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Kokichi Ouma's first year at Hope's peak academy was probably her worst. She had to walk around and be called a “he,” and “him,” which was stupid. Sure, she never said it outloud but she was definitely a girl. She'd always been a girl.
The second year was different, see, Kokichi did a funny little thing where she got super fucking wasted then cried to Rantaro - her lovely dormmate - about how she wished she'd been able to share a room with a girl. Kokichi had been wrapped up in Rantaro's arms after that party, a slight rocking as Rantaro assured her she was still a girl no matter who she roomed with. Rantaro also made the promise that if Kokichi really couldn't share a room, they'd have it fixed by the second semester.
(Rantaro also confided in her about being nonbinary, saying they understood her pain and wanted to make sure she was as comfortable as possible.)
Although when the second semester rolled around, Kokichi dismissed the whole changing roommates thing because she did really like Rantaro. Kokichi would never admit that though, if anyone asked, Rantaro was holding her for ransom and DICE was slow to find the money to buy her back… Definitely, no other reason.
Speaking of, Kokichi looks back towards the classroom door to see Rantaro entering. They barely came to class as is so, Kokichi lights up, getting a small wave from him.
“Sorry I'm late,” Rantaro’s voice stays the same kind of smooth when he's trying to get away with something, “Far walk is all,” The teacher waves her hand to the spot Rantaro usually sits next to Kokichi, continuing her lesson. It's something about math, Kokichi doesn't pay too much attention though, she's pretty certain she knows this concept…. Pretty sure. Her eyes start to wander, getting the perfect view of the back of all her classmates' heads.
Kokichi’s eyes stop on Tenko. She sits next to Himiko and behind Angie, unmistakingly a protective barrier between the desk next to her - Kaito and Schuichi. She's been very obviously giving the two boys the stink eye. Kokichi likes to think she understands Tenko, what she can gather anyway. Tenko just seems… scared? She's nervous and tense around men, especially older men. If Kokichi remembers right, she had fully flipped over her male arts teacher after he got a little too buddy buddy with Angie. They'd been able to write it off as her honing her ultimate ability but, her - and Angie - were switched to a different art class.
Kokichi’s thoughts drift, thinking about if she comes out to her classmates, Tenko would either be super (!!) transphobic or so supportive she kicks Kaito and his smart mouth. Kokichi thinks about the pros and cons almost every day, the best pro is getting Tenko on her side.
(The con is all of the transphobia she could encounter from all of her classmates. She doesn't like to think of that.)
Kokichi snaps her head over to Rantaro, his pencil tapping her desk with an amused smile. “Help me with the homework, Kokichi?” He's using the same tone of voice earlier but he also knows Kokichi would never let that slide.
“Are you just trying to use me, again, Rantaro,” Kokichi can feel the crocodile tears welling in his eyes before she feels a flick to her head. She flops over her desk, dramatically and groans, “You're so mean,” She drags out the mean until Miu, sitting in front of her, snaps over to her.
“Can you stop throwing a bitchfit?! I'm trying to focus,” Miu has that irritated growl but she honestly seems a little relieved for the distraction, “You whine so much, Ouma, you almost sound like a girl,” That catches Kiibo’s attention.
“I'm pretty sure that's mis -”
“WHATEVER!” Miu dismisses them and swivels in her seat, leaving Koichi a little confused and a little gender euphoric? She's a little confused about that but, whatever.
Rantaro gives her a knowing look before glancing at his homework and Kokichi, “Help me? I'll buy you a panta after class?” Now, that enticed the purple haired girl, grabbing her pencil and dragging the sheet over to her.
“Stupid, Taro, this stuff is so simple,”
__
Kokichi kicks her feet over the gravel, sipping her panta in delight. Miu, Kiibo, Rantaro and Gonta all sit on the edge of the fountain, eating their perspective lunches. Miu and Kiibo are discussing the mechanics of a small robot toy snatched from an upperclassman, the whirring as it moves between the tiny space between them. Rantaro had a book open in his lap, his food given to Kokichi. Gonta had moved to sit in front of the fountain, feeding crumbs to some small bug that Kokichi did NOT want to look at.
Kokichi spots Himiko and Tenko approaching, bracing herself as much as she can as Himiko holds a small box to her. Tenko looks menacing as ever, standing behind Himiko with a hard look. Kokichi just looks between the box and the two girls in front of her. Rantaro, ever so nosey, looks up from his book.
