Chapter 10
The night before the start of the new term.
Vita contacted his parents via Magiphone for the first time in a while.
After meeting Carlisle, Vita had been feeling strangely unsettled and sitting there blankly, having just thought of his family.
The Magiphone’s video-call function let them see each other even when they were far apart.
Ding-
Before long, Vita saw his mother, smiling broadly.
[Son! What’s the occasion? Oh, goodness, I should be calling you my daughter now…]
[The new term starts tomorrow.]
Vita answered his mother with an awkward smile.
[Have you gotten used to it a little?]
She must have meant his female body.
[…I guess.]
If it was only a matter of going to the bathroom.
[Anyway, Vita. Now that you’re a woman, pay attention to your behavior, too. Aren’t you in a situation that’s difficult to deal with right now?]
[Don’t worry, Mom.]
He wasn’t used to it at all, of course. But he wasn’t immature enough to make his parents worry. It seemed both of them were there together.
[Have the arrangements gone well?]
Vita nodded at his stern father.
[Yes, of course. Thank you for taking care of it.]
[It may be confusing because of everything that’s happened recently, but since this is your final semester, see it through properly.]
[Yes, Father.]
[Then I’ll hang up.]
He really was as curt as ever.
Maximilian Shamal was always such a stern father. Just as Vita was about to hang up—
[What about you? Is that all you have to say?]
His mother suddenly began bickering with him.
[You were worrying about all sorts of strange things over dinner.]
[…What are you talking about?]
Following her laughter, his mother’s voice came through.
[Anyway, Vita. Always be careful, okay? Your father says all men are wolves…]
Beep- beep-
The call ended soon after.
‘What was that… just now?’
Vita set the Magiphone down with a flustered expression, but he wasn’t in a bad mood.
At least his parents seemed to be doing well.
‘I must have heard wrong, right? Father worrying about something like that…’
Anyway, tomorrow was the start of the new term.
“Haa- I hate this.”
Vita tidied his things and mulled over various thoughts, repeatedly kicking himself over what had happened with Carlisle before eventually succumbing to sleep.
And finally, the first day of the new term.
For Vita Shamal, it should have been a happy day.
Saint Antiope Academy operated on a semester system, and this was Vita’s sixth and final semester.
It was a meaningful day in its own way, yet Vita’s expression was stiff.
Picked it up, put it down.
Lifted it, set it down.
It took him quite some time to put on women’s underwear.
It was awkward beyond belief. It was uncomfortable, too.
But the academy uniform was an even bigger problem.
“Ugh, this is insane…”
Was he really supposed to go out looking like this?
Wasn’t this the start of a new semester? He was supposed to meet his new classmates and friends for the first time, yet he was apparently going to have to go dressed like this.
Of course, with his current body, this was only natural. But he couldn’t help his psychological aversion.
So after heaving sigh after sigh, Vita finally made up his mind.
“Fine, whatever! It’s not like I can go without wearing it.”
He had to go to the academy, at least.
Besides, wearing the boys’ uniform in his current form would be even stranger.
After steeling himself and putting on the uniform, Vita was briefly rendered speechless by his reflection in the mirror.
‘This is… hmm…’
It looked like it suited him, but he looked prettier than he’d expected.
A white frilled blouse and a neatly tied black ribbon.
A stylish navy checkered skirt starting at the waist and ending above the knees.
A thin black cardigan, and even white knee-high socks.
This was none other than the spring/fall uniform worn by the female students of Saint Antiope Academy!
Vita suddenly thought.
‘If I had been a woman…’
If that had really been the case, would he have simply enjoyed this moment?
Because it was pretty to look at.
He spun around once for no particular reason in front of the mirror. Swish-
“…It’s cute. Really.”
Ahem. In other words.
Everyone had some aesthetic appreciation, didn’t they?
“So this is why they say the person wearing the clothes matters.”
Even though this was technically his own body for now, Vita felt a little wistful. It would be nice to have a girlfriend this cute.
