Absolutely silent.
Hiroki slapped his hands over his mouth as all of the directors stared at him.
And then, mass chaos, as Hiroki's words were rapidly translated into different languages. Within seconds there were people all over him, unwanted hands prodding his stomach and voices in every language yelling. Hiroki struggled to slap everyone away, panicking as everyone got overwhelmingly close to him.
"Stop! Stop! Get your hands off of him!" Nowaki's voice roared over the crowd. He shoved his way through the writhing mass of people and threw himself at Hiroki, shielding the baby bump with his broad body. Everyone immediately backed away as Nowaki shoved them away with animalistic fury. He panted once everyone was off of his lover, still half-crouched in a defensive position. "What's wrong with you people? Append-X has been out for months, it's not a huge surprise anymore!"
One of the French alumni turned angrily to his director and spat something out in his language. The French Director stepped forward, pointing accusingly at Hiroki.
"Only women can get pregnant! The Japanese have brought a third woman into their quartet! A woman cannot be registered as a tenor! She's taking away from the real tenors!"
The African director yelled in French, barking at the French director.
And then, the Spanish director, Russian director, and the German director all spoke up at once, pointing at each other. Hiroki pushed the heels of his hands into his ears, squeezing his eyes shut. He felt Nowaki's hand take his and pull him off of the stage. He was helped down the stairs and dragged out of the auditorium, and the second the double doors slammed behind him, Hiroki's pounding heart began to relax.
"Hiro-san? Hiro-san, here. Eat this," Nowaki said soothingly, patting Hiroki's back as he handed his trembling lover a granola bar.
"Thanks," Hiroki breathed, tearing open the snack and wolfing it down.
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"
Hiroki shook his head, putting a reassuring hand on his shaking lover's forearm.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I really don't like it when people other than you and me touch my stomach," Hiroki said bitterly. Then, he groaned, crumpling the granola bar wrapper in his fist. "I should have never done this damn concert, it seems like every time I go to a rehearsal, something terrible happens! Kanagawa-sensei is too direct and enthusiastic, Director Gales is a gigantic bitch for putting me in the spotlight like that, and all of the English alumni were glaring at me like it was my fault their tenor had family problems!"
"Hiro-san," Nowaki said gently, bringing Hiroki into his arms and stroking his belly. "Shh, relax. Just don't come to rehearsals anymore. I'll understand if you don't want to do the concert."
"No," Hiroki sighed, shaking his head. "I have to, I promised Kanagawa-sensei I would see it through until the end. Let's… let's just leave now and hope that everything gets better next week."
Hiroki felt random tears pricking at his eyes as the stress from the day came crashing down onto him. The rude man at the mall, the pain in his feet and back, everyone grabbing at his stomach. It was just too much, and Hiroki's face contorted as he made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. He silently cried into Nowaki's chest, gripping the folds of his lover's shirt.
"Don't cry, Hiro-san," Nowaki whispered soothingly. He very carefully scooped Hiroki up into his arms.
"No… put me down, I'm too heavy," Hiroki moaned, covering his face with his hands.
"Nonsense. You're never too heavy for me to carry you."
Hiroki dazedly peeled his eyes open as Nowaki pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.
"We're home, my love," he murmured. Hiroki protested sleepily as Nowaki gently set him down on his feet on the terrace outside of their apartment. Whining, Hiroki wavered on his feet, clinging to Nowaki's arm.
"I'm tired," Hiroki whimpered, tugging on Nowaki's shirt.
"I know, Hiro-san. Just let me get the key, and then we can go to bed and you can sleep all you want," Nowaki said patiently. He opened the mailbox and fished around in it. Hiroki woke up more as Nowaki went rigid and paused before jerkily digging around for the key again.
"What is it, Nowaki?" Hiroki asked, blinking as his senses began returning to him.
"The key's not in the place where Aikawa-san said she put it," Nowaki said. He pulled his hand out of the mailbox and went to the doorknob. He gripped it and turned, and the door opened.
"Didn't… she lock the doors?" Hiroki asked slowly. Nowaki's eyes narrowed.
"Stay out here for a moment, Hiro-san," Nowaki said sternly before Hiroki could question him. Hiroki waited outside the door with his arms wrapped around himself, his pounding heart throbbing up against his throat. He thought back to the rude man's warning, and a growing dread began to rise in his chest.
"Hiro-san," Nowaki suddenly said, opening the door fully. Hiroki jumped, but relaxed when he saw the face of his lover. He immediately tensed again, however, as he caught sight of the grim expression. "Come inside."
Hiroki allowed Nowaki to lead him into the house. There, sitting in the living room, were Miyagi and Shinobu. Shinobu was lying down on the couch with his head in Miyagi's lap as he slept. Miyagi, on the other hand, stared down at his lover, his face pale and ghostly.
"Professor? What are you doing here?" Hiroki asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Miyagi looked up at him with dull eyes, his lips slightly parted.
"All of it is gone," he whispered, his voice trembling.
"What? What's gone?"
"All of it. Our furniture, our personal belongings… our first ultrasound pictures… gone…"
Hiroki stared at Miyagi as he put a shaky hand on Shinobu's forehead and brushed back his bangs.
"What are you talking about, Miyagi?" Hiroki asked irritably. Miyagi looked back up at him, his face contorted.
"They burned our apartment down. It was no accident. We were the only tenants who suffered. The only thing that survived was our door. They nailed a sign on the door that labeled us for the raiding of our home. They torched our house, Kamijou. It's completely destroyed."
Hiroki's eyes widened as Miyagi hunched slightly over Shinobu, his teeth bared and his fingers clawing at his lover's shirt.
"Wait, who's 'they'?" Nowaki asked from behind Hiroki, stepping forward and wrapping an arm around his shaking lover's waist.
"I don't know," Miyagi hissed, squeezing his eyes shut.
Hiroki's sweat ran cold with horror as Miyagi began to sob uncontrollably, covering his eyes with his hands and leaning back on the couch, letting his head loll back. Shinobu finally stirred and his eyes peeled open, bloodshot and dark.
"Miyagi…?" he asked tiredly, turning his head to the side to look up at his weeping lover. Miyagi immediately tilted his head back down and covered Shinobu's eyes with his hand.
"Go back to sleep, Shinobu, everything's okay," he whispered. He chanted soothing words to Shinobu until he fell back asleep. Miyagi's body jerked a few times before fresh tears rolled down his face. Hiroki's legs moved robotically, and he shuffled to Miyagi. He sank to his knees before him, his hand hovering over the man's trembling leg. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what was happening.
How was this man -this man that had helped solve problems and joked around carelessly only days before- collapsing in on himself in front of everyone? Sure, his house was gone, but Miyagi crying…?
"Miyagi," Hiroki said softly, finally putting his hand on Miyagi's knee. Miyagi jumped and shivered. "What else happened?"
"He's in shock. He only said it because he's in shock," Miyagi whispered, rocking back and forth slightly. He reached out with a quivering hand and laid it over the side of Shinobu's belly.
"What did he say?" Hiroki coaxed gently. He felt Nowaki's presence beside him as he approached to kneel beside Hiroki.
"I love them," Miyagi hissed, his fingertips pressing into Shinobu's baby bump. "I love them so much."
Hiroki glanced up at Nowaki, who looked back at him with a helpless expression. Neither of them could make out half of what Miyagi was saying as he entered his own world. However, his next words sliced through both of them like fire.
"He wants to abort, Kamijou. Shinobu wants to abort my babies."