a is for ally

It’s before he’s really able to spiral too far down, before it’s enough for anyone—even Makoto—to notice when he hears it. A group of girls at lunch who make it a point to read too many comics (they actually might be part of a club, but he isn’t sure) are discussing whatever series it is they’re reading when one piques up about some other title she’d come across. All he catches is a part of the name, of ‘crossdressing’ and that’s all he needs to hear. Because he’s curious, he’s desperate, and after school and club activities, he goes to the library and then the nearest bookstore when it turns out his school doesn’t have it.He never buys a single volume, lest he raise suspicion, but he does read the whole series. If any other patrons of the store see him tearing up over the black and white pages, they don’t say a thing. But he can’t help it, because he’s never felt so… understood, so not alone for the first time in what feels like way too long.