It was a good thing her parents were away this week.
Drops of water trickled down the cheeks, and so did the warmth of fresh sweat. From the forehead down to the chin, the drops rained, where hands pressed along a porcelain rim. The right hand removed itself from the porcelain and raised to the chin, where it brushed carefully against slight stubs of facial hair. A mouth opened agape, a slight quiver bristled the lips, and the nose that tingled at the slightest sensation. Like the mouth, the eyes were wide open, sharpened around the edges and painted with jade green.
Light flashed the mirror and the glare disappeared, where staring at their reflection was Yuuko Yoshikawa, a student of Kitauji High School and the former president of its Wind Ensemble
Most of all, Yuuko is a prim and proper young woman with a pompous attitude.
Most of all, Yuuko is a prim and proper young woman with a pompous attitude….
Most of all, Yuuko is… now a guy.
"WHAT… THE… FUCK!"
[yuuko, gender-bent, natsuki]
6:30 AM.
Natsuki Nakagawa walked up to the gate in front of Yuuko's house. She arrived earlier than usual, and way before her actual wake-up time. The former vice-president of the club, she was considered rebellious and less of a ticking time bomb than the president.
"Yuuko…" Natsuki's head bobbed from side to side as her voice trailed. "Yuuko… Come out now… It's time to go to school…"
BZZZ! BZZZ! BZZZ!
Natsuki continued pressing the buzzer to no avail.
BZZZ! BZZZ! BZZZ! BZZZ! BZZZ! BZZZ!
By the 50th buzzer, Natsuki finally realized that something was up. Though dead she may seem, she felt it was her duty to go check on her president. With most of her energy (or lack thereof), she threw herself over the gate, stumbling towards the front door and slamming into it with a loud thud. It woke her up, though she was extremely annoyed.
"Ow, that girl better pay for my insurance…" Natsuki groaned as she cracked her back. Walking up to the front door, she used her last amount of strength to furiously knock on the door.
"Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko—" Natsuki shouted her president's name repeatedly as continued knocking on the door, "—Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko! Yuuko!"
Not a single answer.
'Welp, there's no other choice.'
Natsuki looked under the welcome mat and found the house key, reserved for Yuuko in case she lost her key while her parents were gone. She placed the key in the lock, and one turn to the right and back up, the door unlocked.
"Yuuko? Are you there?" Natsuki called out as she opened the door. No answer once again, and she proceeded upstairs. "We gotta get going! We're gonna miss the train!"
When Natsuki reached the top, she was greeted with a small hallway. At the end sat a door, adorned with Yuuko's name upon a fancy name plate.
"I shouldn't do this," she thought initially, relenting her concerns as the thought of being late for school rushed through her. With hesitancy, she turned the doorknob.
Yuuko's room was spacious; a decent bed sitting in the far corner, a side table with a nice lamp and drawers, a computer table that showed knick-knacks of all kinds, and even an actual closet built into the wall. Comparing it to her own paltry square-shaped excuse of a bedroom, Natsuki always showed a certain level of jealousy seeing a big room like this one.
'No time for that,' she thought, continuing her search for Yuuko—
GRUMBLE…
Natsuki's ears picked up the noise of a stomach rumbling from behind her. When she turned around… she found him.
Pressed against the wall, his arms both raised, Yuuko was frozen in place. His head slightly turned, only showing the side of his head, and he gave Natsuki a confused smile.
"Ahaha… Hi, Natsuki…" Yuuko's voice trailed off before he fell onto his back. "Ow…"
Two mugs of coffee sat on the table, steaming on each side. Even with a delicious pick-me-up, an odd feeling stirred among the scent of Colombian Roast. The unusual nature of the situation was amplified by the ticking of a hanging clock.
"…And I just woke up like this." Yuuko finished his story and his back slouched. "Don't ask me any questions. I'm still trying to figure it out myself."
The story that Natsuki pieced together didn't make sense; Yuuko suddenly woke up as a guy, with no other explanation or reasoning behind it. It just kinda happened.
"In any case, I'd just like you to not make a huge fuss about it." Yuuko continued speaking, "I'm still the same Yuuko Yoshikawa that you tease and… Natsuki?"
Natsuki looked expressionless at the new male-ified Yuuko. He appeared more slender than his female look. His chin, normally rounded and blobby, had chiseled away into a more contoured shape. His hair still retained its dirty blonde colour, though way shorter than the long, fluffy tresses of old, replaced with messy short locks, reminding Natsuki of her contrabass-playing kouhai, Motomu Tsukinaga.
And of course, he did not have a ribbon on. Yuuko would always have a ribbon on, or some variation of it, adding another layer of cuteness on top of her naturally kawaii anime girl-level appearance. What seemingly replaced the bow was two tiny tufts protruding out the top of his head, slightly curled upwards like rabbit ears.
