As the year-end passed, the New Year arrived.
Kaoru thought as he tore off the calendar that it had truly been a year that flew by in the blink of an eye.
He had reunited with Ai as if by fate, grown closer while sharing acting lessons, then had their relationship narrowed in an instant by the unprecedented dating-scare report. They spent a night together, and before he knew it, he had finally become a "father."
At the fact that all of that had happened in the span of just one year, Kaoru gave a detached little laugh and shook his head.
Of course, there was still a long road ahead, and no one could predict what would happen next...
As Kaoru turned the pages and quietly looked at the newly arrived New Year calendar, he felt both anticipation and worry about what all the remaining days would be filled with.
Not long after the New Year began, Ai temporarily suspended her activities for health reasons.
She also decided to drop out of high school, since hiding the pregnancy would not solve the attendance problem.
Publicly, of course, they used the excuse of health issues and the difficulty of balancing entertainment work with school.
Kaoru tried to stop her from dropping out, but Ai, now a "mother," was firm.
She said she had never been suited to academics anyway, and that school was full of boring, uninteresting things, even giving a carefree smile.
- Besides- if you’re the teacher, Kaoru, then studying for the equivalency exam is no problem, right? Teacher! Kaoru teacher! Teacher! Give Ai a kiss~!
- ......Ha ha.
Ai was in early pregnancy, so absolute rest was essential. Kaoru, using superhuman restraint to endure the starry-eyed temptation of her needy mode, tried to resist... but in the end, he failed to resist it.
In any case, the sudden suspension of Ai’s activities shocked not only the media but also the fans of B Komachi, and everyone had plenty to say about it.
Still, President Ichigo showed a stubborn, almost iron-willed resolve and decided that, no matter what people said outside, the remaining members would continue activities without Ai, the group’s most popular member.
Meanwhile, Miyako spent her time quietly searching for a nearby place for Kaoru to live.
At Kaoru’s request, she narrowed the search to places in relatively quiet neighborhoods with top-tier security systems inside the building, and they eventually moved into a newly built two-room apartment that was slightly smaller than the two-room place Kaoru had been living in.
Ichigo broke out in a cold sweat at the murderous rent for the two-room apartment Ai would be living in.
Kaoru, who had steadily saved money through his investment activities, informed them that he would cover all of Ai’s rent, which only rubbed Ichigo’s pride the wrong way again and made him explode, saying not to be ridiculous. There were a few minor incidents like that, but...
The two of them ended up living in the best possible location, a ten-minute walk away and less than three minutes away if they ran.
Because it was not an apartment with a shared hallway, there was little chance of running into other people, and there was a unmanned convenience store right next door, which greatly reduced Kaoru and Ai’s worries about being recognized.
Still, so that reporters and others would not notice-
Kaoru obtained satellite maps from Google Earth, maps issued by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and maps of Tokyo issued by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, pinpointed the locations of Ai’s apartment and his own, and calculated every possible route to the most discreet path. He was so thorough about security that he would even climb over walls if necessary.
In addition, they set up layers upon layers of safety measures, agreeing that even if someone recognized Kaoru through the intercom camera after he pressed Ai’s apartment number at the shared entrance, the door would only be opened if he first said the prearranged "password" over the intercom in case of emergency.
All of this was part of Kaoru’s strategy, based on his memories of his past life. Ai grumbled that they did not need to go that far, but Kaoru refused to compromise on this one thing.
"Phew."
Mid-January. After taking the entrance exam for Kaisei High School Academy, Kaoru stretched out his stiff body while looking at the falling snow.
Since it would take some time for the results to come out, Kaoru decided to spend that time with Ai.
After school, his daily routine became changing clothes and taking a roundabout route through quiet back alleys to Ai’s apartment, where he would spend time with her.
When he opened the door, Ai would greet him at the entrance with sparkling star-like eyes, like a wife welcoming home her husband after work.
And perhaps Kaoru was not the only one who felt that strange, thrilling, newlywed-like sensation, because before long Ai would also be dressed neatly, greeting Kaoru at the entrance with a smile full of excitement and love, just like a wife welcoming home her husband.
