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My eyes fluttered open and I stretched out my body yawning. It was only at that point I realized that I was shirtless. My hands immediately went to my chest, realizing my bra had been removed. I sat up instantly, my brow furrowed as I tried to remember what happened. I was in the shower room, and then suddenly, everything grew dizzy and I fainted. If that would be the case, doesn’t that mean I was found out! This was bad… this was really-
“It’s okay…” A gentle yet unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke from nearby. “You need not worry here.”
I looked up towards the direction of the voice to see a woman sitting in a chair by a desk. My eyes swept across the room, and by the two adjacent beds, the privacy curtains, the desk, and the cabinets with a cross on them, I was able to tell that this must have been some sort of nurse’s station. I was lying in bed, and the woman sitting in the chair had to be the nurses. However, she also seemed vaguely familiar, as if I had seen her before. I just couldn’t put her face to her name.
She was an older woman, although that was only relative to the students. Compared to my older memories, she was actually a young attractive woman in her mid-twenties. She had C-size boobs, neither too large, nor too small. She had nice curves, although not as curvy as mother or Lyra. She had long slim legs like Madison, but she wasn’t tall or lanky. She had big, soft lips which curved into a slight grin, and her brown eyes drooped softly in a way that gave her a tantalizing seductive look and a heart-shaped face. Her hair was blonde and straight, but it had to be dyed because her skin was dark olive. Just by looking at me, I had the distinct impression she was trying to flirt, but common sense told me it was simply how her face was set that gave her that naturally flirtatious gaze.
“The nurse’s station?” I decided to ask the obvious question, afraid to ask too much and show my hand.
The woman nodded slowly. “Yes, two very worried girls brought you. They were quite rambunctious. One kept trying to keep me from touching you, while the other seemed to determine to throw insults at her. In the end, I ended up kicking them both out. However, after removing your clothing, I think I understand the situation now.”
“Oh.”
I lowered my head, giving a sigh as I realized I had been found out. There was really nothing to it now. This nurse would inevitably reveal my secret, and when those words got out, my case would be destroyed.
“I already said, you don’t need to worry.” The nurse smiled sadly. “The nurse’s office is a safe space on campus. Revealing things I’ve seen during a medical checkup would be… unethical.”
I looked up at her in surprise. “You won’t report me?”
“I will not.” The woman shook her head slowly. “Although I must admit, I am curious as to why you chose to do this.”
“…”
She gave a shrug. “You’re not required to tell me. Now that you have woken up, I’ll need you to consume the items on your bedstand. Once you’ve done that, you can dress and leave.”
I glanced over to my right, and there on the bed stand was a cookie and a juice box along with some vitamin pills. I looked back at the nurse with a raised eyebrow.
“You passed out earlier because you grew anemic.” She explained. “I take it that you haven’t eaten anything today?”
I couldn’t stop myself from blushing. I absolutely hadn’t eaten! I was too nervous this morning that I just skipped it. Afterward, the entire day had just been a whirlwind of stuff happening, from running away from Brooke, reconciling with Madison, being saved by Dia, being sexually assaulted and then carried away on Rebecca’s perverted quest. In the end, it had been at least twenty-four hours since I had eaten. Looking at the sun outside, it was close to evening now, and my chances of attending class had ended.
I could only smile wryly as I reached out for a cookie. So much for my first day at school. I hadn’t made it to a single class. I had almost gotten caught more times than I’d like to count. I did get caught, in the end. Perhaps Clarice wasn’t really the right answer to my problems.
Still, there was Madison… and that made all of this trouble worth it.
“I just… wanted to go to school, like a normal person,” I said, almost to myself, while biting the cookie.
“What did you hope to gain?” The nurse asked, watching me as I ate.
“I don’t know…” I sighed. “Perspective? Understanding, maybe… I just wanted to make sense of this world. At first, being a man was great. I was excited by the prospect of being desirable to women. Who wouldn’t want that? Being wanted, and more so, wanted for sex… those kinds of things excited me. I spent my life up to this point sampling that very thing.”
