I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

After breakfast, we went to see the village’s only doctor to find out why my body had shrunk.

“Long time no see, Uncle.”
“Yes, long time no see, Yukika.”
Apparently, in Kazama—Fuma-senpai’s hometown—everyone is somehow related by blood.

Thanks to that, everywhere we went, people instantly recognized Fuma-senpai, which made things quite awkward.
Every single person we met asked if I was the groom she had brought from Tokyo.
At first, I tried to clear up every misunderstanding, but at some point, I just gave up.

Whether it was true or not didn’t matter—they were only asking to tease Fuma-senpai.
I received a thorough check-up from Fuma-senpai’s uncle.
At first, I thought he was just a doctor in name only, but it turned out he had graduated with top honors from a medical school in Tokyo.

The medical license proudly displayed behind his desk proved it.
Once the check-up was over, Fuma-senpai’s uncle said:
“You’re astonishingly healthy.”
“...Excuse me?”

Healthy is healthy—why the word astonishingly?
When I looked at him with a confused expression, Fuma-senpai’s uncle hesitated, saying, “How should I put this…”
“In my 20 years as a doctor, I’ve never seen anyone as healthy as you. Every physical ability of yours far surpasses the average person. And yet you say this is you in bad condition? Just what do you do for a living?”

“Ah, that’s what you meant.”
I thought it was something serious.
Standing beside me, Fuma-senpai added, “You shouldn’t measure him by common sense.”

“From a medical perspective, there’s nothing wrong with your body. However, if we consider the concept of qi, your internal balance is temporarily disrupted.”
“Because my yang energy has been depleted?”
“Correct. One of our clan’s secret medicines, the Ghost Pill, draws from a person’s original true qi. When the effect wears off, that qi temporarily enters a depleted state. Normally, with proper care, it would return in a few days, but… in your case, the side effects were probably caused by the soul possessing you.”

I thought of Saya, who was waiting outside.
“Because her energy is too strong?”
“The body naturally follows the soul. Right now, you have two souls inside you, and one of them temporarily became dominant, so your body adjusted to the form of the dominant one.”

“Then, once my yang energy recovers, will my body return to normal?”
“It’s only a hypothesis, but… most likely, yes.”
Relieved. I had worried for a moment that I might be stuck like this forever, but at least there was hope.

“Thank you. That helps a lot.”
“I’m glad. But if you don’t return to normal after some time, come back to me.”
“Yes.”
I thanked Fuma-senpai’s uncle once more and left the clinic.

“What will you do now?”
“It’d be a waste of time to just sit around, so I’ll train, at least.”
Even though my body was small, I could still move.

I’d spent all of yesterday memorizing the contents of the book, so I figured I could at least get a feel for the movements on my own.
“If that’s the case, I know a good place. Follow me.”
Fuma-senpai said that and started walking ahead.

I still felt like I was imposing on him, but as I was technically a guest, I followed quietly.
***
The place Fuma-senpai took me was the same open yard I had seen the other day in the mansion.

The same one where the villagers had gathered to spar.
Today, the sparring seemed to have ended, and only a few kids were left, roughhousing and fighting among themselves.
As we stepped into the yard, one of the kids shouted cheerfully:

“Yukika-oneechan!”
All eyes instantly turned toward us.
Half of those gazes weren’t on Fuma-senpai—they were on me.

Probably because I was an unfamiliar face in the village.
As I awkwardly stood there, the first girl to run up asked:
“Oneechan, who’s this?”
Fuma-senpai crouched to meet her eye level and answered kindly:

“He’s not ‘this.’ He’s a guest of the village. Remember that oniichan from the other day?”
“Eeeeeeh?!”
The kids turned to stare at me with shocked expressions.

I felt like I had just unintentionally pulled off a surprise reveal.
“He really shrunk that much?!”
“No way!”

Honestly, if the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t believe it either.
A person suddenly turning younger overnight—what is this, some manga cliché?
“Anyway, Oneechan has things to do, so we’ll talk later, okay?”

After dispersing the curious kids, Fuma-senpai gave me an apologetic glance.
“Sorry, Kim Yu-seong. They didn’t mean any harm.”
“Of course.”

Following his lead, I moved to a corner of the yard.
“I’ll watch your training. If you have any questions, ask as much as you want.”
“That would be appreciated.”

Under his watchful gaze, I began practicing the movements I had memorized from the book yesterday.
Swift Gale (Hayate) was essentially a martial art that used hand-blades.
The first form, Kamaitachi, considered the most basic of basics, was a technique to slice objects with bare hands.

Honestly, it was a huge obstacle right from the start.
Slicing something with bare hands? That’s absurd.
I couldn’t help wondering why such a technique even existed, so I asked Fuma-senpai.

His answer was ridiculous.
“It was originally created in case your sword broke on the battlefield. Our Fuma ancestors wanted there to be almost no difference in combat power whether you were armed or unarmed. And if you could use your bare hands like blades, it meant you wouldn’t need to worry about hiding concealed weapons. Over generations, Kamaitachi’s ‘blade’ became sharper and sharper.”
“I… see.”

Did I really hear that right?
Even after his explanation, I still didn’t really understand.
But I kept that to myself and silently focused on training.

***
Naturally, the first day of training ended with no progress.
Turning the qi around my hands into a blade was far harder than I expected.

The book was filled with complicated terms, but in the end, mastering the technique depended entirely on my own sense.
After swinging my arms all day, I was drenched in sweat, so I grabbed fresh clothes and headed straight to the bath as soon as I returned to the mansion.
Normally, one of the mansion staff would guide me, but I had memorized the path yesterday.

I had also strictly told Saya to stay put in the room while I bathed, so there would be no disturbances.
After undressing in the changing room, I placed a towel on my head and stepped into the open-air bath.
The hot spring water was drawn from a nearby natural source, and with its open ceiling, the sense of freedom was striking.

Before soaking, I rinsed my body thoroughly.
Since it was a communal bath shared by villagers, hygiene was important.
After wiping away the sweat, I finally sank into the water.

The tense muscles I’d overworked all day loosened instantly in the hot water.
“Haa~”
As expected, there’s nothing better than a bath after training.

Normally, the water would only reach my waist, but since my body had shrunk, I could now submerge all the way to my shoulders.
With the towel neatly folded on my head, I slid deeper into the bath.
The hot water coursed through my body, making my blood circulation feel even better than usual.

I was enjoying the bath when—
Clatter!
“Huh? Someone’s here?”

Hearing a familiar voice, I turned my head—and froze.
Standing at the entrance was Fuma-senpai, wearing nothing but a towel barely covering his well-built body.
“Kim Yu-seong?!”

He jumped back in surprise.
“This is the women’s bath time! What are you doing here?”
So that’s what this was!

“I-I’m sorry, Senpai! I’ll leave right away!”
I should have asked beforehand, like yesterday.
I tried to stand up in a hurry, but then I remembered I was naked, so I quickly asked:

“Could you… please turn around for a moment?”
“Ah, sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
Just as he turned his back—

“Yukika? What’s taking you so long?”
…He hadn’t come alone?
Realizing the situation was about to get worse, I frantically scanned my surroundings and spotted a large boulder in one corner of the bath.

Splash! Splash!
While Fuma-senpai stalled at the entrance, I hurriedly jumped behind the rock.
Moments later—

“Ah~ this feels great~”
Fuma-senpai and a group of village women stepped into the bath.