Change of theme

(Eric POV)

Eric woke up quickly. Jessica was still sleeping peacefully beside him. It was going to be a busy day, but that didn't seem to stop Jessica from sleeping. Eric, on the other hand, had had trouble falling asleep.

It was highly likely that he wouldn't survive the first test. If the game focused too much on sex, his chances of victory were slim. It would be a miracle if he didn't finish last. There were several reasons for this. Firstly, he himself admitted to being rather ignorant on the subject. He knew more about sex from a biological point of view than an erotic one. Secondly, he was male, which was clearly a major handicap if his aim was to seduce Leo. And finally, and this was probably the biggest problem, he was completely devoid of sexual desire, which meant he couldn't understand anything.

Oh, he tried to reason with what he knew. He'd learned years ago that men on average preferred large breasts to small ones. On the other hand, recognizing when a situation was exciting was completely out of his reach.

He chose to get up quietly. There was no point in waking Jessica just yet. Eric dressed and left his room. Now he didn't have to worry about waking Jessica. However, it was far too early. He doubted he'd run into anyone at the breakfast table.

He was surprised to see Daphne at the table, looking as if she hadn't slept all night. This annoyed him. He wasn't annoyed that Daphne hadn't slept well, he couldn't care less. No, what annoyed him was that he'd been wrong. Eric Dulac was never wrong, or only exceptionally so. Mistakes were more Leo's habit.

"Ah, there you are... Hello." said Daphne in a tone of voice so depressed that it was obvious it wasn't going well at all for her.

"Hello, then. You look like you slept very badly," Eric commented.

"You think so?" replied Daphne sarcastically.

"I only had to sleep two or three last night," she explained.

"Any nightmares?" asked Eric.

"Yes and no." replied Daphne without elaborating.

Eric decided to drop the conversation, as Daphne obviously had no intention of saying anything more. So they found themselves sitting opposite each other, neither of them speaking.

The situation seemed to make Daphne sufficiently uncomfortable that she decided to question him.

"What do you think is going to happen today?" she asked.

Eric hesitated. Whatever answer he gave would not be good news.

"Nothing good, I'm afraid," said Eric.

"You think I'm going to get eliminated?" she asked.

So that was what was worrying her. Interesting.

"I'd like to say no but in all honesty I haven't got a clue. If we just look at the facts I'm in as much trouble as you are because of my gender and popularity. Jessica is also clearly in a tricky situation. The one who seems safest is Hanna, but she's also the one with the fewest VPs. So my answer is I don't know," replied Eric.

And once again there was silence. Usually, Daphne and Eric could discuss pop culture, manga and TV series, but this time they weren't in the mood. Luckily for them, the silence was soon broken by Jessica's arrival.

"You could have waited for me, you know?" said Jessica, visibly trying to make an effort to remain polite.

"I know." replied Eric spontaneously.

The answer seemed to irritate Jessica even more. Eric didn't understand why she was asking questions if she didn't want to hear the answer.

"You're getting on my nerves. But I'm thinking that maybe tonight I won't have to sleep with you anymore," Jessica said, smiling at the prospect.

Eric chose the most diplomatic approach he knew.

"And you wish to share your bed with whom?" he asked.

Jessica flushed and took her face in her hands.

"Leo doesn't count," said Daphne, who had guessed what Jessica was thinking.

"Oh, stop it! Just because you chose to scuttle yourself doesn't mean we have to do the same. Leo's a nice boy. I really don't understand why you reject him," Jessica said.

Before Daphne could reply, Leo's voice rang out.

"Hello, everyone. What were you talking about?" said Leo.

All attention focused on him. Blanche was standing right behind him. She lowered her head and her cat's tail was completely motionless behind her back. She looked embarrassed, which didn't really suit her character.

"We were discussing what Nola might have thought about a first test," Eric lied.

He hated doing that. Lying was almost always a bad idea, but clearly he didn't trust Leo to handle the truth right now.

"Oh, I see. I hope it goes well," said Leo, who didn't seem to appreciate the answer.

"All that's missing now are Hanna and Abigail," said Daphne.

No wonder, they always came last. Leo and Blanche sat down at the table without Blanche having spoken. It was almost alarming.

It was another 20 minutes before Hanna and Abigail joined them.

"Hi everyone, you slept well. I slept very well. I'm sure today will be full of surprises," said Hanna.

It was Jessica who expressed what everyone was thinking.

"You took the anti-stress pill again, didn't you?" said Jessica.

Anti-stress pill 1000 BP: Prevents stress and stuttering for 24 hours. Also boosts self-confidence.

- 1000 BP for Hanna.

"Exactly. I'm free of the stress that's been eating away at me again" says Hanna.

"I tried to explain to her that it wasn't necessary for her to make progress in this area and that in a few weeks she wouldn't even know the difference, but she wouldn't listen to me," said Abigail.

Eric really doubted that Hanna could make that much progress. People don't change.

"At least you'll be more relaxed for the test," said Daphne.

"Thanks, Eric. I know that's why I took the pill," said Hanna enthusiastically.

"I'm glad to see that at least one person is in a good mood this morning," said Nola.

Once again Nola had appeared out of nowhere.

"Since everyone's here, I'm going to take this opportunity to announce some news," said Nola.

Eric really hated the suspense she was creating. It was completely artificial and only served to satisfy the audience.

"Let's start with the bad news. The test won't take place until after lunch," said Nola.

Bad news for Nola was more like good news for them.

"Then I remind you that I had talked about Additional Theme chooses for best date. I've decided to change my mind. You all get the extra theme you chose," says Nola.

"But we didn't choose a theme," says Daphne.

"If you all thought about what theme you'd rather have and I just took your favorite choice in your mind. Which gives us the following result," says Nola.

The themes corresponded to those they had discussed. So Nola could actually read their minds or at least extract information from them.

"Daugther, Girlfriend, ..." murmured Leo.

"However that would be forgetting the best date poll. Let's have a look at the results," said Nola.

1 Hanna : 24,3% => + 1220 BP

2 Abigail : 20,3% => +1020 BP

3 Daphne : 16,3% => +820 BP

4 Eric: 16% => +800 BP

5 Blanche: 14% => +700 BP

6 Jessica: 9% => + 450 BP

"Hanna is once again first and Jessica last, but the rest has changed enough for it not to be confused with a popularity poll. Now I'm going to offer you an opportunity to break away from a theme that's been imposed on you," says Nola.

Change the theme. Interesting.

"Now it's time to choose the theme you like least," said the Leprechaun.

The whole table began to think. Surprisingly, it was Blanche who spoke up for the first time all day.

"I'd like to get rid of the 'Submission' theme," said Blanche.

This wasn't really surprising. Blanche had already expressed how much she couldn't stand the theme.

"I wish to get rid of the 'Maid' theme," said Abigail.

"I wish to get rid of the '****' theme," said Jessica.

"I want to get rid of the Cosplays theme, all my themes are great, but I guess this is the one I like the least" says Hanna.

"I want to get rid of the 'Free use' theme," said Daphne.

Now that was a surprise Eric would have bet, she'd get rid of the 'Harem' theme, but he supposed her transformation influenced his decision. Now it was his turn to announce his choice. The choice was obvious.

"I choose to get rid of the 'Princess' theme," said Eric.