'Freak!'

A foot stomped down on her chest hard. The breath escaped her and she was unable to breathe. She was kicked again to the point of coughing up blood. 'You're such a freak! You'll never be a girl!' He grabbed her hair and pulled her off the ground. 'If you want to be a girl so badly, I'll make you one right here and now!'

'No! Let me go, please!' She screamed, body aching.

She was pushed down again. She coughed and sobbed into her arms and the ground. She tried to cover her head, but the beating continued over her entire body.

'S-stop, please…' She cried as the male grabbed her skirt and lifted it up.

'You'll never be a girl! You're just a fag who just needs to be taught a lesson!' He screamed at her and slapped her face.

'Stop it!' She screamed and tried to fight back. What had she done wrong? She couldn't help it.

'Stop it, Rin!'

Nitori shot up out of bed, hyperventilating. She clutched her sweat-soaked shirt tightly. She wiped her face; she had been crying in her sleep. "It was just a dream." She whispered to herself. She glanced up at the clock and saw that it was almost 6 in the morning.

"Ai? You okay?" Rin spoke up. She knew he had heard everything. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Nitori's breathing was still heavy and she was terrified to answer. "Y-yes." She said after a few minutes of hesitation.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Rin turned the light on. "You were crying and kicking in your sleep. You were horrified of whatever the dream was about."

Nitori climbed down the ladder to the bunk. She sat on the bottom bunk with Rin. "It was about you and me."

Rin's eyes widened. "And?"

She shivered and crossed her arms. Her voice was breaking. "Y-you were beating me over my gender. You were calling me a freak."

Rin wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "I'd never do that and you know it."

"It was so scary, Rin. It felt so real…" She started to cry. "I don't want it to happen."

"It won't, Ai." Rin reassured her. "Everything will be okay."

She was shaking badly. "What if it's not? What if everyone finds out? What if you or the captain accidently says something?" Nitori shook her head. "I don't want to be bullied. Not again."

Rin pulled her in tightly. "It's okay, Ai. School starts late today and we get to miss it for the game, so do you want to sleep with me?" He asked his girlfriend.

She nodded slightly. She was pale and looked like she was sick. Rin lay down and Nitori rested her head on his chest, his arm around her. "Rin… do you think I'd look pretty after the transition?" She whispered after a few minutes of silence.

The red head laughed. "You're pretty all the time, silly. Except when you're being a brat. You're just slightly cute then." Nitori slapped him lightly on the chest.

Nitori placed her head right where Rin's heart was. "I can hear your heartbeat."

"That, Ai, means I'm not dead."

"Haha. Thanks for the info, Rin. I like hearing heartbeats. And rain, too." She yawned. "And I like wearing dresses. Did you know that, Rin? I look pretty in them. I remember growing up; I would wear my mom's clothes and makeup. My parents and my brother would tease me, but I liked wearing them."

Rin noticed she was pausing between her words and she kept yawning more. "Go to sleep. You're gonna fall asleep soon." He kissed her on the head.

Before he knew it, both of them had fallen asleep.

Nitori only dreamed about one thing.

'I look so pretty!' She looked at herself in the mirror. The dress went to her knees and the stockings were white. The petticoat underneath the black dress was puffy, but it made twirling a lot more graceful. Her hair was up in pigtails (she had bought a new wig) and her makeup helped accentuate her feminine face.

'Did I do good?' Hands wrapped around her waist.

'It's 'well', and yes you did!' She giggled. Rin turned her around and lifted her off the ground and started to spin her.

He put her down and both of them laughed. 'You're just so adorable, like a little doll. Never change, Ai.'

Nitori rolled her eyes and hugged her husband. 'Yeah, yeah.'

Rin grabbed her and started to tickle her. 'Don't sass me!'

"Ai, wake up. Ai!" Rin shook her gently. She opened her eyes and stared at him.

"How did you get to that side? I was on the outside." She asked.

Rin sighed and helped her up. "You roll around in your sleep. A lot."

"Sorry about that."

He laughed at her and ruffled her hair. "Get dressed; we have to be on the bus in an hour and a half. Swim tournament is a long way away today."

Nitori groaned and took her pajamas off. "So…I can wear a tank top today?" Rin nodded and Nitori smiled. She took a black tank top she had and put it on. She started to put her swim suit on, but stopped. "C-could you turn around?" She was embarrassed.

Rin smiled and turned around. "Hey Ai. Do you know how much it sucks to have teeth like these? Especially when you're trying to eat and you bite your tongue." He said. He could sense Nitori trying to restrain herself from laughing. "Done yet?" He tugged on the waistband of his swimsuit.

"Yeah." He turned around and looked at Nitori zipping up her black jacket. "I like this jacket; it's warm and big."

"That's because it's my jacket."

Nitori's face turned red and started to take it off. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't; it's fine. I didn't want to wear mine all the way zipped up, so I'll just wear yours. Come on, we have to go." Rin held his hand out and Nitori took it.

"Say, Rin, why do you have a swimsuit where the inner thighs are see-through?" Nitori asked, walking down the hall with Rin.

Rin sighed. "I got it and I didn't know it was like that, so I have to deal with it." He explained.

Nitori giggled. "You have nice thighs, by the way."

"Shut up!" Rin hissed and started to chase Nitori down the dorm hallways.

