Tang Coco followed the damp campus path, a rain-dark ribbon winding toward the northern heart of the grounds. The system’s scan said the Anomalous Energy suppression device sat dead center.

“System, can Skyeye push me this school’s satellite shots?”

“Yes.”

“Do it.”

She spoke softly to the system, then quickened her pace, like a heron cutting through mist toward a hidden lake.

Ten minutes later, she reached the center. The plaza lay clean and pretty, a mirror after rain. The fountain slept today, its silver scales folded by the weather.

“System, at this range, can you analyze the device?”

“Yes. The target is ten meters below us. Begin parsing?”

“Start.”

“Understood. Executing. Estimated time: ten minutes…”

Tang Coco sank onto a bench beside the fountain, a pale petal beside still water. Skyeye’s satellite frames slid in; she raised a light-screen like a window opening onto a map.

It was past five. A light shower had rinsed the afternoon, leaving the air damp and cool, like breath on glass. In a white dress on a stone-cold bench, she felt a blade of wind and flinched.

“Uh… it’s a bit cold.”

She rubbed her arms with her palms, warmth chased like a shy firefly. The paths were empty; most folks were probably drifting toward the cafeteria like a current.

“Forget it. I’ll tough it out… hope I don’t catch a chill.”

She steadied herself and kept her eyes on the light-screen, like watching rain gather in a basin.

Tap… tap…

Soft steps brushed the pebble path. She turned. A boy in deep-blue suit walked over, hair clean as fresh-cut bamboo, features carved sharp as stone. Handsome, in that polished way.

“Why sit here alone?” he asked, voice smooth, like a calm stream.

“I’ve got something to do here.”

She glanced at him, her thought a raised eyebrow: hitting on me?

“It’s cold. You’ll catch a cold like a wet leaf.”

He slipped off his suit jacket and offered it, a dark wing extended.

“…”

She stared at the jacket, a heartbeat caught like a falling leaf. First time getting one since she changed; the usual awkward knot didn’t tighten. A small warmth bloomed instead, a lantern lit inside. Maybe her heart had truly turned feminine.

“Thanks.”

Her slight smile was a dawn line on water. He froze, struck by it like moonlight on a blade—the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen.

“Oh, right, I’m Duan Rui. I’ve been here two years.”

He sat beside her, keeping a careful distance, like a polite fence between gardens.

“Oh, so you’re a senior.”

“No need to call me that. We don’t use grades here.”

“You’re one of the exchange students, right?”

“Yeah.”

“No wonder. With a face like yours, if you were local, you’d be famous. Not just here—across Yanjing, you’d be top tier.”

“…”

Tang Coco let it pass like wind through reeds. She disliked talking about her looks, so she changed the current.

“Did you need something?”

“I was passing by and saw a figure that drew the eye, like a crane on snow. So I came over.”

“…”

She gave him a cool look, a winter glance. That kind of flirting—she didn’t buy the sugar.

“You used Chenghua International’s new tech, right?”

Seeing she dodged, he pivoted.

“Hm?”

“That light-screen.”

“Oh…”

She didn’t confirm. It looked similar, but it wasn’t.

“Chenghua International’s strong. I heard Huaguo’s HQ sits in your Ninghai. We rarely see their products in Yanjing.”

“They’ll catch on here soon. Trends move like tides.”

She kept her tone mild, but her thought flicked ahead: when will he leave? If the system weren’t still scanning, she’d be gone like a shadow.

Watching her expression, Duan Rui’s mouth curled, a hook catching something. Then he said:

“You’re here for that device, too.”

“…”

Her head snapped, surprise like a spark. She studied him.

“No need to be shocked. New arrivals all try to find it. No one likes their Anomaly Power muzzled.”

He smiled with easy warmth, a hearth with hidden embers.

“You’ve seen it?”

“Yeah. A month ago, it glitched, so the school pulled it out and serviced it.”

“How do you know?”

