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It was Ai's second time visiting Takachiho and the town was even prettier than she remembered it. She'd wondered if the passage of time had exaggerated her impressions of the place but she was delighted to find that it was everything she'd recalled it being and more. Even with the arrival of winter having stripped the fall landscape bare, there was still no shortage of things to love. The wide open spaces, the clean, fresh air, the mountains and hills that rolled all the way to the horizon and beyond. And of course, the stars - bright and vivid beyond anything she could even dream of seeing back in Tokyo.
Maybe it was just the novelty of it all. After all, Takachiho was so different from the city she may as well have been on another planet. Or maybe it was the opposite - she'd lived out in the boonies for most of her life prior to B-Komachi so this was nostalgic in a way she hadn't anticipated. Either way, this far out from Tokyo and from the paparazzi watching their every move, she found that she could breathe a little easier.
It really was the perfect place to have twins.
"Are you going on your evening walk, Saitou-san?" piped up the nurse at the front desk as Ai passed her by.
It took her a second to remember that Saitou-san was supposed to be her - she'd been the one to pick it as a cover but the name still sounded strange and ill-fitting on her. But she stopped all the same, flashing a butter-wouldn't-melt smile.
"Yup!" She chirped. "It's nice and clear out, so I wanted to see the stars."
The nurse blinked. "You're going out? At this hour?"
She sounded concerned and was obviously gearing up for some well meaning interference. But Ai was an expert in the art of asking for forgiveness rather than permission, so she cocked her head to the side, feigning confusion. "I can't?" she asked innocently. "Is it not allowed?"
"Ah, no, it's not that..." The nurse floundered for a moment, caught between the desire to be polite and the urge to fuss. "It's just, it's getting so chilly in the evenings now and with your condition..."
Ai's condition , as the staff at the hospital preferred to put it, was currently concealed under the layers of her big baggy hoodie and the long puffer coat she'd donned on top of it. She was pretty sure she'd be fine under all that, but she didn't want to spend much longer arguing the point with the nurse. So she put her biggest and brightest smile back on.
"Oh, it's fine!" She assured the woman. "Sensei said I should take walks as often as I can as much as I'm able, so he told me to do at least three a day, morning, noon and evening. He said so long as I wrapped up warm, the fresh air would be good for me and the babies!"
Sensei had said nothing of the sort, of course. But it sounded enough like something he might say and Ai delivered it with such breezy matter-of-factness that it seemed to satisfy the nurse - she still looked a little unsure but she smiled all the same. "Well, if your doctor says it's alright, then I suppose it must be," she said. "But make sure not to stay out too long, Saitou-san. It's easy to catch a chill."
"I'll be careful, I promise!" Ai flashed the nurse another smile. "Thanks for worrying about me, though."
She and the nurse exchanged polite nods of farewell before Ai turned on her heel and strode past the front desk towards the big double doors out of the main building. They slid open automatically at her approach and a crisp, winter breeze rushed in to meet her. It was bitter enough to catch her off guard, but she didn't want to give the nurse any excuse to send her back up to her room, so Ai didn't flinch or shiver - she made herself take a big, appreciative breath as if filling her lungs with the freshness and stepped out into the evening air.
The nurse had been right about the chill - it was cold enough that she could see her breath misting in the air as she exhaled, and the asphalt under her feet glittered with the promise of frost. It was quiet, too - whenever you saw the countryside on TV, it was noisy with bugs and birds but the cold weather had chased them all away. Now, the only noise in the courtyard was the subdued bustle of the hospital and the wind sweeping across the grounds.
It was pretty down here, with a good, unobstructed view of the sky, even if the view of the countryside surrounding them wasn't as good as it was up on the roof. But this far along into her pregnancy, her mobility was getting to the point that climbing up the stairs to the rooftop was becoming a struggle. She didn't want to risk it - not just for her sake, but for the babies'. So for now, the courtyard would have to do. Even that took it out of her a little, though - now she was outside, she had to stop just outside the building and lean against the wall while she caught her breath, one hand cradling her stomach.
It was strange, adjusting to her body being so graceless and awkward. She'd always been small and slender, even before her debut, so the change in her figure was that much more exaggerated by comparison. It was taking some adjusting to and every time she thought she was getting used to things, something changed or something progressed and she was back to square one again. In a lot of ways, she relished it - it was proof that her babies were growing and healthy and strong. But it was even harder and more exhausting than she'd prepared herself for.