The longer Natsuki stared at him, the more Yuuko couldn't contain the thumping beat in his chest. Natsuki always had pretty eyes; he'd known that even when he'd been a girl. Now that he was a guy, those violet eyes he normally would have thought nothing of had a heightened shine to them, like gemstones reflecting sunlight.
Yuuko began to flush red as he put his hand closer to his chest, trying to calm his heart. "Could you… stop looking… please?"
"Am I living in some sort of hentai hell now?" Natsuki thought with a sickened frown.
"Natsuki!"
"Wow, he's got a deep voice."
"NAT. SU. KI!"
"Oh, hi, Yuuko." Natsuki snapped out of her gaze. "What's wrong?"
"I told you not to make a huge fuss about it! I'm still… me!" Yuuko exclaimed, his cheeks slowly blushing red.
"I was just looking at you?"
"Stop looking then!"
"Scared of girls now, are we?" Natsuki's mouth slowly morphed into a sly grin. "Don't you worry! I'm still the same Natsuki Nakagawa you know and love! Annoying and an ass, like you always say!"
"That does not help at all..." Yuuko's face relegated to a more distasteful attitude towards his partner. He took a deep breath and calmed down, before looking at the clock; 7:05 AM.
"Not gonna lie," Natsuki spoke up as she looked at her phone, "it looks like we'll have to take a taxi if we want to get to band practice now." She looked at Yuuko again, still sporting a bathrobe and nightcap. "Is that the uniform you're gonna wear to school?
"Of course not, dumbass!"
"Do you have any idea what to wear then?"
"I… have no idea."
"Why not your sailor uniform? You'd look cute in it!"
"Shut up."
"…Alright fine. Maybe check your parent's bedroom. 'Bet your dad had something that you could wear."
"That's… actually helpful…"
"Can you say that again? I didn't have my camera app out."
"No." Yuuko suddenly got up from his seat and went to the stairs. "Call the taxi now. I'll be ready in 10."
"Way ahead of you!" Natsuki began dialing the number, but the annoying moniker began to show itself. "Oh, you're paying for our taxi by the way."
"W-What? Why me?!"
"Be a good gentleman to the lady, Yuuko!"
"Hell no!"
"Rude!" Natsuki smirked, before she turned her gaze down to Yuuko's lower half. "Oh, and since you are a boy, does that mean you have a—"
"Fuck off!" Yuuko let out a loathsome sigh before rushing upstairs.
Down the hall was his parents' room, and Yuuko began his search for a school-worthy male non-uniform uniform. He grabbed a bunch of clothes from the closet; his mom and dad shared the closet, with one half reserved for each other. He threw all the clothes onto the bed, eventually removing baby blue dress shirts and multi-coloured khakis. Most of the clothes landed on the floor before it finally narrowed down to two pieces of clothing.
One leg in, another leg in… One arm in, another arm in…
Staring into the tall wood-framed mirror standing by the closet, Yuuko inspected his clothes; a short white-sleeved dress shirt, black suit pants, and an accompanying white-buckled belt. The fit he wore wasn't within school regulations, but nobody would check it anyway, at least he hoped.
"…Boo!" Natsuki's soft breath collided with Yuuko's ear, causing him to stumble backwards and hit the mirror.
"What the hell!" Yuuko exclaimed as he readjusted himself.
Natsuki suddenly focused on the mirror, reflecting Yuuko's bootleg uniform fit; he surprisingly got it down to a tee.
"Not bad for someone who just became a boy," Natsuki praised, albeit with a tinge of sarcasm.
"Th-thanks," Yuuko replied, staying adamant as he aired his collar.
HONK!
Natsuki turned to the window, where their chariot sat outside. "Oh, there it is. Let's get moving."
They grabbed their bags and went out the door. After jumping into the taxi. Natsuki and Yuuko greeted the driver, who turned around and immediately inspected their uniforms.
The driver ominously stared at them before he spoke with an equally ominous voice. "…You two ladies going to Kitauji?"
The hallway to the music room stretched for what seemed like miles. Amidst the dusty air that shone under the bask of the morning sunlight, the pair sauntered down the stretch. The piddling sound of footsteps below them as the rubber soles of their shoes clashed with the farmland-patterned wooden floor, producing a sound akin to falling water. The air seemed less-than-heavy since the two were the only ones roaming the hallways before the sea of seifukus and gakurans overtook that calm feeling.
The pair eventually stopped in front of the door to the music room, but Yuuko still had a trembling feeling plaguing him. He held his hand close to his chest, trembling with every second that passed as he stared at the door. His breathing grew tighter.
"…Yuuko," Natsuki's voice spoke up from beside him. She seemed aware of his mini-freakout. "It's going to be okay, okay?" Her usually conniving voice turned to a whisper of encouragement as she gave him a thumbs up.
Though, Yuuko still didn't buy it. He snapped back with a sudden scowl. "Stop comforting me! I'm doing just fine!"
"Yeah, let's go with that," Natsuki smirked.
