In a tucked-away corner of Japan, a timber house breathed old cedar, the courtyard steeped in incense-like calm, a pond clear as polished glass.

The sliding doors stood open like a parted veil, revealing a tatami-lined hall.

Inside, a meeting room sat hushed as still water, everyone in formal kimono, backs straight like bamboo, waiting for the clan head’s voice.

No one dared breathe, the coming pressure hanging like a storm front; only the steadier ones held their ground like rooted pines.

A middle-aged man in a kimono walked in, his gaze carved in stone, time unable to sand down his resolve; one look drew respect like a bell’s deep toll.

“Is everyone here?” His voice rolled out like a temple drum, solemn and heavy.

“No, Lord Akisuke. The young master said he won’t come.”

The gentler man rose with a bow, words soft as falling ash.

“I see.” He let the answer pass like wind over water, face unreadable as granite.

Shinryo Akisuke, current head of the Divine Ling Family, one of the Seven Clan Heads, moved through the Underworld like a mountain’s shadow at dusk.

He kept a hard line against the Magic Institution, carrying no warmth for them, like ice against fire.

“So, about how things are shifting now, I want to speak with everyone present.”

Akisuke sat, his tone ringed with sanctity, like a shrine gate no one dares touch.

“Lord Akisuke, do you mean the Soul Gem?”

“Mhm.” The word fell like a pebble into a still pond.

Cold sweat slipped down wrists like rain, palms tightened as if gripping spears.

“Forgive me for being blunt, Clan Head. Artifact Spirit matters aren’t for our main line to meddle in. And this time, the Artifact Spirit’s choice is just a powerless girl, we—”

“No, we should strike first, Clan Head. The Magic Institution gained a new fighter; the danger ahead looms like thunderheads.”

“I say we intensify training, steel our people, and be ready to hit the Institution hard.”

“Wrong! Our enemy isn’t the Institution—it’s the Church, and the other clan heads stand like rival peaks too!”

“Then strengthen the young master. Make his ‘Crystal Coalescence’ power densify like frost under midnight.”

Voices clashed like swords, faces flushed, the table a battlefield of breath and heat.

“Enough.” One word from Shinryo Akisuke fell like an iron seal, pressure undeniable as winter’s first bite.

“You all know what’s happened. The Flamebu Family’s young master stirred the Outer World for a single Soul Gem. The ripples still spread like rings on water.

My son tried to step in back then and failed. He fought the Flamebu head’s son, lost, and wore the wounds like carved bark.”

“...” Silence pooled like ink.

“But he had the courage to fight someone stronger, and I value that like gold in stone. The Flamebu gained nothing—they lost hard, like a fire that burned out cold.

So if we don’t move now, we’ll be the ones eating dust.”

“Lord Akisuke, do you mean—?”

“Yes. I want to strike the Magic Institution first, and aim at the Single Leaf Clan too. This time, we win.”

“But, Lord Akisuke… Single Leaf and the Institution are allies. Wouldn’t that—”

“We can invite the Flamebu Family to join hands, and the Four Pupils Clan can be considered like a blade on our flank.”

In the dark, a thread of conspiracy stirred like a snake waking under leaves.

—

Today wasn’t going to be ordinary; Yun Shi felt that truth prickle like nettles under the skin.

Her mood was sour as oversteeped tea—her period hadn’t passed, and being ringed at dawn like bees swarming sugar made it worse, doubly so since they were all boys.

“You’re so enviable, Bianqi!”

“Pretty girls orbit you like stars—how much of a normie are you?”

“Be a man and stand tall in the light!”

In the classroom glow, Yun Shi’s desk was boxed in by three boys, faces tragic like funeral masks, eyes glued to the cross-dressing girl as if she owed them eight million.

She remembered them in brushstrokes: spiky-haired Taido Kurojo, middle-part Morito Shiba, and droopy-eyed Koji Muramasa—hardcore bishoujo zealots, rumored founders of a school fan club like moths around neon.

They were that stock best-bro trio from a 2D story, easy to spark fights, jealous of the girls around a lead like dogs barking at a moon.

But how did that cursed trope crawl onto her path like a weed?

She had no deep ties with them, no past grudges; honestly, she didn’t even have a basic guy’s stash, her drawers clean as winter shelves.

No trades with the bros, no swaps under the desk—so why the courtroom drama like a stage lit at noon?

“So, what do you want?” Her voice came flat as a dead fish’s stare, urging them to cut the fluff.

“Uh, Bianqi, with that many girls around you, don’t you have, like, photos?”

“We don’t even talk much, but at least as men, can’t you—”

“I’ll pay a thousand yen, can you—”

“Stop.” Yun Shi crossed her arms like closing a gate and cut the air.

“I get it. You want the girls’ photos, right?”

“Yeah!” Their heads bobbed like pigeons, eager and ridiculous.

“What’s that got to do with me? I don’t have that junk.” Her temper flared like oil on a pan.

“Seriously, why would I do something like that? Your logic’s broken—like rutting season in a zoo.”

Her words bit like frost; the effect was instant, a critical hit ringing like metal.

“Hey, Bianqi, we’re men too—how can you not get our pain?”

“We want girlfriends, but all we’ve got are goddess photos—do you get that ache like an empty stomach?”

