Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been a few months after Midoriya Isami came out. Neito had been noticing a lot of changes, both in Midoriya and in himself these past few months. Changes that made him happy for Midoriya, but confused, lonely, and frustrated for himself. Changes like Midoriya’s voice becoming a bit more higher pitched, Midoriya becoming a bit more sure of herself, losing the stutter she had for so long. Neito overheard Midoriya talking to her… friends? Girlfriends? He couldn't really be sure, but Midoriya was talking about how she was going to start ‘E’ pretty soon and that she was excited about it. After some googling, Neito discovered that ‘E’ was shorthand for ‘estrogen’. That google search led him down a rabbit hole of more google searches which led him to this moment. Sitting in his dorm, debating if he was a ‘he’ at all.

From the moment he saw Midoriya wearing the girl's uniform, he felt… off. When he saw Midoriya, he knew that he had walked into a sensitive situation. He had wished her luck and let her be, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He hadn't known that it was that easy. That someone could just… change when they weren’t comfortable with what they were before. Midoriya changed. She changed her pronouns and name and uniform and seemed so happy. After seeing her so happy, Neito couldn’t stop wondering that maybe, if he changed, he could be happy too. He usually shook those thoughts out of his head, but now…

After finding out about estrogen, which led him to finding out about dysphoria, he didn’t know what to think. He didn’t really care much about his body. He was slim with some light muscle tone. His body served him perfectly for the type of heroics he was interested in. He didn’t care about his voice either. It was just fine in his opinion. He doesn’t really grow much facial hair thanks to his father's genetics, but even if he did, he doesn’t think he would care much. He didn’t have body dysphoria. But what really got him thinking was the article he read about social dysphoria.

Oh, how Neito loathed gender-separated exercises and training. He hated being pushed into the boy’s group. It wasn’t only because he was closer friends with the girls in his class than the boys. It went deeper than that. He hated every ‘young man’, every ‘boy’s on that side, you too Monoma’, every ‘he/him’ sent his way. It sickened him. It made his blood boil. So, he likely has social dysphoria. What does he do about that now?

Neito flops back onto his bed and begins thinking. She/her sounded nice in his head, but it didn’t really fit too well, at least not now. Maybe they/them? That felt nice.

“Neito is so cool. They are so much better than any of those 1-A assholes. Look at their training stats,” Neito whispered to himself. He immediately began to feel a warm buzzing sensation in his chest. Oh yeah. They/them worked just fine for them.

But if they liked they/them pronouns and weren’t sure about she/her just yet, what did that mean? During their research, they had read about nonbinary people, but they weren’t sure if that label fit them. Neito sighs and sits back up. Thinking about labels is too much work for one day. They’ll think about it tomorrow.

They didn’t think about it the next day. Or the next. Or the next. Rather, they started thinking about it and got sidetracked by other obligations and decided to think about it the next day. Neito’s mind kept going in circles and it pissed them off. What they knew for certain was that they weren’t a boy.

So now what? They weren’t a boy, great, but they didn’t know if they were a girl. They needed more help with this than they could give themself. It was time to ask for help and, as much as they hated the notion, that help had to come from class 1-A.

One day during lunch, Neito gathered their courage and walked over to Midoriya’s lunch table. It was weird. They had never felt shy or nervous about approaching 1-A before. They usually just walked up, made fun of them, and then got dragged away by Itsuka. This time was different, though. They weren’t going to be an asshole. They weren’t going to make fun of anyone. They were going to ask for help with a problem and that translated to being cordial and… nice. And that bothered them. They’ve never been good at being nice. And why do something you’re not good at?

“Midoriya, can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?” they ask, heart pounding.

Midoriya looks up from her tray and seems to study them. Everyone at the table stares, trying to assess the situation. Neito’s hands tremble slightly before they ball their fists. The rigid boy with the glasses is about to say something when Midoriya stands from her seat and gives Neito a smile.

“Sure thing, Monoma! Lead the way!” she says before turning back to her friends. “I’ll be right back!” she says, smiling.

Neito walks out of the cafeteria and into the hall, Midoriya in tow. When they reach a point where they’re certain they won’t be heard, Neito turns to Midoriya and takes a breath. This is it. The moment of truth. They’re about to spill their greatest secret to someone they barely know. Okay. Here it goes.

“Midoriya, I-”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept!” Midoriya interrupts, bowing.

Neito blinks. “What?”

“I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’m currently in a very happy relationship and I can’t accept your feelings. I’m sorry!”

“I- huh?” Neito was baffled. What does Midoriya mean she ‘can’t accept their feelings’, what-

Oh.

“Oh, kami, not that!” Neito exclaims. “I don’t have a crush on you!”

Midoriya straightens from her bow. “Really? But you’ve been staring at me during joint training and someone from your class, not naming any names, told me-”

“Well they were wrong! I keep staring at you because I’m jealous!” they rush before clapping their hand over their mouth.

“You’re… jealous?” she asks, tilting her head to the side slightly.

Neito sighs. “You’re so sure of yourself. You know exactly who you are and where you want to go in life. I’m not good at expressing my feelings, but I admire that and I want that for myself. So…” they trail off, thinking of the words they want to say, “how did you know you were a girl?”

“Oh!” Midoriya’s eyes widen slightly in surprise. “Well, I didn’t really. ‘Chako and Tsu actually knew before I did. I’ve always had an aversion to haircuts and an interest in feminine things like clothing and makeup that I was too scared to pursue until I was invited to my class’ girl’s night. I actually realized during girl’s night that I was a girl, it cracked my egg, so to speak. Being treated like one of the girls really helped me figure myself out. You know, it’s quite funny when you think about it-”

“Thank you for the help,” Neito interrupts, cutting off Midoriya’s ramble, “My class does girl’s nights too. I think I might ask Itsuka if I can join in sometime. Thanks.” They go to walk away when Midoriya stops them with a tug at their sleeve.

