(singing) The chair I'm spinning on goes round and round~ Wheee~ Thanks for everything guys, really! Your reviews were wondrous and I got some guesses, but since there's hardly any clues on my surprise, I'll let you off (laughs). And yes Feliccia.. (winks) I can be quite the doombringer, but fear not my fellow brethren of SaruMi pairing! I got this whole thing under control~ Alter467, your English is actually quite good, I'm highly impressed! (smile)
And to sir guest -the most recent one-, you needn't need to worry about me being like last time, that won't happen. Last time was because I know that Bonds in Three was similar like another story and I kept saying that I'm working as best I can to change the idea, but some of them kept pointing out the obvious, made me upset and just..bail. Rest assured, this isn't like that time (smile), since I got a better idea now~
Enough chit chat, let's roll!
Saruhiko's words telling him to quit working had been in his mind for hours until Misaki found himself unable to sleep. The light from the outside world bathes Saruhiko's form gently and makes him look rather weak and vulnerable in his sleep, but Misaki knows how much that isn't true. Turning to face his beloved, Misaki simply watches the man sleep soundly, his chest rising up and down in a steady rhythm and his breath coming out softly. If only Misaki could be in the world of slumber right now, then he wouldn't have to worry over all these troubles.
The two had talked about telling Dr. Yuzuki in the morning regarding Misaki's condition, and the skateboarder had been more than happy to oblige since he too doesn't want anything to happen to the growing child. It'd be best if Dr. Yuzuki were to give them some advice since Misaki is now older and even though he's not a woman, he can at least know complications that'll arouse if elder women were to get pregnant. Saruhiko had agreed to that and turned the whole house upside down trying to find her card that she had given them years ago. Misaki yelled at him for making such a horrible mess and smacked him into cleaning things up.
While Misaki tosses and turns to get some sleep, a certain young girl is awake and has no intention to get any nightly rest whatsoever. In one of the rooms of the second storey of bar Homra, Anna sat there at her study desk, her marbles scattered in front of her, eyes set in a stone cold look and face devoid of emotions. Ever since in the morning, she had sense something powerful hovering around the Fushimi household and is worried if something happened to them only to realize something wonderful.
As a Strain with powers of clairvoyance, she manages to detect Ryuu's signature waves and almost screamed in joy when she found out that Misaki is pregnant again. But she manages to keep her emotions down and kept the news a secret, not wanting everyone to know and ruining Misaki and Saruhiko's surprise. At first, that's what she thought the mysterious wave is but then she found out that there are two different pulses coming from the two's house. One she can distinctly tell belonged to Ryuu, the other is something more ominous and hidden even to her ability.
The child will be saved, that person can never get their hands on him, she thought menacingly. Her eyes narrow dangerously and the marbles on the table start to move in an erratic fashion, bumping and colliding with each other violently until they start to chip and break. Izumo and Seri had moved into their own house when they got married and Anna refuses to leave the Red King's chambers, so she opted to watch over the bar from Mikoto's old room. Secretly though, she sometimes see his spirit wandering about with Totsuka, hence why she doesn't want to leave in the first place.
The marbles continue to roll around and bumping into each other until one powerful collision causes all four marbles to break apart completely. Anna seems to snap out of her trance and stares at the destroyed marbles with wide emotionless eyes, as if curious why they're no longer in their original form. Slowly, she forms the marbles back and starts rolling them around again, making sure her powers don't leak out too much in her silent anger as she watch over the couple and ensuring their safety.
When morning arrives, Saruhiko was the first to awaken and starts his morning routine of staring at a sleeping Misaki for a few short moments before taking a shower and making breakfast. He had asked for leave today so the both of them could pay Dr. Yuzuki a visit in order to check Misaki's pregnancy. He's not sure whether she's going to allow them to keep Ryuu, but they'll still keep him no matter what she says, even if the complications are high.
The blue clansman smiles gently when the gentle ray of sunlight bathes Misaki in its glow, making him look angelic and all the more beautiful. Ahh...this is no good. I might eat him in his sleep, and he'll kill me for that later, Saruhiko thought with a snicker. He doesn't feel remorseful at all, in fact, he's holding himself back from actually ravishing the shorter man before their scheduled meeting. Saruhiko doesn't care that Misaki is sleeping or even pregnant –he does but right now, copulation is filling his head- he just wants to wake the sleeping man and take him then and there.
"If you so much as touch me right now, I'll cut off your head with a fork," Misaki suddenly says earning a surprised sound escaping Saruhiko's lips. Eyelids slowly open to reveal sleepy ember eyes now watching his every move with calculative gaze. "Is there anything else inside that head of yours except sex? I'm starting to think your brain's a one-way switch," the crow continues with an irate twitch of an eye. Saruhiko merely gapes at him for a few short minutes before bursting into laughter. Misaki however, don't find the situation funny at all.
