The next few days to the end of the Season passed quickly. The morning after the trial, while still cuddling in bed, Yuriko, Heron, and Gwendith continued their talk.
“My libido in my incarnation body is just as high as my true body’s,” Yuriko admitted. “It’s been a struggle to contain it with my Will.”
“Poor baby,” Gwendith cooed. “You know we don’t really mind.”
“I do,” Heron grumbled, “but I know better now than to try to cage you. As long as you are with me, that’s all that really matters.”
Warmth flooded Yuriko’s heart and she hugged both of them tight. “Thank you.”
For the rest of the ten days, not much really happened. While Yuriko didn’t press the issue with Ilvarra, the woman didn’t stop flirting with Heron either. For his part, and probably still confused by what Yuriko said, he didn’t stop her but didn’t really reciprocate either. Come to think of it, Yuriko might have detected some enjoyment hidden deep within his emotions.
She didn’t use her Mien on Ilvarra either, not deliberately. But she could feel a bit of a connection start to form. Perhaps it was the knowledge that Yuriko and Heron were together in that way, as well as the intuition that Yuriko and Gwendith were the same, but Ilvarra’s strategy to get into Heron’s pants expanded to getting to know the two girls. Nothing happened, but she thought that it was only a matter of time, considering how persistent Ilvarra was.
In Astoria, Yuriko’s school days changed. Final exams were next week and the students developed an anxious and frantic air even while they were just walking. The library was suddenly filled, and even the park benches around the Academic Oval were occupied with studying people. Her close friends, Scarlett, Nora, and Jenna, were similarly preoccupied. Nora asked her to join their study group too, and considering she shared more than a few classes with them, it made sense.
Only…Lilibeth was an excellent student, and she used most of her free time grinding her nose on the books. Yuriko…well, she was a Transformation Stage Ancient. Her problems with reading aside, she could easily memorise and understand all of the course content. She even had the handicap of starting the semester close to the middle, but it didn’t take her more than a few days to catch up and exceed what was needed for her class. The only real trouble she had was in Creative Writing, and that was because Lilibeth had already submitted everything before Yuriko took over.
The final graded part of that class was applying the edits to the works submitted; and there was the trouble. Yuriko didn’t write like Lilibeth, and to do so, she’d have to immerse her mind into the other’s way of thinking. It was painful and annoying, so she only did the minimum and resolved not to take any such class in the future. She might as well change her major from Journalism to Mass Communications for that matter, considering the career path she was taking now. It was a good thing this year was only Lilibeth’s fresher year, and major subjects wouldn’t be assigned until then. General education subjects were taken by almost all the freshers and only those in the sciences had it different.
She also considered shifting majors to the sciences, but really, that wouldn’t suit her needs. Besides, she could always further her studies later. She was an Ancient, and unlike mortals, she wouldn’t age.
It was already a miracle that she looked eighteen in this body. Her true body still looked like a teenager, fifteen or sixteen, really. It must be the mixing of bodies, huh? Still, there wasn’t that much difference, just a hint of maturity as opposed to youth. For that matter, Yuriko could probably Transform her age. She tried it with her true body and aged herself up to eighteen. It still felt like she was holding her breath, so she returned to normal. Then, as an impulse, she returned her appearance to her thirteen-year-old self. Similar problems, and now she was back to being shorter.
She made the mistake of doing that in Gwendith’s presence and her lover pounced on her and started pinching and squealing with cuteness aggression. Heron just looked and his face turned crimson.
Yuriko grinned at him, pulled at the hem of her nightgown so that she exposed her hip and bottom, then said teasingly, “Do you want to defile me in this body?”
She was pretty sure blood dripped out of his nose as he ran out of the bedroom with a strangled squeak. Gwendtih smacked Yuriko’s bum and giggled, “You’re so mean!”
“Ehehehe.”
While the week preceding the final exams was hectic, it didn’t much affect Yuriko’s schedule. She had tendered her resignation to Mcay’s earlier, and since she was a part-time employee, she was able to leave easily. Beans and Coffee cafe had her for the entire Earthsday, and replacing her in the labour pool was much more difficult. She had little choice, however, as that Earthsday, Pixel Fairy had arranged a gig for her that was worth ten thousand Torries, far more than she ever expected. That was the net amount, too, and the agency had already taken their share.
As for what it was, apparently, a company that sold premium bottled mineral water wanted her for their commercial. Specifically, her, as their marketing team saw her pictures in the Network as well as early shots of her work with Dreamedia, and looked for her.
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Well, she wasn’t going to say no to much-needed Torries and this single gig alone would pay for her rent and expenses for a year. It would also open her up to more gigs, as well as free her schedule to do whatever else she wanted, and was a good start to increasing her presence in Astoria. At least she didn’t have to kill anyone or traumatise armies in order to feed her Mien.
