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Chapter Text

Kuboyasu Aren never thought much of his pal Kaidou's higher-than-average voice, or the way his "boku"s would occasionally slip into "watashi"s, or even the way he changed for gym class off in a stall away from all the other guys; sure it was a little strange, but strange was to be expected from a dude whose delusions involved sealed away powers, or being the hero and saviour of all mankind, doomed to fall into the trap of an evil organization...

This though, had him reevaluating everything he could think of about the guy. Were there any events taken place that could've possibly given it away, had Aren been more observant? I mean, sure, Shun had a little more to his chest than most other guys- but that could've simply been a bit more body fat though, right? The guy does have some chub to him.

He supposes it doesn't really matter now. The fact of the matter, is that Kaidou Shun used to be a girl, and has yet to explain himself.

Aren sits impatiently, the light rain tapping on his bedroom window. It was much heavier before, the downpour being enough to drench their uniforms on the walk home. If one of them had brought an umbrella, surely this situation would've turned out different, but they hadn't- the rain had seeped through Shun's shirt, turning the white fabric a translucent gray, exposing the darker beige binder he'd worn underneath it.

"What's that?" Aren had questioned. He wasn't stupid, he could tell it was some sort of undergarment meant for female breasts. Either Shun had a thing for lingerie and crossdressing, or he was lying about who he really was... He really hoped it was the former, but with the way Shun had reacted- defensive, avoidant- it was hard to say.

They had reached the Kuboyasu's house, awkward and uncomfortable, the last couple minutes of the way being almost too quiet were it not for the sound of the rain. Aren was gonna get answers, that he'd make sure of, but not until after he let Shun change into a dry pair of clothes of his. He did have a heart, ya know.

Finally, he hears the door down the hall open, Shun shuffling into the bedroom with avoidant eyes. The clothes are a little loose, shorts coming down past his knees. Aren looks below this at his bare shins, wondering if these legs really are those of a male's...

"Uh," Shun starts.

They make eye contact, briefly, before the blue haired boy averts his gaze again. He fumbles with his hands, uncomfortable by the harsh, burning stare his friend gives him.

Suddenly becoming aware of this, Aren turns his focus back to the mahjong table in front of him.

"Come sit down," he tells Shun, making a conscious effort to sound casual.

He obeys, taking a seat across the table.

Outside, the rain taps harder now against the window, filling the tense silence between the two teens. Honestly, Aren can understand why his friend is so hesitant to explain, he's sure it must be awkward for him- but that doesn't stop the feeling of impatience making his fingers twitch. Perhaps a little nudge to get the conversation going is all Shun needs.

"So, you wear... bras?"

The shorter teen jolts with a cough.

"It's not... a... b-bra, um... it's called a binder, it... helps flatten your chest," he shakily explains.

"Your chest," Aren repeats, "Right, so, is it... tits then?"

Shun stares blankly. He understands what his friend is trying to ask, but it's the terminology he used that has him so taken aback.

"What you're hiding- like, boobs? Girl boobs?" The taller teen clarifies, gesturing to his own chest as if his words weren't so bluntly clear.

"... B-... y-yeah... "

Aren pauses to contemplate for a moment, making Shun clench the fabric of the shirt he wears with anxiety.

"... Shun, are you, a girl?"

The words hit a heavy blow. He begins to feel a cold tingle creep down his body, not a very pleasant feeling when accompanied by sweat. He's not a girl. He's not.

"N-no," he swallows down the nausea threatening to wretch itself up his throat. "I'm a boy, I'm... a man... really."

Aren narrows his eyes in confusion, but softens his expression with concern once he notices the state of his pal.

"Dude, you good? You're kinda pale."

"... You believe me, right?"

He takes in the sight of his buddy across the table- small, curled into himself, brows knitted with worry- Shun is afraid, Aren's been through enough shit to know fear when he sees it. Realizing the discomfort he'd caused, he decides to take a more reassuring approach.

