Realistic or Modern Identity Change (Pavilion & Clouds)

[Clouds]

PLOT
A is the sister of B's best friend. A has always dabbled into the occult spectrum, having collected weird books and crystals, their room was kind of a mess. One day A stumbled upon an old looking book in the local bookshop's "forgotten" section and bought it on impulse because of the specific way it looked. The book was entirely written in English except for some few pages which were seemingly in some kind of ancient language. Because of A's curiosity she tried to speak those words out loud in the evening which made the page blur and A's consciousness faded soon after. With the loud thump, A's brother and B ran upstairs to check out what was going on, only to be met with some kind of black smoke engulfing the entire room. As they made their way to the room, B stumbled upon A's body, tripping over it while A's brother uponed the windows which let the smoke out. Both were dumbfounded to see a male (A) in a dress laying on the ground.​

 

[Clouds]

Name
Kou

Surname
Yoshinaga

D.O.B.
October 14th, 1998 (25 years old)

Gender
Male

Occupation
Barista @ Sweeties

Fun Work Facts
- His looks don't match his working place.
- He's really popular due to his cute latte art ("gap moe" as they would call it).

 

[Pavilion]

Name
Kazuo Fujino / Tamiko Fujino
Age
23|November 24th 2000
Gender
Male
Ethnicity
Japanese
Occupation
Bookseller

 

[Clouds]

Name
Aki

Surname
Fujino

D.O.B.
May 1st, 1999 (24 years old)

Gender
Male

Occupation
Hair Stylist

 

[Pavilion]

It had not taken long for Tamiko to open her eyes after colliding with the floor. Her head killed her, and the entirety of her body ached. It felt like somebody had snapped all her bones and put them all back together again. At least, that was the best conclusion she could come to for describing it. Her eyes drifted around the room for a moment, things felt a little bit like they were spinning. But her eyes eventually fell on to her brother, and his friend Kou. She took in, both of their expressions. Slowly she wondered why they were looking at her in such a way. Although, it took her a short moment to ask why. “What’s going on? Why are you looking at me like that?” She then would ask softly. Although something wasn’t right. Her voice was deeper. Did she hear herself right?

Tamiko pushed herself upward from the floor, and her eyes soon caught on to the situation at hand. Her legs were longer and more hairy, and her dress didn’t even reach the length it once used to. It did not even stretch over her waist anymore. Tamiko then gently moved her hand over her body, feeling new additions. Like abs across her torso, and muscles along her arms and legs. Tamiko was lost for words, this was new and weird. And surely couldn’t be real? It felt like a horrific dream that she was struggling to wake up from, or maybe she hit her head too hard and was imagining it all. She had no idea.

Tamiko looked back up towards her brother and Kou. She tried her best to say something else, but nothing verbal came out. It was just a small stutter, nothing clear enough to make out any words. It was just noise. She then looked away again, trying to clear her head and think about the last thing she did before this happened. But her head hurt so much. And so much was going through it. Like how this happened, and what was going to happen next? She had so many questions. But no clear thoughts to try and find answers. All of this was just a big shock.

 

[Clouds]

Kou and Aki met each other during their high school days; Kou being a second year and Aki a first year they still hit it off with each other. Having visited each other’s classrooms during lunchbreaks to eat together and joining the same club (volleyball) made their bond grow even stronger, making it seem like they were just family instead of friends. During club activities they were quite competitive with each other as they always wanted to one up another so when they played against each other, the score was pretty tight each time and no one really knew who would win. Because of this, the people who came watching to actual competitions grew in number with time as well as the fans who’d love to show their enthusiasm for the team. There were some really crazed ones though who were particularly fond of the two and went as far as to actually establish a fan club for Aki and Kou alone. There was some chaos a year later, the time when Aki’s sister Tamiko became a first year and had ties with the both of them. Some rumours went around that she was stringing them along but it soon died out after the fact became known that she was actually Aki’s sister. There was still some tension as she wasn’t related to Kou but since they all got along like a family, they let it go for most of the time. Sadly enough, jealousy was a nasty thing so not everyone was just as satisfied with the situation…

Current time

Kou was hanging around at Aki’s place, both playing video games on the playstation which ranged from silly to action to horror. They even went ahead and played through an entire otome game in which they tried to get the happy ending but failed horribly over and over again until they gave up for the time being. Now it was just a case of Mario Party where they jumped around for the minigames, making a fool out of themselves for those who could see. It was an odd sight really to see people like them behaving like this, especially since people wouldn’t expect them to do so. They plopped down onto the sofa and looked at each other with a silly grin plastered on their faces as they just finished one of the more intensive mini games. That was until they heard a loud ‘thump’ upstairs. Without another word, they immediately went upstairs towards Tamiko’s bedroom, smoke came from under the door which alarmed them even more. “Tam-chan?!” Kou yelled as he burst through the door, swinging it open forcefully. “Tamiko!” Aki yelled as he went inside as well but they both stopped in their tracks as the smoke revealed someone who was not Tamiko. There wasn’t even a hint of her to be seen besides the dude in a dress who looked disoriented.

Confusion and panic could be seen on their faces as they watched the stranger, not having even heard the question he asked as their brains shortcutting. After all, this situation didn’t make any sense at all. “Who the hell are you?” Kou grumbled in a rather baritone voice, his eyes narrowing as he couldn’t think of a reason as to why Tamiko wasn’t here but someone else instead. “Where’s my sister?” Aki asked in a panic, hesitating as he made his way towards the stranger. “She was here before…” Aki stammered as he looked around frantically, standing still just a mere inches away from the person in the dress.

