A/N: My apologies, as I really should be replying to reviews and whatnot, but my anxiety is acting up, so it's a bit too difficult right now.

Anyway, I wanted to post this with some chapters to follow, but I'm getting a bit stuck and the anxiety is acting up, so I figured I should post this part now before I never decide it's done. This fic still isn't up on YourFanfiction yet, simply because I'm doing some doublechecking of the earlier chapters before I post (as well as trying to figure out if I should post each couple as a its own fic and link them via series, or keep it all in one like here), but I should have it up, if not by the end of today, then definitely by the end of the weekend. Though you know how I am with deadlines...

So, yes. More should be up here, soon, too. Next chapter will be more Egoist, followed by a chapter where every couple has a small part devoted to them, including Mistake.

Oh! If you remember, back in chapter four, Hiroki's parents told Nowaki to just call them "Dad" and "Mom" respectively, so that's how he thinks of them here.

Hiroki was aware, in some part of his brain, that his body did not end somewhere around his torso. However, the rest of his brain was telling him he no longer had a lower half, and while he knew he should be disturbed by this thought, for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to care.

"How are you feeling?" A nurse asked him as she looked over the various machines and lines that were connected to his body.

"Drugged," he'd told her, honestly, and got a glare in response. Hiroki thought he should teach her how to give a better one; hers was rather ineffective.

"Ah, Minikawa-san, Hiro-san's usually like that." Hiroki's gaze flitted to the door to see an apologetic Nowaki standing in the doorway, the top of his head far too close to the top of the frame for Hiroki's comfort. "I'll take it from here, if you don't mind."

The nurse just sighed and handed Nowaki a clipboard. "I'll be back in a hour," she said as he moved to let her through the doorway.

"Why was she here, anyway?" Hiroki asked as Nowaki moved a chair to his side, eying the machines.

"She has to observe your vital signs and make sure nothing goes wrong, Hiro-san," he said softly.

"Oh," Hiroki said, feeling an unpleasant squirming sensation that he knew had nothing to do with the surgery.

"Don't worry, Hiro-san. You're post-op and no one is at their best post-op. Besides, they had to deal with Usami-sensei less than a month ago, so they've been through far worse."

"Akihiko?" Hiroki asked, raising a brow. "What did he do?" He had a feeling it was something along the lines of acting like he normally did.

"Ah, well, the nurses were able to do the bare minimum," Nowaki said by way of reply. "Let's just say it's a good thing Takahashi-san coped well with the surgery." He frowned for a moment, then switched to a more relevant topic. "How are your legs feeling, Hiro-San?"

"They aren't," he replied. "Am I supposed to feel them by now?"

Nowaki just smiled softly and shook his head. "Not necessarily. You should be feeling them soon, though, and when you do you'll be moved to the male maternity section, so..."

"I'm going to have to move again? Ugh."

"They'll take you on a gurney, Hiro-san. Besides, the ward isn't that far from here."

Hiroki took his word for it. He had no idea where the male maternity ward was; from what he understood, it was in a hallway that was difficult to find — even the senior doctors got lost. The ward itself was small, less than a dozen rooms, though it was to be expanded — Nowaki's hospital was one of the few that were bothering to set up a proper wing for males recovering from c-sections. Most just hid the patients among various med/surg floors. Actually, most hospitals didn't do the surgery at all.

"Anyway, your vitals are fine." There was a pause, followed by a subtle shift in the atmosphere. "Hiro-san, about Yuzu-chan…"

"Yuzu-chan?"

Nowaki looked a bit startled. "Uh, Yuzumi, Hiro-san."

Hiroki snorted. "You nicknamed her already?" Somehow, he should have expected that.

Nowaki ignored that. "My superior, Miyake-sensei, he … well, he'd like to do a few tests." Hiroki felt his eyes widen, and Nowaki quickly continued with, "It's not there's anything wrong with her, per se. She just has an uncommon feature, and because of…" His voice fell to a near whisper, shoulders slumping as if in defeat, "us…"

Hiroki tried to understand what Nowaki was saying. There was something between the lines, something obvious, but his mind was still muddled from the pain meds. "What do you mean?"

Nowaki turned his head away from Hiroki, his gaze unfocused as he observed the various tubes and machines. He spoke so softly Hiroki almost had to strain himself to hear him. "Well, since we're her parents… which wasn't possible until recently… " he trailed off.

Something slid into place in Hiroki's mind. "Ah, I see. Because we're both men, and this all so shiny and new, they want to use this peculiarity has as an excuse to poke at her like she's some sort of half-alien creature?" He managed to sound only mildly pissed off as he said this, but he had a feeling that was due to the fact he was drugged up.

Nowaki flinched, but still kept his gaze away from Hiroki. "They only really want a blood draw, I think. They may want blood samples from us, too… they're still confused as to how mitochrondial DNA is being inherited…"

"Whatever." Hiroki really couldn't bring himself to really get worked up over this, the side effects from whatever they had him on giving him a feeling of detachment. "Do you think we should go through with it?"

