I don't know! Regina, let's put our heads together!

I hissed at Regina, the servant of the Ring who was still seated at the desk in front of me. "What should I start with?"

"Whatever you want," she replied, rolling her eyes again.

"You can read my mind! Tell me what I want."

She gave me an unamused smirk. "Seriously? You don't even know what you want."

"So if I don't know what I want, how am I supposed to know where to start?!"

"Uuugh, what a pain in the ass!" Regina groaned, curling her lip at me. "I see people become sex-crazed lunatics, power-mad despots, or misguided philanthropists all the time when they get this thing, but I can't remember ever seeing someone become as pissy and directionless as you. Well, I wanted you to figure this out on your own, but I'm starting to see it'll be faster and less annoying if I help you out. So, let's at least be clear about this. You are horny, right?"

"Constantly," I admitted readily.

"So you wanna do something about your horniness, but apparently you don't want to just pick your favorite girl and have warm her up to the idea of helping you blow your load, is that right?"

"No, that actually sounds pretty good..."

Regina didn't look satisfied. "It must not be good, because if it was, you'd already be trying that. You already told me you think the blonde's hot, and despite her being close to you, you're not going after her. You kinda sorta cleared any moral reservations with that soldier chick, but you're not going for her, either. No, I think I know the problem. You don't have strong focus of your desires."

"So... you're saying I just have to focus harder on what I want from my target?"

"That'd be nice, but I don't think you can. Well, maybe you could grow some focus, but I think that'll be a pain to wait for... Let's think about the times your ring has worked so far, shall we? There's generally two situations it seemed to work best: first, when the situation was already basically set up for you, you seemed to be able to nudge your singular target into doing something themselves. Things like Kaede stepping over your face, or Mukuro saying that dirty line, you didn't think of exactly what you wanted them to do. Instead, you had a subconscious want, like 'Kaede's close, it'd be cool if now she finally shows me her panties' or 'I need Mukuro to understand what being controlled is like, so it'd be cool if she said something she wouldn't normally,' and then the thing happened. So I think you can have what you want, even if you don't know what you want."

I nodded along, taking notes in my school notebook. It occurred to me that Ms. Yukizome had resumed her actual opening lecture, and it seemed to be expressly for the benefit of acclimating me to the parts of school everyone else already knew. In spite of that, she was letting Regina and I carry on our sidebar conversation without complaint. I paused my writing for a moment, having a thought. "What about with Junko, then? In that case, I specifically wanted to make her boobs bigger, and I did."

"Did you? Are you sure you didn't just want 'something' to happen that would prove you had reality controlling power from you grabbing her boobs? All of these things are just your unspoken desires happening in the most direct and pleasing way they can for you. Also, why would you take notes on this, idiot? Just pay attention instead of leaving a record for a nosy classmate... Anyway, the second point is more of a surprise. When you thought 'I want everyone else to give an embarrassing introduction,' you managed to make it happen to your entire class, one after another, in spite of some of them having strong wills that should have directly countered that shift. Not to give you a big head, but that seems way beyond the wimpy ring power you'd shown up until that point. I don't know what that means. Any theories?"

I tapped my notebook with my pen nervously as I tried to give it some consideration. "Hmmm... Maybe it's related to me being a ringmaster?"

"Yes, I think your power of persuasion is probably tied to your being the Ringmaster. Sorry if you thought it was just your natural girlish charm."

"No, not 'Ring Master,' 'ringmaster' like in a circus. So, like... maybe I'm more talented in giving people their cues, rather than giving them an order. Could that be it?"

Regina crossed her arms and smiled. "It could be. Not bad. You're not such a sad sack when you actually make an effort. So, while I think it'd be smart to try out different things, in the interest of finally getting you some relief, maybe you can try playing to your strengths? Just a thought. Well, you should think about it, but for now, you should probably answer the teacher. She's been trying to get your attention for about a minute now."

I sprung from my chair and turned to Ms. Yukizome. "Huh? I mean... maybe?" I tried out an answer.

