On the ceiling of the infirmary, a white fluorescent light glowed dully.

Deep within the ward, in an especially quiet private room.

Hinako lay atop a sterile bed.

Several hours had passed since she was transported there unconscious due to the abnormal malfunction of ‘Cassandra Floresia.’

Fortunately, her life was not in danger but the body that had undergone such abrupt changes remained under ‘observation.’

In the curtained-off corner, a faint floral scent lingered.

A single lily someone had gently arranged. Yet within that pure fragrance, a medicinal smell bled through and dissolved.

Her breathing was calm. Her pulse steady.

Yet her skin carried a strange warmth—and like that of a girl’s, it had become unnervingly soft.

From her abdomen to her chest, a ‘rearrangement of skin sensation’ was occurring.

As if the deep layers of her nerves were having their design rewritten for the sake of ‘receiving pleasure.’

Above all──her chest was clearly swelling.

Those curves had already surpassed the realm of mere ‘silicone.’

* * *

Jūzō Itami stared at the monitor with a deep furrow between his brows.

Beside him, printouts of Hinako’s blood data were laid out. The values were astonishingly close to a ‘female hormonal balance.’

“E2 ‘estradiol,’ LH, FSH… all within the natural female range. …In other words, the ‘body itself’ is responding as a woman…”

He neither laughed nor expressed surprise. Itami’s eyes were those of a pure ‘observer.’

Yet deep within them, an unfathomable excitement glimmered.

“This rate of assimilation… an ‘accident?’ No—an ‘acceleration disguised as an accident,’ perhaps…”

He clicked his tongue softly and gently placed a hand over her chest.

The moment his fingertips barely touched, a soft response came back.

“…The sensation’s coming through too. Not superficial. Deep in the nerves, ‘reception’ is happening. This is… there’s no going back.”

Then he smiled once.

“Heh… truly marvelous. To think it had progressed this far without my knowing…”

His words held not joy, but the composure of a ‘creator who even praises defeat.’

Even changes beyond his control—were to him irresistible signs of beauty.

* * *

“So… this body already ‘wants to become a woman,’ huh. Regardless of your will… isn’t that right, Hinako-chan?”

Hinako slowly opened her eyes.

Before her vision stood the shadow of a white coat. Wild, explosion-like hair. Eyes harboring madness.

“Ah… you… again…”

“Yeah, I’m back. To ‘examine’ you.”

Itami extended his hand like a sculptor reunited with a statue he had loved for years.

“Don’t be afraid. Your body is already heading to ‘the other side.’ I’ll just──give it a push.”

Hinako shook her head faintly, trembling.

Even as she felt something slowly being drawn toward that side within her heated chest—she still shook her head.

“Stop… please… don’t… ‘break me’ anymore…”

But Itami’s voice was gentle, almost like a blessing.

“No. I’m not ‘breaking’ you. I’m just ‘awakening’ you──into the form this body truly desires. Now then… this is where the ‘true female’ really begins.”

His eyes flickered like flames.

With a sly grin, Itami took out a pair of gloves from his coat pocket.

As he deftly slipped them on, he deliberately snapped them tight with a ‘pat,’ edging closer to Hinako.

“──Come now, a ‘routine palpation.’ I need to properly check how close your body is getting to the ‘female template.’”

His tone pretended to be clinical but beneath it lurked a chilling pleasure.

Saying that, he sat beside the bed and without hesitation gently pulled open the front of Hinako’s hospital gown.

“St—stop…”

She reflexively tried to move her arms but her strength had not returned and she couldn’t muster any force.

Itami mercilessly shifted the fabric and in the next instant──her chest was exposed to cold air and his gaze.

“Hm… just as I thought. The firmness is different. This isn’t just an ‘artificial’ shape anymore. Mammary glands are starting to develop from the lower layers.”

As he spoke, Itami’s hand touched the swell with precision—and obscenity.

His fingertips were clinical yet carried a damp, clinging fixation.

Tracing her outline, that movement stirred not just physical sensation but tickled something deep inside Hinako, leaving her unsettled.

“…This softness. Even the mid-layer fat distribution is fully feminine. Neural transmission density too… you’re responding quite well, aren’t you?”

When his fingers applied gentle pressure from below, lifting slightly──

“Nn…”

A sound escaped her throat before she could stop it.

She nearly stopped breathing at the sound that spilled from her own mouth.

Itami’s eyes narrowed slightly and the corner of his lips slowly lifted.

