Kaguya was dressing in her room at the manor, preparing for another of her father's events despite having just fought in the arena and then beaten by him just the day prior. She ran a hand over the barely painful bruises still on her abdomen, smiling as she remembered how Samantha had healed her and then stayed in her room with her all night. They were lucky that her father called early to remind her of the event rather than just sent someone, which let Samantha sneak out before someone came by and caught them. It was the best sleep she'd ever had, and she was already plotting a way to get into Samantha's room to sleep next to her more often.

"I wonder if this is what love feels like," she murmured, reaching for the dress her father laid out for her and slipping it on. She frowned as she looked herself over in the mirror. It was a lot more revealing than he usually chose for her, which made her uneasy. None of the places he'd hit her during his training were exposed, meaning he'd already chosen this dress before that happened.

Uneasy and wanting to calm down a little, she picked up her phone and, hesitating a little due to her location, decided to call Samantha instead of text her.

"Hello, beautiful," she heard a husky voice answer, smiling and immediately feeling less anxious. "I'm a little surprised you called me."

"I was feeling uneasy and wanted to hear your voice," Kaguya admitted softly. "I have an event for my father today, and it just feels off somehow."

"Make sure you take your phone somehow and if you need to get out just call me. I'll ride out and rescue you the moment you need me."

"That alone makes me feel better, even if I know I can't do it."

"I'll get Souma to follow you and give me the address, and find some way to kidnap you from the place then." Her tone was somewhat teasing but Kaguya knew she would do it.

"I'll be fine. I'm probably paranoid after yesterday, that's all."

"You have every right to be, with how he treated you," Samantha growled.

"Don't get yourself worked up. I need to go before I'm summoned, but I'll call you after I get back on campus."

"I'll be in your room if I don't hear from you by midnight."

She ended the call after a few loving words to say goodbye, and after a moment decided to slip it into her dress under her breast between it and the lining to support them. Checking her reflection, she maneuvered it until it wasn't as visible, and then left her room to wait for her father in the foyer.

He was only a few minutes behind her before he appeared in the foyer. Before she said a word he grabbed her roughly and took out her phone from its hiding place, throwing it against the wall so it shattered. Kaguya watched it happen, her face paling, but said nothing as she realized that he must have a camera in her room and saw her hiding the phone, and probably making the phone call as well. Was it a camera with sound, letting him hear the phone call too? It had been years since she was this terrified of her father, but she couldn’t help her fear now.

They went outside and got into a car, which drove them to a clubhouse her father was a high paying member of. She could already tell they were one of the last to arrive, and that there were more people than normal here. As they pulled up to the door, her father finally spoke. "You are to stay at my side tonight."

"If that's your wish."

"Yes."

The car stopped at the door, and the driver quickly hurried around to open the door, helping Kaguya out. She stood waiting for her father to join her, and then they walked inside together. At the door, her father grabbed her hand and placed it on his arm roughly before smiling amicably and leading her inside.

They made his normal rounds with some of the more important names in the building, and then Kaguya quickly learned why her father didn't want her to wander away.

"This is Alan's son, Miguel," her father said, introducing her to one of the young men with an expectant look in his eyes. Then he turned to the two men and proudly said, "This is my daughter, Kaguya. We spoke yesterday about arranging for you to meet."

Kaguya forced a polite smile on her face, curtsying as well as she could without taking her hand from her father's arm. "It is very nice to meet you, Miguel."

Miguel leered at her, his eyes staying on her cleavage as he said, "I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Kaguya." He tore his eyes away to turn to her father. "May I escort your daughter for the evening, sir?"

Her father looked over at her, a pleased smile on his face as he nodded. "Yes, I don't see why not, so long as my daughter doesn't mind. You don't, do you, my dear?"

"Of course not. I would love to have such a handsome escort for the evening," Kaguya answered pleasantly, though she could feel her stomach knotting and rolling. She removed her hand from her father's arm and gave Miguel a full curtsy.

Miguel was back to leering at her chest as he offered his arm and led her further into the room. "Would you like to stop by the bar for a drink before we find a place to settle and talk?" he asked, keeping his tone pleasant. Kaguya smiled warmly and took a look at his aura. It was a murky mix of lust and desire, as well, as something dark that she wasn't sure the meaning of, that scared her.

