The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Kara had the first stretch of peace of mind that she’d had in several days. It was Sunday now; and university classes would be starting up again tomorrow, but ever since seeing Haigure Fit open up on Friday, and especially seeing that blonde girl disappear into it and then come out acting so strangely in a leotard hours later, she hadn’t known peace. She’d gone into one of her reporting obsessions, writing obsessions; it had been her only thought yesterday, and the things she had seen and learned had only increased both her fear and her obsession.

But since speaking to Adelyn, she’d felt nothing but peace. Haigure Fit was getting kicked off of campus; the group’s leader was going to the dean’s office to be disciplined. Her obsession could be derailed, deflated, it could fizzle before it ever had the chance to become anything else, anything more severe. Because the source of her obsession was going to be gone; it couldn’t pose a threat to anyone. The dean’s office was going to deactivate the threat.

So after she’d gotten off the phone with Adelyn yesterday, she had gone over to Alexa’s track practice as planned; then the two of them had spent a happy afternoon and evening together, face to face in each other’s company and completely present; both of them. Alexa had teased her about how out of touch she had been that morning; Kara had laughed it off. It was only a distant memory by then; and there had been no need to tell her girlfriend what the cause for Saturday morning’s disappearance had been. The cause was going to be off of campus and out of all their lives in less than a day; so there was no need to talk about it anymore; or ever, since she had never actually talked about it yet. There was no need to ever think about it again. It could be forgotten; it wasn’t a problem anymore, and it was never going to be.

So when Kara woke up on Sunday morning, she was still feeling this sense of internal peace. After a day and a half of worrying about Haigure Fit, and trying to figure it out, it was nice to go back to the feeling of just... relaxing... without any cares or worries at all.

When Kara checked the time on her phone, she saw she had overslept; she had slept straight through the entire morning, and it was now about two o’clock in the afternoon. Haigure Fit must be old news by now, Kara thought to herself. The dean’s morning with this so-called Lilith person had been in the morning; and directly after the meeting, the dean had sent officers over to the Haigure Fit pop-up to take it down. So it was gone; and she was awake just in time to get Adelyn’s return call.

Still feeling pretty relaxed and leisurely, Kara got out of bed, and this time, actually took the time to make her bed. She wasn’t in any rush. The only thing she did first was make sure her phone wasn’t on silent, so she wouldn’t miss the call when it did come in.

Once the bed was made, Adelyn luckily still hadn’t called yet, so Kara went to her dresser and dressed herself in casual wear for the day. A soft sweater and soft pants; she’d probably be spending most of her day lounging around with Alexa again, just like yesterday, so she didn’t need to wear anything fancy, just needed to dress for comfort.

It was once she was fully dressed, with her hair quickly combed through, that the phone rang, and Kara recognized the number as coming from the Admin Office; this would be Adelyn with her call. Smiling to herself, feeling as happy and calm as ever, Kara reached down, picked her phone up of the bed and stood next to it as she answered. “So Haigure Fit’s long gone by now, I presume?”

She was tapping into the brief rapport that she’d had time to develop with Adelyn the day before.

But Adelyn didn’t seem in the mood to reciprocate her friendliness, or her banter, today.

“Actually, no,” Adelyn said; she sounded glum about it.

The statement completely threw Kara. She quickly sat herself down on the bed; she might have fallen on the floor if she hadn’t directed the descending energy in a specific direction. “What?”

“Haigure Fit has not been shut down,” Adelyn said, and it sounded like she was pulling her fingers from the lids of her closed eyes towards the bridge of her nose; over and over, like she was trying to deal with a source of great distress. “The dean meat with Lilith this morning; but the meeting lasted much longer than it was scheduled. When the meeting was over, Lilith left; and the dean was wearing... she still is...”

Adelyn’s voice dropped as if she were ashamed of what she had to say next; or as if she was afraid to admit it to herself aloud, or like she thought that if she did, no one would ever believe her; clearly she thought it was too strange to be real, whatever it was that had happened... or possibly, it was a combination of all three reactions.

But Kara knew firsthand from experience that things people feared and ashamed of... especially when they were things that people had witness... those things were the first place to go when you were looking for a story. And Kara wasn’t looking for a story; hadn’t been, since she’d thought the Haigure Fit loose end would tie itself. But it seemed a story had found her, chosen her, whether she liked that or not, and so her reporterly instincts were kicking in.

“What, Adelyn? You can tell me. I’ll believe you. I’ve seen enough strange things related to Haigure Fit in the past few days that I’ll definitely believe you.”

Adelyn inhaled; that had been just what she’d needed to hear for her to spill. “The dean is wearing— a leotard.”

The last part of that sentence was still a hurried whisper. Like now Adelyn was holding her hand around her phone and to her mouth; so her words were only going into the receiver and nowhere else.

Kara swallowed. She didn’t think there was another pair of words that Adelyn could have said which would have filled her with similar fear. There weren’t any other two-word combinations that could have so chilled her. “A leotard,” she repeated.

“Yes, it’s a solid light blue, but it’s... very revealing... she’s my employer, I definitely didn’t want to know how she groomed her... pubic area, but the crotch of it is so thin; completely exposes the hips, it’s impossible to miss; And the top of it is just as revealing; the sides of the dean’s breasts are completely visible. It’s... the dean herself helped draft the dress code, she has to know that wearing an item like that—an item that’s basically lingerie—she has to know it’s inappropriate, but she refuses to take it off, change into anything else, or put anything else overtop of it—”

Adelyn’s voice had become a keen, like she was pleading with reality to go back to normal; and might be on the brink of tears to find that it was refusing to.

“I believe you, Adelyn,” Kara said, softly; trying to soothe her with her tone alone. She didn’t know enough about the situation to offer help beyond a soothing tone.

