Chapter 25: Daily Life as Alice

I was checking my appearance in the full-length mirror in my room before heading out for school.

Right now, I was wearing the standard uniform for Hirayama High School—a navy blazer paired with a refined, reddish plaid skirt. For me, it was a familiar outfit.

“But still... I never thought I would end up wearing this uniform.”

Familiar or not, that had always been from the perspective of seeing it on others—not wearing it myself. I used to attend Hirayama High as a boy.

About three months ago, I lost my original body. Now, I’m attending Hirayama High as a completely different person—Kisaragi Alice, with a new name and a new gender.

『It really is too big, huh…』

Alicia’s sigh echoed in my head.

Even though the brand-new uniform was the smallest size available, it was still too large for me. When I let my arms hang straight down, my hands vanished inside the sleeves—it looked downright sloppy.

Mom said I’d grow into it eventually, but if I don’t, am I going to stay like this forever? The thought made me a bit gloomy.

As I was staring at the mirror, locked in this silent battle, a voice called out to me from downstairs.

“Alice, how long are you going to take getting ready!? You’re gonna be late if you don’t get moving!”

“I’m coming!”

I answered, grabbing my bag off the desk and leaving my room.

Waiting downstairs, already fully ready, was Yuna, dressed in the same school uniform as me—but her figure filled it out in all the right places. Seeing how different it looked on her hit me with a harsh dose of reality. Same uniform, completely different impression. It was a bit depressing.

“You just sighed the moment you saw my face. What’s wrong?”

“Well, I was just comparing how the uniform looks on me versus you…”

“…I think it looks good on you, honestly. The way it’s a bit oversized—that’s kind of a moe point!”

“I don’t want a moe point. I want to wear it stylishly!”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, Alice. But seriously, we really need to go or we’ll be late, okay?”

Yuna said that dismissively, turning her back and heading toward the front door.

I followed after her, a little dissatisfied.

When I pulled out my phone to check the time, I realized that if we didn’t leave soon, we really would be cutting it close walking to school.

Next to Yuna, who was already putting on her shoes at the entrance, I carefully crouched down to mind my skirt and started putting on my own shoes.

“…Alice, are you really going to wear those today?”

That concerned voice from behind belonged to Mom, who had come to see us off.

“Of course!”

They were special loafers I’d bought just for today—beautiful shoes with 4.5 cm (1.77 inches) heels. I’d fallen in love with them at first sight during a shopping trip last week and begged her to buy them for me.

Mom and Yuna had told me that practical shoes were better for daily wear, but I thought looking taller was a perfectly practical benefit.

After putting on my shoes, Yuna and I turned to face Mom together.

“We’re off!”

“Take care!”

We stepped out the front door. Even though it was already September, the sunlight was still intense.

I’d put on sunscreen, but if days like this kept up, I might need to consider using a parasol too. My current skin turns red and stings even with just a little sun exposure.

Well, it’s not a big problem—I can always heal it with Repair.

Still, walking this familiar route to school again, I couldn’t help but notice how much lower my field of vision had become. Even with the height boost from my shoes, I was still a full head shorter than before.

The road to school hadn’t changed much in the past year—but I had changed completely.

『It feels like people are staring even more than usual today… I wonder why?』

Alicia voiced her confusion just as the crowd of commuters and students began to grow.

I’d always attracted stares when I went out, thanks to my striking appearance, but today the attention seemed especially intense.

『Commuting and going to school is a routine part of daily life. Maybe it’s just that people feel something’s off—like they see a familiar uniform, but on someone unfamiliar, like me.』

『Ah… I see.』

"Well, I think people will get used to us soon enough. Eventually, we'll just become part of the everyday scenery."

When I started going to school again, I did consider dyeing my hair or wearing a wig to blend in. In fact, when I tried on a black wig, I looked surprisingly inconspicuous—like I really belonged.

But in the end, I chose to go with my natural hair. I didn't want to hide Alicia’s beautiful hair—that’s how I honestly felt. Not that I ever told anyone.

So I was ready to accept standing out a little as the price for that choice.

As we got closer to school, more students in the same uniform came into view, most of them walking briskly, in a bit of a hurry. I checked the time on my phone—it was definitely cutting it close.

"Alice, let’s pick up the pace."

I nodded in response to Yuna’s words.

She broke into a run, and I followed right after her.

At the school gate, one of the teachers on morning duty—also in charge of locking out latecomers—was checking the time. Once the bell finished ringing, the gate would close, and anyone not through would be officially marked tardy.

That said, the gate doesn’t close until the chime ends completely, so as things stood, we were pretty safe.

"Good morning!" we called out together.

As we greeted the teacher, we ran through the gate and began to slow our pace.

That’s when it happened.

Wearing these unfamiliar high-heeled loafers, I must have let my guard down a bit, feeling relieved—because I tripped.

“Hyau…!?”

Instinct kicked in, and I managed to break my fall. I threw my hands out in front of me, elbows hitting the ground as I slapped the pavement to absorb the impact.

"Alice! Are you okay!?"

Yuna’s voice came from ahead, full of concern.

"I'm fine… Not hurt. Sorry, I totally spaced for a second."

Still face-down, I lifted my head to let her know I was alright. No serious injury—nothing that would keep me from moving normally.

"Wait, Alice! Y-Your outfit—!"

That stopped me cold. Hesitantly, I looked back.

The gate, with the clock ticking down, had gathered a crowd of students—and they were all frozen in place, staring in the same direction.

Following their gaze, I saw it.

My skirt, flipped up from the fall, exposing—

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!?”

I jumped to my feet in a panic, grabbing the back of my skirt, and took off at full speed. Literally running away from the scene.

—Later, I’d hear rumors going around that I’d been dubbed The Pure White Fairy behind my back.

When I found out, I was this close to crying.

There’s no way that nickname’s about my hair color, is it!?