“Lingmeng-jie, hurry up and take your clothes off already! Or do you want me to help you strip? Have some self-awareness, will you?!”

Sharo had me pinned in the corner, rubbing her hands together like she might pounce at any second and rip my jacket off by force.

The jacket I was wearing—— was a tokkōfuku identical in style to the one she had on. The only difference between the two was the text printed on the back.

The problem was, this one wasn’t originally hers.
I had created it with the notebook, specifically so I could rely on Note Armor to save my life in an emergency.

What a headache.

This operation had gone surprisingly smoothly, so I never even got the chance to activate Note Armor and show off. Still, the reason I hadn’t completely folded at the bar earlier—why I didn’t look like a total coward—was largely because this outfit gave me confidence. Otherwise, would I really have dared to talk back to someone like Lu Huangze?

But Sharo didn’t know any of that. Right now she was insisting I strip it off and return it to her. The real problem was that she already had an identical one in her wardrobe. Whether I gave this back now or not, she’d notice something was wrong once she got back—and then she’d be stuck trying to explain the unexplainable.

With my back pressed into the corner, clutching my clothes for dear life, I desperately thought about how to talk my way out of this.

“Uh… Sharo, look… my school uniform jacket is still back at your hideout. How about I go back with you and change there?”
She tilted her head, her razor-sharp bangs sliding to one side, giving me an expression that clearly said ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

“Why make things so complicated? I’ll have Xiao Lei bring your uniform back for you. Take the clothes off. Now.”

I said seriously, “Actually… this jacket really isn’t yours.”

“B̲u̲l̲l̲s̲h̲i̲t̲! Take it off already! This is custom-made—there’s no identical version on the market! And with that huge chest of yours, it doesn’t even fit properly!”

Wait—custom-made?!

“This really is my own clothes! If you don’t believe me, have Lu Tao check your wardrobe!”

“What’s the point of telling a lie that falls apart the second it’s poked?! If you like it that much, then just keep wearing it!”

She lunged at me, all claws and teeth—but instead of tearing it off, she instinctively went to fasten the buttons on my chest…

Click.

They buttoned up effortlessly.
Perfect fit.

Well, obviously. Would something made by the notebook not fit?

The notebook is a divine artifact, after all—every transformation is a bespoke, tailor-made masterpiece. Once you wear clothes like this, you really don’t want to go back to ordinary ones anymore… too bad it can only make women’s clothing.

Sharo froze for a full three seconds, still holding me in a kabedon, before cursing,
“【BEEP——】! You stretched my clothes out!”

Does this woman’s brain not take turns?!

“Since you don’t believe me, let’s make a bet!”

As her face moved closer and closer, I pressed my hands against her shoulders and pushed her back, snapping irritably:

“Call Lu Tao right now. If she says the clothes aren’t in your wardrobe, I lose—and I’ll be your maid for a whole day. The obedient, do-whatever-you-say kind. But if the clothes are in your wardrobe, then you become my exclusive maid for a day. Every sentence you say has to include ‘Master.’”

“…Oh?” Sharo raised an eyebrow. “That confident? Lingmeng-jie, do you really want to be my maid that badly?”

I glared back at her, equally provocative.

“Who ends up serving who isn’t decided yet. So—are you taking the bet or not?”

She clenched her teeth.

“…Fine. I’m in.”

At this point she was riding the tiger—there was no way she could back down after saying that.

She pulled out her phone and called Lu Tao. Moments later, her expression predictably changed.

“Taozi, are you still at the hideout?”

“…Help me check the wardrobe. Is my spare captain’s tokkōfuku still there?”

“【BEEP——】 What?! Seriously?!”

Overcome with shock, Sharo’s phone slipped from her hand. I caught it just in time before it hit the ground.

“Boss? Boss, what’s wrong?”

“Uh hello? Lu Tao?”

“…That voice—Lingmeng-jie?”

“Yeah, it’s me. You really helped a lot. Thanks!”

“Ahaha, no problem at all… wait, did I even do anything?”