“You’re always around girls, so you can’t understand the hunger we choke on.”

The trio formed a sad alliance, glaring at Yun Shi like pups baring teeth; she hated being glared at, and a flicker of fear chilled her like a draft.

“Tch. Confess to a cute girl, and you’ll have a girlfriend. Simple as spring sunlight.”

“That’s just getting the good-guy card!” x3, a chorus like crows.

“Then change yourselves. Be the man a girl imagines, steady as a tree.”

“We tried. It did nothing!” x3, complaints thin as rain.

“Use your pig brains and think why, you dolts.”

“Then tell us the reason!” x3, fists clenched like bad theater.

“Easy. You worship screens and dirty mags like altars. With that habit, no wonder you can’t pull a girlfriend.”

Another clean strike—damage over half, HP bars evaporated like mist.

They wilted and drifted to a corner, drawing circles on the floor like kids in timeout.

Yun Shi knew this type too well; back when she was still living as a boy, this was baby food, and even she had been better than these three scrubs.

“Ridiculous.” Irritation flicked like a match; she rose to leave, wanting the hallway’s cool air.

“Wait!”

“What now? You’re annoying like a buzzing gnat.”

“You—you life-winner, you don’t get our pain. So duel me, for the sake of cute girls—”

“Refuse.” The word fell like a blade.

“You refused?!” Shock popped like soap bubbles.

“Who’d bother with you? Boring.” Her shrug was a drifting leaf.

“Hey, don’t go! Are you even a man?”

“If I say no, bite me.” Her smirk slid like ice.

“Don’t think we’re joking, you bastard!” Their bluster puffed like dust.

She didn’t bother. In a school filled with fan clubs like mushroom rings, zealots were common as pigeons.

Some rumor must’ve said Yun Shi hoarded photos, drawing scavengers like crows, but rumors are smoke, and she had nothing.

“Don’t go, Bianqi—leave at least one photo!”

He lunged to hug her thigh like grabbing a lifeline.

Crap. If he touched her, it’d be over, cold as a bucket of ice.

She tried to step aside, but the timing slipped like sand.

“Go to hell!” A shadow whooshed past like a hawk, and the lunging boy got booted into the wall, leaving a human-shaped dent like wet clay.

“Who dares act up in my class?”

Maya Hanazaka strode in with a black miasma, fury blazing like a torch, eyes cutting like knives.

“C-class rep!” The trio panicked, voices fluttering like trapped sparrows.

“Ha—bold to peddle contraband in broad daylight. Get ready to pay.” Her grin was a guillotine.

“Noooo!” Their screams tangled like torn wires, the scene unwatchable, a mosaic of pain.

She’d come to save her, but fear is a rabbit; Yun Shi edged back, keeping distance like a wary cat.

“Phew.” Maya wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, ignoring the pixelated chaos behind her, then stopped in front of Yun Shi like a shield.

“Hey, you didn’t cause trouble, right?”

Since learning Yun Shi was a girl, Maya had softened like snow on a roof—no more beatdowns, just the warmth of concern.

“I did nothing. They came to make a mess.”

“Figures. Then punching them was right.” Her nod was brisk as a blade.

“Yeah, but I’m not thanking you.”

“Sure, tsundere-chan. Walk with me.” Her tease flickered like a firefly.

“Tsundere-chan my ass. Hey, don’t just walk off.”

In a classroom, Yun Shi kept her voice low, hiding her original tone like a secret under silk.

“Maya Hanazaka, why’d you call me out?”

“To check on you, duh. You’re still on your period, mood stormy as rain; I get it. But watch your health, okay?”

“When did I ever—”

“You bought shaved ice, then those idiots knocked it over. If not, were you about to keep eating that cold like winter?”

“Uh…” Her guilt was a pink cloud.

“What’s there to explain?” Maya’s stare was steady as a lake.

“...Fine. I won’t buy it again.”

Reluctant, Yun Shi lowered her head like a bent reed, but Maya didn’t let the lesson slide.

“A girl ignoring her body—what am I supposed to do with you?”

“I’m sorry.” The words came small, like a pebble.

“Louder.”

“I’m sorry.” This time the apology rang clear, a bell in the morning air.

Yun Shi’s petite face flushed an awkward pink, like peach petals after rain; she didn’t dare meet her eyes. Maya Hanazaka smiled, satisfied, like a cat dozing in sun.

There we go—good girl.

With that, her hand, willful as a kitten’s paw, settled on Yun Shi’s head and started to pet.

After school, I’ll treat you to some fun.

Maya’s smile was spring-soft, her fingers brushing through Yun Shi’s hair; her mood lifted like a kite in a clear sky.

Back when she mistook Yun Shi for a boy, she’d pick on her, a cold wind needling the skin. Now she cared; just as Sham predicted, once she learned Yun Shi was a girl, she’d like her for sure, ice thawing into spring water.

Heaven’s generous today—this adorable little sprite turns out to be a girl.

Maya felt utterly content, sunlight breaking through morning haze.

Yun Shi enjoyed the head‑pat play, yet she didn’t put on that obedient-kitten face, nor did she swat the hand away.

Inside, a tiny spike of frustration pricked. One question: Why is this one taller than me, too?