Chapter 1: Mahiro of Two Worlds

SEVERAL YEARS AGO

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

"It's okay Mrs. Oyama, you're doing fine. Just keep breathing. That baby will be coming out of you very soon."

"Thank goodness." Mrs. Oyama replied. "How long has it been?"

"Seventeen hours." the doctor replied. "I know it may seem long, but I've seen some women stay in labor for two or three days without delivering. You're honestly way ahead of them even if this is taking quite a while."

"I'm sorry," Mrs. Oyama replied, "it's just that my first child didn't take nearly so long to come out."

The doctor couldn't help but look over at the small child at the other side of the bed that was holding onto Mrs. Oyama's arm.

"Mommy, is it time yet?"

"Not yet sweetie," the doctor replied, "but it's very soon. I promise."

"I'm just so happy. I'm going to have a little brother or sister. Though I really hope it's a sister."

"I've been in this job for twelve years and I see so many kids that would rather stay their family's only child." the doctor said. "It's nice to see such a young one like yourself who wants to welcome another member of their family into the world."

Mrs. Oyama started groaning in pain again.

"Okay Mrs. Oyama, here it comes again. Just breathe carefully, and push."

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Mrs. Oyama cried out.

The doctor looked between Mrs. Oyama's legs once again.

"Okay, you're fully dilated. I think it's about time to have this baby. Just keep breathing."

Mrs. Oyama inhaled and exhaled as she tried to get her breathing under control.

"Okay, get ready. It's starting to crown. When I tell you to push, you push."

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Mrs. Oyama cried out as she let out an extremely long scream.

"Here it comes, here it comes."

All of a sudden, a baby's crying could be heard throughout the entire room. Mrs. Oyama looked up with a sense of relief while the child next to her started smiling.

"Is it here?" the child asked.

"Yep," The doctor said.

"Well, what is it?" the child asked.

The doctor held up the baby to check the sex, and said "it's a girl."

"Wow, wow, wow!" the child cried out. "I have a little sister."

The doctor glanced up at the clock.

"Time of birth, 3:35 PM." The doctor then wrapped the baby in a blanket and placed her in Mrs. Oyama's arms.

"Hi baby." Mrs Oyama said while looking at her new daughter. "Come over here sweetie, come and see your new sister."

The child leaned over to look at the baby, and instantly fell in love with her. The baby girl was so small, but extremely cute. Despite just having been born, she had a full head of extremely short but pretty hair, coupled with bright brown sparkling eyes that seemed to light up the room. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"You know that as her older sibling, it'll be your job to protect her and look out for her."

"I know Mommy, but I'm more than happy to do that. I will always protect her."

There was a few minutes of silence as the two looked at the beautiful bundle of joy that had just come into the world.

"Have you thought of a name?"

"Yeah," Mrs. Oyama replied. "Mihari, I'd like you to say hi to your new baby sister Mahiro."

"Hi Mahiro." Mihari spoke. "I promise you that I'll be the best big sister you could ever ask for."

Mother and daughter smiled and giggled at that statement, and Mahiro started to giggle as well. It seemed as if she was eager to join in on the conversation with her family.

---

PRESENT DAY

Mahiro walked along the sidewalk on her way home surrounded by her best friends. They typically walked home together since they were all so close.

To the left of her was Asahi. She had a look of relief that school was out, coupled with one of eagerness for whatever adventure she would set herself out on before reaching home. Despite being Mahiro's opposite in almost every way, Mahiro really enjoyed Asahi's company. Asahi may have been a bit on the dumb side, but she was always honest, cheerful, and extremely caring about everyone and everything she came across. With Asahi, you could truly be yourself, as she never cared about things like labels or hobbies. Regardless of what you did, she would love you all the same. If it wasn't for her, Mahiro wouldn't have been able to relax so quickly when she first met her and Miyo.

Speaking of Miyo, she was on Mahiro's right side, directly behind her. Miyo was one of the more even tempered and rational of Mahiro's circle of friends. Just like Mahiro, she wasn't very athletic. Her biggest trait was her absolute arousal when it came to girl-on-girl, or yuri, situations. Anytime she saw two girls interacting physically, she couldn't help but get aroused. She even had a habit of playfully shipping her friends together into non-existent relationships. Mahiro found her habits a bit strange, but the two were still very close. Miyo had even opened up Mahiro to the world of yuri manga. Out of respect for Miyo's wishes, Mahiro kept their shared love of the genre a secret.

Then there was Momiji, who was walking directly next to Mahiro on the right side. Momiji had a special bond with Mahiro, as she was the first one of their circle of friends to befriend her. Mahiro had already met up a few times with Momiji's older sister Kaede before the two met themselves, and even then they met by sheer coincidence. They formed a bond before either one knew the other's identity, and once they found out they were eager to meet up again. After they met up a few times, it was Momiji who introduced Mahiro to Asahi and Miyo and allowed them to become such a tight-knit circle of friends.

There was more to Momiji's relationship with Mahiro than meets the eye, however. Momiji treasured her friendship with Mahiro so much that she always acted differently towards her than anyone else. Momiji loved it when Mahiro paid attention to her, and got strangely jealous and competitive when Mahiro paid attention to someone else. In addition to that, Momiji would always do her best to hang out with Mahiro without Asahi and Miyo. Granted this wasn't unusual, but Momiji really seemed to treasure the moments that she hung out with Mahiro. Aside from a few awkward encounters they had gone through, nothing had ever happened to suggest that they were anything more than best friends. It seemed like things were unlikely to change, and Mahiro was more than happy to keep it that way as she treasured her friendship with Momiji as well.

"Can you guys believe that test we had today?" Miyo asked.

"Yeah," Momiji replied. "I hope I did okay. What about you Mahiro-chan?"

"Hmm." Mahiro thought. "I guess I did okay. There were a few questions that tripped me up though."

"Yeah, me too." Momiji remarked with a slightly embarrassed smile. "I don't even want to think about how Asahi must feel."

Turning their heads, they could see Asahi in her typical lethargic state that came with taking tests. She was usually so energetic and outgoing, but tests were her one weakness. When she took them, she lost all that energy and acted nothing like her normal self.

Seeing her like this always made Mahiro want to help her feel better. She used to be the same way during her first go-around in middle school and always felt bad seeing such an energetic friend get like this. Mahiro walked up to Asahi and hugged her tight.

"It's okay Asahi. We'll always be here for you regardless of what happens. Who needs such a silly test anyway." As she said this, Mahiro pet Asahi's hair from behind.

Soon after this, Asahi looked up and Mahiro stopped hugging her. Mahiro could see that Asahi was feeling better, as the energy had returned to her face along with her smile.

"Mahiron, I'm so happy that we're friends. Let's go have some fun."

As she finished saying this, Asahi grabbed Mahiro's hand and started running with her down the street.

"Wait, where are we…?" Mahiro said. She then sighed a bit. This was the pitfall when it came to Asahi. She was always looking for a new adventure, and when she was at her peak she was equally eager to drag everyone else along. There was nothing that could be done at this point except to go along for the ride. A classic Asahi maneuver.

"Hey, wait for us." Momiji cried out as she and Miyo followed them.

As everyone followed closely behind Asahi, Mahiro knew that this was going to be a long afternoon. Still, she couldn't help but smile at the way things had turned out.

For the first twenty years of her life, she was Mahiro Oyama, avid gamer and eroge lover as well as the older brother of Mihari. Several months ago though, she had been transformed into Mihari's younger sister and had been given a second go-around in life as a middle-school aged girl. As a boy, she had always felt useless, as she never had any friends and was always compared negatively to Mihari who was a prodigy at everything she did. Nowadays, she had tons of friends, and could easily live her new life any way she wanted without fear of rejection. Her friends had no idea about who she truly was, and she was determined to make sure that that didn't change anytime soon.

