#nonbinary leo

“The morning sun, or the moonless night

I see the god inside them and I feel alright”

Guang-Hong Stretched, groaning as his back cracked from a night of restless sleep. He reached out from underneath his pile of blankets, patting around and frowning when his hand came into contact with cold sheets rather than the warmth he’d become accustomed to. Rolling over, he squinted before accepting that Leo really wasn’t in bed with him.

“Oh lord, everything on the earth has music inside

Hey, I can feel my heartbeats waving like the ocean

We live in the circle of life”

He cocked his head to one side, listening curiously as music drifted through the ajar door. Bundling himself up in his blankets, he shuffled off the bed and padded down the hall, following the sounds through the apartment.

“we live...

where would I go?  what would I do?  who would I be without the music?

to live in a silent world...(No!)  I re- GUANG-HONG!”

Leo leapt into the air, nearly dropping the mug in their hands. He laughed and leant on the kitchen counter, watching as their face rapidly turned red.

“The red flush suits you darling.”

“You’re never going to let me live this down are you?”

“Nope! Maybe I should tell the entire world that my partner dances around the kitchen singing their old program music and looks absolutely adorable doing so.”

“Noooo please, Phichit would never let that go.”

With a yawn, Guang-Hong reached out and pulled Leo into a hug, nuzzling into their neck and pressing gentle kisses. He lifted their hand up and pressed a kiss to their palm, the morning light bringing honesty and vulnerability with ease.

“Mmm… Thanks for the hug but I really need to make this coffee for us.”

“Nah.”

“Seriously?”

“Hugs.”

They laughed and placed the mug down, lifting him onto their back and carrying him over to their sofa. With a shriek, he landed on it, pulling Leo down with him. He untucked some of his blankets, wrapping them around them, kissing lazily.

“God I love waking up to this.”

“Hey Leo… How do I look?”

They peered over their book at the open doorway before dropping it in surprise.

“It looks bad doesn’t it? I knew it w-”

“Complete opposite.”

“P-pardon?”

Guang-Hong blushed, tugging on the suit jacket slightly before turning around and looking in the mirror behind them. With quick strides, they wrapped their arms around him, pressing kisses to his neck.

“Mmmm… You look gorgeous in this. I might have to buy you a new one after tonight.”

It takes a moment for the joke to sink in and when it does, they duck and laugh as Guang-Hong chased them around the living room, threatening to hit them with a pillow. Collapsing into a heap on the sofa, Leo laughs as they’re pinned to the floor and tickled mercilessly. They rested their heads together, and they ran their hands over his sides as they kissed gently.

“We’re both going to the banquet this time and everyone’s going to be so jealous of us.”

“Leo and Guang-Hong. The new power couple.”

---

Leo tugged on the hem of their dress, fidgeting as they waited for Guang-Hong to finish in the bathroom.

“Hey. Relax, you look gorgeous.”

They jumped at the sound of his voice, blushing as they realised he was shirtless. He wrapped his towel around his shoulders before jumping onto the sofa next to them, nuzzling against their neck.

“H-hey! Go get into your suit before we're late!”

“What if I want to stay here, just you and me hmm?”

Giggling, they pushed him off their lap.

“Shoo! They'll be expecting the gold and silver medalists to be there.”

“Fine…”

Pouting, Guang-Hong closed the door behind himself. Leo sank back, holding out their left hand and admiring the ring sparkling in the light. Their engagement hadn’t been announced yet, not even to their close friends, preferring to keep it away from at least a month. Now, a month had passed and the ring was securely on their hand for the world to see, rather than residing on a chain around their neck.

“Ready to go?”

“Yeah, just… nervous I guess.”

Without warning, Guang-Hong picked them up and spun them around, pressing their lips together.

“Right, seriously though, we should go now or else they’re going to send someone to find us.”

---

“Now welcoming, our Grand Prix Medalists, Guang-Hong Ji and Leo de la Iglesia!”

