"What to do, what to do?" Shuichi asked himself as he tossed and turned in his nest of pillows and blankets.

"If I can't avoid dinner, maybe I should just eat as fast as I can? Hinata would let me be excused early right?" Shuichi wondered, unaware of his own increasing volume.

"What if Junko notices and decides she's not going to let get away that easy?" He countered himself, his confidence dwindling.

Knock knock

"Shuichi honey, dinner's ready." The calm voice of Nanami called out from the other side of the door.

"Oh man, already?" Shuichi mumbled to himself, his mind unable to convince his body to get up. "I'll be right there!" He yelled out, lying through his teeth.

Silence from outside his door. A tense silence hung in the air for a minute as neither Shuichi or Nanami moved an inch. A soft sigh broke the stalemate, followed by the gentle creaking of the door opening as Nanami stepped inside the bedroom.

Nanami took a seat by the foot of the bed, Shuichi remaining motionless as he gawked at his caretaker.

"What's wrong kiddo?" Nanami gently asked, already knowing the source of Shuichi's troubles. How could she not hear Junko scream bloody murder a few hours ago? She agreed with her boyfriends in calling it karma from what Hajime has told her.

Shuichi sighed, feeling foolish that he thought he could simply hide in his room forever. Unless…

"Do I have to eat dinner tonight?" He asked in desperation. "I can just stay up in my room and play more Ace Attorney. I beat the first game today and I think I can get a good head start on the second-" His plea to Nanami was cut off with a quiet hush.

"As fun as being the Ace Attorney is, even the best lawyers need to recharge their batteries with a good meal." Nanami reasoned.

"I know Junko can be scary, trust me kiddo I'd avoid her too if I could. But she's not going to hurt you, that I can promise." Nanami knew she couldn't fully stop Junko from scaring him again if she really wanted to, but saying that right now would be counterproductive.

Shuichi groaned in defeat, turning his back away from her. Nanami smiled to herself as a foolproof plan formulated in her mind.

"Well, how about we come to a compromise then?" Nanami offered as she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "If we can get through dinner with our special guest tonight and we can go celebrate with ice cream."

Shuichi slowly turned back around to face her as he considered her plan.

"From the place by the library?" He confirmed as a barrage of recent memories of the triad treating him to a small ice cream parlor in town playing in his mind.

"The one and only." Nanami laughed.

Another silence, this one broken before the awkwardness could sink in.

"… Can I get two scoops?" Shuichi quietly asked, much to Nanami's relief.

"Of course sweetie." She rustled his soft hair a second before getting back on her feet. "But first we have to eat dinner." She extended her hand out to the boy. "Now let's go downstairs, we wouldn't want dinner to go cold now, do we?"

Shuichi took a deep, calming breath before hopping off his bed and taking Nanami's hand. Junko may scare him, but he'd deal with a dozen Junko's if that meant getting mint chocolate chip ice cream out of it.

On second thought, the idea of twelve Junko Enoshima's in one room sounds like the premise of a horror movie. A nightmare he wouldn't dare wish on even his most fiendish enemy.

-
As Shuichi and Nanami descended the stairs down to the dining room, the clanking of plates and silverware rang out from the hallway. Shuichi peaked from behind Nanami, seeing that Junko had already taken a seat at one edge of the narrow table, too focused on her expensive cell phone to help Komaeda and Hinata set the table.

The delicately savory smell of the salmon hit Shuichi's nostrils as he entered the room. The pan holding the fish resting at the center of the table besides helpings of steamed vegetables and rice. It all looked and smelled divine, quality home cooked meals being another aspect of life Shuichi was unaware he was missing until he experienced it firsthand. Hinata was pouring four glasses of expensive looking red wine at the other end of the table, taking a big gulp from one of the glass cups before topping it back up again. Komaeda set plates on the table with utmost perfection, the table resembling something out of a catalog.

"Perfect timing!" Komaeda exclaimed, greeting his girlfriend with a gentle kiss as Shuichi helped himself to a seat by the other end of the table, Hinata having staked his seat at the head of the table. A glass of milk was placed in front of Shuichi, Shuichi turning around to face a relaxed Hinata.

"Thank you, Hinata" Shuichi spoke with utmost courtesy before taking a sip of milk.

Hajime smiled before taking his seat, Nanami and Komaeda following as Komaeda sat across from Shuichi, Nanami seating herself to the right of her foster son. Junko had not as much as coughed as she sat motionless in her chair, much to Shuichi's relief. Shuichi's less than subtle watching of their guest was sound tracked by the clanking of silver wear as everyone else grabbed the food in the middle of the table.

Suddenly, Junko scoffed before putting down her phone and stared directly at Shuichi.

"Did Hajime not teach ya it's rude to stare?" Junko venomously spat.

