夢と始まるわ。。。

It Starts With a Dream...

＊＊＊＊＊

"Aand...Peek-a-boo!"

The sky that day was clear and sunny. Like every day up to that point, I was with my papa while Komaru-nee-chan was at school.

Papa used his hands to make my own hands cover my eyes. I haven't figured out how to actually do it myself yet, let alone keep them there.

"Huh? Oh no, where's Makoto?" He gasped, but his voice was playful and light.

"There he-"

There was a loud bang just as papa removed his hands. And then papa was falling sideways, and there was blood coming out of his head. I screamed and cried. What was happening? Why was papa sleeping all of a sudden? He'd never just fallen asleep while playing with me!

I don't know how long I was crying, but suddenly, warm arms were holding me. They felt like papa's, and the voice coming with them made me feel safe.

I fell asleep.

＊＊＊＊＊

It was around nine forty in the morning when officer Hinata Hajime got the call.

A concerned neighbor had heard screaming coming from the Naegi house- which wouldn't have been so unusual considering they had an infant son, except for the fact that it'd been going on for about twenty five minutes, and ordinarily it would stop after five, at most.

With a shrug, Hajime passed the phone to his coworker Nanami and prepared to leave for the Naegi residence. While Hajime wasn't experienced enough to send out anyone, the chief of his branch, a strict and even-tempered woman by the name of Ikusaba Mukuro, had already said he could go solo on smaller or personal cases: the latter of which he felt applied here. His husband's family had been very close to the Naegis.

"Tell Ikusaba-san I'm taking the Naegi case," he politely requested of Nanami as he turned the doorknob.

"Hai," she said, putting her hand over the receiver before removing it and returning to talking to the caller.

Hajime left then, his steps brisk.

＊＊＊＊＊

The Naegi home was a small one, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. There was a small garage attached, and a washer and dryer for laundry inside that, but that wasn't his concern. The walls were thin, and even with the front door closed, he could hear the wailing of a baby boy.

It was exactly nine fifty six a.m.

Hajime followed the sound of crying until he came to one of the bedrooms. There was a large bed, and beside that, a sturdy crib.

The baby- Makoto, according to Nagito- was on the bed, kicking and screaming. He was red in the face and his eyes were shut tight, and he was covered in snot and...blood?

Hajime went around and got a closer look, and saw the body of a man, crumpled to the floor. There was a hole in the side of his head, but no gun in sight. A murder.

And by the looks of things, the son had seen the whole thing.

The boy stilled as Hajime turned and picked him up. Pale green eyes peered up at him, and Hajime was reminded of Nagito.

Without even realizing it, Hajime began rubbing Makoto's back, only stopping when he felt the weight of his head against his shoulder and realized he was asleep.

It was strange just how comfortable this felt- how right this felt- but there wasn't time to dwell on it yet. For now...for now...what would be the best course of action?

He could wait for the other residents to come home. But he wasn't sure when that would be, and he didn't trust himself to be able to handle a baby all on his own.

What to do...

Well, what would Nagito do?

Wait.

Nagito said his family was close to the Naegis. Maybe he'd be able to help, then?

He was technically on the clock, but...Ikusaba would let this slide. She often did, for children.

Adjusting his hold on baby Makoto, Hajime sat on the bed and pulled out his phone. He had his husband on speed dial.

"Moshi-Moshi! Hinata residence!"

"Nagito."

"Ah! Hajime! What's wrong? Aren't you working?"

"Yes, I am, but this is important. Nagi, how soon can you get to the Naegi house?"

"Mmm...fifteen minutes, at most. Why?"

Hajime debated on how much he should tell him.

"There's been...an incident, and for now, I need your help to deal with the son- at least until the mother comes home."

There was a moment of silence as Nagito processed his words.

"...I'll be there soon," he eventually said.

Hajime nodded before realizing Nagito wouldn't see it.

"Okay. Be safe."

"You know I will. I love you, Haji."

"Yeah. I love you too, Nagi."

He hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket. Makoto stirred as the movement forced him to tighten his grip on the kid just a little. But he didn't wake up.

It wasn't long before Hajime heard a car pull up into the driveway- hardly more than five minutes.

"Hajime? Where are you?"

Damn it- he'd forgotten to shut the front door.

"In here Nagito," he stated, exiting the bedroom while still carrying Makoto. The boy was just waking up now, green eyes still half-closed. He yawned, revealing tiny teeth with a few gaps in between them.

Nagito caught sight of him and opened his mouth to speak, but Hajime put up a hand to silence him.