Despite a lingering fear that her friends might find out the truth about her someday, she still loved her new life and wouldn't give it up for anything.

---

After a few hours of fun shenanigans with her friends, Mahiro bid them farewell and started the trek back to her house. In no time at all, she found herself opening the door and breathing a slight sigh of relief that she could finally relax.

"I'm home." Mahiro cried out.

As she walked into the living room, Mahiro saw Mihari lying on the couch reading a copy of Science Magazine. Mihari looked up from her magazine and immediately smiled.

"Welcome back, Onii-chan." she spoke. "How was your day?"

Mahiro placed her bag on the couch and sat down before answering.

"School was okay I guess." Mahiro answered. "That test we had today was a bit tricky though. I think I did okay though."

"Oh?" Mihari said with a smile. "So you think that you might at least get a 'B' this time?"

"Stop teasing me!" Mahiro said with a bit of resentment. "You of all people should remember what it was like to be in my shoes."

Mihari put down her magazine.

"When I was in your shoes, Onii-chan, I always got perfect grades and was at the top of my class."

Mahiro felt a bit depressed upon hearing this and dropped her head.

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

"Even so," Mihari said. "you know deep down that it doesn't matter in the end. After all, the purpose of the experiment is for you to start enjoying life again. I'd say that that part at the very least has been successful."

Mahiro smiled a bit and lifted her head back up.

"Yeah, you're right about that much at least."

"Glad to hear it." Mihari said. "Now, dinner's just about ready, so why don't we eat, and then you can take a bath before relaxing?"

"Totally!" Mahiro exclaimed.

The dinner that the two siblings sat through lacked any significant conversation. Mihari tended to ask Mahiro about how her friends were and what they planned on doing the next day, but she had slowed down on the latter since Mahiro pointed out that they very rarely made future plans when they hung out together. Mihari also mentioned how Kaede would be coming over on Saturday to study, which made Mahiro very happy.

Mahiro had come to enjoy these times that she spent with Mihari every evening. For more than two years, she had stayed in her room almost all the time and never felt the urge to speak to Mihari. Mihari had been somewhat forceful in getting Mahiro to accept a new routine once she had transformed her into a girl, but Mahiro had realized that it was for the best in the end. Now she got up earlier, she took better care of herself, and she felt good as well. This dinner conversation was one such routine that allowed the two to grow closer, and it always made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

After dinner was finished and the dishes were cleaned and put away, Mahiro grabbed her pajamas and went to take a bath. As she settled in the tub, she felt a deep sense of peace and tranquility and smiled.

"Now this is one of the best parts of being a girl. Taking a nice long soak after dinner relaxes every source of tension one gets from the day."

Once Mahiro had had enough, she got out of the bath, dried herself off, and changed into her pajamas. Afterwards, she headed upstairs to start her favorite part of the night: game time.

This was the lingering aspect of her old life; playing games. She couldn't get excited by her eroge games like she used to, and they as such now occupied a dusty pile in her closet. Instead, she played more traditional games that she always loved such as the Lost Quest and Last Fantasia series. She had been particularly happy to have found Yuta and Minato, two boys in her class that loved games as much as she did. She did have to be careful when talking to them though. They weren't retrogamers like she was, and as a result she tended to slip up in conversation when discussing her love of certain titles. Fortunately, they didn't suspect anything. Imagine their reaction if they found out that the girl their age who was into the same things they were was actually an adult man. Mahiro could do nothing but shudder at the thought.

Mahiro quickly booted up her game and started playing. She would have to get a lot done with what little time she had. Back in the day, she tended to pull all nighters when she played her games. Since she wasn't in school at the time it wasn't a problem, but now that she was back in school she had to be careful. It wouldn't be a problem though. She would play for a few hours before the daily reminder came in to tell her to go to sleep.

After several hours of playing, the reminder came right on schedule. Mihari, wearing her pajamas, opened Mahiro's door.

"Go to bed, Onii-chan."

Mahiro groaned a bit.

"Okay."

Mihari closed the door.

Mahiro yawned a bit as the door closed.

"I guess it is getting late. I guess I should go to bed. After all, the game will still be here when I get up tomorrow."

Mahiro put her game system away, turned out the lights, and crawled into bed. As she settled under the covers, she closed her eyes and smiled.

"Man, what a great day. I can't imagine what tomorrow might bring."

After what seemed like an eternity, she managed to fall asleep.

---

Maki paused the screen on his viewing globe as he watched Mahiro go to sleep. It had been such an interesting experience once again seeing such a display go down.

Maki was like so many other gods, an immortal being that used to lavish attention from mortals by demanding tribute from them as well as their constant worship. Like all the other gods however, he had eventually grown tired of such treatment. Experiencing the same thing over and over again had gotten to be a bore for him and the other gods that continued to exist. As such, many had left their status as gods behind to indulge in the simpler pleasures that the mortal world had to offer. Some had decided to become mortal themselves and lived limited lifespans before dying out. Others had ventured to other planes of reality to experience new treatment at the hands of mortals from such realities. Maki, on the other hand, had chosen a much different path for himself, that of a watcher.

For the longest time, Maki had been unaware of the existence of the multiverse; the idea of there being an infinite number of realities with infinite possibilities for differences between them. After he submitted his application to give up his status as a god, he had originally intended to settle down with a young woman he had fallen in love with on the world he ruled over, only for her to die of a sudden illness before all the paperwork was filed. Needing a change of pace, he was informed about the vast nature of the multiverse and immediately got intrigued. Being exposed to the natures of alternate realities, he realized that this was what he wanted to do for all of eternity.

As a watcher, he was given the job of monitoring different realities for research purposes. Doing so had introduced him to the idea of chaos theory; the idea that even a small difference between two realities can have a massive impact on how those realities develop. It was so intriguing to see such differences as they developed, and he as a result had grown fond of viewing the lives of mortals from different realities as they progressed. Using the viewing globe he possessed, he could view the entire lifespan of these individuals as well as those they were close to in multiple realities simultaneously. At first, he had been interested in viewing alternate versions of the woman he fell in love with that hadn't died from the sudden illness. Eventually, all versions of her passed on naturally, so he had changed his focus on random individuals. Typically, his research would last a few weeks before he would choose another random person to focus on, as few managed to keep his attention for any longer than that.

Recently though, the random individual of choice that he had stumbled across had managed to grab his attention for the last several months. That individual was Mahiro Oyama. What Maki found intriguing about Mahiro was the fact that in the first reality he found with one, Mahiro had been an adult man that was transformed into a middle-school aged girl by his prodigy of a younger sister; Mihari. The fact that a mortal could do something like this was beyond intriguing. One typically had to be a Class 10 sorcerer or Grade B God in order to perform such magic, but Mihari Oyama had managed to find a way to do it with the simple objects found only in her own reality.

Watching Mahiro navigate through her new life as a girl was enjoyable to say the least. As a result, Maki had grown to spend almost all his time in the office so he could continue monitoring Mahiro's growth from there. He had gotten so intrigued by Mahiro's development that he began searching for alternate versions of them that shared such a trait.

Unfortunately, this reality with Mahiro as a girl was one that had only branched off recently, so there was not much in the way of alternate versions of Mahiro that yet existed. Typically, the development of a character such as her would need to be completed before branching pathways could begin forming around the primary path that had already existed. However, he had managed to find an alternate version of Mahiro that grabbed his interest. It was a version that involved coincidental overlapping realities; realities that began much different, but by chance had a single common trait that allowed them to follow similar paths. These were, sometimes, even more intriguing than branching realities.

