Up in Flames (Fire Force fanfic)

Chapter Sixty Three: Meanwhile at Seven

All morning while Benimaru and I are getting ready for my ultrasound appointment, the phone has been ringing off the hook. The caller ID reveals it to be none other than Obi trying to reach out to us.

"Are you sure I shouldn't answer the phone?" I ask Beni as he leads me out the door, "What if it's an emergency?"

"I don't care, those meatheads can handle whatever it is on their own. Besides...getting you to your appointment is more important." He helps me into our matchbox. "Haven't driven one of these in a while...ya sure we can't just ride the matoi?"

"I'm fucking pregnant, yes I'm sure I don't want to ride the matoi and vomit everywhere."

"Did you eat this morning? Ya seem crankier than usual." 

"...I'm sorry. These damn hormones are driving me crazy. And now my tits are heavier than ever. I just wanna pop out this baby and be done with it." 

"Truly the miracle of life." He teases me. 

"Shut up and drive you jerk." I retort.

He just smirks and kisses my head before driving us to our appointment.

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Benimaru and I are quickly ushered into a room as soon as we arrive at company sixth's maternity ward. A man comes into the room and informs us that Kayoko will be doing my ultrasound.

"I wonder why Huang is doing your ultrasound? Isn't she busy?" Beni looks over at me.

"I don't understand either but...I guess it's because she was my teacher during my first aid training days and she's just the kind of person who likes to keep a close eye on her students." 

"You mean someone who's nosy." He deadpans. 

"Don't be rude! She just cares about people."

"I see that pessimism of yours is as strong as ever Shinmon." I hear a familiar voice say.

I look to the doorway and notice Kayoko standing there with a clipboard. "Oh my god, I'm sorry about my husband. He has no tact..." I glare at Beni.

"Not taking it back." He replies stubbornly.

"Whatever, let's get started on this ultrasound. Also I must ask before we proceed...would you like try and see if we figure out what the sex of the baby is now or would you prefer to wait for your next appointment?"

"I'd like to see if we can know now, if that's ok with you Beni?"

"Yeah that's fine. It's your body after all." He scoots his chair closer to me. Kayoko rubs some oil on my stomach and turns on the ultrasound. Suddenly Benimaru grabs my hand, "You looked like you wanted someone to hold your hand."

"You've grown soft." I tease him.

"Shut up." He teases back. Kayoko just sits there staring at us in stunned silence; Beni gets annoyed at this, "Well are ya gonna do the ultrasound or what?"

"Ah yes, I'm sorry. I've just never seen you smile so genuinely at someone." Beni grunts in response and Kayoko uses the transducer on my stomach as an image is slowly produced on the screen. She points to a small bean shaped thing on the screen, "That is your baby. Now let's see if we can figure out what the sex is." She studies the image closely and sometimes moves the transducer to find a better vantage point. She turns to me and says, "I think it could be a boy but it's also too early for me to be hundred percent certain on that since it could also be the baby being in a weird position. At your next appointment we will definitely know what the sex is by then. I'm going to recommend some maternity classes so that you're both ready for taking care of this child. This is the number of the planned parenthood center, they will prepare you for what's to come. I'll be seeing you again three weeks from now and then after that every month. And I'm going to recommend that you take your maternity leave soon. You're going to be starting your next trimester very soon and it would be safer for you and the baby for you to not be on the frontlines at your job." She turns to look at Benimaru head on, "Can I count on you to look after her? I know that you're involved with the trouble that eight is in right now and I must ask that you look out for Clarisse's safety. She was my student and my friend, I need to know that she's safe."

"Of course I'm going to take care of her, she's my wife." He holds my hand tightly, "I guess we'll see you in three weeks."

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After scheduling our next appointment, Benimaru takes me to a little diner nearby to eat some pancakes.

"You mean it? I can order whatever I want?" I ask him as I drool over the menu.

"Whatever you want, just don't get sick." He answers.

I order chocolate chip pancakes with whip cream on top and blue berry pancakes with jelly on the side, along with some hash browns. Benimaru orders an omelet with a side of hash browns.

"Oh my god this is so good. Beni you should try a little."

"Then feed it to me." He smirks before opening his mouth.

I blush, "You can be so damn incorrigible." But I still play along and feed him a piece of my pancakes.

"Hmm that is pretty good."

I check my cellphone to find disturbing news from Tamaki, "Beni...the fifth pillar was taken by the white clad..." 

"Sounds like an eighth problem to me." He dully answers.

"Beni, I know you prefer to keep to yourself but I think it would benefit Asakusa more if you were to help out the eighth with this white clad problem. If they get stronger they might try to sneak back in and hurt the people of Asakusa again. Then again I'm not the leader so take what I said with a grain of salt."

He pats my head gently, "You care about Asakusa, don't you?"

"Yeah...it's my home now. It's where I get to be with you."

He gives me a crooked smile, "That's good, I'm glad. And don't be afraid to talk to me like this, you and Konro are one of the few people who can give me this kind of advice. I'll be thinking about what you said but I'm probably not going to get involved just yet." He holds my hand across the table, "But know that I take whatever you have to say greatly to heart, so don't downplay yourself."

"Thanks, ya softie." I tease him.

"Anytime, ya lewd nun."