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Tashiro Gonzaburou here, and I was finally going on break! This year’s cultural festival had been insanely busy, and I hadn’t even had time to think about what to check out. I at least knew I wanted to support Kuresawa in the drag contest. And expertly avoid Hanzawa, wherever he was wandering. (I was actually surprised he hadn’t found me yet.) And maybe get some cotton candy.
The rain had caused a few hiccups for the contest, since we usually held it in the courtyard, but they were thankfully able to move the venue indoors. Shirahama was gonna tag along too, he just had to finish up his shift and catch up in a few minutes. I went ahead and meandered toward the venue; the show had already started but I was pretty sure we had some time until Kuresawa’s number was up.
The air was damp with the last remnants of rain as I wove my way through the crowd. I wanted to actually get close enough to see the hard work everyone put into their performances. It was tough stuff! Helping Miyano last year and Kuresawa this year really made me appreciate what girls gotta go through. Or guys dressing up as girls, I guess.
At least normal girls don’t have to rehearse lines. I think.
Speaking of girls—Is that…? I’d never seen that hairstyle in any of the pictures I’d been shown, but I was almost positive—”No way, Kuresawa’s girlfriend?!”
I said it loud enough to get her attention over the hum of the crowd and ongoing contest. She turned a few times and eventually saw me, recognition dawning on her face. “Huh? Oh! You’re Tasuku’s friend! Tashiro-kun, right?—”
“Fujimi-san, right?—”
“—Oh, yes!”
“—Ah, yeah!”
We stumbled over each other’s words, laughing a bit at the mishap. I was surprised she recognized me, but I guess it’s not that strange for your friend’s girlfriend to have seen pictures of their friends. Anyway, Kuresawa was right, she really was cute—her hair was a bit shorter than some of the pictures I’d seen, maybe about shoulder length, and it was half tied-up into two space buns. I’d only known the term because it was the same hairstyle Kuresawa was wearing for the contest. Aw, they match!
“Glad you could make it! Kuresawa told us he invited you, but I wasn’t expecting to run into you like this, haha!” I didn’t know the details, but Kuresawa had mentioned how she was usually cooped up in the hospital, so it was up in the air whether or not she could actually come. She honestly didn’t give the sickly impression at all, especially in person. She practically glowed with life.
“Yeah, me too!” She smiled brightly, and I silently cursed Kuresawa for having such a cute girlfriend. It was like I could hear him monologuing about her in real time.
The girl up on stage finished up her performance, and the announcer spoke up again, “Up next, please welcome to the stage, Entry Number 13, Tasuko!”
The crowd around us burst into applause. I clapped as loud as I could while Fujimi brought a hand to her mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle that I wouldn’t have believed came from her if I hadn’t just seen her do it. She giggled at the way it made me and a few others around us jump, and I could feel my face heat up a little in embarrassment. She really was cute. I shook it out of my head. Don’t get any funny ideas, stupid.
As we settled down, I said, “Ahh, yeah, he’s definitely pretty enough to win this.” It kind of slipped out before I could stop myself. If I’d thought about it a second longer I would’ve realized how downright embarrassing that sounded, especially to Kuresawa’s girlfriend, but Fujimi didn’t seem to take much notice.
“Yeah, I actually gave him some make-up tips!” She grinned again, radiating a confidence I never noticed from her pictures. She has so much energy, you’d seriously never guess she’s hospitalized so often… The Kuresawa in my head adjusted his glasses in judgement.
“Woah, for real? That’s awesome!”
“Hee-hee, thanks!” she giggled lightly again, a clear tone I suddenly felt like I could pick out of any crowd. “But yeah, he is really pretty, even without the whole get-up.”
I shifted my weight a bit. “Yeah, guess so,” I sighed, shoving my hands in my pockets and turning the rest of my attention to Kuresawa’s performance. He elegantly answered rehearsed questions with this cute-but-regal aura, like he was serving on a royal court or something. His outfit shined in the stage lights, and he kept making peace signs and hearts with his hands. He was also smiling a lot more than he usually did. But Fujimi seemed a little fidgety, and she kept glancing at me weirdly. Did I say something wrong?
