Chapter 2 — Crossdressing and Cross-Examinations

[I'm sorry, what? –NakamaC, Sent 9:27pm]

[My clubmates are suspicious of me ditching club without a real reason, so they demand proof. –HikiH, Sent 9:31pm]

[No, I get the photo part. I was planning on taking photos myself. –NakamaC, Sent 9:33pm]

[It's your odd request that I don't get. –NakamaC, Sent 9:34pm]

[Why do you want me to crossdress as a boy? –NakamaC, Sent 9:35pm]

[If my clubmates recognized you from that time, they might flip out. – HikiH, Sent 9:40pm]

[So they are jealous then! I knew it! –NakamaC, Sent 9:42pm]

[No! Wrong! It's not like that! –HikiH, Sent 9:44pm]

[Then what's the harm? If they're not interested in you that way, then why should they care who you spend time with? –NakamaC, Sent 9:48pm]

[It's…complicated. –HikiH, Sent 9:53pm]

[So you want me to crossdress as a boy, but you won't even tell me the reason why? Don't you think that's a little unfair to me, Hikigaya? –NakamaC, Sent 10:00pm]

[How about this, if you agree to this, I'll explain it to you in person. Is that fine? –HikiH, Sent 10:03pm]

[You'd better keep your promise, Hikigaya. Don't make me regret this. –NakamaC, Sent 10:08pm]

[Believe me, I already am. –HikiH, Sent 10:10pm]

Having somehow secured permission I didn't want which allowed me to forgo Service Club activities in order to meet up with someone I didn't want to interact with, something that would also include telling them something I didn't want to explain was the Will of the Universe at work again. I was beginning to suspect some higher power out there just had it out for me. For what reason, I could not fathom. Did I insult its favorite waifu?

I had carefully gone over my mental notes several times, hoping to make the situation as banal sounding as possible to invite as little interest as possible. I also made a note to ask Nakamachi a few general questions about herself so that this would hopefully be the last time we interacted.

As I pedaled to the meeting spot, I thought to myself, What in the BlazBlue am I doing? Why couldn't I just accept a girl wanted to chat with me as friends do, free of romantically-tinged pressures? Why was I so against hanging out with her? Was it because of the disastrous double date debacle? Was it because of her association with Orimoto? Was it because she crushed on Hayama the faker?

No, it was something else, I concluded. But that would have to wait. If I made a decision now with incomplete information, if would go against my superior logical methods.

"Hikigaya! Over here!" Nakamachi waved me over to where she had already obtained a booth, having beaten me here by several minutes, by my estimate.

Approaching her, I noted that she had swapped out her Kaihin Sougou uniform for a dark blue coat and plaid blue pants, topped with a blue cap, reminding me of that one detective in that one RPG series. [1]

"I hope you didn't go out and spend money just to fulfill my absurd requirement," I jokingly commented. Because if she did, that would be a giant red flag that there was something seriously messed up about her.

"Ah, you mean these clothes, right? No worries, I happened to have a teenage cousin whose build was similar to mine, though it kind of depresses me that my body type is so close to a guy's." I think I knew what part she was less than satisfied with, but wisely chose not to lampshade it.

The waitress came by and took our orders, with me ordering a MAX coffee once more. Nakamachi ordered a slice of strawberry shortcake, paired with a smoothie.

"Again? How can you drink that sugary stuff repeatedly? I tried it once; never again."

For what seemed like the dozenth time defending MAX coffee from non-believers, I responded, "Life is too bitter, so coffee, at least, should be sweet." I waited for the usual follow-up and mockery, but it never came.

"Wow, you really don't mince words, do you, Hikigaya?"

"Well, life is short enough as is; there's not much point in pretending otherwise. Why shouldn't I enjoy the things I want to enjoy?"

"So are you going to tell me why you asked me to hide my feminine charms? Don't tell me — you swing that way? That would explain why you aren't interested in any of the girls!"

Why do you view everything through the lens of a shoujo manga? Are you some manga writer who gets all their inspiration from observing their friends and acquaintances? [2]

"No, Nakamachi, I assure you, guys do not do anything for me in that sense." Totsuka excluded, though I'm still hoping he'll one day wake up as a girl, paving the way for society to accept us being together. "One of my club mates is always throwing insults about how dangerous it is for a girl to be alone in my company, as if I were some sort of criminal."

"But she's obviously not serious, right? If she was, then she would have never put up with you when you joined the club."

