Dancer in the Dark

I stared.

He stared back.

I stared some more.

He stared back some more.

Then I cracked up. "Oh, my god!"

He flushed. "It's not funny! You are misinterpreting this whole situation!" Still laughing, I gestured towards the kimono-wearing chara beside Nagihiko.

There's nothing wrong with wearing kimonos. It's just that Temari was… well, a girl. And Nagihiko was a guy.

Or was he?

"Seriously, though! My chara is a girl. Amu's charas are girls. Utau's charas are girls. Yaya's chara is a girl. Ikuto's chara is a guy. Kairi's chara is a guy. Kukai's chara is a guy. Hell, even Tadase's chara is a guy!" I gasped out in between breaths.

"But you have a girl and a guy chara! Charas represent their owners, so you must be a he-she-it!"

He smiled sweetly in an entirely scary manner. I stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow. "You wanna go?" He challenged.

I shook my head. "No, it's okay. After all, as long as you have a dick you're a man, right?" Then I grinned wickedly. "But it's okay if you don't. I hear they have surgery for things like that."

He seethed. "I'm going to kill you."

"And I'm going to tell everyone about your newfound feminine side!" I chirped cheerfully as I swept out of the room to go find Amu and laugh about this before breakfast.

He chased after me, but then seemed to realize he was still in his pajamas, and then retreated back into his room, defeated.

I crashed into Utau not too long after I ran. I grinned at her from behind my sunglasses. "Nagi's a girl!"

"What?" She asked, eyes wide. I gleefully chose not to elaborate before dancing up to Kukai and repeating myself. He spit out his coffee.

"What?"

Tadase looked confused when I told him. Yaya started laughing. Amu seemed paralyzed, and I think… well, she's probably out of the nurse's office by now. Kairi started talking shit about how that wasn't possible since Nagi had a dick (although how he would know, is what I think is the real problem, but it was worth it to hear Kairi say the word 'dick') and Ikuto said, "I knew it."

That one was probably the best response.

After we got our trays and sat down at our usual table, I lowered my voice so the others couldn't hear me. I explained to them, seriously this time, about Nagi's new chara. I told them how it had appeared on his seat after the circus show, and how it was identical to Rhythm's, except it was pink.

"He took you to the circus?" Utau asked, with a teasing tone. "Aw, a date!" I elbowed her since I was sitting right next to her.

"It was not a date." I defended. "I bribed him." (With sentimental feelings and a sob story.) But the others would not let the topic go, making fun of me and making up ridiculous couple names like 'Rimahiko' (who the hell would ever use that?) and didn't shut up until Nagihiko came over, bringing with him an aura of doom…

…And a cute little girl chara.

Everybody burst out laughing while he glared. "It's not funny!"

"Looks like Nagihiko's would be self is a cross dresser!" Yaya cheered. "Nagi would make a pretty girl."

I swear his face was about to explode, which only made it all the funnier. "Chara-change!" There was a small pop, and suddenly, Nagihiko had a giant (what the fuck are those things called again?) sword thingymabober on a stick in his hand. And then he had devil-y eyes and he chased us around and AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SHIT I THINK HE CUT OFF PART OF MY HAIR-

Eventually, somehow, the excitement died down and Nagihiko poked at his breakfast, blushing, embarrassed. It was beyond cute. Except what he had cut off wasn't my hair, since it was all in my hood, but rather, the thick woolen scarf I was wearing. It dangled pitifully on the edge of my chair, utterly useless now.

I looked out the window. Winter was here, as was evident by the bare branches silhouetted against the white sky. I sighed, pouting when I realized I would be cold without my scarf.

"Here." A soft piece of fabric hit me in the back and I turned around, surprised, and picked it up. It was Nagihiko's jacket.

I heard a chorus of fanboys go, "YAY! RIKUHIKO! GAY LOVE!"

The fuck is wrong with them? First of all, I was actually a girl, so this wasn't gay love unless Nagihiko was a girl, which was kind of entirely possible, but-ugh. Why is his gender so confusing? But ANYWAYS, even is we are of the opposite sex, there is nothing between us that can be nor will ever be described as love.

Plus, what kind of retarded name is Rikuhiko?!

