This story is not of your own world, but is one of its own original make. A tale whose origin was from this world and this world only. It starts as such... a story of a princess residing on a hill that looked over the ocean and the kingdom their family ruled. The princess met a twin-tailed guard during their youth, one whose loyalty had been entirely sworn to the princess herself, with an almost fervent worship through her guard and those who worked under her.
The princess remained in a stagnant life, unable to pursue their interests, leading to, in their free time, traversing the very kingdom they ruled. Everyone was scared of the princess, believing her to be cursed, a cruel and unjust leader, or a cold and unyielding queen. Many people had different opinions about a single girl.
Eventually, the princess broke out from the restraints of her kingdom, escaping to the forests that surround it in search of anything to break the mundanity of her present life. In that forest, she met a hare that spoke to her. The hare was shunned, not quite like how she was, but was shunned nonetheless, considered to be a liability amongst the kingdomfolk, hunted down for their very existence alone.
The princess found the hare interesting, and the hare themselves wanted to learn about many things. The first thing the princess taught the hare was how to dance.
***
I looked at myself in the mirror, hair tied back to show my face more, along with my eyes. Typically, I wear my hair so that my bangs go over my eyes, but today, I gotta lock in.
Honestly, I mostly asked Naomi if she wanted to do anything as more of a... like... word filler? I didn't have much else to say to her, so I kind of just said anything to fill in the silence, and now I'm about to go on a date with the Student Council President. I would be lying if I said my heart wasn't in my stomach right at this moment. What the hell was I thinking? I'm just glad she accepted. I wondered why she even accepted to begin with.
Additionally, I found that tying my ears up with my hair helped a little in keeping them out of the way. Additionally, from what I could tell, it made it harder for people to notice right away if they could see spirits and the like, suggesting that I was not a wererabbit person. Plus, I can't exactly stuff my ears into my collar every time I want to keep them out of the way since my chest isn't anywhere near that big, and most people think I'm a guy anyway, so it'd be even more suspicious.
A date with a princess, what the hell have I gotten myself into?
Well, she's not an actual princess, but she might as well be the princess of the town since she comes straight from the wealthiest people here. The Rascean family funds everything around these parts; it's a given due to their more than direct relationship with the Mayor, as from what I can recall, Naomi's older brother is married to the Mayor's daughter.
What the hell am I supposed to be wearing here? I thought to myself, changing through a variety of different clothes. Should I go fancy? Something more casual? I decided eventually to ask her directly, texting, "Hey, what do you think would be the best to wear on our date? Something more proper, or something casual?"
"Can you wear something like this?" She responded, an image underneath of a woman in a crop top, jeans, and a leather jacket over their shoulder.
"Huh?"
"No, actually," another image shows a crop top still, but it's skintight on the body of a man, shortsleeved, and they're wearing baggy pants.
"What the hell are you trying to make me wear?"
"Do you have abs?"
What the fuck is this lady asking me? "Yes? Seth and my mom worked our asses off, so it's just become routine."
"You should definitely wear something that shows off your abs."
"Why?"
"'Cause I want to see it."
Would this be considered harassment of sorts or flirting? "If you want to see my abs so bad, I could just send a pic and be done with it."
"Do that and wear the clothes I sent." She followed that up with a winky face emoji.
Different in person, and different in te-- I cut the thought off short. Did she ask me to send ab pics? I contemplated for a while, wondering if I should double down on her dare. Would it be too bold? What if she was joking? "Are you joking?"
"No."
How am I supposed to react to this? I've never experienced this before. Aside from that, "Can I wear something else? I think I have an outfit that you'd like, and it's a bit more casual."
"Really now?"
"I'll just send a pic." I opted to wear one of my more transparent white dress shirts, a black sports bra, and a pair of Daisy Dukes I had never gotten to wear. I'm probably gonna wear tights under it all as well. Should I wear boots? Anyway, I wore what I'd call the 'concept outfit' and took a pic, sending it over to Naomi.
"I like it, also, where are my ab pics?"
I could feel my cheeks flush. "Why do you want those so bad?"
"Cause I find it attractive, now," An image of an open hand.
Is this what being hit on entails? "Have you asked anyone else this before?"
