Kōji, Hisa, and Rem stared blankly at the brunette girl who approached them at the school's gate. She, on the other hand, grinned at them.
Sae Narumi. Kōji had never talked to her, yet he recognized her as the girl who sat a couple of desks behind him in class. Also because of…
The three girls' heavy gazes shut his mind down. He couldn't think about what she meant by going shopping, and she stared solely at him. The only guess he could make was that something had happened while Suzuka controlled his body.
He saw Narumi's grin weaken by the second.
"I am," he smiled, keeping it short to avoid any misunderstandings.
Her grin widened. "Awesome. Talk to you later, then."
Glancing one more time at Hisa and Rem, she walked past them and blended into the students walking toward the building.
Hisa and Rem turned toward Kōji, their deadpans unreadable as if they weren't friends for seven years.
"When—?"
"Good morning," Suzuka said, her arrival interrupting Hisa. "Here's your money."
She showed Kōji the coins in her palm. Without time to think, he extended his hand to let her drop them on it.
"Thanks," he said, his mind still blank.
"Ahem," Hisa coughed when the silence lasted too long. "And you are…?"
Kōji's lightbulb turned back on. "Ah, she's Suzuka Araki, the girl who just transferred. Araki, these are Hisako and Remiko, my best friends."
Suzuka bowed. "It's nice to meet you."
Looking at her a little too long, Hisa crossed her arms.
"Alright, I'll up it to eight."
Suzuka stood right up. "Excuse me?"
"Nothing. Nice to meet you, too."
"Heya." Rem raised a notebook in front of her own face. "Whoa!" She turned it toward Suzuka. "Isn't this sea lion that appeared out of nowhere gorgeous?"
Suzuka inspected it. "It is."
"Right? I drew it."
"That's impressive."
Hisa smirked, "And the makeup she does is just as stunning, as you can see." She circled her hand around her own face. "Hit her up if you ever need to get yours done."
"I'll give you a discount for being Kōji's friend."
Suzuka glanced at Kōji, who kept smiling.
"I'll keep that in mind," she said. "Thank you."
As Rem put her notebook in her bag, Suzuka asked Kōji.
"Kurei, would you mind giving me a tour around the campus?"
"Huh? Where'd that come from?"
Behind Suzuka, Hisa and Rem frantically made hand gestures he didn't understand.
"You don't want to?" Suzuka asked.
"No, no, it just came out of nowhere. Sure, I can do that."
The gestures stopped at Hisa's thumbs-up and Rem's two arms raised above her head to form a circle.
Still somewhat confused, Kōji turned toward them, but Hisa talked before he could.
"See you in class."
She and Rem walked away without waiting for a reply, but even among the dozens of people passing by, Hisa's last remark could be heard.
"Damn, he must've gotten some pheromone perfume or something."
They disappeared within the crowd.
Kōji sighed. He looked at Suzuka, who stared at him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I'll follow you."
"Oh. Then… let's start on the right side."
They walked up to the fountain and turned right instead of going to the building ahead. Only a few people walked down that path, where the countless trees on one side contrasted with the bald grass contouring the canal.
Kōji, about to start describing the parking lot ahead of them, was interrupted by Suzuka's question.
"Did the brunette girl mention anything about going shopping?"
"That's exactly what she said. I guess she talked to you and you didn't know how to react either?"
Suzuka nodded. "I missed the opportunity to tell you about it yesterday, then I forgot."
"Same here," he laughed nervously. "A guy asked you to help him study since you were able to transfer into Kasen. I didn't know what to do, so I said yes. Sorry."
"It couldn't be helped."
That might've been true, yet it didn't explain all of those suffocating feelings. How could a simple interaction provoke the same reaction as losing a race?
"When and where?" Suzuka asked.
"He just said any day. His name is Hisaki Tsuga; he's in your class."
"Alright."
The topic seemed to have ended, so Kōji looked at the parking lot behind Suzuka to tell her some fun facts. Instead, his eyes were stuck looking up at her profile: her well-defined jaw, straight nose, sharp dark-blue eyes, long eyelashes, lack of makeup, and the tiny scar of a hole in her earlobe. She was…
"What is it?"
He looked away. "I was thinking that the tour was a great excuse. I wouldn't have come up with it."