Patting the crow on his head, Saruhiko only smiles. "You know that's not what I always think of. Now get your butt out of the bed and take a shower, I need to call that doctor about our visit today to make sure she doesn't forget about it," Saruhiko says with a yawn and flicking Misaki on the forehead. The next minute, their neighbors could hear Saruhiko screaming in pain and begging to be released.
"You'd better make sure you don't break every traffic rules created by mankind today, it was hell last time and I really don't want to repeat that," Misaki grumbles as they enter Saruhiko's car. The blue clansman only clicks his tongue and mumbles something incoherent, though Misaki could make out the 'that was an emergency you half-pint', and resists the urge to plow him over the head. "And do you even remember how to get there?" he continues, eyeing the blue clansman warily.
Saruhiko only grins in a way that makes Misaki somewhat freaked out and turns to his partner in a way that screams 'I'm not entirely sure, but you better hold on for your dear life'. "Of course I do," the monkey lied smoothly earning another twitch from Misaki. "Don't you worry my dear wife, I'll get you and the baby to the hospital safely and after that, we can inform your little red riding hood friends and go home where I can eat you up,"
Once again, the neighbors could hear screaming and the sound of pathetic begging to be released. Not a while later, Saruhiko drives out of their driveway and makes his way to the hospital where Dr. Yuzuki is waiting patiently.
In bar Homra, Izumo is busy chatting with his customers while Anna stays in her usual spot at the small round table. Though she might, or might not know, he's been watching her since he opened up earlier and is worried over her silent existence. Sure, Anna isn't one to speak a lot to begin with, especially since Mikoto's and Totsuka's death, but this silent is just too unusual, even for Anna. I'll watch over her a little more, and if she's still behaving strangely, I should talk to her, he thought rather grimly. Izumo continues to run business as usual while Anna stares into her drink as if detaching from the world.
When the customers are out, Izumo sighs and stubs the butt of his cigar onto the tray before moving to sit in front of Anna. The young teenager only lifts her head from her drink to stare at Izumo with a curious spark in her eyes. "Anna," he starts with a smile. "Is something going on? You seem quieter than normal, and I'm a little worried," Izumo says whilst looking at the girl in a gentle and mother-like way. Figures, Izumo have always been the mother of Homra since the start of the clan.
Anna didn't say anything, merely observing the bartender curiously. Deep inside, she wants to tell him that Misaki and Saruhiko are expecting and it was the same child they had lost, but another part of her strongly respects Misaki and would never reveal any of his secrets to the clan until the former vanguard is ready. Conflicted, she doesn't know what to do except keep quiet, although a plan is starting to form in her head. Meeting Izumo's gaze straight on, she takes a deep breath.
"Sorry Izumo," she says quietly. "I can't say anything yet. We'll have to wait for Saruhiko and Misaki later," was all she said before running out of the bar to meet with Kamamoto and a few others, though not before she sends the bartender a warning. "Don't stand and drink when they arrive, I don't want you to die," and with that, she left the bar altogether, leaving a highly bewildered if not confused Izumo.
Meanwhile, Saruhiko and Misaki arrive at Shizume Hospital with Dr. Yuzuki waiting for them at the entrance, smiling cheerfully all the while. When she sets her gaze on Saruhiko however, she resisted the urge to question him on why there are so many bruise and bite marks. Dr. Yuzuki chalks it up to hormones and that Saruhiko did something to aggravate Misaki, many husbands tend to suffer whenever their wives are pregnant anyway. "It's good to see you two again! I'm glad you somehow got pregnant again too, now come on," she says and leads them inside. "Let's see if that fetus is growing nicely,"
As usual, the three of them –or four if you count the growing child- went up the elevator and towards Dr. Yuzuki's office. The couple notices that she had grown a little over the years and that her hair is now longer, reaching all the way down to her waist without being held up in any way. The only hair accessory she has is a flower clip to hold the front of her hair from falling all over her face. "You look different from the last time we met," Saruhiko says in his usual emotionless tone. He also notices the ring on her right finger. "And you're married too,"
She turns and smiles brightly at them; even Misaki seems taken aback by the news and looks down at the glimmering diamond gem that is her ring. "That's a nice ring! So you don't go by the name 'Yuzuki' anymore?" he asks and she only hums in response. Truthfully, he's more comfortable when calling her by her maiden name, but she's a married woman now and it's only polite to call her by her new name.
