Time flies when you're having fun. That's how the saying goes. And it's true. But unfortunately, it also works in reverse. If you are not having fun, if you are experiencing something unpleasant, or expecting something dreadful to happen, seconds can feel like hours.

That was my situation at the moment.

I stood at my door, staring off with Flare who was right outside my flat. Both of us surprised to see one another. I had no idea what to say, I was frozen. I wasn't ready to face Flare just yet. Not ready to tell her who I really was. Too soon.

"Umm, hello. I'm a friend of Chris. Is he in?" She studied me.

Right. I might have had similar traits, but I looked like a different person now. Not to mention, I was definitely female, while the Chris she knew wasn't. And also, she knew all too well that I lived alone, had no siblings or even cousins. She must have been wondering who I was.

"Uh. Yes. Come in." I mumbled and let her inside.

"Alright." She kept eyeing my warily as I stepped out of the way to let her in.

She removed her shoes as soon as she entered and put them aside. Without either one of us saying anything, I guided her to the kitchen, nervous.

As soon as we stepped inside, Flare finally broke the silence.

"Soo, but I was pretty sure Chris lived alone and had no sisters." She said as she pulled a chair and sat on it.

My lips pursed. I knew what was coming up.

"Um. Yeah. Chris lives alone. And. Has no sisters." I repeated after her.

Her eyes darted all over me in confusion as I sat on the opposite side of the table, facing her.

"Oh. Ooooh! I see! I get it!" Her face lit up.

What. She got it? No way. How?

"Oh, man, and I thought he wasn't even looking for a girlfriend! Congratulations, I hope you two will be happy! Ah, sorry, my name is Flare, I'm his childhood friend!" She extended her hand for a handshake while a grin crept its way up to her face.

What? I was my own girlfriend? Now, that was a horrible misunderstanding.

"Er. I'm not. Chris' girlfriend." My eyes wandered off, doing everything to avoid hers.

"Uh. You're not? But then. Umm. Who." She trailed off, looking even more confused than before.

And here it was. I would have to reveal everything. And I was terrified. Sure, the rational part of me said Flare would accept it without a problem. But then again. What if she didn't? What if she called me an abomination? A freak of nature? A lot of other people would. And I didn't want to lose a friend.

But what else would I do? I didn't want to lie to her. I didn't want to say I'm some long-lost distant cousin of Chris. It would never work. Both my parents were only children too. And even if she did believe it, she would eventually figure out that male Chris and female Chris were never in the same room together. I had to go through with it as much as it terrified me.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down my shaking body. Breathing out, I opened my eyes and locked them with Flare's.

I held up my hand and let the roots crawl into it.

"I'm Chris."

She froze. Her mouth a firm line, her eyes saucers. She stared at my hand, then at my face, then back at my hand, then at my chest for some reason, and then back at my face. I had no idea how long it lasted. Minutes? Hours? No, it must have been centuries. I began uncomfortably shifting my body. My outstretched hand sweated and shook as I waited for the axe to fall.

Then, finally, she opened her mouth and whispered. "Is it really you? You're Chris? My grumpy little kitten?"

That was not the reaction I expected from the hotheaded Flare. It stunned me for a second.

"I told you not to call me that..." I automatically said with a self-deprecating smile.

Her expression brightened up and she smiled as she grasped my hand with both of hers.

"It is you! Oh my god, Chris! You're a cute girl now!" Her grin was infectious.

"Uh. Yeah? Ehehe." I scratched the back of my head with my free hand in embarrassment. She just called me cute.

"You even giggle like a girl!" She laughed.

I really did giggle like a girl. And it came off so naturally.

"This is amazing! You're shining Chris! Like someone breathed new life into you!"

"I. I do kinda feel like that. Yeah." I nodded dumbly, the smile never leaving my face.

"You know. I've always kind of put you into the 'girl' category in my head. It just felt right." She grinned. "But now I see that my intuition totally was right!"

That shocked me. I didn't know what to say. She had already known? How did she know while I didn't? Was I just being unimaginably dense? Yes. I was. If I thought about it carefully, there were signs everywhere. From being uncomfortable walking around in male swimsuit without covering my chest. To always being impressed with pretty dresses. To literally thinking that I wanted to be a girl. Okay, jeez. Just how dense have I been?

