HARU

It was after another hearty, delicious dinner when Aiden announced that he was swapping rooms with Isaac. Of course, Isaac, naturally, laughed his head off.

"Bro, you got kicked out of your room? Serves you right for neglecting Haru." He came over to me and hugged me as he patted my head. "Don't worry, little bro, I'll look after you. I'll protect you from all those mean bastards." He not only pointed at Aiden, but Connor, Noah, Mason, and Reo as well.

Noah said, "Be careful who you're pointing at, you brat."

Isaac ignored Noah's dark glare and said, "Come on, Haru. Let's leave them and go have an awesome time in our room, just the two of us."

"You better not do anything weird to Haru, Isaac," Aiden warned.

Isaac turned to poke his tongue at everyone. "I can do whatever I want with Haru, thank you very much." He was grinning happily, which made me nervous. Of course, I had no choice but to follow him out of the living room, since he had his hand tight around my wrist.

Once the door slid shut behind us, Isaac went over and rolled around on the futon. "This is so nice," he said, laughing. Suddenly, he sat up. "That's right. Wait here, Haru." Just like a whirlwind, he was gone again.

What is he up to now?

He reappeared a few moments later with his bag. Now that I looked at it, it was the same one he had been carrying after we had left that kimono shop back in town.

Once he shut the door again, he said, "Let's play dress up, Haru."

"What?" I asked, flabbergasted. "No way. No way I'm playing dress up."

Isaac waved my protest aside. "It'll be fun because look at what I've bought."

He pulled out a pair of kimonos, not the male version but the female ones.

Holy shit! You have got to be kidding me!

"No, Isaac, no," I repeated desperately as I shook my head.

He chuckled, his eyes twinkling. "It's a twin set. One red and one blue. The red one is yours and mine is the blue. Tada!" He brought out and displayed the blue one for me to see.

I must admit the pair of kimonos looked beautiful and they'd look amazing on girls, but there was no way I was going to wear them.

In a flash, Isaac tackled me and pinned me down on the floor. Then he tickled me, which made me laugh involuntarily. He had always done that to me when we played around, and he knew all my sensitive spots.

"I'm gonna keep going if you don't submit, Haru. Wear the kimono or bear this harassment until morning." His voice became softer, begging almost. "Please, it'll only be for like five minutes. I just want to take photos of you wearing this. Please?"

He was still tickling me, and because I knew he wouldn't stop until I agreed, I ended up nodding my head since I knew I couldn't last much longer.

"Okay. Okay, I agree. I'll wear the kimono."

"Yes!" He pumped his fist in the air.

I hadn't even managed to calm down from the sensation of being tickled when he started stripping me down to my underwear. Naked, and with just a pair of undies on, he ordered me to stand so that he could put the kimono on for me. Since I wanted to get this over and done with, I obediently did his bidding.

I was surprised Isaac knew exactly how to put on a woman's kimono. Obviously, this wasn't one of those very extravagant ones with the obi and the long tail, but still…

"You're actually good at putting this on," I said.

"Well, yeah, I spent hours reading instructions and watching videos on the internet on how to put one on before we came, after all." He chuckled. "I had planned to buy a few while we're here."

I smiled. As expected of Isaac. He took wearing women's clothing very seriously.

"Done!" he said.

Wow! I was stunned. It apparently looked nice on me, with the bright red color and the flower pattern on the fabric.

Isaac nodded his head in approval as he looked at me over from head to toe. "It's perfect on you, Haru. Man, you really look like a woman now. No! More than just a woman." He snapped his thumb and finger. "A Shrine Maiden, as expected. Damn, but you're beautiful." He cocked his head to one side. "But we can make it even better."

"What now?" I asked.

He chuckled and then rushed over to his bag. He said, "Sit down, Haru. I can't put this on you properly if you're standing."

I reluctantly sat and when Isaac moved toward me, he presented me with a tube of lipstick.

"No way!"

"Oh, yes way, my bro," he said. "Your skin is already smooth and pale. Just need to apply this super, duper red lipstick and tidy up your hair and we're all set to go."

"I'm not wearing any lipstick, Isaac," I said firmly, working on moving away.

Isaac caught my wrist. "Please, just for five minutes." He gave me the puppy dog eyes.

Shit. Why was it that Isaac was so good at convincing me to do weird stuff?

"Oh man!" I muttered under my breath.

"Yes!" Isaac did another fist pump in the air.

I found myself sitting there as Isaac applied lipstick on me, very carefully. He said, "Man, you have absolutely no hair on your face and your skin is even softer and smoother than a girl's." He laughed. "No wonder Aiden couldn't get enough of you."

I meant to say "Stop talking nonsense," but only managed to mutter out something weird since I wasn't allowed to move my lips until the lipstick application was done.

And when it was done, I sighed in relief.

Next, Isaac brushed my hair until the deep, dark strands were soft and smooth on top of my head, with the fringe covering my forehead.

When he moved back, he uttered, "Holy fuck. I think I'm gonna have a heart attack from just the sight alone. Are you for real, Haru?"

He looked flustered for a moment and then, "Shit! I've got to show everyone this."

I widened my eyes in shock. "No way! No! Don't you dare, Isaac."

No matter how much I tried to stop him, however, Isaac wasn't listening. He was already heading to the door. I scrambled up and ran after him. I caught him by his arm and worked my ass off in pulling him back.

"Isaac, don't! Please! Don't!" I begged.

"But this is like a miracle," Isaac said. "It needs to be shared."

How the fuck was me wearing a woman's kimono something like a miracle that needed to be shared?

Isaac got the door opened and I felt my stomach fluttering sickly, knowing this was going to be the worst sort of embarrassment ever if the others were to see me like this.