One of the two things that have come out of the suspension is that all of Elise’s friends are praising her for finally giving Yuna a taste of her medicine. That’s fine and all but it bothers her that Yuna can push her buttons that easily. Elise doesn’t even want the praise either. It’s not like she wants the approval of people she barely tolerates now.
The other good thing is that Elise gets grounded so she has an excuse to cancel all of her plans for the week. It also gives her a reason to go to Seattle’s library. Her mom approves of this of course as it’s one of the places Elise used to go often. She’s been going less and less over the years but now she has all the time in the world to indulge in her hobby.
“When do you want me to pick you up?” her mom asks when she drops her off.
“A few hours. I don’t really care, just when you get done with your stuff I guess.”
Elise immediately power walks inside and into the section she always goes to. This is where she feels like she could be herself, a place where no one will ever find her or recognize her. Japanese Manga. It’s a hobby that nobody but Nat knows. It’s something she can’t ever publicly share seeing that everyone expects her to be the stereotypical cheerleader white girl. That isn’t who she is, just something she’s forced to be because of how she likes to look. In Japan, they call it Gyaru. Here it’s just your typical blonde hair boring girl. It’s a look she accidentally stumbled on and it somehow made her popular even though it was all unintentional.
Elise finds the newest volume of her favorite manga. Unexpectedly, she grabs the last copy available and then sits on one of the many open seats in the gigantic library. As soon as she opens the book all of her troubles disappear.
-
Yuna rubs the bruise that formed on her left cheek that was given to her yesterday. She has to admit, Elise can throw a punch. It’s raining today so she puts on her favorite black and white jacket over a crop top. Today’s some joggers and Van’s type of day. As always, she ties up her hair and puts her favorite hat on. With the addition of three black rings and the two helix earrings she takes off for school, her transformation to Yuele is complete.
Yuele twirls around and decides that something is missing. He puts foundation, and contour on her jawline and a bit of mascara to make him feel hot. The bruise still manages to show through a bit after all of it. There’s nobody to impress anyways, he’s just going to the library but Yuele wants to feel like the main character.
Getting a three-day suspension wasn’t what he was expecting as he never laid his hands on Elise unlike she did. It was the joke about the school shooting that got him. Nobody knows how to take a joke these days.
Grace calls him while he walks towards the library. “Hey listen, my sister is coming home for the summer. She wants to go to Pride, that cool? She’ll be coming with her girlfriend”
“Oh? I finally get to meet her. Yeah, of course.”
“Also that girl we met on Friday is asking if we’re going to any shows soon. She wants to come with, thoughts?”
Yuele silently laughs to himself, “I don’t care. Does she seem cool to you? I thought she was bland.”
“You had the same thought about me when we first met,” Grace reminds him. “She’s cute, c’mon. Elise doesn’t strike me as a person who’ll judge you, Yuele. Also, weren’t you flirting with her?”
“As a joke.” Yuele hasn’t told his best friend that he already knows Elise and that he hates her. It's better to keep that to himself for now. Grace will only try to make the two get along if she finds out.
“It’s out of character. I thought you stopped doing that.”
“Well sue me.”
Grace laughs. “I’ll invite her to the All Inspiration event.”
“She doesn’t strike me as a person who’ll do anything that breaks the law.”
“Have faith in people. The worst she’ll say is no. Anyways, I gotta go my class is about to start.”
“Later,” Yuele hangs up.
Yuele takes the escalator up to head over to the manga section. His favorite manga just released a new volume and has been looking forward to it all day. She’s already read it already as she reads it weekly through fan-made translations. Still, nothing beats the official release and the feel of the physical pages. Yuele arrives at the O section only to find the new volume is missing. Annoyed, he grabs the previously released volume just to reread it again.
His heart drops when he almost sits next to the person he’s been running into far too often lately, Elise. She doesn’t notice him as she’s too absorbed in the manga she’s reading. It’s the new volume Yuele was looking for.
He backs away and returns his book back to where it belongs before he runs to the bathroom.
What the hell is she doing here? And she’s reading One Piece too? Nah, this must be a joke. Elise would never be into shit like that. Fuck, why did I even panic?
