Chapter 3: A Banjo Twist
Chapter 3: A Banjo Twist
For the second day of the festival, I went to help out at Juumonji High School as planned. Granted, that didn’t really mean much. All I had to do was show my face at the student council there and ask if things were going okay. They said they had everything under control, so I didn’t even have to patrol like I did yesterday. Hell, that meant I’d actually get to enjoy the festival while I was here. President Momone knew I had friends at Juumonji, so maybe she’d set this up on purpose as a way of thanking me.
“I guess she has some compassion after all.”
That was probably one of the reasons she was so admired as the student council president. I mean, she was a total hardass, and I wished she’d cut me more slack, but still...
Anyways, I made sure to double-check with Juumonji’s student council and offered to help out again with any loose ends before I went to meet up with Hibiki at the school gates.
“Heya, Hibiki! Did I keep you waiting?”
“Nah, you’re still ten minutes early,” she replied, glancing up at the large clock on the school building.
“...”
“What is it?”
“Nothing... I mean, I guess you wear a uniform at school too.”
“O-Of course I do!” Hibiki yelled in a fluster. “Y-You’ve even seen me in it before, remember?”
“Ah, now that you mention it...”
That was... back during the Couples Afro Incident, I think? In order to lure out the culprit who was targeting couples, Hibiki and I had pretended to go on a date together. She’d worn her sailor-style school uniform to seem more feminine.
“Good grief... Who do you think I am?”
“Well, you know. You’re just always in street clothes whenever we meet.”
“Your school has blazers for both the boys and girls, right?”
“Yeah. Even Hoshikawa Middle School nearby uses blazer uniforms, so I rarely see the sailor kind.”
Hoshikawa was where Rain and Fam went to school. They were having a festival of their own next weekend, and they’d invited me to come check it out. Actually, speaking of them, I had to wonder if they were stopping by Mitsuhashi High’s festival again today... I forgot to tell them I’d be here instead. Well, Satsuki and the others will still be there, so I’m sure they’ll have fun even without me.
“Oh, it’s almost our designated meetup time. Who all’s coming today?”
“Chelsea and Ellicia, and Sherlyn too. Corona said she’d be bringing the spirit sisters Lyun and Sophie. Kiri and Zeta said they’d make an appearance too.”
“Wow, even Kiri and Zeta? I had no idea Kiri lived around here.”
“Well, you did meet her in Hokkaido, after all.”
Yeah, I’d just totally assumed she was a local. Apparently her sidekick Starmon had only teleported her there to defeat the kaiju that had shown up.
“If Zeta’s coming too, then there’s probably going to be another meeting for her show...” I grumbled a little unhappily.
Zeta, the director from outer space, was the creator of the show Legend of a Real-Time Hero: Galactic Great, which of course featured the main character Galactic Great... played by me. The show aired on an irregular schedule, but it involved me fighting secret evil organizations, space kaiju, and whatnot. Kiri was super enthusiastic about playing her companion role of Galactic Beauty, but she was already a superhero in real life. Me, meanwhile? A pleb like me was risking his life just to get into situations like that. Though I guess I can’t complain too much... I’m only reaping what I sowed.
“That sounds exhausting, but... Good luck, I guess.”
“Thanks. I’ll do my best.”
With a sigh, I looked up at the big school clock just like Hibiki had earlier. It should be about ten right now...
Thump!
Just then, someone bumped into me from behind.
“Oh?”
“Huh?”
I shouldn’t say bumped, because it felt more like they crashed into me. The impact pitched me forward... straight into Hibiki. Just before we collided, I caught a momentary glimpse of a completely unguarded expression on her face from right up close. But there was no stopping the inevitable...
Thunk!
Our heads knocked together, and I saw stars as we tumbled to the ground. Everything then went black for a second, but I came immediately back to my senses after that.
“Owowow...”
I reached my hand out and rubbed my throbbing forehead. That was definitely gonna leave a mark... I tried to open my eyes, but the tears filling them made it hard to see.
“Hibiki, are you okay?”
“Yeah, mostly...”
Wait a minute. Our voices were...
“Huh?!”
“What?!”
Hibiki and I were both equally dumbfounded. It sounded like her words were coming out of my mouth and vice versa. Actually, come to think of it, why was she suddenly on top of me when I was the one who had fallen on her? I could feel my back on the asphalt and everything.
Confused, I wiped away my welling tears with the sleeve of my uniform. When I did, I realized it looked an awful lot like the sleeve... of a sailor uniform? I immediately looked up over it and saw a familiar face staring back at me. Actually, that’s an understatement. I saw my own face staring back at me, and the look on my face was one of utter shock. That makes two of us, buddy.
The only way I could think to explain this was if someone had suddenly shoved a mirror between me and Hibiki when we fell, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
“...”
I glanced down at myself, and there were... Unfamiliar lumps on my chest, shall we say?
Damn it, does that mean I have to accept it now? I gulped as I looked back up at the “me” in front of me.
“Is that you... Hibiki?”
“Does that mean you’re... Rekka?”
I got a question in response to my question, but I guess that was answer enough. It seemed that Hibiki and I had switched bodies!
▽
“What do we do...?”
“Hell if I know...”
Hibiki and I were both at a loss, and we sat confounded in front of the school gates. Switching bodies just by bumping heads... Well, I guess that was a cliche in certain kinds of stories.
“Well, this probably ranks on the list of weirdest things that have ever happened to me.”
“I guess so...”
Even Hibiki, who was usually far calmer than me, could only offer halfhearted replies. Argh, but being depressed wasn’t going to get us anywhere! Hibiki was always the one pulling me along and helping me out, so maybe it was time for another reversal of sorts.
“Okay! For now, we’re gonna try and figure out how to get back to normal!” I stood up and energetically declared.
“How?”
