The bell chimed, announcing the end of the lunch break. Even though the locked screen of Kōji's phone displayed the time, Suzuka waited until the last minute to avoid confronting… them.
She fixed her tie and entered the cramped classroom, careless of the scrutinizing glances directed at her. Both of Kōji's friends were glued to their phones, giving her a free pass to sit.
"Don't even think about it."
Hisa—the blonde girl—spun on her chair to face her, her deadpan heavier than many.
"So?"
The staredown prolonged, neither showing weakness.
Nonetheless, Suzuka chose to play along to avoid a worse misunderstanding.
"So…?"
Hisa slapped the wooden backrest of her chair.
"Stop playing dumb." Her scowl softened into a smirk. "How was your break with the wealthy transfer beauty?" Her eyes rolled at the last word.
Suzuka's eyes deviated while formulating the best course of action.
"We just talked."
"Oh, is that so? The new, hot, rich girl everyone's talking about, and you just spent half an hour with her without ulterior motives. That makes all the sense in the world."
After another staredown, Suzuka replied.
"It's—"
"You already fell for her."
Her brain got whiplashed. "What? No, I didn't—"
"Oh my god, you actually like her! I thought she was an old friend you hadn't told us about or something, but you keep avoiding the topic!"
"Keep your voice down!" Suzuka yelled in a whisper.
Her hands clenched into fists. Why hadn't she thought of that excuse sooner?
She needed to change her tactic, but what if that stained Kōji's name?
She had little choice.
"It's not that weird that I am attracted to a g… girl."
The wrong word almost snuck out.
"Are you freaking kidding me, Kōji Kurei?! We've been friends since fourth grade; we know you've never liked anyone." She brushed away a fake tear. "I thought this day would never come…. Rem! Rem, you'll never guess who likes—"
"Don't shout!"
"Keep quiet," the teacher ordered sternly as he walked to the whiteboard. "The class is going to commence."
Hisa shot one last glare at her and growled, "We're not done," before turning around.
Saved by the bell, Suzuka breathed deeply.
She had fallen asleep during history class, giving her a second chance to learn the material. However, the crazy reality hit her again when she couldn't find the zipper of Kōji's bag hanging from the desk. She struggled thrice as much to navigate inside it. Although the academic book covers were telling enough, she had to open the dull notebooks and inspect the first pages. Most had no scribbling at all, and some had significantly fewer pages than others. None was dedicated to the subject by the time she grabbed the last one. Out of options, she put it on her desk.
Her forearms burned every time they brushed against something, including her sleeves. She had noticed the scars beneath them on multiple occasions, yet didn't dare pry into them; she'd hate it if someone did that to her.
The familiar weight of a scrutinizing gaze forced her to pull her sleeve down and cover what little was visible of the scars. Everyone seemed attentive to the teacher. She ought to stop acting suspicious and do the same.
Luckily, every teacher arrived on time for the remaining classes and saved her from the doomed confrontation against Kōji's devious friends.
Not knowing his habits, she took note of everything she thought minimally important. She never found a black ink pen, though there were plenty of other colors to organize the writing.
She stared at the clock above the whiteboard with less than a minute of class left. As much as she wanted to get ahead, the teacher kept giving notes.
Just when the teacher stopped, the bell rang.
She slammed the notebook closed and put it in Kōji's bag before hanging it over her shoulder. She evaded the teacher and ran out of the classroom before anyone else.
Needles stabbed her ankle when she reached the ground floor. By the time she crossed the bridge toward the opposite building, she had no choice but to ease her steps to avoid stumbling.
Even in the garden, her breath came in ragged bursts. She collapsed onto the same bench from lunch, struggling to recall a time she'd ever felt so breathless.
"Damn, you run fast."
She snapped her head toward the voice. Her tall body stood beside her, the dark bangs covering nothing of his gentle smile.
"I almost tripped trying to catch up to you," he laughed nervously, "though I feel like I could keep going. But we shouldn't waste time. I doubt the school will like us being here now. What's the plan?"
"There's no plan. I was hoping you might've thought of something."
He fell to his knees and cried.
"We're done for. We'll never return to our bodies. We'll have to learn how to live as each other and act as if nothing ever happened."
"Calm down. There's one thing that should work. If it made us swap bodies, then it should reverse it. Hopefully."
His face lit up. "Really?! What is that?"
"Are you…?" She sighed. "I'm talking about replicating the incident exactly as it happened. And stand up, my skirt is getting dirty."
"Whoops, sorry." He got on his feet and brushed the dirt off. "I was just hoping you had another idea, but I guess we have no choice."
He began unstrapping his backpack.
"Keep it on," she said. "We'll replicate exactly as it happened."
"Huh? But that'd mean—"
"Exactly."
In the blink of an eye, they stood in front of each other on the pavement of the garden. She stared intently at him in the distance, while his flushed cheeks exposed his embarrassment even from afar.
It wasn't like she liked the idea either.
"So I just stand here looking at the sky?" he shouted.
"Yes, and I'll rummage through your bag while running towards you."
"Okay." He slapped his cheeks and shook his head. "Bring it on!"
With her hands inside the bag, she took one more deep breath… and charged.
She ran headfirst. It should've been straightforward, but the sudden dizziness and heaviness in her ankle wobbled the ground. She stared down at it in an attempt to stay on her feet, but the world switched off.
…
A distant whistle grew in her ears. It got closer and closer until her eyelids opened. She weakly raised her head from the cushion, while her hand remained on something soft yet firm. She looked at it and saw her chest right before her eyes.
Squeeze.
