The hot water kept falling from the shower.
I was sitting on the bathroom floor.
Arms wrapped around my knees.
With the expression of a tragic heroine at the end of a dramatic film.
Or at least that's what I believed.
"It's over…"
Steam filled the tiny bathroom.
"My life is finished…"
Silence.
"I'll never be able to get married…"
PIIING.
[Observation: You have never expressed any interest in marriage.]
"That's not the point!"
I lifted my head indignantly.
"But if I ever wanted to, I couldn't anymore!"
[The logic of that statement is questionable.]
"Why don't you mind your own business?!"
"Can't even suffer in peace with this stupid AI around."
I muttered angrily and got up.
Wrapped myself in the towel.
And promised myself not to think about it too much.
Spoiler:
It didn't work.
The next morning…
I put on the new uniform.
Ate breakfast fast.
And went out into the world.
At first I didn't notice anything strange.
But then came the stares.
A woman walking her dog.
Two university students at the crosswalk.
A group of students.
Everyone's eyes would drift toward me and then pull away just a second too late.
"What?"
I checked my collar.
Nothing.
I checked my hair.
Nothing either.
When I got to school, it got worse.
"Huh?"
"Who is that?"
"Wait…"
"Isn't that Shimizu?"
"Shimizu-san?"
The murmurs followed me down the hallways.
They weren't hostile.
Just… uncomfortable.
"Maybe this was a mistake…"
PIIING.
[The uniform fits correctly to your measurements.]
"I didn't ask for an evaluation!"
I sped up.
Bad idea.
The new skirt was shorter.
And the shirt fit much closer to my body.
Let's just say moving too fast made certain things move in certain ways that attracted a certain kind of attention.
My face burned.
I ducked into a side hallway to escape.
And that's when I heard:
"Hey."
"It's her."
"Lucky running into you here."
I froze.
Three students were blocking the corridor.
Smiling.
I already knew that kind of smile.
"Can I help you?"
"We just wanted to talk."
"Maybe hang out after class."
"Sorry. I have things to do."
I tried to move forward.
One of them shifted to block me.
"Don't be so cold."
"I really have to—"
"Just a minute."
"No."
The first one's smile disappeared.
And then he grabbed my wrist.
Hard.
Too hard.
I tried to pull free.
I couldn't.
My heart lurched.
In my past life I'd never had to deal with anything like this.
The difference in strength was obvious.
And for the first time I understood something I'd never really thought about.
Is this what women feel?
It was terrifying.
"Let go of me."
"Relax."
"I told you—"
"Let go of her?"
The voice came from behind them.
Cold.
Everyone turned.
Yuuna Kanzaki was standing there.
Phone in hand.
Taking a photo.
Flash.
The guys blinked.
"What are you doing?"
"Documenting."
Yuuna raised the phone slightly.
"Three students cornering a classmate in an empty hallway."
Another photo.
"The student council president is going to love this."
Another.
"So will the disciplinary officer."
The guy immediately released my wrist.
"Hey, wait—"
"Wait for what?"
Yuuna took a step forward.
"The part where I send the photos?"
Silence.
"It was a misunderstanding."
"Of course."
"We didn't do anything."
"Yet."
The last word fell like a blade.
The three exchanged glances.
And decided to leave.
"We won't forget this."
"Excellent."
Yuuna pocketed her phone.
"Neither will I."
They disappeared.
I took several seconds to catch my breath.
"Thank you…"
Yuuna looked at the red mark on my wrist.
Her expression hardened for a moment.
Then she looked me over from head to toe.
New uniform.
Neat hair.
And sighed.
"The clothes you used to wear definitely didn't do you justice."
"Is that a compliment?"
"It's an observation."
"Ah."
Pause.
"Be careful."
Her voice dropped just slightly.
"The world is full of idiots like those."
I don't know why that made me smile.
But it did.
The news had spread before first period even ended.
"Has she always been this pretty?"
"Did she change her hair?"
I wanted to disappear into my desk.
Mei was sitting across from me with a satisfied smile she wasn't even trying to hide.
"I told you."
"I wasn't expecting this."
"Nobody was."
"That doesn't help."
"I know."
She kept smiling.
I kind of hated her.
Affectionately.
During the break, two girls from another class came over.
"Shimizu-san, do you use any special product on your hair?"
"Do you have any social media?"
"You look incredible lately."
I didn't know what to do with my hands.
"Th-thank you…"
PIIING.
[Social skill improving passively.]
[Recommendation: respond naturally.]
"How exactly does one respond naturally to this?"
[Smile.]
I smiled.
The girls melted a little.
Internally I wondered what the hell was happening to my life.
PE class arrived.
The teacher explained the activity.
Sprint races.
Long jump.
Normal.
Completely normal.
The shorts were comfortable.
A little fitted.
But comfortable enough to move in.
I ran.
And discovered something else.
Running in this body was completely different from running in my old one.
Not in a bad way.
In the sense that everything bounced in ways I couldn't control, and that certain people were apparently very interested in watching.
At least try to be subtle about it!
I finished the first lap with my face completely red.
Not from the effort.
A classmate ran past me.
"Shimizu-san, that was fast!"
"Th-thanks."
"Do you normally do sports?"
"No."
The truth was that in my past life the closest thing to exercise was sprinting to the coffee machine before it went cold.
At the end of class I stopped at the water fountain.
Cold water hit my tongue.
I stayed there for a moment.
Breathing.
The sky was clear.
The trees in the schoolyard moved with the wind.
And I realized something without looking for it.
I couldn't remember the last time I'd actually exercised.
In my past life.
Years.
Probably years.
It felt…
Good.
Youth has its perks.
I turned off the tap.
And kept going.
Classes ended.
Club too.
I walked home alone.
The sun was sinking between the buildings.
Everything normal.
And then I saw it.
A black car.
Parked across the street.
The same one I'd seen before.
I stopped for a moment.
Is it really the same one, or just one that looks like it?
I let out a small laugh.
Probably just one that looks like it.
There are thousands of black cars in Tokyo.
Since when did I get so paranoid?
But as soon as I walked a little further I spotted another one just like it, and my heart jumped.
It's fine.
This doesn't mean anything.
I'm overreacting. I've had a lot of stress lately.
I sped up anyway.
Turned the corner.
My building was close.
Just a few more streets.
"It's all in my head."
Another street.
"Everything is fine."
One more.
"I'm just a normal person walking home normally after a completely normal day—"
Something grabbed me from behind.
An arm wrapped around my waist.
A hand covered my mouth.
"—Mmph!"
The world tilted.
A door flew open beside me.
A car.
Black.
Dark interior.
I tried to scream.
I tried to move.
I tried anything.
But it all happened in seconds.
They pulled me inside.
The door slammed shut.
The engine started.
And as panic exploded through my head with the force of thirty simultaneous alarms, only one thought cut through.
…I wasn't overreacting.