Japan x Reader: My Onnagata

    She steps so gracefully onto the stage. All but her twinkling brown eyes are covered by the floral-patterned sleeve of the scarlet kimono. Her real ebony hair is pulled back underneath an extravagant wig. Utop her lovely hair rests a golden headdress which only adds to her refined beauty. The silken sleeve that covers her lower face is slyly replaced by a bright green fan. She takes a few steps forward, each movement wide and fluent. The crowd around you cheers at her astounding, bewildering beauty.

    Her grandiose steps seem to take her closer and closer to you, causing excitement to well up within you. Her large, half-lidded eyes focus on your own (e/c) orbs and you can’t help but catch your breath. This is just what that beauty wants. The crowd goes a bit wilder with every step and movements she makes. They chant her name quietly among themselves. “Kiku. Kiku,” you hear them say. Even her name makes you tremble.

    Other actors appear on the stage; all of them are men. The younger Kabuki actors are attempting to share the stage with such a powerful force. They share some words of love and some of contempt.

    Suddenly, the beauty collapses on the stage, weeping loudly and calling out the other man’s name. Kiku’s performance is so invigorating, even the women around you are touched by her act of despair. All you can do is focus on her gentle charm, her gracious beauty that overwhelms you completely.

    After the crowd's cheering dies down, she stands up slowly, showcasing her strength as well as her charm. Your heart nearly melts as she turns to leave the stage. But just as you are tempted by her, she is tempted by you. This extravegant woman turns back to you for a quick moment and allows you to meet her warm and gentle gaze.

    She leaves without another word, taking your trembling thoughts with her.



    "What a beautiful woman," you mumble to yourself as you make your way around the theater in hopes of finding her again. Perhaps you became obsessed with her after her sensational performance. You can still feel her gaze resting upon you. It was as though she was dedicating her very performance to you. All you wanted to do was meet the beauty for yourself.

    You begin to wonder what she looks like underneath the makeup and the wig. She must be just as--if not even more immaculate without the white facepaint and long wig. She has to be beautiful.

    While thinking about the lovely Kiku, you accidentally run into someone. "Eh--sorry," you say softly, looking down at the slightly shorter person. You look down at the figure and nearly sigh in content. "Honda-san?" you ask gently, hoping that you haven't mistaken this gentle gaze for that of the lovely Honda Kiku who performed onstage.

    "Ah?" the person replies, blushing slightly. Her voice is a bit deeper than you remember. “Anata wa so kantan ni watashi o ninshiki shi,” she tells you quietly. Of course, you don’t really understand her at all. “Uh...do you speak Engrish?” she asks you hesitantly. You nod softly with a bright smile lighting up your face. “I just said that you recognized me so easiry..."

    "It would be hard not to recognize someone as pretty as you," you tell her with a small smile. She only blushes further. "You were amazing onstage. Let me congratulate you with some dinner."

    "That is not necessary," she tells you softly. She tries to turn away, but how could one allow such a beauty to slip through their fingers?

    “My name is (y/n),” you say suddenly, reaching out to her, but not touching her. “I’ll only be here for a little while. Please, allow me to thank you for your wonderful performance. I’ve never seen a Kabuki play before and you really brought it to life today. Please, Honda-san, allow me to show you my gratitude.”

    “A-alright,” she mumbles in reply. She adjusts her unflattering, dull-colored kimono and follows you into the city. “I-I’m grad that you riked my performance, but you don’t need to do this.”

    “Don’t be silly,” you tell her with a soft smile. “I just want to take the time to get to know you while I can.”

    “That...that is very kind of you,” she tells you as another soft blush creeps upon her tan cheeks. “W-where are you taking me?”

    “Where’s your favorite place to eat?” you ask in reply.

    “I...I wirr show you.”



    “So you just kind of grew up with Kabuki all your life?” you ask your new found friend from across the low-rising table. She looks so refined a she kneels across from you. “But you’ve only been performing for about a year? That’s crazy! You’re so good at it!”

    “Ah...thank you,” she replies quietly. “I practice a rot.”

    “I can tell! It was so exciting to see you perform, Kiku-chan!”

    Her chocolate eyes go wide and she chokes on her tea. “Ah...I aporogize. W-why did you use the term ‘chan?’”

    You look up at her with confusion laced in your gaze. “Because...you’re cute and adorable...is it too informal? I’m sorry.”

    “It’s not...that…” Kiku tells you softly. “I think...I think you are confused. I am a man. In Kabuki, certain men take the place of women in all their roles. These men are carred  onnagata and I am one of them. I aporogize for the confusion.”

    You stare at her--him for a moment, reevaluating her--his appearance. Now that you know his true gender, you can easily tell how handsome he is. Sure, his gentle features are rather feminine. Even his name is feminine. But you can see that within his femininity he has a strong, very masculine presence. That’s what makes him such a captivating Kabuki actor. And to be honest, this makes him all the more interesting.

