We never made it into the school building.

Instead, we spotted Xiao Lei and her group over at the garden gazebo on the hill of the faux mountain. By now, they had already met up with Lei Meow Meow and Sis Xi, and were giggling over something together.

I tugged urgently on Qiuluo’s sleeve, motioning for her to crouch down.

“Seriously, why do I have to go along with this nonsense?” she grumbled.

“You’re the one who said you’d keep an eye on me the whole time. But I’m trying to eavesdrop on their conversation right now. If you’re just gonna stand there like a telephone pole, I’m gonna get caught!”

We crouched behind some shrubs at a fair distance, trying to sneak closer to the gazebo. The surrounding area was pretty open though, which made getting into eavesdropping range a real challenge. At the very least, we needed someone to distract them.

I glanced at Qiuluo. She furrowed her brow and shook her head rapidly.

“No way. I know what you’re thinking, but forget it. I’m not gonna be your decoy!”

“Aww, cold. Didn’t I help your brother out big time? Don’t I deserve a little gratitude?”

“Huh? Wasn’t that all thanks to Xiao Lei?”

Tch. I was the one who did everything, but all the credit went to Miss Divine Emissary.

“Meow~”

At that moment, the white short-haired cat nestled in my arms let out a soft meow.

“Oh? Officer White Cat, are you volunteering as a decoy?”

“Meow!”

“Then it’s all yours!”

“Meow meow!”

“Farewell, Officer White Cat. We won’t forget your sacrifice!”

It was kind of amazing—though I couldn’t actually understand cat language, I felt that’s what it was saying. So I hoisted the white cat and tossed it through the bushes. It looked back at me once, then trotted right off toward the dome-roofed European-style gazebo.

Within seconds, it had the full attention of the group.

Zhao Zhao sees that cat all the time when he walks me home, so he’ll definitely recognize it. Hopefully Xiao Lei doesn’t start blabbing…

Qiuluo suddenly sounded annoyed. “I can’t believe you’d use such an adorable cat like that. You monkey people are so cruel!”

“Wait, you like that cat? Didn’t expect you to have such a girly side.”

She scoffed and turned her head away, ignoring me.

But Officer White Cat performed admirably, drawing all five girls’ attention. Even Fei couldn’t resist grabbing its little jellybean paws. Thanks to that, I gained some precious time.

Qiuluo and I circled around using the shrubbery as cover and finally made it to the edge of the gazebo’s landscaping zone. We belly-crawled into the bushes and assumed stealth mode.

I winced a bit for the sake of my clothes. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any tough stains—or worse, dog poop.

From this angle we couldn’t see much, but we could hear everything. And that was good enough.

Rinka’s voice came first:
“Wow, I didn’t expect it. So you really like cats, Sis Meow Meow?”

“Well, they’re just too cute. Cats are born to be loved,” came Lei Meow Meow’s voice—unfiltered, high-pitched, and full-on girly. She sounded genuinely happy. So she does act normal when I’m not around.

“She’s always liked cats, even back when she was still our ‘big bro,’” added Sis Xi. “But she’d only ever secretly feed strays.”

“Ahhh, so you all saw that, huh?” Meow Meow laughed sheepishly. “I really tried to keep that hidden. I had to maintain a dignified image, you know? As your leader, I couldn’t go around being seen as soft.”

Then it hit me—a huge problem.

If they’re talking like this, doesn’t that mean they’re outing their past male identities… right in front of Qiuluo?

I turned my head slightly. Qiuluo was still lying behind me. Thankfully, her focus wasn’t on their conversation… but squarely on my butt.

Just my butt…?! No, that’s not something to brush off!

What is she actually thinking? What’s so interesting about my butt?!

I was wearing a thin, long skirt today. Crawling on the ground naturally made the curves of my rear and thighs stand out—there was no avoiding it. But Qiuluo had this glazed, pervy look on her face, like Zhao Zhao when he’s about to drool. She even licked her lips a few times.

So she’s a pervert too?! Even when I’m a “monkey” on the inside, my butt isn’t safe?

Shocking! The greatest threat to the academy’s safety is within the security force! The girls here are in real danger!

No—if anyone’s in real danger, it’s senior Changpu!

I inched backward until I was beside her. Blushing furiously from the butt-staring, I glared at her, which finally snapped her out of her trance.

She’s usually all tough and dominant, but this time she knew she’d messed up. Her face turned bright red. But since we couldn’t speak without giving ourselves away, we just locked eyes in awkward silence.

“Alright! That’s enough about cats!” Rinka clapped her hands from within the gazebo, signaling a topic change. “Now, to the main issue!”

