With the weekend over, and Qu Yi making it through one whole week at Falofhan Boarding School, she is optimistic for the future that awaits her. Unbeknownst to Qu Yi, Yan Liang has learned a somewhat unsettling truth about her past. While her memory issue is fixed, she looks forward to creating more memories, hoping to keep that aspect of her life a secret for now. Meanwhile, Wen Chou… hasn’t gained any great revelation, so I suppose she’s left out of this.

  As usual, I am Lei Bo, your ever-present narrator, and ever-present victim of self-awareness. For those of you wondering why I was mostly absent for the events previously, I was busy partying since I didn’t have to babysit Yuan Shu. I was celebrating and drinking. Drinking what? Plenty of water. Hydration is important.

  Regardless of how I feel though, I suppose you’re actually here for development of Qu Yi. With it being Monday, Qu Yi never thought she’d miss the feeling of her classroom uniform, the fluffy yellow skirt filled with petticoats, the long white stockings, and a pale-yellow blouse with sailor styled ribbon and puffy shoulders. Having a uniform without the need to pick an outfit out for herself helps her feel less judged and paranoid, and with her two roommates sporting the same, it helps her feel a sense of comfort and camaraderie.

  The three are sitting in their classroom at their usual table in the corner of the room. Across from them the two twins Lu Xiang and Lu Kuang sit, heads laying on their table.

  “Why does Math have to be so hard?” Lu Kuang asks, while her twin sister repeats the last word after her.

  “Hard.”

  Qu Yi smiles at them to try and lighten their spirits. “Hey, at least we finished it, right? I’m impressed how far you came from earlier in the week.”

  Wen Chou smirks. “Well, it helped that you are a great tutor.” Her eyes shift to Yan Liang. “Back when Liang was the one who helped us, she wasn’t very good at teaching it.”

  Yan Liang frowns as she moves her head forward so she can look at Wen Chou. “Well, it’s not like you are the best student, Wen Chou.” She gives an annoyed look. “I swear you doodled more than you actually listened.”

  Qu Yi smiles hesitantly, looking between her two roommates. “H-Hey, I think you both were good. We just, have different ways of learning.”

  Lu Kuang perks up. “Oh! But since this packet was so long that means the next one will be short!”

  Lu Xiang perks up after her. “Yeah, short. Which means…”

  They both say in synchronization, “More videogames!” They both pull out their green handheld game systems.

  Qu Yi raises an eyebrow, confused. “Huh? How do you know the packet is going to be lighter?”

  Yan Liang focuses on Qu Yi. “Well, the way our student ran classes work is we always have a heavy packet with plenty of work. Then we have a lighter packet, so classes can focus on extra curriculars and having more freedom.”

  “Huh?” Qu Yi responds. “So what does Yuan Shao’s class usually do during this time?”

  “Well, sometimes she leaves us to focus on our own activities, but plenty of times we do-”

  “Baseball!” Wen Chou shouts, excitement filling her voice. “We have plenty of practice to get done!”

  “Oh, right.” Qu Yi smiles at Wen Chou. “I-I don’t know if I’ll be all that good though…” She twiddles her fingers, thinking she really isn’t the most active person with her legs. She flashbacks to Wen Chou carrying her during the Yellow Scarf incident and shudders, not wanting to embarrass herself.

  “You’ll be fine, Newbie!” Wen Chou grins, patting Qu Yi on the back. “I think I know a place you’ll excel at! We don’t really have backups anyway, so you’ll be able to see play!”

  Team sports is something else Qu Yi has never tried. Well, back at her old school she was forced to be in teams sorted by uncaring gym teachers. That often ended up with even more bullying and harassment since she isn’t good at anything other than her archery. “I-I’m a bit worried about letting you guys down.”

  Wen Chou wraps her arm around Qu Yi’s shoulder. “You’ll do fine! What do you think about Qu Yi being a back-up catcher, Liang?”

