Work Text:
When Haru woke up to find a beautiful woman in his bed, he distinctly remembered thinking he should be happier than he was terrified, but that he was mostly terrified.
The woman was asleep, her hair falling in gentle waves around her face, shining a dark blue-green where streetlight from outside hit it. Shaking, Haru slid out of the bed and walked to the window, peering out.
Oh God, he was in Tokyo. It was residential Tokyo, but still, he was definitely not in Iwatobi anymore. He felt for his pocket, hoping he still had his phone so he could call someone, but his hands found only loose pajama pants. He felt weird, like his balance was off.
There was a phone sitting on “his” side of the bed on a nightstand, but it definitely wasn’t his. Still, he picked it up and opened it, relieved to see that it wasn’t password locked. He scrolled through the contacts in vain, hoping to see a familiar name.
And there were some? But only kind of.
There was a Makoto, but the given family name was Kino, and there was a Rei, but the family name was Hino. He frowned and put the phone back down.
It was late. The phone had said it was nearly 4. Maybe it would be better just to go to sleep and deal with things in the morning? But he didn’t want to sleep next to this stranger. He found a chair near the window and curled up in it. He didn’t remember his chest being so squishy. What a weird dream. (He hoped a lot that it was a dream.)
***
When he woke up the next day curled up in a chair, still feeling weird, with a beautiful strange woman looking at him with concern, he realized it wasn’t a dream.
“Haruka, are you alright?” the woman asked.
How did she know his name?
“I… I don’t know.”
The woman came towards him, reaching out as if to check a fever. He flinched away.
“Haruka? What’s wrong? You know you can tell me.”
“I don’t know who you are,” Haru said slowly, turning his gaze to the window so he didn’t have to see her expression.
The woman didn’t say anything at first. She just walked to her nightstand and removed a green hand mirror. She looked into it for a little while, clearly seeing something other than her reflection, then set it down.
“My name is Michiru Kaioh,” she said. “And you are in the body of my dear friend, Haruka Tenoh. And I would like you to leave.” Though her words were superficially pleasant, they sent a cold chill down Haru’s spine.
“I would like to leave too,” he said. “Please tell me how.”
She frowned. “I suppose it wasn’t going to be that simple. Come, get dressed. There are some people I can contact to help. What’s your name?”
“Haruka Nanase.”
“Alright, Nanase. The bathroom is just down the hall there.” She turned away and picked up her phone.
When Haru found his way to the bathroom and turned on the light, he jumped upon seeing his reflection. His hair was now dark blond, and he probably shouldn’t wear men’s swimsuits anymore.
Kaioh knocked on the door. “Are you finished? Clothes are in the closet.”
“Almost.” He used the toilet (oh God it was weird) and returned to the bedroom as Kaioh went into the bathroom behind him, carrying an outfit over one arm.
As he searched for clothes that felt comfortable, he wondered about the relationship between Kaioh and Tenoh. Was it normal for female roommates to sleep in the same bed? He had no idea.
He found a stretchy tank top looking thing that seemed to be to cover the breasts and put it on. It was very snug, almost like trying to put on a wet swimsuit, but once it was on and settled, he felt a little better now that the lumps of flesh weren’t constantly sitting at the bottom of his vision.
Over that (was it a bra? weren’t those supposed to be frillier and colorful though? with hooks??), he put on a plain t-shirt and khaki pants. Tenoh’s style was no-nonsense at least. He was assuming the plain clothes were Tenoh’s anyway. Kaioh seemed more like the type to wear the colorful dresses and expensive-looking clothes on the left side of the closet.
Speaking of Kaioh, she was back, in a dark green dress and plain black shoes. “You ready to go, Nanase?”
He finished tying the shoes. “Yes, I’m ready.”
Kaioh led him outside and locked the door behind them. It seemed to be a nice little apartment complex as far as Haru could tell. It was clean, at least. He didn’t know much about Tokyo apartments.