"I’m home."
"Welcome back."
"You’re beautiful. You dressed up for me- mm?"
"Mmm♥"
Ai gave Kaoru a kiss full of love, and then, unable to hold back any longer, she burst into laughter when her lover lightly lifted her up and carried her toward the bedroom.
A week later, after Ichigo finally tracked it down, they went to a quiet rural obstetrics clinic run by an elderly doctor in Chiba City.
They had heard that, due to his age, the clinic would effectively close after this summer, and since Ai’s examination was the top priority, Ichigo said he would keep looking for a place where she could later give birth.
On the way to the clinic, Kaoru stayed by Ai’s side, holding her hand and giving her as much physical reassurance as possible so she could calm down, since she seemed a little nervous and kept fidgeting her fingers.
A rural village with only elderly people around. The group arrived at a crumbling old hospital building.
In case of trouble, Ichigo pleaded with the seasoned doctor to let them use aliases for the examination as well, and to pay only in cash without any medical record chart or health insurance coverage, promising to pay a very large amount of money.
The old doctor silently looked at the pair of a girl and boy who seemed to be middle school or high school students, both wearing hats and covering their faces, and the man who looked like a yakuza in sunglasses.
But they did not seem to be on bad terms, and the handsome boy with striking blue eyes kept holding the nervous girl’s hand tightly, never letting go, calmly gazing at him with those clear blue eyes.
Having met countless mothers over the years, seen and heard all manner of stories, and laughed and cried through every kind of life, the seasoned doctor simply nodded without a word and led them into the examination room as if he understood and would say nothing.
Peering through his magnifying glasses at the screen of the old ultrasound machine, the doctor muttered softly.
"Well now. Healthy twins. They’re about 3 centimeters in size and growing well. I’d estimate they’re around seven to eight weeks along, and fortunately they’re very healthy right now. Twins, huh. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that."
Ichigo let out a sigh and quietly closed his eyes, overwhelmed by the urge to grab Kaoru by the collar and twist his head off.
Kaoru swallowed hard, held Ai’s hand tightly, and, breaking the promise he had made with Ichigo not to speak at all, looked at the old doctor and said in a rush, "If my wife gives birth like this, what are the chances it would be dangerous?"
So flustered that he did not even realize he had called Ai his "wife," Kaoru waited for the doctor’s answer, swallowing dryly.
Twins. Kaoru already knew that twins placed a great burden and risk on the mother, so he had no choice but to ask the doctor, after examining Ai’s condition, for the answer.
More than anything else, what mattered was Ai giving birth safely. If the time came when only one of the twins and Ai could be saved... Kaoru was prepared to make a cold decision if he had to.
The old doctor, looking for a moment at the blue eyes that sparkled with red starlight, pushed up his magnifying glasses and said, "From my experience, the mother’s frame is on the smaller side, so there may not be enough room for the pelvis to open fully during delivery. A C-section..."
"A C-section?! Then the scar..."
At Ichigo’s shocked question-
"!"
"Kaoru! Wait!"
Feeling a bad premonition as Kaoru’s hand tightened around his, Ai cut him off just as he was about to say more.
Kaoru clenched his teeth and looked at Ai. His eyes were full of confusion and fear. The moment he heard that he himself was more at risk than the baby, his attitude changed like that.
Thinking that he really was impossible to deal with, Ai, as the "mother," forced herself to smile as if nothing was wrong and calmed Kaoru down.
"I can do it. No, I will do it. I’m... the "mother," after all. I’m the only one the babies can rely on, so I don’t want to run away."
"......"
Kaoru’s hand trembled faintly. By now, just from his expression, Ai could tell what he was thinking in that moment.
But Ai would not yield.
She believed in miracles.
Because it was that very miracle that had come to her, allowing her to come this far.
Right in front of her eyes. Kaoru’s presence beside her proved it.
Quietly watching that tender scene, the seasoned doctor adjusted the ultrasound machine and let them hear the heartbeat of the twins growing healthily inside Ai’s belly.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-
"!"
