Part 1

Meyoshi looked from the woman to the dirt pitted boy; she didn’t need any time to understand.

“Your son probably takes his habit of breaking into homes from you.”

“Yet you take it upon yourself to abuse not just your daughter, but my son.” her voice sounded frighteningly restrained.

“Tch. Teach your son some damned manners if you don’t want others doing it for you!” She tried yanking back her belt with no success; the belt was wrapped around the ladle tighter than she initially thought.

“I will see you in prison for everything you have done.”

“Coming from the people who broke into my home? I don’t think so,” she said, tugging at the belt again. “And who the hell brings a damn ladle with them wherever they go?!”

“Years ago, a certain person convinced me to start. You should be thankful, for your sake.”

“Whatever! Get out of my house, all of you!”

“Step away from those children—”

“I said out!”

“—or I make you step away.”

The woman in front of her spoke with that same restricted tone, it was clear she was having difficulty. Meyoshi stammered back, about to respond before a wizened voice croaked out.

“My son gave me a spare key after you changed the lock last time. We are not ‘breaking’ into your home.”

Her confused stammers turned into anger. Her brows furrowed as her eyes focused on the woman in front of her. “Wretched hag! This is all your and his doing!”

“Not entirely,” spoke the man supporting the elderly woman. “We initially came here to investigate a serious injury reported to be at the house of one of my students. Imagine our surprise when we entered said home to find a mother in the middle of brutalizing two kids.”

She was about to offer a rebuttal, but was cut off. “And here you’re usually so composed when accused. The act finally breaks down when you get caught, is that it?”

The woman let go of the belt still in her hand, stepping away slowly before stammering through ill-sounding laughs.

“H-How very right you are Mr. Teacher, I’ve nothing to worry about. This is discipline for one child, and punishment for another. I have nothing to hide, especially seeing as how two of the three of you already have a bias against me.”

“Then you will speak to me.” said Hikari, unraveling the belt and tossing it to one side. At the same time, she knelt down to check on the children who still held their position on the floor.

“Oh they’re fine, a little discipline won’t kill them.”

Hikari ignored her words as she looked a frightened Yuya in the eye. Her pupils were wide, and was shaking so badly one might’ve thought it was the middle of winter.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t make it sooner…” she whispered. “But everything is going to be okay now. Can you stand?”

She tried touching the young girl only for her to recoil in shock. She was surprised, she didn’t think it was possible for a body so small to move so fast on its own. Even so, the young girl understood her words, soundlessly removing herself from atop Yuuko’s body. Slowly, she picked the boy up and dragged him to one side. She froze, however, when a voice called out to her.

“And just where do you think you’re going!?”

“I do believe I told you,” said Hikari, standing up, “that you will speak to me.”

“I have nothing to say to a woman who demeans herself by carrying around a kitchen utensil!”

Judging by her tone, the woman had regained her confidence, which was more than fine with Hikari.

“Before the police show up, I want answers from you.”

“I thought I told you—”

“Look around you. There is no sort of video camera, your neighbors are gone, and as you said it yourself, two of the three people here have a bias against you for incidents in the past. To that extent, we might as well be having a one on one conversation.”

The woman looked around at her situation. An old woman and elementary school teacher blocked the entrance to the inside of the house, two brats off to the side were in the way of the fence’s door, and an oddly attractive woman as strong as herself stood in front of her.

It wasn’t ideal, but she’s been in worse situations.

“Fine. What is it that’s oh so important for you to ask?”

“I want to know why you abused your daughter for so long. Physically and mentally.”

She let out an unamused laugh. “That kid’s yours alright. He asked me the same thing.”

“Because he cares. My son is one of the most important things in my life, I would not even dream of intentionally hurting him. To that end, I can not imagine a mother injuring her child. Yet you, a mother, openly boast about hurting your only daughter.”

“I’ll tell you the exact same thing I told him,” she said, grinding her teeth together. “Pain is an inevitability of life. It’s bound to happen, and as such, it’s important to know how to deal with it. Especially considering his path in life. He will join history’s greatest characters, the ones who’ve changed the world.”

