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The school gate made it hard for him to really admire anything from the rooftop’s view, but he finds himself returning there every day anyway.
Rui thinks it’s a lot better than being in his classroom hearing people murmur around him.
“What’s with him? Why does he always keep to himself and ignore people?
“Kamishiro is always drawing some stupid designs…that’s why he’s failing his classes,”
“What a weirdo.”
Rui rolls his eyes. His designs are not stupid. Although he admits he is a weirdo, but it’s not like he wanted to be.
And it’s not like he cares either. People have never been there for him when he needed it, so why should he be there for others when they need it?
It doesn’t make sense.
Rui doesn’t like people.
But he does like two people. Nene, his childhood friend who he only wants the best for, and also…
He heard the door to the roof top open, and small footsteps follow.
Ah, there they are.
He turns around, his expression softening into a small smile. “Why, if it isn’t Mizuki-kun.”
Mizuki averts their eyes a bit, approaching Rui. “Hey.”
They join Rui as their hand grabs the gate. Both of their hands are close to each other, and Rui takes this moment to compare their sizes. Mizuki’s is really small.
Even if Mizuki is pretty small compared to him, Rui knows that they aren’t as fragile as they look. In fact, Mizuki has quite a sharp tongue.
“You’ve been biting your nails, Kamishiro-kun.” they say, pointing at one of Rui’s fingers.
Rui laughs, “You don’t say,”
Today, Mizuki looks upset. They look upset most days, but today they look really upset. Rui of course notices, and is extremely nosey.
But they’re… friends, right? It wouldn’t hurt to ask.
“What’s got you looking so down, Mizuki-kun?”
Mizuki is silent for a bit, their grip on the gate tightening a little.
“Would you actually care if I vented to you? You’re quite the nice guy huh,” they tease, but there’s a tint of sadness on their playful expression.
Rui looks to them, waiting for them to speak. “You can tell me, if you’re comfortable with doing so.”
Mizuki shows hesitation. And Rui doesn’t think they’re actually gonna tell him, but they take a deep breath.
“…I’m me.” They settle with, looking back to the gate.
Rui is quiet as he watches Mizuki’s eyebrows furrow.
“I’m not— i’m not a boy, but i’m also not a girl. But… I prefer to wear dresses, skirts, cute things like a girl would…”
“You’re a weirdo. Why do you want to wear a woman’s clothes?”
“You can’t do that…”
“What are you thinking? You should be focusing on your work instead.” they grimace as they quote the horrible phrases.
“I’m really angry. I just want to be me. I wanna wear cute things without others looking at me a different way, and I want to be seen as just Mizuki. Nothing else… so why? Why is this so hard? Why can’t I be me?” Mizuki finishes, as they shake. It’s apparent to Rui that they’ve has been holding back for a long time. Too long.
Rui looks to them with an unreadable expression, before taking their hands gently.
“Eh? K-Kamishiro…kun?”
“You are you,” he says, a smile on his face.
“You will always be Mizuki. Whatever anyone thinks of you, of how you dress, or how you identify, you’ll never be anyone else.”
Mizuki is stunned. They can’t do anything but stare at Rui in disbelief.
“I accept you, and i’m happy you trusted me enough to tell me.” with that, he lets go of their hands slowly and waits for them to respond.
“K-Kamishiro—“
“Just call me Rui, ok?” He interrupts.
“Ah- okay… Rui, you still want to hang out with me? Even after I just told you that I…”
Rui frowns.
He can’t help but wonder, How many times has Mizuki tried to do this, just for their old friends to leave them behind…? This reminds him of something much too familiar.
“I wouldn’t ever leave you behind just because of that. That doesn’t matter to me, and nothing will change between us.”
Something in Mizuki wants to believe that that’s true, so badly, but they just can’t. Not yet. Not with how many times they’ve been betrayed.
When Rui notices Mizuki looking away and grabbing at their sleeve anxiously, he realizes what he probably should say as well.
“I myself don’t actually care about gender, or how to identify. None of that matters to me.”
Mizuki blinks. Huh?
“Wait wait. Are you… also?”
Rui smiles, “I don’t really have a label, although i’m also leaning on a more feminine side…”
Now Mizuki is flabbergasted. How did they not realize that Rui, the guy they’ve been hanging out with for about a month now, is trans?
“Ehh??!! I-I can’t believe I didn’t realize!” They yell, covering their mouth as a slight blush grew in their face. Honestly, Mizuki was a bit too happy at this news.
Maybe they did realize it but they kept pushing it away, because Mizuki truly thought there was no other person that could be like them…
“Fufu.. I also love to wear dresses. Frilly ones especially, I find them cute,” he adds, his signature chuckle, really doing it for Mizuki.
“H-hold on! Stop— I can’t take so much of this amazing news—!!” They exclaim, overwhelmed with joy.
