"… With all that said Makoto, when I said I owed you big time babysitting isn't quite what I had in mind." Hajime Hinata snapped, his head leaning as far back into his seat as allowed as he spoke into his phone.

"Well don't you still work for Junko? It'll be like that but easier." Makoto dryly responded.

"Touche." Hajime chuckled.

"I'm not oblivious to the weight of what I'm asking you, Hajime." Makoto sighed. "I wish we could have him stay with us and have that be the end of this…"

"But when it rains, it floods." Hajime hummed. "Look I'm flattered that I'm number one on your shortlist for this. It's assuring that you have that level of trust in me. But you keep dodging the question when I ask how long you think your nephew would be staying with us."

Makoto stayed eerily silent. "We… We can discuss that later. If you know for sure you want to do this."

"Let me talk to the mister and misses first before we move any further with this." Hajime sighed.

"O-of course man! Take as much time as you need to sort out your options." Makoto awkwardly assured as he flopped onto his sofa. "I can't thank you enough for even considering it."

"Hopefully I won't keep you waiting too long with my answer though. I'll touch back with you once we figure it out." With that and an exchange of brief departing words, the phone call was disconnected. Hajime exhaled deeply, his mind still wrapping itself around the nearly hour long conversation he just had.

Hajime felt a great deal of sympathy towards his longtime friends. From his understanding Kyoko's relationship with her half brother was not a steady one, the two going many months between contact with one another in the past. That wouldn't make the news of his disgraceful double-life and conjoined arrest none the less devastating. Clearly she still had the type of relationship where she was the only person her brother trusted with his own child.

Hajime turned around in his chair, staring back at the assorted photos on the wall behind his desk. He focused on a particular picture of he and his partners all huddled together on the beach during a group outing a few years back. Nagito was grinning ear to ear despite the clear sunburn forming on his back. Hajime was kissing his left cheek, while Chiaki was kissing his right. He smiled as he remembered that day fondly.

He thought about how peaceful his life has been since he began sharing it with Nagito and Chiaki. He remembered the fun days spent at beaches and at parties with each other and their loved ones. The slow nights spent sitting on the couch together watching bad horror movies or getting destroyed by Chiaki at the newest video game she bought. The impulsive adventures out of town revisiting cherished memories of old and creating unforgettable moments of new. Was this a life Hajime could have with a child in tow?

He turned back around and grabbed his phone, thumbing his way over to his messenger app.

"Hey, can you both meet me in my office? Something big came up."

Hajime stared at the screen as he watched his message get marked "read" by one of his partners. It took Nagito only seconds to reply.

"Define "something big" ;)"

"This is serious."

Hajime frowned, not ignoring Chiaki opening the message in record time for her. The sound of dragging steps on the carpet outside caught Hajime's attention. A pale hand pushed the already opened door further out of the way. Nagito slowly stepped into the office, his unkempt white hair sticking all over the place in a tangled heap. His deep yawn and lack of clothes save for his old Hope's Peak shorts further pushed the point that he had just gotten out of bed. Nagito brushed his bangs out of his eyes, smiling softly as he saw Hajime was as adorably grumpy as always. Hajime in turn greeted him with smile that tried to forget about Nagito's dumb message not even a minute ago.

"Good morning dear." Nagito beamed, grabbing his boyfriend as the two shared a brief kiss. As their lips departed they noticed another set of footsteps approaching the office, Chiaki's grand entrance coming in the form of her own yawn that put Nagito's to shame. She was already out of bed by the time Hajime woke up. For how long he didn't know but Chiaki looked like she was ready to go back to bed with the bags under her eyes looking heavier than usual. She was clad in her oversized pink sweater and worn out black sweatpants. She wore deep concern as she walked into Hajime's office, only relaxing ever so slightly upon reaching her boyfriends.

"Good morning guys." Sleepiness oozed out of Chiaki's voice as she greeted the two with a quick kiss of her own before deciding to address the elephant in the room.

"Care to elaborate your text?" Chiaki inferred. Nagito let go of Hajime, finding a seat on the edge of the large desk as Chiaki stood in front. Hajime sighed as he sat back down in his chair.

Hajime cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well. I just got off the phone with Makoto and long story short, Kyoko has a nephew that needs a place to stay for the time being and they were seeing if we were willing to watch him." Hajime studied his lover's faces as he broke the news, being met with more than a little surprise.

Chiaki looked relieved until Hajime's words fully sunk in. Nagito just looked down at the ground, clearly lost in thought. The room was eerily silent, an awkward silence that carried on for only a minute before Nagito piped up.

"I can't deny that someone as lowly as me feels honored to have even been considered for a responsibility as great as this." Hajime rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's self-deprecation. ""For the time being" though? How long were they intending for us to watch him?"