The nurse blushed, looking away, but she gestured to me. “Continue…”
“I’m beginning to think that I can’t just stay in a mansion surrounded by a harem and live my life as a sperm dispenser. That path no longer seems appealing to me.” I sighed, not really knowing why I spoke so flippantly with her, but doing it all the same. “I love every woman I’ve ever slept with…”
“All of them?” The nurse gave me a weird smile.
“Yes…” I said without breaking eye contact, causing her to blush again. “I love them. I love my children. And I want to be part of their lives. However, that doesn’t feel like enough. I feel like I should do something more with my life.”
“More…”
“I don’t know… like law enforcement, or a politician. Someone who can make a difference. I know I’m not going to be able to accomplish any of that living in a bubble. Men… they aren’t given the same opportunities as women. That’s why I dressed like this. It’s the only way I can learn about this world! It’s the only way I could attend the school without standing out. Isn’t it strange? The only way I can be more than I am, to be different than any other man… is to look and act like every woman.”
The nurse stared at me after I had finished my talk. Her expression was nondescript, and she didn’t seem to indicate one way or another whether what I said had moved her at all. Well, I didn’t really say it for her benefit. I said it for my own. It was something I had been dwelling on for some time, and the more I thought about it, the more certain I became.
My previous life was one I wasted. Sure, I had become a businessman. I had a masters and I made a bit of money too. However, I hadn’t really contributed to the world. The most pathetic part of my former life was that I had left no legacy behind. I was infertile, so even children was an impossibility. It was funny. Now that I could have children, and have had children, I no longer found that to be enough. This was a world that had suffered for thousands of years under some curse. I had to believe I reincarnated here for a reason. Perhaps I was here to make a difference to this world.
“I think it is admirable… that you wish to make a difference.” The nurse spoke hesitantly.
My expression turned conflicted. Right now, I had the reputation of being a sexual predator. My life which was supposed to be meaningful was now plagued with misfortune. I had never really thought much about my future as Clyburn. At the time, banging my mom and sisters seemed like enough of a future for me. I had hidden in the mansion letting the world pass me by just as much as Morgan. After only a little exposure to the outside world, I realized that was no longer enough. It took finally settling things with Madison for me to realize that.
“You… know the rumors about me, right?” I said.
The nurse gave that odd expression again. “You could say that.”
“It was my fault.”
“!?”
“I went to that party… dressed as I was when I was brought here. I wanted to bring my sister home. That was the only thing I cared about. I was so focused on saving her that I didn’t see anything else, like what the seniors were planning. I was there, and yet, in the end, I didn’t do anything. Those girls… they hate me, Clyburn… a rapist.” My expression turned bitter. “Yet, I met Rebecca… she’s not a terrible person. Just a confused girl. What was done to her… there was no excuse.”
“I have to say, you’re not what I expected…” The nurse leaned back in her chair, eyeing me in a strange way.
I let out a dry chuckle. “And what did you expect? The rumors about me are heavily exaggerated.“
“Something… else…” The nurse tilted her head thoughtfully.
I sipped the last of the apple juice and then sighed. “I need to get going. Thank you. It’s actually been pleasant talking to you.”
She nodded. “You too, you’re an interesting boy, Clyburn.”
I got up and started dressing quickly. I didn’t realize until I was out of the sheets that she hadn’t even left my underwear on. I supposed even nurses grew curious in this world. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Still, she didn’t look away at all as I dressed. I turned to hide my front, but I was certain her eyes were looking at my butt the entire time I dressed. I didn’t expect an adult to be so shameless! Of course, I could have used the privacy curtain, but that would be admitting that her stare bothered me, and I was too stubborn for it. As a result, this strange nurse got to see everything as I dressed.
When I finished getting back into my female attire, along with a slapdash reapplication of makeup, I bowed to the nurse. “Thank you, Miss… um… actually, I never got your name.”
A flash of surprise showed on her face for a moment, but it disappeared rather quickly. “Oh… I didn’t expect that to hurt my heart so much.”
“Huh?” I gave her a questioning look.
