Tuesday, September 2

Now that we had the key to Rinka’s secret hideout, of course we weren’t going to let it go to waste. The next day, Zhao Zhao and I came back with our usual bread lunch in hand. And this time—thanks to my firm protests—there was no bridal-style carrying involved.

Because the entrance of the hideout was the size of a fire cabinet, Zhao Zhao could only get in after transforming into Xiao Lei.

Sprawled on the couch, Xiao Lei stretched lazily, then casually tossed the paper bag into the trash can in the corner. A perfect shot, naturally—she did play basketball, after all.

Then she let out a long, relaxed sigh.
“Commander~ crank the AC a little colder, will you?”

“It’s cold enough. Besides, I’ve got a broken leg—you still want to order me around?”

The AC was already pumping out cold air like a champ; I even had a blanket on. Any colder and we’d risk catching something.

Plus, we were using Rinka’s utilities. Even if she probably wouldn’t care, mooching too much felt a little excessive...

Anyway, I took the opportunity during lunch break to fully explain the bookmark to Xiao Lei—including my master’s whole soul-sharing, life-and-death-tied theory.

“So if I use the bookmark, I’ll split into Zhao Zhao and Xiao Lei separately?”
After hearing my explanation, she didn’t look excited. In fact, she frowned, clearly reluctant.
“I know it’s weird coming from me, but honestly? I’m not that into the idea of coexisting with another me.”

Xiao Lei had always been critical of Zhao Zhao, and frankly, I never quite figured out why.

“But the bookmark was made for you. Don’t you want to move independently for once?”
Lying sideways on the bed with my leg propped up, I tried to tempt her:
“Living double has its perks. For example, after lunch we go back to class, but you could stay here, chill in the AC. Then at night, just merge back—boom, you’ve had the AC and you didn’t miss class. Win-win, right?”

“Hmm...” She said no, but I could see the wavering on her face. The secret base clearly had its pull.

“If you’re not using it, I’ll go ahead. I need the exercise anyway—can’t do much with a busted leg, and I didn’t finish cleaning yesterday...”

“Fine, fine, I’ll do it! Here, right?”

Gotcha.

What a pushover. One round of reverse psychology and she folds.

“That’s the spirit.”

I flipped open the notebook and placed the transparent bookmark over Zhao Zhao’s name, tracing it with a pencil.

Her process differed slightly from mine—she reverted to Zhao Zhao first, and then the second body began forming in midair. Based on my own experience, the new body didn’t come with clothes…

...which could be a bit of a problem.

I grabbed the blanket off the bed, ready to cover Xiao Lei the moment she dropped.

Zhao Zhao, freshly back in his original form, hadn’t even processed the situation before half his soul got yanked away by a glowing orb. He sat stunned on the couch, eyes unfocused, like a fish that had just given up on life.

Zhao Zhao.exe had stopped responding.

Well, it works out for soon-to-be-naked Xiao Lei, at least.

The glowing orb in the air had already taken a vaguely human shape. It reminded me of those magical girl transformation scenes in anime—except this version didn’t magically conjure any cute outfits.

From the outline of her hair and figure, it was obviously Xiao Lei. Flat-chested, sure, but her legs were surprisingly long.

Wrapped in white light, she gently floated down. I used to think the second body just fell like a rock, but no—there was a gentle descent. Surprisingly considerate.

As the glow began to fade, I tossed the blanket over her like a seasoned stagehand, doing my best to avoid any “accidental glimpses.”

Once the light show ended, the scene was almost suspicious: Xiao Lei motionless under a white blanket, Zhao Zhao still dazed on the couch, and me—completely alert, holding a suspicious-looking retractable crutch like I was about to commit a crime.

...Would anyone know if I just peeked a little?

I smacked Zhao Zhao on the head with the crutch—hard.

“Snap out of it! Xiao Lei’s been born!”

Well, “born” wasn’t exactly wrong.

