“So, what are we doing today?” We're sitting out in the front of the dorm Saturday morning, the sun still bisected by the horizon while we all chat. For now, I'm happy with whatever. With no one else around to stare, I'm sitting in Jen's lap, and she's running her fingers through my hair, gently massaging my scalp.

It's only been like a week, but I really missed how wonderful this felt...

“Don't worry, we have a plan,” Lucy chuckles darkly, her fingers playing together like some evil genius. What is she thinking...? Then she flips back to normal like it never happened. Most of us go with it, but Ken can't suppress a chuckled snort. “Anyway, is everyone here? Is Vicca-san coming with us?”

The question is obviously directed at me. Leona still hasn't gotten close with anyone else, so anything related to her always ends up going through me.

“I don't know, let's see...” I respond slowly, pulling my mobile from my pocket. I proceed to stare at it in my hand for a few seconds. “That's right, I never got her number, did I?” With a sad sigh, I drag myself up from Jen's lap, away from her wonderful hands.

“I'll go ask her, be right back.” With a quick wave, I head over to the girl's dorm and ask the staff member for Leona's room number. She grimaces for some reason, before giving it to me anyway. So, she's all the way up on the fifth floor? I start to go, but the woman calls out and warns me to be careful, before I move on. Everyone is really... that afraid of her...

Since it's so far up, I take the lift. But when the doors open, of all people to see...

“Why, good morning Maka-chan.” It's Lucy's sister, Sanya Miki, looking at me with a complicated expression. I consider turning right around, but swallow down the thought and move forward. The doors close and the tiny box shudders and starts to move around the two of us.

“Good morning, Miki-san,” I return her greeting, trying to keep it neutral despite what she knows about my body. What does she think, that I'm a girl going to school as a guy?

“So... certainly some strange rumors going around.” She raises an eyebrow knowingly. She totally knows I didn't do what they said I did... Then she leans a little closer. “Unpadded, was it?”

I blush bright red, while she covers her mouth to keep from laughing. “Oh, I'm just teasing. How is Lucy? Are you getting along?”

“Y-yeah,” I fumble my recovery. “She's good.” Wait that came out wrong. “I-I mean, umm, Lucy's getting by. I think she's been having some trouble studying, but nothing too bad. We're about to go hang out.”

The lift dings. We're stopping at the third floor.

“Tell Lucy I said hi,” Miki calls as she steps off, not even leaving me time to respond. Then a few more girls enter, standing around me and chatting. It takes a few long seconds standing and staring at the floor to calm my racing heart after that encounter.

We work our way up the next couple floors, occupants changing again on each, and I need to remind myself to be patient, until I get off at the fifth floor, wiggling my way out of the crowd of taller women.

Right, that's why I avoid lifts....

I pull away from the other girls that got off on the floor with me and head to Leona's room. After a few loud knocks, I wait. With so many people living in close quarters, the doors and walls have pretty great sound insulation.

I have no idea if she's even in her room, awake or not, before the door swishes open.

Why is she naked?!

Her short hair is messy and she's rubbing one eye with a sleepy expression, wearing nothing but a pair of red panties.

“Morning, Seiko,” she says, moving aside to let me in. My burning face swishes back and forth to the handfuls of women in the hall who are definitely watching, before I rush through the doorway and pull it closed behind.

Leona wanders over to her dresser while speaking. “So, what is it?”

I don't know whether to avert my eyes or not, and wind up staring at her big, muscular back while she grabs a similarly red bra and turns back to me. I get another eyeful of her big boobs, before she pulls the bra on, leaning and stretching to get it closed behind her back.

Her bra looks so different from mine, and it even closes differently?

No, that's not what I should be thinking about right now! Yet, I can't help but stare as she pulls it away with one hand, cupping her breasts one at a time with her other, and settling them in place with practiced motions. Is that how girls with bigger breasts deal with them...?

I finally manage to shake my head. I can't think about stuff like that!

“Everyone is going to hang out, I wanted to know if you'll come. A-and also, can I get your number? So I... don't have to come to your room to ask you stuff like this...? I trail off meekly.

“Sure.” She taps her mobile screen, then extends the device, so I tap mine against hers, and they both chime.

“That's a nice sound,” she comments on my phone chime out of nowhere, “it's cute.”

“C-cute?”

