After crying like a dummy and hugging her mom with literal blood dripping between her legs, Angel was finally taught how to deal with periods.
Her mother walked her through the basics of period hygiene—pads, tampons, menstrual cups, all that stuff. Even though her mom was running late for work, she still made a quick stop at the pharmacy to grab some pads.
Honestly, Angel was relieved.
Tampons and menstrual cups sounded... intimidating. She wasn't exactly eager to try those out anytime soon.
Angel wasn't completely clueless about all this. She'd picked up a thing or two from observing her mom during her "red days."
But still, her own period caught her completely off guard.
She thought she'd have at least until the end of the month—or maybe even next month—before dealing with this.
Like, it hadn't even been three weeks since she'd changed into a girl!
Anyway, now that Angel had her pads, she felt a little more in control of the situation.
As she cleaned herself up in the bathroom, scrubbing away the faint metallic smell between her thighs with mild soap and water, her mind wandered.
「I thought period cramps were supposed to be bearable... Turns out, not for me.」
She sighed, grabbing a pack of Modess. Her mom had shown her how to use them earlier, but...
「Erm... how did Ma do it again? Like this... and this...?」
Angel fumbled with the pad, peeling off the wrapper and carefully sticking it to her panties.
It was a little off-center, though.
She couldn't quite replicate her mom's flawless technique.
Maybe she just needed more practice?
「In any case, I think it won't spill even if it looks like this...?」
Angel figured it would hold up fine. After all, this was technically her second time changing a pad—the first being when she'd rushed to her mom in a panic earlier. She was getting the hang of it... slowly but surely.
「Alright, time to head out.」
Angel took a deep breath as she slowly stood up.
Her period cramps weren't getting any better, but what could she do? She couldn't cry the whole day even if she wanted to—and she certainly didn't want to spend the whole day crying.
So, she shuffled her way to her room and gently flopped onto the bed.
She was already lazy, and the cramps weren't helping. Now, all she felt like doing was sleeping and dozing off.
But just as she was about to drift away, a sudden urge hit her: she wanted to eat something.
「I need something to eat.」
Angel stared at the ceiling, one hand absentmindedly caressing her stomach.
Was she actually hungry?
Nah.
But did she want to eat?
OF COURSE!
She didn't know why, but if her body was demanding snacks, she wasn't about to argue with it.
And so, she dragged herself up again and headed straight to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and peered inside.
「Fruits, some yogurt… ice cream?」
Angel's eyes landed on the ice cream container. It was probably ice cream… not fish this time. She was sure of it!
She grabbed the container and popped it open.
Her wide eyes immediately narrowed as the unmistakable smell of fish hit her nostrils.
"FUCK."
Angel wanted to hurl the container across the room, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she just shoved it back into the fridge where it belonged.
「Well, now what? I could just eat yogurt…」
She glanced at the yogurt in the fridge, contemplating her options.
"Hmm… chips would be nice."
Angel wandered over to the plastic containers where her parents stored the snacks. She rummaged through the options: Piatos, cheesecurls…
She started to drool just looking at them.
「Wait… why the fuck am I drooling?」
Angel wiped her mouth. No, nooo! Chips, while delishhh, weren't the way to go…
「This is getting annoying. So, what *will* I eat then?」
She tapped her foot, arms crossed, as she alternated between staring at the plastic containers and the fridge.
Ultimately, Angel decided to go for the chips. She didn't want to risk the yogurt. Why? Well, because she didn't want to risk having diarrhea.
Not that she had IBS or anything like that, but her stomach could be pretty sensitive sometimes.
Even if she could risk eating yogurt, just… not right now. Not when she was on her period. She didn't need another pain in the ass—literally.
And so, Angel grabbed a bag of Nova and trudged back to her room.
She propped up her pillows into a nice incline, settled into bed, and opened Facebook to scroll while munching on her chips.
「It still hurts… but I think I'm getting used to it.」
Angel glanced down at her stomach.
In truth, she wasn't really getting used to it. She was just saying words of affirmation.
This was her new reality now, and like every woman in the world, she'd have to deal with this every month.
But she also felt a little proud. Proud that she hadn't completely fallen apart.
As Angel continued eating, a sudden realization hit her.
"Hot compress."
Her eyes widened. Of course! A hot compress! She'd read about this in all those gender-bender light novels and manga. Maybe it could actually help?
Though, she wasn't sure if her mom even had one.
Still, it was worth a shot. But for now, she'd finish her snacks, rest for a bit, and then get up to heat some water.
...
..
.
After taking her sweet time, Angel finally finished the chips and slowly rolled out of bed.
She shuffled to the kitchen, poured water into the kettle, turned on the gas, and lit the stove.
Now, all she had to do was wait—
「What the…」
Before she could even make it to the living room, she felt something drip. Ugh, her period.
Angel hurried to the bathroom, cleaned herself up, and changed. Luckily, even though her napkin wasn't perfectly centered, there were no leaks!
「I'm so proud of myself 」
Angel nodded proudly as she stepped out of the bathroom. Just in time, the kettle started whistling.
She glanced around the house, looking for a hot compress, but couldn't find one. So, she grabbed a small towel, soaked it in hot water, and waited for it to warm up.
Once it was bearable to the touch, she placed it on her tummy. Thankfully, her loose shirt made it easy to tuck the warm towel against her stomach.
Angel made her way back to her room, feeling a little more comfortable as she lay down.
It had been an eventful day. Angel couldn't help but sigh. Just how much more complicated could her life get?