“Here we are.”

We arrived at a small theatre where rakugo and other traditional performances took place. We sat down in the floor and waited, taking a look around.

Most of the audience were senior citizens, grandparents, moms and dads, and some brought their children and grandchildren. It was nice seeing all these families coming to eat and enjoy such performances.

“I’m really excited,” Rina said. “But, I’m sure Rena will do well.”

“Rena’s done a lot as an actress, hasn’t she?”

“She was a guest in the *‘Shin Anata no Shiranai Sekai’ series special…”

“Uwaa~ sounds scary.”

“And, she also starred in *‘Nagoya Iki Saishuu Ressha’ which broadcasted in Nagoya.”

“What else?”

“Wasn’t there one movie she was in? Um… *‘Gift’?”

“Oh, yeah! I saw that. That was, like, the first time she dyed her hair brown!”

“I believe she was also in a *show that featured members of Sakae48 industries, too.”

“And now she’s a part of Nogizaka Productions as well. What’s it like, Ikoma-chan?”

“It’s a lot of fun with her.”

“She sounds real funny, Rena-san.”

“I know, after the show, we’ll all go backstage and I’ll introduce you to her in person.”

“Awesome!”

“Thanks, Ikoma-chan.”

“No problem~.”

…..

Just then, a man in an all-black outfit came out and turned over the scroll on a sign.

“Katsuda Shiruko *‘Toki-soba’”

“Katsuda Shiruko?”

“That’s the name they give Rena-san to perform with,” Rina explained.

Then, the music started and Rena came out, dressed in her kimono. She sat down on the cushion with the cloth and paper fan at her side, and bowed to the audience. Then, she spoke.

“The story I will tell tonight is about a very clever man. He was a very smart and clever man, that one night, he happened upon a certain soba shop. ‘Soba-ya, soba-ya. Iya, it’s so cold tonight, isn’t it?’ ‘It is.’ ‘I really can’t stand it. A cold night like this, I need something hot to warm my stomach.’”

While she was talking, I noticed she kept going back and forth as the two people talking in the dialogue.

Rina explained to us that in rakugo, the narrator plays many characters at the same time, by only changing their voice slightly and moving their head a little, as if looking at someone. Also, the cloth and fan were used as any and every prop that can be included in a scene.

“‘Ah, they’re done already? That’s fast’,” she picked up the fan and pretended to hold a bowl, using to “break open” the fan like chopsticks. “‘Ah, this smell. I eat noodles almost every night; I can tell if noodles are good or not by their smell.’”

She pretended to smell the soup and sipped some of the broth.

“‘Ah~ this is good soup. This is fish broth, right? I know, I know! Ah, and these noodles. Other noodle shops’ are soft and soggy, ah, but yours are nice and firm.’”

After some “stirring”, she blew on the imaginary noodles and slurped them up, a satisfied look on her face.

“‘Ah~ yes, your noodles are perfectly firm. These are good~. Iya, I could eat another, but maybe some other time. How much?’ ‘16-mon.’ ‘16-mon… Ah~ I have small change, so I’ll count for you. Give me your hand. Here I go. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8… What time is it right now?’ ‘It’s 9.’ ‘10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. There.’”

Wait, something seems off…

I went through it on my fingers… No matter how many times I did it, it comes out exactly 16. But…

“Not too far away from the clever man, there happened to be another man watching him. Now, this man is a bit slow in the head, and seeing how the clever man was praising the chef.. ‘Iya~ he really talked, eh?! That was really something. After all that praise, I thought he would get discount. Yet, he still paid exactly 16-mon.’”

It seemed like it, but still…

“‘What was that about? “I’ll count for you, so give me your hand. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8..” He stopped at a weird time to ask what time it is. “What time is it?” “It’s 9.” “10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.” Really~, haha…. Wait a minute…’”

Wait… Did she..?

“‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. “What time is it?” “9.” 10…’”

The time was 9… then, he started again… Wait..!

“‘…He took away one-mon!’”

That’s it! By tricking the chef into telling him the time, he took back one-mon for himself and made the price cheaper.

That is clever.

“‘Interesting… I’ll try that, too.’ So, this clever man took some change and went to the restaurant to the next day.”