Ignoring my embarrassed response, Leona says, “Yes, I'll come with you,” and continues getting dressed.

She pulls on a deep, maroon colored button down and a pair of black, high waisted skinny jeans, tucking the shirt in.

The way they hug her curves, but also look so thrown on and casual... Leona is just gorgeous in anything, isn't she? Meanwhile, I threw a black hoodie over my black t-shirt to hide my figure, with a pair of sloppy jeans with holes in the knees because I haven't outgrown them since the beginning of middle school.

“See anything you like?” Leona asks with an odd smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

“Yes- I mean no- I mean...” I bumble immediately, looking away when I realize I've been staring. I shouldn't, but... “I really like your shirt...” I admit.

I don't know why, but Leona looks surprised. Ugh, she thinks I'm weird now, doesn't she? I'm not interested in women's clothing! Why did I say that?

“I'll lend you one later.”

“Huh?”

“I think pink would be a better color on you.” This time, when I look up, her tiny smile actually does reach her eyes. “Come on.” She grabs a few more things, like a shoulder bag, and leads me back out of her room.

We draw even more burning gazes as we cross the dorm floor, and rather than the lift, we wind up going down all five flights of stairs to reach the ground floor, and leave the building.

Once we arrive at the front of the dorm, there are more people around, moving out in clusters. Our friends all stand to greet us. “Alright, time to go have fun!” Lucy gives an exaggerated cry and jabs her arm out, pointing at nothing in particular.

“Yes yes, fun fun,” the taller Amari patronizes her with a few pats on the head. That turns into the two of them making faces at each other as we join the other groups walking across campus in the direction of the transit terminal.

I'd expect this from Lucy, but Amari's pretty energetic today, isn't she?

When I remember, I wave a hand for attention. “Oh yeah, Lucy-chan, I met Miki-san on my way. She said to say hi.”

“Ah, I'll have to talk to her later,” Lucy responds while her and Amari continue to poke fun at each other.

“So, are you going to tell us where we're going now?” Jen eventually speaks up, since Lucy never got around to that part.

Showing a big grin, she responds, “Jostole.”

“Hm? Why Jostole?” That's a neighboring town, the better part of an hour away by shuttle, since it swings past the mall first, which is mostly in the other direction.

Once more, we hop onto a packed shuttle shortly after arriving at the terminal, only for the whole thing to immediately empty, leaving our group alone once more. Except... Is that Gon?

Unexpectedly, Trace Gon, who I hardly ever see despite him sitting directly behind me in class, is the only other person on the shuttle. He's sitting all the way in one corner, head buried in a book. He doesn't even seem to notice us, so I eventually turn back to the others.

“So, what are we doing in Jostole?” I ask as we all lounge on the way.

“It's our hometown,” Amari shows a dazzling smile. “There's a ton of fun stuff to do there. We're going to show you all around.”

“That sounds nice.”

When we arrive, that's exactly what they do. It's not a huge town, but there's a theater, a small mall with a clothing store, some scattered restaurants... After wandering a bit, I notice the shine in Leona's eyes when we pass the theater, and recommend we watch something.

Everyone agrees easily. When we head in, I point out the new movie they have advertised that just came out, and everyone jumps at the suggestion. Just looking around, it's clear no one wanted to be the one to decide. I narrow my eyes at them, but they try playing it off, so I relent.

The movie ends up being some over the top action movie where the villain ends up dying at the end by having a microwave gun explode the eyes out of his head. In... unnecessarily gory detail.

It's... huh.

“Seiko...” Leona murmurs on our way out. I can only offer her an awkward smile. “You pick weird movies...”

They all pile on agreements. When I fix them with my best unamused look, they turn away, pretending they didn't add to the decision at all.

The fake tension breaks when we all start laughing. At least it wasn't that bad a movie. Saying as much, we put the theater behind us as lunch time approaches.

“Alright, time to show you all the best part of Jostole.” Amari can barely keep her excitement in check while we're heading down the sidewalk, nice little buildings lining both sides of the city center. Semi-modern in appearance, at least compared to normal towns. Thinking back, Meridan Central was like whole different world...

“It's weird, coming back now that we've moved away.” Lucy's comment draws me from my thoughts, her words holding an unexpected awkwardness. Assent comes quietly from Amari, and even Ken and Jen look like they get it. I try picturing walking back through my hometown, and I can barely do it. It's only been a month, and so much has changed...

