That little rascal Xiao Lei sent me a photo of herself dressed in the girls’ uniform, then promptly vanished. I can only hope she’s still holed up at the secret base, behaving herself.

But the moment Zhao Zhao saw the photo, he was dead certain she’d snuck into the girls’ campus.

“Why would she? She’s not like you—okay fine, she is you, but she’s not the kind who’d drool over cute girls all day, is she?”

“What’s wrong with that? I’m a perfectly normal high school boy! It’s only natural to like pretty girls!”
He beat his chest and stomped his feet in protest, and got more than a few nods of agreement from our classmates.

“Besides,” he went on, “aren’t you even a little curious about that sacred lily(yuri) garden off-limits to all men? Don’t you want to see the girls’ bathroom, the girls’ locker room, and the girls’ gym?”

“Nope. Not even a little. That’s what people call being a pervert. Have some self-awareness!”

Also, what the hell is a girls’ gym, anyway?

Zhao Zhao snorted through his nose. “Hmph. Hypocrite.”

Then my phone buzzed. I pulled it out to take a look, and nearly dropped it.

“Oh crap.”

This was bad. Really bad.

“What is it? Did Xiao Lei message you again?”

“Nope. It’s from Rinka.”

I handed the phone to Zhao Zhao.

“You take a look. There’s no talking our way out of this now…”

It was a photo from Rinka—her arm draped around Xiao Lei’s shoulders, grinning for the camera while Xiao Lei awkwardly threw up a peace sign, clearly not thrilled.

Zhao Zhao spread his hands helplessly. “Okay… that’s not what I expected.”

Not only had Xiao Lei infiltrated the girls’ school, she’d gotten caught—by none other than Rinka, who’d just transferred there.

“Seriously, how do you keep getting caught?”

She got nabbed by Lei Meow Meow back at Lose Moonlit too. What kind of teammate is this?

“Hey, it wasn’t me who got caught, ok? I’m right here, safe and sound.”

Another message popped up—still from Rinka.

[Dinner’s on me tonight, Kai-chan. Bring Zhao Zhao too, okay? You have to come~]

No explanation, just a restaurant address. Not too far—she’d reserved a private room in the Tianping Commercial District.

This was clearly her angling for a showdown after digging up some dirt from Xiao Lei. In other words, this dinner invitation was a trap. A Hongmen banquet¹ in the classical sense—and I couldn’t afford to skip it. I had to get that idiot girl back.

The real question was: what exactly had Rinka learned from Xiao Lei?

Worst case? Rinka pressured her into spilling everything in one go. In that case, I was already screwed.

Best case? Even if Xiao Lei kept her mouth shut, Rinka might’ve pieced it all together just from the clothes she was wearing. After all, every single piece in Xiao Lei’s current wardrobe—including, presumably, her underwear—belonged to Rin♂ka.

In other words, even that line in the message—“bring Zhao Zhao too”—could be bait.

If Rinka only suspected Xiao Lei was Zhao Zhao, there was no need for this whole elaborate dinner setup. She already knew I borrowed clothes from her. No big deal.

But Rinka has been really close to Sis Fei lately. And that photo? No way it was a selfie. Odds are, Fei was the one who took it. And since Xiao Lei met Fei in her divine emissary role, there’s no way Fei didn’t recognize her.

Which means the evidence now lined up: Zhao Zhao equals Xiao Lei equals the divine emissary.

After hearing all this, Zhao Zhao offered a brilliant idea:
“We show up, but don’t go inside. While you stay outside and wipe the bookmark clean, I’ll grab Xiao Lei and we make a break for it.”
Not the worst plan, honestly, though it reeks of guilt. Still, it gave me an idea—we might not be totally doomed yet.

“Why run? Let’s just go. They caught Xiao Lei. That’s got nothing to do with you, Zhao Zhao.”

I tapped on his desk.

“Remember—you are Zhao Zhao. And the person they caught is none other than the Divine. Emissary. Got it?”

Zhao Zhao nodded, not quite convinced but going along with it.

After school.

Since Xiao Lei had already been nabbed, there was no point heading to the secret base. Zhao Zhao wheeled me downstairs.

And then we spotted her—Rinka, leaning against the wall by the classroom building, surrounded by a crowd of boys trying to flirt with her.

This was the first-floor corridor—home to the freshmen. Poor suckers. New to this all-boys hellhole, and the moment they laid eyes on a pretty upperclassman like her, they were gawking like she was a panda at the zoo. Can’t blame them—I was the same way once.

