about enough to be relatively close to Sports One again, and a lively orchestra piece made its way through the windows, very mismatched with the moment.

"I deleted all the scores on the app," Bran said, finally. "I don’t want to know."

"It wouldn’t have mattered," I said, after a brief hesitation. "I decided to fake them to make you all come out even."

Rin laughed, then leaned his head back and sighed. "Mika, you undo me. You—this whole situation—has spiralled so far out of expectation that we’re at a loss. None of us want to end this. But we don’t want to go on the way things have been, either."

"Sneaking about was all very fun until it really wasn’t," Kyou said.

"What are you proposing?" I asked, not allowing myself to get my hopes up. If there was an easy solution, I would have already thought of it. University wouldn’t have convenient private gardens, even if we wanted to go on clandestinely. And if we were seen heading to hotels, or each other’s houses, the intense interest in everything about the Three Kings would inevitably risk the kind of exposure that I, sanguine about everything except my career, could not afford.

"We asked you to be impartial. Now, well…" Kyou’s voice actually wavered, and I saw his hands curl into fists on his knees. "Now, we want to know if you have a preference."

I found myself flushing with anger, but then I only felt tired. Bran had dropped his head to glower at his feet, while Rin, without moving, had somehow lost all his poise. They, like me, had tried to think of a way out of this trap, and failed.

"I’m not sure I’ve met anyone as close as you three are to each other," I said slowly. "Lifelong friendship, and you came ready-made with a demonstration of what happens when someone tries to pull you apart. Even if I could pick one of you—an exercise that feels somewhat on par with deciding which of my limbs I could give up—I never will. I won’t do that to you."

There was a lot more I could say, but really nothing to add, so I simply stood up and walked away from them. No one stopped me.

I hadn’t expected them to make it so hard, to tempt me with at least not losing one of them, and force me to say no.

Seventy-Three

I spent the next two days mechanically going through the familiar process of preparing to leave. Because I wasn’t absolutely sure what city I’d end up in, I couldn’t start house-hunting yet, and hadn’t given notice on my apartment. Even so, I prepared everything for departure, emptying the fridge, cleaning enough to expect the bond to be returned, and packing all my belongings.

Ms Lezecki, the guidance counsellor, contacted me the day before I was due to fly out to notify me I was Dux of the School. Given I was heading out of the country, they wanted me to come in wearing my uniform for a medal presentation, some photographs, and to record a short message to be played at the graduation ceremony. Luckily my flight wasn’t until the afternoon, so I arranged a time the next morning. Then I called Millie and asked for makeup tips, since the last few days showed a little too clearly on my face.

Even with expert help, Ms Lezecki gave me a lecture after the photos were done.

"I know stern warnings about health don’t seem very relevant at your age," she said. "But these stresses build up on your body. Aim for a little moderation."

"No more two-day tabletop dancing sessions?" I asked, twirling my medal on its ribbon, and then laughed at her expression. "Just insomnia, Ms Lezecki. I’m very boring."

"I suspect all-night gaming sessions," said a familiar, beautiful voice.

I turned, discovered the three people I’d spent my nights thinking about, and decided to be glad for another chance to see them.

"This seems like an excellent opportunity for a Student Council Executive commiseration photo," Rin said. "It will remind us not to make bets about which of us would be Dux."

"A near-run competition," the counsellor said, smiling as they bracketed me. "It’s not too close to your flight time, Mikaela?"

"No, still plenty of bonus airport appreciation time to go."

We took a couple of shots, and then I packed my medal away, and thanked the handful of teachers who were in the office.

"Let’s have a cup of tea, and then we’ll give you a lift," Rin said. "I thoroughly enjoy the idea that you’re planning to fly to Peru dressed like this. Will you wear it on the walk up to Macchu Piccu?"

"I could, I suppose. These shoes aren’t bad for walking."

"Can this possibly constitute all your worldly possessions?" Kyou asked, appropriating the single battered suitcase I’d brought with me, while Bran took my backpack.

"There’s another suitcase, and two whole boxes, which I’ll collect when I come back to Helios," I said. "It felt strangely uncomfortable, packing those boxes, because I’m so used to having to keep all my things to a strict two-suitcase limit."

"Do you just throw away everything each school?" Bran asked, a little incredulously.

"Anything we want to keep permanently we send to my Nan’s. The boxes of the author’s copies of Dad’s books are threatening to completely take over her garage."

"Bran and his six monitors would never cope with two suitcases," Rin said.

"This from Mr Twenty-to-Infinity Guitars," Bran retorted.

