Thanks, Aqua girl 007, Angiembabe, Vaselover Liuliubae, Thiefqueen and Lorelei for the ongoing support!
Yay I'm glad you're enjoying it too Pineapple Pancakes!
This chapter is going to be extremely long, since it's to add to the inadequacy of the lack of content of the interlude chapter.
I realized my writing style is quite different in this than Do I Know? I hope you like the change?
Chapter 3: Interesting Humans
After arriving at school in the morning, Mutou Atem didn't pass through the classroom, but headed straight to the clubroom on the fourth floor of the recreation building, pacing himself quickly. This was because on the way to school, he received a message from Anzu: "After arriving to school, head straight to the clubroom immediately. This is mandatory."
Atem smirked as he could just imagine Anzu's flustered look; reminiscing the time of him snapping a photo of her when she was extremely flustered and posted it on Facebook but he cringed in memory of the devastating consequences that followed.
Then his head began to ache as tears brimmed his eyes.
'What the heck is going on? Why is it whenever I recall Anzu and Hanasaki laughing and chilling out together in the classroom, this feeling of emptiness and sadness keeps overflowing?' He thought as he sped up his pace towards the club room and discarded the issue for there was a dilemma far greater in priority as it threatens to overshadow his life.
After all, it would be strange if he had a sense of pleasure after that incident when he exchanged his personality with Mana.
'Where'd that thought come from?!' he blushed before opening the door to the room.
Just after entering the room, he spotted miss bubbly, who possessed confused and unfocused eyes, lying on the sofa. The usual overwhelming aura that she spread seemed to have been veiled. He was unsure whether was it because she was too tired or something else, but it just felt like the very existence of Mana was illusory.
Shoving his hands in his pockets he approached the unsuspecting girl. "Yo. You're Mana... right?" he said coolly but hesitantly.
Atem greeted her with a type of question he would normally never ask.
"Morning, Atem!" she beamed waving her hands. "I am talking to 'Atem' right?"
The awkward silence created a tense atmosphere as both immediately looked away from each other, with Mana biting her lip.
The other club members arrived at the clubroom around a minute later.
"Morning, Jou..." Mana waved but stopped midway.
This is due to the fact that Jounouchi stumbled like an anaemic patient when he entered the clubroom, his face being sickly pale.
It seemed just like a replay of the scene from the day before yesterday.
"Are you ok...?" Atem asked with a shudder, approaching his troubled friend.
"Fine?.. How can I be fine?!" Jounouchi snapped, gesturing animatedly before dumping his bag on a nearby seat and clenched his fists as a scowl formed on his face.
"Are you... Anzu? How?! What the heck? Again?!" Mana intentionally asked in a bright voice, feigning a surprised look.
Three days ago, Anzu had claimed she exchanged souls with Jounouchi.
Is it 'soul exchange' again?
"Yeah, so? I am Anzu!" she banged her chest with her clenched fist. "Ahaha, I've had enough of this... I can't stand this anymore..."Anzu [Jounouchi] whispered as she shivered, kicking one of the chairs out of place angrily.
'What the hell would happen if I exchanged souls when I'm at work?!'
No matter how much she claimed that she was Anzu, but by appearing as [Jounouchi], it felt difficult to excuse her claims. It was likened to Jounouchi deliberately adding in dramatics in his speech and mannerisms. Nevertheless, her sense of urgency showed that she was by no means joking.
"Calm down, Anzu we know that you exchanged with Jounouchi." Atem said matter-of-factly.
It is unknown whether it was because she ran out of patience or because of something else entirely, but Atem's consolation was useless since Anzu [Jounouchi] suddenly blew a fuse.
She stood up and placed her hands on her hips."Why the hell should it be Jounouchi again? I can't really stand this body. Why can't I exchange with someone else?" she complained.
Mana sweatdropped at her statement and exchanged glances with Atem.
"Why the hell would you want to exchange souls in the first place!" Atem pointed out, trying to bring some common sense into Anzu's complaints. 'What a weirdo.'
"Morning dudes and dudettes!" An ever so optimistic greeting tone of the person coming in made the other three freeze in place.
'Kisara?! No way!?' all three thought in sync.
"Arghh, holding such meetings so early, looks like my luck isn't very good today... which usually is fucking amaze-balls! Hmm? What? What the hell's wrong? Why the long face guys?" [Kisara Saotome] spoke with much energy as she spread her legs on a seat with dignified masculinity. Atem immediately recognized this gruff speaking style as [Jounouchi's] which was unheard of from her, until now.
Just seconds after, [Seto Kaiba] rushed into the room with a confused look on his face.
Dropping his briefcase he shouted in one breath. "Guys! I don't believe this!". He then examined his uniform and ruffled the neatly arranged hair, in panic as it became disheveled.
"Moneybags? What's gotten into you?!" Jounouchi [Kisara] questioned as he approached the vice president.
