Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Minami Maki is just an average high school student, with one notable exception: He can turn into a girl, and he really likes doing it. This all started a year prior, when on the first day of high school Minami decided to join a magical girl club expecting it to just be girls in cosplay, only to find out that they actually do turn into magical girls through an app that the club leader, Chiyoko Teruto, made. When he uses the app after joining, he was surprised to find that he ends up turning into a girl. Since then, Minami has been transforming into a girl, enjoying feminine activities, and in general living life to its fullest while being a girl.

          However, around a year after starting his activities as a girl, he ends up making a rather careless mistake. He’d been sleeping as a girl almost every day, turning back into a guy after waking up since his parents don’t know about the club. However, today he had forgotten to turn back (he’s not really a morning person) before going out of his bedroom and ran into his mom almost immediately.

“Who are you?” Mom said.

Minami, yawning, replies “What are you talking about, mom? I’m Minami Maki.”

“I don’t remember Minami being a girl. Again, who are you?”

Wait, what? Did I forget to transform back?

Minami looks down at himself, and almost immediately starts panicking.

Oh crap! I forgot to transform after I woke up! This is bad, this is bad, this is bad, I ended up getting exposed in such a dumb way, how am I going to explain this to Chiyoko? Will she revoke my privileges to use the app? WILL I NOT BE ABLE TO BE A GIRL ANYMORE!?

“U-um, mom, I’m not lying, I’m M-Minami Maki.” he said, pulling out his phone. He opened up the Magical Girl App, pressed the revert button, and shouts

“RIIKA RIIKA MAGICAL RETURN!”

In an instant, Minami is back to being a boy, (thankfully, the clothes he was wearing were loose enough that they didn’t get damaged by this) and his mom is completely baffled.

“So, you’re able to turn into a girl? How long have you been doing this?”

“A-about a year. I-I’ve been doing this basically every day s-since joining that c-club,” He stammered out.

“We should probably tell your dad about this, but I’d also like you to explain all of this over breakfast.”

The Maki family was now sitting at the table, having finished breakfast. Minami is rather visibly stressed, while his parents seem stern, but really are almost as nervous as Minami is.

“You say you’ve been turning into a girl, every day, since your first day of high school?” his father asks.

“Aside from one instance where it was down for maintenance, yes. Often multiple times a day,” He replied.

“How did we not know about this?”

“I’ve only been transforming while you’re away, before going to bed, or when I’m out of the house, so before this, you wouldn’t have been able to see me as a girl.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about this? Sure, we’re surprised, but it seems innocent enough,” His mom said.

Minami, now even more nervous than before, stammers out, “T-There was an agreement w-we had in the club, w-where you weren’t a-allowed to let non-members know, a-and if we did, w-we’d have our ability to t-transform revoked.”

“It’s almost time for school, so we’ll finish talking about this later.”

“O-okay. Thanks, mom.”

School was rough today. Minami hadn’t been able to pay attention in class, since he was still stressed about having to tell Chiyoko about this. He had told his childhood friend and fellow club member, Karin Saku, about this while walking to school, and she scolded him for his recklessness, but tried to comfort him as best she could, saying that Chiyoko probably wouldn’t be able to follow through with that agreement with how much Minami has come to rely on it for his daily life. This did help calm him down a bit, but Minami was still tense about this.

After school, the magical girl club held a meeting with all of its current members, which at this point included Minami maki, Karin Saku, Chiyoko Teruto, Yui Furumi, Koko (surname not given), and Zakuro Kaitani (actually Akira Asaba, and also known as Demon Lord Kaiserk.) At this meeting, Minami brought up what had happened that morning, which would have normally meant giving up the ability to transform.

“Please, please, please, don’t take this from me! I don’t know how I’d be able to live anymore without this!” Minami was saying in tears, having turned into a girl before making the announcement.

“Normally, this would result in you losing access to the magical girl app, and no longer being able to become a magical girl,” Chiyoko said, with a small frown on her face. She then began to smile slightly, and said,

“However, due both to your high usage of the app, and the contributions you have given to the club, I wouldn’t be able to permanently revoke your access in good conscience.”

“R-really? Thank you so much Chiyoko- “

“But, since you did break the rules, I will be imposing a temporary restriction. For the rest of this school year, the augmentation nullification feature of the app will be permanently active.”

“What? B-but I’m not able to turn back with the augmentation nullification on!”

“I’ve managed to make some updates to the app over break, and from now on, it is possible for you to transform while augmentation nullification is active. This was originally a bug, but I hadn’t had the time to fix it until spring break, which meant we weren’t having any meetings.

“I have also made some changes to how Minami’s version of the Magical Girl App works. You will now be able to transform without the use of the password, but your clothes will not transform into your magical girl outfit upon activation. This is meant to allow you to be able to transform with much less difficulty, but you will need full privacy to transform without embarrassment. You won’t be needing to transform outside of private areas anyway, since you won’t be participating in sparring.”

Minami breathed a sigh of relief, letting go of all that tension he had been holding, and flashing a bright smile. “Thanks, Chiyoko! It’s kinda disappointing not being able to fight anymore, but this isn’t actually that bad!”

Chiyoko laughed at this. “You know, for a guy, you seem rather excited to keep being a girl.”

“What do you mean? Wouldn’t every guy be excited about being a girl?”

“Maybe you should ask some of the guys you know about that.”

“Maybe I’ll ask Naoya or Dad about that tomorrow.”

Following that, the meeting was dismissed, and everyone packed up their things to go home.

Chapter Text

“What do you think of this?” Minami said, twirling to show off his new look.

“It looks nice!” Karin replied, taking in her friend’s fresh appearance.

           Minami had invited Karin to go shopping, hoping to find more girl’s clothes. Karin, for her part, just wanted to help her friend. Minami stepped out of the dressing room dressed in a light-blue pajama dress, while Karin watched intently.

 “It makes you look really cute…” She mumbled with a blush.

I didn’t mean to say that!

Karin cringed internally, Thankful that her friend didn’t read into it.

Minami’s face lit up. “Really? Thanks!”

Karin’s face was overcome with a much heavier blush as she turned away, embarrassed.

“Y-yeah, you’re welcome…”

While they had intended to only spend a couple of minutes in the store, hours had passed before they even thought to leave. After exiting the store, Karin started giggling a bit.

It’s super cute how much he gushes over clothes shopping. It was weird at first, but I’ve come to like this side of him. Although…

“What are you giggling about?” Minami asked.

“I was just wondering about why you focus so much on cute outfits.”

“What do you mean?” Minami, who was still smiling from Karin’s earlier compliment, was surprised by her sudden question.

“W-well, I’ve seen you wearing loads of cute looking outfits, but I’d have expected you to wear something more, um… boyish. At least some of the time.”

“I wear boyish clothes all the time! I’m a guy for a good chunk of the day, aren’t I?”

“I meant as a girl. Aside from that gym outfit you tried on a while back, I haven’t seen you wearing shorts or other sorts of pants as a girl very much. You’re always going with either skirts or dresses.”

“I feel like they just don’t fit my style as a girl. I’m generally trying to look cute when I’m a girl, and skirts and dresses tend to do that way better.”

He paused, considering. “But now I do kinda want to try that out sometime!”

Thoughts of his female form wearing more masculine outfits occupied his mind the whole walk back home. Karin, however, kept thinking back to that cute blue pajama dress.

Back at his house, Minami got ready to transform back. Stripping down, he took out his phone, opened the app, and

“RIIKA RI- “

Before he could finish saying the password, he had already turned back into a guy. He blushed a bit.

R-right, Chiyoko removed the password. I forgot about that.

Quickly brushing that off, Minami got dressed. Turning on the TV, he jumped on the sofa to waste away the afternoon watching whatever was on. But as he flipped through the channels trying to relax, he found that he just… couldn’t. For some reason, he just felt… stressed.

Maybe TV just isn’t what I need right now. Video games always seem to work…

But even as he dived into some of his favorites, that unease refused to go away.

Minami tried every technique he could think of, each one failing to quell the odd tension in his heart.

Why do I feel so off right now?

He looked at the bag of new clothes he had gotten earlier.

 Maybe I should try relaxing as a girl?

Going back to his room, he took out his phone and hit the transform button, forgetting that his clothes wouldn’t change with him anymore. He felt his clothes rather abruptly become much baggier than before on his smaller, feminine frame.

After a bit of embarrassment, Minami put on the pajama dress he had bought earlier. Like magic, his stress seemed to melt away. Looking in the mirror in his room, he smiled brightly, noting yet again how cute he looked, while doing a brief twirl.

Dunno why I was feeling so rough earlier. Maybe I’m just having an off day…

After a couple minutes of lounging around on the sofa, Minami heard the sound of the front door unlocking. His dad walked in and looked briefly confused.

Chuckling, he said, “I wasn’t really expecting to come home to you relaxing on your own as a girl.”

“Mostly just felt like it. Wouldn’t you do the same if you could be a girl?”

His dad considered for a second before replying. “No, not really.”

Wait, what?

Minami was rather surprised by this. How could he not want to relax as a girl, or heck, do everything as a girl?

“Really?”

“Yeah… I like being a man after all. Being a woman wouldn’t really sit right with me.”

“Not even if it was just at home, with no one around?”

His dad seemed even more confused.

“No?” He said, seeming more like a question than an answer.

“Not even if you were, like, really cute?” Minami asked, trying to find whatever complication was blocking his dad from theoretically joining him in girlhood.

“Not really.” His dad paused a second before continuing. “What about you? I’m guessing you like being a girl.”

“Y-y-yeah, I do…”

Minami’s chest felt tight. His head started to ache, and tears welled up in his eyes. The air felt thinner, his breathing felt shallow.

What’s going on? I’ve said this a load of times before, why does it feel so much heavier now? Is it because it’s my dad, or…

“What about being a guy?”

“I mean, of course I do!” He wanted to say. He wanted to have an easy answer. But the more he thought about it, the less it seemed true. Panic filled his mind.

I… I don’t know! It’s definitely worse than being a girl, that’s for sure, but do I even like it in the first place? DID I even like it? I don’t really have the same reaction I do looking at myself as a guy compared to as a girl after all... Do I? Do I not? DO I!? DO I NOT!?

“n-n… n… no… n-no I don’t…”

The world seemed to shrink around Minami. Everything felt so heavy. Their panic was clear on their face and in their voice.

Minami was crying in full now. They felt like they would burst at any moment. They couldn’t breathe anymore. Saying those words made them feel awful, as though they now understood everything about why being a guy felt so… wrong.

“I love you, Minami.”

That was the first thing Minami heard before their dad had grabbed them in a warm embrace.

“I… I l-love… I love you too… d-dad,” Minami had managed to choke out.

It was a good 5 minutes before Minami had managed to recompose themselves. Their eyes were red and puffy, and their voice hoarse. But in spite of it all, they felt a lot better.

“Maybe you should get some rest,” their dad suggested.

Rest sounds pretty good right now.

The ordeal left Minami exhausted. Drained of all energy, they stumbled into their room, crashed onto their bed, and fell asleep.

It was another rough school day for Minami. They just couldn’t focus anymore, especially with how… Wrong everything felt as a guy.

While most of their classmates seemed to not notice or even just ignore their current state, Karin was immediately struck by her long-time friend’s sudden depression.

“Hey Minami, are you good? You don’t seem quite…” she searched for the right words. The last thing she would want to do is set her friend off. “…yourself.”

“I’m alright, I’ve just… Been thinking about a lot of stuff recently.”

“About yesterday?”

Karin was immediately struck by a pang of regret. Had her comment affected Minami more than she thought?

“Yeah… I had a chat with my dad, and… realized some things about myself. I’ll bring it up in the meeting.”

“Okay, I won’t press you about it.” Whatever relief she gained from knowing she wasn’t responsible was immediately overcome with worry. Regardless of what had happened recently, this was her friend, and she hated to see them hurt.

The rest of the school day was a slog for Minami. They almost regretted promising an explanation at the meeting. They kept thinking about sweeping the whole ordeal under the rug somehow. But then they’d look down at their boy’s body in their boy’s uniform and were immediately reminded of why they’re doing this.

As soon as their last class ended, they sprinted to the club room. Barely a second after they closed the door they’d transformed back into a girl. They even changed into the school uniform they got from Chiyoko. Relief washed over them as they looked in the mirror. While they felt a lot more energetic than before, Minami was still very stressed about the upcoming meeting. Taking advantage of the time they had as the first member there, they thought over how they would go about bringing up what happened last night.

In no time the room was filled with all the members of this strange little club. Minami scanned the crowd nervously. They were about to share something very personal with what was practically their whole friend group. But in the scan their eyes landed on Karin and, strangely, her cheerful, yet slightly concerned smile, seemed to soothe their tense nerves. With all the members present, Chiyoko gathered herself and started going over the itinerary for the day, before Minari interrupted, saying:

“I have something I want to talk about…”

“What is it, Minami?” Chiyoko asked.

“W-well, when I was at home yesterday, I had a talk with dad about…” their stomach was in knots. It felt like their body was conspiring against them. The club members looked at them expectantly. Taking a deep breath, they resumed, “about being a girl… and… and how I don’t think I like… being a guy…”

Kaiserk, who was leaning on the wall at that moment, suddenly flinched, but said nothing. As much as they had to say, they held their tongue, intending to keep their identity concealed. Chiyoko, meanwhile, suddenly gave a massive smirk.

“Minami, have you ever heard the term ‘Transgender’ before?”

Chapter Text

“Minami, have you ever heard the term ‘Transgender’ before?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“It’s a bit hard to explain, but basically, it means that your gender, be it boy, girl, or something else, is misaligned with your body.” Minami cocked their head to the side in confusion.

