01 - Star Wish

Do you believe in miracles? One thing that words can't truly express.

From the smallest things, like many species of insects, nature, your own life, to the grand miracles like falling stars and my encounter with him, everything is part of a miracle.

It feels like I'm dreaming, a beautiful flash of light streaking across the night sky, illuminating the dark expanse. Maybe I'm just imagining things, but I feel a strange pull from that phenomenon, making it impossible to tear my gaze away from it.

I could only gasp in awe as I watched.

I turned to Nagi, my childhood friend. I was the one who had to drag him out here just to witness the beautiful phenomenon passing through the night sky.

"Nagi!" I called.

"Huh?" he replied.

"Want to make a wish?" I said with a small laugh. "I want to copy a wish I saw in an anime I watched yesterday," I added.

"Huh? What kind of wish?" Nagi asked, curious.

"A star wish. You know, in the anime I watched, the main character said that when a shooting star passes and you see it with your own eyes, your wish will come true one hundred percent!" I explained.

"Yuichi... You still believe in stuff like that? Besides, where are we supposed to make this wish? You forgot we're on the top of a hill, right?" Nagi said, raising an eyebrow.

"Look up." I pointed my finger upward, directing it toward where the star had fallen.

Nagi stared at me in disbelief for a few seconds. "Yuichi... Did you drag me out here just to make a wish?"

"Did I get caught?"

"No wonder! Yuichi, who usually just stays home all day in his room, suddenly wants to watch falling stars. I figured something was off from the start. It's hard to believe someone like you would be interested in falling stars," Nagi sighed.

He paused for a moment. "Seems like you’ve been watching too much anime, Yuichi..." Nagi added.

I pulled his hair hard, frustrated with the insult he had thrown at me. Though I couldn’t deny it.

"Ah-?! Ow! That hurts, stop it Yuichi!!!"

I let go of his hair gently.

Well... It's no surprise Nagi rejected it. After all, I had stolen his free time for something as strange as a star wish.

It seemed like I’d have to do it alone, even though I was honestly a bit disappointed. I guess it’s my fault for forcing him to come here.

Nagi seemed to notice my disappointed expression. He scratched his head in confusion, then turned to me with a sigh. "Seems like I was a bit too harsh, sorry Yuichi."

"Alright... I'll do it. That wish thing you mentioned," Nagi said, his face slightly flushed.

I smiled enthusiastically.

"That’s more like it, Nagi, you tsundere."

"Huh?! I just felt sorry for you, man!" he said, embarrassed.

Seeing Nagi’s shy expression made it hard for me to hold back my laughter.

"Oi!!"

"Yah, we have to hurry and make the wish before the star disappears." I pressed my palms together.

"How do we do it?" Nagi asked, confused, while watching my movements closely.

"Focus, Nagi. I’m not repeating this for the second time."

"First, close your eyes. Then press your palms together and raise them up. And finally... Wish sincerely, whether out loud or in your heart," I explained while demonstrating.

Even though I wasn’t sure this wish would actually come true, I still hoped that my wish would become reality, the wish of every teenager in the world—

Please give me a girlfriend!!!

***

Back to the present.

"Ah..." We both stared at each other, neither of us daring to ask or look away.

"You... Who are you?" It seemed Nagi was the first to take the initiative to start the conversation.

"That-"

I fell silent, there were so many answers I wanted to say in my head, but my lips refused to move.

What should I answer..? Girlfriend? Nagi would definitely know I'm lying if I said that. He would look at me suspiciously and say, "Hah? Yuichi, the one who stays in his room all day, has a girlfriend? Impossible." It’s predictable.

Sister? Cousin? That wouldn’t work either, considering Nagi knows every member of my family.

I guess I have no choice but to be honest.

I then pointed to myself. "Nagi, do you believe me if I say the girl in front of you is Yuichi?"

"..." Nagi fell silent for a moment.

"Nagi?"

"Are you trying to prank me now?"

It’s understandable that Nagi doesn’t believe it. I didn’t either, at first.

"If you don’t believe me, ask me a question that only Yuichi would know," I suggested.

Nagi seemed to think for a moment. "Alright, who’s my waifu?" Nagi asked confidently.