“I dunno. Maybe let’s try bumping our heads together again.”
“Well, trying anything’s better than trying nothing.”
Hibiki seemed willing to give it a go. She got to her feet as well, and... Honestly, I was used to being taller than this. It was a little uncanny to be the one looking up for a change.
But I guess that made sense. We’d switched bodies, so I was seeing things from Hibiki’s perspective. I guess... she was actually a lot shorter than I thought she was.
“...”
I sorta got lost in thought over the curious sensation of looking up at myself for a minute there.
“Rekka?”
“Oh, sorry!”
But the sound of Hibiki’s voice returned me to my senses. Right now I had to focus on how to get back to normal.
“Um, so... Do you want to start, Hibiki?”
“Me?”
“Well, I can’t exactly reach...”
I stood on the tips of my toes, but I wasn’t anywhere near tall enough to bump heads with her. That meant she’d have to be the one to lean down and bonk heads with me.
“Right, I see... No wonder everything felt different than normal.”
It seemed she was a little weirded out by being taller than usual too.
“Okay, well...” Hibiki placed her hands on my shoulders and touched her forehead to mine, taking aim. “How hard should I do it?”
“We crashed pretty hard just now... You might have to do it as hard as you can.”
“This is so weird. It feels like I’m headbutting myself...”
“Haha, well, I’m sure it looks even weirder to everyone who’s watching.”
Actually, what the hell was everyone going to think when they saw a guy headbutt a girl with all his might?
“H-Hang on, Hibiki...”
“What’s wrong?”
“Why don’t we, uh, go somewhere less crowded? I’m not sure this is something anyone should see.”
I didn’t exactly want someone to report me (since Hibiki was in my body) for assault.
“Ah, you have a point.”
Hibiki was perfectly understanding and pulled away from me, when all of a sudden...
“Hey, what are you two doing?” someone called out to us.
Hibiki and I both turned to see Chelsea standing there, quite taken aback. She was accompanied by the five girls standing just behind her: Ellicia, Lyun, Sophie, Corona, and Sherlyn. Corona was in her maid outfit while everyone else was in casual streetwear. And they all looked quite stumped. Lyun in particular, however, was blushing.
“W-W-W-Were you two about to k-k-kiss?!” she demanded, thrusting an accusatory finger in our faces.
“What?”
“Huh?”
Confused, Hibiki and I turned to look at each other... And it was only just then that I realized how close together we were.
“Wah!”
“Eep!”
Hibiki backed away from me in surprise first, and it finally dawned on me that what we were doing didn’t look like a headbutt at all. To anyone else, it probably looked like we were leaning in for a kiss.
Since I’d only been looking at my own face (even if it was Hibiki behind it), that hadn’t even occurred to me. Mostly I was just fixated on how unruly my hair was being, as usual. But it didn’t look so innocent to the girls who’d walked up on us.
“Wait a second! This a misunderstanding!”
“How could it be?! What else could you have possibly been doing?!”
“Um, well, we were trying to butt heads...”
“Like I’d believe that!”
Yeah, I wouldn’t expect her to. Why would anyone be headbutting each other?
“Well, it’s the truth.”
“Shut up! Why would you do something like that right where we agreed to meet up right at the time we agreed to meet up?! That’s despicable! Were you trying to flaunt this in front of us?!”
Lyun’s fists were trembling with an intense rage that bubbled up from the depths of her heart. The wind fluttered about us noisily, responding to her anger as a sylpheed.
“Don’t you have something to say too, Nammy?!” Lyun said, glaring at Hibiki standing next to me.
Oh, wait, no... She thought she was staring at me.
“Wait, no... I mean, yeah, I guess,” Hibiki replied belatedly, stumbling for words in her confusion.
Perhaps she wasn’t used to making excuses, as she kept hemming and hawing while Lyun’s displeasure grew and grew.
“Fine! If you won’t say it for yourself, let me ask you outright... Do you love Hibiki, Nammy?!” she demanded snappily.
Hibiki must have been totally flustered. I watched my own cheeks turn bright red as she yelled...
“N-N-No, you’re wrong! Th-Th-There’s no way...! There’s no way R-Rekka would love someone like me! That’s not possible...”
Hibiki continued to stammer and stutter, but no one seemed to be paying attention to the confusing way she was talking. No, they were all focused on what she’d inadvertently reached out and grabbed when she was trying to defend herself. When no one responded, however...
“...?”
She finally looked over and saw where her outstretched hand had fallen, which was right on my chest. Normally that wouldn’t be an issue since it was technically her own chest she was grabbing, but considering the body swap situation, that was going to be hard to explain. To everyone else, it looked like I was groping her.
“STOP MESSING AROUND!” Lyun finally snapped.
It looked like she was about to resort to her wind magic...
“Mark!”
But before that, Sherlyn activated her own magic with me—or rather, Hibiki in my body—as her target.
“Steal!”
And with that, she whisked her away.
“HEY!”
“Ahahaha! Rekka’s mine now!”
Sherlyn was really proving herself as a phantom thief. The execution of this heist was so flawless that not even Corona could stop her.
“Hold it right there, you!”
“Don’t you dare take Rekka!”
“I won’t let you kidnap a fellow Demon King!”
“Wait up, Sis!”
The girls took off after Sherlyn, leaving only a cloud of dust in their wake.
Wow. Really, it was the same scene as always, but seeing it from a different perspective was really eye-opening. Is this really what it looks like to other people? Me getting dragged away like that?
“My, my. It’s not every day Rekka leaves my side.”
It seemed like R was programmed to stay with me, no matter the physical form I took. Not that that was a problem, but... What was going to happen to my body?
“Aren’t you going to go after them too, Chelsea?” I asked the lone girl who’d stayed behind.
“I want to, but I’m worried about you too, Hibiki.”
