On Tuesday, I quickly realize that I'm finally at the end of my period, my flow tapering off as my cramps ease up, and by the end of the day, I feel way better. Shit, I have to do that every month from now on?
Once I'm past that, I keep up with things, school, homework, my friends, and my new after school exercises.
Even with a body handed to me on a silver platter, I still have to put in a lot of work to make up for the years I missed, all the normal girl experiences I never got to have. As the week goes on, it's hard and there are a few times where I feel overwhelmed, and I have to stop and breathe. Or cry. It does get a little better though. After a few more days and a few more too-personal questions from my classmates, it kind of feels like the guys are getting used to the changes. It's not like this has any significant impact on their lives after all.
A lot of them still refer to me like a guy though. I'm not sure if there's any way to fix that, but at least a few of them, like Folle, are understanding and seem to accept me.
The girls are another story. They generally keep their distance and seem wary, even though I continue to avoid them, changing in the toilets and refusing to shower with them. On Wednesday, when I'm no longer collapsed on the floor after gym class from period pains, I finally do go in the showers.
They all glare holes through me, even as I look pointedly away. Even if I'm attracted to girls, what kind of creep would look at them while they're trying to shower? I wouldn't want anyone to look at me like that! Just the thought sends nauseous crawling feelings over my skin when I remember that old man... Scowling at the floor, I use an alternate block of showers on the other side of the wall to get washed off.
It goes the same on Thursday, but on Friday...
After I tie my hair back and dump my sweaty gym clothes, I turn on the shower. I think I've gone through most of my uniforms, so I should wash them tonight. While I'm thinking that, I glance one eye to the side when the next shower over turns on. Leona stands under it. I pause for just a moment.
Seeing her naked is... it's weird. Obviously I try not to ogle her, but just like with Ken, I can't avoid seeing anything. Especially when there's just... so much. She's so tall, with big boobs and those strong, toned arms and slightly tanned, bronzy skin.
Besides her long legs which she probably only shaves because we wear skirts, the rest of her body hair is trimmed and neat, but she obviously has no interest in being clean shaven, the same way she doesn't bother with hair care.
She looks like some kind of warrior goddess, with her short chopped blue-black hair that she runs her hands through under the hot water, flicking droplets away as she visibly relaxes. She is fucking gorgeous.
And I'm not attracted to her at all.
I don't really get it myself. I'm sure all of the things she has are things that I like in a woman. Hell, besides the short hair, I'd love to be her. All that feminine beauty, packed into a powerful, 'don't fuck with me' frame...
More than anything, it reminds me how she told us before, that she doesn't like her body. Why is that? Of course given my situation, I briefly consider the possibility of her being trans like me, but I've already seen her PEP scans, so I immediately discard the idea. So... why? What is there not to like?
Does she wish she was smaller and more dainty? But she doesn't act dainty at all. Is she trying to fit her appearance, but she wants to act differently? Or... a lot of her appearance, like those muscles, are from her time in the military. Does she only act the way she does because of her military training? Was she different before that?
Thinking about this, I'm reminded again that Leona never talks about herself. I have all these questions, things I want to ask, but it's like she has this wall up that stops me from asking. Like I had childhood issues I was repressing, is she doing that too? Do I really want to put her back through it by asking about her past?
I... don't know. Maybe that's why I'm not attracted to her. I see her as Leona first, and a woman second. And 'Leona' is still a massive question mark. I want to know more, but I don't want to hurt her by asking.
Returning my thoughts from the woman next to me to my own shower, I look down. I like my body, even if there's still room for improvement. Besides growing naturally, my (honestly really intense) after school training exercises have already started helping with my flexibility and balance, and I'm not a constant miserable failure in class. I'm still bad, but the other girls, and even the teacher, have noticed my improvement in just the last week alone.
“I wonder if I'm a B-cup now...” I murmur absentmindedly under my breath, as I wash away the sweat on my breasts. They feel bigger... I think. It's always so hard to tell since I see them every day.
I wipe up and down my arms and turn-
Girl.
A frightened squeak escapes my mouth and I stumble backward when I see the girl peeking around the side wall at me. My arms jerk, covering my privates, tears already stinging in my eyes. She was looking right at me, at my body. Just like that man.
Leona is there in an instant, placing herself between us.
She barks, “What are you doing?!”
