Chapter 42: Return to School: The Curious Case of the Dump Truck and the Doujinshi

This scene of returning to school… wasn’t it a bit *too* exaggerated?

Slumping back into his seat, Xiao Xi silently lowered his head, acutely aware of the entire class’s unwavering gaze. ‘What in the world… what was this all about?’

‘Was this all just because he got a haircut? What if he actually wore women’s clothing to school one day? It would undoubtedly cause a massive uproar! The school security would probably need to be called in to restore order in their classroom.’

‘Fortunately, he had bolted out the door this morning, giving Sister Yuan no opportunity to demand he wear a dress.’

‘In any case…’

‘So many things in this world were truly fantastical.’ Xiao Xi had always imagined that if he ever wore women’s clothes to class, everyone would simply mock him. Yet, seeing their current reactions, it seemed they were all rather expectant.

‘Hmm…’

‘Forget it, hadn’t it always been like this?’ His classmates were never quite serious, especially when it came to him. ‘Come to think of it, the social climate these days was much better than a decade ago.’

‘Cross-dressing men weren’t all that uncommon anymore, were they?’

‘Alas, if there was any place in this world where he could feel truly at ease, it was probably only his own home and this very seat in the classroom.’ After a long absence, sitting on the small stool, even though his backside still throbbed faintly, Xiao Xi unexpectedly rediscovered the feeling of being at school.

It was truly peaceful. School was good. Though the teacher’s lessons were a bit dull, the class was still full of life.

Sitting quietly at his desk, watching the boys and girls play around in the noisy environment, was truly a pleasant school life. Being in his seat was wonderful.

“Ahaha, Xiao Xi~”

Before Xiao Xi could even finish his musings, a girl with bright yellow hair enthusiastically lunged forward, tightly embracing him. One hand began to rub, rub, rub along Xiao Xi’s back.

“Uh… are you trying to find something? I told you, there’s no way I’d wear it! Seriously, Chick-chan, you haven’t changed a bit! Why do you always greet me like this?” Xiao Xi gazed speechlessly at the yellow-haired girl before him.

“Ehehe~ It’s Yotori~ Isn’t it better to call me Little Bird-chan? My adorable deskmate, Xiao Xi~”

‘No… no, Little Bird-chan sounds even worse, somehow… And calling her Chick-chan is fine, right? It perfectly fits your boisterous persona, Chick-chan?’

Chick-chan playfully stuck out her tongue. Her name was indeed Yotori, and she was indeed Xiao Xi’s deskmate, a constant since the beginning of the semester. Having sat together for so long, the two were actually… quite familiar with each other, weren’t they?

He still felt a bit unsure. In any case, in Xiao Xi’s mind, Chick-chan was probably a lively, cute girl—the type of comedic relief who got along well with everyone.

As for his own image in Chick-chan’s eyes…

‘It’s hard to say… probably a cute little thing who’d inevitably end up wearing women’s underwear one day?’

“Hehe, Xiao Xi~ It’s been so long! You weren’t hurt, were you? I heard you got hit by a dump truck, and I was wondering if I should follow in your footsteps and embark on an adventure in another world…”

Chick-chan prattled on, then, with a flick of her wrist, pulled out an… AK from her backpack. She waved it twice in the air. ‘Hey, hey, hey, that’s not a real one, is it? It’s terrifying, stop waving it around! What if it misfires? A real-life school shooting wouldn’t actually happen, would it?’

‘And who would bring an AK on an adventure to another world? That’s practically cheating, isn’t it? Why not just blast the evil dragon with an RPG?’

“You’re sending me off so easily! I wasn’t hit by a dump truck; it was just a minor scratch, really.”

Xiao Xi turned his head away, exasperated. ‘Also, do people really go to another world if they get hit by a dump truck? No one actually believes what happens in anime, do they?’

‘Besides turning into Xiao Xi-chan, he couldn’t think of any other possible outcome from being hit by a dump truck.’

“Oh, really? That’s such a shame. I was hoping that a cute boy like Xiao Xi would cross over and become the cutest little succubus~” Chick-chan seemed quite excited, happily waving the AK in her hand. *Da-da-da-da-da-da…*

‘No, how did it actually fire?’

…

Oh, it was just a toy that made noise. It scared him for a second.

“Then I’d cross over and become a War King, commanding a hundred thousand soldiers to storm the succubus shop where Xiao Xi was!”

‘Well, thank you for cracking down on crime and combating the erotic industry! Who wants to be a succubus? You can storm the shop, and I won’t be upset at all! I’d be overjoyed!’

‘Besides, can one really become a War King with just an AK? Never mind the bullet count and your marksmanship, what kind of magic isn’t there in another world? They could easily overpower an AK, couldn’t they?’

‘And… War King and succubus, isn’t that a bit of a mixed theme?’

Xiao Xi was utterly speechless, overwhelmed by the sheer number of things to complain about. He could only silently pack his bag, arranging his books neatly. He placed the bookshelf in front of his desk, forming an invisible barrier. ‘Good, now he had a safeguard for slacking off in class.’

Chick-chan began to draw beside him. She was quite cute when she wasn’t talking. Xiao Xi glanced over, then picked up his pink cup to take a sip of water.

‘Hmm… He needed to change this cup later. What kind of stuff did Sister Yuan buy him? She didn’t buy it based on her own preferences, did she? Or… did she think these were *his* preferences?’

‘Wait… wait a minute…’

‘What was Chick-chan drawing?’

Xiao Xi nearly spat out his mouthful of water. In Chick-chan’s drawing, a certain yellow-haired female warrior, AK in hand, was wreaking havoc, killing and setting fires in a pink and purple room. A silver-haired little succubus, dressed scantily, was cowering in a corner, trembling.

‘Behind… behind…’

‘This was a *doujinshi*!’

“Cough, cough, cough… cough, cough, cough—”

Xiao Xi choked completely. ‘No…’

‘This drawing looked like it had quite a bit done already, and the quality was pretty good. It seemed like she’d been working on it for a while…’

‘So…’

‘She didn’t start drawing this when he had his accident, did she?’

‘This…’

‘Wait… he needed to be more careful in the future. He absolutely couldn’t let Chick-chan discover the demonic tattoo on his stomach before he could erase it. If Chick-chan found out about it…’

“Cough, cough, Xiao Xi, did you really go to another world and become a succubus? How was it, are the boys in the other world big?”

‘He would definitely be asked that, sob—’

‘The problem was, he couldn’t even explain it well!’

Xiao Xi shook his head helplessly. The thought of himself lying in a hospital bed, breathing oxygen, while his classmates were either drawing *doujinshi* for him or getting off to old photos, left a bitter taste in his mouth. ‘Sob…’

‘What kind of people were these?’

“There really are a lot of weirdos in this school…” Xiao Xi mumbled, and Chick-chan’s ears twitched, accurately catching the information.

“Eh? How did you know? Well, there have indeed been some strange things happening at school lately~”

‘Uh… I was actually talking about *you*! Drawing a *doujinshi* of me and you is already weird enough, okay?’

‘But… strange things?’

‘Hm?’

“While I was gone, did anything strange happen at school? Tell me all about it!”

Xiao Xi’s gossip-loving soul was burning brightly. He couldn’t afford to be ignorant of such major campus gossip, otherwise, he might not understand what everyone was talking about during this time!

Chick-chan nodded, then held up a single finger in front of her before speaking:

“Speaking of strange things, we have to start with that, don’t we?”