Chapter 90: Operation: Pygmalion

"This is the stupidest plan I have ever heard."

Daiki is pacing my bedroom. He is eating my chips.

The entire squad is here. I called an emergency meeting. Hiroto snuck out of his agency jail. He is wearing a disguise (a fake mustache).

"It's NOT stupid!" Hiroto shouts, pulling at his mustache. "It's brilliant! It is a classic trope! The Pygmalion arc! The makeover montage! This is script-writing gold!"

"She's right," Rika says, her eyes thoughtful. "Aoi-chan, this is Mariko's plan?"

"It's our plan," I correct her. I am standing in front of my whiteboard. I have drawn a diagram.

"So let me get this straight," Toujo says, scratching his head. "The Crown Prince is forcing Fuji to marry the evil witch."

"She's not evil, Toujo," I sigh. "She's pragmatic."

"Right! The pragmatic witch!" Toujo continues. "And her plan... is to turn YOU... into a lady?"

He looks at me. My ripped jeans. My death metal shirt.

He bursts out laughing.

I punch him in the arm. He stops laughing.

"It's the only way," I say, tapping the whiteboard. "Look. Takahito's only real argument against me is that I am unsuitable. That I am gutter trash."

"That's horrible!" Rika gasps.

"It's politics," I shrug. "So we take away his argument. We make me... suitable."

"You? Suitable?" Daiki snorts. "You punched me in the face for lying about CPR. You are not suitable."

"Not yet," I say. "That's Phase One. Operation: Make Bloody Twilight a Lady. Mariko is going to be my tutor. She is going to teach me everything. How to walk. How to talk. Imperial protocol. Which fork to use to stab someone."

Hiroto is clapping his hands. "I will handle the wardrobe! The makeover!"

Rika is nodding. "I can help with etiquette!"

Toujo is raising his hand. "I will be... the distraction!"

We all look at Daiki.

He sighs, scrubbing his face. "This is insane. You are all insane. You are changing yourself for a guy."

"No, you idiot," I say, a slow smirk spreading across my face. My Bloody Twilight grin.

"I'm not changing. I'm learning the rules. You cannot win the game if you do not know how to play."

I tap the whiteboard. Phase Two.

"Phase Two," I say, my voice cold. "We find a way to get me in front of the Emperor himself. Fuji's grandfather. The one person who can't stand Takahito."

The squad is silent. They are all looking at me. They are in.

Daiki grunts. "Fine. This is stupid. But I am bored. And I still hate that Prince. Both of them. What do I do?"

"You, King, are our inside man."

His eyebrows go up.

My peaceful life is gone. My romance is on hold.

My war... is just beginning.

And this time, I am not just fighting bullies in an alley.

I am fighting a Crown Prince for my own happy ending.

This is so much more fun.