Chapter Text
Once again, like every other day, the sun had dipped down into the horizon. It was chilly, but not as chilly as it had been the night before.
Shigeko was sitting in her shishou's office, trying to focus on her homework as Reigen tapped away at the computer, doing something or other, Shigeko never really asked what.
The computer noises stopped, and Reigen looked like he was thinking about something.
"Shishou, are you okay?" Shigeko asked.
"Of course! It's getting late though, you should get home now."
"Oh, okay," Shigeko began packing her homework into her backpack.
"Tomorrow is Saturday... Do you want to go shopping, Mob?"
The student looked up, surprised. "Shopping? Why?" She had never gone shopping with her shishou, as far as she could remember.
"Well, I was thinking, you must not have many clothes, right? Oh, you did say something about going out with that Hanazawa boy, though..."
"Oh, I didn't buy too much then. And I spent all my allowance."
Reigen waved his hands, "No, no, I can pay!"
"That's okay." Shigeko knew her master didn't have very much money. "You don't have to waste your money."
"Don't worry about it! Will I see you tomorrow?"
Shigeko smiled a bit. "Sure, shishou. See you tomorrow."
.......
Shigeko awoke early the next morning. She was excited to go shopping with her master. He was very entertaining to be around.
She slipped on the first things she found, a pink hoodie and a pair of black shorts with white lines around the bottom. She grabbed her backpack and shoved in some of the clothes she bought with Teru the other day, then waited for her master to text her.
At around 10:30AM, Reigen told her where to meet and to leave soon. She headed out, with a vague "I'm meeting with shishou," to her parents, and headed to the mall.
........
"Aha! There you are, Mob!" Reigen called out, waving his hands to catch her attention. She jogged over to him.
"Hello, shishou," she greeted with a small smile. "Do you mind if I change before we do anything?"
"Of course, I'll be waiting here!"
"Thank you, I'll be back in a moment."
When she returned, she was wearing the same pink hoodie but now with a white skirt, and a black wig, tied into two braids.
"I'm back, shishou."
Reigen jumped, startled. "Oh! Are you ready to go now, Mob?" He said, proceeding as if nothing happened.
Shigeko smiled, just a bit.
They wandered through the mall, looking at different kinds of girls' clothes, but Shigeko felt too bad to ask her shishou to buy her any. That was, until they walked into one particular store, and she caught sight of one particular dress.
It was a very simple dress. Loose sleeves, knee-length, the top half white and the skirt part pink. Only ¥2000.
But something about it made Shigeko fall in love.
"Um, shishou..."
"Yeah, Mob?"
"May I try this one on?"
....
"So, Mob, how does it fit?"
Shigeko was starstruck. She turned around a bit, her eyes fixated on the narrow changing room mirror.
"I... love it," She said, carefully unlocking the door to show her master.
"Oh, it looks good on you. Do you want to get it?"
"If that's okay."
"Of course."
....
In the end, she only got the dress and a pair of pink knock-off converse. She felt bad they were out so long to buy only that, so Reigen invited her to get some dinner before going home.
"Eh? Are you sure, shishou?"
"Of course. We may as well, there's a place nearby."
"Alright."
They walked in silence, placed their orders, and waited.
"Um, shishou..."
"What's up, Mob?"
"What's a 'demiboy'?"
"You know how I told you sometimes there are people who are neither boys or girls? Well, a demiboy is kind of like that. It's when you only partly identify with being a boy."
"Oh..."
"Did you read it online?"
"No, Teruki-kun told me."
"I see."
A waiter appeared with their food, cutting off the conversation. They ate in silence, and offered familiar goodbyes before heading home.
On Shigeko's way home, she thought about what her shishou said. Only partly identifying with being a boy... It was sort of like her, just a bit. Maybe that's why Teruki-kun was okay with her?
As the sun set at her side, Shigeko sat on a nearby bench and texted Teru.
"I found out what a demi-boy is today. How did you discover you were one?" She hesitated, wondering if that was an okay thing to ask, but hit send and shoved her phone deep in her pocket, walking home as quickly as she could. She felt very exposed all of a sudden, even though nobody was around.
....
It was late by the time Shigeko received a reply. She had just brushed her teeth, and was about to go to bed when her phone buzzed.
It was a simple answer. "A lot of thinking"
As she was thinking of a response, it buzzed again.
"How did you discover you were a girl?"
"I didn't really like boy things, and I thought girls were really cool. And a lot of thinking too, I guess."
"I see
"Did you do anything fun today, Shigeko-chan?"
"I went shopping with shishou. He bought me a nice dress and shoes. What about you, Teruki-kun?"
She still felt a rush of happiness whenever Teru called her Shigeko. She felt really honoured to be his friend.
"I hung out with a few kids with my class"
"That sounds like fun."
"I guess so
It's getting late, we should go to bed
Goodnight Shigeko-chan"
"Goodnight Teruki-kun."