Chapter 40
A beautiful landscape with vividly colored autumn leaves in full display.
Vita and Carlisle.
A week had passed since the two of them made up.
Tomorrow was the sports festival. Recently, Vita had been in a good mood after resolving the worries that had been plaguing her. So she stretched and gazed out at the view through the window, a faint smile naturally forming on her lips.
“I feel refreshed first thing in the morning.”
She had made up with Carlisle Schultz, and lately, she had even gained hope of returning to being a man.
She had also definitely grown a little closer to Emily.
Having just showered, Vita came out, drying her hair as she took out her phone.
She entered the group chat with Sasha and Emily.
-Good morning, everyone!
Exchanging morning greetings had become part of her daily routine.
The conversations themselves were nothing special, but talking like this was how they grew closer.
They talked about what had happened at the academy each day, the upcoming sports festival, and the midterms.
-Good morning, Bianca.
Oh, a reply.
-I just took this picture. Isn't it really cute?
When Vita checked the photo, she saw a small white cat stretching out in a yawn.
Of course cats were cute.
‘Not as cute as you, Emily…!’
Even so,
because it was none other than Emily Swan, Vita quickly played along.
-Oh, cute!
Then Sasha's bold messages followed.
-The cat is really cute! But more importantly, everyone, look at my outfit.
Vita was flustered.
“Ah, no…?!”
Sasha was confidently wearing bloomers and making a V sign. That part was fine. But there was something about the outfit—
-Um, Sasha? Your underwear is showing.
It was practically see-through. So Vita pointed it out, only to receive an unexpected response.
-Yeah, on purpose. I'm going to hook one of them this time.
-Amazing, what a fox!
Emily sent a laughing emoji.
-What do you mean, fox! Emily. Well, I suppose. Bianca probably doesn't know about this.
Sasha continued on about how bloomers were worn to be shown off, and how she was definitely going to snag one of them tomorrow.
Flustered by the ongoing conversation, Vita closed her phone.
‘Girls are bold…’
Anyway, she had more or less gotten used to this sort of girl talk by now.
“I should get going soon.”
Her now-familiar long hair swayed as it brushed against her arm.
Vita picked out some underwear.
Since she was alone, she had come out of the shower naked in the first place.
Then Vita belatedly realized that the underwear she had absentmindedly chosen was the same pair she'd worn on the day she made up with Carlisle Schultz, and her face reddened slightly. It couldn't be helped.
“Ngh…”
Vita found herself stopping short at the memory of that day.
***
‘Looking back… that day was so strange.’
Carlisle had been strange, and so had she.
There was no doubt that both of their minds had temporarily gone haywire.
The reason her face felt hot for no reason was simply that.
[Let's have a showdown, just you and me.]
An unexpected confession.
To put it plainly, astonishingly, it had been Carlisle's confession.
No, why?
‘Why me of all people…?’
She had sensed it, at least somewhat, but she hadn't imagined he was that serious.
Vita didn't understand it.
Why had that arrogant, obnoxious, unpleasant guy—
her rival, of all people—ended up falling for her when she had originally been a man? What kind of twist of fate was that?
And why had she—!
[Give me a chance.]
[…I like you, Bianca.]
Why had she responded to such ridiculous nonsense?
Vita's face grew hot, her fingers and toes curling as she ruffled her completely innocent hair.
“Ah, seriously…”
She really shouldn't have accepted it. The more she thought about it, the more she regretted it.
It had happened in a complete daze. Vita had ended up accepting Carlisle's challenge-confession, if only temporarily.
As if she had briefly become an idiot.
[…Uh, y-yeah.]
After just one thought—
‘I'm originally a man…!’
—she had accepted because she had judged that there was no way she could lose that showdown.
Even so, the fact that she felt so troubled—
was due to several complicated reasons.
For one thing, it felt like she was playing with someone who was genuinely serious about her.
‘I used to be a man, and I'll turn back.’
That was a fact that wouldn't change no matter what the other person did. It felt like entering a contest whose winner had already been decided.
On the other hand, she also felt as though she had been swept along by him.
‘I could've just not accepted…’
It was a contest she could have done without. In fact, even if Vita won this contest, she had nothing to gain.
She had accepted it for no reason, which was why things had become like this. After putting on her school uniform, Vita checked her phone again. Lately, Carlisle had been contacting her constantly, with no regard for morning or night.
-I miss you, Bianca.
At the direct statement, Vita's face reddened. Not because she was embarrassed, but simply because she found it absurd.
‘How can someone always be this shameless?’
Especially lately.
