It's the middle of the night and I'm here at an apartment cleaning up broken glass and smashed vases alongside Yukinoshita Yukino, owner of said apartment. One might ask , that after all the events that happened today, why we are cleaning in the dead of night. I recalled the scenes that led to this moment.


Earlier we arrived at Yukinoshita's apartment. She allowed us entry, something she would have thought of twice for me if not for the child behind my back.

After settling in I gently positioned Tsurumi across the couch while Yukinoshita helped her lie down. Tsurumi gazed at Yukinoshita with inquiring eyes while she remains lying down and motionless. At least she's not frantic like earlier. Yukinoshita then retrieved a first aid kit to attend her wounds.

"She has bruises across her hands and feet climbing along to her elbow and knees."

"I can perfectly see that Hikigaya-kun you do not need to state the obvious. If you can still waste energy using your mouth can you please divert it to your hands and feet instead and retrieve water so I can clean her wounds?"

Harsh. Can you give a guy a break I spend pedaling all day and running around all night. My brain is not in the best condition to function properly so I find it difficult to converse properly or in this instance retort to your insults. However Tsurumi is receiving the care she needed right now so I won't complain.

I filled a bowl with water and returned immediately. After she cleaned the affected areas, she then wrapped around bandages along Tsurumi's limbs to hide the wounds from further infection. After finishing, she then rested her hands above Tsurumi's head comforting her. She's quick and efficient as expected. I admire how she's handling the situation maturely. She didn't inquire upon the circumstances and ask why and what happened and proceeded immediately to tend the wounded.

"Thanks… for helping." I meekly respond to break the silence between us

"Honestly Hikigaya-kun I'm glad you considered on reaching out for help when the situation is out of your hands."

I'm glad that we're here. It was a good decision on my part. Now that Tsurumi can rest I can think on what to do now.

"But if you're going to act as a hero then you should have used your brain first. Instead of wasting your strength coming over here you should have contacted an ambulance instead, as capable as I am if you truly wanted her to recover then you should have called the proper authorities. ", she now held her phone to enforce the notion.

Oh no... I forgot to warn her about this. Before I could react and stop her Tsurumi suddenly burst into panic mode surprising Yukinoshita. Like a chicken who found out that her owner has decided her for lunch, Tsurumi rampaged across the room trying to escape. A few broken decorations later, the combined effort from both of us have finally managed to calm Tsurumi down with me holding her down and Yukinoshita uttering comforting words.


We finally finished cleaning. We checked up on Tsurumi who we laid on Yukinoshita's bed at her room. She has now fallen asleep surrounded by a number of Pan-san stuff toys. I can't help but smile a little bit after seeing her gentle face finally resting peacefully. I noticed that Yukinoshita had the same reaction as mine. We then proceeded to the living room. We sat down to rest a bit.

"I'm sorry to have involved you with this without your consent. Seeing both of us at your door at night must have come as a shock to you."

"It did. But it's nothing to apologize for."

"I'll also pay for the broken decorations"

"No need it's lack of foresight on my behalf that led us to this. Though I never would have expected her to react the way she did. You should warned me beforehand that something like that might happen if you knew beforehand"

I try to organize the events in my head "Yukinoshita-san if you need an explanation right now then I'll oblige and say everything that happened."

"Not tonight. There will be a time to discuss that. For now we need to rest for tomorrow"

Silence now looms over us after that. Its presence gives me comfort after the events that transpired tonight. This should be enough for now. With Tsurumi taken care of I can retreat back home for now. Knowing that she's in safe hands will give me good long night sleep. I'll think of my next course of action when tomorrow comes.

"Well please continue to take care of Tsurumi for tonight I'll return at daybreak so… Good bye for now"

I walked towards the door. As I held the doorknob a voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Where do you think you're going?" I turn around to find an irritated expression painted on her face.

"Home, where else"

"Your home is far from here. I have a spare futon for visitors. You can sleep here for tonight or will you still waste my act of goodwill. Here I thought that you are somewhat redeemable after all you've done tonight"

"Fine. Alright I'll sleep here for tonight", Not in the mood to argue I replied reluctantly.

"Then I'll be sleeping with Tsurumi-chan at my room. Please understand that I have my phone near me and I'll contact the police straight away should your rotten eyes ever look inside or do worse while we sleep"

"If you're so wary of my presence then why bother offering me to stay. Also please keep Tsurumi-chan covered with a blanket at all times. She might freeze to death with you sleeping near her."

With that she closed the door to her room. I turn to my side opposite of her room and opened my phone. I messaged Komachi that I won't be able to come home tonight and I'll be staying with a friend.

Sleep comes and my body succumbs. Tomorrow we'll figure this all out.


"Hi…ga…kun ple… I… nee… on…"

"HhMmm… mm… hhmmm"

I'm feeling a light pain poking on my side disturbing the comfort of my slumber.

"Hmm... mm….5… more minutes.",

The pain turned violent with the futon being pulled from under me rolling me sideways as my elbow hit the floor.

