At Shokushu there was no such thing as summer vacation, but there was a season of special excitement. It wasn't that the weather became warmer or more pleasant, since Shokushu's climate was constantly quasi-tropical, nor that the students had months of indolent leisure to look forward to. The semester breaks which corresponded to Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter lasted a paltry week and a half, and were always frenetic affairs where the campus population teemed with the effort of condensing their recreation into the truncated span of days allowed. Yet Summer Break had a character of distinction from the other three, composed of nostalgia for the recently departed graduate class who were surely embarking onto better things, and anticipation for the influx of new blood that would introduce a much longed-for element of novelty into the student body's constrained, utopian existence.

The plane containing the new shipment of nubile Freshmen was due to arrive in moments. The customary gathering was emplaced perpendicular to the terminus of the landing strip (there was no airport or terminal beyond a squat Orientation and Customs office) where they would be ready to receive the undoubtedly eager students as they disembarked. The entire faculty was arranged in rather solemn rows and columns, replete in institutional uniforms which would be discarded for casual clothing the moment the welcoming ceremony was complete. The female professors mostly watched their fingernails or sent reproving glances toward the men, or else fought against grinding their teeth in trepidation. The male professors mostly searched the sky for a glint of the plane, fussing with their cuff links and suit jackets, or surreptitiously applied doses of cologne as they raked their feminine peers with bored, sated glances. A small number of those present waited with abjectly lewd intent, rubbing sweaty palms and cracking ribald jokes in low tones. A smaller number yet maintained their sense of decorum, patiently biding time, reigning in their energy for when they would inspect the fresh meat.

Further back a less ordered assembly mimicked the welcoming committee's murmuring as a comet-bright streak plunged out of a cloud, resolving itself into an ordinary looking Boeing jet as it curved sharply to make a horizontal approach to the tarmac. These persons were made up of Head Girls and Prefects bearing the trademark sash signaling their curtailed authority, a few newly minted Seniors who took advantage of their privilege to attend, and a diffuse group who imperfectly meshed with those surrounding them. Diffuse because Shokushu's secret clientele were uncomfortable advertising their presence, or else preferred not to associate with others of their ilk. Still, they could not pass up the chance to size up the arriving student body. Natsuki Saika was one of these, wearing her Shokushu uniform as if it were everyday attire, resplendent beside the tense, uncomfortable presence of those around her. She had an air about her as if she were on picnic, unconcerned with those creatures she did not consider to be her peers. Her eyes were all for the feminine marvels which were now emerging from the plane's open hatch, lips pursed in appreciation for the scissor-strut of bare legs, for upturned faces and variously lovely silhouettes clad in decorative colors. She was glad, as she always was at this time, that she could so easily masquerade as human. There were those for whom the facade was difficult. Most of her kind could not do so at all, so were forced to skulk about where they wouldn't alarm the entire frosh parade.

As the plane came to a stop and the doors open Anne sat in her little corner of the plane looking out. With a quick glance at the crowd wiping sleep from their eyes she waited as they collected their things and started disembarking so she could join close to the end of the queue of her new yeargroup shuffling out. Clutching her few possesions and the kit that was given to her by her new school to her chest looking about into the sudden sunlight she glanced around her as she finally put her feet back on the ground she marvelled at how pretty everything was here

"you know... this place might not be so bad after all" she murmured quietly to herself looking about and wondering what was around and what she could find. As her eye travelled around she caught sight of the welcoming party and she gave a soft sigh, giving a last quick glance about before quickly jogging slightly to try and blend with everyone so she wouldn't be singled out and could just get this bit out of the way and she could have a explore and maybe unpack without so many people about

An official stepped forth with loudspeaker in hand and announced the school's feelings of honor and pleasure at receiving such a laudable class of intrepid students, his voice polite and expectant, hard like a barrier. The students were arrested by the sound, given no cover by the featureless grass field they stood on, and were obliged to stand still and suffer the ignominy of the traditional greeting. There would be no chance to dissolve anonymously into the campus, despite inclinations.

A series of greetings and introductions fulfilled the student's ceremonial duties. After the requisite short speeches, punctuated by listless applause, the girls were arrayed in a line from tallest to shortest, whereupon they were bidden to divulge their names, ages, intended realm of study, and hobbies into a peremptorily extended microphone. They were not asked their hometowns or where they attended high school. Histories were discounted. Only statistics mattered.

