Prompt: Freaky Friday horikashi
Switch Potion
On the edge of the city, the exact opposite side of the train station, there is a run down house with a nice old lady who runs a simple bookshop. Masayuki Hori had been there a few times. His mother often sent him over to help out. She was supposedly a family friend, but Masayuki often suspected they kept the connection for their own benefit. She had tutored him, was currently tutoring his younger brother, loaned the family books, and was constantly giving self made medicines and herbal recipes.
That isn't to say they gave anything back. However, yesterday's gift from her made Masayuki wonder if she had caught on and was perhaps unpleased by the mistreatment.
"Why," he muttered as he faced his reflection in the mirror. "Why is this happening?"
He raised a hand and touched his face. He ran his fingers through his hair. He pinched his cheeks and rubbed his eyes.
He watched his reflection copy his movements and groaned at the issue.
It was definitely his movements, but it wasn't his body.
The male paced the unfamiliar bedroom he was in muttering to himself. He knew what had happened. The medical wine the old lady gave him did this. He had been reading her books since a young age, and had once stumbled upon a dusty set that insinuated simple herbs and spices could be combined to create substances with magical properties.
But why did she give it to him? And why hasn't he noticed the strange smell of the liquor and the strange way she smiled that day when she told him to "share it with someone important to you"?
Masayuki grabbed the black pillow from the messy bed he had woke up in and let out a muffled scream. This was not happening.
"Yuu? Sweety? Are you alright?" a woman's voice asked through the bedroom door. When it opened, Masayuki put the pillow back and attempted to stand as straight as possible.
The lady was quite thin and had her hair tied up in a bun. Her apron was slightly stained and worn, but that didn't prevent her from looking charming and warm.
She was definitely that guy's mom, Masayuki thought.
"Yuu, are you okay? I've never seen you awake this early before," she laughed. Masayuki awkwardly laughed along with her. It felt weird having the voice he's so used to listening for come out from his own mouth.
"Ah, yeah mom! I just... thought it'd be a good thing to get up early for once! You know, and practice my lines!" Masayuki lied. He internally scolded himself. Who knew if that prince even memorized them. That kid could've just been ad libbing from the start!
"Is that so? You came back late last night. I was expecting you to sleep in. Was your date okay?"
"D-date?" Masayuki swallowed. He was out with Yuu Kashima last night- out with the prince of the school, also known as the owner of the current body he was in. He invited her out after coming from the old lady's bookstore. She did say to share it with someone… The high school senior felt it appropriate to spoil the underclassman a bit before their next play. But knowing her, Yuu was probably out with fangirls before meeting with him. For all he knew, she could've been in the middle of a date when he called her.
He felt a pang of guilt.
"Um, it was good? I guess?" he answered, pushing back his hair. Kashima's hair. He cursed his habit. He suddenly couldn't remember if Yuu had ever casually pushed back her hair.
The female's mother laughed. "Alright, sweetie. Invite them over here next time for dinner! I'll make something delicious for them. That being said, the rice is ready, and since you're awake, come eat! I'm going to wake up your sister."
"A-Alright... I'll come down in a second..."
With a smile, the mother left, and Masayuki let out a long sigh. It was going to be a long day.
He promptly sent a text to himself (rather, Kashima, he hoped, who he assumed was in his real body and was even more confused than he was) and went downstairs to find the kitchen.
"Ah!"
Kashima let out a yelp as she fell out of bed and onto the floor. As she rubbed her head, a phone vibrated off the edge of the black nightstand and fell atop her head.
"Ouch! What is this?"
The girl grabbed the fallen phone and examined it. This wasn't her phone. She had a different model. A totally different model, a smartphone. The device in her hands was a blue flip phone with the blinker flickering like crazy.
Curious, she opened it.
Kashima, it's me Hori. This might be strange, seeing that the sender is you, but our bodies have switched. Don't freak too much. For now, don't do anything stupid and just get changed and go to breakfast, I'll explain later.
Yuu dropped the phone. Her? In her upperclassman's body?
She quickly got up and looked in the mirror.
Strong jawline, messy ash brown hair, small brown eyes…
Yuu pinched herself.
The phone on the ground vibrated again and she quickly jumped for it.
Make sure to remember to gel up my hair and not to say anything too flamboyant. It's friday and I have to be in class, so make sure I look absolutely normal.