"Jeez, you two're lucky you're gonna be cute." she scolded them playfully, gently stroking the curve of her stomach. "You're already making a whole lot of work for your mama."
Mama. She'd been trying the word out over and over the last few days, trying to make it feel like it was real, like it fit - but it still felt just as fake as Saitou-san did, like it belonged to someone else and Ai was just borrowing it.
She had a bit longer to get used to it, at least. Three months if her estimated due date was right - though, Sensei had told her that twin pregnancies were often just a little shorter then regular ones and there was a chance they might come along a little early, which was a-okay by her. So long as they were healthy and ready to come into the world, the sooner she got to meet them, the better.
"Come to think of it, I haven't decided on your names yet, huh?" Ai mused aloud, rubbing slow circles over her belly as she spoke. "Guess I'll have to start thinking about it properly soon..."
She felt a little guilty every time someone asked about it. With Takachiho being such a tiny, out of the way place, a pregnancy was more of a novelty here than it ever had been in Tokyo. So everyone from the nurses to the receptionists to the other patients were all keen to pepper her with questions about the whole thing. They were comfortably predictable ones and it made answering them easy - how far along was she, when was she due, did she know if they were boys or girls, how exciting it all was - but whenever the question of names came up, Ai was at a loss.
All the moms on TV and in the websites she turned up in her internet searches made it sound like such a huge, important decision - something couples agonized over together for months, picking out names that suited the babies and summed up who they were. Something that held a lot of meaning. What if she didn't get it right? What if she picked out names she thought suited them but they flopped? Or what if she picked out something they hated?
Names were important, after all. Even someone as bad with them as she was knew that. But how were you supposed to pick out something that suited a person you'd never even met?
A huge sigh billowed out of her and she tipped her head back to gaze up into the sky again. Takachiho was practically in the middle of nowhere and the hospital was even further isolated on top of that, nestled ins little ways away from the town. This far out from the city - from anything, really - the stars were in full and glorious display. They shone with piercing clarity, diamonds spilled across black velvet, so vast and so bright that Ai felt like if she reached out, she could've scooped a handful of them to take back to Tokyo as a souvenir. She stretched out her arm as if to try, her fingertips seeming to just barely fall short.
"Star names would be really pretty, wouldn't they?" she hummed thoughtfully. "Not that I know any off the top of my head. Maybe I'll ask Prez Saitou for some ideas next time he visits."
Whenever that would be. It wasn't like she'd expected him to stay here in Takachiho with her the whole time - he had an entire agency to run back in Tokyo and the distance was way too huge for him to even try and commute. And Ai was in good hands - the staff at the hospital and especially Sensei had all been so kind, so it wasn't like she was by herself. But she'd hoped that he might visit at least once or twice, just to check on how things were going. She knew she was being childish, though - President Saitou was a busy guy. He had more to be worrying about than her.
She gazed up at the stars between the gaps in her fingers and her breath puffed out of her mouth in a cloud of pale vapor.
"It's not like I need him here," she murmured. "You guys'll be here soon so that's enough for me. Right?"
There was a moment of silence - but then a gentle kick pressed against her palm and her mouth curved into a rueful smile.
She wasn't alone here in Takachiho.
Just a little lonely.
A gust of wind swept through the grounds and seemed to dig itself right into her coat. Ai shivered, hunching her shoulders as it rattled its way through her bones. Okay, maybe the nurse had been right - maybe it was getting a little too chilly to spending too much time out here. But she'd wanted to see the stars and a stubborn little part of her didn't want to go scurrying back indoors so soon after making it all the way down here. So she pushed herself away from the wall instead, pulling her puffer coat tighter around her and trudging her way over to one of the vending machines tucked away by the side of the building. She knew from some of the other staff and patients that it had plenty of hot drinks this time of year, so she fished some coins out of her pocket to slot them into the machine and pushed the button for a can of hot oshiruko.
It clattered into the dispenser with a dull thunk and it took a little bit of careful maneuvering for Ai to stoop down enough to retrieve it but she managed eventually. She was just straightening up, relishing the warmth of the hot can in her chilled fingers, when -
"Oshiruko? At this hour?"
"Hyaaah!"
Ai jumped so badly that she almost dropped her drink - she had to juggle it frantically for a moment before managing to secure a firm grip on it - and whipped around, heart hammering in her chest. Standing there, illuminated by the glow of the vending machine, was a little girl she didn't recognize.
