Before we begin, let me start by saying this. Up until the joint op with the valkyries where shit hits the fan, things are going to be jumpy. And Kazuya is the main focus, so the points of conflict with the girls may be mentioned, but if he wasn't there, then it'll be potentially glossed over.

AND NOW

BEGIN!

Ever since the Alaska incident, where Chiffon Fairchild died, Kazuya had been having strange dreams.

It wasn't too uncommon for his dreams to be about the days when his sister Kazuha was still alive. But the ones she was a part of now seemed…different somehow.

The only way he could put words into the feeling, was like he was having a lucid dream. He knew he was dreaming, but in all honesty, that just made him want to hold on to this experience all the more.

He would be sitting at the island in the kitchen of the house the two of them used to live in. Kazuha, standing over the stove cooking some breakfast for them, would reminisce about the times they had together.

it was a little strange, looking at her, seeing that he was now just as tall as she was. But that was just a small tidbit in the back of his mind. Here she was, his sister, the person he loved than anything in this world. The person who had taken care of him for as long as he could remember.

And the conversations they had, each dream Kazuha would be cooking and talking about old times, and during the meal she would ask him about his current life.

How he was doing at West Genetics.

Who he made friends with.

Which girls he had an eye for.

This last dream however, hadn't gone the same way.

Kazuya, realizing that he would be waking up soon, pushed the plate of food away to regard his sister.

That same, warm and disarming smile on her face. Looking as beautiful as ever with the sun pouring through the window behind her.

Kazuha glanced up from her plate, spoonful of milk and cereal in her mouth, and a questioning look in her eye.

Kazuya felt a lump try and rise in his throat, and the words he'd wanted to say to her for the years she had been gone were finally given release.

"I miss you."

When she finished her bite, stood up and started to walk around towards him, Kazuya felt the stinging in his eyes that she must have seen.

Standing next to him, she spun his chair to her, cupped each side of his face with her thumbs gently caressing against his cheeks. Her touch took the energy he had to keep himself upright, and leaned his forehead to her chest.

Lifting his eyes to hers, Kazuya saw the pained and regretful look that she had the same day she left to fight the very Nova that killed her. When she didn't say anything, he let the rest of what had tormented his mind come out.

"I love my friends. Satellizer, Rana, Arthur, Kaho. They're all great people."

The lump returned stronger, with the more of his emotions he relayed.

"But they're not you. The only family i've ever really had. I know its stupid and selfish, but I always wondered…What if I had been able to convince you to stay home that day. How many would have died in your place? How many could you have saved afterwords? And the worst part… even if I knew for certain how many there would be, I know i'd choose having you around."

When the sting in his eyes became too strong, and the tears fell, Kazuha pulled her brothers head closer to her, wanting him to let his clear his conscience.

Kazuya wrapped his arms around her waist as his shoulders started to shake.

"I miss you too Kazuya." The soft melodic voice of Kazuha reached his ears as he started to calm down.

"I love you so much. If there had been any other way, i'd still be with you. But it had to be this way. I know you don't understand it yet, but soon you will. When you wake up, truly wake up, not just from sleep….you'll understand, and they'll be by your side the entire way. They will love you every bit as much as I do, maybe even more in one or two cases."

Kazuya cast his a confused look through the recent shed tears.

'who is she talking about?'

"You'll meet them soon enough. Until then… unfortunately… This is goodbye."

Bending down, Kazuha planted a kiss on his forehead, and tilted down to press hers against him.

"Once you wake up, we can talk again."

Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep

Kazuya woke to the blaring annoyance of his alarm clock.

quickly slapping his hand on it to stop the noise, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"It all just felt so real.." He muttered, recalling the dreams and their details with great clarity, something that with a normal dream he couldn't do after more than a minute of being awake.

-LineBreak-

As the days continued, the dreams of his deceased sister stopped, just as she said they would.

