I love Aoi so much tbh, he's such a cute tsundere! I own nothing, other than Tsubasa!

Our Meeting

Aoi was many things; proud, stubborn, bashful, and somewhat incapable of stating his true feelings without blushing and sometimes lashing out and/or running away. You may also add crossdresser, and an internet idol to the list.

He was also an amazing artist, both in sketching out his ideas, and bringing them to life on fabric, which usually made him the butt of many of his classmate's jokes, but he could ignore them most days.

Like today. Aoi doodled something lazily in the corner of his notebook, dragging his pencil against the paper. The vague outline of a woman appeared, and then shape of her dress. The model didn't need to be filled in, after all she was just a sketched out frame for the dress. Like many of his dresses, this one was frilly, but tasteful, and the bodice had a corset-like style to it.

He paused to stare at the small sketch critically. Maybe he'd work on it when he got home.

At that moment, the teacher walked in, and the inane chatter of his classmates quietened. Aoi pursed his lips and twirled the pencil between his fingers as she took the register, muttering a quick here when his name was called. Once that was done, their teacher pressed her palms together with a smile. "Class, today we have a new student joining us," she stated.

The room broke out in excited whispers, most revolving around the gender of the student, and what they would look like, I hope it's a boy! I hope he's hot! If it's a girl, I hope she's super cute!

Aoi rolled his eyes and focused on trying to figure out what colours he would use for the dress if he ever got round to making it. Navy, maybe. Peacock? No, cornflower blue – the same shade as his eyes – with pink, no white for the frills and lace. He was so into his thoughts that he barely noticed the new student when they entered.

Their arrival was met with stunned, and then confused silence. The figure standing in front of the room was tall, about 6 ft, and slender, with long black-brown hair that had been tied back at the base of their head, and dark brown eyes that scanned the room silently with hands jammed into the pockets of the black uniform trousers. At the teacher's prompting, they shrugged. "I'm Yamaguchi Tsubasa," the voice was calm, pitched low but still a bit higher than expected. "Pleased to meet you all."

"Yamaguchi, you can sit next to Hyoudou. Hyoudou, would you please raise your hand?" Aoi huffed and lifted his hand. Tsubasa's eyes fell on him, and he wasted no time sauntering – because there was no other way to describe the movement – over to the chair to his right and taking his seat.

In spite of himself, Aoi couldn't help sneaking a glance at the other. He had brown eyes, the colour of warm coffee or earthy cinnamon – and defined cheekbones. Something about the overall contouring of Tsubasa's face made him pause. For a moment, he could have sworn he was a she...

And then he found himself staring right into those brown eyes. "Yo," Tsubasa greeted casually, eyelids half lowered. Aoi watched the femininely soft-looking lips form around the vowel, and realised that he'd been staring at her out of narrowed eyes for too long without a reply.

"Hello," he replied. Tsubasa blinked slowly, and his eyes dipped down, and then traced back up again. Aoi felt a dull rush of blood to his cheeks, and frowned defensively. "What?"

Tsubasa blinked. "Hyoudou-kun, what's your first name?"

He was still feeling a bit defensive, but there was no reason to not respond. "...Aoi."

They didn't speak for the rest of the period, and Aoi was the first out of the class as soon as the bell rang for break. He knew from experience that his classmates would either come to taunt him about his 'hobby', or they'd leave him alone for the day. It was hit and miss, more hit than miss, but he could always hope.

It seemed that today was a hit day. He'd barely taken a bite of his bento, before hands latched onto the back of his collar and shoved him to the ground. "Hey!" He stared at the remains of the upturned bento, and then tried to get up. One pair of hands went for his backpack, as taunts sailed over his head. He'd stopped paying attention to them a long time ago. Most of the words were the same thing said over, and over again: crossdresser, freak, weirdo, your parents must hate you...

It would be much easier to sit there and stay silent, and eventually they would stop. They'd get bored and go away, that was what he was always told: ignore the bullies. But he couldn't, he spat and leaped to grab his bag, only to be shoved back to the dirt. "Give that back!" He yelled at the boy rifling through his bag.

The boy, a cocky, overconfident English-Japanese child with blonde hair, smirked back at him and scoffed. "Or what?" He retorted. "Are you afraid I'm gonna find all your stupid little sketches, you little freak?"

