Class 5-A had never been as lively as that morning. During the break after the first hour, everything was cheers, laughs and happy chatting among all the kids in the classroom. The reason for them all? Dial Hikari.

The news had spread so fast that even kids from other classes came to 5-A only to find out about Dial’s transition. It really was a big surprise for everybody, and some children didn’t understand very well what was going on or why “Lan” had changed in such a way. Still, everybody could see how happy the girl was surrounded by her classmates. At that moment, Dial could only blush and smile at everybody’s acceptance. While everybody chatted with her casually, the other girls were the most excited about those changes. They all wanted to talk to her, sharing fashion tips or asking her to play with them during recess.

Well, not all the girls were talking to Dial at that moment.

A bit far from the group, resting their backs on the wall next to the door, Mayl and Yai observed the scene. They really wanted to talk to Dial, but they knew very well that was not the right moment. With everybody else surrounding her, it was going to be difficult to chat with her as usual and they decided to wait until the crowd subsided and their friend could relax a bit more. That also gave them both some time to relax after their initial shock.

“Well, that sure was a surprise, right?”.

Yai was the first one to talk. She, just like everybody else, was really surprised at meeting Dial. She never believed the stubborn boy that put his life on the line several times would turn out to be the shy girl she had in front of her. Remembering Dial’s story, she couldn’t help but wonder: for how long did she feel like that? For how long did she have to put on a facade because everybody expected her to be a boy? At that moment in which she couldn’t have that deep conversation with her friend, she only had Mayl to share those thoughts with.

“Yeah…”, simply muttered Mayl.

Such a simple answer, but Yai understood it. The short girl thought her friend needed more time to accept the news, especially knowing how much Mayl liked Lan before transitioning into Dial. Still, Mayl was the first one to stand up and welcome her, so maybe she really accepted her.

“I mean, I knew about trans people, but I never expected La- I mean, Dial, to be a trans girl”, commented Yai.

“Yeah…”, said Mayl once again.

Without paying attention to Mayl’s answer, Yai kept observing Dial talking to the other classmates. Sure, she looked different, but it wasn’t just the long hair or the pretty outfit. There was something around her that made her look… natural. Sometimes in the past, Yai had the feeling that Dial had to put more effort into her reactions as a boy. In a few instances, she had that face, the one she put when thinking about what Battlechip was the best option for deleting a virus. She had to think about what to say and how to say it. All that was gone: the girl she was observing looked completely relaxed and natural, released from a burden that nobody else could see before.

“But I gotta admit, she looks much happier now”, admitted Yai, showing a gentle smile on her face, her eyes half-closed, her heart feeling happy at her friend’s progress. “She even looks quite pretty!”.

“Yeah!”.

That last reaction from Mayl was quite more enthusiastic than Yai expected. Surprised, she looked at her friend right by her side. The red-haired girl wasn’t looking at her, but at Dial. Her eyes, half-closed, were fixated on her, shinning brightly, like she was looking at the most marvelous thing in the whole world. Her cheeks had taken such a pinkish tone more similar to a peach than to normal skin. Yai had never seen Mayl put such a face before, not even when Dial was still Lan. She was curious but, at the same time, something inside her didn’t want to miss that chance to tease her friend. A small grin appeared briefly on her face, humming “Fu, fu, fu” before saying:

“I will make sure to immortalize that moment”.

Those words were so strange that Mayl made a short jump and looked at Yai with confused eyes.

“I mean, you two will look so lovely, with your white dresses, in your wed-”.

Yai couldn’t even finish her sentence. As she was saying those words, Mayl understood very well where she was getting into, her face changing from that slightly pink color to full bright red. In an instant, May grabbed her friend and dashed out of the classroom without nobody else noticing how Yai exclaimed “EEEEY!”. Once outside, Mayl crouched, leaving her friend in front of her, but staring at her, her eyes moving all around and sweating.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY DID YOU SAY THAT? SHE’S GONNA HEAR YOU! GOSH, IT’S SO EMBARRASSING! YOU CAN’T SAY THAT OUT LOUD!”.

Mayl’s scolding, although extremely quite so nobody could hear her, was fast and nervous, a strange reaction that Yai had never seen before. The red-haired girl kept complaining for a while about that conversation, with her friend only saying “Relax, Mayl…” occasionally. Once she calmed down a bit, Yai found her moment to speak.

“What’s wrong?”, asked Yai with her usual carefree tone. “You always liked her before her transition. Everybody knows. You even flirted with her so many times I lost the count!”.

“I know! I know, just…”.