After her grandmother's threat, the other people in Shion's hospital room trickled out slowly. Soon, she was alone with the baby.
Satoshi's baby.
Satoshi's beautiful baby. Sound asleep in her arms, snoring softly.
"I'm going to take such good care of you," Shion whispered. "You're going to be the happiest baby in Okinomiya. Do you know why?"
The baby snorted in her sleep and curled closer to Shion.
"Because I love you, and I your daddy, more than anyone in Okinomiya loves anyone else. More than anybody in the world loves anybody else. And your daddy will come back soon, so he can smile, and tell me how proud he is of me… "
Shion shifted her grip of the sleeping child to one arm and used the other to pat the baby's head. "And he'll do this… when your Daddy pats people on the head, they can do anything. It's magic."
She smiled at the baby and stroked her soft, short hair. "But I'm going to take such good care of you, I'm going to be so responsible with you, that even if Satoshi-kun doesn't come back in time, that scary old hag will leave us alone. I'm going to make sure you're safe from her, always."
The green-haired girl, now a mother, kissed the baby on the top of the head and drifted off to sleep.
……………….
"That baby is going to get Hinamizawa Syndrome," Doctor Irie thought aloud.
Which was, in theory, probably not a problem. Babies had been born in Hinamizawa before and had been safe. They must have been, because Hinamizawa had a healthy population of adults. It wouldn't be long before the baby had one of those viruses in her brain--- there was a high chance that she already did. That didn't necessarily mean she'd ever even reach Level Two.
"But it's going to be hard for her," The Doctor mused to the empty room. "With only one parent… it might be stressful for her. Not to mention, for Shion raising a baby all by herself…"
Irie gritted his teeth and went back to his research. "I've got to cure Satoshi no matter what…!"
…………………
"Come on, smile for the camera," Mion giggled, holding the baby up.
"She probably won't be able to do that for a month or two," Shion said, "So you'll have to make do."
"Get Shion in the picture," Satoko suggested, holding up the camera, "She seems to be smiling enough for herself and the baby. And hurry, my arms are getting tired."
"All right." The requested adjustments were made, and the camera flashed.
"You don't need to take pictures every time you come over, Satoko," said Shion. "It's not like I would forget this little girl…"
"She won't be little forever. And won't Nii Nii want to see them when he comes back? Even if it was as soon as next week, she'll be bigger…" Satoko smiled and held the camera close.
Shion nodded. "And if he comes back closer to the deadline, she'll be even different from now than that… could you take a few more pictures before you go?"
No one dared to say what would happen if Satoshi didn't come back by the deadline at all because Shion and Satoko refused to recognize the possibility of losing the baby. This was all of him they had left… how could they lose her, too?
………………………….…
Satoshi didn't know how long it had been since he'd been spoken to directly. Doctor Irie still checked up on him every day, but all Satoshi heard were mutterings. The only human contact Satoshi received was when he was washed.
He was beginning to feel as if he was invisible. Did they only care about Satoshi's disease?
Takano had been asking to perform some "tests" that Doctor Irie vehemently opposed. Satoshi didn't know what they were, but he was afraid.
He was always afraid.
………………………………………………..
"Quick Satoko, get the camera!" Shion called across the apartment. "She's smiling!"
Satoko laughed. "I'm coming, Shion! Calm down!"
It had almost been three months since the baby was born. To Shion and Satoko's minds, this meant that Satoshi would be back any day-- any minute now. Satoko was as excited as ever about documenting every development, movement and dirty diaper that the baby had, and had taken numerous photographs of the child. She'd even borrowed a video camera from Rika's house, where she'd been staying a few months now; they had almost filled up the third videotape.
"Smile for the camera," Satoko giggled. "Oh, that's so cute!"
"Are you gonna take her home?" Shion asked.
"No, but I bet Rena would have kidnapped her by now if she knew."
(It just wasn't fair that just anyone could find out about the baby when Satoshi wasn't even back yet, so they hadn't told many people).
The baby giggled and squirmed a bit in Shion's arms.
"Do you want me to put you down, darling?" The child was placed on a small blanket over the carpet. "There, much better!"
"Maybe you should pick her up," Satoko ventured.
"Why? She looks happy down there," said Shion.
"Because Nii Nii's coming back soon," Satoko reminded her, "And wouldn't it be great if when he came in, you were holding the baby for him?"