"N-no" Shuichi recoiled before averting his eyes to Nanami who was filling his plate for him. She was muttering rather strong language under her breath before stopping to give him a sympathetic smile.

"Junko." Hinata sternly called out. "Watch your tone with Shuichi. He apologized already, lay off of him. In fact I don't remember YOU apologizing for scaring him first."

Junko rolled her eyes at her manager, "Well I was going to until little Toshio over there got the jump on me." She rebutted.

"Toshio?" Shuichi asked himself, failing to piece together what she meant by that.

Komaeda awkwardly laughed. "Are you like this with Tsumugi?"

Anger flared within the supermodel before quickly suppressing it externally. "No, I am not thank you very much. In fact I'll have you know I'm a fucking fantastic mother. Tsumugi would never dare to challenge me like that anyway." She angrily defended herself.

GASP

As if on cue, all the adults stopped their conversation and turned their attention to the lone child at the table, who couldn't believe what he had just heard. Shuichi could not believe the woman before him was a parent. The concept of a potential little Junko Enoshima out there in the world filled Shuichi with dread, despair even.

"S-sorry" Shuichi apologized, uneasy with all the attention on him as he turned towards Junko. "You have a kid?" He bluntly asked without actually looking at her.

Enoshima laughed, easing the tension in the room.

"That's right, I have a daughter that's about your age." She paused. "How old are you again?"

"S-six. I'll be seven soon though." He confirmed.

"Awe you two are the same age then!" She cooed with sudden excitement.

"Hey Hajime we should like, arrange a playdate or something!" She suggested, ignoring the fact that Hinata was still clearly annoyed at her. "I think they'll get along great, I mean they both have blue hair so they already have something to bond over."

"I'm not quite sure it works like that." Komaeda pointed out.

"Like you would know, did you ever befriend another kid with white hair?" Junko chided.

"Well, N-no." Komaeda responded, cut off before he could further explain himself.

"Exactly, so I think my judgment on who my sweet little Tsumugi would like is more valid than your lonely ass."

Komaeda frowned, but opted to keep his thoughts to himself for now. Junko turned her attention back at Shuichi as he was scarfing down his rice.

"You know Shuichi I actually had a question I wanted to ask you." Junko revealed.

His stomach churned, unsure as to what she would want to know from a kid like him.

"You look familiar." She stated. "Not you exactly, but you resemble someone I used to know. Does the name Kyoko have any meaning to you?"

Shuichi's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. How did she know Auntie?

"Junko what are you trying to do?" Nanami demanded.

"What, am I not allowed to ask an innocent question?"

"Um, I have an Auntie Kyoko. Her last name is Kirigiri'' Shuichi revealed. He could tell by gleam in Junko's eyes that he gave her the last piece of whatever puzzle she was putting together in her head.

"Holy shit you're Kirigiri's nephew? I thought I saw the resemblance." Junko said as she studied the timid boy. "You're not all… robotic like her though. You're already more in tune with your emotions then she ever has been."

"Maybe don't insult his aunt?" Hinata warned.

"Hey I was giving the kid a compliment. I never hated Kyoko at all, even if she was a wet blanket." Junko said as she ate another bite of the salmon Nagito had painstakingly cooked.

Shuichi lacked the proper courage to speak up right now. He had to agree in saying his Aunt Kyoko wasn't exactly open with her emotions until the incident happened. Before this mess with his father she had always been unwavering in her stoicism. Her feelings were unreadable as she wore her calm and collected presence as if they were like her gloves. But Shuichi has seen his aunt without her gloves before. He knew the scars of the past she carried with her. He knew she wasn't one to get distracted by the pain.

"Speaking of which, how come you're staying here and not with her?" Junko asked. She knew the twerp's dad was in prison right now, but that was about the only detail Hajime would tell her. Up until now she didn't care enough to pry deeper.

The room fell into a deadly silence. Hinata glared dangerously at his client, who paid him no mind as she stared directly into Shuichi's soul. Komaeda and Nanami looked at one another, hoping the other one would speak up first.

"It's none of your business, Junko." Nanami spoke up with rare assertiveness.

"Just because I can't stay with Auntie that doesn't mean she doesn't love me." Shuichi interrupted by paraphrasing what his aunt told him before meeting the triad. He had asked himself that same question before if he was being honest. It didn't make the sting of hearing someone else ask hurt any less.

Junko leaned back into her seat, pondering for a moment. "Sorry for getting nosy." She apologized with suspicious sincerity.
"It's just when you hear about one of your former classmates having juicy family drama it's hard for me to just ignore it." Junko gently shook her wine glass before finishing the remaining Cabernet in one gulp. "At least you can rely on her to do the right thing. As boring as that is." Junko grabbed the wine bottle besides Komaeda and poured herself another glass, ignoring his bewildered face. Instead, she turned her attention back to Shuichi, daring him to break her gaze.

