Chapter 30
It was a mild summer for the Land of Fire, most days overcast and cooled down by a soft breeze. The air smelled like the rain that would surely soon start to dribble down and the lush flowers of the garden stood in full bloom.
The whetstone scrapped in a long drawl as it was pulled in rhythmic motions across the blade- scrape, scrape, scrape. After a moment the noise stopped as beady eyes looked down at the katana. It's stilling also made way for sounds from inside the house to come through-
Pots clattering, water boiling and food frying.
Koguma's face lifted to look through the open door into the kitchen from where he sat on the porch. Kikyo shuffled through the kitchen in a slight wobble, her belly large and swollen in front of her and bumping against nearly all surfaces. Despite the cool temperatures, she looked sweaty and blotchy.
She had assured him it were the food cooking in front of her warming her so.
He had let her get through with her lie.
The whetstone picked up its path across the steel once more after he had dipped it in a bowl filled with water.
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
When a plate actually fell to the ground and shattered into a thousand pieces, Kikyo groaning and bending forward as she clawed at the counter, he sheathed the sword and put it away. He walked along the porch and through the door and stopped her from accidently pulling the pot of boiling soup over her head. Instead he guided her to the far corner of the kitchen and then proceeded to take all the pots of the stove and smother the fire.
Shallow panting echoed through the room and the sound of crunching teeth was distinct, but Kikyo didn't utter a single moan as the next contraction hit her. Koguma checked his pouch for the storage scroll he had carried around with him for the last few days just to be safe and then walked up to her to help her to the front door.
"My brother will be hungry-"
"He will live." She didn't argue any further nor protest upon his help and instead leaned heavily against his side. At the front door, he helped her swollen feet into the sandals and then strapped on his own boots. They were out of the door three minutes after she had dropped the plate.
Halfway across the village, Kikyo's gait faltered and she had to pause as another contraction pulled through her. Again teeth crunched and breathing shallowed, but still she didn't moan. Some worried passers-by stopped and looked as if they were to offer help, but seeing Koguma standing silently beside her, made them quickly moved on.
Suddenly his nose twitched and he turned to face the ground- water ran down from her legs onto the paved road. "I'm sorry," she panted. "My water broke-" Koguma had already put his arms underneath her knees and her upper back and then lifted her against his chest, breaking off her awkward apology. "Kogu-" she protested, her cheeks flushing with shame. "I'll soil your clothes."
"It matters little." He started walking towards the hospital once more. Again people stopped and stared, but their predicament was obvious with her belly swollen so, face glistening with sweat, painful panting and soaked dress, so no one stopped to talk or express worry.
They walked into the hospital thirty-one minutes after they had left the house. Nursed immediately welcomed them and lead them towards a separate room- the birth had been overdue for eight days already.
He gently put her down to the ground and helped her keep her balance as she went through the next contraction.
"When did the contractions start?" the female nurse asked.
"Four hours ago-" Kikyo wheezed out.
Koguma shook his head. "Seven and a half. It started during the night." He turned to the surprised nurse. "But the hormones had shifted last evening around six already."
The nurse left the room again, mumbling something about Hatake wasting their noses on being shinobi. The door closed with a soft 'click'. "Would you like to change your dress?" he asked and Kikyo nodded passionately at that.
"Please, Kogu."
He pulled the storage scroll from his pouch and summoned a light cotton wrap-dress instead. There was no shame between the both of them now as he helped her peel out of her soaked clothes and chugged them in the corner, before wrapping the dark blue fabric around her. Then he guided her to the bed and upon her awkward shuffling, helped her lie down onto it.
"Thank you." Her face twisted as another contraction shot through her and her hand automatically clasped at her belly. This time a small groan came past her lips. He brushed away the loose strands sticking to her forehead and willingly accepted her other hand clasping out for his. Her grip was bruising, sweaty and hot, but he only gave a reassuring squeeze in return.
Ten minutes later a medic waltzed into the room, shooting a look at him looming next to the bed and following her every movement. She turned to face the blotchy faced Kikyo instead.
"Kuma-san, how are you feeling?"
"I feel great."
"I'm glad to hear it, it is about time that the baby finally decides to visit us." A strained smile was Kikyo's reply to that soft joke. "Normally we wouldn't allow anyone but the fathers to be-"
"Send him out and I will stab you," Kikyo warned between clenched teeth.
The medic merely laughed at the threat. "That's what I thought. Very well, then, Hatake-san may stay."
While the medic and nurse began checking up on Kikyo and how far along she was, Koguma leaned down to her to wipe some of the sweat from her brows. She gave him a thankful, if strained look. Then her hand squeezed tightly around his, her teeth bared against the pain and a pained groan build up in her throat.
