PART IX: Drawing the curtains...?

He waited for his turn to come.

There weren't many people around. In fact, there were three people in the room, including him. The others two were filling in the form they had been given. He was waiting for his turn to come.

"Miss, it's your turn!" one said.

"Aa...thank you."

He walked up to the reception desk with his usual slow pace.

"Erhm...hello."

"Oh, Himura-san! How are you doing?" the man with the glasses and the ponytail greeted.

"No too bad...I think..."

"Well, well. How was your week?"

"Hum. Very...eventful."

"Hahaha! I bet it was. So, did you find someone matching your tastes?!!"

"Erm..."

"I knew it! Now what you just have to do is to pay the common fees, oh it's nothing very big, just some 200.000 yens cash, then we'll arrange a romantic diner for you lovely two!"

"Ah, but..."

"Tsk-tsk-tsk! That isn't it yet! For an extra 10.000 yens, we give you your dear one's PAASONARU [Personal] address, so you can get a SURUPURIZU PAATI [Surprise Party] ready for him whenever you want! Isn't that great?!"

"I...guess it could."

"Could?" the man's eyes narrowed. "you have money problem?"

"Huh?" he startled. "no...that's isn't it..."

"No? then, is it...hmmm??"

"Huh?" he looked at him expectantly.

"...you know, THAT kind of problem..." he said raising a suggestive eyebrow.

He vigourously shook his head, as if trying to shake the redness off his face.

"Ah? What then..."

"It's just that I didn't find anyone..."

"What? you mean they didn't match your preferences?"

"Of course they didn't! They NEVER match the preferences!" a new voice interviened.

They both turned to the newcomer. A woman with short brown hair with her body seized by a flashing green Kimono.

"You again?"

"What me "again"? After all the money I buried in your so-called Matrimonial Agency I am not welcomed here?"

"Oro?"

"You mean after all the couples I worked on during hard days and long nights that you broke apart with your vulgar "eyelashes batting"?!!" the glasses-wearer corrected hotly. 

"Huh?"

"Oh, It wasn't my fault. No one can resist my looks I think." Her eyes narrowed. "And as for yours so-perfect couples, please don't make me laugh. Only a weirdo like YOU would make a beautifully delicate creature like ME end up in the arms of a mad fire-master wannabee! And the next time YOU coldlessly threw ME under the sheets of a rude sword-seeker freak!"

"Are you implying that MY love calculator is completely wrong?!" he asked, gritting his teeth.

"No kidding?! Why don't you ask this guy about his week's appointments? I bet they were nothing like he expected from your oh-so trustworthy "Love calculator"..."

"Anou..."

"Yes, tell me Himura-san..." the ponytailed man arched an eyebrow.

"Well, to tell you the truth...They were all...Weird."

The ponytailed man's brow twitched.

"Oro?"

"YOU TWO GET OUT OF MY AGENCY! YOU UNGRATEFUL CREATURES!!"

"Oroooooooooo..."

"The guy is nut. Nevermind him..." the woman said as they were out.

"But, that was a little rude to tell him that. I think I hurt his feelings..."

"What! And you, don't you have any feeling? Did he care about it when he seny you to those disgusting persons?"

"Well, It's not that important..."

"It is! Himura-san..." she stopped to face him. "It is..."

"Erm...if you say so."

She kept staring at him.

"...huh? is something...?"

"Himura-san..."

"Yes...?" his eyes grew big at their closeness.

"I know I shouldn't but...May I?"

"You may." he blurted out without even thinking.

She grabbed his kimono by the front.

His eyes widened, eager to see what was coming next.

She only blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.

"You are a man?!"

"Oro?"

"You're a man?!!!" she smiled brightfully. "He is a man! Thank Kami-sama he is a man!"

"Huh?"

"Do you imagine how long I have been waiting, searching for the right man for me. A man like me, who would share my deepest feelings...do you?"

"I...huh? Did you say "a man like ME"?"

"I can't believe I finally meet you. You who is a man, you who is delicate and..." she raised her fist up in the air "...share my passion for cross-dressing!"

"Oroooooo...? Cross-dressing?"

"Yeah, cross-dressing..." her eyes met his'. "You too are into that, aren't you?"

He almost felt like fainting.

How come he didn't realize it earlier? This was the infamous Kamatari, the master of cross-dressing, the only man in Japan who managed to change his gender so wonderfully. His firstname was a mystery. He chose to erase it from the surface of the world, fearing it might not suit his androgynous self...well, that was what people said.

"I...I..." he stuttered, a little lost in the situation.

"No need to deny it. I know it! Ha! I'll show those people I'm not a queer! Those muscle-no-sensitiveness guys I've been with, I'll get my revenge on them! It'll be the triumph of the middle-sex!"

"Middle-sex?"

"That's how I call the cross-dresser's gender. Not totally a man, not entirely a woman, just in the middle..." he mumbled to his ear, then out loud: "Haha! Do you imagine how powerful we Ookama are? You don't imagine how many men get down to kiss my feet per day. To think that most of them are straight! Ha! I have what all those man-only loverguys would dream of! No! It's more than that, I...blablabla..."

He stared, not even allowing himself to blink.

He had heard about Kamatari's megalomania. Yet, he couldn't help but be baffled at this public display of his flamboyant self. Of course, this was nothing new. The man loved to feel people lusting for his mouth, lost under his charm and bending to his beauty. Afterall, as some people said, he was "the most accomplished geisha of the country".

"...Am I not right?!"

He nodded, absent-mindedly.

"Come with me..." he grabbed his hand, his eyes gleaming with passion. "...I'll show you the joys of the woman being."

- OWARI -

Ramblings:

Ah, there it is over. I must confess that even if I really enjoyed writing this fic, I found it quite difficult to end it in a well..."correct" way (which isn't surprising, considering that since the beginning this ficcie was an absolutely crazy thing).

Still, I hope you enjoyed reading it, because really, I gave my best into writing something as stupid as this.

Also, thanks a whole lot to all of you guys who reviewed!