That was the message that had just arrived.
Vita sent back a somewhat curt reply.
-But I saw you yesterday.
Then the phone rang again almost immediately, as if Carlisle had been waiting for her response.
-What can I do? That's just how I am.
A smiling emoji.
“Eek…”
This time, flustered for an entirely different reason, Vita finally closed her phone.
“J-just saying things like that…! It won't change anything.”
Perhaps she had been saying that to herself.
Wasn't it strange? Really?
There was no way she, fundamentally a man, could feel flustered by him. Carlisle's newfound assertiveness was simply burdensome.
But Vita thought about it.
Right now, she was only in a woman's body, so hormones were at work. Those occasional flutters were nothing more than an illusion.
Any feelings that would disappear and turn to foam once she returned to being a man were completely meaningless.
‘So this contest absolutely…!’
Vita firmly believed that it would end with her victory. Without a doubt.
***
But what was this feeling? This sensation of gradually being swept along by the other person's pace?
Ding- Ding-
The lunch bell rang.
Vita headed for the annex building as usual.
The stairs leading to the rooftop.
Carlisle came into view.
The moment he saw Vita, a bright smile spread across his face. For some reason, Vita found herself stopping short at that smile.
‘Why does he look so happy these days?’
That was what she found herself thinking.
Vita didn't actually know. She had no idea how excited Carlisle had been feeling lately. In truth, Carlisle had interpreted her acceptance of his confession as a positive answer.
After all, he had a whole month. He was confident he could win her over within that time.
From Carlisle's perspective, this was a contest he couldn't possibly lose.
“Emily isn't coming…?”
He hoped he wasn't getting ahead of himself. Still, when Bianca came alone, he couldn't help feeling hopeful.
“Tomorrow's the sports festival, so I guess she's eating with her friends.”
“That's too bad, but it can't be helped.”
Though he said that,
Carlisle was secretly pleased.
He had Bianca Shamal all to himself for the first time in a while.
Vita noticed a hint in Carlisle's expression and shrank back a little. But then she immediately declared,
“Y-you…! Don't get any funny ideas!”
“I don't know what you mean. Do you have a guilty conscience?”
“Don't pretend you don't know.”
With her face red, Vita thrust out a fist as she said this, making Carlisle chuckle.
“Of course. If that's what you want, I'll do as you say.”
The two of them made a promise.
It was like a detailed stipulation in their contest. Carlisle had become so aggressive lately that Vita was having a hard time.
Even when the three of them were together with Emily.
When the three of them walked together,
with Emily in the middle and Carlisle and Vita on either side,
Carlisle Schultz would suddenly take Vita's hand, making her panic.
To be precise, he would start by lightly holding her pinky, then gently stroke across her palm.
And Emily would be chatting and laughing beside them.
“Still, I'm glad you two made up. I feel guilty wondering whether you fought because of something I said.”
“Uh-huh, no…!”
Vita denied it with a flushed face, while Carlisle shamelessly responded in a calm tone.
“Yeah, it's a relief.”
At the time, Vita had felt a strange sort of guilt, though.
What on earth was she doing right beside Emily, the girl she liked? For some reason, she felt she couldn't even face Emily.
“What's wrong, Bianca…?”
“No, it's nothing…!”
Her face flared hot. She didn't know why, but Emily's innocent reaction made her feel as though she were committing a crime.
Afterward, Vita angrily confronted Carlisle and made two demands.
First, he was forbidden from touching her at all when Emily Swan was around.
And second—
“I said absolutely no lewd stuff at the academy. I meant it.”
Those were the clauses she had added recently.
Carlisle nodded.
“Right, it's a promise. We'll only do it in your room.”
“No, what?! That's not what I meant…”
How could he interpret her saying not to do it at the academy that way?
Vita's face reddened, but by then Carlisle was already lowering himself toward her.
“I know. Then get in my arms.”
It couldn't be helped if they wanted to get up to the rooftop.
“Tch—”
Vita pouted, but she obediently let herself be held, wrapping her arms around his neck so she wouldn't fall.
She felt as though Carlisle was wearing a little smirk, but it couldn't be helped. That was what Vita told herself.
The fact that she didn't say a word on the way up was the last scrap of her pride. But interpreted another way, it was simply tension.
As soon as they reached the rooftop, Vita opened the door, only for her flat, soft lower belly to be wrapped in strong arms.
“Eek, what…!”
When Vita turned her head, she found herself pulled tightly into his broad embrace.
“Ah, this is nice.”
