Ben10: A Romantic Adventure with a Gender-Swapped Class

The orange lights and noisy voices of the fast food restaurant still seem to echo in my ears, but now they have fallen silent.

After a hearty meal, with the aroma of the hamburgers still lingering on their palates, everyone bid farewell and embarked on their journeys home.

The night was as dark as ink, gently enveloping the hustle and bustle of the day.

The road home was a route that Mo Bai knew well.

He gripped the steering wheel with one hand, his knuckles unconsciously rubbing against the cold leather. Outside the car window, the city shimmered with lights, neon signs casting long, hazy trails of light on the wet asphalt.

The carriage was quiet, with only the low hum of the engine and the faint sound of the air conditioning blowing.

Mo Bai's gaze, as if drawn by invisible threads, would occasionally drift toward the passenger seat—Xiao Ban sat quietly to the side, her forehead gently pressed against the cool car window, her clear eyes reflecting the light and shadows rushing past outside, as if she had sunk into another world.

However, even as she seemed intently gazing out the window, a subtle, feather-like touch caught her eye, revealing a gaze that occasionally fell upon her profile. That gaze seemed to hold unspoken thoughts, as if someone wanted to say something but hesitated.

She slowly turned her head, her clear gaze fixed on Mo Bai, a hint of inquiry in her eyes: "What's wrong?"

Mo Bai's little scheme was exposed on the spot, and her grip on the steering wheel tightened almost imperceptibly.

He glanced at her somewhat flusteredly, his gaze quickly sweeping across the empty road ahead. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was unnaturally dry.

"what?"

"nothing"

"It's just... uh..."

"Quickly—speak—" Xiao Ban suddenly leaned closer, his upper body almost reaching over the center console. His bright eyes, filled with an inescapable scrutiny, locked onto Xiao Ban's flickering gaze. His voice carried a resolute "confess and you'll be treated leniently" tone, interrupting Xiao Ban's clumsy attempt to cover up his mistake.

Cornered against the wall, a blush of embarrassment swept across Mo Bai's face.

He cleared his throat, his gaze drifting somewhat as he looked at the road ahead, his voice tinged with self-deprecation and helplessness.

"Uh...actually, it's not that I don't want to explain."

"It's just that I can't quite remember..."

Before he could finish speaking, he felt the gaze of the junior class, which seemed to say "Tell the truth or don't try to get away with it," still fixed on his face like a searchlight. He had no choice but to swallow back the words he was about to say and sighed resignedly.

"All right"

"What I really wanted to say was that after entering the Ultimatrix in my Anno alien form, I remembered a lot of things."

"But I've forgotten a bit."

He gripped the steering wheel firmly with both hands again, his fingertips feeling the texture of the leather. His gaze drifted to the darkness cut through by the headlights in the distance, and his voice gradually quieted, as if he were retrieval from fragments of memory.

"I remember now, Huan Kong helped me once, but I can't recall exactly what he did."

"I think it might be because the genes of the Anno aliens aren't very active right now, which is why I can't remember so much."

"I still remember, there was once a blonde girl who waited for me her whole life."

In the end, however, he could only be buried under a tree.

When she said the last sentence, Mo Bai's voice lowered, carrying a distant sadness, like the gentle ripples of an ancient well.

The sadness settled in his eyes, like a thin layer of mist.

The little boy keenly sensed that sadness, and his heart tightened slightly.

She didn't press him further, but quietly withdrew her gaze and looked back at the flowing night outside the window, leaving him with this silent space.

She knew that some wounds needed time to heal.

However, what she didn't know was that the turmoil in the young man's heart was far more than that.

For example, what the blonde girl was waiting for was not a short lifetime, but three lifetimes that could not be erased even through reincarnation.

For example, an even more shocking and mind-blowing truth—perhaps he wasn't the only protagonist in that story, but merely—

one.

A small but indispensable piece in a huge puzzle.

But he also knew that right beside him at this moment, there was a purple-haired girl tirelessly working for that so-called "one and only," filling the gaps in her memory little by little with her smile and perseverance.

After safely delivering Xiaoban to her doorstep and watching her slender figure disappear into the warm light behind the door, Mo Bai slowly parked the car on the side of the road.

When he got home, exhaustion overwhelmed him like a tidal wave.

He threw himself heavily onto the soft bed, his body sinking into it as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted.