“No matter what you discover, gender-wise, I want you to know that I’ll always support you, okay?” she asks, digging into her blazer pocket. She pulls out a slip of paper and half a pencil. She quickly jots something down on the paper, using her nondominant hand as a small table. She shoves the paper into Neito’s hand and smiles. “Text me any time, okay?”

As she walks back down the hall to the cafeteria, Neito looks down at the paper holding Midoriya’s phone number and lets out a small puff of air, a small smile crossing their lips. They shove the paper into their pocket and walk back to the cafeteria. They glance over at Midoriya’s table on the way to their own. The boy with glasses seems to be scolding her for something. The frog girl, Asui, they think, sticks her tongue in his ear from across the table. The boy screams and cups his ear while the table laughs at his expense. Upon sitting at their own table, Itsuka elbows Neito in the ribs.

“Ow! What?” they ask, giving Itsuka an annoyed look.

“I hope you didn’t bother Midoriya too much. She has a lot on her plate right now. Plus, I’m pretty sure she’s dating the frog girl and the gravity girl,” Itsuka says, taking a bite of her rice. Neito groans.

“I don’t have a crush on her! Why do people think that?” they lament.

Itsuka shrugs. “I don’t know, you tell me.”

“Hush. I have something to ask you later, so I’m coming to your dorm after class,” they announce, using their chopsticks to steal some beef from Itsuka’s plate.

“Hey!” she snaps. Neito smirks at her as they eat their stolen prize. She glares at them without any real contempt.

“Phantom Thief strikes again,” they smirk.

Chapter Text

After classes ended for the day, as promised, Neito made their way up to Itsuka’s dorm behind her. As soon as they entered the room, Neito flopped onto Itsuka’s bed, arranging themself into a cross-legged position.

“You know, Vlad-Sensei is going to throw a fit if he finds out I’ve been letting you hang out in here,” Itsuka says, opening her closet door.

Neito pulls one of Itsuka’s stuffed animals onto their lap. It’s a white rabbit with soft pink inner ears. “Then I guess we just won’t tell him, will we?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Itsuka says from behind the closet door. “Throw this in my laundry bin, will you?” She tosses her school shirt at Neito over the door.

Neito sighs and throws the shirt into the bin at the end of the bed. “You could have made that shot yourself and you know it.”

“Yeah, but I like making you work for me,” Itsuka announces, tossing her skirt over the door. “It’s payback for all the trouble you cause with 1-A.”

“Tetsutetsu was right, you really are like a big sister,” Neito snorts, tossing the skirt into the bin.

Itsuka emerges from behind the door wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a large t-shirt. “Yeah, whatever,” she sighs, closing the closet door and throwing herself onto the bed next to Neito, “You’re just saying that because you don’t have any big sisters. Trust me, it’s all screaming and hair-pulling. You’re lucky your family is all boys.”

A sharp pain shoots through Neito’s heart at that. They decide that it’s time to come clean. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” they say hesitantly, playing with the stuffed rabbit's ears.

Itsuka straightens up, sensing the importance of the conversation. “What’s going on?”

Neito takes a deep breath and desperately avoids eye contact, keeping their full focus on the rabbit. “Well… I’ve sort of been… questioning my gender lately. I know I’m not a boy, but other than that, I’m sort of stuck. I was wondering if I could come to girl’s night? See if being treated like a girl does anything to help me figure things out? Midoriya said it helped her, so…”

Itsuka is quiet for a moment before placing a hand on Neito’s shoulder. “Come here,” she says, pulling them into a hug.

Neito’s hands leave the rabbit and they wrap their arms around Itsuka’s shoulders. They sit there for a few moments, hugging. Neito hadn’t even realized that tears had made their way to their eyes until they were rolling down their cheeks and soaking into Itsuka’s shirt. They pull back and wipe the tears from their cheeks with the heel of their hand.

“Thank you for trusting me with this. That was really brave of you. Do you have any pronouns you want me to use for you? A different name?” Itsuka asked, rubbing Neito’s arms.

“They/them, for now. I’m thinking of trying she/her, but not right now. And Neito is fine,” they answer.

“All right. I’ll have to ask the other girls if they’re okay with it. If not, we can always just do girl’s night stuff just the two of us, okay?” Itsuka answers, smiling softly.

Neito nods. They both sit in silence for a few moments before Itsuka speaks up.

“Do you want to play Animal Crossing?” she asks.

“Yeah. Let me get my switch.”

The next day, as Neito was sitting in their room doing homework, they received a text from Itsuka.

Itsuka: Girl’s night is a go. We start at 19:00 on Saturday 👍

Neito smiles, a giddy feeling filling their stomach, and sends a text back.

Neito: Cool. Do I need to bring anything?

A few seconds later, Itsuka responds.

Itsuka: Nah, just yourself

Neito stands from their desk and makes their way to their bed, throwing themself onto it and squealing into their pillow. After a few seconds, they pull their phone out and respond.

Neito: Ok 👍

Neito locks their phone and rolls onto their back in bed. They’re doing this. They’re really going to girl’s night. They’re finally going to figure their shit out. They smile widely and kick their feet in the air a little. After their short celebration, they begin a text message to the newest number saved in their phone.

Neito: Hey, I wanted to let you know that I asked Itsuka if I could go to girl’s night. She just got back to me after asking the others and it looks like I’m going to be going this Saturday. Thanks for the suggestion

A few seconds after sending the message, their phone buzzed.