As Maki began to bring up the viewing globe again, a large individual began to walk up to him from behind.

"Well Maki," a deep booming voice said behind him, "still looking at the life of that Oyama kid are you?"

Maki recognized the voice and turned around. It was his supervisor Nash. Nash was typically an easygoing and friendly person, especially when he invited you out for drinks after a long shift. At the same time, he was an excellent boss. He was an extraordinarily organized person who regularly checked in with all his employees and made sure that they were focused and doing their jobs correctly. Every century or so, he would even offer a promotion to someone who was working hard. Maki was never offered one, but he wouldn't want it anyway. If he couldn't be with his long lost love, he would rather research alternate realities and lives. It was a perfectly okay job, and he was happy to stay at it for the rest of his unending life since it had never once managed to get boring.

"Hey Nash." Maki said. "Yeah, I've been studying up on Mahiro Oyama's life. That includes this other coincidental overlapping reality where she exists in a similar, yet also much different, state."

"Really?" Nash asked. "Let me see that."

Maki proceeded to open images from both realities on the viewing globe, as well as the pathways that each reality took when focused on Mahiro. It didn't take long for Nash to also grow fascinated at how close two realities like this could go despite having started so far apart from one another.

"That is very impressive, Maki." Nash said. "You've always been one of the most dedicated watchers on my staff. You should be proud of all the hard work you've done during your 13,287 years at this position."

"I try my best, sir." Maki replied.

"Yes, but anyway onto why I am here." Nash spoke.

"Okay, why are you here, sir?" Maki asked.

"I've been a bit concerned about a shortage of personal time in your schedule, especially since you started The Oyama Project." Nash answered.

Nash was confused but didn't say anything.

"Lately, it seems like all you've been doing is work, and it's gotten me a bit concerned."

"Sir," Maki insisted. "I've been a hard worker for centuries. It doesn't matter that I almost never take time off. I did tell you this before. Without her, there's no reason for me to put myself out there. I'll never love anyone the way I loved her, and if working is the only thing left for me I'm more than happy to do that."

"Oh that's right," Nash said, "Vira was it? That girl you wanted to grow old and die with as a mortal before she suddenly died and you couldn't do anything about it?"

"That's right, sir." Maki said.

The fact was that Maki really hadn't been able to do anything about it at the time. Gods may be gods, but there are laws and conventions that they all must follow. When you do work, regardless of where it is, you earn experience that boosts your status and gives you permission to do certain things. When Vira had gotten sick, Maki wasn't yet at the necessary status needed to cure terminal illnesses. In fact, he was so far behind that it had taken another 4000 years of work before he reached that specific level. He had processed paperwork to request a god of a higher status to help, but the processing took so long that Vira was dead by the time it was approved. He had long since resigned himself to his failure, especially as he didn't have the status to file a reality transfer form, so he had just thrown himself into his work.

"What does that have to do with anything, sir?" Maki asked.

"Well, you see," Nash spoke, "One of the higher ups owes me a favor, and I put in a request for you to get your 'Ference' license."

Maki was dumbfounded. At his level? With his qualifications? It almost seemed too good to be true.

"Sir, are you serious?" Maki asked.

"Completely." Nash answered. "I've already filled out the paperwork, and all I need to do is send it on up and you'll finally get it after all this time."

Maki felt himself overflowing with joy. A 'Ference' license allowed for gods to be given the permission to interfere in alternate realities. As long as they didn't reveal themselves directly, they could move certain objects around, fix problems that would otherwise be unsolvable, and even create branching realities on a whim. It was what almost every god dreamed of doing, but normally you'd have to be a level 97 angel in order to be granted such powers. A 'Ference' license was a way for lower statused gods to receive the powers, typically due to good behavior and an inherent desire to make good things happen. They weren't given out lightly, so this must've meant that Maki was truly deserving.

Maki immediately began shaking Nash's right hand with both of his own.

"Thank you, sir. You don't know how much this means to me. I promise that I'll make you proud."

"Well, that's the thing." Nash said. "You can't actually receive it yet."

"What, why not?" Maki asked, a bit disappointed.

"Look, no one is ever told this so you have to keep it a secret. Even though these licenses are granted, one cannot receive them without completing a specialized test first."

"A test?" Maki asked.

"Of course." Nash answered. "What, you think they'd just grant reality altering powers to someone who hadn't proved themselves worthy of them first?"

Maki remained silent for a moment before continuing.

"No, I guess that makes sense. After all, someone irresponsible might do some major harm with them that would have lasting repercussions."

"Exactly." Nash said. "Luckily for you, they've assigned me to oversee the test that you'll be given. They wanted me to give you a random assignment, but I convinced them that your recent interest in the Oyama study might prove to be a better test of your worthiness."

"So wait," Maki said, "my test will involve the two Mahiro Oyamas that I've uncovered from alternate realities?"

"Correct." Nash answered. "Based on your current progress reports, we've noticed the key similarities between both versions of Mahiro Oyama, but also the fact that there is not currently much room for growth between them on either side. Your goal, should you choose to accept it, is to find a way for both characters to grow by becoming aware of the others' existence. This is a case study in seeing how interactions between realities can prove beneficial even though these realities theoretically would never otherwise cross. As part of the restrictions, you can make a few key changes to each reality, but not in a way that directly alters the pathways of both Mahiros once the changes are made. You have a few weeks to make that growth happen. Once your assigned time is up, compile a progress report and write a research paper based on the report. Once it is completed, you will orally present the results of your work to the higher ups who will then determine whether or not to give you the license. Do you understand everything I've said to you?"

Maki took a few seconds to take that all in. It seemed like he would be given permission to interfere, but to encourage such growth in a few weeks might prove difficult. This would prove to be a tricky assignment indeed.

Any yet, the end goal was what really counted. If he got a 'Ference' license, he could create a branching pathway to recreate the world where he and Vira fell in love and also use this authority to free her of her illness. After that, he could give up his status as a god and live a simple and mortal life with her until they both died of old age. It was what he had always wanted, and regardless of the risk anything was worth it to get there.

"Okay, sir. I accept."

"Excellent." Nash exclaimed. "Now, I'll get everything set up for you in cubicle 1098-B. I suggest you go to the break room, drink some tea, and think long and hard about how you're going to go about this. If you do anything wrong initially, it'll be very hard to fix it down the road."

Without saying a word, Maki went to the break room. It was always a calm and relaxing place. Being a god had its advantages, especially if the floor manager had a 'Creati' license. With that, you could put in a request for any kind of drink or delicacy from any reality and make it appear whenever you wanted. In terms of tea, a nice cup of black tea from Earth 3406-A seemed like a nice idea. As soon as it appeared in the cup and got to an appropriate temperature, Maki took it to a nearby seat and began to ponder what he would do.

The fact was that he had no idea what he was working with, so it might be hard to figure out what to do. Even so, it seemed like the higher-ups were expecting him to do something specific. It seemed like this was intended as a thought experiment that would test his ability to create a puzzle and get others to solve it in just the right way. There could be a million ways to properly create the puzzle, but it would need to be assembled in a way that made sense and would be easy enough to figure out. But what could he possibly do to make that happen?

"I have to make both Mahiros aware of each other's existence and make them grow because of it. If so, that would mean that they need to accept the ideas of each other's realities. But how to make it happen?"

All of a sudden, a flash of inspiration came to Maki.

"I got it!" he exclaimed.

A few minutes later, he headed down the long hallway to cubicle 1098-A. Opening the door, he saw Nash standing near an extra-large viewing globe with a reality altering interface touchpad. As soon as the door closed, Nash turned around and smiled.

