Chapter 71: Living Life as a Girl
Dave's POV
We ate dinner that night, like normal. We enjoyed the food that was cooked and cherished it. After that, me and Ringo sat down with Serilly on the couch. We went through different TV channels to see what was on. Eventually, we stopped on one specific channel because it caught my eye. It was an anime series, believe it or not, and it was dubbed into English. Ms. Ando noticed this as well and recognized the look of the anime. "Say, Dave... do you remember me reading a synopsis of a show while we were in Japan?" She asked me. "I do… why do you ask, Ms. Ando?" I wondered why she asked. "This might be the very show I looked at when giving you that synopsis…" She told me. "...! So this is… ... Uh, actually... I can't remember the name of the show." My eyes widened for a bit before I tried to remember. "... Wasn't it like... "The Amphibian Warrior" and something else? I'm not sure, Japanese titles for anime are often too long for their own good..." Ringo tried to remember as well.
Coincidentally, the title of this English dub version of the anime came up for the episode right when we were talking about it. There, it was just called The Amphibian Warrior. "... I guess the dubbing company couldn't bother to put in the full translated name. So that must be why it's just "The Amphibian Warrior" here… Well, it makes things less awkward and more convenient for English speakers." I assumed and shrugged. Luckily for us, it seemed like this was the first episode that was currently airing as something new. "It looks like they've recently started dubbing the series... Oh-! I'm sorry, Serilly. You probably have no idea what we're talking about. I'll tell you after the runtime for this ends." Ringo noticed.
When the episode was over, I was actually satisfied with what I just saw. Even as I was a girl on the outside at this point, the actual me inside screamed male-like in terms of emotion after I watched the episode. I was pumped to watch the second episode... whenever it would come out. The animation was stellar, the voice acting was great, and I ended up enjoying the start of the story more than I expected. The episode also established that it had bits of humor in the right places, which was something that I also didn't expect. All of this reinforced my love and passion for anime, something that was particularly lacking while I had been living in Ringo's world. Speaking of Ringo, she ended up liking the anime too. It was a bit of a different kind of series for her, but she still enjoyed it nonetheless. And just as she said she would... Ringo told Serilly about Japan and the stuff that comes from it, including anime. When it was time to bathe, Ringo decided to do it with me. Why? Because, I had yet to bathe as a girl. I didn't know how to wash my long hair and stuff like that. Besides, Serilly was now used to bathing and could do it by herself.
Ringo and I rested in the water, naked. I still felt uneasy being naked with a female body, especially now that I was essentially forced to look at my current private part at times; one that really SHOULDN'T be mine. Ringo immediately noticed this and tried to ease me into accepting it for the time being. "Don't let this change of yours affect who you really are, Dave. To me… you're still the wonderful boyfriend that I, Feli, Draco, and even Amitie love. You're just a girl until you can change back." "... Ringo... Draco doesn't know that I have changed. What will she think if she sees that I'm like this now?" "... …" "And that's not even the thing I'm worried about the most... What will SCHEZO think of my sudden change? There's no telling how he'll react to it…" "... Dave... if you're gonna stay as a girl for the time being, then have fun with it. I know it's weird for you, not being able to live like your normal self... but maybe you can do things here that you'll never be able to do as a guy. Who knows if you'll ever have the option to be a girl again... You might as well make it feel worthwhile and special. Be happy. I'll help you live a fun life as a girl." Ringo put an end to my worries with her words. I felt a little better after she said that, but still unsure.
