10
Mion's pregnancy continued right into her second trimester with no complications, giving her the blessing to gather her family for dinner to give them the joyous news on a warm evening in early May.
"Oh, congratulations dear!" gushed Akane, who gave her daughter a tight hug. "You must be so happy!"
"I am," said Mion, her eyes filling up with tears. Embarrassed, she wiped them off on her sleeve and added, "The baby is due November twelfth. Keiichi and I have been holding off on all plans until we were absolutely sure nothing would go wrong. And if we've made it this far...I guess nothing will."
Shion looked around the table. She saw her father shaking hands with Keiichi, who had by now accepted he was going to be a father and looked quite pleased; next to them were Keiichi's parents who each took their turn to give their son a hug; around the rest of the table, the members of the family were shaking hands. Glad to see everyone so happy, Shion said, "So, Mion...when do you think you'll start shopping for maternity clothes?"
"Not for another few weeks yet," replied Mion. "Some of my clothes still fit me." She looked over to her wordless, expressionless grandmother. "Grandma, say something," she urged. "Aren't you happy? You're getting a great-grandchild!"
Oryou opened her mouth and spoke: "We are assuming now I'm going to live to see my first great-grandchild?"
"Mother," said Akane gently, but Oryou only said, "Congratulations for you both. I am hoping that once I pass on, you, Mion, will undertake the responsibility of raising the baby to be the Sonozaki heir?"
"I promise," said Mion solemnly.
The atmosphere had grown darker all of a sudden. It was easy to forget Oryou was getting sicker more frequently now, and that the chances of her living to see the following year were slim. She still kept up her tough demeanour despite being in bed almost all the time nowadays. It was easy to think of her as invisible, that nothing could ever harm her.
Shion spoke: "So, Grandma, are you feeling any better?"
Oryou's eyes met Shion's. Shion suddenly felt chilled. She could not read the expression in her grandmother's eyes. Was she annoyed by such a question? Was she grateful someone was worried about her, even if that someone was her least favourite grandchild?
"I am feeling perfectly fine at the moment, thank you," said Oryou politely.
Shion looked away. She picked up her chopsticks and went back to eating.
Rena was equally thrilled to be finding out one of her closest friends was also expecting, if only because she had someone willing to shop for more baby clothes with her (on the condition that Mion stop her from buying every single cute clothing item in the store, that is; at the last store she went to, she bought just about every single "cute" thing she could get her hands on). While the two were about a semester or so apart, they supported each other equally, and could not wait for the yearly Watanagashi festival to roll around.
Which was why Mion was a bit concerned when she and the others went to pick up Rena and she didn't answer the door. "Rena-chan?" said Mion. "It's us. Ready to go to the Watanagashi festival?"
There was a moment's silence before Rena opened the door. She looked a bit down, which was to be expected as she stretched into the final, uncomfortable stage. "I don't feel too good," said Rena slowly. "I think I'm going to the clinic if I still don't feel good after ten minutes."
"Is it the baby, Rena-chan?" asked Rika. "It can't be on the way already! You're not due for another few weeks!"
"I know, and that's what worries me," said Rena, rubbing her now enormous belly.
"Do you need one of us to stay with you?" asked Shion.
"No thank you," said Rena, shaking her head. "Kiyoshi says he'll stay here and wait with me. So don't worry about me; I'll have company." She smiled. "Go off to the Watanagashi and have fun without me."
"Okay, Rena," said Mion, who took a step back. "We'll talk later."
"Bye everybody," said Rena with the same smile on her face, closing the door.
The others headed off. "Boy, I hope Rena's okay," said Keiichi. "She looked pretty awful."
"She'll be fine," said Mion assuredly, though she sounded more like she was telling this to herself than to the others. "She's made it through worse than this."
Shion changed the subject: "Satoshi should be getting off work just about now. How about I go pick him up and meet the rest of you at the Watanagashi festival?"
"Sure, go ahead," said Mion. As Shion walked off, she noticed Mion's hand was entwined with Keiichi's. She smiled and continued to walk, imagining that being herself and Satoshi in a few years from now.
The sky was fading into a canvas of yellow and orange by the time Shion and Satoshi arrived at the Watanagashi festival, which just made everything look all the more beautiful.
"It's been years since I was last at the Watanagashi festival!" remarked Satoshi, looking around at everything like a small child who was seeing it all for the first time. "How could I have forgotten all this?"
"It's too bad Rena-chan can't come," said Satoko. "She would love what they're doing this year!"
