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Title: whisper secrets in my ear
Fandom: Persona 4
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Relationships: none
Characters: Hanamura Yosuke, Persona 4 Protagonist
Word Count: 476
Summary: Yosuke has never been the one people come to first with important secrets or big news.
(Brief author's note: My P4 protagonist is transfem, and goes by Orihime. There's a large gap in my P4 works for a good reason, and a large part of it is because I read a poorly handled trans narrative into Shirogane Naoto's story.)
Yosuke blinked and wiggled a finger in his ear, wondering if he’d just heard correctly. Orihime blinked at him laconically, as relaxed as ever.
“Uh, I’m sorry. Could you run that by me again?” He asked, and Orihime shrugged.
“Sure. I was wondering if you could use she/her/hers pronouns for me from now on.” He - she? - said. Yosuke had always sort of wondered what the hell Orihime’s parents had been thinking, using the kanji they had for h-er name. Had -uh, she changed it before moving?
“Uh-” his voiced squeaked and he cleared his throat nervously. “Um, do the others know?” Does your uncle know? He thought slightly hysterically. She blinked again, calm as could be.
“…Not yet,” the words were murmured, and Yosuke was struck with the realization that this meant that Orihime had, for some unknown, esoteric reason, decided to tell him first. Him. Yosuke. The invader, the fuck-up, the kid who couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
“I just- isn’t this a big deal? If you’re uh, transgendered? Is that even the right word? Why are you telling me? This is way too important to tell me about, jeez…” Yosuke’s hand motions were mirroring his verbal flailing, and Orihime smiled faintly.
“Dojima-san knows. I chose to go by my new name here, and he helped me with the paperwork to get it approved. We haven’t had the chance to get my gender marker changed, yet, though, he’s been too busy with the murder investigation. That and it would be a really big hassle to go through with the school, and I’m not sure how my legs would look in the girls’ uniform.” Here Orihime made a face. “And then I’d get harassed by Moriooka, saying I wasn’t really a girl, just wanted to get close to them or some other utter bullshit.” She sighed, looking slightly dispirited, and Yosuke immediately felt awful.
He moved forward awkwardly, giving her plenty of time to move away, before giving her what was intended to be a short, comforting hug. Instead, Orihime leaned into it, resting her head against his shoulder, a hand coming up to rest against his chest. His heartbeat immediately sped into overtime.
“U-um, Why did you tell me? Instead of Chie or Yukiko, or even that guy from soccer, or that girl from band?” He asked quietly, trying not to focus on the fact that Orihime’s hair really was as soft as he’d thought it might be. She pulled away a little in order to look at him.
“Because you were my first friend here, Yosuke.” She smiled, and he felt himself flush a little. “That matters to me.”
“Uh, okay…” he muttered, releasing her and rubbing the back of his head. “I always thought your name was written funny, but now it makes sense, at least.” She laughed, and he smiled.