Midoriya: omg thts gr8! gud luk w/ figuring stuff out! i hope u hav fun! 🥳
Midoriya: oh! and np! im hapy 2 giv advice n e time! 😁

Neito snorts at the messages. Of course Midoriya would type like that.

Neito: Thanks

They lock their phone again and sit up, looking over at their desk. They really need to finish that homework… but first, they think they’ve earned a popsicle.

When Saturday rolled around, Neito found themself at the threshold of the common room at exactly 19:00. The girls all bustled about, some fetching snacks, others arranging pillows and blankets, and one very confused Pony trying to figure out how to sign into Netflix. The common room was filled with commotion and it seemed as if no one had really noticed Neito’s presence. They were beginning to feel a bit unsure. Maybe they could just sneak back upstairs…

Pony looks up from her task and notices Neito. “Oh! Neito! Could you help me? I can’t figure out the… uh…”

“Password?” Neito guesses, making their way over to Pony.

“Yes! That’s it! Password!” she cheers.

Neito takes the remote from her and types in the password. Pony claps her hands together.

“Thank you so much! I got a couple of the characters switched again,” she says, embarrassment creeping into her voice.

“It’s no problem. I know Japanese isn’t your first language. You’ll get it eventually,” Neito comforts her.

“Thanks,” she says, smiling at them. “Hey, since you’re joining us tonight, do you think you could teach me some more swears? It was really fun last time!”

“No!” Itsuka chimes in, overhearing their conversation, “No more swears! It was a miracle that we convinced Vlad-Sensei that you heard them on TV the first time. If we get caught again, we’ll get in trouble.”

“Aww! Come on!” Pony laments.

“No! Sit down, we need to pick a movie.”

Pony grumbles and flops onto the couch, Neito taking a seat next to her as Itsuka takes over control of the remote. Kinoko enters the room with a large bowl of popcorn, Kodai following behind her with a large bowl of M&Ms.

Setsuna looks up from her pillow arranging and gasps. “You took my suggestion! Hell yeah!” she cheers.

“Yep! We’re makin’ it special tonight!” Kinoko cheers back. Kodai hums in agreement.

“You didn’t put mushrooms in the popcorn, did you?” Itsuka asks.

“No! I would never do that!” Kinoko protests.

“You did that last time,” Yanagi says quietly, emerging from the kitchen holding multiple bowls.

“Well, I wouldn’t do that again,” Komori huffs, setting the bowl on the center table, “We’re giving everyone a separate bowl so you can mix in M&Ms if you want.”

“Yesss!” Setsuna cheers. “Gimme!”

Yanagi sets the bowls down on the table next to the popcorn bowl. “Help yourself,” she whispers. Kodai hums and sets the M&Ms down.

Setsuna grabs a bowl and fills it with popcorn before grabbing a handful of M&Ms and sprinkling it in. Neito gets up to grab their own bowl.

“Alright, so while everyone is getting snacks, we should talk about what movie we want to watch. The main question is: comedy, drama, or horror? We are not doing Hallmark romance or Western,” Itsuka says, giving Setsuna and Pony pointed looks.

“Okay, to be fair, I only suggested Hallmark romance because I think they’re funny,” Setsuna points out.

“It was like a psychological horror,” Yanagi whispers.

“How is a romance movie anything like a psychological horror?” Neito asks, sitting back down with their popcorn.

“You don’t want to know,” Pony says, shaking her head.

Neito shrugs and throws some popcorn into their mouth. Itsuka scrolls through Netflix in silence for a few seconds before turning to Neito.

“Neito, pick a genre. You’re our guest, so you should pick.”

“Yeah! That’s a great idea!” Kinoko cheers.

“Uh… drama, I guess?” Neito asks, a bit unsure as to how that will influence the movie choice.

“Of course you like drama, with all the trouble you cause with 1-A” Setsuna teases.

Neito narrows their eyes and throws a piece of popcorn at her. It lands in her hair.

“Hah! More popcorn for me!” she shouts, pulling the popcorn from her hair and popping it in her mouth.

“Whatever, nasty.”

“Everyone! Movie!” Itsuka calls, trying to reign in the imminent chaos.

“Right!” Kinoko calls, turning her attention back to the screen. “Ooh! Cyberbully! That’s the one that was supposed to be like, a bullying PSA but actually turned out to be funny, right?”

“I remember that! We watched it in my middle school health class! God, it was awful!” Pony cries. “We need to watch it!”

“Okay, all in favor of Cyberbully, raise your hand!” Itsuka announces.

All hands go up. “Great! Cyberbully it is!” Itsuka says, grabbing a bowl of popcorn and squeezing in between Neito and Pony.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Shiozaki?” Neito asks.

“Oh! She has a home visit this weekend.” Itsuka tells Neito.

Neito accepts the answer and settles in to watch the movie, a little thankful for that fact. They didn’t have anything against Shiozaki, they actually enjoyed her company from time to time, but if they were planning on being as girly as possible tonight, they didn’t think they could deal with the pressure of having someone so… devout nearby who could possibly judge them for their behavior.

After the movie wrapped up, everyone sat in silence for a few seconds before cracking up.

“That was… so bad,” Neito laughs.

“'I can’t get the cap off!'” Setsuna quotes, collapsing dramatically onto Kinoko.

“Seriously, did she expect her to help her? What was that?” Kinoko cackles, a few mushrooms generating.

After a few more moments of laughter, Itsuka clears her throat. “Okay, that was pretty bad, but we all agree that bullying is a serious issue, right?”

“Yes, class president!” everyone shouts in unison.

“Good, good. Now, everyone on the floor. It’s time for Setsuna’s favorite activity.”

Chapter Text

“Yes! Gossip Circle!” Setsuna cheers.

“Gossip Circle?” Neito asks, giving Itsuka an unsure look. She pats their shoulder reassuringly.

