45 Am I Possessed?

Tuesday

Without the curtains to block it, the morning sunlight pierced straight through Hojo Kyosuke’s eyelids, waking him from his slumber.

Strange, did I forget to draw the curtains last night?

Raising a hand to shield his eyes, Kyosuke’s newly awakened brain still felt somewhat hazy.

Huh? Why am I still wearing my clothes?

Sitting up and looking at his heavily wrinkled school uniform, Kyosuke thought with puzzlement.

Glancing at the alarm clock, he realized that because he had been woken up by the sun, it was still far too early for school. Kyosuke hurriedly stripped off his uniform, threw it into the washing machine, and then walked into the bathroom to take a quick rinse.

Changing into another set of school uniform, Kyosuke used the time while waiting for the laundry to finish by taking out a Japanese language textbook to read. Because he could choose Chinese for his university entrance examinations in the future, he did not need to spend too much time on English, as long as he could manage the upcoming high school entrance exams.

Endowed with a "talent for the sciences," he had even less to worry about regarding physics, chemistry, and biology. The only subject standing between him and university was Japanese literature. There were all sorts of traditional Japanese poems, Japanese-style Chinese poems, and Japanese-style classical Chinese prose. Even though Kyosuke had already diverted a large chunk of the time other students spent on science and English into studying Japanese, he still felt somewhat lacking.

Soon the laundry was done. Because the washing machine was an old model salvaged from a secondhand antique shop, it lacked a drying function, leaving Kyosuke with no choice but to carry the clothes to the balcony to air-dry.

With the laundry hung up, Kyosuke hopped on his motorcycle and headed to school.

There are people who outwardly pretend to want to be the strongest delinquent in Japan, yet secretly study diligently every day—I am talking about you, Kisaki Tetta. Just as he stepped into the classroom, Kyosuke saw Kisaki sitting there, reading a book intently. Good thing I was studying at home earlier too; you crafty scoundrel won't be beating me on next week's quiz.

"Good morning, Hojo."

Noticing Kyosuke’s arrival, Kisaki lowered his book and greeted him.

"Good morning." Kyosuke hung his school bag on the side of his desk, sat down, and then turned his head to ask Kisaki:

"What did you guys discuss last night regarding Toman?"

"Didn't you say the General Manager of Toman wasn't worthy of challenging our Specimen Angels, and then had the Vice General Manager send the Oni-Baku duo to lecture them?" Kisaki gave Kyosuke a strange look. Was Big Brother really feeling unwell after all?

"Ha? What are you talking about, Kisaki? When did I ever say anything like that?" Kyosuke looked back at Kisaki with equal perplexity.

"Do you even remember how you got home last night?" Kisaki asked probingly.

"Of course I rode my motorcycle home, how else..."

As he spoke, Kyosuke’s voice trailed off. Right, how did I get home? And even earlier than that, how did I leave the Nezu Shrine? Why did I fall asleep fully clothed in the first place? Why do I have no memory of any of this?

Seeing Kyosuke sink into deep contemplation, Kisaki closed his mouth and went back to studying; if there were any questions, Big Brother would surely tell him during the lunch break.

***

Right, Kisaki had previously called Kyosuke "Big Brother," or *aniki*, but Kyosuke had rejected it.

"You're no beautiful maiden, why are you calling me Big Brother?" That was what he had said.

Though he didn't quite understand the logical connection between "Big Brother" and a beautiful maiden, Kisaki had no choice but to drop it.

Morning study time ended quickly, and the first period happened to be Kyosuke’s favorite "Japanese Literature." Although he was still troubled by his missing memories, he forced himself to pull it together and focus on the lecture.

Lunch break, rooftop.

Although the rooftop had practically become Kyosuke’s exclusive lunch spot by now, several officers from the Specimen Angels headquarters would still occasionally drop by to hang out with him—though naturally, only before Kyosuke took his afternoon nap.

Take right now, for instance: Maki Kyosuke, the prospective exam-taker who should have been studying desperately in the classroom, was sitting cross-legged on a mat beneath the pergola, stuffing his face with fruit.

"No way, really? Everyone was scared out of their wits by you last night. Right, Eikichi, I saw your legs shaking back then." Maki Kyosuke said with astonishment.

