Chapter 2
*****
Minami was tired and rather cranky after a rather testing dispute between two usually peaceful planets. Listening to several different democrats yell at each other hour upon hour at the top of their shrill lungs was irritating, even for the gods of gods.
He'd barely even made it to the front door of his lavish palace when the same panting servant who had requested him earlier appeared over the horizon. Minami groaned. He leaned against a pillar and wished he were smaller so he could hide from everyone.
"Lord Minami! Lord Minami!"
"WHAT!?"
The servant cowered under the force of the southern god's roar. "It-it-it's your wife, the Lady Minami, master."
That caught Minami's full attention, bad mood or no bad mood. "What of Atarashii?"
"She's in labor, master!"
"WHAT!?" Minami leaped to his feet and started to fly before he was even three foots away from the pillar. "Why didn't you say so!?"
The servant watched the large man fly off and shook his head. "Lord Minami sure is high-strung these days, that he is." And then he took to the air and followed after his master to watch the birth of a god.
*****
Atarashii had heard just how painful giving birth could be...but she'd never imagined it was this bad!! But at the same time, it was the most beautiful and wondrous thing she had ever done. It was an incredibly confusing and mixed-up feeling, but the pain was most definitely winning her over.
"Come on, girl, just breath and push!" Taihen instructed her in between contractions. Atarashii's head rested on Shinobi's lap while Judaiko wiped at her head with a cool rag. The water droplets trickled from the cloth and into Atarashii's mouth and she had never tasted something so sweet.
"Oh! OH!” yelled Taihen, putting her hands just under Atarashii. "There's a head! It's breathing!"
"Come on, Atarashii, just one more time!" Judaiko encouraged, squeezing her hand tightly. With a gulp of air, Atarashii gave that one last push all she had, sending all her hopes and dreams with it.
There was a moment of silence, like the entire universe had stopped to see this moment. Maybe it had.
Then...
A shrill cry split the air and everyone smiled, even the still pain-racked Atarashii. Taihen held up a tiny bundle she was able to hold in the palms of her hand and said to Atarashii,"...a boy. You've got a son!"
She handed the precious little thing to his mother and grouped close to the pair. Exhausted as she was, Atarashii had to look at her son and see what he looked like. He was tiny, it was unbelievable. For a moment, he kept his eyes closed until revealing their bright blue color to this new world. He would have been bald save for the little bushel of blazing red hair on top his head.
"He's precious," remarked Shinobi in a soft voice, completely awed.
They all jumped, even the babe, when there was a great banging on the door. "Let me in!" Minami boomed. "If you don't, I swear I'll blow this door clear to the other side of the universe."
Atarashii laughed and comforted the bawling baby she held. "Come on in, love, and meet your son!"
The banging stopped and Minami walked in. "M-my son?"
"Mm-hm." She held the baby up and handed him to Minami. "Your son."
The child looked even tinier in his father's arms than he had in Atarashii's. And Minami obviously knew it; the look on his face was a mix somewhere between awe of this new life he and Atarashii had created all on their own, and fear of how helpless the babe was.
"Don’t worry, Minami," Judaiko assured him. "Babies are tougher than they look, trust me."
That was when the rest of the Kaioshins decided to show up. Lanlyu and Shizuka charged in with Akai right behind them. "I wanna see the baby!" they all chorused. "I wanna see the baby!"
Minami smiled and kneeled to show them the baby. "It's a boy."
The girls all stared, a little too awestruck to say anything...well, except for Akai:
"Ew! He's all wrinkly!"
Everyone laughed, even Rou. The old man poked Higashi in the head and said, "Now all you and that Nishi o' yours have to do is give me some descendants! Heh!"
Higashi ignored the comment. "What will you call him?"
Minami looked to Atarashii, who smiled up at him. His gaze traveled from her to the window and out to the tree pressing against the window. The leaves were still green and full of life, growing every which way they could. They all faced one direction, however: south.
"Minami, Yoh...Yohotoko," he whispered. "Boy of the leaf."
"It's beautiful, Mimi," Atarashii said, resting her head on his arm. Reaching up, she stroked the hairs on Yohotoko's head as lovingly as any new mother could. "My little boy...a god of the future."
*****
"What? Another god? But how!?....oh, I see. The prophecy child has been born...the child of the Guardian and the God. Oh, how interesting...Leiko! Don't you 'what now' me! Kami, they don't make slaves like they used to. I want to you to pay a visit to Kaioshin-Kai, I— NO, I DON'T CARE THAT IT IS A HOLY PLANET! DAMMIT, GET ME THAT CHILD OR I WILL HANG YOUR FILTHY HEAD ON THE WALL AS A TROPHY! GOT THAT!? NOW GO, GO, GOOOOOO!!"
*****
If Atarashii had discovered one thing she truly, deeply madly despised about being the wife of a Kaioshin and a Guardian (which, in its own rights, was not a far shot from being a Kaioshin yourself)...it was the ceremonies. When she turned to her left, she could tell that her companions (except maybe the children) weren't exactly having a grand ole time either.
They were sitting in front of Dai Kaio's palace on the Kai planet and next to them was the Dai Kaio and the lower Kaios. A few major officials just under the Kais and their apprentices sat farther off near the edge of the lengthy table in front of them. The food had yet to arrive, so Atarashii settled her uneasy stomach with a glass of water. She'd never liked being in the spotlight, choosing instead to take comfort in Minami's shadow even when the celebration was for her. It was just something she supposed she'd never get over.
