All my life seems unreal,

My crime an illusion

A scene badly written which I must play

And though it puts me uptight to leave you

Alone it's not right to leave you

..…..……..

It was dark and cold. After a long while, Satoshi realized this was because his eyes were closed and the air conditioning was on too high. Also, whoever had put him here hadn't thought to give him a blanket.

Where was 'here'? Wherever it was, he'd been here far too long…

There was a soft creaking noise, probably the door of wherever this was. Had the men in black come back to kill him once and for all?

Maybe it was his aunt. Fear flooded Satoshi's mind. Was he already dead, then? Was he stuck with that woman in his own personal hell?

Someone spoke, a woman's voice that was only vaguely familiar. "His heart rate seems to be higher today, chief."

The sound of two pairs of footsteps came closer, then around Satoshi.

"His brainwaves are more active too. Maybe he can hear now, Chief Irie?"

'Takano!' Satoshi remembered now. It was the head nurse from Irie Clinic, the one who had always looked at Satoko in a way that sent shivers up Satoshi's spine. And she'd referred to his baseball coach, Doctor Irie, as 'chief'?

"Possibly," said the Doctor's voice. "Can you, Satoshi?"

Satoshi tried to say something, to move, to open his eyes, anything, but then he realized he couldn't. There was a heavy weight over his eyelids, his throat, his limbs, all of him, that kept him from moving.

"Don't be silly, Chief," Takano giggled, "He's under much too much anesthesia to show any signs of life. In fact, I looked over his condition again, and part of the coma seems to be self-induced."

"Self-induced?" Doctor Irie asked. "Why?"

'Yes, why?' Satoshi thought.

"It was probably the fear," Takano explained. "Fear or shock from whatever he thought he saw."

"Ah," said Doctor Irie, "That could be the case. Thank you, Major."

Since when did Takano have a position in the army?

"Poor boy," the apparent Major giggled darkly, "You know, his little slut of a girlfriend went and got pregnant? What an awful way to behave when everybody thinks he's dead…"

'She was pregnant before I ended up here,' Satoshi wanted to say, 'It's my baby-- wait, what?

'Everybody thinks I'm dead?'

Satoshi still wasn't back, as the Demon snidely reminded Shion every morning when she woke up alone at the kitchen table. He was still… still…

Still wherever the Sonozaki family put anybody they killed. Where was that? Maybe he was still alive and they didn't know it… maybe Shion could still save---

Her train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Shion? Are you in?"

That voice! Where had Shion heard it before? It sounded almost like… almost like… like Satoshi's… Shion gave a yelp of joy and ran to the door----

---- It was only Satoko. "Is Nii Nii here?"

"No, he isn't," Shion said, the last fews drops of hope she had left squeezing out of her heart and falling into the bottomless pit of Shion's stomach. "He… he hasn't been here since..."

"Since my birthday." It wasn't a question. Surprisingly, for once, Satoko did not look as if she were about to cry. "I know. I thought he might be hiding here from m-- from our Uncle."

'Tell her,' the Demon cackled. 'Tell her how her brother is probably buried in the forest somewhere, with his fingernails torn out and nails through his digits, his intestines still hanging on a hook in the basement of the Sonozaki house…'

"He isn't," Shion said slowly, sorely tempted to follow the Demon's instructions. And suddenly, Satoko was… blurred. Everything around her was blurred too. It wasn't until she tasted salt water that Shion realized she was crying again. She wiped furiously at her eyes, not wanting to cry in front of Satoko, who might get the wrong idea and think it was all right cry herself, and make that annoying whine that had been the cause of Satoshi's constant worry.

Satoko closed the door behind herself and patted Shion on the shoulder. "I'll get you a tissue," she said softly.

"Bottom shelf over the microwave," Shion sniffed.

-----

Shion had gone through at least ten tissues before Satoko spoke again.

"You really love my Nii Nii, don't you," she said, patting Shion on the shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Shion swatted Satoko's hand away. "What kind of question is that? Satoshi-kun is… Satoshi-kun is… the most… important…" She started to cry again.

Satoko nodded gravely. "He loves you too, you know. He said so."

"I… I know that! He told me… a lot--"

Satoko tried to pat Shion's shoulder again.

"--- I said don't touch me! You don't need to tell me things like that! We… we were going to… he said we'd be married…"

"I know," Satoko sighed. "He told me that too. He said he had to…"

Shion was still crying, but she smiled proudly. "Because he loves me…"

Or loved me, she thought.