"So? What's it like being a girl?" She asked with a vulpine smile as if she wasn't a girl herself.

"It's uhh. Different? Better? Liberating?" Once again, I scratched my head awkwardly.

She kept nodding, urging me to go on.

"It. Feels more right. Like that's what I was always supposed to be. You know. I think I have always been a girl inside. Or something. Uhh."

I felt embarrassed as soon as those words left my mouth. What a cheesy way to put it. This wasn't some kind of fantasy story where I could feel I was the chosen one or stuff like that. This was a reality. But even so, I just had no better words to describe it.

Flame kept smiling and wordlessly stood up, pulling me up by my hand as well. She slowly walked over to me and before even my Felice reflexes could do anything, she pulled me into a tight hug. I squeaked. Squeaked. I had no idea I could even make a sound like that. With a bit of apprehension, I returned the hug after a moment. It felt nice.

"I'm so happy for you Chris!" She exclaimed in glee, before freezing up, and slowly pushing herself out of the hug.

"Uhh. Should I still be calling you Chris? Or did you come up with a girl name yet?" She asked apologetically.

Right. A female name. I haven't even thought about it. Seriously. I already had a hero name, but I still didn't have a name name. Priorities.

So what kind of name did I want? I always hated the name Christopher. But didn't mind the neutral form, Chris. Jeez, another massive hint I had been ignoring. Hating the masculine version, not minding the neutral one. Anyway, what about the female form of the name? Christina? Oh. I liked that. Christina. Christina Dash. Yes. That would be my name.

I realized I had fallen deep into thought while Flare patiently waited next to me.

"Uh. I think the female version is nice. Christina. And you can still call me Chris." I put on an awkward smile.

"Alright then Christina!" She beamed at me.

It felt so incredibly nice being called that. It was just a name, but it had such a huge impact.

"By the way, how did this happen? I'm assuming the sudden change is somehow linked to the starstorm?" She inquired.

"Uhh, yeah. My powers did this. It was unconscious."

"Ohh, interesting. You did say those black things can heal you, but this. Hmm. Did your power assume a guy's body wasn't healthy for you and so it 'healed' you?" She put on air quotes with her fingers at the last part.

"Yeah, I guess something like that. I'm kind of grateful for that. I might have never figured it out myself. I'm a really dense idiot, after all." I smiled wryly.

"Oh, come on now! I've seen worse!" She put an arm around my shoulder.

"Wow. Thanks." I rolled my eyes.

She grinned at me teasingly.

"Sooo. Did this maybe change your mind about being a hero?" She looked at me hopefully.

"Uh. Actually. I kind of, sort of, already went out and did something heroic?"

"What?! Really?! You little sneaky sneak! You became a hero before I was even let out of the quarantine!"

"Well, I just beat up some thugs who were trying to rob a woman. Nothing big."

"Nothing big?! That literally screams 'hero' at me! Don't tell me you've already joined the Neo Wardens while I've been sitting and twiddling my thumbs!"

"Err, no. Well, I did meet Valkyrie and Frostfeather." I remembered the encounter earlier today, rummaged through my hoodie pocket and pulled out the Neo Wardens business card Frostfeather gave me. "And they gave me this. But I'm still not too sure about joining."

"Oh, I got one too when I left their headquarters." She reached out into her pocket and fished out an identical card.

"But to be honest, I'm also a bit skeptical about joining them. Wouldn't it be cooler if we became independent heroes instead?"

"What, like Rainbow?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Well, kinda. More active. And much weaker, obviously. But yeah, a bit like Rainbow."

"We could, but." I sighed. "It's really tough for independents out there, isn't it? Most don't even last until the next starstorm before retiring or joining Neo Wardens anyway. Some of them even end up as villains."

"Hey, we can always just try. And if it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out. We can try the other options then."

There she went with her positive attitude. Normally, she would be right. There was no loss in trying. But this time was different. Being heroes meant exposing ourselves to danger. And if things went south, we wouldn't have any support to fall back on, unlike the Neo Wardens, who had an entire organization behind them.

But. That was my doubtful self-talking. The old me's thinking. I was a new person now, however. I couldn't let my past control me. If I were to overcome this anxiety, this fear, I had to start somewhere. And, while becoming a hero might have been a little extreme of a first step, it sure as heck would force me to get used to new things.

