[She was thankful for his encouragement. Honestly, having him here - while embarrassing again - was helpful. If not for catching the eggs, cheering her on and giving her strength.]
I-It appears I have...
[Breathing out again, she leaned into his hold. She could use that nap very soon, but maybe after a little tidying up.]
[He kissed her temple and was so relieved. Looking at the bundles now, he could hardly believe she was carrying all of those. If they functioned like the dragon eggs, he was thanking his lucky fuckin' stars that he'd become the blessing that he was with abundant chroma. He'd need to pull a whole hell of a lot of his weight.
He stooped and kissed her, a moment's relief and affection. She was no doubt sore, tired, both feelings tugging at the edge of his awareness. He fondly tucked her hair behind her ears.]
Hey... got enough in the reserves for me to get a bath goin' for ya? Get all those muscles relaxed...?
[She hoped they weren't wholly like dragon eggs. Again, the amount of Chroma that would be required to hatch all of them may make them call for back-up. Still, looking over the bundled clutch now, she tilted her head. They had an interesting color to their shells.]
... For a bath and back rub? I think I can draw from my reserves.
[He smiled her way, then left to take care of things. The white noise of rushing water sounded from down the hall, soon followed by the rumble of his voice. Kanji was working to keep his voice down in case she was having a cat nap, conducting the phone calls to check on the others. How were Souji and Yosuke doing? Was Rise well? How were Ren and the Crime Pack...?]
[Was this what it felt like to finally feel content? It seemed as though both her Ostella and Iris halves calmed in the mere presence of the five eggs while they waited for them, incubating them every day and supplying them with ample Chroma, trying to ensure their growth and healthy hatching when that time came.]
[When would that be? It was a wonder... until that morning.]
[A small shake from one became a wiggle from two more and a hop from the fourth while the fifth just rolled. Naoto watched them with wide eyes, unaware that she was holding her breath. She understood the accelerated pregnancy, but they were ready to hatch so soon??]
[He finally understood what it was like when all those new families in Inaba seemed to basically sparkle, caring and just living with the kids and spouses. Learning the others all had eggs to tend to loaned to an interesting dynamic, learning who rose to the occasion (Souji) and who freaked out (Yosuke).
Yet the question remained on what would emerge from the shells. Were they dragons? Were they human? Were they human with animal traits, looking more like the prismals? They wouldn't know and everyone had their theories.
But that morning, Kanji sat in fascination, his cup of tea set on the table to keep him from dropping it in shock. Instead he had a book in hand, paging through a tome on child-rearing for first-timers among the Lyestellans.]
O-okay... so according to this, they'll hatch on their own and won't need help. Touchin' the shells to offer chroma can help keep the baby strong through what's an "exhausting process". They'll be sleepy after but it's normal.
[He set the book aside and went to take turns laying hands on the wiggling, hopping, rolling shells for moments at a time.]
Damn, I hope the onesies are the right sizes...! Hell, the right shape!
[Was it any surprised that their Senpai took this all in stride? Yosuke cracking (no pun again intended) at the pressure was not too surprising either. Still, the fact all of them seemed to have eggs...]
[If there was a pool going, Naoto would guess they would emerge more dragon due to the influence that resulted in their conception. Of course, it didn't matter what they looked like; they were about to be parent.]
Hm, so like the dragon eggs before more or less. I'm sure we can do that...
[But, if they truly began to struggle, she didn't know. Personally, she felt she might need to help, but she would try to contain herself. If they should hatch without their assistance, they had to let them.]
Even if they're not, I'm sure you'll be able to fix them.
[The rolling egg rolls a little more. Nooo, don't stop it.]
I don't know, but all of those are quite possible.
[If they're this energetic outside of their shells, Kanji might have to help them burn off that excess energy. She placed a hand on the shaking egg before it fell over itself. In the last hopping egg, a crack was beginning to form at the side.]
[Ooooi oi, Dad says be careful. You're gonna be a little troublemaker, aren't you? Oh god, was this what Ma meant when she warned him to 'wait until he has sons and daughters of his own'?]
You guys can be whatever you wanna be! But first you all gotta come out, y'hear me?
[Naoto never got that talk before. In fact, all her thoughts about starting a family had still been a 'going to discuss in a few years', but this was here and now.]