"Shut up! I'm gonna head in now!" Yuuko placed his hand on the door. Sliding it open with an effortless gliding motion, the band room revealed itself.
Dust lifted from the window sills and lightly fluttered throughout. The chalkboard and piano sat quietly like they always do, as did the music stands and chairs that dotted the space. This room had never been upgraded since the school's opening; it wasn't a dedicated band room either, as Kitauji never had the budget for a separate playing space. Instead, they used the general music classroom, sans the desks of course. Although slightly more spacious than the average classroom, it paled in comparison to other elitist schools and their luxurious facilities.
A few students were sprinkled throughout, but it seemed most of the members went outside to practice. Notably, two individuals stood by the piano, seemingly taking notes. One of them soon noticed the arriving duo, a floofy brown-haired girl.
"Ah, good morning senpais!" A cheery yet slightly rough voice came out of the girl's mouth, who was none other than Kumiko Omaue.
"Morning, senpais!" Standing beside Kumiko was a more refined girl, Reina Kousaka. She spoke with a sharpness in her voice.
"Morning!" Yuuko and Natsuki simultaneously greeted their kouhais, though Yuuko's greeting seemed more agitated than usual.
He let out a slightly whimpered, 'Hi…', before retracting behind Natsuki.
"You guys came a bit later than usual, hm?" Reina added.
"Not my fault," Natsuki immediately replied before grabbing Yuuko and putting him out front. "This person over here woke up late and I had to drag him out of bed. And now, he's gonna get our stands!"
"What?"
"Thanks in advance!"
"…Fine!" Yuuko stuck out his tongue and went over to grab some stands.
Natsuki walked up to the piano at the front, where Reina and Kumiko stood. The two were the new president and drum major of the band, with Kumiko herself taking over Yuuko's spot a month ago; she seemed to adapt pretty well to the change despite her apparent clumsiness. On the other hand, Reina took on a new role made specifically for her to have a bigger role in the grand scheme of things. What a drum major is exactly was beyond Natsuki's realm of thinking, but what immediately came to mind was the lack of a certain someone.
"Hey, where is the vice president? You know, the person who took over my spot?" Natsuki asked as she observed the room, pretty miffed that her successor was not seen anywhere.
"Oh, Shuuichi is here, but he immediately ran to the washroom when he came earlier," Kumiko replied. "He's been in there since. It also seems he came later than usual too. Don't know what happened there."
"Don't you guys walk together or something?"
"That is a very unfounded assumption."
"Fair enough…" Natsuki chuckled and she looked towards Yuuko, tip-toeing his way around the chairs to grab Natsuki's music stand. All the while, it seemed several band members had begun to spectate Yuuko. She didn't think much about it until she heard whispers from beside her.
"Admittedly, it's kind of weird to see her without the ribbon," Reina whispered to Kumiko, gazing towards Yuuko. "It makes me wonder how she's going to deal without her signature look!"
"It's like looking at a bow-less Minnie Mouse!" Kumiko added.
"Wouldn't that just be Mickey Mouse?"
"I really need to take you to Disneyland someday…"
Even more whispers bounced across the classroom as onlookers gazed at Yuuko. And from where Natsuki stood, she could see Yuuko getting uncomfortable with the noise. His fingers twitched and sweat slowly began pooling in his forehead.
"Hey…" Natsuki suddenly interrupted the two, hoping that four fewer eyes on Yuuko would make a slight difference. "I know it's weird seeing Yuuko without his ribbon, but it's really nothing in the grand scheme of things! It shouldn't be that big of a deal. He just changed his style for today and we should NOT judge him!"
Suddenly, Reina ominously turned to Natsuki and a confused look plastered onto her face. "…Why did you refer to Yuuko as a he?"
"…That is a very unfounded assumption." The realization suddenly dawned on Natsuki. Her face went slightly pale as she deflected the question.
"Senpai, that's supposed to be my line!" Kumiko rebutted.
"I swear you referred to Yuuko as a guy," Reina reeled the conversation back to Natsuki. "Senpai, is something wrong?"
"Uh…" Natsuki slowly moved her gaze away from the two, trying her best to deflect the question. She could sense Reina was only getting more suspicious however.
"Hey, Natsuki!" Yuuko's voice, like an angel standing over a cloud, seemed to have saved Natsuki from the awkwardness. He held the stands and gestured to her, almost telling her that they should get out NOW.
"Coming!" Natsuki exclaimed. She turned back to her kouhais and bowed quickly before walking right beside Yuuko.
The two leaders continued observing their senpais as they walked out the door.
"…Kumiko, I'm not crazy, am I?" Reina suddenly turned to her president and asked with a manic look on her face.
Kumiko suddenly jumped at the sight of Reina's confusion. "Woah, what's up?"
"Didn't you hear? Natsuki-senpai referred to Yuuko-senpai as a guy! I'm not the only one who heard that, right?"
"Did she? I don't recall."