“Yes! Oh, you’ll love it! We all sit in a circle and paint nails and talk about all the latest drama and gossip! It’s totally up your alley!” Setsuna says, grabbing Neito’s hand and guiding them to a spot on the floor. “Of course, you don’t have to paint your nails if you don’t want to.”

“I want to!” Neito insists, maybe a bit too quickly, “I mean, what’s the harm in it?”

“That’s the spirit! What color do you want? I’m painting little mushrooms on mine!” Kinoko asks, pulling a bin of nail polish out of seemingly nowhere.

“Oh! Uh… light blue, if you have it?”

“If I have it?” Kinoko asks, opening the bin. “Take your pick!”

The nail polishes were sorted in rainbow order. There are so many shades of each different color that it almost makes Neito’s head spin. After staring for a few seconds, Neito grabs a sky-blue bottle.

“Nice. I like that one a lot too,” Kinoko tells them before moving on in the circle.

Everyone picks out their nail polish and sets to work painting their nails in concentrated silence. Neito stares at their hands as they clumsily attempt to paint their nails. *They had only painted their nails once in their life, as a young child, but were caught by their dad and yelled at before being sent to their room. Maybe that’s why they were so resistant to the idea of being anything other than male at first?* Oh kami, how many of their current insecurities came from that moment?

Their breath had just started to speed up when Setsuna claps her hands together, startling Neito out of their spiral.

“Okay, I can’t hold it in anymore! I’m starting the gossip circle!” she rushes in excitement. She leans forward from her spot across from them.

“Neitooo~” Setsuna sings, looking somewhat like a cat who caught a bird, “I saw you take Midoriya out of the cafeteria the other day and I’ve seen you smile at her in the hall every day since. What’s that about, I wonder?”

Neito stares at her, dumbfounded for a few seconds. “I- what?” they sputter before narrowing their eyes. “Are you the one who told her I have a crush on her? Because that’s not true!”

“It’s not?” Kinoko asks, disappointment creeping into her voice.

Neito looks between the two of them for a second before groaning. “Both of you? Really?”

Setsuna and Kinoko give each other sheepish looks. Itsuka sighs, shaking her head a little. “I told you two not to meddle…”

“You knew about this?” Neito asks, whipping their head in Itsuka’s direction. “I thought we were best friends! You were conspiring against me the whole time?”

Itsuka snorts at that. “It’s not like that. So much happens with 1-A, sometimes we have to manufacture our own drama. You were just the next person on the list.”

“You have a list!?” they blanch.

“Let’s get back on topic!” Setsuna interjects. “You don’t have a crush on Midoriya?”

“No! I don’t even like girls!” Neito cries.

The room is silent for a few seconds before Setsuna and Kinoko squeal in delight.

*
“I knew it! I knew he was fruity!” Kinoko shouts, shaking Setsuna’s shoulders.

“Shut up, I thought he was bi!” Setsuna shouts back.

“Too loud,” Yanagi whispers. Kodai hums in agreement.

“What does fruity mean?” Pony asks.

“You know, like, gay. He only likes boys,” Setsuna tells her.

“Oh! Okay! I know what that is!” Pony nods.

Neito sits there in silence as chaos happens around them. They were having such a good time, hanging out, and being treated like one of the girls. Knowing that almost all the girls see them as a gay boy… it hurts a bit. No, not a bit. It’s agonizing.
*

Itsuka looks over at them, taking in their quickly paling skin and shaking hands. “Hey, can we all quiet down, please?” she calls to everyone. The room quickly falls quiet. She rubs their back and leans into their ear. “What’s wrong? Do you need a break?” she whispers.

Neito shakes their head. They can’t go on like this. If they go one more moment being perceived as a boy, they might explode. “I have something to say,” they announce. Everyone stops their activities to look at them.

“I’m not a boy. I don’t know what I am, but I know I’m not a boy. Midoriya told me that going to girl's night helped her figure herself out, so I thought maybe, it would help me too…” They trail off, looking down at their messily painted nails.

“Is that what you were talking to Midoriya about?” Setsuna asks softly. Neito nods.

“I see. That was nice of her, to give you advice like that. Do you have any pronouns you want us to use?” she asks.

“Or a new name?” Kinoko interjects.

Neito looks up. All the girls are looking at them with a mix of support and concern. They feel a tear roll down their cheek and onto their chin. When did they start crying?

“Um… I’ve been using they/them so far and I like those, but I want to try using she/her too. See if it fits. I don’t really want to change my name, I don’t think.”

Itsuka rubs their back again, hand never having left the center of their spine. “Of course. We can do that.”

“Thank you,” they sniff, using their wrist to wipe their tears.

The room is silent again for a few moments, before Pony stands up. “I’m going to get her some water! Does anyone else want a drink?”

“Cherry coke!” Kinoko cheers.

“Can you grab my can of iced tea from the fridge, please?” Yanagi whispers.

“Sprite for me, please!” Setsuna calls. Kodai hums, indicating that she also wants Sprite.

Itsuka stands up, hand leaving Neito’s back. “Will you be okay if I leave for a bit? I’m going to help Pony carry the drinks.”

“I’ll be fine, thank you.”

Pony and Itsuka leave the room to retrieve everyone’s drinks. Everyone left in the room returns to their previous tasks, Setsuna cleaning up her nail polish, Kinoko adding white dots to her red nails, Yanagi attempting to paint small ghosts on her nails, and Kodai scrolling through her phone.

‘Her’. ‘I’m going to get her some water’. That’s what Pony said. Neito smiles to themself, feeling warm and fuzzy. It felt right. Just as right as being called ‘they’ did. They had read about using multiple pronouns in their prior research. Maybe they could do that too. They/she. That feels nice.

