Chapter 46: I Became Yukino?
On the other side, Kazama—who hadn't noticed anything unusual about his body—successfully cornered the lizard in a dead-end hallway.
Seeing it had nowhere left to run, Kazama instinctively reached toward the left pocket where he habitually kept his cards. But instead of the familiar card case, his fingertips touched a layer of soft, warm fabric.
Empty.
"Huh? What's going on? Where are my cards?"
Not only that, but Kazama also discovered that the Sealing Staff that should have been at his waist had vanished as well.
Worse yet, just as he lowered his center of gravity to prepare for action, a coolness he'd never experienced before shot up his inner thigh straight to his brain.
That completely unobstructed, open feeling made his whole body freeze for a second.
Kazama looked down.
What met his eyes was a pair of slender, well-proportioned legs wrapped in black knee-high socks, and a pleated plaid skirt that seemed particularly obstructive at the moment.
Looking further up—a completely flat chest.
The only consolation was probably that the sensation wasn't much different from his own body. There was no center-of-balance shift that would throw him off.
In that split-second of distraction, the cornered lizard had already sprung into action like a coiled spring.
It opened its mouth full of densely packed sharp teeth. Though it didn't seem to intend actual harm, the fishy smell rushing toward him still triggered an instinctive desire to avoid it.
By now it was too late to dodge.
Kazama's eyes sharpened. No time to process the philosophical question of "why did I become a crossdresser"—his body's instinctive reaction was already faster than his still-crashing brain.
"Get wrecked!"
No fancy magical incantations. No flashy skill effects.
He simply clenched his right fist in the most straightforward way possible and, using his forward momentum, slammed it hard into the lizard's nose bridge.
"CRACK."
The lizard still making threatening gestures in mid-air didn't even get a chance to grunt. Its eyes rolled back white, its limbs went limp, and it dropped to the ground stiff as dried fish, knocked out cold on the spot.
"Hiss... that hurts."
The moment his One Punch Man experience card expired, Kazama clutched his somewhat numb right hand and sucked in a cold breath.
For some reason today, his body's pain nerves seemed particularly sensitive. The reaction force made his knuckles feel like they'd cracked.
He instinctively looked down.
Those were pale, slender hands—delicate, even. No calluses. Nails trimmed round and neat, with a faint pink tint.
A delicate women's watch adorned the wrist.
These definitely weren't his hands.
Kazama jerked his head up and looked at the glass window beside him.
The face reflected in the window looked somewhat cool and refined.
The owner of that face had been carrying a stack of books and crashed into him just minutes ago.
"Yukinoshita... Yukino?"
Kazama's mouth twitched. It was as if a question mark appeared above his head.
What the hell kind of plot development was this? How did he turn into Yukino?
A Kamimizu City special edition of Your Name?
Kazama first forced himself to calm down.
Then he quickly replayed everything that had just happened in his mind.
Chase, corner, collision, light.
The only point of contact was that crash during the chase. Without a doubt, this unconscious lizard on the ground was the culprit.
"A blessing in disguise."
Kazama glanced down at his chest—still flat enough to bring peace of mind—and silently gave the Yukinoshita family genes a thumbs up.
"If I'd swapped with that cow Urushihara, I probably would've tripped over myself from the unbalanced center of gravity before that punch even landed."
Kazama then bent down and unceremoniously grabbed the unconscious lizard by its tail, preparing to bring it back and ask Kerberos if there was any way to fix this.
---
At the hallway corner, the person wearing "Kazama Chiba's" skin still sat on the ground in the same position as before, staring vacantly ahead with hollow eyes, as if their soul had left for another dimension.
Above their head, a small yellow lion flew in circles like a headless fly.
"Hey! Kazama! Are you okay? Did you knock your brain loose? That lizard ran away! Why aren't you chasing it? And what's with that expression? Did you catch Miss Yukinoshita's poker face?"
Kerberos rambled on with complaints, clearly still not understanding the situation.
"Wake up! Stop playing dead! Hurry up and take out your stick!"
"Stick...?"
Kazama (actually Yukino) turned their eyeballs sluggishly to look at this thing that violated biological common sense.
"A lion that speaks vulgarity..."
"No... this must be a dream... I just need to wake up..."
She closed her eyes, trying to escape reality through this ostrich tactic, and pinched her thigh while she was at it.
"Hiss—that hurts."
The pain was real.
Kerberos hovered in mid-air, those beady eyes suspiciously examining the master below.
"Kazama, since when did you learn ventriloquism? And in a girl's voice? That's disgusting, change it back!"
"Stop guessing. That really is Yukinoshita."
A cold voice came from the other end of the hallway.
Yukino opened her eyes to see "herself" walking over with a gait that looked like it acknowledged no one as kin, hand dragging a half-dead large lizard.
The moment Kerberos turned back and saw the long-haired beauty walking over aggressively, it immediately activated its Oscar-worthy acting mode.
It performed an emergency brake in mid-air, dropped to the ground with a splat, and instantly transformed into a stuffed toy showing no signs of life. It even completely suppressed that anxious expression from moments ago.
Dead-playing skill maxed out.
Kazama watched this scene, his mouth twitching.
"Stop performing, you idiot."
Kazama walked over, completely ignoring Yukino on the ground, and raised that foot in black leather shoes to step on the yellow toy's soft belly with just the right amount of pressure.
"Can't even recognize your own master's soul—what use are you? Soup stock?"
The toy on the ground showed no reaction.
Clearly, to this Seal Beast, the girl before it was an absolute outsider. It had to maintain absolute silence.
"Tch. Toast refusing wine must drink punishment."
Kazama clicked his tongue impatiently.
He raised that foot in its small leather shoe and stepped down on that soft yellow belly without mercy.
Applied a bit of force.
Even ground it twice.
"SQUEAK!"
Kerberos let out a miserable cry and immediately shot up like a zombie, both paws clutching its belly as it flew into the air.
"OWW—! It hurts it hurts it hurts! I'm dying! No wait... a beast is dying!"
Kerberos finally broke character.
It shot up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, clutching its belly while flying around wildly.
"What's wrong with you, woman! You look pretty but you're so ruthless... huh? Wait a minute?"
Kerberos suddenly stopped, its nose twitching twice as it suspiciously examined the girl standing before it with arms crossed and an annoyed expression.
That look in her eyes.
That stance.
And that unhesitating action when stepping on someone.
"Ka... Kazama?"
Kerberos called out tentatively.
"Who else? Your previous master who only exists in fantasy?"
Kazama rolled his eyes and pointed at his own body sitting dumbly on the ground.
"Hurry up and explain the current situation to me."
No need for a DNA test now.
This attitude of treating the Seal Beast like a tool—there was only one person in the world like that.
Kazama casually tossed the lizard in his hand onto the ground. The poor little thing landed right beneath Kerberos.
Kerberos circled the two of them several times. Its expression was as spectacular as someone who'd just watched a suspense drama full of constant plot twists.
"I was wondering what felt weird... this 'Kazama' had absolutely no magical reaction earlier! I thought you'd used all your magic chasing the lizard!"
Then it flew over to the unconscious lizard and poked its head with a paw.
"I see now. I recognize this guy—it's The Change card. Its ability is to swap the bodies or souls of two targets. Looks like you triggered its skill when you collided just now."