"Oh Maki, good to see you. Please, come and sit down at the globe."

Maki walked over and looked at the controls for the interface. There were two large pads sitting side by side with a checked pattern across them. In front of them was a large bin full of various small statues that looked like chess pieces. All of these things were hooked up to the viewing globe which was calibrated to view into multiple realities simultaneously.

"As you can see, this will be your workstation for the test." Nash explained. "You've been granted a temporary 'Ference' license that will allow you to make changes only to these two realities. Remember, you can make a select number of changes and alter them as much as you need to before the test begins, but after it begins you will only be able to have limited interactions with both realities. Both universes have been synched up for reality and world date and time, so there won't be any problems there. You have a few weeks from when the test begins to make the change. We cannot tell you what that change is, but we can assume that you will figure it out based on the information you've been given and from what you've already previously observed. To begin the test, press the large red button on the back of the viewing globe. If you finish early, press the button again and an alarm will sound notifying us of the test's completion. The alarm will automatically ring when you run out of time. Do you understand everything I've said to you?"

After a moment, Maki answered.

"I do."

"Excellent." Nash said. "Okay, I'll leave you to get prepared before you begin the test. Once the test begins, just watch that countdown timer on the wall to know how much time you have remaining. Remember, there's no fast-forwarding allowed, so you'll have to monitor both realities in real time. Though given your current level of experience as a watcher, I sincerely doubt that you'll find that part difficult."

"Yeah." Maki replied.

"Perfect." Nash answered. "Well then, I'll see you in a few weeks. Good luck."

Nash closed the door, and Maki could hear him locking it from the outside. Now Maki was sealed in, and he wouldn't be let out until the test was completed.

With that all set and done, it was time to set up the alterations to both realities. By using the various tokens in the bin and setting them on the touchpads, certain objects in each reality could be assigned and subsequent alterations to those objects could be made. It was important to label them before beginning, as it could otherwise be hard to follow each object as it moved through each reality.

Maki took out two large figure tokens that were shaped like obscure solid hourglasses with sharp, hardened edges and a smaller top side than the bottom. He placed each figure in the center of both touchpads. Going to the left touchpad, he focused the viewing globe's attention on a sleeping Mahiro and synched up the figure with her. Pressing the top of the figure, a small holographic message board appeared above it. Using his keyboard, Maki typed in the name that would be used to identify this Mahiro.

Mahiro Oyama ️

Satisfied with the pairing, he repeated the process on the other figure. This time, he synched it up with a different sleeping Mahiro and typed in this one's identifier.

Mahiro Oyama ️

"Okay, now that they've been properly synched up, it's time for the moment of truth." Maki exclaimed.

Taking his nails, he burrowed into a small ridge near the bottom of the top side of one of the figures and removed a smaller version of the top. Repeating the process with the other figure, he then proceeded to place each top part in the opposite figure that they came from. Two small clicks was all he needed to hear to know that the procedure had been done successfully. Now that that was out of the way, there were still a few key pieces that needed to be placed for the test to be set up successfully.

As he set up the extra pieces, Maki couldn't help but think of the work that he was about to do, as well as the ultimate end result that would occur.

"Man, if I can pass the test by doing what they ask, I'll finally be able to live my life with Vira like I always wanted. It almost feels like a dream come true."

Maki could feel a tear roll down his face. Looking at the touchpads, everything was correctly arranged. He double and triple checked everything to be certain. Like Nash said, once the test began there would be no room for do-overs, so he needed to ensure that everything was done correctly. Fortunately, everything was in place, and it was finally time to begin the test.

Walking around to the other side of the viewing globe, Maki hovered his hand over the button to start the test, but resisted pushing it for just a second. He started to wonder in his head if this was right. He had never directly interfered with other realities before, and somehow interfering with the life of an individual like Mahiro Oyama seemed a bit wrong. Mahiro in both realties seemed to have a perfect life, and messing with it even temporarily seemed like a bad idea. Maki quickly shook his head at the thought though.

"No, I can't back down. It may be a bit selfish and wrong, but I know that Mahiro can figure it out. Regardless of reality, Mahiro has a quiet strength that can propel her through any challenge. I'm sure that she'll be just fine."

With that off his mind, Maki pressed the button. Once he did, the lights in the room dimmed and the base of the viewing globe began to light up. The touchpads and the pieces on them began to emit a green aura. Seeing this, Maki sat back down and watched the changes unfold on the viewing globe. As he leaned back in his chair, he let out a small smile.

"Let the games begin."

---

Mahiro was sleeping comfortably in her bed. In her head, she was dreaming of the games she loved to play, and new ways that she could beat them. To her, it was absolute bliss that would make this a good night's sleep.

All of a sudden, she started to feel a bit strange. It felt as if she was being pulled away. Away from what she couldn't say, but it felt like she was being forced somewhere else. This feeling of being pulled caused a spiral of colorful images to play about through her mind as she kept being pulled further and further back.

Abruptly, the sensation stopped and Mahiro realized that she was awake, albeit with her eyes closed. Trying to process this, Mahiro realized that she must've been having a nightmare.

"Wow, what a weird dream. Oh well. I'd better try to get back to sleep before I have to wake up in the morning."

Mahiro snuggled further under the covers. After awhile, she finally managed to get back to sleep.

End of Part 1

---

4/14/2024

Special thanks to my Patrons: Homura VanRoyen, sudowiki

Thanks for reading the first chapter of my first original story. I have become such a fan of this series since the anime launched in January 2023, and I am now seeking to create a truly awesome fic set in that world.

If you enjoy what you've seen so far and you're interested in seeing more, please consider supporting me on my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/JackFu727). Your support will give me the resources to write more often, and anyone who contributes will be have their name appear in a 'special thanks' section of all future stories that I write

Please feel free to like, comment, and subscribe and stick around for Chapter 2 coming soon.

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.

If you enjoy what you've seen so far and you're interested in seeing more, consider supporting me on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/JackFu727). Your support will give me the resources to write more often, and anyone who contributes will be have their name appear in a 'special thanks' section of all future stories that I write.

Please feel free to like, comment, and subscribe and stick around for Chapter 3 coming soon.

Chapter 3: An Evening With Mihari

"Mahiro-chan? Mahiro-chan, are you awake?" a voice called out.

Mahiro let out a yawn and slowly opened her eyes. She could see Mihari's face directly in front of her. As her eyes fully opened, Mihari began to smile.

"Oh thank goodness." Mihari exclaimed. "I thought something bad might've happened or something, but it seems you just got overwhelmed looking through all the happy moments of our lives and fell asleep."

"What?" Mahiro asked.

All of a sudden, Mahiro remembered everything that happened. She remembered seeing the photo album, as well as the horrifying revelation that she was trapped in a world where she had grown up as Mihari's little sister. Seeing Mihari in her high school uniform only cemented the feeling of terror that accompanied that revelation. Mahiro began to panic again and backed up on the couch, intent on getting as far away from this stranger as possible.

Mihari became confused at Mahiro's reaction.

"C'mon sis," she said. "What's gotten into you today?"

"Stay away from me." Mahiro yelled. "This is just way too overwhelming."

Mihari remained silent for a few moments and looked very puzzled. She then brought back her smile and began to move in closer.

"Oh, I get it." she said. "You must be feeling overwhelmed again. Well, I know what'll make it all better."

Mahiro leered in terror as Mihari outstretched her arms and continued to lean in close.

"Oh, this is it." Mahiro screamed internally. "This is how I die. At the hands of a stranger who looks just like my little sister."