"I still respond if you call me Dr. Yuzuki, I still find it more natural that way anyway. Now come over here, Misaki-kun so I can scan you," she says before realizing what she had said. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to call you so informally like that. Do you still go by the name Yata or Fushimi now?" she asks with an apologetic smile. Misaki wants to say that she can simply call him by the name Yata, but Saruhiko cuts him off before he even had a chance to say anything.
"Ever since he got married to me, he now doesn't care if people call him by his first name since he got used to it. So please, call him by the name 'Misaki' if it makes you feel all the more comfortable," Saruhiko interjects and Dr. Yuzuki only smiles in response. Misaki however, isn't too happy with what the monkey had just said and threw a fit at him only to be brush off by a mind-numbing kiss. That however, only made the crow all the more flustered and he starts to hit Saruhiko all over until Dr. Yuzuki calms him down.
Misaki finally steps on to the scanning bed and lifts his shirt up as Dr. Yuzuki pours the gel on his skin. It's cold as always and she starts to move the strange scope around. Misaki could see the concentration in her eyes and in Saruhiko's as he gazes at the screen intently. As the fetus is only a little over a month old, it's still rather small and hard to detect, but Misaki trusts Dr. Yuzuki and her expertise as she found it the last time. After moments of tense silence and searching around his insides, Dr. Yuzuki finally found the fetus and cries in joy.
"There it is, your little sneak," she says with a small giggle. Both Saruhiko and Misaki are rather curious on why she said that, and she notices their stares. "I called your child that because it seems to be hiding from our eyes. See this tiny clump here? That's him blending in," she says while zooming into the holographic projector and pointing to a rather disfigured ball of mass. "Just like last time, an aura pouch is created to house the little guy but this time it's filled with clumps of tissues, in fact, it's twice the amount than last time..."
When she says it like that, both Saruhiko and Misaki are left rather confused and a tiny bit worried. Did something happen when Megumi recaptured the soul and implanted it into Misaki? "But I guess it's fine, since it'll give him more leverage to hang on to and also giving his placenta more space to spread out," she says with a smile making the couple more relaxed. She then continues to observe the makeshift womb around in order to ensure that everything is in place and that the child is growing steadily and healthily. Saruhiko and Misaki talks to her about the latter's health and if this will effect him in any way, much to their delight, Dr. Yuzuki says that he'll be fine should he take care of his health.
"Now that everything's covered up and the both of you seem to be in good health, you can come back here again in a few weeks for your second checkup," Dr. Yuzuki concludes as she washes her hands while Misaki hops off the bed and wiping the gel from his stomach. "Because you're a man and your pelvic is smaller than a woman's, your baby might not grow to full size as he or she won't have the space. Furthermore, there's a high chance of you delivering early as the child can no longer grow, so by the time you reach third trimester, you'd better be on your toes," but then she seems to have a look of contemplation on her face. "Scratch that; keep on your toes when you're nearing the end of your second trimester,"
The couple seems to take in her words rather seriously as she's right. They've discussed about this years ago and they still believe it's a good idea to keep Misaki monitored, no matter how much the crow finds it troublesome. "Can I still go to the skateboarding rink for work? I'll just teach though, I won't be skateboarding," Misaki says, earning a shriek from Dr. Yuzuki. She levels him with a glare and jabs him near the collarbone.
"You want to go working at somewhere your kid could get hurt? I don't think so! Working at a skateboarding rink is highly dangerous and could bring all sorts of disaster, I don't want it happen like last time," she softens her tone at the last sentence. The image of a bleeding Misaki on the operation table is still fresh in her mind after all these years, and she just can't bear to see that same occurrence happening all over again. She couldn't sleep or concentrate on her work for days and prayed that the soul would be reborn ever since. "Don't work, I suggest you stay at home and watch over yourself,"
Misaki seems as though he wants to protest, but a firm grip of Saruhiko's hand on his shoulder made him turn around to look at his partner. "She's right you know," he says in a rather solemn tone. "You know I can always cover our expenses no problem, why are you so adamant at going to work when you know the problems that can happen?" Saruhiko asks, his voice grave and pressing and Misaki can feel the desperation in them. Brown eyes are casts downwards as Misaki thought of a good answer, why does he strongly want to go to work anyway?
"I'll feel like I'm not pulling my own weight if you're the only one working! I know Scepter 4's paycheck is huge and you won't have any problem taking care of all three of us, but it'll also make me feel like a lazy ass," Misaki bursts out. Saruhiko's eyes went wide when the shorter male said that. He knows that Misaki hates being idle and not doing anything for himself, he believes it's a sign of weakness and he'd rather be in a coma than just sitting at home waiting for time to end.
