"You sure you're ok? It ain't like you to wolf down ya food like that." Kanji pointed out to his wife, who stopped for a moment and blushed as she realized what she was doing.
"T-that is quite odd. I don't know why, but I've been feeling quite hungry the moment I woke up." Naoto's expression became thoughtful only for her to abruptly get up while covering her mouth.
She turned around and ran as quickly as possible to the bathroom. Once she was in, Kanji could hear her audibly throwing up, making him worriedly rush to her.
When Naoto calmed down, the couple went back to the dining room, with Kanji supporting her as she felt herself getting physically weak. Kanji's mother looked at her daughter-in-law with a concerned expression.
"Are you alright, dear? You didn't eat too fast, did you?" the elderly woman asked.
"I don't think that was the reason and if I'm honest, I don't feel that well right now." Naoto said in an exhausted voice.
"Ma, I'm takin' her to the doctor. Can you look after the shop for me in the meanwhile." Kanji asked his mother, who nodded.
The two of them went to the hospital shortly after, where Naoto was given a check-up.
"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Shirogane-Tatsumi!" the doctor told the couple as he entered the with the results of the examination.
"Congrats on what?" Kanji asked as they both shot the doctor a confused look.
"According to our results, your wife is pregnant, sir. The child will be born around May-June. Once again, congratulations to the both of you." the doctor smiled at the Shirogane-Tasumis, who in turn just looked at each other in shock.
"I-is everything alright?" the doctor became worried about their silence.
"Y-yes, it's just a lot to process. Suffice to say that I'm quite happy." Naoto said as she started to tear up.
"Thanks for tellin' us, doc. We'll be goin' now. Guess we'll see you in a few months." Kanji gave the doctor a grateful smile as he teared up himself.
The couple left the hospital and Naoto shortly after enveloped her husband in a deep hug, crying tears of joy into his chest. Kanji hugged her back lightly, he didn't want to hurt the baby after all. They shared a brief yet passionate kiss before breaking up the hug.
"S-so, I guess we should tell the others, right? I'm sure they'd want to know." Kanji sheepishly said, unaware of how he should be acting right now, making Naoto chuckle.
"Of course, mother was quite worried about me. I'm sure she'll be happy to hear the news." Naoto said softly.
The couple arrived back home, telling Mrs. Tatsumi the news. The elderly woman reacted similarly to them, even giving Naoto tips based on her experience. They then texted their friends, telling them that they wanted to meet up soon for 'old times sake'.
"You think there's a reason why they suddenly wanted to meet up, partner?" Yosuke asked Yu as they were on their way to the Shirogane-Tatsumi household.
"I might have an idea, but right now it's just conjecture." Yu replied with a pondering face, peaking his wife's interest.
"Oooh, what is it? C'mon tell me, please~?" Rise asked him with pleading eyes.
"Uhm~... No." Yu gave her a teasing look to which she pouted in response.
"Well, who cares? What matters is that we get to hang out again, right?" Chie threw into the conversation.
"Chie, you're really missing the point. It's obviously awesome that we get to hang out as a group, but there's no way Naoto would randomly suggest hanging out without some sort of ulterior motive." Yosuke sighed.
"Seriously? Some form of ulterior motive? Pfft yeah, how about you stop playing detective when one of our detective friends is right here." Chie countered in an annoyed voice.
Their bickering continued as they walked. Yu and Rise smiled at them while watching.
"They've only been a couple for a year but they're already bickering like an old couple." Rise giggled.
"Guess some things never change. How long do you think it'll take them to tie the knot?" Yu asked jokingly.
"Considering it took them 7 years to be a couple, I'd say about… 10 years minimum." Rise answered with a snap of her fingers.
"Wow that's pretty generous, I was thinking about 18 years." Yu replied bluntly, getting a laugh out of his wife.
"Geez, that's harsh. You make it sound like the chance of it happening is the same as the chance of Kanji knowing what sex is." Rise stated jokingly, making Yu laugh.
"Now who's being harsh?" Yu chuckled.
"Ah it seems everyone's here now." Naoto said as the quartet arrived, Yukiko and Teddie having arrived a few moments earlier.
"Hey Naoto-kun, how have you been?" Rise cheerfully greeted her best friend.
"I have been great, what about-" before she could ask back, she stumbled and almost fell to the floor if Kanji didn't catch her.