"I swear she did!" Reina continued with a confused tone. "I heard it with my own two ears! What did she mean by that?! Is Yuuko—"
"—Reina, please stop reading those god-awful boy's love fanfics so late at night. It's not good for you." Kumiko interrupted like an annoyed wife to a husband, trying to reign Reina back to her senses.
"THAT IS A VERY UNFOUNDED ASSUMPTION!"
"Reina..."
The sliding door closed behind them.
Natsuki and Yuuko began to walk through the dingy 3rd floor hallway. Unlike the band room, no whispers filled the air and only the slight howl of the morning winds bellowed through the empty halls. It seemed like the break Yuuko needed from the unnecessary chaos that came from the room behind him. However, it was far from the case.
Even if it was just a few eyes that looked at him a few minutes ago, it was like a million onlookers stared right into his soul, judging his every move. And those whispers, oh, GOD, those whispers rang through his head, judging his appearance. It wasn't even that he was a dude, but no one seemed to like the ribbon-less Yuuko; even Reina, who didn't seem the type to judge appearances, was partially adamant about it.
Natsuki had noticed her partner spacing out, and she grew worried. "Yuuko! Yuuko! You alright?!" She spoke up, trying to reel Yuuko back in, but he seemed to ignore her.
The quivering of his lips intensified as the hallway in front of him stretched into oblivion. Colors around him grew darker and thick strokes brushed his surroundings. The fear grew as he felt his fingernails sink into the brushed metal of the stand and he jittered more than usual. The hallway continued stretching, everything caved in around him, a slight vignette slowly breaking into his view.
'Eyes have muscles?!' Yuuko felt his retinas constricting his vision, which was occupied with the fluorescent lights that now flashed brighter than spotlights. It blinded him, and without realizing it, he let go of the music stands he was holding.
"Oh, shit!" Natsuki lunged forward to try and grab the stand before it hit the ground. Her fingers were 1 mm apart from grabbing it, though it didn't connect in time. The fear in her eyes had grown as the stand was closer to impact in 3… 2…
"NO, YOU DON'T!"
The quick pitter-patter of footsteps approached Natsuki and Yuuko, coming from a tall male student with a messy dirty blonde haircut sporting the school's traditional gakuran. The student caught the music stand in time and held it firmly in his hands, though his face remained planted on the floor.
"…Oh, hi, Shuuichi-kun. Or should I say, my successor?" Natsuki replied with an amused tone. She proceeded to take the music stand from him, before snapping Yuuko out of his trance by flicking his forehead.
"Yuuko, wake up! You nearly dropped the thing!"
Yuuko shook his head, woken up from his out-of-reality dream. "Huh, wha happun'??"
"You nearly dropped the music stand?"
"Oh, did I?"
Shuuichi lifted himself up and brushed the dust off his uniform.
"Mornin', senpais. And sorry for the mess—" Suddenly, his voice was cut short as he looked at the two, especially gazing at Yuuko. He seemed almost mesmerized by Yuuko, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating after the fall.
"Something up, Shuuichi-kun?" Yuuko asked, a bit sensitive to his kouhai's staring.
"Yuuko-senpai, you're… Your appearance is… Are you—"
"Yeah, I'm missing my ribbon. I got that a lot today."
"No, It's not that—" Shuuichi was interrupted once again, this time by a sizable nudge from behind him. He quickly turned around to find a girl with shoulder-length black hair tied with a red ribbon, sporting the Kitauji seifuku.
"Sakai Masako-san?" Yuuko exclaimed as the girl slowly peered from behind Shuuichi.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Masako apologized frantically to the boy she bumped into. "I didn't see you there! Forgive my ignorance!"
"Running late too, Masako-san?" Shuuichi asked.
"No, I got caught up reading some manga and I didn't see my clock! Thank god for Ubers!"
"Yeah, caught up…"
Natsuki and Yuuko greeted Masako as well, to which she greeted back. However, from both their views, her face seemingly scrunched up the moment she faced them.
Masako rubbed her eyes and squinted them at Yuuko with a face of disbelief. "Y-You're kidding, right?"
"…What's with the look?" Natsuki asked.
"Uh, can you see, Natsuki-senpai? Yuuko-senpai is—"
"—Yes, I'm missing the ribbon. People have already told me that." Yuuko interrupted, cutting straight to the point. "Anyways, you two should get into the band room. Especially you, Shuuichi-kun. Kumiko's waiting for you, and you don't want to leave your girlfriend waiting."
Yuuko picked up the music stand and proceeded onwards, with Natsuki following suit. Natsuki waved back at Masako and Shuuichi, who waved back as well.
When their senpais finally left, they lowered their hands and immediately looked at each other, absolutely puzzled.
"Okay, I'm not the only one who sees that, right?" Shuuichi asked first.
"You and Kumiko are a thing!?" Masako replied, completely bypassing his question and seemingly unaware about her classmate's relationship in the first place.