They got into a gleaming red car, and Kaioh sat down behind the wheel, reminding Haru to put on his seatbelt.
They drove in silence, deeper into the city, until they reached a… temple?
They parked nearby and walked up the steps. Waiting for them were a group of girls, all very pretty. A girl with dark blue hair stood near the entrance, her face very serious.
“So Haruka-san too?” she said to Kaioh.
Kaioh nodded and leaned against the gateway. “My mirror is clouded, but I saw that Makoto and Rei also…?”
Haru perked up at the names and looked around. Two of the girls were sitting a bit away from the group, a girl with curly brown hair and the other with long straight black hair. A blonde girl with a red bow was keeping an eye on them.
The brown-haired girl was staring at Haru with wide eyes. “Haruka?” she asked. “Haru, is that you?”
Haru felt his eyes widen. “Makoto?”
“Haruka-senpai? That’s our Haruka-senpai?” the black-haired girl said.
Haru nodded and went to go sit with them, feeling a lot better knowing that Makoto and Rei were there, even if they looked totally different.
“So they do all know each other,” the blue-haired girl said thoughtfully. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with Usagi-chan, but I think she’s still asleep. Chibiusa-chan is on her way though, so Usagi-chan won’t be far behind.” She turned to Haru and the others. “I’m Ami Mizuno, by the way. I’d already introduced myself to Tachibana-san and Ryugazaki-san, but not to you. Your name is?”
“Nanase. Haruka Nanase.”
She nodded to herself. “That does seem to be the pattern…”
The girl with the bow crossed her arms. “And I’m Minako Aino. Don’t try anything funny with our friends’ bodies, you got that?”
“Aino-san, all we want to do is go home,” Makoto said. His arms had wound up around Haru’s neck as they sat, Makoto up on a bench, Haru on the ground. Haru didn’t really mind (he might have been holding onto Makoto’s arm as well).
Aino nodded. “I believe you for now.”
“Everyone, we’re here!” a voice called. A young girl with pink hair pulled into bunned pigtails was pulling an older girl with a longer version of same hairstyle in blonde. The older one was yawning. “What’s going on?”
“We think the enemy may be switching consciousnesses,” Mizuno said.
“What?!” they both said in identical tones. “Are you alright?” the older one said, rushing forward to grip her friend’s arms.
“I’m fine,” Mizuno said. “But Mako-chan, Rei-chan and Haruka-san…”
The girl ran over to wear the three of them were sitting, her expression fierce. “Where are my friends, you imposters?!”
“We don’t know!” Rei said in a flustered voice. “I wish we did!”
The little girl grabbed the older one by the hair and pulled her. “Usagi, stop being so loud. I’m Usagi Tsukino,” she said politely to the others. “This lump is also Usagi Tsukino, but you can call me Chibiusa.”
Makoto and Rei introduced themselves and Haru. Chibusa’s eyes grew wide.
“Oh my God, I love your show!” she squeaked.
“Show?” Makoto asked.
“Oh my God, oh my God…!” She pulled out her phone and did a quick Google search, turning it around so they could see the picture. It was… an anime version of themselves. It was called Free!. What the hell? “Are Nagisa and Rin here too?!”
Makoto shook his head. “Not that we’ve come across.”
Chibiusa deflated a little. “Aw, I love Nagisa though.”
Haru looked up at Makoto, staring very seriously. Makoto nodded. “Yes, this is very strange, Haru.”
Chibiusa squeaked, her face bright red, and scurried away to hide behind Tsukino.
“So,” Aino said slowly. “They’re… fictional characters?”
“Or the writers were unconsciously tapping into a parallel universe in which they exist when they wrote the show that exists in our world.” Mizuno had a small tablet in her hand, furiously tapping and swiping the screen. Haru had no idea where she had gotten it from.
“So, our Mako-chan and Rei-chan and Haruka-san…” Tsukino said thoughtfully.
