The next day, everyone woke up to learn that Blaze was not amongst them. Shiro did his best to remain calm, searching the house for a note from her and asking around the village if anyone had seen their companion. When he returned home without any luck, though, he entered a state of panic. What if she'd been kidnapped? She WAS close to Draco, who was a Death Eater… What if she decided to leave? She agreed to staying with them, yes, but maybe her lack of comments on the matter meant that she preferred to be somewhere else…

Naturally, when she walked through the door that evening, Shiro had plenty to say. Konata greeted her with a nonchalant "Welcome back" and a relieved smile; Shiro, however, reacted quite differently. "Do you have any idea how worried we were! You didn't even leave a bloody note! You could have been dead for all we knew!" he boomed, his hair askew and his face turning red. Blaze took on the air of guilt, her eyes staring at the ground as if it was the most interesting specimen she'd ever seen. "Where were you, anyway?"

"Out," Blaze muttered in response.

"Out where?" Shiro spat. Blaze brought her gaze upward, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I was just out, okay! I'm sorry I left all secretively, I shouldn't have made you guys worry, I'm sorry… But let's completely forget about this, alright?" Her voice had an edge of pleading.

For a few moments, Shiro just glared at her and bit his lip roughly. Finally, though, he sighed irritably and grumbled, "Fine. Just give us some notice next time."

"Hey, Shiro? I've been meaning to talk to you," Catherin called that night as everyone was heading up to bed. Shiro tilted his head casually, glancing over his shoulder and halting on the second step. He hopped down the stairs and absently stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah?"

Catherin lightly bit the inside of her cheek, testing out ways to start her desired conversation in her head. "You sure were upset with Blaze, huh?" she began slowly. Shiro's demeanor dropped slightly.
"Of course I was. I was terrified something had happened… She's like a sister to me. I would've responded just like I did if Sakura had done the same thing."

"Hm, I see," Catherin replied with a nod. She took a silent deep breath, building up the courage to get to her point. "That's a pretty keen fatherly instinct you've got. It should come in handy, since you could end up a daddy… Soon…"

Shiro stared at her blankly. "What do you mean by 'soon'? I'm 17, fatherhood is NOT on my to-do list."
Catherin's crystal blue eyes met his, and she said in a completely serious tone: "I know what you and Konata did, Shiro." These words were like an arrow through Shiro's chest that at the same time increased his heartbeat tenfold. In that moment, though, he discovered that he was quite talented at poker faces.

"What are you going on about?"

"Shiro, please… We have to talk about this." Catherin grabbed the younger boy's hand and led him to the couch. He hesitantly sat with her, glancing down at his lap for a second when Mischief jumped atop it. "Yesterday, I was down here waiting for Satoshi to get out of the shower when I saw Mischief," the Himalayan feline meowed softly at the sound of her name, "walking around down here. I knew she liked to sleep on your bed, so I picked her up and thought I'd bring her back to your room. The door was locked, which was odd enough, but then I paused and I heard moaning… Not to mention I heard Konata begging the word 'more.' I'm not the brightest banana in the bunch, but I can put two and two together."

Silence. So she DID know… Shiro wanted to disappear on the spot, shame washing over him like a wave. Catherin sighed and gently touched his hand. "It's not right of you to be doing such a thing, but it's not really wrong either… Technically, you HAVE come of age, and you and Konata love each other so much… I understand why you two would want to try that out. Satoshi and I are no virgins, but make sure we're protected. I trust that you did too?"

Almost in slow motion, Shiro buried his face in his hands. "No… No, Catherin, w-we weren't thinking, so we didn't take any precautions…"

Mild alarm exploded over Catherin's face. "In that case… Good luck."

After that confrontation, the topic was never touched on again. In fact, Shiro managed to push it all the way to the back of his mind without giving it a second thought. That is, until the day that they were to head back to Hogwarts.

"Snape appointed as headmaster… We're all doomed," Shiro grumbled as the trio sluggishly piled their things into their bags. Xalia and Jakkin perched atop the wardrobe in the master bedroom, their heads nestled under their wings. The girls nodded their agreement, but none of them spoke for the remainder of their packing.