As soon as Ringo saw this, she kissed me on the lips. This surprise made my eyes widen, but then they slowly closed. "... We're still lovers at the end of the day, Dave. We, as well as our friends... we all support each other in our times of need. Remember that, even while you're a girl, okay?" She stopped kissing. "... Okay. Thank you, Ringo." I nodded and hugged her. "Great! Now, let's make sure that you're able to wash your own girly hair. It's not too hard, really. It's..." She smiled then began to teach me. Like she said, it really wasn't that bad. I just needed to get used to the fact that I have all this extra hair on my head. When all was said and done, we washed and dried off. After that, we dressed ourselves for the night. I still wore what I used to wear as a guy for bed. As we got out of the bathroom, Ringo immediately took me to her room. She taught me how to blowdry my hair, and brush it in tandem with that. While that happened, I looked at myself in the mirror. So, this is who I am for the foreseeable future... To any unsuspecting stranger, I'm just a girl. But, to my friends... I'm a guy who's currently living life as a girl. I may not actually be one, but I'll learn to accept it until I change back.
Eventually, it was time to go to bed and Ringo made a suggestion to me: I could sleep with her for the night. Ha. Why not? I'll accept this offer of hers. I accepted it and she giggled. "Well then, come on, cutie!" She grabbed my hand. Oh boy... This might be more than what I bargained for… and I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing. Regardless of my thoughts at the time, I slept peacefully with Ringo as a fellow girl. Morning came and when I looked out the window during breakfast, it felt like my heart stopped. Snow came in like crazy and it was bad. How bad, exactly? Like half of the front door was buried in this stuff. So when I bulked up in warm clothing after eating, I had to push the door with a lot of force from the inside to create an opening for me to get outside. From there, I was able to grab the snow shovel and work on clearing the way. This had to be, without a doubt, the most amount of snow that I EVER had to shovel at one time. "*pant pant pant* Dammit... Why the hell did all of THIS have to come in... when I'm now a girl with noodle arms...?!" I asked myself in exhaustion.
Nevertheless, I continued to clear the pathway, bit by bit. By the time I was done, I felt like I needed to lie down. I got right up to the front door, stomped and kicked off the remaining bits of snow on my boots... and I entered back inside. It must have taken me two hours just to clear the snow, because it was now noon. "*sigh* Son of a bitch... I hope that the snow doesn't keep coming like that nightmare…" I took off my boots and sat down on the couch. "Woah... that snow must've messed you up." Ringo's eyes widened. "... That... would be an understatement, Ringo…" I continued to catch my breath. "Is snow hard to shovel, Dave?" Serilly asked me. "... Not usually... but I'll be damned if another big dump of snow happens to drop on us within a week or so." I answered. Time continued to pass until it was time for us to go to Primp for school.
We got ready to go and met Lemres outside. "Looks like that snow hit ya guys hard." He said. "And guess who had to shovel ALL of that snow from this pathway with noodle-like arms?" I brought up to him. I still felt bitter about that crap. "Oh... Well shit, I feel sorry for ya." He frowned for a bit. "Anyway, we should get going." Ringo told us. We went through a portal that Lemres made and we appeared at Primp Magic school. I said goodbye to Ringo and I went with Lemres to Potions class. Feli met up with us along the way and my attitude became a little more positive. "Okay guys, remember that we must keep the other students thinking that I'm a girl named Amelia." I whispered to Lemres and Feli "We know. ... Let's go in and sit down, Dave." Feli whispered to me. I nodded and we went inside the classroom to sit down in our seats.
A couple of minutes later, class started. "Hello, children. I hope you guys have been doing fine. I know the last couple of days here have been... unique to say the least, but I promise you that we'll be going back to normal assignments here." Witch walked in. These words caused the students to murmur a little after Witch went silent. "...! Oh yeah, that reminds me: Because of how yesterday's class ended, I wasn't able to get started on grading the potions the two successful groups made. Thankfully, I did the grading overnight while I still knew how good the two potions were in terms of quality. Hey, Amelia! Catch!" Witch remembered, then tossed my group's grade over to me.