  Yan Liang, who, comedically, happens to be taking a drink from a water bottle, spits it out all over her desk at the thought.

  “Eep!” Qu Yi jumps away from Yan Liang at the response.

  Yan Liang coughs as she tries to regain her breathing. “W-Wen Chou! That’s a very reckless thing to propose! You know how I pitch! I’m afraid Qu Yi will be killed!”

  Qu Yi shrivels up at Yan Liang’s comment. Not enjoying being seen as small and weak by her friends.

  “Yan Liang, we just saw Qu Yi practice some archery yesterday! She is strong, and she can hold her position against the force of the bow!” Wen Chou smirks as she seems to be convincing herself further. “She must have hand-eye coordination for archery! Not to mention, playing catcher requires much less running than most positions!” She folds her arms, nodding to herself in satisfaction. “Yep! I think it’s perfect for her!”

  Yan Liang can’t help but feel impressed by Wen Chou’s logic, but continues to protest. “B-But, my pitching! Qu Yi could be hurt! She’s so delicate! She’s so small!”

  Qu Yi feels arrows with each comment stab into her. Her inner masculine pride suffering from Yan Liang’s protests.

  “N-Not to mention!” Yan Liang continues, “During the Yellow Scarf Incident, she was pushed over with just one hand from Zhou Cang!”

  “T-T-That one just caught me off guard-” Qu Yi tries to speak up.

  Wen Chou folds her arms. “Well, I think Qu Yi would work. Besides, it’s not like she’d do it all the time. She’d be a backup. Chunyu Qiong isn’t going anywhere.”

  Everyone at the table but Qu Yi turns to a girl who sits in the back of the room, Qu Yi’s eyes soon follow. The girl her roommates and the Lu sisters are staring at sits alone in the back of the class. She is very, well, very “husky” if you know what I’m getting at. Her eyes are slim with orange pupils peeking out. Her hair is short and black, with a visible shine to it and ger face is thick with a bubbly expression. Her thick fingers push into a bag of chips that are open on her desk as her other hand holds a phone on its side, apparently watching a video, which causes her to let out a contagious laugh every twenty seconds.

  “Oh, so that’s Chunyu Qiong?” Qu Yi asks. She frowns, looking at the rest of the classroom, “Why does she sit by herself?”

  “Two words, Newbie.” Wen Chou responds. “B. O.”

  Yan Liang rolls her eyes. “That’s two letters, Wen Chou, not two words.”

  Qu Yi looks down at her hands. “Well, I feel bad I haven’t met her yet. I’ve been in class for a week now.” She examines the other girls in the class. “She’s the last one I haven’t said hi to after all…”

  Lu Kuang speaks up. “She’s friendly! But she’s also stinky!”

  Lu Xiang adds. “She also chews very loud.”

  “She doesn’t wear headphones for her videos!”

  “She will give you bear hugs.” Lu Xiang shudders, “It is not a good combination with a stink!”

  Qu Yi sighs, but stands up. “Well I want to say hello and introduce myself officially.”

  “Wha??” Lu Kuang reacts in shock. “But you will be met with the odor!”

  “Quick Qu Yi, take a last breath of fresh air over here. You’ll need it.” her twin implores.

  “Well, I know what it’s like to be left out.” She proceeds to head towards Chunyu Qiong. As she approaches, she hears Chunyu Qiong’s video. A scene is apparently funny as it makes Chunyu Qiong erupt in uproarious laughter. Chunyu Qiong notices Qu Yi from the corner of her eye, pausing her video. “Hello, friend.” She greets her in a bubbly voice, waving her hand.

  Qu Yi repeats the greeting with her own hand. As she dawns closer, a repugnant smell reaches her nostrils. She couldn’t help but cough, and quickly turn her head away. “S-Sorry!” She lets out as she begins a coughing fit.

  “Oh, it’s okeedokie, friend.” She gives a large grin, “You are a nervous girl, so coughing is a normal reaction to nerves.”

