"Nng...I can't... breathe...!" Propping himself upright, Yuuki exhales deeply as his panic breathing becomes steady. He looks to the side and sees his purple haired aunt sleeping soundly next to him. "No wonder why... Ugh.... Aunt Mayumi, wake up." He shakes the purple haired beauty in his bed. "Nng.... Just a little longer..." After trying his attempt in trying to wake her up, he sighs in disappointment and looks around the room. "I never thought I would ever be back in my room again..."
"Well then, welcome home, Yuuki."
"Oh, Good morning Chinabi. I didn't hear you wake up."
"... Ah, actually I woke up a couple of minutes before you."
"That's a first. Hearing you wake up early."
"I woke up early yesterday! You can't tell me that I never woke up early. You were even there!"
"I know. I know. Jeez... So, did you sleep well?"
"..........."
"Chinabi? What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"
"Ah! ...No, I slept pretty well. I kinda dozed off there for a sec."
"Then why don't you sleep a little more? It's still early."
"I would love to... But I want to see more of your home. I also want to see you aunt smother you with her love♪"
"Why....."
"Why not? I think I find it heartwarming to see a friend's aunt smother her nephew with her feelings."
"...Yeah, I'm out of here before she wakes up to her fullest."
He gets on all fours and tries to leave the bed, but when the bed shook due to his movements, his left wrist was grasped by the sleeping aunt. "Oh no...."
"Yuuki!!♪♪~" Mayumi pulls him towards her and hugs him closely. She rubs her face on the top of his head as she suffocates him.
"I can't breathe!!!" Yuuki tries to yell out. "Oh! I'm sorry." She lets him go and allows him to breathe. "Ack! cough, cough. I tried to wake you up normally, but instead, you wake up when you feel me trying to leave the bed!? Even after a few moments I tried to wake you up?!"
"Well, I wanted to wake up before you, but it seems like you've woken up first..."
"I have to go to school, don't I? And you two, you have to get up because you're the gym teacher."
"Oh crap! I forgot I'm on duty today!" She leaps up to her feet and rushes to her room, but then peeks around to corner of Yuuki's room and said, "Don't forget! Meet me in the music room during lunch!" He simply nods his head and she rushes her morning.
"It's... Kinda.... Weird seeing her like that when you're her nephew.... It's like ever since the first day of school. I always see her as a very strict and cool teacher, but seeing her like this, it's kinda hard to believe her."
"Yup, you're right. I never saw Aunt Mayumi in school before, so I too was surprised to see her stoic and sharp front. Well it's time to get up I guess."
Getting up from the bed, he swings his legs off the bed and plants them firmly onto the carpeted flooring. Standing up, he stretches and heads toward downstairs into the living room.
"I'm off!"
"You should finish your breakfast!" Just as Yuuki's mother finishes her sentence, the door slams shuts. "Hmm, sometimes I ask myself up, why I'm her sister... Oh!! Good morning Chinabi."
"Good morning mom...." After realizing what he said, he stops himself and looks back at her. She sneers at him said, "My♪ My♪ Calling me mom even though you're not dating my son. How daring of you."
He gives off a wry smile, laughs and corrects her. "I'm sorry Ms.Yoshida, that was a force of habit back in my home."
"If you say so♪ But you're more than welcome to call me, Mom. I wouldn't mind at all. All of Yuuki's friends called me that." He nods his head and steps into the dining room. "That's convenient. I can call her mom from here on out. ...is that enough to fill the void though?"
"Are you regretting your decision back at the hospital last night?"
"... You're so cruel for bringing that up... In a way, I'm regretting it, but choosing between the oppression of my mother and the liberty of choices that's within my reach thanks to you. I would choose you over my very own mother."
"Is that really your decision?"
"There's nothing I can do that's already done in the past Yuuki. I may regret it now, but someday, I will look back on this and tell myself that it was for the better."
