A month passed swiftly, I was doing very well in my classes since it was material I already knew. During lectures, I took advantage of the free time to read the 11th books stored on my pad. Many professors realized or at least believed that I wasn’t paying attention to classes at all and I was just reading my own thing, and because of that, many tried to put me in a thought spot by asking me questions about the lecture. However, thanks to my new ability to process information quickly and efficiently, I was actually following what the professor was saying while I read my books, and after around two weeks every professor just gave up and stopped trying to trip me up.
The first week I had to push myself to my limits to achieve this feat of multitasking, but surprisingly, by the second week I could perform this task without much problem. If I had to learn two things at the same time, this would be impossible, at least for now, but since I had to learn what was written in the book while only keeping track of what the professor was saying, the task was not too difficult… well at least with my new brain, in my old body trying this would be ridiculous.
Apparently, the body swapping machine exchanges the mind of two people and the personal knowledge of each one remains intact. Nonetheless, among swaps between brains with significant development differences, since the technical and more complicated knowledge cannot be assimilated in the younger brain, it ends up decaying and the person forgets them in two or three months; if they don’t take the time to review the knowledge and storing the information in the new brain, that’s it. Furthermore, the scientist hypothesized that since my brain was undeveloped, if I forced myself to review and internalize my more complex memories before I forgot them, it would help my brain to develop quickly and, with time, it would be capable of more impressive feats like better memory, processing speed, understanding, etc.
I have to admit the scientists’ hypothesis may become a reality. After two months of hard work and mental exhaustion, I realized that learning brand new things has become much easier as of late. I mentioned before that I have never been a genius, just that I work hard, but now I have to admit that while not genius level, I do consider myself a very intelligent girl. Maybe If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that the previous owner of this body was just that intelligent, but the scientists maintained a record of Oliver’s previous grades and at that time he was just average in this body. I am very eager to keep amassing more knowledge and see if I can become a genius in the future
In school, one class that made a big impression on me was PE. This was the first time that I was going to change in the girl’s locker and I was a little nervous of how I was going to react or if it was going to feel awkward. Surprisingly, it felt normal. Some girls just started to change in the middle of the room and others used the bathroom stalls to get more privacy. Hana was the former and since we were in the middle of a conversation about her favorite lipstick I decided to just change beside her.
The process felt surprisingly natural, and I didn’t even stop the conversation I was having. I suppose that I really don’t get bothered or aroused by other girls unless we are in an already sexual situation. I saw plenty of girls checking each other, but not in a sexual way, it felt more like they gave other girls an once over to compare with themselves; I did the same and discovered that most of the girls used bras, but still a few were not mature enough; the thought of me not being the least developed of my peers made me feel a bit more comfortable.
Hana did use a bra and it wasn’t even a training bra but one with cups already, she was probably an A cup and that made me feel a bit envious. We had only needed to strip down to our underwear to change our clothes for something more fit for running and sweating. I am sure if we had to strip naked in front of everyone I would not be the only one that would feel much more awkward.
During PE class first we performed some exercises to warm up and stretch our muscles. I now could split my legs in half and rest my torso on the floor; although I did this exercise regularly, it never failed to surprise me how flexible I am now. I think the PE teacher wanted to assess the physical condition of each student because afterwards we conducted a series of exercises, push ups, squats, running, etc. and the teacher took note of the results of each student. Although the professor didn’t announce the results out loud, you could very easily look at the paper to see how well you did. In all the categories I was actually among the 3rd or 4th for the girls and even among the boys I was 6th or 7th. In the past I always had been about average, so ranking among the bests in the class made me incredibly proud.
Even if the average girl is weaker than the average boy due to the constraints of muscle and mass, I could say that right now I am stronger than most boys in my class. By the way, Hana was above me in the rankings being 3rd or 2dn for each category, which made me want to work harder and not be left behind.
I am very surprised that Hana could outperform the number 2 girl in some exercises. The 1st and 2dn place for girls not only practiced sports, but were very developed, height wise and other-things wise. If I saw them on the street I wouldn't guess that they are in 6th grade.
