Hiei began to get a weird feeling starting that evening, but he couldn't really pinpoint why. Masaki seemed to sense the feeling as well, but he didn't seem to understand what was causing it, either. Still, it was very disconcerting.

What on Earth am I picking up? Hiei wondered. What was his intuition trying to tell him? It was impossible to figure out, so he just tried to go to sleep, but of course he couldn't; sleep was hard to come by these days, especially with the baby kicking away like a soccer player. Why did he have to be so active at night?

"Please, baby, please go to sleep," Hiei pleaded, not even caring how ridiculous this was. Babies never went to sleep just because you told them to.

Hiei finally drifted off around one in the morning, but he awoke again at four-thirty. Everything hurt, as always, but the pain seemed more pronounced in his back, despite the fact that he'd been lying on his side. Hiei felt as if the baby, kicking as hard as ever, had fallen even deeper into his pelvis, like he was just going to fall out. How was he going to deal with this for two more weeks? And why did his back hurt so bad? Sure, it always hurt, but this was particularly awful.

Fucking hell! Just let me sleep! Hiei stumbled out of bed and leaned on the dresser, trying to take some of the weight off his back. What was weird was that the pain seemed to fluctuate; much of the time it was the regular dull ache he always felt, but every so often the pain turned sharp, almost like an electric shock. Hiei tried to keep his groans of discomfort quiet, as he didn't want to wake Masaki in the next room, but it was getting harder to tolerate.

It was obvious that sleep was not going to come again tonight, so Hiei tried to do what he could to distract himself for the next hour and a half, hoping the pain wouldn't get worse. He tried to watch TV (on mute, of course, with captions), but there was nothing on but stupid early-morning talk shows that only made his back pain worse. It was beginning to get stronger in his hips, too, and his boobs hurt a lot, plus they were leaking, staining the oversized T-shirt Hiei was wearing with dark-purple demon milk.

They were now announcing on TV what the weather was going to be like today. Blazing hot and dry again, of course. Being heavily pregnant in the summer was horrible. They should have just stopped trying to conceive when winter came, that's what they should have done. Or maybe they should have just stuck with one child. It seemed that Hiei had forgotten how tough pregnancy could actually be.

Around six in the morning, just as the sun was rising, Hiei's bedroom door flew open, and Masaki came barreling in. Hiei tried to hide his agony from his son, even though he knew it would be in vain.

"Baby brother! Baby brother!" Masaki cried, jumping onto the bed.

"What—urgh—what are you on about, Masaki?" said Hiei through clenched teeth.

"Tell him to wait!"

"Wait for what?" Hiei grouched, feeling another searing pain in his back.

"Tell him to wait for Otou-san to come home," said Masaki anxiously. "He can't come yet!"

"Just go back to bed, Masaki." Hiei stood up again, trying to disguise a groan. "I don't need to tell him anything, because he's not coming yet."

Masaki didn't listen. He jumped off the bed and set his small hands on Hiei's belly, fear still clear in his big emerald-green eyes.

"Touchan, he's ready to come out," he insisted. "Don't let him!"

Hiei stared out the window above the dresser, watching the sun rise into the sky. It was true that Masaki was extremely intuitive, especially for a four-year-old, but could he really predict if this baby was coming a couple weeks ahead of schedule? Besides, there weren't even any contractions, so how could this be labor?

"If he's really coming early, Masaki, there's no way to stop him," said Hiei, trying not to feel anxious himself at the thought. "Let's just wait and see what happens, okay? Why don't we talk to the baby?"

"Okay," said Masaki, sounding almost tearful. Hiei lay on his side while Masaki kneeled next to him, wrapping his arms around Hiei's belly and resting his head on it. They listened to the birds chirp while Masaki said, "Don't come yet, baby brother, okay? We need to wait for Otou-san."

Hiei groaned. It felt like his back was in spasms. Could Masaki be correct? No…it was absolutely impossible. The baby couldn't come now, he just couldn't. Besides, if Hiei was truly in labor, where were the contractions? He remembered them as a very intense feeling in the lower abdomen, in the ninshinsu, or male womb. There was none of that. This back pain was worse than anything he'd ever experienced before in pregnancy, but still…

By eight in the morning, Hiei didn't know if he was in labor or not, but he did know that something was wrong. Maybe it was his "mother's intuition," but somehow he knew that whatever he was experiencing, it was not normal, or at least not for him. So he decided to call his family doctor, Dr. Setchi (also the sister of Risho, the former Shinobi). Luckily, she was on call, and answered him right away.

"Hiei," she greeted him. "Is everything all right?"

"No," Hiei told her miserably.

"What's wrong?"

"It's my back," said Hiei. "I've felt back pain ever since this baby got big, but…but this isn't right. It hurts way worse than usual today. I think something's wrong with the baby. Or with me!"

"First of all, Hiei, take some deep breaths and try to calm down," Dr. Setchi instructed. "Panicking isn't going to help you or the baby."

Hiei took some deep breaths, like she said, then continued telling her his symptoms.

"Like I said, my back has always hurt during pregnancy, but today it feels like someone keeps shocking me with electricity," he told her. "Masaki thinks I'm in labor, but I'm not feeling any contractions, and my water hasn't broken…"

"Well, actually, Hiei…" Dr. Setchi's tone was still as calm as ever. "Sometimes back pain really can be a sign of labor. It means the baby's head is probably pressed up against your spine. You said it feels like someone is shocking you with electricity? If it feels like multiple shocks that get closer together over time and progressively more painful, there's a good chance that you're in labor, just in your back instead of your abdomen. And you still might get abdominal pains later on."

Hiei couldn't respond for a moment or two; as soon as Dr. Setchi said he might actually be in labor, he felt the panic come back, no matter what she said about it. In fact, he didn't snap out of it until he heard Dr. Setchi repeating his name, asking if he was all right.

"I can't be in labor," Hiei told her, his voice hoarse. "It's just Masaki and me here!"

"You're alone? Where's Kurama?"

"In New York!"

"Is that a place in Ningenkai?" she asked, and that was when Hiei realized that of course most demons couldn't be bothered to learn the names of human cities. Kurama said New York was the "economic capital of the world" (whatever that meant) and the biggest city in America, where he could meet with entrepreneurs across the globe and gain connections. But that probably wouldn't mean anything to Dr. Setchi. It obviously didn't mean anything to the baby.

"Yes, and it's really far away," Hiei despaired. "He said that when it's daytime here, it's probably going to be night there. I'm not really sure why, but that's what he said."

"Well, if you'd prefer, you can have your baby in the hospital," the doctor replied. "Or if you'd still prefer to stay home, there might be a friend or family member to fill in as your support person."

"I don't know," said Hiei doubtfully. After all, he couldn't imagine who else that person would be. Four years ago, when Masaki was born, Kurama had been the only one with Hiei, deep in the Green Forest of Makai. Hiei had planned to do it in the apartment this time around, but those plans included Kurama. "I was planning on having him as my support person, and I don't think I can do it alone."

"Of course you can do it alone, Hiei," she said. "Plenty of demons do. In fact, for many types, it's very uncommon for the father to stay around after conception. And even if they do, many fathers are killed before their children are born. Feel free to head into the hospital if any complications arise, of course, but your body can certainly handle this."

"Oh…okay," Hiei said finally. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I would recommend timing your contractions and the space in between them, so you can tell if you're making any progress," she suggested. "If you have any more questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to call again and give me an update."

"Right," said Hiei. "I-I will."