They even helped each other out on big favours too. When Hotohori couldn’t stand his parents pressuring him about marriage, he begged Nuriko to pose as his girlfriend just to shut them up. Nuriko’s almost feminine body figure and good looks managed to fool Hotohori’s family and he was the centre of attention the entire night. Nuriko was rather impressed that Hotohori decided to move out and live on his own accord—and expenses—despite the fact that his upcoming family inheritance was enough to cover him and ensure him a non-working life, and was rather intrigued at the way his family members of the same blood could have so many different personalities under one roof. Hotohori felt rather embarrassed about his dysfunctional family but Nuriko thought they were interesting and cute.
So, to return Nuriko’s favour, Hotohori gave Nuriko a blank cheque for him to fill in any amount he needed to cover for his surgery. Nuriko was hesitant at first and refused profusely.
“Nandayo? I don’t accept charity!”
“Heiki, heiki ne. it’s not charity. It’s to return the favour of posing as my girlfriend last week.”
“Ah, sonna kedo…” Nuriko was still feeling a little torn.
“Daijobu, daijobu,” Hotohori flashed him his killer smile again as he put the cheque into Nuriko’s breast pocket. “The next time I see you I want to see a true woman.”
“Anno…are you even alright with that? You said it yourself before you’re not interested in girls…”
“It’s what the inside that counts, and as long as I know the old Nuriko is still in you, I don’t care what your outside looks like.”
Hotohori had his hand on Nuriko’s chest when he said that, taking Nuriko by surprise. Nuriko couldn’t help blushing as he felt the touch of his fingers on his beating heart. He quickly took away Hotohori’s hand and had that act-tough look on his face as he said, “Maa, remember you’re only my oni-san. Don’t try to act suave and take advantage of me! Hentai-ne!”
“Ah, souka, one-san,” Hotohori chuckled as he put his hand down before leaving to his home. Nuriko called after him.
“I’m still gonna pay you back!”
“Ah, hai!”
Hotohori waved at him without looking as he walked towards the opening lift, but he didn’t sound like he wanted Nuriko to pay him back though. Nuriko half-wished he would stop and wipe that killer smile off his face.
“Subarashii!” Tasuki jumped with glee as he closed the door of his home after eavesdropping on the two. “Just a little bit more and we’ll be having free food at their wedding banquet!”
Chichiri mewed in agreement. He, too, couldn’t wait for that to happen.
--:--
“Genki deska, one-san?”“Ah…It still hurt a little to move…Itai ne…”
Nuriko was lying on the hospital bed in rather thin hospital garments. He had finally used both the cheque and his savings to do the sex-change surgery he had yearned for. Nothing much had changed on his appearance after going through the surgery. The only thing different was hidden under the covers over his lower body. So far, Nuriko had only done the surgery on his genitals. It would need about a couple of months or so before he can go for the surgery to enlarge his breasts. For now, he had to be bedridden and to be made sure that he took his regular hormone pills.
“Anyway, let me say, omedetou, one-san,” Hotohori smiled as he took Nuriko’s hand.
“Do…Doushite? You’re the one who supplied the money anyway,” Nuriko blushed, but didn’t attempt to take away his hand.
“You’re the one who had the guts to do it. You’re the one who dared to defy your parents and go chase after your dream of becoming a woman. That took a lot of guts and determination.”
“Sonna kedo…it’s not like I’m the only one in this entire sekai to go through sex change surgery. There are lots of others who went through the same thing as me.”
“Hai, hai. Demo, anno…sumanakata…”
“Nani?”
“I wasn’t there to accompany you. I had a major meeting that day and I…”
“Maa, maa, oni-san. Daijobu ne. It’s no big deal. I’m used to be alone anyway!” Nuriko waved away his apology. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t stand looking Hotohori looking so sad and apologetic like that. It hurt him to see him like that. That feeling kinda took him by surprise.
“Demo…”
“Konichiwa, Nuriko-san!”
Hotohori’s words were cut short by the sudden visitors busting in. It was his siblings and some of the residents of Rekka-Shin Apartment who were rather close to Nuriko, including Tasuki and Chichiri. They were all clad with gifts of all sort, most of them flowers and cards, and they were in all smiles. Nuriko smiled at upon seeing them.
“Ah, minna-san! You’re all here!”
