Chapter 16: A Transformed Appearance / An Unchanging Love

Looking back, Hahari-san used to be an incredible person. She still is now, but in a completely different way. She was a dignified, cool-headed woman—the type who carried an air of intensity, desperately trying to protect her daughter, Hakari.

Even for us, who once stood against her as enemies… if it weren’t for Rentarou’s sincerity, who knows what would’ve happened? She was that strong, that devoted—a truly admirable mother.

But now… well. Yeah.

"I made baby clothes for everyone—put them on!!"

At this point… hasn’t she just completely lost it?

Just look at Hakari’s face. It’s a disaster. The sheer absurdity of her mother’s transformation might actually be breaking her.

Baby clothes, huh? Some are full-body onesies with little petal-like frills on the head, others just cover up to the neck. They’re meant for kids, so of course, most designs are cute. Like the one I’m wearing right now.

No point beating around the bush. You all get it, right? Yep, that’s right. I’m wearing one. Baby clothes. And somehow, it fits me perfectly.

Not like Kusuri-senpai’s drugs shrank me or turned me into an actual baby. Nope, I’m just wearing them in my normal state. Well, we’re on the rooftop, and only family’s watching, so…

"I’ll handle this!!"

"It’s gonna tear! It’s gonna tear!"

Hold up, Rentarou. The one I’m wearing is already tight—no way you’re fitting into actual baby-sized clothes! You’re tripping over yourself and nearly ripping them!

"...Wait, why are YOU already wearing them?! Don’t just stand there like it’s totally normal!!"

"Huh? Mine’s a different size. No way you changed that fast—"

"THAT’S NOT THE POINT!!"

"More importantly, why is Kawaru wearing baby clothes…?!"

"Hahari-san told me to put them on…"

Yeah. I kinda promised to wear baby clothes a while back. Plus, I get praised if I do it… and who says no to praise?

"Oh, Kawaru-chan, I forgot something!"

"Why’s there optional equipment now…?!"

Hahari-san hands me something. A pacifier… and a rattle?! Hold on, hold on! I agreed to the clothes, but this full-accessory setup wasn’t part of the deal! No way I’m mentally stable enough to add these—

"Too bad… if you put these on, you’d be even cuter… and Rentarou would praise you even more…"

"I’ll wear them."

"[This guy’s WEAK, boss!]"

Wearing them? Done. I’m a slave to my desires. Now praise me. Do it. At this point, shame’s been left in the dust.

"Ababababa!!"

"Kawaru…?!"

‘’KYUN…!!’’

Rentarou’s conflicted but still goes ‘’KYUN…!!’’, while Harari-san’s already in full Ababa mode.

"Well, Rentarou? Don’t you think Kawaru-chan looks… adorable?"

"I-I mean… she IS cute…!!"

Stop… I mean, you’re not wrong. No, keep going. Rentarou and Hahari-san’s praise just… hits different. Especially Rentarou. That flustered way he compliments me? Perfect. Give me more.

‘’KYUN…!!’’

"Uhehehe… more…"

"You’ve been losing screws lately too, huh?"

"She’s clearly changing…"

So what? Back then, I was already lazing around with Rentarou, just not this much. Lately, it’s been harder to hold back my emotions… Probably this atmosphere’s fault. No need to pretend—it’s liberating. Definitely Hahari-san’s influence.

Like that feeling I had toward Kurumi-chan… Something maternal? Or more like wanting to feed her a ton… Grandma instincts? Whatever it was, that’s Hahari-san’s doing too. Hell, now she keeps dressing me up in random stuff so she and Rentarou can ‘’KYUN…!!’’ over it. I get praised, so win-win.

For the record, my family ranking goes: Rentarou >>> Hahari-san > Shizuka, Kurumi-chan > Hakari, Karane, Nano.

Shizuka and I are in the Small Animal Alliance, slowly working on her stamina. For Kurumi-chan, I cook—going all out, of course. Thanks to that, Rentarou’s been carrying me to school on his back. Heaven.

I cook → Kurumi-chan’s happy! → Exhausted me gets carried by Rentarou → I’m happy! → Rentarou’s happy from carrying me and seeing Kurumi-chan smile…! A perpetual motion machine! Nobel Prize’s mine, baby~!!

"Communicating desires directly is more efficient."

"Then I’ll tell Rentarou-kun I want to do this and that—"

"Hold it right there, Hakari!"

"What’s wrong, Karane-san? I’m just being honest like Kawaru—"

"Shizuka’s… right here!!"

"Oh…"

‘’Hwahwahwahwa…!’’