She waved her hand dismissively. “It’s not your problem. I just thought you would recognize me, after… well… nevermind. You may call me Miss Chambers.”
I did have the vaguest recollection of her face, but I just couldn’t bring it to the surface. I guess every woman hoped to gain the attention of a male, even older women. I must have seen her somewhere and forgotten.
“Well, Miss Chambers, I promise I won’t forget our talk.” I reached out and grabbed her hand, leaning and kissing it, causing her eyes to widen. “I won’t forget your kindness, either.”
I turned and walked away. As the door shut behind me, I let a grin form on my face. I gave her such a goodbye hoping to make up for forgetting her name. Well, I felt that went particularly well. She was a cute woman, and so a little flirtation couldn’t hurt. I was normally terrible at it, but I guess that cookie and juice had put me back on my game.
I barely made it halfway down the hall when suddenly I was accosted by two women. One grabbed each arm, that would be Brooke and Rebecca. They were very much clothed now, but they had worried expressions on their faces. Brooke’s wore a significantly more worried expression, but there was a cautious optimism now that she saw me dressed back in my female attire.
“It’s fine… I just didn’t eat enough.” I explained to the two girls.
Brooke sighed, noticing her arms grabbing and then pulling them away. “Is that all? You need to take better care of yourself.”
“I’m glad it was nothing serious.” Rebecca let out a pleased noise before nodding to Brooke. “She wouldn’t let me administer first aid. She was convinced I’d do something to you.”
“Am I wrong?” Brooke snorted back.
“Hmph!” Rebecca snorted. “You brute! Giving us women bad names! Come, Clarice, It’s getting late. You can sleep with me tonight.”
I froze. “W-w-w-with?”
Rebecca hesitated for a second and then laughed, slapping my arm. “No, silly, I meant in my room. It’ll be too dark for a single woman to go back home. I like how you think, though.”
“Ah… about that…” I pulled back as Rebecca tried to lead me away.
“Clarice here actually lives off-campus. She takes the same trolley as me. I’ll get her home.” Brooke spoke up, grabbing my other arm once again and stopping Rebecca short.
Rebecca looked at the pair of us, but as I firmly nodded in affirmation, she dropped her eyes with a disappointed expression. “O-oh…”
“I’m sorry… but my Aunt… um… my aunt will freak if I don’t come home.”
“No… I get it…” Rebecca put a smile on, seeming to recover a bit. “What about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?”
Rebecca nodded firmly. “I’d like to see you again. Is that okay?”
Rebecca stared resolutely as she asked that. I wanted to say no, but upon seeing her hopeful look, I couldn’t bring myself to do so. I gave her a nod, and she smiled in reply. Her genuine smiles seemed so nice. I felt sad that if she had known who I really was, she would only look at me with disgust. I bid farewell to Rebecca and she finally left after making me promise again to visit her. Without saying anything else, I started heading back to the trolley. It really was becoming a bit late. After a few steps, I started feeling some heat on my back. More specifically, I felt two furious eyes glaring at me, followed by an occasional displeased noise. I finally let out a sigh and stopped before I caught on fire.
“I’m sorry, Brooke.” I apologized without looking back.
“Sorry, you bet your ass you’ll be sorry!” Brooke growled, her anger coming like a floodgate. “You bastard! How can I do my job properly if you take off? I heard about the boy who broke into the dorm room. That was you, wasn’t it? You’re lucky no one thought to record your ass on camera, or you’d be done for! You’re so stupid! You’re irresponsible!”
“I know… I just had to see Madison-“
“I don’t care about Madison!” Brooke’s voice came as a hoarse shout, causing me to stop. “Don’t you understand! You left me! You could have been kidnapped again! You could have been hurt! When you collapsed, I… I…”
I looked back, my eyes widening as I saw Brooke’s tearful expression. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I could see tears leaking down her face. I was so shocked that I was not sure how to respond at all. Brooke was a friend and officially a guard. That was all our relationship was. However, I realized now that I had gone back to taking that for granted.
“Hey, hey…” I took a step forward, not quite sure what I should do. “I’m sorry.”
