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As Tsukasa looked in the mirror, greeted by a face shocked in an unfamiliar way, a mouth that wasn’t his agape, he knew that Rui was indisputably, inescapably, 12,000% grounded from testing anything on him for at least a week— no, a month! Maybe even for life. He would never, ever, ever again agree to visit Rui’s house first thing in the morning for a ‘quick test run’ of a new contraption.
This was wrong. Absolutely wrong! In his entire life, he’d rarely, if ever, felt out of place—such is the nature of a world future star. But as he stood there, tentatively raising an arm to the glass with splayed fingers and watching the image in the mirror do the same, he felt sick. He took a deep breath. How could he calm down? He decided to employ one of his favorite but rarely used poses: number 212, the one for when you've swapped bodies with your insane inventor associate/brilliant director/best friend and you have no idea what else to do other than pose, because if you were to have a fight or flight reaction, that’d either end in punching yourself in the face or trying to run from your own skin.
He jumped up, then landed and planted his feet a bit more than shoulder-width apart, put his left hand on his hip, and pointed to the sky with his right. His poorly-disguised horror still apparent on his face was part of it, too. It was the key defining feature to separate it from poses 15 and 39, which were far more common variants used for introducing himself and accepting an offer to sign a photograph, respectively.
The eerie symphony of a thousand creaks, pops, and cracks, every single one a sound which most definitely should not have come from a human body, resonated in the silence of the room. They were ghostly, monstrous, beyond uncanny. He stood still for a moment, pressure released in some joints while others ached, feeling just a bit lightheaded. Even without needing to recuperate physically, the shock of it all rendered him motionless. Seriously, what the hell was Rui made out of? Was his dear friend capable of mummifying himself? Had he somehow swapped his skeleton with candy canes? That wouldn’t have been the most far-fetched experiment for him at this point. Not when he had somehow managed to do this!
His accumulating panic and confusion were both stopped in their tracks when he heard the curtain behind him rustle. “Tsukasa?”
Crisis #1: Yes, Tsukasa was very much acquainted with the sound of his voice. It wasn’t that. But the way it was being said was nothing like his whole “Tsukasa meaning pegasus, Tenma meaning ruler of the world” spiel. It was not spoken with the true confidence of a world future star, and it certainly was not treated with the respect it deserved when spoken in his own voice!
“Rui!” he shouted back, angrily pulling back the curtain, the sound of the metal rings clinking against the rod amplified by the sheer force he’d yanked on it with.
Crisis #2: Wow. Rui’s voice was not built for yelling at that volume. Like, really not built for that. It didn’t even sound angry, just sort of wobbly. Both of them did a double-take at the unrecognizable sound. How was he going to express himself like this?
Rui must have still been able to pick up on his anger based on the way his fists were clenched—Tsukasa felt unevenly cut fingernails digging into his palm and got caught between getting even angrier or resigning to the sheer disappointment he had in Rui’s ability to take care of himself.
“Wow, Tsukasa-kun. You look as lovely as ever,” Rui said sweetly, giving him a smile he could only describe as creepy. He didn’t know the muscles of his own face could be contorted in the exact same way Rui’s were when he did that stupid grin of his.
“Flattery is NOT going to get you out of this!” Tsukasa scolded. The shock that was smothering his anger rapidly burned away. “What did you do to me!?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve swapped bodies,” Rui answered calmly.
“OBVIOUSLY, I NOTICED!” Tsukasa tried to yell, only for it to come out in that same weird tone. This just wasn’t fair. Rui got to use his infuriating expression, and Tsukasa couldn’t even retaliate with his own signature move. How was he already drawing the short straw? “I mean—” Awkwardly, he cleared his throat. “What happened? Two minutes ago, you said to step into the machine, and…”
“And I flipped the switch! When I told you this would help you improve your acting abilities, I was telling the truth. It’s an experience like no other! Now, you can properly put yourself in the shoes of another person. Right now, you get to be me, but this seems to be a fantastic success so far! The possibilities are limitless. Isn’t it wonderful?”
“No, it’s not wonderful! A little warning would have been nice!” Tsukasa chided. He was finally getting the hang of Rui’s brand of anger as he lowered his volume just a tad. He shot Rui the most intimidating glare he could manage, which only gained intensity as he noticed Rui holding back a giggle.
“But look at you! You’re such a fast learner, Tsukasa-kun! I have the utmost faith that you’ll be able to succeed. Plus, I put so much work into this machine so that you’d be able to benefit from it. I just wanted to help cultivate your brilliant potential. Are you telling me all those efforts are meaningless to you…?”