It's quiet for a few blocks, until we arrive at our destination, and the group's mood instantly shifts when we all look up.

“Uhh, 'Cosplay Costume Cafe Cosplay?'” Jen reads off the sign.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

“Aren't there like... one too many 'cosplays' in there?” Ken gawks.

Both of the veteran cosplayers blow off our concerns entirely. “Come on, inside, inside,” they keep calling, drawing us all in through the front doors, decorated with these incredibly cute pink bunny stickers.

As soon as we enter, there's a woman standing near the door. “Ah, Jann-chan, Miki-chan, it's so nice to see you again!” She's dressed in a surprisingly revealing red outfit with big pink rabbit ears over her chestnut hair. Even though she's a good deal older than us, the woman looks beautiful, leveling the first two members of our group with a big, beaming smile.

“We're back, Flora-san,” they both respond together.

“So, who do we have here? New friends from high school?”

“Yeah. We're hanging out, we wanted to show them around town.”

“Well, you came to the right place, come on.” Once she has us swipe our mobiles for the entrance fee, Flora waves us past the entrance and we follow in a pack behind her. “Have you explained our deal here?” she asks over her shoulder, and the girls give knowing smiles while shaking their heads.

“Alright then,” Flora stops us in the center of a pretty expansive room, separated into a couple areas. “We do all things cosplay here,” Flora starts. “To your right, a cafe. With the servers in cosplay, of course.” I follow her gesture, over to a slightly elevated section with a woman in a fluffy pink magical girl dress serving a table of young girls.

“Now on your left, you can see we have racks of costumes to try on, pose, and take pictures, whatever. Enjoy yourselves! We just ask that you leave the costumes there, and don't bring them into the cafe area. Don't want an accidental stain, I'm sure you understand. Of course, you can purchase any costumes you like, we have a few new ones every week.”

Once done with the introductory spiel, she gives us all a wave and returns to the entrance to greet the next customer.

So... it's a place we can get dressed up, and a cafe where we can be served by people dressed up. Huh...

“Alright guys, which first?” Amari turns and asks, but we all can't help smirking. She's already shuffling slightly toward the cosplay side even as she asks us what to do. We all go along with it, heading across the wide open floor to where there are a number of standing racks, with all sorts of costumes and accessories lined up.

There are also a couple extremely oversized mirrors set in the pleasantly off-white walls, big enough for our entire group to stand in front of and fit in the shot. Between the mirrors, there are doors into changing rooms for men and women.

Amari runs right up to the racks of costumes, poring over one section in particular and squealing about certain characters or certain shows. If she's been coming here since she was younger, I'm assuming those are the new ones since she was here last?

While I'm watching Lucy wander off in another direction, Jen grabs my sleeve. “Come on, Sei,” she says and pulls me over to another rack, leaving Ken and Leona behind. I glance back, and surprisingly, the pair share somewhat amused looks.

“Here, these are marked for your size...” Jen intones while looking across the sizing marked above the racks, and stopping us at the right one. “What kind of outfit would you like?” she asks, starting to scour through them.

“W-well, I don't know...” I scratch my cheek, and start looking over the clothes until one sticks out at me. I think it's... vaguely familiar from something I watched before. I pull it off the rack to look it over. It's mostly white. Undershirt, blazer, and something like slacks, though the material feels soft and swishy.

Overall, the style's not that different from our school uniforms, but there's no tie, and it has these bright red detailing lines down the sleeves, and a pointy, popped collar on the jacket. “Go for it, see how it fits,” Jen encourages me, nudging me toward the changing rooms. But...

When she catches me hesitate, she leans in closer. “Stick with the women's room, in case anyone sees you,” she advises, and pushes me that way. She says that, but is it really alright? We are the only ones in the cosplay section right now, so I guess it's not so bad...?

Trying not to think about it too much, I carry the costume into the back. There are some cubbies to use, so I pull off my clothes and stuff them into one of the baskets. I'm in my bra and boxers when the door opens again, Amari and Lucy coming through.

I freeze up when their eyes land on me, shifting to hide behind the costume I haven't changed into yet.

“Uh, Sei-kun?” Lucy speaks up first.

“I-I'm sorry, I should have used the other changing room, I'll just-”

“No no, it's fine!” she puts her hands up to stop me. “As if you could go in there! What do you think a man would do if he saw you like that?” I initially flinch at the thought, but wait...