"Oh, I would much rather take advantage of such an excellent partner to enjoy the dance room. Would you mind?"

"Why of course not!"

They made their way into another room, out of her father's eyes, where there were quite a few couples already dancing and enjoying a live instrumental. There were a handful of others scattered at the edges of the room chatting in pairs as well, but Kaguya made sure Miguel immediately took her to the dance floor. As they danced, he took advantage of the closeness to touch her backside while he stared down the front of her dress, but she allowed it while she whacked her brain to figure out how to get out of this situation.

Unfortunately, she caught her father's eyes after a few dances and her stomach dropped. She waited for a few more before asking Miguel to lead her to the restrooms. "I won't be but a moment," she told him, trying to give him her best flirty smile before she went in and locked herself in a stall.

"Should I make a diversion and kidnap you?" someone asked as she hid her face in her hands. Startled, she dropped her hands and looked in the corner of the stall where there happened to be just enough of a shadow to let Souma pop his head in.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was worried after yesterday, and Samantha called me earlier. I stopped at the house and saw your phone get thrown so I decided to hide in the trunk of the car."

"I can't leave," she hissed, barely holding in tears. "He knows something, Souma. He's been watching me, and he pushed me onto a vile young man almost as soon as we got here."

"Let me get you out of here. If it's a short jump, I should be able to take you with me through the shadows. I can have Samantha here in half an hour too, if she's not here already."

"You gave her the address?"

"Of course. She asked for it."

Kaguya hid her face in her hands again, her heart pounding as she considered it. "If he doesn't know who it is, I can delay him learning if I go along with this."

"But if he knows you're only suffering needlessly. We can hide you better on campus if you're willing to let us."

“Unfortunately, I don’t have much of a choice. This is my duty as the Kazegami heir.” She smiled sadly and took a deep breath. “I need to get back out there quickly. Father will get suspicious if I take much longer.”

“I’m going to stay nearby watching so just call for me if you change your mind.”

“Thank you. If I get that desperate I will.”

Kaguya left the bathroom and smiled at Miguel, who was waiting for her a few feet away from the bathroom. “I’m sorry for taking so long. Women’s dresses are always a little tricky.”

Miguel offered her a wide smile, his eyes still not going above her shoulders. “Yes, I can imagine so.” He turned and put his hand on her lower back rather than offering his arm. It annoyed her that he was being so familiar with her, but was afraid to say anything. They went down the hallway, and Kaguya quickly realized they weren’t going back to the dance hall. “I don’t remember this being the way to the public rooms.”

“I wanted to have a chance to talk to you without all the eyes keeping track of us,” he answered, taking her to a billiard room for the higher paying members. It required a key card, and he pulled one from his jacket to open the door. Inside was a single pool table, and two couches, with a fireplace against the outer wall. There was also a cabinet containing a few pool sticks and the rack of balls.

“This is a very beautiful room. I saw it took a card to enter. You must be a very generous member here.”

“My father is, but I will keep his donations here going once I take over the family business,” he told her as he led her further into the room. Once the door was closed, he dropped onto a couch and angled himself so he could sit in the corner of the couch, one arm thrown across the back of it. Kaguya walked around the room and ran her fingers over the gorgeous wood used for the cabinet. She could see in the corner of her eye that he was frowning now that her attention wasn’t solely on him. He was actually angry about it she saw as she peeked at his aura for a moment.

Instead of walking over she continued to circle the room, seeing Souma peek out of a shadow from behind Miguel just long enough to make sure she saw him before he disappeared again. She stopped at the fireplace to look at some of the ornaments on its mantle, and apparently that was the last straw as Miguel got to his feet again.

“There doesn’t seem to be anywhere for drinks in here,” Kaguya commented as she turned back to him with a bright smile that made him pause by the couch. She walked over to him and leaned into his side.

“That’s odd, I was sure they kept a bar in each of the rooms,” Miguel said, finally looking around the room for a moment before his eyes returned to her chest. He pulled her against his front and coyly said, “I am rather thirsty.”

