It was a simple infiltration mission, one they could pull off with ease. The only hitch to this one was the location. Kido couldn't help but wonder what sort of organization would hide important research in a girls school in the first place. With a sigh, she rubbed her head. It wasn't a detail she needed to focus on. The information was, and the matter of disguises…

Seto would have trouble coming with them this time. That left her and Kano, then, to sneak in. It wasn't a prospect she was too happy about, but they could make it work.

"Kido! I'm done!"

Kano sounded way too happy. Kido looked over from the sofa and blinked. His illusion was as good as expected. He looked exactly like a girl, with the right… curves and everything. By the same token, however, it was unsettling to see him twirling a long lock around his fingers, wearing a…

"… oi, is that my skirt you're wearing?!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah! I found it in your close— agh!"

Kido's punch landed squarely in his face, sending him staggering back. The illusion dissipated, leaving him laughing and swaying. With him back to his normal form, it only made him wearing her skirt even weirder. Kido jammed her hands in her hoodie's pockets.

"I didn't say you could go through my stuff!"

"I'm sorry…"

The expression on his face told the exact opposite. As he straightened up, he activated his eyes again. Kano tugged at the skirt, even making a show of straightening his hair when it was nowhere near as long as he projected.

Kido's face burned. "Oi, knock it off. It's weird…"

"But I should practice before the mission, shouldn't I? Ah, Kido, you should give me some tips!"

"Tips?"

Kano's smirk grew. He clasped his hands behind his back, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Well," he drawled, "Kido is a girl, isn't she? So Kido should give me tips on how to act like one~"

Kido promptly smacked him on the head. "Lose that smirk. And put my skirt back where you found it!"

"Ow! C'mon, Leader! Doesn't it look nice on me?"

He was laughing. The bastard had even taken on a falsetto, batting his lashes at her. For some reason, it caused a tight sensation in her heart. Hands clenched, she sat back down on the sofa.

"I get it." She spoke evenly. "I'm not very girly. 'Even I make a better girl than Kido,' that's what you wanted to point out, right?" Kido slouched, looking away. "Forget it. It's not important."

It didn't matter what she wore on missions since she'd conceal herself anyway. Practicality over presentation. If Kano wore her skirt better than she did, then it didn't matter to her. She'd let the idiot run around with it if he wanted to make a fool himself so badly.

Still, Kido was irked. She bought the skirt on a day when she'd been feeling unusually bold. It'd caught her eye while she'd been shopping and… truth be told, she thought it looked nice. She felt stupid when she looked at herself in the dressing room mirror, but there'd been a shy pride as well. She hadn't looked too bad in it…

Whatever. It's not like she'd been wearing it, anyway.

"—pretty."

Kido's eyes snapped back to him. "W-Wait, what did you say?"

Kano, the brat, was still presenting himself as a girl. He reached up and pulled his bangs back. "I said that it'd be pretty if Leader put her hair up more often!"

She stared at him. "We're not going to a fashion show."

"No, no, I mean it sincerely. If Kido put her hair up more in a certain way… ah, let me show you!"

"Hey, what—"

He sat beside her, one hand still holding his hair. He reached out with the other to touch hers, pulling it up. Kido froze.

"See? Like so!"

His voice was becoming hazy and distant, lost in the overwhelming rush of heat flooding up to her ears. She knew his body right now was just an illusion, but the curve of his face and his mouth, the perfume he chose to disguise himself in… it was bringing up conflicting emotions. He was much too close and it was making her heart sprint.

"—should get a mirror. Eh, Kido? What's with that look on your face?"

There was no way he wasn't doing this on purpose.

"Kido?"

She took in a deep breath.

And then she punched him. Hard.

Kano yelped. Kido sprang to her feet, fighting the urge to run.

"S-Stop goofing around!" She talked over him, hand covering her mouth, unable to look at him. "We're on a tight schedule!" Before he could respond she turned tail and slammed the door behind her.

After the mission, she found her skirt back in her closet alongside a new one. She stuffed them both in a box, pushed it into the deepest corner, and waited until her face was back to its normal color before leaving her room.