"Actually, she had the same apprehension back then as well. It was only after our advisor assured her that I wasn't stupid enough to do anything that would land me in jail that I was begrudgingly accepted as a member." I remember how I used to wish Yukinoshita had built a better case back then, so that I didn't become a member, but those types of thoughts have since faded as time has passed.

"So you just wanted to avoid giving your club mate potential sniping ammo? Shouldn't you be used to it by now?"

"Well, that's not the only reason." Nakamachi leaned in, eager to listen. "I have the sinking feeling that the universe is out to get me, so that means one of my known acquaintances may pop out at any moment while we're together in this café."

She looked understandably puzzled. "So?"

"So, it's one thing if my club mates mock me. But it's an entirely different scale if a rumor starts to circulate, since I doubt I have the necessary charisma needed to kill a rumor once it starts." Now, granted, I also didn't have the motivation, not to mention my reputation was already pretty dismal at this stage, but I didn't really want to add more reasons for my fellow students to spread misinformation behind my back. These sorts of things add up, even for a seasoned loner such as myself.

"Really?" she asked in disbelief. "You think the universe has nothing better to do than mess with you in the pettiest way possible?"

"Absolutely." It's how you and I met for the first time, after all.

As soon as those words left my mouth, I nervously glanced around, sensing that an event flag was just triggered. This pattern was a staple of many a story: the irony of fate showing its hand, uncaring and unchanging. It would explain how I, a self-proclaimed loner, kept meeting with incompatible individuals incessantly.

Letting out an audible sigh, I returned my attention to Nakamachi, only to find her barely trying to conceal a smirk. Or a grin, I wasn't sure which.

"Hmmm? Were you expecting someone to pop up out of nowhere, Hikigaya?" She was clearly enjoying my discomfort, more evidence that a loner's lifestyle is preferable. "Would it really be that bad for you to be spotted with me?"

I shook my head. "If anything, you should be more worried about being seen with me." I knew she was going to ask for clarification, but I wanted to at least give her a solid reason to stop interacting with me without hurting her feelings too much.

Nakamachi tilted her head, not privy to the underlying meaning behind my cryptic remark. "And why is that?"

"Let's just say I'm not like Hayama and leave it at that." Were I not so against losing my previous afternoons by pretending to be a riajuu, I would have tacked on 'for now' at the end of my answer. Of course, that would have implied a future conversation where the question would be revisited, which meant a future meetup, which I most certainly did not want.

She chuckled and replied, "You can say that again! I mean, no offense."

"None taken." If I ever found myself turning into Hayama 2.0, I'd be forced to make a difficult choice. I shuddered at the thought.

I needed to steer the conversation away from me, lest it end up like last time. "Isn't the main reason we're here today to talk about you, Nakamachi?" I reminded the girl.

"Oh, you're right. Just as long as you don't ask about the taboo topics."

"?"

"Age, earnings, weight, you know?"

I rolled my eyes. "We're both in high school, so it's not like figuring out your age would be particularly difficult. And unless you've been working part-time while in high school, I'm pretty sure your monthly earnings are exactly nil." I had a few questions prepared, but if I was fortunate, I wouldn't have to go through all of them. "How did you and Orimoto become friends?" As our only real common link, it made sense to start from here.

"Nothing special. We were paired up for a group project last year and just sort of bonded during that period." She paused to sip her smoothie, which probably had more sugar than my MAX coffee. Hypocrite. "Actually, it would be more accurate to say I was drawn to her natural outgoingness."

"That sounds like Orimoto, all right," I chimed in.

"Yeah, at first I felt a little overwhelmed, being unable to keep up with her, but she didn't mind taking the lead in many cases." At this point, I don't think I would've classified Nakamachi as an introvert, but rather someone content to follow instead of leading.

I thought back to our initial meeting, where it was Orimoto bringing up Nakamachi's crush on Hayama, which got the whole ball rolling. Orimoto certainly meant well, but it's her fault that I now have to feign interest to avoid coming off as extremely rude.

Nakamachi pointed the side of her head, though I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be looking at. "These hair clips? I- oh, that's right, I'm not wearing them right now, silly me." Bringing her arms down, she continued. "I didn't start wearing them until after I met Kaori."

Not like I particularly remember one way of the other, but go on. The more you talk, the less I have to.