Tsukasa had the worrying realization that yes, he really does look incredibly punchable, as Rui attempted his standard guilt-trip face. He shuddered at the sight. Glancing awkwardly around the room, he sighed.
“Fine. Fine! I’ll do your acting challenge for one day, but that’s it! I want to go back to normal no later than four o’clock this afternoon, sharp! I won’t let you ruin family dinner with Saki.”
“Hmmmm… that’s fair. I promise I’ll swap us back at that time, then,” Rui agreed, still seeming far too happy for Tsukasa’s liking. This guy!
“Quit looking so evil! I swear, if you do anything stupid on purpose while you’re me… and hey, this is your acting challenge, too! You'd better give it your best effort!” Tsukasa demanded.
Rui nodded and proudly put one hand on his hip while bringing the other to his heart. “You can count on me. I give you my word as the world future star, Tsukasa Tenma!” Rui declared with a wide, confident grin.
His terrifyingly accurate impression only served to worry Tsukasa further. The pose was scarily correct, and the speech wasn’t too far off from something he’d say. Unable to contain his surprise and horror, he stared at Rui with wide eyes for just a few seconds before regaining his composure. Today would be more difficult than he thought.
—
After Tsukasa insisted that Rui scavenge around his kitchen to get breakfast as compensation for this whole ordeal, they sat across from each other at the table with their own bowls of cereal.
“School starts pretty soon. We need to hurry up if we don’t want to be late,” Tsukasa mused after a few quiet moments of him focusing on his food. “We’ve already wasted a lot of time this morning.”
Rui was quiet as he brought another spoonful to his mouth. “It’s not my fault your body isn’t tall enough to reach the top of the fridge. How was I supposed to anticipate being unable to get the cereal box?”
Tsukasa grumbled something under his breath, sighing deeply. “Don’t act like having to stretch your arms a bit was a problem.” He took another bite of the cereal. “We need to get going soon, though.”
“Pleaaaaase, can’t we call in sick?” Rui whined. He paired it with a twisted, evil attempt at puppy-dog eyes.
Tsukasa couldn’t help but grimace at how unnatural that sentence sounded when it came from ‘his’ mouth. And the expression? Terribly pitiful and wholly unbecoming of a star! Rui was terrible at this. Tsukasa’s spoon clattered as it fell into the bowl, falling from his hands as he could only stare in horror at Rui’s face.
“No! Absolutely not! I will not have you tarnishing my spotless attendance record! Plus, if we’re both missing from class, I wouldn’t be surprised if they sent out a search party to look for me on the basis that you probably launched me too far from a cannon, and that’s just too much,” Tsukasa insisted with a huff. He put his hands on his hips, which earned a giggle from Rui.
“Even in a different body, you’re still so obviously you. Don’t you think it’d be a pain to trick all our classmates, Tsukasa-kun?” Rui countered, grinning slyly. Tsukasa recognized the face from when he had played Nakayama in that one production. “Today would be better spent wandering around Phoenix Wonderland, or exploring the city, don’t you think? Or maybe we could take turns walking each other through our daily lives outside of school. The whole world is out there, you know.”
“This is supposed to be a test of my acting abilities! I refuse to take the easy way out!” Tsukasa declared wholeheartedly. “I agreed to this challenge! I won’t back down!”
Tsukasa watched his own face go from baffled to amused, and he felt disappointed—it was rare to see Rui caught so off guard. If only he could have witnessed that expression on the right face. Had he finally one-upped him in weirdness? It made some sort of sense, though. If anyone were strange enough to drive Tsukasa to madness after spending just 20 minutes living as them, it’d be Rui. Maybe it really was over for him. He’d never recover from this disaster. Just what had he gotten himself into?
—
The lunch bell had only just rung, and Tsukasa was at his limit. This was the final straw. Tsukasa Tenma, a dignified member of the disciplinary committee, a most honorable student, a future star whose eyes sparkled with a brilliant potential, was going to throw it all away and kill Rui. In the brief moment he’d taken his eyes off him, with absolutely no warning at all, Rui bolted towards Akito, who sat on the concrete planters outside the library. Were the stunts he pulled in class not torturous enough?
“GOOD MORNING, AKITO!” Rui shouted, and for a second, Tsukasa’s absolute rage wavered. Maybe Rui really could pull it off.
Then, he watched (and slowly approached, too, because he was aware of Rui’s tendency to follow him everywhere for no reason at all and had to emulate it as best as he could) as Rui struck a pose. The absolutely incorrect one, mind you! He used pose number 93, which was specifically for when he was being chased by a robot but had to stop and look cool for pictures—he turned slightly towards the viewer (Akito, in this case), and gave his most charming grin, giving a small wave with his right hand. It was easy to get in and out of, which was why he used it plenty whenever he was being chased in the hallways or around Phoenix Wonderland.