That, and the huge masses of Kais further off certainly wasn't helping.
The crowds seemed to have gone temporarily insane. They were hooting and hollering so loudly that she thought it a wonder that she hadn't gone deaf. And yet through it all, Yohotoko had remained in deep slumber since his arrival into the world.
(We aren't going to be able to hear for a month after this,) she sent to Rou with an amusing image of them wearing hearing aids.
(I agree...but, still, you have to admit that it's a great thing to celebrate. The Kai planet is peaceful and quiet; I'm guessing this is the first real major event they have had in many years. Now, let me congra—CAKE!)
Atarashii winced from the last, especially loud word just as the ridiculously large cake came up the steps to sit directly in front of them, cutting off the view of Atarashii and about three others. It was covered in lavender icing, topped with real red and yellow roses, and a small blue box at the very tiptop.
"It's going to be a while before this is finished..." Atarashii commented.
Judaiko laughed and handed her a plate. "Not with Rou, Dai, and the kids here. May take them a bit, but they'll through it before the day is over; I'll lay money on it."
A challenge! "How much?"
"Fifty zeni."
"How long?"
"...four hours."
"Deal!"
Four hours later, Atarashii found herself fifty zeni less and her belly so full that she wondered if she had suddenly become pregnant again. She slumped down in her seat most unladylike in a last-ditch effort to get rid of her troublesome tummy ache. "Boy...when they make cake, THEY MAKE CAKE. Oh..."
"I concur," said South Kaio from down the table. His little body seemed to have doubled in size as if the tiny man had inhaled a rather large melon. He patted his lips with a handkerchief. "Undoubtedly the best cake I have had the pleasure of eating in centuries!"
Taihen groaned and covered her eyes. "Don't say cake! The very thought makes my stomach hurt."
"If I never live to see, much less eat, another piece of pastry again, I'll have finally reached nirvana," said Kita. Random agreements (with the occasional gloated moan) could be heard. Atarashii noted that there was a rather large amount of the icing and a single rose petal stuck between the bristles of his mustache.
She shifted to hand her plate to a servant and Yohotoko abruptly awoke and immediately displayed just how upset he was at being woken up. A few people nearby groaned and other said ahhed. No matter what she did, no matter what had worked before, Yohotoko's crying seemed to go on forever. A large number of people looked up from their own food and stared, and Atarashii could feel her cheeks burning.
"Would you like me to care for him, Lady?"
Atarashii turned to the servant girl next to her. Her skin was the same color as Higashi's, although her hair was a blue-green mixture and pulled back into a braid. She wore a simple yellow coat with black buttons and trimming, violet pants and shirt, and traditional black shoes with white bottoms. The sleeves of her shirt were rolled up and white, and her dark eyes kind and soft. "Oh, yes, thank you..."
"Leiko. Leiko Adda.
"Ah. Thank you, Leiko." She handed the fussy child to Leiko and watched the two walk away. Just as she began to turn back to her food, she suddenly felt a strong feeling of feeling of what Akai called "the wibbies". It felt rather like someone had taken ice cubes and put them in the back of her shirt so that they slid down her skin. The feeling left her so cold that she could feel goosebumps rising all over her.
Worse yet was the sudden desire to run to Leiko and snatch her child back. But when she turned to look, Leiko had gone, most likely to the kitchens. Just new-mother anxieties, that's all, Atarashii assured herself, making sure that her uneasiness didn't show. After all, they don't let just anybody become servants to the gods. I'm sure that once Yohotoko settles down, she'll be right back. In fact—
Suddenly a burst of pain seemed to come from the heavens like a bolt of lightning and strike Atarashii where she sat. The pain was so paralyzing that all she could do was sit in her seat, fork still in hand. It was so tormenting, she wanted to rip her skin off, anything to get rid of the pain, ANYTHING, but she couldn't move at all.
And suddenly...darkness.
*****
Do not worry, love.
A man's voice? Who?...
A friend...the little one is gone...you must go to him...wake up!!
"Wha?" Atarashii sat up in bed, alone in a white room that she recognized as Nishi's. "What...happened?" she whispered to no one but the birds in the window. She spied a rag in a bowl of water on a nightstand nearby; she reached for it and put it to her burning forehead. "The voice...who was it?"
The door burst open with a bang, making Atarashii jump. Minami practically charged in with the other Guardians and Kibito right behind him. "Oh, Atarashii, love, are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she answered tiredly. "It's just not everyday that I have a seven-foot god come bursting into Nishi's bedroom."
He smiled and picked her up as easily as Atarashii might have done a child. "Oh, after you passed out, I was so worried for you." He gave her a cool loving kiss on the forehead. "I feared you were ill or something."
"Don't worry about me, Mimi." She returned the kiss. "I've never felt better...it's just...I can't really explain it. I was in such pain, and then I heard this voice saying—"
"What? Who said what?" Kibito asked.
"A man...a soft male voice saying that Yohotoko was gone. Minami, where is he?"
The room suddenly got quiet. Even the birds were silent. Everyone around her hung their heads as if in mourning. Atarashii stared at them one by one and demanded loudly, "Where. Is. My. Son?"
"He's gone," Shinobi said quietly. She raised a hand and wiped away a sole tear. "Yohotoko was kidnapped."
Oh no! Poor Atarashii! What will happen now?
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