They were all in spectacularly good moods, or chatting to hide nervousness, or both. I couldn’t decide, and followed them without comment out and along the path to the garden that had been so central to my year. It was the first time I’d walked in honestly, and passing the windows allowed me to see just how close we’d been to an entire row of teachers, every time I’d snuck through the fence.

Kyou, a little ahead, unlocked the gate and went to start the water heating. Bran arranged my backpack on top of my suitcase, then drew me over to the wide patch of clear grass in front of the climbing roses.

"When we were kids, Rin and I weren’t capable of having any kind of serious debate without an attempt to turn each other’s faces black and blue," Bran said. "Kyou started to make us sit down back-to-back, and wouldn’t let us up 'til we were done."

"Eventually, all three of us would do it whenever we argued or made big decisions," Rin said, sitting down.

"Not being able to see the gratuitous smirking does wonders for resisting the urge to choke them," Bran added, tugging my hand to prompt me to sit, my back against Rin’s.

Bemused, I allowed myself to be arranged, and watched him sit as well, back against our shoulders. Kyou calmly came out and took up the opposite side, so we sat in a plus formation. It was very odd to sit like this, gazing at the pale pink roses, but sensitive to every movement of three boys leaning against me. Rin had looked entirely relaxed and confident, but his back was tense.

"I owe you a debt, Mika," Kyou said. "And that is a very convenient thing."

"What debt?" I asked, frowning.

"Sage advice to the tune of razing things to the ground as a deterrent. Which gave me a way through, and even let me turn a trap into a massive profit. I cannot begin to describe the relief, and at the time I even told several people who asked why I was so happy that someone had given me a suggestion that more or less saved my life."

"But why is that useful?"

"Because you need accommodation near the university, and we’ve just bought a large house with several spare rooms. Offering to rent one to you is the least we can do."

I went still. He wanted me to live with them?

"Much as we’d like to, we couldn’t see a non-destructive way for the three of us to openly date you," Kyou went on. "There’s no denying that would have a massive impact on you, particularly before you’re established in your career. But giving you the status of housemate means we have every excuse to be walking around with you, meeting you for lunch, heading out on trips, and coming home together. It’s no-one’s business what we do once we get there."

"Your ambiguous actor becomes highly convenient," Rin said. "As is Bran’s so-called girlfriend, who has so thoroughly taken on a life of her own that half the school knows she’s just won a job that takes her frequently out of the city. As for Kyou and I: while I think it would be disrespectful to tell people we’re gay when we’re not, enough people already think we’re involved with each other that we’d simply have to sound a little half-hearted when we deny it, and they’d cease to wonder why we have no visible girlfriends."

"Are…" I paused. "Are you sure it’s possible for you? You’re so competitive, and—"

"We’re not competing for you," Bran said, firmly. "We want you to be our girlfriend. And then put a blindfold on you, and see if you can guess which of us touches you next."

Silence followed, a little startled, but interested. I bit my lip. The cover story was good, effective because it was true, but it didn’t mean there was no risk. Too many people were fascinated by these three for there not to be a handful who would target me just for being in their proximity. Nor, no matter what they said, could I believe I could date all three of them without teetering on the edge of a maelstrom. No jealousy? No hurt feelings?

But these past days had taught me that walking away would cost me more than I ever anticipated. And the idea of a blindfold, and the three of them…

"That sounds like I’d end up very sore," I said, after the longest pause. "We wouldn’t be able to do that too often."

Rin let out his breath. Kyou reached over and took my hand, squeezing it hard. Bran laughed, a sound that wavered strangely between carefree and full of bad intentions, and then turned around, and wrapped his arms around me.

This was close to painful. I blinked, but squeezed him back. Kyou and Rin, after a moment’s hesitation, apparently decided that this would be a turn-based round and left, heading into the summer house.

"The last few weeks have been torture," Bran said, relaxing his arms a little, though by no means ready to let me go. "Even when we finally found what seemed a safe solution, we knew we couldn’t push you if you decided not to risk it."

"How could I pass up seeing whether you really are a considerate and attentive boyfriend?"

"We’ll go on that coastal ride for our first date," he said. "There’s a spot north-east of the city I want to show you."

When he’s happy, Bran takes on a distinctly angelic air, and I thought it a good moment to kiss him, though just briefly. Having three boyfriends at the same time was going to be a juggling act.

Letting Bran go, I climbed to my feet and found Rin sitting at the picnic table, watching us with a thoughtful air. I considered him in return, then crossed to my backpack and drew out a leather-bound journal.

