So, under the neat little pretext of “inspecting the body pillow donor,” Dixue slipped a note under the door of protocol and got President Ningyu to hand over the catfolk girls’ dorm location.

It sat in a secluded grove of Yunlin, a small timber cabin nested inside Treehouse Cluster No. 17, like a sparrow’s nest tucked among misty boughs.

Using the elves’ slanting rope-ladder, Yue Liuyi and Dixue rose like two swallows on a taut vine, then knocked on the dorm’s wooden door.

“Who is it?”

Fluffy cat ears poked out like two soft shoots behind the door. Lingwei opened it, while Zaocun lay sprawled on the bed, rolling with her quilt like a kitten in sun.

Of course, with the two now in elven guises—new hairstyles, student uniforms—the two catfolk girls didn’t recognize them at first.

But that blue hair paired with silver hair, moon beside lake, was way too familiar.

“Y-you two big sisters are...?”

“What a cute catfolk boy,” Dixue said, finger to lips like a falling feather, and winked. “I hear you keep bothering President Ningyu. Not okay. Study matters.”

“Huh?”

Zaocun hopped off the bed at the sight of two elf girls, head tilted like a sparrow listening. “Why do these two feel so...”

“Not ‘feel like’—we are,” Yue said, hand to chest like a drumbeat, and dropped the pretense.

“Waaah! Are you the body pillows President Ningyu sent? A bit different from Sister Yue, but amazing! They even talk!”

“I’m me, not a body pillow!”

...

“This is coffee. Please enjoy it, sisters~”

Zero Wei brought hot-water coffee, steam curling up like morning fog from a valley, the aroma warm as roasted chestnuts.

“Mmm, thanks, Lingwei.”

“You’re welcome! How did you find us? When we woke up, we asked where you sisters were, but neither President Ningyu nor the teachers knew.”

“Wait, Lingwei and Zaocun woke up here?”

“Mm. So we don’t know what happened,” she said, voice soft as rain, eyes clouded like a lake before wind.

Zaocun’s cat ears wobbled, puzzled, like reeds in a breeze, her brows slanting blankly. “Then some beautiful sisters told us, from today we’re students of Lin Yun Academy.”

“At first we thought we were dreaming,” Lingwei added, like a whisper in frost. “We were suddenly placed in a new class, suddenly given student status... later I learned it’s an elven school. Life’s calm, but...”

“But! A life without little dried fish is an incomplete life! And no Yue-sis hugs either!”

“So I’m the ‘and also’ in that sentence...”

“Hehe. But Yue can relax, right? Seeing Lingwei and Zaocun safe is like a lantern lit in mist,” Dixue said, light as petals on water. “You’re living no worse than us.”

“Yeah... that’s true.”

Yue’s gaze drifted over their dorm—magic-stone kettle humming like a small hearth, soft mattresses and quilts like stacked clouds, a plant-lamp glowing green as dew, desk and wardrobe neat as a garden path—much richer than their bamboo hut.

“If LittleSnow’s at ease, we’ll head out. Zaocun, Lingwei, go to class properly. No more cutting,” Yue said, voice like a willow switch with a smile.

“Dixue-sis?”

“President!?”

“Huh? LittleSnow, weren’t we here to take them with us?”

All three girls froze like deer in a clearing under a sudden moon.

“Compared to the camp, school’s more comfortable,” said the silver-haired girl, shaking her head like a bellflower. “Elven courses are fun. Learning’s a fine wind at your back.”

“Don’t leave me behind, Butterfly Snow President!” Zero Wei dove in like a cardboard-box kitten in the rain. “I’ll mop, wash dishes, cook—anything!”

“M-me too... I can... um, I can carry trays and... and warm the bed...”

“Don’t joke. But honestly, it’s better if Zaocun and Lingwei stay. With classmates they’re safe like boats in harbor, and they can help everyone.”

“Help...?”

“Mm! You don’t know yet, right? Maria and Xiaoyan hit some snags. If Lingwei and Zaocun help, their path will run smooth as a stream.”

“Lady Maria? What can I do? I’ll finish it, even through wind and rain!”

“Me too! Me too!”

“As expected of Maria’s right hand—and Cat‑ninja Zaocun,” Dixue said, eyes turning like bright marbles. “Here’s your task...”

Her big eyes flashed, and Yedie Snow spun up another crafty little plan like a kite catching wind.

...

After leaving Lingwei and Zaocun’s dorm, Yue Liuyi and Dixue walked shoulder to shoulder along the wooden boardwalk strung through the trees like a bamboo flute’s line.

“LittleSnow, will that plan really work? Rallying cat lovers sounds like clouds painted on water.”