You just shoved your boss straight into the abyss—
and me? I seized the momentum and counterattacked.

I hung up, grabbed Sharo’s arm, spun around, and reversed our positions, slamming her back against the wall. Hooking a finger under her chin, I lifted her face.

“Well, Sharo-chan? I told you this jacket wasn’t yours. Even if it were ‘stretched out,’ how could it still button up? It’s not some knitted sweater or stretch fabric.”

“…I lost,” she admitted. “But why?”

“If I had to say why… maybe it’s because I’m a god?”

“What kind of b̲u̲l̲l̲s̲h̲i̲t̲ reason is that?!”

In the end, I obtained [Sharo Maid · One-Day Usage Rights]. Just like back when I worked part-time at a maid café, she turned out to be surprisingly honest about honoring her bets.

Of course, I had no intention of actually using it. Some things are more intimidating just by holding them, and besides—having a rich young lady with disaster-level cooking skills wait on me? Am I tired of living?

Once Tangerine and Meow Meow finished feeding the cats, the victory banquet officially came to an end. After exchanging goodbyes, everyone headed home.

Since Xiao Lei was dragged back to the manga café by Sharo to continue being exploited as labor, Haitang and Tangerine took on the task of escorting me—my main body—home.

When I returned to my main body, I actually felt a bit uncomfortable. I’d been getting more and more used to the female avatar lately. This was not a good sign. At this rate, I really wouldn’t be able to turn back.

Haitang and Tangerine walked me to the door. Seeing the living room lights on, they said regretfully,
“Uncle’s home today… then we won’t disturb you too much.”

Even though it was my dad’s issue, I still felt bad.

“Let’s hang out again another day!”

“Onii-chan~ bye-bye!”

I folded up my wheelchair and went inside. The house was quiet, and it looked like Wu Qinglan hadn't arrived yet.

I tugged my bangs down and adjusted my oversized glasses to cover half my face. Only after confirming everything was in order did I step into the entryway.

“I’m home…”

Dad was sitting on the sofa. I noticed two empty pizza boxes piled on the coffee table—damn it, while I was out, he’d actually ordered delivery pizza!

There was still grease shining at the corner of his mouth. He must have just finished eating.

“Son, ever since you broke your leg, why are you running around outside every day?”

“It’s fine. Haitang and the others help me. Besides, with me gone, aren’t you more at ease?”

After all, if I’m home, he has to constantly worry about accidentally seeing my face without glasses.

“How could that be? Of course I worry about you! Even if I really don’t want to see your face.”

Dad really lives in a constant state of contradiction…

“Wu Qinglan said your company has a team-building event tomorrow?”

“Yeah, a masquerade ball… he even told you that?” He looked surprised.

I nodded.

“He also said he hopes you’ll attend, as part of your ‘female phobia’ treatment.”

“I know. He’ll be bringing over that mascot costume later…” He paused. “But since when did you two get so close?”

“Well, we’ve been acquainted for months now.”

That gray dog mascot costume with the red scarf—its design was painfully embarrassing.

I reminded him, “Even if there are women at the masquerade, they’ll just be coworkers or coworkers’ wives and daughters. Don’t react inappropriately.”

“…If it’s that much trouble, why not just not go?”

Dad was backing out again, like a kid in a hospital refusing an injection.

“Not going would be even more rude! Dad, you seriously lack social skills!”

After being shut down by me, Dad slumped back onto the sofa, lost in thought. He seemed to be wrestling internally, but couldn’t squeeze out a word for quite a while.

So I said, “I’ll head upstairs first. I’ll come back down when Wu Qinglan arrives.”

“Wait!”

He reached out to stop me, hesitating before speaking.

“Son… the masquerade allows family members to attend. So… could you maybe help your old man tomorrow? Just give me a hand?”

“…Honestly, I don’t really want to go either.”

It felt embarrassing. A father with an embarrassing psychological condition wearing an embarrassing mascot suit—people would definitely point and whisper, right?

Dad gritted his teeth and shouted,
“…If you go, I’ll double your allowance next month.”

…………

……

Mm…

“Deal.”