That was exactly what Aoi was afraid of. Normally he was quite good at remembering to stash his drawing in his locker, and away from prying eyes, but somehow today it had slipped his mind. Most likely because of that new student.

Speaking of that...

"Oi." They turned at the sound of the voice. The new student, Tsubasa, was standing a little way away. His eyes took in Aoi on the floor, the grins that were slowly turning to wary frowns, and the boy going through the bag that clearly wasn't his. The corner of his lips twitched. "I don't need to ask what's going on, do I?"

The blonde scoffed and glared at him. "This has nothing to do with you, newbie," he snapped. "And if you want to have a good time here, I suggest you don't associate with freaks like him." Aoi snarled in response, but his heart beat faster. Tsubasa was new, he wouldn't blame him if he decided to walk away and pretend never to have seen this.

Instead, he walked closer, one hand still in the pocket of his trousers. Aoi noticed that the nails of the visible hand were painted a cute pastel blue. "Nah, I don't see a freak," he commented airily, as though they were having a perfectly civil conversation. "I see a bunch of assholes with identity issues taking out their anger on someone else. So I'll give you all ten seconds to drop the bag, and back away from him, before you all get hurt."

There was silence for two seconds, and then laughter. "You can't be serious."

He smiled and shrugged his shoulders casually. "We're down to six. Five..." he started walking closer. "Four..."

One of the boys made a grab for him, and Tsubasa caught his wrist in his free hand and shoved sharply, sending him sprawling.

"Three..." he punched another boy in the nose, and kicked the legs out from another. "Two..." he kept walking, until he was only a foot from the blonde. "One," he arched an eyebrow. "Well?"

The boy made a choked out gasp, and Aoi gaped as he dropped the bag and ran. He quickly grabbed it, ignoring the dust covering the bottom and sides in favour of rummaging for his sketchbook. Thank goodness, all his papers were still intact.

"Are you okay?" He blinked and realised that he was looking down at him worriedly. "Here," she held out her hand, palm up, almost as though she was asking him to dance. A part of him, the part that was primarily ruled by pride, wanted to huff and stalk away. However, another part of him wanted to blush at being treated so courteously.

This part won out, probably due to some minor form of brain damage caused when he fell, and Aoi internally cursed as he felt heat bloom in his cheeks. He ducked his head, but took her hand anyway. "I'm fine," he muttered.

He helped him to his feet carefully, and grinned. "Really? That's good. I'm glad I was here to help you."

Tsubaki smiled, and Aoi realized that he had yet to let go of his hand. He quickly snatched it back with a scowl, and fumbled with his bag. Once it was relatively dust-free and he no longer felt so red, he turned to Tsubaki.

He was examining his bruised knuckles, and then his nails, flexing his fingers experimentally. "What was that?"

He blinked down at him curiously. "What was what?"

"That!" He waved his hands wildly to indicate what had just happened. "Why did you fight them? They'll just get worse anyway!"

"Well I couldn't just walk away," he looked confused. "They were picking on you, and three on one tiny kid doesn't look very fair."

He scowled angrily at the jibe. "I'm not a kid!" There was nothing he could say about the height though, so he huffed and folded his arms across his chest. "Don't do this again. I'm sure a guy like you has other things to be doing during break than saving crossdressing freaks like me."

Tsubasa's eyes widened in surprise. "Crossdressing? Is that why they were bullying you? Wait, guy?"

The bell rang, and Aoi had already run away. The rest of the day passed by in an angry haze, he was hungry, and tired, and guilt niggled at the back of his mind. Tsubasa technically hadn't done anything wrong, Aoi knew that objectively. Aoi also knew that he was just being proud, and unnecessarily defensive, but there's a difference between knowing something, and actually acting on that knowledge. Tsubaki probably no longer wanted anything to do with him.

I didn't even say thank you, he sighed quietly as he left the school building later that day, and then he grimaced. What am I thinking? So what if he hates me now? I've gotten along just fine without him!

"Hyoudou-kun." He looked up in surprise. Tsubasa was leaning against the school gate, apparently waiting for him. He straightened and walked over. "Wanna go out with me?"

"...huh?"

Tsubasa arched an eyebrow. "You. Me. We can go to a cafe. I heard some girls talking about it in class. You didn't get to eat lunch, did you? You must be hungry."