Kodai scoots closer to Neito, humming to get their attention. Neito looks up at her.

“What’s up?” Neito asks. Kodai pushes her phone into Neito’s hands. It’s open to a wiki of gender identities.

“Are you trying to help me figure myself out?” Neito asks her. She nods.

“Thank you,” she smiles, scrolling through the wiki. Kodai hums in affirmation.

While they scroll, occasionally clicking on links of different gender identities to read about them, Itsuka and Pony return from the kitchen. They both hand out everyone’s drinks before sitting back down in their previous spots.

“What are you doing?” Pony asks, curious.

“Kodai showed me this wiki she found. It has a bunch of gender identities and what they mean. It’s actually really cool,” Neito says, scrolling down a bit more.

“That’s really cool! Read me one.” Itsuka leans closer, trying to look at the phone from over Neito’s shoulder. She points at the screen. “This one seems interesting. The flag is really pretty, too.”

“Okay! Get out of my bubble!” they snap, gently elbowing Itsuka. She moves away but still stays close. “Thank you.”

Neito clears her throat. “‘A Demigirl is a gender identity describing someone who partially identifies as a woman or girl. In addition to feeling partially like a girl or woman, demigirls also feel partly outside the binary…’” they trail off, reading a bit further down the page silently. It clicks perfectly with how Neito has been feeling.

“I think this is it,” they say quietly. “I think I found my gender.”

Itsuka smiles at her, excited for their discovery. Kodai- no, Yui, claps her hands together, smiling widely.

After clapping, Yui gently takes her phone back and opens her AAC app. “Congratulations,” a voice says as she taps the word.

Neito smiles. They know that Yui doesn’t usually like using her AAC, so she must be really excited for her.

“Thanks, Yui,” they say, before turning to the other girls. “And thank you all for supporting me.”

“It’s the least we could do,” Itsuka reminds them.

“For real!” Setsuna nods.

“Oh! If you want me to make you a pronoun pin, just let me know! I just got this really cool pin maker and I want to use it!” Kinoko shouts.

“Volume, please,” Yanagi reminds her.

“Sorry, I got too excited,” Kinoko says, sheepishly rubbing her neck.

“It’s fine. Sometimes being quiet is just as frightening as being loud,” Yanagi whispers.

“So, are you thinking of applying for a uniform or room change or anything?” Itsuka asks.

Neito thinks for a second. As much as they like their current room, she hates having to go into the boy’s dorms. To them, it’s just another reminder of how people see her.

They nod. “Yeah. I think I’m going to talk to Vlad King on Monday and ask him about it.”

“That sounds good. Let me know if you need some emotional support and I’ll go with you,” Itsuka says.

“Me too!” Setsuna cries.

“And me!” Pony shouts.

“Me!” Kinoko cheers.

“We will all go,” Yanagi- Reiko whispers, wincing a bit at the sudden volume.

Neito smiles, touched by the other girls’ commitment to supporting them. “Thank you all. I look forward to switching dorms.”

“Group hug?” Kinoko suggests.

“... yeah, fine. Group hug,” Neito decides, if a bit hesitantly.

The other girls lunge forward, wrapping Neito in their arms and squeezing tightly. Reiko contributes a hand to Neito’s shoulder, being more touch-averse than the other girls. Neito wheezes slightly before the grip lessens.

The 1-B girls sit together, arms wrapped around each other in silence. Neito has never been more thankful for their classmates. Her friends. At this moment, they feel more love and joy than she thinks they have ever felt in her life. Nothing could possibly ruin this moment for them…

“I think I got nail polish on your shirt,” Setsuna mumbles into Neito’s shoulder.

…

“You absolute wench.”

Chapter Text

Today is the day. Monday. The day Neito promised themself she was going to come out to their teacher. Classes had just ended for the day and Neito is waiting for the room to clear out so they can have privacy. She decided earlier that day that they would rather go it alone for this conversation, but asked Itsuka to hang around outside the classroom, just in case.

Setsuna slaps their shoulder as she passes by, knocking Neito out of her thoughts. “Good luck. We’re rooting for you!” She says, giving Neito a thumbs up.

“Good luck,” Reiko echoes quietly as she walks past.

Neito gives them both a small smile as the classroom empties. Soon enough, the only two people left in the room are Neito and Vlad-sensei.

Vlad-sensei sits at his desk, quietly grading some papers while Neito sits at their desk, taking deep breaths and trying to calm her heart. Do they really want to do this today? There’s always tomorrow, but…

Neito shakes their head. If she doesn’t do this today, they know that there’s a good chance they’ll never do it at all. Neito stands from her chair, causing it to squeak lightly against the tile. Vlad-sensei looks up from his desk.

“Monoma? I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were still here. Is there something you need?” He asks, leaning back slightly in his chair.

Neito nods and approaches Vlad-sensei’s desk, casting a glance at the door to make sure it’s closed as they draw near. Soon, she’s standing in front of Vlad, chewing on their bottom lip.

Neito opens their mouth to speak, but all that comes out is a puff of air. She closes her mouth, takes a breath, and tries again.

“I have something to tell you…” they trail off, playing with their fingers nervously.

Vlad nods, sensing the gravity of the situation, and does his best to keep calm, not that Neito can tell. “Alright. Take your time. Would you like to pull up a chair and sit?”

“I- uh… yeah,” Neito sputters before grabbing the closest chair in the front row and sitting down across from Vlad-sensei.

The two sit in silence for a few moments, Neito jiggling their leg and trying to organize her thoughts. Soon enough, they break the silence.

“You know Midoriya, from class 1-A?” they ask, hoping to use her new friend? to segway into their next topic.

Vlad-sensei nods. “Yes. I wouldn’t really say I know her, but I’m aware of her general existence. Why do you ask?”

