kscans

Chapter 223 - Like Night and Day

"Well, things got pretty wild yesterday, is what I'm saying."

"You guys are way too close."

"What is this, some kind of fool's diary?"

The night after pulling an all-nighter with the prez and his crew, I was drinking with Takahashi, Suzuki, and Chika-san. We always ended up at my hideout, which was getting a bit stale, so this time we were at Takahashi's place.

"You know, I feel like they used to show that movie on TV all the time back in the day, but I haven't seen it at all lately."

"Now that you mention it, you're right. I think they did a new TV drama version, though."

Makes you a little sad. As I was debating how to bring up the main topic while we chatted about TV dramas, Chika-san cut straight to the point.

"So? What did you want to talk to us about today?"

"You can tell?"

"Of course I can. Not just me, but Takahashi-kun and Suzuki-kun too. Right?"

"Pretty much."

"How long do you think we've known each other?"

The three of them laughed, saying they could read the room.

"You got me. But you know, when you say 'how long,' it's only been about two years if you're counting the time."

"""Ugh."""

And that was the total time, too. I had cut ties with all of them at one point.

"If anything, the person I've had the longest private relationship with in the Supernatural World might be John."

"Hey now, Satou-kun, that's a cold thing to say."

"That's not how you measure human connection."

"Exactly. It's about the depth, the depth."

"""Who the hell is John?"""

"What? You don't know John Apparanchi?"

The one and only John, professional moonshiner from Detroit.

"Isn't that a criminal?"

"I don't know a damn thing about John's hometown."

"Relax. He doesn't distribute on the Surface."

If he sold that stuff in the Surface World, there would be a mountain of dead bodies. In fact...

"Chika-san, you know him, right?"

"Huh, me? No, I can't say that I do."

"No, you've definitely met."

Having said that, I realized she might not have known his name.

"You know, that weird foreigner who was acting like my partner during the final battle with those idiots. That's him."

"Ah... oooh! He was there! He was! I remember him now!!"

""You actually know who he's talking about!?""

So she didn't know his name after all. But it seemed he had made enough of an impression for her to remember him nearly twenty years later.

"He's the one who would just pop up whenever Hiro-kun was about to be blocked and say something like, ‘Leave this to me and go on ahead,’ right?"

"Yeah. He's the guy who was holding a rocket launcher with a cynical smile, saying ‘Looks like the end credits aren't rolling just yet,’ when the angels started pouring out of the artificial god's corpse."

"Wait a second. There was some weirdo like that in the battle?"

"First I'm hearing of it."

"Don't worry, you two. Not just me, even Hiro-kun had a ‘who the hell is this guy’ look on his face."

""Then how is he the one you've known the longest...""

I wondered that myself.

"Anyway, we're getting off track! Way off track, Satou-kun! You have something pretty important to talk about, don't you?"

"Hm, you're right. My bad, my bad."

Though I had gone off on that tangent intentionally. The thing is, it was a bit of a difficult decision for me to talk about this...

"...If it's hard to say, I don't think you have to force yourself."

"I feel like it's none of our business since he'll probably tell us himself, but it's also a delicate topic."

I was pretty sure it would be fine. I trusted the three of them, and that kid was not weak. But just in case, I figured I should be the one to broach the subject first, even if it seemed nosy.

"Alright. Actually, there's something I want to talk about regarding Saku-chan."

"About Sakuya-kun?"

"Yeah. After I finished entertaining those tiger-fanatic aliens and went home, the kids were there, and they told me they had something important to say."

Ah, the three of them looked a little sheepish.

"...I kind of thought so, but you guys heard about Sarna-chan before I did, didn't you?"

"""Well, ahaha."""

From what the kids told me, they had apparently participated in the final battle with the villainess. If the four I had kept out of it for their own good had joined in without my knowledge... well, you know?

"Well, that's fine. But after that, Saku-chan confessed something... surprising to me."

"""Something surprising?"""

"Yeah. Apparently, Saku-chan is transgender."

"""!?"""

I could see their shock, the "seriously!?" reaction, but there was no sign of disgust.

"...I'm surprised."