“Don’t underestimate elven students’ compassion,” Dixue said, smile like sun through leaves. “Elves love peace and nature. Outside cultures hit like a sudden storm, and they’re overwhelmed... If Zaocun and Zero Wei cry and bare their tragic pasts, hearts will echo like drums.”

“But those stories are so wild... A catfolk boy who lost his mother to war, forced to pass as a girl... And a catfolk girl wandering because of war, living on whatever trash she finds...”

“I gave Zaocun a trick. When she speaks, think of the rage of no little dried fish. The grief comes like thunder.”

“That’s way too leave-it-to-fate!”

No matter how Yue complained, Dixue’s stratagem had already left the bowstring—the silver-haired girl meant to press the Elven Queen with public opinion, starting from the hive of thought and tide of bodies that was the elven academy.

“Even if it fails, I’ve kept a card up my sleeve.”

“Huh?”

“You’ll see in a few days.”

Appendix:

Zaocun and Lingwei’s Little Skit — Their First Day at Yunlin Academy

“Wow, finally I can flop on a bed! Classes are exhausting, and the bed is a warm cloud.”

Zaocun dove onto the mattress the moment she entered, hugging the sheet like a cat finding a sunpatch, refusing to budge.

Her shirt and skirt came off in one careless breeze and landed like fallen leaves, a little storm of clutter.

“Um... Zaocun...”

Lingwei came in too. Compared to Zaocun’s spring wind, Lingwei was a still pond—she lined up her student shoes at the door, then folded Zaocun’s tossed socks, skirt, and jacket into neat stacks and set them in the wardrobe.

“Huh? Lingwei, you even tidied up! Just leave it there~”

“But if it’s tossed, it’s hard to find later,” she said, voice like a quiet bell.

“A student dorm, right? A little mess is like wind in grass. It’s free.”

“Mm...”

Lingwei’s cheeks pinked like peach blossoms. She didn’t even take off her jacket, just perched at the bed’s edge, knees together like two pressed petals, hands resting atop her skirt.

Compared to Lingwei, Zaocun hugged the sheet higher, eyes sparkling like stars. “There are so many pretty girls at school! But none cuter than Sister Yue. Right, Lingwei, do you think—eh? Eh!”

Zaocun suddenly yelped like a bird startled, realizing Lingwei was—actually—a boy.

Because Lingwei was always gentle and precise, and dressed in girls’ clothes, Zaocun had simply taken him for a girl.

“Th-then...”

“Uh... since you’re catfolk too, don’t mind my identity,” Lingwei said, blush running down his neck like spilled dye, because the truth was they’d be sharing a room at night.

“N-no way! Lingwei’s a boy! I might be airheaded, but if we sleep in one room, I’ll be taking advantage!”

“I-I’m fine, really... In the outside world, our catfolk gender roles are reversed. People might say I’m the one taking advantage...”

“Re-reversed!? Wh-what does that mean?”

“Eh...? Zaocun doesn’t know.”

“Not at all!!!”

“I-it means in human and elven society, men are the active, stronger side,” he said, words like pebbles dropped in a pond.

“Wh-what... ugh...”

Hearing that, Zaocun jerked upright like a cat puffing its tail.

The two “catfolk girls” stared at each other, and reached a silent pact like two leaves touching water—do not continue this topic. Or shameful memories would surge up like tide, for both Zaocun and Lingwei...

“Th-then! I’ll wear pajamas to sleep, so you can relax! And I’ll be careful going to the bathroom!”

“N-no... I should be! I’ll wear a blindfold at night! I won’t peek at you!”

“That’s not necessary! A-actually, I’ve been in the human world a long time! Em-embarrassment and such—I’m used to it...”

Despite the words, Lingwei’s cheeks stayed red as ripe cherries, the claim thin as a paper window.

“That still won’t do! I can’t do that to a boy... Waaah, my clothes! You saw them laid out like that!”

Only now did Zaocun notice her bed looked like a windstorm, and Lingwei had already folded her skirt and socks and put them in the wardrobe... Mortifying, like a bell rung in a quiet hall.

If a guy friend tidies your clothes, it feels normal, like rain on stone. But if a pretty girl folds them neat, your heart can sprout a flower.

“S-sorry, I’ll clean up right now!”

Zaocun sprang from the bed like a startled hare, grabbed her skirt, and pushed it toward the closet. Maybe because she rushed like a gust, maybe because she was just clumsy, her foot missed the board—and she pitched toward Lingwei.

“Careful!”

Lingwei jumped up and rushed toward her like a darting fish.

But they were too far apart, a bridge one plank short; his hand barely caught Zaocun’s small head.

And unluckily—

his palm closed—

right over the pair of soft cat ears.