Chapter 187: 187 | The Cost of Doing Business

We reached the fifth floor and I unlocked 5E. Hikaru’s door was closed, no light underneath. Gone again. Girl was never home anymore.

Aurora set her bags down in the living room and walked a slow circle, examining the space like she hadn’t seen it before. "Your roommate keeps it clean."

"That’s all Hikaru. I’m kind of a slob."

"I noticed." She opened my bedroom door and looked inside. "You made your bed."

"Seemed polite since you bought me clothes worth more than my entire net worth."

She turned and kissed me. Slow and deep, her hands sliding under my new shirt to feel the muscle underneath. When she pulled back we were both breathing harder.

"I should go," she said.

"You just got here."

"I know. But if I stay I’m gonna want more and you have Belle at four." Her fingers traced patterns on my stomach. "Also I need to do homework and you’re extremely distracting."

"Homework?"

"Shocking, I know. But even ranked twenty-three students have to write essays about mana theory sometimes." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

I walked her to the door. She paused there, turning back with her hand on the frame.

"Jace?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming with me. To Ventura. I know it was spontaneous and you had other plans."

"Aurora. You bought me seven thousand credits worth of clothes and took me to the mainland. I’m not complaining."

"I know but." She bit her lip. "I wanted you to know it meant something. The weekend. Not just the extraction stuff but the actual time together."

I pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "I know."

She smiled against my chest. "Okay. Good."

Then she was gone, orange hair disappearing down the hallway toward the elevator.

I shut the door and leaned against it, staring at the shopping bags piled in my living room. New clothes. New shoes. A watch that cost more than some people’s monthly stipend.

My phone buzzed: Miss me yet? - A

Get out of here. Go do your homework.

Make me.

I would but you already left.

Damn. Guess I’ll have to suffer alone. See you tomorrow.

I smiled despite myself.

Another text. Belle this time: You better not be late.

I won’t be.

Good. Because I’m not waiting around if you are.

Belle.

What?

I’m sorry about yesterday. Really.

Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.

Yeah well. You’re making it up to me today so we’re even.

Deal.

Four o’clock. East field. Don’t fuck this up.

I checked the time. 2:47. Plenty of runway.

I unpacked the new clothes and hung everything properly. The closet transformed from sad to actually respectable. Jeans folded on the shelf. Shirts organized by color. The leather jacket got its own hanger.

My reflection in the bathroom mirror looked different again. Sharper jaw. Broader shoulders. The new white button-up fit perfectly across my chest without pulling.

Three weeks ago I was two hundred forty pounds of soft desperation in a body that hated me. Now I was two hundred ten and dropping, with muscle showing up in places that had been buried under fat.

The Divine Milking System really was broken as hell.

I changed into workout clothes and grabbed my spear from where it leaned against the wall. Belle wanted training and Belle was getting training.

But first I needed to swing by the Vault and grab something. An apology gift. Something that said "sorry I bailed on you for a spontaneous overnight trip with a hot second-year."

Chocolate wouldn’t work. She’d just accuse me of recycling Aurora’s playbook.

Chips. The good ones from the East Tower vending machine that Belle loved. The ones that only cost two points but were somehow better than the overpriced Vault garbage.

I headed out, taking the stairs because Endurance was sitting at D-rank 8.2 and every rep counted.

The campus felt different after being off-island. Smaller. More contained. Everyone moving in predictable patterns between classes and dorms and training.

I passed a group of Sapphire first-years who went quiet when I walked by. One of them whispered something about the Midnight Foxes and the alpha kill.

My reputation was spreading. Good or bad, I couldn’t tell yet.

The Vault sat empty at this hour, most students either at lunch or sleeping off weekend hangovers. I grabbed six bags of chips and two bottles of that blue sports drink Belle pretended not to like but secretly loved.

Twenty-eight points total. Basically nothing.

I paid and headed toward the east field, arriving at 3:52. Eight minutes early.

Belle was already there.

She stood near the oak tree with her arms crossed, blue hair pulled back in that high ponytail that showed off her neck. She wore black compression shorts and a cropped purple tank top that left her midriff exposed. Her amber eyes tracked me as I approached.

I held up the bag. "Peace offering."

She looked at the chips. At me. Back at the chips.

"You think you can buy me with vending machine snacks?"

"No. But I can apologize with them."

Her mouth twitched. Not quite a smile but close.

"You’re an asshole."

"I know."

"You ditched me for Aurora."

"I know."

"And now you show up with chips like that makes it okay."

"Does it?"

She grabbed the bag and pulled out the first package, ripping it open with her teeth. "Maybe."

We sat under the tree and she demolished the chips in about ninety seconds flat. I handed her a sports drink and she took it without comment, drinking half in one go.

"So," she said. "Ventura."

"Yep."

"With Aurora and her scary goth friend."

"Addison. Yeah."

"She hot?"

I looked at Belle carefully. Her face gave nothing away.

"She’s attractive."

"That’s not what I asked."

"Then yeah. She’s hot."

Belle nodded like I’d confirmed something. "Aurora sleep with you?"

"That’s personal."

"We’re past personal. We have a group chat where I discuss your dick with Naomi. Answer the question."

"Yeah. We did."

"How many times?"

"Belle."

"How. Many."

"Twice last night. Once this morning."

She ate another handful of chips, chewing slowly. "And the buff worked?"

"She’s got forty-eight hours of Gold-tier Sensory Hijack."

"Good." Belle crushed the empty bag and tossed it into the grass. "Because you owe me the same."

"I know."

"Today."

"I know."

"And you’re not bailing this time even if Aurora texts you crying about an emergency or Naomi needs you to hold her hand while she calls her mom."

I met her eyes. "I’m here. Right now. Just you and me."

Something in her expression softened. Just a fraction. "Okay."

She stood and brushed chip crumbs off her shorts. "Let’s train first. I want to see if your Wave Motion actually got better or if you’re full of shit about the upgrade."