Every time Blaze and Shiro were looking down or away, Konata would stand up a little straighter and glance at the full-body mirror in the corner. Her glimpses only lasted a few seconds, though, before she averted her eyes and returned to her packing her things. Well, she'd already finished packing, so she returned to ORGANIZING her things.

Shiro gave a very small chuckle. "What's wrong, love? You keep looking at the mirror. Afraid the Boogey Man's going to appear out of nowhere?"

Konata slowly shook her head, straightening herself all the way. "No, nothing like that…" She spoke in a distant, leisurely manner. Biting her lip very hard, she took a couple steps closer to the mirror. She gradually turned so that she was facing it sideways, as if she was living under the Slow Motion setting. "I always made sure that I was alone when it happened, but lately I've just been crying for no reason… I didn't tell anyone, but I've thrown up 4 mornings in the past couple weeks…" She swallowed shakily. "I'm not sure, I-I only have a vague clue…" Her voice was still slow and soft, with an edge of nervousness. Even slower yet, she pulled her pale pink t-shirt up to reveal her stomach. In a choked whisper, she said: "I… I think that… I'm pregnant."

Shiro could feel himself stop breathing. His discussion with Catherin replayed in his head, images of baby bottles, pacifiers, and having to leave school to care for a newborn child danced around his mind. For a moment, he wondered if he'd died right then and there. But, no, his heart still had a beat, and his blue eyes were gradually widening. He half-consciously raised his hand to his head, sliding his fingers through his hair. He was at a total loss for words.

"Shiro… You 'kay?" Blaze asked quietly.

It took a few seconds for Shiro to locate his voice. "Yes… Just… shocked." Very slowly, he approached Konata, as if he was afraid she'd turn around and kill him if he made any sudden movements. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, gingerly touching her bare stomach. "Am I… really gonna be a father?" he murmured.

Konata gave a very small shrug. "I don't know yet… It's just a possibility."

Shiro nodded, resting his head on Konata's shoulder. It was still as if they were in slow-mo. "Pretty inconvenient timing for it, but… Blimey." He smiled very, very slightly, wondering how he ever could have dreaded Catherin's warning. "This is wonderful… Though very risky, and could very well destroy our lives…" He sighed, the vague smile slipping away. "What do you say? If you ARE expecting, should we keep the baby?"

Konata turned around and stared at Shiro like he had three heads. "I tear up whenever someone kicks a puppy. Do you honestly think I could rid of my own child?" She softly caressed her stomach with her hands. "Say there IS a child in here. Unborn or not, it needs me. Needs US. Of course I want to keep it…"
Shiro smiled gently once more, placing his hands atop Konata's. "I second that notion."
"Good. Because if you didn't, I'd injure both of you," Blaze assured them.

"I don't doubt for a moment that you would," Shiro said.

The light smile that had appeared on Konata's face faltered. "Oy, Blaze… Try not to judge me and Shiro for… Well, you know."

Blaze stared casually up at the ceiling, her arms crossed. "I'm in no place to say anything. Besides…" She lowered her voice to a mutter, her cheeks turning pink. "Draco and I did the same thing a few weeks ago." Konata and Shiro's mouths fell partially open. Sighing, Blaze faced them again. "When I was 'out…' I had gone to Malfoy Manor. It turns out, Draco didn't kill Dumbledore, Snape did… Draco is terrified. He doesn't want to be a Death Eater anymore, he knows he isn't evil… W-we were sharing comforting words, and that turned to kissing, which turned to, other things… And then I had to leave before we got caught. God only knows when I'll see him again…"

Furrowing her eyebrows in sympathy, Konata wrapped her fingers around her blonde friend's hand. "Blimey, Blaze… I… I don't really know what to say, I'm sorry…"

Silence filled the room again, until the owls fluttered down from the wardrobe onto their owner's shoulders. "Well then, we should be getting a move on," Shiro indicated hesitantly.

Konata nodded, sliding Tar into her bag. "I'll go to Madam Pomfrey as soon as I can to confirm if I'm going to have a baby or not."

"Yeah, you do that," Blaze replied, neither of her friends noticing the airiness in her tone. Shiro and Konata gathered up all their belongings, and then exited the room.

They never saw Blaze examining her own stomach in the mirror.