the biggest 'ok hear me out' yet (what if Shiro ran a daycare?)

Adam. This is my Family. Everything's Extreme.

TW: Manipulation, Military Trauma Mentions, Insensitive Family Members, Racism

"So let me get this straight," Adam said as I parked in the parking lot of the store. "You need me to pretend to be your boyfriend at a family gathering because your mom told you to?"

"Precisely, Adam. Now, come on, they're gonna kill you if you show up like that." I said. Adam raised an eyebrow. "Not that it's bad-- I-- I like it," I added hastily. "It's just that they won't." I practically dragged him into the store.

"Okay... we're looking for literally anything with the American flag on it. It's only for a couple of hours, I promise, and I don't like it either. But you'll see why it's a good idea. I already feel bad for the poor souls who choose not to." I explained, making my way down the aisles. "Takashi--" He started, but I stopped him.

"And we're leaving before dark, so don't worry about that. Someone will try and stop us, but just keep going. I already informed my mother that we wouldn't be staying for the fireworks." I went down to the next aisle, Adam following me. "Takashi--" He tried again, but I interrupted him.

"Just keep your head low. Don't speak unless spoken to. If anyone asks you like women as well as men-- trust me, it will get you a lot farther-- do not bring up politics at all. If someone starts just smile and nod." I grabbed something off a rack. "Does this work?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure, just, Takashi--" Before Adam finished speaking, I handed him the random shirt and continued to speak.

"Great Aunt Mary is going to end up bringing some kind of pie. Do not touch it. If the kids ask you to play cornhole, you play cornhole. You don't want to know what happens if you don't. Steer clear of Robert if you want to still keep your inner child-- trust me, I learned the hard way. He loves to talk about things nobody wants to hear." I walked to the checkout line.

"Takashi, Takashi, slow down," Adam said, "Why do you care so much about what they think, anyway?" He asked. "Because, Adam, they're my very problematic overly-patriotic family. Of course, I'm going to care. It's borderline already that I'm even taking you, but my mother already decided that I was." I said.

I paid for the shirt and passed the plastic bag to Adam, walking back to the car. "But isn't this just a tad extreme?" He asked. I laughed starkly. "Adam. This is my family. Everything's extreme."

***

The second we got out of the car, my mother rushed over to greet us. "Takashi, it's been so long since I've seen you!" She exclaimed, giving me one of the tightest hugs I'd ever gotten. I could barely breathe. "Careful-- Mom-- Mom-- you're going to kill me." I managed to get out. She pulled away.

I looked around. It wasn't anything special. It was a pavilion out in the countryside with a lot of picnic tables set up. The kids were playing cornhole next to the pavilion. Food was set up on what seemed to be half of the table, and fireworks were set a bit away.

"So, you must be Takashi's boyfriend." Mom said, turning to Adam. He nodded and introduced himself. She clapped excitedly. "Why don't we introduce you to everyone else? We'll start with my siblings, come on." Adam glanced at me nervously.

I grabbed his arm gently. "Actually, Mom, I was thinking we could do that later. I kind of want to spend a bit of time with him." I said. She frowned. "Takashi, would you really take something like this away from your own mother?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "Well, it's not like that. You'll get to-- just, later." She shook her head, "No, it's okay. I understand you don't want to be around me." She said. I broke. "Okay, okay. Let's see how everyone's doing." I said. She grinned.