What If, Gorou's Edition

Chapter 1: Turnabout

It wasn't until the crows cawed did I recognise something was off about why I was chasing the stalker. While I knew the whereabouts around the area like the back of my hand, the dark veil of the night made it almost impossible to know and see where I was running towards. 

The rustlings caused by startled murders of crows halted my track and made me turn backwards. Thank goodness I could still see the lights coming from the hospital.

No, this was not the time to play detective. I could feel the cold tingles of droplets of sweats running down my back. Two trains of thought fought for dominance in my head. I had to prioritise Ai's and the twins' safety, but I also couldn't just leave a shady person still lurking around these parts be a potential threat.

Suddenly, a chill gripped my back. What if the stalker intended to lure me out here , the realisation gave me a boost as I picked up the pace back to the hospital. Ai was waiting for me. As long as she was there, her safety was guaranteed.

While I was dashing like a madman, my brain struggled to come up with a course of actions. What to do first in a situation like this. All I had a for a claim against Ai's safety was a mere description of "shady character" no one else encountered, so the hospital security wasn't going to do much. But be that as it may, Ai was still staying under an alias only we staff knew, so it was not like the stalker could easily sneak her ward either. I breathed a sigh of temporary relief in my mind. Should I alert Saitou-san then? He WAS Ai's guardian after all, so he should at least not take the words of the doctor personally in charge of her delivery for granted, right? Yes, yes, let's do that.

The reception hall door slid open just as the breath in my lungs finally ran out. Some of the visitors gave me the weird eye treatment as they saw me on my knees, dry coughing and gasping for air. I probably looked as pale as a ghost and drenched in sweats, but I didn't care. The lingering numbness from all the running forced me to stagger towards Ai's delivery room, and hopefully not too soon. My phone rang with the tone that was the favourite of Sarina-chan.

"The babies are already ready to come out?!", I thought to myself as I took the call.

"Sensei..." - Ai's voice sounded a little erratic, confirming my suspicion.

"I'm on my way!!" - and as soon as I stepped inside the delivery room, the midwife confirmed Ai was starting to have contractions.

The next two hours felt like forever.  Although I assisted other ob-gyn doctors and helped deliver a few babies on my own during both my residency and official years at this hospital, each was a unique experience on its own. Maybe it was my obsession with Ai, but I felt as if I could feel the pain of each of her contractions every time she gripped my hand.  I couldn't remember how many times I told Ai to slow down in fear of her tearing, or how her eyes shone a little brighter each time I told her another centimetre of the first twin's head came out. At the mark of one hour and forty-five minutes after I entered the delivery room, I held in my hands the wet, yet lustrous golden locks of the Ai's firstborn. The bundle of joy's vitality was insane, I tell ya. Maybe it was that long after the last time I helped deliver a baby, but I thought the first twin's announcement of being brought into this world was the loudest I've ever heard. Ten minutes later, the midwife cleaned the blood and remaining amniotic fluid off the younger twin and placed the little one on Ai's left embrace. Tears were welling up in the mother's eyes, making them twinkle like the last starlight reborn every night.

"Two girls. Congratulations, Hoshino-san." - I let out a breath of relief for a job well done as I tucked the ladies in.

"Aqua... Ruby... Welcome to this world..."