At the start of class, Rika had an announcement to make on behalf of the student council. "Lately, there have been reports of students wandering the city late at night. As a private school, students of Tsukiji High must represent themselves at their best on and off campus. Please be aware of how your actions will reflect back to the school's image and possibly harm its reputation."

Classmates began to whisper, accusing one another in a teasing and joking manner. Rika shot a glance at me and Mio in particular. She definitely knew. We shrugged at her, and she suppressed an amused grin. 

"It's fine if you want to go out in the evening," Sensei chimed in. "Tsukiji prides itself for giving students autonomy to make decisions for themselves. Just be careful not to make too much trouble that Principal Murata will consider taking that privilege way.

The entire class groaned.

"You say that, Teach. But ain't you the one always going to Gobi Soapland every monday night?" Mio smirked.

I smacked my face as the class reacted with a drawn-out, "Ooooh!"

That's…! F-First of all, you must have mistaken me for someone else. Second, it's perfectly okay for a healthy man to visit a soapland!" he exclaimed, quickly turning red.

"Sensei! What's a soapland?" an innocent female student raised a hand to ask.

"It's a— We're not talking about this any longer. Class is beginning!" he declared.

Kana had his head on the desk, buried in his arms.

"What's the matter?" I quietly asked him.

I think it's my fault. I might have… ran into a couple of faculty downtown when I was… doing the thing," he confessed.

"You did compensated dating with a teacher?" Mio leaned over to ask.

"No!"

Since Mio and I helped out the other day, another set of students rotated to take our place for today, leaving us with plenty of free time in the afternoon. There was little for us to do except wait. Yuriha was currently working with Kaede on the outfit designs. We weren't due back to help the class with Culture Day prep until tomorrow.

I figured I'd drop by the kendo club. They haven't needed me back due to how effective Selene was at disciplining them. She quite literally took over the club and Gouda had nothing to say about it.

It was boot camp inside the gym.

"You call that a swing? A newborn elf could fight better than you! Keep those arms and legs moving, or we're staying another hour for practice." Selene went around barking threats and insults like handing out candy.

"You're really kicking them into shape, huh?" I remarked, coming up from behind her.

Selene was wielding her own bokken and had it propped against her shoulder. She didn't even wear her track jacket, it hung on her shoulders instead. The succubus' appearance had taken on a more delinquent-like look since the last time I saw her.

"I've researched our foes, studied their habits. They are a force to be reckoned with. Nothing short of intense, rigorous training will prepare your men for battle," Selene said.

"My men… Huh? What do you mean researched and studied?" I asked.

"The two most formidable teams will be from Maguro High in Tokyo and Yoko-Midari Academy in Sapporo. They are trained by former kendo champions who are also hanshi 8-dan," she explained.

I choked on my spit. Hanshi was the highest title a kendo practitioner could earn. But color me even more surprised that Selene went ahead and learned enough about kendo to know that. She put in more work than I ever could.

On the other hand…

"I'm glad you're taking this seriously… but could you not treat this like we're going to war? It makes me uneasy…"

"If we don't take this seriously, how else can we bring you victory? Isn't that right? We're going to bring victory to Saeko no matter the cost!" Selene shouted to the club.

"That's right! For Saeko! For Saeko! For Saeko!" they repeated at the top of their lungs after each swing.

I grabbed Selene's shoulders. "Why are they fighting for me?!"

"They need a reason to fight. You're their reason," she answered.

This suddenly became a lot more embarrassing. 

"Anesan! Some of the first years need to take a break. Kei might have sprained his wrist," Yuuto said.

Anesan…

They started referring to her like they were in a gang. Though Selene did exude that kind of aura about her.

"Yuuto, take Kei to the nurse's office. We're taking a five minute break and going right back into it!" she shouted.

At least she cared enough for their health to know when to stop.

"By the way, your sister expressed worry about you last night. Hatsumi wanted me to check if you will be going home tonight?"

