Chapter 6 - "Male"
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Captain Hoshina stared at Kaito across the metal table, her expression calm but her eyes sharp enough to cut glass. The silence stretched long enough that he started wondering if this was some kind of psychological tactic. Probably was.
"Let's start simple," she finally said. "Name."
"Kaito Aoyama," he answered. No point lying about that; his old school uniform still had the name tag stitched on.
"Age."
"Seventeen."
"Place of origin."
He opened his mouth, closed it again. The truth — *I'm from 2025, got blasted here by a malfunctioning time machine while trying to save a girl* — sounded like the kind of delusional crap a chuunibyou protagonist would spout in episode one. And honestly, he wasn't sure he wanted these people knowing he was a walking temporal anomaly.
So he went with the classic excuse instead.
"I… don't really remember," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Everything's kind of fuzzy. Woke up in the park, no idea how I got there."
Amnesia. Safe, boring, impossible to disprove right away. He almost felt proud of himself for thinking of it.
Hoshina didn't blink. "Convenient."
"Yeah, well, life's full of coincidences," he muttered.
She tapped her tablet a few times, then leaned back. "We scanned you on arrival. Your DNA markers are… unusual. Pre-Cataclysm baseline. No mana mutation traces. And you're male. Natural-born."
Kaito shrugged, trying to play it cool even though his pulse had started racing. "Lucky me, I guess."
Hoshina's lips twitched — not quite a smile, more like someone confirming a hypothesis. She pressed a button on the table.
The door opened immediately. A woman stepped in.
And Kaito forgot how to breathe for a second.
Red hair tied in a high ponytail, sharp green eyes, figure that the tight black uniform did absolutely nothing to hide. Tall, confident, curves in all the places that made a teenage boy's brain short-circuit. She carried a tablet against her chest and moved like she owned the room.
"Captain," she said, voice smooth and professional.
"This is Kuroda Akane," Hoshina told Kaito. "She'll be assisting with verification."
Verification. Right.
Hoshina nodded at Akane. "Strip."
Kaito's eyes went wide. "Wait, what—"
Akane didn't hesitate. She set the tablet down, reached for the zipper of her uniform jacket, and pulled it down in one smooth motion. The jacket dropped to the floor. Then the skirt. Then the rest.
In less than ten seconds she was standing there in nothing but black lace underwear that left extremely little to the imagination. Full breasts, narrow waist, long legs — the kind of body that belonged on a magazine cover, not in an interrogation room.
Kaito's brain blue-screened. Blood rushed south so fast he felt dizzy. His pants suddenly felt two sizes too small, and there was no hiding the very obvious reaction straining against the fabric.
Akane glanced down, noticed, and raised an eyebrow. Not embarrassed. Not amused. Just… noting it like a scientist observing a lab rat.
Hoshina stood, walked around the table, and stopped in front of him. She didn't touch him, just looked.
"Physiological response normal," she said, almost to herself. "Erection achieved without artificial stimulation. Hormone levels consistent with healthy adult male."
Kaito's face burned. He wanted to die. Or hide under the table. Or both.
"Congratulations, Mr. Aoyama," Hoshina continued. "You are officially the rarest resource on the planet."
Akane picked up her uniform and began dressing again, completely unfazed. Kaito tried very hard to look at the wall and not at the way the fabric slid over her skin.
"You'll be transferred to Peak Harem Academy for integration and monitoring," Hoshina said. "Kuroda will be your assigned personal secretary. She'll handle your schedule, health evaluations, and… compatibility tracking."
Compatibility tracking. Kaito didn't even want to think about what that meant.
Akane finished dressing, picked up her tablet, and gave him a small, professional smile that somehow made everything worse.
"Pleasure to be of service," she said.
Yeah. He was screwed. Literally and figuratively.
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Hours later — after forms, scans, and a silent hovercar ride — Kaito was shown to his new living quarters.
The room was huge. Bigger than his entire house back home. Sleek furniture, massive bed, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the glowing city. Everything screamed luxury.
He dropped his bag — they'd given him new clothes, at least — and flopped face-first onto the bed.
Natural-born male. Rarest resource. Compatibility tracking.
And somewhere out there, maybe, was the silver-haired girl he'd risked everything to save.
He pressed his face into the pillow and groaned.
This was going to be a long century.