"What? YES— I MEAN, NO, I MEAN… Okay, I'm not even going to talk about that! Let's just keep talking about Yuuko-senpai!"
"Oh, uh, right. You saw Yuuko-senpai, right?"
"That's what I'm asking, and yes! So, I guess I'm not hallucinating at all."
"Wow, and I thought stuff like that could only happen in dreams, or manga!"
"I guess you know what that means then…" Shuuichi sighed, his voice trailing off. "We should go and ask them—"
"—COWBOY STICK-UP!" Masako suddenly exclaimed with a prideful expression.
"…What?"
His mind clouded again.
A discordant sound fired out the bell, immediately catching Natsuki's attention. "Argh, Yuuko! If you're going to play the notes wrong, don't make it intentional!"
"That wasn't intentional!" Yuuko quickly retorted.
"Then stop playing like that."
"I'm not playing like that! I'll prove it!
The rooftop bridge connected one half of the Kitauji campus to the other. A popular practice spot for band members to practice in peace, it offered a more scenic landscape to let the music flow out, and on a sunny day like today, the conditions for practicing were nothing but optimal.
Yuuko put the mouthpiece against his lips and played the song again. He played a few notes correctly and got past the first line without a hitch.
His mind clouded again.
A discordant sound fired out the bell, and Natsuki became fed up. "Yuuko, that was the fifth time you messed up!"
"And what of it?" Yuuko fought back. "I'm just making mistakes like a regular human being!"
Natsuki wasn't satisfied with that answer, and she proceeded to kick Yuuko's shin.
"What the hell was that for?!" Yuuko yelled as he jumped up and down. The pain eventually went away and afterwards, he asked Natsuki more politely, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"
"We've been practicing this song for months, and from what I can remember, you played your parts flawlessly, at least before today!" Natsuki flicked her partner's forehead and continued. "Yuuko, there's something wrong. What is it that you seem so worried about?"
"Nothing that you should care about."
"…Yuuko, just spill it."
Yuuko bit his lip, before he eventually caved into answering. "…Okay, fine, you're right. I can't play like this." He placed his trumpet on the floor and sat down. "…What happened to me?"
Natsuki sat down as well, placing her euphonium to the side. Even when sitting, Yuuko was at least a few inches taller than her; they used to be the same height back when he was still a girl.
"It's like my confidence went down the drain all of a sudden!" Yuuko continued. "It shouldn't be! I mean, everyone at least sees me as Yuuko the girl, but with no ribbon. That's fine! And for me, my body is different but I am still Yuuko! That's also fine!"
"So, what seems to be the problem?" Natsuki asked.
"…It's just that something feels off, y'know? And it's affecting me in ways that I can't put into words."
"It's hard to adapt, I guess?"
"It's probably not that, but there's just something about this whole thing that's giving me anxiety. And whatever it is, I just don't know what the solution should be…"
Natsuki began to think about the situation. If there was a potential solution to this "problem", then where should she look?
She stood back up, leaning on the railing with her arms folded. She turned around to see the view, where thousands of little buildings stood beneath the hill the school sat on. As she stared towards both Uji and the surrounding neighborhoods, the sun had begun its rise into the sky. Clouds tangled with the lights below, a foreboding but ethereal sight that was temporary when they drifted away like a dream. The houses, some with their lights still on, shone individually like a field of stars. It was a bit cumbersome for her tired eyes, and Natsuki looked up to the sky. Then, she noticed an actual star, glinting for a second before succumbing into the slowly-turning-to full blue sky. All these stars and fake stars, the lights and glints of magic, and as Natsuki stared out into the town, it was something straight out of a hand-drawn film.
And then it dawned on her.
Natsuki quickly turned to Yuuko and asked him, "Have you seen Cinderella?"
"The original or the remake?" Yuuko was quite puzzled as to why Cinderella was being brought up; it wasn't even the best Disney film, he thought as well.
"Both, but that's beyond the point! You know how the Fairy Godmother put a spell on Cinderella that lasted until midnight?"
"…Where are you going with this?"
"Well, it got me thinking that if your thing was some sort of spell from some malevolent force, then maybe you'll be turned back into a girl at midnight!"
"That is…" Yuuko took a few seconds of pause to relish the idea, but the moment came and went as quick as it arrived. "…Absolutely stupid."
"It's really not."
"It is."
"Think about it. It's one of the oldest and most reliable tropes known in storytelling! You gotta think this is some sort of spell that'll last until midnight."
"Doesn't explain how I turned into a dude suddenly. I feel like we should find the source of that."
"I don't think it'll be explained, nor will we find it."
"What if it's being foreshadowed somehow?"
"Nah, it doesn't work like that."
Natsuki returned to relaxing on the railing and staring out towards the landscape. The sun had finally risen, emitting a ray of light that glistened her auburn hair with a sheen of gold.
"You know… you shouldn't worry about this," Natsuki continued speaking with an assuring tone. "Sure, new body, new rules, new chicanery and stuff. But, you're still Yuuko. Don't let a sudden gender bender get in your way."
