《Daily life of Kinuko Nakamura》


 Chapter one

    5:45...5:46... A young teenager would be staring at her alarm clock from her bed. 5:50...she had tried going back to sleep a while earlier but no luck...just waiting out the clock. 5:55...5:56. 4 more minutes before she can get up and ready. Today was a special day for her, her first day at a new school. Despite her excitement, she was also nervous, very very nervous. 6:00. The girl''s alarm clock would go off which of course startled her, even though she new it was coming. She immediately stood up out of bed, standing at 6''0 ft tall in fact.


    "Gah!" She yelps and slips. Her voice was a bit deep, but that usually happens when she first wakes up anyways. Her body making a thud on the ground caused the dog to wake up and walk over to her. The puppy would move his little paw to touch the girl''s arm to make sure she''s ok. Granted, this was a daily thing for her. She would lie on the ground for a few minutes before standing up once again.


    "I''m okay, Hachiko," she says softly and pets her dog. Her eyes glanced at the alarm clock.


    "Eep! I need to get ready," she shouts and rushes to get her school uniform on.


    "Alright Kinuko," the girl mumbles and makes sure her uniform was put on perfectly. She wanted to make a good first impression, it''s her first day. She can''t screw this up. "Don''t screw it up" she repeated over and over. Maybe if she repeated it, it would stay in her head.


    "Kinuko!" Her mother shouts startling the tall high school girl.


    "C-Coming!" Kinuko calls back. Grabbing her backpack, she made her way to the kitchen. Her mother was cooking whilst her father was reading the paper.


    "Morning," the teen tells her father, yet the man seemed to engrossed in his paper to notice her. "N-never mind..." Kinuko mumbles to herself.


    "Good morning," she tells the woman who would repeat what Kinuko said but then went back to washing the dishes. Kinuko didn''t completely mind the silence, she was used to it. She just silently ate, she needed to head to school after all.


    A few minutes later, and Kinuko was out the door. She would mumble to herself on the way, each word she said, her voice grew gradually higher and more feminine. However, Kinuko wasn''t paying much attention to where she was walking. Moments later, she let out a Yelp as she bumped into someone.


    "Oi watch it," a male''s voice scoffs. Kinuko would look up but see nothing. Then she''d look down and notice what seemed to be a girl with pink hair(I''m inspired by anime so not everyone character is gonna have a natural hair color). She was six inches shorter, and wearing a male''s uniform.


    "H-Huh? Who said that...?," Kinuko stutters and looks around then at the girl, "oh are you ok, miss?" The girl''s face seemed more annoyed now


    "Can''t you see I''m wearing a boy''s uniform...? Why does everyone think I''m a girl at first glance,?" she errr he says very annoyed.


    "I-I-I''m sorry," Kinuko stutters nervously. First new person she interacted with and she called him a girl. She felt so ashamed of herself.


    "It''s fine...I guess it actually doesn''t matter that much," the boy says and sighs. Kinuko took a moment to notice his uniform was a little messier, like what the delinquents at her old school would do to their outfits. The thought of this person being a delinquent frightened Kinuko. Then again, a lot of this seem to frighten the tall girl.


    "What is it?" The boy snarks which caused the new girl to flinch. The boy would notice her frightened look and just looks down.


    "Errr sorry, shouldn''t have scared you," The boy says, "you new?"


    Kinuko would nod slowly.


    "Do you know the route?" He asks. Kinuko would nod slowly and go to grab her little map. She immediately scolded herself, as she had forgotten the map.


    The boy sighs. "Follow me I guess," he says and gestures for her. She would of course listen to him, but the whole way she felt nervous. However, that nervousness may have been for nothing, after all, the two of them arrived at the school with no problem.


    "Umm thank you..." Kinuko whimpers, she was grateful after all, even if this boy was intimidating.


    "Not a problem," the boy replies. He would fold his arms and look away. The two just stood there in silence for a minute.


    "I-I''m gonna go...Umm see you..." Kinuko says and heads off. The boy would just nod and his own separate way...Only for the two of them to end up walking in the same direction.


