Lately, most of my fics consist of crying... Anyway, here's a crossover between Danganronpa and Gatchman Crowds!
Do you like the cover? Please check it out on cinniamon's Tumblr!
Anyway, this is unedited, so please tell me if I made any mistakes!
"I... I don't think she'll like me."
An honest teenager sitting on his velvet sofa, about the age of eighteen, confessed to one of his only friends. The boy took a long sigh and brushed through his mussed up, jet black hair with his hand, slightly stressed out about his situation.
"I think she will, Rui," his computer A.I. reassured in a soothing voice. "You have many good qualities about yourself."
The idealist arched an eyebrow and inquired, "As in?"
"Your determination to help others is very admirable," X admits, voice honest, or at least as honest an A.I. could get. "She would have terrible taste to not take an attraction to you, Rui."
"Thanks for the kind words, X," Rui chuckled, a small smile on his face before he paused. Reaching out for the bag of chips that laid at his side, he dug through the bag and popped a chip in his mouth once finding some. He licked his lips and let out another sigh. Even his favorite chips wouldn't calm down his nervousness. "But I'm still worried EGO will think of me as odd. After all, I crossdress to hide my identity and she'll probably misunderstand me."
Meeting someone special on GALAX may have not been what Rui was planning, but he wasn't complaining either. It all had started with a social online event the teenager held in GALAX, taking on his pseudonym as LOAD, yet a GALAXter that went by the name of EGO had spoken very kind words to him and Rui couldn't help but take interest in the GALAX user. After numerous conversations, the two decided to meet up at a nearby cafe. He wanted to think of their meeting as a date, but he kept that thought to himself.
"She may also be hiding secrets of her own, Rui," the A.I. pointed out. "She'll have to accept you just the way you are. And if she doesn't, please know that at least I love you."
Emerald green eyes stared at the colorful lights the male's creation emitted. With a small smile, Rui hugged the tablet on his lap. "Love you, too, X."
"B-but what if LOAD hates me when she finds out my secret...?"
A timid boy asked, dread laced in his words, as he typed out his question on his laptop. A bead of sweat rolled down the high schooler's forehead, but Chihiro wasn't sure if it was because of the sun rays coming through the window and beating him down with the heat or how anxious he was to meet someone he had admired for a long time.
His creation immediately responded back, trying to cheer his creator up. "I think you should have more confidence in LOAD-san! After all, she is trying to help make the world a better place with GALAX. I'm positive she's more accepting to people than you think, Master."
The brunet blinked at the A.I. before nodding and shouting out in confidence (that constantly wavered, but Chihiro didn't want to ponder on that too much), "Y-yes! I should have more faith in LOAD! LOAD is an understanding person! ... Probably!"
The programmer's confidence quickly dwindled down to nothing in a moment or two, meekly saying, "... Probably not. She'll think I-I'm a freak... Anyone would, I'm sure..."
After typing out those words to Alter Ego, the A.I. couldn't stand seeing his beloved master like this and exclaimed, "Please remember that Mondo-kun and everyone else accepted you for who you are! They were very understanding, so I'm sure LOAD-san will also like you!"
The boy gazed at the green computer screen and closed his round, hazelnut eyes. Blinking for a few moments, Chihiro couldn't help the shy grin that made its way up to his face. "Hehe... I'd like to believe you're right. Thanks for the confidence boost, Alter Ego."
"Anything for my master!" the A.I. chimed, sharing Chihiro's smile, figuratively and literally. After all, they did share the same face.
"Ah, well, I should check when our meeting starts..." the programmer mumbled to himself, pulling out his smart phone. Turning it on, he tapped the GALAX app with eagerness and clicked X for help. Chihiro questioned to the GALAX's A.I., "X, what time do I meet up with LOAD today?"
"At 3 PM," answered X, "so in approximately twenty minutes,"
Those words were enough to make Chihiro freeze in place. Once realizing what time it was, he yelped, "Eh? B-but I'm not even dressed yet! C-can I even make it on time now...?"
"I believed you can do it," GALAX's A.I. encouraged. "I assure you that LOAD will understand if you're a minute late or two."
"Th-thanks!" Chihiro half-yelled, half-whispered before shoving his phone in his pocket.
"I'm not even sure what she looks like..."
'Maybe this is a bad idea,' Rui thought to himself, agitated. 'This could be a trap or something...'
Even as he thought those words, Rui still dared to walk into the cafe, his black tablet placed safely in his white bag.
As much as he liked to have worn his light blue, cozy coat, he knew he had to hide his identity. He instead wore a cerulean dress, showing off his black skull tattoo to the public. Because of how high the temperature was, he tossed away his long wig in the place of a short, pale blonde one and adorned his fake hair with a floppy bow.
