Curious Observations

[Takahashi Aki]

In the aftermath of the Djinn battle, it was said that people rose up from their graves. Some couldn't because they lacked the muscle strength to do so being infants of the newborn sort. All in all this was something that the Steward of Sungakure had great difficulty in believing. While the hospital was in ruins, temporary establishments had been made to serve as a nursery. Sousuke stood outside of the nursery making notes of the various newborns. He had his doubts about certain matters. He suspected that some of these children carried with them some Djinn taint. So far nothing in his notes suggested nothing of the sort.

The Steward himself was sporting injuries. Yes. The Mark II in its actual test run proved succeeded. Thankfully the thing did not overheat. That was perhaps the most important thing going for him. Still though the Djinn did damage the armoured suit and the Steward within. The Steward had various bruises on his body. His left hand was covered in bandages. He was hiding most of his injuries, some better than others but it was clear that the Steward was worse for wear as the saying went. The Steward twirled his pen about for a moment before dropping it. He very slowly knelt down to pick it up. As he did so there was a loud crack. The Steward pulled someone or he cracked something. Yes. That was quite annoying. He merely picked up the pen and stood up and once again began taking notes.

"Subject eleven. Healthy lungs noted. Perhaps hungry."<i></i> Sousuke spoke as he made his notes. He had no idea on how to deal new born infants. They were called bundles of love. Why were they called such a thing? It was a curious item.

 

[Kokomo]

How long had it been since Kitanai had held a baby? Oh wait, she never had. Ever. Of course, to save herself from being a total and complete embarrassment in front of everyone in the hospital! Therefore, she'd go to the total baby heaven and get her share of experience there. Sure, she had read up a bit before, but she needed to physically try it.

The nursery had a pretty scary aura for her. Kita standing just outside the room, tapping her feet a few times before she'd push herself inside to the mess of sleeping and wiggling children. For the most part it appeared quiet, save the baby that was crying, no, screaming, by some strange man--

"Sosuke?" Kitanai suddenly asked as she approached the purple haired Kazekage, "What are you doing to that baby?" She'd ask, the once tiny and slender woman with a growing bump on her stomach as she moved to him, scooping up the child with mental notes: Cradle them, close to the bosom, support the head...ah....there! Oh, now, it wasn't so hard. The child cradled in her arms as she rocked it a bit, trying to hush it.

Oh, what a plunderous scream this child had. So much that Kita would have turned and changed her mind about the whole pregnancy thing, had she had an option. "What did you do?" Kitanai pressed Sosuke again, "They aren't mechanics, you can't do experiments on them." She was scolding him, coming up with the worst case scenario that this scientist would do, "You have to be gentle...and sweet," Her voice had lowered into a coo, her head leaning down to smile brightly at the infant in her arms who calmed at the sound of the heartbeat of the adult woman. It was quite common for children to be relaxed by the sound, as they were familiar with it within the womb for so long.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward again twirlled his pen. "Subject eleven still crying."<i></i> Sousuke noted but was given a slight pause as subject eleven was then picked up by someone he had not expected. He furrowed his brows when the renowned jewel thief Kitanai made her way into the nursery picked up subject eleven and had very quickly compromised his research. He should have expected no less from such a woman. The Steward's eyes narrowed. "I'm observing the child. This child and the fourteen others in this room were two weeks ago killed in the Djinn attack. Here they are now alive and well."<i></i> The Steward paused for a moment. It was something difficult to grasp. The fact that these children were dead, but now they were alive again. It was something he could not come to understand properly. For all his logic, and science some things were just not explainable.

The Steward watched as Kitanai handled subject eleven, he raised an eyebrow at her as she made noises at the newborn child. It was strange. What was the point of making these noises at the child? They were unintelligible. "I am slightly aware of what a child needs in order to survive... though I don't think that making noises at this child will help things out."<i></i> Sousuke watched the child more so now. Perhaps these noises would have an effect on the child.

Within a few minutes the child stopped crying. The Steward raised an eyebrow. What? Did that really just happen? Did the child really stop crying from that noise? "That... that just happened? Didn't it? The noise you just produced seemed to calm the child down."<i></i> Sousuke began to take notes. He made notes about the pitch of Kitani's voice when making the sound, the number of seconds she made the sound. "Fascinating."<i></i> He stopped writing when he looked down and realized that Kitanai's stomach was ... larger than usual. Had she ... put on extra weight? Yes... of course she did... but this weight gain seemed unnatural. Kitanai was a person who prided her appearance. Surely she would not have let herself go... would she?