 

[Pavilion]

Tamiko slowly reached her hand up to rest it on her head as she still tried to come to terms with all this. She just couldn’t fathom it. She couldn’t even explain how much her head hurt. It was most likely a mix of her body collapsing to the floor, and trying to understand what was going on. Though, her hand jolted slightly as she felt her hair. It was shorter than it once was. Although it wasn't too short, it still had some length to it. Not that it mattered anyway, everything was now different about her. She lowered her hand after a second, and her eyes drifted towards Aki and Kou. Who were asking her questions. They confused her for a moment, but she then realized. It made sense for them to not know it was her, but then how would she explain it?

Tamiko decided she would get on to her feet, and try and sit on something more comfortable like her bed. However, as she got up she started to stumble and fumble around like a baby deer. She wasn’t used to walking with bigger feet, and taking bigger strides when she walked. She had no idea what her brother and Kou thought. But she had caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror that was above her desk. And she wasn’t exactly unattractive in this new body.

Once sat down, she turned her attention back to her brother and sighed. “I- this… “ She said with a stutter trying to pick her words carefully. “I - I am Tamiko loser” she simply said with a stutter, and rubbed her head again. Tamiko was trying to make it sound like herself, but she felt like she needed to add something. Like to prove it was her. “I can prove it when I was eighteen. Mom and Dad went to Tokyo to do some shopping, and they didn’t get back till pretty late. And me and you where left on our own. So we decided to steal some of Dad's liquor from the liquor cabinet, then tried to cover it up and make the bottles look full again. But when they came back mom noticed and made us pay her so she could replace the bottles. “ Tamiko explained, trying to recall as much detail as she could to prove to Aki it was her.

Her eyes then drifted around the room again and they landed upon the book. She blinked for a minute then realized, the last thing she was doing was reading the book! This must be down to that! Tamiko got onto her feet again and went to go over. But she tumbled over her feet again, but quickly tried to catch herself on the wall.

 

[Clouds]

Aki and Kou intently watched the person standing up on his feet, shuffling towards the bed where he plopped down as if it was his own room. But then again, what the boy was wearing was something straight out of Tamiko’s closet and it didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest that he had a dress on out of all the things. The way he was shocked when he brushed his hand through his hair, the flickering of the eyes as they seemed to be expecting something else. Aki quickly glanced towards Kou, their gaze interlocking as they tried to make sense of this entire situation. Kou ruffled through his own hair, throwing his head back as he felt a headache coming up from this entire scene where nothing really made any sense as of the moment. The moment he heard the person’s voice speaking up, he resumed his focus and glanced between him and Aki as the story did feel familiar to something he had been told before. Aki on the other hand had his eyebrows raised as he knew what was being talked about.

“But, even though you know the story… How do you explain this?” Aki asked, gesturing towards the person from head to toe. Pinching the bridge of his nose as he looked at the person gesturing towards the book at their feet which was a bit too strange for words. The moment Aki made a movement towards the book as well, he noticed the person tumbling down, nearly crashing into the wall. Even Kou automatically flinched and took a few quick steps towards the bed, but stopping before the other actually crashed into the wall. Weird. Kou wasn’t particularly the one to help someone out unless he knew them or it was to his benefit which was neither.

Aki quickly picked up the book as Kou made his way towards them, peering from over Aki’s shoulder as the contents were being showed. “Isn’t this one of those weird cryptic books your sister collects?” Kou asked, Aki nodding in response as they fluttered throughout the pages. “Wait, wait.” Kou uttered as he put his finger on a scribbled page with the words ‘Identitatis Mutatio’. The two boys looked at each other in utter shock as this could be a plausible reason for the metamorphosis of the sister but then again, it never even worked before so why now? “Tamiko?” Aki whispered softly as he looked at the person in front of him as if he wanted to have some kind of confirmation once more. “I told you your sister is weird as fuck.” Kou grumbled. “Why would you even try doing this? Were you not fine with being a girl or what? There are other methods than mambo jambo here.” Kou rambled on as he kind of thought that this was being the case. “What are we going to tell your parents? Your work? Unless this weird ass book took care of the whole gender thing at once…” His words fell silent on the last part. What if it actually did? What if it was like she never existed as a girl before all of this? Would they be the only ones who knew who she truly is?

 

[Pavilion]

Tamiko didn’t reply to Aki’s question. She was too focused on trying to get to the book. And perhaps hoping, that the book had a way to reverse this. Or just finding answers to it all encrypted in the pages. Although Tamiko was grateful. She was grateful Kou saved her from almost falling face-first onto the floor again. “Thanks.” She muttered quietly then sighed as she tried to steady herself, using Kou as support. She then let go once she found her feet and was fine to stand on her own. However, by that time, Aki was walking over with the book. And the gratefulness she had for Kou changed. “Hey! They are not that weird. They are quite interesting if you take your time and read them.” She huffed at him and just watched as the two looked at the book for themselves. She simply stayed quiet and looked at her hands. Looking at how much bigger they were, and how they looked a bit more rougher than her old hands that where more petite and soft.

Tamiko looked back up again when she heard Aki saying something, then spoke her name. “Oh so now you get it? It took you long enough.” She simply replied back to him. Though her eyes glanced over to Kou. Almost immediately afterward. “I’m not weird, and it’s not like I intentionally tried to do it. I was just curious about the words in that ancient language, so I read it out loud. Then this happened, I never expected it to.” Tamiko explained then paused as Kou made a good point. She hadn’t even thought about her parents or friends. Or anyone who really knew her. “I- well you both know who I am? And well this situation, and what’s happened. So I don’t know. “ She frowned then walked towards Aki to peer over his shoulder at the book. It felt weird being able to do that, although she was still a small bit shorter than him. “Does the book not mention anywhere a way to reverse this? Or even the effects of it? I didn’t really read much else other than those pages. “ Tamiko asked if there was a way to reverse this then good. This body felt so weird and alien to her.

