I Awoke: Chapter the Final - Peaceful Days

The morning news said history’s first black woman pope was visiting Japan.

Ichijou Ryou watched in disinterest as he drank the rest of his miso soup.

“Thanks for the meal. I’ll be going now.”

As he got up and started for the front door, a girl with a gentle smile followed him.

“We’re leaving, aunt~”

“Have a good day, Yume-chan. And take care of our stupid son~”

His mother saw them off as she washed the dishes at the sink. Once they stepped outside, the bright sun and a gentle breeze greeted them. It was a safe and peaceful morning.

Two days had passed since the slaying of Rasetsu Douji at the school and the aftermath had apparently been dealt with by the headmaster who was part of the main family. And since the students there had been hit by a wave from the Oni-slaying sword Zanshou, they seemed to have lost the memories of what had happened.

That was honestly a relief. Ryou would have wanted to die if people remembered the humiliation he had received there and that he had lost his female virginity to his best friend.

He still felt a strange mixture of irritation and awkwardness when he saw Watanabe, so he ended up acting sharply to him.

As for Yume…

“That woman pope on the news was so beautiful~ I wish I was that tall and cool~”

Either due to Rasetsu Douji’s spells or the effects of passing out and having her mind muddled by the Refined Ki, Yume did not seem to recall that Haruka was Ryou’s genderbent form.

She seemed to think Haruka and Ryou had come to save her separately.

And…

“Hey, Ryou-chan. Do you like cool girls like that? Haruka-chan is so tall and really cool. And Kimino-chan is so athletic.”

“Hm? I wasn’t really watching the news, so I can’t comment on the pope. …But, well…I think you’re the cutest, Yume…”

“————!! Eh heh heh~”

He had been too embarrassed to say it very loudly, but she seemed to have heard him.

She happily rubbed her soft body up against him and wrapped her arm around his.

She did seem to remember their mutual confession and sex in the infirmary.

“Haruka-chan had to return to the main family, didn’t she? And after we were getting along so well. I didn’t even get to thank her for saving me. I was hoping she could live with you as twins…”

“Y-yeah…”

Saying much of anything could have revealed the truth, so he simply gave a brief agreement.

“We’ll see her again, right? Oh, I know. At New Year’s, you can visit the main family with me. I’m sure they’ll let us see her if her twin brother is there.”

If possible, he wanted to avoid meeting her as Haruka ever again. Becoming Onikiri-hime meant the Oni were after Yume as Oninagusamu-hime.

The main family had a great variety of restrictions in place when it came to contacting the branch family, so it would likely be fine. Even if Yume wanted to see Haruka, they would just say no, even if they felt bad doing so.

Ryou continued agreeing with what Yume was saying as her expression changed again and again. Just as he found himself staring at her lovely face, someone hit his back without warning.

“Morning~, Yume. And you, boring boy~”

It was Kimino. She had apparently hit him with the bag containing her swimsuit. He smiled bitterly at the fact that it was better than having her kick him.

She too seemed to have no memory of targeting Yume as the villainous Rasetsu Douji. Someone from the main family had arrived and investigated her while she was passed out, but apparently Rasetsu Douji’s personality had been fully erased and would likely never appear again.

She was back to being their cheerful and mischievous childhood friend.

“Hey, Ryou. I heard you had some weird disease, but you got all healed up at your relatives’ place, right? Don’t let us catch it!”

While in Haruka’s body, they had claimed Ryou was recovering from a sudden illness with the main family.

“I-I’m all better now. And you won’t catch it!”

(Kimino always loved Ryou.)

Rasetsu Douji’s words came back to him.

“Really? Your face looks pretty red, but you don’t have a fever, do you?”

He tried to act normally, but he could not help but focus on it and blushed.

“I’m fine! This is, um, it’s kind of hot today…”

“Oh~? If you say so.”

He backed away when the girl peered at his face.

She was acting the same as always. He saw no sign at all that she had feelings for him. Had Rasetsu Douji just been lying? Or…?

While Ryou could not stop blushing, Kimino calmly moved in closer and glared at Ryou with a threatening look in her eyes.

“By the way, I hear you’re getting along pretty well with Yume. If you do anything to make her cry, I won’t forgive you. So consider yourself warned.”

She laughed when Ryou’s face stiffened and then she started playing with Yume.

It was the usual scene. Their peaceful days had returned and would hopefully continue for the foreseeable future.

But it was with that wish in his heart that Ryou felt an odd feeling race through his body.

A tingling sort of ticklishness made him feel like all of his cells were throbbing.

(Why!? I only just defeated Rasetsu Douji! Is it happening again already!?)

He felt his body shape changing.

His chest swelled out and his shirt quickly felt cramped.

The butt of his uniform’s pants also grew cramped, but the waist and other areas grew loose and baggy.

His hair began growing long and glossy black.

The carefree and unattractive boy’s face became that of a beautiful girl with a sharp and dignified look in the eyes.

Ryou’s body once more transformed into Onikiri-hime in order to protect Yume from the sinister Oni.

(A-anyway, I can’t walk around in a boy’s uniform like this. I need to head home and change!)

“———!? S-sorry… I forget something. I’ll go get it, so you two go on ahead.

“Ryou-chan!?”

“Ah, hey, Ryou!”

After a quick excuse, Ryou…no, Ichijou Haruka turned her back on the other two girls and ran off so they would not see her transformed appearance.

Her weighty breasts bounced restlessly with each step.

Without a bra, they only got in the way.

She had put away the girl’s uniform, assuming she would not need it for a while, and she had certainly never dreamed of putting it back on so soon. She used the speed of her increased athletic abilities to turn a corner.

“Ah! S-sorry!!”

“Kyah! …Ah~, that scared me. Are you okay? It’s dangerous to run so fast.”

She nearly ran into a short and cute girl, but avoided her at the last second. If she had run into the girl, her Onikiri-hime body might have injured her.

“I-I’m in a hurry! I’m really sorry!!”

After deeply apologizing to the girl who seemed more worried than angry, Onikiri-hime quickly ran back home.

It seemed her peaceful days were still a long way off.