I nodded my thanks and shrugged it on, since pretty much everyone was watching now, and they all went, "Awwwwww."

These boys need to get a life. Or a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. I don't care.

I walked briskly to first class, took off the jacket, and sighed as a long, complicated math formula was written on the board.

I laughed. Again.

This was absolutely, entirely, completely ridiculous. This group of people, who I've known for only a month, now, had caused me to laugh more than I had ever in all my years. (Wow. I sound like a pessimistic old man.)

These days, life was beautiful. It just gave me the feeling of happiness, made me want to laugh until I cried. Made me actually thankful, grateful for these people.

One month had passed and under Nagihiko's tutoring, I actually managed not to fail all my classes. The teachers were all aware of my situation, but seemed to find it creepy that I stared straight-faced at them during class with sunglasses and a hood on. If only they could see the real me, and then they'd be all, "Oh, she's so cute, she'll never cause us trouble!"

But for now I looked like a delinquent, so they were all wary. Who says looks don't matter?

I snapped out of my thoughts, startled, as a piece of paper slammed down on the table before me, effectively covering my English homework. "…Uh?"

Utau was grinning. Her hand was attached to the paper. (As in, she was holding it, not like it was attached to the paper and detached from her arm, but-never mind.)

"Field trip on December third. We will stay at Hotel Matsukawa. Please bring minimal belongings, but enough clothing for three days and two nights. The bus will depart at seven in the morning and breakfast will be served. Food and hotel costs are included, but please bring extra money so that you may buy souvenirs and for public transportation costs. We will come back on the evening of December sixth. See your teachers for further information."

Utau recited all of this from memory, making it obvious that she was super, super excited. When I didn't respond, still trying to process, she grabbed me by the shoulders and decided to communicate her excitement physically.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS, RIKU? IT MEANS WE GET A WHOLE ENTIRE THREE DAYS AWAY FROM THIS PLACE! WE'RE GOING TO GO PLACES! AND SEE PEOPLE! GIRLS!" She screamed at me, shaking me so hard my hood almost fell off.

At the word 'girls', everyone in the library turned to stare hungrily. Although they were already kind of staring since Utau was a loud, loud person. (And a hot girl.)

"Keep it down." I whispered in her ear. "Let's go back to my dorm."

She calmed down for the five-minute walk back. As soon as I shut the door, she started jumping up and down in excitement, which was a rare sight. Actually, I had never seen Utau excited before. She sputtered unintelligibly, and it made me wonder exactly how long Utau had been here.

"Um…" Nagihiko was already in the dorm, reading books, and Utau turned around sheepishly grinning. She handed him the paper, to which he replied, "Oh yeah, Nikaidou-sensei told us about that."

I frowned. "Today's December first. So we're leaving in a day, which means we better start packing…"

I threw open the doors of my closet and sweat dropped. Every single one of my outfits was the same. I had about four hoodies, two of them black, the other two gray, that I usually rotated around. Then I had like seven pairs of jeans, all the exact same style and size. I had various t-shirts that I wore under the hoodie, but it didn't matter what they looked like since I would never take the hoodie off.

Utau glanced over critically and shook her head. "You need variety."

"Hard to have variety when I need to be a guy." I snapped, then freaked as Utau reached for one of the drawers.

"Don't touch that!" I squealed and she drew out a plastic bag. She tossed it to Nagihiko, who laughed and opened it. Then he blushed massively and threw it back to Utau. I was pretty sure my face was red as well.

Utau deepened my embarrassment by pulling out one of the garments. "I didn't peg you for a lace bra kind of girl, Rima. And look, your panties even match!"

Nagihiko coughed awkwardly and I glared at Utau. "Die."

She laughed and put the bag back in the drawer, much to my relief. I opened my suitcase and threw two hoodies in, one black, one gray. Then I put in three pairs of jeans, and three t-shirts. I also threw in most of the undergarment bag.

Utau skipped away to pack, and Nagihiko took out a suitcase as well. When he bent over, his hair got all in his face so he had to tie it up. I froze when I saw that.

"Nagihiko, is that what Nadeshiko looked like?" I asked, gesturing to his tied up hair. He looked up, and then glanced into a mirror, and nodded. Then he smirked.