“I-I-I- Sorry!” The girl flails her hands in panic, but she doesn't look that sorry. That's when I see it's Marissa Bolton, from our class. “I just, umm...” While she's being flustered, I grab my bag and rapidly throw my uniform back on as fast as I can to cover myself, skipping my underwear entirely.
“I was just... kind of curious...” she's saying, like that's any sort of excuse. “But you- If you look like that, then why...”
“Because I don't owe you my body!” I cry, “I shouldn't have to show you fucks my pussy to earn your acceptance!” I storm past her. “Creep!” I shout back, loud enough for all to hear, and slam through the exit door.
I stand outside in the gym, shaking and crying and trying to ignore the couple guys staring at me from across the gym. I'm dressed in just my shirt and skirt, still soaking wet, until Leona rushes out seconds after me, half dressed herself so she flashes half the gym because she's still pulling on her shirt when she appears.
We both dry off and finish changing in the infirmary, then I stay there through the end of school. I just... don't have the will to go back to class after that. To deal with that girl telling everyone else about me. If the girls are suddenly fine with me, all because they want to gossip about my body – what I have in my god damn pants – then fuck them.
If that's how it is, I don't want their toxic fucking acceptance.
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After the last bell, I'm still lying on the rest bed when Leona sits down next to me. “Seiko, how are you feeling?”
“Terrible.”
“I'm sorry, but...”
“No, it's fine,” I sigh. “Let's just do it. I'm fine with you.” I tell her. “I can trust my body to you at least.”
Leona's whole posture softens. “Thanks Seiko. That means a lot, coming from you.”
“Does it?”
“Of course, just look at what you've been through. And how touch averse you are with everyone else,” she points out.
“Oh... huh.” I mumble. “Good point.” I think I'm just being slow and dull, all my thoughts are still tied up with what happened. I can't stop thinking about that day... “Thanks, Leona.”
“I'm trying to thank you, Seiko,” she turns a crooked grin on me, and finally gets a little snort and smile for it.
I sit up and take off my vest while Leona gets set up, dropping the mobile at the head of the bed. When she climbs on top of me, I relax. She checks my energy, reporting that we've managed to burn down a good bit over the last week. I've been working really hard during breaks, so I'm glad to hear that.
She starts charging up, and at this point, the heavy weight of her power actually feels nice now, no longer suffocating. Almost like a massage, all over my body. I let out a long, slow breath, and pull up my shirt and bra for her.
I can tell just from the glow in her eyes that she's having an easier time now. She doesn't need to build up so much power that it's physically painful for her.
And then the infirmary door opens. This has happened enough times over the past few months that it isn't an instant panic moment anymore, but... this time is different. We aren't all the way in the back, we're on the bed I was resting on, a little to the right of the door, only about halfway back. When I glance, we didn't even close the curtain. If Leona really glows like she says she does...
All this because of that girl earlier, throwing off our usual routine.
Even as the doctor rushes over to deal with the student, I know we're screwed. A girl's voice raises in surprise, and I see blue hair in my peripheral, but Leona has to let the built up power go, so I keep my eyes on her as she comes down, filling me with another flood of glowing indigo energy.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The instant she's done, she rounds on the intruder, lurching up and off the bed. At the same time, I see her. Marissa Bolton. Again.
Her eyes are on me. With a burn and rage and shame, I sit up, yanking my clothes back into place as fast as possible. She jolts, her entire body jumping and flinching back dramatically as she meets my gaze with eyes widened to the size of saucers.
“Leave me alone!” I shout at her. I don't even understand what's happening or why she's here, I just want her to go away!
“Maka-chan, calm down,” the doctor tries to calm me as she catches up to the blue haired girl. Next to each other, the sky blue colors are pretty similar, the doctor's the darker of the two.
“She was the creep from the showers!” I cry out, and the doctor grimaces, before turning a hard look at Bolton.
“Now, why would you do that?” she asks pointedly.
Bolton's eyes haven't moved from me for an instant, even as the doctor spoke. She doesn't even blink as she answers, “Sorry, I didn't mean to... It's just, I read up on the stuff you told us about... It made me really curious...”
“So what, you think that means you can just watch me in the shower?” The fuck is wrong with her?!
“No! I mean, well... I...” She bites her lip and clutches at her skirt. Finally pulling her eyes off of me, Bolton actually bows down deeply. “I'm sincerely sorry, Seiko Maka-san,” she's extremely formal all of a sudden. “I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me and I apologize. I didn't mean to hurt you.”
