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𝟐𝟔 || 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐔𝐏 𝐃𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐒 ||

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Everything is cloudy and hazy. Dark. Peaceful even.

    Takemichi doesn't know why, but his mind is under some kind of spell—stopping him from forming any coherent thought. It's nice. Relaxing.

    Not a single thing can be seen and Takemichi oddly takes comfort in his empty surroundings. He doesn't have to worry about anything. His guard is completely down, limbs heavy and unmovable, and there's nothing around to cause the boy any fright.

    Takemichi wishes he can stay in this beautiful place forever. After everything that's happened over the years, it's nice to be somewhere where he doesn't have to be consumed with guilt, fear, and worry.

    He finds himself relishing in the emptiness, in the silence, and he hopes, prays, that he's left undisturbed—

    "Wake up Michi!"

    Of course he's asking for too much.

    Despite recognizing the voice, Takemichi doesn't bother moving. In fact, he seeks out the darkness, desperately tries to hold onto it, but—of course—it gradually begins to slip through his fingers.

    With a tired groan, Takemichi opens his eyes—wincing at the bright light that consumes his surroundings. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he turns to the voice that brought him out of his wonderland of darkness.

    "I was sleepinn'..." Takemichi whines, his words slurring a bit. The kid sitting next to him just giggles. Takemichi turns to face the boy, narrowing his eyes and glaring as the kid continues to giggle like a newborn. "Why'd ya wake me uppp, Haki-chan?"

    Through his blurry vision, Takemichi can barely make out the gentle smile Hakkai sends his way.

    "The teacher gave us a project to work on—one we can do with a partner!" Hakkai exclaims excitedly, his hands reaching over to grab Takemichi's shoulders. "And I got a great idea for what we should do!" Takemichi stares at him with a confused expression.

    What project?

    Did the teacher assign them something while he was asleep? Actually, knowing Takemichi's luck, that's probably what happened.

    "Uhhh...what are we doing? What project?" Takemichi asks, feeling more than a little out of the loop.

    "We're doing a presentation on Japanese mythology!"

    Takemichi can't stop his face from scrunching up. He's never really been good with presenting projects. His voice is too soft, he mumbles and stutters under the watchful eyes of his classmates, and his skin lights itself on fire when he catches the students whispering to each other with judgy smirks on their lips.

    Takemichi slumps over his desk, already wishing to be knocked out for the next day or two.

    "Ughhh!!! Why a presentation?!" Takemichi groans loudly, not caring if he's drawing the attention of his fellow classmates and teacher for his disrespectful tone.

     "It was either a presentation or an essay and I don't wanna write an essay."

    Ok, yeah, that's fair, Takemichi thinks tiredly. He'd choose a presentation over an essay any day, even if he has to endure the hard stares of his classmates.

    Takemichi heaves out one more pitiful sigh before removing his head from the desk. Moping around will get him nowhere. It's much better if he just gets this project over with. Afterall, who cares if his classmates judge him? He doesn't necessarily have a good or bad relationship with either of them, except for Hakkai, and—as terrible as it sounds—he doesn't really care much about them.

    They can laugh and point all they want, but, in the end, they matter very little in Takemichi's life.

    "What myth are we gonna present?" Takemichi asks Hakkai who already appears more prepared than Takemichi for this project. His indigo eyes twinkle in excitement. Taking his hands off Takemichi's shoulders he reaches over —pulls a book out of nowhere—and slams it down onto Takemichi's desk.

    Raising a brow, Takemichi scans the title and raises his eyebrows in surprise.

    "Record of Ancient Matters? I thought you'd go with Amaterasu and the Cave..." Takemichi mumbles out although very delighted with Hakkai's decision.

    The indigo eyed boy scoffs at Takemichi's words. "Everyone is doing a presentation on Amaterasu. I thought we could do something a little different...like the creation myth!" he explains excitedly while flipping open the book in front of Takemichi.

    The curly haired boy will admit, the cover of the book is very pretty...

    "I was thinking we could put on a show!"

    Takemichi's heart drops to the pit of his stomach. He can already hear the kids laughter, can feel their judgemental stares.

