Chapter 2: The New World
A loud beeping noise could be heard echoing throughout the room. Groaning, Mahiro reached her hand out from under her covers so she could hit the top of her alarm to get it to shut off. After a few attempts, she managed to succeed and breathed a sigh of relief.
Mahiro sat up and stretched her arms above her head while letting out a large yawn. Rubbing her eyes she still felt a bit sleepy, but she knew that she'd have to get up anyway.
"Well, I guess it's time to start the day."
As she stood on her feet, Mahiro became a bit confused. She wasn't completely sure about it since the room was so dark, but something felt a bit off. Something about her room seemed different from how it usually was, but she was still too sleepy to care to check it out for herself.
"I feel like something's not right. But I'm too tired to question it right now. I gotta get ready for school."
Mahiro exited her room and headed to the bathroom at the end of the hall. Ever since she was transformed into a girl, she had always felt a great sense of relief when she went into the bathroom and peed before going downstairs and eating breakfast in the morning. As she exited the bathroom and started down the stairs, she smiled a bit at the thought of the delicious breakfast that would be waiting for her. As she got to the bottom of the stairs, a wondrous aroma filled her head and her mouth started to water.
Entering into the living room and combined kitchen space, Mahiro saw exactly what she was expecting. She saw Mihari sitting at the table, sipping coffee and reading the latest copy of Science Magazine with a plate of hot food in front of her. Another plate with the same kind of food sat opposite her on the table, which Mahiro knew was all for her.
"Good morning." Mahiro exclaimed.
Mihari looked up from her magazine and smiled.
"Good morning to you too, Mahiro-chan."
Mahiro smiled at the response and headed towards her seat. As she sat down though, she suddenly realized how Mihari addressed her.
"Mahiro-chan? She almost never calls me that except when we're in public to avoid arousing suspicion. She typically calls me 'onii-chan' whenever we're alone together."
Mahiro thought about it for a second, but quickly brushed it off.
"It's probably nothing. I'm likely imagining it."
Mahiro started eating her breakfast and Mihari put down her magazine.
"So anything interesting going on today?" Mihari asked.
Mahiro was a bit surprised by the sudden question, but luckily this was one that she knew she could answer.
"Well, there's not much I can think of." Mahiro answered. "I think we have gym class sometime after lunch though."
"That's great." Mihari said with a smile.
"Yeah, let's call it great." Mahiro replied with a bit of a sarcastic attitude.
Mihari looked at Mahiro with a bit of a confused expression, as if she wasn't used to seeing Mahiro act like this when it came to exercising.
"Well, in any case. I got some things to take care of later, so you're on your own for dinner tonight." Mihari said. "I should be back before you go to bed though."
This was something that Mahiro genuinely smiled at. She had gotten much used to being on her own lately. There was that incident where Mihari had worked overnight in her lab which left her feeling lonely and depressed, but being with her friends had helped to alleviate her feelings of isolation, and she found new ways to entertain herself when there was no one else around.
"Sounds good, Onee-chan." Mahiro answered.
As Mahiro said this, she noticed that Mihari had an extremely shocked look on her face. Mahiro started to panic a bit.
"Oh no," she said, "did I say something wrong?"
Mihari quickly started smiling again in an attempt to rectify what had just happened.
"No, of course not." Mihari said with a slightly embarrassed expression. "It's just that, normally you can't stand to be away from me for too long."
"That's a bit strange." Mahiro thought. "I'm always telling her how much I'd rather be left alone most of the time."
"But I'm glad." Mihari continued. "I guess you're finally starting to grow up a bit and become a bit more independent."
Mihari walked over to Mahiro, and suddenly gave her a big hug, much to Mahiro's surprise.
"Still though," Mihari continued, "nothing beats the closeness of a sisterly hug, right?"
Mahiro was shocked by this action and initially wanted to escape. That thought quickly exited her head though as she felt a sense of closeness to Mihari that she had never felt before. Mihari had always wanted them to hang out, but she was almost never affectionate like this. Mihari had a tendency to comfort Mahiro if she ever felt scared or sad, but this was very different. This was the kind of genuine comfort one could only get from the unconditional love of a caring older sibling, and it felt wonderful. Mahiro decided that she was enjoying this, which led her to start smiling and hugging Mihari back.
"Yeah." Mahiro exclaimed.
"Perfect." Mihari said. "Now come on, we both need to get going soon. I washed your uniform last night, so it should be hanging up near the dryer."
Mahiro quickly finished the last few bites of her breakfast, placed her dish in the sink, and rushed to the laundry room. As Mihari had said, her uniform was hanging on the rack near the dryer. Mahiro quickly stripped out of her pajamas so she could get changed and threw them in the pile of the load that Mihari would do once she got home. First, she slipped on the white shirt, and also put on the pair of black tights that Mihari had also washed. After that, she quickly stepped into the skirt and fastened the shoulder straps to secure it in place. Next, she took the ribbon and tied it in place around the shirt's collar. Finally, she slipped on her jacket and buttoned it up.
Looking at her reflection in a nearby mirror, she couldn't help but twirl a bit and admire how good she looked in the uniform. Noticing a few stray hairs sticking out from her extremely cute hairdo, Mahiro grabbed a hairbrush and quickly brushed her hair out several times in a successful attempt to get rid of them. Seeing the end result made her feel all giddy inside.
"Perfect" she thought to herself.
Returning to the living room, Mahiro grabbed her bag from the couch and was finally ready to leave. She headed to the front door and turned around for a second.
"Onee-chan, I'll see you later. I'm off."
Mahiro turned around and prepared to leave, but Mihari's voice soon called out from the stairs.
"Wait, Mahiro-chan. Don't leave without me."
Mahiro felt a bit confused, then gasped as she saw Mihari come out from around the end of the stairs.
