Spoiler TW: N/A

  [colpse]"That was fun." Julia said, plopping down right beside me and crossing one leg over the other.

  The afternoon club meeting was basically over, and we were spending the st few minutes just talking with each other. Amber and Mr. Robert were cleaning up the leftovers of our recent activity with the help of Aung Gigi, and JJ remained at the counter, writing something with the stuff Julia had given him. Yeah, today was pretty fun, despite the sudden and unwanted ambush from Amber earlier.

  "I had a chance to talk to JJ," Julia whispered, leaning in close. "He should really be thinking about it seriously now. I don't know where or when, but if he's ever ready to talk about it, you should be ready to lend an ear if the time comes."

  Oh...

  "Okay, well... What should I say?" I sat up straighter in my seat, listening for any advice she was willing to give me.

  "Honestly? I think you'll be fine. You handled me and Leon's situation pretty well. There were some small hiccups... But, yeah, do what feels natural to you. Give your love and support. And, most importantly, listen to what they say.

  She gave me a gentle pat pat on the shoulder, then got up to join Tanisha, who was still pyfully teasing Leon. I took in a deep breath as I watched her go.

  Alright. Just give it some time.

  "I'm about to try on the outfits I brought over. Leon," I asked. His head snapped over to me immediately when I called his name.

  "Uh, yeah? What's up?"

  Hmm...?

  I tilted my head and squinted at him, curious. Leon seemed... nervous?

  "Just wanted to ask if you have an extra binder that I could use?"

  He instantly perked up. "Oh! Yeah, I got another one!"

  Leon jumped up and darted back to the room he first changed in. He quickly returned with a pstic bag in hand.

  "Here you go. It might be a bit too small... But, yeah. Here." He stuttered, handing it over to me.

  "Cool, thanks. I'll wash it and bring it back to you."

  "Why do you even need one of those anyway? You're using the magical girl cospy this weekend, right?" Tanisha asked.

  I simply cheekily at her and she caught on right away.

  "No... The basketball one? Why?! I thought we agreed not to use that one again!"

  "Rex," I said as I walked down the hall. "It's just for fun.

  I think I saw Julia raise an eyebrow at that as I left, so I quickly shook my head at her as I went on my way. My steps faltered for a second. JJ was standing at the entrance to the hallway, hands csped together as he stared down at the floor. My footsteps broke through his strange trance he was stuck in. He looked up to me, his eyes wanting to ask me a question.

  "Can I go with you?" He asked, tightly wringing his hands. It was practically a whisper, like he was afraid that someone would be listening in.

  "Yeah, sure. Come on." I didn't even hesitate. I grabbed him gently by the shoulders and spun him around. At the same time, I gnced back at our group. Had anybody else seen us?

  Julia was the only one to catch my eye directly. She held out a hand, confusion and worry on her face, as if to ask, 'what just happened?'.

  'I have no idea.' I shrugged silently to her as we both disappeared down the hallway. JJ led the way to the same room where Leon had changed earlier. It was also where we stored everything that we had brought with us today. After JJ opened the door, he made a beeline over to the only chair at the desk and turned it to face the wall.

  "I'll sit here and look this way, so you can do whatever you need to do." He said, sitting in the chair. He sat there for a few seconds, not saying anything, so I moved over to the two outfits I had prepared before coming over here today. They were both neatly id out on the bed in front of me.

  "Okay. Let me know if you need anything from me. Even if you just want to talk, alright?"

  "Mhm." He grunted and lowered his head.

  I faced the bed once again and removed the extra binder from the bag. Pulling the shirt over my head, I held it out before me.

  Yeah... Leon was right. It's definitely smaller than what I'm used to. I'll have to get my own one day.

  "Your friends are... different?" JJ suddenly asked.

  "Hmm? What do you mean?"

  JJ turned his head slightly, then quickly realized his mistake and turned back.

  "I-I mean... You never talked about your friends... Um. I meant to say, they are really not what I expected." He sighed as he finished.

