Ryuunosuke had panicked slightly about sharing a shower with Shinobu. She still wasn't exactly ready for sharing the same shower with a woman she just told she was in love with.

Thankfully, Shinobu had been nothing but welcoming and calming to her, to Ryuunosuke's constant surprise. Shinobu even seemed to have noticed Ryuunosuke's surprise as well, when she told her that she didn't feel embarrassed about "these kinds of things" anymore.

Ryuunosuke didn't want to ask Shinobu what she meant by "these kinds of things", as she thought she might have had a pretty good idea already.

They returned to the clubhouse, wearing the same kind of fluffy turquoise bathrobes that Ataru and Mendou-Tacchan and Shuchan-wore. Natsuki handed them both bags and directed them to a row of quickly constructed little booths, made with white sheets supported with metal rods, the fronts covered by white shower curtains.

Now Ryuunosuke sat in her own little booth, after using the various beauty products that came in the bag (with Kenta having to give directions through the curtain, since her personal knowledge of makeup and skincare basically amounted to "lipstick makes your lips red"), staring down at the outfit in front of her.

The red dress she picked out was there, to be sure. It was soft and pretty, and still stood out. But there was also a blue denim jacket with the sleeves cut off, a pair of black leggings with little stirrups to fit over the feet and a pair of soft looking calf-high black suede boots. There was even fresh underwear, a black bra and black panties.

Ryuunosuke felt a strange kind of rush as she looked at the assembled outfit. It was different from what she usually wore, but not in the way that she expected. Slowly, she started to pull on the clothes, surprised that everything actually fit her better than she expected. Was this the true power of the Crossdressing Club? Did they have her pegged that much when they first laid eyes on her?

"Ryuunosuke-kun?"

Ryuunosuke blinked at the soft voice coming from the sheet beside her. "Shinobu?" She looked at the figure standing indistinct through the sheet, indicating she was pressed up against it. "What is it?"

"Have you got your outfit on?" Shinobu whispered. "Can I see?"

Ryuunosuke stepped closer to the dividing sheet. "I thought you wanted to wait until we had the grand unveiling in a minute."

"I can't wait! I want to see you now!" Before Ryuunosuke could answer, Shinobu squeezed carefully past the divider, trying not to disturb the entire structure.

Ryuunosuke stepped back as Shinobu stood before her. She was wearing a white dress that draped down her body, ending just above her knees, tied together with a wide purple belt. The dress was trimmed in purple along the edge of the skirt and along the neckline, which came across her shoulders to dip low at the center of her chest, exposing her collarbone. On her feet were a pair of white strapped sandals with a low heel, the toes painted a bright pink.

The two stared at each other for a moment, both silent, as they took the sight of each other in. The moment stretched out longer and longer, feeling less like a second and more like an eternity as the two stayed quiet.

Ryuunosuke broke the silence. "Red and white? Now I feel like I'm back at the sports festival..."

Shinobu stared for a moment, her face flushing.

Ryuunosuke started to flush as well. "I mean, I think you're pretty. I mean, I don't think your usually not pretty, I know that you're always pretty and..."

Shinobu stepped forward and took Ryuunosuke's hands in her. "Ryuunosuke. Are you saying you like my dress?"

Ryuunosuke nodded quickly.

Shinobu smiled. "Thank you. That's all you needed to say."

Ryuunosuke nodded again. Looking at Shinobu's eyes, she suddenly felt some kind of strange urge rise within her. Her mind swirled with possibilities, and she had to fight her rising panic down again.

Shinobu just looked into Ryuunosuke's eyes. "Are you feeling alright, Ryuunosuke?"

Then, before she could stop herself, Ryuunosuke had pressed her lips to Shinobu's.

Ryuunosuke could hear her internal alarms blaring even as she was kissing Shinobu. She knew that Shinobu didn't like perverts, and here she was, kissing her out of the blue. She braced herself for a slap, a scream, some kind of violent reaction.

She paused as Shinobu brought her arm, nearly jerking back in terror... But then felt her hand against the back of her head, and Shinobu tentatively kissing back. Once again, Ryuunosuke could feel time slow down to a crawl around them as they kissed, the world around them fading away until only they remained.

The effect was only broken when a voice called through the curtain. "You decent in there? I need to put on your makeup..."

