Discover Top Posts Tagged with #hinato

From Steps to Leaps

Final chapter

FF.net | AO3

Ayato wasn't sure how much longer he could survive with a pregnant girlfriend. Hinami was a week overdue and it was beginning to take a toll on her body and Ayato's patience. He loved Hinami, he really did, but nine months with a pregnant woman was long enough. To make matters worse he was receiving sympathy from the one person he never wanted to receive anything from; Kaneki. Kaneki was pestering him with stories of how it felt when the twins were born early. Touka thought the whole situation was hilarious, having been in a similar one with her own pregnancy. As luck would have it, Ayato wouldn't have to wait very long for his relief.

Hinami was sitting on the floor - an amazing feat for an overdue pregnant woman - of Touka's living room, playing with the twins. Kaneki and Touka had convinced the younger couple that they needed to get out of their apartment, pregnancy or not. So while Ayato was put to work in: RE, Hinami was left to her own devices upstairs with her sister-in-law, niece and nephew.

She was beyond exhausted. The mental and physical stress put on her body due to the pregnancy; her ankles were swollen beyond recognition, her back ached as if she had been run over by a semi, and she was extremely irritable. There had been multiple false alarms in the eight days since her estimated due date, that most recent being two days ago. Hinami was sick and tired of being pregnant; if she could take the baby out herself, she would.

But there was nothing she could do but wait. A ghoul couldn't possibly go to the hospital and since her father had been killed, there wasn't a decent underground ghoul hospital any longer. She had resigned herself to wait. Or so she thought.

Hinami had been in the process of playing rabbits with Miyu when a sharp pain suddenly shot through her back.

"Ugh." She dropped the stuffed rabbit and placed a hand to her lower back, rubbing circles into it. The back pain faded only to be replaced by a clenching pain in her stomach.

"Aunt Nami?" Miyu touched Hinami's cheek, wondering what was wrong with her aunt.

Minoru looked up from his book. Immediately he noticed that Hinami was in pain and leaped up from his spot, running down the hallway.

"Mama!" He yelled as he ran. "Aunt Nami is hurting!"

"I'm fin- GUH." Hinami's stomach felt as if something was holding her internal organs and squeezing them with all their strength. She huffed, knocked breathless by the degree of pain.

Touka raced into the living room, Minoru trailing behind her. She ran around the couch and knelt in front of Hinami.

"What hurts? Where? How bad is it?" Touka touched Hinami's forehead while she asked rapid-fire questions; her forehead was warm and she was beginning to sweat.

"I-It's my stomach..." Hinami choked out. "And my back..."

Touka carefully slipped her hand under Hinami's arms and slowly lifted the pregnant woman up onto the couch.

"Sit tight, I'm going to call Yoshimura," she ordered. She turned to the twins, both staring with wide eyes. "You two, come with me."

Leaving Hinami panting on the sofa, Touka paced back into the hallway with the twins.

The small family returned a few minutes later; the twins each had a backpack strapped to them. A soft knock sounded at the door; Touka patted Hinami's hand as she passed to answer.

Touka opened the door to show Yoriko standing with a wiggling bundle strapped to her chest.

"Aunt Yori!" The twins cried together. They shuffled as fast as they could to the woman, latching themselves to her legs.

"You guys be good for Yoriko, okay?" Touka gave the twins a serious look. "She'll bring you back when Aunt Hinami is feeling better."

"'Kay!"

Yoriko smiled and waved to Hinami before taking the twins by the hand and leading them away from their home.

Sighing Touka closed the door behind them. She turned from the door and made her way to the kitchen. As she passed by the living room she said, "I'll get a cool rag, it might help."

"Thank you, big sister," Hinami whispered. She was clutching a throw pillow to her chest, mutilating it with the way she was squeezing her arms around it. The pains would stop for a moment before coming back full force.

