In the original work, a transfer student appears in volume 8.
After the New World League recognizes the protagonist Yuji as an enemy, they place an assassination request with the Kamiya clan.
The character who comes as a transfer student at that time is the title heroine of volume 8, Kamiya Makoto.
As indicated by the androgynous name Makoto, she is the quintessential cross-dressing heroine you can’t miss in a light novel.
‘Who on earth could this be?’
I stare at Mayuzumi-sensei’s face.
“A transfer student, you say?”
“Right before the midterms?”
“Our academy’s transfer exams are really tough!”
“Who could it be?”
While the students were buzzing with excitement,
Tap tap.
Mayuzumi-sensei strikes the podium with her pointer again.
“Come in! Kamiya-kun.”
The transfer student’s surname slips from her lips.
Creeeak.
The classroom door opens, and the transfer student walks in.
With a green bob cut reaching the nape of the neck, emerald-like green eyes, and skin as white as snow, they resemble a boyishly beautiful character straight out of a comic.
But the truth is, it’s a cross-dressing girl with bandages and a voluptuous figure.
‘It’s Kamiya Makoto-kun.’
An assassin of the Kamiya clan and the title heroine of volume 8.
Kamiya Makoto has appeared.
Way ahead of the original timeline.
The fact that the events of volume 8 have been pushed forward to volume 3 means that the original story essentially loses its meaning.
‘Now I should just think of the original flow as a reference.’
That’s good for my mental health.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I need to be overly fearful.
After all, I know everything about this crazy world.
“The transfer student is so handsome.”
“Like a prince.”
“Such a total heartthrob!”
“Even though Kurosawa-kun is handsome, the transfer student is more my style.”
“Uwaah!”
Screams of admiration burst forth from the female students.
The typical cliché of a cross-dressing heroine is happening in reality.
I can’t bear to watch with my eyes open.
Wait, does that look like a boy to anyone?
No matter how I look at it, it’s a girl, right?
Why is nobody suspicious at all?
“Hello! I’m Kamiya Makoto, transferred from Osaka. I’d like you to call me Kamiya-kun casually.”
Makoto gives a sweet smile.
The cross-dressing Makoto presents the typical prince-like style.
With a halo-like smile, the classroom fills with cheers.
“Uwaaaaah!”
“Kamiya-kun rocks!”
“Kamiya Prince! From now on, I’m a fan of you, Kamiya Prince!”
Truly, the consistent reaction of the extras.
Though the timing has been pushed forward a bit, I know why Kamiya infiltrated the academy as a transfer student in volume 8.
‘To assassinate the protagonist.’
The protagonist Yuji, who rises as a target of the New World League’s key focus over the course of volume 7.
To assassinate him, the League makes an assassination request to the Kamiya clan, which dominates the Japanese underworld.
Accepting the request, the clan head Kamiya Ritsuko sends Kamiya Makoto, disguised as a boy, to infiltrate as a transfer student for the assassination in the introduction of volume 8.
The mayor who accepted the request to assassinate Kurosawa Yuji sends in a disguised male transfer student, Kamiya Makoto, to infiltrate, which is how the introduction of volume 8 starts.
‘From then on, the development is predictable.’
Since Yuji was the only cadet without a roommate, Makoto naturally becomes Yuji’s roommate.
At Shuo Hero Academy, there’s a system where transfer students are taken care of by their roommates during a one-month adjustment period.
Clearly a one-off forced setup aimed at a cross-dressing girl episode.
Throughout this time, Makoto attempts to assassinate Yuji, but like any light novel, she gradually becomes influenced by Yuji’s “kindness” and fails.
Eventually, she confesses that she’s a girl, which is the key development in volume 8.
‘But right now, I’m roommates with Yuji?’
So how does the development go from here?
A different roommate? Or maybe a room reassignment?
I don’t know how it will flow, but I need to plan.
The worst case would be if I ended up with a third party as a roommate instead of Yuji.
‘In that case, Makoto would be out of my control, making it dangerous.’
The less ideal case is if I become Makoto’s roommate.
‘If I become her roommate, I’ll have to take on tedious tasks seriously…’
The best-case scenario would be if Yuji and Makoto become roommates.
I absolutely have to pair Yuji and Makoto together.
I failed to hand off Rin, but I can’t fail with Makoto as well.
