Reversal

SUMMARY: Yukiteru is Yukiyori, and Yuno is Yuto. Snippets of each episode to show how much a gender switch really does make a difference.

Chapter 6: Episode 6

"Yuki-chan," her mother said, "the window is broken."

It indeed was. There, displayed right before her mother, were the shattered remnants of the window. While the sight did ignite feelings of worry, the amount of damage was minimal. There was a furled patch of duct-tape lying among the glass pieces on the grass, Yuki noticed, and that was when a sense of dread was trickling in.

Her mother appeared nervous. "Oh no, could it be a burglar?"

Immediately, Yuki whipped out her phone and went to her entries, discovering that it was Yuto who did this. She grimaced, wondering what the boy was doing now, especially in her home of all places. She hurried past her mother and entered her house, saying a rushed "Sorry, I did that."

"Eh? Wait—"

"You go prepare dinner, Mom." She kicked off her shoes and raced up the stairs.

"Yuki-chan!"

Honestly, why did Yuto have to come today? Could it be that he knew that her mother was returning after a month's absence from home at work? Well, of course he would know… He had his stalker diary, after all. But, if so, what reason was there to break into her home that was relative to her mother's return?

The first place Yuki could think to search was her bedroom. Grabbing the knob, she pushed open the door and prepared to reproach.

She didn't, however. What stopped her? Seeing Yuto scrub the floorboards. That wasn't all—her room seemed to sparkle and gleam with its new tidy state. Her thrown-over quilts were folded and sat on the new bed sheets that Yuki didn't bother changing last week, books were neatly stacked on the desk, the half-empty jar was now full of darts (and some darts that she had thought were long lost were apparently salvaged), and the layer of dust that had accumulated on every surface was wiped away clean.

As eccentric as Yuto was, Yuki was definitely not expecting a latent knack for housecleaning.

Yuto paused his scrubbing and glanced up. A merry grin spread across his face when his gaze settled on her. "Welcome home, Yuki," he said.

"Don't 'welcome home' me," Yuki snapped. "What on earth are you doing?"

"I wanted your mother to accept our relationship, so I decided to impress her by making the house domestically available." And just how was a broken window "domestically available"?

That was why he was here? He wanted to meet her mother and announce their nonresistant romance? Yuki resisted the urge to burst out into tears or sigh heavily. Good grief, how troublesome! While Yuto's ridiculous motive was certainly a headache of a case, having a boy clean up her bedroom was something that Yuki could never have imagined until now. But, knowing Yuto, it wasn't all too surprising.

"Look… I, um, a-appreciate what you're doing, but you have to go," Yuki said, prickling with onset impatience.

"Eh?" Yuto tilted his head and pouted. "Why is that? Can I at least meet your mother first?"

As if! "No, it'd be best if you go—now. She might suspect that it was you who broke the window," she quickly reasoned.

His upset expression shifted into a carefree smile. "I'm sure that she would understand," he replied airily. "I mean, it's not as though you had given me a spare key yet."

What did he mean by yet?

"Hey, Yuki-chan!" echoed her mother's voice from the stairway, causing the girl take a step back and look anxiously at the door. "There's a pot cooking on the stove…"

A pot…? So Yuto not only did some housecleaning, but he made dinner as well? She automatically turned back to Yuto, finding him on his feet while fixing his hair.

"Do l look okay?" he asked.

"Yuki-chan," Yuki heard her mother behind the door, "are you in your room?"

What to do? What to do? Her eyes roved across the place, hoping to incite an idea. In a moment's haste, she remembered that her closet was large enough to fit a person, or, in this case, hide a person. Yuki grabbed Yuto's wrist and dragged him over, muttering frantically, "Gotta hide! Gotta hide!" She then pushed him inside and slammed it shut.

A second later, the door opened and her mother entered. The woman blinked and asked, "What are you doing?"

"S-sorry, I forgot about the pot," Yuki responded instead, hoping to shift her mother's attention elsewhere—anywhere from the sight of her leaning against the closet. Yuki forced a sheepish laugh, but the sound came out like hiccups.

Nevertheless, the woman didn't seem to notice. She placed her hands on her hips and gave the girl an admonishing frown. "That's dangerous, you know! Make sure you don't do it again."

"Right. I'll be more careful."

"Anyway, not only did you make food, but you cleaned your room as well? I must say, it's a bit surprising." Her mother walked in to the center of the room, proceeding to look around.

Just how long was she planning on sticking around? "Oh, well, I do it once in awhile."

Suddenly, the paneled frames began to jerk and pry open under her leaned weight. To her horror, Yuto was trying to get out! "Yuki," he said aloud, but was cut off when Yuki reclosed the closet.

"Did I just hear a boy's voice?" Her mother turned around in confusion.

Crap, crap! "I-it must be your imagination!" the girl insisted, biting down the panic in her voice.