Dr. Yuzuki then clears her throat to catch the crow's attention. "Take note that you're now in a vulnerable position and that whatever you do may and will affect the child in some way possible. I have seen many mothers lost their children due to stress, too much working, not enough rest, overly stressed and many others. Even my own aunt lost her 2 month fetus a few years ago because she refuses to get any rest from work. I don't want that to happen to you, just stay at home and rest," she says with a gentle and somewhat mother-like smile. Misaki couldn't say anything knowing that she's right, but he's still rather fixed on going to work.
"Don't make me pull the 'doctor's orders' on you, because I will and you won't like it," she says, the smile never leaving her face only this time it's more dark and menacing, similar to Izumo's when he's trying to show he's not pleased and yet still wanting to look as carefree as possible. Now Misaki is trapped, knowing Saruhiko will back her up no matter what he says. Sighing, the crow relents by nodding his head slightly and the other two beams happily.
After setting the date for the next appointment, the couple walks out of the hospital with Misaki feeling a little down after having to quit working. He had called his boss who questioned on his reason –to which he answers he has a 'serious' medical problem that'll make him unable to work for a long while- and now he's officially jobless.
"Stop looking so down, Misaki. At least this way the baby won't be hurt, and you should be more careful even if you're at home. Just call me if you need anything, a glass of water, a cup of ramen or perhaps...an extra blanket," the softness in Saruhiko's voice just hurts Misaki right down to his core. The crow merely kept silent as Saruhiko continues to drive out of the hospital's courtyard and towards the main road. He still couldn't believe that he had lost Ryuu from such a stupid accident, but now he's going to make sure he doesn't repeat that very same mistake all over again.
The two then ended up going to Bar Homra as Misaki realizes that he still haven't told his friends yet. As much as Saruhiko loathes going there, he still respects Misaki's wishes and head towards where the red clan once thrived. It's surreal that even after all these years, there hasn't been a new Red King to restore the clan's former glory, but then again it's not surprising as Reisi appeared a decade after the death of Habari Jin; his predecessor. The new Red King might not even rise in a few years for all they know, and until then, they just have to keep a heads up for a pulsing red Sword of Damocles.
The bells to the bar chime as Misaki walks in with Saruhiko trailing quietly behind him. Izumo is preparing some lunch for Anna when the two came in and welcomes them warmly. "Misaki-chan, Saru-kun, it's great seeing you two again. What brought you here?" the bartender asks as Anna turns slightly to look at the adults. Misaki took a seat next to her and Saruhiko sits next to his lover, her pinkish eyes never straying from Misaki's stomach and she makes sure to look away before they can catch her staring.
"Just some interesting news," Saruhiko says with a small smirk. Some of the other clansmen are there too such as Kamamoto, Bandou, Shouhei, Eric and Fujishima, Chitose and Dewa are probably away for their jobs since it's practically rush hour. Their eyes lit up when Saruhiko says that and waits for him to continue. Misaki was about to tell them the news but Saruhiko beat him completely to it. "Misaki's pregnant again; you can thank Megumi for doing this,"
All of the Homra members sans Anna balk in surprise and Misaki groans when Saruhiko shot him a rather smug look, knowing that the younger had planned this out. Not long after, words of congratulations are being circled around to the couple and even to Izumo when Saruhiko also said the condition Seri is in. He almost fainted when he found out the news –Saruhiko guessed that his superior never told her husband yet- and almost crashed on his counter when Shouhei hugs the man all of a sudden and congratulating him.
Misaki too is rather surprised when he found out that Izumo will be having another child, but he doesn't mind since now the children will have a playmate. That, and Chiharu deserves a younger sibling anyway.
While everyone is congratulating the couple and Izumo, they completely miss how Anna's eyes shone along with the rest of her body for a split second. The completely missed how she fishes a red marble from her pocket and stares into it. And they completely missed how deeply she frowns to the point where she completely obliterates the marble.
Ooh.. Anna is being mysterious as always, and Misaki is now on home arrest, I hope Saruhiko takes good care of him. Speaking of Saruhiko, happy birthday to our beloved blue monkey! Ahh..if only I could visit AFA Singapore, that'd be great! Unfortunately I'm busy with college, rather broke AND it's a few hundred miles away where I'd need my passport just to get in. Sad life...
Anyways, I just got around rescheduling my timetable and decided to either update on Saturday or Sunday as you see, I come home on Friday night, sleep through my Saturday morning, chat over Skype for a few hours and then write the next chapter down for the rest of the day, so basically Sunday's my best option of updating. Or Saturday night. Depends...
I'm pathetic.. (dies)
Ignore the 'woe is me' and remember to leave me some reviews! You guys are beautiful! And awesome! Oh yeah~!