"H-Hey!" he groaned, his face burning behind her chest.
She snapped her hand away and jumped back.
"Sorry, it just felt… different."
Her hand squeezed the air, trying to process the novel sensation.
"Stop doing that!" he yelled as he stood up. He offered his hand to her. "Are you okay? You were stumbling before you crashed into me."
She held his hand, and he pulled her onto her feet.
"You saw me? You were supposed to be staring up."
"You were taking too long, so I—"
A grunt escaped her mouth at the shocking pain in her ankle. She had to look down to make sure it hadn't bent.
"Sit down," he said, his face showing the deadpan she was used to seeing from her reflection.
She sat on the bench without hesitation, while he knelt to lift the bottom of the trouser leg. His touch stabbed her ankle at first, but then an embracing warmth spread through it.
"Does it hurt too bad?" he worried.
"A little. It's more strange than anything. It's like the ankle is not there at times."
"I'm sorry you have to go through this."
"It's because of this morning's incident," she said, "so it's my fault, too."
"What? No, no. This is a bit older than that." His smile drowned. "You also have to put up with my body's lack of shape…"
The longer she watched the solemn expression on her own face, the more a gentle warmth crept through her.
She glanced at her hand resting on the bench's metal.
"About your arms…"
His eyes shot wide, and his head snapped up to meet hers.
She took a moment to continue. "Sorry if I'm meddling too much, but are you… going through something?"
His eyes shook, yet his smile popped back up. "They aren't cuts or anything like that, don't worry. It's just that they get very itchy sometimes, and I can't help it. Did anyone see them?"
"Not that I noticed, though your friends are rather… observant. It wouldn't surprise me if they were watching us now."
He chuckled. "Right?"
Somehow, the brightness returned to his face.
"I'm guessing it didn't go very well with them," he said.
"I have no idea. However, I thought of a way to ease things up. You could tell them I asked you out, and you rejected me. That way, they'll put most of the blame on me."
"A-Are you serious? Wouldn't that be weird? Asking a guy out on your first day after transferring."
"I wouldn't care. You could even tell them that I fell for you when you crashed into me. They'll probably disregard the incident with that."
"That's… not a bad idea, but…" His eyes wandered. "Nothing, I'll think about it."
The soothing wind played with his hair, sunlight glinting off it, while a gentle warmth bloomed in her chest, making her eyelids grow heavy.
"Strange," she said. "There's that sudden sleepiness again."
"Me too." His face lit up. "That's it! We swapped bodies when we woke up, so let's sleep now."
He stopped kneeling and sat beside her. His back leaned onto the backrest of the bench, and his eyes closed.
She stared at his smile and let her eyes relax. Darkness soon enveloped the world, yet it felt warm rather than cold.
Even though the anticipation of recovering her body kept her brain awake, her mind drifted off again and again. She ordered it to free every thought, but it ordered her to open her eyes instead.
Her golden bow glossed above her round chest. Her dark bangs hung above her sight for a moment before her brain ignored them. The air was fresher than ever, and it reached her lungs without tightness.
Finally, she was back in her body.
Her body tilted to the right on its own. She turned to see the sole of a loafer resting on her shoulder. Behind it, Kōji used his bag on the metal armrest of the bench as a pillow, his mouth wide open and his eyes shut.
Scorching heat suffocated the peace.
"Kurei!" she yelled.
He jolted awake. "What's wrong?!" He looked at his foot on her shoulder, and his face flushed. He sat up and brushed the dirt off her blazer. "I'm so sorry! I move a lot when I'm…"
His words slowed down, turning into a stare. He inspected her face, and then his eyes lowered.
He jumped to his feet. "We're back in our bodies!" he grinned as he felt his body up. He grabbed the strap of his bag, hung it around his shoulders, and took off. "I really should go back to Hisa and Rem. See you later!"
She saw him run away, limping with his left leg, when a woman with a cherry-red sports sweatshirt popped out from behind a tree.
"Ms. Shimamura?! What are you doing here?"
She could hear his shouting despite the distance. Surprisingly, the woman's answer was just as loud.
"That's my line, young man. You should be on your way home. What were you two doing back there?"
"Oh, that's… well…"
Ms. Shimamura glanced straight into Suzuka's eyes from afar before covering her mouth and leaning into Kōji's ear.
"Please spare her this time," he replied. "She just transferred, so she doesn't know all the rules yet."
After a long sigh, Ms. Shimamura slapped his back.
"Go home already. And don't run."
"Yes, ma'am!"
He ran away from her.
"What did I say?!" Ms. Shimamura yelled.
"Sorry, sorry!"
Although he didn't run, his pace was fast enough for a jog.
Shaking her head, Ms. Shimamura turned back to see Suzuka.
Suzuka stopped delaying the inevitable and walked to her. Once before her, Suzuka bowed.
"I apologize if I did something wrong."
After a prolonged silence, Ms. Shimamura tapped her head.
"Jeez, you don't even know what you're apologizing for. Do you even know who I am?"
She straightened her back to see her grin.
"Forgive my—"
"That doesn't matter now." She crossed her arms. "Clubs haven't started yet, so you can't stay on campus after class, got it? Especially to hide in the corner with another student."
"Yes, I understand."
Ms. Shimamura chuckled. "Get on your way before I change my mind or someone else sees you."
She nodded. Even though she rushed her steps, she was nowhere near Kōji's speed.
Ms. Shimamura spoke to herself behind her. "Lovebirds these days are so daring."
She stiffened, but knew any excuse would only make things worse. She kept walking, letting the misunderstanding trail behind her.
And it wasn't like that was the case…, was it?