Yuele slowly walks out of the bathroom and finds a spot to sit. It’s far enough to observe Elise and for her not to ever notice him. Yuele’s curiosity is getting the better of him.
Elise feels a shiver travel down her spine and it breaks her out of her spell. She looks around feeling that someone was looking at her but the area she's in is empty. She turns her head back to the pages.
None of the chapters she reads are new to her. She spends an hour every night reading these stories. It’s faster and more enjoyable than watching anime. The only time she does is to watch a scene from a manga that captivates her. Elise can’t even remember how many stories she’s read. She only pays attention to the ones she’s reading right now which is around 20 in total. A chapter is released every day for at least one of them so she always has something new to read.
There were a few times when she tried to share her interests with her friends but all of them brushed them off as a joke. She thought about joining the anime and manga club at school but she knows how they act. All of them are weirdos and it’ll be bad for her to be associated with them. Nat’s the only one she can talk to about it because they have been friends since they were able to talk.
Elise closes the book when she finishes it and gets up. She feels like she’s being watched but no one’s around. The manga book goes back to its place and Elise grabs another one of her favorites.
Yuele walks over to where Elise was to figure out what she grabbed next. It’s pretty easy to figure out with a quick glance at the cover she got as Elise was walking back to her seat and the only missing book from the shelves. It’s the first edition of Berserk.
Just who is she?
Yuele goes back to his seat, shaken as the image he’s built up of Elise is changing. Perhaps there’s more to her than he thought.
Elise comes home with the three manga volumes she’s been missing from her collection. She places them next to the others, completing the series, and never to be open ever again.
There are about 20-plus notifications on her phone all of which have been ignored until now. None of them are of any importance except for three. The first comes from Grace and an invitation to an underground event a month from now. The second is from the guy who stood her up on Friday. His excuse was that he had an emergency to take care of and wants to make it up to her by taking her out somewhere special. The third, and most exciting is a follow from Yuele on Instagram.
Elise hits the follow back button and stares at her phone expecting it to be approved right away.
It takes an hour for it to happen.
There are only twelve photos. Half of them are candid photos of him where he somehow manages to always look like a model. The other five are of random objects each accompanied by a paragraph of a caption. The most recent of Yuele’s naked body facing away from the camera. He lays on a bed with the sheets covering his ass. Elise notices he has long hair that flows over his shoulders.
Why is he so hot? Why can’t I get him out of my mind?
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Elise lays on her bed and holds her phone up towards the ceiling to stare at this photo. Its caption reads, “And just like that, I am just a person who is stuck between two identities. One is who I am, the other is who I am as well. I'm unable to choose.” Elise doesn’t understand it, but it reads like poetry to her. She loves it.
-
Yuele undresses himself and puts on some tights and shorts. He leaves the sports bra on and undoes his hair. The rings go back on his countertop and she puts on a choker. He sighs and leaves the room.
“You didn’t buy any books today, Yuna,” her mother opens up when she sits next to her in the living room.
“I didn’t find anything interesting.”
Yuna doesn’t look at her mom when she notices her turn her head. She rubs Yuna’s cheek firmly enough to cause her a tiny amount of paint. “You need to do a better job of covering this up. Think about what people would say.”
It’s not that Yuna doesn’t love her mom, it is that she doesn’t understand Yuna. It’s frustrating. The only time they talk is when she’s Yuna. Yuele gets ignored. Her therapist tells her that it isn’t her mother’s fault. She’s a product of being raised in an extremely conservative country and at a different time. At least her father is accepting of her even though he doesn’t understand it. It’s a small perk of living in good ol’ progressive Seattle.
“You need to stop getting into fights. What if you lose your scholarship? I won’t cover the rest either.”
“Hey, I didn’t fight.”
“You instigated it.”
“Whatever,” Yuna groans.
Her mother changes the TV channel to the news. “You have two months, don’t screw up.”
Yuna’s attention switches to her phone, ignoring and not bothering to answer her mom. Elise has requested Yuele to follow back. She almost hits the button but remembers that she’s trying to seduce her. It’s best to make her wait for a bit. Yuna cleans up her room to pass the time. Once an hour passes, she accepts the request.