The new oddity in Kazuya's life had nothing to with sleep this time. at any given time, Kazuya would suddenly get a strange feeling that pulsed through his entire body. Sometimes, it felt like he was made of metal, and was being pulled towards a magnet. Or he would feel like there was a memory or conversation just on the edge of being able to be recalled.

All in all, it was frustrating.

The more often that 'the pull' happened, as he had started referring to it as, Kazuya started to realize that it towards people….more specifically, women.

The first was with Satellizer, which wasn't really much different than how he felt around her normally. The first time he saw the blonde beauty, Kazuya had been instantly drawn to her, confusing her for Kazuha.

And then Rana had walked into the room, and he felt the same exact pull with her that he did with Satellizer. That was both new and confusing. He'd liked Rana, she was gorgeous young woman, and a great friend. But that pull had never been there before.

Kazuya started to question his own moral compass, when during the fight between Ticy Phenyl and Arnett McMillan, he could feel himself being pulled in four directions. Satellizer, Rana, Arnett and Ticy were all getting the same response from him.

'What the hell is happening to me? I've never been the type to go after multiple girls.' He thought.

Sure, they were all extremely good looking. But that wasn't how he normally was, and he knew next to nothing about Ticy or Arnett… Which only added to his concern.

With no answers being given to him, Kazuya thought it best to just keep observing the strange things that seemed to keep coming his way.

Everything and everyone around him started to be dulled in black and white after the announcement that a new project demonstration was announced to be coming soon.

The rumor that his grandfather, Gengo Aoi was going to be on campus to personally supervise it, did not makes matters any better.

As far as Kazuya was concerned, the less contact he had with the man, the better.

But the part of his mind that was just on the brink of recalling something had flared up once more. And the only thing that he could manage to get out of the haze, was that his grandfather would know exactly what was happening to him.

But considering that Gengo Aoi was the sole reason that the pandora existed in the first place, it really didn't surprise him to have thought that way.

If only he could get confirmation of when he'd be here…the sooner this was out of the way, the sooner Kazuya could go to ignoring the existence of the man that put Kazuha on her path to destruction.

But who could he ask?

Three names popped into his mind, one of them probably wouldn't share information even if it were true. And the other two, probably wouldn't because it could put their job in jeopardy , as well as being very tedious.

Maybe if he could describe it as being potentially family oriented, Kazuya could get his first choice to give him some sort of information. It was worth a shot.

And so, Kazuya set out to Sister Margaret's office after the last class had let out for the day.

-LineBreak-

"And just why would I share information with a student, related to the person in question or not, about a rumored arrival?" Sister Margaret stated flatly.

Just as he had thought, she wouldn't be willing right off the bat. He just hoped that his reasoning would do enough.

"I have a concern that I believe is related to a family medical trait."

Kazuya's answer did nothing to persuade the nun to give in, she merely kept her even expression, giving him no hints as to what she may be thinking.

"If you have concerns of a medical nature, you could always go to the school infirmary, Elize Shmitz is as good as they come."

With a heavy sigh, Kazuya shook his head.

"aside from some less then restful nights, there's nothing I can say that's medically wrong."

"Then I do not see a reason to share potentially dangerous information with a student, all Chevalier members are potential high risk targets. It would not do for me to place any high rank members in un-needed danger."

Seeing he was getting nowhere, Kazuya decided to just drop the subject and be on his way.

"I see. Thank you for time Headmistress." Kazuya said respectfully, before leaving the office and making his way back to the dorms.

Once Kazuya was out of the office, Sister Margaret waited for a few minutes, then started to type out a message to the very person that would be coming to her academy the very next morning.

You're grandson has heard rumor of your arrival, and wanted an audience with you to discuss something about his stigmatic body. After the presentation tomorrow, I suggest the two of you meet to see what his concerns are.

With the message sent, the head of West Genetics leaned back into her chair as she spun it to the window overlooking the campus.