Yuu pouted. "But gel is too much of a bother," she complained to herself. Another message appeared.
I know our star actress can just pretend to be me for a few days. Don't be late! Meet me at the station.
The girl sat up straight and grinned. "I won't let you down! Senpai!"
She chuckled at how silly the deep voice saying that was.
Masayuki was, of course, early to the train station. He thanked the heavens that Yuu wore shorts under her skirt, because the morning air was cold that day.
Yuu, on the other hand, was almost late for the earlier ride. When she met up with Masayuki (who was surrounded by her fans), she made the comment that, "it's weird to walk with shorter legs!" and as a result, the girls and passersby almost witnessed Kashima Yuu- the one usually on the receiving end- sock Hori Masayuki right in the face.
On the train, the two discussed what had happened.
"Wait, so the drink did this to us?" Yuu clarified. Masayuki nodded.
"Yeah, I wasn't careful. I don't know what the old lady has against me but upon sharing it with you I dragged you into this." The older looked at Yuu- rather, himself. Did he always make that stupid expression?
The girl in his body was listening intently, leaning forward with eye wide. He brushed it off. The puppydog look Kashima made when she was excited or happy definitely did not look good with him.
He pushed his own face away from him, and Yuu pouted.
With a click of his tongue, Masayuki crossed his arms and scolded, "Stop that. That looks really weird, you know? You're supposed to be pretending to be me. I know you're capable of doing it."
The female instantly copied his body language at the reminder.
"But what about you, Senpai? Will you be able to act as me?"
"Are you doubting my acting skills now, Kashima?"
"No! Of course not! I'm just… worried…" she trailed off, choosing words carefully and starting to get into character. She was used to speaking in a masculine form due to all of her acting experience, but hearing her upperclassman sound worried and say things he wouldn't say (like call her senpai) made her stomach hurt.
"About what? The classwork? Social interaction?" Masayuki paused to make a face. "Going to the toilet?"
Kashima laughed, and her stomach ached a bit more. His voice and his laugh that she was borrowing sounded a bit lower than what she was used to hearing.
"No, no… I just… When are we going to change back? The play is next week. Even less than that! Only four days!" The female's face paled. "Am I supposed to lead the club today while in your body?"
"Don't worry about that, I'll make sure we switch back before then," he assured her. " Even if we're unable to, I know the play well enough I can act as you acting in the play. As for being president, just run it through like our past few meetings. Check the progress of the backstage and costume crew, the set crew, and watch the actors practice their lines. Carry some heavy stuff while you're at it, to look busy when you don't know what to do."
Kashima's eyes shone. Masayuki Hori acting in the play? Even if it was under the guise of her, she wanted to see it.
"I-if that's the case, then… Maybe we can just not switch back till then?"
"What? What's with that? We're going to attempt switching back. After practice I want you to stay behind and we'll visit the old lady together, you got that? You better not run away on me."
Yuu was silent for awhile. Then, she nodded her head. "Alright, senpai."
The two got quiet for a moment. "Another question! Can we tell Sakura and Seo and Mikoshiba what happened? No offence to senpai, but your friends seem boring. They've never introduced themselves to me."
"Stupid, why do they need to introduce themselves to you?" Masayuki thought about it for a moment. Seo wouldn't seem to care, and Sakura knew how to keep secrets.
Unless Nozaki is involved and asks her about it, he thought. Being used as plot feed was definitely a deal breaker. "I don't think we should tell them, Kashima.
The female pouted again.
"Oi, brat. I said stop it."
The day went by easier than the two expected. Kashima understood Hori's classes relatively well and managed to write some notes in his torn up notebook (with club notes written and drawn in seemingly every single corner of the thing). Hori had some fun acting as the school prince in between classes. Knowing every single annoying thing about the girl borrowing his body was quite helpful.
Club activities passed quickly too.
By the time the two made it to the old woman's house, she was already standing at the entrance, waving them in.
"I see you brought a friend, Masa-chan," she mused, facing in Kashima's direction.
"Um… Hey… You don't know me- or rather, her- but I'm Yuu Kashima," the taller girl introduced herself from Masayuki's body. The elderly lady nodded.
She was short and her skin was tanned. Years of age rested upon her face. In contrast to her skin, her hair was pure white. It was cut short, barely past her shoulders.