"Ah!"
The twins’ heartbeats echoed through the examination room.
Could the tiny heartbeats of twins smaller than a finger really be this loud and powerful?
Life. And miracle.
Words that had only ever seemed like abstract concepts finally became living, breathing realities, crashing fiercely into Kaoru and Ai’s ears.
The instant they heard it, a dizzying sensation shot through them like lightning, from the tops of their heads to the tips of their toes.
It was an emotion so transcendent and unfamiliar that it could not even be described in words.
With goosebumps rising all over their bodies, the two of them could only listen in a daze.
"Sob..."
Even as tears welled up and spilled over, Ai could not tear her eyes away from the ultrasound screen.
So I really am a mother.
At last, finally feeling that she had become a mother, Ai kept wiping away her tears and continued to stare at the ultrasound screen with a happy face.
Kaoru, watching her, felt tears threatening to spill from his own eyes as well, but he held Ai’s hand tightly and silently endured it.
So I really am a father.
The moment he heard the heartbeat, Kaoru realized that in the end, he could not abandon either Ai or the twins. With a complicated look colored by joy and sorrow, he quietly stroked Ai’s face.
"Ah, really..."
Even in a situation so full of stress it felt like his skull might split open, Ichigo found the fact that he had to watch such an eye-burning scene right next to him utterly miserable.
He wanted to see Miyako, who was back in Tokyo working hard in his place.
In any case, even in the rundown old hospital, they were able to do as many tests as possible.
All the numbers were normal.
Her health was, in every sense, worthy of the nickname "ultimate idol."
The seasoned doctor and the seasoned midwife. The obstetrics clinic had only the two of them.
It turned out the two old people were husband and wife, and they said they had met long ago as a campus couple between medical school and nursing school, back when medical schools were few enough to count on ten fingers.
The midwife, covering her mouth with her hand as she laughed, said that because her husband’s health was poor and the birth rate had fallen so much that the population kept shrinking and there were almost no mothers coming in anymore, they planned to close the hospital and travel instead.
"It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a young couple, so I felt like I was getting younger too, somehow? Hoho~"
"Heheh- thank you★"
The midwife, who immediately recognized Ai’s brilliant star-like eyes and bright personality, took a small rice dumpling she had made at home out of the refrigerator and packed it for her, then held Ai’s hand tightly and said, "You’ll make a good mother. I’ve seen many mothers over the years, and I’ve personally delivered just as many babies, so you can trust my judgment- pretty mother."
"...Yes! Thank you! I’ll definitely be a good mother!"
Ai and the midwife held each other’s hands tightly and shared warmth.
With the old doctor’s words that they should come back again in two weeks, Kaoru and Ichigo were also told-
"...I have a hospital run by a college classmate in Miyazaki Prefecture. It’s smaller than the hospitals in Tokyo, but it does have an obstetrics department. There’s only that one hospital in the area."
"I-is that so?"
"If possible, I’d like to recommend somewhere closer, but... this doesn’t seem like a situation where you can afford to take any "risk," am I right?"
"......"
The weight of years.
When Ichigo looked away at the doctor’s probing question and Kaoru met his gaze, the doctor took that as an answer, let out a long sigh, and pulled a business card with the hospital’s name written on it from his drawer, handing it to Kaoru.
"It’s far away, but if you’re prepared to accept that... give it a try. After all, not just mothers, but... hoho. The father beside them is usually the one who suffers the most worry."
"Yes. I’m prepared."
"Even when it’s hard, lean on each other and keep your hearts firm. The father has to be strong for the mother to be strong. Once the babies are born, just changing diapers will make all that hardship worth it."
"...Thank you for the good advice."
The old doctor smiled at Kaoru and nodded.
Though they had gone to Chiba Prefecture carrying a bundle of worry and anxiety, the group returned to Tokyo having gained unexpected harvest and a full heart.
Until the shabby clinic in Chiba closed in the summer, they would be relying on regular checkups there, and Ichigo and Kaoru could only let out a simultaneous sigh of relief after putting out the immediate fire.
