Understanding

Understanding. Yuki would give up anything just to be understood by everyone else.

Being a cross-dresser had its flaws, Yuki would know. There were many times when he was confused as a girl, and many more as a girlfriend, which did become frustrating at times. He'd always become anxious whenever the cross-dressing was brought up between strangers. Most of them understood, but he could still remember those disgusted faces when he told them, and the insults that came after. They hurt him, deep. But he's been telling himself that he was old enough to take on those insults, and that it made him weak to cry in front of strangers he didn't know. Or worse, people he did know.

He could remember the first time he handed out flyers like it was yesterday. It was bright and sunny outside, the perfect weather for summer. The Spring and Summer Troupes agreed to go in pairs while handing out flyers, and so he was paired with Muku because of their familiarity toward each other. Thank goodness he wasn't with that Psycho-Stalker, or worse, the Hack. Who knows how badly that'd go if they were paired together.

After they received the info of where they needed to hand out the flyers, they exited the dorms and walked side-by-side across the sidewalk. They were silent for most of the time they were walking, until Muku spoke up. "Aren't you excited, Yuki? We're one of the first pairs to be handing out these flyers for the Summer Troupe's play, after all." He looked toward Muku and saw the same light in his eyes as whenever he'd start talking about shojo manga. Not only that, but his classmate had a slight spring to his step as well. He must be ecstatic about this.

"Uh... yeah, I guess." He turned his head away from Muku toward the other side of the street to hide his discomfort. Who knows what kind of people they'd meet while they were there. Would he get insulted again, like he always did? Just thinking about it, he almost wanted to turn his heel and walk back to the dorms right now.

Muku's voice broke the silence once more. "Oh, we're almost there! C'mon Yuki, let's go!" Muku grabbed Yuki's hand and dragged him across the sidewalk, experienced legs running as fast as they could carry them. A furious Yuki tried to catch up to him and tried desperately to run faster, struggling in the process.

"H-Hey! Slow down you stupid Wonder Boy! You're going too fast!" He shouted. One thing he didn't like about Muku was his ability to get distracted easily. One glance at a rock and he could make some crazy story ending with him getting sold for human trafficking. The same could go for people, if you were unlucky enough.

Muku heard him, and he slowed down to a stop, letting go of his hand to let Yuki catch his breath. "A-Ah... Sorry about that Yuki..." He apologized, flushing a little out of embarrassment.

Yuki huffed and puffed, trying to regain his composure. "Warn me the next time you do that, please." Yuki straightened his back, still breathing heavily. "You really took track and field seriously, huh?"

Muku's eyes widened at the question. Where'd Yuki get the info about him doing track and field? "Well, yeah, I kinda did take it super seriously back then..." Muku hesitated, glancing down. "But honestly, it's all I've got going for me." Muku looked a little somber as he said this, his pale blue eyes drained of the excitement they once had in them. He sighed before changing his expression completely, now brimming with confidence. "So, how should we start handing out the flyers?" He asked.

Yuki furrowed his brow. He'd never done anything like this before, but he did ask some of the Spring Troupe members for advice. "Maybe something like..." He straightened up his posture and plastered a sweet smile on his face, one that was sure to catch people's attention. "We are the Mankai Company! Please come see us perform!" From the corner of his vision, he could see Muku marvelling at what he did. Yuki couldn't lie, he felt a little prideful seeing that Muku was looking up to him in such a way. "Water Me! A tale based on the Arabian Nights!"