Chapter Twenty-Eight – What's The Big Idea, Ya Jerk?

[TW] Assault, Anti-Trans Violence, Outing, Deadnaming, Homophobic Slurs, Internalized Homophobia and Transphobia. The second-to-last dark chapter of this fic. Please read with care.

Ukyo

Ukyo was having a good week. It was a good month, really, and it had been ever since Ranko's secret had been revealed to her, finally getting Ranchan together with Akane. Sometimes Ukyo had to stop in place and laugh at her okonomiyaki grill at how badly Ranko and Akane had needed to release their sexual tension. God, they were so gay – like, the gayest – and Ukyo had managed to kick most of her homophobia to the curb over the last few months. Konatsu had helped her understand; her trans employee had all but refused to let her beloved mistress live on in ignorance, and Ukyo found herself more and more grateful for Konatsu's aide the most deeply intertwined she found herself with the gays of Furinkan High.

Really, Konatsu was fantastic. Just the best. Ever since Konatsu had all but shown up on her doorstep, the other girl had been a constant in Ukyo's life, and Ukyo had grown to see Konatsu as indispensable to her day-to-day life. Ukyo had found the poor girl sleeping on the streets, kicked out of her house by her horrible step-mother after the death of her father – it wasn't even a second thought for Ukyo to sweep Konatsu into her life, and after Konatsu had broken down sobbing for the kindness of a single okonomiyaki, Ukyo had sworn to herself that she would take care of Konatsu no matter what. Konatsu's transness had never even crossed Ukyo's mind. That, and Ukyo had been so wholly fixated on Ranko at the time that she'd scarcely even thought of bringing another trans woman into her life.

Now whenever Ukyo turned at her grill to look out into Ucchan's, Konatsu would pause waiting tables to smile back; at night, sometimes Ukyo and Konatsu would stay up late, talking on their side-by-side futons as they waited for sleep to come; when Ukyo had to stay late at school, sometimes she would come back to find Konatsu snoozing at one of the tables, a vegetable peeler still clutched in hand, waiting for Ukyo to come home. Ukyo would stand in the doorway, smiling at her sleeping employee, and it would take a snore from Konatsu to jolt Ukyo out of her thoughts.

She was just so innocent. Not naive, nobody could be naive after the things Konatsu had gone through as a child, but Konatsu had no right to be as sweet and loving and wonderful as she was after her terrible life. God, Konatsu was just pretty, and Konatsu wore a perfume that made Ukyo's flat smell like flowers, and Ukyo always smiled in the morning when she smelled Konatsu, or heard Konatsu in the bathroom, and sometimes when Konatsu got really sleepy, Ukyo would gather the girl up in her arms and carry her upstairs, because Konatsu didn't know how to take care of herself even when there was no need for her to deep clean the restaurant floors again for the third time that month, and then sometimes Konatsu wouldn't want to let go of Ukyo so Ukyo and Konatsu would share a futon, and they would wake up all tangled, and Konatsu would let out a happy little hum and bury her nose in Ukyo's hair and hug her tighter. Who could blame Ukyo if some mornings Ucchan's opened late?

Anyway, it was a good thing that Ukyo only liked men. Ukyo spent so much time with the Furinkan lesbians that some people assumed she was one!

Ukyo had no idea why anyone would ever think that.

Regardless to say, Ukyo's life had improved considerably since her engagement to Ranko had dissipated into the wind – since she had kissed Ranma and felt absolutely nothing. Which was good, because Ranko was a girl. Not the boy that Ukyo had spent her entire life thinking of Ranma. Because Ukyo didn't like Ranko, so now she could like actual boys who didn't turn into girls, or want to be girls – except if a boy wanted to be a girl, then that meant that she was a girl, at least according to Konatsu. Ukyo didn't voice how that didn't make sense to her, not even when Ranko could literally be girl, because when Ukyo had tried to explain her complicated feelings about lesbians Konatsu had burst into tears and hadn't talked to her for two days, and Ukyo had felt lower that the grease on the bottom of her grill. At least the word 'dyke' had been surgically excised from her vocabulary now.

But it was okay! Ukyo got it now. Girls were girls, even if they had guy parts, which meant that Ranko was a girl, but more importantly it meant that Konatsu was a girl, even though Ukyo had walked in on Konatsu in the shower once and Konatsu had blushed and her- her- (Ukyo blushed while thinking about it) her dick had perked up and Ukyo had stared at it for a long second before coming to her senses and making a little eep and fleeing the room. Because, well… Ukyo didn't know, okay?! Because because!

