Toshi was bowing at the waist, nearly perpendicular to the floor, "I humbly beg for your forgiveness."

After some confusion, both Toshi and Ichikawa managed to make up suitable excuses to go step into another room and have a private chat. The others were curious but she told them she wasn't sure what was going on either, but would tell them when she got to the bottom of it. The two stepped across the hall into an empty school classroom and Toshi immediately began to apologize, "That was extremely crude of me, but I really did not know of any other way to determine if you were like me."

Ichikawa was standing there, her hands folded across her chest protectively. She clearly felt uncomfortable in this situation, "Well, you could have just asked!" Toshi lifted his head, "Seriously?" He straightened up, "Excuse me miss, did you die, spend three days in a coma, then wake up in mirror world?" Ichikawa dropped her arms and looked concerned, "Died?" Toshi looked a little surprised, "Uh... yes. Didn't you?" She shook her head, "No. I was just sick in the hospital for a week, all delirious as my mind switched places with my counterpart here. You... were dead?"

Toshi thought about what she said, ~Switched bodies? What? Something strange is going on. Better keep my cards close to my chest.~ He scratched the back of his neck, "Well, I'm told I was dead for about twenty minutes. It did a number on my memory. I'm still fuzzy on a bunch of details." He looked at her, "Could you tell me how it happened for you?"

She nodded, "Well, I wound up in a hospital. Took about a week to recover, during which I was so confused and had a massive headache all the time. When I finally came out of it, I figured something was up when I noticed all the nurses were male. Then the TV programs were all wrong. Finally my friends came to visit and that really set up red flags. But..." She paused and looked a little embarrassed, "There was this... uh... billboard outside the hospital."

"Let me guess..." Toshi rolled his eyes, "Swallow the flavor?" Ichikawa nodded and grinned, "I know, right? I mean, wow, was that not the most tacky billboard ever?" Toshi gave a little shiver, "Oh yeah. And the... ahem... 'foaming beer bottle'. Nobody even pays attention to the thing treating it totally as normal, but yet it is just-" They both spoke in unison.

"...So Screwed Up!"

They both laughed, but the laughter was short lived. They both stared at the other as their smiles faded. Toshi spoke first with a solemn tone, "I guess I'm not insane." Ichikawa looked concerned, "I... know the feeling. Wondering if the whole thing is just a delusion. If maybe you are just nuts and none of it is real. Wondering if the fever just screwed up your mind and everything you think and feel is just-" She bit her lower lip and looked thoughtful, "I... don't want to give out his name yet. I want to be trusting, but I want to be careful." She glanced towards the door, "There is someone else who flipped. A guy." She looked back, "He sort of went-" She paused and narrowed her eyes, "Hold on. Tell me the truth, alright? Promise to tell me the truth."

Toshi looked around, "Uh... I promise... not to lie. I might not be able to answer the question." She thought for a second, then nodded, "Okay. Are you..." She blushed a little, looked around nervously then firmed up her resolve, "The other guy is totally sleeping around with just about any girl he can. I think." Toshi raised his eyebrows at that, "He's selling his body for money." She hooked a thumb over her shoulders, "He's charging my friends three thousand yen a pop and I'm ticked off he's using them like that." She stepped closer, "Are you-"

Toshi held up his hands, "Oh god no! No no no no..." He shook his head, "No way. Uh-uh. Not having sex with everything that moves, not whoring myself. My family would go insane. Mom is totally over protective and sister has my crotch on lockdown." Ichikawa looked puzzled by this statement. Toshi clarified, "The Kimoto family are mostly cops. My sister has threatened to kill any girl who gets near me." She nodded, "Ah... I get it. Okay. Just... wanted to know if my friends were safe." Toshi squinted, "Safe?" She nodded, "I'm already dealing with one sexual predator." She folded her arms and looked away, her face flushed, yet a combination of frustration and anger, "I don't need another."

Toshi furrowed his eyebrows, then they shot up, "What did he do?" She looked at Toshi when she heard the dangerous tone to his voice, "Uh..." He stepped in closer, "In this world, nobody takes a woman being raped seriously. Did he do something to you?" She blinked and stepped back, "What?" Toshi clenched his fist, "You said he was a sexual predator!" He spoke through gritted teeth, "That fucker could get laid as much as he wants yet-" Her eyes went wide, "NO! He screwed the other me!"

Toshi froze, then relaxed as it seemed his worst thoughts had not come to pass, "Come again?"

She took a deep breath and let it out, "I... flipped first. The mirror version of me wound up in MY body..." Her eyes darted about, "She was super horny and she and... HIM..." She covered her eyes with her hand and spoke with dread in her voice, "He took my virginity." She turned away, "We don't switch bodies from world to world. We only switch minds. My body was still a virgin over there and he-" She put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath, "Fudge. I don't even know why I'm telling you this." She stomped her foot once out of frustration.

Toshi walked up to stand behind her and gingerly reached out for her shoulder. He paused and touched softly at first. When she didn't pull away, firmly grasped it and squeezed, "You're telling me because there is nobody else on this planet who would believe you and understand." She looked over her shoulder at Toshi. He smiled softly at her. She started to tear up, then abruptly turned around to hug him as tightly as possible. The sudden on rush caused her light blond hair to fly about in a nimbus around them both. She buried her face in his shoulder as she sobbed, "I'm not alone!" Toshi at first did nothing but stand there. As the words started to sink in, he slowly returned the hug. He started to tear up as he lowered his head to press his eyes into her hair. He sniffed and spoke softly into her ear.

"WE... are not alone."

She nodded and clung to Toshi for a minute before she spoke, "This body isn't... a virgin." She pulled away and looked at Toshi with depressed eyes. He looked back, some what puzzled, then got a dawning revelation, "And your old body is no longer..."

"You can never have a first time now."

She folded her arms and turned partially away, "What a funny thing to get upset about, right? I mean, first time for a girl is painful. Having it intact here is actually... everyone finds the idea of it being intact to be disgusting." She looked up with a funny sort of smile, like she was on the edge of completely losing it, "Aren't I silly?"

Toshi stepped up and put his hands on both her shoulders, "Bullshit. You are the sane one here. Everyone else is just a twisted reflection of our world." He stabbed a finger at her chin, "You and me? We're the real ones. We got heavy souls, they don't. We make this world real, they don't."

She pulled back a bit, "Heavy souls?" She looked at him like he was a little crazy. Toshi picked up on it, ~yeah, I don't think it's time to be telling her everything.~ He cleared his throat, "I'm very religious. I believe in God and his plan. I've read a bunch of religious texts from here and it is just my running theory." She blinked and stared at the floor, "I see. You know, I haven't tried very hard to figure out how it happened." She looked up, "I don't think god did this, but it is as good an explanation as any." She stared at him for a while, "Thanks." He quirked an eyebrow, "For what?" She smiled and blushed a little, "For saying I'm right and the rest of the world is wrong."

Toshi nodded, "Ah. Anytime." He looked up at the door, "How many of your friends know?" She shrugged, "None. They know something happened, but they assume it was just a disease. Brain damage." She folded her arms again, "They keep trying to get me back into porn, and..." She mumbled something.

Toshi cleaned his ear with a pinky,"Didn't quite catch that." She turned away, "Never mind. Stupid Christmas gift anyways."