Summary: The lives of a grown up Investigation Team, in which Yuu is preparing for the birth of his and Rise's daughter, Chie is keeping a secret from Yosuke, and Kanji has a very important question he needs to ask Naoto. Rated T for language.

A/N: I love this game with a fierce and bewildering passion – I originally planned it to be one big one-shot but decided better of it. Anyway, it's sort of cliché but I like it, and if you're perfectly okay with that, read on please!

Pairings: Yuu/Rise, Yosuke/Chie, Kanji/Naoto (dear mother of pearl I adore this paring), as well as some one-sided Yukiko/Yuu (fun, fun, fun)

Disclaimer: No, I don't own any of these characters.

Life as We Know It

Part One

"Need Some Sleep"

Monday, 18th December, 2018
(Early Morning)
Chie and Yosuke's Apartment

It was a chilly winter's morning, and the sun was yet to even rise over the small rural town of Inaba when Yosuke Hanamura was woken up by the sound of running water and splashing coming from his bathroom.

Hitching himself up on his elbows, he was instantly more awake when he saw his long-time girlfriend of three years, Chie Satonaka, standing in the doorway, skin pale as her overly large sweatshirt she slept in was drenched in sweat.

"Chie…?" Yosuke asked, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

She switched off the bathroom light and waved him off. "Don't get up."

Yosuke frowned. "That stomach bug again?"

Chie nodded before crawling back into their joint futon, her back turned against him.

"Sheesh, you've been like this for a week. You okay?" he asked, moving closer to her so that he could snake his arms around her waist.

She stiffened a little against him, but eventually Chie turned onto her back and smiled at him weakly. "I'll be fine."

Yosuke nuzzled into her neck. "You sure?" he asked quietly.

She wasn't, but Chie kept smiling anyway. "Mm-hmm…" she said vaguely. He was so sweet sometimes, she felt horrible for lying to him, but until she could figure out what was exactly was wrong with her, what else could she do?

"Good." He said. Chie then felt him smile against her skin. "…Hey… since we're up…" he trailed off, his hand trailing down and tugging at the hem of her shirt.

Chie sighed. Sweet, she thought – elbowing him sharply in the stomach, making him yelp – but so, so pervy.

Yosuke clutched his stomach. "Okay, okay," he said with a pained voice, "My bad – not a good time, huh?"

Chie rolled her eyes and tucked her head under his chin. "You think?" she muttered.

Yosuke sighed and hugged her closer. "Fine…" he said sulkily, making Chie giggle when she looked up and saw his face.

When he heard this, Yosuke grinned before pulling his head back a little to look at her carefully. "You sure you're okay…?" he asked again.

Chie's brown eyes softened. "Yeah… I am."

He hummed in approval and then gently pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes.

Chie looked at his face for a moment, biting her lower lip hesitantly.

"Um… Yosuke?" she asked.

One of his eyes opened. "Mm…?"

"Do you think… it'll always be like this?" she asked, barely able to keep the tremble out of her voice.

With both his eyes now open, Yosuke looked like he was thinking carefully. "Well… I guess I'd be lying if I said it'll always be like it is right now – things change, you know?"

Chie paled even further. "Y-yeah..."

He then shrugged and smiled at her again. "But, that doesn't mean I don't like the way they are right now – I'm pretty happy."

Chie felt her bottom lip quiver slightly, touched.

"What's with the questions?" he asked.

"Just… curious, 's all." She said lamely.

He blinked, confused. "So, you… you aren't breaking up with me or anything, right?"

Chie punched him in the shoulder to hide the fact that her hands were trembling, "No, stupid!"

Yosuke scowled through the new pain, all thoughts of sleep now forgotten. "Ow, dammit, woman!"

Meanwhile…
Tatsumi Textiles

Similarly, Naoto Shirogane woke up to the sound of a pair of heavy footsteps and a door steadily creaking open.

Yanking the blanket over her bare shoulders, Naoto then rolled over onto her back, eyes still closed, but, when she instinctively reached out for the familiar warmth next to her, she frowned when she grabbed a handful of sheets instead.

Slowly, dark blue eyes fluttered open, her eyebrows then knitted together when she turned her head and saw that the spot that was usually occupied at her side was empty.

Clutching the blanket over her chest, she sat up and saw that the door was open partway. Looking at the small digital clock on the nightstand, Naoto's frowned deepened.

Of course, it wasn't unusual for Kanji to wake up early, but even by his standards, five-thirty was pushing it a little.

For a moment, Naoto was tempted to bury herself under the covers for another two, or three hours, but, at the same time, she was curious as to why Kanji would want to sneak out so early.