“In other words, a Transgender girl would have the body of a boy, but still be a girl at heart,” Chiyoko explained.

“A girl… at heart?” Minami whispered, half as a question, and half just to feel the words on their tongue.

It was as if everything suddenly made sense to Minami.

That’s… me. I’m transgender. There’s a word for it. These thoughts. My discomfort in my own skin. Hair where it didn’t belong. The deepness of my voice. How… Right, it felt to be a girl. How cute I felt. How I’ve been using all of my free time simply to be a girl. How willing I was to not go back when I couldn’t. How awful I felt when I couldn’t be a girl. It all feels… Right.

She knew it. She always did. She just didn’t have the words for it. She wasn’t a guy. Not in her heart, anyway. She was always a girl. She was also blushing furiously now.

Minami opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it, contemplating how to respond. Again, she tried to speak, but found her tongue unwilling to move.

“C-can I have a moment?” She finally managed to stutter out.

“Go ahead.” Chiyoko replied.

On the other side of the room, Kaiserk was frozen. They didn’t get it. This idea of being ‘a girl at heart…’ It felt both so wrong and yet so right. Without thinking, they bolted out of the room, bumping into the chairs and doorframe in their mad dash. The club were all startled. Yui was up in the blink of an eye, quickly chasing after her enemy-turned-friend.  Kaiserk’s thoughts were racing. Was that who they were? Did they like their body? Did they not? Was there anything they could do to fix it or not? Even if there was, there was no way for them to act on it. They ducked into a stairwell and changed back from Kaiserk to Akira. He crouched and hugged his shoulders. He felt so small. So overwhelmed by everything around him. Even back to his usual form, he was still stressed.

“I’m probably just surprised by Minami’s… situation. I’m fine. I just need to sleep on it. Yeah, sleeping on it is all I need. I’ll be back to normal by tomorrow.” Akira quietly lied to himself.

Back in the club room, an awkward silence had invaded the space. The silence broke to the sound of Minami’s soft sobbing. Looking over, Karin could see her shaking. Immediately she went over to help her.

“what’s wrong? Are you okay?” she asked, concern clear in her voice.

“I-I’m fine. I-It’s just, t-there’s actually a word for it.” Minami said with a smile. “I’m not the only one like this. After that talk with dad, I-I started thinking I was the only one like this, but no! I’m not! There’re enough people like me that there’s a word for it… it’s such a relief.”

“So, what now?”

“Well, obviously, stay a girl for the rest of my life!” Minami beamed, continuing, “and also try to get the full experience of being a girl.”

“You… you were already doing that…” Karin said, confused.

“Yeah, but that was from the view of a guy. I was doing that for the novelty. But now… now it’ll be different. Experiencing being a girl as a girl.”

Karin tried her best to wrap her head around this. How different would it really be? In the end she resolved to just go with it and move on.

“W-well, good luck with that. I’ll try to help where I can,” Karin said.

Minami replied with a bright smile, her eyes red from crying. Karin felt her heart skip a beat. She hadn’t realized it, but it had been years since she’d seen this enthusiastic side of Minami. It was that side of her that she had fallen in love with.

But… that was with Minami, as a guy… why does it feel so similar to back then? He’s a girl now! I can’t love a girl!

Again, silence fell on the club room.

Chiyoko, having finally processed all that had happened in such a short space of time, then chimed in.

“Well, I think that’s enough for today. We should all probably get back home.”

Everyone else nodded in agreement. What was in reality only a couple of minutes had felt to them like a lifetime. They were all exhausted and eager to get back to their lives. They packed up their things and left.

A few days later, Karin noticed that Minami wasn’t going to school anymore. She hadn’t seen Minami that much either these past days, and even when she did show up, when Karin asks her about what’s going on with school, she deflects and changes the subject almost immediately, clearly not wanting to talk about it. Karin knew this was something Minami was worried about, so she decided to visit her after school that day.

Waiting outside the door to Minami’s house, Karin’s heart was racing. She was nervous to ask about this, since Minami was almost always deflecting her questions about why she wasn’t at school. While she wanted to get some answers, she also didn’t want to upset her friend.

Why are you hiding from school? Why are you hiding why you’re hiding? Is it to do with that last meeting? But why would you…

Karin’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Minami shoving open the door, a bright smile on her face.

“Good to see you, Karin! Come on in!”

“U-uh, y-yeah…” she replied, a bit frazzled by Minami’s abrupt entrance.

While they were walking over to the living room, Karin was trying to formulate how to bring up the topic. But there was one other thing that was gnawing on her thoughts.

“You’re… still a girl.”

Minami didn’t reply, but Karin swore she saw her flinch.

The pair sat down on the couch, and Karin took a deep breath, before finally asking Minami,

“Why haven’t you been at school?”

Minami, previously smiling cheerfully, suddenly frowned.

“I… Can’t.”

“Can’t what?”

“Go back…”

“Why not?”

“I… I’d have to be a guy again…” Minami started trembling, her face going red.

Karin was confused. Minami had been a guy before. Heck, he’d been living as a guy for his entire life before high school!

“You… you’ve been a guy for all of school! What issue do you have with being a guy now?”

“I... I-it wasn’t as obvious to me before. I-I’d never realized… how much I actually… hated… being a guy… I can’t go back to… that. Not anymore. I’m never going to be a guy ever again!”

Minami was starting to cry now. She was choking on her words, and it was very clear she didn’t like talking about this. Karin was still puzzled by this, but it was clear that Minami was done with this topic.

“but you can’t just skip school! You still need to attend!”

Minami, having recomposed herself, but still sniffling a bit, answered.

“I’ve been attending online. B-but I do want to go back! Dad and I are trying to figure out how to let me attend as a girl, but I can’t attend in person in the meantime. I don’t want them getting mad at me for this.”

“Plus, it’ll be fun to see people’s reactions when I get back.” She said with a mischievous grin.

“Especially from Naoya. His reaction to finding out that he had a crush on his best friend would be amazing.”

Karin laughed at this, and the mood had brightened back to normal. Karin did still feel like she should do something to help, but was embarrassed about asking.

“W-well, I don’t want you to get stressed about your grades! S-so, how about a sleepover this weekend,” she said, blushing.

“S-so I can help you with studying!”

“Sure, that sounds fun! I’ve been struggling a bit more than usual, especially with math, but that might also just be from all the stress I’m under right now.”

Chapter Text

It was now the weekend, and Minami had just gotten to Karin’s house. Both Karin and Minami were setting up for studying, when Mrs. Saku walked in.

“Oh, hello there Karii.”

“Um, I do have something to tell you, Mrs. Saku…” Minami said with a blush.

“Oh?” she asked with a lilt.

“I-I’m actually… Minami Maki.”

Mrs. Saku usually doesn’t show much in the way of surprise, and can come off as a bit airheaded. This time was no exception.

“I was wondering why you felt so familiar. Is that also why you were wearing Karin’s dress last year?”

“Y-yes…” Minami bashfully replied.

Mrs. Saku simply shrugged.

“Have fun you two!” she said as she left the kids to their studying.

Karin coughed to clear the air.

“So, uh, what were you having issues with?”

“Ugh. Math(s).” Minami replied, pulling her textbook out of her backpack.

“Alright then, how about we try some practice problems.” Karin said with a smile.

Taking out their pencils they did problem after problem, Karin pointing out each error and Minami groaning with every incorrect answer.

Minami suddenly put down her pencil and dropped her face onto the book.

“Come on, Minami, I know you can do at least a couple more problems. I think you’re really getting the hang of it.” Karin said, trying to encourage her friend through some particularly difficult algebra.

“It’s just so… ugh, I don’t get it” Minami lamented, looking up at Karin like a dog begging for a treat.

Karin’s face flushed red. It took her a second to find her words, lost in Minami’s gaze.

“M-maybe we just need a bit of a break.”

Karin searched for some way out.

“How have you been? O-outside of school and all, I mean.”

Minami lit up like a star.

“Oh, I’ve been having so much fun being a girl! I just got like some new dresses that are so adorable and pretty and- “

Minami’s excited ramblings about dresses and shoes fell on deaf ears. Karin couldn’t turn her thoughts away from that brief moment.

Why am I… She’s a girl. At least she says so. Well, she looks like it. And I’m a girl too. It’s fine if I think she’s cute but… It’s just appreciation. Yeah, I can just appreciate her as a fellow girl.

Minami suddenly stopped, mouth agape, finally snapping Karin out of her trance.

“I get it now!” Minami shouted, quickly picking up her pencil and furiously scribbling away at her textbook.

When she finished, she dropped her pencil, turned her textbook to face Karin, and crossed her arms with a smug look on her face.

“That’s right! I told you that you were getting the hang of it!” Karin cheered.

With Minami’s enthusiasm renewed they called an end to their break and resumed their studying.

Hours went by. Minami alternated between thinking she’d never understand math at all to feeling she could conquer calculus! All the while Karin guided her friend, using the work to bury her feelings.

“Oh, can I use your bathroom?” Minami asked.

“Oh, uh, sure.”

Minami got up and ran off to the bathroom, high off a streak of correct answers.

With no work to do, Karin had no defense against her invasive thoughts.

All she could think about was the face Minami – girl Minami – had made.

It was just appreciation, right? I mean she’s a girl. Well kind of. I did have a crush on her as a guy. Him as a guy? Augh. But that’s a different Minami. Why does it feel so similar, though. She’s a girl now, not a boy. I can’t just… I can’t.

Karin was furiously shaking her head, as if trying to dislodge the thoughts through her ears.

“Are you okay, Karin?” Minami asked, worried about her friend’s erratic behavior.

Karin was startled. She was so consumed by her thoughts she didn’t even notice that Minami had come back. Minami. This girl she’d had such strange thoughts about. Right in front of her; in her room. Even if she’d done it tons of times, it felt so… different now. Her mind seemed to go blank.

“Y-yeah… Yeah, I’m fine. I just… had something in my hair.” Karin said with a half-hearted chuckle. She prayed that Minami bought her lie.

“I can tell something’s bothering you.”

I wish you were this perceptive when I had a crush on you. A crush on…

Karin felt like she wanted to speak. Like she desperately needed to say something, but a great weight was holding her back.

It’s not that I still have a crush, right? That’s not possible. Girls can’t just… with other girls. I mean how would it…

Minami leaned down;^* concern clear in her face. It was just like that moment when they were studying. That same pleading face.

I love that face. I wonder what I could do to make her do it again.

Images of cuddling with Minami under the covers flashed through her head. Both of them fully exposed to each other. Minami pleading for Karin to show her what it’s like to be a woman. Karin crawled down the bed, towards Minami’s-

NOPE NOPE NONONO

“NOTHING!” Karin yelped, much louder than she intended to.

“It’s nothing. Just some… It’s nothing” she said, hoping to end her friend’s interrogation.

“Alright then, I won’t pry.” Minami replied, clearly not convinced.

“Just… I’m your friend, Karin. You’ve helped me so much. I would do the same for you if you need it.” Minami said, taking Karin’s hands into her own.

Karin felt like she was on fire. She needed a way out.

In a flash of genius she yawned, removing her hands from Minami’s grasp, and stretching her arms in the same swift movement.

“I think we should go to bed.” Minami said, turning away.

“Y-yeah…” Karin replied, still blushing from earlier.

Snuggled up tight in her bed Karin hoped she could simply get to sleep and forget about the awkwardness of the study session. Minami was certainly sleeping well. As soon as the lights went out Karin heard Minami softly snoring. She couldn’t help but feel jealous of her guest. If one of them had to stay up replaying what happened during this sleep over why wasn’t it the person who did the studying? Karin’s bitterness was only amplified by her confusion.

What… what was that fantasy before. Minami and- Minami the GIRL and ME all snuggled up like-

She couldn’t even finish the thought, Yanking the covers over her face like there was a chance Minami would know otherwise.

Why does that… I mean I guess I’ve imagined similar things with Minami… but that was with a guy! And she was so… I mean she was pleading but it felt like a demand. How does she even-

Minami snorted a bit and turned on her side. Karin was deathly pale.

She’s… She’s right there. Sleeping not even five feet from me. I just… what is wrong with me? Why can’t I just… ugh.

As the excitement of her scare wore down, Karin was overtaken by drowsiness. Within minutes she, too, was asleep.

The moon shone through her window, bathing the two girls in a gentle light. It was the end of a long day, and the start of a new one.

As the light of a new day crept into her room, Karin awoke to the sound of Minami groaning in pain. She was curled in a ball and laying on her side.

“What’s wrong?” Karin asked worriedly.

“There’s blood… a lot of blood.” Minami replied, still groaning in pain.

“Blood!? From where!?” Karin started to panic. Had the app done something seriously wrong? Would Minami be alright. All sorts of awful things clouded her mind.

“Down there…” she said, pointing at her crotch. Her panties were soaked red with blood. Karin immediately realized what was happening, giggling a bit.

“What’s so funny about this!?” Minami shouted in pain and frustration.

“You’re… on your period.” Karin explained, trying to hold back a chuckle.

“My… what?” Minami’s eyes went wide, before quickly squinting into some combination between a wince and a smile.

“Wait… Really?” She chuckled.

Minami was now laughing as well, a pained smile on her face. She’d taken Sex Ed in middle school, so she knew what periods were. But at that time, she still wasn’t expecting to have one herself! Even if this was funny, she still very much needed help.

“Could you go get something to help with… this?” Minami asked, gesturing at her blood-soaked underwear

“Oh yeah, sure!” Karin said, stopping her snickering and heading to the bathroom.

Karin brought a pad for Minami, and with some trouble, she had managed to put it on. Minami still felt uncomfortable, and her stomach felt like it could implode at any moment, but she was in a much better mood than before. Minami then started chuckling again, having realized something.

