Sosin

  The water canals contoured the two gardens in the middle of the main U-shaped building.

  Suzuka listened to the soothing stream, despite the dozen or so people chatting as they headed to the gate. That couldn’t be compared to her cssic yet dull former institute without natural ndmarks, where everyone kept a presumptuous facade.

  A man in a white sweatshirt caught her eye. He adjusted something on the column before him.

  “There ya go.”

  He brushed his hands and moved aside to reveal the most crooked poster she had ever seen.

  “Maybe it’s a little….” He turned his head at various angles. “Oh well, good enough.”

  He turned around, but stopped when he noticed Suzuka’s presence.

  “A little? Good enough?” she muttered to herself. “Don’t tell me you’re going to leave it like that.”

  “I mean, it ain’t the prettiest, but it does its purpose, doesn’t it?”

  “Even though it’s such a simple fix….” She gred at him and extended her open hand. “I’ll do it.”

  He blinked a few too many times before ughing nervously.

  “Is it really that important? It’s gonna take more tape.”

  “I’ll pay for it.”

  “That’s not…”

  After a silent exchange of gnces, he reached to unstick one of the corners of the poster.

  She finally noticed the huge drawing of an egg in it and read the words, which said… Egg Hunt?

  While unsticking the other corners, he asked.

  “Are you the new transfer?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I see. It really is rare for someone to transfer into Kasen, especially into the third year. How are you faring so far?”

  She usually wouldn’t bother to use her brain much for such a trivial question. However, the whole day fshed before her eyes, from the mundane tasks of taking notes and watching the scenery to the paranormal body-swapping.

  The sight of a redheaded, green-eyed guy wouldn’t leave her mind, whether flustered or dismayed. She couldn’t understand his reactions half of the time. Could that have been caused by seeing him control her own body?

  More noticeably, her chest tightened at the scars on his arms.

  “Only the first day and already that much to think about?”

  The man took her out of the trance—the first one in a long while. Nonetheless, her brain wouldn’t process any words.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me if the poster is—?”

  “Hey, you’re still here.”

  “Nanako—!”

  He jolted at Ms. Shimamura’s arrival, ripping the corner he held off the poster.

  They stared at it, bewildered.

  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!” Ms. Shimamura said, worried.

  The man replied, “No, it’s not your fault! I was distracted…”

  Suzuka couldn’t hear any more of their exchange as her eye twitched at the ripped corner of the poster.

  To add salt to the wound, her phone rang in her pocket. She didn’t need to check it; only one person would contact her at that moment.

  “I’d better head home.”

  She didn’t wait for a response and walked away.

  Unlike the full-on show of the fountain in her former institute, the fountain between the main building and the gate was far from being obnoxiously fshy. Only four streams shot into the air.

  She stopped to look back at the three-story building, yet couldn’t absorb much as her phone kept ringing.

  Several cars were parked in front of the gate. Obviously, her family’s suited chauffeur waited in the center so that she didn’t have to bother doing something as strenuous as walking. He stood beside the elongated, elegant bck sedan. As if sensing her presence from several steps away, he lifted his head from his phone. Her phone stopped ringing.

  He opened the back door for her.

  “Good afternoon, Ms. Suzuka.”

  Without stopping, she climbed in.

  “Good afternoon, Yoshimura,” she said before he gently closed the door.

  He walked around the car and got into the driver’s seat. Wasting no time, he accelerated away and kept his eyes on the road.

  “Apologies for the annoying calls, but you know your father’s—”

  “I know, you don’t have to expin yourself every time.” Her head lowered. “Is he…?”

  The st words escaped her mouth as her brain processed them, but the rest got stuck in her throat.

  “Nothing.”

  They exchanged gnces through the rearview mirror. Opposite her, a smile remained on his face.

  “How was the first day at a new school, if I may ask?” he wondered.

  Again, she didn’t know what to say straight away.

  “It was…”

  She looked out the tinted window. She finally had the chance to spend her life somewhere other than the city, yet it still felt like a world apart.

  Her face’s reflection caught her eye. It went back to feeling like it used to, but she couldn’t ignore what she felt while she was in Kōji’s body.

  “…interesting.”

  “Would you say it was fun?” Yoshimura replied.

  Kōji’s face fshed in her eyes.

  “Definitely more than that snake pit.”

  Yoshimura chuckled. “Awesome.”

  Without being asked to, he raised the window that divided the back from the front seats. Even though he had only been working for the family for a few years, he knew when to give her privacy.

  She stared silently at the natural ndscape for as long as it sted, which wasn’t long. Buildings abruptly repced the trees, though they stayed small even after reaching her home’s neighborhood.

