Shintaro studied each of the children closely from the pictures that the adoption agent had given him and his wife. None particularly stood out as being correct for their new family. It wasn't until he'd come upon a set of pictures-paper clipped together-that something finally sparked.

The first image in the bundle was of a young girl, no older than ten, with short, choppy jade colored hair and piercing coal colored eyes. She looked as if she had had hard life and her eyes held a sense of profound calmness that Shintaro hadn't even seen in people his own age. The second, again no older than ten, was a dark haired boy with big, wonder-filled golden eyes. His cheeks were slightly pink and his eyes looked glossy as if he were about to cry. Then, the third (and final) image was of a blonde haired, golden eyed, boy with a mischievous grin that would put the Cheshire cat to shame.

These three caused Shintaro to stop. He stared at the pictures for what seemed like a long time before finally saying something.

"Ayano?" he asked in a hushed tone that he realized late was unnecessary.

When no reply came, he glanced over at her in the seat beside his. She smiled at the pictures, her eyes sparkling as they had when he first suggested they adopt.

Ayano was sterile. She tried her best to keep her sorrow hidden... however, there were times when she couldn't. She wanted so badly to be a mother and it killed Shintaro to have to see her as she agonized over the possibility of her dream never happening.

That was when he suggested they adopt children. If it meant he could help her fulfill that dream of hers, he was willing to sit through hours of paperwork to do so.

"Shintaro..." Ayano spoke quickly, still examining the faces, her smile growing ever wider, "Can we meet these ones?"

Shintaro watched his wife for a little bit longer before nodding and sliding the stack of pictures back together, leaving the paper clipped ones on top. The door behind them opened and the agent walked in her heels clicking on the hardwood floor.

"So..." she began, smiling pleasantly at the couple, "Were there any you'd like to interview?"

"Yes, actually..." Shintaro stated, holding the three children's images out to her, "these three." He watched as she blinked momentarily in confusion, probably surprised that the couple had finally found, not one but three, children they we're interested in. The woman nodded and took the papers, quickly shuffling through to see who the candidates were.

"Oh..." she frowned, "Sir, I would advise you to keep looking... these three... are..." However, Shintaro didn't let her finish the thought, feeling Ayano's shoulders droop beside him.

"We'd like to meet these three, is that a problem?" He could tell that his wife had perked up slightly at this, waiting for an answer. The woman cleared her throat and regained her composure.

"Not at all, when would you like to schedule the interview?"

"As soon as possible." This seemed to surprise the woman again and she blinked before nodding and pulling out her tablet, tapping the screen a few times and swiping through something that Shintaro presumed was a calendar.

"Would tomorrow afternoon work? There is an opening at four o' clock." She glanced up from the screen to see their faces. Ayano was the one to confirm this time with a nod of her head.

"Th-That'll be fine," she said, unusually stumbling through her words. She was more tense than normal and Shintaro assumed it was because her nerves were getting the best of her. He glanced over at her before he turned back to the adoption agent who nodded.

"Alright... here's the address, please be there a few minutes early so that the children won't be waiting for you. You'll interview all three together and you'll be allotted twenty minutes to ask questions and decide if you want to adopt them." She handed Shintaro a small, white business card with the words, Katashi Daisuke Orphanage printed in silver lettering followed by the address and phone number of said orphanage.

Shintaro stood, putting the card into his jacket pocket and bowing slightly to the agent; Ayano followed suit, bowing rather stiffly.

"Thank you for your help." With that, they left the building, Ayano sighing with relief as they exited out onto the front steps.

"That was so nerve-wracking!" she exclaimed, resting a hand in her chest above her heart, "I was so nervous that there wouldn't be any that we would want to meet!" She smiled and looked at her husband, "But I was wrong! I'm so excited for tomorrow!" She skipped a few steps ahead of him and turned around grinning from ear to ear-the happiest he'd seen her in a while-and practically bounced back to him.