Mihari wasn't wearing her usual attire. In fact, she was wearing the last thing that Mahiro ever expected to see her in. Instead of her usual red outfit that was coupled with her signature lab coat, Mihari was instead wearing the same high school uniform that Kaede always wore. The uniform consisted of a loose pale pink long-sleeved shirt with a large red ribbon and a dark pink jacket, as well as a mid-thigh length black pleated skirt. Mihari was also missing the golden hair clip that she always wore when she got dressed. This was starting to get really scary.
"Okay," Mihari said with a smile, "I'm all ready, so let's go."
Mahiro felt very nervous upon seeing this. She tried to get some words out, but all that came out was gibberish. Eventually, she was able to regain her composure and get out what she wanted to say.
"Why are you dressed like that?" Mahiro yelled.
"Huh?" Mihari asked. "What do you mean? This is my school uniform. I can't go walking around nude after all."
"But, but, but." Mahiro answered. "But you're not supposed to have a school uniform anymore. Aren't you supposed to be at the university?"
"C'mon Mahiro-chan," Mihari said with a laugh. "You know that that won't happen for quite awhile. I still have plenty of my high school life to enjoy after all."
She laughed at the end of her sentence, while Mahiro could only back away in fear. This was not the Mihari she knew. The Mihari she knew was a somewhat crazy child prodigy who had skipped high school and given up her social standing all for the sole sake of turning Mahiro into a girl. The Mihari she knew was also nagging, intrusive, and always pushing Mahiro to do things she didn't want to. This girl standing in front of her may have looked like Mihari, but may have well been a stranger instead.
Mahiro felt really nervous. Spending two years isolated in her room had made her afraid of going outside and interacting with new people. For the longest time, she had always gotten afraid when she met new people, typically hiding from them whenever possible. Meeting Kaede, Momiji, and her other friends had helped her loosen up, and going back to middle school had taken the fear away altogether. Being around so many new people at once allowed Mahiro to settle down and fully relax, and as a result she now found it easy to talk to others without hiding. The looming gravity of this situation however, was starting to trigger a relapse.
"Come on, Mahiro-chan." Mihari said. "We need to get going."
Mihari grabbed Mahiro's hand and started to drag her towards the door. This triggered Mahiro's danger senses, and she began to resist to the best of her ability. Despite Mahiro's best efforts, Mihari managed to pull her out the door and onto the front porch.
"Good morning, Mahiro-chan" a familiar female voice called out.
Mahiro stopped her struggling, and turned towards the gate outside the house. There, she could see the one who did the greeting. It was Kaede, who looked exactly like she always did. Mahiro felt an overwhelming sense of joy at seeing this and immediately broke away from Mihari's grasp to run to Kaede.
"Kaede-nee-chan!" Mahiro cried out in happiness.
Mahiro reached Kaede and hugged her tight, enjoying the feel of Kaede's bust as she buried her head in it. This was another perk of being a girl; the ability to feel a girl's bust with your face without seeming like a perv. It was also helped by the fact that Kaede seemed to be exactly the same person that Mahiro had always known. There may have been something weird going on, but having something be consistent brought Mahiro a sense of comfort and relief.
"Okay, slow down Mahiro-chan," Kaede said, "I'm happy to see you too." She tried to pull Mahiro off her, but Mahiro wouldn't budge.
"Sorry about that, Kaede-chan." Mihari said. "She's been acting a bit weird since she woke up this morning."
"Oh well." Kaede said. "It's no big deal. She is at that age after all."
Kaede began stroking Mahiro's hair.
"They act so adorable, that it just makes you wish they could stay this way forever."
Mihari couldn't help but chuckle at that statement. She quickly took out her phone and snapped a picture of the situation.
"Oh yeah," she said, "this one's going in the album."
Mahiro pulled herself off of Kaede feeling relieved.
"Oh yeah, she's definitely the same." Mahiro thought to herself.
Mahiro suddenly got the sense that someone was watching her and looked to the left. There, she saw Momiji standing a few feet away with an annoyed look on her face. Mahiro saw it and knew all too well what it was.
"Momiji…" Mahiro began.
Momiji just turned around, retaining the annoying look. Mahiro knew exactly what to do. She quickly ran up to Momiji and hugged her tightly from behind, stroking Momiji's hair with one hand.
"I'm sorry, Momiji." Mahiro said. "I'm happy to see you too."
Momiji's anger immediately faded and she began to smile as well. She turned around and also hugged Mahiro.
"Oh Mahiro-chan," Momiji said. "I could never stay mad at you."
As the two friends hugged it out, Mihari snapped another picture with glee. She was going to have a lot to print this week.
"Come on you two," Kaede said, "enough standing around. We have to get going or we'll all be late."
"Okay." Mahiro and Momiji said together.
Mahiro ultimately felt a lot better as the four of them walked the way to school. It was always a nice time for them to unwind as they prepared to face whatever the day would hurl at them. Even though Mihari was very different, at least Kaede and Momiji seemed the same. Eventually, they reached the point where Kaede and Mihari would have to break off to head in the direction of the high school.
"Okay you two," Mihari said. "We'll see you both later, okay."
"Bye, bye." Mahiro and Momiji said. They both waved to Kaede and Mihari as they headed off, before continuing in the direction of the middle school.
"So Mahiro-chan," Momiji said. "Ready for today."
"Ready as I'll ever be I guess." Mahiro said.
As they rounded a corner, they saw two familiar figures walking in the same direction they were heading. Mahiro smiled right away upon seeing them, it was Asahi and Miyo. She let out a big smile as she prepared to call out to them.
"Good morning!" Mahiro called out.
Upon seeing this, Miyo turned around and smiled while Asahi remained still for a second. She slowly turned around and chuckled a bit with a devious smile across her face.
"Ma-hi-ron" Asahi said as her eyes appeared to focus on her.
"Uh oh," Mahiro thought, "what's she gonna do?"
As if to answer the question, Asahi started running at full speed towards Mahiro. Mahiro got scared, as Asahi seemed to have a fire in her eyes that was aimed directly at Mahiro. But Mahiro couldn't do anything to get out of the way. When Asahi set her mind on a target, she would always manage to reach it. Mahiro thought though that maybe, just maybe, she could could try to get Asahi to stop.