Guang-Hong had Leo pressed against his side, standing tall after his growth spurt a couple of seasons ago. Leo, to him, was the most beautiful person in the world, and he would let no-one’s negativity and narrow mindedness harm them. Smiling courteously at sponsors as they entered, he led them over to Phichit and Minami in the corner, waving to catch their attention.

“Hey, look, here’s the new gold and silver!”

“You’re being coached by the old two Minami, don’t forget.”

He laughs and pulls out a chair each, looking around for Victor and Yuuri.

“They didn’t make it tonight, had to fly home after the medal ceremony to help Mari for a couple of weeks.”

“Ah, fair enough.”

Phichit was oddly quiet, reaching out and lifting Leo’s left hand to take a closer look.

“Not usually one for jewelry are you Leo? Suits you though.”

He winked, letting it fall and leaning back in his chair and picking up a glass of champagne, sipping from it and waving over a server.

“Champagne for all please, because tonight it seems we’re celebrating more than just medals.”

“Eh?”

Phichit handed out the glasses before raising his.

“A toast, for our latest engaged couple. May you continue being hopelessly in love, and look absolutely flawless whilst doing so.”

---

@ phichit+chu

[Photo]

My amazing friends are engaged!

M: Hey… P: You okay? M: No. P: Eh? Tell me! M: Skype? With you + Ji… P: Sure! 1 no M: Okay.

🌈

“Minami! Turn on your screen!”

“Yo!”

“No one says that anymore dude.”

“Well I do!”

As the pair of them bickered, he shuffled around awkwardly on his blanket pile. Sure, it was an ordinary occurrence for the two of them, but this wasn’t an ordinary conversation for them.

There was a pile of used tissues in the bin and he knew for certain, even without looking in the mirror, that his face was tear stained. Not that he’d be able to see anyway, what with the only light in the room coming from his laptop.

“Hey Minami… Are you okay there? You’re not speaking to us and you sounded rather sad in your texts.”

Phichit and Ji were concerned.

Of course they were.

“Y-yeah it was nothing I’m sorry for bothering you.”

His voice cracked slightly and he winced, pulling his blankets around him closer.

“Minami… Put on your webcam please?” Ji pleaded, tilting his head to one side on the grainy screen.

With shaking hands, he stretched out and clicked the camera on, settling back and burying his hands into his pile of blankets. God… He looked a mess on the screen, hair stuck up in random directions, a baggy T-shirt and shorts and a pile of random blankets. He looked washed out in the light.

“Mini! Have you eaten? Have you drank anything? When was the last time you slept?”

He flinched at the barrage of questions, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the others. There were times where he despised his body, especially now when it gave away his innermost thoughts.

“What’s bothering you?” Phichit, for all his enthusiasm and never ending energy, was calmingin in a way that many weren’t, many couldn’t be.

“I-I… I don’t know how to explain it… Um… Have you ever, like, met anyone who doesn’t fit in with the typical gender categories?”

“Gender’s a social concept to be truthful, and a pretty ridiculous one at that. Some people fit into the binary, others fall onto a spectrum whilst others fall outside it in terms of their identity.” With a smile, Ji counted off the points, Phichit nodding in agreement.

It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders at this point. Phichit and Ji knew information that would be useful to him. Would they understand though?

“So… What if I told you that there are times where… It doesn’t feel right? As in, my body doesn’t feel right, it feels too flat or too heavy or too sculpted.” He was rambling now, everything spilling out to two of his closest friends.

“Leo might be better for this sort of thing but they’re not here right now, so I’ll do my best. What you’re saying is that there are days where you’re fine in your body and other days you hate it?”

“Yeah… Like I want to tear my skin to shreads and crawl up into a ball and not do anything. Not even eat or drink, which is ridiculous because I know that I have to.” He pauses for a moment, cocking his head to the side in thought. “Is that strange? I feel like is.”

“Nope. Yuuri described feeling similar, though perhaps not quite as intense when she was with me in Detroit.”

“She?” He winced at his tone, not intending to sound accusatory. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like that.”

