The girl in a boy’s uniform felt a headache blooming like thunderclouds; why did these storms always drift her way?

It wasn’t really Maya Yan Er’s fault; she was one leaf in a forest of students, and gossip rustled past her like wind through bamboo.

Yan Er had thought the classmate she bumped was a cute girl, and guilt pricked like a thorn; then she heard the girl’s name, and her face changed like weather over a lake.

Shock, lingering fright, and disbelief painted her features, layered like rain, thunder, and sudden sun.

She hadn’t expected this to be the school’s infamous “harem king”!

As if!

Yun Shi wanted to argue, but the words stuck like a fishbone; when luck runs cold, even birds ignore you.

“Meh, explaining won’t help… Maya Yan Er, right? Got your name,” she said, shrugging like a willow in a light breeze.

She let her shoulders droop, a picture of indifference; excuses only churn mud, and no one believes you anyway, so better to let it lie like a stone in a stream.

Argue like an idiot, and you only deepen the fog; she wasn’t some protagonist who respawns after every blow, and her patience was no iron bell.

With a small sigh, Yun Shi turned to leave, stepping away like a shadow from cold light, because this place gave her nothing warm.

“Wait, I didn’t mean that…”

Seeing her about to go, Yan Er panicked, heart fluttering like a sparrow; she’d only reacted to finally meeting the rumored Yunshi Bianqi, not because she wanted to hate her.

“If someone gets hurt over this, I’ll feel awful,” she blurted, the words tumbling like loose beads.

“C’mon, don’t bother with that sissy, Yan Er-chan~”

“No—um—Hana… Maya Hanazaka, let me go!”

As it turned out, her worry was a three-minute flame; in a blink, she was tangled by someone else’s arms like vines on a fence.

Stay around fools, and it feels contagious, like catching a cold in the rain.

Yun Shi had never thought this deeply about it; lines anime heroines used now etched themselves into her heart like ink on rice paper.

“Well now, looks lively. What are you all playing at over there~”

A mature, honeyed voice drifted over like warm night air; Yun Shi paused mid-step, and even Maya and Yan Er turned, playfulness freezing like frost.

The girl before them smiled, her eyes sending waves of charm without trying; her face was flawless as fresh snow, her figure lush as summer hills, and the swell at her chest made one wonder what miracle fertilizer she’d used.

Staring at the newcomer’s chest, Maya and Yan Er’s eyes went round as full moons; they stared like soldiers spotting a beast at the gate.

Yun Shi’s gaze flicked, and her throat bobbed like a caught fish; the old impulse from her days as a man stirred like embers, and yet the defeat in her chest was a lead weight.

The math was obvious if you looked. Maya Hanazaka was a C, Maya Yan Er a B; add in A for the breast-wrapped girl in a boy’s uniform, and then drop an E into the pond—see what ripples.

“Enemy!” they shouted in unison, the word snapping like twin arrows.

“Why do I feel annoyed for no reason…” Yan Er muttered, the complaint slipping out like a mosquito’s whine.

And that’s exactly what happens.

“Ara-ara, if you stare like that, I’ll get shy~”

Pleased by the reaction, the E-cup—no, the girl—wore a smile that wouldn’t fade, like sunlight stuck on dew.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Asagi Renka, second year.”

Hands resting at her sides, she bowed slightly, manners smooth as a stream over stones.

The name dropped like a pebble, and their faces rippled with shock.

“Asagi… the Student Council President?!”

Yan Er reacted first, pointing at Renka in disbelief; the president was a campus legend, a great beauty, hard to miss like a full moon on a clear night.

Asagi Renka, as Student Council President, had a web of connections like silk threads; her ruthless hand could even clash head-on with the school’s higher-ups like steel on steel. In private, she was a normal girl, but her fan club—mostly girls—swore she leaned lily, a rumor that bloomed like wisteria.

Maya judged this girl’s route as hard mode; forget snagging her—one wrong step and she’d be the one captured, a fish in a heron’s beak. Yun Shi kept her face calm as a still pond, but inside, nerves flickered like fireflies; if the president had any weird hobbies, please let the storm pass her by.

“Alright, no need to be stiff. I’m not that scary~ Oh, and I’m here for you, Yunshi Bianqi.”

With a sultry smile, Renka tossed Yun Shi a wink, a glance sharp enough to one-shot any man like lightning.