Shion smiled. "No, because if Satoshi-kun comes back while I'm holding anything, I might drop it… I'll be to happy to remember anything else."
"And you can hug him better that way, right?" Satoko giggled.
"Maybe a little more than hugging… he's been gone so long, you know, I think he owes me a kiss or two… if it's more than that, we should wait until the baby's asleep…" Shion said in a sing-song voice, hugging herself. "There are some things that children shouldn't see, right?"
"Right," Satoko coughed. "Maybe you should wait until I've gone to sleep, too."
Both girls laughed at this, and Satoko sat down on the couch to hug Shion.
"Don't touch me," Shion said half-heartedly.
Satoko only tightened her grip. "When Nii Nii comes back, do you think you'll get married?"
"He… Satoshi-kun said…" Shion blushed. "Satoshi-kun said that was probably what we should do."
"If you marry my Nii Nii, does that make you my Nee Nee?"
Shion looked away, to hide the wide smile fixed on her face.
"Satoko, you're already twelve. Isn't that a bit old to still be using those nicknames?"
"No, Shion," Satoko said. "I called Nii Nii that when he and I still had a happy family. I want him to remember that I wasn't always… wasn't always..."
"Causing him trouble?" Shion asked.
"Yes."
"I think you've made up for that, Satoko, for now. In the end, he wanted you to be happy, right? He worked hard for that…"
"He worked too hard for it," Satoko mumbled.
"Maybe. But we're both living happily now, so won't Satoshi-kun be so glad to see us?"
It was Satoko's turn to smile. "He will, won't he!"
………………………….…
Satoshi wondered if he even counted as a person anymore.
He was trapped in this place. Frozen. Everything else around him-- Doctor Irie, the nurse, whoever it was who washed him-- moved, but Satoshi was still. Suspended, almost in a separate world, where he listened to everything but could say nothing, make no movement in response. The only thing that changed was his heart rate, and even that was normally steady. Like a machine.
Is that what Satoshi was now? A machine? All he did was breathe. The IV fluid, like fuel, dripped into him and another tube removed waste… wasn't that basically how machines worked? If he wasn't human anymore, it would certainly explain his lack of human contact.
Somewhere, Shion and Satoko were moving, too, just like the people in the clinic -- unless they were dead. They could be, for all he knew. It wouldn't be unlike Doctor Irie to not tell him about something like that. After all, he'd kept Satoshi's location a secret from them, so why should he tell Satoshi what the people close to him were up to?
And the baby. What about the baby? Satoshi didn't know. He didn't know anything. If something had happened to the baby, it was his fault.
His fault because he wasn't there to help. If they needed help.
And knowing the way things tended to work for Satoshi, they probably did.
………………………….…
It was the day of the deadline, and Sonozaki Oryou was not amused.
Her granddaughter and great-granddaughter, however, were of another disposition.
"He'll be here any minute, just you wait!" Shion smiled widely, proudly. She held her baby-- no, that Houjo's baby-- closer to herself and grinned at it.
And the baby was cooing happily-- laughing, even.
Did these two not understand the reality before them?
"I told you, you had three months before Houjo Satoshi came back or I would take the child," Oryou snapped. "Now give it here or I'll have to use force."
"My baby isn't an 'it'," Shion giggled, "She's a 'she'. She even has a name, you know--"
"All Houjos are 'it's." Oryou said bitterly. "Now let me take it someplace more befitting of its standing as a bastard child."
"Satoshi-kun said he's marry me, so I don't think our baby is illegitimate," Shion said brightly. "Kindly leave me alone with my family?"
"I am your family! Have you forgotten? As a member of the Sonozaki house, you have a certain responsibility not to drag our name in the mud. Keeping this child does just that! I gave you three months, Shion, but the Houjo boy is long gone and we both know it. Now give me that brat and maybe, maybe we will be able to fix the family reputation."
"The family reputation?" Shion said slowly. The gleam in her eyes was a rebellious one. Would this child ever learn?
"I couldn't care much less about the family reputation," Shion said slowly. "All that's mean to me so far is being shut away, isn't it? And when I got away from that, I ended up being tortured…"
Oryou's lungs were already burning from the effort it took to walk up the stairs to Shion's apartment, and now she was beginning to feel the added discomfort of a building headache. "Distinction is not torture. It's a consequence for foolish actions," She reminded Shion.
