Work Text:
It had been some months since Kunikida had begun her transition.
Or, well, Katai thought that was a good estimate. He was a frequent sufferer of time blindness, and his reluctance to go outside made him all the more inaccurate when it came to telling any sort of time. Kunikida had also thrown away all but her first bottle of estrogen pills, so that was no good as an indicator. But a few months sounded right.
Since that day when she’d blurted it out to Katai- followed by everyone else- she’d certainly changed. The most obvious changes came with her wardrobe; she still wore pants fairly often, perhaps afraid of the openness that came with dressing how she truly preferred, but her shirts had become frillier. More dolled up with ribbons. Her hair had grown a bit longer, though Kunikida still wouldn’t let it grow past her ears- something about sensory issues, her ponytail tied up high instead of hanging low as it once had.
And she’d started wearing- um- bras. Not that Katai was unused to doing and undoing them, because he’d once been a woman himself in days long since past, but he supposed it was only natural to fret a bit when Kunikida got ready and would ask him to help get her hooked up from the back.
Another part of her routine was the makeup. Even before his own transition, Katai had never opted for that kind of stuff, so he was entirely out of his depth. He knew Yosano was the main one to help her learn how to apply it herself, and Kunikida had always been a fast learner, and their shopping trips had resulted in her filling up a drawer at her and Katai’s shared apartment with various kinds of goo and powder in various tiny little compartments.
Her voice had changed, but not by much; estrogen didn’t change her voice, and it was obviously too late for puberty blockers, so vocal training was about all she had. But Katai didn’t mind a bit. He considered women with deep voices to be elegant, and Kunikida certainly fit that description. She had always been poised and proper from the day he’d met her, long before he had been a man and she had been a woman.
It was like he had passed his womanhood onto her, an ultimate rite of passage; she made a better woman than he ever had. And, of course, he was happy to know she could understand his experiences better.
He supposed it was that new mutual understanding that had gotten the both of them to recognize that they were certainly more than friends, and maybe it’d always been so. They got a shared apartment, though they were saving for a house, and so long as Katai could contain his mess to his side of the bedroom, Kunikida was content with having the rest of the place clean.
He supposed he could live with the sickeningly spotless countertops and neatly ordered clothes if it meant living with her.
All that to say- the alarm clock was now going off.
It was meant for Kunikida, obviously; Katai usually got up with her, but he was never in a rush. She, on the other hand, was perpetually in a rush, right down to the way she bolted upright out of a dead slumber.
He watched her with bleary eyes as she glanced at him- she always looked to his side of the bed when she got up, as if she was scared he’d eloped in the night- and then stretched, long, dainty arms reaching up for the sky as various joints in her shoulders and back popped with tiny little clicks.
She glanced over at him again, this time looking closely to see if he was awake; he blinked at her, blurting out a ‘good morning’ through his yawn. He almost wished she hadn’t noticed he was awake- he liked watching how she moved when she was undisturbed by anyone or anything else.
“Good morning,” she replied softly, her own voice a bit heavy with sleep, alert as she was now. She took a hand and moved a stray hair out of Katai’s face; her fingers grazed against his cheek, and he shivered at the touch. All the months together, and all the previous years as friends, and he was still terribly unused to her affection.
She opted for little physical gestures in lieu of the spoken word, mostly because the latter was hard for her and always had been when it came to more intimate feelings, and so she showered him with the little touches and pecks on the cheek to make up for it.
And she did run her fingers through his hair after she’d gotten the stray strand out of his eyes, though it was just one pass over; as she withdrew her hand and slung her legs over the bed, he wished she’d done it a bit longer. Even if he was unused to it.
She wore a white nightgown that went down to her calves, and if it hadn’t been her wearing it, it would’ve been entirely unassuming. But it was her, and she made everything special. He remembered her first buying it, the fabric a bit loose on her in some places before estrogen had gone and filled her form out a bit more. Now it clung to her properly, stretching around her hips- he felt a little perverted for looking, but he guessed it was fine. She was his girlfriend, after all. God- that still felt so weird to think. They really were dating, huh?