Hikari’s eye twitched as the woman continued.

“Pain is a measure of greatness— only the ones who’ve suffered in pursuit of their ideals end up changing anything!”

“You believe…. the endurance of pain measures a person’s worth?”

“Of course it does! Can you name a single monumental figure that hasn’t suffered? That’s why I don’t care if he hates me now, one day, he’ll thank me for everything I’ve done!”

“I don’t believe it.” she whispered.

“Sorry, couldn’t hear you. Did you mumble something?”

“To follow such actions, only the savage abide by it. Yet to think that someone like you exists, and that is your only reason? I refuse to believe it.” Her restrained tone cracked more and more with every word she said.

“Well, you asked for the truth. It’s not my fault you don’t believe me.”

“You are absolutely right. I demanded the whole truth, not a portion of it.”

She smiled. “And what makes you think there’s more?”

“You call your daughter ‘he’. With that logic alone, there’s no reason to call her male. I want to know what you truly think of her.” she gripped the ladle in her hand so hard, she could feel the edges cutting into her hand. “Tell me why you despise your daughter.”

Whereas Meyoshi had been boisterous in her speech, upon hearing Hikari’s words her demeanor began changing.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“No I would not— because you are no mother! In calling Yuya a mistake, you have besmirched, tainted, and defiled what it means to be a parent, a mother to their child!” What little restraint she had completely disappeared. Hikari lunged forward, shoving the woman against the wall and pinning her with her forearm. It was there she felt someone gently tugging her back.

“Miss Asahino, she’s not worth it.” said Hiroka, placing his hand on her shoulder. “She’s got nowhere left to run; let her go and listen very carefully to her words.”

She understood the meaning of his words, but letting her go was easier said than done.

“I never…….asked to be a mother…”

Biting her tongue to regain some sense of control, Hikari reluctantly let the woman go as she fell to the ground, continuing her words.

“You want to know……why I call her a boy?…because mistakes………can have a purpose too…”

“Children are a gift. In what way are they a mistake? In what world are they ever at fault?”

“The modern one,” she said, standing and rubbing her neck. “This is exactly what I mean by Yuya leading by example. The modern world doesn't always think children are great, the modern world has ideas people like you aren’t ready for.”

“It’s not Yuya’s fault you and your husband weren’t ready for a child.”

Hikari turned around, surprised by the man’s words. “Eikyo, you only ever mentioned that she called her a mistake.”

He shook his head. “I mentioned it to your son. Back when I first began looking into Yuya’s circumstances, this woman lost her temper and told me something along those lines. She never explained, but regardless, it’s the reason for her anger.”

“One of the reasons,” Meyoshi said. “It was a spur of the moment decision that led to me being with Kowashi. By the time I realized I was pregnant, it was nearly time to have the child; not that it stopped me from trying to get rid of it of course. Yet, culture here dictates that marriage is practically required once a child is on the way.”

The woman talked to the ground as she recalled her story.

“You should’ve seen the way Kowashi begged over and over again. He was on his hands and knees asking to keep the child; I was going to say no, but swayed, and decided too late.”

“Why not return home? Why not seek help from your family instead?”

“Hah. What do you think led to me coming here and having that ‘spur of the moment’ decision? I considered it, but here I’d have someone to work and put a roof over my head; I could live my life in relative peace with the exception of a mistake constantly hanging over my head.”

“Even so, it was not Yuya’s fault.”

“And so I’m the one that has to suffer!? I tried to fix that problem! It’s cruel how I needed to take care of something I never wanted in the first place!” she shouted to Hikari. “But then— then I learned to make the best of what I have.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning I would mold Yuya into the change this country, every country that’s behind on the times! You should’ve seen how pathetic Kowashi looked, begging like a damn dog every day for something I COULD HAVE FIXED!”

She was looking both of them in the eyes now.

“As luck would have it, Yuya was born female, but that didn’t matter. I’d teach her all I knew about the outside world, and she’d be at the forefront of showing people they don’t need to be bound to tradition, to what their elders tell them, to what people say is right or wrong. To do things your own way, that’s what I’d teach her. And if people ended up realizing they’re more comfortable doing things their way, inspired by Yuya’s change from girl to boy, all the more power to them.”