Yuuko relished Natsuki's statements in his mind for a while. Sure, Natsuki wasn't wrong in any way, but the anxious feeling still burnt inside his chest. He stood up and relaxed on the railing like his partner. His face had a slight hint of fear that seemed masked as he looked towards Uji.
"I'm not worried, but it still feels like something isn't right!" Yuuko replied with a tremble in his tone.
"Yuuko, that's called being worried."
"I'm not worried!"
"Then don't be."
"Natsuki, I am not—"
Their conversation suddenly halted as they heard the door slide open. The two quickly looked over to see who was there.
"Geh, Shuuichi." Yuuko mumbled.
"Howdy, senpais! Good mornin' to y'all!" Shuuichi greeted them with an enthusiastic but grating Western accent. "What's a fella gotta do around here to get sum apple juice?"
"Zip it, cowboy!" They yelled back simultaneously. It wasn't until a few seconds later that they noticed their kouhai was in a… rather bodacious fit.
"Uh, Shuuichi-kun?" Yuuko asked as he blankly stared at his kouhai's cowboy get-up. "Are you doing okay or…?"
Shuuichi had nearly everything to a tee; the fake bushy mustache, large white cowboy hat, an orange-tipped toy revolver, beige chaps, a leather vest, and some good ol' fashioned boots. Even if he needed a cigar and a trusty steed, he looked alright.
"This is a robbery! Ya guhrls beder give uhp yo-wr money or else!" Shuuichi announced. He pulled out the revolver, though he slipped up and began fumbling it around like a hot potato.
He dropped it a few seconds later.
Natsuki looked down as the gun slid towards her, and she sighed. "なんですかこれ?"
"…What in tarnation happened here?" Shuuichi tried salvaging the situation by speaking in that stupid cowboy accent again. "Looks like ah gone up in smoke this duel. Ah beder git moving—
"—Please stop." Natsuki cut in with a less-than-enthusiastic voice.
"Oh my god, thank you," Shuuichi sighed with relief, finally reverting to his normal voice. "Listen, I was forced to do this against my will, so you saying that is, like, the greatest thing right now."
"You could've just… y'know, not talk like that without me saying it?"
"Yeah, but—"
"GOD DAMN IT, SHUUICHI! YOU JUST HAD TO RUIN THE PLAN, HUH?" An upsetting voice screeched from behind Shuuichi. And soon, Masako popped out from the door sporting an inflatable horse costume, four legs and all with a stupid cartoon grin on its face.
"And that's the problem, senpai." Shuuichi said as Masako began galloping towards him.
'…What the fuck?' Yuuko and Natsuki looked at each other, weirded out by the current situation they were in.
Masako galloped her way to Shuuichi and stopped right beside him, but she looked at him with an angry face. "Can you just, like, be cooperative for at least one second of my fleeting life!?" She exclaimed, looking up at her classmate with scrunched eyebrows.
"Sorry, not sorry?" Shuuichi replied with ambivalent sarcasm.
Unsatisfied with the half-assed apology, Masako ripped Shuuichi's mustache and yelled, "Zip it, cowboy!"
"THE HELL WAS THAT?! We're just telling them to meet in the classroom! Isn't this just adding unnecessary complexity to a mundane task?!"
"Sure, you could think that, but we needed to drag them out with the most realistic and grab-worthy plan!"
"By pointing a fake gun at them, lassoing them together, dragging them down the hallway into an empty classroom, and then revealing the revelation about Yuuko? Sure, realistic and grab-worthy! Great plan!"
Masako, annoyed that her classmate was being a stuck-up son of a gun, crumpled his mustache with her hand. She grunted and looked at Yuuko, who stood on the other side of the bridge.
"Uh, what are you doing, Masako-san?" Natsuki asked, but was ignored when her kouhai brushed past her.
Masako stood her ground and looked at Yuuko with a curious stare. She soon leaned towards Yuuko and began inspecting him.
'Hm, slightly taller than usual, more slender, and a change in personality. What was once a firm and confident individual had been reduced to a timid, almost hollow shell of the former president…'
"Masako-san, what are you doing exactly?" Yuuko questioned Masako as she continued inspecting.
"I'm infatuated with you? You got a problem with your kouhai being infatuated?"
"Kouhais shouldn't act creepy around their senpais, especially if they greatly admire them!"
"Yeah, I don't care. Stand still."
Their lips were 2mm apart from kissing. His slight breathing beating against her own clashed into a warm embrace that wrapped in their bubble, making his cheeks puff with heat. Yuuko could barely taste the strawberry lip balm Masako wore. A slight squirm as she inched closer, the sound of his shoes scraping against the floor tuned in for a split second. He could feel his chest thumping louder as Masako drew closer and closer.