They're almost here. Come on now, you can do it...
[The cracks were growing. Naoto felt her heart hammering, but was it excitement or nerves? Both? They were so close...]
[Was the bond the reason he felt nerves? Only in part. His own drove him to hope beyond hope that he'd do well. He honestly wasn't ready, but with everything moving so fast he just had to do his best. It wasn't the first time he'd been hurried into growing up.
Kanji felt his eyes stinging as shell began to break and fall away. He eased the eggs together, not minding the mess; he wanted to save some of the shell fragments as a memento.
They'd finally get their answer. Were they humanoid children? Dragons?]
[Two more of the eggs were beginning to show cracks among the bunch, but Naoto only noticed so much. Like Kanji, she was watching as bits of shell were finally coming off, and she was beginning to have a sinking feeling. Shouldn't they see even a little of the baby by now?]
[Instead, as more of the shell broke down, there was... a leaf?]
[Naoto seemed to be wondering the same thing. He remembered that usually hatching eggs had little feet or beaks or snouts poking out as the babies inside worked to free themselves from their protective shells. But he wasn't seeing anything... m-maybe since baby dragons were so magical, they probably had hatching magic. So maybe it confirmed they were magical creatures.
But the leaf caught the light and he tipped his head to get a better look. Plant features? But there were no plant prismals, or any 'forest-y' dragons that he knew of.
Confused, Kanji referred to the book and flipped through pages. Leaves? He had to look up leaves. Maybe they had talk of different dragon types.]
[While Kanji flipped through the book, the rest of the shell came apart.]
[It... wasn't either dragon or human, or a mix between. Instead, that leaf had literally been of a sapling. But... a sapling inside of an egg? Naoto didn't say anything, but just stared at it sitting there in the remains of the egg shell. If this was only a plant then... the other eggs.]
[He couldn't find anything. Nothing in the book mentioned plant features- no such dragon existed- or anything involving a plant-like phase. So when he looked up and saw a small sapling sitting among eggshells, Kanji was confused.]
Uh- ...tree...?
[He reached out and touched it. It smelled like any one of the typical tree species in Lunatia growing in the Groves. It didn't even move when he felt it, gave any further sign of life outside the norm. What'd that mean?
Hesitantly, he reached for another of the eggs. It shook and bobbed like any other egg, but he carefully moved away another significant piece. Inside was a bundle of small, vibrant hyacinths.]
[She doesn't get it. Did something go wrong? Why were they plants? Were they ever kids?]
[Sitting there as the last eggs hatched, it was just the other sapling and two more bundles of flowers. Was this a joke? After days of panicking and preparing, of laying them, of waiting for them to hatch, they were only plants? She placed a hand on her head, bewildered and feeling a headache actually coming on.]
[Flowers and trees. Not a single scale, foot, hand or face at all. He felt a worrying sinking in his belly, an anxious spin in his mind and the book was abandoned. They'd seen so much chroma in the ultrasound, the eggs were just moving. They felt more alive than simple plants just moments ago...
Kanji wanted to scream in confusion and frustration. What the hell was anything they just did for, then!? Didn't they take all this time, expend all this effort for some kind of sick joke?? It was too soon for children, but he was ready. He took time. He'd... he'd gotten so pumped and assured the both of them that everything would be okay.]
Naoto. We... w-we didn't do anything wrong, did we?
[His voice was cracking a bit and he didn't know how to stop it. His hands shook as he reached for his communicator. Doctors were professionals. Maybe they knew what was up. It- it couldn't just be them. Maybe everyone else had plants and they'd have some kind of answer.
But he didn't have the heart to dial. He felt numb. Instead he lifted his gaze, helplessness painted over every facet when he looked to Naoto. He could feel a pang in his head. Headache... not his.]
[But she was positive they did everything right. She doesn't even know what they could've done wrong in order for this to be the end result. They had been moving, they had grown and kicked, and she had been so sure they were actually going to hatch into something, but plants??]
[Shaking her head, she felt Kanji's eyes on him, but couldn't meet his gaze.]
... Could it be my fault?
[If anyone had the biggest influence on their development, it had to have been her, right?]
