Yuki laid back down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Akira didn’t say anything from her seat beside her. 

“We shouldn’t worry about changing until we know that it’s possible,” Yuki said. She sighed. “It won’t do us much good thinking about what ifs.”

“I know,” Akira replied. “I was just wondering.”

“Why? Do you want me to go back?”

“I was just curious.”

‘That’s not an answer,’ Yuki observed. ‘But I won’t push her. She’ll tell me when she wants to.’

A knock on the door grabbed Yuki’s attention. She glanced over at it and saw Erica peeking inside. When their eyes met, Erica gave her a bright smile.

“Can I come in?” Erica asked.

“Of course you can,” Yuki said with a small smile. Erica’s expression brightened and she walked in, eyeing the bed where Yuki and Akira were in. Yuki patted the bed. “Come on, there’s a lot of room.”

Erica accepted the offer with gusto and dove right into the bed, all three of them bouncing up and down as the bed shook a bit. Then Erica rested her head on Yuki’s stomach and let out a sigh.

“What is it?” Yuki asked, poking her cheek a bit. 

“God, I thought you were dead,” Erica whispered, her face buried in Yuki’s midriff. “When Akira brought you in.”

“Did my condition look that bad?” Yuki said, raising an eyebrow. She glanced over at Akira. 

“It was pretty bad,” Akira nodded. “Your heartbeat was really weak. So weak that Zoe said that she could barely feel it. She said it was due to mana drainage.”

“I used up all of my mana?”

“Yes. We think it was used to change your body,” Akira explained. “Though, Zoe did say that the amount of mana consumed seemed odd for such a change.”

“It does seem to be a bit too much for physical changes,” Yuki said. She tapped her cheek and thought for a bit. “Maybe my body put up some sort of resistance or more than just my body was changed?”

“Could be both. You’re mana pool isn’t small.”

“True.”

“I thought I cursed you,” Erica muttered. “I said not to die and look what happened.”

“I didn’t die?” Yuki replied with a smile. She twirled a strand of Erica's hair around her finger. “Stop worrying. I wasn’t in danger at all during the entire mission. That witch was actually quite nice once you’ve talked to her for a bit.”

“Are you planning to figure out what she did to you?” Erica asked, turning her head so that her cheek rested on Yuki’s belly. She looked at Yuki with curious violet eyes. 

“Probably?” Yuki said with a shrug. “I’ll see what I can find.”

“Do you want to find a way to change back?” 

Yuki frowned.

“Akira just asked me that,” she said. She poked Erica’s cheek again. “Why? You want me to?”

“Honestly? No,” Erica replied with a smile. “I really like how you look now. It suits you.”

“Aw, thanks,” Yuki said with a smile of her own. “But I don’t think I look anything special. Pretty normal except for my weird hair and eye color.”

Erica laughed, turning some more until she faced the ceiling. Her eyes looked over at Yuki.

“You greatly underestimate your looks,” Erica grinned. Though her grin was pleasant, her eyes seemed a bit predatory to Yuki. It sent a shiver down her spine. A shiver that wasn’t all that unpleasant.

“She’s right,” Akira said. Yuki glanced at her and she turned away, her ears a bit pink. “You look nice.”

“Thanks,” Yuki replied. Akira nodded.

The three of them quieted. They rested on Yuki’s bed as silence crept between them. Yuki thought about her next steps and what she should do now that her situation had changed so dramatically. 

‘I can’t exactly go around and do what I normally do without raising some eyebrows,’ Yuki frowned. ‘Ah, geez. I can’t really interact with anyone right now, can I. Until I determine whether or not I can go back, I’ll just keep quiet for now.’

“Akira,” Yuki said out loud. “Can you tell Zoe to tell the others that I’m recovering and that it’ll be a bit of time before I’m good again?”

“Of course. Going to spend some time trying to figure out what happened?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Yuki nodded. “Might just be a few minutes at best. At worst a day or two. If I can’t find anything at that point, I’ll just give up. It’s not worth my time.”

“I see. Alright.”

“In fact, let me see something right now,” Yuki said. 

With a thought, Yuki summoned her status screen within her mind. It appeared in a flash. But before she could read it, a giant message flared up, blocking the screen from view. It was an alert from the UR. 

[Notice: Self Awareness (2/3) Has Been Unlocked. {Male Form} Has Been Added As A Skill]

‘Oh. That clears up a lot.’

Based on the wording of the skill that Yuki had just been given, that meant that what she looked like right now was her default form. The revelation sent relief through Yuki that surprised her. That wasn’t the reaction she was expecting.

“I think I can shift back,” she said. Her words immediately caught the attention of Akira and Erica. 

“Shift? Does that mean you can go back and forth?” Erica asked. Yuki could hear the hope in her words. 

“Yes,” Yuki replied, smiling as Erica’s expression brightened. “I think it takes mana to do it, so I shouldn’t be going back and forth whenever.”

“What’s the skill’s name?” Akira asked. Yuki told her. “Oh. ‘Male Form’. That sounds like this is your real form then.”

