"Are you really going to be okay?" Mom stood by the front door with her arms folded, looking more worried than she had yesterday.
I confidently slung my backpack over my shoulder. "Of course. I'm an adult now."
"You've only been a girl for one day."
"So?"
"My precious baby girl has grown up so fast..." She suddenly clasped both hands together and looked up dramatically.
"There are a lot of things you don't know yet." She even pretended to wipe away a tear. "I've always dreamed of this day."
"MOM!"
"What? Let me enjoy this."
"I WAS YOUR SON!"
"And now you're my baby girl." She sniffled theatrically. "My daughter is finally going to university all by herself..."
"Stop making it sound like I was born yesterday!"
She couldn't hold it anymore and burst into laughter.
I waved my hand dismissively. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll master this whole 'being a girl' thing in no time."
She stared at me for a moment before sighing. "I just wish your brain was half as big as your confidence."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It wasn't."
Before I could leave, she snapped her fingers. "Oh, one more thing."
"What?"
"Don't forget to tell the university about your dorm."
I blinked.
"You can't stay in the boys dorm anymore. And you can't room with Joseph."
"OH." That was a problem. A pretty big one. "Right, I almost forgot."
"I know you did. Also, your forgot this." Mom handed me the medical certificate from yesterday. "You'll need it."
I smiled and tucked it into my bag. "Thanks."
She smiled back. "Be careful."
The moment I arrived at the boys dorm, I spotted Joseph standing outside the entrance with his arms crossed. He kept looking around impatiently, probably wondering why I was taking so long.
Grinning to myself, I quietly walked up behind him and poked him on the shoulder.
The instant he turned around and saw my face, his entire body froze as if someone had pressed the pause button.
"HAAAAAA?!" His voice echoed across the courtyard.
Several students turned toward us.
Joseph pointed directly at me. "E-Excuse me, but who are you, miss?!" His ears were bright red.
I sighed. "Sorry to destroy your imagination so quickly..."
I pointed at myself. "It's me."
Joseph frowned. "Who?"
"Kaoru."
"HAAAAAA?!" He rushed over until his face was only a few centimeters from mine.
"No way." He stared at my face.
"No way!" He circled around me once.
"Kaoru isn't this cute!" Joseph pointed at my face before his finger slowly drifted downward.
"And those are definitely bigger than yesterday." He nodded to himself with surprising confidence. "I'm calling it. C cup."
I instinctively looked down. "You're disturbingly observant."
Then I slowly turned back toward him. "How the heck did you identify the cup size from one glance, you bastard?"
Joseph's expression stiffened. "I-I didn't!"
"And you guessed correctly."
"That was luck!"
I narrowed my eyes. "Josh."
"W-What?"
I narrowed my eyes. "I knew all those 'action videos' you've been watching weren't actually action videos."
Joseph's face instantly turned bright red. "S-Shh! Keep your voice down!"
I smirked. "It was por—"
Before I could finish, he clamped a hand over my mouth.
Joseph frantically looked around to make sure no one had heard us before letting out a relieved sigh.
Then he lowered his voice. "Damn it..." He stared at me with a mixture of horror and resignation. "You're really Kaoru."
I flashed him a cocky grin. "Told you, dumbass."
Joseph let out a long, disappointed sigh.
"There goes my hope."
An evil grin spread across my face as a terrible idea popped into my head.
"Wait..." I puffed out my chest with exaggerated confidence. "Were you hoping to ask me out?"
Joseph froze. "N-No!"
"Aw, don't be shy." I struck an intentionally ridiculous pose. "I know I'm cute now, but you should at least buy me dinner first."
"Who the hell would ask you out?"
"Hey, confidence is attractive. Besides..." I flicked a strand of my short hair back dramatically. "I'd say I'm at least an eight out of ten."
Joseph stared at me for a second before deadpanning, "Your face and body might be, but your personality drags it down to one."
"Rude."
He pinched the bridge of his nose before narrowing his eyes at me. "Seriously though, what happened to you? Did you possess someone else's body or something?"
I shook my head. "I wish it were that simple."
As we walked toward the administration building, I told him everything, including the doctor's ridiculous explanation about Puberty Syndrome.
Joseph stayed silent for a few seconds after I finished, then he burst out laughing. "Hahaha! You've got to be kidding me!"
"I'm not."
"No, seriously." He wiped away a tear. "This is the greatest comedy your life has ever produced."
I shrugged. "Well... look on the bright side."
"Wait, there's a bright side?"
I flashed him a smug grin. "I'm finally my crush's type."
Joseph's laughter died instantly. He stared at me for a long moment before slowly shaking his head. "You somehow managed to find the one positive in this entire disaster."
"Exactly." I confidently ran a hand through my short black hair before striking what I thought was an incredibly cool pose. "A real man adapts to any situation."
