Third update of the year. Only nine more to go before I reach my goal!
Anyway, this section is really lacking in fanfiction. Badly. So here I am to try to relieve the issue a bit!
As far as this fic goes, it didn't come out quite like I wanted. I honestly have no idea what I don't like about it, but it just feels... off. Hopefully just me though.
Fujiouka stepped out of the grocery store and onto the cold winter streets. In his hands he gripped the milk that he had picked up for dinner. Currently, he was in a small shopping district in the middle of the town that was conveniently not too far out of his way from his walk home from school. It was snowing outside and he pulled his hood over his head to shield himself from the falling specks. The sooner he got walking, the sooner he would arrive home.
He walked down the street with a slow but steady pace. He wasn't sure if the sidewalks were icy or not, but he didn't want to take the risk.
A group of four people stood in his way though, taking up the width of the entire sidewalk. They were having an argument of sorts, or so it looked. Either way they were making a loud commotion that Fujiouka wasn't interested in dealing with. He didn't bother to listen in and instead, he just took a detour around the group, as they seemed in no rush to make way for him.
The voices were distinctly male, and definitely adults. Except for the last voice he heard, loud and clear:
"I told you already, I don't want it!"
Wait a minute, was that Touma?
Sure enough, when Fujiouka turned around, he saw Touma standing among the group of people taking up the sidewalk. He was dressed to the brim in a winter coat and thick pants, while the three taller males surrounding him were wearing light jackets. Two of them looked just like Touma and Fujiouka came to the impression that they were probably his brothers.
The three of them were still causing a scene in the streets, and Fujiouka tried to remember back to what they had been saying before. Something about an outfit? Fujiouka looked back at the group and backed himself up into an alleyway. He wanted to see what was going on, but he didn't want them to notice him watching.
Touma stood in the middle of her three brothers, who were having one of their usual conversations about her but without her. She just wished that they would do this at home, so at least she could pretend to ignore them like usual. It was cold out here.
"She needs to wear more feminine clothes sometimes. Perhaps we should buy this outfit for her." Haruo spoke in a dignified manner. He was the one that had brought up this conversation to begin with, as usual. It was her birthday coming up, so he felt that it was time for the brothers to go shopping. Which was how they ended up here. Unsurprisingly, they didn't seem to consider the fact that bringing her along while they bought her gift was not how occasions like these were meant to go.
"Yeah, it would surely look cute on her." Akira chimed in.
Touma was utterly appalled at the idea. It was bad enough she had to wear skirts at school, if she was going to have to wear one out of school she at least wanted to be able to choose it herself. "I told you already, I don't want it."
"I think Haruo is right. What Touma chooses to wear now isn't suitable." Natsuki added his two cents to the matter. Now the three of them had agreed upon something. Not that it mattered much. It would still take them another few hours to actually act upon their decision.
"Stop trying to choose things for me. I can make my own decisions on what I wear." Touma yelled. "Besides, you're the ones that raised me to be this way!"
Touma went back to ignoring her brothers. It was pointless talking to them; they'd never make a decision anyway. She just wanted to get out of this cold.
Fujiouka was still watching from the alley. He had no idea what the conversation was about, but he could tell that Touma was visibly uncomfortable with the subject matter.
"It's not like Touma to stand up against us like this." The biggest one spoke.
"Yes, but when surrounded by so many brothers like us it's natural for a child to act out abnormally in a manner such as this." The brown haired one replied.
"Yeah, I don't think we ever have to worry about Touma having much of a feminine side." The shortest male said, in an almost teasing voice.
"Yeah, like Touma would ever want to wear a skirt."
"Yes, that is very true; I can't see Touma ever doing such a thing. Perhaps we should just head home for now."
Fujiouka could see visible relief on Touma's face as the four of them turned around and walked off together. What had they been talking about though? Skirts? It hadn't made any sense. He must have heard wrong. Fujiouka waited for them to walk around the corner and then he walked up to the shop that they had been staring into.
He was even more confused when he saw the contents of the store. It was all… girl's clothing. So they had actually been talking about skirts then? And what was that about Touma's feminine side, and acting out abnormally?
"Yes, but when surrounded by so many brothers like us it's natural for a child to act out abnormally in a manner such as this."
Fujiouka's thoughts stopped as a single one ran through his head, causing an epiphany. It all made sense now… That time at the hot springs, the time when he had seen Touma in Chiaki's school uniform at Kana's house, and their conversation right now… He had finally figured it out.
