A/N: This fic is the result of an ask sent by one of my followers on AO3 and Tumblr, and takes place immediately after Kiki's First Day of School. Please read and review, and enjoy!

The Ultimate Detective and The Ultimate Hope Gaiden: After-School Dinner!

Kyoko frowned worriedly as Makoto drove them home, her husband smiling reassuringly at his wife as he urged "Honey, relax. You look so tense."

"How can I relax, Makoto? Our baby girl got hurt on her first day of school! She must be crying in pain right now…"

Makoto chuckled "Kyoko, she twisted her ankle during Gym Class. It happens all the time." Seeing Kyoko still frown, Makoto assured her in a softer, more serious tone "Honey, I know you wanted her first day to be perfect, but no school day is going to be perfect. There are going to be ups and downs, and yes, sometimes a few tumbles every now and again. But trust me, Kiki didn't sound unhappy when the Nurse called me. And she insisted on staying when I offered to pick her up early. So don't get all upset, at least not until she tells us the whole story at dinner."

"Makoto…"

Makoto smiled and told her "If you want to hug her and smooch her and kiss her foot to make it better when we get home, by all means; I won't stop you. But until then, try to relax and take a deep breath. All this stress can't be good for the baby."

Kyoko laughed, smacking his shoulder playfully with her hand, making him laugh in return as she conceded "Alright…I'll try to relax until we get home."

Makoto smiled, happy as he saw his wife lean back against her car seat and take a few deep breaths. With that, he refocused his attention on the road as he continued to drive them back to their manor.

XXX

"Tadaima!" Makoto and Kyoko called out as they entered the house, swiftly greeted by their daughter as she walked slower, escorted by an amused Maki.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Kiki cheered as she found herself enveloped in a hug from Kyoko, the young Mother picking her up off the ground and covering her face in motherly kisses.

"Oh Kiki! Mommy missed you! So much!"

"Mommy!" Kiki laughed as she was barraged with her Mother's lips.

Kyoko's gaze finally wandered to her slightly injured foot, cooing as she removed Kiki's sock "Oh, is your foot okay, Kiki? Don't worry, Mommy will kiss it better."

As Kyoko adjusted her grip so that she could hold Kiki's foot in place, she craned her head down to lay gentle kisses to the injured ankle.

"Mommy! That tickles!" Kiki giggled as Kyoko continued to kiss every inch of the injured foot.

Makoto chuckled before turning to Maki and thanking "Thanks for picking her up and keeping an eye on her, Maki."

Maki nodded in acceptance as Kyoko at last relented, placing her daughter on the floor before Makoto urged "Alright Kiki, say thank you to Miss Maki before she goes."

Kiki nodded, walking over to hug Maki around the leg, thanking "Bye, Miss Maki! Thanks for helping me with my science homework!"

Maki smiled and told her "It was nothing, Kiki. I'll see you tomorrow."

Once Kiki let go of her leg, Makoto asked "Science homework?"

Maki nodded "Apparently she had to draw pictures of various solids in her house. We looked around and picked out a handful before she sat down at the table and drew them."

Makoto nodded gratefully before he and Kyoko dismissed "Bye, Maki."

Maki nodded, then walked out the front door, closing it behind her before Kiki turned to Kyoko and asked "Mommy? I made some flash cards for my numbers for my math homework. Can you practice them with me?"

Kyoko nodded with a smile "Sure, pumpkin. We can practice in your room while your Father prepares dinner." She then turned around and crouched down, urging "Climb on; I'll give you a piggyback ride to your room."

"YAY! A piggyback ride!" Kiki cheered as she carefully climbed on Kyoko's back, wrapping her arms around her neck while she wrapped her legs around her waist. As Kyoko secured Kiki's legs with her hands, Kiki turned her head back and called out "See you at dinner, Daddy!"

Makoto chuckled and waved "Have fun you two." before Kyoko walked off with Kiki in tow, leaving Makoto alone to prepare dinner.

XXX

"Itadakimasu!" All three Naegis chanted before digging into the delicious dinner that Makoto had cooked.

After Makoto took a gulp of water to swallow his food, he asked "So Kiki, how was school today? Your Mother and I really want to hear about your day."

