The World Is Mine For The Taking

After what felt like a long, dragging walk through the quiet academy pathways, I finally reached the meeting place.

And then, I saw the person I was supposed to meet.

Johanne.

She approached with calm steps, the heels of her boots clicking softly against the concrete, echoing faintly in the stillness. Her hair swayed slightly with each step, catching the dim light. When she reached me, she gave a gentle, almost timid smile.

"Hello, Leon. I didn't bother you while you were busy, did I?" she asked, her voice soft, with just the faintest trace of hesitation behind the words.

It was still surreal... seeing her like this, I mean.

Even though Johanne had spent the majority of her life as a man, her current appearance was unmistakably feminine.

The curve of her waist, the softness in her features, the subtle sway in her movements, it was all clear that she was a woman rather than a man.

And yet, there were traces. Small ones.

Her posture had that familiar firmness.

The way she adjusted her coat, how she stood just slightly too rigidly, the awkward way she tried not to tug at her shirt like it didn't fit right—those small gestures gave it away.

Anyone who looked close enough could still see the man buried beneath the surface of this transformed body.

But of course, that was expected.

It had only been, what, barely a year since she turned into a woman?

And that's why we were here—to talk about how to fix this, if that was even possible.

Johanne's father, the Sword Saint, was no fool. He was beginning to notice something was off.

Even with Tris doing her absolute best to cover it up, that illusion wouldn't hold forever. No matter how careful she was, no matter how convincingly Johanne played the role of a son, the cracks were starting to show.

Right now, Johanne still looked passable as a man, thanks to layers of clothing and clever disguises, but the truth was lurking just beneath the surface. It was only a matter of time before someone saw through it.

"It's not a problem," I told her, trying to put on a reassuring expression. "I just got here myself. Honestly, I should be the one apologizing for not making it sooner."

She smiled again, warmer this time.

"No, it's fine," she said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You've got your own responsibilities. I should be the one waiting for you."

Despite everything, despite her current form, there was still that unshakable aura of charm around her and that something was oddly elegant, but masculine at the same time.

She didn't just look pretty. She was striking. Handsome, even. A kind of beauty that sat somewhere between genders, like she hadn't fully left one behind or fully embraced the other.

A beautiful contradiction.

"How's Tris?" I asked, shifting the conversation. "You two getting along alright?"

"We've been living in that huge house together… and sleeping next to each other every night," she replied, her eyes drifting for a moment, almost as if reliving the memories. "It's strange, but it feels like we're becoming closer and closer… like a real married couple."

She gave a small sigh.

"But with my body like this, it's… becoming a problem."

"Your father's expecting a child between you two, huh?"

"Yeah," she said quietly. "That was the whole point of the marriage. To unite our families through blood."

Johanne and Tris had been forced into a political marriage, a strategic move to join both families under one roof and strengthen their alliance.

But as long as there was no child—no physical proof of that union—neither side could fully secure their position.

"I just don't know what to do anymore..." Johanne murmured, her voice trembling ever so slightly. "It's not like I want to separate from Tris just because my body's like this. But we… we just can't do it like this. And even when I was still a man…"

She looked down, gripping the edge of her coat.

"My body wouldn't react… no matter what."

I remembered Tris telling me about that night. Their wedding night, to be exact.

They had tried to sleep together and tried to consummate their marriage.

But Johanne couldn't get hard. No matter how much she wanted to, no matter how much she and Tris tried… nothing happened.

I figured it had to be her biology.

Deep down, she wasn't male at all.

Not in body, and maybe not even in hormones.

Her body didn't respond the way a man's would because it simply wasn't a man's body.

"Even if you say all that…" I said slowly, scratching the back of my neck, "I don't really know what I can do for you. I don't understand how this happened in the first place."

And it was true. I didn't know. I wasn't some kind of magician or scientist. I had no clue why she changed, or how.

But I did remember something.

She kissed me.

Right before she changed, when she first turned into a woman... she kissed me.

Back then, I thought it was a dream, something that only half-registered in my sleep-dazed brain.