"Your aunt and uncle were in my graduating class in high school. I can't deny they're good people. Your uncle being especially… hopeful." The way Junko said "hopeful" was venomous, but she carried on. "Sounds like they haven't changed one bit. Lucky you, kid." Junko looked around at the triad that was now all staring at her. "They left you in capable hands. Hajime here's the only manager I've ever had I can like, rely on."

And just like that, Junko managed to both create and ease the tension in the room at her whim.

"How long have you known Hinata?" Shuichi asked, trying to piece together everyone's timeline.

"Junko was in the class under ours." Hinata answered. "To this day I'm not entirely sure as to why she hung out with us, but I met her my junior year if I'm not mistaken." Hinata explained.

"How'd you meet her though?"

Hinata paused. "Detention." He admitted.

"Detention?" Shuichi asked in awe.

"I got into a fight with some upper class man." Hinata winced at his attempt to punch that Juzo guy. The same Juzo who carried the "Ultimate Boxer" title. "Not my proudest moment that's for sure."

Shuichi had no idea Hinata was the type to get into fights, but he imagined the other guy must have had it coming. Was this the only fight he got in? He now had so many new questions.

"What was Hinata like in high school?" Shuichi asked, choosing what he thought to be the simplest question. He looked over at Hinata who now screamed total panic in his eyes. More surprising, both Komaeda and Junko shared a mischievous grin as they looked at one another. Nanami playfully rolled her eyes before getting up from her seat.

"I think our yearbooks are down in the library." She stated as she walked over to the hallway.

"Chiaki please." Hajime pleaded, his face turning beet red. "Don't."

"What's so funny?" Shuichi asked, unaware of the can of worms he just opened up.

"Oh you'll see." Komaeda grinned.

It only took Nanami a minute to return from the basement, yearbook in hand. A photo of a large school and the words Hope's Peak Academy 2009-10 gracing the cover.

"This was from the year the three of us graduated, our Senior year." Nanami explained as she handed the book over to the curious child. "Like Junko said your aunt and uncle were one year below us, their Junior year."

Shuichi glanced through the pages as he looked for the people he knew. He found the pages dedicated to that year's graduating class and hunted for any of his guardians. Carefully reading each name until he reached the "H's" he found the name Hajime Hinata. However the photo was of a boy with drastically long hair and a face devoid of all emotion. Had it not been for the same red and green eyes as the Hinata he knew Shuichi would think the names got swapped with someone else.

Junko took great pleasure in seeing Hajime squirm in his seat as Shuichi gawked at his high school picture.

"What's wrong?" Junko mocked. "Thought you could keep Izuru buried forever?"

"Actually yes, I did." Hajime admitted as he put his head in his hands. "Clearly that was a mistake on my end."

"I told you so." Nanami dead panned as she finished her plate.

As Junko and Komaeda shared laughs, Shuichi was failing to see the humor in any of this. Frankly he didn't understand what any of this meant in the first place.

"Who's Izuru?" Shuichi asked.

Hinata groaned as he tuned out his client's laughter. "In high school I tried being someone I wasn't. I went by a different name, Izuru." Hinata reluctantly explained before glaring back at Junko. "Long story short, turns out I was having a severe identity crisis and I was in the hospital for a month trying to get it sorted out." While none of that was a lie, Hinata decided he can wait to tell Shuichi about his life-threatening mental breakdown when he's older.

"Ohhhhh. But why was it so funny?"

Hajime sighed. "Because Junko and Komaeda like to make bad jokes at my expense and don't know when to shut up."

"Love you honey." Komaeda blew a kiss over at his boyfriend, who in return subtly returned his gesture with a rather rude hand gesture of his own just out of sight of Shuichi under the table.

Shuichi had already moved away from Hinata in the book and found Komaeda, who's calm expression and wild hair had not changed one bit.

"I always loved this picture of you Komaeda" Nanami complimented after wiping her mouth.

"That garbage photo?" Komaeda blushed. "I look like I just fell out of bed, but I appreciate it."

Nanami brushed off Komaeda's refusal to take a compliment with a soft laugh.

"Oh yeah, I remember peak Twink Nagito." Junko reminisced.
"What's a twink?" Shuichi asked.

"Look in a mirror in like, ten years." Junko carelessly responded, resulting in a swift kick in the shin by Chiaki. Junko hadn't seen murder in her eyes before, and for the second time today she felt genuine fear.

"It's uh, nothing important." Hianata offered, desperate to change the subject. He grabbed the yearbook and quickly turned the page over to where Nanami's photo was. He placed the book back in front of Shuichi.

