After we finished hashing out the operational details, I figured that was that — just wait for Rashomon to call Sharo with the meeting invite. But then…

“You’re Lei Meow Meow, right? That new idol?”
A shades-wearing guy with hair so red like the color of a roasted turkey, flanked by a dozen or so lackeys, stepped in front of us. They swung rubber batons and chains like they were trying to intimidate us with noise.

I rubbed my temple and glanced at Meow Meow pushing my wheelchair.
“Huh? This deja-vu is strong. Feels like I’ve been through this exact thing before…” I muttered.

Meow Meow shot me a look and sneered, “Don’t go talking nonsense—this is the same alley where I smacked you and Xiao Lei around, right?”
So she still remembered perfectly.

No kidding — back on Mifeng Street a bunch of punks had cornered us in the same alley. Coincidence level: suspiciously high.

How we ended up there starts with the meeting.

After we wrapped, Xiao Lei and Sharo bolted instantly since the manga café was so packed. What’s surprising was that Sharo, who’d been reluctant to work as a maid, was suddenly all-in on the job.

The student-council members had errands, so Haitang, Qiaojue and Yang Qi left early too. That left Meow Meow’s family (including Lü Le and Sis Xi), plus Rinka, Tangerine, and me — eight people total.

To celebrate Lü Le getting out of the hospital (if you can call it that), Sis Yuanyue wanted to sing in the afternoon and Rinka suggested KTV near the subway. Sis Yuanyue’s car couldn’t fit everyone, so we decided to walk — it’s ten minutes from school. Walking to the subway from school takes you down Mifeng Street, and you see where this goes.

A dozen thugs dared to block eight of us — probably figured we’re mostly girls and the lone guy (me) is stuck in a wheelchair, easy pickings. Joke’s on them.

“Oh, I get it — you’re here for autographs, right?” Meow Meow didn’t get mad, she just smiled, pulled a marker from her bag and looked ready to sign.

The shades guy sneered, “Hah? We want you to come with us. Autographs? Who cares?”

One gray-haired punk squeezed out and raised his hand. “Boss! I do care! I want Meow Meow-chan’s autograph!”

Red-hair slapped him back into the line: “Shut up, get to the back, or you’re getting slapped.”

He already did.

Looked closer — it wasn’t just the leader with weird hair, the whole gang had dyed hair: green, blue, crazy colors. Their taste in color matched their taste in life choices.

Sis Yuanyue, unruffled because she knows Meow Meow’s strength, slid on a pair of glasses from her coat and, with that burgundy wave of hair, suddenly looked composed and dangerous in a different way.

She pushed up her glasses. “Name and rank, please. I’m Meow Meow’s manager — let me guess, some entertainment company sent you goons?”

Sis Xi scooped up my wheelchair from Meow Meow and pulled me back into the group with a sharp, “Eek!”.

Red-hair blinked, “What entertainment company?”

The yellow-haired lackey pointed and barked, “Her old man’s a cop planning a sweep of the Tianping underworld. We’re here to snatch her as a bargaining chip! Hand her over if you understand now!”

Just bluntly stated their purpose — how polite.

Meow Meow: “We already understand you’re idiots.”

“Shut it, you blabbermouth!” And yellow-hair got slapped back too.

You could tell gang folks like Lü Le, who keep their head, are rare.

Meow Meow cracked her knuckles, smiling like an idol but ready to fight. “You think you can take me? Don’t underestimate me just because I’m an idol. You punks aren’t even warm-ups.”

Sis Xi and Lei Shan (Lü Le) stepped up flanking Meow Meow — left and right.

Lei Shan, despite getting her cleft repaired, kept her mask on by habit; she says she can’t feel calm without it. Her three-white-eye stare is scary but she’s tiny — not a big deterrent.

Sis Xi, meanwhile, is basically morale demolition; some punk actually shouted, “I’ll take that big-chest one!” and I wanted to die.

