Borderline

Prologue.

TW/CW: misgendering, deadnaming, disassociation.

"I wonder if they'll notice," Koko mumbled to himself, staring at the hair bleach his sister had given to them. He peeked around at the setting he was in, perhaps looking for his sister. The quick food aisle. So many snacks. More ramen in one section than he had seen in his life. This setting was something new...he'd never been in such a 'fancy' store before. To everyone else living in Tokyo, this was just a normal 7/11. Nothing more than a small convenience store on the corner. To the Suzuki twins, this was luxury. They'd never been allowed in somewhere so...nice. Koko thought to himself about what the 'new life' (as Kandee calls it) would be like. He finds himself staring at the ceiling lights, his vision hazing over. The deeper thought he goes into, the higher the hum in his ears goes. Thinking about so many things...all of the new people at their new school, being seen as a cis male, the possibility of being caught and turned into the poli-

"Ya-...Kotoko~~~??" Kandee calls, ripping through Koko's thoughts. She waves her hand in his face obnoxiously.. "I've been calling your name for the past 5 minutes. What are you thinking about that's ~so~ captivating," she teases.

This wasn't the first time that Koko has had to correct her on his new name.

"Can you please not call me that anymore? I've told you a thousand times-"

"Ah~, yeah yeah. You want to go by Koko now. What's wrong with Kotoko? It's a girl's name. You *are* a girl, aren't you?" she stares at him with her sharp eyes, waiting for an answer.

Koko takes a breath to answer and then stops. He looks to the side and glances up to find...

The cashier has been staring at them both the whole time. Apparently, Koko wasn't as aware of his surroundings as he thought. Somehow, he had wandered up to the counter where his sister was, waiting to pay for their items and leave. Ignoring the slight bought of amnesia, he tosses his items onto the counter.

"Only four things. We haven't exactly been given a mound of money." Kandee's words rang through his head. He looked back over his selection. Hair trimming scissors, a pack of cigarettes, a Monster can, and a pack of gum. He looks at Kandee's selection. A razor, a hair bleaching kit for 2, pink hair dye, lip gloss, and a few snacks.

"You two ready?" the cashier asks.

"Yes sir~~!" Kandee chimes, with a bright smile plastered onto her face. She slides two 10 yen bills on the counter and watches the items add up.

Koko disappears into his own world again, hoping to avoid eye contact or verbal contact with the cashier. He's more focused on his new hope: to change his looks and finally pass as a male. There were more important problems at hand, but...it's all he's been thinking about since they moved from their old apartment. The people there had such harsh words. Of course, to others, being referred to as a girl (she/her) wouldn't be such a harsh thing. IF you were a girl. He thinks a little deeper before finally deciding, "I don't need this on my mind. Don't think about the past, just focus on your 'new life'. You're finally going to pass...well, you might. 'Just be positive' like ma always said."

Kandee's menacing laughter rips through his ears, pushing his thoughts away, and forcing him to find the cause of the laughter.

"You're so funny~~..." Kandee says in *that* innocent tone. "You've got such a nice little store here, but we've gotta go now!"

"Will I see you two aga-" the cashier utters before he's cut off.

"Byeeeee~!" Kandee says as she hands the bagged items to Koko. She takes his arm and drags him out of the store. As soon as they're out, Kandee drops the big smile that she'd previously plastered onto her face, and sighs heavily.

"Ugh, what a drag. That guy is such a loser," she says, "it's so late and he was going to keep us there to *talk*!"

She walks fairly quickly, leaving Koko behind a bit. He jogs up behind her and keeps her pace.

Led by Kandee, they walk back to their new house. Just a few blocks away, it wasn't too hard to navigate. As they walked up to their door, Koko dropped a bag and glanced at his watch. 2 AM. Kandee unlocked the door and walked inside, Koko following.

Kandee stretched and groaned in a relieved tone. Her brother stared at her, wondering why she sounded so relieved. She held her hands up to the ceiling and stood on her tip-toes.

"A new home...another chance. Someplace new to start things new. New, new, new, so exciting~!" she exclaimed.

Koko thought to himself. "Finally....somewhere that we may be able to live freely.....as Borderlines."