Seija "To think I would be a mother."

She was sitting on a tree branch and muttering to herself. She held in her arms a bundle of newly born life. The child's head had a dusting of wispy black hair and its cheeks were a soft pink. When she poked at the baby's cheeks it reached up to grab her finger. When the baby put her finger into its toothless mouth and began to suck it tickled.

Seija "My finger isn't a pacifier."

She reached into her bag and took out the baby's pacifier, then placed it into the child's mouth while removing her finger. The baby was surprised for a second, but soon went back to sucking contentedly.

That adorable behavior filled Seija with a complicated mix of emotions.

Seija "Well aren't you cute..."

She scratched at her head in embarrassment. She felt the metal ring on her finger touch her head.

Seija "And I really got married. To Rinnosuke..."

The silver metal of the ring glittered in the sunlight. Rinnosuke had made it as a way to apologize for what had happened, but it was also the representation of her wedding bond with him. Aside from when she bathed she hadn't removed it even once. Keine and the others had rings as well, but Rinnosuke had engraved each ring with a symbol that matched each of the women so they could be told apart. In Seija's case the back of a coin was visible when the ring was flipped.

As she looked at the ring she remembered what had happened.

Seija (Uwaaaaaaa! I can't believe I lost my virginity like that. Even if we were all under the effects of a drug, to do it in a place like that... and do... do that... It's not my fault! Normally no matter what I do he won't even talk to me, he just looks at me with that same calm expression... for him to... to... to kiss me... that's not fair! I didn't really mind if it was with him... he's actually pretty cool... it pisses me off, but he makes my heart race! And so what do I do? I not only have sex with him, I let him use my butt too... and it hurt! How could he put something that big inside me? I thought I was going to split in half!)

She felt like her face would catch on fire. Just thinking back to what they had done made her face flush deep red and her body temperature rose by several degrees at least.

Seija had felt an interest in Rinnosuke for some time before the incident. She wasn't sure if the interest she felt was simply her being open to getting to know him as an acquaintance or friend, or if her interest was in him as a man. Either way, she didn't dislike him. He was better than any of the other humans or youkai that she didn't know or care to know.

In the unexpected events of that night she had learned of her feelings, and thanks to Eirin's drug she had ended up doing all kinds of things and now she was married to Rinnosuke and holding his child in her arms.

Seija had never thought of being with anyone like that. She had never thought of being a mother. If anything she would have wanted to crush the happiness of all those cheerful couples that she saw.

And now she was holding a baby. She couldn't believe it.

Baby "Mm~ Mmmm~"

The bundle of warmth was the proof that this was real.

But that wasn't a bad thing.

Seija "Okay then."

She descended from the tree to stand on the ground.

Seija "Sniff, sniff. I knew it."

The baby had begun to motion at her so she sniffed to check and confirmed that the child had soiled its diaper.

Seija "I swear..."

She sighed and set the baby on a rock while she reached into her bag to find cloths and a new diaper.

Seija "Never thought I'd be doing this..."

Since giving birth Seija had begun to change.

The most obvious change was that she'd stopped performing any wicked acts. Or rather, she couldn't do them anymore. An Amanojaku like Seija couldn't leave her child alone, which meant she was always carrying the baby with her on her back. Any time she attempted to do something the baby would begin to cry and distract her. She hadn't done anything to anyone since giving birth, and she found that now people reacted to her differently. When her baby cried people actually wanted to help her.

She'd ended up friends with all of the other youkai mothers as a result, and they'd been helping her to figure out how to care for her child.

Seija "Okay, I guess that's it."

At first she hadn't understood how to change a baby's diaper at all, but now she didn't hesitate no matter how full the diaper was - she stripped it off, cleaned the baby with a cloth, and got a new diaper in place. And of course these diapers weren't like the ones found in the outside world. They were normal cloth that had to be cleaned. She had to carry cleaning cloths and diaper cloths around everywhere.

Seija "And it's just in time for your milk."

At home Seija gave her baby breast milk, but while outside she relied on powdered milk. Yuuka had teased her by asking if such small breasts could produce milk, but to even Seija's surprise she actually did begin to lactate.

She'd grown used to mixing milk as well. At first finding the perfect temperature for the milk had been difficult - not too hot, not too cold, right at body temperature - but now she was used to it. She didn't even need to measure the milk powder now. Children drink a lot of milk, so it was important to keep the right amount of powder to avoid over-fattening the baby.

Rinnosuke had given her a magical bottle from the Kourindou that maintained the temperature of the milk she put inside, so she poured some milk into a nursing bottle now and began to feed the baby.

Seija "Ooh, there you go. Ah, whoops, I need to write that down."

With the feeding over and the baby burped, Seija took out a small notebook.

It was a log for recording the daily activities of the baby. What time did the baby have milk, how much did it drink, did it burp, the amount and color of the baby's waste, etc. The other mothers had taught her this as well. It provided a clear picture of the baby's health while also making it easier to notice patterns and realize when things were going wrong. It also allowed for an easier exchange of information with the other mothers.

Seija "Half of a nursing bottle of milk, and the poop was... hm?"

A feral dog began to approach.

Woof! Woof!

The dog approached the baby and began to bark.

Seija "W-What do you want!?"

The baby had been contentedly dozing off after its meal, but now it began to cry.

Seija "Get out of here!"

Tossing her notebook to the side, Seija took her baby in her arms and kicked at the dog. It tucked its tail and ran.

Seija "I swear..."

She checked over her child to make sure it hadn't been hurt, but stopped when she realized her baby was smiling up at her and reaching for her. Perplexed by the baby's reaction, Seija lowered her face towards her baby's. The child gently patted her cheek and rubbed its face against hers as if saying thanks.

Seija "Are you thanking me? I don't need that."

Seija kissed her baby.

Seija "I'm always a friend to the weak."