Kara thought to herself that the rapport they’d formed yesterday had come in handy after all; she doubted Adelyn would have opened like this to a complete stranger; and though Adelyn had to be older than Kara, an adult in her late twenties or early thirties at least, she felt in this moment that she was a source of comfort and strength for the older woman; she was the mature one in this conversation, and Adelyn was relying on her.

There was a rustling, as if Adelyn was nodding to herself; a sniffle, maybe a dragging of a hand across a nose, as if Adelyn were re-composing herself. “So Lilith met with the dean; she left, the dean didn’t ask me to send out the officers to shut the club down, so I went into her office and asked her if she wanted me to dispatch them.

“But when I went into her office, I found she was wearing that leotard; I was so shocked for a second I didn’t even notice she was working hard at something on her computer. I asked her why she was dressed like that, but she didn’t answer me. Then I noticed she was working hard; this was odd too, because it’s a Sunday. On weekends during university breaks, the dean still likes us both to come in and make sure everything is in order, but the workload is usually much lighter; and I knew she wasn’t supposed to have a whole lot on her docket today; but she was working like a mad women, so I asked her what she was doing...”

Adelyn’s breath hitched, as if what was next was particularly painful to her.

“She said she was rushing through the registration for the Haigure Fit Club, and its sister club, the Haigure Appreciation Club, that she was seeing to it herself personally... it was an oversight that it hadn’t been officially registered in the system, and she was going to make sure all the information was filled out herself. She’d gotten it all from Lilith when they met, she said. She was going to make sure both clubs could go on running without any difficulty as long as they wanted to, she said... she didn’t want them to have any administrative difficulties at all...”

Now Adelyn sounded dazed, like she couldn’t believe what she herself was saying.

Kara sat very still on the bed. She could believe it. Some part of her, deep down, hadn’t believe Haigure Fit would be so easily dispatched; she’d just hoped, and when things had seemed to be going that way, she’d let herself trust it... but deep down, she had still doubted. There was a part of her hearing this that wasn’t surprised at all.

“I just don’t understand,” Adelyn let out; it sounded like she was back to stroking from her eyelids in towards the bridge of her nose. Then Kara heard Adelyn’s hand drop onto her desk. “She was so adamant yesterday that Haigure Fit need to be shut down and kicked off of campus. What could have changed her mind so quickly? She went from shutting them down to rushing their registration through in less than two hours. What could Lilith have possibly said—what could have been so convincing—to make her do that? And why won’t she take off that leotard?”

Adelyn sounded completely on the brink of tears by this point; Kara’s heart went to her.

“Is the dean taking any visitors for the rest of the day?” Kara asked.

Adelyn seemed to straighten up; even through the phone, Kara could tell she was paying more attention now. “Why?” She audibly dragged a hand against her nose again.

“I’m wondering if I could meet with her,” Kara explained. “I’d like to ask her why she changed her mind; and I don’t know, maybe I could even convince her to take the leotard off.”

Adelyn seemed to cheer up considerably. “Oh, Kara! She won’t listen to me—but maybe; you’re a stranger outside the situation, maybe she would listen to you, I just... don’t know what to do... but she did tell me she wanted all her meetings held today... even before she put the leotard on, because it was a Sunday; and when I went into her office after, she said she was even more serious about it. She really didn’t want any visitors all, while she was working on the dual club registration... and I don’t know how long that’s going to take her. But I’ll let you know if she agrees; if you could; I would be so grateful. I just don’t know what to do,” Adelyn finished, helplessly.

“Well, if she agrees to meet me, I’ll see her,” Kara restated. “And maybe I really can convince her.”

“I hope so,” Adelyn exhaled. “It’s not like her... all of this is just... so... weird.”

Kara hoped she wasn’t giving Adelyn false hope.

“I’ll call you and let you know if she does decide to see you.”

“Thanks, Adelyn. I really hope I can help.”

“I hope so, too,” Adelyn repeated; and the two of them hung up the call.

Kara only stayed sitting for a minute. Her brain had been working on something in the background all the time she’d been sitting there. The dean was the highest authority on campus; and if she was on the side of Haigure Fit, and its associated Appreciation Club, that was bad news for Kara, if she was Haigure Fit’s enemy... and she was really starting to feel like she might like to be. So if the dean was against her, she needed some allies; the next person with the most social power that Kara could think of was the student council president; and if she could get her onside, she would have at least one socially powerful ally against Haigure Fit and Co., someone who could maybe help turn campus opinion against them, if it came to that.

She’d dealt with the student council president a few times before; she was a friendly girl, and she still had her number in her phone; she called her, first, out of courtesy to see if she would be in her dorm room; if she was back on campus after break already. As it turned out, she was; and in her dorm room right then; and she invited Kara to come over.

So Kara hung up, and left, without saying goodbye to her roommates, without calling Alexa. The obsession had only gone dormant when it had seemed her opponents were felled, but now that they had risen up again, stronger than ever— and this time, with the dean on their side! — her obsession had also risen up again, also stronger than ever. She was back in its grip, it was the only thing she could think of, and she had to do something about it. It was going to take her soul whole, every part of her would go into it; it would only grow in intensity. And her friends, and even her girlfriend, would have to tolerate her disappearing while she was off chasing it. Just like they had done a hundred times before when she’d lost herself to other stories. They would all understand. They always did; especially when she was ready to tell them what was going on, which might happen any hour now, depending on what else happened during this storychase today.

Kara was out of the room and on her way to the student council president’s room in no time at all.

In fact, she rushed out so fast that she ran straight into her RA, Alyssa Jackson.

“Kara,” Alyssa, said, startled; she hadn’t expected to be ploughed into in the way Kara had just done to her.