"That hairstyle actually looks good on you!" he added with an unlikely grin that [Kisara] would pull off.
Atem and the rest merely observed in confusion. This was an unseen side of Seto who was usually calm and collected.
[Kaiba] dropped his jaw gaping in shock as he examined the figure standing before him. "You... my body!" he abruptly pointed a finger to [Kisara] who grimaced.
"You're not moneybags!" Jounouchi [Kisara] frowned.
*Pong*! The last member boomed in with her shoulders shivering while breathing heavily. After swallowing her saliva, [Anzu] shouted,
"What you said was true... I, I 'm [Mazaki?!]" she exclaimed as she examined her hands in utter disbelief.
"This-" Atem lifted his head as he eyed the four who had begun to bicker endlessly.
"Set-up-" Mana continued.
"Can happen too..." Atem ended the sentence in utter confusion.
Seeing the perils of Anzu's personality being manifested in [Jounouchi's body], Jounouchi's personality manifested in [Kisara's], Kisara's personality exposed in [Kaiba's] and Kaiba's in [Anzu's], the whole Cultural Research Club decided to skip the first lesson of the day.
That afternoon, Mana, Atem, Anzu and Kaiba were called to the staff room.
The teacher knew that the six club members of the Cultural Research Club skipped the first two lessons and had only come in when the third lesson had started.
His sharp features which intimidated Mana immediately softened when he excitedly peeled off the cling film on his lunch box which was laid on his desk. "Hmm... How do I put it, it's that... Although I don't think it's necessary, I still have to keep my reputation, so let me interrogate you guys while I have my lunch..." Observing Kaiba's distasteful look which was sent to him, the teacher explained, "it's soba, you know, soba, it will soften if it's left too long." he said defensively.
"My tummy is also starving..." Mana whispered to Atem who was eyeing the food exquisitely. Her gaze turned desperate when the teacher continuously made constant slurping noises.
"After all you guys are usually quite serious, so I do care about what happened... Ahha! *Cough, Cough*... Ah~ I choked. Anyways, when you are eating hot stuff, you would choke on the first bite, right?" he questioned.
"Eh? You guys don't?" he stammered while scanning some book reports, not even looking at his students in the eye.
"Stop wasting our time and spill whatever's on your mind, Ninomiya." Kaiba demanded.
The teacher got up from his seat and shot the brunette a stern look. "Kaiba, let me repeat myself. Because I hope to be a friendly and relatable teacher, I permit students to call me 'Nino'; however, I don't quite remember permitting anyone to call me by my name directly."
Ninomiya was as he had said, and treated students friendly and thus was quite popular among students. He was just around 25 and had similar tastes with the students, so that must've helped.
Crossing his arms in defiance, Kaiba snorted. "Only after you act responsibly as our club adviser, I wouldn't mind being lectured. I wonder who did all the accounting work for the last cultural festival, Ninomiya?"
Scratching his head sheepishly, the teacher let out a weak laugh. "Ah, thanks for all your help, Kaiba-san, hahaha... oh and if you could, please don't mention that in front of the other teachers." he said almost pleadingly.
Although he possessed an upbeat attitude, he did not meet the professional expectations of a teacher in Kaiba's opinion.
Ninomiya slurped up some noodles and drank some soup, rubbing his tummy contently.
Mana's tummy made some noise, as Atem looked at her curiously only to see her playfully sticking her tongue out, though he was unsure if it was to cover her embarrassment. He made a brief note that her actions and mannerisms were extremely cute
"Then, what do I have to say... Ah, right, what did you guys do while you skipped class? I heard from Mahado sensei Saotome and Katsuya confessed skipping the first two lessons and returned on the third...and since all of you are in the club, I demand a plausible explanation for this."
"The reason isn't that big of a deal. Yesterday, the six of us ate some chocolate bread that had gone bad and we were late today due to stomach pains... that's about it." Anzu replied distinctly in a formal tone. She had ordered Mana to keep silent and abstain from saying anything ridiculous.
"Will I get the same answer from Katsuya and Saotome? It seems they are being investigated by Mahado sensei."
"Of course." she lied.
The Cultural Research Club members had already reached a consensus on this point.
"Hmmm..."
Ninomiya, still chewing his soba, lifted his vision towards the ceiling as if thinking about something.
"Anyways, there is nothing to prove that this is a fraud, and you've said it, so then let's just pretend that's just what it is. You can go now!" Ninomiya pointed towards the exit with his chopsticks in hand.
"Then we'll take our leave." Kaiba commenced. The rest followed him out of the room.
Just when they were about to leave, Ninomiya doted, "Don't make it too obvious when you all are gonna ditch class next time, okay?"
'Should that be thought of as considerate or simply just a fudge?' Atem mused to himself.
As they got to the corridor, Mana quickly commented, "As expected of Anzu, only you can pull off a lie so boldly."
"The way she lied with a poker face while maintaining that arrogant attitude..." Kaiba added.
