“Alright, let’s start from the top,” you say, grinning brightly, with just the slightest hint of desire. Heart pounding in your chest, between your ears, not daring to pinch yourself – even if this was a dream, you’d never want to wake up! “You remember the accident on the 29th, right?”

Stella nods, slowly, hesitantly, her own heart flush with fear, and the attendant desire that came with it. (How long has she dreamed of something like this, you wonder?) “You…you were in an accident in the Capital District on your way to a protest. You got hit by a truck in a low-speed collision. You were uninjured, but kept for observation overnight…”

“But it wasn’t. It was a full-speed collision! I should’ve been gravely injured, at the very least.” You cross your legs, seeing the way Stella’s eyes follow them thanks to your enhanced Adaptability, and can’t help but love the way things have turned around. You watched, and now she watches…”So, how did I survive it?”

“You –” Stella swallows, incredulous at this possibility. As you’d expect; it’s a lot to take in, right? It’s one thing to ask these questions, it’s another to truly accept such things as possible. “You have some kind of…durability, or healing.” Trembling before you, and you really do just want to drag her down and whisper in her ear –

but no. not just yet.

“Good girl,” you say, and you see a faint shudder of pleasure. Not from something you left in, but simply…well, she’s been dreaming about this a long time, hasn’t she? You’re certain she’s even practiced before; who knows if she hasn’t got a few leftover associations in her sexy little brain?

(It’s liberating, isn’t it?)

(You understand it. What future-past-you sees…)

“And then after that, I came into class, right?” You lean closer, hand placed on your chest like you’ve seen Milia do, trying to draw Stella’s attention to it. “Seul-ki assigned us together! Was I more attractive to you then?”

“No,” Stella says, shaking her head. “You were the same old Cibele…meddling, teacher’s pet, always nice…never, never biting back, like you should have.”

You realize, now. The way you are…or at least, the way you were around Stella, or the way Stella saw you, reminded her of a deep pain in her heart. You didn’t really know Stella that well in your first couple of years of high school, but she must’ve been very different then…that even if she’s far kinder to others than she was to you, she had to harden herself, lest she be hurt like she was when her beloved Marina left her behind…

(Marina’s personality on the stage isn’t much like you are, you imagine, but…at that time, was she something like you were before now?)

(…and, perhaps, did she feel a shift like you did, if she ever got the chance to whisper in Stella’s ear…?)

“But that means whatever’s made me more attractive didn’t happen until later.” You’re not sure how you’re more attractive – you look the same in the mirror, to your own eyes. But, maybe that’s just a psychological thing? “What about when we met for the project?”

“I thought you looked a lot cuter, then. I couldn’t explain it at all, despite the clothes and everything, and yet…” And yet, Stella was struck by it, wasn’t she? So the claim goes, Charisma 2 is as beautiful as a woman should be able to achieve…you’re not sure how much you believe that, but it was enough to influence Stella, at least. Beauty like that can’t be so easily dismissed…”O-obviously, even then, it was getting to me.”

Aah…feeling Stella’s gaze, feeling her so close, feeling how much she wants this…it’s wonderful! You want to, you want to do it, you want to drag Stella down in your own two hands…!

“So if it happened then, I must’ve gotten cuter in the time between, right?” You tip your head to the side again, looking at Stella’s blush, her anticipation. “How do you think that happened?”

“That’s a good question,” says Stella. “I’m not sure I thought of it like that. That day is kind of…fuzzy.”

(Well, of course it would be. You hypnotised her and all!~)

“Think about it, though! You must’ve heard about the Debate Club situation, right?”

“I more than heard about it!” Stella grumbles. “Milia getting this obsessed…I don’t think she’s totally honest with her feelings. And yes, I’m aware of the irony.” She fidgets with her legs. Swallowing her pride is hard; maybe, you should reward her for it? (Aaa, you can ask questions like that, it’s amazing!) “You weren’t quite as beneath her notice as she’d let on – remember her whole thing about self-image and presentation, she always disliked you, even before Ms. Yi – but I’d never seen anything like it. Just that morning, she was talking all about you…and by that evening, ‘the Empress is going on a date with Cibele’ was all anyone could talk about!”