Touma walked out of her homeroom class. It had been her day to do after-school chores, along with a few others students, and they had just all finished. Makoto was supposed to be waiting for her outside the school as Mako-chan, so that they could go over to Chiaki's together.
Touma walked down the hallway slowly. What was she going to do about her brothers? They seriously wanted to buy her girl clothes in hopes of making her more feminine. As far as Touma saw it she was already a girl and she didn't need to prove it.
"Oh, good, there you are Touma."
That voice… Touma looked up to see Fujiouka standing in front of her.
At that very instant, she felt like screaming. It felt like someone had just pulled her pants down for the whole school to see. Fujiouka was seeing her in her school uniform, in a skirt, for a second time… but this time there was no one there to hide her or make up an excuse for her. And she was in school too, so it's not like she could say she was doing it as a joke.
What was he even doing here!
Touma's face was pure red and the best form of communication she could make was a barely audible squeak.
"I came here to see you. I need to tell you something."
Touma made no attempt to give a response.
"I saw you and your family out shopping the other day, and I accidentally overheard some of the conversation. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. That's when I figured it out. I'm sorry I've been so clueless about it up until now."
"Here." He slid his backpack off of his shoulders and for the first time Touma realized that he was still in his school uniform. He must have come running here as soon as school ended in order to catch her.
He pulled a gift wrapped box out of his bag and handed it to her. Touma found it resting on her hands, though she couldn't remember actually putting her hands out for it. Actually, she had no idea of anything that was happening right now.
"I should get going now. See you at Minami's later!" He said as he waved goodbye. But before leaving, he added as an afterthought, "The skirt does look good on you, by the way!" Fujiouka ran down the hallway the way he came, then turned the corner and left a very confused Touma in the hallway.
Touma stared down at the gift. What was this for? What did he mean he'd figured it out? Where, or who, did he figure it out from? Touma took a deep breath. Ok, one question at a time.
He'd overheard her brothers and her while shopping. What if he had somehow figured out it was her birthday? They had been talking about it rather loudly after all. If that was true… then his was a birthday present. It wasn't normal for her to receive a birthday gift from someone other than her brothers. In fact, it was barely normal for her to even receive a birthday gift from her brothers. Touma blushed slightly more.
But what about the fact that he'd just seen her in a skirt?
He had seen her in her bathing suit before and never figured it out. Perhaps he hadn't even noticed it? No… he'd outright commented on it. He must know by now. He'd pretty much said so himself.
"What… the." Touma's face was pure red. Fujiouka had… finally figured it out. It was the only possible option. A wave of relief as well as a new wave of embarrassment from him having seen her in a skirt flushed over her. "I guess I won't have to hide anymore then…" And he had said it looked cute too…
Touma finally looked down at the gift wrapped box in her hands. It was of a fairly decent size. Maybe a bit too small for a soccer ball, but perhaps new shoes? He had said that he had seen her shopping with her brothers the other day, so perhaps he had seen her at the sports store.
Touma was about to tear the wrapping off when she felt something stuck to the bottom of the package.
"A card?"
Touma ripped open the envelope with little to no grace, but gently pulled out the barely damaged letter inside.
I'm sorry about that time that I walked in on you in when you were in a skirt at Chiaki's house. I realize it must have been extremely awkward for me to find out that way. And I'm guessing it must have been even more awkward when I walked in on you in the girl's change room at the hot springs.
I understand that your brothers aren't too accepting of your hobby. Obviously Kana and Chiaki knew long before I did so they probably helped you out a lot, but I just wanted to let you know that if you ever need anyone else to talk to about this or to go shopping with then you can pretend to be my little sister anytime. You can count on me!
Touma gave the card a raised eyebrow. What was this guy talking about? He wasn't trying to adopt her like Chiaki did too, was he?
Touma ripped open the gift and threw the paper on the ground. She opened the tabs on the box swiftly and peered inside.
It was a skirt.
Not just any skirt, but the same skirt that her brothers had tried to buy for her. So the store he had seen her at was the female clothing shop that she had refused to go inside. Was this some sort of joke? He decided to buy her a gift that she didn't want on purpose?
"Wait a minute…" Touma read over the card again. I understand that your brothers aren't too accepting of your hobby. "Wait, he doesn't…." You can pretend to be my little sister anytime. "Eh? He thinks I'm a male cross-dresser?"
Touma dropped the gift in despair and did all that she could do – give an exasperated sigh. While he wasn't too far off in the technical sense, he had just moved about a kilometre backwards in figuring out the truth.
Reviews are greatly appreciated, even if they are brief! Especially in a section as small as this one.