He couldn't help but smile as he watched her, letting her hold his hand as she skipped beside him.

The next day, both Shintaro and Ayano got off work early, meeting back at their house before heading to their appointment. Ayano checked her watch almost obsessively, jittering as though she had all the energy in the world.

"Calm down... you'll make yourself sick if you're not careful..." Shintaro sighed, glancing to look at her. She seemed as though she was ignoring him but he figured that she just wasn't paying attention as she excitedly stared out the windows, pointing at small things along the way.

He had to admit, they'd never been in this part of the city and that sense of adventure got to him a little too. When he saw the sign with the name of the orphanage, he turned down the narrow drive and as they exited a patch of trees that hung over the road, the building came into view.

The building was massive and was made of red brick with stairs leading up to the door which was nestled inside a large archway. The black haired male sighed, it looked like any orphanage you'd see in films or on TV. Shintaro parked the car in a spot close to the entrance and looked over to see his brown haired companion as she quickly climbed out of the car, each step of hers bouncing like the ground were a trampoline. He shook his head, trying hard to not smirk at how adorable she was and got out of as well, shutting the door behind him.

Ayano came quickly over to her husband's side and linked her arm with his, interlacing their fingers. He locked the car with his free hand and let himself be nearly dragged inside to the interview.

As they entered, they were directed to a counter that separated the lobby from the rest of the orphanage. A few women bustled about in an enclosed office area behind the counter but none seemed to notice the couple standing patiently at the counter. After a few minutes, Shintaro checked his own watch, seeing that they still had a fair amount of time before the appointment.

When he looked up again, a woman had appeared at the counter and he jumped slightly, not having heard or seen her move. She smiled calmly and politely, pulling a large, leather bound notebook onto the counter.

"Hello, do you have an appointment today?" Ayano practically gave herself whiplash as she nodded.

"Y-Yes! Mr. and Mrs. Kisaragi, we have an appointment for four?" she ended her statement with a sort of question, making sure the appointment was indeed scheduled. The woman began flipping through pages of her book, searching for the name and that was when Shintaro had begun to fill with dread.

He'd offered to make her feel better... but when he really thought on it, he wasn't a people person, let alone a kid person... Was he even ready to be a father? He knew Ayano and him had tried before... but was he capable of raising kids? His brow furrowed and his expression darkened, thinking of all of the reasons it was a bad idea for him to be a father. He looked over at his wife and sighed; she was nearly climbing onto the counter, standing on her toes and leaning on her arms to try and see the book that the woman was still flipping through.

Finally, the page turning stopped.

"Ah, here you are..." the woman said, smiling at Ayano though it looked a bit strained. Ayano grinned, removing herself from the counter and looking over at Shintaro. He nodded and looked at the worker.

"Th-Thank you..." he offered, attempting to give a smile as well but daily ultimately.

Luckily, it didn't seem to faze the woman and she bowed, gesturing for them to follow her down the hallway to a small, well lit room. Inside were a table and three chairs, two on the side closest the door and one opposite them. Ayano frowned.

"Um!" She managed to catch the worker's attention before the woman left, "C-Could we get a couple more chairs?"

"Of course, I'll bring them in a minute." Then, with another pleasant smile, the woman left.

Shintaro pulled her chair out for her-slightly awkwardly-and then sat himself. She was almost vibrating but he could have sworn that he was shaking worse.

What do I do if they hate me? was the only thought running through his mind as they waited. He found himself checking his watch, counting down the minutes until the official start if the interview, and tapping his foot obnoxiously. Ayano grabbed his hand in hers, using her other hand to stroke the back of his.

"Are you nervous, Shintaro?" Her voice was soft and gentle, that beautifully calm and pure voice that he loved. He let out a breath.

"K-Kinda..." This surprised Ayano but again, her demeanor simply changed to one of gentle caring.