Her sincerity takes the edge off of my anger, however... “So? You still did. Why? You just had to know? Had to see for yourself? How would you feel?”
“Eh?” she lifts her head a little.
“How would you feel if I told you I don't believe you're a girl, and the only way to prove it is for you expose yourself to me? Huh?!” Her mouth falls open a little, I think it's finally sinking into her thick skull. Clenching the sheets in my fists, I scowl at her. “Now, how do you feel if your entire life here depends on getting people like you to believe what you say? When all they care about if what's between your fucking legs?! You haven't even seen the trans dorms, have you?!”
I squeeze my eyes shut, starting to curl up. I can't do this.
“Bolton-san, how about you see for yourself.” I look up when Leona speaks. She's glowing, brilliant indigo spilling out around her stoic face. The blue haired girl staggers back a step in panic and fear in the face of the psion.
But Leona moves before Bolton can. With a deep breath, she lifts one foot, then stomps down. The world bursts, with a heavy color rolling over me, and girl is gone.
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-Point of View: Marissa Bolton-
All at once, the blinding white glare vanishes. I have to blink repeatedly, my vision swimming and spotting like I just stared straight into the sun. When it finally clears and I can see again, I realize I'm somewhere else entirely. Neither Vicca nor Maka are here, or the doctor. What just happened?
One look around says I'm in the dorms, but... The room I find myself in is smaller than a normal dorm, about half the size with only one bed. The place has a bare feel. The bed is made, but there's nothing on the desk, the book shelves are empty, nothing on top of the dresser either.
Still partly stunned, I open the top drawer and there are clothes inside. When I see they're panties though, I quickly shut it again. Always too curious for my own good, I berate myself. That's how I got into this mess in the first place...
My thoughts are finally catching up, things falling into place.
So... what, did Vicca send me here somehow? Can she teleport people? Is this Maka's room? No, everyone saw her get her room in the girls' dorm and she's been in and out every day since. Impossible to miss when literally everyone is talking about it.
Then whose room is this? I check the dresser again, a different drawer so I don't feel quite so intrusive. There are some shirts inside, so I take one out, and it's immediately clear it isn't Maka's. Way too big. I sigh, arms flopping down in front of me.
I really screwed up, didn't I? After reading up online about gendered souls like Maka said, I just... couldn't help myself. Maka always looked like a girl, but she said that she was born male, and everyone believed she was male because of that rumor about her flashing someone at the beginning of the school year.
And then there's what she mentioned at the end, needing to prove herself... Followed by mention of the trans dorms? I bring a hand up, pressing it to my temple. I pull the pieces together. What Maka said today, what Vicca mentioned earlier in the week, about Maka proving herself to the school...
Did Maka have to... show her genitals to the school administration? The thought makes me sick to my stomach. No wonder why she was livid when I peeked at her...
She did that just to get a room in the dorms? To... avoid being put in the trans dorms? I fold up the large shirt in my hands and tuck it neatly away before looking around once more.
This room, while it has the same furniture, isn't the same as the other dorm rooms, at least not in the girls' dorms, I can't really say about the guys' though. I mean right off the bat, it's a single room. At first glance, that would be pretty nice, not being forced to live with a roommate. But also, it might be a little lonely, especially if there aren't as many people around because, well, Maka is the only transgender student, as far as I'm aware.
Which again, makes me question whose room this is... That shirt was really big. I'm not exactly the largest, but I'm at least average size, and it would be too big for me. So, female, very tall... Vicca? Wait, is Vicca transgender too? Is that why they're always together? Or is it... whatever they were doing in the infirmary? I couldn't see anything through Vicca's blinding glow, but she was definitely on top of Maka, with her shirt off for some reason...?
There are those rumors about Maka being a psion, and the way she... I don't know, it looked like she glitched earlier. One moment she was lying down with her shirt off, and then she just... wasn't. Like a video stream skipping when you have a bad signal. But there was no psionic glow, so what was that?
Could it have to do with whatever Vicca was doing to her? Is Maka some sort of... psion test subject or something? Vicca has her doing those extreme workouts on breaks too...
...Why? Does it have anything to do with being trans? The research she had me look up talked about using a psionic energy scanner to find the gender of a soul, so... Could she have traded her body to them or something, for use as a test subject, in exchange for getting solid evidence of being female?