Good, it seems like she remembered to call me Amelia in class. Now... let's see how good of a grade we got on this "extra credit". I read the letter grade, as well as a comment left by Witch herself. She personally complimented us on a level I didn't expect and that made me happy. While I read that, Witch tossed a grade to the other group that did it successfully. "Wow, she must have been blown away by our work to leave a comment like this here." Feli's eyes widened. "Well, o' course. We ARE the best in this class, right?" Lemres pointed out the obvious. Luckily, the other students didn't seem to hear what Lemres just said. If they did, then they probably would've been more jealous of us than they already were before.
The class proceeded as normal after that and nothing else worth noting happened. The bell clapped and I made my way to Accord's room after separating from Feli and Lemres. Klug was already in the room, sitting down. "Well, you got here quickly…" I commented. "Actually, I was here during the period before, Dave." He told me. "Huh? Why?" I asked. "Ms. Accord wanted me to help with something and she excused me from whatever I was doing before, so that I could. I would tell you now, but I can imagine she will tell you and the others about it when class starts." He explained. "... Okay..." I went. After saying that, I sat down in my seat and waited for class to begin. "Hello, kiddies. I want to tell you all something right off the bat here. Klug has been in this room for a while before the rest of you came in today." Accord started. "Huh... I wonder why…" Amitie quietly went. "Amitie, not to be rude to you… but she just said that she wishes to tell you. Perhaps you should listen to the whole thing before you go and say anything." Klug kindly advised her. "O-okay, Klug…" Amitie became silent after that. "... As I was saying: Klug was in here because I needed his help, along with Ex's, Satan's, and Ecolo's to get to the bottom of the whole thing surrounding Dave's change in gender. Why did I need Klug's help as well? Well… Klug had prior knowledge of certain places in Ringo's world. I figured that could come in handy for this search... and I must thank you for the help, Klug. Had you not come up to me after class ended yesterday, it might have taken us longer to perform it." She continued.
What? He came to her yesterday? ... In any case, that was a good idea on Klug's part. Although, I don't know how HE knows places in Ringo's world... I suppose I'll have to ask him when today's class ends… if I remember to, that is. "Hey, that was smart of you, Klug. It must have been great to help out in a huge way!" Amitie complimented him. "O-of course it was... I'm one of the smartest students here, Amitie. Besides, this is something I'm doing to pay back to Dave for helping me defeat Dioge and whatnot. I thought this would have been my only chance to really help him in his time of need." Klug blushed. "Well, I appreciate it, Klug." I smiled. "So... did anything come out of the search, Ms. Accord?" Ringo asked. "... Sadly, no. We will still look around outside this class, but we haven't made significant progress in finding that escaped Yog. If this goes on for a longer period of time, then I'm afraid we will have to wait for that smoke to show up somewhere in your world, Ringo." Accord frowned. "Yeah, things don't look good here. I had my crew go around what's beyond Suzuran a bit yesterday, but nothing suspicious was found there." Ex frowned as well. "... Damn... Where can that thing possibly be?" Rulue sighed. "... We can worry about where it is in due time, but not now. If we can't find it, then we'll mostly just do what we normally do until someone DOES find it." I reminded everyone. "R-Right." Most of them collectively stuttered.
Therefore, Accord's class progressed with the standard-at-this-point training. I struggled to train with that slim winged armor, since it was different from what I was used to. Additionally, I wasn't as physically built as I was before. It was like I had to train up my muscles again from the bottom. They got sore by the time class was almost done for the day. Rulue noticed me disengaging my armor and stopped halfway through to talk to me. She had Raffina, Tarutaru, and Yui train on their own while we talked. "So... I guess you're not strong now, thanks to... your change." She felt bad about me training, knowing that. "... I'm faster now... but that won't matter if I can't take a good hit. How am I supposed to protect others at the most critical moments when I'm like this...? Perhaps what that last Yog said was true... I'm just a frail girl now; nothing more, nothing less..." I looked at myself. "... Dave, we both know that's not true... I thought you would know better than to believe whatever those stupid eyeballs say." She told me. "That's right, you're still who you actually are on the inside. No magic or whatever can change that; you're still the Dave I knew from before. We'll all help you change back into a guy, that's for certain." Ex suddenly walked up to us. "...! ... … Th-thank you…" I began to cry a little. "... At least your crying is a little more justified, since you at least look like a girl." Rulue embraced me in her arms.
