Chapter 226: Chapter 225 – Changed

Yuki let out a gasp, her eyelids fluttering open. Her arm shot out and she grasped at her chest. The pain had subsided. Nothing was gone. The only thing she felt was the pounding of her heart. 

‘I’m fine,’ she thought, letting out a sigh. ‘I’m fine.’

She leaned forward, the bed sheets falling around her as she sat up. Her hair fell past her shoulders and she touched it a bit, frowning. 

‘How did it grow so long?’ 

She turned to look at her surroundings and blinked for a bit, not recognizing where she was. It wasn’t until she saw her watch on the nightstand beside her bed that she remembered. This was her room within the guild headquarters. She must have been moved there after she had knocked out.

‘Oh yeah. The witch. Sophie.’

Or the dragon. She had done something to Yuki that had caused her to lose consciousness. Yuki wasn’t sure what was done though. She felt no different from how she normally felt. 

‘Well. I do feel a bit more loose? Lighter?’

Throwing the sheets off herself, Yuki swung her legs out of bed and paused. She reached out and touched her legs, sending tingles through them. Her skin felt softer than she had remembered. Smoother as well. 

‘Did Sophie give me a touch up?’ A small smile sprouted on her lips at that thought. ‘That would be an odd gift, but I wouldn’t put it past her. I’m not complaining though.’

Yuki stood and stretched her arms, letting loose a gentle yawn. She felt refreshed. Based on how long her hair was, maybe it was because she had been asleep for a while.

‘That would be bad,’ Yuki giggled. Her hands shot to her mouth and she frowned. ‘What was that?’

Yuki never giggled. She couldn’t remember the last time she did. 

‘It wasn’t bad though.’ The thought bubbled up in her mind, a small smile tugging at her lips. Yuki clamped down on it, forcing her lips down. ‘God, why do I seem so bubbly today? What happened?’

She scratched her head before tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. Slipping into a pair of fuzzy slippers that were placed on the floor beside the bed, she made her way to the bathroom inside her room. 

‘Let me rinse myself off really quick,’ Yuki thought. ‘I always feel a bit icky when I get out of bed.’

She twisted the door handle and walked into the dark room that soon lit up as the motion sensors detected her. Then she paused, feeling as if she had forgotten something.

‘Oh yeah. Clothes. I’ll need those.’ Another giggle. She let this one go. ‘What am I wearing right now?’

Looking down, she stared. She was wearing a robe, nothing else underneath it. But that wasn’t what she was looking at. Her robe bulged out around her chest area. It resembled breasts.

‘What.’

Her head jerked up and turned to face the mirror that hung on the side of the bathroom. Her reflection looked back at her. Eyes widening, she rushed towards it and placed her hands onto its cool surface. 

‘I. What?’

Her face had changed ever so slightly. Her chin had softened and her cheeks as well as her lips had plumpened. Her eyes looked like a brighter shade of grey, almost silver. Yuki noticed flecks of other colors sprinkled here and there in her irises. She quite liked them.

‘Wait, wait, wait.’ Yuki shook her head. ‘I’m getting distracted.’

Though it wasn’t obvious from her face, Yuki could see the change. Yuki could feel it within her body. She was no longer a he. Yuki had become a girl.

‘What.’

Her hand slowly went to what she suspected to be breasts. She gently squeezed them, verifying that they were in fact real. The sensation traveled up her body. They were hers.

‘When? How?’ Yuki’s mind didn’t seem to be functioning all that properly. ‘What?’

She turned in a small circle, the robe billowing out a bit like a skirt. Yuki quite liked that feeling. She did it a few more times before she realised that she would look like an idiot if someone walked in.

‘But how did this happen?’ Yuki wondered as she stepped out of the bathroom. ‘And what day is it?’

Grabbing the watch on the nightstand, she looked for the date and promptly dropped the watch and flopped onto the bed. About twelve hours had passed from when Sophie had given Yuki a blessing and when she woke up. 

‘Twelve hours. Then what did Sophie do to me?’

Yuki thought back to what Sophie had said to her before she had disappeared. Sophie said that she had given Yuki a curse. Yuki wasn’t sure at that time what she had meant, but now she had an idea. 

‘Is this the curse?’

She looked down and stared at her body. If this was a curse, it was an odd one. Yuki had been expecting something horrible. 

