The Pregnancy Chronicles

I: Kirihara Akaya

By: Reinne141

...

It was just like any other day. Akaya yawned sleepily as he rolled over to his side and placed his outstretched arm on the part of the bed where his pregnant wife was supposed to be at, intending to hug her. Having her in his arms gives him a sense of unparallelled contentment and reassurance that she and their baby are safe so he hugs her as much as he can.

But when his fingers failed to touch her skin and instead met the still-warm fabric of her blanket, he slightly frowned. With his orbs still closed, he moved his arm further, searching for a particular person who should still be in bed that early in the morning.

But she was not there.

"Sakuno..?", finally, the lad snapped open his forest green eyes and roamed it all over their room. And when he realized that Sakuno is not in the room indeed, his groggy mind suddenly became alert and he abruptly sat up, brushing his tousled black hair away from his face. "Sakuno?"

No answer.

"Sakuno?", Akaya leapt to his feet, his blanket fell to the floor messily and revealed his bare chest. He was only wearing his boxers but he didn't bother look for a robe and just wore his favorite comfy slippers that was conveniently beside the bed. It was still dark outside the window, the sun is barely up! Maybe she went to the bathroom? Mattaku, they talked about this already. That if she needs to use the bathroom at night (or in that case, in the early hours of the morning), she should wake him up. So he quickly made his way to the said place and opened the door, only to see no one in there.

The seaweed head blinked.. and all of a sudden, worry coursed through him. "Sakuno?! Oi!", he went out of their room and dashed down the stairs. Ever since the doctor told him that his wife's pregnancy is delicate, he can't help but worry every single time she's not in his sight. They're having their baby, of course he'll be worried. He can't let anything happen to his wife and child. It was kind of a hassle though, especially when he's at work. It's hard for him to concentate and oftentimes, he'd find himself thinking about her so much that he'd neglect his job. What if her tummy suddenly hurts and he's not there? What if she suddenly goes into labor? Those thoughts would circle around his mind and before he knew it, he's driving back to their house.

It's their first baby, after all. It's only natural for him to be like that. He's been very careful too, not letting himself succumb to Demon mode whenever she's around. He can't risk it, no. And also, he refused to let his former teammates from Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku visit her without him there. Niou's tricks might hurt Sakuno (although he doesn't think the Trickster would do anything to harm her but he can't be too careful) and Marui's too hyper. And what if they bicker and somehow Sakuno gets hurt? Nope, he won't let that happen. And he just don't want them to hang around her too much after that nightmare he had about his baby suddenly slapping him and yelling 'Tarundoru!', he was so freaked out that he screamed in his sleep.

They'd often tease him about being a worry-freak but he just can't help it, okay? One day, they will feel how he feels too once they have their own babies. Then HE will tease them and shout, 'In your face! Now you know how I felt!', then he'll get the last laugh. But even if they don't admit it, he knows they're pretty excited to see his baby as well. One time, he came from work and found all of them in his living room, with a lot of books lying around. They were all books for baby names. Even though he already forbade them, they'd still come visit, bringing with them a variety of baby stuff.

Jackal gave them a dozen of knitted baby socks, hats and gloves (he made them himself), Niou's is a couple of teddy bears (white and blue, he denied coming up with the idea of giving stuffed toys but Akaya knows better), Marui bought packs of sweets that could last for like a year (does he want the baby to have cavities that much?), Yagyuu gave them story books (english, psh..), Yanagi brought a polaroid camera they can use under water (photo op for baby's bath time), Sanada's is a black stroller (and it looked kinda expensive) while Yukimura gave them cute baby clothes (all of them had an image of a little tennis racquet in front). He was actually touched.

He hoped that when his baby boy comes, he'd inherit the good traits of his Senpai-tachi. Jackal's endurance, Marui's genius-like skills, Yagyuu's gentlemanly personality, Niou's cunning mind, Renji's I.Q., Sanada's discipline and Yukimura's God-like prowess. And of course, his baby shall have his awesomeness and Sakuno's warmth and kind heart. Yes, their baby will be perfect.

Akaya searched the whole living room but she was not there too. Panicking, he stormed off to the Kitchen and when he saw no auburn head there, his heart thumped. Where can she be? Where is she?!

"Sakuno?! Sakuno, where are-..", he froze when he heard a loud thud above him. Fear suddenly gripped him and he hurriedly went back to the second floor. Of course. Why didn't he think of that? There's another room she can be in. But what was that sound? What the heck was that?

When he was finally in front of the door of the nursery room, he released a very deep breath and opened the door. His green orbs then spotted a familiar face sitting on a couch near the crib, sound asleep and a hard-bound book on the floor. So, it must've fell and that was the sound he heard. Thank God.

He rushed to his beautiful wife and without wasting a second, embraced her from behind and sighed in relief. And of course it woke her up in the process. "E-Eh? Akaya-kun?"

"You got me so worried! I almost pissed in my pants! What do you think are you doing? You can't just do that! Your due date's really near! What if something happened to you? Damn it, do you know what would've happened to me if something happened to you?!", and he continued on ranting without letting her go.

There he goes again, Sakuno thought with a smile. Oh well, she's used to it now. This happens everytime she disappears from his side even for a second. It was cute though, so she didn't mind him fussing over her. He's much more of a worry-wart than Jackal.

"Gomen ne, Akaya-kun, I just wanted to read a book for Aka-chan."

"Then you should have just woken me up..", the lad whined. But then he shook his head and fondly smiled, "Every time Aka-chan wants to hear a story, just tell me and I'll read to him." He tightened his hug and looked thoughtful for a while before adding sourly, "Even if it's english. "

Sakuno, knowing that his loving husband won't relax unless she agrees, nodded and wrapped her arms around him too. Her chocolate brown orbs swept over the room as she hugged him back, then she smiled. The room was painted light-blue, just right for the gender of their baby. As soon as they found out about it, Akaya excitedly went to the local hardware store and bought buckets of paint, brushes and other materials. Then he got to work and painted the whole room, while rambling about what kind of toys and clothes they should buy for their baby. And he also made the crib himself. After that, he brought her with him and they bought the other things their baby will need. Watching him all happy and excited filled her with joy.

"Come on, you shouldn't sleep here. It won't be good for you." Akaya carefully helped her up, his green orbs fixed on the bulge on her tummy. Wow, it's really big now. For sure, their baby will be healthy just like its Dad. His eyes brightened at the thought. He'll be a Dad! He draped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead affectionately, "Come on."

Sometimes, Sakuno can't help but be amazed by how much this man loves her. Other people may see him as a demon, or childish but to her, Akaya is a wonderful, loving and caring husband and soon-to-be father.

But when they were just about to exit the door, Sakuno halted and the seaweed-haired lad turned to her. "What? Did you forget something?"

"I-I think my water just broke.."

"Oh." He nodded, then paled. "I-It did?"

"Hai."

And the lad fainted.

"AKAYA-KUN!"

...

A/N: Thanks for reading! How was it? Review, review, review! Oh, any requests? Who would you guys like to be the next father?