The Maternity Project
Written for 5 Days of YGO Femslash
Day 4. Melancholy | Joy
Title: The Maternity Project
Ship: N/A | Hayami/Kyoko
Fandom: Vrains
Rating: T
Word Count: 1,665
Tags: Fluff & Angst, Canon Compliant, Sexual References, Fpreg, Motherhood, Pregnancy, IVF, Crude References
Taki Kyoko has a dream. Or, more accurately, she had a dream.
She had always had a dream, ever since she was a little girl. Even though she had very much been the type to get messy and do backyard science experiments, when she was indoors, she was an attentive and doting nurturer to all the pretty dolls that she had begged her parents to buy her. She was every bit of a STEM student in the making since childhood as she was a maternal soul.
Taki Kyoko’s dream was to be a mother.
But in the wake of the six lives that she and the others who were boarded to the team of scientists who participated in the Hanoi Project, she very much felt undeserving of ever becoming a mother. So, she swore off that dream and any pesky musings on the subject. Though, this hidden edge to her, concealed underneath that cold, white coat, pined whenever Ryoken or Spectre, who were eight and six respectively, called her “onee-san”.
Though that was a long time ago now. A fleeting dream in of itself in between the Hanoi Project and the birth of the Knights of Hanoi. With their sin, Kyoko quickly became undeserving of this dream that she had cherished for so long in secret.
She steeled herself, never once revealing this soft spot, not even to her closest comrades in Aso and Genome, not until she met a certain woman. A small, mousy woman whose dreams were bombastic and loud and written all over the sleeve of her blazer. Hayami Risa. What a conniving little girl, Kyoko was head over heels for her in no time.
They met a SOL Tech soiree. With Akira as president and Ryoken as their own commander, the two intended to usher in a new era for the Link VRAINS and one which would serve as safe haven to not only various users of it but to the Ignis as well. They wanted to protect, not destroy, they wanted to redeem themselves, not lock themselves away in unchanging misery.
So after that party, they found themselves getting coffee every once in a while. Or hitting up a nightclub. Risa was a few years younger than Kyoko and fast approaching the label of “fruit cake” which Kyoko had long passed but she made Kyoko feel young again. Ten years younger, even.
She was just so normal despite all her quirks: her loud voice, her beliefs in astrology, and such like. She had an undercurrent, of course, she wouldn’t be that high in the SOL Tech’s ladder if she didn’t have some secret underbelly, making her gold digging tendencies apparent. Kyoko didn’t mind because for all her gum flapping about money, Risa simultaneously made it obvious that she wanted to marry for love in the end. Wealth would just so happen be a nice bonus and accommodate her illustrious plans for a wedding.
Kyoko liked that. She liked that look in Risa’s steely blue eyes when she talked about a future that Kyoko hadn’t glimpsed for years because of her illicit activity as a Knight of Hanoi. And she liked that Risa let her taste that dream again. After so long of loathing herself for hurting those six children, Kyoko began to let herself believe again that she could be a good mother one day.
Risa made it blatantly obvious that she wanted, one day soon, that she was ready to clock out of the nine-to-five. She wanted to put down roots and be a stay at home mother and homemaker. And Kyoko couldn’t begrudge her such a wonderful dream.
Thus, after three years of dating, two of which included cohabitating, and one year of fumbling with feelings that they eventually realised was the rightness of love, they mutually agreed to get married. The affair which followed was not the fairy tale of Risa’s dreams but she enjoyed herself regardless. Both ladies in white dresses, hers poofier than Kyoko’s, and with a small selection of friends and family present, they got married in a secular if westernised way.
There were little to no photo opportunities but they did have a great, big cake smothered in white fondant. There was applause for them and Risa got to throw a bouquet in the air and it was caught by Spectre, amusing Kyoko and causing quite a laugh amongst her folk. It was as lowkey an affair as it could be with such a huge personality in a small body like Risa could be afforded and Kyoko loved every minute of it.