"Okay," Touka breathed out. She walked into the living room with a bowl of water and set it on the coffee table, wetting a rag. Gently wiping Hinami's face, she spoke calmly. "I called Yoshimura - he should be here soon. I also called Ken so he and Ayato know what's going on."

"Are they closing the shop?"

Touka nodded, patting Hinami's sweaty forehead. They fell silent aside from Hinami's harsh breathing and periodic groans of pain. Less than ten minutes passed before the door burst open.

"Hinami!" Kaneki rushed into the living room, pale as a ghost.

"Ken calm down," Touka sighed. "She's in labor, not dying."

"But this is my baby sister, Touka!"

Ayato followed more slowly behind his brother-in-law. He looked pale, though not as bad as Kaneki.

"Didn't you freak out enough when the twins were born?" Touka frowned in her husband's direction.

"No, because I didn't have to face my baby sister becoming a woman," Kaneki huffed.

"That's-"

"Can you please shut up or take this little lover's spat somewhere else?" Ayato snapped irritably. "Hinami is about to give birth, I don't think right now is the time to be freaking out about her growing up."

"That's right, Ayato-kun," Yoshimura agreed, walking through the still open door; he closed and locked it behind him. He walked into the living room, smiling serenely down at Hinami. "How are you feeling?"

Hinami smiled meekly. "I've been better."

"I'm sure you have," Yoshimura replied wisely. He looked around the living room before turning to Ayato and Kaneki. "Will you please help move Hinami into the bedroom? She'll be more comfortable."

As Ayato and Kaneki carefully helped Hinami from the couch and down the hallway, Yoshimura looked at Touka. "We're going to need a lot of towels and hot water, Touka-chan."

Yoshimura calmly made his way down the hallway to the bedroom, leaving Touka to collect everything needed. He had a baby to deliver.

/ / /

Five hours later Hinami laid on the bed, sweaty and exhausted, while Touka cleaned up the wailing newborn; it was a girl.

Two hours into labor, Kaneki had to leave the room because he couldn't handle seeing his "baby sister" giving birth. Ayato sat beside Hinami the whole time holding her hand; he looked pale throughout the whole event but was otherwise silent.

Finally the baby’s cries quieted as Touka swaddled the infant in a soft blanket. She brought the newborn over to the bed and laid her in Hinami's arms.

Hinami gently touched one of her daughter's hands, the tiny fingers wrapping around one of Hinami's. A tear slipped down Hinami's cheek unnoticed.

"She looks just like Ayato," Hinami whispered, awed.

Before Ayato could say anything, the twins burst into the room.

"Aunt Nami!" Their voices filled the room, followed by the pitter-pats of their bare feet on the floor.

Yoriko stood in the doorway, smiling apologetically. She promised to come see Hinami the next day with Hide.

Miyu and Minoru hopped on the bed, causing Hinami to bounce up and down.

"Aunt Nami is that a doll?" Miyu asked excitedly. "Can I play with it?!"

"Stupid Mimi," Minoru pinched her arm. "That's a baby!"

"Oh!" Miyu stuck her tongue out at her brother before turning back to her aunt and brand new cousin. "Can I play with the baby, Aunt Nami?"

Hinami smiled at her niece. "When she's bigger, you can play with her as much as you want, Miyu."

"Yay!" Miyu cheered, much to the room's amusement. "What's baby's name?"

Hinami looked down at her daughter before meeting the eyes of everyone present. She nodded to Ayato and turned to her niece. "Her name is Saki."

The room was silent as everybody looked at the new arrival, snuggled against her mother's bosom.

"Well," Yoshimura said, breaking the silence. "I think it's time for me to go. I'll be back tomorrow to play with my new grandchild."

"Thank you so much, Yoshimura-san," Hinami sniffled. This man had helped her with so much in her life. "I wouldn't have had anybody else deliver my child."

Yoshimura smiled serenely, pleased with himself, before quietly leaving the apartment.

