First Period
Ryushia.
A 5-star character from the open-world game Genesis — a female swordsman wreathed in moonlight. Her alluring swordplay and mysterious slit eyes could snatch an unwary enemy's life in the space of a breath.
And inhabiting that body was me: a hardcore veteran who'd ranked in the top ten, and a perfectly healthy man.
Ryushia was a woman. I was a man.
Had I been too naive about what it meant for two such incompatible existences to share a single body...?
"...Huh?"
A trickle of red.
The moment I woke, I stared at my snow-white sheets stained a vivid crimson, and my mind went blank.
...Is this blood from my body?
Why?
I clutched my spinning head and desperately tried to work out the cause.
First hypothesis: blood from a wound.
Rejected — I hadn't fought anyone in days.
Second hypothesis.
A woman's ovaries, ovulating an egg...
"AAAAAHHH!!!"
I thrashed my head wildly at the horrifying thought.
A period — the monthly torment that plagued women, the bloodstain that announced a woman's body was capable of pregnancy...
No. Was this seriously pouring out of my body?
"Eh... ah... uhhh?!"
My breathing turned ragged. My heart hammered like mad, and my hands shook uncontrollably. And down below... a nauseating sensation was scrambling my brain into mush.
This couldn't be happening.
Why would I get a period of all things... was this body actually a real woman...?
"...Urgh?!"
My head started pounding. My mood plummeted through the floor, and nausea began to well up in my throat.
"Oh, what's this? That time of the month, huh? It's no big deal — just take your medicine."
Raby appeared beside my panicking self and whispered the words like they were nothing. I couldn't accept it. Not even close.
I could live with becoming a game character. But did they really need to implement this too?!
"What's the matter? Of course women get periods. Otherwise they couldn't get pregnant, right?"
"W-why would I of all people get pregnant...?!"
I just wanted to see the game's ending and be done with it...
This was basically telling me to live as a woman.
Don't make me laugh.
You think I'd do something like that...?
"Hmm?"
Seeing my face go visibly ashen, Raby tilted her head and studied me. I pretended not to notice and roughly covered my face with both hands.
Disgusting.
Depressing. I felt awful.
And yet...
I wanted to be comforted.
I wanted someone to say something kind. To tell me it was okay.
"Ryushia, what's going on?"
"Ah."
Of all people, Jinwoo reacted to my groan and started climbing up toward the top bunk.
W-wait! I can't let him see me like this — this weak.
Anyone looking at this would...
"Ah! Don't!! Please don't come up here!!"
He froze.
I finally managed to shout in a desperate voice, but it was already too late.
"Uh..."
"..."
Jinwoo locked up at the sight of the blood-reddened bed, and the atmosphere in the room turned awkward at lightning speed.
"Jinwoo, Sia got her period."
"EVERYONE GET OUT!!!"
"Guhhhh?!"
KABOOM!!!
And just like that, the fairy and the man were blasted out of the room with a thunderous crash.
"..."
Wait.
If they all left, how was I supposed to deal with this?
Was I supposed to go outside in this body and buy pads myself?
Something was leaking with every movement, and chills wracked my body — could I even walk?
"...U-um, please come back in..."
"..."
"..."
Watching them make faces like they'd bitten into something foul as they shuffled back in according to my wildly swinging emotions, I felt pathetic.
I cleaned up the mess as best I could for now, then leaned against the bed and finally caught my breath.
"Hhhh..."
"She took her medicine, changed her clothes... what's left?"
Jinwoo watched her groaning against the headboard with a worried look, searching for something — anything — he could do to help.
"Here! I brought a heated towel!"
"Oh, thank you!"
Raby, wearing a nurse's outfit she'd gotten from who-knows-where, bustled over with a steaming hot compress.
"Ryushia, I'm gonna lift your clothes a bit."
A rustle of fabric.
"Hweh?!"
And then she pulled up the blanket and the pajamas covering Ryushia's abdomen.
"It'll be over quick."
"O-okay..."
Ryushia soon put on a listless expression and reluctantly nodded.
When the clothes were lifted, her abdomen was revealed — split by a clearly defined line of abs, radiating a healthy, athletic beauty. Aside from a slightly protruding lower belly, it was smooth and sleek, without an ounce of excess flesh.
"But what's this bulge down here? She's so skinny otherwise."
"I haven't seen that many women's bodies either, but it's not a food belly, right?"
"Nah, no way! Maybe... muscle?!"
"You two really are a pair of virgins, huh..."
Raby couldn't stop sighing at the two humans' abysmal knowledge of the female body.
"Alright! Time for the compress!"
"Okay..."
They wrapped up the conversation and pressed the warm towel against her lower belly.
A damp, soft sound. Then a slow, careful stroke.
"Nngh..."
Jinwoo held the wet towel and soothed Ryushia's lower abdomen with painstaking care. He moved slowly in clockwise circles, letting the warmth seep into her cold skin.
"Haa..."
As the heat stimulated her lower belly, the tension melted away. The throbbing, aching deep inside began to settle little by little, and a trickle of vitality flowed back into her body.
"How is it?"
"...It's nice."
Jinwoo massaged her lower belly with gentle hands. How to put it? She felt a little more at ease. Like it was easier to breathe.
"Mmnh..."
A pleasant moan slipped out before she knew it, and her eyes began to drift shut.
"...Thank you. Really."
"It's nothing."
"Mmm, but it's already gone lukewarm."
"Yeah? Then I'll do it with my healing hands!"
When the towel cooled, he put his hands on her instead and massaged her belly directly.
A slow, kneading rub. A careful stroke.
