With whatever strength he had left from holding the pain, Chichiri looked up and saw that it was the familiar old clinic where Tokaki and Subaru worked. As Illust-chan shouted for assistance and told everyone to make way for here, Chichiri silently wondered what relationship Illust-chan shared with Tokaki and Subaru.
“Illust-chan! Glad you got here!” Subaru exclaimed as she wheeled out the surgery table for Illust-chan to put Chichiri on.
“I got here as fast as I could. I think I’ve broken more speed limits than I should,” Illust-chan replied, wiping a sweat of her brow while struggling to breathe properly after looking like she just came from a marathon run.
“Let me help you worry about that later,” Tokaki said and laid a few blankets under Chichiri’s butt, took off the man-cat’s pants and placed another blanket over Chichiri’s naked lower half. “Have you called the lawyer guy yet?”
“Yes, anata,” Subaru replied. “They said they’re on their way now.”
“I saw a few people recognizing Chichiri-chan when I came in,” Illust-chan said a little worriedly. “I think they might end up calling the press or the cops or something. Should I do something about that, ji-san?”
“No, niece,” Tokaki stopped her. “Chichiri-chan is receiving enough bad publicity as it is. You just go outside and wait for Tasuki to come. Direct him straight to this room. Don’t bother about the others. You do know which one is Tasuki, right?”
“Hai, ji-san!” Illust-chan saluted and made a dash out the clinic entrance, guarding the door diligently and looked out for the person she had heard and read and seen so much in the news both on the papers and the TV. A few patients craned their necks to see what Illust-chan was doing and who she was waiting for, but she couldn’t bother. She couldn’t care less whatever people thought. Her priority right now is to reunited Tasuki and Chichiri and that’s what she set out to do.
“Breathe nice and slow, Chichiri-chan,” Subaru coached the man-cat as she helped him ride the contractions. “Thank goodness we had our dear little niece to infiltrate the AHS office and pose as a new worker there to monitor Chichiri-chan, anata. Without one of our own in there, I don’t think we would’ve been able to save Chichiri-chan and the kittens in time.”
“Hai,” Tokaki got himself cleaned and prepared for the big moment, “Demo, it’s not that we didn’t know that Tasuki was the father of the child in the first place. I mean, it’s no secret the way he reacted when we told him that Chichiri-chan was pregnant that he was the one who knocked him up. His face was so readable. But then again, we are in the new age. Anything is possible. I pity those people who see him otherwise.”
“That’s our old Tasuki, always the predictable one,” Subaru smiled a little as she stroke Chichiri’s head. She felt Chichiri up and said, “I can literally feel the head already. He’d better be here soon. Chichiri won’t hold on much longer.”
--:--
Mitsukake was on the road in his van, weaving in and out of the streets amidst the blaring cars and changing traffic lights and whatnot. In his van was Tasuki, Nuriko and Hotohori, Miaka and Tamahome, Yui and Nakago, Tatemo the lawyer and a few of the Rekka-Shin Apartment residents including Albert Kay and the boy genius Chiriko with his body guard, while the rest of the Rekka-Shin Apartment residents drove their own cars, trying as hard as they could to follow Mitsukake’s trail. Behind them trailed a long line of cars and vans from the press, who probably heard of Chichiri’s coming labour and decided to get the scoop of the story, and a few police cars which are probably either escorting them or chasing after them for violating speed limits. Either way, the road to Tokaki and Subaru’s clinic was a long and hectic one.
“I’m trying to drive as fast as I can with the weight in this van!” Mitsukake exclaimed as he swerved, almost hitting a nearby truck.
“Are you accusing us of being fat?!” Nuriko growled out loud before shrieking as a motorcycle flew past them, barely scraping the door.
“Oh, shut it, woman, and let the man drive before you get us all killed!” Albert Kay shouted and alerted Mitsukake to avoid a pedestrian. The others were hot on their trail and it was a matter of time before they saw Tokaki and Subaru’s vet in sight.