    "Fuck, well this is awkward," the delinquent boy mutters. Kinuko flinched at the sudden cuss word.


    "What''s wrong?" He asks her, "never heard someone say fuck before?"


    He said it again...


    "Whatever," he ends up saying, "chances are we''ll probably end up in the same homeroom...1C?"


    Kinuko nods quietly.


    "Of course..." he mutters. Kinuko stares for a second. Did he hate her? She wouldn''t blame him...after all, she did mistake him for a girl. Being misgendered felt awkward.


    "And what are you looking at?" The boy asks Kinuko harshly. Kinuko immediately looked away.


    "Sorry..." she says.


    "It''s fine..." he says and looks away, not paying attention, only to walk into a wall.


    "Shit!" he yelps. He sure did swear a lot.


    "A-Are you ok?"


    "Yeah...I''m fine. Not the first time I''ve done this..."


    The boy rubs his head and groans to himself.


    "Did you run into the wall again, Kido-Kun," a girl teases opening a door. Though the tone of her voice made it seem like an unfriendly tease. If that made any sense.


    "Shut up," Kido says and crosses his arms. The girl would look up at Kinuko.


    "Jesus Christ, she''s tall for a girl," she states. This caused Kinuko to wince. That felt uncomfortable.


    "It doesn''t really matter," Kido mentions.


    "Oh right, you''re short for a boy," the girl teases.


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    "I''m 5''6. That''s not that short." Kido spats.


    "Keep telling yourself that."


    "There are boys in the class that are even shorter than me!"


    The boy was now red in the face, whether it was an embarrassment or anger was unknown.


    "Whatever. Just shut up, Harukawa..."


    Kido would storm off inside the classroom. Harukawa rolls her eyes then gives Kinuko a cheery and friendly smile.


    "Are you new?" She asks happily. The other nods.


    "Happy to meet you, I''m Yuna Harukawa," Yuna says gesturing to herself then aggressively shakes the other''s hand.


    "Umm...k-K-Kinuko Nakamura," The new girl states, startled by how rough the other girl was in shaking her hand. Kinuko would glance her eyes around, clearly uncomfortable.


    A person would put their hand on Yuna''s shoulder. Then make a gesture, in which Yuna responds by letting go of Kinuko''s hand. The kid had dark hair with a small ponytail. They''re uniform, while nearly put together, was also long on them. They would gesture for Kinuko to follow them in the classroom. Hesitantly, the timid girl would follow through. There were a couple people staring at them which intimidated the 6''0 school girl. Kinuko looked for any opportunity to glance around so she could ignore everyone else. Her eyes ended up glancing to a desk with a case and white flower on it. The seat right in the back by the window.


    Kinuko would walk over closely to that desk.


    "Be careful," Kido''s voice says. He was in the seat right next to that one. He glared a tiny bit at Kinuko.


    "Sorry..." Kinuko says.


    "Hey lay off her, Yu-Chan!" Yuna says, "relax she won''t mess with your dead girlfriend''s desk."


    "For the last fucking time, Asakawa-San was not my girlfriend," Yu says angrily, "and don''t just casually joke around about her!"


    "Just admit it, you like her," Yuna teases whilst the ponytailed kid facepalms, not saying anything though.


    Yu stands up angrily.


    "Shut the fuck up," he shouts intimidatingly.


    "Kido, are we gonna have a problem?" The teacher asks sternly walking into the room just as he shouted that. Yu would just sit back down and flop his head on the desk.


    "Alright sit down," the teacher says to the rest of the class. Everyone would head to their desks except Kinuko, considering she doesn''t have one.


    "Miss Nakamura," the teacher says and gestures to a desk, "please sit down, sweetie."


    Kinuko nods and immediately sits down in the seat, as class proceeded. The teacher, Yukihira-Sensei, would help Kinuko throughout the class. Kinuko found herself glancing at the empty window desk behind her. Someone died? The timid teen felt a bit worried. How did the other...?


    "Miss Nakamura, please pay attention," the teacher tells the other. Kinuko, in response, would let out a whimper and an apology. Class was a bit long and Kinuko had to stay behind to finish some work.


