Angel Knight: Prologue

*April 8, 2019;
**Shonan Kamakura General Hospital, Maternity ward.
It was midday and the TV was on. Nana was watching match that Kakeru was competing in. The Yokohama F. Marinos were currently playing an exhibition match against Gamba Osaka in preparation for the start of the Emperor's Cup next month, the drawings for which had been done few days ago. The score had been 0-0 for the whole game so far, but Kakeru had just scored a tie-breaking goal as the halftime whistle was blown.
"Yosha!" Nana Aizawa (née Mishima) exclaimed.
"Don't get overexcited!" one of the female nurses reminded Nana. Nana, whom was roughly thirty-eight weeks pregnant, had been hospitalized for threatened preterm labor (PTL) since early December while awaiting the birth of her first child, a daughter whom she and Kakeru had named Keiko.
"Hai, hai, like you're one to talk," Nana told the nurse. "You were on the edge of your seat the whole time. Did you even notice you stood up to cheer too?" The nurse realized what Nana was talking about and promptly left the room to hide her embarrassment.
"That's your hubby," said Yoshiko Nonomiya, Nana's friend and former wardmate. Yoshiko was a regular visitor to her bedside. She had given birth to her own first child and daughter, Yuki, not long after Nana was admitted. Little Yuki was nestled in a baby sling that Yoshiko had over her shoulder and seemed to be intensely watching the game as well.
"I know," Nana said as she felt Keiko kick inside her big pregnant belly. "I think Keiko-chan is cheering on Papa too." 
"I hope they win this year; the Marinos haven't won since 2013," Yoshiko said with a hint of prayer.
"Yeah, me too," Nana said as she muted the commercials.
"Your due date's in a few days isn't it?"
"I'm not relying on it. At this point, I'm just waiting for signs."
"Will Kakeru-san make it back in time?" Yoshiko asked.
"This is his last game in Kansai. He'll be hopping on the first train back the instant it's over and he'll be back by morning."
"You trust him that much?" Yoshiko asked slyly
"I seem to recall Harsiese-san raving like a madman when you were in labor," Nana quipped back, causing them both to laugh. "By the way, I've been needing to ask."
"Nani?"
"Does it hurt? Labor?"
"So something does scare you."
Nana unmuted the TV when the match intermission ended. The camera was focused on Gamba Osaka as they prepared to kick off the second half. When the ref blew the whistle to begin, the Osakans had barely gone ten feet before Kakeru blocked off the player's advance. It only took a few moves for Kakeru to steel the ball, but rather than dribble on himself, he passed to one of his teammates; it was Ryuichi Araki. Araki normally played in Spain for Real Madrid CF, but was currently on loan to the Marinos for the Emperor's Cup. 
Araki kept the ball on the Marinos's side, passing back and forth between several of his fellow players, which Nana recognized as an attempt to help Kakaru "disappear" for a few minutes. At last, Araki made a feed toward the Gamba Osaka goal, but there appeared to be nobody waiting to receive it. As if on cue, Kakeru appeared out of nowhere and took control of the ball. 
Kakeru ran past the remaining opposition until there was only one defender. Kakeru used his signature phi trick to get past him, and then there was only the keeper left. Kakeru kicked with his left leg and sent it flying past the keeper, widening the score to 0-2. 
"Atta boys!" Nana cheered. 
"Kakeru-san and Araki-san never cease to amaze," Yoshiko said. 
"It's actually a time-honored strategy for them, but it always works," Nana told Yoshiko as Gamba Osaka prepared to kick off again. 
The Marinos stuck to one strategy during the first half, but kept changing strategies for the remainder of the second half. Nana didn't understand why but didn't care; all that mattered to her was that Kakeru was pulling off this spectacular game in anticipation of their daughter's arrival. Kakeru had told Nana since they learned she was pregnant that he wouldn't lose a single game until their baby was born. So far he had kept that promise. 
The clock kept winding down until it went into stoppage time. The scored stayed at 0-2, but just as the referee was about to blow the whistle to end the game, Araki scored a third goal via an assist from Kakeru, making the final score 0-3 for the Marinos. 
"And that is that," Nana said satisfyingly. 
"What do you sound so smug about?" Yoshiko, who had been breastfeeding Yuki for the past ten minutes, asked. 
"Kakeru's playing so well for me after all," Nana replied. "What does your husband do for you?" 
