Novice Reincarnator

After being approached for years by girls with ulterior motives, I didn’t think it was possible for Leo to trust another woman from the bottom of his heart. Even if he disliked girls in general, that didn’t mean his orientation had changed to liking men.

Leo recognized his situation, but he could not do anything about it. It was easy for him to open his heart to a man like me, but the gates to his heart were firmly shut towards women in general.

The words he had taken to jokingly muttering recently, if only you were a girl, were an acknowledgement of his messed up situation. If I was a girl, then Leo’s grandfather would get off his back and stop coming up with crazy schemes to produce an heir. If I was a girl, then he wouldn’t have to worry about balancing his relationship with twenty plus girls. Yes, everything would be solved if I became a girl…

…Like hell it would! I was a man, dammit.

An angry shout accompanied by the sound of doors slamming open woke me.

“ELIZABETH! Where is he!?”

“Fufufu. I don’t know what you are talking about, Leo.”

The first thing I noticed was that I was still in the dining hall of Elizabeth’s mansion. The only change was where I sat. Elizabeth was now directly to my right.

The second thing I noticed was that my best friend, Leonhart Maxwell, had stormed into the dining hall demanding answers. With sparkling golden hair spun from threads of sunlight and brilliant, clear blue eyes, Leo was the textbook definition of a school prince.

In contrast, I was the mud on his shoes with my dirty brown hair and eyes. For some reason, he didn’t seem to recognize me.

“Where is Asta? I know that you called him to your place after school.”

“My dear Leo, I am afraid you are mistaken. I only gathered a group of maidens utterly devoted to you for tonight’s special banquet.”

I glanced down at myself and nearly yelped. Leo’s presence was the only thing that stopped me from shouting in surprise. As it was, I wanted to die from embarrassment.

This was me? Modest hills on my chest bulged out from the frilly long sleeved shirt I found myself in. A silver necklace with the McDouglas griffin rested on top of the bulge. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that I was a girl.

Elizabeth and the others got me good. I never imagined they would make me crossdress in front of Leo. The secret smiles they directed at me behind Leo’s back made me want to find a hole to bury myself into.

There was only one saving grace to this situation. Leo didn’t know that the ‘girl’ sitting to the left of Elizabeth was me. I wanted to keep it that way. Everything would be fine as long as I remained cool, calm, and collected.

Impossible. If my pounding heart didn’t give me away, then my bright red face was bound to clue Leo in that something was wrong. I couldn’t even look him in the eye because of this embarrassing outfit.

“...Very well then. Please allow me to accompany you ladies.”

“Of course, Leo. You are always welcome at our table.”

Elizabeth and Leo’s conversation ended before I knew it and Leo sat down in the empty seat across from Elizabeth. Maids appeared and placed appetizer dishes in front of everyone. I was understandably nervous about touching the food after having just been drugged by the drinks. There was no way that the girl who orchestrated my predicament would let me go so easily.

“What is wrong, Astrea? Is the food not to your liking?”

It took me a moment to realize that Elizabeth had called me Astrea. I didn’t want to pretend to be a girl named Astrea, but I had no choice if I didn’t want Leo to figure out who I was.

“It is nothing, Elizabeth.”

I immediately poked the salad with my fork and dumped it into my mouth. My mouth naturally curled in distaste at eating what was practically grass. This wasn’t human food. While her choice of food was awful, I couldn’t help but praise Elizabeth once more. I hardly recognized my own voice. I didn’t know how she had managed to make it much higher pitched than normal.

“Who is this young lady? I don’t recognize her.”

“Meet Astrea, the newest member of our group.”

Leo’s clear blue eyes fell on my crossdressing figure and my heart nearly stopped. Somehow, I managed to push words out of my mouth.

“Umm… Hi?”

The resulting snickers at the dinner table made me internally writhe in embarrassment. God, just kill me now! Unlike me, Leo was perfectly at ease eating dinner in a luxurious mansion while surrounded by beautiful women and a fake one.

“It is an honor to meet you, Astrea. Thank you for gracing me with your presence tonight.”

Leo didn’t mean anything by it, but it was because he sometimes spoke like a fairy tale prince that he swept multiple girls off their feet. His grandfather’s special education was truly fearsome. Being spoken to in such a tone caused goosebumps to break out on my arm. He was treating me like a girl.

I much preferred Leo’s rougher, informal tone that he used when he spoke with me. I busied myself with the dreadful salad and Elizabeth took up the slack in the conversation. 

“Forgive her. She is a bit of a shy maiden.”

Keep your cool, Asta. I just had to make it through this dinner. I could endure this humiliation as long as Leo didn’t figure out who I was. Both Leo and Elizabeth were skilled conversationalists and they made sure to include as many people at the table as was possible in their conversations.

I saw a different side of my best friend. Leo always had something insightful to say and he could make even the most reserved girl at the table smile. Twenty plus girls were all eager to talk to him and he easily handled their enthusiasm.

The main course eventually arrived and finally, I had real food in front of me. One bite and I was in heaven. My face had to practically be glowing with happiness. This meal was the best meal I had ever eaten.

Elizabeth, Leo, and all the others didn’t matter anymore. All I cared about was savoring the finest dishes set in front of me. The food almost made getting kidnapped, drugged, and being forced to crossdress worth it.

T-This was bad. I was starting to forgive Elizabeth. In fact, I was even starting to think it might not be a bad thing to crossdress if I got to eat this heavenly food more often. Elizabeth had called this the 7th strategy meeting. That meant there were 6 more times that the others had gotten together and eaten great food like this. That was too unfair. Why wasn’t I included sooner?

“...A-Asta?”