"Why yes, Rima-chan! I'm Nadeshiko, nice to meet you!" He said in a very, very, convincing girl voice. This guy could be a voice actor. I shivered.

"That. Is creepy as fuck." I declared, backing away when he giggled in a decidedly girly manner and advanced towards me.

"Oh, don't be like that, Rima-chan! I thought we could be friends. Please?" He made puppy eyes at me and I scrambled away.

"No!" I wailed. "Stop! This is scary! You're better at being a girl than I am!"

He cracked up laughing, in his normal voice, and took his hair down. Instantly, it was as if he had transformed. It was perfectly obvious that he was a boy now. Scary.

As I reached for the paper Utau had left in our room, I suddenly realized something. Everybody thought I was a boy, and the Headmaster expected me to act like one. Which means they were going to put me in a room with boys. For three whole days. No girls for me.

Oh god.

"Lalala! Yay! Do do do do do do!" Yaya sang happily as she bounced on the bus. I yawned as I followed, lugging my small suitcase up.

"Yaya, quiet. You're disturbing everyone." Amu hushed the hyperactive brunette, but excitement was written all over her face as well.

"Oh, let her enjoy this fine morning." Kairi said, waving his hand dismissively. But I'm pretty sure he only said that because he has a thing for Yaya.

We all filed into the bus. We were among the first ones on, so we filed in all the way to the back. Amu was forced to sit next to Ikuto, which would make for an interesting four-hour ride, and Nagihiko and Tadase sat together.

Kukai grinned as Utau sat down next to him, and you could practically feel her tsundere walls going up. Yaya bounced her way next to Kairi, leaving me with two whole seats to myself. Gladly, I lay down, and then realized with irritation that I was short enough to basically fit onto the seats without any trouble. Granted, they were large seats, but it didn't exactly do wonders for my self-esteem.

I fell asleep about three minutes after the bus started moving, and didn't wake up until we reached our destination.

They hustled us into the lodge, and we got all settled in. This trip was only for us sophomores, and there were about one hundred of us. It was a pretty small school in general. They split the boys into four big rooms, with twenty-five cots in each. Then they gave the girls a separate, smaller hotel room. One or two teachers/chaperones stayed in each room.

"Mashiro Riku?" A teacher stuck his head in the room, where I had just set down my suitcase, but hadn't unpacked yet. His hair was extremely messy, and his tie was rumpled and tied incorrectly. He wore glasses, and overall looked like a friendly, if clumsy, person.

I nodded and lugged my suitcase to the door, where he stood. He picked it up for me and went down the hall without another word. I followed, confused, and then almost crashed into him when he abruptly came to a stop in front of a room.

He opened the door and the people inside stopped talking. The teacher was tall, and covered most of the door. I caught a glimpse of pink and blonde, and smiled to myself. It was the girls' room!

"Nikaidou-sensei?" Utau's voice asked curiously. "What's wrong?"

Nikaidou-sensei moved aside to reveal me, in all my hooded glory. He made a move to put my suitcase down inside the room, but tripped over nothing and sprawled across the floor, with the suitcase toppled over him. I think he twitched and then went still. We all sweat dropped.

Utau rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Nikaidou-sensei. We'll take care of Rima from here." He raised one of his hands in an 'okay' gesture, and then dragged himself out.

"Yes!" Amu squealed excitedly. "We're rooming together!" I nodded and smiled widely.

Utau was thinking for a moment. "You know, you could be a girl for three days."

I frowned. "What do you mean? Won't everyone be suspicious that I just disappeared and another girl appeared?"

She wagged her finger playfully. "Not if Mashiro Riku had a family emergency. When Nikaidou called you out, did he say anything to anyone? Explain anything?"

I shook my head. "Perfect!" She exclaimed. "We can tell everyone you're my little sister and you live in the area! I'll go clear this with the teachers right now."

Before I even had time to respond, she dashed out the door. Within a few minutes she was back, grinning. "Hi, Hoshina Rima."

I gaped. "Wait, are you serious?"

She nodded smugly. "Completely."

I hugged her excitedly, and whipped off my disguise. Then I stopped. "I don't have any girl clothes."

Yaya, Utau, and Amu glanced at each other with a scary grin. "Shopping!"