Kara had given an apologetic look to the brunette RA in front of her; She was fairly average-sized, medium in all things; height, weight, bust; but she had some ability to plant; Kara hadn’t knocked her over when she’d come into contact with her.

Alyssa was scrutinizing Kara’s face. “You look... off. Are you okay today?”

“Thanks, Alyssa,” She said. She was in a hurry and didn’t want to prolong their conversation longer than necessary. “Today’s just a bit hectic. Getting ready for classes tomorrow, you know,” Kara deflected intuitively.

“Okay, Kara,” Alyssa said. “Just make sure you take some time to relax later, alright.”

“I will,” Kara called back. But she was already most of the way gone, and the RA was forgotten behind her.

Jessica Stokeworth, and her best friend, Emily Green, were walking across the quad together.

Jessica had had an enjoyable reading week; she’d gone away with her family to one of their houses and had treated the week like a vacation, doing almost no schoolwork at all during her time off. Her family was the kind of family rich enough to have multiple houses, and Jessica had felt entitled to skip her homework throughout her week off, just like she felt entitled to most things. Her friends jokingly called her a brat; and she owned the label, she had no shame. She wanted what she wanted when she wanted. Anyone who was close enough to be in her inner circle knew that.

She’d brushed her long blonde hair carefully that morning before heading out with Emily; her medium breasts and lithe body had been wrapped up in layers of clothing for warmth; layers, but still trendy and good looking when they were all assembled together.

Emily was looking good today, too; her light brown hair had also been carefully styled, and she’d dressed in muted colors so as not to wash out her pale skin. Jessica had short patience with most people she interacted with, but she had an almost infinite amount of patience for Emily. And in turn, Emily seemed to have infinite faith in Jessica’s capacity for goodness, decentness, to the point that Jessica tried to behave at least a little better when Emily was watching her.

Both she and Emily had both made it back onto campus a day in advance of the recommencement of classes; they were not only best friends, but roommates in the dorm as well, and they were crossing the campus to get to the convenience store on the other side to pick up some food for the next week. It wasn’t technically on campus; it was across the street from the last campus block, technically belonging to the outskirts of Rosedale, but all students felt like it was theirs, because it was just such a quick walk to get there.

She and Emily had their arms linked as they went. Just across the quad, and then past some buildings on the other side, to reach the edge of college campus, and then just across the street—it was there. It would only be a fifteen minute roundtrip walk, easy.

“Excuse me,” A girl interrupted them, stepping into their way, and blocking their path.

“Move it,” said Jessica. She had very little patience for the people who came between her and the things that she wanted.

“We’re kind of going somewhere,” Emily said, apologetically.

“It’ll just take a minute of your time,” the girl insisted, staying stood in their path. “I’m Melina, I’m a new member of the Haigure Appreciation club.”

This was the first time either Jessica or Emily had noticed what the girl was wearing; a lime green leotard, pretty sluttily cut, in Jessica’s opinion, and nothing else. The girl’s blonde hair looked good, actually, above that shade of lime green. She was a tiny slip of a thing; so petite, that she would have been pretty easy to shove over—but Jessica doubted Emily would approve of her doing that, so for a moment at least, they would have to be delayed.

“Nice to meet you, Melina,” Emily said, kindly. “But we really do need to be going somewhere,”

“The Haigure Appreciation Club is to encourage students on campus to try the new Haigure Fit Club we’ve opened just on the quad here.” Melina turned around and gestured behind. Sure enough, there it was, the sixth clubfront in, with a black awning and black stenciling in the wind, both of which said the same thing: Haigure Fit, just like Melina had said.

“It’s a new state of the art exercise routine; a total mindset transformation, and a total life reset; we wear these leotards and do the exercise routine all together in a group session, so it’s a great bonding experience as well. We’re set to have an open session in just ten minutes; any student is allowed to participate, no registering in either club necessary. Would either of you girls like to try it out?”

Melina was holding out flyers to each one of them.

Jessica brushed hers away. “We’re busy,” she brushed Melina off.

But Emily had taken hers; she was looking at it; looking down at hers, it looked like the exact same information Melina had just spoken to them was on it.

“Actually, Jess,” Emily said. “This actually sounds interesting to me. You know I’ve been looking for a new exercise routine. There’s just this last bit of stubborn fat on my thighs I have been trying to blast—I’ve tried everything, and I’m willing to try anything. This might be worth a shot.”

She looked back up to Melina from her flyer. “You said we could try the club out without needing to register?”

Melina smiled, and nodded. “Absolutely no strings attached. Just think of it like a course audit; you absolutely don’t need to join the club at all. But you can if you want to; if you like the results of today’s group session.”

“And it’s starting in ten minutes?” Emily asked.

Melina nodded. “Plenty of time to get in there and get changed into a leotard.”

Emily turned back to her. “Sorry to ditch you last minute, Jess, but I think I really want to try this. You know what I wanted to get from the convenience store anyway—you can pick it up for me, and I’ll pay you back once we both get home to the dorm.”

“But—”

Emily unhooked arms with her, and was already taking quick steps over to Haigure Fit. She turned as she walked and gave a wide wave, using her whole arm. “I’ll see you later! Thanks for grabbing that stuff for me.”

Melina was still standing in front of her, as she heard the club door close behind her friend.

“Can I interest you? There’s still time.”

“Out of my way,” Jessica rumbled, and without her friend there watching over her, disliking her more abrasive style of dealing with people, Jessica shoved her way past Melina, and kept making tracks toward her original destination of the convenience store.

Zoe Morgan and her best friend, Himiko Tanaka were also crossing the quad together.