She was a startlingly pretty kid with big round eyes and long, pale hair - in a few years, she'd probably be the sort of girl agency reps would fight tooth and nail to scout. Her neat black dress with the swallowtail collar made Ai think of expensive, Western style dolls and she squirreled away a selfish wish that one of the babies growing in her belly would be amenable to being dressed up like that when they were her age. Whatever that might be. She was small and slight but she was carrying herself with the poised confidence of someone far older and those big round eyes of hers were sharp. She was regarding Ai with a thoughtful, searching look that made her feel like she was being measured up.
An uncomfortable moment of silence passed between them. Ai realized she was staring just as intently as the girl was and hurried to rearrange her expression into something a little more friendly.
"Uh... hi?" she ventured uncertainly. "Are you lost? Do you need help finding your mommy and daddy?"
The little girl cocked her head to the side, considering the question with a frown. "I'm perfectly fine." she responded, in a voice that sounded too crisp and clear to be coming out of a girl as young as she seemed to be. That combined with her fancy dress had Ai wondering if she was from one of the well-off families she'd heard lived around these parts. "There's no need to be concerned."
Ai felt her brow furrow. "Are you sure?" she asked, still a little unsure. "I know it's not super late just yet, but it's not good to be out on your own after dark."
"I assure you, I am completely fine." the little girl insisted, sounding so prim and proper that Ai had to stifle a giggle. "I'm more than familiar with the area. Should you really be out here all by yourself, though, oneesan?"
At that, Ai did laugh, settling a hand on her belly. "Oh, I'm not by myself! These two're keeping me company." she said brightly, giving herself a friendly pat. "They're still a little too shy to say hi just yet, though."
The little girl peered at her midsection with intrigue but not quite surprise. "Twins." she said, as if confirming something to herself.
Ai nodded. "Yup!" she confirmed. "That's why I'm here - Takachiho's supposed to be a really nice place for mothers to have their babies. So I'm staying here until it's time for them to be born."
That wasn't the entire truth, obviously. The main motivation for her choosing this place over anywhere else had been the distance from Tokyo and how little the city's entertainment scene had touched this place. The chances of anyone recognizing her out her were slim and even the one person who had only seemed to know her in passing. That a gorgeous place like Takachiho happened to fit the bill was just a bonus.
The little girl's gaze hadn't moved from Ai's stomach. "I see." she observed, more to herself than Ai. "Isn't it risky for you to be out here in this weather?"
Coming from anyone else, being nagged about the weather some more probably would've annoyed her just a little, but hearing it from this tiny girl, Ai couldn't help but laugh again. "Oh jeez, not you too! You sound just like the nurse at the front desk." she teased. "But don't worry - I'm bundled up real good." She held up her can of oshiruko as if to demonstrate. "And this'll keep me nice and warm too!"
The little girl regarded the can with a flat, unimpressed stare. "Hmm." she hummed noncommittally. "Well, so long as you don't-"
Whatever warning she was about to give was interrupted by a fresh gust of wind that sent her dress fluttering and her hair billowing out behind her. She had such a grave air that Ai half-expected her to be entirely unmoved but she reacted at once with an undignified yelp, hugging her arms around herself and heaving a huge, dramatic shudder. It was such a contrast to the composed, serious little girl Ai had been speaking to that she couldn't help but giggle.
"No wonder you're cold, standing out here in that!" she tutted teasingly. "Don't you have a coat or anything?"
"I do not." the little girl retorted, through audibly gritted teeth. "I am more than adequately equipped to navigate the world at night. But I am not impervious to the elements, as it happens."
Ai had to bite down hard on her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing again. The little girl sounded so affronted - she was clearly trying to be so dignified and proper, but the way she was shivering and hugging her arms around herself was ruining the effect.
"Okay, if you say so." She clicked her tongue, still eyeing the girl - aware that she was putting on the same performance of well intentioned interfering she'd been so eager to escape before. She cast her eyes around for a second, scanning the immediate area - and sure enough, there was a bench nearby that looked suitably sheltered from the worst of the chill. "But since you're not impervious , why don't you come over here and sit with me for a while? I'll share my oshiruko with you."
The little girl regarded her with a narrow eyed stare, as if trying to determine whether the offer was a trick, but Ai just smiled at her, trying to seem as unthreatening as possible. Eventually, the promise of a hot drink and some shelter from the wind won out and the girl heaved a sigh - another undignified sound that didn't seem to fit her elegant exterior - before padding over to the bench alongside Ai. She seated herself carefully on the bench, keeping a respectable distance between them, and folded her hands in her lap, looking for all the world like a doll that had been placed there and left to wait. Ai settled down beside her, making sure to leave a little space between them, and popped the tab on her oshiruko, releasing a waft of steam. She held it out to the little girl and after a moment of consideration, she accepted it with both hands.