I feel like it’s going to turn out bad for this guy…

“‘Soba-ya, soba-ya. Soba noodles, please. Ah, done already? That was fast! Thank you.’” She went to bite open the chopsticks, but then… “‘These chopsticks… they’re already… Um, did someone already use these? ..No..? …There’s green onions on them… Oh, no, no. These are fine. I’m sure no one else would use these anyways! Now, I can tell when noodles are good just by their smell, so, let’s see…’”

I watched her sniffing the smell of the soup with a smile on her face. But, when she slurped the soup, this time she had a disgusted face.

“‘Ah, salty! Much too salty! Give me more hot water. No, not the soup! This soup can fill two bowls. Ah, anyways, the noodles. Other noodle shops have soft, soggy noodles, but yours are…’” She slurped up the noodles, but again, had a troubled look on her face. “‘Ah, their soggy…’”

She went back and forth from the “noodles” and “soup” slowly, all with the same result.

Still salty. Still soggy.

“‘…Well, that’s enough for tonight. How much?’ ‘16-mon.’ ‘16-mon! Ah~, I have small change. I’ll count for you, so give me your hand. Here I go! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Oh, what time is it?’ ‘It’s 4.’”

Uh-oh…

“‘5, 6, 7, 8…’ And he went home with four less mon.”

She bowed as the audience gave her a final applause and left with a smile on her face.

…..

“Haha, that was funny!”

“Rena-san is really good at acting.”

Rina got up from her seat. “I’m gonna go backstage and see her. You guys wanna come with?”

“Do we?!”

We all got up and followed Rina backstage and we saw Rena walking out of her changing room, now in her casual clothes. We were about to walk up to greet her, but then…

“Rena-chan~~~” A young girl suddenly jumped up and hugged Rena tightly, snuggling her face into neck. “You were great today!”

“J-Jurina…”

Eh? That’s Matsui Jurina?!

“I could watch you all day~ I love you, Rena-chan~~~”

Rina giggled. “Well, I see things are going as usual.”

“This is normal?!”

“Un. Jurina-chan always clings to Rena-san like that.”

Huh. They must be really close then.

“Rena-san! Jurina-chan!”

“Ah, Ikoma-chan.”

“Hi, Rina~”

“I saw your performance, Rena-san. You were really great.”

“You sure? I was freaking out. Every time I did it in rehearsals, I kept saying ‘soup’ wrong!”

“You were perfect, Rena-san. Didn’t miss a beat.”

“Thanks.”

“Ah, that’s right. Introductions. These girls are Tentomu chu, the newest unit in Akihabara48. Guys, these two are Matsui Rena and Matsui Jurina, the two aces of Sakae48 industries.”

“Nice to meet both of you.” I said as we all bowed before them.

“Same here.”

“We saw you guys on TV. You’re all so cute~”

“Jurina-chan, you’re too sweet.”

“What? It’s true~ Especially…” Jurina pointed to Ryouha with a smile. “You.”

“E-eh? Me?”

“Un!”

“Eh… I-I’m not at all… like that.”

“Hm… you need to be more confident in yourself, Ryouha-tan.” Nagisa said.

“She’s right. You’ve always been so shy.”

“I-I can’t help it.”

Miki popped out from behind her with a grin. “Want me to put you under hypnosis again?”

“No thanks.”

Jurina giggled a bit.

“What?”

“Just… you’re all so funny. You each have…” She sniffed the air a bit. “A unique scent.”

Scent?
…..

“I’ve already failed too many times…” Isako said, holding a small orb as she watched the girls. “There must be some way…”

She sneered, clicking her tongue as she saw them smiling and laughing.

“First, I must get rid of that happiness and harmony they hold so dear!”

Then, she got an idea. A way to distort their harmony.

She focused on two of the girls. The shy and introverted Ryouha, and the loud and rambunctious Nagisa.

“I wonder what would happen…” Isako said with a smirk. “If we broke the balance within these two.”

…..

Ryouha excused herself and went to the bathroom. She washed her face and sighed in the mirror.

“I’m nothing like Nagisa or Jurina-san…”

Then, the door opened and Nagisa walked in.

“Ryou-ha-tan~”

“Nagisa…”

“What’s up? You’ve been quiet all day.”

“Sorry…” Ryouha dried off her face and turned off the sink. “I’m just thinking.”

“About?”

“Well, a lot… I don’t stand out like you or the others do.”

“You stand out in your own way.”

“Yeah, but…”

Nagisa pouted her lips and thought of something. A way to make her feel better.

“I know. Why don’t we try to create Jewel Harmony?”

