Chapter 13: Eirin

"I do hope you both realize, this is a bit outside my area of expertise," Eirin said. Though she spoke as kindly as she could manage, her words were met with a sharp glare from the darkness youkai, against the wall with her arms crossed. Rumia's lips curled into a silent snarl, baring her sharpened teeth. "We don't have phantoms on the moon, and the most I've ever seen here on Earth have been youkai rabbit pregnancies."

"What you're telling me, then, is that you're completely useless." Rumia's ignorance was almost painful. Eirin forced herself to retain the friendly smile on her face, despite the steadily building irritation within her. Pushing Rumia into another violent rage was not high on her to-do list.

"Not quite, Rumia," she answered. "You might be forgetting, but I've been around since Lunarian society was first founded, and I even knew Lord Tsukiyomi personally." And though she did not care to divulge them, she was aware of quite a few of his secrets; including a few of his other identities, and the knowledge of his untimely demise. "I have also lived on Earth for over a thousand years. Despite the fact that I've never dealt with this specific sort of pregnancy before, I have at least some knowledge that will be of use."

"Oh, it'll be fine, Rumia.~" Kana told the other woman. Kana sat on the examining table of Eirin's office. Though she was pregnant, that much Eirin could certainly confirm, her body showed no sign of it. "So, moon lady! Tell us what you know!" Kana, unlike Rumia, was at least in a rather amicable mood. She sat there, lazily kicking her feet, as though she were acting like an antsy child.

"Well, nothing definite, aside from the fact that you are in fact pregnant." Eirin pulled up the chair from her desk, and sat on the front side of it, directly in front of Kana. "Yours is the first known instance of a poltergeist pregnancy I've ever heard of. Particular, when the other partner was not a poltergeist herself."

"Does it really make that big of a difference, doc~?" Kana asked. "Poltergeists aren't really dead like ghosts, because we never really lived in the first place! So it should be fine, right?"

"The fact that Rumia is in fact a living creature is probably beneficial to the safety of your child. Take the Konpaku family, for example. I know you've both met the young Youmu Konpaku, who works beneath the princess of the Netherworld, and are aware of her half-phantom nature. At some unknown point in her family's past, a human and a ghost interbred, and the first half-phantom Konpaku was born." Although, with Yomi Konpaku being neither human nor ghost, but rather a hannya youkai, Eirin had some doubts about the legitimacy of the Konpaku family's humanity.

"Youmu is living, or at least half-living, proof that a child between a living being and a phantom can survive. And since poltergeists are neither alive nor dead, I would say the odds of your child surviving are remarkably higher." Eirin then turned her gaze over toward Rumia. The darkness youkai met the doctor's eyes. "However, given Rumia's rather... dubious origins... I'm afraid I can't exactly predict what will happen."

Rumia seemed to visibly flinch at Eirin's words, but only for a split second. By the time Kana turned to look at her partner, she'd seemed unfazed. "And just what are you trying to imply, Eirin?"

"Nothing at all, Rumia." Eirin smiled. For as dangerous as her present situation was, Eirin couldn't deny there was some thrill to be had in toying with Rumia. "But if I can't say for certain what species of youkai you truly are, I cannot in all honestly assure the safety of your unborn child. Or Kana's well-being, for that matter."

For the first time since their arrival, a worrisome look spread its way across Kana's face. Eirin could almost pity her. Where Rumia was unquestionably a depraved and vile creature, Kana still had the mindset of an impressionable and awkward child whose state was the sole fault of her creator. "Rumia?"

Rumia looked over at Kana, and saw the sad expression in her eyes. Even Rumia herself seemed to display a twinge of actual concern for once, to Eirin's surprise. Does Rumia actually harbor some emotional attachment to this girl? Eirin wondered. Until that moment, she believed Rumia only viewed Kana as little more than her partner in crime. Perhaps that was how their relationship had started, anyway, but there was clearly at least something between them.

"What's she talking about, Rumia? Is she saying you're not actually a youkai?" Kana asked again, breaking the silence.

Rumia said nothing, and she averted her gaze from the poltergeist's. Eirin smiled, and stood from her chair. "Why don't we talk outside, Rumia." Eirin gestured her hand toward the hallway door.

Rumia regarded Eirin suspiciously for a few moments, and then uncrossed her arms. "Fine," she replied. As she strode toward the door, Kana made a move to get up as well. Rumia only held out her hand to stop Kana, without even looking back at her, or breaking her stride. "You stay there, Kana. I'll make this quick."

"This will only take a few moments, Kana," Eirin assured the girl. "I believe this is something Rumia wishes to keep to herself."

Rumia grunted a sound of acknowledgement as she threw the door open. From the other side, Eirin heard the sound of various youkai rabbits scurrying away from her office. "You better fucking run!" Rumia screeched at them. "If I catch any of you listening in again, I'm going to make rabbit fucking soup tonight!"