She meant me in Hibiki’s body, I guess.
“But I gotta say, you sure surprised me just now. When did you two get to that kind of relationship?”
“Wait, hold it right there. That’s not what this was.”
I stopped her there and proceeded to explain what had actually happened.
“Huh... So you were trying to headbutt each other to swap back?”
“That’s right. It was not, by any means or measure, a kiss.”
“All right, all right. I get it now,” she said with a casual wave of her hand before looking at me closely. “Hmm, so that’s really you in Hibiki’s body? I swear, it’s just one thing after another with you, isn’t it?”
“You’re telling me...”
Chelsea and I sighed in unison.
I’d already lost track of all the crap I’d been through since spring, but I really wished the world would pump the breaks and life would be a little kinder to me. Pretty please?
“And here I just wanted to enjoy the school festival like normal...”
Chelsea looked pensive as I continued griping, but then the corners of her mouth suddenly perked up into a grin.
“Okay! Then let’s go around the festival together.”
“What? But I should look for Hibiki...”
“Hibiki will be fine. It’s not like her life’s in any danger or anything. There’s no harm in us taking our time to look for her as we walk around.”
She did have a point there.
“But walking around Hibiki’s school looking like Hibiki is...”
Who knew what I might slip up and say accidentally? If I screwed up badly enough, I might even weird out her friends or ruin her reputation or something else awful.
“I can help you out there. It’ll be fine! Unless...”
“?”
“You don’t want to spend time with me?” she asked sheepishly, looking down despondently.
When she made a face like that...
“That’s not it at all. Now come on. Let’s go around together.”
I couldn’t help but agree to her suggestion. Well, walking around the school would probably the fastest way to find Hibiki and the others, anyway. If Chelsea was willing to help out along the way, then all the better.
“But I’m seriously counting on you to help if something happens, okay?”
“You can count on me like you would an older sister! Heehee, how lucky...”
“Huh? What is?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just happy I get to go on a date with you, Rekka.”
“A what—?!”
“Now, let’s go!”
Chelsea took me by the arm as I yelped, leading me through the school gates. Juumonji High had so many stalls and booths set up outside that they’d had to move all the parking to the nearby community center. The place was overflowing with all kinds of stuff. I could hear the sizzling from the yakisoba stand and the vendors from the jumbo takoyaki stand calling out orders.
“It sure is lively here...”
“Wasn’t your school like this too, Rekka?”
“I don’t think our festival would lose to this one, but we didn’t have this much going on outside.”
I mean, we had outdoor vendors and games and stuff too, but the booths weren’t packed in as soon as you walked in the gates like this. President Momone would probably be displeased.
“Oh, Rekka! I want to try that!”
“Hm? Oh, katanuki,” I murmured as I looked in the direction of the stand Chelsea was pointing at.
“So it’s called katanuki, huh?”
“Yeah, it’s something you don’t see at festivals much anymore. It’s also called diecutting. Basically, you take a little toothpick and try and carve a designated shape out of the mold. If you do it well enough, you usually win some kind of prize.”
It was often prize money, but that didn’t feel appropriate for a school festival. The prizes here were all various items and such.
“Let’s try it, Rekka.”
“Hmm... I’ve actually never done it before.”
“Then it’ll be a first for both of us!” Chelsea said with a smile as she purchased two molds.
“Hey, wait...”
“It’s fine. You don’t have your own wallet right now anyway, right?”
“I’ll pay you back later.”
In my pocket right now was—of course—Hibiki’s wallet. I wasn’t about to open it without her permission, so I agreed to let Chelsea pay for me too. But setting that aside for now, this really was my first time trying katanuki.
“Let’s compete to see who finishes first.”
“Sure.”
And so we somehow ended up turning it into a race. I’ll spare you the uninteresting details about how we worked away in focused silence. Fast forward ten minutes...
“Yay, I’m done!”
“Gah! I was almost there!”
I lost by a hair’s breadth.
“Heh, it was easier than I expected.”
“I was so close. I almost had you.”
I wasn’t used to Hibiki’s body... No, that was an excuse. Anyway, I quickly finished up the rest of my mold so we could both get our prizes and move on.
“What did you get, Rekka?”
“A coupon for the festival. It looks like I can use it at my school too.”
Neat little things like that made the festival collaboration seem worthwhile.
“What should we do next?” asked Chelsea.
“Want to get something to eat?”
“Hmm, I’m not particularly hungry...”
“Then...”
I wasn’t all that hungry yet myself, so I looked around the stands for something fun to do.
“Ah, what about target shooting?”
“Sounds good!”
And so we walked over to the shooting range. At a hundred yen an attempt, it was a fairly cheap activity. That said, the shelves were lined with relatively inexpensive prizes, so it probably balanced out in the end. There was no flashy grand prize that was fixed to the shelves or anything, either. That aspect actually made the game more enjoyable, which was pretty nice.
“Rekka, how confident are you in your marksmanship?”
“I’m pretty good at target shooting.”
“Then let’s have another battle.”
“I’ll win this time for sure.”
Fired up, I leaned forward against the counter to steady myself and take aim... but I felt a strange pressure on my chest.
“Hm?”
Wondering why it was kind of hard to breathe, I looked down and realized I had two somethings squished between me and the counter.
“Uwah!”
I straightened myself up in a fluster, which relieved the pressure and instantly made it easier to breathe. I reflexively started to put my hand on my chest and sigh in relief, but stopped myself at the last second. That was a close call. Uncomfortably close.
“What? Why would you stop there? Feeling up your new boobs is totally on the top-five list of things boys want to do when they turn into girls.”
R insulted my restraint, but my heart was pounding too loudly for me to even properly hear her.