"Yeah, of course, I'm just... a little confused. Could ya maybe explain a bit better?"

Shun slightly straightens up, feeling eased to be given the opportunity to hear himself out- he really wasn't sure he was gonna get one, with this Kuboyasu.

"Sure, yeah... I can explain."

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Alright, this wasn't so bad. He'd get used to it, right? Shun was still the same guy he'd known the past few months, all that was different was his anatomy, his boobs, his... other parts that frankly Aren did not feel comfortable thinking about, so he pushed it aside in his mind.

The two teens were in the kitchen now, deciding to fill up on something before they started on their homework.

"So who knows?"

"Mom knows, she's okay with it, but could do a little better at not misgendering me," Shun admitted with an awkward huff. "Sora took it the best, and Toki seems unsure. He gets it right if I ask him to, but for the most part just mimics what Mom says. Other than that... no one else, really."

"Not even Saiki? I mean, you two are good pals too, right?"

"Yeah, but, I-I don't know... he's so nonchalant about everything, it's hard to tell how he'd react."

"That's true..."

Shun was fiddling with his chopsticks now, and Aren frowned. The shorter teen tended to do that a lot- whether it be with his hands, the red wraps that were wound around them, pencils, cutlery, you name it. Not that there was anything wrong with him doing that, but it was the fact that he only did it when nervous. Aren didn't like when Shun was nervous, such a sweet guy deserved to be happy, worry-free.

"Hey, Shun..."

The blue haired boy looked up at his name, hands ceasing their little tic.

"I'm sure Saiki would be your pal all the same."

"... Really?"

A hopeful little smile from his friend urged Aren to lean over and ruffle his hair affectionately.

"Well, why the hell wouldn't he? You're the damn Jet Black Wings."

All worry on Shun's face was now replaced by a playful grin.

'Perfect, that suits his face much better,' Aren mused to himself.

One filling meal and an epic dialogue of Kaidou's later, the boys headed back to the bedroom. Aren had no idea what his friend was going on about, but he seemed back in high spirits again, so that was all that mattered.

Nothing much eventful happened during their studies, Shun being the one to do the majority of the work. Not that Aren didn't want to, he just legitimately struggled to focus in class, and thus learn properly. Luckily, Shun was more than willing to sit down with him and help teach him in a way that was easier to grasp.

'Shun'd be an awesome teacher... Much better than I'd be, at least,' Aren thought.

Wondering what sort of career Shun had planned for the future, he looked over at his friend across the bed, but seeing him in an intense work trance, thought twice about disturbing him.

Evening set in, Shun's curfew getting near.

"Are they dry yet?" Aren asked his friend, who felt his uniform that had been left to dry over a clothes rack.

"Still a bit damp," Shun replied. "It's alright though, I can run them through the dryer when I get home."

"Cool, I'll let ya change then."

Shutting the door behind him to give the blue haired boy some privacy, Aren thought about where to wait, deciding that outside the bathroom would be fine.

The shuffling of Shun's changing clothes invoked a thought in Aren, causing a blush to creep up his cheeks.

'Just behind this door, there's a changing gir-'

WHAP, he punched himself right to the face, ashamed.

'What the fuck are you thinking, Aren!? He's a dude, he made that clear- Not a girl...'

A couple minutes later, Shun emerged from the bathroom. "Sorry for the wait. Have you ever put on a damp pair of pants? It's harder than you think," he laughed, awkwardly attempting to make conversation.

Aren gave a simple "hm" in acknowledgement, thoughts seemingly elsewhere.

"... Aren? You, good?"

"Huh? Uh, y-yeah, It's nothin," he stammered. "Uh, let's getcha home."

Mrs. Kuboyasu usually returned from work at some point during the evening, so it was her who would give Shun rides home on the days he came over. They could go alone, but Aren knew better than to let his parent have alone time with his best friend- who knows what kind of teasing she'd get into without him there to intervene, that woman sure loved to have her fun, unfortunately even at the expense of her son's pride. Shun preferred it this way too; as friendly as she was, Aren's mother sure was intimidating.

