Verónica’s eyes snapped open at a growling scream. She groaned as she sat up on the futon. It came from the left wall, meaning it came from the bedroom beside hers. On top of that, the voice was deep; it had to be Yoichi’s.

Followed by three knocks, Mr. Ishige said something in Japanese. Verónica hurried to grab the translating glasses beside her on the tatami mat.

Steps stomped away from her. Preceded by a click, Yoichi yelled something. Her glasses didn’t display any subtitles, but they translated Mrs. Ishige’s scream.

“Yoichi, what are you—?!”

The two thumps and the sudden silence made Verónica jump on her feet and run toward the door. She pulled it open and saw Yoichi’s parents on the floor in front of her.

“Wait!” Mr. Ishige shouted and raised his hand at her.

She immediately stepped back.

He hurried to stand up and grabbed Mrs. Ishige’s hand to pull her up and deeper into the hallway.

“Are you okay?” Mrs. Ishige questioned out of Verónica’s sight.

Verónica couldn’t know who the question was directed to. By the lack of an answer, she guessed it was for Yoichi.

Because Mrs. Ishige sounded far away enough, Verónica stepped out into the hallway.

Yoichi stood still in front of his room. His shoulders rushedly inflated and deflated as he stared down at his trembling hands. She had never seen someone so distraught.

Mr. Ishige asked, “Yoichi?”

“I’m not Yoichi,” he replied. “I’m Manami.”

Verónica’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment. Then they raised at the realization of the situation. Yoichi and Okamoto must’ve swapped bodies because of the CTCT disease, most definitely caused by her punching him on the nose since that was the only moment they touched.

Okamoto stared at Yoichi’s parents.

“I’m sorry for pushing you. Did you get hurt?”

Mrs. Ishige answered, “No, we’re completely fine. What about you?”

“I’m just…. I can’t believe we swapped bodies,” she said as she glanced down at her legs. “I thought I was dreaming.”

By the time she looked at Verónica, she had calmed down.

“You’re the girl he brought with him.” She bowed slightly. “I’m Manami Okamoto. He didn’t introduce us.”

Even though she was controlling his body, his signature out-of-place smile appeared.

Verónica bowed back and replied in Japanese, “Verónica. Nice to meet you. I’m counting on you.”

Okamoto gasped. “You’re so cute. That greeting doesn’t make much sense, though, and your accent is broken. You also don’t seem Japanese.”

No one had told her any of that before.

“S… Sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you,” stuttered Okamoto. “I was just wondering where you’re from.”

She didn’t offend her, but she couldn’t tell her because she wasn’t wearing the translating glasses.

Verónica stepped into Yoichi’s room. She quickly distinguished the glasses on the desk and approached to grab them. She walked back and offered them to Okamoto.

“Eh?” Okamoto uttered in confusion.

Mr. Ishige said, “Verónica doesn’t speak Japanese, so the glasses will display subtitles in real-time in front of your eyes.”

“Seriously?!” She snatched the glasses out of Verónica’s hand and put them on among groans because of the broken nose. “Woah. I’ve heard about them before, but I would’ve never wasted so much money on them. No offense,” she laughed nervously at Yoichi’s parents.

“None taken,” Mrs. Ishige smiled. “Why don’t we sit in the living room to calm down?”

The four of them walked to it. Yoichi’s parents sat down together on the loveseat, while Verónica and Okamoto sat on the bigger sofa.

“His mutated disease really stops working when you’re close,” Okamoto said to Verónica. “How does that work?”

Verónica answered, “I also have a mutated CTCT disease. Mine pulls people toward me instead of pushing them, so Mrs. Kawahara came up with the theory that the effects would cancel each other out.”

“You speak Spanish! Are you from Spain? No, wait. Your accent doesn’t sound Spanish, but maybe you’re from a region where the accent is different.”

Verónica frowned at her line of thought.

“I’m from Mexico.”

“That’s amazing! I’ve been studying Spanish every now and then for a few years, but I still struggle to identify the accents. I did understand like a quarter of what you said without reading the subtitles, though. The fact that your diseases cancel each other out is incredible. Do you swap bodies too?”

“No.”

Verónica didn’t understand how she could talk and smile so much, especially after what happened.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Mr. Ishige said, “It’s great seeing you’re in high spirits despite the situation, but we should talk about what to do.”

“Right, sorry. I guess you’re Ishige’s parents.”

Still sitting, they both bowed.

“Pardon our bad manners,” Mrs. Ishige said. “Yes, we’re his parents. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Okamoto bowed back at them. “I’m sorry for punching your son in the nose. He got on my nerves and I couldn’t hold back, but that doesn’t justify it.”

Verónica identified yet another similarity to Yoichi: blame herself for something that wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t a physical trait, meaning swapping bodies had to be more complex than she thought.

The three of them stopped bowing.

“Don’t worry, he explained everything to us,” Mr. Ishige replied.

“I see. We should call him ASAP. He’s definitely gonna be more shocked than me.”

Mr. Ishige answered, “You’re right. I’ll go get my phone.”

He stood up and hurried back into the hallway and his and Mrs. Ishige’s room. As he returned, he handed his phone to Okamoto.

“Can you type your phone number?”

She did so swiftly and returned the phone.

He sat back down next to Mrs. Ishige.

“I’ll put him on speaker,” he said.

