◇The Reason I Became Her
My name was Kisaragi Ikutari, a very ordinary male high school student… Was.
The past tense is due to the current circumstances.
That is, an accident that occurred while on the school trip during my first year of high school.
While alone at night I went to the observation deck of the ferry and was hit by a strong wind, accidently falling over the fence and into the sea.
The sea at night is dark and cold — I could not resist the approach of death and fainted.
When I awoke I was in an unknown temple.
「Yusha-sama, please save us.」
In this unknown situation someone called to me. It was a girl wearing a white robe like a priest from a game.
The girl with the fantastic atmosphere and transparent silver hair kneeled in front of me and lowered her head.
「My name is Alicia, a shrine maiden serving the spirit god Minstia-sama.」
That girl — Alicia said, while I was drowning and on the border of life and death, I was summoned to a different world by her. And, that the humans of this world were facing a crisis due to the Demon Lord.
Alicia asked me to kill the Demon Lord. The reward being my return to my original world.
I accepted this deal as I would have drowned had I not been summoned.
I also have a power that the humans of this world don’t have.
–Thus, I traveled with Alicia for around a year.
We arrived at the Demon Lord’s castle after overcoming many challenges and defeated the Demon Lord at the end of a fierce battle.
But, during the last counterattack by the Demon Lord, a huge hole was opened in my chest. — It was a fatal wound.
While crying I stopped Alicia from trying to use recovery magic.
Recovery magic is not all powerful.
It was obvious that it was too late.
I felt regret.
I am leaving behind my friends and family.
At the very least I wanted to say a single apology to them.
Then–
「I’m sorry, Ikuto-san. Me, because of me…」
I wanted to tell the crying girl in front of me, who was holding my hands, that she didn’t need to apologize.
But, only a dry breath came out of my mouth, it could not become meaningful words.
「Ikuto-san kept his promise with me… So, this time it is my turn.」
As my sight began to fade, there was Alicia’s figure casting a spell I had never seen before.
「I will definitely return you to your original world. For that, I….」
Alicia’s face was within reach.
As her face approached, she filled my vision, and a soft feeling touched my lips.
『…Ahh, this girl is cute as expected』
That is what I thought at my end in this world.
※ ※ ※
『—-I—sa—Iku—san—Ikuto-san!』
I hear a voice.
A voice that has become familiar to me over the past year.
Since I’m weak in the morning, there were many times I was awoken like this in the middle of the journey.
Will Alicia get angry if she learns that I find her calling my name pleasant, and that I keep sleeping on purpose?
『Ikuto-san, please wake up!』
「I get it, Alicia….」
I feel a strange sense of incompatibility with my voice as I respond.
I felt sore when I moved my body.
In the past year, I had been without a home to sleep in, did I fall asleep in a strange place?
I explore my memories to try and remember yesterday.
— And in the next moment, I remember everything.
「The Demon Lord!?]
I woke up in a panic and confirmed my surroundings.
I appeared to be on a sandy beach with the sea spreading in front of my eyes. There were no signs of people, monsters, or the Demon Lord.
『Ikuto-san, I’m glad…』
I hear the voice of Alicia in my head.
I look around myself in a hurry, but there isn’t anyone.
「Alicia…?」
I felt uncomfortable again.
Why did my voice sound so high?
And…
I lower my face and look at my hand.
It is not my hand that was full of calluses from a year of holding a sword, but a delicate and little hand.
I felt a weight clinging to my head and when I reached up to touch it, there was hair I never had before.
I grabbed it with a delicate touch, holding it in front of my eyes.
It was transparent silver hair.
It is, like that of that girl–
『Please listen to me calmly. Ikuto-san’s soul lies in my body.』
「Umm…? What are you saying Alicia…」
The voice I let out is not mine.
『There was no other way. In order to save Ikuto-san, the only way was to transfer your soul to my body during the distortion created during the world transfer…』
The words she spoke were too shocking, I could barely listen to Alicia’s words.
『…I’m sorry』
With Alicia’s words of apology, I finally regain myself.
「Sorry about that… I was so surprised that I couldn’t think」
In any case, I should show my gratitude.
「Thank you Alicia. You saved me from dying.」
『I’m sorry. This is the only way I could save Ikuto-san…..』
「Don’t apologize Alicia… Um, incidentally, how do I return to my original body?」
『There isn’t a way. Ikuto-san’s body has already died. Even if we could repair the wound, there would be no way to return your soul to that body… In addition, Ikuto-san’s body was left in the Demon Lord’s castle in the other world.』
「That’s–」
I looked around the area again.
There was no sign of people or demons.
On the sea there appears to be a fishing boat. Behind me was a concrete seawall. On the beach there was garbage such as plastic bottles and leftover bags from familiar snacks.
Anyhow, this was a beach in Japan.