[His hands clenched, seizing fistfuls of blanket. That numb couldn't even muster up the desire to cling to his bones, feebly ebbing away to hurt. His face felt hot, and as his vision fogged he knew this overflow was bound to happen whether the eggs held babies or... well, not.]
No.
[His voice was raw, as if unused. But after pushing aside the shock for so long, he had to face this strange pain up front.]
Don't you dare blame yourself for this! Y-you couldn't have known.
[Neither of them could have. Here they were, sitting among eggshells and a small garden now. He wondered if anyone planted these flowers and trees and figured they'd sprout kids someday. But despite public opinion, Kanji wasn't a fool... Naoto wasn't even anywhere near stupid, to boot.
He lowered his gaze to the blossoms.]
This place tricked us. Everything likes to trick us here. They... managed to get us this time.
Heh... oops, we goofed. Now we have stuff to add to the garden, huh...?
[He laughed, but it wasn't even heartfelt. He slid off his glasses and put his face in his hands.]
W-we weren't ready for this. We got years ahead of us before even talkin' about this kinda thing. I'm-... I'm relieved, in a way, but... here I am, cryin' anyway...
[Isn't that logically the answer? The one factor in this that could've - possibly would've - altered the eggs if at all possible in her initial worries of pending motherhood? Her eyes were stinging and her fact felt hot. She didn't want to - she hated this feeling building up in her chest, but it was becoming so hard to fight.]
[And when her eyes wandered over one of the flowers, it became worse.]
... Right... right. I-It was... foolish to think we'd actually managed to reproduce. They told us over and over that we've been made sterile.
[She can't even muster a fake laugh like him, feeling her own tears slide down her face. She rubbed her face, but it didn't help.]
I-I don't know... what you're talking about. Kanji-kun, you... all that you did for them... I would say you were sufficiently prepared.
[It was foolish. They were sterile. He was going to go to his appointment, offer a sample and get news he now had no doubts he'd receive. While perhaps he had done what he could to sufficiently prepare for fatherhood, it hadn't given him solace. He was so tired of being fooled, especially when it played with his heart like this.
He lowered his hands and felt his heart shatter further. He pushed himself away from the shells and plants, a mess that needed cleaning (and plants that needed potting because... because he still couldn't help but care, damn it) to cross and sit next to her. His reached out and took her in, let himself break further.
Because while misery loved company, he loved her. She shouldn't beat herself up over this, or blame herself. They were a bewildered, tricked pair, but one with the wool pulled away from over their eyes.]
Only 'cause of you, Naoto. Okay? I couldn't feel confident, or... or get as far as I did or even have my head together were it not for you. I-I love you, okay?
We'll get it right in the future, won't we? No more tricks, nothin' but experience under our belts. We'll be older. Wiser, too. And we're gonna kick ass, right?
[He hiccuped a breath and held her tighter. He was sorry for making her hair wet, but he needed to sob a while.]
[She wouldn't mind just sitting there - he didn't have to comfort her. This was her mistake thinking they'd have some big, momentous occasion away from home when it wasn't possible. Why should they get to have kids? Not with all their issues.]
[But when he came to her side and gathered her up, she felt more tears pour down her face. She leaned into his chest and wrapped her arms tight around his waist, hiding herself as the flow worsened.]
[One day? Right... maybe. If only she could speak, but the most she could muster was a sob.]
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[She was thankful for his encouragement. Honestly, having him here - while embarrassing again - was helpful. If not for catching the eggs, cheering her on and giving her strength.]
I-It appears I have...
[Breathing out again, she leaned into his hold. She could use that nap very soon, but maybe after a little tidying up.]
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[He kissed her temple and was so relieved. Looking at the bundles now, he could hardly believe she was carrying all of those. If they functioned like the dragon eggs, he was thanking his lucky fuckin' stars that he'd become the blessing that he was with abundant chroma. He'd need to pull a whole hell of a lot of his weight.
He stooped and kissed her, a moment's relief and affection. She was no doubt sore, tired, both feelings tugging at the edge of his awareness. He fondly tucked her hair behind her ears.]
Hey... got enough in the reserves for me to get a bath goin' for ya? Get all those muscles relaxed...?
There's a big ol' back rub in it for ya.
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[She hoped they weren't wholly like dragon eggs. Again, the amount of Chroma that would be required to hatch all of them may make them call for back-up. Still, looking over the bundled clutch now, she tilted her head. They had an interesting color to their shells.]