What was this?! Who was this guy?! Was he making fun of him? Aoi glared up at him angrily. "I'm not-!" There was a low, miserable rumble, and Tsubasa's eyes dropped to his stomach. His face reddened in embarrassment. "I-"

"Come on, it'll be my treat." Aoi eyed the proffered hand warily, and then at him.

"I don't like guys," he stated bluntly. While it was true that he liked dressing up in cute, girly clothes and seducing men, Aoi actually had little interest in pursuing a relationship with one.

Tsubaki blinked in surprise, and then smiled. "Then it's a good thing I'm not a guy, isn't it?"

"What?" Tsubaki had already started walking away, mimicking what he'd done earlier. Aoi found himself hurrying to keep up with her. "You're a girl?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" He–she sounded amused. Aoi eyed her critically from head to toe. She was flat – from what he could see, it was difficult to see any curves under the school blazer and shirt she was wearing – and her long legs were clad in the loose black trousers. One of her hands was jammed in the pockets, the other dangled by her side in a seemingly casual manner, and the nails were both pastel blue.

The nails weren't actually any indication of her gender, he just really liked the shade.

Still, it was easy to see how she could be confused for a boy. Unlike Misaki, her features were somewhat androgynous, with high cheekbones, a defined chin, and full pink lips. She could easily have been mistaken for a pretty boy, or a handsome girl.

As it turned out, it was the latter. "Why are you in the boys' uniform then?"

She shrugged loosely. "I like the fit better," she replied. "Besides, the school didn't have a problem with it, and I am adhering to the rules of how it should be worn."

Aoi couldn't help frowning. What a waste. She was a girl. Why wasn't she dressed more femininely, in cute skirts and dresses? Why could she afford to dress like a guy, but people laughed at him when he dressed as Aoi-chan? It wasn't fair! "Did you always do this?" He couldn't help asking, purposely making his tone as snide as possible. "I bet people made fun of you."

"Yes," she replied breezily and turned a corner, and Aoi blinked when he found himself standing in front of the familiar entrance to Maid Latte. He realised then that he hadn't been paying much attention to the direction they had been walking. "But trust me, I a very good at not caring. We're here!"

The bell jingled overhead. "Welcome home, master! Oh, Aoi-kun, is that you?" Aoi scowled from behind Tsubasa, who was looking around with a mix of awe and curiosity. "You brought a friend!" Erika beamed at them, and he hated the sheer happiness she was radiating. Okay, so he didn't have friends to bring to maid cafes, no need to rub it in.

Tsubasa smiled at him bemusedly as they were seated. "You've been here before?"

"My aunt owns this place," he muttered, glaring balefully at the cheery yellow and pink menu in front of him.

She made a sound of acknowledgement, and studied the menu. "Pick whatever you want," she grinned at him. "Like I said, it's my treat. You've been here before, right? What's the Moe Moe Omelette Rice like?"

Well that sounded all well and good, but why? "Why?" He narrowed his eyes at her when she looked puzzled. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you hadn't gotten the chance to eat before those guys attacked you," Tsubaki replied, just as Erika returned to take their order. She caught the wink the woman directed at Aoi, and smiled at the angry blush that lit Aoi's face. The boy was so adorable. "And I want to be friends with you."

Aoi gaped at her. "F-Friends?" He repeated incredulously, and then he sniffed with an uncharacteristic lack of grace. "Don't be stupid. Didn't you hear what those guys called me?"

She tilted her head to the side. "A crossdresser?" She asked. Aoi folded his arms across his chest and looked away. He was aware of when Erika returned with two plates of omelette rice. "I don't care. Holy shit this is delicious!" Aoi snapped his head around to stare at her in surprise, while Tsubasa tucked in with unreserved delight.

"You...don't care." It was supposed to be a question, but it came out sounding like a disbelieving statement.

"I don't care," Tsubasa repeated just as indifferently as before, popping another mouthful of steaming rice into her mouth. "There's more to people than just the clothes they're wearing, and if someone's willing to judge your character based on fabric then they're just dumb. Besides," she smirked at him from across the table. "I bet you look cute in dresses anyway."

Aoi scowled. He was cute! He was adorable, he knew that! the thousands of people who visited his blog were proof enough! That still didn't stop the blush crawling up his cheeks, and he looked away. "Whatever."

Tsubasa smirked. "Take care of me, Aoi-chan~."