Friday, January 19, 2018
Kanji passed in front of the door, occasionally looking up at the clock. Is she okay? He asked in his head. It's been almost an hour.
Naoto had woken him up, saying she had to go to the hospital. He'd mumbled in agreement, then turned over to go back to sleep. "Now!" She all but screamed at him.
So he'd grabbed the bag they'd packed together a few days ago and helped her to the car. All through the car ride she'd screamed in pain. It had been torture, hearing the woman he loved so much in such agony.
"Tatsumi-san?" A nurse put her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"I'm not the one in there!" He snapped, causing the nurse to flinched away. Kanji forced his voice to stay calm. "I'm fine. How's Naoto?"
The nurse smiled. "Shirogane-san is doing just fine. It shouldn't take more than another half-hour." She bowed and walked through the doors.
Kanji took a few deep breaths and continued his pacing. Ten minutes later, the nurse returned.
"I have a message from your wife." She smiled. "'Happy birthday, Kanji. Your gift is a son.'"
Kanji ran through the doors. If she'd sent a message, then Naoto was okay. He found her room, took a few deep breaths, and opened the door.
Naoto was lying in her bed, holding a blue bundle in her arms. She looked up when he walked in and smiled. "Hi."
He couldn't speak. All he could do was walk over and look down at his son. The baby was sleeping and Kanji thought he'd never see something that cute for as long as he lived.
"Hiro." He whispered the name they'd finally decided on the night before. "Shirogane Hiro."
"What?" Naoto whispered, looking into her husband's eyes. "I thought…"
"He looks like you." Kanji put his arm around her shoulders. "Do you think he'll be the sixth generation? Or something different?"
"It's his choice." She stroked her son's head gently and Kanji noticed that she was crying. "I never really knew my mother." She reminded him. "What do I do now?"
"This is fine."
Saturday, February 29, 2020
"Thanks Nanako!" Kanji called over his shoulder to their babysitter. "Hiro, you be good!" his son made a sour face, not liking the fact that he was about to become an older brother.
"Bye!" Nanako waved at her friend as he helped Naoto into the car. "What do you think Hiro? Boy or girl?" The boy sulked and walked into the hall.
Their daughter's birth was much different than Hiro's. There had been complications that had resulted in her needing immediate surgery. Now, she lay in her hospital crib, healing from the cuts that had saved her young life.
"What do you think?" Naoto asked when they were alone in her room. "We never really discussed it before, but wouldn't it be sweet?"
"It wasn't her real name." Kanji thought for a second. "Hikari. How about Hikari?"
Shiro Kuroshin, the girl from the future who'd been their friend in high school, had helped them and their friends a lot in the short time she'd been there. Naoto had suggested naming their daughter after her, who's condition seemed the same.
They both looked down at the girl sleeping in the glass crib beside Naoto's bed. Her small thumb was sitting in her mouth, a line of drool running down her chin. Somehow, Hikari just didn't fit.
"Hikaru." They whispered at the same time. It was a perfect fit.
Naoto looked up. "Tatsumi Hikaru."
Kanji nodded. "They may have different family names, but they're still siblings."
Hikaru sniffled and they laughed.
Wednesday, April 14, 2038
Kanji watched Hikaru walk into the kitchen. He was amazed that he'd never noticed before.
The same scar from the same surgery. He connected the dots in his mind. He'd been told that Shiro had looked a lot like him, but he'd never given it much thought.
He noticed that her hair looked slightly longer, as if it had grown in the hour she'd been gone. That wasn't possible, unless…
"A month and a half." He whispered to himself. "It took her a month and a half to get cereal."
"Hiro!" Hikaru's voice echoed throughout the house. "Don't put the empty milk carton back in the fridge!"
Kanji sighed. A month and a half and she hasn't changed one bit.