“I’m with the Disciplinary Office. Why else the suit? We just finished a meeting; I haven’t changed yet.”

“…”

“Why tell me this?” she asked, her voice level, a quiet blade.

“Gut feeling. You won’t threaten the school. That’s what my instincts say.”

“…”

“Data collection complete.”

The system’s whisper fell like a stamp.

“I’ll head back. Thanks for the jacket.”

She stood and handed it back, a courtesy folded neat.

“No problem.”

He smiled. She turned toward the dorms. She had barely gone far when his voice drifted after her, like a bell over fog:

“Stay sharp. This school isn’t as calm as the surface lake. Or we wouldn’t need a Disciplinary Office…”

“…”

“Thanks for the heads-up.”

Watching her silhouette fade, Duan Rui smiled, puzzled and amused, like reading a riddle on silk.

“Interesting…”

————————

On the way back, Tang Coco’s thoughts flowed with the system, two currents meeting.

“We found high concentrations of anti-Anomaly material in the device,” the system said, a cold note in a clear flute.

“Anti-Anomaly material?”

“Yes. The host may recall similar substance from before.”

“…”

At the nudge, memories rose like mist.

“Oh! The handgun!”

She saw the cargo ship again, a night sea of steel. That Dark Ability User’s special pistol had punched through I Energy like a needle through paper. But she’d handed that gun to Ningxin for study… Wait. Duan Rui said they serviced the device a month ago… Could it be…

Her thought flashed. She pulled out her phone and called Ningxin, a line thrown across water.

“Hello? Why the sudden call, little cutie? Yanjing not fun enough?” Ningxin’s voice teased, a bright ribbon.

“Ning-jie, I need to ask something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Remember the handgun I gave you?”

“Sure. I sent it to HQ ages ago.”

“Did they crack it?”

“I don’t know yet… No one told me new results… Did something happen?”

“I… ran into similar material in Yanjing.”

“How can that be… I’ll check. Maybe those old guys succeeded and didn’t tell me. If so, I won’t let it slide. Wait for my news.”

“Okay. Thanks, Ning-jie.”

“No worries.”

She tucked the phone away and kept toward the dorms, a lone figure on a washed path. Only then did she notice—no one around, the world a quiet pond. Her pupils tightened; she dropped low, a reed bending before wind.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Three razor-thin blades hissed over her head, dragonflies that bit. They buried in a tree trunk, then winked out like sparks.

A strand of white hair slipped off her shoulder, snow shed by a branch. She rose and looked right, into the trees, eyes sharp as frost.

“Yo—quick reflexes.”

A voice slid from behind a trunk. Li Jing stepped out in a black dress, a smile like a thorn under velvet.

“It’s you. Li Jing, right?”

“How flattering. You know me, miss.”

“What’s your game?”

Her tone went cold, an icicle’s edge.

“Nothing much. You knocked me out so fast earlier, I came for a proper fight.”

“Here? The school forbids private fights.”

“True. But you see—no one around. What, you scared?”

“…”

“If you dare, come in. We’ll fight inside.”

She turned and walked into the grove, a black streak between trunks. Tang Coco watched her back, hesitated like a held breath, then followed.

They reached a small clearing, a bowl in the trees.

“Good. No one will interrupt.”

Li Jing faced her, eyes bright with challenge, a cat before the pounce.

“You don’t need this,” Tang Coco said, voice steady, like rain tapping eaves. “In battle, it’s about eliminating the other. The match showed your tactics don’t work. You should be with your roommates fixing strategy, not chasing me on pride. Is that wise?”

“On pride? Heh… Yes. For some reason, the moment I saw you, I was annoyed, a splinter under the nail.”

“…”

“I’m just an exchange student. I’ll leave in half a month. Aren’t you making a mountain from a molehill?”

“No. If someone annoys me, I won’t let her leave. I’ll make her kneel at my feet and break her pride to dust.”

