Chapter 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: 2.2 TS Reversed World
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Yuuki was acting strange.
If you asked me exactly what was strange about her, it was hard to pin down precisely, but she just was.
"Yuuki. Hasn't your uniform gotten a bit loose?"
"Huh?!"
The morning after we executed that pervert Tanaka.
That was the first thing I said when I met up with Yuuki.
Her cold seemed better, and she was waiting for me outside in her uniform.
But somehow, she looked subtly different from the Yuuki I knew.
At first, I thought it was the mask she was wearing, but it wasn't just her face—her whole body seemed... off somehow.
Half her hands were hidden in her sleeves, and her pants were so long they dragged on the ground.
Her shoulders, the cut of her pants—everything looked baggy overall.
This is weird. She didn't used to be like this.
Did she buy a larger size uniform?
Her body couldn't have shrunk, after all.
"Huh? Has your height shrunk a bit too?"
"Ah."
I stood face-to-face with Yuuki and checked our height difference. She only came up to just below my chin.
I'd always been a bit taller, but not by this much.
"Or am I just growing?"
"Y-yeah, probably?"
Growth spurt?
Even so, for the difference to open up this much in just a few days?
This is weird.
"Straighten your shoulders. Why are you hunching like that?"
"Eek!?"
I lightly tapped her back, and Yuuki let out a startled yelp.
Her voice sounded odd too, probably from the cold.
And instead of straightening up like I told her, she hunched even more.
"...Yuuki, are you sure you're okay?"
"H-huh? W-what do you mean?"
No matter how I looked at her, something was suspicious.
Could it be... a fake wearing Yuuki's skin?
"Is your cold not fully gone? Let me see."
I placed my hand on Yuuki's forehead.
A little warm. Her face was redder than usual too.
She definitely still had some fever.
"Hmm. You do have a temperature."
"Ah, uh."
But what I was really checking wasn't her cold.
It was whether this was the real Yuuki—or a pervert in Yuuki's skin.
...But with skin contact like this, I could definitely feel it.
The presence of Yuuki's Aegis Rune.
I can interfere with someone's mind upon contact, just like I did with Teacher Akatsuki.
But Yuuki is the exception.
When I touch Yuuki's skin, it feels like trying to push a massive boulder with my shoulder.
Ever since possessing this body, I've been training my Mind Rune by forcibly clashing it against Yuuki's Aegis Rune.
Like punching a rock to toughen my fists.
Brute force, but undeniably effective training.
Yuuki's Aegis Rune never broke through, but my skill proficiency shot up at an insane rate.
Proof of that: my skill has strengthened this much now.
The training paid off, for sure.
But as my Mind Rune grew stronger, Yuuki's Aegis Rune, defending against my hacks, grew alongside it.
Great that Yuuki's gotten stronger, but it means I'll probably never break through her Aegis Rune.
"...It's not bad enough for Naibusu to worry."
"Is that so?"
I removed my hand from her forehead.
A faint trace of Yuuki's fever lingered on my palm.
"By the way, where's Hina?"
"Hina... went on ahead. Haha."
"Huh? Really? I thought she was looking forward to going with her big bro."
"Yeah..."
Yuuki nodded weakly.
She seemed hurt that Hina had gone without her.
Hina's a weird one.
Yesterday she was going on and on in her mind about her big brother.
Did she change her mind already?
Maybe there's some hot guy in her class?
Come to think of it, Hina might be better off finding a decent guy who isn't Yuuki.
Incest pure love is for the apostles!
That said, if she brings home some weirdo as a boyfriend, I'll dump him.
"Then let's just go together, us two."
I stepped out the front door with Yuuki.
But then—
"Ah!"
"Eh?"
After barely taking one step—
Like she'd slipped in oversized shoes, Yuuki stumbled and crashed into me, sending us both tumbling.
I tried to catch her from behind, but her momentum knocked me down too.
Why doesn't slo-mo kick in at times like this?
Totally useless!
"Ow ow ow."
I let out a deep sigh, tangled with Yuuki on the front step.
"Are you an idiot? Lucky perv on a guy like me—what were you thinking?"
"L-lucky?"
"Yeah, that's a thing."
Yuuki had fallen on top of me, and for some reason, her hand was groping my crotch.
It was so soft and delicate, hard to believe it belonged to a guy who'd survived the Great Catastrophe with me. I could've sworn it was a girl's hand.
That aside—
Yuuki's the protagonist, so she gets lucky perv situations left and right, but why is it happening with me, a guy?
No matter how trash the game is, it wasn't BL, right?
"Yuuki. How long you gonna stay like that? Move your hand."
"Ah!!"
Only then did Yuuki seem to realize where her hand was.
She jumped up in shock.
Her face flushed beet red too.
Sigh. Save reactions like that for the heroines.
Of course, I'm not gay.
Even if a guy like me gets groped by a guy like Yuuki, I feel nothing...
...Huh?