On top of that, I remember this place.
This is a beach that is about an hours walk from my house.
The wind is still a little cold… If the flow of time in the other world and this one is the same, then roughly one year has passed and the season should be around spring.
「Did I return home…」
I returned to Japan alive.
That is, my wish over this past year has come true. It was fulfilled before I realized it and it makes me feel terrible.
In the first place, there was no feeling that the decisive battle with the demons had ended.
『I’m sorry. I can only fulfill my promise to Ikuto-san like this.』
「So, don’t apologize. Rather than that, can Alicia return to your world?」
『Because I forcibly transferred your soul… It is impossible to remove only my soul from this body.』
「Such a thing!? Will Alicia live in this state for the rest of your life? Why do such a thing…」
『It was my vow to return Ikuto-san safely to Japan. Ikuto-san has fulfilled your vow with me to defeat the Demon Lord. That is why I also fulfilled my vow.』
「That’s why…」
Alicia was raised as a shrine maiden serving a god of the other world. She was raised for 16 years like that.
Alicia had said that it was her mission to travel with a hero from another world to defeat the Demon Lord and as such had spent her childhood preparing to fulfill it.
When that mission was finally fulfilled, she said she had things she wanted to do.
And yet…
『About me, it’s fine. Rather than that, what will you do now? Please teach me about Ikuto-san’s world.』
I haven’t been convinced yet, but what Alicia said was right. I should calm down and take my time talking with her while figuring out what to do.
「… For the time being, let’s go to my house. It’s about an hours walk from here.」
『Understood!』
I am worried about if my family will believe me with how I currently am.
I used to be a male high school student and was the tallest in my class. Now I have the body of Alicia, a small girl with silver hair who could be mistaken for an elementary school student.
Alicia seems to have been born around the same time as me in the other world, but it’s almost impossible to tell that from how she looks. I don’t know if it’s true or not but, according to her,「when the body of a shrine maiden is connected to god, the growth of the body stops.」
「… Well, I’ll manage it somehow.」
The number of years I had spent with my family is not small.
There are many memories I have that only my family would know. For a moment, I thought about how I would explain it to other people, get added to my family register and so on, but quickly decided it wasn’t the time to think about that.
「I wonder if everyone is doing well…?」
First of all, I want to see my family.
My parents and sister’s face come to my mind.
And I started walking towards my home.
— After a trip to another world for about a year.
◇The Reason I Became Her
My name was Kisaragi Ikutari, a very ordinary male high school student… Was.
The past tense is due to the current circumstances.
That is, an accident that occurred while on the school trip during my first year of high school.
While alone at night I went to the observation deck of the ferry and was hit by a strong wind, accidently falling over the fence and into the sea.
The sea at night is dark and cold — I could not resist the approach of death and fainted.
When I awoke I was in an unknown temple.
「Yusha-sama, please save us.」
In this unknown situation someone called to me. It was a girl wearing a white robe like a priest from a game.
The girl with the fantastic atmosphere and transparent silver hair kneeled in front of me and lowered her head.
「My name is Alicia, a shrine maiden serving the spirit god Minstia-sama.」
That girl — Alicia said, while I was drowning and on the border of life and death, I was summoned to a different world by her. And, that the humans of this world were facing a crisis due to the Demon Lord.
Alicia asked me to kill the Demon Lord. The reward being my return to my original world.
I accepted this deal as I would have drowned had I not been summoned.
I also have a power that the humans of this world don’t have.
–Thus, I traveled with Alicia for around a year.
We arrived at the Demon Lord’s castle after overcoming many challenges and defeated the Demon Lord at the end of a fierce battle.
But, during the last counterattack by the Demon Lord, a huge hole was opened in my chest. — It was a fatal wound.
While crying I stopped Alicia from trying to use recovery magic.
Recovery magic is not all powerful.
It was obvious that it was too late.
I felt regret.
I am leaving behind my friends and family.
At the very least I wanted to say a single apology to them.
Then–
「I’m sorry, Ikuto-san. Me, because of me…」
I wanted to tell the crying girl in front of me, who was holding my hands, that she didn’t need to apologize.
But, only a dry breath came out of my mouth, it could not become meaningful words.
「Ikuto-san kept his promise with me… So, this time it is my turn.」
As my sight began to fade, there was Alicia’s figure casting a spell I had never seen before.
「I will definitely return you to your original world. For that, I….」
Alicia’s face was within reach.
As her face approached, she filled my vision, and a soft feeling touched my lips.
『…Ahh, this girl is cute as expected』
That is what I thought at my end in this world.
※ ※ ※
『—-I—sa—Iku—san—Ikuto-san!』
I hear a voice.
A voice that has become familiar to me over the past year.
Since I’m weak in the morning, there were many times I was awoken like this in the middle of the journey.