  It became evident they were close to arriving when a tall fence repced the buildings. They drove around it and, soon enough, passed through a gate.

  Yoshimura maneuvered around the modernist sculpture in the middle of the small roundabout and parked in front of the house.

  “Allow me to open—”

  By the time he unfastened his seatbelt, she stepped on the pavement.

  “Opening a door won’t kill me,” she said.

  The same square, white building with windows too tall and wide awaited her as always. Even taller and wider was the wooden front door. She reached it through the bush-decorated stone path and opened it.

  “Welcome home, Ms. Suzuka.”

  Moriyama modestly bowed in the entrance hall, holding her hands in front of her.

  “I still don’t know how you do it.” Suzuka took a loafer off. “Are you seriously not standing there until I arrive—?”

  The living room door clicked. Fujisaki came running.

  “Allow me to keep your shoes!”

  She crouched, snatched them away, and pced them on the shoe rack beside the door, almost tripping on the tiny step.

  They stared at her, crouched down to adjust the shoes, just for the other pairs to become misaligned. Her tongue stuck out as she jumped from one pair to another.

  “Dear Fujisaki,” Moriyama smiled.

  “Yes!” She jumped up and turned around, bumping against some shoes with her hip. “Whoops. Sorry for being te, I couldn’t get the remaining dust off—”

  “That’s not the issue here. You shouted at our dy, ran toward her, didn’t wait for her answer, and….” She sighed. “Have you seen the bottom of your dress?”

  Fujisaki slightly pulled her dark purplish dress forward.

  “What about…? Oh.”

  “You must stay presentable at all times.”

  “How am I supposed to do that when the color’s—?”

  “And you must learn not to talk back.”

  Fujisaki shut her mouth.

  “Understood?” Moriyama asked.

  Fujisaki’s eyes darted around, while Moriyama stared at her. Fujisaki’s brows raised. She pointed at herself.

  “I thought I shouldn’t talk back.”

  “Not unless the context implies it or you’re asked to.”

  Fujisaki blinked one too many times before sighing, crestfallen.

  “Nothing’s changed in the st year.”

  Suzuka smirked. “You have improved a lot. Thank you for your hard work.”

  Fujisaki gasped and grinned. “You’re very welcome—!”

  Moriyama elbowed her.

  “Wait, is that wrong too?”

  A raspy ughter approached from the arch that split the entrance hall from the dining hall.

  “What a wonderful surprise seeing the hall this lively.”

  Sakakibara stood next to them, holding his hands behind him.

  “Lively? I’d call this a murder,” Fujisaki said.

  “Language,” Moriyama scolded.

  Sakakibara chuckled. “You shouldn’t hold Ms. Suzuka back, especially after a long day. You must be exhausted.”

  Her growling stomach couldn’t be heard even in the empty hall.

  “I’m starving, actually.”

  “Is that so? Perhaps the novel experience was more demanding than usual.”

  That, or the fact that Kōji refused to eat while controlling her body during lunch. Not like she could expin it to anyone.

  Sakakibara continued, “Dinner will be ready in two hours, as per your regur diet.”

  “I know.”

  Although she could’ve asked to get dinner earlier, she didn’t want to upset her metabolism more or mess with their schedules.

  She walked to the stairs instead.

  “Allow me to carry your backpack for you,” Moriyama asked.

  “I’m fine, thank you.”

  She turned to the right and walked up the remaining steps faster.

  Her bedroom was behind the first door in the hallway, alive only due to the few shelves filled with video games. She lowered her backpack on the carpet floor and checked her phone—no messages from her parents, expected yet disappointing nonetheless.

  The phone bounced on the bed. She grabbed the folded clothes next to it and headed to her bathroom.

  The warm weight of the running water repced the numb weight of her mind, but the questions lingered. How was controlling another person’s body possible? As much as people might’ve treated them as lunatics, it might’ve been wiser to tell doctors or scientists something that crazy. But what if it didn’t happen again? Perhaps they would be better off forgetting about it.

  More importantly…

  Why? And why them?

  Knocks came from the bedroom door, making her jolt.

  Fujisaki asked, “Ms. Suzuka, may I take your school uniform to the undry?”

  She turned off the shower and hurried to the bathroom door, opening it.

  “Give me a minute.”

  Her showers would normally be so simir in length that the family’s maids would knock on her door within seconds of stepping out.

  The towel’s rub burned her skin. Her dirty clothes kept unfolding as she put on her bck sports leggings and long-sleeve shirt.

  She sprinted to the bedroom door and opened it.

  “Sorry for the dey.”

  “Oh, it’s fine—Oh no.” Fujisaki’s words halted as she grabbed the clothes from her hands. “Don’t tell me I made you hurry.”