"A concerned neighbor heard crying going on for longer than it should've, and requested us to check it out. Given the location and the fact that it seemed like a minor thing, I went here by myself to check it out," he started to explain, taking a seat on the couch and gesturing for Nagito to sit beside him.

The pale man sat to his left, so Makoto was closer to him.

"So then, was this place...?"

"It was like this when I got here. This little guy was on the bed in the master bedroom, and his father's corpse was on the floor beside him. Shot in the head, apparently."

"Oh no..."

In a soothing gesture, Nagito idly began combing his fingers through Makoto's thin, soft brown hair.

"Poor thing...but what about his sister?"

"His sister?"

"Mm. He has an older sister named Komaru. She's probably still at school now, but she knows who I am and recognizes me, if you want me to pick her up...?"

Hajime smiled gratefully, and that was all Nagito needed.

"I'll be back soon."

"Yeah. Be safe."

"I will."

＊＊＊＊＊

When Komaru was called to the front office of Towa elementary school, she wasn't expecting to see her father's cousin there, and she certainly wasn't expecting him to say that she needed to come home.

He opened the door to the back seat and made sure she was safely strapped in before he closed it and buckled himself in. He started driving, and once they were a few minutes away from the school, she dared to ask him what was going on.

"I don't know the full story, Komaru-chan," he began, " but...there was an incident today, regarding your father."

"Father? Is- is he okay?" A sense of dread pooled in her stomach, " What about Makoto? He's okay, right?"

"Mako-chan is fine, but..." he shook his head.

"I think it'd be best if Hajime told you."

"Hajime-kun? But Nagito-kun, why are we going to see him?"

Wasn't he a police officer? That bad feeling was getting worse.

Nagito stopped the car in front of her house and shut it off. Komaru exited the vehicle and dashed inside while Nagito followed at a slower pace.

In the living room, Makoto was in the lap of a man she didn't recognize, a man with cool eyes and somewhat messy dark hair. She assumed this was "Hajime".

"We're back," Nagito announced.

Makoto's head swiveled towards the sound of his voice, only for his eyes to land on Komaru.

"Oma-nee!" He climbed out of Hajime's lap and down off the couch then began toddling towards her. His onesie- black on the left and white on the right, with a red bear on the stomach- had light splatters of blood on it that'd dried out a while ago.

She picked him up and cradled him in her arms.

"Sir...what...what happened?"

Hajime wracked his brain for the best way to explain the situation. If Komaru had been an adult, he'd have been blunt, but she was only in her second year of primary school, and he didn't want to be too blunt with a grade school student.

But it didn't look like he'd have to.

Makoto tugged on a lock of Komaru's dark brown hair.

"Oma-nee...Oma-nee, papa nap. Papa nap- bang!" His words were easy to understand, and his voice was scared- so very, very scared, and Komaru didn't want to hear that. She wanted to erase her precious little brother's fears, wanted to believe he was lying, but he was Makoto, and Makoto didn't even get the concept of joking, let alone lying. So she forced herself to face the uniformed officer on the couch, who was staring at them with a somber face.

"...Papa's dead."

"...Yes. I'm afraid he is. I called the coroner before you got back and," he addressed Nagito now, "Ikusaba-san has given us permission to let these two stay with us, at least until the will of Naegi-san is read, or until they are entered into the foster system- whichever comes first. She said it's because your families are technically related, but not quite close enough for you to gain automatic guardianship without it being stated in the will of the deceased." His voice was grim and serious, as per the circumstances.

Nagito tried to lighten up the situation.

"Well...just think of it this way, Komaru-chan: you get to stay with your favorite cousin once removed!"

Hajime gave him a blank look, as if to say, "Really?", but Komaru appreciated the attempt.

"Yeah...I guess..."

But her mind was still trying to process things. She wanted to believe it was just some sick, twisted joke, but she knew already that it wasn't. Hajime sighed and stood up, his knees popping with a crack.

"Well, let's go then."

He grabbed a carrier that'd been beside him- he must've gotten it from the family car after calling "Ikusaba-san", Komaru assumed- and gestured for Komaru and Nagito to follow him. He got the carrier strapped into the back seat of Nagito's car and then stepped aside so Komaru could buckle her baby brother in. Once that was done, she sat down beside him and buckled herself in.

Hajime hopped into the driver's seat, leaving Nagito to take the passenger's seat, and drove off- fortunately, much less reckless than Nagito had been.

And that was the start of their new lives.