“No worries! She’s okay with other skaters knowing her pronouns and that and we were skyping, would it be early morning in Russia? Anyway, we were skyping today when she declared it a femme day.” With a smile, he rapidly pulled out his phone and began tapping away, most likely a text to Yuuri.

“Leo’s described something similar too, but only on their worst days. It’s why their nails are so short, just in case.” A fond look came over Ji’s face as he though about Leo, jumping as their voice echoed through the house as the door opened.

“In the bedroom skyping Phi and Mini!”

A quiet response left Ji blushing and burying his face in his hands, much to Phichit’s amusement. He managed a small smile, not quite sure if it was convincing or not.

“Oh my god… They’re so cheesy.”

Phichit giggled at Ji’s blush and dreamy smile, fanning his face.

“What about you Seung huh? You two are just as bad!”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

“Are not!”

“Are t- ah, sorry sunshine! We’ll keep it down. Shhh Phi, let’s not get distracted now from the point of this call. We’re here to help Mini.” He tugged the blankets back onto his shoulders as the attention focused back on him.

“Are there days were you feel more feminine?” Considering the question, he nodded.

“There are days where I feel masculine, days where I feel both and days where I feel like neither. Are you… Are you saying that there’s a name for it?” It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t excited at the prospect of finding a label and not feeling so…

Out of place.

Phichit scrambled around on his bed, muttering in Thai under his breath. Holding his phone up in triumph, he squinted briefly as it illuminated his face.

“Yuuri reckons that it would be called x-gender in Japan, but what’s the European term?”

“Nonbinary?”

“No no, not quite. That’s completely outside of the binary, no, oh god there was someone in our college…” Phichit threw himself backwards onto his bed with a dramatic groan.

“You mean genderfluid? That seems to be the closest to what you’re looking for.” The trio jumped at the new voice, Ji shrieking as Leo sat down onto the bed next to him. They chuckled and pressed a kiss to his forehead before turning to face the laptop.

“Genderfluid is the term for someone who’s gender identity spans the entire gender spectrum. Have you thought about pronouns yet?”

“Pronouns?”

His question was echoed by Phichit who looked incredibly confused at this point, probably because he’d been texting again and not following the conversation.

“Some people when they figure out their identity use different pronouns for themselves, like I did. I changed to using gender neutral pronouns, and Yuuri uses a range don’t they?”

“Yeah she does. I understand now, i just lost track of the conversation. Yuuri’s sent me a screenshot of a table of gender neutral pronouns, do you want me to forward it to you later to look over?” With a gentle smile, he held up his phone. On it was a series of texts from Yuuri, all containing advice for Phichit to pass on.

“Tell her thank you from me please. I… I don’t mind if you use my name.”

The conversation quickly dissolved into giggles and lighter topics, agreeing to refer to him by his current pronouns until he’d found a set he was comfortable with.

By the time he’d exited the Skype call and settled down to sleep, they’d made plans to meet up and go shopping the next week.

🌈

Over the course of the week, Minami had done several things.

They’d tried refering to themselves with different pronouns from the table Phichit had forwarded to them, eventually settling when they couldn’t pronounce half of them (yet).

They’d managed to successfully send an email to the one and only Katsuki Yuuri who just so happened to be their idol, and had maintained a conversation with them.

Finally, they’d come out to their brother (admittedly over Skype but it counted) who’d in turn come out as bisexual. After much deliberation between the two of them, they’d come to the conclusion that they were probably pansexual considering how they fell in love with anyone and everyone who was their type.

It had been a tiring week.

And now they were stood in front of the mirror and wishing their chest wasn’t so flat. It was frustrating, this detachment from their own body. With a groan, they tugged on a Pusheen T-shirt (the only feminine one they had at that moment but it would do, and it seemed to calm the agitation in their chest) and black skinny jeans before turning back to the mirror. Patting their butt in quiet delight, they winked and laughed as they watched their reflection mimick them. A notification startled them and they dived onto their bed, snatching their phone up and frowning at the unknown number.

