A/N: This is completely AU. Being on the bus makes your mind wander. Mine went all the way to an AU of ByaRen which I feel will turn multi-chaptered, but won't be too long. I mean, just look at my Naruto one, it's freaking fail, and I have no heart to continue it any longer. 'Being on the bus' as in, I wrote a huge part of this oveaseas at East Europe and I think it was a long ride, so I started plotting...

Anyway, hope everyone who reads will enjoy!

EDIT: I corrected some mistakes, and have received a great review telling me where and what went wrong. I was glad for that, so I'm going to make proper changes. As for how the story sounds, it's a little difficult for me to change everything. If I did, the flow of the story would seem odd.

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The Red Player

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Renji sat in front of his mirror, concentrated on his own relfection in order to properly apply the make-up he needed. He applied heavy make-up and checked himself over to see if it was enough. He then stained his lips red and sat there for awhile, just staring into the mirror and staring at his own reflection.

He, just about two months ago, had been elected as the best player for koto and shamisen throughout the whole of Seireitei. His name had only been spread through Karakura Town, a small part of the capital of Seireitei in two days, and then spread to almost the whole of Seireitei itself in a month, earning himself great amounts of income and jobs of up to 7 public performances maximum per day. He was proud of this achievement, but also blamed himself for being born with an extraordinarily bright, flaming red hair, thereby earning him the nickname, 'The Red Player'. And also because of that nickname, he had, as according to the wishes of his stupid boss, chosen to wear furisodes in different shades of red and patterns. As his performances increased, and his boss knew that they needed more variety, they also employed other instrument players to accompany Renji.

Thus recently, he had not just been busy performing, but also randomly composing in his head bits and pieces to entertain his guests. After coming up with them, he would rehearse with the other players who would join him for the performances. He had to agree that the fact that his name had spread so quickly in the first week he began performing was too alarmingly fast. Because of that, business for the performing center picked up so drastically that they were at their peak. He had even triggered the interest of the billionaire in Seireitei, Aizen Sousuke to go for his performance almost every week. Sometimes Aizen requested for 'private time' at his own mansion, but Renji had rejected the offer many times, saying that he prefered the cozy room of his at his performing center. Luckily, that Aizen was never a pushy man (not towards Renji anyway), so if Renji rejected him, he would just accept it, and the red haired man will specially open the Grand Hall to perform privately for the billionaire to listen.

He looked at himself one last time in the mirror and was satisfied with his own make-up. But with all the rouge and powder and the unimaginable amount of stress placed on him, he lost weight and looked just like a girl. Now, he only had to figure out how to make his hair presentable.

A knock came from his door.

"Come in," Renji said.

The door opened and revealed a cute, petite little girl.

"Abarai-kun, are you ready yet?" Hinamori Momo asked sweetly, a fellow accompaniment player as she closed the door.

"Ah, no...Can't figure out what to do with my hair," replied Renji honestly.

"Eh? Oh, I can help with that."

Renji handed her some clips, pins and a hairtie that allowed her to work on his hair. When she was done, Renji realized that a simple way of tying it would have been alright; that was what Hinamori did. She tied his hair up in a bun, stuck a black butterfly pin through it, and let down some bangs on one side of Renji's face.

"Oh, thanks Hinamori."

"You're welcome. I didn't know what to do with it too so..." Hinamori said sheepishly.

"Well, get ready. It's almost time," said Renji as he got up and tied his furisode securely with a white obi.

"Yes, and I was also told to remind you that we have two extremely important guests today. One whom we know is a regular, Aizen Sousuke-sama. Today, accompanying him will be Kuchiki Byakuya-sama, his new business partner, head of the Kuchiki International Corporation. So...you know, the boss wants us to perform our best so we can also have another regular at our performing center..."

"Yeah, I remember that. And I know about the boss's intentions. He was drilling that into my head since last week. Apparently, those two are having their business talk at our performing center." Renji said as he straightened out his kimono, hoping that there were no creases or folds of any sorts. Hanatarou had it properly straightened out just that morning, and he did not want to ruin Hanatarou's hard work.

There was a short silence as he looked into the mirror, checking himself over one last time before looking at Hinamori's face relfected in the mirror with a light blush. Renji knew immediately what she was thinking about.

