"Oh, no…" Chihiro moaned in despair, biting his lip as he stared up at the tall, intimidating steel doors of Hope's Peak's locker rooms. In the past, he would use his Programmer Talent to mess with the locks on the door, or create devices that could mess with the locks on the door, so that he was able to access the female locker room without arousing any sort of suspicion. Unfortunately, tonight, for some reason, none of the usual tricks were working, and no matter how hard Chihiro tried, the door to the female locker room stayed shut.

His shoulders slumped. "I guess I could just… wear my gym outfit back to my dorm." It was late enough that, probably, no one else would run into him in the academy halls. Even the athletes like Yuka, Ibuki, Dalia, Sakura, Nekomaru, and Tenko were long gone by then, and this was all by design. This had been Chihiro's workout routine for as long as he'd been a student at Hope's Peak Academy. No one could ever know the truth. They couldn't know that "she" was actually a boy, because his life would be over! They'd bully him into oblivion! Calling him masculine was like calling fire cold. No, Chihiro was much more suited to a gentle, feminine life, that just made exercise a little bit harder…

No, wait! If I leave now, I'll have to make CERTAIN I come back here tomorrow before anyone else so I can get my clothes… Surely, there would be questions as to why Chihiro left her dress in the locker room, implying she went home wearing her gym outfit. Unless I could say that I was just so tired that I forgot? Or that I did it on purpose and said I'd get my dress in the morning?

Doubtless, Chihiro could pull it off, because of how implicitly everyone trusted him, but Chihiro didn't like lying! And yet…

The poor thing was so focused on spinning a believable, comfortable lie that he didn't hear the other student until it was too late.

Huh? One of the first years? What are they doing here so late? Aoi had a gym bag slung over her shoulder, but it wasn't hers, rather, she was dropping it off for someone. That way, its owner could just go to the locker rooms immediately the next morning and her gym clothes would already be there waiting for her. And since Aoi was leaving them overnight, it wasn't like it was going to get in anyone's way. Or at least, that was the plan. And yet, as Aoi approached the locker rooms, she caught sight of another student staring up at the doors, unmoving.

Who is it? And what are they even doing? She crept closer and called out. "Hello?"

Chihiro shrieked, jumped, whipped around, and slammed his back against the locker room door.

"Oh, hey, woah, woah, woah!" Aoi raised her hands. "Please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! I promise, I'm a friend." She gave Chihiro a sheepish smile, but inwardly, she was chiding herself for being so thoughtless.

"O-o-oh, no, it's fine," Chihiro fought hard to keep his voice light, high, soft, pleasant, feminine, and utterly unbothered and unflappable.

"Were you… trying to get it?" Aoi's gaze turned towards the locker room doors.

"Oh! Uhhh, yes! But, uhhh… For some reason…" He was sweating bullets, heart louder and faster than a machinegun.

"Don't worry about it," Aoi chuckled, pulling out her e-handbook and pressing it against the identification lock on the female locker room door. While Aoi smiled kindly, holding the door open for Chihiro, he could only gawk. At first, Aoi thought it was kind of cute and flattering, but the longer it went on, the more awkward and uncomfortable she became. Celebrity though she was, Aoi wasn't a fan of being idolized.

What she didn't know, though, was that Chihiro wasn't staring up at her with such awe because of her generosity. W-wait… She's a woman?

ooo

Aoi laughed disarmingly, waving Chihiro off again. "Don't worry about it," she insisted, leaning against one of the lockers as Chihiro awkwardly shuffled over to his dress. "I have yet to meet anyone whose been able to identify my gender correctly the first time." She shook her head and chuckled again. "Even Tsubaki thought I was a boy the first time I approached her."

Aoi flashed back to a couple years prior, when she heard the Ultimate Vocalist singing in the empty academy chapel. It was love at first sound, at least for the Ultimate Jam-Maker, but at first, Tsubaki was sure Aoi was just another annoying high school boy looking to get with a pretty girl with a pretty voice. Suffice to say, she was not interested in the slightest, at least until Aoi politely, gently corrected her.

