I am Thou

Day 11.1: April 22 20XX

Ren checked her phone for the third time since she sat down in the booth at Big Bang Burger. When she saw there were no new messages she sighed and rested her head in her palm. It was hard to find a place to change into the girly clothes that Ann had slipped her the day before at school, but she had to admit not wearing the bindings on her chest was a relief. She could breathe steadily for the first time in a long time, and her ribs didn't feel like they were being crushed anymore. When she chanced another glance at her phone she heard someone clearing their throat just in front of her. She looked up to see Ann standing there wearing a button up shirt that was long enough to hang over thighs that were wrapped in tight leggings. Ren pushed her glasses up on her nose as she nodded in acknowledgement of the girl.

"Did you seriously cut your hair, I thought it was a wig." Ann said as she took the seat in front of Ren.

"It was faster and more reliable than finding a wig." Ren said with a small shrug. Ann snorted at this and shook her head slowly as she pulled Ren's tray towards her and snatched a fry from it.

"Makes you being yourself pretty hard though." Ann pointed out, to which Ren nodded her head, she had to agree with the blondes statement, though coming out to Tokyo was not supposed to allow her to be herself in the first place. She didn't do it for herself anyway, she did it for her brother.

"It's alright, it's only for a year." She said with another nonchalant shrug. Ann paused in her eating of Ren's fries to look at her as if she had seen a ghost.

"A whole year acting like someone else." Ann began as she lowered the fry, "That sounds like... a lot." Ren shook her head slowly, hoping to dispel any negative thoughts that Ann could have about her choice. She lifted her drink to her lips and took a moment pretending to sip from it to give herself time to think before she answered Ann's unasked question.

"I am fine with it, it was my choice not Akiras." Ann tilted her head at Ren's explanation, causing one of her long pigtails to brush along the tabletop as she did so. Ren sighed at the sight but continued when it was clear the other girl was confused. "Akira is my brother, he wasn't doing anything wrong. He was actually saving a woman the night he was arrested. He's always been such a good guy that it just wasn't right for him to be punished for something like that so I decided to take his place." She grabbed a hair near her ear and twisted it between her fingers as she let a smaller sigh slip through her lips. "I... I drugged him the night before he was due to come here."

"So... your great plan to keep your brother safe was to drug him?" Ann asked as she reached for another fry. Ren looked down as she gritted her teeth.

"I was never the best kid, it seemed the easiest option at the time." She said after a long awkward silence settled between them. Ann nodded slowly at Ren's short explanation and leaned back in her chair.

"You act pretty good at school, keep your head down, you only ever talk to Ryuji..." Ann began.

"Yeah um... Akira is a good kid so I have to be while pretending to be him." Ren shrugged once again Ann nodded. They sat in silence as Ann finished off her fries and looked through her phone idly. Ren checked her own phone, scrolled through a few online forums she once checked religiously back home, and waited on a text from her brother. Akira hadn't contacted her since their late night phone call, she was starting to worry that he forgot to send her what she needed.

"Okay." Ann said around a sigh, breaking Ren out of her thoughts, "So there is a place nearby that sells wigs, we can hit it up first and then go shopping for some cute clothes, you can't be walking around in your brothers clothes forever."

"Where you planning on asking my opinion on this?" Ren asked as Ann stood and stretched her arms above her head.

"Nope."

"I didn't think so." Ren softly groaned as she stood, the thought of being dragged around for the day by Ann wasn't exactly bad, she just didn't see a need to spend money on outfits she would more than likely never wear. She followed the blonde from the restaurant, and along a few back alleys that came out on another street lined with specialty shops. Ann led her straight into a wig shop that was so full of styles and colors it made her head spin. She wandered around, looking at the wigs situated on mannequin heads that lined the shelves, while Ann strode right up to the counter to talk to the bored looking teen who was running it.

"Well, she wants to cosplay this character with really long dark hair. We just need a realistic looking wig for it." Ren heard Ann explain as she neared the back of the store.

"Our cosplay wigs are expensive." The teen told her as Ren stepped up behind Ann.

"How much?" Ren asked, startling Ann who did not know she was standing behind her and causing the blonde to jump and turn to her.

"Akira, you can't just sneak up on people!" Ann chastised.

"Sorry, but how much are the wigs?" Ren was looking at the sales clerk as she spoke.

"What length are you looking for?"

"Between my shoulder blades would be good." Ren turned to show the young man what she meant. He took a moment to think over her request before shaking his head sadly.

"With dark wigs we have waist length and shorter that your current hairstyle, I have a blonde mid back..."

"How much is the waist length?" Ren asked, beginning to grow irritated.

"It will run... 300 thousand." Ann whistled through a grimace at the price, but Ren only sighed and fished in her pocket for the money needed.

"You're actually going to buy it?" Ann whispered as Ren looked over her meager cash, she only had three hundred and fifteen thousand yen, soon she would be broke. She gave the blonde a small sad smile as she handed the cash over to the clerk. Her body felt heavy with the thought that what she was spending was more than she had seen in months, but if it would help her be herself from time to time it was a fair trade.

"Yeah." Ren sighed as she watched him ring up the amount and tuck it into the cash register. After that task was completed he slipped through a curtain behind him and was back seconds later with a long dark wig. Ann crossed her arms as she watched Ren remove it from the packaging and slip it on her head, tucking the stray hairs up into it with the help of a mirror waiting on the counter. Ren glanced at her over her shoulder and Ann tilted her head a bit in response as a small smile crept across her lips.

"Looks good." She told her. Ren's lips pulled up into a ghost of a smile in response as she turned back to the mirror.

"Thanks."