  Qu Yi is thankful she has made an assumption about why she is coughing. She certainly didn’t want to admit it was due to the tear releasing putrid scent. Qu Yi’s mind begins to rapidly think, “OH MY GOSH. The twins were not lying! Ahhh! Please take a shower. Put on deodorant. Something please!” She turns herself around, maintaining a shy but pleasant demeanor on the outside. “I-I don’t think I’ve actually introduced myself to you. Um, I’m Qu Yi, as you might have heard. I-I’m the new student in the class.”

  “Righty you are!” Chunyu Qiong beams. “I’m Chunyu Qiong.” After the greeting, she presses play on her video and goes back to watching it.

  Qu Yi blinks a few times. “Um, is there anything you want to ask me?” She is certainly used to introductions that are much longer since she’s been here.

  “Not that I can think of friend!” Chunyu Qiong chirps, focusing back on her video. She grabs some chips and throws them in her mouth. “Do you want me to ask something?” she asks, her mouth open and crunching the chips.

  Qu Yi smiles. “A-Ah, n-no I guess. I just wanted to say ‘hello.” She bows slightly before quickly turning around. As she exits the aura of smell from the desk, a sudden relief fills her senses. She falls to her knees, breathing in deeply.

  “Qu Yi!” “Newbie!”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Both Yan Liang and Wen Chou run over to check on her.

  “A-Ah, um, s-she seems nice.” she coughs out to her two roommates.

  Chunyu Qiong is too enthralled in her video to notice the drama, or more than likely, she just doesn’t care.

  Both of her roommates grab an arm and put them around their shoulders. They help carry her back to her seat. Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang are saluting her noble sacrifice as she is set down.

  “See! It wasn’t just exaggeration!” Lu Kuang exclaims.

  “Don’t be so reckless!” Lu Xiang adds right after.

  “I-I kinda assumed she was being outcasted like I was at my old school.” Qu Yi sighs. “I didn’t want that to happen here.”

  Wen Chou laughs as she takes her seat. “Well, it was a noble thing to do. Well, you know, actual noble, not like, ‘Yuan Shao noble.’”

  Yan Liang smiles. “Well, that’s why you are such a good person, Qu Yi. You are so sensitive!”

  Qu Yi feels another arrow stab into her, pretty sure she has heard that used as an insult to her when she was a boy. “Well, she seems to, like being by herself…”

  Yan Liang smiles. “Yeah, some people are like that. It’s fine. I find it better to text her if I want to talk to her.” She holds up her phone.

  “Ohohoho!” Announcing her entrance as usual, the class president Yuan Shao walks in with Shen Pei following right after. “Greeting, my noble and proud aspiring students of the great and prosperous Yuan classroom!” She approaches the lectern in front of class. “I suppose we should go onto our weekly announcements.” Shen Pei quickly sets a paper on the lectern for Yuan Shao to read. “So, according to this we have a lighter week, which means we’ll be able to focus on our noble aspirations for the class. Rumor has it that someone is wanting to challenge us to a baseball game.” She looks to the door, making sure no one is overhearing. “And with how a certain blue uniformed class is seeming to be practicing baseball now themselves, it is best we stay prepared. We shall be practicing as a team this week in the early hours of class every day before working on our packet for the final hour. There’s also new upcoming talent I am excited to fit in! I am looking forward to it!” Her eyes gaze at Qu Yi, who blushes and looks down in her lap. “With that out of the way, we have all our packets turned in from the week and put into the grading basket.” She points to a metal wire basket hooked next to the door. The only reason it wasn’t as decorated and fancy as the rest of Yuan Shao’s classroom is because I installed it, making it easier to grab their packets for grading. “So, I think it is time for us to head to the locker rooms and get dressed for some practice!”

  Wen Chou stands up, cheering out, with other class members jumping up, happy to have a break from schoolwork. Yuan Shao laughs. “As usual, your zeal is second to none, Wen Chou! Let us go out and begin practicing!” Shen Pei walks out with Yuan Shao as the rest of the class follows along.