Ex took a hold of my hand before saying anything. "... In any case, it's good to let loose some tears when you find yourself in an issue like this. No matter how mature one person may be: Something will always affect a person, to the point where they cry. Trust me, Dave… many adults cry more times than you would think; and not just from losses of family or friends either. Devastating things can literally happen to anyone, and they can indeed hurt. I might've not seen my wife in years, but I'm still pushing myself onward... in spite of pains that my past contained. So don't let this change of yours drag you down. Instead, have it serve as a motivation to keep moving towards true happiness... Okay, Dave?" He smiled. "... Y-yeah, you're right." I stopped. I decided to take it easy for the remaining time before the bell clapped for the final time. Me and Ringo met back up with Lemres, so that we could go back to Suzuran. Feli was actually with the comet warlock this time; she hadn't gone back to her mansion for the day. I noticed that she was actually slightly taller, thanks to "The Ring of Body Modification". I didn't think Ringo or Lemres noticed that Feli was a little taller than she was supposed to be. Regardless, I wondered why Feli was like this at the time.
Why is Feli like this? ... Do I need to know? Well, I suppose it won't hurt if I just ask her privately when I have the chance. "Oh, Feli. Why haven't you gone back to your mansion yet?" I asked her. "Because, I wanted to come get you. I feel like there's more stuff I wanna show you back in my room. That, and I wanted to tell you more about my fascination with occult divination stuff. Lemres is going there too, he decided to join me." She answered. "O-okay. It'll be interesting to see, I suppose…" I said. "What about you, Ringo? Do you wanna come too?" Feli offered. "I mean, if Dave's decided that he wants to go to your place... then I might as well come along. I'll just text Mom that we'll be gone for longer than anticipated." Ringo accepted, then pulled out her phone. After she was done texting to her mother, the four of us made our way to Feli's mansion. Snow was still an issue as we walked through it, But we managed to get inside the mansion to warm and dry ourselves before going to Feli's room.
While we were nearly dry and such, I noticed that Feli's parents were nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where are your parents, Feli?" I asked. "Oh, them? They told me this morning that they would be gone until it's very late tonight. They didn't tell me why, but I'm sure that they're off doing something important." Feli told me. "Feli's parents are prolly doin' something involvin' business, since they're a couple of Primp's rich people. Though, I can't be certain of that." Lemres assumed. "... That would make sense…" I nodded slightly. A few minutes later, we were all fully dried and warmed up. And thus, we made our way to Feli's room and placed our boots there on the small rug before closing the door behind us. For the next hour or so, Feli showed me more of the occult divination stuff she had. It was all interesting... but it didn't seem to be my kind of thing. "... Hm… I'm not gonna lie, this is kinda boring." Ringo said. "O-okay, then what else should we do while we're here?" I place out the question. We all looked at each other, but nothing seemed to have popped into our heads. "Well, if we don't have anything else to do here… we should go home before it becomes late for us." I looked back at Ringo. "*sigh* Guess so…" She stood up. "I'll stay here for the time bein'. Here's a portal to send ya back to your place." Lemres decided and made. "Bye, you two." I said. Sooner than originally expected, me and Ringo left Feli's mansion to go back to Suzuran.