  I think I get what he was trying to say. I've only ever talked about Tanisha and Chu whenever I mentioned my friends, and I've literally just met Julia and Leon a few days ago. It would be a bit shocking to see people I had never talked to him about.

  Hm...

  I pulled on the red and bck jersey as I thought up a response.

  Huh. I'm almost entirely ft. Interesting. But it is a little tight.

  "Well... My friends are a little different from what I told you about them. But they are still my friends. Even if they change a bit.

  I noticed JJ squirming in the chair as I continued to get dressed. Honestly, there wasn't too much to go along with this outfit, so I was practically done. I smoothed out any creases I found as I made my way over to the desk JJ was sitting at, startling him a bit.

  "Rex," I told him. "Just putting on the finishing touches."

  I pulled up the box of makeup from next to the desk and went to work. A little eye liner here. Some eye shadow there. All of this I did while JJ watched me from the corner of his eye.

  "And the st thing..." I said, pulling up a bag as well. I reached in, taking out the dark blue wig and meticulously adjusting it so it would sit comfortably on my head. I pulled back and gave myself a final once-over in the mirror. Done!

  Now, how did that character sound again...

  I turned to face JJ, who, when seeing me face his direction, quickly snapped back to face the wall. I cleared my throat loudly while trying to remember how this particur character spoke to people.

  "What do you think?" I asked him, speaking in a deeper, but softer voice than I was used to.

  JJ slowly spun around; a curious eyebrow raised.

  "What... Are you doing?" He asked me.

  I put a hand to my chin and went to look in the mirror again.

  "Hmm... That bad, huh? I know it wasn't perfect, but..."

  "No... Why are you doing that? With your voice?"

  "Oh. Just exploring. Y'know, I've worn this outfit a few times before, but I never thought about what it would feel like to be a guy. It just wasn't on my mind like that. And now that I'm thinking like that..." I stared into my reflection for a long moment.

  "Meh." I don't think I really felt anything about it.

  JJ's face was scrunched up in confusion.

  "You? Why would you be thinking about something like that?" He said with a tilt of his head.

  "Hey, there's a lot of people that question their gender. What, did you think only certain people thought about things like that? Gender Dysphoria doesn't discriminate."

  I stepped back from the mirror, satisfied with the outcome.

  "Besides, there's nothing wrong with exploring. If you don't like it, then you can move on. It's not a big deal."

  JJ didn't say anything else, just continuing to stare at the wall in front of him. So I took the opportunity to admire my handy work further and looked up a few scenes of the character so I could understand his cadence a little better.

  "Okay. I'm good! Come on."

  I held the door open, waiting for JJ to slowly rise up from the chair. He took his sweet time walking over to me, and when he finally made it to the door, he just... stood there in front of me.

  "Yeah?"

  He looked up from the floor, his eyes meeting mine. I could tell he wanted to say something.

  "I'm all ears," I said, tilting my head towards him. "No pressure. I'm always avaible to talk if you want."

  He did look like he was going to say something, he was doing that thing where his mouth flopped open while he battled with whether to say what was on his mind or not.

  "Hmph." And on he went down the hallway.

  Well, Julia did say he would tell someone when he was ready and to give him some time.

  I shrugged and followed after him.

  When I got to the living room, everyone turned to look at me all at once. They seemed to like it. Well, everyone except Tanisha, who visibly cringed at me. But that only made me smile. Besides, I knew that she was joking. Maybe.

  Showtime.

  Once again, I cleared my throat and reached up to run a hand through my now dark blue bangs. With a quick sweep from left to right, my fingers combed through my hair. And with a flick, I tilted my head backwards, an apathetic look on my face.

  "Oi! Tanisha..." I huffed out in that same low, but soft voice. "Move your ass. We're not losing this game because of you."

  "Eugh..." She responded by making a clearly overexaggerated retching noise. Leon reeled back and punched her in the arm. Julia tried her best not to ugh at them. I smirked. That was the reaction I expected of them.