Mahiro closed her eyes to prepare for death, only to feel a warm embrace come over her instead. Opening her eyes, she realized that Mihari was hugging her again, just as she had done this morning. As much as Mahiro was confused, that feeling was dissipated by the comforting feeling that accompanied the hug. Mahiro stopped trying to fight it and closed her eyes to take it all in. She couldn't help but smile as she felt so close to Mihari.

"She may not be my Mihari, but this feels so good coming from her. I just wish my sister back home could be this affectionate with me. It feels nice having such a loving onee-chan."

As Mihari broke off the hug, she noticed that Mahiro appeared to have tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Mihari asked.

"I'm sorry." Mahiro answered. "It's just, this feels so nice. I don't think I've ever felt as close to you as I just did."

"What are you talking about, Mahiro-chan?" Mihari asked. "We do this all the time. I've been doing it with you ever since you were born."

Mahiro looked down and remained silent for a few seconds. She soon looked back up.

"Onee-chan," Mahiro said. "Do you believe in the existence of alternate worlds?"

Mihari was a bit startled by the question, but it was nonetheless one that she could answer easily.

"How so?" she asked.

"Well," Mahiro continued, "in the sense of multiple worlds existing that are similar but also different in key aspects. For example, worlds where certain paths stemming from choices diverged in opposite directions, or where someone you know acts in a completely different way from what you consider to be ordinary. Even worlds where your sister goes to a different school, or you yourself were born as a boy instead of a girl."

"Mahiro-chan," Mihari said. "I understand what you're saying. But why are you telling me all this? What does this have to do with anything?"

Mahiro closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"If I'm gonna come out and say it, I have to do it all in one shot. Just like ripping off a band-aid."

"Mihari, I'm not the Mahiro you're familiar with." Mahiro said.

"What?" Mihari asked.

"As hard as it may seem to believe, I come from a much different world than this. I just woke up this morning and found myself here. At first I wasn't even aware that this wasn't my world, but I came to this conclusion after seeing a great deal of differences in many of the people I typically interact with, you included."

Mihari was a bit taken back by this. How could anything possibly be different, especially on her?

"Wait a sec." she said. "I did my daily routine today just as I always do. How am I different from the way that you remember me?"

"Your school uniform is a dead giveaway for starters." Mahiro exclaimed.

"Huh? My uniform?" Mihari asked.

"Yes." Mahiro said. "My Mihari wears a uniform of her own, but you can hardly call it a uniform. It's better described as a certain outfit that you wear every single day because you hate wearing anything different. Plus, it's definitely not a high school uniform since you're no longer in high school."

"Wait, slow down." Mihari said. "How can I not be in high school anymore?"

A look of worry flashed across her face.

"I'm not some good-for-nothing dropout am I?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Mahiro said. "The simple fact is that you skipped over most of high school to go straight to college. For the last two years, you've been doing biology and chemistry research at the university. To see you wearing a school uniform again is almost surreal to me."

Mihari leaned back in shock. This was a lot for her to take in.

"College? Skipping grades. What could this all mean?"

Mihari began shaking her head repeatedly.

"There's no way that could be me. What reason could I possibly have for giving up my entire high school life just to become an adult earlier?"

This comment left Mahiro genuinely surprised. It seemed like this version of Mihari had a few things different about her as well.

"That's a bit more complicated." Mahiro explained. "It mainly has to do with me."

"You?" Mihari asked.

"Yes." Mahiro answered. "Now Mihari, what I'm about to say might be a bit unbelievable but-"

"Just tell me already." Mihari interrupted. "It can't be any more shocking than what you've already told me."

"I sincerely doubt that." Mahiro thought to herself.

"Okay, here it is." Mahiro said. She took a deep breath before continuing. "You don't have a younger sister in the world that I come from, only an older brother. That older brother is me."

Mihari's face contorted into a shocked expression, but she remained silent.

"I know that it may seem weird that your so-called older brother can slip into the role of a younger sister so easily. The only reason for it though is because I've had a body just like this for the last several months as a result of your research."

Mihari remained deathly still. One could almost believe that she was a statue based on how she appeared at that moment.

"You… mean…?" Mihari squeaked out.

"Yeah." Mahiro answered. "You skipped high school and went to college early for the sole purpose of developing a drug to turn me into your younger sister, and you succeeded."

Upon hearing this. Mihari's eyes started to spiral. She couldn't focus on anything. The idea of this was too much for her to process. Just like Mahiro, she fell backwards on the couch and passed out.

"Mihari!" Mahiro cried out.

Fortunately, this brief fainting episode only lasted a few minutes. When Mihari started to come too, Mahiro ran to the kitchen and brought her a glass of water. Mihari eagerly drank the entire contents of the glass and set it on the table. As she tried to center herself, a million questions were racing through her head. She would just have to deal with them one at a time and try to piece this together.

"Thanks for that." Mihari said.

"Don't mention it," Mahiro replied, "it was my fault after all. It does showcase one key difference between you and my Mihari. If I ever do something nice for her without her asking first, she immediately starts bawling. She can be such a crybaby sometimes, but I know that it's only because she cares."

"I can imagine." Mihari said. "Still, it's a bizarre thought that I, or rather another version of me, would actually do something like this. Did she ever give a reason why she would put you through this?"

Mahiro remained silent for a few seconds while looking at the floor.

"Well," Mahiro answered, "it's a long and complicated story."

"We got time." Mihari said. "I want you to tell me everything. Don't worry, I believe that what you're saying is the truth. The Mahiro I know isn't nearly creative enough to come up with a story like this."

Mahiro proceeded to walk Mihari through the entire story of how she was turned into a girl. She mentioned how she used to care for Mihari as much as any older brother would, but how as time went on Mihari's success made her feel inferior which led to her isolating herself in her room for several years. Mahiro also mentioned how Mihari wanted to help her, and came up with the idea of the feminization drug as a way to force her out of her comfort zone and give her a chance to have a second go-around in life with a new perspective. She mentioned how she met Kaede and Momiji, and later Asahi and Miyo. She also mentioned how Mihari had re-enrolled her in middle school, and how she now attended with her friends and made many new ones in the process.

To cap it off, Mahiro added how the drug's effects were only temporary and how she would need additional doses to remain as she was, mentioning the one or two embarrassing incidents where her true identity was nearly exposed to her friends. Mihari was particularly interested in the last part, mainly how Mahiro would willingly choose to stay a girl over changing back. As she usually did, Mahiro claimed how she loved her new friends too much to change back right now, while still declaring that she would eventually turn back someday.

As she finished telling the story, Mahiro could tell that Mihari was listening intently. She was processing everything that had just been told to her, and was trying to come to a logical conclusion in her head.

"Guess that even here, Mihari has a scientific mind that just can't be turned off." Mahiro thought to herself.

Mihari placed her hands on her lap and closed her eyes.

"Well, Mahiro-chan." Mihari said. "I've listened to your story. And I only have one thing to say about all of it."

"Okay," Mahiro said, "and what's that?"

"This other version of me is out of her mind." Mihari replied.

"Whaaat?" Mahiro thought to herself. "I figured that she alone would be the one to understand where my Mihari was coming from."

"I mean, I can understand that she wanted to help her older brother rejoin the ranks of society, but there are other ways of doing so that aren't so sick. Support groups, interventions, serious psychiatric counseling. What's worse is how much she gave up for it. High school has been one of the best times in my life, and this other version of me deliberately skipped it just to do this of all things. I'm trying to understand what could be going through her mind, but I can't even begin to fathom it. I'm amazed that you didn't completely break after she did this to you."