Atem chipped in, "It feels like you would be a master swindler in the future or one of those people who would pull off a car crash just to ask for compensation."
"If you're not grateful then just shut up!" she snapped as she ended the trio's commentary.
Looking at it this way, the [body] exchanging and soul shuffling phenomenon between four people would become a situation that would not end with simply just a big clamour. At least, Atem and the others did not seem to be experiencing such changes... but explicitly, this was just an immediate perception. Things that cannot be seen on the surface may already be undergoing changes.
Nevertheless, if only real harm would not be induced...
Darkness clouded Atem's vision in a blink of an eye.
When the light came flashing back, two unfamiliar girls were in front of him. Although he seemed to be sitting, it felt like his level of vision was lower than usual.
"What's wrong, [Kisara]? You just dozed off. Eh, your asparagus fell on the table."
Maybe real harm has already come close.
Atem [Kisara] blushed, stammering. "I, I need to use the bathroom."
"Hmm? What is it? We are still eating. Are you not feeling well?", the girl with green hair asked.
"No... It's not like that... but..."
"Let me go with you." the other girl who had navy indigo hair offered.
"I-It's fine! I'll go by myself!" she blurted as she rushed out of the classroom frantically.
Atem [Kisara] avoided the crisis by going to the toilet. He remained in the cubicle and sat on the seat wondering why he had to exchange bodies with a girl, let alone Kisara of all people. Sure, she was one of the most attractive girls in school but he only viewed her in a platonic sense; nothing more and nothing less. Suddenly, Kisara's cell phone rang and just as he was about to pick up Anzu's call, he returned back to his own body.
The duration of exchange was around three or four minutes at most.
Although this time went as fast as the wind, this incident overwhelmed the group with such pulverizing power.
Noon fell and the last lesson had ended.
As simple as it may be-no matter what happened to Atem and the others, if those problems don't affect places outside school, the world would go on as if nothing had happened at all.
While having a chat with nearby friends and preparing to pack up for home, Ninomiya came in and held a short class meeting. After he had given some contact information and confirmed the students on duty for cleaning, the day's schedule ended.
Today's regular duties were still normal.
Even though Atem and the members have experienced the strongest storm yet, that in itself will not change the world.
Assigned for bathroom duty with some other boys, Atem left for duty as he trotted towards the restroom.
A sudden chill came over the spikey haired boy.
Just when he was about to leave, he felt like something was undeniably watching him and turned his head towards its source.
What he saw was the class president who had been present during the soul exchange with Mana the day before. Ryuuji Otogi revealed Mana who was by his side with a smug grin. She had an embarrassed expression and restlessly signalled Atem to quickly leave with a hand gesture.
Atem took a step forward with a menacing glint in his eyes, dropping the broom stick and the dust pan in a frenzy,
"Let her go man." he stated assertively.
Otogi playfully tugged Mana towards him. "And if I don't?"
"She clearly doesn't want you near her at all. Doesn't that explanation suffice?"
Otogi raised his eyebrow, "I don't get it. What's your relationship with her anyways?" he pressed with persistence.
Mana was struggling to be free from his grip and suddenly bit his arm. Yelping, he abruptly let go of her and given the opportunity, the girl took the boy's hand as they both broke into a run towards the club's direction.
"Sorry, We're late..."
When Atem and Mana arrived at the club room and opened the door, Anzu quickly popped out from the side.
"Atem! I.. have something to tell you!" She spotted Mana behind him but she was unable to hide her fear and anxiety.
Anzu was standing in front of him and was blocking his way. As if repressing her emotions, her body was shivering and she showed an expression filled with confusion, unease and nervousness.
He looked at her with sincere concern. "What's up Anzu?"
Mana intervened as she stepped in between the two, "Yesterday, before I rushed into the classroom... what happened between you and Otogi-san! Ahahaha!"
Should this be expected? The matter seems tricky now.
"It wasn't anything serious nor should you be concerned about it." Atem said as he patted Anzu's back who looked frail as ever.
"I am the one who will decide whether it is serious or not!" Mana stomped her foot on the ground.
It was quite rare that Mana would get so furious however Atem didn't have the energy to care about that, because Mana was aggressively spreading a sense of oppression.
Furious, Atem snapped back "Now isn't the time Mana. At least give Anzu a breather. Her mother seems to have had an accident at work. You know her family's situation." He said as he took his phone out of his pocket in panic.
Jounouchi was about to intervene but Kaiba merely pushed him back to his place and told him it was not their business to meddle with.
"Screw you! You may not care but I do!" Jounouchi rebutted as he prepared to talk some sense into Kaiba.
Kisara interjected, "I think Kaiba's right. You know how Atem and Anzu are childhood friends. We shouldn't interfere."
"But.. we're all buddies.. shouldn't we all trust each other?"
Flustered, Anzu pushed Atem away violently and bolted out of the classroom. "I..I'll be back later." she said in between soft sobs as she left.
