September 30, Wednesday, 12:30 p.m.

Today was the last day before the long national holiday — and the day of the concert.

After three days of intense rehearsals, even I managed not to be a total drag on everyone.

But my whole body felt wrecked: muscles sore, shoulders stiff as if I’d been put in plaster.

Fortunately, as soon as I returned to my original body, all those debuffs disappeared with the avatar. I even felt a bit more refreshed than the others. Still, out of the six of us I was the worst dancer, Sis Xi moved more fluidly than I did.

Miss Takagi had choreographed the dance avoiding needlessly difficult moves, but keeping my body on beat with the music was already a challenge. I’m hopeless at coordination, my center of gravity’s shaky, and finishing the routine without collapsing felt like an accomplishment.

Even though it was just a student council event, because it was being livestreamed the school gave us lots of leeway: anyone performing could use the gym for rehearsal Monday and Tuesday afternoon without being marked absent.

Today the school had packed the gym with first- and second-year students for the concert; seats were filling up, and the pressure hit me hard.

The middle-school division wasn’t officially invited since they’re on a separate campus, but Rinka had brought Tangerine and little Jing along and they were sitting in the audience.

Sis Fei, though, was buried in studying, high school seniors understand priorities, she said she would come by during the inter-period break in the afternoon, so she’d still probably catch the finale.

Even though we were performing in the finale, we’d come backstage early. To keep my waistline trim, I’d barely eaten lunch — just a few bites — and I envied Xiao Lei’s bottomless pit of an appetite. The backstage was relatively calm compared to the bustling crowd outside.

“Scarlet-chan just came delivering the costumes — everyone, come try them on!” Rinka’s voice came from the door. A second-year middle-school girl followed her, carrying a familiar large tote and peering curiously into the backstage. She even called me “Sis Lingmeng.” We’d only met that one afternoon, yet being called that by a younger girl felt weirdly nice.

“Thanks so much for dealing with the outfits,” I said when Scarlet-chan dropped the bundle onto the floor, winded and complaining. “Ugh, that was a lot of trouble! If Sis Lingmeng hadn’t requested such complicated details, it wouldn’t’ve taken so long. Luckily my brother came to help and we managed to finish today.”

Wait — Tony Yang helped too? Sewing the costumes looked harder than I’d imagined; we’d asked for complicated things on a tight schedule, and I felt a little guilty.

“Sorry, sorry. Thanks for all your hard work.” I meant it.

“So you better dance well. Sis Lingmeng you don't look like a natural dancer, so don’t be the one to hold Sis Meow Meow back, okay?” Scarlet-chan said, half-encouraging, half-teasing. Was that encouragement? I accepted it gratefully.

Scarlet-chan fished a candy from her pocket, unwrapped it, popped it in her mouth, and then told Rinka, “I’ll watch from the audience. Sis Rinka, you do your best too!”

“Of course! We can’t let you and your costumes down!” Rinka beamed.

【dressing in progress】

Since each outfit was custom-made to our measurements, the costumes fit comfortably and didn’t restrict movement — though they were a bit thick, so it might get warm after a while at this time of year. There were seven outfits total: one for each of the six backup dancers and one for Meow Meow to change into before the final song.

“Ooh la la, they’re almost couture!” Qiaojue gushed, circling me and admiring the craftsmanship. “These are so well done — we could even use them as our group uniform later!”

She didn’t change into hers yet; as a student council member Qiaojue and Haitang still had things to handle, so only Rinka, Xiao Lei, and I had put ours on. Although the outfits were the same design generally, they’d been subtly tailored to add some distinct flair for each person — likely Scarlet-chan’s idea (or maybe Tony Yang’s touch).

What did the costumes look like exactly? Heh — that’s for the stage reveal. A little mystery first.

“Xiao Lingmeng!!” Someone barreled in and hugged me full on. Hair like fiery red waves slapped my cheek; high-end perfume and a plush, oppai-soft embrace followed. Soft met soft — collision of softness.

“It’s been ages! Let me see what you look like as a girl now.” Sis Yuanyue removed her sunglasses and tilted my chin to inspect me. I shrank back a little.

Apparently Meow Meow and Sis Xi had already told her everything…

Her usual no-aging glow was still there; she looked even more radiant than before.

“Nice — your face is still pretty and your figure’s amazing.” Her bright red eyes made me blush. She bent close and whispered, “Come marry into my family, Lingmeng.”

“But you don’t have a son anymore. Whose wife would I be?” I squirmed out of her arms.

“Oh? Then being a son-in-law is fine?”

I broke free. “This logic is... something else.”

“Don’t you like my kid?” she asked.

“Of course! I’m not into masochism — how many times do you think I got smacked by her?”

“Aww, domestic violence is troubling~ When she’s home I’ll let her dad spank her butt! She’ll stop hitting you after that. Come home with big sis, ok? Lingmeng.”

“Wait there, we’re still not a family, and an idol who still gets spanked by her dad at this age is pitiful. Even if Meow Meow doesn’t hit me, I have no reason to go home with you! And calling yourself ‘sis’—are you even ok about the family ranking? Hah...”

I couldn’t keep up with her train of thought; was she trying to tease me into fainting so she could carry me off?

“All right, I won’t tease you more.” Sis Yuanyue flipped her waves and pulled Sis Xi backstage. “Xiao Xi, go get changed first. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Eh? Oh no, how could I possibly let you—” Sis Xi looked flustered.

“Just do as I say! I took time off just to come watch this concert—at least let me lend a hand, won’t you?”

“But…”

Before she could finish, Sis Yuanyue suddenly leaned onto my shoulder, letting out an exaggerated wail.
“Xiao Lingmeng, look! Xiao Xi’s getting all distant with me these days… your big sis’s heartbroken!”

“…I got it, I’ll go change now.”

And just like that—one dramatic performance later—Sis Yuanyue had completely overwhelmed her. Sis Xi finally grabbed the costume off the table and slipped into the backstage dressing room.

Counting the water-park pageant, this was my third time seeing Meow Meow live. Even if I wasn’t on stage, I was excited — putting aside her violence, her voice and stage presence really pulled me in. I’m a fan, after all. Even close-up—well, if you get hit it’s a zero-distance encounter with an idol. Would any other fans get that kind of treatment? Probably not.

The first time she performed was at Lose Moonlit Bar — I’d watched it with Sis Xi, Sis Yuanyue, and Uncle Lei Luo. I wondered aloud, “Is Uncle Lei Luo not coming today?” and re-realized this was a girls only school.

“He’d like to, but… oh yeah, you could get him in if you wanted, right? Lingmeng?” Meow Meow asked.

“Oh? Yeah, I could.” I smiled at the idea. If he wanted to come in, we could just use the notebook to transform him. If I remembered correctly, Uncle Lei Luo turned into a shocking loli after his change — I hadn’t seen that form much and kind of wanted another look.

“Okay, I’ll give him a call.” Meow Meow went to her phone.

Because it was a concert, outsiders were allowed in. In the gym, first- and second-year students filled only part of the seating; the rest was given over to outside guests, reporters, and Meow Meow’s fans. It was all women-only admissions, and since it was free, the place was packed.

Of course, Sis Qiuluo and the security team had beefed up patrols to keep out any cross-dressing gatecrashers or stowaways like Zhao Zhao.