Something that caught my attention during the running part of the drill was that some girls started running with their arms flailing side to side, in the familiar ‘girl run’ style. I had not given it much thought when I was a boy, thinking it was just the way girls run, but now I am a girl too, and I am sure I have never found the need to adopt that position. When I asked Hana the reason why, she told me that maybe someone taught them that way, or imitated some girl running on tv in that position, or simply thought it was cute, but really it was not the right way to run.
I accepted the answer and thought that maybe those girls just saw through the media some girl on running like that and they thought that is the proper way for girls to run. It was not really due to some physiological constraints of girls or something similar that they adopted that style. I mean, due to the hips shape, men and women do have a little different gait, but the flailing of the arms while running is a learned behavior; I have to admit it, it looks cute though.
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After a month of practicing for the cheerleading tryouts with Hana, my experience performing the basic motions and jumps increased by leaps and bounds and I even know how to perform a few more difficult stunts.
After school, every other day I would run to Hana’s house and she would accompany me on my jog. After completing the circuit we would practice cheerleading in her house for a while. A few times we chose my house to practice as well, but since Hana’s backyard was more spacious and there were not people to bother us, it was much better
I have to admit that at first practicing cheerleading was just a way to deepen my friendship with Hana, but as I practiced more and more, I started to enjoy the feeling of my lithe body running and jumping everywhere. I can really empathize why Hana likes it so much.
Hana was a bit taller than me, but we were around the same size and weight, that is to say petite, so it was easy for us to assist each other for jumps that required help or to climb onto each other shoulders for some stunts. As we giggled, practiced and played together, the thought that I was a 16 year old boy a few months ago never came to mind; while enjoying myself, I was easily acting my gender and age without much thought. More than acting, this just was my new normal; At this point, if someone asked me to act like a 16 year old boy I might not get it right anymore.
In School, I did make other friends besides Hana, unexpectedly the majority were girls. I thought that with my knowledge of being male I would end up with many male friends; however, I guess at this age, boys feel shy or awkward around girls so they tend to mingle with only other boys, and because of that, it is more difficult to make friends of the opposite gender. Of course, although I have other friends, my best friend by far is Hana
These days we were doing everything together, even on days that we weren’t practicing, we spent playing or doing homework together. I even introduced Hana to the same gym as me to exercise together. As time passed, I found myself subconsciously copying more and more of Hana’s gestures and mannerism. It felt very natural though, kids need models to learn how to behave, and for me, those were mostly Hana and my sister Mariah
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Today I was practicing at Hana's home once again. This time she brought I camera so we could film ourselves and find small errors in our positions
At first we were trying seriously, but after a while, it devolved to playing and filming ourselves doing random things, walking like if we were atop of a catwalk or striking ridiculous poses, we even tried the cliche ‘girl run’ that I was curious about.
We were laughing while watching the recordings, and making fun of each other when something caught my attention. Seeing me rewinding the video, Hana focused on what I was seeing
“What are you looking at?”
I was just looking at a scene of me walking, filmed from behind. There were two things that I didn’t notice that left me surprised for a moment; the first was that my hips gave a slight but noticeable sway while I was in motion. The movement was minute and instinctive like breathing, but after becoming aware and giving a few tentative step I couldn’t not feel it
“Hello? Earth to Dahlia?”
And the second thing I noticed… “Did my ass get bigger?”
“EEEeeek!”
As I felt something grab and squeeze my buttock, I gave off a girly scream and jumped in surprise
Looking back to see what happened, I saw Hana grinning.
“It’s a little bigger, but you don’t caught up with me yet” she says and strikes out a pose that emphasize her butt
“smak” I playfully slapped her butt.
“Hmp, Showoff!” I say while grinning as well
After this month of practicing together, this level of skinship is nothing.
What Hana said is true. Since she is wearing skimpy and easy to move clothes, I can see it; despite being the same age, she is more advanced in the puberty ladder than me. Her breasts, despite being small, have developed enough to use a bra with cups, and her hips give a small flare that shows that she is already maturing. Her butt and thighs are also starting to fill out, she basically looks more like a petite teeneager starting to get her curves than a kid.