In the darkness, he took out his phone, the screen's dim, cold light illuminating his tired yet thoughtful face.

The screen displayed a complex image, as intricate as interwoven star trails—a riddle left to him by "him" from the future, or rather, from another timeline, a string of ancient incantations imbued with unknown power.

He stared intently at the twisted runes, his gaze deep, until drowsiness finally dragged him into darkness.

.......

A new day begins when sunlight filters through the gaps in the curtains, casting bright dappled patterns on the floor.

But the start of the day was a little unusual—Xiaowen gathered everyone early in the morning at Mobai's house.

The living room was filled with a faint, sweet scent of fruit juice. Kevin casually occupied most of the sofa, while Xiao Ban sat down next to Mo Bai.

Mo Bai, the boy who is known as the "Sleeping Immortal" and seems to never get enough sleep, sat there today with two unusually prominent dark circles under his eyes, like smoky makeup.

He held a glass of juice in his hand, but his eyelids felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead. They would droop uncontrollably from time to time, his head would nod, and then he would suddenly wake up, and then he couldn't help but let out a big yawn, and even a few physiological tears would seep from the corners of his eyes.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?" Xiao Ban's voice rang out softly with concern, her gaze falling on his haggard face.

Mo Bai turned his head a beat late, meeting her worried gaze. His reaction was somewhat sluggish, and his voice was thick with nasal tone and barely concealed drowsiness.

"Yeah, I had a nightmare."

These words sounded ordinary, but Xiao Ban felt inexplicably strange.

A strange, inexplicable feeling swept over me, like being tickled by an invisible feather—a little itchy, a little uneasy, as if… I'd been brushed aside with a casual remark?

That subtle feeling that comes after being scammed.

Before she could ponder the origin of this strange feeling, Xiaowen's voice rang out, carrying an undeniable firmness that drew everyone's attention back to the main topic.

"I promised to return to Regidmont to help the Cursed Witch."

"Pfft—hahahaha!" Kevin seemed to have heard the funniest joke of the century. He leaned back on the sofa without any regard for his image, laughing so hard that he almost lifted the roof off. His face was full of exaggerated expressions that seemed to say, "Are you out of your mind?"

However, apart from him, the other three people on the sofa—Xiao Ban, Mo Bai with dark circles under her eyes, and even Xiao Wen herself—did not laugh.

The atmosphere was a little stagnant for a while.

Especially Mo Bai, whose head involuntarily drooped down a little more amid Kevin's exaggerated laughter, almost burying her face in the juice glass.

Hearing Xiaowen's words, Kevin finally stopped laughing and looked at her with the eyes of someone looking at a weirdo, his tone full of disbelief.

"That evil witch who spends all her time hunting you down?"

"Are you tired of living?"

Xiaowen suddenly stood up from the sofa, her posture upright, her eyes burning with an almost obstinate sense of justice.

“Awi Shah is a dictator, shouldn’t we morally oppose him?”

As soon as the words were spoken, almost instinctively, Ben and Kevin spoke at the same time.

Preschool class: "Should"

Kevin: "Shouldn't have"

Almost simultaneously, another faint and indistinct voice joined in.

Mobai: “zzz….”

Clearly, our "Sleeping Fairy" comrade once again briefly lost herself on the edge of dreamland amidst the heated debate.

Xiao Ban sighed helplessly and gently nudged the "meeting sleep god" next to him with his elbow.

Mo Bai was suddenly "physically awakened" and jolted awake, her eyes snapping open with a look of dazed confusion.

He hadn't heard what was being said before, only catching Kevin's last word, "shouldn't have," so he subconsciously parroted it while still very sleepy.

"No, no, that shouldn't be done."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a soft "Hmm?" from Xiao Ban beside him, with a warning tone and a rising tone at the end like a small hook.

Mo Bai instantly became much more awake! His survival instinct made him nod vigorously, quickly correcting himself, his voice becoming much clearer.

“Of course!”

Under Xiaowen's extremely intimidating "girlfriend pressure" gaze, Kevin finally gave in and obediently became the driver.

After all, Mo Bai's ability to fall asleep standing up made it really hard for anyone to hand him the steering wheel.

Kevin drove, while Mo Bai was seated in the back, hoping to catch up on some sleep.