“It’s not something that happens every day!” You let yourself have a little giggle. “But it isn’t for the reason you think. But, my real question: how do you think I became more attractive, if it didn’t start the day after my accident?”

“Maybe…and I can’t believe I’m suggesting this…” Stella’s definitely thinking based on her fetishes here, the warmth that pulses within blunted spines impossible to mistake. “Some kind of…pheromone? Something you wouldn’t want to use in a small classroom, but could use in a big lecture hall or an enclosed space.” She breathes deeper, as she suggests it, as if she could feel it happen.

Do you accept that answer? You’re not sure how Charisma works, so it could be based on that, but…no, she said you weren’t using it in Seul-ki’s class, implying it’s an active ability. She’s thinking in terms of discrete superpowers – and maybe you did it that way on purpose, but still, you set the rules of the game, and she accepted. Knowing exactly where it would lead.

You shake your head, and Stella’s eyes widen.

The fear…the fear makes it better, for her, but she’s still so afraid…

and yet.

“If we sink…”

“…we lift our love.”

Stella’s body so deeply, utterly slackens, as though you’d let go of her strings. Her eyes going all blank, staring at you blankly, and yet in adoration, shocked at how effective your trigger really was.

She’s not very deep at all. She’s resisting. But you don’t have to use it just once, and this makes the game more fun for both of you.

She still looks so sexy that way…

Her radiant noble beauty, her lovely ringlets she must spend so much time on, her pretty golden eyes…everything just so enhanced by her hypnotised state, everything so amazing and wonderful, and yours, yours soon enough for all you want, and…

Fudge, you’re losing focus! Don’t count chickens before they hatch! (Er, not that you’d be counting chickens…) Still, part of you really just wants to keep Stella brainwashed all the time!

(And maybe, she wants that too?)

“It’s…well, I get stronger over time, through practice and interaction with others. My power…let’s just say it came with an instruction manual,” you say. “So I joined the Debate Club to become more persuasive – and ended up crossing paths with the Empress.” Although if Seul-ki’s interest in you is any indication, you were stronger than you knew.

…maybe there’s some truth to what you said about having a new outlook. You feel more confident, and you’re finding strengths you didn’t know you had. If you didn’t have these powers…what would happen?

Could you trust Stella’s assertion, that her falling for you was an inevitability? What is it, that future-past-you saw in her? Did she simply take her, or did Stella push forward with her own feelings?

“…more persuasive…” Stella mutters, half-entranced. The way she speaks like that, it’s just too good, you don’t need to worry like you do with Korri, she wants this…

“I also took a computer class to try and improve my ‘intellect’…both of those things helped my abilities grow – though, Nazakawa’s been blabbing about what else happened there, right?” Stella nods, slowly, almost drunkenly, to you. You wonder, if the whispers around you will stop being ones of antipathy and spite, if others will see what Stella and Rita see…”I don’t know how fast they’ll grow from now on, but that’s not my only power, or anything! You remember how you hypnotised me and asked me why I was nice to you, right?”

“…yeah…” Stella nods again. Fudge, so sexy…you’re so wet right now, but it’d be rude to indulge…

You slip your hand upon Stella’s cheek. Holding her within your hand. You know she feels the same…

“mmmh…!” Stella moans, faintly, from your touch. “but…you said you wanted to be nice to people, to make them smile. without remorse. i…was sure you were just trying to butter people up, or thinking i’d return your feelings just because of that…or because you were too stupid to not be nice…but that’s not true.”

“…what, that I’m not nice for good reasons?” you ask.

