The moment she had discovered it, she has become incredibly agitated. She became easily flustered, and started to stutter often. He had noticed this, taking in consideration that she was usually sweet and gentle. Now, she had grown short-tempered, easily set off by small and fixable things.

On days off from her job, she would hide in their bedroom, napping most of the day away without worrying about basic needs.

He grew concerned, but she told him she was tired, and just needed to rest. Not wanting to upset her, he didn't bother her after that.

It was up until she started growing sick. Many times out of the day, she would rush to the bathroom to vomit up anything she had eaten.

But, what struck him the most was that she would eat anything. Even with this sickness occurring, that didn't stop her from eating normally... maybe even a bit abnormal. Her food portion was growing larger than normal, and he knew her better than that. She watched her diet carefully, and would never over-eat, nor under-eat.

He finally had enough of this charade. Something much deeper than a case of the flu was going on.

"Mayu? Can we talk?" He finally had confronted her one day when she seemed to be in a good mood. She looked up from her sketchpad, tilting her head at his question.

"Of course, Shig-nii, what's on your mind?" She answered, using his nickname. Rising from her chair, he guided them out into the living room. At this point, she had known something was seriously wrong. Neither of them hid secrets of each other, they had been so close to each other for so long, that there was no need to hide things from the other... unless...

Once seated on the couch, he grabbed her hands, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Mayu... what's going on with you? You've been acting so weird lately... and I'm... getting really worried about you," He replied, and her eyes widened. So... he had noticed everything. Of course, he would; he's so protective of her, how wouldn't he see everything going on?

"Shig-nii... I-I'm sorry..." She slipped her hands out of his, and looked away. At that action, he was taken back. Had he said something wrong? Was she... really hiding something? He snapped away from his thoughts when he heard a faint sob. Looking back at her, her shoulders were shaking; visible tears were dripping off her face.

"Mayu, sweetie, why are you crying?" He leaned forward, one hand going to wipe away her tears, while the other went to her rub her arm gently.

"Y-You promise... y-you won't get m-mad at me...?" She hiccupped, and his heart sank from her tears.

"Why would I be mad at you?" He asked, her bangs covering over her face to hide her eyes.

"Shig-nii... I-I'm... pregnant..." She inwardly started to shiver again as more tears spilled over. She knew he would hate her now; he wasn't the kind of person that handled children well. He was a calm and collected guy most of the time, never had he once mentioned he liked children, nor have any. Out in public, he seemed anxious around the younger population; to him, they were so loud and obnoxious.

At her words, his breath hitched. His eyes involuntarily glanced down to her stomach, a small, but seemingly noticeable bulge starting to take shape. He had noticed it before, but he only figured it was from her diet change. But no. It was because she was with child. He suddenly realized she was sobbing again, and frowned. Leaning forward, he wrapped his arms around her, bringing her form forward.

She wasn't expecting him to suddenly embrace her. She was completely caught off guard, and broke it to gaze at him.

"Y-You're not mad? Y-You... don't hate me?" She squeaked, and he shook his head. At that moment, she beamed and embraced him again, her arms wrapping around his neck tightly.

"I wouldn't hate you over something like this Mayu... I think having a baby is wonderful," He murmured to her, and she felt herself warm up from his soothing words.

She broke from his embrace, sitting back as their eyes locked. Leaning forward, his forehead met hers gently. Their eyes closed as blissful peace came over them.

"Ah..." She let a small noise as she broke away quickly, getting off the couch and running to the bathroom. He shook his head as he smiled sadly. Rising from the couch, he went to go rub her back to at least try to comfort her.

This was going to be a long nine months...

Reviews no?