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Most everyone in class 3-E was aware that Nagisa was trans. No one really seemed to mind, much to Nagisa’s relief. He was happy that though class 3-E was supportive of all genders and identities, they didn’t make a huge fuss when they found out about Nagisa. Nagisa’s mom wasn’t very supportive of Nagisa, so he was very appreciative of the support system he had.
But Nagisa’s coming out caught the attention of one Itona Horibe. Itona was supportive of Nagisa and didn’t mind that he was trans, but it made him think about some things. For one, how was Nagisa so sure that he was a boy? Itona had thought about it before, and he didn’t really feel like he fully felt like a boy. But he didn’t really feel like a girl either. It was all so confusing to Itona, so Itona was curious as to why Nagisa was so sure of himself about this when Itona was so confused.
So, one afternoon, when class had wrapped up, Itona approached Nagisa. As the two of them were leaving the classroom, Itona asked,
“Nagisa… may I speak with you for a moment?”
“Sure! Whats up?” Nagisa replied with a cheerful smile. Itona thought for a moment about how he should phrase his question, before eventually settling on,
“Nagisa, how did you know you were… a boy?” Nagisa’s face looked puzzled at this question.
“What do you mean?” Itona tried to reword the question, and ended up saying,
“Well, how are you so sure that you are a boy?”
“Well, I guess it just felt right. Its kind of hard to explain. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I’m just confused how you and everyone else can be so sure of what they identify as while its so confusing to me.”
“What are you confused about?” Nagisa asked.
“Well, you’re coming out made me think about some things, and I realized that I don’t really fully feel like a boy. But, I don’t really feel like a girl either.”
“Well, have you ever heard of the term non-Binary?” Itona had heard the term before, but he didn’t know what it meant, so he said
“No, I can’t say I have.”
“Well, Non-Binary people don’t really feel like girls, but they don’t feel like boys either. Some Non-Binary people feel they have no gender, others feel like they have a gender, but its different from being a girl or a boy. A lot of non-binary people use they/them or other sets of pronouns instead of she/her or he/him. It’s different for everyone.” Nagisa explained, and Itona listened intently. Nagisa’s description felt like it described Itona almost to a T. not really a girl, but not really a boy either.
“Ok, then. Thanks for answering my question.”
“Its no problem! I'm glad I could help!” Nagisa said as the two of them parted ways for the afternoon. For the rest of the day, Itona could not stop thinking about what Nagisa had been saying. It was as if Nagisa was staring directly into his brain and pulling the feelings right out of it.
That Night, Itona couldn’t sleep, so he decided to take a long walk outside. He was thinking about what Nagisa was saying about being non-binary.
“I am non-binary.” He quietly said to himself. He liked the way the word felt, so he said it again. “I am a non-binary person! I like using they/them pronouns!” Itona felt so happy to have a way to describe himself that just made sense. It all made sense now, and that was the best feeling in the entire world.
The next morning, Itona arrived at class before everyone else came. The only two people there were him and Koro-sensei, who was preparing for class that day. Itona gathered up his courage, and asked
“Koro-sensei, may I speak to you for a moment?” Koro-sensei looked at Itona, and said
“Of course Itona! What do you need?” Itona took a breath, before saying,
“Well, I think I might be non-binary.” Koro-sensei grinned wider, and quickly replied,
“that’s great! Would you like me to refer to you by different pronouns?” Itona was relieved at Koro-sensei’s reaction, and answered with,
“Well, I'm still fine with he/him, but could you also maybe use they/them too?”
“No problem! Thank you for telling me.” Itona smiled, and headed to his desk, and soon, the other students filed in to the classroom like usual.
No one seemed to notice anything different in Itona, but Itona sure felt different. Itona felt a bit more… himself, now that he understood his identity more. He also felt nice having a teacher who respected his pronouns.
Other than that morning, nothing major seemed to happen that day. some people definitely noticed Itona’s newfound confidence, but no one seemed to think anything of it.
But Nagisa did give Itona the faintest of smiles when Koro-sensei referred to Itona using they/them. Itona smiled back, as if to communicate that they both understood. Karma seemed to pick up on this as well, and would also occasionally refer to Itona using they/them when talking about him. Itona was so happy that Karma noticed this as well. Though Itona was proud of his identity, he didn’t feel fully ready to talk about it with his peers, so this silent acknowledgement meant the world.
Later that week, Karma and Nagisa gave Itona something they had made. It was a pin, with the backround a light blue color, the same color as his hair. On the center of the pin, there were the words he/they, in jet black text, making it easy to read from a distance.
From then on, Itona wore it everywhere. Itona was so grateful that he had friends that cared and understood.
As long as he had those friends, he would always be happy with himself.