Ryuunosuke and Shinobu broke the kiss slowly, still gazing at each other.

"Think you'd better go and finish up," Ryuunosuke said. "I want to see what kind of job Ogami's gonna do with your face."

Shinobu nodded, and squeezed her way back into her booth. She peered across the side for a moment. "I'll see you in a minute." And then she called out, "I'm here!" and disappeared behind the sheet again.

Ryuunosuke sat on the small folding chair in the middle of the booth, listening to the snatches of conversation going on beside her. Her stomach was busy doing flip-flops as her mind mentally rewound the past few minutes.

She really, really wanted Shinobu to be finished with her makeup soon, if only for Kenta to come in and do his job on her, so they could have it over with and be together again.

After a moment, Kenta pushed his way through the curtain into the booth, a bunch of makeup in his hand. "Right. Let's get this over with, because your girl is getting antsy over there. We need to make you look all pretty for her for tonight."

Ryuunosuke looked up at Kenta, her eyes burning. "Are you sure you can make me look pretty enough for her?"

Kenta held up his right hand, various brushes and pencils held between the fingers like dangerous weapons.

"Just leave it all to me."

After Kenta's job was done, he quickly disappeared behind the curtain. Ryuunosuke sat alone for a moment, once again straining to hear what was being said outside.

And then the curtains were pulled aside, and Kenta stepped back in, with Nagisa by his side. However, Nagisa had exchanged his yellow sundress for a different yellow dress with a shorter skirt and short sleeves that showed off his arms. Kenta, for his part, was wearing black jeans and sturdy black boots, and a red T-shirt with a black star painted on it. On his arms were a pair of black bracers with metal spikes studded in them.

"Come on, Princess." Nagisa said, extending a hand towards Ryuunosuke. "We have a date to keep."

Ryuunosuke blinked at Nagisa for a moment, before taking Nagisa's hand and getting to her feet. She tried to ignore how warm her face was starting to feel. "So... How do I look?"

Nagisa beamed proudly. "You look beautiful."

Ryuunosuke stepped out of the little booth, seeing Lum standing there with three other girls... which Ryuunosuke quickly realised were the other members of the Crossdressing Club.

Lum wore a casual suit of a deep green, with a lighter green shirt and white shoes with no socks, and a tiger-striped bandanna tied around her left arm. The effect was something like raiding Sonny Crockett's wardrobe.

Tsuuchi had a pink tank top, a frilly black skirt that was dangerously short, and black tights with white socks over them and white trainers, his face marked with neon pink and blue triangles.

Junchan was wearing a one-piece dress that resembled Tomobiki's winter serafuku, but the neckerchief was white instead of red, and the skirt was way too short to be acceptable as a uniform. The look was completed by white thigh high socks, and black laced ankle boots.

Nacchan was full on black loligoth, a frilly black dress with a long skirt, white tights and black heeled pumps with ankle straps, a long straight wig on his head with black roses clipped on.

Nacchan nodded towards Ryuunosuke. "Do you like it? I figured that maybe I should only hint at your usual masculinity, considering how much it keeps bleeding through." He guided Ryuunosuke towards one of the full-length mirrors. "Nagisa's told me of the trouble you have trying to express your femininity, so I figured that I'd give you something that lets it out, while still keeping your male side in control. I figured it might make you feel more comfortable."

Ryuunosuke looked herself over, her brows furrowing. "I guess it ain't as butch as I expected?" She turned from side to side, trying to get a better look at herself. "Do you really think it suits me? I look so different..." She gazed at her face, daubed with red lipstick and dark blue eyeshadow, a familiar face made completely different.

Nacchan just smiled at Ryuunosuke. "It's because you've become so used to being forced to be so manly that you feel so weird. That'll pass soon enough." He looked towards the booths again. "Shinobu-chan! Come out so we can see you!"

Kenta ran over to Shinobu's booth, and pulled the curtains aside.

Ryuunosuke turned back to see Shinobu step out again. And she stared. She already saw Shinobu in the white dress, and she had already looked so pretty in that, but now her hair was done up with a white clip in the shape of a lily, and with simple eyeliner and pink lipgloss. Kenta's work had changed Shinobu from simply pretty to stunning.