"Hopefully, you're right. I'm really sorry for what happened between you and your mom. I hope your sister's okay."
"I hope so too."
After eating breakfast, he heads upstairs to change in to Chinabi's uniform. Heading downstairs to leave for school, he finds his mother waiting for him. "You're ready to leave?" Reaching the last step, he nods his head and said, "Yeah. Well, I'm off."
"Take care."
"Thank you for everything, Ms. Yoshida."
"No no, it's Mom, okay?"
"Okay then. I'm heading out... Mom."
"Hmm, take care."
On the way to school, Yuuki notice that Chinabi seems to be a bit more lively despite what happened yesterday. "You seem a bit more cheery than usual."
"I was accepted by your family. That's the only good thing that has happened lately. I was kinda scared that I was going to be homeless and I had no one to rely on or anyone to go to for help. I know that I just fought with my own mother and things has escalated to this point, but in a way, I couldn't ask for anything more. I just feel so free from my mother's strict ruling in the house, but with you and your mother, this freedom feels so amazing!"
"It's nice to see that you're enjoying it despite what happened yesterday."
"I have to! I can't let the past drag me down! I will look forward to the next day and take in their problems as well. As long as I'm with you, I feel like I can do anything."
"...Is that so? If that what you think, then I will become that pillar of support for you."
"Likewise!"
As the two enjoy a casual conversation with some real talk as well, they begin to close in onto the school. Reaching the school gates, Yuuki sees Mayumi, his aunt, standing by the entrance with a melancholic expression. He hurries over to check on her.
"Mayumi!" He calls out. There was a noticeable reaction to her name being called out. She lifts up her head and sees Yuuki (whose in Chinabi's body), come up to her. "Yuuki..."
"Aunt Mayumi, what's wrong?"
"Yuuki... Chinabi... I have terrible news for the both of you, but it will greatly affect Chinabi the most."
"What's wrong?"
"Yeah, please tell me."
Mayumi straightens herself out and wipes her eyes. She clears her throat and returns to her usual cool demeanor. "Chinabi, I'm sorry to inform you, but you're no longer a student here."
"What!? What!? What's the reason?"
"Chinabi, your mother came here early this morning to tell us that you will be no longer attending school due to family complications. I assume that had to deal with the fight that lead you to be disowned by your mother."
Even though Yuuki was the one in Chinabi's body, he clearly shows the same devastated expression as Chinabi if was taking control of the body at the moment.
"I—I can't go to school anymore..."
"Chinabi, I—"
"No Yuuki!... I... ...I should've seen this coming. I've chosen you over my mother because I couldn't bear the burden of your death even though I had the chance to save you. So please... Let me face my consequences. If not being able to go to school is the price for saving a friend's life, then I can assure myself that it's not a big deal.... hic. It's not... a... big......... hic. ......Hic. ........deal."
"Looks like you and Chinabi are clearly devastated by this. Is she okay?"
"S-she—" At that moment, Yuuki noticed that his voice cracked and a sudden flood of emotions begin to wreak havoc. "W—what. . . I—I'm crying?" A single tear soon became a river and that river became a waterfall. He covers his face from the rush of tears. Why am I crying? Why am I crying?
"Yuuki?"
Without wasting a second, Yuuki finds himself in his aunt's arm. "It will be alright Yuuki, Chinabi. I hope everything will be fine for Chinabi."
"Y—yeah..." Mayumi places her hands on his shoulders and tells him to go back home. Yuuki wipes the tears away and nods his head.
***
Arriving back home, Yuuki finds a pleasant surprise. "I'm home..."
"Huh? Chinabi? What are you doing back home? What about school?"
"Mom..." He tries to smile, but the weight of the emotion weighs the smile down. "Uhm... I can't go to school anymore because, my ex-mom told my school that I won't be going to school anymore. So... I can't go to school anymore."
"Oh sweetie come here." Yuuki's mother outstretches her arms and Yuuki just runs in. He bawls out of control as he remembers how it felt to be in his mother's warm embrace once again.
