Aria's mouth opened and closed like she had forgotten how to speak.
Meanwhile, whispers exploded across the lecture hall.
"Did she just—?"
"No way."
"Sharing?? Like, sharing sharing??"
Mira kept her expression perfectly calm, almost smug.
Aria finally managed to choke out, "M-Mira! You can't just...You can't just say something like that!"
"Why not?" Mira tilted her head innocently. "We're being honest."
"That's not honesty, that's insanity!" Aria sputtered. "Who just suggests something like—like that?!"
Mira leaned in slightly, voice dropping to a sultry whisper only Aria (and the unfortunate front-row students) could hear:
"Trust me… It's not so insane once you imagine what the three of us could do together."
Aria's entire soul left her body.
Her face, neck, ears, everything turned scarlet.
"M-MIRA!!" Aria squeaked, hands flying to her cheeks. "WE ARE IN CLASS!!"
Mira raised a brow. "And? It's just a conversation."
"That is NOT a normal conversation!!" Aria protested, backing up a step. "W-what do you mean 'what the three of us could do'?!"
"Oh? So you have thought about it a little," Mira teased, smiling sweetly.
"I HAVE NOT—!!" Aria's voice cracked, drawing another wave of gasps and giggles from the audience. "You—you—you WHORE! Stop putting indecent thoughts in my head!!"
Mira blinked once. Then smirked.
"In your head already, huh?"
Aria made a noise somewhere between a strangled scream and a dying animal.
Lyra buried her face in her hands.
Isolde's jaw hung open.
Tessa was wheezing again, pounding her fist on her desk.
Mira leaned back casually. "You said you liked him, right? So imagine it… you, me, Elion… no jealousy, no drama. Just the three of us enjoying each other. It could be—"
"STOP TALKING!!" Aria yelled so loud it echoed.
She was shaking, part rage, part embarrassment, part something she'd never admit out loud.
Mira giggled softly. "Oh wow. You're bright red. Should I spell it out more clearly? Bed. Room. Activities."
She tapped a finger against her cheek thoughtfully.
"You know," she said loud enough for everyone to hear, "there's actually a word for… this kind of arrangement."
Aria froze mid-sputter.
A dead, dangerous silence fell over the entire lecture hall.
Mira smiled sweetly.
"It's called a threesome."
A collective choking sound erupted from half the class.
Aria's soul left her body again.
"M-M-MIRA!!!" she shrieked. "YOU—YOU CAN'T JUST—!!"
Mira ignored her, continuing pleasantly as if they were discussing a homework assignment.
"It's quite simple, really. You, me, Elion, together. Sharing him. Sharing each other. Everyone participating equally. Usually, one person—"
"STOP!!" Aria screeched, slapping both hands over her ears. "STOP RIGHT THERE! DO NOT—DO NOT—EXPLAIN IT!!"
But Mira leaned in anyway.
"Well, one person is usually in the middle, and the other two—"
"AAAAAAHHHH!!" Aria cut her off with a strangled scream.
People in the front row had turned beet red. Tessa was folded over, laughing so hard she was wheezing again.
Isolde looked like she was questioning reality, like she was looking for somewhere to hide, but didn't quite know where?
Aria was trembling violently.
"M-Mira! You—you indecent—depraved—N-NYMPH!!" she shouted. "Why would you, How could you—WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!"
Mira shrugged lightly. "I'm just being practical. If we both want Elion, a threesome is the most efficient—"
"Nope!! NOPE! I CAN'T—I'M NOT—!!" Aria grabbed her bag in a frenzy. "I am not listening to another second of your cursed explanations!"
She nearly tripped over her own feet as she stumbled toward the aisle.
"Miraaaa!!" she wailed, face glowing neon red. "I HATE YOU!!"
"You'll love it once you think about it properly," Mira called after her, playful and calm. "I can send diagrams if—"
"NOOOOOO!!" Aria screamed, practically sprinting now.
She stomped down the aisle, practically running as she fled the lecture theatre, her flustered squeaks echoing faintly behind her.
As she reached the door, Mira called out sweetly:
"Think about it~~!"
Aria's response was a muffled, horrified shriek before she disappeared into the hallway.
The lecture hall door slammed behind her with an echoing BANG.
Mira dusted off her skirt, satisfied. "Mm. That went well."
The whole class stared at her in stunned silence.
Then Mira crossed her legs, satisfied.
"And that," she said smugly, "is how you negotiate."
The entire class stared at her, horrified, impressed, and very, very confused.
And Mira simply smiled, proud of the chaos she'd unleashed.
....
The moment the class stepped into the massive gymnasium, their hearts collectively sank.
Because she was already there. Waiting. Smiling.
Professor Selene.
Her hair was tied back today, her sharp ears twitching, and her beastkin tail swept the air behind her in a dangerously cheerful arc, an unmistakable sign she was excited.
And when Selene was excited, they suffered.
THUD!
The sound was like a death sentence.
A stack of heavy metal weights crashed onto the polished floor in front of her, echoing across the entire chamber.
"Welcome, little first-years," Selene purred, hands on her hips. "Today's lesson is simple: run until you cry."
Groans erupted instantly.
Someone whispered, "We're dead."
Another answered, "We're beyond dead. We're ghosts already."
Selene clapped sharply. "I heard that. Ghosts run too."
More groaning.
Elion walked in last, looking refreshed, almost glowing, having just come from lunch.
He stretched slightly, rolling his shoulders, as if unaware of the collective despair settling over the room like a fog.
Several students glared at him purely out of envy.
How is he so calm?
But before he could take three steps inside, a blur of short blue hair rushed toward him.
"—Elion!"
Aria appeared at his side, her fitted training top and shorts hugging her frame as she jogged up.
Even in neutral gym gear, she drew eyes; her hourglass figure highlighted perfectly in the training clothes.
She planted herself next to him like she belonged there.
"You're late," she said, though her tone was more worried than scolding. "I thought Selene was going to start before you got here."
"I made it," he replied simply.