No way. Wasn’t the president supposed to have zero interest in guys?!

Maya’s heart howled like a wolf at dusk, as if doomsday had rolled in with black clouds.

“Oh… what is it.”

Almost felled by that autumn-water gaze, Yun Shi steadied herself like a reed in wind and feigned calm.

“Yunshi Bianqi, Class 1-A. Entered third in the rankings. According to our findings, you skipped a grade, correct?”

“Mm. No problem,” she said, frowning slightly like a cat; was this a census?

“Knew it. I heard about you from Mizuki.”

“Miyuki Kiseki?”

“Yes. She talks about you often, and it piqued my interest too. Seeing beats hearing, as they say,” Renka said, smiling like a fox with the henhouse map.

“So, what do you want?”

“Heh-heh…”

“…”

“Join the Student Council, Yunshi.”

…

“Huh?”

Yun Shi’s brain froze like a pond at first frost.

Join the Student Council, she’d said? What a joke. Like she’d step into that dragon’s den.

She wanted to refuse, but curiosity nibbled like carp; “Why me? I’m not interested in that place,” she asked.

That was the truth. If she’d wanted in, she’d have run in elections already; with her skills, she might not sweep the board, but snagging a post was a fair bet. Back then, Mizuki ran and shocked everyone as a dark horse, becoming a first-year vice president, a legend that still glowed like lanterns at festival time.

And what did that have to do with her?

Yun Shi had zero desire to join anything; she just wanted a quiet life as a beautiful girl… a beautiful boy.

“Yunshi, do you remember last month’s incident?”

Renka didn’t answer head-on; instead, she tugged another thread like a weaver at her loom.

“I remember.”

How could anyone forget? People from the Underworld meddled in their world; the case ended smoothly, but the fear that haunted the halls hadn’t vanished, like fog at dawn. Back then, no one dared near the old school building, afraid of ghosts behind every cracked window.

“That mess brought us trouble, and I was swamped like a clerk in monsoon season. Mizuki worked hard for everyone too. I heard you helped the Council, right?”

“That’s… not wrong,” Yun Shi said, voice small as a ripple; it was coincidence, and she hadn’t done half as much as Mizuki.

“I’ve been thinking. The school’s safe for now, but if another storm hits, we’ll have a headache. We need people. You’re the best fit.”

“Hey, wait—”

“Don’t worry. I’ll find you a spot.”

“Listen to me, you tyrant!”

“If you join, those rumors about you might die down, you know~”

…

That last line was bait sweet as candied haw, and Yun Shi felt her heart tilt like a weather vane.

She wanted a plain life. Not one where glares cut like knives, where eyes labeled her trash, where someone stuck pins into a straw doll with her name, and where people fantasized in dark corners… okay, that last part sounded extra bad.

In short, Yun Shi wanted quiet water and clear skies. That was all.

“Hmph… I’m not interested in any of that. Like I’d care about rumors… But since you’re begging, I’ll reluctantly consider it.”

It wasn’t that she was moved. Nope. Definitely that.

Watching the girl cross her arms and look away like a cat pretending not to beg, the corners of her mouth curling up like a hook, Renka’s smile turned triumphant, bright as a banner in wind.

Hooked.

“The sissy actually…!”

Seeing this, Maya’s mood soured like milk in the sun; she glared at Yun Shi, eyes sparking.

“Tch. Since when do I need your permission,” Yun Shi said, dead-fish eyes sliding over the pervy yuri girl like rain over oil, then looking away.

“Um…” Yan Er tried to exist, her voice a pebble tossed at a waterfall.

“Ara, isn’t that Mizuki~”

Renka spoke meaningfully, and Yun Shi looked where she pointed like a compass snapping north.

“Eh, Yun-kun…”

Walking over was Mizuki—plus Sham and Mizuki. They must’ve run into each other earlier, and now the trio approached like three swallows in formation, soon spotting the others.

“Thank goodness. I saw you get tossed out earlier and was really worried. I’m so glad you’re okay,” Mizuki said, ignoring everyone else like they were trees on a road and pouring warmth on Yun Shi like spring sun.

“Mizuki, y-you-you-you—”

Maya stammered, finger shaking like a reed.

“Ah, another crowd-pleaser,” Sham chuckled, her smile sweet with a pinch of spice, a small cruelty glittering like frost.

“It’s not fair you’re that nice to this sissy!!!”