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shunzen
“Nii-chan?” He asked, tugging at his brother’s sleeve to catch his attention.
“Yeah?” Shunzen swiftly replied, lowering to the floor and kneeling beside him. Instead of staying like that, he picked Michizô up like he weighed nothing (oh, to be as strong as his big brother when he grew up) and smiled softly. “What is it, Michizô?”
Michizô hadn’t been called Michizô for very long at that point, and Shunzen had been the one who gave him the name when he asked for a new one-- a boy’s name, on top of that. And, yes, despite his short age, Michizô had gone to his brother with that request knowingly; he had yet to understand the whole scope of it, but he had already picked up enough to be aware of how his parents didn’t want to have much to do with him even on the best days, while Shunzen was the one who was always caring for him and his well-being. So, Shunzen it had been, back then and right now.
“They say they wanted two boys.” There was no one else but their parents he could be referring to with that, but Michizô pointed at their bedroom nonetheless to make it clear. “But they’re not happy with me being a boy.”
Having expected it, after all, didn’t mean he could fully comprehend it: shouldn’t they be glad, when their wish had come true?
“Yeah…” Holding him tighter, Shunzen let out a brief sigh. “Parents can be like that, Michi. You gotta be what they want how they want, and not in a different way.” He set one hand free, keeping Michizô steady with just a single arm, to ruffle his hair. “But it’s okay.”
“Well…” Michizô started out, frowning. “I don’t think they like me very much. But maybe they’d like me a bit more if I was a boy like you?” A boy people called a boy instead of a girl-- a boy who had the same body most boys had, which wasn’t Michizô’s case. “But maybe not even then.” After all, things hadn’t gotten better when telling his parents, but they hadn’t gotten worse either. So perhaps it didn’t matter who or what he was, but their demeanor towards them was due to something else entirely. “Dunno.”
“Well, dunno either, buddy.” Shunzen shrugged, going back to holding him with both arms. “But wanna know what I think?”
“Yeah.” Michizô lost no time in nodding.
“If they’re not gonna be happy, no matter what, then focus on making sure you’re happy, alright?”
In barely a heartbeat, Michizô nodded again.
“Thanks, nii-chan.”
What a cruel joke.
‘It should’ve been you instead. Not him.’
Those words seemed to have become a mantra inside the household ever since news of Shunzen’s passing at the frontlines had reached them, and of course they were always directed towards Michizô. It wouldn’t be possible, since Michizô was too young to go and fight-- Shunzen too should have been, maybe, but that wasn’t something he would fully get to think about until becoming older.
Shunzen should have been too young, and the ability user who was the eventual catalyst to his death definitely was, but one could guess no one in charge cared about ages when they needed people.
‘It should’ve been you!!!’
Had he been, would his parents have buried Michizô with his own name, or with the one they had given it at birth instead?
He was pretty sure about what the answer would be, and he didn’t like it.
fukuchi
“So, what’s your name, boy?”
Boy.
To be fair, not many people doubted that anymore ever since Tachihara had left his parents’ home, and whenever someone did he could just either tell them to fuck off or knock some sense into whoever treated him like a girl.
And yet this, somehow, was different.
Perhaps because he hadn’t had an adult seemingly accept it without questions ever; after all, Shunzen had barely been an adult in the first place.
“Tachihara, Tachihara Michizô.”
“There’s something more you have to know about this job, though.” Fukuchi then said, and his expression went from fun and approachable to downright serious; it wasn’t the first time Tachihara got to see him exhibiting such demeanor, though, for that was how he had looked at him when he got caught.
Funny, by the way, how he had gone from trying as hard as he could to go in the opposite direction Shunzen had picked to becoming a soldier himself too.
“Alright, what is it?”
“Becoming a Hunting Dog requires surgeries that will enhance your body, with the downside you need to the operation table every month to keep that body going.” Not grim at all. “This, though, comes with some perks.”
“Huh-- perks?” Right now, Tachihara couldn’t see anything besides the enhancement part. Though that was where explanations were for, right.
“Yeah, the post-op is merciful, and you can get any other kind of surgery with those monthlies.” Fukuchi shrugged. “Either needed or chosen, y’know.” Such phrasing gave little to no room for doubt, and thus Tachihara couldn’t help but glance down at his own chest for a while. Perhaps it would be a bit too soon yet, and still it was nice to know he had the option.
“Cool.” He swiftly replied, nodding. “I guess healthcare in general’s covered?”
“Of course, Tachihara-kun.” Now it was Fukuchi’s time to nod. “I don’t have firsthand experience with what you probably want, but you can ask the rest of the team about it.”
“Oh.” That was nice to know indeed.
“Also, you’re going to start out with a simpler version of the surgery, since monthly leaves can blow your cover.”
“Makes sense.” Tachihara agreed. The period excuse could always be a last-resort thing, but he would rather not out himself indiscriminately, now he had a choice in terms of who and when to tell.
tetchô
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.” Tetchô nodded. “Why?”
Every single of his new teammates, Tachihara had discovered rather quickly, was strange in quite a myriad of ways. Their captain was someone who had been famous for years now and it showed, not to mention his penchant for reminiscing old times from back before the war and his love for alcohol; all things that made sense given his background and experiences, but strange nonetheless. Teruko oscillated from very mature to very childish as fast as she could manipulate her or people’s ages with her ability, and that wasn’t without taking into account how scary she was when dealing with criminals. Such a taste for sadism was something she shared with Jôno, who apart from being a former criminal himself just like Tachihara was too, was always on the brink of berating anyone over bringing strong sensory disturbances to him-- especially when it came to sounds or smells.
