-YanYan-chan-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello, I'm Mina, and this is my son, Kai."

"Daughter," Kaida muttered.

Her mother shot her a quick glare before turning back to the man. "I'm sorry, he's always like this. He's convinced himself and his friends that he's a girl."

The man chuckled. "That's quite alright. My daughter is waiting out in the backyard, young man, you can go meet her."

Kaida scowled before heading out the from door. "Stupid mom, stupid gender stereotypes, stupid 'play dates.'"

"You too, huh?"

Kaida looked up to see a girl around her age sitting on the swings. She had blue hair, green eyes, and wore a white dress with a black sweater over top. "What?"

"You're trans? I have a lot of friends like that. I'm cis myself, but I'm pretty open-minded about this stuff. I'm Yuuki, by the way."

Kaida sat on the swing next to her. "Kaida. Nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand.

Yuuki shook it. "Ditto. By the way, do you like music?"

"Yeah, I do." Kaida pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Personally I like dubsteps and remixes. Not limited to that, though."

"Really? I prefer hip hop and jazz."

"Those are good genres." Kaida took notice of the stadium by the fence. "You blade?"

"Huh?" Yuuki looked over at the stadium. "Oh, no. My brother was the one who bladed, but my mom and dad made him give it up for some stupid reason, an arranged marriage or something."

"Oh. My cousin blades, he likes music, too, though he prefers classical. I think... I don't know, it's been awhile since we've spoken last."

•~•~•~•~•

"So what did you think of Yuuki?" Mina asked her daughter.

"She's nice." Kaida looked out the car window absentmindedly.

"Do you like her?"

"Okaasan, I don't like girls, I am one."

"I'm pretty sure that I raised a boy, not a girl," Mina said sternly. "You won't be a girl, either. It's wrong and weird. When this stupid girly phase of yours is over, we can arrange something between you and Yuuki."

"No."

"Excuse me?" Kaida's mother stopped the car in the driveway.

"It's not a phase. I'm a girl, not a boy. And I don't want to be anything more than just friends with Yuuki, she doesn't want to be either." Kaida stepped out of the car and slammed the door.

"Young man!"

Kaida ignored her mother's calls and went into the house, walking up the stairs and locking herself in her room. "This is stupid. I really just want to leave."

•~•~•~•~•

Kaida's POV

"Hey, Orochi. It's been awhile, huh?" I smiled sheepishly at my cousin.

"Kai? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"It's a long story. Wait, you recognized me?"

"Yeah, your voice hasn't changed at all, even if your looks changed drastically."

I laughed. "I guess that's true. And it's Kaida, now."

"Well, come inside. You probably have a good reason for being here."

After I got settled in, I told Orochi what had happened.

"A few days after I saw you last time, I realized that I really hated being called a boy. It sounded weird to me. I realized I was trans then, but Okaasan thinks that this is just a phase." I sighed. "I started wearing gender neutral things and this choker, but Okaasan was still convinced it was a phase, so she tried to arrange a marriage between me and a girl named Yuuki. Yuuki's really nice, but neither of us want to be more than friends. I gave up trying to reason with my mom, so here I am." I smiled. "I'm just trying to avoid Okaasan at this point. I'm sick of her insisting on my gender."

Orochi put a hand on my shoulder. "You always have freedom to be yourself."

"Okaasan always used to say that. And yet she's the one preventing that."

"Hey, I know you like Beyblade. I'm battling a guy named Valt Aoi tomorrow, do you want to come and watch?"

"Duh! I never get to see you battle!"

•~•~•~•~•

"I swear, if this is the wrong place..." I walked into the arena to see a stage with a bey stadium on it. "Huh. I didn't get lost for once. Go figure." I continued walking only to trip over my shoelaces. I managed to steady myself, but in doing so, I bumped into someone. "Oh sh- I'm sorry!" I exclaimed.

"It's fine," he replied.

I straightened up. "I'm Kamiki Kaida."

"Kurenai Shu. I haven't seen you around here before."

"I'm Orochi's cousin, not from Beigoma. Also, random question."

"What?"

"Is that a boy or a girl?" I asked, pointing to the one wearing a purple jacket.

Shu smiled slightly. "I don't think anyone's ever asked that before. That's a boy. What about you?"

"Girl. Yeah, I know, I sound like a boy."

"I was kind of unsure, I didn't want to use the wrong terms," Shu said.

•~•~•~•~•

3rd person

"Hey, you tried," Kaida said.

"Yeah. Valt is really unpredictable."

The two kept on talking as they walked to the ice cream parlor.

"Kai."

The cousins turned around to see Mina standing there.

"What do you want, Okaasan?" Kaida growled. "I left for a reason."

"Come back. You're still my son-"

"Daughter," Kaida corrected.

"I did not raise a girl!"

"You always told me to be myself! I listened, this is who I really am, Okaasan! I wish Otousan was here! He'd listen to me!"

Mina scowled. "Never mention him. He-"

"Made a good choice by leaving! I wish I had gone with him." Kaida turned and motioned to Orochi to continue walking. "Maybe if you'd accepted me for who I am, I would have stayed. You can't take back what we never had."

Mina stared after her daughter. "Kai, wait!"

Kaida didn't turn around. "I am who I'm meant to be. This is me. I wish you could see that, Okaasan. And it's not Kai anymore. It's Kaida."

"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Orochi asked. "She does care about you."

"If she cared, then she'd accept me for who I am." Kaida frowned. "I wonder where Otousan is. Probably in Germany or something," she mumbled. She plugged her earbuds in.

"I thought you wanted ice cream?"

"Nah, not anymore. Catch you later." Kaida waved as she headed off in another direction.

Softly humming 'This is Me', Kaida walked around the city. She had no idea where she was headed, but she was to absorbed in her music to care.

Another round of bullets hits my skin
Well fire away
'Cause today
I won't let the shame sink in

Kaida kicked a rock along the sidewalk.

We are bursting through the barricades
And reaching for the sun
We are warriors
Yeah, that's what we've become

"Okaasan, I wish you'd understand." The brunette sighed. "I won't let them break me down to dust, I know that there's a place for us... For we are glorious." Kaida sat down in the grass underneath the bridge.

When the sharpest words want to cut my down
I'm gonna send a flood
Gonna drown them out
I am brave
I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be

"This is me..."

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Word count: 1209