Chapter 6

"Excuse me for intruding."

Huey usually comes by after finishing his fieldwork a little early. Normally, he insists on going home first to wash up and change, but honestly… seeing a hardworking young man, fresh from the fields, dirt on his hands and sweat on his brow—it’s so refreshingly pure and dazzling that I always find some excuse to have him come straight here.

Before knocking, he carefully brushes off the dirt and mud from his clothes. Watching him do that in secret makes me want to squeal—it’s that cute.

"Welcome!"

"Here. I found these Lual flowers blooming by the rice field."

"Thank you!"

I accepted the small flower Huey offered and couldn’t help but smile. Because I’d once complained about not being able to go outside to see the flowers, he’s made it a habit to bring me wildflowers every time he visits.

After that, we sit and drink the tea my mother prepares, and I listen to his stories. He’s not much of a talker, so I’m usually the one asking questions, and he answers quietly, thoughtfully. I always enjoy it.

Today, what I wanted to ask him about was transformation.

"You looked so cool back then, when you drove that guy off, Huey! If I could transform too, do you think I could totally wreck a guy like that?"

I mean, come on—when you’ve got something like beastfolk in a fantasy world, of course you’d want to test your hidden powers or special abilities. But right now, the only beastlike things about me are these floppy ears that never listen and a tail that gives up way too easily…

Huey scratched his cheek, looking bashful at my excitement.

"Ah, that? Honestly, that wasn’t really my strength. It’s more like… the difference between a countryside guy like me and someone from the city."

"Huh?"

"Apparently, in the city, they think transforming means you can’t control your emotions—that it’s primitive, immature, even embarrassing."

Really? In this village, plenty of the elders spend their days fully transformed or walking around as upright beasts.

"Even around here, it’s rare for younger people to transform anymore. But still, they’ll say things like, ‘It’s old-fashioned but cool,’ or ‘You get serious, you transform.’ Nobody really thinks of it as something shameful or crude."

So apparently, when Huey started transforming back then, that man thought he’d gone feral—lost all reason and become dangerous. Or maybe he just freaked out because he wasn’t used to seeing anyone transform at all.

Huey even admitted, without hiding anything, that if the man hadn’t been ashamed of transforming—and they’d both gone all out in beast form—he probably would’ve lost completely.

"I’m not strong or anything. I just got lucky, that’s all."

What a genuinely good boy, Huey is. If I got praised like that by a girl, I’d be like, Exactly! It was all my skill, obviously. Fufufu, puffing my chest out in pride.

"So, Mimosa, don’t get too carried away with this whole transformation thing, all right? Don’t go doing anything reckless!"

Ah, so this was all leading up to a lecture for me… As expected of my self-proclaimed big brother…

When I hunched my shoulders, he laughed and nodded—but then suddenly, his expression turned serious.

"I heard you might’ve just forgotten how to transform temporarily, right?"

"…Yeah."

According to the doctor, it’s not that I’ve lost the ability completely. Unlike memories, things the body has learned—like walking—don’t just disappear. And just like how my consciousness came back after being gone for ten years, there’s a chance I might recover the ability someday, just by chance.

"When we were kids, you were the fastest of us all when you transformed, Mimosa. Whenever you got in trouble, you’d take off running and always escaped first. I hope you remember soon."

"Mm… From how slow I am now, that’s hard to believe…"

Apparently, young children instinctively transform when they sense danger. If I could’ve done that when that man attacked me, I probably could’ve escaped easily.

Then an idea struck me.

"If you show me how you transform, Huey, maybe it’ll help me remember!"

"Eh—"

Ever since that day, I’d been dying to see his beast form for myself. So when I made that suggestion, for some reason, Huey hesitated.

"Huh? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it’s not that, it’s just…"

"?"

Just as an awkward silence started to hang in the air, my mother, who had been doing housework nearby, laughed softly.

"Oh my, Mimosa. You see, back in our day it wasn’t such a big deal, but nowadays the younger ones have this trend. Apparently, they only show their transformed form to their mate. Something about, ‘I offer you my true self and no one else,’ you know, as a romantic line."

Then she laughed—bright and carefree—as she went back to her chores, muttering about how romantic kids these days were, and how such things never even crossed their minds back then.

"Ah…"

So basically, I’d just said something like, ‘Make me miso soup every morning!’ or ‘I want to slay all the birds in heaven and lie in bed with you at dawn!’ …Great.

Feeling awkward, my ears and tail drooped down like wilted plants.

"No, no—it’s fine! I know you don’t know about that stuff, Mimosa! I get it, really! Don’t worry about it!"

Huey hurriedly tried to reassure me.

Thank you, Huey. You probably can’t see it, but my tail just perked up a little because of that.

But still… unintentional touchy moments or suggestive remarks from a girl can throw a guy off, even when he knows she doesn’t mean anything by them. I’m pretty sure in my past life I got burned by girls like that—more than once.

And now? A girl with a guy’s mind saying cluelessly suggestive stuff like that—ugh, that’s just gross. I’m really, really sorry, Huey…

The more I thought about it, the deeper I spiraled, my face sinking lower and lower.

"Well, anyway! You don’t have to transform during mating season, so don’t stress about it!"

"Is that so…?"

I felt a little lighter and slowly raised my head.

"………………"

"…Huey?"

This time, Huey had his hand over his mouth, his face bright red.

"What’s wrong?"

"Ah, I—uh, just remembered I’ve got something to do! My mom’ll scold me if I don’t hurry! Bye!"

Before I could say another word, he bolted off like the wind.

Okay, so… did Huey just step on a landmine this time?

Curious (and maybe a bit worried), I immediately went to ask Mom why he’d gone red.

"Ah, that. When someone tries to approach you during mating season, transforming is the ultimate form of rejection."

"You mean like, using beast strength to run away at full speed?"

I had this faint memory from my past life—male animals approaching females and getting completely shut down, sometimes even injured for trying. The wild world of survival of the fittest!

"Oh dear, the neighbor lady didn’t explain that part to you, huh? No, that’s not it. See, sometimes the size difference between beast forms can be… too much, right?"

I thought about my dad, a bear, and my mom, a raccoon, and nodded slowly.

"So when someone transforms, it means, ‘I can’t accept you.’ And when they don’t transform, that means they do accept the other. These days, some kids just reject in human form, but honestly, transforming is still the quickest and clearest way to say no."

………………

So basically, that means, ‘I cannot accept your… thing,’ doesn’t it!?

Picturing my parents while hearing that explanation did a surprising amount of psychological damage.

And then it hit me—when they actually make babies, they do it in human form…

Suddenly, Huey’s earlier words echoed in my head:

—"You don’t have to transform during mating season."—

Did he mean that if you meet your destined partner right away, there’s no need to reject them—so no need to transform?

Or did he mean that since baby-making happens in human form, transforming isn’t needed for… that?

Judging by how red he was, I’m pretty sure it was the latter.

Yeah… probably best I didn’t press him on it.

…Ugh. Guhah…