- Present -

After MagicalGirlLover or Anna had asked to play Empires Online with him, Lady respectfully declined and decided to get off for the day. He wasn’t sure why she wanted to play that game, especially considering how things ended two years ago. Regardless, Lady wasn’t looking to dredge up old memories and reopen old wounds. He logged off before falling onto his bed. It was still early in the afternoon but Lady felt a sudden bout of tiredness wash over him as he laid there. Unable to keep his eyes open, he drifted off as the sun slowly sunk beneath the horizon.

Long after Lady had fallen asleep. A figure picked the lock on his door and silently swung the door open. They entered the room and carefully walked over to the sleeping boy trying their best not to make a sound. The figure opened their phone and began taking photos of the sleeping boy's face. Oddly enough, that was not the first time the figure had taken voyeuristic photos of Lady. Stranger still though was the fact that the unseen figure was not the only one with photos of him on their camera roll. Far from it. 

Lady woke up early in the morning and rolled out of bed. He was about to log onto his computer when he noticed a dull ache in the back of his head. Deciding against it, Lady showered and changed before eating a light breakfast. He had spent the entire week streaming into the unseen hours of the night and thought it might be best to go outside for a change. He opened the door and began walking to the nearby park. He found a nearby bench in the shade and sat down. 

The sounds of the leaves rustling and the birds chirping was surprisingly relaxing. Lady closed his eyes and relaxed as he breathed in the fresh air. “Lady?” a voice suddenly called out to him. His eyes shot open and he recognized the tall girl standing in front of him. “Lily, what are you doing here?” He asked. The girl smiled before gesturing for him to scoot over. “I’m out for a morning run. Lady noticed as she sat down that she was indeed wearing a sports bra and running shorts. He also remembered her mentioning that she was on the track team when they had first met last week.

“Were you out running too?” She asked him. Lady shook his head, “I’m not very good at athletic things, I really just came to get some fresh air before I head to school.” Lily’s eyes suddenly lit up as she pulled out her phone and glanced at the time, “that’s right, I still have to get home and take a shower before school starts.” Lily suddenly became self conscious of her appearance. She usually didn’t care how others viewed her due to her tomboyish attitude but for some reason, she didn’t want Lady to see her all sweaty after a run. 

She blushed before excusing herself and running home to shower and change. Lady decided to start walking to school. He might arrive early but he could still wait in the cafeteria for classes to start if he was. As Lady began walking to school, a figure roughly 20 yards behind him was muttering to herself. She had just witnessed Lady talking to the second year student in the park and was juggling feelings of relief and jealousy. On one hand, she was glad that her precious Lady was talking to other students and getting along with them but on the other hand, why did it have to be a woman.

The figure continued following Lady until he reached school. She ran a hand through her red dyed hair before muttering to herself. “I’ll let that girl play with my Lady as long as she doesn’t hurt him. But, the other one.” She looked up at one of the second story windows belonging to a classroom. “What does she want with him. Who does she think she is inviting Lady over to her house like that.” The girl's eyes were filled with a burning and fiery passion. She would protect him at all costs, even if it meant going against the other people that cared about him.

___

Lady’s day proceeded relatively normally. There was talk surrounding several members of the schools upper cast who didn’t show up today and supposedly had transferred or dropped out. Rumors surrounding the students ranged from some sort of coverup to them joining a sex cult. Lady never took part in the gossip but he couldn’t help but overhear it as he went about his day. At lunch, he felt like there were people watching him but he couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

After eating, Lady returned to the classroom and pulled out his notebook. For someone who spent so much time daydreaming or not paying attention in class, Lady still maintained decent grades though they were nothing to be proud of. He would often study at home because he found it difficult to study while surrounded by so many people. As he flipped through the pages, he found a blank spot on the crowded paper and began doodling. 

He was so focused on the sketch that he didn’t notice another student coming up behind him. The boy snatched the notebook off of Lady’s desk before laughing. He tossed the notebook to his friend several feet away who began looking through its contents. Lunch had yet to officially end so Lady and the two boys were the only people in the classroom. Lady averted his eyes from the two boys in the hopes that they would eventually get bored and give his notebook back or at least throw it in the trash where he could fish it out later. Instead, the boy holding the notebook began tearing out the pages one by one before balling them up and throwing them at Lady.

 After the seventh or eight page hit him, Lady finally decided to stand up and confront the two boys. There was no way he could win in a fight but he knew from experience that after hitting him one or twice, they would leave him alone for the time being. Just as he had predicted, the boy with the notebook pulled his hand back to take a swing but he suddenly stopped. 

Behind him stood Anna who was grabbing his reeled back arm. Before the boy could shake free, Anna delivered a powerful strike to the jaw that sent the boy spiraling into a desk. The boys friend rushed at Anna but she punched him square in the nose resulting in a painful crunch. “What the hell was tha…'' The boy tried to say as blood dripped from his nose but Anna cut him off by punching him in the chest. He crumpled to the floor while groaning painfully. 

Suddenly, the classroom door swung open and Ms. Sierra entered. She looked at the two boys laying on the floor, Lady standing there dumbfounded, and Anna clutching his notebook awkwardly. The boy with the bloody nose managed to sit up and said “Ms Sierra she attacked us, she’s cra..” but the boy was once again cut off as Ms. Sierra said “Get out of my class.” The boys tried to protest but they were both sent off to the nurses office and afterwards, the principals. Ms. Sierra told Anna to stay after school and took the notebook from her hands before returning it to Lady. A few minutes later, lunch ended and the other students began to enter the classroom, unaware of the events that had just transpired. 

___

While Lady was at school, a girl with bright pink hair was sitting in a gaming chair in her room. She was wearing a pair of bright pink headphones adorned with cat ears and not much else. Putting it frankly, she was completely in the nude. The girl was reading through her emails when she came across a recent email from the platform Project. It read.

Dear NekoGirl

Congratulations on being the first Virtual steamer to hit 100,000 subscribers. To congratulate you, we would like to invite you to host a panel at our upcoming convention Project-con. Included in this package are an all-access creator pass and an all-access guest pass so make sure to bring a friend. We look forward to seeing you there. 

The rest of the email contained details about the event as well as the contact information of the event coordinators but the girl mostly skimmed it. She stretched her slender legs and pulled herself out of the chair. Digging through her closet and dresser, she began wondering what she would wear to the event even though it was several weeks out. Like most girls her age, she was very fashion conscious and began putting together outfits for the event. 

Despite the massive selection of clothing she owned, there were no undergarments to be found in her dresser. She disliked the feeling of things touching her skin and as such, usually wore loose fitting clothes. This was also likely the reason that her motion capture suit was much less a suit and more of a headset, pair of gloves, and loose harness. As she began to grow excited about the upcoming event, the girl couldn’t help but remember the included guest pass that had been given to her. It didn’t take long for her to settle on who she wanted to invite. “I wonder If you look as sweet as you sound, LadyKiller” she said to herself as she continued to absentmindedly dig through her clothes.