"Eh, it's also a pity I won't be able to participate in the eating competitions either," said Mion, patting her stomach. "There are some foods I'm sure the baby would not like. However," her eyes turned to Keiichi with a mischievous look in them, "I will still be acting as the judge. And Keiichi-kun, you had better not disappoint this year!"
"Where to first, Mii-chan?" asked Satoko.
"Let's start with the shaved ice," declared Mion. "Remember, everyone: Do not let a stand go uneaten. Give it your all, and make me proud!"
"Yeah!" declared everyone, putting up their fists together. They ran off to the shaved ice booth, each ordering a different flavour.
When they were each holding their individual cups, Mion said, "On your mark...get set...GO!"
And thus, everyone began to dig in, going faster and faster before Rika and Satoko cried out, "BRAIN FREEZE!" Within a minute, Keiichi groaned and set his cup aside, glaring at his cheerfully pregnant wife. Shion and Satoshi ate faster and faster until Satoshi cried out in pain and dropped his cup, his eyes rolling.
"And the winner is...Sonozaki Shion!" declared Mion.
"Ow," moaned Satoshi, rubbing his aching head. He had forgotten just how cold shaved ice could be.
"Take it easy, Satoshi-kun," said Shion, patting Satoshi on the back.
"On to the next booth," declared Mion, but just as she and the others were about to head off, a tall man began to run towards them. It took them about a minute to recognize him as Rena's father; he had aged quite a bit during the past seven years.
"Girls," he panted, "it's Rena. She's gone into labour."
"What!"
"But it's too early!"
"She's off by a few weeks, but the doctor says the baby should be fine," said Mr. Ryuugu, who looked as though he was trying to convince himself of this. "Rena, however, is very worried, even with her husband there. I'll be going off to visit her now. I just came by to see if any of you would like to come with."
Mion looked over to Shion, who smiled and said, "You guys go on; Satoshi-kun and I will stay and do all the traditional activities for you."
"Are you sure, Shion-chan?" asked Rika, but Satoko smiled and said, "Oh, they'll be just fine if we leave them here for a few hours, won't you guys?" She winked at the two.
"Oh sure, we'll just go home later tonight, and we'll talk then," said Shion, smiling at Satoko.
Mion smiled at the pair. "Goodbye, onee," she said as she and the others turned to walk off, "and good luck!"
Satoshi turned to Shion. "Now what would you need good luck with exactly?" he asked suspiciously. "With winning over my heart?"
"Oh, maybe, maybe not," said Shion flirtatiously with a flip of her hair. Ever since her revelation that she hadn't really been dreaming about the worlds where she killed Satoko after all, she had been taking it slow with Satoshi—they still dated, they still flirted, but it didn't go much further than kissing and a bit of light-hearted banter.
"Be careful," said Satoshi who, instead of patting her head, took a strand of it and pushed it behind her ear. "You're winning." He lightly kissed her for a minute or two before pulling back.
They were aware now of whispering around them. They heard people saying, "Look! It's that Houjou boy with the granddaughter of Sonozaki Oryou!"
Shion simply shrugged and wrapped her arms around Satoshi to give him another short yet sweet and satisfying kiss before separating and running off with him to finish their eating competition. Let the others say what they want; it didn't matter.
Satoshi stood at the river's edge, watching everybody picking off a piece of cotton and placing it down on the drifting stream. It had been years since he had last done this. He hadn't had any time to just relax. On the night of his last chance to be able to attend the festival, he was too busy killing his aunt to...
Satoshi tore off a piece of cotton. His sin was being unable to forget...and tonight, he would rid himself of that sin. He held the ball in his hand for a minute or two, as though it were a delicate piece of snow. Finally, he bent down and placed it in the river, and it quietly floated down the continuously winding stream.
Satoshi turned to see Shion also looking at her cotton ball with much thought. She looked cute when she was deep in thought about something...and she seemed to be lost in her thoughts a lot lately. As attractive as it made her look, it made Satoshi wonder. What was Shion thinking about? Was she really thinking about which career to pursue as she claimed? Or was she thinking about their relationship? Recently, she had been pulling away from their kisses more and more, and seemed almost reluctant to hold hands.
Was Shion beginning to have doubts about the two of them? Had she remembered that she was a Sonozaki, and he was a Houjou? Satoshi quickly dismissed this thought—the disagreement over the dam construction had been years ago. People must have let go of the incident by now, right? Shion at least must have forgotten—besides which, her sister had always been friendly to Satoshi in spite of their differing opinions; they left the fighting to the grown-ups. Shion hadn't let her grandmother influence her opinion...right?