"Thank you for your hospitality." she murmured formally, bowing her head before bringing the can to her lips.
Ai pursed her lips tight to keep her face straight - the formal tone she was using didn't match the cute way she was cupping her hands around the can and blowing on it to cool it down. "Sure thing. Happy to help."
She watched the little girl as she took a sip of oshiruko - she tried to be subtle about it, keeping her gaze fixed ahead of herself rather than directly on her but she didn't miss the way her eyes lit up at the taste. She hid it quickly, schooling her expression back into something neutral and serious, but Ai had seen it and she smiled to herself.
"So, are you... waiting for someone?" Ai asked after a few moments of comfortable silence, when it became apparent the little girl wasn't going to volunteer any information about herself without prompting.
"No." she answered crisply. "Visiting."
Ah, that explained the outfit. Maybe she'd been dressed up by her parents to look extra presentable for visiting hours. "Ah, okay. Is it a relative?"
"No."
Ai waited for her to elaborate. When it became clear she wouldn’t, she hazarded another guess. "A... friend?"
"No." the girl repeated. But this time, she lowered the can of oshiruko from her lips and turned to face Ai, meeting her eyes with a piercing, scrutinizing stare. "This is our first meeting."
A little chill ran down Ai's spine.
The girl's eyes were gleaming in the low light - Ai thought she might be imagining it, but it looked like they were illuminated from the inside with an odd, luminescent glow. She parted her lips to respond, but nothing came out. For a moment, the only sound was the wind whistling through the trees and the distant rustling of the forest, stretching out into the darkness beyond the hospital grounds. It felt like Takachiho itself was holding its breath.
But then, the warm can of oshiruko was being pressed back into her hands and the moment broke. Ai blinked, staring down as if surprised to find herself holding it.
"You should drink that before it gets cold." the little girl advised, folding her hands in her lap once more. "It will help warm you up."
Ai gaped at her for a moment longer, but then she let out a breathless laugh. "R-right," she agreed and hurriedly brought the can to her mouth for a long swig. It was still piping hot, sweet and thick with red bean paste and the heat of it seemed to seep into her bones. A contented sigh billowed out of her and into the night air and that odd sense of unease went with it.
Jeez. What was she getting so shaken up about? This was just a little girl. Maybe pregnancy hormones really did make you a little loopy.
"You came here to have your children." the little girl observed while Ai was occupied with her drink. "Why did you choose Takachiho?"
Ai lowered the can, considering the question for a moment. She'd technically already made an excuse, but she was starting to get the feeling that if she tried to give another tricky answer, she'd been caught out. So she felt compelled to reply with... something adjacent to the truth, anyway.
"It was recommended to me by someone I know." she admitted, after a beat of hesitation. "I needed someplace quiet and out of the way to have them and... Takachiho seemed nice. So here I am."
"Hmm." the little girl regarded her thoughtfully for a moment - she could feel those big round eyes boring into the side of her head but she resisted the urge to turn and meet her gaze. "A coincidence, then. How fortuitous."
Whatever that meant, Ai decided not to ask. Instead, she let her eyes flit up towards the sky again, gazing up at the stars. They were still twinkling away, unconcerned with whatever was going on down here, and the moon was bright and full.
"I guess it was." she said, a little smile tugging at her mouth. "I'm lucky to be having them in a place with such a beautiful sky. You really don't get stars like this anywhere else."
She expected some sort of agreement, maybe, or a polite hum of acknowledgement - but the little girl was silent. When she risked a glance down at her, she found that she was also gazing up at the sky, her expression unreadable. There was a faraway look in her eyes, like she was seeing something very distant, far out and beyond the stars that Ai was seeing.
"...Do you like the stars, oneesan?" the little girl asked eventually, in a voice that was soft and solemn. Her gaze was still fixed firmly on the sky. "You were staring at them for a long time before I approached you."
"Mmhmm." Ai nodded, taking another sip of her oshiruko. "They're pretty, aren't they? I used to make wishes on them when I was a little kid... and if they ever came true, it'd feel like magic. I kind of grew out of it eventually but I still like looking for constellations and stuff."
"Constellations..." the little girl repeated, sounding thoughtful. "What sorts do you see?"
Ai smiled sheepishly. "Well, I don't really know any of the real ones off the top of my head. I just kinda look for shapes - let's see..."