---

"So anyway, Kusuri brought a drug that turns people into babies!"

"Now everyone can wear baby clothes in this size!"

"Oh, and there’s an antidote, but you gotta wait an hour between doses or the strain’ll straight-up kill you."

"THE RISK IS WAY TOO HIGH?!"

"No one’s gonna take it…! Who’d even—never mind."

"...Smart call, Kurumi-chan. I’ll make you baby castella later, ’kay?"

"So Kurumi’s been bribed into not roasting Kawaru anymore?!"

Look, I get the baby clothes are insane, and I know who’s gonna wear them. But hey? When people are right there wearing them, at least sugarcoat it.

Huh? Kurumi-chan ate all the sugar-coating? Well, can’t be helped then!

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"I wanna play mommy!! Play mommy!! Play mommy!! Mommy! Mommy! MOMMY!!"

Hahari-san finally snapped, flopping onto the ground in a full tantrum. Oh god. This is… yep. Suddenly, me wearing baby clothes (albeit in my normal size) feels mild. If I wasn’t wearing these, she’d probably be levitating by now.

"[Her vocabulary has officially crumbled.]"

"We must consider psychiatric intervention."

"...Enough already!!"

Whoa. That’s a rare serious tone. Fine, fine—I’ll sneak off and change. Relax, Rentarou, I’ve got joggers under this. I’m not reckless enough to go commando outside home. Or your place.

"What’s wrong with you, Mother…! Crying and rolling around in front of everyone…! Have you considered how your own daughter feels…?!"

"...Hakari… I’m sorry. I didn’t think about you… But don’t worry? Before being everyone’s mom… I’m your mom first…!"

"THIS ISN’T ABOUT JEALOUSY?!"

"The conversation is disjointed. Irrational."

"This is bad… Gotta fix this mood…! …Uh-oh."

What now? This tension’s lethal. Didn’t expect things to go this south. Maybe I underestimated—wait, Kusuri-senpai. What’s that in your hand?

“There’s a cat right there! Look here, kitty—go fetch this medicine, alright?”

“[Wouldn’t forcing a dog’s game on a cat end poorly?]”

Kusuri-senpai tossed the test tube full of some kind of drug toward the nearby cat. No, no way that’s gonna work so conveniently—

Smash!!

“…Ah. Why didn’t it catch it!?”

“[Because it’s not a dog.]”

…Of course it didn’t!! I mean, you even set the scene for it and everything! Wait, crap—this isn’t good. That medicine’s bubbling and making weird noises and—ah yeah, this is definitely bad.

BOOOOM!!

---

"Ugh... what's going on? My vision's weirdly narrow and low. Can't move my body right either. This feeling... I swear I remember it from somewhere."

"Is... is everyone okay?!"

Rentarou's voice. So he's safe. Right before the drug explosion hit, I saw him shielding Hakari. That means those two are fine for now. If Rentarou protected her, Hakari's definitely unharmed. As for the others... huh?

What the—? As the smoke clears, I see everyone... turned into babies. Wait, does that mean I'm a baby too?!

"Nyaaaahhh!!"

"L-let's at least put baby clothes on Hahari-san! Even if they're babies, seeing them naked is... improper!!"

"Such chivalry...!!"

I get it, Hakari, but now's not the time. I totally get it, but priorities, woman!

"Rentarou-kun and I... we look just like a mommy and daddy, don't we...? Teehee~❤"

"My, my... so many children...❤ Did we... make them all...?❤"

"...Huh?"

"I-IT'S NOTHING, RENTAROU-KUN?!"

Hold up, Hakari?! The second Karane's not around to stop you, you go full throttle, huh? This impulsive streak? 100% Hahari-san's genes. That woman's DNA is too strong. Time to step in.

"I heawd you woud and cweaw, Hawaki!! Just 'cuz Kawny can't caww you out... don't fink you can say whatevew you want...!"

"Ehh?! You heard that, Kawaru-san?! ...Wait, what?"

Hakari looks around for the source of the voice—me. Wrong direction. Down here.

"Kawaru, you... you can talk?! And your memories aren't reset?!"

Yep. My memories are intact. My body's reverted, but my mind's still me. Probably... my own perception at work.

To explain properly would take forever (hypotheses about this world's rules included). Want the short version? Here goes:

My theory? "In this world, human will can override physical laws." Rentarou does it daily. Everyone did it during the food fight. Love—sheer willpower—lets them defy logic. Rentarou's the easiest example.