"Are you alright?" Chie asked with worry on her face.
"Don't worry I was just feeling a bit fatigued." Naoto explained reassuringly.
"Did she overwork herself again?" Rise asked her husband.
"No, she's actually been taking it pretty easy." Yu recalled and looked at their hosts.
"Well, guess the little one kinda ruined our plan." Kanji chuckled and put a hand on Naoto's stomach.
"Naoto-kun, are you?" Yukiko gasped as she understood Kanji's implication.
"Not entirely, Kanji. We did want to take you all off-guard but that wasn't exactly the way we expected it to happen." Naoto giggled, "But to answer your Question, Yukiko-senpai. Yes, I am pregnant." she announced, causing the room to erupt with surprised reactions.
"OhmyGod OhmyGod OhmyGod! Congratulations Naoto-kun, you too Kanji." Rise squealed at them, jumping up and down in excitement.
"I figured the two of you wanted to announce something like this today. Congrats, I know you'll be good parents." Yu smiled at them.
"What do you mean, you figured?" Yosuke looked at his best friend, still flabbergasted from the earlier reveal.
"I mean, he does work with Naoto-kun. He must've noticed some signs." Chie assumed, to which Yu nodded.
"Pretty much, you were for the most part subtle, Naoto. However, you're not exactly the type to eat three lunch boxes during lunch break." Naoto blushed at Yu's observation.
"Guess those kinds of things really don't slip your eyes, partner. Anyways, congrats you two. Knowing how big of a softie Kanji is, I won't have to worry about him being a good dad. If the kid ever needs a wingman, you know who to ask." Yosuke winked, to which Chie groaned.
"What?! Hell no, I'll be a much better wingman than you, Yosuke! It'll score in no time, thanks to Uncle Teddie." Teddie announced with a prideful huff.
"How about you let it grow up, before doing t-that thing?" Naoto blushed in embarrassment.
"Anyways, the kid needs godparents, right? I-I mean it's not like I want something to happen to you two, but you know, you can never be too sure and…" Rise kept on rambling before Yu stepped in.
"Alright, calm down, Rise. Don't forget how cautious Naoto can be. She probably put some thought into it already." Yu placed his hands on Rise's shoulder, to cool down her excitement.
"We were about to address it, actually. And considering our options, we figured the ones suited best for the position would be you two." Naoto smiled at Yu and Rise.
"If that's alright with ya guys, of course." Kanji added sheepishly, hoping they'd say yes.
"We'd be honored to." Yu replied in a calm yet soft tone.
Rise teared up and acted as if Yu proposed to her a second time. She rushed at the couple and engulfed them in a big hug.
"Do you guys even need to ask? I would love to." Rise started crying tears of joy.
"Phew, got pretty worried you guys didn't feel up to the task there, not gonna lie." Kanji laughed.
Once Rise actually calmed down, Teddie walked up to Yu, whispering something into his ear.
"That's… a pretty good observation, Teddie. Well Rise, I guess you were wrong. Kanji does know what sex is." Yu said bluntly.
There was a brief silence until Kanji spoke up.
"I'm 23 dammit! Of course I would know that! Why would ya think otherwise!" Kanji yelled in embarrassment.
"Do I need to know the context as to why you would bring up such an assumption?" Naoto groaned, hiding her face in her hands.
"I mean, if it makes you feel better, we were talking about the possibility of Yosuke-senpai and Chie-senpai marrying." the moment Rise said that, she knew she stepped on a mine.
The room exploded in shenanigans. Chie and Yosuke scolded the Narukamis, Teddie added fuel to the fire with bad jokes and Yukiko bursted out laughing so hard, she started tearing up and coughing.
Naoto and Kanji looked at each other and sighed. They didn't know what surprises the future had for them but one thing was certain.
This was going to be an interesting family for their child to grow up in.
Author's Notes:
Woohoo new fic.
I really wanted to write more fluff about the Shirogane-Tatsumis ever since I wrote that flashback in Chapter 4 of the main fic.
Each Chapter will contain one event in each year of Ren's life before Tokyo, hence the title of the chapter.
Expect a lot of Shenanigans to happen and a deeper look into Ren's relationship with the IT
Also can you guys guess what chapter 11 is gonna be ? ;)
Like always, I hope you guys had as much fun reading this chapter as I had writing it.