Zoe was a loner, apart from Himiko. She dressed goth, and the greatest source of enthusiasm for her on campus was the paranormal club both she and Himiko were members of. She had paused for just a moment in that morning’s mirror; she was pale, as a goth should be, or so she’d always thought, and the hair dye she’d used to dye the fringes of her otherwise dark hair was still holding its blue color; it looked good with the black she always wore.

Himiko dressed goth, too; Himiko’s hair was also dark, perhaps a quality she owed to her Japanese ancestry in its exact shade, and she kept it in an asymmetrical cut. Her breasts, medium in size, were always tucked behind black fabrics, the same ones that Zoe herself favored. Zoe always liked walking with Himiko, not only because she was her favorite person, but because she also felt that they matched when they were together.

Fall was in full bloom, and the two of them both very much appreciated the vibes of death and decay and ending that came with that; most of the trees had lost their leaves, but the ones that had stubbornly clung on this long were fun to find. Sometimes they fell at the last minute; and it was so satisfying to watch leaves fall, as if they were slotting themselves back into the place they belonged, on the ground, to be ground underheel. They both liked to collect fallen leaves to press, if there were any particularly beautiful ones.

So as they were going across the quad, Zoe and Himiko both were looking around at the trees around them; so far they were all bare, but there were more on the other side of campus; not the side that was across from the convenience store, towards Rosedale. The opposite way; on that far side of campus, across from campus’ edge, was just straight forest. If they didn’t find any straggler leaves on campus, they could just continue into the woods, and there would definitely be some there, somewhere.

They’d made it just about halfway down the quad, when Himiko shook her by the arm. “Look who it is,” she said. “Mrs. I’m so important.”

It was true; Jessica was there, standing in the middle of the quad talking to a much shorter blonde girl who was wearing—only a leotard?

“And look who’s with her,” Zoe added to Himiko’s comment. “Jessica’s lackey numero uno, Mrs. I can’t stop following my leader around at her heels,” Zoe sniggered.

Himiko joined her laughter; they kept walking. The blonde girl’s back was to them, and she was still a little too far away to hear what she was saying, but both Jessica and Emily were facing towards Zoe and Himiko as they walked up from behind; Jessica looked annoyed, but Emily actually looked interested.

They got closer; then both stopped in their tracks. They had both seen something they had never expected to see; and as seekers of the paranormal, this was always an experience worth honoring, even when it was coming from a more mundane source.

Jessica’s henchman actually broke away from her and left her standing there to go into—what was that place called? Zoe squinted to read the awning; Haigure Fit.

“Well, I know I’m damned,” Himiko said. “But I never thought I’d see that. Jessica’s number two breaking away and doing something without her queen.”

“I didn’t think she was capable of it,” Zoe said in aside, still watching Jessica talk to the blonde. She felt as shocked as Himiko

In true Jessica fashion, she next shoved past the blonde and stormed past Zoe and Himiko; but the blonde had been shoved so hard that it had turned her around, and she was now facing Zoe and Himiko.

Shit. Thanks a lot, Jessica, Zoe thought. It wasn’t the first time Jessica had inconvenienced her life. Now the blonde was coming directly for them.

“Hello,” she said—and yes, she really was just wearing a leotard. A lime green leotard, on her tiny petite-girl frame. It did kind of match her blonde hair though, Zoe had to admit. She herself would never have worn a color so light. She only liked blacks.

“I’m Melina,” the girl introduced herself to them. “I’m a member of the Haigure Appreciation Club. I’m here to invite people on campus to come try out Haigure Fit. We’ve got on open session starting in just five minutes, no club registration required. Would either of you girls like to join us?”

“What is it?” Zoe asked; she couldn’t help. She was pretty much suspicious of everyone and everything; her dark demeanor had made her a bit jaded. There had to be a catch; there was a catch, always.

“It’s a new form of group exercise,” Melina smiled at them. “Totally revolutionary. We wear these leotards; they help us keep a positive mindset; it’s a total life transformation. You really do have to try it for yourself; which is why we’re offering all these open sessions to students. You can just walk away at session end; only register if you like what you see. Or, how you feel, after you’ve exercised with us.”

A positive mindset. Zoe snorted. Toxic positivity was the bane of her life; those three words were enough to convince her she wanted nothing to do with this Haigure Fit, whatever it was. She had autumn leaves to see.

But Himiko wasn’t snorting. “It’s a group routine, you said?” she asked Melina.

“Yes,” Melina said. “We all put these leotards on, and do it together.”

Himiko turned towards Zoe, wearing an apologetic expression. “Zo. You know I love group things; the energy of a group of people getting together and working towards a common thing is just. Crack to me.”

Zoe did know that; but she was disappointed that it seemed Himiko was going to leave her. “But Himiko,” she protested. “It’s to encourage a positive mindset. You hate that toxic positivity bullshit as much as I do; you know you do. Things don’t always have to be positive. And when they aren’t, they don’t have to be forced into it, either.”

“I know,” Himiko acknowledged, giving her a pat to the arm. “But I just love communal group energy; it’s a spiritual thing in itself. Sometimes it’s like you can see it, it’s so palpable. And you can definitely always feel it. I’ve just got to do it, Zoe. Sorry.”

Zoe gave Himiko a smile. “Fine. But I’m going to take all the best leaves for myself to press. I’ll only bring you back the shittiest ones.”

Himiko beamed. She knew Zoe was exaggerating and giving her a hard time. “Thanks Zoe! You’re the best! I better get inside though; it’s gotta be less than five minutes until starting time, now, right?” Melina nodded to her, and Himiko disappeared into the new campus club.

Melina looked at her. “You don’t want to come? You’re sure?”