During the ride back home, Aren had silently struggled with his thoughts, taking a fair amount of time to reach a decision- he was gonna tell her.

"Hey Ma?"

"What's up?"

"... Do you know what... 'trans' means?"

"... Trans-what?"

"Like... trans, gender..."

"Ahh... yeah. Why?"

"What do you, think about 'em? People who are trans, I mean... "

"They're just doin' what they need to do to be comfortable, and good on them for that."

Aren thought his mother's words over, and found that he agreed.

"That's not what Pa would say, though," he mumbled.

"Yeah, well, fuck Pa," his mom stated clearly, warranting a chuckle from Aren.

That night, he layed in bed restless, thinking over and over about this new information to Shun he'd just discovered. And poor Shun, as living your life in the wrong body must be the shittiest. He thought again about the earlier smile on his blue haired buddy's face, coming to the conclusion that, that's one he's gonna give his all to protect.

Chapter Text

He couldn't put his finger on it, but something felt a little different now. Shun was still the same boy he'd known, yet he seemed more... fragile. Aren decided to shrug the thought away.

"Sleep okay?" He asked his bag-eyed, bed-headed friend.

"Mostly, I had a bit of studying to catch up on," Shun lied. Truthfully, poor Shun had spent the majority of the night restless with worries about how his best friend would see him.

"I don't know how you can do it," Aren huffed a laugh, hopping over a puddle.

The blue haired boy felt his stomach drop again. "...Do what?"

"Study! I don't have the attention span for it."

Shun sighed a breath of relief. "I'll have you know I like studying," he replied, honest this time.

The pair stopped at Nendou's house, and then Saiki's, then continued their morning walk to school with the usual light-hearted banter, to both of their relief. It wasn't too long of a walk, but they tended to dawdle a bit when deep in conversation. Plus, the group of taller teens had to slow their pace with Shun's shorter legs.

By the time they stepped into class the first bell had already rung and most desks were seated, save for a few. The boys all sat in their usual seats, with Shun and Aren's desks being side by side.

The lesson started but as usual Aren was off in his own world. He stole a quick glance at Shun who was focused on note-taking, so he decided to risk a fuller look. Shun's blue bed-head curls had been combed into a neater looking do thanks to Aren, who momentarily caught himself reminiscing of the soft blue locks between his fingers.

He shifted his gaze down to Shun's lips, which were almost in a little pout of concentration.

'Soft,' he thought. He'd always thought that about Shun, but was that okay now? He wanted to be seen as manly, right?

Shun sensing a stare shifted his eyes in Aren's direction, but his friend had already turned his head the other way.

"Aren," he whispered.

The purple haired boy turned back to look at him.

"Aren't you gonna take notes?"

His friend smiled. "I'll borrow yours later."

Shun rolled his eyes with a grin, of course he would. Finally the lunch bell rang, and students flocked to the cafeteria. A lineup later and the two boys sat together with their friends at the table, food trays in hand.

"Oh! we're gonna go for ramen after school, then maybe go to Saiki's. You guys coming?" Nendou spoke.

'I never agreed to this,' Saiki added.

The pair looked exchanged a look and understood.

"Ehh, actually Aren and I were gonna hang out and study."

"Yeah," Aren agreed.

"Oh, Again?" Nendou questioned. "You two are always hanging out."

"He's not wrong," Teruhashi giggled, coming up from behind to take a seat at the table, Yumehara following behind her.

"Th-That's because we're best friends!" Shun huffed, blushing.

"Is that really all it is?" Yumehara asked with a knowing look.

"Of course, what else would it be?" Aren responded with a raised eyebrow. His cheeks felt warm, but he didn't understand why. Or rather, he refused to.

For a long moment there was an awkward silence, as the group exchanged looks...

"Oh, I'm going up for seconds!" Nendou exclaimed.

"You haven't finished your first's, Nendou..." Shun shook his head, causing the girls to giggle.

