"Mrs…Kasumiso, right?" The doctor seemed like a pleasant man. He was fit and bespectacled, and he was the type that looked good in a lab coat. I don't know if there actually was a type, but if there was, he was it. He couldn't be more than thirty-five. And just like the hospital, he didn't look like he had anything to do with the disappearances.

"A lightning demon, right?" He asked, looking at the clipboard that undoubtedly had the forms the receptionist had filled out on it. He studied Hiei over the rims of his glasses. "And you are…?"

Hiei gave the doctor a look that meant he thought the doc was a complete idiot. It was a look Kuwabara had been on the receiving end of many times.

"Uhhh…Taki?" Hiei said. The doctor (his name was Dr Seto Otome) laughed, a noise which made Hiei look like he wanted to rip Dr Otome's tongue out.

"No, no, I meant, what race are you?"

Oh. The receptionist hadn't asked that. Hiei didn't exactly look like a fox demon, and his aura was far too fiery to pass for one, either. But, if the doctor wished to examine the baby's aura closely enough, it was unmistakably foxy.

"Fire kitsune," Hiei said, extremely smoothly, "very rare."

"Hmmm," the doctor said, impressed.

"Good one," I mouthed to Hiei. He grinned.

The doctor suddenly swooped close to my belly. I jolted back in surprise, and Hiei's hand flew to the hilt of his sword. But the doctor only sniffed the energy emanating from my stomach.

"Strong," he commented. I glowed with pride. "Let's prepare you for an ultrasound."

Dr Otome left the room to set up the ultrasound. As soon as the door closed, Hiei collapsed into a chair by the door.

"Something wrong?" I asked curiously.

"Hn. I'm just not sure if my nerves can take much more of this. I expect an attack every second…"

I heaved myself up onto his lap, since he was occupying the only chair. I ruffled his hair.

"We'll be fine."

He glared at me. "You know something funny? I remember Yukina saying the exact same thing when she mentioned she was going to go keep you company that one day."

"Well," I said thoughtfully. "We were fine. We just got attacked as well."

"Not funny."

The doctor popped back in the room. "It's ready. Follow me, please."

**************

I'd had ultrasounds before, but I didn't really fancy the looks of this one. The machine was just a little bit too old to look function, but the soft whirring sound proved my eyes wrong.

"Seven months, huh?" The doctor asked, handing me a hospital gown and pointing me to a small curtained closet-thing where I could change.

"Yes," I answered as I changed behind the curtain.

"Hmmm…" He said thoughtfully. "That must mean you've had checkups before, correct? But not here. This is your first time."

My…'spider senses,' or whatever, started to tingle. Such curious questions…

"Yes, my husband and I live in Tokyo," I answered. "We are up here sightseeing. He's never been to Kyoto before."

"Fascinating…" Dr Otome chuckled. I heard him talking to someone. A female someone.

I pulled the curtain back, and walked into the dark room. Dr Otome was no longer in the room, but a middle-aged nurse was sitting in a chair by a hospital bed, the machine whirling and a tube of gel stuff in her hand. She introduced herself as Mineko, and asked me to lay down on the bed. I did so, and pulled up the hospital gown just enough to expose my enormous belly protruding above my pants. Mineko began to rub the gel over my stomach. I shivered as its cold temperature reacted badly with the warmth of my skin.

"Oh, look at that!" Mineko exclaimed, after running some sort of tool over my belly. "There's your baby."

I craned my neck to look at the screen. Amidst the grey static, was a distinctly human-shaped figure. I smiled, thinking about how adorable this kid would be when he or she was born…

The nurse pronounced that the baby looked to be in perfect health. She asked if I wanted to know the sex of the baby, but I said no. Kurama and I wanted it to be a surprise. We already had names, as well. Kurama hoped for a boy, and of course, I hoped for a sweet little girl. I'd just be happy with anything, really, though. And with demons, who knew what could be possible?

**************

They ran the same, usual, tests as always on me. I never noticed anything strange in what they did, except the technology was almost cringe-worthy. I wouldn't have been surprised to find an oil lamp and a sundial somewhere.

Hiei was over relieved when I finally rejoined him. He looked like he was almost about to start ripping his hair out from the stress. He roughly asked the doctor if I could leave, and Dr Otome said yes. Hiei grabbed my arm and almost dragged me to the check out desk, where we could pay.

"Which doctor did you have?" The cashier-woman (or whatever it was she was called) asked.

"Umm…Dr Seto Otome, I think his name was…" I replied.

The cashier-lady looked up at me in surprise. "Are you sure? There's no one by the name of Dr Otome employed here."

I froze, finding myself unable to breathe. "What…?" I asked, my voice strained. Hiei growled behind me, and was on the point of rushing off when I seized his wrist, holding it viciously tight. All my instincts were screaming at me to get out of there as fast as possible.

I smiled politely at the woman. "My mistake. I don't remember his name, then. May I just make the payment?"

"Sure."

As soon as I was done paying, I pulled Hiei from the hospital, trying to look casual. As soon as we passed through the revolving doors, Hiei swung me up in his arms, and took off running, sharing my desire to get far, far away from the hospital.

Credit to Ms. Kaori Minamino for the 'fire kitsune' thing. They are her creation, not mine.

Dun-dun-duhhhhhh!