"Tendou Arisu."

Nagi nodded several times. "Alright, next question. What’s the most embarrassing moment Yuichi has ever experienced?"

Ugh..! That damn Nagi, he must have planned this from the start, huh?!

I scratched my head, unsure whether to answer or not. "It... I... When I was in elementary school, I... peed..." I couldn’t continue, my face was burning, and my lips were stuck.

"Hm? Pee? What’s that?" Nagi replied sarcastically.

"Pee..."

"Yeah, yeah. What pee?"

Damn Nagi! I’ll make you pay for what’s happened today!

"I PEED MY PANTS DURING A FIELD TRIP TO THE ZOO BECAUSE I WAS HOLDING IT IN, RIGHT IN FRONT OF A GIRL I LIKED!!!"

I was out of breath after shouting those words at him, but of course, Nagi had successfully played me. I hoped this would be enough to convince him that I was Yuichi.

Nagi seemed to lean in a bit closer, his ear just a few centimeters from my face.

Eh? What he's doing?

"Yuichi, what did you just say? I didn’t hear it, can you say it again?"

Without thinking much, I grabbed Nagi’s ear and twisted it with all of my strength.

"AAAGHHH?! PLEASE FORGIVE ME YUICHI-SAMA!!!"

***

"Mhm. I get it now. The beautiful Ojou-sama in front of me is Yuichi, my precious childhood friend. Ha-ha!" For some reason, Nagi’s tone suddenly became formal after his ear turned red.

"Hmph, believe it now?"

"Yeah, but... How did your gender suddenly change like that, Yuichi?" Nagi asked curiously.

Hearing Nagi’s question, I shrugged my shoulders. "I don’t really know either. It all happened overnight, and when I woke up, all of my manhood was suddenly gone."

"That’s scary."

"Ah! Could it be because of the random wish we made last night?" After thinking about it for a while, I guess this is the most logical reason. "By the way, what was your wish, Nagi?"

"Simple, meet my waifu."

"Idiot."

"But you were the one who suggested making a wish?! Besides, it’s just a fictional wish, so I can ask for anything!"

"Yeah, yeah."

At first, I thought the reason for my gender change was because of the wish Nagi made, but when I heard his wish directly, I felt stupid for thinking that way.

"Oi Yuichi! Why are you looking at me like that?!"

"What do you mean?"

"I don’t know why, but I feel offended..."

"Oh yeah, because I already told you my wish. To be fair, you should tell me your wish, Yuichi?" Nagi asked curiously.

"Well... Uh..."

"Uh? What uh?"

"I-I wished for a lover..." I answered hesitantly.

"A lover? Turns out you’re the same."

"B-but at least the one I asked for is a real girl! Not 2D!"

"Wait a minute." Suddenly, Nagi put his finger on my lips.

..?

I just stared at him, confused. He then moved his finger from my lips to the table, tapping it. "Wait, let me clarify. So you wished for a lover?"

"Mhm."

"Then you slept, and when you woke up, your gender changed to a girl?"

"Mhm."

"This doesn’t make sense! No matter how you think about it, these two things clearly have nothing to do with each other! How could someone wish for a lover, but instead of getting that, their gender changes?" Nagi shouted in frustration.

"Well, that’s-"

Before I could finish, Nagi quickly cut me off. "Could it be..."

"Yuichi! I think I’m starting to understand!"

"Eh?! Explain!"

"Could it be that the reason your gender changed to a girl..." I focused on what Nagi was about to say, hoping it would be a clue to all this weirdness.

"Is to date me-!"

SLAP!

Just before Nagi finished his sentence, I gave him a hard slap.

"OW!"

I could feel my face heating up, even though I wasn’t looking in a mirror, I was sure Nagi’s joke had successfully embarrassed me.

"Stop joking! You idiot Nagi, idiot! Homo!!"

"Homo?! No way! I was just kidding..." Nagi said while rubbing his right cheek, which had a handprint from the slap I gave him.

"Hmph!" I quickly turned my face away from him.

"But I’m not wrong, right?"

"Aaah!!! Nagi’s starting again!!"

At that moment, the number of slaps Nagi received from his jokes was no longer countable.

TO BE CONTINUED.