GenderSwitchs Vol. 5 (English)

Chapter 3: A New Year together

"What do you mean Gina is lost?!" I got a little upset as I looked at the others.

"I-I don't know, from one moment to the next she just disappeared..." Said Mayomi, who was touching the skirt of her clothes while looking a bit nervous. She wasn't wearing a yukata like me, but was wearing a more normal outfit, following the current winter fashion.

I had been a bit upset because of what happened earlier with Gina and those thugs; therefore, I wanted to find her as soon as possible.

I wonder if she's okay...

I thought as I looked around the surroundings.

"Kimigawa." Atsushi called out to me.

"What?" I turned to look at him as I looked a bit tense.

"Calm down, let's split up to look for her."

"... Yeah, sorry. It's just that earlier thing left me a little shaken up."

"The earlier thing?" Eri asked as she looked at us.

"Kimigawa scared off some thugs who were harassing Kawashima... Well, actually we both scared them off, but Kimigawa beat them up." Atsushi said as he looked at me.

"Eeeh, Ki-chan is so cool..." Said Mayomi, who was looking at me dumbfounded at what the blond had explained.

"Still, I'm worried about a similar situation happening again. Especially considering how Gina is, shy and reserved." I said as I folded my arms, and closed my eyes to think.

"Well, you're right about that... But I don't think she went too far." Eri said as she looked at the crowd of people around us.

"That girl is quite a character." Hotarou said.

"Alright, enough of breaking the fourth wall, Hotarou." Mayomi said while looking dumbfounded at Hotarou.

"Sorry. Wait, break the what?"

"Well, I think staying here isn't going to solve anything. We should split up individually to find her." Said Atsushi, who was looking at all of us. "Are there any objections?"

"Well, just one, though it's more of a doubt." I said as I raised my hand slightly.

"What is it?"

"If we find her, how will we alert the others? I mean, the phone lines must be bursting at the seams right about now..."

"Hm, I guess we'll have to communicate before 12:00 through LINE."

"Only 10 minutes away, though..." Said Eri, who had taken out her phone to look at the time.

"10 minutes?!" Mayomi and I shouted at the same time.

"Well, I guess we'll see each other when we find her. Come on, Hiromi." Said Eri, who was indicating Hiromi to follow him, to which he nodded. For a second, I wondered why they did that, if we had agreed to separate individually, until I remembered that they always go everywhere together, especially because of Hiromi's extreme shyness.

Giving no importance to that, I looked at Atsushi.

"If you find her, let us know." I said as I brought my fist close to his chest.

"Sure."

Nodding, Atsushi walked away from us, plunging into that huge crowd of people.

"Well, see you later." Said Hotarou, who also walked away.

"Let's find Kawa-chan together, Ki-chan!" Said Mayomi, who looked excited yet worried.