    "Do you need any help?" Yu asks her. He was still in the class too, however there weren''t any papers at his desk, so he wasn''t in for the same reason she was.


    Kinuko embarrassingly nods. She knew she shouldn''t be embarrassed though, there''s nothing wrong with a girl asking for help. (There''s nothing for a guy asking for help either but Kinuko doesn''t really know that).


    Yu sighs and heads over to her desk to walk her through the assignment. To her surprise, he did help her a lot and was patient with her. She didn''t know...she expected him to get frustrated with her easily.


    "Is this right?" Kinuko asks finishing the last problem. He looks it over and nods.


    "Yeah it looks like you got it," Yu tells her. She would turn in the paper and turn around to thank Yu, but by that point the boy had left the classroom.


    "Oh..." Kinuko said to herself and went to look around for the lunch room. The school happened to be large, it was hard to find the room she was supposed to go to. Eventually she found it though. Crowded, however. A little too crowded for her liking in fact. Maybe if she rushed through, she could leave this room.


    In no time, she got her tray and tried to leave the room except Yuna would give her a wave.


    "Naka-Chan!" She shouts wanting the other to sit with her. Kinuko, despite not wanting to stay in the crowded room, also didn''t want to disappoint Yuna so she went over and sat by her.


    Kinuko would give a quiet wave.


    "You don''t have to be so shy, you know. Don''t worry most people like having a new girl around," Yuna says happily, "especially most of the guys here."


    Yuna would point to table of guys, in which a couple were looking at them. Specifically Nakamura. This of course freaked her out a bit, she would hide her flustered face.


    "Are you ok, Naka-Chan?" Yuna asks putting her hand on the other girl''s shoulder. Kinuko would flinch, then slowly nod.


    "If you like them, you should go ahead and talk to them," Yuna says and gives a wink, "I''m sure they''d appreciate it."


    Yuna clearly mistaken the reason why Kinuko got flustered.


    "I Umm...n-no thank you. Not now..." The shy girl whimpers and quickly eats her food.


    "Hmm, perhaps then you can talk to them during basketball practice," Yuna says tapping her chin.


    "Basketball?" Kin asks. The other girl nods.


    "Yeah I think a couple of those guys do basketball after school. You''d fit in perfectly," Yuna says.


    "...you think I would?" Kinuko asks.


    "Yeah, you''re really tall. And look athletic enough," Yuna says. Kinuko, despite how she seems, was a bit athletic. Though for a while she''s been putting off things like that. Kinuko pondered for a moment. Doing something like basketball could help her get stronger. She wanted to get really strong. But then the thought of her missing and costing an entire team a game filled her head. Also as a girl, she was a bit self conscious about her height, or at least if she''s being called tall for a girl.


    "Nope Nope Nope..." she whimpers, "not that..."


    "Soccer? Ooh maybe swimming!" Yuna suggests. Kinuko paled at the thought of joining a swimming team.


    "Absolutely not!" She says.


    "Hmm well there are other sports," Yuna says and ponders.


    Kinuko would sigh. "N-no sports...I don''t think I''d want to do a sport. Wh-what are the clubs?"


    "Let''s see. Sewing club,Culture club, astrology club, I''m in the fashion club. Ooh there''s also the light music club. And the baking club...wait scratch that..."


    "There''s no baking club?"


    "Oh there was a baking club. Just not anymore."


    "What happened to it?"


    "Disbanded after the president died a year ago. Hasn''t got back together since."


    "The president d-died?"


    "Yeah. Her desk was the one in our classroom. Behind your desk," Yuna says, "got hit by a vehicle." She could just so casually mention a person''s death, which creeped Kinuko out.


    "Th-that''s terrible..." Kinuko says. Yuna nodded.


    "Yeah it''s really a shame...Asakawa was a really nice girl. She would''ve liked you," Yuna says and finishes eating her food. As her fork clanked against the table, she stood up.


    "Ready to head back to class, or if we have time I could show you around to the clubs," Yuna says.


    "B-by the look of the time. It might be class soon..." Kinuko responds as she grabs her schedule out of her pocket.