“Well… that’s another girl experience I’ve had! It hurts like hell… and the pad’s sticking oddly, but it also feels… kinda nice too?”

“Why would you enjoy being on your period?” Karin asked, puzzled by Minami’s response to her situation.

“I mean, yeah, this sucks… but this is something all girls go through, right? There’s something kind of… validating, in that. You know?”

She… Really is a girl, huh?

“You know, that’s very much like you, Minami.” Karin teased.

“Oh, like you wouldn’t feel the same after living as a boy for 15 years?” Minami teased back.

The two girls fell into a fit of giggles. It had been a surprisingly eventful sleepover, and this somehow felt like the perfect thing to cap it off.

Chapter Text

The next morning was fairly normal for Karin. Minami had made her way back to her own house and Karin was left to run through her morning routine as usual. Minami’s looks still dominated her thoughts, but outside of that, it was like any other day.

It’s weirdly… boring… without Minami here now. Before I was worried but now I just…

She felt the gentle warmth of the spring sun on her skin.

I suppose boring is better, in a way.

As she’d finally arrived at her homeroom class, she noticed one of the students was rather visibly stressed. While she wasn’t super familiar with him, she knew he was one of Minami’s friends: Naoya Takeda.

“First Minami, now Akira? What the heck is happening with those two?” he was murmuring.

“Is something wrong?” Karin asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he dismissed, turning away. Then, he suddenly realized something.

“Wait, you’re friends with Minami, right!?” he asked, betraying his false calm.

“Oh, uh, yeah” Karin replied. In truth she had hoped to take her mind off Minami for just a bit. It seemed like her every waking thought was dedicated to the cute girl he had become.

“Have you seen him at all lately? He hasn’t shown up in nearly half a week and he’s not responding to any of my messages.”

Karin had to take a moment to sort out the discrepancy between the mental image of Minami, the pretty girl who she had such fun with last night, and the “he” s and “him” s Naoya had thrown her way.

“Oh yeah, I talked with he- him just last night.”

He gripped her shoulders and battered her with questions.

“Is he alright? This doesn’t feel like him. What’s going on? Should I go over myself? Is it because of me?”

While Karin was well aware of what was going on with Minami, she couldn’t exactly tell Naoya about her situation. She had specifically promised Minami not to tell him about it. It didn’t help that Minami’s more naïve friend likely wouldn’t believe her. But, at the same time, she didn’t want Naoya worrying about Minami either.

She rubbed her shoulder and turned away slightly.

“Minami has some… stuff going on, so for now he’s taking classes online. He said he’s planning to attend again in around a month.” she answered hesitantly.

“And he doesn’t want you to worry about him. He said you can’t come see him yet. I think it would be best to just… leave him be for now” She hastily added, hoping to abort any of Naoya’s plans to pay a visit to Minami’s house.

“Oh… I see, I guess.” He sounded saddened by this, but quickly cheered up.

“Wait, he once said that he didn’t like the way he looked. He’s probably doing some intense bulking up and wants to walk into class suddenly looking like some sort of bodybuilder! Doesn’t want to ruin the surprise for me!”

Where did he even come up with that? I mean it’s… half right but.

Karin couldn’t help but imagine the surprise on Naoya’s face in the coming month, stifling a giggle.

“I should also ask; do you know anything about Akira? He’s been missing for about the same amount of time”

“Who?” Karin asked.

“Someone called Akira Asaba. He’s the guy with the glasses Minami and I sometimes talk to. He can be a bit… harsh, but I swear he’s a good guy!”

Are you his friend or his wingman?

Naoya continued, “he looked really stressed out the past few days, and I haven’t seen him in a while now. Do you think it’s related somehow?”

“I don’t really know Akira that well… but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have anything to do with what Minami’s going through.”

Akira was sitting in class. He was in the same school, in the same classroom, at the same desk as he always was. Still, something felt… different. Akira had tried to pay attention, he really had, but his mind simply refused to focus. The ticking of the clock on the wall, the tapping of pencils, even his own breathing. Everything felt so overwhelming. It had only been a day since Minami came out, and Akira was already marred with insomnia. Worse still, today was an exam day. Akira had almost forgotten until now, when an exam sheet was placed in front of him. Math. It was a subject he excelled in. No room for subjectivity, no rote memorization of faces and names, just cold, hard math. He stared at the page.

After struggling through the first few questions, he glanced at the clock.

Wait, how much time has passed?

He was starting to sweat. He would finish some questions, always slower than he wanted, and give up on others.

What’s happened to me? These questions are simple! Why won’t my brain cooperate with me anymore? Is it… because of yesterday?

“Time is up, hand in your exams.”

He was frozen. He hadn’t even finished. His body was on autopilot. He felt like he was just… watching himself. He passed his test forward.

Damn it…

The rest of the school day passed by without event. At least Akira was pretty sure it did. His memory was fuzzy. Everything he tried to recall felt like someone else telling a story about him. He hadn’t even processed when he’d gotten home. He went to his room, took out his phone, and changed into Kaiserk. They lay in their bed, staring at the ceiling. Something felt… different about being Kaiserk this time, though. They were stuck in their own head.

Why does this feel more natural to me now? It wasn’t like this before. I hated this even. When I transformed, I felt… calmer? Only for a moment, but I don’t get it! Why do I feel like this about being a girl now!? Is this… because of Minami?

Their thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. It was their sister, Sakura.

“How are you?”

“Go. Away.” Kaiserk snapped.

“Aww… is my little sister having a fit?” she teased, not really grasping the severity of the situation just yet.

“I TOLD YOU TO GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!” They shouted as they chucked a pillow at the door, unable to hold back their frustration and venom anymore. They were having a rough enough time already, and they didn’t need their sister teasing them on top of that! Tears were forming at the edge of their eyes.

There was a brief pause before Kaiserk heard the quiet footsteps of their sister walking away. That outburst had drained them of what little energy they had left. They laid in bed for a short while, slowly falling asleep. It was the first time they had ever slept as a girl. It felt odd, but at the same time, comforting.

“Here are your graded exams. Please look over them carefully.”

Akira had gotten his test back. As he thought, he’d done terribly. A fifty-one. It was the lowest score he had ever gotten on an exam. He felt like he couldn’t breathe anymore. He sunk his head into his arms and laid on his desk in defeat. He didn’t even bother going to the rest of his classes that day. It’s not like he could have done anything there, anyway.

I’m worthless now.

Kaiserk was sitting at the desk in their room, wearing the outfit Sakura had gotten them during a shopping trip. Their twin tails had been taken out, letting their hair fall freely down their chair and their back. Their arms and legs were red from scratching, nails cracked with some of them bleeding, and there was a bandage on their left wrist.

I don’t want to live like this anymore. I can’t live like this anymore. I need to start over.

It was then that they remembered that little side-project they had made.

Shame erasure. That could give me the restart I need right now. It’s still a mess, but I’ve improved on it a bit since last time. Maybe… that would help me?

Their mind thought back to the first time they had used it. It had been months ago. They were left an amnesiac in the body of an adorable girl. It was a miracle that the first hand to reach out to them had been a friend. The risk was huge. But, at the same time, when they were left without memories in this girl’s body, they had done things that Akira Asaba never could.

Come on, what’s the worst that can happen? Is it really worse than this? You can’t keep going like this, Akira. You know it’s right. Use that logical brain of yours. This is the only way forward.

They pulled out their phone, opened the maniacal girl app, tapped on the shame erasure function, and Akira Asaba was no more.

Chapter Text

She’d done it. The one thing she shouldn’t have ever done again. Instantly wracked with regret and shame, she ran out of her room and into the pouring rain, tears running off her face.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!!

She dashed through the rain, the scenery around her a blur. She didn’t know where she was going or why. Even as her legs burned and her feet ached, she just kept running. Her memories were fading rapidly, and as she finally slowed to a stop, fatigue overcoming her, it was over. Akira Asaba was over. All she remembered was the names of those who could help her, and her own name. Zakuro. She was now Zakuro, a young girl completely lost in the middle of town, in the dark of a storm, with no way to help herself. She saw the bandage on her wrist, soaked in blood. Her blood. She was shaking. She dropped down onto a cold, metal bench, sobbing.

“Help me. Please, someone, help me…”

Yui was panicking. She hadn’t seen Zakuro in nearly a week. She’d been looking all over for her, dedicating every second she could to her search. She found herself in Orikawa Public Park, clutching her red umbrella amidst the downpour of rain. She glanced around, searching for any sort of clue amidst the trees and bushes. The streetlamps shown hazy light in the misty rain. Every step she took was accompanied by the squish of damp mud. She couldn’t hear it. Her own ragged breathing was too loud. It was a dark and dreary scene. She could hardly see. She was just about to give up and look somewhere else, when suddenly, she heard a sobbing from somewhere. Quickly scanning the area, she saw her. Zakuro. Drenched from head to toe, bloodied and bandaged, collapsed on a bench. She dropped her umbrella and sprinted over to her immediately. When she grabbed her shivering hand, Zakuro suddenly looked up, and her tears stopped. Giving a warm, but troubled smile, she put her other hand on Yui’s.

“It’s good to see you again, Zakuro.” Yui said, gasping, her throat sore from the frigid air.

“Y…You too, Yui…” Zakuro managed to choke out. Her teeth were chattering. She was freezing.

There was a pause. The two girls reveled in each other’s comforting presence, clouds of cold vapor spilling from their mouths, sheets of rain crashing around them. Yui’s face seemed to glow, letting off a halo of comfort for Zakuro. The other girl, with her clothes now almost as much water as they were fabric, appeared dull and pale.

“Let me go grab my umbrella. We should probably get you out of the rain.”

“g-got it…”

Yui quicky looked around, finding a nearby bus stop. She took Zakuro’s hand with a reassuring smile. Zakuro slowly got up, her legs shaking. She gripped Yui’s sleeve fiercely. The pair quickly dashed to the safety of the hooded bench; their heads ducked to avoid the rain. They were still soaked, their clothes dripping onto the covered pavement, but being out of the rain was a relief. After catching her breath, Yui looked to Zakuro.

“So, what happened? I-I haven’t seen you in almost a week! Are… are you alright?” She asked. She’d wanted to try and remain calm; she knew deep down that being panicked in this situation would only make things harder for Zakuro. She knew, but still, she couldn’t hold back her anxiety. Her friend had been missing for days and now she finds her sobbing in a public park in the middle of a rainstorm. To say she was worried about her friend’s rough condition would be an understatement.

“I… I don’t remember… I lost my memory. I was running away from somewhere, and… and when I was able to slow down again, I was… here.” She gestured around to her surroundings: Sopping wet grass and cold concrete.

“Again, thank you, Yui.” Zakuro replied, her voice quivering, her eyes red with tears.

So, it happened again. Should probably handle this the same as last time. But…

Yui looked Zakuro over. She wasn’t dressed for the weather, and was paying the price. Her clothes hung heavy, soaked in the rain. She noticed the bloody bandages around her arm.

That wound on her wrist looks pretty severe.

Yui was in a fit. Her mind wrestled with nightmare scenarios one after another.

 Who had done this to this poor girl? Was it a family member, a partner, a friend, a stranger? Why? How could they come to hurt this fragile flower!?

 The mix of fear and rage left her sick.

She palmed Zakuro’s hands. They were freezing. She looked deep at her friend with a slight frown and squinting eyes.

“I’ll do —I swear to god— I’ll do my best to help you get your memory back, and in the meantime, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe and comfortable.”

Zakuro kept staring, her mouth slightly agape. She wanted to say something, but the burning of the cold air in her throat held back her words.

“You should be able to stay at my place for now,”

Yui again looked at the bloodied rags on her friend’s arm.

“But first, we should probably take you to the hospital. That looks pretty rough, and it could get infected, especially with having been in the rain for who knows how long.” Yui said comfortingly.

“Thank you. And…” Her voice was hoarse. Zakuro was about to bring up her wrist injury again, but stopped as soon as she looked at the blood-soaked cloth. Her shaking quickened, and tears began streaming down her cheeks again. She had largely ignored the pain it was inflicting on her, but now it was rushing through her like a stampede. She winced as she felt the ache pulsing from her arm all through her body. She could smell the blood.

Yui couldn’t stand seeing her friend in agony like this, she immediately jumped into action, pouncing on Zakuro, and hugging her tightly to her chest. She felt the cold, wet clothes against her skin. She closed her eyes, letting her warmth envelope the smaller girl.

“We’ll deal with this together. You aren’t alone, Zakuro. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” She said in a reassuring tone underscored by bitter anger. As Yui stroked Zakuro’s hair, she started sobbing again, muffled by Yui’s chest. The two girls stood like that for quite some time. Dimly lit by the lamp next to the bus stop. Tears mixing with the rain and soaking their clothes. Through all the frigid chaos around them, it was a moment of warm peace.

Chapter Text

God that teacher can really drone on sometimes. Glad there’s not too much homework. Now I can just relax at the club, chat with Chiyoko a bit.  

Karin stretched her arms high in the air. Classes had become a lot more exhausting without Minami there to keep her energy up. As she turned into the club room Karin could distinctly hear rhythmic tapping.

“Hey Chiyoko!”

“Oh, Karin, welcome.” The older student replied, tapping her fingers on the table. She was visibly distracted by something, staring off into space.

“Are you alright? You seem kind of stressed,” Karin asked, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu.

“Oh, I’m fi-” She paused, considering the other girl for a second. She was friends with Minami. She had been since they were kids.

“Well actually, yes. With Minami gone, things just haven’t been the same. Have you seen her at all?”

“Oh yeah, I met up with her a couple days ago. She’s really been enjoying being a girl.” Karin stared off, thinking about Minami’s excitement over dresses and the pictures she’d send Karin at every opportunity. Her face reddened a bit as she smiled.