"Ahn..."
"You okay?"
"Yes... it's not bad..."
Jinwoo carefully stroked her smooth lower belly. He swept upward in gentle circles, then pressed down with the whole of his palm, applying a subtle, even pressure.
"Huff... this is weird."
She trembled at his rough but warm touch, yet surrendered her body to it without resistance.
"Is it...? If you want me to stop..."
When Ryushia's face flushed a subtle red, Jinwoo reflexively pulled his hands away...
A sudden grab.
"J-just a little more..."
She caught his wrist, looking dejected and pleading all at once.
"Nngh?! A-alright."
Caught by the wrist, he nodded with a dazed expression and continued the massage.
Sia's belly is slim but soft... did her abs loosen up?
He swallowed as he became faintly, helplessly aware of the sensation of a woman's body under his hands.
"Haahh..."
On top of that, Ryushia's languid expression kept catching his eye, shaking him even more.
"Th-that's enough now..."
Jinwoo thought going any further would be dangerous and tried to get up...
"I don't want to. More... please, more."
"..."
She clung to both of his arms with both hands, throwing a tantrum utterly unlike her usual self.
"Ehehe... Jinwoo, your hands are so waaarm, I like them..."
"..."
Wait. Could a person change this much?
The usual cool, dashing Ryushia had transformed into someone with the personality of a clingy little sister.
"So who's gonna go buy the pads? Sia's in this state, and my body's like this, so it's hard for me."
"...Looks like you're the only one."
"Oh, come on."
On top of everything, he'd been stuck with an errand before he even knew what hit him.
"Sigh. Fine..."
He accepted Ryushia's request and dragged his exhausted body toward the supermarket.
"...What the hell is a winged type."
Anyone who saw him would have thought he looked like Rodin's The Thinker, lost in the deepest contemplation of his life.
He'd made it to the women's products aisle at the supermarket, but he couldn't tell if he was looking at tissues, diapers, or toilet paper.
The one she told me to get was the GoodFeel brand, right...?
"Young man! One look and I can tell you're here on an errand for your girlfriend!"
"Ah... yes?!"
As he wandered around dripping with sweat, a supermarket clerk appeared like a relief pitcher coming in to save the game.
"Um... which one is the winged type...?"
"That? Right here!"
Thud.
With a single word, the woman produced the exact item he wanted in an instant.
He'd been wandering for ten minutes... and it really did say "winged type" on the package?
Anyway, he grabbed that too. Was there anything else Ryushia had asked him to get?
"Um... I want strawberries."
"Hmm."
While he was at it, he picked out some fruit, paid up, and headed back to the dorm.
"Sia, I got the strawberries you like!"
"Okay..."
He handed them over. She'd improved a little, but her complexion was still poor...
"Mm. They taste bad."
"..."
His efforts evaporated in an instant.
Somehow, he'd finished taking care of Ryushia through her period day, and was just about to collapse into bed when...
"Um, Jinwoo?! How do you use these pads?"
"...I don't know either."
He'd hit an unexpected snag.
"I-I've done everything I can, so I'll just... go first..."
Sensing danger, he tried to make a hasty exit.
A tight squeeze.
"H-help me..."
Ryushia grabbed his hand, her eyes welling with tears.
...Is there anything more I can even do here?
Why is she only like this with me?!
"What... do you want me to help with?"
"Just, simply, take my panties off a little..."
"THIS IS MY ESCAPE ROUTE!!!!"
"Aah?! Where are you going!!"
I'm sorry, Ryushia.
Even if we're close frie?nds — that's really not okay.
A vast, barren stretch of land.
Atop a towering fortress, countless dragonian soldiers patrolled with weapons in hand.
"Hmm. Here?"
"Yeah."
A crushing pressure slammed down.
And two Fingers were eyeing the fortress, ready to take it.
A chorus of shrieks tore across the wasteland.
"Shall we."
"Let's."
The two powerhouses began to move, radiating killing intent.
"Ha... fuck, how much longer till this watch is over?"
"Just four more hours and we're off duty, sir."
Fortress command and control room.
A Dragon Empire centurion sagged in his chair with an exhausted expression, while a decurion answered with bright, eager eyes.
"How about it — wanna hit the freshwater fish soup place after we clock out?"
"Ayy... I'm down for whatever, sir."
The dragonians guarding the empire's front line passed the time with idle chatter.
"But... hasn't the empire been stacking a little too much goodwill lately? If Redanis or the Kingdom types come knocking..."
"Hey! Those guys aren't even functional anymore! You saw three of their Fingers get wiped this time, right?! Every country around us is a dumpster fire, so now we just sit back and live easy~"
"Still..."
The recently assigned decurion still spoke in an uneasy tone.
"You know what? Even though Her Highness the Princess, Lord Earth Dragon, and Lord Machine Dragon went to the Academy... Lord Black Iron Dragon is holding down our legion HQ!"
"For real? That living museum of victories is stationed here...?"
"That's right! So quit worrying and get the brigade sports festival lineup right for next week! How do we not have a single Flying Dragon in the aerial events?!"
"Our unit only has Earth Dragons and firecracker Salamanders, sir..."
"Goddammit! You bunch of ground-pounders!"
"Not even dogs, sir — just earthworms."
"What? My mom and dad are earthworms?"
"I mean the bloodline of the rulers of the earth who overturn the land and move even great mountains, sir."
"Look at this little shit?"
Just as the centurion was about to grab his snarky subordinate's head—
"We're fucked."
"...I already made a reservation at the soup place, sir."
"Cancel it. Fuck."
Their off-duty had been postponed — indefinitely.