The plan for the afternoon was quite simple. Each of the chaperones was to take about twenty-five kids to lunch (we had prepaid designations) and we had our own group. The actual nurse had to stay with another group, and Utau was to stay with us. We got a female chaperone as well.

"I'm Sanjou Yukari." She held out a hand. I studied her closely.

"Are you related to Kairi?" I asked. "You guys look similar and have the same last name." She smiled and nodded.

"Right, but just because you're his friends doesn't mean you don't have to call me Yukari-sensei." She said sternly, with a push of her glasses. Just like Kairi.

I stepped into the bathroom with an outfit borrowed from Amu, and changed. The short, lacy black dress was cute and cinched in at the waist. It was short, even on me, so it must've been miniscule on Amu. Black and white striped socks stopped mid-thigh, and a pair of black flats completed the look. I let down my waves and clipped a small, matching black and white lace bow in my hair.

I stepped out and the three of them squealed. "It's so cute, Rima-chan!" Amu said excitedly. "You keep the dress. It's too small for me, anyways."

I nodded my thanks and hesitantly stepped out the door, money pouch clutched in hands. The boys in the hallway were all talking, but stopped short when I stepped out. I monotonously endured the silence.

Then they all started gushing at once. "Oh my god! She's gorgeous! So adorable! Who is she?"

Utau slung an arm around my shoulder playfully. "This is Hoshina Rima, my little sister. Isn't she a beauty?"

"Just like you, Utau-sama!" Some fan boy with hearts in his eyes shouted. Kukai shot him a possessive glare.

Speaking of which, the guys in our little group didn't look fazed at all. It made me wonder exactly how often they bullshitted everyone to pull off pranks. Nagihiko was sort of gawking at me (yes, Nagihiko, I am capable of looking pretty) and looking me up and down. Perv.

He coughed and looked away, trying to maintain his gentleman image (give it up, Nagi. We all know how you are, deep, deep inside… kidding.)

I casually walked over with Utau, Amu and Yaya, to where the boys were standing. "We're going to be in separate groups this afternoon, and Utau-nee tells me you're all her friends. I'd just like to know which one is her boyfriend." I stared pointedly at Kukai.

Yes, I was trying to help Utau get over her tsundere block. I was now using my alter ego as Hoshina Rima to set them up.

He didn't raise his hand, though, looking embarrassed. I honed in on him. "You there! You're blushing pretty hard. Utau-nee, is he your boyfriend?"

She sputtered, eyes wide. "W-What, n-no! I would never! He.. not… no!"

I ignored her. "Okay, that's settled. So this is your boyfriend? Not bad. What's your name?"

"Souma Kukai." He replied, seemingly dazed. I was glad he was playing along.

"You, Souma Kukai, need to be good to Utau-nee, 'k? Because if you aren't, and you break her heart, I will personally break your face. Got it?" I threatened cheerfully.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" He stood up straight and stuttered. I turned around and smirked at Utau.

She pouted, but it was totally obvious that she was happy that the two of them were a thing. My powers are to be feared. I looked up at Ikuto. "Hello again, brother. It seems as though you have grown taller in an attempt to make me feel short again."

He snickered. "Hello again, sister. Did you shrink?"

I stepped on his foot. "Asshole."

He bowed. "Same to you."

Everyone watched with a sort of awe. I wondered if I had pulled off being the sibling of Utau and Ikuto well enough. That made me think of something. Why did Ikuto and Utau have different last names, if they were siblings? I'd have to ask her later. They were probably stepsiblings.

They all seemed to believe me, and dispersed to their respective groups. I could tell Nagihiko was trying to hold back laughter. Finally, Nagihiko and co. left as well, and Yukari-sensei motioned for us to get a move on.

I walked along, with Amu, Utau, Yaya, and Yukari-sensei. They took us to lunch, which was okay, but you couldn't expect too much since it was all prepaid by the school. And then we went to one of the various plazas and giant shopping centers, where I was dragged around for more than three hours by three teenage girls who had no one to torture but yours truly.

They coerced me into buying way more clothes than I needed.

Finally, they all dragged me (even Yukari-sensei, my god) to a dress shop. Which sold dresses. As you might've gathered.