The rest of the night didn't offer anything new to note. It was more of the same, which isn't really a bad thing. I slept in my room after bathing and rested for whatever the next day could bring. Fast forward once more to Accord's class for that day, Klug came up to me before the bell clapped. "...? Klug? What is it?" I looked at him. "Dave, they got them!" He answered vaguely. "Huh? Who got who?" I was confused. "The drug dealers! They were arrested by Primp Town's police force just last night!" He cleared up his own answer. "Wait, they were JUST arrested by them last night? … Damn, the dealers must've ran away almost immediately. That would explain why I heard nothing from Hohow Bird in the last couple of days… after I told him the location of the drug dealings." I came to understand. "And now the town can be cleaner for a while. That should teach people not to take part in those deals." Raffina walked up to us. "Maybe… but this could also cause people to indulge themselves in even more of them. After all, these very people hate living life without drugs." Klug turned to face her for that bit. "... Let's hope that they're smart enough to not do dealings anymore. We want Primp Town to be a nice place for everyone, including strangers." I said. "Yeah! I love this place, I don't want people here to do things like that." Amitie agreed.
The others came into the room to sit down. "D-Drugs are scary to think about… I want to think about something else." Lidelle stuttered. "Yes, there's no point in us thinking about the dealings anymore; the dealers themselves have been caught. Let's just continue to focus on trying to find any sight of that Yog in Ringo's world." Klug walked over to his seat. The bell clapped, class began… and then it went by with nothing important to note. As me and Ringo had arrived back in Suzuran, we noticed something going on. A crowd of people had quickly begun to make their way to the middle of the city. "...? Hey, I wonder what's gotten people so excited…" I looked over. "... Well, let's see. We have time to spare, so why not?" Ringo grabbed my hand. We walked to the middle of the city and we got an idea of what was going on. "It… it looks like an idol show." I thought. "... I think it's a tryout idop show, Dave." Ringo told me. "A… tryout idol show?" I looked at her. "A tryout idol show is an improvised idol show, where any girl can join in to perform when the stage is open. Suzuran has done this sort of thing on occasion, and people love these shows. They're always excited to see potentially new idol girls hitting the scene. As for me: I've done it before, but it's been quite a while since then. So hey, how about we participate? It'll be fun! You won't be able to do this once you turn back into a guy~." Ringo explained, then suggested.
This suggestion made me feel unsure about doing it. "P-participate? I-I-I mean… I AM a girl for the time being, Ringo… but I look more like a tomboy to other people. I'd probably wouldn't fit in the cutesy atmosphere that these things produce." I stuttered. "*giggle* Nonsense. I think you look cute as a girl, Dave. And if I think that you're cute, then I have no doubt that at least quite a few other girls will think that as well." She encouraged me. "E-even still, I've never done something like this before…" I continued to stutter. "Aw, c'mon! It's easy to get into the groove here. Trust me, before you know it… you'll have fun." Ringo smiled. "... I-if you think so, Ringo…" I smiled back. As soon as Ringo found an opportunity, she got us on stage immediately after a group of three girls left. The audience within the area recognized Ringo right away. I wasn't surprised by this, since Suzuran was her home. However, people didn't really pay any mind to me until Ringo got a hold of a mic. "Hi guys! It's been a while since the last time I did something like this, but I'm back in action for tonight!" She quickly spoke to the crowd. "Wooo! Go, Ringo!" Many of the girls cheered. "... However, this night will be special because I have a partner to sing with me here! Here she is, everyone!" Ringo continued before handing me a second mic.
I admittedly felt awkward being on stage like this, but I calmed myself and began to speak. "Hi, I'm Amelia. It's great to be here with Ringo for one night. This is my first time, but I hope you guys enjoy my side of our performance." I said. "Aaaand, without further delay… Here's my signature song: Puyo Puyo no Uta, but with a twist!" Ringo hyped up the crowd. My muscles tensed up... I didn't know what the song was at all. Or at least, that's what I thought initially. "Hey, don't worry. You already know this song. I never told you the name of it, but we sang it together on the first day we came back from Japan. Remember?" Ringo quickly told me as a bit of a reminder. "... ...! Oh, that song?! I think I remember how it roughly goes..." I felt more relaxed after remembering. "Just don't think about any sort of Japanese words, because I know that you don't know very many. Just sort of… improvise English lyrics, like how other girls go up on this stage all of a sudden. If we can both stay within a certain number of syllables per line, then we got this in the bag! I'll start it off if it makes you feel better." Ringo said. "... Heh. I think I can do that. At this point, we just need to bounce off of each other's lines. And considering how close we are, we can probably manage that." I smiled.