"Etto, remember what happened the last time we did a round of, 'Ga no uma wa anata no uma yori mo ōkī?'" Yoshiko said, and that was enough to shut Nana up, albeit reluctantly. "Looks like your hubby's giving an interview." 
Nana turned her attention back to the TV and saw the camera was centered on Kakeru and Araki. 
"Aizawa-san, Araki-san, do you two feel prepared for the upcoming Emperor's Cup?" the reporter asked them. 
"It's gonna be a cinch," Araki replied. 
"Aizawa-san, while the loss against Belgium at the World Cup's Round of 16 last year was a disappointment, so far since then you've been undefeated. What has spurned you on to play so well these last several months?" 
"Well, chotan, I'm about to become a father," Kakeru replied. 
"You're wife is pregnant?" 
"Hai, with a girl, and due any day now. As soon as this is over, I'm hopping on the next train home." 
"Is this special little girl a pro-player in the making?" 
"Only time will tell." 
"Will Keiko-chan follow you and Kakeru-san into soccer?" Yoshiko asked Nana. 
"That'll be up to her. But a mother can hope, can't she?" Nana replied. 
"A little wisdom my okā-san gave me:" Yoshiko said with a grim tone of warning, "'the biggest mistake a parent can make with their children is pressing their own hopes, dreams and expectations on them.'" 
This piece of advice suddenly made Nana feel guilty. Perhaps somewhere in her mind she was hoping, or perhaps expecting, Keiko to become a great soccer player, even if her daughter didn't actually want to. 
The game and the interview over, Nana turned off the TV. But the instant she did, she felt Keiko move downward. "Huh?" 
"Nani?" Yoshiko asked.
"Keiko did something weird," Nana said, putting both her hands on her belly.
"Naninani?" Yoshiko said again.
"I think… I think I felt my baby drop. That's a first sign, right?"
"It can be, especially for first-time mothers, but not usually," Yoshiko said. "Do you feel contractions? Did your water break?" Yoshiko asked.
"Iya, Keiko just moved down."
Right then, Yuki started to make some fussy cries. "Etto," Yoshiko said nervously.
"Just go calm her down. I'm gonna take a shower."
As she said, while Yoshiko went to calm Yuki down, Nana got undressed and took a shower. As the water ran down her body, Nana rubbed her belly. Nana had more or less kept her figure throughout her pregnancy, her pregnant belly resembled a ball rather than a sack.
After getting out of the shower, drying off, dressing and getting back in bed, Nana pulled her gown over her belly and rubbed it again. As she rubbed her belly, the feeling she felt earlier came back to mind just as she felt a contraction. She had been experiencing Braxton Hicks for the past couple weeks, but this time it was sharper and in a different location. The arrival of a new symptom was starting to make her a little nervous and scared.
"Keiko-chan, don't come before Papa comes, onegai."
Unfortunately, it seemed like Nana wasn't going to get her wish.
An hour after Nana got out of the shower, her obstetrician came in to run a prescheduled ultrasound. It confirmed that Keiko had indeed dropped into position upon Nana's cervix. Minutes afterwards, Nana experienced another contraction, and a couple minutes later they discovered that Nana was already five millimeters dilated. While she had not yet reached a centimeter, her labor had begun.
⚽ 🏀 🏊‍♀️ ⚾
Nana's first few contractions were over an hour apart, but by nightfall the time between them was starting to shrink and were becoming painful.
In that time, Mito Yoshikawa (née Aizawa), Kakeru's younger sister and Nana's sister-in-law, had arrived with her husband, Kiyoji Yoshikawa, a police officer in-training, in tow.
"Relax yourself. Relax your tummy. And remember: no matter what your instinct tells you, do not push," the midwife instructed. Nana was now five centimeters dilated. "Let the baby come out on her own."
"You sure you don't want me to stay with you?" Yoshiko, who was packed to leave, asked.
"Go home, Yoshiko-chan. Harsiese-san is waiting," Nana told her friend as Mito wiped Nana's forehead of sweat.
Yoshiko sighed and said, "Shimeta. But I'll come back in the morning. At least I want to introduce Yuki to her potential playmate. If Keiko-chan comes before then, please send me pictures."
"Will do."