However another matter came to mind, what she was wearing. It was starting to feel uncomfortable. “Aki, do you have any old clothes I can borrow? Nothing like, hideous though. I can’t exactly wear any of my outfits anymore.” She pointed out, her whole body felt like it was on display

 

[Clouds]

The bickering of Kou and Tamiko felt like the usual which indicated to Kou that it was truly her and not some messed up guy who was thinking magic truly existed, but well in this case it might actually do. As she seemed to realize the situation she was in, Kou hummed and thought about the several outcomes of this entire circus. Perhaps they could check with a phone call to see if people were surprised that a guy was calling or not, if they weren’t it would make this a bit easier as they wouldn’t need to around to explain everything or go through the hassle of trying to make up a fake ID for the kid. How on earth were they even going to do that in the worst case scenario. As she mentioned her clothes, both Kou and Aki looked at each other again. “Well, if you want your brother’s clothes, they’re in his room. You should be about the same size.” Kou said as he inspected the two of them, casually lifting up Aki’s shirt as he looked at his body. He didn’t need to do so with Tamiko as one could see the outline pretty well with the skimpy looking dress that he/she was wearing right now. Trying to muffle away a small chuckle before his hand got slapped away by an annoyed Aki who didn’t like to be seen without shirt except when he could go swimming.

“Let’s go look for something, Tamiko.” Aki huffed as he made his way towards his own bedroom, being followed suit by Kou as if it was his own home. As Aki rummaged through his closet, Kou plopped down on the bed waiting for a fashion show as Tamiko might need to try on some clothes to find something suitable. “So you gonna be sharing your stuff from now on to the underwear?” Kou laughed as he pointed towards the underwear Tamiko was wearing, it was pretty visible from where he was looking. Receiving a rather hard throw from a pillow right to his face from Aki. “Dude, I can give her one of my new ones but she had to go shopping for them. No way I’m sharing those.” Aki grumbled as he already disliked the mere thought of it. “It’s in the first drawer from my bedside table.” Aki instructed. “The ones laying on top are new, I just washed those as well.”

After about two minutes, he managed to take a couple of outfits out that could suit his sister, from what he thought would suit her as he just followed the shop assistant around who looked for an outfit for him instead. It was easier to just do that than to start from scratch and it seemed to fall into taste with his colleagues and customers so that’s all he needed to know. Kou instead just shopped by himself or with friends who didn’t nag about it.

> Aki’s outfit <

> Kou’s outfit <

 

[Pavilion]

Tamiko nodded at Aki and followed him to his room. She was getting used to walking with these bigger feet now. Though, now she was moving more the clothes were starting to irritate her more. She needed out of this outfit as soon as she could ideally. Once they got to Aki’s room, she stood waiting for Aki to pick some stuff out. So while she waited, her eyes drifted towards Kou as he spoke and mentioned ‘sharing underwear’. Tamiko made a fake gag noise “That’s gross, ew no. Absolutely not, I’ll buy my stuff like he said.“ Tamiko firmly said, she definitely would not be borrowing her brother's stuff for long. However, her eyes had followed Kou’s finger and she huffed “ Also, stop being a perv too, watch where you are looking !” Tamiko laughed a little. She couldn’t do anything at this point, there was no point of covering herself up now.

She eventually walked over to the drawer Aki had instructed her to go to and grabbed the underwear. The way she picked it up was as if she had no idea how to use it. Though it was underwear, it was pretty self-explanatory and simple. But it was just different. Once she had the underwear she took the outfits. Although she wasn’t staying in her brother's room. She would be getting dressed in the bathroom. ”Ok, I’ll be back in a minuet.” Tamiko told the two then headed down the hallway. She opened the door and looked at herself in the mirror for a moment. It was so incredibly weird, she didn’t recognise the person staring back at her at all. The hair, the jawline, the eyebrows. She was a completely new person. She wasn’t Tamiko anymore. She was whoever this person staring back at her was. She didn’t even know how long she would be this new person for. But she had a suspicion that they wouldn’t be leaving any time soon, or in the near future. She would have to learn to get used to it.

Tamiko stopped looking at herself in the mirror and started putting the new outfits on. She felt so much better now that she had the dress off. Her body felt more comfortable, but Tamiko did feel kinda sad. She liked that dress but it was all wrecked now, with rips and broken seams. But she kicked it away and began trying the new outfits on. Tamiko put the first one on Aki picked out. It wasn’t so bad, it looked nice. But it was a tad bit big on her. So she threw it off and tried a new one on. This one didn’t work for her, so she tossed it off, not giving it a second thought. Although the next one she tried on she kinda liked, she felt it worked and that it was a good choice on Aki’s behalf.

She did a little twirl double checking to see if it worked for her. And she felt it did. So after she was done looking she walked back to her brothers room. “So, what do you both think? I think it works for me, well for now anyway. “ Tamiko pointed out then sat down on Akis bed. She definitely felt more comfortable. The only issue she had now, was that her head still hurt a little. But it was getting better gradually.

Outfit

 

[Clouds]

Kou chuckled when Tamiko got mad at him pointing out her outstanding underwear, it was definitely a sight to behold as he had never seen her this way… which was normal since she felt like his sister to begin with. Seeing the siblings bicker, it confirmed once again that they were related and she was truly the girl he knew for a couple of years now. Now that he thought about it, he never really asked much about her personal life even when the three of them went out somewhere, it just never really popped into his mind. Huh, the more one knew… The moment he snapped back from his thoughts, he saw Tamiko making her way out of the room, probably to try on the clothes she received. Aki plopped down on the bed next to him with a deep sigh: “So, what are we going to do now? Should we buy her some clothes for the meantime? But I don’t know anything about fashion and I am going to be swamped with work the next couple of days.” Kou raised an eyebrow as he already felt where this was going to and he didn’t like it for one bit. “So I was thinking… maybe you two could figure things out for now? I mean, you two get along most of the time and you do buy your own clothes. You even dressed up people from our class before! Hell, you gave them an entire make-over.” “Aki…” Kou wanted to retaliate but just then, the silhouette of the new Tamiko appeared before them once more.