“Umm, nothing? I change in front of Ken every day,” I respond once I've thought about it.

“Geh.” They both cringe, before Lucy crosses her arms. “Ken doesn't count. He's a good guy, and like, your best friend ever. There are tons of terrible people out there you have to be a lot more worried about. For instance, what if it was that one guy? Bolin Vance?”

Me alone, with Vance, naked. As a girl.

It's like a bat to the head. Before I can push the feeling down, the box bursts and my response is instant. My arms come up around myself, whole body shaking uncontrollably.

The way he touched me.

“S-Sei-kun?!”

No.

No! That was a long time ago!

I square my shoulders. “I'm fine,” I growl through my gritted teeth, rubbing away the tears from my cheeks. I slam the box shut and chain it closed. I'm not thinking about that again.

“You don't... look fine...” Amari murmurs.

I shake my head. Shove it deep down into the dark where it belongs. Those things will never happen again.

“Don't worry, it's fine,” I tell them so they'll stop worrying. I slip into the costume and head back out of the changing room.

“Sei, you look good!” Jen immediately starts complimenting me, before stopping and asking, “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Just thought about something unpleasant, I'll get over it.”

“If you say so...” she responds doubtfully. “If you want to talk about it, just let me know.” She gives me a gentle nudge with her elbow, then moves on. “Well then, let's focus on something fun. Let's take some pictures!” she quickly recovers her cheer and drags me over to a big mirror. I gratefully roll with it.

I... look kind of odd. The costume is a tad large on me, so it's a bit baggy. It's most noticeable in the pants, which are definitely too long because I'm so short. The rest of isn't too bad, though it's not fit well enough to show my curves or anything.

The quality is good enough that if you told me this was an actual school uniform, I'd believe it. It just doesn't have that... weird, costume look to it. It's like something you could wear in everyday life without standing out that much.

With all that said, due to the fit, it still doesn't look that good on me. I make myself smile for the picture, but overall, the outfit isn't great, and I don't feel good at all. Once she's done, I turn my thoughts to looking for something else to avoid brooding. Soon enough, I find something else, and go change into that.

I shuffle through a handful of poorly fitting outfits, always with too-long pants, but even if none of them are quite right, it's still surprisingly fun, and after a few, my mood lifts again. One of my favorite parts is seeing everyone else get dressed up. Amari as a magical girl, Lucy as a knight, Jen as a goth skater. Ken in this red tropical shirt with a big golden chain around his neck that's vaguely reminiscent of some show I remember.

Even Leona, after some hesitation, tries on a couple outfits, and seems to be enjoying herself. Amari takes pictures of everyone, and even I take a picture of myself when I find one I actually like. It's this costume with some leather pieces and a green half-cloak from some popular show virtually everyone watched when we were younger. It's a tighter fit than the others, so it doesn't look too bad on me, and the pants mostly fit too.

By the time we're all getting back into our own clothes, I'm not as bothered by changing with the girls anymore. I just focus on myself, and it's not that bad. On our way back out of the changing room, I check my mobile, looking at the picture I took. I might actually look a bit cool in it, for once.

When was the last time I took a picture of myself anyway? Frowning as I wonder, I tap to pull up pictures with me in them, and the last time is a family picture sent from my parents on my birthday. That was almost a month ago already, wasn't it? Before that, a family picture sent from my parents over the holidays. And before that... a family picture sent from my parents on my last birthday.

Do I... really not have any normal pictures of myself? I continue to scroll, until I find one picture. It's me and Ken when we were really little kids. We're all scratched up, and I look like I was crying with red, puffy eyes, and I'm kind of scowling. Ken has this big grin on his face. This was... what, when we first met, I guess? That was in kindergarten, when I was only five. When I was being bullied and he jumped in to save me.

Just judging by the way the picture is taken, it looks like he grabbed my mobile and took the picture of us to remember.

“What'cha looking at?” Lucy chirps as she leans on my shoulder.

“An old picture.”

“Is that from when we met?” Ken asks, leaning over me from behind as we walk.

Soon enough, everyone's gathered up around to look at the mobile screen, before we all break apart again to take our seats in the cafe. We all order drinks, from the waitress dressed like sexy witch. I decide on some lemonade.