Satoko nodded, almost as if she'd needed to confirm that fact for herself. "Of course he does, Shion. Of course he does."

"Why are you here, anyway?" Shion asked. "You didn't seem to really think he'd be hiding from you…"

"If he was, Mion wouldn't have told me you were spending all day at your kitchen table making tea and crying yourself to sleep."

"I'm waiting. Satoshi-kun said he'd come home if I had tea waiting for him…"

"I can see that," Satoko said, looking at the five teacups on the table and their lukewarm contents. "But how would Nii Nii feel if he came home and you were like this, crying and almost out of darjeeling? He'd be--"

"Actually, I am completely out of darjeeling," Shion interjected.

"-- worried, that's what he'd feel! Nii Nii would come home to you if he could, so clearly whatever he's doing right now is important. When he comes back, isn't he already going to feel guilty about leaving without saying where he was going? He'd-- "

"He won't feel guilty," Shion said to herself. "He can't feel guilty because it's not his fault."

"No, I promise, wherever he is, he feels awful about not being here with you! So go to bed and stop wasting your assets on tea. If he can wait three and a half months --so far-- for a cup of tea, he can damn well wait another five minutes for you to make it after he shows up again."

Shion stared blankly at Satoko. When had this annoying, weak little girl become this bold?

'Well, she's right--'

'And that boy is dead anyway--'

'There's no proof of that! And… and… Satoshi-kun didn't like chamomile too much anyway, and that's the only kind I have left.'

Satoko gave Shion a stern look. "Well? Aren't you going to get some proper rest so Nii Nii doesn't worry himself sick?"

………………………………………...

"The ironic thing about Hinamizawa Syndrome," Takano said, checking Satoshi's statistics, "Is that you've literally worried yourself sick. Not that I would blame you. Between your pregnant girlfriend--- I still haven't heard anything about the baby being yours, by the way--- and your little sister having no one to protect her anymore, I wouldn't be too surprised if you managed to scratch your throat out even with your vegetative state, the sedatives, and your restraints."

"Major, if he can hear us, you're probably not helping much," Doctor Irie sighed.

"At the rate his brainwaves are fluctuating, it probably doesn't make too much of a difference," Takano pointed out. The two doctors left the room, leaving Satoshi alone with his thoughts. The only sounds he could hear where his own forced, mechanical breathing and the rhythmic beating of the heart monitor. He'd been hearing them so long now that he barely even noticed them anymore, the way a person does not usually notice the sound of their own heartbeat. In fact, they hadn't even seemed strange to him when he first was able to hear again.

'How long have I been here?' he wondered. 'It's got to be less than a year less than nine months, if Shion's still pregnant, but it's been a long time…'

Even less known to Satoshi was how Satoko with coping with his absence and assumed death, or how Shion was dealing with it. She'd been so scared just telling him she was pregnant because she'd thought Satoshi might leave her… now that he had left, what must she be thinking?

'I've got to wake up,' he thought. 'I've got to, I've got to wake up… for my family…'

--------

"Satoshi-kun," Shion said aloud to the empty room, "It still smells like you in here…"

She grasped the bedsheets in her hands and brought them to her face, then inhaled.

Her voice broke now. "Where are you?"

'I told you, he's dead!' The demon laughed. 'That old hag pulled out his fingernails and guts out and dropped him down the well! Should we go check?'

"He couldn't… he can't be dead! He promised he'd come back… Satoshi-kun would never lie to me!"

She buried her face in Satoshi's pillow as a wretched sob broke free from her body. She inhaled slowly, taking in his scent.

"Where are you, Satoshi-kun?" Shion rolled over onto her back and looked out her window. The moon was a sliver of light in the sky.

"Are you looking at the moon, too? Wherever you are?"

Of course, there was no answer.

"You're alive, aren't you? The demon is only assuming things… r-right?"

The only noise audible was Shion's breathing and her heart thumping. She could feel someone, she wasn't sure who, in the room with her.

"Who's there?"

Only her heartbeat answered. It was starting to hurt now, an ache in her chest.

"Satoshi-kun… or Oyashiro-sama? Is there anyone who can hear me?"

Thump, thump, thump… that was her heartbeat, right? It sounded almost like footsteps coming down the hall. It was louder with every throb, starting to hurt in her chest now.

"Can you… give me a sign? Can you prove to me that Satoshi-kun is coming back? He's alive, isn't he? Isn't he? He's coming back to me, right?"

Something moved inside of Shion. Pounding on the the inside of her stomach, trying to get out… pounding…

No,

Kicking.

