Kokoro Connect - Two Different Hearts

The last thing I remembered was Inaba agreeing some tea would be a good idea. Well I assume that's what she finished her sentence with cause I passed out about the time she said "that's a-." When I came to I was kneeling in my classroom. I was in the far left corner behind Iori's desk.

I put a hand to my head trying to soothe the strange, disoriented feeling that came over me. "Jeez," I thought, "my hair's really getting out of hand." I had just starting thinking I needed a trip to the barber when I noticed my fingers had nail polish on then. It was imperceptible at a distance, but they shined in the late afternoon sunlight. Moreover, my hands were smaller and more slender than I remembered.

"Wha-!" The second I said something out loud the pitch of my voice told me something was really wrong and I stopped speaking, gasping in shock. Suddenly remembering Aoki and Kiriyama's wacky story from twenty minutes ago, I had a feeling I knew what was wrong. I hesitantly looked down.

Yep. It was the girls' uniform all right. And a body made to fit this particular one. I didn't have a mirror on hand, but seeing as Nagase ran off to get her notebook, it didn't take too big a leap of logic realize I this was her body.

"Still… maybe it was a dream?" I thought. I was clinging on to the barest hope that I wasn't presently inside the body of the girl I liked. If nothing else, I never imagined needing to use that particular turn of phrase outside of a specific context.

I did the only logical thing I could think of and decided to empirically verify my situation. I slowly, hesitantly reached and grabbed my (well Iori's) chest. I felt the pressure of those hand through my bra I (well Nagase's technically, but... you know what? You know what I mean. As long as I'm in here, it's me) and I jumped back, the completely alien sensation making me dizzy.

That's when I noticed someone at the classroom door. Fujishima, the class rep, stood there at the entrance, her long black hair held back in a ponytail. I didn't really talk to her much, other than the few times we interacted over club forms or classroom duty assignments. She's a straight-A student, always gets the top score on the exams, and very very serious about "school pride". Since she was part of the student government, everyone seemed to love her to pieces. I always thought she was cold and maybe too serious for a high schooler. Definitely a tweener if I ever saw one.

The look in her eyes though, didn't look like the ones that belonged to a stern, grade-grubbing, teacher's pet. She put a hand to her glasses and raised them. Her mouth curled up in a smile that was somehow both mischievous and deadly serious.

"You made it in time Iori-chan. I'm happy to see you were anticipating me, but you of all people know that you need a partner to make you feel good."

She started walking towards me, uttering sweet words, "Don't worry sweetie, I know all the places you like to be touched."

Mouth agape, I was too shocked to do much more than shuffle backwards awkwardly. "What the hell is going on?" was the only thing going through my head. I mean, this girl wasn't actually going to make out with me, err, Iori, was she?

"N-n-now w-w-w-wait a minute, Fujishima! L-let's not be h-hasty!" I sputtered, shuffling backwards in a limp crabwalk.

Fujishima stopped, she looked confused. Her expression became vulnerable as she spoke, "But Iori-chan, I thought you said we could see each other today? I've missed you all this time we were apart." She inched closer and cupped my face with her palm and leaned in to kiss me. Backed in a corner, all I could do was close my eyes and steel myself. Fujishima was just about to touch my lips when a screamed echoed in the classroom.

"Maiiikooo!"

It's hard to explain what it's like to see someone else do things in your body. It's this uncanny feeling because, in one sense, you recognize what you look like from the bathroom mirror and photos of yourself on Facebook and the like, but seeing it from outside yourself, in person, feels wrong on a level that's difficult for me to describe. The person that was in my body, Iori in this case, held himself more openly and gracefully than I did and spoke using a different part of his voice than I usually did. If I didn't strongly suspect there was, quite literally, a girl's soul inside, I probably would have called thought he was a sissy, maybe even gay.

My eyes blinked open. I let out a dull, high-pitched, whisper, "Iori…"

Fujishima turned back and said, "Yaegashi! What are you doing here! Why did you call me by my first name?"

"Maiko! Um, uh I mean Fujishima! Taichi and I… Um, Me and Taichi… um, Nagase and I have to get back to the club meeting! Important business! She's the president, you know!"

Fujishima faced Iori, her arms held back possessively as she spoke in her serious, 'class representative' tone.

"Oh no, I'm sorry Yaegashi. I've been waiting too long to see Iori again to let anyone else come in and ruin my life."

I spoke up, "Um, Fujishima, I think I need to..." I nervously stood up and tried to leave, but Fujishima held on to me tightly. Ugh, I was cursing how weak and small this body was compared to my own.

Fujishima looked at me, her eyes piercing my own, "No! You promised me Iori! You said we could be together as long as we only saw each other after school like this. Please..." She started crying on my shoulder, her wailing muffled by the uniform's blazer. I looked at Nagase who had his hand on the back of his head, blushing profusely. I knew that look. Nagase perfectly copied my "oh shit Inaba found my porn folder" look of contrition. Then, he put his hands together, pleading at me silently.