Both are laughing now, as Mizuki can’t help the expression of joy that overwhelms them. Rui is really happy to see this Mizuki, it’s like they’ve been broken out of their shell.
“Can I— can I hug you Rui?” they squeak out.
“Hm? Of course,” he giggles.
Mizuki practically jumps onto Rui as they wrap their arms around him, holding him tight. “I don’t know why but— i’m really, really happy…”
Rui hugs them back as he feels his cheeks become warm. “So am I, this is a new chapter for us.”
It feels like forever when Mizuki breaks the hug, and the two sit on the ground together talking, enjoying their company like they’ve been all these weeks.
“Hey Mizuki, I have some pretty cute dresses that i’d love for you to try. I can also style your hair for you, that way you can see what you like if you’re up to it,”
Mizuki turns to Rui as their eyes are beaming. “R-Really?! I mean… I would like to try them out, yes…” they stutter, trying and also failing to hide their excitement.
Rui laughs “Alright. Tomorrow you can come over to my house, and we’ll give you a whole make over. In return you can give me one too ok?”
Mizuki smiles big, as they hug their knees looking to Rui lovingly. “Okay~ Thank you, Rui.”
They talk for hours after that, as sunset approaches.
—————
“I’m home Mom. I brought a friend,” Rui says as he kicks off his shoes, gesturing Mizuki to do the same.
Rui’s mom appears from the hallway with an apron on. It seems she was cooking,
“Rui, welcome home. This is Mizuki right? Hi! How cute~”
Mizuki blushes at the sudden praise and scratches their neck nervously. “Eheh.. hi Mrs. Kamishiro.”
“Rui told me about what you two are gonna do. I tried my best to find the cutest outfits I had… and Rui has a lot of clothes in his wardrobe.”
Rui hugs his mom, “Thank you mom.”
“You’re welcome baby, just make sure to clean up after yourself please.”
Mizuki notices that Rui pouts at the words “clean up” and can’t bring themself to stifle a laugh.
He grabs Mizuki’s hand and leads them upstairs.
When they enter Rui’s room, Mizuki is met with a mess. But a good mess. Dresses and skirts and shirts and all kinds of shoes are scattered, a make up set and other feminine things can be found.
“Uwah— this is all so cute~!!!” They squeal, jumping up and down. A particular dress that caught their attention was a red one. It was long, sparkly and sleeveless.
“May I try this one on? Please—!” They beg.
Rui laughs wholeheartedly, “Mizuki, this is your wardrobe too. Put on anything you’d like, there’s a little changing closet to your left.”
Mizuki thanks Rui about a hundred times before running into the closet.
While waiting, he notices the makeup kit, and gets an idea.
After Mizuki is done they’re actually rather shy to come out. “Rui… I don’t know…”
“Don’t be afraid, come on out. I know it looks good on you,” Rui reassures as he holds out a hand to lead Mizuki out the area.
Mizuki is still nervous but grows the courage to walk out, as the dress follows behind them.
Rui is astonished. Mizuki looks gorgeous in this dress, and he notices that they’re picking at it anxiously.
“Mizuki, you are absolutely beautiful. You should be more confident~ Look,” Rui hands them a larger mirror and lets them see what he means.
When Mizuki looks into the mirror they can’t help but stare in awe for a few seconds, and then cry.
As they cry, their smile is still there. “I’m me… i’ll always be me,” they sob out.
Rui hugs them, as he kisses their head. “You will always be you.”
Rui also does their hair for them and gives them a cute red lipstick. Even if it’s just a small side ponytail, Mizuki loves it. They fight the urge to cry again.
“Hey, Rui! You said I could give you a make over too!”
“Ah, I did say that. Do your best~” he says, clapping his hands together.
Mizuki ends up picking a shorter pink frilly dress with flowers on them, along with white stockings, and a big bow. “This will look super cute! Go go, put it on!” They say as they practically push Rui into the changing area.
“Okay okay, give me a sec.” he laughs.
After a few moments, he exits with a big smile on his face. Mizuki was right, it was super cute and made Rui feel extremely comfortable.
“Ahah!!! I told you, look how adorable you are!” Mizuki exclaims and holds Rui’s hands excitingly. Rui blushes as he gives a soft smile, “Thank you Mizuki…”
It’s Mizuki’s turn to style his hair too. They decide to go with pigtails, and put the bow up front. Rui fell in love with the finished product.
“Hey, Mizuki. Would you like to dance with me?” Rui asked, holding his hand out.
Mizuki laughs, the sound so carefree it makes Rui’s heart melt.
“You’re such a loser,” they tease as they grab his hand.
The two dance, and admittedly don’t have any rhythm at all… but they’re happy.
They’re happy, and that’s all that matters.