"What are we even doing here?" I asked tiredly.

"Buying dresses," Utau responded with a 'duh' look. I tapped my foot impatiently, hands on my hips weighed down by various bags.

"I know that," I retorted, "But what for? They're all formal dresses."

"For the winter festival dance, of course." Yukari-sensei responded, pawing through various dresses. I raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't you supposed to wear yukatas for that?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "Hon, that's old. Get with the times!" She said, trying to be hip. It made my skin crawl.

"How's this?" I heard Utau ask, holding up a strapless purple number. It was under laid with black mesh. I shrugged.

"I don't know, try it on." I gestured to the changing rooms as I plopped myself down on one of the various couches. She happily twirled into the room and drew the curtain, humming. Girls. I'm ashamed for my gender.

I closed my eyes, glad for the warmth of the store. It had been rather cold outside, and Amu had neglected to give me a jacket. (Which is also why, of course, Utau had made me buy one. Red.)

The store was spacious and all white, to give attention to the colorful party gowns. Amu was examining a strikingly black dress, and Yaya pushed her into a changing room before she could debate further. Then she picked up a white that would pop against her tan and bounced in herself.

I looked to my right to find Yukari-sensei practically buried in a rack of dresses. I sweat dropped and then heard a curtain being drawn, and looked to see Utau stepping out, smirking.

The dress was absolutely stunning on her. Royal purple, and strapless, the bodice was tight and flattering, while the skirt flared out slightly. At the edges of the skirt mesh peeked out in jagged patterns, and a swatch of black lace wrapped around the waist. When she spun, the dress playfully flared, giving it a flirty look. It was sexy, confident, and beautiful. Just like Utau.

"You're going to give Kukai a heart attack." I commented as she blushed and Amu came out shyly, examining herself in the mirror.

The pure black number clung to all her curves, with too long straps that fell slightly off her shoulder. I walked over and pulled out a black hair ribbon and some bobby pins, stuck them all in my mouth, and worked Amu's hair into a messy up-do that I pinned into place and then dangled the ribbon from. "Good."

She gaped at herself, looking sophisticated and sexy. The hair gave her the right amount of "I obviously don't put effort into how I look, I'm born gorgeous".

Yaya skipped out in her dress and clapped happily. "Amu-chi, Utau-chi, you all look so pretty!"

Yaya looked quite stunning herself. The dress was short and tight on the top, and then layered on the bottom. Only the layers weren't on top of each other, they were sort of all over the place, giving the bottom a sort of round, bubbly feel. It was wild and completely confident. The dress had a sheen suggesting silk, and a single strap cut across her toned and tan shoulder.

I walked over to her as Amu and Utau squealed, and brutally yanked out her pigtails, the red ribbons dangling in my hand. She looked surprised, but I ignored her and messed her hair up just a bit, adding volume.

I twisted some strands, creating pretty curls. I used one of the ribbons to tie as a choker around her neck, completing her look.

Then I turned to the store lady, who looked excited at the prospect of us buying dresses. We were also attracting quite a bit of attention, four pretty girls in gorgeous gowns. More and more people were entering the store just to get a closer look at us.

"Do you have a hair clip like this in purple?" I asked, pointing to the bow in my hair. She nodded and handed me one. The underlying bow was deep purple, with black lace over top it.

I gestured for Utau to bend down, and yanked out her hair ties. She winced, but let me work my magic. I tried to crimp her hair with my fingers, but it only created waves. Whatever, she could do that when we had actual tools. I then tied her hair into a low side-pony, which would look amazing when she crimped her hair.

I added the hair clip right on top of the hair tie, and the color matched her dress and stood out against her bright hair perfectly.

She looked at herself in the mirror and beamed. Amu raised her hair slowly. "I call Rima doing my hair and makeup."

"Yaya too!"

"Heck, I'd even pay you," Utau said, inspecting her hairdo closely. I smiled wryly.

"No need. Buy the dresses. Now can we leave?" I asked, as Yukari came over, her own dress already in a bag. Utau grinned scarily.

"No way, Rima. You haven't found a dress yet." I narrowed my eyes at her.

"I'll be going to the festival dance as Riku. It'd be weird if he wore a dress." I countered. Utau wagged her finger.

