"No. More. Jokes, Nossan." Souji growled through clenched teeth. "Or you will pay for it."
Nobuharu quirked his mouth, nodding submissively. Souji sighed, sending her bangs flying into a new position. The action had her groaning and running a hand through the now longer hair. She fidgeted on in his seat, uncomfortable and vulnerable. Whether that was because of the lack of shirt under his green jacket or the new weight he now felt on his chest...Souji didn't want to think about it too deeply.
It was all just...ridiculous. One moment, they're fighting against a unruly number of Zorima. Souji noticed Luckiero before the others had. The Deboss leader had a strange sphere in her hand, giggling to herself her and there and saying something Souji couldn't understand. With the Zorima defeated, they (of course) rallied together to face Luckiero head on. In a flash, the sphere was revealed to be a bomb and thrown at the ground just before the Kyoryugers.
Souji had had a moment to push them all back before a grand gas explosion went off. A surge of...not exactly pain, but definitely an unpleasant feeling ran through him all the way to his bones. When it all cleared, he was de-henshined. More importantly, he was a she.
Amy took pity on him – her. (Oh, the whole thing was confusing.) Diving into a nearby store, Amy pulled her into the changing room and undressed her. Her white button-up strained at the buttons, not made to accommodate breasts. Amy had told him to unbutton it a tad, but Souji refused (she thought it showed too much...cleavage. Oh, was her face red). Neither were the trousers – it was suddenly hard to keep them to stay on her narrow hips. Amy bought him a skirt and helped him (though the curtain) to change into it. So here she was, sitting demurely with her legs tight together and hands resting on top of her knees, in a random skirt.
King and Ian circled her in speculation (which only added to Souji's uncomfortableness), mirroring each other with their hands on their chins. "Well...it certainly seems like Souji, just...girl-like."
"We got that part, King." Amy piped up from beside Souji. "The question is how do we turn him back."
"Well, the whole thing started with that bomb that Luckiero threw. Good thing that Boy pushed us out of the way, or we'd all be like this." Ian hunched over, with a hand on Souji's shoulder. He pulled out the smile that Souji had only ever seen him use on his dates. (Oh, how that angered him.) "Or should I call you 'Girl' now?" Souji's fists curled in on themselves - "Ow!" - and then uncurled. Souji looked down at his palms, where crescent marks were turning a bright pink and her sharp nails had a tinge of it, too.
"Ian, leave him be. No matter what he looks like on the outside, it's still Souji. And Souji is a boy. We need to think of a way to turn him back to normal." Amy glared up at Ian from behind. Chuckling slightly, Ian backed away with his hands raised in surrender.
"Do you think this is like when we all kept switching bodies?" Nobuharu looked about at the others for confirmation.
"I doubt it." Torin walked out, a grand stone book in his talons. He set it down on the table for them to gather about. "Was this the bomb you saw, Souji?"
"...It certainly looks like it. Yeah, that was it."
"Then this is more complicated than we have imagined." Torin said in his usual, depressing voice, moving their attention to him. "It's an ancient spell, used to tamper the melody of whoever it comes in contact with. There is no recorded way to combat the effects."
"So...I'm stuck like this?" Souji stared into the air as the words sunk in. The deeper they sunk, the more the shock left her frozen. A life as a girl...he couldn't even imagine it. There had to be a way, right? There just had to be!
But if Torin said there wasn't...
"Souji-kun?" Amy placed her hand on her shoulder, slowly turning them face to face. "We'll find a way to get you back to normal. I promise."
Souji forced a smile. "Of course. Thank you, Amy-san." Suddenly, she stood, not really looking at anybody. "I'm just going to...go home. It's best if my father hears what's happened from me. Maybe I'll be able to explain everything." Not leaving room for anyone to stop her, Souji made her way to the exit.
Of course, Souji wasn't going home. In fact she was walking the streets – awkwardly. She never would've thought about it, but girls walked so...different from boys! His legs were rubbing against themselves underneath the skirt, which he kept pulling down. Sure, it ended at the knees, but that still felt too short. And the breasts, they kept bouncing with every step, her nipples rubbing strangely against the threads of her shirt. It was just all so...ridiculous!
Souji suddenly stopped. She stomped his foot; she had to get her head on straight. "This is just stupid. We see Luckiero and Candelira all the time – we'll be able to figure this all out and I'll be back to normal. There's no need to get worked up about all this. Just...clear your head." As if to accentuate the thought, Souji shook her head. Her hair flew in every direction. Souji groaned in annoyance, running a hand through in an effort to settle it back to what it was. No luck – actually, it made it worse.