"Anzu!" Mana trotted after her but returned once she couldn't catch up to the dancer. Facing Atem apologetically she bowed her head remorsefully.
"Sorry Atem for snapping back at you. I'm just.."
"No it's okay. Exchanging bodies doesn't happen everyday. Oh and about Anzu I know she'll be able to get through. She's headstrong and bold, though this time I'm a bit worried about her.." he said solemnly.
'If I were to fudge the matter, it would only aggravate the situation!' Atem decided to spit out everything unreservedly to cover up the tense atmosphere. In other words, he told her that Otogi saw him rub his breasts.
"I've been groped! I can't marry now!" Mana's eyes streamed with tears.
"That was just for checking my status, it was inevitable! That was only to confirm whether I had become a girl or not-"
"Nope... or to say, those things don't really matter now... So, so, Otogi..he..." Mana shivered extraordinarily. Maybe this is what you would call being in a state of panic?
Jounouchi stepped forwards and patted her back. "What made you this terrified? And the most important thing is, who and what is Otogi?"
Atem felt a strange fear... it is unbelievable that someone could force Mana, who would still smirk even after a personality exchange, into such a state.
"Wait! Before that, I have a question for you Atem!" Kisara said sharply.
Atem looked at her with a grimace, "What?"
"Did you say anything strange to my friends?.. I recently made them so I wouldn't want my social life going downhill.."
Scoffing, Atem approached her with a bemused expression. "This isn't the time.. and I thought you knew better than that."
"Sorry, I just had to know!"
Anzu abruptly rushed in to the classroom with a smile but she frowned seeing Mana in such a state. Accompanying Jounouchi, they both hoisted her up and had her sit on the couch.
"Don't you have to go see your mother Mazaki?" Kaiba raised the issue.
"I thought it was a major accident but turned out she only suffered minor scratches at work so I guess she's fine."
After a treating themselves to a few snacks and cheering up Mana who became more responsive, assuming her condition had improved, they started to seriously discuss the matter, as it was adamant for them to remain in their present state.
"Well, let's recap what's been happening. The first time this occurred was the night three days before... to be accurate, it should have happened two days ago? Jounouchi and me exchanged their personalities during the night." Anzu spoke while fixing her eyes on the blackboard.
"Then there was the exchange between Atem and Mana after school yesterday when the club activities had just begun. After that, it was the shuffle this morning where I became [Kisara], Anzu became [me (Jounouchi)], Kaiba became [Anzu] and Kisara becoming [Kaiba.] Also, this afternoon there was also an exchange between Kisara and Atem... That's about it."
"If we reflect like this, we will realize that this is a terrifying situation... exchanging then recovering, then exchanging again... I'm quite paralyzed." Mana confusedly drooped her head while murmuring.
"Then let's summarize exactly what personality exchange is! Before we start, we must add a premise that our conclusions are made from temporary observations up till now... Well, firstly, it happens suddenly. We have not discovered any conditions that will trigger the event. We won't know when it will happen. Secondly, the duration of exchange does not follow a pattern. The shortest exchange was at noon today, which lasted for three minutes, and the longest was this morning which lasted for an hour and a half. Summing the four times and getting the average, it should be about forty minutes. Thirdly, the exchange only happened between us club members... Actually, this is not yet confirmed. After all, it is quite strange that this phenomenon only happens between us. It is very likely it will spread to other people in the future. Moreover, despite that this is an exchange, it will sometimes occur between more than two people. Let us confirm this again. Any comments?" Atem said calculatingly.
"Ah, actually there is something that really bugs me." Anzu spoke with a shudder.
"Anyways, since there is almost no evidence, go ahead." Kaiba pushed her forward, not caring about Mazaki's feelings.
"Maybe it's because of me... I've been in this a few times already, so it makes me uncomfortable. When Mana exchanged with Atem, [Atem's body] suddenly fell limp and he was unconscious for a moment, right? Then the day after, when I exchanged with Jounouchi, Kaiba and Kisara-that is the moment I changed into [Jounouchi]-although I sat down on the floor, my body didn't fall altogether, then..."
Atem crossed eyes with Anzu before replying,
"That's right. I fell on the table when I exchanged with Mana but I still sat comfortably when I exchanged with Anzu, and I was even holding the chopsticks... though I dropped the asparagus on the table."
"Right, this time only my legs bent a bit, I didn't fall to the floor..."
"Does this mean... our bodies are getting used to this?" Kisara uncertainly proposed.
"I see. Such being the case, it probably is so! Awesome Anzu! but should we be glad about being used to this?"
Jounouchi's implication fell heavily on the rest of the members.
Kaiba gritted his teeth in response. "Open your eyes mutt. That flippant optimistic attitude of yours will be the downfall of you! I've been thinking, How long will this phenomenon continue? If it stays like this, how will it end?"
All fell silent at Kaiba's speculations.
"Then, if there aren't any other comments, let's discuss what we need to do in pragmatic terms."