... For a bath and back rub? I think I can draw from my reserves.
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[Despite his reluctance, he couldn't use the power of his mind to make the bathtub go, so he needed to pull away and take care of it.]
I'm gonna call around a bit too, see how people are doin'. If the hospitals got busy, I hope everybody else had safe deliveries too.
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Alright. I might shut my eyes for a moment, but wake me up when you're finished.
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[He smiled her way, then left to take care of things. The white noise of rushing water sounded from down the hall, soon followed by the rumble of his voice. Kanji was working to keep his voice down in case she was having a cat nap, conducting the phone calls to check on the others. How were Souji and Yosuke doing? Was Rise well? How were Ren and the Crime Pack...?]
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[When would that be? It was a wonder... until that morning.]
[A small shake from one became a wiggle from two more and a hop from the fourth while the fifth just rolled. Naoto watched them with wide eyes, unaware that she was holding her breath. She understood the accelerated pregnancy, but they were ready to hatch so soon??]
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Yet the question remained on what would emerge from the shells. Were they dragons? Were they human? Were they human with animal traits, looking more like the prismals? They wouldn't know and everyone had their theories.
But that morning, Kanji sat in fascination, his cup of tea set on the table to keep him from dropping it in shock. Instead he had a book in hand, paging through a tome on child-rearing for first-timers among the Lyestellans.]
O-okay... so according to this, they'll hatch on their own and won't need help. Touchin' the shells to offer chroma can help keep the baby strong through what's an "exhausting process". They'll be sleepy after but it's normal.
[He set the book aside and went to take turns laying hands on the wiggling, hopping, rolling shells for moments at a time.]
Damn, I hope the onesies are the right sizes...! Hell, the right shape!
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[If there was a pool going, Naoto would guess they would emerge more dragon due to the influence that resulted in their conception. Of course, it didn't matter what they looked like; they were about to be parent.]
Hm, so like the dragon eggs before more or less. I'm sure we can do that...
[But, if they truly began to struggle, she didn't know. Personally, she felt she might need to help, but she would try to contain herself. If they should hatch without their assistance, they had to let them.]
Even if they're not, I'm sure you'll be able to fix them.
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[So jumpy... c'mere, you. He will hold the roly-poly one still to keep what's inside from hurting themselves.]
I dunno if eggs should be this active! Is it because of us? The chroma? Or are we gonna have a bunch of sporty kids?
[Crap, get back here! Hoppy egg gets caught in a palm.]
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[The rolling egg rolls a little more. Nooo, don't stop it.]
I don't know, but all of those are quite possible.
[If they're this energetic outside of their shells, Kanji might have to help them burn off that excess energy. She placed a hand on the shaking egg before it fell over itself. In the last hopping egg, a crack was beginning to form at the side.]
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You guys can be whatever you wanna be! But first you all gotta come out, y'hear me?
[Hopper was cracking! Holy shit, this is it!]
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They're almost here. Come on now, you can do it...
[The cracks were growing. Naoto felt her heart hammering, but was it excitement or nerves? Both? They were so close...]
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Kanji felt his eyes stinging as shell began to break and fall away. He eased the eggs together, not minding the mess; he wanted to save some of the shell fragments as a memento.
They'd finally get their answer. Were they humanoid children? Dragons?]
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[Instead, as more of the shell broke down, there was... a leaf?]
... What?
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But the leaf caught the light and he tipped his head to get a better look. Plant features? But there were no plant prismals, or any 'forest-y' dragons that he knew of.
Confused, Kanji referred to the book and flipped through pages. Leaves? He had to look up leaves. Maybe they had talk of different dragon types.]
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[It... wasn't either dragon or human, or a mix between. Instead, that leaf had literally been of a sapling. But... a sapling inside of an egg? Naoto didn't say anything, but just stared at it sitting there in the remains of the egg shell. If this was only a plant then... the other eggs.]
...
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Uh- ...tree...?
[He reached out and touched it. It smelled like any one of the typical tree species in Lunatia growing in the Groves. It didn't even move when he felt it, gave any further sign of life outside the norm. What'd that mean?
