An idea that arose from a conversation with Greer. Talking fanfic with Greer always produces strange and wonderful ideas.

This story is dedicated, with many a lol, to Snowstorm.

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"Hey...Akira."

"Yes?"

"Kinda random, but...I dunno, I've been wondering for a while, and I never really got a chance to ask..." There was hesitation--almost trepidation--in Edge's voice. This, Akira realized, would be something big. Edge was rarely hesitant about speaking--he was rarely anything but completely blunt, in fact. "How did you do it?" he finally asked, and the flush of red that rose into his cheeks as he asked nearly made Akira jump in shock.

"Um...do what...?" Akira asked, delaying the inevitable. There was really only one thing Edge could have been asking about. Maybe--hopefully--his shyness about it would overcome his curiousity.

"Y'know...back when we were looking for Daigo...before Gan and me knew you were...er..." The words came out slow. Edge looked like he was forcing them past his teeth. It put Akira in mind of the times she'd tried to talk with him about how he related to Gan, and to her brother. Ultimately, she'd realized that Edge simply found it hard to talk about those things. They were just Things He Did. Putting them to words made them more complicated than they needed to be.

So, she filled the rest in for him. "Before you knew I was a girl?"

Edge nodded quickly. "Yeah! Uh...how did you...keep it hidden? I mean, you and I..." He trailed off again, raking a hand through his broom-bristle hair. "Dammit. You know what I'm sayin'. Just tell me."

Akira sighed. "Well..." Now she was left to struggle for words. How could she describe it without making Edge sound stupid, or making herself sound twisted? She didn't believe either to be true. But still, it was hard to deny that what she had done had been unusual, to say the least.

It had also been surprisingly easy. She had been thorough in her act, and Edge himself had inadvertantly helped it along.

The lights went out, and she could perfectly imagine the crooked, toothy grin on his face as he said, "Heh, you sure like doing things in the dark..."

Her motorcycle helmet dropped to the floor with a dull thunk. "You gotta problem with that?"

"Just sayin', man. Geez, you're touchier than your brother."

"Yeah, yeah. Come here."

Edge was already stripping himself bare as he stepped towards her, but Akira remained mostly clothed. "I gotta tell ya, this modesty fetish of yours is really funny."

"Modesty fetish?"

"Yeah! We always mess around in the dark, you keep your shirt on, you never really get all the way out of your pants..." He laughed. "Not like I mind, y'know, it's just funny."

"Whatever," Akira replied in a dismissive, half-irritated voice. It bugged her when he put things together like that. He never put them together well enough to figure her out, but it still made her nervous. Time to get him to stop thinking, and start acting. "Get on the bed."

"Yes, boss."

He pronounced the title with only the slightest hint of sarcasm--nowhere near enough to taint the thrill Akira got out of him calling her that...

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Edge writhed, his fingers digging into the sheets as though he were clinging to a cliff face, every breath turning into a gasp.

Akira, by contrast, was moving slowly and precisely. Beaded sweat trickled down her forehead and dripped from her bangs as she pushed foreward...pulled back...every little movement taken very carefully, to keep Edge from accidentally touching anything that might give away the fact that she wasn't using all-natural parts.

When Akira had poured everything out, told Edge all the things she had done, even told him the thoroughly embarrassing story of her long search for a strap-on that would feel sufficiently real to fool him--when it had all been laid out, Edge did not reply for a long time. He leaned against a lamp post, hands shoved in his pockets, a frown on his face. Akira, deciding she was relieved that he had not reacted with foaming fury, waited. Even with that relief, it was a long, anxious moment.

"Why," he finally asked, "did you do it? Why go to all that trouble?"

"Because it wouldn't have been the same," Akira replied. "Would you've done the same things, if it had been me as a girl?"

Edge shrugged. "Guess not. Might not've done anything with you at all."

"I know I wouldn't have done anything." Akira clasped her hands behind her back, tilting her head back to look at the fading twilight sky. "I couldn't have. I do better with guys when I'm a guy, too."

"But...you're not a guy."

Akira smiled slightly. "Really? Not even a little?" she asked. "Didn't we always have more to talk about when I was playing that role?"

"Well...yeah, but..."

"And if I could play it well enough to convince another guy...doesn't that mean anything?"

Edge's frown deepened, and the blush returned to his cheeks. "Maybe you've got a point..." He shook his head. "Man, you are one weird person." Before Akira could get in a reply, he--while wearing that same grin she could picture even in the dark--added, "Not like I mind, y'know. It's just funny."