"Nuh-uh, Hoshina Rima. Riku is going to have a fever and my little sister shall attend. Isn't that right?" She asked, smiling nicely (read: threateningly) at Yukari, who backed away and nodded.

"Now, Rima, let's find you a dress!" They went to work in the racks, not even bothering to take off their dresses. They tossed me dress after dress, and offered various opinions on each one, but it was clear that they weren't meant for me.

Finally, Yukari got bored. "Here, just wear this." She said impatiently, handing me a dress on a hangar. "If it's not good, we can find a dress somewhere else.

I fidgeted. "I don't know. It's not really me. Wouldn't something a little shorter be better?"

"No, she can't-" Utau started, and then inspected the dress more closely. "Actually, it might work. Try it, Rima."

Amu pushed me in, and shut the curtain, and then called, "And don't look in the mirror until you show us!"

Rolling my eyes, I took off the previous reject and tossed it in the pile of dresses. Slipping into the new one, I was surprised at how comfortable it was, despite how uncomfortable it looked. I zipped up the back and tossed my hair over one shoulder, and then stepped out.

Amu had been talking to Utau and Yaya, but stopped when I came out. "Oh, my god."

"Rima-tan looks gorgeous!" Yaya squealed.

"You look amazing, Rima." Utau said softly, seemingly in awe. Yukari nodded her approval with an air of satisfaction. I raised my eyebrows.

"Is it really that great?" I crossed over your hallway mirror and looked at myself. My eyes widened.

"How much?"

After we bought the dresses, we found our way to the designated restaurant, where our group and another group had our dinner. We had A dinner, and the other two groups arrived just as we left. Nagihiko raised as eyebrow as I passed him, looking surprised at exactly how many things I had bought, considering I couldn't wear any of them in school.

"Blame the others," I muttered as I brushed past him, and heard him laugh behind me.

We wandered around for a bit, our shopping hunger and actual hunger satiated, and then went back to the meeting place. We boarded the bus, and after a short twenty minutes, arrived back at the lodge.

One teacher clapped his hands as the other teachers herded us off the bus. "Listen up! It is now seven. Everyone must be back in their rooms by ten, and no staying in the opposite sex's room past nine thirty. No exceptions. Until then, you are allowed to go around lodge grounds, and into the forest up to a certain point. There are several trails, and at the red mark on each trail, you cannot go further unless you ask a teacher to accompany you. Up to the red mark, the hotel remains in your sight. Past that, you may get lost. So absolutely no one is allowed past the mark. Got it?"

Everyone responded with a chorus of "Yes, sir" and a few idiot clowns said "NO!"

I rolled my eyes and went to our room to put all my stuff away. Then, as the other girls came in, we talked and played games and cards for a while, until perhaps eight, when it was almost completely dark.

"I have a headache." I muttered, tossing my hand into the pile of cards. "I'm losing, anyways. I'll take a walk."

"Do you want me to get you some medicine?" Utau asked, gesturing to her nurse supplies. I shook my head.

"No, some fresh winter air will help." I responded, shrugging on my coat and stepping outside the room. I went down the elevator, and out the front door. I leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, drinking in the cool winter night.

Suddenly, I saw a figure move in the shadow of the trees. Naturally, I moved closer, stepping into forest, making sure I was on the trail. As I got closer, I could tell it was a person.

She was dancing.

It was a girl, clad in traditional robes. I could tell by the bulky shape of her clothes. Her graceful ponytail was long and sleek, swinging slightly as she moved.

But who the fuck dances in the dark, in a forest, alone?

She stopped and stared straight in my direction (or at least I thought so, I couldn't see her face since it was dark) and I slapped a hand over my mouth. "Shit, did I say that out loud?"

"That you did, Rima-chan." The voice that spoke was familiar. It wasn't Amu, Utau, or Yaya though, since they were in the room, so...

"Nadeshiko?!" I blurted out as I stumbled forward, off the trail. I ran to the clearing where she- sorry, he, -stood. It was Nagihiko, all right.

He was wearing a beautiful patterned robe, shining pink with sakura blossoms. In his hand, he held a finely crafted fan, the kind used for dancing performances. We stared. (We seem to do this a lot. Shit, I hope we don't end up having a Twilight kind of relationship. Although most of our staring occurs out of shock, not mutual boringness.)

