Shuichi had the dream again, the fourth time since the first occurrence less than two weeks ago. The nightly mirage played out like a rerun written in a different font. Small details were different but the events always played out the same.
Like clockwork, Shuichi would wake up in his old room. The bedroom was positioned exactly as he remembered it. All of his things appeared to be in order until he looked at the shelves of his bookcase. The books were littered with a garbled, fake language. Little did Shuichi realize he was grounding himself by reading the fake books, reminding his brain that he was far from reality. Shuichi would look down and see he was wearing the tan uniform of his former school. It was like stepping into a time machine, even if Shuichi didn't have much to go back to.
Taking his uniform as a cue to head to school, Shuichi would eventually leave his former bedroom and find himself in a seemingly infinite hallway. The worn out gray carpet and yellow-stained white walls hammered in the fact he was back at his old home, even if the apartment was not free from falling into dream logic. Shuichi would always turn to his right and walk slowly towards where the kitchen would be. The drab hallway would be lit despite having no clear light source, the end nowhere to be seen down an endless corridor. There were no windows, not even any other doors past Shuichi's bedroom. A chill would run up Shuichi's spine as he felt increasing unease in the liminal space around him.
Bravely venturing on, the hallway would end before panic could fully settle in. Shuichi would slowly shuffle to the joint living room and kitchen. The two rooms were separated by a narrow counter, one that also acted as a dinner table. The couch and small flat screen were nestled in the corner like they always were. The walls were littered with movie posters of old crime dramas, a record of one of Father's few hobbies. Shelves and rugs sat where they belonged. The living area remained faithful to reality much like Shuichi's bedroom.
Father would be sitting at the counter, his head obscured by the newspaper in his hands.
"Good morning." Shuichi would politely greet as he approached the man. Only the second the newspaper dropped, Shuichi would stop dead in his tracks.
"Good morning buddy." Hinata would smile wearing one of the black suits Father often wore for work. Hinata's smile would fade as he saw the panic in Shuichi's eyes.
"You alright? You look like you just saw a ghost." Hinata would joke, hoping to ease whatever was bothering his son.
"I-I'm okay. You're uh, more awake than you normally are." Shuichi awkwardly laughed. The first time Shuichi had this dream the Hinata newspaper reveal was enough to wake Shuichi up. Part of Shuichi was expecting Komaeda to replace Father at some point instead. There's still plenty of time for that twist.
Hinata would grab his mug of black coffee and take a healthy gulp. "I remembered to set the coffee pot last night." Hinata smirked. "Besides, I have a good reason to be up this early."
"Work?" Shuichi guessed.
"Nope, I called off today." Hinata smiled. "And called you off school too."
"You did? What for?"
"Well, I have two tickets to the car show downtown with our names on them. Afterwards we can go over to Kyoko's place and have dinner with her and your uncle. How's that sound?"
Unfortunately for Shuichi, he was ripped from his fantasy before he could open his mouth.
—
Opening his foggy eyes, Shuichi remembered that particular February day fondly. It was the last time Father went out of his way to spend time with him. Had Shuichi known that three short months later Father would wind up behind bars, he would have savored the day even slower. Shuichi and his Father shared a collected admiration in the neat old automobiles on display at the event center downtown every year. Even if for only a day it felt like Shuichi bonded with the man. Shuichi found himself wishing his dream was the true memory however. Wishing that he always woke up to Hinata waiting for him.
As he lay motionless in his bed Shuichi found himself out of sleep's gentle grasp, staring up above him aimlessly. The ceiling of Shuichi's room was as plain as a ceiling could be. The glass lamp in the center was the lone object of interest as it remained surrounded by a sea of flawless white paint. The lamp was unspectacular in design, hanging only a few inches off the surface. At any moment, the unspectacular lamp could blind Shuichi when any one of his guardians wake him up by turning on the lights. It was a gamble Shuichi found no benefit in playing.
Turning onto his side towards his bedside table, Shuichi glanced at his digital clock that flashed 7:12 am. Shuichi had at least three more minutes before someone would wake him up. It would likely be Nanami who would turn on his light before gently stirring him awake. If it was Komaeda's turn, the pale man would flicker the lights to rush Shuichi out of bed, much to the child's annoyance. Komaeda at least made up for it with an otherwise gentle wake up call. Hinata was responsible for taking Shuichi to school every day, so he avoided wake up duties.
The floor outside Shuichi's room creaked as footsteps emerged from the den across the hallway. Shuichi quickly rolled over to face the wall, shutting his eyes to sell his sleeping act. The door slowly opened, a single finger flicking the light switch as the footsteps approached the supposedly sleeping boy. He failed to suppress a smile when he felt a body take a seat at the foot of the bed.
