Title: Hakkai's Surprise
Rating: T
Summary: Kanan took her own life because she believed the child inside her to be Hyakugan Maoh's, but what if it was really Gonou's? A year post facto, Hakkai's been living with Gojyo for a while, and they've fallen into the commonplace normalcy of life (punctuated with visits from Sanzo and his pet monkey). But when a young girl comes bearing an announcement and another chance, what will happen to our beloved human-turned-youkai?
Chapter the seventh: It's Time
AN: This is the labor and delivery chapter. It contains a rather descriptive birth scene. You have been warned.
- Palace of the setting sun, Chang'an –
"Enter, Sanzo-houshi." The door sentry said officially, the large doors swinging open. The blond priest entered, falling to his knees respectfully.
"Priest of the Northern Lands Genjyo Sanzo. I have arrived." The droopy eyed monk announced his arrival.
"Welcome, Sanzo. Forgive the sudden call." The dark-haired aspect said.
"There is nothing to forgive." Sanzo said.
"Something has happened to your associate, Cho Hakkai. We are sending you to discover what it is." The male aspect explained.
"Travel with associate Goku to discover what has happened to Cho Hakkai."
"As you command," Sanzo said.
- Residence of Sha Gojyo and Cho Hakkai –
It was late in Hakkai's ninth month, and the baby was due pretty much any moment. Of course, the only one in the house who was freaking out about this was Gojyo. The storks were generally unconcerned, and Hakkai was pretty sure he'd know when the baby was coming. At the moment, the storks were in their stork forms, with Jihira hiding from Hakuryu behind Hakkai's belly. The dragon blew a puff of flame in the stork's direction.
"Now, Hakuryu, what have I said about blowing fire in the house?" Hakkai admonished. The dragon cheeped remorsefully.
"That's right. And no torching Jihira," he added. Jihira breathed a sigh of relief. "Unless it's outside." He added with a smile.
"Hey, whose side are you on, anyway?" Jihira squeaked angrily, her feathers ruffling. Gojyo and Hakkai laughed. Jyuuseii's eyes glazed over, as he went into a trance.
"Ten," the stork's voice sounded hypnotized. He spoke so quietly that no one heard him.
"Nine," this time, Hakkai apparently heard the countdown. He paused, seeming to listen to see if his ears were deceiving him.
"Eight," Now everyone but Jihira (who seemed too interested in self preservation to pay attention) had picked up on Jyuuseii's countdown.
"Jyuuseii? Why are you counting down?" Hakkai asked, turning to look at the stork. This didn't stop Jyuuseii's countdown, or even slow it down for that matter. It was as if he was in a trance and couldn't hear Hakkai's question.
"Three," Jihira picked up on the countdown, her green eyes widening.
"Oh poopie," she said, smacking herself in the head with one feathered wing.
"Two," the countdown continued.
"Jyuuseii...?" Hakkai started to repeat his question.
"One." Jyuuseii snapped back to himself, just as Hakkai cringed, clutching his stomach in pain. Immediately, Gojyo started freaking out.
"What's going on? Are you in pain? Do you need anything?" Gojyo asked Hakkai.
"It's time; of course I'm in pain, Gojyo." Hakkai hissed through gritted teeth.
"It's time! As in the baby's coming now?" Gojyo exclaimed.
"Yes, the baby's coming now!" Obviously, Hakkai was a bit irritable. Jihira rounded on Jyuuseii.
"Jyuuseii, you baka!" Jihira yelled, transforming back to her humanoid form. She smacked her husband, who also transformed back. "You're supposed to tell him why you're counting down!"
"You know I have no control over my mind when that happens!"
"You should learn to control that power!" Jihira argued.
"Excuse me," Hakkai tried to get the storks' attention.
"How can I learn to control it when I have no idea how it happens!" Jyuuseii argued.
"I don't know, but you should!" Jihira yelled. Hakkai cringed as the pain sharpened.
"Excuse me," he tried again.
"Oh yes, that makes so much sense!" Jyuuseii yelled sarcastically.
"I don't care if it made sense! I don't usually make sense!" Jihira retorted.
"EXCUSE ME!" Hakkai yelled, finally losing his patience. The storks and Gojyo froze, looking at Hakkai. "In case you haven't noticed, the baby is coming!"
"What do we do? How can I help?" Gojyo asked.
"Gojyo," Hakkai paused to cringe, "leave. I don't want you to see this."
"No way, 'Kai. Nothing can be worse than stuffing your guts back in."