"That family always brings new trials." She sighed as she caught sight of the boy that had just, walking towards the dorms.

-LineBreak-

The last 24 hours had left Kazuya feeling a bit drained. Last night, when he was returning to his dorm, he'd run into Rana. She had asked him to do something for her, to which he'd agreed before he really thought about what it might be.

It turned out that she had wanted a massage, which that in itself wasn't an unreasonable request. The issue came when she sat up and turned, planting his hands just below her breasts.

That was the moment that Satellizer walked into his dorm. And she'd stormed out, angry that he'd apparently wanted to fondle Rana more than be with her.

The guilt over what she must have thought of the situation was a heavy weight on his mind. Among the other things that had been plaguing him, that he hadn't been able to convey to anyone yet.

How could he? When he couldn't even really out into words what he was feeling. The only words he could use to describe it, would make it sound like he was trying to seduce multiple pandora, and that wasn't it at all.

He sat in the stands of the arena used for demonstrations, Rana next to him, looking for Satellizer among the other people.

Even the strange new ability he seemed to have wasn't able to help him at the moment, which only told him that she was too far to feel the pull towards her.

The announcement came over the speakers, that this was a demonstration of a new project to fight for the sake of humanity against the Nova.

Only a few moments passed before the sound of a helicopter approaching started getting louder and louder, those gathered in the West Genetics arena looked from the dummy S-type Nova in the center towards where the sound was coming from.

And then, he started to feel it again… The pull.

It started as it had before, just that small little tug on his mind, wanting him to look in one particular direction.

But as the helicopter approached closer and closer, the pull got stronger and stronger.

And as the helicopter stilled itself in the air above the Dummy Nova, Kazuya was feeling like he was about to pulled out of his seat and into the air, towards whoever was inside of it.

'What in the hell is going on.' He thought, holding onto his seat to help relieve the feeling.

The door of the helicopter slid open, and a few shadows could be seen at its edge. And then they jumped, falling towards the earth.

The first three weren't the ones causing his near panic, they felt no different to him than a normal woman on the street.

It was the forth one that immediately had his attention.

All he could see through the sunlight when she jumped, was the long silver hair. Everything else about the demonstration was lost on him, he could only focus on the silver haired girl.

As the silver haired girl landed on the ground, deploying some sort of new tech to let them glide down to the ground, Kazuya could feel an almost imperceptible pull from whoever had just jumped out of the chopper.

But his attention was solely on the silver haired girl.

Who was she? Why did she have such an effect on him?

This changed the way he thought of this feeling. It clearly wasn't related to girls he knew, or had some sort of hidden attraction towards. Because the girl in the arena wouldn't have looked anything out of the ordinary based on her figure alone. No….This was something different. It was like whenever his sister came home.

She could open the door, with him on the complete other side of the house, and he would know she'd returned. Kazuha's mere presence pulled him in. It felt eerily like that….in fact, it was….exactly like that.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kazuya caught sight of the last girl to jump to the ground use an access type move and kill off the dummy. The crowd was a mix of cheering at the display and shock at what these "normal" girls had done.

But his thoughts still ran away from the scene.

Was it possible that each of the girls he felt a pull towards had something in common with his sister? He knew that Rana didn't have any of her Stigmata, so that wasn't it. Something else maybe?

"PROJECT VALKYRIE!" He heard announced as the girls in the arena stood side by side.

The names were being announced as each girl took off their helmet.

"Tiziana Ferrari, Christine Evora, Franka Porsche." He watched as the girl just next to the one he couldn't take his eyes off of removed her helmet.

The silver haired girl brought her hands up to her face, on the slips that kept it locked in place.

"LUCY RENAULT!" The voice called, and she pulled the mask away.

Time seemed to slow down as Kazuya watched, as her face came into view, it being burned into his memory.

Silver hair, with a slight purple hue to it. Deep lavender eyes that gave away no emotions. Symmetrical face, almost too perfect to be human. No blemishes on her skin to be seen.

