02 - Why did my heart race so fast?

A few minutes had passed, and Nagi finally stopped joking about it, his face and arms now covered with the marks of slaps.

Hmph! I don't regret slapping him at all; that's the reward he deserves for making such perverted jokes.

"Yuichi-sama..."

"What?!"

With a gloomy expression, Nagi continued to press both of his index fingers tip together. "That..."

I sighed deeply at the sight of him, feeling exhausted by his antics. "Okay, okay. I forgive you."

Nagi's expression brightened again.

"Hey, Nagi."

"Hm?"

"I want to ask something..."

"How am I supposed to go to school looking like this?" I asked, confused. Even though my gender had fully changed, my school uniform was still the one belonging to my male self. It wouldn't be possible for me to go to school wearing a uniform meant for the opposite gender, right?

"Do you have a solution?" I added.

"What if we borrow a girl's uniform?" Nagi suggested.

"Impossible! Who would we borrow from? Neither of us has a single female friend..."

Nagi fell silent again. "Then... how about we rent a uniform? Usually, places that do cosplay have a lot."

"That's not cheap, you know. Just imagine how much it would cost for a day?" I stopped speaking. Then, speaking in a quieter tone, I added, "Nagi, you're so clueless...!"

No matter what, I still wasn't ready for that. Just yesterday, I was a genuine boy. Any normal person would struggle when suddenly asked to cross-dress, although that might be different in my case. But still...

I was actually hoping he would suggest we skip school instead; if we got caught, I could just blame Nagi.

Just kidding.

Nagi shrugged. "What else can we do? If it's not enough, we can pool our money."

I guess there really isn't any other solution, is there...?

Ding!

Suddenly, a notification rang on my phone. When I checked it, it turned out to be a message from my father with a photo attached.

"Eh?!"

I rubbed my eyes a few times. Could it be that I'm dreaming? I couldn't believe it; this was a photo I took with my father before I moved in with Nagi a month ago.

But that wasn't the problem; in this photo, I clearly appeared as a girl, not a boy. Shouldn't I have still been male at that time?

But I just experienced a genderbend today?! How could this happen...?

"Eh, Nagi! Take a look at this!" I immediately pulled Nagi's head toward my phone to show him the photo my father sent.

"Eh? This girl is...!" Nagi's words suddenly stopped when he realized what I meant. "Could it be...?"

Yes! Our eyes met. I think we were thinking the same thing.

Nagi nodded in understanding. "So, it turns out you're experiencing the most common trope in gender-bender manga and anime, Yuichi?"

"In gender-bender manga, authors usually create a trope where not just the character's gender changes, but the world itself. Besides making the story easier to write, authors can avoid clichéd surprises from side characters and focus more on developing the main character and plot," Nagi explained at length.

I clapped with a flat expression as I listened to Nagi's explanation multiple times. "Wow. Incredible. Turns out our otaku Nagi understands the gender-bender genre very well, huh?"

"Hah?" Nagi looked annoyed. "Why do I feel offended by your compliment?"

"It's not a compliment."

"Hey!"

Nagi sighed. "Forget it. If it's like this, there's no need to think too hard; maybe your male uniform has also changed gender now."

"Yeah, maybe..."

I actually wanted to skip school today, especially since I still felt shocked and couldn't process what just happened today.

But it wouldn't be possible for me to just skip on my first day of school, especially since I promised my parents to be diligent in school after entering high school.

Actually, it's not just because of that... Argh! There's no point in explaining in detail because I just don't want to wear female clothes!!!

My cheeks slowly felt warm.

"Yuichi?"

"Ah! E-everything's fine! Just a moment! Let me find my uniform first." I got up from my seat and walked quickly to my wardrobe.

"..?" Nagi looked confused watching my restless behavior as I fumbled around in my closet.

"A-ah! Found it!"

Sure enough, everything was just as Nagi described. My school uniform had indeed changed into a female uniform.

I quickly tried to grab it. Unfortunately, I had placed the uniform too high! I kept trying to reach it by jumping, but it was all in vain.

Ugh... so high!

I think my height has shrunk a bit after my gender changed to female.

I tried to tiptoe, while my right foot was kind of climbing the small side of the wardrobe.

"Ah, got it...!"

"Eh?" Unbeknownst to me, my left foot, which should have been below to support my weight, also climbed, and unfortunately... I slipped.

It was too late...

I reflexively closed my eyes.

One second passed, two seconds passed... Strangely, I didn't feel any pain in my body. Shouldn't I have fallen?

I slowly opened my eyes.

"Na-Nagi?!"

Just a few centimeters from my face was Nagi's face, which looked so clear in front of me. He seemed to be sweating a bit while letting out a sigh of relief. We were so close that I might have been able to count the number of pimples on his face right now.

I also felt a grip around the area between my shoulders and back, as well as around my lower waist, and without realizing it... my hands were tightly hugging his shoulders.

"!!"

I only realized it after a moment; our faces were so close!! Moreover... Isn't this the princess carry?! Since when has Nagi's shoulders been this broad...?

So many thoughts were racing through my mind now!! Awawawa...?????!!!!!

My cheeks felt even warmer as my thoughts started to run wild.

"Yuichi, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fifine!!"

What the hell is fifine?! What were you trying to say, you stupid Yuichi!! At this rate... Nagi might find out how red my face is right now.

Quickly, I turned my face away, closing my eyes.

I couldn't bear to look into his eyes anymore. Please, Nagi... Quickly put me down!

"You idiot, you could have asked for my help; why try to grab it yourself?" Nagi said while lowering me onto the bed. "Good thing you didn't get hurt."

As I felt the softness of the bed, I opened my eyes again and glared at Nagi. But when he looked back at me, I turned my face away.

Why am I acting so weird?!

I also felt confused about myself...

I gently touched my chest; the pounding of my heart hadn't stopped.

I-I can't take it anymore!!

"Nagi!!!"

Hearing his name being called, Nagi turned to me. He looked at me with a confused expression. "W-what...?"

CRASH-!

"HEY! OW!!"

Creaaak...

SLAM!

After successfully pushing Nagi out of my room, I locked the door so he couldn't come back in.

I sighed in relief.

I forcibly pushed him out because I felt like I couldn't take it anymore. My heart felt like it would explode if he stayed here...

Thump-thump...

Even so, my heart continued to race, even though Nagi was no longer in front of me. What is this feeling? Why do my cheeks feel hot? Why is my heart pounding so fast?

What is this feeling? Oh no... There's something wrong with me.

Is this love? No, no, no! Impossible!! Nagi is a boy, and I'm a boy too!

It's very much impossible for me to fall in love with someone of the same gender; could this be happening because of the star wish? Y-yeah!! It must be because of that.

Knock-knock-knock!!

A few loud knocks were heard from the door.

"Yuichi!!"

"Na-Nagi?!"

"Are you okay?"

You idiot... Of course, I'm not okay; it's all your fault, you know!!

"Mm- Yes!" I said hurriedly.

"Then why did you suddenly push me out of your room...?"

"Um... I-I just want to change clothes!! So wait outside, okay? Just a moment!"

TO BE CONTINUED.