If only Shion knew how lenient Oryou was being with her. How many times had Oryou had to distinguish herself as a young girl? She could clearly remember a time when she thought her fingernails would never grow back, and the back of her mouth would always be in pain… well, at least Oryou had never again worried about tonsil infection, and she'd discovered she could stick her tongue out farther than anyone else she knew--
Of course, that was in the past. The old ways were best, but when things were old parts of them would be rotten…
Maybe Oryou was getting soft in her old age. However, she could not allow this disgusting cross between the Sonozaki and Houjo families to be near any longer...
"Give it here, Shion."
Shion shook her head. "I can't do that. Satoshi-kun will be here any second now, to hold me and the baby and tell me how proud of us he is… Satoshi-kun will come back before you take this baby. Because he's amazing..."
"If he hasn't come back in the past year, why should he come back now?" Oryou sneered. It amazed her how delusional her granddaughter had become. "Give that… offspring to me and you can return to a normal life as a girl. Move on from that boy, Shion. Waiting for him like this is going nowhere, so stop telling yourself he's going to come back."
"Satoshi-kun is really coming back!" Shion said stubbornly. "Today! I just know it! I bet he's back already, but went to find Satoko first to give her that birthday present!"
"You're lying to yourself, girl. We both know how low the chances are of that boy still being alive."
Something changed on Shion's face. "I think you know exactly how low the chances are of his being alive." She held the baby in her arms tighter, closer to herself and looked Oryou in the eye.
"Satoshi-kun must have gone to get something, to do something important… but you followed him, didn't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Oryou growled. Now she, the head of the Sonozaki family was being blamed?
"You followed him because you didn't like him living together with me," Shion said darkly. "So you made sure he wouldn't come back…"
"I did nothing of the sort!"
"It doesn't matter!" Shion laughed. "Even if you kill him, Satoshi-kun will still come back to me! Because Satoshi-kun and I are lovers there is no way he could do anything else but return and stay with me… no matter how many times you kill him! D… Death cannot stop true love!"
Oryou sighed impatiently. "Shion, the more you tell yourself things like this, the harder it will be for you when your crazed illusions come crashing down on you. If you're so sure this boy is going to return to you, why don't you give me the child and see if he comes before I leave with it?"
"Now you're trying to trick me," Shion giggled. "What could a little old lady like you do to take away this baby? If it came to a struggle, I'm a lot stronger than you are..."
Oryou could sense the beginnings of uncertainty in Shion's voice. Was she finally realizing reality?
"I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, Shion," she sighed.
"Come to what, hag?" Shion asked. She was holding her infant completely against herself, so only the baby's blanket and the top of her head were visible.
"Using force to extract you from that thing."
The head of the Sonozaki house snapped her fingers, and two of her bodyguards-- two of her strongest bodyguards, came in through the door.
Shion's eyes widened. "You wouldn't…"
"We had an agreement, Shion. Three months." Oryou smirked. Had Shion really thought she could defy her? "Time's up."
"No!" Shion yelled. She turned away from the men-- hiding the baby from their view.
"Take it from her," Oryou sighed. "There doesn't seem to be any other way."
The men nodded and began to advance.
"You can't do this!" Shion gasped. "You can't! This… this is my baby, hag! I… can I do what with my own child! You… you have no power over me!"
"I think you're about to find otherwise," Oryou remarked. One of the men grabbed Shion by the shoulders, and the other was trying to pry Shion's arms from the sleeping baby.
Shion clung to the child tighter. "No! No, you… you can't--- this is about my distinction, isn't it? Because I tried to run away! I'll do it again, I'll do it properly this time… as m-many fingernails as it takes… and toenails if I run out…"
"This is not an issue that can be decided with a few measly fingernails," said Oryou. She turned her attention to the bodyguards. "And you two! You're being too gentle. Get that thing away from my granddaughter so she can come back to her senses--- I don't care if you injure it."
Shion squeezed her offspring closer still. "You can't hurt my baby! Y-You can't have my baby!"
"I think you'll find that I can," Oryou commented. "If you don't let go of it soon, it may be fatally injured."
"You'd kill my baby?!?"
"If it would bring you back to your right mind. I'm trying to avoid it. Now let go."
"NO! I CAN'T---"
Just then, the baby started to cry. The men froze, and Shion only stared at her.