***
"Hey Chinabi, I think you can still go to school, but it may not be the same school you went to though."
"What are you talking about?"
"Yeah, what's she going on about?"
"At best, I can enroll you into Yuuki's school. How about that? It may not be as advanced as that all-girl school you've been going to, but you can still get your education. So how about it?"
"Yuuki's school huh? A school were both genders are allowed to mingle and learn together. It will be my first time going to a school with boys in it. I guess it's better than nothing."
"Sure, let's give it a shot." Yuuki tells his mother. His mother smiles and they both leave the house at once.
***
"Alright, I know this out of the blue, but we have a new transfer student."
"A transfer student?/A transfer student, at this time?"/I wonder if it's a cute boy./Or maybe it's a hot babe."
"Uh, Yuuki, is it too late to reconsider my life's choice?"
"Yup!"
"Please come in, Chinabi Natsume."
Yuuki enters the room and take center stage of the room. Amongst the many faces in the room, both Yuuki and Chinabi knew one of them.
Her face didn't beam or glow, more than anything, she was shocked to see Chinabi standing there in front of her. The girl they recognize was the girl Yuuki saved, Rika Fuyumi. "Rika? So we're going to be classmates throughout this school year."
"I'm Chinabi Natsume. Please to meet you all." Though it was a very simple introduction, Yuuki still got an applause from everyone. His new teacher told him to sit near Rika since that was the only seat available.
During break...
Just before anyone got to Yuuki, someone already grab his wrist and drags him out of the classroom. When he finally got a glance of the person, it was Rika. She brought him to the rooftops.
"Thanks Ri—"
"What are you doing here?" Her voice seemed oddly colder than last time. Yuuki was surprise to hear such hostility in her tone. "What do you mean by that?"
"You're my rival in love. So why are you in the same school as me?!"
"Huh!? Is that what your really concerned about?!"
"Yes!"
Yuuki was annoyed by Rika's concern but yet, she doesn't know that's she actually arguing with Yuuki. He begins to grind his teeth in annoyance. This girl! And to think that she likes me!? I'm going to friend-zone you once I get back into my body.
"Pfft! Hahaha!!"
"Why are you laughing?"
"It's funny how you're talking to a girl who likes you and you're talking to her as if you were me. Also, I don't see her as a rival really. Everything is fine as they are, but if I were given a wish, then I wish that this body switching thing would end and you would hopefully be back in your body so I can spend some time with you in person. We can only do so much like this."
Ignoring Rika, Yuuki walks over to the balcony and looks out to the city. A gentle and pleasant waft blows across the rooftop and he couldn't help, but smiles at how nostalgic it was for him to set foot back into his school. "Yeah, I hope this body switching problem would end soon. I want to go eat some junk food!"
"Not on my watch your not!"
"You can't stop me from doing anything wrong with my body!"
"I can because your mom and Mayumi said to look after you when you come back."
"No, you can't make me. You're not even my real mom!"
"Again?"
"Mayumi and Mom did tell you to take care of me, but I'm a big boy. I can handle myself. If anything, it's you three that I need to take care off."
"True true. Hey, Yuuki, if you do get your body back, do you mind sharing your bed with me?"
"I don't mind the bed. Take it if you want. I will just sleep on the floor or in the corner or maybe by the bedside."
"Okay then. I'm fine with that. ...Actually I've been wondering..."
"What are you thinking now...."
"It's nothing."
"By the way Rika..." He said to the somewhat cold toned girl behind him. "What's it now?" He turns around, looks at her with a bashful expression, and said, "Th—thanks for dragging me out of the classroom. I didn't want to swim in a tsunami filled with questions."
"No problem."
"By the way, I don't see you as a rival. You're still a friend to me."
"Why... Why don't you see me as rival?"
"Why? Because I'm already living in his house!" Yuuki tells her in a victorious tone. "..."