It worked—he winced and snapped out of it.
“Ow! Commander, what the hell?!”

He rubbed his head, then caught sight of Xiao Lei on the floor. His pain forgotten, he started excitedly rubbing his hands together like a creep.
“Ooooh, that’s my split self? I’m actually kinda cute?”

Humble, this one. Real humble.

Even though they were separate now, they clearly still shared some sort of link. The moment Zhao Zhao came to, Xiao Lei stirred under the blanket.

She sat up. The blanket started slipping. Her eyes met Zhao Zhao’s. Realizing her situation, she yanked it back up, glaring at both of us like cornered prey.

“Why is my side the naked one?! Wait—you two didn’t see anything, did you?!”

“No, no, I covered you before the light faded,” I said quickly. Best to clear things up now, before it became an issue.

“Don’t look at me,” Zhao Zhao feigned innocence. “I just woke up. And hey—didn’t I already see that body of yours before? What’s there to hide?”

“That’s totally different! You can’t look now!”

Blushing furiously, Xiao Lei bolted into the bathroom. When she came back out, the blanket was wrapped tightly around her chest.

Her eyes kept drifting toward Rinka’s clothes rack. Clearly, she wanted to borrow something.

Can’t blame her. Her own clothes were still at my place, and you can’t exactly live wrapped in a blanket 24/7. Especially when it kept sliding down thanks to her... um, aerodynamic figure.

“Hang on, I’ll make a call.”

I pulled out my phone and rang up Rinka to ask if we could borrow some clothes.

It was probably also lunch break at the girls campus, because she picked up fast. I could hear a bunch of girls chatting in the background.

An all-girls school, huh. I’ll admit, I am a little jealous.

“No problem, go ahead and wear them,” Rinka replied cheerfully the moment I asked. Though... she clearly misunderstood something.

“Most of those outfits were bought to fit my male… previous size, and I’ve slimmed down a lot since then. If you like something, just take it.”

Really, her build had just gotten smaller. But with all those girls around, she probably didn’t want to explain too much.

“Wait a sec, Kai-chan,” she suddenly said, voice low. “Didn’t you swear you’d never wear girls’ clothes? ...You didn’t turn someone else into a girl again, did you?”

Xiao Lei clutched her blanket tighter and looked at me nervously.

“Hehe... busted. But hey, if it’s not me wearing them, it’s fine, right?”

“You can borrow them,” she said, suddenly sharp. “But tell me who. And send me a pic.”

Uh-oh.

That was a problem. Rinka had gotten pretty close to Huangfu Fei lately—and Sis Fei definitely knew Xiao Lei, my actual divine emissary. If a picture of her got passed around...

“She’s shy. Doesn’t want photos.”

“Still shy? Fine. At least tell me who it is.”

I looked at the red-haired ape picking his nose on the couch and hesitated.
“Zhao Zhao. I turned Zhao Zhao into a girl.”

What even was Rinka’s opinion of Zhao Zhao, anyway?

“WHAT?!” she yelled. My heart skipped a beat. Maybe this was a mistake.

“Damn, Kai-chan. You’ve got taste. Turning the perverted beast of our school—the one whose name can’t even be mentioned—into a girl? Bold move.”

What a reputation. I had to hand it to Zhao Zhao—he was infamous.

Seeing my expression, Xiao Lei adjusted her blanket and came over.
“Commander, let me talk to her.”

Rinka perked up immediately on the other end.
“Was that Zhao Zhao? Sure! Let her talk to me!”

Xiao Lei took my phone, shot a glance at both me and her original body, then darted into the bathroom.

I didn’t get it. “What’s she planning to say to Rinka?”

Zhao Zhao didn’t even pause. “What do you think? She’s gonna act all cutesy and try to win her over—away from us so we can’t hear her badmouthing me.”

“She wouldn’t be ‘badmouthing’ if it was all true, Mr. Perverted Beast.”

That shut him right up.