…Well, I knew this was coming… Kiki thought as she swallowed her spoonful of rice. Taking a gulp of water herself, she looked at her parents and began "Well, I started out in Homeroom. My Homeroom Teacher, Yoshihiro Yoshida, started out by taking attendance. Everything was fine until my name was called and I said Hai. But then…"

Kiki trailed off, leaving a worried Kyoko to prod "What's wrong, Kiki? You can tell us, sweetie."

Seeing her Father nod, Kiki took a deep breath and answered "The other kids started gossiping under their breaths. They were…intimidated by me because of my last name. They thought I was royalty and called me Princess because you guys run Hope's Peak Academy. They…they decided to avoid me so that I couldn't tattle on them to you."

Makoto and Kyoko looked at each other and sighed, the Headmaster lamenting "…Never in a million years did I think that the name Naegi would be synonymous with royalty. It was always just an average family name."

Kyoko nodded "True, although given how you now run the most well-known high school in all of Japan, I suppose this was inevitable." She looked over to Kiki and apologized "Still, we're sorry you had to put up with that, Kiki. We never wanted you to be ostracized by your classmates for any reason, let alone your relation to us."

Kiki shook her head and assured "No, it's okay, really. Besides, Yoshida-sensei overheard them, and talked to me alone after Homeroom. He told me not to let their gossip bother me, to just act like myself. He assured me that if I just gave the others some time to get to know me, they'd warm up."

Makoto and Kyoko smiled at that bit of good news, Makoto commenting "Well, Yoshida-san sounds like a very good teacher."

Kyoko nodded "Indeed. If we see him during the next parent-teacher conference, we'll have to thank him."

Kiki smiled, brightening the previously somber mood at the dinner table before Kyoko asked "So, what did you have next?"

"Well…we had Language Arts next, and we practiced writing our hiragana on our worksheets. But since I'm kind of used to them already, I had time to spare after each worksheet." As Makoto and Kyoko beamed proudly, Kiki continued "So to pass the time, I…turned to an empty sheet in my notebook and started making doodles out of the hiragana."

"Is that so?" Kyoko asked, amused at her daughter's creative way to relieve her boredom.

Makoto smiled and commented "You'll have to show them to us before bed."

Kiki scratched her cheek and commented "Funny you should say that…one of my classmates saw my doodles as I was drawing and…she approached me after class." Makoto and Kyoko latched onto that detail, staring straight at Kiki and making her sweatdrop before she explained "Her name's Tsumugi Shirogane, and she's in my Homeroom. Apparently she liked my drawings and wanted to get to know me better, so we decided to eat lunch together at Homeroom."

That must be why Kiki insisted on staying when I got that call from the Nurse's Office… Makoto realized, his lips tugging into a smile along with Kyoko's as they realized that despite the rocky start, Kiki had managed to make at least one new friend. "That's great news, Kiki. So, what happened next?"

"Well, then I went to Math Class and we learned numbers and how to count time. I messed up on the word for four o'clock, but my teacher, Kimura-sensei, assured me that it was okay to get a wrong answer, so I didn't feel bad for getting it wrong after that."

"I see…" Kyoko mused "She sounds like another good teacher for you."

Kiki nodded "Yeah, she is! She has the same first name as you, Mommy!"

Kyoko giggled "Is that so? Well, I'll have to make sure to keep your Father away from her then."

"Hey, come on, honey! You know you're the only one for me!" Makoto protested, leaving Kyoko and Kiki to giggle at his response to her tease. Makoto sighed in annoyance, then smiled and asked "So what happened next, Kiki?"

"Well, after that I went to science class, where we learned about solids, liquids, and gases. Our teacher, Sasaki-sensei, even gave us ice pops to show how a liquid can become a solid."

Makoto smiled and remarked "Wow, Sakaki-san seems like a really fun teacher. I wish my first-grade science teacher was as fun as yours."

"Oh hush!" Kyoko playfully admonished, slapping his shoulder and making Makoto laugh.

Once the teasing had settled down, Kiki continued "Later, he called on us and asked us to name some common household items and whether they were solids, liquids, or gases." She reached up to touch her braid as she explained "I said that the ribbon used to tie my hair is a solid." Makoto and Kyoko smiled proudly at their daughter's outside-the-box thinking before Kiki continued "After Science Class ended, I made my way to Gym Class."