"Good morning, Crono." Nanami whispered into Shuichi's ear as she gently shook his slumped shoulder. Shuichi opened his eyes slowly, selling a fake yawn as he stretched his arms out. He smiled at Nanami, the ever present bags under her eyes looking heavier than usual this morning. Her own smile was sincere, always happy to see her favorite little man no matter how tired she may be.
"Who's Crono?" Shuichi quizzically asked.
"He's the protagonist of one of my all time favorite RPG's, Chrono Trigger." Nanami laughed. "The game opens with Crono's mother waking him up with that line before he runs off to start his time traveling adventure."
"Time travel?" Shuichi gawked.
"To the distant past and future. I actually just completed the game again this morning. If you're interested I can set up the virtual console after school and you can see the game for yourself. It's a timeless classic if you ask me."
"Consider me sold." Shuichi smiled. Nanami's track record with her gaming recommendations warranted well earned trust. "Do you go back to the prehistoric era and fight dinosaurs?"
"It'd be a waste of the game concept if you didn't." Nanami yawned.
"D-did you not sleep well last night?" Shuichi asked. "You said you finished your game this morning?"
"I didn't go to bed at all, kiddo." Nanami hesitantly admitted. "I beat Chrono Trigger in one sitting. I'm about to head to bed once you're situated. All nighters aren't as fun as you get old."
"Staying up all night doesn't sound fun in the first place."
"And you're smarter about sleep than I am." Nanami softly laughed as she sat up from Shuichi's bed. "We can talk about Chrono Trigger when you get home, for now you need to get ready for school, kiddo."
"Yes ma'am." Shuichi obeyed as Nanami waddled out of the bedroom. Shuichi jumped out of his bed and went straight for his prepared school uniform sitting on top of his desk. Before he could change from his hand-me-down Batman shirt to a plain black undershirt, Shuichi realized he forgot one last thing as he hurried down the hall.
"Nanami wait!" Shuichi cried before stopping at his guardian's feet as she waited by her door.
"Yes?" Nanami plainly asked, unaware of her Irish goodbye.
"I almost forgot to wish you goodnight before you went to bed." Shuichi admitted as he wrapped Nanami's leg in a hug.
"Aw, thank you sweetie." Nanami sweetly yawned as she ran her hand through Shuichi's hair. "If I'm still asleep by the time you get home don't be afraid to wake me up."
"If you say so." Shuichi giggled as he let go of his embrace. "Sweet dreams, Nanami."
"I love you honey." Nanami called out as Shuichi walked back to his room.
"I love you too, mom- er, Nanami." Shuichi blushed, praying his slip of the tongue was missed.
It wasn't.
—
Shuichi found his new school uniform to be far more fashionable than his old one. His former all tan shirt and pants combination was drab and was never comfortable to wear. The tag on the collars always itched his neck, the arms either too small or too big on Shuichi. It made appreciating his new school's purple vest and white long sleeve shirt combination all the easier.
His shirts all fit him and didn't itch his skin. The black pants that rounded out the outfit weren't too baggy on Shuichi either, even if he still needed a belt. Auntie Kyoko had assured Shuichi that he was due for a big growth spurt thanks to his fathers genes. Shuichi hoped his height would be where that comparison ended.
Shuichi made a detour to the bathroom before heading downstairs for breakfast. He stood on the mini steps in front of the sink and grabbed his tooth brush. He made sure not to squeeze more than a pea size amount of toothpaste before brushing his pearly whites. Shuichi was aware eating right after brushing your teeth isn't the most practical move, but as long as he doesn't drink any orange juice he figured he would be okay.
Descending the stairs down to the first floor, Shuichi followed the sweet smells and loud small talk emitting from the kitchen. Sniffing the air once, Shuichi immediately recognized the pancakes Komaeda perfected. Upon reaching the kitchen through the dining room, Shuichi's legs instinctively clamped up when he saw Hinata at the kitchen island. He lacked the black suit of Shuichi's dream, instead clad in sweatpants and a tight faded green t-shirt. His posture remained the same at least, the concealing newspaper replaced by a cell phone.
"Nekomaru keeps pushing for you to join us at the gym you know." Hinata sighed.
"Nekomaru also thinks I can spot him. I think I can live without tearing my bicep again." Komaeda chuckled.
Hinata lacked a counter argument for his boyfriend, who remembers that fateful injury in high school gym class vividly. Komaeda walked over to his sitting boyfriend, placing his forehead onto Hinata's.
"Do tell Nekomaru that I say hi though, he knows he's always welcome to visit." Komaeda sweetly whispered. "As long as we prepare the toilets first."
Both men laughed before planting a loving kiss onto each other's lips.
"I'm not kidding." Komaeda deadpanned.
"Oh I know." Hinata sighed.
Departing from the affection, Komaeda finally noticed Shuichi staring right at him from the dining room.