"She just decided one day that, 'As a sign of our new friendship, we should get some accessories for you to match!' And I protested at first, worrying about the potential cost and whether our school would allow them in the first place, but she quickly reassured me that the colored clips were reasonably within our limited budget and wouldn't be targeted by moral guardians at school."

"So you were initially worried about flashier jewelry like earrings, then?" I asked. "Orimoto doesn't strike me as the type to wear them in public." Even on our double date, neither girl dolled herself up to a noticeable degree.

"If I had known that beforehand, I wouldn't have worried about it in the first place."

"Yeah, well, you know what they say: hindsight is 20/20." I paused to drink my MAX coffee. Though I personally disagreed with that notion; sometimes, when we look back, we learn the wrong lessons, or worse, no lesson is learned at all.

"But enough about Kaori, what do you want to know about me, Hikigaya?"

Truthfully, nothing. But I obviously wasn't going to say that out loud; I still had enough tact in me. "Are you part of any school clubs, Nakamachi?" I had already told her the basic gist of the Service Club last time, so I hoped she wouldn't throw the question back at me when she was done answering. In fact, I hoped that she talked just enough for time to run out, but not so long that I was forced into overtime.

"Well, I'm not in any clubs, but I am part of the Lacrosse team!" I don't think she smiled as brightly during the entire date debacle as she did just now. It was immediately clear that she placed great value on the sport, though I was unfamiliar with it. [3]

"Do you really have time to be hanging out like this? I would imagine skipping practice to be severely frowned upon, if not punished harshly."

"Ah, don't worry about that! It happens to be the off-season right now, though we still have occasionally training to keep us on our toes."

I clicked my tongue; Damn, would've been a convenient reason to never meet again.

"We're still trying to get the hang of it, admittedly." I watched as her cake gradually began to disappear. "Many of us only started playing lacrosse last year, so it's a brand new learning experience."

"What made you choose it over other sports? It doesn't sound like you were a huge lacrosse fan before you joined," I pointed out. "Heck, I barely know anything about the game other than the large sticks."

"You wouldn't be alone; most people rarely mention it in the same breath as other more popular sports, but that actually worked out in my favor!" I was curious, but chose to let her continue rather than interrupt with a question. "If it was more well-known, I might not have made it onto the team. Fewer people trying out for the team roster means better chances for me, after all."

"But that still doesn't answer why you specifically chose lacrosse. Why not any other team sport? Were you going with a backup sport rather than your first choice?"

"To be honest, in middle school, I flirted with the idea of being on the basketball team. But when puberty hit, I realized that I would be outclassed by some of the genetically-blessed monsters on the court and ditched that idea."

"So why not football?" [4]

She shook her head and took another sip. "Like I mentioned before, too many people fighting for a spot, so I intentionally went with a less crowded field." She then chuckled, apparently recalling something amusing. "I say that, but each lacrosse team can have up to twelve players on the field, so it can actually be more crowded than most sports." [5]

"I imagine it must get pretty hectic with that many stick-wielding girls all fighting over one target." I was strangely more interested in this topic than I thought I would be, but I chalked it up to the novelty more than anything.

"You can say that again! I've lost count how many times I've been smacked by my own teammates!" Not because of brain damage, I hope. "But the adrenaline rush is worth it. In those moments, I forget about all of my other worries and focus only on the game. You ever feel like that, Hikigaya?"

"Have you forgotten who you're talking to? I live according to the maxim, 'to work is to lose'. I'd probably get a heart attack if I ever had that much adrenaline flowing through me."

"You really are a riot, Hikigaya!" She slapped the table, causing the drinks to vibrate. "A heart attack! At our age!"

Look, I know the science is adamant about it being incredibly unlikely, but it is a non-zero chance. "Besides, I'm not really cut out for team activities, what with being a loner and all."

"And yet, here you are again. What does that say about you? Hmm? Are you actually a pushover after all, Hikigaya?"

I got the feeling that there was a little bit of projecting going on, but it might have been me projecting these projections onto her. Reality was always hard to know for certain. So I opted to drink my beverage without giving any sort of verbal answer.

And so, for the better part of an hour, I listened to Nakamachi enthusiastically recount some of the lacrosse highlights over the past year, though without visual aids nor a deep understanding of the rules, all I could do was nod and occasionally interject with a brief comment.

With how much time she spent playing lacrosse, I was surprised to hear she had time for a side hobby at all.

Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a small rectangular piece of cloth. "Go on," she prodded. "Guess what it is." She handed the napkin-sized piece to me, and I briefly studied it.

