Mine's thoughts scattered—Click.Her door opened.
"Hmph—just so we're clear, I don't have experience, and I won't be cooperating. So do it yourself, finish fast, and leave!"
She hid under the blanket fort.
"Mine, what are you talking about?" came Scheele's voice.
Mine froze.
"What do you mean 'no experience'? What's 'do it yourself'?" Scheele twisted the knife with innocent questions.
Mine wanted to melt into the floor.
"Ahem. Scheele—those words weren't for you." Akuto's voice followed.
Scheele nodded as understanding dawned. "I see."
Mine shot up, face pink. "Y-you! Why are you here—and with Scheele?!"
"Because I'm here to help you," Scheele smiled, just as Mine feared.
"Tch! This pervert told you to—didn't he?"
"Nope. I volunteered. I've… helped other girls before," Scheele added gently.
(Helped… other girls? Scheele! What exactly did you go through with Akuto?!)
Mine's fair cheeks flushed bright red.
"See? She offered," Akuto spread his hands.
"As if I'd buy that! Whatever. A deal's a deal—I'll be with you tonight and that's it!"
"Even if it's only one night, I'll make it perfect," Akuto said, voice unexpectedly soft as his hands traced up the silk over her thigh-highs.
"…Is that so?"
Strong on the outside, gentle toward you alone—cliché or not, it hit Mine square in the heart. Guided by Scheele, Mine laced one hand with Akuto's and one with Scheele's and lowered herself, trembling.
(Non-graphic summary of intimate content)They kissed—hesitant at first, then hungry. Akuto held her carefully, guiding rather than forcing; Scheele soothed and taught in whispers. Heat built, breaths tangled. In the end, Mine clung to Akuto, surrendering with a muffled sigh as power like liquid fire—his bloodline infusion and the Symbiote—washed through her body, reforging her from the inside out.
"Why… do you give us Pieces? Why make ties with us like this?" she asked between breaths, wanting to hear it from his mouth even if she already knew.
"Why? Because I like girls who don't bow to fate—pretty and full of will, like you," Akuto answered without flinching.
"So just because you like something, you take it?"
"Can't I? That's how I've always lived."
"You really are a scoundrel," Mine muttered—and pulled his face down for another kiss.
A chime rang in Akuto's mind.
[Ding!][Fortune seized.][Source: Mine.][Initial ability slot +1. Total: 13.]
—Morning.
Mine woke to find herself wrapped around Akuto, refusing to let him go even in sleep.
"What a shameless, greedy man," she whispered—right before the Symbiote inside her answered with a pulse that matched Akuto's heartbeat.
"Eh?"
Her slight belly felt fuller, rounder. She glanced over; Akuto was already awake.
"Morning, Mine. Round two?"
"H-huh? We said only one night!"
"Consider it an advance. I just… like you. And when I see you being this cute first thing in the morning, I can't help it."
"You smooth-talker!"
But she hooked her arms around his neck anyway—and kissed him again, one ribbon-tied stockinged foot sliding up with practiced ease.
By noon, Mine emerged—face warm, belly still taut—to find everyone at lunch. No one had disturbed her door.
"Mine, want me to fix you something?" Akame asked at once.
"I'll just… have some milk."
She could've "replenished fluids" with Akuto, but the deficit was too big. Better to drink something else for now.
"Achoo!"
She sneezed cutely. Pressure shifted—and a white, viscous thread trickled from her nose.
"Mine… how was it?" Leone swallowed. "He wasn't too rough, right?"
"W-why are you asking me? Ask Scheele!" Mine slapped a tissue to her nose.
After a long half minute of pregnant silence, she sighed and accepted her fate.
"He can be very gentle… and very rough. Overall… it was… not bad."
Thanks to the bloodline infusion, there had been no pain—only a warmth that left a dangerous nostalgia.
(End of Chapter)[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"][Every 500 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop][Thanks for Reading!]