While Aoi, calmly, casually talked about her gender, Chihiro was staring again. Just who was this woman? Of course, he didn't mean that literally, for their conversation had at last helped him put a name to a face. She was Aoi Miyake, third-year, renowned for her DJing jam and her fruit jam. She was in Tsubaki's class, which was part of how and why they met. Chihiro, meanwhile, was a lowly first-year.

"S-so… it doesn't bother you when people misgender you? Like, you don't ever feel like your femininity is… I don't know, somehow in conflict with other parts of yourself?" Chihiro asked, voice small. It was an intrusive question, he knew, and his eyes were glued to the floor as his face burned in shame, but once again, Aoi was casual with her reply.

"Like I said, I'm used to it. I mean, yeah, at first, it was a little awkward and embarrassing, but, to answer your second question, no, it doesn't make me any less secure in my femininity." Not anymore.

Not too dissimilar from Chihiro, Aoi used to identify, dress, act, and speak like one gender (the one she was assigned at birth). As the years passed, however, outside influences made her question herself. People seemed to prefer her as a man, a bishōnen. With little desire to fulfill her own, she took the feedback offered to her and began dressing in masculine and androgynous style.

It was not entirely a peer-pressure decision, however, as Aoi had come to naturally enjoy other forms of dress, and as she told Chihiro, whether she was in a dress or a suit, she was still a woman and still felt like a woman.

"Now, I think I might be genderfluid, because sometimes the "woman feeling", for lack of a better term, waxes and wanes. Sometimes I've felt more like someone in the middle, or without gender at all. I don't think I've ever "felt like a man", but the thought doesn't repulse me either." In short, Aoi was comfortable with any gender or pronoun.

"It wasn't always an easy conclusion to come to," she admitted with a rueful smile. "I had a lot of untangle, trying to decide how much of it was genuine self-expression and exploration, and how much was what others wanted of me, but now, I think I have it." The answer didn't come to her in a dream, or an epiphany, or even some emotionally-charged moment where she caught herself walking by a mirror only to realize that "woman" was not the only thing she was. Instead, it came slowly, with time, but what really facilitated it was RONDO. They were her true origin story. They helped engender gender exploration for Aoi, and as she made sure Chihiro knew, she appreciated it more than words could say.

"My bandmates, my friends," my… family, "helped me more than words could ever express." She shook her head, voice soft and reverent. "They encouraged me to explore myself, and they never once invalidated my feelings. If anything, they had to keep me from invalidated my feelings." Aoi chuckled. As she'd said before, gender was confusing sometimes, so she would question and doubt herself often, but RONDO never did. Even when she couldn't believe in herself, they believed in her. They kept her moving forward, and now here she stood today.

"Wow!" Chihiro's eyes were wide and admiring. Aoi had given him a lot to think about, not just about gender or presentation, but about power of supportive friends. When Aoi had no clue what her gender was, even though they didn't know either, they waited by her side the entire time as she slowly figured it out, day by day. Even now, there were still ups and downs, and just like always, RONDO was there. Did Chihiro have anyone like that? Well, he didn't have a band, and by nature of his deception, the foundation of all of his relationships was a lie.

The thought sank into Chihiro's stomach like a stone. Fear overwhelmed him and slowly started curling up into himself, but when his miserable eyes again darted to Aoi's face, something changed within him. She just looked so relaxed, standing there, back against the lockers with her eyes closed, an almost dreamy expression on her face. She looked… happy. Was this what truth could really do?

Truth will set you free. The famous quote echoed around Chihiro's mind and even though he started twisting his dress around his hands in a nervous tic that made it resemble cloth cuffs more than a dress, he finally found the strength to speak. It was time to engender gender for him too.

"Aoi, I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Aoi's eyes opened in confusion.

