Kariya closed the door quietly when he came in, but Midorikawa was (predictably) waiting for him, and stood up from his seat in the living room when he saw the door open.
"Was there extra practice today? Why are you so late?", he asked anxiously, tilting his head in the direction of the clock-it was 5:30pm. 4:30 was when practice usually ended.
"Er, yeah, it was extra practice-", Kariya began, edging his way to the stairs, holding his arm in a strange position. He paused when a voice floated over from the end of the corridor:
"Then why didn't Endou call us like he usually does?", Kiyama Hiroto stepped forward into view, holding up his phone. He sighed and put the device into his pocket before stepping forward to face the boy, and block his path to the stairs.
Kariya looked from one adult to the other fearfully, not knowing what was about to happen-these two may have adopted him a week ago, but would they be ready to give up on him already?Just like his actual family-?
"Kariya", Hiroto said quietly. To the younger boy's surprise, he kneeled down so that they could see eye-to-eye, and continued,"I need you to tell the truth. Please, now that we're a family-I need you to tell me what happened to your arm."
Kariya winced-so it was that obvious. He reluctantly held it out for both adults to see: Midorikawa immediately hurried off to the bathroom for the disinfectant and a bandage. The entire left forearm was somewhat swollen, and purple with bruises. Hiroto stayed, not taking his eyes off of Kariya. Not even when he winced as Midorikawa put disinfectant on the wounds, and wrapped it up.
"What happened? Did you fall during practice, or on your way back?", the man asked, closing the bottle of disinfectant.
"…It was nothing", he began, only to be stopped when the green-haired man in front of him held his chin in one hand, and tilted the boy's head up to face him.
"That's the same kind of 'It's nothing' I've given on some of the worst days of my life", he stayed, quietly.
"I know its not easy to trust people again after what they've done. We both know. So its alright if you don't want to tell us right now, but you do need to tell us", he concluded, beginning to go back with the medical supplies. Hiroto gave them both a sad look, then stood up, and began to walk back to the living room.
"….It was this bully at school", came a small voice from behind them. Both men stopped and turned to see their foster child.
"He…he said you weren't my real parents, and that my real parents didn't want me, because I was a freak", he admitted, looking down, not daring to see how they would react: he was actually admitting to being bothered by someone else's words-he hadn't felt this weak since his first day at the sun garden, when the shock of losing his family, his world, was still fresh in his mind.
So it was a fair shock when he felt sudden warmth from either side of his body-Hiroto and Midorikawa were now both holding onto the boy from either side. His first instinct was to squirm out somehow-he had never liked being close to people-but this was different. This was sincere, close…and for a small, hopeful part of his heart, it felt real.
He hugged them back, and took comfort in the now-somewhat-familiar scent of green tea, caramel and mint.
"So what did you do?", Hiroto asked absently, closing his eyes.
"Oh, I kicked him in the knee", Kariya remarked offhandedly,"Then he threw a rock at my arm."
Still in the same position, Midorikawa and Hiroto's eyes flew open.
"…You did wha-?", Midorikawa began, in the most stern voice he could muster, only to be interrupted by Hiroto's laughter.
"I don't think I've ever been this proud of someone, ever", he grinned, much to Midorikawa's dismay.
"He looked so mad!", Kariya chuckled. Hiroto gave humans extra pat on the back, then unfolded himself from the hug, Midorikawa following his lead, and remaining croutched down.
"Never be afraid to talk to us, alright?", Hiroto told him, with a warm grin.
"We won't let you go", Midorikawa added, standing and offering Karita a hand up too. "You aren't getting rid of us QUITE that easily."
Smiling now, Kariya stood up with his fathers, and trotted to the living room with them, where Hiroto immediately called for some pizza, Midorikawa lowered the volume of the TV, and watched over Kariya as he opened up his homework for the day.
Just an ordinary, peaceful day.
One that would forever stay in Kariya's mind as the day he found a second family.