In the communal bath tub, hot water surrounded him. This was where Ikki was wondering, Was my older sister always this lewd? A very questionable thing to think about, but for Ikki, this was a huge concern. Shisuki, in her younger years, was a much more stern and an always serious kind of girl in Ikki’s opinion.

She took her duty to be the next head of the family as if it were her pride. She liked it even, which was something Ikki could understand since he used to like to be in that position.

He was always a keen boy, even when he was 5 and still learning about the world. Still, he could tell that the adults were putting their expectations on him. They wanted him to do things that aligned with what they desired from their ideals

At the time, Ikki thought it was the right thing to do, to listen to the adults. They knew what they were talking about. But, on the day he was labeled a failure, and an F rank, Ikki found that people can be cruel.

Maybe that was when he did it, when he locked his…

“Hey! Ikki.” Noticing who it was that called out to him, Ikki looked to see that Itsuki was in the dorm’s communal bath. A rare sight since staff personnel who ran the dormitory had their own communal bath, yet it wasn’t uncommon to see him here.

Perhaps Itsuki was worried for Ikki, especially after such an eventful day.

Moving over through the large communal bathtub, Itsuki rested himself next to Ikki. Their towels were slung over their shoulders.

Nearby, a few other students were also tending to themselves. A shower before sleeping always helped to calm yourself down and was the case for both of them.

“Itsuki? What’s up?” Ikki moved over to face Itsuki, who asked back.

“Is something on your mind?”

“Well kind of, it has to do with my sister and all that happened.”

“How did Stella take it?” Itsuki asked, already knowing that Ikki would shake his head. He himself shrugged dismissively as if saying to not worry, but others that didn’t know Itsuki would see it as him saying..Whatever…and probably get ticked off by his blunt attitude.

It made Ikki chuckle from just thinking about it, but he then went back into himself. His lips held tight, he let slip a personal question.

“Itsuki? Do you know anything about love?”

“Hmm? Why the sudden question, do you have a girl you like?”

“No, nothing like that. I was just wondering how I should interpret my older sister’s affections now. She’s so different. I used to follow her around after we became close, but now, now I get the feeling that she’s following me around, you know.”

“No kidding.” Said Itsuki, no real judgmental tone in Ikki’s situation. “Shisuki herself told me she came to Andromeda just to follow you.”

“Really? Why?” Ikki sounded beside himself. Why of all things would his talented sister want to endanger herself. The family would have discouraged her to do so, yet she was away from her duties.

Itsuki wondered why as well. The topic of how those stupid sword wielding idiots in the East came to mind but he held his tongue, since he actually respected a few of them, but only them since they were the good ones, like Ikki.

“To my knowledge and from Shisuki’s words, more and more swordsmen from the East have been coming to Andromeda in search of strength. Some stay here in the Western bloc and only a few return to the homeland. So maybe Shisuki wanted to do the same. It is unknown if she’ll return home or not, but going by how she is, she’ll probably stay wherever you go.”

Seeing as how his explanation made Ikki slump his shoulders, Itsuki knew his answer was too objective. Sighing, he reached for a better response to hopefully prop up Ikki’s mood.

“Look Ikki, going back to your first question about love, it is complicated. There is no real answer to whatever you’re going through. Just make a decision that you won’t regret, trust me, I know.”

Ikki looked somewhat surprised at what Itsuki implied.

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Not really, but I know a few friends who got married. They gave me that advice, so go ahead and use it.”

Itsuki then got up from the bath.

“I’m done with my bath for today, so call me if you need me.”

Itsuki took his leave and Ikki thought it was weird that Itsuki only bathed in the communal tub for a few minutes. Usually people would relax and think longer. Ikki further thought about it, and this actually seemed normal for Itsuki. He was always so decisive, so maybe he really didn’t need to think on things much before doing.

So it seemed like Itsuki was just taking a break in the bath, but this late at night? Ikki wondered why.

Itsuki left the bath and grabbed another towel in the changing area. He dried off and got clothed, but he wasn’t getting into his usual sleepwear.

After going to his office to do some paperwork, he was on his way out to attend to his own business. It was about an hour past curfew and Itsuki could go out at this time without getting in trouble since he was the dorm supervisor.

“Hmmm? A message at this time.” Itsuki noticed and picked up his vibrating personal device in his pocket. “Oh, it’s her. Hah, I don’t have time for this today, so I’ll have to skip this one.”

Ignoring the message from that girl, Itsuki left the residential area.

“Got to get ready.” He mumbled grimly under his breath.

***[In the Bath]***

As the night continued on, Ikki seemed to still be lost in his head. He was getting closer to figuring out how to handle Shisuki but felt that there was always going to be an uncertainty left in his mind. This odd uncertainty didn’t have a source and Ikki couldn’t figure out how to clear it.

“Ikki?”