    "A—a show? Like...us acting it out?" Takemichi asks, afraid to hear the answer Hakkai will give him.

    Hakkai, completely oblivious to the fear building up inside Takemichi, goes on to answer his question without a care in the world. "Yep! I can even get some kids to join in!"

    By gets, he means forces...

    A bead of sweat rolls down Takemichi's forehead. Last year, Hakkai made it very clear that he wouldn't take no for an answer. He always got what he wanted, from the teachers, students, and Takemichi. The tall boy was just intimidating, practically towering over everyone with his long stature. No one could tell him no. However, in Takemichi's case, the tall boy would give him the sad puppy dog eyes that Takemichi just couldn't resist.

    The thought of Hakkai forcing a couple of poor unfortunate kids to be a part of their little play is enough to make Takemichi speak up against the indigo eyed boy.

    "H-How about we—we present a different way? Without getting anyone else in our class involved?" Takemichi suggests. And, as expected, Hakkai's expression falls.

    "You don't like my idea?" He asks, a frown very evident on his lips. His eyebrows furrow together and there's a type of tension that appears In his shoulders.

    Takemichi gulps. He needs to think of something to say and fast! The last thing he wants to do is hurt the boy's feelings; he's clearly very excited about this entire project (even though Takemichi doesn't share the same sentiment) and Takemichi would hate himself if he was responsible for trampling over the boy's enthusiasm.

    "I-I do! It's just—we should do something...a little different?" Takemichi's poor excuse of a response is met with a confused look.

    "Like what?"

    More beads of sweat roll down his brow.

    What can he say? What can he do? Surely there's something in Takemichi's mind that can save his sorry ass—

    His blue eyes widen the moment it hits him.

    A few days ago, his mother had put on a show that had Takemichi leaning towards the screen with interest. The show didn't have real people or cartoon characters; instead the characters in the show were portrayed by puppets.

    Maybe they can do something similar!

    "W-what about a puppet show?" Takemichi hesitantly asks, his hands shaking and sweating nervously.

    Thankfully, putting Takemichi's nerves at bay, Hakkai's face lights up at the boy's suggestion.

    "That's an awesome idea, Michi!" Hakkai praises, causing the boy to heave out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Hakkai supports his idea! He's not sure what he would've done if he outright rejected it...actually, let's just not think about it.

    "T-Thanks!—" but Hakkai keeps talking, rambling on and on in excitement.

    "We can get Mitsuya to make us some puppets! Oh—and we need props, and a mini stage, and—"

    And Takemichi eventually blocks him out, more than relieved that he managed to save a poor student's life.

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Coming up with the idea was the easy part.

    Trying to convince Mitsuya to help them was the hard part.

    After school, Hakkai and Takemichi ran to Mitsuya's apartment and practically begged the boy to make them some puppets for their presentation.

    A part of Takemichi expected the older boy to agree with their plan; he likes sewing, making dolls, and helping people! So surely he'll help the two boys, right?

    Well, sadly, he was wrong.

    "I'm not wasting fabric on something you guys will only use once," Mitsuya reprimands with a furrowed brow.

    Hakkai falls to his knees in defeat, his indigo colored irises filling up with tears. Takemichi can't even blame him for reacting this way—he's close to having the same reaction.

    "T-That's not true!" Takemichi protests despite knowing that Mitsuya is telling the truth. Takemichi doesn't really have any need for Puppets aside from this project and he doubts Hakkai will have any use for them either. "We'll use them all day—every day! Right, Hakkai?"

    The boy doesn't even respond. Takemichi looks down and gapes at the sight of Hakkai slamming his head down on the floor and groveling at Mitsuya's feet.

    "PLEASE, MITSUYA! PLEASE HELP US!!!" He cries out without a single care in the world.

    Oh shit.

    Hakkai is dead serious about getting these puppets...

    Takemichi looks over to see Mitsuya watching the crying boy with a scrunched up face, no doubt disturbed by the desperate boy's performance. The boy's lilac eyes go from Hakkai to Takemichi, like he's trying to make sure that they're seeing the same thing. And sure enough, they are.