Ukyo liked boys. She liked boys and she liked boy parts and Konatsu was a girl, and Ukyo knew exactly how awful and cruel she was being for still- still liking Konatsu in that way. Ukyo was trying so hard not to like Konatsu, because Ukyo couldn't bear the thought that one day that horrid truth would slip her lips, the truth that she was- she was attracted to Konatsu and she wanted to touch Konatsu and make Konatsu make pretty noises- because if Ukyo told Konatsu that she was attracted to her, that she still liked Konatsu like a man, Konatsu would burst into those dreadful tears again, and that would be the day that Ukyo's heart would shatter into a million pieces. Ukyo wanted nothing more in the whole universe than to make so Konatsu would never have to cry again. And Ukyo couldn't bear to let Konatsu, who had become so very quickly the most important person in her world, know that deep down, Ukyo still liked her that way.

Stupid Ranchan, Ukyo brooded one morning in class, trying not to cry at the mere thought of her predicament. She couldn't hurt Konatsu like that, she just couldn't. Ukyo blinked away her tears, glaring out the window. Why couldn't I kiss you and like it?

In spite of her… troubles, and her inability to get that forbidden and alluring image of Konatsu in the shower out of her head, Ukyo's life was truly looking up. Her engagement was gone, and with it, Ukyo had come to realize that she no longer gave a shit about what her father thought of her. She didn't even know where her father was. Ukyo had a good school, good friends, a restaurant of her own, a nice home, and the most wonderful woman to reply okaeri when she got home and make her bentos for lunch. Ukyo had Ucchan's and Konatsu and she was happy.

Ukyo desperately wished that she was a lesbian so that she wouldn't have to feel so guilty about how she had fallen in love with a trans woman, but she was happy, dammit!

It really was fortunate that the lesbians of Furinkan had forgiven her homophobia and adopted Ukyo into their ranks, because Ukyo's bullheaded stupidity had alienated her from the rest of the student body. First, the Furinkan students had whispered about how cruel she had been to Ranko and Akane for calling them dykes, and now the Furinkan students whispered about how Ukyo was a dyke, enough so that the whispers chased her through the hall. Ukyo was so inured to the casual homophobia – not that Ukyo was actually a lesbian – that she barely registered them anymore. Either way, the end result was Ukyo sitting on the margins, with nothing but the Dyke Squad, a term which Ukyo would never admit she still used in her head, to keep her company.

Ukyo might have had a good month. But it was clear as day that, rather than freeing Ranko from her burdens, Ranko's newfound self-acceptance had quickly sent her spiraling into a mess of unresolved trauma and unhappiness.

Ranko was Ranma. She was brash and obnoxious and arrogant and utterly overconfident; Ranko wasn't supposed to wince when somebody spoke too loudly next to her, or apologize when she asked too many questions, or make herself smaller when she walked down the street. Ranko Saotome was that girl, the girl that all the other girls in the locker room wished they had the freedom to be. Ranko got to act like a boy. Ranko got to act however she wanted to!

Ranko wasn't supposed to start acting like the rest of them. Ranko wasn't supposed to start acting like a teenage girl – like she had a father who beat the shit out of her, or feared getting assaulted in a dark alley on the way home. She was supposed to be above that, better than that. More than that. Ukyo wasn't the only girl in Nerima who felt a little betrayed that Ranko Saotome didn't seem capable of transcending her own womanhood anymore.

The morning was bright and sunny. Ukyo had arrived early to school, and now she sat at her desk, patiently waiting for the first period of the day to begin; a few desks over, Yuka and Sayuri were whispering to themselves, their gossip eliciting fits of giggles that repeatedly caught Ukyo's attention. Ukyo knew she could go join her friends if she wanted to, but she didn't have the spirit of it today; instead, she had brooded until Akane and Ranko rushed in the door, barely arriving before the bell rang.

It was immediately clear that today would be a day.