Hearing yet another voice this night call out to him, Ikki looked around but didn’t see anyone. Was it my imagination? Also, where is everyone?

Turning himself left and right, he found that he was in fact the only person left in the bath. Ikki’s sights then landed upon something red, but as he gazed up, his mind went into a panicked over drive.

”Wah? STELLA! What are you doing here?”

Directly behind him and in his blind spot, the noble from Crimsonia, a person with a title like princess, was standing in the nude in front of Ikki.

Wait, not naked. If Ikki looked through the somewhat steamy haze of the bath, Stella was wearing a red swimsuit bikini to help cover herself, but the small covering it provided was of little comfort as the G-string was barely holding or even containing the bountiful chest Stella had.

“Shush.” Stella put a finger to her lips. “Keep it down will you. I snuck in after the set hours to see if you were still here. I was waiting for you to come back to the dorm room but you haven’t been back in a while, so I got…worried.”

“Wait? I’m..I bathed past the set showering hours.”

According to the policies set by Itsuki and Amanda, the communal showers were originally all for one sex, but with the introduction of female-male pairings in the dorms, the baths needed some regulation.

Usually, before the change in policy, it would be fine for people to come and go in the communal bath, but with the change, this opened up a can of problems of peeping toms that could be on the prowl. So this system of set times was put in place so that everyone would shower at periods of time together in separated baths by gender.

This way, no one could sneak up on each other since the times they could would be predictable. Also, the separated groups of boys and girls would be having each other’s back from peepers, while also having accountability for each other.

No one would be willing to peep if others saw you doing it. Only the truly depraved would do so so openly, and while not full proof, this policy did discourage many from letting their hormonal and deviant tendencies from breaking free.

But right now, Ikki was wondering how long he had been in the bath. Surely, someone must have told him that it was time to get out, thinking back, Ikki could briefly remember the interaction with a dorm staff member, but it was hazy since he was still stuck in himself at the time.

“Hey! Ikki! Stop spacing out already!” Stella yelled.

“Oh, yeah.. sorry. I’ll get finished up, you should get out of here, go back without me.”

“Nope, no way. With how you’ve been, I can see that you’re still out of it. Also, you didn’t even clean your hair right. You probably forgot to do that before entering the bath.”

“I did?” Touching his spiky black hair, Stella was right. It was bone dry and Ikki could feel a few rough touches of dust and dryness on his head.

“Alright, let’s fix this. Come here Ikki.”

“What? No, I can do it by myself.”

“Oh come on.” Stella pouted. “I’m your servant, so since you are my master I should be helping you clean your body.”

“Do you really have to take this servant role so seriously, I didn’t agree to this.”

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“Well..” Stella fidgeted. “I don’t want to go back on my words, so…at least let me…do this.”

“No, no, no, really, you don’t have to do that. I-“ But Ikki stopped talking.

The sudden stare Stella was giving him was of a fiery red and the surrounding bath water was kicked up into a boil, as if signaling the rising anger in her.

“Just hurry up and listen…or I’ll boil you.” Foreboding words slipped from her lips, making Ikki actually feel a bit chilling in the hot bath.

“Y-Yes ma’am.”

Moving over to the showering section of the communal bath, Ikki sat on a stool as Stella doused him with water from a shower head. Ikki tried to keep a straight face and was also glad that no one was around to see this. This thankfully wouldn’t turn into an international scandal and they wouldn’t be expelled if no one knew.

Also, no one dared to go against the dormitory policies due to Itsuki’s bad wrap of being a delinquent like student which was coupled with the past rumors of his exploits before Ikki came around. Ikki didn’t know what Itsuki did in the past, but it seemed to mark him as a guy you shouldn’t trouble if you value your life.

Additionally, Amanda’s affable personality seemed like a contrasting and compounding reason why no one would break the new dorm policy. No one wanted to get on the bad side of the usually cheery and very friendly girl who was by comparison, a more sociable supervisor than Itsuki.

It would have been heartless of them to bring Amanda to tears.

With Ikki doused in water, Stella began wiping Ikki’s back with a sponge. The touch of the sponge on his back felt more sensual than he remembered than when he did it himself. But the situation was the way it was because of the somewhat soft grunts Stella made as she put more strength into her arms.

Keep calm Ikki, she’s just cleaning you, there is nothing wrong with this.

His cheeks still went crimson as his head wanted to actually turn to look at Stella’s stunning figure in that red bikini, but his heart told him not to do so. He respected Stella, and wouldn’t look at her that way since it was immoral, plus she didn’t like perverts.

The first time he met her, Stella had punched him in an all too important place. Luckily he healed well and made sure to be more careful. He clenched the towel that was secure around his waist, glad that it was covering “it”. This piece of cloth wasn’t much, but it felt like armor to Ikki.