‘I should apply for a dormitory reassignment.’
At Shuo Hero Academy, there’s a system that allows for dormitory reassignment once a year.
In reality, it’s a dead system—submitting a reassignment request has a 99% chance of being rejected, but if you have the president’s direct contact, you can pull it off.
[President]
[Did you call, kiddo ヽ(✿゚▽゚)ノ]
As soon as I called, I got an instant reply with read receipts.
As always, there’s an emoji attached.
I can’t even chuckle at it anymore.
[I want to apply for a dormitory reassignment.]
[Oh? Are you not fond of your current roommate, Kurosawa? (¬◡¬)✧]
[I’m still close friends with Kurosawa even if we’re not roommates. I want to make new friends.]
I throw out an excuse.
This should be enough.
[A new friend, huh. Our little kiddo has a cute side after all. Hehe. {*≧∀≦}]
[Alright. For the sake of my little kiddo’s new friend, I’ll approve the reassignment (*^ー^)v]
The president easily buys into my ridiculous excuse with just the word “friend.”
Truly, it’s a kind world.
[Thank you.]
I hang up the phone.
My connection game is strong.
“Hmmm. You can take the vacant seat over there, Makoto!”
“Understood, teacher. Thank you.”
Makoto replies with a prince-like voice and heads to the empty seat designated by the teacher.
Fortunately, it’s not next to me.
I hate getting tangled up with the heroine.
This time, I’m grateful to Nishizawa.
“Everyone, make sure to get along with the transfer student! Understood? Then we’ll wrap up today’s HR here!”
Listening to Mayuzumi-sensei, I pull out my first semester textbooks.
The protagonist.
It’s time for some real struggle.
*
After school.
Shuo Hero Academy Dormitory.
[The room for our little kiddo to welcome a new friend is room 211! @^▽^@]
After saying goodbye to Yuji early on, I was hauling my luggage with a suitcase, trying to find the room mentioned in the president’s message.
“Room 211, room 211… Here it is.”
I see a door marked 211.
‘I don’t know who the new roommate is, but I hope it’s Ishihara.’
She’s the easiest one to boss around and pretty convenient.
I wouldn’t mind if it wasn’t Ishihara.
As long as it’s a nice extra, that’ll do.
Beep.
When I scanned my student ID at the door lock, the door opened.
Click.
Dragging my suitcase, I stepped into the dormitory.
The all-too-familiar layout of the two-person dorm room greeted me.
And there she was, my roommate.
“Oh, are you my roommate? Welcome!”
An incredibly familiar voice.
A green-haired pretty boy with a grin that radiated unearthly brightness—no wait, pretty girl.
Kamiya Makoto was there.
The moment where the second worst case from my earlier assumptions became reality unfolded before me.
My blood boiled.
‘This crazy old lady…!’
Aren’t you a girl, not a boy?
I couldn’t even find the words in my disbelief.
So, I have to take responsibility now.
That troublesome girl disguised as a boy?!
This is an unreal situation.
I can’t reuse the dormitory reassignment excuse; it’s already been played.
I felt like the sky was turning dark.
“Kim… Deok-Sung, right? You look pale. Is something the matter?”
The cross-dressing girl, Makoto, approached me with a look of concern and a gender-neutral voice.
She must’ve figured out my name from the name tag.
A subtle floral scent wafted from her.
In the meantime, I reached the last stage of the five stages of death: acceptance.
‘It sucks, but it can’t be helped.’
The water has already spilled; the die has been cast.
There’s no turning back now.
No matter how many curses I hurl, the train that has left the station won’t return.
‘At least it’s better than the worst scenario.’
I avoided becoming roommates with a third party instead of Yuji or myself.
For now, it seems I’m within my line of sight.
It’s just a problem that I’ve become a bit more annoyed.
Just when I thought I could finally get some rest, finals are here, and now I have a cross-dressing girl?
Taking deep breaths, I tried to calm my racing heart filled with anger.
Thud.
I closed the door.
“What’s up? Of course, I have things to do.”
A ton, actually.
What on earth should I do about her?
I racked my brain.
“What kind of things? If you don’t mind me asking, could you tell me?”
She smoothly moved closer to me.
I already had a headache; now I have to deal with this too?
“I may not seem reliable, but I am your roommate, Kim.”
Squeeze.
She gently took my hand.
Wow.