"Good morning, Shuichi." Komaeda greeted as he walked over to a small stack of pancakes on a plate and placed them in the microwave. "You don't have to wait to let us know you're in the room you know." Komaeda kindly reminded the boy.
"I-I know." Shuichi rubbed his arm. "Sorry, I uh, had a weird dream last night and I'm still getting it out of my head."
"Was it a nightmare?" Hinata inquired as he noticed Shuichi's immediate embarrassment upon meeting eyes.
"No, you were in it though." Shuichi mindlessly admitted. "Y-you and Nanami were in it too." Shuichi lied as his eyes darted over to Komaeda.
"What was weird about your dream?" Komaeda asked as Shuichi shuffled his feet over to the kitchen island.
"Well, it was weird because…" Shuichi stalled. The microwave behind Komaeda dinged, the noise coinciding with his train of thought moving forward. "We went camping on the moon! Yeah we were all wearing astronaut suits and we pitched a tent on the moon and camped for a night." Shuichi hoped his guardians couldn't sense his guilt over the big fat lie he just spewed out. Shuichi also had to thank Kaito for inadvertently giving him the idea for the faux dream.
Komaeda and Hinata glanced at one another, wordlessly agreeing not to push the matter any further for now.
"You know, maybe in the summer we could go camping out in the woods." Komaeda suggested. "I know it's not nearly as exciting as going to the moon but I think we'd all enjoy appreciating mother nature in its purest form. It could be a nice bonding experience for us."
"I like that idea." Shuichi admitted as he pulled a stool out and perched himself, happy the conversation changed smoothly. "Could we invite Auntie Kyoko too?"
"We'll invite Auntie Kyoko and Makoto." Hinata warmed up to the impromptu idea. "God knows they both need a vacation."
"Would Nanami have fun though?" Shuichi realized. While he'd seen Nanami go a day without any serious gaming he could not imagine her going an entire weekend without touching a controller.
"We've gone camping together before, Nanami's fine as long as she has a handheld or two." Komaeda assured.
"Speaking of which, did Nanami head to bed?" Hinata asked, sipping at his mug of coffee.
"Yeah, she pulled an all-nighter again." Shuichi giggled as Komaeda placed the warmed plate of pancakes in front of his foster son. Shuichi thanked Komaeda for making breakfast, Komaeda brushing off the praise as he grabbed the syrup for Shuichi's pancakes.
Hinata shook his head as he sighed disapprovingly. "I told her starting a stream at ten was a bad idea."
"In her defense, she was sponsored by that one energy drink, "Boom" I think it's called." Komaeda shrugged as he ate his breakfast. "Ingenious marketing on their end if you think about it." Shuichi suddenly understood why Nanami kept that cooler by her desk stocked full of those cans of colorful energy drinks. The same cans that Shuichi had yet to take even a tiny sip out of, despite his persistent curiosity.
"Trust me kiddo, the last thing you need is the caffeine that's in these things." Nanami had explained the last time she declined his plea to let him sample the mystery drink. Temptation to raid the cooler when Nanami wasn't looking had crossed Shuichi's mind. His fear of disappointing any of his guardians acted as an effective deterrent to act on many impulses.
"Tch. It's ingenious marketing until someone gets kidney damage, that person likely being Chiaki." Hajime frowned.
"Since when is capitalism ethical?" Komaeda humored.
"Touche."
Shuichi finished his stack of fluffy pancakes with relative silence once the conversation faded. The aftertaste of the minty toothpaste from earlier was quickly overpowered by the sweetness of the maple syrup. Shuichi hummed happily as he ate, thankful for the lovingly made breakfast.
Across the island Komaeda stood over the sink washing dishes as Hinata finished his coffee besides Shuichi. Once the brunette saw the bottom of his empty mug, Hinata took Shuichi's empty plate before the boy could lick the syrup off again, much to Shuichi's disappointment.
"We should get a move on." Hinata addressed Shuichi as he glanced at the time. "You have everything you need for school?"
"Already in my backpack." Shuichi grinned.
"Alright, I'll go grab our jackets then." Hinata smiled.
Shuichi carefully hopped off the stool, walking over to Komaeda and hugging the man's stickly legs.
"Have a great day at school buddy." Komaeda laughed as Shuichi hugged him.
"What are you gonna do while I'm gone?" Shuichi asked.
"Oh just boring, grown up things." Komaeda shrugged. It would be best to not tell Shuichi of his "recreational" plans while painting in the garage today.
"Like taxes?"
"I'll go with that, sure." Komaeda stumbled.
"Let's get going, we don't wanna be late." Hinata reminded Shuichi as he returned with the boy's small black coat.
"I'm coming!" Shuichi yelped as he ran to the front door. He stopped before turning the corner from the kitchen however.
"I love you, Komaeda." Shuichi turned as he put his arms into his jacket.