Anyone reading this knows how absurd he is. The root of it? Love. Willpower. That's why my consciousness survived.

I've reincarnated before, keeping my memories and personality. Plus the body-swap incident. Those experiences cemented my belief: "Memories and consciousness reside in the soul." The others lack this perspective because they've never reincarnated.

No matter how potent Kusuri-senpai's drugs are, they can't affect the soul. My unwavering belief—my will—kept my mind from regressing with my body. That's my take, anyway.

But hey, it's all conjecture. The important part?

"Enough theowy! Point is... I'm stiww me! So whiwe evewyone's a baby... I'ww be the snawky commentyatooor!!"

"The 'Hakari Restraint Unit' is still operational!" Consider it handled, Karane. I'll cover for you.

"No way...!!"

"Having one person conscious is a relief, but still...!!"

...Huh? Rentarou, what's wrong? Holding Hahari-san... Oh.

"T-too... cute...!! Wait... angels...?!"

He's right!! My low vantage point limits the view, but... everyone's unbearably adorable...!!

"Here too... and here!"

"Over here... and here!"

"Two mowe angyels in fwont of me...!"

"Here...!"

"The OG! The OG's here too!!"

"I can't bwing you back wike dis, so get youw act togethew...! (...Wait, I couwdn't do dat even nowmaw.)"

Rentarou finally snaps out of it. Phew. A solo trip to heaven sounds fun, but... at least bring souvenirs. And not now—we've got babies to manage.

"For now... we gotta take care of everyone for an hour...!"

"Yes, dear...❤"

"Huh?"

"OI, HAWAKI!! You can't just wideswoop dis wiff vibes!!"

"Ehh? Whatever do you mean~?"

---

Now then, what a mess this turned into—the six-baby babysitting marathon. And man, calling it rough doesn't even scratch the surface.

"Shizu-chan⁉︎"

First up, Shizuka Yoshimoto. Despite her usual low-key vibe, she zoomed around the rooftop on all fours like a turbocharged crawler. Rentarou, who had just picked her up with ease, found himself struggling when she looked up at him with teary eyes that practically screamed, “Don’t eat me…” She’s normally so quiet and reserved, but even she’s like this? Babies are terrifying.

Next to move was Kurumi-chan. Her stomach let out the cutest little rumble… so cute…! Too cute…!! Someone, please! Hand over the Nobel Prize I just won to Kurumi-chan…!! What? Not transferable? And I didn’t win one in the first place? Who cares about that kind of detail!!

Okay, refocus. Kurumi-chan leaned in, opening her tiny but eager mouth to bite down on Hakari’s swaying, oversized chest right in front of us.

“Wah, Kurumi-sa…n-ah…n…❤︎”

“Voices like that are bad for the baby’s moral upbringing⁉︎”

“I-I’ll hold Kurumi-san down, so…m❤︎”

Rentarou rushed over when Hakari suddenly cried out, only to spot Nano heading toward the emergency exit with frightening crawling efficiency. He tried to catch her but ended up getting both eyes poked and rolling on the ground. Seriously? Even babies can pull that off? Okay, yes, it would be effective against gropers… but wait, this is really bad!!

Kusuri-senpai’s about to drink the neutralizing potion!! I’ve gotta act. Crawling as fast as I could (relatively speaking), I managed to knock the potion from her hand and spill it on the ground. Geez, no room for carelessness here.

By the time my vision came back, I caught up with both Nano and Kusuri-senpai, grabbing one in each arm. But then Shizuka, who I’d taken my eyes off for just a second, was about to crawl away again.

“…Safe‼︎”

Good thing I saw that coming. I lay down right in her path, blocking her route and successfully sealing her crawling powers.

“Ahhn…! Even Karane-san’s…❤︎ N-no…! We said we’d just be friends… in my dream…!”

“You’re totally losing to your desires!! And what kinda dreams are you having all the time⁉︎”

Apparently, while Kurumi-chan was latched on one side, Karane had gone in for a bite too (literally). Still, if Hakari can endure this, it’s actually a good strategy to keep both of them occupied… wait—

“Ayaya!”

“Yaya!”

“Auu—‼︎”

“Adadada—‼︎”

“I said no…!”

Uh-oh. A fight broke out. Hakari tried to step in and stop them, but their voices just kept getting louder. Hold on. Aren’t loud noises bad for babies…?

“Please get along‼︎”

“Ah…ua…!”

“Yaa…u…!”

“"A゛ーーー‼︎‼︎"”

They’re crying now…!! What do I even do… I want to help somehow, but just keeping an eye on Shizuka is already my limit in this body.

