Riku curled up on the futon, the moonlight casting pale shadows across the room. His thoughts raced.
I need to escape this body. This isn't my life. Where's my real body?
A sudden wave of panic hit him.
What if… I'm stuck here forever?
What if I die in this body?
"No… no way… I can't live like this… I can't live the rest of my life as a girl…" he whispered, voice trembling.
He pulled the blanket over his head and closed his eyes tightly.
Eventually, exhaustion overtook him.
In the Dream
The world was silent. Grey. Empty.
Then, a voice.
Soft. Gentle. Sad.
"Now you know… what it feels like to be alone."
Riku turned around. "Mei? Mei, is that you?"
A faint silhouette stood in the mist. Her voice echoed, but her face remained hidden.
"You ignored me… mocked me… hurt me."
"I didn't know," Riku said. "I didn't understand. I… I didn't mean to—"
"You didn't care to know."
He took a step forward, desperate. "But please… just send me back to my body. This isn't fair!"
"Fair?" Mei's voice was sharper now. "Was it fair when I cried alone every night while you laughed with your friends?"
"I'll make it up to you! I'll give you money—anything you want!"
"I don't want your money."
Riku hesitated, then blurted, "Then I'll be your boyfriend! Okay? I'll treat you well, I promise. Just… send me back!"
Silence.
Then Mei's voice, calm but cold.
"You don't understand, Riku. You still think this is something you can fix with offers. But I don't want a boyfriend. I just wanted to be seen. To be heard. Just once."
The mist thickened, and her voice began to fade.
"Now… you get to live what I lived."
"No! Mei—wait—please!" Riku shouted, reaching out into the void.
But he woke up.
Alone.
Still in her body.
Riku didn't sleep that night.
Not really.
He lay in Mei's futon with the blanket pulled to his chest, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. The silence was louder than ever. His mind repeated the dream again and again—Mei's voice, her words, her pain.
"Now you get to live what I lived."
Each time he closed his eyes, he saw her.
Each time he drifted, he heard her.
So he stayed awake. Thinking. Regretting. Drowning.
By morning, his body felt numb. His eyes stung. His head throbbed.
But still, he put on Mei's uniform.
Still, he walked to school.
Still, he passed through the gates of Sakura High—this time, not as the confident boy people once looked at with envy, but as the quiet girl they ignored or whispered about.
He sat in Mei's seat again.
No one noticed.
No one cared.
The lessons dragged on. His vision blurred halfway through math. The teacher called on him, but he didn't respond in time.
"Pay attention, Aihara," she snapped. "You're lucky we even let you back in this class."
He only nodded.
At lunch, he didn't eat.
Just sat there, head resting against the cool glass of the window, watching the clouds drift by. His body felt too small. Too fragile. And now… too tired.
Keiji passed by in the hallway, laughing with another group. Riku didn't even try to call out this time.
What was the point?
He could feel himself slipping.
Not just from exhaustion—but from who he was.
Or who he used to be.
As the school day ended and students packed their bags, a quiet thought crept into his mind:
What if I really am gone?
What if Riku Yamada… never comes back?
Riku sat alone on the park bench, the sky above fading into a quiet dusk. His thoughts spun in circles, heavy with confusion and longing. Eventually, the weight of it all pulled him under, and he drifted into sleep.
A soft voice echoed in the silence.
"Do you want to return to your real body?"
It was Mei's voice—gentle, familiar, yet distant.
"So... do my work," her voice echoed faintly, "and I'll return what you lost."
Riku stirred in his sleep, eyes twitching slightly.
"What…? Homework? I didn't study… I didn't do anything…" he mumbled.
Mei's voice returned, firmer now.
"No. Not that kind of work."
Riku's brow furrowed in his sleep.
"Then… what kind of work?" he asked groggily.
The air grew still. Mei's voice whispered once more:
"A task only you can do… If you want your body back, complete it."
Riku shifted on the bench, still half-asleep, Mei's voice curling softly in his mind.
"I'll tell you the task sometime… but first, let me ask you something."
Her voice felt closer now, as if she were right beside him.
"Do you know who your girlfriend is?"
Riku's brow furrowed.
"Yes… I know. It's Asahi," he murmured. "She's… my girlfriend."
A pause. Then Mei spoke again, teasingly:
"Good. Then go and tell him you didn't do his homework."
Riku's eyes snapped open.
"What!?" he shouted, sitting up in confusion. "Tell him? Wait—who?! What homework?!"
But Mei's voice had already vanished into the breeze, leaving Riku wide-eyed and flustered under the fading light.
Riku opened his eyes, staring at the sky as his thoughts raced.
"What does she mean… I didn't do his homework? Asahi's homework? But she's a sweet girl… brave too…"
Before he could figure it out, a third-year girl walked over and quietly sat beside him—beside Mei's body.
She glanced at him with gentle eyes.
"What happened?" she asked softly.
Riku, still in Mei's body, shook his head.
"Nothing…"
The girl smiled faintly.
"You know… I can tell. You're alone. It hurts, right? When the person you love the most… suddenly leaves."
Riku looked down, clenching his fists.
"You don't know my situation," he muttered.
iku walked through the quiet corridors, each step echoing with hesitation.
His heart beat faster the closer he got to Class 2-B.
Asahi…
She's always been kind to me. Sweet. Brave. She doesn't deserve this mess.
He reached the classroom door. Through the window, he saw her—laughing softly with a friend, sunlight brushing her hair like a gentle halo.
For a moment, he hesitated.
Then he opened the door.
Asahi looked up, surprised. "Riku?"
"I need to talk to you," he said quietly, his voice more serious than usual.
She stood up, concerned. "What happened?"
Riku took a breath. "It's about the homework… and something else."
Outside the school gates, the wind carried a chill, and tension filled the air.
"I didn't complete your homework… I'm sorry," Riku said quietly, standing in Mei's body.
Asahi paused, then her smile twisted strangely. Without warning, she grabbed Mei's hair harshly.
"You bastard girl. How dare you say that? You know I have your video," Asahi hissed.
Riku's eyes widened. "What video?"
Just then, Kenji appeared, stepping in between them. "Hey, Asahi. What are you doing here?"
"I'm just teaching her a lesson," Asahi said.
Kenji narrowed his eyes. "Come here."
Asahi stepped back but leaned close to Riku's ear before leaving. "If you don't want that video uploaded to social media, then do my work. Understand?"
She turned and walked away, her voice cold. "See you tomorrow."
Riku stood frozen. Video? What video? What did she mean?
And more than that… Was Asahi always like this? Was she just pretending to be sweet in front of me?
He clenched his fists. If Mei suffered because of her… then I misunderstood everything.