She flops onto her bed and scrolls down Elise’s page. It’s everything she expected. Photos of her and her friends in poses, photos of her in the tourist traps of Seattle, and the typical selfies. The only thing that stands out is that none of them have captions. Still, every photo has likes in double digits and some cross three. Yuna catches the notification that Elise liked one of her photos but when she clicks on it, the like is gone. An accidental like with a panic unlike. It’s cute.
Yuna contemplates sending her a message.
-
Elise bites her bottom lip, embarrassed of accidentally liking the photo. The option of sending the first message is thrown out of the window now. It’ll just confirm to Yuele that yes, Elise is that easy. She takes one of her pillows and shoves it on her face so she’s able to scream without it being too loud.
-
Yuna writes, “I ran into you again. What are the chances lol? I didn’t know you were into anime. You don’t look the part.” then deletes it all when she realizes it’s stupid. It makes her seem like a stalker.
The option of getting close to Elise by being nicer as Yuna is out the window now. Yuele has to make the first move. She texts Grace if Elise said yes to the event. Grace sends a thumbs-up emoji immediately after. Two months is too long to see Elise as Yuele. It’s a miracle that it’s already happened twice since Friday, she doubts it’ll happen any time soon.
There’s no other option.
-
Elise stares at her home screen after she sees the notification that Yuele has just sent her a message. She’s too nervous to open it. It’s been a while since she felt this way; a year, no longer. What she feels now is a bit different after all she barely knows anything about Yuele. He likes robot music and likes to dress like the internet e-boys. That’s all she knows about him and tries to figure out why she finds him so attractive. She always thought she could only fall this hard after getting to know someone.
Elise didn’t want to admit it back then, but she was crushing hard the moment she saw Yuele.
It takes a while, but she finds the courage to read the message. “Can I apologize for the spilled coffee some other way? I didn’t mean to be a dick back then.”
Elise’s fingers move on their own, “Sure.” She drops her phone on her face when she hits send. It’s such a boring and uninteresting response.
Miraculously, Yuele responds right away. “Lol ok.”
-
Yuna curses at her weak response. She sends another, “I’m free Friday night and Saturday, you?” It’s a lie. Yuna will be stuck in her room all week. She’s read that guys shouldn’t be available all the time.
“I can do Friday night.”
-
Elise cheeks turn red as she realizes that it’s quickly becoming a date. She has no idea what to expect. “What do you have in mind?” she double texts.
“You’ll find out,” he responds with a winking emoji at the end.
“Okay :)”
-
Yuna sighs and scrambles her hair because she has no idea where to go. A cafe is out of the question, it’s too simple. Diner? No that’s too formal. Bowling? Her dad is out of town this week and she’ll have to go as Yuele. There’s no way her mom will give her money if that’s the case.. It has to be something cheap or free.
She panic calls Grace, “What’s up?”
“What’s something cheap or free that I can do as a date?”
“Huh?! With who!?”
Yuna's eyes widen and becomes too stunned to speak as her own words replay back in her head. “Just answer the question. It’s not for me.”
Grace sends a request to Facetime which Yuna agrees. “Bitch, don’t lie to me! Who?! Who’s this new Yuna I’m seeing?”
Yuna smiles and almost laughs. The cat’s out of the bag. Besides this isn’t something she should hide from Grace. She’s the only person who completely accepts her. She even goes the extra mile to use the proper name and pronounce it whenever Yuna switches Gender. It’s something Yuna’s father struggles with.
“Okay, but don’t laugh.”
“Promise.”
“Elise.”
Grace pulls the phone away from her. Part of it is shock and the other is excitement. This is the first time she’s seen Yuna show interest in someone in a long while. “Biiiiiitch. I knew it was weird when she told me you were flirting with her.”
Yuna was just fucking with Elise that night because she didn’t recognize her. If she tells Grace her true intentions she’s sure Grace will be able to convince her to stop. Elise was right about something. Yuna/Yuele and Grace are polar opposites. Grace is a shining angel, and Yuna/Yuele is a devil who enjoys people’s suffering.