Nacchan smiled as he noticed the stunned gaze on Ryuunosuke's face. "Another excellent job, Kenpii. I think Ryuunosuke is having a 'She's All That' moment with Shinobu right now."

Shinobu made her way towards Ryuunosuke, smiling. "Do I look alright?"

"Huhuhm." Ryuunosuke said in response.

"You look fine, Shinobu." Nagisa said quickly. He turned Shinobu to face the mirror. "See?"

As Shinobu looked in the mirror, a smile spread across her face.

Nacchan cleared his throat again. "And now it's time for the main attraction: the fruits of myself and Shiowatari-san's labour!" He snapped his fingers again.

Kenta stood at the next unopened booth, while Megane stood at the last. "Should we have some kind of drum roll or something?" Megane asked sardonically.

Junchan and Tsucchi each grabbed a pair of empty plastic bottles and banged them against a table in a mock drum roll. As the roll reached a climax, Kenta and Megane both pulled open the curtains, revealed Ataru and Mendou... Now Tacchan and Shu-chan.

Tacchan wore a baby blue sleeveless dress with white trim on the front and a skirt that came down to his knees, all held in by a white leather belt around the middle. On his feet were a pair of white leather pumps with kitten heels. Extensions gave him a head of long flowing brown hair that reached down to the middle of his back, while Kenta's makeup made him look less like a perverted boy, and more like a cute, innocent girl.

Shu-chan was given a more sophisticated look, as befitting somebody of his nature. He wore a black dress with short white sleeves and a wide white open collar and a knee-length skirt much like Tacchan's, and black high heeled pumps. Like Tacchan, he had extensions in his hair that reached down to mid-back, and an extensive make-up job.

The group assembled gaped at the two in amazement, of both the transformation that had taken place and the fact that this was still Ataru Moroboshi and Shutarou Mendou.

Nacchan was smiling proudly, tears in his eyes. "At last, I have done it..." He clasped his hands together. "The Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge. The ultimate dream of the Crossdressing Club."

Ryuunosuke gave Nacchan a funny look. "The Yamato Nadeshiko... Ain't that supposed to be a manga?"

Nacchan nodded. "It's what I got the name from, I admit, but this was something different. I had wondered if it were possible to take the most manly, or the most sleazy of men, and turn them into the fairest maidens in the city." He looked over at Tacchan and Shu-chan, who both gave each other uncomfortable looks. "And now I know that such a thing is possible, and I... No, we have done it. Together!"

Nacchan grabbed his phone, and started taking photos. Tacchan and Shu-chan posed proudly and with feminine grace as Nacchan moved around them, getting photos from every angle he could.

Kenta just shook his head and went over to Nagisa. "Looks like you've given our club a hell of a boost."

Nagisa just smiled at little at Kenta, before suddenly catching him in a hug. "We couldn't have done it without you, Kenpii! You've been such a good boy to us, today!" Nagisa nuzzled against Kenta, who hesitantly hugged back.

Ryuunosuke stared at the two of them for a good while, her eyes slightly wide. She almost debated trying to break the hug up, before something twigged. Nagisa, her fiancee, didn't seem all that concerned about Shinobu's presence. Or how she acted around Shinobu. Or about how the other club members seemed to notice that Ryuunosuke loved her…

"Hey, Nagisa?" Ryuunosuke asked, careful and slow. "Did you know about me and Shinobu...?"

Nagisa looked up at Ryuunosuke from over Kenta's head. Slowly, guiltily, he withdrew his arms from around Kenta's waist. "You mean that crush you were nursing on her since before I met you?"

Ryuunosuke stole a glance at Shinobu, who was blushing again, even through her makeup.

"It's okay, honestly." Nagisa said quietly. "I kind of thought that Shinobu-chan was too straight for you, so I figured that I might still have had a chance. But when I met Kenpii and the Crossdressing Club, it was like a switch had flipped in my mind." He smiled adoringly at Ryuunosuke. "Now all I wish for, more than anything, is just for you to be happy." He looked over at Shinobu. "I hope you'll take care of Ryuunosuke for me, won't you?"

Shinobu just nodded quietly, gripping Ryuunosuke's hand gently.

Nacchan snapped his fingers again. "Now come on, ladies. The sun is setting, and Rainbow Rock is about to start. We don't want to delay Tacchan and Shu-chan's debut any more, do we?"