"A handkerchief? Wait, this doesn't feel delicate enough. A sweater in progress?"

"Bzzt! It's the early stage of a scarf! Although by the time I finish knitting, the weather won't be suited for wearing it."

"Couldn't you just buy a nice one in a shop? Why go to all this effort if you won't reap the benefits?"

"Oh, it's not for me; I was planning to surprise someone with it." I could guess who, but after last time, I'm not sure the recipient would be willing to accept it.

"It's actually been in this state for quite some time now; maybe if I find a new source of motivation, I'll be able to finish it."

That's easier said than done. I have a backlog of games that I haven't even started, so I can relate.

"Speaking of ending things, I think it's about time we head out. Let's split the bill like last time." And I hope that this is the last time as well.

"Hold, on, Hikigaya!" Just as I stood up, she pulled me back into my seat. "We still need to get a commemorative photo, don't we?" She motioned for a waitress to come over, presumably for both the bill and camera duties.

I put on my best neutral face, unwilling to fake a smile.

A flash went off.

As soon as I got home and threw open the door, a Komachi-missile collided with my stomach.

"OOF!"

"Onii-chan! Welcome home!" Ah, that boundless enthusiasm will never cease to restore my spirits. Wait, if my onii-chan instincts are correct, her next words will be-

"So, onii-chan, who did you meet up with today? What did you talk about?"

I had been expecting the Imouto Inquisition, ever since Yukinoshita gave me a forewarning. I wasn't going to make anything up on the spot, knowing her perception was higher than most of my ignorant peers. On the way home, I had given the upcoming conversation some serious thought, though it pained me to deceive my precious imouto.

"An acquaintance. Stuff. No, it's not somebody you know. No, I don't plan on introducing you to each other anytime soon. Yes, here's the photograph demanded of me as proof that I am not making this up." By firing off these answers pre-emptively, I could shave some time off so that I could retire to my bedroom slightly sooner.

Handing Komachi my phone, screen unlocked, she scrutinized the image of me and a disguised Nakamachi, before finally handing my phone back to me with just one more question.

"Does this 'acquaintance' have a name, onii-chan?"

"His name is Chikao." I mentally patted myself on the back for coming up with that. It was close enough to 'Chika' so I could always claim plausible deniability if I messed up the name. [6]

"He kinda looks like he could pass as a girl," Komachi observed.

Yeah, ha ha. About that…

"Well, Komachi is happy to see you making more friends!"

"Acquaintances," I corrected her. Thankfully, Komachi's trust in her onii-chan (me) meant that she wouldn't press the issue any further, already satisfied with her interpretation of what had transpired.

After tomorrow, I wouldn't need to keep up this façade anymore. I would face the Ice Queen's Interrogation, but I wasn't going to break under her icy gaze.

Author's Notes:

[1] Imagine reverse trap Chika dressing up similar to Shirogane Naoto from Persona 4.

[2] Reference to the main character of Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. He bases his manga's heroine on two of his closest friends (appearance + personality) and a side couple (gender-swapped) on another two. None of the unwitting inspirations are aware of it yet. One of their other mutual friends, however, has figured everything out.

[3] Soubu High doesn't appear to have a lacrosse team, nor does its real life Chiba City inspiration, Inage High. For the sake of the story, I'm going to pretend Kaihin Sougou has an afterschool lacrosse program.

[4] 'Football' as in the game played in the World Cup, and not the Super Bowl. This does take place in Japan, after all.

[5] Both 'footballs' (Soccer and American) can have up to eleven players per team on the field. Men's lacrosse allows up to ten players per team, interestingly. For comparison, ice hockey only allows six players per team on the ice at a time.

[6] Since 'Chika' is a feminine given name, I looked for a similar 'Chi-' masculine name to serve as her cover and came up with 'Chikao'.

I bet you thought I abandoned this story, didn't you? Let's just say there were two specific catalysts. One was u/kasimrox3009 heartfelt cry of 'plz update'. How could I refuse the sincerity in that request? The other one will remain a secret for now, unless you come from the future and already know what it is.

Since Chika's character in canon is essentially a blank slate, I had free reign to fill in the blanks as I wished. This was a double-edged sword, since I really wanted to avoid making her into a blatant Mary Sue. I also had to look up a bunch of lacrosse information because I was worried my perception of the game might be misinformed. If there are any lacrosse fans in the comments, please correct me on anything lacrosse-related.