Chapter 38

A girl entered the mess hall, dressed like a goth loli. She wore a black and white dress, covered in frills. But it wasn’t a garish outfit, covered in thoughtless decorations; no, it was a carefully designed, balanced, beautiful goth loli outfit. Her hair only came to her shoulders, but it was gently curled, so pure white that it was almost transparent. The makeup on her face made her look mature, despite her young age. She’ll definitely grow into a beautiful woman, I thought.

That was how pretty she was. But I had no idea who she was. Soldiers’ families occasionally came to the mess hall, so it wasn’t a particularly big deal, but…this girl was simply too pretty. Everyone’s eyes naturally focused on her. I was watching her from a little ways away, but…she looked familiar, somehow…

“Hey, Sherry. Doesn’t that kid look familiar?” Sophia said as she approached me. She was right.

“Yeah… She looks like somebody we know, doesn’t she…?”

“Oh! That’s Yuria, isn’t it?!”

“What are you two talking about?” Eira said, walking up to join our conversation. She looked like she’d just gotten her meal.

“Oh, Eira. We were talking about how that girl over there looks like Yuria.”

“That is Yuria.”

“Huh…?” the two of us said in unison. That…was Yuria? No way. No matter how I looked at her, she was obviously…a woman.

As I was staring, the girl in question walked up to us. “Hey Sherry, Sophia.”

“Huh?! What?! Are you really Yuria?!”

“It’s okay, Sophia, calm down. You got this. Just count the primes! 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31…”

It felt like the world had stopped. That voice was, without a doubt, Yuria’s. That relatively high, but husky voice. There’s no way I could’ve mistaken it. It was Yuria’s voice, without a doubt. I heard his voice on a daily basis, after all. I knew it was him.

But as for why Yuria was dressed as a woman…well, we’ll have to go back a few hours to explain that.

◇

I woke up that morning feeling great. Today was my first day off in a while, and I’d made plans to go shopping with Eira.

It was one of those, “I’ve got a lot of stuff to buy, so come help me,” type things.

Of course I said yes. Eira has done so much for me; I’ve always been indebted to her. I was just happy that I had a chance to do something for her.

I put on some casual clothes to go out and noticed I didn’t have very nice clothes. They were average at best. Just a simple shirt and a pair of pants. It was simple, but…it was all I had, so I couldn’t help it. I mostly wore my uniform, for work, but…I guess it’d be nice to have a wider variety of civilian clothes.

“…Oops, look at the time.”

I spent too long dawdling around, thinking about my clothes, and was already 15 minutes late. I headed out in a hurry and made my way to our rendezvous point. We could’ve met up in front of the dorms like usual, but Eira had decided we should meet up at a fountain in the city. I had no idea why, but…I’m sure it was a decision she made after careful thought. I wouldn’t be able to understand.

“S-sorry… Just barely made it…”

“It’s fine. I just got here, too.”

Looking at her, I was rendered speechless.

Absolutely stunned.

She looked…nothing like I was expecting. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, but done up a little roughly, with her bangs like a light curtain over her forehead. See-through bangs, I think they’re called. The hairs framing her face were beautifully curled. She seemed to be wearing a little makeup, too, since her face was a little whiter than usual, with some light pink blush.

And, last but not least, her clothes. She wore a simple, white dress. It tied together her whole appearance and was the most eye-catching part of her outfit.

Compared to her, I was…

“S-sorry, Eira…I… I’m…!”

“W-wait, what’s wrong?!”

“You’ve put so much thought into your appearance; you’ve dressed yourself so beautifully today! And I… I’m so average in comparison… I’m so pathetic!”

“B-beautiful…?”

“Of course! Incredibly beautiful! And I’m so…!”

“H-hmm. I see. I’m b-beautiful…” she said, wrapping a strand of hair around her finger.

Damn it… She was so adorable! And I looked so pathetic!

“Hmm… Oh! I just thought of something.”