“Yes, I am too,” she said in a similar tone. He smirked and leaned in closer, obviously aiming to kiss her while running one hand over her backside and the other squeezed her chest. Before his lips touched hers she added, “Would you mind running to get something, darling? I am bone dry!”

Another flash of anger, this hotter than what she saw when she ignored him on the couch, but he kept it off his face as she turned off her aura sight again. He smiled brightly and backed away just a little. “Of course. I would like something myself, now that you mention it,” he told her as took her hand and led her to the couch. “Please, relax here and I’ll go fetch something.”

“Oh, you’re such a gentleman!” she cooed loudly, running a hand along his arm as though she were appreciating his muscles there. She licked her lips when she saw his eyes finally go to her face since she had her chest against his. “I’ll wait right here for you, so don’t be too long.”

“I will be quick,” he promised as she took a seat, trailing his eyes down her full length as he backed towards the door. She gave him a little wave, shifting to let her dress ride up her leg a little more. The door was practically thrown open as Miguel flew from the room to all but run towards the party room to get them drinks.

Kaguya took a deep breath and got to her feet quickly. "Souma, get me out of here before that creepy jerk gets back and tries to do vile things with me. Puking on him would be the least gross thing that would happen when he gets back."

Souma dropped down in front of her and nodded. "I probably would have come out and put him in a choke hold before that happened, but it’s better to be gone before he gets back. We'll have to take off your heels out there, and then get away from the clubhouse. I'll call Samantha once we're far enough away."

Kaguya managed to avoid screaming when Souma grabbed her and picked her up, and the next thing she knew she was outside.

"Take a second to catch your bearings," Souma told her as he put her down, the window to the room she was in before was next to where they were hiding in the shadows against the wall. She shook her head and took off her heels quickly. "Okay, then. I'm going to do one more jump, but after that I'll be tapped out so we're walking after that." He waited for Kaguya to nod, not quite able to trust her voice just yet. He picked her up again, and then they were in the wooded area near the clubhouse. She could still see all the lights from the building, and took a moment to stand there looking.

"Your ability is really amazing," she told Souma as she looked over at the building, and then turned to find him bent over and gasping for air. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be okay in a moment, once I’ve caught my breath a little. I've only ever taken a person shadow jumping once to test if it was possible, and it's a lot more draining than doing it alone, that's all," Souma explained as he caught his breath and straightened up. He took out his phone and made a call. "I need you to come get us, prince charming." Kaguya smiled, imagining Samantha as she chewed him out for calling her that. "I had a feeling you came as soon as I sent the address. We’re about to head for the main road, so do passes every ten minutes until you see me." He listened a little longer, and then hung up. "Let's go."

They walked in silence, taking their time since Kaguya was barefoot. It took almost an hour before they made it to the main road, and it was another five minutes before a familiar looking car pulled up beside them. Kaguya slid into the passenger seat wearily while Souma got in the back with a groan, laying out as much as he could across the seat so that he was able to get comfortable. Despite her exhaustion, she hastily pulled Samantha closer to give her a long kiss before sighing and relaxing in the seat and taking hold of her hand to feel the connection still.

"Is Thea okay with you taking her car?" Kaguya asked after they started moving again.

Samantha hesitated a moment, looking in the rear view to meet Souma's eyes before saying, "We may have commandeered it for the night. I snatched the keys while she was in the shower after Souma sent me the address."

"She's going to be pissed," he told her, which Samantha nodded in agreement to.

"But I wasn't going to wait half an hour or more to leave so I could explain everything. I called Emmett on the way here and told him everything. He said he'd run interference until I got back."

Kaguya sighed but couldn't help the smile that appeared. "Well, thank you for risking her wrath," she said quietly. "Will it be all right if I close my eyes for a while? I'm exhausted."

She turned on her aura sight to look at Samantha, who was beaming with that unknown bright color Kaguya still hadn't looked up. She was surprised to see it was almost overwhelming the green, which was usually so dominant that she had to look for other colors. After a moment of thought, she realized her feet were a lot less achy and her muscles were easing.

"Stop using up all of your abilty's juice on me," she mumbled as she closed her eyes, realizing at that point that the brightness of the green in her aura was the amount of “juice” Samantha had with her power.

