Chapter 146: The Gender-Swapper
The sudden intruder made Kamihara Shinji frown. “Who are you?”
“Hello, I’m Tohsaka, a police inspector from the Metropolitan Police Department.” The refined man smiled, deftly presenting his ID and handing it to Kamihara. Seeing Kamihara reach for it, he warned, “Don’t touch my skin—ah?” Noticing a faint mark on Kamihara’s hand, he sighed regretfully. “Seems I’m too late. You’ve already had skin contact.”
“What’s that mean?” Kamihara felt a sinking premonition but took the ID, his brow furrowing. “You’re with the Special Division?”
Tohsaka’s practiced ID flash was familiar; Kamihara used the same tactic with uncooperative civilians. “Special Division?” Tohsaka paused, sizing Kamihara up with surprise. “Are you an assistant or a monitor?”
“Monitor,” Kamihara replied coolly. “You’re here for Hisaike because of an anomaly?”
“Yes…” Tohsaka, unprepared to meet a colleague, continued, “This anomaly case was taken by Tanada-sha. I’ve reported to the Special Division. Why’d they send someone else?”
His wariness was palpable. Every group had an annual quota to investigate one anomaly case. The anomaly, codenamed Gender-Swapper, was nearly solved, and seemingly harmless. Tohsaka didn’t want interference.
Kamihara’s mind raced, piecing it together. Tohsaka led his own group, and Hisaike’s transformation was anomaly-induced, aligning with his suspicions. “I’m a student here,” he explained. “I just discovered Hisaike’s change.” He pressed, “What’s this about skin contact?”
Anomaly rules varied, often ensnaring the unwary. Had he stumbled into a killing rule? “Check your right hand’s back for a faint mark,” Tohsaka said, looking at Kamihara with pity. “This anomaly, Gender-Swapper, causes a person to switch genders. If they touch another’s skin, the contactee switches three days later.”
Kamihara raised his hand, face darkening. A faint ♀ mark—the symbol for female—marred his skin. “When does it kill?” he asked, steadying himself.
“It’s recent, with no deaths reported,” Tohsaka replied, his tone sympathetic. Noticing Kamihara’s grim expression, he wondered why. No deaths—wasn’t that good? Compared to lethal anomalies, gender-swapping was benign.
Kamihara, speechless, turned to Hisaike, who grinned maliciously. Though unaware of the full context, Hisaike overheard their talk. Kamihara would become female in three days, a thought that sparked gleeful laughter. “Hahaha, Kamihara, you’ve got it coming!”
Kamihara had beaten him for flimsy reasons before. Now, sharing the same fate, Hisaike felt vindicated. His laughter was cut short by a stick strike, eliciting a scream. “What?” Kamihara growled. “Even as a girl, I’ll make you crawl!”
Hisaike scurried away, undeterred. “My strength dropped after changing. Yours will too. In three days, I’ll have Shibao-aniki thrash you, and maybe more!” Another strike silenced her.
Tohsaka’s eyelids twitched at Hisaike’s wails. “Kamihara, hold off—don’t kill her. I need to question her.”
Kamihara snorted, restraining himself despite his irritation. He regretted entering investigation mode, testing Hisaike’s female strength by letting her punch him. After striking her, she’d grabbed his hand, causing the fateful skin contact.
Tohsaka relaxed, relieved Hisaike wasn’t dead. As a monitor, Kamihara’s temperament could be volatile, and Tohsaka avoided offending him over a civilian. But as he opened his mouth, Kamihara frowned. “Wait. Hisaike, you’ve been female for a day or two, right?”
Hisaike ignored him until the stick rose, then nodded hastily. “Yeah, since the day before yesterday.”
“Have you had skin contact with anyone?”
“No, no!” Hisaike shook her head.
“You’re lying,” Kamihara and Tohsaka said in unison.
Hisaike, wilted under their stares, admitted, “Okay, I lied. After changing, Shibao and the others didn’t believe me, so yesterday in the shed, I let them verify.”
The confession conjured unsavory images, chilling Kamihara and Tohsaka. “Don’t get the wrong idea!” Hisaike protested, but Kamihara, uninterested, snatched her phone. “Which one’s Shibao’s number?”
“First in the contacts.”
Using Hisaike’s phone, Kamihara called Shibao, learning the group was dawdling, not yet at the school building. Relieved, he summoned them to the shed, adding, “Don’t show, and I’ll beat you every time I see you.”
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 147: ♀
While waiting for Shibao’s group, Kamihara and Tohsaka chatted. Kamihara learned Tohsaka, a former high school teacher, led a group named Tanada-sha, choosing “Tohsaka” as his codename for convenience. Besides him, Tanada-sha included a female member, mirroring Kamihara’s Ghost-sha.
Tohsaka confessed he was originally female but became male investigating this case. Kamihara, surprised, noted Tohsaka’s refined features and subtle feminine mannerisms—small steps, delicate gestures. The ♂ mark on Tohsaka’s left hand confirmed his transformation, indicating at least three days of investigation.
“You seem calm about being gender-swapped,” Kamihara remarked. “Found a way back?”