Carlisle buried his face in Vita's neck. He wrapped one arm around her slender waist, while his other hand stroked the crown of her small head. All of it was filled with palpable affection.
So much so that Vita, held in his arms, couldn't help but realize it.
“I really like you.”
Held against him with her eyes wide, Vita's cheeks gradually flushed red.
Like a kitten squirming in its mother's arms, she couldn't move at all and timidly tried to push him away little by little.
“Let go, will you…”
But he didn't budge.
What a stupid, idiotic bastard.
‘Do you think this is going to change anything?’
Even though there was no way the predetermined outcome would change.
Anyway, this was how things had been lately.
Vita was having a very hard time because of the contest she had accepted almost on impulse.
Her body couldn't move, but Vita's thoughts continued to race.
‘…No, that's not it.’
I, I…!
***
“I'm a man—!”
Vita clenched her fist and shouted at the top of her voice.
“Ah, sunbae!”
The junior beside her, Ru, was almost startled out of his wits.
It was a fairly chilly autumn evening, and Vita had met up with Ru, her junior, for the first time in a while.
They were exercising together at an outdoor track in the city.
“Please, stop!”
“What, why?”
“People around us keep looking over here!”
At Ru's whispered words, Vita flinched slightly.
It was true that passersby were looking at them strangely. Vita grew somewhat awkward and hunched her shoulders a little.
“…But it's true, isn't it?”
Ru sighed.
Did this senior have no idea what she looked like right now?
The reddish-blond hair that was wet and clinging to her cheeks, and her flushed cheeks.
Even the supple curves showing beneath her loose purple hoodie made her look unmistakably like a woman.
Honestly, Ru had no idea where to look.
‘Calm down, Ru…! This person is your senior, that's all.’
He had repeated that to himself dozens of times.
He was a hot-blooded boy with a strong competitive streak, and she was his bizarre senior.
If he hadn't known the truth, it would have been hard to see her this way. In the words commonly used in anime, she was the prettiest girl in town.
“Ahem—”
However, Ru cleared his throat and decided to at least sympathize with her. If he didn't, he was sure to get a knock on the head.
“Of course I know… but everyone else sees you as a crazy woman!”
“Correct that to crazy man.”
“Ah, yes.”
Ru answered awkwardly and thought to himself,
His senior seemed to have gone a little off the rails lately.
When Vita had suggested they exercise together, Ru had wondered what was going on. The reason turned out to be rather absurd.
“Project: Reclaiming My Masculinity!”
It was apparently a meaningful plan to sweat profusely and secrete male hormones.
“I guess that sounds plausible…”
Ru sounded rather unenthusiastic.
“But do you really need to work this hard? You could just take the medicine again and turn back.”
“It's not guaranteed. And this is a different issue.”
With a remarkably solemn expression, Vita continued,
“…Something's dangerous.”
Things really had felt dangerous lately.
Lately, something about Vita was strange.
It felt as though her femininity had grown stronger under the influence of hormones.
Vita was inexplicably afraid.
“Whether I turn back or not, lately I feel like I've become strange somehow…”
She kept feeling as though she had changed. It was as if another self, one she didn't know, was emerging.
Ru had never turned into a woman, of course, so there was no way he could understand.
“Physical strength is national strength!”
There had even been research showing that sweating and strenuous exercise caused the body to secrete male hormones.
“So I have to work at it.”
Vita was making an effort.
Since Carlisle was throwing himself at her with all his sincerity, she had firmly resolved to put in equal effort herself.
‘I absolutely won't fall for him.’
That would never happen. It couldn't happen.
Besides, the sports festival was tomorrow.
So Vita had been exercising with Ru for a week.
‘I have to take first place.’
She was talking about the sports festival.
After practicing running, it was time for pull-ups.
Ru was doing pull-ups beside her, grunting with effort.
“Wow, I'm dying.”
“Nngh…! Three!”
Vita was on her third one. Ever since she became a woman, even pull-ups had been difficult, which felt terribly unfair.
‘When I was a man, I could do more than ten with ease.’
She really had to turn back. It was so unfair she could hardly stand it.
There was no doubt whatsoever that she had to return to being a man.
She had lived as a man for more than a decade, after all. Naturally, returning to that state was the right thing to do, and she had no intention of living as a woman for the rest of her life.
So Vita made a vow.
She would definitely return to being a man, to her original state.
Being shaken by Carlisle was meaningless.
The next day, the academy's sports festival was held.
Female students in bloomers, male students with excited expressions.
“Waaa—!”
Beneath the clear, brilliant blue autumn sky, hot cheers filled the entire field.