I Ended Up Cross-Dressing, My Secret Relationship with a Handsome Guy (BL) - Chapter 24

In the end, our “Yokai Café” won first place by an overwhelming margin, leaving all other entries in the dust.

During the results announcement at the after-festival celebration, the cheers that erupted when our class was declared the winner were deafening. And when the three muscle-bound yokai girls—who, for some reason, hadn’t bothered to change out of their outfits—went up to accept the prize envelope, the entire hall burst into laughter.

All I could think was, Why are they still in costume?

The grand prize was a set of yakiniku vouchers for a chain restaurant near the station. Since everyone had their own schedules, they had been considerate enough to prepare one voucher per person. That part genuinely surprised me, but for me, it was actually convenient.

The only reason I had managed to fit in with my class this much was because of the magic of the festival. Now that the magic had worn off, I was going back to being just another unremarkable classmate.

Besides, I wasn’t particularly fond of yakiniku. I could easily give my voucher to a friend from another class, or maybe even to Kusunoki, who had helped me a lot.

Either way, with the festival over, all the extraordinary things that had happened to me came to an end.

—

I didn’t delete Kiryu’s contact, but I erased all our chat history.

I didn’t have a single picture of him, so as long as I wiped the messages clean, I could convince myself that everything since July had just been a dream.

I was returning to my usual life—one where I kept to myself, avoided deep relationships, and remained an indistinct presence, neither fully there nor entirely absent.

That was the kind of life that suited me best.

—

“Saaaaitooo!! Let me copy your math notes! You wear glasses, so you gotta be smart, right? C’mon, man, we crossdressed together—we’re practically bl00d brothers!”

There was a time when I actually believed I’d go back to my quiet life.

“Wearing glasses doesn’t automatically make me smart. I’m just slightly above average.”

“Which means you’re way ahead of me, so help me out!”

“…I suppose that’s true.”

Tamata, the rugby player who had dressed as a black-gal during the festival, had started talking to me a lot since then.

Actually, it wasn’t just Tamata.

Kusunoki, twin-tailed baseball player Yamada, marshmallow-bodied, bob-haired judo club member Gouda—they all approached me normally now.

I had recently come to understand something firsthand: extroverts close the distance at an insane speed.

They would start talking to me without hesitation, chat as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and then leave when their time was up—like passing storms.

And where there were extroverts, more extroverts would inevitably appear.

I had even gotten used to situations where I would be awkwardly caught between them, struggling to keep up, only for even more of them to show up, cutting off any chance of escape.

Whenever the king of extroverts, Tanaka, made an appearance, it was complete chaos.

Their conversations moved at double my processing speed, and their ability to absorb information was far superior to mine.

Sometimes, it felt like I was listening to aliens speaking an entirely different language.

I didn’t feel like I truly fit in, but this relentless busyness was, in a way, saving me.

—

I no longer had as much time to be alone at school.

Which meant I had less time to think.

I had always preferred solitude, and I wasn’t great with noisy environments.

But right now, I wanted to avoid thinking as much as possible.

The reason was simple—whenever I was alone, I would inevitably start thinking about Kiryu.

If I said I had no regrets about confessing my feelings that day, it would be a lie.

But if I hadn’t done it, I would have just fallen back into the same pattern, and I could already see a future where I got hurt even worse.

I had chosen to protect myself by ensuring we couldn’t go back to how things were.

—

Still, sometimes—just sometimes—I would remember.

The warmth of his touch.

The way he looked at me that day.

How, despite both being men, our bodies felt so different.

And every time I recalled those details, I would feel a sudden pang of pain, dragging me down.

I never knew I was such a complicated person.

And I wished I had never found out.

But after going through this cycle over and over, I had finally come to a realization.

There was no going back to before I knew.

That cliché line from dramas and manga weighed on me more than I had ever imagined.

With a deep sigh, I muttered to myself, “Life is such a hassle.”