I awoke to a most pleasant sensation, a sublime softness pressing against my back.

Curious, I turned around, but was entirely unprepared for what I saw.

At some point during the night Mae's bra had come off, and her incredible breasts were right there on full display. It was like looking upon the promised land; peaks and valleys that offered spiritual fulfillment with a mere glimpse. Wars could be fought over these things. And they would be justified.

They had to be F cups, at the very least. Her smooth, milky skin rounded down to soft pink areolas, surrounding her slightly erect, pierced nipples... nipples I could have enjoyed playing with to my heart's content, if only I'd...

Oh, god! I made a mistake! I made a terrible mistake!

No, no, I was being led astray. I did the right thing last night.

...I had to stop staring. It was the only way to be free of their hypnotic, mind-warping, will-destroying power.

Gathering my resolve, I raised my gaze to her face, and couldn't help but smile at the sight. She had fallen asleep in her makeup, but even still, she looked so peaceful. After all the craziness that had happened this week, it was refreshing to have a quiet, human moment like this.

I stood up from the bed, heading to the washroom and brushing my teeth. On my way back, I grabbed our uniforms out of the dryer. To my great relief, when I returned to Mae's room she was awake and had already changed into a different black bra and panties.

"...hey," she said, a little uncertain.

Uh-oh, was she on to me? I didn't mean to see them! I didn't mean to keep on seeing them!

"About last night," she continued. "I understand why you made the decision you did. You're a good person, and I don't want to ruin what we have either. But I just want to say..."

She took a few seductive steps toward me.

"...you and I both know it could be better than what we have. Much better."

Wow, she sounded pretty serious about this...

"...you're absolutely right. It could be."

She held my gaze, trying to determine how to take my vague response. When I didn't elaborate further, she grabbed her uniform from me and started getting dressed.

"That 'book club' of yours... got room for anyone else in there?"

I'd never heard Mae speak with this voice before. Her tone was extremely dangerous. It sent a shiver down my spine that I didn't entirely dislike.

"...no, we don't. But if we're ever recruiting, I'll let you know."

She laughed mirthlessly.

"...yeah. Sure."

---

It had been a fairly tense ride to school that morning. Mrs. Day seemed to pick up on the atmosphere, and she refrained from cracking any jokes or ribbing on Mae. The two of us just sat in silence, eventually slipping into class without another word.

Sorry, Mae. Even if it's selfish, I'm just not ready to do something one of us might regret.

That dour mood continued for the rest of the school day, but the closer it got to the final bell, the faster my heart started beating.

I approached room 2A and opened the door with a trembling hand.

There she was. To anyone else, a beautiful girl with white hair and blue eyes.

But when she turned her head and saw me standing there, I watched the transformation unfold.

The severity of her singular focus on me as I walked through the door...

The monstrous 'smile' that lit up her face...

The nearly desperate way she stood from her seat to swiftly yet gently lead me to mine...

This manic side of her that seemed to exist for me and me alone...!

Ahh! I just can't get enough!

"Hi Luna. I... I really missed you."

Anything she had been doing; any movement, however minor, stopped for a fraction of a second.

"You did?"

"I did."

She was silent for some time, but from the tempestuous look in her eyes, she was holding herself back from the first dozen responses she'd had in mind.

"Norma... I have to admit something. What I did in the cafeteria yesterday... I did it to try to drive you apart."

I didn't need her to elaborate on who she meant.

"I knew it was wrong. Mae's your 'best friend'. But I was afraid of her, Norma. Compared to her, I'm... I'm just some creepy acquaintance of yours, aren't I?"

I took a moment to consider exactly what I wanted to say.

"You were right yesterday, though. I love this series, and it's nothing I should be ashamed of. I could have never admitted that before we met. And you needn't have troubled yourself, anyway. As it turns out, Mae and I were perfectly capable of driving a wedge between us all by ourselves."

Luna seemed interested in that point, but didn't press the issue.

"As for how I feel about you..." I continued.

I can't very well say I got myself off while thinking about our last club meeting, can I!?

"You're on my mind a lot... and when you are, believe me when I say it brings me a sense of euphoria."

A lopsided version of Luna's smile appeared as she parsed my unusual phrasing.