"She could have just text me." I checked my phone just in case, but found neither a call nor a text from her since last night. 

I still had that thing to do because Mio insisted we try compensated dating later.

"I think Hatsumi wants to give you space," she said.

"Hmmmm…" I glared at Selene.

She took a step back, wondering what offense she had caused me. "Y-Yes?"

"You're keeping your hands off my sister, aren't you?" I asked.

"I swear I haven't touched her! However… one night, she did give me a massage… It was heavenly." Selene shut her eyes to recall, then snapped back open upon realizing what she had confessed to. She proceeded to prostrate herself before me. "Nothing happened. I had no sinful intentions."

"Guys, look!"

"Coach is performing a dogeza to Saeko!"

"Do we bow, too?"

We were drawing too much attention. It didn't help that Mio was laughing her ass off at the sight of Selene's deferration to me.

"Don't grovel while other people are around!" I tried to pull Selene back to her feet.

"No, not yet!" Mio came between us and put her feet in front of Selene's head. "Kiss it, and I'll put in a good word to Hatsumi that you treat Saeko like a queen at school."

"NO!" I screamed.

"Done." Selene kissed both mine and Mio's shoe like it was nothing to her.

The power of love was something else.

Selene got to her feet, shamelessly acting like she had done what anyone would have done if given the choice. She then glared at the club members who had stopped to watch, putting them right back to practice.

"Is there anything else?" she asked, eager to please.

"Carry on…" I sighed.

We left the gym so that the club could return to practice without any more distractions. Mio appeared distracted herself and lost in thought.

"So, I've been thinking," she began. "Why don't we convince Kana to stay as a girl instead?"

"He's going to freak out if you try to tell him that," I warned.

Mio shrugged. "Kid's pretty much rocking it being a girl at this point. Take me for example. I like fucking. Fucking's what I do. I'd fuck all day if I could."

"I feel like your point was lost in that sex-filled brain of yours." I squinted at her in an attempt to make sense of what she had said.

"Nnnhh… It made a lot more sense in my head," she groaned.

We found Kana by the gate being hounded by three boys from class. Just like when I first turned, he wasn't used to the influx of attention. It used to be we talked about girls, video games, and other teenage boy topics. Now the conversations turned to flirtations and compliments instead, which Kana was being showered with.

"C'mon, Kana! Let's go to an arcade or karaoke. It'll be our treat!" one of the boys urged.

"I already told you, I have plans with Mio and Saeko," he protested.

Thankfully, the low-field of magic we exerted around school continued to keep everyone under the impression Kana had always been a girl. The problem was, everyone who had been friends with Kana now saw him as a girl.

To a bunch of desperate high school boys, that would definitely lead to some issues.

"That's even better! Us three boys and the three of you girls can hang out together," another pleaded.

As soon as Mio and I caught up to Kana, we realized who was among the trio.

"Geh. Kameshiro…" I made no effort to hide my repulsion.

"What's up, Saeko!" Kameshiro smiled. "Guess you couldn't resist my—"

I put my thumb and index in the air in front of him to make the 'this close' gesture. He knew what that had meant. We both knew it was referring the small threat I'd given him after we had sex in the custodian's closet back then.

It was enough to get him to clam up. Being able to brag about having sex was apparently not worth having your dick outed as puny.

You have no power here, Kameshiro, I mused to myself. The size of your dick is in the palm of my hands, and I have a lot less shame about sex now! 

Kana hid behind me and stuck his tongue out at the boys, much to their disappointment.

"If they wanna hang out, I don't mind," Mio said.

"REALLY?!" they exclaimed.

"Damn it, Mio!" Kana and I couldn't believe her. 

We were just about to get rid of the pests—

"Mio~"

One of Mio's gyaru friends waved both hands as she came down the sidewalk.

"Hacchan, you're late! We're about to head out," Mio shouted.