Samantha laughed and shook her head. "I'm afraid that's something I can't do, milady. Just rest, and I'll let you know when we get to campus."

Kaguya somehow managed to doze off, and was gently shaken awake later by Samantha as she tried to lift her from the car without waking her.

"I can walk," she mumbled sleepily, unable to really open her eyes. The building they were at was familiar, but she only barely had enough coherence to recognize it was not the Kazegami dorms.

"I don't care. Let me carry you," she heard Samantha answer as she was finally lifted carefully and carried. She could hear Thea hissing, "You’re going to get in so much trouble if dad figures out what you just did, Samantha. Granted, it will be super tame compared to her dad’s response when he finds out you’re the one that stole her away from wherever the hell you were.”

“If I didn’t go, it would have been a disaster,” Samantha snapped back, trying to keep her voice down.

“Thea, if we hadn’t taken her from there she was probably going to be raped by a guy our father is trying to push her onto,” Souma explained, which Kaguya tried to ignore as she nuzzled further into Samantha’s neck.

There was a long silence, and then Thea sighed and said, “Well, I can’t really be angry now, dammit.” Kaguya heard her make a frustrated noise. “Fine, I’ll try to run interference with dad if he figures out what happened, and I can assure you he will since he already called me after you took the car wondering where I was since it was missing.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Samantha told her, starting to go up the stairs to head for her room. “I can handle that on my own. It’s not like he doesn’t know I’m into women, so I may as well tell him about what’s going on between the two of us soon.” It was silent the rest of the way up the stairs, and then a door was opened. “Thanks for helping me get her up here, Thea. I’ll talk to you more in the morning, okay?”

“I expect the full story when we get up tomorrow. From both of you,” Thea muttered. “And I’ll have Emmett or Souma bring over some breakfast from the cafeteria. I think Souma said he’d bring some of Kaguya’s clothes over in the morning as well.”

Kaguya heard the door close, and then she was lowered onto the bed. She managed to rouse herself enough to protest, "I refuse to sleep in this dress," and sat up to start unfastening the button at the top of the back of the dress.

"All right, all right. Uh… Can you manage to change?" she heard Samantha ask, looking up and seeing her bent over and digging through a drawer before she turned with a large shirt in her hand. Too tired to care about much else, Kaguya started to peel off the dress before a noise stopped her and she looked to find Samantha staring, mouth dropped open, and her face the brightest red that she had seen to date.

"What's wrong?" she teased.

"I'm trying to decide if I should help or look away," Samantha admitted, tearing her eyes away to look at the ceiling. "You're about to fall completely out at the top, by the way."

Kaguya looked down and saw that one of her breasts was only just contained. She smirked, shook her head, and pulled off the dress quickly. Once she had the shirt on, she walked over to Samantha and leaned into her. "Thanks for coming. I'm probably going to cause trouble for you thanks to this, but I can't help but be glad."

"We'll figure out how to deal with everything tomorrow. Right now, you're laying down in that bed and getting some sleep."

"Only if you're joining me."

Samantha blushed again but nodded. "I will, I just need to change first." She turned to dig out another shirt and, keeping her back to Kaguya, pulled off the shirt she was wearing and the sports bra underneath before pulling on the shirt she got out. It fell a little higher than mid-thigh, and the jeans she was wearing fell to the floor. She walked over to the light switch and turned to check on Kaguya, who’s eyes were just trailing up from the sudden amount of leg she was able to ogle. “Um, is it okay to turn off the lights?”

“Just a moment,” Kaguya told her, smirking as she finished her slow gazing until their eyes met. The bright red had returned after finally having cooled, though for her it was like Samantha still hadn’t stopped blushing since she hadn’t seen the red dim at all. “Okay, now it’s good.”

Samantha shook her head and flipped the switch, standing there a moment while her eyes adjusted before walking over to the bed and laying down next to Kaguya. After a moment, she felt the other girl scooch closer and put an arm around her. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Of course I am. Now shut up and hold me.” Samantha laughed and shifted so that they were closer, making sure that both of them got comfortable. “Good night,” she whispered before placing a gentle kiss on the back of her head.