  “Let’s go, Newbie!” Wen Chou shouts in excitement. “This is going to be great! You’ve shown us your archery skills, now it’s time me and Yan Liang show you our baseball skills!”

  As the rest of the class follows, Qu Yi ends up at the back of the group, with Wen Chou and Yan Liang walking alongside her. “I-I guess I’m just a bit intimidated.” Qu Yi looks down to her feet.

  “You’ll be fine, Yi.” Yan Liang smiles, “No one expects you to be perfect the first time around. I’ve told you how I hit the batter with my first pitch the first time around…” She blushes, averting her eyes, thinking how that was after her reincarnation.

  “Yeah, and I struck out a lot during my first times!” Wen Chou snickers. “Everyone knows you’re under pressure the first time doing it in front of people.”

  “Excuse me.” A monotone voice speaks up from behind the three, causing them all to turn around. The girl is wearing a black shozoku, one of those robes ninjas typically wear. She has dark tabi on her feet and violet hair styled into a low ponytail. Her eyes are black, which frame a very serious looking face with a black mask covering her mouth and nose. “Would one of you happen to be Qu Yi?”

  Both Wen Chou and Yan Liang look at Qu Yi, taken aback by this random ninja. Qu Yi shrugs at them and approaches the girl. “Um, hi? I’m Qu Yi.”

  “Thank you,” the girl responds.

  Qu Yi’s confusion only rises at the brief response; however, she doesn’t have enough time to ask what she means. In an instant, she finds duct tape over her mouth. “Mmph!?” is all she can mumble. A moment later, she is hoisted up on the girl’s right shoulder, with her arm securely around Qu Yi. The girl then turns around and dashes off in the other direction.

  “Huh? Wait! WHAT?! QU YI?!” Yan Liang screams in disbelief, barely able to process the situation with how quickly it happened.

  “HEY! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?!” Wen Chou shouts as she sprints after the violet-haired girl.

  Despite the girl carrying Qu Yi on her shoulder, she is sprinting at incredible speed. Qu Yi tries her best to wrestle out of her grip, but it is to no avail. This girl is certainly strong, or Qu Yi is certainly lighter than she thinks. She secretly hopes it’s the former.

  Wen Chou sprints as fast as her legs can carry her. “Stop! Kidnapper!”

  Yan Liang runs right behind Wen Chou, panting as she struggles to keep up. “H-How is she going so fast with a hostage?!”

  As the abductor approaches a balcony overlooking the first floor, she begins to slow down slightly.

  Wen Chou is panting several meters behind the ninja. “We-We got you now! Nowhere to go!”

  The ninja girl jumps on the brick railing of the balcony. Qu Yi who is still trying to break free, suddenly feels that she is free from her captor. Well, free isn’t the right word. The captor throws her high up over the railing. Qu Yi, finding herself airborne, feels her mind racing. “W-WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! All I did was say my name?!” She looks down to see the tile of the floor below starting to approach quickly. She quickly squeezes her eyes shut.

  “WHAT THE FLUFF?!” Yan Liang screams, seeing Qu Yi thrown in the air.

  In an instant, the ninja girl steps off and kicks off the side of the balcony, propelling herself to the ground below. As she hits the tiles, she executes a parkour roll to absorb the impact from the fall. She extends her right arm as she catches Qu Yi’s fall with perfection.

  Qu Yi peeks an eye open, feeling her momentum halt suddenly, seeing she is once again on the shoulder of the same ninja. Qu Yi would sigh if her mouth isn’t taped. “When did my life become so weird?”

  Both Wen Chou and Yan Liang slow down as they reach the balcony where the girl jumped from, both panting heavily.

  “W-Wha-Wh-Wha-WHAT?!” Yan Liang gasps, struggling for air.

  Wen Chou still catching her breath, watches as the girl continues down the hall.