"Yeah, yeah! The General Manager looked just like a demon crawling straight out of hell at that time." Onizuka Eikichi nodded repeatedly.

"Idiot, someone from hell would be a devil." Damma Ryuji smacked Eikichi on the head, seized the opportunity to snatch the apple from his hand, and immediately stood up to run away.

"Give it back! That was the last one!" Onizuka yelled as he gave chase.

Ignoring the two noisy idiots, Kyosuke used a toothpick to stab a piece of peach and popped it into his mouth. As he chewed, he propped his head up and massaged his temples.

"Yet I genuinely remember nothing about what happened at the Nezu Shrine last night, not even how I managed to get back home."

"Could you have been possessed by a ghost from the shrine!" Having successfully snatched back an apple that was now only half-eaten, Onizuka rejoined the conversation.

"That's a shrine! How could there be ghosts?" Ryuji immediately retorted.

"Maybe it's a foreign ghost, and Japan's local deities don't jurisdiction over them."

"That actually sounds kind of reasonable. General Manager, should we go get an exorcism at a church? I remember one of the officers over in Roppongi has a family member who works at a church." This time, Ryuji endorsed Onizuka’s logic; clearly, anyone who hung out with an idiot couldn't possibly be very smart themselves.

"You two, shut your traps."

Kyosuke’s already chaotic mind became instantly even more muddled by the noise the two of them were making, his temples throbbing painfully. Even the refreshing cantaloupe in his mouth suddenly felt scorching and unbearable, irritating his nerves.

"If you're not feeling well, you should rest first. We're heading out; see you at the kendo club after school."

Maki Kyosuke stood up as he spoke, grabbed the collars of the Oniba-Kumi duo with both hands, and dragged them away directly, with Tsuzuki Yoshio trotting along behind them.

"Oh right, are we changing our stance regarding Toman?" Maki paused at the stairwell to ask.

"Just handle it the way we discussed before. As long as Toman doesn't set foot in Bunkyo Ward, we can ignore them." Kyosuke had already closed his eyes, and at these words, he wearily raised one hand and waved it dismissively.

The balcony door was gently closed by Kisaki Tetta, who then walked over to Kyosuke’s side and asked in a low voice:

"Hojo, shouldn't you go get checked out at a hospital?"

Even though he no longer harbored the desire to rely on Kyosuke to ascend to the pinnacle of Japan's delinquents, under Kyosuke's "unsparing" help, Kisaki had come to view him as his best friend.

Hailed as a prodigy since childhood, within a mere single week he had been completely won over by a person who far surpassed him in intelligence, physical strength, and his flair with girls.

"No need, I just need to get some rest."

Just as he was speaking, Kyosuke’s phone suddenly chimed. It was the reminder he had set for the absolute latest time he allowed himself to take an afternoon nap.

Picking up his phone, he swiped away the "To-Do: Afternoon Nap" notification. Just as he was about to lock the phone screen, his eyes fell upon an unfamiliar memo:

"Who are you?"

Like a bolt of lightning striking through his mind, Kyosuke jerked upright. He remembered now—on the night the comet fell, that voice echoing inside his head.

Because of the phrasing in Japanese, although it was written as "Who are you," it could also be understood as "What is your name?"

Looking at the memo on his phone that he certainly hadn't written himself, and recalling what Kisaki and the others had said about last night's events which he had zero memory of, Kyosuke experienced a moment of sudden enlightenment.

He had been body-snatched!

No, wait, wait. The world he transmigrated into was clearly a shoujo manga-esque setting; where would such a malevolent trope like body-snatching come from?

The only certain thing was that someone else had used his body last night. And it definitely had to be a female, because his trash system would never allow a male to do such things to him.

Wait... "What is your name?" Isn't this the world of Upperclassman Okudera? Also, since my body was being used, does that mean I was simultaneously using her body too? If not, why on earth would I have no memory of that timespan? Yes, it must be that! It wasn't merely a case of his body being borrowed—they had swapped bodies!

Having figured this out, Kyosuke’s head instantly felt much clearer. After casually reassuring Kisaki, who had grown tense and worried by his sudden movement, Kyosuke began typing into the memo app.

"My name is Hojo Kyosuke. What's yours?"