There’s still school later, but I stayed up late just to see Madoka off before she leaves. The others wanted to do the same, but I told them to get some sleep. It would be bad if they got bags under their eyes. Therefore, Madoka and I the only ones at the dorm’s entrance.

   ‘There’s no need for you to do this, you know.’ Madoka tells me.

   ‘No. I should. It’s the least I could do.’ I say while holding back a yawn.

   Madoka flashes one of her rare smiles.

   ‘You’re so sweet.’

   ‘I’m your boyfriend, remember?’

   ‘Of course I do. By the way, is it too much if I ask for a ‘Welcome back. Would you like a bath? A meal? Or me?’ when I come back?’

   ‘If you insist. I’ll even wear a naked apron.’

   She’s openly grinning now.

   ‘Really?’

   ‘No, of course not! Do you know how gross that is if the guy’s the one that’s doing it?’

   ‘I’m all for gender equality.’

   ‘So do I, but not this! I’ll get your favorite food cooked, but nothing more than that, alright?’

   ‘A shame. I bet you’ll look nice in a naked apron.’

   ‘Do you want to bleach your eyes or something?’

   ‘I’m sure my eyes are sturdier than that.’

   ‘Well, mine aren’t. And I’m pretty sure that some of my brain cells have committed suicide when I imagined myself wearing it just now.’

   Madoka chuckles heartily for a few seconds at my joke. I look at her closely.

   ‘You know, you’ve changed a lot these past few months.’ I tell her.

   She looks at me in surprise.

   ‘Have I?’

   ‘Yeah. I still remember that when you first joined us, you were all emotionless and awkward around us. Look at you now. You’re getting along well with the others, and you’re smiling a lot.’

   She starts to blush.

   ‘Is it bad?’

   ‘Far from it. Keep this up, and you’ll get lots of friends.’

   ‘I doubt it. People still tends to avoid me.’

   ‘Well, that’s because you only show your cute side in front of us. Try to do the same in front of strangers.’

   She blushes even more when I call her cute.

   ‘...I should get going now.’ she says after checking the time on her phone.

   ‘Right. Good luck, and be careful.’

   ‘Thanks. I will.’

   She said that she’s going, but she’s not moving an inch from her spot. It took me a moment to realize what she wants.

   I step forward and kiss her on the lips. When I step back, she has a satisfied look on her face.

   ‘I’m really going now. Remember to get some sleep.’

   ‘Yeah.’

   After Madoka had left, I head back to my room to catch some sleep. I woke up a few hours later. This time, I remembers to turn on my alarm, so I managed to get up.

   Not long after I open my eyes, I turned to my right as I felt someone is lying at the bed right beside me.

   It turned out to be Madoka.

   Instead of her uniform, she’s wearing a white camisole and a pair of white short pants. I look over to my closet. Her uniform are hanged next to mine with a hanger.

   I shake her shoulders gently until she wakes up.

   She lets out a yawn while rubbing her eyes sleepily.

   ‘Oh. Good morning, Akira.’

   ‘Good morning, Madoka. What are you doing in my bed?’

   She made a great fuss of acting like she came into my room by mistake. She gets up and looks around like she doesn’t know where she is, and gasps loudly after she’s done looking around.

   ‘I’m sorry, Akira. It seems like I’ve wandered in by mistake.’

   ‘When your room is literally at a different building. Uh-huh.’

   Honestly, I don’t mind in the slightest. I’m more surprised that this is only the second time one of my girlfriends sneaked into my bed, since I gave them the spare key to my room and all.

   ‘Well, whatever. You can sleep for a bit while I prepare breakfast.’ l say while leaving the bed.

   Madoka shakes her head and leaves the bed as well.

   ‘I’ll help too.’

   ‘Alright.’

   I’ve gave her a few lessons on how to cook, and so far she’s doing much better than Sakuya. If she keeps it up, she’ll reach a level where she can cook unsupervised.

   Before we start, I sent a message on the LINE group and ask the others to come to my room.

   We don’t want to push our luck and break the school rules too much, so we almost never eat breakfast together.