"I'm afraid the majority of them are not very intelligent enough to heed your warning for very long." Eirin said to Rumia, before shutting the door behind her. "But you probably scared them away long enough to keep them from eavesdropping on our conversation."

"I'm not giving them the chance." Rumia placed her hand on the door, and began to cover its surface in black shadows. The darkness spread until not only was the entire door was consumed, but a black dome of darkness surrounded the two. "Just how much do you think you know, moon bitch?"

"Calling me names certainly isn't going to help you, Rumia."

"And I don't think having your organs rearranged is going to help you."

"I think you'd find that killing me isn't quite so easy, Rumia." Eirin offered the woman a sly smile. "Do you really believe that the princess is the only person in Eientei to have consumed the Hourai Elixir?"

This news seemed to surprise Rumia. It wasn't common knowledge that Eirin was also a Hourai immortal, just like the princess Kaguya, but Eirin also had no doubts that a few of the more intelligent and older residents of Gensokyo had figured it out. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Rumia finally replied. "I'd heard you refused to return to the moon, when they pardoned your princess for drinking the elixir. But if they found out that you had become immortal, that would make you another fugitive as well, now wouldn't it?"

"Indeed it would. I've never even told my former students this, so I trust that you'll keep my secret." Rumia was not the most trustworthy individual, but the youkai had her own secrets to keep. And a person with secrets of their own could always be trusted to want to keep them hidden. "Now that I've told you my secret, you can confirm yours to me. I know that you are the daughter of Lord Tsukiyomi. I also suspect that you are the one who murdered him."

"Lord Tsukiyomi?" Rumia appeared to process the name, and came to a recognition a short moment later. "That's not the name I knew her by. But it's close enough."

"No, I didn't think it was. Tsukiyomi did enjoy visiting the Earth from time to time, but he always liked to form new identities for himself when he left the Capital." Eirin was not aware of all of his other personas, but she knew enough. She'd known Tsukiyomi longer than anyone, aside from perhaps Amaterasu, Susanoo, or Mugen herself. "If I were to guess, I'd say you would have known her as Selena Marama, correct?" The way Rumia flinched at the name was just as good as any verbal confirmation. "I thought so. You do look quite a bit like Selena."

"Yeah, whatever." Rumia's mood soured at the mere thought of the woman, that much was clear. "She tried to murder me, you know. In case you're wondering why I killed her."

This was quite the startling revelation to even Eirin. The Tsukiyomi she'd known was not the type who would have tried to kill his own child for no reason. "That is... rather shocking, I must say."

"I guess your precious Tsukiyomi wasn't so high and mighty like you thought, huh? I guess she thought I'd grow up to be some kinda monster, so she tried to do away with me." Rumia spread her arms, and bared her teeth in a wicked grin. "I guess she was right, wasn't she~? Too bad for her, she made the mistake of attacking me on the night of the full moon. For all the power she got from it, mine was still greater, even as a child."

"As Lord Tsukiyomi's closest living relative, I'd like to apologize on his behalf." Now, at least, Eirin had nearly the full picture of Rumia's origins. She could sympathize to some degree how she'd ended up the violent creature she was, though she certainly couldn't condone her actions. "Setting the matter of Tsukiyomi aside, or Selena if you prefer, that leaves your other parent. Do you know of their identity?"

"No, I don't."

"Unfortunate. But, I don't think it matters." Eirin gave Rumia a reassuring smile. "Your being at least half-goddess bodes well for the well-being of both Kana and your unborn child. The partial divine nature of the child should ensure that it won't simply be dead on delivery."

"That's all, then?" Rumia asked. The youkai (or perhaps demi-goddess?) seemed to show some sign of relief.

"Well, there's still the issue of the child's rate of development. Despite Kana's body not showing any outward signs of the pregnancy, the child is developing unusually quickly, even after taking its partial divinity into account." Although, this had proven to be a rather difficult conclusion to ascertain due to Kana's phantom biology. "By my guess, the child could be born anywhere from two weeks, to three months. So we'll need to keep an eye on the progress of its development."

"I'm not stopping by here every fucking week for another check-up," Rumia growled out. She waved her arm, finally dispersing the darkness that had surrounded them. Sure enough, a small crowd of youkai rabbits had gathered around where the border of the darkness had been, where they had surely been trying to listen in. Equally unsurprising, was how rapidly they dispersed upon seeing Rumia.

"No need. I'll assign my assistant, Reisen, to stay with you and monitor Kana's pregnancy in my stead." Rumia shrugged her shoulders, as a resigned gesture of acceptance. "Try not to be too harsh on the poor girl. I'd like her to be returned intact."

"We'll see about that." Rumia chuckled softly. "I can't promise anything about her mental well-being."

"Well, then I believe that covers everything." Eirin released a soft sigh. "I'll send for Reisen later, then, after I finish explaining the situation to Kana. Hopefully we'll even be done in time for me to take the princess to the Netherworld flower viewing party."