"What a curiouser and curiouser case..." Masako mumbled to herself as she pushed closer. Her lips were now 1 mm from touching Yuuko's lips and she continued inspecting him. "A girl yesterday, suddenly a boy today. Typical gender-bent story beats, but yet something feels different…"
"G-gender-bender?!" Yuuko stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. "I-I'm still a girl! What are you talking about?!"
"…Are you stupid, senpai? I can see you as a guy. Same with Shuuichi-kun over there." Masako spoke with an unflinching expression as she made direct eye contact with him. She had also switched the questionnaire over to Natsuki. "Don't you find it weird that your friend suddenly switched genders, Natsuki-senpai? Like, she just suddenly woke up as a boy. It must be weird, huh?"
"Shit!" Yuuko mumbled as he continued squirming back. He looked over Masako's shoulder and to Natsuki, trying to get her attention, though it seemed she was unavailable.
Natsuki's face had a rigid look. It turned pale, blank as an art canvas, but soon painted with a tense expression. Her purple eyes, usually sharp but comforting, now had a dagger-like quality, piercing him immediately. Her jaw had tightened too, rigid as a cliff's edge. And, before he looked away in fear, he could've sworn he saw one of Natsuki's hands curl into a fist.
Yuuko placed his hand flat on Masako's face and pushed her away. "Shuuichi-kun!" He yelled out.
"…Fine." Shuuichi sighed as he pulled Masako out of Yuuko's vicinity. "Masako, stop teasing her— I mean, him!"
"I wasn't teasing! I was merely inspecting him!" Masako smirked. She looked over and winked at Natsuki, who grumbled in response.
"Okay anyway—" Shuuichi turned off the air machine on Masako's costume and continued, "—Masako-san and I can see clearly that Yuuko-senpai is… is… a dude now. What happened?"
"I'm just as lost as you are, Shuuichi-kun." Natsuki replied. "All I could say is that you and Masako-san need to not talk about this, okay?"
"That's the thing, Natsuki-senpai. We came here to tell you that we want to hold a meeting about this. Just the four of us, because we just want to talk about it and come up with a solution."
"That would be nice, but we already came to our own conclusion and we're alright. Thanks for the offer though."
"But…"
"But?"
"Well… I don't know how to say it without being mean, but—"
"—YOU GUYS ARE ABSOLUTELY STUPID!" Masako proclaimed as she pointed at the two; she somehow managed to turn the air machine on her costume back on.
Her kouhai was dressed like a horse, formerly a dead, dried-up horse that was being inflated again, but a horse nonetheless. And the horse herself was telling them that they're idiots. Why would they listen to a horse? Horses don't know anything?
Natsuki never had ill feelings against any of her kouhais most of the time, but hearing Masako call them stupid, she couldn't resist to fight back.
"…Wh—"
However, as her mouth opened for a full-frontal assault, an almost timid whimper piped up behind her.
Yuuko had gone into the fetal position. He sat against the wall, burying his face in his knees, which were wrapped by his arms. He quietly rocked back and forth.
"Yuuko?" Natsuki mumbled as she looked at him, worried and confused. The sounds of his whimpering soon became overshadowed as the kouhais' arguing suddenly became louder.
"Woah, Masako-san," Shuuichi intervened, turning off the air machine again and pulled his classmate back, giving her a stern look this time. "Don't think you're being a bit too rash?"
Masako pushed herself away from Shuuichi. "Rash? Nah, Shuuichi. I'm just being real with them!"
"Yeah, real? Totally. You're doing a great job being real by calling our senpais stupid, huh?"
"Is this why Kumiko broke up with you? Because you're such a stuck-up bitch?!"
"Don't stoop that low! And we didn't break up because of that! It was a mutual agreement andthefactthatItriedtokissherduringthesummerfestivaleventhoughsheclearlydidn'twantthat, but still, not because I was stuck up!"
Yuuko sat outside the chaos, the arguing the furthest away from him. Those two kouhais just wouldn't seem to shut up, and his state of dismay was progressively worsening. As those idiots continued arguing, the hodgepodge of chaotic noise built up a gripping feeling inside his chest.
"Oh, what kind of dude fails a kiss? Do you have no game or something?!"
"Like you kissed any dudes!"
The thumping sound of his heartbeat grew faster. The arguing grew louder. He was slowly losing it.
"Oh, please, Shuuichi! I may not have kissed anyone, but I probably am a better romantic than you!"
"Wow, that's bold coming from someone who gets all their knowledge from manga, huh?"
The thumping sound of his heartbeat grew faster. The arguing grew louder. He was slowly losing it.
"HEY, NOW THAT IS A NEW LEVEL OF LOW TO PICK ON SOMEONE'S PERSONAL INTERESTS!"
"SAYS THE ONE WEARING A FUCKING INFLATABLE HORSE COSTUME!"
The thumping sound of his heartbeat had grown the fastest. The arguing had become the loudest. He was finally losing it—
"—SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Natsuki grabbed her music folder, turned around quickly, and proceeded to throw the folder at the bickering cowboy and his horse.