“Has she been keeping up with school at all? Obviously, I haven’t seen her here.” Chiyoko said, gesturing to the room.

“Minami’s been… unable to go to school for a bit. She can’t go as a girl because, well, you know. But now she can’t go as a guy ‘cause she just finds it too painful now-”

Realizing what she had said, Karin quickly added: “a-and that’s not your fault! She just needed some time. She’s been taking school online, so her grades are fine, and I think she’s a lot happier now at home.”

“Oh that’s… a relief. Thank you, Karin. Could you pass a message along to Minami for me?”

“Why not just tell me yourself?” As if summoned, Minami appeared at the club’s entrance, a bright smile on her face.

“Minami!” Chiyoko rose to greet her.

“Welcome back. I’m terribly sorry if I did anything to hurt you, I just-”

“No. No, if anything, I have to thank you. You… what you did… it helped me so much. Before I feel like I was just floating through life but… and I don’t just mean giving me a word to describe it, I mean even further. I mean accepting me for who I am, I mean helping me live as I want to, I mean letting me in this club, I mean giving me the tool to be the woman I had always, deep down, hoped to be… and beyond all that, I mean for being my friend. For all of that, thank you.”

Chiyoko was struggling a bit to hold back tears.

“Wow, Minami. I didn’t realize just how much this all meant to you.” Chiyoko said with a laugh.

“Whoops! Sorry, that all just kinda slipped out.” Minami shrugged.

“What was it you wanted to tell me?”

“Just that… that I hope you’re doing better.” Chiyoko paused, taking in her clubmate. Minami seemed to be radiating warmth.

“But I think it’s clear what the answer to that is.” Chiyoko chuckled.

“That’s for sure.” Karin chimed in, hugging Minami’s arm. Minami blushed just a bit, enjoying the warm feeling of the other girl clinging to her.

“So!” Chiyoko clapped her hands, getting both girls’ attention.

“How are online classes?”

“They’re fine. I mean, they’re classes. Not exactly excited about them.”

The girls giggled as they took their seats.

“Yeah, I suppose you can only enjoy them so much,” Chiyoko said, aligning a stack of papers and pens.

“So, outside of classes, how have you been?”

“Oh, I’ve been doing fantastic! It’s so fun to just… exist as a girl! Yesterday, I went out to the mall and…”

While Minami was talking Chiyoko’s ear off about her girl time, Karin found her thoughts wandering towards Minami’s outfit: a black dress over a blue and white striped shirt. She had her hair in a high ponytail, fixed with a bright red ribbon. Karin noticed how much longer Minami’s hair had gotten; now flowing well past her shoulders.

She’s really good at picking out cute outfits. And she even styled her hair. Compared to her I feel kinda plain. I should ask her to help me out sometime. Dressed up in something she’d find cute…

She blushed slightly. Minami looked briefly at her, and she turned away, her face beet red.

“So, Chiyoko, when should we expect the other two members?” Minami asked, excited to repeat her tales of mundane girlhood to them.

Chiyoko’s smile started to melt into a frown.

“That’s the thing… I haven’t seen Yui or the maniacal girl in quite a while. I was wondering if you knew anything about what happened with them.” She said, looking at Minami with a stern face.

“Wish I did but, I’m just as lost as you.” Minami rubbed the back of her head. In truth, she suspected that her disappearance might have something to do with that last meeting, but couldn’t explain that without exposing Akira’s secret and breaking their promise.

Akira might not have taken the sudden revelation as well as I did. I mean it is a lot to take in, but I was just so excited I guess my mind skipped over the whole worrying part. But that doesn’t explain Yui though.

“Same with me.” Karin said, shrugging.

Chiyoko felt a buzz in her bag, and pulled out her phone.

“Maybe Yui’s on vacation or something?” Minami threw out, only half-believing the possibility herself.

“Without telling us? That just doesn’t seem like her. I mean unless Chiyoko got some sort of inform-”

The two girls broke off their conversation and looked at Chiyoko. She was staring at her phone, with one eyebrow cocked. Minami spoke up.

“What is it?”

“It’s a text from Yui…” Chiyoko replied, never moving her eyes from her phone.

“Well, what’s it say?” Karin asked.

Chiyoko said nothing, simply showing her phone to them. The girls leaned in to get a better look. Below messages about magical girl shows and places to get good food in town, there was a single, stand out text message. The phone read:

Yui Furumi: We’ll be arriving at the club shortly.

“We?” Minami and Karin asked in unison.

“It’s probably her maid, we know how much she cares for Yui.” Chiyoko suggested.

“Yeah, to a creepy extent,” Minami added, shivering.

“I mean it could be…” Karin was about to throw out an idea when there was a knock at the club door. Minami, wracked with curiosity, went to open it.

Yui was standing there; another girl clinging to her arm like a nervous child with their mother. Minami looked the other girl up and down. She was a fair bit shorter than Yui, and wore her honey blonde hair in a low ponytail that fell around her hips. She was looking around frantically, her blood-red eyes only highlighted by her square glasses. Yui leaned into her, whispering something to calm her down. 

Minami hardly recognized her, but those striking eyes left no room for doubt. This girl, so meek and clingy, was the Maniacal Girl.

“Hello Minami!” Yui said, excitedly.

“Hey!” Minami replied, waving.

Yui and the girl strode into the room. Even as they walked the two girls were bound together like glue. It was a sight equally humorous and adorable. As they walked past her, Minami noticed a scar across the girl’s wrist. It looked recent.

“Yui! I’m so glad to see you again!” Karin exclaimed.

“Welcome back, Yui,” Chiyoko said, much more reserved but equally as joyful.

“It feels good to be back.” Yui said with a smile.

“H-hello everyone… My name i-is Zakuro…” the smaller girl whispered, as if trying to hide her voice as much as she was hiding her body.

“Oh, hey there… um…” Karin paused, trying desperately to search her memory for the identity of this shy girl.

“…Maniacal girl," Minami finished, breaking the silence.

“I’m happy that I get to see you two again.” She smiled briefly.  She considered her next question carefully.

“What’s that scar about?” She asked. It seems she was the only one to notice it as the pair had entered. Zakuro dug her head into Yui’s arm, pained by the reminder of her experience.

“We don’t know. She… lost her memory again,” Yui explained, looking down at Zakuro with caring eyes.

“So, we’re still trying to figure out what caused it… It was pretty bad when I found her- ”

“Found her!?” Chiyoko shouted, shooting up. By now everyone in the room was worried about Zakuro.

“She wasn’t at home when she lost her memories… I found her in the park, drenched in rain.” Zakuro flinched, the pain from her wound briefly resurfacing.

“What about her phone?” Minami asked. Given her knowledge of Zakuro and her connection with Akira, she knew that the phone was key to undoing this whole situation.

“I… I don’t know…” Zakuro whispered.

“After I found her, I took her to a hospital. Her wound had gotten infected, so she had to stay there for two weeks recovering.”

“Well, that explains why she wasn’t here, but what about you, Yui?” Karin asked.

Yui opened her mouth to speak but was surprised when Zakuro spoke for herself.

“I… I didn’t want to be alone and… I didn’t want to worry any of you. She stayed by my side the whole time.” Zakuro was choking up just thinking about it. She looked up at Yui, still hugging her tightly.

“I-I never thanked you for that…”

“You did, multiple times actually…”

“Well not enough! You… you’ve been so good to me and I-I…” Yui grabbed Zakuro’s cheeks with her hands.

“Oh hush, I wouldn’t have stayed by your side if you didn’t deserve it. I care about you Zakuro. I hate seeing you in pain.”

“And the same goes for us!” Minami chimed in, taking one of the girl’s hands in hers.

“Our relationship might’ve had a weird start, but there’s no doubt you’re our friend, Zakuro.”

“You hear that, Zakuro? You’re our friend, and as your friends, we want to make this a safe place for you.” Yui focused intensely on Zakuro, and she looked away.

“But-”

“We’re. Your. Friends. Okay, dummy?” Yui was rubbing Zakuro’s cheeks in circles, making her look like a chipmunk.

Zakuro couldn’t help but laugh.

“Okay, okay, I get it.”

“Good,” Yui said as she placed her forehead against Zakuro’s.

Minami loudly cleared her throat, trying to get the pair focused again.

“I do have some things I would like to discuss with Zakuro in private after the meeting.” She stated with a focused look.

“u-um, okay…” Zakuro replied meekly. She was clutching her wrist, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

Yui immediately jumped in, noticing the young girl’s distress.

“I’ll need you to talk with me about this first. I don’t doubt your intentions, but I’d like to know what you want to tell her.”

Minami opened her mouth, thought for a second, and sighed briefly, nodding in approval.

“Okay.”

Sorry, Akira. I can’t keep that promise anymore, for your sake.

After Chiyoko and Karin had left the room, Yui asked Zakuro to wait at the table, and she and Minami relocated to a stairwell to discuss the topic.

“So, what is it you want to discuss?” Yui asked.

Minami leaned in, glancing around to make sure there was no one in earshot.

“I know who Zakuro was.” Minami whispered, making sure that nobody else could hear her.

“Her true identity is Akira Asaba. He’s a student at this school, and he had developed the maniacal girl app to play out his fantasies as a demon lord.”

Minami paused, letting the information soak in. Yui looked down in confusion, taking a minute to process what she’d heard.

“Okay, I guess that makes sense. It’s similar to you in a way.”

“Well… while he was ‘fighting’ us,” Minami emphasized with air quotes.

“I kept doing things that… embarrassed him…” Minami blushed at this comment, but decided not to elaborate, shaking her head slightly.

“a-anyway, at some point, he had made a setting for his app that was supposed to help remove his feelings of embarrassment, but instead, it wiped his memory.”

“Wait, was that how she lost her memory before? When I had her stay over at my place, I mean.”

“Yes, Akira told me about that when I was visiting his place last year. He probably used it again before you ended up finding her.”

“Okay… well, first off, we are not telling her about having been Akira.” Yui stated matter-of-factly.

“What!? Why-”

“Do you really think she’d handle being told she wasn’t originally a girl very well? She’s already dealing with enough of an identity crisis, I don’t want you adding that on top of it.” Yui said in a sort of whispered shout.

Minami considered her argument.

“Alright then,” She conceded with a sigh.

“But I do think we should still bring her to her house. It would be good to give her a more permanent place to stay, and there could be something to help get her memory back there.”

Yui briefly lamented not having Zakuro at her house again, before steeling her resolve. This was the better option. She needed to put her selfish desire aside, for this girl who had been having such a hard time.

“I can show you the way after we leave.” Minami noted.

“Okay. Let’s go meet back up with Zakuro.” Yui replied.

Entering the club room again, the two find the girl laying on the table, sleeping peacefully. Yui blushed at the sight, before going over and gently waking her up.

“What is it, Yui?” Zakuro asked with a yawn.

“I happened to talk a lot with you before you lost your memory, and we also hung out a lot. I could show you the way to your house, if you’d like.” Minami chimed in.

“I’d very much like that. There could be something there to help with my memory, as well. Thank you, miss Maki.”

Minami’s eyes went wide, and a blush came over her face. She’d never been called that before, and it lit up her heart. She turned away with an awkward smile on her face.

“Y-you’re welcome, Zakuro…”

Chapter Text

Ms. Maki told us the address to… my house. After being in the hospital for… well for literally as long as I could remember, it was strange to think of living in some simple house not too far from the school. I was nervous but… I was also excited. Ms. Maki couldn’t join us. She had to go back to her house for homework and such, and she said that her parents would be worried if she stayed out too late. Would I meet my parents? Maybe have some spontaneous recovery from my amnesia? It was a silly thought, but I found it comforting. Yui joined me, though. Through all this she’d been so close to me. I hope she doesn’t get tired of me… she’s really special. Maybe it’s just the memory loss but I can’t even imagine a world without her in it.

We came upon the house- my house. It was two stories tall, with white and nondescript walls. There was a fence along the property. It looked like every other house around it. It seemed so pleasantly… average. I walked up to the door. I stared at it. It seemed so giant, placed exactly between myself and my old life. Maybe I was just so small, an insignificant speck against the whirling winds of life, ravaged by their force. All I had to do was knock… assuming someone was home—and be welcomed back into my old life. I lifted my hand but… it seemed frozen in place. I put all the energy in my body into knocking to no effect. My forehead was slick with sweat. I felt like my clothes were choking me. The world around me seemed to spin. I was too panicked to do anything; I mean who was I to think that I deserve-

I felt Yui’s hand on mine. She was squeezing it gently, silently cheering me on. She was right, I could do this. I will do this. I took a deep breath and knocked.

There were some stomping noises and, soon after, the front door flew open. It was a girl; she must’ve been in her early twenties. I was struck by her dark hair which contrasted my light blonde locks. It was tied up in a messy ponytail that failed to keep it from being split everywhere. Her eyes seemed red and puffy, underscored by dark bags. Even her clothes seemed shabby and haphazard. She was a mess. Yet, there was a distinct sense of familiarity, like I’d known her face all my life. She looked briefly at Yui, before turning to me, her eyes wide. She was stunned. I could tell she wanted to say something but the shock of it all held her tongue.

“Oh… Oh my god I…”

It happened so fast. She leaped to hug me; Yui placed her hand between us. The air soured. I didn’t want this all to just end here, not after I’d come so far.

“Who… who are you?” I squeaked. I was ashamed of the lack of confidence in my voice.

“What I… I’m your sister.” She looked at me with deep sadness in her eyes. I could see tears start to form.

Yui pulled her hand back, deciding to speak up.

“She… lost her memory recently… I’m sorry if- “

I leapt into my sister’s arms.

“Sis…” I whispered, just feeling the words on my tongue. It felt like a piece of the puzzle had fit right into its spot.