"I know, Masa-chan never stops talking about you! You sure are as handsome as he says," she replied. Yuu raised an eyebrow and looked at Masayuki, who in turn started coughing violently to distract them away from the current subject.
"Anyway, miss, can't you turn us back?" Masayuki asked as the elder lady invited them inside. They followed her to the lobby.
As they sat down on the large sofas along the walls and corners of the room, the lady laughed. "Turn you back? Now why would I ever do that?"
The two exchanged a puzzled look.
"What do you mean?"
"Aren't you kids having fun?" She leaned forward, "You guys are actors… right?"
"Well, yes, but we can't stay like this forever! Being actors is part of the problem! We have a play to perform on Tuesday, and this guy," Masayuki gestured to Yuu, "isn't used to working on sets!"
"I can do sets! I did fine today, right?" Yuu jumped in.
Masayuki furrowed his eyebrows together and sighed, "You did okay, but you weren't working fast enough! Everyone looked concerned for you, especially when you knocked over the castle set!"
Yuu bit her lip. She considered being honest and explaining she was tiptoeing around just so she can see Masayuki acting, but she was unable to. "Well, what about you, senpai? You said you'd act as me acting as the prince if we don't get out of this sooner, but you sat around all day at club! You didn't even practice your lines!"
"I've had the lines memorized. I'm the president for goodness sake. I read the lines everyday with you guys," Masayuki argued back.
"He did choose that play specifically for you. Masa-chan here would obviously know all your lines by heart by now," the elder lady laughed. The boy stood up and protested that Yuu didn't need to know about that while the female in question stared at the grandmother with wide eyes.
"He chose it for me?" she asked. Masayuki crossed his arms. Another stupid look was on his face- courtesy of the current soul in his body. Why does she look so amazed? Wide-eyed and jaw slacked? Ridiculous.
"Of course! He comes here looking for playwrights sometimes and studies them thoroughly before announcing which one will be perfect for you."
Masayuki entered another coughing fit.
"Look, do you have the cure or not?" the boy asked, too exhausted to attempt saving his pride and continue with the family friend embarrassing him anymore.
"You see… there is no cure."
"What?" The two teens asked in union.
"There is not physical cure! In all honesty, I don't know the exact conditions for switching back, but there isn't anything you can drink to change you two back."
Masayuki ran a hand through his (Kashima's) hair again. "This is insane. Old lady, you are insane."
"We drank the medicine wine to become like this, isn't there another wine to turn us back?" Kashima asked.
"What about bed rest? We became like this overnight, will we turn back tomorrow?" Hori suggested.
"I'm sorry kids. Just think about this as an extended acting excercise. Embody the other person for a few days and try to see things from their point of view!"
Masayuki groaned. "This seriously is not happening right now."
The next day, the same bodies they were trapped in.
Yuu woke up to the phone ringing, and she groggily opened it up. "Hello?"
"Open your window."
The female sighed, and forced herself out of the comfy bed and to the window.
Below her stood, well… herself. Masayuki made the effort to leave her house on that Saturday morning.
"What time is it?" Yuu yawned, creating an echo from the real thing and the phone in the upperclassman hands.
"Time for you to get your ass down here," the boy sarcastically replied.
Yuu noted the clothes Masayuki was wearing. Pure white slacks, a dark blue dress shirt, white vest, and a pair of oxford shoes. She chuckled to herself.
"What's so funny?"
"It's like a fairytale," she mused. "The prince has come to pick up princess. You make a very good prince, senpai!" she laughed.
"So even while I'm in your body, it's technically still me who's the princess, huh?" he deadpanned.
"Well, technically I am the princess right now, I'm just in your body." Yuu suddenly stood up straight before announcing, "Wait, I got a better idea! Senpai! You're the knight and I'm the prince! The knight came to show his unwavering devotion the the prince and arrived in the morning at the door!"
"Great, the one time you cast me as the prince and I'm not even in my really body."
Kashima pouted, "Quiet, if we don't get out of this soon, you'll have five days to be the prince… Not to mention the play…"
"Please, just get down here already."
Yuu rushed to change clothes before she walked down the waiting male, and together they walked over to the park.
"What do you think will change us back?" Yuu asked.
"I don't know. If there isn't anything we can drink to turn back I'm out of ideas," Masayuki groaned. "But I can't stay in this body any longer! Dealing with all of your princesses is exhausting! They're very nice and flattering them is easy, but how do they have so much energy?"
