Chapter 40: Sora has made up her mind!

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Translator: Soafp

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After dinner at Sora's house, Ginji was sipping the green tea she had brewed.

“This is really good…”

“Glad you like it. I'm totally stuffed, though.”

Sora leaned back in her chair, rubbing her stomach.

“You ate less than half of what I did. Barely touched the chicken rice, too.”

“You really eat a lot, Ginji~”

Sora was dressed comfortably at home—just a regular T-shirt that showed the shape of her body and shorts that came down to her knees. Now that she had come out as a girl, she wore normal underwear too. The outfit was super relaxing for her, especially after the tension she'd felt at the family restaurant earlier.

Meanwhile, Ginji was doing his best to stay calm, but deep down, he was nervous. It was technically his first time consciously entering a girl's room—even though he'd been in Sora's room plenty of times before, this was different.

“…Still can't believe it. You really are a girl.”

Ginji's eyes drifted to her ch*st. It wasn't overly large, but it was definitely there, subtly but clearly asserting itself.

“…What are you staring at? Pervert.”

Sora gave him a deadpan glare. With her glasses off and bangs pushed aside, her face looked unmistakably feminine. Ginji found himself mentally kicking his past self for never noticing before.

“Sorry…”

“It's fine. They're not even that big.”

Sora, completely casually, lifted and pushed her chest together over her shirt to check for herself. Ginji was stunned—Is she serious?!

For someone who normally had trouble even talking to people, how could she be this defenseless?

“Sora, that's enough.”

“Huh?”

“Don't do that kind of stuff in front of a guy.”

“…Okay.”

Sora didn't really understand what she'd done wrong. To her, it felt like a normal thing to do. She wasn't sure why Ginji had turned away, and she remained blissfully unaware of how natural her airheadedness was.

“…So, anyway, about what comes next.”

“What do you mean?”

“My ‘Make Sora Happy Plan' is in serious need of revision.”

“Phase Two, right?”

“I was gonna make you super popular with the girls…”

“Wait, you were serious about that?”

The plan had involved having Sora stand out with morning greetings and test scores, to shift her image away from being just Aika's sidekick. But now that her gender was out in the open, Ginji wasn't sure how to proceed.

“So… are you planning to keep presenting as a boy at school?”

“…I've been wondering about that. But now, I think not.”

“Oh? So you've made up your mind?”

Ginji looked at her with interest, and Sora smiled brightly.

“Yeah. I want to go to school as a girl. Talking to you like this—just as a girl—is really fun, and that made me realize I want more of that, even at school.”

Talking to Ginji as a girl had shaken something deep in Sora. It made her want more moments like these—so badly that whatever Aika might say, or what the teachers might think, didn't matter anymore.

[I'm more selfish than I thought…]

When she looked at the boy in front of her, she felt like she'd want more and more.

She never imagined she could change this much. She knew she was getting carried away, but that didn't mean she could stop.

“Didn't expect that. Well, I'm with you. Want to try going to school dressed as a girl, then? Got a uniform ready?”

“Yeah, I've had one ready just in case… I'll need to get it all prepped, though. First time and all.”

“Sounds good.”

Ginji reached out and poked Sora lightly on the forehead. Her body flushed with warmth, and he grinned at the reaction.

Her heart had just finally calmed down, only to start racing again.

“Wh-What?”

“Nah… I was surprised, but being with you like this is fun. So yeah—let's keep going as ‘best friends,' alright?”

…And just like that, her blood ran cold.

“…Best friends?”

“Yeah. Remember what you said at the restaurant? ‘From now on'—even if you're a girl, I'll treat you the same as always. So don't worry.”

“Ohhh, I seeee. Makes sense.”

[This idiot…! What the heck did I bare my soul for if this is what he thinks it meant?!]

A tick of anger formed on Sora's temple. [Okay, yes, maybe this is partially my fault, but come on!]

All thoughts about her art, middle school, or anything else flew out the window. She made up her mind.

She had to make this clueless guy realize her feelings—no matter what.

She hid her boiling emotions behind a forced smile.

“…Well, I've got to get ready for tomorrow, so let's wrap things up for tonight.”

Smiling tightly, veins visibly bulging on her forehead, she saw Ginji to the door.

“Alright. See you tomorrow.”

After Ginji left, Sora lined up the makeup supplies she'd prepared for Aika, laid out several pairs of haircutting scissors, and dropped a large mirror onto the desk with a heavy thud.

“I will make Ginji notice me!!”

She declared her own personal war with triumphant determination.

Meanwhile, Ginji was on his way home, walking through the cool night air and exhaling slowly.

No matter how hard he tried, the image of the defenseless Sora from earlier wouldn't leave his mind.

[Pretending everything's normal might be asking too much…]

“Sora trusts me… and I'm just being a weakling here. Get it together, Ginji Momoi.”

He shook his head vigorously, trying to clear his clouded thoughts.

“Tomorrow, I need to show up like always—business as usual.”

And so, the mysterious battle began—between Sora, who was determined to make him notice her, and Ginji, who was determined not to.