“I’M DONE. You can look now, Ichika.”
I followed the sweet yet raspy voice’s instructions and opened my eyes.
He giggled happily, small puffs of his breath tickling the tip of my nose. “I knew buying this mascara was the right choice! That cool eye shadow shade I chose looks fabulous. And I managed to draw sleek lines with that eyeliner.” He smiled with satisfaction as he admired his creation—my face—from very close proximity. “You’re so cute, Ichika!”
His almond-shaped eyes were well-defined, with smoldering pupils, and his lips were glossy with a scarlet sheen. There was something inherently sexy about the way he stroked the raven-colored hair that fell around his chest as he handed me the mirror. As he sat with his long legs crossed, his mere presence made me feel like the room could burst gloriously into bloom at any moment.
“I did a good job today, huh?”
“Of course you did. It’s you, Riku.”
As I praised his makeup skills, Riku let out a feminine giggle. His stylish posture was the result of research into how to appear more delicate. He wore a tight dress that exposed his long, pale limbs, and there wasn’t a hint of pudginess to his slender frame.
“I’m so jealous, Ichika. Whatever makeup or clothes I choose look good on you.”
He laid out his new cosmetics, then tried them on my face one by one.
“You’ll be all done once I put on this gloss,” he drawled in a husky voice so sweet it sent shivers down my spine.
Once he’d applied an ample amount of cherry-scented gloss to my lips, the look was complete. He stared at me again; his makeup skills had accentuated both the intensity of his eyes, and his lips’ seductive curl.
Riku and I were childhood friends. I couldn’t recall a time when he hadn’t been in my life. He was stunningly beautiful, and there was something alluring about every tiny movement he made. It just so happened that his hobby was dolling me up as girlishly as possible—that, and dressing as a woman himself.
“You’ll like this gloss. It isn’t highly pigmented, so you could even wear it to school.”
Riku giggled again as he placed the tube in my hand with a coquettish flourish. His gesture stretched the neckline of his dress slightly, showing off the pale skin on his chest. The sight made my heart skip a beat, despite knowing he was as flat as board underneath. There was no denying that he was a boy.
Riku spent every day after school in my room. He’d taken up a whole section with his makeup collection and wardrobe; he loved using those to dress us both up to his heart’s content.
He was always on top of the latest trends thanks to his constant research through reading magazines and watching videos online. Using me as his real-life practice mannequin, he’d cultivated makeup techniques that could rival most girls’.
That wasn’t just due to his technical skills, either. Riku could utilize his androgynous looks in a way that somehow outdid female classmates. His long, straight wig exuded a glamorous aura, yet the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled was the epitome of cuteness. He could pick up his favorite teddy bear and hold it to the tip of his nose with the same innocent charm as any little girl.
With each new gesture and expression, he became more and more fascinating. Although we saw each other daily, I never got tired of watching him.
“Must be nice to be a girl,” Riku mused. “They can be totally gorgeous with just a little effort.”
“Is that sarcasm I detect?”
Riku giggled as he sat on the bed. “You noticed? Thanks.”
Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he pulled me into his lap.
“Ichika, can I touch you?” he whispered.
The voice that tickled my ears was so sweet, I thought I might melt into a puddle on the spot. I barely had time to say “Okay…” before Riku slid his hand inside my top.
He started by running his fingers down my side, over my camisole, and drawing a circle around my belly button with one fingertip. I giggled at the ticklish sensation, trying to twist away as he pinched some of the flesh on my tummy.
“Have you gained a little weight recently?”
“Yeah, because someone made me go to that all-you-can-eat cake buffet with them,” I retorted.
Wrapping his arms around me, he squeezed and pinched my stomach playfully. When I tried to resist his teasing, he laughed like a mischievous child, then finally let go.
“Seriously, girls have it so good,” Riku sighed. “They’re soft, and they smell nice.”
“We’re wearing the same scent, you know.”
“That’s not what I mean. Girls naturally smell pretty.”
He buried his face in the curly waves he’d put in my hair earlier that afternoon, pursuing the fragrance I’d applied to the nape of my neck. He didn’t usually buy lilac scents, but this one wasn’t at all cloying, and he liked the unisex fragrance.
Hokkaido’s lilac season peaked around mid-May, just before summer started. The last traces of the cold spring usually lingered a little while after the lilacs bloomed. It was well past that time of year, but today was surprisingly chilly, and I could feel the warmth of Riku’s body behind me.
He was still stroking me up and down inside my clothes, but not lustfully. He just wanted to get his fill of the supple roundness unique to the female form. His favorite part was how my waistline curved between my flank and hip.
“Have your breasts gotten a little bigger, Ichika?”
“Probably because you keep poking and prodding them all the time.”
“Shouldn’t you be thanking me, in that case?”
I kept my eyes closed as much as I could when Riku touched me. That way, I could at least try and block out the image of the obviously male hand caressing my body. Since Riku and I were babies, we’d been raised practically like siblings. He was touching me, but only because he enjoyed dressing like a girl—because he enjoyed how soft and round female bodies felt.
At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
“I can’t think of anything that makes me happier than touching you, Ichika.” His lips brushed my earlobe with each word of his low whisper. He ran his fingertips tenderly over the lace of my camisole. “You’re so beautiful.”
I hadn’t even realized my blouse was off. My camisole strap was around my shoulder, exposing my bare skin to the chilly air. Handling me like some fragile object, Riku lay me on the bed so gently that the creaky springs made only the slightest squeak. It felt like I was being assailed by a girl—here, in my room, our secret garden.