So here's an odd Tousaki AU thing? I'm not exactly sure how this came to fruition, but it did. Note: I am very aware that Hikari Kirishima did not die in childbirth; this is an AU so please be patient, yeah?
Standard disclaimer: I own nothing besides the 100000% fictitious plot.
"Haise you need to calm down."
Haise, who was pacing around the small hospital room, looked at his wife. Touka was lying on the bed with a pained expression, slowly rubbing her hands over her huge belly. He sighed and ran his hand through this two-toned hair. "I can't calm down, Touka… We've been here for hours and nothing has happened!"
Touka's hands paused as she watched her husband prowl. "Giving birth doesn't happen within an hour of setting foot in the hospital, Haise, you know that."
"I know that, but…" Haise's head snapped towards the door as it opened. The doctor walked in.
"Mrs. Sasaki," he greeted. He consulted his clipboard as the nurses helped Touka adjust to a more comfortable position. "If everything is as it's supposed to be, you should be able to have that baby within a couple hours."
Touka sighed, relieved. "Good, because I'm close to cutting it out myself."
She groaned as a contraction hit, trying to rub away some of the pain without hurting the baby. Immediately, Haise was at her side, brushing her hair from her face and letting her hold his hand in a death grip.
The doctor pulled on his gloves and sat on a stool while the nurses lifted Touka's legs so he could check her progress. Touka winced as he measured her dilation. He hummed thoughtfully.
"That's odd," he muttered. He checked again.
"What? What's odd?" Haise was on the verge of panicking. Touka clenched his hand painfully, silently telling him to be quiet.
"You've been in labor for the last four hours," the doctor explained, "but you haven't dilated beyond 5 cm."
"And I should be close to 10 cm by now, I take it," Touka finished matter-of-factly. The doctor nodded.
Haise looked between his wife and the doctor. "So what happens now?"
The doctor stood up and peeled off the soiled gloves, dropping them in the waste basket, before answering. "The baby needs to come out soon or there will be severe complications for both the mother and child." He motioned to the nurse; she raced out of the room. "We'll have to perform an emergency cesarean."
With that the doctor nodded and left the room to prepare for the surgery.
Touka looked at her husband, pale faced and staring after the doctor blankly. She sighed and tugged on his hand until he turned back to her. "Stop freaking out. A C-section isn't the end of the world, you know."
"But isn't it risky to have one?" Haise looked down at his wife, worried.
"Having a baby itself is risky, Haise," she reminded him. "I told you that my mother died giving birth to my brother."
"I know," he sighed, resting his free hand on her belly. "But you and this baby are all I have."
The doctor returned and nodded to the couple. "Are you ready?"
Touka nodded and patted Haise's hand. Two nurses gently pushed him aside and rolled the bed from the room to the surgery room, Haise following close behind.
In the room Touka was hooked up to various machines, beeping as they monitored her vitals; the light blue partition shielded her body from view. She watched as the doctor scrubbed his hands clean, the nurses putting on the gloves for him and tying a surgical mask around the bottom half of his face. She suddenly became dizzy and clumsily turned her head to see another nurse injecting anesthesia into her IV.
Haise sat on a stool next to her head, dressed in light blue scrubs, and held her hand. He was worried when her eyes lost focus and fluttered closed, but her breathing remained normal and unlabored. The doctor announced he was beginning and Haise peeked around the partition just in time to see the doctor's scalpel make a precise slice across his wife's lower belly. A wave of nausea rolled over him and he went back to brushing the hair from Touka's sweaty face; he didn't look around the partition again.
Until a piercing wail sounded in the room fifteen minutes later. Touka opened her eyes slowly when the sound came from beside her head. She turned and looked at the newborn covered in traces of blood and vernix; it was a boy. Another wave of dizziness washed over her and her eyes closed again. The nurse took the baby away to clean him, Haise watching her every move.
Touka heard hushed voices around her and peeled her eye open, wincing slightly at the brightness of the overhead lights. Groggily she rolled her head to the side and searched for the owners of the voices. She found her husband sitting beside the bed holding her hand, talking to whoever was there. Lightly she squeezed his hand to get his attention.
Haise jumped slightly. He cut off his sentence to look at his wife. When he saw her awake, he smiled widely. "How do you feel?"
"Like shit," she croaked; she cleared her throat. Her abdomen was sore and her head still foggy from the anesthesia.
"Is she awake?" A voice said; Hinami's. Hinami poked her head over Haise's shoulder and smiled at the new mother. "Hi big sister!"
"Hinami," Touka greeted. "Is Ayato here too?"
Haise moved aside so she could see her younger brother; who also happened to be holding her new son. She grinned at him smugly.
"What?" Ayato snapped, scowling at her.
"You look so awkward holding a baby," she told him. Still slap-happy from the anesthesia, Touka couldn't stop herself from laughing; it hurt. She was left wheezing, both in laughter and pain, as Ayato handed the baby to Haise and crossed his arms over his chest, looking away.
"Do you think you can hold him?" Haise asked, cradling the newborn closely. Finally calmed down, Touka nodded and held out her arms. Haise gently placed their son in her arms, careful not to let his weight rest on her sore middle.
Touka studied her newborn son, his little fist wrapped around her finger. He was small, maybe seven pounds at most, with a small tuft of black hair on top of his head. She couldn't see his eyes since he was asleep, but something told her that they would be the same gray as his father's.
"What's his name, big sister?" Hinami asked quietly.
Touka regarded her son's black hair for a moment longer before looking at Hinami. Her decision had been made as soon as she saw that it was a boy. She glanced at Haise and said, "Ken."
Hinami's breath hitched; she blinked as tears gathered in her eyes. "That's a good name for him," she whispered. Hinami wiped her eyes and leaned down to give Touka a hug, softly kissing the baby's head. She turned and let Ayato steer her from the room after their goodbyes, leaving the new family to themselves.
That night while Touka slept with their son resting on her chest and his arms curled around her, Haise thought about his son. He recognized the name Touka had given him as extremely important, but he couldn't place exactly why it was. The name felt so right when he looked at his son's black hair and gray eyes (he found out when the baby opened his eyes experimentally). Something within hummed contentedly as Haise watched his sleeping son, feeling fully content for the first time in his entire life.
In case you don't know (I didn't), vernix is the white-ish, waxy goo that's all over the baby when born. That's why newborns look so nasty tbh
There is literally no explanation I can give that would make sense as to why this happened, it just did. I just really liked the idea of a Tousaki son named Ken? (Haise is unaware of his past life as Kaneki Ken, but still feels strange sometimes)
Thank you for reading and don't be afraid to tell me what you think! There are three different ways to contact me (besides a review) so don't let those go to waste, yeah? I'm always to happy to hear what you have to say!
With love,
Lau ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)
Tschüss!