  "Ohh...! Haven't seen you before. Hey nephew!" My aunt walked over and slung an arm over my shoulder. She quirked an eyebrow, as if to ask me 'What's going on?'.

  "Hey. Don't get any funny ideas," I told her, rolling my eyes. I also pointed over at the couch where everyone was sitting. "And you guys too. Just wanted to try it out. That's all."

  "Oh, I know. You just want to torment me."

  "No one's trying to torment you, Tanisha." Leon replied. "You look great! How's the binder feel?"

  I held my arms out to my sides and twisted a few times, just to get a feel on the binder again.

  "Hmmm. Not bad. A little tight. But I don't hate it. Do want to get my own one day. Ah, for cospy purposes obviously." I pointed out.

  "Sure, sure." Julia waved my comment off.

  "Hey everyone," Amber said, walking back through the front door. "Didn't want to ruin your fun and all, but Leon has a very strict curfew, and we've got to get him home asap."

  Leon frowned, defting at the announcement. "Yeah... I better go. It's a miracle that we were able to talk them into letting me do this at all." He pushed up off the couch and walked down the hall we had just came from.

  Mr. Robert cpped his hands together to get our attention. "Meeting adjourned?" He questioned.

  "Yup. Meeting over people!" Amber decred, and each of us split up to clean and gather our things. After everything was put away, Leon came back out of the room wearing the blouse and skirt from before. He wordlessly grabbed his things and headed over to Mr. Robert's car.

  While I continued to move things to Aunt Gigi's car, I noticed JJ tugging at Julia's sleeve. She tilted her head at him while he quietly whispered something to her. She smiled all of a sudden, motioning towards Leon as he helped us pack. they then went into a deeper, but even more quiet conversation.

  "What are they up to now?" Tanisha asked as she pulled up next to me.

  "Dunno. But I think it's helping?"

  Leon brushed past us at that moment. He wordlessly handed the pstic bag full of clothes over to Julia.

  "I got it. I'll bring something else to your locker tomorrow, as always."

  He silently nodded once, then moved to help us clean up. Julia left JJ alone to finish packing her things into the car. He stood there for a moment, deep in his own thoughts. Then, with a sudden spring to his step, he dashed over to the kitchen counter where the markers and paper he was using before sat. He quickly grabbed a marker and scribbled something onto the paper.

  I admit, I was a little curious. I handed what I was holding over to Tanisha, who didn't appreciate the extra chores I had pushed onto her and strode over to him.

  "Whatcha doin'?" I asked as I peered over his shoulder.

  Oh! It was one of our custom badge papers that we were working with today. Hm... He had written something in one of the circles. Hi! My na-

  I only caught a glimpse of whatever he had scribbled, before he frantically spped the paper away in the opposite direction, it sliding across the counter and onto the floor.

  "What?!" He barked at me.

  I held up my hands in surrender, just to show him I didn't mean to snoop, and took a retreating step back.

  "My bad..."

  He gred at me for a few seconds. I guess he was trying to see it I was being genuine or not?

  "Sorry..." His annoyed look relented, repced with an apologetic one. He didn't wait for a reply, sliding off of the stool he sat on and picking up the paper off the floor. He held it tight in his hands, then folded it a few times and shoved it in his pocket.

  "C'mon people! We only got so much day light." Aunt Gigi came back from her room, keys in hand, and she made her way out to the car. She paused when she saw me.

  "You not going to change?"

  Yeah, I was still wearing the outfit.

  "I can change at home." I shrugged.

  "Don't wear the binder for too long," Julia pointed out. "If you're gonna keep one on you, try it on for an hour or so until you get used to it."

  I rolled my eyes at her. "Whatever. Like I said, it's for every once in a while."

  "Sure~."