Though having not been quite comfortable with the phenomenon at first, Kaiba had finally started to pick up his own pace.
Grasping the entire situation-this seems to be Kaiba's creed. 'Finding the critical information to grasp and analyzing the situation' is his raison d'etre.
"The first thing to clarify is 'why this has happened'. Such an extraordinary phenomenon must be caused by some conceivable reason; otherwise, dealing with this will become tedious. Do you guys have your own explanations already? I don't remember anything I did that would cause me to be drawn into this supernatural event!" Kaiba pointed out bluntly.
"By the way, what exactly is causing the soul exchange? If we were to find the cause of this strange phenomenon, then we should have sensed something different when its condition was fulfilled."
"Just keep it shut mutt! We are discussing this because we don't know!"
"Hey at least I'm trying to help!"
"Stop it!" Kisara shrieked.
"Hmm... Personality exchange in mangas usually occur when two people bump into each other fiercely while running."
"Ridiculous Mana! No, this condition itself is already stupid and bizarre enough, so I can't say your opinion is completely irrelevant."
In fact, someone had raised relevant opinions but was treated worse.
"Dammit, when you admit to something abnormal, you have to admit other abnormal things." Irritated, Anzu bit her left index finger's nail.
"If we look deeper, we should find a reason-" Atem began who had been silently observing the discussion.
Just at that moment the door was opened from the outside.
Usually, except for the Cultural Research Club members, no one would visit them in the recreation building. There weren't any particular reasons to go there. Even if there were, up till now, every time, it would be one of the CRC members visiting the others.
At least in Atem's memory, only the member's of the CRC visited this room ever since it was allotted to be their club room this spring.
To a certain extent, the club room was sacred for the six present; however, another person opened the door to the sacred place.
The room was suddenly filled with anxiety and apprehension. Some kind of tragedy will befall on them now. Something 'unusual' is going to happen now or is it?
The person was Kujaku Mai?
"Hi! Hello everybody!" Her voice was unusually flippant.
"I say, Mai! Don't just barge in randomly! Get out!" The usual cocky Kaiba also seemed to be bewildered by the situation.
"Ayyygahhh, this is not my business!" Mai's face was a bit strange. She seemed to be lacking in vitality. Even her eyes were only half-open.
"...What is with you? Are you not feeling well?" Because she looked pale and wan, even Kaiba was mildly concerned.
"It's nothing at all, I am very healthy... After all, [this person] is strangely fit... it's because of me that there is a lack of vitality, drive, confidence and perseverance she has. Oh and look what I brought you. I believe this would save you guys from a lot of trouble." She said pulling out some files which were the ones [she] had indiscriminately stolen to taint Kaiba's and possibly the club's image. Kaiba had not yet even realized that Mai had stolen those documents that contained valued information-the gossips and happenings of the school that no one knew about.
Without saying a word, Kaiba sped towards the girl and scooped up the articles and remained wary of this strange presence.
"She was about to post them up in the afternoon you know. What could've happened if she were to humiliate you all?" [Mai's] way of speech seemed explicitly different from the usual, and what she spoke of was also pretty unbelievable.
"Who are you?" Mana commenced with an icy and penetrating stare.
No matter how you look at it, [Mai Kujaku] was speaking to them.
"..It's very helpful that Mana-san understood so quickly... this is because explaining everything is too troublesome..."
"Hey, what are you trying to say?" Anzu blurted as if trying to find any other possibilities.
"Ayyyhh, those aren't the words that you should be looking for, especially in this bizarre condition..."
"Wait, 'Kujaku senpai', what is with you...?" Not sure whether she was keeping up or not with the situation, Kisara asked with a shudder.
"What is with me? This, of course, is for seeing the interesting faces you will have when you become bewildered by this 'soul exchange phenomenon'. To be honest, I don't want to be here... Ah, also can you please not call me 'Kujaku senpai' or 'Mai?' After all, I'm not her... Although that doesn't really annoy me at all." she declared.
Although someone (mainly Kaiba) proposed that Mai pulled off this prank because she was eavesdropping on their conversation, they couldn't just acknowledge that it was like that. After all, this guy exactly described the actions that Atem and the club members had taken during their ordeal with having switched personas-including the details that the members didn't discuss. It was just too hard not to believe it was true.
Besides, if her personality and her [body] really had been exchanged, it wouldn't be irrational to say that it wouldn't happen to other people.
"...I know 'you are abnormal', and 'you are not the Kujaku-san that we know of'... Then, who are you?" Jounouchi asked.
[Mai] lightly pondered Jounouchi's inquiry.
"What person...What kind of person am I? I do have a name. U G O-17."
"What are you? Is your name some sort of code?" Atem inquired as he faced her confidently.
She returned his piercing gaze with a blank stare. "...Ah... who knows? Hmm, so in my circumstance, I am merely observing your presence... Ah, forget it. Okay, just take me as someone insignificant."
