“Waaahhhhhh!!!”

The room rang with a girl’s wail, sharp as winter wind slicing paper walls. It wasn’t sorrow, nor spoiled whining, but marrow-deep terror and despair.

A black-haired girl was pinned to the floor. “Disheveled” didn’t cover it—her top’s buttons hung open like snapped beads. White bandages hugged her chest. Baby-soft skin drank the cold air. Porcelain collarbones arched like pale crescents, begging for teeth.

Below, she wore almost nothing—only a flimsy modesty cloth. A hand pressed over what should’ve stayed private, hot and brazen as a brand.

If the one pinning her weren’t a woman with a fox’s smile, this would be straight out of an H-scene. Well… it pretty much was anyway.

Lian Hua didn’t look like she’d let go. She released the wrist she’d been pinning so Yun Shi could cover her face and bawl. But the hand roaming below didn’t retreat. Straddling Yun Shi, feeling that cloud-soft body beneath her, Lian Hua felt a dark, honeyed satisfaction. No one had ever felt this dangerously delicious.

“Crying won’t help. No one’s coming to save you.” Her voice slid like silk over a knife.

She licked her finger and grinned, cat-proud. She loved bullying kids like this. But why did her tone hitch, a stiff thread in the weave?

She looked down. The girl beneath her cried with pear-blossom tears, a doll’s face melted by rain. The light makeup ran. The usual boyish shadow had vanished. Beauty on beauty, like a mask returning to its true face.

On most days, Yun Shi could pass as androgynous fog. Now, even wrapped in men’s clothes, no one would mistake her for a boy—only a girl in borrowed armor.

Seeing this not-quite-the-same Yun Shi, Lian Hua wavered. Guilt pricked like nettles. Bullying a girl like this felt wicked.

Her smile went stiff, wax under a lamp. The body under her was jelly-soft; sitting on it felt like sinking into a trembling dessert. She didn’t want to move. Yet the sobbing made her heart buckle.

“Ahem. O-okay, don’t cry. I’m done.”

She awkwardly lifted every hand that had trespassed and tried to soothe. She’d only wanted to play. Who knew Yun Shi would shatter like glass?

But the girl’s sobs wouldn’t stop. The storm only slowed to rain.

“Alright, no more crying. I—I won’t play anymore.”

“Wuuu… wuuu…” The sound was a wet, trembling reed.

“Look, easy now. See? Hands off. I’m not touching you. Be good.”

For all her taste for teasing—sweat beading at that thought—Lian Hua hated using force. She had a line. Making girls cry was trash-tier. Bullying had limits; play should end before it carved scars. Otherwise, she’d hate herself.

Yun Shi didn’t know any of that. She was afraid. Afraid of what Lian Hua might do. Fear blew out her lungs, so she cried and thrashed, all thorn and panic.

Headache pounding, Lian Hua regretted everything. If she’d known this girl was a crybaby, she wouldn’t have pushed it. For now, coax her. However long it took.

At least the wails steadied, from tidal to tidal-pool. Sobs hiccuped like broken bells.

“Okay, okay, no more tears. Be good. I’m done playing…”

Lian Hua had zero practice consoling anyone. Two heads weren’t enough for this mess. Well, she’d made it; she had to unmake it.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, miss. The tea is—”

The Student Council room door swung open. Shizuru Yuna stepped in with a tray—and froze. Her placid face cracked to shock, like ice under a heel.

She saw her lady pinning the Yun Shi she’d brought ten minutes ago. And now Yun Shi was springtime stripped bare. Jacket torn. Pants forced off—I’m calling the cops—snow-pale skin exposed, a fingertip from breaking. The white bandages at her chest were slipping. The proud face she wore in daylight was tear-streaked, pitiful as a kitten in rain.

Worse—the girl was pinned, eyes glassy with pear-blossom tears, like she was about to be forced. And the one on top was Asagi Renka, the Student Council president. Lian Hua stared back at the stunned Yuna, equally stunned, like two deer sharing one headlight.

Sure, they’d suspected Yun Shi might be a girl. They’d braced for a different look. But Yunshi Bianqi being forced by Asagi Renka? Even with the change, the one on the floor was Yunshi Bianqi, just a world away from the usual.