Hajime thought back to his phone call before responding sheepishly "… Makoto didn't specify." Chiaki and Nagito looked at one another gathering implications. Nagito spoke up again.

"Why exactly can't Makoto and Kyoko watch their own nephew?" Nagito tried to not sound accusatory as he was sure there had to be a good reason but only Hajime had any idea what was going on.

"Well, it sounds like they just want to give the kid somewhere stable to stay as they deal with his father's inevitable trial." Hajime answered. "Plus they don't exactly have space for a third person in that tiny apartment they have downtown. I think it makes sense." Nagito hummed as he took in Hajime's explanation.

"So it'll almost be like fostering a dog?" Hajime couldn't tell what he hated more, Nagito's inappropriate analogy or the fact it wasn't completely incorrect. Chiaki groaned before laughing to herself. "And like fostering, we can't ignore the chance of this turning into the kids forever home then, huh?" Nagito chuckled as he looked at his partners. Hajime was too busy pinching the bridge of his nose to dignify a response. It was Chiaki's turn to speak up.

"Comparing watching a child to pet ownership aside, let's not jump to that assumption just yet. We should still sort out if this is something we actually want to do." Chiaki shifted her gaze over to Hajime, "There's still a lot more we need to know before we can conclude anything. Firstly, what's his nephew's name?"

"Shuichi. His name is Shuichi Saihara. He's six years old. According to Makoto he's immensely bright for his age but is also very shy." Makoto wasn't afraid to praise his nephew to Hajime. Hajime had no reason to think he was being lied to, but he still had to see the child's behavior for himself before making any assumptions.

"Only six years old… How unlucky of him." Nagito mumbled to himself as he looked lost in thought again. Hajime and Chiaki could guess what was on his mind right now. Nagito looked up and chuckled softly.

"I know you're both thinking it too." Nagito said with a forced smile. "And to answer your questions, yes I'm concerned about my luck cycl-"

"We've been over this honey" It was Chiaki who interrupted this time, putting her hand over the luckster's as she kept her gentle demeanor.

"Tell me what horrible luck has affected us since me and Hajime moved in? Since we graduated from Hope's Peak for that matter?" Nagito wanted to interject but Chiaki stopped him with a small peck on the mouth, silencing him even after their lips parted. Deep down he knew she was right even if he hated to admit it.

"Even if you still have a cycle of luck, it's been minuscule events at worst. You have nothing to worry about Nagito. Your presence is anything but a bad omen." Chiaki took the words right out of Hajime's mouth as he listened to his girlfriend calm their boyfriend before Nagito had a chance to spiral. Nagito was again silent, embarrassed more than anything else as he calmed down. A more reasonable question rose out of his mind as he composed himself.

"Where would Shuichi even sleep?" Nagito plainly asked.

"Well, the couch downstairs would make do in the short term…" Hajime responded.

"He could also use the futon in my den too if he wanted." Chiaki offered.

"But in the event this isn't short term?" Nagito shot back.

The triad had moved into Nagito's childhood home after they finished college, both of the spare bedrooms being converted into work spaces for Chiaki and Hajime. "I guess if we had to he could take the guest room." Nagito suggested.

Chiaki raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You mean the guest house above the garage?" She prodded, unsure as to why Nagito would offer to move a child into the garage like he was an animal. Normally the guest house was used as Nagito's own personal space, a place where he keeps all of his on and off again hobbies in one confined space. It's gained even more use during the semi-frequent social gatherings the triad host with their sizable home.

Nagito wiped the sleep from his eyes, groaning slightly. "It was just an idea. I'm sure you'd have no issue moving all your game consoles up to the attic then?"

"It would make the most sense if Shuichi took my office in that event." Hajime butted in, not wanting anything to escalate. "I could move my desk down to the reading room, there's enough space." He couldn't help but look at Nagito while speaking "It'd be harder to get distracted when I'm actually working. Unless someone would want to hang out in the basement with me." Nagito stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend and pouted slightly, much to everyone else's amusement. Nagito didn't break however, keeping his gaze on Hajime.

"We still need clarification from Makoto and Kyoko by how long we would be having Shuichi stay with us. We should all sit down and discuss this soon but if they don't intend on taking the kid back I just want to know."

"What makes you think my cousin is just dumping this kid on us?" Hajime asked, even if he did agree with his boyfriend. Nagito found his boyfriend's statement to be quite hilariously native.

"Tcht, come on Hajime he couldn't give you an answer earlier, that's always a surefire way to know that this arrangement will be temporary!"

Hajime looked over at Chiaki for an idea what to say, but she only offered a shrug.

