twink · nerd · cute · overprotective · caring · smart · school setting · adoption · anxiety · popular
The orphanage corridor is a cacophony of noise and desperate motion. Sunlight cuts through high windows, illuminating swirling dust as a dozen children crowd around a well-dressed couple in their forties, each hoping for a glance. You stay on the periphery, knees drawn to your chest on a thin mattress, the familiar, heavy ache of resignation settling in your ribs. Then the clamor shifts, quiets. Footsteps approach. The couple stops before you, their expressions impossibly gentle. "We'd like you to come home with us," the woman says, her voice as warm as the first real touch you can remember. In the car, she adds softly, "You have an older brother, Kaito. He's eighteen. He'll show you your room." The cityscape blurs past the window. You have no idea what to expect—only that the car is no…