Chapter Three:

She and He

Ryuzaki Sakuno had been dreading this moment since the day Tomo-chan insisted that she confess. Every nerve in her body, from her trembling fingers to her aching heart, screamed at her not to do it. But there she was, waist-deep in cold water, the fish swirling lazily around her legs, and for once, everything felt… just right.

This was her chance. Alright, she was going to do it. She took a deep breath before chancing a glance to her left, her heart skipping a beat at the sight of Ryoma-kun, who was doing that thing where he looked like he wasn't trying but still somehow appeared effortlessly cool—even in the middle of a fishing trip.

He would be fine. He wouldn't freak out.

She took another deep breath and readied herself, mentally chanting,

'Come on, Sakuno. You can do this!'

This was the moment. She would say it and... wait for him to call her silly and brush it off like it was nothing. Right?

So, stilling her resolve, she clenched her eyes shut and—

"I-I like you, Ryoma-kun!" she blurted out, louder than intended.

It was the same feeling as tripping over your own feet in front of a crowd, except that in this case, it was just her and him, and a bunch of fish who were clearly judging her.

Silence.

He blinked. "What?" he asked, his voice laced with genuine confusion, completely oblivious to the agony she was feeling.

Why did he have to ask her to repeat such embarrassing words!?

So, again, with her face burning like a furnace, she clenched her fists. "I s-said I l-like you, R-Ryoma-kun!" she repeated, her voice now a little higher, betraying her utter discomfort. The words were practically tumbling out of her mouth in a high-pitched squeak.

Ryoma blinked again, like he was trying to process it. He opened his mouth, and in the most Ryoma-esque fashion possible, said: "I'm sorry, I don't have time for silly crushes."

A loud cracking noise exploded in her mind.

It was the sound of Sakuno's heart breaking into pieces. Her shoulders dropped, and no matter how hard she tried, she still felt extremely hurt and disappointed. It wasn't as if she had expected him to fall to his knees in a dramatic proclamation of love, but hearing him say it so nonchalantly was... well, it stung more than a slap to the face from a fish.

"O-Okay, Ryoma-kun," she said softly, biting back the lump in her throat. She tried her best to stop the tears from gathering in her eyes, but she managed to force a smile. "I u-understand."

She felt the world closing in around her. The silence was deafening. And to make matters worse, the fish kept swimming by, as though mocking her, flapping their tails in her face as if they knew the depths of her embarrassment. The cold water was nothing compared to the freezing sensation in her chest.

Ryoma-kun, completely oblivious to her inner turmoil, looked away and bent down to catch the mocking fishes swimming around them.

"Let's just get some fish and head back to the house," he said, his tone not at all affected by the emotional wreck that was happening right beside him.

She nodded stiffly, a deep sense of rejection and hopelessness settling over her. The pain was unbearable. But what else could she do? She had listened to Tomoka and confessed her feelings, and he had rejected her. That was that.

She turned her back to Ryoma to hide the gathering tears in her eyes when suddenly...

BOOM.

The sky split open with a crash of thunder.

Sakuno jumped, flailing in the water like an over-caffeinated chicken. She lost her footing on the slick rocks below her, and as her body went into freefall, her first instinct was to grab onto something—anything. That something, unfortunately, turned out to be Ryoma-kun's arm.

She managed to let out a yelp as Ryoma-kun's grip tightened on her—though she wasn't sure if it was to save her or if he, too, had lost his balance in the process. Either way, she could feel her body being dragged down further, both of them spiraling toward the inevitable chaos of the water below.

The entire sequence of events felt like something out of an action movie, but without the cool soundtrack or slow-motion explosions.

But the worst part? As they both fell, colliding in the middle of the lake with all the grace of two wet socks, their lips somehow managed to meet in the most accidental, awkward, ridiculously timed kiss imaginable.

She froze. Time stopped, and her mind went blank.

Ryoma-kun's face was inches away from hers, and all she could think was,

'This is not how I imagined my first kiss!'

The lake, unperturbed by her existential crisis, swallowed them whole with a loud splashing sound. To make matters worse, for some unknown reason, a huge wave washed them toward a much deeper part of the lake, and Sakuno lost all the air she had managed to gather.

So, this was how she was going to die. Killed by slipping on rocks and drowning. Fantastic! At least she snatched a kiss from her first love.

As she was slowly losing consciousness, she suddenly felt a strong arm encircling her waist, and she was pulled to the surface, gasping for air.

She felt like her soul had left her body. She barely realized that it was Ryoma-kun who had saved her and was already pulling her up, though not without some difficulty, given that both of them were drenched and flailing about in a manner that could only be described as uncoordinated.

Somehow—somehow—he managed to drag her back to shore, both of them sputtering and drenched, his usually pristine cap floating on top of the water. She could barely keep herself upright, her legs wobbly as jelly.