    "Aww well that''s a bummer," Yuna whines.


    "C-Can''t you show me after school?"


    "I can''t nor want to miss club, I''m the president after all. But all the clubs are on the third floor, so if you want to see me I''ll be in room 3a."


    Kinuko would just nod. Yuna grabs her hand and takes the taller one with her back to class.


    Class once again was the same as earlier, except this time, Kinuko was alone to finish her work. Luckily, she managed to.


    Her footsteps soon echoed the hallways. It felt a bit nice though being by herself for a bit. But at the same time, she felt kind of lonely wandering the halls by herself. Then again, it''s much better than people staring at her.


    Out of all the clubs, the light music club interested her the most, yet, she didn''t want to perform in front of anyone and was scared that''s what joining might account to.


    She ended up walking to the end with her tempted to knock on other clubs'' doors but she ended up chickening out.


    She headed back downstairs to at least get acquainted with the rest of the area while she was here.


    "Stupid stupid stupid..." she mumbled to herself, scolding the fact that she chickened out of knocking on a door. Very soon, she ended up at the end of a hall. There was a room there that was opened and the light was on. The scent of some sort of pastry filled the area.


    Hesitantly, Kinuko would step into the room. Regret waved over her as she did though. What if whoever is in here yells at her for being in here? Is she even allowed to be here? Didn''t the baking club close down? Wait is this even the baking club?


    She then noticed Yu at the oven there. He turned around and noticed her.


    The taller girl yelps an, "Umm!"


    "Hey..." he tells her and gives the smallest wave, "what? You got lost?"


    "Not exactly...is this the baking club?"


    "Yeah..."


    "Wait? Didn''t it disband?"


    "It did but the teachers don''t care if I''m in here, I''m assuming that''s what you''re gonna ask next."


    "Y-yeah..." Kinuko says. Her eyes then glanced at the oven, "...you bake?"


    "No shit, Sherlock," he replies, "I''m the only other one in a baking classroom, and there''s baking supplies out."


    "Oh right...I Umm sorry..."


    Kinuko didn''t expect a boy to be the one baking. She was always told that that was a girl thing.


    "What''re you making?" Kinuko then asks quietly.


    "Just some cookies. Nothing special..." the other said and headed over to check the timer. In the meanwhile, Kinuko noticed a picture by a bowl. Curiously, she glanced at it, then picked it up. It was Yu and some girl together. They were both smiling. There was a cupcake hair pin in that chocolate colored hair of hers.


    "What the hell are you doing?" Yu shouts and grabs the photo from her. This startles Kinuko and she steps back only to knock into a shelf and by bad luck, flour fell and spilled on her and Yu.


    "Hey, are you ok?" Yu immediately asked afterwards. His voice was less angry. He coughs a tiny bit and wipes the flour from his face. Kinuko would start to tear up.


    "I''m so sorry!" She shouts and tries wiping her tears. Yu stared for a second in a bit of surprise before saying.


    "H-hey, you don''t have to cry. It''s fine...I shouldn''t have scared you..."


    "I''m sorry...I''m sorry..."


    Kinuko felt really bad about that. But she was a bit surprised Yu wasn''t yelling at her.


    "Hey it''s fine...there are extra uniforms in the back and I can get this place cleaned up," Yu tells the girl. Kinuko would wipe the last of her tears.


    "Sorry for crying..." she whimpered.


    "Now that is something you definitely don''t have to be sorry for at all," Yu says and wages his hands in the sink. A few moments later he comes back with a male and female uniform.


    Kinuko grabs the male uniform. Probably on accident.


    "That''s not funny..." Yu says staring at the female uniform he was left with.


    "Huh...what''s not...oh...EEP SORRY!"


    Kinuko immediately trades out the uniforms, her face red with embarrassment.


    "It''s fine," Yu says realizing it was  actually an accident. He turned away, "it''s...whatever."


    Kinuko would immediately run off to the bathroom across the hall.


    She would start to change out of her shirt. Suddenly the door opened.