Akane was visibly worried, her face drawn, and every time she glanced at Ranko in deep concern, the pit in Ukyo's stomach grew a little deeper. On the other hand, Ranko looked as though she had seen a ghost. Her face was pale, and she fidgeted with her skirt, her backpack gathered tightly in her arms; when Kobayashi-sensei shot Akane and Ranko a disapproving look at their tardiness, Ranko visibly flinched away, hurrying from the front of the room to her seat next to Ukyo without waiting for Akane to follow. Akane looked almost startled in Ranko's wake, her brow furrowing in clear concern and confusion at Ranko's behavior.

"Hey, Ranchan," Ukyo said, earning no response. With her concern doubling, Ukyo leaned over and put a hand on Ranko's shoulder. "Ranko."

Ranko glanced at Ukyo, then stared determinedly at her desk.

Ukyo swallowed, her alarm rising from a five to an eight. "What's wrong, sugar?"

"It's nothing," Ranko mumbled.

"Are you-"

"I said it's nothing."

"Ranko," Ukyo whispered, taken aback. She let her hand fall to her side, and Ranko jerked away, crossing her legs and hunching her shoulders in. A hard light shone in Ranko's eyes as Ranko forced herself to straighten up, visibly forced herself, and jut her chin out – not with pride but with a coldness that Ukyo hardly recognized.

"I'm fine," Ranko said harshly.

Ukyo had often heard Ranko use the childish boku, and on her more aggressive days, a peppering of ore and slang. In class, it was always jibun. Sometimes, either when Ranko had a very feminine day or if she was comfortable and tired, often when she was with Akane, Ranko would use a quiet atashi, like she felt ashamed at wanting to use the more feminine pronoun. But the sharp formality of the watashi, which Ukyo had almost never heard from Ranko before, the way it fell from her lips like she were mimicking someone else – it set Ukyo on edge. She had never heard Ranko speak like that.

Ranko sat up straight in her seat, prim and cold, as though she were delivering a tea service. Ukyo sank back in her seat, her gaze finding Akane's across the room. Akane shared her look of worry.

"Alright, class," Kobayashi-sensei declared as the bell rang. "Today we'll be…"

Immediately tuning out their sensei, Ukyo fidgeted at her desk, sneaking glances at Ranko as the lesson began. She was at a complete loss as to what could have prompted such strange behavior from her oldest friend.

Why did Ranko have to be so confusing? Sometimes Ukyo wondered if that was why she hadn't liked their kiss – Ranko was a wild horse, a passion uncontrolled, and the only thing that had ever been constant about Ranko was that Ukyo had had no choice but to chase her. Now that Ukyo had caught Ranko, what was left but the shifting winds? Even Ranko's body was fluid. No wonder Ukyo hadn't like their kiss – there was nothing there for her to latch onto. Ranko was nothing like Konatsu, who was already there, so very steady and caring, right in that place where Ukyo always knew how to find her, how to take care of her-

Oh, and Ranko was a girl. Right. That was the real dealbreaker.

Ukyo sighed, picked at the terrible collar of the Furinkan girl's uniform. It was always the little details, wasn't it? Sometimes Ukyo missed dressing like a boy…

It was ultimately to their good fortune that Ukyo was so thoroughly spaced out. If Ukyo had been paying attention to the lesson, she might not have managed to save Ranko from what happened next.

Ranko

"Ranko! Watch out!"

One did not survive a childhood with Genma Saotome if they didn't react quick to a shouted warning.

Ranko was out of her seat in an instant, leaping away across the room and landing on Sayuri's desk like a cat before she knew what was happening. An entire bucket's worth of boiling water splashed down over her seat moments later, soaking her desk and her backpack. Ukyo and Akane cried out as they were both splashed with boiling water – the classroom erupted into chaos.

Moments later, a second burst of boiling water crashed into Sayuri's desk, hitting Sayuri in the face. Sayuri screamed in agony. She collapsed out of her seat and onto the ground.

"Sayuri!" Yuka cried, rushing to Sayuri's side. Ukyo and Akane both burst to their feet, placing themselves in between the mysterious attacker and Ranko. Ranko sank into a wary stance at the back of the classroom, her lips pulling back into an infuriated snarl as a dark-clad ninja descended from a hole in the ceiling, two steaming buckets in his hands.

"Ranma Saotome!" the dark-clad ninja declared triumphantly. "I have cornered you at last!"

"Hey!" Ranko shouted, incensed on Sayuri's behalf. "What's the big idea, ya jerk? And where the hell do you get off calling me that?"