Nagisa snorted a little. "Come on, Nacchan! Haven't you ever heard of being fashionably late?! Building anticipation?"

"Blame it on him being the son of an accountant," Tsucchi snorted. "He's always been like this, even as a crossdresser."

Nacchan pointedly ignored Tsucchi, and turned to Kenta. "Kenpii, our ride for the evening is out back. Since you're the one with the most driving experience out of all of us..." He pointed towards the door, leaving the command unsaid.

Kenta just sighed. "Fine, okay." He grumbled to himself as he left for the door.

Nagisa skipped up beside him. "I'm calling shotgun!" The two left the clubhouse, as Nacchan spluttered behind them.

Shinobu turned to Ryuunosuke as Kenta and Nagisa left. "You look so good right now. They've done a great job on you." She worried a tube of red lipstick in her hands. "Is it okay if I asked if you could do something?"

Ryuunosuke nodded quietly. "What is it?"

"Could you turn around for me, please?" Shinobu asked, and as Ryuunosuke did so, she placed her hands on her back for a moment. Ryuunosuke paused for a moment as she felt something skimming over the back of her denim jacket. "Are you writing something on me?"

Shinobu stepped back again. "Just a little something to make the outfit look good. After what Nacchan said about you earlier, I thought it would be appropriate. I hope it'll stay on during the night..." She turned her head towards the sound of tires driving through the gravel around the small clubhouse. "I think that might be our ride now…"

Their "ride" turned out to be a blue SUV that looked slightly beat up, the sunroof already cranked open a little to let the hot air out. Nacchan pulled the rear door open for Tacchan and Shu-chan to get inside and sit in the rear seat, and let himself sit in between them, while Ryuunosuke, Shinobu, Jun-chan and Tsucchi sat in the middle seats. Kenta and Nagisa were already in the front seats, Kenta behind the wheel. Lum and Megane, due to the lack of seats, elected to sit in the trunk.

"Are you going to be alright in there, Lum?" Tacchan asked nervously. "I mean, you are sharing the same space as Megane..."

"Just worry 'bout yourself, Darlin'." Lum settled in the corner that was nearest to Tacchan's side. "Megane always behaves himself. Don't you, Megane?"

Megane, who had taken the opposite corner from Lum, simply nodded. "Even with my love for Lum being impaired such as it is, I hardly mind sharing this space with her..."

Shu-chan just smiled. "But you've also got me here, haven't you?"

Kenta just sighed and turned the ignition. "Let's just haul ass out of here..." As the SUV ground into life, the stereo suddenly burst into life, filling the van with loud music, all clanging drums and jangling guitars. The people inside quickly covered their ears in an attempt to protect themselves from the sonic assault.

"I am the passenger," the rough-voiced singer sang in English, "and I ride and I ride, I ride through the city's backsides, I see the stars come out of the sky..."

"Sorry about that," Kenta said, turning down the music to a safe volume before putting the car in drive, and rolling out of the school gates.

As the SUV wound its way through the roads of Tomobiki, the music continued to play. Tacchan and Shu-chan watched the houses roll by, before giving way to buildings and shopfronts, and then office buildings, restaurants and stores.

Ryuunosuke was more interested in the music that came from the stereo. "You seem to know a lot about this music, Shinobu. Especially that guy, Head Big...?"

"Hedwig," Shinobu corrected. "It's a movie that came out sometime ago. I stumbled across it when trying to practice my English, and I've pretty much loved it ever since. Though there's a couple of songs on it that make me glad that my parents don't know enough English to figure out..."

"I see..." Ryuunosuke said. "How much good did it do for your English?"

Shinobu smiled a little. "I translated some of the songs into Japanese!" The smile slipped slightly, however. "Well, mostly. I'm not sure how well they might rhyme and scan compared to the original music..."

Ryuunosuke just shrugged and smiled. "Well, that's a damn sight better than anything I could've done with my English skills..."

Shinobu smiled back hesitantly. "If you say so..."

Ryuunosuke took hold of Shinobu's hand, her smile now gone. "Hey, I mean it." She squeezed the hand gently. "You've been believing in me for so long about everything I try and do, it's time that I do the same for you. Okay?"

Shinobu's smile widened slightly, became more geniune. "Okay. I believe you."