    Takemichi ignores the pleas and cries from his companion and continues on with trying to sway Mitsuya to their cause. "I promise we'll put the puppets to good use! We'll treat them like they're our own children! We'll bathe them, feed them, read to them—"

    "They're puppets, Takemichi. Not babies..."

    "But still! We'll take really good care of them!"

    Mitsuya sighs, loud and full of exhaustion. In the distance, Takemichi can hear his little sisters in the apartment causing some sort of ruckus. The older boy shakes his head with a groan and fixes his gaze back on Takemichi.

    "...ok. I'll help you with the project."

    Takemichi opens his mouth, about to profusely thank the boy for agreeing, when he's interrupted by Hakkai. The boy jumps up from the floor and flings his long arms around Mitsuya, a cheerful smile spread wide across his lips.

    "YAAAAAYY!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU—"

    "HEY!!! GET OFF, HAKKAI!"

    Takemichi can't even be bothered with trying to separate the crying boy from Mitsuya. The boy just heaves out a sigh of relief and slumps his body. He closes his eyes and sends a silent prayer to whatever ancient being decided to grant Takemichi with such amazing luck.

     When he opens his eyes again, he's met with the view of Mitsuya scolding Hakkai—his face stern but lilac eyes soft as he points a finger at him and reprimands him for his behavior. It's quite the sight to behold; watching a boy almost twice Mitsuya's size getting scolded...

    "I'll help you two out...under one condition!" He exclaims, grabbing both of their attention. Takemichi can't stop himself from gulping nervously.

    What will Mitsuya have them do? Something illegal? Like thievery? Oh shit, what if he wants Takemichi to knock someone out?! He can hardly win any of the fights that he's in—how does he expect the boy to perform such a task—

    "You two must help me watch Luna and Mana."

     Oh. Well, that's not so bad.

    Before Takemichi can even speak, Hakkai throws the boy a thumbs up with a cheeky smile. "You got it, Mitsuya! Me and Michi here will watch those girls like a hawk—" the boy suddenly gasps and turns to Takemichi's, stars twinkling in his indigo eyes. "—or a falcon!!! Falcon's are so cool, right Michi?"

    Takemichi doesn't really know the difference between a hawk and a falcon. To him, they're both birds who prey on small adorable animals like rabbits and...kittens...so he just nods his head. Maybe he can get Hakkai to show him some pictures of Falcons later when they head over to Takemichi's apartment.

    Hakkai claps his hands, seemingly delighted with their compliance, and smiles warmly at them.

    "Great! Meet me here tomorrow after school," the boy orders, earning a playful 'yes sir' from Takemichi and Hakkai.

    Takemichi has a really good feeling about this. They'll help Mitsuya watch two young girls and Mitsuya will help them with their puppet show.

    Simple and easy.

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Takemichi should've said no.

    He made a mistake.

     A big mistake.

    "STAY STILL MICHI! YOU'RE MESSING UP YOUR MAKEUP!!!"

    Like Takemichi said, a huge fucking mistake.

    "But Luna—"

    Luna—the little devil—glares at Takemichi, effectively making the boy snap his mouth shut.

    "Do you want me to start all over?" She reprimands whilst wagging red lipstick in front of his face. Takemichi zeroes in on the lipstick, dreading what's to come.

    He's already covered with concealer, blush, and eyeshadow. The last thing he needs is lipstick!

    "N-No! But do I really need lipstick?"

    Her glare intensifies instantly. With narrowed lilac eyes, she inches closer to the terrified boy. She lifts the lipstick to his lips, removes the cap, and—and smirks.

    "If you don't wear the lipstick then I'll cry for my big brother~"

    It's safe to say that Takemichi is silently regretting his life decisions.

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"How long do we have to do this for?" Hakkai whispers from his place next to Takemichi.

    Like Takemichi, he's also covered in horrendous makeup that makes him look like a cheap plastic doll his mother would cringe at in garage sales. He knows he probably looks very similar to Hakkai if the heavy feeling on his face is anything to go by, but he can't help but feel selfishly glad that he's not the only one suffering.

    "Till' Mitsuya is done with the puppets, Haki-Chan. Remember the deal we made?" Hakkai groans at Takemichi words and hangs his head in defeat.

