Chapter 22:

Hearty Sleepover

Couple That Can't Touch


After an exhausting week of school and work, the weekend had finally arrived. Hisa and Rem knew I was practically dead, so they planned a sleepover at Rem's house since she had the biggest room.

I started to get ready an hour before our agreed-upon time to meet up when I suddenly received a message. For some reason, I thought it could be Araki-kun, but it was Rem suggesting that her dad could pick me up a bit later. Rem's house was only a thirty-minute walk away, but I preferred to accept.

A car honked outside the house around seven o'clock. I said goodbye to my dad and Yu-tan and headed out.

I got in the modern, gray, car and sat in the front seat.

"Hi, Mr. Masuda!" I greeted Rem's dad while buckling my seatbelt.

"Hello, Suzuka. It's been a while since you came to our home," he smiled and started driving.

"Well, a few things have happened in the last month. Extra work, school started again, I made new friends, met a guy…"

"Quite an interesting month, I see. And here I thought you weren't friends with Remiko anymore. Just be careful not to overwork yourself and make sure that they are all nice people."

"I'd never stop being friends with her. And I will be careful, thanks for the advice."

We arrived only a few minutes later and, obviously, the first thing they asked me as soon as I stepped into Rem's room was about Araki-kun. I had already told them through our group chat that I asked him out on a date, but I hadn't told them the details in person.

"Okay, so what happened? What did he say?" Rem eagerly asked, sitting on the floor.

"More importantly, what did you say?" Hisa added, sitting on Rem's bed.

"Why is what I said more important than what he said?" I replied while leaving my backpack on the floor. "I just asked him if he wanted to go out on a date with me."

It's not like I was practically forced to do it since he found the tickets…

"Then?" Rem asked again, both staring at me.

"He took a bit of time to reply, but he accepted," I replied and sat beside Hisa on Rem's bed.

I couldn't believe how nervous I was. What if he said no?

"He took time to reply? Why would he need to think about going on a date with you?! Now I wanna punch him in the face!" Hisa yelled.

I simply stared at her, already used to her reactions.

"It's been a while since you've shown your true self," Rem chuckled. She was right; the last time she had yelled like that was the previous year when a guy looked at Rem for half a second.

"I know, but why would he even think about it? It's an obvious yes," Hisa replied, still upset.

"Well, I'm actually glad he thought about it," I said. Hisa and Rem stared puzzled at me. "It means he didn't do it out of impulse and reflected on it."

Hisa's and Rem's expressions didn't change much after I explained it. Am I that weird?

"You know, you can be quite mature sometimes," Rem said.

"Oh, thank you—"

"Very rarely, though," she remarked.

"Hey."

"But that's boring. There must be a reason why he hesitated," Hisa continued. "Also, your dark circles are too dark."

"Yeah, you never have them," Rem added. They usually told me how jealous they were because I never had them.

"Why don't you hide them?" Hisa asked.

"Because… I'm lazy," I grinned.

Hisa pinched my cheek tightly out of the blue. "Now, now. You're getting a boyfriend, you should care about your looks a bit more," she scarily smirked. "Good thing you have the fabulous Masuda Remiko on your side!"

"It hurts, it hurts!" I sobbed. Hisa let go and I caressed my cheek. "He's not my boyfriend yet!"

"Yet," Rem remarked.

"I know! Since Su-chan is finally becoming a woman, today we should try different makeup on her to see what fits her better," Hisa suggested.

"You're right!"

"What do you mean I'm finally becoming a woman?" I argued and let myself fall on my back to lay on the bed. "And is it necessary? I just want to rest. I could close my eyes and fall asleep any second…"

My eyes closed on their own as soon as I hit the bed, but Hisa instantly grabbed my shoulders and pulled me to sit me up.

"We know you're tired, but it's only seven, so you'll have to wait at least a couple of hours."

"Fine…"

"Maybe she'll get lively if we talk about Araki-kun," Rem grinned.

"Good idea!" Hisa approved.

My face became warm. I knew it, the questions are coming. I can't even filter my answers properly feeling this sleepy…

"Tell us, dear Kozue Suzuka-chan, what do you like about Araki Koji-kun?" Hisa asked and instant memories of job interviews appeared in my head.

"Well, I… don't know," I sighed.

I really didn't. I had been trying to figure out why myself, but I always ended up thinking it was because of the swapping. But that was something I couldn't tell them, could I?

"You're not sure," Hisa remarked with a straight face. "In that case, describe him. We haven't met him properly yet and we want to know more about the guy you like."

"Describe him?" I said and looked at the floor with my hands on the bed. Images of Araki-kun appeared in my head and I started to describe him. "His voice is kind of deep, he's very tall, his eyes are very black, and, though his hair is also black, it almost looks blue."

"I see," Hisa replied.

"What about his butt?" Rem innocently smiled.