"Yuuki I'm going to kill you!"
"What did you say..."
"Eh?" Yuuki notices that Rika's tone was a lot more angrier, if not angrier, then demonic. "Um... Rika, are you okay?" He asks even though it's apparent to him that she's not okay. Before answering back to Yuuki, he can feel the atmosphere around him change. The foreboding aura Rika was emanating causes cold sweat to fall down the of his forehead.
It was at that moment, Yuuki knew....
He fucked up.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR SLEEPING IN HIS HOUSE!!!" Yuuki didn't anticipate this girl's power level to be this destructive. The force of her yell forces Yuuki to drop to one knee and deflects the oncoming inertia with his other arm. "S—such power..." With such a destructive force pounding away at him, the force throws him back to the over the balcony. He grabs on as the force whips him around like a flag tied to the flag pole.
A few shorts moment later, the destructive force calms down and he hooks his arm around the balcony to increase his grip. "Phew! Glad that's over." He sighs, then all of a sudden, Rika grabs him by the collar, throws him over the balcony back to the rooftop, and pins him down with a fist ready to beat the hell out of him. "Eita! Wait! Rika, let me explain!!!"
"You have one minute to explain yourself." He heaves a sigh of relief and begins to explain the situation he's in. "You see... My mother and I got into a fight and the fight was so bad that she disowned me from the family."
"Your mother... disowned you?" With that first line, Rika drops her fist and continues to listen. "Yeah, she disowned and threw me out of the house. With only one option, I asked Yuuki's mom if I can stay with them. She was deeply concerned about me and allowed me to stay with them."
"I see, so you're living with Yuuki's family now since your own mother disowned you and you were kicked out of the house..."
"Yes, is that a good enough reason for you?"
"...I'm not buying it." She readies her fist again and Yuuki reacts quickly. He grabs her wrist and switch their positions around. "Get off me!" Rika barks at him.
"I will take you to his house after school and let his mother tell you." She stopped struggling and glance elsewhere. "Promise?"
"Promise!" He lets out without hesitating. "Fine, so get off me please." He falls back and exhales heavily.
After their little battle, the bell rings and the two return to class.
"I'm killing you when you come back Yuuki."
"Sorry Chinabi, but if she found out about that a lot later in the year, things would've gone bad for you. So it's best if she knows now."
"Oh, I see. But that still doesn't change the fact I'm going to kill you when you get back."
"I see! You're going to finish off your mother's work! Like mother like daughter it seems!"
"I'm nothing like my mother! ...I don't want to grow up to be like her... ever. I finally know why she's like that and I don't want her efforts and sufferings to be all in vain for what I've done. She may have been oppressive, but it was because she didn't want her daughters to experience what she's been through."
"Instead of killing me when I get back, can I just do something for you instead?"
"Can this something be anything?"
"...Sure, I guess..."
"No saying no to this okay?"
"Okay, so what is it?"
"Secret! I will tell you when the time comes."
"...Fine, lets have it your way then."
***
After school, Yuuki brought Rika to his house and have his mother explain everything to her. Knowing the truth, she accepts it and apologizes for not believing him.
Lying in bed, he stretches and sighs in pleasure. "We're not going to visit Your body today?"
"No, I'm too tired. And thinking about it now, we end school around the same time as your other school."
"Yeah, we did."
"So that means—"
"Big Sister! Where's Yuuki?!"
"What are you talking about? He's in the hospital."
"Oh shoots! I mean where's Chinabi?"
"Upstairs in Yuuki's room." With that said, Yuuki and Chinabi hears a storm of steps climbing the stairs. "Yup, I guessed correctly. You know? This reminds of the first day we met each other."
"You're right! Chifuni running up to my room to check up on me and we had to lie so that we could get her to leave."
"Man, that was weird way to meet each other, don't you think so?"
"For reals, weirdest of ways to meet each other."
"Chinabi!!" The door slams open and Mayumi rushes over to them. She leaps up and lands on Yuuki. "Yuuki!!!"