She set the can of oshiruko down beside her on the bench and scooched in a little closer to the girl so that when she pointed something out, the girl could follow Ai's gaze. She scanned the stars for a moment, trying to find a nice arrangement of them, and -
"Ah! There we go!" she exclaimed, jabbing her finger triumphantly into the air. "See? Doesn't that one look like a bird?"
The little girl peered up at the sky, following the trajectory of Ai's finger, with a dubious sort of expression on her face. "I do not see it." she informed Ai, her tone blunt. "How did you even arrive at bird?"
"Oh come on, you can totally see it! Look, there's the wings... and that part in the middle is the body, right?"
She traced the shape with her finger again, outlining the vague silhouette of a bird in flight, wings outstretched. Beside her, the little girl squinted up at the sky, still looking deeply skeptical.
"I still do not see it." she hummed, still peering upwards. "Perhaps if I squint...?"
Ai laughed. "You don't have to squint. You just have to use your imagination a little. You know, like with the bunnies on the moon."
The girl gave her a look that shot past dubious and landed right at incredulous. "Bunnies on the moon?" she deadpanned.
Faced with a look like that, what could Ai do but grin in return? "Yup!"
"There are no rabbits on the moon."
"There sure are. They're hard at work pounding mochi, too."
"I assure you," the girl insisted, still looking thoroughly unimpressed. "There are no rabbits on the moon nor is there any mochi."
She sounded so sure of herself that it was all Ai could do not to laugh. She was reminded suddenly of some of the younger kids back at Hanazono - girls who were too serious for their own good and whose little faces would scrunch up indignantly whenever she teased them. This girl, despite her fancy clothes and prim manner of speaking, was no different. She looked so offended at the notion of rabbits pounding mochi on the moon that Ai had to bite down on her bottom lip to keep herself from smiling too widely.
"Hmm, well, if you say so..." she conceded, humouring her. "But even if there's no bunnies, there's plenty of other stuff to see up there. Like, let's see, what's another one you can see this time of year..."
She peered up at the sky, wracking her brain for some of the astrology (or astronomy? she could never remember which one) trivia she'd soaked up from Prez Saitou on the occasions he'd shown off his limited knowledge. There were too many stars dusted across the inky sky for her to easily pick out just one - but then it leapt out into her vision, so bright and distinct she wondered how she'd ever missed it.
"There!" she said, jabbing her finger excitedly into the air again. "See that one? The really bright one - that's Polaris, the North Star."
"Polaris..." the little girl repeated. This time, she followed Ai's pointing finger with an expression that was less dubious and more thoughtful. "Yes, I know of it."
"Yup! It's really pretty, isn't it? It always stands out even with all the other stars. It helps you navigate by showing you where north is. People've been following it to show them the way for hundreds of years. Isn't that amazing?"
The girl didn't respond right away. She was gazing up at Polaris, her eyes dancing with the reflections of all those millions of stars, with an expression on her face that Ai couldn't quite read. She wasn't frowning, exactly - but she didn't look happy either. If Ai had to put a name to it, she'd probably call it melancholy.
"It seems a lot to expect." she remarked eventually, turning to look up at Ai. "From just one star. Don't you think?"
A sallow wind gusted through the courtyard again, rattling the bare branches of the trees and sending Ai's hair fluttering around her face. But she didn't flinch. She managed to hold the girl's gaze for a moment longer, before she turned back to the sky where Polaris was still burning steady and strong, untouched by the wind or the cold.
"You'd think so, right? It'd be way too much for just one star." she agreed. "But... it's not."
The girl blinked at her. "It's not?"
Ai shook her head. Her hand drifted to her belly, cradling the gentle swell there, and she smiled. "Polaris isn't just one star. There's three up there - two little ones orbiting the bigger one. It looks like just one because they're so close together, but they're really three. And I think... that makes a difference, right? If it was just one star, maybe it wouldn't be able to shine as bright. But with three of of them... maybe it's a little easier."
The little girl's gaze dropped from the sky to Ai's stomach, tracking the movement of her hand as it smoothed over her bump. Something unreadable flashed across her face - something complicated and strange - but it was gone before Ai could try to identify it.
"That does make a difference." she agreed eventually, her voice even. Those big, round eyes flicked back up to Ai's face. "You certainly know a lot about stars."
