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He should have known by now that you never walk into someone’s bedroom without knocking. But, of course, Rei forgets.
He arrives at Nagisa’s house early on Saturday, ready to accompany his friend to the swimming pool for an extra practise, just like they planned. Except Nagisa isn’t ready yet, and his mother sends Rei upstairs go get him, making a comment about her son ‘always running late’. Which is fair; Nagisa always seems to be late.
So Rei hurries up the stairs and, like an idiot, forgets to knock first. The door swings open, and he sees something he never expected to see. Nagisa is stood topless in front of the mirror, wrapping bandages around his chest. He tries to back away, but Nagisa’s reflection notices him.
“Oh no,” Nagisa says. “Rei, get out of here!” but he sounds more scared than angry.
Obediently, Rei shuts the door and rushes down the hallway. What was Nagisa doing? Is he injured?
Nagisa appears a few seconds later, sticking his head out of his bedroom door. He has a T-shirt on now, and blushes dark red.
“H-Hello, Rei,” he says.
“What was that about?” Rei says. He steps closer. “Are you injured?”
Nagisa shakes his head. “No… no I’m not. Look, come in my room, and I’ll explain.”
More confused than ever, Rei follows his friend into his bedroom. Nagisa shuts the door and sits on the bed. he wrings his hands together, and he looks so anxious it’s as though he’s going to cry. what is going on?
“Look,” he says, inhaling deeply. “I was binding my chest. I’m… transgender.”
Now he understands. But this changes nothing. He isn’t a transphobe, and learning that Nagisa is transgender doesn’t change their friendship. Although something doesn’t seem quite right…
“It’s okay, you don’t need to look so worried,” Rei says, smiling. “But I do want to know why you were binding your chest with bandages. Isn’t that dangerous?”
Nagisa’s smile fades. “I… I guess.”
Rei doesn’t know much about chest binding, but he is certain that wrapping elastic ‘ace’ bandages around your ribcage could seriously damage your ribs.
“Nagisa, why don’t you own a binder?”
His friend bows his head, closing his eyes. His voice is so quiet as he says, “We can’t afford one. It cost a fortune to get me a special swimming costume with a built in swimming binder, and now my parents can’t afford a normal binder too.”
So that is why Nagisa wears a swimming costume that covers his torso as well as his groin and thighs; it has a binder inside it, covering his chest. He had always wondered why Nagisa doesn’t wear trunks like the rest of them, but now he knows his friend is trans, it makes sense.
But binding with bandages is so dangerous. He can’t let Nagisa suffer simply because he doesn’t have enough money.
And so Rei steps forwards and bows at his friend. “Nagisa, please let me buy you a binder. I have enough money, so it won’t be a problem.”
Nagisa finally looks up. His eyes are wide, and shine brightly. “Rei…thank you. That would mean so much to me. I’d love it if I had a real one.”
“Well, then I’ll buy you one,” Rei says. “I promise.”
Nagisa stands up, and pulls Rei into a sudden, tight hug. Rei flinches, but then lets his friend hug, so glad he could help.
---
Three weeks later, the binder Rei ordered online arrives. He hands it to Nagisa at school, and his friend hugs him again.
“Thank you,” he says, grinning the biggest grin Rei has ever seen. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
And Rei smiles, glad his friend will never have to hurt himself by binding unsafely again.