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Kanayomi - Babysitting

"...And finished," Nikei sighed with a smile, finally taking his hands off the keyboard. He had been working on another article, this one being about the recent changes to a border policy and his tips on how to prepare for it, and he had just finished it.

After he checked it over and finally posted the article to his news website, he sat back with a sigh of relief. He had been working on this article for hours, and now he was getting hungry. He'd get money over time from donations, ad revenue, Hope's Peak's student plan, and the pay from the website host that published his article for letting their site get traffic, so he checked his band account to see how much he had.

Unfortunately, he could see that he had enough money to pay his bills, but he would most likely be having another small meal tonight. "Damn it, I need to get more money..." he grumbled. "But how...? Well, whatever. I need food."

With that declaration, he left his dorm and went to the small convenience store nearby. From there, he picked up a small bento from the food money he had put aside, but he noticed something on the wall before he left the store. It was a job posting for a babysitter wanted, not too far from where he lived.

A few days after contacting the parent that night, Nikei stood on the front doorstep and pressed the doorbell. He had gotten hired for babysitting their children, but since they ended up having triplets, he was going to work for another babysitter that contacted them. Nikei agreed to cooperate with this, and the pay was high.

The door opened, and Nikei was surprised to see his classmate, Kanade, standing on the other side. "Oh, Kanade? Are you the other babysitter?" he asked.

"Oh good, you did show up! I thought I was going to have to take care of these little imps alone," the guitarist giggled, letting Nikei enter the house. "She mom left ten minutes ago, she didn't bother waiting for you."

"Well, that's just great. As long as I get my pay though, I'll keep my mouth quiet about that." Nikei hung up his coat and hat as he looked around. "Where are the kids?" he questioned.

"She had me put them down for a nap before she left. God knows how long that's going to last though," Kanade shrugged. "Anyway, let's watch some TV before the brats wake up."

Nikei agreed, though he stopped by the kitchen to get a drink of water before he joined the smaller girl on the couch. They turned on a channel that had a TV show explaining how things were made playing. 

So far, Nikei didn't have to do anything since the children were all asleep, he could relax on the couch and get a feel for the house he was to work in. All the journalist could hope was that when the children woke up, his sanity wouldn't be completely depleted.

Unfortunately, his mental state was still put through the wringer when the three toddler triplets woke up, wondering where their mom was and starting to cry loudly. Nikei carried two of the children and brought them to the living room to supervise, and Kanade transported one of them there before leaving to get snacks for them.

Nikei was busy trying to calm all three and bribing them with watching TV by the time that Kanade came back with snacks. All three of them started gravitating towards her, and Nikei huffed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Why do they behave for you?" he quietly whined.

"Experience babysitting Hibiki," Kanade replied bluntly, distributing the snacks to the children. She then put on her best fake-happy face and started saying overly excited things like, "Alright, who wants to watch a movie now?"

A few hours later, the mom came back to see Nikei and Kanade both mentally battered and trying their best to keep up with the children. She paid the two for their effort and sent them away, thanking them as they left.

"Gah, this is going to stain my vest, isn't it...?" Nikei griped, looking down at himself in disappointment.

"At least you're not the one who's going to have to wash your hair twenty times," Kanade complained. "Not only did they pull my hair with their sticky little fingers, but spilling apple juice on me would get them drop-kicked if I wasn't in control of my temper."

"Well, at least we got paid," the journalist grumbled, holding up the cash payment he received. "I am never babysitting for that house again."

"Agreed."

The two of them parted ways and Nikei went back home. Thankfully, the money meant that he could get a bigger meal that night, so at least a fuller stomach was what he ended up with for his and Kanade's troubles.