“Well… we’ve been talking lately and I sort of… realized something, I guess,” Neito continues.

The puzzle pieces in Vlad’s head slot together and he now knows exactly what this conversation is about. “Yes?” he prompts.

“I… I’m also trans. Specifically, I’m a demigirl. I identify partially as a girl and partially as agender, I… I’m using they/she pronouns and I would like a new uniform as well as the chance to move into the girl’s section of the dorms,” Neito finishes, heaving a heavy breath and keeping their eyes firmly in her lap.

Vlad nods, pulling a piece of scrap paper from the side of his desk to write down his new knowledge. He keeps his face as calm and neutral as possible, even while he internally dances with excitement at the fact that his most difficult student trusts him enough to open up to him like this. “Of course, I’ll get that sorted right away. Is there a new given name you would like to go by?”

Neito shakes their head, relief filling her body. “No thank you. I like ‘Neito’ just fine.”

“Alright. I’ll put in the order for your new uniform as soon as I get to the teacher's lounge and you’ll have it by Thursday at the latest. As for the dorms, I’ll have you in your new dorm by Monday, if that’s alright. Dorm transfers take more time than uniform requests, unfortunately,” Vlad-sensei explains.

Neito nods. “That’s fine. Thank you, for listening to me and… you know, accepting me. I really do appreciate it,” they say, rubbing their neck.

Vlad smiles gently and reaches over to pat their shoulder. “It’s not a problem at all, Monoma. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

Neito stands and shakes their head. “No thank you, Vlad-sensei.”

Vlad nods and begins packing the day's assignments into his bag to grade while Neito returns the chair to its original spot and walks toward their desk to collect her own bag. Neito pauses as they pick up her bag and turns to face Vlad.

“Hey, um… you won’t mention this to my parents, right?” they ask, squeezing the shoulder strap.

Vlad looks at them, face pinched with concern. “No, I won’t say anything to them if you don’t want me to.”

Neito nods and makes their way to the front of the room to leave. Vlad stops them with a gentle hand on the shoulder.

“Monoma, are things going okay? At home, I mean. I won’t lie, the fact that you felt the need to ask if I would tell your parents about our conversation is… concerning, say the least.”

Neito’s eyes widen slightly. “Oh! No, everything’s fine! It’s just… my parents, especially my father, are rather… traditional. You know, ‘men marry women, women marry men’, that sort of thing. I just… don’t think they would be very accepting.”

Vlad nods, taking Neito’s answer but knowing that he’s going to be keeping a closer eye on Neito’s home life going forward. “Alright. But, if anything ever changes or you don’t feel safe, I want you to know you can come to me, okay?”

Neito nods, trying not to let tears of gratefulness come to their eyes. “Yes, sensei.”

Vlad smiles. “Good. I’ll get that uniform to you as soon as possible. Have a good day, alright?”

“You too!” Neito says, walking to the door. As they open it, all the girls’ heads whip up to look at her.

“Hey! How’d it go? I know you only asked me to wait, but they wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Itsuka explains, gesturing to the girls behind her.

Neito smiles at them all. “It went great! I’ll tell you about it on the way to the dorms!”

They close the classroom door behind her and begin their trek back to the dorms with her gaggle of friends listening as they talk. She finishes their story as she enters the building and kicks their shoes off before flopping herself onto the couch and pulling out their phone.

“Who’re you texting?” Setsuna asks, sitting down next to them.

“Midoriya. I promised her this morning that I would tell her how things went.”

Itsuka nods. “Yeah, I heard that. Didn’t she threaten to kill Vlad-sensei if he wasn’t accepting, too?”

“No, she did not threaten to kill him!” Neito clarifies, raising their voice slightly to cover the sound of her friends’ loud disbelief. Everyone quiets down, relieved.

That is, until Neito finishes their statement.

“She just threatened to drain his body of blood so he can’t use his quirk.”

A few days later, Neito sits on Itsuka’s bed, the package containing their new uniform perched on her lap. The other girls sit in various places around the room, some on pieces of furniture, some on the floor. Itsuka sits directly next to Neito, rubbing their back to try to help her feel less anxious.

“I just don’t know what to do now. I have the uniform, and I’m excited to wear it, but what do I say? What do I tell people?” Neito breaks the silence.

“You don’t have to tell people anything if you don’t want to. You can just… be,” Itsuka says.

A few of the girls nod in agreement. “As tempting as that sounds, I think that would just raise more questions,” Neito points out. “People would still be using the wrong pronouns and terms and everything and I don’t think I can handle that anymore.”

“Did you ask Midoriya what she did? Maybe you could do that,” Pony suggests.

Neito nods. “She came out to her girlfriends first and then to the rest of her class at a different time. It seems efficient, but I don’t want to copy her. Also, it might make it harder to weed out any bigots. They might feel pressured to conform to other people being accepting and then be an ass behind my back instead of to my face. And in a situation like that, I’d probably be the last person to know about it. I refuse to be made a fool of just because a bigot is too scared to voice their true opinions to me directly.”

The girls sigh in frustration, sitting back to think of more ways Neito could come out. It needed to be special, yet still subtle enough that if anyone had any issues, they could identify who they were and stay away from them.

Eventually, Kinoko snaps her fingers and jolts upright in the beanbag she shares with Setsuna. “I got it! You can just wear the uniform like we talked about, but you can also wear this!” she shouts as she pulls a round pin from her handbag. She crawls across the floor to the bed and deposits it in Neito’s hand before crawling back to the beanbag.

Neito stares at the pin in their hand, admiring its craftsmanship. It’s light blue with white polka dots and pink bubble lettering in the center displaying their pronouns. Neito tears up a bit at how lovingly it was clearly made.