"Yeah. I mean, I knew people like that existed. I'd just never considered it would be someone close to me."

"But now that you mention it, there were some signs, I guess."

"Takahashi-kun, you noticed something?"

"Yeah. A while back, when I went to tutor in Satou's place."

Apparently Rika-chan and Sarna-chan had a work experience thing coming up and got an assignment for it. The usual thing where you ask a familiar adult why they chose their profession. I remembered doing a similar assignment myself.

"So I gave them a brief rundown of my life story, and I touched on the part about becoming a woman."

He said Saku-chan had asked him some pretty deep questions then. At the time, he just thought she was socially aware, but after hearing my story, it all clicked into place.

"Well, I get what you're trying to say."

"Sakuya-kun will probably tell us directly someday, but you wanted to give us a heads-up before that happens, right?"

"Yeah. I'm sure it'll be fine, but you know how it is at that delicate age, right?"

Even a small reaction could hurt. It was entirely possible. So I decided to say something beforehand, presumptuous as it might be.

"It goes without saying, but..."

"We know, we know. This is between us. We act like it's the first time we're hearing it, right?"

"Yeah, thanks."

I gave a small bow, and the three of them readily agreed.

"But still. Aren't I amazing?"

"What's with you all of a sudden? Give us a warning before your intelligence suddenly plummets."

"Um, could you please stop with the sudden, incomprehensible boasting? It's really annoying."

I'll kill you.

"No, look, I'm sure a big part of why Saku-chan is so composed is her own strength, but I think the existence of the TS Divine Fist is also a major factor."

What did that mean? It was obvious.

"Young Satou-kun's choice not to kill his friend and instead carve out a different path with a completely different method has come full circle to give hope to a promising young person in the future, hasn't it?"

Hah! Amazing. I'm the freakin' best!

"I suppose you're not wrong, but..."

"Do you understand how we feel, being unable to just honestly say 'you're right'?"

"Nopey-dopey."

Tee-hee★

""Th, this guy...!!""

"Ahaha. Speaking of the TS Divine Fist, have you already taught it to Sakuya-chan?"

"Nah. She said she wants to try and do it on her own first."

"...Is that even something you can learn just because you want to?"

"Who knows?"

The principle behind it was still a mystery.

"But hey, if a kid says she's going to give it her all, we have to cheer her on."

"And if worst comes to worst, she's got Satou-kun, so she can probably take it easy."

"Yeah. By the way, I did a trial TS at Rika-chan's request, and Saku-chan is seriously incredible."

Even without my personal bias, she's a total knockout, I tell you.

"Well, with her looks, it's no surprise she'd be beautiful."

"I had him try the TS on me too, and I was crushed by the difference in how good-looking we were."

I finally understood how my enemies felt when they despaired before me.

"Hiro-kun as a girl... I'd kind of like to see that."

"Not even for you, Chika-san. I can already predict your reaction."

"He'd probably turn into some kind of dumb-looking gyaru, right?"

"I know, right? The kind of idiot you could tap on the head and it would make a nice, hollow sound."

Die.

"Speaking of TS, I'd like to see what Chika-san would look like as a boy."

"Me? I don't mind."

"Wait, you don't!?"

"If it were permanent, that would be another story, but I have no problem with a temporary gender swap."

"Th, then, could I ask you to? Oh, and maybe you could get a little younger, too?"

"S, sure... but why are you so eager?"

Men have their maidenly side too. I wanted to fantasize about a dashing young Chika-san and a cute young girl version of myself standing side by side, looking good together. Not that I had any intention of saying that out loud.

"Alright, is this good?"

Chika-san activated her body and became her younger self from back then. I nodded and unleashed the TS Divine Fist. After a brilliant flash of light, what appeared was...

""Ooh!!""

Th, this is...

"What is he? A cool, mysterious pretty boy?"

"He has a certain aesthetic charm."

…

"Hmm, so this is what I look like as a boy... Hiro-kun?"

"Hey, why do you look so crushed?"

"Wait? Are you crying? Satou-kun, are you crying?"

No way. We would never match. Never!

(A dumb-looking gyaru who doesn't think beyond her next meal is in a completely different league...!!)

I cried.