"I'll get Gojyo and Hakuryu out of here. Jyuu-kun, you take Hakkai-san to the bedroom." Jyuuseii nodded.
"Damn it, I told you I wasn't leaving!" Gojyo yelled.
"And Hakkai-san said that you were. He's the boss." Jihira said, shoving Gojyo toward the door with surprising strength. "You too, chibi cheeping menace." Hakuryu flew angrily at Jihira, but she sidestepped the infuriated dragon, shoving Gojyo outside, smacking a sign onto the door, and shutting the door all in one fell swoop. It was a rather impressive maneuver.
"Jihira-chan, what did the sign say?" Jyuuseii asked suspiciously. The pale stork's cheeks lit up in a blush as she mumbled under her breath.
"Pardon? I didn't quite hear you." The dark-skinned stork sniped.
"I said, the sign says 'Birthing in progress, ignore all screams'." Jihira said.
"Did it ever occur to you that Hakkai-san doesn't want anyone to know about his pregnancy?" Jyuuseii asked.
"Did it ever occur to either of you that my baby might possibly be coming now?" Hakkai yelled. The two storks, finally setting to the task at hand (though there was an unspoken arrangement between them that plainly said 'We discuss this later'), helped Hakkai to his feet.
"That's it, Hakkai-san, just breathe." Jihira coached reassuringly. A biting remark came to Hakkai's tongue, but a strange comforting feeling in the back of his mind melted it away. Oddly enough, this comforting feeling seemed to originate from the soft, supportive touch on his other arm. He looked over at Jyuuseii, who smiled comfortingly and knowingly. Hakkai managed a smile. The koonotori helped Hakkai into the bedroom, gently helping him into bed.
"Now, just relax, Hakkai-san. You've got a ways to go until your baby's born."
"How much longer is 'a ways'?" Hakkai asked, doubling up in pain as another contraction hit him. "Is it supposed to hurt this much?"
"A ways could be anywhere from three hours to..." the last part of her sentence trailed off in a mumble.
"Pardon? Could you repeat the last part?"
"Three hours?" Jihira asked sheepishly.
"No, after that."
"To."
"No, after that."
"Two...days?"
"NANI? Two days of this?" Hakkai yelped slightly, a horrified look on his face.
"Don't worry, that's an extreme scenario, Hakkai-san. Now, I'll just get your pants off and see how things are going." Jihira made short work of the offending clothes, tossing them far out of the way. This would end up being a messy affair, and the pants just happened to be light colored. She opted for a visual examination this time. The flesh where the birth canal would appear was purple with blood, distended slightly, and very nearly transparent.
"Does it burn down here? Like a full, stinging, feeling?"
"Hai," Hakkai said with a nod, blissfully free from debilitating pain for the moment (except for the dull ache from his scar, which he was pretty much used to by now). Whoops, spoken too soon.
"The place where the baby is going to come out is very close to opening. If it doesn't open in the next hour, I'll have to do it manually." Jihira said, more to herself than to Hakkai. Jyuuseii scurried away from the foot of the bed (though it didn't really suit his occupation, he was fairly hemophobic), offering his hand to Hakkai.
"Squeeze when it hurts." He said with a smile. Hakkai nodded, and then proceeded to practically snap Jyuuseii's hand in two when the worst contraction yet hit him. Just at that moment, as the contraction let go of Hakkai and the youkai gasped, the thin membrane of flesh split open, and there was a literal explosion of blood. Jyuuseii couldn't look, cringing and turning away. The dark-skinned stork's slightly phobic gaze traveled out the window, his hand nearly broken from Hakkai's death-grip. Blood just didn't sit well with the more docile koonotori. Hakkai, it would seem, couldn't look either. But then, he had felt the blood rushing out of him, so really he didn't need to look. The youkai's emerald gaze was trained on the ceiling, and it really looked as though he was waiting for the next contraction to hit.
"I take it that it is supposed to hurt this much." He said almost distractedly.
"Hai. And I'm afraid that it will get worse." Jihira said.
"Of course it will." Hakkai's voice was dripping with irony.
Nearly a day passed, as Hakkai's contractions got closer and closer together. Finally, Jihira deemed him ready to push.
"Come on, Hakkai-san. Let's get your little girl out into the world." She said with a grin. A soft smile came to Hakkai's lips, before he bore down and pushed. Jyuuseii counted to ten, while his hand was crushed in Hakkai's strong grip. Hakkai lay back, his breath coming in exhausted gasps.