Will Alicia get angry if she learns that I find her calling my name pleasant, and that I keep sleeping on purpose?
『Ikuto-san, please wake up!』
「I get it, Alicia….」
I feel a strange sense of incompatibility with my voice as I respond.
I felt sore when I moved my body.
In the past year, I had been without a home to sleep in, did I fall asleep in a strange place?
I explore my memories to try and remember yesterday.
— And in the next moment, I remember everything.
「The Demon Lord!?]
I woke up in a panic and confirmed my surroundings.
I appeared to be on a sandy beach with the sea spreading in front of my eyes. There were no signs of people, monsters, or the Demon Lord.
『Ikuto-san, I’m glad…』
I hear the voice of Alicia in my head.
I look around myself in a hurry, but there isn’t anyone.
「Alicia…?」
I felt uncomfortable again.
Why did my voice sound so high?
And…
I lower my face and look at my hand.
It is not my hand that was full of calluses from a year of holding a sword, but a delicate and little hand.
I felt a weight clinging to my head and when I reached up to touch it, there was hair I never had before.
I grabbed it with a delicate touch, holding it in front of my eyes.
It was transparent silver hair.
It is, like that of that girl–
『Please listen to me calmly. Ikuto-san’s soul lies in my body.』
「Umm…? What are you saying Alicia…」
The voice I let out is not mine.
『There was no other way. In order to save Ikuto-san, the only way was to transfer your soul to my body during the distortion created during the world transfer…』
The words she spoke were too shocking, I could barely listen to Alicia’s words.
『…I’m sorry』
With Alicia’s words of apology, I finally regain myself.
「Sorry about that… I was so surprised that I couldn’t think」
In any case, I should show my gratitude.
「Thank you Alicia. You saved me from dying.」
『I’m sorry. This is the only way I could save Ikuto-san…..』
「Don’t apologize Alicia… Um, incidentally, how do I return to my original body?」
『There isn’t a way. Ikuto-san’s body has already died. Even if we could repair the wound, there would be no way to return your soul to that body… In addition, Ikuto-san’s body was left in the Demon Lord’s castle in the other world.』
「That’s–」
I looked around the area again.
There was no sign of people or demons.
On the sea there appears to be a fishing boat. Behind me was a concrete seawall. On the beach there was garbage such as plastic bottles and leftover bags from familiar snacks.
Anyhow, this was a beach in Japan.
On top of that, I remember this place.
This is a beach that is about an hours walk from my house.
The wind is still a little cold… If the flow of time in the other world and this one is the same, then roughly one year has passed and the season should be around spring.
「Did I return home…」
I returned to Japan alive.
That is, my wish over this past year has come true. It was fulfilled before I realized it and it makes me feel terrible.
In the first place, there was no feeling that the decisive battle with the demons had ended.
『I’m sorry. I can only fulfill my promise to Ikuto-san like this.』
「So, don’t apologize. Rather than that, can Alicia return to your world?」
『Because I forcibly transferred your soul… It is impossible to remove only my soul from this body.』
「Such a thing!? Will Alicia live in this state for the rest of your life? Why do such a thing…」
『It was my vow to return Ikuto-san safely to Japan. Ikuto-san has fulfilled your vow with me to defeat the Demon Lord. That is why I also fulfilled my vow.』
「That’s why…」
Alicia was raised as a shrine maiden serving a god of the other world. She was raised for 16 years like that.
Alicia had said that it was her mission to travel with a hero from another world to defeat the Demon Lord and as such had spent her childhood preparing to fulfill it.
When that mission was finally fulfilled, she said she had things she wanted to do.
And yet…
『About me, it’s fine. Rather than that, what will you do now? Please teach me about Ikuto-san’s world.』
I haven’t been convinced yet, but what Alicia said was right. I should calm down and take my time talking with her while figuring out what to do.
「… For the time being, let’s go to my house. It’s about an hours walk from here.」
『Understood!』
I am worried about if my family will believe me with how I currently am.
I used to be a male high school student and was the tallest in my class. Now I have the body of Alicia, a small girl with silver hair who could be mistaken for an elementary school student.
Alicia seems to have been born around the same time as me in the other world, but it’s almost impossible to tell that from how she looks. I don’t know if it’s true or not but, according to her,「when the body of a shrine maiden is connected to god, the growth of the body stops.」
「… Well, I’ll manage it somehow.」
The number of years I had spent with my family is not small.
There are many memories I have that only my family would know. For a moment, I thought about how I would explain it to other people, get added to my family register and so on, but quickly decided it wasn’t the time to think about that.
「I wonder if everyone is doing well…?」
First of all, I want to see my family.
My parents and sister’s face come to my mind.
And I started walking towards my home.
— After a trip to another world for about a year.