Ai laughed, a little embarrassed. "Ah, not really... it's my boss who's the real expert. I'd just pick up bits and pieces here and there. Then he'd be like..." She dropped her voice a little, affecting an imitation of Prez's Saitou's nicotine-roughened tone. "'You remember that, but you can't get anyone's names right?'"
"He does have a point, you know."
Ai just laughed again. The little girl studied her for a moment, her gaze flitting from Ai's face to her stomach and then back up again. There was a question poised on the tip of her tongue - Ai could tell she wanted to ask something but she was holding back. She considered prodding her, asking if there was something she wanted to know - but the girl beat her to it.
"Did you plan on making another wish tonight?" she asked eventually, fixing Ai with an oddly piercing look.
Ai tilted her head to the side. "Another wish?"
"On the stars." the girl explained, gesturing up at the sky. "You said you used to make wishes when you were younger. Are you not here to do that tonight?"
Ai blinked, a little wrongfooted. She was a little old to be wishing on stars, wasn't she? Or at the very least, wishing on them and actually believing it could come true. The last time she'd done that was…
Well. Come to think of it, it'd been here in Takachiho, hadn't it? She'd looked up at that pretty twin star the President had named for her - she couldn't remember now what he'd said it was but she remembered that she'd wished on it. She remembered what what'd wished, too. To have a wonderful family of her own, someday. And here she was back in Takachiho, on the verge of that dream coming true.
It wasn't magic - just ironic. But she liked the symmetry of it all the same.
"I wasn't exactly planning on it..." She huffed out a little laugh. "But... it's a pretty night, isn't it?"
The girl nodded sagely. "Yes. Tonight is indeed auspicious." she said, sounding pleased with herself. "It is a clear night. A good time to make a wish."
Ai laughed again, louder this time. "You're pretty pushy, huh? What if I told you I already made one last time I was here?"
The little girl blinked up at her, her big eyes wide and guileless. "You would not be breaking any rules if you made another, you know." she informed Ai, matter of fact. "There are plenty of stars to spare."
"Fair enough." Ai relented, with a helpless grin. She was funny, this little girl. "In that case... I guess I'll make one."
The girl nodded approvingly. She lifted a hand up towards the sprawling sky above them, fingers splayed wide as if to let the stars spill between them. "What will it be, then? For yourself? Or maybe those babies you’re carrying?"
Ai hummed thoughtfully. Her gaze drifted upwards again, drinking in the twinkling expanse of the sky - the sea of stars vast and boundless. They seemed to wink down at her, somehow - like they were sharing a secret she just didn't know yet.
"If I was going to wish anything, it'd be for these two." she decided eventually, still cradling the swell of her belly with one hand. "That they'll be healthy and happy and they'll grow up well."
"Into what?"
Ai blinked. "Huh?"
"Into what?" the little girl repeated, unfazed. "What sort of people would you like your children to become?"
The question made her breath stall in her throat for just a second. Then it puffed out gently in a white cloud that faded into the cold night air. But she still didn't answer.
That was exactly what she'd been worrying about, wasn't it? About who these two little lives inside her would turn out to be. Whether she was even cut out to be the one having them in the first place. Maybe that was why the question of names had been stumping her so thoroughly - because she was still having so much trouble imagining herself having them in the first place.
But as she rolled the question around in her head some more, she realized that wasn't quite right either. She'd never really given any thought to what she wanted her kids to become - all she knew was that she wanted them to... be . Full stop. Healthy, well adjusted, there , breathing and laughing and smiling.
Happy.
That was all she really wanted. Anything beyond that was just extra.
"I guess... whoever they want to be?" she said eventually, a little uncertainly. "As long as they're happy, I don't really mind. I just want them to live good lives."
The little girl arched an eyebrow at her. Apparently, that wasn't the answer she'd expected. "It doesn't matter at all?"
Ai shook her head. "Not really. Or I guess it's more like..." She paused, humming thoughtfully to herself as she tried to put the feeling into words. "It matters to me , sure, but only because I care about them. I want them to do whatever they want. I want them to do what makes them happy. And I'm gonna support them no matter what that is. So it's not that I want them to be this or that..."
She lowered her gaze, smiling softly at the bump under her hand.
"I just want to meet whoever they end up being. That's more than enough for me."
She looked up to find the little girl looking at her, her head tilted to the side curiously. There was something intense about her gaze, like she was trying to peer through Ai's skin and straight into her soul. Again, the wind stirred and Ai was struck by the oddly certain feeling that something very strange and very heavy was hanging in the air between them, waiting for her to speak and set it free.