“I think so,” Yuki nodded. Akira’s mouth twitched up but she clamped down on it so fast that Yuki might have imagined it. “I think I have enough mana to try it out a few times. Make sure it works how I think it does, you know?”

“Mmm. You can go back, right?” Akira said.

“I think. I should.”

“Alright.”

“Why? Worried that I would stay stuck as a guy?” Yuki asked, a grin on her lips. Akira looked away. “Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s a one time thing.”

She closed her eyes. If this skill worked like how her human disguise worked, then all she needed to do was picture her male form and magic would do the rest. She did just that, and felt a small drain on her mana as it worked to change her body. Then the drain stopped.

‘Ah, it finished.’

With that thought, what felt like a weight came crashing down on her. Her breath caught and her eyes flashed wide open. Her skin crawled as her fingers clenched and unclenched repeatedly. Trapped. She felt trapped.

“Yuki?” Akira said, leaning towards her. “Yuki, what’s wrong?”

Yuki only replied with rapid breaths, her now breastless chest heaving up and down. And despite the fact that she should have been feeling lighter now, the loss only seemed to press down on her more. This wasn’t her body. This wasn’t her at all.

Then Akira’s arms wrapped around her, squeezing her tight in a warm embrace. It melted the cold knot that had tightened in her stomach. Her breaths calmed as she felt her panic drift away, as if it was being sucked in by Akira. Yuki let herself stay in that soft hug for a few moments longer.

“Better now?” Akira asked. Yuki nodded.

“Better,” she replied, separating herself. “Sorry about that.”

“Were you panicking?” 

“Maybe. It felt like it.”

“What happened?” Erica asked. “I could feel you freaking out.”

“I just…” Yuki’s words drifted off and she frowned. “I felt like I was trapped. Trapped in a very small box.”

Yuki looked down at her body and found nothing strange. It looked exactly like before she had become a girl. 

“I guess being a girl was my default,” she said.

“But you’re okay now,” Erica said.

“Yeah. I feel fine.” It was true. She looked into herself and noticed something else.

‘I don’t really feel anything right now.’

The difference was like night and day. Before she had felt urges to smile or laugh or pout, but now there was nothing. The only thing there was a deep seated uneasiness that had replaced her panic.

‘Oh. That must have been the other that was changed.’

Her emotional barriers had been struck down. It explained a lot now. 

“Can you change back?” Akira asked. Yuki’s head went up. “It might help.”

The thought of changing back to female created a tugging in Yuki’s stomach. Her body urged her to do it. It was almost begging her. She obliged. When the spell was done, that weight that had been pressing down on her vanished and her body sagged as relief passed through her.

“Thanks,” Yuki said with a small smile. She looked at Akira. “It helped.”

“You know, if changing to a guy hurts you so much, how are you going to go back and forth?” Erica asked. Yuki looked at her and frowned. “Not that I want you to.”

Yuki wasn’t frowning at that. What Erica said was true. And Yuki needed to be able to change back and forth unless she wanted to have to explain many things to many people. Being a girl leader also didn’t help Yuki at all. She would need to do more than she would have to as a guy in order to gain respect from strangers.

“I’ll need to practice,” Yuki replied with a sigh. The crushing panic that she had felt echoed in her mind. “Yeah. Practice.”

“But not today,” Akira said, her voice stern. “You need rest. Your body isn’t completely well yet.”

“Yes doctor,” Yuki teased, grinning. 

She shifted her position, going to lean closer to Akira to say something, and felt her robe slip off her. Immediately, Akira and Erica’s faces went bright red and they turned their heads in a blur. Yuki grabbed her robe and wrapped herself quickly. Then her hand went to her own face. It felt hot.

“Sorry,” Yuki said in a small voice. “That was, um, something. Ha ha.”

She let out an awkward laugh that trailed off when the other two didn’t respond. They slowly turned their heads back to her. Yuki caught them glancing at her chest for a split second before they looked directly at her.

“I think you should wear actual sleep attire,” Erica said, a trace of pink still in her complexion. Akira nodded vigorously beside her.

“I think so too,” Yuki replied. She pulled her robe tighter around her and changed the topic. “You know. Tomorrow, we should go out.”

“Where?” Akira asked, her words coming out quickly. She sounded grateful for the shift. 

“Shopping for things that I’ll need. And I might need some help in the next few days.”

“What kind of help?” Erica said. Akira tilted her head. She had the same question.

“Well, I’m a girl now,” Yuki said, the words comforting her for some reason. “I need to learn how to be one.”

“Oh. Then we can help with that easily,” Erica smiled. Akira nodded her agreement.

“Don’t worry. Leave it to us,” Akira said.

“Then I’ll be in your care,” Yuki replied. 

They smiled at each other and fell quiet. With the silence, Yuki’s thoughts wandered until she remembered what had just happened a minute ago. Her face heated up. Akira’s and Erica’s faces reddened as they seemed to remember the same thing.

“I should change,” Yuki said. Akira and Erica voiced their immediate agreement.