𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 | 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 [MINOR EDITING]

𝟏𝟐 | 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐛

In my current predicament, I have to concur with Sōjun. I had been prepared for koi-watching and tea-drinking, not peer-pressuring and alcohol-guzzling. I don't know what to do with myself now. This party of his doesn't end for another two hours, and this water just isn't cutting it.

After Tanuma breaks out in a raucous string of laughter, I excuse myself to the washroom. Sōjun asks if I'd like him to show me to them, and to his obvious disappointment, I turn him down. Anything to escape his brother, I suppose. I now feel bad, on my way inside the Kuchiki Manor.

But I'm curious. I've only seen the inside of the Kaoku Manor, the Rukongai, and part of the Seireitei. And by the size of the Kuchiki Manor, I'm quite curious.

Everywhere I turn, things look the same. My frustration only grows on my journey to a bathroom. And that's when I hear it: a scream of utter distress. It comes from a woman. And, I've heard that kind of scream before, when my mother was in labour with Shōri.

Instinct overwhelms me, and I take off after the source of the screaming. With the party going on outside, it's unlikely that they can hear anything, and with how deep I am in the manor, it's even more unlikely.

I turn the corner and burst through a pair of doors unalike the others. A woman with dark hair is in the middle of it, keeled over on her hands and knees, groaning in pain.

"H-Hey," I call to her. "Are you due?" She looks up at me, her face white and sweaty. From the pain, most likely.

"Y-Yes," she moans. "Where... where is my husband?"

"Your husband?" I repeat.

"Sōjun," she says. "W-Where is Sōjun?"

"He's still outside with the others," I say. I quickly walk over to her and kneel in front of her. "Hang tight; I'm going to find some blankets and get some hot water."

"W-What...?" she says. "Who are you?"

"My name is Abaron Kakaku," I tell her, "the second head of the Kaoku Clan. I know what I'm doing, so please, let me help deliver your baby."

"Th-Thank you, milady," she says. Even in her condition, she gives me a small bow. Flustered, I immediately get to work.

I can tell she's embarrassed. I imagine that the only intimacy she's used to is with Sōjun, himself, and seeing as he isn't here, she's most likely struggling to keep it together.

I help her undo the front of her robe. The fact of the matter is, I've never delivered a baby before. Sure, I've seen it; I've seen some of the midwives back in the World of the Living do it, as well. But as I'm soon able to tell, watching and having actually done it, are two different instances.

"Wow," I say, after assessing her condition. "The baby's already crowning."

Just barely, I think, but it still shocks me how far along she's come on her own. And by the looks of things, she's been in this room for a while before I came.

I think for a moment, planning my next steps, before helping her off of her elbows and onto her back, and placing the cushions that had been previously surrounding her underneath her. I shuffle back onto my knees and between hers, sitting upright.

"It's going to be a bit uncomfortable, but I can't do anything until the baby's come out a bit further," I quickly explain. "Bear with me."

"Y-Yes," she says. So I grab her calves and start bending her legs at her knees. She lets out a series of loud moans as I push them toward her head. But more and more, the baby becomes visible. I eventually find that its head is no bigger than a grapefruit, and on top of it, a thin black tuft of hair. I can't tell its gender.

"You're almost there," I tell her. "Just a little more. Push on three."

At this point my heart is racing.

"One." She grits her teeth, the stress of her labour literally rolling down her face. "Two." She cries out, her entire body now shaking. "Three!"

With a final scream, the baby literally slides out into my arms. Perhaps it would've been best to take off my kimono first before delivering it - him - to avoid ruining it, but it's clearly too late for that. So I take off the top layer and use it to quickly and gently wipe the baby down before folding it in half and wrapping it around him.

"Is..."

"He's alright," I tell her. And then he starts to wail. Oh, he's definitely alright, I think. 

"I'm... so happy... he's okay... My sweet little... Byakuya..."  

I look back down at her, and my heart stops.

The girl, whose name I hadn't bothered to learn, and who I might have been able to keep alive if I hadn't encouraged her pregnancy without a midwife... has died from blood loss.

"S-Someone... Someone, help!!"

Updated October 10th, 2022 | 881 words