"It wasn't an excuse. I want to learn about Kasen."
She kept looking forward without expression, yet her face seemed softer.
"Though I'm sorry for making you walk with your ankle," she said.
"It's fine, don't worry about it."
He planned to fulfill her request for the tour, but her reply emptied his mind.
"It's not truly fine, is it? I had the strongest reaction when I overheard Kawahara and you talking about your injury. It felt awful. I see why you're very expressive, yet you keep a lot to yourself. Does that help you?"
"I… don't know. I just don't wanna bother people with my dumb complaints. They already have enough—"
"Do you think I find them dumb?"
The weight of her gaze crushed his stomach, yet it wasn't dreadful.
"I didn't mean it like that," he answered. "Doesn't that happen to you? Not wanting to ruin the mood?"
"Not at all."
"I guess that makes sense."
The conversation paused. It was a good moment to start the tour, but how was he supposed to after that?
"Is that why you haven't seen the messages or replied?" she asked.
"Ah, I'm very sorry about that! I… my family hasn't been able to pay for Internet or data lately. I forgot about it with all the body-swapping stuff."
"I see. I was worried I had done something wrong while controlling your body."
"No, not at all. Everything went perfectly. Well, I almost missed the train stop, but that's my fault." He grabbed his phone from his pocket and unlocked it. "I'll connect to the school's Wi-Fi. That's how I've been surviving." He laughed nervously. "Kawahara must be dying for… data."
"She hasn't said anything. Maybe she will when you send the messages."
As soon as his phone got a connection, the vibration of Suzuka's phone could be heard from her pocket. She grabbed it and read the screen for a moment.
"You didn't have any trouble controlling my body, then," she noted.
"Your chauffeur didn't say much, as you said, and I fell asleep within minutes."
"That's good. I, on the other hand, went through the most stressful odyssey of my life, but it's the most fun I've had in a long while."
Surprised at first, Kōji let out a chuckle.
"I'd love to hear all about it, but wasn't I supposed to give you a tour?"
"We got a little distracted." She checked her phone. "Now we barely have time to get to class."
"Let's do it another time."
They looked at each other, yet neither could hold their eyes steady.
Suzuka put her phone in her pocket. "Sure."
She walked toward the side entrance into the main building.
Kōji couldn't keep his mouth shut.
"By the way, I also hated one of the feelings I felt while controlling your body, when Tsuga asked you to study together."
He felt his blood rushing up to his head. He gave his all to keep his feet planted.
When he looked at her again, he saw her cold deadpan replaced by raised brows.
She glanced down, said, "Same with the brunette girl," and turned around the corner to disappear.
He could breathe again, but what was going on? Could he be imagining something completely wrong?
The strangers' mumbling behind him froze his breathing again.
"Wasn't that the new rich girl?"
"Duh. And get this, they want us to believe she transferred without buying her grades."
"Yeah, right. What a load of bullcrap."
Kōji turned toward the laughing pair, but they were gone behind the wall.
He slowly walked up the stairs, stepped into the classroom, and headed to his seat. He hung his shoulder bag on the desk's hook, yet it fell to the floor. While he picked it up and hung it properly, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
Kawahara had sent a message in the group chat.
"Those are useful observations. I might narrow down my hypothesis by the end of the day. Shall we meet at the park in town this afternoon for further analysis?"
She surely meant to make them experiment more.
No matter, he sent the emoji of a grinning face and a thumbs-up.
Suzuka's read receipt appeared. She typed for several seconds, just to send the sticker of an owl nodding.
Catching himself smiling, he exhaled through his nose. That was enough to make Hisa glance back at him.
He took a deep breath. "Hey, Hisa."
She turned around on her chair and stared at him. He could merely stare down at his phone.
"I have—"
The bell chimed through the school's speakers.
"What were you saying?" Hisa asked once the chime ended.
The homeroom teacher walked in.
"I'll tell you later," Kōji said.
The morning classes flew by, and lunch break came. He, Hisa, and Rem ate together in the classroom. Hisa and Rem chatted about trivial stuff as usual and included him in the conversation from time to time, but he knew they noticed his distraction.