“Y-yeah…” she sobbed.

We stayed like that, wrapped in each other’s arms, far longer than I thought. Eventually she composed herself and pulled away.

“I guess I should properly introduce myself. I’m your sister, Sakura,” she said, smiling.

Without thinking I replied, “I-I’m Zakuro.” She knew that, of course. I was the one with memory loss.

To alleviate the awkwardness, I continued, “a-and this is Yui!” Gesturing to my friend, she gave a nod in affirmation. I’m pretty sure I heard Sakura chuckling.

“Please, come in!” Sakura stepped aside, letting us through.

“That’s… a lot to take in…” Sakura noted.

Yui and I had explained what had happened to me, from waking up in the middle of the park with a bandaged wrist, to Yui finding me there, to me fighting for my life with a serious infection I got from my wound. I had only been discharged from the hospital today, so up until now I hadn’t had a chance to slow down and process everything. Now that I finally did, everything felt as though it was starting to make sense.

“It’s good to see you again, sis. But, how exactly did you know where this house is? You’d lost your memory, and I don’t think you’d ever brought Yui here until now,” Sakura asked.

“Oh! Uh, miss Maki told us! She seemed to know the old me pretty well-”

“Wait, miss? I thought Minami was a- nevermind,” my sister interjected, before stopping herself. What was she referring to though? Why was she confused as to why I said miss? That didn’t really matter right now, though.

“You know, you actually do look a lot like me, Zakuro,” Sakura noted.

“I do?”

“Yeah! Aside from your hair and eye color, you just look like a shorter version of me. Heck, you’ve even got your hair up in basically the same way!”

I hadn’t seen myself in a mirror at all, and I’d been doing my hair through what seemed almost like instinct, but did I subconsciously end up with a hairstyle that looked like hers?

We kept chatting like this until it was almost nighttime, and I started getting worried. It didn’t really make sense, but I didn’t feel like I’d be comfortable staying here without Yui, but she has her own place. Then an idea popped into my head.

“Hey, can we do a sleepover?” I asked hesitantly, not too sure if it was okay, given how selfish the reasons for it were.

“Oh, sure! That’d be fun!” Yui excitedly replied, which did a lot to put my fears at ease. If she was okay with it, it should be fine.

After setting up plans for a sleepover, I decided to take a look around the house, since I'd be living here now. When I walked into one of the rooms upstairs, I felt that same odd sense of familiarity I had when I first got here and when I met my sister. There was a large desk with a PC on it, and what seemed to be a full-body mirror, though it was covered by a tarp. The chair next to the desk had been knocked over, and approaching it, I also noticed... there was blood... MY blood... on that desk.

This is... my room. I lived here. I did before I lost my past, that is.

Bringing my attention back to the mirror, I hesitantly pulled the tarp off it to see myself. I hadn't seen myself in a mirror before, but I don't think I ever could have been prepared for what I saw. in front of me was a small girl with golden hair, and blood-red eyes. Me. I was wearing a pair of sky-blue glasses, and had my hair in a ponytail, which went down all the way to my thighs. Sakura was definitely right in saying I looked like her. I was also wearing the same outfit I did on... that... day. I felt like I should’ve felt worse but all I could think was…

"I'm... really cute..." I mumbled with a blush.

I looked out the window. It was getting dark, and I was getting tired. I crawled onto my bedroll. I must’ve hit something at some point… my stomach hurt a bit. Yui was laid on a futon not far from me. She had already gotten herself cozy. It was comforting to have her there. Today was overwhelming… I found out a lot about myself that I didn’t even think about… but she was with me through all of it. What did I do before to deserve her kindness…

I laid on that bedroll, staring at the ceiling for… I don’t even know how long it was. I couldn’t sleep. I felt bloated and the pain in my stomach was agonizing. As the night wore on it only got worse. It must’ve been an hour before I decided to try and do something. I was just about to get up to use the bathroom when I felt my stomach practically implode. I crumpled back down onto my bedroll, and then I noticed a wet feeling between my legs. Nervously, I checked, pulling up my skirt. Blood. There was blood there. A lot of blood. my blood. The pain had somehow gotten even worse, I felt like I was about to throw up at any moment. Was this from that infection I got? Overwhelmed by it all, I curled up and started crying. The pain… too much pain…

“What’s wrong?”

Yui was kneeling beside me. I guess that she’d heard my whimpering.

“My stomach feels like its tied in knots, I feel like I’m gonna vomit, and my underwear is soaked in blood,” I quickly groaned out.

She put her hand on my shoulder. She was so warm. The pain subsided just a bit.

“Zakuro, it sounds like you’re on your period. I’ll go get some pads and some pain medication for you.”

“My… period?” I asked, turning to her.

“Yeah, it's the thing where- Zakuro, around once a month, we—girls I mean—shed the lining of our uterus. It’s painful and messy and it sucks but... It’s just kind of how it is.”

“You deal with this once a month? How? Does it ever stop?”

“Well, it stops eventually... when you’re around forty or fifty.” She said with a forced smile.

Forty or fifty!? Once a month for that long! I don’t know how I could do that, how anyone could do that. And yet, there’s a bit of reassurance in that… it’s something all girls deal with, it’s something Yui deals with, and I have to deal with it too. But… why do I feel like that? I’m a girl, aren’t I? Why is that feeling there?

“I... I don’t know if I can do this for that long.”

Yui got a serious look on her face.

“Trust me, once you’re cleaned up and have something to help with the pain, you’ll be fine. You got this, alright?”

“I-if you say so.”

“Good... I’ll be right back!”

As Yui went off to fetch some supplies, Sakura came into the room.

“I hope I didn’t wake you up,” I said, still groaning in pain.

“You’re fine... I overheard your talk with Yui. I think I have something to help take your mind off the pain.”

She grabbed a book from the shelf, handing it to me. I looked over the cover. It seemed like it might be a romance? Why is the title talking about lilies though?

“This is one of my favorite manga. I used to read it pretty regularly when I was... going through what you are now.”

“Sakura, where do you keep your medication?” Yui asked from the other room.

“It’s in the- oh it’s easier if I just show you.” Sakura gave me a quick thumbs up and left to help Yui.

I was left alone, with nothing but this book in my hands. Opening it, I yelped in surprise from what I saw. The girls from the cover were kissing. Was this… normal? I still don’t know much about being a girl, and Minami and Yui both seem to like girls… wait. Was Yui… my girlfriend? She's very cute, refuses to let anything bad happen to me, and there’s that warm feeling I get when around her. Was she my girlfriend before I lost my memory? Through the pain, that thought was a soothing light in the dark.

Yui came back with a pad of some sort, as well as a bottle of pain meds. She told me to put the pad on… my crotch… and that it would soak up the blood. I’d need to replace it after a while, but I definitely felt a lot better. Then, I remembered the question I had earlier.

“Yui, are you… my, uh, girlfriend…?” I asked, a sheepish blush overtaking my face.

She seemed a bit startled by this question, and her eyes had gone wide, her face now also going red.

“u-uh… no? We were friends, yeah, but we weren’t like that before. So no, I’m not your girlfriend.” She turned away…

“o-oh… okay…”

I felt an odd tightness in my chest, as though she had broken my heart. My eyes started burning, and tears welled up. It was hard to breathe, almost like someone was choking me…

“B-but I’d be very much okay with it if you wanted to be my girlfriend!” Yui blurted out, acting on instinct, trying to comfort me after realizing that she said something hurtful.

“Really? You’re not just saying that to comfort me, are you?”

“No! No… the truth is, Zakuro… I think I’ve liked you for… a while now… I just… I didn’t expect a question like that and- “

I leaned in and hugged her, again feeling the soft warmth of her presence.

“Th-thank you, Yui!”

I still don’t feel like I’ve figured out my past too well, but I’m happy with where the future is going. Reuniting with my sister, getting… getting a girlfriend! It wasn’t the life I expected to come back to… but I don’t think I would have it any other way.

Chapter Text

“A-and then we hugged and we slept together and cuddled the whole time and…”

Zakuro was rambling a lot about last night. She said she’s dating Yui now (good on her!), and is still riding that high, I guess. I mean, she was skipping! Literally skipping! I’m not complaining, it’s really great to see her so cheery. And, hey, between me, Naoya, and her, she’s the first to get a girlfriend (never would’ve seen that coming!) Honestly, I’d been so caught up in myself (and how cute I look now) I hadn’t considered dating at all. I mean it doesn’t even feel like it’s been that long, but when I think about it, it’s been months! Today’ll be our first day at school, taking classes, since that day. Zakuro seems so different since I last saw her. Her wide smile and the way her mouth can’t keep up with her words. Before she was so quiet and nervous, but here she is all bright and-

“And I’m just so... so... happy!"

Yeah, that’s the word. And I’m glad she’s able to be so cheery even after everything she’s been through. Woke up with a slash on her wrist, got hospitalized for sepsis, AND had her first period! All over the course of, what, a month!? I don’t know how she’s able to handle it so well. But… why IS she so cheerful about this? Memories or not, she’s still Akira (I think,) yet this respectful and timid girl acts almost nothing like him. The Akira I knew might’ve made some offhand comment about having a friend over (and the night would’ve been a LOT less exciting, they’d probably just do homework) before continuing our walk in silence. What happened to him!? Did the shame erasure change his personality too? Or is this who she is on the inside, and “Akira” was just an act she was hiding behind? But why would she hide this? What would make her WANT to hide this?

“Oh! We’re here,” I said. Between Zakuro’s rambling and my thoughts the time passed much faster than I was expecting.

“O-oh, okay…” Zakuro said, snapped out of her trance and starting to get nervous again.

“You’ll be fine. Yui and I are in the same class as you, so you won’t have to worry too much about dealing with strangers,” I said, attempting to reassure her.

“Thank you, miss Maki,” she replied gratefully. I blushed again at being called “miss”, I’m still not really used to it, but it still feels so nice being affirmed like that!

We ended up being just a little late, but considering we’d have to introduce ourselves to the whole class, it worked out. The Teacher came out and asked for one of us to come in. I didn’t even need to look to see Zakuro’s worry, so I volunteered to go first, for her sake.

“I'm Minami Maki, and it’s good to see you all again!” I said, taking a bow.

The classroom fell silent. I kinda expected this. I mean, I came in here with my same old name but looking THIS cute now, the reactions were gonna be wild. I looked over at Naoya. I swear I could SEE the gears turning in his head! It’s always been fun to tease him.

“You’re really Minami?” Naoya asked. I can’t blame him, honestly. If I was in his position, I wouldn’t believe me either. I giggled a bit at that thought.

“Yeah, I’m just, well... cuter now!” I can’t help but do a little twirl.

Naoya’s question seemed to open the floodgates. I was bombarded with questions from all around. “How does it feel being a girl now?” “Do you do your own hair?” “Want to go clothes shopping with us?” I answered them as fast as I could, but they just kept coming at me! It would’ve been so anxiety inducing if it wasn’t so nice to talk about myself, my REAL self, for everyone. I didn’t think about it much before but it’s so nice to just be honest with everyone about who I really am! I did worry for Zakuro a bit. I’m not sure how she’d be able to handle this sort of thing.

“Alright, alright settle down now! I know it’s exciting for a student to come back so different, but we still have a class to get to, and one other student to introduce! You can ask Minami all the questions you want AFTER class!” The teacher shouted.

“You can take that seat right next to Naoya.” He continued, heading out to bring in Zakuro.

“Thank you!” I skipped to it, plopping myself down besides my friend.

“Hey, Takeda!” I waved.

“Hey… dude…?” He waved back, confused.

“Could you, uh, avoid the ‘dude’s’ and ‘bro’s’ and such?”

“Oh, yeah, sure thing dude- er... dudette?”

“That doesn’t sound right…” he said, trying his best to come up with a girly thing to call me.

I giggled a bit. Even with all my changes he’s still the same old Naoya, making me laugh (whether he means to or not).

“I can’t believe it took you literally telling me to figure out that you and Karii are the same person. Your face is pretty similar... you even act the same!” Naoya continued. He seemed a bit too hung up on this, even though there wouldn’t have been any reasonable way for him to figure out.

“Well to be fair, I’m a lot shorter as a girl, and my build’s completely different, so don’t beat yourself up too much about this.” I said, trying to help his bewilderment.

“Yeah, why is that, anyway?”

I leaned over to him and motioned him to do the same.

“I can’t go into detail now but, uh, I’m kinda a magical girl now.”

“Wait, like, transformation sequences and fighting evil and stuff?”

“Yeah! Though, honestly, I haven’t done a whole lot of the ‘fighting evil part.’ I’ve most just been dressing up and, like, walking around.”

“So, like that... uh... flirting back then.”

Oh my god I completely forgot about that! Augh, thinking back on all that just makes me cringe so hard… At the time I was just messing around, but now that I’m LIVING as this Minami, it makes it harder to just... ignore.

“I just... I didn’t want you asking a bunch of questions that might expose me and... I’m sorry.”

“…”

“…”

“So... you’re not, like, uh...” His face was turning red, and he kept looking at the floor.

“I just... Naoya I don’t- I mean, we’re still friends- GOOD FRIENDS- but just... just friends...”

I squeezed my eyes shut and forced a smile. I just hoped he wasn’t too upset.

He breathed a sigh of... relief?

“Oh my god, thanks. That whole thing has been on my mind ever since and I’m just glad I, like, KNOW now, y’know?” The tension seemed to just melt off his face.

“Haha, yeah.” I nodded. It was a huge relief not to have to worry about my best friend maybe having a crush on me or something.

“But!” He pointed his finger into the air to emphasize his point.

“That means YOU gotta help me find a girlfriend!” He turned his finger to me.

“What!? Why!?”

