"Hey now, this one is pretty cute."

  Junna would stare as see Nakamiri holding up one of the dresses that Aoishii had purchased for her, keeping to the preferred muted tones that she said suited Junna best, with a stylish cut supposedly designed to show off what Aoishii said was her adorable appeal. It was a little beyond Junna's own understanding or care. She hadn't expeceted Aoishii to want to isolate the pair of them, but it made the mission easier. Not there had been much of a mission. Each day so far was mostly fumbling through antics with other students. Junna had worked to be quite agreeable and complimentary, but there was always some new misunderstanding around the corner.

  Their shopping trip had led them around the city, with Aoishii dressing Junna up and sending the materials to be delivered to her adress. Sheena had said that they were coming all day. Luckily, their preperations had mostly been in place for a few days at this point. Surveilance had been placed in the girl's home, which Sheena primarily took the role of monitoring it. The house that they'd moved into wasn't terribly far away, Junna could probably make the run in just a few minutes. It was still plenty of time for something to go wrong. That is why she neeeded Nakamiri. To avoid arrousing suspicion, he spent his time watching from a distance when Junna was unable to. They'd managed to replace her school bag with one that had been modified with auditory capture and zshort range tracking. All without Aoishii appearing to notice any of their interferance. It was for the best.

  "Isn't this a little overly hopeful?" Nakamiri was holding some lacy, navy-colored lingeree from one of the boxes he was opening. Junna suppressed the flush of embarassment by closing her eyes and removing that image from her mind. Before she could open them again, there was a light shriek of pain. As she looked again, she'd find the man's hands empty, rubbing the side of his head, as Sheena was stalking back tgo the kitchen. "Still can't believe you are getting bullied."

  "What is hard to believe?" The older woman continued prepping the meal as she listened in. "Junna has never lived around a civillian, let alone prestigious schoolgirls. There's no way for her to fit in. However, if Aoishii is into that sort of thing, why not exploit it? She gets to stay close to the target without much real effort."

  "And how long until Junna snaps and starts folding these kids into various geometic shapes?"

  Junna frowned a bit there, shaking her head. "I'll be fine. Honestly, if this is what being bullied is like, it is of no consequence. They aren't a danger to me, and I am supposed to be limiting my capabilities as much as possible. I will work on finding an effective balance for it. If anything, I am more concerned by the target herself."

   Sheena nodded there, bringing a pair of bowls for the two of them, before heading back to grab her own. "That, I cannot disagree with. She's worthless. I mean, sure she's cute and she's rich... but the world is filled with rich and cute girls. Why would anyone care about this one? She's smart, but no genius. She's athletic, but you walk all over her at half her size."

  "I am not half her size."

  Junna started eating as Nakamiri laughed a bit at the exchange. "Perhaps not quite, but our little Aoishii must be hiding some secret here. Maybe you can get her to open up on it a little."

  "And how would I do that? None of this sounds like my mission parameter." Junna ate a bit more quickly, as Sheena joined them, sitting close to Junna and placing a hand on the girl's head.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Part of protecting her is going to be knowing what from. You guys are having some sort of test to show proficiency in Dives. Don't... crush them, but beat them. It'll make you seem impressive and interesting. She already has an interest in you, and seems to pity you. Maybe that will make her grow even closer?"

  Junna stared at her half eaten meal and frowned. Maybe this is what Toreshi meant as well. These people had more realtime experience. Maybe she needed to innovate more. Maybe she wanted to. Getting a bunch of clothes purchased for her was probably just a conditional trigger, it was the same thing Toreshi did after all. Aoishii had made it a little more intimate, a little less expected. Of course, the thought behind it was probably the same. Junna would incline her head with the weight Sheena was placing on it.

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  It was barely past four weeks when the Dive Exam took place. The students were all at the various terminals of the lab. It was a special cut up day to test each of their capabilities. As Junna's class was shuffled in, she'd examine the interfaces. Nothing too special there, through they did have deep enough inputs to reach up to her elbows. She saw most students coiling up their sleeves to make the most of the room they have allotted to them. Aoishii moved to sit next to Junna, smiling at her with a wild flame in her eyes.

  "Most the people here aren't that amazing, but don't feel too out of sorts if you don't place super high."

  "A new machine can take some getting used to. Aren't you doing to try to increase your surface area?"

  Aoishii's giggle was all too telling as she poked the side of Junna's head. "Of course not. The limited ability I'd get from focusing on my whole arm isn't worth it. Maybe if it was important, I'd try, but I don't need anything special to pass this exam."

  "That makes sense." Junna would slowly undo her own sleeves to roll them up a bit, as Aoishii looked at her a bit curiously. "My... sister. She told me I had to get top marks. Or I cannot come home."

  "Maybe I'll let you win then." Aoishii smirked, as she placed her hands into the terminal, light vanishing from her eyes as she entered the greater Grid the terminals were connected to. Junna watched the girl carefully, before pushing her arms in herself. Each side of the terminal had a small box, with a sort of foam material inside. This material would bend and contort as Junna's hands moved inside. She felt the connection to the terminal instantly as she pushed her arms in. It was pretty meager compared to that of her cockpit. The connection material was much less potent, it wasn't expecting to transfer large amounts of data particularly quickly.

  As the girls all appeared within the lab's private grid, Junna looked around at the variety of colorful avatars. Her own, was just herself, with that bodysuit of her own imagination. She'd never neeeded to look at anything else for inspiration, or some well of imagination. Diving wasn't some transformative experience for her. As she saw the various avatars, Junna instinctively would scal back on them a bit to see who they actually were. The little rabbit of Aoishii's floated up to her with a giggle.

  "Somehow not changing at all seems to suit you. Maybe we'll give your Avatar a makeover next."

  "Hardly seems that important." The boy's voice from just past them showed Ritsugi Kenta, dressed in a constantly flowing kimono, with a pair of blades at his side. His normally clean cut hair was longer and flowing with the wind effect the rest of him had. The boy floated up to place his hands on either side of the rabbit-Aoishii, squeezing slightly. "Don't just ignore people's comfort zones."

  "Getting jealous~" The rabbit giggled again, as she was released and Kenta simply released her with a light scoff. They wouldn't have much more time to mess around, as the instructor began explaining the exam details. The Grid was set up to be a maze with false walls, puzzles, locks, and equations. Multiple routes could lead to the center, and their various Dive signatures allowed them preferential access through some of the barriers. In the end, it was just a simple race.

  The only problem, of course, was that Junna didn't really see the complicated parts of it. Her passive scanning already seemed to have noticed a route in this maze they were working on. Perhaps something was misleading her, or there was some greater trap or mystery. She'd want to spend longer on things anyways, or else the difference would likely be just too great between her and the other students...