"Asahi-chan, stop. Please, stop."
Asahi wasn't listening though. Without any warning, she took a running leap at full force and tackled Mahiro to the ground. As Mahiro was pinned to the ground, she experienced some pain.
"Ow, that hurt." Mahiro said.
Surprisingly though, it didn't hurt nearly as much as she thought it would.
"Huh, that's strange." Mahiro thought to herself. "A full speed running jump tackle from Asahi and all my bones are intact. I guess she wasn't running as fast as I thought."
"Ha," Asahi exclaimed. "This time I got you, Mahiron."
"That's enough, Asahi." Momiji said. "Get off her already."
Asahi complied and got up, offering a hand to Mahiro so she could get up as well. Mahiro took Asahi's hand and felt herself being pulled up. As soon as she was up, Mahiro ran her hands over her skirt to get the dirt off her uniform.
"That was surprising, Mahiro-chan." Miyo exclaimed. "Why didn't you brace yourself like you normally do."
"What?" Mahiro thought to herself. "This has happened before?"
"Well, I uh…" Mahiro started.
"Her sister said that she's been a bit off since she woke up this morning." Momiji explained.
"Oh, I get it. That makes sense." Asahi exclaimed.
Mahiro, Momiji, and Miyo couldn't help but smile and sigh at Asahi's innocence. You never needed to give a complicated answer to her. She would always accept the most basic of explanations without any further details or reason. It was always so easy to run things by her.
"But Mahiron," Ashi said, "don't think this means you won't still be able to win when we go at it today."
Mahiro got confused with a puzzled expression on her face.
"Go at what?" she asked.
"Oh come on, Mahiro-chan." Momiji said while putting her right arm around Mahiro's shoulder. "You know, the big thing. Right?"
Mahiro remained silent for a few seconds while she thought this over.
"There's obviously something big they're expecting that I don't know anything about. I'd better just play along for now until I can figure out what it is."
"Oh yeah, that thing." Mahiro said. "Now I remember."
Asahi put her left arm around Mahiro's shoulder.
"That's the spirit, Mahiron." She exclaimed. "You're still gonna eat my dust later."
"We'll see." Mahiro said.
All four girls started laughing as they continued on their way. As they did, Mahiro began to feel even more worried.
"I just hope I can figure it out before it's too late."
Fortunately, most of Mahiro's fears about any further changes were put to rest when they arrived at the middle school. She had the same locker with the same combination, the same class number with the same teacher, and the same seat that she had always sat at. From what she could tell, she had the same classmates and they also sat in the same places that she remembered they sat at. If things kept up like this, this weird situation might just be somewhat tolerable.
As Mahiro sat down at her desk and put her bag to the side, she noticed two figures walking towards her. Looking up, she recognized them. It was the two showy girls; Mai and Miyako. Both acted very grown up for their age and loved to express themselves fashionably the same way that Kaede did. Unlike Kaede though, Mahiro wasn't too fond of them. They typically gave Mahiro advice regarding fashion and makeup, but Mahiro was never interested in that stuff and disliked it when people looped her in with them.
"Mahiro-chan, good morning." Mai said.
"Oh, good morning." Mahiro replied.
"So, do you have it?" Miyako asked.
Mahiro was a bit confused at this statement.
"Have what?" she asked.
"Oh come on," Mai said. "You told us that you were going to pick it up after class yesterday and give it to us today."
"Yeah." Miyako added. "Now give it to us quickly before Mari-chan-sensei comes in."
Mahiro had no idea what they were talking about, but realized that if whatever they wanted was picked up yesterday, she might just have it in her bag. She would have to play this carefully, and lifted up her bag off the floor.
"Well, I think it's in the usual place." Mahiro exclaimed. "Though I can't seem to recall where I put it."
"Please work." Mahiro thought to herself. "I don't know what they want, but if they're familiar with me to this extent they might have an idea where it is."
"Playing this game again with us, Mahiro-chan?" Miyako asked.
"Okay, in that case we accept your challenge." Mai said.
"Fwew." Mahiro sighed in relief. "It seems they've done this before, and that I figured out how to play. I am good."
Mai and Miyako leafed through Mahiro's bag for a few seconds before they lit up.
"Bingo." Mai exclaimed.
Looking into her bag, Mahiro noticed that they had found a smaller black bag that she had never seen before.
"What is that?" Mahiro thought. "And how did it get mixed in with my stuff?"
Mai opened the bag, leading her and Miyako to open their mouths wide with open tooth grins. Mahiro looked at the inside of the bag, and nearly lost it when she saw what was inside.
Inside the bag was a large variety of makeup and makeup tools. This was a makeup bag. Of all the things for them to find, that's the last thing that Mahiro ever wanted to have on her. This explained why they were so close to her, but what could it also mean?
Mahiro gulped a bit as a thought crossed her mind.
"Does this mean, I'm considered one of the showy girls along with them?"
The very idea made Mahiro just want to crawl into a hole and die. Though as she thought this, the girls seemed to find what they were looking for. They pulled out two identical sealed lipstick tubes and giggled with delight.
"Thanks, Mahiro-chan. You're the best." Mai exclaimed.
"Huh?" Mahiro asked.
"We couldn't get away yesterday, and you managed to get us the exact limited edition version we wanted. You're awesome." Miyako said.
"They asked me?" Mahiro thought. "Oh so that's it then. They wanted a certain version that would sell out quickly, and they asked me to get it since they couldn't go and get it themselves. What a relief."
"No problem." Mahiro said with a smile.
"Oh crap," Mai whispered, "there's Mari-chan-sensei. Quick, hide it all away before she sees."
The girls quickly hid the lipstick in their busts, and Mahiro zipped her bag closed before getting it off the table. Out of sight, and out of mind.
Mari-chan-sensei clapped her hands at the front of the room.
"Good morning, class."
"Good morning, sensei." everyone exclaimed back.