As the car drove along the highway, Mo Bai initially leaned against the cold car window, but as the car swayed slightly, drowsiness surged back like a tidal wave.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness, Kevin, whether on a whim or intentionally, suddenly performed a drift!

"squeak--!"

The tires screeched as they rubbed against the ground.

The immense centrifugal force instantly flung Mo Bai, who was leaning against the car window, violently out of the car.

He lost his balance and fell headfirst, his head landing squarely on the shoulder of the boy next to him.

They were so close that Xiao Ban could clearly feel his warm, even breath gently brushing against the skin on the side of her neck.

This sudden intimate contact made her body stiffen instantly, and she even subconsciously slowed her breathing, not daring to move for fear of disturbing this unexpected "burden".

However, Mo Bai's feelings were not so pleasant.

The height difference between the two caused his neck to be awkwardly tilted at the small classmate's shoulder. After a while, a tingling and numb sensation began to gnaw at his neck and shoulder like ants.

His tightly furrowed brows twitched slightly, and he unconsciously let out a soft groan of discomfort, seemingly about to be woken up by this awkward position.

at this time!

"Crench--!"

Kevin slammed on the brakes again without warning! The immense inertia caused everyone in the car to lurch forward violently.

Mo Bai, who was on the verge of falling asleep and experiencing neck pain, completely lost her support due to this sudden force.

He slid off his seat due to inertia, his head tilting to the side, and landed firmly on the little boy's legs, which were pressed together.

The moment my cheek touched the soft fabric, a familiar scent with a faint, sweet fragrance wafted into my nostrils—it was Xiao Ban's unique scent.

The aura seemed to possess a magical power, instantly soothing all his discomfort and the edge of waking up.

His tense body relaxed, his furrowed brows unfurrowed, and his breathing became long and steady again. He even slept more soundly than before, leaning against the car window, as if he had found the most reassuring harbor.

Seeing this through the rearview mirror, Kevin raised his eyebrows smugly, winked at Xiaowen in the passenger seat, and whispered to himself, "I'm doing you a favor!"

What do you think of my move?

……

The car eventually came to a stop on the edge of a desolate cliff.

The wind howled, whipping up sand and gravel.

On the edge of the cliff, a huge and ancient stone gate stands alone.

The stone is rough and covered with the marks of time, with strange patterns carved on the door frame that have long since become blurred.

It stood there so abruptly, as if it had been guarding this place since time immemorial, leading to an unknown world.

Looking at Mo Bai, who was sleeping soundly on his lap, Xiao Ban hesitated for a moment, then reached out and gently poked his cheek with his fingertips, and shook his shoulder.

"Mo Bai? Wake up, we're here."

Mo Bai's long eyelashes trembled a few times, like butterfly wings unfolding for the first time.

He slowly lifted his heavy eyelids, his eyes still filled with an overwhelming sense of sleepiness and bewilderment, as if he had been forcibly pulled back from a profound otherworld.

He sat up somewhat sluggishly, rubbed his sleepy eyes, looked at the small classmate who was right in front of him, and muttered something unconsciously.

"morning…."

Seeing his confused look, Xiao Ban couldn't help but reply with a slightly amused comment.

"morning….?"

The two exchanged a glance and realized that something was wrong with the timing—the midday sun was shining brightly.

An awkward yet slightly amusing atmosphere filled the cramped carriage.

At this moment, Xiaowen and Kevin had already gotten out of the car and were standing in front of the huge stone gate, looking up at it.

The stone gate is more than three times the height of an ordinary person, exuding an ancient and mysterious aura.

Mo Bai finally regained full consciousness and pushed open the car door.

The wind blowing from the cliffside carried a salty, fishy, ​​and dusty smell.

He subconsciously sniffed, his gaze falling on the little boy's hand—a bag of fries he'd bought on the way here, covered in tempting red hot sauce.

The fries still had that characteristic aroma of fried food, clearly indicating that the little boy originally intended to enjoy them by himself.

However, when Mo Bai fell into a deep sleep without warning, she looked at the bright red chili sauce, then at the clean profile and clothes of the sleeping boy on her lap, and finally managed to hold back.

She was afraid that if she made a move, the bright red sauce would drip down and leave conspicuous "evidence" on his clothes, disturbing his peaceful sleep.

So she held that bag of fries carefully in her hand until now, when it became an unexpected "breakfast" for Mo Bai after she woke up.