“Because I spent this whole time reserving myself-”

“As if girls were just CLAMMORING for a piece of you.” I teased, rolling my eyes.

“RESERVING MYSELF, but NOW, since you know what girls like, you can be my ma- uh- WOMAN on the inside!”

The way he was saying it made me sound like a double agent in some spy movie or something. I can’t lie, it did make the whole deal seem a lot cooler! But... knowing what girls like. Getting a girlfriend... I mean it’s not like I don’t like the idea of being in a relationship (and Zakuro’s also shown that I can be with another girl, so that’s not an issue). I’ve just been so busy, but... I should think about that. Though I guess for now, I ought to help Naoya find someone. I’m sure there’s some girl out there who would like him (Plenty of fish or whatever they say)!

“I mean I’ll do what I can, but you don’t give me a lot to work with.”

“Pfft. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean most girls can’t appreciate the Naoya signature charm.” He dusted imaginary dust off his shoulders.

“Alright class, settle down, we have ANOTHER student to introduce.” The teacher said as he escorted Zakuro in. Then, it was her turn.

She stood in front of the class for a second, eyes wide, playing with the bottom of her skirt.

“H-hi… I’m Zakuro Asaba, nice to meet you all…” She gave a slight wave, her hands shaking.

She was pretty clearly already overwhelmed. Then people started asking questions, and she seemed to shrink even further. Maybe I should go-

“Zakuro, I’ll help you with this, if you’d like.”

“Yui!”

Oh right! I’d forgotten that Yui was moved to our class this year! Thank goodness, she should be able to handle this just fine. Just being able to lean on Yui, and I mean that LITERALLY here, gave Zakuro a huge confidence boost. Things weren’t as crazy as with my questions. Makes sense. For all they knew this was a totally new student, unlike my spontaneous girlification. Plus, the Teacher seemed pretty impatient this time around, so he shot down anything he didn’t think needed answering. After finishing their questions, the two sat down, and class returned to some semblance of normalcy.

“Huh, I didn’t know Akira had a sister.” Naoya mused.

“She does, actually. Her name’s Sakura, and-”

“Wait, she? Don’t tell me Akira’s a girl too…”

Crap! I just blurted that out!

“Yeah uh, this is between us and Yui, okay, but that IS Akira,” I said, pointing to Zakuro.

Naoya's mouth hung open.

“Dude...” was all he could say.

I glared at him.

“I mean, like, generally dude, not YOU dude- er girl... uh... but why keep this a secret? And not just between us, but Yui as well? Why her?”

“Well, I don’t want to get into all of it right now, but Zakuro has a little case of... um... amnesia.”

“Like in those Soap Opera’s my mom watches?”

(Whatever helped him understand I guess…)

“…Yeah… sorta… and she’s had a pretty rough time since losing her memories, and we feel that it would be best to get her back on her feet before hitting her with the whole ‘you were a guy before’ thing.”

“Oh, yeah, okay... But you still never said why Yui-”

“Oh, she’s her girlfriend,” I said, matter-of-factly.

Naoya’s head shot back, like the news had literally hit him right in the face.

“So, Akira was the first?” He looked up at the ceiling, defeated.

“Yeah, I was surprised too!” I laughed. It did feel weird that Akira Asaba of all people was the first in our little friend group to start dating (albeit as a girl, and without any memories of being a guy).

Class passed pretty normally after that. There was definitely the awkwardness of having a new student, but everyone settled into routine pretty quickly. After class, I got a notification saying we were having a club meeting today. I asked Naoya if he wanted to come with, but he declined (would’ve been fun to see him react to becoming a girl). Yui stayed behind with Zakuro to help her get acquainted with her classmates, so I made my way to the clubroom on my own. By the time I got there, Karin and Chiyoko had already grabbed their seats.

“Welcome back, Minami.” Chiyoko greeted, calm as ever.

Karin, meanwhile, seemed to be really embarrassed about something.

“G-good to see you, Minami…” she finally managed to say after a lot of stuttering.

“Good to see you too, Karin!” I was trying to help alleviate her embarrassment flashing a smile, but that seemed like it just flustered her further. What the heck is she thinking about right now?? Whatever, it probably doesn’t matter much.

My thoughts were interrupted by Yui and Zakuro entering the club room.

“Good to see you two again,” Chiyoko said, a warm smile on her face.

“Good Afternoon miss Teruto!” Zakuro practically shouted out her greeting! Not out of fear, either, her smile was as bright as the sun! The wonders having your girlfriend by your side can do, I guess.

“Oh, someone seems awfully chipper today,” Chiyoko noted, flashing her own smile back.

Zakuro rocked back and forth a bit, looking down bashfully.

“Well, I had a great first day. Everyone was so nice and, while I was a bit overwhelmed at first-”

“I was there to help her out!” Yui jumped in, bumping shoulders with her girlfriend.

“Since when were you two so chummy? I mean you seemed like good friends before, but this is a step beyond!” Karin folded her arms.

“Well, we’re a bit more than friends, we’re-”

“We’re dating!” Yui excitedly jumped in before Zakuro could even finish.

Karin’s face turned as red as a tomato.

“WHAT!?”

Chapter Text

Why?

Why do I like her?

Why is she so cute!?

Minami, Chiyoko, and I were at a karaoke bar for what felt like the first time in years, even though it barely even one year ago. So much has happened in the past month.

Right now, it’s Minami’s turn, and I’m trying to focus on the song she’s singing, but her voice… it’s so…

No! wrong! She’s a girl! Why won’t my heart just accept that and move on!?

“Woo!” Minami pumped her fist into the air.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so enthusiastic about karaoke,” Chiyoko chuckled.

She had a point. Minami put her whole soul into that performance. By the end of it she was literally sweating. She had decided to take my suggestion of trying some more boyish clothes. She gripped her black tee around the stomach and used it to rub off the sweat on her forehead. I caught a glimpse of her mid rift. My face started to feel really hot. I think it's a bit warm in here.

“You wanna go?” She looked down at me, holding out the microphone for me to take. I took a second just to stare into her face. Her kind blue eyes were looking at me expectantly, a slight smirk on her mouth. Her lips look more plump than when she was a boy... so soft... I just want to-

Stop it.

“Are you alright, Karin?” Chiyoko grabbed my shoulder.

“O-oh yeah, I’m fine just... a little tired I think... I’ll pass my turn for now.”

Minami shrugged and turned to face Chiyoko.

“No thanks, I’m feeling a bit drowsy myself.”

“Alright then, let me just-” Minami flopped onto the bench right next to me. She was still breathing a harder than usual, and I could feel her body heat even with the distance between us.

“So, you think I could be an idol?” I’m guessing Minami was joking but-

“Y-You certainly have the looks for it.”

Why did I say that out loud!

Minami flushed a bright red. God, she was so cute when she got like this…

Stop it!

Chiyoko cleared her throat.

“Karin, I’ve been meaning to ask...”

My blood went cold. Just the tone she used... This was something serious, and I had a bad feeling, I knew what it was.

“About the last club meeting...”

I hate when I’m right.

“We’re dating!”

“WHAT!?”

Everyone turned to me. I was a little louder than I meant to be.

“What do you mean ‘what’?” Yui’s smile dropped a little.

“I mean... are one of you a guy or something I just...” My thought dropped off.

“No, we’re both girls,” Yui chuckled.

“But that’s... that’s not how that works!” I didn’t really mean to shout but... I just felt so raw... I could feel everyone staring daggers into me.

“What do you mean ‘not how that works’? we love each other, what more is there-”

“Girls love each other all the time but it’s just... it’s different than with guys... It’s not romantic, it’s fake!” I mean, what were they thinking. It’s just... They’ll grow up and find some nice guys to be with, I’m sure. Girls like boys.

“Karin,” Chiyoko said in soft, disappointed tone.

“Oh, so you know our feelings better than we do!?” Yui was shouting back now, tears welling in her eyes. Zakuro was hiding behind her.

“Girls just don’t work together! There needs to be a guy for... for normalcy!”

“‘Normalcy!?’ what does that even mean!? Are we some kind of freaks just because we kiss or something!?”

I wanted to say something but…

“That’s it. Zakuro, we’re going!” My stomach sunk. I didn’t want to see them like this... but if they wanted to throw a tantrum against nature, that was their own choice!

Yui stormed off, glaring at me the whole time, with Zakuro following closely behind.

The room fell silent. Minami didn’t talk for the rest of the meeting. For the first time in a while I missed the sound of her voice. Chiyoko called the meeting to a close and we went our separate ways in silence.

I... I really messed up then, didn’t I? Even… even if they… needed to learn it eventually, I could’ve been nicer about it. I guess I’m just a crap teacher… Crap at everything, really. This whole magical girl thing, it’s... not for me... I was just there for Minami, but she doesn’t need me. I never even really knew her, some kind of best friend I am! An-

“Karin?” Chiyoko placed her hand on my shoulder. Minami and her were both looking at me, waiting for me to say something.

“I... They needed to learn eventually, I figured I would be the one to tell them, I-” The words didn’t feel right in my mouth. I knew it was true but... my mind kept going back to Yui’s tear-soaked face and...

I looked over at Minami. She looked... disappointed.

Now I’ve done it! The one person I thought might be in my corner! My childhood friend and I went and did something like this and-

I couldn’t take it anymore; I stood up to leave. I guess I was still a child too, throwing a tantrum like this, but I needed to get out of there. I felt cramped.

Minami grabbed my sleeve.

“Karin, please, can we talk about this, I-” She was crying.

Oh god, what have I done!?

“You mean a lot to me Karin and... and I-” She fully broke down at this point, curling over and sobbing. Chiyoko put a hand on her shoulder.

“Karin, what she means to say, I believe, is that, well, you’re wrong. Sure, maybe it is ‘unnatural,’ but look around you! The club, the app, magical girls, none of it is natural! Their love is genuine, and that’s all that matters.”

I stepped back a bit. There were so many things I wanted to say. So many thoughts racing through my head.

Instead, I ran.

I sprinted for the bathroom and took the first stall I could.

Idiot.

Coward.

I just hid there, crying.

Why am I like this? What’s wrong with me? Why won’t this stupid crush just fade already!? I can’t love a girl… I can’t… I can’t…

“I… I can’t… love…”

I don’t know if I understood it consciously, but I knew Chiyoko was right. As much as I hated it, my love is just as rotten as Yui's.

“Karin, are you alright in there?”

It was Chiyoko.

“Even if we disagree, we’re still your friends, Karin,” Minami pleaded. I don’t know why, but that just made me feel worse.

“Why are you even here!?” I just wanted to fester in peace. Why’d she have to make things so hard!?

“Like I said, we’re your frien-”

“No, I mean, why are you here!? This is a girl’s bathroom!”

“W-well I am a girl, so...”

Yeah, I don’t know what I expected to hear. I guess I still just don’t want to believe it. Believe that I lost the person I loved. Or that I would have to lose them as I grow up.

“Things were so much easier when you were a guy,” I muttered. I didn’t mean for her to hear it, but I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Well, I never was a guy in the first place, not in the ways that mattered, anyway.”

Never really a guy? Then the person I loved, all this time… was a…

I opened the stall door. Minami’s eyes were red and puffy. mine probably weren’t any different.

“Minami… Chiyoko… I’m sorry.”

Minami dove in for a hug. It felt so nice to just... lose myself in her arms. I steadied myself, though. I have a mission.

“Could... could you help me apologize to Yui and Zakuro?”

Chapter Text

I thought that was going to be a safe space for us, for Zakuro. Guess I was wrong about that! I feel so stupid! Of course, someone there would think... like that.

Zakuro and I were walking home side by side. We would have to split up eventually, but for now I just... I wanted to be with her. I looked down at her. It must have been the twentieth time I had just... looked at her. I mean, was it so wrong for me to look at my girlfriend? Especially when she’s just so darn cute!

“Hey, Yui?”

It always amazed me how even the way she said my name made my heart flutter.

“Yes?”

“Are... are you alright?”

I must admit I didn’t see that one coming. I mean, yes, what just happened was, to put it mildly, awful, but I wasn’t expecting her to ask me if I’m fine! I’m the rock in the relationship. I stay strong so she can rest!

“I- well, are you alright? I’m terribly sorry with this being your first day and-”

“Yui.”

She had a look of gentle concern in her eyes.

“Are you okay? I know you are worried about me, and I get it... but you are still my girlfriend as much as I am yours. Please just be honest with me... are you okay, Yui?”

I let out a sigh. I guess I’m not as good at hiding my feelings as I think I am.

“I’m... what happened there sucked, there’s no other way to put it. I feel really sorry for leading you into it, and I hate knowing that the Karin we heard there was the real Karin. I thought I could count on her as a friend but... ugh. I don’t know if I’ll be able to go to that club again if I can expect to see her there.”

She leaned her head against my shoulder. I could feel her hair tickling my arm.

“It’s not your fault what happened in there. I don’t think either of us expected her to have that sort of outburst...”

She gripped my hand, intertwining her fingers with mine.

“And... there’s a part of me that feels- no, knows that... that I used to be that way too...” She looked down at the floor.

“Yeah, but that was ages ago. at least it feels like- wait…”

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face her fully.

“How do you know about that?”

“It’s a... a gut feeling but... I think it might be some memory, or memories, from before...”

I dashed over and gripped her shoulders.

“Oh my god, that’s great!”

I could see a blush filling her cheeks. God she’s so adorable.

“I say this because... well... if I could go from, uh, stuff like that to...”

She hugged me tightly, nuzzling her head against my chest. I had to struggle not to faint right there.

“Then I think it’s only fair we give Karin a chance.” She looked up at me, pleading.