"Sowwy. I had to make it up to my bf that I couldn't hang out with him today." The gyaru put a hand up to her mouth in the dick-sucking motion.

The three boys who saw her make the gesture tensed up and clenched their thighs together.

"What's going on?" I asked Mio.

"I talked to Hacchan about the compensated dating thing. She said she was gonna show us some pointers later," she answered.

"Hmm? Is it just me, or is the group a lot bigger now? Oh, well. The more the merrier! We could use some pack mules." Hacchan grinned.

Her comment earned a round of, "Eh?" from Kameshiro's group.

The seven of us took a train to Kobe to visit the Sannomiya shopping street. It was much longer than the one on the block with Isekai Gohan. Sannomiya Center Gai spanned several blocks and was more than just one length of a street, but several upon which businesses collectively called the area.

On either side of us, stores of all kinds lined the length of this pedestrian-only street, separated by an atrium that allowed sunlight to illuminate the area.

Kameshiro and his friends, Ippei and Michio, were initially excited to be hanging out with us. Until Hacchan kept her word and turned them into pack mules.

"How… How much more is she planning to buy?!" Kameshiro complained, struggling to carry six bags worth of new clothing from several outlets we had passed by.

They all belonged to Hacchan, who was apparently looking to buy new clothes anyway. The boys tagging along worked out in her favor.

She and Mio were two peas in a pod. They got along so well, it made me a little jealous. Haruka Ichikawa preferred to go by Hacchan at school, even got the faculty to start calling her that over her real name.

Hacchan was the gyaru at school. Her hair was dyed blonde and gathered to the right side of her head to form a curly ponytail. Black roots could be seen coming back on the top. The school uniform was unbuttoned low enough that the upper part of her black bra was showing. Nails were decorated with microbeads and painted in several colors. Aside from fake eyelashes, she didn't wear much makeup.

Lost in thought, I accidentally walked into her back, not realizing she had stopped in front of a lingerie store.

"Oh, no. I'm getting deja vu," I said.

"I, uh… I kind of want to check out that sporting goods store instead!" Kana was about to turn and walk away, but Hacchan threw an arm around his and my shoulder.

"A girl's greatest weapon is hidden underneath," she said, tugging us inside.

"We're… going to stay out here," Ippei said.

"Yeah, I don't think boys are allowed in a store like that," Michio added.

"You guys are the ones who wanted to hang out!" Mio pushed the three of them in from behind.

We emerged an hour later having purchased and changed into both the lingerie and new clothes. The outfits in Hacchan's bags turned out to be for us, and they fit like a glove.

I was dressed in an ivory cardigan, black skirt, and beret. Kana changed into a sleeveless hoodie dress and jeans. Meanwhile, Hacchan and Mio were a drastic contrast. They looked like bimbos we picked off the street, wearing a light crop top and jean shorts.

What we wore underneath, the lingerie Hacchan specifically picked out for us to wear and wouldn't take no for an answer, I couldn't dare describe.

Kana tugged on his hoodie uncomfortably, completely red in the face.

"How is it that I'm covered up… but it still feels embarrassing?" he asked.

"Are you sure we can wear this? I can pay you back," I told Hacchan.

"Hey, it's totally no sweat! We're all like friends, right?" She smiled.

No, it totally wasn't no sweat. The price tags were still on the clothing when she gave it to us. These were designer brands. The beret on my head itself was worth 12,000 yen.

Where did Hacchan get all her money from? Was her family loaded?

"S-So, where are we headed next on our date?" Kameshiro asked, eyes molesting every inch of our bodies.

"Oh, we're kind of thirsty. Could you three be the sweetest things and grab us something sweet to drink from Starbucks?" Hacchan placed a hand on Kameshiro's chest and fluttered her eyelids.

"Of course! Come on, guys. Our girls are counting on us!" He straightened his back, and like a loyal dog, went to fetch. Ippei and Michio followed after him.

