Light Novel Chapter 29

ふたりがひとつになったなら (Futari ga Hitotsu ni Natta Nara, lit: Since the Two of Us Have Become One) is the twenty-ninth chapter of the light novel series of The "Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat.
==Plot==
The day of the field trip arrives. The bus is as lively as it gets with all the students on board, with the exception of Azuki Azusa who is fast asleep, holding tightly to her guidebook, signifying her anticipation for the trip. Youto and Azusa share a quiet moment, with Cozy-sama teasing them about looking like a couple from the row in front. They are interrupted by Cozy-sama's seatmate, Mai, who clicks her tongue disapprovingly, making herself the target of Cozy-sama's teasing instead.
The group's first destination is Zenkou Temple, its name apparently dedicated to a benevolent man who always helped others in need, only to die alone in the end. While Youto walks around to admire the scenery, Azusa pokes him on the side, prompting him to offer his hand. Azusa takes his hand, overjoyed as he eagerly explores the area, dragging him along. She shares a dream she had with Youto, and they spend an enjoyable time together.
When they make it halfway up the mountain, they find a crowd gathered around a performer. Upon a closer look, Youto realizes the girl, dressed up as a magical girl, is none other than Emi Pollarola. As their eyes meet, she freezes in embarrassment, which Youto proceeds to worsen with playful teasing and patting. She frantically explains that it was not her intention to do this, and she was instead forced by her father. Azuki Azusa, too a fan of all things small and cute, tries to pat her as well, but Emi dodges her hand, running away as fast as she can, ignoring Youto's attempt at an introduction.
As they continue walking, Youto feels a sharp gaze from the crowd, coming from a man with an unguessable age and caved-in eyes, wearing a hood and a large mask. The man glares at Youto without speaking a word, leaving him uneasy.
When they finally arrive at the gate of the temple, Youto realizes that he had forgotten his camera on the bus. Returning to the parking lot to retrieve it, he unexpectedly encounters Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko, who has secretly followed them on their field trip. She claims to have run into her senpai purely by coincidence and fate and had borrowed the guidebook completely out of curiosity, obviously lying as she averts her gaze from Youto.
After some conversation, Youto receives a phone call from Azusa, asking if he'll be back soon. She adds that Mai had also set off for the parking lot, under the suspicion that Youto is using this chance to play with other girls on the bus. With the situation dire, Youto tells Tsukiko to leave everything to him as he stuffs Tsukiko into Azusa's souvenir bag just in time before Mai enters the bus.
Apparently, it is already time for them to leave as the other students also return to the bus. The next step of Youto's plan is to let Tsukiko escape at their next stop and take the train home. However, the next stop turns out to be their inn as the day concludes, with Youto having no idea as he handed the guidebook to Tsukiko before reading it himself. Thus, he has no choice but to help carry Azusa's "luggage" as he looks for a chance to escape.
Ending up in the hallway where the girls' rooms are located, a group of girls gather around Youto. Cozy-sama speaks up first, asking if he's here because he wants to become a girl, offering to "chop it off" for him if that's the case. She then adds that Youto must look good in girl's clothes given how smooth his skin is. Mai interjects, supporting the plan of "cutting it off" regardless of whether it looks good.
Azusa pleads for them to refrain from violence, and the souvenir bag expresses agreement, saying that "it can still be used." Thus, Youto's plan to extract Tsukiko unnoticed has failed. The girls are convinced that Youto had kidnapped a kouhai to bring her on the field trip as they help her out of the bag, not believing Tsukiko even as she explains that it's her own fault. Overwhelmed by her cuteness, the girls start offering food to Tsukiko and become dead set on letting her stay the night with them. Thankfully, Azusa also has no problem with this, being the only one who understands that Youto is not at fault.
Youto then notices that Mai is nowhere to be found. He panics, concerned that she may have gone to report to the teachers. However, Cozy-sama dismisses his concern, reasoning that Mai has no reason to tear their group apart, being the one who invited her to join Youto's group together after beaking off from her original group. She even goes as far as to conclude that Mai has feelings for Youto, explaining that he has the wrong idea about Mai, who would not hate somebody for no reason.
Walking out of the inn, Youto finds Mai at a shrine playing with a cat. As the cat runs away, Mai lies that she hated cats and was stepping on it. Their conversation starts with the usual series of insults, but as she tells him to shut up, Youto hears an odd voice from the depth of her throat that almost sounds like she is laughing. As Youto lets out a confused "eh?", Mai begins clicking her tongue to hide the laughing voice.
Youto thanks Mai for joining their group, but she insists that she did it for herself. Regardless, Youto offers her a hand, suggesting that they go back before people start looking for her. However, Mai hesitates, saying that she doesn't want to be in the same room as Youto's girlfriend and kouhai. She confesses her true motive for joining Youto on this trip — to figure out why he is able to form such strong relationships.
With unprecedented sincerity, Mai expresses frustration over her inability to form such bonds. She recounts her experience with a kindergarten friend, A-chan: they had to go to different grade schools, but made a promise to always stay friends. However, after a few phone calls and letters, they stopped talking. She then brings up that when she saw the president making her Tsutsukakushi Shogi, she had to beg her before she reluctantly gave her a cat piece. Yet, she forced one upon Youto without him even asking. Comparing her relationships to Youto's, she confesses her feelings of jealousy.
However, Mai's words strike a nerve as she's completely unaware of Youto's struggle with his extreme levels of forgetfulness. He tells Mai about how his memories disappear almost immediately, and no matter the relationships he forms, he would end up with nothing in the end. Knowing the pain of losing proofs of past relationships, Youto tells Mai that he is much better off with her memories intact, finding himself becoming jealous of Mai as well.
They both become convinced that they'd be much better off in each other's place, leading to a series of arguments going in circles until a teacher, the Moustached Daruma comes to investigate the noise. Concerned that it would be bad for Mai to be spotted hanging with a weird guy like him, he grabs her and runs to hide behind the nearby shrine.
Suddenly, they lose their balance. Everything becomes slow motion as they fell. The cat pieces, falling out of Mai's hand and Youto's pocket respectively, collide mid-air, and a brief moment of unconsciousness follows. As they rise from the floor, they are shocked to realize that they have switched bodies.
==Characters==
==Navigation==