"Easy for you to say. Why does everyone keep asking you questions and looking for your approval? Yesterday I was so slow because everyone expected automatic answers and they came several at a time and I could barely process it!"
"Yeah, but you're acting as me right now, the club president."
"And you're acting as me, the school prince!"
There was a moment of silent.
"Senpai! Are you keeping my grades in check? I have to stay at the top of the class, I can't lose my position now!"
Masayuki swatted her arm. "Stupid, I'm a year older than you! I already understand all of that stuff. But what about you? Do you think you can manage average level for me?"
"Oh, it wasn't too bad. I'm pretty smart you know."
"Is there anything you can't do?" Masayuki asked.
Kashima's face (Masayuki's face) turned pale. She grabbed the boy by the shoulders and urgently whispered, "Senpai, no matter what you do, you cannot sing at all, do you understand? You definitely cannot sing while in my body. Even if someone holds a knife to your throat, just don't do it, okay?"
"Calm down! Don't sing? What's wrong with singing?"
"Wait, Senpai! How did she get her voice back?" Yuu changed the subject. Masayuki was even more confused.
"Who? What voice? What?"
"The little mermaid! How did she get her voice back?"
"Didn't she vanish into the sea by turning into foam once the prince married someone else?"
"But what about her voice?"
"In the original, she doesn't get her voice back."
"Seriously? Ugh, then what about Snow White? How does she wake up?"
"In the original?"
"Disney."
"She awoken by a kiss."
"Good, and Beauty and the Beast? "
"True love or something"
"Okay, and Sleeping Beauty?"
"A kiss. What's your point?"
"It's always a kiss! Even in the Princess and the Frog and The True Bride!"
"You do realize most of those kisses happened in the retellings, right?" Masayuki clarifies. He knew where this was going.
"It doesn't hurt to try! How else are we going to change back?"
"If your fangirls see this, I'm dead, you know?"
"What choice do we have!" Yuu asks exasperated.
"Oh, so you're saying if you had the choice, you wouldn't kiss me?"
"Are you stalling, Senpai?"
"No." Masayuki lied.
"Look, just close your eyes," Yuu ordered. She covered his eyes with her hand. "Relax a bit, you look like stone, Hori-senpai," she laughed.
Masayuki swallowed the nervous lump in his throat. She was too close!
Slowly, she placed her lips upon his.
It didn't last as long as he secretly hoped.
"We didn't change back…" Yuu sadly noted when they pulled away.
"It's because you did it wrong. I thought the prince would be good at kissing," Masayuki replied, leaning in himself to kiss her again.
They still didn't change back.
"It's not my fault. I'm stuck in your body, you know?" Yuu stubbornly proclaimed.
"Really? I guess we'll have to wait and see when we change back. If we change back."
The female stood up. "I'm hungry! Let's go eat!"
Masayuki followed her stride, wondering how long they would have to keep this up.
Sunday and Monday came and passed without any results. Their classmates were starting to act suspicious. The two of them were incredible actors, but they had been acting strange, especially around each other.
It was the day of the play, and Masayuki, while confident in his skills, felt nervous behind the red curtain wearing the prince's costume. He hadn't appeared on stage officially in over a year, after all, despite the fact he wasn't actually physically on stage.
"Kashima, are you nervous?" Yuu asked him. It was too risky for them to use their real names during school, so the two spent the past few mornings meeting up to get into character.
"Oh, no, I'm okay." Masayuki replied with a smile. As he thought, calling himself senpai was pretty weird (everything was weird at this point). He grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. "My knees only shake in the presence of your mere beauty, sweetheart," he spoke. The velvet voice falling upon his ears should be a sin.
Yuu didn't respond. She simply stared at him with the stupid 'eyes wide, jaw slacked' look from earlier.
This is where you're supposed to hit me! Masayuki cried. He wished she could hear his internal turmoil from the dead stare he was giving her.
"President! So you and Kashima are dating!" Masayuki and Yuu instantly looked at the intruder, one of the stagehands.
"What?" They asked in union.
"You two have been acting strange recently. You seem unfocused and run off together a lot. We were starting to wonder if you two were secretly dating behind our backs! And from that stare you two were giving each other and the way Kashima was holding your hand, President, I can't be wrong!"