 

[Kokomo]

The cooing and light singing to the child was a simple and effective plan to get them to calm down. However, as well known as it seemed to the young maiden, the Steward, however, was not as aware. His eyes light up in amazement as he took a few notes, and she shot him a look before leaning down to coddle and kiss the child a few times, holding it close as she rocked it lovingly.

A few moments of silence would pass before Kitanai would look up towards the Steward who had gotten oddly silent. Her eyes traced to his, which were fixed on her ever growing baby bump, as twins caused a bigger stomach than singles, and Kitanai huffed a bit, "You're staring at my stomach," She pointed it out, setting the child that Sosuke so 'lovingly' called number eleven into the clear container that made shift as some sort of bed for the infants.

"Do you want to feel it?" She asked, her voice taunting as it raised to press on the hardened belly, "It's kind of weird, huh?" The idea that he couldn't fathom her pregnant hadn't crossed her mind yet, "It's hard, and feels weird... I can't sleep on my face anymore. I can't wait until I can feel them move." Her eyes were filled with what was commonly known as a 'glow'. For Kitanai, it was strange that she would have a permanent smile on her face, and her cheeks were always rosy and her eyes smiling along with her lips. And yet, there she was, happy as a clam.

That was, Sosuke had caught her on a I'm-not-having-serious-mood-swings-and-crying-all-the-time-like-usual day.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Of course I'm staring at your stomach. It's hard to miss. I should have seen it earlier except I was more interested in Subject Eleven. Did you know that Subject Eleven was originally burnt to death, but was resurrected and retained no signs of any burns? Quite a ... miracle."<i></i> The word was stuck in the Steward's throat. Miracle was not a word he would use. Yet in this case he had to use it. "I of course fought the ... monster that had resulted in Subject Eleven's death. A few cracked ribs. Bruises. My hand... all of course are fine with me considering the fact that Subject Eleven not knows life."<i></i> Sousuke explained, before returning to ... the belly of Kitanai.

When asked if he want to felt the belly. The Steward replied with a quickly spoken "No."<i></i> Kitanai then went into details as her life had changed dramatically. Just listening to a few of the details made Sousuke very pleased that he was not of the female gender. "I suppose a congratulations are in order... so yes congratulations on providing Sungakure with future residence ..."<i></i> The Steward could have easily said thank-you for more shinobi being brought in the world but he didn't. He was a cold person and calculated person, but he was not exactly heartless. "Yes... I suppose I should also thank-you back from a few months ago. Your cursing at me has yielded unexpected fruit..."<i></i> Very slowly Sousuke's lips jerked into a small grin of sorts. The Steward's face looked like it was going to crack open. The expression though would only last a second as the facial features retreated once more to the strict neutrality that Kitanai would be so used to seeing.

 

[Kokomo]

"No 'Subject Eleven' wasn't resurrected," Kitanai's lip had pursed a bit in his refusal to touch the stomach, and yet he continued on with his speech. She watched him warily, her eyes watching him carefully as he congratulated her for bringing a new residence to the city. She let out a slight laugh, "Well, you're welcome Steward." Her voice was full of a slight sarcasm as she put her hands back on her lower back, leaning back a bit.

His 'smile' of sorts cracked across his face as she raised a single eyebrow. His strange grin always amused her, and intrigued her at the same time. "Cursing at you?" Kitanai inquired, frowning a bit as she tried to recall. In all honesty, she couldn't really come up with anything she had said to him in the past that would be constructive and destructive at the same time. To be fair, she wasn't even sure if that was even possible.

However, despite his interesting comment, she was still a tad bit offended that he wouldn't touch her stomach. It was one of those little things that pregnant women looked forward too, and he didn't want to do it. "Come on you coward!" She insisted, taking his hand and pulling it to press against the hardened stomach, "It's not so bad? Yeah?" Her eyes would watch his hand carefully, trying to force him to deal with it, "This is a miracle, Sousuke."