He sighed, "Hinamori...don't bother yourself with Aizen. Do you know of how many scandalous news he has been rumored to be involved in? Plus, I've talked to him quite a few times, and I can tell he's not that good of a person...Sorry, Hinamori. I'm not saying he's entirely bad, but he's just not someone whom many can get close to."

"I know...but we should concentrate on our performance now, right?" Hinamori smiled softly.

Renji could only smile back.

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Renji made his way towards the stage and found Matsumoto all ready for the performance. She was standing and holding her beautiful shamisen, which she loved so much she gave it a name, Haineko.

Upon spotting Renji walking towards her, she called out to him, "Ah! Ren-chan~!"

Renji walked towards her with a scowl on his face and replied none-too-happily, "Don't call me that please, Rangiku-san."

"Ah, I can't resist it! I mean, it's a compliment really, because you are looking more and more feminine with every performance!" Matsumoto giggled as she eyed Renji up and down.

"...I'll kill you after the performance." Renji's eye twitched as he went up the stage.

The Grand Hall had 500 seats, and today's performance was full house, with Kuchiki Byakuya and Aizen Sousuke seated at the special seats, all the way in front so they could get a clear view of Renji and the other performers.

Once the red-head was ready, he got on the stage, and received a huge applause from the audience. He moved purposefully toward his koto and sat in front of it, behind him sat other koto and shamisen players, of them Matsumoto and Hinamori sat.

He ran his eyes quickly over the audience, and was glad to see that Ichigo was one of them. Probably his boss had let that guy in for free. His boss had taken a liking to the orange-haired boy, and allowed the boy odd jobs whenever there were any in their performing center. That boy was in desperate need of money in preparation for his university years, and especially the course that he wanted to take was beyond reach for those who were poor. University usually could only be attended by the rich, and in rarer cases, scholarship students. However, even the government did not bother helping those who needed education, so scholarships could only be provided to those who were lucky enough. Renji, upon hearing that Ichigo wanted to take the medicine course and become a doctor, decided to sponsor the boy wth his own pay since lots of his needs were already catered by his boss. However, time was getting a bit too tight as Ichigo would be going to university in less than a year. His medication course would cost up to half a million ryou, and that was only a minimum. Ichigo himself had also been saving up, but the amount currently was less than twenty thousand ryou.

I'll just have to try to work- No. I'll just have to work harder and help him, decided Renji as he lifted his hands over his koto and at once, the audience fell silent.

He closed his eyes and allowed his hands to crash down on his instrument, creating a very strong and forceful start to the piece. His right hand danced across the thirteen-stringed instrument as his left allowed sharp changes in pitch and created a tense atmosphere. The other players joined him and Renji threw himself into the piece of music. He began to feel angrier and saw red, and was reminded of the past: of how he was orphaned at a young age, of how he had to steal to survive, of how he had endured beatings of bullies back in Inuzuri, of how he had lost his friends, and a friend so dear to him, of how this person left without so much of saying anything, of how the war had torn everybody and families apart.

He struck, strong and hard at the strings, feeling the anger and pain and sorrow welling up inside of him, and releasing it all at one go in anger. Rhythmically, he ran his hands quickly over the strings, creating even stronger and heavier notes that only further triggered his frustrations and anger.

Finally, his thumb struck downwards in one swift, swiping motion and ended the piece of intense music.

All at once, the audience stood up and applauded him, and many of them called out to him by his nickname 'Red Player'. He bowed to the audience, and specifically to the two important guests. He left the stage and back to his own room.

When he opened his door, he already expected someone to be there.

"Hey Renji! This performance was a blast eh? I could feel your emotions reaching out to me even, when I'm all the way at the far end of the hall," grinned Ichigo.

"'Course it was! This time it's freakin' full house. I guess if I didn't throw myself into the music then I wouldn't be convincing enough..." Renji explained as he slowly sat down and began to remove his heavy make-up.

"Your make-up and kimono gets even more and more feminine too..." chuckled Ichigo.

Renji death-glared at his best friend, and muttered something like 'stupid boss with cross-dressing fetish'.

They fell silent for awhile, with Renji working on removing his make-up and changing into his yukata, a more comfortable and casual wear that Renji very much preferred.