‘This isn’t bad. Maybe there’s something else?’

That possibility made her frown. There probably was something else. There was no way that this was the entirety of the curse that Sophie gave her. Curses were meant to be painful or at least intrusive.

‘Mmm. Well, I guess I’ll find out eventually.’

Yuki stretched, still laying in the bed. She reached past her head and arched her back, letting out a soft sigh as her muscles were stretched. She heard the door to the room open and peeked at it, still stretching. Akira had just walked in and she was currently quickly turning around.

“Akira~,” Yuki called out, her voice doing a small lilt. She sat up. “Oh, that sounded a bit weird. Akira.”

“Yuki,” Akira replied, peeking behind but not quite looking at her. 

“What’s wrong?” Yuki asked.

“Um, nothing. Just, um, you’re not wearing all that much.”

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“Oh, this robe?” Yuki fingered the edges of the robe. “It covers enough for now. I’ll change, don’t worry.”

“That wasn’t really what I meant,” Akira mumbled. She turned around and stared at the ground. “Um. How are you feeling?”

“I feel quite refreshed actually,” Yuki replied, a small smile tugging at her lips. “I don’t know why. It’s not like much changed.”

Akira’s head jerked up and stared at Yuki with a confused expression.

“Not much changed?” Akira repeated.

“Well, besides the fact that I’m a girl.”

“I think that’s a fairly large change.”

“True.”

“But you’re fine?” Akira asked again. “You don’t feel shocked or scared or anything?”

“Well, I did feel a bit surprised when I saw myself in the mirror,” Yuki said. She remembered her reaction and giggled. “I was thinking ‘I don’t remember having breasts.’”

“You seem quite calm about this,” Akira remarked, tilting her head. 

“I mean, is it really that big of a deal?” Yuki replied. “Everyone already thought of me as a girl. This doesn’t really change much.”

“Mmm.”

“Come here,” Yuki said, patting the space beside her. “You’re making me feel awkward just standing there.”

Akira complied, slowly making her way to the bed and taking a seat beside Yuki. She stared off into the distance though her eyes flickered towards Yuki every now and then. 

“So, tell me. What happened?” Yuki asked.

“Well, after you defeated the Witch, you collapsed from pain. So I carried you back to the base,” Akira summarized. “That’s all that happened.”

“Oh, besides that,” Yuki said. “What happened when we came back to the base?”

“Um. Well, I asked for Zoe to come and check on you.” Akira then mumbled something that Yuki couldn’t quite catch.

“Could you repeat that?” Yuki asked, leaning closer to her. 

“She told me to change your clothes,” Akira said louder. Her ears reddened and she stared at the ground.

Yuki scooted closer and noticed her getting more and more red the closer Yuki got. 

‘Cute,’ Yuki thought, a smile tugging at her again.

“Was this when I was already a girl?” Yuki asked.

Akira nodded. A grin appeared on Yuki’s face and she got even closer to Akira until her head was resting on Akira’s shoulder.

“How was it?” Yuki whispered into Akira’s red ears. Her sharp inhalation of air widened Yuki’s grin.

“Stop it,” Akira said, turning and swatting Yuki’s arm. 

“I couldn’t help myself,” Yuki replied, giggles escaping her. “Your reactions were just too cute.”

“Hmph. You seem different today.”

“Hmm? Of course, I’m a girl now.”

“No, not that. You seem more cheerful today. More expressive,” Akira said. “You’re smiling and giggling.”

“Oh. Yeah, I don’t know why,” Yuki replied, drawing back. “I was wondering about that as well. But it doesn’t seem to be something that would be dangerous.”

“I guess. We’ll just wait and see if anything changes.”

“Mhm.”

They quieted. Yuki was fine with the silence. She felt no need to fill it with small talk of any kind. Then Akira asked a question.

“Do you want to find a way to turn back?” 

Yuki blinked and tilted her head. The question didn’t sit well with her for some reason. It was an innocent enough question. It was even a normal question someone in Yuki’s position would think of. 

‘Changing back was never a thought I had,’ Yuki thought. ‘Was it because of shock that I didn’t think of it?’

She threw that thought out. It wasn’t because of shock. Yuki had just accepted that she had become a girl. 

‘Do I want to turn back?’ 

Drawing up her legs, she hugged her knees. 

"I don't know," Yuki said out loud. "I don't know."