#tenkouma

Tenkouma

"Trans Girl Kokichi and her Scary Dog Privilege"

Makuya (Yugioh Arc-V)

"Don't call me that, you degenerate male," she told him. She spoke too harshly, because she immediately started coughing again, holding up her arm to muffle the coughs.

"Aww, don't be like that," Ouma said. There was a lilt to his voice that could make one think he regretted what he said, if not for the grin that was still plastered across his face. "I came all the way out here to check on you! You should be grateful."

Tenko waited until she'd stopped coughing to reply, making sure to do so at a more reasonable volume. "And why would I be grateful that you came to bother me?" she asked.

"Well, no one else did."

That answer left a frown on her face and she looked down, opening her palm to see the smears of blood and the crush of petals. No one had come to check on her. No one had called out to see if she was okay or sent her a message or… anything. Ouma was right. She hated that he was right almost more than she hated coughing up blood and flowers. Almost.

Tenko clenched her fist again. "Maybe they know that Tenko can take care of herself!"

"Maaaybe," Ouma said in a teasing voice. "Or maaaybe, you're here coughing up flowers for a reason."

She glared at him. "Tenko didn't ask for your opinion."

"Good, because I would usually charge for advice this good, but just because we're such good friends Ten-chan--"

"Don't call Tenko by your dumb nickname."

"I'll give it to you for free!" Ouma tossed his arms out like he was presenting a magic trick, a dirty move that made her cough even more.

The coughing didn't stop like she was expecting it to. Instead, it got heavier and heavier, until she was hunched over on all fours and leaving splatters of blood and flowers all over the grass. The flowers weren't uniform, like people often expected. There were marigolds and daisies and she nearly gagged as a sunflower got stuck in her throat. The whole ordeal left her panting, with a sore throat and stinging eyes as tears had gathered with the pain. She didn't bother trying to wipe them away when another fit might be just around the corner.

Ouma leaned down next to her, his face blank as he held out a bottle of water. After a few more heavy breaths, Tenko accepted it. She was on the verge of telling him thank you when he spoke. "Give up," he told her. "That's my advice."

Tenko's hand clenched around the newly opened bottle, causing water to slosh out and onto her hands. "Just like a degenerate male not to understand a girl's heart!"

"I understand just fine," he told her. "You spent the whole morning coughing and the only person to check up on you was me. Don't waste your time on people like that."

Tenko felt more tears gathering up in her eyes and she turned away so that Ouma wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She thought about throwing the water bottle at him, but her throat was still burning. She lifted the bottle and chugged the entire thing down in thirty seconds flat.

"Ouma doesn't understand," she said softly.

"Oh?" he asked her and there was a dark undercurrent in his voice. She'd heard it a million times before but never directed at her, never so close. Only from across the room when he was talking to others, usually before she had to step in on the girl's behalf. "Explain it to me, then."

Tenko crushed the plastic bottle in her hand, hoping that it would make her feel better, but it didn't. She set it down on the ground beside her and Ouma immediately scooped it up. "If you knew what it was like to love someone, you'd know that you can't just stop."

She heard Ouma stand up behind her and walk off. She hadn't expected to feel so sad and alone without him. How long has she been gone? Ouma couldn't have known where she was going when she hadn't even known, and it was unlikely that he had been on his way here for some other reason. He'd been in the middle of an argument with Iruma when she left. The only reason he would be here is if he really had come to check on her. But that was… that wasn't something she wanted to believe a degenerate male would do. At least, not this one. Not the class menace. Not the one that causes the most trouble. Not…

Not the only person in class that had come to check on her.

Tenko jumped again as she felt a hand land on her shoulder. She looked up with tear filled eyes to see Ouma standing there again, offering her another bottle of water. No, the same bottle that he'd uncrumpled and filled up again.

"If you knew anything about love," he told her, "You wouldn't be here choking on your feelings."

Tenko clenched her fist. She unclenched it. She accepted the bottle of water. "You don't get it."

"You know why I never get hanahaki?" he asked her, his voice abruptly taking on a hard tone. "Because I don't go dancing around the truth. Because if I love someone, I tell them. It doesn't matter if they love me back or they think I'm joking. It doesn't matter that they'll never love me in a million years. My feelings are about me, and yours should be about you. But they're not. They're about every girl that you think you can save, every girl who's heel you can lap at, every girl that you think needs you. But no one needs you, Ten-chan. So grow up and accept that."

With those words, he turned on his heel and stomped away, leaving Tenko stunned and alone.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Tenko took her time returning to class, slowly drinking down the refilled bottle of water and turning Ouma's words over in her head.