Her hair was tugged back – not roughly, but enough to pull her head with it. The hair was being managed with, tightly and pulled this way and that. When it stopped, it was tied and when she touched it, into a ponytail. "There – that should help." From behind, Ian walked out in front of her.
"Ian..."
"Just thought I'd follow up on you – make sure you didn't get yourself into any trouble."
"...I can take care of myself."
"I know that – but now you have a whole new sect of dangers on you. Say like, perverted old men who scour the streets at night, looking for pretty young ladies."
"What, you mean like you?"
Ian smiled, crossing his arms across his chest. "There we are." Souji raised an eyebrow. "You haven't been acting like yourself since this all began. Granted, a person is allowed to be shocked by something this big, but not you should know that we're going to have this fixed."
Souji bit the inside of her lip, averting her gaze to the side. Ian's smile softened and he hunched over to catch those averted eyes. "Hey – we are going to fix this, you know. In the meantime, you should be happy. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to see how the other half lives. Most people wonder – you can actually live it for a bit. Just think of the things we could do. For example..." That smile changed inside Ian's eyes. "We could go on an actual date."
Date... The word crawled around inside Souji's head. Of course, this was something she'd thought over time and time again. That it would be easier if he was female.
Ever since Ian had cornered him, pushed his own heart out to the surface and their melodies synchronized, there was a bond between them Souji hadn't even dreamed of. But the hushed kisses stolen when nobody was looking...it took a toll. At times, he felt like he would burst from the secrecy.
The world wasn't ready for that though...not yet. And so Souji kept quiet.
Souji averted his eyes again, going so far as to turn his back. Rather than trying to pull it down, his hands fiddled with the hem of the skirt. "The thought had crossed my mind." She whispered, not really wanting to be heard. Neither of them said anything for the longest time.
Ian knew Souji well – nearly well enough to say 'like the back of his hand.' Souji didn't whisper, not really. He did so when there was something on his mind, something he wanted to say, but...didn't know how to. So he waited. He waited for the thoughts to conjoin themselves inside the young swordsman's heads. Ian broke the silence with a gentle, soft voice saying, "Boy?"
Souji felt a shiver go up her spine. Somehow, that word gave her strength to turn around. She stared up at Ian and for the first time, she wondered how she must look in his eyes. Was she pretty? Did she look anything like her normal self, or was this body somebody completely different? If they hadn't seen each other, would Ian even recognize her? Would he even like her?
"Ian...do you like me better...like this?" The words flowed out, faster than Souji could stop them.
Well, Ian wasn't expecting this.
Like an avalanche, Souji tried to cover up the question. "I mean...I'd understand if you did. It would make everything simpler. You wouldn't have to come up with lies when we go out, or have to deal with people's judging glances. You could even..." Souji looked down, feeling a blush creep over her cheeks in embarrassment. "We could even..."
Souji felt herself being pulled – next thing she knew, she was pressed against Ian's chest, with Ian's chin resting on her brown hair. Ian's arms wrapped around her and Souji felt...safe.
"Do you feel that?" Ian whispered in her ear. Souji was confused – what was she supposed to be feeling? "How your body fits to mine. You've always done that – you. Not any other boy or girl, only you." Ian pulled away just enough for Souji to look up at him. "I love you, Souji Rippukan." The statement had Souji frozen stiff. Sure, he'd heard it before – plenty of times. But...with such resonance and determination behind it it almost felt...real. "Regardless of you're a boy or a girl."
Ian sealed the statement over Souji's lips.
In the six hours since Souji had been turned into a girl, with one kiss, she felt normal again. Kissing Ian was no different as a girl that it had been as a boy. Ian still kissed her gently, letting it work up slowly and Souji followed. Her fingers still tip-toed up Ian's leather jacket (one that Souji liked very much) to find an anchor in the collar as the kiss heated up. She could still feel Ian's hand on her neck, dipping her back a bit so the kiss could deepen. It was all the same and it couldn't have been more perfect.
A beautiful noise rang in his ears and when Souji broke the kiss, he saw stars fading around them two. Ian smiled, flicking a finger through his bangs. "Guess my charm was more powerful than I thought."
Souji wondered what he meant and Ian gestured downward with his eyes. His shirt was back to fitting like it was supposed to, without the oddity of breasts making him twitch. His waist, his hips, his...legs, they were all back to normal.
He was a boy.
In all honesty, Souji wanted to jump in joy. He settled for smiling up at Ian, with gentle eyes that sparkled back in Ian's. "Thank you, Ian..." He allowed himself to be nestled back in the other's embrace, letting the support, warmth, and...love fill him up. He sighed in content, closing his eyes and feeling safe in every sense of the word.
"Just so you know, Boy...you're still in a skirt."