With the women spread in a line before the onlookers Natsuki Saika could inspect them at her leisure. She compared them to one another with a frank stare, the line of her body angled persistently toward them, her eyes drawn across them in intense bursts, as if inscribing notes. She kept track of relative proportions between her subjects, weighing the balance of color between skin tones and hair hues, and was alert to any betrayal of personality traits. Anne stood out in the line because of how she receded into it, hesitating a step backwards from the throng. Her feet fidgeted toward the microphone, attacking the shadow of the student in front of her to hurry her on, but her gaze found all the empty, lonely places on the campus. She didn't look at anybody else at all. Natsuki found Anne's shyness devastatingly fetching. Anne looked constantly on the verge of retreat, and Natsuki felt a responding instinct to pursue. Her cheeks inflamed as a trickle of adrenaline primed her body for the chase, prompting a vicious little smile. She waited to hear the name of her chosen prey.

Having found a little spot behind a group of students that looked like they were friends Anne breathed a small sigh of relief as the teachers droned on about being priviliged to be here and that they were happy to have such a promising set of young students.

Anne was barely listening as her eyes looked around until she suddenly noticed that the students were all fanning out into a long line queuing up to speak at the microphone. Hurridly moving into line she looked around nervously replaying the last few moments in her mind. As she wracked her mind eyes darting around to escape places she heard the first student speak, a tall confident looking blond girl who looked like she would be perfectly at home running laps around a sports track

"Hello Honored Sirs and Ladies. My name is Ashley Sam-Hier and i'm 18" she said in a strident confident voice "i'm her to study all sorts of physical education and hopefully do your school proud in all events outdoors and in. My hobbies are jogging, exercising and helping little old ladies across the road"

As the assembly chuckled appreciatively Anne shrunk a little further into herself

"oh god no..." she thought..

As the line shortened she felt her breath quickening and patches of colour appeared on her cheeks until suddenly she was there in front of everyone.

"Er... Hello.. my name is A.. Anne" She stammered, hands clenching against her skirt as she tried to control her breathing... Gods how she hated being the centre of attention!

Shutting her eyes for a brief second she pulled on a mask and opened her eyes looking through the crowd that were all watching her

"I'm 18.. and i'm here to study philosophy as my major"

As she started to make her way down the teacher manning the microphone said softly with a kind smile (but picked up clearly over the mic) "Hobbies Anne"

Cheeks suddenly on fire again Anne backtracked to the podium in two quick steps and blurted "My hobbies are reading and exploring. thankyouverymuch" and on that she almost lept of the stage to the group of students that had already spoken, just wanting to hide

It was easier once the public appearances were over, merely a matter of occupying one's mind with other thoughts until the meaningless trivialities of the welcoming ceremony were concluded. The moment the freshmen were invited to move into their dorms the class exploded apart, energetic particles no longer held together in a close mass. Anne lost herself among them in an instant, effortlessly anonymous.

Except that Natsuki Saika was on the young girl's scent.

Natsuki didn't need to bother excusing herself to some secluded corner when she became invisible. She was no Clark Kent ducking into a phone booth, and she knew her vanishing would only be noticed by exactly the people who would be least concerned. What if one of the new girls witnessed one of the faraway crowd suddenly go missing? At worst she'd be referred to the nurse's office for a mandatory vision screening. Natsuki headed into the expanding crowds briskly, stepping directly through any interceding bodies with no more force than an errant breeze. She located Anne almost immediately, a shrinking violet among the exuberant garden of her schoolmates. Natsuki took pace beside the girl where she could admire her subject as she followed. How should I approach her, Natsuki considered. Too forceful an approach would spoil Anne's sweet reticence as surely as knocking over a crystal cup would shatter it. She preferred shyness to outright fear. It was an attitude she could use, a guide and a lure.

With the last few of the students giving their names, age, study areas and hobbies the students were dismissed, Anne hiding among them cheeks still flaming hot from embarressment. As the dissolved various teachers stood by to guide the students to their dorms where they could unpack and get comfortable.

Anne took a deep breath and dug into the pocket of her jacket (which she ostensibly kept on even due to the heat wearing it like a suit of armour). The bit of paper was a welcome document and also detailed where she was staying and rather conviently had a small map of directions so she could make her way to her dorm without too many problems. With a quick glance at the map and look around herself to orient herself (years of exploring had developed her a wonderful natural internal compass) she attached herself to a small group of students led by a teacher heading in the direction she wanted to go. Suprisingly no-one stopped her.

