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I woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. From the white ceiling and the scent of disinfectant, I know that I’m in a hospital. Maybe it’s because I just woke up, it took me some time to remember what I was doing before this.

If I’m not wrong, I was at the workplace working and the moment I ate the snacks, I got ill and collapsed, right?

「I even vomited blood, so it’s only natural-… huh?」

My voice sounds higher-pitched for some reason. My effeminate face occasionally gets me mistaken for a woman, but I’m undoubtedly male. And yet my voice right now clearly has the characteristic female pitch. Moreover, it feels strangely heavy around my chest.

「Eh? What?」

I cautiously lowered my gaze and there I see a splendid pair of breasts. Something that a man wouldn’t have and a woman would definitely have, big or small. Just when was I subjected to breast implant surgery?

There were some occasions in the past when I was jokingly told that I should get a sex change operation. Though I smacked the other party the moment they finished speaking. Still, an operation like that doesn’t explain my higher voice now, doesn’t it?
Or rather, considering the breast implant, a person that would think of this would……

「Thought so.」

Checking the most important male equipment, it predictably wasn’t there. This sucks. Also, why is my hair abnormally long? I always cut it short since it gets in the way, but now it even reaches up until my hips.

Was I asleep for that long of a time? Considering that, I haven’t lost a lot of weight and my voice isn’t really any hoarse or raspy. My arms and waist have definitely gotten thinner, but considering that the operation is already done, it makes sense even though I don’t want to believe it.

「Miss Kisaragi, you’re awake!」

With the nurse’s voice, my head that’s already full of questions just keeps having more. Hold up! That’s not my name, okay? Sure, my face and all was effeminate to begin with, but my surname is a pretty common one.

But even after having a close look at me, the nurse didn’t speak of even a letter of my name. Noticing this, I quickly checked the nameplate provided for this room.

『Kisaragi Kotone』

No matter how I cut it, it’s not my name. Not only was I subjected to a sex change, but even my name was also changed. This is clearly a crime, isn’t it? I have no idea why this is happening to me, but I’ll go to the police station later. And as I was thinking about that, the nurse once again drops another bombshell.

「Even if you were in despair, suicide isn’t the answer, alright?」

Suicide? Hold up, I wasn’t trying to kill myself, someone else poisoned my food. Rather, who was it, who’s the b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ that poisoned my food? It’s that guy’s fault that I was turned into a woman for some reason.

I don’t plan on dying without even marrying and I haven’t done everything I wanted to either, so I was never in despair. And where did she even get the suicide in despair part?

The moment I thought of that, a vast number of memories flowed vividly into my head. But mysteriously, it didn’t cause a headache, it only felt like I was remembering things that I’ve forgotten. In total, it should be 16 years worth of memories. There are even memories from infancy, but do people really remember things that far in the past?

This is Kisaragi Kotone’s memories, huh. Or rather, this is just plain awful. So in short, I died and for some reason reincarnated, or rather my soul entered this girl’s body. What is this, some light novel? There are other awful things too. And those are the things that Kotone has done up until now.

「Right, I was certainly impulsive. I’m sorry for troubling the hospital establishment.」

For now, I’ll apologize to the worried-looking nurse. However, Kotone is the spitting image of a villainess. Arrogant, selfish, inconsiderate of others, and won’t listen to other people. Naturally, she’s isolated at school but even then she threatens other people using her family authority, that’s a nope.

And so since she killed herself because was kicked out of her house, that’s a nope. I’ve said it twice, but I’ll say it again. That’s a nope.

「I’m glad that you understand. Ah, I’ll contact your family now.」

That’s likely pointless. No one from my family will come. They got tired and couldn’t tolerate Kotone anymore, so they drove her out of the house after all. They wouldn’t come to pick me up after all of that.

Moreover, being a renowned family, having a family member that attempted suicide would make them a target of the media. They’ll probably put pressure on this hospital to hide the truth too. The rich have their own problems, huh.