It was kicking her.

Shion realized what it was and gasped. Her hands flew to her stomach.

"Satoshi-kun's baby!"

'And how are my two favorite people today?' Satoshi's voice echoed in her head.

Of course he'd come back! He'd want to see the baby, wouldn't he?

The baby kicked again, and Shion rubbed her belly.

"It's okay," she whispered, "Daddy will come back. Probably in time to be there when you're born…"

A wide smile broke out on Shion's face.

………………………………..

The next few months were a flurry of preparations for Shion: books on nutrition and baby development, classes on childcare, vitamins, a stroller, a crib, a high chair, and a triple shift at Cafe Angel Morte to pay for it all. Of course, by the time Shion was six months pregnant, not even the largest of the tiny black uniforms would go over her swollen belly. She switched to working in the kitchen making ice cream sundaes, which didn't pay as well but also didn't require her to stand, something she soon found she was grateful for.

Eight months into the pregnancy, Satoshi still wasn't back.

"But he will be," she promised the baby growing in her, who kicked as if responding to her statement.

"You can hear me, can't you!" Shion giggled. "You can probably understand part of it, too, huh? I only hope you can recognize your daddy's voice too, when he comes back. He's going to be so proud of us for waiting for him… it'll be soon, you know. He's going to be there when you come, so he can see you. And you're coming in a month…"

The baby kicked again. Shion kissed her index fingers and placed them on her belly.

"I can't wait. We're going to be a family…a family with Satoshi-kun..."

…………………

"Major Takano, we need to talk," Doctor Irie sighed, pulling out a chair for the blonde woman, "About Satoshi."

"What is it, Doctor?" Takano asked coyly, taking the seat offered. "Have you made a breakthrough?" Her eyes shined with a twisted version of hope.

Irie shook his head. "No, but we're never going to if you keep talking to the boy the way you have been…" He took off his glasses as if to clean them, but only fiddled with them nervously.

"What's wrong with what I've told him?" the woman chuckled. "I've only been keeping him up to date with his friends…"

"You haven't said anything that he would want to know," Irie said, glaring. "Hinamizawa Syndrome, as you are aware of, is as much a mental disease as it is a viral one. If anything, I think your talking to him is what's lead to his condition worsening."

"So he responds to emotional stimuli? Interesting…" Takano made a note on her clipboard.

"We're not going to be able to cure him if you keep this up," Irie said. He took out a square of cloth and wiped the glasses nervously. "I think you should stop and see how his condition changes-- it'll probably improve."

"You think I should stop talking to him?"

"Yes."

Takano smirked. "We'll see if that works, then…"

……………………………………………….

They'd stopped mentioning the baby to him. Why? Had Shion had the baby, or told them it was his? How was Shion? Did she think he was dead, too? She probably did…

The only time anyone addressed Satoshi was when Doctor Irie said, "Good morning," or "Good afternoon" or "Good evening," while he checked Satoshi's statistics. After that, the Doctor only talked to Takano in hushed tones. Satoshi could only hear little pieces of their conversations.

"… bit more in the solution…"

"… -ition worsening…"

"… starve him? Please, Takano! Put more proteins in the solu… "

Why weren't they talking to him anymore? Was he so sick now that they thought he wouldn't be able to hear him?

Or was it for his own good? If something had happened to Satoko… or to Shion, or the baby… That was it. Something awful must have happened. And whatever it was, it had to be all Satoshi's fault…

Something was crawling under his skin. The maggots were back, try to get out… and Satoshi couldn't even move to scratch the itch.

Shion was at school when it happened. Specifically, she was taking a pre-calculus test when it happened, and was stuck on a particularly difficult problem.

First, the baby kicked. Shion smiled despite her mental strain and placed a hand where the blow to her uterus had been, caressing the place gently with her thumb.

'Any time now…' she thought to herself. 'Actually, if the baby came right now, maybe they wouldn't make me finish the test.'

Shion giggled, but then it wasn't funny, because something collapsed inside her and she gasped and suddenly she was sitting in a liquid that was foreign to her and there was pain and goodness it hurt.

The teacher looked up slowly from the paper he was grading at his desk. "Is something the matter, Miss Sonozaki? Or can your classmates finish their tests in peace?"

"I… I need to go…" was all Shion could manage to say before she half-ran, half-tumbled out the door and straight to where Kasai was waiting in case of a situation such as this one. She felt a little bad for whoever had to clean the fluid off of her chair, but not enough to really care as she had other things on her mind.