"Doin' good, Hakkai-san." Jihira cheered. "A few more, now." Hakkai pushed again, blood boiling behind his eyes and lighting his cheeks a bright red. With a gasp, he didn't so much lay back as fall back onto the pillow.
"Almost there, now. You're doing great; just hang in there for a few more pushes." Jihira encouraged. Hakkai nodded, clenching Jyuuseii's hand in his as another contraction hit. Once it passed, he gathered himself and pushed again.
"Bravo, Hakkai-san. She's nearly there." Jihira said. Hakkai gave a strong push, summoning all of his strength into bringing his daughter into the world. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes, his cheeks painted bright, glowing red. His face was filled with heat, and when he finally fell back, exhausted, he felt physically drained. He barely gave a hiss when a contraction hit him.
"Come on, Hakkai-san. The baby's crowning." Jihira coached. "Couple more big pushes, you can do it." Hakkai slowly, tiredly, raised himself up on his elbows. He gave a decidedly lackluster push, but then again, he had been at this for the better part of an hour. He'd been feeling the contractions for the better part of a day now. Jihira gently wormed her fingers in on each side of the baby's head, helping her along.
"Thassit, Hakkai-san, little more." Jihira said, gently pulling the baby's head free. Hakkai gave the last of his strength into one final push.
"Ngh...agh!" Hakkai cried, collapsing back. Jihira moved her fingers to the baby's shoulders and gently maneuvered them free. As Hakkai was recovering, his baby slipped out into Jihira's hands.
"Tada, it's over." Jihira smiled, doing a finger sweep of the baby girl's airway. She took her first gasping breath of air, before belting out an impressive wail. A dry, exhausted sob racked Hakkai's body.
"Kanan..." was all he managed to say before slipping into blissful, exhausted sleep. Jyuuseii freed his hand from Hakkai's, brushing sweat-soaked brown hair from the youkai's face.
"Well done, Hakkai-san." The dark-skinned stork said with a smile.
Jihira, her face one of calm professionalism, put a hand on Hakkai's now-nearly-flat stomach and gently but firmly pulled on the flesh cord connecting him to little Kanan. The afterbirth came out in a rich flood of blood (not quite as impressive as the rupture of the birth membrane, but still pretty impressive), and Jihira cut off circulation through the flesh cord with one hand, cutting it cleanly in two with the other (or well, as cleanly as anything related to birth can be). Finally, she cleaned off the baby, swaddling her in a blanket.
"What a little cutie you are, Kanan-chan." Jihira cooed. She put the baby into Jyuuseii's arms. "I'm going outside to get the kappa and the ryu." She said. "And take my sign off the door." She added with a wink. She left the bedroom, and opened the front door.
"Heya, it's all over." She said with a smile. Of course, this was partially ruined by the fact that she was covered with Hakkai's blood.
"Hakkai? Is he alright?" Gojyo asked, jumping to his feet.
"Quite. He's asleep right now. Being in labor for nearly a day and a half will do that to you." Jihira said.
"And the baby?"
"Also fine. Her name is Kanan." Jihira said. "Cutest baby in the world. You can already tell she'll have green eyes like her dad."
"Can I go see him?" Gojyo asked.
"Not yet. It's still pretty messy. We'll get him cleaned up and the sheets changed, then you can come see him. I just thought that you'd like to know that he's fine." Jihira said. It was then that she noticed that Gojyo was practically shaking.
"You were pretty worried about him, weren't you?" She asked, tearing her sign off the door.
"Yeah, I was." Gojyo admitted with somewhat of a sheepish look. Or, at least as close to one as he, Sha Gojyo, was capable of.
"Well, it took a while, but he came through with flying colors." Mostly red, she thought with a laugh, regarding her current blood-splattered state. She wadded up the sign. "You know, you really should have had more faith in Hakkai-san. Baka." She said with a smile, playfully throwing the wadded-up sign at Gojyo's head. "I'm going back in to see how Hakkai-san and Kanan-chan are doing. I'll send Jyuuseii when you can come back in." She said, going back inside. In the bedroom, the first thing that Jihira noticed was how the normally-meticulously-sterile Jyuuseii hadn't actually cleaned up anything. The second was that he seemed to be trying his hardest to not look at the blood. At the moment, he was holding a sleepy Kanan, his eyes trained on the baby.
"You really can't stand the sight of blood, can you?" Jihira asked, waving her left hand over the mess on the bed. With a slightly blinding twinkle, everything was immaculate. She examined Hakkai to make sure the birth canal was closing properly, then, seeing that it was, pulled the sheets over the sleeping youkai with a small smile.
