I blush as Chihaya compliments me, feeling a warm fluttering sensation in my chest, like a butterfly made of fmes is circling my heart. “N-no, I’m not that special. I mean, I AM a girl now, so being praised is… kind of nice…” I say softly, and Chihaya’s grin widens, her eyes sparkling.

  “Ohhh, you like being praised, do you, Shi-mi-zu-chaaan?” she teases me, and I turn beetroot. “Mean!” I huff, folding my arms under my chest. She tickles the back of my neck, before straightening my ponytail. I can feel her slim, gentle fingers slowly run through my long bck hair, a dreamy cast to her face.

  “You have such exquisite hair, Akari… I’d love to give it a proper brushing for you, if you like?”

  I shyly nod, and she smiles, pulling me into a tender hug. “How’s your back doing? Still in pain?” she asks, and I nod slowly, rexing as she holds me. Her perfume smells so pleasant… Jasmine, vanil, and something else, a sort of… exotic, almost creamy scent. Patchouli? There’s an earthiness to it, too, almost reminiscent of pine or cedar.

  “Chihaya? What fragrance is that?” I ask. “It smells wonderful, but I can’t identify all of it. I picked up on the jasmine and vanil, but there’s something deeper, bringing the rest together…”

  She smiles and rubs her cheek against me. “Sandalwood, you were right about the other two. You have a good sense of smell, Akari!” she coos, and I feel my chest heat through again. Trying to distract myself from the beautiful girl’s proximity, I muse, “I don’t really know what scent I should use. I… never really got the opportunity before now, so…”

  Chihaya giggles softly. “I can help you with that! When we get our next day off, I’ll take you cosmetics shopping! With your monthly stipend, you should also think about getting some underthings. You shouldn’t rely on your volt texture for your underwear during day-to-day activities. During a Carnival is different, since not everyone wants to have all their clothes destroyed for good.”

  I nod, before gently disentangling myself from Chihaya’s arms. “I need some water. I have to take one of those pills Dr Elise gave me, and I get the feeling that you’d happily keep me here with you forever if we don’t get a move on!” The smirk the auburn Pandora gives me is almost irresistible, but I manage, somehow. We make our way out past the reception girls, and I wave at them. “Good evening!”

  “Good evening to you too, miss! We hope to see you again soon!” They chorus, and I snag a bottle of water on the way out, paying for it using my student I.D.

  Out in the fresh air, I pause under a street-mp, tipping one of the small blue pills out of the bottle, and downing it with a couple of swallows of refrigerated water, condensation running down the sides of the pstic bottle.

  “Um, hey… Aki- I mean, Akari… can I… talk to you?” A voice comes from behind me, and I spot Chihaya moving between me and the speaker. My Pandora replies, “After what you said, do you really think you have any right to ask that of her?” Her tone is cool, and I peer around her. There are two people, not one. One is Arthur Clipton, his face awkward, like he’s only here because he got dragged along for moral support. The speaker, her chin-length brown hair lit in a fuzzy halo, is Kaho Hiiragi.

  She’s wincing at Chihaya’s question. “n-no, I… I guess not…” I reach out and pce a hand on Chihaya’s elbow.

  “It’s okay, Chi-chan, let me talk to her.” Chihaya’s eyes widen, and a huge smile breaks across her face as I step up beside her. “Did you just call me ‘Chi-chan’? Oooh, you tease!” she giggles, before subsiding and letting me speak to the clearly-awkward duo.

  “Good evening, Hiiragi-san. Can I help you?” I say coolly. I don’t think she’s here to cause trouble, but after her comment on how my Baptism had somehow been ‘wrong’ for the gift it bestowed on me, I can’t help but want to see her squirm a little.

  “Um… Akari, please forgive me! I spoke without thinking and I said something very discourteous! I’m sorry!” she bows deeply, and I blink. That was… very quick. I thought she’d beat around the bush for a little while, but apparently not.

  She keeps her head bowed as she continues. “My comments were unwarranted and caused you undue distress. I didn’t mean to cause offense to you, but I did, regardless of my intentions. I know that I don’t have any right to ask for your forgiveness, but please!”

  She’s still bowing, and I start to feel bad. Kaho’s not a bad person, I can tell, but what she said had hurt. I hold up a hand. “I… forgive you, but I want to ask you to do something.”

  She straightens, eyes wide. “What is it? Tell me how I can make things right, and I’ll do it!”

  I take in a deep breath. “I want you to learn about what being transgender is. I want you to understand WHY what you said hurt me so badly. I want you to read, absorb, and understand why having my body match the way I should have been born after a lifetime in the wrong one makes me feel so RIGHT. And I want you to be kinder, better, and more compassionate to those around you. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you know others like me without being aware of it. Some of us prefer to be stealth. I didn’t get the choice on stealth, but I don’t really care about hiding who I am. I’m me, and no-one can take that from me.”

  Kaho’s eyes glimmer with the first dawning hints of understanding. She looks me up and down. “I… I don’t understand, you’re right. So, yes. I’ll do it, I’ll do as you ask, and I’ll be an ally for others! That’s the word, right?”

