Cross Custody

<Largo>

In the Japanese-style room of a hot spring inn, ten girls had their futons laid out in a row. It was past midnight, and I couldn’t sleep, writhing alone in my thoughts.

Tenuto confessed to me. But… I’m a boy. I don’t want to make him unhappy. If he’s really serious, then maybe… maybe I should stay in this girl’s body and return his feelings. But I—! I—!

"Could you not glow in the middle of the night?! I can't sleep!"

Lala snapped at me sharply.

"It’s not my fault! My body glows when my heart turns maidenly—nooooooo!!"

And so, the fun trip came to an end, and we returned to our original world. But shortly afterward, I was summoned to Elise’s house.

In the spacious and well-kept living room were Forte, Akira-san, and my real parents.

“Papa… Mama…”

“Largo, I’m just glad to see you looking well—even in a girl’s body.”

The atmosphere felt somewhat solemn. What could they be talking about, gathering both families like this?

“Largo. We've turned a blind eye all this time to your girlish personality. But now that we’ve seen how naturally you’ve adapted to life after swapping bodies with Forte, we think… maybe this is actually better. So we’re thinking about filing for cross custody.”

“Cross custody?”

They handed me a government pamphlet, which I looked over carefully.

The body-swapping curse—once sealed away as a forbidden spell—has seen a resurgence in recent years. More people are being afflicted, and more are choosing not to return to their original bodies.

While it would be simple to outlaw such swaps entirely, enforcing that strictly doesn’t work in practice.

According to the conservative party, resolving the declining birthrate requires strong family bonds by blood, and excessive individualism is not acceptable.

Thus, a new legal procedure was created to establish a “soul kinship” (rather than blood or marital kinship) for people who have swapped bodies—allowing them to be recognized as family under civil law.

One such measure is cross custody, in which, upon completing the procedure, both Forte and I would legally have four parents.

Sounds like a system that could really complicate inheritance cases in wealthy families…

“Huh… I see…”

“Well, you can choose to live on as you are now, or go back to your original bodies. It’s your life. You should decide for yourselves.”

“I…”

Forte spoke first.

“I think… I want to go back to my original body.”

She repeated what she had said to me on the phone the other day, now in front of everyone.

Of course. It’s only natural to want to return to your original body. I shouldn’t steal Forte’s life. That’s what I thought—until she continued:

“But just for one day. I want to go back just for one day. Then I’ll be able to tell whether life as Forte or as Largo feels more right to me. I have a girlfriend now—her name is Sharp—but I want to make sure, from my original body’s perspective, that living with her is truly what I want.”

It was an unexpected proposal. But thinking about it… she had a point. It’s not right to make such a life-changing decision based only on the perspective of Forte’s body.

“I want to go back for just one day, too… so I can decide.”

When I said that, Akira-san stood up.

“All right. You’re both right. There’s no need to rush a decision. Go back first, then decide.”

With everyone in agreement, the meeting was adjourned.