"You did wonderfully, Hakkai-san." She said softly. She walked over to Jyuuseii, taking the now sleeping Kanan from his arms. She gently lay the baby down in the crib, staring momentarily.
"Tell Gojyo-san that he's welcome back in his house now." She said, turning around with a laugh. "We can leave father and child in here for now." Jyuuseii put an arm around his wife's waist.
"I've never seen you in action before. That was pretty miraculous," he said with a smile.
"Hakkai-san did the work," Jihira waved off the comment with a look to the aforementioned youkai. She looked up at her husband.
"You know, you'll have to get over your hemophobia sometime. I mean, who ever heard of a stork who's afraid of blood?" She laughed, shutting the bedroom door quietly behind them. She poked her head out the front door.
"I lied. You can't go in the bedroom 'til he wakes up. You can, however, come back inside." She said with a grin. The hanyou walked in.
"How long do you think he'll be asleep?"
"Are you afraid he's going to be spirited away or something?" Jihira asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "He just went through nearly two freaking days of pain to bring his baby into the world. He's entitled to some shut-eye, wouldn't you think?" Gojyo's expression was serious. Jihira sighed. "I'll give him until Kanan-chan wakes up." The hanyou nodded.
A couple hours passed in primarily silence, until a knock came at the door. The storks bristled, automatically defensive of their sleeping charges in the bedroom. Gojyo motioned for them to go get ready to protect Hakkai and Kanan, and waited while they went in the bedroom.
"God damn it, Gojyo! Open the door!" Gojyo twitched. The monk. Perfect.
"Hey Hakkai, can you hear me!" And the saru. This was great. Just great. A bullet whizzed through the door, barely missing Gojyo's head before hitting the wall. Calming his adrenaline down a bit, he walked over to the door.
"Keep it down, baka saru! Hakkai's resting!" Gojyo whisper-yelled, hitting Goku in the head. He was vaguely aware of a gun pointed at his head.
"We were sent to find out what has happened to Hakkai. Now spill, before your brains do." Sanzo threatened darkly.
"He's sick." Gojyo said, his crimson glare meeting the droopy-eyed monk's violet.
"With what?" Sanzo asked. The Sanbutsushin would not have sent him all the way out here just because Hakkai had a cold.
"I don't know, but it's pretty bad. He hasn't been able to get out of bed for a couple days now. The doctor's in there right now, but it doesn't look good." Gojyo hung his head, trying his best to look sad, and hoping to god that they were buying it. The gun lowered. That was a good sign.
"Is he gonna die?" Goku asked, his golden eyes wide with fear.
"Maybe not, but it'll be a while before he's able to get up. Hell, it'll probably be about a day until he wakes up." Gojyo said. Sanzo walked in and sat down at the table.
"Then we'll stay," the monk said, violet eyes challenging Gojyo to object. The hanyou couldn't tell if Sanzo was concerned, or if he was fishing out the lie. Probably the latter. Damn monk.
"You can't. I mean, where are you going to sleep? The doctor's staying too, and I'm already sleeping on the floor."
"We will too." Sanzo said.
"You mean it, Sanzo? We're staying?" Goku asked. Gojyo could tell that the open, naive little saru was genuinely concerned about Hakkai. Sanzo nodded, casually letting the top part of his robe fall off. He pulled a newspaper from somewhere and put his reading glasses on, nonchalantly lighting a Marlboro.
In the bedroom, ears glued to the door, were the storks. They were being deathly quiet, barely even breathing. Every so often, Hakkai would mumble incoherently and shift in his sleep, but he seemed out for the long haul. The faint scent of smoke reached Jihira's nose, and she backed away from the door.
"What are you doing?" Jyuuseii asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"I'm playing doctor." Jihira said, bringing her hands together in front of her. A light shone from them, and enveloped her body. When it disappeared, her normal clothes had been changed to a white coat, blue patterned scrub shirt, and navy blue cotton pants. A stethoscope hung around her neck. Other than that, she looked exactly the same.
"Baka, he's seen us. He'll recognize you." Jyuuseii scolded. Jihira's mouth formed an 'o', and she put her hands together again. When the glow disappeared, she looked exactly the same...except for a bushy dark brown moustache and large, awkward glasses. Jyuuseii looked away to keep from laughing. Jihira smacked him in the head on her way out. She strode purposefully over to Sanzo, took the Marlboro from his hand, and crushed it in Gojyo's ashtray (unused for the past five months).