When they turned the corner, Hacchan was already moving on.

"Wait, we're ditching them?" I asked.

She spun around and put two fingers in my face. "First two rules about dating: if they don't respect you, you don't have to respect them; you can end a date whenever you want."

"Aw, shit. Don't make her list out the next ten," Mio remarked, having seemingly already heard them all.

We walked to the end of Sannomiya Center where it was mostly restaurants and food places. Hacchan appeared to be on the lookout for someone.

"Is anyone going to tell us why we're out here already?" I asked.

"Did Mio not tell you?" Hacchan glanced at Mio.

"You were supposed to tell us something?" Kana asked her.

"I was supposed to tell you guys something? Shit, I think I forgot," she said, rubbing the back of her head.

We sighed simultaneously at her.

"I got some cute boys coming by to have dinner with. It might be intimidating because they're in college, but they aren't too much older than us. Just a casual date," Hacchan explained.

"D-D-Date…?" Kana stuttered.

"What are you getting squeamish about? You've been doing compensated dating, haven't you?" I asked.

"Yeah, but… with the same guy— not because I like him! I'm just too scared to go with anyone else…" he answered.

Hacchan smoothed out Kana's tangled hair from him stressing too much. I was surprised he just let her do it. Maybe he was petrified. After all, the heart of a young boy still beat inside that female body.

"That's why we're going together. Ya got nothing to be scared about," she assured him.

"Heeyyy!" A group of four college-aged boys approached us.

Their manner of dress was a lot more casual than ours. One of them even had a hawaiian shirt and sandals. We were definitely overdressed for the occasion despite our own outfits being laid-back.

"What's going on, Hacchan! You said to bring a fourth, so we brought a kouhai from my circle. His name's Tani," the guy in the hawaiian shirt said.

Hacchan introduced everyone together. Beni was the guy wearing the hawaiian shirt. He appeared oldest out of the four. Then there was Tani, Yoshino, and Hikaru.

We entered a korean barbecue restaurant and were seated in a private room. Some of us just clicked, and the pairs formed organically. Beni and Hacchan appeared to be good friends from the start. Yoshino cozied up to me. Kana ended up with Tani, who came off a little too strong right from the get-go.

As we took our seats, I noticed a missing pair.

"Where's Mio?" I asked Hacchan.

"She and Hikaru went straight to the love hotel," she answered.

"Mio just skipped all the steps and went right to that?!" Kana exclaimed. He pinched the sleeve of my shirt and lowered his voice. "Can we sit next to each other?"

"If you don't want to do this, we can just tell Hacchan," I whispered.

He shook his head. "I'd feel bad. She and Mio went out of her way to set this up for us… I want to at least try."

Hnngh!

I clutched my chest. Something about Kana turning into a girl that's so damn cute. As a boy, he used to always look out for me. Now that he was the opposite gender, it was like a whole different person. I wanted to just take him home and throw him onto my bed.

Yoshino poked my arm to get my attention. "If you don't know what to get, I highly recommend the spare ribs. They have it marinated in this amazing sweet and spicy sauce."

"Can I leave it to you to make the orders?" I asked, putting a hand on his arm.

"Alright! I've been here many times, so I know exactly what all the good stuff are!" he exclaimed.

"Let's order some beer, too," Tani suggested.

"You know we're not old enough, right?" Hacchan scolded him from across the table.

"It's fine! The ones who can will drink, and we won't drink too much. I promise," he said.

Dinner was going surprisingly well. Each of the boys even brought a gift.

Yoshino had a lot to say about his degree in economics, but the topic— a boring thing to anyone else— held my interest because I was going to be in his place in less than a year. Listening to his ranting gave me a heads up for what to expect.

I spent my first two years in high school worrying about my self-image. Going to college would be a fresh start for who I really was.

A succubus whore— er, I meant woman!