"Umm, the point is, we haven't known each other long, but... you're special to me, Luna. More than you know. So please don't ever put yourself down like that."

Luna closed her eyes and swallowed. To my surprise, when she opened them again, they were full of tears.

"I knew it. I knew you were the one..."

"Luna?"

She sniffled, wiping her eyes before chuckling to herself.

"No, it's nothing I should have been worried about."

Her expression snapped from uncertainty to raw desire in an instant.

"Well? Shall we continue where we left off, then... d a r l i n g~?"

With a burst of strength, Luna lifted me like I was weightless and shoved us tightly together into the same desk as last session. Only this time, she'd turned me around to face her.

In the position we were in, Luna made up my whole world. The passion in her eyes threatened to burn me to cinders, the gyration of her hips eroded my judgement, the trembling of her lips seemed to beg for my own...

That's right, the next scene was a kiss, wasn't it? And it was no innocent peck, either. I had a rare moment of clarity.

...was this right?

Even though we barely knew each other, Luna cared for me, there was no mistaking it. But her intensity made it feel so much stronger than that. Was it love? Obsession? She'd set up this whole club just as an excuse to spend time with me... was it really okay to feed into this girl's mania?

After a brief moment, I realized that this wasn't what was bothering me. Luna was a person, like anyone else. The only real difference was, she knew what she wanted, and wasn't afraid to go after it.

No, what was bothering me was that if we were going to kiss, we shouldn't need a pretext. I wanted it to be a choice we made for ourselves, not because we were were following the script of some ecchi manga.

Quivering with excitement, Luna leaned forward. I opened my mouth to tell her to wait...

But we were both too late.

"I fucking knew it."

There in the doorway stood Mae. Her chest was heaving with barely contained rage.

"So, this is book club, then? Oh yeah, I can see you guys are just swamped with members. Real nice, Norma."

There was no point in stuttering through some excuse. It was almost exactly what it looked like, after all.

To my surprise, there was no look of triumph on Luna's face. No gloating, no laughing at Mae's expense. She just rose matter-of-factly and helped me to stand. I wasn't quite sure what to do, but Luna nudged me toward Mae.

"M-"

"-I really don't want to fucking hear it right now. Go ahead and enjoy the rest of your 'club activities'. Talk to you later, bestie."

With a final death stare at the white haired girl she left, the menacing aura leaving with her. I stared at the empty doorway for a moment before turning back to Luna.

"What are you doing, Norma? Shouldn't you go after her?"

"Even if I wanted to, it wouldn't accomplish anything."

"You don't want to?" Luna asked in confusion. I sighed.

"I mean, I do, but... before worrying about Mae, there's something I needed to ask you."

Her white lashes fluttered in surprise.

"Yes...?"

"Your leg, Luna. What happened to it?"

---

Meanwhile...

Quin couldn't keep her eyes open. She'd been at this all night and was still going. Her petite body was on the verge of giving out on her, no matter how many energy drinks she propped it up with.

I can't make sense of any of this!!

Her every lead was a confusing mess. Anonymous forums referencing news articles that didn't exist. Tabloids with sensationalized stories about the rich and powerful buried under covers claiming that Bigfoot had been sighted. Conspiracy bloggers that warped nearly every event into part of their preconceived, misguided worldviews.

These unreliable sources and more mentioned some female with albinism or another, with less than a tenth containing any name at all, let alone "Luna".

There's literally no chance any of this is related to that worm currently writhing in Norma's heart. What a waste of time...

Quin hauled herself up from her computer, wincing as her muscles struggled with the sudden movement they had so longed for. After a jog and some sleep, she'd go over this haze of misinformation one last time before dismissing it entirely. Leaving such a dangerous factor unknown was a terrible risk, but frankly her mind kept going back to Norma.

My recordings are sure to tell me all I need to know about these unnecessary people that have forced themselves into her life, anyway.

With this decision made, Quin went out the door. On her computer screen there was an unread article tucked behind the last one she'd left open. It wasn't exactly reputable, but it covered the story of a young albino woman from an influential family, allegedly responsible for a string of high-profile murders before disappearing into obscurity...

---