She was beautiful, there was no denying that. But to Kazuya, who had since coming to West Genetics, come into contact with girls that made the worlds top models look hideous, there wasn't a reason why he felt the way he did.

He watched as she scanned the crowd with her stoic gaze.

'Is she looking for someone?' He thought.

A girl like that would definitely have a significant other. It continued to move, getting closer and closer to his position.

And that was where it stopped.

Exactly where he was sitting, directly into his eyes even. And the pull renewed itself as a small smirk crossed her face. A victorious 'I found you' grin.

"OUKA HONDA!" Was the last name called, and Kazuya pulled his attention away from this Lucy Renault.

Black hair, with a white ribbon on the left side just below her earlobe. The same dark eyes he himself had.

'Ouka?' What was his cousin doing here of all places?

There was no doubt about it. Aside from being more developed than the last time he saw her, this was undoubtedly his cousin on his mothers side. Ouka Tenjouin. The use of a fake last name was curious as well.

"WOW! Kazuya, that was amazing wasn't it?!" He heard Rana chirp excitedly next to him. He gave her a look and smile to show he was listening.

"Certainly was. I wonder why now though, so soon after the E-Pandora project had all that bad publicity. The Chevalier must be scramming to bring their public image back up." He stated thoughtfully.

And then his attention was right back where it was before. A quick glance towards Ouka, and significantly more time on Lucy. He needed to figure out what this feeling was.

He needed to talk to his Grandfather, to Gengo Aoi.

-LineBreak-

Platoon 13.

That was where Kazuya had been reassigned to. Gone were the days that he would attend classes as a normal 1st year student.

He was now a part of some sort of specialized squad, hand picked because he was supposedly a step above the rest.

So here he was. Waiting. Even though he was standing with the two girls that he'd come to truly care for, Rana and Satellizer, as the door opposite them opened, Kazuya couldn't keep his eyes on anything but one of the figures walking through it.

"Hello! It's nice to finally meet you!" The pink haired girl, Franka Porsche he recalled her name being. Greeted them excitedly.

She was walking with three of the other members of the valkyrie team.

Christine Evora, walked to her left, Blonde hair made into drill pig tails. Fairly tall, A bust that would make most normal women envious. But no pull from her. Her face held a look of half disinterest, half reluctance to even be in the same room as the Genetics students.

Tiziana Ferrari, looking in her direction was a potential danger. She had the largest breasts Kazuya had ever seen. The gentle smile on her face, the kind acceptance in her olive green eyes, made her as easy on the eyes as any girl had ever been. But once again, no pull.

The one who had all of Kazuya's attention was once again, Lucy Renault.

"Wah!" Kazuya yelped in surprise as he was suddenly face to face with the face of Franka, She took ones of his hands in both of hers and was shaking it enthusiastically.

"You're Dr. Aoi's Grandson right? You're Kazuya Aoi!" Her happy expression turned into a slight predatory grin, a little drool coming from the corner of her mouth.

"L-Let me…Do some thorough research on you sometime okay?"

'She's freaking me out a little…' He thought, trying to back away from the valkyrie.

"You, wanna research me?"

Thankfully, another voice cut through the group and stopped Franka from going much further.

"You're being too forward again Franka."

Christine walked forward to where her teammate was, dissuading her from dissecting the young man.

She continued as everyone there looked towards her.

"We're not even officially teammates yet."

Kazuya, Rana and Satellizer did their best to not let the blonde Valkyries haughty attitude get to them too much. They'd come across plenty of those types at West Genetics before.

"Eeh? But agreed that we'd be friendly with them, right?" Franka questioned with a surprisingly childish tone.

"Yes, we did. But what you're doing is borderline harassment."

Kazuya trailed off in thought, not deeming this particular conversation to be at all involved with him anymore.