"Even if they're different from what you hoped for?" the little girl asked, no longer sounding much like a little girl at all.
Everything in her wanted to quail from that gaze, so piercing and knowing that it felt like it was stripping her bare - but Ai didn't look away. She met the girl's eyes and held them, steady and resolute. "Even then."
"Even if they're strange? Even if you don't always understand them?"
Ai inclined her head. "I'm pretty strange too. So we'd get long just fine."
"Even if you regret it?"
"I won't."
The girl's eyes narrowed - not in suspicion, but like she was peering even deeper into Ai's soul, looking for the truth of it. "You won't?"
"No. I won't." Ai shook her head. "They might not turn out like I'd imagined... but they'll be mine . They'll be my kids. It'll be the three of us together. How could I regret that?"
For a long, drawn out moment, the girl just stared at her, her expression completely inscrutable. Ai waited, still meeting her eyes - and then she saw it. The little girl's lips twitched, the corners of her mouth tugging upwards in a small smile that seemed to blossom slowly, like the first peek of the sunrise after a long, dark night.
"You truly are full of surprises." she murmured, her voice soft. She sounded almost surprised, like she couldn't believe it. "They chose well."
Ai blinked. "Chose...?"
Instead of answering, the little girl rose smoothly to her feet. Ai watched her, a little mystified, as she took a few steps away from the bench and then turned back to face her. Illuminated from behind by the moon, her features were cast into sharp relief and she suddenly looked very old and very young all at the same time.
"It's quite the wish." she remarked, her voice mild. "One that asks for happiness without regards to whether it will be yours or not. One might even call it greedy."
The air around them was still and strange - charged with something Ai couldn't name but that seemed to hum beneath her skin, leaving the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. She was suddenly very aware all over again of how quiet it was, like even the wind itself was hanging on the girl's every word. And yet she wasn't afraid in the least.
Instead, she found herself grinning. "Sure it is." she agreed easily, her smile crooked. "But I've always been greedy like that."
The girl laughed. Laughed. Ai marveled at the sound - it was light and airy like windchimes tinkling in a gentle breeze, and yet there was something so rich and ancient about it, too. She felt oddly certain without knowing why that there were very few people in Takachiho - or maybe even the world - who had heard it.
"Indeed," the girl agreed, mirth dancing in her eyes and that old-young smile still pulling at her lips. "It's an exceptionally greedy wish. But perhaps I'll grant it."
Ai blinked at her. She parted her lips to question it - but found that no words came to her lips. The girl's eyes were locked on hers and something burning there in their depths - bright and powerful and weighted , like the entire expanse of the sky had condensed into two shining points. She was dimly aware of the wind stirring around them again but she barely registered it. The chill air brushed over her cheeks, fluttering her hair and she heard the clattering of wings, all around them and very far away. That heavy, electric tension was still hanging thick in the air, climbing in pitch with each passing second - like she was sitting on the cusp of something enormous and extraordinary, about to burst into bloom.
And then -
"Ah... Saitou-san?"
The tension snapped.
"Hyaaah!"
For the second time that night, Ai jumped so badly she upset her can of oshiruko. It toppled off the bench and plunked down to the ground between her feet, leaking a puddle of pink soup into the grass. She spun around and there was her doctor, blinking at her owlishly in the moonlight with an expression of surprise that mirrored her own.
(What was his name? Ame-something? Not that it really mattered when all she called him was-)
"Sensei!" she spluttered, caught between embarrassment and exasperation. "You scared the crap out of me..!"
The doctor - Ame... something. Amemiya? Probably not, but close enough - flushed a little. "My apologies. I didn't mean to startle you." he said, bowing his head. "I just thought I'd check in on you before heading home for the evening." When he straightened up, there was a glint of something like mischief behind his glasses. "Apparently, I'd advised you to come out here for your evening walk... or so I was told at the front desk."
Ai just beamed at him, utterly failing to be contrite. "It's so nice out! It seemed a waste to just be sitting around inside, y'know?"
Amemiya clucked his tongue, but it was with obvious humour. "You're supposed to be taking it easy, Saitou-san. Just what were you doing out here all by yourself?"
"Oh, I'm not!" she chirped. "I was just talking to-"
She turned, gesturing over her shoulder to introduce her new friend - but the girl was gone. There was no indication she'd even been there in the first place. The only sign of life apart from the two of them was a black bird pecking around at the ground around the bench as if in search of crumbs. They watched as it made its way over to the gently steaming puddle of oshiruko, dipped its beak in and then cawed loudly, flapping its wings in an indignant sort of way.
