Jitsu -A different story-

"Ahh, I want them to be born now!" A somewhat peculiar scream could be heard at that moment. Almost anyone could notice the feeling of impatience behind that voice, but once the context was known, the situation would be understood a little better.

"There is still a week left until you are nine months pregnant, Rena. Don't be so impatient." And as mentioned, the person who had just given that scream was none other than Rena. "I understand that you are excited, but you should let time do its thing, besides, you are not the only one who is experiencing that feeling, I also really want to meet my nephew."

And as a slight change in the usual scene, the one who had just said all that to Rena was her sister-in-law, Akira.

"It's like Akira-chan says, Rena. You shouldn't rush things, plus the birth process is not fun." And complementing the situation, Shizune had just spoken to try to calm Rena down, which curiously she managed once she brought up the topic of birth...

Surely a slightly more detailed explanation is necessary at this point, and basically, some time had passed since that night when Kurono had opened up to Shizune. It is only enough to mention that Rena's pregnancy continued to develop smoothly and was already close to nine months.

From Shizune's point of view, the fact that Kurono had told her about his past had really helped him a lot, you could see the positive changes that all that had brought to him, in addition to trying to fix many things that he had ignored in the past. He had taken the time to contact people he hadn't contacted in years, he was able to cope with the situation regarding Yuki, but above all, Kurono regained the strength necessary to visit Mei once again, as well as take Shizune with him to meet his parents.

You could say that they were situations full of deep and quite personal feelings, but Shizune was always by Kurono's side supporting him, in addition to the fact that she felt all the trust and importance that Kurono was showing her, which resulted in him seeming to grow once again as a person.

For her part, Shizune also focused a lot on taking care of Rena, as well as spending as much time as possible with Kurono, several months had passed like this, even leaving behind Christmas Eve, as well as New Year's Eve, which left many beautiful memories and full of happiness for Shizune.

Returning to the present, specifically to the living room of Rena's apartment, she, Shizune and Akira were sharing a pleasant moment as a family. Akira had arrived in town about a week ago as she wanted to be present when Rena's child was born, so it was quite normal to have her company now.

"In any case, I'm impatient for everything, I already want to hold them in my arms…" Rena was touching her belly which, unlike in the past, was now swollen enough to notice her pregnancy. A small smile formed on her face whenever she did that, and although Akira could somewhat imagine everything Rena experienced, Shizune was the one who could truly put herself in Rena's shoes.

A large number of memories were coming to her, so much so that they made her close her eyes one moment so that, the next, in front of her was the image of her beloved daughter in the same situation that she once was in... Which filled her with a lot of feelings of warmth and nostalgia.

But as that situation continued to unfold, the sound of the front door being knocked did not go unnoticed by anyone.

"Oh, that must be Kazumi-san." And as if a little boy knew that his father had just come home from a long day at work, Rena's excitement surged in a moment.

Shizune had taken it upon herself to respond to the call and, to no one's surprise, an attractive and comfortably dressed figure was on the other side of the door while a radiant smile was on the face of that person, who was none other than Kazumi.

"I hope I'm not late, but there were really a lot of people shopping today." From the slight agitation that was noticeable in Kazumi, one could say that she rushed quite a bit to get to the apartment, but what was really important, and what she was referring to in her words, was that in her hands was a cake that would whet anyone's appetite.

"Don't worry, the important thing is that you were able to come, I appreciate that you accepted the invitation." Shizune did not bother Kazumi in any way and rushed to help her with the cake, which resulted in a thank you from Kazumi.

"Well, I haven't been here for a while, and since Kurono is traveling, who better than me to keep you company, I can even make sure you don't get too cold at night, hehe." As was normal for her, Kazumi didn't lose time to harass Shizune a little, but that behavior was nothing new to the latter anymore.

"I appreciate the intention, but I love Kurono too much, Kazumi." Shizune gave a quick and simple response making Kazumi only sigh in defeat, although her previous words had made Shizune remember the situation.

And it was true, more than a week ago both Kurono and Akio had been on a business trip, at first it hadn't been much of a difference, but as the days went by, Shizune could clearly tell that she missed Kurono a lot even though she communicated with him every day and knew that he was fine.

That itself had caused Shizune's expression to change to one of slight melancholy, and Kazumi noticed it immediately.

"I'm sorry, Shizune… I didn't mean to." She had rushed to apologize, but Shizune also quickly shook her head saying that she was fine. That day she really shouldn't have felt sad, the reason why Kazumi had arrived at the apartment was because Rena wanted to have a small impromptu meeting using as an excuse that Akira was in the city and taking advantage of that course of ideas, Rena had also told Shizune to invite Kazumi to make everything a little lively, so, right now, the four women were together with a whole night ahead of them to chat and have a little fun.