「Now, what to do?」

The nurse left and I was left alone in the room. I’m probably going to stay alone in the future too. Who’d willingly associate with this kind of villain? Ah, thinking about the life ahead of me is super depressing.

Unintentionally, I look at my right hand and see a line running across the wrist. From my memory, it’s proof that Kotone killed herself. She bled out so much, it’s amazing that she survived. Still, how did I get inside a girl that did suicide after I was poisoned to death?

「I guess thinking wouldn’t solve anything in this situation, huh. Rather, I’m going to have to adjust to this, aren’t I?」

People are going to be sensitive around someone who tried to kill herself. Whether at school or at work, you’ll get treated like fragile porcelain. Well, I likely wouldn’t be treated so at school. She’s a villain after all.

For now, I can hide it with a watch so it should be fine. Thinking too much wouldn’t make anything happen anyway. The issue is that I, a man, turned into a girl. There’s no choice but to roll with it, but my consciousness is completely male. And it’s not like I’m being influenced by Kotone’s memories either. I’ve no idea about the female lifestyle, you know?

「Sorry, it seems like your family can’t pick you up. And it’s pretty harsh, but your family has told us to have you discharged as soon as you can move.」
「It can’t be helped. I shouldn’t trouble my family for something I’ve done. Uhh, do I have a change of clothes?」
「There’s a bag by the bedside and it should have some. Wait, are you planning on leaving now!?」
「I can’t occupy this room any more than I already have. This hospital must be busy after all, you can’t keep some fool who tried taking her life as she pleased for too long.」
「But you just woke up.」

Yeah, I really don’t plan on causing any more trouble. If I had a more grave reason, then I’d probably stay for a bit more but it’s so disappointing. Why despair over just living alone? That’s just a natural thing when you become a working adult. How spoiled are you?

「Underwear, plain white shirt, and jeans? Then I should be able to change into this quick.」
「You can at least stay until your strength is fully recovered. It still hasn’t been a day since you were hospitalized.」
「I should have enough strength to walk, so it’s alright. Besides, this is all of my belongings and there’s no benefit for me to stay here any longer. Rather, I’m done changing now, so would you mind processing my discharge?」

I’m glad it’s standard clothing. If it’s female clothes, then I wouldn’t know how to wear them. Kotone in particular has a weird taste for wearing dresses as casual wear for some reason, so I thought that there might be a dress inside the bag as well.

Well, I immediately realized that the bag was not big enough to fit a dress though.

「Your family has prepared your discharge papers. All that’s left is for you to sign, but are you really leaving already?」
「Yes. My mind is already set. It was only for a short while, but thank you for taking care of me.」

Seeing me honestly lower my head, the nurse was perplexed. Rather, this hair’s getting annoying. I’m just bowing and a ton of hair is covering my face. Maybe I should just cut it short.

「Wait. Your hair is in the way right now, right? Could you turn around for a bit?」
「Yes.」
「Woah, it’s super smooth. What kind of shampoo do you use to get this silky? I’m so jealous. I want to grow mine out too, but my hair ends get frizzy you see?」
「It’s just a nuisance. I’m thinking of having it cut.」
「Eeh, that’s such a waste. Since it’s so long, at least have it up until the middle of your back. Aaand there, simple styling.」

It’s a ponytail. Also, she put a hairpin to hold the hair hanging over my forehead. I suppose this does keep the hair from being a nuisance. Though it feels like I have a tail behind my head and it’s bothering me.

Like, when the ponytail moves, it feels like my head gets pulled along. Yeah, can’t get used to it.

「I’m sorry for the trouble. I’ll try not to come back here again.」
「The next time you come back trying to kill yourself, I’ll give you a spanking. Now take care.」

I have no plans of dying, okay. Well, I might come back here if I get sick, so I can’t really say that I won’t be coming back. Besides, I’ll have to thank her for setting my hair, so I guess I’ll send her some snacks.

