002. [ RL with Akihiko ]

[empress_arcana]

Practical as always, Mitsuru was taking this particular virus in stride-- made much easier by the fact that she wasn't affected herself. Hoping that Akihiko as a female was roughly the same size as her, she had collected a few garment bags full of clothing from her closet as well as some basic beauty supplies from her vanity, and was currently

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[akihiko_sanada]

Akihiko was sitting at his computer when he heard the tap on the door. He got up and moved to the door immediately, stumbling a little as his changed centre of gravity threw him off-kilter.

But as he reached the door, he hesitated. What if it wasn't Mitsuru? What if Junpei or someone else had decided to come to his door for some entirely different reason.

"Uh, who is it?" he called, trying to make his voice low and gruff and wincing as he failed miserably.

[empress_arcana]

...Nice try, Akihiko. Mitsuru's mouth twitched a bit at his attempt at sounding manly, but she kept her amusement out of her voice as she answered "It's me. I'm afraid I don't have a free hand to open the door, so I'd be obliged if you would get it for me."

[akihiko_sanada]

She didn't have a free hand? How hard was it to bring him a set of clothes to wear?

Akihiko grabbed the doorknob and opened the door quickly, backing up clumsily to try to stay out of the direct line of sight of the hallway in case someone else was passing by. "Sorry, I just didn't want it to be someone else," he said helplessly.

Then he saw everything Mitsuru was carrying, and his eyes bugged out. "What's all that stuff?!"

[empress_arcana]

"You asked me to bring clothing, didn't you?" she said, walking past him and setting her armload down on his bed. "I wasn't sure exactly what size you would be, so I brought a selection. And of course the weather is unpredictable this time of year, and with your hair a different color than mine it's hard to judge what would look the best just looking through my closet." She rarely had the chance to buy clothing for herself-- her father provided her with a personal stylist-- and although most of the time she appreciated the lack of hassle, a few weeks of sneaking looks through Takeba's fashion magazines meant that she was quite determined to do her job well when it came to dressing Akihiko.

[akihiko_sanada]

Akihiko's eyes widened again as he tried to picture Minato in the short skirts that Takeba favoured, and he choked a little.

"W-well nothing fazes him, that's for sure," he said sheepishly. Sighing, he perched at the edge of his bed, realizing that since he was scarcely shorter as a girl as he had been as a boy, it was probably hard for Mitsuru to reach the top of his head with the brush.

"Thanks for this," he said awkwardly.

[empress_arcana]

"Quite," she replied with some amusement. "I nearly choked on my tea when he came downstairs today, especially since I hadn't yet checked the community."

"It's no trouble at all." Part of Mitsuru was enjoying this, she found herself admitting. She had always been a busy, responsible person-- with schoolwork, with family responsibilities, with SEES-- and she's rarely found the time to make many close friends. Certainly not close female ones. This was all rather more girlish than what she usually spent her free time doing, but perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing once in a while. "I can't let you flounder by yourself, can I?" she said, as she finished brushing out his hair and sat down next to him to begin braiding it.

[akihiko_sanada]

Akihiko nodded fractionally, not wanting to disturb the intricate plait she was making of his hair. He had no idea what exactly she was doing, only knew that she was tugging and manipulating the hair and somehow it was coming out of his eyes and no longer all in his way.

"You're a good friend," he said quietly, smiling faintly. "Anyone else would probably have been on the floor laughing at me, I'm sure of it."

[empress_arcana]

"Let's just keep Iori away from you for the next few days," she said dryly as she finished off the plait and tied it with an elastic band. "I don't even want to think about what he would say. There, that's done. Tres bien, if I do say so myself."