She kissed Risa proudly in front of their selected service, holding her tiny waist and leaning down. She caressed her face and it was like she was kissing Risa for the first time - and she remembered that coffee and biscotti tinged delight well but this was different. It was better. It was like a dream and it had her heart racing.
The honeymoon that followed whilst brief, still had them making love far more regularly than usual and much more unusual hotels as well. In the aftermath of one of those trysts, the smell of sex in the air, white linen sheets snuggled in, Kyoko confessed something to her wife.
“I want to be a mother.” Kyoko murmured to her.
“I wanna be a mum, too.” Risa giggled but Kyoko already knew, she laced her arm over Risa’s bare shoulders and their heads knocked together.
In the cuddly haze of hormones, the decision that followed was easy. Risa would take a maternity hiatus from SOL Tech and be the one who would bear their baby. As for who would donate, they actually discussed that more seriously and more vehemently. An anonymous donor would have its pros and cons, the gentleman at the clinic recommending a very shining profile of a young man who was sporty, intelligent, and tall, but in the end, Kyoko convinced Risa that it was better for them to know who it was. And both could think of a man that they would like for the donation.
Kyoko could think of no better man than Aso and Risa could think of no better man than Akira but it was ultimately his choice whether or not he helped.
Risa attempted to debate for Akira as a possible donation but he found the idea of it entirely awkward so he declined no matter how hard she badgered him at him work or on the phone at home. Meanwhile Aso was honoured and in a simple and civil conversation, he said yes. Of course, Kyoko could have talked him into anything and so, it was his sperm that was used to impregnate Risa.
Kyoko was very much looking forward to the dark hair that was likely to result from Risa’s brown hair or Aso’s blackish-blue hair. Though she was hoping that more of Risa’s genes were dominant as she was cute as a button but no doubt that their baby would be as well.
Kyoko was giddy. She didn’t think she would get giddy from helping her wife through her pregnancy journey but, well, she did. She got all excited and was reading every book on the topic and anything relevant or surrounding the topic, refreshing all her college years and the like. She felt anew in this part of the medical world and couldn’t thank Risa enough as it was recolouring her experience of it as the last years of her higher education was for… that project, after all.
Kyoko enlisted her boys into painting up a new nursery and putting together new IKEA furniture. Risa not having to lift a finger and watched with a non-alcoholic sangria in hand, perched on a rocking chair and her hand on her belly which hadn’t quite gotten big. Yet. She still had far to go and she was doing well with her change in weight and gait so far. But she was pleased as punch to oversee all the hard work which went into renovating the spare room of her and Kyoko’s apartment.
They already knew the sex of the baby based on sperm and it was going to be a boy so they were going with all the stereotypical colours. Blues and greens, a splash of yellow. Kyoko had wanted to veer more neutrally but if the child was coming out of Risa’s vagina, it was either her way or the highway and she wanted to go a bit bigger. Bolder. And Kyoko found it difficult to argue with that so teddy bears and toy trucks it was.
However, at the end of those nine months, knowing the fact that they were going to have a baby boy to bring home to a very baby boy themed nursery did not diminish the joy that Risa and Kyoko felt. Risa was a wreck in her maternity ward bed, Kyoko was signed in beside her under the assumed name of Rsai Kyoko and they welcomed their little baby boy into the world. He was born in ample, healthy pounds and just like Kyoko hoped, his resemblance with his birth mother was strong.
“He’s beautiful.” Kyoko sobbed and she stroked his surprisingly thick hair. He wailed, not enjoying being touched by this foreign woman as his birth mother cradled him, kissed him. “I promise I will protect this child with my life, harm will never come to a single hair on his head, I promise.”
Risa made a grim expression, she understood why Kyoko was crying such awful tears and nodded, she leaned in and her head bumped against Kyoko’s: their special kiss. “I know, and you will.” Risa replied.
“Thank you.” Kyoko replied.
Risa angled her face up and Kyoko kissed her again. This time on the lips and she listened to her and Risa’s baby continue to cry. But Kyoko promised him, this would be the only time he would ever have to wail in agony, she would make sure of it.