The correct pose for Rui to use would have been pose number 72, which was “pose for enthusiastically greeting your most wonderful juniors”. That was more confident, more deliberate. Rui needed to study his pose catalogue better. What a shameful performance!
Akito didn’t seem to notice, though. Frankly, Tsukasa was offended. How little regard did he have for him!? He appeared just as annoyed as usual as he acknowledged the two of them.
“Hey,” Akito said with a sigh, with a voice miserable enough to suggest it was physically painful for him to exist in this moment.
“What are you doing outside the library?” Rui asked, dramatically pointing at Akito, then disapprovingly wagging his index finger. Tsukasa was right about one thing—this would test his acting abilities. It took everything in him not to wince. He wasn’t that animated!
“Sheesh. I'm just waiting for Toya. If you’re so focused on discipline, you should pick on Rui instead. I saw him running around earlier. He’s probably up to something.”
Tsukasa managed to use the right pitiful expression of hurt, which he had plenty of time to study, given Rui’s tendency to deploy it at the slightest inconvenience. “You’re accusing me of scheming? How cruel…” he said, doing his best to imitate Rui’s pathetic tone. He deliberately avoided mentioning the fact that he had considered ditching and sneaking around when Rui looked away to properly portray him, only to change his mind at the last minute and sprint to class instead.
He watched as Rui subtly held back laughter, playing it off as a moment of deep thought. “Hmmm… You’re right! I'll interrogate him at once!” Rui declared, way louder than necessary. He put his hand over his heart sincerely, as if pledging to listen to Akito’s concern. Once more, Tsukasa gritted his teeth before trying his best to appear mischievous.
“Well… good luck with that, I guess?” Akito said. Tsukasa would assume that if he had anywhere to walk off to, he’d do it at the highest acceptable speed. But he was stuck waiting, so it was up to him and Rui to take the hint and leave.
As the two of them walked off, Tsukasa caught the sound of a door opening and Akito’s voice. “Man, I think something’s up with Rui…”
—
The second they were properly out of range, sitting on the rooftop for their usual shared lunch, Tsukasa took his opportunity to yell at Rui. “I do NOT act like that!” he said, jabbing a finger in Rui’s direction. “I don’t do those poses! You got every single one wrong! Zero percent! You failed!”
“It worked, though, didn’t it?” Rui countered. “Akito didn’t suspect a thing was wrong with me. You, on the other hand…” Rui gestured vaguely, smirking. Tsukasa loathed how naturally Rui had managed his usual confident, cocky expression. How was he so good at it!?
“My acting was impeccable! Do you know how hard it is to do that stupid grin you do!? Trying to imitate it just feels wrong,” Tsukasa huffed.
“Well, it seems you still have a long way to go as an actor,” Rui remarked, as if deliberately trying to taunt Tsukasa. “But you managed just fine that time after the show when you noticed me acting differently. So the issue’s not with your knowledge, but with your execution… Maybe to fix this, we could try…”
“No! No more interference, no more torture devices!”
After taking the proper amount of time to scowl at Rui, Tsukasa sighed. “Whatever. I'm going to eat the lunch I packed,” Tsukasa said, finally sitting down. “Give me my backpack.”
Rui complied with a defiant ‘hmph’, reluctantly passing the bag to him. It was a shame to surrender it—he’d spent all of class sketching show ideas with Tsukasa’s fancy mechanical pencils. It was worth it, even after Tsukasa glared at him while trying to take notes with one of Rui’s many childish, obnoxiously decorated, gimmicky pens. He was not a fan of the one that sprayed confetti all over his desk after he clicked it, and was only further displeased when the only normal one in his pencil case was not only chewed up, but completely out of ink. Rui had thoroughly enjoyed seeing him light up upon discovering it, only to slouch in defeat after trying to write with it, and hesitantly picking back up the pen shaped like a lobster claw.
“And your lunch would be…?” Rui asked curiously, peering at the box eagerly as Tsukasa peeled off the lid.
“It’s a healthy, balanced meal!” Tsukasa bragged, instantly bouncing back at the opportunity to show off. “Complete with all the right nutrients: there’s rice, meat, some fruit, and of course, a healthy serving of vegetables .”
He finally claimed his first victory of the day: he watched as Rui’s now-pale face twisted into absolute horror, eyes widened and jaw dropped. It looked ridiculous on Tsukasa’s face—he truly wished there were some way to see it while they weren’t swapped.