The words were harsh and she was angry at him for having spoken to her that way. In fact, when she saw him next she would almost certainly flip him. But that wasn't… all they were. She hated thinking so. Giving Ouma any credit whatsoever felt wrong. Why should she listen to a degenerate male?

But he had come to check on her. She was fairly certain that that was true, because why else did he have a bottle of water with him? She'd seen the kind of things Ouma liked, things sweet enough to poison or so unhealthy her master would have a heart attack if he saw her even holding it. And it wasn't if Ouma was always a menace, even if it sometimes felt that way. Gonta was one of the few males in her class that she thought was actually pretty okay and he thought Ouma was a good person. Tenko hadn't believed him before but… maybe he knew something they didn't?

When she did return to class, it was like she hadn't even been gone. No one asked if she was alright or if anything was wrong. Just a wave from Angie before she continued her conversation with Himiko, a smile from Kaede, and everyone else went on doing what they were doing.

Well, not everyone. She could feel Ouma's eyes on her, glaring at her as soon as she entered the room. He didn't look away when she glared at him, either, just kept staring at her with that blank expression of his. Her eyes tightened on the water bottle, refilled for a second time. His eyes did drop then, to look at the bottle, before darting back to hers in curiosity. She ignored him, turning around to start a conversation with someone and hoping that she wouldn't end up choking again.

Tenko lingered when class was over, telling the other girls to go on without her and fidgeting with the still full water bottle in her hand. She wasn't watching as the class emptied, so she hoped that he would still be there once she heard the last person leave.

She looked up once she heard the last person walk through the doorway and almost wished that she hadn't. He was sitting on his desk almost expectantly, looking at his nails as if she was wasting his time by making him wait. The urge to flip him was stronger than ever.

"Well?" he asked, glancing up from his nails to meet her gaze. "Have something to say?"

If he had been standing, she absolutely would have flipped him. Instead she gripped the edge of her desk, took a deep breath, and stood. She grabbed the water as she marched over to him, satisfied to see the cockiness in his gaze falter a bit with her stern approach. She held out the water bottle and said, "Thank you. Even if you're just a degenerate male, even you can do something nice once and a while."

Ouma was silent for a moment before he broke out into a grin and snatched the bottle from her hands. "It's about time, Ten-chan! I was dying of thirst, you know!"

She groaned. "Tenko told you--"

"Wait," he said, holding up his hand. "Where did you feel this up at? You didn't use icky bathroom water, did you?"

"Wha? Of course not!" she yelled. "I used a water fountain."

Ouma slumped, looking sadly at the bottle. "Common water? When I used nice, luscious spring water for you? You wound me, Ten-chan."

"You did not use spring water," she argued. "It took you like a minute to refill the bottle. There's no way you found any springs."

"Obviously not," he said, kicking his feet where they didn't reach the ground. "I poured another bottle of water into this one. Pretty smart, right?"

"Why didn't you just give Tenko the new bottle?"

Ouma frowned at her. "And let you kill another bottle? No way! Do you know how hard it was to bring this one back from the brink of death?"

She placed her hands on her hips as she let out a tired breath. He looked too chipper for her liking, like he was up to something. Now that he'd brought it up though, Tenko could admit that she was a bit curious. "How did you fix the bottle? It was pretty crushed."

"That's easy, I gave it mouth to mouth!" he proclaimed with a wink.

Tenko's face became red instantly as she realized her mouth and Ouma's had both touched the bottle. "You what? And you didn't tell me?"

Ouma laughed. "How did it feel to indirectly kiss me, by darling Ten-chan?"

She pressed a hand to her lips. "N-no way…"

Ouma pulled the top off the water bottle with relish. "My turn to kiss Ten-chan," he said in a sing-song voice before pressing the bottle to his lips.

"Eh!"

"Ahh," Ouma hummed as he pulled the bottle from his lips. "Ten-chan's kiss is so refreshing."

"w-we did NOT-"

"Uh oh!" Ouma hopped off the table, looking at his wrist as if there was a watch there. "I can't keep playing with Ten-chan when I have important evil leader things to do."

"You're not even wearing a watch!" she argued.

"Come on, Ten-chan! Let's go!" He grabbed hold of her hand and Tenko flipped him on instinct alone. "Oww! So mean…"

"Ah! Tenko is sorry!" She leaned down to help him back up, forgetting all about her earlier desire to do just that to him as she helped him into a sitting position. "Are you okay?"

Ouma kissed her cheek and she immediately dropped him again. He laughed from his position on the floor. "Tenko looks better like this," he said. She felt her face heating up again as she watched him pick himself up off the ground. Ouma pointed at her. "So, I better not catch you making any more ugly faces like you did earlier. Got it!"

In a moment her embarrassment went back to being rage. "Ugly?"