"Observing our presence...? Then... That... What about the real Mai? Was she sent to [another body]?" Atem persisted.
"Ah... It's really helpful that Mutou-san is learning so quickly... No, in fact, I didn't do something as tricky like this 'personality exchange'... Rather, should I say that I did something similar to 'borrowing her body'? But there's no need for you to understand that... Ah, so why did I say it... can we start discussing the main topic now? Ok. Let me start so I can go home... thanks."
U G O 17 with [the appearance of Mai], looked really sluggish. He spoke at his own pace and didn't care at all of what others thought and felt.
Anzu on the other hand had tears forming in her eyes so suddenly to which [Mai] responded with an expressionless face.
"Does this mean you are willing to explain the situation to us in detail?" Jounouchi's wording was unexpectedly formal.
"Ah... maybe... but that wouldn't be what you guys expected... After all, replying to your anticipations are meaningless... So... now... Ah, would it really matter if you don't jot down notes? Yeah, it wouldn't really matter as long as Kaiba, who has a very high memory capacity is here."
"How do you even know these things..." Kaiba gritted his teeth in annoyance.
U G O 17 ignoring Kaiba's murmuring began to speak.
"Eh... So from now on, and for a long time, between you six... there will be personality exchanges that would occur randomly. Firstly, let me express my sympathy for everyone; you guys worked hard... Although personally I don't think of it that way... Ayyah? Did I just say something superfluous? Ah... I messed it up again; is this because of my usual soliloquy? I really want to change this habit... Nope, in fact, I haven't really thought of it so deeply, so, just let it be..." They couldn't even tell if he was sarcastic with the expressionless voice since Kaiba was used to Mai's haughty speaking tone.
"Are the people and the times chosen for the exchange random?"
Having been silent so far, and still remaining unexpectedly calm, Mana asked a question. Or let us put it, she remained even more calm than usual, and her voice was laced with an icy tone.
"Ahh... You are right. It certainly is Mushahwar-san... Then, I will observe your condition during the personality exchange... just that. Ah... Don't worry, I won't be invading your privacy all day and night. I will just watch when something special happens... After all, I don't really want to... Besides, it is quite tedious... So, do you grasp the situation? Even if you say you can't, I'm not planning to make any more explanations."
"This kind of explanation is not enough!" Atem voiced in defiance.
"Usually I will shout at you and say, 'what kind of ridiculous nonsense are you spouting?', but we actually did fall into a nonsensical situation, so let me ask you about what you have said. 'Why did you choose us?' 'Is this situation under your control?' 'How do we end it?' 'What is your intention?'...Let me ask these questions first, despite that I have even more questions to ask you." Kaiba continued after Atem.
[Mai] looked at Kaiba blankly and stared at him for a while.
"Kaiba does know how to pick questions very well... especially by not asking 'how did we do it'... even though that is a question that would usually be asked when something unbelievable happens... but if we look deeper, it's actually not important at all... Ah... this insignificant chatter was too long..."
U G O 17 still maintained his usual casualness and sluggishness.
"Anyways, you are quite right... Firstly, in regards to the first question, I can only say 'by chance'. Ah... In fact, it's because you guys are really interesting."
"What do you mean by 'really interesting'?" Atem demanded.
"Aryyyu, aren't your lives now more interesting compared to normal people? Nevertheless, there are some people who are aware of this while the others aren't."
His words seemed to be aimed at the six present before him.
What does this imply?
"What were the other questions? Is it under my control, how can it end, and my intention...? Then chronologically... eh? Do I really have to answer these questions? Ah... I completely don't have to. I almost slipped it out of my mouth... That was close! So, now I can only say that you guys just have to get used to the personality exchange. When I feel that entertainment's over, the exchanges will stop. The duration won't be very long... Although I don't know how you will define 'long', and I don't want to know..."
"What you deem as interesting is completely your perspective! This at least means that this mumbo jumbo is at your control! It also means that you started this situation." Kaiba snapped powerfully.
"I'm not gonna be some entertainment or some guinea pig for your pleasure's sake!" Kisara added.
Jounouchi's blood boiled. "Why I oughta!" he stormed towards Mai but was restrained by Kisara and Atem.
"Remember he's using Mai's body!" Atem hissed.
"Ahh... Did I give it away... Or did my question in fact confirm that I did? Anyways, please don't pay too much attention to it... just live as usual, because being worried about it is pointless. Regardless of what happens, everything will be okay in the end, so there's no need to complain. Don't worry, this won't do any harm to your lives... Also, don't investigate the mechanism behind this phenomenon... You won't understand it anyways... If you really have time to spend, just think of issues concerning yourself. That would be conducive to ending this situation... You will be glad and so will I. Ah... this is really gratifying."
'Did he want us to just accept all the events that have occurred? To accept this strange situation?' Atem thought as he clenched his fists.
