To say that Ennoshita Chikara was nervous would be an understatement. He hadn't the slightest idea how his family would react to his loud, impulsive, brash, intimidating boyfriend, Tanaka Ryūnosuke.

They knew he was dating someone, but they didn't know who it was. They didn't know anything about the person he had been dating for the last three months. They didn't even know it was a boy. A couple of days ago, Ennoshita's parents had extended an invitation to his partner to come over for dinner. They were very eager to "meet and get to know Chika's girlfriend."

•––• •–• • •••– •• ––– ••– ••• •–•• –•––

"At least tell us something about her!" Ennoshita's mother had begged. She was a small, energetic woman. She wore her hair in a fraying updo with lots of loose strands, and she always had a skip in her step no matter how she felt, or what was going on.

She's a guy, he thought, but instead he told her, "they like volleyball," careful not to specify a gender.

"Oh, is she on a team?" his mother asked, once again assuming he was dating a girl.

"Yeah, they're a spiker," he said.

"Tell me more. Tell me something else," his mother asked eagerly. "What's she like?"

"Really..." he searched for a word. Obnoxious, reckless, impulsive, loud? "Enthusiastic. Definitely a high-energy person, and h– they tend to get excited easily." He caught himself before he could say 'he'. His parents didn't know he was gay, and he wasn't quite ready to tell them yet. "They're also really kind and supportive, and always try to make me happy." Ennoshita smiled to himself.

"She sounds wonderful." His mother sighed wistfully. "I want to meet her."

"Well... you see..." Ennoshita struggled to find an excuse for why that couldn't happen.

"Why don't we invite her over?" said his father, a quiet man, with graying hair who had been listening in silence the whole time. "I'd like to meet her too. You've been dating her for, what, three months?"

"Well, yeah, but—" Ennoshita was interrupted again by his mother.

"Excellent!" She jumped up, a huge grin splitting her face. "Invite her next Saturday! You were planning a date then anyway; it'll be perfect!"

"But... I don't think... I mean, I just..." nothing. Ennoshita drew a blank. He couldn't think of a single good reason to turn her down. He supposed it was bound to happen eventually, and he might as well get it over with. "Fine." His mother clapped excitedly.

"I can't wait!" She ran up to her son and gathered him in a tight hug.

•–•• •– – • •–•

And that's how, the following Saturday, Ennoshita found himself pacing the living room floor, waiting for his boyfriend to knock on his door, and meet his parents.

Then he heard the knock on his front door. He didn't even have to look to know it was Tanaka. The loud, fast rapping sound was definitely his wanna-be thug boyfriend. His mother rushed to open the door, but he grabbed her wrist just before she reached it. This was it.

"Mom, before you open the door..." he took a deep breath, gathering his courage. "I'm gay."

He released her wrist, and took a step back, looking away as if expecting a slap. None came. After taking a moment to process, his mother opened the door to reveal a brightly smiling boy with a buzz cut, who looked like he was ready to fight someone at a moment's notice.

"Hello," the boy said. "Mrs. Ennoshita? I'm Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Chikara's boyfriend. I'm happy to meet you."

Ennoshita was pleasantly surprised that Tanaka had toned down his bad-boy aura so much for meeting his parents. He valued that image so much that Ennoshita was, quite frankly, impressed. Though he wasn't sure how long it would last. Especially since his mother still hadn't said anything about Chikara having a boyfriend and not a girlfriend.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you too!" Ennoshita's mother said cheerfully, grinning from ear to ear. "I've been so looking forward to it! Please, come in, dinner's almost ready." She gestured for Tanaka to enter, then headed toward the kitchen. She called to her husband, "Sweetie! Come to the living room and meet Chika's boyfriend!"

"Boyfriend?" Ennoshita heard his father mutter as he walked down the hall. Subconsciously, he held his breath. The older man eyed Tanaka suspiciously. "You takin' care of my boy, baldy?" he asked. "You're not hurting him are you?"