Kunikida opened the closet doors and looked at her side of the clothing rack. There was a clear divide in their clothes- anything that was frilly or otherwise fancy-looking was hers, and anything that wasn’t fancy-looking was his. She took a pause to look back at him again, and she remarked, “I can feel you looking at me.”
“I—“ Katai felt his face get a little hot- “I’m just- curious. As to what you’re doing.”
“Getting ready for work, like I do every single day,” Kunikida replied, a smile forming at the corners of her lips as she rolled her eyes before going back to picking out her outfit.
Usually- and usually meant always, because Kunikida’s routine never changed- she picked a blouse, a blazer, and then some work pants and flat-toed shoes.
The first part of her routine finished as she picked out the blouse, an off-white thing with some frills around the collar, and he knew which blazer she’d pick before she even reached for it. She always picked the same combinations when it came to her outfits when it came to work- again, she seemed a bit nervous to experiment. He was proud of her for the courage it took simply to exist as a woman, though.
She picked her pants and everything else, walked back to their bed, and laid the clothes on it before- ah—
Katai covered his eyes and turned away as she undressed, and he heard her laugh as he did. He didn’t know why she was laughing, because they were both chronically flustered people, and also because she did the same thing when he undressed, and if he was bolder, he would’ve said something.
But he was sheepish. As usual.
“Katai,” she said, and he turned his body towards her with his eyes still covered.
“Yeah?”
“Can you get the clasps in the back?”
Oh- heh- that.
“Yeah.”
He got the nerve to remove his hands from his face to see her sitting on the bed, back turned to him, bra undone as the straps sat limply on her shoulders. He scooted over to where she sat and, with learned nimbleness, brought the clasps together; they connected with a satisfying click.
As he connected them, his fingers touched her spine, and he felt again just how soft her skin had become. Testosterone had roughened his own skin; estrogen had smoothed hers out.
He traced over her spine again, and she looked back at him as she said, “Are you done yet?”
Sensing he was caught, Katai immediately drew his hands away and chuckled nervously. “Your skin is soft,” he blurted out.
Now it was Kunikida’s turn to blush, and the pink hue in her cheeks suited her nicely. She sighed, a smile on her face as she put on her shirt; she stood up- and oh dear she wasn’t wearing pants- and Katai looked away again as she put the rest of her outfit on.
She walked to the bathroom, and from there, he heard her say, “Oh- ah, well.”
“What is it?”
She stuck her head out of the bathroom door down the hall, golden hair trailing down as she shouted across the room, “They’re doing construction right outside the agency’s front doors. I just got the text. Nobody can get in for another hour.”
Katai thought about what this meant for her schedule and his own- though his was reliant on hers- and finally said, “Maybe you can get more sleep? I’ll wake you up.”
“No, no, I’m already up and dressed.”
Her head disappeared into the bathroom again, and he figured she would just get ready and wait out the extra hour by cleaning or reading or something else Kunikida-like. If he was her, he would’ve taken the extra sleep, honestly.
Then her head popped out again, and she asked something that surprised him:
“Do you want to try getting me ready?”
Katai wasn’t sure he’d heard her right; across the room, he half-shouted, “What?“
“It’ll be fun. We have time if you mess up. I want to see if you can do it.”
Besides physical touch, Kunikida dabbled in the love language of quality time, and he supposed this was another case of her reaching out to him. Of course, as with every time she reached out, he took the offer wholeheartedly.
“Uh- sure.”
He finally rolled out of bed; his nightwear was much less interesting than hers, he supposed. Just boxers and an oversized shirt that he’d had as long as the two had known each other. He shuffled towards the nightstand and retrieved his glasses- Kunikida always kept hers in the bathroom, secure in their case and safe from potential smudging, but Katai didn’t care enough to follow suit.
With his glasses on, his world became a few degrees clearer; with newfound vision, he walked more confidently towards the bathroom.
Kunikida stood there waiting for him, her glasses still in their case- why?- oh. Was he doing her makeup, too? That idea made him nervous. He was definitely going to mess up, and even though Kunikida had just said they had time, he couldn’t help but fret at the thought.