The phone began ringing as he raised it in front of him. It did so four times before Okamoto’s real voice sounded through the speaker.

“Dad?”

“Yoichi. You haven’t forgotten your dad’s phone number.”

“I wouldn’t be able to dial it from memory, but I still recognize it. I guess you’re calling because Okamoto is awake and controlling my body. Is everyone okay?”

“We are, don’t worry. Okamoto is surprisingly lively. How about you?”

He paused before answering, “I woke up fifteen minutes ago. Can’t say it was a nice experience, but it’s fine now that I know what’s going on and that you’re okay. Have you thought about what to do?”

“We should call Enko to tell her about it even though it’s four in the morning. Then we’ll head to the hospital. Is it okay if we take an hour? Your mom and I should get ready for work in case something happens and we can’t return home.”

“Take your time, I won’t walk away.”

A chuckle escaped Verónica’s mouth. Even Okamoto giggled beside her.

Mrs. Ishige scolded, “Yoichi!”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Yoichi spluttered. “I…. Just take your time. See you in an hour.”

“Call us if you need to,” Mr. Ishige replied.

“I will.”

Mr. Ishige’s contact list replaced Yoichi’s photo on the screen. He didn’t waste any time and looked for Mrs. Kawahara’s contact information to call her.

…

An hour later, Verónica, Okamoto, and Yoichi’s parents arrived at the entrance of the hospital. Mrs. Kawahara stood outside beside the sliding glass door. She raised her head from her phone and put it in the pocket of her coat after she saw them.

“Good morning, Enko,” Mrs. Ishige smiled. “Sorry for waking you up this early.”

“I only lost twenty-seven minutes of my regular sleep schedule, it’s nothing to worry about. Yoichi’s and Okamoto’s situation is of much greater importance. Have you felt anything strange?”

Okamoto answered, “I mean, I’m in a guy’s body and I can walk again; that’s definitely strange. Or what do you mean?”

“Precisely that. Don’t hesitate to tell me if you feel anything out of place. Let’s not waste any more time.”

She turned around and stepped into the hospital. Verónica and Okamoto followed her to the front desk, while Yoichi’s parents sat down in one of the many empty chair rows.

“Excuse me, we’d like to visit Manami Okamoto,” Mrs. Kawahara asked the receptionist.

“We’re sorry, but visits aren’t allowed until eight o’clock, except in case of emergencies.”

Okamoto replied, “This is kinda one. I’m actually Manami Okamoto. I swapped bodies with a guy, so we need to touch each other to swap back to our bodies. Ah, his CTCT disease has a mutation and she needs to come with me.” She signaled Verónica.

The receptionist’s smile disappeared. Her expression didn’t change as she glanced at the three of them. Then, her smile returned.

“Do you have an official document that states your condition?”

“We just found out two hours ago. We couldn’t have gotten a document.”

“Unless we verify your CTCT disease, we can’t let you in until eight. Our most sincere apologies.”

What were they supposed to do? They couldn’t have predicted swapping bodies.

Okamoto opened her mouth to reply, but Mrs. Kawahara’s hand on her shoulder interrupted her.

“We’ll wait. Thank you.”

She walked toward Yoichi’s parents, leaving Verónica and Okamoto no choice but to follow her.

“Is there a problem?” Mr. Ishige asked.

“We’ll have to wait until eight o’clock.” She sat down next to Mrs. Ishige. “It’s a shame I can no longer issue that document myself; we would’ve saved two and a half hours.”

Verónica asked as she sat down beside Okamoto.

“You used to be able to do that?”

Mrs. Kawahara pushed her glasses with her finger. “I was the one that convinced the government and health organizations to identify the document as official. It took a few years of meetings and establishing the proper procedures. My mother also helped a little.”

“Woah,” Okamoto uttered. “You used to be a huge deal, then.”

Mrs. Kawahara’s body twitched once. “Although I’m usually not affected by those kinds of comments, that one stung a little.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you! It’s still amazing that you know so much about such an absurd disease. You even predicted that Ishige’s and Verónica’s mutated diseases would cancel each other out.”

“It was a hypothesis, not a prediction. I also had my suspicions you could swap bodies with Yoichi. Unfortunately, experimenting with that got out of the question after what happened. Would you be willing to help us once you’re discharged?”

Okamoto’s smile weakened. It returned to normal after she looked forward.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, but… it’s scary,” she laughed nervously.

“That’s only logical. Although I can’t promise an experiment without complications, I assure you you’ll be as safe as it is in my hands.”

Okamoto lowered her head. “Please give me time to think about it.”

“Of course.”

“I have a question. Ishige and I have been in the same degree program for more than half a year. We’ve exchanged words several times, but why is his mutated disease stronger now? Why only toward me?”

Unexpectedly, Mrs. Kawahara looked at Verónica.

“What’s your hypothesis, Verónica?”

“Me?” Her eyes lowered to the floor as she thought. “Now that we know they can swap bodies, I’d say the effect is stronger because of that. Why now…”

Her mind became blank.

Mrs. Kawahara smirked. “Don’t fret, your hypothesis is identical to mine.”

Verónica’s chest warmed up as Mrs. Kawahara spoke.

“As for why now might be due to Okamoto’s and Yoichi’s CTCT skin cells activating. However, very little is known as to when and why that happens.”

“The disease has skin cells?”

Mrs. Kawahara pushed her glasses. “Not only skin cells. Allow me to explain.”