Talk was just dust on the breeze, but curiosity swarmed like bees around Mizuki getting confessed to—everyone except a certain tsundere girl in boys’ uniform.

“So Mizuki-chan found a love letter in her shoe locker today, right? It said to meet under the school’s sakura after class?” The paper fluttered in memory like a moth at a porch light.

Maya Hanazaka’s face darkened like a storm front as she spoke, almost rising to grab collars; Sham only nodded, calm as a still pond.

“Mizuki? Isn’t that a good thing…” The other Mizuki kept her voice level, like a cool stream over smooth stones.

“It’s not good at all! Mizuki-chan’s about to be stolen by a man!” Maya’s hands slammed the table, each thump popping like firecrackers.

“What do we do? Any bright ideas?” Sham’s playfulness faded like twilight; worry pooled in her eyes like rainwater.

“How about this, Sham—I’ll toss that jerk into the Pacific and let him wake up in Hawaii.” Her grin flashed like a blade in sun.

“Mm, count me in.” Sham’s fist twitched like a coiled spring.

“Great. I’ll sharpen the knife; you prep the headstone.” The joke walked in with a scythe like a harvest god.

“OK, no problem.” Her answer snapped like a flag in wind.

“You two—don’t say terrifying things with such straight faces!” Both Yun Shi and Mizuki barked in unison, voices clapping like twin thunder.

“Also, it’s someone else’s business. Why butt in? Maybe she doesn’t even care.” Yun Shi shrugged, palms open like empty sky; the other Mizuki said nothing, but her nod fell like a soft leaf.

“No, it’s a huge problem—Mizuki can’t fall into a man’s hands!” Maya’s glare burned like a bonfire.

“Yun, don’t you think heterosexuality is a capital crime? Clearly, yuri is the true path.” Sham’s tone rang like a bell at noon.

“You think so too, Sham!” Maya’s eyes lit like lanterns at a festival.

“Yeah, Maya. In this world, only we comrades remain; we can’t betray the sweat of our countless revolutionary elders.” Sham raised a fist like a banner in wind.

“Boohoo, you’re right—let’s stand firm on yuri, spread it like spring blossoms, and let the whole world know yuri rises today.” Maya’s tears sparkled like dew on petals.

“Yuri is fine, but why sound like state affairs?” Yun Shi and Mizuki chimed again, their jab whistling like arrows. “Don’t think we didn’t catch you copying our lines!”

Snark flowed between Yun Shi and Mizuki like a well-rehearsed duet; their timing clicked like chopsticks.

After the ruckus cooled like tea set aside, Maya proposed checking it out after school, and the room settled like dust after a gust.

Still, a little thrill flickered like a firefly—who would confess to Mizuki?

The day blinked, and the final bell rang like bronze; Maya led the charge, Sham shadow-boxing like a street fighter, while Mizuki trailed with a knot in her brow, and Yun Shi followed, reluctant as a cat nudged from sun.

“Why drag me along?” Yun Shi’s voice flicked like a tail.

“I’ve got Student Council work, you know.” Mizuki’s sigh fell like a tired curtain.

Truth was, neither wanted to come; Maya hauled them both like kites on a short string.

Before, Maya wouldn’t have dragged Yun Shi; back then she thought Yun Shi was a boy and couldn’t like her. Now Maya knew, so she pulled her in—partly because Yun Shi was a girl, and partly to slip in a little yuri brainwash. Her plan fluttered like propaganda posters in wind.

No need, really—Yun Shi had already chosen yuri; Maya assumed she was straight, not knowing the arc had been a curve since day one. The truth sat quiet like a crescent moon.

The school’s sakura was the famous confession spot; it had birthed couples like blossoms after rain. Petals fell like pink snow, and the ground became a stage for public affection. The FFF Brigade had tried to purge this “cursed” place ten times or more, prying apart at least three couples, and finally got smacked by the school’s disciplinary office—leaving only legends, like graffiti faded by sun.

They hid close, leaves breathing around them like green curtains, and saw Mizuki standing under the sakura; a stranger boy faced her, stiff as a stake in soil.

“Oh, the legendary confession—” The other Mizuki murmured, craning like a curious sparrow; Maya bit a handkerchief, tears bright like shattered glass. “How can this be—yuri is endless good!”

