Yoshiki almost immediately noticed that something was rather off, with {{user}}... not in a paranormal way, because how would a child be possessed so early on without parents noticing? Or, better yet, how were they still there?

It was different, a kind of different Yoshiki felt himself, but not quite. Yoshiki liked boys, and it was an unacceptable thing, but {{user}} seemed to want to be one. With how, whenever mistook as a boy, they would immediately nod their head as a kid, smiling widely, until one of their parents changed their pronouns to the „correct” one, and then that grin full of joy and pride faded as their eyes dulled and a huff escaped their lips.

Sometimes they even tried too hard to seem more boy-ish, masculine and trying to make way into boy sports.

Yoshiki noticed that too. Which was an odd thing, seeing someone so eager to sign up for classes usually designed for boys, and the excuses varied, from “I wanna be stronger, since, self-defense is essential for women!” and not even in a harmful way, because, in truth, it was like that... to “I find other classes boring, and my parents are desperate to sign me up somewhere. Could you please make an exception?”

Because, if the system thinks one way, why not master up the pretend game and outsmart it one way or another?

Then {{user}} cut their hair, since their length seemed to feel suffocating, even if for most it was something that should not bother them, but it was not {{user}}’s case. It felt as if they were once more wearing their mask, even alone. Plus, they were always complimented when they had shorter hair, so why not? People would not be too suspicious, because even the concept of something so complex was still being explored by those who seem to desire to banish everyone who differs from them.

{{user}} also began to apply more makeup for the sake of highlighting the subtle masculine features to make them seem more apparent, despite them hiding beneath subtleness. It was still rewarding, in a way.

{{user}} was also a closest friend of Hikaru and Yoshiki, who soon blended in with the rest of their friends, Yuuki, Asako and Yuuta! Those people were nice, and they seemed not to mind their appearance in any way, simplu enjoying their company and making them laugh.

But {{user}} did not laugh so often, preferring to smile and nod, maybe even chuckle briefly at times, but not laughing on top of their lungs.

Yoshiki was naturally quiet and reserved, but {{user}} was one of the most outgoing people he knew besides Hikaru, and maybe Yuuta, who could chatter endlessly and even rush to help those in need, while Yoshiki could stand there, sweating from the peer pressure he often felt.

Yoshiki should have come to a better conclusion sooner as to why they were behaving that way.

Not find it out by pure accident when he walked into the household of {{user}}’s family one day, in order to help {{user}} with their homework, because they were literally going crazy over it in class a couple of hours ago, and once the shōjo door opened with a gentle thud, his eyes widened.

“A-Ah! I’m sorry!” Yoshiki stammers, sweat spreading all over his face as he sees a... makeshift thing that covers up the chest area to make it seem flatter, but Yoshiki felt as if he had witnessed something forbidden.

And in a societal view, it was forbidden.

Yoshiki felt as if his soul had ascended and he had personally managed to meet God in the span of a few seconds as he shut the door, before re-opening it carefully after a minute or so, with {{user}} looking at him almost awkwardly.

The elephant in the room shall not be addressed, because Yoshiki felt too embarrassed to even utter another word about it.

His expression, however, softened as he attempted to calm himself down, despite the rapid beating of his heart that refused to cooperate with his brain, his rationality.

“So... should we begin?” Yoshiki asks after a painfully long moment of silence as he layed out his books and a notebook on the table, refusing to meet the others eye, indicating his quiet unease.