In the end, we had no choice but to follow Haitang to the student council office.

I had no idea what she whispered to Rinka, but it was clear they’d come to some sort of agreement—an evil one, directed squarely at me.

And knowing Haitang like I do, I had this gnawing suspicion: she might already know part—or even all—of the truth. That thought alone made my stomach churn.

Of all people, Haitang is someone I never want as an enemy. Technically, both Xiao Lei and I are a year older than her, but we’ve never once managed to beat her at anything. Not academically, not physically, not even in sheer force of presence.

…Well, there is one area I’ve won in as a girl. A landslide victory!

Haitang showing up like this was unexpected. If even Rinka didn’t foresee it, there’s no way that blockhead Xiao Lei would’ve. She looked just as pale as me, like she was walking to the gallows.

“What do we do, Commander? I’m getting some seriously bad vibes from her…” Xiao Lei’s beast-like intuition was clearly warning her.

The school building was eerily empty—it was a weekend, after all. Anyone who did show up today would be at the gym or the library, not wandering the classrooms.

“We’re here—oof!”

I bumped right into Haitang’s back when she suddenly stopped. She turned around and glared—no, squinted—right at my chest with a look of mild annoyance.

“Er… sorry?”

She clicked her tongue. “Just get inside already.”

The student council office was located at the far end of the right-side hallway on the first floor. Haitang opened the door, and a dim, bluish light from a laptop screen cast an eerie glow over Cangyu’s face. The inner curtains had been pulled open, letting in a shaft of sunlight that illuminated the area by the window, where Yang Qi and Tangerine were gazing outside.

“Meow!” The white cat on Haitang’s shoulder leapt down gracefully and ran toward Tangerine.

“Cangyu! How many times have I told you not to close the curtains? It’s the weekend—no one’s going to be peeping in!”

Cangyu shrank behind her laptop, completely silent and buried in her mop of seaweed-like hair. Serious social anxiety mode: activated.

“Yo! You’re here! Have a seat—I’ll go make us some tea,” Yang Qi said with a cheerful grin, as if she'd known we were coming all along.

“Onii-chan!” Tangerine barreled toward me, totally ignoring my dirt-stained clothes. She wrapped her arms around my neck and whined, “You turned into a girl too and didn’t even tell me?!”

So that’s what this was about—she felt left out.

“Sorry… It’s kind of hard to bring up.”

“Meow-meow-meow!” she snapped, launching into full-on cat-speak. Probably the equivalent of someone cursing in their native dialect when they’re too mad for words.

She whacked me with her orange-red ponytail—it didn’t hurt, but it tickled like crazy.

By now, Haitang had opened all the curtains, flooding the room with sunlight. Everyone settled around the long meeting table.

Rinka, Fei, Tian Xi, and Lei Meow Meow all sat in a neat row on one side.

Across from them, by the window, was Cangyu—who peeked out at me with a rather guilty expression.

“Onii-chan’s the defendant today! Sit over here!”

Tangerine pushed me into a seat in the middle, right between both sides. She then took her place beside Cangyu. Xiao Lei hesitated for a second, then dragged a chair over to sit next to me—the co-defendant, apparently.

She looked just as freaked out as I felt. Neither of us dared make eye contact with Haitang.

Haitang returned to her desk—her official student council president’s desk—right behind me.

“Ahem, ahem!” She cleared her throat dramatically before raising her voice. “This might seem sudden, but I’ve waited a long time for this moment! So I’ll just say it: every one of you being here right now? That was all part of my plan.”

My scalp tingled. I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

Let’s assess the situation.

Rinka’s plan to lure me into the girls' school had been hijacked. Haitang turned it into her operation.

The kicker? Rinka clearly had no idea. Which means someone spilled the beans to Haitang… and the prime suspect was none other than Lei Meow Meow, who’d joined the student council recently.

Everyone’s a double agent these days.

So… is this Haitang’s big face-off with me?

The room fell silent. Tension thickened. Haitang sat with her back to the window, bathed in the backlight. Her eyes gleamed with calculated intelligence.

“Haitang… you knew, didn’t you?” Rinka broke the silence, voicing the question I didn’t dare ask.

“Yup,” she said plainly, eyes narrowing as they zeroed in on me. “And not recently—I knew way back, back when you were all still guys.”

“I guess the secret’s out… you did seem way too calm when you first saw me transformed,” I recalled.
“Wait—hold up. Haitang, when exactly did you find out?”