Nowaki finally made eye contact again. "Well, to be honest, I'm also a bit concerned about some medical conditions, like Waardenburg Syndome, since Yuzu-chan has total heterochromia."

There was a moment of immense silence. "I understand very little of what you said."

"Oh! Well, be Yuzu-chan has one eye that's brown and one that's currently blue, I am a bit worried she might have a rare genetic syndrome characterized by odd pigmentation and facial features, along with, in some cases, hearing loss."

Hiroki blinked. To some extent, he was aware there was some feeling of fear in him, but it felt far away, like it was happening in some emotional fog. The main thing he was feeling was a kind of exhaustive apathy, a numbness that wasn't entirely unpleasant. His tone was even as he asked, "wouldn't the CVS test have covered that?"

"Possibly, but only if the Hayashi-Sensei went out of her way to test for rare disorders."

Hiroki frowned. "I think she only tested for the really dangerous ones. Anyway, would the blood test they want to do tell us if she has this… thing?"

"Yes, Hiro-san," Nowaki replied. "They'd check for anything that could cause full heterochromia, most likely."

"Well, this stuff is your domain, not mine. Do whatever you think is best."

Nowaki nodded. "Okay," he said.

Hiroki just closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Nearly a week had passed since Kamijou Yuzumi had joined the world of the living, and her parents were — finally — allowed to spend time with her. Or rather, Nowaki spent much of his time cooing over her and Hiroki kept his eyes focusing on either the page of some book or the backs of his eyelids. As of right now, Hiroki was reading a shiny new novel, clad in reading glasses and propped up on the bed.

Nowaki thought his beloved Hiro-san looked adorable in his reading glasses, but then again, as far as Nowaki was concerned, Hiroki was incapable of looking anything other than cute. Even when he was scowling. Or throwing a book at him.

Yuzumi had just fallen asleep, which wasn't good, because Mom was coming over in an hour, and every time she saw her granddaughter, she made a high-pitched noise that Nowaki was pretty sure could wake a patient in a level 14 coma. In any case, it always woke Yuzumi, and in such a way that she would promptly burst into tears. It was strange; though Nowaki had been around babies and young children most of his life, his daughter somehow seemed to have a louder cry than any other child he'd ever met. He hoped it was a false perception.

In any case, Dad had theorized that his wife's excitement at seeing Yuzumi would disappear once the woman had gotten accustomed to seeing his granddaughter, which Nowaki hoped was true, because right now he and Hiroki had no idea just how long they'd have to say at the elder Kamijous' house — they were (uncomfortably enough) playing it by ear.

Nowaki himself was still getting used to looking into Yuzumi's bicolored eyes — they threw him off. He wondered what color her currently blue-grey eye would turn out to be — for all he knew, it could turn into brown, making her heterochromia unnoticeable. Mom was banking on it being blue, since Hiroki's eyes had been brown at birth.

The sound of a door swinging open made its ways to Nowaki ears, followed by, "So, how is my favorite invalid?"

Nowaki turned his head away from his daughter to see Tsumori-senpai entering the room. He could feel the intensity Hiroki's glare was giving off without even looking.

"I'm not your patient, I'm not an invalid, and why the hell are you even here in the first place?"

Tsumori clucked his tongue. "You should watch your language, there's an innocent child in here." He smirked. "In some ways, it's rather unfortunate; seduction becomes so much more difficult when there's a child involved."

Deciding he'd rather not have Hiroki blow several gaskets, Nowaki spoke before his lover could. "Tsumori-senpai, is there a medically relevant reason for your visit, or are you just here to pester Hiro-san?"

Tsumori had the decency to at least try to look insulted. "I'm always one hundred percent serious, Nowaki-kun — I have no idea what you're talking about." Nowaki nearly snorted. "And at this time, I do have something medically related that will be of interest to you. If you'd come out into the hall...?"

Hiroki seemed to be about to say something, so Tsumori added a, "Don't worry, Hiro-chan, it will only take a moment — not nearly enough time to do something scandalous."

"I'll be right back, Hiro-san," Nowaki said as he walked out the door. Hiroki just mumbled something that sound suspiciously like, "Hiro-chan...?"

Out in the hallway, Nowaki turned to face his senior. "What's this about?"

"Two things. The first is good news: Kamijou Yuzumi tested negative for any and all genetic disorders that can cause heterochromia."

Nowaki let out a sigh of relief; he'd had his doubts that anything truly worrisome was the cause of his daughter's heterochromia, but it was incredibly reassuring to have solid proof of that fact. "That's good to hear. What was the second thing?"

Tsumori's countenance suddenly became very solemn. "There's been an outbreak of walking pneumonia at the nursery — not a particularly strong strain, and it appears quite a few babies inherited immunity to it, but it's enough of a concern for us to recommend keeping your daughter with you until you leave the hospital."

