Compared to her pregnancy with the new fetus, the pregnancy with the twins was a cake walk.
'Ryu is practically setting me on fire,' Nanashi whined. She was laying on her bed, curled up in a ball, holding her stomach.
'And it has only been four months. It'll get easier. You're strong enough for two,' the wind dragon comforted.
'Those two were nothing like this. Not even Hikari,' Nanashi grimaced.
Hiei was still missing. Not even Kurama or Yasha knew where he was or had heard from him. Nanashi felt certain Yasha knew a little something or other. The last person who saw him evidently was Yukina. According to her, he had shown up at Genkai's late at night, and snuck in her room. He gave her back her tear gem without a word and left.
Kurama was left in charge of Hikari's castle and lands and was not happy with the way the council ran. "No wonder Hiei was so stressed out." Kurama confided in Nanashi at one point. "When they are not fighting among each other over the pettiest things, they ask for even more ridiculous things."
"Like what?" Nanashi asked.
"Like you shouldn't be here if Hiei isn't. And that his leaving means he gave up rights to lord protector of the territory."
"I'm not leaving," Nanashi had hissed.
"They can't-"
"They would have to drag me out kicking and screaming."
"They can't make you leave. Your safety is more important. Without you, Hikari can't get a sister. Without a sister, the next possible heir is years in the making if that."
"So I still have to have a daughter? Urgh! They're so frustrating!" She brought her hands to her face. "I don't want any more children. After Ryu I mean."
"Yasha is trying to convince them the new child, Ryu, can still be an heir even though he is male because Izo was written out of Mukuro's will, but no other children."
"I want to see them!"
"That's the one thing they all agree on. They will not see you and refuse you admittance into the council because you are human and not demon."
On top of taking over for Hiei, Kurama also took on the role of finding Nanashi another doctor. One that did not act like women's hospital doctor and did not mind human-demon relations.
"So how do you know this doctor again? Dr. Fujimoto?" Nanashi asked him while they were waiting in the university hospital waiting room for him. Yukina was with them as well. This appointment was Nanashi's first and she was only one month pregnant.
"University. And he is not a doctor quite yet. He is in his last year of medical school. He finds demon, human relations interesting, so he is working to become a neo-natal doctor for them."
"What's got him so interested in working with me?" Nanashi asked him.
Kurama gave a shy smile. "He personally knows demon, human relations can work rather well."
When Nanashi was called back, both Kurama and Yukina went with her. When in her examining room, Yukina asked "won't Mr. Hiei mind that she sees a male doctor or if you are here too?"
"Gay men are no threat to him," Kurama answered. "Neither of us will be interested in her in a non-platonic way."
Kurama left the room while Yukina helped Nanashi into her hospital gown. A nurse came in quickly and did the quick check ups for Nanashi and soon enough the medical student, Mr. Fujimoto came in. Nanashi noticed he was not an attractive looking man. Thick glasses, zits, and already going bald in his early 20s. He noticed Kurama and looked away quickly with a bit of a blush on his face.
'Fire dragon master may not object to this one at all,' the wind dragon commented. 'Has he ever seen a woman naked without her being in hospital?'
'Ssshh. You're being rude,' Nanashi scolded.
"Alright Miss Urameshi, uh Mrs?, ah... Young lady, I mean, alright..." the medical student fumbled over his words and was lisping. He shifted his paperwork with fumbling fingers. He took a deep breath. "Alright, Miss Nanashi. I see from your records that this is your second pregnancy and... third child. Correct?" Nanashi nodded. "Any health related issues I should be concerned about?"
Nanashi nodded. "He is a fire demon," she began. "Like his... sister. I've already started to feel very warm below. His sister did that to, but he is doing it more often and earlier than she did."
"Hmm. We'll talk about that in a bit," Mr. Fujimoto replied. "Let's go for the physical first."
Nanashi at first felt very awkward and almost scared about the pelvic exam part. She kicked Kurama out of the room for that because she was uncomfortable with him being there. Even with the doctor being an unattractive gay guy, it was risky. The medical student's hand were a bit clumsy and shaky. She felt anxious and her chest hurt a little bit. Part way through the exam, the doctor looked up at her.
"This is your second pregnancy?" She gave him an uncomfortable look and nodded. "Your body shows no signs at all of previous pregnancy."
She gasped. "That's not possible." She wished he would shut up and get it over with.
"Had you been healed throughout the first pregnancy?"
Nanashi shook her head. "About a month afterward, but not at all during."
"That would not have done anything. The healing would have to have taken place regularly during the pregnancy. One demon-human couple I've worked with had done it to the woman to reduce the risk of miscarriage," Mr. Fujimoto continued. "They still haven't conceived again though."
Nanashi was puzzled. "So how do I not look like this is my actual second pregnancy?"
"I'm not sure. You should not be. I mean, you should show signs of previous pregnancy. It does slightly give you a better chance though to carry to term."