The outfit Aki picked looked good on her to Kou’s surprise, both of them giving a thumbs up as this was indeed one of the better options to go with. “Now we need to do one more thing.” Aki mentioned and hopped of the bed, quickly making his escape only to return a few seconds later with a phone in his hands. “Can you try to call one of your friends? I want to know if we’re the only ones that know you’re a girl. If not, it’s a bit of a help that we won’t need to hide the fact that you’re actually Tamiko.” Kou nodded as it made sense to what Aki said just now. “And afterwards, Kou will take you out shopping since you can’t wear this outfit day in day out right?” Aki patted Kou’s back which only received a glare as a response. Kou rubbed the bridge of his nose as he sighed in defeat as once Aki set his thoughts onto something, it was difficult to talk him out of it.

 

[Pavilion]

Tamiko moved around on the bed a little. But the way she moved was uncomfortable. She tugged at her pants a little then even tried to copy how Aki and Kou were sitting. But she wasn't successful, she really needed to get used to this new body and quickly. So Tamiko decided to just sit on the very edge of the bed. As she did, Aki got on his feet and then left the room after saying something. Tamiko shrugged and watched as he left. What did they need to do now? She wondered to herself then watched him come back in not long after, with her phone. She took it from his hand and then looked to Kou. She wasn't exactly thrilled about going with him. She would have much rather gone with her brother. But she needed new clothes fast. “Fine, but I'm not riding on that death trap. If we are going shopping I want to go to Tokyo, they have more shops. But I'm not riding that death trap, we will take the train. And I'll pay the fare for both of us if I have to “ She said with a smirk then clicked on to her phone.

“Ok, who will most likely pick up?” She mumbled to herself, looking through the list of people she had. “Ah! Haru might pick up!” She said happily then rang the number, she also put it on loudspeaker but nobody picked up. She sighed then rang another putting it on loudspeaker again. The phone rang three times, and Tamiko started feeling sick and nervous. What was going to happen? She let out a small exhale. And as she did somebody picked up. “Oh hey Kazuo, what's up man? I've not heard from you for a while.” The voice said rather chipper. Tamiko froze, she didn't know what she really expected from all this. And it kinda confirmed Aki’s suspicion. Tamiko just put the phone down without saying anything to the other. She then looked at Aki, she had no idea what to say or how to react. In fairness, she had been reacting to all this in a calm manner. But then, she was in disbelief it was all happening. Who the hell was she?

Tamiko got on her feet and left the room. She needed air, she needed to breathe. Her heart was racing so fast and she felt her throat was seizing up. She went downstairs and out onto the patio that looked out at the beach and sea. She sat down on a cushioned chair and just sat quietly, pulling her knees to her chest for some comfort. So who was she? What the hell had happened over her now new twenty-three years of existence? Were things the same? Were things different? Why were Kou and Aki the only ones who knew who she truly was now? Nothing made sense to her at all. And It was all starting to get too much, and feel too real. Well, it was real, it was happening. And Tamiko had no idea how to change it or Kazuo, or whatever her or his name was now.

 

[Clouds]

Kou felt like he was being personally attacked as she called his motorcycle a death trap, his precious baby was nothing like that, she even rode so smoothly that small bumps were hardly felt. But then again, it was not the first time she called his baby something like that, honestly he didn’t even know why he even deserved it as he was not a bad driver. A small frown formed onto his face as he sat there, leaning backwards, his arms supporting him to keep sitting somewhat upright as he followed the small conversation of Tamiko. Seemed like she was trying to find someone who she could call. The first one went pretty bad as nobody picked up the phone, earning a chuckle that involuntarily escaped Kou’s lips as he expected otherwise. The next one was eventually picked up but with an entirely different greeting which established the fact that Tamiko was now indeed a different gender as even the name already got switched up. Her identity card would probably state her new name as well as it got confirmed by a random person she decided to call up, it would also be unlikely for it to be a joke as this whole transformation happened just now.

Kou and Aki had a bit of a sad expression as they saw how Tamiko – or rather Kazuo – responded to the news of her not being a girl anymore without really wanting to. Aki rubbed the back of his neck and was about to follow before he got a call from work himself. A deep sigh escaped Aki’s lips as he looked at Kou: “Can you check up on her, work is calling.” There was some reluctance in his voice, but he knew that he could rely on the other. With that, he made an apologetic bow and made his exit as it seemed like it was quite urgent. Perhaps a celebrity or rich client was making a scene at the hair salon which wasn’t anything new, but the situation would need to be deescalated as soon as possible and Aki was the best at doing that. He was also the only guy working there so they relied on him more which wasn’t always convenient, he also got blamed for stealing girlfriends and such just because he worked in a more feminine environment. It was a true hassle but he didn’t want to quit as this was something he wanted to do.

Kou got up on his feet and made his way towards where he thought were Tamiko would be, checking out the living room before moving forward to the patio which had a nice view over the beach. He plopped down next to her, ruffling her head which felt now completely different. Even her height was something he needed to get used to. “It will be fine. We’ll find a way somehow to turn you back.” Kou reassured as there just had to be a reversal spell somewhere, even if it was not the same book, they could look for another one and go from there. There were lots of weird shops in Japan anyway so he had hope. “Are you okay though with all that’s happened?” He asked in a rather soft voice which nobody really heard often, his eyes resting on Tamiko’s face as he took in all the new features that weren’t so bad. Luckily enough, she was a pretty handsome guy which could bring some new opportunities but then again, it could also bring trouble as the Japanese could be quite… excited (?) about handsome faces.