"Have I missed anything... Ah, right, please keep the personality exchange phenomenon confidential and prevent outsiders from knowing... you guys should understand. If it slipped out, there would be more trouble for you than me."
Scratching his head, as if trying to remember something, U G O 17 let his vision flow up into the air.
"So... I think I've said all I should... Besides, I've decided to go away pretending that nothing has happened... Work hard! I will support all of you from near the top of my heart... Although, I should say 'from the bottom' even when I'm lying."
[Mai] turned his back and slowly approached the door of the clubroom.
He walked away without paying any attention to Atem and the other club members; He just said his piece and left the way he wanted to.
Swiftly marching towards [Mai] he quickly grabbed upon his shoulder.
"Hey, wait a moment." He deadpanned as he towered over the blonde with a menacing smirk. It was natural of Kaiba of preventing something out of his control to escape this easily.
"I've quietly listened to what you have said, but I still have a bunch of questions to ask. Besides, you haven't replied to any of my questions!" There was no fear in his words.
"How can we, having been dragged into this stupid situation, let you leave so easily?" Anzu cracked her knuckles, standing behind Kaiba.
When the ever-ambitious Kaiba and the hot-headed, uncontrollable Anzu join forces, they become unstoppable.
"So... I say, these aren't the things that you should do... I am not planning to oppose any of you... this is true... but I don't want to be friends with you either... Oh, it'd be better if I didn't say that."
U G O 17 who seemed bothered by Kaiba, turned back slightly and plainly said that to him as he jerked his hand away violently.
"Don't act like everything will go as you wish!"
Kaiba used even more strength to try to make him turn back.
In an instant, [Mai]'s purple orbs flashed as noise ensued in the background.
Bam!
Sounds of meat, flesh, and bones crackling altogether whirled around. At the same time, Kaiba's body went flying through the air.
He almost hit Anzu who was behind him but she dodged the hit by reflex. Instead he landed butt first towards Jounouchi was caught in his way.
Chairs and tables fell to the floor and were scattered smashed. Moaning could be heard from the boys.
Landing on Jounouchi, Kaiba pressed his chest, coughed, and even started to vomit to which Kisara attended to in a flash with some tissues. It seemed he had received an elbow blow near his chest.
Anzu took a pratfall right on the floor after dodging Kaiba's fall. She rubbed her waist to ease the pain. Although what she did was a bit weird, it seemed she was fine after all.
"I didn't want to do this, even though letting you see my powers could have actually solved the problem much faster... Ah, I don't want to do this... After all, it's very troublesome."
The instant he began to speak, the tense atmosphere returned back to normal to everyone's horror.
Mana was awestruck to an extent, Kisara gaping in fear as she attended to Kaiba, Anzu was checking the severity of her injuries while Jounouchi was getting up with a disgruntled expression.
If someone were to ask what it was that was this shocking, Atem couldn't answer, but he definitely reckoned it was so.
Kaiba, trying to suppress his pain, squeezed a hoarse voice in this calamity.
"All of you...*cough, cough cough*... Don't let that guy... get away!" he commanded.
Atem was already at it as he stormed towards [Mai] fearlessly, saying, "...Although I disagree with using physical violence, I think it's necessary now even if you are using Mai's body. It's unforgivable!"
"Seto, don't push yourself too far." Kisara took care of him as he spoke.
Staying perfectly still, U G O 17 eyed him with peculiar interest. He created a feeling of unease and incomprehension.
'But just like Kaiba said, they shouldn't let him go. He was too deeply involved with the current situation. If they just let him go, they might not see him again. Besides, it seemed that it was impossible to negotiate with him verbally. Physical violence was a must.' Atem thought.
His [Mai's] appearance made it intractable to do this. But however intractable this was, it was crucial.
With this in mind, Atem stepped forward, but an arm stretched in front of his chest.
"Wait, Atem, I will handle this." Mana reasoned as she stepped forwards.
"But, if I don't do it-"
"Atem, there is no reason for you to be the one to do it." Mana tried to smile gently to cover the slight frown of her eyebrows. She was like a stubborn, unreasonable child.
"Besides, I am more powerful than you, right? It'll be fine, I'll take care of him right now!"
Atem, despite wanting to refute her, fell silent and bit his tongue. Mana was indeed more powerful than him. As a boy Atem was physically stronger than Mana. But in real combat, Mana, the Girls' Full Contact Martial Arts champion, who was even called a prodigy of Karate, would be more effective to use in this situation.
"So, let's do this together!"
"Don't interfere."
Atem's suggestion was turned down before he managed to finish it.
"Yo Mana! Let me support..."
"Scram!"
No petition of Jounouchi could change her mind set.
"Wouldn't it be better if a girl left marks on that perfect face of hers?" Kaiba commented.
Lightly tipping her toe, Mana spread her feet apart, balancing herself. She had assumed a combat stance. Her hair flew in the air for a few milliseconds before being attracted by gravity and gradually starting to fall. Despite being small, Mana exuded an aura that seemed to say that if anyone were to as much as twitch, she would be upon them at once.
