His pants fell down. That was the first event that changed Sakuragi Ren's life. --- Wednesday, just past noon. Furin High School, North Building rooftop. Ren was sprawled on an old bench, staring up at the sky. Not a cloud in sight—boringly clear. Beyond the fence, the residential district of Minakaze City spread out, and somewhere a metal bat was hitting a ball. The wind felt good. Perfect day to skip class. "[sarcastic]That Yasuda guy was totally trying to call on me again" He muttered, draping his arm over his eyes. Yasuda, the math teacher—formally Yasuda Toshio, 38 years old, homeroom teacher of the Hanakuso Group—was famous for his thirty-minute lectures every week, but lately he'd been singling Ren out during class too. It was basically war. "[laughing]That teacher really goes after Ren too much. At this point it's gotta be a hobby" The one laughing beside him was Sugimoto Kouta. His shoulder-length deep green bob swayed in the wind, golden eyes crinkling as he grinned. At 160cm, he was shorter than Ren, but somehow had presence. Easygoing but always smiling—the most beloved character in the Hanakuso Group, Ren thought. "[sarcastic]If it's a hobby, I wish he'd quit" Hanyu Natsuki was standing by the fence a little ways off. Seventeen years old. Straight silver hair fell to their shoulders, mismatched eyes—right blue, left red—gazing blankly at the sky. Just fiddling with their phone at 165cm, they seemed to have zero interest in joining the conversation. They were always like this. Quiet. But not empty-headed. If anything, they saw the most. Ren knew that. The rooftop was technically off-limits. It'd been closed twenty years ago due to smoking problems, and it was still locked—supposedly. But Ren had smashed the interior lock freshman year, so now it was just the Hanakuso Group's base. About 200 square meters of flat space. A water tank and two outdoor units. A bench Kouta had found in the southwest corner. That was it. Nothing else. But nobody came here. Perfect. "[serious]Hey" He suddenly remembered something and opened his mouth. "[serious]You hear about some second-year stealing bread from the school store yesterday?" "[surprised]Seriously?" "[serious]Apparently they're suspecting it was us. Pisses me off" Kouta's expression clouded slightly. "[serious]……Is it okay to just leave that alone?" "[angry]Can't just leave it. But if we get involved, it'll be even more of a pain" Ren sat up from the bench and spoke toward the sky, like he was sorting it out for himself. "[serious]We've got one rule, right? Never prey on the weak. Everything else is fine" Kouta nodded. Natsuki looked up from their phone for just a moment, glancing over. That was enough. All three understood. The Hanakuso Group didn't do mugging or shoplifting—they'd decided that from the start. Back in first year of middle school, Ren had said it, and the other two had said "that works." That was all. The wind blew. The fence swayed slightly. Kouta sat on the edge of the bench and took a swig from an open bottle of tea. Regular tea from the Furin High school store. "Should've bought a Furin anpan," they muttered. That anpan was 130 yen and pretty good. Ren stretched. A faint scar on his arm caught the sunlight, glowing white. A small piercing in his right ear swayed in the breeze. Short black hair stuck up slightly. At 170cm, just lying around doing nothing like this—honestly, he didn't hate it. Just kill time like this, show up for the last homeroom. That's all. That's what he thought. --- The next moment, the sky turned white. Not metaphorically. The sky's color actually turned completely white. At the same time, his ears went wrong—a roar so loud it was deafening. An explosion? Lightning? Neither, but some kind of thunderous sound erupted overhead, and Ren reflexively jumped to his feet. "[scared]What the——" Mid-sentence, light fell. "Fell" was the only way to describe it. A white, hot light that engulfed the entire rooftop, but didn't hurt. Ren's body was swallowed by it—— His consciousness scattered. --- ……Something. The floor was cold. Ren slowly opened his eyes. A concrete ceiling. The rooftop. Still on the rooftop. He tried to get up and noticed something. His perspective was low. "（……Why am I still sitting……？）" He tried to stand. That moment. A sliding sound. His pants fell down. Ren froze for a second. He looked down at his pants around his knees, at his own legs, at his own hands. His hands were thin. "……ta……" Hearing his own voice, Ren stopped. High. His voice was high. Easily an octave or more higher. Beside him, Kouta was saying "eh, eh, eh." Moving like a broken robot, flipping their hands back and forth, checking them. Golden eyes wide as they could go. Natsuki was quietly pinching a strand of their own bangs, pulling it, staring at it like they were confirming something. Then, softly: "[cold]……Ah" That was all. All three of them had different voices. Clearly. Ren slowly looked at his own hands. Thin fingers. Small palms. The scar on his arm was still there. The piercing was still in his right ear. But everything else—— "[angry]This can't be real" His voice came out again. High. Disgustingly high. Not his voice. But it was coming from his mouth. Kouta slowly looked down at their own chest, touched it over their clothes, and their eyes went blank. They froze. One step away from fainting. "[scared]Eh, eh, eh, eh……" "[angry]Shut up and calm down!!" His shout cracked. High. Bad. His pants were sagging around his knees—worst case scenario. The boys' uniform shirt was baggy, swimming around his waist. The pants were so loose they wouldn't stay up. Natsuki was in the same state, drowning in the oversized uniform. The silver hair looked prettier than before. The mismatched eyes were more vivid. This guy's actually really good-looking——Ren thought for a second, then immediately realized this wasn't the time for that. Ren