You Started It

Nitsuki stared long and hard at the flyer she'd just put up as the rain came down in sheets outside the store's front windows.

The flyer was simple: a generic piece of paper with a few lines of text written on it in black ink. Nothing too fancy or attention-grabbing, but it was enough for someone who might be interested.

»——————⋆◦★◦⋆——————«

Hoshimura Support Group

Need help dealing with discrimination, grief, general harassment, or other problems? Come and meet with others who are dealing with similar issues for support and solidarity. Meetings to occur twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 6:30 P.M. in front of the Hoshimura Observatory.

Hosted by Nitsuki Amano and Rikuo Tachibana.

»——————⋆◦★◦⋆——————«

She sighed. "I can't believe I let myself get talked into doing something so ridiculous."

Beside her, Tachibana hummed as he finished drying himself off with a towel. "Don't be like that, Nia, I'm sure this will work out. You'll see!"

"Uh-huh," she said, not entirely convinced. "How many people are going to show up for a support group that's hosted by the town's 'fake woman' and her rumored lover? Two people, including us?"

"Hey, c'mon now, that's just defeatist talk. You have to stay positive," he said. "I mean, this is better than doing nothing at all, right?" He reached out and gave her shoulder an encouraging pat.

She looked at him. "I'm not being defeatist. I'm being realistic," she huffed.

Nitsuki had already used her future vision to see what kind of turnout they'd get. The answer? None. Zero people. Nobody was going to come, not even after all the flyers Tachibana had run around town drenching himself in the rain to put up. It was like a cruel joke.

"Sure, you're being realistic," he replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm telling you, though, I have a good feeling about this!"

She sighed. It'd been another week since the incident at the grocery store. Ever since then, they hadn't really done much of anything, aside from hanging out and working.

Well, perhaps it wasn't fair to say they'd done nothing. She'd managed to get some of the second-hand clothes cleaned and had shown them to Tachibana—ehhe, his face was even better seeing in person than in the visions—and they had taken another trip into town. And then there were their nightly activities, which were… well, let's just say they were getting a bit more intimate each time.

Still, things had been relatively calm. That was, until Tachibana had suddenly come up with the most convoluted, detailed, and hare-brained scheme to make Hoshimura a better place that she had ever heard of in her life.

It had all started here:

***

"You want us to start a what now?" she asked, her brow furrowing.

Tachibana grinned. "A support group!" He leaned forward eagerly, looking at her as he took off his work apron. "Think about it! If we can bring people together who are experiencing similar problems, then we can provide a space for them to talk things through. We can make them feel less alone, offer advice, give them a safe place to vent or whatever else, and maybe even help solve their problems."

He held up his hands excitedly. "Before you say anything, I know it sounds a little out there, but hear me out. I mean, we could start small. Just the two of us meeting once or twice a month and seeing where it goes from there."

She let out an amused snort at how he'd tried to preempt her. "Tachibana, I—"

"Hold on my dear, let me finish," he interrupted before continuing. "If we play our cards right, then we might even get others involved, too. Then, when we have a bigger group, we can do more! Like, try to organize community outreach programs. Imagine the possibilities, Nia. We could change things for the better in this town!"

Nitsuki frowned. "Tachibana, it's a nice idea, but that's ridiculous. How would you expect me—a 'woman' whom most of the people hate—to convince anyone to join a group led by me?"

"Okay, so that leads me into my next point. Stay with me." Suddenly, he dashed over to the backroom and hauled out a whiteboard covered in a plethora of diagrams, charts, and scribbles that looked like a mad scientist's manifesto.

She gawked at it before shaking her head.

"T-Tachibana?! The hell is that?! When did you even have the time to do this?!" She gestured wildly at the mess of an outline he'd presented to her.

"Last night, while you were sleeping. You were pretty exhausted after our, uh…" He blushed. "Never mind that. Anyway, here's the crux of the matter: Why does the town hate you so much?"

She looked at him flatly. Really? He had been starting to sound pretty smart until just now.

"I'm transgender," she deadpanned.

"Well, yes, but that's not the only reason. Think about it: the entire reason that you're not liked is because of how the people of this town perceive you, right?"

"Yes, and that perception is that I'm a freak of nature—where exactly are you going with this?" She was trying her best not to snap at him. He didn't deserve her anger; he was only trying to help. Even if what he was saying was a little too optimistic and borderline stupid.

