Chapter 9
Saint Antiope Academy.
A place where students aged 17 to 19 from various regions gather to nurture their dreams.
If you're a graduate of Antiope Academy, that fact alone gives you an advantage when applying to prestigious universities. In any case, it was such a renowned and long-established academy that Vita naturally felt a little tense upon coming to the faculty office.
Vita had simply thrown on a hoodie for now—the one he wore back when he was a boy.
“Um… so. You’re Miss Bianca Shamal, correct?”
Across the solid-wood desk, the dean facing Vita had a rather stern impression. Slicked-back white hair and a neatly trimmed mustache. Vita soon answered.
“Ah, yes-!”
“Sit down, for now. I’ve already heard the details from your father.”
After taking a sip of coffee, the dean continued.
“I regret what happened to Vita Shamal.”
Yes, quite. It really was regrettable.
“But that doesn’t mean you can simply stop attending the academy, does it? Um, well… Vita, you’ve always had good grades.”
Vita paused. How did he know that?
Perhaps sensing his hesitation, the dean gave a faint smile.
“Ah, don’t worry. I’m not such a wretched adult that I go around blabbing about a student’s troubles. Your father confided this to me.”
Come to think of it, that made sense.
Vita had declared to his parents that he would continue attending this academy, and it wasn’t as simple as it sounded.
His father was usually strict, but he was reliable at times like this. It seemed his father had negotiated with the academy to resolve the matter.
“I’ve already personally checked the report from a major hospital, and the school nurse has vouched for your sex as well. You are unquestionably a woman now…”
Though the dean still seemed unable to believe it, Vita nodded at his ambiguous smile.
“…Um, yes.”
So what was the conclusion?
“The academy’s policy is as follows.”
In short, to summarize.
Officially, Vita Shamal would be considered ill, and his twin would attend in his place, supposedly after passing a special transfer admission process.
“Could that… work?”
“There’s nothing strange about it. There are various ways to enter this academy.”
There was nothing to make an issue of.
From the academy’s perspective, all that had happened was that one of its students had changed sex. It wasn’t corruption or anything of the sort.
There was no particular problem with the student Vita continuing to attend the academy as a girl named ‘Bianca Shamal.’
This was all a decision made to protect Vita.
If word got out for no reason that he had originally been a man and had turned into a woman, it wouldn’t benefit the student in the slightest.
“Even if it becomes a problem, we’ll reveal the truth then. So for now, you’ll have to play along appropriately. Adapt to your new sex, and act as though attending this academy is new to you.”
Vita was once again moved by both his father and the academy.
He never expected things to be resolved so smoothly and amicably.
“You know, Maximilian.”
The dean spoke up suddenly.
“That is, your father. He has always been a great help to our academy. This time as well, he made a considerable donation.”
Before him was the dean’s benevolent, warm smile.
“Be sure to thank him for me.”
“Ah, yes!”
Right, of course.
There was nothing strange about it.
Parents provided the love, and money solved the problems.
It was just then that Vita realized this anew.
Knock-knock-
Someone knocked on the faculty office door.
***
“You called for me, Dean.”
And the person who entered was none other than Carlisle Schultz.
His hair was oddly wet, and he was slightly out of breath, as if he had run there.
Had he washed his hair?
He hadn’t even had time to dry it, yet even disheveled, his infuriatingly handsome appearance was unchanged.
Ash-gray hair and golden eyes. Striking, well-defined features.
Vita’s brows twitched.
‘Why is that guy here?’
The unexpected meeting left him considerably flustered inside.
The memories of recent events were still fresh in his mind, after all.
“Oh, Carlisle.”
By contrast, the dean facing him looked delighted.
“What brings you here?”
“You called, Dean, so naturally I had to hurry over.”
The dean snorted.
“You’ve shown up so rarely that you’d only need one or two hands to count the times. Always worming your way out…”
“Please call it being busy, not worming my way out.”
The two seemed close, suggesting some sort of relationship Vita didn’t know about.
‘Could it be… corruption?’
Had he finally found Carlisle’s weakness? Vita’s keen instincts kicked in, and his small ears perked up.
After glancing toward Vita for a moment, Carlisle suddenly said something unexpected.
“Well, anyway. I’m always grateful. I’ve been quite satisfied with coming to this academy lately. It’s all thanks to you, Dean.”
The dean cleared his throat and explained the situation, perhaps worried that Vita might misunderstand.
“She’s a student who transferred in through a special admissions track. I brought her here myself.”