didn't notice the markings carved into the rooftop concrete at this point. He didn't have the capacity. "[angry]Anyway! Wrap your jacket around your waist! We're going to the infirmary!!" --- The three of them clattered down the North Building stairs. Ren wrapped his jacket around his waist and ran while holding his pants up with one hand. He checked that the hallway was empty, turned a corner, checked again. He was grateful classes were in session. The infirmary was on the first floor of the North Building. Ren pushed the door open forcefully. Katase Rumi—the school nurse, 29 years old—looked startled. She had a gentle demeanor and the white coat suited her well. She was apparently sharp-eyed, but basically spacey. "[serious]Sensei! We've become girls!!" Katase's eyes blinked. "……Huh?" "[serious]We've become girls. We need you to check right now" "[gentle]……You guys always come in with jokes like this. Remember last week when you were running from Yasuda-sensei——" "[angry]It's not a joke!!!" When Ren shouted, Kouta hesitantly spoke from behind. "[sad]I'm……really actually a girl now……" Kouta's voice was high too. The deep green bob hung limply. Their voice was barely audible. Natsuki stepped forward quietly. "[cold]Our voices changed too. Please check" Katase looked at all three of their faces carefully. First one, second one, third one. Back to the first. Back to the third. After a while, she put her hand on the partition. "……Huh?" There was a pause. "Uh……wait a second……" Another pause. Katase's face gradually turned pale. There were three beds in the infirmary. Laughter echoed faintly from the hallway outside—some class having PE. "……Your voices really are……" "[angry]That's what I've been saying!!" "Okay, okay. Calm down" Katase took a deep breath. Professional, Ren thought. In a situation like this where they should be the ones telling her to calm down, the teacher was trying to compose herself. "[gentle]……In any case. You're leaving early today" Then she opened a cabinet, rummaged around, and came back with three folded pieces of cloth. "[gentle]And use these" Three sets of girls' uniforms. Ren took them. Skirts were inside. Skirts. There were skirts inside. "[angry]……" He tried to complain but couldn't. Comparing going home with pants falling down versus this, there was only one answer. Katase was probably the most confused person in the world right now, Ren thought vaguely. --- They changed behind the partition in the infirmary. The moment Ren put on the skirt, he couldn't move for about thirty seconds. "[angry]……Why is this happening to me" "[gentle]The skirt……is easier to move in than I thought" "[angry]That's not the point right now!!" Kouta flinched. Natsuki silently looked down at the hem of their skirt. Their expression didn't change. But their eyes were distant. Thinking about something. The three of them snuck out through the school gate. The afternoon sun was strong. Minakaze City's residential district was quiet, barely any foot traffic on a weekday afternoon. Ren clenched his teeth as they walked the twelve minutes to Kazamachi Station. The skirt fluttered in the wind. Worst. On the way to Kazamachi Station, there was a Daily Pocket—about 100 meters before the station. A convenience store. The manager Miyanai was there, and the Hanakuso Group sometimes hung out there. "[serious]Should we stop by" It just came out. He was thirsty anyway. Right then, the automatic doors of Daily Pocket opened. Two female students came out. Same uniform. Same school. All three reflexively dove behind an electric pole. Ren in front, Kouta in back, Natsuki at the edge. They held their breath, erasing their presence. This was something they were good at. The kind of thing they used in fights. The voices of the two girls drifted over. "——Wait, wasn't there an unfamiliar girl just now?" "Huh, where?" "By the pole. Wasn't she cute?" "I missed it——oh, but what about Sakuragi-kun that Hinata-san likes? He wasn't in class today either" "Who knows. Probably skipping like usual" The voices faded away. Ren stayed frozen behind the pole for a while. "（……They were talking about me……？）" Cute. Him. Cute. His head spun. More than that, the second half of that conversation. Hinata-san likes Sakuragi-kun. Hinata Aoi——the girl in their class, supposedly the prettiest in the grade. That girl……liked him……？ He didn't know. He'd never thought about it. "[serious]Let's go" He said it in a voice even lower than he expected, and started walking. Kouta and Natsuki followed. There was something fuzzy in his chest, but he decided not to think about what it was. --- He got home. The moment he opened the front door, there was a sound from the kitchen. Family was home. Ren took off his shoes silently, slipped through the hallway without making noise, and slid into his room. He closed the door. Locked it. He breathed out. There was a full-length mirror in the corner of his room. Ren slowly turned toward it. A girl was there. Short black hair that stuck up a little, deep brown eyes, a small piercing in her right ear. A scar on her arm. Wearing a girls' uniform. Definitely a girl. But the face——looked familiar. Like he'd seen it before. It was him. "Uooooooohhhhh!!!!" He screamed. High-pitched, full-force screaming. It echoed off the walls. "What's wrong?!" came a voice from downstairs, and he screamed back "Nothing!!" before collapsing on the floor. He stayed curled up on the carpet for a while. Staring blankly at the pattern. The cheap one he'd bought three years ago. Faded now. Kouta had said "this has character" when he came over. Irrelevant. But it popped into his head anyway. Ren slowly got up. He stood in front of the mirror again. A girl stood in the mirror. Ren stared at that face. Glared at it. "[serious]……I'm Sakuragi Ren" The voice was still high. But it definitely came from his mouth. "[serious]I'm a delinquent, the le