Rui caught several people red-handed as they ogled at him before they quickly whipped their heads in the other direction, their face flushed. Oh, he knew he looked good.
You know, until he laid eyes on EGO.
"Haa... haa..." the brunette huffed, out of breath, as she rushed into the cafe. Customers stopped what they were doing and just gazed at her, taking in her cute appearance. Round eyes darted back and forth the room before calling, "LOAD...? Are you here, LOAD...? Ah, I hope you are..."
Standing at the doorway was a doll-like teenager with a small, lithe stature. Her layered, hazelnut hair matched with her copper eyes. The petite high schooler bore a forest green jacket and a chocolate-colored umbrella skirt, with black suspenders to match. EGO reminded Rui of a lost angel.
"EGO?" The crossdresser motioned for the GALAXter to sit at his table, waving his hand around so she could see him. "Is that you?"
EGO's eyes flickered over to the idealist before sending him a stunning smile. The programmer hurried over to Rui and quickly sat down in the seat in front of him. "Ah, LOAD! I'm sorry I'm so late!"
"It's no big deal," Rui soothed, a tender expression on his face. "At any rate, it's very nice to meet you, EGO."
The said girl giggled at the GALAX maker's comment. "Hehe, it's an honor to meet you, LOAD."
And so began their long conversation. The two conversed about what they've programmed and their creations. Rui whispered some secret details to his online friend about hidden features of GALAX that he hadn't even mentioned to Hajime, and Chihiro (Rui had later learned during their talk) gushed about how amazing LOAD was.
But, Rui sensed that something was off.
Chihiro was nervous, but for what reason? Sure, maybe she was just anxious because the two programmers were meeting each other for the first time, but was that really the truth? During their conversation, Chihiro clenched her skirt the whole time, and even Rui could see the beads of sweat slowly dripping down her face. Something was fishy, and it wasn't the blueberry perfume Chihiro was wearing. (Actually, Rui quite liked the fragrance but was too embarrassed to tell Chihiro that.)
Out of nowhere, Rui noticed it. For a girl, didn't Chihiro's face look quite masculine?
This sudden thought irked the teenager. He wanted to focus on their lovely chat about Chihiro's daily life, but Rui was gazing at the high schooler's face for two reasons, with the first reason being that EGO might actually be like Rui and the second being that Chihiro still looked adorable either way.
"Alter Ego looks like me, but I'm in the process of making another A.I. and..." Chihiro drawled off before noticing Rui leering at her (?). Chihiro didn't know why, but her (?) face turned into a rosy shade under LOAD's gaze. "I-is there something on my face...?"
Rui never really answered anyone's question until they answered his own, Chihiro being no exception. "Chihiro... are you perhaps a boy?"
In some ways, the GALAX creator wished he had never said that as the look on his friend's face was heartbreaking. Immediately, big, clear tears began springing out of Chihiro's eyes. "E-eh? O-of course not... I-I'm a girl... No, th-that's... I'm s-so sorry..."
An alarmed Rui speedily reached for the now discovered boy's face and wiped away his tears, almost knocking down his black coffee. "I-I didn't mean it like that! Chihiro, I'm the same as you! I... I'm also a guy..."
Maybe Chihiro was dazed, but his eyes laid unfocused and he swore he stopped breathing for a moment or two. The brunet was brought back into reality when he realized the meaning of Rui's words. "W-what?" he gasped, practically speechless. "You're... like me?"
"Well... I need to crossdress," Rui quietly confirmed, wiping away a stray tear from Chihiro's face before letting go of it. "I need to hide my identity since who knows what would happen if the public found out I was LOAD."
"That... make sense," Chihiro agreed, finally calm. He wiped the remnants of his tears with the back of his hand before he glanced downwards. "I dress up like a girl... because it's easier on me."
Rui understood what he meant. Even though the GALAX creator was twenty centimeters taller than the male in front of him, both of them had tiny statures and didn't look like that strong compared to other guys. Because of how sexist the world was, society had the mindset that girls were automatically weak because of their gender. It was one of the many flaws with the world, and Rui wanted to change that.
Noticing Chihiro was still down, LOAD stretched out his hand to the still adorable teenager. 'Well, one change at a time,' Rui thought with a smile as he began to say, "Then, we should redo our introductions then, right? I'm Ninomiya Rui, and I'm a boy. It's nice to meet you."
It took several moments for Chihiro to comprehend what was happening before he understood what Rui meant, shaking his friend's hand nevertheless. "I-I'm Fujisaki Chihiro, and I'm a b-boy. ... The pleasure is mine."
'Yeah,' the two both thought as they smiled together, 'I think I like him.'
Any mistakes? Please tell me!
And until next time, everyone!