“Heh… I see. You’re already receiving pleasure through ‘female circuitry.’ No wonder you can’t go back anymore.”

He was certainly only touching her chest.

Yet the response it produced was already nothing like what a ‘male body’ once knew.

Deep beneath her skin, a soft pulse answered back.

Her breathing grew shallow, her heartbeat suddenly noisy.

From deep within her chest, an indescribable sweet pressure surged upward──

‘No… what is this…’

Hinako squeezed her eyes shut.

Yet the afterimage of his touch remained seared deep into her skin and would not fade.

Itami studied Hinako’s body for a while longer, then rested a hand on his chin and muttered.

“There’s one problem.”

His tone differed from the earlier ecstasy and madness. It was unnervingly calm, almost administrative.

“Your testicles, as they are now… won’t last more than a few days.”

Hinako’s eyes widened slightly.

“…What?”

“Your body is overreacting to ‘female’ hormones. The endocrine system supporting the testicles is already switching to ‘female circuitry.’ In other words──if this continues, the ‘proof of being male’ will dissolve first.”

As he spoke, Itami snapped his fingers.

A nearby auxiliary terminal responded, projecting hormone levels and endocrine graphs.

On the monitor, female hormone values rose beautifully like gentle hills while beside them, the male hormone line lay silent as a flat horizon.

“Of course. Whether it’s because the drugs worked too well or the ‘Cassandra Floresia’ accident… probably both. Either way, your body is now sprinting at full speed toward being completed as a ‘woman.’”

Itami lightly tapped his own chest.

“That’s why I have a proposal.”

Hinako’s shoulders tensed sharply.

“…A proposal?”

“Simple. Let’s ‘remove’ the testicles now and cryogenically preserve them. For the day you might someday think, ‘I want to return to being a man.’ At least the form could remain.”

The words fell, mercilessly—like a breakup.

“But once removed──they’ll never function again. No erection. No ejaculation. Neural circuits and hormonal commands will be completely rewritten into a ‘female blueprint.’ So once they’re gone, as a ‘male body,’ you’ll never function again. Even worse… if we don’t remove them, at this rate that ‘proof’ will eventually shrink, wither and be ‘melted away’ by female hormones inside your body. It’ll get smaller, softer, sink beneath the skin… until one day you realize ‘there’s nothing left.’ In other words──this is the ‘final branching point.’ Remove them and freeze them and you barely retain it as an ‘option.’ But──the ‘circuitry’ inside your body has already begun changing toward being female without limit. That’s what ‘returning’ means.”

Hinako couldn’t move, holding her breath.

Removal, freezing, preservation──

Each word weighed on her like blocks of ice, draining her warmth.

The word ‘return’ had been offered──

Yet what lay there sounded almost like a farewell.

“…Preserve?”

She whispered hoarsely, as if tasting the word.

“Yes. Right now, they can be frozen while still functional. If left alone, the cells will die and the option to return will disappear completely. But if removed──the ‘dream of someday returning’ will remain in your hands.”

Itami’s eyes were not joking. Beneath the glint of madness, the cold sincerity of a doctor flickered.

“I don’t need money. I’ll cover all the costs. A ‘service.’ Only giving choices meant to ‘break’ you isn’t my way. Before sealing your future as ‘completely female,’ I’ll leave you one thin path to ‘return.’ So? The one who chooses… is you.”

The room fell silent.

Only the electronic beep of the heart monitor echoed steadily at Hinako’s chest.

That sound alone told her she could ‘still choose.’

She ‘could return.’ Supposedly.

Yet for some reason, that word felt far away.

Even so, her chest quietly trembled──as if relieved, somewhere deep inside.

…Click.

The sharp sound of thin heels tapped once against the stillness of the ward.

For some reason, that sound left a dull yet gentle ache on the left side of her chest.

Beyond the door was a ‘presence’ without words.

More than a presence, it was a warmth close to a prayer. As if her breathing were being softly and gently aligned.

It was Yuka-san.

She knew by instinct alone. That person’s existence had already seeped into the ‘deep layers’ of Hinako’s body.

‘…If it’s her, I feel like she’d understand everything without a word. What would Yuka-san say?’

Still looking downward, not in her chest but in some deeper place, something slowly grew wet.

Not tears. Something slower seeping in—shaped like an ‘answer.’

What she truly wanted now.

Perhaps she already knew.

But──she was still afraid to say it out loud.

‘…Do I really wish to ‘return’?’

Yet the desire to be ‘touched by someone’ right now was far stronger and warmer than that question.