growing up yuta always knew he was different from other kids, and so did his mother. from the time he was able to properly interact with the world around him, he found interest in what would be described as “traditionally masculine”. neither of his parents ever seemed to have a problem with it, so long as their child was happy, so it was fostered positive reinforcement for him when he took to those sorts of things. he liked his hair short, he would pick out more gender neutral or masc clothing when he was old enough to dress himself etc. by the time he was six, his frustrations with himself began and because his mother had always been supportive of him, he was comfortable in expressing them to her. he told her that he felt like he was a boy. though she didn’t know a lot about gender identity she put it upon herself to learn and to also help yuta through such a frustrating time in his life. by the time he was 7 he was actively living as his authentic self, with full support of his mother. his father, while not necessarily negative towards the situation and more or less accepted, didn’t put forth the same effort to understand as his mother did.
it was a little more difficult with kids at school however and his parents were forced to move him to a different one, where he was only known as himself. this move did cause him to become more reserved / shy and didn’t stop the bullying he’d been facing, though it was now for different reasons.
rika was the one person aside his family who supported him wholeheartedly when he did finally confide in her.
after the incident, by some sort of misunderstanding of a substitute teacher, word began to spread once more about him. the bullying intensified and yuta felt himself frustrated and alone once again. during this time he also began to isolate himself from his family and so his support system vanished near entirely. this didn’t change how he felt about himself and his gender identity, of course, but the added stress coupled with everything else weighed on him heavily and certainly played a factor in causing rika distress / anger against those around him. her fuse shortened as it continued.
when he joined the school it felt like a fresh start but also made him weary with the general strain of everything else going on. he didn’t tell his classmates until he had begun to make friends with them and grow comfortable, and even then he did so individually, as to gauge each of their reactions. perhaps surprising to some, panda was the first one he told. the second was maki, as she had shared personal information with him as well and the timing simply seemed / felt right. then toge, as he found him the most difficult to understand early on and was worried he would misinterpret his reaction.
aside his direct classmates, he’s felt no need to tell anyone else.
