<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/4/4a/Iris_Heart_-_Hyperdimension_Neptunia_-_2x3_portrait_-_mischeivous.png)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Natsuki Akuzawa<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Booth in a diner<br/><strong>Time:</strong>Second day, afternoon<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong>School uniform, without panties<br/><strong>With:</strong>Biscuit<br/><br/>Natsuki blinked in surprise and blushed when Biscuit put his hand on her head, like he was comforting a child. Well, looking at the height difference between the two, that’s probably how she looked to him. She wanted to protest that she wasn’t exactly<em>short</em>… but in context, that would have been a weak point to make.<br/><br/>Then he took her chin, and that was even<em>more</em>surprising and embarrassing. She looked into his eyes with her eyes wide with shock, and cheeks bright red with blush. By the time he called her “cute” and grabbed her hand, all she could muster was a sputtered:<strong>“<em>B-baka!</em>”</strong>But she let herself be led into the restaurant.<br/><br/>She allowed him to lead her into the restaurant, though the whole time her face was bright red because of the fact he was holding her hand. When he asked the waitress for a private booth, she smiled with a look that made Natsuki wonder if it was possible to literally die of embarrassment.<br/><br/>For whatever reason, Ben had the foresight to seat them with her back to the room… so she wouldn’t have to see that everyone could see<em>her</em>… and him… together… in a private booth….<br/><br/>She shook her head violently to derail that train of thought, then was caught unprepared by the waitress’s question. She stared for a moment like a deer in headlights, before shyly looking away and mumbling:<strong>“… same… please.”</strong><br/><br/>There was a long, nervous silence – nervous for<em>her</em>, anyway. Biscuit seemed quite calm. After a few moments, she wondered if she should say something… just to break the silence. But she had no idea what to say.<br/><br/>Thankfully, he seemed to finally organize his thoughts, and started speaking… but of course, it was<em>that</em>topic. The nervous shyness drained out of Natsuki, and her shoulders slumped. She really didn’t want to talk about this stuff, of course. But… it needed to be discussed.<br/><br/><strong>“<em>Level</em> three,”</strong>Natsuki corrected, in a soft voice, with a cool familiarity with the term that was unnerving.<strong>“<em>Threat</em> level three,”</strong>she added.<br/><br/>She wouldn’t meet his eyes, looking at the table, the wall, anything she could find an excuse to look at. She leaned back in her seat, hands folded on her lap.<br/><br/><em>This would be easier if you hated me,</em>she thought.<em>Or feared me.</em><br/><br/>So she fixed her eyes on his, burning with cold heat. It was the look she’d adopted in lock-up to hold the guards and other threats at bay; a look that screamed danger and barely restrained violence.<br/><br/><strong>“That’s the highest threat level for freaks,”</strong>she said, coldly.<strong>“At least the highest for freaks allowed to live. It means potentially extreme threat to humans and human safety, usually coupled with a demonstrated attitude that suggests a will to use their power in such a way. For example….”</strong><br/><br/>She leaned forward slowly, never taking her eyes with their intense, threatening gaze off of his.<br/><br/><strong>“… an abnormal with the power,”</strong>she said in an icy tone,<strong>“to reach into your chest, and squeeze your heart, stopping it from beating, while leaving no traces.”</strong><br/><br/>Of course, Natsuki could not really do that. If she tried to reach into his chest while insubstantial, all she’d be able to do is wave her fingers through his heart, insubstantially. If she tried to make her hand solid while inside his chest, her hand would be violently thrown out as it solidified, mostly like wrenching her joints, possibly even dislocating or breaking something.<br/><br/>But he wouldn’t know that.<br/><br/>She leaned slowly back in her seat, then looked away again, trying hard to keep her expression hard, and cold.<strong>“You are a nice person, Ben-chan,”</strong>she whispered, sadly.<strong>“But is there not a story among your people about the dangers of ‘nourishing a viper in one’s bosom’?”</strong>Then she added in a cold, even tone:<strong>“Or letting a scorpion ride on your back seat?”</strong>