"See, I always loved Nanami's photo here." Hinata stated, hoping Shuichi wasn't stuck on Junko's poor phrasing as he pointed out his girlfriend in the book. Shuichi followed his finger and smiled.

Nanami wore her familiar kind smile in her photo. Her hair was about the same as it was now, if a little shorter. It amazed Shuichi how little Komaeda and Nanami have changed in the decade or so between when these pictures were taken and now. It just made "Izuru" that much more jarring to him. No matter how he tried, Shuichi just couldn't see Hinata with long hair.

"Ohmygawd, let me show you my picture." Junko exclaimed as she grabbed the book from Shuichi, flipping pages rapidly until she found herself. She handed the yearbook back to Shuichi, who recognized Junko from her unchanged blond hair and devious smile she wore like a mask. This younger version lacked the heavy bags under Junko's eyes but Shuichi was far too smart to say such a comment out loud.

Frankly he didn't focus on Enoshima for long, his eyes wandering down the page where he happened across Auntie Kyoko. He'd seen photos of her as a teenager before, but never her school photos. Her lack of a smile both reminded Shuichi of Hinata and left him with zero surprise. He could count the times Kyoko Kirigiri has given more than an insincere smirk for the camera on one hand. All of but one have Uncle Makoto with her in them. The other one being a snapshot from a vacation she and his father took when they were younger. The same photo where Shuichi thought he was looking in the mirror when seeing his father at a young age.

Lost in thought, a strong lavender scent dominated Shuichi's nostrils. The sudden sensory attack halted Shuchi's near mental spiral. He reluctantly looked behind him, meeting Junko face to face as she hovered over him. Shuichi recognized the scent as the model's obnoxious perfume.

"See, Kyoko looks like she watched a cat die as her photo was being taken." Junko called out as she stared at Kirigiri's drab photo.

"I'm not repeating my warning." Hinata barked, prompting Junko to finally heed his words and sit back down, much to Shuichi's relief. The smell of her perfume was starting to give him a headache as he involuntarily unclenched his tensing muscles.

Brilliant shades of red and orange paint the sky over the park bench Shuichi and his family sit on. Sandwiched between Nanami and Hinata, the faint chill creeping into the air was unnoticed between the abundance of body heat. It'll only be a matter of time before the leaves match the colors of the sky above.

Droplets of cold mint ice cream drip onto Shuichi's hand as he slowly eats from a waffle cone. As satisfying as two scoops are he realized far too late how messy all that ice cream could be. None of this putting a damper on his mood of course. He earned this ice cream after a day like today.

"You're not seriously considering that play date, are you Hajime?" Komaeda gasped, almost spilling his vanilla cone to the ground.

"I won't be able to avoid it now." Hinata sighed. Shuichi felt his appetite disappear as he listened in.

"Is Junko's daughter just like her?" Shuichi worked up the courage to ask.

"Well." Hinata paused. "She's polite and rather soft spoken." That alone was proof that this Tsumugi girl was at least not a complete Junko clone to Shuichi.

"From all accounts all she really does is watch anime and dress up like her favorite characters." Hinata continued, remembering how proud she was to show him and Junko her impressive Sailor Mercury last time he was over at Junko's apartment.

Shuichi frowned, realizing he may not be able to relate to this girl at all. Which is still marginally better than dealing with an annoying hell spawn.

"Who knows, maybe you'll wind up becoming friends!" Nanami enthusiastically suggested as her head remained down as she tended to her island in Animal Crossing.

"I don't know if I'd go that far but if we can't avoid this then we may as well go into it with high hopes." Komaeda stated.

Shuichi was still lost in thought. The more he considered meeting this Tsumugi girl the more questions he had. Questions that could only be answered by her in person.

"I'd be okay with meeting her." Shuichi decided. He just had to see for himself how Tsumugi wasn't like her mother at all. Maybe Nanami would be right and he could make a new, unexpected friend in the end.

"If you say so, buddy." Hinata responded, pulling out his cell phone from his pocket. "Whenever we do this play date, I'll teach you a bird call and that can be our cue to leave." Hinata half joked.

"Where was that plan at dinner?" Shuichi complained.

"Good question." Hinata winced. He knew he couldn't blame himself for today. Junko saw no need in formalities such as being invited over to someone's house before showing up. He knew he should have planned for this when Shuichi first started staying over but he foolishly thought he'd have more time to prepare.

"I do believe you'll like Tsumugi though." Hinata sighed. "If she was a mini-Junko I wouldn't be even considering the offer."

Shuichi still had an inkling of doubt inside him, but he had to take his word on this. Hinata has been infinitely more reliable for the truth since meeting him. As far as Shuichi is concerned Hinata and all three of his guardians earned his benefit of doubt.