Upon seeing Shion standing at the door of the attendance office, gasping for air, Kasai slammed his copy of The Lord of the Flies shut and carried Shion out to the car before flooring the gas pedal and taking off.

"He's coming…" Shion gasped, "He's coming, Kasai…"

"He?" Kasai smirked. "I thought you said the ultrasound and the karyotype pointed to the baby being a girl."

Shion smacked him, and Kasai swerved a little on the road.

"I… mean… Satoshi-kun!" Shion said, kicking her feet to try to stave off the pain. "Satoshi-kun's going to come back to see the baby!"

"Ah." Kasai said. "Is that why you want to have the baby at the Irie Clinic instead of a hospital?" his tone was disapproving.

But if it's important to a girl in labor, it happens.

"M-maybe he'll already be waiting at the clinic for me, Kasai… do you think he's waiting for me at the clinic?"

Kasai wasn't sure what to say, so he made a sort of grunting noise that could be taken as a "yes" or as a "no".

"You're right! He will be there! For our baby…" Shion beamed for a moment before wincing magnificently and groaning.

"Unless of course the baby comes out right now in my car before we get there."

"Kasai, that isn't funny!" Shion grunted. "You will never know how much this hurts!"

"From what I understand, the part that hurts comes a little later," Kasai chuckled. "Like when there's a screaming baby's head sticking out of your---"

Shion smacked him again. Kasai, expecting this, did not swerve this time.

The ex-yakuza screeched into the Irie Clinic parking lot and carried Shion-- ironically, in the same position she would soon find herself carrying the baby in-- inside. A very nervous looking Doctor Irie ("It's been over a year since I last delivered a baby,") rushed them to a small room that had already been prepared.

Takano asked Shion if she should to call anyone, like the father of the baby.

"N-No, just… the school… get my sister."

The nurse smirked. "Not your parents either, then?"

Shion paused and thought about this for a moment, only breaking her train of thought when a particularly painful contraction occurred somewhere in her body.

She screamed and then thought about it again.

"Only if… only if they want to be here."

"And your grandmother?"

"No."

"All right then." Takano left the room.

Mion all but flew into the clinic. She passed Takano on the way, who pointed her to the room where her sister was, and then kept running.

Her sneakers made skid marks on the linoleum floor.

"Sis!" Shion breathed. "Is… is Satoshi-kun with you?"

Mion could only shake her head. Was Shion still under the illusion that he would be back? Satoshi had truly, deeply cared about Shion, which was why it was so terrible that wherever he was, he probably wasn't alive. He would have come back by now, at least out of guilt, if he could. Maybe his uncle...

Mion's train of thought was broken by her sister screaming.

'Well,' she thought, 'Someone's got to be there for her…'

………………………..

Four hours later, Shion was still having difficulties. Doctor Irie said something about a complication in the baby's position, but all Shion really understood was that she was in pain. She hadn't read much about delivery problems-- she'd been more focused on learning how to change diapers.

And the father of the child hadn't shown up yet.

"Satoshi-kun, if you don't hurry, you're going to miss the whole thing," Shion panted, speaking to no one in particular. "You w-won't have as strong an attachment to the baby if you're not there when she comes out…" She'd read that in a book somewhere.

"Satoshi-kun, where are you? I… I know you're coming…"

"Maybe he's caught up in traffic," Takano suggested. Shion asked Kasai to slap her.

"Takano," Irie said quickly, "Could you check on the other patients--?" He gave Takano a look that said something beyond the meaning of his words.

"It won't make a difference," Takano giggled, "But I'll check...."

Satoshi heard high heels clicking on the linoleum. They grew closer, then stopped.

"… No," Takano said to him, "You're still sick. Now if you'll excuse me…"

And she left.

'What was that all about?' Satoshi wondered.

"Satoshi-kun, where are you?" Shion gasped, trying to sit up.

"Don't do that!" Irie said as Takano pushed the teenaged mother back down onto the gurney, "You're going to compromise the baby! Just calm down and breathe--"

"Where's Satoshi-kun?" Shion asked for the hundredth time.

"He's… he's not here, Shion," Mion said slowly, giving her sister's hand a squeeze. "I don't think---"

Someone opened the door to the small, already-crowded (containing Doctor Irie, Takano, Mion, Shion and soon the baby) and stepped inside. Shion couldn't see who it was, but she heard their footsteps growing closer.

"Is--- is that---"

A small hand landed on her shoulder. "I'm not him, Shion-san. I'm sorry."