"To be honest, I almost did." Mahiro explained. "It was a radical adjustment indeed. In hindsight though, I am grateful for some of the good things that came out of it. I take better care of myself, I'm much closer to Mihari than I ever was before, and I not only have friends, but they accept me for exactly the way I am. Being a girl is a bit tough, especially since I had to give up certain things like playing eroge games and now have to deal with that certain time of the month that all women suffer through, but the payoff far outweighs the pitfalls. It sucks that you can't fathom what was going through her head. I guess that not everything can remain the same between worlds after all."

"That's another thing that's been bugging me." Mihari said. "The idea of someone's mind inhabiting a counterpart of themselves from another universe is something I can't wrap my head around. I mean, how would it even work. Such logic is beyond my level of reasoning."

"Well, I think I could at least partially explain it to you." Mahiro said.

"You could?" Mihari asked.

"Yeah," Mahiro replied. "I'll draw it out. It'll be easier to explain that way."

Mahiro got up, but a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

"Wait a minute. Didn't you say that you had something to do tonight that would keep you out until later?"

"I called up Kaede and canceled our plans when I found you passed out." Mihari answered. "Even if you're not the Mahiro I've come to know my entire life, you're still close enough that I can't leave you when you clearly need someone there to comfort you. What kind of onee-chan would I be if I just left you alone?"

Mahiro smiled a bit. It was so nice having a version of Mihari that was so caring. Her own Mihari cared about her as well, but there was something truly nice about the level of care that this Mihari gave. She reminded Mahiro of Kaede in many ways.

Getting back on track, Mahiro looked around for where she had previously dropped her bag. Once she had it, she took out a pen along with her notebook and flipped the latter open to an empty page. Using the pen, she drew a single line from the top of the page to the bottom.

"Okay," Mahiro spoke, "let's say that this line represents the flow of reality and time from a single perspective. Based on what we experience, the idea is that all events that are supposed to occur happen in a specific way represented by the line. Some call it destiny or fate, while others may not believe in such things. As a result, it stands to reason that alternate routes that would involve slightly altered events would ultimately branch out from the original route at specific moments that represent different decisions and choices. These realities could all follow the pathway of the original line until the point of divergence, after which they branch out and follow different routes."

Mahiro drew several curved lines extending out from the lower half of the first line at various points.

"This is the most common way that one can think about alternate realities." Mahiro continued. "However, what most people fail to consider is that this type of branching and intersecting happens both ways."

Mahiro drew a single point on the left side of the page.

"It is suggested that some realities may be so different from the ones that we're familiar with that they could start out at completely different points. However, it is also possible that these different realities could still by chance end up at or near the same points as our own."

As Mahiro said this, she drew a single line from the point that crossed over the first line. Afterwards, she drew a branching line from the second one that ran very close to the first one along the same path.

"Such realities can account for the idea of parallel universes where certain details are different. At the same time, the first idea can account for the same thing. Speaking it over with you, I think that I can properly sketch how this reality relates to my own."

Mahiro flipped over to another blank page and began drawing another line.

"In my world, I was born twenty years ago, and you were born three years later. In this world however, you were born at the same time as you were in my world, and I was born as your little sister four years later. This showcases the idea of two realities with a key difference between them. It starts them off on very different paths. I took care of my Mihari as her big brother whereas you took care of me here as my big sister. Under normal circumstances, these realities would've never followed similar paths. However, when the other you transformed me into a girl and caused me to start living my life differently, it unintentionally lined up with the circumstances that surround this reality. As a result, the pathway of my reality changed course to line up close to the path that this one followed."

Mahiro drew a second line that curved inwards before following close to the path of the first line.

"By chance, a reality existed where I was always your younger sister, and yet I still have the same friends I do now. I go to the same school and have the same class and teachers. There are a lot of things that are different, but everything is still similar enough that I can navigate it without a great deal of culture shock."

"Okay, hold on a sec." Mihari interrupted. "I get the logic behind all this alternate reality stuff, but how does this explain how your mind could've possibly switched places with my Mahiro."

"It doesn't." Mahiro exclaimed.

Mihari looked a bit frustrated at that remark.

"The fact is that there's a lot we still don't know about the existence of other realities." Mahiro continued. "There could be beings out there that are familiar with the multiverse and its doings. They could have abilities that would allow them to switch the bodies of lesser beings from different realities, but like I said it's impossible to know for sure at this stage. I can tell you this much at least, this kind of thing happens in manga and anime all the time. From what I'm familiar with, whatever agent has done this has likely done so with a purpose. It may be unknown to us now, but it will show its hand eventually and reveal the reason why this was done and how to undo it."

Mihari remained silent for a few seconds before letting out a sigh.

"I guess that all adds up. Like you said, there's little that we can do at this point since we don't know how the switch occurred or how to undo it yet. Besides, I think it will be easy enough for you to pull off living as my little sister for a while. You did say after all that there's only a few noticeable changes from the reality that you're used to."

"Yeah." Mahiro said. "Plus there's a few different things that I really enjoy about this reality."

As Mahiro thought this, she felt her athletically built frame with her hands, and Mihari looked at her with a confused expression.

"Anyway," Mihari continued, "how about we go out for a bit and eat dinner once we get back? I needed to head to Tachikawa Bookstore anyway to pick up some school supplies, and this will kill two birds with one stone. Our usual run and then something good to chow down on."

"I'm sorry?" Mahiro asked. "What run?"

"Oh," Mihari exclaimed. "I guess you must not do that where you come from. Here, I go on a daily run with my sister before we eat dinner. I hope that's okay."

Normally, Mahiro would do anything to get out of exercising, but today was different. She had seen what she could do with this new body's athleticism against Momij and Asahi. If she could beat them, there was no telling what she might be able to do against Mihari.

"No, it's fine." Mahiro said. "I'm actually looking forward to it."

"Awesome." Mihari exclaimed. "Why don't you change into your running garb, and we'll get going."

"Sounds like a plan." Mahiro said with a smile.

---

Soon enough, Mahiro and Mihari were jogging on the sidewalk, on their way to Tachikawa Bookstore. Mahiro was amazed at how well she could keep up with Mihari. She could remember that one time that Mihari got her to run with her, and how many times they had to stop so Mahiro could catch her breath. Now, she was able to easily keep up with her sister and she loved it. This may not have been her world or her body, but she was enjoying the perks that came with them. At this rate, they would reach their destination in no time.

Mihari seemed to notice Mahiro's enthusiasm and decided to push her a bit while they were jogging. Mahiro seemed to keep up with her no matter what scenario she threw at her.

"Maybe it comes from her love of gaming." Mihari thought. "In fast paced virtual environments, one does require good reflexes in order to win against the machine. She seems to have adapted her skills there for an entirely different scenario. She may put herself down, but she's just as resourceful as my Mahiro."

Eventually, the two reached their destination; Tachikawa Bookstore. As they stopped, they both leaned over slightly to catch their breath.

"Awesome, we made it." Mahiro said.

"Yeah." Mihari replied. "Come on, let's go inside."

Mahiro nodded, and the two walked through the front door.

Tachikawa Bookstore was a mid-sized privately owned bookstore. It stocked books of all kinds ranging from encyclopedias to manga issues. Mahiro was well versed in the layout of this place. She used to come here all the time when she was shopping for hentai manga. She couldn't do so anymore for obvious reasons, but it was still a great place to go to grab any manga issues that tickled her fancy. When she came here once, she ran into Miyo, and she introduced Mahiro to the world of yuri manga. Mahiro didn't find herself getting aroused to it in the same way that Miyo did, but she still found it to be a fascinating genre.

"Okay," Mihari said, "I'm gonna go get my supplies. Feel free to browse and meet me outside when you're done."

"Okay." Mahiro said with a smile.