"Still a long way to go," I said, handing it to him. "I’m designing it so the music should accompany you as you turn the pages. Almost like storyboarding a short film, which is a bit of an experiment for me."

Rin’s eyes lit, and he opened the journal without hesitation. I sat beside him, watching his face. After four pages of maps, we began on scenes of the approach to the aeolian city: a gentle landscape where laundry stirred in the breeze, windmills circled lazily, and all the whitewashed stone structures featured some kind of spiralling curve, usually in the form of outer stairs leading up to rooftop patios. I’d played about in the outskirts for about ten pages, and had just started to move toward the towers glimpsed occasionally in backgrounds. Rin drank it in, entirely absorbed.

"You said you drew buildings," Bran said, leaning across the table. "I underestimated what that meant."

"You’ll notice that there’s very few people or animals, and they’re mostly off in the distance," I said. "I had a teacher a few years ago who was so frustrated with me, because I would spend hours on the buildings, and five minutes on populating them. And I apparently have only a very basic colour sense."

Kyou, bringing out a tray, gave me a surprised glance, then leaned over to look as well.

"You’re hired," he said, putting the tray down.

I laughed. "To what? Illustrate Rin’s music?"

"In a sense. Concept art for the cities in Echoes. And then probably modelling them as well. Buildings are one of my weak points."

"Girlfriend-housemate-employee might be complicating matters a bit too far."

"We’ll handle it," he said. "We can do some planning over the break to avoid any issues." He sat down opposite me and smiled at Rin, who was turning back and forth between the completed pages, humming faintly. "If you draw something inspired by his music, and that inspires him to create more music, will you enter an endless loop?

"Virtuous circle, perhaps," I said, eyeing Rin. I wasn’t sure if he was paying attention, or was entirely lost to a world of sound.

"Drink," Kyou said, handing me a cup. "And if you want to be truly kind, give Rin a pen and paper, and leave him be for a while."

That was easily accomplished. Rin took my offering with a distracted nod and immediately started making notations.

"Phone, please," Kyou said, holding out his hand.

I raised my eyebrows, but went to fish it out of my backpack, unlocked it and passed it to him. He took his own phone and transferred contacts, then completed a few more details.

"I’m not asking for daily hour-long calls," he said, "but I have some poetry I’d like to discuss, when you have some down time."

"I can’t guarantee hour-long, but I think I can manage daily for official boyfriends. Or even secret ones." I paused, a little helplessly. "I guess I’ll rotate in alphabetical order."

Rin proved he was listening by looking up and saying: "My full name starts with A."

"If you’re okay with us calling you Arinn, we’re okay with you taking first," Kyou said.

"You don’t like being called Arinn?" I asked.

"Family name—there’s three others currently, and a long list in the family tree." Bran smirked faintly. "If you want to annoy him, call him Arinn."

"Stick with Rin," Rin said, after a long pause, glanced at his notations, then put down the pen and wound an arm around my waist. "No-one’s ever given me a city before."

"When it’s done, I want you to name it," I said.

Rin leaned forward, then glanced at the audience on the other side of the table. "Close your eyes."

"If we’re going to do this at all…" Bran said, but then shrugged and picked up the tray, heading for the summer house.

Kyou collected leftover cups and followed, and Rin turned his attention back to me.

"Do you really think this is possible without you three tearing each other apart?" I asked, finding my face was a little hot. Being affectionate when we were all together was very different to separate rendezvous.

"Yes," Rin said. "We’re very motivated not to lose you, and we…" His lips curled toward wicked. "We’re thoroughly used to the idea of sharing you, since discussing you has long been our favourite topic of conversation. Not that there won’t be occasions when we feel possessive, particularly if I was wanting to throw you over my shoulder, only to find Bran or Kyou had already whisked you off. We’ll work out ways to avoid that."

He gently touched my cheek, but didn’t go further. "Just now I’m far too inclined for that shoulder throwing to indulge too much. It wouldn’t do to get caught on the last day here."

"I don’t want to sleep on the plane anyway."

"Underneath this makeup, you look like you haven’t slept since we last spoke, so why don’t you want to sleep?"

"Time zone adjustment mainly, but also not necessarily a good idea when travelling alone."

He frowned. "If you’re in a seat next to someone who invades your space, ask a flight attendant to change."

"Not my first solo flight," I told him.

He paused, then shook his head. "While I don’t recall ever travelling alone. I should probably be more worried about your actor, anyway."

"Christophe is so completely besotted with Millie that you don’t need to worry about him putting a hair out of place on this trip."

"And does Millie like Christophe?"

"Quite a bit. The hurdle at the moment is she doesn’t believe in him."

