intertwined. part four
#4 of Danganronpa Wereverse
Whoever made up the lie that pushing was the best part of the birth should be shot, Fuyuhiko thinks shortly after he starts pushing. He's never been in more pain in his life. Between the pain of the contractions and the pressure building up from the baby's head pressing on his pelvis, he's pretty sure he's going to die.
"I'm dying," he cries to Peko after the first one. "I have to be. This -- this is what death feels like."
Peko, gods bless her, just shakes her head and strokes his cheek. "No you're not," she says softly. "I can't imagine the pain you're in, but you're not dying. You're going to be fine."
Fuyuhiko groans, rests his head on her shoulder once more as he sways a little, hoping to ease the pressure a bit between contractions. It's starting to feel like they're right on top of each other, coming fast and hard with little reprieve in-between. He's glad now that he managed to get a few naps in before all this started.
"That was a very good push," Mikan tells him. "A few more like that and you'll be crowning."
Fuyuhiko nods in acknowledgement, then moves his head to look at Peko again. "I -- need to be lower," he grunts lowly. "Just a little bit."
"Do you want to be on your knees?" She asks, to which he shakes his head no. "In a squat?" He nods yes. "Okay, we can do that." Carefully, she maneuvers into the position he wants. She's on her knees anyway, in the end, but Fuyuhiko puts his hands on her shoulders and keeps himself up, legs trembling, but staying upright all the same. Peko ignores the ache in her shoulders, because this is so much more important right now.
"Feels better this way," Fuyuhiko sighs after a few moments. "Easier."
"Good," Peko says. "Do whatever you need to do."
Fuyuhiko bites his lip, nods, and then gives another cry as the next contraction comes, bringing with it the urge to push. He follows the urge, listening as Mikan counts to ten and then instructs him to let up so he can breathe.
"Okay, Fuyuhiko," she says after a few moments. "You're about to crown. You need to breathe, and push slowly if you push at all, okay?"
"I -- fuck -- want them out," Fuyuhiko growls. "I want them out now."
"I know, but you don't want to hurt yourself," Mikan continues. "They'll come, there's nothing to worry about."
He wants to argue, but when it comes down to it, Fuyuhiko trusts her and his body, and right now they're both telling him to slow down. So, instead, he just nods, takes a few deep breaths and lets instinct take over for a bit. He's still holding onto Peko, but his grip relaxes for a bit as he lets his body do what it needs to.
It doesn't take long before an entirely new pain starts.
"Fuck -- fuck, holy shit Peko," Fuyuhiko hisses after a few seconds of pain finally registers. "It burns, fuck that hurts --"
"They're starting to crown, it's okay," Peko murmurs to him softly. "It's okay. You're almost there."
"I -- holy fuck," Fuyuhiko says once more, his fingers digging into Peko's back. "Please tell me this isn't how it is the rest of the time."
"It's just until the head's out," Peko says after a few moments of silence. Only afterwards does Fuyuhiko realize she's only relaying what Mikan's saying, because he doesn't hear a word of what the nurse is saying. He can only hear Peko's voice, Peko's words, and it feels like Peko's presence is all around him, holding all of him at once, and he feels more relaxed now than before despite the pain.
"Then this kid better get their head out fast," Fuyuhiko growls low again. Even so, he doesn't go against what Mikan and his body have told him, keeps breathing the best he can while the burning pain intensifies. He gives a sharp cry, and there's some movement registered in his peripheral vision from Mikan shifting position, then Peko leans in closer to talk to him again.
"She's crowning, Fuyu," Peko murmurs, a tone of wonder in her voice, barely there but there nonetheless. They'd made the prediction a few hours before that their cubs were girls -- perhaps part of it was to spite all the rumors of boys, and perhaps part of it was Fuyuhiko's instinct -- but this is the first time she's voiced the idea that their cubs might truly be girls. "She's crowning. I'm starting to see her head."
At first, her words don't really register, but when they do, Fuyuhiko looks at her with disbelief in his wide golden eyes. "I -- what?" He finally asks. "She -- really?" His thoughts are scrambled, and so are his words, but the meaning behind them is clear. "Can I -- can I see her?"
Peko looks over his shoulder at Mikan, who says a few things that Fuyuhiko can't hear. She gets a mirror, though, and positions it before giving Peko the go ahead to tell Fuyuhiko. Gently, she tells him "go ahead and look" and he looks down, tilting his head at a comfortable angle.