Navigating the buildings with a few short glances at her map she got to her dorm way ahead of the other students (who were being lectured on some of the interesting facts of the school including the merits of additional staircases into the main building from what she heard as she detached herself from her first group)

She found her designated bed (complete with a little notice on it reading "Welcome to Shokushu Anne Deas" and a student guide). With a thought of how well organised it was (most boarding schools she had been to left it up to the students to select their bed!) she opened her bag and quickly stripped out of her uniform and underware sighing happilly as she unclipped her bra letting her breasts move freely without restraint, her nipples hardening ever so slightly as the cool air from the open window tickled them. Kicking of her panties leaving herself her completely naked as she bent over rummaging for her comfy sweater and skirt and those panties she loved wearing (the nice deep blue ones with a neat black trim that were just so damned comfy), managing to upset her once organised bag in her haste for a quick explore and her own brand of orientation in a new area while she was alone and unwatched.

The door was veritably slammed in Natsuki's face, prevented from striking her by the door's sturdy framework, in which it shuddered as it came to a halt. The invisible woman was taken aback by the peremptory emplacement of a barrier in her way, and well on her way to becoming offended by the rudeness of it all when she remembered that she was unseen, that shy Anne had no suspicion that she was present. She quirked her lips wryly, and flicked herself in the forehead for being thoughtless. The door was no formidable obstacle. She'd simply draw on her powers, become incorporeal, and step through it...

Anne's nudity greeted Natsuki's eyes as she entered, startling and complete. Once again Natsuki was taken aback. Her quarry had a talent for throwing her off balance, she considered to herself. That was a novelty in itself. This nubile lady suited her taste for diversion splendidly. She took the time to spy on Anne while the girl made herself at home in her dorm room. Anne's breasts depended from her bent body as she searched clumsily through her bag, surmounted by dainty pink caps like drops of pastel fondant. Her backside was generously round and prominently displayed in her current pose, firm and high enough that Natsuki was given an obscene view of the young woman's sex. Her inky hair made slinky arcs over her shoulder blades and swept the carpet with perspiration laden strands. She made a delectable show of herself when she was unconcerned with being seen, and Natsuki wondered how the naked beauty would react if her illusion of privacy were threatened.

Slowly, so as to prevent Anne's noticing until the deed was accomplished, Natsuki adjusted the Venetian blinds covering the window until the translucent slats were oriented parallel to each other, admitting the heat of Shokushu's sun into the room and revealing the dormitory's interior to any outside passerby.

Anne had just found the top she was looking for pulling it out with a florish and a broad grin and holding it up to the ligh.... light.. "Hang on!"

She whirled around to the blinds - open, letting in a pure bright stream of summers light... and showing her off to anyone that cared to look.

With a startled squeak she pulled the top she had just produced to her chest covering herself as best as she could, her cheeks going from pale to bright red in under two seconds followed hotly by her neck and shoulders giving a startling ofset compared to the rest of her pale body, before dashing to the blinds and fumbling with them one handed (the other still pinning her top to her chest) until she got it closed.

With her cheeks slowly returning back to normal she stepped back towards her suitcase glancing back at the blinds and the door. "How did i miss that?" she thought out loud. "I'm /sure/ those were closed!"

Quickly pulling on her top and bending back over to her suitcase she rapidly rummage to pull out a pair of jeans and the first pair of underware she could find so she could finish getting changed and out of the room before anyone turned up, or just in case someone saw through the window.

My my, what a keen sense of embarrassment she has, Natsuki mused to herself. Anne made an energetic spectacle of herself with her face so red and her frantic search for clothes. A mere suspicion and she's spooked, as jumpy as a wild rabbit. How funny. Natsuki liked that sort of vulnerability in her prospective dalliances. She liked to see a fresh young face reacting to her, responsive to her smallest actions. It was nice to crush grass under one's bare feet, to toss pebbles into a still lake and watch it spread turbulence across its surface. Acknowledging her sovereignty over existence. As Anne squirmed into the security of her sweaty Natsuki regarded the woman with the swelling benevolence one affords to one's own belongings. No amount of cloth could obliterate the sight of Anne's lasciviously formed body now that Natsuki had seen it.

However, Anne looked ready to bolt, eyeing ingress and egress in cautious trepidation. Armored in sweater and jeans, the only consideration preventing her from fleeing the spot immediately was the prospect of encountering strangers amidst the corridors. Already she was taking steps across the carpet, testing the fibers with her toes like a teenager sneaking out of the house after curfew. The door was inches away, an escape hatch into the unknown. Just reach out and turn the handle Anne. Leave the memory of nakedness behind you. Just open the door before somebody knocks.