"Geh… Hey… why did you violently push me aside?", I asked hysterically while holding my elbow in pain.

"Good morning Hikigaya-kun" she calmly spoke, as if not hearing my complaint

"Good morning Yukinoshita-san, why did you violently push me aside?", I replied in a courteously voice continuing my snide inquiry.

"It proved to be the most effective method of waking you up. I needed you to get up so I can wash this along the rest. This one might need extra detergent to remove the hikigerms clinging to it"

"Well if it disgusts you so much then I'll wash it for you"

"No thanks before you offer cleaning this it would be better if you clean yourself first. The bathroom is available. I prepared a soap, shampoo, toothbrush, and towel for you to use. After you're done there are some clothes on top of the table for you to change into."

I looked at everything she's prepared. Judging by their looks some of them seem to be brand new. I guess she bought everything earlier this morning while I slept. I want to thank her for the effort she put through this but the pain my elbow endured will only balanced her karma level neither tipping it towards good or evil so no gratitude for her.

"Oh, after that please join us at the table there's breakfast waiting for you." I got up, proceeded to take a quick shower, got dressed then approached the table where Tsurumi and Yukinoshita sat.

When I arrived I found that they've started breakfast already. Yukinoshita is sipping tea and Tsurumi is holding her spoon and fork. I sat down to join them. I ate in moderation aware with the people I'm with right now. Thinking about it, it feels kind of surreal to be eating breakfast with both of them right now. Though what's really running through my mind is the little girl near me. Tsurumi stayed motionless the whole time. Her food remains untouched with her head tilted down looking at it. She still has that vacant look in her eyes. Yukinoshita seem to notice this too as she offered assistance.

"Don't be shy Tsurumi-chan. You must be famished, here eat up. "

Yukinoshita held a spoonful prompting Tsurumi to eat. Tsurumi looked at her with uncertainty, eyeing the food in front of her. Though unresponsive at first Tsurumi took a bite. A few spoonfuls later and it became routine quickly until her plate is empty. Satisfied, Yukinoshita then proceeded to take our plates to wash them.

"Hikigaya-kun may I speak with you after this. Tsurumi-chan you can sit down in the living room for a while"

I kept Tsurumi in company with silence not sure on what to talk about. I then followed Yukinoshita to discuss what we needed. I told her everything that occurred yesterday up to this moment. We decided to split our roles. Yukinoshita will stay with Tsurumi and I'll gather information and make contact with the police about this.


I walked by the house where this all started. The house is but a shadow of its form last night. It's dark, gritty and ready to fall. I walked past it. No need to get sentimental over this now, not from me anyway.

I got to my first stop, home. Komachi greeted me with her usual demeanor. She asked how did a simple task of buying a light novel ended up sleeping over with a friend and with a more playful tone she asked which among the people I know, "my friend I mentioned", I got together with. I handed her the item she wanted and she questioned no further, happy with what she got. Though I think she stopped her questioning a little too quickly. I'm not sure if she's happy to see me or happy that I finally got her the light novel she wanted.

I gathered news of the fire. A house owned by a family of three: victim's of an unfortunate accident with their child declared as missing. Her parents are currently at a hospital, bedridden and in a comatose. The news of her parents alive in itself is a miracle. With what I saw yesterday I thought they're already… No I shouldn't think that way. I tried to entertain the thought of visiting them right now to check on their condition but I don't think they would let an unrelated person in so I'll pass on that for now.

I then proceeded to the police station, my last stop. With this we can finally get this all over. I stepped inside and then proceeded to…


I return to Yukinoshita's apartment. Before I knocked I couldn't help but hear the voices accompanied by warm giggles inside.

"Isn't Pan-san very comfortable to hug , right? mama"

I hear them talk inside. It seems Yukinoshita managed to ease the tension with Tsurumi… but mama? Are they playing house? I then proceeded to knock. After entering we discussed the situation at hand with the information I gathered.

"Her parents are alive, hospitalized and unconscious, but alive. I went to the police but...", I paused hesitant to say about what I've done.

"Well, did you inform the police that we have the missing daughter?" she inquired after noticing me stop.

"I did not. I came back because I wanted to talk with everyone to decide on this. Also by everyone I mean not just the two of us. We need to consult Tsurumi-chan about this and give her light on her situation. The decision should not be from my own or yours alone."

"Very well. But do understand that she may not be in the best condition to give her judgment for this matter. She's… no never mind let's proceed"

I was puzzled. What did she mean by that? Well if she won't say anything more about it then it is not my business to pry more. Besides we have another matter to discuss.

"I won't say anything more than I need to say. But no matter the circumstance she has the right to have a say in the matter and we should bear her choice in mind"

We then proceeded to the living room where I saw Tsurumi hugging a Pan-san stuff toy. Her demeanor is a little bit better than before.