"Whoa! Whoa!! Whoa!!!— Eita!!!! It's nice to see you to Aunt Mayumi...."
"It's been a long time since I've talked with you. How have you been? Is it fun being in Chinabi's body? How is it being in her mind when she takes over?"
"......Please get off me first!!!" Yuuki screams. He pushes her away and gasp for air. He distances himself a bit and they continue. "Did you really rush all the way here after school has ended?"
"Yup! I wanted to meet my favorite nephew that's why!"
"We've met multiple times when Chinabi was going to that all girls school."
"But I didn't know that you would be a girl at the time!"
"True... I'm sorry for worrying you due to my recklessness."
"Oh... Yuuki, that's not being reckless. You believed in something that defines who you are. If saving people even at the cost of your life, defines who you are, then why do you have to be sorry. But, I'm just really glad that you're really okay. It makes me happy." Mayumi reaches over and hugs him, but in a gentle way, instead of her bear hug from before.
Yuuki puts on a bashful face as he felt safe in his aunt's arms. I miss feeling protected... I've been the one whose been protecting others...
"Yuuki... You're unexpectedly cute when you confess to yourself about these things."
"Sh—shut it... If you saw me smiling everyday, you wouldn't think that I was going through something, but on the inside, I'm screaming and crying for someone to notice, but my smile says otherwise."
"It's okay Yuuki. I will make sure to hug you lots when you come back."
"No! I shall deny your physical affection! You shall not touch this!"
"Don't worry, that's why we're sleeping in the same room for a reason. So once you've fallen asleep, I will creep up on you and hug you like an anaconda."
"I feel like you're going to squeeze the life out of me instead."
"Yuuki, you've gone silent."
"Ah, sorry.... I was talking to Chinabi."
"Oh, I see... Hey, do you like her?"
"...No comment."
"Ah!!! You heard it first, Chinabi. Yuuki likes you!"
"No I don't! Right?!"
"R—right....." As Mayumi sequels in delight, she remembers one thing. "Ah, wait.... Yuuki. You've seen her naked body haven't you! That means you have to take responsibility for your actions!"
"Huwhat?! There's no such thing!"
"Yes there is. Seeing a girl's naked body before she's even married is such a big thing. So take responsibility!"
"Uh... Chinabi... How do I respond back to this?"
"...... Y—yeah.... Take responsibility for that, okay?" Her tone hinted that she was deeply embarrassed from all those times before. "Is she telling you to take responsibility?" Yuuki only nods his head in embarrassment. "Kya!!♪♪ Such a great couple you two will be!"
Yuuki fell silent and only thought of one thing. His feelings for Kaede.
What about Kaede.... Hearing his thoughts as clear as day, Chinabi felt that pain in her heart abrupt so easily. Despite what she did to you, you're still in love with her? Sadly, Yuuki couldn't hear Chinabi's thoughts on the topic.
***
What should I do?
"Um... Yuuki?"
"Yes?"
"N—never mind. Good night."
"Good night to you too, Chinabi. Sleep well."
"You two." Do I have the right to know?
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FwRJXog1z
Okay, thoughts and insights of this chapter. First of all, I was really tired when writing this chapter. That's why that out of place scene with Rika yelling at Yuuki seemed like a battle between a knight and a dragon. Well... In my mind it was like that. There was hardly any emotional parts for me in this chapter so yay to not being a baby this time. :)
To my Penana audience:
Thank you for the support! I'm happy to know that you guys have been enjoying the story. Truth be told, I've written this story back in Wattpad a couple of years back, probably around my sophomore or junior year in high school. That was somewhere around 2015 or 2016. I've always wanted to continue this story, but my lack of motivation has always kept me from doing so, (I even came up with a second book back then!) but seeing the fast support on this story here, it makes me want to complete this story. So I'll say it again, thank you for the support c:
and then Add to home screen.