"Say 'sayonara,' Yuki-chan," Yoshiko told baby Yuki, and Yoshiko altered her voice to a high pitch to say, "Sayonara, Nana-san."
"Sayonara, Yuki-chan," Nana replied with a chuckle. Yoshiko left for real at that, but no sooner was she out of the room than Mai Murasaki walked in. "Mai-chan? What're you doing here?"
"I'm here for Keiko-chan's birth of course."
"Still manless, I see," Mito said mockingly.
"Don't take that tone with me, imōto-san," Mai replied.
"Speaking of men, where's Kakeru?" Nana asked.
As if in answer, a ping was heard, coming from Kyoji's phone. "Kakeru-gikei-san just texted. The shinkansen is still three hours out."
"Arigato, Kyoji-kun. I guess Keiko will still be in me when Kakeru gets here."
Unfortunately, it seemed as if Keiko had no intention of waiting. By the time the date changed, Nana's contractions were just minutes apart. Her water hadn't broken yet, but she could feel Keiko bearing down on her cervix, which was almost nine centimeters dilated. Each contraction was incredibly painful, but while Nana couldn't help moaning in pain, she was fighting all her will not to scream.
By 1:00 in the morning, Nana was fully dilated, her contractions were a minute apart and her labor was accelerating as her water finally broke. Nana was lying on her side facing the door the whole time, one of her legs in the air, desperately praying that Kakeru would come through it.
"This is it!" one of the midwives declared. Nana could feel Keiko starting to move down and out of her womb.
Just as she began to despair that Kakeru would miss it, Kakeru barged into the room.
"Nana! I'm here!" Kakeru exclaimed as he rushed to his wife's side. "I didn't miss it, did I?"
"Kakeru… you're timing… was… perfect," Nana gasped as Kakeru grasped her hand, relived that Kakeru had come at last. Her relief had apparently affected her whole body and her delivery, because she felt Keiko beginning to slide through her birth canal with ease as if it was lubricated.
"The head's here!" said one of the midwives.
"Is it?" Nana asked.
"Give me your hand," Mai said. Nana allowed Mai to maneuver her hand down to her crotch. Her hand was placed on something that wasn't normally there, something that had soft silky hair; it was Keiko's head.
"Here come the shoulders!" the midwife said as Nana retracted her hand. "And… oh, she's here!"
Nana felt a sense of relief course through her body as the pain suddenly ceased. She had but a moment to catch her breath as she heard a small cough and then a cry. Nana looked up and saw baby Keiko. Pink, wet, and crying her first breaths.
As Nana sat herself upright, Nana and Kakeru were made to wait a few minutes while the hospital staff cut the umbilical cord and made sure Keiko was alright.
"Omedeto. She's perfectly healthy," said the midwife as she handed a blanket-wrapped Keiko to her parents at last.
"She's gorgeous," Mito said. Both she and Kyoji were starstruck at the sight of their niece.
"She looks just like Kakerucchi," Mai told them.
"That she does," Nana concurred, nestling Keiko gently against her chest. Keiko was still making sounds but had since stopped crying. Nana uncovered one of her breasts and allowed Keiko to start suckling. The midwives were watching cautiously, but so far Keiko's first breastfeeding was going well. "Could someone grab my phone and take a picture?" Mai wasted no time in obliging, snapping a good one of her, Kakeru and Keiko in one shot. As promised, Nana sent a copy of that photo to Yoshiko.⚽ 🏀 🏊‍♀️ ⚾
*April 10;
**Shonan Kamakura General Hospital, entrance.
After spending a day in hospital to recuperate, during which Yoshiko dropped by and introduced Yuki to Keiko, Nana and day-and-a-half-old Keiko were being released to go home.
"Omedetogozaimasu on a healthy baby!" some of the hospital staff told them, handing them a congratulatory bouquet.
"Arigatogozaimasu," Nana replied, as she took the bouquet. Kakeru was holding Keiko, whom was sleeping soundly.
A couple minutes later, they were in the back of an uber on their way home.
"We've been waiting for her for months, but now it feels real," said Kakeru. "We're parents now."
"Hai, we are," Nana, whom was now holding Keiko, replied.
"So, what happens now?" Kakeru asked as he gently petted Keiko's head.
"Now… we do our best, so she can do her best," Nana replied.
Keiko Aizawa's life had begun, along with the next generation of Japanese women's soccer.
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Category:Angel Knight
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