'Give her a chance’? After what she did!? I mean, I don’t know if I could ever be friends with her again after what she said! I don’t know if I could even be friends with her friends!... But... Zakuro was the same way before and... Well, she’s definitely not like that now. Augh.

“Yeah, alright... But we make her come to us! We’re not going to crawl back to her begging for an apology!” I huffed and crossed my arms.

“Alright!” Zakuro smiled and hugged me close again. I wonder if she really is this persuasive or I just love her too darn much.

“And in the meantime, um... c-could we... go out sometime? Tomorrow maybe?”

“I’m free tomorrow! And how could I say no to a date with my favorite girl, anyway? Do you have anything in mind? Karaoke, hanging out at your place, a walk through the park?”

“I uh... I didn’t think this far ahead.”

I couldn’t help but giggle a bit.

“Well, we’ll just have to think on that, then! Don’t stress yourself out, though, we’ll have plenty of time to go on lots of dates, I’m sure.”

We hugged before parting ways.

Even with what Zakuro said, I’m not sure I’ll be able to just... go back to being friends with Karin. What she said it... it hurt. Maybe if she does really apologize, we can work things out but... I don’t know.

The day after was pleasant. Since Karin wasn’t in our class, neither Zakuro nor I had to worry about addressing that mess today. During lunch Minami said that she and Chiyoko would talk to Karin and help make things better. Best of luck to them, I’m not sure how well that’ll go. I took this time to tell Minami that Zakuro and I wouldn't be attending club that day. She, again, apologized profusely for Karin’s behavior and said she understood. Seeing her makes me glad, knowing that Zakuro’s other friends, even before the whole Maniacal Girl thing, are good people. As Zakuro and I were leaving class and discussing where we wanted to go, I heard someone call out from behind me.

“Oh, hey! You two!”

Turning around, I was met with a rather tall man. He had light brown hair and a rather goofy expression. I wasn’t exactly sure who he was, but he seemed to know us, so I assumed he was one of Minami’s friends.

“Hi?” I replied, somewhat confused by his directness.

“Minami told me about your situation, and I feel like I should do what I can to help out!”  The way he said it made it seem as though this should have been obvious; it wasn’t.

“Who are you, exactly?” I asked, trying to clear up the confusion.

“Oh, Sorry! I haven’t introduced myself, have I? I’m Naoya Takeda, and I’m friends with Minami. Nice to meet you!”

“Uh, I’m Yui Furumi. And this is Zakuro Asaba.” I said, gesturing to Zakuro, who seemed just as frazzled as I was, if not moreso. He seemed surprisingly energetic, if a bit blunt. I can understand why Minami would be friends with him, given how she was last year.

“Uh, h-hi, mister Takeda…” Zakuro stuttered out. She seemed kind of overwhelmed by all this.

“There was actually something I wanted to talk with you about. See, I was actually friends with you prior to… well whatever happened to you, but Minami told me about the whole amnesia thing, and, being your friend, I felt I should try and help you where I can.” Naoya explained. I guess he didn’t realize how odd it would be to have a stranger come up to you saying, ‘hey we’ve been friends for ages you just don’t remember’

I felt her clench my hand a bit tighter, but she smiled warmly, replying, “thank you, mister Takeda. Good to see you again.” It felt like she’d been possessed for a second there. How did she just remember him like that, then greet him like an old friend?

Zakuro seemed just as surprised as I was by her sudden shift, blinking a few times.

“What… what did I just…?”

“Guess the old you’s still in there, huh? Good on ya, Zakuro!” Naoya chimed in, ruffling her hair a bit. I felt a bit jealous that I’d never thought to try that before, especially with Zakuro’s adorably awkward smile in response.

“So, uh, where you guys goin’?"

“We’re going on... a date," Zakuro said, bashful.

“Oh! I won’t interrupt you two love birds then! We’ll talk later!” He waved and dashed off. No idea where he was off to in such a hurry, but I was glad we could be alone together again.

“Hey Yui, I think I know where to go."

Chapter Text

I’m… Akira Asaba.

Or at least,

I was.

My memories are back, and I don’t know what to do about it. Should I tell everyone? Should I keep this secret for now? What about my girlfriend? I don’t want to break up with Yui over this! What if she hates me now!? I-

I need to calm down. Panicking about this won’t help. I just need to take this slowly. I lost my phone when I ran out, after I also… nearly killed myself… I… I don’t know what to do about that… I’m glad I managed to recover, but…

I shouldn’t be dwelling on that. Thinking about it will just make it worse.

So, I don’t have my phone, which means I can’t go back to being Akira.

I can’t be “me.”

Well, I guess how I am now is me, now… maybe I can still use that magic I have from being a, uh, ‘demon lord’? It sort of feels wrong calling myself that now…

Whatever, I should try and use some of it.

Let’s just start with something simple. I summoned my outfit as a maniacal girl, and in the blink of an eye, I was dressed all in black and red, with skulls pinned to my hair, and horns on the top of my scalp.

Taking it all in I look really... childish, don’t I?

Between the comically ominous color scheme and the damn skulls!

It’s strange. Why does it feel like this now?

I don’t feel like I’ve changed- well not mentally at least- but the same outfit feels so... ill-fitting now.

Maybe I could tone down the edge just a bit. Swap the blacks for green, and the reds with blue? I’m not really doing the twin tails anymore, so the two skulls could be just swapped to a bow to tie my hair back. The horns really feel out of place now more than ever. I can probably just get rid of those entirely.

As for the rest of it, I don’t really like the windows exposing my chest and stomach, so I'll fit an undershirt in. I can get rid of these, arm warmer glove things? I'm not really sure what they are… Whatever, they’re gone now.

Suddenly revealing the scar on my wrist, I flinched at the memories it brought.

The permanent reminder of what I did to myself.

“I… really should cover that up, shouldn’t I?”

Forming a small strip of cloth, I tried a few different ways of wrapping it to cover my wrist, eventually settling on wrapping it over my thumb, around my wrist, up my forearm, and then tying it in place with a simple knot.

With that finished, I shifted my attention to my legs.

“High heels are a bit annoying to walk in, what if I try some simple boots instead?”

 Lastly, I switched out the high socks for some black tights.

I did a little to twirl to admire my handiwork. I hate to admit it, but this messing about with my outfit is kind of...

 fun?

I can’t remember the last time I just... enjoyed looking at myself.

Er, well, the form I’m stuck in, at least.

I flashed a little smile and was quickly reminded that I had also given myself fangs. I blushed a fair bit at the sight. It’s not like I don’t like them, but they’re a bit embarrassing right now. I don’t really know why I ever thought these were a good idea, anyway.

Right now, I’d prefer it if they weren’t there.

But hang on…

What if I tried…

Shifting myself?

Would that work? I can shift my clothes just fine, so why not try my body? I’ve even done it before, when I made myself a kid after being taunted by Karii- Minami.

Immediately, I tried changing my body back to how it is normally.

“AH!”

The second I tried it, I was struck by a bolt of pain running straight through my spine. Overwhelmed, I crumpled to the floor.

“Ow ow ow ow ow… that probably wasn’t very smart of me to do…”

Having lost focus, my body went back to… what I guess is now my “default form".

I wasn’t expecting transforming to be so painful, when before it didn’t hurt at all. I decided I wasn’t ready to try and get back to being Akira, but I didn’t want to just give up there, so I decided to start with something minor.

Just change my hair color back from Kaiserk’s to Akira’s.

As I started, my scalp started to itch like crazy, and my head started pounding.

I screwed my eyes shut from the burning pain.

As the pain subsided, I opened my eyes again and was greeted to a face much more familiar than the one I normally had as Kaiserk.

My hair was back to its normal self!

The dark, blue-green color felt a lot more like me than the blonde ever really did. But, with this new coloration, I noticed something weird about my face, or rather, Kaiserk’s face.

“I look a lot like sis, don’t I?”

I’d never really noticed before, mostly because my attention was focused on… Other things, but the face isn’t all that different between Akira and myse- Zakuro. Maybe a bit softer, and the area around my eyes is a bit more open, but still recognizably similar.

After getting over how my face looks, I went to take a bath.

I wasn’t expecting all that shifting to take so much out of me. I was so burnt out I didn’t even think before stripping in front of the bathroom mirror. I glanced at my reflection and I... I didn’t even feel anything. Well, I admired how cute I looked. I really nailed the ‘disarmingly cute’ look I was originally going for.

But, even fully nude, I wasn’t embarrassed. Maybe it’s a benefit of the whole amnesia situation... it’s nice to know that the whole experience wasn’t entirely fruitless.

I stepped into the warm bath and relaxed for a bit, feeling the tension melt away.

After a few minutes, I decided I should probably get out. I quickly dried myself off and threw on my uniform. I looked around my room for something to tie my hair with, when I spotted the hair tie Yui got for me. Yui... I still can’t believe how much she’s done for me... Wait!

“Yui and I have a date today!”

I’d completely forgotten! This is the first real date we’ve had; I can’t mess this up! I should try to wear something cute. What would Yui think is cute, though? The cutest thing I can think of is her and that’s not helping right now! She's gifted me a couple of accessories, I think those would be a good start! I put those on and used the hair tie to style my hair into a low ponytail. I checked myself out in the mirror again. Cute enough, I hope.

My thoughts were interrupted by the rumbling of my tummy. While the bath helped me recover some energy, I still hadn’t eaten since last night and was quite hungry. As soon as I was all dressed up, I left my room to join my sister for breakfast.

“Morning, sis.”

“Mornin’,” she muttered, before looking up at me, her eyes going wide, “what happened to your hair?”

“My hair? What about-”

I forgot to change it back!

What do I say? Do I lie that I dyed it? No, this is too clean for a fresh dye, and she saw my blonde hair last night. A curse? No, that’s ridiculous! How do I get out of this I just wanted some food I didn’t want to end up in a situation like this how do I-

I noticed her look of concern.

I... I’m panicking again. I just need to calm down. Just... deep breaths.

Why do I even need to lie to her? She knew before, it’s fine if she knows now.

“I remembered... well, just about everything, about myself... about Akira.”

“Everything? Like back to when we were kids?”

“Well, everything I remembered before I... ran away, at least.”

“That’s great! Still doesn’t explain the hair, though.”

“Oh right, the app that made me, um, look like this,” I gestured down to myself, “allows me to do that too.” I concentrated and shifted my hair back to normal. Er, back from normal to Zakuro’s normal.

“Oh, that’s actually pretty cool! Wish you’d share that kinda stuff with your big sis! Would at least make for a cool party trick. I gotta ask, though, why did you just change your hair and eyes? You could go back to being Akira right now if you wanted.”

“Well, I tried that, but, there must be something wrong with my code or something, but it hurt. It felt like my body was turning inside out and I… I couldn’t sustain that. When I have the time, I’ll look into how to fix that, but today… I-I have something I can’t skip out on...”

Chapter Text

I don’t get why, but I’ve been moving nonstop in class today. Bouncing my leg, twitching my hands, playing with my hair, heck, I even caught myself chewing on my pencil! Why was I doing that? At least class was pretty simple. Actually, it was mind-numbingly simple. But it gives me plenty of time to doodle, write, or, now that I’m in class as the, er, maniacal girl, mess around with a bit of my magic while no one’s watching. Or at least, I could, but there hasn’t been a moment where it felt like someone wasn’t staring at me. It made my hair stand on end just... being watched like that.

Quickly scanning the room, I noticed that Yui was the one staring. She seemed to be boring a hole through my skull with her eyes. I know we have a date tonight, and you’re my girlfriend and all, but it’s kind of stressing me out right now!

Calm down, Asaba. She’s probably just worried about my constant fidgeting today. Damn it, I was biting my pencil again. I really liked this one too, now it’s been marred by tooth marks, especially from my fangs.

For once I was actually happy class was over now. Just have to pack up my things. Ugh, I need a new pencil, I trashed the one I was using this period, so I should–

“Zakuro, are you okay?”

I yelped in surprise, nearly falling out of my chair. Yui had snuck up on me, catching me off guard with her sudden question.

“U-uh, I’m doing fine. Why’d you ask?” I responded after regaining my composure. I continued to pack up my stuff. I just... needed to do something with my hands right now.

“Well, your eyes…”

What? I stopped in my tracks.

“What about my eyes?” I asked cautiously, tilting my head in confusion.

“Um, your eyes are changing color. Quite often too, they turned teal just now, but they were red earlier.”

What!?

“Um, I uh, the thing is I–” Crap. I couldn’t think of a lie on the spot. The longer I stuttered the more suspicious Yui would get! I could already see her expression changing a bit. I need something, quick! Come on brain, think of something, anything!

“Puberty!”

“...”

Maybe ‘anything’ was too generous.

She stared at me, her face contorting into confusion, then pondering, then a smile as she burst out laughing.

“It’s fine if you don’t know the reason, but I’m pretty sure puberty doesn’t do that to anyone," she said, bringing her hand to her face to try and hide her smile.

I started fidgeting with the hem of my skirt. All this time I barely even registered that I was wearing one. Thinking on it made me feel weird... I decided not to think on it further. I had enough weirdness to deal with.

She giggled a bit before adding, "although it is in-line with puberty making you really cute.”

My face blushed furiously, a mix of embarrassment and... pride? It’s funny, while I was more resistant than ever to my own– Zakuro's body, Yui seemed to gain this power to reduce me to a red-faced mess.

“I guess that proves my theory right,” she said with a triumphant smirk, leaning against my desk.

“Your… theory?”

“Your eye color is affected by your mood. Seems like your eyes turn a deep red when you're all flustered.” She pointed a finger at my eyes like that would magically help me see them.

“Could you not do tests on me?" I complained meekly, crossing my arms.

“Awww, I can’t tease my adorable girlfriend a bit?” She whimpered, looking at me with puppydog eyes.