The thunder struck again, followed by heavy rain. Sakuno hugged herself. She couldn't bring herself to look at Ryoma-kun.

She had confessed to him, and he had rejected her. But they still ended up accidentally kissing (and almost drowning!). Somewhere up there, someone was clearly having a lot of fun.

She heard shuffling as Ryoma fetched his hat from the water before he returned beside her.

"We'll get sick if we stay here. Let's go back to the house. Can you walk?" Ryoma-kun asked her, but she could barely lift her head. She was so embarrassed that tears were gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"Ryuzaki?" He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she answered with an embarrassing sniffle.

She heard him sigh, then his fila hat was suddenly placed on her head, and before she knew it, he had already lifted her up in his arms, like a bride being princess-carried by her newly-wed husband.

Sakuno really did cry now.

How could she ever move on if he made her feel like she was special? Who would ever carry the girl he had just rejected like this?

If Ryoma heard her crying, he didn't comment on it until they made it back to the house.

As soon as everyone saw their appearances, they exploded into a state of absolute panic. The others gathered around, asking if they were okay, but it didn't matter. Ryoma-kun's indifferent expression didn't change as he explained to the others what happened to them.

But Sakuno reached her limit. Before Ryoma could even finish explaining, she had already lost consciousness.

Sakuno woke up rudely to the sound of loud snoring. Her head was pounding, and her eyes barely opened, leaving her disoriented.

Her body felt heavy, as though she had woken up from a long nap, but everything around her felt wrong. She put a hand to her aching head as the unfamiliar smell of the room overtook her senses. The soft floral scent of her and Tomoka's room had been replaced by something... different.

She slowly blinked her eyes a couple of times, squinting against the morning light that filtered through the window. The room was completely unfamiliar. As she looked around in a daze, her heart immediately began to race. Bodies were scattered across the floor, in and out of futons with blankets thrown haphazardly, tennis balls lying all around, and shoes and clothes tossed about. This was definitely not the room she shared with Tomoka.

Sakuno's mind raced, her eyes darting wildly as she tried to make sense of everything. What... was going on? Why was she sleeping with the senpais? And why did everything feel... strange?

Her gaze dropped down to the soft fabric of the pajama top she was wearing. Blue. A color that was completely wrong for her. She instinctively tugged at the fabric, confused. This wasn't her pajama. She glanced at her arms, long and muscular. Wait a minute…

Her stomach churned. Why are my arms like this? She stretched her hands out—hands that were too big, too rough, not like her own delicate ones. She could feel the panic creeping in, but it wasn't until her eyes wandered lower that the true chaos of the situation hit her.

She touched her chest. No… no... NO! Where was her breast!? She was sure she would know if she had undergone a breast reduction surgery!

But that was not the end of her horrors, she found—oh no. Her mind raced through all the possibilities. Did I drink something weird? Is this some sort of twisted joke? But no—there was no denying it. She slowly turned her gaze down, down, down, and with eyes as wide as saucers, she realized with a sickening sense of disbelief that her body had somehow—absolutely somehow—woken up with an uninvited guest.

She clenched her eyes shut and, slowly, painfully slowly, she touched her crotch… and felt a huge, hard something standing tall.

As sensation of the touch crawl up to her spine causing an involuntary shudder, she could no longer deny the truth. Sakuno let out a scream of utter horror. She belatedly realized that the voice was much too deep and raspy. Without thinking, she bolted out of the futton, waking up horde of disoriented senpais, who yelled Ryoma's last name in confusion.

Sakuno's mind was in total chaos and denial. All she wanted was to make it to the bathroom. The bathroom would be her sanctuary. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she couldn't get out of there fast enough. She needed to hide. She needed answers. The bathroom! The bathroom was her only hope—her sanctuary, her safe place. She could lock herself in there, look in the mirror, and find some sort of explanation for this mess.

By the time she reached the bathroom door, her heart was hammering in her chest, every beat pounding like a drum in her ears. She flung the door open, nearly crashing into the wall in her rush, and was met with the most impossible sight: herself.

There, standing in front of her, was undeniably her, Ryuzaki Sakuno. But no—she was Ryuzaki Sakuno, and she was inside a man's body. Then who was the person inhabiting her body?

They both stood frozen in shock, eyes wide. It took a few heart-stopping seconds for the realization to hit. The figure who had just burst through the door was her, but not quite—it was Ryoma-kun's face she saw in the mirror, his eyes filled with the same confusion and disbelief.

Her breath hitched as the impossible clicked into place.

"Ryoma-kun!?" she gasped, her voice sounding way too deep for her own comfort.

"Ryuzaki!?" Ryoma-kun—the person who was probably inside her body—replied in shock, his voice way too high and unsteady coming from her body.

The two stared at each other, dumbstruck, as time seemed to stretch, both of them caught in the surreal horror of the moment.

To be Continued…