Chapter 47: Yukino Can't Accept This
Kazama cut off its explanation.
"Cut the crap."
"Just tell me how to switch back. Don't tell me we have to wait for it to wake up naturally—I don't have the patience to go to gym class in this body."
"Well..."
Kerberos scratched its head, putting on an expert's air.
"Switching back isn't actually that hard, but it's a bit troublesome. According to the records in the Book of Seals, to undo The Change card's effect, you must first seal it. Then after its magic stabilizes—which takes about a day—you can use its power to reverse the exchange."
"A day?"
Kazama frowned.
So he had to spend a full twenty-four hours in this female body?
Eating and using the bathroom were minor issues.
The key was Yukino.
Thinking of this, Kazama looked at his own body still spacing out on the ground.
The girl's mental state had clearly reached its limit.
Not only did she have to accept the fact that she'd become a man, but she was also being forced to accept that there was a talking lion in front of her, and that someone was using her body to perform various actions.
"You..."
Yukino finally spoke.
From yesterday's cookie incident to today's body swap, all the abnormalities pointed to this former childhood friend.
"What exactly are you people?"
"Why did I become like this? What is that lizard? What is that doll? And..."
She pointed at the floating toy in the air, then at the lizard on the ground that clearly didn't belong to Earth's biosphere, and finally pointed her finger at the face Kazama currently wore.
"Why are you treating all this so casually? Kazama Chiba, what exactly are you hiding from me?"
This was probably the first time in eighteen years this young lady had lost her composure.
Her worldview had been torn apart like building blocks in those few short minutes, and now she desperately needed an explanation to piece it back together.
Faced with this rapid-fire interrogation, Kazama felt no need to explain things to Yukino, but he was afraid she'd cause trouble with his body while ignorant of the situation.
So he still needed to let her know the current circumstances.
But how to explain?
Tell her he was collecting Clow Cards to save the world while profiting on the side?
Tell her that this toy-looking lion was actually something called a Seal Beast?
She'd probably send him straight to a mental hospital.
Besides, some secrets were safer the fewer people who knew them.
Especially the talisman matter—that was his foundation for survival in this world. He absolutely couldn't let Yukino know about it.
In that case, he could only use magic to defeat magic.
So Kazama decided to keep it brief.
"As you can see, Yukinoshita-san."
"Actually, I'm a magical girl who fights against evil forces in secret to maintain world peace."
---
The air fell silent for three seconds.
"Magical... girl?"
Yukino repeated the words, her voice carrying a sense of absurdity as she tried desperately to understand but couldn't digest it at all.
"Kazama Chiba, are you mocking me?"
"I know this is hard to accept."
Kazama spouted nonsense with complete sincerity.
"But you saw it yourself. This lion is called Kerberos—it's a contract beast from another world. It chose me and forced me to sign a contract to collect these escaped cards."
Kerberos nearby nearly fell from the sky when it heard "forced."
Who forced whom?
Kazama continued weaving that script full of holes yet impossible to refute precisely because it was so outrageous.
"What just happened was a side effect of magic going out of control."
"It's a curse. Whenever I use too much magical power or come into contact with specific mediums, this body-swapping phenomenon occurs. I'm troubled too—after all, as you know, I just want to be an ordinary high school student."
Listening to his explanation, Yukino's gaze swept back and forth between that flying yellow toy and the "herself" before her.
Logic told her this was absolutely the century's biggest lie—the kind of terrible script only otaku with heads full of light novels could come up with.
But emotion—or rather, this damned reality before her—was like a resounding slap, smacking all those rebuttals she hadn't yet organized back down her throat.
After all, besides magic, what else could explain why that toy could talk?
But whether it was magical girls or some damned contract—as long as she could switch back, she'd even believe in Santa Claus.
After about half a minute of silence, Yukino spoke again.
"I don't care."
"I don't care if you're a magical girl or a delusional patient escaped from a mental hospital. I don't want to know what shady business you're conducting at this school."
Yukinoshita Yukino pointed at her current chest, then at Kazama.
"I only have one demand right now. Switch me back. Immediately. Right now. Undo your so-called 'magic' and let me return to my own body."
Kazama looked at that finger pointing at his nose.
That was his own hand. Being pointed at by these hands felt rather subtle.
"I want that too. You think I want to be stuck in this body? Not only can I not run fast in this body, but I'm constantly worried about flashing people. It's really troublesome."
"But there's no helping it. The great Seal Beast just said it'll take at least until tomorrow. We have to wait for this chaotic magic to settle down a bit before we can use The Change card to swap our souls back. Otherwise, if we force it now and get stuck halfway, what if you become half-man half-woman?"
"So twenty-four hours?"
Yukino staggered back two steps and leaned against the cold wall.
Her eyes were somewhat unfocused.
Twenty-four hours.
That meant she had to wear this man's face, put on these men's clothes, use the bathroom, take a shower, and even face people who knew this man.
Just imagining that scene made her stomach churn.
"Alright, don't look like it's the end of the world."
Kazama said: "Look on the bright side—at least you're experiencing the sense of power of being male? Plus my physical condition is pretty good. You won't feel too tired."
"Here."
Yukino reached into her pocket and stiffly pulled out that key-shaped staff and stack of cards, shoving them into Kazama's hands like tossing hot potatoes.
"Since these are your things, take them. Don't leave these inexplicable things on me."
After speaking, she didn't even want to look at Kazama again.
The shock of having her worldview forcibly reconstructed, combined with the physical discomfort from the body swap, had pushed Yukinoshita Yukino's taut nerves to the breaking point.
Yukino turned around and walked toward the other end of the hallway with unfamiliar, unsteady steps.
If it were any other time, with her personality, she might pursue the matter to the bottom, might try to deconstruct all this with logic.
But now that enormous sense of absurdity—as if the entire world was targeting her—made her feel an unprecedented exhaustion.
She didn't want to think anymore.
Didn't want to investigate how many secrets this man who always wore a mask was hiding.
"Hey! Yukinoshita-san!"
Kerberos looked at that retreating figure and called out with some concern.
"Where are you going? In this situation, if we don't stick together and watch out for each other, what if you run into someone you know and blow your cover? Hey—!"
"Don't follow me."
Yukino stopped but didn't turn around.
Her shoulders trembled slightly—not from fear, but from anger and the humiliation of suddenly becoming fate's plaything after being heaven's chosen daughter.
"Don't talk to me. Don't come near me. Just assume I... took sick leave today. No, just assume I'm dead."
"I don't want to see anything related to this right now. Especially you."
That last "you" clearly referred to Kazama Chiba currently wearing her body.
After saying this near-desperate sentence, Yukino didn't linger any longer. She walked toward the teaching building exit with steps that tried to maintain elegance but still looked awkward, never looking back.
"Hey! Wait!"
Kerberos watched that swaying figure, an inexplicable unease welling up inside.
"Forget it."
Kazama reached out and grabbed Kerberos by its thin tail, yanking it back.
"You're just letting her go like that?" Kerberos struggled and turned its head.
"Her condition is really off! And that's still your body! What if she can't handle it and jumps off a building?"
"Relax. If something goes wrong, worst case I'll just use Yukino's body."
Kazama played with the Sealing Key he'd just gotten back, watching that gradually distant figure without concern.