Chapter 7 Trouble

Trouble

It had been a little over a month since I started living in the body of a boy named Iori. At first, everything about this life felt foreign, but lately, I had begun to adjust—little by little.

However, I still hadn’t been able to keep my promise to Kaori—to bring a friend home. Before I could make that happen, time moved forward relentlessly. Final exams came and went, followed by the closing ceremony, and then summer vacation arrived. It was the first long break I’d had in over a decade, ever since graduating from university.

“Hey, do you have a minute?”

But unfortunately, I had no friends to spend it with, nor any plans to use this time for socializing.

I headed to Kaori’s study, where she was working.

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

When I checked her schedule, Kaori smiled and stretched her back, trying to shake off the stiffness from sitting too long.

“What is it? Lunchtime already?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Eh? Then what? Oh, is this about a friend?”

“No.”

At my answer, Kaori clicked her tongue in disappointment. Her reaction carried a hint of childishness, reminding me of the past. But what she showed me now and what she had shown me back then were completely different. In front of her son, she allowed herself to be a little spoiled—something I had never seen in her before.

Lowering my gaze, I slid a single sheet of paper across her desk.

“…A resume?”

Kaori’s tone was skeptical, and I nodded in response.

“I want to get a part-time job.”

The moment I said it, the relaxed atmosphere vanished. To be honest, I hadn’t expected such a reaction. Over the past month of living with Kaori, I had noticed that, for some reason, she was incredibly lenient with Iori. That’s why I assumed she would approve something as simple as a part-time job without much resistance.

“High school students need parental permission to work, you know.”

That’s why I came to ask you. I conveyed my intent silently.

“Why?”

“Huh?”

“Why do you want a part-time job?”

My reason for wanting a job wasn’t simply to have spending money.

Even after a month, the strange phenomenon I had experienced—waking up in this body—remained a mystery.

Why had I ended up possessing a boy named Iori?

Why had Iori been in a coma for so long?

And now… what had happened to my original body?

These unanswered questions gnawed at me, and my anxiety grew by the day. Especially that last one… Just thinking about it made me feel sick. I was terrified of the truth. But at the same time, I knew I couldn’t keep running from it forever. That’s why I had to act.

But there was no clear way for me to uncover the answers I needed. My only lead, Kaori, refused to talk. No matter how many hints I dropped, she kept her lips sealed about Iori’s past.

That left me with only one option.

I had to go back to my hometown—to where my original body was.

No matter what, I had to make that happen. But there were obstacles. From Tokyo, it would take over two hours by train to reach my hometown. From the nearest station, it was another thirty-minute walk to my family home.

Given the circumstances, I needed a reason to travel that wouldn’t make Kaori suspicious. That meant it had to be a day trip—severely limiting the time I had to investigate.

But that wasn’t even the biggest problem.

The real issue… was money. The only way to keep the travel time to just over two hours was to take an express train. But express trains had additional fees, and even the base fare wasn’t cheap.

I needed a fair amount of money.

Which meant I had no choice—I had to work, even if it was just a part-time job.

“…I just want some spending money.”

A weak excuse.

The thought briefly crossed my mind—what if I just told Kaori everything? Maybe that would make things easier. But the moment the idea formed, I rejected it.

If she didn’t believe me, the risks far outweighed the potential benefits.

Would this excuse be enough to convince her?

I sincerely hoped so.

“Geez. Did you already spend all your allowance?”

My hopes were immediately crushed.

“…Yeah.”

“That’s not good. You need to budget properly, or you’ll struggle in the future.”

“I know…”

“…This might be a little nosy, but do you want me to show you a budgeting app? It syncs with family accounts, so if you spend too much, I can give you a heads-up.”

“No, I’m fine.”

That’s definitely nosy. But I should have expected this from someone as meticulous as Kaori.

“What do you mean, fine? That’s exactly why you ran out of money, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah.”

Once I had lied, there was no taking it back. I had no choice but to stick with it.

“It’s not like your allowance is that small, right? It should be more than enough—you don’t even need a part-time job.”

“…Yeah.”

“…No part-time job.”

“W-Wait, is it completely out of the question? I’m not asking for an allowance increase—I just want to use my time to earn a little extra on my own.”

“You should be using that time to study instead.”

A perfectly reasonable argument.

“…You haven’t been able to attend school for two months, you know? You need to catch up on what you missed.”

“…Yeah.”

“I’m not trying to be strict or tell you to only focus on studying. Other things are important too—I agree with that. But right now, you need to be patient.”

