Chapter 14: The Protagonist and the Others Catch a Glimpse of the TS Girl’s True Self

Akegami-san is sleeping peacefully. She still hasn’t let go of my sleeve, so I can’t move away.

Her sleeping face looks completely different from her usual high-energy vibe—right now, she just looks like an ordinary girl. There’s even a fragile air about her, to the point that if someone told me she was actually sickly, I might believe it.

"Since we’re here, maybe I’ll cook something. Akegami Yuri probably won’t be able to prepare anything like this."

"Sounds good—make mine too."

"There aren’t enough ingredients for that, so prepare your own."

It looks like they’ve been cleaning up the scattered stuff over there, but now they’re going to cook. Come to think of it, they did buy something before coming here—so it was for this.

In her current state, Akegami-san probably can’t go out to buy anything. It’d be a bit better if this were a student dorm, though.

Now that I think about it, even though she lives alone, she’s not in a dorm. I wonder if there’s some reason for that.

Suddenly, the hand gripping my sleeve slips away. When I glance over, Akegami-san is no longer on the bed.

"...Hey."

A lower-pitched voice sounds right next to my ear. Wait—don’t tell me—

I see a slender arm wrap around me from the front. Slowly, I feel her body warmth press against my back.

She acts like this even when she’s sick!?

"U-um, Akegami-san…?"

"...Mm, you smell kinda nice."

Huh? Her way of speaking has changed too? Her energy feels lower than usual—pretty rare.

I can’t exactly say, “you smell nice too.” And forcing a sick person off me feels a bit harsh…

While I hesitate, the weight leaning against my back gradually increases. Is she… about to collapse?

"My body feels kinda warm… what is this…?"

"...Did you forget you called in sick today?"

"Huh… so that’s why my head’s not working…"

"By the way, um… could you maybe move?"

"Can’t. My body won’t move. If I don’t hold on, I’ll slip…"

Her voice lacks strength—weak and faint. This version of Akegami-san feels… oddly new.

Or rather, she’s not hugging me on purpose—she just doesn’t have anything else to hold onto.

…Still, I’d really like her to let go. Having her cling to me like this is… kind of embarrassing.

"Why not go back to bed?"

"...Don’t wanna."

"Why?"

"I have bad dreams there… I think."

"—"

I see.

She said she finally got some sleep, but maybe she usually can’t because of nightmares.

…Could it be she has them every night? If so, what kind of nightmares are they?

"What, don’t just go quiet. You’re boring…"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"...Huh. Thinking takes priority over me?"

Honestly, what kind of state is she in right now? She’s not her usual self, but compared to when she’s all spacey, she seems more… clear-headed.

Also—her first-person pronoun changed. What is this, really?

Could this be her true self? Like… one of those girls who uses “ore”?

"Ah! Shinozaki-kun’s flirting with Yuri again!"

"I’m not! If anything, I need help here!"

"...Ugh, looks like a new kind of clingy mess."

"Isn’t this version of Yuri kinda… less prickly?"

Looks like they’ve finished cleaning over there—Kisa-san finally comes to help. Even though Akegami-san seems reluctant to be pulled away, she ends up clinging to Kisa-san instead, gradually calming down.

"Hehe, yeah… girls really are better. Softer, too…"

"Hey, doesn’t this Yuri sound like a middle-aged guy?"

"I am a middle-aged guy…"

"Nooo, give me back the cute loli Yuri!"

"...I’m not cute."

"Whoa, it’s Downer Uncle Yuri…"

She really does feel like an old guy now, somehow. I’m starting to lose track of who Akegami-san even is.

Still, even though she seems more coherent, she’s probably not fully awake yet.

"Anyway, I’ve made some food ahead of time. Let’s have her eat it once she feels better."

"...Whoa, those boobs are huge."

"Stop saying stupid things and go to sleep—you’ve got a fever."

"So cold…"

Kototsuka-san, who finished cooking, places a hand on Akegami-san’s forehead again to cool her down.

But still, why does her personality keep shifting so much? She really is a mysterious person.

"...Hey, if Yuri’s like this right now, maybe we can get her to spill her true feelings?"

"I mean, that’s a bit…"

"Come on, there’s gotta be something you’re curious about too, right, Shinozaki-kun?"

"..."

Honestly, there’s a lot.

"Don’t mess around with Akegami Yuri too much. She’s sick, you know?"

"Yeah, but it’s still interesting, right? Like—what if she actually does like Shinozaki-kun for real? So, Yuri?"

"Wait, that’s the first thing you ask!?"

…It’s true—I don’t think she actually likes me. She probably just acts like that to see my reactions. Saying it out loud makes me feel kind of empty, though.

"So? What’s the answer, Yuri?"

"...Don’t know."

"That’s more boring than I expected! Then why do you mess with Shinozaki-kun?"

"Because his reactions are good… I guess?"

That’s exactly the answer I expected. …If I stopped reacting so much, would she stop clinging to me like that?

But not reacting at all would be tough… I mean, Akegami-san is a really cute girl.

Come to think of it, when I told her that before, she looked really happy.

Still, Akegami-san lets out a sleepy yawn again. At this rate, she’s going to fall asleep while clinging to Kisa-san.

"...By the way, Yuri—anything you feel like doing right now?"

Out of nowhere, as if something had just occurred to her, Kisa-san asked a question.

Akegami-san let out a long, sleepy yawn—haaah—before finally opening her mouth.

"—I just want to feel better as soon as possible."

The moment those quiet words slipped out, the room froze.

…Because it sounded almost like she was saying she wanted to die quickly and be done with it.

She looked like she could vanish at any moment—like snow melting away in an instant.

Without thinking, I grabbed her hand.

"Eh…? W-what… Na…gisa-kun…?"

Akegami-san’s eyes slowly widened.

"Oh, Yuri. You awake now?"

"Eh—ah… um… w-wait, wait, wait!"

Muttering incoherently, she let go of Kisa-san and swayed to her feet. Her already red face turned an even deeper shade.

"...Akegami Yuri, your face is doing something extreme there."

"N-no, I mean… did I say anything weird? I, I mean I… or rather I…?"

"You were saying all kinds of things."

"Uuuuuu…!"

With a panicked cry, she dove straight under the blanket.

Seems like she’s fully conscious again. That’s… good, I think.

"Akegami Yuri."

"...Don’t talk to me right now."

"We made some food ahead of time. Feel free to eat it later."

"I’ll eat that…"

She slowly peeked out from the blanket. In and out, in and out—she’s really restless.

Then Akegami-san looked at me and flinched.

"Um… about today… can you forget it?"

Her eyes darted away as she fidgeted with her fingers in front of her chest.

"You mean the part where you were saying ‘I’?"

"Ugh… y-yeah!"

"And the part where you were acting like a little kid?"

"Piiiii! Just forget it already!"

"Sorry, sorry. Got it."

…I think I might understand how Akegami-san feels a little now. If she reacts this strongly, teasing her would definitely become way too fun.

"Hahaha, guess this cute Yuri is goodbye for now. See you at school."

"Uu… I don’t like that kind of ‘cute’…"

"Make sure you rest properly."

"...Yeah."

"See you, Akegami-san."

"Yeah, Nagisa-kun. If you bring this up again, I’ll make sure you regret it."

"That sounds terrifying…"

For now, I decided there was no point in staying at her place any longer, so I headed home.

As I replayed all the different sides of Akegami-san I had seen today, one thought lingered in my mind.

"—I just want to feel better as soon as possible."

I wondered if that’s what she really meant.

Kisa-san and Kototsuka-san probably wondered the same thing—but none of us said it out loud.