Tea and snacks were placed on the table.
Mikoto and Shido sat across from each other, looking at one another.
Mikoto's shoulders were trembling slightly, as if she was holding back laughter. In sharp contrast, Shido was staring straight at her, his eyes silently speaking of the deep dissatisfaction in his heart.
"Fine. If you want to laugh, just laugh."
After a mont of silence, Shido sighed, as if he had given up.
"Sorry... sorry... But Shido, the way you look right now is just too funny."
Mikoto apologized with a giggle. Her tone had less guilt and more playfulness.
"So explain this to . What exactly is this outfit?"
Right now, Shido was wearing a dinosaur mascot suit that looked like Go○zilla. The zipper ran from the belly all the way up to the chin, and Shido's face could only be seen through the wide-open mouth of the costu.
"After I put Shido's clothes in the wash, I couldn't find anything suitable for you to change into, so this was the only thing left."
That mascot suit had been a free gift from the furniture store owner.
Maybe because it had not sold at all, the owner had given it away very readily. But for Mikoto, she also could not think of any use for it, so she had simply left it in the storage room.
"There really wasn't a better choice?"
"If you don't mind wearing my clothes, then you can, Shiori-chan."
Mikoto stuck out her tongue and said that with a mischievous smile.
"Never mind. This is fine."
It was only for about half an hour anyway. Between dressing as a girl and dressing as a dinosaur, Shido chose the latter.
Not to ntion, compared to the petite Mikoto, the truth was that Shido could not fit into those clothes in the first place.
Click!
But just as Shido was trying hard to endure the sha of wearing the mascot suit, the sound of a cara shutter reached his ears.
He looked up and saw Mikoto holding her phone toward him with a smile.
"Um... Yakumo-senpai, may I ask what you're doing?"
"I'm taking a picture of Shido's cute look. Kotori and Tohka will definitely like it."
In that instant, Shido felt sothing inside his mind break.
"Ya-ku-mo-sen-pai."
"Hm?"
"Gaooo! The big monster is going to eat senpai's phone!"
Shido pounced forward, trying to snatch the phone away.
If that picture was handed to Kotori, the punishnt for his next training session would definitely involve it. For example, putting the photo on the school hopage.
"Eeeh? No way."
"No questions allowed! Gaooo!"
And so, the two of them began chasing each other around the table.
———————
The main dish for dinner was nikujaga.
Considering Kotori and Tohka were also there, Mikoto and Shido decided to bring the whole pot to the Itsuka house after it was done.
After using his phone to tell Kotori to cook the rice, Shido's gaze stopped at one corner of the table.
There were a few books there.
"Basic Makeup That Won't Hurt Your Skin"
"Easy to Understand Fashion Trends"
"Tengu City Shopping Guide"
"Body and Mind: Materialism or Idealism"
"Yakumo-senpai is more girlish than I imagined."
Although Mikoto had been male before crossing over, her usual actions and speech were filled with a girlish style. Even the books she read showed interest in that side of things.
"That's not it, Shido."
Mikoto placed the lid on the pot. From here, it only needed to simr over low heat.
Then she returned to Shido's side.
"I didn't buy these books because I'm interested in them. If I have to describe them, they're more like textbooks."
Mikoto sighed.
Although they were talking about gender, since she had once told Ratatoskr that she wanted so privacy, Ratatoskr would not monitor anything when Shido and Mikoto were alone together.
So they could safely say whatever they wanted.
"Textbooks?"
"Shido, which brand of lotion is better? What do the latest won's jeans look like this season? Which cake shop in the shopping district is most popular with girls?"
"You should ask girls about those things. How would I possibly know... ah..."
Shido suddenly understood.
Before crossing over, Mikoto had been male.
In other words, when it ca to the common everyday knowledge of girls, she was almost at zero, just like Shido.
"See? These are all topics girls often talk about."
Although she had managed to fit into her class, every ti these subjects ca up, Mikoto felt as if she and her classmates lived in different worlds.
"What about boys, then? Wouldn't you have more common topics with them?"
"I tried that. And in these two days, three boys have already confessed to ."
Mikoto gave a bitter smile.
Boys did indeed offer more topics she could talk about. But in their eyes, rather than treating Mikoto as a close friend they could chat with, a beautiful girl with a gentle personality and shared interests was simply sothing high school boys could not refuse.
"Ahaha... I see."
Shido awkwardly scratched his cheek.
He really should have expected that result.
"That's why I don't fit into this world."
Mikoto let out a soft sigh.
Shido finally understood.
Although Mikoto's actions and behavior were very feminine, all of it was an illusion she had built so she could fit into this world that did not match her.
Because she had crossed over after being transford, did that an she had to show signs of being male in her daily life?
Maybe the answer was not that simple.
Because he had dressed as Shiori before, Shido understood.
Itsuka "Shiori" absolutely did not want anyone to see that she was actually a man.
Because that would an being erased on a social level.
"Cross-dresser," "pervert," "gross"—judgnts like that would surely rush toward him all at once.
Maybe Mikoto was the sa.
She did not want anyone to discover the truth about her genderbend, so she would never reveal any masculine behavior.
Because she had spent a long ti together with Tsukuyomi, her manners and speech were not hard to manage.
Because she had been male before crossing over, she could easily beco the kind of ideal woman n had in their minds.
But if that was the case, then wasn't Mikoto hiding her true self inside a barrier called "the perfect woman"?
When he thought of that, Shido felt a pain in his chest.
"That's not true! Yakumo-senpai is absolutely not soone who doesn't belong in this world! Whether you are a boy or a girl, if this world tries to deny you, then I'll affirm you hundreds and thousands of tis more! So... don't hide yourself... mgh!"
He shouted.
But then a delicate piece of snack was shoved into his mouth.
"Shido really is kind. But you're mistaken."
After feeding him by force, Mikoto pulled her hand back and smiled shyly.
[Even if the world denies you... I will...]
She had heard similar words more than once already.
If she had to describe them, they should have been very empty and powerless words.
And yet, when Shido said them, they always made her want to believe him. Her heart would also grow shy on its own.
[It must be because there's nothing false in Shido's words.]
Mikoto thought that.
"I'm not hiding anything. This life was given to by Tsukuyomi. If I lived it behind a mask, then that would be far too wasteful."
Mikoto sighed.
She could not say Shido was completely wrong.
Beneath her perfect feminine behavior, there was indeed a part of her that did not want to be seen as male.
Especially in front of Kotori and Ratatoskr.
Because they had taken care of her in many ways, she had told them many of the things they wanted to know.
Crossing over from another world. The existence of Tsukuyomi.
The only thing she had not said out loud was probably the fact that she had been genderbend.
But because of that, if she was not careful, soone in Ratatoskr who already knew most of the truth might infer that Yakumo Mikoto had been male before crossing over.
However, that was not the main reason.
Mikoto picked up the philosophy book called "Body and Mind: Materialism or Idealism" and said:
"Hey, Shido. If a person changed from a boy into a girl, what do you think they should do afterward?"
"I..."
Shido found it hard to answer that question.
"Answer one: let the mind match the body, and live as a girl."
Mikoto pointed at the word "Body" on the cover and said that.
"Answer two: let the body match the mind, and live as a boy."
Then Mikoto pointed at the word "Mind" on the cover.
"My answer is the first one. So this isn't a mask, and it isn't an act. I simply decided, by my own will, to live as a girl."(TL:so peak...)
Of course, saying it was easy.
Even if she had made that decision, she knew that life from here on would surely bring many difficulties.
Makeup and clothes were only the tip of the iceberg.
Even so, Mikoto still believed in her choice.
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