    "N-Nakamura?! What the fuck are you doing in the boys...bath..." Yu says, his eyes accidentally stared down a bit. Suddenly his face becomes bright red as he slams the door shut.


    Kinuko embarrassingly changes her entire uniform quickly and opens the door.


    "She''s probably trans. She''s probably trans. She''s probably trans..." Yu would be mumbling to himself like he was trying to convince himself of this. He did feel really embarrassed and guilty about walking in on her.


    "I''m sorry..."Kinuko says feeling bad.


    "You know...If you''re transgender, you''re allowed to use the girl''s restroom..." Yu says quietly.


    "...what''s transgender?" Kinuko asks confused. Yu then started to look confused himself.


    "You don''t know what...it''s when...you''re like trapped in another gender''s body..." Yu says, "like Umm someone born male who identifies as a girl...are you not...?"


    "Umm I...Umm,"


    Kinuko says and rubs her arm. She had no idea transgender existed and that you could be a gender that wasn''t your biological gender, "I''m sorry...I didn''t know you could be..."


    She suddenly felt scared.  "Please don''t tell anyone..."


    Yu was just trying to process this. He was so confused. Kinuko is not trans then? If Nakamura didn''t know what trans was, Yu almost doubted she''d know what non binary is...Wait if that''s the case, thenthat means-


    "Wait...you''re a boy?" Yu finally asks.


    Kinuko nods


    "...yeah..."

 Chapter 2

    "Please don''t tell anyone. Please please!" Kinuko begs. She Err I mean he was so scared of what others would think. He was so ashamed that Yu found out. He was so ashamed that he felt too awkward to change in the girl''s restroom.


    "Relax. I''m not gonna tell anyone. Doesn''t seem like my place to..." Yu ends up saying. He was shocked, Kinuko was a guy. Kinuko was a guy. He didn''t know why the other was pretending to be a girl but it wasn''t any of his business.


    "Fuck..." Yu muttered to himself.


    "I''m sorry for lying..." Nakamura says.


    "She''s a boy. She''s a boy. She''s a boy..." Yu muttered to himself. He didn''t expect something like this. Thinking about it now it might''ve made sense but...


    "So I''m guessing your actual name is something like Kin or Kinjiro..." Yu mentions.


    "I-it''s actually Kenji..." Kenji mentions. Suddenly a thought rushed through his head as he looked around to make sure no one was overhearing their conversation, she then turns back to Yu, "I know...it''s such an unfitting name."


    "I mean my name is Yu, if anyone has an unfitting name, it''s me," the other boy mentions.


    (Kenji: can mean strong and vigorous)


    (Yu: can mean gentle)


    "Oh..." Kenji mumbles, "I''m sorry..."


    Yu cocked an eyebrow.


    "What are you sorry for this time?"


    "I don''t know actually..."


    Yu sighs and rubs his arm. "You shouldn''t  apologize unless you know what you''re even apologizing for."


    "Oh ok...sorry..."


    Yu face palms a bit.


    "Whatever...I''m just gonna get changed and then I''m gonna clean up the baking room," Yu says. Luckily he didn''t have to worry about the cookies baking since he turned off the over before he burning went to change.


    "Do you want help?" Kenji asks.


    "I''d rather you not," Yu tells him and heads into the restroom.


    Kenji stared at the door for a moment. He really screwed everything up, didn''t he? He sighed and smoothed the skirt he was wearing out, then proceeded to walk away. A while later, the boy was back at his house just lying on his bed. First day, and someone had already found out his secret. He was hoping he could keep it a secret until he got stronger. After all, boys are supposed to be strong, right?


    The puppy, Hachiko, would walk up to his owner, then try to climb up on the bed, obviously failing. Adorably failing to though. Kenji giggles and helps the pup on the bed. Hachiko in return, would reward Kenji by licking the boy''s face causing him to squeal a tiny bit and hug the dog.


    "Kinuko, take the trash outside," his mother calls.


    After giving Hachiko a couple more pets, he''d head to the kitchen, Grab the trash bag, and exit the apartment to the balcony area.


