Title: Personal Problems

Rating: T

Description: Naoto is faced with a dilemma at school. Author's Note: This is put in a setting where Naoto is friends with everyone already but they still don't know that Naoto is a girl. Basically I'm looking at this as an alternate way for them to discover what Naoto is without any of the happenings in the TV World. KanjixNaoto implied

It's finally happened. It took a long time, but a choice must be made. The day has finally arrived where I, Naoto Shirogane, have to use the facilities at school.

To most people, this doesn't seem like a problem. Sure school bathrooms aren't usually the cleanest but many just wipe down the seat or avoid the particularly bad stalls. It's only a few moments of your life you have to be in the place. What's the big deal? This is not my issue. My issue?

Which door do I go in?

Now I'm sure there are plenty of people in the world who ask themselves that question. They may be in similar situations as me where they're trying to maintain ambiguity, attempting to keep their true gender under wraps (literally and metaphorically in my case). And I'm sure these people have faced this dilemma before and have handled it. However, I have not.

Ever since I decided it would be best for me to seem male to the rest of the world, I have managed to avoid using public restrooms. I take precautions before leaving the house, doing my business there before going on with my day. Sometimes it hits me on my way home, but at least I'm heading in the direction of privacy and relief.

Not today.

Today my bladder decided it would be the day I must choose which door to venture beyond to seek my relief. And though I find myself standing outside the two door, each with a picture of a different angular stick figure depicting each sex, barely able to ignore my needs, I have to wait and analyze my situation and possible outcomes of my choices.

On the left is the door marked with the male figure. This is of course what everyone at the school would expect me to use. And this was also my original choice. However, I know that most men prefer to use the stalls only when absolutely necessary. I'm not quite sure what the point of using the porcelain bowls clinging to the walls is. I believe this could be some kind of opportunity for them to show each other up. I've overheard a decent amount of private conversation during my teenage years and it's come glaringly obvious that males need to confirm that they are indeed the "bigger man". Normally this wouldn't concern me, but the last thing I need is a curious male or two realizing I'm in the bathroom with them and feeling a need to compare and contrast with me. If that ever happened, my cover would be blown and I….embarrassed doesn't even begin to cover how I would feel being snooped on in such a precarious and vulnerable position.

My eyes focus on the right door, the female lavatory. This option gives me much more privacy when it comes to completing my business. And they usually make sure that the girls have plenty of paper since we tend to use it much more often. However, girls are catty, vain and love to gossip and from what I've noticed, they tend to do show all three of these traits in bathrooms where they believe they're less likely to be heard by their verbal victims. This I feel is ridiculous. It's not as if you can do roll call when you walk in, making sure that the poor girl you're about to gossip about isn't there. And what makes them think she (or they) won't walk in when they're blathering away?

This is what concerns me. Not so much the idea of walking in on someone chatting away about me. I couldn't care less. It's the fact I could walk into anyone in the bathroom. Another female in the bathroom could mean either my cover getting blown or immediate suspension. Doesn't look very good when a boy goes into the girls' room. Matter of fact a boy in another class was taken out of school for the very same thing I'm considering. And though I biologically belong in said bathroom, no one else knows that.

I start to weigh my options when my need for release suddenly becomes more urgent. Bracing myself, I walk forward and push open the door with the stick figure with the triangular dress that symbolizes the women's room. I take a moment to peek around before bursting in and quickly ducking into a stall. A few moments later, I let out an audible sigh of relief. Definitely would not have made it home and that would've been more embarrassing than most things. Aside from getting spied on, of course.

As I zip up my pants, I hear the bathroom door open. Wonderful. Now I'm trapped until whoever it is leaves. Maybe I'll be lucky and it'll be one person coming to wash their hands.

"Oh my God, did you see the boys during gym today?"

Oh no.

"Oh my God, I know, right?!"

Dear God no.

"They were, like, soooo hot!"

You have to be kidding. Three of you? How did you even pull that off all getting out of classes at the same time?

"Yu-senpai looked so good playing soccer. I can just imagine what he looks like underneath that shirt of his."

Oh please don't talk about senpai. That's really awkward.

"I bet he's really lean and sexy. I wish he'd notice me."

Is it warmer in here?

"Hanamura isn't half bad either."

Not the other one. Please no.

"Yosuke?! Are you serious?!"

That's what I'm thinking. Are you seriously talking about this?

"Well, I kind of agree with her. He is kind of cute and he can move on a field. He's pretty quick. Has a bit of a runner's body, which is pretty hot."

I've actually noticed that too. He is pretty fast and…oh God please just leave.

"I guess I can admit that. What about that first year? The tough-looking blond kid."

Oh no.

"Kanji Tatsumi?! Well, I mean he seems pretty athletic. He did seem like a match for most of the other team."

Please stop.

"Have you looked at him? He looks like he could bench press the three of us!"

Stop now. Please. I can't handle this.

"He wore a tank top to school the other day and I nearly died. That boy has muscle. His arms, chest, back. I can only imagine what his abs look like."

Is the air getting thicker? That's not good. I need to get out of here.

"I would, like, love to bag me one of them."

Wow, do you even understand sentence structure?

"Seriously. They're all sexy in their own way."