    “You’re the perfect onnagata,” you tell him happily. “Perhaps it was my ignorance of your culture, but you had me so convinced that you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.”
His face turns a bright scarlet and he looks down at his lap. “It happens more than I wourd rike. Even a few rocars are convinced that I am rearry a woman. But I guess it is worth it. I wourdn’t want to do anything erse with my life. And there are arways peopre rike you who trury appreciate the art.” He sends you a warm smile before looking away.

    “I’m glad that you enjoy what you do so much,” you tell him with a quiet chuckle. “I really enjoy seeing you perform.”

    Kiku nods silently and finishes his tea in that same silence. You can’t help but smile at the grace he has even off the stage. It’s as though he was raised to be the perfect onnagata.

    After a while you let out a heavy sigh and look up at the beautiful Japanese man before you. “I suppose we should get going now. It was really nice that you gave me this chance to get to know you,” you tell your new friend with your bright smile. “If you hadn’t I probably would have gone the rest of my life believing that you were a woman. I’m glad that I know the real you now.”

    “It was nice to get to know you too,” Kiku replies rather sheepishly. "How rong are you going to be around here?"

    "Just a little longer," you reply, your smile fading slightly at the thought of leaving someone who was already so endearing. "But I promise to see another of your plays before I go."

    "I-I wourd rike that a rot," Kiku replies quietly. "A-are you just going to go back to your hoter now? O-or wourd you rike for me to maybe...take you sight seeing?"

    Your face lights up with excitement, (e/c) eyes sparkling. "I would love for you to show me around!"

    "A-arigato," Kiku says softly.



    The two of you had to stop by Kiku’s small house so that he could pick up some sort of mat for the two of you to sit on later. It gets to be rather late at night, rather dark too, and you are still out with your new friend. Kiku brings you to one of his favorite places: Yoyogi Park. He sets the mat down by the water and allows you to sit down on it before he kneels down next to you.

    You are absolutely astounded by the beauties that surround you. “The cherry blossoms are in bloom,” you can hear Kiku tell you. And you know it. It is one thing to see the light pink of the cherry blossoms dust the sky during the day, but during the night: it is truly mystical. You can barely contain your sounds of awe at such a beautiful sight. The soft shades of pink are darkened by the shadows yet still manage to stand out against the midnight sky. “This is my favorite prace to be,” Kiku tells you softly as he watches your bewildered face.

    “I can see why,” you reply softly. “It’s so beautiful here...you fit in perfectly.”

    “A-arigato…” Kiku mumbles in reply. “But you don’t need to fratter me so. You know that I am a boy now, right?”

    “It doesn’t matter,” you whisper, picking up one of the fallen cherry blossoms and placing it in Kiku’s ebony hair, “whether you’re male or female. You’re beautiful, Kiku.”

    “You are as werr,” Kiku tells you softly. “Thank you for making this night so nice. Not many peopre want to spend time with the onnagata. You don’t even seem to mind that I am not the woman you thought I was.”

    You smile at his face. You can easily see his light blush in the bright moonlight. The reflection of the cherry trees as well as the two of you sparkles in the water beside you. “Like I said before, it doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female. You amaze me, Kiku. Between your fantastic Kabuki performance and this beautiful scenery, you’ve made this night the best  I could ever have here in Japan.”

    “T-that’s good,” Kiku stutters quietly.

    You look at his nervous face and make the decision you’ve been contemplating all night. “Kiku?”
“Nani ga?”

    You bite your lower lip as you contemplate how you’re going to do this. “I-I guess it does matter whether you’re a boy or a girl.”

    “W-why is that?”

    “I…” You inch closer to him, hoping that he doesn’t take great notice. “I guess...I like boys better than I like girls.”

    “T-that’s--” Kiku is cut off by your lips gently colliding with his. His body goes rigid for a moment and you just know that his eyes are open wide. You expected nothing less of this. But Kiku’s body slowly becomes accustomed to the contact, softening at your touch and his lips even begin to move against yours slightly. You pull away and find that his eyes are heavily lidded, just how you hoped they would be. “That’s nice,” he tells you quietly.

    The two of you sit in silence under the cherry blossoms for a few more minutes before you get up. “It’s getting late. We should go home now.”
“Hai, I wirr wark you back to your hoter,” Kiku tells you as he stands up beside you. “W...wirr you be coming to my performance tomorrow?”

   “Of course,” you reply with your typical smile. Kiku shies away from that smile, but you’re pretty certain it’s because he is blushing. “I wouldn’t want to spend my time anywhere else.”



    You open the door to your hotel room and step inside. “I guess you don’t want to spend the night?” you joke to your rather unaffectionate friend.

    Kiku blushes and looks down at his feet. “We just met today. It wourd be improper.”

    “It’s fine,” You tell him. “I understand you completely.”

    Kiku reaches up and takes the pink flower out of his hair. He gently places it in your hands and bows slightly toward you. “Goodnight, (y/n).”

    “Goodnight, Kiku,” you reply as you lean forward for a final kiss. Kiku complies more generously than you expected. Yet within seconds, you split apart, you staring into his deep pools of warm, chocolate brown. Without a second thought, three words escape your lips before you can stop them.





    “Goodnight, my onnagata.”