As Mari began her usual lecture, Mahiro sat back at her desk in relief.
"It's good to know that I'm not one of the showy girls after all." Mahiro thought to herself. "Still, I can't help but wonder what else is different."
With all that out of the way, the school day began in earnest. Mari would give her lectures, and the students of Class 1-B would listen and take notes. Mahiro was usually among them, even if she sometimes dedicated the time instead for formulating strategies in her games. Today, however, Mahiro was using the time to try and figure out this strange scenario she had found herself in. Even if she didn't know all the details yet, she would write down a list of the changes she had observed so far and try to figure out what they could all mean.
Mahiro propped up a textbook at the front of her desk like she always did and began to write on a blank sheet in her notebook.
Mysterious Changes:
"Okay," Mahiro thought to herself. "So far, this is what I know:"
-Mihari - Goes to high school, very affectionate towards me (more than normal), less intrusive and pushy.
-Asahi - Is much chummier with me than usual. Has a habit of tackling me to the ground and treats it like a usual thing. Mentioned some kind of showdown later.
-Mai and Miyako - Treat me like one of them, a showy girl. Had me act as a makeup buyer for them evidently even though I have no recollection of doing such a thing.
Upon seeing this, Mahiro stopped writing. Despite how hard she tried to think of something else, these were the only real changes that she had observed so far. The day had only just begun, and she was in such a hurry to leave that she hadn't bothered to look for much else.
"Well that's it then, for now at least."
As Mahiro took a deep breath to try and make herself feel a bit better, another thought entered her brain. She quickly wrote a new header further down the page.
Strange occurrences:
-Mysterious dream the previous night: Felt like I was being pulled somewhere else. Believed it to be a dream, but may have been real.
Mahiro sat back in her chair so she could process all of this.
"If I really was pulled somewhere else, and there have been so many absurd changes since I woke up this morning, there's only one thing I can think of that fits the bill. As crazy as it might be, I'm pretty sure that I've been pulled into an alternate world of some kind."
As hard as it was to believe, it was the only thing that made sense right now. There was no other way that Mahiro could possibly explain such changes.
"Another world, similar to my own yet different. It has to be. I could blow off the changes with Asahi and the showy girls, but Mihari is a red flag that stands out. Her going to high school is not something that could be faked. Even if she wanted to go back now, she wouldn't be allowed to drop out of the university to go back, it just isn't done. Plus, Mihari treated going to high school as a normal part of her life, like she had been doing it for quite awhile. I know she was at the lab yesterday, so that couldn't possibly be the case."
Mahiro had a strange sense that she was missing something important, but she just couldn't put her finger on what it might be. Sighing a bit, she instead tried to think of a reason for why this had happened.
"I guess it's only fate that such a thing would befall me eventually. Wacky characters with unusual lives in manga are prone to being subjected to bizarre happenings that fit a similar bill. I'll need to do some more digging when I get home to further test my theory."
With that, Mahiro flipped back to the appropriate section in her notebook and started copying down what Mari-chan-sensei was saying. Mahiro then noticed the notes on the previous page, and realized that she could easily read them. She couldn't help but smile a bit.
"At least the other version of me has the same handwriting. That means I can study without any errors in translation."
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the bell rang signaling the start of the next period. As it did, Mahiro put her book down and smiled.
"Finally, it's over." she said. "I wonder what the next period is today?"
Looking over her schedule, Mahiro's blood ran cold when she realized what the next class was. She had gotten the days mixed up when she was talking to Mihari this morning, when she had said that they had her least favorite class after lunch. Next period was gym class, and Mahiro felt herself growing a little faint.
Changing for gym class was one of the hardest things that Mahiro had to endure at school. She was an adult man after all, so changing in the girl's locker room surrounded by a bunch of half-dressed middle school aged girls always freaked her out. She wasn't supposed to be here, it felt like she was an intruder. She may have had the right equipment now, but that still didn't change the reality of what actually was. In this situation, there were only two ways that Mahiro was able to change without suffering a full-blown panic attack. She could either close her eyes, or look over at Momiji and Asahi as their flat chestedness brought her some momentary relief. Mahiro had gotten some weird comments lately for doing the latter, so she just decided to close her eyes and hope for the best.
Mahiro undid the buttons on her skirt and let it fall to the floor. Stepping out of it, she also slid off her tights and folded them. She then started to untie her ribbon and unbutton her shirt.
"Oh my gosh!" a loud voice yelled behind her.
Mahiro jumped in shock and turned around to see who had said that.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wha?" Mahiro exclaimed.
Regaining her composure, Mahiro could see that it was Kocho Nezumi, standing there in nothing but her underwear. Kocho was a cute and tall girl with lavender colored hair that she typically wore in a high ponytail. She wasn't part of any one of the many friend circles that Mahiro was affiliated with, so Mahiro couldn't possibly figure out why she would come up and talk to her of all people. The fact that Kocho was practically half naked as well only made Mahiro even more nervous. Mahiro tried to form a response, but nothing sensible seemed to come out.
"Where did you ever buy those panties Mahiro-chan?" Kocho asked with an excited smile on her face.
"Huh?" Mahiro asked.
Looking down, Mahiro took a glance at her own underwear and realized that she didn't recognize it. She normally wore ordinary panties that Mihari had bought for her when she was first transformed into a girl. These ones on the other hand were made of a shiny and gentle silk, plus they were bright pink and covered with yellow polka-dots.
"What the hell?" Mahiro thought to herself. "I don't remember seeing a pair like these in my drawers."
"Well?" Kocho continued. "Where'd you buy them from?"
"Oh," Mahiro exclaimed, a bit embarrassed, "my sister tends to buy them for me, so I have no idea where she gets them from."
"Oh, that's too bad." Kocho replied.
Kocho then bent over and put her head right in front of Mahiro's crotch to examine them further. She even began to rub her hand along the side of them.
"They're really pretty." she said. "Wish I had a pair like that."
"What is wrong with this girl!" Mahiro screamed internally. "This is like the start of a doujinshi."