   I want to ask Madoka about the operation, but I figured it’s better to wait until everyone else is here. Besides, if she’s not supplying information by herself, they probably failed to find anything useful.

   While we’re being busy, my other girlfriends arrive one by one. They’re kind of surprised to see Madoka in her sleep wear.

   ‘Mind telling me what on earth happened?’ Ichika demands.

   And so I tell her.

   ‘...So the two of you did not do anything indecent?’ she asks after I’m done.

   ‘I didn’t.’ I look at Madoka. ‘Not sure about Madoka.’

   ‘Neither did I. Cross my heart.’

   ‘Well, if the two of you insist…’

   ‘Geez, Madoka-chan. You shouldn’t have done that. Now everyone will want to take turn and sleep next to Akira-kun.’ Sakuya chides lightly.

   I stare at Sakuya in surprise. I can’t believe that her of all people is asking someone else to practise self-control.

   ‘I’m deeply reflecting on my action.’ Madoka says with an expression that says otherwise.

   ‘More importantly, how did your mission went?’

   Madoka’s expression got more serious.

   ‘I’m sorry, everyone. We failed to find anything, even though we’ve practically raided all of their branches, even the HQ at Ginza.’ Madoka reports apologetically.

   ‘It’s either they’ve completed their quota, or they somehow realized you snooping around and hid the evidence.’ I say.

   ‘Or they’re only given a tiny amount of those contaminated medicines each time, and they were just done distributing them.’ Assaf-sensei suggests.

   ‘Maybe. Well, we still have one more shot. Tonight’s party at the Yamagata’s mansion.’

   ‘Honestly, I doubt our chances at finding something there.’ Madoka says.

   ‘It’s still worth a try.’

   ‘...I guess.’

   Soon, we’re done cooking the breakfast. For today, the menu consists of grilled salmon, white rice, miso soup and potato salad. I cooked grilled salmon since it’s Madoka’s favourite side dish.

   While the girls are eating, I move on to cook today’s lunch that Mashiro and I will be eating later. The girls take turn to feed me food while I’m cooking.

   ‘By the way, Madoka cooked the miso soup and potato salad.’ I tell the rest.

   ‘Oh, that explains the difference in taste of the miso soup.’ Ichika says.

    I stare at her.

   ‘You could actually tell?’

   ‘Of course. How long did you think we were eating the food you made?’

   ‘So, how does mine taste?’ Madoka asks a bit nervously.

   ‘The soup is a bit salty. You probably add too much miso. Otherwise, it would have been fine.’

   ‘I see.’

   ‘No need to get dejected. You will definitely improve with more practise.’

   ‘The potato salad’s good, though. You didn’t overcook it, and the amount of mayonnaise is just right. ’ Mashiro comments.

   Madoka nods. ‘Thank you for your feedback.’

   Finally. Someone who’s not a hopeless case.

   ‘Akira-kun, if you have something to say, you should just let it out.’ Sakuya says to me all of a sudden.

   ‘I have no such thing.’

   ‘Don’t bother lying. I’ve looked at you enough to know that look on your face when you want to make fun of me.’

   ‘Nope. I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

   She puffs up her cheeks like a squirrel.

   ‘I know my own problems, okay? It’s not like I don’t want to improve. I’m still trying!’

   Now I suddenly feel bad. I place my hand on her head.

   ‘I understand, senpai. I’m sorry for my evil thoughts.’

   Her mood got better at once.

   ‘It’s okay, I forgive you~.’

   After I’m done cooking, I put the food inside two lunch boxes and cover them up. It’s almost time for my daily training with Ichika and Kaoru, so I quickly get changed to my sportswear inside the bathroom. Everyone then leave my room and go back to their own room. As for Ichika and I, we head for the usual spot.

   Kaoru is already there waiting for us, and he’s doing his warm up.

   ‘Oh, good morning, Kurogane-senpai and aniki.’ Kaoru greets us when he sees us coming.

   ‘Morning, Kaoru.’

   ‘Good morning, Ueyama. Our apology for keep you waiting.’

   ‘I just got here myself, so I barely waited.’

Ichika and I join in the warm up. While we’re doing it, I notice something strange about Kaoru. He looks kind of groggy.