There's... not really anything that matches up to the moment a parent catches that first glimpse of their child. Fuyuhiko used to scoff and roll his eyes at the birth stories he read online when parents try to describe that moment and talk about how emotional it is, because he's never been an emotional person. He can't afford to be. He's Yakuza. He's a man. Yakuza men aren't like that.
But right now, in this moment, he's not just a Yakuza man. He's a first-time father, and he can see his child, and there's a rush of emotion so strong he doesn't know what to say for a moment. Because he can see her, the very top of her head is there, and there's so many things he wants to say but he can only manage one:
"She's gonna have your hair."
Peko laughs at that, a beautiful sound like the church bells at their wedding. "It looks that way, doesn't it?" She agrees, her voice just as soft as his. She kisses him once on his cheek. "But she'll have your eyes."
Fuyuhiko sniffs, nods along with her words, letting the moment sink in before Mikan says (and Peko relays) to him that the cub's at a full crown now. He looks back down at the mirror for just a second, imagines a beautiful little girl with Peko's hair and big golden eyes and a dusting of freckles on her nose. A wave of determination passes through him, and he says "I'm doing this," to Peko before following through on his body's urge to push.
It doesn't feel as fast as he's told it is. Yes, it hurts, but it's not the pain that lingers in his mind. He pushes again, and hears Peko give a little gasp.
"Her head is out," Peko says to him, pressing her lips against his scalp for a moment. "She's almost here. One more time, Fuyu."
He resolves that one more time it certainly will be, and focuses all of his energy on the next push, a high cry leaving his lips as the pressure increases before his daughter's body leaves his and all of a sudden he's just had a baby. He knows as soon as she's out that she's out, even before Peko tells him, before he feels the hot tears rolling down his cheeks. Peko helps him pull his shirt off, and then there's a tiny, wet, crying newborn on his chest.
Both she and Mikan help him lean back against the side of the nest closest to the wall, so that he can hold her easily. "It's a girl," he remembers someone telling him, he can't remember if it's Peko or Mikan, but after that it's like the dam breaks and he's openly sobbing, holding her to his chest.
Their heir is a girl. A baby girl, and she's alive and healthy and loud. It's not over yet, as there's still the second cub to worry about, but for the moment, his full and complete focus is on the baby. His baby. His and Peko's baby.
Peko curls around him and their firstborn protectively after the first few moments, and after making sure the baby is fine, Mikan gives them both the space they need for a few moments, taking the time to write down the necessary details about the birth.
They both know how important the moments after birth are for all of them, but it's even more apparent now that they're in the moment. This is what they've been waiting for.
"She's -- she's fucking perfect," Fuyuhiko finally says after a few seconds of silence. "Is -- is she mine?" His voice cracks a little, and Peko smiles.
"Of course she is. Look at her, she has your nose," Peko says, pointing out the cub's features. It can be hard to tell with newborn shifters, but from her general appearance, they both figure she's likely taken after her father's species. Peko won't say it, but she's relieved. Wolf pups are notoriously difficult to deal with growing up, and she was no exception as a child.
Fuyuhiko, on the other hand, smiles weakly. "Yeah? She does." He tilts his head to look up at Peko. "Is she supposed to nurse?"
"It helps," Peko murmurs. She's stroking Fuyuhiko's hair again absentmindedly, but he doesn't stop her. Instead, he focuses on the baby, instinct helping both of them while Mikan watches to make sure everything is going well. She latches on fairly easily, which is a blessing, and Fuyuhiko starts to purr without realizing it while she nurses and kneads -- yet another thing he's read about online and never expected to experience. It takes him a little while afterwards to realize that she's purring, too, a tiny squeaky sound compared to Fuyuhiko's own deep rumble. It's certainly not uncommon for this to happen, but it triggers another wave of emotion, tears dripping down his face.
"What's her name?" Peko asks him after she finishes nursing and falls asleep. Fuyuhiko holds her close, but not tight, knowing that he'll have to let go eventually when his labor starts again but certainly not wanting to. He thinks about Peko's question, going through the list of names he'd made in his head just before his labor started.
"Yaeko," he finally says. "Yaeko Kuzuryuu."
Peko smiles again, leans over a little and strokes the newborn's cheek with her thumb. "Welcome to the family, Yaeko," she says, her voice soft and warm.