Author's note: Welcome to the first chapter of 'Chasing Snowstorms', a twin fic of 'Snowstorms in August'. This fic will follow the UQ Holder! side of the story, I hope you enjoy.
Chasing Snowstorms
Chapter 1: Deafening
UQ Holder!
It was hard to feel any sort of significant when you were staring at the sky. Day or night, the vastness of it never ceased to amaze the ebony haired boy. Night time is generally what fascinated most people, and to an extent, himself as well. However, what he truly loved was daytime.
Reaching over his head, he stretched lazily before returning them behind his head. Laying on his back on the grass, he scanned the bright blue sky. For what, he didn't know. Or care.
The depth of blue was endless, no matter how deep he peered into the sky, he could never see the end. And the sun was simply magnificent. A mind bogglingly large ball of fire burning high in the sky, yet it only took up a small fraction of his view of the world.
It was hard to feel significant. Like he would ever matter.
He was okay with that, he knew. More than okay with it. He couldn't be happier. Some days, just getting out of bed to go to work was almost more than he could handle. Not in terms of energy or will; he wasn't depressed or lacking motivation. No, he simply didn't like other people. People with their talking, and loud voices. Their ideas and opinions that you simply had to hear. The tales of greatness of people long past, and stories of how they were going to do the same.
They weren't. He knew that. And it pained him to have to listen to it. Why did people talk so much? Why didn't they speak with their actions?
Closing his eyes, he listened to the sound of the breeze rustling through the trees that lined the edge of the park.
People loved to talk. He didn't. He didn't like talking, and he certainly did not like listening.
Although, he supposed, there was one person he liked. Or rather, didn't mind.
Kuroumaru. His longest lasting friend since childhood. Kuroumaru was like him, sometimes. Quiet, observant. Sometimes he would get excited about things, but he would never ramble and carry on like the others.
He didn't mind Kuroumaru. Kuroumaru had been with him since he could remember, through thick and thin, the ups, and far more frequent downs.
Suddenly, he heard soft footfalls through the grass behind him, the almost imperceptible 'swish, swish' of shoes swiping through grass.
'Speak of the devil...'
A body plopped down beside him, sitting cross legged a few feet away. Heaving a heavy sigh, the figure reached up and ran both hands through their hair, gathering it up into a long ponytail and securing it with a ribbon. Even in a high ponytail, the strands still reached down to their waist.
"Good morning to you too, Kuroumaru." Touta said.
There was no response, but then, he never expected one anyway.
"You're looking extra feminine today, are you ever gonna cut that hair of yours?" He asked, with a lazy wave of his hand.
Kuroumaru looked over to him, raising a hand in silent greeting. Again, no response.
Smiling crookedly in response, Touta returned his gaze to the sky above. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Kuroumaru was still staring at him.
"Should we get going back to the house?" Touta asked, glancing over at Kuroumaru as he spoke.
There was a second of silence between them, then Kuroumaru nodded, getting up from the ground.
Touta sighed, then cast his gaze back to the sky.
"Might as well, it's almost breakfast time anyway." He mumbled. Sitting up, he swiftly pushed himself to his feet, standing easily before noticing Kuroumaru's offered hand.
"Oh...thanks."
There was no reply as the hand fell back to the owner's side.
Silently, they fell into step beside each other, walking the familiar path toward home.
Chasing Snowstorms
It wasn't long before they were walking up the stone pathway leading to the front door of their house. It wasn't extraordinarily large or ornate, rather, it was the exact opposite. It was nearly identical to the other houses in the row on this street, a cookie-cutter facade that could be knocked out one after the other by competent housing constructors. It wasn't a bad place by any means, but it wasn't exceptional. Just the way Touta liked it.
They didn't own it. They rented monthly, their jobs sometimes barely enough to keep them with a roof over their heads and scraps to eat if there wasn't enough work to go around. In the past, there had been a lot of months like that. The global economy wasn't faring well right now, and although it was slowly, ever so slowly on the incline, it had a long way to go before they could ever sleep easily at night.
This month wasn't bad. There had been steady work, and in a small safe in the back of his closet, Touta already had his half of the rent saved up and then some, neat stacks of cash side by side.
He never inquired as to Kuroumaru's financial situation. He assumed that it was very similar to his; there was no reason it shouldn't. A few months ago Kuroumaru had lost his job as a cook at a restaurant downtown, and after a thorough begging session to his boss, Touta had gotten Kuroumaru a job working with him as a recovery specialist.
It had been hit or miss in the beginning, but Kuroumaru seemed to have a knack for this line of work, and was quickly excelling.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he realized he was already inside, standing in the kitchen. In front of him, two bar stools stood in front of a chest high island counter. Pulling out a seat, he hopped onto it and folded his arms onto the counter in front of him. Idly, his gaze landed on Kuroumaru.
Kuroumaru brushed a lock of hair behind his ear, before moving over to the sink. Turning on the hot water, he quickly pumped some soap into his hands, before furiously scrubbing his hands together. When he was satisfied that they were clean, he rinsed them off under the water. Drying his hands, he looked around the kitchen.