“As we discussed, we’re using the weekend to hold this strategy meeting about how to lure Lingmeng-chan into enrolling at our girls’ campus. I already gave her a uniform and student ID, but she’s been dragging her feet using ‘helping Sis Fei first’ as an excuse. Clearly, she doesn’t plan on accepting my invitation. Any thoughts?”

So it really is a sinister plot targeting me…

“If we helped Sis Fei first, then go ask Commander again, she won’t have an excuse to say no, right?” That dumb-sounding voice was Xiao Lei’s. Thick-browed, wide-eyed traitor. I can’t believe she’s been hiding this from me for a whole week.

“So naive, Xiao Lei. I guarantee she’ll just come up with another excuse.”

“Actually,” Lei Meow Meow chimed in lazily, probably still petting the cat, “why do we have to get her into the girls’ school in the first place?”

“Because it’ll be fun, of course!” Rinka replied without missing a beat. “I’ve always thought it was such a waste for Kai-chan to be a guy. Don’t you all think so too?”

“But… no matter how you look at it, he still is a guy—ah!” Lei Meow Meow cut herself off too late.

Everyone started giggling.

Sis Xi came to her rescue: “No need to be embarrassed. It just means you’ve fully embraced your new identity. Besides, aside from Xiao Lei, who here didn’t use to be a guy?”

For any normal person, that statement would’ve been enough to cause psychological damage.

I glanced over at Qiuluo. Sure enough, her expression had gone dark with shock. I gave her the silent “shush” gesture before she blurted something out.

Rinka summarized: “Exactly. Once you adapt to your new body, your way of thinking, habits, even personality all start to shift. Honestly, even if Kai-chan was really a pervert before, after becoming a girl she might not even be into girls anymore. She might end up liking boys.”

That was exactly what Master Halliluya meant when he talked about the mind following the body. Though the idea of liking boys is a little terrifying… Thankfully there’s no sign of that yet. Better go easy on the avatar bookmark.

“I have an idea to get Commander into the school!” Xiao Lei said enthusiastically. Probably just wanted to go to school with me. But she’s wasting her time. There's only one avatar bookmark. If she wants to exist on her own, I can’t keep transforming—unless she wants me going to class crossdressing.

“The easiest way to deal with Commander is to bribe her. She’s super cheap, right? Not just with money—give her meal tickets, new clothes, even concert tickets to Sis Meow Meow’s shows, and she’ll accept them all happily.”

How dare she paint me like such a gold-digger! …Though, she’s not wrong, so I can’t really argue.

“I don’t like that plan. She benefits way too much,” said Lei Meow Meow. “Why should I give away concert tickets for nothing?”

Rinka nodded. “Exactly. She’ll take the perks for granted. The second she doesn’t get what she wants, she’ll bail.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just beat her up? Or drag her here and tie her to a desk? …I’m joking! Stop glaring at me!”

Thanks to my sterling reputation, Meow Meow’s evil plan was promptly shot down.

“Sis Fei, any thoughts?” Rinka finally turned to her, the one person who hadn’t spoken yet.

“I’m not particularly interested in this,” Fei said bluntly. But she wasn’t done.

“If the girls’ campus has better facilities, better teaching, and you’re all great friends even—yet she still refuses to come, maybe you should all be asking yourselves why.”

As expected of Fei—always calm and to the point.

“You think it’s because she doesn’t want to wear girls’ clothes?” Rinka asked.

“Come on. She clearly doesn’t mind dressing up as a girl. Didn’t she already wear the uniform you gave her before? Willingly?” Xiao Lei countered, totally throwing me under the bus.

“She’s scared of you and Sis Meow Meow. And the student council president too.”

“Scared? Of us? It’s not like we… I’d do anything to her!”

Rinka paused. Okay, she ruled Meow Meow out.

Because Meow Meow would definitely beat me up.

Yes, I may be adorable and charming—but her fists do not discriminate. She has no problem decking me.

Meow Meow also defended herself: “Hey! I’m a perfectly reasonable person, okay? As long as she doesn’t piss me off, I wouldn’t bully her.”

Yeah, well, everything I do seems to piss you off.

“Commander probably thinks that if she comes to this school, she’ll end up as your prisoner.”

Well said, Xiao Lei. She may not be the brightest, but she understands me better than Rinka does.

“Meow~”

A soft cat cry suddenly cut through the conversation. Everyone went silent.

A second later, the elegant white short-haired cat landed gracefully right in front of me.

“Meow~”

I looked up.

The five girls were leaning over the gazebo railing… staring directly down at me.

“…Hi. Good morning, everyone~”

I gave a weak little wave.