These weren’t my boobs at all; they were Hibiki’s. I wouldn’t dare touch them without her consent. I’d just have to watch myself, though I have to say that they were apparently a lot more supple than I’d thought... And as my thoughts turned to my chest, I couldn’t help but remember how Hibiki had grabbed it earlier.
“...!”
I could feel my cheeks turn bright red. I never thought the day would come where I’d have my chest groped by a girl. Honest to God.
“Argh, enough!”
I shook my head furiously and put such thoughts out of my mind for now.
“Um... Are you all right?”
The attendant at the shooting range called out to me in a concerned voice. I could understand why he’d be concerned about a customer suddenly starting to act strange with a loaded popgun.
“Sorry, I’ll shoot now.”
I choked back my blushing and readied my rifle once more. This time, I took a slightly more unnatural stance hovering over the counter instead.
“Heh heh....” Chelsea giggled with amusement as she watched me struggle.
▽
After we left the shooting range, we found a stand serving freshly squeezed juice and used our coupons to buy drinks there.
“Looks like I’ve won twice in a row,” Chelsea gloated with a grin as she took a sip of her juice.
“Urgh...”
I was honestly frustrated, but it was more about my... chest complications... than losing to Chelsea. I was getting more and more antsy about finding Hibiki and the others.
“Oh, Rekka, let’s do that next.”
“Hm?”
Chelsea was pointing to a tall apparatus with graduated lines marked up and down it. The lines indicated points, which increased as they got up towards the top of the pole-like structure. At the base of the pole was what looked like a flat, round disk that said “hit here.” Sitting next to that was a gigantic hammer.
“The ‘hammer challenge for two,’ huh? Do we hit that with the hammer or something?”
“It looks like the harder you hit it, the higher the little device goes up on the pole.”
“So you’re supposed to hit it as hard as you can?”
It was basically just a hammer version of the traditional hit-it-real-hard punching bag game.
“Welcome, ladies! Step right up to the hammer challenge!”
“The two of us would like a go,” Chelsea said as she paid the attendant.
“All right, then it’s another match.”
“What are you saying, silly? It says ‘for two,’ doesn’t it? We’re supposed to swing the hammer together.”
“Huh?”
“Come on! Hurry up!”
At Chelsea’s behest, I grabbed the handle of the hammer with her. It was ridiculously oversized, and there was plenty of room for four hands on the handle. That wasn’t the problem...
“Rekka, scooch this way some.”
“Oh, okay.”
I did as I was told and moved closer to Chelsea.
“Come on! Get closer! We won’t be able to put enough strength into it otherwise.”
“I guess... But, um, isn’t this a bit too close?”
“Who cares? I don’t, and you’re a girl right now anyway.”
“That might be true, but I...”
I tried to object quietly, but Chelsea didn’t seem to hear me at all. Picking up the hammer together meant we had to stand next to each other. And I mean right next to each other. Any distance between us would make it hard to put our strength together. It was almost like the game had been designed just for this... Unfazed, however, Chelsea unabashedly moved closer to me. She pressed right up against me, causing a strange sensation to run up my spine. I didn’t know where to look.
“Here we go!”
“O-Okay!”
“Ready, and...”
“...!”
When I put my back into lifting the hammer, I inadvertently leaned into Chelsea more. The indescribable sensation I felt in my spine before now shot all the way up to my brain. Out of desperation, I swung the hammer down with all my might.
▽
After the hammer challenge, Chelsea and I took a breather.
“So the prize was a stuffed animal, huh? Too bad we got the rabbit. I would have preferred the panda.”
“Do you like pandas, Chelsea?”
“I love them. They’re so cute. Pandas are actually a lot more ferocious than they look, you know.”
“...”
Was that the part she found cute? Well, people are allowed to like whatever they want, so I didn’t say anything else about it as we sat down on the stairs by the soccer field and ate our shaved ice. It wasn’t all that hot out, but I was definitely sweating after the workout I’d just gotten. Shaved ice was perfect after the hammer challenge for two.
“It feels like we’ve gotten into a lot of fun, and we haven’t even been inside yet.”
“Yeah. I wonder if Hibiki and the others are inside...” I murmured as I turned to look at the building behind us.
They were certainly a rather attention-grabbing group, so they definitely would have caused a commotion if they were nearby. Since we hadn’t heard or seen anything, I could only assume they were having some kind of fierce battle over me (Hibiki) indoors.
“It’s kind of weird to hear you say that in Hibiki’s voice.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“But nothing else really seems all that weird. You guys don’t sound all that different otherwise.”
“Hibiki does speak in a rather masculine way, I guess.”
Though she wasn’t nearly as commanding as President Momone.
“Well, I’m glad I got to spend all this time with you, even under the funny circumstances. Lucky me!” Chelsea said, smiling as she played with the stuffed rabbit in her hands.
When she put it that way... it was kind of embarrassing.
“W-Well, I think it’s high time we go...”
I was going to say we should go look for Hibiki, but I couldn’t even finish the sentence.
“Rekka?”
“...”
I didn’t even have the leisure to answer Chelsea. I was completely and utterly occupied trying to cope with the grave phenomenon happening inside me right now. To be frank... I had to go. Cold sweat began to run down my back as I crossed my legs and tried to hold it. This was the worst possible thing that could have happened. I mean, the juice and shaved ice just now were probably a bad idea. I should’ve known better. Hibiki would give me so much crap for this... No, she would probably kill me. There was no way I could go to the bathroom in her body.
“...”
Just imagining it was enough to make my brain overheat in embarrassment. I literally couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t cross that line. Even if she didn’t kill me, Hibiki would never speak to me again. I’d just have to hold it... but who knew that the urge to go was so agonizing for women? I had no idea it was so much easier to cope with as a guy. Thanks, plumbing.
“Rekka...”
I was completely lost in my thoughts—trying to distract myself from the urge to go by thinking about anything else—when Chelsea shook me by the shoulders and made me look at her.