Ai deflated a little. "Huh..." she murmured. "I guess she left."
"Who did?" Amemiya asked. He stepped forward, glancing around the empty courtyard curiously. "One of the nurses?"
She shook her head. "No. Actually, I don't know who she was." she admitted, with a sheepish little laugh. "Just some kid visiting someone, I think. She..."
Her voice thinned out and trailed off. What was it the girl had said again, exactly? It had only been a moment ago, but suddenly the conversation felt watery and faded in her memory. Like she'd been dreaming, maybe, or half asleep. She hadn't been, of course - she was sure of that much - but the details were still slipping away from her, the further she got from it. But for some reason, she didn't feel alarmed. She rattled through her thoughts, trying to string the thread of the conversation back together and found herself cradling her stomach absently with one hand. Oh. That was it, right?
"... she was asking about these two." she began again - a little slowly, but then more quickly as the details filled back in. That was right, it'd just been an idle chat. Nothing strange about it other than Ai herself. "Just all sorts of things about babies."
Amemiya hummed, nodding along as he knelt down to pick up the can of oshiruko. "Children tend to be curious about babies at a certain age." he observed mildly, shaking it lightly to dislodge any remaining liquid before discarding it in a nearby trashcan. "Maybe she has a younger sibling on the way?"
"Maybe. I guess she headed back inside once you showed up."
Amemiya nodded absently - then he frowned a little as he straightened up. "That can't be right." he mused aloud, glancing back at the front entrance across the courtyard. "I just came from the lobby myself. I didn't see anyone, let alone a child."
"Huh..." Ai blinked at him, nonplussed. "Maybe she snuck past you?"
He looked back at her, his expression bemused. "That seems unlikely, Saitou-san."
"That's what you think. Kids move quick." She planted her palm flat on the bench and started the laborious process of levering herself back up to her feet. Amemiya was immediately at her side, offering a hand - and she accepted it gratefully. It took a few moments but eventually she was vertical again. "Or maybe she wasn't a kid at all."
"Ah?"
Ai shot him a cheeky grin, waggling her eyebrows at him. She made her hands into claws, raising them up threateningly as she waggled her fingers as well. "Maybe she was a ghooooooost...!"
Amemiya didn't bite. He just snorted, face completely flat. "Equally unlikely, Saitou-san. I assure you, the hospital is free of ghosts. I personally inspected the walls and floorboards just last week."
Ai pouted, dropping her hands back to her sides. "Aw, sensei, you're no fun."
"Apologies." he pushed his glasses up by the bridge. "When you work in a hospital for long enough, you become immune to ghost stories."
She huffed. "Party pooper..."
He smiled wryly in response. "Please don't sulk. I think you'll find you'll have more than enough to keep you busy for the foreseeable future without ghosts." He gestured towards the front entrance. "Shall we head back inside?"
"Sure. I guess I am kinda tired..."
Amemiya fell into step beside her, hovering a hand just above her shoulder to steady her if necessary as they made their slow way back across the courtyard. But Ai held her head up high and kept her pace steady - she only paused once they reached the automatic doors and that was just to glance back over her shoulder, her gaze drawn to the bench by the light of the moon. There was still no sign of the little girl - but the bird was still there, hopping around and pecking at the ground.
Something had changed in the air though, she noticed. The night was still and quiet, but it felt different now - the kind of stillness that came after a storm, when everything had settled back into place. Like the air itself holding onto that last lingering bit of electricity before it finally burst and dissipated completely.
There had been no storm, of course. Just a little girl with all sorts of questions. Whatever they'd been, she couldn't quite remember but at the same time, Ai felt as though something in her, too, had settled and eased. As though a decision she hadn't even realized she was putting off making had finally clicked into place - and she felt good about it. Relieved.
Like everything was going to be alright.
"Saitou-san?" Amemiya prompted, still hovering at her elbow. "Is something the matter?"
Ai hesitated, and for one last time, she let her eyes wander upwards - up to the twinkling sky and Polaris, shining bright and steady overhead. Then she smiled and shook her head, turning back towards the hospital entrance.
"Nope. Everything's fine." she assured Amemiya cheerily. "Actually - I was just thinking, about these two..."
The automatic doors slid open and she stepped through them, her doctor following close behind. As they did, the bird cawed, its voice splitting through the quiet of the courtyard. She heard the beat of its wings as it took flight into the sparkling night above.
"... I'm ready to start thinking of names for them."