This situation soon became harder for him as Stella moved to his front, scrubbing and rubbing his chest and shoulders. Unable to resist looking, Ikki tried closing his eyes to prevent anything in his mind or otherwise from wandering. Excitement was building inside him so he tried to meditate.

As a boy though, every now and again, he couldn’t help to peek or crane his neck a bit so that his eyes wandered for just a few microseconds.

With his chest clean, Stella moved onto his hair and as she scrubbed his head, she spoke, breaking the tense atmosphere they had going on.

“Ikki, so about earlier. I wanted to say sorry for, you know, calling you a pervert and stuff. I know you really aren’t like that sometimes but really.”

Stella squeezed his head a bit, making Ikki feel a bit threatened by how hard she might clutch his temple.

“You should really have some self-defense against girls.” She said admonishingly.

“I-I’ll try.”

Ikki pathetically submitted and Stella let up on her squeezing. She then continued to scrub Ikki’s hair. And after another douse of water, Stella then patted his hair dry with a towel and put her hands on his shoulders.

“Umm.” Ikki tensed. “T-thank you for cleaning me off.”

“Of course, it was no issue. I told you before, I’m your servant, so come to me when you need my help.” Stella said, a bit embarrassed. “And, and um… I’m your roommate, so…talk to me if you…need my opinion.”

“Thank…you?” His response came out as a question unintentionally.

“What? Do you not think I can’t help?” Said Stella, harshly.

“No, No, Nothing like that.” Ikki waved his hands in surrender and was about to turn around. He couldn’t since Stella held his shoulder firmly.

“Really? Because it sounded like you were doubting me Ikki?”

Cold sweat, or was it real sweat, in either case it formed in the back of Ikki’s neck.

“A little, but don’t worry. If I have an issue, then I’ll try to come to you for help. In fact, I’ll return the favor. If you need my opinion or help, just ask.”

“Hmmm, then, could you answer a question of mine?”

Stella let up on her grip but still had Ikki stay seated on the bath stool.

“Sure, go ahead.” He said.

“It’s a simple question, ….do you.. like big breasts?”

Ikki jolted and stiffened in surprise, so much so that Stella felt it through her grip on his shoulders. Wanting to try and keep a straight face, Ikki closed his eyes.

“W-Why would you ask that?”

“Well It’s, it's about….uh….well…”

Stella rubbed her thighs together, and thank god Ikki wasn’t looking, so Stella counted her blessings as she continued sputtering.

“You’ve been looking at my….you know…breasts all this time. I just..wanted to know…to get to know you..some…more.”

His shameful and hidden actions revealed, Ikki cupped his hands to his face, crying out.

“I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to… It was just that…I…I.”

“I know you idiot, I-I wore this on purpose and was waiting for you to return to the room but…hey, wait…forget what I said.”

With a firm press, Stella suddenly squeezed Ikki’s head just a bit too tight that it made Ikki flinch in pain.

“Ouch ouch ouch, okay okay. I get it! I’ll forget! I’ll forget what you said.”

“You-You will? Good! Then answer my question…do you…like big breasts? Yes, or no?”

“I-I…uh?”

This was shameful. For a man to spill his desires in front of a girl, especially to a pretty girl like Stella, was beyond any realm of embarrassment or emotional turmoil. With a weight in his throat, Ikki let it slip past, hoping he didn’t regret this decision.

“I…..I do like them.”

In this second, Ikki really wished something would have stopped this from happening, but like providence, fate seemed to have his number.

“Hmmm, I see.” Stella hummed, her hands loosening but not separating from Ikki’s shoulders just yet.

Still recovering from his mental turmoil, Ikki’s mind returned to reality as he felt the touch of two soft mounds on his back. The sensation of Stella’s hands moving across the front of his chest was ticklish, warm, and…sensual.

For a second, Ikki thought he was being hugged.

“Stella?”

Turning himself around, the twin soft sensations moved away and Ikki saw Stella red in the face. It was only a glimpse. In the next second, she turned away and walked out of the communal bath.

Just what the heck is going on!?

That question hung and rang in Ikki’s mind as he was left dumbstruck, his mouth agape. He really had almost no idea how to deal with girls, and it seemed that Itsuki’s advice did little to help.

He had made his decision to reveal his shameful desires. Even still, Ikki was at a loss at what to do now.

***[At the Same Time, In the Woman’s Communal Bath]***

Amanda was putting back a slab of stone into the wall. While she would never admit as to why this slab of stone had been removed, she could proudly say that she didn’t have anything to do with it.

She “would” admit though, that a certain sword was the cause of the stone slab’s “sudden” removal from the wall that divided the women’s communal bath from the men’s communal bath.

Satisfied with her reasoning and alibi, Amanda dissipated her manifested weapon. Stretching her hands up as if she had just binged a good movie, the tight blue swimsuit Amanda was wearing tugged at her skin, giving her a bit of chafing.