“Sorry if I got the wrong idea... but do you need the restroom?”
She apologized, but her tone of voice made it clear she was pretty certain.
“Yeah...”
Since I didn’t think I could hide it, I nodded honestly. Chelsea scratched at her head with a grimace.
“Well, it’s a natural biological function, I guess. Let’s go.”
“No, but...”
“It isn’t good to hold it in too long. You can make yourself sick that way.”
“I know, but...”
I just couldn’t fold so easily on this. I really wanted to stand my ground... but I was definitely reaching my limit. I unwittingly groaned as I crossed my legs tighter and tighter. Tears started to well in my eyes. Chelsea let out an agonized sigh as she watched me suffer.
“It’s your first time in a girl’s body, so it’s not your fault if you don’t know the tricks to holding it in, Rekka.”
“Chelsea...”
“I won’t even tell Hibiki. Promise. It’ll just be a secret between you and me, okay?”
Chelsea pressed her finger to her lips and grinned mischievously, but she honestly looked like a saint to me right now. While I truly felt bad for Hibiki, I vowed to myself that I’d take this to my grave.
“S-Sorry, Chelsea...”
“No worries. I said you could count on me, remember? There’s probably a lot you don’t know, so I’ll help you out.”
“Thanks... And sorry again.”
I could barely stand on my own anymore, so Chelsea supported me as we made our way to the girls’ restroom at a turtle’s pace. All the while, R kept muttering her usual nonsense.
“Good for you, Rekka. This event’s in the top three.”
If someone handed me a roll of duct tape, I’d use it straight on her mouth.
What happened afterwards was... Well, for both my sake and Hibiki’s, I won’t go into any details. Let’s just say I owed Chelsea big time.
▽
Immediately following what would, without a doubt, be my greatest crisis of the day...
“Ah, if it isn’t Hibiki and Chelsea! Hello there, you two!”
“Hmm?”
Just as we were able to relax, someone called out to us.
“We just got here! I’m glad we found you so quickly!”
“Kiri, my head is pounding after another all-nighter. Would you mind lowering the volume a little?”
“Of course! Sorry, Director Zeta!”
Turns out the two voices we were hearing were Kiri, who dressed in her middle school’s uniform, and Zeta, who was clutching her head. Apparently they’d just arrived at Juumonji’s festival.
“Say, Chelsea... Do you think it’s okay to let them in on things?” I leaned over and whispered.
“You could, but they did probably just see us come out of the women’s restroom.”
“Good point...”
I sighed heavily and could feel my shoulders slump. While it would just be simpler to tell them the truth, their timing was terrible. I didn’t really want anyone knowing that I’d used the bathroom in Hibiki’s body. Chelsea had made me feel at ease until now, but from here on out, I’d have to be on my guard with other people around.
“Listen, I’ll be fine. I told you I was here for you, and I meant it. Just act natural.”
Or so Chelsea said as she gave me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, but...
“...”
What the hell did that even mean right now? Surely she meant to act like Hibiki, but... How did Hibiki normally act? The more I thought about it, the less I could remember. I was drawing a total blank in the heat of the moment.
“Hm? What’s wrong, Hibiki? You’re making a weird face,” inquired Zeta.
“What? No, I’m fine. Cut a guy some slack, will you? Heh heh...” I said, trying to play it cool.
“Psst, Rekka... Watch what you say,” Chelsea quietly whispered in my ear.
“Er, yeah! Girl... Cut a girl some slack.”
“Okay... If you say so.”
Zeta looked at me skeptically, but didn’t press further. Her headache from not getting any sleep must have been pretty bad. She still had her hand pressed to her forehead.
“Hibiki, Hibiki! Do you know where Rekka is?” Kiri leaned in and asked eagerly.
I was actually right here—or at least part of me was—but I couldn’t exactly tell her that.
“Oh, um... I’m not quite sure. He and the others kinda went on ahead.”
“And left you and Chelsea behind? That isn’t like Rekka,” said Kiri, quizzically cocking her head to the side.
“Uh...”
I tried to think of a good excuse, but my mind was still almost completely blank. Thankfully...
“Sherlyn actually kidnapped Rekka and ran off with him, and everyone else went chasing after them,” Chelsea jumped in to explain.
“Sherlyn? Who’s that?”
Chelsea’s skillful redirecting of the conversation saved me. I’d just about blown it, too...
I secretly sighed in relief and thanked Chelsea over and over internally. I’d have to watch myself from here on out, and the first thing on the docket would be minding how I talked. As I went over things to say in my head...
“Oh! Let’s try that!” Kiri suddenly shouted, pointing to a flag with ice cream on it.
“Kiri, I said not to yell...”
“But ice cream will fix your headache, Director Zeta! Let’s go get some!”
“What? The ice cream on Earth can do that?”
Whether that was actually true or not aside, Kiri seemed pretty determined to get ice cream. At her urging, we made our way over to the classroom with the sign outside that boasted handmade ice cream.
“Welcome!”
The classroom was filled with tables and chairs like you might find in a bodega. There was also a freezer that was packed with a colorful variety of ice cream.
“Wah! It all looks delicious!” Kiri shouted again in awe, her eyes sparkling.
As the sign outside said, all of the ice cream here had been made by hand. The class hosting the event had packed single-serve cups with all different kinds, labeled by flavor and price.
“Oh, I know! We should all get different flavors!”
“Which one works best on headaches...?”
An enthusiastic Kiri and an unenthusiastic Zeta picked out the flavors they wanted, and Chelsea and I did the same. After checking out and getting spoons, the four of us sat down at a table together.
“Oh my gosh, this looks so good!”
Kiri excitedly scooped a spoonful of her ice cream into her mouth.
“Oh my gosh, it is so good!”