 

[Pavilion]

Tamiko placed her head back against the pillow and closed her eyes, as her thoughts wandered to different places. However, the place they kept returning to were questions she had about her parents. Would they still remember her? Was she still their child? Her room was still feminine, or at least the last time she checked anyway. Did somebody replace her in this new life? Surely she would have known by now though, right? Tamiko let out a long exhale as she tried to shift the thoughts, she could always message them and see the response. But that phone call had been too much. Even though it was not even a minute long, it left so many questions and worries and just made her realise the severity of the situation. She felt bad for Aki and Kou for having to put up with it. But she was at the same time grateful, if they hadn’t been around she doubted she would know what to do. Maybe they were part of the reason she managed to stay so calm in the first place. But whatever the case was, she was a guy now. And she needed to learn who she was in this new guy life

Tamiko, or Kazuo. Opened his eyes, he let out another long exhale then turned his head as his ears caught on to the sound of somebody nearby. He looked towards the patio door and then saw Kou emerge from it. Kazuo didn’t really react much, and just sat there with a defeated look on his face as Kou ruffled his hair. His old self would have probably tried to use something to cut his fingers off if he dared to lay a hand on his hair. But this self was just sat in defeat. That was until Kou spoke to him anyway. Kazuo listened to him with his reassuring tone and he just gave a small shrug. He didn’t even say anything, Kazuo was the opposite of Kou. He was very much doubtful. And he felt it was pointless voicing that opinion. Though he did respond to Kou's next set of words, his soft voice was almost soothing. “There’s just so much going on in my head Kou. Like who am I in this life? I know nothing anymore about myself. Although, I think the main thing that’s bothering me is the whole situation with Mom and Dad. Like, will they even remember me? Or will they have forgotten me? Or will they have a new daughter? My room is so girly and feminine. If I do belong here it wouldn’t be like that, right? Or maybe they will be in the same boat you and Aki are in? I’m sorry Kou, I’m just dumping all this on you.” Kazuo said almost sounding like he was about to break down in tears.

He looked away for a moment and buried his head in his knees to stop the tears. “Maybe I should just pretend I have amnesia, I mean it’s not far from the truth. I really don't know or remember anything. “ He said with a muttered tone. Although immediately afterwards on impulse, he flung his arms around Kou and hugged him. Kazuo didn’t think much about how Kou would feel about it. He was an emotional mess, and needed to get his head straight. But the hug felt nice.

 

[Clouds]

Kou patiently listened to the words that came out of Kazuo’s mouth, explaining how he was full with questions that nobody could really answer for the time being; but they would get there eventually which he truly believed. The way the Kazuo was acting became a little worrying, even to Kou who was usually aloof to this kind of thing as he hated drama and tried to avoid it most of the time. It was especially bad during his senior years in high school and college where a bunch of people tried to catch his attention in an attempt to actually get together with him just because he was a bit popular. If he remembered correctly, there were even fights between friends at some points even if he never showed any interest in them, it became borderline creepy once there were even stalkers following him around and about. One could say he was lucky in a way that they usually stopped once he called the police and security guards at the school grounds on them, leaving them with warnings or even sayings of expulsion if they kept it up. This had caused him to have trouble with trusting people or even just slightly opening up to them. Besides his family, he could count his friends on one hand he would speak casually to without absolutely faking it.

As Kazuo wrapped his arms around him, Kou was slightly taken aback as he was not used to the physical contact of the other but didn’t mind as he felt bad for the kid. With his right hand, he softly patted his back as if trying to calm Kazuo down. “I don’t think they’ve forgotten you, perhaps they just remember you as a boy like your friend does so it’s not hopeless. Trust me, it takes a whole lot more than this for someone to forget you.” Kou said with a light smile on his lips as he continued to rub Kazuo’s back. This felt oddly similar to when Aki was feeling down and he confided in Kou for more emotional matters such as when he broke up with his past lover even though he did nothing wrong; well Aki had a knack in choosing his partners so it happened a couple of times. However, the more he thought about it, it was not entirely the same as how he was trying to help or give some support. Perhaps because it was his best friend’s sibling? Who knew.

“Alright, let’s go check it out.” He said without more and pulled Kazuo up with him. “There were pictures of your family hanging onto the walls, right?” He asked rhetorically as he made a beeline towards the room already and there it was. The pictures of the family were slightly modified as it was not a daughter but another son standing on there; it was kind of what he expected so that meant the people who were in the house at the moment of changing were the only ones who knew what happened. Very interesting. “One less thing to worry about, they remember you but just in a different gender.” He said with a nod, turning on his feet to face Kazuo. “Well than, let’s go shopping, shall we? And we’re taking my bike, no complaining.” He instructed as he wanted to get Kazuo’s thoughts focusing on something else.

 

[Pavilion]

Kazuo held on to Kou with his head resting softly on the other's chest. And his arms gently wrapped around him. Kazuo had to admit, that Kou was very snuggly and also had a nice aroma. But that's something Kazou would keep to himself. In all honesty, he was surprised that Kou didn't push him away but instead tried to comfort him the best he could. Kazuo appreciated that, and he relaxed a bit when Kou patted his back and spoke. He listened quietly and nodded along. And just took each word in Kou spoke to him. He didn't have much to say, but he appreciated each word Kou said. All of this was just hard to come to terms with.