I turned away and whined a bit. I had intended a more intimidating grumble but my body seemed to have other ideas.

“Aww, fine. I’'ll at least warn you next time. Now finish packing up we have gym next!

Yui and I walked down the halls of the school towards the locker rooms. She had grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. That simple gesture put my heart at ease, at least a bit. Good thing, too, my heartrate was crazy now, I didn’t even want to think about what would happen to it when we started exercising.

As we came on the entrances to the locker rooms, we saw a mess of other students gathering. I quickly pulled my hand out of Yui’s. Given how Karin, a close friend, had reacted to our coming out, I didn’t want to think what some of the strangers in the school might do. I heard Yui breathe a sigh of disappointment. Sorry, but I don’t think I’m ready for PDA yet.

As we approached, I started to hear bits and pieces of a conversation. It didn’t take me too long to put together what it was about.

“So which locker room are you going into,”" Karin asked, concern in her voice.

“Oh, um, I was thinking the girls’ locker room. I really don’t like the idea of changing in front of guys.” I couldn’t see her face, but I could recognize Minami’s voice.

“R-right, of course, with how, uh, cute you are that probably wouldn’t be a great idea.”

Wait... I didn’t even consider. I would also need to use the girls’ locker room…

My heart started pounding faster than I wanted it to. Just... calm down. Zakuro’s done this plenty of times, this will be easy. Just... get in, change, get out. Nothing to it.

I shouldn’t be in here.

Gym class. The women’s changing room.

Here I am, a guy trapped in a girl’s body, stuck in a girls-only space. Everyone would think I’m a pervert if they found out about me. Looking around, my eyes locked onto Minami. I have no idea how she handles this so well. She’s also… really pretty…

I abruptly snapped my gaze away from Minami. I shouldn’t be thinking like that. I really am a pervert, aren’t I? what will everyone else do when they find out? Will they yell at me? Push me out? Hit me? I don’t want to be here I need to get out get out get out!

Everything started fading out, my sight collapsing down to a single point. My heart was in my ears, a deafening, lightning fast, and irregular thumping. My chest felt as though it could collapse at any moment. Oh god everyone’s staring at me they know I’m a pervert they’re going to kill me I must be dying right now no no no no no no no no!

I bolted out of the room blindly, running for my life. I could hear someone chasing me. A lot of people chasing me. I need to hide I need to hide…

I ducked into the stairwell and curled up as tightly as I could. My chest was still throbbing with pain, and the cloth on my wrist had come undone.

That Scar.

I tried to kill myself, I nearly did, and I’ll never be allowed to forget, this scar a permanent reminder of my complete and utter failure as a human being.

It wasn’t until I felt the tears pool on my hands that I realized I was crying. They just kept coming. My eyes were burning. My eyes... I wonder what color they are right now. If Yui were here, she could tell me. Yui... I just want to be with her right now. It seemed so silly. I didn’t want to be with Minami or Naoya or my sister or any of the other people I’d known for most of my life, but my heart seemed to yearn for this girl I had met less than a year ago. I must really lo-.

“Zakuro!”

Speak of the devil. I was a mix of excitement and nervousness with her arrival. I knew she could help calm me down, but there would no doubt be questions. Questions I didn’t have the answers to. Why had I run out of the locker room? Why did I hide myself in the stairwell? Why was I crying? Why? Why!? Why!?

“Zakuro, are you alright? What happened back there?”

“I... seeing all the girls getting changed made me feel so gross I-”

I really was a degenerate. I didn’t belong there with all those girls, ignorant to my lecherous gaze. I can’t believe I had done that so frequently as Zakuro before. Such a horrible, awful pervert I am, taking advantage of them like that, and how could I have even known I was doing that? I didn’t know I was a guy at that time, and that let me be such a terrible-

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt Yui wrap her arms around me. I could feel her warmth against my skin. She took deep, calming breaths, cooling down from what must have been a mad dash. She gently stroked my hair. I had made my hair long because... well, because girls have long hair, but right now, it felt so nice to have. I could see why Yui kept her hair as long as she did. As I sniffled and caught whiffs of its floral scent, I realized she must take loving care of it.

“You’re okay, Zakuro, I’m here with you. You’re safe,” Yui softly hummed, like a mantra.

It was like she had cast some kind of spell. Almost instantly I could feel my heart settle. It took me a second to realize I was synchronizing my breathing with her without thinking.

“Zakuro, you don’t need to tell me what’s wrong, but I do want to help. Is there anything—anything at all—that I can do to make you feel more comfortable changing?”

“I uh, c-could you, like, maybe, squeeze my hand if I end up looking nervous like that again?”

“Of course, Zakuro.”

I… I don’t really think I should be in there, but I’m not really sure I have a choice at this point. I’m stuck as a girl now, so it would probably be best for me to get used to changing around oth- around girls.

Anyway, why did I freak out like that, anyway? That wasn’t like me. I’m normally embarrassed by those situations, yeah, and I ended up fainting once when I, when Minami, in the bath…

“Zakuro? Your eyes went red again.”

Honestly, I should probably talk about all this to someone. Eventually. That all was… the most scared I’ve ever felt in my life. Why!? I’ve been through worse! I’ve seen worse! Why was the damn locker room the thing that set me off like that!?

I took a deep breath and sighed. Save that question for later. Yui let go, and we stood back up.

“Let’s… just get this over with…” I muttered.

Most of the girls had already finished changing by that point so Yui and I were basically alone in the locker room. Still my nerves were wound tight. Whenever I felt like things were going to go wrong, Yui would just give my hand a gentle squeeze and I’d be back on track. She finished changing much quicker than I did... I feel like I’m holding her back-

I felt her squeeze my hand again. Right, enough of that, just focus on getting changed. We have gym class.

“Zakuro! Yui! Are you two alright?” Minami bounded over to us as we walked out in our gym clothes. Minami was probably the only girl there that chose bloomers over shorts. I couldn’t deny they looked... good on her. It took a lot of effort to avoid staring, especially with Yui right next to me.

“Hey Minami. Sorry if I startled you or something while changing I, uh-” I could practically feel myself slipping into panic. Yui squeezed my hand. Right, that was behind us, at least for now.

“She... felt uncomfortable changing around people is all,” Yui said, finishing my thought. Her other hand rubbing the back of her head.

“Oh, um... sorry, I didn’t know, if you need me to change somewhere else-”

“No, no, it’s nothing to do with you! You’re perfectly fine it’s just a me thing.”

“Oh, that’s a relief!” She wiped some sweat from her forehead. “I did also want to talk to you about something.”

“Oh, what is it?”

“It’s, well... Karin wants to apologize but she didn’t want to scare you two away, so I was sent as a sort of... I think she called it an ‘intermediary.’”

I felt Yui squeeze my hand again but... this time was different. If anything, I felt glad that Karin was coming to apologize to us. What she said really hurt, and up until then the club seemed like the only place where I could be myself. It was heartbreaking having that space torn away from me. But if she could make up, then we wouldn’t need to worry about tension! Yui seemed more skeptical, however. It was funny, I’d always seen myself as the pessimist, but Yui had the much worse outlook on things here.

I squeezed her hand and looked at her, hoping that I could be for her what she’s been for me. I wanted to help calm her down. To silently tell her that things would be okay. I knew my message was received when I saw her subtly relax a bit.

“I appreciate that, Minami,” I said, turning back to her, “I’m glad she’s decided to apologize, but I think both Yui and I would want to hear it from her mouth, not an ‘intermediary.’”

“Oh, well I’ll just, uh.” she stuttered, before turning around and cupping her hands around her mouth. “Karin!”

Karin hobbled over. She was visibly nervous. The cynic in me thought she was exaggerating it for sympathy but... I wanted to believe otherwise. She looked at Minami, who gave her a supportive thumbs-up. Her face erupted in blush.

“H-hey Yui, Zakuro.” She paused, waiting for a response.

“Hey,” I said, quietly. Yui just crossed her arms.

“Well, um—”Karin gulped—“I wanted to apologize for what I said to you two- about you two- at the last meeting.” she tugged at her shorts. I guess I wasn’t the only one who was fidgeting today.

“What I said back then... well, it was rude and... a-and I was caught in my jealousy and said things I didn’t really mean and I just-” her voice wavered; I could tell this was something that she really regretted. “I’m sorry,” she shouted, bowing as low as she could, her hair cascading over her head.

Yui seemed unmoved. I really didn’t want to keep this tension going any longer, I needed to do something.

“Thank you for apologizing, Karin. I hope we can put all this behind us and just have fun as friends.” I clasped my hands together and smiled. I stared at Yui. I guess this was revenge for what she did during class.

Finally, she sighed, muttering something about ‘projecting,’ and said, “alright, apology accepted. You’re still going to need to work to earn my friendship again, understand?”

“I understand; certainly,” Karin said, looking up.

“Okay, I’m sorry, this was a big thing for the three of you, but something has been bothering me this whole time,” Minami said, “Zakuro, have your eyes been changing color?”

“O-oh, yeah. I can explain that all at club. We should probably focus on gym class now.” Honestly, I feel like if I didn’t make that decision right then I would have to explain the eye color thing twenty times today alone. Best to get it all out of the way in one big burst.

It was football in gym class today. I was never the most athletic and that hadn’t changed with my new form. Minami was working up quite a sweat getting into the game. Karin seemed to keep staring at her; she seemed distracted. Yui was easily the most noticeable on the field. The way her hair bounced as she dashed, dribbling the ball. The way she’s dance through the other team’s guard. Even just the way she would stretch between goals. Everything about her was mesmerizing.

The rest of the school day flew by without incident. Yui helped me when changing back into my uniform. Class was engaging, and I was able to keep myself from gnawing on my pencil as much this time.

Once we were finished, we headed over to the club room. Yui protested at first, but I eventually convinced her to on the grounds that she should at least try to reconnect with Karin.

Entering the room, the two of us were greeted by the three other club members: a stressed, and likely sleep-deprived Chiyoko; Minami, who had become (thankfully) a lot more relaxed, reserved, and mature than she was a year prior; and Karin, who was currently staring at Minami, blushing quite brightly. I noticed now that Minami was wearring earrings.

“Yeah, she was definitely projecting back there…” Yui muttered, putting her hand on her face and pinching the bridge of her nose.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Nothing you need to worry about, miss chameleon,” she teased with a smirk, ruffling my hair a bit.

“Chameleon?” I combed my hair back into place with my fingers, looking down to hide my blush.

“Well with how much your eyes have been changing,  I felt like it made a cute little nickname. Y’know, typical couple stuff.” She shrugged.

We were anything but a ‘typical couple’, but I couldn’t deny the idea made me happy. I don’t really know what to think of that nickname itself, but it fits, I guess. I’ve been messing around with my appearance a lot lately, and I probably seem timid to most people at this point. I still don’t get why I still feel so shy, even after shame erasure’s turned itself off. It is turned off, isn’t it? I should be just like Akira, just the same as I was before this whole mess, but I wasn’t.

My introspection was cut off by Chiyoko clearing her throat.

“It’s good to see you two back.” She said, the warm smile on her face undermined by her obvious exhaustion.

Reminded by her visible weariness, I anxiously ran towards her. I worried about her current state, especially as probably the only other person that could help me with my app.

“Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay, please get some sleep tonight-“

“I’m fine, miss Zakuro. It’s been a long month, is all.” She quietly interjected. Chiyoko turned over to look at me, her eyes going a bit wider.

“Miss Zakuro,  why are your eyes blue?”

Oh right, that’s still happening.

“So uh… I was messing around with my magic, trying out outfits and I’ve also now learned how to change my hair and eye color, but uh, now I… I can’t stop my eyes from transforming…” I quietly admitted, my already slight blush getting much brighter, and my eyes probably went the same color.

Minami perked up when I mentioned trying out outfits.

“Ooooh, fashion montage!? That sounds fun! Could you show one of those outfits to us?” she asked, a bright excitement beaming from her face. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her so fired up about anything, so why not?

I shrugged, and morphed my clothes to my redesigned “maniacal girl” outfit.

I was tempted to change my hair color to my natural color like I did before, but ultimately decided against it. Miss Maki would probably have figured me out immediately if I did that.

After a moment, the rest of the group gasped in surprise. They must think it looks terrible, I’m not at all-

“Cute!” Minami, Karin, and Yui all exclaimed in unison.

“U-uh… Thanks…” I replied, rubbing the back of my neck. I could feel all their eyes on me. I knew it was just appreciation of how I looked. I couldn’t deny the tinge of pride I got from knowing that my work designing my outfit was appreciated, but it was overshadowed by my nerves tightening.

Karin seemed to sense my tension, or maybe just knew what my current eye color meant, and backed off a bit, encouraging the others to do the same.

After recomposing myself, I remembered how terribly I’d treated all these people, my friends, as a maniacal girl. My heart quickened, and suddenly my mouth started almost running on its own.

“I... hearing stories about what I did before as the maniacal girl, and remembering bits and pieces of it I... I’m very sorry about what I did as a maniacal girl I hope you can find it in you to forgive me please don’t hate me or yell at me or hit me or–”

“Whoa whoa, we wouldn’t do anything like that to you, Zakuro. We’re your friends, remember?” Minami reassured me, moving a bit closer, halfway to resting a hand on my shoulder.

I looked at Minami, hoping to convey that... I think I would like a supportive hand right now. After a second, she seemed to get the message, slowly placing her hand comfortingly on my shoulder.

“T-thank you, Miss Maki…” I mumbled, a blush forming on my cheeks.

“Like she said, Zakuro, we’re your friends. This is just what friends do.” Chiyoko flashed me a pleasant smile.

“Some of us more than friends," Yui said, moving to my side and hugging me.

“God, you’re all so corny,” I laughed, fighting back tears.