While everyone was having fun, I couldn't help but wonder where Kameshiro and the others were. We didn't have each other's numbers. They must be scrambling around to find us. I recalled Hacchan's first lesson. Kameshiro was kind of an ass from the start, and we didn't really talk much until I became a girl. There was also that incident in the custodian's closet which, even though the sex felt good, I'd never forgive him for taking advantage of me for that. 

"How did you guys meet Hacchan?" I asked Yoshino, breaking the flow of conversation.

"We met her at a hostess club. Hacchan and Beni hit it off, then she introduced us to her high school friends," he answered.

"What…? You went to a hostess bar?" I turned to Hacchan.

"Ahaha! No, silly. I work at a hostess bar. Used to work at the Coliseum until it went up in flames, then moved onto Starlight," she said.

Coliseum.

I gulped.

That was Selene's hideout. Hacchan worked there? We thoroughly destroyed that place when a fight broke up.

"Ahem… How did you get away with working at a hostess bar while still attending Tsukiji?" I asked, recalling my school's strict part-time job policies. Mio and I had only gotten the paperwork through thanks in large part to the student council.

Hacchan absent-mindedly swirled the sauce on her empty plate with the fork.

"My folks are kinda in a slump, so I do what I can to help, ya know? Mio… helped me convince the principal to let it slide. I owe her a lot for that. Now I'm making more dough than I know what to do with!" She flashed a wide smile.

Mio did that?

It had to have started around May. Talk about being a saint. For being a succubitch, she was a lot kinder than she let on back then.

By the time dinner was winding down, and the boys were trying to get their flirt on, I noticed Kana shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"What can I do to convince you to come back to my place?" Tani whispered to Kana, lifting his chin. The guy clearly had one too many drinks and forgot what personal space meant. Everytime Tani tried to touch Kana's arm or thighs, he tried to brush him off, but that only served to encourage him.

Not only did Tani continue groping Kana's butt, he was being outright obvious about it. The shakiness in Kana's couldn't make it any more crystal clear he didn't like it.

I was about to use my aura to stop Tani, but Hacchan moved faster than I could react. Her drink soaked him from the head down.

"W-What the hell was that for?" Tani glowered at her.

"Can't you see you're making Kanata uncomfortable?" she asked, returning his death stare with a glare of her own. "Get the fuck out. All three of you. I'll cover the bill, so be happy you at least got a free meal tonight."

Yoshino and Beni gawked in disbelief.

"Wait, we didn't do anything though!" Beni said.

"Beni and I should be cool, right?" Yoshino asked.

Hacchan was ruthless. "Tani's drunk. You guys should take him home. Scram. Go!"

The two less inebriated of the trio picked up their drunk, gropey friend and left the room. Once they were gone, Hacchan scooted over to Kana's side to make sure he was okay.

"Sorry… I'm not used to this…" he said, casting his eyes to the table.

I felt guilty. If I had acted sooner to stop Tani, the date wouldn't have been ruined.

"No, it's my fault. I saw what was going on from the start and should've told Yoshino to stop his friend." I frowned, disappointed in myself more than anything.

"Psh. You two have nothing to be sorry about." She waved a hand dismissively and put a gyoza in her mouth.

"But weren't they clients from your hostess job?" I asked.

"Eh, who cares? Boys like them are a dime a dozen, but you two are the only Saeko and Kana I know. Tell me again what the first two rules are?" Hacchan rested her chin on her palm and waited for our responses.

"Uh… If they don't respect you, you don't have to respect them?" I answered reluctantly.

"And you can end a date whenever you want?" Kana added.

"Good, good! Mio can't even remember the first one. Anyway, there's still a whole lot of food on the table. Who's helping me finish?" she asked, licking her lips.

I used to just pass off gyarus like Hacchan as student delinquents who just slacked and played around. She became the first girl who wasn't Hatsumi that I looked up to. I think I understand why Mio was such good friends with her. She was like a reliable older sister.