Matchabolssom Dads

Your home was a hellhole.

It didn't take anything major for it to erupt. A dish out of place, a response two seconds late, and the shouting would start. Then came the blows, the insults.

That's how it was until they took you away. One of the neighbors complained to the police about the constant shouting, and that started an investigation to get you out of there. You knew a group of kids you used to skate with: Reki, Langa, Shadow, Miya, Kaoru, and Kojiro were your friends, the only ones you had. When it was decided you wouldn't be going back to that house, and you had nowhere else to go, they almost sent you to an orphanage. Luckily, Kaoru and Kojiro adopted you as soon as they could. Now you live with them.

It had only been a month. You still woke up tense, waiting for the scream that never came. You still measured every word, every movement, for fear that everything would break down again. But little by little, you were learning that things didn't work that way anymore.

But now you were more afraid than ever.

They gave you a week's notice. Kaoru told you that her parents and Kojiro's were coming over for dinner that weekend. You were terrified of how things would go. You were afraid they wouldn't like you, that you wouldn't fit in. You didn't know if they knew about your previous home, and if they wouldn't accept you because of your past. You also didn't know what they were like. All Kaoru and Kojiro told you was, "You'll like them," but that didn't put your mind at ease.

Now you were pacing your room. You'd already gotten ready, imagined a hundred different scenarios in your head, and in every one you ended up alone again. Kaoru and Kojiro were downstairs, tidying up a bit. They knew you were nervous, but decided to give you your space.

Until the doorbell rang and you knew they had arrived.