Ryuunosuke smiled again. "I believe you too."

"So," Kenta asked Nagisa, "who's actually playing at Rainbow Rock tonight? Did they give out a setlist or something...?"

Nagisa pulled out an old ratty flyer, and studied it for a moment. "Well, there's Fire Tripper, The Laughing Targets, The Golden Gods of Poverty, The House of Garbage, Maris and the Super-Girls, Shakin' Buddha, Diet Goddess, The Selfish Bastards..."

"Sounds like the cream of local talent right there." Kenta replied.

Nagisa thwacked Kenta lightly with the flyer. "Don't be like that! This is supposed to be a local music scene, right?"

Kenta snorted a little. "Local or not, I'm surprised these bands perform out there with such dorky sounding names." He flinched a little as Nagisa smacked him with the flyer again. "Watch it, before you make us crash!"

The rest of the ride to Club Kitty was somewhat muted in comparison, if only so Kenta wouldn't end up nearly crashing the car again. But the club sure was hard to miss as the car rolled past it: the massive marquee on the front, with hot pink neon lights that formed the shape of a cat's face with wiggling whiskers was hard to miss. And if it was, the massive throng of youths standing outside the club, all colorfully dressed, weren't exactly blending in with the rest of the street.

The SUV pulled in beside the kerb for a moment, Kenta quickly shutting off the stereo. "Alright ladies," he announced, "we have arrived!" He stepped outside for a moment, opening the door on the opposite side to let Nagisa out, before opening the back doors on the pavement side.

There was a murmur of excitement as Ryuunosuke and Shinobu hesitantly stepped out of the van, Ryuunosuke taking Shinobu's hand to help her onto the pavement, followed by Junchan and Tsucchi. Megane and Lum quickly joined them, smoothing out their rumpled suits, and stood next to the open doors as Nacchan stepped out after Junchan and Tsucchi, causing another ripple of excitement to go through the crowd present.

When Megane and Lum took Tacchan and Shu-chan's hands, and helped them out onto the pavement, there were murmurs of confusion at first, which quickly turned into shouts of surprise and delight as some of the crowd managed to tell, through the extensions and makeup, exactly who the two lovely maidens were.

As the small group stepped out further from the van, the crowd were fully excited, girls screaming, shouts and cries from the people present, many of them in shock and awe.

"Is that Moroboshi and Mendou?"

"Those guys from Tomobiki High? You're kidding, right?!"

"It's really them! I'd recognise Moroboshi's face in a heartbeat!"

"The girl is red is slaying right now, I can't!"

"Is that Fujinami?! She looks so pretty!"

"I knew Natsu-sama said she had something special planned, but I didn't expect this!"

Nagisa stepped in front of the assembled group, attempting to assume some degree of crowd control for the group. He turned to look at Kenta. "Better go get parked, Kenpii! We'll see you later!"

Kenta quickly hopped back into the SUV, and pulled away from the kerb, disappearing down the street. The group were left to their public, who had already pulled out their camera phones and started clicking away.

Ryuunosuke turned to look at Nacchan. "Since when did so many people know we were coming?"

Nacchan just smiled. "Actually, quite a few here are from Tomobiki High, so some might be your classmates. As for the others, well, I did have Junchan update our website with some news."

Ryuunosuke's eyes narrowed. "What kind of news?"

Nacchan snickered. "Just that we had the infamous Ataru Moroboshi and Shutarou Mendou in our clubhouse, and we were all planning something special to commemorate our coming down to Rainbow Rock." He looked at Ryuunosuke, pointedly. "It's no use going to all this trouble if you don't have an audience to appreciate your talents, my dear." He paused for a moment, craning his neck to look at something on Ryuunosuke's back. "That's a nice bit of detail on that jacket of yours. Wonder who did that..."

Ryuunosuke stole a glance towards Shinobu, who seemed to be more interested in the more colourful outfits some of the people in the crowd wore. "I'm not sure either, 'cause I can't see it for myself. I sure hope that it's nothing embarrassing." She then mentally kicked herself for that thought. Didn't she say that she wanted to trust Shinobu more? If she wrote it, then what would be the problem?

Nacchan smirked a little bit at Ryuunosuke. "Actually, I think it's something you'd like to read, if you manage to get some time to yourself."