"Alright. Let's do it then!" I said against my better judgment.

"Yeah!" She raised her palm into the air.

I mimicked the gesture and gave her a high five.

"Nooow then! As heroes, we need cool names!" My friend said with a glimmer in her eyes.

"I already thought about it since I didn't have anything better to do, all locked up and stuff."

I nodded, prompting her to continue.

"My name will be!" She spread her arms, and at the same time, flames burst out of her back, forming wings. Her hair and eyes began sparkling like a campfire. "Phoenix!"

I stared at her in awe for a few seconds, then frowned and put my hand on my chin, trying to figure out what the name meant.

"Uh, Phoenix?" I eventually asked.

"Oh, come on! Don't you know the legends from the old world? Phoenix was a bird made of fire, who would revive from its ashes after dying." She explained.

"Oh, right! I remember! Phoenix. Yeah, that's a pretty fitting name." I nodded.

Maybe except for the whole reviving after dying thing. It was pretty difficult to test whether you had the power to reincarnate.

"What about you Chris? Do you have a name yet?" She inquired.

I grinned. It was time for me to awe her.

I let the roots spread out, partially covering my face as it did before. My hybrid form activated, feline ears and tail appearing in an instant.

And as soon as that happened, all of my apprehension vanished. I dropped to all fours and dashed right past her. Circled around her, as she tried to catch me with her eyes again, and hopped on top of the table, still an all fours. She whipped her head around and met my eyes. She was a bit startled.

"What the. Uh. Huh?! Chris?! You're! A kitten?!" Her lip quivered, she was probably trying to not laugh.

"Hello. My name is Ink." I reached out with my left hand and touched my car ear. "And I fully blame you for this." I grinned.

"Ahahahahaha!" But my friend's willpower was too low. She succumbed and began laughing her butt off. As predicted. "You really became a kitten! Oh my god! Ahahahahah!" She fell onto the floor, holding her stomach.

Not that that reaction wasn't expected. But I still wanted her to be awed at least for a few seconds. Not to roll on the floor laughing as soon as she saw me. Well, at least she didn't call me an eldritch horror.

 

---

 

"So you're a Felice hybrid. It definitely fits!" She grinned.

It took too long for her to finally calm down, but even after she did, she just couldn't let the subject go.

"Yep, like I said, I blame you." I pretended to be offended. "And you're a Rega hybrid. Fits you too. Always flying around like a crazed bird and all."

"Hehe." She didn't deny it. "So anyways! Let's talk powers! What can your black thingies do?"

"Well, I can feel through them, which is a bit of an odd sensation. And then I can reform or replace things. It's sort of like painting over stuff." I grinned at her.

"Thus. Ink. Got it." She smiled understandingly. "So, other than turning into a girl, what else can you reform?"

"Well, I'm a lot tougher than I used to be, I probably made my skin and muscles stronger. And umm, I can heal myself and remove poison from my system. Or rather turn that poison into something harmless."

"Right. Right." She nodded. Then stopped and frowned. "Wait, how do you know you can remove poison from your body?"

Ah crap.

"Uhh. I. Sort of. Kind of. Breathed in some toxins when I went out?" My eyes shifted around.

"Jeez, Chris! I thought you said you only beat up some thugs! Did they smell so bad it was toxic?!"

"Well, no. I went out again today before you came. And I ended up in a warehouse covered in lava." I pursed my lips and frowned, remembering Eruption's work. "It turned out to be a drug warehouse, and I breathed in some of the toxic fumes."

"What? You already had two epic hero adventures without me?! That's no fair Chris!"

"Well, from now on we'll always go out together." I rolled my eyes.

"Alright!" She smirked.

"So. Your turn. What can you do?"

"Oh. Umm. I can create really hot ash from my body or near me." She explained while gesturing with her hands. "And I can absorb that ash to heal myself."

Ah, so there was more to the Phoenix name than I thought. Maybe she really can revive herself from ashes? Still, better not actually try it.

"And the best part of it is that I can isolate the heat!" She beamed. "Look!"

I almost jumped as she generated a heap of ash in her hand and dropped it onto the table. The surrounding air distorted as if looking at the inside of an active furnace. And yet, I didn't feel any heat, and nor did the table, apparently. It didn't start burning, and it didn't even feel hotter than before.

