145: A Private Plane

The week passed in what felt like a blink. As the day of departure had come closer, Nyssa found herself in a rare position—struggling to fall asleep. Her daily ten hours had been whittled down to an anemic eight. At first, she hadn’t been nervous, but as Roxanne, Slade, and Kaiser continued showering her with affection, it had grown.

It felt reminiscent of a family tearfully sending their child off to get killed...

It can’t be that serious! Come on! ... my life won’t be in danger... that much...

Their actions, though, did breed a sense of apprehension though, and when the day to leave came, Nyssa trudged off with slow steps. Stuck to Celeste like a wet leaf, they got onto the bus towards the airport.

“... Dang, they have a whole entire wing reserved for people on this trip?” Nyssa mumbled after they passed through security. “How big is this mission?”

“They haven’t published numbers because it might leak too much information,” Celeste looked around. She wheeled along her luggage with one hand and held Nyssa’s hand with the other. “Our battalion alone has close to a hundred though. All the high-ranking members from both of your siblings’ guilds, plus us, plus the graduate student division.”

“And we’re just the bait team...” Nyssa sighed. “Am I always just going to be bait?”

“For now, probably, your rank is a little too low still because of your lack of endurance,” Celeste patted Nyssa on the back. “You’re improving though, keep at it. And we’re a half-frontal assault team, Roxanne and Slade’s guilds are too powerful for them to just leave as bait. So we’ll get to do some fighting.”

“You might. I feel like they’ll tell me I can’t again...” Nyssa grumbled. She squeezed Celeste’s hand. “Stay safe, don’t overexert yourself like last time. Your eyes just returned to full health, if you do something stupid again I’ll... ... I’ll...”

“You’ll?” Celeste raised an eyebrow. “Not use me as a napping pillow for a couple days?”

“... no, no that has to stay, you’re really comfortable...” Nyssa stared down at the floor as they kept walking. She sank into her thoughts, but the longer she thought, the more her ears warmed. With a whisper, she, after a couple seconds, managed to muster. “I won’t kiss you for a couple days...”

“Awww, I’m very scared,” Celeste pulled Nyssa closer for a hug. Leaning over, she pecked Nyssa on the forehead. “I guess I’ll just have to do the kissing instead then in that case.”

“Hey! Now you’re not playing fair! Why can’t you just take care of yourself!” Nyssa shoved Celeste off of her. Her eyes darted around, and once she saw no one looking at them, she let out a sigh of relief. “Not in public...”

“Of course, of course,” Celeste nodded, beckoning Nyssa to come closer. The moment Nyssa held her hand again though, she pulled her closer, leaned forward, and kissed her again—this time, on the lips. Not a second later, she let go and began running, dragging her luggage along with her.

“You!” Nyssa’s eyes blazed. Tightening her grip around her luggage, she resisted the urge to transform in a public area and began chasing after Celeste. The gazes now coming towards her didn’t matter.

She’ll pay!

As for how she’d make Celeste pay, Nyssa had no idea, but catching Celeste was the top priority. To send a message and assert her pride if nothing else!

---

Nyssa and Celeste’s ‘running through the airport’ antics led them to arrive at the private wing much earlier than the rest of Class Zero. Both out of breath, Nyssa ended the chase as she crashed into Celeste with a hug. Too tired to do anything anymore, she just grabbed Celeste’s hand and dragged her along.

Together, they looked on their phones for the gate reserved for their team. Each separate part of the strike force had been given its own private jet, and, of course, as one of the more important parts of the operation, they had received one a slight bit nicer than the others.

Walking up to the gate—still a bit out of breath—they both ignored the questioning gaze the gate attendant gave them before showing their confirmation passes to get on the plane. As they disappeared into the plane to board, the gate attendant couldn’t help but turn to her coworker. “... it’s a private jet, why are they rushing? They’re one of the first to arrive too... and also it’s not like the jet would leave without everyone already being here.”

“Don’t question it, this is an important reason, maybe there’s a deeper reason. Like this is mandatory training... or like, a secret warm up, whoever arrives first gets a prize,” The other gate attendant shrugged and waved off the question. “You’ll learn to not question it after a while.”

“A... Ah, okay,” The original gate attendant nodded. As another group—who had no one out of breath—arrived, she straightened her back, ready to help them onto the plane. She hid her confusion, but still did her job.

As for the two she had been confused about, they had already chosen their seats in a secluded corner of the plane, put away their stuff, and settled into their chairs. Nyssa stared out the window, a bit of nervousness creeping onto her face.

“Not transforming to take a nap?” Celeste reached over, smoothening out Nyssa’s white hair. She pulled it back to let it cascade down Nyssa’s shoulders. “You can nap on my lap if you want.”

“... Too nervous...” Nyssa trailed off. A pair of cat ears popped up onto her head, but before she went through with the rest of the transformation, she hid them once more. “Yeah, I don’t think I’m in the mood to sleep yet.”

“The operation starts tonight though, you’ll need as much rest as you can get,” Celeste softened her voice. She pulled Nyssa downward to lay on her lap. “Come on, rest a bit.”

Nyssa’s face reddened, not a second later, reddened as Conrad walked by—while giving them a truly intense amount of side-eye. She cringed, curling her toes, and a second later, transformed. Now a white cat, she snuggled into Celeste’s lap.

Celeste, on the other hand, with a familiar passenger on her lap once more, took out her phone and snapped a photo. After sharing it to the school’s anonymous message board, she closed her phone before any of the inevitable jealous replies poured in. Her eyelashes fluttered as she closed her eyes, and not long later, she joined Nyssa in dreamland.

---

On the message boards, meanwhile, the new picture took everyone by storm.

[Why does she get to cuddle the cat!!! T^T this is discrimination!!]

[KITTTYYYY]

[Catto]

[This one anonymous poster has been hoarding the institute’s cat for so long. Why does she get it when we don’t? What kind of bias is this!]

[Maybe she’s the Ravenstein daughter, the one with transformation powers! That way she can lure the cat over!]

[Maybe she’s the cat herself!]

[no, no there’s no way]

[best cat]

[None of the other institutions have a cat, we’re just better like that]

[look at her earssssss i’m melting a;ogirha;groija;oiaj;oaigja;f they’re so cute, gah.... So perfectly pettable... so perfectly scratchable...]

[I’m so jealous of the anonymous poster, it seems like she’s been able to interact with the cat on a regular basis...]

[Watching another man drown while dying of thirst....]

[The other person isn’t even drowning! More like watching one person frolic in a water park while dying of thirst...]