The ninja cackled, launching another bucket of water at Ranko. Ranko and Ukyo both dove out of the way, while Akane landed a clean roundhouse kick on the bucket, sending it crashing harmlessly against the wall. "I am Sasuke!" Sasuke declared, grinning lecherously at the girls. "Mistress Kodachi sends her regards!"

"Who?" Akane cried as boiling water soaked another desk.

"Aw, hell, you gotta be kidding me!" Ranko moaning, ducking another bucket. "Not that crazy Kuno chick! I told her I wasn't interested in a date!"

"Kuno?" Akane shrieked. "Date?!"

"I turned her down!" Ranko shouted. "You think I wanna date a Kuno?"

"Ranko!"

"She was the evil gymnastics lady! You were there! C'mon, Akane!"

Akane faltered, clearly remembering the day, which was just long enough for Sasuke to sling a bucket of boiling water at her. When the water hit Akane, and Akane cried out in pain, tumbling back against the desk, Ranko saw red. Without a second thought, Ranko leaped clear across two desks and caught Sasuke in a leaping kick, sending them both tumbling back into a row of desks. The few students who remained in the room fled, but Ranko paid them no attention, focused on neutralizing the aggressor.

Ranko grabbed Sasuke by the shirt and shoved him back against the wall, digging her elbow into his throat. Sasuke wheezed.

"You hurt my girlfriend," Ranko snarled. "You hurt Sayuri. You hurt Sayuri Sugiyama, you absolute monster. How dare you attack us during school."

Choking on Ranko's elbow, Sasuke managed a strained lecherous grin.

"Mistress Kodachi sends her regards," he croaked.

"Ranko, no!"

Ranko saw the red water balloon a second before impact, but it was too late for her to dodge it. The next thing she felt was pain – her bra cutting violently into her chest before the clasp snapped, her dress straining at her shoulders before it ripped, her underwear tearing painfully against her pelvis as her proportions shifted. Suddenly off-balance in her male form, Ranko stumbled away from Sasuke, collapsing to her ground in agony. She cried out in pain, scrambling to free herself from the bra.

"You fucking asshole!" Ukyo screamed, tearing across the classroom and round kicking Sasuke as hard as possible. Sasuke dropped like a stone.

Panic consumed the room. Ranko scrambled away from the shred of her bra, desperately trying not to burst into tears – she had just started getting comfortable wearing real bras – and tucked herself into the far corner, trying to conceal herself with her arms. Ukyo scrambled for the open door, which she slammed shut and locked. Sayuri was rolling around on the ground in agony, a frantic Yuka attempting to stem her burns at her side; across the room, Akane had not gotten quite as burnt by the attack, but she still hissed in pain as she struggled her way to her feet.

Paralyzed at the front desk, Kobayashi-sensei stood shellshocked before the wreckage of her classroom, a half-used piece of chalk still held aloft between her fingers.

Unable to contain herself, Ranko burst into tears.

Akane

Ranko got cold water. Yuka took Sayuri to the nurse and got Akane a handful of bandages and antiseptic. School security came to the classroom to escort Sasuke away.

After that, they were promptly kicked out of school for the rest of the day.

Yuka had categorically refused to leave Sayuri's side, so Akane, Ukyo, and Ranko were left to regroup in a nearby park, where they barely made it fifty feet past the trees before Ranko collapsed onto the nearest bench in a fit of sobs. Akane pulled Ranko into her lap as Ranko sobbed into her shoulder, bawling like Akane had never seen her bawl before. Ukyo sat in silence by their side, methodically curling and uncurling her fists in rage. They sat there for a long half-hour before Ranko finally began to calm down, her tears subsiding to quiet whimpers of pain. Ranko's dress was ripped, and hung loosely around her shoulders like an old rag; her chest was completely unsupported, and when Akane had quietly treated her wounds, it had been difficult to stomach the deep red gash that the underwire had left across Ranko's chest. Akane looked like she had been attacked, but Ranko looked like she had been assaulted.

The burns along her right side hurt, but Akane barely felt them when faced with her girlfriend's pain.

"Nobody saw, Ranko," Ukyo said quietly, resting a soothing hand on Ranko's back. Ranko tightened her arms around Akane's neck, whimpering into Akane's shoulder, and Akane placed a worried kiss on Ranko's temples. "I checked with Kobayashi-sensei. Everyone else was out of the room, and Sensei already knew. Your secret is safe."

"She hates me," Ranko choked out.