   ‘Are you okay, Kaoru? You look very tired.’ I ask him.

   ‘I’m not really sure, aniki. I become like this at least once a month.’

   ‘Did you go see a doctor?’

   ‘My family has our own doctor, and he always assured me that there’s nothing wrong with me.’

   ‘What other symptoms do you suffer from other than feeling fatigue?’ Ichika asks.

   ‘Well, there was once or twice when I had wild mood swings. I’m usually not an angry person, but even I snapped at the smallest things when it’s one of those days.’

   ‘Anything else?’

   ‘There’s also a few times where my crotch is bleeding.’

   That got my attention big time.

   ‘Wait, seriously? Where exactly? Your…um, stick or your…erm, balls?’

   I can’t even ask about them without sounding homosexual. Then again, I don’t know how to word the question in a proper way.

   Kaoru gives me a blank look.

   ‘What are you talking about, aniki?’

   Oh, man. He doesn’t even know the slang for those things. Just how pure is he? I lean closer to him so that Ichika won’t be able to hear me.

   ‘You know, your p*nis. The one you use to pee? The one that stands up when you’re sexually excited? The one between your legs?’

   ‘I don’t have anything between my legs, aniki.’

   Ichika and I look at him in surprise.

   ‘Kaoru, you’re really a guy, right?’

   ‘Yes.’

   I turn to look at Ichika.

   ‘Ichika, could you bring Kaoru to the nearest girl’s toilet and have him…verified?’

   She nods. ‘Leave it to me.’

   ‘But, I’m a guy! I’m not supposed to go inside a girl’s toilet!’ Kaoru protests.

   ‘Worry not, Ueyama. It is highly likely that no one is using the toilet now, so you will not be seen.’ Ichika assures him.

   ‘That’s not the problem, senpai!’

   And so, Kaoru was dragged forcefully by Ichika to the toilet. It took them quite a while. I was walking around restlessly since I’m anxious for an answer.

   At long last, they’re finally back. Kaoru looks extremely embarrassed from going into a girl’s toilet.

   I look at Ichika. She mouths ‘Kaoru is a girl.’ at me.

   I then look at Kaoru.

   ‘Kaoru, I’m really sorry to say this after making you come all the way here, but today’s training is canceled.’

   ‘That’s okay, aniki. Do you have some emergency to attend to?’

   ‘Yeah, you can say that. And could you tell your father I would like to speak with him after school’s over?’

   ‘Of course. I’ll tell him when I get back.’

   ‘I’m sorry for being so ambiguous. I’ll try to tell you everything as soon as possible.’

   ‘I don’t mind. After all, I have absolute faith in you, aniki.’

   And there’s Kaoru’s signature bright smile that could rival Yui’s. Now, I’m glad that I don’t have to tell myself that Kaoru is a guy, because he’s actually a she all along.

   After Kaoru left, I decide to pay Madoka a visit. I messaged her to ask her where she is right now, and she replied that she is already inside her classroom. I quickly go back to my room to get changed into my uniform and head for school. Ichika does the same.

   Now, there’s a reason I didn’t tell Kaoru that she’s really a girl. They may have some complicated family circumstances, so I can’t just tell her without knowing what it is. Ichika understood this, which is why she didn’t tell Kaoru either.

   I head straight for First Year’s Class 1 the moment I reach school. I open the classroom’s door and look for Madoka. There she is, sitting at one of the seats far away from the blackboard. She notices me staring at her and makes eye contact with me. I beckon her over with my hand. She comes out obediently. I close the door before I begin my questioning.

   ‘Let me get straight to the point. Did you know that Kaoru is a girl?’

   She blinks a few times. ‘Oh, so you found out.’

   ‘Yes, no thanks to you. Why didn’t you tell me?’

   ‘Because it was fun seeing you question your sexuality every time “he” did something girly.’ she answers in an as-a-matter-of-fact way.

   ‘...I see. So, what’s her story? Are they hiding it for some political reason or something?’