Wow, she really was worked up about ice cream. I guess that’s typical for middle school girls... Actually, I was about to write it off to her youth, but she actually sounded a lot like Iris right now. I bet she’d be just as excited about all this.
“That hits the spot. A little something cold works wonders on a tired brain...”
Perhaps Kiri just seemed more exuberant than usual sitting next to the haggard Zeta. Wait, no. That wasn’t a pass at her age or anything. I swear.
“Aren’t you going to eat, Hibiki?”
“Oh, uh, yeah...”
“Hurry up before it gets melty!”
Kiri cheerfully encouraged me to try mine, so I hurriedly took a bite.
“How is it?”
“Mine’s pretty good too.”
“So is this orange flavor,” said Chelsea. “It’s really good for handmade, actually.”
It was praise all around for the handmade ice cream. As I ate away at mine, I started to think I’d be willing to come back for seconds after I got back to my own body.
“Hibiki, can I have a bite of yours?”
“Mwuh?”
I froze up with my spoon still in my mouth at Kiri’s sudden question. Wait, I get it. This is why she suggested we all get different flavors.
“S-Sure...”
“Thanks! You can try some of mine first!”
With that, Kiri scooped some ice cream up with her spoon and held it out towards me.
“W-Wait, what?”
“Open up! Hurry, before it falls!”
She’d heaped way much onto the spoon. The giant ball of frozen goodness was precariously balanced as she moved it closer to me.
“That’s okay, Kiri! I can use my own spoon! You eat that!”
“Nooo! If I move it any more, I’ll drop it, and it’ll be a waste!”
There were tears welling in her eyes as she pleaded with me. Even if I told her she could still eat my ice cream after dropping her own, she probably wouldn’t accept that. She’d just scoop up more and try this all over again. That persistence was just a part of her personality. I knew this was a losing game, so...
“H-Here goes nothing.”
Nom.
I ate Kiri’s ice cream, making sure to touch as little of her spoon as possible.
“...”
And it was just about as embarrassing as that time I had to share a couple’s drink with Hibiki.
“Well? What do you think?”
“Yeah, yours is good too, Kiri.”
“Yay! Then let me try yours next!” Kiri said happily before opening her mouth wide.
She almost looked like a cute little puppy begging for food... Maybe it was just because I was a guy, but feeding each other like this really was embarrassing. Granted, it was several degrees easier being on this side of the exchange.
“Um, okay. Here...”
But just as I started to scoop up some of my ice cream...
“There you are!”
An intruder appeared at our table, yelling loudly.
“I finally found you! Where have you been?!”
It was me. Or rather, Hibiki inside my body. She seemed to be... worn a little ragged.
“Jeez, what happened to you?” I had to ask.
“I think I finally understand what you go through on a daily basis...” she said rather earnestly.
Hearing that honestly made me feel bad for her.
“So, uh, I’ve kept the whole body swap thing secret from Kiri and Zeta. Chelsea knows, though,” I whispered to Hibiki.
“Got it. It was too complicated to explain, so I kept it a secret from Sherlyn and the others too,” she whispered back.
After that exchange, we nodded at each other in implicit understanding.
“Hey, Rekka! It’s been a while!”
“’Sup? Seems like you’re having another rough day. I’m investigating the next evil organization we’re gonna bust, so I’ll be counting on you again soon.”
Kiri and Zeta both greeted “me” when Hibiki walked up to the table. Actually, what Zeta said was way more than a greeting. And she said it so casually, too... It would be weird for me to react to it while in Hibiki’s body, so I silently turned away and held my head.
“Hibiki, Hibiki! Don’t forget!” Kiri demanded, forcing my thoughts back to the here and now.
“Don’t forget...?”
“We were feeding each other ice cream!” she answered cheerfully.
Hearing that, Hibiki’s face froze up. Really, I should say my face with Hibiki behind it.
“...!”
She then glared at me fiercely, but when she saw how excited Kiri was about ice cream, she didn’t interrupt.
“H-Here you go, Kiri...”
“Hom! Oooh, delicious!”
“Ugh...”
A middle school girl happily eating ice cream with a frustrated high school boy watching her, fists clenched... It must have been an odd sight for everyone else. And the fact that people would think one of those parties was me was unsettling, to say the least.
But as that scene unfolded...
Bam!
Someone came stomping into the classroom.
“Hey, it’s Corona.”
“Oh, no!”
Upon hearing Corona’s name, Hibiki’s eyes went wide.
“Here you are, young man.”
The classroom was suddenly abuzz at the unexpected appearance of a beautiful, purple-haired woman dressed in a maid uniform. The maid in question, however, paid them no mind, and she zeroed in on Hibiki. As soon as she was close enough, she snatched “me” into her arms.
“I finally caught you.”
“Mrgh!”
Unable to fight against the strength of the former Demon King, Hibiki grumbled in Corona’s grasp. God, is this what I usually look like to other people? It’s no wonder my male classmates are always glaring at me.
“Have you only just now realized how lucky of a pervert you are?” R asked, her shoulders slumping exaggeratedly.
“Ugh...”
As for Hibiki, she seemed unsure of how to deal with the situation. She didn’t know how much strength was appropriate for “me” to use.
“Now, come eat those Russian takoyaki-like things with me.”
“H-Hey... Hold on, Corona.”
I tried to stop Corona from leaving with Hibiki in her clutches.
“Hm? What’s wrong, Hibiki?”
“Erm...”
What would Hibiki say at a time like this? I agonized over what to say next, when...
“We found you!”
Lyun, Ellicia, and Sherlyn burst through the classroom door with enough force to break it.
“Tch! They caught up already...”
“I commend you for escaping a phantom thief, Rekka!”
“Whaaat?! Now you’re touching Corona’s chest?! I’ll never forgive you for this, Nammy!”