“Jewel Harmony? You and me?”

“Yeah. Mio-chan and Meru-chan did it, so obviously we can. Right?”

“But, we’re nothing alike.”

“Ryouha-tan, don’t worry. If we do this, we can become stronger.”

Ryouha crossed her arms. She didn’t really see how she could be able to perform Jewel Harmony, at all. She wasn’t as strong as the others and thought she would merely be a nuisance.

“C’mon, can we give it a go? Please?”

She looked at Nagisa’s bright smile and sighed. “Well… okay.”

“Yosh! Alright, hold my hands.”

Ryouha intertwined her hands with Nagisa’s.

“Now, close your eyes and let both of our powers combine.”

Ryouha nodded as they both shut their eyes and concentrated on their power. A green and blue aura surrounded them, slowly starting to intertwine with each other.

Then, a dark aura suddenly shot them. Lightning shocked them and their rings, causing their auras to fade and they both collapsed.

A few seconds later, Ryouha woke up, staring at the ceiling.

Nagisa also got up, holding the base of the sink for support. She looked at her ring, the sapphire shining.

“Did it work?” She asked the younger girl, who looked at her emerald gem.

“I don’t think so.”

“What was that? I felt like something pulled me out of my body.”

Ryouha held her head. She felt like something was different. She turned, and was shocked at the girl she saw beside her.

It was herself.

“N-Nagisa..?”

“What?” Nagisa turned her head and stepped back a bit. She saw herself. “Ryouha-tan..?!”

The older girl came closer, pinching Ryouha’s cheek.

“Is that.. you?”

She nodded her head.

The two turned to the mirror. In both of their eyes, the person they saw reflected in the mirror was not themselves.

“No way…”

“We switched bodies?!”

Ryouha was Nagisa.

Nagisa was Ryouha.

The two had switched bodies with each other.

“KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

“What the heck is this?! How did this happen?!”

“How am I supposed to know? Weren’t YOU the one who wanted to attempt Jewel Harmony with me?”

“You’re blaming me for this?!”

“N-no… but… I don’t know!”

“Ah, okay, calm down, Ryouha. W-we can fix this, but…” Nagisa looked around, making sure no one was with them. “We can’t tell the others about this.”

“What?! Why not?!”

“Because…. because… Just because!”

“‘Just because’ doesn’t change anything…”

“Anyways, we can figure out all this later. I need to go somewhere.” Nagisa walked out of the bathroom, Ryouha following behind.

“Where?”

“Don’t worry. I promise I’ll be back. If I find someone who can fix this, I’ll bring ‘em right here.”

Ryouha felt like she was going to cry. This was already bad as it is.

“I promise, I’ll think of somethin’. Later!” Nagisa gave her final salute and ran down the hall.

“Wait. Nagisa!”

“Just remember, until further notice, I’M Ryouha, YOU’RE Nagisa! Bye~”

Nagisa left and now Ryouha was shaking. She had no idea what to do in Nagisa’s body.

“I’m Nagisa… but, what do I do? I’m scared..!”

…..

“Interesting~” Momo kicked her feet as she watched what was happening with Isako. “When they tried to attempt Jewel Harmony, you butted in and switched their Heart fragments.”

“Yes. With this, it will cause trouble within the group.”

“The Demon King’s gonna like that.”

Isako chuckled.

“Now, since we did that, how bout we go and stir up some more trouble?”

Momo smiled as she twirled her lollipop in .

“Now, you’re talkin’ my language.”

…..

“Hey, there she is!” We all went up to Nagisa and I tapped her shoulder. “Nagisa~”

“Kyaa!” She suddenly jumped and backed away.

“Ah, sorry. Did I scare you?”

“M-Mako…”

“What’s wrong? You and Ryouha were gone a while.”

“Um…”

“Oh yeah, where’d Ryouha-tan go? Is she still in the bathroom?”

“Oh, uh, sh-she had to go. There was something she needed to take care of. B-but she said she’d be right back.”

I raised my eyebrow. “You sure you’re okay? You’re stuttering a lot.”

“Yeah, and I can’t hear your Osaka dialect anymore.”

“Ah~ well…” She looked around for a bit before saying, “Well, it’s almost winter, right? I was just feelin’ cold and so, I started stutterin’. Yea, when that happens, my accent goes away. That’s all.”

“You sure?”

“Un!”

Hmm… still, she’s acting different.