“Ah, I see…”
Faced with this unexpected truth, Vita was left speechless, yet somehow found himself completely convinced.
Carlisle had actually come here and seized first place, and Vita had heard that he’d even been scouted by a research institute.
[I heard they told him to come straight to them instead of going to college?]
[So he’s a genius.]
[And he’s handsome, too. There’s nothing he can’t do.]
Vita’s stomach had ached with jealousy from hearing whispers like that for so long.
For no particular reason, Vita openly glared at Carlisle for a moment. When their eyes met, Carlisle Schultz merely flashed him a grin, putting Vita in an even worse mood.
In the meantime, the dean had been explaining to Carlisle that Vita Shamal was ill and his younger sister had come in his place. Fortunately, Carlisle seemed to accept it without much interest in the matter.
“Anyway, Carlisle. As a student council officer, I’d like you to show our new transfer student, Miss Bianca Shamal, around.”
“Sure, why not.”
“Wha—eek?!”
Their responses could not have been more different: Carlisle’s placid, Vita’s aghast.
As soon as they left the faculty office together, Vita spoke first.
“There’s no need for a tour.”
But despite his companion’s curt words, Carlisle was lost in thought.
‘Bianca… Shamal?’
The surname Shamal did seem vaguely familiar.
The passionate boy who had occasionally pestered him was Vita Shamal, after all.
‘His younger sister…?’
They were twins, apparently. Looking again, there was definitely a resemblance.
Carlisle spoke.
“Did you come in your brother’s place last weekend?”
What had she said then?
Had she said she was the one who would carry on Vita’s will? Even her choice of words had been cute.
But Carlisle didn’t know whether his opponent, Vita, was ill.
“So what?”
Despite her curt answer, Carlisle’s assessment of her shifted.
‘If she’s sick, it can’t be helped.’
If she was in no condition even to attend the academy, it was understandable that she hadn’t been able to show up that time.
It wasn’t merely because he was the brother of the woman beside him who had begun to occupy his thoughts.
The fact that Vita kept challenging him despite always losing was genuinely admirable.
He wasn’t a hopeless loser after all, but a pretty decent guy.
Having reached that conclusion, Carlisle suddenly said something unexpected.
“Your brother Vita is persistent and a pretty decent guy.”
It was true. Really.
If he had known beforehand that Vita had a younger sister like this, he would have treated Vita better.
Vita, completely unaware of Carlisle’s intentions, widened his eyes more and more.
In other words, seriously.
It felt like receiving a confession from someone unexpected at a completely unexpected time.
“Uh… yeah?”
So when Vita let out that stupid, dazed response, Carlisle’s attitude remained firm despite having already been rejected once.
“I’ll show you around the academy. The new term starts tomorrow.”
Naturally, Vita didn’t want to. He disliked Carlisle Schultz.
However, Carlisle’s remark just now gradually began to change his thinking.
‘He said I was a decent guy…?’
Of course he was merely stating the obvious. It wasn’t as if Carlisle’s opinion mattered.
But in truth, despite himself, the corners of Vita’s mouth slowly lifted into a goofy grin at the compliment. He didn’t even notice himself doing it.
It wasn’t as though he needed this guy’s approval or anything.
‘…Well, a tour?’
Would it really be so bad?
Vita found himself thinking about it.
[For now, you’ll have to play along appropriately.]
The dean had said so, too.
Right, that was true. He had to put on a proper act, didn’t he?
It absolutely wasn’t because of what this guy had just said.
Having made up his mind, Vita slowly nodded.
“If it won’t take long. Sure, I guess…”
***
Carlisle Schultz showed him around surprisingly conscientiously.
A fact Vita had forgotten.
‘…Ah, right!’
Sweat trickled down him.
To be honest, Vita had been worried that Carlisle might mention the match from that day, but—
Fortunately, at least for now, he showed no sign of doing so.
“This is the swimming pool. Since it’s indoors, it can be used all year round. It’s open at night, too.”
He simply gave a straightforward introduction to all the academy’s facilities: the main building, annex, gymnasium, auditorium, and swimming pool.
Of course, Vita already knew all these places, so he was a little bored, but it was certainly somewhat unexpected, wasn’t it?
Maybe that was what being a student council officer meant, after all.
Carlisle Schultz seemed surprisingly normal—in other words, he was being kind.
The Carlisle Schultz Vita had imagined until now was nothing more than an obnoxious guy who pointlessly put on airs.
Vita found himself thinking, if only a little, that perhaps he had judged Carlisle based on hasty prejudice. It was an unfamiliar feeling.