“hng.. Why couldn't someone else drop this off,” Himiko looks exhausted, as she usually does, it feels like she was speaking to herself before looking Kokichi in her eyes, “I made you a friendship bracelet, everyone has one from me but… you,”
Kokichi takes the small box and opens it, looking at the purple, white and black thread bracelet with a small dice charm hanging from it. She keeps her face neutral as she looks back up at Himiko, “I don't wear any jewelry,” An obvious lie, she's got most of Rantaro's jewelry from today on her hands and wrist, her ears are dangling with whatever she put in her ears that morning.
“Tenko knew a degenerate male like him would never appreciate such art, Tenko’ll deal with him, Himiko!!” Tenko tries to move Himiko but it's definitely an unstoppable force meets an immovable object moment, “H- huh?”
“He's lying!” Himiko actually brightens up as she realizes Kokichi’s lie, her arms doing a small flap, “I hope you'll never take it off!!” She snatches the box back and takes Kokichi’s wrist, tying the bracelet around her wrist with a giggle.
Kokichi, feeling an uncomfortable bout of warmth in her chest, nods. She is very emotionally intelligent, thank you…
“Thank you, Yumeno,” Is what comes from her mouth. Kokichi watches Himiko pull a confused Tenko along, the short girl looking like she actually has energy as she hops back to Angie and Tsumugi.
Her first instinct is to look over to Rantaro, a small, understanding smile plastered on their face. They bring her wrist closer to their face, examining the bracelet with a small chuckle. “Very cute. I never took mine off,” He tugs his sleeve up to show the green and white yarn bracelet wrapped around his wrist. Kokichi smiles ever so slightly before it wipes away.
“Gross, go die.”
__
Kokichi is laying in her bed, fiddling with the lone bracelet as she thinks back to the earlier interaction. It's those rare, genuine moments between her and her classmates that makes her wish they knew. That moment is tainted with the misgendering and the pang of hurt mixing with the warmth of a kind act. She cant get mad at them, they don't know but that hollow feeling in her chest makes her want to come out to every peer of hers. Ever.
Kokichi lifts herself out of bed, shuffling over to Rantaros room with a knock. There's a determination in her chest that could rival Kaito Momota and she doesn't care that it's almost midnight. Rantaro opens the door, looking around their shared dorm before making eye contact with the smaller girl.
They give her a questioning - and tired - look as she storms into their room. “Something up?” He asks as he plops next to her, she's already made herself comfortable on his bed.
“I'm gonna come out.”
That wakes up Rantaro.
__
Kokichi Ouma’s motto is, “Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss,” Heavy on the gaslight as she walks into class that Thursday morning. Her uniform was different that morning, the normal pants switched for a dark blue skirt similar to most of the other girls' uniforms. That's not the part she's nervous about though, Kiyo comes to the class wearing a longer skirt with his uniform, so it wasn't unusual.
She walked in with Rantaro that morning, it was early enough the teacher hadn't come. The only people were Rantaro, Kokichi, Kirumi, Kiyo, Tenko and Angie. Angie whips her head towards the door, hopping from her seat and gliding over to the two, a reluctant Tenko behind her.
“Ya-hooo!!” She waves, her - admittedly scary - gaze lands on Kokichi, “Angie sees Ouma trying something new, as a student council member, Angie wants Ouma to know you look good and you're verrryy brave!” She has her hands clasped, that polite smile never leaving her face.
“Nothing brave about a girl wearing a skirt,” Rantaro, a master of subtly, sits in his seat, “I'm pretty certain its common,”
Their plan is set in motion as Angie tilts her head, a confused look on her face before she recovers, “Ah, Angie guesses that's true.” She has a look on her face as she looks at Kokichi before smiling again, “Well, you look cute today, Ouma!” She hops back to her seat, Tenko lingering behind.
“Tenko’s confused,” is all she mumbles as she walks back to her seat.
The next instance of their group gaslighting is when Miu finally trudges into class, flipping her seat around to face Kokichi. She has a smirk on her face, a bruised purple under her eyes and a sheet of paper that Kokichi recognizes almost immediately. “I have a fuckin’ amazing idea and, even thought I never need to doubt myself as the girl genius, I want your dumb, prepubescent boy opinion.” She splays the paper over Kokichi’s desk, it looks like the design to an automatic bubble blowing gun but she sees the notes for it to blow out a tiny, robotic bug. She also sees a note about disassembling Souda’s work for said tiny bugs.