“It’s my first time seeing Rekka in ages, so you should all let me have a little more time with him!”
“No way!”
“Not happening!”
Ellicia was shot down from every direction.
“Come! We’re running, young man!”
“Ah, wait!”
This time, Corona leaped out of the classroom before anyone could stop her with Hibiki still clutched in her arms. The other three girls chased after them, leaving the rest of us in the now noisy classroom.
“Those guys are like a storm, huh?”
“Who was that guy?”
“He was being chased by so many beautiful girls...”
“That wasn’t our school uniform.”
“Wasn’t that a Mitsuhashi High uniform?”
“Hey, that’s the guy I saw in the hall earlier. He was being chased by pretty girls then too.”
“I saw him eating crepes at the crepe stand with that red-haired lady earlier.”
“Damn, that bastard came to another school just to show off, huh?!”
“I think I’ve heard about him from some friends at Mitsuhashi before.”
Conversations like that were breaking out all around us. It seemed rumors about me were starting to take hold even at Juumonji...
“You okay, Hibiki?” Chelsea asked out of consideration.
“I think I have a headache...” I replied, rubbing my forehead between my brows to try and suppress the pain.
“W-Wait up, Sis...”
Just then, a panting Sophie belatedly arrived at the classroom, several minutes after her sister had already left.
“Hey, Sophie.”
“Oh... Hello, Hibiki.”
“Are you okay?”
Even Zeta seemed worried. She kindly led Sophie by the hand over to her seat and had her sit down.
“Here, you can have my ice cream. It’s a little melted now, but it’s still good.”
“Th-Thank you very much.”
Sophie took a bite of the ice cream and let out a sigh. She’d apparently been chasing her sister all over campus, but she was at her limit and just couldn’t keep up anymore. At this rate, the only way she was going to see the festival was on a wild goose chase. I felt sorry for her.
“Do you want to walk around with us after this?” I offered.
“C-Could I?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“But, um, my sister...”
“We’re looking for Rekka as well. I’m sure if we find him, your sister won’t be far behind.”
“And it’s really all right if I go with you?”
“Sure.”
And so we collected Sophie and continued our walk around the school.
“Hibiki, what’s that?”
“Oh, that’s...”
Sophie was filled with childlike curiosity, tugging on my sleeve every time something interesting caught her eye. Chelsea and I made sure to let her try out everything she wanted to.
“Heh, having Sophie around almost makes me feel like I’ve got my own little sister.”
“We have our hands full just babysitting Kiri, though.”
“Hey, Director Zeta! What’s that supposed to mean?!”
We continued touring the school like so. We heard tales of Hibiki and the others here and there, but we just managed to miss them every time. And so the afternoon passed without us ever making contact, until...
“Hibiki!”
“Hm?”
Someone suddenly called to me, stopping us in our tracks. I turned around to see a familiar looking girl, but I couldn’t quite place her. She was apparently a friend of Hibiki’s or something, but where had I seen her before...?
“Erm... L-Long time no see?”
“What? We saw each other this morning. Did you hit your head or something?” the girl asked with a dubious look.
Yeah, but it’s way more complicated than that... is what I wanted to say.
“Haha, yeah. I must have... It’s funny. I can’t seem to remember a thing. What’s your name again...?”
“Are you serious right now? It’s me, Kanae!”
“Ah, yeah, that’s right. I remember now.”
She was the girl we’d run into during the Couples Afro Incident. If I recalled correctly, she was one of Hibiki’s close friends. I’d heard she was sickly, but it seemed like she was participating in the school festival.
Kanae then sighed and said, “You’re going to break my heart if you keep this up. But for now, we gotta go.”
“Go where?”
“Did you forget that too? It’s almost time for our shift. We have to hurry to the classroom. Are these your friends? My apologies, but I’ll be borrowing Hibiki for a little while.”
“Er, ah, wai—”
Kanae grabbed me by the hand and started to walk off. She was surprisingly forceful.
But a shift, huh? It must be something for their class event. Hibiki’s a student here, after all. I should have expected something like this. I guess I’d been taking things a little too easy... I reflected on that as I watched my footing down the stairs, Kanae still dragging me by the hand.
I wanted to ask what event Hibiki’s class was doing, but I held back so Kanae wouldn’t start to think I was acting too weird. My biggest fear was still affecting Hibiki’s reputation. Whatever it was, I’d figure it out when we got to the classroom anyway. Little did I know...
“Welcome!”
We were greeted brightly by some of their classmates in very unique outfits.
“Oh, it’s just you, Kanae. I’m glad you caught Hibiki,” said a girl dressed as a caped vampire.
Behind her was a magician, some girl in a uniform that looked like it was from an anime, and more. Their classmates waiting on tables were all dressed up in some fashion or another.
“...A cosplay cafe?”
“Of course. Or did you forget that too?” Kanae said with a sigh at what I’d let slip.
“Good grief! Ditching your shift to go flirt with boys from other schools is inexcusable. Now hurry up and go get changed,” the vampire girl said with a wry smile.
She then handed Kanae a white nurse’s uniform. And me... a butler’s outfit? Well, it seemed like it would suit Hibiki just fine, and I didn’t have any particular qualms about wearing it myself...
“Wait, get changed?!”
“What are you acting so surprised for, Hibiki?”
What I’d reflexively shouted earned me a weird look from Kanae, but that wasn’t what I was worried about most right now. The butler outfit aside... Changing? Me? While still in Hibiki’s body? No, no, no! No way, no how! I can’t do that!
“Ooh! This is the event boys say they want to try most when they become girls! On the public ranking list, that is. I don’t know if you’re mature enough for the private version yet, Rekka.”
Public or private, both are awful!
While I was internally screaming at R, Kanae once more took my hand and dragged me out of the classroom. Our destination was... the girls’ changing room.
