GenderSwitchs Vol. 5 (English)

Interlude 1

It was a quiet morning, as usual. I could see the big blue clear sky from the huge window in front of me. Sipping a small cup of hot chocolate to combat the cold that the outside environment was causing me, I was reading a book in total silence; a light novel about a girl from another world coming to ours, and slowly starting to adapt to living in this one. It was certainly an interesting read, and I could even say it was entertaining and touching.

I would say it was relaxing, as the only thing in this place was peace. Too much peace, I would say.

However, the feeling I had at that moment was abruptly interrupted by a vibrating and rather loud sound; it was my phone. Suddenly hearing ringtone made me startle a little, and I almost spilled the chocolate on the book in front of me. Luckily, this didn't happen, but I couldn't help but feel like an idiot.

When I looked at the screen, there was the name of a person very close to me, and someone I admire very much from the bottom of my heart. However, I started to get nervous, and I trembled, so much so that I had to leave everything on the small table in front of me, and after taking a few small sighs to catch my breath, I answered.

The call consisted of accord a meeting to go out to buy a piece of clothing that until now I didn't use to wear much, but that I had some designs in my closet; a yukata.

When I heard her proposal, I couldn't help but get excited and think "Is she inviting me to go shopping?", especially since it would be the first time I would be doing something "normal" for someone as "abnormal" as me. Although I was also a bit nervous that I would have to go with that person, although I tried to calm my nerves after hanging up the call.

"Is something wrong, miss?"

Suddenly I heard a voice behind me. That person who had been taking care of me so far was standing there in the doorway of the large hall where I was. I was startled at his sudden call.

"A-Ah, don't scare me like that..." I said as I caught my breath.

"My apologies, is something wrong, miss?"

"A-Ah, no, it's just that I just arranged to go shopping with a friend today."

"That sounds splendid!"

"There's still some time before we meet, so I'll take advantage of it and finish reading this novel."

"Understood. If you wish, I can select your clothes to go out."

"I-I'm not a child, I-I can do it myself."

"As you wish, miss."

Letting out a sigh, I went back to my reading. By the time I realized, it was still about two hours before I had to meet this person, so I took advantage of it and took a sweet, relaxing bath, then ate my carefully prepared lunch. I sat down at that big table in the dining room, where there was plenty of room. Hoping one day to see this place full, I decided to finish eating to go get dressed and then get ready to leave. When I was getting everything ready to leave, I patted my face to cheer myself up and let go of my shyness a bit.

"Would you like a ride?" said that person in front of me.

"N-No, I'll go on my own again."

"In that case, go carefully."

"Y-Yes."

Saying this, I left home to meet that person. Deep inside I was dying of nerves, but I knew I had to stay calm or she would notice. Although in the end I think she ended up noticing anyway, which made me feel very embarrassed; but if I had to say something, her words as we were trying on our yukatas were quite soothing. So much so that I was even glad I heard them.

After walking for a while with that person, I stumbled and caused a mess for which I ended up blaming myself instinctively. People who are angry scare me, although that woman didn't seem angry in the least. But even so, I couldn't believe that my own shyness was causing so much trouble.

Sometime later, being back at the place where we met, and the sky having already darkened to a cold and lonely night sky, I tried to bring up a topic of conversation while eating a candy we both bought. Feeling like a fool not only because of the accident earlier, but not being able to bring up topics to talk about made everything more difficult. However, that person brought up a small topic, which was somewhat intriguing, as it left me looking forward to the next day.

Already saying goodbye to that person, and heading home, I set out to try different hairstyles to wear the garment I had just bought; a nice blue colored yukata.

So, while I was busy preparing my stuff, and mentally preparing myself to go and meet that person again, the rest of the night passed fleetingly.