Akoya sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and looking around as the memories of the previous night came back to him.
"Mom? I have to talk to you."
"About what, Akoya? Oh, dear, I wish you would wear the new dress I bought you."
"That's kind of what I want to talk to you about….."
"Well, what is it?"
"Mom, I'm... I'm transgender," Akoya said nervously.
"You're WHAT?" His mother snarled.
Akoya shrank back, shaking. "I-I'm transgender. My friends know and I'm really in an all-boys high school, not a girl's academy."
"You little bitch," his mother spat. "Are you really so desperate for attention that you had to do something like this?"
"I didn't choose this!" Akoya yelled back. "I hate this more than you do!"
"Then stop it!"
"I can't stop it! I've been this way for years, Mom, it's not going to go away!"
"You'll make it go away or you'll get out of my house," Mrs. Gero threatened.
"Fine. I'm going."
Akoya put his face in his hands. He didn't know what to do. He was homeless now, tossed onto the street like trash for who he was. He wasn't sure if this could possibly be any worse.
He had stayed at Ibushi's house last night, but he really didn't want to impose on his parents. But what was he going to do for money? Food? Clothes?
He jumped when he heard a knock at the door. "Akoya?" Mrs. Arima asked. "I made breakfast. Are you hungry?"
"I... I guess," Akoya mumbled, doing his best not to let his voice crack.
"Can I come in?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Arisu Arima came inside, then sat beside him on the bed. "Are you okay, Akoya?"
He shook his head silently, and his hair fell in a curtain around his face, shielding him from her gaze.
"Akoya?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"You can stay here. Masahiro and I don't mind at all."
"I-I really don't want to impose-" Akoya began, but Arisu waved him down.
"You're a friend of Ibushi's, right? Of course you're not imposing," she smiled happily. "You need a place to stay, and we would rather it's here with us where we know you're safe than somewhere else."
Akoya glanced up at her, suspiciously searching her eyes for lies. He couldn't understand why Ibushi's mother would be so accepting of him when his own mother had thrown him out on the streets.
"If you're sure," he mumbled at last. "It's not like I have anywhere else to go anyway."
Arisu gently pulled him into a hug and rocked him slowly as his tears started to fall. "I know, honey, I know," she murmured sadly as she held him. "It's not fair that she did that to you. I know. Don't worry, it will be okay. You'll be okay, Akoya."
Ibushi peeked around the corner. "Hey, Akoya," he grinned. "Listen, breakfast is ready, but if you want, I'll bring it up and you can eat it in here so it doesn't get cold."
"I think that's a much better idea, Ibushi," his mother smiled. "You don't mind bringing it up for him now, do you?"
"No, not at all. I'll be back in a few minutes, Mom."
With that, Ibushi left.
Akoya glanced at Arisu. "It's weird to hear an adult that isn't a teacher call me 'he'," he mumbled.
"I can imagine," Arisu smiled. "But Masahiro and I have only known you as a boy, so it doesn't matter to us. Besides, Masahiro's brother is dating a transgender woman. It's not like we're not familiar with it."
Akoya blinked. "Really?"
Arisu nodded, still smiling at him. "She doesn't like to talk about it, so we don't mention it much, and I'm not even sure if Ibushi knows. Still, it would be strange for us to accept her and not you, right? Especially with how much Ibushi cares about you."
Akoya smiled shakily. "Thank you, ma'am."
"Of course, honey."
Just then Ibushi appeared carrying a tray with eggs, toast, pancakes, and hot chocolate piled onto it. "I brought your breakfast," he grinned.
"You eat up, darling," Arisu smiled, quickly gripping Ibushi's shoulder once he put the tray down and leading him outside. "You take as much alone time as you need, Akoya. We'll be downstairs if you want to visit."
With that, they disappeared through the door, Ibushi glancing back with a last reassuring grin.
Later that day, Akoya finally decided to go down to talk with Ibushi and his parents. At the very least, he wanted to formally thank Masahiro for allowing him to stay in his home.
When he arrived in the living room, he froze. Seated on the couch across from Ibushi and his parents were Kinshiro and two people with white hair like his that Akoya could only assume were his parents.
The woman looked up, her shoulder-blade length hair bounced slightly. It was curled into tight ringlets, and the color reminded him of freshly fallen snow.
The man had a clean-cut haircut and a pencil thin mustache. His hair was the same silvery-white that his son had. Unlike Kinshiro, however, his eyes were a brilliant ice blue. Another quick glance at the woman told Akoya that Kinshiro had inherited her olive green eyes.
"Akoya Gero?" The man asked, standing and holding out his hand to shake. "I'm Kazuhiro Kusatsu. Kinshiro's father."
"Hello, sir."
"And this is my wife, Shinju," he added immediately, gesturing to the woman beside him.
"Hello," she said sweetly.
"Hello, ma'am."
"So polite," she smiled at him. "I can see why Kinshiro and Ibushi enjoy his company so much."
"To be fair, I'm less formal with them, ma'am," Akoya mumbled, looking away.
"Oh, of course," Shinju grinned. "But I appreciate a man that is polite to everyone at the first meeting."
"Thank you, ma'am." Akoya looked up again, giving her a small grin.
"Come sit down, honey," Arisu smiled sweetly, gesturing to an armchair. "We're just having a conversation about you."
Immediately Akoya was on guard, eyeing them uncertainly. "What?"
"We're talking about how best both of our families can help you," Shinju explained happily. "When Kazuhiro and I heard about what your mother did from Kinshiro, we wanted to help you out too. Kin is very fond of you, after all."
Both Ibushi and Akoya glanced at Kinshiro. Ibushi was smirking slightly, while Akoya had an expression that was a mix of pleased grin and surprise.
Kinshiro looked up, saw them, and shot them both a glare, making their grins wider.
Akoya glanced up and the adults began talking again. It soon became clear just what the two different families were willing to do for Akoya.
Both were talking about adding money to his bank account. They were also talking about paying for his schooling, and both of them were discussing Akoya having a room in their homes. He could feel his eyes widening at each new suggestion.
"Excuse me," he finally cut in. "Why are you all doing this for me?"
"Easy," Shinju said happily. "You're the jewel tossed aside for no reason. Let's say girls are diamonds and boys are sapphires. Not everyone realizes jewels can be many colors. Your mother had a sapphire that she thought was a diamond, and she loved it for what she thought it was. But when she found out it wasn't a diamond but a sapphire, she threw it away because she didn't realize it had value as well. She thought diamonds would make her look better, but why couldn't a sapphire do the same? If she had really loved you to begin with, being a sapphire wouldn't have caused this reaction. But she loved you for the reputation she felt you helped her establish and maintain, not for yourself."
Akoya stared. He had never heard an explanation like that before, but he loved it. It was perfect for him.
"You're friends with our sons," Masahiro added, grinning. "You deserve to be happy. Right, Kazu?"
Kazuhiro nodded. "Of course. A friend of Kinshiro's is a friend that I would willingly help with almost anything."
Akoya smiled. "Thank you. To all of you."
Ibushi grinned. "Looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other, Akoya!"
"Yeah, it does," he replied, giving the other boy a nervous grin.
"At least we all get along fine," Kinshiro muttered as though he didn't care. "I'd hate to have someone I couldn't stand living in my house."
"You're a good friend too, Kin," Akoya smiled, understanding the subtle way Kinshiro had just called him a close friend.
Akoya couldn't help feeling pleased. True, last night he had lost his family, but today he had gained a better one. In his mind, the exchange was more than fair.