"There you two are! I thought you two weren't going to show up!" Mikoshiba held a clipboard and was checking off names. "I'm glad you did; because if you didn't…oh the punishment would be awful."

"Sorry, Ai here was being…stubborn… so I had to handle her." They were the only ones outside the bus, so he used 'her' freely. He was gripping Nitori's wrist tightly. She was trying to pull away, but Rin would just tighten his grip.

"Okay, so the dorm master catches us, and I'm the one that gets in trouble?" Nitori whined.

"You ran right into him!" Rin snapped. "And he said that if I didn't punish you, he'd have both of our asses!" Rin started to drag Nitori up the bus steps when Mikoshiba stopped them.

Mikoshiba leaned over to Nitori and whispered to her, "Do you have a shirt to wear? I have an extra one if you need it."

Nitori smiled. "I have one, but thanks. How long is the trip?"

"2 hours." Cue a groan from the couple. "Yeah I know. So rest up because we'll be swimming our legs off today. And both of you better swim well or I'll make you guys swim 100 meters 100 times!" He pushed them up the steps. "Ready to go!" He told the driver.

Rin and Nitori sat near the front where Mikoshiba was sitting. Nitori couldn't stop thinking about the first dream she had. If Rin or Mikoshiba wasn't the one to hurt her because of that, then who was? Whoever it was, she wanted to keep it a secret for now. She was staring out the window, watching the road and scenery.

"Like that?" Mikoshiba leaned over to them. Rin was reading a book and listening to music, so only Nitori and Mikoshiba were talking. "You know…Iwatobi is going to be at this swim tournament."

"Really? Maybe Rin can hang out with them sometime!" Nitori smiled.

Mikoshiba rolled his eyes. "No, it's our time to crush them!" Nitori giggled and covered her mouth.

"And Ms. Kou will be there too. I need to thank her for a gift." She pulled a laptop out of her bag.

"What gift?" He cocked his head.

Nitori pointed to a picture on her computer. The wallpaper was a picture of her and Rin; she was wearing the uniform from Kou. "I got someone to take a picture of us on our date. Rin stole a dress from Kou, but I want to thank her for it."

"Does she know?"

Nitori shook her head. "I don't think so. But I'll tell her it was for a special friend of mine." She pulled up a webpage.

"Alright. I'm going to take a nap, so don't be too loud, the both of you." Mikoshiba grinned and leaned back in his chair.

The girl rolled her eyes and started reading some articles. The seats on the bus were large, so she didn't have to worry about anyone trying to look at her laptop. The articles were about hormone treatments and makeup to help her pass. A lot of the types of makeup listed Nitori had never heard of before. She would have to ask Kou about that. She wasn't too worried about her voice deepening, but she was worried about if she would get surgery or not. 'I don't want top surgery…but what about bottom?' She didn't know what to do. Her and her family wasn't the wealthiest, so it probably wasn't a possibility. 'Maybe enough estrogen to look androgynous? That sounds okay and less expensive.' She was mainly worried about money more than anything.

She exited out of the windows and looked through her pictures. She found a scan that Rin had drawn for her. It wasn't the best of drawings, but it meant so much to her. It was drawn on simple notebook paper and passed to her in the hallway. It was of Nitori; she was wearing her favorite dress and her hair was long. She was smiling with Rin, who was all dressed up. Both of them were smiling and giving peace signs. Nitori smiled and stroked the screen. She looked over at Rin, who had fallen asleep, and leaned over to him. "I love you." She kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you so much." Rin smiled in his sleep.

She pulled up a document, some journal entries, and started to read some of her old entries.

.XXXX

Matsuoka-senpai is cute. I don't know if I like him or not? But I don't think he loves guys. I improved my time at swim practice. The captain and Matsuoka-senpai cheered me on and congratulated me.

.XXXX

Senpai told me he was bi today. So I guess I do have a chance. I've been feeling a little differently today for some reason. I don't know what it is, so I'll just dismiss it.

.XXXX

Some guys at practice said I looked like a girl. What's wrong with looking like a girl?

.XXXX

Senpai was scolding me for leaving my desk messy. He thought one of my diaries was my school journal, and he accidently found a doodle of me dressed as a girl. I'm so embarrassed.

.XXXX

I wonder what being like a girl feels like.

.XXXX

I don't know what this feeling is? My chest is tight and everything feels wrong. People keep calling me a boy but I don't want to be called a boy for some reason. I feel more comfortable being called a girl.

(P.s. I bought a skirt today)

.XXXX

I wore a skirt today for the first time. I went to the mall and changed in the bathroom. I was so scared, but people were calling me 'Miss'. I like being called Miss.

.XXXX

I'm never wearing a skirt again. Never. Today was the worst day of my life. My body hurts so much and my skirt is ruined. Senpai asked me why I was wearing a skirt when he found me. I lied and told them that they forced me into a skirt before they started to hurt me.

.XXXX

I told Senpai today.

.XXXX

Rin took me on a date. He bought a lot of dresses for me. I can't go back to that store again. Everyone knows I have a male body.

I told the captain today too.

.XXXX

Nitori shifted in her seat. She didn't know what to put in today's entry. She had only read a few entries, but she noticed she had changed a lot over time. She glanced over at Rin, Mikoshiba, and at the picture again and knew what to write.

.XXXX

I'm a very pretty girl with wonderful friends.

(P.S., I have a swim tournament today. I hope I'll do good!)