  Suzuka’s slightly hastened breathing and damp hair made it too obvious.

  Before she could answer, Fujisaki cleared her throat and bowed.

  “I mean, pardon my ck of consideration. I will be clearer in the future. If you excuse me.”

  Fujisaki walked to the stairs and kept walking to the opposite side of the hall. Despite the distance, she could hear her upset mumbling.

  Curiously, she’d often end up with a smile on her face when Fujisaki was around.

  That didn’t st long as she closed the door and sat at her desk. She didn’t bother checking her phone again. Instead, she pressed the power button on her PC case and dried her hair while everything loaded.

  The monitor dispyed the tidy desktop. She double-clicked the icon she double-clicked daily, and the game uncher popped up. Ignoring all the intrusive advertisements and news, she clicked the Py button, just for an update to start downloading.

  Eventually, the screen turned bck for a few seconds, and then another Py button appeared.

  The character selection screen came up, along with banners of the usual predatory deals in free-to-py MMOs. She selected her only character and pressed yet another Py button.

  All of that would occasionally be worth it, but far fewer times than she’d like.

  Her online friends list was empty, two of them unseen for three weeks.

  She ignored the guild member list and went straight into her least favorite part of the game: the grinding.

  Why would she do that? She did not even know herself. Perhaps in the hopes that the miracle that happened two years earlier would happen again.

  Many other pyers breezed past her while mining, whether afoot or on mounts.

  Until one stopped beside her.

  A colorful message from that pyer appeared in the chatbox.

  “Can you help me raid the dungeon?”

  There was only one dungeon nearby, and the reason for their request became obvious when she saw the fifteen-level difference.

  Despite her hesitation, her heart beat slightly faster.

  “Sure,” she messaged back.

  The invitation to the group popped up instantly. She accepted it.

  They walked to the dungeon. Even at her level, she’d require some preparation and strategizing to beat it. Not that person. They headed straight inside without a word more.

  Miraculously, she managed to keep them in the raid until the end, though it cost five of the most expensive revival potions, three spent against the final boss.

  The stranger wasted no time grabbing the loot. Luckily, each pyer could pick up a copy of the items. That would help her recover some of the expense.

  The pyer stood still, probably checking the equipment statistics.

  She meanwhile typed, “Do you need help with anything else?”

  She hesitated to send it, but before she could, the pyer vanished. A message in the chatbox announced that the group had been disbanded.

  Yet another simir situation occurred for a third time that year. She couldn’t even be bothered to sigh.

  She headed back to her mining spot when someone knocked on the door.

  “Ms. Suzuka, dinner is served,” Moriyama said.

  “Coming.”

  She logged out and closed the game before standing up. She gnced at her phone on the bed. She ought to stop being so naive at some point.

  The monster in her stomach growled when the smell of fried chicken reached her nose long before stepping into the dining hall. As soon as she did, Moriyama pulled the chair at one of the ends of the long table without making a sound.

  “Thank you,” Suzuka said as she sat down.

  Before she could say anything, Moriyama meticulously hung a neckerchief around her neck. She didn’t need one, and she definitely didn’t need someone to put it on for her, yet they wouldn’t listen to her.

  As usual, Sakakibara stood, eyes closed, a couple of chairs away, holding an empty tray and a white cloth. She exhaled through her nose before lifting her personal chopsticks to grab a bite of the chicken.

  How did the monster in her stomach thank her? By growling loud enough to make one of Sakakibara’s eyes open for a second.

  She lowered her chopsticks back on the table.

  “I’ve told you countless times you don’t need to wait for me to state the obvious. It’s delicious, Sakakibara.”

  “This is common courtesy, Ms. Suzuka.” With his hand on his chest, he gently bowed. “Thank you very much.”

  “Are you sure you don’t do it just to be praised?” she smirked.

  “Of course; Ms. Suzuka’s praises do bring us joy.” His gentle smile remained. Bowing once more, he said, “If you’ll excuse me.”

  She stopped him when he turned away.

  “I’ll wait for you to prepare dinner for everyone else.”

  “Ms. Suzuka,” Moriyama said behind her, “as we’ve said before, we wouldn’t dare bother you like that. You also seem quite hungry. Please—”

  “And I’ve listened to that excuse before. I am your boss, am I not? I’ll wait until dinner is ready for everyone, so tell Fujisaki and Yoshimura to be ready because I’m starving.”

  Moriyama’s unusually long silence made Suzuka look to the side.

  Moriyama’s mouth closed into a smile. She bowed.

  “As you wish.”

  Suddenly, a memory made Suzuka’s mouth utter “Oh” in realization, something she didn’t recall doing before.

  “Please get me one ￥500 coin and two ￥10 coins.”

  Sosin