Brooke finally glared up at me, her eyes slightly red. “Promise me.”
“Huh?”
“Promise me…” Brooke grabbed my shirt, looking at me severely. “Promise me that you won’t leave me behind again.”
“I-I promise,” I spoke hesitantly, causing her to relax her grip.
Brooke sniffed and nodded, wiping her eyes and nose. I waited patiently as she recovered. She finally pushed past me without another word and continued on. I followed behind her while the sun set on us. By the time we were heading down the trolley, the sun was gone and the stars were coming out. The ride continued in complete silence. Brooke didn’t look over at me, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. I also considered all the things I had seen today. Brooke’s naked body also popped in my head a few times, but I had the good sense to keep my eyes as far away from Brooke as possible. I wasn’t aiming to get slugged.
The car and our driver were waiting. Brooke must have called ahead of time. She was always looking out for me. In fact, part of me wondered why she even put up with me. I finally glanced up at her. She was a bit tomboyish, but she was also very cute. She was strong, funny, dedicated. Maybe… maybe there was really something there.
“What are you looking at me weird like that, creep!” Brooke suddenly hit me in the head.
Ah… I got hit anyway.
I spent the rest of the journey home cleaning off the makeup and redressing as a man. It wouldn’t be good for “Clarice” to be caught walking into the Mansion. The windows were tinted and afford privacy, so I was able to change. At one point, Brooke stiffly rolled up the front window. Apparently, the driver had been trying to catch looks and wasn’t focusing on the road. Either way, I only settled down with my clothing by the time we were out of the city. I only realized after that the reason Brooke’s face was slightly red was that I was changing in front of her. Well, I saw her naked, so her seeing me naked wasn’t that much more unreasonable.
When we reached the mansion, it was completely night. The car stopped and a person raced out to the car. It was one of the girls on the security detail. They immediately grabbed Brooke and whispered something to her. Brooke’s face went dark.
“Are you sure?”
The woman nodded, and then Brooke glanced over at me. I raised an eyebrow.
“Did something happen?”
“It appears that we have a visitor. They’ve been waiting for you.”
I let out a noise of surprise. Thinking back, the most likely visitor I’d have would be Lyra, right? However, this late at night, I had the distinct feeling she would never do something so bold. Thus, I could only give a questioning glance. That look grew as I approached the front door. Rose was waiting outside. She had a furrowed brow and a complicated expression. As I approached her, she gave me a single nod, gesturing me to stop.
“What is it? What happened?” I demanded.
Rose put down her hands and shook her head as if denying what she was saying. “There is someone inside to see you.”
I nodded, already expecting that much. “Yeah… and?”
“It’s… a man.”
I stopped for a second, feeling complete shock. A man? Not one of the boys from the academy. Most of them were keeping their distance from me. The only adult I knew was the teacher, who probably didn’t care either. There weren’t that many males I knew, so amongst that small list, I was already out of options.
“Who is he?” I decided to ask before walking inside.
“He’s… a lawyer… of sorts.”
I let out a noise. “Oh? Wait… Mom! She said she had a way to help me even in prison! I was complaining that my lawyer wasn’t really on my side. This must be the help she sent!”
My voice came out somewhat excited. Men could be lawyers? This was absolutely wonderful news. I’d get to speak to a man, and it’d be a man who had gained a strong education and risen to become a lawyer. He wouldn’t be some idiot cum dispenser. He’d be the kind of man who cared about being something more. It was exactly the kind of person I had been wanting to meet.
Who would understand the laws surrounding men better than another man? Who would be on my side in this world better than a man? My mom had done a great job selecting the help for me. This guy could help me with my case, and more importantly, I could learn some stuff from him. No offense to teacher Takasha, but he didn’t make a particularly great role model. Other than bringing my family back together, finding another man who understood my plight was perhaps the thing I wanted most in this world.
“So, that’s why he came…” Rose seemed somewhat angry at Mother’s choice.