“You… you monster!” Rui cried. “What if we switch back and I… and I can still taste them!? You can’t do this! That poor plant… you’re getting its sap on my innocent hands! Don’t do it!”
Tsukasa, finally able to win, simply took a piece of broccoli and popped it in his mouth. Rui’s taste buds did not take it kindly—it tasted all sorts of wrong, and the texture of the flowery part of the broccoli he used to enjoy felt like an attack. But he stood strong, not complaining and doing his best not to show how repulsed he was.
Rui looked the most pitiful he’d ever seen him be, and for just a second, he almost felt bad. And then he ate another piece.
—
Rui seemed to have been sufficiently discouraged from pulling any more ridiculous stunts by the time the bell had rung and they arrived at their afternoon classes. He had made sure to confidently answer a relatively easy question incorrectly, prompting Tsukasa to flick an eraser at the back of his head, but that was about the full extent of the problems he directly caused Tsukasa.
It was being Rui that caused him more struggle. His attention wandered more than usual, but he didn’t inherit Rui’s smarts. Instead, his focus gravitated toward the notebook he’d borrowed for accuracy’s sake. He admired the several detailed sketches of potential scenes and contraptions, and frowned at the devices that appeared to be designed for the sake of inflicting a great amount of suffering on him. Occasionally, he’d point to a page and just look at Rui with an utterly horrified expression, but after the third shrug and unreadable smile, he gave up on trying to get answers.
Tsukasa glanced up at the clock and sighed with relief. Class would be over in about twenty minutes. Just a while longer, and he would officially be done with Rui’s stupid challenge. He’d even spotted him frantically scribbling notes in Tsukasa’s notebook. Maybe he really had gotten his act together! It was a miracle.
His good fortune ended abruptly when the teacher announced they’d get the last bit of class time to collaboratively work on a sheet of physics problems. Desperately, he looked over to Rui, who approached him with a friendly smile and moved to sit at the desk beside him. He was saved.
But before he knew it, he was surrounded by the handful of acquaintances Rui had made. When he first noticed Rui speaking more to the kids in their class, he was proud of him. He was using his intelligence for good, helping them with practically every subject, instead of using it for the usual evil he put Tsukasa through. But now it was his turn to fulfill that duty, and while he’d usually rise to the challenge with unshakeable confidence, he was painfully aware of the fact that he’d zoned out through a rather important lesson as he tried to read the problems and felt his head spin. The formulas were incomprehensible nonsense, and even if he knew what they meant, it’d be useless; they were all word problems.
The questions came flooding in. He was swarmed by a crowd of faces eager for an explanation, the mass of people who needed his help, and cast a final pleading glance in Rui’s direction. Without using words, he relied on his ability to communicate with only his expression. How would Rui look at Tsukasa if he needed his help this desperately? He thought back to every time Rui tried to persuade him to do a stunt, from the successful tries to the contraptions he could never quite get Tsukasa to step into. That was it! He performed his trick, fueled by the myriad of memories that emerged, one which came naturally to him in this state: puppy-dog eyes.
The second their eyes met, Rui nodded gravely. When he opened his mouth, Tsukasa was ready to hear a clever explanation of the question that would bolster his reputation, something to redeem himself for the intentional blunder from earlier. It’d both satisfy the helpless crowd and make Tsukasa out to be the hero.
“Look! Out the windows, in the courtyard, I think there’s something out there! Rui, what did you do this time!?”
Rui’s voice was loud enough to draw the attention of the entire class, including the teacher, who had learned to never doubt Tsukasa’s words about Rui’s antics.
In the resulting panic, students clamoring towards the row of windows, Rui grabbed Tsukasa’s hand and dragged him out of the classroom, quietly fleeing to the only place he knew to bring him—the rooftop, for the second time.
“We can wait things out here,” Rui said with a reassuring smile, looking deceptively friendly. Curse him for using Tsukasa’s face like that!
“Rui. What the hell was that?” Tsukasa demanded, voice sharp and serious. He tried his hardest to emulate Rui when he got angry; he remained calm, though he couldn’t quite capture Rui’s ability to appear both playful and intimidating. He made a mental note to study Rui the next time he was mad to figure out how he did it (though, if he did get the chance, Tsukasa would probably also be angry, which would make him forget to observe anyway).
“You seemed like you were in dire need of assistance, and a world future star like myself could never ignore the cries of someone in need! I created a simple diversion,” Rui explained with an enthusiastic smile. He stared expectantly at Tsukasa, waiting for compliments. Tsukasa grimaced in return—did he seriously look like that when he was waiting for praise? Was that something he did habitually? He tried not to think about it.