"Hey Renji..." Ichigo started, sounding oddly serious.

The red-head turned to the other and looked at him. Renji thought Ichigo was too serious for the usual goofy behavior of the strawberry.

"I think...I'm not going for the medicine course."

There was another pause, and Renji replied with a question while untying and re-doing his hair into a high ponytail, "Where the hell has your determination gone to, Ichigo?"

Another short silence followed, and Renji, hearing nothing else from the younger boy, continued, "Weren't you the one who insisted that you'd get into the best university in Seireitei, and take the doctor course? Weren't you the one who said all those things about being the best doctor Seireitei can find since we were young?"

"But...look at the reality Renji! I'm freakin' poor, and pops can't fork out any more money. Plus, Yuzu and Karin both need to study too! They're younger than me, and they have a future far brighter than me! I'm their older brother, and my job is to support them, to protect them, not to steal their chances away too. I'm not-"

A hand found its way to Ichigo's face and a resounding 'smack' was heard.

Ichigo stared wide-eyed at his best friend before him who was completely red with anger.

"Ichigo. I'm going to say this one last time. I'm fucking sending you to the best univeristy in Seireitei for your medicine and doctor course, and I'm working to help you no matter what it takes."

The orange-haired boy looked down in guilt and whispered, "But how...? I only have a little more than seven months before my final exams. I have to get half a million before that time! I just-"

"I have my own ways, Ichigo," grinned the red-head.

The strawberry stared at his friend for a moment and then exclaimed, "Don't tell me you're going to sell your body!"

Renji choked and attempted to recover himself. When he did, he glared at Ichigo and ground out, "What the hell! No effin' way would I sell my body for you!"

The orange-haired boy burst out in laughter, and so did Renji.

When they calmed down, Renji continued, "Whatever it is, you don't have to worry or pay me back. This is what I'll be doing as my job anyway. The extra money I'll pass to you and you'll accept it with no complaints whatsoever. Besides..." Renji paused and smiled, albeit bitter, and continued, "This is as thanks for taking me into your family back then, or I would've starved to death..."

Ichigo returned the smile. "Renji..."

A knock came from the door.

"Ren-chan~! Oh! Ichigo! You're here too!" Matsumoto smiled seductively at the orange-haired boy and practically sashayed towards the younger boy, not hesitating to exhibit her dangerous curves and extra large breasts.

She stopped before the boy and tried to bend down a little to show off her cleavage, but was stopped by Renji, who placed both his hands on her shoulders and straightened her up.

He sighed, "Please, Rangiku-san. How many times have I told you not to do that to any guy you come across?"

Matsumoto only pouted back in response and whined, "Aww, but Ren-chan!"

Ichigo finally breathed a sigh of relief as for once, he wasn't brutally attacked by the suffocating bags that were on Matsumoto.

"Anyway, what is it that you have to find me?"

"Oh yeah! Aizen Sousuke and Kuchiki Byakuya requested for your presence. They just finished their business talk."

"Ah, I got it. Go back now, Ichigo. I think I'd be back late, probably too late to chat with you." Renji said as he got up and put his red kimono over his yukata.

"Yeah, I'll see you around this weekend. I guess I'll work hard myself here too," smiled Ichigo.

Renji nodded and left for the room with both Kuchiki and Aizen were in. He brought along his shamisen, carefully placing it in a box and carried it with him.

When he reached the door of the room, he knocked on it and went in.

"Good evening, Aizen-san, Kuchiki-san," greeted Renji politely with a bow.

"No need with the formalities, Abarai-kun." Aizen's calm voice rang out to Renji.

Renji nodded as he asked casually, "Any music then?"

"Maybe later. We can have a chat now," said Aizen as he pointed out the seat between him and the Kuchiki. Renji moved to sit between the two as Aizen continued, "We were just talking about your performance earlier. As always, you play very well."

Renji bowed a little in thanks and sat. He looked to his left and saw the Kuchiki going through some documents. Somehow, the noble did not seem quite keen on the conversation.

Renji took two cups from the middle of the table and poured tea for them. He placed the cup for the head of the Kuchiki International Corporation. That man did not even bat an eyelash at Renji!

What a noble, thought Renji sarcastically.