"Not that I would be opposed to him staying here of course, the hope and optimism within children is inspiring and I do believe the three of us can only nurture that!" Nagito got increasingly excited while speaking, but caught himself again.

"Never too early to get on about hope, huh?" Hajime thought to himself. He was too focused on one thing Nagito just said to make his teasing open.

"You really think the three of us could be good for this kid?" Hajime asked, surprised with Nagito's confidence.

Nagito beamed, a smile that warmed the hearts of both Hajime and Chiaki. "It's more confidence in you and Chiaki than anything. Even if the kid hates me I can sleep well knowing that he's in a good home." There went Hajime's surprise, which lasted about as long as he thought it would. The grumpy man sighed then embraced his boyfriend, who nuzzling him softly. The display of affection caught Nagito off guard, not that he was going to fight it either. He felt a reassuring hand massaging his back from Chiaki, who joined in to comfort him again.

"I think you'd be a great role model. You always sound so optimistic when we've talked about having kids of our own before. I know you'd give anything for those you love, as we would for you." Hajime shifted his gaze over to his girlfriend, who smiled sweetly at him. "That goes for all of us, this honestly could be a great opportunity for all of us."

"Just remember, there's no guaranteeing that this will be a permanent arrangement." Chiaki added in, shifting herself to get fully between her boyfriends. "But no matter what happens, I know we will do our best."

Hajime was in disbelief with how quickly both his partners were on board with this. He reminded himself that there were no promises with the permanence of the situation, but he was ready for any way this opportunity could go. At worst he's helping out Makoto and Kyoko for a few weeks. Perhaps Shuichi was as well behaved and easy to deal with as Makoto assured.

"So, are we all on board with this?"

"I think so, yeah."

"How can I say no?"

The triad all shared the same feeling of aloof joy within themselves as they embraced one another, scattered kisses and laughter shared amongst the three.

"You should call Makoto back soon." Chiaki pointed out, bringing everyone back to the moment. "We could meet over lunch tomorrow, I think. You and Nagi are free tomorrow, right?"

"I'm available." Hajime affirmed. Sure, Junko has a photo shoot tomorrow but he didn't have to guess if she would care if he was late for it. Hell he could ditch it altogether and Junko wouldn't care. Not that he would do such a careless act of apathy towards his livelihood of course. Hajime was willing to bet on his client doing something self destructive and idiotic for the sake of curing her boredom if he did pull a no show.

"I know just the place we could go too!" Nagito suggested. "We can go to that cafe by the arcade, we always talk about going there but never do."

"Oh that'd be perfect!" Chiaki cheerfully agreed. "Who knows, maybe we could go to the arcade together after our meeting."

"Hell, if Shuichi comes with I'm sure he'd like to go." Hajime suggested. Chiaki's excitement only grew at that prospect, her grin growing by the second as she thought about taking the kid to her own little piece of heaven. For Hajime the arcade seems like a natural way for Shuichi to open up at his own pace if he chooses to. A place to set a good first impression.

—

Makoto Naegi couldn't help himself from pacing his seemingly shrinking apartment. Kyoko had Shuichi with her to an impromptu visit to the zoo with Makoto's sister Komaru, a much needed distraction for everybody involved. The last thing either of them wanted was Shuichi potentially listening in to the phone calls Makoto would be making today and get any wrong impressions about their intent. Makoto laughed nervously as he imagined Shuichi snooping in on him crying over the phone as Hajime tried to calm him down on the other line. The zoo is a fun distraction though. A kid should get to stare intently at some elephants and not worry about the absolute shit storm their life has become for reasons outside their own control.

No one could say Makoto wasn't trying his best. He wanted to make sure Shuichi was getting the best care he could get. Hajime was the one telling Makoto about his triad's desire for kids at some point so Makoto felt assured that his reasoning for asking his friend wasn't unfounded. At the very least they could watch him until he and Kyoko could get off their lease. In another year.

Makoto exhaled deep enough to force out a cough. He feebly stared out the window taking in the view of the city around him. A view he normally cherished suddenly felt like a disorientating obstacle.

The subtle buzzing in Makoto's pocket nearly gave him a heart attack. He lost his grip as he pulled his phone out, frantically picking the phone up off the floor. The caller ID read "Hajime", a welcome if unexpectedly soon sight. As Makoto brought his phone to his ear his tensing muscles unclenched as he suppressed a cry of joy when Hajime gave him the good news.

"And Kyoko was afraid he'd say no." Makoto thought to himself. Makoto knew he now had to explain everything to Shuichi in what was sure to be a fun conversation. Uncomfortable realities could wait though. Savoring the smallest of victories was appropriate after the hellish 72 hours Makoto's gone through. He just hoped Shuichi would see it that way.