Lunch period ended, English came and went, then so did Math. Finally, the end of the day came, and the boys set out on their walk home alone as the others went for ramen, thankfully in sunnier weather than the earlier morning.

"Oh hey, look what I brought," Shun pulled an umbrella out from his school bag, for the sake of a new inside joke. "Looks like we won't be needing it though, huh?"

"Jeez Shun," Aren laughed. "Where was that yesterday?"

The blue haired boy snickered, trying to make light of the events that had happened the day before, but Aren stopped.

"...Shun, I... I'm sorry."

"Huh? Why?"

"It must be hard for you, and I was... kinda an ass," Aren admitted.

"It's okay... You didn't understand, now you do."

The purple haired boy looked into his friends eyes with sincerity, only to feel warm in the cheeks again and look away.

'Why do I keep feeling this?'

"Yeah..."

The pair continued to walk until they reached Kuboyasu's house. Once inside they took their shoes off and hung up their jackets and bags, pulling out their homework for their daily study session.

"Here are my notes for science, math, and... english booklet is right here. Let me know if you have any questions, alright?"

Feeling bold, he struck up the question on his mind. "Hey Shun, do you like... guys?"

"H-... Huh?"

"Never mind, that was a stupid question," the taller teen nervously laughed.

Shun paused in shock, then slowly responded. "I... guess so... what about you?"

"...Never thought much about it," Aren admitted. "I think I like girls, but..." He trailed off.

"You can like both," the shorter teen finished.

He'd never thought that way before, but... it just made sense. "I guess I like both, then."

"Cool," Shun blushed, averting eye contact.

After a moment Aren reached for the sheets of paper his friend had placed on the coffee table. "Uh, anyways..."

They started their work, managing to get a fair amount done before deciding they'd had enough, opting to play video games instead. Aren greatly enjoyed spending time with Shun, and this new perspective couldn't change that at all, even if he did start to get nervous more frequently around him. In truth, Shun was the same way. He'd always admired Aren for his strength and personality, the way he looked out for those he cared for.

"It's gettin' pretty late," the purple haired boy said checking his phone, worried about his friend's curfew.

"We can call it quits for now," Shun decided, although he disliked the thought of leaving.

"We can hang out tomorrow?"

"Sure!"

As usual Mrs. Kuboyasu drove the boy home, Aren tagging along. "My place tomorrow?" Shun suggested, and Aren's face lit up. It was rare that they hang out at the Kaidou household, since the siblings were often bothersome and his mother was so keen on making them study. Still, he enjoyed getting to see his friend's much neater bedroom, it was like a private part of him that not many got to see.

"Hell, yeah."

The next day was a Saturday, so Aren joyfully slept in, shifting himself comfortably in his blanket cocoon.

Ba-ding!

It was Shun texting, he just knew it. The shorter teen had always been an early bird. So although he grumbled at the thought of getting up, he thought to himself that Shun was the one person who could get him out of bed this early. Unwrapping himself from his blankets he picked up his phone from the floor, it reading 10:04 AM. Below that, Shun's icon.

"Good morning :3"

He let out a breathy laugh.

"morning", Aren texted back. He placed his phone next to him and closed his eyes. Shun was always so... soft. Cute, even. But was he allowed to think that? He supposed so, as he didn't see Shun as feminine necessarily, more so just a cute guy.

Wait...

Was that normal to feel about your best friend? His entire face felt warm.

Ba-ding!

"Come over already!"

'Ugh', he thought, pushing the embarrassment down. 'Gotta get outta bed.'

Getting up and ready, Aren found himself putting more effort than usual into his appearance, as he parted his purple hair in the bathroom mirror.

'No particular reason,' he lied to himself.

Quickly stuffing a muffin down his mouth, he then took off to walk to his friend's house, a much bigger house than his own. Once there he braced himself and then rang the doorbell.

The door opened to a younger looking Shun with darker blue hair and goggles on his head. Toki.

"Hi!" The child spoke.

