beautiful one, sharer of my longing

42: O, children

Her hands are so small. They barely even grasp the tuft of cotton at the top of the stocking cap. Her eyes aren't even open as she cries, and he wonders if maybe all the chaos in here was only adding to her stress.

"Pretty crazy, right? That's called a hat," Jun says in the mayhem, "your otosan has a lot of those because he hates being chilly. But it's summer now, Satsuki," more fussing from the infant. "I know...your other half will be with you shortly, my darling."

"Other half?" Yuji croaks, making the woman jump with surprise.

"What are you doing in here?!" she scolds. Yuji shrugs but takes a step closer to the small bassinet. Jun's eyes puncture into the side of his head but she knows Yuji, and she knows that he couldn't lay a menacing finger on this child. "Yes. We were right," she says as she wraps up the little girl into a small bundle of blankets, "she's a twin."

"Aren't firstborn girls bad luck?"

"Not this one," and then Jun holds the fussing baby against her shoulder, soft hands cradling her head to support. "She's a shining jewel. Are you not, Satsuki?"

In reply, she only fusses more. She no longer cries but still is trying to find something to do with her hands. Yuji cocks his head to look at her a little closer, her tears drying quickly on her red face. Small hands tremble and grasp nothing in the air until Yuji, automatically, touches his pointer finger onto Satsuki's own. The world goes quiet when she holds it in a feeble grip that is probably the most she can muster. For a moment, he cannot hear your crying or Shoko's slightly excited voice, and he cannot feel Jun eyeing him curiously.

Her hand does not even completely wrap all the way around one finger.

"Here, take her to our Lady," Jun begins to adjust to place her in Yuji's arms but the moment his finger slips out from her grasp, it's waterworks. "Oh, it was just for a minute! You can have him back, I promise."

Satsuki's still crying as Jun transfers her to Yuji's hold. He tries to copy the way she was holding the baby, and this is the most daunting thing he's ever done. He was a war hero at sixteen years old and he's scared to hold a baby. "I don't want to hurt her. Drop her or anything."

"You won't hurt her. Just be gentle," Jun affirms him. Satsuki feels no lighter than five or six pounds, he can't really tell. The arm that holds her head against his bicep is curling around her so she can once again hold his finger with her small hand, and she is no longer crying. "Just like that. Oh--!"

"Out of the way~~" Utahime sings hurriedly. Another small, red humanoid figure is sat on the table but all Yuji can hear is his master calling out to him from the bed where you lay. Shoko is still doing work between your legs, presumably stitching or prohibiting bleeding or cleaning, so he walks alone across the room as Jun and Utahime take care of the second baby. Only him and his sleeping sister. He feels nervous to be holding her without a second line of defense. What if he drops her or she starts crying?

"Why do you...look nervous?" you ask with a little daze to your voice. You are out of breath and sweating, and Satoru brushes sticky hair from your face as your hand reaches out for the both of them.

"Don't wanna hurt her."

"Her?" Gojo Satoru's smile is one for the ages, Yuji swears he's never seen the man this excited. "A girl? What about the other one?" Yuji shrugs in response and begins to transfer Satsuki to her mother's arms but you only ask him to sit down. "Hime!" Satoru calls.

"What?" she says back without acknowledging him at all.

"What is the other one?"

"Boy."