"Well, I am too... We'll get through this together, yeah?" She smiled up at him and carefully placed a kiss on his cheek to help reassure him. He flushed a deep red color and turned his face away from her, hiding his embarrassment. She giggled and turned back to sit straight in her seat, still holding onto his hand and for that, he was glad.

It wasn't more than a few minutes later that the door opened behind the two of them and a sense of deja vu washed over Shintaro. He expected the woman to walk in with the extra chairs but instead three sets of light footsteps made their way into the room and surprised, Shintaro turned to look at the children.

The three stood huddled together at first, none of them taking the single chair on the other side of the table but after some hushed words, the green haired girl climbed into the seat and the two boys stood on either side of her, much like bodyguards. However, Shintaro thought, she doesn't look like she needs their protection.

It was true; the small girl had a strong jawline and sharp eyes that could've sent a grown man running. Her eyelashes were long and she avoided eye contact at first, glancing at everything in the room before resting her eyes on Shintaro and Ayano. She studied them for a minute before huffing and looking over at the blonde boy on her right and leaning close to him, whispering something in his ear.

The blonde had eyes that were just as sharp as the girl's except for the fact that his didn't hold the same deep calm, instead they held a sense of chaos and... something else? Shintaro couldn't tell what it was... but it was almost unsettling.

The boy's hair was choppy as well but in a way that was much different from the girl's-as though it were purposefully longer on one side of his face. His irises we're cat-like and he watched the couple for a brief moment before reaching behind the chair and tapping the other boy on the shoulder.

The third child... looked so innocent and pure... Shintaro had a hard believing he could've been grouped with the other two. The black haired boy's eyes glistened as they had appeared to in the picture and his face was scrunched up slightly, probably to keep himself from crying.

The blonde boy got his attention and whispered something to him similarly to how the girl had. The black haired child nodded, face softening a little before glancing nervously over at Ayano and then at Shintaro.

Shintaro, having been watching this exchange, didn't notice Ayano as she smiled at them.

"Hello there," Ayano began, "My name is Ayano Kisaragi and this is my husband, Shintaro..." She gestured to him and Shintaro nodded, not wanting to speak and mess up anything for his wife.

The three nodded in unison and watched the brunette woman as she absent-mindedly fiddled with the papers in front of her.

"Can I know your names?" she asked sweetly, wanting desperately for them to trust her.

"Shuuya." The blonde was the first to speak and Shintaro noticed that the boy's expression had considerably changed. The scowl was gone and it was obvious that he was the trickster of the group by the way his eyes shone.

"Tsubomi." The girl spoke second, adverting her gaze as much as possible. Her cheeks were puffed out slightly and were even tinted softly.

"K-Kousuke..." The second boy shook gently as he let his quiet voice trail off. He kept his eyes on the table and didn't look up.

"Well!" Ayano beamed, slapping the table and scaring the children into looking at her, "O-Oops!" She giggled, grinning sheepishly, "Well, it's nice to meet you, Shuuya, Tsubomi, and Kousuke."

The three blinked at their names being used and looked at one another before small smiles lit their faces.

A/N: Hi! Sorry it's been awhile since I posted/updated anything but my good friend and I have decided to start this project... I found an image while searching around for wallpapers that was of Shintaro and Ayano with the baby mekameka trio and it made my heart melt~!

So, we thought it'd be super cute to write about this as an AU where Shinshin and Ayano adopt the three and raise them as their children. I haven't been this inspired in some time (hence the lack of updates) and it felt so wonderful to write this~

Obviously, this will be multi-chapter and will follow this quirky little family's escapades!

It'll be super fluffy and adorable, they may even go through some hard times, I don't know yet~

Also, I wrote this on a notepad on my phone so I'm surprised that it came out so long! However, that also means there may be some mistakes that I didn't catch when I reviewed it. If there are, please comment nicely and tell me so that I can fix them.

But either way, I hope you enjoyed reading and please don't forget to review-maybe even suggest what could happen! I love hearing your comments and opinions! Thank you so much for reading and please stick around for the rest of this fluff~