“…”

The heat rose in Tang Coco’s chest, a red thread tightening. But her anger wasn’t for Li Jing—it was for herself. Why waste words with people like this? Why so hesitant after changing? People like this—just hit them.

Blue particles glimmered around her, fireflies swarming. They shaped into four floating mechanical blades, petals of steel.

“Hmph!”

Li Jing raised a hand. A cloud of tiny blades shimmered around her, like metallic gnats. She flicked her wrist, and they burst toward Tang Coco, a silver rain.

“A metal-type Abnormal…”

“I Field!”

A pale-blue shield unfolded, a dome of calm water. The incoming blades bit and stuck like teeth, unable to push further.

She had to turtle up. The blades were too small, too fast; without full Armor, a single scratch could turn into blood.

Defense didn’t mean she couldn’t strike. Outside the shield, the mechanical blades lunged at Li Jing, hawks diving.

CLANG!

Li Jing caught one with her hand, not bare skin—her palm bloomed a metal glove, a forged bloom guarding her.

“…”

Tang Coco watched coolly, heart still as stone. Then the blade she was holding changed—the edge flared blue, a hot star. Heat surged; Li Jing felt the glove soften, metal becoming wax.

“Tch…”

She had to release it.

Free again, the blade traced a curve in air, a crescent on ink, and stopped before Li Jing. Its tip hovered just inches from her throat. The other three locked onto her knees and back, fangs at tendons.

But they halted not because Tang Coco was merciful…

Tang Coco stood still, I Field humming like a glass bell. The blades that had been blocked outside now had slipped inside, like eels through reed. Around her neck, chest, arms, and thighs, thin knives circled, garlands of steel. One wrong move, and they’d cut.

Expressionless, she stared at Li Jing, a blank mask over a storm. Inside, shock flashed—the blades penetrated the I Field.

“Heh… so that’s all,” Li Jing purred, mouth curling like a cat’s.

“…”

“It’s fine. If we strike together now, we both go down. And I think… I don’t lose.”

“Really...—her words fell like cold dew.”

Tang Coco’s gaze grew colder, frost edging her lashes.

It was evening, the woods steeped in ink-dark shade.

The light thinned like dying embers.

In brighter light, Li Jing would’ve seen her pale-blue eyes shift, like ice surrendering to ember.

They were slowly reddening, a sunrise bleeding under snow.

Meanwhile, Beibei and the other two drifted back to the dorm, a quiet nest.

They carried dinner for Tang Coco, steam coiling like tame clouds.

“Huh? Tang Coco isn’t back yet—voices rippled across the room like rings on water.”

Beibei said, eyeing the plastic box in her hands, thin as a shell.

“Should’ve used an insulated container, keeps the heat like a tiny hearth.”

“No worries, we can stash it now—” Chen Ying’s pat landed light as a feather.

“Right,” Beibei nodded, her head bobbing like a sparrow.

Beibei stepped to the table and flipped the lid, a soft click like a pebble.

The dorm door swung open like a sigh.

Tang Coco walked in, face calm, quiet as still water.

“Wow, Tang Coco’s back—perfect timing, like a bell struck on the dot.”

“Hm? What’s up—her voice stayed level, a straight blade in the air.”

“We brought you dinner, heat still breathing like a small campfire.”

“Oh... thanks—her smile thinned like a crescent moon.”

She sat at the coffee table and lifted her chopsticks like slim twigs.

Silence pooled for a beat, dark as ink.

Beibei and the other two traded glances, swift as swallows.

“Tang Coco seems kinda unhappy—like a cloud hanging over the sun.”

“Let’s ask her later, when the room settles like dust.”

Her mind was far away, drifting like fog over cold water.

Tang Coco picked at her meal, each bite slow as falling ash.

All she thought about were the strange days behind her, knots in shadow.

Beibei and the others didn’t notice the white skirt at her side, bright as snow.

A streak of red stained it, thin as a scraped petal.