I got isekaied but not the way I wanted (wished to be a girl♀ but I’m a guy♂ again)

"Chie, what's the point of this again?"

I huff and adjust the harness across Katsumi's spine. "Its to measure your mana," I say. "Hold still."

I grumble as I go. These buckles really need to be improved. The mana reader needs to be lined up just right. Mana moves along the major lines of the body, the spine being the most prominent. From that vital conduit, it flares as it discharges, detectable as small amounts of non-ionizing radiation. Emphasis on small. If I don't line these sensors up right this whole trip will be for naught.

"Why are we measuring my mana again?"

I purse my lips. "You're a new hunter. I want to see where you're at, your potential, and so on."

The lie rolls off my tongue easy, because it isn't really a lie. Only… half a lie. Three-quarters even.

"Hmm. Did the others do this?"

"Nope. Hotaru is a C-rank, and the rest of us have fought enough to know our capabilities. You are untested. Thus, the testing."

"Makes sense. I guess…"

I finish buckling the harness, silently reminding myself to take that trip to the hardware store. Maybe I'll take Haruki. That woman loves the place.

Tonight we're in a park, mostly quiet an hour after sundown. It will do for the first idea of mine.

"Okay, first up…" I summon a mana weapon, a simple quarterstaff, no sharp edges. "We're going to spar. I want you to try and touch me with your weapon. I'll try and do the same to you. You good for it?"

She grins and summons a sword.

"Uhhuh," I wag a finger. "Blunt weapons, not trying to get sashimi-ed, please and thank you."

"Oh, right." She resummons her weapon with a sheepish grin. Two short stick-looking things.

I nod, and strike.

I'm not good in melee, despite Haruki trying time and time again to train me, but it's almost comical how quickly she dodges my attack. Twirling away to my right. I barely react in time to block her counter with the end of my staff.

I retreat a step, trying to use the length of my weapon to my advantage. Me and Katsumi have the same skill level, novice, but she's obviously quicker. She darts around me in a blink and its all I can do to fend her off. Blocking blow after blow in quick succession. Not strong attacks. I doubt they would even hurt a demon if this were a real fight, but a hit is a hit.

Seeing an opening, I lash out. And that girl ducks, pirouetting around my guard in a flash. I feel a tap against my ribs.

"Ha! Got you!"

I blink, looking down in confusion. I saw her move in the school, but seeing it up close is something completely different. With a small smile I say, "You did. You move very gracefully, you know. When Haruki and Mayumi told us about you, they said you moved like a dancer. I didn't quite believe them, but its true."

I don't miss how her expression brightens, or how she straightens.

"You think so?"

I nod and raise my staff. "Best out of three?"

She grins, and we duel once more. Truthfully I'm trying to collect as varied a dataset as possible. My hypothesis is a strange one—I can see Mayumi rolling her eyes just hearing it—but this is the best way to disprove it. Augmenting speed with mana drains people quickly. If by the end of our sparing she collapses in exhaustion, then my hypothesis will be disproved.

I put more of myself into this one. Our first bout let me see her moves, her patterns. This time I'm prepared. Katsumi isn't experienced enough to switch up on the fly, and I'm able to muddle her plans. Use my staff to keep her away. When I tap her leg. I grin.

She yelps.

"If I was was Haruki right now, I'd tell you some platitude about keeping your guard up or something, but I don't know anything about that and I'm not going to try. How are you feeling?"

She doesn't even look winded. Katsumi tosses her hair behind her. "Fine!"

"What I like to hear. Last round? Think you can get me?"

A look of wicked determination lights her up. We launch into our last session without a word. Striking and dodging about in a last-ditch attempt to gain the upper hand. She presses me hard, and I'm woefully unsure of victory. Fortunately, playing dirty is what I'm best at.

With a grin I say, "So… Haruki told me you had a date."

She falters mid-step, and it gives me the opening I need. My staff taps her upper arm.

"Ah ha!" I exclaim. I twirl my staff and dispel it in a flourish. "Victory goes to me!"

Katsumi blinks at me, then frowns. "You… you cheated!"