The two were in a stunned silence, Hikari opened her mouth but an entirely different voice sounded from behind her.

“I offered to take care of her Meyoshi. You know this.”

“And let you poison her mind the way you poisoned your son’s?! Yuya needs me, not some lady who raised a dog and doesn't understand when to mind her own damn business!”

“All those experiences,” said Hikari, “and you never got past the mindset that abuse would be the answer to the change you so desperately sought.”

“So what if she gets hit once or twice?! It builds him up! And I do not want to hear that from a woman who demeans herself!!”

She gave her the faintest smile. “Never once have I thought of it as demeaning.”

“Enough! This conversation is over! Yuya!” she snapped at the girl. “Get inside and call the police! Now!”

“Yuya,” said Hikari, turning to face her. “It’s okay. You don’t need to obey her anymore. From now on, you’ll be safe living with your grandmother.”

“Yuya! Obey your mother or so help me—!”

“—we let Yuya decide.” Hikari directed at Meyoshi. “From this point forward, we let her decide what she wants.”

The sudden suggestion caught them all off guard. The noise was enough to rouse Yuuko from his dazed state, though no one paid much heed aside from Yuya, who helped him up. Rubbing the dizziness away from his eyes, even he could feel how heavy the air became.

“………fine.” Meyoshi smiled. “Yuya, tell the woman what it is you want. Tell her about how much you want to stay with me and change people.”

“I-I—”

“Yuya, you don’t need too! You can stay with your grandmother since—”

“Shut up! You are not in your classroom!”

“Meyoshi, that’s enough! Cease this at once!”

“I’ve just about had it with you, filthy hypocrite! Stay OUT of Yuya’s life!”

“I-Grandma I—”

“Shhhh, Yuya, just look at me” said Hikari, crouching.

It seemed almost supernatural that the air around them became quiet, almost peaceful in a way. For the briefest moment, the air was still, and five pairs of eyes were on the girl— yet only one of them spoke.

“Tell me Yuya, do you want to obey your mother? Do you want to keep living here? Do you want to be a boy?”

“I-I want—”

She knew what she wanted, she just needed to say it.

She looked around, all these people came because they wanted the same thing the boy next to her wanted. Does that make them idiots too?

Does that make herself one?

She looked at him, noting the serious look on his face. Did he have that before? Even so, covered in dirt and sweat, he held his finger by his side and pointed it up.

She was nervous. The type of nervousness from knowing one can do something, and the only thing left to do is accomplish it.

“I…….I don’t want this…!” she said, gripping the seams of her clothes. “I don’t want to be here anymore, I don’t want to get hit anymore!”

Look up.

And with tears streaming down her cheeks, she did.

“I don’t want to be a boy! I want to be with grandma!”

She directed her last words towards the woman in question, who held her hand over her mouth to quiet her tearful whimpers.

“Ara, is that so? I’m glad I brought this then.”

Hikari spoke with a delicate voice, but it wasn’t fragile. It was full of comfort, warmth, peace, and protection. She huddled beside the crying girl, gently running her hands through her hair like before as she untied something from the seams of her shirt.

“As I understand, my son was looking for a ribbon the day you came over. Green was never my color, but on you it’ll look absolutely gorgeous— it even matches your eyes. Yuya, when you’re older, you’ll definitely be the prettiest girl around.”

Yuya touched the side of her hair, where the pin had been ripped out— she couldn’t feel the prickles anymore. Now there was a smoother, flatter feeling— hair taken from the top of her head and held together by a ribbon.

Grabbing an empty bottle from the dirt, she wiped off the grime and looked at her reflection. The clean teal green fabric stood out from the dirt covering her face, and looking at it made her look at her own eyes. She stroked the excess fabric draping over her shoulder in disbelief.

“I couldn’t see your beauty through your fear and did something irresponsible. For that, I hope one day you can forgive me.”

“Miss Asahino…”

“YOU BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!!”