But none of that explains her body. She was one hundred percent physically female in the shower earlier. Could it be...
I pull out my mobile to search up the transgender information I was researching before, but there's no signal here. That's right, this room doesn't have a window, so that means no sat signal...
Just from memory, I think there are other places where people do all sorts of things to get their bodies to match their souls. I only saw various chemical and surgical treatments mentioned online, but you could do it with psionics, right? You can do literally anything with them, as long as you find the right psion. She even mentioned being on her period on Monday. Unless she was screwing with the teacher, not likely given how sick and in pain she looked all day, that means the changes are internal too. I wonder if that would be possible through the sort of methods I saw online?
But... could Vicca even do that? She just sent me all the way across campus, doesn't that mean her power is for teleporting people? Then that still leaves Maka a mystery.
“Ahh, the more I think about this, the more I want to know!” I groan. That's the exact meddlesome curiosity that caused me to overstep my bounds earlier though. I wish I could ask Maka about it, but she must hate my guts after what I did to her!
I sigh, hanging my head in defeat. All I can do is try to make things up to her, even if I have no idea how. Vicca was right, I don't know how Maka could have come back to school with her head straight enough to function the day after being forced to expose herself like that. I'd probably hole myself up in my room for a week...
All to avoid living... here? I think again, as I survey the room, more closely this time. I'm not seeing any difference in the furniture. Besides being bare, it looks just like what I have in my room. I sit on the bed and the mattress feels the same, then the chair. Same again. What about...
“Huh?” I falter when I turn to check the wash room and... don't find one. I circle the room once more. Besides the door that I open, briefly peeking outside to be sure it leads to the hall, there are no other doors here for the wash room. How are they expected to wash up?
I grimace at the obvious shortcoming of these dorms. Being forced to wash up in a communal room, like the bathroom, must be especially awkward for people who aren't even happy with their bodies... That may not apply to Maka given her body now, but just designing it like this is pretty inconsiderate. How much trouble has the school been giving her?
Having looked around this room as much as I can, I step out into the hall. I turn one way, then the other. ...Oh. That sick feeling returns to my stomach. I walk down the hall one way, then the other. Then I head down the stairs to the floor below, and check that one too.
Those communal bathrooms? There are none. And no common rooms. No wash rooms. No kitchen. No laundry room.
These dorms...
There's nothing here.
Oh god, they were going to make her live here? This is downright inhumane... By the time I make it to the ground floor, nothing but narrow teal halls and a pair of tiny, barely habitable rooms on each side, I want to be sick. I hit the scanner to leave, but... nothing happens. I try a second time, but there's no change.
They don't lock people in here or something, do they? I look at the door in front of me and realize why. It's right there. You can only exit on the side you're registered to? So this door exits into the men's dorm. I'm so turned around from just appearing in here, I had no idea. I start toward the other side, but slow to a crawl along the way.
Wait, if you can only go out on one side or the other, were they trying to force Maka to still use the men's facilities, since they didn't put any in here? Changes to her body or not, how could they expect her to bathe together with men? That's just asking for her to get assaulted! I guess she could circle all the way around to the women's side, but none of the girls accept her there either.
Because all they care about is what's between her legs...
The more I think about it, the more grimy I feel. I did the exact same thing to her. I'm such a creep, no wonder why she hates me.
I exit through the door into the girls' dorm, and stop dead when the building monitor sitting right at the desk puts a hand up to stop me. Crap, I didn't think about that.
“Hey, how did you get in there?” Of course they never saw me enter. What do I do?
Best choice is always: play dumb. “I have no idea.”
“W-what do you mean?” she looks astonished.
Just playing it up, I look all around me. “Am I in the dorms? How did I get here?”
Now she's starting to appear concerned. “Where were you before?”
I screw up my face, like I'm trying to remember, but I'm actually frantically trying to come up with something. “I was... where again? I remember being at school... I don't know what happened after that though. Can I go to the infirmary?” I put my hand to my head, trying to look distressed, though I can't say how good an actress I really am.
Given the situation, she falls for it. “Yes, straight to the infirmary, get yourself checked right away.”
“Thank you, I'll go now.” I bow slightly, again attempting to look grateful to the woman, and run off before she can question things any more. Once I'm a good distance from the dorms, I stop. What do I do with myself now...?