"Okay I think it's time for a certain set of twins to go to bed now, too," Touka announced, picking the twins up off the bed one by one. She pushed them out the door with Kaneki before turning back to her brother. "You two can sleep in here, there's no way Ken is going to let Hinami go home after having just given birth. We'll sleep with the twins. See you tomorrow!"

After Touka closed the door behind her Hinami yawned widely.

"If only giving birth was as fun and easy as making the baby..." Hinami giggled to herself. She noticed that Ayato had yet to say anything since the baby had been born. "Ayato?"

"Hm?" He seemed distracted.

"Are you okay?" She tried to get him to look at her, but he was busy staring into space.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Ayato mentally shook himself, turning to his girlfriend. "It just seems unreal?"

"Even though you literally just watched our daughter be pushed out of me?"

Ayato grimaced; of all the grotesque things he'd seen in his life, a baby being born was one that he'd rather not see again. "Yes, even after that."

"I know what you mean..." Suddenly Hinami brightened. She offered the baby to Ayato. "Do you want to hold her?!"

"Um..." Ayato looked down at the small bundle being offered. He was captivated by the baby's small face and tuft of dark blue hair; he caved. "Yeah... I do..."

Ayato tried to mimic the way Hinami's arms were holding Saki as Hinami carefully nestled the baby in her father's arms.

"Make sure you support her head," Hinami whispered, adjusting Ayato's arm so that Saki's head was resting in the crook of his elbow.

Saki wiggled as Hinami moved her arms from under her, leaving her in Ayato's foreign arms. She fussed slightly until Ayato lifted her closer to his chest, his heartbeat soothing her.

Ayato gazed down at his tiny daughter, in awe that something so small could be comfortable in his arms. He felt his throat contract with emotion as Saki raised her arms and grabbed at the air with her little hands. Her eyes slowly blinked open; like most newborns they were bright blue. He facial muscles twitched, making her seem as if she was smiling. Ayato touched one of Saki's hands, letting out a large breath when Saki wrapped her tiny hand around her father's thumb.

Hinami watched her boyfriend interact with their daughter with a content smile on her face. It warmed her heart to see the way that Ayato handled Saki as if she were the most fragile thing in the universe. Hinami remembered wondering what her own mother must have gone through just to give her life; and she was beginning to understand. Watching the love of her life and their child, Hinami decided that the risk of having a child was worth being able to give Ayato the family that he lost.

/ Five Years Later/

Five children ran through the kitchen yelling and screaming, trying to trip one another.

"Kouta! Kenta! Minoru!" Ayato yelled from the table, where he was feeding his youngest child. "Stop running around the house like maniacs!"

"Papa how come you don get mad at Saki and Mimi?!" Kouta complained.

"Yah! You never get mad at the girls!" Kenta whined, pouting.

"Because that's just the way it is," Ayato responded, trying to burp the baby.

Grumbling the twin boys shuffled into the living room to continue playing with their sister and cousins. Hinami carried a steaming pot of coffee from the counter and set it on the table. She took the baby from Ayato and laid set her in the playpen.

"Ayato you need to treat the girls the same way you treat the boys," she chided her husband as she gave the baby her pacifier. "Are you going to keep treating them like this when Hana grows up too?"

"Well maybe if the boys were as well-behaved as Saki is I wouldn't have to treat them different," Ayato grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why did we have kids in the first place?"

Hinami chuckled, she knew he didn't mean what he said. Ayato was smitten with all their children and would do anything for them. She straightened from the playpen and made her way over to her grumpy husband.

Leaning against his chair she ran her hand through his hair. "Maybe if you hadn't asked me to move in that day, we never would have had kids at all."

In answer Ayato leaning his head into Hinami's hand, enjoying the way her fingers moved through his hair. As much as he complained about his children, he knew that he didn't mean it. All it took that day was progressing to that next step in order to establish his family; and he wouldn't have it any other way.

#hinato

Trending Tags

Recently Viewed Tags

#hinato