“You can drop the act! And they’re going to find us in about five minutes when they realize there’s nothing in the courtyard,” Tsukasa argued. “When they notice we’re both missing, they’ll know something is wrong! And there aren’t that many hiding places. They’ll check the roof first.”
“No, that’s not true. First of all, this school has an abundance of hiding places if you pay attention. Second, look.” Rui reached up and grabbed Tsukasa by the shoulders, making up for what he lacked in leverage in strength. He directed Tsukasa’s eyes towards the field.
He was greeted by a dazzling array of colored glitter spread over the field. For a moment, Tsukasa was stunned into silence. It was gorgeous, shiny, and distracting. He had to steer his brain back on course and remember that he was still mad at Rui. After a short pause, he turned to him with a scowl.
“But I didn’t take my eyes off you the whole day! When did you- how could you sneak past me!?”
“Earlier, when you were taking notes angrily with that pen, I slipped out and said I was going to the bathroom. Then, it was easy! Everyone seems to trust you if I'm not there, to some extent. Nobody challenged me when I walked to the field and planted my newest machine right in the dirt. You’ve got a lot of potential to be a great minion, Tsukasa-kun, if you’d just agree to more of my plans. We could accomplish wonderful things off the stage together.”
“Was this acting challenge just a trick so you could use my face to sneak around?” Tsukasa asked after a long pause, voice sharp. He tried his best to remain composed, but he only partially succeeded.
“Goodness, no!” Rui put his hand over his heart and another over his forehead as if about to faint from the shock of the accusation. The drama of it all suited Tsukasa’s body remarkably well. He returned to a normal pose after Tsukasa hit him with a harsh glare. “I mean it. I did want to test your acting capabilities… but once I realized that I would have an opportunity like this, I may have made some preparations. Before we left, I put it in your bag, but that was it. Nothing too premeditated. I hope you don’t mind.”
Tsukasa glowered at Rui. His face couldn’t properly capture his anger, but Rui could pick up on it just fine. Neither said a word, so Rui shrugged and continued rambling.
“You know, the strangest thing happened. When I snuck out, I felt this powerful, reckless confidence surging in my veins, like I could get away with anything!” Rui chirped. “I didn’t get access to your thoughts or memories, so maybe that sensation was like a placebo—as if just being you is enough to make anyone feel bold. Your brain is wired in such a fascinating way.”
“How would I become a world future star without a special talent like that?” Tsukasa, with his hands on his hips and a wide smile—pose number 4—laughed proudly, though it sounded bizarre in Rui’s voice. He switched to a more typical chuckle, which felt equally uncanny. He cleared his throat. “Nothing can stop me.”
“Not even the rules,” Rui agreed with a smile.
That comment shattered the distraction of Rui’s praise and made Tsukasa switch right back into disciplinary committee mode.
“I would never ! A star must exemplify only the best of behavior. Maybe it’s your rotten influence reacting with my brain. We need to switch back as soon as possible,” Tsukasa reprimanded, arms crossed over his chest. “And you need to clean up all that glitter! Or I’ll make sure that you receive a proper punishment this time!”
Rui grinned, then reached into his pockets and pulled out a small remote. He gestured for Tsukasa to look towards the sparkling field, then hit a button. In a flash, with a great fwoop ! sound, a tarp hidden beneath the mounds of glitter closed up into a compact, lumpy sphere, corners joining in the center. Tsukasa stared in awe as the grass went back to being perfectly visible, save for the thin lines of glitter that landed outside of the tarp.
“Impressive, right? The glitter’s biodegradable and edible. Well, non-toxic, anyways. I wanted something we could throw into the audience at a variety of locations. If we had to perform outdoors, for example, cleanup would be complicated. But even if the glitter were able to break down, I was worried it might poison unknowing wildlife that might be found in the area. Today’s test was mostly for the glitter launching mechanism and the remote-closing tarp, though. The first one’s purpose is self-explanatory, but the second one would make a fantastic trap, don’t you think?”
Tsukasa tried to act like he wasn’t impressed and shook his head. “Rui. After today’s events, you are banned from testing anything on me.”
“Tsukasa-kun… how am I supposed to determine if the automatic tension system is calibrated correctly? What if someone weaker than you ends up in there and it closes too tightly? You need to. For the good of the world,” Rui pleaded sincerely.