"Are you hungry?" She asked the baby. "Or… did you wake up from all the noise? Don't worry, Mommy's here… Mommy will keep you safe…"
"Your attachment to that thing is only going to hurt you," Oryou said. "Now give it over."
"I think I've already given you my answer to that request," Shion hissed. "Now leave me and my baby alone."
"That was not a request."
"I know." Shion glared at Oryou, then softened her expression as she looked at the screaming child in her arms.
"You are hungry, aren't you…" Without warning, Shion turned her back towards Oryou and continued talking to the baby in a reassuring voice. "Mommy's here… don't worry…"
The crying stopped, which Oryou assumed meant that Shion was breastfeeding.
"Shhh… Mommy's here..."
Oryou glared at the still-frozen men. "What are you doing? Take that thing and let's get out of here!"
The men blinked and reached out for Shion…
"Let me finish feeding her first," she said quietly. "Please, at least let me do that. Let me be her mother for just a few more moments…"
Shion was hunched over, curled around her baby. Shaking. Probably starting to cry.
"I've been far too lenient with you already…" Oryou said. "Feed it quickly."
Shion held her baby close. "My poor, sweet baby… I love you. When… when your daddy comes back, they'll be sorry. They'll wish they'd let me keep you so we could raise you… you'll… you'll remember me, won't you? Wherever you end up, you won't forget your mommy, will you?"
Of course, the baby didn't say anything, but Oryou said, "She won't. Babies rarely do when they're separated this young. It's better this way."
"Shut up," Shion said. "You don't know anything about my baby. Can we… can I have a moment alone with her?"
"I can't risk you trying to escape," Oryou snapped. "I don't want to deal with your mother or your sister after I've given you the proper consequence for it."
"I hate you," whispered Shion. "I will never, never forget what you've done to me… to my baby…" She was rocking the infant back and forth, holding her as tightly as she dared. The tears were running down Shion's face now, being soaked up by the collar of her sweater.
"My beautiful baby…"
"From the looks of it, that child is done eating," Oryou said. "Give it up."
Shion held the baby a moment longer, then held it out to one of the bodyguards, who took it.
"Don't let that woman touch her," Shion said, jerking her head at Oryou, who grit her teeth. After everything she'd done for Shion, how could she remain so insolent? She was lucky to be alive.
The man nodded slowly, then began to leave Shion's apartment. Just before he reached the door, the baby made the worst noise she could have possible made at that moment:
"Muu…"
Shion's eyes widened and she froze in place--- even the teardrops on her face seemed to stop moving.
"Satoshi-kun…"
"This is why you need rid of the child," Oryou started to say,"It will only remind you of the Hou--"
Something broke across Shion's face, a mixture of fear and epiphany.
"GIVE ME BACK MY BABY!" She screamed, lunging after the bodyguard holding the infant. "GIVE HER BACK!"
The other bodyguard quickly restrained Shion, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her away.
"DON'T YOU DARE TAKE SATOSHI-KUN'S BABY FROM ME! IF… IF YOU DO THAT… HOW CAN SATOSHI-KUN COME BACK?" Shion cried, struggling to get away. "I NEED MY BABY!"
"He isn't going to come back in the first place," Oryou said. "Give up, Child."
"NO! I NEED THE BABY TO STAY WITH ME! SO SATOSHI-KUN CAN COME BACK QUICKLY TO SEE HER… HE'LL BE HERE ANY MINUTE! JUST WAIT! HE'LL COME BACK AND HE'LL SEE THE BABY AND YOU CAN GIVE ME THE BABY BACK THEN--"
Oryou gave a curt nod to the guard restraining Shion, and he used one hand to squeeze the back of her neck. She fell over, limp, and Oryou left with the two men in her employ, one of them carrying the baby.
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WOW, THAT TOOK FOREVER D:
I apologize. I really do.
You'll notice (or maybe you won't) the lack of song lyrics and the lack of exceedingly obvious 80s references-- but there are two of them. And one other one which is not from the 80s but was absolutely necessary. It's a reference to a popular animated film.
… There still aren't any prizes for finding them, though.
Also, "damn." I just reread chapter 5 and I feel astonished with myself for making Satoko say "damn".
She's like twelve. I didn't say "damn" till I was fourteen.
I feel sort of awful.
… Tell me, how am I driving?