Come to think of it, if people could swap bodies with someone else, what kind of life would they want to live?
"Oh, that movie where the male and female leads swap bodies? It's being re-screened right now, isn't it? I saw it when it first came out. A very clichéd romantic comedy, but not a bad way to kill time."
Having finished picking out the gift, Yukinoshita Yukino held the hairpin she'd chosen in her hand. She also knew that the Yuigahama family kept a dog, so she had thoughtfully selected a collar for the pet as well.
"Swapping bodies, huh—that actually sounds pretty interesting."
Yamada, who had been standing off to the side looking half-asleep, suddenly snapped awake. After rubbing her eyes, she looked straight at Narumi.
"But if it were you, Koumi, you'd definitely want to swap bodies with a pretty girl, right?"
At those words, Yukinoshita Yukino frowned.
"That's not what matters. The key point isn't that—it's about living a completely different life, experiencing a new way of living from someone else's perspective—"
"I want to swap bodies with a beautiful girl."
The curly-haired boy gave a righteous, utterly sincere answer.
"…and then examining your own life from another person's point of view, learning empathy, putting yourself in someone else's shoes—"
"I want to swap bodies with a voluptuous, older onee-san."
"…and finally reconciling with your original life, cherishing the present and the people in front of you—"
"I want to swap bodies with a big-boobed, black-stockinged, high-sex-appeal lady!"
Yukinoshita Yukino finally snapped. Her face flushed bright red, several veins visibly popping on her forehead.
"I swear, you—!"
Now fully awake, Ryō let out a whistle from the side, wearing a "just as I thought" smile.
"What a shame. There's no one here who meets all those criteria, Koumi. Guess you'll just have to dream about it."
It was hard to tell whether there was mockery mixed into her words, but one thing was certain—Yukinoshita Yukino's expression did not look good.
Only Bocchi-chan glanced left, then right, before lowering her head to look at her chest, tightly wrapped in her pink tracksuit.
If we're talking about figures… I guess I'm… not that bad?
Rarely, Gotō Hitori found a bit of confidence by comparing herself to two extremely flat seniors.
"Ahem—being at that age, having your hormones going wild and yearning for the opposite sex is totally normal, right?"
Narumi cleared his throat and declared his thoughts with resounding conviction—completely unconcerned by the strange looks cast at him by passing high school girls.
"Swapping bodies might be cliché, but if I can experience a girl's life, it's totally worth it!"
"Oh wow, what a pervert speech! Truly you, Koumi!"
Watching Yamada and Narumi sing in perfect harmony, Yukino sighed weakly. She was starting to understand why these two could get along so well.
In the end, under the authoritative gaze of Club President Yukinoshita Yukino, Narumi finally reined in his carefree antics and properly picked out a gift that Yuigahama Yui would absolutely be able to use—a dog leash.
"Since you're giving her a collar, President, me adding a leash makes it a complete set, right?"
Using that reasoning, he wrapped the gift up neatly. Yamada—who didn't even know Yuigahama—chimed in from the side with, "Why not add a bag of dog food too? Make it a family combo set," but Narumi didn't accept that idea. After all, Yamada couldn't cough up a single yen—he'd be the one paying at the register.
In short, the main objective of the trip—choosing a gift for Yuigahama Yui and strengthening their bond—was accomplished.
Although the course of events had gone a bit beyond Yukinoshita Yukino's expectations (mostly due to the addition of Yamada Ryō and Bocchi), the outing could still be considered a smooth success.
"The line Bocchi-chan takes is different from our station exit. I'll walk her to her platform and come back, okay?"
Since all four of them lived in different directions, Narumi decided to see Bocchi-chan off first. He waved at Yamada and Yukino, who stayed behind, as he left with the pink-haired girl.
"Be careful on the way."
"We'll be waiting for you."
Both of them raised a hand to signal him off, but once the curly-haired boy disappeared into the sea of people, they simultaneously fell silent.
Ryō idly fiddled with the small charm on her clothes, looking bored, while Yukinoshita Yukino glanced down at the time on her wristwatch. Neither of them looked at the other, and neither spoke.
The awkward silence lasted until the bustling crowd pushed them closer together, forcing Yukino to step nearer to Ryō.
"Based on what I know about Koumi—no matter how you look at it, he doesn't seem like the type who'd willingly join a club."
It was thanks to that that the blue-haired girl, eyes drifting, spoke up casually.
"May I ask what kind of activities your club usually does, President?"
Her tone was flat, but Yukino didn't take it as a polite or friendly question.
Unlike Gotō Hitori, who was an entirely harmless cute creature, the woman in front of her—unassuming, unreadable, and impossible to predict—was not someone to underestimate. That was Yukino's first instinct.
"The Service Club. A club established to help resolve requests and problems from fellow students."
Yukinoshita Yukino answered calmly and concisely, explaining the nature of the club.
"Huh, the Service Club? Isn't that one of those… ecchi—"
"I-it's not that kind of place! We just handle requests, that's all!"
Yukino quickly cleared her throat, maintaining a steady tone as she tried not to lose her composure.
"So basically helping people fulfill their wishes… Sounds like a pain."
Ryō let out a long sigh and looked away.
"Anyway, Koumi definitely didn't join a club like that on his own, right? That guy hates trouble."
That was true. Narumi Tōru had only joined because Hiratsuka Shizuka had threatened him with physical force.
Yet that undeniable fact made the silent Yukinoshita Yukino inexplicably irritated.
Ultimately, what bothered her was Ryō's tone—one that sounded far too familiar with him.
"Pardon me, Miss Yamada, but how long have you known Narumi-kun?"
"Hm? Not that long, I guess. Maybe half a year… almost a year?"
Ryō looked up, recalling the past with a thoughtful expression.
"Generally speaking, half a year isn't really enough time to completely understand someone, is it?"
Yukinoshita Yukino stated this as though it were a purely objective fact, yet her words seemed to carry an unspoken implication.
"I haven't known Narumi-kun for very long either. Just a little over ten days."
"But you look like you've known him for ages."
Ryō seemed to miss the subtext entirely and simply followed along with Yukino's words.
"…You could say that."
If decades of one-sided remembrance and longing counted as knowing someone.
"In that sense, I'm about the same. Half a year is a really short time—it doesn't mean much."
Ryō spoke calmly, after all, she too knew what it felt like to have someone slip away over the course of a long life.
"Life's only a few decades long anyway. It goes by as fast as a dream."
"A dream…"
Once again, the two fell into silence—but this time it wasn't from subtle hostility or rivalry. Rather, it was because they had, in a quiet way, come to empathize with each other.