“Quit sounding pitiful in my voice!” Tsukasa demanded, managing to raise his voice to the optimal level where it still half-sounded like Rui and captured his rage. “You’re not going to win me over with your half-hearted flattery or by appealing to my noble sense of justice.”
“Alright, then. I'll try again later. Come on, the bell’s about to ring. We need to go back to class and get our bags,” Rui conceded, once more dragging Tsukasa by the hand. He was surprised by how easy it was, now that he had time to observe it. Maybe it was all that strength training Tsukasa did, or maybe it was his own weight. He hoped Tsukasa wouldn’t notice that—it’d make escaping trips to the principal’s office far more difficult.
—
They had only made it halfway down the first hallway when a teacher spotted them together. “Kamishiro! I heard about your stunt from your homeroom teacher. I hope you don’t think you can get away with this again!”
Rui feigned surprise, covering his urge to laugh with a gasp as he turned to Tsukasa in disbelief. “Rui! What’d you do?”
Tsukasa turned to Rui, then back to the teacher in horror. With a timely shove from Rui, Tsukasa stumbled forward before breaking into a full-on sprint. He turned back to scowl at Rui, who smirked in return.
“You too, Tenma! I don’t know what you did, but you need to explain yourself!” the teacher demanded.
The smug expression was only partially wiped off Rui’s face as he frantically joined Tsukasa, catching up surprisingly fast. Since when could he run at this speed? Tsukasa’s training was paying off. Rui quickly overtook him and took his hand for the final time of the day, leading him down the hall and turning erratically down corridors as the teacher’s footsteps grew more and more distant.
Their last stop was a left turn into a small, empty room saved for after-school clubs. Rui pulled Tsukasa in, closing the door behind them. He took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from his brow, and smiled at Tsukasa.
This seemed to piss him off—he opened his mouth to speak, but was promptly cut off by the loud ring of the bell.
“So! That’s the day. How was it?” Rui asked cheerfully, unfazed by the bitter look on Tsukasa’s face.
Tsukasa perfectly copied Rui’s thinking pose as he brought his hand to his chin and carefully pondered the question.
“I suppose it wasn’t all bad… I learned a lot of things about what it’s like to be you that I wouldn’t have been able to learn otherwise.”
“Well, that was the entire point of this little activity. If you’d said anything else, I would’ve been disappointed.”
“I also realized just how deep your schemes can run. You put my reputation on the line—” Tsukasa paused to count on his fingers, “—four times today! And it’s only 3:00 PM!”
Rui raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. I’ll act in a manner more befitting of a star.”
A brief silence passed until it was broken by the sound of students walking through the hallway outside. Glancing around quickly for an escape, Rui nodded his head determinedly. “Tsukasa. Follow me,” he said, approaching a window and searching for the locking mechanism.
“You just said- what are you doing now!?” Tsukasa questioned, yet he still (albeit reluctantly) walked to Rui’s side, standing adjacent to the window.
“Escaping! The teachers could very well still be on the prowl, so we need to get out unnoticed. Plus, this window leads out to the field, so we can pick my invention up along with the tarp.”
“You can’t be serious. We’re a floor up!” Tsukasa protested. “The hallways are crowded. We can just go through there. There’s no way someone will—”
“Remember your height. And your hair color. If you think that your stealth skills are enough to compensate for that, you’re free to try. I’d be delighted to watch.”
“Okay, okay, I get it! But surely you have some sort of plan, right? We’re not just free-falling from up here?” Tsukasa questioned.
“I’m truly offended you think I’d do that to you. When have I ever subjected you to a great fall with no sort of safety measure?”
Tsukasa raised an eyebrow, trying to recall any specific instance. “Maybe you did, but I hit my head and forgot,” he stubbornly retorted.
Rui sighed and fished his own phone out of his pocket—they’d decided there wasn’t much of a point in swapping everything, especially if they weren’t being observed. Also, Tsukasa didn’t want to find his phone disassembled and ‘upgraded’ with some bizarre attachment or feature by the end of the day. Rui clicked and tapped at it, taking a moment to type something that he deliberately hid from Tsukasa’s view, and pointed to the window.
“Behold!” he said with a confident grin. Beneath them, through the grass, a tiny robot scuttled about. It looked like a crab, but on its back was a folded-up, rectangular object. Before Tsukasa had the chance to ask, Rui hit another button. The item unfurled, and the crab tugged on a string attached to one of its corners. The mat began inflating as Tsukasa stared down with wide eyes.
