Chapter 1 - Neo Domino General, 10:47 AM

/ / /

Toshiro tried not to trip over the jittery men as he waded through the smells of blood and sweat. If they weren't leaning over the doctors' shoulders, they were standing right in the middle of the aisle. He rounded the correct curtain and reached the bed in time to see the woman clench so hard that she nearly sat up. Sweat drenched her blond hair, plastering it to her head, and she swore that her husband had better be there inside of two minutes or she'd rip off his—

Dr. Saitō handed over the file without turning around, and Toshiro made his escape, again admiring the boss' game face. How many… shit, eight hours still to go… His itchy scrubs were already starting to stick to him. He emerged into the blessedly quieter hallway, and the heavier smells faded behind him, replaced by too much air conditioning and floor cleaner and… ugh, someone hadn't made it to the bathroom. Glancing up and down the hallway, he spied the color of a frayed jumpsuit and mop bucket. "Hey, Watanabe, we got a—"

"Already know, small fry," grunted Watanabe as he lumbered past, sloshing his sludgy mop bucket across the intern's shoes.

Toshiro closed his eyes, breathing through his nose a couple of times before he turned back around and stalked down the hallway. Eight hours, and only two aspirins left in my locker. He pushed through the doors to the waiting room, to different smells of fake-leather benches and men sitting for who knows how long in old jackets tinged with cigarette smoke. He checked the file again. "Mr…?"

He must have pronounced the name worse than he thought, because no one answered. The old bat behind the desk snapped her fingers and pointed to the corner of the room. Great, another guy with a cell phone stuck to his ear, pacing back and forth in an overly-slim suit. He approached and tried signaling, "Sir…"

The man only gave him the "wait a minute" finger.

Toshiro felt the blood in his temples pounding. The asshole even had his dark green hair in a ponytail, no doubt trying to look casual, but still barking at whoever was on the other end of the line. But thanks to the doctor's scolding last week, Toshiro kept his thin smile. "Your wife says…"

"Hang on Matsuno, there's some kid here." He covered the receiver with one hand. "What do you want?"

"Sir, your wife—"

"Oh God, has it started? I'll call you back, and you damn well better get a lower quote than that!" The phone vanished, and he darted for the doors.

They made it without any major delays ("No, a left turn, sir…"), and as soon as the man entered the ward, he shoved his way through the chaos to grab his wife's hand as she pushed with a fierce yell.

Toshiro got to work, the doctor snapping out orders, the mother fighting to keep her breathing steady. Her contractions stayed pretty regular, and her husband didn't even flinch whenever her grip tightened. The two had very few words for each other, both with grimly set faces.

But he and the doctor had their eyes elsewhere. A shiny shadow, and then they saw a crown of black-green hair. Another mighty push, and pretty soon, one more baby's cry pierced the room. The doctor was already supporting the child, ready to cut the cord, but almost immediately, the mother screamed and pushed again. Of course, they'd already known it would be twins, but Toshiro had his hands full just with one baby. If only they'd both been boys, I would've kept my chance at winning the pool this month.

The mother's panting receded bit by bit, and for some time, she was content just to hold on and rest. By the time she opened her teary yellow eyes again, both babies were cleaned up and swaddled. Toshiro hadn't gotten the one blanket wrapped quite tight enough, though, and the newborn already had an arm free, thrashing and screaming. The other just blinked, sniffled, and looked around with that bewildered baby face.

The new parents half-laughed and half-gasped, heads together, still clutching hands. The mother watched through half-lowered eyes as the father said all the usual stuff about "they look beautiful" and "we did good." She seems happy enough… I give it even odds that he'll break out a camera any second now. Though seeing how much she tried to boss Dr. Saitō around, maybe she's the one who'll say it.

Sure enough, she sat up a little straighter, opened her eyes completely… and then asked her husband whether or not the upholsterers had ever changed the nursery carpet to the right color.

Toshiro blinked, then put a little more effort into his smile. "They look wonderful, ma'am. Looks like they've got your eyes."

She noticed him, frowned, then gathered herself fully upright. "Her name is Ruka, and his name is Rua." And she went right back to her furniture conversation.

"What? Well—" But the doctor and a nurse were now hovering around the twins, something about a falling heart rate, so it fell to Toshiro to relay the other child, grab the file and scribble down the names, just as the father jumped up to answer his cell phone again.

All too soon, he fell back into the semi-controlled chaos, fighting off the pressure in his head by bringing around a dad who had fainted three beds over, then responding to another baby coming out wrong way round, then the return of the unfortunate bathroom seeker…

Seven more hours… seven more hours…