Momiji suddenly got between the two and pushed Kocho back.
"Okay, that's enough already." she said. "Mahiro-chan needs to focus before we get out there."
"Geez, cool your jets Hozuki." Kocho replied. "I was just teasing."
Kocho walked back to her locker to finish changing. As she did, Momiji breathed a sigh of relief.
"Glad that's over, she can be so weird sometimes."
"You're telling me." Mahiro thought to herself. "She never did anything like that to me before. Then again, I've never worn underwear like this before either."
"So anyway, Mahiro-chan," Momiji said, "are you ready?"
"Ready for what?" Mahiro asked.
Momiji chuckled a bit.
"Just like you." she replied. "Always so focused that nothing else in the world can distract you when you set your mind to something."
"Yeah, I guess so." Mahiro replied, chuckling right back.
As Momiji returned to her locker, Mahiro saw out of the corner of her eye that Miyo had watched the entire scene. Her red cheeks gave off the indication that she had, as usual, gotten aroused at the obvious yuri display that had just unfolded. She was so into it in fact, that she had forgotten about her usual embarrassment that came with exposing her well developed figure whenever she undressed in front of others.
"Miyo-chan." Mahiro said while looking down and up again.
Miyo got a confused look, then looked down. Realizing the state of undress she was in, she quickly squeaked and ducked behind her locker to continue changing. Mahiro couldn't help but smile a bit, as Miyo was one of the few things that seemed to be exactly the same.
Mahiro finished taking off her ribbon and shirt. She quickly changed into her tracksuit, then used a scrunchie from her back to put her hair into a ponytail. Soon after, all the girls in the locker room started heading outside.
Outside, Mahiro saw the boys starting their warmup exercises and also saw Rin-sensei waiting nearby. Once all the girls reached her, Rin-sensei clapped her hands once to get everyone's attention.
"Okay everyone. Pair up and begin your warmups. Once everyone is done we'll head to the track."
Mahiro paired up Miyo as she always did, and the two reluctantly began their stretches. It always sucked for both of them. The stretching exercises caused their developed bodies to be put on display for all the boys to see. Mahiro could even notice many of them looking at them out of the corner of her eye. Luckily, they wouldn't have to worry about this for too long, as help always came whether it was asked for or not.
"Hey boys, quit staring." Satsuki yelled.
"You jerks." Minori called out in succession.
The boys immediately became embarrassed and tried to look the other way. Mahiro always felt weird getting looks like that from them, but she knew all too well that they were just at that age and that they couldn't help themselves.
Soon after, the warmup exercises had concluded and the girls made their way to the track. Mahiro couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as they got there. As much as she hated exercising, running was the one part of it that she disliked more than anything. You needed stamina in order to run long distances, and she had absolutely none of it. This wasn't going to be fun. As they all reached the track, Rin-sensei clapped her hands together once more and began to speak.
"Okay, today we'll be running and timing the 1000m dash. Just run four laps around the track as fast as you can. It shouldn't be too difficult. Everyone line up at the start of the track, and begin running as soon as I clap my hands."
Mahiro reluctantly made her way over to the start of the track with everyone else. As much as she wanted to, there was no way she could get out of this. She had been able to get out running before, but that was by using the excuse that she had her period, and it wasn't even intentional on her part. If she tried it again, Rin might get suspicious. Mahiro let out a long sigh.
"I guess this is my fate then. I'll have to take my time and hope that I don't collapse before I finish."
All of a sudden, Mahiro noticed that Momiji and Asahi had positioned themselves on either side of her and were smiling at her with a determined look.
"Just you wait, Mahiro." Momiji said. "There's no way I'll lose this time."
"Huh?" Mahiro exclaimed.
"Mahiron," Asahi said excitedly. "Prepare to eat my dust."
"What?" Mahiro answered.
"What's with them today?" she thought. "They know perfectly well that I hate exercise and have no stamina, so why are they acting like I'm some kind of athletic rival? I couldn't keep up with them even if I wanted to, they're as bad as Mihari when it comes to running. This just keeps getting weirder and weirder."
"Everyone, ready?" Rin-sensei called out. "Go!" She clapped her hands and everyone took off. Mahiro reluctantly began running at the slow pace that she was used to.
"Well, here I go. I guess there's nothing left to do but…"
Mahiro paused mid thought. She was becoming aware of something unusual again. She was running at the slow pace that normally caused to feel exhausted right away, and yet she didn't feel that way. If anything, it felt as if she was running too slow.
"How weird." Mahiro thought to herself. "I'm not tired. It almost feels like I can push myself a bit further than usual."
Mahiro did so and started running faster. She still felt no sense of exhaustion.
"Wow. Maybe I can push it even further."
Mahiro did so, and again, and again, and enough times that she soon found herself sprinting across the track at top speed. She soon began to pass the other members of her class one by one without even putting in any kind of effort. She was absolutely stunned.
"Oh my gosh." She thought to herself. "In this world, my body is extremely athletic like Mihari's. It all makes sense now."
Looking ahead, she could only see Momiji and Asahi further ahead.
"Well, it seems like they're expecting me to give them a challenge. And it would be so rude if I failed to deliver on that front, especially since I now know that I'm fully capable of doing so."
Mahiro began to sprint towards the two at full speed. As she did, she started to get a real sense of how this felt to her. She had never been athletic before, so experiencing it for the first time was extremely liberating. With this kind of strength behind you, you could go anywhere, or be anything. Most shut-ins like herself accepted their lack of stamina since there was no easy way to overcome it, so being able to make a 180 and suddenly be able to run as far as you wanted without getting tired was amazing. Mahiro could feel the world pass her by, she could feel a high that Mihari always said came with running that Mahiro had never been able to experience herself. It was no wonder that athletes enjoyed competing in events, if you could do it it felt so good to do so.
Mahiro looked ahead of her. The gap between her and Momiji was closing fast. Mahiro smiled as she passed by a surprised Momiji.