"Kobayashi-sensei?" Ukyo asked.

Ranko shook with grief and rage. Akane could do nothing but hold her tighter.

"You didn't see her," Ranko whispered, trembling. "She looks at me like I'm disgusting. She thinks that I'm a- that I'm a pervert."

Akane and Ukyo exchanged a helpless look.

"She didn't say that, Ranko," Akane managed. "She- she helped us-"

"She did say that to me," Ranko spat. "She said it to my face last week, 'Kane. Told me that she thinks I'm a spirit, that I should keep my unnaturalness out of her classroom. She thinks we're all perverts. Cause we're fucking lesbians. Cause I'm- I'm- I'm this.

The word this was spat with so much vitriol that Akane felt it sharply like a physical blow in her chest. Ukyo had opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it again, looking utterly lost. Akane shook her head, holding Ranko tighter.

"Ranko…" Ukyo said softly.

New tears dripped onto the fabric of Akane's dress.

"I'll never escape it," Ranko whispered. "It's never gonna go away, Ucchan. I'm always gonna be a stupid pervert. It was all pointless, all of it. Pops should have just left me in China."

That was too much for Akane. Abruptly, Akane stomped her way to her feet, dislodging Ranko off her lap and onto the bench, and she stormed a few paces away from the bench and spun on Ranko. Ranko looked stunned on the bench, yet still too miserable to do much more than passively accept Ukyo when Ukyo shifted to support her.

Akane tried to put words to the shifting rage in her chest. "If you talk like that about yourself one more time," Akane demanded, jabbing a violet finger at Ranko. "Then I am going to turn around and walk out of this park, Ranko Saotome. Not one more bad word about yourself."

"He attacked you!" Ranko shouted, joining Akane on her feet, fists balled.

"Yeah, cause I failed to defend you!" Akane shouted back.

"Guys," Ukyo said.

"He hit you with the bucket!"

"Yeah, well he almost killed you with that ballon!"

"I was defending you!" Ranko screamed.

"Stop it!" Ukyo cried.

Akane couldn't help herself from the tears that sprung to her eyes; stalking across the field, she slammed her fists against Ranko's chest. "He hurt you!" Akane shouted, staring into Ranko's stupid gorgeous eyes.

Ranko sobbed. "He hurt you too!"

And then they were kissing. Akane grabbed Ranko's face and mashed their lips together, salty tears streaming down her face as she kissed Ranko for everything she was worth; and Ranko threw her arms around Akane, and kissed her back with equal ferocity. It didn't feel good; it was wet and messy and Akane's side was on fire from her burns, but Akane didn't care; there was nothing, nothing in the world, that was more important to her than kissing Ranko in that moment. Ranko shoved her tongue down Akane's throat. Akane dug her fingers into the tight wounds of Ranko's upper braid. They were lost to the world.

"Okay," Ukyo said, taking a deep breath. "Okay, okay guys. Let's tone it down a bit, alright? Let's take it down from a nine to a three."

Without halting her kiss, Ranko flipped Ukyo off, earning a wet chuckle from Akane, who peppered Ranko's lips with little kisses.

"I love you," Ranko sobbed. "I love you. Don't you dare take another bucket for me-"

"Ranko," Akane sobbed back.

"You have to promise me, you have to- you hafta-" Ranko pulled back enough to stare down at Akane's burned side, then let out another hoarse sob and hugged her for all she was worth. "He burned you," Ranko sobbed into her shoulder.

Akane hugged her back, Ranko's distress focusing her enough to calm down slightly. All that mattered to Akane was making sure that her girlfriend was okay. "I know," Akane whispered, careful not to squeeze where Ranko had been hurt by her bra. "I know, Ranko; I know. I'm okay. I promise you that I'm okay."

Ranko let out a wordless cry and hid her face against Akane.

With harried eyes, Akane looked across the park at Ukyo, who swallowed, shaking her head. Akane drew Ranko deeper into her protective clutch. What else was there to say after such an unprovoked attack?

It had seemed impossible to top, but Akane had a new most-hated Kuno in the darkest reaches of her heart.

"Um, excuse me? Misses, are you alrig- Wait, Ranma?"

The sound of Ranko's old name was so startling that Akane and Ranko immediately sprung apart, whirling about to take the measure of their new intruder. Standing on the main path through the park, Ryoga Hibiki stood stunned on the gravel, his signature yellow bandana affixed around his forehead, staring dumbly at the crying girls. Like deer caught in a spotlight, Akane and Ranko stared back.