“I’ve got leaves to see,” Zoe said. “Thanks anyway,” she added, brushing Melina off. But she was at least a slightly better person than Jessica, and could take comfort in that; she stepped around Melina, and didn’t push her. She had a forest to see, like she told Melina. It was a bit of a drag to have to do it without Himiko. But she would bring some of the nicer leaves back for her, despite what she said. And she would still be out enjoying nature; getting in touch with it in a more paranormal sense; finding the paranormal within the normal, and for Zoe Morgan, that was always something worth doing.

Himiko entered Haigure Fit; the room inside was large and empty, ahead of a wall that split it down the middle. The door on that wall was open; and there was only one person in this first room, who was closely watching the clock. There had to be less than five minutes until start, now, and this person, a girl with black hair, was standing in front of an open cabinet, behind a table.

When she spotted Himiko, she turned back to the cabinet. “I think you would be a small,” she said, more to herself than Himiko, and turned back to the cabinet, fishing a leotard out of it that looked like it would fit Himiko if she put it on. She held it out to Himiko, and Himiko walked up to the table, and took the leotard from the girl. Then, still holding it, she rushed through the open door.

The second room that was through it looked like it was the same size as the first room, but it looked more clearly like an exercise room. It had a hardwood floor, unlike the first room’s white linoleum tile. And there were mirrors lining the back wall of the room; there might have been exercise bars three quarters down the mirror wall at one time, because there was a gap of wall in a strip all along that wall height which was not mirrored and instead bare. But if there had been at one time, they had since been removed.

The room was decently full. There were probably about twelve girls in there who were already getting ready to put their leotards on; taking off the clothes they were wearing in a rustle of fabric. But there was one other girl like Himiko that wasn’t, yet; Emily. She’d seen her come in before, so it made sense that she’d gotten here ahead of her. It seemed the natural thing to do to go stand over next to Emily, even though they were allies in nothing else.

Emily herself wasn’t feeling ready to put her leotard on yet. The group session had sounded interesting to her when Melina had told her about it, but now that she was actually here, it was striking her how strange this was. Why did they have to wear leotards? The twelve girls standing in the center of the room seemed eager to get them on—that was strange too. What was so special about the leotards that those twelve seemed so excited to get them on.

Himiko was also feeling reluctant. She’d been excited to come in here for the energy of the group, all doing something together. But the energy of this group was weird; it wasn’t full of good intention, or motivation. Himiko couldn’t place exactly what she was picking up on... but there was something a bit unsettling here, beneath the surface. She couldn’t name it, but she was sure that if Zoe were here with her, instead of on her way to the forest, she would have picked it up too.

Aside from the sound of the rustling of clothes, there was soft guitar music playing; something else shifting behind the guitars like muttering that wasn’t audible, but both Himiko and Emily thought they were imagining hearing this, and forgot it as soon as it was heard.

The black haired girl came into the room, and closed the door behind her; immediately, she noticed Emily and Himiko standing in the corner, only holding their leotards.

“Put your leotards on, girls,” the black haired girl told them.

Emily bit down into her lip; then shook her head.

This bolstered Himiko, who said instead, “I think I’d rather watch.”

But... was there something about that music? Something... wrong? Listening to it made her dizzy, Himiko thought. Emily thought that it made her drunk; it felt the same.

The more Himiko listened to it... the more the session leader’s instruction sounded more pleasant to her, the more amenable to doing it she became. She should put her leotard on, shouldn’t she? She’d come to this session... what was the point of avoiding doing it?

Putting her leotard on sounded good to Emily too, the more she thought about it as she stood there... she should put it hers on, the other girls were already almost done changing out of their clothes...

Himiko shook her head, but still felt dizzy. She was still reluctant to put her leotard on, wasn’t she? This felt weird... this was weird... she’d just been feeling reluctant to change into the leotard she held, but suddenly she’d thought the opposite.

Emily just thought again that she should put it on, probably. She forgot not wanting to... she was feeling a little buzz of arousal now, too, and putting her leotard sounded like a sexy idea to her.

The twelve girls had finally gotten out of all their clothes, and each girl was now putting on her leotard. As soon as each one wore it, she let out a sigh of satisfaction. It was clear, to both Himiko and Emily, that the girls in the leotards were not just enjoying the leotards in terms of amusement. They were clearly feeling pleasure; each one shivered and shimmied slightly under the fabric of their leotard as if there was something very pleasurable about feeling it against their skin. And the pleasure had been felt so immediately; as soon as they had gotten the leotards on their bodies.

That was all the convincing that Emily needed, and she pulled her own pink leotard on, then stepped over to join the group in the room’s center.

“Well?” The black haired girl said to Himiko. “Are you going to keep us waiting? Get into your leotard.”

Himiko swayed. She was so dizzy, and the words she’d just heard were the only clear thing in her head, the only thing distinct among all the other muddy thoughts. And the other girls had enjoyed putting their leotards on so much... it had looked so pleasurable...

Himiko slipped her orange leotard on, without even really noticing that she was doing it; then she stepped over after Emily, and joined the group.

For both Emily and Himiko, the entire session was a blur. The only thing they knew at the end of it was how enthusiastic they were about the fact that they’d both joined Haigure Fit that day. It was such a great club, and they were both so lucky to be members. Both of them just felt completely ecstasy, ecstatic enjoyment when they both they thought about the fact that they were members. It was such a great feeling there was only one other thing the two of them were thinking of.

Everyone they knew should feel like this too—they should convince all their friends to join Haigure Fit. It wasn’t just an idea, for either one of them. It was a commitment. They would convince their friends to join; they had to. They couldn’t allow anyone they cared about to miss out on such a wonderful experience. What kind of friends would they be if they did? Both Emily and Himiko left Haigure Fit in opposite directions, Emily in her pink leotard, and Himiko in orange. Both left and were thinking the same thing. This new commitment they shared was their primary purpose now; and they would make sure to see it through, and make it happen.