Things weren't looking good! Once again, Yuto was trying to force his way out, calling out her name. Yuki wondered just how long she would have to keep this up because attempting to keep him confined was incredibly difficult, especially when someone as weak as her was going against someone as strong as him.

As she continued to struggle keeping the frames shut, she didn't notice her mother giving her a look full of suspicion until the woman said, "Yuki-chan."

"Y-yes?"

"Why are you pushing against the closet?"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Yuki stammered. "I'm just leaning on—!"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Yuto apparently decided that simply nudging against the frames wasn't going to get him out; he was going to have to add a little more strength. The thrust that he gave burst open the closet abruptly, causing Yuki to tumble down to the floor.

"Yuki, I wanna join in the fun too!" he announced.

How to explain this to her mother…

"Gasai Yuto-kun, is it?" If impossible, her mother beamed even brighter. "My, my! Aren't you a handsome one!" With an elbow propped on the table, the woman leaned close to Yuki and whispered slyly, "You certainly hit the jackpot!"

Yuki blushed furiously. "M-Mom!"

Not only did Yuto manage to impress her mother with his good-looks, but also his cooking ability as well! Yuki was hoping that the boy would step on a landmine since the woman was quite picky about what she ate, but it turned out that she found his meals to be delicious. And to make matters worse, her mother just had to ask (regardless offhandedly or not) if he would marry Yuki!

Yuki nearly choked on the soup that she was sipping.

"You would look good in a white tuxedo," her mother contemplated.

"I don't know about myself," Yuto chuckled, bashfully scratching his chin. He then grinned widely and asserted, "But I can imagine Yuki walking down the aisle, looking lovely in a wedding dress."

What was he saying!?

"Hmm, but a traditional dress would be nice as well," he added.

The woman's eyes twinkled in delight. "A temple ceremony! How exciting!" her mother enthused. "I think I have a kimono stored up in the attic for me to wear to attend to that wedding." She faced her daughter and grinned. "Say, Yuki-chan, would do you think?"

What did she think? She was beginning to think that this evening was turning out to be a terrible, terrible day.

And to think that marriage question was the downside of the day, just wait till her mother got out the baby pictures. Ugh.

"You know, Yuki-chan, you sure are lucky to meet a guy like Yuto-kun! A cutie who can clean and cook along with a wonderful personality." Her mother sighed wistfully, shaking her head with a hand cradled to the side of her face. "If only I was fifteen years younger!"

Wonderful personality? Yuki rubbed her temple, trying to banish the very thought. "That doesn't explain why he has to sleep in my room. Mom, he's a boy! This is rather inappropriate, don't you think?"

"Nonsense!" the woman cheerfully dismissed. She gave one more pat on the prepared futon that was laid out next to Yuki's bed. It felt incredibly invasive, even though Yuto wasn't present in her room at the moment. "If you two are going to get married in the future, you might as well get used to sleeping in the same room. Wouldn't want you chickening out on your wedding night, if you know what I mean."

"Mom!" she cried, scandalized.

"It's rare to have an understanding parent, you know," her mother sang on her way out. Just when Yuki was about to sag in resignation—her mother may always have been strange, but having Yuto share her bedroom was just too much!—her mother popped her head out and quickly added, "No babies before marriage!"

The pillow hit the door before it got the chance to hit the woman's head.

NOTES: I researched Japanese boy names that sounded like Yuno. While finding Yuto's name was simple enough, coming one up for a girl version of Yuki was hard. The name Yukiteru is…unique, I would say. Of course, I had to keep the "Yuki" part; it was the addition that I struggled with. When you break down the name, it would be "Yuki" and "teru." Four syllables, yet separated into two parts. I wanted to name the girl Yuki something like that, but the only name that I could think of was Yukimura, which was rather masculine. I then decided, what the heck, I'll just make up her name. "Yukiyuri" was the first thing that popped in my head, but I thought that it sounded odd, so I replaced the second "u" with an "o," and, thus, Yukiyori was born!

Another note: Girls tend to over-think while boys go with the flow. That's how it is in my past experience. With that said, girls are more self-conscious than boys are on average. Because Yukiyori is what I would hope to be a relatable character, I decided to make her question the interest that Yuto has in her rather than think "Oh, he loves me! Even though he's a downright psychopath, he really does love me!" She acknowledges (not thoroughly, but gets an idea of it) that because he is mentally unhinged and that loving her just because of a halfhearted "promise" that was made back then don't equate to actual love. I'm not trying to make her wise for her age, but I'm trying to incorporate self-consciousness with realization.

As for Yuto, he is just… Well, Yuto is more simple-minded than anyone would think, really. He is driven by the thought of making Yukiyori as his lover because of that promise, and that crush eventually escalated to obsession. I think I wrote something about this—I dunno. His mindset works like this: get the girl, marry the girl, have kids with the girl, and have a happily ever after. And, because he's crazy, he developed an unhealthy possessiveness; although, he's not the kind of possessive guy who would accuse of Yukiyori of cheating on him every time she's out. No, he would probably throw her in a cage and lock her there forever.