The red-head then handed the billionaire's cup of tea, and the other man smiled and took the cup.

...Except a tad bit too...close, Renji would like to describe. As much as Renji would prefer more responsive people, Aizen Sousuke was too responsive. That man's hand lingered on his own a bit too long for his liking, and yet that Aizen still had the cheek to smile so warmly at him.

Pervert, thought Renji. Somehow, the Kuchiki seemed like a better person. As much as that man was not chatty, he definitely seemed like the type of gentleman who would still have his morals, the upright sort of person.

"Then, Aizen-san, how was the business talk?" asked Renji as he removed his hands.

"It went very well indeed. We managed to click together a new factory, and we think it would be beneficial for the commoners," explained Aizen.

"Ah, so it is aimed at the commoners then..."

"Yes, it would go well, wouldn't it, Kuchiki-san?"

The only response they received was a quick look from the noble, and the man immediately returned to looking over the documents once again.

...Maybe thinking that the noble may be a better man than Aizen isn't necessarily true either...

"Well then, I shall do my job," said Renji as he got up, gently and caringly removed his shamisen from the box and sat on another chair. The red-head asked, "How about 'The Beginning'?"

Aizen smiled in agreement. However, the Kuchiki had no response and Renji dulled a little at that. Nevertheless, he began. Slow, and steady as he set the rhythm for it and his plectrum naturally danced over the instrument with ease. His left moved up and down the neck of the shamisen and the piece got faster.

This time, he realized, that he seemed to have peaked the interest of the noble as he felt a pair of grey eyes looking at him.

Looking? More like they are boring into me...

As his plectrum clicked against his shamisen loudly, he pictured those typical harvest festivals that he passed by when he was young. A shamisen player would be playing a happy, catchy and relatively light tune and all the men and women who harvested would dance joyously to this ocassion. He pictured a young little girl smiling brightly back at him and dancing along with the music. With every click of the plectrum against the shamisen, the girl tapped her foot against the ground. Then, everything stopped and the girl stopped and smiled endearingly at Renji. The young girl then slowly faded away from Renji's vision.

The girl...it was her face...

When he finished, both of them clapped.

"Indeed, you are magnificent with your playing as usual. It is the shamisen this time...You should perform your pieces that would sound good with your shamisen! I shall be present for them as usual." Aizen smiled kindly at the red-head.

"You flatter me too much Aizen-san. I'm still trying to brush up my shamisen skills..."

"You are quite right. There still needs to be brushing up of skills and extra practice to be done." Kuchiki Byakuya stated, for the first time, as a matter-of-factly.

What the fuck?!

Aizen furrowed his eyebrows a little at his business partner, and said softly, "Now now Kuchiki-san, there isn't a need to be that critical and harsh, do you? Abarai-kun is but a young man. His performance thus far will not have been possible if not for his hard work. Try not to be so harsh, Kuchiki-san. This boy is giving his all."

"The only question is, how did he make it thus far?" said Byakuya as his eyes strayed from Renji to Aizen. "You can never be sure of what ways one would use to attain fame, money and popularity."

Something stirred in Renji. What this man was saying was definitely not true. It was taking every cell and willpower inside of Renji not to hit the arrogant noble. He did not give a damn whether the noble was a noble or not. Being a noble means you have to be someone worthy of respect, but the way this Kuchiki Byakuya was speaking was nothing worth anyone's respect.

The noble continued coldly, "And the fact that you are...covering him, Aizen-san, makes things even more suspicious."

Something snapped.

That was Renji, who had, instead of hitting the noble, taken the cup of tea and splashed it on the black-haired man. Renji earned a completely surprised look from the Kuchiki, and a relatively worried smile from Aizen.

Renji placed the cup back down and said dangerously, "Kuchiki-san. This is the one thing that I cannot tolerate. Being a performer, I am absolutely loyal to my job. Being an instrument player, I am absolutely loyal to it too. I will also work harder to improve my skills on my shamisen. In this world, I don't expect myself to rely on anyone at all to gain benefits for myself. I hope that answers your doubts towards me, Kuchiki-san."

Renji promptly stomped out of the room and slammed the door shut.