    In his way however, was a man in his twenties leaning against the railing outside another apartment. He had blonde hair and pink eyes (not to be confused with pink eye).


    (The set up of the apartment complex is that the apartments are lined up next to each other with stairs on the outside leading to another floor outside, with doors lined next to each other)


    "E-Excuse me..." Kenji said catching the man''s attention.


    "Oh sorry," he says and steps aside to clear just enough room for Kenji to fit through. After putting the bag in the bin on the first level, Kenji was tempted to say hi to that other man, assuming the other guy was his neighbor.


    Mustering up the courage, Kenji went back upstairs and talked on the man''s shoulder.


    "Hmm. Can I help you?" He asks Kenji. His voice was very kind and a bit energetic even.


    "Oh I was just gonna say hi, you''re my neighbor...right?" Kenji asks.


    "Well I''d assume so since you came out of the apartment next to mine," the man says and laughs a bit. Kenji, being self conscious, thought the other was laughing AT him.


    "I''m sorry," he mutters. The neighbor would look confused.


    "For what?" He asks.Once again, it was a question Kenji didn''t know the answer to.


    "I...don''t know..."


    Kenji would look away embarrassed and ashamed leading to the man to pat Kenji''s shoulder.


    "Hey no need to worry," he says and chuckles.


    "Oh ok," Kenji whimpered a bit, suddenly the door behind them creaked open as a little girl ,around 7 years old and looked like the man Kenji was talking to, walks out.


    "Is that your daughter?" Kenji asks looking at the girl who gave a happy wave.


    "Hi pretty lady," the little girl said. The man chuckles.


    "No, she''s my little sister. I''m only 22. I hope she isn''t my daughter," he jokes.


    "Huh...why''s that?" Kenji asks confused doing the math in his head, assuming that the little girl is 7. His mother had him when she was 14 what was wrong with a 15 year old having a kid.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Well Yuri here is 7, if she were my daughter, that would mean I was a father at 15."


    "Math," Yuri says happily, "math is fun! Except Taki said calculus is "he-wait I mean it''s just terrible.""


    "Taki?" Kenji asks.


    "My name''s actually Takahiro, but Yuri calls me Taki," Takahiro says and picks up the little girl who gives him a big hug.


    "Who''s the pretty lady, Taki. Is she your girlfriend?" Yuri asks


    "Of course not!" Takahiro tells her, "she doesn''t look a day older than 16. Of course she wouldn''t be my girlfriend."


    Takahiro turns to Kenji.


    "I am so sorry about that, miss."  He was worried that he made the other uncomfortable.


    "Sorry, pretty lady," Yuri tells Kenji as well.


    "I-it''s fine. Really. Don''t worry," Kenji says, feeling guilty himself. He rubbed his arm embarrassed and had unknowingly teared up slightly. Takahiro would set Yuri down. He was about to give Kenji a hug but right before he did, he realized that may make him feel uncomfortable, so he gave him the best head pat he could. It felt a little weird since he had to reach up to do it.Kenji was 4 inches taller than Takahiro after all.


    "Th-thank you..." Kenji mentions.


    "Kinuko. You aren''t bothering this young man, are you?" Kenji''s mother scolds exiting the apartment and walks over to them, looking up at Takahiro. "I am so sorry about my disrespectful...daughter."


    "No don''t worry, she ain''t bothering me," Takahiro says.


    "She was only supposed to take out the trash," the mother says sternly. Kenji would look down ashamed, "not be bothering some man she just met."


    "Hey really, it''s fine," Takahiro says and chuckles, "she''s a really nice young lady, I don''t mind talking to her."


    "Kinuko, let''s go inside," the mother scolds, ignoring what Takahiro said and grabbed Kenji''s arm roughly causing then boy to tear up in pain.


    "Hey, don''t you think you''re being a little too harsh with your daughter?" Takahiro asks noticing. Yuri hid behind her brother. Takahiro would put his hand on the mother''s trying to get her to loosen her tight grip on Kenji''s arm.


    "Sir, don''t tell me how to raise my daughter," the mother says, removing Takahiro''s arm the best she could, and dragging Kenji into their apartment, leaving Takahiro there. The man started to get worried.