Expecting Hisa to ask him about what he was going to say, he tried to think of the most subtle way to put it. Instead, his mind pictured Suzuka's profile again, but someone stood beside her: Hisaki Tsuga. They read a book and laughed together. That could have been happening at that moment if Suzuka wanted it to.
He couldn't mistake it anymore. That feeling of defeat was stronger because it wasn't the only thing he felt, but why? He'd only known Suzuka for two days. Was it really only because of her appearance? In that case, others could have felt the same about her. Was that why Tsuga had approached her?
But if they weren't studying together at that moment, it meant that Suzuka was eating alone, having to bear with the gossip she predicted would happen.
Kōji couldn't make up his mind by the time the break ended, nor through the rest of the afternoon classes.
He, Hisa, and Rem walked out of the building together.
"Are you sure you wanna go?" Hisa asked. "We can stay close in case she tries anything funny."
"Is that the only reason?" he smiled. "I'll be okay."
Hisa shrugged. "Don't say we didn't warn you."
"Bye-bye." Rem waved before continuing to draw in her notebook while walking with Hisa toward the gate.
Narumi stood at the side, checking her phone.
Kōji walked up to her. "Hey, there."
She jolted. "Hey, didn't expect you this early. Shall we get going?"
"Okay."
They joined the rest of the students walking to the town down the road. Some of them glanced at Kōji and Narumi. He couldn't scratch the itching in his arms before she said.
"Bet you're wondering why I suddenly started talking to you."
"I am, actually. It would've made more sense when people thought I was cool."
"I think you're cool, maybe even more than before, though I couldn't say why. Maybe because girls aren't flocking around you anymore."
He chuckled. "Girls never flocked around me."
"Come on, of course they did. Even Araki's up to something."
She was?
Narumi continued, "The fastest school runner of the prefecture who won everything for…"
Her words drowned under the sudden clogging of his ears. A deafening whistle started to emerge, but the chatter around them faded back in when he realized she had stopped talking.
"So, I also wonder something," she smiled. "Why did you agree to come with me?"
"Ah, I mean, there was no reason not to."
"I can think of many, including a huge one. But you know, at least we knew of each other's existence and didn't come completely out of nowhere."
She kept smiling forward.
The weight of a gaze made him glance back and to the sides, but no one caught his eye.
"Anyways. We're gonna have fun today," she said, "so let's do that."
They reached town and, within a few minutes, arrived at the store.
Kōji looked through the window front and had to do a double-take at the familiar sign above.
"We're shopping… for manga?"
"Yes? That's what we agreed on yesterday."
"Oh, yeah, I just… got a bit distracted," he laughed nervously.
He rushed his steps inside.
Countless people—mostly students—crowded the cramped aisles of shelves with hundreds of manga and novel books, but also a few collectibles like figurines, bags, accessories, and more.
"So, are you gonna recommend more harems to me?" Narumi smirked.
"More…?"
His face slowly burned at the realization, which he could only cover with his hands.
That was why she had invited him—Suzuka controlling his body—to go shopping. The mortifying part was that Suzuka saw the manga in his bag and never mentioned it.
"Jeez, I already told you they can be funny, too," Narumi said.
"Sorry, it's just…." He took a deep breath. "I've only been reading for a couple of months, and I'm trying a bit of everything."
"Oh, so that was your first harem? What did you think?"
"I'm only halfway through it, but I'm liking it so far. It is funny and has an interesting story."
She leaned forward, and her smirk widened. "Are those the only reasons?"
His eyes darted. "The main ones."
She kept getting closer. "Hmm?"
"I… also think the girls are… cute."
"You do? Perv."
He shut his eyes. "I'm—"
She stepped back and laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Come on, thinking that girls are cute isn't being a perv, and that's one of the appeals of harem."
He sighed. "It sounds like you know a lot about them."
She grasped his arm and pulled him. "You have a lot to learn about manga."
As she dragged him into one of the aisles, the weight of a distant gaze returned. That time, he saw something in the corner of his eye, but he couldn't stop to verify it.
"Fantasy's one of the most common genres," Narumi said as they stopped. "Spear Hero is a fantasy harem, so you technically already read fantasy. Have you read another one?"
"I have. One of my friends lent me—"
An uproarious growl reverberated in Kōji's ear, followed by contrasting silence. Narumi's face flushed from bottom to top.
