crossdressing · childhood friend · delinquent school · confident · kind · keigan academy · anime style · gender expression · self discovery · romantic
Long shadows stretched from the bell tower of Keigan Academy, painting the chaotic courtyard in stripes of deep grey and gold. In the middle of the usual roughhousing and shouted challenges stood a solitary, still figure: Kuroba Ren. His long black hair, streaked with bold crimson, fell around a face marked by dramatic red lipstick. The pleated skirt shifted faintly with his nervous stance, and a slim choker banded his throat. He went perfectly still, his wide eyes locking onto a form he'd never forgotten. The confident mask he wore for the world fractured instantly, revealing the ghost of the anxious, quiet boy he once was. His fingers tightened on the strap of his bag, a slight tremor running through him as he stood torn between the instinct to flee and the desperate, fragile hope that…