But the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became.

It was real.

"I-I'm not asking you to help me go back…" she said suddenly, her voice cracking as she turned away. "Even though… I kind of know how to go back… but doing that again is…"

Her words faded into a whisper, like she didn't want me to hear them.

But I did.

I heard everything.

And I knew what she meant.

That kiss.

She kissed me back then when she turned into a woman and she did so secretly and quietly, while I was asleep. And if that's what triggered her transformation… then it was entirely possible that doing it again could change her back.

"How is... Tris reacting to all of this?" I asked.

Johanne took a breath before answering. "Well, she said I don't really have to worry about anything. As long as we keep acting like a proper, convincingly married couple, then my father and her parents won't think anything's strange," she said with a tight smile. "But... my father's starting to think one of us might be infertile. I mean, we've been married for almost a year now and still haven't had a child."

I nodded slowly. "Yeah... I guess that's a natural assumption. Makes sense, really."

After all, when two people had been married for that long without showing any sign of pregnancy, it wasn't unreasonable for the family to suspect something.

Either the couple was avoiding intimacy, delaying parenthood on purpose, or—more worryingly—one of them was infertile.

From an outside perspective, it would be difficult not to think something was wrong.

"Do you have time this weekend, Leon?" she asked suddenly, shifting the topic.

There was a quiet urgency behind her voice, like she had been debating whether to say it out loud.

"I want to invite you to our house. I want to talk more about all of this—with Tris too. Is that okay with you?"

I thought about my schedule. I didn't really have anything planned.

"I think I'll be free then," I replied without hesitation.

Hearing that, Johanne's face lit up with a small, thankful smile.

"Ah... well then... see you next week," she said with a warm nod, turning on her heel and walking away.

I watched her as she walked off into the distance.

Her figure—still carrying the remnants of her old masculine gait—gradually shrank from view.

There was something oddly elegant about her posture now, even if she was still awkward in her movements, like she hadn't fully adapted to her new body.

Her long strides echoed faintly against the pavement until finally, she disappeared from sight.

Once she was gone, I turned and made my way toward the next person who had been waiting to meet with me.

"Hey," I said flatly as I approached.

There she was.

She was sitting casually on the ground with her legs squatted wide open, completely unbothered by how unladylike the pose was.

For a girl, she had absolutely no sense of modesty.

She wore her usual round glasses, the thick lenses glinting with each flicker of light from the nearby academy lamppost.

The glow reflected sharply off the lenses, casting a flare that obscured her eyes in a dramatic flash, like she was seconds away from delivering some villainous monologue.

"Leon," she said, voice filled with impish glee. "Did you and Johanne finally admit your feelings to each other and confess? Because from where I was sitting, what I just saw... Mmm, it was deliciously suspicious. Just thinking about it... Ah, my breathing's getting ragged. So, tell me... Haaa...~ haa...~... between the two of you, which position are you? You definitely strike me as the top, and Johanne... well, he's so clearly the bottom."

Her fujoshi brain was in full overdrive, pumping out imaginary scenarios like a perverted machine gone rogue.

There was literal drool dribbling from the corner of her mouth.

She wiped it away with the back of her hand, but only for it to return moments later, like a faucet that wouldn't shut off.

Her imagination was clearly reaching dangerous levels.

I didn't feel like humoring her nonsense.

"What are you going to tell me, Tris?" I asked directly, cutting through her delusions with a tone sharp enough to snap her out of them.

She adjusted her glasses, sliding them up the bridge of her nose with a practiced motion.

The lenses flashed again, that same exaggerated sparkle like a scene ripped straight from a dramatic anime.

"Fufufu..." she let out a low chuckle, one that practically screamed I know something you don't.

"I'm going to tell you a secret," she said. "One that's never been told before. And I promise you, Leon... once you hear it, you'll be absolutely shocked."

She looked at me with eyes burning behind her lenses, as if she were holding onto a truth so powerful and so world-shattering, that the moment it escaped her lips, everything we knew would be turned upside down.