Tap tap.

Damnation!

Natsuki smirked as she held her invisible knuckles near the door's wooden grain. That would halt her! Swiftly she bid her material constraints to leave her, skipped with a suppressed giggle through the closed portal, and pirouetted in place, appearing outside the door. A phantom bursting into reality without fanfare or fuss. The light hit her again, made her real and apparent, all pastel colors and subtle female curves. She knocked again, more insistently, and tousled her hair so that it wouldn't lie with such incriminating perfection. A little disorder to make her seem commonplace. Unthreatening.

"Anne?" Natsuki called cheerfully. "Are you in there Anne?"

'Damnation!' was exactly the thought that Anne had in her head when, just before the door, her hand outstreched to the handle a rapid-dual tap came from it.

She froze, feet spread as she was in mid stride, hand outstreched, her green eyes wide and fixed on the door as she held her breath hoping she misheard, or perhaps the sound was coming from another door down the hall.

For a few short seconds all she could hear were the faint sounds of other students from outside and the gentle rustle of the summers breeze on the blinds causing them to move against each other and make a soft clacking noise.

Nothing.

Taking the final step towards the door her hand brushed the smooth metal just about to open it when she heard her name called in a cheerful voice.

"Anne?" - "Are you in there Anne?"

Anne, for her part almost jumped out of her skin, her mind running sixty to the dozen as she thought who it could be? But no-one knows me? Someone does! Is it someone from my dorm? Is it a teacher? Do they know that i'm here? What do they want? Can i get out of this?

All these thoughts shot through her mind with frightening speed while she stood, her hand frozen around the door as she got her breathing back under control.

If she doesn't know i'm here, perhaps she will go away and i can get out on my own!

With bated breath she stood as still as any statue, listening to the blinds still happilly clacking together without a care in the world while praying quietly and feverently that the unknown stranger would just go away and give her chance to explore.

Natsuki huffed. Really, she knew very well that Anne was there. The girl was taking her aversion to humam contact altogether too far, though strictly speaking Natsuki wasn't a human being. Regardless, there was no call to be rude by pretending absence. Natsuki deliberately spaced out a second series of knocks, a little slower, a little firmer.

"Anne? It's the welcoming committee! Well, not a committee per say, since its only me, but I'm here to welcome you, anyway." Natsuki injected a ditzy lightness to her speech, lowering the standards of her grammar to make herself seem more approachable. The airheaded schoolgirl was a part she'd played before, much as she disliked maintaining the show for very long. She hoped Anne would come to her senses and be polite, otherwise there would be no choice but to accost the shrinking violet without delay. Natsuki would tease Anne, but she had no intention of waiting very long to acquaint herself. Such capricious fancies as her attraction to Anne come and go, afterall, so the most has to be made out of her momentary infatuation before the charm faded.

Seconds ticked by on the dormitory hall's requisite clock, and Natsuki began to tap her foot. She sighed. The one characteristic of shy women that annoyed her was their propensity to hide where she couldn't witness their fetching trepidation. A delicate fawn is only cute when it's gamboling about, and a trepidatious girl's blush pleases nobody if she hasn't any company. Fine. She'd just have to force an acquaintance. At least there was one more ploy she might try before unleashing her tentacles on pretty Anne. Invisible in a trice, and incorporeal to boot, Natsuki marched through the door into Anne's room on her way to the opposite window. There she saw Anne staring, quite like her imagined fawn, at the door, clutching herself. She wondered how the girl's shirts survived all the fretful twisting she inflicted on her hems. Anne did look astonishingly pretty in the shade however, setting off her shadow-tresses and deepening her eyes into polished granite orbs. Natsuki giggled, and continued onward to the window. The blinds very slowly turned themselves parallel again by the power of Natsuki's mental command, and the window slid effortlessly upward.

"There you are!" Natsuki exclaimed brightly outside of Anne's window, now solid and visible. A gust of wind announced her along with the inexplicable wealth of light from the blinds which should definitely be shut. "I thought maybe you'd gotten lost, so I went outside to search for you, but here you are after all!" She imitated a befuddled expression, twining a length of her hair around a forefinger. "How come you didn't answer my knock? By the way, you should be careful about keeping your blinds open during the day. Someone might see you changing if you aren't paying attention."

