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Ever since Himiko threatened to change Shuichi into a girl, he had been thinking a little too hard about the prospect. Of course, she couldn’t actually change him into a girl. But if she could, would it really be so bad?
The more Shuichi thought about it, the more it sounded like a dream come true, and the more it hurt that it was outside of his grasp. It was silly. What’s the point of getting upset over a little fantasy like this?
He even started to think that maybe, like some of her other “magic”, Himiko had a trick for changing his gender too. Sex change operations were a thing, weren’t they?
It was really, really stupid. But this fantasy couldn’t end until Shuichi stripped it down piece by piece.
After gathering his resolve, he found Himiko in her lab. She was stirring something in her cauldron.
“Nyeh. I’m trying to make a magic energy potion right now.”
The “magic energy potion” smelled like instant ramen. When Shuichi looked inside, he saw various unchopped vegetables. Spring onions, carrots, bamboo shoots. At least Himiko was being healthy about it, in her own way. “I can help you chop the vegetables next time.”
“I don’t really feel like asking you. What do you want?”
Here it goes… Shuichi took a deep breath. “Actually, I was wondering about your magic…”
Himiko’s eyes widened. She stepped towards Shuichi at a normal person’s pace, which for her might as well have been skipping. “Nyeh?! You are?!”
“Y-Yeah, I am.” The way Himiko’s eyes bore holes into Shuichi was a little embarrassing. He couldn’t help but look away.
“W-What kind of magic? Just know I can’t do anything before I recharge my energy.”
No turning back now. “It’s about the magic that changes you into a girl.”
“I didn’t think I’d actually be right about that…” Himiko smiled proudly about… Something. “Maybe I am pretty amazing.”
“Right about what?”
Himiko looked down sheepishly. “A w-while ago, I used a spell that lets me find boys that want to be girls, and it found you.”
“That’s… Actually kind of scary.”
Himiko looked at Shuichi with her usual dull face, though something about it felt uneasy. Did he hurt her feelings?
Before Shuichi could apologize, Himiko spoke again.
“…Anyway, I must warn you. The spell for turning you into a girl will be very slow. I still haven’t grown proper boobs yet. But I’ve become pretty cute. You might be luckier.”
Shuichi’s eyes widened. “Are you saying you used to be a-”
“A boy, yes.”
It was like getting the wind knocked out of his chest. So it was possible. It was… It was a lot to take in. Could he really just throw away who he was up until now to chase this dream? Could she really just… Be a girl?
“It’s okay if you need some time. But when you’re ready, take these.” Himiko rummaged through her pockets until she found her prize, a pill bottle. “Let one of these dissolve under your tongue every day. Make sure you chant ‘Make me into a cute girl’ three times in your head. It’ll help the spell work faster.”
Shuichi looked at the bottle. It was something as simple as medication? Why hadn’t she heard of this before? She would’ve started taking it ages ago if she knew it existed.
“And if anything happens to me, there’s more of these somewhere in the storeroom-”
“Nothing’s going to happen to you. Not on my watch,” Shuichi declared. She didn’t want to see any more of her friends die, especially not Himiko, who had just handed her a lifeline.
“It’s not like I wanna die either…”
It became silent. Anything would’ve been more bearable than this, so Shuichi decided to ask a question that had been at the back of her mind since this conversation started.
“How do you tell people?” As nice as Kaito was, he was the sort of guy that might be weirded out by this. And Maki was hard to read.
“Nyeh? Well, my family’s pretty nice, so it was pretty easy. And uh…” Himiko knitted her brow. “There were some bullies at school but I managed to get back at them with my spell that puts soy sauce in their shoes. If anyone bothers you, I’ll put soy sauce in their shoes, okay?”
Shuichi chuckled at the childish threat. “Thanks.”
“I have to finish my energy spell now. You can stay here if you want.”
Shuichi sat down in Himiko’s lab. She opened the pill bottle and put a tablet under her tongue.
Make me into a cute girl. Make me into a cute girl. Make me into a cute girl.
Already, she felt more like a girl.