Chapter one

Isuzu sat in complete silence, holding her stomach tightly. She nearly wanted to cry. She wanted to burst out into tears and shout as loudly as she could, but she couldn't. There were too many people around - she moved between Kagura's and Master's and today she happened to be at Master's during one of his classes - so she couldn't as much as she wished. She told Master that she felt unwell when he asked if she wanted to join them. Kyo and Tohru had come to visit and so everyone was over. Just as per usual, the boys (and Kagura, unintentionally) had decided to have sparring matches before dinner. They were all raised on martial arts, after all.

"Rin," Tohru said gently as she opened Isuzu's door. It only took a second for Tohru to read the painful expression on Isuzu's face. "Rin, what's the matter?"

Isuzu crumpled over, holding onto her belly. "It's okay, I just feel sick," she tried to convince her. It was mostly true. She felt sick to her stomach.

"Fever sick? Stomach ache sick?"

"Vomit sick," Isuzu said quietly. "I'm fine, really."

Tohru's worried expression didn't fade. "Hop into bed and I'll get you something. Do you want anything? Tea? Soup?" she asked kindly as she straightened the futon set it out for Isuzu to at least sit in.

"I'm fine, Tohru," Isuzu insisted, but she felt her stomach lurch and she nearly lost it, a hand instantly covering her mouth.

Tohru got up to her feet. "I'll go get Hator-"

"It's okay, Tohru," Isuzu said quickly, standing up too quickly so she felt faint. She felt her body collapse underneath herself, waking after a few moments in her bed.

She sat up quickly, Tohru and Hatori next to her bed, Hatsuharu sitting in the corner with a worried expression on his face. "Take your time, Rin," Hatori said calmly as he took her arm and held it, looking at his watch while he monitored her heartbeat. "Tohru said you were feeling ill."

"I feel fine now," Isuzu lied and no one in the room bought it.

Hatsuharu sighed. "Rin."

"As far as I can tell, it's just a mild case of the stomach flu. Liquids and rest will help," Hatori said as he got up. "If you need anything."

Everyone got up and left the room except for Hatsuharu. He just sat in the corner, watching as Isuzu looked back at her hands, holding the blanket up to her stomach. She looked scared.

"Rin," Hatsuharu said as he scooted across the floor, placing one hand on hers. "What's the matter?"

Isuzu was quiet, moving her hands so Hatsuharu's was on her stomach, her hands resting top of his. It only took a few moments before tears ran down her cheeks, turning to lean on Hatsuharu's shoulder. She held his shirt in her hands tightly, grasping on as she cried.

"Rin, are we...?" Hatsuharu asked, struggling to find the right words.

Isuzu knew exactly what he meant though. Did that one careless mistake have serious life long consequences? She just nodded into his shoulder as she wept. "What are we going to do?" she muttered into his shoulder. Hatsuharu was still in high school. Isuzu had only been working for a few months since she'd been out of hospital. They couldn't afford a baby.

Hatsuharu sighed. "We'll work it out." He wasn't so sure.