"Well, the good news is, that despite the baby having left us waiting, it most certainly is in a hurry now. It won't take long, Kuma-san," the medic remarked as she lowered the dress on her lower body again. "I'll come back in half an hour. It should get serious about then." And with that she waltzed out of the room again, leaving only the nurse behind.
"Can I have a glass of water?" Kikyo croaked. Before Koguma could move, Kikyo's grip tightened and she hissed rather crudely that he shouldn't dare to go now. Instead the nurse went to fetch a cup.
When they were alone again, her face scrunched up once again and another cry of pain broke out between her clenched teeth. "I wish Susumu was here," she sobbed after a minute.
"Me too."
For a moment they both allowed the other to indulge in the misery and grief they had tried to keep at bay for the last two weeks. They looked equally hollow and haunted.
Tears were stinging in her eyes and flowing down her cheeks as she finally whipped her head to face him. "I swear to the gods, if this is going to be a ten-kilo child, I will rip off your balls."
He inclined his head as if to say 'Fair enough', the corners of his mouth the only thing still betraying his sorrow, everything else blank. "He would have loved for it to be a ten-kilo child, though."
Kikyo chuckled wetly at that. "He would have loved everything about his son."
"Not that it made us wait."
"So curious, he would have grown impat-" another groan cut off her teasing reply.
He once again wiped across her forehead to get rid of the sweat and stray strawberry hair. "The pink hair isn't dominant, is it?" he asked when she had relaxed again and stopped trying to break his fingers.
"I dunno," she panted, a smile stretching on her lips hearing Koguma make an effort at keeping up conversation. It was so rare these days. "Imagine that, a two metre tall shinobi with pink-hair. He will be the laughing stock of Konoha."
"Right up until he tears out their throats."
"I never signed up for such a savage son."
"Should have considered that sooner."
They exchanged sad smiles.
"Susumu would have still loved him with pink hair," she added after another contraction that had taken longer to subside now.
"He would have loved him because of the pink hair." Koguma shifted on his feet to get some weight of his left hip. "He was weird like that." His voice faltered and stopped. Silence stretched between them.
Finally, the nurse returned with a whole carafe of water. Koguma immediately helped Kikyo sit up straighter and then held the cup, of which he had taken a whiff and sip, against her lips. She chugged it down like a women dying of thirst. "Another," she panted and he dutifully obliged.
Half an hour later, just as had been promised, the medic returned again. The time between Kikyo's contractions had shortened significantly by then and she was cursing him wildly upon the 'massive head' she swore she could feel. He let her.
"Alright, Kuma-san, you'll soon be ready to start actively pushing during the contractions, I can feel the baby's head already," the medic stated as she continued fumbling between her legs.
Kikyo repeated her words mockingly underneath her breath and shot Koguma glances as if saying 'Told you so.' It made him hide a small smile behind his hand rubbing against his jaw.
When it actually came to the hard part, the smile was wiped right off his face. Instead he held Kiyko's hand tightly and kept brushing through her hair. At first she had hissed at him to leave her be, but seeing his intent regarding of the medic and nurse rummaging between her legs and the strained muscles in his neck, had her bite back her words. If Koguma needed to pet her hair to keep from pouncing at the medics, then she was going to let him.
The room was stuffy and warm and smelled rather earthy from all the bodily fluids seeping out from her, while outside the sky hard darkened through the building clouds.
The first drops of water ran down the window at the same time as Kikyo gave off her final push and the baby flushed out of her. After an intense, anticipating second, the infants scream rang through the room. The medic gave a quick wipe across the baby's form to get the worst of the grime off it, before laying it down onto Kikyo's half-exposed chest. Kikyo laugh-cried at the sight and wrapped her free arm around the babe still screeching at them.
"Congratulations, it's a boy."
A boy with thick brown hair on top of its head. Kikyo had to laugh again at the sight.
The medic herself spared a thoughtful glance at Koguma standing completely still as he stared down at the baby, his nostrils flaring and pupils blown wide. Then she nodded at the nurse, who was much more subtle in keeping her suspicions to herself. She walked up to the mother still gazing down in awe at the child and took it away from her again.
The answering growl that suddenly cut through the room surprised everyone.
"We need to weigh him, clean him up and check his health," the medic tried to mediate, this apparently not being her first rodeo with Hatake after child-birth. "He will stay right here in the room and you'll get to keep him in your sight." She looked at Kikyo, but it was obvious that she addressed Koguma.