"I would never hurt Chikara!" Tanaka sounded extremely offended by the mere thought. "And who're you callin' baldy? That's rude!" He rubbed his shaved head self-consciously.

"That's fine then." Mr. Ennoshita nodded approvingly, and his son released the breath he'd been holding.

He was absolutely amazed at how well his parents had taken this news, but he suspected that they would be discussing it once Tanaka had left. His parents didn't like to cause a commotion when guests were around, but they weren't the types to just let a subject drop either.

The dinner was absolutely nerve-racking for Ennoshita. He and Tanaka sat beside each other while his parents bombarded Tanaka with questions, eager to learn all they could about him. Their son had given them so little information that it was only natural.

Tanaka handled it well, but Ennoshita could tell he was nervous. He was sure his parents had picked up on it too, but they didn't say anything. They actually seemed to like Tanaka, and by the end of the dinner they were talking and laughing together.

• •••– • –• / •–•• •– – • •–•

It was getting late, and Ennoshita was walking Tanaka to the sidewalk.

"They didn't know, did they?" Tanaka asked quietly as they walked out the front door. Not making eye contact, Ennoshita shook his head, confirming his boyfriend's suspicions. "Didn't think so. I think it'll be alright, though. But good luck." The two reached the end of the driveway, and Tanaka hugged Ennoshita and kissed him on the forehead. "Call me if you need anything. I love you." He whispered.

"Thanks," Ennoshita whispered as he hugged him back tightly before pulling away. "I love you too." Then he watched with mild amusement as Tanaka walked away, slouching, hands in his pockets. Then he turned around and headed back inside where his parents were waiting to talk to him.

They were sitting on the couch, their expressions full of worry, confusion, hurt, and disappointment. Ennoshita swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry—" he started, before his father held up a hand to silence him. He knew in his heart that he had done nothing wrong, but he still felt like he had to apologize. For keeping secrets, for dating a guy, for being a disappointment.

"Did we do something wrong?" his father asked, almost as if he were talking to himself.

"No, Dad," Ennoshita said, tears forming in his eyes. "It's not your fault I'm like this. It's just the way I am. And I can't stop it and I can't change it, but it's not your fault, you didn't do anything wrong."

"I wasn't talking about you being gay." His father scowled. "That's not the problem. What I mean is..."

"Why did you think you couldn't tell us, Chika?" his mother finished, as her own tears flowed down her face. "Did you really think this would change anything? Do you really think we're so shallow that we'd love you less because of something you have no control over?"

"I don't know what I thought," he admitted, as he continued to blink back tears, not wanting to let them fall. "I was just scared. I didn't know how you'd react, and I wasn't sure I could handle it if you..." he trailed off, not wanting to complete the thought. He felt his mother's arms wrap around him, consuming him with warmth.

"We're so sorry if we ever made you feel like you had to hide from us," she said tearily. "And we're sorry for making assumptions and for making you uncomfortable!"

"It's okay, Mom!" he told her, tearing up even more, for a different reason. "Anyone would've assumed, I should've told you sooner."

"None of that, now. It was your right to tell us in your own time, but this doesn't change anything," his father said, as his mom cried into his shoulder. "You're still our son, and we still love you. But don't ever think you have hide things from us again, understand? We're here to support you."

"I understand, I'm sorry." Ennoshita felt his chest swell with joy, he felt like he had just been freed from a huge weight that he'd been carrying around. He hadn't realized just how heavy his fear of rejection had been.

"Good, now why don't you get to bed," his father said with satisfaction. "It's getting late."

He pried his mother off of him, headed to his room. As soon as he got there, he texted Tanaka with the good news, his fingers trembling with excitement.

[I really like this ship, and I think it's really underrated, so here's a one-shot. This was supposed to be way shorter, so oops. 😅 It was also supposed to include more of the actual relationship. Basically this didn't go as planned, so you can probably expect more EnnoTana in the future. Love y'all.

<3 Raaor!]