    "Will pretty lady be ok?" Yuri asks.


    "I hope so," Takahiro says concerned and thinks to himself for a moment before kneeling by Yuri.


    "Hey Yuri," he says.


    "What?" She asks.


    "Do you think you would like to have a babysitter?"


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Meanwhile Kenji''s mother would scold him and tell him to go to his room.


    Kenji would close his door, sits down, then start to silently cry to himself. Hachiko who was still in the room goes over and cuddles up by his sobbing owner. If the dog could speak human languages, he''d try and comfort Kenji.


    "What''s wrong with me, Hachiko?" Kenji asks quietly causing the dog to tilt his head.


    "Never mind."


    The timid boy would pet his dog''s head afterwards. Eventually, Kenji opened up his closet and pulled out a guitar he had in there. It belonged to one of his cousins who gave it to him. Sitting on the bed, he played and sang a quiet peaceful tune. Sometimes he''d forget whatever was bothering him in the moment when he played guitar. It was comforting. Made him feel like his cousin was still next to him playing for him.


    Italics usually mean flashback.


    A little Kenji who was waddling around in the barn, he was drawn by the sound of a guitar.


    "Oh hey there, little guy," a young girl would say. She was in the barn by the horses, just playing a gentle tune. (After all this is at Kenji''s old home)


    "Hello," Kenji said to her and pointed to the guitar, "what that?"


    "Hmm?" The girl asked confused and looks at her guitar, "you mean my guitar?" This question resulted in Kenji nodding his little head. The girl would smile and gesture for the boy to sit by her.


    "This is my guitar, I use it to play music, wanna hear me play?" She asked. She normally never has an audience so she takes whatever chance she gets to play for someone.


    "Yes please!" The boy said very excited. The girl giggled and patted Kenji''s head. Then would play and sing a small tune. Kenji would listen intently at her playing. He was definitely interested. As soon as she finished Kenji gave the hugest smile.


    "Did you like that?" His cousin asked. Kenji nodded in response. He then reached to touch the guitar. The girl by him would giggle.


    "I''m guessing you want to play as well," she said. Kenji once again nods.


    "Well I think I have a small guitar in my room that you can use then. I''ll teach you all that I know...which isn''t that much actually ."


    The girl giggled and ran inside.


    Hachiko had now fell asleep to Kenji''s guitar playing. The cross dresser smiles and pets the doggie''s head. "Awww..." he squealed very softly.


    "Kinuko, come out of your room to eat!" Kenji''s mother shouts. Kenji would get up off the floor and head to the kitchen, on his way, he tried his best to make it look like he wasn''t crying. At least his parents wouldn''t be as mad at him for crying than if he wasn''t pretending to be a girl.


    "I''m here..." Kenji says and sits down at the table. At this point of time, his father was already home and at the table. The man didn''t even bother to look up at Kenji. Hadn''t did that for a while now. Almost like he wanted nothing to do with his son.


    "Hey dad..." Kenji says, at least the boy wanted to try and talk to his father however the adult chose to ignore the teen. "...sorry..."


    The rest of dinner was really quiet. Afterwards Kenji''s father would whisper something to his mother then head to his room.


    "Kinuko, since you''re a girl now, you can do the dishes," the mother would say and follow her husband.


    "Ok, mother," Kenji would say. It didn''t take long for him to clean the dishes. Once he finished, he went out on the balcony of the apartment once again.


    He''d lay his head on the cool metal railing. It felt nice to him.


    "*chuckle*. Is that even comfortable?" Takahiro''s voice asks. Kenji, of course, would yelp in surprise, and then fall down.


    "Are you ok?" Takahiro asks running over to the fallen child and helping him to his feet. Kenji looks down to the grown with embarrassment, then he''d mutter,


    "Yeah...I''m ok...sorry..."


    "Hey you don''t need to apologize for falling like that. You didn''t get hurt, did you? Do you feel sore anywhere?"


    Takahiro would grab Kenny''s hands and give a look of concern


    "N-No I''m fine," Kenji mutters. Takahiro lets go and sigh in relief.