Shion placed the small flake of cotton down into the river, bending next to Satoshi. She said, "Satoshi-kun, why do you look so serious?"
"Why do you?" replied Satoshi.
Shion blinked and looked away. "Well," she said, "I've just been thinking...Satoshi-kun, do you think we're falling too fast?"
"Well," said Satoshi slowly, "maybe a little bit." He patted Shion's head. "But I don't see anything wrong with that."
Shion turned back to face Satoshi. She let out a small laugh and smiled. She and Satoshi stood up and held hands. Satoshi gently stroked the surface of Shion's hand with his thumb. So she was just afraid they were taking things too fast. Fair enough—they had gone a bit quickly. Perhaps he would take things slow from now on. As for tonight, though...
"Shion-chan," said Satoshi, "how about we go a little further down the bank to where it's more private?"
"Okay," nodded Shion. She and Satoshi, still holding hands, took a walk down the path winding around the river, listening to the sounds of the cicadas crying. Tonight, the cicadas sounded very peaceful.
They stopped a little ways down when the other people behind were only mere shapes. Staring out at the river, Satoshi said, "Shion-chan...how slow do you want me to take it?"
"A bit slow," said Shion, looking out ahead. "But a bit fast."
The two turned to face each other. Satoshi said, "Shion...would you define a confession as going too fast?"
"Depends on what the confession is," said Shion.
Satoshi smiled and wrapped his arms around Shion, holding her close. She placed her head on his shoulder. Still smiling, Satoshi whispered the words he had been longing to say for some time: "I love you, Shion."
He heard her gasp. Was this a good sign? Did she accept his confession? She only whispered, "Satoshi-kun..."
They separated at the sound of footsteps. Satoko ran up to the happy couple, her blonde hair bouncing in the wind. She said, "Rena-chan says she's going to be okay for tonight. She says she'll call us in the morning if anything else happens. I'll just be going home now."
Satoshi looked over at Shion, who only smiled and said, "I'll see you tomorrow, Satoshi-kun."
Satoshi walked off with Satoko, exchanging one last glance with Shion before heading off into the night.
The next morning, Rena called to tell everyone the joyful news: The baby, despite being a few weeks premature and requiring an emergency c-section, as well as a bit of treatment, was perfectly safe and healthy—more specifically, the babies were safe and healthy. Rena had given birth to beautiful twin daughters and was holding one of them while her husband held the other just as the others came to visit her in the afternoon.
"Aren't they cute?" squealed Rena, tears of joy welling up in her eyes. "I'm taking them home with me!"
"My, this one looks just like you, Rena-chan," remarked Mion as she sat down in a rather uncomfortable hospital chair, looking at the girl Rena was holding—she did indeed have her mother's set of red hair, while the baby being held by her father had much darker hair.
"This one is Hana," said Rena, smiling at her daughter's sleeping face. "The other one is Yuri."
"Ah, so they have flower names, eh?" said Keiichi.
"Yes," said Rena, snuggling Hana. "I love flower names."
"They're adorable, Rena-chan," said Rika, gently stroking Yuri's soft cheeks.
"I want to take them home with me!" declared Satoko.
"Ah, ah, ah," said Rena, waving a finger. "I got first call."
"Aw, no fair," said Satoko playfully, pretending to pout.
As Rena began to tell everyone how she and Kiyoshi had been surprised by the revelation they were having twins as the first ultrasound only showed one baby and they had discovered right before the necessitated c-section she was actually carrying two, Satoshi said to Shion, "Kiyoshi sure is quiet."
"Rena says he's a bit shy," said Shion. "She says he's a real chatterbox when it's just the two of them, but he's very quiet in front of company."
Shion observed how happy Rena looked with her newborn daughter, carefully handing her over to Satoko. She also saw Keiichi and Mion smiling at each other, knowing this would be them in just a few months. She realized then that this was what she wanted for herself and Satoshi—she didn't want to be held back by these dreams—er, subconscious flashbacks—of hers. If they didn't happen in this world, then everything would be okay.
Shion softly whispered in Satoshi's ear, "About your confession last night...I would like to return it."
Satoshi turned to Shion, who spoke the words she thought she would never get the chance to say: "I love you, Satoshi-kun." Satoshi replied by giving her a soft kiss on the head. Things were heading in the right direction.