The siblings parted ways. Mihari headed off to the reference section, while Mahiro began to walk over to the section containing manga. As she reached it, Mahiro couldn't help but look over it with awe. There were so many volumes, meaning a large selection to choose from for every genre. Smaller bookstores typically neglected to provide their customers with a large selection, and that's why Mahiro had always preferred to go here when she shopped for manga.

Mahiro began browsing the shelves, looking for something of interest. Most of the time, she came here knowing exactly what she wanted, but there were other times that she came without a goal in mind. That was the reason why she was into so many different genres. She always felt compelled to try something new if it seemed interesting, and today was no different. After a few seconds, she noticed a volume that peaked her interest and took it off the shelf. There was a picture of a young witch girl with a large black hat, with the title reading I've Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level. Mahiro smiled and hugged the volume to her chest.

"Oh, an isekai manga about a beautiful witch." she thought to herself. "This seems very promising. I think I'll get it."

Mahiro turned around and started to head towards the counter to pay for it. All of a sudden, a voice called out from behind her.

"Mahiro-chan."

Mahiro paused and felt confused. That wasn't Miyo-chan's voice. But who else would be calling out to her? Mahiro turned around to find out.

Mahiro was surprised to see that it was Aoi-chan from her class. She and Aoi had never exchanged pleasantries before in her reality. Aoi was the class representative, and didn't really talk to anyone specific except for Nemu-chan and Nodoka-chan. What business could she possibly have with her?

"Oh, Aoi-chan." Mahiro exclaimed. "It's nice to see you."

"Same here." Aoi said. "A new one just came in, and I managed to snag you a copy."

"A new one?" Mahiro said.

"Yeah, a new volume just dropped. I overheard my folks saying that this one was highly anticipated and that it would sell out quickly. I know how much we enjoy this stuff, so I put aside one copy for myself and another for you. I was going to give it to you tomorrow, but since you're here I may as well give it to you now."

Mahiro smiled and blushed a bit.

"Oh, you really didn't have to do that." Mahiro said.

"Don't be silly, it's my pleasure." Aoi replied.

She took out a book from behind her back. Mahiro could tell that it was a manga volume and started to get excited.

"I wonder what it could be?" she thought to herself.

Aoi placed it in Mahiro's hands and began to run off.

"Hope you enjoy it. See you in school, Mahiro-chan." she cried out.

"Oh, bye bye." Mahiro replied.

"Wait, did she say that her folks were talking about this." Mahiro thought to herself. "Her last name is Tachikawa, so her folks must own the store. That's so cool. Wish I was so lucky."

Mahiro turned over the manga volume to see what it was, and her blood ran cold. The images of two boys in lovey-dovey positions on the front could only mean that it was a volume of yaoi manga. She nearly dropped it in shock.

"Wait, she's into this stuff." Mahiro thought to herself. "Well now that I think about it, she is always staring at Yuta and Minato. Oh boy, she's just as bad as Miyo-chan."

Mahiro sighed a bit.

"Guess I can't exactly throw it out." She thought to herself. "That would make me seem rude. I guess I'll just put it on the shelf with the others. At least I don't have to pay for it."

Mahiro headed over to the front counter to pay for the volume she found previously. As the transaction went through, Mahiro started to wonder if a situation with Aoi had once occurred between her and this world's Mahiro in the same way that Miyo had confided in her about her interest in yuri manga. One could only imagine what such a scene would've looked like.

Mahiro finished paying for the manga and went outside. She saw Mihari waiting for her.

"Find something good?" Mihari asked with a smile.

"Yeah." Mahiro replied. "I can't wait to read it."

"Well then, let's head home." Mihari said.

The two started walking back in the direction of their house. As they did, Mahiro started to feel a nice relaxing sensation radiate from her core. It must've been the moderate amount of exercise they did coming down there. Not feeling totally exhausted was a plus, and getting to enjoy such a moment with Mihari was comforting.

"Guess this is why Mihari enjoys exercising so much." Mahiro thought. "It feels nice when you don't feel totally wiped out afterwards. Maybe it's not so bad after all."

As they continued the trek back to their house, Mahiro started to wonder about how she would even get home. She had no idea how she got there in the first place, and unless she figured it out there was a good chance that she would be stuck here forever.

As she thought this, she looked over at Mihari's face. It may not have been her Mihari, but this Mihari gave off a soothing aura that made Mahiro feel safe. Mahiro started to smile at her.

"Even if I can't figure out a way to get back, at least I'll still have a version of Mihari to love and care for."

"Mahiro-chan, look at that." Mihari exclaimed while pointing.

Mahiro stopped walking and turned in the direction that Mihari was pointing, and let out a gasp of awe and wonder. Mihari had pointed out the beauty of the sunset across a nearby river. The orange light seemed to perfectly mesh the sky and horizon together with the water reflected the light with a perfect amount of flare. It looked as if the world was on fire, but in the most beautiful way that anyone could imagine.

Mahiro looked at Mihari, and noticed how she was equally entranced by the glorious sight to behold. Mahiro looked back at the perfect image in front of her and let out a smile.

"Yeah, I could definitely get used to staying here."

---

Once they were home, Mahiro headed up to her room to change while Mihari got started on dinner. Inside her room, Mahiro placed the manga on her bed before stripping down to her underwear and pulling the scrunchie out of her hair. As she walked over to her dresser, she noticed her reflection in the mirror and became entranced by it. Taking a good look at herself, she could tell that the body she was in definitely had more of an athletic build compared to her regular one. Her features were slim and slender as they always were, but there was little body fat and a much more chiseled appearance than what she was used to. It was almost like the body that one would see on a female ballet dancer, and a skilled one at that. Mahiro couldn't help but giggle as she thought about how useful this body had been today. Beating Asahi of all people was like a bizarre wet dream that had actually managed to come true. She couldn't wait to see what else she was capable of.

Looking in her drawers, Mahiro found the same pair of gray and purple striped sweatpants and sweatshirt that she typically wore around the house. It felt so good seeing them again. It meant that not everything about her safe space was completely different.

Mahiro quickly slipped into them and started heading downstairs to the kitchen. As she got to the bottom of the stairs, she could smell something good being prepared. Entering the kitchen, she could see that Mihari had two plates with some yummy-looking food steaming on them. Mahiro's mouth began to water.

"Dinner is served." Mihari said.

Mahiro closed her eyes and smiled.

Sitting down at the table, the two gave thanks and began eating. Mahiro had been right in her intuition about the food. It was absolutely delicious in every way, much more than she was used to. Not that her Mihari was a bad cook or anything. She wasn't, but this Mihari cooked on the same level that Kaede did. With Kaede cooking, the food would always be good even if you believed that you wouldn't like what was being prepared. Mahiro had once said that she didn't like pumpkin at a Halloween party, but Kaede made her try one of her pumpkin dishes and she actually enjoyed it. The meal she was eating now brought back similar feelings. This was definitely a world to enjoy.

As Mahiro snapped out of her thoughts, she noticed Mihari gazing at her.

"What's wrong?" Mahiro asked. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Are you sure that you're not my little sister in your world?" Mihari asked.

Mahiro was a bit surprised by that question.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It's just that, you're eating the same way a teenage girl would." Mihari explained, chuckling a bit.

"What?" Mahiro asked.

"You're eating slowly, taking small bites, you're polite with your table manners, and you're not trying to cause disruptions or talk about weird stuff." Mihari explained. "My Mahiro eats the same way, and she was born a girl. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there doesn't seem to be a trace of boyish behavior in you at all."

"What kind of shows has she been watching to get such a stereotypical view of how a guy behaves at the dinner table?" Mahiro thought.

"It's just the way I've always been." Mahiro explained. "I never felt any need to behave any differently. And FYI, lots of guys eat this way and there's nothing wrong with that." As she finished this, she hmphed.