“mm, maybe…but you’re not as nice as i thought.” Mmm, that blush looks better when she’s entranced too. “i-in a…good way, though…”

You can’t argue with that, really, when you’re all but tormenting a hypnotised captive. But…

“But why did you think I was nice for the right reasons, Stella?”

“‘cause you told me.”

“That’s true. And I wasn’t lying…but you weren’t that convinced at first, really,” you say.

If Stella were more conscious, she’d probably realize it, but she just kind of…stares blankly.

So sexy, so beautiful. Why can’t girls look like this all the time?

(Maybe something to consider, at least for those that are yours.)

And so, once more, you whisper: “If we sink…”

“we lift our love”

Feeling Stella trying to hold on, feeling it more and more difficult to resist, wanting to drop but resisting to make it better, it’s just so…so good. Playing with her like this…jeez, was there a sadist like this inside you all along? Future-past-you…fudge…

She knew all along, but you can’t find it in you to resist temptation, of having Stella just like this…

“I…helped you along a little,” you admit, speaking of your Suggestion. “Kind of like, a geas? You were tipping on the edge, and I wanted so badly for you to accept me…” Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do, but Stella has already told you not to worry about it, so you’ll trust her… “That’s how I got the date with Milia, too. She really wanted to know what my connection with Seul-ki was, enough to be willing to consider meeting me outside the club, so it was enough for my ability to activate and give her that push.”

“mm…maybe, she’s not as resistant as you’d think…? maybe she’s, she’s struck by your beauty too.”

Stella’s barely holding on. Eyes half-lidded, head tipped back, unable to focus her eyes anywhere, and yet focused squarely on you. She’s almost defeated. She wants to be defeated. And you want to defeat her!

“It’s possible! I don’t really know Milia all that well.” Besides that she’s so annoying, it makes part of you want to drag her down right where Stella is, the two next to each other, blank-eyed…”But, you remember what happened when I hypnotised you, right? This trance trigger. How could I have figured that you’d respond so well to it, from your memories of Marina Arisa?”

“dunno…reminds me of…mmm…”

Oh, she’s too far gone to answer! Even when you casually revealed your ability to grasp that knowledge, something only she knows, something unknown to the city about their ‘idol of the future’. And it’s almost a shame she can’t grasp it, if not for how sexy Stella is, if not for how much she loves this, and you love this.

And, she did accept this game, so why hold back? Why not give her exactly what she wants?

“If we sink…”

“mn…lft our love…”

“I read your mind,” you say, leaving no room for doubt. Stella looking so confused, yet somehow so loving. “It was my very first ability. I’ve been getting a lot of use out of it, too!” Even if sometimes you see things you’re not sure you should, being able to understand others better is amazing, and you want more…”I’m still developing my abilities. Part of it was that hypnosis knowledge, part of it was that geas, and part of it was mindreading…but I’m still learning about it.”

“mm…”

Oh, dear. Stella’s just…too far gone to answer any of this. You think she’s actually able to go deeper than she was before, both thanks to your new skills and her desire to do so. Really, nothing is more important than that she wants it, that she needs it, that she wants to be yours and wonders why she hated you so badly when you could give her such bliss.

…because…

she agrees with you.

girls are never so beautiful as when they’re hypnotised.

Stella’s just waiting for it. To be dragged down further. To have you mold and shape and sink your words into the creases of her brain. To be captivated, irrevocably. It’s incomparable to any hypnotic experience she could have before, and any of her prior feelings toward you are now utterly meaningless.

Maybe it’s still a little wrong…maybe, you’ve already reached the point of no return.

but you don’t care. not right now.

not with this beautiful, perfect hypnotised girl, the one you’ve wanted for years, the one you never imagined you could love like this, in front of you.

You grasp her cheeks in both hands, and take your second hypnotised kiss from your beloved Stella Maris, tasting of her body, of her love, of her desire, heart aflutter with the possibilities.

Stella belongs to you now, after all.

(And maybe, she always has…)