U: Hey there M: Who is this? U: Oh u don’t have my number? U: this is Chris M: As in the Swiss guy? U: Giacometti to u! M: Hold on let me rename you M: Done C: I won’t keep u long because I heard u were going out but I wanted 2 tell u that I hope u find something u feel good in today M: Thanks C: Let me know if there’s anything I can get for u C: Now go shop u beautiful human being!

Chuckling, they threw their phone down and pulled on their socks, quickly followed by a pair of black converse. It wouldn’t take long for Phichit to pick them up from the hotel, then only a short time more for them to meet with the others at the mall. It had been a bit of a pain to get tickets from Japan at such short notice but they were nothing but resourceful. Snatching up their pastel backpack, they slipped their phone into their back pocket and checked that they’d got everything they needed for the day.

“Phone, wallet, jacket in case it rains, drink… Keys! Keys! How the hell am I supposed to lock the room up if I don’t have my keys?” Huffing in annoyance, their eyes swept over the room until they caught the shine of the keys on the desk in the corner. Triumphantly, they skipped over and swung their backpack onto their shoulders, picking them up and glancing around the room once more. Deciding that they didn’t need anything else, they opened the door, smiling at the other patrons and locking the door behind them. Pulling their phone out, they sent a quick text to Phichit.

M: I’m on my way down now :D P: Almost there, see u soon :p

Laughing, they slipped their phone into their back pocket and walked into the lift, thanking the teen already inside for holding it. Settling against the side, they felt the familiar lurch of the lift going down.

“Excuse me…” They jumped, turning to face the person opposite them.

“Yes?”

“I-I didn’t mean to startle you! Sorry…”

“It’s okay,” with a bright smile they checked the floor number, “I guess I was lost in thought. How can I help?”

“I was wondering, are you Kenjirou Minami? As in, the Japanese figure skater?”

Their eyes widened in surprise at being recognised before they nodded. It wasn’t often that fans approached them, startling them every time one did.

“Ah! I’m a huge fan! Your skating is amazing a-and oh god people always say that I’m too over the top at times, I hope I’m not being too invasive.”

“No no, it’s perfectly fine. You… You like my skating?”

“Yes! My friends and I sometimes try to recreate your routines but we can never replicate your energy.” They paused for a moment, nervously fidgeting with their phone. “Could I please possibly have a photo with you? I wouldn’t post it without your permission of course, it’s just, it’s always been a dream of mine to meet you.”

The hopefulness in their eyes reminded them of back when they were a huge fan of Yuuri, back before they’d made their acquaintance and realised that the person behind the skating was much more human than they could ever have dared to hope. Much more amazing as a person too.

“Sure, as long as I can take one too. That okay?”

“Yes, yes, perfectly okay with me!”

With a smile, they pulled out their phone again, opening up the camera app. After a couple of photos, the door opened on the fan’s floor and they jumped out, promising to tag them before they were separated by the lift door. Their last glimpse of the fan was them being swept along by people they guessed were their friends, all jumping around in delight. Giggling, they stepped out into the lobby on the floor below, waving to Phichit who waved back enthusiastically.

“Yoohoo! The others are almost there, let’s go your majesty!”

“Your majesty?” The confusion must have been obvious, even to Phichit who was dragging them through the crowds that had gathered.

“One time someone was being a dick to Yuuri about what pronouns he used and he snapped, turning around and yelling ‘your majesty to you peasant’. I wish I’d got it on camera to be honest. Oh, he wishes you good luck by the way and sends his apologies for not being here with us.”

“Oh…”

As they let Phichit’s words sink in, they peered over his shoulder at his phone.

Seung-gil Lee huh?

“Texting your boyfriend are we?”

Phichit shrieked, throwing his phone into the air before scrambling to catch it. They laughed in amusement as he clutched his phone to his chest, denying everything.

“N-no, we’re not dating! We just swapped numbers at Worlds last season!”