“Are in that parallel universe?” Chibiusa finished.
“I hope so. It could be more complicated than that, but a simple 1 to 1 switch is possible.”
“Could… I visit that universe?” Chibiusa asked.
Mizuno tapped some things on her screen. “I don’t know… I suspect from what we’ve seen that you can only travel to places where there’s someone else with your given name already there.”
“Aww.” She turned to Haru and the others. “Do you guys know anyone named Usagi?”
They looked at each other, but each of them shook their heads no.
“Dammit!”
Makoto laughed, but he sounded tired and anxious still. Haru gripped the arm resting on his shoulder, hoping to comfort him a little.
“Okay, so they’re from a parallel universe,” Aino said. “How did they get here?”
Mizuno tapped more on her tablet. “Around 3:41 this morning, there was an energy fluctuation all over the district. I think it happened then.” She tapped more. “The source of the energy was…” She blinked furiously, then squinted at the screen, as if it couldn’t possibly be right. “At Usagi-chan’s house?”
Everyone turned to look at Tsukino.
“Did something happen last night?” Aino asked her.
Tsukino shook her head. “After I got home from Mamo-chan’s, I read some manga and went to sleep. I don’t remember anything weird happening.”
As the eyes turned to Chibiusa, she slowly turned red again. “I was watching Free! until pretty late, since it was Saturday, you know? And I wished... I could meet them, and then I felt really weird all of a sudden? Like when I use the Crystal. But then it passed and I went to sleep.”
Haru had no idea what they were talking about. He rested his head on Makoto’s leg, wishing he could go home and take a bath.
“Well, the Crystal does respond to your emotions…” Mizuno murmured, touching her chin. “You must have wished really, really hard, Chibiusa-chan.”
She was red as a beet. “I… didn’t wish that hard.”
“Well, you better wish really hard some more!” Aino said. “I want our friends back!”
Kaioh spoke for the first time in awhile. “If you need any help with motivation, I would be happy to provide some,” she said, and Haru got chills again. She was beautiful, but he wanted very much to remain far away from her bad side.
Chibiusa laughed nervously. “I think I can do it.” She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. Haru was skeptical at first, but when she started glowing like a Christmas light he started to believe.
He started to feel numb and he gripped Makoto’s hand tighter until the sensation was gone completely and his vision went black.
***
When Haru came to, they were at his house. Nagisa and Gou were sitting in the living room, looking anxious.
Haru looked around behind him. There was Rei and Makoto, or at least their bodies. He nudged Makoto’s shoulder, then Rei’s.
They stirred and sat up. “Haru?” Makoto asked.
Haru nodded.
“Haru-chan, Mako-chan, Rei-chan!” Nagisa yelled, leaping upon them in a giant hug.
Gou rubbed at her eyes. “We were worried about you!” she snapped. “Nagisa-kun had plans with Ryugazaki-kun but suddenly he didn’t know and then Haruka-kun and Makoto-kun were acting so strange and we were so scared that something awful had happened! Don’t ever do that again, do you hear me?!” She threw the pillow Nagisa had been sitting on at all of their heads.
Makoto laughed. “We’ll try not to.”
“So do you know what happened?” Nagisa asked. “All we found out is that other Mako-chan is a great cook and other Haru-chan kept flirting with Gou-kun. It was kind of weird.”
“Don’t call me that,” Gou grumbled.
“What about the other Rei?” Rei asked.
Nagisa looked up thoughtfully. “Hmm, well, she was really smart, like you, but she seemed kind of spooky. Like, psychic and stuff. It was kinda cool! But you’re cooler, Rei-chan.” He grinned.
Rei looked away and coughed. “My ego is not so easily bruised that you needed to say that,” he said primly. Pause. “But I do appreciate your saying so.”
“So what happened?” Gou demanded, leaning forward in anticipation. “I want the whole story.”
The three of them looked at each other, then Haru said, “Well, to start, apparently we’re an anime…”