Feeling a little better, Vita looked at the clock and was startled.
‘Gasp- damn it!’
He was already terribly late after agonizing over his clothes.
Vita looked around, stuffed a slice of bread into his mouth, and immediately left the room. His room was right by the academy, so he reached the school gate in no time.
A strangely chilly feeling.
The surroundings were peaceful and quiet.
His years of experience told him this was clear evidence that something was seriously wrong.
The first class of his final semester.
With a new teacher and classmates to meet for the first time, Vita’s anxiety mounted, and he ran at full speed.
‘I’m late, totally…!’
Crash-
And then.
As he turned the corner in the hallway, he collided with someone.
***
“Ow, ow…”
He must have landed hard on his butt; a sharp ache lingered.
Rubbing his aching rear, Vita groaned.
He’d really wiped out.
“Who goes running through the hallway…”
The other person stopped speaking.
“Bianca Shamal…?”
A voice dripping with displeasure.
It was none other than Carlisle Schultz—the person Vita didn’t exactly welcome, but had been running into frequently lately.
Remembering what had happened yesterday, Vita’s expression twisted.
“Get up. Are you hurt?”
Even in response to Carlisle’s kindness, Vita snapped back.
“Why don’t you mind your own business and leave?”
Even after being flatly rejected, the guy said it again.
“Let me see. Are you hurt?”
“I said I’m not hurt.”
Even as he said that—
“Ow- ah-”
Vita’s expression pinched slightly from the pain in his butt.
“You are hurt, after all.”
By then, Carlisle had come over and crouched down in front of Vita.
Vita tried to deny it, but he couldn’t stop a groan from escaping. Besides, when he tried to stand right away, he immediately sank back down.
“Ah, ngh…”
This really hurts, doesn’t it?
“Sorry I couldn’t catch you.”
It was an apology out of nowhere.
Had this guy eaten something wrong for breakfast?
Just as Vita hesitated over how to respond to that apology—
Carlisle’s large hand reached toward Vita’s face.
Vita subtly turned his face away at the sight of that hand, but there was no point.
Swish-
For an instant, a long finger brushed near his moist pink lips.
Vita’s face went blank for a moment as he tried to process what had just happened.
“Here. You had something on you.”
A small bread crumb clung to Carlisle’s finger. But when Carlisle suddenly put it in his mouth, Vita’s mind stopped.
‘C-crazy…!’
A strange, indecent feeling mixed with sheer disbelief, and Vita’s face began to burn.
“W-what are you doing?!”
“Why are you such an utterly careless girl?”
An abrupt rebuke that came close to a non sequitur.
Vita argued back.
“This is ridiculous. Who was it that bumped into whom?”
“Usually, the person who was running is at fault.”
Of course Vita knew. If they were assigning blame, he had been the one running in the hallway.
But even knowing that, he searched for something to argue back with, and Carlisle chuckled as he watched him.
“Why don’t you eat the bread still in your mouth?”
Only then did Vita remember.
Come to think of it, he had been eating bread, hadn’t he?
Of course, the slice of bread he’d been holding between his teeth had flown out when they collided, but the remnants were still in his mouth…
‘Did it fly out while I was talking…?’
Realizing this, Vita panicked, chewed the remaining bread, and swallowed it.
‘Ah, this is so embarrassing.’
Of all times, he had made a spectacle of himself in front of this guy—in front of Carlisle Schultz.
His cheeks puffed out in a pout.
All while glaring at him, he swallowed the bread.
Once again, Carlisle Schultz found the woman facing him pretty.
Her slender calves and white, innocent-looking knee socks. Her pristine white frilled blouse and stylish navy skirt. Even the disheveled cardigan looked alluring on her.
He almost didn’t want anyone else to see her.
He wanted to hide her somewhere and keep her all to himself.
But something else was more important right now.
“Get on. Here.”
Carlisle obediently held out his back for Vita to climb onto.
“What? Why?”
Having anticipated Vita’s attempt to play hard to get, Carlisle hit the nail on the head.