Briefly scanning the room, her eyes landed on one of Kanji's buttoned-up shirts (a relatively new addition to his wardrobe) as it was carelessly bunched up at the foot of the bed. She reached out and pulled it on, rolling up the sleeves when she finished with the buttons.

Stretching out first, Naoto shivered slightly when her feet touched the cold hardwood floor before getting out of bed. The shirt fell down just above her knees when she stood up straight.

When she walked out of the bedroom, she heard an all-too familiar voice drift up from downstairs. Following it, she found a shirtless Kanji in the kitchen, standing with his back towards her, busy making himself a cup of tea as he spoke on his phone.

"Dude, I don't care if you gotta punch someone in the face, but last I heard you and me had a deal." He said trying to keep his voice low but sounding annoyed at the same time.

He paused and listened to the person on the other side, balancing his phone between his shoulders and his head while he stirred his tea.

"Hey, that's not my problem – I just want what I paid for."

He paused again, but this time, he set the mug down and groaned before running his hand through his dark hair.

"And exactly how much longer is 'a little longer'?" Pause. "Uh-huh… mmm… yeah, sure, that's fine." He sighed. "Whatever man, but I'm telling ya, if you don't have it ready by the time I come and get it, I'll deck you over that fancy counter of yours in a heartbeat. Okay. Sure, cheers."

When the call ended, he set his phone aside on the counter and removed his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sighed heavily again.

"You certainly have a way with words," Naoto commented dryly, making Kanji practically jump out of his skin and cursed loudly.

Half leaning against the doorframe, Naoto allowed her eyes to wander over his body before meeting his wide-eyed stare.

"N-Naoto," he then noticed that her legs were bare and openly gawked at them for a minute before his head shot up and his cheeks reddened magnificently.

"Good morning, Kanji-kun." She said casually, both amused and flattered at his reaction.

"Geez, you scared the life outta me," he managed after her recovered some of his composure.

Naoto smirked slightly. "I apologize, but to be fair, I wasn't expecting you down here so early – who was that, by the way?"

Something akin to raw panic flashed over Kanji's face. "Who was who?" he asked lamely.

"Whoever you were just speaking to on the phone," Naoto said, looking at him pointedly, gauging his reaction.

Kanji laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Y-you heard that, did ya? Nah, it's just someone I know. It ain't all that important."

Naoto raised an eyebrow sceptically as she stood up straight and walked over to him. "Given the currently time, there must be a good reason for the call – that, and by the look and sound of it, it must be somewhat important, you were quite adamant."

Kanji swallowed. "Yeah, w-well about the last part, the guy did call me up at five in the morning."

Naoto crossed her arms and went to stand right in front of him. "Yes, I suppose, but that doesn't explain why he called in the first place."

"Look, Naoto, just… trust me on this one. I know what it musta sound like, but it's nothing to worry about, promise." He said, looking down at her slightly with a weak smile.

Naoto sighed before standing on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. "If you say so, I'll trust your judgement."

Kanji visibly relaxed before his expression turned tender, his cheeks still a little flushed when he gently put his hands on her waist.

"So… um," he started in a low voice, "why are you up?"

"I heard when you get up and leave."

Kanji smiled apologetically, his thumb tracing a circle on her back. "Sorry 'bout that."

Naoto smiled back up at him. "That's quite alright. But, since it is still quite early, come back upstairs with me."

Kanji's reaction was odd, he looked away. "I can't – don't get me wrong, I sure as hell want to, it's just… well, you know, since I'm up and about already, I might as well set everything up before Ma wakes up. And I do have a lot of stuff I need to do."

Naoto looked at him suspiciously but didn't bother to call him out for babbling (an obvious sign that he was lying).

"Very well," she said, lowering her arms. "Then I'll see you for breakfast?"

If she looks disappointed, Kanji just looked conflicted for some reason.

"Yeah…" he said listlessly, almost reluctant when he let her go.

As Kanji watched her go back upstairs, he cursed himself quietly for not taking her up on her offer – his mind must have still been fried by the fact that she was wearing his goddamned shirt… he must not have been thinking straight.

But, then he shook his head. Priorities, Tatsumi, priorities, he reminded himself sternly.

Right...

No, the whole reason why he was even down there in the first place was because the stupid jeweller in Okina thought it was a good idea to call him when the damn sun wasn't even up yet. Not that Kanji knew much about jewellery (save for the few piercings he had when he was a teenager), of course, but even he was pretty sure that adding a few sapphires and refitting the ring Ma gave him shouldn't be taking as long as what it was.

