The Gender-Swap Curse and the Fact That I Still Like You
Fushi has a secret: an ancient power of regeneration that's kept them alive through things that should've killed them. But when they touch a strange pale-pink flower at the edge of the Kazamidori Forest, they pick up something new—a curse that swaps the sex of anyone it touches. And it's spreading. Fast.
Now the whole city of Takunaha is flipping, and Fushi's best friend Gugu—a burly seventeen-year-old boy—wakes up as a petite girl with the same mask and the same hopeless crush on the beautiful
The Gender-Swap Curse and the Fact That I Still Like You - Episode 2: The Great Love Curse Commotion — Female Gugu and Male Rean Race Through the Mansion
Morning light streamed through the second-floor window of the Gugu Inn.
Beyond the thin wooden walls came the clamor of the market street—merchants calling out their wares, the rattle of cart wheels, children's laughter. The town of Taknaha was bustling with life, as it was every morning.
Gugu stared at his own hands.
They were small.
The hands that split firewood, hauled barrels, and swung heavy pots every day now looked like a stranger's—slender, pale, delicate.
"...Damn. Guess there's no help for it."
His voice was different too.
Not the low, gruff voice he knew. This was high and clear, like a ringing bell.
Gugu peered into the small bronze mirror hanging on the wall.
A girl in a mask was looking back at him.
The short black hair was the same. The brown eyes were the same. But the jawline had softened into curves, the shoulders had narrowed, the neck had grown slender. The scar beneath the mask was still there—no need to touch it to know.
"...That flower from yesterday."
Fushi had come back from the northern flower field yesterday saying he'd touched some strange flower. Said it had even changed a wild rabbit's sex.
No way it got him too.
Gugu thought back to last night.
He'd noticed the change in the middle of the night. The moment he rolled over, the strange lightness of his body jolted him awake. After that, he hadn't slept a wink—spent the whole night until dawn checking his hands, his feet, his voice.
And then he'd realized.
The moment he'd become a woman, something deep in his chest had caught fire, and there was no putting it out.
He couldn't get Rean out of his head.
Her laughing face. Her angry face. Her golden braid. Her blue eyes. That voice. Those fingertips. All of it burned itself into his mind, vivid and relentless.
He'd liked her before.
But in this body, the feeling had multiplied tenfold, a hundredfold, until his chest felt like it would burst.
"...I wanna see her."
The words slipped out before he knew it.
"I wanna see her. Rean. Right now."
Gugu stood.
He picked up the mask, pressed it to his face, tied the strings behind his head. His fingers were trembling.
(What am I about to do?)
A cool-headed part of him spoke up from the back of his mind.
(What good does it do to go see Rean in a woman's body?)
(And yet—I can't stay here.)
Gugu opened the door.
He ran down the stairs.
"Oh, Gugu, good morning. You're up early today."
In the tavern on the first floor, Miranda the proprietress was wiping down the counter. A plump, good-natured widow. She'd been looking after Gugu ever since he'd stumbled into this inn.
"...Morning. I'm heading out for a bit."
"Hm? Your voice—it's been off since yesterday. You catching a cold?"
"I'm fine. Where's Fushi?"
"Still asleep. He was up late last night."
"Right. I'm off, then."
Gugu pushed open the tavern door.
The morning light stabbed at his eyes.
The smells of the market street—baking bread, sweet fruit, horses. Everything the same as always, yet somehow distant.
Gugu started running.
Toward the Rean estate.
The Rean family home was one of the finest mansions in Taknaha. It faced a quiet street just off the market thoroughfare—white walls, blue roof, dream-bellflowers planted in the garden.
Gugu stopped at the gate.
His breath was ragged. His heart pounded in his throat.
(What am I going to say?)
(Am I going to tell her I love her? In this body?)
(That's insane. Two women—)
But his feet wouldn't move.
He couldn't move.
He wanted to see Rean. Wanted to see her and pour out everything he felt.
Gugu put his hand on the gate.
"Rean! Rean, are you there!?"
His voice echoed down the quiet morning street.
Inside the mansion, he heard the servants stir in a panic.
"Wh-what is it, this early in the morning?"