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"I know what I heard from my comm. tact. in Communications. Subject Eleven was subjected to a revival."<i></i> The Steward cross answered. The Steward's dark eyes shifted about the entire room. He raised his hands, and made a single spin about. "Most of the children in this room have returned as I mentioned earlier."<i></i> The Steward hesitated. He was tempted to remark upon Kitanai's presence when the Djinn struck. Was she pillaging? Murdering? Taking advantage of a terrible situation? Quite possible. "I won't question you where you were when we battled the Djinn. I merely ask that you respect what came from the end result. Even I'm still at a loss of explaining it, thus we have this thing you call the miracle."<i></i>

It seemed that Kitanai had forgotten about the little outburst she had during their third encounter. Of course she would. The Steward regretted even bringing up the topic. "Yes. You directed verbal expletives towards myself. It was hurtful at the times, but you wouldn't have known that of course because you lack empathy."<i></i> The Steward spoke plainly.

The next minute he found his hand against Kitanai's stomach. "No. This is not a miracle this is typical human reproduction. This occurs quite often."<i></i> The Steward merely looked away from where his hand was. This was quite uncomfortable truly. The Steward waited patiently for the time when Kitanai would let go of his hand. "I'm not a coward. I just let people have their personal space. I like my personal space."<i></i>

 

[Kokomo]

Kitanai considered Sousuke's words to be the babble of a lunitic. Rather, knowing him and his different set of logic, she figured he simply didn't understand the big question: where babies came from. That was fair enough, to say the least, as such a topic had no importance to him, and never would, so why would he need to struggle with that story, when he could invent such an amazing scientific discovery in his head? Kita would keep quiet and let him continue to think as such.

Though, apparently, she had verbally abused him at some point, which her brain racked and racked to remember, but seemed to come up with nothing. His explanation, of her lack of empathy, was the most accurate thing he could have accused her of. Empathy. Such a strange emotion she was at a loss of in large amounts. Though, his ability to say it so matter-of-factly, said something about his missing pieces of emotion as well.

"Personal space," The raven haired beauty laughed at the idea, "Yes, well, I have two human beings literally inside of my body--that is a lack of personal space, not this," She joked, referring to his hand on her stomach. It was clear by his turned head that she was making him uncomfortable, and yet he was patient enough for her to release her hand, assuming he would instantly pull away from her. "Maybe one day you'll be more comfortable embracing the fruit of your own wives' womb, Sousuke."

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward stared at Kitanai. Yes. Something was slightly amiss. The Steward figured that Kitana had thought of the Steward did not know of the biology of the timing, or actions required in order for procreation to occur. "In seven months you will give birth to your children. It is a very painful process in which painkillers will become your new addiction. There is also the risk that you may require a different procedure in order to give birth in which you will be ... cut open. I am told that is only required in some cases. It requires nine months for them to grow inside the womb. In order to become pregnant one of the female gender requires proper physical male interaction of an intimate-romantic sort. I am very much aware of the biology of it, and the fact that those of the female gender go through a very complex string of emotions and physical changes. You will be prone to morning sickness, and you will be prone to having cravings of foods that you would usually not like. I suspect that you will have a craving for radishes and olives. I would highly suggest that if you have olives that you do not have them in martinis... as alcohol will damage the fetus. You may also go through a postpartum disorder ... due to various chemical imbalances in the mind."<i></i> The Steward would merely turn his head to the side and avoid eye contact. So. Yes. The Steward understood where babies came from and had a very basic idea of the great and grand complications of it.

When Kitanai laughed about the lack of personal space, his eyes would shift back over to her. "People have different levels of personal space. You unfortunately don't have a voice or choice in the matter of your pregnancy... which I sympathize with you?"<i></i> The Steward was unsure of how to word things. This was an experience for the ages. The Steward's gaze shifted downwards. Yes. It was where it probably shouldn't be which was Kitanai's stomach, but someone insisted it should be there who was Kitanai nonetheless. The Steward's eyes shifted once more. Then of course Kitana spoke of how he would one day be more comfortable about doing this with his wife. "That'll be the day I'm divorced from my job. People say I'm married to my work, which I don't quite get. Someone has to preserve and maintain the realm. Granted my father was able to maintain the realm and have a relationship with my mother. He is by far superior to me in several ways, but ... I am working too on become a superior Takahashi Sousuke."<i></i>