OBJECTION!

Shuichi repeated the words of the famous Phoenix Wright as he held onto purple 3DS, his back resting comfortably on his bed in a nest of pillows and blankets. Several empty bags of chips and boxes of juice laid carelessly on the bed. Shuichi promised himself he'd take care of it later. The pleasant late summer sun outside his open window warmed the boy as he read the handheld consoles screen with utmost attention. He is eager to see the end of this particularly tough case once and for all. He hadn't spent the last five hours transfixed on this game to be outwitted now.

As Shuichi selected the piece of evidence he knew would close the book on the case his mind wandered away from the cut-throat courtroom drama and to his world around him. Outside the confines of his room the house remained surprisingly quiet. Every once in a while the perpetually sleepy voice of Nanami would echo out from her gaming den across the hall, deep in her scheduled live stream. From the kitchen downstairs Komaeda could be heard starting dinner as he prepared all the ingredients he needed to make salmon tonight.

On any other day Shuichi would be playing a game or just watch his foster mother play while he laid on the futon in the den. Sometimes he'd help Komaeda prepare dinner if video games couldn't keep his attention. Help meaning the stickily man did all the work while Shuichi would measure out the ingredients or just play observer. Most days though, Shuichi would be hogging the couch in the living room, reading a book while Hinata did work on his laptop or watched TV. Hinata always asked him about whatever novel he was currently reading, and listened closely to the long winded recap that would follow. Shuichi was still getting used to having parents around, the physical presence and peace of mind they brought to him after entering this world without it being something he longed for.

Today wasn't a normal day however. Hinata's client had decided to come over today with little warning, his client being the ever beautiful and terrifying Junko Enoshima. Shuichi shuddered as he feared for Hinata's general well-being as he and Junko remained down in the basement in his office in the library.

Hajime hadn't planned on working for the chaotic girl after he graduated college. He also hasn't planned for what to do if he struggled to find a job either. When Junko offered him a position to be her manager he thought she was pulling another one of her unfunny pranks, but he reluctantly agreed. The thought of it being a prank died when he received his first check from her two weeks later, the five digit paycheck being too good to be true. That was about four years ago, and while acting less like a manager and more like an assistant by planning the model's every public appearance the pay made the fact he was on hand for Junko Enoshima at any given moment almost worth it. One of the drawbacks in working for Enoshima meant unexpected visits to his house whenever she damn well pleased, today being one such day. The first such visit since Hajime and the rest of his triad took Shuichi into their home.

At first Shuichi had thought Hinata worked as a nanny after Komaeda bitterly revealed to him at breakfast that "the girl he's babysitting is coming over today". Unfortunately the sarcasm that dripped from Komaeda's tongue was lost on Shuichi. An hour later when he saw no other child and instead a woman in a leopard skin jacket and menacing aura sitting on their couch between Hinata and Komaeda, Shuichi was justifiably confused.

"Where's the girl you're babysitting?" Shuichi innocently asked.

Komaeda covered his mouth with his hand, holding in a nervous laugh.

"The girl I'm babysitting?" Hinata repeated to himself, looking between his nervous boyfriend and baffled client quickly piecing the puzzle together. Hinata made no effort to stifle his laugh, much to the chagrin of the bombastic blond.

Junko growled as she flashed hatred in her eyes at the chuckling men. "Ohhhhh, you're so funny Nagi-hoe" Junko snarked before turning back to Shuichi. She plastered her goto sugar coated grin, walking over to him like a snake hunting a mouse.

"You must be little Shuichi." Junko sang as she crouched down to meet eyes with him, a sense of unease settling into the poor boy as he froze in place. She extended her hand out to him, Shuichi staring at her perfectly manicured hand before reluctantly grabbing her fingers for an improper handshake. "Junko Enoshima's the name and I gotta say you're like even cuter in person!" Junko uncharacteristically cooed as she pinched Shuichi's cheek.

"I'm glad you're here, cause I have a present for you!" Junko exclaimed as she let go and stood up, walking to the front door where she left her large designer bag. Shuichi had a feeling in his stomach he wasn't going to like whatever present he was about to receive.

She returned holding a creepy teddy bear that stared into Shuichi's soul with it's beady black eye, complemented with white fur on its left side. The right half had black fur with some sort of sideways lightning bolt shaped red eye. The dolls' contrasting eyes reminded Shuichi of Hinata's heterochromia. She covered her face with the strange bear as she approached him again. Shuichi looked back at his guardians, who both sat on the couch watching what Junko was doing with both amusement and concern, ready to jump in at any moment.

"Puhuhuhu" Junko laughed with a hint of malice in her voice. The model popped her head from behind the doll, grinning wildly as she handed the bear over to him. "Here you go Shuichi!" He cautiously grabbed the doll from Junko despite having zero desire to ever play with the bear as it stared at him with it's wicked smirk.