'So, they want it to look like we're working well together, but ultimately that's all it is… a show for the higher ups.' He thought. It sounded so much like something his grand father would do to get a budget approved for some project he had in mind further down the line.

Question was… is that really the bottom line? Or was the Valkyrie project what Gengo Aoi seriously hoped would be the saving grace of mankind.

Kazuya watched with a detached sense of what was being said as Christine taunted Satellizer about the Valkyries having the member with the biggest breasts. Apparently Tiziana was an F cup.

'I know i've never spent much time around women before coming here, but I never really thought that girls were that concerned with comparing breast size.'

"That's enough of that Christine, no need to make us look bad." A new voice called out from the corner behind everyone.

"Don't mind them too much, they like to joke around. Although they're fooling around can go a bit overboard sometimes."

The woman voice was coming from a shadowed doorway, she spoke as she approached the sunlight.

"It's been a while hasn't it? Four…no, five years now, Kazuya Onii-Sama."

Out of the Shadows, walked his cousin Ouka. it was a lot easier to see how she'd matured now that they were within just a few meters of each other. her hair grown down to the middle of her back, the same ribbon tied in her hair. She was just a tad shorter than Kazuya was himself.

If things had been different, he might not have objected to the way their family was trying to put them together, she was a very attractive girl.

"Is this girl really your little sister Kazuya?" Rana asked as she looked between the two, and saw that there was some similar features.

Satellizer had a surprised look on her face, upon hearing how Ouka referred to Kazuya.

"Ouka's my cousin on my mothers side. We're the same age, but she's always treated me like an older brother."

Kazuya and Satellizer watched as gears turned in Rana's head, rationalizing the situation. She seemed to come to a conclusion as she approached Ouka.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Rana Linchen, and Kazuya is my soul mate, so I guess that'll eventually make us sisters!"

'That little schemer, she's trying to score points right in front of me!' Satellizer thought with her mouth hanging open.

The stern blank look that Ouka had, turned more into confusion at what she was hearing. She glanced from Rana to Kazuya.

"Is that some sort of joke? I'm appalled Onii-Sama, being in a relationship like that with these Pandora." Ouka walked passed Rana, towards Kazuya, stopping just within arms reach.

Her voice softened, the valkyries furthest away could just barely manage to pick up her words.

"I know you were devastated by Kuzuha Onee-Sama's death. I know that you needed to find something to replace that void. But i'm here now, i've returned to your side Onii-Sama."

Kazuya's eyes took an uncomfortable look, knowing just where she was going with this. And it was something he'd chosen to ignore for the last few years.

"I, Ouka Tenjouin, your fiancee, have returned to you."

A stunned and confused silence took over the arena, as the girls took in this new piece of information.

"You're…his fiancee?" Rana muttered. "So, when you little, the two of you were set to be married?"

Ouka merely nodded, a look of determination to protect her position in Kazuya's life.

"That's right. Kazuya Aoi, is the man who is to become my husband, and I his wife."

Franka tilted her head and spoke to Tiziana.

"I know that the worlds population has taken quite the plunge…But is it really okay for cousins to get married? I suppose if Dr. Aoi ran a DNA compatibility test between them…"

The Valkyries turned back to their teammate, who was ramping up.

"And now that you're aware, i'd appreciate it if you would stay away from him. Kazuya Onii-Sama is mine."

Satellizer turned to Kazuya, looking for him to say or do something. Anything. Thankfully he was one step ahead of her.

"Ouka. Stop." His tone was stern, making it clear that he was serious. But it still carried that same undertone of caring in it.

And like flipping a switch, Ouka stood there, her mouth closing to leave the rest of her comments unsaid.

"I refuse to let him do to me, to us, what he did to Kazuha." Kazuya closed his eyes, as a wave of an unusual emotion flowed through his veins. Rage.

His hands clenched as his body shuddered, looking like he could hardly contain himself.

"He used her….And it ended up costing her life."