    "Of course I do! But I'm tired of being treated like—"

     "Like a doll?"

    "No, like a T-Rex..." Hakkai states sarcastically. Takemichi rolls his eyes at his friend's dramatic behavior.

    "At Least you're not wearing a princess dress..." Takemichi chides back, his hands instinctively reaching to grab the frilly skirt of his dress. "It's itchy and flashy and I want to tear it to pieces..."

    Hakkai raises a brow at the boy in confusion. Takemichi is about to ask his companion about his reaction, but thankfully he voices his thoughts before the words escape past Takemichi's lips.

    "But I thought you liked wearing dresses...?" Hakkai says, gesturing to the sparkly pink dress Takemichi was forced to wear for Luna's amusement. "What's so different about this one?"

    What.

    Did he seriously just—?

    "What's so different?" Takemichi repeats angrily, testing the words on his tongue and scowls. "THIS—" he gestures to the uncomfortable sequins stitched into the pink fabric that's scratching his skin red. "—IS A MONSTROSITY!!!" Takemichi screams, no longer caring if Luna comes back in and hears him. "THIS SHOULDN'T EVEN BE CONSIDERED A DRESS!!!"

    "Sorry, I take it back—"

    "Just wait until she comes back and forces you into one!" Takemichi snaps. He takes a step forward, closing the distance between the two boys, and jabs a finger into his companion's chest. "I'm gonna point and laugh and take pictures of your miserable face when you realize how terrible wearing this dress is!" Hakkai takes a step back at Takemichi's loud voice and swats his finger away. Takemichi doesn't care. He takes another step forward, refusing to be far away from his idiotic friend.

    "Hey! I said I was sorry, ok?"

    "Sorry isn't enough to stop the itchiness of this dress, Haki-chan!"

    "Oh Hakkai!!!~"

    Oh god...not that voice...

    Both Hakkai and Takemichi freeze. Their anger is quickly replaced with fear as the witness Luna skips back into the room with another sparkly dress in hand. Like the pink dress Takemichi is wearing, it's also covered in sequins. The sleeves are puffy and laced with intricate designs that would actually look good if it weren't on the puffy sleeves. Instead of the color of the dress being a blinding pink, it's a neon blue that's bright enough to put traffic lights to shame.

    The sound of Hakkai gulping nervously is music to the boy's ears.

    Karma sure is a massive bitch.

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Luna had successfully turned Takemichi and Hakkai into beautiful young girls by the time Mitsuya finished the puppets.

    Takemichi wanted nothing more than to crawl into a tiny ball the moment Mitsuya walked in the room with their handmade dolls in his arms. He expected the boy to burst out laughing like Hakkai when he was first forced into his pink dress, or maybe he'd make a remark on how terrible the makeup looks on their boyish faces. However, to Takemichi's surprise, Mitsuya didn't so much as blink at their new appearances.

    The lilac eyed boy exchanged a look with Luna and smirked.

    "Good job, Luna. They look absolutely beautiful," Mitsuya remarks with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Luna mirrors the look with her own adorableness, going as far as to puff out her cheeks in triumph.

    "No problem! Now pay up!"

    Wait, what?

    To Takemichi and Hakkai's horror, Mitsuya turns and hands her one of the handmade dolls he made.

    It's a doll that looks eerily similar to Takemichi.

    "Thank you Takashi!" She exclaims with a bright smile adorning her lips. She runs away with the doll in hand while practically giggling up a storm.

    Hakkai is the first to open his mouth, his face scrunched up in utter, bitter betrayal.

    "You asked her to dress us up like cheap plastic DOLLS?!" Hakkai shouts, his makeup covered face turning a rosy red.

    Mitsuya, the smirking bastard, doesn't even bother answering Hakkai. He walks up to Takemichi with the type of calmness Takemichi so wishes to have at the moment. The older boy hands Takemichi the handmade puppets—like he's just giving Takemichi a present out of the kindness of his heart.

    Takemichi glances down at the dolls in his hands and gasps in amazement. The two puppets look as if they were produced by some professional toy maker. They're incredible—from the designs, to the