“Hmm, probably on the first day? You and Zhao Zhao were so suspicious it was laughable. I confirmed everything with Tangerine after that. You really thought you could keep me in the dark? Please, Commander—do I look that easy to fool?”

So… she even knew Xiao Lei was actually Zhao Zhao?! No one else knows that yet!

I glared at Tangerine. She whistled and turned her head away.

Xiao Lei, meanwhile, was trembling so hard she practically rattled.

Then I remembered the audio recording Cangyu had from the Operation Lose Moonlit fiasco. “So you heard Cangyu’s recording too, huh?”

She’d promised to keep it secret…

“S-sorry!” came Cangyu’s tiny voice from behind her laptop. Her seaweed mop swayed with guilt. Ugh, she’s too cute—I can’t stay mad.

Haitang came to her defense. “Oh, don’t blame her. I’d already heard it. In fact, I was the one who told her to ask for your help in the first place.”

So Haitang not only figured everything out—she used me, too.

Lei Meow Meow asked, “So... you’ve known everything for a while now?”

“More or less.”

Lei Meow Meow’s cheeks flushed. Haitang, seeing her opening, went in for the kill:

“And yes, I know exactly who you two used to be. Honestly, back when you two beat up Commander and Zhao Zhao, I was this close to hunting you down and neutering you.”

Wait—what was she going to do to them?!

“I never expected Commander to be so ruthless, going and neutering you both herself.”

Ruthless?! Oh no—she means that kind of "neutering"!

“I’ve… really reflected on that,” Lei Meow Meow murmured, hiding her face in her hands.

Despite always acting tough around me, that incident had clearly become her Achilles' heel. Sis Xi bowed her head and added, “I’m sorry for what happened back then.”

“It’s fine, Sis Xi, that was ages ago. I already forgave you!”

Haitang nodded in agreement. “I used to think that guys who turned into girls would end up really messed up inside—you get what I mean, right? But seeing Meow Meow changed my mind. So no—I don’t hate you anymore.”

Come to think of it, Haitang had mellowed out toward them after the Aqua World volleyball match and the beauty contest.

Rinka pressed on: “So if you already knew all this… why gather us all here today?”

“Well, all I’ve got are secondhand recordings—I want direct confirmation. Plus, Commander here has a ton of stuff she hasn’t told you guys yet. Don’t you want to know?”

With that, everyone (except me and Xiao Lei) snapped to attention.

Tch… this girl’s really out to strip all my secrets bare today, huh?

Once the mood was primed, she snapped her fingers at Cangyu.

“Alright—let’s begin.”

Cangyu nodded and hit "Enter" on her laptop. A large flatscreen TV in the corner of the room flickered on and began streaming a video feed.

“Yo~ viewers in front of the screen! Missed me? Hope you’re ready!”

Bei Qiaojue’s face filled the screen. It looked like a video call from her phone.

“Sorry in advance, brother—well now, maybe sister? I owe you one for today!”

She pulled the camera back to reveal the vine-covered wall and front gate of a very familiar house.

Wait a sec.

That's my house!

This is bad.

Super bad.

My real body is still at home sleeping! If they find that out, there’s no way I can explain it away!

“Wait—Qiaojue, what are you trying to do?!”

I jumped up in a panic, only to get whacked back down by Haitang using a rolled-up newspaper.

Qiaojue turned the camera toward the side of the house—my bedroom window.

“Obviously, we’re going in for a little covert investigation. This is that ‘very easy-to-climb’ window, right?”

“Stop! That’s breaking and entering!”

“It’s fine~ I’ll be quick and stealthy. No one’s gonna see me.”

IT’S NOT FINE!!

“Commander, shut it!” Haitang snapped, bonking me again. “Go ahead, Qiaojue. The more nervous she gets, the juicier the secrets she must be hiding!”

By now, Yang Qi had finished brewing tea and brought out cookies and muffins. The tea smelled amazing, but I had no appetite.

On-screen, Qiaojue stuffed her phone into a pouch on her shoulder, rubbed her hands together, and began scaling the window.

The footage jerked around as the camera jostled. And then we heard a soft, innocent voice:

“Huh? Big sis, who are you?”

“Wow! What a cute little girl!”

The screen tilted again, and a tiny head peeked out from the window of my room.

It was Qianxia…

Yet another illegal trespasser in my bedroom.