Spreading
When exactly had it started? The point when her body no longer needed sleep to function properly.
People said that from Level 8 onward, Awakeners began to slip free of the framework of living beings—able to survive without sleep, without food. That was why people had naturally started calling Awakeners of Level 8 and above Transcendents.
Of course, Level 8 wasn't the exact threshold. Luna herself had been fine without sleep for some time before she ever reached it.
The way she'd discovered that fact had been absurdly mundane. Not long after becoming the boss of the Mors Family, she and Rina had been drowning in endless work—days so grueling that even sleep felt like a waste of precious time. What followed was the natural realization that she didn't need to sleep at all. And not long after that, she rose to Level 8.
Becoming a Transcendent meant she no longer needed rest, which accelerated her work, and the Mors Family began stabilizing at a remarkable pace. She threw herself into family business as if she'd completely forgotten what sleep was—until a worried Rina forcibly enrolled her in the Academy. To get her to rest, even a little.
In the end, it had been the right call. At first she'd complained about having to go to the Academy, but then Rina announced she was enrolling too, leaving Luna with nothing to say. And not long after, she met Elysia.
Having trusted no one but Rina, Luna initially tried to keep her distance from Elysia… but Elysia clung to her stubbornly, insisting she looked tired. Born into the Mors Family, Luna had never had anyone approach her with such easy familiarity except Rina—so she was thoroughly flustered and tried to pull away. Then Elysia, smiling brightly, snuck up from behind and hugged her—and in that embrace, Luna fell asleep.
Luna herself had thought she found Elysia uncomfortable, but Elysia's particular personality and atmosphere had unwound her tension without her even realizing it. From that day on, she started sleeping and eating again. Because she'd realized that just because you could live without sleep and food didn't mean fatigue stopped accumulating.
Still, the sleep debt and mounting fatigue remained, so Luna often sought Elysia out. Her unique scent and presence made sleep come easily.
But… Luna's sleep sessions had changed a little recently.
It started with a simple curiosity: What does Elysia do while I'm asleep?
Even though she enjoyed sleeping these days, going without it still didn't really bother her—so with the lighthearted thought that missing one day wouldn't hurt, she began pretending to sleep.
And Luna came to regret that choice.
While holding Luna in her arms, Elysia used one free hand to clumsily undo her butterfly-shaped necktie.
Wait…
The thought of getting up crossed her mind briefly—but reacting over just an undone necktie seemed oversensitive, so she decided to keep watching a little longer. After all, Rina often undid her clothes for similar reasons—because she looked hot, or uncomfortable. Maybe Elysia was doing the same out of consideration, thinking of her?
After that, Elysia did all sorts of things. Stroking her hair, sniffing her hair, burying her face against Luna's collarbone and squeezing her tight.
"Heut…"
The breath against her collarbone was so ticklish she made a sound, then hastily went back to pretending to sleep. Every time Luna made a noise, Elysia froze like a naughty child caught mid-mischief, checking if she was still asleep. Of course, once she confirmed Luna was sleeping, she continued.
The days of pretending to sleep went on, and one day Elysia seemed to decide on something bolder—her actions shifted from the usual. Not just the necktie, but undoing a few buttons of her dress shirt, resting a hand on her stomach and kneading it… climbing a little higher…
…That far?
Poking and prodding… even giving her cheek a light kiss. Not the kind of kiss filled with romantic love between lovers—more like a "you're so cute I can't help myself!" kiss you'd give a cute animal…
If someone who knew Luna wasn't actually asleep saw this, they might ask: She's going that far—why don't you get up and get mad?
And Luna would probably answer: This is normal, isn't it?
To Luna, this level of physical affection was something she and Rina did every single day. More precisely, it was something Rina did to her unilaterally. Luna only ever touched Rina's body when teasing her as payback. If anything, Rina clung more aggressively than Elysia—boldly hugging her from behind and kneading, or kissing her on the mouth and refusing to let go. Once she'd even tried to stick her tongue in, and Luna had scolded her for it. Rina was still far too young for that kind of thing!
Technically Luna and Rina were only minutes apart in age, but to Luna, Rina was still her precious little sister who needed protecting.
Anyway, this kind of contact was common with Rina, and while Luna didn't initiate it herself, she did enjoy physical affection—so there was no reason to suddenly wake up and kill the mood. Luna figured there must be a reason Elysia only did this while she was "asleep." Probably because she got embarrassed when Luna was awake, or something like that. So what if she suddenly woke up and Elysia stopped wanting to be affectionate?
More than anything, she liked the contact with Rina—but the way Elysia did it was… something else.
Ticklish…
Not the bad kind of ticklish. The good kind. And the thought of never getting this kind of affection again made her feel terribly sad.
Of course, it wasn't without its problems. Even if this level of contact was normal between close friends, the issue was that they were in a classroom full of students. For some reason, it felt… embarrassing.
And besides… since Elysia didn't know she was awake, Luna's one-sided affection had been building up so much that not long ago at the hospital, she'd kissed Elysia's cheek without thinking. Same with Rina. Once Luna got close enough to someone, she had a habit she wasn't even aware of—suddenly initiating physical contact as payback or as a joke.
Holding the belief that this much contact was normal between close friends, Luna had told Rina about how Elysia, Tania, and Adele had reacted strangely that time. And for some reason, Rina had gotten sulky right after, so Luna had to spend a full ten minutes kissing her to cheer her up. In the end, she never found out why their reactions had been like that…
Days passed like that, and finally the day of their date arrived. She'd dressed up more than usual—or more accurately, Rina had dressed her up. Anyway, she'd come in an outfit she'd put more care into than usual, and almost felt a little disappointed when she didn't get any compliments.
But maybe the effort had been worth it after all.
She's working harder today.
At the sight of Elysia looking more focused than usual, a smile rose unbidden. Right now, Elysia had slipped her hand under Luna's top and was resting it quietly on her stomach. Lately she'd often just stay like this, and when she did, Luna's belly grew so warm she genuinely felt like she might fall asleep.
She'd barely hold off the wave of drowsiness until the bell was about to ring—and then Elysia would try to stretch the time just a little longer before hurriedly straightening Luna's clothes. The hand on her stomach would vanish, leaving emptiness and a rush of cold air against her belly.
The shiver from that cold air lasted only a moment. After that, she had to focus her senses on Elysia tidying her clothes. For reasons she couldn't explain, whenever Rina or Elysia straightened her clothes for her, she felt strangely good. Maybe because it felt like someone was looking after her. Having had no one to care for her since childhood, she might have become someone who was moved even by such small gestures.
Her eyes were half-open, but she couldn't really see, so she had to rely a little more on her other senses. When vision was limited, the other senses seemed to grow sharper than usual. The rustle of fabric as crumpled clothes were smoothed out. The cool touch of Elysia's fingertips occasionally brushing bare skin. The sweet scent that always clung to Elysia.
All of it became a single stimulus, filling her with a ticklish feeling. A color of emotion she'd never felt before was slowly spreading through Luna's chest.