Look at her pretending to be a boy with a “boku” instead of “watashi.”
Unbelievable.
I pulled my hand away.
“…Ah, I’m sorry! Kim! I got too into it.”
Sigh.
Makoto clasped her hands in apology and bowed her head.
Ah, I could scream.
I just got Yuji to stop with that, and now a cross-dressing girl is doing it.
“Don’t do that, seriously.”
“…Okay.”
Makoto sat beside me with an awkward smile, looking at me from the side, as if she had no intention of speaking further.
I sank into thought, ignoring her.
In the original story’s volume 8, Makoto’s goal was assassinating Yuji.
‘But now that the original story has lost all meaning, there’s no guarantee her goal is the same as in volume 8.’
So, I have to find out the real reason Makoto has infiltrated as a transfer student.
I recalled Makoto’s character setup.
‘Makoto was raised as the successor of the Kamiya clan since childhood.’
She lost her parents when she was young and was raised by her aunt, Black Rose Kamiya Ritsuko.
Ritsuko forcibly raised her as a boy, thinking that in the underworld, being a male was more advantageous than being a female.
So, Makoto grew up regarded as a mere tool for the Kamiya clan, facing a childhood filled with abuse and neglect.
From that point on, she was treated as a tool for the Kamiya clan and went through a childhood filled with abuse and neglect.
‘In some ways, it’s a similar setup to Rin.’
The difference between her and Rin is that while Ichiro finds redemption through salvation, Ritsuko is a pure 100% villain in this work.
So, Ritsuko injected a nano-machine bomb into Makoto to completely enslave her.
If Makoto disobeys, Ritsuko can detonate it at any time.
This bomb is the salvation point.
If Rin is a tool, then Makoto is a slave.
Thus, after receiving a bomb suppressor and fighting Ritsuko fiercely, Makoto finally managed to subdue her and could be saved only after stepping into the role of clan leader according to the Kamiya clan’s rules.
‘Because of her character, there’s a high likelihood she infiltrated as a boy without any specific orders to dress as one.’
Ironically, because of this, Makoto is set up to have a strong obsession and admiration for femininity, womanhood, Yamato Nadeshiko, ordinary daily life, and school life.
So, just because she’s cross-dressing, it’s wrong to assume that her purpose is exactly the same as in the original.
About 90% of it might be the same as the original, but there’s always the possibility that it could be different.
You should test the waters before crossing the bridge.
To find out Makoto’s purpose, there are slow and fast methods.
The slow way is like what the protagonist did in the original: sticking around her for a month, taking care of her, and using kindness to coax her into confessing her circumstances.
‘There’s no reason for me to do that tedious thing.’
So, it’s time for the fast method.
Having made up my mind, I called Makoto.
“Makoto.”
“Kim Deok-Sung, did you call?”
Makoto tilted her head and smiled brightly.
Looking at her, I rested my hand on the Durandal at my waist.
“You’re not a guy, you’re a girl, right?”
The moment she heard my question.
For just a split second.
Her green eyes flickered ever so slightly.
If I hadn’t focused on her expression, I wouldn’t have caught that weak hint of fluster.
It was a show of expression management characteristic of a professional assassin who had undergone assassination training.
‘Though she’s technically a disastrous assassin who has never actually assassinated anyone.’
A professional assassin without any murder experience and a total disaster at that.
Plus, she has a kind personality that doesn’t fit the assassin job description.
Well, in the original, that’s why Ritsuko planted the bomb in order to exploit Makoto’s talents, which is a contradiction that could only exist in a light novel.
It suddenly hits me how insane this world being based on a light novel is.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Hahaha… People around say I look like a girl. I’ve been told I’m pretty, but I’m a guy just like you, Kim Deok-Sung!”
Makoto cleverly dodged my question.
Seeing her confidently blurt out a bold-faced lie while I know her true identity is just ridiculous.
“Oh really? Then we could deepen our friendship as guys and take a bath together. Right now.”
“About that…”
Makoto’s eyes flickered slightly.
She looked flustered at my unexpected question.
“That fact… I’m a bit shy, so… showing my naked body to others is a bit much for me… I’m sorry, Kim Deok-Sung!”
She clasped her hands together again.
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Yeah, in the original, Makoto also made such excuses in a similar situation.
Yuji, being the pushover, let it slide, but that’s not me.