Exposing Minato's spite driven plan as half baked did him no favors. "We have a week to discuss it. I'm the second best Bottom candidate on the base, so it would really be in your best interest to Top. If you can Top, that is." he said. Kazuki just rolled his eyes. He was not taking the bait. "And what if I say no?" he asked. Everyone looked at him in shock. "What do you mean you'll say no! You need to partner up to synchronize." Minato snapped. "If this is a way to weed out the weak links, we have all the reasons not to pair up with you. If I took Ryuga as a partner and it worked, that would prove that we aren't the reason the pairings are failing. The same with Jiro and Aito in their pairing. We don't need to pair with you until we've gone through both members of the other team." Minato looked at me and said "And who is going to pair up with you." he said. Aito looked directly away from me. Ryuga in contrast looked at me with interest. "I'll vouch for him. I don't want to be next on the chopping block." he said as he moved to my side. "Cuz it's your fault we're failing here!" Aito yelled in anger.
Minato was now beside himself in anger. Just like that, I had a new partner for the time being. There was a small challenge for them to get through though. Both Ryuga and Kazuki were Bottoms. Actually, Ryuga had been trying to Top 2 times in a row before they switched roles. Ryuga did have a better Black Pulse than a White Pulse. It did not mean much. His maximum output of Black Pulse was 41. His maximum White Pulse was 28. That was very bad. From what he told Kazuki, Aito was much better than him as a Bottom. He was at a maximum Black Pulse output of 47. Even as a Top that one time, Aito got a While Pulse of 36. Ryuga really was possibly the weakest link in this whole squad. Kazuki wished that he had chosen Aito instead. Still, he had to make this work. Minato had it out for him. Kazuki really needed as many buffers between them as possible. It would possibly be better to just develop his Black Pulse as a Bottom. This would also mean that Kazuki would need to become a Top. Since they both had a common goal, it was easy to have a working relationship together.
Working together was fine with Kazuki. Becoming friends with him was another thing entirely. He was not going to hold his breath on that. Ryuga sidled up to him after a couple of days of training. He had a very mischievous look on his face. Kazuki looked at him. During the week, it was a pretty regimented schedule. They had a routine of doing chores around the base, taking lessons on strategy and miltary tactics, and intense exercises. Ryuga said he had to piss and asked him to go along. Kazuki turned him down. "I don't need to go right now. You got this." he teased. Ryuga grabbed him by the shoulders. "C'mon! I want to see something." he whined. Kazuki sighed out loud. "I'm not going to piss on you. That's gross." he said. Ryuga looked really disgusted. "What the fuck!? No! I just wanted to know if-" he cut himself off midway. Kazuki just raised an eyebrow at him. He was still skeptical now. "Well, what did you want to see in the bathroom?" he asked. Ryuga got even closer to him. "That red hair is natural, right!?" he asked. Kazuki nodded. "Does the carpet match all the drapes?"