"Yep! Lesson one of Chie-wisdom. Don't get distracted."

With a pout she mumbles, "Oh so wise you are."

"I agree. Come on." I nod towards the nearest bench. "Still feeling alright?" I ask as she sits.

"Yeah? Should I not?"

I shrug.

"Just making sure," I say, fiddling with her mana reader. The fact that she isn't panting on the ground has all but confirmed my hypothesis. Now to move on to other ideas. I hook the thing up to my phone. The apps I have are more unwieldy for reading the data but it's good enough.

"So… you and Haruki talked about me?" Katsumi asks, some hesitation to her voice.

"Mmhmm," I reply offhandedly, taping around my phone. "Her and Mayumi were over last night."

"And you all talked about me?"

The app is glitching, and I'm angrily tapping my screen. "Not a whole lot, we were busy."

"Oh, with what?"

I grumble absentmindedly. Wondering if I should just give up.

"Playing."

Sure, I could wait till I get home, but the results will help me…

"You play games? What kind?"

And like that I freeze, my mind momentarily going blank. For an brief instant I'm not at the park, I'm at home. Mayumi and Haruki are beside me, skin against mine, and I cling to them. Cling to them like the fear clings to me. When they didn't return that night I was so afraid, and I carried that fear with me silently ever since we got them back. Its a sickness. I need them to rid me of it, to excise this rotten thing from me. Reassure me that they are here, with me, that this is real.

I blink and I'm in the park again.

The phone nearly drops from my hand.

Katsumi is waiting on my answer.

"Uh—um…" I clear my throat. "Strategy… games."

When did my mouth get so dry?

"Hotaru doesn't join? She doesn't like strategy?"

I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. "Definitely not…"

"Hmm… would I be allowed to join?"

"N—no!" I exclaim, before following up with a calmer. "Umm… we have a… Long running… game. Going on. No new players."

To my horror, she looks disappointed.

I disconnect my phone and jump up. Data be damned, I need to change the subject. "So, for our next test, we're going to fight some demons. There's a pack of them that hang around eating garbage and bothering people, but they're F-classes so nobody cares to deal with them."

She frowns, standing with me. "That's pretty common, I've noticed."

I narrow my eyes at her. Just about everybody knows that hunters don't really bother with F-classes, but Katsumi strikes me as the sheltered type, so I dismiss the thought. Instead of responding, I glance about to get my bearings. This park is heavy with foliage. A verdant place full of criss-crossing paths lit by scattered lampposts. It's nice, but finding that demon pack will be an exercise in annoyance.

I give Katsumi a glance—she's still waiting on me—I nod my head in the direction of the nearest path, and lead her down. We're going to have to do some legwork to find these things, so best to get started.

"It is common," I tell her. "We only bother with D-classes for the most part, else it's not really worth it."

"That's sad. A lot of people would benefit if we did."

"I agree." Hotaru told us about her clearing out the memory-eaters for those old ladies. Its an act of alturism that's often missing in this profession.

"Why don't you do it then?"

I shrug, keeping my eyes on my surroundings. "Busy. I work full-time, so I don't have a lot of time to hunt. And when I do… well, we all need a lot of hearts to qualify for C-rank."

"Do you want to make it all the way to A-rank? Like me?"

I nod. "I want the whole team to. There's a lot of good we can do. A lot more good than sitting in an office all day."

I finish on a mumble.

"Yeah… I feel the same. I'm doing this… because, you know… but its really nice to help people. I want to do it more."

From the distance I hear distant yelps and baying. I stop her with a hand.

"Speaking of, you hear that?"

She cranes to listen. Very human screams are mingled in the air now.

I summon my weapon and tap her. Leading the way off the path and into the trees. We dart through the brush for a minute or two, eventually coming into a clearing. Little pavilions are scattered about, all surrounded by the thick brush we just left, boxing us in with only a little room to maneuver.

Far off on the other side of our impromptu arena, six dog-like demons are chasing off a lone couple.

Typically these types aren't dangerous. They eat garbage and scare people, but in large numbers like this… I've never heard of anyone dying to a class-F, but I'd rather not get bit by a dog with a human face.

