He had to admit that he felt a little glad to be told by Shion that she was fine with him being whichever gender. Presumably, that was a sign that she welcomed him as a friend, and their bond went beyond simple gender. Her next words, though, turned a tad ominous.
“All right, it’s skinship time! With the usual barriers gone, we can touch to our hearts’ content!”
“Hmmmm?”
“After that, we can all go shop for underwear together!”
“Uh, I don’t think that’ll be necessary. It’s not like I’m going to be like this forever.”
“What are you talking about, Renya? Underwear is important. Wearing ones that don’t fit you will mess up your curves.”
Shion was coming on rather strong, and it was upsetting him a little. He took temporary refuge in his thoughts as he pondered whether shaping underwear existed in this world. The changes to his body still left him somewhat flustered, and he was having trouble keeping up with Shion’s sudden burst of energy.
“Once we’ve done that, we can all go bathe together and wash each other! What do you think, Big Sis?”
“Wait. Hold on just a damn minute. I’m a guy. Who’re you calling Big Sis?”
“Do you see anyone else in the vicinity whom she might be referring to?”
He froze. Rona continued.
“Face it, Renya, you’re one hundred percent Big Sis material right now. Honestly, you’re such a beauty that I’m having trouble coming to terms with it myself.”
“Huh? But that’s…”
Having not seen his own face, Renya was under the impression that he was a walking abomination — a man’s body with a woman’s breasts attached. Being formerly male, his attention was entirely focused on his chest. And, of course, down there. But what he failed to notice were the other changes: his delicate ankles, his slender fingers. The gears in his brain ground to a halt. Voices seemed to be coming from afar. Vaguely, he heard Rona sigh.
“Both Shion and I are the eldest daughters in our families. All our sisters are younger than us. I’m sure you can understand if the hearts of two young maidens yearn at times to seek comfort in the arms of an older sister,” said Rona as she inched closer.
Renya distinctly remembered having been in a situation like this before, except the danger to his person felt far more significant this time. He flinched backward, only to feel a light impact on his back. Before he could even see what it was, one of Shion’s hands had slipped under his right arm wrapped around his breasts. Her other hand snaked its way around his waist, slithering past his thigh and threatening to advance into even more intimate areas. Tense with shock, he tried to jerk away, but found his route of escape cut off by Rona, who was approaching him from the front. He was trapped.
“Big Sis…” they said, whispering in harmony.
That was the last thing he remembered. From then on, his memory was fuzzy. Someone might have screamed, and someone might have unleashed an elbow strike backward, and someone might also have viciously headbutted an oncoming figure. He thought he threw out some pretty serious attacks, but his opponents quickly recovered, clinging to him with the tenacity of zombies. He remembered being terrified.
At the end of his long stretch of hazy memories, he found himself waking up to the red-tinged sunlight streaming in through the window. He looked himself over. His body was, once again, that of a man. It was also in a state of significant undress. His shirt was gone, his pants had slid down considerably, and his belt was undone. It was one heck of a close call.
On the bed lay a bundle of… something, wrapped up in a blanket. Tied together at the top, the blanket formed a pouch, and was just about big enough to hold two people. He had no idea what was inside, but it squirmed and writhed in a most upsetting manner.
Once he made himself presentable again, he inhaled deeply, and then breathed out until he had emptied every last wisp of air in his lungs. Only then did he begin to speak.
“Okay, listen up… Nothing happened today.” The bundle stopped moving. “Nothing happened today. I did nothing. I saw nothing. I heard nothing.”
With a hint of command in his voice, Renya spoke slowly and deliberately, his words seemingly meant for himself. Then, he stood up and, his steps weary, made his way to the door.
“If you feel like something happened, then it was a dream. And what happens in dreams stays in dreams. Unless someone wants to bring it into reality, in which case… There will be consequences.”
He glanced behind him to make sure he was understood. The upper half of the bundle of blankets dipped down in a nod.
“My head hurts. I’m going to get some water. When I’m back… I’d better be pleased with what I see.”
With that, he left the room. There was a clamor behind him. It sounded like a bundle of something hitting the ground. For a moment, he wondered what it was. Then he shook his head. It was a bad dream. No need to dwell on it. He was going to get a cup of water. That was all. With that thought in mind, he headed for the dining hall.
Renya was not mad.
Some girls had been fooling around, and he had gotten caught up in their antics. Thinking of it like that, it seemed foolish to even feel angry.
“Man… am I ever tired…”
Today was a day to be forgotten. Even if it was a fleeting dream, it needed to be forgotten. The sooner, the better. With both heart and body heavy with fatigue, he dragged his exhausted self toward the dining hall.
On a certain day, at a certain place.
“Master, about that drug. I made it so Renya would drink it down, but what was the point of it?”
“Well, you know how I told Renya that he’d be going to a world of sword and sorcery? And sorcery means magic, right? But then I remembered that world actually has almost no magic. It’s mostly magecraft there.”
“Huh? So?”
“It wouldn’t do for God to have lied, now would it? That’s why I needed to show him definitive proof that magic does exist there.”
“The whole ordeal was just for that? What are you going to do if he finds out? Won’t he hack you to bits?”
“Yeah, I really don’t want to be cut up by that sword of his, but hey, looks like they’ve decided to go with the “it was all a dream” thing. No harm done, right? It’ll be fine. Probably.”
In a place that was nowhere in particular, there may or may not have been a conversation like that. Was there? Wasn’t there?
Well, God only knows.