Ouka looked towards her fiancee with sympathy, knowing that he held Professor Aoi responsible. He couldn't see passed the fact of Kazuha being made a Pandora because of a deal she made with him. A deal that she set the terms for.

"Oh good you guys are already here!" Instructor kim called out as she and two other teachers made their way towards the group, ignoring the fact that it felt like a somewhat hostile environment at the moment.

"Once the rest of the team gets here, we'll begin!"

-LineBreak-

Kazuya walked along the sidewalk of the campus, making his way towards back to his own dorm.

It had been a rough few days, ever since the formation of the new team between pandora and valkyries.

Along with Satellizer and Rana. The Chevalier had sent some of the pandora that were with them in Alaska.

Roxanne Elipton, Charles Bonaparte, Cassie Lockheart.

These Pandora cadets, together with the Valkyries were to be working together, and would have a joint test operation tomorrow.

The operation itself was something that Kazuya welcomed, or he would if the team hadn't been tearing itself apart.

Charles Bonaparte had been making waves among the other Pandora of West Genetics, holding a grudge over what happened in Alaska. She'd sent Attia Simmons to the infirmary with a variety of injuries that would keep her there for quiet some time.

Then Arnett showed up with Cleo and Ingrid to take revenge for Charles did to Attia. No one was sure what would have happened if Satellizer hadn't tried to step in, slowing things down enough so that when the fight started to break out, Ticy arrived just in time to put both Arnett and Charles down on the ground.

So Charles wasn't speaking to anyone on their new team outside of when it was required.

Satellizer was upset that she hadn't been able to stop the fight, and that Arnett, who she'd just become friends with, was pissed at which side she'd taken.

The other pandora had felt awkward with the atmosphere around them. The valkyrie looked like they were mainly just focused on preparing themselves for the upcoming chance to prove themselves, although Lucy looked as unemotional as she ever did.

Kazuya catch her a few times looking in his direction, with an expression that he couldn't quite place. He could tell when she was looking at him, because the pull would flare up for a brief time.

It would have been almost a normal week if the events had stopped there, but it hadn't.

Kazuya had finally gotten in contact with his Grand father. And had tried to steer the conversation towards his concerns over what was happening to his body. But as soon as the video call connected, Gengo led the conversation and derailed Kazuya's thoughts.

He asked how he thought about the way his fiancee looked now. And tried to play innocent that the engagement wasn't by his design or order.

Kazuya tried to push his own thoughts on the matter, and Gengo asked if there was another woman in Kazuya's life. That had led to Gengo requesting to meet the girl that had managed to grab his attention, and have dinner with him the next night.

And what had started out as a polite and inquisitive conversation had turned into borderline sexual harassment. Gengo made a point to make observations of Satellizers body, saying that Kazuya was interested in her because of her breasts, or her long blonde hair, or just the way that she seemed almost inhumanly symmetrical and proportioned.

So he walked Satellizer to the train station, apologized for the way his grand father had acted, and they parted ways with a promise to see each other tomorrow.

Gengo had quickened the pace of his drinking while Kazuya had been gone, and was pretty well drunk once he returned.

"Do you hate me for the decisions i've made?" Gengo had asked him, catching Kazuya off guard at the change of topic.

Kazuya could only ask what he meant by that, unsure if they were finally going to come to some sort of resolution about Kazuha's death.

"For your sister. One way or another, the things i've done brought her life to an end. The things in between hardly matter."

Kazuya watched as his grand father's red cheeks tightened in apparent self loathing.

"If it could fix everything, i'd trade her life for mine in a heartbeat. I've hated myself for those choices since that day… I've hated myself so much that I thought of just ending it all."

Gengo stood up and ran a hand along his bookshelf, swaying from the alcohol.

"I hated it…But I couldn't bring myself to regret it… Because regretting it would only lower Kazuha's actions…. And that's not…acce…..ptable…"

And that was when he passed out and knocked a photo album to the floor.

