A/N: This one is a stand-alone one-shot where Hajime is the parent of wolf children Chiaki and Nagito. Also first names used because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

"Papa!"

"Hmm?" Hajime groaned and blearily opened his eyes to see the muzzles of two wolves leering over him. Most people might've jumped, screamed or gone back to sleep since they were sure they were dreaming – but Hajime and his children weren't normal in any sense. The brunette man pushed himself into a sitting position and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Isaumdingamatta?" he slurred.

The wolves gave a yelp and fidgeted, the one with a pinkish tone to her fur twitching abnormally for her. "Outside! Outside!" she snorted and leapt with her brother, claws clicking on the floor.

"You guys know I tell you not to be wolves inside… hng?" their father rose to his feet and peered outside, seeing the yard and the surrounding forest covered in a pretty layer of snow. "Ah… it's snowing."

"Snow?" Nagito shuffled closer to his father, almost cat like as he leaned up against his leg. "It's everywhere…"

Hajime grinned and bent down to pick up the two wolf cubs, helping them get a better view of the icy wonderland. He had to hold in a grunt as he picked them up – they were soon going to be too heavy for him to hold like this. "This is our first winter up here, isn't it? We didn't get any snow in the city, the pollution melted it all, so this'll be your first time seeing it."

"It's pretty… I think." Chiaki murmured, holding still as her silken ears twitched, listening to the steady heartbeat drumming close by. She snuggled close, shivering in the slight cold, her puppy fur not quite strong enough to battle the temperatures yet.

"Let's go take a walk to have a look around after breakfast – everything is truly different when covered in snow." Hajime them hauled the children back to their rooms, dropping them off to get dressed while he began preparing the meal.

He listened to the quiet pitter patter of human feet as the two shapeshifters returned, sitting at the table while staring thoughtfully out the window. The brunette glanced out as well, onto the Jabberwocky Mountains and the valley encased by it.

"Do you think Mama would've liked the snow?"

Hajime twisted his head around to see the pinkish hair* of Nagito staring at the small household shrine, a lone picture of their mother smiling beauteously at them while surrounded by incense. The widower gave a slow sigh and dished up the food onto a plate. "I'm sure she would've loved it."

As Hajime set the food down, he was immediately broken out of his melancholy by the sudden swipe of paws. "Chi!" he yelped, frowning at the pup as she tried to take some food while in her wolf form. "What've said?"

The wolf shifted back into a girl with a shake of her head and she puffed out her baby fat cheeks. "No paws at the table…" she pouted.

"That's right." Hajime sighed and gave a gentle pat on her head. It was hard to stay mad at his daughter when she looked so grumpy and scrunched her little face up. He swiped the unbrushed strands out of her face and gave a tired chuckle – being a sole parent was far from an easy matter. "I know you have difficulty focusing on a form, but you have to master it before you two go to school."

"Do I have to? I'd rather stay at home and play with Nagito…" Chiaki grumbled and she chased around a morsel of food with her fork, eyes focusing dully on it.

"Nagito is going to school the very next year."

"Then I'll play with you!"

"I have work and will be gone for most of the day."

Hajime chuckled as he watched the she-wolf pup play with her food while her brother silently watched her display with amusement. It was difficult to take Chiaki seriously with how cute she was, even when she at her grumpiest. Their father ruffled her hair and she gave him the stink eye, but relaxed when she saw how amused he looked. "You can find a lot of people to play with at school."

"Other people…" she finally took a bite out of toast and chewed thoughtfully. "Will… will they not want to play with me if I'm a wolf?" her hand came to rest at the table and the widower could see it shifting it in between the curved nails of a human and the point of wolf claws.

"Papa, why are people afraid of wolves?" Nagito hummed, already halfway through his food. His grey-green eyes were watching his father carefully, his usual almost creepy-cheerfulness severely muted.

Hajime sighed and set his utensils down, unsure how to proceed. "You're… you're not like the wolves that people are afraid of. You're part wolf and part human, and not everyone can understand and accept that. People like other people, but they're scared of wolves because they represent the unknown." Maybe the kids were a bit young for such an abstract concept, but it was the best way he could explain it.

