Yoichi watched Verónica storm out of the living room. Her guitar bumped against a chair and the doorframe of the storage room. Opposite what he expected, she closed the door gently.
Did he say something bad?
He stood up to follow her. Luckily, he was a safe distance from his parents. However, they advised him to give her space. Whatever the reason for her anger, it had to be something sensitive. She would bring it up if and when she felt like it.
Had it come from anyone else, he would’ve disagreed. Despite the lack of life experience, he had seen many people fall into an endless spiral by hiding their emotions instead of communicating them. He had done so too.
Verónica wouldn’t do that. She wasn’t afraid of expressing her thoughts. He didn’t want to assume anyone’s feelings anymore, but what if…?
He shook his head and sighed. He decided to listen to his parents’ decades of life experience.
…
Half a week passed.
Yoichi took advantage of the lack of online lectures to catch up with the required hours he had to stream.
He also researched online universities as he planned to leave his current one at the end of the semester in less than two months. Even though most professors agreed to help him, some would only go as far as to dismiss his absence and receive the assignments digitally. He would need to get the notes and study on his own.
It was an insignificant price to pay for everything his selfishness had caused.
Neither Okamoto nor Verónica would leave his mind, both of whom acted as if nothing had happened.
Okamoto hadn’t communicated with him, while Verónica kept playing her guitar in her temporary room and even asked him about the game and his streams. He let her play while he did his assignments. She got good at it shockingly fast.
His smile weakened every time he thought about asking why she had stormed off, yet he held back. However, he would have to do it if she didn’t tell him. That was her style, after all.
…
Yoichi and Verónica walked through the campus’ garden. Being the middle of a Sunday morning, no people wandered the corridors. They enjoyed the soothing breeze without worry.
Until a yell cut the peace short.
“How naive can you be?!”
The voice sounded familiar to Yoichi. He didn’t take long to confirm the source as they arrived at the laboratory.
Okamoto’s best friend stood in front of her.
“That idiot took your dreams away, then you forgave him, and now you hide stuff from me and let them use you?!”
Yoichi’s eyebrows furrowed before Okamoto replied.
“This is exactly why I didn’t tell you. You always overreact.”
“Overreact?! Are you…?”
She noticed Okamoto’s eyes looking beyond her. She turned around to see what she was looking at: Yoichi and Verónica.
She let out a growling sigh. “Great, now you’re here. Stop taking advantage of Manami.”
Okamoto replied, “No one’s taking advantage—”
“Yes, they are! Stop trying to be a nice person and think about yourself—”
Okamoto rolled the wheels of her chair forward and threw her arms at her. She stumbled back, while Okamoto’s chair moved backward until she seized the wheels to stop them rolling.
“Stop getting angry on my behalf!” yelled Okamoto. “I know you’re worried about me, but you’re getting on my nerves. It’s my life, so please, let me handle it.”
They scowled at each other.
Although Yoichi understood both perspectives, he was missing the context regarding their relationship. He decided to stay out of it.
The same didn’t apply to Enko, who opened the laboratory’s door beside them.
“Please refrain from yelling in the corridors and the campus’ grounds.”
Okamoto and her best friend glared at her. She maintained her usual, emotionless expression.
Okamoto’s friend looked back at her with a trembling frown.
“Do whatever you want.”
Everyone stared at her as she walked away.
Fortunately for Yoichi, Okamoto broke the ice.
“She won’t understand unless you yell at her sometimes,” she smiled. “She’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
“Alright, then…,” replied Yoichi. “What are you doing here? Don’t tell me…”
Her smile widened. “Mrs. Kawahara asked if I could come as soon as I got discharged, so I did.”
He facepalmed and sighed. “Are you serious, Aunt Enko? She should be resting.”
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“That’s exactly why I said yes,” Okamoto interrupted. “The last thing I want is to rot at home. The doctors also said I should move as much as possible; carefully, of course. I just need to wear this compress.”
She brushed her blonde hair behind her shoulders and pulled the neck of her dark green sweater aside to emphasize the black cloth underneath.
“It’s tight and uncomfy, but at least it’s not an ugly brace.”
“I thought it was a turtleneck. It looks great on you.”
“Are you serious? It doesn’t match my outfit at all.”
Yoichi naturally inspected her down to her shoes.
“R… Really? I guess…”
She grinned again. “But thanks. How’s your nose?”
“Quite better. I don’t really need painkillers anymore.”
“Awesome. By the way, I’m sorry my parents made you stop coming to the campus.”
“Don’t be, it was a long time coming. They just helped me get back to reality.”
They stared at each other.
Enko said, “Apologies for interrupting, but we shouldn’t waste time. Please come in.”
Verónica looked at Yoichi, who glanced at Okamoto. She took a moment to understand the cue and headed toward Enko. She held the door for her.
“Wait here, Ms. Okamoto,” Enko said as Okamoto moved past her.
“Hm? Okay.”