  Yan Liang turns to Wen Chou, clearly at a loss of what to do next. “W-Wen Chou should we…”

  “Uh…” Wen Chou exhales sharply. “Let’s take the stairs.”

  “Right.”

  The ninja keeps running, taking sharp turns. Qu Yi glances behind her but sees no sign of either Wen Chou or Yan Liang. “They must’ve lost me…” she thinks to herself. “I guess, there’s no way Yu Ji would actually allow me to get hurt from something like this, right? So, this must be some sort of misunderstanding. Although…” She shifts her gaze to the ninja’s face, whose eyes are just as determined. Qu Yi’s eyebrows furrow in annoyance. “This is probably something stupid like the Yellow Scarves incident.”

  The abductor carrying Qu Yi slows down, which gets Qu Yi to take notice of her surroundings. “Hey, this is that one place, the class of that sexist president… and the classroom that was destroyed.” She’s right. On her first day she had been in this hallway, although it was full of a lot of students who were wearing red uniforms. The girl turns a corner and slips through a classroom door hidden behind it. Qu Yi can see the classroom has been fixed up compared to the pile of rubble it was in when she first showed up. The room is covered with red. Crafts of various types, designed to simulate fire with names next to it hang on the wall of a bulletin board. A few computers are in the corner, with few girls in red uniforms working at them.

  The ninja girl sets Qu Yi down on her butt, facing a girl with long orange hair tied into a high ponytail. She has striking yellow eyes and is wearing a uniform with a scarlet denim skirt. a long sleeve dark red blouse with a small orange ribbon tied around the collar. Her face has a look of horror as she sees Qu Yi. “Zhou Tai…” the girl says in a melodic voice. “When I said to bring the girl named Qu Yi here, I meant, to escort her. Not kidnap her!”

  The girl in the ninja outfit bows slightly as she pulls off her mask. “I’m sorry, Vice President Zhou Yu. I will do better next time.”

  The girl named Zhou Yu sighs, rubbing her temples with both hands, “Please accept my most humble apologies, Miss Qu.” She approaches Qu Yi and kneels, carefully reaching for the tape on Qu Yi’s mouth. “I’m afraid Zhou Tai here has… eccentric methods, unless we are very specific.”

  Qu Yi glances at Zhou Tai, watching as she removes her shozoku and revealing the red uniform similar to the others in the room.

  After Zhou Yu helps remove the tape from Qu Yi’s mouth, she bows on her hands and knees. “Please, Miss Qu, I heavily beseech you for your knowledge and help.”

  Qu Yi pulls her phone from her skirt pocket. “D-Do you mind if I first text my friends? They saw me get abducted, and they are probably worried.”

  “Of course you may!” Zhou Yu looks up, hopeful that Qu Yi didn’t outright refuse.

  Qu Yi opens her messages and texts in their roommates group chat, “Hey guys. I’m okay and safe. I’m at Sun Ce’s classroom.”

  Zhou Yu sighs. “I’m so terribly sorry for our unorthodox approach to getting your attention, but we really need your help.”

  Qu Yi raises a confused eyebrow. “My help? I don’t know exactly what I can do that others can’t…” She twiddles her fingers.

  Zhou Yu lifts her head. “We need you specifically. We are aware you are the most recent person to have been at a co-ed school!”

  Qu Yi averts her eyes. “Well, surely there must be more here than just me, right?”

  “It is true, but as you have only arrived one week ago, and you’ve been going to co-ed schools all that time, that means you have the most recent experience!”

  Qu Yi scratches the back of her head. “I-I guess I can’t fault you on that logic…”

  Suddenly, the door swings open with a loud BANG as Wen Chou and Yan Liang burst into the room.

  “Qu Yi!” “Qu Yi!” both of them shout as they rush over to her.

  “These are the ones that kidnapped you?!” Wen Chou yells, cracking her knuckles.

