Kaminari looked at her sisters.

All of them were feminine to some point, whether it's looks or otherwise. Peridot had a human-like figure but it was still one of a monkey, and how she dressed only emphasized that. Every bit of it shined through heavily. Emerald wasn't too far behind Peridot, having a similar body herself. Jasper didn't care much about hers, but it was prevalent either way. Her curves were present.

Diamond didn't have as much femininity as they did, though, yet it was more than obvious that she had more than Kami did. Hell, even Dactyle had more femininity than she did.

The young teenager knew it was most likely dumb to worry about it, but in comparison, she didn't feel much like a girl. There wasn't a problem with that, that she knew, yet it wasn't like she fit completely in with their brothers either.

She sighed as she moved some hair into her view. Maybe she should grow it out more or style it? Maybe do something about her boxy body and make it more curvy? Use makeup to seem more feminine in her facial features at least? It could've been the clothes she wore as well and she wouldn't know it. Kaminari didn't know what to do and it hurt.

What would Marino think, and if he thought she needed to be more feminine too?

That was when a hand touched hers and she jumped. She quickly looked down at Marino. He was as calm as ever. Actually, she noticed how he seemed kinda worried about her. He held her hand and lowered it.

"Kaminari, dear, are you feeling alright?" Marino asked, the end of his eyebrows dipping downwards. "You seem quite upset."

Kaminari looked away. She felt her heart in her throat as she debated on saying what was on her mind. She quietly gulped every feeling she had down.

"…Am I feminine at all? Am I pretty like they are?" Kami asked softly, almost inaudible.

She glanced at Marino. His eyes were widened and his mouth was slightly agape for a moment before he cleared his throat and rid the shock look on his face. He kept his eyes on her. He took both her hands which caused her to look at him completely again. Marino took a deep breath as he prepared himself.

"Kaminari, I do not know why you feel this way," Marino started, "but you're perfect and beautiful as you are. You have a mixture of feminine and masculine features, but that is in no way bad. Many things work for different people, appearances included. It cannot always be helped however."

He gently pulled her and led her to the nearest spot for them to sit down. He never let go of her hands, in fact he held them firmer than before. Kaminari kept her full attention on him.

Marino pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "Do not listen to what anybody says, do what makes you happy. Not everybody can pull off androgyny, or any style. However if you wish for my opinion, though I believe you should make up your own mind rather than just do what I think, androgyny suits you best. Whatever you decide to do, all of us will be okay with it as long as you're happy with it."

He said all of that with a reassuring smile on his face. Everything he said made her chest feel lighter and like the weight had been smacked off her shoulders. She smiled back at him and hugged him. Her tail heavily wagged that it tapped the seat and the floor.

"Thank you a lot, Marino. That means a lot."

He hugged her back. He gave her a pat on the back. Marino pulled away and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Anything for my siblings. Go and decide what you want to go with. Whatever it is, I'm sure you will look great."

He got up and left. Kaminari thought about what he said and the more she thought about it, the more she was certain about it.

Kami went to Peridot.


It took a bit, but it finally happened.

Peridot made Kami some new clothes and helped her with getting her hair cut.

"You sure you wanna cut it off?" Peridot asked. "I mean, you can do whatever you want, but it can take a while for it to grow back."

"I'm sure."

Kaminari didn't know what hairstyle she wanted, just for it to be short. Peridot tried to do what she could. After it was all done, Kami looked in the mirror. She looked at the work Peridot did. It was like a short version of how her hair was, but at the same time it reminded her of Chiro's hairstyle. A huge smile crawled on her face and her tail mimicked the joy shown in her facial expression.

The short hair fully brought out her androgyny. It was exactly what she needed.

"I was worried about how you would react to it. I know it looks a lot like Uncle Chiro's hair, but I didn't know what to do really." Peridot explained.

Kami looked at her. "Don't worry about it! I'm really happy about it!"

Peridot sighed in relief and smiled. She brushed off all her hair and took the cloth off Kaminari. Afterwards, they got up and ran to change their clothes.

They went into the new stuff Peridot made her. She kept her green neck scarf. Her new white shirt had the Hyperforce logo on it. There were blue shorts with a black belt and a blue short-sleeved jacket to accompany it. Kaminari looked in the mirror and had a big ole grin on their face. She sighed in joy and relief. Whatever negative feelings she had before, any residue, was washed away completely. It was the happiest they felt in a while.

Peridot brushed something off their shoulder. Kami looked at her.

"You look really happy. Maybe this was something you really needed." Peri said.

"It definitely felt like it." Kami happily responded.

Peridot smiled, giving her a gentle push. "Go ahead and show Marino."

"Why him specifically? Figured you'd say show everyone."

Peridot just rolled her eyes.

"Just do it, Kami."

She walked away with a wagging tail. They were too happy to keep going.

Everyone noticed Kaminari's new clothes and haircut. They reacted positively with compliments, some light teasing from Magma, Dactyle, and Jasper, and just how Kaminari seemed happier than she had been lately. If Kami could smile even bigger than she was now, her mouth would probably jump off her face and run off with her heart going with it. They hadn't come across Marino yet though.

Their parents were a little surprised that Kami had her hair cut, mainly Chiro who stared at her. She nervously chuckled thinking that he hated it. He walked up to her and cupped her face, looking at every part of their hair. His mouth was just left agape. His eyes became a little teary.

"I thought you loved your hair," he softly let out. "Did something happen? Do I have to ground somebody because of putting something in your hair and out resulted in it getting cut?"

"What? No!" She lightly shook their head. "I'm fine, really. I did like it long, but… something had been bothering me lately and I figured I'd try something new. Peridot helped me with it."

Chiro released a sigh of relief. He hugged them. "Okay. Just give me a heads up next time, I seriously thought something was wrong for a moment."

He laughed after saying that. Sprx snickered.

"Ya look good though. If you're happy then that's what matters." Sprx said.

Everyone else agreed. Kaminari felt relieved that they weren't upset about the sudden haircut. She knew there wasn't a reason why they should, but it made her nervous for some reason. Maybe it was the idea that they'd think she did it herself, or anything else similar to that.

After that, she continued to look for Marino. They only found him when Marino and Antauri came out of the garden and she just happened to walk by that room. Marino was chuckling until he saw Kaminari. She felt her heart quicken, finally about to know what he thought of it.

He gave Antauri a plant that he was holding. He put his metallic fingers into her short hair, running them through it. They felt slightly shaky, like he couldn't believe it was done. His eyes shot left to right, up to down, everywhere those eyes could. A small smile then formed on his face. It was like that small moment, which felt like an eternity, had given him everything that he wanted to know and feel.

"It suits you quite well, Kami." Marino softly told her. The smile faded and his eyebrows drooped instead. "You did not do this merely because of what I said, did you?"

"No, not at all!" They confidently smiled, saying something that only she knew was a lie. "I figured I'd try things out, you know?"

That smile returned to Marino's face, only it was bigger than before. "Well, I would say you picked a good route to go. I'm glad you're happy about the result of that decision."

He kissed her forehead. He removed his hands from her hair. He took the plant from Antauri's hands. A soft 'thank you, Father' came through his lips as he began walking away. Antauri smiled at Kaminari before he walked with Marino.

Once they were out of sight, Kaminari smiled as big and goofy as a person could; their tail wagged so fast it would cool someone down. She was beyond ecstatic about his reaction to it. She knew he said to not do it for him, but how could they not if they loved seeing her favorite brother happy like that?

Kaminari grabbed some chocolate and returned to her room to enjoy them while in a joyous bliss.