"Satoko!" Shion gritted her teeth and glared and the girl. "How many times do I have to tell you not to touch me? Why are you here?"

She slapped Satoko's hand away, using all of her mental strength to will the blonde girl out of the room. Satoko only sighed and took the hand used to strike her and looked Shion directly in the eyes.

"Wherever Nii Nii is, I know he'd give anything to be here right now," Satoko said carefully.

"Why are you here?" Shion repeated angrily. She tried to free her hand, but Satoko's grip was firm.

"Because Nii Nii can't be," Satoko said. "Somebody should be."

"Somebody is!" Shion threw her free hand in Mion's direction. "Now… now get out! Leave!"

Satoko paid no attention to this comment and leaned over towards the girl on the gurney. Her free hand came around to the top of Shion's head.

"If Nii Nii were here now, do you know what he'd say?"

"He'd say, 'let go of my girlfriend!'" Shion said, struggling to get away.

"Maybe," Satoko said. "But he'd also say, 'Take a deep breath and try to calm down.' "

Shion stared at Satoko incredulously.

Satoko only said, "Nii Nii would tell you,'The baby is almost here, Shion. I'm a little nervous…' "

'What is Satoko doing?' the demon sneered. 'Is she trying to be Satoshi-kun? She'll never be Satoshi-kun. She will only ever be Satoko, so whatever she's trying to do is pointless…'

"… S-stop this! Stop talking, let go of me!"

But Satoko only pressed forward. "'… But I'm excited, too. I'm so proudof you, Shion.''"

Shion's eyes widened, and she stopped struggling. "W-what…?"

Satoko smiled, and in that moment she looked almost exactly like her brother. "'Shion, we're going to be a family. It's been such a long time since I've had a real family, since my mother kept getting remarried... "

'That is what Satoshi-kun would say,' Shion realized.

" 'Everything's going to be okay, Shion. I'm going to come back soon, so I can meet the baby, so… calm down a little…' "

Satoko patted the top of Shion's head.

" 'Everything's going to be all right…' " Satoko let go of Shion's hand and took a step back.

"That's what Nii Nii would say, Shion. I know he wants to be here, but he can't, so you need to go ahead and have the baby for him, all right?"

Shion nodded. "For Satoshi-kun…"

She laid her head back on the pillow and focused on the task at hand.

Doctor Irie gasped. "I can see the head...! Just a little longer, Shion. Push!"

………………..

Satoshi had heard that his room-- that is, the room he was in-- was supposed to be soundproof both ways. That way, he couldn't hear doctors discussing his condition elsewhere, and if he woke up and started screaming, other patients wouldn't hear----

'No one can hear you scream,' Takano had chuckled once. The long silence afterwards, followed by 'What? I was kidding', had led to Satoshi's assumption that Doctor Irie had glared at her.

---- Anyway, Satoshi shouldn't have been able to hear a single sound from outside his room. Nothing at all, from the footsteps of Doctor Irie approaching to Takano suggesting Satoshi be dissected (and Doctor Irie had told him she wanted to) to the scream which Satoshi heard now.

It came from somewhere above him. Was there someone on the roof, or was Satoshi in some secret, basement level of the clinic, below the ground?

It wasn't a tortured scream, more of a… frustrated one. Why could Satoshi hear it? Was it just too loud for the insulation to block it all way the way? It sounded familiar, too, like the screamer was someone Satoshi knew personally.

The scream sounded again, louder this time. What was going on up there? Was whoever it was restrained at the wrists and ankles like Satoshi was, and trying to get out? Maybe they were pushing or pulling something heavy?

It came again, and again, for what must have been at least half an hour. Whatever it was they were pushing clearly didn't want to move from its spot at all.

And, as unexpectedly as they had began, the screams stopped. Now came another sound. Much quieter than the sounds that had come before… it sounded almost like a baby crying.

"It's a girl, Shion." Doctor Irie held up a slimy, screaming, naked newborn. "Congratulations."

Even before her first bath, she was beautiful. The Doctor cut the umbilical chord and whisked the baby away to clean and measure her.

"I did it…" Shion whispered. "I did it, Satoshi-kun. Our baby is here… come quickly and see..."

Satoko reached over and patted the top of Shion's head. "Wherever he is, Nii Nii is proud of you," she promised.

"Do you really think so?"

"I do." Satoko paused then, as if she had something to say, but wasn't sure if she should say it.

"I'm… I'm going to be a good aunt," she said finally. "Not like… my aunt. Since Nii Nii isn't here to help you with the baby, I'm going to do it for him. I owe him anyway..."