One particular picture in it caught his attention.

Because it had what appeared to be Chiffon Fairchild in it. But that couldn't have been possible, because it was dated 40 years ago. The photo was ripped so only one other girl could be seen, but there were five female bodies in total on it.

The Pandora of Lab 13 - it had written on it.

Kazuya stopped contemplating the last few days events as he felt the pull again. And with as strong as it was building as he walked, he knew there could only be one person that was near him.

Kazuya looked up towards the bright full moon that peeked just over one of the towers of the dorm buildings. And standing on the peak of the tower was the silver haired mystery, Lucy Renault.

"Lucy?" He wondered how she got up there, and why.

And almost faster than he could interpret, she was standing in front of him.

The sudden feeling of the pull increasing in magnitude made him lurch forward towards her, until he caught his balance. This was the closest he'd been to her, just out of arms reach. Which was a good thing, because he wasn't sure just what this feeling was capable of making him do.

"That was amazing, you moved just like Chiffon-senpai! It looked like you vanished!" Kazuya said to her, making sure to keep his hands at his sides.

Lucy tilted her head slightly. "Chiffon Fairchild?" her tone was only a bit more emotional than usual.

"Yeah. I shouldn't be surprised you know her name, she was a world ranked Pandora…Although "The Smiling Monster" wasn't really an appropriate nickname for someone like her." Kazuya chuckled as he recalled just how happy Chiffon seemed to be all the time. A diamond in the rough, comparing her to a good portion of the other personalities here at West Genetics.

"Chiffon is…..my sister." She said, taking a step forward towards Kazuya.

"And you Kazuya…"

"Sorry, but i'm not sure what you're talking-" Kazuya started to ask what she meant by that, before she started on something else.

"The reason humans rely on words to transmit their wills, is because they are trapped in a familiar system. It's impossible to truly understand one another that way."

Kazuya was lost on what she was talking about. "Um…"

"Can you feel it Kazuya?" Lucy took another step closer, inwardly smiling when he didn't step back, or make any movement that suggested he was uncomfortable with what they were both feeling at the moment.

"Something that surpasses your own consciousness. An other worldly existence pulling the strings." Kazuya's eyes widened when she stressed the word pull.

He didn't even notice that she'd taken another step closer, and was now only a step and a half away. His undivided attention was on Lucy and what she was saying.

"have you ever wondered, why the Nova enlarge themselves so much? Why they ended up fighting the intelligent life form of this dimension?"

Lucy moved so that now they were only inches away from each other. Her hand resting on his chest, ready to hold him in place if need be. She was determined to see how close he was to awakening, or help push him over the edge.

"Humans chose not to listen, to the medium known as Maria, that came to them. They ignored what she was saying."

"Are….Are you telling me you feel the pull too? That you understand it?" Kazuya asked uncertainly. He hoped, prayed that was the case. To have someone who knew, who understood this feeling would be beyond amazing.

The pull felt like it had stopped, and the sensation of a memory being just beyond him replaced it. But it was at an intensity that he hadn't experienced before. It wasn't unpleasant, it didn't hurt or give him a headache. It just directed his attention towards Lucy, specifically into her eyes. Deep lavender eyes that seemed to hold knowledge that was beyond basic human understanding.

"You're so close to breaking through the barrier. So close to knowing what we know, seeing what we see." Lucy stopped and thought about what she was about to do for a moment. Kazuya saw that something was on her mind, could tell it was important, whatever it was.

But before he could ask about it, her hand on his chest tightened on his shirt, and the other cupped the back of his head and pulled his lips towards hers.

Kazuya's eyes shot open from the sudden contact. His first thought before anything else was to pull away, but his body, and Lucy's hand wouldn't let him.

Another moment passed and he felt himself starting to give in. The moment his eyes closed to kiss her back, Kazuya felt like he was lost in a world of static. A blend of figures, colors, and information swirled in his mind. He couldn't make sense of it.