He smiled. "Uh, let me explain. On the last day here, we're going to a performance at the theater. Ironically, the other day, the coordinator for the show contacted Nadeshiko- my business contact- and asked me to perform one of the acts."

He shrugged. "I agreed. After all, the pay isn't half bad and I suffered through so many years of cross dressing, I might as well put it to use."

I nodded slowly. I supposed that it made sense. "So are you just not going to go the performance on the last day and be on the stage instead?"

He confirmed this with a nod. Then, he undid the robe and took it off, revealing a casual t-shirt and jeans underneath. He was also wearing sneakers. He folded the robe and put it into a shoulder bag. "So why are you-AUGHH!"

I jumped, startled. "What?!"

He took a deep breath. "Sorry. Butterfly."

I blinked uncomprehendingly. "You're scared of butterflies?"

He blushed and stumbled. "W-Well, you see-"

"You're scared," I repeated slowly, " of butterflies." And then I burst out laughing. "Oh my god! Butterflies?!"

"And insects." He muttered under his breath, which only made me laugh harder. I crossed over to him and whispered in his ear,

"There's a spider on your back."

He gave me a look. "A spider isn't an insect, smart one."

I kept laughing. "Oh, but you should've seen-AHH!"

"AGHH!"

I absolutely died. "Oh my-" I gasped. "I was imitating you, but I didn't expect you to react!"

"Well of course!" He defended. "When you screamed mid-sentence, I thought there was an insect, so I screamed too!"

I nudged him suggestively. "I guess the girly part rubbed off on you, eh?"

He rolled his eyes. "If I were girly then I would like butterflies."

I frowned. "All of my logic just blew up. You scream at butterflies, which makes you girly, but then again, you scream at butterflies, which makes you un-girly."

He nodded. "The mysteries of life."

"Still. I can't believe you're scared of them. What about butterflies are threatening in any shape, way, or form?"

He glared. "They're ugly. And this all happened because of the Great Butterfly Incident, which occurred when I was young and therefore traumatized me for the rest of my life."

I was about to respond when a very familiar voice said, "Nadeshiko?"

Almost as if out of habit, Nagihiko turned his head and replied, in character of his female alter ego, "Yes, Amu-chan?"

Shit. You idiot, why?!

Her mouth was hanging open. Nagihiko seemed to realize exactly what he had done, and was frozen. There was no excuse he could make right now. I quickly took his hand and ran, shouting over my shoulder, "I'll explain later, Amu!"

We ran as far as we could, crashing through trees and paths. When I was sure she couldn't see us anymore (actually I just don't like exercise, so we stopped when I ran out of breath) we came to a stop, panting against a tree.

I stood up after catching my breath. "You idiot, why did you have to go all Nadeshiko? You're dressed in boy clothes! You could've just said, 'No, Amu, it's Nagihiko, I just had to tie my hair up because it was getting in the way', but noooo, you had to pull a Nadeshiko!"

He looked troubled, breathing hard. "Sorry, force of habit. What now?"

I put my hands on my hips and glared. "Now you tell her."

"So why did you pull me out of there?" He countered. "If I'm just going to tell her anyways?"

"I was panicking because of your stupid mistake! Besides, I needed to convince you to tell them all the truth first. If you had confessed back there, things would've just gotten messier." I retorted.

He sighed and leaned back against the tree, taking out his hair tie. Instant gender change. "So what's your plan?"

I leaned against the tree as well. "You have to tell all of them. Not just Amu. The rest of them deserve to know the truth, too. They're your friends."

"I have lots of friends." He shot back. "You want me to tell every one of them?"

"No, you idiot. I'm talking about the seven people who care about you more than anyone else. The ones that deserve to know. Amu. Kukai. Tadase. Kairi. Ikuto. Utau. Yaya. The ones that will keep your secret for you, and ones that shouldn't be lied to!" I shouted.

He threw me a wry look. "You sound knowledgeable. Haven't you ever kept a secret from your friends?"

I closed my eyes. "That's why I don't have any friends."