Rantaro lets out a confused noise before speaking, “Maybe you've got the wrong table..?” Miu looks confused as Rantaro keeps talking, “I mean, I don't think there's a boy that sits here.” He's twirling his pencil in between his fingers, a nervous habit.
“Fuck are you talkin -”
“Yeah, that's a good point, Rantaro!” Kokichi interjects, her gaze sharpening on Miu, “A boy doesn't sit here, did you need my expert teenage girl help? They say I can rival Enoshima, herself.” Kokichi taps her pencil to her temple, already identifying some flaws in the blueprint.
(She can already tell the size of the robotic bugs would either need to decrease or the holes on the modified bubble gun would need an increase. Kokichi wonders how she's gotten this far without her blueprints being proofread.)
“U- uhm, oookayyy,” Miu’s eyes are flitting between the two in front of her, squinting before shaking her head, “Yeah, two girls, one blueprint, we'll get this shit done in no time,” She seems to take it well. Whether she thinks Kokichi is being serious is another thing but she's fine with this outcome as she scribbles a few things on the paper.
__
It's lunch and Kokichi is already picking through Rantaro's food, her food pushed to the side. It's a colder day so they sat inside, gathered at a round table. Rantaro has a new book in front of him, spinning a ring around his finger as he reads. Miu has a tiny book out, hunched over and scribbling. Kiibo is pushing food over to her, the blonde ignores their attempts at feeding her. Gonta is very longingly looking out the window, a small frown on his face.
Shuichi shuffles over and takes the empty seat next to Kokichi, he has that ugly look on his face that means he's going to attempt to figure her out. Kokichi is not excited for this conversation.
“I heard something interesting from Chabashira.” an amazing start, Kokichi wonders if the ultimate detective doesn't require conversation skills or if it's just Shuichi. She keeps her face neutral, waving a hand to speed Shuichi up, “A-and it's fine! Y’know, everyone here would accept you, I guess I just wanted to confirm what pronouns you liked.”
“The girls one,” Kokichi fakes a yawn, making a shooing motion, “Now move along, boy detective, I don't know how Keade holds a conversation with you.” Despite her meanness, Shuichi looks satisfied with her answer. He nods to himself and waves.
“Bye, Ouma!”
When Kokichi looks over to Rantaro, they have this dumb fucking smile on their face as they speak, “That was sweet, very much a Saihara thing to do.” He reaches over to ruffle Kokichi’s hair, tugging a strand, “At this rate, everyone's gonna know.”
___
Everyone did in fact know by that monday. Kokichi guesses word spreads fast between their year, it'd make sense how tight knit some of them got. When she walks into her morning class, Kaito is waiting at her desk. He's scowling which makes her smirk as she finally walks up to him.
“What could I owe th -”
“Ouma! How did you get into my dorm and where is that stupid speaker,” Kaito exclaims, he seems pretty tired and all Kokichi does is giggle. “I swear I'll -”
“You'll what?!” Tenko is standing in between Kaito and Kokichi the second he raises his voice, “I know a degenerate male is not threatening Ouma!!” She's in a defensive stance which seems to tense up Kaito, his hands thrown up.
“I'm not gonna do anything, she's been rickrolling me for the la-”
“She would never!! Right, Ouma!?” When Tenko looks at Kokichi, she can see the playful glint in her eyes, she is tense though. Kokichi notes her squared shoulders like she'd really fight Kaito for her.
“I- I would never,” Kokichi juts her bottom lip out, the tears falling easy as she wraps herself around Tenko’s arm, “He's accusing me of being a liar, Chabashira…” She sends a dejected puppy look her way causing Tenko to snap to Kaito.
“Are you accusing Ouma of lying?! Is it because she's a girl?! Tenko knew Kaito was no better than a lying male!!”
Kaito looks so out of his depth, Kokichi gets to hear the funniest thing ever, “You're right, I'm terrible,” He then backs up to his seat, Shuichi giving him a sympathetic look all while giggling. Maki doesn't look pleased but she never does.
Tenko looks down at Kokichi, patting her head gently, “Tenko’ll keep you safe from now on, Ouma!” She moves Kokichi’s seat out, letting her sit before moving her closer to the desk, “Ouma will never have to worry about foul-mouthed degenerates while Tenko’s around!” She does a small bow before walking to her seat, she holds her hand out to Angie and Kokichi can hear something about Tenko being very brave and courageous.
Kokichi looks over to Rantaros seat, excited to share the interaction when she gets to call them. She feels warm and accepted, all while being a normal menace. She can get used to this.