Heey, so I don't think I mentioned this to you guys yet but I have a Tumblr! (Unless of course you found this story through Tumblr, in which case ignore me) I'm mostly a gay anime trash blog these days, but if you want to give me a follow anyway or come chat with me about my writing, you can find me there under the username Purplerose128.

Also, thank you guys for the reviews/follows. Each one makes me smile like a dummy. :P

Friday morning Akoya had no problem at all stashing his clothes for the evening in the club room. Sure, it would have been easier to stuff them in his schoolbag and be on his way but… most of Akoya's more formal attire was either poofy or easy to wrinkle… or both. So that definitely couldn't happen if he wanted to look his best when he met Arima's parent, which he sure as hell did.

Really, it shouldn't be as easy as it was for a student at this school to get away with carrying transparent weather proof garment bags through campus. Akoya got a few weird looks from people, of course. But when one's school has a monthly pretty boy contest and the students were known to go all out for it, suddenly seeing makeup and dresses on anyone's person didn't seem so weird. It was actually one of Akoya's favorite things about that time of the month. He could see so many pretty things in the school and bring in his own without criticism. It was wonderful.

When he got to the club room that morning, Akoya wasn't surprised to find Kinshiro already inside. The president was sitting at his desk, with only the lamp on, reading a small stack of papers. He looked up when he heard the door open and seemed a bit surprised to see his fellow council member "Akoya? You're early today; usually Arima's here before you."

"I know. I wanted to beat the crowd today so this doesn't get jostled around." Akoya tilted his head towards the bagged dress slung over his shoulder before carefully draping it over one of the couches.

"Is that for you and Arima's thing tonight?" Kinshiro questioned, attention now fixed back on the papers.

"Yeah." The younger boy affirmed "I thought it would be easier if changed and went straight there after we did our work."

Kinshiro nodded "Makes sense to me." He fell silent after that and Akoya made himself comfortable on the couch before he spoke up again "If anyone asks, the dress is for the pretty boy contest?"

"Right." The council secretary affirmed.

"Also," Kinshiro continued "I'd like you to look over the budget for the next school festival. I'm tired of staring at it."

Akoya sighed and stood to walk over to the desk "If I must." Kinshiro took a stack from his paper piles and handed it to him "Honestly, if that plan with Naruko hadn't fallen through, we wouldn't have to do this extra work."

"You can always spend your time finding another candidate for treasurer." The elder boy commented "You're the only one who complains about it."

"Because you're a workaholic and Arima doesn't mind extra assignments." Akoya sat back down, crossing one leg over the other, and started scanning over the proposal "You're lucky this doesn't cut into my beauty sleep."

"I think it's you who's lucky, Akoya."

The younger teen perked up "Really?"

"Of course." Kinshiro deadpanned "For at least getting your tasks done before complaining about treasury work."

"Right…"

It was another fifteen minutes before Arima entered the club room with his own garment bag slung over his shoulder. He greeted his fellow club members and immediately noticed Akoya's outfit slung over the couch "I'm going to guess that's what you're wearing tonight?" He playfully asked as he lain his luggage beside Akoya's.

"Of course."

"Beautiful." Akoya looked up from his papers and saw Arima's soft eyes and gentle smile was aimed his way, almost endearingly.

Akoya grinned back "You expected anything less?"

"Oh no, I know exactly how pampered the club's pet is." Ibushi joked, earning a pout and stern stare from his kouhai.

"Arima." Kinshiro interrupted, voice flat and demanding.

The vice president's smile grew soft again as he faced Kinshiro "Of course, President."

And thus the morning tea ritual began, Arima pouring each member a cup of the day's chosen flavor. He traded off Kinshiro's cup with a portion of the paperwork and, from there, the trio fell into silence as they worked until they heard the warning bell for homeroom and parted ways for the morning.