"On your left." Mahiro said.
Mahiro quickly passed Momiji and started heading for Asahi.
Momiji quickly began to smile herself.
"Oh, so that's how it is, Mahiro-chan." she said. "Well, I'm not gonna let you beat me that easily."
Momiji began pushing herself until she was matching Mahiro's speed. Mahiro looked behind her, and was surprised to see Momiji catching up to her.
"Oh my," Mahiro thought. "Guess Momiji's better than I expected. Guess I'll have to start exerting myself a bit."
Mahiro began testing out the limits of her new body and increased her speed. Momiji followed suit and the two started competing to see who could outrun the other. When Momiji passed Mahiro, Mahiro would exert herself more and pass her instead. When Mahiro passed Momiji, Momiji would exert herself more and pass Mahiro instead. The two duked it out like this for awhile, but all the time they were more focused on the goal far ahead in front of them; Asahi.
Asahi had started off strong like she always did. She had easily passed ahead of everyone when she hadn't even completed half a lap. Mahiro knew all too well that Asahi tended to win every race that she and Momiji participated in, but today was different. Mahiro didn't know the limits of her body, but she genuinely wanted to see if she could win against Asahi. The gap between them was closing, and Mahiro wanted to go the distance and win by any means necessary. Her mind was clear of all other thoughts, all she wanted to do was to claim victory.
"Asahi, behind you." Mahiro and Momiji said together.
Asahi looked behind her, and saw the evenly placed Mahiro and Momiji quickly closing the gap. Asahi just chuckled a bit.
"I'm still ahead, Mahiron." Asahi said. "Just half a lap to go and I win it all."
Asahi suddenly increased her speed and began to widen the gap. This made Mahiro and Momiji's blood boil as their adrenaline levels increased.
"Oh no she didn't!" the two screamed internally.
Both girls pushed themselves to the max. They began running at inhuman speeds in order to catch up to Asahi. Mahiro could feel herself starting to tire out. This was her limit, the limit of her new body. Despite the fact that she was exhausted, she still continued to push through. She had to win, nothing else mattered right now except beating Asahi.
Mahiro closed her eyes a bit as the gap continued to narrow. Despite the fact that her lungs were begging for air, she still continued to push herself.
"I'm so close, the goal is in sight. Just a little bit further."
Mahiro caught up to Asahi, and Momiji soon followed. All three girls were neck and neck. All three of them battled it out to see who would reach the end first. The finish line kept drawing closer and closer.
As Mahiro saw the finish line in sight, she cried out and leapt forward. She soon stumbled on her feet and fell to the ground, heaving and gasping for air. As the adrenaline started to fade, she started to gain a better sense of her surroundings.
"It's over, but did I win?"
As Mahiro climbed back onto her feet, Momiji walked up to her with a bottle of water in her hand.
"Nice one, Mahiro-chan." Momiji said as she smiled and handed the bottle of water to Mahiro.
"Huh?" Mahiro answered. "What do you mean?"
She suddenly let out a gasp as she realized what this could mean.
"You mean… Did I really?"
"Yep." Momiji said. "You got the best time out of the three of us."
Mahiro nearly fainted upon hearing those words. Not only did she have an athletic body, but she was able to win against the unstoppable pair of Momiji and Asahi. She felt extremely tired, but also very proud of herself.
"You okay, Mahiro-chan?" Momiji asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Mahiro answered. "I'm just a little beat. It really took everything I had to win against you and Asahi. I still can't believe that I did it."
"Well, don't get so excited Mahiron." Asahi said with a smile. "You may have won today, but I'll win the next one for sure."
"And if not her, then me." Momiji added.
Mahiro would usually be a bit intimidated by the fierce battle auras that seemed to be emitting from her friends. Today however was different. She had been able to participate in the fun with them, and even though they lost they were still just as playful and good-hearted as ever. It felt very touching. Mahiro felt a tear shedding from her eye.
"You guys." She said. "I'm looking forward to it."
All three girls smiled at each other. Soon afterward, Miyo collapsed on the ground near them as she finally managed to finish. Momiji left to get her a bottle of water.
"Oh man, I'm beat." Miyo exclaimed. "I don't know how the three of you do it."
Asahi giggled a bit before turning to Mahiro.
"By the way," Asahi said. "I heard you say you were out of energy. Well I know exactly what'll fix that."
Mahiro smiled a bit. She knew exactly what was coming, and was glad that Asahi did it in this world as well.
Asahi grabbed Mahiro's head and pulled it into her chest for a hug. All the while, she stroked Mahiro's hair while whispering gentle words of encouragement. Mahiro always loved this about Asahi. Despite her wild nature, she could be so caring to those around her. This method of hers, however illogical it appeared, always managed to actually work as intended. Mahiro felt completely safe and secure and could practically feel Asahi's energy flowing into her.
At that moment, Momiji came back with the water and became shocked at the sight of what Asahi was doing to Mahiro. Getting a bit angry, she quickly got between them to separate the two.
"Okay Asahi, that's enough already."
No sooner had Mahiro been separated from Asahi did she see her eying up Momiji.
"Okay then, Momijiro." Asahi said. "You're next."
Asahi quickly pulled Momiji's head into her chest and held it tight, also whispering encouraging words.
Mahiro regained her composure and smiled at the sight.
"I bet Miyo-chan's going nuts over this."
Mahiro looked over to where Miyo had collapsed a second ago, and saw exactly what she was expecting. Miyo was now up on her feet, as if she hadn't been running at all. Her eyes were fixated on the sight of Asahi hugging Momiji and her cheeks were beet red with arousal. It was always so funny how Asahi's method could give other people back their energy even without them being hugged.
As the day was drawing to a close, Mahiro sat at her desk with a smile.
"I still can't believe that I actually beat Asahi and Momiji." she thought to herself. "I may not know everything about this new world, but it definitely has perks. Maybe being here, stuck in this other world for awhile won't be so bad after all."
Soon after she thought this, the final bell rang signaling the end of the school day.
