Boys

Chapter 9. The Truth Comes Out

I was standing in the center of my room as Nikki and Blazio did their make-up for tonight's festivities. A deep frown dusted across my face as Blaze handed me the emerald green dress she had bought for me Monday. The gesture itself was very kind, but I couldn't wear this out in public... It was completely degrading to say the least.

"Blaze..."

She held a hand up to stop me and just smiled, shaking her head slowly, and pointing over to my closet.

"Put it in there and we'll use it for your quilt once we start it."

"Why?"

"To mark the day you became Nathan of course."

I looked at her with wide eyes then slowly smiled in the younger girls direction. I took the dress from her grasp and walked over to the almost empty closet placing the dress into one of the spaces. I looked at what clothes I had unpacked and frowned when I realized I had absolutely nothing to wear to Summer Fest.

"I don't have an outfit made for the Festival..."

"Actually I had Sosuke go out and retrieve this after the swim meet the other day," Nikki explained, handing me a bag that indicated that the articles came from the mall.

I frowned in confusion at her shit eating grin and opened the thick plastic bag, staring into it for a good long moment. I grinned slowly when I saw the cargo pants, and emerald flannel folded neatly with a 'Jack Skellington' snap-back resting on top. It was the outfit Nikki and I had decided on days ago with a bit of a twist on top. I smiled at the gift, feeling tears fill my eyes, and, before I could register my actions, I hugged my two best friends as tightly as I could.

"Thank you guys so much..."

***

Night was quick to fall after the exchange. Nikki, Blazio and I were finally ready to leave for the festival, but before we could make it out the door my dad ruffled my hair and hugged us all like we were his babies all grown up.

"Have fun you three! Nathan you make sure those girls stay out of trouble!"

"Alright Pops!"

"Please you know that trouble can't stay out of me," Nikki muttered into my ear as we walked out the door.

I shuddered in disgust at the image she left and shook my head with a gentle laugh at the female I called my sister. I was very excited to be going to the Summer Fest as Nathan this year rather than Natalie, but there was one problem I was going to face tonight. I had a huge crush on one of the swimmers at Iwatobi and with this transformation I wasn't sure how that would play out... I took a deep breath, shaking the thoughts from my head, and deciding that I would just ignore it. That conclusion didn't last long, because before I knew it we were walking through the streets along the river's edge.

"Hey Nikki-Chan! Blaze-Chan!" a familiar voice called to us.

"Hey Nagisa-Chan!" Blazio called back waving her hand at the male.

Nagisa ran up to us grinning from ear to ear with the rest of his group right behind him. I grinned over at Rin and Sosuke who were both, now, very aware of my change while everyone else looked at me in pure confusion.

"Nikki-Chan? Where's Natalie-Chan?" Rei asked looking at me with unease.

"Call Natalie-Chan now!" Nagisa demanded with a pout.

Nikki glanced over at me as she took out her phone and dialed my number, showing the others that it was ringing. She sighed softly and held the small device to her ear and waited patiently until my familiar ringtone filled the air around us. I jumped as if to pretend I was shocked and fished my phone from my back-pocket, picking it up, and placing the device to my ear in turn.

"Hey!"

"Yo so Nagisa demanded that I call you and he wants you here now. The lantern parade is about to start."

"Yea I'll be there in a few I just gotta get ready. Make sure to save me a place with you. After all best friends release their lanterns together."

"Of course. I love you!"

"Love you!"

We both simultaneously hung up our cells and then looked at each other in mock surprise.

"OH! There you are! I thought when you said a few that you meant when the lantern parade started."

"Naw I got here on time."

"That's Young-Chan?"

Everyone looked at me as if I were an alien, including Haruka who very rarely showed emotions around anyone. Nagisa and Momo stood on either side of me, reminding me of the Siamese cats from 'Lady and the Tramp', and examined me from top to bottom before touching my chest lightly. They rubbed at the area in an almost aggressive manner and frowned when they felt the almost flat board in place of my breasts.

"N-Nagisa! Momo! You don't grab a girls chest!"

I chuckled at Rei's horrified expression. 

"Good thing I'm not a girl then."

Deadpan. 

Everyone gave me the most dead serious stares as they took in my seven small words. I smiled awkwardly, keeping my eyes off my long time crush, and just stared at Sosuke for a sense of reassurance. He nodded slowly as if to urge me on and smiled softly at me like a brother would. I returned the nod with a grateful look, and grinned up at the group.

"Let's go release some lanterns!"