“Look! There’s a girl with a bell choker waving at us at the entrance!” Miaka noted, pointing at Illust-chan who was waving furiously at them in front of the clinic entrance to stop. Tasuki, regardless whether Mitsukake had hit the brakes or not, opened the sliding door of the van and jumped down the vehicle, jogging quickly towards Illust-chan’s direction.
“Tasuki-san?” Illust-chan asked, ignoring the orange prison jumpsuit he was wearing. It was evident that he had no time to change after the verdict has been made. He must’ve rushed out of the courtroom as soon as he heard the news of Chichiri and came here in a flash without even bothering whether anyone was going to think that he had just performed a jailbreak feat or something.
“Hai! Dare ka? Chiri-chan, is he…?”
“Come with me.”
Illust-chan took Tasuki by both hands and led him straight towards the room where Chichiri was, ignoring the surprised gasp of the people inside the clinic at upon seeing a tiny nurse leading a big grown convict. Illust-chan didn’t bother to knock. She just barged in, dragged Tasuki along with her and pushed him towards Chichiri, not that Tokaki and Subaru minded anyway.
“Ah, finally,” Tokaki replied good-naturedly. “We thought we might end up starting off without you.”
“Chiri-chan, Chiri-chan, oh god, I’m so sorry,” Tasuki peppered Chichiri with butterfly kisses as he reached out to hold his beloved’s hand. “God, I miss you so much. I’m so sorry I’m late.”
“Tasu-sama…” Chichiri whimpered as he held onto his hand and wrapped his other arm around his neck, savouring the familiar smell of his beloved. With him finally here by his side, his pain seemed to be bearable at most.
While Tasuki and Chichiri savoured the moment of having each other in their arms, Subaru and Illust-chan was busy shooing away people, friends and paparazzi and police alike. Tokaki only allowed one cameraman to enter the room as he believed that the public needed to know how the birth went and how successful a union between a human and a man-cat could be. The happy little cameraman practically bounced into the room, leaving his fellow colleagues and competition behind disappointed as the door was shut at their faces. Illust-chan soon joined the delivery team with the necessary delivery instruments, which included the warm water and towels to clean the kittens and the scissors to cut the cord.
“I think it’s time we get this show on the road, boys,” Tokaki said as he put on his surgical gloves. He motioned Tasuki to get behind Chichiri and let him lean on his chest for support while Subaru helped Chichiri to sit up. Tokaki spread Chichiri’s legs just wide enough before nodding to Chichiri, telling him to push.
Chichiri took a deep breath and bore down, gripping tightly at both Tasuki’s hands that held him for support. Tasuki whispered sweet nothings to his ears to give him encouragement and Subaru helped the birth a little by massaging and pressing lightly at Chichiri’s pregnant belly. The cameraman took everything on tape, watching in wonder at the real-life birth of the kittens everyone was raving about. Tokaki counted slowly from 10 to 1 as Chichiri tried to push the first kitten out. It didn’t really hurt to give birth, now that the pressure had decreased with his pushing, but the vaginal opening that stretched to accommodate the size of the kitten’s head was more than uncomfortable to bear with. Tears involuntarily flow from his eyes as he continued to bear down with all his might, all the while Tokaki, Subaru and Tasuki gave him soft encouragement and Illust-chan waiting diligently for them to pass her the kitten.
After about 15 minutes of pushing, Chichiri let out a small mewl of pain as the first kitten, with the tea plate-sized placenta still attached to it through the umbilical cord, slid out of him. There was no time to waste for cuddles and kisses of the kitten as Tokaki quickly passed the kitten to Subaru who in turn passed it to Illust-chan. Chichiri whined for Illust-chan to let him hold his kitten but Tokaki persuaded to keep going as the rest of the kittens in him won’t wait. The cameraman hurriedly went towards Illust-chan’s direction and focused his camera on Illust-chan as she helped the kitten to breathe.