Kara got to the student council president’s dorm room, and only had to knock once. Clearly, Maggie Taggert had been waiting for her.

“Hi, Kara,” Maggie said. The redhead had smiled brightly back at her; her body was as slim and toned as Alexa’s; she must have been as athletic. Kara couldn’t help but take a moment to admire her. “Come in, please.”

Kara did; but didn’t sit. She preferred to stay standing, she was too full of nervous energy. “So did you need a quote from me for a piece, or something? Something about classes coming back after midterms, this week? I wasn’t expecting your call.”

Kara shook her breath, putting her hands on her legs, leaning forward. She’d walked her a little fast, and she was feeling winded now. She had to catch her breath. Maggie waited for her to do this.

When she was breathing more evenly again, Kara straightened back to standing. “There’s something going on on campus, and I’m worried about it. I’m even more worried because I think the dean might be involved, now.”

Maggie’s eyes widened.

“So I wondered if I could get you onside. If the dean is against the rest of us; in favor of this... thing... then anyone who’s against it will be against the dean too; and the dean is the supreme authority figure. If the rest of us don’t have anyone powerful onside, we’ll be... pretty screwed.”

Maggie smiled. “So you came to me. But I’m not as powerful as the dean, I—”

“No,” Kara acknowledged. “But you have a lot of social capital; everyone voted for you to be president. You’re well-liked, and people care what you think. New clubs and food booths that open up try to get your stamp of approval; why do you think we run a president’s campus recommendations column every few issues? You’re respected. If you were against this thing, even if the dean was for it, it would even the scales a bit.”

Maggie’s face was set in concentration now. “I see your point, Kara. I’ve never really gone against the dean before... but I guess I could do it. This sounds like it’s pretty important, whatever’s going on. Tell me?”

Kara launched into the most succinct summary of both her concerns and suspicions that she could manage; she was a reporter, she knew how to write. She thought she had chosen her words just right, to reflect the menace... the potential danger of what they were phrasing. From the look in the Maggie’s eyes, it was clear she was taking everything Kara said in very seriously.

Kara hadn’t realized, until she’d been saying it to someone else, how much it was that she needed to express all of this out loud. Haigure Fit had been weighing on her more than she’d realized, and it was good to air her suspicions... after this conversation, she should definitely take them to her editor. She was sure Elena would be a good listening ear; she might have practical advice, too. She had, partly, been afraid that Maggie wouldn’t believe her, but she’d been convincing enough—(here was hoping she could be this convincing when she had to talk to the dean later)—so hopefully that meant Elena would believe her too, later on when she told her.

Elena did have more scruples than Maggie did; but Kara still hoped she would be believed. She knew the importance of that; felt she understood Adelyn’s fear of being disbelieved in their earlier conversation now. And it was such a relief to have someone who was on her side; especially someone with as much social power as a president of the student council. She wouldn’t be alone in this, whatever... was going on with Haigure Fit... whatever... was going to happen with it... whatever was going to happen if she did end up seeing the dean today.

“That does sound pretty serious, Kara,” Maggie said, when Kara finished what she was saying. “But consider me in your corner; I’ll tell people Haigure Fit does not have my stamp of approval; and together the two of us can come up with a plan to influence people against them. Maybe we can drive them off of campus without the dean’s help... convince them that they want to leave of their own free will... close up and just go... we’ll talk. Feel free to call me any time,” Maggie said.

Kara nodded to herself. “Thank you so much, you have no idea how much that means.”

Maggie pulled her into a hug. “No worries, Kara. It must have been hard carrying all that around these past few days by yourself. But I’m on your side now. You don’t have to face this any longer.”

Kara was unexpectedly touched by this hug. She hadn’t known how much she needed it. Maybe she was ready to start discussing her suspicions with the other people in her life; the people who were closer to her.

“I’ll see you later, Maggie,” Kara said.

“See you,” Maggie said. “Remember to call anytime.”

Kara nodded, and stepped through the doorway. Maggie closed the door behind her.

Kara’s next plan was to go back to the newspaper office, and tell Elena all about her suspicions. But as she stepped out of Maggie’s dorm, her phone rang again. She’d left it turned up to full volume, in case of Adelyn calling again, and now she was glad she had, because that was exactly who was calling.

“Adelyn,” Kara said, walking with her phone held to her ear.

“Kara,” Adelyn said. Adelyn’s voice was the primary thing she could hear... but if she listened closely, she could hear music playing in the background behind Adelyn. “The dean... called someone first, I’m not sure who, I didn’t recognize the number on my phone’s conference switchboard, but she agreed to meet with you. How is 5 pm?”

Kara stopped, frowning in confusion. “That’s kind of late in the day, Adelyn.”

“I know,” Adelyn said; still sounding uncomfortable with the strangeness that was going on. “But she insisted on that time and only that time. It’s the only time she’s going to offer, and if you really could convince her—”

“Of course,” Kara relented, and started walking again. “I’ll do my best; but I’ve got someone else who’s... against Haigure Fit too. In favor of the dean changing her mind. Maggie Taggert, the student council president. Are you... on our side too, Adelyn?”

“Talking about this in terms of sides is a little strange,” Adelyn said at first, falteringly. “But, everything else has been strange today, as well, so what’s one more oddity. If you and the student council president are team ‘Get the Dean out of her leotard and Get Haigure Fit off Campus,’ then I’m on that team too. And I’m sure if the dean were in her right mind, she would be also.”

Kara exhaled in relief. She felt like she was picking up allies left and right; she didn’t know what she’d need them for yet, just felt intuitively that she did; and it was a relief to have them. “I’m glad to hear that, Adelyn. I like you. I wouldn’t want to have you for an enemy. You seem very... competent. And very connected.”