The school day came and went as normal and before Akoya knew it he was back in the Student Council room with Kinshiro and Ibu-cha- no, Arima. Granted, that afternoon they did wind up conversing more than actually doing their work, but each discussion stemmed off of an assignment they were working on. He and Arima wound up spending way too long trying to convince Kinshiro not to take curry off of the school's lunch menu ("Come on, you're the only one in this school who doesn't like curry!"). And then replying to the gardening club about giving them more places to plant brought out Arima's passionate side (Which Akoya helped pass thank you; the school could use some more beauty). And then there was the matter of the figurine club wanting to start back up again, which Kinshiro and Arima were fully against. Meanwhile Akoya… was insistent that a requirement for the club's existence was adding a life-size statue of him to their collection. Their request was ultimately denied.

It was quite welcome to see their to-do list dwindle down to a few tasks that could be put off until the following week. Or, if need be, a short meeting regarding them over the weekend. It was about 5:30 when Kinshiro decided that the three of them could go their separate ways for the time being and, upon the president's leaving, Arima and Akoya started going about changing into their dinner attire.

Which… turned out to be more awkward than expected. Not that they haven't seen each other undressed before, but for some reason… this was different. Maybe it was because Akoya was getting dressed up, which he almost always did by himself in his giant closet with perfect lighting and tall mirrors. Or maybe it was the context. This wasn't a casual "just got out of the hot spring" change or a "we're going to the beach" change. It was a "get dressed we have to pretend to be dating and look great at the same time" change.

Akoya was more than okay with looking the part and holding character for short periods of time around people he'd likely never see ever again. But tonight he'd have to keep the act on for hours, under pressure to maintain his role in front of people Arima had described as "insistent" and "overly-involved."

What if he couldn't come up with an answer to one of their questions? What if they found out who he was? That he was a he? What would happen then? What would Ibushi be facing if they were caught in this lie?

Akoya took a deep breath as he pulled his dress up and threw his hair over a shoulder before zipping the garment into place. Everything'll be fine. He told himself. Nothing's gonna happen. His hand stopped moving up, stuck at the place where the dress refused to close any further. Crap, he couldn't pull the zipper anymore!

God, he hated doing this. Akoya felt himself blushing in embarrassment and swallowed "Arima-san?"

There was a pause in the shuffling on the other side of the room "Hmm?"

"Can you pull my zipper the rest of the way up?" Akoya pleaded "I can't reach it."

"Of course." He heard Arima's steps behind him, coming closer, until they stopped and Akoya felt warm hands on his back, one on the half-done zipper and the other holding onto part of the dress near his hip. The zipper whined as he pulled it the rest of the way up and Akoya felt it hug his body a little tighter… and his blushing situation wasn't helped in the slightest "There you go."

Akoya immediately reached for his hair, running his fingers through it once Ibushi's hands left him "Thank you…"

"You're welcome." He heard Arima take a few steps back before the sounds of fabric rustling resumed.

The silence between them was a bit awkward after that, or maybe that was just Akoya and his stupid easy-to-fluster self. He hated how simple it was for someone else to make him feel embarrassed or force his cheeks to turn pink. He did it the first time Kinshiro and Arima saw him in girls' clothes, the first time they all went to a hot spring together. Hell, the worst was during that little vacation where Zaou tackled him to the ground and practically stripped him in the process. And then Naruko only make it worse when he picked a leaf out of Akoya's braid. Oh, it took well over a week to not color from reliving the moment that refused to leave his memory.

Okay, okay… just change the subject. He told himself. "So, should we go through my back story one more time?" Akoya asked, pivoting to look at Ibushi "Just to make sure I have it down?"

Akoya's face immediately got hotter. Ibushi was only about halfway done buttoning up his shirt, his dress pants being the only thing that was securely on him "Um, sure. If you think we should."

Wait. Waitwaitwaitwait! Akoya's mind reeled He wasn't even suitably dressed a few minutes ago? Oh god, he was shirtless wasn't he? Or was he only down to his boxers? Why does that even matter, stupid, you've seen him NAKED before!? How come this is suddenly bothering you?

The second year gripped his hair like a vice "Uh, no, no. I think we'll be okay. Just… if you wanted to…" He trailed off.

Arima finished buttoning his shirt and swiped his tie off of Kinshiro's desk "I remember it."