"That ash is apparently about two thousand degrees Celsius hot, but I can sort of create this isolation field around the ash, so it won't burn anything. Unless I want it to."

Perfect heat insulation. Now that sounded extremely useful. Especially for a hero, who wanted to avoid collateral damage as much as possible.

She scooped the ash back up and absorbed it into her hands.

"And, well, even then, it looks like I'm more immune to heat now. So I won't get burnt even if I mess up with that isolation field."

Very useful. Although kind of very lethal if it came to a fight with villains. It would either do nothing or scorch the living heck out of them. But even then, there were uses for it even if we didn't want to kill anyone with it. Intimidation or barring entry came to mind.

"And of course, I can fly since I'm a Rega!" She said with excitement. "Dad even wanted me to grab him and give him a flight tour of the city!" She laughed.

"Well, that definitely sounds like him." I said, remembering the infinite insanity packed into a single man, also known as Flare's dad.

"Yeah, but he was too heavy, so we had to gave that up."

"Wait, you actually tried?"

"Of course we did." She grinned. I shook my head in response, still keeping my smile.

"So anyway. Now comes the really important part!"

"What?" I raised my eyebrow. What could possibly be more important than our hero names and discussing our abilities?

"Our team name!"

"Oh."

"So, any ideas?"

"Hmm. Let's think about this."

 

---

 

"So, why are we here now?" I looked around in excitement.

I have not been in the northern mall since forever. Really, I had no reason to come here. The little stores around my district were always enough for my needs. And also, I never cared about fashion, just buy whatever covered me and didn't feel uncomfortable too much and roll with it. But things have changed. I did care now. I wanted to try all sorts of feminine clothing even though it also seemed intimidating to do so.

"So I can have fun dressing you up, of course!" My friend grinned.

The frown I replied with wouldn't be winning any awards for acting. My excitement poured through like I was a cracked dam. Sure, the way it was happening wasn't the ideal scenario I had in mind, being a dress-up doll and what not. But still, with Flare here, things would at least be less awkward than when I was buying the underwear. Having an experienced friend come along was always nice.

"And also, to get lunch while we are at it!" She pointed at the fast-food section of the mall.

Right, before she invaded my home, I was about to make some lunch for myself. I was hungry. And although this would mean me eating fast food two days in a row, I probably didn't have to mind it too much because of my power. Like I said though, I would prefer to eat healthy in the first place so I wouldn't have to use my power for that. So next time, it would be back to home cooking.

"And don't forget that we need costumes! What kind of superheroes would we be without those?" She smirked.

Of course, she was right. In my two adventures, I just went out with whatever I was wearing at the time. Some cheap shirt and shorts didn't even have a bra the first time. And yes, I did cover my face with my power, but that wasn't really a costume. I just looked like a thug myself. Or, as some very kind people pointed out on the internet, an eldritch horror.

As for Flare's costume, she was actually quite lucky. Unlike most other pyrokinetics, she didn't need it to be made out of fire-resistant material thanks to her heat insulation. That meant she just needed to get something that looked nice and was easy to move in.

"Right. Well, I'm still not sure about the team name we picked." I murmured.

"It's okay, we can still change it. We have plenty of time! It's not like villains are gonna jump out at us right this moment and demand our name!"

As she said that, I fully expected something to explode or at least a maniacal villain laughter echo through the mall, saying that we were all hostages now. But fortunately, things didn't happen with such perfect timing in real life. We peacefully made our way to one of the fast food stores without an evil villain disrupting us.

Yesterday, it was a hamburger with fries. Today, I settled for pizza. No, not with anchovies. Enough of the self-teasing. Good old salami pizza for me, while flare picked up one with mushrooms. We sat down at a table with our meal and began eating.

"So, any particular shops you wanna visit for this little date of ours?" She asked and chomped down on her slice.

"Well. Not really. Wait. Date?" I froze.

Only now have I realized it. This was totally a date. Spending a day in the mall together, eating, and then going shopping. Did this mean anything? Was she trying to tell me something?

She wasn't saying anything. Only staring into my eyes with a smile. I had no idea what to say either. If I answered, that would have confirmed we were on a date. If I said this wasn't a date, it might have hurt her feelings.