Hesitantly, he reached for another of the eggs. It shook and bobbed like any other egg, but he carefully moved away another significant piece. Inside was a bundle of small, vibrant hyacinths.]
...The hell??
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[She doesn't get it. Did something go wrong? Why were they plants? Were they ever kids?]
[Sitting there as the last eggs hatched, it was just the other sapling and two more bundles of flowers. Was this a joke? After days of panicking and preparing, of laying them, of waiting for them to hatch, they were only plants? She placed a hand on her head, bewildered and feeling a headache actually coming on.]
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Kanji wanted to scream in confusion and frustration. What the hell was anything they just did for, then!? Didn't they take all this time, expend all this effort for some kind of sick joke?? It was too soon for children, but he was ready. He took time. He'd... he'd gotten so pumped and assured the both of them that everything would be okay.]
Naoto. We... w-we didn't do anything wrong, did we?
[His voice was cracking a bit and he didn't know how to stop it. His hands shook as he reached for his communicator. Doctors were professionals. Maybe they knew what was up. It- it couldn't just be them. Maybe everyone else had plants and they'd have some kind of answer.
But he didn't have the heart to dial. He felt numb. Instead he lifted his gaze, helplessness painted over every facet when he looked to Naoto. He could feel a pang in his head. Headache... not his.]
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[But she was positive they did everything right. She doesn't even know what they could've done wrong in order for this to be the end result. They had been moving, they had grown and kicked, and she had been so sure they were actually going to hatch into something, but plants??]
[Shaking her head, she felt Kanji's eyes on him, but couldn't meet his gaze.]
... Could it be my fault?
[If anyone had the biggest influence on their development, it had to have been her, right?]
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No.
[His voice was raw, as if unused. But after pushing aside the shock for so long, he had to face this strange pain up front.]
Don't you dare blame yourself for this! Y-you couldn't have known.
[Neither of them could have. Here they were, sitting among eggshells and a small garden now. He wondered if anyone planted these flowers and trees and figured they'd sprout kids someday. But despite public opinion, Kanji wasn't a fool... Naoto wasn't even anywhere near stupid, to boot.
He lowered his gaze to the blossoms.]
This place tricked us. Everything likes to trick us here. They... managed to get us this time.
Heh... oops, we goofed. Now we have stuff to add to the garden, huh...?
[He laughed, but it wasn't even heartfelt. He slid off his glasses and put his face in his hands.]
W-we weren't ready for this. We got years ahead of us before even talkin' about this kinda thing. I'm-... I'm relieved, in a way, but... here I am, cryin' anyway...
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[Isn't that logically the answer? The one factor in this that could've - possibly would've - altered the eggs if at all possible in her initial worries of pending motherhood? Her eyes were stinging and her fact felt hot. She didn't want to - she hated this feeling building up in her chest, but it was becoming so hard to fight.]
[And when her eyes wandered over one of the flowers, it became worse.]
... Right... right. I-It was... foolish to think we'd actually managed to reproduce. They told us over and over that we've been made sterile.
[She can't even muster a fake laugh like him, feeling her own tears slide down her face. She rubbed her face, but it didn't help.]
I-I don't know... what you're talking about. Kanji-kun, you... all that you did for them... I would say you were sufficiently prepared.
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He lowered his hands and felt his heart shatter further. He pushed himself away from the shells and plants, a mess that needed cleaning (and plants that needed potting because... because he still couldn't help but care, damn it) to cross and sit next to her. His reached out and took her in, let himself break further.
Because while misery loved company, he loved her. She shouldn't beat herself up over this, or blame herself. They were a bewildered, tricked pair, but one with the wool pulled away from over their eyes.]
Only 'cause of you, Naoto. Okay? I couldn't feel confident, or... or get as far as I did or even have my head together were it not for you. I-I love you, okay?
We'll get it right in the future, won't we? No more tricks, nothin' but experience under our belts. We'll be older. Wiser, too. And we're gonna kick ass, right?
[He hiccuped a breath and held her tighter. He was sorry for making her hair wet, but he needed to sob a while.]
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[But when he came to her side and gathered her up, she felt more tears pour down her face. She leaned into his chest and wrapped her arms tight around his waist, hiding herself as the flow worsened.]
[One day? Right... maybe. If only she could speak, but the most she could muster was a sob.]
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