Light laughter spread through the class while the teacher put her fists at her hips. "You 'maybe' want me to go over it again?" she asked. "Allrighty, then... Like I said, today is a Talent day on the calendar, and we're doing accompanied studies. You'll join one of your classmates in their lab and assist them with their specialized talent exercises. In the afternoon, they'd ordinarily trade, but your lab isn't set up just yet... Also, everyone's already paired up, so you'll have to join as a third. That means that while we get this sorted out, you'll shadow two partners, and participate in the second partner's lab in the afternoon. So! Please look at the board and tell us who you'd like to join. There's no wrong answer; I'm sure any of your classmates would be happy to have you. And since we do this regularly, you'll have plenty of chances to help your other classmates in the future."

On the blackboard behind Ms. Yukizome, she'd written names of a number of pairs. It looked like my options were:

1. Junko and Mukuro (Fashion and Battle)
2. Aoi and Sayaka (Swimming and Pop music)
3. Tenko and Himiko (Martial arts and Magic)
4. Akane and Angie (Gymnastic exercise & Art)
5. Hiyoko and Chiaki (Dancing & Gaming)
6. Kaede and Maki (Piano and Child care)
7. Miu and Peko (Invention and Swordsmanship)

As expected, Regina was entirely left out of this count. Ignoring that, this seemed like a good time to try and put my research to work. In theory, it should be easy to project my vague want and have it be picked up by everyone in the class. Since I don't feel like picking from seven choices...

As if in response, Mukuro and Kaede suddenly rose from their seats and both started babbling at me at once. "You should join my sister and me-!" "You can join Maki and me-"

The two looked at each other in surprise. Kaede cleared her throat and gave Mukuro a smile. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

Mukuro didn't return the smile, or any other emotion, for that matter. "I was saying... Minnie already met both me and my sister and had conversations. It'll be easier for her to adjust with us."

"I think Minnie will find it easier to adjust to our labs on the first day. Fashion and, uh, battle? That's a pretty intense first go, don't you think?"

"At least they're things she can actually help with." Mukuro scoffed and rolled her eyes. "How does anyone actually help you with piano lab, in the first place?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were looking down on piano," Kaede commented, crossing her arms in front of her sizable chest seriously. "There's a whole lot that goes into preparation, actually! Besides, someone could actually get hurt in battle lab, couldn't they? It's a bad idea."

Mukuro stepped closer to Kaede, her hand flexing at her hip subconsciously. "What's a bad idea is wasting everyone's time. We'll be starting with fashion, anyway-"

"Not a bad idea, for you," Kaede interrupted, looking like she hadn't expected a fight on this offer, but was willing to give one.

"... What's that supposed to mean?" Mukuro asked, tilting her head to a dangerous angle. "There's more to fashion than buying everything pink in the store, you know."

"Mukuro, let's not make this personal..." Kaede sighed, then shut her eyes pensively. She opened one to give Mukuro a sidelong look. "We both know there are personal reasons you want Minnie in your lab. I just don't think it's a good idea for her to pick based on that kind of personal reason since she just joined us."

The soldier raised an eyebrow. "I think you have a misunderstanding... Also, there's no personal reason that you want her in your lab? You sure?"

"I just think it'd be good for her to learn from someone who's friendly, and has something to teach her..." By this point, Kaede had walked forward enough to meet Mukuro face to face.

To an audible murmur from the class, the soldier's hand shot out to grab the v-shaped collar of Kaede's sweater. Mukuro pulled her closer, then gave her a dangerous smile. "You wanna see how friendly I can be, Barbie?"

... Obviously, this catfight was because of me. A part of me was interested in seeing how it'd develop if I let it keep going, but a part of me wondered if my reality power was enough to make it sexy instead of murderous. It'd probably be better if I just chose one of them? Then again, I could pick someone else and possibly de-escalate the situation I'd created... A part of me was a little pissed that my wave of "fight over me if you want me" had only drummed up two participants, but that was something I could work on.