"Ahahaha!" And then she burst into laughter. "You are even more fun to tease now! So cute!"

"Y-you." I could have sworn my cheeks were on fire. I felt like tossing my pizza into her face. But that would have been a waste of food, and I was still hungry, so I refrained. I could only cover my face in shame and whisper "I hate you."

"Sorry sorry. I actually didn't even mean it like that. Just us girls hanging out. Whether we call it a date or not, who cares?" Said my carefree friend.

I sighed. Maybe she was right. Maybe I was just overreacting to a simple word. Why was I reacting so strongly now anyway? I used to simply flatly deny any sort of romance or close relationships. That was what happened to other people. Why did I feel differently now? And. Why did my subconscious think that I wouldn't even mind if we called this a date?

"Let's just look around after we finish eating. See what we can find."

"Sure." She nodded.

We didn't talk much afterward as we finished our very unhealthy lunch.

And then, it was finally time. Flare dragged me to the first shop with clothes we found and right into the female section. As soon we reached it though, I got cold feet. Just like when I entered that shop in the morning, something at the back of my mind was telling me to turn back and forget about it. Like I was not supposed to be here. Trespassing. Being a creep. Committing a crime.

"Look Chris!" She suddenly pulled a beautiful white dress in front of her.

"Uh." My eyes widened.

"I bet you would look gorgeous in it!"

I swallowed as my brain presented the image of me wearing it. Feminine versions of shirts and pants was one thing. Those were still pretty unisex. And a bra? Nobody could really see it underneath the shirt. It was embarrassing, but it was at least hidden. A dress, however, was on a whole another level. Clearly female-only and very, very visible to everyone. Sure, I wanted to try it on. I really did. I wanted to try all the dresses and skirts. But it felt embarrassing. And that part of me still nagged at me to leave and never return.

"Come on, come on!" But I couldn't protest. Flare already herded me into an empty cabin and closed the curtain behind me. It was just me, a mirror and the beautiful dress.

I swallowed again and let my shaking hands reach for the dress. I could feel myself blushing. That inner voice still gnawed on me, telling me I should put it back. That it wouldn't fit. Wouldn't look good on me anyway. But I pushed back, telling myself that that was in the past. That I'm a new person. Not the same as the broken shell of yesterday.

No matter what I did though, I wasn't going to win a staring contest with a piece of fabric. I sighed and gathered my courage. Pushed back the negative thoughts and pumped myself up. Slipped out of my hoodie and shorts and pulled on the dress.

My eyes were closed. I was too afraid to open them. But I already got this far, I couldn't turn back now. So slowly, carefully, my eyelids parted. And there I saw it. I was stunned. Suddenly, there was an incredibly gorgeous girl wearing a dress in the mirror. Her black hair contrasted with the white dress. I couldn't help myself but stare in a daze. I absentmindedly touched palms with my mirror's twin as I looked her up and down. When my eyes reached hers, I noticed tears forming in the corner of her eyes, mouth quivering.

"Why are you crying, you idiot?" She reprimanded me as her mouth formed into a smile. Tears began pouring out in full force. I held my mouth as quiet sobs escaped it.

"C-Chris? Are you alright?" A concerned voice called out from outside the cabin.

I didn't answer. Instead, my shaking hand grabbed the curtain and slowly pulled it back.

Flare's eyes widened as she looked at me.

"Flare. I. I'm a girl." I couldn't stop crying.

She pulled me into a hug. My shaking hands curled around her back, returning the hug.

"Yeah. You are." She whispered.

The negative thoughts were gone. The doubts were a faraway dream. I didn't even care about the people staring at us. This was different from the last night's realization. Back then, I found out I was free. But it was like finding out it would be sunny the next day from the weather forecast. Now, I experienced it. I found out what it really meant. What impact it all had. The chains may have been broken last night, but I still refused to leave my cell. I was afraid. The cell was all I knew. How could I just leave? What if the outside is even worse? It was difficult. But Flare helped me. She took my hand and walked me out of the bleak prison cell out into a dazzling meadow. How could I not cry in happiness?

It took a few minutes until I calmed down. When we finally parted from our hug, I held the most genuine smile I ever had. Flare returned it in full force.

"So? Are we buying that dress?" She asked with a grin.

I just kept smiling and answered with a nod.