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Bokuto was anxiously awaiting Akaashi's arrival at the food court where they were supposed to meet before heading off the whatever stores within caught their attention, she had news for her friend, not that she thought Akaashi was going to react badly to her being trans, they were going to be the first person she told (besides her neighbors Akita, but she was pretty sure Hoshi did not count despite him being a very smart dog), she briefly wondered if this is how the then setter felt back in high school when they had come out as genderfluid to her. Bokuto decided to take a seat after a few minutes of pacing outside the food court, she was pretty early for their meeting, hoping the extra time to steel her nerves would do some good, so far Bokuto was now wondering if she should've suggested a cat cafe or something else with animals as a meeting place because at least then she would've had cute, fluffy creatures to calm her or a park where Bokuto could've asked to take Hoshi, her elder neighbor was happy to get help with the energetic dog when Bokuto wasn't swamped with Volleyball, the few times the other members of the MSBY Black Jackals had been over while Bokuto was watching Hoshi had proven that while most Akitas weren't exactly social butterflies, Hoshi was one, Bokuto had to stop Hinata from trying to permanently borrow the sweet and playful brindle dog. Bokuto didn't have long to reminisce about her favorite neighbor though as she saw Akaashi enter the food court looking absolutely beautiful, her blue eyes were surrounded by soft eyeliner, just enough to compliment her natural features, Bokuto quickly waved over her friend with a slightly louder voice than appropriate for inside "Keiji over here!". Akaashi didn't mind the sudden call though, simply offering a soft smile as they sat opposite to Bokuto at the table, "It's been a while Kotarou-san," Akaashi said as she sat down, voice as calm as ever, "Too long," Bokuto almost whined, "I'm glad we both finally had a day off, scheduling time together has been a nightmare," Bokuto said with exaggerated tiredness which Akaashi let out a small chuckle at, both were clearly happy to see each other, at least it was clear to everyone passing by the duo, their joy at being able to meet between hectic lives was almost able to be felt physically.
In between catching up with each other Bokuto and Akaashi managed to actually order from one of the food stalls they had been setting next to for about 30 minutes before remembering where they were, neither had gotten much- just a light snack before they started to shop together. Bokuto realized she should probably tell Akaashi the reason why she invited her out in the first place before they got lost in the ease of conversation between themselves again. "Keiji, there is something I've been wanting to tell you," Bokuto started, pausing to take a breath, Akaashi let out a hum of acknowledgement, focusing her attention completely on Bokuto "I realized a little bit ago that I am trans, I would like to be referred to as a woman from now on," Bokuto let out a sigh of relief after telling Akaashi who simply smiled at Bokuto "I'm proud of you for telling me Kotarou-san, please let me know if you wish to go by a different name now,", Akaashi voice was gentle, they were the perfect first person to tell (well besides the dog as mentioned before...) always a steady prescience in her life since they met in high school, "Kotaro, is still fine, Keiji," Bokuto was happy that this didn't change their dynamic but she knew it would be fine, it wasn't like Akaashi to be hypocritical "Y'know you're the first person I've told, besides Hoshi if you count him," Bokuto said with a jovial glint in her eyes, "I would count him, he ranks above a lot of people on the goodness scale and I ask Latte her option on projects I am editing so I say he counts," Akaashi said in a serious tone causing Bokuto to laugh, she had only met Latte a couple of times as the calico kitten wasn't even a year old yet, Akaashi had gotten her only six months ago as a recently weaned kitten, she was full of energy but was just as content to watch her owner work as she was to play, despite preferring dogs Bokuto found the kitten to be cuter than anything and was always happy to play with her while visiting Akaashi.
After finishing their quick lunch Bokuto and Akaashi started to go around to the many different stores within the mall, first to an electronics store to pick up a new mouse for Akaashi- Latte had apparently broken her other one trying to catch a bug, then to the pet store originally just to pick up a few cans of Latte's favorite wet food, but Bokuto had seen a relatively derpy dog toy modeled after the MSBY Black Jackal's mascot and decided that Hoshi needed one so of course she immediately grabbed one much to the amusement of Akaashi. The final store they decided to stop at was a newly opened small clothing store, despite the small size of the store there was no shortage of clothes- there was many different styles of clothing, some even modeled after clothing popular in other countries. As they browsed the store Bokuto came across a pale-yellow sundress, gingerly she reached out to touch it, caressing the fabric gently as if to test the feeling against her skin, Akaashi laid their hand on her shoulder briefly startling her, "Look Kotarou-san, they have one in navy too, we could match," Akaashi said holding the dress against herself and Bokuto felt her breath leave her at the idea, warmth settling into her chest, "I'd like that," Bokuto finally managed to respond after a moment of silence that both felt like forever and no time at all to her "I'd like that a lot," Akaashi smiled at her and Bokuto understood one thing: she has something else to discuss with Akaashi, the fact she has realized that she feels something beyond strictly platonic feelings for them but that can wait, she wants to bask in their mini shopping spree first.