"You don't need to do that," Shion said quickly. 'I don't want her near my baby,' she thought. 'Satoko could only whine and complain…'

"But I do," Satoko said. "Nii Nii went out of his way to take care of me when he shouldn't have had to, so I'm going to return the favor. I'm stronger now, so when Nii Nii comes back, he'll smile and say he's proud of both of us…"

Then again, Satoko had done a few things that didn't involve whining. Maybe Shion would let her hold Satoshi's baby once or twice. Maybe three times. Maybe.

Doctor Irie re-entered the room, holding the baby.

"She's perfectly healthy," he said brightly, "Weighs three-point-two kilograms, forty-eight centimeters long. Do you want to hold her?"

Shion held her arms out. "What kind of question is that? Give me my baby!"

The baby. Satoshi's baby. She was so small… fast asleep, curled up in Shion's arms. Shion gently smoothed down the shock of yellow hair growing out of her daughter's head.

Shion was in awe. "Satoshi-kun… I wish you could see. Your baby looks just like you..."

"Really?" Satoko giggled, looking down at the sleeping face. "I was just thinking she looked a little like Mr. Spock…"

"She does not."

"She does so. Look at that serious expression..."

"All babies make that face when they're sleeping."

"Uh huh." Satoko grinned. "Are we saying Mr. Spock has a baby's face?"

"I'm saying that my baby does not look like Spock," Shion repeated. She didn't really mind Satoko's teasing. She placed more importance on what she was holding.

"She really does look like Nii Nii," Satoko whispered.

The door slammed open. Sonozaki Oryou paced into the room, livid.

"You had the Houjo's offspring?" Oryou's voice was dangerously quiet, laced carefully with poison. "Why?"

Shion carefully shifted the baby closer. "Because, I love--"

The baby started to cry. Shion pulled the blanket over herself and tried to figure out the mechanics of breatfeeding under her grandmother's glare.

"I expect you'll be giving it up for adoption, then."

"No!" Shion looked up. "I'm keeping this baby!"

"How will you feed it? Don't expect any financial aid from the Sonozaki family."

"I have a job!" Shion hissed. "Stay away from my family!"

"Family? All I see here is a teenaged girl with a child she could not possibly care for and the father nowhere to be found."

Shion was yelling now. "He's… he's going to come back!"

"A likely story. If he didn't come back in the past nine months, why should he come back now?"

"B-Because I have this baby! Satoshi-kun will definitely come to see our daughter… soon… very soon..."

"I wonder how long you'll hold to that delusion," Oryou spat. "You're better off turning the child over to welfare now. Give her here."

She held out her arms-- cold, wrinkled arms that held no warmth.

"No! You're not going to take my baby!" Shion squeezed the newborn as tightly as she dared. "Her father will be back soon, so just leave us alone!"

"I cannot allow you to do that. Keeping that… thing will only bring down the family name."

"She isn't a thing! She's a living human being!"

"She's a Houjo, albeit a small one. She may have not done anything yet, but she will eventually if we let her stay in this village too long."

"She won't! She's… she's half Sonozaki too! Shouldn't that be enough?"

"I hardly think you even count as a Sonozaki anymore, Shion. But, since people still associate you with us, you'll have to let go of that." She pointed in the baby's direction. "It's better off that way in the first place."

"Satoshi-kun really will come back for us!" Shion insisted. She realized she was blinking back tears. "And I can take care of my baby even if he doesn't!"

"We'll see about that…" Oryou thought. "Very well. I'll let you keep it for awhile."

"That--- that isn't for you to decide...!"

… Yet, Shion was relieved beyond words. "I… I can keep my baby without you trying to take her away from me?"

"For awhile," Oryou said sharply. "If the father of the child does not return in three months, I will take her somewhere better for her whether you will it or not."

And then she was gone, leaving Shion steeped in worries.

"Don't worry, baby, Satoshi-kun… Satoshi-kun will definitely come to see you…"

So she hoped.

…………………….

The morning is just a few hours away

But I've got to creep down the alleyway

Fly down the highway

Before they come to catch me,

I'll be gone

Somewhere they can't find me…

(authornotes)

Yes, yes I know, I took much too long writing this. I've been busy…

Just for the record, I did my research. The baby is a normal healthy height and weight ^^

I've been sort of obsessed with babies recently, unfortunately. I apologize.

Well… if you're not too mad or still care about this fic at all, tell me what you thought of it?