"Hey. Where's your brother?"

"You mean Shun?"

"Toki! Let him in," said older brother yelled from down the hallway, approaching. "Sorry about that, Aren..."

"No worries," he smiled, finding the siblings' interactions amusing- he'd never had siblings of his own.

"Come on," Aren was led by Shun's hands, which surprisingly weren't wound up by the usual red wraps, allowing Aren to feel them skin to skin. The two went into Shun's bedroom, who then closed the door for privacy. The taller teen sat down on the bed.

"There's this new game I've been wanting to show you," Shun started, "it's a co-op rpg, kinda like that one we used to play." He booted up the game console and sat next to his friend, passing him a controller.

Aren couldn't help but become hyper aware of the closeness between the two, their legs were touching- and that wasn't even out of the ordinary, it was common for the pair to sit this close, so he wasn't sure why it seemed such a big deal to himself now. Shun continued to explain the game mechanics, but to be quite honest, Aren wasn't listening at all. The purple haired boy was too focused on not making any awkward movements. Every time Shun spoke with his hands his elbow would brush up against Aren's own, their shoulders occasionally making contact.

"Aren,"

"S-Shun," he snapped out of it.

For a moment there was just the music from the title screen, and he dared to look into his friend's deep, red eyes. A heat crept up his face again, but he didn't push it away this time. His heart was pounding. Shun looked so delicate, the way he was staring back at him like a deer in headlights, face now as red as his ruby coloured eyes. He looked down to his lips, soft and pink.

And he did it. Aren leaned toward him and kissed his lips. 

Chapter Text

Shun blinked. 

His lips were pressed against Aren's. It felt stiff and awkward, but warm. 

Just as he began to overcome the initial shock and welcome it, his friend started to pull away.

"I'm- fuck, I'm so sorry-" Aren stammered, his face a deep crimson, eyes wide with surprise with what he'd just done. 

"I-It's okay!" 

Aren was the first to turn away, then Shun. 

"...Is it?" 

"Yeah," he swallowed. 

The taller teen turned back to face his friend. His face wore a serious expression, although he was still blushing profusely. "Shun, I gotta be honest with you. I... I feel different when you're around. Nervous. Happy, but... nervous..." 

"Is it because of who I was?" He couldn't help but assume. He had to know. 

"No...! No. you're a guy, I get that." 

"...Then, I feel... th-the same," he pushed himself to admit. His face was red hot, and he didn't dare look up- until he'd felt enough of the burning stare. His eyes trailed upward, finally locking into the gaze of his friend, a deep red meeting a rich brown. 

"Do you really?" 

The shorter teen nodded shyly, "mhm..." 

Aren took this as his chance. He didn't want to move too fast, but he longed to feel his best friend's soft lips once more- he leaned toward him again, this time leaving a space so that Shun could decide. He closed his eyes... 

Shun closed the gap. He'd never really kissed before, but had seen enough tv to know that it started slow, with lips pressed against lips. They could take things from there, he thought. 

Aren kissed him again, interlocking their mouths better. Then slowly, tenderly, he began to move his lips. Shun let out the smallest whine at the movement, causing the taller teen's blood to rush. 

Rough was all Aren ever knew, but he didn't dare taint this ever so soft moment, not with Shun. He slid his hand reassuringly over his friend's who nervously grabbed it tightly. 

They continued to share kisses with each other until the purple haired teen felt his self restraint begin to wear thin. He pulled away to the sight of Shun's half-lidded, hazy, red eyes. It made him weak. 

"That was... nice," Shun gently panted. "You're good." 

"So were you," Aren huffed. 

"Thanks, it was actually, um... my first." 

"Oh," he replied, surprise in his voice. 

"What?" 

"It's just, you're so outgoing, I figured you woulda kissed before. I did expect you to have more friends too though, so..." 

"Wow. Thanks..." Shun grumbled with a smile, nudging his friend's arm playfully. "Do you still... wanna play?" 

"Oh! Y-yeah... Let's play."