Ai kept hugging the ultrasound photo of the twins to her chest as if it were the most precious treasure in the world, and she kept looking at it.
Whether she was eating, waking up, or getting ready for bed. Whenever Kaoru came home, they looked at the ultrasound photo together.
Kaoru kissed the top of Ai’s head in his arms and placed his hand over hers as she held the photo.
The two of them silently gazed at the ultrasound picture for a while, their hearts soaked through with happiness.
Looking forward to meeting them as soon as possible.
A few days later, the results of Kaoru’s high school entrance exam were announced. As expected, he had passed.
Ai, who had asked Kaisei Middle and High School Academy all sorts of questions and had a rough idea of what kind of school it was, was happier than the person involved himself. She hugged her lover and comforted him for all the hardship he had gone through.
There was nothing happier than being congratulated by the woman he loved, and Kaoru enjoyed her embrace with a smile overflowing on his face.
Kaoru had bought a lavish premium beef set to celebrate Ai’s passing, but when he saw his lover’s starry eyes sparkling as she happily stared at the meat, he could not help laughing.
She looked exactly like a cute little puppy waiting for a treat, except she had no tail.
Whenever he had time, Kaoru researched materials online and at the library about pregnant women’s health, and bought nutritional supplements Ai needed.
For his lover, who had trouble swallowing large pills, he looked for supplements in the smallest pill form possible or even in powder form, and he even bought them directly from overseas websites, sparing no time or effort.
Because carrying twins put a great strain on her body, Kaoru wanted to help and support Ai in as many ways as he possibly could.
"Heheh~★"
As February began, Ai became absorbed in baby supplies on her laptop. Having come from an orphanage and spent a childhood that was not exactly abundant, thrift was second nature to her.
But when she thought about the beautiful, adorable twins growing day by day in her belly, the heart of a mother wanted to pluck even a star from the sky for them.
Baby supplies the twins would need- a crib, pacifiers, cute clothes for babies, toys, and even a baby walker.
Ai’s starry eyes spun as she looked at the hundreds of baby products.
"Th-there are too many! Aaaah-!! What am I supposed to do!? I have no idea~!"
"?"
Kaoru, dressed like a housewife in rubber gloves, an apron, and a headscarf as he cleaned the house thoroughly from corner to corner, heard Ai’s cry and came into the room.
He had moved so silently that Ai was even more startled by the sight of Kaoru suddenly standing beside her and looking at the laptop like a ghost, and she screamed.
Enduring the ear-splitting pain of the "ultimate idol’s" powerful voice, Kaoru handed her an apology and pointed at the laptop, saying, "A baby supply shopping mall?"
"...Yeah. I was looking into things for when the babies are born later, but... there are too many! I don’t know what to buy first-! Help me out~ Kaoru~"
"......!"
Ai, having buried her head on the desk and declared K.O., was already looking into baby supplies, and Kaoru found her preparation mindset incredibly cute and adorable.
Kaoru stroked Ai’s head, pulled her into his shoulder, and took over the laptop to browse the shopping site, deciding what would be needed most when the twins were born.
"I don’t think we need to buy everything right away."
"Mm.... I was just looking. If there’s something that feels right, I’ll buy it- but there are just too many...."
"Then let’s start with clothes for the babies. We can prepare the other things one by one after that. Sound good?"
"Eh-! Kaoru’s in teacher mode. Okay~ Understood, teacher! Then we’ll start with clothes★"
True to her personality, which absolutely hated complicated things, Ai cheerfully followed the teacher’s instructions and quickly clicked the "baby clothes" banner among the categories to look at the outfits.
"Heh- pretty. Ah~ look at this one with a puppy on it- so cute★ Wow! Look at this. It’s baby kappa!"
It was not a kappa but a kappa, but what did that matter?
Kaoru smiled and enthusiastically played along.
"Cute."
