“Teacher!?” Yukino panicked a little.
The restroom was only so big—how far could Shiya possibly have run?
Even while arguing with Yumia just now, she hadn’t forgotten to keep an eye on the restroom entrances and exits. From start to finish, only two people had gone in or out!
One was the chestnut-haired fox girl with pointed ears; the other was the pink-haired dragon girl with the big tail.
In other words, during their conversation, Shiya had simply vanished from the restroom without a trace?
“What’s going on? Why are you taking so long? Did Teacher fall into the toilet or something?”
Yumia, once again as calm and elegant as before, poked her head slowly in through the door.
“It’s possible,” Yukino said with a frown.
Do evil gods often lurk in restrooms? Or could it be Hanako…?
“Huh?”
Yumia had only spoken offhandedly, but she hadn’t expected to get a serious answer. With a flash, she darted into the restroom and looked around, but truly found no sign of Shiya.
“Don’t tell me this is a locked-room disappearance! Someone has had their eyes on Teacher for ages, and took the chance to drag her into the toilet and kidnap her!” Yumia clapped her hands together.
Yukino couldn’t even be bothered to respond, and continued examining the restroom.
“Eh, ignoring me?” Yumia pretended to pout, “I really do wish our relationship wasn’t always so bad.”
Still ignoring her, Yukino soon noticed there was a ventilation window up high. If someone climbed on something, they could probably escape through it. Conveniently, there was a sink right below the window.
Catching Yukino’s gaze, Yumia walked over.
“Are you suspecting that Teacher climbed out the window?”
“That’s how it looks for now,” Yukino muttered. “But why run away…?”
Yumia’s mouth twitched.
“You really have no self-awareness at all, do you.”
“Huff! Ha…! Ha…!”
On a winter afternoon street, a petite figure was jogging breathlessly, but had to stop after only a few steps to catch her breath.
Crystalline beads of sweat slid down her cute, delicate face. She wiped her forehead with a small hand and complained in a sweet, soft voice:
“Uwah…! This body’s even weaker than before. Damn it…”
She walked under a tall building. The glass facade reflected her appearance:
Shoulder-length light pink hair swayed gently with her steps. Atop her round forehead sprouted a pair of pink, still slightly translucent little horns. She wore a pink-and-white academy uniform with a hint of Lolita style—nobody could tell which academy it belonged to. Under the lace-trimmed skirt was a thick, plump tail covered in pink scales, with a faint pink flame burning at the tip.
“Hoo… I should be safe here, right?”
Having finally shaken off those two, the loli—about 1.45 meters tall—let out a breath of relief.
She took out her phone, and looked at the screen with her sakura-colored eyes. There was already a greyed-out “Transform” button, and below it, the “Dream Energy” bar was completely empty.
Fifteen minutes earlier, to escape the pincer attack from Yukino and Yumia, Shiya had made up an excuse about needing the restroom and slipped into a stall.
Though honestly, she did kind of need to go anyway.
A dull ache pulsed in her lower belly, making the girl press her legs together.
“Urgh…”
Once she’d finished her business, Shiya felt much better. Rubbing her now-empty stomach, she pulled out her phone, opened the app, and found that page at the bottom.
The word “Transform” was written in big characters on a round button. Below it was a cylindrical bar, its color shifting like an RGB light strip—this represented her Dream Energy, now fully charged.
“When your Dream Energy is full, you can transform into a completely different self. Compared to now, it’ll be much easier to win the students’ favor. Surely this will help your mission~”
The agent’s words introducing the app echoed in Shiya’s mind.
“Oh, and don’t forget—you have to say it out loud when transforming. Otherwise, it won’t work, okay?”
The agent’s annoying face faded from her mind’s eye. Shiya curled her lips.
“What, I have to shout it out loud? That’s so embarrassing…”
But if she didn’t, she couldn’t transform. And if she couldn’t transform, she’d be stuck with those two all afternoon and wouldn’t get anything done.
“No other way… Ahem, ahem…!”
The black-haired girl paced back and forth in the cramped restroom stall, hyping herself up, as muffled conversation floated in from outside.
“Can’t hear…”
Shiya gave up trying to eavesdrop.
But if they were chatting away, maybe those two actually got along?
No, this wasn’t the time to think about that!
“Ugh…”
Her cheeks flushed red. Copying the heroes from the tokusatsu shows she’d watched, she struck a pose:
“T-Transform—!”
In an instant, her phone screen burst out in dazzling light, and those scattered rays gathered like a liquid, forming little balls of soft pink light that wrapped around her body.
Ten seconds later, Shiya stared at herself in the mirror, her feelings complicated.
She was now completely certain: the Bureau was full of loli-cons and dragon-philes.
So this was the so-called transformation?
If she couldn’t be a Kamen Rider, fine, but why turn into a loli dragon girl?
And the worst part—
“This form can’t be undone at will. You’ll have to wait until your Dream Energy runs out—at full charge, it’ll last about seven or eight hours? If you want to maintain it longer, just replenish Dream Energy while transformed. As for how to do that…”
Remembering the “replenishing” method, the little pink-haired girl’s cheeks turned a cute rosy pink.
That method—ugh… it was definitely on purpose! Full of malice!
No way, she absolutely wouldn’t use it!
Next time she transformed, she’d be careful with the timing…
Determined to make the most of her transformation time, the little loli took a deep breath, walked out of the restroom, and passed right between the two of them.
And then, she saw Yumia whispering into Yukino’s ear.
?
A huge question mark popped up over the little loli’s head.
What’s that supposed to mean?
Was I actually the outsider all along?
Not wanting to arouse suspicion, Shiya looked only briefly before turning away and leaving without a backward glance.
Back to the present—she couldn’t shake the image of those two looking so close, and for some reason, it left a bad taste in her mouth.
Isn’t it fine, though?
If those two ended up together, wouldn’t things be much easier for her?
Although, how were they already so close after less than a day… Could it be they’d known each other before?
Don’t overthink it, don’t overthink it. Shiya shook her head, driving out the chaotic thoughts.
What does it matter to me what happens with Yukino!