“Here’s my ribbon,” Kunikida said, indeed handing him a long maroon ribbon, “But you might want to use a regular hair tie—”
“No, I can do it,” Katai interrupted, because how hard could tying a ribbon be? He took it from her hands and kept it in the space between his fingers as he began to grab the part of her hair that was longest and pull it all together.
It was impossibly soft; he needed to start using her shampoo and conditioner, because whatever she was doing to her hair, it made it irresistible to touch. He found himself raking his fingers through her hair again and again, until he looked at the bathroom mirror and saw her watching him, eyebrow cocked in amusement—
“Sorry,” he mumbled. Then he got back to business.
He had all her hair caught up in one of his hands; the rest fell forward and framed her face in straw-blonde clumps. With his other hand, he took the ribbon and tied a loop around it, then another to secure it, and, not knowing what to do next, he tied a knot to keep it there.
“It’s a bit low,” she hummed, laughter in her voice as she chided him.
“Ah-“ he undid the knot, held her hair a bit higher up, and tried again.
“There you go,” she said.
Satisfied with the position, he looped the ribbon around again, but this time, he thought against tying a knot- it had looked terribly ugly and clumsy compared to the dainty ribbons Kunikida pulled off so effortlessly every day. Maybe if he just went right out and tried to tie a ribbon, it’d look better.
He made two loops and creased them over one another- he tied his shoes with the rabbit-ears method he knew every day, and they looked similar to ribbons, so surely it wouldn’t fail him. Over and then under, and…
Well, it worked! The ribbon was there, though it was a little lopsided. But the ponytail felt loose.
As gently as he could, Katai grabbed the lock of hair that he’d tied up and tugged on it, pulling it so that the ribbon would be more flush against her scalp. She took the tugging without complaint, and he silently thanked her for it. He hoped he was doing it right.
“You do this every day?” he asked, realizing the amount of time it’d taken to do the task. “And without being able to look at the back of your head?”
“It’s all muscle memory by now,” Kunikida said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I hope it didn’t give you too much trouble, though.”
“I- well- I just want it to look nice,” Katai said, scratching the back of his head. Kunikida smiled at the genuine concern in his reply before backing away and opening her makeup drawer.
“Oh- are you sure?” Katai stammered out, his worst fear realized; he was going to mess up. He already knew this. “I don’t know- I’m no good at it—“
“You’ve seen me put it on a million times,” Kunikida reassured him, and this time her smile looked a bit more mischievous. “I want to see you try. Time is no longer an issue.”
Katai looked at the makeup drawer, then back at Kunikida, then back at the drawer, and let out a small, “Okay.”
He went over how she did her makeup every day- first was foundation, applied with a makeup… egg? God, he didn’t know the name, but he recognized it in the drawer. He grabbed that along with the foundation and applied a little- at the very least, he knew that a little product went a long way, and also that product was expensive and he shouldn’t be wasting it- before bringing it to her face.
He caked it on with feather-light touches, and Kunikida fluttered her eyes shut as she leaned towards him so he could reach all the parts of her face better. This part was easy, he thought, and almost a little relaxing. It was certainly impossible to fail at. He thought about the next step- eyeshadow- and he thought about how that was certainly not impossible to fail.
He put the egg-sponge-thing down on the sink, and Kunikida opened her eyes again when she knew he was done. They both looked at the drawer, and, more importantly, at the multiple eyeshadow palettes tucked inside.
“Which one should I use?” Katai asked, and Kunikida furrowed her brows in thought for a moment. Then her eyes lit up, and Katai felt like he already might know the answer—
“You decide.”
Yeah. He’d figured.
He picked up each palette gently, like it was going to crumble to dust in his hands if he was too rough about it, opening them up one by one to see what he had. Lots of browns and olive greens- more natural colors, which made sense for Kunikida. She’d never been terribly flashy.
One of the palettes had a nice sparkly reddish-maroon, and he thought it looked similar to her ribbon; he made a mental note to save that one and place it on the sink.
He supposed one of those green colors could work with it, as well as a light gold that came from the same palette. He kept those two on the bathroom counter and put the rest away.