"The unknown…" the two young shapeshifters both muttered and began to quietly eat their food.

After finishing and cleaning up, the two children scrambled back to their rooms to pull on their winter gear while Hajime shrugged on his heavy long coat. He was pulling on his boots when his arms were pushed to the side to accommodate two canine bodies curling next to him. Hajime raised an eyebrow and a small smile quirked his lips. "You're both going as wolves?"

His two cubs yipped and Chiaki twitched while she tried to fix her cream scarf. Their father chuckled and tied it more comfortably around her furry neck, receiving an appreciative link in gratitude. He stepped unsteadily in his heavy boots and opened the sliding door, glancing around outside to check for danger. He hummed in relief when he saw it was clear and slid the door fully open for the two wolf cubs.

He stepped out, leaving heavy prints in the icy powder and the two red-toned wolves carefully placed their paws in his massive footprints. Chiaki sniffed and wagged her tail, letting loose a small whimper of surprise when feeling the cold on her bare paws, whilst Nagito quickly slinked over to rub close against the heavy wool of his father's pant leg, rumbling something similar to a cat's purr. Hajime gave a puff of amusement and ambled to the path leading up to the mountains, golden eyes still scanning for danger.

Then, with a jolt of surprise, Chiaki yelped and loped past her father, yapping in delight. Before the poor widower could even open his mouth to call her back, Nagito had pricked his ears and followed suit, his dark green scarf disappearing into the foliage down the path. "Oi! Chiaki! Nagito!" Hajime broke into a full on sprint, trying desperately to keep track of their prints and flitting scarves. He conserved his breath from yelling to running, but his ears were filled with the sound of his offspring yipping in unusual excitement. They were so subdued in most situations so to hear them exercising their wolf vocal cords was a tad bit alarming in Hajime's mind.

He broke out into a clearing and was nearly blinded by the brightness of the winter wonderland. The two sibling cubs were rolling and prancing on the white hill, snow mixing with their fur and scarves and voices glitching in between human giggles and wolf barks. They flicked their silky ears and twisted their heads when Hajime staggered through the wild ice to them. They cantered over and sprang into his arms, knocking him over, tongues lolling as they chirped out their delight in the freezing conditions.

"Papa! Papa! Come and roll! The ice is cold!" Chiaki shivered, her coat rippling with the movement and her eyes dancing in excitement.

"Oh?" the man smirked and hugged the two to his chest, rolling around in the thick snow with the two squirming pups.

"Yowl!" Nagito barked, some of the slush making it past his weather-proof coat. He sneezed as a flake fell onto his nose and vigorously shook his head, his family bursting out in laughter.

The pups launched to their feet, demanding their father to play a game of tag with them, tails wagging and looking more like goofy domestic pets than young predators. Hajime tottered to his feet and grinning wolfishly, gave chase.

Soon it evolved to them sprinting up and down the hill, the wolves aided by their naturally wild form while their father ungracefully followed in his heavy snow boots. They would roll and slide down the hill, laughing and playing like they hadn't in a long time.

The two males turned their head at the howl of a she-wolf, seeing Chiaki had dipped her head back and was releasing a wonderful serenade to the heavy grey sky, fur being brushed by the biting winds. Nagito immediately followed, joining in on the chorus, their voices mingling and changing in pitches to imitate a larger pack.** Feeling his own heartbeat pump maddeningly in his chest, Hajime cupped his hands to his mouth and gave his own weak attempt at a howl, joining in with his children.

As the last notes died down, the widower gave a small sad smile. He often wondered if he was doing things right, if he was raising her children the way they should be. But… on days like these, he was sure she would've smiled and thanked him for what he was doing.

A/N: Next up is parent Makoto.

I feel that Hinata would be a super cautious parent in this au, always having one eye looking out for danger. With his mate gone, Nagito sickly and Chiaki easily tired, he'd always be fretting over his cubs.

*Idk if this is entirely true, but everyone seems to reckon that Komaeda had rose-ish coloured hair when he was younger, before he became sick. I put it in since then his hair matches up to Chiaki's hair more, seeing as they're both light pink/red now.

**Wolf packs, small or large, will change their pitch while howling together so other packs won't know how many wolves there are and assume there are more than there really are.