These sorts of small shows of gratitude occasionally have their effects in the long run after all. The problem is money. I was told that I’d get an allowance for living expenses, but it probably won’t be much.

「Ahh, the sun’s so bright.」

It should be March if I remember right. Or rather, it’s so cold in these clothes. It’d be different if it was in the middle of springtime but it’s still super cold in the early parts of spring. I’d love to have at least one layer more. Or rather, how many clothes do I have in my room?

It’s just a guess, but Kotone’s old clothes probably won’t be there. Rather, I definitely don’t want to wear those flashy clothes. And consequently there likely won’t be any accessories as well. It’s unfortunate that there isn’t anything I can liquidize for emergencies, but it can’t be helped.

I guess I really have no other choice but to use this spring break and earn money with a part-time job or else it’s going to be tight.

「For now, I guess I’ll have my last luxury.」

There’s probably no food at home anyway and it’s questionable if there are seasonings back there as well. It’s unknown whether there’s cookware as well, so I’m not going straight home to prepare dinner. Rather, why doesn’t she even know the furnishings and interior of her own room?

Well, since she hated living on her own to the point of killing herself, I guess it makes sense that she didn’t check her room.

「Ah, come to think of it, I haven’t heard anything about the manager. Well, I guess no other choice but to call them.」

Honestly, I’m hesitant to make a call to the family. Having to call just a day after being kicked out is a part of it, but I can’t think of any other good ideas. Greeting the manager without as much as a move-in gift is a problem.

After all, first impressions are important in building good relationships.

「Smartphone… Ugh, the phonebook is empty. It’s like my life was completely reset.」

It really is like my whole life got reset but seeing it like this, it’s a bit lonely. For now, I remember the number of the house, so I enter it and make a call. The fact that it got picked up after a few rings shows how good the servants are.

『This is the Kisaragi residence. May I ask who this is?』
「This is Miss Sakiko, correct? It’s Kotone.」

I hear an audible gulp from the other end of the receiver. Well yeah, anyone would be nervous talking to someone who’s been picking on them up until now. Either that, or she might have thought that I’m contacting her to make some unreasonable demand.

I’m just going to ask some normal questions, so this is completely a misunderstanding but it still hurts a bit.

「Err, I’d like to know about the manager of the apartment I’ll be staying at.」
『What do you plan on doing with that knowledge?』

I can feel her extreme caution from here. Well, Kotone has never been polite towards their servants after all. Also, I don’t plan on demanding unreasonable stuff from the manager, okay? What I want is a normal life.

「I was thinking that it would be discourteous to greet them empty-handed. If possible, would you mind telling me their gender, the members of their family, and whether they have a child or not?」
『Is that so. The manager is female and she has a daughter roughly 5 years old. Her husband died in an accident a few years ago.』
「Thank you. In that case, cookies should suffice.」
『However, please be prudent with your use of money. The master and the madam have no intention of supplementing your allowance.』
「I understand that. I’m spending with consideration and I intend to audit my finances as well. And I’d like some confirmation, but can I use the objects in the room freely?」
『By that you mean?』
「I’m considering bringing the TV to a recycling shop as a desperate measure.」
『Haa!?』
「So it’s a no as I thought. Forgive me for asking such a rude thing. Well then, please take care of yourself.」
『Y-yes. Please take care of yourself as well.』
「Thank you. I might contact you again on another occasion, so please treat me well. Now then, if you’d excuse me.」

Not allowed just as expected, huh. There’s a TV and some other stuff back in my room since they said that they’d provide the general furnishings, so I was thinking of selling those if I run out of money.

In this case, I guess the 50,000 yen for this month is my entire fortune then. I’d love to leave some of the money as savings, but it’d probably vanish in an instant if something unexpected happens.

Come to think of it, I haven’t asked about the residents next door. Well, the same cookies should be fine. I don’t have the time to find cheaper ones now, so I guess I’ll just buy what’s there. It’s the first day and I’m already wasting money!