Nowaki's shoulders slumped; a disease outbreak among newborns was never good news. "Will do that. I'll tell Hiro-san the signs to look out for."

"I'm sure you two can manage this yourselves. Anyway, my break's about to end, so..."

"You came here on break?"

"How could I miss my dearest friends' hospital stay? Besides, I'm sure Kamijou is fuming over what's going on out here."

Nowaki held back the urge to roll his eyes. "See you around, Senpai."

Back in the room, Hiroki was indeed slightly fuming, like a pot trying not to boil over. It was a futile effort. "What was that about?"

"The cause of Yuzu-chan's heterochromia is completely benign. Other than that, there's been a pneumonia outbreak in the nursery so Yuzumi will stay with us until check-out. We'll need to watch her for signs of pneumonia in the meantime."

"Oh, okay," Hiroki said. Then he went back to reading his novel.

Something was troubling Nowaki, a thought that had been wriggling at the back of his mind for some time now, despite his own attempts to suppress it."Hiro-san, have you looked at Yuzu-chan since we've been able to see her?"

Hiroki didn't even bother to look up from the book he was reading. There was a light blush on his checks, however. "Sure I have."

Oh, really? Nowaki silently scolded himself, ashamed, but the bitterness had given way to mental bile despite his best efforts. He took a moment to compose himself before asking Hiroki, a little guiltily, "Okay, then tell me, what color is her hair?"

Hiroki continued to keep his eyes glued to the page, though he did bite his underlip. "That's a trick question. She doesn't have any hair."

Nowaki's shoulders slumped. "No, Hiro-san, she does, and it's very visible, since it's the same dark blue-black color of my own hair."

Hiroki didn't say anything, just stared harder at the book he was reading. He hadn't turned the page since Nowaki had re-entered the room.

"Hiro-san, is anything wrong…"

"No!" he snapped suddenly, and Yuzumi promptly burst into tears.

"Oh, shut up," Hiroki mumbled as Nowaki went to soothe their daughter, and Nowaki looked at him askance.

"Hiro-san!" Hiroki's face had already taken on a guilty look. Nowaki looked back to his daughter and held her close, rocking her until she had calmed down and could be returned to her bassinet. She slipped into sleep, and Nowaki nearly sighed with relief.

"I'm sorry," Hiroki said and Nowaki turned to look at him. He was blinking rapidly and shaking slightly. "I didn't mean — I just —"

"Hiro-san?" Nowaki slowly approached the bedside. "You're crying!"

Hiroki touched the tears on his face, looked at his finger and mumbled, "what the hell…?"

"Hiro-san," Nowaki said, his voice balsamic as he reached out to comfort his lover. Hiroki batted his hand away.

"I'm okay — I just — need to get out of this place. When we get out of here, I'll be back to normal. This place is… giving me cabin fever, or something — nothing's quite right. Everything's off."

Something clicked in Nowaki's brain. Now that he thought about it, Hiroki had been acting grumpier than he normally did since Yuzumi was born, and he had seemed a bit more mopey than usual. "The baby blues."

Hiroki looked at him, tear streaks evident on his face. "Huh?"

"Hiro-san, after delivery some women — er, people — don't feel so great, and are rather the opposite of euphoric. It's normal."

"Is that all this is…?" Hiroki seemed to be thinking out loud to himself. He frowned and went back to looking guilty, his shoulders slumping. "But — I'm —"

"Hiro-san?"

Hiroki took a deep breath as his eyes darted back and forth. He wasn't making eye contact with Nowaki. "I don't think I love Yuzumi," he mumbled, his face flush and hands clenched tightly.

"What?"

"I know she's our daughter, and I carried her for so many months, and I'm supposed to — but I really don't think I love her, or even really like her. All I feel towards her is apathy tinged with mild annoyance." Hitoki focused on his hands and fiddled with the sheets.

"Hiro-san," Nowaki said, and then paused for a moment, trying to pick his words carefully. "It's okay."

Hiroki looked up at him sharply. "Huh?"

"Plenty of new parents don't love their babies right away. Heck, most parents don't truly fall in love with their kids until their first social smile, and that can take up to two months to appear."

Hiroki perked up, looking hopeful for a moment before hiding it. "Really? But when my mother mentioned having me, she said she felt —"

"No one's the same, Hiro-san. Her feelings were valid and so are yours. You can't help what you feel."

Hiroki considered this for a moment. "But what if I always feel this way?"

Nowaki frowned. "Let's not worry about that just yet. There's ways to deal with it if it doesn't go away. But right now —"

Hiroki nodded. "Okay." He wiped the back of his hand against his face and smiled to himself. "Just — help me clean my face before my mother arrives."

Nowaki smiled at him and ran a hand through his lover's light brown hair with affection. "Whatever you want, Hiro-san."

He had a feeling everything was going to be alright.