Gym Class…where Kiki twisted her ankle… Makoto and Kyoko thought, dreading the tale of their daughter's first school injury.

Seeing them silently nod, Kiki continued "I got to the door, and another classmate, Gonta Gokuhara, opened the door for me. Before we could talk though, the Gym Teacher, Coach Karita, barked at us to get inside and change, so we hurried inside."

Makoto and Kyoko frowned, already not liking the abrupt shift to what was sounding like a very unpleasant teacher.

"Once we were all ready, he was really harsh. He called us all midgets and made us run laps really fast. My legs felt like jello when we were done…"

Makoto and Kyoko frowned, making sure to keep their anger in check. As Headmaster, Makoto made sure to treat all his students with kindness and respect. As for Kyoko, despite her reputation as a harsh disciplinarian, she always made sure never to let her harsh words border on abuse. And that was for teenagers on the verge of adulthood. To hear that an elementary school teacher was acting that way to a bunch of six-year-old kids whose muscles hadn't fully matured…didn't sit well with either of them.

"Anyway, after our laps, we went straight into a game of volleyball. We hadn't even been able to get a drink of water, so I was really tired during the game. Eventually my shoelaces got untied and I tripped on them, which made me fall to the ground and twist my ankle."

Makoto frowned; having been the victim of loose shoelaces numerous times as a kid, he empathized with his daughter as he asked "What happened then? How did you get to the Nurse's Office?"

"Well, after I fell, the other girls asked if I was okay, but then Coach Karita…he told me to get up and get back in the game. I tried, I really tried, but it hurt too much and I tried to tell him that. But then, he…he accused me of trying to use it as an excuse to get out of class."

Makoto and Kyoko's eyes widened in shock at Kiki's tale, feeling their parental rage bubble as they heard just how out of line Kiki's Gym Coach was.

They looked at each other as Kyoko's eyes darkened, the furious Mother suggesting "Makoto…perhaps we should file a complaint with the elementary school."

Makoto mimicked his wife's thinking pose, mulling over her suggestion. On the one hand, as a Father he was equally as furious at his daughter's mistreatment by her teacher. On the other hand, as the more diplomatic of the two, he wondered if an official complaint at this stage might be a little extreme.

"No Mommy! No Daddy!"

"What?" Makoto and Kyoko gasped, shocked at their daughter's outburst.

Makoto tried to soothe her "Kiki, it's our job as your parents to keep you safe. If your teacher is causing you to get hurt, he's not doing his job right, and it's our responsibility to make sure you're learning in a safe environment."

"I know, Daddy. But still…" Kiki looked at her parents with her Father's determined stare as she insisted "I can handle it on my own!"

Confused, Kyoko asked "Kiki…why do you feel you need to handle this on your own when we want to help you?"

Kiki looked down at her half-finished plate, biting her lip in hesitation before she finished "Because…if I have you guys solve every one of my problems at school, then that gossip about me tattling to you guys to get people in trouble…I'll just be proving them right!"

Makoto and Kyoko frowned, realizing the delicate balancing act they had to proceed with in order to ensure a normal childhood for their daughter.

"And besides, I did manage to handle it! When he was barking at me, the other girls stood up to him. They defended me, and even the boys glared at him. Coach Karita relented and allowed me to go to the Nurse's Office, so Gonta offered to help me walk there. See? I was able to handle it on my own, with the support of my classmates. So…please Mommy, Daddy, don't get involved in this!"

Seeing how determined she was, Kyoko sighed and compromised "…Alright…I'll let it slide this one time. But if something like this happens again, then your Father and I will need to have a word with the Principal."

As Kiki opened her mouth to object, Makoto nodded, interrupting "Kiki, your Mother's offering a compromise. We're allowing you to deal with one-time problems by yourself, but if things like this become recurring, then we have to step in. Alright, Kiki?"

Kiki stared into her parents' eyes, searching their souls for any hint that they'd be wiling to budge on their demands. After realizing that this was one thing she couldn't negotiate on, she sighed in concession.

"Okay, Daddy. I promise, I won't complain if you step in after this happens again."