While Subaru tried to massage Chichiri’s belly some more before he continued with his pushing, Tasuki stole a glance at Illust-chan doing her work. Illust-chan quickly wrapped the poor thing in a towel and rubbed its back furiously. It was no bigger than a normal real kitten he had seen surrounding Chichiri when they first met and it had a beautiful fiery mop of hair on top of its head. Its eyes were tightly shut like all newborn kittens do, and it was as fair as Chichiri. Its tiny ears and tail the colour of Chichiri’s ears and tail stuck out from either side of the towel. Illust-chan used a sort of pump to clean its mouth and remove the excess blood and placenta clotted around the air passageway, all the while continuing to rub its back vigorously. By the time Tokaki signaled Chichiri to start pushing again, a series of sharp mewls echoed throughout the room as it took in its first breath of air.
“It’s a beautiful girl,” Illust-chan smiled as she tied and cut the umbilical cord and proceeded to clean her up. Tasuki couldn’t control his tears of joy as he and Chichiri stopped for a moment to watch Illust-chan cleaning the kitten up with the luke-warm water ready in a tub.
“You can’t stop now, Chichiri-chan,” Tokaki reminded as he got ready to catch the next kitten. “You have three more to go.”
--:--
“Na…Nandayo, anata??” Nuriko exclaimed, shocked at the sudden gesture.
“You’ve been pacing to and fro like that for almost half an hour. You’re gonna wear a hole on the floor for that, and you’re making us all dizzy.”
“But…But I can’t just sit here and do nothing! I’ll go crazy!”
“Who’s the one giving birth, me—if I could ever give birth—or Chichiri-chan?”
“De…Demo…Demo…!”
“Just be patient. Tasuki is in there with him. I’m sure everything will be fine. Chichiri-chan is in good hands.”
Chiriko glanced sideways at their antics and let out a silent sigh. If Hotohori hadn’t said, he would probably do the same thing Nuriko did.
Please be alright, Chichiri-chan, he whispered quietly in his heart.
--:--
Chichiri gritted his teeth and pushed as hard as he could. He had gotten the other two kittens out—a boy and a girl—and is working on getting the last one out. His face looked rather pale with the loss of blood and Subaru had just took out blood from the blood bank readily prepared at the side should anything happen. Chichiri’s large shirt that bore a picture of yellow smiley—totally contradicting to the situation they were in now—was totally drenched with cold sweat on top and blood at the bottom as he struggled hard to push. After almost 15 minutes of pushing, the kitten was still crowning and nowhere near out.
“Tasu-sama…” Chichiri whined as he stopped pushing, trying to get a breather.
“Is something wrong? The last one is not out at all,” Tasuki asked, cuddling his beloved worriedly.
“The birth may have put too much strain on his vaginal opening and unable to stretch anymore even though the first three had paved the way. We’ll need to take necessary measures,” Tokaki said as he gave a knowing look at his wife. Subaru nodded, turned to Illust-chan with a hand outstretched and Illust-chan, without needing to be told, passed her the surgical scissors.
“Ta-Ta-Tasu-sama…?!” Chichiri widened his eyes in shock, looking at the scissors glinting under the light fearfully.
“What are you going to do?” Tasuki asked warily.
“This will make the kitten slide out easier and save the trouble of Chichiri-chan pushing out anymore blood than necessary,” Tokaki explained as he cradled Chichiri’s buttocks with one hand and took the scissors with the other. “Trust me. It’s better this way.”
“Ko…Ko…wai…” Chichiri whimpered, learning the word of fear.
“Would it hurt him terribly? Would it heal?” Tasuki asked.
“It would, but just a little while,” Subaru said. “After that, with proper care and adequate rest and dietary, it will heal up pretty quick.”
After a long silence, Tasuki finally agreed, saying, “Do it. He’s too tired to push anyway.”
“Ta-Tasu-sama!” Chichiri whined and mewled in protest. Tasuki held him tight and put his hand into Chichiri’s mouth while Subaru held his legs down.
“I’m here, Chiri-chan. It’s OK. You can bite me if it’s too painful.”
The cameraman closed up the view on the process nervously as Tokaki inched the scissors on the vaginal opening, with Chichiri struggling and trying to kick everybody away from holding him captive. A snip was heard, making the cameraman cringe, and Chichiri let out a muffled scream of pain, biting down hard on Tasuki’s hand until it drew blood. The poor man-cat could feel the blessed relief as the kitten’s head began to ooze slowly out of its confines but he couldn’t help crying over the excruciating pain. Fresh tears poured out despite Tokaki and Subaru’s encouragement and when Tasuki proceeded to hush him and give him reassuring words, Chichiri growled and reached over to bite Tasuki’s neck.