"S-Sorry, I get like this when I'm tense," she laughed nervously. "I should go to the bathroom. Please excuse me for a few minutes."
She walked to the back of the store. By the time she reached the bathroom, she was almost running.
Puzzled by the sudden break, he decided to walk to the other side of the store, where he saw a familiar silhouette.
After struggling to navigate the busy aisles, he stopped beside a girl reading a manga. He glanced at her again to confirm his suspicion.
"Kawahara."
No reaction.
He even doubted himself for a second, thinking of walking away and acting as if nothing had happened.
"How did you recognize me through my disguise?" she asked.
"You're just wearing a cap. Your glasses, backpack, uniform, and everything else are the same. The biggest difference is the ponytail."
"Noted. I shall prepare a better disguise for next time."
He sighed. "I thought you were here to buy something."
"That's partly correct. Believe it or not, reading fiction broadens your horizons as to what might be possible."
"Isn't that a romance book, though? Anyway. What's the other correct part?"
She closed the book, pushed up her glasses, and looked him straight in the eye.
"I'm here to observe your interactions with Sae Narumi for research purposes. Have you noticed anything that resembles what you felt yesterday with Suzuka Araki?"
"Now that you mention it, no, I haven't. I hadn't thought that we don't know if we can swap bodies with someone else."
"Precisely. This is a—"
Narumi arrived behind him. "There you are. I couldn't—Kawahara? What are you doing here?"
The lightest of touches poked Kōji's shoulder. There was no one close by, but between the books in the distance…
"I would've never guessed you were into manga," Narumi said.
Kawahara replied, "Technically, this is a light novel fanfiction. We're in the fanfiction section."
Narumi's eyes widened. Her head snapped from one direction to another before her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
She grasped Kōji's arm and pulled him away.
"We'll stop bothering you, then," she said as they turned around the corner. "Let's keep looking for fun stuff."
And so they did.
They spent an hour browsing through several genres. Although Kōji shared some of his recent knowledge, it was Narumi who kept the conversation going.
Halfway through, Kōji realized something, and despite his attempts to convince Narumi, he could only watch it happen when they decided to leave the store.
"Are you really sure?" he asked, holding a shopping bag full of manga. "If you give me two weeks—"
"I am very sure," she smirked, though the dragged-out words had a glimpse of annoyance. "It wouldn't be a gift if you had to pay me back. I'm serious, don't you dare think you owe me. If you wanna pay me back, give me something, too. Only if you wanna."
Kōji couldn't think of anything to convince her otherwise.
"Okay, thank you—"
"Oh, shit." She jolted and covered her mouth, looking down at her phone. "I didn't realize the time. My parents are gonna kill me if I don't get going."
"Do you want me to walk to the station with you?"
She chuckled. "It's just crossing the street, but…"
She glanced at both sides of the road before raising her hand. The taxi braked just in time to park in front of them.
"Yes!"
The driver opened the rear door for her from the driver's seat. Narumi walked to it but didn't get in.
She turned toward Kōji. "I… had a lot of fun today. I hope you did too."
He smiled. "I did. Thanks a lot for the recommendations. I'll make sure to read them all soon."
She giggled. "Good. Also, the Egg Hunt is getting close, and I was wondering if…." She shook her head. "Nothing. See you in class tomorrow."
She got in the taxi and closed the door. After exchanging words with the driver that Kōji couldn't hear, she waved at him through the window as the car accelerated. He waved back until he couldn't see her anymore.
The orange sunlight blinded his eyes, forcing him to take shade under a tree. It wasn't long before the sun would hide behind the mountain, so he turned in the opposite direction from the station and walked three blocks deep into the colder residential area.
Suzuka and Kawahara sat on a bench beneath a tree in the corner of the park. Kōji walked up to them.
"Hey," he greeted them.
Kawahara asked, "How are you feeling? Anything out of the ordinary?"
"Other than hunger, no. I'm feeling pretty normal."
She typed on her phone. "Understood. The encounter with Sae Narumi exposed valuable data."
Kōji glanced at Suzuka. Her eyes remained steady, but not for long.
"I kinda get why you'd be there," he said to Kawahara, "but Araki, were you there, too?"