"Hey, Hiro, can I ask you something?" Puki asked, glancing up from the monopoly money she had been organizing. Ameko, Puki, and Hiro sat around the board game on the floor of Hiro's room, taking a much-needed break from studying on the weekend. Hiro's roommate was researching at the library, so the trio had the room to themselves.
"Did you mess up my taxes again, Banker? Any more of this and I can have you fired. I'm a very influential person in this city, with a hotel, if you've forgotten." Hiro motioned to his properties, flaunting his lead.
"N-no, I got it right this time. I think." Puki grabbed the die, taking her turn.
"Well, what did you want to say?" Hiro replied.
"Just... never mind. It's nothing." Puki tapped her thimble along the board, counting spaces and refusing to make eye contact with Hiro.
"Eh? You can't just do that! You brought it up, so share!" Hiro pushed.
"It's not important..." Puki mumbled, handing a pile of money to Ameko.
"Yes it is! Share! Share! Sha-re!" Hiro began chanting, and Ameko joined in.
Puki became flustered, before blurting out, "When did you first realize you were a boy?"
"Oh." Hiro was briefly taken aback, and Ameko could feel the tension fall over the room. Maybe they shouldn't have pressured Puki so much…
"I'm sorry! This is probably really rude of me to ask, so just ignore me!" Puki fumbled over her words, trying to quickly diffuse the situation.
"No, it's fine. I just had to think for a little bit, since you question was kind of unexpected." Hiro put a finger to his lips, and Ameko rolled the die. "I can't really think of anytime when I didn't know I was a boy. Sorry, I don't think that was the answer you were looking for. Why'd you want to know?"
Puki froze. "Oh, uh, I was, um, ah, I was just - you know – thinking, uh, what if someone, um, kind of, maybe, thought they might be a boy, but like, they were kind of older and, uh, would they be, like-"
"I'm agender." Ameko interrupted.
"Oh, wow! That's cool." Puki sputtered.
"I didn't figure it out until I started going here, being a girl's school and all. My family never forced the idea of 'being a girl' on me, and I had always liked feminine things. When I came here, it was constant reaffirmation that I was a young lady and I had to prepare for womanhood. It made me so uncomfortable, and I realized how much better I felt when I stopped thinking of myself as a girl. Hiro's the only one I ever told, though." Ameko gave a warm smile to Puki, before realizing they had landed on Hiro's hotel. Grumbling, they threw a large pile of cash at him.
Puki chewed on her cheek as she thought over what Ameko had said. She coughed, then said quietly, "Sometimes I feel like I'm a boy, but I never really noticed until I met you, Hiro. But it's not all the time, so I'm not sure if I'm just copying parts of your identity or something. I didn't know anyone else I could talk to about this… I definitely can't tell Kiki." Puki could feel that her face was on fire, and she sat starting at her feet. She was afraid to look at her friends after revealing her greatest secret.
"You might be genderfluid!" Ameko kindly replied. "I'm no expert and only you can label your identity, but it might be a good place to start looking. Genderfluid people feel their gender identity changes from time to time. You could be binary genderfluid and only alternate between being a boy and a girl, or you could also identify as nonbinary some days (like me)!"
"You don't have to be like me to be trans." Hiro added, grabbing the die. "You can talk to us about anything. That's what friends do, after all."
"Are you a boy today?" Ameko asked.
Puki found it hard to respond, even though Ameko and Hiro had been so kind and supporting. Was she genderfluid? It sounded like her, but she didn't know. She'd have to research what Ameko said. She felt overwhelmed, but overjoyed. With tears welling in her eyes, she nodded. Ameko reached over the board to hug Puki, pulling Hiro reluctantly into the group embrace.