"Whew, the day is finally over." Mahiro said.
As she started packing up her things, Momiji, Asahi, and Miyo came up to her desk.
"Hey, Mahiro-chan." Momiji said.
Mahiro looked up with a smile.
"Let's go out and have some fun." Momiji continued.
Mahiro remained silent for a moment before answering.
"Yeah." Mahiro said.
Mahiro always enjoyed the outings that she went on with her friends. It would certainly be fascinating to see how much this other world compared to her own. Normally, she would be scared of going to such new places, but she always felt good doing it with her friends.
Mahiro and the others, before leaving, made a quick stop to the ladies room. Mahiro used to be very nervous about going to the bathroom together with her friends, but many months together had caused that nervousness to disappear. At least this way there was nothing inappropriate to look at.
The four girls proceeded to have a fun day out. They walked through Onimai with a passion for life and anything that caught their fancy. Mahiro especially felt good about today. Normally, she would get extremely tired and want to go home as soon as possible, but this newfound stamina was a godsend. With it, she could easily keep up with her friends without feeling tired. It was an absolute miracle. They walked through the train station, visited a few stray shops, looked at some designer clothes through the window of a clothing store, and even decided to get some crepes at the stand they usually hit up. It was here that Mahiro could finally confirm that some things would never change even between different universes.
"You want one, Asahi?" Momiji asked.
"Can't," Asahi replied, "I used up my allowance again."
Mahiro couldn't help but chuckle. This was yet another classical Asahi maneuver. She proceeded to walk up to Asahi to do what she always did in these scenarios.
"Here," she said. "Have a bite of mine."
Momiji quickly followed suit.
"Yeah, mine too." she added.
Asahi's eyes lit up and she unleashed a gigantic smile. She soon took a bite out of each crepe and held up her hands in a cute position, akin to that of a puppy that had just gotten a treat. Mahiro always felt so fuzzy inside when she saw Asahi like this, and began to rub her hair.
"Such a good girl, Asahi." Mahiro said.
The girls finished their crepes and began the long trek back to their homes. As they did, they continued laughing and chatting about their lives. All of a sudden, Miyo collapsed on the ground in pain.
"Miyo-chan!" Mahiro yelled as she ran over to help her.
Looking at Miyo's face, it was clear that she was in pain, but it seemed to be passing as her face entered a more relaxed position.
"What's wrong?" Mahiro asked.
"Oh, don't worry. It's nothing." Miyo said with a slight smile.
"On your period again, right?" Asahi asked.
"Asahi!" Momiji said while whacking her on the head.
Mahiro's blood turned to ice, she practically froze in place.
"What! Asahi-chan knows about periods. No, this can't be. Not innocent little Asahi. It couldn't be."
"Wait a second." Mahiro yelled. "How do you know about that Asahi? Please tell me it isn't so."
Momiji sighed a bit and walked up to Mahiro.
"Mahiro-chan." she said. "Don't tell me you forgot about it?"
"Forgot about what?" Mahiro asked.
"What happened last year?" Momiji answered. "The party?"
Mahiro remained silent. She couldn't remember anything of the sort, and it seemed like a bad idea to give away any idea that she didn't.
"It was a few weeks before we started middle school." Momiji explained. "You, me, and Asahi were excited that we all got into the same middle school. To celebrate, we hosted an all-day pajama party at my house. Things were going smoothly, until we both got our first period a few hours before nightfall."
Mahiro was still silent with shock. She had no recollection of this. None of it was adding up.
"Anyway," Momiji continued, "Asahi was there and saw the whole thing. It couldn't just be denied. That's when my mom and Kaede sat her down real nice and explained what was happening. Luckily, she took it pretty well. I just wish she could be a bit more discreet about it sometimes."
Asahi just smiled a bit at that last statement.
"Well, I'm just happy it hasn't happened to me yet." Asahi said. "I know it will eventually, but this is the one thing that I'm glad to be left out of."
Momiji whacked Asahi in the head again for saying that.
"I know that it's a little embarrassing," Momiji added, "but the whole event made me feel so much closer to you. It was as if we were twins, beginning the path to being women at the same time. Kaede-chan made red beans and rice for us to celebrate and gave us our first pads. Your sister even came over to take pictures. How could you not remember that?"
Mahiro was still reeling from this. It was getting to be too much.
"Another red flag." Mahiro thought. "She's describing something that never happened, and even so it couldn't have happened. I hadn't been transformed into a girl yet when these events supposedly happened. This is too surreal. No more fooling around. I have to get to the bottom of this."
"Mahiro-chan?" Momiji asked.
Mahiro suddenly snapped out of it and gripped her bag.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I just remembered that I have something to do at home, so I really gotta get going. See you tomorrow"
Mahiro took off running at full speed towards her house. Soon she was out of sight.
Momiji and Miyo blinked and looked at each other. Momiji looked away and narrowed her eyes in thought.
"What's up with her all of a sudden?" Momiji thought to herself. "Mahiro-chan is really acting weird today."
Mahiro raced through the many sidewalks to get to her house. Fortunately, her new stamina came in handy. Even so, she was so panic stricken that she felt as exhausted as she usually did by the time she reached her house. She quickly opened the door and left her shoes by the front step.
"Okay, I need to figure out the rest of the things that are different in this world and try to get to the bottom of them." Mahiro said.
She started to head into the living room when a thought crossed her mind.
"Maybe I should change out of my uniform first."
Mahiro headed upstairs to her room so she could get changed. Upon opening her door and turning on her light, she nearly flipped out of her skin.
"What the hell?" She yelled out loud.
Even though this was her room, as indicated by the sign on the door, Mahiro may have easily just walked into the room of a complete stranger. One thing was very clear to her, this was not the room she had grown up in for the last twenty or so years.
Gone were the many posters of harem anime and the shelves filled with old game consoles, magazines, and sealed figurines. In their place were numerous stuffed animals, similar to the ones that Mihari collected, only fluffier. The room was painted a bright red color, with a lavender carpet on the floor. In one corner, there was a table with a vanity mirror and several makeup tools lined up.