    "That''s good, how''s your arm?"


    "My arm?"


    "Your mother grabbed your arm pretty rough, earlier, I want to make sure there''s no bruise there..."


    Kenji would flinch a tiny bit and pull his sleeve farther over his arm.There was a bruise there. But that''s probably because he was weak rather than his mother grabbing his arm.


    Takahiro gave another look of concern.


    "Does your mother do this often?" He asks.


    "I Umm," Kenji says, he clearly looked uncomfortable with the question. The older man sighs and decides to drop it for now.


    "Anyways, I wanted to ask you something," Takahiro says, "Umm."


    Takahiro realized he doesn''t know this kid''s last name. He overheard the first name from earlier.


    "Oh, Umm Nakamura," Kenji says softly, "Ke-Kinuko Nakamura."


    The boy paled up realizing he almost let his real name slip. Takahiro didn''t seem to notice though, as he didn''t mention that.


    "Takahiro Yoshida," Takahiro says and shakes Kenji''s hand, actually quiteenergetically. This made Kenji feel a little awkward though, so Takahiro stopped.


    "Anyways like I was saying, Nakamura, have you ever babysat before?" The blonde haired man asks.


    "Well I mean no..." Kenji says, "why do you ask?"


    "I was wondering if you''d be willing to babysit my little sister for me, it''s be a huge help if you''d like. You don''t have to if you don''t want to though."


    Kenji pondered for a moment. He''s never babysat before but he knew what babysitting was. Also perhaps it''s be good for him to be out of the apartment, and it''d be nice to have an excuse to not be in there...but suddenly he felt guilty for wanting to get away from the apartment. He''d cover his face ashamed of himself.


    "Naka-Chan, are you ok?!" Takahiro asks.


    "I''m sorry...I''m sorry...I just..." Kenji muttered, "I want to take the job but..."


    "...I''m sorry..." Kenji mentioned again.


    "What''re you sorry about?..." Taka asks, "if you''re unable to take the job, it''s fine. Are you worried your mother won''t let you?"


    "A little..."


    The teenager still felt guilty that when the job was mentioned, he wanted to take it to get away from his mother. Such a disrespectful child he was. He felt horrible for that. Granted he also figured his mom wouldn''t let him take the job anyways.


    "I can try and convince your mom to let you take the job if you''d like me to," Takahiro mentions.


    "Are you sure you can though...?" Kenji asks. Takahiro grins.


    "I''m considered pretty lucky in some aspects. Survived getting hit by a car before in an accident I shouldn''t have survived," Takahiro says laughing.


    "But getting hit by a car d-doesn''t sound lucky," Kenji says softly but then his voice squeaks, "I''m sorry..."


    "No no no, you''re right."


    The man would rub his neck awkwardly. "You''re right. That''s not actually lucky. But I mean. I can still try and convince your mom if you''d like me to."


    "I-I''d like that..." Kenji says tearing up.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Am I a bad child for wanting to get away from the apartment...?"


    "No, of course not, why would you think that?"


    Kenji didn''t believe what Takahiro said though. He just felt like a horrible child. Was he making a bad choice? He''d continue to wipe his tears when he suddenly felt something embrace him.


    "It''s ok," Takahiro says giving Kenji a small hug, "I promise you. You''re not a bad child."


    Takahiro patted the boys head. Well tried to. Hoping that this would comfort him. Hugs always helped himself after all. Kenji felt weird in the hug. Not a bad weird just. He''s not used to this kind of affection. He''d immediately pull away afterwards.


    "I Umm," Kenji says, "I should go back inside."


    "Yeah, it''s getting late," Takahiro replies and then wondered to himself if he made the other uncomfortable. He begged that he didn''t. "Sorry about that," he ended up saying.


    "I Umm. It''s fine really," Kenji says and walks back into his own apartment. Soon, he''d flop on his bed thinking to himself.


    Was this a good idea? No matter how much he thought, he couldn''t really pin point an answer.


    As he thought and thought more about it, one new question entered his head.


    Why did Takahiro choose him of all people?