Work Text:
Komi Shouko.
The most popular girl at Itan Private High School. To say she was the most popular by a long shot would be the understatement of the century. She was most popular by a road trip. There wasn’t a single student in the school who didn’t think she was the most beautiful girl they’d ever seen. If anyone dared to say otherwise they’d practically be excommunicated from the school entirely.
Komi thought they hated her.
That’s what she’d always assumed people thought of her. In her 3 years of middle school, and her prior years in elementary, and in preschool, she had never spoken a word to any of her classmates. She had tried and tried, but to no avail. The words had never come out. And then came… her change. Komi now was very different to who she once was. She had thought with her new self, about to enter high school, and finally being truly happy for the first time in her life, she’d be able to do it. She’d finally be able make friends.
Still nothing. She would be hated once more. Komi was ready to accept her fate: She would never have friends. Ever.
That was, until, she met a boy.
Tadano Hitohito.
Tadano was nothing out of the ordinary. He looked, sounded, and acted average. (Well, he does now.) His plan for his high school life, (especially after his… middle school years) was to blend in with crowds, and not stand out. These plans were quickly dashed to pieces, however, when the homeroom seating plan put him next to one Komi Shouko. Before he knew it, he was Public Enemy No. #1. Tadano was almost certain his life had gone down the toilet.
Until the day he would fall asleep in class came.
Tadano would awake to find himself in a classroom with the one and only Komi Shouko. And it was here that everything made sense to Tadano. The reason Komi hadn’t said a single word to anyone since school started. She had a communication disorder.
Tadano was the first person to ever understand Komi in such a way, and… to ever become her friend. Learning of Komi’s dream to make 100 friends, Tadano agreed to help her, with the two becoming close with one another rather quickly, to the point of being practically inseparable.
Time would pass, and the two would develop feelings for one another. T’was natural, of course. Komi wanted more than anything than to express her love to Tadano, but there was one thing. One tiny thing that was stopping her, and it wasn’t her communication disorder.
====================================
Komi wasn’t born a girl.
That’s not to say she wasn’t one, but the thing about Komi was that she had been born a boy . Since childhood however, the young Komi was never quite able to connect with her male peers. She couldn’t relate to them as they grew excited over masculine things, she wasn’t too happy when her body began to develop in a masculine way. She just… didn’t like being masculine.
One day, Komi would come to learn there was a term for people like her. A term that described her better than she ever could have. She wasn’t just a boy that was different from her peers, she wasn’t a boy. She was a girl!
Since realising this truth, Komi had taken the steps to transition and live as a girl. Logically, from this point on, she could forget her past entirely.
But still, she knew she would have to tell Tadano at some point, if she ever wanted to be with him. And even if no such desire existed, she wanted to tell him regardless.
But with a communication disorder, comes a struggle to do so.
In other words, Komi not only can’t communicate , but she can’t come out, either.
But perhaps there was someone who could help her.
====================================
“Soooo… you wanna tell Tadano-kun?” Osana Najimi slurped on a juice box, their classic smug smirk on their face.
Osana Najimi. The little ball of chaos themselves. They were very open about their fluid gender identity, and had faced little, if any issue from other students in regards to it. What’s more, Komi had been friends with them for some time now. Who better to consult about this than them?
“Y-Yes…” Komi muttered out. In the months she’d known both Tadano and Najimi, her speaking ability had been slowly but surely improving.
“Heheh, well ya came to the right place, Komi-san!!” Najimi chuckled. Just hearing their laughter was enough to put Komi at ease. “Now, tell me something, how did you and Tadano-kun even become friends?”
“W-Why…?” Komi cautiously asked. She wasn’t quite sure what Najimi was planning.
“Heheheh, you’ll see.” Najimi winked at Komi. “I have an idea or two…”
====================================
Tadano walked into his and Komi’s homeroom. There, standing by the chalkboard, was Komi herself. The exact reason he was here.
“Uhm… you wanted to talk, Komi-san?”
Tadano took immediate notice of the visible blush on Komi’s face. Surely this wasn’t what he thought it was, was it?
Komi snatched the chalk by the board, and began to write on it.
“Yes.”
“Well, what about?”
Komi took a deep breath. There was no turning back now. She’d come this far, after all.
“There’s something I haven’t told you, all these months. Something I really want to tell you.”
“Something you want to tell me?” Tadano’s eyes began to narrow. She wasn’t surely doing what he thought she was, right? But then he read her face. She was evidently stressed. She was scared of what this conversation’s outcome may be. Tadano knew he needed to give her some reassurance.
“Well, whatever it is, there’s no need to worry, you can share it with me.”
Komi’s face flared up. How was Tadano so good at calming people? It was like his very presence was reassurance itself.
“OK.”
“I wasn’t always who I am now.”
“You weren’t always who you are now?” Tadano placed his finger on his chin.
“Yes.”
“What do you mean? Was your personality different or something?”
“No, more than that.”
“More than that?” Tadano asked himself. “W-What is she going on about?”
“Tadano-kun… I’m…”
“...I’m transgender.”
Tadano felt as though he’d clipped out of reality for a moment. This came as a surprise, to say the least. He could not have seen this coming, even with his own personal intuition. Needless to say, however, he let Komi continue.
“I was born a boy.” Komi continued. “Though… I was never really quite like the other boys at school, or the ones I met out in public. One day I discovered the term “transgender”. I’d never felt so perfectly described before.”
“I transitioned near the end of middle school. I was much happier when I did. My only fear then was what would happen if people found out.”
“You’re probably overwhelmed by this. You might even dislike me for it. I just had to get this off my chest, though.”
“I’ll see myself off now. I understand if you don’t want to be friends anymore. Goodbye.”
Komi put down the chalk, and turned for the door, though as she was about to pull it open, she could hear the all too familiar sound of chalk scraping across the board. History was repeating itself.
“Komi-san, you’re one of my most valued friends. I’m so happy you trust me enough to share this with me.”
Komi returned to the board, picking up the other chalk.
“You mean that?”
“Of course I do. No matter who you were before, you’re still the same girl I’ve always known.”
“You’re still my best friend, and… I’ll always love you.”
It wasn’t until after writing that final sentence that it registered in Tadano’s head what he just said. His face flushed a deep read as he covered it in embarrassment.
“Thank you so much.”
Komi looked at Tadano, the same blush on her own face. They smiled at one another, as they always had, and as they always would.
-FIN-