“Let’s go inside, It’s getting colder” Hana says
“OK”, After sweating a lot, since the weather is getting colder, standing outside gets more uncomfortable.
After entering her room, I move to the bed to sit down, but before I can complete the motion, Hana turns to face me, and with a mischievous look in her eyes, she tackles me to the bed.
I hit the bed with Hana on top of me, but before she can do anything else I use my arms and legs to raise her body and throw her to one side.
I see Hana smiling and preparing for more so I ready myself as well
Soon after coming to Hana’s house, she has been eager to test our boundaries repeatedly. I think it started by lifting each other when practicing some stunts, then Hana escalated with tickle fights; However, when Hana discovered that I was up for some roughhousing, we started to have some wrestling play-fights from time to time.
Play-fighting plays an important role in a child's development, it develops some parts of the brain and helps in learning about boundaries, or so I think I heard once.
Although it is more common in boys, play-fighting among girls is not that strange, with Hana being so curious and energetic, it is no wonder that she craves it from time to time. I certainly did play-fighted a lot with my dad and my sister Mariah when I was younger, especially my sister Mariah, but she is a tomboy and was even worse when she was younger, so that is nothing strange.
Hana wraps her leg around my head and tries to squeeze it, but before she can put more force in her hold, I put my hands on both sides on Hana’s stomach and knead the flesh. Hana instantly separates from me because she is ticklish in that area and tries to grab my hands
Play-fighting, at least between us, is not about aggression or dominance, but about knowing our bodies, our fighting partner's reaction, and depending on our bonds. Can I lift her? Can she lift me? How much can I squeeze before it hurts? How flexible is she? Those are the kind questions that we usually think about and get the answer for in our match; and with each match, we become more familiar with each other's capabilities and boundaries.
Hana lifts both of my hands to the air with her own two hands to prevent me from grabbing her body, but we lose balance and we both fall to the bed with her on top of me and me receiving her armpit in my face.
I once read that most Asian people have a gene that produces less body odor compared with europeans and because of that, most asian people don’t need to use deodorant. Hana definitely didn’t inherit that from her Japanese side of the family. I could smell a bit of Hana’s deodorant, but after a day of school and a lot of sweating afterwards, I could clearly perceive the particular smell of her sweat. It was not disgusting, on the contrary, after a month of exposure, it had become familiar and even a little pleasant. I think by now I could clearly recognize my friend’s smell anywhere.
I wrap her torso with my legs and use the muscles in my hips and abdomen to push her to the side. We struggle and grapple with each other until Hana places herself behind me, wraps her arms around my chest and squeezes hard.
“Ouch, ouch, ouch” I say, and with my playful cry of pain Hana releases me.
“Sorry, did I hurt you?” Hana asks while panting for air
“It’s fine, just the usual sensible bobbies” I respond with a smile, but gasping like her.
“Do they hurt a lot?”
“Just a little bit, not too much. Why? do yours not hurt?” I ask, curiously.
“My boobies used to hurt when they started developing, but they don't hurt anymore.” she replies a little shyly and pauses to think for a moment, look at my face and then avoid my eyes.
“H-hey, can I see…can I see yours for a moment?”
“You just made fun of my little ass a moment ago and want to talk about my small chest already?” I reply with a mischievous smile so she knows I am joking. Nonetheless, inside my mind, I already have an inkling about why she is asking me for this.
Besides the two athlete giants and one other fat girl that are clearly out of the 6th grade league, Hana is one of the best developed girls in our class, not to mention extremely cute, and many boys and girls have taken notice. They haven’t said anything hurtful as far as I know, but with many in the class with a noticeable interest in her body’s development, the need to compare herself with her peers and reassure herself that she is not weird have been sparked in Hana. Or so I think from what I have seen.
“N-no it’s just” Hana is blushing but stops herself and takes a calming breath “I just want to see yours to check if mine are weird”