"A figment of the collective imagination?"

"A very beautiful and charming boy who has women throwing themselves at him at every opportunity, but only wants her," I said, with a wry smile. "Even if she lets herself believe that’s true, she doesn’t think it will last."

There could not be a more obvious parallel.

"Well," Rin said, after the longest moment. "I’m not sure my imagination is broad enough to produce you, but I certainly hope you’re a lasting delusion."

I laughed, and couldn’t help but blush, and that brought a triumphant light to his eyes.

"I live to make you flustered," he added, and was reaching toward me when a murmur of voices gave us a bare warning, and then the garden gate swung open.

Rin had changed his movement at the last second, and collected my journal instead of me. The Principal and Vice-Principal at least did not seem to have seen anything suspicious, and took me off for more photographs, some of which were posed beside my model of the Sunseeker Bridge. By the time I was done, Rin and Bran had left, and only Kyou remained to guard my luggage.

"Your turn," I said, as we headed out of the building to the teachers' carpark.

"They’ve gone to bring Rin’s car around, but yes. Even though we think we’re going to enjoy, ah, sharing, time alone together is important. Not that I was expecting to have to compete with the faculty today. Are you pleased with your results, Mika?"

"They’re about what I estimated. Being Dux might help with the course application. I don’t have much in the way of competition results or other extra credit activities."

"Good news, then. I admit to being surprised. I knew your score would be high, but I didn’t expect you to beat Bran, especially when he’s in such a good state. This, incidentally, is when you mention that you can’t house-hunt until you get the course offer, and I respond by offering to rent you a room."

"How close is it to the university?"

"It’s on the west end, not far outside the grounds, so we’ll be able to walk to class. Although, given the bulk of the lecture halls are on the east end, we’ll probably take the tram when we’re in a rush. The nearest tram stop’s around four minutes' walk away."

"Walking to class sounds irresistible," I said. "How much do you want for it?"

"How much do rooms rent for?" Kyou asked, clearly not concerned. "Perhaps half whatever you’re paying for your apartment?"

"That’s probably an extreme bargain for the university district," I told him.

"Given how much we owe you, I wouldn’t charge at all, but it adds a level of truth to the cover story, not to mention sidestepping some of the social complexities of moving you into our house so we can take advantage of you."

"Mm. Yes, I’d definitely rather be a rent-payer, when you put it that way." I resisted the temptation to reach out to him, just smiled and said: "If escaping the trap gave you a windfall, does that advance the schedule you’d set for your game releases?"

"Not really—we don’t want to expand too quickly, particularly if that means compromising on the personnel we hire. We did spend a lot more on the technical equipment than we were initially intending: we’ll have one of the best motion capture setups in the country. And we’re negotiating purchase of an old dairy farm out in Noonerry as a site for the larger office."

"Is that a suburb?"

"An outlying town. A total backwater, currently, but I had a technician do an analysis of the best alternate route for the high-speed rail, and she predicts they’ll put a stop right on the edge of Noonerry, which will make it perfect for employee commuting."

"Sure it’s not another trap?"

"Trying to predict the route is purely my own speculation, and if it works out, we’ll owe you an even greater debt, because I only started investigating after you said the current route would be delayed or unviable."

"Now I’ll worry whether I’ve lost you money."

"One thing about land is you rarely lose money on it. If it doesn’t come off, well, we’ve enough liquidity to keep a bunch of abandoned paddocks until someone wants them. Besides, it’s a very pretty area, and I’d like to build a house there, for when we want to get out of the city. Do you like horse-riding?"

"Yes. I wanted a pony when I was a kid, but couldn’t find one that would fit in a suitcase."

Kyou reached out and brushed the back of his hand against mine. "Is it too soon to say I want to build a home for you, Mika?"

"Probably. But you make me want to see it."

An odd whirr heralded the arrival of an enormous cherry and black Hummer, and cut short any response Kyou might have made.

"Electric," Rin explained, after my luggage was stowed, and Kyou and I had climbed in back with Bran. "The law requires it play a noise when travelling at certain speeds."

"Does yours do the same?" I asked Kyou. "I didn’t notice."

"It pretends to make car noises," Kyou said, smiling, and then stopped me from buckling my seat belt. "One thing I like about this behemoth is that Rin has more than the legal amount of tinting on the side windows."

Pulling me into his lap, he kissed me hard, then regretfully returned me to my seat as Rin reached the exit to the carpark.

"How many Student Council duties do you have left?" I asked, fastening the seat belt.

"Just the Award Ceremony and some handover work," Kyou said. "Then we fly out as well."

