Chapter 54
Steamy humidity and thick vapor filled the changing room.
“We just wrap this towel around ourselves and go inside, right?”
“They said it’s divided into the men’s and women’s baths anyway.”
“Aww, what a shame-”
“What do you mean, what a shame…!”
Amid the female students’ shrieks and laughter, Vita held her breath, shrinking into herself.
‘W-what is this…’
A whole new world had opened up before her.
The girls changing their clothes came into view. In anime terms, it was both a flower garden and heaven!
At the sight of colorful underwear and a feast of pale skin, Vita swallowed hard.
This was dangerous.
These were the girls she normally saw, standing around in their underwear. Vita was practically on the verge of a nosebleed. If she were still a man, wouldn’t that definitely have happened?
The sheer impact was far beyond her imagination, but for now, she had a woman’s body too. Timidly gauging the mood, Vita took off her outer clothes as well.
“What are you doing, Bianca?!”
An unexpected ordeal began right then.
“Uh, y-yeah…?!”
Vita, who had been inching along in a corner, answered in surprise. Sasha and the others had approached her without her realizing it.
“No, it’s just weird.”
“Yeah, Bianca. Why are you here by yourself?”
No, I mean… It would take too long to explain.
‘I used to be a man…!’
But she couldn’t exactly reveal the turmoil inside her.
Meanwhile, the girls around her began admiring her.
“Your arms and legs are so thin!”
“Seriously, look at your skin. Doesn’t it feel so soft?”
“Bianca, you have a great figure.”
“N-no, I don’t!”
Vita’s face flushed as she waved both hands vigorously.
“My figure isn’t even that good…”
“And you’ve got a decent chest, too!”
“Sha… Sasha?!”
She was utterly flustered. Sasha hugged her from behind and touched around her chest, leaving Vita nearly horrified.
Sasha, in turn, was taken aback too.
“What’s wrong? We’re both girls.”
Even then, Vita had no idea where to look. Only her eyes darted helplessly from side to side-
Right. They were both girls.
Strictly speaking, Sasha had merely touched her; it wasn’t as though she had groped her.
‘Is it even strange for girls to touch each other in the first place…?’
Thinking that, Vita let out a strange little groan and slightly hunched her body.
Even so, she couldn’t help stealing glances and taking in the sights before her.
“Bianca, your face is really red.”
Had she been staring that blatantly?!
Sasha wore a rather suspicious expression, so Vita hurriedly turned her head away and offered an awkward excuse.
“I-is it a fever…?”
“Oh, a cold? Well, it is the change of seasons.”
“You look spaced out, Bianca.”
“N-no, it’s not a cold or anything…”
Her voice trailed off.
Vita somehow cleared up the misunderstanding, but one obstacle still remained.
Namely, the hot spring. She had to take off even her underwear and enter with only a single towel wrapped around herself. Before entering, she also had to shower thoroughly.
‘Go in like this…?’
She was hesitant after all. She would practically be naked.
‘When showering, at least…’
Her vision was practically spinning.
Go in?
Or should she just rest?
She had been practically dragged here by Sasha in the first place.
Her current body was female, but she herself had originally been a man.
The conflict raging inside her was intense.
-You still need to have a conscience. You’re basically a man, aren’t you?
-I’m going back to being a man. All the more reason to go in with them.
She felt as though she were being pulled back and forth by the voices of an angel and a devil.
In the end, after a fierce internal struggle, Vita made her decision!
***
Bathing in the hot spring went more smoothly than she had expected.
“Bianca, you’re not sick or anything, are you?”
“Uh, y-yeah…! I’m really not sick.”
Vita smiled awkwardly and pretended nothing was wrong.
‘Sorry, everyone…!’
In the end, she had gone in.
It felt as though she had surrendered to the curiosity of an adolescent boy.
When it came time to shower, she absolutely couldn’t look. It was difficult keeping her eyes lowered the whole time, but afterward, it had been wonderful.
Billowing steam and soft surrounding lights. A cozy, spacious hot spring that felt as though it were nestled in nature.
-Ah, it’s hot!
-Kyaaah…! What are you doing?!
Against the backdrop of the hot spring, the girls laughed merrily in nothing but towels. The sight was overwhelming in all sorts of ways, and Vita was completely out of it.
Back in the changing room, everyone got dressed. Once again, Vita put on her underwear like a furtive cat, worried someone might see her.
“Look, Bianca!”
Sasha came over and held out a mirror.
“Don’t you think your skin looks better already, somehow?”
She looked every inch a girl.
Vita once again became keenly aware of herself as she was now.
Her moderately long reddish-blond hair fell over her shoulders, and her delicate features gave her a rather pretty look.
Was she more catlike? Or doglike?
Or half and half?
“Well, look at you! Have you fallen in love with yourself?”
Sasha’s teasing brought Vita back to her senses.