“Then keep sitting there. Just skip class.”
“And what about you?!”
“This sort of thing is part of my daily routine.”
Seeing Carlisle shrug as he said it, Vita was left speechless.
He couldn’t believe Carlisle was proudly proclaiming himself a delinquent like that.
“So? Get on, then. Unless you want to be late.”
It was absurd.
Why on earth should he let that guy carry him?
Naturally, Vita had not the slightest intention of doing so and didn’t move a muscle.
“…Fine. Have it your way.”
Contrary to expectations, Carlisle obediently stood back up.
“You know, it might not be so bad to stay there.”
Then he continued.
“A transfer student who missed her first class because she hurt her butt. Pretty interesting story, right? Everyone will chew you up, tear you apart, and have a field day…”
The more he continued, the paler Vita became.
“The homeroom teacher will have a bad first impression of you, too. But if that’s what you want, I can’t help it.”
And then he really left. He was actually disappearing into the distance!
Thinking about it, there wasn’t a single thing wrong with what he’d said, so Vita fidgeted before finally shouting.
“O-okay, I got it!”
Carlisle stopped walking.
***
A quiet, deserted hallway. By then, Vita had forgotten that he was late.
‘Think of something else. Something else.’
He had repeated those words silently dozens of times already. No matter how hard he tried not to notice the sensation of the hand against his butt, he just couldn’t ignore it.
He was starting to wonder whether that made him a pervert.
It was a miserable feeling.
“Could you put me down now?”
So when Vita deliberately spoke gruffly, an impassive question came back.
“Can you walk on your own?”
“Haa- seriously.”
Was he saying that because he knew Vita couldn’t walk?
“We’re almost there, so bear with the pain a little longer.”
He’d already heard that concerned tone several times by now.
Carlisle Schultz was impossible to read. Vita couldn’t understand why he was pretending to worry.
To begin with, the collision had clearly been both their fault.
Maybe he was worried because even this guy had a shred of conscience?
Anyway, Carlisle was undeniably helping him right now, so Vita felt awkward simply getting angry at him.
‘But still, this guy…’
Vita hadn’t told Carlisle Schultz what class he was in, that is.
He hadn’t told him because he found Carlisle so irritating, but Carlisle was somehow making his way naturally toward his destination.
‘Could he know…?’
Did he know Vita’s class?
Vita wondered, but couldn’t tell whether Carlisle knew or not, so he continued to say nothing.
A little while later, the two arrived in front of the classroom.
It was surprising that he knew, but Vita naturally assumed Carlisle would put him down.
Rattle-
But then.
Before Vita had time to stop him, the classroom door flew open with a loud clatter, and everyone’s gazes turned toward them at the same instant. It all happened in a heartbeat.
“……”
Vita’s vision went black.
This crazy idiot had caused a huge scene.
“Hmm? Who’s that…?”
“It’s Carlisle, Teacher.”
Carlisle naturally greeted the teacher.
“Oh, Carlisle! I was wondering why you weren’t here when I called attendance…”
Damn it. Shit.
Of all things, they were in the same class?
More importantly, Vita wanted to die right then and there. His current appearance was beyond mortifying.
Wasn’t he essentially being carried in on a man’s back?
‘I mustn’t show my face. I’ll just die like this.’
Vita desperately hid behind Carlisle’s back, but—
“…But who’s behind you?”
He couldn’t very well ignore the teacher’s words.
After hesitating for quite a while, Vita finally raised his head.
“…I’m Bianca, Teacher.”
“Oh, Bianca! You weren’t there when I called attendance, either. So, what’s going on with the two of you…?”
The kind teacher’s expression seemed to freeze.
The teacher was probably trying to make sense of the current situation. The classmates’ gazes were no different.
‘I’ll get revenge. Definitely.’
Vita hated Carlisle so much he could have died.
He would definitely get revenge again.
Because for a very long time, that had been his only thought.
And Carlisle then continued, addressing the homeroom teacher.