Toshiro closed his eyes. He doubted he was exhausted as Suzume, but he had to be close. He bit the inside of his lip again, as she weakly turned her head away from him. Her skin was at least five shades paler than it should have been. The fight had left her. She was giving up and he could sense it. He gave he hand a light squeeze of encouragement, not sure what else to do. She let slip a pathetic whimper of pain.
Captain Unohana worked patiently and silently at her side, not even a hint of a frown marring her face. He wasn't sure if it was be cause there really wasn't anything wrong, or because she was just concentrating. Whatever the reason for her calm silence, he was thankful for it. It was like a resolute pillar of light in the swirling darkness of despair.
She smiled slightly, as if sensing his thoughts. "We're almost there, just a little longer."
Suzume weakly turned her head to face him. "I can't do this." The words were barely a whisper, a slight murmur in a weak gasp for air.
Her fingers tightening into a death grip on his hand as she let out a sharp cry.
When she managed to catch her breath, she met his gaze and let one work slip weakly from her lips. "Please."
He didn't need to ask. He knew what, and who, she needed. Though it buried an icy knife in his soul, he wasn't going to deny her something that could save her life. He straightened and looked at the younger boy by the door. "Send him in."
Outside, Shuuhei perched in a chair barely able to sit still. He got up and paced in a circle before forcing himself to sit down again. Running his fingers anxiously through his hair as a scream of pain echoed from the room behind him. He buried his face in his hands. This was taking far too long. It didn't take a member of the fourth squad to know labor wasn't supposed to last three days. It had been 72 painstaking hours. He couldn't take this anymore. Not knowing head or tails, whether she was living or dying. Whether the boys would even survive.
A hand rested lightly on he shoulder. He looked up to see Kira standing patiently with his wife, Sabra. "It will be okay, you know. Suzume never gives up. She doesn't just lie down and die."
Sabra purred, a hand resting ever so softly on the pronounced bump on her abdomen. This would have been their third child, if the first two hadn't miscarried.
Shuuhei had to resist strangling them for their chipper comments.
He stood up to pace the room again, but the door clicked open. "Captain Hisagi?"
He looked up. The young boy standing there wore the outfit of the fourth squad. "Captain Hitsugaya said to send you in."
Shuuhei strode forward begging the gods that it was over, that everything was alright.
He stood still as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room.
Slowly he became aware of the shock of snow white hair across the room, standing silently by the window.
Shuuhei recognized it was the only invitation he was going to receive from the other Captain to approach the woman in the bed.
Without uttering a sound, he drifted slowly closer, sitting precariously on the edge of the bed. If it hadn't been for the darkness of her sweat-soaked hair, he wouldn't have been able to see the pale young captain, she was the same color as the sheets she was buried in. He reached down with a finger and pulled away a strand of hair that was sticking to her face.
Her eyes fluttered open and a weak smile graced her face. "Shuuhei."
"Are you alright?"
Her face sobered. "I-I don't know."
He rested a hand on her shoulder, before looking up to the fourth division captain. "May I?"
She smiled pleasantly and nodded, raising a glowing green hand. "Whatever makes you the most comfortable."
He nodded and moved closer to the center of the bed, ever so gently lifting Suzume's upper body and slipping behind her, pulling the young woman's body back against his chest.
Toshiro refused to look at them, and gave a soft grunt disapproval, but didn't do anything else to stop him.
Suzume wrinkled her nose and made a small noise of discomfort. "I may throw up on you."
Shuuhei chuckled. "There are worse things." He rested his chin lightly on top of her head.
She gave a sudden yip of pain and clenched her fists in the sheets, muscles all along her form tightening like twisted wires.
Shuuhei slid a hand down her arm until he found her hand, then laced his fingers with hers.
Unohana smiled brightly. "There. See, I told you we were close."
Toshiro cast a concerned look over his shoulder, but didn't move any closer.
Shuuhei tightened his grip on her hand as she gave another shriek of pain.
Unohana suddenly seemed busy as a bee, buzzing to and fro. Toshiro had the feeling she had been just as concerned as both Shuuhei and himself until now. He wasn't sure if he should be encouraged by this or not.
Another half hour passed with little progress, and then even Unohana was pitching in with encouraging Suzume. "Come on now, you're almost done."
With a final almost triumphant cry, the woman in Shuuhei's arms relaxed, her entire body trembling from the ordeal. Unohana scooped up a tiny child, he wasn't breathing. Without concern, she rolled him onto his stomach and patted his back lightly. The child spat out a mouthful of water and then squalled in a furious manner. Unohana smiled. "He has good lungs. Looks like he tried to breathe a little early." She picked up a small blanket off of the counter and wrapped the child tightly, bundling him safely away from the cold. A shock of white hair, shot through with champagne highlights, stood at odd angles off his head.
At that moment, Suzume gave out a sharp cry and tensed in Shuuhei's arms.
Unohana glanced over at her. "Toshiro, if you will." She handed off the child to his father as she turned to attend to the mother.
Shuuhei counted the seconds softly in his head. He doubted Suzume had the functioning power to count past three at the moment, and someone should be able to tell the twins their age difference.
Precisely ten minutes and thirty-seven seconds later, the second child was born. This one had a mop of black hair atop his head, and barely fussed, obviously much more interested in his surroundings than his older brother, who was screeching like a banshee at the top of his lungs.
Suzume could barely lift her arms, but she reached for her son. "Give him here." As the child was passed to her, he immediatly quieted down, seeming to sense that the person holding him was his mother, and his tiny fingers tangled in her hair.
Shuuhei slipped out from behind Suzume, and extended his hands for the second child. "May I?" He asked for the second time that night.
Retsu handed off the child, giving him a funny look. "Hisagi, you and the second division captain haven't engaged in intercourse in the last seven months, have you?"
Shuuhei met her gaze seriously, shifting the child's weight in his hands. "I won't lie."
"Shuuhei!" Suzume protested weakly.
Shuuhei ignored her. "Why do you ask?"
Unohana shifted her gaze to the baby in his arms. "This one... bears your exact reiatsu signature. He's your son."
Shuuhei sank into a nearby chair, eyes wide with shock.
Toshiro stood, and stormed from the room.
"Toshiro!" Suzume tried to follow him. "Ooh." She made a soft, pained noise and sank back into the pillows.
Unohana looked at her with that overly sweet gaze. "It's probably not a good idea for you to walk for the next few days, Captain."
Suzume cradled the child pressed against her chest closer. "Yeah... alright..."
Shuuhei looked up, his face split between joy and shame. "Suzume, I... I'm sorry."
"It's... alright... I'll... talk to him... later..." She was already asleep.