MCU: Two Templates

With heavy eyelids and feeling comfortably warm, she nuzzles the cushion. For one blissful moment, she thinks the choices are some part of a dream. However, that doesn't last, as she peeks from under the covers and sees what's she completely sure is a room she doesn't know. She takes a shaky breath, her chest hurting as she closes her eyes and tries to process what's happened.

Once a minute of her trying to control her breathing passes, she slowly opens her eyes and sits up. First, she touches her chest, where she finds nothing. She startles horribly before lifting her shirt, only to see bandages covering her boobs and making her breath irregular.

She wants to take it off, but before she can do that, a panel appears in front of her face—a familiar panel.

"Welcome to the Template System," repeats the first words it said to her. Before one red exclamation symbol is lit up next to it, she concentrates on it unconsciously, and another panel appears as soon as she focuses on it. "You have a draw left; would you like to use it for a new Template?"

She blinks and it disappears, turning itself into the same symbol as before, though now placed on the left bottom of her vision. The text welcoming her is there. She slowly approaches a hand to it, before stopping and looking at her hand. Or, more accurately, would be to say her 'not hand' because that surely is not her hand, is it? It's as slender as her old hand but not as big. Her pulse is not as petite, though still compact.

This may be a woman's body, but it is not hers.

"Souma, when are you going to wake up?!"

That shout indeed put her out of her thoughts. She accidentally also touched the panel, which isn't solid but still feels as if it were something gaseous. The text changes, too.

"Would you like to see your 'Status'?"

She's about to answer when pain comes to her, a slight headache that hurts more for how unexpected it came. She feels information being downloaded into her brain. 17 years of memory come and go.

By the time the pain has faded somewhat, her door is being knocked on twice. Then it opens, and what comes from her mouth is strangely familiar, as if it were unconscious.

"Jennifer, what did I tell you about entering without me saying you could?!"

"I knocked, didn't I? And luckily, I came! You haven't gotten ready yet. Today is our first day of high school, and I don't care how troublesome it is; we will be on time!"

"… You're only one year older, not my mom," she mumbles, partly chastised and mortified by being seen in her sleepwear.

"And no talking back! Mrs Maria has made me in charge of all of you today!"

She rolls her eyes and says with thick sarcasm, "Great."

"Good. Now get ready. I've got to see if the others are awake," the blond says one last time before shutting the door and leaving. 

With a sigh, she stands up. And stumbles slightly because, of course, she does. She's taller than in her previous life. She looks down at her feet, and yeah, those aren't her feet either.

Fortunately, from what she's got from this body's memories, the nearest bathroom must be empty now, so with a quick step, she grabs the clothes already prepared next to the door and exits the small room. When she's in the bathroom, she takes a look at her body for the first time—short red hair with slight honey-almost-yellow eyes. The skin is of a light wheat color with fine Asian features. Well, primarily Asian. Her eyes and nose look Asian, but her jaw is sharp enough to be classified as a mix of ethnicities.

Going on from her newfound memories, she realizes she's not yet seventeen but will be in a couple of weeks ago (her birthday is in November), and she will start high school years in America. She lived her younger years in Japan before this body's father, Joseph King, took her from her mother after she remarried and after hearing of the bullying she took because of her mixed ethnicity.

Not that it lasted long. The father of this body died three years after being in America.

But that didn't matter to her. She's even slightly glad that she has no close ties. She's currently in a foster home with five other children. She takes solace in cooking rather than trying to make friends, which makes her a pretty introverted and socially awkward child. After all, it's pretty tough for a half-Japanese 'guy' to socialize with people who always look at him weirdly for being so petite.

Yes, 'guy'.

Because while everyone in the foster house knows she's a girl, she doesn't look or act the part. She's a tomboy, a thing she remembers also being in her previous life. And if not for her other three sisters insisting on her to dress nice, she would have remained the same boy-looking girl.

While two other teens live here, they are not as into interacting with her much, which makes Souma feel weirded out by everything feminine and teenage girls in general. She doesn't understand girls or boys, but she considers the male populace at least easier to understand.

Also, men's clothes are cheaper.

So yeah, she's a girl with a hobby of dressing like a male, which makes others weird out and makes her retreat more into herself.

However, with those memories came other memories—the ones of Souma Yukihira.

She doesn't remember the specifics of his life, but she has a vague feeling about them. He remembers having a Father he wished to win against because he wanted to prove something to himself. She doesn't remember.

There was a cooking school where he made friends, but she can't remember their names. Everything is fuzzy. And while she knows more, it's not because she's lived it. It's because she remembers his story.

More or less.

She hasn't watched the anime, and her information has come only from memes and such, so she's confused.

It's like her own memories of her previous life. She remembers random facts and pop culture. However, whenever she tries to think in the face of her family members, it's like trying to hold sand between her hands.

She can grasp it for a moment, but it goes away as soon as she tightens her grip.

It doesn't matter now. She doesn't remember her family, but she knows who she is. Her personality has remained the same, and she can feel it.

And now she's not Souma Yukihira or whoever she was before. She is Souma King.

"Souma, are you ready?!"

Shit. "One moment, Mrs. Maria!"

Dressing up quickly, she goes down and eats breakfast, it's too late to take a shower.

When she's done and out of the house with Jennifer herding the other younger kids, she realizes she doesn't remember the route to school.

Luckily, Jennifer teaches where the bus stop is to one of the younger kids about to start high school. She just follows along, instead of walking away as she remembers her doing other times.