If I could bang my head into the stall door without any of you noticing, I would. Please, please, stop talking about the boys I know and leave already!

"Oh dammit! I've got to get back to class. I'm over my time already!"

Oh thank God, you have a concept of time.

"Same here! Oh my God my teacher's gonna be angry."

Good.

"Then we'll meet at lunch!"

And then they were gone.

If that had gone on much longer, I may have tried to dash out the door or try to scare them by flushing the toilet or something. They seemed to be the jittery, girly types to me. A moment after they exit, I hear them let out one of those drawn out greetings that girls give on occasion. Rise-san does it to our senpai a lot. I believe it's meant to be flirtatious.

Never mind that. I need to get out of this bathroom before I get cornered again. I rush out of the stall and to the sink, lathering for the usual amount of time despite my haste. (Cleanliness is important). After rinsing and drying my hands, I take a moment to check my appearance in the mirror. I look a bit pink. Perhaps I should take some vitamin C when I get back home. I silently make my way to the door and push it open. The hallway looks clear of any onlookers or students in passing. Perfect. I take my leave of the bathroom.

And at the same time, someone else does the same from the door opposite me.

First I get trapped in the bathroom having to listen to a threesome of chatty Kathy's talk about boys I know in ways I don't need to overhear, and now I get caught by a boy coming out of the girl's room when everyone is supposed to think I'm also a boy. Great.

The initial reaction I would've liked to have would've been to excuse myself, explain calmly that I went in the wrong door in my haste, and calmly switch to the other bathroom. But instead, my face heats up, my breath catches, my eyes go wide like a deer caught in traffic, and I squeak in surprise.

I. Squeaked.

Had it been a boy I didn't know from another class, I might've been able to smoothly recover somehow. Weaseled my way out of questioning. I could've outsmarted him, confused him with my way of speaking and thinking. I definitely would have done so, had it been a boy I didn't know. But that wasn't the case.

There I was, standing outside the bathroom door, staring up at the reddening face of Kanji Tatsumi.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Kanji's PoV*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

WHAT THE HELL?! WHERE THE HELL DID NAOTO COME FROM?! THIS GUY'S LIKE A NINJA OR SOMETHIN'!

Why the hell's he just starin' up at me like that? He looks like he's scared to death of somethin'. That's weird. Never pictured him bein' scared of anything. Those eyes of his are huge. Kinda girly lookin' too. Aw man, I can feel myself blushin'! I can't believe this guy is makin' me…

Wait.

Did he?

Is that?

The CHICK'S BATHROOM?!

I think he just came outta the chick's bathroom! What the hell?! That's just wrong! No dude should ever go in the girl's bathroom! I don't care how damn cute ya are or if you're my friend! THAT'S NOT COOL.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Naoto's PoV*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Oh God, Kanji just went from shocked to furious in about 5 seconds flat. I need to start talking before this gets out of control. (Of course the loud one had to be the one I run into).

"Kanji-kun, before you jump to any conclusions, please listen to m-"

"NO! YOU LISTEN TO ME! THIS AIN'T COOL, NAOTO!" Kanji screamed at me. This isn't looking good.

Dammit.

"Kanji-kun, please!" Keep your voice low. Try to keep your voice low, Naoto. Don't yell like you want to. You know what you sound like when you do. "You must listen to me!"

"I don't want to hear anythin' from you! You were just in there, weren't you?! You shouldn't be in there! Didn't you hear 'bout that jackass that got caught the other day?!"

"I know about him and I assure you I wasn't in there for any nefarious purpose." I just had to go and lady luck decided to not smile on me today.

"Then what the hell were you doin'?! I expected better from you than this," Kanji spat. I've never seen him like this. Sure I've heard rumors of his temper but this? This I never expected. He sounds…disgusted. Disgusted by the idea of me being in the girl's bathroom. I can't let this go unexplained. He's my friend. I can't lose him over this and…

And he deserves to know the truth.

"Please, Kanji-kun, can we go somewhere else and talk about this calmly? I can explain everything," I quietly pleaded.

Kanji looks down at me disdainfully from the corner of his eye. His face is flushed with anger. "NO! You explain this NOW!" I can feel my frustration freezing up my chest. "What freakin' reason do you have for goin' into the girl's bathroom?!" I can't take it.

"I'M SUPPOSED TO USE THE GIRL'S BATHROOM BECAUSE I'M A GIRL!"

We both stood in silence, shocked at the words that had fled from between my lips. In any other situation, I've been able to keep my cool and talk my way through. But this. The humiliation, the girls from before, and now Kanji; it had all hit me too fast for me to handle properly. And instead of going off to a private place and quietly speaking like two adults about my situation, we screamed at each other like children. I, in my exasperation, just exploded, my biggest secret piercing into everything and everyone around me like shrapnel. And Kanji took a majority of it.

My face was on fire. Until the very moment I admitted that I was female, I don't think I understood the word "awkward". Now I do. Practically choking on the heaviness in the air, I did the only thing my mind thought of that was a perfect solution; I ran.

*~*~*~*~*~*Kanji's PoV*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Did Naoto just say….he's a she?

He's a girl.

Naoto's a girl.

Wait.

NAOTO'S A GIRL!