Flutter

Chapter 3

"Mitsuru-kun? Are you okay?" Kokoro asked.

"I..." He paused, realizing tears had come to his eyes. He sniffed and wiped them away. "I just realized I'm going to be a father soon."

Kokoro grinned in the moonlight. "I have no doubt you'll be a great one."

He gave a little laugh-cry and kissed her. She stroked a hand through his hair and smiled against his lips.

"Oh, it looks like it stopped," Kokoro whispered. "I'm going to go back to bed."

"Good night," Mitsuru said. His hand reached for hers again, and he was slowly lulled off to sleep by the sound of her breaths.

...

Kokoro happily sat with a thread and needle in her hand as she worked on sewing baby clothes. The other parasites sat nearby and watched her with delight as she moved her hands delicately.

"I can teach you all to sew something if you like," Kokoro said to the others. They all nodded their heads and shot her a smile.

Kokoro grinned and went back to sewing. She was never one to seek much attention, but now that she was the sole pregnant parasite and first to give birth, she always had onlookers ready to speak with and aid her if needed.

"Your stomach is getting so big!" Miku gasped.

"If you place your hand on it, you might feel the baby kick," Kokoro explained. "Mitsuru felt it the other night."

"Really?" The redhead placed her hand on Kokoro's stomach, her face twisted as she tried to find some sort of movement.

"It doesn't seem like it's kicking right now. Maybe..." All of the sudden, a flutter went through Kokoro's stomach, and Miku nearly screeched.

"I felt it!"

Kokoro giggled.

"Hi there, baby! It's your auntie Miku talking! We're all so excited for you to come!" Miku nearly shouted at Kokoro's abdomen.

"I think it can hear you just fine when you talk normally," Kokoro assured her, returning back to her sewing.

"What are you making for the baby this time?" Miku wondered.

"It's a blanket," Kokoro explained, holding up the cloth in front of her. "I thought the fabric felt soft, and I'm going to stitch little designs into it."

"Ooh, what kind of designs?" Miku inquired.

"I was thinking cherry blossoms."

...

Kokoro was placing her newly sewn items in the chest in the corner of the room when Mitsuru entered, wiping dirt and sweat from his face with the towel that hung around his neck.

"Oh, how was your day?" she asked.

"It was good. The weather is cooling down now, so it's not as hot," he explained, sitting down on the bed. "Did you sew all day?"

"Mostly. Although Zorome and Futoshi kept trying to bring me some water or snacks every passing minute," she said, giggling a bit. "It's nice to know that everyone cares so much."

Mitsuru grinned, happy to know that so many others were looking out for her. He stood up and peered over the chest.

"What did you sew?" he asked.

"A blanket, some socks, a hat," Kokoro explained as she neatly folded everything. The chest was growing larger and larger with baby materials, and there were still a few unassembled items in the corner of the room that needed to be made.

Mitsuru reached down, his hands touching the soft fabric of the blanket she had made. Colorful cherry blossom petals adorned the blue fabric. He didn't know why, but Mitsuru swore he could remember some blowing in the breeze at one point in his life. But he couldn't attribute to where the memory was from.

"It's soft," he said, rubbing his fingers over the edge.

"I thought so too."

"Hey, Kokoro-san? Could you cut my hair?" Mitsuru asked, his hand reaching up to stroke the thick locks of brown hair.

"I thought it was getting a little long."

"I had some of the other parasites cut it in the past, but they never did a good job. Ichigo told me that you were the one who originally cut my hair," he explained.

"I bet I could make it a little shorter. Why don't you take a seat?" she suggested.

Mitsuru moved over to the chair by the mirror and watched as she gathered her scissors. He leaned his head forward as she walked over, and soon enough, he heard the sound of snipping.

"This feels familiar too," he murmured. "But I still can't remember it."

"I don't know if we'll ever really remember anything, but I'm starting to accept it," Kokoro said, turning the scissors toward the side of his head and snipping there.

Mitsuru's eyes fell to Kokoro's stomach that was nearly brushing against him as Kokoro moved. It was hard to believe that at one point she had been hardly showing at all.

"Ooh." Kokoro let out a sound.

"Are you okay?" Mitsuru asked.

"Sorry. Another kick, that's all. I'm almost done, Mitsuru-kun." She continued moving her hands until the last small locks of hair fell to the floor.

"How does it look?" she asked.

Mitsuru turned his head to look in the mirror. He grinned, glad to have it at a shorter length again. He was right. She did a much better job than anyone else.

"Thank you," he said.

"Your hair looks a lot more handsome now," she said, rubbing the top of his head.

Mitsuru blushed. The chair scraped across the floor as he stood up and lightly grabbed ahold of her shoulders, planting a long-awaited kiss on her lips.

Kokoro let out a sound of surprise, but she returned the favor, shutting her eyes and moving her soft lips against his.

"What was that for?" she asked quietly as they broke away.

"I just wanted to kiss you, that's all," Mitsuru said, tucking a strand of Kokoro's blonde hair behind her ear.

Kokoro looked up and grinned at Mitsuru. His heart fluttered in his chest as he gazed at her, and he wondered how lucky he was to find someone like Kokoro.