“Uh huh… The blush gives you away Phichit.”

“Gives what away?”

They both screamed as someone spoke behind them, spinning to be greeted by a grinning Leo and Ji.

“Oh you know, just talking about Phichit’s crush on S-”

A hand cut them off, Phichit denying anything and everything. The amused chuckles from the duo told them that they didn’t believe Phichit. Everyone in their little group knew about Phichit’s crush on Seung-gil Lee, the one and only Korean skater (at least, the only one they’d talked to).

“Come on, I need a new skirt today! And we need to find something for Minami.” Leo whined, tugging on Ji’s arm.

Sometimes it was difficult to remember who was the older out of the two.

They let themselves be dragged along, eyes wandering around the mall as the others chattered. They’d never really let themselves even consider looking at 'female’ clothes before and now it was strangely satisfying to note the larger range available to them.

“We’ll start small, one shop to begin with and if we don’t all find something we’ll look at another. Is that okay with you Minami?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Looking up, they were greeted with cheerful smiles all round, and an outstretched hand from Leo.

“Ready?”

Nodding, they took their first steps into the store, a cheery shop assistant bounding over to help.

“Good morning! Leo, Ji, great to see you again. And you two, this is your first time here? Name’s Mina, she/her pronouns please and you?” She looked at them expectantly, almost blinding them with her dazzling smile.

“Minami, they/them pronouns please.”

“Name’s Phichit, he/him pronouns please.”

“Great to meet you all,” and it sounds like she genuinely means it too, “Is there anything I can assist you with today?”

They look to Leo for support, who smiles and nods their head, Phichit shaking his and wandering off the the makeup section.

“A-ah… I’m looking for something feminine. Like a skirt or something.” They sigh in relief, the words easier to say than they originally thought.

“Sure. I have a couple you can try out. Just give me a moment to get them.”

She bustled away, humming a happy tune. Ji squeezed Leo’s hand and whispered in their ear. He smiled, before making his way towards the shoes, muttering about needing a new pair of heels.

“Excited?”

They jumped, barely acknowledging Leo’s question.

“I was when JJ brought me here to buy my first skirt. I don’t think I could have chosen a better person to come with at the time. Who knew JJ had such a good fashion sense?”

Giggling, Leo started flicking through the skirts on the railings, folding a couple over their arm.

“When you try on your’s, I’ll try on mine as well, make you feel better yeah?”

“Yeah, that would be nice.” Leo’s smile made all their worries fade away, even as they were handed a selection of skirts by the assistant and guided to the changing rooms.

Smiling nervously, they stepped inside and shut the curtains, hanging the skirts up. The selection looked like they had been chosen to match their Pusheen t-shirt, something that made them smile. Slipping their shoes off, they wiggled out of their jeans and pushed them to one side. Taking a deep breath, they flicked through the skirts, settling on a black skater skirt. Unhooking it from the hanger, they held it against themselves and looked in the mirror.

They looked beautiful.

With great care, they stepped into the skirt and pulled it up to rest on their hips. Staring at the mirror, they wiggle their hips, smiling in delight as the skirt swishes around their thighs.

Their thighs look beautiful in the skirt.

Leaning over their shoulder, they pat their butt again.

“Damn… I look good in a skirt. Hey Leo! Can I show you the skirt?”

“Sure.”

They hear the curtain of the room next door open and they peek out, waving to Leo.

“Ready?” They don’t think they can stop smiling at this point.

The skirt feels right in a way little else has felt before.

Pushing the curtain aside, they stepped out, watching their face carefully.

“Ji! Phichit! Come look at how pretty Minami looks!”

Preening at the praise, they spun on the spot, laughing as it spun out into a circle. The others came over, both holding various bags. One moment, they’re looking over them approvingly, the next they find themselves enveloped by several pairs of arms.

“You look beautiful Minami. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.”

—

@ken_Minami Thanks for the great day guys! I couldn’t ask for better friends

@no1minamifan Thank you @ken_Minami for the photos today! Best idol ever!