“Itai, itai, itai!!” Tasuki shouted in pain, but stopped Illust-chan from pulling him away. He knew Chichiri was angry with him for allowing Tokaki to cut him and needed to vent out somehow. He was lucky that Chichiri’s fangs missed his vital jugular or he would’ve bled to death.
“I…tai…I…tai…” Chichiri mumbled, his oral grip on Tasuki’s neck held. His salty tears stung the wound sustained from the bite but Tasuki didn’t care about that anymore.
“Gomene, Chiri-chan. Gomene,” Tasuki rubbed Chichiri’s back, allowing Chichiri to bite deeper. He would do anything to ease Chichiri’s pain, even if he had to suffer a few.
“Just one last push, Chichiri-chan. Let go of Tasuki-san and push,” Tokaki coaxed.
Chichiri did not let go of Tasuki, but he pushed nonetheless. With both hands gripping tightly onto Tasuki’s arms that wrapped around him and his neck in his teeth’s mercy, Chichiri bore down as hard as he could, and finally, after a felt-like-forever 5 minutes, the kitten slid out of his womb and let out piercing mewls after Illust-chan rubbed and cleared its air passageway.
“Omedetou, Tasuki-san, Chichiri-chan,” Illust-chan announced as she presented the proud parents their thoroughly cleaned kittens wrapped in a clean big towel. “You have 2 boys and 2 girls.”
“Girls?” Tasuki was surprised. By now, Chichiri had released his oral hold on Tasuki’s neck and breathed heavily, trying to compose himself as Subaru quickly gave him the blood he needed. “I thought I was going to have like…well, like Chichiri, a hermaphrodite.”
“Not sure how does it work yet, but probably it’s your human genetics combining with Chichiri-chan’s double chromosome that determined the gender of the child,” Tokaki explained. “At any rate, they survived and are born healthy, with ten fingers and ten toes. Does the gender really matter?”
“Iya, I guess not,” Tasuki said as he looked adoringly at the four kittens in his arms. All of them were born with his hair and Chichiri’s fur for the ears and tail. Their eyes were sealed shut like a newborn kitten and Tasuki had to assume that it will be a while before they would reveal their eyes for him to see. He could tell as well that they are deaf like a newborn kitten by the non-reaction towards him saying ‘Hi’ to them, but flinch every time he touched them.
Once Illust-chan was done cleaning Chichiri, removing whatever placenta was left in his womb and dressed him in a fresh new set of clothes, Tasuki came close to Chichiri and showed him their kittens. All of them mewled as soon as Tasuki put them in his arms, as if they recognized their ‘mother’ and Chichiri’s tears of joy poured out as he licked them adoringly one by one.
“Ka…wa…ii…” Chichiri said as he nuzzled the four kittens lovingly. He saw Tasuki being bandaged of his hand and neck by Subaru and gave him an apologetic look. Looks like he had not learnt the word of apology yet.
“Daijobu desu, Chichiri-chan,” Tasuki said as he kissed Chichiri deeply. “As long as you’re alright.”
“We’ve got a car ready at the back door to take you to a nice quiet hotel suite to stay so that Chichiri-chan can rest up,” Subaru said as she wrapped Chichiri with a blanket. “We took the liberty to take some of you and Chichiri-chan’s belongings to the suite so that you can look after him.”
“But what about those waiting outside? They have the right to know how the birth went,” Tasuki said worriedly.
“I suppose it wouldn’t kill them to see the footage instead of the real thing,” the cameraman, who had been silently filming the whole thing, finally spoke. “You guys run along. I’ll handle the mad mob outside.”
“Arigatogozamas,” Tasuki said gratefully as he cradled Chichiri bridal-style and allowed Tokaki and Subaru to escort him out through the back door.
Needless to say, as Tokaki drove the couple off to their destination, there was a great uproar in the waiting room of the clinic.
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