"No. Where are my pic--"
Holy shit, she is determined. Regardless, I've decided on my outfit; now I have to plan what we're going to do on the date. "Before or after a workout?" I sent one last text begrudgingly, not so begrudgingly, flushed in the face as I went downstairs into my living room.
Kyra was splayed out on the couch, eyes raised as she spotted me descending the stairs. My sister, Kyra, was lightly tanned with blond hair, sharing the same hazel eyes that I had. "What are you wearing? I haven't seen you in anything feminine since... since you were in middle school."
"It's uh... I have a date, so... They asked for something like this, so..." I shrugged.
"Really now? Whose your date?"
"It's uh.... the Student Council President."
"Huh!? Bullshit!"
"I'm not bullshitting." I was surprised at myself that I wasn't. "I... I asked her out and she accepted."
"Are you sure she isn't fucking with you? W-Wait," Kyra chuckled. "How do I even know if this is real?"
I sighed, texted 'Hey, could you take a picture of yourself' to Naomi, and waited.
"What?"
"I'll be getting proof soon."
"Oh, shit."
Soon enough, Naomi sent back a picture of herself wearing a turtle-neck sweater, a suspender skirt, and a beret, with glasses set on the bridge of her nose. I freeze for a moment, "Shit."
"Shouldn't I be saying that?" Kyra looked over my shoulder. "Oh, you weren't lying. H-How the hell did you pull!?"
"I don't know."
"Are those her date clothes?" She scanned me. "Quite a contrast."
"I don't really care, she looks cute."
"Woah, you really just said that out loud." Kyra paused. "You like her?"
"I'm not sure at the moment, but I know that I'm interested."
"Well, go on, don't let me stop you."
"You're being oddly friendly today, Kyra."
"I'm just in a good mood."
I look back down at my phone, seeing that Naomi has tagged me for one of my previous messages. "Also, after."
What the hell am I doing?
I decided to head out first, giving Naomi a specific location for us to meet up. Specifically, I wanted to meet her at the downtown boardwalk. If we go from there, we could either see a movie, have dinner, y'know, typical date things. It'd help me improvise on the fly if things go wrong.
Honestly, I arrived way too early. I sat straight down onto one of the various stone benches scattered about, scrolling through my phone to pass the time. After a few minutes of waiting, I learned that I wasn't the only one to show up early, as I heard Naomi audibly exclaim, "Oh!" as she approached.
I froze up, realizing that this was really happening right then and there. I stood up, straightening out my shirt. "Y-Yo."
"Looking good."
"Y-Yeah," I nodded. "You're looking good as well."
"Hm..."
We stood in silence for a moment.
Naomi spoke up again. "This is a lot more embarrassing than I thought it'd be."
"Uh... yeah." I chuckled. "You hungry? How about we go get something to eat to start us off?"
"That sounds good. Should I pay?"
"Nah, nah. I've acquired a substantial amount of money, so I'm okay with paying." A beat, "Or we could steal, either or."
"Yeah, that could work too."
"Oh?"
"Hm?"
"Just didn't expect you to take the joke well."
"Well... I don't really care about stealing. I'm not opposed to it-- also, wasn't really joking."
"That's..." I couldn't help but laugh. "Wild hearing the Student Council President saying this."
"There are a lot of things I don't care about. Tax evasion, for example."
"You're quite the rebel, aren't you?"
"Like you're one to talk. You and your late-night expeditions around campus."
We walked in silence for a moment. It was nice, just walking together, immersed in the sounds that surrounded us. After a minute, we found a diner we liked and went inside. We chose to sit in one of the booths and sat across from one another.
"Gael, you have an older brother, yes?"
I cocked a brow. "Oh, uh... yeah, I do."
"I was just curious. Seth never said anything about them, so..."
"Yeah, Lennon. He's uh... unique. The only reason he didn't end up like me is because he's charismatic." I blinked, realizing something. "Did my Dad talk about me and my sister?"
"It was more like he mentioned you two. But, as for Lennon, he hasn't said a word, not even a mention."
"Uh... yeah, he's a few years older than me and my sister, while Kyra and I are only a year apart."