Suddenly, after Kuresawa made his exit, Fujimi spoke up, “Um, Tasuku told me you tried to flirt with him the first time he crossdressed.” She said it quick and unsure, wringing her hands.
Well that was out of nowhere!
“Wha—?!” I floundered, “I, no, I—Uh, I mean, I guess?” What kind of comment was that?! I had half a mind to think it was targeted. I was mostly over the embarrassment I had felt back then, but it still stung when someone I’d just properly met brought it up. And so suddenly, too! Fujimi stared at me, and she had the gall to look almost as embarrassed as I felt. “I thought he was a cute girl! You think he’s attractive, too, you can’t blame me! Why’d he even tell you…” I grumbled.
Fujimi looked—to say bewildered would be to put it lightly—she looked like a fish out of water, eyes wide and mouth agape. She stared at me like that for a second, blinking it away with only the slightest strain in her voice when she said, “Yeah, you’re right, he is pretty attractive.”
* * *
A few more minutes and contestants passed as we watched. We made comments to each other about how that guy clearly wasn’t trying and she's really pretty (but not as pretty as Kuresawa). I told her about how Miyano had ranted about how big, muscular guys should crossdress, which made her start coughing weirdly. That reaction reminded me of Miyano too; if I remembered correctly, they both liked that BL stuff…? Maybe it was related to that. Well, whatever.
At last, Shirahama found us. He sure took his sweet time catching up to me. “Finally, there you are—” he started.
“I should say the same thing to you! What took you so long, man? You already missed Kuresawa.”
He ignored me, instead staring at Fujimi. “—A girl?” He looked dumbfounded, like he’d seen an alien rather than the thing that made up half the population.
Seriously?
I elbowed him. “Yeah, it’s Kuresawa’s girlfriend, Fujimi-san! Don’t look so surprised!”
“Ooh, I see,” he drawled, “I just thought it was weird for a girl to be hanging out with you, Tashiro.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!”
He brushed past me. “Sorry about him, Fujimi-san, he’s always this stupid.”
“No, no, not at all!” Fujimi giggled again. Her eyes darted back and forth between us; she kinda seemed excited for some reason.
I shot back, “Hey, you’re the one who basically drooled over seeing her! Ooh, I’m Shirahama and I’ve never seen a real girl.”
I’d really stepped in it now. “Y’know, Tashiro hit on Kuresawa before. While we were at our all-boys school, too. Seriously stupid.” I could hear the tease in Shirahama’s voice. Tough luck, I’d accepted Tasuko’s cuteness, and I was totally over it. Yeah, it was embarrassing the girl I hit on was actually my guy friend, but who cared! People hit on girls and guys all the time!
“Oh, yes, I know! Tasuku told me all about it!” Fujimi smiled, that slight strain back in her voice.
“Yeah, we already talked about it,” I said through gritted teeth.
“…Alas. Well, it’s never too late to join your beloved Tasuko like we planned. It would be so romantic.”
“Whaddaya mean ‘planned?!’ We—you entertained the idea once! It wasn’t even my idea!” I could tell Shirahama was just trying to get her to think weirdly of me.
“What do you think, Fujimi-san? Wouldn’t Tashiro-chan look good?”
“Oh! Umm…” She jumped at being suddenly brought into our banter, but she quickly set to inspecting me. She was surprisingly intense about it. It was embarrassing, but it wasn’t like I could run away or tell her to stop. I could only hope my face didn’t look too stupid. “Hmm… Yeah, I can see it.”
Shirahama, with a smug grin, went, “Right?”
I, involuntarily, slipped, “Really?”
I couldn’t explain why, but the thought of participating in the contest always seemed to make my skin crawl. Not in a bad way, I don’t think. I had nothing against the idea, but something about me doing it just felt… off. The fact that Fujimi could see me doing it made my stomach turn in disbelief.
Fujimi nods, “Mhm! I don’t even think you’d need much make-up, plus your hair is already pretty long!” She brushed the ends of my hair, light enough that I wouldn’t have even noticed if I didn’t see her do it. I ran my own fingers through my hair, drowning the memory.
“That’s what I've been saying!” Shirahama piped up.