The instrumental of Puyo Puyo no Uta began playing as we prepared to sing our hearts out to the crowd in front of us. "Alright everyone, let's get the show on the road! Are you ready?!" Ringo asked the audience. "YEAH!" They went. "*giggle* That's what I like to hear! ... Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyooo puyo! Puyopuyo~!" Ringo sang before pointing to me. "... Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyoo~!" I sang and passed the baton back to her. "Ev'ryday- I dream to be- a pop idol- who lets nothing- stop her from- bringing a smile- to ev'ryooone's fa-a-ace~! Love a-and- happiness- friendship, bonds- and peace too- It moves me- to tears- I just love 'em a-a-all~! A-mel-ia- feels the same way- 'cause we're- 'cause we're friends- through-and-through! Together 'till the end~! Puyopuyo-!" Ringo did the first verse. I knew that I was going to have to start soon, so I prepared. "Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo~!" Ringo did the first part. She passed the rest of the refrain over to me. "Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! We are con-ne-ected to-getheeer~!" I breezed through the second half.
The instrumental took over for a bit before Ringo got ready. "Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo- pu pu pu puyo puyo pu puyo~!" She did before passing it back. "Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo Puyopuyo- pu pu pu puyo puyo puyo-!" I did. Suddenly, she joined in as I continued to do this part. "Pu pu pu! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo-yo! Puyopuyo! Puyo puyo puyo-yo~! Puyo puyo-! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! Puyo puyo puyo puyo puyo puyoooo~! Here we go!" We went in unison. Some more of the instrumental took over briefly, and I definitely heard an electric guitar within it. I got ready for the end of the song as Ringo started the coda. "Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo!" She began. I knew I had to jump in here, so I did. "Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! Puyopuyo! Puyopuyo! Pu pu pu pu puyo puyo! Puyo puyo puyo puyo puyo puyooooo~! YEAH!" We finished together.
And so… after we finished the song, the crowd cheered. "Oh my God! That Amelia girl sounds cute, despite her looking like some tomboy!" One girl said to some other girls. "Yeah, she does sound cute!" They agreed. Cute? Again, other people think I'm cute like this? I don't know how to take this in… "Hey, that was great!" Ringo grabbed my hands. Her saying that helped me get my mind off of what I was just thinking. "I-I didn't think I would have a singing voice like that…" I quietly said to her. "Aw, you're blushing… Even though you're a girl right now, you're still classic Dave." Ringo said just as quietly. "A-anyway… Maybe we should now get off the stage…" I suggested. "Yeah, we should." She agreed. We walked off, then tried to go back home. That's when that one girl decided to boldly approach us…
She came at us, eager to say something. Some of those other girls also came with her. "Hiii! I've never seen you around here before, Amelia… but your singing was nothing short of cute! You admittedly look like a tomboy, but I think that's what gives you your charm." The girl told me. "Uh, sure… … Actually, I heard you say that to your friends just before you came up to us." I said. "Oh-! Is that so? You must have a good ear to have heard something like that within the crowd. You said this was your first time doing something like this, right? You know, you can use that as a tool in the idol world. Anyway, I think you are already on Ringo's level when it comes to this; I think that's just so cool!" She went on. "U-uh, well thank you. I-I appreciate the praise. … Unfortunately, I won't be around here for too long." I blushed, stuttered, and awkwardly chuckled before saying. "What? "Won't be around for too long"? How long are we talking here?" The girl looked somewhat surprised. "Dunno. I was only told by a certain somebody that I would stay here for a short time. They never specified how long I would be staying." I lied. "Oh, okay. Well, it was nice getting to know you! You must've left quite an impression on Ringo for her to consider you as a friend. Anyway, bye! We gotta go back home." She said before walking off.