“I really need to replace this soon. Maybe I’ll get a new one when I go shopping later. Hmmm. But it’s a shame that Itsuki missed this. This was one heck of a step forward for those two.”

Earlier, Amanda had been on duty in the security room which had monitors with live video feeds. It kept an eye on most of the dormitory. She was only to stay on watch for the first hour after curfew, but something interesting happened.

Stella’s figure on the monitor had caught her attention since she saw her sneaking out of her room to then suddenly enter the men’s communal bath. She wondered why this was and moved over to the men’s communal bath to get to the bottom of this.

She wasn’t a pervert and Amanda knew Stella wasn’t as well. She was adamant on that. She was just doing her duty as Itsuki’s secretary. Making sure nothing wrong was going on in the dorm, like how he had done.

Seeing that Ikki was still in the bath as well, Amanda sprung to action and would be….”observing” this little interaction for the sake of “security” reasons. So, she moved to the women’s bath to get a better angle.

Satisfied with what she saw, Amanda sent over a text to Itsuki. She had gotten better at using the personal wrist device she had, so it was no problem and it didn’t break, but she wondered.

Where the heck could he be at a time like this? This was the greatest opportunity and development between those two, and he misses it of all times.

“Eh, whatever, he’s probably doing more boring paperwork.”

Amanda yawned, thinking to get some rest.

***[Meanwhile, in the Dead of Night, At an Undisclosed Location]***

Trees surrounded Itsuki and the moon was up high in the air. He kept his eyes on what he could see and sense in the dark all around him. Lit only by a few rays of moonlight, human-like figures moved around him.

Like a machine, his arms drew up from his sides. Pistols in each hand, he fired them, letting thunderous cracks of gunfire fill the forest. The sound of a metallic plink and a few shattering sounds echoed.

Shifting his weight to his back foot, he dodged a streaking throwing knife coming his way. Raising his aim, he shot in the direction of the attack’s source. Grunting sounds came from the brush and Itsuki continued to turn himself around to dodge and fire.

He knew he hit his targets, but this wasn’t the end. He moved on, running through the forest, sensing and seeing what targets were around. More gunfire, more maneuvers, all as swift and as deft as he could be.

In retaliation, attacks made of light found their way to him.

Some of these streaking lights went for his legs, while others came for his head or heart. Maneuvering as he continued to fire his pistols, he flicked the empty magazines out of his guns. He materialized new magazines and they formed above him in the air from his silver shining storage rings.

They were up above him and fell with gravity, so he jumped up and flipped around, getting a better vantage from up on high, he saw his targets. In the middle of his acrobatic jump to evade another onset of attacking bolts of light, he scooped the magazine out of the air and into the pistols.

It was a masterful and flashy reload that Itsuki knew were in movies. He also knew they were impractical but just wanted to do it once.

“Too slow.” He was talking about the maneuver he made, but his opponents thought otherwise as many of them grunted in anger.

But before they could do anything to complain, with a simple pull of the trigger, Itsuki let fire his own volley of attacks to his attackers. Some cried out in pain and fell to the ground. In desperation, the attacking human figures tried to fire another volley, but…their positions were already known to Itsuki.

To him, their attacks were easy to triangulate, especially with how close they were to each other. In minutes, the attackers were left slumped to the ground, paralyzed by pain.

Itsuki on the other hand looked fine, but as he wiped his sweat away from his eyes, the stinging sensation of a cut on his face caught his attention.

When did this happen? Did I get nicked?

He sighed, disappointed at the results.

“Alright everyone.” He shouted as if talking to people and indeed he was. He was addressing the paralyzed attackers on the ground, who now stirred back onto their feet.

“Get up! It’s time for another round. Reset the target dummies and load the explosive and fire traits into your next attacks. We all need to improve, so let’s get to it.”

Yes, he was training and, with straining and heavy sighs, the attackers moved on shaky legs. Usually, some would find this kind of training to be too much or too taxing, but not these people, they gave Itsuki a salute and bellowed.

“Yes! Sir!”

“GOOD!” Itsuki shouted back, giving them a salute as well.

It’s almost time, almost time to see if the first years can do it. If they can’t then….they’re a lost cause. It is time to separate the wheat from the chaff, and burn the chaff to make sure it never grows again. I’ll kill them, I’ll make sure of that.

[Stella Von Crimsonia - Daring Red Bikini of Lustful Hormones]

Description: Truly appealing and daring. It’s amazing that Ikki could keep his inner beast within. But, was that really so? What of Ikki’s heart, did it not pump hard or was something holding him back. Still though, I’m proud of Stella and her choice.

-Thoughts from Amanda M Lee

image [https://i.postimg.cc/Nj3Bwfjm/1698005743047.jpg]

Footnote: Note to self, cut Amanda’s pay for peeping. -Message from Itsuki Homura

P.S. Send me the video.