I frowned a bit and stared back at the stage. “Huh. Cool.”
* * *
We eventually fell back into friendly banter about the contest. Fujimi and Shirahama bonded over talking about the contestant’s hair and make-up. We also talked about how we’d all helped Kuresawa prepare and how Shirahama did Kuresawa’s wig. He’d always been a bit fussy about appearances, and it actually paid off this time.
There was a short break after the final contestant while they gathered the last of the votes and tallied them. The announcer eventually returned to the stage and quieted the audience, speaking in a low, dramatic tone, “And this year’s winner is… Tasuko~!” Cheers broke out, and Fujimi nearly started jumping up and down. She bounced on her toes and let loose more of those high-pitched whistles while Shirahama and I clapped and cheered as loud as we could. “Now let's hear a word from this year’s winner!”
Kuresawa stepped forward from the lineup of girls and grabbed the microphone. “I dedicate this victory to my girlfriend, who I love more than anyone else in the universe!” He made a heart with his fingers and smiled brightly. It almost looked like he was looking right at Fujimi, but we were sure he couldn’t pick her out from that far away without his glasses. Unless he had some sort of girlfriend superpower. Which wasn’t actually that unlikely…
Kuresawa’s smile softened as he continued matter-of-factly, “She’s the very axis upon which my world turns.” Fujimi buried her face in her hands, glowing with a blush all the way to her ears. I could feel the secondhand embarrassment radiating from her. The crowd took it as an overdramatic joke and laughed it off, but I knew he was always deadly serious when it came to his girlfriend. Meeting her here, I could really see why.
Soon after the contestants were dismissed, Kuresawa somehow made a beeline right towards us. Maybe the girlfriend superpower thing was more right than I’d thought. I suddenly felt like I’d been spotted by a predator, but it was already too late to run. I wasn’t sure how kindly he’d take to any guy hanging out with his girlfriend, even if we were friends. Hell hath no fury like a Kuresawa scorned, I thought. Shirahama even decided to cower behind me.
“What are you doing with my girlfriend, Tashiro.”
“Tasuku, don’t be so serious!” Fujimi scolded.
Kuresawa looked grim. “This is exactly what I was worried about.”
I put my hands up in a show of pacifism. “Uh, congrats on winning! You really rock the cute look! Those other girls couldn’t hold a candle!” I’d meant it as a normal compliment (and a distraction from being mad at me), but Kuresawa and Fujimi suddenly grabbed each other’s arms and looked back and forth between each other and me, eyes wide. I also could’ve sworn they were blushing. It was kinda funny how in sync they were, especially with the matching hairstyles. But was my compliment really so weird?
I tried again, “I think the only one here prettier than you would be Fujimi-san.”
Shirahama confirmed my suspicions with a light elbow to the side and a gruff, “You say too much.” I laughed him off, and the whole bit seemed to help Kuresawa and Fujimi lighten up. They returned to normal conversation; Fujimi complimented Kuresawa a lot, and her voice and demeanor seemed a lot more relaxed. Such is the power of love…
I offered to take some pictures of them—they really looked good together. With Kuresawa dressed up like this, they kind of reminded me of that… what was it called… those books the old ladies at the bathhouse liked to read? About the two girls? I should tell them about this next time I see them.
“Well,” Shirahama eventually sighed and stretched, “I guess we oughta leave you two lovebirds to your date. You guys have fun. C’mon, Tashiro.” He grabbed my arm and began to drag me away.
I’m not that dense, geez! I pulled my arm away and turned to say a proper goodbye.
“Oh, yeah, we’ll leave you alone now! It was nice to meet you, Fujimi-san! Take care of Kuresawa for us!” I bowed and waved, and Kuresawa seemed to turn away in embarrassment.
“You too! Thanks for hanging out with me. And thank you for being his friends!” Fujimi replied. I could see the tips of Kuresawa’s ears turn red with that. Fujimi laughed and waved back, turning to go with Kuresawa. The last thing I saw was their fingers gently weaving and shoulders bumping as they walked away, whispering to each other.
Shirahama shivered, mumbling something about how people in love made him feel sick.
I agreed.