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**Chapter 1: The Baby in the Basket**
Max Hayashi stared blankly at his computer screen. The cursor blinked like a silent reminder of the empty document he'd failed to fill for over an hour. His apartment was quiet, save for the occasional hum of traffic outside the window. The mess of papers and takeaway containers scattered around his desk was a testament to the chaos of his life. Max, a young man in his mid-twenties, was supposed to have everything figured out by now—work, love, success. But instead, all he had were failures stacked high enough to drown him.
First, there was the job. Fired twice in the past year, with nothing but rejection emails filling his inbox now. Then there was school—years of hard work only to end up with a degree that seemed worthless in the real world. And don’t even get him started on love. He had invested everything into a relationship with Saki, a woman he’d thought was the one, only to have it fall apart in the messiest way possible.
Sighing deeply, Max pushed back from his desk and stood. He needed fresh air, or at least the illusion of it. Maybe he would walk down to the convenience store and buy something to numb the disappointment that had become his daily companion.
Just as he opened the door to step outside, he froze.
There, sitting in front of his door, was a small wicker basket. Max blinked, unsure if the exhaustion was playing tricks on his mind. The basket, soft and white, had a thin blue blanket draped over the edge, and beneath it, nestled a small, squirming bundle. He crouched down cautiously, feeling his pulse quicken as he lifted the blanket.
A baby. A real, breathing, wriggling baby.
Max’s heart stopped for a second. The tiny boy looked up at him with wide, curious eyes, his little fists clenching and unclenching. Max’s brain scrambled to process what he was seeing. He glanced around the empty hallway, hoping that someone—*anyone*—was about to pop out and explain this bizarre situation.
No one came.
Then, his eyes fell on a folded piece of paper, tucked under the baby’s blanket. With shaking hands, Max unfolded it.
**"Max, this is your son."**
Max’s world tilted. *What?!* He skimmed the rest of the note in a frenzy.
**"I’m sorry for disappearing on you. Things got complicated. I need you to take care of him for a while. His name is Kota. I’ll be back soon. I promise. – Saki."**
Max slumped against the doorframe, the note fluttering to the floor. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. He hadn’t seen Saki in nearly a year, and she’d never mentioned… a baby?
He looked down at Kota, who was staring at him with wide, innocent eyes, completely unaware of the chaos his arrival had just caused. Max’s thoughts raced. How was this possible? How could *he* have a son? The last time he’d spoken to Saki, they’d been fighting over the phone, and she had left town without much of an explanation. Now, here he was—*with a baby?!*
Max swallowed hard. “Okay, Max, stay calm,” he muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. “This is… this is probably just a mistake. Yeah, that’s it. There’s no way she could just leave a baby—my baby—here like this.”
Kota let out a soft coo, as if sensing his father’s disbelief, and Max blinked. He stared at the tiny, delicate features of the baby, who was now waving his little arms in the air as if trying to reach for him.
“Oh no. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. I am not equipped for this,” Max muttered, but despite his panic, he found himself gingerly lifting Kota out of the basket. “Okay, buddy. Uh… first things first. I guess we need diapers? Bottles? Baby stuff?”
As he held Kota awkwardly in his arms, the baby’s small weight felt heavy with responsibility. Max felt a cold sweat break out across his forehead. This was the kind of situation you see in movies, where the unprepared guy is suddenly handed a baby and has to figure out how to be a dad. Only, in those movies, there was always a happy montage of him learning the ropes and becoming a great father. Max wasn’t feeling that optimistic.
The sudden realization that he couldn’t just ignore this situation settled over him. Saki was gone—no details, no explanation—and *he* was the one stuck holding the baby, literally.
Kota blinked up at him again, his tiny mouth forming a little "O" shape before letting out a high-pitched wail that pierced through the apartment like a siren.
“Oh god, no, no, no. Don’t cry. Please don’t cry!” Max pleaded, bouncing Kota awkwardly in his arms like he had seen people do in movies. “What do I do? What do you need? Are you hungry? Tired? I don’t know how this works!”
The baby’s cries only grew louder, echoing through the empty apartment. Max’s heart raced. He had no idea what to do. His panic reached new heights when he realized he didn’t even know where to *start* with taking care of a baby. No supplies, no knowledge, no clue how to be a father.
But despite his panic, Max couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of responsibility. This was *his* son. Kota. Even if Saki had dropped this bomb on him in the most unexpected way, the truth was right there in his arms—crying, fragile, and utterly dependent on him.
Taking a deep breath, Max rushed into his living room and grabbed his phone. “Google… how to take care of a baby,” he muttered, typing frantically. “Okay… okay… diapers. Bottles. Formula. Where do I even get this stuff?”
Suddenly, his phone buzzed, and Max glanced down to see a message from his best friend, Kenji.
**Kenji:** *Yo, wanna hit the bar tonight?*
Max stared at the screen, then down at Kota, who had momentarily stopped crying and was now staring at him with an adorably confused expression.
**Max:** *I think I just became a dad…*
The phone went silent for a moment before a string of question marks appeared from Kenji.
**Kenji:** *Wait, WHAT?!*
Max groaned and sank into his couch, the baby cradled awkwardly in his lap. “Yeah, man. I’m asking myself the same thing.”
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End of Chapter 1.
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