Yun Shi’s expression went flat, black lines like ink on rice paper; she watched the comedy, speechless as a stone. The couple might not even happen—so why weep like a broken fountain?

“Mizuki, how can you betray me? You said we’d be together forever—” Sham’s voice wobbled like a reed in wind, melodrama hanging like a stage curtain.

Wait. That sounded like a landmine. Yun Shi’s eyelid twitched like a drumstick; a dull ache curled in her gut like a knotted snake.

“I like Classmate Yanagi Hyodo—please go out with me!” The boy finally chose courage; his words shot like an arrow, face solemn as a shrine.

He wasn’t handsome, just okay—one of those faces that drown in crowds like pebbles in a riverbed. Yun Shi even wondered if this low-stats guy was the protagonist, slated for a comeback—but she shook it off like rain from a sleeve. This world’s main character was Mizuki; that dude had nothing to do with the spotlight.

Still, this was a prime confession stage; under normal skies, Mizuki wouldn’t refuse easily. If she accepted, she’d step out of the single ranks like a soldier redeemed, gain a boyfriend, and become the first in their circle to flaunt affection under falling petals.

As friends, they’d bless her, like tossing rice at a wedding—except, well, someone would not.

“Ahhhh—I'm gonna kill him!” Maya’s scream ripped like a siren.

“Maya, calm down! Don’t do anything stupid!” The other Mizuki grabbed her like iron vines, stopping a crime from sprouting like weeds.

“This girl’s too much.” Yun Shi wiped a bead of sweat that slid like a raindrop, watching the scene; sure, she was yuri too, but she had more chill than this perennial berserker.

Yun Shi turned back to the main event, gaze steady like a lantern.

“I’m sorry.” Mizuki bowed deeply, apology soft as falling snow, and hope drained from the boy’s face like color from old film. Yun Shi wasn’t surprised, really; as for the gleeful squeal from a certain yuri maniac—feel free to filter it like static.

“I’m happy you said that, but…” Mizuki paused, weighing words like stones in a hand.

“I already have a fiancé.” Her tone rang clear, like a bell struck in winter air.

I already have a fiancé.

Already have a fiancé…

Have a fiancé…

A fiancé…

…fiancé…

…

The longest thirty seconds in a life ticked like a sluggish clock, each beat thick as honey.

“Nanananananananinininininininininini—!” Maya detonated, her voice blasting skyward like a rocket. The boy, frozen like a statue, snapped toward the sound and spotted the four crouched in the flowers. Don’t ask how they got caught—Maya popped up in shock, the other three rose to grab her, and the timing landed like a perfect trap.

“Eh! Sham-chan, Maya-chan, Mizuki-chan, and Yun Shi-kun—why are you here?!” Mizuki’s surprise fluttered like a sparrow, and she even stepped back, guilty as a rabbit.

“Ahahaha, well, um…” Maya laughed like a creaky door, busted mid-snoop.

“Nice weather today, huh~” Sham tossed the line like a paper fan.

“S-sorry…” Mizuki bowed her head, thumbs worrying like shy butterflies.

“…” Yun Shi turned away, silence heavy as a stone lantern.

The boy’s face twitched like a faulty neon sign as he took in their four different reactions.

“Is this the legendary peeping on a friend’s confession, just to feed your gossip hunger?” His voice wobbled like a bike over cobbles.

“Um… it’s not like that…” Mizuki’s cheeks flushed crimson, heat blooming like a furnace; even her lips trembled like a leaf.

“By the way—who is this ape-man?” Maya snapped back to form, finger jabbing like a spear. The boy flinched like an arrow to the chest. “I… I’m an ape-man…”

“He’s Kurosawa-senpai,” Mizuki said, voice small as a chime.

“I see, so intimate already, and you still call him senpai…” Maya’s aura went dark, like ink spilled in water; she somehow produced a hatchet, expression cracking like a mask.

“No! I just met senpai recently!” Mizuki waved her hands, panic fluttering like wings.

“How cruel, Mizuki—ditching me to find a boyfriend—boohoo!” Sham’s sobs bubbled like a spring.

“D-don’t cry, Sham-chan—it’s not what you think!” Mizuki’s words rushed like wind through bamboo.

“So, Mizuki, you really do have a boyfriend.” The other Mizuki deadpanned, as dry as winter reeds.