“W-what…!”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”
Well, anyway.
Vita sighed, though she couldn’t deny that Sasha had a point.
In some ways, she looked cute, with a hint of alluring charm too.
She was unmistakably a pretty girl. That was what she was now.
Her guilt eased a little.
‘Right, for now…’
Her body was female now,
and it was her first time bathing in a hot spring, so she had wanted to try it.
‘Yeah, that’s right. Going in was the right choice.’
Having finished rationalizing it to herself, Vita played along with Sasha.
“…D-definitely. My skin does feel just a little better.”
“See? I knew it.”
She felt fresh and silky.
And the rest of their free time was for everyone to relax in their room.
‘Finally… with Emily.’
Vita had been looking forward to this time above all.
Because she would get to see Emily.
For the record, it was three students to a room. She would be sharing one with Emily and Sasha.
Since it was their final school trip, the academy had relaxed the rules in quite a few ways.
Students of the same sex could share a room with whoever they wanted, regardless of class.
[Then, should the three of us share a room?]
Friendly Sasha had proposed it over chat, and Emily had accepted.
***
Honestly, it had been a little unexpected. Vita couldn’t figure out why, either.
‘Is this for real?’
She hadn’t expected much. Emily was so popular that Vita had assumed she would apologize and turn her down.
After all, she was surely much closer to her original friends.
But Emily had readily accepted the proposal.
[Hmm, should we?]
An unexpected windfall.
Vita still felt as if it couldn’t be real. She would be sharing a room throughout the school trip with the girl she had been in love with for so long.
“Oh, you’re here!”
And sure enough, when she got to the room, Emily was already there.
“Eee, Emily-!”
Sasha immediately ran over and hugged Emily. Emily giggled and spoke to Vita.
“What’s gotten into her?”
“She’s always energetic.”
Sasha was incredibly outgoing. Come to think of it, Vita sometimes found it amazing that Sasha had managed to become friends with Emily. But she and Emily had gotten close too.
“By the way, you two went to the hot spring too, right? Your skin is so smooth and shiny.”
“Emily, did you go too?”
“Yeah, with the girls from my class. It would’ve been nice if we could all have gone together.”
There was a hot spring for each class, so the facilities being so good was almost disappointing.
Meanwhile, Vita’s gaze was stolen by Emily.
She was dressed comfortably and loosely—her casual clothes.
She wore pink short shorts and a white T-shirt, leaving so much bare skin exposed that it was almost embarrassing.
‘Ah, as expected… she really is pretty.’
The girl she had a crush on, that was.
More than usual, somehow.
There was an alluring quality to her, as well as the air of a mature woman. Vita couldn’t help stealing glances at her.
“Where is everyone going to sleep? I’d like the spot by the window.”
Vita had been momentarily dazed, but she immediately responded to Emily’s words.
“Oh, right. Let’s decide where to sleep first.”
Sasha spoke to the two of them.
“I like the inside. I always sleep pressed against the wall.”
“Then Bianca goes in the middle?”
It hadn’t been intentional, but for Vita, it was clearly the happiest possible arrangement.
“Ah, yeah…!”
She was going to sleep beside Emily?
A goofy smile threatened to break across Vita’s lips. She barely held it back.
‘Maybe tonight, for real…’
She briefly thought to herself that she might not be able to sleep.
They turned to the luggage they had carelessly tossed down at the assembly point earlier.
Then they happily unpacked their bags together.
“Most of what I brought is cosmetics.”
“I brought food, mostly.”
It was fun seeing what everyone had packed.
Emily had a considerable amount of cosmetics in her bag. She really did feel like a young lady.
Sasha had brought snacks to eat, while Vita’s luggage was by far the most spartan.
“You didn’t bring anything, Bianca.”
“Ah, no… What am I supposed to bring, then?”
Wasn’t the point of a school trip to show up with just yourself?
Lodging and meals were provided, after all. But the other two shook their heads.
Shake, shake-
And so.
“You don’t even have a single cosmetic…”
“That’s really something.”
After unpacking their bags, spreading futons across the floor, and sharing snacks, they chatted away.
They talked about recent events, including the athletics festival.
“Emily was amazing at the end. She defeated Bianca Shamal, the athletics festival powerhouse!”
“Oh, come on. Your two classes still came in first in the end.”
The grueling midterm exams.
“Come to think of it, you did pretty well in math this time.”
“Oh, really?!”
“Maybe it’s thanks to Bianca?”
“What? What do you mean? Did you two study together?!”
Vita brightened at Emily’s words.
Meanwhile, <The Disappearance of Popo and Mari> was playing in one corner of the room. The movie naturally became part of the three girls’ conversation.
“I feel like I watched this when I was really little.”
“Yeah, same. I watched it when I was young too.”
“Isn’t it such a masterpiece…?!”