“I thought- maybe the red would look good on you,” he explained, and Kunikida nodded. She was kind enough to get the correct brush for him- they all looked the same besides the egg- before leaning back in so he could reach her. She still managed to be a bit taller than him, even with flats, something that he found both intimidating and charming.
“I trust your judgement,” she said, and she sounded confident enough for the both of them. If the high-strung and perpetually bothered Kunikida was fine with this, then he figured he should relax a bit, too.
He dipped his brush in the light gold before saying, “Close your eyes.”
Katai had figured this would be much more nerve wracking than the foundation, but blending the eyeshadow was turning out to be almost… fun. Like painting. Kunikida made for an excellent canvas.
The green was next, and it looked nice enough on her; he added in a darker brown to try and make the transition to the glittery red a bit easier on the eyes. It was simple color theory. Not that he knew much about that- he was a computer guy, not an art guy- but he understood enough to make the colors look nice.
It was only when he started patting in the red onto her eyelid that he noticed she’d been smiling.
“What is it?” he asked, not sure if she was just happy or if his failure was amusing her. “Am I messing up?”
“No,” Kunikida reassured him. “You’ve been holding your breath the whole time. You’re so nervous, Katai.”
“I don’t wanna mess up,” he admitted.
“It’s fine if you do.” She peeked open one eye and glanced at herself in the mirror before saying, “You’re doing well as it is. It’s fun, isn’t it? To get to do this?”
“Heh, yeah, a little,” he said with a crooked smile. “I like doing things with you. I just hope I do it right.” He got to the other eye, patting the pigment down until it covered the lid, and then said, “Okay. You can open your eyes.”
She did, and she took a closer look at herself in the mirror as soon as her eyes were open. Thankfully, she seemed pleased.
“You know, I usually go for something more natural, but I like the red. Maybe I should use it more.”
“Oh- ah- so it’s okay?”
“Yes, it’s fine. Relax a little.”
Katai bit back an apology as he looked in the drawer for the mascara, opening it when he found it and turning back to Kunikida; she opened her eyes and looked up, which made it easier for him—
“Ow—“
And he’d poked her right in the eye.
“Sorry- oh, God, I’m so sorry!” he stammered, nearly dropping the mascara as he stood and tried to figure out what to do next.
“Maybe if your hands weren’t shaky,” she grumbled, but the edge was gone from her voice. She chuckled lightly at him before looking back up, giving him permission to try again.
He took the tube and pressed it upwards gently against her eyelashes, lightly flicking up as he applied the layer onto her. When he was actively focused on not squirming around and shaking his hands, he was actually capable of doing a good job, it seemed.
He finished up, and she blinked a few times as he quickly changed to applying some blush on her cheeks- that part was also easy.
Next, and finally, was lipstick. Kunikida liked dark lipsticks, perhaps the only dramatic flair she ever had when it came to her appearance. With everything else, she tried to stay natural, make herself blend in with her surroundings a bit easier, but she’d never been terribly fond of natural lipsticks- and especially not bright reds or pinks, which she steered away from entirely.
He settled for a dark reddish-purple, the colors still muted enough not to draw too much attention while still being dark, and uncapped the lid.
Katai swiveled the bottom so that the lipstick would emerge from the top, a tiny maroon pillar, before turning back to Kunikida.
This time, her eyes were open as they leaned in closer to one another.
Her eyes were honey-brown, almost hazel in appearance, sharp and focused as always. She blinked, and her lashes fluttered; the eyeshadow helped to add to her subtle fierceness as a working woman.
Katai had always been scared of women, especially pretty women, and Kunikida was the latter; perhaps that was why he was so nervous in a way that he hadn’t been before. Because she’s always been attractive, but now as a woman, she was even more so- probably something to do with her confidence in herself easing her own nerves a bit. She looked better when she was happy in her own skin.
She looked at him, and his heart skipped a beat. He chuckled nervously and looked away.
“Still nervous?” she asked.
“Sorry. Yeah.”
“But you haven’t messed up.”
“It’s just- ha—“ he gulped- “You’re really pretty.”