"Tsurumi –chan your parents won't be able to take care of you right now. So until your parents recover we could hand you over to the authorities where they will be taking care of you from now on. Will you accept?"

I worded my question carefully. I didn't say any more information that might distress her. If I dwell too much on her parent's condition she might get distraught quickly. Her insisting to visit them right now implies that we need to hand her over to the authorities. This will make our meeting to have a decision altogether pointless if one choice becomes the answer before we finish. Our conclusion will decide whether I'll discuss with her the complete situation or not.

She looked at both of us. Her expression painted with confusion "Not able to… Hand me over... I… I don't understand…Recover? You're both here right now. Why can't I stay anymore? No I don't want to go", she said in a shaky voice these scattered phrases as my inquiry troubled her so.

There's something in what she said right now that seems strange. Is that what Yukinoshita meant earlier about her condition? Well that's not the issue we need to address so I'll ignore it for now.

"I see. Stay here for a moment." I signaled Yukinoshita to continue our conversation. I looked down and recalled how I felt when I walked past the burned down house, what I did at the police station, and what Tsurumi said earlier. I took all of these in consideration and came up with my decision.

"I've thought this through so believe me that I mean everything I'll say from here forth. Yukinoshita-san, I don't want to hand her over to the authorities.

Is giving her up truly the right answer or is it just the easy one. What she needs right now is support, strength, and comfort. I know that it is their job to do these things and that I bear no ill will against that. But why should I take the chance and hope that they will give her the help she needs when we're already doing the same right now and can continue to do so.

In this case we have a choice. If we hand her over we'll take away her happiness only to let time shape it again someday. Does that sound right? Is that fair to her? I know this all sounds selfish but I'm willing to continue carrying the burden. I'll convince my family so she can stay at our house until her parents recover."

Upon finishing Yukinoshita closed her eyes for a moment to ponder on what I said and come up with a decision.

"I understand… However I disagree…"

"Yukinoshita-san, I know that I might not be able to care of her and maybe this is not what she needs right now. But I'll do my best to…"

"Will you let me finish what I'm saying Hikigaya-kun? I meant to say, before you rudely interrupted me, is that I only disagree about her staying in your house. I'm afraid that you might not be able to control yourself someday and defile her. Therefore she'll be staying with me in my apartment for the summer."

Eh. I didn't expect her to agree with me so I jumped to conclusions.

"I'm not a pedophile. Don't accuse me of an act that I haven't done and will not be doing. Besides you don't need to force yourself. You've helped us enough already so…"

"I insist Hi-ki-ga-ya-kun"

The Ice queen proclaimed her intention with an iron will that will not be swayed by my words no matter what leaving me no choice but to accept it. Now that I think about it this could be for the better. Now I don't need to face the daunting task of convincing my whole family not to mention we avoided the problem of Tsurumi adjusting to a new environment. She has a comfortable place to call home for now plus a guardian she can trust.

Yukinoshita then called Tsurumi to say the good news. A smile formed on her face as she hugged the stuff toy tighter after hearing this. Seeing her happy face appear again is nice. She should soon recover emotionally if this continues.

"Now that we're clear with each other I'll take my leave for now"

I opened the door and said my farewells. "Good bye Yukinoshita-san, take care of her."

"I will. Good bye Hikigaya-kun."

As I'm about to say farewell to Tsurumi, she suddenly held my shirt and looked at me with sad eyes. "Stay. Don't go"

"Don't worry. I'll come back again sometime."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise", She let go of me upon hearing this.

"Good bye then Tsurumi-chan, be a good girl and try not to be a burden while I'm away." I then proceeded to walk out.

"Bye bye… please come back home soon… papa"

I felt my face flush red. I heard Yukinoshita react with surprise. I proceeded to close the door and walk away before they notice my embarrassment.

Uh… Did… did I heard that right? Did she just address me as… No I must have misheard what she said there's no way she said something like that.

Thoughts of that goodbye spin around my head as I went my way home.


Author Notes:

First of all I would like to thank everyone who read, reviewed, and followed my work.

By this chapter you probably now have an idea on what I'm doing here. I made this fanfic with the what-if scenario about the three of them acting like a family. This will tackle on the theme of adapting to a role of a parent and all that comes with it when fate forces it upon you. But as soon as I wrote this down I suddenly realized a huge problem.

How do I get the three of them to stay together?

In order for this premise to work I needed a series of contrived events to lead to this moment. Trying to achieve this scenario while preserving their character as much as possible proved difficult as some of you have mentioned that they seem to be out of character. Yes I admit that I did get a little carried away because of a certain manga that inspired me. But everything else is intentional. I needed them to be emotionally conflicted as soon as possible to counter their highly logical thinking. Planting an emotional attachment to make a connection through bonding should somewhat delay the obvious action of "Handing over little Rumi-chan to the police".

Have I convinced you yet? No? Sigh Oh well…. Bear with me here at least I'm trying.

Updates will come weekly. Hope I still have your attention after all of this. Till next time.