And Tetchô… Tetchô was usually the source of those strong sensory disturbances which drove Jôno mad, especially given his thing about combining similar-colored foods. What struck Tachihara the most, though, wasn’t that or his surprising capacity to start working out anywhere.
It was how, for working out reasons but not limited to it, he had no qualms in getting his shirt off.
“I just can’t believe it’s so easy for you, I’m-- well, a tad jealous.” More than a tad, actually. “Like, I still struggle to go around without a binder, goin’ shirtless is unthinkable.” Tachihara then shrugged. “I mean, you’re you and I’m me, but you get me.”
“Well, I never had that issue.” Tetchô simply replied. Absolutely bonkers, if someone asked Tachihara, but well. “Less after I started gaining muscle consistently. That can already make your chest look like you want to even without surgery.”
Tachihara’s jaw dropped.
“And now you’re tellin’ me you look like that just by workin’ out, I may turn envy green in no time.”
“Why for?” Tetchô tilted his head, as if looking at him from a different angle would already bring out an answer. “I mean, you said you had your surgery scheduled already, and it’s not like there’s a secret workout routine that got me there either. In fact, I can show you, since it helps for after post-op too. To build shape and so on.”
“... Oh.” That made sense; for all his odd traits and whatnot, Tetchô was never one to keep secrets in general, let alone about workout in particular. In fact, he was always happy to help out with that. “Then please, and thanks.”
jôno
“How old were you on your first?” Tachihara wondered, making a point to keep glancing at Jôno’s hands while doing so; after all, he had asked him to both do it and teach him how instead of a medic for a reason-- or rather, two in one, for he had been seeking both the guidance and comfort of having someone used to doing that already. Sure, a medic could also help, but this was… different.
“More or less like you, actually.” Jôno replied, keeping the needle steady and making slow movements so he could take notes of how it was done.
“Oh. And did you have, like, any looks goals or--?” Or maybe the question was stupid, but there was also a chance that it wasn’t. At least, judging by the very normal sting he felt shortly after, he hadn’t upset Jôno. Or, if nothing else, not enough to earn himself a straight up stab in the process of getting that shot.
“Well, Tachihara-kun, I do care about how I look even if I can’t see it myself. And I wasn’t born blind either.” Once the process had been completed, he removed the needle.
“So it wasn’t dumb to ask.”
“Depends on how you chose to go about it.” Jôno smiled, as if to say the wrong phrasing would have gotten him in trouble. “Though you’re not dumb like some people, so I’d say you’d have fared well.”
“Did Tetchô-san ask the wrong question?” Tachihara couldn’t help but ask, wincing a little when Jôno frowned like he usually did when it came to Tetchô.
Heels deep in denial, Teruko called that attitude.
“For once, I wasn’t talking about him.” Instead of elaborating further on that, or answering whether he used to have any specific goal regarding his appearance back when he started his own journey or not, Jôno countered with a question of his own-- something Tachihara should have seen coming, given who he was talking to. “And are you aiming to look like someone, or a certain type of guy?”
“Hm…” He considered it for a moment. “I think not? Like, there’s stuff I wanna get like, a deeper voice and gettin’ to shave and all that. But I couldn’t simply pick up someone’s pic and say ‘Yeah, I wanna look just like or kinda like him’, y’know?”
“That’s more realistic.” Jôno said, pressing a cotton swab against the spot he had dug the needle in, and only stopping when Tachihara himself took over. “After all, you can dream, but you won’t end up looking like a movie star or famous athlete. If anything, you’re going to look like other men from your family: father, uncle, brother, grandfather… some other relative, even. Which, again, it’s more realistic.”
“I see.” Tachihara nodded. “Though I wouldn’t wanna look a lot like my dad, ‘cause… eugh.”
Ending up with an even more stark resemblance to Shunzen was another can of worms he wasn’t exactly ready to open either, but at least he wouldn’t have to stare at a similar image to the guy who contributed in telling him he shouldn’t be alive when he was five any time he used a mirror.
That sounded so fucking bleak.
teruko
“Do it, or I’ll turn you into a baby!” Teruko demanded, and he tried his best not to look bothered by the prospect of that even if it would be highly inconvenient.
Besides, Tachihara hadn’t been really planning to deny her request of a piggyback ride, not because he was particularly willing to oblige to any of Teruko’s whims but because he was more than well aware of his place as the rookie. Though, when back in the day it had been Shunzen who gave him piggyback rides to him instead, there was something about being the one acting like the older brother, even if the vicecaptain was still his senior despite looking younger.
“Alright, alright.” Tachihara said, kneeling so she could hop on and grab onto his shoulders as he supported her legs too. Then, he stood up and started moving, as he mulled over a question forming in his mind. “If you turned me into a baby, by the way, would that revert-- y’know, all changes in my body?”
He would technically be too young to worry about breasts, but still, it sounded uncomfortable to deal with.
“That depends.” Was Teruko’s answer, and he felt her shrug as best as she could without letting go. Not like she was at risk of falling in that case. “You’d look like you did as a baby, but you’d also keep some things, like scars or earrings. Hair dye too, obvi. The main issue it’s clothes if you shrink too much, like, you don’t get naked if I turn you older or just a tad younger, but what you’re wearing can become either too tight or too loose.”
“Well, that’s pretty cool.” He nodded. “Guess it’s the same if you make someone older, ‘cause if you don’t lose that stuff as a baby, why’d that happen if you get older, right?” Tachihara had never doubted it would be the case, to be honest.
“Right? So, if you ever wanna see how’d you kinda look as an old man…” Tachihara didn’t need to look to notice the mischievous expression in her face.
“Huh-- dunno.” At the moment, he really didn’t. But it could be interesting.