"S-sorry, Naibusu!"
"Nah... I'm fine."
...What was that? Just now.
A little jolt of something...
...No way.
Was my original self an incest freak and a butt guy?!
Naibusu, you bastard...!
...Nah, no way.
No matter how trash the game, a male-oriented game wouldn't have that kind of backstory.
"Why are you getting so embarrassed? We're both guys."
"Uwah!"
I flicked the back of my hand at Yuuki's crotch in revenge, and she recoiled in surprise.
"Ah, wah, ah..."
"Hmm? Weirdo."
No matter how I thought about it, this wasn't Yuuki.
We used to bathe together as kids and pull even worse pranks—no blushing back then.
Blushing over this just makes it weirder.
"Is something really up with you?"
"Naibusu!"
As we talked on the front step, Mrs. Sana approached with a slightly angry look.
"Oh. Hi, Mrs. Sana."
She was home after all.
I didn't see her, so I thought she'd left...
...Huh?
-Slap!
...She slapped me.
Mrs. Sana did.
I could've dodged, but I couldn't be that rude to her.
"M-Mom?!"
"Naibusu! What are you doing to Yuuki?! Apologize right now!"
"Uh... that... huh?"
Why did I get slapped?
This level of horseplay between me and Yuuki is normal... right?
Huh?
Mind Rune: 『I never thought Naibusu was that kind of guy! I figured he was sweet deep down despite his looks!』
...Mrs. Sana was seriously mad?
Why?!
And what's wrong with my looks!
Mind Rune: 『The moment he finds out Yuuki's a girl, he pulls that?!』
"Eh?!"
The utterly bizarre thought from Mrs. Sana slipped out of my mouth involuntarily.
"What?!"
"Naibusu!"
Squish.
I groped. There it was.
Something that shouldn't be there.
On Yuuki's chest.
What about down there?
I grabbed.
Yuuki's crotch.
Smaller than mine, but there should definitely be a guy's symbol.
There should have been... but...
"...It's gone."
But it wasn't.
"Naibusu!"
-Smack!
A much harder slap than before jolted me back to reality.
From Mrs. Sana.
I let go of Yuuki's crotch and flopped butt-first onto the ground.
Thud thud thud.
Yuuki turned and ran back to her room.
"Yuuki!"
Mrs. Sana called after her, but Yuuki didn't look back.
Slam! Click.
The door shut and locked.
"Yuuki...."
Mrs. Sana's regretful voice echoed at the front door.
Mind Rune: 『Yuuki got hurt again. Even Naibusu, who I trusted...』
"...Mrs. Sana. What exactly happened?"
"Are you really asking because you don't know? Or pretending?"
Mrs. Sana raised an eyebrow at me.
Truth is, I knew.
In my head.
But my heart refused to accept it.
"...Yuuki really turned into a girl?"
I asked in a daze, and Mrs. Sana covered her mouth in surprise instead.
"Naibusu, you... really had no idea...?"
"...Yeah."
My slapped cheek started to sting late.
As I rubbed it, Mrs. Sana's panicked thoughts came through.
Mind Rune: 『What do I do! I messed up! I thought Naibusu was casually molesting Yuuki now that she's a girl...!』
Oh no.
Mrs. Sana thought I knew and sexually harassed Yuuki.
If that were true, the slap was deserved.
"Naibusu, sorry! I didn't realize...!"
Mrs. Sana hurriedly stroked my cheek.
Her Recovery Rune eased the pain a bit.
"No, it's fine."
Even I'd punch a guy harassing a newly girl-ified Yuuki.
So I totally got where Mrs. Sana was coming from.
Mind Rune: 『But how could he not notice from that?! Oh! Naibusu was always oblivious!』
...Me, oblivious?!
No way! No one has sharper instincts than me!
Oblivious protagonists only exist in fiction, Mrs. Sana!
"Still, Yuuki turning into... a girl...?"
An uneasy smoke rose in my gut.
I couldn't help recalling last night's dream.
The original Naibusu suddenly turning into a woman.
Naibusu craves affection from protagonist Yuuki, but Yuuki, gripped by misogyny, rejects her.
Despairing, Naibusu falls for a fake note and heads to the gym storage, where academy boys gang-rape and humiliate her.
The current Yuuki totally overlapped with original Naibusu.
"...Mrs. Sana. Please tell me the details. What happened?"
I had to hear it.
My pure love soul was ringing alarm bells.
"Okay... I don't know exactly how Yuuki turned into a girl either, but..."
After the entrance ceremony yesterday, Hina brought Akane home.
Probably Hina asked her for a favor.
I'd even thought that yesterday morning.
Akane managed to persuade the holed-up Yuuki and enter her room.
Then Akane and Hina saw Yuuki—the girl.
Akane's reaction upon seeing girl Yuuki:
She said that and left.
──A chilling dread pierced my chest.
「That was a mood killer.」
That was the line Yuuki said in the original upon seeing woman Naibusu.