The first thing he felt, was Lucy.

Not just her touching and kissing him. He could feel her. It was like he knew everything about her. Likes, dislikes, desires, it was like he was seeing into her naked soul. As if she could hide nothing from him.

The kiss itself flooded Kazuya with a heat he'd never experienced before. It wasn't that he didn't know how to tell if he was sexually aroused, he was a healthy young man after all. He'd known his own sexual desires since he was 10, a little earlier for a boy. But that was not what this was.

He felt his lips part wanting to experience more of the woman before him. his tongue traced her bottom lip, one swipe across them was all it took before she obliged. As their tongues made contact, her hold on him tightened, a muted moan coming from her lungs.

The static and blend of colors became a little bit clearer. Two of the six figures that were mixed in the haze became clearer, one of which easy to see was his sister Kazuha, while he could see Lucy in his mind perfectly. He could see her naked body so clearly, is was like he'd touched every part of her bare skin a thousand times.

The strange thing, was that he didn't want to accept her as Lucy Renault. He wanted to identify her as Lucy Aoi. Kazuya didn't quite understand why he wanted to label her that way, but just the thought was intoxicating. Like she was his.

' I am.'

Kazuya broke off the kiss with a gasp as he heard Lucy's voice in his mind.

His breathing came in deep pants from both the inability from his tongue and mouth being so intimately attached to hers, and thinking he heard he proclaim herself as his.

He watched as she caught her own breath, her breasts heaving up and down in her chest.

Gone was the stoic face. Now she had a smile he'd only seen from one other. One he missed so much it hurt.

"Was that…..?" 'real' he wanted to ask.

Lucy closed her eyes, and he could see her eyelids moving, like she was thinking of or looking for something. Her smile grew just a bit more as she reopened her eyes and look at Kazuya.

"Can you feel me?"

He blinked, not quite understanding what she meant. They'd stepped away from each other, were no longer touching, so how could he possibly feel her?

his blank look must have said it all as she instructed him.

"Close your eyes."

After a brief raise of his brow, he did as she requested.

"Take a deep breath."

He inhaled slowly through his nose, holding it for a moment.

"Don't open your eyes. Think of me. Picture me in your mind. My hair, my face, my eyes, my lips, my voice."

It came in pieces, but something was there. In the place of where he could feel the pull originating from, an image of Lucy was forming.

"Think of my body. my legs, my hips, the size and shape of my breasts."

Normally Kazuya would have been embarrassed beyond belief with what she was saying and asking of him. But he just couldn't help being amazed. As she listed each part of her body off to him, that piece of the picture snapped into place. And with it, little more understanding of what made Lucy who she was.

He could see it now, all of her. Naked as the day she was born, before him in his mind. He could feel her smiling at him, like she knew that he was seeing her. He could feel what she liked. Feel what she disliked. Feel what she wanted.

He opened his eyes in surprise at what he felt from her.

"Y-you….Love me?" He stuttered out.

She redirected the question in a way that was confusing, but also made sense in another.

"Who am I?"

He recalled the image of her. Above her head was a group of numbers he didn't understand. And right there, just next to the seemingly random numbers, was her name. Kazuya said it out loud.

"Lucy Aoi."

Lucy stepped up to Kazuya, grabbing both of his cheeks, and planting a kiss on him once more.

New information came into his mind, pictures and names to associate with them, but nothing else.

She pulled back but didn't let go right away.

"You can feel me. So you know I can't lie to you about anything." She paused as she reveled in the sensations of being connected to him now. Gently rubbing her thumbs over his cheeks.

"You're going to awaken tomorrow. And when you do, we'll be there for you."

"Me, Windy-May, Teslad, Cassandra."

Lucy let go, turned and took a few steps away, and then vanished before his eyes.

"Just like Chiffon." He whispered to himself.