(Flashback)

Asahina came home after a long day to find Isaka sitting on their couch staring at his laptop with a troubled look on his face. Asahina didn't know what was bothering him but he decided to make his presence know. "I'm home."

Isaka quickly shut his laptop and looked over to Asahina. "Welcome home."

Asahina wanted to ask what was wrong but decided against it and waited until dinner was prepared. The entire time Asahina kept a watchful eye on Isaka as he stared at his laptop and looked at documents in a manila folder, Asahina couldn't tell if this was work related or not.

"Dinner's ready," Asahina said to Isaka who snapped out of what he was doing and came to the table.

After a few moments, Asahina was about to speak up and ask what was wrong before Isaka for once beat him to the punch and asked. "Asahina, how do you feel about children?"

Asahina was surprised at the question, so much so that it showed on his face. "I…I'm sorry?"

"How do you feel about children?" Isaka repeated.

Asahina cleared his throat. "Well, I am fond of them…"

Isaka nodded at the statement. "How would you feel if we adopted a child of our own?"

Asahina blinked at the statement in shock. "Huh?"

Isaka stared at him dead in the eye. "Would you be willing to raise a child with me?"

"Of course, I will but Ryuuichirou-sama, I need some context for why you're asking me so suddenly," Asahina said getting uncharacteristically flustered.

Isaka then got up from the table before motion Asahina to follow him to their couch before sitting down and handing him an employment file. Asahina opens it to find one of their old employees, a young African American woman who had a six-month contract with them as an editing translator for their manga, literature, and anime department.

"Harper-san?" Asahina asked looking confused at the file "Why did you have this file pulled? She hasn't been with us for a year now."

"She's dead," Isaka said bluntly. Asahina stopped talking before carefully putting the file down as Isaka continued.

"She died two months after she left the company due to illness. She had a husband and a seven-year-old daughter at the time, but her husband abused their daughter physically and mentally. Her daughter is currently in the hospital because of the extreme abuse she's suffered." Isaka said quietly.

Asahina, who as slightly horrified, asked. "What about the husband?"

"The coward killed himself so he wouldn't have to face both American and Japanese abuse charges," Isaka replied bitterly "Harper-san has no family and her husband's family doesn't want her. They plan to ship her back to America and put her in their foster care system when she's deemed healthy enough to fly."

Asahina sat back taking in everything Isaka had just said, before asking. "What's the little girl's name?"

Isaka opened his laptop and showed Asahina a picture a small girl wearing all black smiling brightly under a cherry blossom tree. "Her name is Sapphire Harper. She's currently nine-years-old."

"How's her condition?" Asahina asked staring at her picture.

"Not good," Isaka sighed "She was malnourished, severely dehydrated, was covered in bruises and had a small arm fracture. I heard she's psychically getting better day by day, but mentally…she's broken."

Asahina swallowed a lump that formed in his throat before looking over to Isaka and asking. "What the process for adopting her?"

Isaka was caught off guard by Asahina for a moment before nodding. "Since she's American we have to follow American standard for adoption. Lucky for us, same-sex couples can adopt children."

"What about her biological father's family?" Asahina asked, "Will they try and claim her later?"

"They might," Isaka sighed "In America, the biological family has three years to claim her but given the fact they abandon her here, I don't think they'll try and claim her anytime soon."

Asahina nodded. "I'll help you with the paperwork."

"Asahina," Isaka said quietly before looking him dead in the eye. "Are you ready to start a family with me?"

Asahina went silent momentarily before responding. "Yes. Yes, I am."

"Good, now get your laptop and call my lawyer," Isaka ordered. "We've got work to do."