Lei Luo-chan (the goth-loli) looked worried and sidled up to me. “Xiao Kai, if things go wrong, change me back,” she whispered.
Change her back now… and I’d end up facing a pervy, musclebound man in a busted gothic outfit? Yikes.

“No way, changing you back now would wreck my brain,” I said.

“Tch, fine, I’ll fight in this body then,” she replied.

“Enough, Old Lei, you just sit tight.” Sis Yuanyue put away her glasses and turned to the line of dye-shop thugs. “I don’t usually condone brawling, but we don’t have much choice. Leave the back row to me.”
Whoa — Sis Yuanyue is feisty.

But hey, a former volleyball player’s arm and explosive power are no joke.

Tangerine crouched low, growled from her throat, and poised like she was ready to leap and bite. Only Rinka stayed by the wall with my wheelchair.

I asked her, “Aren’t you joining in?”

Rinka: “I’m no good at fighting. I’ll stay with you, Kai-chan.”

The red-haired leader, seeing our calm, suddenly got jittery and backed off to the rear of his group—classic bully who picks on the weak.

“Come on then, are you gonna take me?” Meow Meow taunted. “I’m not letting anyone leave until this is sorted.”

It looked like eight people boxed in seventeen, which was peak intimidation in reverse — but the gang wasn’t the problem, who hired them was.

Red-hair snapped his fingers like a signal, and the multicolored crew surged forward, nightsticks and chains swinging: nine in front, eight behind.

“Too slow! Haven’t you eaten lunch?” Meow Meow mocked as she stepped up. The two front guys hadn’t even finished their swings before Meow Meow’s iron fists snapped two blows into their noses — both went down. Lei Shan and Sis Xi grabbed their weapons and flung them back into the crowd, opening a gap for Meow Meow to dash in.

The rubber batons hitting Meow Meow’s palm was like hitting steel; the recoil could even make the stick fly out of someone’s hands. Chains have more sting but need room to swing — once someone is in your space they’re clumsy compared to a bat.

Meow Meow single-handedly suppressing nine guys was like a tiger in a flock of sheep — every punch knocked someone out, and if any tried to get up Lei Shan and Sis Xi finished them off.

The rest didn’t get lucky either. Sis Yuanyue may not be a brawler, but her physicality outclassed these punks. Her one move — a palm strike to the thug’s forehead, like using his head as a volleyball — was crude but devastating. Whoever felt that palm never stood up again. After three hits, four guys turned and targeted Tangerine.

Tangerine’s eyes flashed red — when she gets savage she’s unstoppable. Back at Aqua World she even held Meow Meow down. Her style is wild and frightening. Human nails, long abandoned as weapons, are tools in her hands — she’s spent more of her life feline than human.

She planted a foot, leapt high, used her tail for balance midair, and ripped down at an odd angle that dodged chain arcs. Her claws left four slashing gashes across a thug’s face… no human can match a cat’s reflexes.

He didn’t lose consciousness, but he rolled on the ground wailing. Tangerine flicked the blood and skin from her claws and looked for the next target — that feral assault cowed the rest.

In a last desperate charge they lunged for the seemingly weakest target: Lei Luo-chan. The thugs’ rotten hearts showed since they’d even attack such a young looking girl, but Lei Luo-chan — whether as father or cop — retained her dignity. She blocked Sis Yuanyue and Tangerine from intervening, planted her feet, and took a martial stance.

A green-haired thug charged in. “Ha!” Lei Luo-chan gave a bright, girlish shout, stepped forward and threw a loaded punch.

[image: cracking eggs.jpg]

The green punk clutched himself and dropped to his knees, face twisted in agony, tears streaking down. The last two thugs surrendered on the spot.

Sis Yuanyue: “Old Lei, you’re ruthless.”
Lei Luo-chan: “Uh… I was aiming for the gut. Have I really shrunk that much…”

The red-haired shades leader had never seen anything like it; he jittered backwards, slipped on a discarded baton and landed hard on his butt.

“The intel’s wrong — THIS is an idol?”