However, Kazuo was quickly caught off guard when Kou pulled him up and then was quick to head to the pictures of the family. “Uh oh, hold up Kou!” Kazuo was quick to exclaim then followed behind, wiping his eyes as he did so with his sleeve. When he reached the room he looked at the same image Kou was looking at, and he spotted the same thing the other did too. It was a relief, a complete relief. Although, Kazuo let out and small chuckle as he recalled the day the image was taken. “I remember when that photo was taken, Mom forced us into our best clothes. And she had asked Aki to do all our hair. We had to wake up incredibly early. “ Kazuo explained then gave a small laugh as he recollected the memory. Afterward he then went to look at another picture, and it was the same. Not a son and a daughter in the image, but two sons.

Kazuo turned his attention to Kou afterward, and instantly shook his head at the mention of the bike. Even if Kou told him not to complain, Kazuo was going to complain about it. “No, no way I'm riding that bike of yours! What if I fall off it hm? And if it crashes we are dead! It's not the safest thing in the world. I want to take the train. I told you I would pay the fare.” Kazuo told Kou, he then proceeded to walk towards a table by the front door that once had his purse on. But now had a wallet resting on it, it was was the same brand. But a male version of that specific brand. Kazuo opened it up and found his identity card in it. Everything was the same other then the name, image, and gender. Kazuo sighed then shoved it in his pocket. “Alright, to the train station!” Kazuo then said and proceeded to open the front door. He was being stubborn, that wasn't anything new.

 

[Clouds]

Seeing how Kazuo was reminiscing about the pictures in the living room, Kou felt a bit more at ease as the other was not completely depressed about all of this. Well, if he was about to change his entire identity in just about an hour time, he would be pretty taken aback too as it was not an everyday thing that was happening. He could only hum in response as he didn’t know them at that point in time yet, probably a year or two before he would have met Aki from the looks of it. It was nice to get to know about stuff that he didn’t know about, especially if they were almost like family to him, it made him feel just a little closer unlike his home which was… lonely now that he thought about it.

The way Kazuo was struggling against the idea of going on his motorcycle, he couldn’t do anything but roll his eyes as he knew the other didn’t like it at all but he hated taking public transportation. Pinching the bridge of his nose as he was contemplating the ups and downs of the ‘discussion’ they were having, but since Kazuo was pretty much against the idea when going through this he was almost obliged to comply. Letting out a deep sigh as he nodded reluctantly “Alright, just this once… Next time we go by motorcycle.” Kou grumbled as he absolutely did not want to do this twice in a row. He didn’t see why it was so dangerous as he never had gotten into an accident as he was a pretty good driver. He also had a driver license for a car but he never got one as it wasn’t as interesting but it was nice to have during emergencies.

Kou followed behind Kazuo with a defeated expression on him, glancing towards his motorcycle as he passed by it. A soft warm breeze caressed his skin, the sun was shining making it a nice 20°C. Perfect weather to walk around in. “So how’s work going, you still enjoy it there?” He asked after a minute of walking, trying to break the silence as they made their way to the train station, leaving the sight of the ocean behind them as they needed to go a bit more inland. It wasn’t that far from where they lived luckily but the train station seemed to be busier than normal due to the good weather which made him adjust his hat so it covered most of his face, or at least that was what he was attempting. It wasn’t even spring break yet so why were there so many people, did everyone take a day off from work on this particular day or something. He let out a small sigh as his expression tensed up for a bit as he was already imagining how it could be on the train.

Unconsciously Kou walked closer to Kazuo, their hands almost touching one another while clutching his other hand onto the leash of his backpack. It didn’t help that they were also taller than the average male in Japan, standing at around 1,80m to 1,85m.

 

[Pavilion]

Kazuo felt a sense of victory as Kou complied with his request to use the train. There was just something about using the motorbike he disliked, he put it down mostly to the fact that the only thing keeping him safe was the fact he had to rely on how tightly he could hold on to Kou. At least with the train, they had something surrounding them to keep them safe. Even if it wasn't the most enjoyable thing, and could become uncomfortable with how busy the trains got. There was at least some sort of safety aspect to the train. Kou would have to try hard to convince Kazuo to ride it. Though Kazuo wasn't going to protest against it again When Kou mentioned they would use it next time. He simply nodded “Ok.” Kazuo said then lead them out into the nice weather.

However, as he did step outside. A small sense of worry travelled through him. But Kazuo tried to shake it and focused on the words Kou spoke to him. “Work? Oh, it's alright. It's quiet most of the time other than the regulars who come in. Mostly it's older people, who are nice most of the time. Younger people come in, but they mostly come in for the newest editions of mangas which we keep near the front of the shop anyway. So they tend to not be hard to find. I have had a creepy guy come in though, he was kinda old and he hung around longer than any normal person would. But it was fine, he was gone by the end of my shift. “ Kazuo explained to Kou while they walked. “How about you anyway? Mr popular at work, you must have weird girls come in all the time flirting with you and that? Well, I say that, but it was the same at school. You and Aki had weird girls after you all the time. So you must be used to it by now right?” Kazuo said with a small chuckle. He never really visited the place Kou worked. But he had heard about how popular he was through conversations.

In a way it was kinda nice, Kazuo never really would hang out with Kou on his own. Usually, it was with Aki around. The only time he would be alone with Kou was when Aki would leave and do something for a short moment, then would tend to return. Kazuo smiled then jumped a little as his hand eventually bumped into Kous. Although he didn't say anything, he instead got distracted by a small ginger cat who was quietly sitting on a wall. Kazuo liked cats, he had begged his parents to get one when he was younger. But they refused since they were busy people and didn't have the time to care for one. So naturally, Kazuo stopped walking beside Kou and gave the small cat some attention. By gently brushing his hand over the cat's soft fur. “See Kou, if we got on your bike we would not have bumped into this cat. So it was worth getting the train.” Kazuo pointed out. He didn't care how Kou saw this. He got to pet a cat, and with how crazy his day had been so far. This made it slightly better, even if it was something this small.