What the hell.

Think it through: she’d brought in a calm, slightly haughty pretty boy not long ago. She left. She returned to find a full-on girl being violated by her own lady.

What kind of mood do you even have for that?

“My apologies for intruding!” Yuna bowed hard, voice formal as a blade. She shut the door and even took the tea back. A floating whisper lingered in the air: “My lady is not a pervert!”

“Come back, Yuna—you got it wrong!”

Lian Hua shouted herself hoarse. Too late. The arrow had flown.

Anyone would misunderstand, seeing a girl pinned under her like that. Haunted eyes. Torn clothes. Of course they would.

—

After a lot of soft words and swallowed pride, Yun Shi finally stopped crying. Lian Hua stood, reluctant under that soulfully resentful look. Who told her to be so impulsive, to want a taste—too shameful to admit.

Most of Yun Shi’s clothes were ruined. Jacket shredded, pants unwearable. Even the white bandages were damp with sweat from Lian Hua’s wandering hands. No choice—Yun Shi wrapped herself in a blanket, cocoon-tight, keeping a full five meters between them. Her eyes were sharp as pins. The floor was littered with fallen clothes and loose bandages, a battlefield of fabric. Thankfully, the sacred artifact known as panties was not among the fallen.

“So you’re that afraid of me…”

Lian Hua’s gaze cooled, a cat shut out in the rain.

“Sh-shut up! You pervert! Stay away from me, or I’m calling the cops!”

Yun Shi gripped the blanket, trying to hide every inch of bare skin, eyes throwing knives. She had no idea how tempting that made her. Lian Hua’s heart itched like a rash, but she didn’t dare move.

“I apologized already. Can’t you—”

“Don’t even think about it! You—you… big pervert! You actually… you…”

Her face blazed like sunset. Rage, not shame. Words jammed at the gate.

Suddenly, the usual pervy yuri girl seemed gentle by comparison. At most, she’d copped a feel. This one? Clothes off at hello, hands everywhere. Unbelievable. How could someone be this perverted!

First impression of Lian Hua: worst possible.

“Alright, I didn’t think you’d cry. I wasn’t actually going to do anything. Otherwise, you’d already be in real trouble.”

“I’m furious! You were the one who crossed the line!”

Since Lian Hua knew her secret, Yun Shi dropped the forced voice. Her real tone rang clear as spring water—and shook.

“…” Lian Hua stared.

“What now? I’m warning you, rude woman—don’t think I’m easy.”

“What, need discipline?” Lian Hua’s voice drifted like smoke. Something deep and unreadable flickered in her eyes.

“…”

Fear slid cold under Yun Shi’s skin. Natural enemy. That’s what Lian Hua felt like.

This woman almost ate her alive. Let her off the leash and chastity would be a coin on the ground.

“Yunshi Bianqi. Come here.”

Lian Hua sat and issued it like a natural command.

“What! You dare order me—”

“Not coming? Need discipline?”

“Uh…”

“Come. Now.”

“Uuuu…”

Terrifying.

Face like a funeral banner, Yun Shi shuffled over, blanket clutched tight, step by step toward the devil. Just looking at it made guilt bloom.

“Heh. That’s better. I love obedient kids.”

Lian Hua’s old, easy confidence returned. She teased with a fox’s smile.

“Quit joking. You did something outrageous to me. Why should I listen to you!”

“Hm?” She raised a brow. “Need discipline?”

“…You win.”

Yun Shi ground the words out between teeth. Fire roared inside with nowhere to burn. If she could, she’d flip the table. Her eyes could spit flame.

She was that angry.

“Enough. No more jokes. I called you for business.”

Lian Hua settled into the chair. Her face shed flirting like a snake sheds skin. Serious now. Sharp as a drawn bow.

“What.”

Yun Shi snapped, voice clipped.

“I need you—for the Underworld’s future. I want your strength. Not only Four Pupils Yun Shi. I also want Yunshi Bianqi. I need both.”

Lian Hua’s gaze went bare and honest. It held the weight only a strong one carries. The emotion inside was deep water. Even Yun Shi couldn’t see bottom.

Asagi Renka—what is this woman really after?