A middle-aged servant poked his head through the gap in the gate.
"Let me see Rean. Please."
"The young lady is... currently occupied..."
"Occupied?"
"Yes, well, that is... the young lady has been in a strange state since last night..."
The servant's face had gone pale.
"Strange how?"
"Well, the young lady has... taken on a man's form..."
Gugu froze.
A man.
Rean was a man.
"...What?"
"I mean to say, the young lady has become a fine young man since last night. The master and mistress are in a complete panic..."
Something started spinning in Gugu's head.
Rean had been cursed too.
By that flower.
"Let me see her. I'm Gugu. I'm... an acquaintance of Rean's."
"Gugu, sir? The one from the tavern? But you're a woman, are you not—"
"Details don't matter! Let me through!"
Gugu pushed the gate open.
Even in a woman's body, his strength hadn't faded. The servant stumbled back.
"W-wait! Please wait!"
Gugu sprinted across the garden.
The white gravel path. The dream-bellflower beds. The old well. Scenery he'd seen a hundred times. How many times had he snuck into this garden to see Rean?
He stopped in front of the mansion's entrance.
"Rean!"
He shouted.
The mansion fell dead silent.
Then, slowly, the front door opened.
Gugu forgot to breathe.
Standing there was a young man.
Long blond hair rippled gently over his shoulders. Blue eyes stared straight at Gugu. A white shirt, a deep navy vest. Slender, but broad-shouldered, with a proud bearing.
"...Gugu?"
The voice was low and clear.
But the color of those eyes, the blond hair—all of it was Rean's.
"Rean... you really..."
"Yes, it's me. As you can see, I've become a man."
Rean gave a wry smile.
Even on a man's face, that way of smiling was still Rean's.
"...You became a woman too, didn't you."
"Y-yeah. Something like that."
"Heh. How strange."
"Don't laugh."
The two of them stood at the entrance, staring at each other.
Morning light poured down between them.
Gugu's heart pounded until it hurt.
(Say it. Say it now.)
(That I love you. That I've loved you for so long.)
Gugu opened his mouth.
"Rean, I—"
At that moment, a scream came from deep inside the mansion.
"Rean! Where have you gone! Rean!"
"Young lady! Please wait! You mustn't show yourself in public!"
Rean turned and looked back toward the interior.
"...Father and Mother have been like that all morning. They seem quite shocked that I've become a man."
"Can't blame 'em. Their daughter suddenly turned into a man."
"I suppose. But I don't mind it as much as you'd think."
"Huh?"
Rean turned back to face Gugu.
Those blue eyes held a serious light.
"Gugu. There's something I want to tell you."
"Wh-what, all formal like that?"
"Will you hear me out?"
"...Yeah."
Rean drew a deep breath.
Then, from his pocket, he produced a small ring.
A silver ring. A tiny blue stone glittered in the morning sun.
Gugu recognized it.
The ring Rean had carried for as long as he could remember.
"Gugu. I'm in love with you. I have been for a long, long time."
Gugu's mind went blank.
"...What?"
"I've been carrying this ring, meaning to give it to you, but I could never be honest enough to hand it over. ...Now I can say it. In this body, I feel like I can be bold."
Rean dropped to his knees.
It was a full dogeza.
"Gugu! Marry me!"
Gugu backed away.
"Whaaaaaat!?"
"Please! I love you! I don't care if you're a woman or a man! You're you! So marry me!"
"H-hold on! Wait, wait, wait! What are you even saying!? I'm a woman right now! You're a man! Isn't that backwards!?"
"Appearances don't matter! I love what's inside you! You're strong, you take care of everyone, you're shy, and the kind face beneath that mask—I love all of it!"
"S-stop! Don't say it so loud! It's embarrassing!"
Gugu felt his face burn.
Maybe it was the woman's body—every emotion showed itself physically. Tears welled up. His voice shook. His heart pounded in his ears.
(I'm happy. So happy.)
(But what am I supposed to do, being proposed to in this body?)
"Gugu! Give me your answer!"
Rean looked up, still on his knees.
His blue eyes were wet with tears.
"...A-are you crying?"