  Qu Yi turns to her friends. “W-Wait, Chou, it’s just a misunderstanding.”

  “You were quite literally kidnapped, Qu Yi!” Yan Liang shouts. “Chou has the right idea here!”

  “I-I’d prefer you call it abducting. It doesn’t imply that I’m a kid. I’m a teenager you know…” Qu Yi huffs, folding her arms.

  “You’re no taller than four foot six, Yi! You are the size of a kid!”

  Qu Yi’s face scrunches at the remark. “R-Regardless!” she quickly redirects. “It was a misunderstanding. They just wanted to bring me here, not actually abduct me.”

  “Oh no!” Wen Chou gasps, turning to Yan Liang, “She already has Stockholder Syndrome!”

  “… You mean Stockholm Syndrome?” Yan Liang corrects.

  “Stockholm Syndrome!” Wen Chou repeats with the same conviction.

  Zhou Yu looks between the three before bowing once more on her hands and knees. “Please accept my humblest apologies, you two. We truly did not mean to abduct your dear friend in such a way. The fault lies with me. I failed to properly clarify our intentions with my subordinate.” She lifts her head slightly. “It is best we keep it private from the rest of the class. If you could come with me to our office, I can explain everything better there.”

  Qu Yi stands up as Wen Chou and Yan Liang exchange glances, then turn to the supposed victim of the abduction.

  “Fine.” Wen Chou folds her arms. “Just because Yi trusts you, but no more funny business.”

  Yan Liang sighs. “I suppose it will be better to have context…”

  Zhou Yu’s expression brightens. “Thank you so much. Please, if you would come with me out of hearing distance.” She leads the three into a small office in the corner of the room before closing the door behind them. The office is compact, with two computers facing opposite walls and a window that shows off the track and field with the other sport facilities.

  Inside the room with them is a tomboyish girl with very short messy red hair and red eyes. She’s wearing a sleeveless tight shirt that is red with orange vertical stripes under the arms and bright red short shorts with light grey running tights underneath. She stares out the window, her eyes dazed, letting out a long and very loud sigh.

  “You see, there is a problem with my sister.” Zhou Yu begins.

  Qu Yi thinks to the only person with the same family name. Mentally she pieces Zhou Yu and Zhou Tai together “Wait, the girl who kidnapped me is your sister?”

  Zhou Yu raises an eyebrow. “What? No, no, no.” She shakes her head, “Zhou is just a common family name where I’m from. My sister is President Sun Ce.” She refers to the girl by the window, whose head is propped up by her right hand, her cheek slouching into her palm as she stares blankly at the field outside.

  “Eh?” Qu Yi tries to put Sun and Zhou together in her mind, but they don’t match up.

  Zhou Yu sighs as she smiles at Qu Yi’s confusion. “It’s a, sworn sisterly thing.”

  “Oh.” Qu Yi thinks of the three girls clad in green uniforms who mentioned something similar. “I suppose I have heard of that.”

  “Yes,” Zhou Yu continues. “We need someone with firsthand experience of a co-ed school, which is why we need you.”

  Wen Chou raises a confused eyebrow. “Wait, why do you need knowledge of a co-ed school? I mean, I went to one when I was in preschool. Not to mention, didn’t your president here tease Qu Yi over going to one?”

  Zhou Yu glances at Sun Ce concerned, as the girl lets out another long, weary sigh. “Please be understanding. Sun Ce was raised being taught about ‘women superiority’ straight from her own mother, so she viewed those who have to be raised around boys as ‘lesser.”

  Qu Yi frowns. Being a boy herself, she remembers being offended by Sun Ce’s elementary school mindset on boys. “So… what exactly does she need with my, uh, co-ed experience?”

  “Well, you see…” Zhou Yu takes in a deep breath, as if worried to say the information. “I believe sister Ce… has a crush on a boy.”

  Qu Yi blinks, turning to Sun Ce then back to Zhou Yu.

  "EhHHHHHHHHH?”