“Uh…” Tohsaka gave him an odd look. “No. I don’t mind because, compared to dying, it’s nothing, right?”
Fair point. Kamihara fell silent. Most anomaly rules were lethal, but this one seemed different. “You’re the calm one,” Tohsaka muttered, noting Kamihara’s composure.
Tohsaka had nearly collapsed when he changed, but as a monitor, anomalies brought surprises. Compared to colleagues trapped in deadly rules, gender-swapping was fortunate. He’d made peace with it.
Kamihara didn’t elaborate. His notebook granted countless lives—suicide could revert his gender, so he wasn’t fazed. He even wondered, curiously, what he’d look like female, delaying suicide to see. Tohsaka explained transformations didn’t alter attractiveness: a beautiful woman became a handsome man, and vice versa. Plain looks stayed plain, based on observed cases.
Ten minutes passed without Shibao’s arrival. The school building was a five-minute walk; even dawdling, they should’ve arrived. Kamihara called again, but no answer. His face darkened. “Guess they don’t learn.”
Shibao’s group likely resented him. At Sakuraaki High, Kamihara was just a student, known among delinquents as a fight-picking lunatic. They feared but didn’t respect him—typical teenage bravado seeking payback.
Stick in hand, Kamihara said expressionlessly, “Tohsaka, watch her. I’ll fetch Shibao.”
“Uh…” Tohsaka hesitated.
“Don’t worry, I won’t steal your case. My quota’s done,” Kamihara assured, addressing Tohsaka’s concern.
“Haha…” Tohsaka laughed awkwardly. “Hurry back. Don’t let the Gender-Swapper spread.”
“Call the police, have them send fully covered officers—no exposed skin.”
“No problem.”
In May’s heat, students wore short-sleeved summer uniforms, increasing contact risks. Kamihara left the shed swiftly, calling the principal to station security on the second floor, where Class 2-1 was located. The principal, sensing Kamihara’s unusual status, complied without question.
Kamihara emailed Chihaya Mashiro to go home immediately. Fearful, she left without asking permission. Arriving at Class 2-1, Kamihara drew stares, stick in hand. Shibao’s group was helping, but Shibao smirked provocatively, deliberately ignoring the shed summons to goad Kamihara. A fight during the festival could get Kamihara expelled.
Noting the ready security team, Kamihara ordered, “Guard the door, lock the windows. No one leaves. Confiscate phones if anyone records.”
Unsure of Shibao’s group’s contacts, he isolated everyone. The security captain, confused but compliant, locked windows and the back door. Kamihara entered, closing the door, and grinned at Shibao. “Didn’t I tell you to go to the shed?”
“Uh…” Shibao sensed trouble, forcing a smile. “Thought we’d help here first. Right, guys?”
“Haha, yeah!”
“No… no mistake.”
“Kamihara, we’re helping. You can’t just beat us up!”
“We’re not slacking—ask your classmates!”
Class 2-1’s students stayed silent. Shibao’s group had intimidated them, claiming to help, not mentioning Kamihara’s orders. Now, they realized Kamihara had sent them.
“Kamihara-kun,” Kiyomiya Rin approached, whispering, “Did you call them here?”
“Yeah,” Kamihara replied, then said, “Class president, show me your hand.”
“Huh?” The class exchanged odd looks.
“Show me,” Kamihara insisted sternly. “Everyone else, too—check your hand’s back for marks. I heard from a teacher about a contagious disease. Marks like male or female symbols mean serious trouble. Cooperate, or face quarantine.”
Kiyomiya, startled, extended her hand. Kamihara, seeing no mark, relaxed. “You’re clear. Go.”
“Oh, okay…” Kiyomiya left, dazed. A disease? Really?
Skeptical students grew anxious, seeing security and onlookers. Shibao, struck by a thought, checked his hand, freezing at a ♀ mark, recalling Hisaike. Most of Class 2-1 left after Kamihara’s spiritual vision cleared them.
Noticing Shibao’s terrified look, Kamihara smirked. “Figured it out?”
“No… it can’t be!” Shibao’s smile was worse than tears. “Kamihara, tell me it’s not true.”
“It’s true.” Kamihara approached, striking Shibao’s waist. Enraged at their near-spread of the anomaly, his blow was heavy. Shibao collapsed, sobbing from pain and despair.
The other delinquents, misreading Shibao’s tears as acting, charged, believing a fight could expel Kamihara. Outmatched before, they fared worse now. Kamihara felled them one by one, checking their hands—all bore ♀ marks.
“I’m no devil,” Kamihara grinned. “You’re lucky—living both genders is a rare experience.”
Shibao wailed louder, clutching Kamihara’s leg, tears streaming. “Kamihara, is there a way out? I don’t want this. You’ve got a way, right? I’ll do anything!”
Kamihara lifted Shibao’s chin with the stick, sighing. “Looks like you won’t live off your face anymore.” He kicked him away.
Shibao’s despairing cries echoed as the Metropolitan Police arrived at Sakuraaki High.
(End of Chapter)
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