They finished the physical and Nanashi was grateful to change back into her regular clothes. Her chest felt better once he was done. Mr. Fujimoto had stepped out of the room while she changed. When she was ready, Yukina opened the door. She felt less anxious and her chest ache stopped. The scene the two of them witnessed was interesting. Kurama's hand was under a shy looking Mr. Fujimoto's chin. Kurama stepped away when the door opened and he stepped back in without a word.
'Well, that is interesting,' the wind dragon commented.
The medical student shifted his feet and then came back into the room quickly. "Now, uh, well, I er-"
Kurama put a hand on his shoulder. "Just tell them what you told me."
"While I have absolutely no clue why there are no signs of your previous pregnancy, this current pregnancy is high risk."
"Because he's demon?" Yukina asked. She stepped closer to Nanashi. Nanashi met her eyes briefly and then looked back to the medical student.
"All demon-human pregnancy are high risk with male demons and females humans. This one is diffidently a high risk of even those..." Nanashi felt herself growing pale. She opened her mouth to speak, but could not find the words. "...With the exception of you, the other three female humans who have tried to carry a fire demon's child to term were unsuccessful. All miscarried and two died in the process."
Yukina grabbed Nanashi's hand. "Why?" she squeaked out. Nanashi still could not speak. She could hardly make sense of what she was hearing.
The medical student looked over at Kurama for strength and continued. "Fire demons require enormous amounts of heat in the womb. A human's is not hot enough, so the fetus will raise the temperature itself to get enough heat to survive and thrive. Kurama and I think your ice demon son was the reason you carried your fire demon daughter to term in the first place. He kept the temperature down enough to insure all of your survival."
'Sounds like Izo. The gentle lad,' the wind dragon thought.
"But this time you don't have an ice demon fetus in with the other one. And if he is already raising the temperature, the warmth you feel,... The heat will only get worse as time goes on. I recommend ending the pregnancy early-"
Nanashi was on her feet before she realized it. "No," she said shakily. 'I drove him away to keep Ryu. I won't give him up so easily,' she thought with determination. "No," she said again, a little bit louder.
Kurama stepped in. "You will miscarry and you could die. But before that the heat could be agonizing. Day and night. You'll put yourself at too much risk. Even if you survive, the chances of you having another child will go down rapidly because of the damage the heat will do. Chose your life. Maybe you can try again and have a different type of demon for a child. An ice demon is possible and may not be as bad for you."
Nanashi's thoughts were swirling in her head. 'No no no no no,' she thought. 'I will do whatever it takes to keep him going.' She put her head in her hands and sighed. She paused and said, "you said end the pregnancy early, right?"
Mr. Fujimoto nodded, but then realized Nanashi was not looking up at him. "Yes."
"How long would it be to get him to viability, but not to full term? I could try to have him early. Four months?"
She heard Kurama swear under his breath. Mr. Fujimoto took a shaky breath and replied, "five and half or so-"
Kurama interrupted him, "you'll easily miscarry and likely die before that."
"I'm stronger than those other humans," she snapped at him. "None of those women are psychics. I had to have had the easiest fire demon pregnancy when compared to them. If they can't do it, I can."
Kurama and the medical student failed to convince Nanashi to abort Ryu, so she kept him. The heat inside of her only got worse and went from infrequently to almost constant. In the second month, she could not stand to eat or drink anything above room temperature. By the third, her room had to be freezing to keep her own temperature down. By the third month, she was in too much pain and too exhausted to do much of anything. After two threatened miscarriages in the third month, Kurama convinced Mr. Fujimoto to move into the castle to keep almost constant watch over her. Mr. Fujimoto, Kurama, and Yasha alternated watching her 24/7. Occassionally Yukina would sit in too. Nanashi would often make them read to her to pass the time. At first, she hated being around Yasha with his silver tongue, but eventually she grew accustomed to his presence; fueled by the hope that she could find out why he was so close with Hiei. She was also put on bed rest, but could hardly sleep. The wind dragon did what he could to shield her from the damaging heat inside of her and Kurama gave what herbs he could to help her heal. Yukina would also heal her each time she visited. She could still tell that there was damage being done with this pregnancy. She still knew Kurama disapproved of her keeping Ryu. Yukina was not happy with her either.
She was still curled up in a ball in the early hours of the morning. Mr. Fujimoto was asleep in the chair by her bed, shivering under his blankets. She did not care. All she cared about was finishing out the next month and half bearing Ryu. 'With heat like this,' she complained, 'it will make Hikari's burning hands look like nothing.'
'Maybe fire dragon master will be the only one who can touch him,' the wind dragon replied.
'Don't talk about him,' she ordered. 'He ran off four months ago and not a damn word sense. He can never come back for all I care. I still have half a mind to name the child Kazuma instead to piss him off.' She felt her own anger heating up inside of her.
'My apologies mistress. I thought I convinced you a dragon meaning name was much more appropriate for yourself and... Ryu.'
As if in response to his name, Ryu gave out a sudden, intense burst of heat; the likes of which Nanashi had never felt before. She attempted to stifle a scream into her hands, but Mr. Fujimoto woke up from hearing her anyway. The sickening pain made her pass out.