  I smile. “Yes. Allies are cis people who work to support and help those in the LGBTQ community who may need it. I want you to become a genuine ally. That’s all I ask.”

  Arthur clears his throat. “So… Kaho? Why did you need ME here? You managed on your own!”

  She hits him in the shoulder. “I told you, I was scared I’d do it again and wanted you to stop me from putting my foot in my big mouth again!”

  Wincing theatrically, Arthur rolls his eyes. “Ow! Hey, no need for violence, dy!”

  I stifle a giggle, and Chihaya takes my arm. “Well, this was pleasant, but it’s getting te, and Akari-chan hasn’t fully healed, so we’re going to go turn in for the night. Take care, you two!”

  I wave a little, allowing Chihaya to escort me back to our room, the medicine already working its way through my system as she smiles. “Oh, by the way, you’ve got a training camp coming up soon, and I happen to have gotten myself permission to participate! Well, less ‘got myself permission’ and more ‘threatened to knock everything off every desk in the academy until I got put on punishment detail and MADE to help out’! They folded pretty quickly, so I guess I won that round, yes?” She smiles like a satisfied cat, her light-grey eyes glinting in the moonlight.

  I giggle as Chihaya boasts of her ‘negotiation’ skills, as we climb the front steps to our dorm building, heading up to the second floor and room 318, where we prepare for bed. Chihaya hits the shower first, while I wait my turn, my back stiff from the wound Arnett dealt me. After I shower, Chihaya re-bandages my wound, her sure, gentle fingers working quickly over my back. I keep my eyes averted, avoiding looking at her lingerie-cd figure. She pnts a soft kiss on my cheek as she finishes.

  “Okay, done. Goodnight, Akari-chan!” she says softly, as I slip my pyjamas on, before ducking under my bedsheets. My Pandora closes the curtains, and I feel my eyes grow heavy, sleep creeping up on me, an emotional weight lifted with the re-establishment of my acquaintance with Kaho….

  My eyes snap open, and I sit up, reaching for the bottle of small blue tablets, gulping one down as I swing myself out of bed. Just because I’ve been injured, it doesn’t mean I can skip my morning exercise routine. I should take it a little easier until I’ve healed fully, though. Making my way to the bathroom door, I equip my volt texture, leaving my pyjamas neatly folded on my bed. A few minutes ter, I step out into the chill early-morning, taking a deep breath, stretching carefully. I spend a few minutes putting my body through a sedate Tai-chi kata, smooth movements focussed on rexing my muscles and rebuilding a foundation to work with, as I breathe in time with my forms, taking the time to perform each posture several times in a routine that my grandfather uses personally.

  From above, Chihaya’s voice calls down, “what’re you doing down there?” I look up, spotting her on a balcony I didn’t know we had, holding a stance, and call up, “Oh, good morning! I’m just practicing Tai-chi. Did I disturb you?”

  “Nope, I woke up a bit early today. Watch out, I’ll come down!” I blink, before taking a step back as Chihaya vaults over the balcony railing, and plummets down towards me.

  I shut my eyes in a wince, expecting to either hear Chihaya’s scream of pain, or a crunching noise. Instead, she giggles, “What, were you expecting to see my panties? It’s okay, I wear spats under my skirt!”

  I open my eyes in a surprised blink, and she asks, smiling, “wanna see?” she grips the hem of her uniform skirt, beginning to lift it, before I shake my head, covering my eyes. “N-no thank you, I believe you! Please stop!”

  Chihaya giggles, “Well, if you say so! Let me know if you change. Your. Mind!”

  I sigh, trying to keep my heart from exploding out of my chest. This girl is going to be the death of me…

  After Tai-chi, I begin some gentle ps of the dorm room, careful not to jolt my back. The wound I’d been dealt by Arnett’s attack feels itchy and tight. A good sign, it means I’m healing up. I find that I can move a little faster than I could as a boy, though I need to take three paces for every two boy-strides. My stamina is lower, but that can be rectified with time. Chihaya easily keeps pace with me, and I smile, enjoying the cool morning air and the stillness before the world begins turning.

  After the ps, I check my phone. “7:19… what time does the training simution centre open again?”

  Chihaya grins. “6:00 AM. There’s almost always a few Pandoras who want to practice or try and develop a new move. Wanna head there? I don’t mind doing some training with Gungnir. You pnning on swinging Odin some more?”

  I nod. “Yes. I can’t rely on having only a few Pandora-fied versions of the Shimizu-style sword arts, so I should really run through as much of it as I can when I have time. That, and grandfather will get angry if I show signs of neglecting my training.”

  The ginger-haired second-year smiles. “You must really love your grandfather. What’s he like?”

  I blush a little. “W-well, my mother was his daughter, and when I was born, he insisted that he be allowed to train me when I came of age. So, most of my childhood was taken up with kenjutsu. I even took part in a few tournaments. He can be stern, but he’s not unkind. He focuses on self-defence over offence, so a lot of the Shimizu-school techniques are based on redirecting or avoiding attacks. He’s looked after me ever since my… my parents died. He means the world to me, and I want to be the kind of girl that’ll make him proud. So I have to try even harder.”