"There's a makeup table in my room!" Mahiro screamed internally.
Mahiro's room also lacked the TV used for playing games, but her computer and screen was still in the same place it had always been. Through the open closet, Mahiro could see that it was filled to the brim with girl's clothing. Normally, this wouldn't be considered unusual, but the amount in there far surpassed the meager amount that Mahiro had received from Mihari over the past several months. Only someone who had been a girl all her life would've had this much, and it got Mahiro worried.
As Mahiro backed up in terror, she noticed that her bookshelf full of manga was still there and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, at least there's one part of my life that remains the same here. Good to know."
As Mahiro's eyes scanned the bookshelf. She realized that she didn't see any of her favorites. In fact, she didn't recognize a single volume of manga on the shelf.
"What is all this stuff? I don't remember buying any of this."
Mahiro took a single volume off the shelf to look at it. It was a manga issue titled Savory Days Beneath the Sun.
"Wonder what it is?"
Mahiro opened the book to a random page, then dropped it in terror. It had only been a brief glimpse, but she knew what she saw. This was a yaoi, or BL (boy-love) story; the one genre she feared more than anything else. She would never have this, only a real girl would ever be interested in this stuff. And where there was one, there was bound to be more. It was likely that the entire shelf was filled with these kinds of stories, and that was why Mahiro didn't recognize any of them.
"Why would I have this?" she wondered. "This makes no sense. None of this makes any sense."
Mahiro did her best to hold back her tears as she changed into some more casual attire consisting of a white shirt and light brown skirt. They brought her some momentary comfort as they were identical to a set she had in her own world. They may have been girl's clothes, but at least she recognized them. Most of the stuff in that closet was stuff she didn't recognize, and she was not ready to journey down that rabbit hole just yet.
After she got changed, Mahiro lay back in her bed and stared up at the ceiling trying to make sense of all this.
"I feel like my head's gonna explode." she said. "All these weird changes that have happened today. I'm definitely in another world, but I still can't find any common link between all of them. I know I'm athletic here, Mihari goes to high school, Asahi isn't as innocent even though she appears to maintain it, and my room looks like that of an ordinary girl."
She sighed as she tried to gather her thoughts together.
"On top of that, my friends are mentioning life altering events that never happened. Events that couldn't have happened. I can't remember them, so I can't possibly understand what they are supposed to mean."
Mahiro closed her eyes for a few seconds. All of a sudden, she remembered a few things that she had heard earlier.
"Oh yeah," she said, "this one's going in the album."
"Your sister even came over to take pictures. How could you not remember that?"
Mahiro sat up in a hurry.
"That's it." Mahiro yelled. "Mihari has a photo album. If she took photos of that party, there must surely be others. Maybe it can shed some light on all of it. I've got to find that album."
Mahiro raced downstairs to the living room. She knew that their mother had once created an album, but she didn't know where to look.
"Hmm," she thought. "If I was a photo album, where would I be placed?"
Her eyes scanned across the room, until they came across a wooden cabinet in the corner.
"Bingo." she said.
Mahiro opened the cabinet, and sure enough there was a photo album. She quickly pulled it out and placed it on the table. Sitting down on the couch, she began to nervously shake, very fearful of what dark truths lay in the photo album.
"Maybe I shouldn't." She said. "No, I can't back down now. I need to uncover the secrets of these differences and figure out what they all mean."
Mahiro gulped a bit, and began to leaf through the album.
The first picture made her blood run cold. It was an image of a younger Mihari, likely aged four or five years old, standing next to a smiling girl who looked to be no older than one year old. The girl had the same colored hair as Mahiro.
"Oh no." Mahiro said in horror.
The photos continued much the same as the previous ones. There were photographs of Mihari playing with this younger girl, and as both girls continued to grow up, the younger girl looked ever more and more like Mahiro until it was obvious that they were one and the same.
Mahiro felt like she wanted to die.
"This can't be. It's just not possible."
Eventually, the photographs stopped containing Mihari and started focusing almost exclusively on Mahiro. There were many events including birthdays, field days, family outings, and even the party that Momiji mentioned. That event had a photo of Mahiro and Momiji holding their first pads as Kaede explained what they were for. Both girls looked completely embarrassed while Kaede couldn't hold back her laughter. Mahiro felt exactly the same way as she likely did in the picture; embarrassed and confused.
"None of this ever happened. It couldn't have."
As Mahiro said this, the photo album pages fell back to reveal an earlier picture that froze Mahiro in place. Holding it closer to her face, Mahiro saw that it was a picture of her mother and Miharii in the hospital. Her mother was holding a baby with the same color hair as her. Underneath the picture was a caption written in black ink:
The day of the birth of my lovely daughter Mahiro Oyama. Born March 6, 20-.
The last two digits of the year were covered by Mahiro's thumb. Mahiro was terrified. She was starting to understand, but didn't want to accept it.
"I have to see what the year is, then I'll know for sure."
Slowly, Mahiro began to remove her thumb from the caption. Upon seeing it, she fell backwards on the couch in horror.
"It all makes sense now." Mahiro exclaimed. "This isn't just a parallel world. It's a world where I was never Mihari's older brother. Instead, I was actually born as and grew up as Mihari's little sister right from the start."
Mahiro felt her heart pounding. Her nerves were at their limit. This was just too much to take in. It was the stuff of pure nightmares, and the kind of scenario that she feared more than anything. Actually being Mihari's little sister was something terrifying, and her mind just couldn't process it.
All of a sudden, Mahiro became extremely tired and felt herself falling backwards. As her head hit the couch cushions, she let the sweet darkness envelop her completely as she drifted off to sleep.
End of Chapter 2
4/14/2024
Special thanks to my Patrons: Homura VanRoyen, sudowiki
Thanks for reading the second chapter of my story. I decided to post the first two chapters right from the get go so you can get a feel for the actual story itself.
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