There was silence for a couple of moments. Then I spoke again. "Secrets like these will only tear you guys apart. Trust me, I know. I've never let anyone in. I've kept everything to myself. People tried to get through to me. People wanted to be my friend. But I refused. And one by one, they gave up, drifted away. I've always been alone."

I opened my eyes and glared at him. "You guys found out a secret about me. And when the secret was out in the open, it brought me closer to you guys. For the first time, I opened up. And now I'm happy, happier than I've been in a long time. Can't you understand that?"

He opened his mouth, and then closed it. He seemed unsure of what to say. I slammed my hand against the tree trunk and wheeled around to face him.

"You have been carrying this burden for far too long! We care, okay? All of us do, so it's time you trusted us and let us in! Do you know what I would've given for a chance like this, all over again? All these years? Goddammit, you're lucky that she saw you, or else you might've never told!"

He bit his lip. "I'm sorry, Rima. You're right. But you know…"

"What?" I snarled, trying (and failing) to hold back the emotions spilling out. A tiny sniff escaped me.

"I care, too." He said softly. "About you. You're not alone anymore, so don't cry."

"I'm not crying, you idiot. I think I'm allergic to this tree. Whatever. Just go and tell them, goddammit." I turned around and hurriedly wiped at my eyes.

I could almost hear him smiling. "Okay."

I turned around and followed right behind him. He took one step and stopped, and I crashed right into him. "What now?" I demanded.

He turned around slowly. "Uh… where are we?"

My eyes widened as he continued. "And where is the red marker?"

I slapped my hand against my forehead. "Ah, shit. We must've accidently passed it while we were running from Amu." I plopped down on the floor. "I refuse to move until you found out where the lodge is. This is all your fault, anyways."

He smiled cheerfully. "Well, we have two options. Keep walking back in the direction we came from and pray, or sit here in the dark and get eaten by wolves. Painfully. Slowly."

At that moment, said animal chose to howl, and I scrambled to my feet. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's haul ass."

After God knows how long, we finally stumbled into the vicinity of the lodge. It probably took a good half hour of "Carry me, you crossdresser." "Well, technically, you're one too, so-" "SHUT UP AND MOVE! I HEARD SOMETHING!" "Probably a wolf. One that likes eating mean little blonde girls." "Or maybe it's a butterfly." "What were your parents thinking when they had you?" "Oh, shut up. Move it." and stumbling through bushes in the dark to get here.

Under the lantern light, Nagihiko checked his watch. "It's nine. About a half hour before we have to go back to our same gender dorms."

I kicked his butt. "Great, now you have half an hour to tell them."

"There you are!" A furious Amu (which was something you didn't see very often) stomped over and grabbed Nagihiko by the upper arm. "Explain. Now."

He winced. "Ow, Amu-chan. Can you gather everyone in your room? I'll tell you everything."

She rolled her eyes. "We're all already there. Hurry." And then she practically dashed off with him in tow, leaving poor short-legged, fatigued Rima to stumble after them. Assholes.

By the time I got to the room (no one would fucking let me in, dammit) and Kairi finally opened the door, it appeared as though Nagihiko had finished his confession, because Amu was draped on the floor, having fainted, apparently. Utau was tending to her and 'tsk'-ing.

Kukai muttered something, which sounded suspiciously like, "I knew it."

Ikuto piped up. "Why do all of our friends keep turning out to be crossdressers?" Then he turned to Tadase, who was looking pale beside him. "Dude, are you sure you're not one too?"

So do you love me for updating (relatively) quickly? Do you? Aw, shucks. Love you too.

I realize Nagi's confession was really short, but I really didn't want to write a long, drawn out, sad, dramatic confession, and I doubt you wanted to read one, either *eyeroll* so yeah. I especially like the last line.

Yes, dances are cliche. If you don't like it, well, FUCK YOU ALL. (I even tried to spin it off as a winter festival. I get points for trying.) But honestly. Are you seriously going to tell me you don't want to see Rima and Nagi get it on? Yeah, that's what I thought.

*frolics away to guiltily work on AMI*

Oh yeah, btw, when I get 150 reviews on AMI I'm going to write a fic about how to write a fic. So if you wanna read it, go check it out when it exists!

Till next time, and of course, review :)

~Sea