Meanwhile, the older students shook their heads and sighed, patting the newbies on the shoulder.

“Don’t get too excited, guys. That’s not a girl. That’s your senior. Total cross-dressing legend. A guy.”

Some jerk even pointed straight at me.

“See the guy in the wheelchair with the dorky glasses? He confessed to her thinking she was a real girl—and look where it got him. Tragic.”

What kind of fanfic had these drama loving idiots dreamed up to link my broken leg to some love confession?

Zhao Zhao didn’t even hesitate. He just rolled me straight up to Rinka.

“Eh? What?”

At 1.9m, Zhao Zhao stuck out from the crowd obviously. Rinka immediately spotted him and looked genuinely confused.

“Yo, Rinka. What brings you to the boys campus?”

Her mind was clearly short-circuiting. She stumbled over her words.

“Ah, I… I came to pick you up? Thought your leg might slow you down…”

She probably figured I had no one to push my wheelchair since Xiao Lei got caught, so she came herself.

Zhao Zhao thumped his chest. “No worries, I’ve got this. I’ll take care of Commander.”

“Okay… but why are you still here?”

Zhao Zhao played dumb. “Eh? Didn’t you invite me to dinner too?”

“Well, yeah… I did say that, but… whatever. Taxi!”

She flagged one down and led us out of the school gates. Zhao Zhao helped me into the backseat, then folded the wheelchair and tucked it into the trunk like a pro.

“Tianping Commercial District, please.”

With the driver present, Rinka didn’t bring up anything sensitive. Understandable—it wasn’t exactly the kind of conversation you want a nosy cabbie overhearing and reporting to a psych ward.

She didn’t say anything, but she kept shooting Zhao Zhao these weird sidelong glances, frowning slightly, lips twitching. Clearly, he didn’t fit into her understanding of the situation.

Which, if nothing else, meant Xiao Lei hadn’t spilled the beans about the bookmark clone.

Rinka pulled out her phone and started texting someone—probably checking with Sis Fei to make sure Xiao Lei was still under watch.

The driver was the silent type, and before long we reached Tianping.

The main road through the shopping district was short; the area was mostly pedestrian walkways and crisscrossing overhead bridges. If you didn’t already know the place, it was hard to find your way around.

“Since Kai-chan has mobility issues and this place doesn’t have the best accessibility, I picked a restaurant on the ground floor. It’s right up ahead—a Sichuan place.”

“Well, thanks for the thought.”

Although Rinka did consider my situation, she didn’t think it through enough. I can’t handle spicy food. I don’t get the whole “chili addiction” thing. And on top of that, spicy and oily food is the last thing someone with a fractured leg should be eating—hello, inflammation.

“Rinka, the girl you ran into this afternoon was—”

She turned and pressed a finger to her lips. Shhh.

“She’s the ‘Divine Emissary’ you told me about, right? I figured that out. She’s cute, just a bit of an airhead though.”

“Ahem ahem!”

Zhao Zhao coughed loudly while pushing my chair. Noticing Rinka’s stare, he quickly said, “Sorry, itchy throat. You all didn’t bully her, right?”

“Of course not. It was our first meeting, after all. And I owe her big—she’s the reason I became a real girl, isn’t she? This dinner’s her welcome party… oh, and we’re almost there—let me take over pushing~”

Rinka took the wheelchair handles from Zhao Zhao. Even before we stepped inside, we could smell the spices. Typical Sichuan decor—red tones everywhere, strings of chilies hanging from the ceiling like lanterns. Surprisingly festive.

The restaurant was spacious, the staff friendly. One of the servers came over when they saw the wheelchair, but Rinka waved them off.

“We’ve got a reservation. Someone’s already here. Thanks, but we’ll manage.”

As we walked, she glanced back and asked, “So, big guy—you seem pretty concerned about the Divine Emissary. And since her phone’s with you, what’s up with that?”

The sudden question caught Zhao Zhao off guard, so I jumped in.

“Oh, that? She didn’t have a phone, so I told Zhao Zhao to lend her his. Just in case something happened at the girls’ school and I couldn’t get in touch.”

“Hmm… but the way you and the Divine Emissary talk about things doesn’t quite match up. Kai-chan, are you lying to me again?”

That’s just plain impossible. How would I know what Xiao Lei told her?

Seeing my hesitation, Rinka sighed—disappointed.

“I was bluffing. But seriously… when are you ever going to tell me the truth?”