 

[Clouds]

Satisfied that Kazuo so easily agreed on going with the motorbike next time, he felt a bit of relief now that he knew he didn’t need to do this over and over again. When was even the last time he took the train or bus to work or just towards another city, Aki just hopped on and they drove the entire way while having fun. He did go sometimes a bit faster than what was permitted but didn’t do any insane tricks as he didn’t want to die because of that, hell that would be one stupid death. Perhaps now that he got older, it wouldn’t be as bad on the public transportation and it was just inside of his head after all like his parents said, but than again what would they know about him in the first place as they were always gone for work. Was it two months ago that they left for a business trip or was it shorter or even longer? He didn’t keep track of it anymore, neither did he really care as he grew up with his nanny. It was a bit sad that when he left the house, the communication would also drop as they lived in different cities and both were working full time jobs.

Kou nodded his head as he listened to Kazuo talking. So he was having some creep at work? He thought to himself with a bit of concern, if it was just a onetime thing it would be fine but if that dude would make a habit of it, it would be an entirely different story. Honestly, having some kind of stalker around could seriously mess up someone’s life and you don’t even know how or what could trigger the creep. He might need to tell Aki about all of this just in case.

The moment their hands touched even the slightest, Kou chuckled by seeing the reaction of the other which was kind off funny, thinking that Kazuo wasn’t used to physical touch at all. As Kazuo was distracted, Kou stopped in his tracks as he watched the other going towards a cat which looked pretty fluffy, or it could be a mix of fat seeing how lazy it was hanging around and the fluff was hanging just a bit too much around. Those were the cutest if one would ask him. “Yeah, yeah. But we could’ve seen other cool stuff instead…” He tried to dispute but to no avail as cats were really high on the list. As he leaned against the small stone wall, he watched as to how Kazuo was petting the animal al happily.

“Maybe we could get you a cat onesie while we’re at it, would suit you pretty well.” He chuckled as he could already imagine Kazuo wearing it with all smiles, plus it was still pretty popular to this day so it wouldn’t be too difficult of a task to find it.

 

[Pavilion]

As he continued to pet the ginger cat, a smile stretched along Kazuo's face. The cat seemed fairly happy too, as he purred and rubbed his head into Kazuo's hand. Kazuo almost wanted to just take the cat with them. But he knew he would not be able to do that, as the cat probably belonged to somebody who lived in a house nearby the station. As he looked fairly well cared for. Kazuo turned his attention back to Kou as he spoke but he just laughed at him. “Yeah but it’s like I said, we would not have seen a cat. And look at him Kou. He’s so cute.” Kazuo told the other. He had pretty much just repeated himself, but he also could not stress enough how cute the cat was. After a while, he eventually stopped petting him and then looked back to Kou.

Kazuo really liked the suggestion of the cat onesie and he nodded “Definitely, I’m definitely down for getting something like that. Maybe we could get you one too and we can match. “ Kazuo teased, with the way Kou dressed. He doubted he would ever buy something like that for himself. But it was fun to tease him over it. “Anyway, if we don’t want to miss the train we should get going .” Kazuo then went on to say. However, he gave the cat a scratch behind its pointy ears and said goodbye before leaving. It was a surprise the cat was so calm with all the noise and people. But it was likely it was used to it, it was likely it got attention like this all the time from people passing by. Kazuo was sure he wasn’t the first

As he walked away from it to the train an idea came to mind. “I was thinking Kou, maybe we should grab something to eat while we are out. I’m kinda hungry, I’ve heard of a nice new Sushi place we could visit. “ Kazuo then suggested to Kou. Personally, Kazuo didn't mind what they did. He was more than grateful that the other was helping him out with all this.

 

[Clouds]

“Matching onesies, you’re really trying your luck out aren’t you.” Kou responded with a half-baked smile as he couldn’t even imagine himself in such a thing, Aki would have the time of his life if he ever saw him in that kind of outfit. Hell, the pictures Aki would take could fill up an entire photobook if he got the chance which Kou absolutely wanted to avoid at all costs. Kou started moving again once Kazuo managed to pull away from the cat and up to the station they went. He tried to make his head clear as he got closer and closer to the place he detested, already being able to hear the trains on the tracks together with the bustling of the people.

He barely managed to catch what Kazuo was saying, humming as an answer as sushi did sound pretty appetizing right now. It’s been a while since he ate some fresh fish; at home he always baked the fish or got some chicken or meat together with rice and veggies, the basic stuff. He even lived on convenience food for a week when work got really busy and he had to turn longer shifts as they were understaffed as one of the employees moved out of the city and quit the job. It was a miracle he was still standing by the end of the week as he barely got any sleep as his shifts were all over the place.

“Sounds good to me, what’s it called?” He asked before continuing: “I also want to stop by one of those chocolate fruit stalls, it’s been a while since I ate one of those choco bananas.” His stomach already slightly clenching as he was starting to get hungry but also the stress was amplifying as they reached the station in the meantime. Once they got inside, he looked at the display board, following the words Tokyo Station as that one had a direct connection, it was about a 2 hour ride which he was less enthusiastic about.

“Let’s go buy the tickets.” Kou said as he lightly tugged at Kazuo’s sleeve as he weaved his way through the crowd with his head low, reaching the ticketing machines in less than a second as he had quickened his pace. Luckily there was no line so he could get through the whole process pretty quickly, having forgotten that Kazuo was supposed to be the one buying the tickets as he wasn’t entirely himself at the moment. “So, where’s the Wakashio line?” He asked as he couldn’t see the number next to it very well, perhaps he would need to get some glasses at one point as his vision was getting a bit worse when he was trying to read something.