A server approached, causing us to pause briefly in our conversation, as we both ordered our food and sent them on their way.
"He's... off. I guess. When... when I was accused by Linnet in Middle School, he was one of the only people on my side... but that didn't comfort me. He thought I did it, but... He didn't care..." I sighed. "It's hard to put into words, but... it was callous. I didn't do anything to warrant the accusation, sure, but... it was almost as if he didn't believe anyone else's opinion to be worth anything, as if he had this bias in his mind that made it so that, regardless of whether I made the mistake or not, they were the ones at fault in the end. I don't really like Lennon."
"About that situation, could you recall it all for me from your perspective? I want to hear it from you, plus... I came to you with the intent of completely exonerating you, yes?"
"You're still doing that?"
"Of course, I'm a woman of my word, after all."
"Yeah, okay..." I shrugged. "I'll talk about it."
"Thank you, so... how did it start? What happened to lead up to you being referred to as a stalker? A criminal by others? To be shunned as you have?"
"It wasn't..." I sighed. "It wasn't just that. Stalker is the current stigma, but originally... I was accused of being an offender. To put it simply, in reality, I was... this all started because they discovered that I was... not fully a woman. At the time, I was female presenting, so when they learned that I was intersex, they-- everything went downhill."
The server returned with our drinks, making a passing comment about how our food would be served to us shortly.
I sipped at my lemonade. "I was a bit of a hero back then, too, so a lot of people were just kinda sick of my shit, lots of not very good people that held a lot of power in the school at the time."
"I know this is an abrasive question, but how does it look down there? Mostly... boy... or...?"
I uncomfortably twisted my lips against the straw in my mouth. "Uh... let's just say, if I didn't have a more feminine body, you'd think I was fully a dude, does that make sense?"
"Well... some guys have feminine bodies."
"Yeah, b-- I'm not getting into it, it's..." I shook off the tangent as if it were affecting me physically before continuing, "So, it started as me being bullied for my intrinsic traits. It wasn't too bad. I kept at what I was doing, and a lot of people already didn't like the hero thing I had going on anyway, so I was already used to it."
"You used to be friends with your accuser, yes?"
"Yeah," I sighed. "Linnet. I was friends with her. To provide some spark notes, she got involved with the wrong crowd. I intervened when things got bad for her, and I warned her numerous times not to get involved with Dragon and his goons, but she did it anyway. Like I said, though, I intervened when things came to a point, and then suddenly she accused me of being a stalker, about me liking her, about pretending to be a woman to get into her pants." My jaw tightened. "We were fuckin' middle schoolers-- it was just..." I shook my head, attempting to keep myself calm. It had been a while since I've tried to recall this incident.
"So, you know Dragon, huh?"
I looked back up to Naomi, a curious expression on my face. "You know Dragon?"
"I do, because I'm the one who took down his gang. It's why he's gone completely dark in the past few years, though I had no idea he had any involvement in your incident in particular."
"So he's one of the gangs you busted."
"Indeed, he is," Naomi sighed. "At the moment, I don't think either of us is done with Dragon yet."
"What do you mean? Why don't you think we're done?"
"Cause I think he was involved with the Alakazam case, in fact, he might even be involved with the bullying Jordan has been experiencing over the past few months--"
"Jordan has been getting bullied?"
"Don't tell her I said that, though," Naomi sighed. "I'm saying it now because it's essential. Honestly, that slipped out if anything." Naomi looked almost frustrated with herself. "That was my fault..." She shook her head. "Regardless, I also have reason to believe that he may have also had some relations with that Vampire Violet killed as well."
"What!?" I tried to keep my voice down, reducing it to a whispering shout so as not to alarm anyone within the restaurant. "Why do you think they're involved, or have relations with these people? What evidence do we have?"
"I have to say, I only believe he was involved. I have no idea if he is or not. It's a theory, not a tangible concept. I apologize." Naomi anxiously licked her lips, "It's hard not to think about it, though. If Alakazam's user could've gotten involved, and there is evidence of those with Boons within the various gangs that used to populate our campus... Do you know why Dragon was put on my radar during my 'Child Detective' days?"
"Why?"