Leo’s startled voice dragged me back to reality. Leo was looking at me with an expression of disbelief. In fact, it wasn’t just Leo. Everyone was gazing at me. Hold up. What did Leo just say?

“You are Asta, right?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

I averted my gaze and looked up and to the right. Cold sweat drenched my back. My mind screamed the same phrase over and over again in horror. How did he know?

“Asta has that same goofy, loose smile on his face whenever he eats really good food.”

My body shook at Leo’s words. It took me a moment to gather my wits and respond.

“So what? I am not your best friend. As Elizabeth told you, I am Astrea.”

“Did you know, Asta? You have a habit of looking up and to the right whenever you are lying.”

It was in my time of greatest need that the fiendish witch backstabbed me after lowering my guard with great food.

“Fufufu. Leo figured it out, Asta.”

I shot up from my seat in horror. Teasing from the rest of the girls fell on my burning ears. My embarrassment and humiliation transformed into anger at the one who put me in this situation.

“What the hell, Elizabeth?”

Unfortunately, I never got the chance to let the criminal hear my wrath. Leo cut into our hushed conversation.

“Asta, it really is you.”

“S-Surprise? Elizabeth and the others wanted to play a prank on you by making me crossdress. Somehow, they heard you when you jokingly said you wished I was a girl.”

I couldn’t help but babble nervously under Leo’s strangely intense stare. The chuckles my words brought didn’t help me feel any better at wearing female clothing in front of my best friend.

“Crossdressing? No, that can’t be. You look like a genuine girl.”

“I know, right? Elizabeth has some very talented maids. I didn’t even know it was possible to naturally change someone’s voice like this.”

Leo got up from his spot at the table and circled around towards me. The room of twenty plus people was silent as they watched. I really wished that someone would speak up and end this incredibly awkward situation.

Leo stopped right in front of me. A sense of oddness filled my heart. I was just a little shorter than Leo. If that was the case, then why did I feel like I was a whole head shorter than him now? A hesitant expression appeared on my best friend’s face.

“You look exactly like a girl.”

“Don’t be silly, Leo. I am a man. These are just fake boobs to make me look like a girl.”

I puffed out my chest to emphasize my point. Leo looked strangely… nervous? It was an odd look for him who liked to display himself as a confident prince charming. Equally odd was the fact that he was staring a hole into my fake boobs. He didn’t even give genuine boobs a fraction of that level of attention.

“Tell him, everyone. This is just an elaborate prank that you made me crossdress for.”

My words didn’t draw the support I expected. In fact, everyone was looking at Leo and I with solemn expressions on their faces. The same weirdness that had infected Leo ended up infecting everyone else in the room.

“Asta.”

“Eep!”

I let out an embarrassingly girly scream at how close Leo had gotten to me when I wasn’t looking. My feet carried me backwards until I bumped into the wall of the dining room. This odd atmosphere was getting to me too.

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Leo smiled and talked to me like usual and I finally felt like I was talking to my best friend.

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I just overreacted.”

It was okay. Now that we were both smiling and Leo knew it was me, everything was back to normal… not! I wasn’t sure what annoyed me more, the fact that Leo’s eyes hadn’t left my fake chest or the fact that I had to tilt my head up to look him in the eye.

Twenty pairs of eyes fell on Leo and my figures. They smiled at us like we were putting on a good show. Leo maintained his usual easy smile and relaxed appearance that he commonly displayed around me, but there was something strange about it.

“Excuse me.”

I couldn’t understand Leo’s current thoughts and thus, didn’t react at all when Leo stretched out his hand and grabbed the fake chest Elizabeth had put on me to make me look like a girl. Strange. It was like someone had grabbed my chest.

“This softness… No way, you really became a girl.”

Leo’s fingers sank into my chest. As if that wasn’t enough, he brought his other hand forward to join in on the fun. He didn’t seem to realize what he was doing. I was starting to get seriously angry at him.

“Quit fat shaming me. Not everyone can have a ripped body like you, Leo.”

“Typical Asta, to mistake a girl’s chest with body fat. Your inexperience is showing.”

“Well excuse me, Mr. Prince of North Diamond High, I didn’t exactly have girls throwing themselves at me thanks to a certain somebody hogging them all.”

“Heh.”

I preferred 2D girls anyways. It wasn’t because I couldn’t get a girlfriend in real life. Honest!

Leo and I joked around like usual, but something was seriously wrong about this situation. I didn’t think anything of it when Leo grabbed my chest initially, but as expected, it became odd when Leo continued to squeeze it.

“Cut it out, Leo.”

I batted Leo’s hands away from my chest. Even if he was my best friend, being groped by a man disgusted me. I knew for a fact that a few rotten girls in Leo’s harem liked to pair the two of us together. Today’s event was bound to spark more degenerate LeoxAsta fiction.

Leo looked at the palm of his hands in wonder. A moment later, he fixed a serious gaze on me.

“Do you get it now, Asta? It is not simply crossdressing. Your high voice, your shorter height, and your soft chest all point to the fact that you have become a girl.”

I was simply crossdressing… right? After all, I was a man. I couldn’t be a girl. But… men didn’t have hills on their chests and there was no way for Elizabeth to make me shorter. It was time I faced reality. Leo was right.

I… I was a girl.

I suddenly felt lost and confused as one of the pillars of my identity collapsed. A strong pair of hands grabbed my shoulders and an impatient voice reached my ears.

“Asta!”

I timidly raised my eyes to meet Leo’s sparkling, blue eyes. A radiant smile broke out on Leo’s face with so much power that I felt like I was blinded by light. Several joyous screams filled the room as Leo’s harem fainted from Leo’s strong, princely charm.

No girl would be able to resist Leo’s request when he was like this. I was a girl and Leo was a man. Then…

“Go out with me!”

“I refuse.”