"Isn't Monokuma just the cutest? I can't fall asleep without him in my clutches. All my friends kids just love him!" Junko sounded too eager for comfort right now. Did other children truly appreciate such a disturbing doll? Shuichi knew he certainly didn't.

"Make sure you take extra good care of him." Junko pleaded in what came across as a thinly veiled threat, winking at the now shaking child.

"Are you done scaring the kid yet?" Hinata's annoyed voice called out as he walked over to Shuichi, seeing how close the situation was to getting out of hand. Junko pressed her finger to her chin as she thought of an answer.

"Hmmm, almost" She replied before she growled at Shuichi and suddenly lunged at him. She didn't actually touch him but the sudden motion was the straw that broke Shuichi enough to loudly yelp as he turned around and escape up the stairs. As he ran to his room the sound of Junko's wild laughter and Hinata cursing at her were quickly muffled as he shut the door to his room. Shuichi stared back at the Monokuma doll, disgust building in his belly as he threw it into his closet without a second thought.

—

Shuichi didn't resent Junko at all despite her poor first impression on him. She still scared him worse than any horror movie Komaeda would watch, make no mistake on that either. Even without any hard feelings towards the supermodel Shuichi breathed easy once he heard her go down to the basement, where she and Hinata have stayed since. Shuichi retained focus back to his Ace Attorney game as the judge declared Phoenix's client not guilty. He cheered softly to himself despite missing a lot of details at the end, relieved that he managed to beat the remaining trials he had in one sitting. Shuichi hoped Nanami would be proud, having beat the game without the help of any of the guides she offered him. He could easily start the next game in the series seeing as Nanami already owned them all but he lacked the ability to get fully enveloped in video gaming as easily as his foster mother. He craved variety in mental stimulation.

As the game's end credits rolled on screen, Shuichi remembered his promise to himself and collected his garbage before Komaeda saw it. Shuichi nearly filled his waste bin besides his desk, taking a fruitless desperation sip out of one of the juice boxes before tossing it in disappointment.

Shuichi found himself weighing the pros and cons of his next course of action. He could choose to stay put in his room until dinner's ready, and risk feeling further dehydration for who knows how long. The other option entailed risking bumping into Junko as he went downstairs for more juice. As he smacked his drying lips he took his chips and decided to gamble, slowly opening his door as quiet as he could. Shuichi tiptoed out to the hallway and checked the doors to his right. The door at the end of the hall leading to the attic remained closed, while both Chiaki's den and the bathroom across from it were wide open. He peeked past the stairs and saw the door leading to the master bedroom was open but bore no life as it was noticeably empty and dark.

Slowly creeping towards the stairs to the railing that overlooked the living room, Shuichi peaked past the corner and saw the couch empty and TV off. He didn't want to risk the possibility of Hinata and Junko having moved their meeting back upstairs. Seeing as the coast was now clear, Shuichi nearly slid down the stairs as he hugged the wall of the winding stair case. Once at the base of the stairs, he peaked to his right over to the wide open basement door at the end of the hall, across from the entryway to the kitchen. Shuichi crept to the kitchen, listening in on the off chance he hears people coming up the creaky old stairs that lead down to the basement. The sounds of Komaeda making dinner made listening in difficult, but not impossible.

Komaeda was too busy chopping onions at the counter to notice his foster son enter the kitchen, the strong odor hitting Shuichi's nostrils in a tear inducing wall. Quickly covering his nose with his shirt, Shuichi saw Komaeda with the kitchen knife and knew not to sneak up on him now. Shuichi walked over to the fridge to his left, his eyes darting to the boxes of apple juice on the lowest shelf as his hand met his vision and took only one. Beverage in hand, Shuichi slowly shut the door at a snail's pace. Despite his every attempt to be as ghostly quiet as possible, Shuichi only made it two steps before hearing the voice of Komaeda.

"Can't you see I'm making dinner right now?" Komaeda venomously barked. Shuichi's blood ran cold as he tried to defend his actions.

"I-I'm sorry I only took a juice box." Shuichi meekly pleaded. Komaeda snapped his head back, surprised to even see Shuichi in the first place. His once stern demeanor faded as he placed the knife on the counter and approached the boy.

"Ah, I'm for snapping at you Shuichi." Komaeda calmly apologized "I'm a little on edge right now but it's not your fault." He explained, guilty about his abnormally quick temper being lashed out at the one person in this house who didn't deserve it. "You can keep juice." Shuichi held on the box, a faint feeling of triumph swelling inside him.

"It's okay Komaeda." Shuichi could tell by the lack of his usual calmness that he was in a bad mood, a level of irritability normally associated with his other foster father. Komaeda flashed a brief grin as he ruffled Shuichi's hair before walking over to the sink. As he washed his hands he remembered to let Shuichi know what annoyed him in the first place.