“Well, anyways, let’s see if Jurina wants to go somewhere.”

“I’ll text Ryouha and tell her to meet up with us later.” I got out my phone and typed in a message for Ryouha.

The response I got back was quite… odd.

“Okey-dokey artichokie! Y’all be sure to tell me where we’re headin’! Imma huntin’ for someone myself~”

I furrowed my eyebrows.

This isn’t like Ryouha at all.

I closed my phone and found Jurina back in the dressing room.

“Jurina!”

“Oh, hey.”

“We’re all gonna head out and hang out in Nagoya while we got the chance. Wanna come?”

“You can bring Rena-san with you, too.”

“OK~”

We were about to head out, when…

“Hm?” Jurina looked at us confused.

“What’s wrong, Jurina-san?”

She came closer, sniffing the air.

“Hm… weird.” She walked over to Nagisa and sniffed her. “I don’t smell takoyaki anymore.”

“Eh?”

“I-I didn’t have takoyaki for lunch today.” Nagisa said, a nervous look on her face.

“But, when I met all of you earlier, you smelled like takoyaki. Now, you don’t.”

“You probably just thought you smelled it.”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal, Jurina-chan.”

“Hm… ah.” Her eyes widened, like she realized something.

She sniffed her again, causing her to back away a bit.

“S-stop…”

Jurina smirked and inched closer, continuing to sniff.

“S-stop..! Stop, Jurina-san..!”

“Are~ You didn’t use an honorific when we first met.”

“Eh?”

“You called me ‘Jurina’. Not ‘Jurina-san’.”

Wait, she’s right. Nagisa and Jurina are the same age, so…

“T-technically, you’re my sempai.”

“Even so, that’s what you did. You didn’t bother using it and comfortably called me by my first name. Can you do that now?”

Nagisa looks flustered. This is the first time she’s ever got like this.

“J-Ju…”

“Hm~?”

“J-Jurina… s-s-san.”

Jurina smiled. “I knew it.”

“Eh?”

“You’re not Nagisa.”

“Wha-? Jurina, what are you saying? That has to be Nagisa… right?”

“Y-yeah! I am Nagisa. Shibuya Nagisa.”

Jurina raised her eyebrow and sniffed her again.

“*Tebasaki.”

“Tebasaki?”

She pointed at Nagisa and smiled. “You’re Ryouha-tan!”

“EH?!”

“Ryouha-tan?”

“But, I thought…”

“My sense of smell is never wrong. This is indeed Ryouha-tan.”

“Jurina, are you sure?”

“Of course! Nagisa smelled like takoyaki when we first met, and Ryouha smells like tebasaki. Now Nagisa has her smell, so it has to be Ryouha-tan.”

“That’s kind of a weird logic.”

“Just smelling someone’s body doesn’t mean they’re a different person.”

“I wasn’t smelling the body. I was smelling her… Her….”

Her face expression suddenly changed. She kept rubbing her nose.

“Jurina, are you okay?”

Then…

“Achoo!” When Jurina sneezed, a pair of brown dog ears appeared on her head.

“EH?!”

She shook her head and rubbed her nose a bit.

“Woah, that was weird.”

“No! What’s weird is, you have dog ears!”

“Eh?” She felt the top of her head, touching the ears. “Oh. Haha, these. Hahahaha.”

“Why are you laughing?!”

“What are you?”

I saw a wagging tail behind her as she giggled more.

“Sorry. I guess I should tell you now. I’m an *inugami, wan.”

“A what?!”

================================

Footnotes

*1. Shin Anata wa Shiranai Sekai – [Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmH0ebXpgfM]

*2. Nagoya Iki Saishuu Ressha – [Link: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21oj2f_aidol-140127-nagoya-iki-saishuu-ressha-season-2-episode-1-matsui-rena-ske48_fun ]

*3. Gift – A movie Rena co-starred in with Kenichi Endo. For the movie, Rena dyed her hair brown for the first time in her life. [Link: http://www.gooddrama.net/japanese-movie/gift-movie]

*4. SKE48 Magical Radio – [Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUzH7bq5iJV8rsJoO16Spyyos0NhELBn4 ]

*5. Toki-soba – A rakugo that tells the story of a clever man who tricks a ramen shop owner and a slightly stupid man who gets into hilarious trouble trying to do the same.

*6. Tebasaki – Chicken wings.

*7. Inugami – A dog god.