“Thank you so much, Kinoko. I can tell you spent a lot of time on this. I like your idea. I’ll wear this on my new uniform tomorrow,” Neito says, wiping the tears from their eyes as they stare at the pin.

The girls cheer at the resolution to Neito’s dilemma and Setsuna claps her hands.

“Awesome! Now that that’s settled, who’s up for getting their ass kicked at Mario Kart?”

The comment breaks Neito out of their touching moment, stoking her competitive streak. “You’re on.”

The next morning, Neito stands in their room, smoothing out the skirt of her new uniform. They look better, feel better wearing the girl's uniform than she ever has wearing a boy's uniform at any of the other schools they had attended. They felt like herself and that felt good.

With a quick glance at their clock, she decides it’s time to go and face the music. They attach her pronoun pin to their blazer, grab her bag, and make their way to class. Vlad-Sensei gave them permission to be up to ten minutes late to homeroom, which she is extremely appreciative of. It means there’s no one in the halls to gawk at them.

As they approach the door to her classroom, they shoot a text to Midoriya. They know Midoriya is in class and likely has her phone off, but she feels the need to text someone who understands their situation.

Neito: Hey, just wanted to let you know that I got my new uniform and I’m wearing it to class today. I’m about to go in. Wish me luck

To their surprise, they get a response almost immediately.

Midoriya: omg! gud luk! i hope all gos well! rooting 4 u! 🥳

Neito: Aren’t you in class? I heard Aizawa was a hard ass, there’s no way he’s letting you on your phone during class

Midoriya: oh yea, im in class. zawa sensei got 2 eepy n decided 2 take a nap so we get 2 do wutevr til he wakes up lol

Neito scrunches up their nose as she attempts to decipher Midoriya’s text. What the hell does ‘eepy’ mean? Deciding they don’t care to know at this moment and feeling braver with the support of her fellow transfem year mate, they decide it’s time to head in.

Neito: Thank you for your support. I’m going into my class now. I’ll see you at lunch?

Midoriya: absolutly! i kno ull do gr8!
Midoriya: also, if n e 1 givs u truble, let me kno! ill make sure they dont giv u truble 4 long!

Neito snorts and pockets their phone, now accustomed to Midoriya’s thinly veiled threats and slightly unhinged mannerisms that only seemed to increase after she came out. Staring at the door to their classroom, Neito takes a deep breath and opens the door.

Vlad-Sensei looks up at the sound and smiles at them. “Ah, hello Neito! I’m glad you were able to make it! Go ahead and take your seat, you didn’t miss much, so it should be easy to catch up.”

Neito nods, keeping their head high even though she can feel the eyes of all of their peers on her as they make their way to her seat. As they sit and the lesson continues, she can feel people’s eyes on them. They can feel the curiosity and the questions that would all be answered with a glance to the front of her blazer. Even as they wear the mask of calm confidence, she feels nervous, especially due to the fact that they can see her desk neighbor and tentative friend, Tetsutetsu, out of the corner of their eye. He’s not staring, but he’s not not looking at them. They can see him holding his glance before quickly looking back to the front in a poor attempt to not be caught looking.

They feel silly for it, but the fact that Tetsutetsu won’t look at her directly is making them feel self-conscious. Maybe they shouldn’t have done this. Maybe they should have waited for another day or never come out at all. Now Tetsutetsu probably thinks their a freak and might never talk to her again. Oh, kami, what have they done? Why do they care?

Neito is knocked from their spiral by a tap on the shoulder. They make sure Vlad-Sensei’s back is turned before turning around to face Reiko, who hands her a folded note. Neito stares at Reiko for a moment, confused as they know that she isn’t the type to pass notes in class. Reiko tips her head toward Setsuna who stares at Neito expectantly. Neito turns back around and opens the note.

‘You got this queen! Looking good!’ the note says, signed with a small drawing of a lizard. A warm feeling fills Neito’s chest and they smile, giving a glance behind her shoulder to Setsuna. They mouth a ‘thank you’ before doing her best to pay attention to the lesson.

Soon enough, their first few classes end without any more incidents. Neito hadn’t spiraled any further, no one had whispered anything mean or passed any nasty notes or thrown paper at their head or whatever it is that transphobic bullies do in hero schools. Bondo had even turned around and given them a thumbs-up during English, an incredible feat considering it feels like Present Mic-Sensei has an extra set of eyes on the back of his head sometimes.

As the bell rings for lunch and Neito packs their bag, Tetsutetsu turns in his seat, opening his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Fukidashi passing by, giving Neito a thumbs-up emoji followed by a ‘yeah!’ from his speech bubble. After that, a few classmates come up one by one, offering their support and encouragement before heading off to lunch. As Neito sits and contemplates their feelings about the sudden attention and support she is receiving from the majority of their classmates, Itsuka sidles up beside her desk and taps them on the shoulder.

“Hey, we’re all heading to lunch. Are you coming?”

“Oh, yeah. I just need a minute. I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed, you know. You go ahead, I’ll meet up with you soon,” Neito sighs, fiddling with their skirt.

Itsuka nods and pats Neito’s shoulder in a silent gesture of support. After a few seconds of sitting in the silent classroom, Neito heaves a deep sigh and picks up their bag. Who knew coming out could be both so relieving and so exhausting at the same time? They still don’t know if anyone has a problem with them. The classmates who showed their support obviously didn’t, but Neito is nervous about a couple of people, mainly Tetsutetsu. The fact that he kept looking at them and pretending not to was pissing her off. If he wants to stare, he should just stare! They would rather he be obvious on purpose than be obvious without trying. It makes them feel like he thinks she’s stupid. They shouldn’t care this much. They really shouldn’t, but she really does and it makes them even angrier.

