Principal Huangfu tugged her trench coat straight and left through another stairwell.

For an old lady, she was surprisingly spry—her speech was slow but orderly, her logic sharp, her mental state perfectly fine. You’d never guess she had any serious illness that would keep her from visiting the school regularly.

On my way downstairs, Qiuluo, who was supposed to be waiting for me, was nowhere to be seen. Tch. The moment Rinka’s not around, she slacks off. Still, I was happy for the peace and quiet.

Except it didn’t last. Without my “security guard,” I immediately became the target of curious onlookers—some girls even tried to invite me to the restaurant behind the cafeteria for lunch.

Naturally, in the spirit of “no merit, no reward,” I turned down this meal from the heavens, bought lunch with my own money, and brought it back to feed my main body.

Seriously, what is my life right now?

It’s already the fourth day—why is this whole “mystery transfer student” thing still a hot topic?

Right before class, I walked into the room to find Xiao Lei, who had been laughing with her friends, speed-walking over with a face full of gossip.

“So, Commander, what kind of girl was she?”

“Uh, ‘girl’ might be a stretch. It was actually Miss Takagi~”

I didn’t feel like stirring up trouble, so I left out the part about meeting Principal Huangfu.

“Miss Takagi… huh? Who’s Miss Takagi?”

“You remember our homeroom teacher, Gao Mujin? We’ve been getting it wrong. She’s actually half-japanese, ‘Takagi Mukuge’—Takagi’s the surname, and ‘Mukuge’ is a single-character given name, so it’s actually Gaomu Jin.”

“Eh? She dragged you all the way to the rooftop just to tell you that?”

“Pfft, did you mess it up too? Back when school started, so many people misread her surname that she had to explain it in class.”

The one chiming in was Sis Xi, who leaned against my desk, clearly eavesdropping.

I glanced instinctively at Meow Meow’s seat and caught her looking at me—she quickly turned away. I forced a chuckle, turned back to Sis Xi, and asked, “So if Meow Meow’s going to school, doesn’t that mean she can’t do idol activities? Won’t her popularity take a hit?”

“Nope. We’ve been doing plenty of PR in our free time. But Sis Yuanyue says idols need a proper education, too… even though I’m not very good at studying.” She looked away, embarrassed.

“I’m not good at it either!” blurted a certain idiot, seeking solidarity. But honestly, even Sis Xi’s ‘bad at studying’ was miles ahead of her.

Sis Xi shot her a jab: “Then try harder. How’d you even get into high school?”

Maybe the position was uncomfortable, because she then kicked her legs and hopped right up to sit on my desk, peering down at me from above.

Right in my line of sight were the very round, very large curves of her chest pressing against her uniform shirt… yeah, boobs really are better when they’re someone else’s problem. Shame her skirt was long enough that I couldn’t see her panties from this angle.

“Oh, right—speaking of idol work, Sis is holding a concert in the school gym next week. The student council president arranged it. Come help out, okay?”

“A concert at school? Ah, so it’s time for me to fulfill that promise? Sure, I’ll help—but just so we’re clear, I’m not going on stage.”

She looked genuinely disappointed. “Really? You won’t even try? It’s only for Biyang Girls’ students—no outsiders.”

“Still no. I can barely speak in front of a crowd, and my singing is terrible.”

“Says the guy who did an impromptu stand-up once?”

“That was just to cover up the awkwardness of my self-introduction.”

“Ha! I thought you were the type of guy who likes showing off for girls.”

I twisted away and, in my best cutesy tone, poked her in the waist.

“Oh, Sis Xi~ What’s this about ‘guy’? I’m a girl now too, you know~”

She snorted and poked my forehead.

“You only count yourself as a girl when it works in your favor.”

“And from the way you’re talking, you don’t think of yourself as a guy anymore either, huh?”

“Uh!” She flushed, biting her lip in a way that was… very feminine.