"I… lied to you." Chihiro looked down shamefully as he let the dress fall to the floor.

ooo

"Oh, Aoi, thank you! Thank you so much!" It was all Chihiro could do not to sob into her arms as she patted his head reassuringly. At first, she recoiled in surprise when Chihiro admitted having been male, but exactly as he hoped, if there was anyone in all of Hope's Peak who could understand, it was the girl with almost the same exact problem as him, just in the opposite direction, as it were.

Aoi at last wrapped an awkward arm around the sniffling Chihiro. He was able to keep himself from sobbing, but tears and snot were still flowing. Aoi wasn't usually one to comfort crying people, but the desire to protect, comfort, and take care of poor, sweet, little Chihiro was overwhelming. Putting aside her own awkwardness and uncertainty, Aoi at last pulled Chihiro into a much more solid embrace. At last, he did finally break down and start sobbing, but Aoi held him through it until every last tear had been shed.

"Th-thank you, Aoi," he sniffled, finally pulling away from her.

"Did you want a tissue?" Aoi asked. Surely there had to be one, or something similar, somewhere around here!

"No, no, it's fine," Chihiro chuckled, wiping his eyes on his gym sleeve, and sniffling one last time. "Thank you, though, really, for everything." Chihiro's eyes sparkled, but this time, not because of tears, or if they were tears, they were happy.

"Always happy to help," Aoi smiled back down at Chihiro. "Although…" Her eyes slid to her e-handbook.

"Oh, right! I'm so sorry!" Chihiro slapped his forehead, grabbed his dress, and darted into the nearest bathroom stall. Aoi chuckled to herself.

Well. This has been quite the evening! What I thought was just going to be a little drop-off became an entire heart-to-heart! In the high school gym locker rooms well past bedtime. Really, "interesting" didn't even begin to cover it, but Aoi already knew that she was grateful it had happened. I should get to know the underclassmen better. I don't know if I'm… "senpai" material, but…

As she glanced over her shoulder at Chihiro's stall, another wave of protectiveness washed over her. Then, when he came back out in his cute little dress, that protectiveness only became stronger.

"You look wonderful, Chihiro!" Aoi grinned.

"Th-thanks…" Chihiro blushed, look at his feet, and touched the tips of his fingers together. As per their agreement, Aoi would continue to treat Chihiro like a girl in public, but behind the scenes, she invited him to visit her dorm some time and experiment with different clothes. Whether or not Chihiro came to the conclusion that he was cis, trans, nonbinary, agender, genderfluid, or something else, Aoi wasn't just doing it in hopes of helping Chihiro "figure it out". Sometimes, it was just fun to try out new styles!

The two left the locker room beaming.

"H-hey, Aoi… This might… sound weird, so of course, you're free to deny it at any time! I definitely don't want to seem weird or creepy or anything like that!" He waved his hands quickly. Like Tsubaki and Aoi, he knew about those rude, creepy high school boys that only cared about how pretty a girl was. Aoi, however, shook her head with a smile. Literally no one in the entire academy would think that, especially about Chihiro.

"What's your request?" she asked.

"C-c-could… whenever we do hang out and, try on clothes together, do you think…? That I could…? Think of you as my older sibling? I've always wanted something like that!" He clasped his hands together, eyes shining. Aoi laughed again.

"Sure thing, Chihiro, and it doesn't just have to stay between us. I'd be more than happy if other people knew too."

"Wait, really? Oh, Aoi, you're the best!" Chihiro's eyes were practically stars now. This time, Aoi's laugh was a little embarrassed.

"I don't know about that," she said. "So why don't you wait until our little dress-up day?"

Now it was Chihiro's turn to laugh and shake his head. Oh, Aoi, don't think that I'm going to hate anything you help me try on. I'm sure all of it will be beautiful, dress or suit or both other.

AN: Let me know if this fic is in any way disrespectful, I know the Chihiro thing is a huge DR controversy and I always wonder if it's ok to write not-cisgender Aoi and yet still have her use female pronouns. I headcanon that she'd be fine with any, I just default to female because that's what everyone else does (in and out of universe).