"This is where I'm going." He pointed at a part of the diagram that said 'Public Image'.

"It's because of the way people view you. They don't understand what you're going through or why you're the way that you are. More importantly to them though, they seem to be thrown off by this very wrong idea that you're making the community worse."

"…And what exactly do you propose to fix that?" Nitsuki crossed her arms.

Tachibana cleared his throat and pointed at another area on the board. "Simple. We make it clear that you are actively trying to make the community better!"

Her bottom lip quirked up, annoyed and getting a little impatient. "Tachibana, I love you, but really? I've slaved away for this community since forever ago and I've never received even an ounce of respect or appreciation. I'm pretty sure that everyone knows that I've worked my ass off for them."

He held up his hand again with a flourish, as if emulating a stage performer. "Here's the thing—they don't."

"…What do you mean by that?"

His face suddenly took on a very serious expression. "Nia, they don't know that you've been doing all this work for the community. I looked into it, and you know all of those events where you worked your butt off for and no one thanked you? Yeah, none of the fliers or posters for those ever mentioned your name as a volunteer. Not a single one."

Nitsuki blinked, her annoyance slowly turning to confusion. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah, I know! Hell, the stargazing festival that you've been essentially carrying by yourself the past several years doesn't even list you as a helper. Instead, it lists Inoue as one of the main volunteers. Inoue! Like she's the one who's busting her ass to make everything work."

Nitsuki's jaw dropped. Partly because of how outspoken and vulgar Tachibana was being—she really was rubbing off on him in all the wrong ways—but mostly because she'd never bothered to check the promotional materials the town put out for their events. She'd sorta just assumed that her name would be somewhere on there.

"I'm going to kill that hag," she growled to herself.

"…You're uh, talking metaphorically or something, right?"

She gave him a wry smile. "Probably. Anyways, continue please."

He coughed. "Erm, right. My point is that most of the people in this town have no clue how hard you've been working for them. So, in order to change their minds, we need to put you in the spotlight!"

Nitsuki's shoulders finally relaxed a little bit, and her brow lifted curiously.

"Okay Tachibana, I'll bite. How exactly do you suggest we do that?"

***

Which had lead them to this current moment.

Nitsuki sighed. The support group was just the first step in his stupidly genius plan. He'd laid it out for her, explaining how the entire thing would work, and honestly, she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't impressed by it. It was definitely a lot more thought out than anything she'd have come up with.

He probably would've fared well at university, had he gone.

There were many steps left to take, of course, and she had no clue how they were going to achieve all of those or it it'd even work. But hey, maybe it could work.

She didn't know for sure though. She'd tried to use her visions to look that far into the future, but there were just way too many actions and reactions to take into account.

She shook her head, dismissing the thought.

Regardless of how things played out, it was all to conclude at the town's annual stargazing festival in two months. Aside from more or less being the single largest event in town, it was also one of the few times of the year where tourists would flood in to visit the observatory, and it also doubled as a stage to recognize the community member that had done the most to improve the town that year.

She'd never really been able to see it given how she was almost always helping somewhere in the background, and Tachibana had never been able to go recently either since he'd insisted on helping the old man watch the shop, but she'd heard that it was usually quite grand. There was food, dancing, music—the works.

That's where Tachibana's plan would come to fruition.

"Nia? You alright? You kinda spaced out for a moment."

Nitsuki blinked and turned to look at him. "Yeah, sorry, I'm fine. Just thinking."

He smiled and leaned over to give her a hug. "Was it about how amazing of a boyfriend I am?"

"Sort of," she huffed. "I'm still not sure how you managed to think all of that up. What are you? A secret evil mastermind?"

He chuckled. "Nope, just a normal guy who's doing his best for the most amazing, cutest, prettiest, funniest, loveliest—"

She shoved her hand against his mouth, face red. "A-alright, that's enough, thanks."

Tachibana kissed her palm, causing her to yank it back with a squeal. "Eh he, your face is so cute when you're embarrassed."

She pouted and looked away, her cheeks burning.

"You freaking dumb smartass! I think I preferred it when you were that shy dork who kept stuttering around me," she muttered.

He laughed. "I mean, I still kinda am. I'm just doing my best to project that 'confident boyfriend' image you know? I don't want to come off as some spineless pushover that crumbles the moment—"

She darted in and kissed him on the cheek.

"…E-eh?" His face was quickly reverting to the tomato she'd come to know and love. "T-that was uncalled for!"

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"You started it."