Those other girls walked off after she did. "I guess we should head home then…" Ringo said. "Yes." I nodded. The rest of the night was mostly uneventful as we got back home. Serilly was getting somewhat restless from staying in the house for all this time. She wanted to go outside, but couldn't because she didn't really have winter clothes for herself. This was really the only thing that was worth noting here. I bathed, took care of my hair, then went off to bed. I woke up the next morning, seeing that I was still a girl. Of course… Why would I just suddenly change back in my sleep? I got ready for the day and cleared out any sort of snow that fell during the previous night. After that, I relaxed myself with Ringo until it was time to go to Primp Magic School. Potions class came by without anything important happening. So when it came time for Ms. Accord's class, I wasn't expecting anything out of left field. "Hi, Dave. How are you today?" Amitie greeted me. "I'm… doing fine. *sigh* I just really want to turn back into a guy. But of course, this isn't something I can wait for to magically happen. That escaped Yog has been making me somewhat paranoid ever since we heard about it from Ecolo." I said.
Amitie's expression changed from a smile to a frown after I told her that. "Gosh, I don't blame you… Ringo's world can be attacked by smoke at any moment. None of us will know when that will be, and that's scary. Ah-! But don't worry! We'll stop that Yog and get you back to normal, Dave." She held my hand. "... Considering how tough that wind Yog was… these things are only going to get stronger from here on out. Despite that, I'll make sure to show the Yogs that it was a mistake to mess with us." I made a serious face. "Um… What are you gonna do to them?" She asked me. "Punch them in their singular eyeballs, what else?" I cracked my knuckles. "Dave, you know that's too dangerous for you to do now, especially since your armor seems to currently be less durable." Another voice came into the room. "...! Ex." I noticed him walk in. "It would only endanger yourself to the point of near-certain death. It is as you just said: "...these things are only going to get stronger from here on out"." He told me. "... I know. What I'm thinking here is merely a pipe dream." I sighed.
Class started a couple of minutes after I decided to sit down. By then, my classmates had arrived and sat down as well. "Kiddies, today is going to be different because Mr. Ex will be making things progress for this day. I actually don't really know why he wanted to take charge today... but I'm sure he has a good reason." Ms. Accord said. "Thank you, Ms. Accord. ... Anyway, I have decided that this will be the day where we ramp up our search in Ringo's world. I realized that we can't be meandering about with the search for too much longer. The Yog could suddenly leave Ringo's world if it notices that we're looking for it. We must hurry up and be persistent today. To do that: I figured that we should get Arle, Schezo, and one other person who has also been around in that world before. ... Yes?" Ex went before he saw an arm raise up. "Wh-who is this other person, Mr. Ex?" Lidelle asked. "... It's Sig." He answered. Sig's been in Ringo's world before? Well, go figure. "Sig, huh? Well, it's true that he's been there before…" Ringo commented."Also, I wanted us to visit Ecolo after getting those three. When we came to the farthest edge of spacetime a few days ago, he was majorly injured. After checking up on him, we'll continue the search. So, are you all with me for this?" Ex said before asking. "Heh. What have we been doing for a while now? Defeating Yogs. Why wouldn't we go through with this? Of course we're in on this. Right, guys?" I sat up and then turned to face my classmates.
They were all delighted to hear me say that. "Yeah. We're not going to let some giant eyeballs cause chaos. We've already committed to this, so why should we stop now?" Raffina stood up. "We can't just let my prior knowledge of that world go to waste, because that would just be a shame." Klug followed up with. "Yeah! I just want everything to be fine and dandy… but it can't be like that if these Yogs are causing chaos." Amitie said. "And Dave wants to be a guy again, so we HAVE to find this next Yog if we're planning to take out the remaining four after it." Ringo stood up. At this point: The rest of us stood up and nodded to each other. "Then it's decided... Let's go get Arle, Schezo, and Sig. I'm sure that Satan will join us at some point." Ex smiled. We all left the school with our stuff to go inside the SS Tetra. The crew greeted their captain as they let him and us in. "So where to, Papa?" Ess awaited for an answer. "I'll just sort of guide you and the ship to three separate locations, Ess. But first... does anyone know where Sig is at currently?" Ex said before asking.
