"Um... I'm sorry."
Facing the angry old woman, Shido lowered his head in embarrassnt.
"What's your na, young lady?"
"Itsuka Shi... Shimi... no, Shiori. Itsuka Shiori."
Shido had not thought about what na to use, so he answered in a panic.
"Tamako obaa-chan, Shiori-chan ca here to go shopping with , right?"
"Ah... mm, yes."
The way "Shiori" looked shy was both interesting and cute, but Mikoto still stepped forward on her own and helped Shido out.
"Shopping... perfect. I was just thinking of asking you to go out for anyway. Can you buy so dicine for ?"
"Mm."
"Then you keep sweeping for now. Shiori, help look for the prescription. I'm old now, and I can't rember where I put anything."
"Huh? All right."
Leaving Mikoto behind in the courtyard to continue sweeping, Shido followed Tamako obaa-chan into the house.
"Um... may I ask what the prescription looks like?"
"You... are a boy, aren't you?"
Those words struck Shido like lightning from a clear sky, and he froze.
"Um... I..."
"I'm already this old. I can still tell whether soone is a man or a woman. Your outfit is perfect, I'll give you that. But your words and movents are far too stiff."
[This is bad.]
In the end, this was only cross-dressing done overnight. Whether it was his actions, his behavior, or the way he spoke as a girl, Shido was still far from passing.
"I am curious why you dressed like this, but I suppose it's for Mikoto."
"Ah, yes."
Thank goodness she did not misunderstand him as soone with a cross-dressing fetish, Shido thought.
"I also heard what you said earlier. To be honest, I don't know what that child is in despair over. But if this goes on, her heart will die first."
Tamako obaa-chan sighed. She had lived long enough to see countless stories on TV and in newspapers about what happens to people who are not accepted by society.
"Mm. I will save her. Even if I have to risk my life!"
Shido nodded with a serious expression.
"Good! You even had the courage to dress like this for Mikoto. Then I'll believe those words and leave Mikoto to you. Co on... lower your head."
Tamako obaa-chan smiled and took out an amulet from inside her clothes. She placed it around Shido's neck like a necklace.
"What is this?"
"I was planning to give it directly to Mikoto, but I'll leave it with you now. Also, this is the prescription. Take it and go find Mikoto!"
After saying that, Tamako obaa-chan simply chased Shido out.
"Now then, I should get ready too."
The old woman walked back into the inner room and smiled as she looked at the large box on the floor.
———————
Today was Monday, so there were almost no people in the park. Mikoto and Shido walked along a path decorated with bushes and green trees, enjoying the fresh air and the quiet morning.
"Uu..."
But for Shido, even in a place with barely anyone around, wearing won's clothes was still sothing he could not get used to.
"Shiori-chan looks very cute when she's embarrassed."
Mikoto covered her mouth with the sleeve of her kimono and smiled.
"Ya... Yakumo-senpai!"
Shido made a sulking face.
"Sorry, sorry. But Shido really is cute right now."
"Hah... please don't say that anymore. I'm already embarrassed enough.
What about you, Yakumo-senpai? Weren't you uncomfortable at first?"
"I'd like to tell you how embarrassed I was walking outside after becoming female, but Shido, you should know what kind of welco I got every ti I appeared in this world, aside from this ti."
Mikoto smiled bitterly.
"AST."
Only then did Shido rember. Aside from a quiet manifestation, whenever a Spirit appeared, AST would surely attack.
"Exactly. So I had no ti to care about wearing won's clothes. Just dealing with their killing intent and hostility was already exhausting. In the end, before I knew it, I got used to it.
My behavior was the sa. Back then, the only one with was Tsukuyomi. And since the two of us had the exact sa appearance, even if I didn't an to, I ended up copying her every move without noticing."
People unconsciously copy those they are close to. For Mikoto, the only one she could talk to at that ti was Tsukuyomi.
Little by little, without even realizing it, she grew used to wearing won's clothes. From her movents to her speech, she also beca more like a girl.
"Uwaa!"
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through the park and lifted Shido's short skirt.
"Um... Shido, you really don't have to dress as a girl. For , it's enough that Shido can accept my past."
Mikoto smiled bitterly.
Although Shido looked tall and cute, cute enough that if she did not know he was a boy, she might really be chard, Mikoto did not need Shido to dress up just to match her preferences.
"No... I'm not trying to charm Yakumo-senpai by dressing as a girl."
Shido did not have any interest in won's clothes. If anything, he hated doing this. And that was exactly why he had decided to co to Mikoto's side dressed like this.
"Everything Yakumo-senpai experienced feels like a story to . I believe it, but it still feels a little unreal."
Shido scratched his cheek shyly. But then he spoke seriously.
"I hate that feeling. So at least, I wanted to use this thod to feel it for myself—to feel the pain and helplessness Yakumo-senpai went through. That way, I thought I could understand Yakumo-senpai's feelings a little more."
Because he hated wearing won's clothes, he could understand even more how helpless Mikoto must have felt when she changed. Shido wanted to save Mikoto, and it was not just sothing he said with his mouth. If possible, he wanted to share even a little of her pain.
"Yakumo-senpai?"
Mikoto's steps stopped. Shido turned back and saw Mikoto hiding her face under the shadow of her hair.
"That's unfair, Shido."
"Huh?"
Shido noticed that Mikoto's small body was trembling.
"If you say sothing like that, then even if I don't want to fall for Shido, it's impossible."(TL:a bit too fast eh?)
Mikoto raised her head. There were tears at the corners of her eyes, but her smile was shy, warm, and gentle.
Although she no longer hated Tsukuyomi, for Mikoto, crossing worlds and changing bodies were curses that would bind her forever. Because she had crossed worlds and beco a Spirit, she beca a natural disaster in the eyes of humanity. Because she had changed, her body and heart no longer matched.
To Mikoto, her world felt like a hell surrounded by burning flas. And when she raised her head, the world she once knew looked like heaven.
[I can't go back anymore.]
That was what she had told herself. Humans would never accept Spirits. Spirits were enemies that had to be destroyed. And even if, by so tiny chance, humanity accepted Spirits, she would still be an odd one among them: soone whose body and heart did not match.
But Shido's appearance was like a rope hanging down from heaven.
And now, not only was he trying to help her without caring what happened to himself, he had even jumped into this sea of flas himself. Even knowing he would be burned, he still reached out his hand to her.
"Ahh, I can't help it anymore. My affection for Shido keeps rising."
Mikoto wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. As if sothing frozen inside her heart had lted, she showed a bright smile.
"I surrender. I give up resisting."
The girl smiled and raised both hands, making a surrender pose.
"I'll obediently let Shido seal ."
Finally, she tilted her body and playfully brought both hands beside her head, gently shaking them twice like rabbit ears.(TL:pyon pyon)
The girl's bright smile was full of shyness. Her weak, cute gesture, like a small animal, was lit by the morning sunlight. The scene was so lovable that Shido felt as if his heart would leap out of his chest, and his mind went completely blank.
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