Since a topic she knew had come up, Vita suddenly went into overdrive. She even explained the director’s entire career.
“Bianca, you… You’re pretty knowledgeable about this sort of thing.”
“Yeah, seriously. You surprised me just now. You don’t care about makeup, but you’re so passionate about this…”
“Ahh, well…”
Just like the otaku she was, she had outed herself, but she survived because it was also a popular mainstream work.
Anyway, the first day passed relatively smoothly, almost ordinarily, and the first night of the school trip was finally drawing to a close.
“All right, Bianca…?”
Of course, Vita had no idea.
Ironically, despite worrying that she might not be able to sleep beside Emily, she had dozed off while they were talking.
“She’s asleep.”
“She must have been really tired.”
“Was there something you wanted to do…?”
At Sasha’s words, Emily gave an awkward little smile.
“No, well… It’s still a school trip.”
She had accepted Sasha’s proposal because she wanted to have an honest conversation. She had chosen to room with them instead of her closer friends for a reason.
‘I was going to tell her beforehand…’
It was a little disappointing, but there was nothing she could do.
Bianca Shamal slept peacefully, unaware of the world.
“She’s like a kitten…”
After watching her for a moment, Emily got up and turned off the light. She told Sasha,
“Shall we sleep too…? Maybe it’s because we’ve been traveling, but I’m feeling tired.”
“Yaaawn… Sure. I’m strangely sleepy too.”
There was still plenty of time.
But even after the room went dark, Emily couldn’t fall asleep for quite a while.
‘Bianca, you…’
What kind of reaction would you have tomorrow?
Deep down, Emily thought that perhaps this was for the best.
Emily Swan’s hesitation and the resolve she had meant to convey were completely unknown to Vita as she slept. And so, the first night of the school trip ended quietly and peacefully.
***
The second day of the school trip.
‘What the heck…?’
When Vita woke up in the morning, she was thoroughly flustered.
She felt incredibly refreshed. Contrary to her worries, she had slept deeply. It seemed she had fallen asleep while chatting with them. She couldn’t believe she had gone to sleep without even seeing Emily’s sleeping face.
‘I didn’t drool in my sleep, did I…?’
Vita worried a little that she might have drooled or snored while sleeping.
“You’re awake, Bianca.”
“Ah, y-yeah…”
Vita turned her gaze and was utterly horrified.
“E-Emily?!”
“Yeah, why…?”
‘U-underwear…!’
Pure, white underwear. And Emily had an unexpectedly amazing figure too.
Vita’s face turned red as a tomato in an instant. She was looking at the underwear of the girl she had a crush on.
“What’s wrong, Bianca…?”
Emily tilted her head.
“Leave her alone, Emily.”
Sasha spoke while doing her makeup in front of a mirror in one corner of the room.
“She’s surprisingly shy about certain things. She’s just naturally like that.”
“Oh, really?”
Emily let out a little laugh.
“Well, so what? We’re both girls anyway.”
Right. That was true.
‘It is, but still…!’
Vita, her face bright red, got up and then fumbled around as she folded the bedding. She rummaged through her bag and took a red pill too. Since it was hard to find a good time to take it, she might as well take it now.
She had to return to being a man.
“What’s that…?”
Emily suddenly leaned over beside her in the middle of it, startling Vita badly.
“Wh-whoa—?!”
Emily was startled too. After all, her friend Bianca had suddenly reacted so dramatically.
“Ah, sorry…! Did I do something wrong?”
“N-no?! It’s just an ordinary medicine!”
Vita was flustered, but for now she gave a rough explanation.
“A health supplement, I guess? It’s not something I take because I’m sick.”
That was the explanation she settled on.
“Ah… I see. As long as you’re not sick.”
Fortunately, Emily seemed to accept her explanation.
After that, they continued with a fairly ordinary conversation.
“I’m really looking forward to today. There’s a festival tonight too.”
“It feels more like a real festival?”
Vita hadn’t actually been very interested in the schedule, but this was a special place.
Since the destination was themed around <The Disappearance of Popo and Mari>, she was definitely looking forward to it.
“Hey, Sasha. Do you have something with the schedule on it?”
“Yeah, here.”
Vita slowly looked over the schedule Sasha handed her.
‘There’s quite a lot.’
The morning was free time, followed by a brief tour of the village in the afternoon.
And the main event began in the early evening.
[Musubi Hanabi Festival.]
Vita was really looking forward to the festival starting in the early evening.
<The Disappearance of Popo and Mari>.
In that movie, the best part was the early-evening atmosphere, when the red lanterns lit up. That was what she thought.
She was especially looking forward to the fireworks listed in the notes.
Yes, this was it.
The festival was the highlight of a trip.
‘And at night…’
Wait, hold on.
Vita suddenly checked something, and her face went pale.
“They’re holding a test of courage…?!”
It was completely unexpected.