Well, as much as I loved Rose, she had a bit of a poor opinion on men. It came as no surprise to me that Rose would look down on a male lawyer. Chances are, she saw him as inferior to women. Well, I didn’t contain those same qualms. Mother had sent me help, and I absolutely wouldn’t allow Rose to toss away the first man I had I could really talk to. I hadn’t been this excited since I had thought Fairi came from another world. I greeted my Rose with a quick kiss on the cheek and then rushed into the house.
“No, wait, Clyburn!” Rose called after me.
I ignored her call and raced into the receiving room, the most likely place he’d be waiting for me. There was a man sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper. When I opened the door, he folded it up and put it down, uncrossing his legs. He had a big bushy beard and piercing blue eyes. His hair was brown and straggly, although there were flecks of grey in his beard. He wasn’t necessarily an ugly man, but compared to some of the metrosexual’s I’d seen, he looked almost brutish.
He didn’t wear a suit or tie like I might have expected on a lawyer. Instead, he wore a large black leather coat, a button-up shirt, and pants that resembled jeans. When his eyes met mine, he cocked his head to the side and pursed his lips as if he was appraising me.
“So, you’re Clyburn then.” The man spoke with a gravel voice, far deeper than anyone else I’d ever talked to in this world.
I nodded, excitedly, “Yes, and you came to be my law-“
There was a flash of recognition that struck my brain, causing the words to catch in my throat. Those eyes… I had seen those eyes before. However, I just couldn’t recognize him. It seemed to be a trend today. There were a lot of people that seemed familiar. Was that a result of my anemia?
“I’ve heard of your case.” The man shrugged. “I have no interest in it.”
I stopped, staring at the man blankly. He was just sitting there calmly, a slight smile on his face. Something about him seemed so familiar, though.
“You’re not interested?” I blinked, still processing the words. “T-then why did you come?”
The man shrugged. “I was curious about the child of Morgan. That is all. She begged me to come. I came.”
“W-wait… what…” I shook my head, finally realizing he was saying that he wasn’t going to help.
“You took long enough getting here. This has already been a thorough waste of my time. I was just satisfying curiosity. But that took more time than I wanted.” He stood up. “ So, you’re Noah’s son. Hmm… I expected better.”
“Wait… I need help.” I shook off the thoughts that this man was familiar, instead of stepping towards him.
“Look, kid, you’re barking at the wrong man. The WRA want to bury you. I have a bad past with them, and if I join your cause, it’s only going to cause me endless trouble. This goes beyond your little school or your friends. The lipsticks have been searching for years for the perfect scapegoat, and you happened to make the perfect sacrifice for slaughter. At best, you’ll be a cum dispenser for the remainder of your life. If you’re lucky, you might get a blade in the dark, just like your father.”
“H-hey!” I stood up to as the man started walking to the door. “Stop!”
He ignored me, forcing me to run after him as he left. I was starting to grow angry at this guy’s words. A goat for slaughter? This guy wasn’t even willing to try and help me? Isn’t he just a complete coward?
“Noah would be quite disappointed in the boy he-“
I grabbed the man’s arm, “Hey, asshole! You’re running already? Aren’t you just being a pussy?”
The man turned back, shooting me a derisive sneer. “Watch it, boy… I tolerated you cause you’re his son, but you push me and I won’t hesitate to smack your ass like I used to smack your mom’s ass!”
My body froze as it all clicked back into place. This man, I had seen him once before. He was the man in a holotape. The holotape where mother had her virginity stolen. He was much older now. His face had wrinkles, but I remembered his face staring at the camera as he straightened a shot of my drunk mother. I remembered him spanking my mother. Fucking my mother. Taking her virginity. This was my father’s best friend who cucked him seventeen years ago. This man was Madison’s true father!
“You… you’re the bastard who raped Mom!” I shouted.
The man ripped my hand from his coat and then stroked his sleeve while smiling snobbishly as if this was no big thing. “My name is Oswald. How’s your mother, Clyburn? In jail, where you left her?”
“You fucking bastard! I’ll kill you!” I shouted.
The last thing I remembered was my fist landing in his face. Then, things got a little blurry.