“Wait! Hold on a sec! This is the one place I can’t go!”
“Where else are you going to go change? Did you want to do it outside?”
Considering the situation, anything would be better than... Wait, where?! With everyone thinking I was Hibiki, it would be perfectly natural for me to use the girls’ changing room. But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to get arrested.
Back in the girls’ bathroom, I’d kept my eyes shut the entire time while Chelsea basically did everything for me, so there wasn’t much to fuss over. (There wasn’t much of anything at all, if you know what I mean.) But I didn’t have Chelsea this time, and unlike in the bathroom, there weren’t private stalls in the changing room. Even if Chelsea were here, I couldn’t have her help me change in front of Kanae. It’d be too weird. I couldn’t risk people spreading rumors about Hibiki because of me.
So... I guess I had no choice but to run. I started to steel myself to flee, but Kanae suddenly cracked a grin.
“Aha!” she said, peering up at me with a sly look on her face. “Hibiki, did you want to wear something different today because Rekka’s coming?”
“Huh?”
I reflexively let out a dumb, confused noise upon hearing my own name come up so unexpectedly.
“Though the butler outfit suits you, it is a bit lacking in feminine charm. I can understand why you’d prefer something else to wear for your lovely suitor.”
“Um, I’m sorry... My lovely what?”
I had no idea what she was talking about, but Kanae simply giggled in reply.
“It’s fine, you know. You don’t have to hide it. I can tell just by your face after listening to you talk about him day in and day out.”
Tha-thump.
Wh-What? Was I on the verge of hearing something totally outrageous under outrageous circumstances in the most outrageous way possible?
Tha-thump. Tha-thump.
My heart was pounding surprisingly loudly. Without knowing any better, Kanae continued...
“Hibiki, I know that you lo—”
My body froze completely stiff in anticipation of what she was about to say next.
“HOLD IT RIGHT THEEEEERE!”
But just then, “I” came running over with a desperate look on “my” face. And I mean really running.
“Oh?”
“Bwah!”
Kanae quickly stepped to the side, but I was still standing there practically frozen in place. And so Hibiki, who was still booking it at a dead sprint, crashed right into me.
THUNK!
Our foreheads collided and bounced off of each other. Limbs tangled, we went tumbling forward through a door or something, sliding along the floor.
“Ow, ow, ow...”
I sat up with a hand pressed to my forehead. This was the second time today I’d smacked my head on something...
“A-Are you okay, Hibiki?”
“Yeah, somehow...”
Wait, that was my voice... Did I have it back?
“?!”
Hibiki and I looked at each other in shock. I looked down at Hibiki’s face as she looked up at me... meaning we were back to normal!
“We’re back! We’re back, right, Hibiki?!”
“Yeah! There’s no mistaking it!”
We shared a celebratory laugh. A second collision was really all it had taken to get things back to normal... How simple! But I was okay with that. Simple is best, after all.
“I-Incidentally, Rekka...”
“Hm?”
“D-Did you hear the rest of what Kanae was trying to say?”
What she’d said there at the end?
“Hibiki, I know that you lo—”
“Nope. I didn’t hear all of it.”
“I see.”
With a sigh of relief, Hibiki’s expression relaxed.
“Well, shall we?”
“Yes, let’s.”
I lent Hibiki a hand to stand up, then looked around me... and immediately froze in place again.
“...”
I was surrounded by girls, girls, girls... All of which were in various states of undress, and all of which were glaring at me. When Hibiki realized it too, even she flinched.
“Right...” she muttered. “This is the girls’ changing room.”
Yeah, that door we’d tumbled through earlier? Turns out that led straight to the changing room. By the time we noticed, it was too late. And Hibiki acknowledging it was like a starting pistol. I heard all the girls in the room inhale together, and then...
“KYAAAAAH!”
They all screamed.
“I’m s-s-sorry!”
“DIE, PERVERT!”
Words of abuse and various thrown objects all came flying at me. Knowing I was completely in the wrong here, I took the punishment until they were satisfied. After that, with Hibiki and Kanae’s testimonials, I at least managed to avoid getting the cops called on me. But that didn’t stop word from spreading that I’d barged in on the girls’ changing room. First to Chelsea and the other students of Juumonji, then to everyone at my school, L, and eventually...
“So you’ve finally started to cause trouble for other schools too, have you? I hope you’re prepared, problem child.”
President Momone, who had dispatched me to Juumonji High School in the first place. I would eventually receive a punishment so severe that putting it into words wouldn’t do it justice, but that’s a story for after we return to Mitsuhashi High School.
▽
Jumping back a little to just before we left Juumonji High for the day...
“Wow, even I thought you were dead for real this time, Rekka. Not physically, but socially.”
“...”
Listening to R’s unfunny jokes, I tried to walk as casually as possible down the path to the school gate. I wished I was invisible. Who wouldn’t after what I’d just done? If possible, I’d like to just disappear. Needless to say I left Juumonji as quickly as I could. I let out a sigh once I made it past the school gates unnoticed.
“Found you.”
Just as I passed someone, I thought I heard them say something to me.
“?!”
Was I being arrested after all?! I spun around in serious surprise to see...
“...”
Nobody there.
“Huh?”
“What’s the matter, Rekka?” R asked, turning back from where she was floating a few feet ahead of me.
“It’s nothing...”
I turned back around feeling a little strange. I’d heard that voice way too clearly for it to have just been in my head... A lingering, unpleasant doubt took hold in the back of my mind.
Ever since the bomb threat yesterday, weird things had been happening one after the other without any real explanation. Nothing really bad had happened yet, so I couldn’t say it was a genuine problem, but...
“It just doesn’t sit well with me.”
After muttering to myself out loud, I continued on down the road towards my house.