Aizen looked at the still-soaking wet business partner of his and smiled mockingly, "Kuchiki-san, that was wrong of you to suspect Abarai-kun. He has quite the temper, and one of the most diligent and resistant ones I have met...Now, I shall take my leave too."

The bespectacled man then got up and left, leaving a frowning Kuchiki behind.

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Renji was silently fuming on his way back to his own room. How dare that Kuchiki insult him that way! How dare that Kuchiki carelessly say things like that! One thing Renji hated was to have other people judge him that way. That was the trouble of being a performer, and once a performer became famous, things would also get out of hand. Rumors and scandals would spread. Luckily for him, more like his personality spread to the fans of his and so far nothing bad was said about him yet. But what that bastard said to him today was too much! To accuse him with no evidence like that was not just plainly baseless, but also unprofessional for the noble.

Anyway, I have to- oh shit. I forgot that he has the very right to complain to my boss, and I'll most likely be fired, or be punished by my boss, Renji thought in realization and smacked his forehead. He had been so blinded by fury to realize what he just did.

Perhaps he should try speaking to the noble about how he was sorry in losing his temper so easily. Yes, he should do just that. Maybe he should ask Aizen about how to contact the Kuchiki or something...

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And so, it was finally weekend. Still, Renji did not know whether to be relieved or worried. Because, the complaint never came.

"So, until now there's been nothing at all? Like, from that guy or your boss?" Ichigo questioned as he picked up an apple and bit on it.

Sitting across from the orange-haired boy was Renji, who had an off day that day. The red-head replied, "Nope, not so much of a look even from my boss. I tried to see if he was hinting anything at all to me, but recently he's never spoken anything about the Kuchiki. All he had talked to me about was how well I was doing in the music industry, and that there were more areas I could develop in."

The strawberry frowned a bit, "The boss is also a straightforward man...I don't think he'd beat around the bush either just to get a message across you. If you did anything wrong he'd tell you right away, right?"

"I think so too...By the way, I have been able to earn extra in these few performances thanks to the full house, and the boss giving me a pay-rise," grinned Renji triumphantly, momentarily forgetting about the Kuchiki incident.

"Eh? That's great. My pops had more clients at his clinic this past week too. That's, well, not a good thing but a good thing for my family. And I found another job again."

"Hey, you workin' a bit too hard? You still have studies you know?" Renji asked, concerned.

"Of course I have school work, but I don't have to worry that much. The semester's ending soon, and things at school are calming down considerably, so I don't have to worry that much. It'll be about a month before things pick up again, so I'll take this chance to work harder," explained Ichigo.

"That's a good thing, but don't over-exert yourself."

"..."

"What?" Renji raised an eyebrow.

"You know, ever since you've taken up this feminine dressing style...you've become like a mother-hen for me you know?" Ichigo laughed.

"Why you!" Renji stood up and threw the cushion he was sitting on and threw it playfully at Ichigo, who dodged it successfully. The orange haired boy then picked up the one he previously sat on and also flung it at the older man. Therefore, a pillow fight ensued in the little room of Renji's.

Ichigo, taking the opportunity that Renji let his guard down, tackled his best friend onto the floor. He decided, that they both should have fun laughing and enjoying themselves once in awhile, and started to tickle the man beneath him, knowing that Renji was extremely ticklish.

"Ahahaha! Oei! Aha! Wah! Ichigo! Ah! Stop- ahaha! Stop!" Renji was nearly in tears from being tickled.

Suddenly, the door flung open.

"Rangiku-san! You ca-!" Hinamori looked worriedly at Matsumoto, and then at the scene before her.

"...phew. Carry on boys, sorry for interrupting~!" grinned Matsumoto evilly.

"Wait, Rangiku-san! This is not what it looks like!" Ichigo blushed furiously.

Renji, who had hurriedly scrambled up from his previous position, grabbed a nearby cushion and flung it at Matsumoto, which missed completely.

"No need to be so angry that we interrupted no, Ren-chan?" Matsumoto still held her evil grin, and Renji wanted nothing more than to punch her face. He did not give a damn even if she was a girl.

"Ah! Excuse me for interrupting, but Abarai-kun, you have an urgent meeting requested by Kuchiki-sama!" Hinamori said.