She didn’t stop Yoichi or Verónica as they approached the small office area in the laboratory. Beside it, a yellow measuring tape on the wall caught their eyes, extended to five meters.
“Verónica, wait over there.”
She headed to the wall Enko pointed at in the opposite direction without hesitation.
Enko walked around the tables to approach the measuring tape from the other side while avoiding Yoichi.
“You know the process,” she said to him.
He removed his jacket and straightened his back to align his chest with the zero mark.
On the opposite extreme, Enko took the first steps swiftly, slowing down near the three-meter mark. She kept going with her arm raised in front of her until his forcefield pushed her hand back.
She glanced to the right. “One thousand six hundred and forty-nine millimeters, a zero point ninety-five percent increase from last week. The growth rate continues to be exponential as expected.”
Yoichi put his arm back in his jacket’s sleeve.
“Hold on,” Enko interrupted. “Ms. Okamoto, I know you aren’t an official subject of this experiment, but would you be willing to be subject to this test?”
Okamoto’s eyes widened.
Yoichi said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I’m well aware of the risks,” replied Enko. “However, the force won’t be angled this time. The backrest of her wheelchair will support her and I’ll be pushing her.”
“Would it be helpful to find the cure?” Okamoto questioned.
“Probably not. Although it might be useful to other people in a similar situation to yours, that’d be unlikely as well.”
Okamoto glanced at Yoichi and at Verónica.
“Then I’ll refuse,” she replied. “It’s not worth the risk for me.”
Yoichi sighed in relief.
“That’s understandable,” said Enko.
“Was that why you asked me to come?”
“Half of the reason. The other half was to swap bodies with Yoichi and do several tests. It’s not critical either, though having more samples to compare Yoichi’s and Verónica’s to would be ideal.”
“I can do that.”
“Splendid. Verónica, I’d like to measure your mutated disease’s range like Yoichi’s. However, the procedure will change a little to account for your condition’s risks.”
“Before that,” Yoichi interrupted. “Aunt Enko, is it possible to swap bodies with other people even if they aren’t compatible?”
Enko stared emotionless at him for strangely long. Then, she crossed her arms.
“Raising two children taught me valuable skills I didn’t anticipate, one of them being able to identify when a young human is retaining crucial information. Answering your question without the reasoning behind it would be hypocritical on your part, don’t you think?”
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He wasn’t good at creating stories on the spot, and avoiding the details would make her more suspicious. How was he going to get out of it?
Or perhaps he didn’t need to.
“A woman… touched me on the train a few days ago.” His chest tightened. “She fell asleep on my shoulder. When she woke up, she said that a man had swapped bodies with her out of nowhere.”
Without hesitation, Enko asked, “Did you report her?”
He shook his head. “Even if I intended to, I wouldn’t be sure for that reason.”
“Please do so if it happens in the future. The same applies to both of you.”
She glanced at Okamoto and Verónica. Okamoto’s reactions were always easy to read; her frown displayed worry. On the other hand, Verónica’s rare raised eyebrows exposed her shock.
Enko continued, “I understand your doubt on that behalf. The current state of the CTCT disease is rather troublesome. You might be aware of the cases where someone accuses their body-swapping partner of committing a crime while in their body, which they obviously deny. Even if cameras and witnesses catch them in the act, there’s no way to be certain whether they were being controlled by someone else. These cases always end in guesses or are dismissed entirely.
“It’s also known that cases where more than two people can swap bodies have been increasing at a worrying rate. However, something very few people know is that it’s possible to swap bodies with anyone as long as both people have the disease, which currently is more than half of the population.”
Goosebumps crawled Yoichi’s skin.
“I trust you’ll keep this confidential, as only select government officials, myself, and a few other people know of this. It has been kept secret to prevent people from taking advantage of it and causing chaos. Nonetheless, the fact that I discovered it with the first couple to ever swap bodies is enough to assume that more people must have found out. My latest observations support my hypothesis despite not being informed anymore.”
Silence encompassed the laboratory.
“To summarize, the woman may or may not have been telling the truth. It demonstrates the unfortunate direction the world is headed in.”
Yoichi couldn’t believe it. He had only been seeing half the picture yet that was enough to make him step forward and help find a cure. It turned out the situation was much more dreadful.
“Doesn’t that mean Yoichi and Verónica could swap bodies?” asked Okamoto.
He replied, “I guess, but what about it?”
“Wouldn’t it give useful… stats to find the cure?”
His eyes widened. “Now that you mention it…”
“That’s an extraordinary observation, Ms. Okamoto,” Enko said. “However, I hadn’t suggested it not only because of the confidentiality but also because the risk is too great in exchange for an unknown outcome, especially due to their mutated diseases.”
“But you made us touch on the first day.”
“I already expected nothing to happen. Even if it did, the natural triggering of the process would’ve been of little concern. Forcing a body swap has side effects which become stronger after each attempt.”
“That makes sense, I think.” He lowered his eyes. “I want to help, I really do, but…”
From the other side of the room, Verónica said.
“I’ll do that and agree to the surgery under one condition.”