"Junko is joining us for dinner tonight." Komaeda didn't realize he was scrubbing himself harder as he thought about her. As naturally interesting as she may be, Komaeda had no idea how his boyfriend was able to spend as much time around her as he did. He knew Hajime had saintly patience but Hajime had a habit of exceeding his expectations. Komaeda was still peeved that Junko nearly made Shuichi cry earlier. If he had it his way she would have been thrown out then and there.

Internally Shuichi was crying out at this unfavorable twist of fate. Temptation struck as he immediately thought about asking if he could eat dinner in his room. He already knew that Komaeda would say no, but still there must be something he could do to avoid facing Enoshima again. Shuichi's inner monologue escaped his body as a single sigh, one that was met with empathy from Komaeda.

"I feel you there buddy. Junko can be hard to handle… but she won't bite." Komaeda said in an attempt to comfort Shuichi. The boy had a hard time believing him fully but he got the idea that he couldn't get out of this. All he could do was stay near any one of his guardians and hope Junko left him alone. Shuichi had his juice box, taking a few sweet sips that quickly offered the boy the refreshment he needed in the first place. He decided he should hurry back up to his room to prepare himself for dinner time. As his body began to retrace its steps back upstairs the loud creaking of steps from the basement acted as an alarm that Enoshima was drawing near. Shuichi began to panic, having not planned on what to do in this exact situation. He ran into the hallway and could tell that their steps were already near the top of the stairs.

Shuichi considers himself a smart kid. Even the smartest of people freak out in the face of fear, the adrenaline rush often acting as a cloud to rational thought. He could have run all the way up the second floor stairs and made it to his room without being seen by anyone, he knew that. Instead he ran to the door at the other end of the hallway, and hid himself in the coat closet. As he closed the door behind him the distinct voice of Enoshima could be heard calling down to her manager who was close behind her.

"Dealing with those fucking leeches at TMZ makes my blood boil."

"Mine too, but you didn't have to grab that guy's phone and throw it into the sewer, Junko."

"He had NO right asking about my daughter like that. That lowlife creep was lucky I didn't shove that phone down his throat like I wanted to."

Hajime honestly understood where she was coming from now that he's been taking care of Shuichi. He had no idea how he would handle strangers asking him about his personal life as if it should be public knowledge. That still doesn't make assaulting the paparazzi legal but he knew Junko didn't care.

"I need a cigarette after all that bullshit" she groaned, realizing she left her Parliament's in her jacket in the closet.

Inside the closet, Shuichi's heartbeat only increased as footsteps approached him. He slithered his way behind all the coats that hung on hangers on the rack. As he gripped the two coats that covered him he noticed one of them was fuzzy and soft to the touch. Despite the lack of light at the moment a close inspection revealed that this was some sort of animal fur coat. It was almost like the coat Junko was wearing. Oh no.

Suddenly, the door flung wide open, a hand going straight for the pockets of the leopard skin jacket that was only mere inches away from Shuichi's face. From the side of his vision Shuichi could see the disinterested face of the one person he was avoiding. She had no idea he was there. That is, until she turned her head ten degrees to her left and saw the small form of a child hiding behind the coats. While Junko Enoshima was a master at masking her emotions, she surprised herself in screaming in genuine fear as she jumped away from the closet. Hinata ran over to whatever freaked Enoshima out in the closet, his fight or flight instinct cooling off the second he saw his sheepish foster son awkwardly standing behind his winter coat and Junko's ugly fur jacket. Shuichi looked up at him and smiled shyly before taking another sip of juice. An uncontrollable grin formed on Hinata's face.

"What are you doing?" Hajime asked before he gave in to his laughter.

"Yeah, what WERE you doing in there you little demon?" Junko demanded, fuming hard enough for steam to be blowing out of her ears. Hajime's laugh fueling her fires of rage.

"I call it karma from earlier" Hajime responded as he caught his breath. Junko glared back at her manager who's smirk only widened further.

Junko closed her eyes and took a deep breath before relaxing. "I gotta say I'm impressed kid, I haven't been scared like that in a HOT minute. Next time you won't be so lucky and you better remember that."

Junko's hot and cold nature only further rattled Shuichi's nerves, but he knew he had to explain himself quickly.

"I wasn't trying to scare you though, I was getting a juice box and when I heard you coming upstairs I sort of… panicked." Shuichi confessed. Junko raised an eyebrow, disbelief plastered on her face.

"So you decided to hide in the closet?" Hinata pointed out, far too amused at the situation to even consider being upset at his son. He had zero doubt in his mind that Shuichi was telling the truth.

"I uh, didn't think she'd open the door." Shuichi admitted. Hinata burst into a fit of laughter again, cursing himself for not having caught Junko's shrill scream on camera. The memory will be more than enough for him though.

Junko huffed before grabbing her box of cigarettes with her to the back patio, anger burning inside for letting herself get caught off guard by such a wimpy child.

"I didn't think she'd open the door." Junko mocked to herself before taking a long drag of her cigarette. "Yeah right, you little shit."