"It's because he grew uncharacteristically interested in the supernatural. He would collect those with Boons on campus as if they were toys in a collection, and the thing he desired most of all was to attain a Boon himself. Even when I captured him, he didn't care, as if everything would fall into place. From my perspective, it didn't... but maybe that wasn't the point? He didn't care if he became a criminal because..." She stopped herself.
"What's wrong?"
"I just... maybe I'm thinking too much into this. It's times like this I need to apply Occam's Razor."
"I don't know... knowing that guy, I think you're a bit justified in your suspicions."
Dragon, it was the nickname he gave himself. His real name was Caster Holt. During High School, he was a completely normal kid, aside from his request to be called by his nickname. He had black hair and would often have his eyes almost completely closed, especially during conversations.
Once we got into High School, the guy had changed entirely physically. He dyed his hair silver and got tattoos scrawled across his back and arms, portraying scaled serpents and storm-rending dragons. It was some obsession of his to be worshipped in some way.
I never interacted with him during High School, though. We ignored each other, plus I found no reason to poke the bear that was my past. I didn't want to get hurt.
Our food finally arrived. I immediately dived into some chicken alfredo I ordered, passing glances over at Naomi, who, elegantly, picked at her steak. As I chewed, I spoke. "Sorry for bringing down the mood."
"No, I asked. You're okay."
"Honestly though..." I swallowed my food. "Speaking about all of this with you... It's lifted a weight off my shoulders, some, y'know?" I smiled.
Naomi nodded. "I'm glad. It'd be nice to see you smile more after all."
I almost choked on my food, forgetting this was a date for a moment. "Um... yeah... I could say the same. Shit..."
Naomi rubbed her chin. "Have I ever smiled around you?"
"Like, once."
"What did you think?"
"What did I think?"
"You like my smile?"
"Uh..." I went quiet, nodding.
"What was that?"
"What?"
"You have to say it out loud. I couldn't see you."
"Your eyes are open!"
Naomi's eyes were not squeezed shut. "What about now?"
"I... Will you please let this go?"
"No."
"I thought it was pretty. Your smile is pretty."
Naomi gasped. "We have a lip fetishist here~!"
"H-You asshole!" I laughed, taking a sip from my drink.
"So, Gael, how long have you been attracted to my lips?"
I almost spit out my drink. "W-What a way to phrase that. What are you talking about?"
"Well, you're a lip fetishist, no? So, I was wondering--"
"No, no. We aren't doing that, I'm not a fetishist, at least not to lips that is."
"To what then?"
"Huh?"
"If not lips, what else? There are only so many fetishes out there; in fact, we may have already taken out one of the major fetishes out there. Let's narrow it down."
"I ain't sayin' it."
"Well, technically, you did, you just haven't said what it is, so what fetish do you have?"
"Look, I don't know, I just know that lips ain't one of them."
"Then... are you saying my lips are unattractive?" Naomi gave a downcast expression, hand to her mouth.
"What? When did I say that?"
"Well, if you don't like my lips, then I guess a kiss is off the table for this date."
"W-What the-- Why are you trying to bait me, what are you doing?" I chuckled.
Naomi stuck her tongue out playfully. "I'm just having fun. Don't you like fun?"
"I like fun, I'm just not good with teasing." I took a breath, still smiling. "The more I know about you, the more I can't help but be shocked. You're so... not like how everyone has you out to be, y'know? I like it."
"Do you like me?"
"W-What is with you? You're so aggressive today."
"I prefer being the hunter rather than the hunted, y'know?"
"Why are you so interested in me?"
"You want to hear my reasoning?"
"Yeah, I do. W-Why are you being so aggressive with me?"
"At first, I was just interested because I knew you were more talented than you let on. Additionally, I felt that your case was unfair, particularly the treatment you received and the like. Then, I realized that you were interested in me. It's as simple as that."
"R-Really?"
"And also, you're my type?"
"Y-Yo..." I put my forehead against the glass of my drink, attempting to hide my face. Hearing that out loud startled me, I must admit.
After eating, we left the diner and continued wandering through Inastro's boardwalk. Before I could speak, planning in my head our next excursion, we were interrupted by the sight of someone we both recognized. Savannah, the President of the Disciplinary Committee, spotted us.