“Wayt… swow town… Shizuka…‼︎”

I take it back. Even as a baby, my stamina’s pathetic. There’s no way I can keep up. I should be able to at least stop her from falling off the roof, but crawling with her? Not happening…! I’m too weak…‼︎

Meanwhile, Hahari-san had made her way to Hakari and started climbing up her body, tugging at her hair. Hakari was already struggling to manage the squirming Karane and Kurumi—there’s no way she can take care of Hahari-san too. Rentarou’s still busy trying to soothe Nagino and Kusunoki-senpai. What are we supposed to do…!

“Yochi yochi…”

“…Mother…?”

What the…? Hahari-san just patted Hakari’s head…? No, I’m not seeing things. She’s definitely doing it. And even muttering a clumsy little “there, there” as she does. Hahari-san…! You really… you really are a mother through and through…! Even though your memories and awareness are supposed to be completely babyfied, you still… you still chose to be a mother…‼︎

“Hahari…san…‼︎”

Kyun…‼︎

After that, Karane and Kurumi wriggled free from Hakari’s arms and went flying through the air—but just before they could hit the ground, Rentarou slid in dramatically and caught them mid-air. Safe… somehow.

And then, seeing that, all the babies burst into laughter at once. Seeing their smiles, Rentarou kept sliding again and again, literally scraping his body down to the bone, to keep them all entertained until the end, bloodied and blurred out by mosaic. He really gave it his all.

---

After that, to be honest, I don’t remember a thing. Or rather—I fell asleep. The moment everyone started laughing and I finally felt like everything was going to be okay, my consciousness just snapped off like a light switch. Next thing I knew, everyone was back to normal, and so was my body.

"You had us worried there, Kawaru… Thought you passed out or something, but turns out you were just sleeping."

"You suddenly stopped moving, like a toy with dead batteries…"

"I see… sorry, both of you, for making you worry..."

Well, I did hold off Shizuka all that time in baby form. My body must’ve literally been at its limit. Makes sense I crashed the second I let my guard down. Still, all things considered, crisis averted… or at least, I wish that were the case.

"NOOOOOO!!! I can’t believe I ended up to being a baby too!!! I wanted to see everyone’s baby selves so bad!!"

"Hahari’s mental age is the only one that hasn’t gone back to normal…!!"

"[Wasn’t much different to begin with, really.]"

"No real change in behavior or speech pattern before and after the incident. Nothing to compare."

Wait, hold on—aren’t we back to square one?! What do we even do about this?! …But thinking back to how Hahari-san was back then… honestly, this kind of reaction feels like something we can overlook. Crap. I think I’ve been corrupted. Or brainwashed. One of the two.

Even now, watching Hahari-san wailing like that… I still think she was cool back there as a mom…!!

"Yeah… Hahari-san really is a ‘mother’ through and through…!"

"Are your eyes broken or what?!"

"Seeing this and calling her a mom is seriously messed up."

What are you talking about? There’s no one more ‘motherly’ than this—wait… is this motherly? Hmm… yeah, it is. Totally is!!

.

.

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"...Mother. About earlier… I’m sorry…"

"Hakari… I let myself get carried away too. I’ll reflect on my actions…"

"That was you reflecting?!"

"Then what was all that screaming and crying about just now?!"

Still, Kurumi-chan and Karane really do deliver great comebacks. I feel like they’d make a good comedy duo. Actually, maybe they already are one.

"No… no matter what kind of mother you are… you’ll always be my one and only mom. I don’t want you to hold back—I want you to be yourself…!"

"Hakari…"

Hakari… I get it now. This wild, unfiltered personality is who Hahari-san really is. But she’s been holding all that back—for Hakari’s sake. From the day she became Rentarou’s girlfriend, she finally let herself be free.

We’d all been thrown off by her sudden personality shift at first, but Hakari—who’s been watching her up close all this time—she must’ve known just how much her mom had been holding back.

…Hakari’s amazing. I don’t know if I could accept it like that, no matter the reason, if my real mom started acting like that. And Hahari-san too… to endure that much emotion for so long without showing it… she’s incredible.

…Both of them really are.

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"Oh! I brought a spare bottle of the baby potion, by the way!"

"Let’s use it NOW‼︎ I want to change everyone’s diapers—diapers‼︎‼︎"

"DIIIIAPEEEERS‼︎‼︎‼︎"

"…Yeah, let’s go with self-restraint instead‼︎"

"Too bad‼︎ No refunds on moms‼︎"

………………Yup. Definitely a mom. 100%.