ATOMIC STRUGGLE

6「decisive step」8

(Congrats on another chapter~ No comment goal this time, hope you enjoy!)

Saturday, everyone enrolled in UA high attended the semester ending ceremony, where the principal said a few words, and then summer vacation officially started. Izak was bombarded with requests from his classmates for some personal training time, which the maroonette all turned to Aizawa, meaning the teacher was anything but enthralled as that bombardment exploded on him instead.

Shinso found it funny, yet somehow sad that Izak was so used to turning any request of him over to his handler. On the surface, he was just getting rid of the nuisances around him and letting someone else handle them. On a deeper level, Izak literally couldn't accept any of the requests being made of him without his handler's presence and consent. Just thinking about it made the purplette frown, no longer in the good mood that the upcoming summer vacation had put him in.

But it wasn't his place to comment on such things, so the day passed, the two went home to their apartment, convened with the two others in the dwelling for dinner, and got their break off to a good enough start that Shinso quickly forgot his sympathy for his friend.

~*~

"Hey Izak, I know we had a bit of a misunderstanding just a few days ago, but I have a client here that really needs your help," Giran told the maroonette over the phone a while later.

"Why is it that all of your clients have such outlandish traits?" Izak asked with a quick look over at where Toga was butchering a body he had conjured up in his likeness and image, so she could 'kill' him and make him 'beautiful' without actually doing that to him. She seemed to be having fun, giggling and murmuring things as she carved at the flesh and licked up the blood while making sure to smear it at the same time.

"Well that's what happens sometimes," Giran replied, sounding amused. "Anyway, is that a yes?"

"I don't remember there being a question, but if it's whether or not I'll help this new client of yours, then yes, I don't see why not," Izak said.

"Perfect! Then I'll just let you know in advance that this person is a transgender woman that doesn't have access to the care she needs. Since you know where my office is, I won't have to come get you, will I?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way," The maroonette said, then ended the call and put his phone in his pocket. "Hitoshi," He addressed, knocking on the purplette's door. A second later, that door opened to reveal said person.

"What's up Izak?" Shinso asked.

"Giran called me over, so I'm going to be gone for a bit, no more than an hour though. Could you keep an eye on Toga and Mihoko for me?" Izak requested, causing the other teen to nod instantly.

"Of course, leave it to me," He agreed.

"Thanks," Izak gave him a nod of his own before disappearing. Reappearing right outside of Giran's door, he rasped his knuckles against the door, and once again, the door opened.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to get here so quickly!" The broker beamed as he stepped aside to let the teenager into the room. "Magne, this is the person I was telling you about."

"Hello," Magne, apparently, inclined her head to the maroonette, who returned the gesture.

"So to be clear, you want to transition into a girl?" Izak got straight to the point, which Giran just smiled at as Magne took it in stride.

"Yes, if you would," She smiled, trying to hide her nervousness from what Izak could see. He himself would never really understand why someone would want to be a girl, especially with menstruation and whatever else, but who was he to make decisions for others? Thus, he snapped his fingers, and instantly Magne's body morphed into the body of her dreams.

When she started crying, Izak wasn't really sure what to do, but Giran just gave him a smile and told him that he'd take care of the rest. So with that said, the maroonette had left, returning to his apartment in just ten minutes. "That was fast," Shinso commented as Izak sat down on the two-seater couch.

"Yeah," He said plainly, not feeling the need to elaborate as he turned on the TV and scrolled through the channels.

"Oooh, that one looks cool!" Toga chimed as she skipped over to the maroonette, leaning over the back of the couch and wrapping her bloody arms around Izak's neck.

"Think so?" Izak raised an eyebrow, but let the program run as the girl hummed her confirmation, seemingly very pleased and at least somewhat sated in her desires for blood. Hitoshi really didn't know how or why, but he was slowly getting used to the weird and unpredictable things that happened around the head of the household, and honestly speaking, he suspected something might be wrong with the world if something weird didn't happen to Izak at least once a week.

"Hey Izak," He suddenly addressed, causing the maroonette to glance at him. "Could I have some hot chocolate?"

"OOH ME TOO!" Mihoko hollered from the bathroom, since she was grounded and not allowed to leave her room, meaning the connected bathroom was as close to the other people in the house as she was going to get until dinner.

"Sure," Izak snapped his fingers, and a squeal escaped the bathroom as the eight year old retreated into her room with her new treasure. Shinso simply held the steaming mug that had appeared in his hands and let a comfortable and content smile appear on his face. Now, he knew he wasn't just hooked on the stupid heavenly hot chocolate that Izak made. No, Shinso now understood that what he was really hooked on was Izak himself.

And that was the day that Hitoshi Shinso took the decisive step away from his selected role. Now all that was left was for certain events to solidify their circumstances so much so that he can finally, without any hesitation, meet Izak's expectations from so long ago.

[Like this story? Consider tipping me on Ko-Fi! You might get a surprise~ Link is on my profile. Thank you for reading my story!]