I didn't know what else to do. I gritted my teeth. This was just like doing a heel-face turn, right?

I slowly pulled Fujishima from my shoulder and looked at her straight in the eyes. Her glasses had been knocked crooked, the lenses stained with tears. Her cheeks were red and snot was dripping from her nose. Not the most appealing look, but somehow seeing her honest expression made it easier to talk to her. I put on the sweet smile I remembered Iori using when she teased me earlier today in the club room.

"Fuji- Maiko. I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you. Something really important happened in the club. I came here... to tell you before I left again. I was really sad about not seeing you, but I... I promise I'll make it up to you. After club meetings today, why don't we get some coffee, okay?"

Fujishima sniffled somewhat as she reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. She wiped her tears and blew her nose.

After a beat, she spoke to me in a soft voice. I was so striking to see this side of the class rep. I was both touched and highly embarrassed.

"I-I'm sorry Iori-chan. I was just so happy you agreed to go out with me. I thought I had scared you off and the thought that I did was too much to bear." She let out a breath and resumed her usual severe composure and stood, facing Nagase. She put a hand to her glasses, adjusting them slightly.

"Yaegashi. I trust you will not divulge what you saw here," she said, all business once more, "If you decide to give into the temptation of indiscretion, I have the means of asserting myself and claiming retribution. Is that clear, Yaegashi?"

Nagase and I both gulped. We stood in silence until I blinked wildly to remind the person in my body that she needed to say something.

"A-Ah, Of course Mai-Fujishima! My word is sacred. I apologize for intruding." Nagase boowed deeply, looking away from the two of us for a moment.

"Um... Taich-, Um Io-, um Nagase. L-Lets get going," Nagase finally said.

I slowly stood up and began to leave. Fujishima gave me a hug from behind and, after a moment, let me go.

Nagase and I slowly walked down the hallway in silence until we hit the stairway that led back up to the club room. Half way up the steps we both stops to collect ourselves.

To say the silence was awkward would have been an understatement. After what felt like an eternity, all I could say was, "That was unexpected."

Nagase nooded, "Y-Yeah. I guess Aoki and Yui were telling the truth, after all..."

I nodded.

"We... we should probably get back. Everyone needs to see this," I said continuing the climb upstairs, Nagase following behind me.

"Hey," I said softly.

"Yeah Taichi?"

"What Fujishima said back there..."

"Oh, " Nagase laughed a bit, her girlish cheerfulness somehow communicating past my stoic male form, "Well... it was one of those things that sort of happened. Maiko is kind of possessive, but she means well," Iori sighed a bit.

"I see. She really liked you, but I guess you knew that."

Nagase nodded, "Yeah."

"What about you?" I asked.

"Hahaha!" Nagase laughed warmly, in a way only she could, "I guess a little. I just don't know how to face people. Nobody really likes people like that, you know."

As we reached the top of the stairs, I looked up at Nagase (and once again cursing the loss of height in this body) and said, "I don't mind. As long as she makes you happy, I don't mind." I meant it, too. Even though it kind of hurt to see the girl I liked be with someone else, I really meant it.

Nagase looked stunned, his eyes watered slightly, which was just strange. He then broke in a smile and punched me lightly (though not knowing my body's strength, it hurt like hell and I winced noticeably).

Nagase looked away and began ranting theatrically "Haha! I bet you were imagining us together, young maidens turning away from the world to embrace each other!" he said, putting the back of his right against against his forehead, "I wonder what would have happened if you knew all this an hour ago and I hadn't made it in time..."

"H-huh!?" I felt my face flush at the thought, "a-anyways! Lets get inside, Nagase."

I walked the few doors down to the Bukenbu's Club Room. Before opening the door, I looked at Iori. Despite himself, he blushed.

My last thought before we entered was: "Jeez, I look like an idiot when I'm lovesick."

Author's Note:

I wrote this story a while ago, around the time that Kizu Random began airing and I had finished reading Hito Random in Japanese. I finally got around to uploading this story to , after waiting in vain for a category to be made.

Simply put, this is an alternate version of the first time Taichi and Iori switch bodies in Hito Random. Partially because I really like Fujishima and partially because I find Taichi an interesting character, particularly in the novels. This was meant to me a very short excerpt, unlike my Ranma fiction, which tends to be rather long. You'll also notice I play fast and loose with pronouns. Roughly speaking, physical actions take the pronouns of the person's current sex, internal actions or personal descriptions use the character's actual gender. I hope it isn't too confusing in context.

My preffered abbreviation for the Cultural Research Club is "Bukenbu", since its the short form for the name of the club the main characters are in, the Bunka Kenkyuu Bu or "Cultural Research Club".

As always,

~裏には裏がある