A sudden crackling noise came from behind her. She’d lowered her guard too much, and her eyes went wide as the woman charging towards her held up a blue rectangle— pale blue light emanating from its top. She only had time to hold Yuya close before bracing herself, but her mind and her body moved at different speeds.

Her body was still registering the sudden threat, bracing itself, but her mind focused on the woman’s sudden collapse. As she came charging forward, the skin and muscles on her face contorted horribly to the side; she could hear the sound of teeth grinding against each other, caused by a fist slamming square against her cheek.

In less than a second she collapsed, her head harshly bouncing as it crashed into the dirt. For a moment Hikari feared the worst, but after a few seconds she stirred, unable to get up, but definitely breathing.

“I probably just lost my job cause of that,” Hiroka exclaimed, holding his fist. “But I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant stopping her.”

The woman slurred a response that became overshadowed by Hiroka’s exclamations. “Gaaah that hurt! That is nothing like in the movies, how do people do that?!”

“Have…have you never been in a fight?”

“No, that was my first time ever hitting someone actu…are you laughing?!”

“I’m not.” Hikari said with an unconvincing smile.

His rebuttal was interrupted by Yuya, who’s balled fists were covering her eyes.

“Yuya… I’m really sorry but I had to do something or—”

“Th-tha-a-a-ank yo-ou-ou….”

She sobbed each syllable of those words. Each of the four people around her had seen her in a different situation, a different mood. But none of them had ever seen Yuya cry.

Her tears collected at the balls of her fist before spilling onto her now reddening cheeks. Her voice was hoarse, but pitched, as if it didn’t quite know how to react to her new expression.

“S-S-Sen-sei, th-thank you fo-r always he-helping me at scho-o-ol!”

“Yuya, that’s..”

“I’m s-so-rry that I a-always made tr-o-uble for yo-o-u! Thank you f-for ca-ring about me!”

She opened her hands as she turned to address the next person. Hikari saw clearly the reddened veins forming around her pristine teal eyes. They seemed to jump out, afraid that if they did not show themselves now, they may never again have the chance.

“Mi-iss Asahi-hino, th-thank you for the r-ribbon, thank y-ou for helping me-e-e, thank you so mu-uch!”

She was about to offer her own words, but the girl had not yet finished.

“I’m-m sorry that I-I broke the nice p-i-in you gave me. I’m s-o sorry for b-eing mea-n to…… I…I am so sor-ry! I am sorry!”

She changed her mind, unspeaking, and no one noticed the shift in her jaw as she bit the inside of her lip to stop herself from joining the little girl.

Still next to the fence door, Yuya stopped herself from walking towards her grandmother, and it seemed her feelings reached her, as she stood perfectly still, ready to receive her feelings.

“Thank y-ou grand-ma-ma, tha-nk y-ou for everythi-ng, thank you th-at you ca-a-are about me! I’m so so so-orry for not…for no-t, not helping you!” Her hands balled again at the sides of her legs, but she grit her teeth and spoke those last few words to her grandmother. “T-Thank you!”

Azuka began making her way to her grandchild, but a hand quietly placed itself on her shoulder, pulling her back. “She’s still got one to go,” whispered the man.

And it was true. Stiff as a board, she turned to face the boy next to her, sniffling and crying, yet he didn’t seem to care. His eyes didn’t blink, nor did he move from his place at all.

“Yu-uko I………I………………”

“It’s okay.”

That was his response, but she shook her head rather violently, prompting her to speak a single line.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s—”

“No… I’m sorry for calling you names and I’m sorry for hitting you.” she was speaking with more clarity, though her voice was still clearly strained. “I’m sorry for throwing rocks at you, and I’m sorry I was so mean to you. I…just……”

With those words, she pushed past him, opening the unlocked gate door and running out into the street.

“Yuya!” he shouted, trying to stop her. However, by the time he recovered from her words and followed out the door, she was already out of sight.

“W-What do—”

“Go.”

“M-Mother?”

At that moment, the woman on the floor stirred, but Hikari paid her no mind.

“You know her best, you know where she’d go. Find her. Bring her back.”