With a shriek Anne jumped, whirled a full hundred and eighty degrees and landed, wrapping her hands around her chest and flattening her back against the door so hard that the door frame rattled gently and the thump must have been heard most of the way down the hall.

Chest heaving and heart pounding in her ears and eyes so wide that the whites were clearly visible even over the distance she stood there, back firmly pressed against the door like she was trying to slide through it she stammered "Wh.. Ho Who...?"

Reaslising suddenly she was babbling Anne shut her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath trying to steady herself while her hands, still raised protectively in front of her began to worry at the collar of her top.

"How?" She thought. "I KNOW I shut those blinds! How are they open?" Then realising suddenly that she was stood there trying not to hyperventilate with someone still looking at her her manners re-asserted themselves. Clenching her teeth once, hard and blinking once she stepped away from the door, her face resolving into a bright smile as if the panic attack had never happened.

"I'm sorry!" Anne said with a almost sincere smile "I'm new here and was just changing! I thought it must have been the wrong door so left it... After all i'm sure you wouldn't want to see me naked!"

Forgetting about the blinds and suddenly realising she had NO idea who this was or even why she was being sought after Annes face took on a rather transparent puzzled look.

"Er..." she said, her frown deepening "You were after me? But i've only just arrived?"

"I'm sure you wouldn't want to see me naked", the fetching, darling little woman had said, and Natsuki almost laughed to think that Anne really believed that. She wasn't just trying to reassure herself. Oh, her distrust practically screamed "get out!" but she had no hint of what was on Natsuki's mind at that point. No no, another ditzy student invading her privacy, threatening only her peace and quiet, surely not interested in her chastity!

"Yes I've been after you." Natsuki bobbed her chin as girlishly as her pinkened cheeks and sense of irony would allow. "I've been after you since you arrived, almost." Alright, enough with the foreshadowing. That kind of diversion wouldn't register with Anne anyhow, or if it did she'd only become more suspicious. Natsuki adopted a prim stance, hands straight at her sides, giving a very correct and plastic smile. "Trust me" that smile said. "I'm only doing what I was told." The authority always came from the teachers, afterall, so if Natsuki had been sent to meet her, what other explanation besides an official missive could there be?

"I'm here to greet you Anne, orientation and all that. You know, show you around, answer questions, get you situated." As if impatient, and afraid of refusal, she babbled on hastily, gripping the edge of the windowsill in affected intensity. "The campus is huge you know, and sometimes people get lost on the island trying to find classes. Or they did anyways, before they started giving tours to the newcomers." A shrug. "It's required. School credit."

"But!"

Anne broke off her argument and sighed, giving off the distinct impression she wanted to sulk. She had been so close to escaping and finding her own way around but she had been firmly trapped. It was beyond her how they managed to track her so quickly, although she couldn't help to be impressed by how on the ball the teachers must be if they spotted a missing student this quickly, let alone managing to guess where she had gone and sent someone to pick her up!

Unfortunately, the fact was that they had managed it and here was her guide. It seemed that there was nothing that she could do get out of it.

"Of course Miss...?" Anne replied, her voice resigned. The sooner they got this over with the sooner she could get on and spend some time exploring alone. Besides, it might be possible to slip away from the group! Anne brightened at the thought. "I'm sorry for you being sent out to get me. Is there a group I was supposed to be with?"

"Oh, you can call me Cha..." the effervescent blond girl paused, and covered her fleeting look of shrewdness by staring upward dreamily, letting her mouth fall open slightly. Usually she went by the name Charlotte when posing as a student, but she was planning just a short interlude with Anne afterall, so there was no reason to establish a solid persona. She readopted her previous, conciliatory smile, as if she'd been distracted by something out of Anne's view.

"My name is Natsuki Saika." She giggled for effect and eased out an imaginary crease in her blouse. "Hi Anne!" She shook her head, and after a twirl to look around clambered lightly into the girl's bedroom. Sunlight bounced on Natsuki's hair as she landed, cut off as she snapped the blinds shut.

"There's no group. Sorry for just climbing in, but I didn't want to walk all the way around to get to you. Just don't say anything 'kay? Nobody's really supposed to go through the windows." Natsuki approached. "Here." Her hand raised up where the new student could accept it. Her fingers were together in expectation, like somebody receiving money. "I'll show you around wherever you want. People used to go in groups, but I guess people didn't pay attention that way. Now the teachers send upperclassmen out to give the tours so that newbies actually find their way around."