"Hakkai haz a zevere lung invection. Zere is no zmokig in zeez ouze until he eez better." Jihira was trying her best to pull off a manly voice and an unrecognizable accent. Gojyo was very tempted to smack himself in the forehead. Or maybe Jihira. Yes, definitely Jihira. He made a subtle motion that told the pale, green-eyed, "disguised" stork that a lung infection wasn't severe enough.
"A lung infection. That's what kept him in bed for two days?" Sanzo asked coolly.
"No, zat developed vrum beig in bed vor two dayz." Jihira said, winging it. "He needz a kidney tranzplant or he vill die in zree dayz time."
"He can have one of mine!" The innocent Goku chirped. "I don't need both of them, do I?" Sanzo's harisen came out then, delivering a sound smack to the monkey king's head. And a random smack to Gojyo's just for good measure. He had a feeling that Gojyo was somehow in on this.
"Zee onzlee perzun who voud be able to give Hakkai a kidney voud be a ziblig or a parent." Gojyo tried his best to look shocked.
"Shit, he doesn't have either," the hanyou said. Goku looked about to cry.
"Then he's gonna die?" The saru asked. Jihira nodded solemnly.
"In zree dayz." Sanzo stood, shrugging his robe back on. He pulled his golden crown from his sleeve, putting it on.
"Come on, saru. We're going home." The monk seemed cold. Gojyo knew that he was probing for a response.
"Damn it, Sanzo. Aren't you going to say his last rites?" Gojyo asked.
"I don't chant sutras for the dead, baka. Or the dying."
"He's your friend, you sad excuse for a monk!"
"I don't have friends," the word was spat as though it left a sour taste in Sanzo's mouth. "And if I did, I still wouldn't chant sutras for them even if they were dying."
"C'mon, Sanzo! Gojyo's right! Hakkai's our friend, and he's dying!" Goku argued.
"Law of consequences. I don't care. Come, Goku." Helplessly, Goku followed Sanzo.
"Tell Hakkai we're sorry!" The saru called. Gojyo nodded.
"Will do." He said, shutting the door once they were gone.
"Take that stupid disguise off, baka koonotori." Gojyo said.
"Yeah, you're welcome for bailing your ass out." Jihira sniped, her disguise disappearing.
"I didn't need your help."
"Gojyo-san, why do you think I came out in the first place? Were you just going to let Sanzo-houshi smoke?"
"I was...getting to that." Gojyo lied.
"Sure." Jihira said unbelievingly. "And anyway, babies cry. How would you explain off the two a.m. feedings? Or how Hakkai would in fact be up and about, completely pain free and 'miraculously' healed a day after you said he hadn't been able to get out of bed for two days? Hell, I pulled the kidney transplant idea out of my ass. Just admit that I bailed you out." She crossed her arms, her green gaze carrying just a slight 'I told you so' tone. Gojyo didn't say anything. Jyuuseii came out of the bedroom then.
"Hakkai and Kanan are still fast asleep." The dark-skinned stork reassured. The other two breathed a sigh of relief.
"By the way, way to get rid of Sanzo-houshi and his pet." Jyuuseii congratulated.
"I know, wasn't I awesome?"
"I'm not sure; I think that the last part was all thanks to Gojyo's excellent acting."
"I think we scared the saru." Gojyo laughed.
"It's not funny, Gojyo," Jihira scolded, though the effect was ruined by the laugh that escaped her. The three laughed for a few moments, until Jihira pulled out the deck of cards that she pretty much carried with her 24/7. To while away the time, they started playing poker, the storks getting up every now and then to check on Hakkai and Kanan.
Language notes: Baka - stupid, idiot, fool, etc, chibi - kid, koonotori - stork, nani - what, hai - yes, kappa - water sprite, ryu - dragon, harisen - paper fan, saru - monkey
Canon notes: Yes, I know that I had too much fun with Sanzo and Goku in this one. And I know that they probably actually wouldn't have left. But in my reasoning, it still fits. Go with it.
Culture notes: When someone disappears in Japan, it isn't blamed on wanderlust or rogue bandits. The person who disappeared is declared to have been 'spirited away' by, well, spirits. This legend is where the title for the Miyazaki film 'Spirited Away' comes from. (Oo; 'Miyazaki' is actually in my spellchecker dictionary, and I swear I did not put it there.)
Story notes: This is the second longest chapter. After editing, it'll probably get longer. I, personally, enjoyed the birth scene (and everything preceding). It's my best to date. And but of course I had too much fun with Jihira's accent. xD