"Right? If it’s a boy, then blue, I guess? If it’s a girl, then pink, right? Ughhh- they’ll be adorable. So adorable. So adorable I’ll want to bite them. Kaoru! How pretty will our twin babies be when they’re born? Eeeek~★ I can’t stop imagining it!"
"......"
Giggling, already floating in the air from her own imagination, Ai hugged Kaoru tightly and rubbed her head against him over and over.
Early pregnancy.
At his lover’s insanely cute and lovable flirting, during the period when female hormones were slowly exploding, Kaoru could only quietly close his eyes and suppress the wildly surging animal instinct with superhuman restraint.
In any case, they decided to slowly gather the baby supplies they needed, and first settled on buying baby clothes.
As with baby supplies in general, the price was higher than adult ready-made clothes, and because there were twins it was doubled, but Ai’s hands trembled as Kaoru calmly covered them with his own and clicked the purchase button.
"Waaah! Kaoru! It’s so soft! Eeeek! So cute!"
A few days later, the moment they opened the delivery box, Kaoru witnessed Ai right in front of him clutching the baby clothes with the puppy print close to her chest, her starry eyes shining as she got wildly excited.
She really liked it that much.
Quietly watching Ai, who looked as if she might die of happiness, Kaoru took the baby clothes out of the box and examined them from every angle, carefully checking the fabric and texture to make sure there were no defects.
"Looks fine."
As Kaoru, with a hawk’s eye, ran his hands over the baby clothes in his grasp, he did not even realize that he himself was now wearing a beaming fatherly smile.
And that evening.
Dinner was ready, with tomato egg stir-fry and salad made by Kaoru with care and love.
Kaoru had told Ai to rest because her belly was starting to become visibly larger, but Ai, who was not the type to stay still, helped set the table to assist him.
Ai, whose mood had improved greatly after buying baby clothes, was still blooming with smiles as she sat in her chair and picked up her chopsticks.
"Thank you, Kaoru! Itadakimasu!"
"Yeah. Eat up."
Kaoru also sat opposite her and picked up his chopsticks, scooping up a bite of multigrain rice and bringing it to his mouth-
"Hup!?"
"!?"
He could not get it there.
Because Ai, who had picked up a side dish, suddenly covered her mouth and gagged.
Kaoru, frozen in shock unlike his usual self, met the gaze of Ai’s starry eyes, which were shaking in surprise as well.
[ ... and if morning sickness has not started yet, it will begin soon. Twins will make it a little harder on the mother. It’s one of the toughest processes mothers go through, so the husband absolutely must help by her side. ]
Kaoru remembered what the doctor had said three days ago when he and Ai went for the checkup in Chiba Prefecture.
Ai’s hand, covering her mouth, began trembling, and she quickly lowered it beneath the table before forcing an awkward smile and saying, "...This is it, right?"
"...Yeah."
Kaoru quietly set down his chopsticks and stood up to clear the table.
At that moment, Ai grabbed his hand and shook her head.
"You eat, Kaoru. I’m fine!"
"But-"
"Kaoru is the father! If I’m having a hard time, then you’re the only one who can take care of me. You need to keep your strength up anytime, okay?"
"...Yeah. Got it."
Ai stood up from her chair, scooped rice straight from the rice cooker, and watched from the side to make sure Kaoru actually put a bite into his mouth.
Was this really something worth monitoring...? Kaoru swallowed the question and awkwardly scooped up rice, stuffing a mouthful into his mouth. Only then did Ai relax, lovingly patting his head as she said, "Yep! Kaoru-chan, good job~★"
"......I’ll make you some rice porridge in a bit."
"Okay~"
After answering, Ai hurried back into the room in case the nausea returned.
Watching her go, Kaoru forcibly ignored the worry and guilt surging up inside him and continued eating with determined, forceful bites.
As Ai had said, the father had to stay strong to protect his wife and child.
Leaving Kaoru’s resolute battle meal behind, Ai, once inside the room, took out her maternal health notebook with an excited face, picked up a pen, and began writing.
"Heheh~★"
[ "Morning sickness" has started ★ ]
In the clumsy writing, her excitement and love for the twins spilled out abundantly.
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