It wasn't long before the doors opened, and the crowd all spilled inside, splitting off to buy tickets, or heading straight for the main stage beyond the two large double doors. Ryuunosuke and Shinobu looked about, trying to keep tabs on everyone else in the crowd while Shinobu paid for tickets. As Shinobu plucked up the tickets, she turned to lead Ryuunosuke through the double doors towards the main stage.

Ryuunosuke marvelled at the large stage, a small crew already on stage checking the sound and lights. Suspended above the instruments being prepared on stage was a huge rainbow flag, fluttering gracefully.

Ryuunosuke looked back towards Shinobu, who was leaning against the far wall from the stage. "You're not going up there with the others?"

Shinobu just smiled. "Well, I'm not really sure what to do in a situation like this. I mean, this is my first concert in a place like this." She paused for a moment, twirling a strand of hair. "Well, actually this is my first concert, period. I've never really done this kind of thing before."

Ryuunosuke blinked. "Really? Not even with Moroboshi or Mendou?"

Shinobu shook her head. "Ataru-kun was a cheap date. Most of the time it was either just going out for ramen or beefbowl. As for Mendou, well... We didn't really go on dates. We just all went together, him and me, Ataru-kun and Lum."

Ryuunosuke sat down on the floor, legs crossed. "So I guess we're all having some new experiences tonight..." She looked up at Shinobu curiously. "Did you plan on dressing up and going out to a rock concert tonight? 'cause I sure as hell didn't..."

Shinobu just smiled down at Ryuunosuke. "I suppose that's just because it's Tomobiki. You're either going with the flow, or you're getting washed away." She kneeled down on the rough carpet, looking at Ryuunosuke's eyes. "That's what I've been doing. Can't say that I haven't been lonely, though."

Ryuunosuke smiled back a little. "So are you still feeling lonely these days?"

Shinobu's eyes twinkled with fondness. "I'm not feeling lonely anymore."

Ryuunosuke gazed into Shinobu's eyes, the same strange feeling of time expanding around them. It felt to Ryuunosuke, that in moments like that, she and Shinobu could've been in a sea of people and they could only feel about each other.

The sound of a voice calling Ryuunosuke's name broke the spell, and both turned to see Nacchan approaching, Junchan and Tsucchi behind him. "I've been wondering where you two had gotten off to..." He nodded to each of the boys behind him, who both turned to leave. "Kenpii's come back, but he's said that he heard some suspicious noises while he was parking. He looks alright, but I want him to keep an eye out. This is still in Tomobiki, after all."

Shinobu blinked. "Are you saying somebody's tagged along to try and ruin our night?" She looked towards Ryuunosuke, concerned. "Do you think we should try and be more careful, then?"

Nacchan swept back his hair, letting it fan out behind him. "Maybe. Though I imagine it would be more fun to make more noise, as much as possible, to bait a trap." A dangerous smile spread across his face. "After all, if this should be a place of chaos, then what better way to bring it out than by making it all the more outrageous?"

Shinobu frowned at Nacchan. "You seem to really be enjoying this. I mean, more than I ever expected."

Nacchan's smile grew wider. "Oh come now, darling! You used to have Mendou as a sort-of boyfriend, didn't you? That man is more outre than I can ever hope to be on any given Monday morning! Why shouldn't anyone else try and have a go at being him once in a while?"

Shinobu groaned. "You don't have to remind me. Though for what it's worth, you remind me more of Mendou's little sister."

"Is it the dress?" Nacchan asked, indicating his frilly gothloli outfit.

Minutes later, finally, the room slowly darkened, as seven spotlights in the seven colors of the rainbow burst into brilliant life, illuminating the stage. The crowd started to quiver in anticipation as each of the lights cycled through different colors.

And then, a deep, melodic voice boomed from out of nowhere: "Ladies! Gentlemen! And all of you in between! It's that time once again! It's time for everyone in Tokyo to stand up and show their pride!"

A single spotlight illuminated a woman, or at least what looked like a woman, standing center stage in a sparkling sequinned dress of the seven colours of the rainbow flag that still hung above the stage. Her massive mane of feathered blonde hair reached out and then cascaded down her back, framing her face painted with slashes of neon pink.

"It's time..." The woman said in the booming deep voice, "...for Rainbow Rock!"

And then the music started in earnest.