Joseph looked me up and down. "You're literally saying that while wearing a bra."
I crossed my arms with a confident nod. "Listen, if fate wants to turn me into a cute girl, who am I to argue? I'll simply become the greatest cute girl this university has ever seen."
A smug grin spread across my face. "Then I'll make Kazuha fall head over heels for this cute and hot girl."
I struck the sexiest pose I could remember from a fashion magazine, tilting my head and placing a hand on my hip. It probably looked a lot cooler in my head.
Joseph stared at me for another second. "No. This isn't adapting." He let out a weary sigh. "This is what we call a hopeless idiot."
I scoffed. "Careful, kid. You're going to regret calling me an idiot."
Determined to prove him wrong, I immediately switched to what I thought was an irresistibly cute pose, puffing my cheeks and flashing him a playful wink.
Unfortunately, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I could already feel the eyes of several passing students drifting toward us. One girl looked away, trying not to laugh. Another whispered something to her friend.
Joseph slowly pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at me with an expression of pure disgust. "Kaoru... Please stop."
"They're staring because I'm adorable, aren't they?"
"No," Joseph replied flatly. "They're staring because you're embarrassing everyone within a ten meter radius."
He sighed and pointed toward the administration office. "Anyway, so the first thing you need to do is move into the girls dorm."
I nodded with a grin. "I was just about to."
Joseph casually threw an arm around my shoulder as we started walking again. "Lucky bastard."
The university administration office was much quieter than I expected.
A woman behind the counter adjusted her glasses while reading my medical certificate. She looked down at the paperwork. "Mr. Kaoru Fujimori?"
"Yes." I nodded.
She looked up at me, then back at the form. "Sorry." She cleared her throat. "Ms. Kaoru Fujimori?"
I smiled brightly. "Also yes."
She frowned and looked at the paperwork again.
"Wait..." Her eyes darted between the name on the form and my face several times.
I gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'm not picky about titles. Mr., Ms., either works for me." I even threw in a confident wink.
The staff member blinked once.
"I see." She quietly ignored my joke and continued filling out the paperwork as if she hadn't heard a thing. "So... you've been diagnosed with..." She paused. "Puberty... Syndrome?"
"Yes."
"And according to this report..." She looked at me again. "your body changed into a girl overnight?"
"Double yes."
The staff member looked genuinely troubled.
"I'm terribly sorry, but..." She lowered her voice.
"Is this real?"
I pointed at the official stamp. "It even has the hospital seal."
"I know..." She looked embarrassed. "But this is the first time we've received paperwork like this."
"I figured."
"Would you mind waiting a moment?" She glanced toward another staff member.
I nodded. "Sure."
A minute later she returned with an older supervisor. He read the document, then looked at me, then looked at the document again. "Hm..."
I sighed. "I know how ridiculous this sounds."
"It does."
"It happened anyway."
The supervisor scratched his chin. "Do you have any way to confirm your identity?"
Without thinking, I stepped closer to the counter.
"I mean..."
I gestured helplessly at myself, puffing out my chest before pointing vaguely toward my lower body. "My whole body changed! Everything that used to be here..." I motioned downward again. "...isn't anymore!"
The staff member's face turned bright red. "P-Please don't demonstrate it!"
Joseph immediately grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me backward. "Kaoru! Use your words!"
"I am using my words!"
"You were one gesture away from getting campus security called on us!"
"I was just trying to prove I wasn't lying!"
The staff hurriedly waved both hands. "I-I believe you! Please, just... don't explain it any further."
Joseph let out a long sigh.
The supervisor quickly coughed. "Fine. That's quite enough."
After another few minutes of phone calls to the hospital, the administration finally accepted the diagnosis.
The staff member smiled apologetically as she handed me a key. "Everything has been confirmed."
I accepted it with both hands. "Thank you."
"You've been reassigned to the girls dorm beginning today." She handed me another sheet of paper. "These are the dorm regulations."
I skimmed the page. "Okay."
She looked directly into my eyes. "And absolutely no behavior that makes the other residents uncomfortable."
"Why are you looking at me specifically?"
"Professional instinct."
Joseph couldn't stop laughing beside me.
After saying goodbye to Joseph, I headed toward the girls dorm with my backpack over one shoulder.
After checking the room numbers twice, I finally found mine. "Room 308..." This was it.
I took a deep breath, then knocked politely. "Excuse me?" No answer.
I waited. Still nothing. "Maybe she's out..."
Since I already had the key, I carefully unlocked the door.
"Excuse me," I called as I slowly stepped inside. The room was neat.
Then the bathroom door slid open. A girl stepped out with a towel wrapped around herself, drying her damp long hair with another towel.
She looked at me. Her eyes widened slightly.
Mine nearly popped out of my head.
"KAZUHAAAAAA?!" My scream echoed through the entire dorm building.