Shit, I dunno where Sig could be... That guy's always at seemingly different places around Primp. He's never usually sticking around in one particular area. "I think I saw Sig today actually... I believe he was around the middle district this morning." Klug recalled. "Then we'll go there first." Ex decided. "I know where the district is, so this will be quick." Ess assured us. The Tetra then took off in the air and we waited to arrive at the district. Over by that small "used-to-be" park that Feli brought me to during our last date, Sig sat in a rusty-looking swing. He looked like he wasn't doing much, as though he was deep in thought. We landed the Tetra and came to see him. "... Uh? ... Oh hey. What are you guys doing here? ... And who's this girl?" He asked us. "Sig, this girl is actually Dave. He was turned into one more recently and he wants to turn back into a guy again. Anyway, we want you to help us… … ..." Ex began telling him. "... Okay. I'm in. I'm assuming we're going to Ringo's world with that, right?" Sig decided, then pointed at the Tetra. "Yeah." Ex nodded. We all got back on the ship and flew off to get Arle. I knew this would take us a little while, so I wanted to make some small talk as we made our way.
What should I talk about with everyone? It's hard to come up with something to talk about when you know your friends so well… ... Man... I can't think of anything. Luckily for me, it seemed like Ex wanted to make some small talk as well. "Hey, Dave." He got my attention. "...? Yeah, Ex?" I looked at him. "I know that it's been a good while since this happened... but I remember Ai telling me that he helped this Risukuma person make a game. And then, Risukuma brought you, Ringo, Feli, Lemres, and Sig to test it out." He told me. "A-Ai told you?" I was surprised. "Not just that, but I heard from him that Risukuma essentially said that you were a "sucker" for RPGs. So, how do you like them? The reason I ask this is because I love RPGs myself, actually. They never get old for me." He added. "Really? Huh. Never knew that... That's neat." I smiled. "Now, I would've told you this back when we were in Japan… but when you got sick from sushi and passed out, I didn't get the chance to. And then, I forgot about it when this whole Yog nonsense started. I only just remembered it recently and I wanted to tell you before I forget about it again." He detailed.
So, he asked me how I like RPGs... ... I guess I'll give a straight answer. "I see... ... To answer your question, Ex: I like my RPGs purely turn-based. I'm not really into action RPGs, because I usually want to think about what to do in battles and action-based games don't really allow me to do that. I HAVE played a tabletop RPG game before, but that was only one campaign. I'm still not super familiar with it." I told him. "Purely turn-based, huh? … Hm... What's the name of the tabletop RPG game you just mentioned?" He went to ask me. "... Dungeons and Dragons." I answered. "...! What...? But… that's the name of the tabletop RPG game that I play. ... What in the hell...?" He was confused by that. "Really? That's very weird." My eyes widened. "... Well, if it is the same game in its entirety… then how would you like it if we set up a campaign with other people after the whole Yog situation is resolved? I'm personally a great dungeon master, Dave." He suggested. "... I think that it would be fun!" I loved the idea. "*chuckle* Yeah… I think it would be fun too." Ex nodded and smiled.
Author's Notes: Dave has gotten to live life as a girl for a few days, h has learned to take care of that girly hair on his head… He has sung like an idol while under the alias "Amelia"... And now he's a part of the search for the hiding Yog in Ringo's world. He and his friends are now approaching Arle's place to get her. After that, they will get Schezo and ramp up the search. How will Arle and Schezo react to Dave as he currently is? Next chapter, Chapter 72: Search Speedup.