Still, the numbers are why I wanted to come here in the first place. The perfect prey to test Katsumi.

"You in front, me behind," I tell her. She grins at me and summons a sword—longer this time—and charges across the grass.

Fuck she's fast.

She's on the pack before I'm even in position to fire—I've never been the athletic type—cutting and slicing at the dog-shaped things. They yelp and bark, their human eyes and tongues bulging and lolling. They try and circle her, but she's too quick to pin down. Still, it's six against one, and one has already leapt at her back, claws swiping.

My pistol roars it's familiar twinkling chime. It's already ash by the time it hits the ground.

Two 'dogs' peel off from Katsumi immediately, heading straight for me. I fire at them, but they go wide, flanking me on each side in an almost-practiced move. I focus on the right, aiming before it. One shot, two. It goes down.

The second hits me in the back.

I expected it, and I use the force of the impact to roll forward, but I'm not as graceful as Katsumi. My tumble is a thing of flailing limbs and flying curses. By the time I right myself, it's ugly human face—that of some sweaty, balding man—is right in mine, growling a distinctly inhuman noise.

I'm weighing my options, when from the corner of my eye, Katsumi leaps.

Its a thing of beauty, a mana-assisted jump for certain, she clears eight meters in a blink. True to Haruki's description, her skirts billow like wings around her. She's a bird of prey falling upon an unsuspecting hare. The demon before me is cleaved in twain. Prey that never stood a chance, never even saw its death coming. Ash falls about me.

I blink up at her in wonder, just as Katsumi stumbles.

In my arms I catch her, a spike of anxiety hitting me hard. Her eyes droop as the exhaustion takes hold, just as I feared would happen. She overexerted herself.

Four demons remain.

Time for Plan B.

I do my best to channel Haruki in that moment, direly hoping I don't come off as too much. "Well, not every day a lovely lady saves me and then falls into my lap."

Like that, the exhaustion in her eyes vanishes as they widen to the size of saucers. Her cheeks are lit up as red as the sunset.

With effort, I pull her and myself to our feet. The demons are approaching, slowly this time. Assessing. Katsumi doesn't sway when I let go of her.

"Keep them occupied," I tell her. "Away from me." I aim and give her a smirk that I pray isn't cringeworthy. "Well, show me your moves miko."

With a serious nod, she darts into the fray. The distraction is enough that I kill one immediately. Two go for her, one for me. I learn my lesson this time and retreat, firing a couple shots. Bait it to come near, away from it's fellows. It takes my bait, sensing my retreat for weakness, and leaps. An easy target.

Ash falls on me instead of a body.

Across the field Katsumi spins, and hacks the last one's head clean off. The head flies, leaving behind a trail of ash like a dark comet. The other is nowhere to be seen. Dead most like.

She twists, sword raised above her head, but the field is empty.

We lock eyes.

Then, we laugh.

I'm not sure who starts it, maybe we both did at the same time, but when we start we can't stop. Her weapon is gone in a blink of light along with mine. We meet in the middle with a high five and a collection of whoops. It was a good fight. Fun.

"We did so good!" she shouts, a great smile on her face. Its infectious. These 'dogs' weren't much of a challenge, but the confidence she got from the battle is clear to see. It makes me smile, because this is the first time in our limited meetings that I've seen her happy.

Hopefully, we get many more of these moments.

"We did," I tell her. "You almost lost it with that leap though, be careful in the future, okay."

"Yeah… okay!

"But beside that, you were lovely out there, truly."

I'm laying the praise on pretty thick, but I need the data. Plus… what kind of lesbian would I be if I didn't give pretty girls excessive complements? A poor one, I'd wager.

Oh no… Haruki is wearing off on me.

"Thanks," she says, the unmistakable blush having returned.

I decide to show mercy on her, this should be enough data for tonight anyway.

"Lets grab these hearts and go home. Good enough for one night, I think."

She agrees and soon we're making our way out of the park, this handful of hearts making us a handful of yen richer. As we go—chatting about simple things—I observe Katsumi's confident near-skipping, and silently hope that I haven't given the girl a complex.