 

[Pavilion]

Kazuo could not help but laugh at Kou’s reaction to his suggestion of the matching onesies. His reaction kinda made him want to try and get him to get one. Maybe they could find him a plain black one. And he could convince him to get that. It would perhaps match his style, unlike a brighter one. Or one that had patterns on it. A plain black one would surely work. Or he could buy it for Kou himself as an ‘early Christmas present ‘ he was somewhat determined to try now. It would be fun to see Kou in it. Though, Kazuo soon lost his train of thought with his stomach rumbling, and now the thought of sushi on his mind. After suggesting the idea to Kou. He wasn’t even sure the last time he ate. But he did feel a lot more hungry the usual. Was that part of being a guy now? He had to eat more, not that he was complaining that sounded like a perk if anything. But it felt strange.

Kazuo turned to look at Kou as he asked the name of the place. “Oh uh, I think it was Golden Fish sushi bar. “ He explained then smiled, he thought it was that anyway. He had read online about the new place opening. However, Kou's mention of the chocolate didn't help with his hunger. So Kazuo nodded “Ok, but can we not talk about food anymore? I’m so hungry, I feel like I could eat so much. Is that a thing with being a guy now? Do I have to eat more food? “ Kazuo asked, he wondered if he was correct in what he was thinking. Plus it would be good to know as well, though perhaps right now wasn’t the best time to ask. As they had to sort the train journey out. This was proven by Kou grabbing his sleeve and taking him to the ticket machine. Kazuo was taken by surprise by Kou’s quick reaction. But then again, the train was getting close to arriving.

So he just stood beside Kou as he took charge of everything if Kou wanted to pay for the tickets. Well, Kazuo was not going to complain about it. It just meant he had more Yen to spend on new clothes. And new hygiene products, as he doubted he could go around smelling like a Sakura tree anymore. It only made sense anyway. Though as he watched Kou he stepped forward and pressed the Wakashio line, as Kou asked which it was. “There, that’s it. Here let me just do it.” Kazuo said then went on to finish sorting the tickets. Oh well, he had plenty of Yen saved up anyway.

After finishing paying for the tickets, the train arrived at the platform and a large group of people started to pile onto it. Kazuo smiled at Kou then tilted his head a little. “Come on it will be fine, we will be in Tokyo before you know it.” He said reassuringly then tugged Kou towards the train.

 

[Clouds]

“Golden Fish…” He repeated as it was a pretty particular name for a sushi restaurant but not all too bizarre like most of the shops in Tokyo. How weirder, how more customers it would get as they were curious what was it even about. Sometimes, one would think he would walk into a sweets shop and suddenly they’re in a clothing store for some reason even though the windows have stickers from all kinds of cakes and such on them. Talk about misleading. At least Golden Fish mentioned that it would have some kind of food in it and it actually matched for a change. The way Kazuo complained about getting hungry from talking about food made a faint smile appear on his face as he could definitely understand what the other was talking about. His own stomach was at the point of grumbling if it wasn’t for the change of subject so his thoughts were lead to somewhere else.

As Kou fumbled with the ticketing machine, he just took a small step to the right as Kazuo took charge. Watching intently at all the buttons that were being pressed which looked simple if they were used to it unlike Kou. Rubbing the back of his neck before he got handed his own ticket which was smaller than his index finger. Feeling a little appreciative that he didn’t need to fumble any longer with the whole thing and was guided along by Kazuo who was used to taking the public transportation. He wondered why they haven’t gone out by themselves in the past, neither did he really pay any attention to it until now.

Kou was ushered towards the right train track as he was getting lost in the crowd, sticking close to Kazuo like a small child who was about to get lost if he was let go off. His stomach took a spin as he saw all the people huddled together waiting for the train that was arriving in just a few more seconds. “It’s going to be 2 hours, you know. 2 hours on this damn thing…” He hissed between his teeth as he tried to not have a mental breakdown from the mere time stamp, already regretting for even going along with the stubbornness of Kazuo who detested motorcycles for some reason.

It didn’t take much longer before the train opened its doors and they were both ushered inside, luckily it wasn’t too crowded, managing to find two empty spots near one of the doors of the train. He glared towards the side where Kazuo was sitting as he had a bad feeling about this train ride already, especially with the weather that was steadily warming up. “So why do you even hate motors? Something happened to you?” He asked as he wanted to have some small talk to keep himself occupied as the train continued its journey.

 

[Pavilion]

Kazuo looked at Kou and shrugged before they got on the train. It was clear Kou disliked this entire situation, but they couldn't do anything about it now. “It could be worse, it could be longer.” He responded and then climbed aboard with Kou once the train arrived. It felt weird, everything was still on his mind about what had happened. How could it not be? It was a lot but he was coping. And all of this was a good distraction. However, seeing the way Kou was being made him a little worried.

Once they sat down Kazuo stretched out a little a bit. These seats felt a lot smaller than he remembered them to be. But it was very simply answered as to why. He had got a lot bigger in size, so it made sense. Afterwards, he looked towards Kou as he asked why Kazuo disliked the motorcycle. Kazuo sighed. “Well, it's because they are not safe. Like, they are on two wheels and you have to balance in them and like for two people to ride on one you have to hold on to the other. And that's the only safety you have Kou. Plus some people are terrible drivers, and if you crash because of them you have no safety” Kazuo explained trying to make it as clear as possible. “That's why I dislike them Kou. Ok, maybe I've never actually been on one but I've seen you and Aki on it. “ Kazuo added

He rested his head back on the chair afterwards, and from the corner of his eye, he spotted some girls looking over and giggling to themselves. Ok, that felt weird. He looked to Kou then out the window and just sank into the seat a little. He didn't say anything to Kou about it. Kazuo just tried to ignore it the best he could.