“Is that……will I make her sad again?”

“That depends on whether or not you go.” She smiled, prompting a wide smile from her son.

“Don’t worry! I’ll definitely help her!”

She felt the wind leave her lungs after hearing those words. Hearing that, from her child of all people………in that moment, mimicking his actions in a mirage behind Yuuko, she saw him.

“Yes…he’s your son after all.”

As Yuuko and the mirage disappeared from sight, she commented to an approaching Hiroka. “He’ll find her.”

“I’ve no doubt. I’ve seen them at school after all. He’ll bring her back.”

“...mmh.”

“Did you manage to record it all?”

“Ah, that’s right!” she said, untying a small, gray device from the inside seam of her shirt. “It looks like everything got recorded, just in time too. It was about out of storage.”

“What..is that…?” said Meyoshi, rising to her knees.

“This is a voice recorder, which recorded our entire conversation. I had one at home, we used it to play lullabies to Yuuko in his crib. It helped us get sleep on some nights, but Yuuko still preferred one of us singing to him personally.”

Even on the floor, Hikari could see her eyes widen. “You liar, you said—!”

“I said there was no one recording any video. This, clearly, is not video.”

“Though if you prefer video Meyoshi,” said the approaching grandmother. “I was informed the outside of the apartment complex has security footage showing a little girl with a very severe injury being dragged away by a rather aggressive woman.”

“To top it off, your husband should be arriving soon with his lawyer, to get custody of Yuya transferred to Azuka as soon as possible. He insisted on being here himself but,” Hiroka sighed. “He said you knew something would be wrong if he was here. Something about ‘picking up his scent’.”

Even while knocked down and breathing heavily, she managed an insult before doubling over once more.

“Now then,” thought Hikari. “The rest I leave to you, Yuuko.”

Part 2

She wasn’t underneath her tree and she wasn’t behind the school. She wasn’t at her house because he just came from there, and she wasn’t in the store where she buys snacks sometimes.

She wasn’t around the block or walking around, and all this together marked the first time Yuuko was at a complete loss.

He decided to take a break by her tree.

“Where else could she be?” he said, kicking up grass and fallen leaves.

He remembered the first time he saw her do that, it made him so sad. That’s why it’s almost a little confusing that, when she cried for the first time, he didn’t feel any sadness from it. Is it possible for people to not cry from sadness? Or is it a different kind of sadness?

If it is……why didn’t he cry too?

The day was coming to an end, he had to pick up his pace in searching, but there was nowhere else to look.

“Maybe she went to go hide somewhere..?”

But if she did, where?

He scratched the back of his head in frustration. “Ahhhh! If I had my notebook I could maybe..tell….where……”

An odd looking leaf caught his attention. For a second, on the ground, it looked almost…

“…purple.”

His mind overclocked, trying to remember where he’d scene something similar when—

“OOOHHHHHHH!!”

The many people on the street turned to face him, and he sheepishly apologized before taking off towards the only other place she could be. All the locations he looked in were places she’d found on her own, but it never occurred to him she might be someplace someone else showed her.

He found the odd entrance in the treeline and walked inside. It looked really pretty with the sun setting, especially the bridge, but she wasn’t there. He kept going, however, with the idea that maybe she’d found his favorite spot on her own.

And he was right.

“How do you always find me?” she asked angrily. Her voice was still shaky from earlier, so she didn’t sound as mean as she normally would.

Maybe she was more annoyed than angry?

“You weren’t at your tree.”

She didn’t respond to him, but instead kept looking across the wide scenery with her legs dangling off the side. Yuuko walked closer, choosing to stand behind her instead of sitting down.

“Yuya.”

“……………”

“What were you going to say? After the part about being mean to me?”

“…nothing.”

“Oh……well, thank you for helping me. When your mom was…doing that. Thank you.”

“Y…You’re welcome……and t-thanks for helping me too………I guess.”

“You..umm……you’re welcome.”

Seeing she was about to get up, he extended his hand to the girl, but she simply shook her head.

“It’s fine…you don’t have to keep doing those things. It’s……fine now. You can go.”