"Good…"

Akoya faced the wall again and found his fingers going through his hair instinctively. It seemed the only thing that always calmed him and got his face to look semi-normal again was to play with his gorgeous locks. It was a good thing he had to do that anyway; it was bound to be knotty by now. All he needed was his brush and mirror and then he could just escape the world. So, until his nerves calmed and the bristles effortlessly flowed through every strand of pink, that's exactly what he did.

All he had to do for the rest of the night was stay in character. He could manage that much.

For Ibushi, getting himself and Akoya off of school grounds was (thankfully) uneventful. Binan was almost always dead of activity when the Student Council stayed for late nights of work. And while some evenings at school were… interesting (he couldn't count how many times he'd heard awkward moaning coming from the janitor's closet in passing), this was one of the mundane days. Not a soul was to be found in the halls nor in the gardens outside, which was more than welcome given their current situation.

The only real issue was actually leaving the council room. Akoya had been glued to his little mirror and mindlessly running a brush through his hair for nearly twenty minutes, lost to the world. It took calling his name out a few times to pull the younger boy out of his daze and start packing up his things.

It wasn't exactly uncommon for Akoya to fall under a hypnotic state when staring into a mirror, but this time it seemed just a bit off. Though, Ibushi's suspicions were thrown off a bit when his companion's behavior was otherwise normal afterwards. It didn't take a genius to realize that Akoya was a little high-strung but… for some reason this time felt off. At least it didn't seem to have a lasting effect.

Ibushi reached out and grabbed Akoya's hand as they approached the gates and he noticed the car that had been sent by his parents parked out front. By the time the pair had gotten to the sleek black limo, Ibushi's driver was already holding the back seat door open for them. "Good evening Ibushi-san." He greeted.

"Good evening." Ibushi responded as Akoya slid inside the vehicle.

He went to do the same when the driver leaned a bit closer to him and whispered "She's pretty." He smiled a bit as Ibushi's face got a little redder and he climbed into the back seat with Akoya. Seconds later, the door was closed on them.

"What'd he say to you?" The younger teen questioned.

Ibushi huffed and scooted closer "He said you were pretty."

The drive to the restaurant was quick thankfully, no longer than twenty minutes. It was also quiet, mostly comprised of the boys sitting silently and watching the world go by with the occasional small talk from their driver.

Ibushi knew the place that they were going to well. His parents frequented it when they were both in town and always made sure to go there together on their anniversary. The establishment was called Onsen, which he found ironic since the place didn't have a hot spring of any kind. Regardless, it had quite a reputation and was one of the nicest places to eat in the entire city. But when they pulled up to the concierge, he still had to ask his date "Have you ever been here before?"

Akoya took another glance at the building out the window, a white structure with a well-maintained garden and giant windows "I haven't." He admitted.

The car door was opened for them and Ibushi took Akoya's hand again as they exited, moving towards the restaurant's front door "I think you'll like it. The food tastes as good as it looks."

"Great."

Ibushi stopped them near the hostess, who returned his smile "We're with the Arima party."

"The other members have already been seated." The woman claimed, gesturing to the doorway behind her "Right through there."

Ibushi thanked her before leading a distracted Akoya deeper inside the building "Something got your attention I see." He smirked.

"Those marble pillars are beautiful…" Akoya practically whispered.

Ibushi smiled at his companion fondly before going back to the task of locating his parents, which only took another few seconds. His mother and father were seated near the back of the room at a table set for four. He looked at Akoya again and found him staring up at one of the crystal chandeliers above them with sparkling eyes, mouth slightly agape "Akoya."

The shorter boy was pulled from his trance "Hm?"

"They're over there." The taller stated "Let's focus on that for a bit."

Akoya nodded and they began weaving through tables hand in hand. Ibushi's father noticed them first and stood to greet them while his mother idly gazed at the menu in her hands.

"So that's her Ibushi?" That was when his mother's attention was gained, even if it was just eyes flicking up from the menu.

"Yes it is." He confirmed.

Akoya released his grip on Ibushi's hand and took a step forward with a smile "Hello I'm Akoya, Ibushi's girlfriend. It's nice to meet you." He recited with a bow.