Miyamizu Mitsuha endured the overwhelming attention with visible discomfort, pasting an awkward but polite smile on her face as she made her way to her seat in the back row. The enthusiastic male student who'd challenged her about basketball was still waiting for a response.
"Heh heh... we'll see," she offered vaguely, hoping that would be enough.
Because the truth was simple: she couldn't play basketball at all. Not even a little.
Natori Sayaka slid into the seat beside her, grinning widely. "See? Everyone's looking at you! I told you—you're super popular now!"
Miyamizu Mitsuha let out a helpless sigh. "Sayaka, I never asked to be popular because of basketball."
"Too late for regrets," Sayaka replied cheerfully. "It's not just our class either. I've noticed boys from other classes checking you out too."
Miyamizu Mitsuha groaned internally. All she'd ever wanted was to live a quiet, unobtrusive life—to fade into the background and avoid the pointed looks and whispered comments that had followed her for years. Instead, she'd somehow become the center of attention overnight.
When math class arrived and the bald teacher's gaze inevitably fell upon her, Miyamizu Mitsuha's stomach clenched with dread.
Sure enough.
"Miyamizu-san, please come to the board and solve this problem."
She wanted to cry. Fortunately—miraculously—she actually knew how to solve this particular problem. Small mercies. But how much trouble had that scumbag handsome guy caused her?
Then again, she had to admit it wasn't all bad. Yamauchi Mami kept her head down whenever their eyes met, and that obnoxious yellow-haired Tano hadn't dared to whisper about her all morning.
Just as she allowed herself a moment of relief, Tano's voice cut through the classroom.
"Some people, born with a silver spoon as a rich young lady, can't even be bothered to acknowledge the rest of us. What makes her so superior, anyway?"
Miyamizu Mitsuha's brief respite evaporated.
So much for that.
She lowered her head, pretending she hadn't heard. Around her, other students exchanged surprised glances. Was Tano really this brave? After yesterday's humiliation? Wasn't he afraid of getting beaten up—or worse, cursed?
Natori Sayaka poked Mitsuha's arm urgently. "He's giving you the evil eye! Aren't you going to do something?"
Miyamizu Mitsuha shot her friend a helpless look. "How do you know I haven't done anything?"
Summoning what little courage she could, she glanced toward Tano.
The yellow-haired boy, who clearly thought quite highly of his own appearance, felt his heart stutter in his chest. The memory of yesterday's terrifying encounter flashed through his mind, and despite himself, his body trembled slightly.
But he forced himself to continue, "Curses aren't real! Nobody actually believes in that stuff, right?"
Natori Sayaka, overhearing this, quietly pulled out a notebook and began writing.
Miyamizu Mitsuha stared at her. "Sayaka... what are you doing?"
Sayaka offered a mischievous grin. "Writing it down, of course! So I can report it to the fox spirit later!"
Miyamizu Mitsuha was speechless.
But... she had to admit, it wasn't the worst idea she'd ever heard.
She considered herself a reasonably patient person—she was a girl, after all, not some hotheaded delinquent. And that Hozuki Nozomi guy... well, the fact that he could maintain relationships with so many beautiful women without any of them turning on each other suggested he had real skill at handling people.
"Bah!" She shook her head violently. What was she thinking? Why was she mentally praising the guy who'd been using her body to do heaven-knows-what?
Still, she found herself caught in a dilemma.
Objectively speaking, Tano was genuinely annoying. His behavior stemmed from pure jealousy—resentment that her father could get re-elected while his own parents couldn't achieve the same. It was transparent and pathetic.
Yamauchi Mami, meanwhile, noticed Tano's provocations and briefly considered adding her own voice. But the moment she looked at Miyamizu Mitsuha, memories flooded back: those cold yet somehow captivating eyes staring into hers, that firm hand pinching her chin...
Her heart skipped, and her cheeks flushed. She quickly looked away, offering Tano no support whatsoever.
Tano found himself performing alone on stage, with no audience and no backup. The other students watched him with expressions ranging from amusement to pity.
He was, once again, the clown.
Damn it! Was this Miyamizu's counterattack? This feeling of being completely ignored while making a fool of himself was infuriating!
Miyamizu Mitsuha, for her part, had no intention of engaging further. Tano could sulk by himself—she had more important things to worry about. Besides, she didn't have the courage or boldness that Hozuki Nozomi apparently possessed in abundance.