"I take it you haven’t told your families you’re going to intern in a game studio."

Kyou shrugged. "They think we’re touring Europe. We’ll primarily be in France, since that’s where the studio is based. We’ll take a few weekend trips and send photographs."

"You have relatives in France, right?"

"Not many we want to be in the same room with," Bran said. "There’s a couple we’ll look in on. And Rin is obliged to visit the office, because his sisters' birthdays aren’t until we get back, so he can’t kick off the traces just yet."

"Which set of sisters is it? I don’t even know their names."

"It’s both sets of sisters—they were born three days apart," Rin said. "Marcelline and Evgenie are the older, and belong to my father. Anthea and Jessamin belong to my mother. I think you’ll like them."

"They’re anyone’s worst nightmare when they take on a cause," Kyou added, laughing. "Corascur won’t know what’s hit it, this coming term."

"I’m hoping they dismantle the Rose Court," Rin said, smiling at me in the rear-view mirror.

Lania’s ringtone cut short my response. I fished my phone out and told her hi.

"Are you done at school?" she asked. "Did the photos go okay?"

"They weren’t too painful," I said. "It went on a little longer than I expected, but I’m on my way to the airport now."

"Say hi to Dishy Christy for me."

I laughed. "He hates being called that."

"I probably would too, but it rolls off the tongue, you know?"

"How’s your trip going?"

"Not bad so far. Gran’s birthday is always a bit of a rollercoaster because it turns into a competition over who brought the best gift, and whose career is going best, and then the family drama queen decides it’s time to add excitement. The fact that Mum and Dad are starting their own firm is a hot topic this year."

"Sounds exhausting," I said, with a quiver to my voice because Kyou had pulled off my tie and Bran was unbuttoning my shirt. "Is it actually necessary to participate? Why not be with her in the morning, let them have her for the afternoon, that kind of thing?"

Rin made a choked sound, and I realised how what I’d said might sound to him, particularly given Bran and Kyou’s current activities.

"Big emphasis on everyone sitting down at the dinner table together," Lania said, oblivious. "I’d far rather be on my way to Peru. Send me some photos of your not-boyfriend when you get there."

"Will do," I said, hung up, and had my breath stolen by Bran.

A pleasant interlude followed, making me reflect on what exactly it would be like with three of them and a blindfold. Certainly enjoyable. Potentially overwhelming.

Bran, after much exploration, fastened his lips on my bared shoulder and made a concentrated effort.

"Falling back into bad habits?" I said to him, when Kyou gave me a chance.

"A message for Dishy Christy," Bran said, lifting his head.

"Good plan," Kyou said, and immediately began working on the same spot.

Fortunately for my skin, Rin had reached the airport, and only had to roam around a little to find a parking spot. Less fortunately, as soon as he turned off the engine Rin climbed into the immediately crowded back seat and added his contribution to the message.

"You three are seriously overestimating my feelings for Christophe."

"Send us off on a holiday with our exes and say that again," Rin said, then pressed me into the seat for a final, hard kiss.

Having worked each other up, it was not the easiest thing to get out of the car and revert to school acquaintances, and to wave them off casually, because at this stage we should not be close enough for them to wait with me.

It wasn’t until I was mid-flight that I remembered the message and took a trip to the bathroom to unbutton my shirt to find a trio of overlapping love bites, neatly arranged in a triangle below my collarbone.

I touched the blue-purple marks. A challenge, a secret, a friendship. A year like no other. And, hopefully, years to come.

Playing games with my boyfriends.

END

* * *

Thank you for reading The Book of Firsts.

Content

Андерс Каран К. The Book of Firsts

Author’s Note

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Three

Twenty-Four

Twenty-Five

Twenty-Six

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Nine

Thirty

Thirty-One

Thirty-Two

Thirty-Three

Thirty-Four

Thirty-Five

Thirty-Six

Thirty-Seven

Thirty-Eight

Thirty-Nine

Forty

Forty-One

Forty-Two

Forty-Three

Forty-Four

Forty-Five

Forty-Six

Forty-Seven

Forty-Eight

Forty-Nine

Fifty

Fifty-One

Fifty-Two

Fifty-Three

Fifty-Four

Fifty-Five

Fifty-Six

Fifty-Seven

Fifty-Eight

Fifty-Nine

Sixty

Sixty-One

Sixty-Two

Sixty-Three

Sixty-Four

Sixty-Five

Sixty-Six

Sixty-Seven

Sixty-Eight

Sixty-Nine

Seventy

Seventy-One

Seventy-Two

Seventy-Three