Yuuko looked up as the wind blew against Natsuki's auburn hair. Though he could only see the back of her head, the conviction in her yell had caused him to quiet down and listen up.
Meanwhile, the kouhais immediately straightened up and stood their ground firmly. They never saw their senpai as an angry individual; she had a sharp look that always intimidated people, but there was something fluffy about her that made her approachable. The notion changed when they spotted the veins in her eyes rush red and her mouth clenched with an intensely bitter growl.
"CAN YOU TWO JUST ZIP IT FOR FIVE FUCKING SECONDS?!" She continued yelling with resounding rage that could be felt for miles. "YUUKO AND I, AND ESPECIALLY YUUKO, HAVE NO TIME FOR YOUR BULLSHIT WHATSOEVER. STOP FIGHTING OVER YOUR SAD ROMANTIC PLIGHTS AND YOUR VIRGINITY AND JUST SAY SOMETHING THAT MAY BE USEFUL, OR ZIP YOUR ANNOYING MOUTHS SHUT!"
When she finally stopped, Natsuki's faint breathing echoed throughout. Masako and Shuuichi were left stunned, their mouths open wide in shock.
After a while, Natsuki herself calmed down and she bowed to her kouhais.
"…Sorry, guys," She said, regretting her sudden outburst. "It's… just been a weird several hours. I-I didn't mean everything I said back there. I'm sorry."
They initially didn't reply with words, but Shuuichi bowed to Natsuki. He also nudged Masako to bow with him, though her reaction seemed indifferent.
"Apologies for our behaviour, senpai." Shuuichi said as he returned upright. "But please come to the meeting anyway!"
"We're at 302, by the way. Don't dawdle!" Masako enthusiastically responded as she galloped to the door; her deflated horse costume dragged behind like a wedding dress.
Shuuichi nodded one more time at them and followed Masako inside, leaving Natsuki and Yuuko on their own once again. After the door slid shut, Natsuki immediately faced her partner, slightly peeved.
"Oh, come on! Get up!" Natsuku quickly put her hand out to Yuuko. "Look, they're stupid about this whole thing, and I told you not to worry about it anyway!"
"…How are they stupid?" Yuuko spoke with austerity in his voice and a newfound desperation in his eyes.
"Yuuko?" Natsuki suddenly asked her partner as she lowered her arm.
"I'm going to that meeting, Natsuki."
"…Good one."
"I'm being serious."
"You really don't need to go there!"
"You're telling me to not show up to a meeting with two people who can see me as a guy? What do you mean by that?" Yuuko sharply fought back. "What if they're right in saying that we are stupid about this whole thing?"
"What do they know? They don't know anything about this!"
"And neither do we! I do think it's best if we had a bit more information about this whole thing. Who knows, maybe that Cinderella theory of yours is wrong!"
"Sure, but we're not at that part yet! Clock hasn't struck midnight from what I can tell."
"And if it strikes midnight and nothing happens? What's the backup then?!"
"Stop asking questions. We aren't at that part yet! We still have time to figure that out!"
"And what happens if we reach beyond that part and nothing is resolved?! What happens then?!"
Natsuki grew even more frustrated with Yuuko and yelled, "WHY DO I HAVE TO REPEAT MYSELF! WE. AREN'T. AT. THAT. PART. YET! STOP BEING SO WORRIED!"
She didn't get a response from her partner. A slight rumble, but she was met with Yuuko staring at her with a blank face…
And then Yuuko's eyebrows scrunched.
His eyes tightened.
His mouth crumpled.
His hands clenched into fists.
An anger seeped into his sharply defined face.
"…You're calling me worried? Worried, huh?" Yuuko suddenly shot right up, conviction in his stance, as he finally faced Natsuki with powerful intensity. "WELL, YES, NATSUKI! I AM WORRIED! WHY WOULDN'T I BE IF I WOKE UP LIKE THIS?!"
His mouth closed tight as a quivering feeling bristled the lips.
As much as Natsuki wanted to fight back, the argument wasn't going anywhere. Yuuko was being an overdramatic lunatic and it would be a pain in the ass to fight back. She didn't respond and stared at him with a blank face.
Yuuko gazed at Natsuki with similar ambivalence. The resounding defeat in Natsuki's face, in contrast to her confidence earlier, had worried him a bit, though not enough. He brushed past her without a second thought and stood by the door.
"Hey, you said the word worried way too much back there." Natsuki spoke up, trying to reel Yuuko back to her.
"I'll see you there, Natsuki…"
Yuuko slid the door shut, leaving Natsuki alone on the rooftop.
The conductor had silenced the symphony, the rooftop quieted to a resounding halt. The chill of the wind whistled through the desolate atmosphere, brushing through her hair like a silky curtain. Her hand clenched tightly into a fist and she looked at the door one last time, before letting out a simple tongue click.
"Tsk. Stupid…"