https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=72.181.161.41 2026-04-03T21:25:24Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.43.1 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Shinrei_Tantei_Yakumo:Volume_1_Prologue&diff=102681 2011-06-27T16:52:02Z

<p>72.181.161.41: </p> <hr /> <div>That day, starting from dawn, thick layers of clouds hid the sun.<br /> <br /> It was high noon, but the sky was dark and hazy, and the delivery room was surrounded by a heavy atmosphere. Iida Yoko was even more nervous than the pregnant woman on the hospital bed, because there was only her and Doctor Kinoshita in the delivery room.<br /> <br /> Today was the first time Yoko was doing a delivery on her own. To her it was a heavy burden, but there was no one else. Today wasn’t the pregnant woman’s expected delivery date, and the experienced senior nurse-----Matsumoto had taken an early vacation for the Bon Festival*; she started her vacation yesterday. If it had been a public hospital there wouldn’t have been much harm, but they were a private hospital, so they were understaffed.<br /> <br /> Also, this pregnant woman’s due date was supposed to be two weeks later, but because this morning her water suddenly broke, so she was immediately sent to the hospital.<br /> <br /> Kinoshita gazed sharply at the anxious Yoko, as if telling her: Don’t let the patient see your frantic expression. He didn’t know how many times he had said to her: If a nurse is restless it will spread to the patient. Even though the naturally nervous Yoko knew this well, she still couldn’t help but show her emotions.<br /> <br /> She nervously wiped away the pregnant woman’s sweat.<br /> <br /> “It’s ok, just a little more, do your best.” Yoko said while trying to smile, but she knew very well that she couldn’t possibly smile.<br /> <br /> The pregnant woman painfully wrinkled her eyebrows and clutched the armrest so tight that she was convulsing.<br /> <br /> “AAAAAAAH HAAAAAH!” The pregnant woman let out an animal-like howl.<br /> <br /> A nameless chill crept up Yoko’s spine. She didn’t understand what she was so afraid of.<br /> <br /> “The head is already out, push a little more.” Kinoshita said.<br /> <br /> But the pregnant woman didn’t seem to hear Kinoshita’s words.<br /> <br /> “The baby’s head is already out, just push a little more.”<br /> <br /> Yoko whispered into the pregnant woman’s ear. She felt the pregnant woman’s expression relax a bit. A little more! Just a little more, and she could be free from this suffocating room. Yoko started to relax too.<br /> <br /> “In, out, in out, in out, in----“<br /> <br /> Yoko put her hand on the pregnant woman’s shoulder, she made her repeat the breathing exercise over and over: she wasn’t just trying to calm the woman down; she was also trying to calm herself down.<br /> <br /> In, out, in, out, in out, in---- the pregnant lady matched her breathing with Yoko’s.<br /> <br /> A little more! A little more and it’ll be all over!<br /> <br /> “Push a little more!” Yoko encouraged in a more commanding tone.<br /> <br /> Doing what Yoko said, the pregnant woman used all her strength, her body distorted with exhaustion.<br /> <br /> AAAAAAHHHHHH------<br /> <br /> To Yoko’s ears that yell sounded more painful than dying.<br /> <br /> Waaaa----<br /> <br /> The baby’s cries permeated the delivery room.<br /> <br /> “Wonderful.” Kinoshita said.<br /> <br /> Yoko let out a sigh of relief.<br /> <br /> “Thank god, you successfully had your child.”<br /> <br /> Yoko said while wiping away the woman’s sweat. Maybe it was because of exhaustion but she didn’t answer Yoko; she just stared at the ceiling with empty eyes. Somehow she processed the thought just gave birth to a new life, and tears streamed out.<br /> <br /> She released all of her tears. Yoko had just realized she had burst into tears too.<br /> <br /> “How can this be, this child……” Kinoshita inadvertently blurted out.<br /> <br /> What happened? What is the meaning of this?<br /> <br /> <br /> “Iida, give me a light……”<br /> Yoko didn’t have time to process Kinoshita’s words; he had already given her a command. Hurriedly she wiped away her tears with her sleeve, while taking a flashlight to Kinoshita.<br /> <br /> The usually calm and collected Kinoshita was now panicking. He roughly grabbed the flashlight out of Yoko’s hand; he shined the light onto the baby’s face.<br /> <br /> “What’s wrong?”<br /> <br /> Kinoshita didn’t answer Yoko. It was a successful birth, so what was wrong? Yoko peered at the baby.<br /> <br /> “Ah---“<br /> <br /> She shrieked, when she stumbled back she accidentally hit the cart, causing the tray on the cart to fall to the ground with the sharp sound of collision.<br /> <br /> Yoko couldn’t believe her eyes. Was it a trick of the light? She studied the baby’s face again, but no matter how many times she looked it was still the same. It wasn’t a trick of the light; she didn’t see wrong, the baby’s eye was really…<br /> <br /> “Doctor, this is…”<br /> <br /> “Quiet. We can’t let the patient panic.” Kinoshita scolded Yoko in a stern voice.<br /> <br /> “But, Doctor…”<br /> <br /> “Iida.”<br /> <br /> Kinoshita’s rough tone stopped her, Yoko quickly stopped talking, but it was too late.<br /> <br /> “My baby, my baby.” The woman on the delivery platform struggled to wave her arms.<br /> <br /> “There is nothing wrong with your baby. Please calm down.”<br /> <br /> Yoko hurried back to the woman’s side and grabbed her hand, trying to calm her down. Yoko tried to comfort the woman in a gentle voice, but she couldn’t hide her uneasiness. The woman saw the uneasiness expression on Yoko’s face.<br /> <br /> “My baby, my baby.”<br /> <br /> The woman repeated it over and over like she was reciting a curse. As if the baby was resonating with his mother’s voice, he cried even harder. There was a disturbing atmosphere in the air.<br /> <br /> “There is nothing wrong with your baby, please calm down.”<br /> <br /> “Is my baby really safe?”<br /> <br /> The woman’s question made Yoko’s body rigid with uneasiness, she didn’t know how to answer the question. The baby was safe and healthy, but…<br /> <br /> “Everything’s fine, your baby’s perfectly healthy.” Kinoshita answered the woman’s question, Yoko wondered if she was hearing right.<br /> <br /> There was no way they could let the mother see her child, But Kinoshita, holding the baby, slowly walked towards the woman’s side.<br /> <br /> All traces of struggling left the woman’s face. In their place, there was a warm smile of seeing her child for the first time.<br /> <br /> Yoko pulled Kinoshita away and whispered to him,<br /> <br /> “Is this really ok?&quot;<br /> <br /> “We have no choice, we can’t possibly hide it forever.”<br /> <br /> Kinoshita was right, the child’s mother would know sooner or later; even if they could hide it for now, they couldn’t hide it forever. Yoko couldn’t say anything to object.<br /> <br /> Kinoshita handed the baby over to the mother, and she hugged him tightly. Her face was one of extreme happiness, tears of happiness streamed down her cheeks.<br /> <br /> “Ah, my baby.”<br /> <br /> The mother studied her child’s face for the first time.<br /> <br /> This……<br /> Her expression stiffened, and her face was as pale as ash, as if all the blood had been drained from it.<br /> <br /> “No---“<br /> <br /> The mother’s sad cries pierced through the delivery room.<br /> <br /> The moment the baby was born he opened his left eye. The iris shone with the brilliance of raging flames: it was shining red.<br /> <br /> <br /> *: The Bon festival is a Japanese Buddhist event held on July 13th to 15th on the Lunar calendar. It is the period when people pray and honor the dead.</div>

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