“We came here as soon as we got the word that you’ve recovered from surgery!” Nuriko’s sister said as she put her gift on the side table. She looked almost exactly like Nuriko, only that she was more feminine and cuter than her brother. “Ne, looks like from now on I gotta start calling you one-chan!”
“Baka! Not that soon! I’m not fully complete yet!” Nuriko scolded playfully.
“Oi, Nuriko. You make yourself sound like some robot part or something,” his brother chuckled. He, too, looked like Nuriko and his sister combined, but you can tell the difference by the weak and slightly pale look on his face due to his health condition.
“I definitely feel like one right now,” Nuriko replied, then turned to Hotohori and said, “Oh, I suppose you haven’t met. This is my fourth floor tenant Hotohori. Hotohori, this is my elder brother and younger sister I told you about. He’s the one who sponsored most of the surgery bills.”
“Heh? Honto nii?” Nuriko’s sister exclaimed as she shook Hotohori’s hand. “Ne, ‘one-chan’, aitsu no koibito ne?”
“Ba…Bakana! He’s just a godbrother! My new oni-san, that’s all!” Nuriko waved a fist at her, then winced when he realized moving too much was a bad idea. He settled down before asking, “Anno, how did you get here anyway? Don’t tell me that old geezer sent you here to lecture me again.”
“Nandayo? Can’t a sister and brother worry and be happy with you…”
Tasuki chuckled along with his Rekka-Shin Apartment neighbours as he watched the antics between Nuriko and his siblings. He stole a look at Hotohori’s hand that still held Nuriko’s and grinned deviously when he realized Nuriko had done nothing to move it away. It looked as if it was at ease with Hotohori’s touch. He gestured Chichiri who was piggy-back riding Tasuki to look at the hands. Chichiri saw it and smiled. Nuriko saw Tasuki having that weird grin and turned to him.
“What are you grinning about? How did you get Chibi Chiri in here anyway? I thought they don’t allow pets.”
“Omae…Technically, Chibi Chiri is still half-human,” Tasuki sweatdropped and scratched his chin. “I tried telling that to the hospital staff but they would only let him in if I promised to show him around the hospital for the nurses to see. Seems like the nurses have a huge craving for man-cats but couldn’t afford to buy them, so they want me to satisfy their craving by at least seeing a real life one and touch him.”
“I guess having a celebrity pet does have its disadvantages now, doesn’t it?” one of the Rekka-Shin resident grinned.
“Disadvantages? You mean advantages, my friend! Think of all those wonderful sexy onna-s wearing nursing uniforms surrounding you with admiration as they ogle over your pet…Ahh…Subarashii!”
“Hentai!” Nuriko yelled as he threw a pillow at Tasuki, aiming squarely at his face. Everyone laughed either nervously or humorously at Nuriko’s sudden outburst. “I’ve been away for a while and you start thinking about other girls! Wait till I get my hands on you when I’m better…”
“Maa, maa, one-san,” Hotohori said as he held him down. “Calm down. You’ll hurt yourself…”
When he removed the pillow from his face, Tasuki noticed that Nuriko no longer meant any of his jealous words he aimed at him. He noticed the look in both Nuriko and Hotohori’s eyes changed every time they engaged contact. It was more than just brother-sister relationship.
It was something deeper than that.
--:--
“Ne, oni-san. How do I look?”Hotohori blushed at the sight of him, or to be more exact, her. Nuriko wore a body-fitting black dress that ran all the way to her ankles. Throughout her long process in becoming a woman, she kept her hair, never letting it come in contact with anything sharp, and it had grown almost the same length as where her dress ended. She had it tied into a long braid though, and she finally had lesser make-up than she used to when she had to hide her male features. Thanks to hormones and surgery on both her genitals and breasts, she looked more like a woman than she was before.
“Sugoi…” Hotohori almost breathed the words in wonder. “You look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you.”
“He he! That’s what everyone said when I showed up at the office,” Nuriko said as she admired herself on the mirror. “They almost couldn’t recognize me and thought I was a new staff or something. You should’ve seen the look on their faces when I said who I was. Even the males in the office were so stunned at my new look. Some even flirted with me on the spot. Well, at least I took care of them.”
“As I expected from an ex-kick boxer. Shikatanaiwa ne…”
“Well, thanks to you, I’ve finally achieved my dream,” Nuriko smiled with pride at first, then changed into a sad look. “Now I don’t know what else to do with my life.”