“H-have you thought of a punishment for me?! For being so pathetic?! I…suppose I have no choice but to accept it…”

“Hehe, Yuria, shall we dress you up?” she said, beginning to walk. I followed after her…into the unknown.

“This is…me? No, wait, this is really me?” I said, looking at a mirror. But what was reflected there couldn’t have been me. But it was me.

“Hehe, I figured you had the right ingredients to pull this off. You look pretty androgynous, after all. Your lips that look like they’ve been faintly painted on your almost transparent skin, and your pure white, shoulder-length hair — there’s no way I wouldn’t be able to make use of it!”

“Ah, ma’am, that looks lovely on you.”

I’d been reborn as a woman with the careful work of Eira and an employee at this store. The clothes fit so well, it was like they’d been tailored to me. The goth loli dress was perfect, along with the black-and-white knee-length socks, with long boots on top of them.

My white hair had been formed into curls with a 25mm flat iron, after applying some heat protectant. They were incredibly careful with my hair, and didn’t curl it too much. Just some light waves, really. After that, they carefully applied hair wax and some oils. The hair wax was used to shape the hair, and the oils were for shine. Finally, they used some hairspray to hold it all in place.

Makeup was kept to a minimum. They put my makeup together like a work of art, making the best use of their materials. First, the foundation. They layered the foundation on, bit by bit, and painted my lips with faint pink lipstick. Then they cut my eyebrows down a little bit and drew them into shape.

And after all that… a new me was born.

Perhaps I ought to call her Julia.

If I could dress fashionably like this, I’d have the right to stand next to Eira!

I’d completely forgotten something important, of course: I was a man, so it would’ve made a lot more sense for me to try to dress more manly. But at the time, I was swept up in wonder at how fashionable I looked. Eira was right, as I expected.

She’d said, “Yuria’s got the right ingredients; I’m sure we can make him look pretty. Hmm? That sounds too feminine? That’s not important. It’s a good thing, really. Beauty, you see, is something that transcends gender.”

She was probably right. No, no. These were Eira’s words. Of course they were right!

“Eira, thank you. Now I can stand next to you with confidence!”

“Hehe, that’s true! Now come on, let’s go!”

“Sure!”

We went back out into the city, did our shopping, and came back to the dorms. We dropped our bags off and headed for the mess hall. I considered changing, but it would’ve been a pain, so I decided to put it off for now. I grabbed a tray and got some food and found Eira talking to Sherry and Sophia.

“Hey Sherry, Sophia.”

“Huh?! What?! Are you really Yuria?!”

“It’s okay, Sophia, calm down. You got this. Just count the primes! 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31…”

Huh? What are they talking about? I thought. I’m me. Yuria Curtis. Why are they… Oh, right I’m dressed up right now. No wonder they’re surprised. Hehe, looks like I really can pull this off!

“Mm… The curry here really is good…”

“W-wait, you’re just gonna start eating?! Without explaining?! Have you not noticed?!”

“Calm down, Sophia. At times like this, it’s best to think about delicious food.”

“Look, you broke Sherry! Seriously, what’s going on?!”

“Hmm… Eira taught me the secrets of fashion. That’s what happened. What do you think? I think I pulled it off quite well!”

“Er, um… Did you want to look cute?”

“Huh?”

“Yuria, you identify as a man, right?”

“Huh? Well, yeah…”

“Do you not…need to look like a man?”

“Ah…”

The spoon fell out of my hand, clanking onto my plate…

Silence fell.

She was right… I was a man. W-why was I…trying to look cute?! How did I not notice?! I felt like Eira talked me into this somehow… Something about cuteness transcending everything, even gender…that it was the ultimate form of fashion, or something…

“Sorry, Yuria… I just wanted to play dress up. Sorry!”

“E-Eira!!”

That incident became another part of my dark past. Unfortunately, this…would not be the last time I cross-dressed, as I would soon find out…

Haha…