Curiosity getting the better of her, she leaned toward Natori Sayaka and lowered her voice. "Sayaka... can you tell me exactly what I—what 'she'—did yesterday? Like, all the details?"
Natori Sayaka's eyes lit up. She proceeded to deliver a vivid, blow-by-blow account of Miyamizu Mitsuha's (or rather, Hozuki Nozomi's) glorious deeds from the previous day.
When she reached the part about pinching Yamauchi Mami's chin and delivering that teasing "I curse you" line with obvious flirtatious undertones, Miyamizu Mitsuha wanted to die of embarrassment on the spot.
She cursed Hozuki Nozomi inwardly with every foul word she knew.
That scumbag! Even while inhabiting her female body, he couldn't stop himself from flirting! And of all people, he had to pick Yamauchi Mami—someone she actively disliked!
How annoying!
Physical education class arrived, and with it, a fresh wave of attention.
"Hey, Miyamizu! Wanna play basketball with us again?" a group of boys called out hopefully.
Miyamizu Mitsuha deployed her now-standard awkward-but-polite smile. "Ah, sorry, I'm not feeling well today. Maybe another time?"
She couldn't exactly say, "I don't know how to play basketball at all and the person who dominated you yesterday wasn't actually me."
The boys accepted her excuse with varying degrees of disappointment, leaving her alone on the sidelines with Natori Sayaka.
Miyamizu Mitsuha gazed out at the town spread below the school grounds—the familiar buildings, the winding streets, the mountains in the distance. Everywhere she looked, she felt eyes on her. The weight of expectation, of curiosity, of judgment.
She sighed deeply.
"I really want to leave this place."
Thinking back, when she'd temporarily become that handsome Tokyo guy, she hadn't even gotten to visit a café. So much wasted potential!
Natori Sayaka settled beside her on the bench. "Don't sigh. They say sighing chases away your good fortune." She smiled. "So, not going to play basketball and soak up all those adoring looks? I'm betting your shoe locker will be overflowing with love letters by the end of the week."
Miyamizu Mitsuha pouted. "I can't play basketball at all!"
"So... when's the fox spirit coming back?"
Miyamizu Mitsuha stared at her friend incredulously. "Sayaka, aren't you scared at all? Or even weirded out? You're actually looking forward to some mysterious spirit possessing me! What if it curses you? What if it hurts someone?"
Natori Sayaka laughed out loud. "I'm your best friend—why would I be scared of you? Besides, Mitsuha, you're a shrine maiden. Being a little special comes with the territory."
She grew more serious. "And anyway, eyes don't lie. Yesterday's Mitsuha might have been different, but she didn't feel dangerous or bad. Why do you think everyone's looking at you like that now? Because you—or rather, she—was amazing!"
It was true. Beautiful, academically brilliant enough to surprise teachers, athletically gifted across multiple sports. A confident girl was inherently charming, and Miyamizu Mitsuha had become the embodiment of that charm in just one day.
She'd gained fans. Some boys were even heard whispering about how nice it might be to become a live-in son-in-law at Miyamizu Shrine someday—after all, with her father as mayor, the future looked bright.
And more importantly, Miyamizu Mitsuha was genuinely beautiful. If the shrine maiden weren't attractive, the shrine probably would have closed down years ago.
Listening to Sayaka's words, Miyamizu Mitsuha felt some of her resentment toward Hozuki Nozomi soften.
Undeniably, that guy had made her life shine in a way it never had before.
She'd always assumed everyone looked at her with the same judgmental gaze—the mayor's daughter, the girl whose father used shady connections. But Hozuki Nozomi's bold, unapologetic actions had shown her another possibility.
Even as the mayor's daughter, she could stand tall. She could shine. She could show everyone the true charm of Miyamizu Mitsuha.
Well... technically, she supposed it was Hozuki Nozomi's charm on display. But still. The possibility existed.
That guy was so excellent in so many ways, yet when she'd inhabited his body, she'd noticed something strange: he had almost no male friends. His entire social circle seemed to consist of super beautiful girls.
Was this the fabled "same-sex repulsion" phenomenon?
Miyamizu Mitsuha shook her head, unable to quite believe she'd become so popular. It felt surreal—like stepping into someone else's life and discovering a version of herself she never knew could exist.