“I ship it.” Grace adds.
“Just answer my question, please?”
“I don’t have one,” she laughs. “Back home we would always go to the tallest point in town at night or the forest’s campsite. That’s as free as we got.”
“Shit, should I take her there?”
“And do what? It’s bland. All we did was drink and talk. Besides, I bet Seattle has a bunch of stuff to do. Just google it.”
“You are no help.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Grace giggles and moves her phone to where Yuna can only see her eye. “What do you like about Elise? I’m curious.”
“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.”
“Oh, I’ve been there. Shit sucks when they don’t like you back. I got your back if it doesn’t work out, okay?”
Yuna subconsciously says, “What if she’s freaked out when she finds out I’m gender fluid? I’m still a girl. There’s no chance she’s gay or even bi.”
“You won’t know until you find out, no?”
Grace pulls her phone away and gives her friend a warm smile. Yuna has never told her but she knows why Yuna never tries to date. The thought of people rejecting her terrifies her too much.
“Okay, I’ll try.”
-
Elise is on a phone call with Nat. “So he asked you out but didn’t tell you where? That’s some serial killer vibes,” Nat laughs. “Well at least you know he’s interested. You have that going for you.”
“What if he bails?”
“Life goes on?”
“Not. Helping. Seriously, I don’t think I can take another one. Is there something wrong with me that scares guys away? Why even ask me out if you’re not going to show up?”
“Have you seen yourself? You’re hot. They probably just get too nervous to go through with it.”
“Yeah sure, maybe for the first three guys. But five? Five is too much. What’s with me that scares guys away.”
Nat unintentously laughs. “You’re cursed. Haunted. It’s the only explanation. Relax, I have a good feeling about this guy. It’ll go well.”
“It's better. Shit, what should I wear?”
Nat chooses to ignore that question. In front of her is last year’s yearbook and her laptop with Yuele’s Instagram pulled up. She had her suspicions when she first saw Yuele’s photo. Nat has run into him once a couple of months ago. It was in a cafe near Elise’s apartment. Nat only remembers because she found it extremely odd that he went to the woman’s restroom. Comparing Yuna’s yearbook and Yuele’s profile photo confirms it. They’re the same person. It’s crazy how different they look. Yuna wears little makeup, just enough to hide her blemishes and imperfections. Her hair isn’t too long, just a half foot past her shoulder. Nat wonders how she’s able to hide it so well when she wears that hat. She also notices her eyebrows are different; they’re worked on to change their shape. Her eyes are different, they’re natural and have the typical Japanese slimness.
Yuele is completely different and Nat accepts why Elise hasn’t recognized her yet. She’s curious how Yuna is able to change the shape of her jaw. It’s obviously through makeup but it’s so clean that it looks like there’s none. Yuele's eyes are a bit more sharper and intimidating. Nobody knows a lot about Yuna, the little that they do know is that she’s half Japanese. You can’t tell with Yuna, but it’s obvious with Yuele.
“Hey, you there?”
“I wouldn’t try too hard,” Nat answers. “But I wouldn’t dress too casually either.”
Nat wonders why Yule dresses like a guy. It’s even more perplexing that she asked Elise out on a date. Her best friend has never hinted that she was even a bit curious about the same sex. She wants to tell Elise what she just found out, but doesn’t. It’s curiosity first. It’s mean second. There isn’t a world where this ends well. Yuna is just probably doing it to fuck with Elise.
But what if it’s the odd chance that it’s genuine?
“Elise.”
“What?”
“Be careful, okay?”
“Always.”
-
Yuna dresses herself up as Yuele that night for no reason. He doesn’t want to admit that he’s actually excited for Friday. He does admit that he wants to find out more about Elise. Finding out she reads manga piqued his curiosity. This entire time he thought her only hobbies were shopping and gossiping. He’s never bothered to even get to know her. It turns out she just isn’t another plastic doll. Elise liked one of his favorite artists, Elvlvlie, She even reads the same manga he does.
Yuele realizes there’s Elise hides much more than she leads on.
It excites him.