"I love you too, Shuichi." Komaeda playfully waved.
Shuichi smiled before hurrying over to the shoe rack by the front door. He slipped on his black shoes, his shoelaces cooperating as finished his last loop.
—
Closing the front door behind him, Shuichi couldn't help but appreciate the overall normality that defined today, recurring dreams aside. The part of him that was afraid he would never get used to Nanami's wake up calls or Komaeda's filling breakfasts had gone silent. He had another day of school with his classmates and friends to look forward to. That sense of satisfaction would last not even one more minute.
Shuichi's march to Hinata's car was halted after a few steps, Shuichi immediately walking into Hinata's legs.
"Oof, sorry Hinata." Shuichi apologized. Peaking past his guardian, Shuichi gasped upon noticing a large white limo in front of their house. He'd never seen one outside of films. Shuichi couldn't help but wonder if the interior was as luxurious as the clean exterior. He also couldn't help but wonder why it was there in the first place.
"Um, why is there a limo blocking our driveway?" Shuichi asked.
"I think I have an idea." Hinata huffed.
As soon as Hinata closed his mouth, a terrifyingly familiar poof of blond hair popped out from the limo's sunroof.
"Gooooooood morning Hajime and Shuichi!" Junko Enoshima sang.
"Good morning, Junko." Hinata sighed. "What the hell is this?"
"Did you not get my text?" Junko rudely asked.
"No, because you didn't text me at all." Hinata rolled his eyes as he looked through his recent messages.
"Well I guess I didn't send it, whoopsie. It's no matter though, today just so happens to be my little Tsumugi's first day at your guys' school!" Junko excitedly announced. One of the tinted windows rolled down, the spectacled girl sticking her head out with an excited grin.
"Hi Shuichi!" Tsumugi waved.
"H-hello." Shuichi shyly waved back.
"What do you mean it's Tsumugi's first day?" Hinata cocked an eyebrow. There was no way Junko gained full custody of her daughter unless something happened to-
"Typical Ryota fuckin' Mitarai." Junko huffed upon mentioning her unlikely baby daddy. "It's just like him to move back in town and not tell his old high school buddies. Of course knowing his geeky ass he's been too focused on whatever freaky gore porn he's animating to remember to tell anyone." Junko snorted.
"Me and my daddy moved to a new apartment this weekend!" Tsumugi happily clarified. "And now momma can take me to school every day!"
"That's right, baby girl." Junko proudly grinned.
"Why a limo?" Hinata deadpanned.
"Of course you don't see the value in a grand first impression. This is MY first chance I get to take Tsumugi to her first day of school and I'll be damned if I don't treat it as such." Junko yelled before cooling herself off with a deep exhale.
"I see. I'm assuming you told your driver to block our driveway until Shuichi and I join you." Hinata sighed.
"Like, how could you tell!?"
"Don't patronize me. I'm also assuming you have Mukuro and her daughter in that limo as well?"
"You know me all too well, Hajime." Junko smirked.
"That's what you pay me for." Hinata rolled his eyes. "Look, I have plans this morning. I'm afraid I'm going to pass on your little act of performative parenting."
"Okay one, fucking ouch. And two, why don't you ask your kid if he wants a ride? The little turd's been ogling my ride since stepping outside."
"No I wasn't!" Shuichi lied, snapping his eyes back to Ms. Enoshima. It wasn't everyday he saw a limo, the car show didn't even have one. It was certainly a modern model, though Shuichi could only pretend he could fully distinguish cars by their makers.
"Uh huh. It's okay twerp if you wanna ride the limo you just have to say so." Junko offered like a serpent offering an apple.
Shuichi hummed as he weighed his options. On one hand, he gets to ride a limousine with not only Hinata but his friend Maki and her intimidating yet nice mother if he wasn't mistaken. On the other hand, Junko Enoshima. The one con weighed equally to all of the pros of agreeing, but who's to say he'll get another chance to ride with style.
"You know… I've always wanted to see the inside of a limousine." Shuichi admitted as he looked up at Hinata, sad puppy dog eyes and all. Not even Junko could ruin this potentially once in a lifetime opportunity.
"I guess there's no use fighting this one." Hinata sighed in defeat
"Thank you Hinata!" Shuichi cheered, hugging his guardian's leg. The brunette couldn't stay mad for long as he patted his foster son's head.
"Who's limo is this again? Don't thank Hajime's lame ass, thank MINE." Junko sarcastically cried.
"Oh uh, thank you Junko." Shuichi awkwardly corrected himself as he walked over to the luxury vehicle with Hinata.
"And you are most certainly welcome, Shuichi." Junko smirked as she opened the car door for the boys.
"And here I was, thinking today was going to be another boring day." Hinata humored himself as he climbed in the white limo.