Adelyn let out a laugh that sounded like it was doing a lot to relieve her nerves. “Likewise, Kara. I like you; you seem very capable of both getting to the bottom of things and getting people in your corner. I wouldn’t like to have you for an enemy either.”

“So I guess I’ll be meeting you in person when I come to see the dean,” Kara said, continuing walking.

“Yes, I’ll say hi first. And we’ll see you at 5. You know the way to the dean’s office?”

Kara nodded; then reminded herself to speak, because Adelyn couldn’t see her. “Yes, I did an interview with the dean once for an article.”

“I must have been on vacation at the time; or otherwise out of office. If we’d met then, I’m sure I would remember you now. But we’ll see you later, then. I hope—I’m sure, once you talk to her—she’ll be back to normal. And she’ll be on our side too.”

“I’m sure,” Kara echoed. A silence hung on the line between them, Kara caught in the echo of her own words for just a second.

Then she shook herself out of it. “I’ll be there a few minutes before the meeting.”

“See you,” Adelyn repeated.

“See you,” Kara answered, and the two of them once again hung up.

She had been on the way to the newspaper office; but she changed direction to go back to her room. She’d spend the next few hours writing out her suspicions... her concerns... her fears. What she had seen, what she could make of that (and it wasn’t much; she was still more confused than anything)... she’d wait to talk to Elena until after she’d met with the dean. There was no use bringing her in until her story had its next, most important development. She was sure meeting with the dean was going to answer a lot of her questions; and give her a lot of the information that she was needing.

At around 4:45 in the afternoon, Kara left her desk. She’d poured her heart out into what she’d written and it had taken up most of the afternoon; it had passed in a blink, but now, she had a meeting to get to.

She again left without addressing her roommates, who were on the couch in the dorm living room watching something together; she started across campus. When she got to the administration building, she checked her phone. 4:50 now.

It took her a few minutes to go up the stairs, so by the time she got to the dean’s office department, it was 4:55. She paused to check her phone to be certain of the time; then opened the door and went in.

The department was empty; but it was not silent. Kara heard the music she’d heard before, a generic pop with no lyrics and only instrumental. It had been playing in the background when she’d spoken to Adelyn earlier, and was still playing now.

Everyone else from the department was clearly gone for the day—except Adelyn, who was sitting in clear view, farthest back in the room at a desk in front of a closed door. The dean’s name, Joan Ryan, was on the door’s name plate; but when Adelyn saw her, she waved enthusiastically for Kara to come over, and Kara moved quickly into the department to reach Adelyn at her desk.

Adelyn’s hair was blonde; she hadn’t imagined her as a blonde, but she was; she was wearing a pretty blue sweater that was slim to her body; and a jeweled brooch shaped like a rose, and pink, above her left breast. Her skirt was a slightly darker blue; she was wearing hose, as well, and blue heels. She was meticulously dressed; a careful dresser, so it must have been an even greater upset for her to find the dean wearing the leotard.

“Kara,” Adelyn said, affectionately, when Kara got to her desk.

“Adelyn,” Kara said. Adelyn reached her hand out, and Kara took it. She thought it would be for a handshake; but instead, Adelyn gave her hand a squeeze, and then released it.

“A hug might be a little too familiar,” Adelyn explained; she was quite thin, now that Kara was looking at her up close, and her breasts were small; but she was tall with long legs. Kara could see that even when Adelyn was sitting. “But I wanted to show you how thankful I am that you came. I really do hope you can help her get back to herself.”

Kara looked over Adelyn again; she was properly dressed, and she had been kind and sweet; but there was more about her to notice which Kara had missed at first because she’d been caught up in what had felt like reuniting with a kindred spirit.

Now as Kara looked at Adelyn, she saw that her cheeks were completely flushed, and her eyes were misty. The signs were quite recognizable; Adelyn was evidently aroused, and she looked uncomfortable sitting in her chair, shifting her hips now and then almost like she was unaware she was doing it—seeking some relief from that arousal she was clearly feeling. Clearly feeling, but unwilling to admit to or speak of—maybe she couldn’t even admit it to herself. She was to proper for that, to speak or think of things like that while she was at work. But clearly something had turned her on, and she was really feeling it, even if she didn’t want to reflect on that.

“Are you ready?” Adelyn asked, standing from her desk chair.

“I’m ready,” Kara said. “Let’s go in together; strength in numbers.”

Adelyn nodded, and the two of them went into the dean’s office, both of them ready to confront her, convince her to take off her leotard.

The music inside the dean’s office seemed to be playing even louder than it had been in the department outside. Apart from the solid light blue leotard she was wearing, the dean was like Kara remembered her— Dean Joan Ryan— she was older, somewhere in her fifties; her breasts were large, and her hair was brown with substantial gray streaking.

The most disturbing thing about the dean in her leotard was how much she seemed like herself... this was the woman Kara could remember interviewing, down to her mannerisms; she had a very specific way of holding herself, and she held herself that way still.

But the dean was a proper woman; moreso even than Adelyn. When Kara had interviewed her; or seen her around at campus functions, she had always been dressed in a suit jacket and matching skirt; that woman would never have willingly put on a leotard so revealing. So the jarring juxtaposition of the dean acting like herself, while also wearing something that was completely unlike herself, was a bit... unsettling.

Kara and Adelyn found the dean doing a strange pose when they came in to her office; she had her legs apart, and knees facing out, so her crotch was completely exposed; her arms were up, elbows level with her shoulders, and her lower arms angled down, her hands about level with her breasts; her arms essentially forming a triangle. Then rhythmically, at equal intervals, the dean would plunge her arms down, making them straight, with her hands instead resting level with her crotch. Then she would triangle her arms again, and start the cycle over.