“Doushite? Why do you say that?” Hotohori was taken by surprise at Nuriko’s sudden depressed attitude.
“All my life I’ve been told that my purpose in life is to follow my fate and my destiny. I’ve always thought since I was a kid that my destiny was to carry on the family career just like my otosan, my ojisan and my forefathers before me. I’ve always thought that it was my destiny to follow up what my oni-chan and my imoto-chan couldn’t do. I have always believed this was my lifelong fate.
“Then when I discovered my true gender, I also believed that it was fate. Even when my parents didn’t believe—couldn’t, even—that this was my fate and destiny, I went along with it. I moved out and strived hard to both earn my keep and save up for this surgery. I did everything my fate and destiny had led me, and now that I’ve achieved it, there’s nothing for me to chase after anymore. It’s back to Square One where I have to live another lifelong fate of monotonous work life.”
“Na…Nandateyunda? Are you saying that there’s no meaning your life anymore?” Hotohori laughed nervously, shocked at what he was hearing. This wasn’t the Nuriko he knew. The Nuriko he knew would never say something as depressing as that. “You can’t think that! You can’t put everything to fate. Even if you believe in it, I’m sure fate can give you another dream to chase after. It’s not the end of the world yet!”
“There was a dream I tried to chase after my surgery and all that,” Nuriko said sadly. “But he didn’t bother to give a second glance. Sure, he had complimented, but that was all he did. I had expected more from him, but I guess it’s just not meant to be.”
“Ba…Bakayero! Is that what’s all about? Tasuki just rejected you, didn’t he? Kuso! I’ll go teach that bastard a lesson…”
“Yamete! Don’t do it, oni-san! I don’t blame him! It’s his choice to accept me or not! Onegai! Yameru kudasai!” Nuriko exclaimed as she grabbed hold of Hotohori’s arm, stopping him before he made it to the door. Hotohori spun round and hastily freed himself from Nuriko’s tight grip.
“Then why are you so sad? Why do you look like you can’t let go if you know it’s fate that set you two apart? Doushite? Doushite nayo?”
“Gomen…” Nuriko looked away, feeling sorry for both her oni-san and herself. “Rejection is just so hard to take when it happens to you and…”
“Do-aho!” Hotohori scolded as he slapped Nuriko squarely on the cheek, taking her by surprise. Nuriko was speechless. She had never been slapped before. Being almost beaten to a pulp in her beginner years of kickboxing, yes. Being spanked by her parents for being naughty, yes. Being hit playfully by her siblings, yes. But never slapped. This was something new. A new feeling of pain. Almost as if a pain to wake her up from a drifting dream.
“Rejection is not the end of the world for you. You’re stronger than that! The world doesn’t stop just because someone doesn’t accept your love. You’ve handled numerous fights in the ring, went through countless discrimination for your choice of gender, tossed away the family that didn’t appreciate or respect your decision and endured the pain of surgery. You’ve been through all that and yet you couldn’t handle one unrequited love? I’m disappointed at you, Nuriko, I really am! It’s not like you at all! If that’s the case, then you might as well better not start thinking about sex change surgery at all!”
Nuriko looked down, trying to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. She knew that what Hotohori said was true. She knew all that. And it hurt. The truth hurt real bad.
“O…Oni-san…Watashi…”
Hotohori reached over and took her chin, lifting her face to face him, whispering, “Let me be more than your oni-san. Let me be your fate.”
Tears flowed freely from her pinkish-black eyes, meeting Hotohori’s golden ones. She knew she couldn’t deny the increasingly deep feelings she had for her ‘oni-san’. It was as if everything she had wished Tasuki had were all on Hotohori instead. Perhaps it could be true that Hotohori was her fate instead of Tasuki. She let out a smile as she understood the look and intention in Hotohori’s eyes. Tasuki was a false dream she had lost and not worth chasing after anymore. The real dream was right there in front of her eyes and all she had to do was reach over and get him.
That’s exactly what she did as she locked lips with Hotohori.
“Aishiteru, Nuri-chan…” Hotohori whispered as he held Nuriko close, never wanting to let go.
“Ai…Aishiteru…Hoto-chan…”
Looks like Tasuki and Chichiri’s plan worked out well after all.
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