A few paces behind him, Shampoo (was that her name?) walked up after her fiancee, cocking her head quizzically. "Beloved?" she asked Ryoga in Chinese. "What is it? Why did you run off?"

"I heard crying," Ryoga told Shampoo absently in Chinese. Shampoo followed his gaze, then she lit up when she caught sight of Ranko.

"Oh!" Shampoo exclaimed. "It is Ranma! Shan Pu knows you – you were kind to Shan Pu, and made Ryoga learn Shan Pu's name!"

"It's my, darling," Ryoga gently corrected Shan Pu, earning himself a soft look from Shampoo, who leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Akane was so astonished by the abrupt shift in tone, and the fact that Ryoga of all people had bothered to learn Chinese, or that anyone would chose to kiss Ryoga, that she simply stood there dumbly and stared at them.

"Thank you, my love," Shampoo said softly, then returned the kiss.

As always, the sweet moment was interrupted by a baffled Ranko:

"The hell, Ryoga?" Ranko asked rudely. "Since when do you speak Chinese?"

Ryoga blushed, and Akane wasn't even ashamed to gawk at him, astonished by how much he seemed to have changed over the last few months. "Ever since I got myself a Chinese fiancee," Ryoga admitted bashfully. "That, and I got kidnapped by the Amazons for a while. Never mind me, what happened to you? Why are you wearing a dress?"

"Uh…" Ranko and Akane exchanged a furtive glance. "It's kind of a long story," Ranko said cautiously.

"We've got time," Ryoga offered.

Shampoo smiled and nodded in agreement, her purple hair blowing in the slight wind as she held on to Ryoga's arm. "Grandmother doesn't need us back at the Cat Cafe until the evening shift," Shampoo told Ryoga, straining Akane's very limited comprehension of Chinese. "We have all day to listen to your friends."

A decision seemed to be reached.

"We can go to my restaurant," Ukyo said, taking control of the group. Both couples turned to listen to her. "I left my bento at school, anyway – I'll cook us all up some okonomiyaki, and then we can talk."

They all agreed to go. As they left the park, Ranko shifted to Akane's side, and quietly joined their hands.

[A/N] I had so much fun writing Ukyo's gay panic that I almost forgot what had to come after it.

No, the Kodachi plotline is not the smoothest plotline I have ever written. One of the disadvantages to writing a novel over many years is that it can be a challenge to link smaller subplots together. But honestly, you don't really need the two or three Kodachi vignettes in this fic for this chapter to make its point.

I could not write a Ranma ½ fanfiction without any of the cartoon-y violence in the original anime. Unfortunately, when placed in the context this fic has created, a lot of that "slapstick" violence begins to look a lot like transphobic assault. When Ranko is trying to hide her curse, when getting outed has real consequences, that "violence" becomes a lot more, well, violent. And when you pay attention, Ranma gets punished or mocked for his curse in canon a lot. The first move in tons of fights is always to strip him of his masculinity – to feminize him, to make him weak.

I've had this chapter planned for years.

Two more chapters at rock bottom – one of build-up, one of climax. Then Ranko and co. can start to piece things back together in peace.

Also, Happy New Years! 2023 marks my seventh consecutive year publishing a chapter of this story, which is insane. I sincerely doubt that 2017-me thought that Gender Sleepy would be my fanfiction with the highest longevity. To everyone who's stuck around for that long, I love you very much.

A note that can't really be avoided in a chapter about anti-trans violence: there has been an unfortunate uptick in transphobic comments on this story on Fanfiction. I will say this once and only once – transphobes, fuck right the hell off. You can suck a bag of dicks if you don't like this story. Fuck off with your victim blaming, fuck off with your purity complexes, and fuck right the hell off with your bigotry. You're not welcome here.

To those who still exclusively read on FFN: Now is a great time to migrate to Archives of Our Own. Gender Sleepy now gets cross-posted, so there's no need to read on FFN if you don't want to. Go support this story on AO3!

Thank you to irisvirus, MarisaReset, SamuelJamuel, JaquiK, classicalgal, sunhawk5, Lukkai, FuzzyBee, KaikaKokoro, Mizuno Tenshi2, and Beedok for reviewing! Y'all are the best.

Please let me know what you thought!

Love, Allie