The shoot began early on Earthsday and unexpectedly, it wasn’t in a studio. Instead, it was on an island about a league into the Endless Sea, just off the coast of Neo Prism. It was accessible via a ferry along the bay. Scarlett accompanied her to Isla Paradisia, which had most of its perimeter covered in white sand beaches. The island was about two longstrides north to south, and half that east to west. It had a couple of hills and plateaus, which were about fifty paces above ocean level. On the plateaus were several buildings, though they were constructed to blend in with the forestation. The commercial shoot was set on the southern stretch of the island, on the beach.
The island was a popular hot Season destination, for vacationers interested in swimming at sea or other water sports. The rest of the island was built with leisure in mind, at least the part where Yuriko could sense with her perception.
When she arrived, she was given the script for her part. They were planning a few scenarios and the product was something called Miracle Hydration Water, or Mira-hi for short, served in a half-Ren clear plastic bottle. Aside from her, another model from Pixel Fairy, the brown-skinned seventeen-year-old Jackson Blue, was also part of the skits.
Jackson, who was taller than her by a couple of inches, greeted her enthusiastically. “Break a leg, eh?”
Yuriko blinked in confusion and had to check Lilibeth’s common sense to understand what he said. A curse to reverse bad luck when performing, apparently. “Same to you, I guess,” Yuriko chuckled.
Her attire for the shoot was a rather skimpy two-piece swimsuit that barely covered her sex, her nipples, and her areolas. Not that her bosom was all that big compared to other women, but they were aesthetically balanced with her body. The bikini also exposed most of her bottom. She brushed her hair over her shoulder and smirked at Scarlett’s expression when she emerged from the changing room, then quietly giggled at the rest of the staff who were in her immediate vicinity. She knew the effect of her body through her Mien, and she had to carefully control it so that those who saw her weren’t driven completely to obsession.
“You’re supposed to wear a white shirt over that,” Scarlett muttered in a low tone.
Yuriko hummed and nodded, accepted the shirt one of the staffers handed to her and put it on. Then she went to the director and waited for her turn in the scene.
It didn’t take all that long, despite the gawkers. She stood with her usual aplomb, though she curtailed her usual conqueror’s confidence and went with a more innocent pose—hands demurely over her navel and ankles crossed, shoulders back, and head held high.
Huh, she could feel the number of threads connected to her dreamscape self increasing slightly, and hopefully, when the rest of Astoria saw the commercial, it would increase the threads exponentially. She still had not figured out how many threads it took to conjure enough Quintessence to condense into the amber drop of Ambrosia, but more was always better since she had no way to check for quality.
The first scene she did was of her walking up from the waves, a bottle of Mira-hi in hand. As she drank the slightly salty and sweet drink, she allowed it to splash across her bosom. The t-shirt was sheer enough that the wet made it translucent.
The next scene was with Jackson. He had just arrived in front of her after training. He wore only a pair of shorts and his muscular torso was covered in sweat—actually water—and she was supposed to give him a bottle of Mira-hi, then turn slightly so that both of their faces would be on camera. She did that but added a slight caress to his hand after he received the bottle, prompting a fierce blush to shine through his dark-coloured skin.
They did a few more scenarios, but those were basically variations of the two. She didn’t portray more intimacy with Jackson than that, and half of the scenes were done without the white t-shirt, essentially showing off her near-naked body to the world. She would have been more concerned had she not made sure that her body angles in relation to the cameras added a bit more modesty. The bikini bottom had been tight enough to outline the shape of her lower lips and that had been a bit more than she was comfortable showing off. She didn’t change the outfit and simply used her Anima to shroud it a bit.
It was past noon by the time they finished the shoot, quite exhausting and long, but apparently, they finished faster than industry standard. The folks from Mira-hi approached her and asked if she would be amenable to join promotional tours.
“I cannot until after two weeks,” Yuriko said. “I’ve plans for the first week of Fire and next week is my college exam week. Please coordinate with my agency if you wish.”
As for her plans, well, Scarlett and her friends wanted to have a beach party to celebrate the end of the school year. It wouldn’t be held in Isla Paradisia, but at another beach on the mainland. Well, that and she had another gig from Pixel Fairy the week after exams.
The production crew and the models and staff were invited to stay on the island until evening. Yuriko happily accepted the invite, though she did change into more modest swimwear, a one-piece rather than the mini-bikini. She stretched out on a lounge chair facing the waves with the bright rays of the Radiant Sun bathing her body. She eagerly absorbed the Radiant energy and used it to fuel the rest of her physique forging. It would take a couple of cycles more to finish.
Scarlett sat under the shade of a parasol, afraid of her skin burning. She had such pale and lovely skin, and the smol girl lathered sunblock lotion all over herself.
“Aren’t you afraid of burning?” Scarlett asked, more than a bit concerned.
“No,” Yuriko chuckled, then settled in for a nice nap.
Very little of note happened over the next week. She was sure she got perfect marks on her exams, and the gig from Pixel Fairy turned out to be another fashion model shoot. Lance Hiller wasn’t there.
For that matter, none of the superheroes bothered her over the last couple of weeks, almost as if she dropped from their collective consciousness.
Odd, wasn’t it?