They fume slightly at the behavior of her desk neighbor and friendly acquaintance as they make her way to the classroom door. With his behavior today, they’re having a hard time thinking of Tetsutetsu as the friend she thought they were making in the past. Neito rips the classroom door open maybe a bit too aggressively and is met with none other than Tetsutetsu on the other side, hand still outstretched for the door handle.

“What?” Neito snaps, a bit harsher than they mean to be.

Tetsutetsu blinks before stammering his response. “I just- I wanted to see if you were okay. You seemed nervous during class and I noticed you weren’t at lunch, so…” He trails off, lowering his eyes away from their face, pausing on her skirt before looking at the floor.

Neito’s blood boils. Is this his way of making fun of them? Pretending to be nice to lure them into a false sense of security before snatching it away and laughing in her face? Not on their watch. “Oh, what, so staring at me during class and pretending you aren’t isn’t enough, you have to pretend to be all friendly too? Do you think I’m stupid?”

Tetsutetsu’s eyes snap back up to Neito’s face, wide with panic. “No! That’s not it at all!”

“Really? Because it really seems like you-”

Tetsutetsu cuts them off, waving his hands defensively. “Please, hear me out! I know staring was a dick move, but please let me explain!”

Neito huffs, some of the fire disappearing from their veins. “Fine. Explain.”

“Thank you. I really didn’t mean to stare, it’s just…” he trails off, rubbing his neck before continuing. “I think you’re really brave and awesome for what you did today. Showing up as yourself after letting people see a version of you that isn’t real takes a lot of courage and… I wish I had that same courage.”

Tetsutetsu finishes in a whisper so quiet, Neito can barely hear it. But they do and her eyes widen as the fire in their veins is doused.

“Oh. You’re…”

Tetsutetsu nods sheepishly. “Not in the same direction as you, but yeah. I’ve been stealth for the past couple of years and I wish I could just be out, but…”

“It’s scary,” Neito finishes, looking at the ground before meeting Tetsutetsu’s eyes. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re really brave too. It must have taken you a lot of courage to talk to me and I’m glad you did. I’m sorry for snapping at you and if you ever did want to be fully out, I’d be by your side, a hundred percent.”

Tetsutetsu’s face flushes a light pink and he nods, holding out his fist for a fist-bump. “Maybe someday?” he asks.

Neito nods, hoping that someday is soon. “Someday.” They fist-bump him.

The two stand in silence for a few awkward seconds before Tetsutetsu clears his throat and nods toward the cafeteria. “Lunch ends in fifteen minutes, so we better get going.”

“Oh! Yeah! Let’s go then.”

They walk down the hall in silence before entering the bustle of the cafeteria. Neito can feel a few people staring at them, mainly from other classes, but she pays it no mind. People can stare if they want. They won’t let it bother her.

Neito goes to take out their wallet, but Tetsutetsu stops her, pulling out his own. “Let me get this, it’s the least I can do after staring at you like a freak all morning,” he chuckles.

Neito goes to argue, but, unable to find the correct words, they nod and choke out a simple “Thanks.”

Food in hand, both teens go and sit at their respective ends of class 1-B’s lunch table, Neito squeezing themself onto the end of the bench, shoulder to shoulder with Itsuka. As they dig into her food, Setsuna leans across the table, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Soooo… Tetsutetsu, huh?~”

Neito chokes, sputtering around grains of rice. Itsuka pats their back, shooting Setsuna a dirty look.

“I thought we were going to wait until girl’s night to ask!” she hisses.

“I know, but Pony said she saw him buy their lunch and I just couldn’t hold it in anymore! I’m sorry!”

Neito rights themself, taking a few sips of juice before turning to Itsuka.

“Conspiring against me again! This can’t continue! When will you stop?”

Itsuka shrugs, at least having the dignity to look a little guilty. Neito groans and stands from their seat.

“I’m going to go talk to Midoriya now. I hope you think about what you did and feel bad. I’ll grace you with my presence when I decide you’ve been punished enough.”

The other girls giggle, knowing Neito is only joking and will be back soon. As they walk towards 1-A’s table, Neito can’t help but think back to that fateful day in which they first approached Midoriya Isami. Hopefully, her classmates wouldn’t be so up in arms this time around and hopefully, no one thought they had a crush on Midoriya this time.

“Hey, Midoriya. Can I talk to you for a bit?”

Midoriya looked up and smiled. “Of course!” she turns to her friends and gives a quick “I’ll be right back” before they both head into the hall.

“So, how is your first day out going? No one’s giving you any trouble, right?” Midoriya asks, head tilting to the side.

“It’s going well. People have been really nice so far, even people I thought wouldn’t be. I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I know I’ve been really mean in the past, but I don’t think I would have ever come out without your support and…” Neito trails off, wringing their hands as she tries to gather their thoughts. “I was wondering if you wanted to be friends?”

Midoriya’s smile grows impossibly brighter and she grabs Neito’s hands in excitement. “Of course I want to be friends! Does this mean I get to call you Neito now?”

Neito smiles, valiantly ignoring the way their hands are starting to hurt in Midoriya’s strong grip. “Only if I get to call you Isami.”

“It’s a deal!” Isami shakes Neito’s hands violently before releasing them. They stand in silence for a few seconds before Isami gets a mischievous look on her face. “Soooo… I saw Tetsutetsu pay for your lunch today. You two seem pretty close, huh?~”

Neito groans rubbing their face with her palm. “Not you too!”

Isami giggles, linking her arm with Neito’s to drag them back to the cafeteria. “Come on, just admit that you like him! It’s so obvious and I think you two would be really cute together!”

Neito sighs, allowing themself to be dragged along by her new friend, vaguely wondering what they’ve gotten herself into. “Maybe someday.”