“Now we can safely jump from here. And this little guy can go anywhere if I get him the coordinates. I’m not sure when we’d have a chance to incorporate it into a show, but with a few modifications, it could become a variety of fun animal companions. And it’s equipped with a bubble blower, too. With some fun shapes and techniques, too. I–”
Rui was too busy rambling to notice Tsukasa taking a deep breath before leaping out of the window. Rui waited for him to leave the mat, turned around to ensure no students were observing, and followed suit.
Brushing the dust off his pants, Rui beamed. “Wow! I didn’t think you’d go through with it so quickly! You’re as remarkable as ever.”
Tsukasa tried not to look too happy after being complimented for jumping out of a window on command. “I know,” he said, settling for a confident nod.
—
Hiding in the shadows cast by the tall school building, Rui surveyed the field. “It’s pretty empty, so we should be fine. But would you mind keeping watch while I go collect it?”
“What!? You already went out there as me! I’m not letting you risk getting me in trouble again. I’ll do it, and you can take the fall.”
“Tsukasa-kun…”
Tsukasa quickly closed his eyes to avoid seeing Rui’s expression again. Despite that, he could still visualize the haunting image of his own face contorted into that awful look. He grimaced. Before Rui could do anything more, Tsukasa took off towards the field, walking at a suspiciously fast pace. He picked up the device and grabbed the tarp, which had been compacted neatly into a sphere of glitter that fit in the palm of his hand. Carefully arranging them to fit in his arms, he returned to Rui. “There.”
Annoyingly, Rui simply smiled in return. “Thank you. Good work as always, Tsukasa-kun.”
“Did you trick me into doing this for you, too?” Tsukasa asked bluntly.
“Well…” Rui considered the question for a moment, but wasn’t given a chance to reach his answer. Tsukasa sighed.
“Give me your bag so I can put these away,” he grumbled. “Wait. Where is it?”
“Oh! That!” Rui said with a chuckle. “Remember how we both ran out of the classroom a bit ago?”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t grab our things…”
“Of course I wouldn’t make such a trivial mistake! That would mean I dragged you to the rooftop, then helped you escape being chased, and made you jump out of a first-story window for no reason. I have a solution. Do you have any faith in me at all? I must say, after I’ve saved you so many times today, this is wholly unwarranted,” Rui argued, crossing his arms.
“Is your solution another weird machine you’re going to make me test?”
“I really wish you’d stop looking so angrily at me. That’s a face I hardly use, you know. You should relax. I’ll just text Nene and ask her nicely.”
“That’s your solution!?”
Rui shrugged. “I’m sure she’ll be willing to help.”
—
Tsukasa almost wished that Rui was wrong. If his belongings weren’t on the line, he’d be happy to see Rui face some proper consequences for his actions. He carefully placed the launcher and glitter back on the ground next to Rui, sick of holding onto it.
“There you are,” Nene said. “Jeez. What are you doing, hiding back here? Is this a drug deal or something? Did you make me carry your bags so you wouldn’t get in trouble?”
Seeing the way Nene glared at him, Tsukasa almost felt offended. Then, remembering that he’d have to take responsibility for the situation as Rui, he quickly got into character. He took a mental note to add this interaction to the list of ways Rui’d wronged him, and then did Rui’s irritating little chuckle. “Oh, Nene. Shouldn’t you trust me a bit more than that? If I needed someone to do something dangerous, I’d just ask Tsukasa!” he said, doing his best to copy Rui’s smirk. He extended his arms, and Nene handed over their bags.
Nene raised an eyebrow, and for a moment, Tsukasa thought she was about to call them out for their whole scheme—both swapping bodies and causing a commotion. Before he could quickly adjust his act, she sighed. “Whatever. Just try not to burn anything down,” she said. “I’ve got a club meeting today. Don’t blow him up on the way home.”
As she turned a corner and disappeared from view, Tsukasa took a deep breath. It worked. He ignored the way Rui was glaring at him and unzipped the bag. He did his best to place the device and glitter back in, wincing at the sound of papers left to fend for themselves in the nightmarishly disorganized main pocket getting crushed.
—
Thankfully, the walk back to Rui’s house was uneventful, and neither of them had any after-school activities that day. It was a miracle, which Tsukasa celebrated and Rui lamented—he’d lost the chance to make some corrections on his disciplinary record.
Tsukasa had never been happier to set foot in Rui’s garage, finding himself navigating around the miscellaneous screws and bolts littered on the floor without a conscious effort. He glanced over at the closet-shaped box where the machine stood. “It’s basically time,” he noted, checking his phone to confirm: 3:45 PM. “Can we switch back now?”
“Fifteen minutes early? Are you admitting you couldn’t complete the challenge, Tsukasa-kun?” Rui taunted. “We’ve got one last thing to do. Could you hand me your notebook? The one I was writing in today,” Rui requested.