Mihari giggled a bit. "Okay, if you say so."

The two continued eating, and although there were a few words here and there, they ate mostly in peace after that.

As soon as they were done eating, they cleaned off the table and helped each other wash and dry the plates and utensils. Once they were finished, they wiped their foreheads and let out a sigh of relief.

"Man, that was good." Mihari said.

"You said it." Mahiro replied.

"I could really use a bath." Mihari said. "How about you?"

"Yeah, a bath does sound good." Mahiro said. "You can go first, and I'll go in after you."

"No way." Mihari said. "Let's go in together. That'll take less time."

"Huh?" Mahiro asked, before realizing in horror what was being said.

"She wants us to bathe together?"

Mahiro had bathed with Mihari back in her own reality. They had taken baths together as kids, and they had done it again a few times over the past few months. The latter times had always ended awkwardly however. Mahiro could remember the sleepover, and how Mihari wouldn't stop grilling her for barging in on her to bathe together as an excuse not to bathe with Momiji, Asahi, and Miyo.

"Come on," Mihari said, "I do it all the time with my Mahiro, and I'm sure that you've probably done it before as well, right?"

Mahiro was shocked. How could she possibly know that? She must've been psychic. It wouldn't surprise Mahiro in the least that Mihari had another talent on top of the millions of others that she was already well known for.

"Just come and bathe with me." Mihari said. "I know that you definitely won't feel unrelaxed afterwards." As she said this, she began dragging Mahiro by the hand.

"Wait, what are you…?" Mahiro said before sighing. Just like with Asahi the other day, it seemed like this was something that she just couldn't escape from.

In the bathroom, Mihari stripped off her clothes and went inside the bath area to warm up the tub. As she did, Mahiro stood there, trembling a bit as she was too nervous to undress.

"She's not my Mihari." Mahiro thought to herself. "It's like stripping for a complete stranger, almost like in the locker room. I don't know if I can do this."

"Come on." Mihari called out.

Mahiro looked ahead and saw that Mihari was already in the tub relaxing.

"Don't be shy, it's nothing I haven't already seen before." she continued. "Show me the goods and get in already."

"Okay." Mahiro whispered.

Mahiro slowly stripped off her shirt and let her pants fall to her ankles. Stepping out of her pants, she pulled off her sports bra and let her panties fall to the ground before also stepping out of them.

As she walked towards the bath, she realized how silly she was being.

"Why am I so nervous?" she wondered. "I've done this before, and it's not like my Mihari hasn't seen it all before either. She was the first one of us to confirm that I had been turned into a girl after all."

Mahiro got into the tub, and immediately felt all her worries wash away as the warm water put her in a state of deep relaxation. She closed her eyes and basked in the wondrous warmth of the bath. It truly was so much more enjoyable as a girl.

"Can I ask you something, Mahiro-chan?" Mihari asked.

"Of course." Mahiro replied.

"How close are you to the other version of me?" Mihari asked.

"Hmmm…" Mahiro said. "I guess that we're pretty close as far as siblings go, but not to the same extent that you seem to be with your version of me."

"How do you mean?" Mihari asked.

"Well, I'd say it mainly differs in terms of affection. My Mihari cares about me, and enjoys having a little sister. Despite that, she continues to see me as her onii-chan and also treats me as such. Here, it seems that you and the other me have a deep affectionate sisterly bond that doesn't come so easily. Take that hug you gave me earlier today. Mihari never does anything like that unless I'm scared or nervous, and even then, I'm typically the one to initiate it. You two seem so close. It makes me wonder how things could've possibly gotten this way. I mean, Mihari and I were close as kids, but we never developed a physical bond like that."

"Well I think I have the answer." Mihari said. "Give me your left arm."

Mahiro was confused, but lifted up her left arm. Mihari grabbed it and twisted it up. Looking where Mihari's thumb was, Mahiro became shocked at what she saw. There was a long scar running up the back of her forearm. She must not have seen it earlier since it was on the back of her arm in an area one typically doesn't look at unless they're looking for something.

"According to the other you, this is proof of our sisterly bond." Mihari said.

"Huh?" Mahiro asked, very confused.

Mihari let out a sigh before continuing.

"It was when we were both very young. You were about four years old. We were walking along the river when you slipped and got that scar after landing on the pavement. I can still remember how much you cried and how much you were in pain, but that didn't stop me. I picked you up, carried you home, and treated your wound. Mom was working late that night, so we were on our own and I ordered your favorite takeout to cheer you up. I also hugged you and kissed your boo boo repeatedly to make you feel better. I remember how much you smiled and how good it felt seeing you smile. After that, you told me that whenever you felt frightened or nervous, you would feel the scar and it would calm you down instantly. The reason for that was because it meant that there was a big sister out there who would always love and protect you. You managed to turn one of your earliest memories of pain and anguish into one of love and care, and we both managed to always remember it."

Mahiro's mouth was gaping open as Mihari finished.

"I'm guessing that nothing like that happened where you came from."

"Yeah," Mahiro said.

Mahiro felt the scar with her right hand. As crazy as it was, touching it actually did bring a sense of comfort to her. Even though she had no recollection of such an incident, what Mihari said seemed to make her feel the same way. It was always nice knowing that there was someone in your life who would always care for you in such a way, and now there was physical proof of such care. She couldn't help but smile and feel a sense of complete relaxation.

Soon enough, both siblings finished their baths and changed into their pajamas. They both went upstairs and arrived at Mihari's room.

As Mahiro started to walk down to her room, Mihari called out to her.

"Mahiro-chan."

"Yes." Mahiro said as she turned around.

All of a sudden, Mahiro felt Mihari give her a big hug. It was just like the one from earlier, full of comfort and security.

"I know that we'll figure this out." Mihari continued. "We'll find some way to get you back home, I promise."

Mahiro smiled and began to hug Mihari back.

"Thanks. That means a lot." Mahiro said.

As the two separated, Mahiro continued down the hall to her room. As she opened the door, she turned around and said "Good night."

"Good night." Mihari replied.

Both siblings closed their doors, and Mahiro let out a sigh of delight.

"Well, guess it's time for my favorite part of the evening." Mahiro said.

Mahiro then looked around her room, and realized that it wasn't going to go as planned.

"Oh that's right. I don't have any video games here." she exclaimed.

She noticed the manga she had bought earlier on her bed and picked it up.

"Guess I'll have to settle for this then, at least for tonight."

All of a sudden, Mahiro let out a large yawn.

"Huh, that's odd. I feel very sleepy all of a sudden."

Typically, Mahiro's game playing would mitigate any drowsiness she usually felt. Without them, it seemed like this would be a lost cause.

"Well, I guess I'll just brush my teeth and go to bed."

Mahiro went down to the bathroom at the end of the hall. After brushing her teeth, peeing, and washing her hands, she stumbled back to her room and turned out the light.

As she snuggled under the covers, she couldn't help but think of her Mihari and the world she had left behind.

"I hope Mihari isn't too worried. She can be such a crybaby sometimes, but I'm sure she can handle the other me just fine."

Almost immediately afterwards, Mahiro drifted off into a deep sleep.

End of Chapter 3

---

4/16/2024

Special thanks to my Patrons: Homura VanRoyen, sudowiki

With this chapter, things are really starting to get interesting. More exciting things are to come.

If you enjoy what you've seen so far and you're interested in seeing more, please consider supporting me on my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/JackFu727). Your support will give me the resources to write more often, and anyone who contributes will be have their name appear in a 'special thanks' section of all future stories that I write

Please feel free to like, comment, and subscribe and stick around for Chapter 4 coming soon.