Then Ken asks, “Why were you looking at such an old photo?”

“A-ah,” I mumble awkwardly. “I was wondering when the last time was that I took a picture of myself. Do you guys take pictures that often?”

“Only in cosplay.”

“Yeah.”

“Yup.”

“Sometimes?”

“No.”

With all their varied responses, Ken shrugs, but Leona is the only one who says she doesn't. I look around the table, and Lucy is the first to speak. “I mean, maybe a few a day, whenever I think the lighting is good, or if I like my outfit.”

Jen nods a few times. “Yeah, really nice outfits are picture-worthy,” she agrees.

“Ehh, normal clothes are so boring,” Amari complains, lying her chin on the edge of the table. With those three out of the way, the attention at the table turns.

“It's not like I just take pictures of clothes,” Ken laughs with his goofy grin. “More like when I'm in a good mood or I just did something cool, you know?” Huh, such a different reason...

Then there's Leona. Not meeting our gazes, she leans back in her chair with her arms crossed, and shrugs. “I don't really like how I look.”

“Huh?!” Every one of us is staring at her, which just makes her withdraw even more.

“S-sorry, that's just a big surprise,” Jen tries to explain. “You're like, the most gorgeous girl in class, even Runa doesn't hold a candle to you.”

“Neither of you are even in our class,” Ken jokes, elbowing her in the side.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” she retorts, before going on. “I'd love to have a body like you, for real.”

“Then let's trade,” Leona sighs, with just enough venom that everyone winces.

“Mm...” Lucy slowly starts, before asking, “So, what do you not like?” Leona looks around the table, before shaking her head.

“I'd rather not talk about it.”

“That's fine,” Lucy backs off immediately. “Not if you're uncomfortable. But, uhh, we're all friends here, right?” she goes on with a hint of nerves leaking through. “Feel free to talk to us whenever.”

Leona's expression softens, just a little, and she nods.

From there, we all settle into chatting as our drinks arrive. Ken and I get a sandwiches, Leona gets this foreign meatball dish, and the other girls get fruit parfaits. My sandwich is good, but the girls really look like they're enjoying their parfaits...

Why don't I get one? I always felt too weird and self-conscious about eating food like that before, and I get this awful pit in my stomach when I think of parfaits in particular... But now there's no reason to worry, right? I'd look just like them anyway.

Wait, isn't that a bad thing? I'm not supposed to look like them... But parfaits look so tasty... And no one would make fun of me...

Eventually, I just put the thought aside. My sandwich is pretty filling. It's... enough. I don't need more.

It's enough.

We chat over our food and drinks for a while. While the girls are bantering and poking fun at Ken, I notice someone at another table. Trace Gon? He came here too? As always, he's reading something, sipping at his drink once in a while. He... is peering at the waitresses very closely when they go past though...

Well, he is a guy, so whatever. I ignore him and eat, and just enjoy being with my friends now.

Once we all finish up and chat for a little while longer, it's time to head back. We leave the cafe with smiles and waves to the staff, and Flora sees us all off happily, with a reminder to stop in again sometime, of course.

“We should totally go again next weekend,” Jen says on the shuttle ride back.

“Agreed,” Ken chips in with a few strong nods, before he cracks a grin. “So many pretty girls, if only I could find a girlfriend.”

“Ugh, same,” Jen throws her head back and groans. There's a pause, then, “Hey! You know what I mean! Didn't we have this conversation already?!”

Everyone laughs for a bit, before Jen spits out, “Seriously, why not go for Runa-chan? You're pretty hot, I think you could manage it.”

Ken fakes a gasp. “Was that a compliment?” And receives an elbow for his trouble. Still laughing, he returns fire. “What about you and Zeke-san?”

“Zeke-san?” she questions, like she's considering it, and my heart drops.

“N-not Zeke-san!” I can't help but speak up, pulling all eyes on me. That draws questioning looks from everyone, and all I can really say is, “You should stay away from him. He's a jerk now...” I stare down at my knees, not wanting to look at them. Or explain what happened the other day. That feeling...

Clenching my jaw, I shove it down.

Jen says, “That's... concerning. I'll take your word for it, Sei.”

My outburst puts a damper on things for a bit, but we manage to lift the mood again by the time we get back to school. It's only a half hour ride back, since we don't need to swing all the way past the mall this time.