But the being showed no sign of fear and stared blankly at her.
"Sorry for making you wait so long... Or should I say, why were you willing to wait for me? Just then, you didn't show any signs that you were intending to escape." Mana gradually narrowed their distance and asked.
"...Ah, really... That would be nice if I did... But I got to see something interesting, so I... But that's just something as trivial as to make people comment with 'Is that it?'..."
"...I will stop you from being so calm and relaxed." Mana stepped forward at the same time.
Then she kicked the floor hard on her second step and leapt forward.
"'Mai-san', sorry-!"
Her flying kick was like an eagle stretching its claws to catch its prey.
Despite that there was over 10cm of height disparity, the flying kick was directly slammed to [her] face- but was stopped by his arm just before the kick was about to hit.
Mana had aimed at his face and flying-kicked him with extreme speed.
As if it were meant to be, U G O 17 effortlessly stopped the kick.
To a normal person like Atem, what was happening in front of him was shocking enough, but their continued battle was truly beyond his imagination. He wouldn't have thought that it would continue after she landed on the floor.
Mana swung a low punch at him while landing.
Her graceful flying hair served as as a foil to her beautiful, bird-like posture.
But the being acted as if nothing had happened and used his other free hand to grip Mana's right wrist.
Although he performed it this easily and flawlessly, even Atem knew that this kind of action was near impossible.
When Mana landed with both of her feet, she sat on the floor helplessly. It was only her right hand that was caught, but looking at her paleness, she had already lost all her morale.
"Mana!" Atem and Anzu both hollered as they walked towards her.
Just at this instant Atem's vision twisted and vanished.
In an instant, he was realized Kaiba was sprawled on the couch beside him. Being confused for a moment, he had realized what had happened. He was now in the possession of [Jounouchi]'s body.
[Kaiba] coughed as he managed to get himself up the couch.
"Hey, are you feeling alright?"
"*Cough, cough cough*... Kaiba...this is really painful." he said, clutching his chest.
[Kaiba] had just referred to himself in first person. Who could be in possession of his body?
Lifting his head to confirm what was going on around him, Atem observed the fray they were stuck in.
At one corner, he could see [Anzu] and [Atem] lying impotently on the floor. Being gripped on the wrist by a possessed [Mai] and still sitting on the floor, was [Mana], who still could not move and thus remained rigid. Atem saw that her face was as pale as a sheet of paper.
Then, [Kisara] crossed her hands and stood sternly.
"Ayyahh, could it be that... personality exchange occurred now? This maybe... is a bit interesting."
U G O 17 looked down at this chaos and spoke in a way that didn't show he was interested at all.
"Ah... Looks like the timing is right, I must go now..." letting go of [Mana's] hand he stretched his hands towards the door.
"Hey, at least answer me one question before you leave!" [Kisara's] voice sparked with coldness and undiscovered confidence.
"We know that we can't stop you, so I want to ask... can we by any chance meet you again?" Kaiba [Kisara] didn't like things going out of his control and would be devastating if he did not get the answer he desired.
"...This is hard to say. When this situation ends, we should meet again. But I can't promise you. Ah, this person is [Mai Kujaku], right? Please don't be so harsh on her... Besides, I don't want you guys to waste your time on these things."
"This means that it'll be hard to strike back... Maybe this actually isn't the case. Although I want to destroy you completely, I can't which is quite lamentable. Though I would try my hardest to." [Kisara] laughed fearlessly and spoke with an attentive tone.
"When you arrived, you said that you came here because the scared expressions we make when our personalities get switched is amusing. In other words, if we weren't so interesting after we exchanged, you wouldn't have come. Also, considering that you were pretty impressed by my style of inquiry, this implies that you have already done this a few times, right? On the other hand, if you have a special code name this implies that there are more people like you out there, right?" Atem [Jounouchi] added.
Even when stuck in this mess, Atem still managed to figured out the opponent's motive by utilizing these small bits of information.
Despite having the appearance of [Kisara], her face was still drawn with an evil grin. "As expected of the King of games!" she applauded.
"...Who knows?" he simply replied Atem's [Jounouchi's] speculations.
For the first time, U G O 17 curved up the corners of his mouth. This was a face that never appeared on [Mai]... A somber face with a freaky smile.
Invisible threats sparked between Kaiba [Kisara] and him [Mai.]
Suddenly reverting to his usual sluggishness, the specimen said, "So... I wish you all good luck... Ah... I didn't have any enthusiasm and didn't plan to raise your morale, but I said it just for you to know... Maybe I just wanted to say these words."
"We are a race known as the incubators. That will suffice." he concluded as he made his leave leaving the rest of the students traumatized and awestruck to what had just occurred.
I've finished this chapter! What do you guys think?
Yes, UGO17 is a he. Any guesses to who he is?
Please review/fav/follow.
Thanks and have a good day.