Instantly, Masayuki let go of Yuu's hand and ran a hand through his hair.
"Dating? Why would we be dating?" Masayuki laughed nervously.
"Oh. So you're not?" The stagehand asked.
"No." Masayuki answered firmly.
However, at the same time, Yuu replied, "Not yet."
Masayuki looked down at the shorter figure in shock.
"Ohh, I see," the young crew member laughed. Yuu just smiled at her, and Masayuki was struggling hard not to break from character. "I guess I'll leave you two alone for now. Good luck, Senpai! Kashima, we're starting in a few."
Once the girl left, Masayuki grabbed Yuu's collar.
"Are you crazy? What do you mean 'not yet'? Are you giving them false hopes?"
Yuu pouted, "Now why would I do that? Can you put me down? The face you're making me make is scary."
Masayuki complied. "I don't have time to worry about you right now and what you're planning."
"I'm not planning anything. It's just a simple excuse to get them to understand while we're still switched," Kashima explained.
Masayuki let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time felt his heart drop.
"Oh."
"I don't think they'd get their hopes up anyway, it's not gonna affect them either way," Yuu shrugged, "Who would get their hopes up by this?"
Me, you idiot! Masayuki all but screamed in his head. He shook his head and let out a sigh.
"Kashima-kun! On stage in two minutes!" someone near the curtain called.
"Okay, it makes sense, now leave me alone so I can concentrate," Masayuki ordered. He took a deep breath. There was too much pressure. He's seen Kashima perform and she was always amazing. He held high standards for her specifically because he knew he wouldn't reach them.
But she could. She definitely would.
"You'll be fine, Senpai," Yuu whispered, leaning toward him. The upperclassman sat down, and she started to re-apply his hair gel and fix up his costume. "I know it'll be absolutely perfect." The girl smiled.
"After all, if you weren't Hori Masayuki, I wouldn't trust you with acting as my replacement, and you wouldn't even be my senpai."
Masayuki stared. Even though he was looking at himself and the voice he was hearing was his own, that just sounded so much like Kashima, he couldn't believe they were still switched.
Masayuki ruffled her hair (his own hair), and smiled.
"Thanks, Kashima," he spoke, only loud enough for her to hear.
"Kashima! We need you to head towards the stage now!"
He was ready.
Yuu loved every moment of the play. She had read the scene a million times and knew all the plot twists and was literally watching herself on that stage, but she still felt like the middle school student who had her breath taken away by the brilliant side character on stage.
The first show was a big success, and there were several pictures and conversations afterwards. But at the end of it all, Yuu and Masayuki were left in the large auditorium.
"I told you you would do great," the girl said, as she waited for Masayuki to gather up his stuff. They walked to the door together, and Masayuki locked up the building.
"I'm glad it was a success," he smiled.
The air smelt cold and fresh. The rain was falling and echoing throughout the empty school campus.
"Senpai, I have something to give you for completing your first show since I've entered high school!" Yuu cheered.
"What? For me?"
"Yeah!"
Then, without warning, Kashima dashed into the rain.
"Wha- asshole, is your present supposed to be a cold? Don't get my body sick!"
Masayuki stayed under the cover from the rain as he watched Yuu energetically turn around.
"Congratulations Hori-senpai!"
A strange, coloured mist began to envelop the two.
"I love-" Yuu started shouting over the rain. Masayuki held his breath.
Suddenly, they were in their respective bodies. Masayuki felt cold and wet and Yuu felt her heart thumping at a million miles an hour.
"...you," she whispered. She looked surprised to be facing the real Masayuki again.
Masayuki ran a hand through his hair. He smiled. The boy extended his arms and yelled back, "I know."
Kashima dropped all of the bags and flowers in her arms and ran toward him as fast as she could.
(A/N): Thank you for reading!
Thank you for the prompt! I've never attempted a body switch AU :O To be quite honest, I took some details from Secret Garden (but you don't need to watch it to understand i didnt even finish it tbh)
I hope you'll enjoy it ;u; It got sort of out of hand and most of this was written while struggling with my sleeping schedule, so I hope it isn't too bad;;;
I'm still accepting requests/prompts for this couple! Visit me on tumblr horisexual (im more active there! :D)
I hope you enjoyed. Feedback and criticism is appreciated.