"I'm not crying! This is sweat!"
"Sweat? Come on..."
Gugu, at a complete loss, bolted.
"Wait! Gugu! Wait!"
Rean chased after him.
"Don't come! Stop following me!"
"No! I'm not stopping until I hear your answer!"
The two of them tore around the estate garden.
Kicking up white gravel, leaping over the dream-bellflower beds, circling the old well again and again.
"Young lady! Please wait! Your appearance! Your appearance!"
The servants chased after them, shrieking.
"Rean! Where are you going! Come back!"
From inside the mansion came the shouts of Rean's parents.
It was chaos.
Gugu vaulted over the hedge.
"Wait! Gugu!"
Rean vaulted over the hedge too.
The two of them burst onto the market street.
"Whoa!"
"What's going on!?"
"A girl and a guy are chasing each other!"
The people on the market street turned, startled.
Gugu wove through the crowd.
"Out of the way! Let me through!"
"You won't escape! Gugu! Listen to my feelings!"
"I heard them! I heard them already! I get it!"
"You don't! You don't understand my feelings at all!"
"I do! I feel the same—"
Gugu cut himself off.
(I love you too.)
(But saying it in this body feels... wrong somehow.)
Gugu kept running.
He flew past stall after stall. Apples tumbled from a fruit vendor's basket. A cat bolted in fright outside the fishmonger's. The smell of fresh-baked bread teased his nose for an instant outside the bakery.
"Hey, isn't that Gugu?"
"Huh? The one with the mask? But that's a woman, right?"
"Did he turn into a woman? What happened?"
The tavern regulars began to murmur.
"Gugu! I said wait!"
Rean was right on his heels.
Even in a man's body, his speed hadn't changed. If anything, he might be faster.
"Damn, you're quick!"
"You're the one—how are you that fast in a woman's body!?"
"My strength hasn't changed!"
Gugu turned into an alley.
"Ah!"
Dead end.
"...G-got you."
Rean stood blocking the alley entrance.
Breathing hard, he fixed his blue eyes on Gugu.
"...Hey, Rean. Calm down. Let's talk."
"Yes, let's. Tell me your answer to my proposal."
"That's, well..."
Gugu pressed his back against the wall.
In this woman's body, his heartbeat echoed impossibly loud.
(Should I just say it?)
(That I love you too.)
(But saying it in this body feels like cheating.)
Gugu bit his lip beneath the mask.
That was when it happened.
"What are you two doing?"
Gugu turned at the voice.
At the alley entrance stood a silver-haired boy.
It was Fushi.
His clear golden eyes stared at them in surprise.
"Fushi..."
"Gugu, and... um, are you Rean?"
"Yes. As you can see, I've become a man."
Fushi blinked.
"Amazing. You really did change sex. And Gugu, you've become a girl too."
"This is your fault, you know."
"...Sorry. It's probably because I touched that flower."
Fushi's shoulders slumped.
"Don't apologize. I'm actually quite fond of this body."
"Huh?"
"Because in this body, I was able to propose to Gugu."
"Propose!?"
Fushi's eyes went wide.
"That's right. I'm waiting for an answer right now."
Rean turned to Gugu.
"Gugu. Your answer?"
"...That's, well, you know."
Gugu shot Fushi a pleading look.
Fushi tilted his head.
"Gugu, don't you like Rean?"
"Bff! Wh-why would you—"
"Because you talk about Rean all the time. And this morning you were running toward the Rean estate looking so happy."
"You were watching!?"
"Yeah. I was worried, so I followed you."
Gugu clutched his head.
"...It's all a mess."
"Gugu."
Rean stepped closer.
"I love you. Woman or man, it doesn't matter. As long as you're you, that's enough."
Rean's voice was earnest.
"...Me too."
Gugu murmured quietly.
"Huh?"
"I love you too. I have for a long time. ...But saying it in this body felt like cheating."
Beneath the mask, Gugu was close to tears.
"It's not cheating. Your feelings are your own."
Rean took Gugu's hand.
A man's hand. But warm, and gentle.
"...Jeez. Guess there's no help for it."
Gugu laug
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