Renji, upon hearing the announcement, stiffened and started to get worried. He was so getting a direct punishment from the Kuchiki himself.

He decided, since it was like that, he might as well just go and face the music. No point running away. Besides, no matter how offensive the nobel was being, the one who got physical was himself.

"Right. I'll go there now. Sorry Ichigo, I'll catch you later."

Ichigo was a little worried too for Renji, and silently hoped that the red-head would get out unscathed.

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Somehow, Renji felt his heart thumping in frustration and worry as he got closer and closer to the meeting room that had Kuchiki Byakuya in it.

Now, he was really afraid that the man will personally punish him- oh god it had better not be something horrible- and possibly, in the worst case, kill him. Yet, he still wanted to drill it into the Kuchiki's head that he was not such a despicable person, as the noble had once accused.

He gulped as he finally stood in front of the door that connected to the room he was going to receive his punishment from. He slowly raised his hand towards the door and slid it open, and revealed the dark-haired noble dressed formally in a kimono, seated at the table and sipping his tea calmly.

Oh shit. I never knew doom's day would be right in front of my eyes! Renji winced as he went in slowly and closed the door with slightly trembling hands.

He turned about and wanted to speak, but ended up staring a little at the man in front of him.

Somehow, that man felt different today, with a totally different aura around him. That day, though he knew the man was always described as 'indifferent' toward anything, the man was critical and lashed out cruelly at Renji. But this time, the man was calm and perhaps...if Renji was extremely lucky, the man would not even punish him, but let him off.

The noble gracefully and slowly placed his cup of tea back down and turned his head towards the red-head. They locked gaze for what seemed like an eternity; calm slate grey eyes met uncomfortable black ones. Somehow, Renji could not bring himself to tear his gaze away from those eyes.

But Renji thought perhaps it would be better if he opened his mouth and spoke first.

"Ah...regarding the um, the other day...I'm-"

"I apologize regarding the other day." The Kuchiki's voice rang out loud and clear.

It seemed to take an eternity for it to reach Renji's ears as the red-head stared at the noble before him as if the other man had grown another head.

"Eh?" Renji managed.

"I was not being myself the other day."

"So...so I'm...So you weren't angry about what I did?" Renji could not keep his surprise and smile out of his voice. He relaxed a little as he realized that at least the man was not being a prick...

"Of course I was, except that I was also in the wrong, therefore I apologize."

"Ah, I'm sorry too. I was being impulsive...My anger got the better of me," smiled Renji sheepishly.

There was a short and rather awkward silence, with Renji seated at the table and pouring tea for the noble.

"Play your shamisen."

The abrupt request caused Renji to flinch a little. He placed the teapot down and looked at Byakuya.

"I will pick a piece, will that be alright?" asked Byakuya.

"Sure. Hang on, let me go get my shamisen," agreed Renji as he bowed a little, and left the room to get his instrument.

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A/N: What a way to end this isn't it! Next up is Renji playing his shamisen, Byakuya comes onto him and has hawt smex right in the room...!

Yeah right. Time for explanations of some terms!

Koto: Long instrument with 13 strings, played using the right-hand, with thumb, index and middle finger only. Left hand can be used to change pitches or as part of accompaniment as well. It is similar to the Chinese instrument, zither (guzheng) as well, since the zither is its parent.

Shamisen: Similar to a guitar, except it has 3 strings, and is strung with a plectrum instead of a pick. The plectrum is really like a huge pick.

Furisode: This is a female's kimono, usually worn for unmarried women during formal occassions. Note that only females wear this, this is why Renji is seemed to be very feminine as commented by Matsumoto and Ichigo.

Obi: A belt that ties the kimono or yukata securely. It's usually a rather big belt, and is also available in different colors to compliment the kimono or yukata.

Ryou: A currency that will be used in this story. I remember hearing this currency somewhere before, probably in Naruto, but I can't recall. I'll just use it anyway!

Yukata: A simple, informal way of dressing. Usually done at home, or when going to sleep. There is a common misconception that men wear yukata while women wear kimono. It is not true. The only different thing is that kimono is meant for both men and women, but there are different requirements for men and for women. Yukata can also be worn by both sexes, and don't have different requirements. Men's kimono is considerably easier to wear than compared to women's kimono, as women have more layers.