"W-What?!" I screamed.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," she giggled. "But you should be aware of it. He's probably aware of yours."

My face got even hotter. What does that mean?!

"So you started by describing his appearance. Interesting…," Hisa said while gazing at me. I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Do you think he's attractive?" Rem asked me.

"Attractive? W-Well, he's not bad looking at all…," I answered. My heart raced as Araki-kun's image was still fixed in my head.

"So you like him physically," Hisa stated as she stared at me. "What else can you tell us?"

Her gaze is scary!

"What else… He's a bit annoying and negative at times, but he's a nice person. He's confident in most things he does, he's straightforward and serious, but can be funny and talk a lot more sometimes. He also seems to listen and be supportive, but I don't know him well enough yet."

And he's scared of thunder, but I doubt he would like me telling others about it.

I stopped talking and realized I was focused on remembering moments about Araki-kun and me. My heart calmed down, but I was smiling.

Hisa and Rem stared at me, smirking. My cheeks flushed hot once again and I looked down at the floor to avoid eye contact as I fidgeted with my fingers.

"There you go, that's what you like about him," Rem grinned.

"But isn't it normal to like that about someone?"

"He's handsome and seems like a nice person, but he's not my type," Hisa replied.

"Really? And what's your type?"

She instantly replied, "Someone that can help me achieve my goals, decided, relaxed but serious if needed, and good-looking."

"You actually know what you want quite well."

"Of course, it's something important to know."

"It also sounded like you were describing Rem," I chuckled and Hisa and Rem laughed out loud. "What about you, Rem?"

She stopped laughing and thought for a few seconds. "Someone I can work with, that isn't afraid of failure, protective, and always wants to try new things."

"Now you're describing Hisa," I giggled and they both laughed again. "At least now I know what I like about Araki-kun thanks to you."

I wonder why he likes me. Maybe he's struggling too, but I don't know who he would ask about it. I'm lucky to have Hisa and Rem.

"What are you saying," Rem said. "You already liked him, but now you were able to express it."

Hisa nodded. "I'm actually surprised you asked him out. How did you gather the courage?"

"Well, it was the perfect opportunity to do so after he found the tickets in my skirt—"

I stopped talking when I realized where my words were going. Oh no…

"He found the tickets in your skirt? How?" Rem questioned.

I blame the lack of sleep!

Hisa gasped. "Don't tell me you're already at that base…"

"Base?"

"Forget it. Rem's right, how did he find them?"

It was almost impossible to come up with an excuse and I knew that the longer I waited, the worse it would be when I told them about it. I had been avoiding it for obvious reasons, but maybe it was time.

I took a long and very deep breath. "I know it sounds crazy and you're not going to believe me, but… Araki-kun and I swap bodies when we touch. We touched each other by accident last Monday, the first day of club activities, so it's logical he found the tickets in my skirt. Then we headed to a park with Kawahara and that's when I asked him out."

An awkward silence surrounded the room. Hisa and Rem stared at me with their eyes wide open, not even blinking.

"It's fine if you don't believe me."

"Oh, we believe you," Hisa said and Rem nodded.

"What? Why? It sounds crazy and magical. Or like a paranormal phenomenon, as Kawahara would say…"

"Why would you lie about something like that? It's not even a prank day or anything," Rem said.

"Yeah. And there have been a couple of days where you acted very weird, and I don't mean PMS-kind of weird. That the two of you can swap bodies would explain a lot," Hisa added. "Also, we may or may not have followed you to the park and spied on you… but that doesn't matter!"

"I guess," I smiled. "Wait, you what?"

"How long have you been swapping bodies?" Rem asked.

"Almost two weeks already," I answered after thinking a bit. "But it has only happened five times."

"That's still a lot!" Hisa said. She suddenly mischievously smiled. "Have you seen too much?"

My head exploded and my entire face melted. "I-I have only used the toilet once with his body, but I didn't see anything!"

"Ow, okay."

What does she mean 'Ow'?!

"We have been lucky to only swap bodies for short periods of time and I hope it stays like that until we come up with a solution. Kawahara is helping us with that."

"That explains why you've been with her a lot lately," Rem said.

"I even thought you abandoned us for her," Hisa fakely sobbed. "But Su-chan would never do something like that, right?"

"No, I would never do that," I smiled.

"Aww," Hisa and Rem uttered.

"This is getting corny," Hisa said. "Why don't you tell us more about the swapping? It's only been a couple of weeks, but you have definitely had interesting experiences."

I giggled. "I have, but, before that, promise me you'll help Araki-kun when he's in my body."

"Sure, we'll 'help him'," Rem sarcastically replied and they both tittered.

"I'm serious."

"Don't worry, we'll help him. But that doesn't mean we can't have fun," Hisa smirked. "Now, tell us more!"

I sighed and smiled. "Fine."