Snow White and Gang Star

Back in Qin Qiong’s dorm, which never had its lights turned off, the chubby guy, having finally recovered from his heart-pounding excitement, suddenly spoke up.

“Qin Qiong, my man, I just had a flash of inspiration!”

Qin Qiong’s eyes lit up.

The chubby guy was actually a small-time uploader on Y*utube. He usually made video edits of movies and anime, some of them epic, some of them touching, which had earned him a small following. Although he didn’t have many fans yet, Qin Qiong had always believed that if the chubby guy kept at it, he’d become a big-name content creator one day. So when he said he had inspiration, it obviously meant he had an idea for a video.

Qin Qiong asked excitedly, “Are you thinking of editing their stream into a video, Guan Gong?”

The name “Guan Gong” wasn’t a nickname; it was the chubby guy’s actual, legal name on his ID card.

Yes, the chubby guy’s name was Guan Gong, the god of war himself.

If Qin Qiong’s dad had named him while drunk on vodka, then Guan Gong’s dad must have found his inspiration at the bottom of a bottle of industrial-grade alcohol. The school administrator in charge of dorm assignments must have had a great sense of humor, too. Seeing how well their names went together, they’d put them in the same room to let the legendary Guan Gong “battle” Qin Qiong.

Guan Gong, the chubby guy, was fired up. He sat up straight and declared, “I’m not sleeping tonight. I already recorded the stream, and I’m going to watch it a few more times to nail down all the highlights. I have a feeling this video is going to blow up!”

——-I’m like a fire, a burning fire——-

If I remembered correctly, we didn’t have any classes this morning. So even with the sun shining on my ass, I had no intention of getting up.

I groggily grabbed the phone from beside my pillow, not to check the time, but just to see if my dad had finally decided to reveal the long-hidden truth that I was actually the heir to a massive fortune.

Instead, I saw a message. It read:

“The organization has decided. You will play the part of Snow White!”

The sender was our class counselor, the beautiful married woman, Yanagi-sensei.

At first, I thought I was dreaming.

I figured that after my transformation, maybe I had developed some latent subconscious desire to be a princess. Why else would I dream about playing Snow White?

This wouldn’t do. I was a pure-blooded man, through and through. I still had my dream of becoming a Gang Star to fulfill! How could I surrender to the embrace of a frilly princess dress?!

Upholding the principle that real men become Gang Stars, I decided that even in a dream, I would not compromise. So, in my dream, I replied to the very beautiful Yanagi-sensei with uncompromising words:

“Yanagi-sensei, rather than playing Snow White, I’d actually prefer to see you in a frilly princess dress as Snow White. Therefore, please allow me to decline this role.”

After sending this message, one I would never dare to send in real life, I felt a wave of relief wash over me, my mind clear. I felt like I was once again that young boy dreaming of becoming a Gang Star.

I put down my phone and flopped back onto my pillow, trying to wake myself up from this dream. But as soon as I closed my eyes, I heard a gasp from the bunk diagonal to mine. It was Yukino’s voice, like soft snow.

“What does ‘The organization has decided. You will play the part of the Queen’ mean?!”

Yukino’s reaction was even bigger than mine. She shot up in bed as if she’d been revived from a terminal illness, ready to laugh in the face of death for another year. She was wearing a loose black t-shirt, the rise of her chest barely noticeable, her long black hair cascading around her like a waterfall. Her beautiful, fair face was filled with bewilderment and disbelief.

I had thought I was dreaming, but seeing Yukino’s reaction made me waver. This development couldn’t be explained by just my own dream. Could the truth be…

…that Yukino and I were dreaming together?! Our dreams had linked up?

Question: is this a series circuit or a parallel circuit?

Seeing my good brother so shocked, I couldn’t just leave him hanging. I sat up again and comforted her, “Yukino, don’t worry. We’re dreaming. None of this is real.”

My words made Yukino freeze. She tilted her head, her brow furrowed and her mouth agape in that classic “confused black guy” meme expression, as if what I’d just said was the dumbest thing she’d ever heard.

Her dark eyes stared at me. “We’re dreaming? How can two people have the same dream… This is obviously my dream, and you’re just a figment of it!”

Hahahaha, listen to what she’s sayi— wait, I’m just a figment of Yukino’s dream?!!

We argued for a long time about who was dreaming and who was the figment, until we both finally pinched our own butts. The pain was far too real. We finally understood that neither of us was dreaming.

And I even made sure to pinch a fleshy spot!

“If this isn’t some weird dream,” I said, still a bit dazed, “does that mean our counselor, Yanagi-sensei, really asked us to play Snow White and the Queen?”

Yukino was also struggling to comprehend it. “Why do you get to be Snow White while I have to be the Queen?!”

“That’s what you’re stuck on?!!” For me, I didn’t want to be either the Queen or Snow White. “Me being Snow White and you being the Queen makes me a whole generation younger than you for no reason. Not only that, but I also get a stepmom who doesn’t even have any milk to offer!”

The Queen is Snow White’s stepmother, after all.

Yukino froze at that. She reflexively brought her pale, bare arms up, covering the chest that her T-shirt revealed to be empty, and even gave it a soft squeeze for some reason. Her face flushed red as she yelled at me, “Even if I had any, I wouldn’t let you drink it!”

“You think I actually want to drink it??” I shot back without a moment’s hesitation. “You’re damn right I do!!”

Our scholarly debate on whether Yukino’s m… milk… was worth drinking, and whether it was better to drink it directly or squeeze it out first, was apparently too loud, because it woke up Exusiai.

She shot up from my bed, shirtless as was her usual sleeping habit, staring at her phone in shock.

“What the hell is ‘The organization has decided. You will play the part of the Prince’?!”

I was just as shocked. “Why are you in my bed???”

She froze, as if only just realizing it. She puffed out her small but perky chest, tapped her head of slightly messy red hair with a small fist, and stuck out her tongue.

“Ehehe~~~☆”

“Don’t try to moe your way out of this!”