  We finished loading everything in the car after all of the cleaning and we drove off. We waved goodbye to Leon, Amber and Mr. Robert as we drove off in opposite directions. I took the rare opportunity to tease Tanisha all the way over to her pce. It was a once in a lifetime chance, and I needed to take advantage of it fully. She was really annoyed with me by the time we dropped her off at home. I would definitely regret it ter. Julia and I talked with each other on the way to her pce with the occasional interjection from Aunt Gigi.

  "Welp, here's my stop." Julia gathered her things up in her arms and pulled the car door open. She turned back to me before she left, locking eyes with me. She pced one hand over mine and moved even closer to me, right up to my ear.

  "Remember. Give him some time to think. Be there for him if he's ever ready, Okay?"

  "Gotcha," I whispered, slipping her a sneaky 'thumbs up'. "I'll let you know if something ever happens. See you tomorrow?"

  She nodded and pulled away from me.

  "Bye Ms. Gigi, JJ. It was nice to meet the both of you." Julia said, her usual charisma returning. She shut the door and waved goodbye as she walked to her front door. We didn't leave until we were sure she had gotten inside her house safely. Our st stop was just a block down the street and I was still feeling a tiny bit pyful, so I reached forward and jabbed a finger at the back of JJ's head. He did flinch and send a gre my way. But I just smiled.

  No snarky remark or angry compint came from him. It seemed to disarm him, and he just faced back to the front again. In no time at all we were at our driveway.

  "Okay, people. Go on, get some rest. And Maya," she looked at me through the rearview mirror. "Can you call your mother out here."

  "Yeah, I got you."

  It took me a bit to wrangle all of my things together, so I only had to make one trip. So it didn't surprise me when JJ stepped out of the house with mom in tow.

  "Girl~ Why are you wearing that?" Mom asked. Her eyes scanned my body, eyebrows scrunched in amusement. "And what happened to your-" She flicked a finger in the general direction of my chest.

  "It's a binder. See!" I lifted the bottom of my cospy jersey to show her.

  "Ooh! I can see how that would be useful." She said, holding a finger to her chin. Aunt Gigi lost her patience and spped at mom's arm.

  "Hey! Get in. We need to talk." She jabbed a thumb at the now empty seat next to her. Mom tilted her head in confusion.

  "We can't talk right here?"

  Gigi smiled.

  "Get. In." Is all she said. Mom paused for a second, then made her way around the side of the car and got in. I waved them off as they backed out of the driveway. That's when I noticed that JJ had disappeared.

  Hmm? When did he... Maybe he went back inside? Ah, there he is.

  I had just enough time to see JJ watching the car leave out of the window. The curtains fluttered closed as he rushed to leave the living room. I walked in, still holding my things. The binder was starting to irritate me a little, so I sped over to my room and shut the door.

  Everything in my arms ended up as a pile on my bed as I went over to the mirror I had on my desk. The jersey was half-way over my head, when there was a knock at my door.

  "Ah. Hold on!"

  I tossed the jersey and binder onto the pile and slipped my pajama shirt on. With a twist of the doorknob, I pulled it open and saw JJ standing right in front of me.

  "Oh... Hey- AH! What?"

  JJ had shoved a folded piece of paper into my hands and pushed past me into my room. I was about to tell him off for barging into my room without my permission again, but there was this strange, tense feeling radiating off of him. After he invited himself in, he sped over to my bed, finding a spot not covered in my stuff for himself and sitting down.

  "Can you close the door?" He asked with a whisper.

  "Sure..."

  With a click, I locked my door and gnced back to JJ. He was looking up to me with this look; like he was expecting to be disappointed or rejected. JJ motioned to the paper in my hand with a listless flick of the wrist, then he rested his hands between his knees. Flipping the paper over a few times, I grabbed at one of the corners and slowly unfolded it. Like I noticed earlier, it was the paper for making your own badges. One of the circles was colored in with pink, white, and blue with a female gender symbol in the middle. And the other was fashioned like a name tag.

  Hi! My name is Renee.

  HenshinTetsuya