"Making breakfast again, eh?" Touta hummed, yawning softly. He wasn't graced with a response, much as he knew he wouldn't, so he laid his head down on his arms as the familiar sound of refrigerator doors and cupboards opening and closing and pots and pans clanking reached his ears.
Chasing Snowstorms
It was some time after breakfast. Kuroumaru smiled softly as he remembered the sleepy eyed look Touta had given him when he had gently shaken the raven-haired boy awake, placing a warm plate piled high with eggs, bacon, and hot buttered toast in front of him. The way his eyes widened and he could see the child-like excitement on his face as Touta thanked him, before diving in and devouring the food.
Gathering up a pile of clothes and towels in his hands, Kuroumaru walked slowly toward the bathroom, intent on taking a shower. They had a job tonight, and he was glad for it. He had his share of rent together, but finances were scarce after that, and this job paid cash.
Pushing open the door, he entered. Closing it behind him, he made sure to lock it securely. Tossing his clothes onto the counter beside the sink, he stepped in front of the mirror. Reaching out he flicked on the switches for the lights and the fan. Looking up, he saw the fan slowly spin to life, assuring him that it was on. Returning his gaze to the mirror, he stared sombrely at his reflection.
Only five foot four, with hair that hung down past his hips, he had to admit that he cut a pretty feminine figure. Feeling a heat rise in his cheeks at the thought, he began to slowly disrobe.
Reaching down to his waist, he grabbed the hem of his black t-shirt, pulling it up and over his head. Dropping it to the floor, he reached for the waistband of his pants. Slowly pulling them down, he carefully pulled them off, along with his socks, before tossing them aside.
Straightening up, his eyes found his reflection once more. Gaze falling from his face, he eyed the tight, constricting bandages that wound their way securely around his chest.
Slowly, carefully, his delicate fingers located the spot where the bandage ended, looping under and over each other until it was secured tightly against loosening. Unfastening the end, he began slowly unravelling the bandages, feeling a weight come off his chest with each loop of bandage.
When the tail end of the bandage finally slipped from his body, he carefully wound it around his hand in neat loops, before setting it down on the counter. Slowly bringing his hands up, he gently cupped his 32 B breasts, slowly massaging them as he once again got used to the feeling of being unwrapped.
A smirk graced his face as he reached up to undo the ribbon holding his hair in it's high ponytail. Long silky strands cascading down his back and over his shoulders, he inhaled deeply before sighing in relief.
He was in fact a she, and had been her entire life. She had been an extremely late bloomer, and had masqueraded as a boy for the simple convenience of it. She had been saved a lot of teasing and being picked on, and after a rough, rocky introduction, had become good friends with Touta. She hadn't introduced herself to him as a girl, and when he assumed he was a boy just like him, she hadn't bothered to correct him. At the time, it was easier to be a boy, and she had just went with it.
It was difficult making friends, especially when she was young. People didn't understand her, and didn't want to take the time to learn how. She had resigned herself to being friendless before Touta Konoe had found her. Touta had been a quiet kid. Still is, she thought. But it was that mutual silence that had attracted them to each other, and when he realized how different she was, he didn't shy away. If anything, it made him like her even more. Since that day, twelve years ago, they had been good friends, although as far as Touta was concerned, they had been good male friends.
She was understandably hesitant when Touta came to her and suggested that they find a place of their own to move into. Of course, Touta couldn't begin to fathom why two boys would have trouble getting a place of their own. Kuroumaru, however, knew that it wasn't two boys getting a place together, it was one boy and one decidedly secretive girl.
With some cajoling and convincing, she finally agreed. After putting in some thought, she came to the conclusion that as long as she was careful, Touta would be none the wiser. Touta was always good at respecting privacy and boundaries anyway, she knew. It was one of the things she liked about him.
It was far too late to tell him now, she thought. She didn't know exactly when, but at some point, she realized that she had gotten too comfortable being Touta's male buddy, and had never bothered to correct him. She had never directly enforced the idea; she never introduced herself as male, never responded to signs of "Hey man!", or the like. Yet, she was certain that Touta was completely clueless as to who she really was.
Yeah, it was probably too late to do anything about that without seriously creeping him out.
Snapping out of her reverie, she shook her head as she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her panties. Pulling them off with one smooth gesture, she straightened up and turned around. Reaching into the shower, she cranked the knob all the way to the 'hot' setting, and swiftly withdrew her arm as water began shooting out from the shower head.
Tapping her foot impatiently against the cold tile floor, she waited for the temperature to warm.
A/N: Thank you for reading the first chapter of "Chasing Snowstorms", the UQ Holder! counterpart to "Snowstorms in August". These fics will walk hand in hand with each other to tell a story that I am quite excited about. Although it seems like they don't have much in common right now, it is merely the beginning.
So besides Kuroumaru masquerading as a man in front of Touta, there's something else that's off about her. I hinted at it in this chapter, and it will probably be explicitly stated outright in the next, but for now I'd like to hear your guesses as to what other secret she's hiding, except that this is one Touta knows about. Feel free to leave me a review and let me know what you thought of this rather vanilla introduction chapter.