   ‘Nope. Ueyama Gorjyuurou is just a patriarchal who prefers sons over daughters. When his wife gave birth to a daughter, he wanted to raise her like how one would raise a son. His wife was so against it she left him. They haven’t seen each other since then.’

   …Wow. My respect for Ueyama-san just got pummeled to the ground.

   ‘Are you going to do something about it?’ Madoka asks.

   ‘Yeah. But it’ll have to wait until school’s over. This isn’t a mission, after all. I can’t just skip school. I’ll try to make it quick so that I can go to the Yamagata’s mansion at night.’

   ‘Well, good luck with that. Ueyama senior is famous for being stubborn.’

   ‘I’ll keep that in mind. And oh, you want to see something funny?’

   Madoka raises her eyebrow. ‘What do you have in mind?’

   ‘Just this.’

   I open the Class 1’s door once again.

   ‘Hey everyone, look over here!’ I shout.

   The students inside look over in surprise, even Mashiro and Ichika.

   I then reach out my hand to Madoka’s head and stroke it.

   ‘Huh? Hwai…Stwap~~’

   Madoka’s facial expression becomes like all wobbly, and so does her legs.

   I sneak a glance at the classroom. Everyone minus Mashiro and Ichika is looking over here in absolute shock. They must be absolutely dumbfounded that the cold and expressionless Shinigami will ever have an expression like this.

   Satisfied, I take back my hand while smirking at Madoka. The person in question is trembling with shame and rage, her face crimson red and her eyes in tears.

   ‘And now we’re even.’

   Madoka straight up refuses to talk to or even look at me. She just goes inside the classroom while stomping her feet. I go to my classroom as well since the bell that signals the beginning of school has rang.

   During class, I message Kaoru’s situation to my girlfriends at our LINE group.

   ‘Well, aren’t you glad that Kaoru-kun is actually Kaoru-chan?’ Sakuya

   ‘No kidding. I can finally tell myself that I’m not a bisexual. Not that it’s bad to be one, of course.’ me

   ‘But why did you hide it from us, Kojima-san?’ Yui

   ‘She thought it’s funny to see me agonize over Kaoru’s girlish demeanor while I’m convinced that she’s a male.’ me

   ‘And now I’m absolutely livid at you, Akira.’ Madoka

   ‘What did you do, Akira-kun?’ Sakuya

   ‘He gave her a head pat in front of her classmates.’ Mashiro

   ‘...I’m starting to think that you’re actually an S, Akira-kun.’ Sakuya

   ‘How so?’ me

   ‘Don’t get me started. I might end up writing an essay.’ Sakuya

   ‘You’re lucky that I love you, Akira. Otherwise, I would have payed you back tenfold.’ Madoka

   ‘Well, thank the Gods for that. By the way, I love you too.’ me

   ‘I know.’ Madoka.

   ‘Ahem.’ Sakuya

   ‘Ahem.’ Mashiro

   ‘Ahem.’ Ichika

   ‘Ahem.’ Yui

   ‘Ahem.’ Assaf-sensei

   ‘Okay, okay. I love you, Sakuya-senpai. I love you, Mashiro. I love you, Ichika. I love you, Yui. And I love you, Assaf-sensei. There. Happy?’ me

   ‘Yes~.’ Sakuya

   ‘Absolutely.’ Mashiro

   ‘Indeed.’ Ichika

   ‘Mm-hmm.’ Yui

   ‘Quite.’ Assaf-sensei

   ‘Don’t you have to teach lessons, Assaf-sensei?’ me

   ‘Not at all. I’m on infirmary duty today until after lunch.’ Assaf-sensei

   ‘I see.’ me

   ‘You could come over anytime you want. I’m all alone in here, after all. It gets lonely.’ Assaf-sensei

   ‘Thank you for telling me that, but I value my chastity before I graduate. As such, I would love to decline your offer.’ me

   ‘A shame.’ Assaf-sensei

   After this, I have to suffer more than half a day before school’s finally over. Shimazaki and the gang invited Yui and I to go out and have fun. We had to decline since we need to take care of Kaoru’s situation. I don’t know why, but Oomori looks very disappointed that we could not join. I feel bad for her, but we have more pressing matters to attend to.