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"How's Kousaku?" Yamazaki set a bag of presents on the counter. He turned to Akira who was beginning to engross himself in a book.
"'Kousaku'?" Akira asked absentmindedly.
"The young boy who's studying so he can get to see the girl he liked? You know, the one who keeps staying up way too late?"
"Ohhh! You mean Kunikooo~"
"'Kuniko'?"
"Yep! She's not a boy, she's a lovely young woman!" Akira hummed happily, flipping through his book. "She said I could tell you, so don't worry about me telling you right now. She trusts you, you know."
"Alright... well, how's she doing?"
"She's doing great! She's very good at memorization and learning. She has the same lust for learning that I do!"
"That's nice to hear." Yamazaki sifted through his presents. "I got her some fancy notebooks and gel pens so she can take more notes."
"You changed quickly."
"Huh?" He turned back to Akira who was still flipping through his book.
"The pronouns you use to refer to her. You changed them quickly."
Yamazaki looked out the window to the backyard where all the kids played with each other. "Well, it's easy. I practiced with you and Kurai. So, I'm used to switching pronouns quickly."
Akira chuckled and stood up to look out the window alongside him. "You're very accepting, Makoto."
"Like I said, I learned with you and Kurai. So, of course I am."
"Just because we're trans doesn't mean you'd be accepting."
"Fair point, but I also grew up with you guys too. So, it's almost like, it made sense to me growing up."
Akira hummed and walked to the living room with Yamazaki following after him. When they arrived, they saw the living room was a mess. There were toys everywhere and books strewn about, and Akira chuckled.
"I guess they all take after me in different ways."
"Clearly... come on, we should get this straightened up."
Yamazaki began cleaning up the living room while Akira watched him as he did, smiling softly.
"Are you going to help?
"I think you're better at cleaning than me."
"IYou know, you can learn."
Akira laughed. "Fine. I suppose I can help you, Makoto~"
He began helping Yamazaki clean up the mini-mess in the living room. They were nearly finished when Kuniko walked down the stairs. She looked at the scene and smiled at Akira before turning to Yamazaki.
"Oh, Yamazaki-san's here?"
"Hey there, Kuniko."
Her eyes lit up and she gasped quietly before sharply turning to Akira. He flashed her a smile and stood up straight.
"What? Kuniko iiiis your name, isn't it?"
"Um! Yeah! It is!"
She joined them and they were soon done with cleaning up the living room. Akira clasped a hand on Kuniko's shoulder.
"Your entrance exams are today, aren't they?"
"Oh, yeah they are! They're about to start, that's why I came down here."
"Well then, let's head out."
Akira led her out to his car, and they drove to Hyakki Academy. They watched many incoming students walk up to the school, ready and excited to take their entrance exam for the school.
"Akira-san, I have a question..."
"Hhmmm?"
"In the case of a student... who..."
"Is transgender?"
Kuniko looked away. "Yeah... what would happen... in terms of... ah..."
"Uniforms?"
"Yeah..."
"You'd get a girl's uniform, don't worry."
She looked over at him, playing with the hem of her skirt. "H... How do you know?"
Akira smiled brightly at her. "Becaaauuse the principal gave me a boy's unifoooorm when I requeeested it."
"Oh!" She looked straight ahead. "Okay."
"Yep!"
She looked up at the daunting, six-floor high school. "Thank you for driving me here, Akira-san!"
"Of course, Kuniko!" He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Goood luck!"
"Thank you again!"
She hopped out of the car and ran up to the school. Akira smiled as she ran, humming before leaning back in his seat. He pulled out a book and nodded to himself, smiling even brighter.
"She's good. She will be good."
"Akira-san!"
He looked up and saw Kuniko tapping on the glass gently. He smiled up at her and unlocked the door, letting her in.
"All finished?"
"Yep!" She stepped into the car and leaned into the seat.
"Was it stressful?"
"No... no, not really."
"That's nice to hear!" Akira chuckled. "You got my intelligence! It passed off to you!"
"You didn't make me, Akira-san."
"Well, I made your body and put you inside, didn't I?"
They both giggled together, at each other.
"Well... do you want to go get some ice cream?"
"For what?"
"Because you just did something amazing!"
Kuniko looked away. "...That sounds nice. Th-"
"You don't need to thank me all the time, you know."
"...Alright."
The drove to a small ice cream shop, and Akira bought her a strawberry ice cream and bought himself a pomegranate one.
"You like pomegranates, Akira-san?"
"Yeah... Ah, they're good, but I mostly like cutting them for other people." He looked away. "More like cutting them open instead of people..."
"Really?"
"Yep... I really like cutting pomegranates..."
"Huh..."
Akira smiled, hoping she wouldn't prod any further and she thankfully didn't. Rather, she began eating her ice cream happily before seemingly remembering something and slowed down, looking at the ground.
"I didn't see her..."
"Rumi?"
"Yeah... I didn't see her at the entrance exam..."
"Maybe she was in a different area for the exam. I know Yamazaki-kun and I were in different places. According to Yamazaki, I was inconsolable upon learning this fact, and he needed to walk me to the classroom before he went to his classroom."
Kuniko chuckled gently. "Maybe she was in a different classroom... thanks, Akira-san."
"Of course~!"
A few days later, Kuniko received her test results and she... she...
"Utagawa-san scored full marks?!"
"She's just incredible, isn't she?!"
"Even you couldn't do that!"
Kuniko giggled quietly. "Really?"
"I nearly got full marks... however, I am not good at literature."
"You aren't?"
Yamazaki sighed. "He's bad at knowing how characters feel in stories."
"I just think Melos wanted his best friend to get metal limbs so that he can be stronger and Melos could spend a bit more time being thorough in everything that he needed to do!"
"...Oh..."
"Yeah. He got the highest scores in everything, but Japanese Literature. He had the worst scores for the free space part."
"It surpriiiised my classmates sooo much!"
"It still surprises me to this day..."
"Well... this is good!" Kuniko smiled brightly. "I'll see Rumi, tell her who I am, how felt and how much I love her and... yeah!"
"That's great, Utagawa!"
"Yeah, Kunikooo!"
Kuniko walked to her room and stared at her calendar.
"Now, I just need to wait..."
Waiting...
Waiting more...
And ever more...
And then the day came.
Kuniko made her way to the school, stopping by the front office first. She was told to meet there with the principal due to her perfect score. She was excited, she was happy, she was so impressed with herself! She was studying for 9 years just to make it to this point!
"The other student who got a perfect score should be on his way just about now."
As the principal spoke, the student in question walked in. He wore the school uniform and when Kuniko turned to him, she instantly recognized the singular eye and brown hair from anywhere.
It was Ru-
"Oh, hello. I'm Nyuudou Rensuke, nice to- woah!"
Kuniko didn't know why he exclaimed at her, until she reached up and wiped her cheeks.
She was crying.
"Oh... oh, sorry! I was just remembering... I saw my father wearing women's underwear yesterday!"
"Oh! Uh... sorry?" Rensuke looked the other way. "I learned her dad's kink before I learned her name..."
She wiped her eyes and looked straight at Rensuke.
And then she couldn't speak. It was like cotton was stuffed in her mouth down to her throat. It was impossible to get a single word out.
"Ah... I wanted to see him so much... but I can't say anything! I can't say anything to him right now... Dammit! Why... why can't I say it! I like you, I'm sorry, I know you, I'm... I..."
She gave him an empty smile. "I'm Utagawa Kuniko."
"I'm such a coward."
"It's nice to meet you, Nyuudou-kun."