Tsukasa grumbled something and grabbed it out of his bag, handing it over to Rui without any further protest.
“Alright! First, I’d like to compliment your notes. They’re very diligently written, even though I noticed quite a few mistakes. I corrected them for you. You’re welcome.”
Seeing Tsukasa’s less-than-grateful look, he switched gears. “But that’s not the important part. Here. I observed you and wrote down everything you got wrong,” Rui said with an infuriatingly cheerful expression.
“You… observed me?”
“I’m your director, remember? And this whole thing was to help you grow. You missed a lot of my habits.”
Tsukasa appeared even more annoyed, but quieted down.
“First, you sat with remarkably good posture the entire time. Back straight, feet flat on the floor, all that. And while I commend your efforts, it’s just not right.”
“Hey! I’m helping you avoid back problems!” Tsukasa argued.
Rui ignored him and continued reading. “Second, you favored your right hand. I usually switch between mine, but I tend to use my left to write, and my right for things like eating. Most of the time, though, I go with whichever is most convenient. It’s interesting, isn’t it? They’re of equal ability, but even with access to that, you still used your right hand more. Maybe we should study more with this…”
“Absolutely not! Quit getting sidetracked.”
“Third: the way you took notes. I can’t really fault you for this one, though. I’ve heard from peers that I have a habit of laughing or muttering to myself when I'm working on things, which I wasn’t particularly aware of. It was far easier for me to notice it when you were quiet the entire time, though. It was uncanny.”
Tsukasa sighed, biting back the urge to protest each one of Rui’s comments.
“Of course, I learned a lot, too,” Rui concluded. “I'm sure I missed some of your quirks, so don’t feel too bad. But this is a fantastic lesson, isn’t it? Everyone has these tiny, easy-to-miss characteristics that can be just as critical to their identity.”
Finally, the anger on Tsukasa’s face dissipated as he mulled over Rui’s criticisms. “I see… You put a lot of thought into this whole thing. It’ll be interesting trying to incorporate those into shows, though. It’s hard to see small details like that when in the audience because of the distance to the stage, right? So you’d have to exaggerate them, but not go too far as to ruin the subtlety.” Before he could realize, he’d struck Rui’s thinking pose.
“Exactly! Look at you go! See? Wasn’t this a great exercise?” Rui asked with his own flawless imitation of Tsukasa’s proud smile.
“Yeah, but…” Tsukasa frowned. “Don’t think I’ll let you get away with this again! Can we switch back now?”
“Fine, fine,” Rui surrendered, walking over to the machine. It consisted of two tall chambers, each with solid walls, and a curtain installed to act as a door. It could pass as some sort of poorly-designed closet. Tsukasa walked into his half and pulled the curtain shut. The small light on the inside allowed him to see his reflection, and he smiled. Soon, he’d be back to being himself—no weird back pain, no more dealing with the sudden change in height and strength, no more shenanigans.
“Ah. Something’s wrong. Hold on a second, Tsukasa. I think it’s broken. A piece is missing,” a muffled voice said.
“WHAT!?” Tsukasa shouted, even though the volume made the phonemes warp into a barely-intelligible mess. His heart skipped a beat, and while he instinctively turned in the direction of Rui’s voice to search for answers, he was greeted by a blank wall. Just before he could jump out of the box and panic further, he was interrupted by a laugh.
“Just kidding! Okay. One, two—”
A bright flash of light consumed him, his eyes squeezing shut on reflex. For a moment, it felt like he was floating, suspended in space without mass. And then he plummeted down, head spinning and patches of bright colors swimming in his field of view. When he opened his eyes, he sighed in relief as he looked himself over in the mirror. All of his limbs were there, perfectly intact. Nothing seemed terribly wrong. After a few moments of readjusting to reality, he emerged from the box, adjusting the collar of his uniform.
Seeing Rui’s smug face for the first time all day, he crossed his arms. “That was just cruel. I should’ve made you eat more vegetables,” Tsukasa lamented, shaking his head. “Or drink water. Or get a proper night’s rest. Or walked you to the principal’s office and turned you in. Or destroyed all of the schemes you wrote down in that notebook. Or…”
“Well, you’ll have plenty of chances to do that if you’d like, so long as you’re willing to swap again. We can run even more tests! Doesn’t that sound fantastic?” Rui agreed all too eagerly.
“It sounds awful! No more testing, no more experiments, no more making me do your crimes! You are banned. Understood? Banned! For a month!”
“Tsukasa-kun! How could you? After I—”
“Two months!”