A gentle squeeze at his hand had Koguma's attention shift from the screeching child to Kikyo. "Stop growling at them, Kogu, it's rude." The sound ceased immediately and the man looked shocked upon his own action. As if he hadn't even noticed until now. "It's okay, Kogu," Kikyo tried to sooth.
Both continued watching the nurse as she took care of the boy- it was slightly unnerving.
"Have you got a name for him yet?" the medic spoke up to ease some of the tension.
"Yes," Kikyo merely replied, gaze glued to her son being wrapped in soft cotton and then carried over to her once more. For the first time since lying down in the bed, she let go of Koguma's hand and instead accepted the bundle into her arms. Her top tugged open with a quick movement and then the baby's cries stilled as it began suckling at her breast. Koguma brushed through his hair in a ragged movement as he watched the scene. There was pure awe, devotion and wonderment written across his face.
Kikyo turned her head towards him with her eyes staying glued to the boy for as long as she could. "Teishi."
"A good name," Koguma agreed after clearing his throat.
The brown mop of hair was even more prominent now- it shimmered almost reddish in the light.
"Thank you, Kogu." He shook his head in reply, but no word left his lips. "He's perfect."
The child kept on suckling with soft little smacking sounds. "He is." He stepped forward and almost hesitantly stroked the child's cheek with one finger. "He is."
Two hours later, Koguma was sitting on a chair right beside Kikyo's bed and holding the baby in his arms, while purring softly at him. The medic and nurse had left long ago, after giving Kikyo a check-up after her last contractions and swapping the bedding. Rain pattered softly against the window outside and the room was now dipped in soft light, so very differently from how it had been during the child-birth. Kikyo was snoring softly through her mouth while she was catching up on some much needed sleep after the whole ordeal.
Koguma kept staring down at the child in his arms, before he hesitantly leaned down and softly brushed his cheek against his-
Warm milk, still some of that earthy scent, definitely Kikyo and-
He leaned back up again, a pleased hum resonating in his chest and pupils shortly dilating. His purr picked up once again.
The door opened with a soft creak, which made Koguma tense and immediately snap his head towards it. His taut muscles relaxed when recognising slaty eyes looking back at him.
"So, he finally deigned to come out?" his mate whispered, shooting him an amused smirk seeing him mothering the child so, purr and all. "What did ya-" The door closed with a click at the same moment that Kama stilled. His nostrils flared and his eyes were locked on the tuft of brown hair sticking out of the cotton blanket. The gaping mouth showing the tips of sharp canines closed as surprise made way to realisation. His eyes were large and round as he met Koguma's cautious stare.
Kama swallowed hard, once, twice, but if the Hatake felt any hurt, then he most certainly didn't show it. "So, shooting with blank kunai after all." he muttered. "You certainly loved him a lot, didn't you?"
The man didn't reply and continued keeping a close eye on Kama's movements.
"It won't stay secret for long, I can tell you that, love. Not with that hair and that scent it won't. Not to mention the teeth or size-" Kama shook his head. "What had you been thinking?"
Koguma's grip on the baby shifted and became almost possessive. Beady eyes narrowed dangerously.
"This simply feels like a stupid and not thought-through plan of that brother of yours and you let yourself get tugged along." Kama scratched across his lower arm once, before noticing the move and letting his hands sway down to his side again. "What's his name?"
"Teishi."
"A good name for a Kuma." Kama raised his hands to show his palms and waited for a short nod of Koguma's to step closer. Once standing before his mate, he knelt down and cautiously pushed away the blanket from the baby's face. "He looks like a potato."
"Your cubs did as well."
"Fair enough." One of his hands braced down onto Koguma's knee. "His smell-" He took a deep whiff.
"Perfect."
"Quite." Kama met his mates worried and wary eyes once more. "What a fierce pup he will be."
Koguma cocked his head. "You're not upset?"
"Why should I be? I have dreamt of something like this, you having pups." A blissful smile spread on Kama's lips. "He's pack and I love him already."
Ever so slowly, a more fragile version of that blissful smile spread on Koguma's lips. "I do as well." Kama got up from his crouch and pressed a soft kiss against Koguma's hair. Then he dropped down between his knees again and snuggled up to make himself comfortable.
"Welcome to the pack, Teishi-kun," Kama mumbled as he bedded his head on Koguma's upper thigh and stared up at the bundle. "You already made your father say more in five minutes than he had in the last two weeks. Maybe there's some of Susumu in you after all."
Kikyo slept on in her bed, unaware of what had just happened. Koguma sat in his chair fully relaxed and gazed down at the child, Kama snuggled up against his thigh gazing up. Rain continued to softly splatter against the window, filling the relaxed silence of the room with its lulling sound.
Home. This was what home could feel like.