“But I………don’t want to go.”

It’s like those words flipped some kind of switch in her. In an instant, she turned from her normal self, back to the girl he was getting to know more and more.

And she erupted.

“JUST GO ALREADY!...........It already hurts enough after you leave! So the sooner you leave me the sooner it’ll stop hurting me just!…just leave already……!”

“Yuya, are you okay?!”

“NO!” she said crying. “No I’m not!……because I know you’ll end up leaving me alone so just…... leave me alone!”

“Yuya I thought……you just said you wanted me to leave you alone. But you don’t..want to?”

“I don’t know why it hurts after I stop talking to you!” she said, inches away from his face. “At school I was always by myself!...and it never hurt then…….but then you started talking to me! You— you started being nice to me!”

“………………”

“And I don’t know why, but when you talked to me it would feel nice! And when you left, it felt bad! You…you showed me it was okay for me to cry,” she sobbed into her hands. “I’ve never……I don’t want to be alone again…but I know I will……so the sooner you stop talking to me, the sooner the pain will leave.”

She sniffled and hiccuped as Yuuko kept quiet. She was wiping her nose on her sleeve when Yuuko spoke.

“Yuya.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry for making you sad. My mom always said I shouldn’t make a girl cry. But I made you cry, and I made you sad. I’m sorry.”

She kept wiping her nose, trying to make her voice come out steady.

“What does a promise mean?”

“Huh?”

“Your mom told me to ask you what a promise means. What does it mean?”

“Oh,” he said, concentrating. “A promise……a promise means that you’ll never do the bad thing again. It’s like…saying sorry……for something. It means you’ll definitely do the thing you say you will do.”

“Then promise me you’ll leave me alone…please…..”

“Yuya I’m sorry but…I can’t promise.”

“Why?”

“Because………because…………”

“Because you want to help?”

“I……yes. I do.”

“……why did you help me in the first place?”

“I thought you looked sad. So when I remembered what mom told me, it made sense.”

“What she…told you?”

“A long time ago, she told me the prettiest flowers always have thorns to protect themselves.”

She clutched her chest, a small hiccup forcing its way through her lungs.

“Yuuko please promise me…”

“Did I… make you sad again?”

She nodded.

He had to fix this somehow. His father would definitely say that it’s not okay to hurt people! But he couldn’t leave her alone.

No……a small part of him, he finally recognized, didn’t want to. He didn’t want to leave her alone. If she was scared about being alone, then—!

“It’s my fault you feel sad, so I’ll marry you!”

His outburst surprised even himself. It’s like he didn’t even think of what to say, the words just came by themselves. By the look of Yuya’s face she was equally surprised. Her teary face became replaced with confusion.

“W-What are you talking about!?”

“M-My dad told me about it one day! Married people are always together, and since I’m a boy and you’re a girl, we can get married!”

“W-We can’t get m-m-married!”

“N-No! We need to wait until we’re older, but then I’ll marry you! I promise I’ll marry you, Yuya!”

She was about to rebuttal, but it seemed his last few words made her hesitate. She looked at him carefully, the faintest glimmer of light beginning to shine in her eyes.

“Then you won’t leave me alone? You promise you won’t leave? You promise you’ll stay with me?”

“Hmph!” he emphatically nodded. “Yuya, I promise I won’t leave! And when we’re older, I’ll marry you so that you’ll never be alone ever again!”

It struck Yuuko just how bright her eyes became when they had the sun shining on them. He became so focused on them, he didn’t notice when she doubled over, laughing.

“A-Are you an idiot ahahahaha!”

It was only the second time he heard her laugh but…he just noticed how girly it actually sounded. It was……really nice to listen to. Like he could finally see the girl underneath.

He pouted while turning to the side to hide his blush.

“I mean if you don’t want to that’s fine but—”

“Okay,” she said, standing upright and giving him the widest smile he’d ever seen on her. “Yuuko, when we’re older, I’ll marry you too! It’s a promise!”

Illuminated by the reddening sun, it was hard to see her blush as Yuuko took her hand and led her down the hill, returning to the people who waited for them.