She was chanting, softly, “Haigure,” to herself.

The dean was standing in front of her computer, shifting in and out of this pose; she moved into it, held it for moments, then went back to standing normally, just so she could do the pose all over again.

Standing across the desk from her, with Adelyn, Kara could see the dean was streaked with sweat, she was posing quite energetically and must have been doing it for some time to have worked up a sweat like that; and the dean’s trimmed crotch looked completely drenched.

The dean noticed she had company, and stopped posing. “Hello, Kara. Hello, Adelyn.”

“Dean, I came here, because I heard you were originally planning to shut Haigure Fit down—they were operating without being registered through this office.”

“I’ve fixed that now,” the dean simpered. “I registered them myself; they’re all in order now.” She seemed very proud of that fact.

“But you were convinced that you wanted to ban them—weren’t you?” Kara was curious to see if the woman would admit to it. She leaned forward where she stood, watching closely.

“Yes, I was confused,” the dean said. “I didn’t understand what a wonderful club Haigure Fit was; or how important its offshoot, the Haigure Appreciation outfit, is. We need them on our campus; we need their positive influence here in our school, among our students.”

The dean seemed like a true-believer convert. That was disheartening. It would make it harder to dissuade her; but Kara was still going to give it her best shot.

“But you were so convinced before, and you—”

“Yes,” the dean interrupted. “And Lilith showed me how wrong I was, this morning, when I met with her, just like I’m meeting with you both now. I’m so glad she did. I just love wearing my leotard.”

The dean was running her fingers down the front of her leotard on one side; drawing closer to her breast. There was something about it that the dean was clearly finding... erotic... which was just disturbing on a whole other level.

“But dean,” Kara tried again. “Surely you can see how inappropriate it is to be wearing something like that at work. I’ve spoken to you before... you’re a very respectable woman. I’m sure you’d feel much more like yourself if you took it off,” Kara suggested gently, to start. She was ready to go much harder if necessary.

But before she could, the dean preempted her and began speaking with passion. “Haigure is a wonderful thing, Kara; the best thing that has ever come on this campus, the best thing that has ever come into life. It’s going to completely change our school, the lives of all our students; and eventually, when it moves beyond us, all the rest of society, too. But we are lucky—truly fortunate, that we are the ones graced with the blessing of being the place where this whole thing can get started.

“And it is such a positive thing; not just good exercise, but greatly enjoyable, and all Haigure members are so happy; so positive, so good to each other. All the tension, the frustration is gone. There is only happiness and enjoyment; it completely fixes lives, and when Haigure has eventually spread out to society, everyone there will be good to each other, too. There will be no more problems; no anger, no crimes. We are lucky to be part of something so special, lucky to be able to help our school, and eventually, the world, like this.

“And I really can’t convey how wonderful it feels; simmering and unobtrusive, but at the same time, like you’re getting the greatest pleasure of your life, feeling it over every inch of your skin, feeling it all throughout what’s inside of you, cording and weaving through everything, and it just keeps coming in pulses, never fading.”

It had been hard to notice anything else in the room while Kara had been listening to this. Something had fixed Kara’s attention to the dean’s exact words, and she had lost track of her surroundings completely for those moments. Kara was too... confused... to be alarmed, but it did seem off to her that everything the dean said was making so much sense to her, when she had come in here a sworn enemy of Haigure Fit, if only in her own mind. She’d been earlier trying to put together the beginnings of a resistance effort, and yet now, she was standing here nodding along as the dean spoke, as if everything she said were true and sensible. When it wasn’t... right? ...It wasn’t?

The music... Kara listened harder... there was muttering in it...

She was just imagining that... no, there was something... in the music? Voices that couldn’t quite be heard... she felt sluggish the longer she heard it play.

Driftingly, Kara thought. This was a trap.

She was feeling a hum in her body that was not musical. It was the whisper, the murmuring of pleasure moving throughout her body, teasing and tingling between her legs, in her breasts. She was still too confused to be disturbed by this, but she understood now it was the music that was confusing her, understood this arousal shouldn’t be happening.

Beside her, it looked like Adelyn was being even more affected. She was heavily sweating now, her mouth pouting open, a little drool trailing it... she was panting as hard as she was sweating; she had been aroused to begin with, this must be torture for her now.

The dean reached down to the surface of her desk, and lifted up a leotard with each hand, then held them out to Kara and Adelyn. The one extended toward Kara was the one the black haired girl had tried to offer her yesterday. Hot pink. The exact one... as if it were meant for her.

The one the dean had extended to Adelyn was forest green.

“Put them on for yourself,” the dean encouraged. “Join us, be part of what we’re doing here. And experience how wonderful it feels for yourself.”

Kara felt truly tempted; she wanted to take it, and do as the dean had suggested. She was already aroused, it would feel even better if what the dean had said was true. If the leotard would just wash and wash her in pleasure. She wanted to know what that felt like.

But she was shaken from these thoughts; there was rushed movement visible off to the side of her periphery, and she turned to see Adelyn literally ripping off her clothes; the soft sweater, the skirt, and roughly yanked the leotard onto herself because she was such a hurry to get it against her skin.

At the moment that the leotard touched against Adelyn’s clean-shaven crotch, her whole body shuddered violently; and she threw her head back. It had triggered an orgasm in her body as soon as she’d gotten it on.

Kara felt complete shock; and feeling more like herself, she turned and ran, fled, running from the office as hard as she could back to her dorm room.

There, she swore to herself that she would discover the truth about Haigure Fit, she would discover exactly what was going on with them and how they were doing this.

But it was embarrassing to notice... her own crotch was still wet with arousal.