Makoto and Kyoko smiled, happy that they could move forward from this incident before Kyoko asked "So, you said that Gonta Gokuhara brought you to the Nurse's Office?"

Kiki nodded "Yeah, I thanked him for helping me, and I wanted to get to know him better…since he was so kind to me. I invited him to have lunch with me and Tsumugi, but apparently since he's in a different Homeroom, he couldn't join us. But we decided that we'd find another way to get to know each other better, since we wanted to be friends."

Makoto smiled as he praised "That was very nice of you, pumpkin.", happy that his daughter had found one more friend.

Kyoko nodded "Indeed."

Kiki smiled and continued "So, after he went back to class, the Nurse called Daddy and I told him I wanted to stay at school until Miss Maki came. So I sat in the Nurse's Office until the bell rung. My ankle had started to feel better after she put the cold pack on it, so I went back to the locker room to change and get my backpack, then I headed back to Homeroom to have lunch with Tsumugi."

Kyoko nodded "I see…and how did it go?"

Kik smiled and answered "It went fine, Mommy! She was really enamored with my drawings, and apparently she's into cosplay."

"Cosplay? That's interesting…" Makoto commented, him and Kyoko flashing back to that time they met Hifumi and Fujiko at Comic Market.

Kiki nodded and explained "She said that it's her dream to make costumes for other people, so they can feel the joy of cosplaying firsthand."

Kyoko nodded "She sounds very dedicated to her hobby."

Kiki nodded "Yeah, although she doesn't like wearing it in public because she thinks she's too plain to pull it off. I tried to boost her confidence by telling her that she was a cute girl and that she'd look amazing in her cosplays abd that I'd love to try one of them when she made one for real."

Kyoko gave a surprised smile as she remarked "Is that so? That was very kind of you, sweetie. I'm sure she's very grateful to have a friend as supportive as you."

Kiki nodded, suddenly becoming nervous as she fiddled with her braid and answered "She is; we decided to become friends and…ano…we were thinking…Mommy, Daddy…could I maybe…have her and Gonta over to visit sometime?"

Makoto and Kyoko looked to each other, then back to Kiki, smiling as Makoto nodded "I don't have any particular issue with having your friends over, Kiki. Besides, I'd like to meet them."

Kyoko added "We'd have to work it out with their parents, and one of us would need to supervise, but as long as you and Tsumugi and Gonta promise to behave, then I'm sure we could work it out."

"Mommy…Daddy…" With a tearful smile, Kiki bowed her head and thanked "Arigato!"

Kyoko giggled "It's no problem, Kiki. Like your Father said, we're glad you made friends at school, and we're looking forward to meeting them."

Makoto nodded "For now though, let's finish our dinner before it gets cold."

Kiki nodded energetically before they dug back into their dinners, hurrying to eat the rest of it before it got cold.

XXX

"Gochisosama!" They all chanted, patting their bellies as they were almost stuffed from dinner.

"Delicious as always, sweetie." Kyoko complimented, making Makoto chuckle bashfully as he scratched his cheek. "And Kiki, I'm glad you had an overall good day at school, even if there were a couple of bumps in the road."

"Thanks, Mommy!" Kiki suddenly grew bashful as she toyed with her braid. "Ano…do you think maybe…we could celebrate with…some M & M Cookies…please?"

Makoto and Kyoko looked to each other before turning back to their daughter, nodding with smiles on their faces as Kyoko consented "I suppose TWO for dessert wouldn't hurt. As long as you have some milk with it."

"YAY!" Kiki cheered.

Makoto chuckled and stood up, volunteering "I'll get the cookies and milk." before he walked into the kitchen.

In just a minute, he came back with a small tray, holding three glasses of milk and six M & M Cookies for them to share. Kiki bounced in her seat energetically, waiting as her Father chuckled while he passed out the milk and cookies. As soon as the dessert was passed out, Kiki wasted no time, dipping her first cookie in milk before taking a bite.

"Mmm…Amai!" Kiki moaned, swallowing her bite before thanking "Thanks, Daddy!"

Makoto chuckled in response before he and Kyoko reached for their milk glasses and clinked them together, chanting "Kanpai!" before following Kiki's lead, moaning in pleasure as the milk-coated cookie flooded their tastebuds with sweetness.