“You’re already used to this life, aren’t you? Then you can be my quota for next month!”

“No way! I still want to turn back into a guy. Don’t you go deciding that for me.”

I couldn’t figure her out—back when she was still the male Tian Xi, she was a mohawked, fat guy with no redeeming features.

I sighed and steered the topic back to the concert.

“Even if I did go on stage, Meow Meow wouldn’t want to perform with me. And I have zero musical talent.”

Not false modesty—I’m tone-deaf enough to be kicked out of karaoke before I can finish one line. It’s not that I don’t want to sing, it’s that my classmates physically restrain me and beg me not to.

If I sang with Meow Meow on stage, it’d basically be deploying a weapon of mass destruction.

“You still don’t get it, Xiao Kai. She doesn’t hate you—she’s just too proud to admit anything. You know, tsundere.”

“If only. She’s got the ‘tsun’ part down, but where’s the ‘dere’?”

Apparently I’d said that too loudly, because Meow Meow glared at me over her shoulder, her amber eyes practically shooting fire. I shrank my neck like a turtle.

Xiao Lei tilted her head. “Do you like tsundere characters, Commander?”

“Huh? Why do you ask?”

She batted her eyes, turned her head with mock shyness, and huffed:

“It’s not like I’m trying to get you to like me or anything, you stupid Commander. Hmph!”

“Cut it out, idiot! That kind of forced tsundere act doesn’t push any of my buttons!”

The bell rang, ending lunch break.

“Think about the concert, okay?” Sis Xi called as she went back to her seat.

But my desk…

It was still warm from her butt. Probably still had her butt scent, too. If I took a nap here…

“No! Bad thoughts, be gone!”

I shook my head violently and decided I’d better focus on studying this afternoon.

At the girls’ campus, the afternoon only had three classes, with generous breaks in between, which was good for processing the material. Since Xiao Lei was hopeless at academics, Rinka and I used those breaks to tutor her, which doubled as some review for us.

The result? My grades have been improving fast these last few days. I was starting to think I could crack the top tier by the monthly exams!

After school.

Walking back to the secret hideout with Xiao Lei and Rinka, we found Haitang and Qiaojue waiting for us.

The student council president was lounging on the sofa—legs crossed (yes, safety shorts)—arms spread wide, chin tilted up.

“Yo, Commander. How’s the JK life? Why not just stay a girl forever?”

As her loyal lackey, Qiaojue chimed in, wrapping an arm around my waist and spinning me like we were dancing.

“Yeah, let me take care of you, little beauty.”

This seasoned flirt’s wink made my cheeks warm. Rinka of course jumped in to stake her claim, pulling me away from Qiaojue.

“Sorry, Lingmeng-chan’s already mine!”

…Since when?

Then she swept in from behind and wrapped her arms around my waist like Jack holding Rose at the bow of the Titanic.

“Right, Lingmeng-chan?”

“What, do I have to raise my arms and yell ‘I’m flying’ now?”

Even Xiao Lei couldn’t resist butting in. She didn’t hug me, knowing I’d dodge, but still shouted:
“Ha! I’ve already slept with the Commander, so I win!”

“…Slept… with me?”

Even Haitang froze for a moment at Xiao Lei’s outrageous claim.

“Lil' bro, going after idiots is a crime.”

Wow. Just moments ago, Qiaojue was calling me “little beauty,” and now I was back to “lil' bro.”

“Ugh, I’ve spent so much money on you and you still haven’t slept with me!” Rinka’s words sounded… dangerous. So that’s what she was after?!

I bonked Xiao Lei on the head.

“Idiot, what are you even saying?”

“Anyway, let’s talk business!” Haitang said, rubbing her temples. She reached behind her and tossed a few dark, metallic objects onto the coffee table.

It was the camera and power box that Qiaojue had taken out of my room a few days ago.

“Today, Qiaojue and I will go home with you so that she can put this back.”