“Okay.”

…Looks like that’s as far as I can push it for today.

“…Besides—”

Suddenly, Kaori lowered her gaze.

“Right now, I just want you to stay by my side. I want to truly feel that you’re back. So for now… could you grant your mother this one selfish request?”

“…Alright.”

Facing Kaori, who wore a bittersweet smile, I had no choice but to nod.

At the end of our conversation, Kaori had voiced her own selfish wish. Seeing her like this—so different from the girl I had once dated in high school—felt strangely unfamiliar. It even felt a little off.

But when I considered that she had lost her husband and nearly lost her son as well, I could painfully understand her feelings.

After all, I was once a man who had been separated from the woman he loved and fell into a pitiful slump because of it.

And now, that very person was standing right in front of me.

And yet… I hadn’t once called her “Mom.” A sense of guilt welled up inside me.

Mom.

Kaori had once been my girlfriend.

But now that I had taken over Iori’s body, she was my mother.

In my head, I thought I had come to terms with it. I didn’t want to needlessly upset her. And since she was the foundation of my current life, I couldn’t afford to lose her. So while I knew I could never truly be forgiven, I had convinced myself to accept her as my mother—at least in my mind.

But maybe… the fact that I still couldn’t bring myself to call her “Mom” was my last shred of dignity. That thought stirred a mess of emotions inside me, making me feel like I was sinking.

More than anything, though, the most frustrating thing right now was that I had lost my chance to visit my hometown anytime soon.

My allowance only went so far.

Not to mention, this wasn’t even my money. It belonged to Iori—the boy whose body I now inhabited. Someone who might return one day. Having once worked hard to earn my own money, I couldn’t bring myself to use his.

Unable to do anything about it…

Unable to even fulfill my promise to Kaori…

The summer break ended just like that—mercilessly and without hesitation.

The day after the opening ceremony of the second semester, we had a long homeroom session. During that time, the class was supposed to elect new class representatives before the semester officially got underway.

As soon as the words class representative were mentioned, my classmates made it abundantly clear they wanted no part of it. From the grumbling I heard, it seemed the second semester was packed with school events, making it the busiest time of the year—so naturally, no one wanted the added burden of being a class rep.

Sugo-sensei tried to rein in the students’ selfish complaints as he started the selection process. But, as expected, it didn’t go smoothly. With no volunteers, the process turned into a nomination system. Sugo-sensei sighed in exasperation at the class’s lack of initiative.

Even after switching to nominations, no one’s name came up for quite some time.

“Sensei!”

“Yamada? What is it?”

“I think Tachibana-san would be a great class rep!”

“Huh?”

A voice filled with blatant reluctance rang out from one corner of the classroom. Hearing it, the girl sitting next to me twisted her lips into a wry smile.

“I mean, Tachibana-san is straightforward and well-liked by everyone!”

…This was personal. The sarcastic tone made it obvious, and I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Tachibana, what do you think?”

“Absolutely not.”

“I see… But still, we have no other candidates. What does everyone else think?”

The moment Sugo-sensei asked for a show of hands, the majority of the class raised theirs, as if to say they fully supported making Tachibana the class rep. I didn’t raise my hand. I wanted this pointless back-and-forth to end quickly, but if she saw me voting for her, I had a feeling I’d end up on her bad side—just like a certain someone.

Seeing the overwhelming number of hands, Tachibana let out a sigh, resting her chin in her hand with clear displeasure.

“Tachibana, with this much support, why not give it a try?”

“…Do whatever you want.”

“Alright then. Tachibana is officially the class rep.”

The sound of chalk tapping against the board filled the room as her name was written under Class Representative. Staring at it, she sighed again.

“Alright, next up—Vice Representative… Saito, you try it.”

And so, the next waste of time began.

“Huh?”

No… it hadn’t begun yet. Before the debate could even start, Sugo-sensei had already chosen someone.

Who?

Me.

“Why?”

“Why not? You’d be good at it.”

He wasn’t giving me any room to refuse. Faced with Sugo-sensei’s sudden firm stance, I had more question marks in my head than complaints.

“Alright, everyone, raise your hand if you think Saito should be the vice rep!”

Once again, hands shot up all around me. The sheer number of raised hands emphasized one thing—they were all relieved to have someone to dump this hassle onto. Their arms stretched straight and firm, as if to express their gratitude for my sacrifice.

“Alright, it’s decided!”

And just like that, I was forcibly made the vice class representative.

The second semester had begun—under the most ominous of circumstances.