“Mizuki-chan, don’t say nonsense!” Mizuki protested, blush rising like dawn.

Watching them twist facts just to tease Mizuki, Yun Shi’s face drew black lines again; annoyance pricked like thorns.

“What the heck is wrong with these people.” Her sigh came like smoke after fire. They loved to poke shame until cheeks burned like cherries.

“Begone, all male creatures!” Maya advanced with a dark aura, black mist curling like storm clouds; Kurosawa retreated, steps skittering like crabs.

“Hey—wait—since when do males deserve death?” His voice cracked like dry wood.

“Words are useless!” Maya raised the hatchet, glint cold as moonlight.

“Freeze!” The shout snapped like a whip.

Kurosawa’s gaze flicked to the group and landed on a girl in a boys’ uniform. Her face was fine as porcelain, her aura clear as spring water, but the uniform jarred like a wrong note. He remembered the rumor—there was one student who, without the boys’ uniform, wouldn’t even be recognized as male. He’d seen her walk across campus like a breeze.

“Isn’t that the famous Bianqi? Why don’t you target him?” He tried to redirect the fire, tossing the spark like a match.

Yun Shi’s brows knit like gathered clouds; she shot Kurosawa a glare sharp as a knife.

“Uh…” Maya faltered, the word stumbling like a stone. In the past, she’d have slugged Yun Shi, but not now. There was a simple reason, bright as noon.

Yunshi Bianqi was a girl.

Because she knew, she couldn’t lay hands on her; Maya didn’t have it in her to be cruel to girls. Before, she didn’t know Yun Shi was female, so she kept hitting; now that she knew, how could she strike? Her fists drifted down like leaves.

Seeing Maya go quiet, Kurosawa smirked like a sly fox. “Got it—Bianqi, you’re a man, right? If so, come help me—we’re on the same front!”

Is this guy an idiot? Yun Shi’s eyes flicked like knives, and she stepped forward with a sigh like winter wind. “What do you want? You’re annoying.”

“What do you think? You’re a normie and way happier than me, so hurry up and save me!” His plea flailed like a drowning swimmer.

“Why should I?” Yun Shi’s voice was cool as iced tea.

“You’re a man, right? She’ll kill me!” Panic raced in him like wildfire.

“What’s that got to do with me?” Her indifference fell like snow.

“Don’t go—are you a woman or what, won’t even help a bit?” The insult blurted like mud from a boot.

Anger lifted in Yun Shi’s brow like a red pennant; she stopped, turned, and gave him a stare that burned like a brand.

“Die, and no one will miss you.” She dropped the line cold as iron and turned away, leaving the scene to Maya, like tossing a hot coal back into the brazier.

"Hey, what’s with this double standard? Hey—don’t actually leave!"

"That’s all I had to say, senior."

"Don’t come at me with that hatchet—aaah!"

Yun Shi felt nothing; frost-quiet settled behind her eyes. She dropped him cold and walked off, ignoring Mizuki on the side, worry clouding her gaze like a gray sky.

"Damn it, I actually got abandoned by a sissy today!"

Snap! A hot ember flared in his chest and wouldn’t go out.

"That bastard Bianqi—just you wait, you not-a-man!"

Snap! Though yeah, she wasn’t a man.

"That one’s neither male nor female, a straight-up Hideyoshi—and still such a smug normie!"

Snap!

The nerve called Reason finally snapped, brittle as a winter twig.

A chill swept in like night wind. Everyone shivered and turned stiffly, and a certain someone came step by step, black mist rolling off her like smoke.

"This one’s mine."

Pressure hit like a storm front. Maya Hanazaka kept backing away, not daring to step in.

"Wh-what are you doing!"

"Die for me, you damned bastard!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Die, die, die! You scum, you worthless trash!"

"Waaaaaaah!"

The enraged girl laid into him, a brutal storm of blows, each strike a thunderclap—no less vicious than Maya Hanazaka.

To the poor guy turning into a pixelated mosaic—good luck.

"So, so scary!" x3

Mizuki, Sham, and Mizuki clung together, shivering like autumn leaves as they watched the furious girl in boys’ clothes.

A wry smile tugged at Maya Hanazaka as Yun Shi kept whipping away. A thousand thoughts condensed into one quiet line:

"Never mess with a girl on her period..."