The truth was, Kanji was getting jumpy – Ma kept pestering him about things like 'how' and 'when' and that she didn't want her future grandbabies born out of wedlock.

At that point, whenever she brought up any of that, Kanji had taken to purposely blanking it all out completely in order to save himself from freaking out any more than he already was.

Like, seriously, he didn't even know if Naoto wanted kids! …But, uh, before he could get to any of that, he needed to ask her to marry him first… and he couldn't exactly do that without a ring…

It was a, what did they call it again? Oh, yeah, it was a vicious cycle, or a conspiracy, or... whatever. Either way, he was screwed.

He stared at his mug of tea in front of him, and suddenly, it didn't seem nearly as good on idea. Kanji then wondered if it was too early to start drinking already.

Goddamn it all.

Elsewhere…
Narukami Residence

Rise Kujikawa-Narukami, as well as half the surrounding neighbourhood, was woken up when the shrill, mechanical squeal of an electric drill broke the predawn silence.

Sitting up, blinking wildly, Rise, now heavily pregnant, then laid back down again – she then turned onto her side and hitched her knees up to her swollen belly, covering her head with her husband's pillow in an attempt to drown the obnoxious sound out. Of course, it wasn't working quite as well as she hoped for.

It was way, way too early for this, the idol decided.

Bleary-eyed and groaning, Rise decided to bite the bullet and reluctantly got out of bed.

Wrapping her fluffy pink night gown around her, she headed down the hallways of their modest house and straight to the nursery where the noise was coming from.

Sighing, Rise mentally prepared herself for what she was about to find when she tentatively opened the door. When she did, she found Yuu standing in front of the opposing wall, still in his work clothes, drill in hand and with a look of thoughtful contemplation on his face.

"Senpai?" she said wearily, noticing that his silver hair stood up at odd angle and how he was in need of a shave by the look of the stubble beginning to grow on his jaw and cheeks.

Looking over his shoulder at his wife, Yuu grinned cheerfully enough.

"Rise-chan, good morning," he said, lowering the drill.

Rise rubbed her eyes. "When did you get back from your shift?"

"About…" he checked his watch. "…ten minutes ago."

"What are you doing?" she asked, drawing her nightgown tighter around herself.

"Shelves,"

"What…?"

"Shelves," he repeated and turned back to the wall. "The standing ones we had would have cluttered up the place too much, so, I thought this way would be better."

She blinked at him. "…And you thought this at six in the morning?"

Yuu shrugged nonchalantly. "They were bothering me." He said matter-of-factly.

Sighing softly, Rise then walked up behind him, putting her arms around his waist as she rested her chin on his shoulders.

"Mmm… Better how?"

Rise then wondered if she should have been encouraging his behaviour; there were times whether she genuinely wasn't sure if she should have been amused or concerned by it.

Unlike how most guys his age would have responded, Yuu was absolutely delighted when they learned about her pregnancy and took the whole thing in his stride. But, the problem soon came up that it wasn't so much that he was underprepared, but that he over-prepared.

He owned every baby book Yomenaido ever stocked and was in the process of buying out the book store in Okina. He had singlehandedly painted the entire baby room in a single night, assembled the highchair, crib and changing table without once consulting the manual, and, he even had Naoto tweak one of the baby monitors (there were five in total) so that it would deliver live feeds to his computer at the police station.

It was only because he was Yuu and not somebody else that Rise didn't haul him off to get him sedated already… though, as he began explaining why he was up at six in the morning putting up shelves, she couldn't say that she wasn't seriously tempted at times…

"Like this," he explained eagerly, "there's more space in here and they won't get in the way anymore."

"Fascinating," she said dryly. "…And, all of this couldn't have waited until morning?"

"You just said it was six." He said, as unflappable as always.

Rise rolled her eyes. "I meant at a reasonable time... preferably when it's light out."

"But they really were bothering me,"

"Yuu..."

He then changed his tone so that he sounded utterly and irresistibly sincere. "I am really sorry if I woke you up..."

Rise's apprehension crumbled and she sighed again. "You're not going to bed until you're done here, are you?" she asked, defeated.

He grinned wolfishly, "Nope."

"When does your next shift start?"

"Tomorrow,"

"Do you want coffee?"

"Black with extra cream, please and thank you."

Rise kissed his scruffy cheek. "I'll be right back," she said and eyed his drill suspiciously. "And be careful with that thing!"

Yuu laughed as she walked back to the door, and just as she closed it behind her, the sound of the drill filled the air once more.

End of Part One