Finally, the snack bar.
“A lot of people like the crepes they sell here. Especially girls like you.”
Vita answered curtly.
“I don’t like things like that.”
Crepes, seriously?
A lot of girls probably liked them, but Vita hated sweet things.
“You’re a fussy girl.”
Vita almost argued back at Carlisle’s words, but somehow managed to hold himself back.
‘I’m not a girl.’
If he said that in this body, they’d only treat him like a lunatic.
Carlisle merely glanced sidelong at Vita, a quiet chuckle on his lips.
Those pursed lips and puffed-out cheeks.
Was Vita proclaiming with his whole body that he was sulking?
Carlisle couldn’t even guess what had caused it, but Vita was cute to look at.
And so the brief tour of the academy came to an end.
“Then, now. To your brother’s room…?”
“You? Why?”
Vita tilted his head slightly at Carlisle’s words.
“I heard your brother’s things needed moving.”
That was definitely right, wasn’t it?
Now that Vita had become a woman, he couldn’t remain in the male students’ dormitory. He had to move to the newly acquired room near the academy.
He had told his worried parents he would move everything himself because there wasn’t much, but now that he thought about it, the task seemed daunting.
’When am I going to move everything…?’
Come to think of it, he was a woman now, wasn’t he? Naturally, in this body, he’d have to move the luggage in smaller loads, and it would take an absurdly long time.
‘Should I call Lu?’
But the guy beside him was going out of his way to help.
“I’ll help you.”
Vita was about to refuse, but then thought practically and accepted the offer.
‘It would definitely be better with two people than doing it alone… And making this guy work for me might not be so bad.’
He didn’t realize at the time that this was his mistake.
“Whew- It’s done!”
Carlisle gave no indication of anything until the move was finished.
Vita failed to realize that this was a predator lying in wait.
Yeah, what a sweet deal.
He’d really put Carlisle to work. He’d made excellent use of him.
Carlisle had carried the bed and the drawers, while Vita had merely trotted along carrying the lighter things.
“Good work. You can go now.”
“What about my reward?”
Vita was slightly flustered by the sudden remark.
***
What was this sudden talk of a reward?
Golden eyes flashed beneath that broad forehead. Carlisle chuckled.
“I helped you, so you should reward me. I’ve been looking forward to this the whole time.”
It was utterly ridiculous, yet at the same time Vita felt some inexplicable sense of danger.
Strictly speaking, they were the only two people in the room right now.
As though it were only natural, Carlisle herded Vita into a corner, and Vita backed away until he bumped into the solid wall without even realizing it.
“W-what…?”
Thud-
Then, at precisely the right moment, Carlisle planted a hand against the wall beside Vita, completely trapping him.
Vita was thoroughly flustered. His body stiffened all on its own.
Carlisle lowered his gaze to Vita’s wavering eyes, then seemed to recall their previous encounter as he looked over the tense body.
This time, though, Carlisle simply stepped back.
It wasn’t that he always wanted to do this.
Of course, if the other person were a truly insignificant partner, it might have been a different story.
Bianca Shamal was strange.
Was she innocent, or simply unaware?
Bringing a man into her room so readily suggested that she lacked vigilance, too.
But Carlisle somehow liked this side of her, so this time he settled for lightly stealing a kiss.
Smack-
And besides.
She was an amusing woman, after all; even a quiet chuckle produced entertaining reactions.
“Y-you…!”
Her lips trembled.
“Get some rest, Bianca.”
“Get out—now!”
Her face was flushed bright red, as though she had only just come to her senses.
She looked angry, but to be precise…
‘If she really hated me, she would have resisted more forcefully.’
If she hated even being touched—if she truly loathed him.
So Carlisle was content with this alone.
Thump-thump-
Though her fists were small, they had a surprisingly fierce sting, and she struck him repeatedly in the back as he left the room laughing.
“…What the hell, seriously!”
After Carlisle disappeared like that,
Vita tore at his hair.
He had no idea why he hadn’t been able to move or push Carlisle away.
It was merely a physical reaction; he had simply frozen.
For some reason, he had become flustered and strangely tense.
“Could it still be because of that medicine…?”
Or was it because of what happened that day? His body remembered the unfamiliar sensation from then.
Vita spent a long while doing nothing but tug at his hapless hair and rationalize.
Right, that was it.
It was because of that strange medicine.
He had to hurry and find a way to turn back.
While Vita was so confused by his feelings about himself,
At last, the academy’s new term began the next day.