Kunikida blinked before giggling and looking away just as he did; even with the foundation and blush hiding it, he could see her face getting a little flushed. “Probably because of the makeup,” she said dismissively.
“What- no,” Katai rebutted, “you’re, um, you’ve always been pretty to me. I get nervous around pretty girls. You know how I am.”
Kunikida laughed again, and she sounded a little nervous now, too, as she asked, “Really?”
“Yes, really. You’re my girl.”
You’re my girl- it rolled off his tongue so quickly, so naturally, that he hadn’t even gotten a moment to blush until he’d said it. But even as he turned red in the face and shivered a bit with nervousness, he didn’t regret saying it.
She was his girl. He loved her very much. Those were facts of life that he held close to his heart.
“I love you,” Kunikida blurted out suddenly, and that surprised both of them. It was rare that Kunikida said those words aloud, so for her to have said it, she must have really meant it and thought about it. Or maybe she’d blurted it out on instinct, just like he had before. Either way, it made his heart soar.
“I love you too,” he breathed out, and he took a leap of courage to go and kiss her on the cheek.
She laughed again, breathy and soft in his ear, and cupped his cheeks in her hands as she boldly kissed him on the lips.
He made a surprised little noise into her mouth, and she pulled back to giggle at him before going in again; with the knowledge that she was okay with this level of intimacy, he let himself melt into the kiss, shoulders going slack as he rested his elbow against the counter.
He realized that he’d finished the top layer of her lipstick, and it was probably now getting on him, but he didn’t care. He loved her.
She finally pulled away, but he wanted to stay in the moment just a bit longer; he gave her another quick peck on the lips before pulling back and smiling.
The two watched each other for a bit, both grinning from ear to ear- and then they began to laugh.
The two of them laughed from the nerves, and from the leftover surprise of being kissed, and because they really, truly did love each other, and laughing with one another felt like the most natural thing in the world.
“Okay, okay,” Katai finally said, the chuckling finally quieting down, “Let’s finish this up.”
He lifted up his hand, the opened lipstick still held there, and finished the job. Kunikida rubbed her lips together for good measure and looked in the mirror with a satisfied grin. Katai looked, too-
And saw that, indeed, a dark smudge was on his top lip.
“Sorry for getting it on you,” she said, but her grin didn’t falter, and Katai figured she wasn’t actually very sorry about it at all. That was okay. He definitely hadn’t minded; he thumbed at it absentmindedly, but he didn’t care much about getting it off at the moment.
She looked back at him before saying, “I think I need to get going. How long do I have left?”
Kunikida peered out the bathroom door and craned her neck to look at the clock, and the little yelp she let out upon seeing the time almost made Katai chuckle- he wisely held it in.
“So you have to go?” he asked, though he knew what the answer was going to be.
“Yes- oh, dear, yeah,” Kunikida replied, brows furrowing with worry as she immediately skittered out of the bathroom and into the hallway. Katai followed suit, watching her quietly as she grabbed her briefcase- always at the door- and checked to make sure her notebook was inside it. It was, of course. She was punctual like that.
“I’m gonna miss you,” he called out, and she took a moment to turn back towards him.
“I’ll be back by the time you wake up again.”
“I’ll still miss you.”
She smiled softly and returned to picking up her briefcase, shifting her body to accommodate the new weight she carried as she went to unlock the door.
Katai really was going to miss her, even if she was correct- he would be asleep for most of the time she was gone. He took a few steps forward until he was behind her before tapping, and when she swiveled around to face him—
He initiated the kiss this time. On his tiptoes, he kissed her on the lips, probably getting more lipstick on his face- not that he cared. Now it was her turn to be surprised before she let herself lean into the kiss for a few sweet seconds, which was all the time Katai needed so he could let her go in peace.
They pulled away, and Katai rubbed his sleeve on his lips to get some of the residue off; Kunikida smirked at the tiny mess she’d made before she grew serious and asked, “Is my lipstick smudged?”
“No,” he said, and then, “Love you.”
She smiled sheepishly before opening the door, and as she stepped out, she got the courage to say, “Love you, too.”