One morning in April.

"Ugh…" Ai gets up from bed. "Boy, you sure are getting heavy."

She pats her larger belly. She looks at the bed to find both Cirrus and Artemis have already started their day.

"Well, time to get my day started." She gets up from bed and reaches for her sword. "Ah," she stops herself. "Right… I can’t do much exercise. Fafnir, are you here?"

From the shadows, Fafnir emerged.

"I am."

"Can you tell Cirrus if I can get some paper? I wanna make some origami."

"Very well. I’ll be back soon." She then blends into the darkness.

Ai could see Fafnir leave as the shadows of the room shifted ever so lightly.

Ai then gets ready for the day. She takes a shower.

"Ugh… I can’t even take a bath. Mmm…" She gets a bit peeved given that the bath is rather large, large enough to really stretch your legs with two more people. "These baths are pretty handy; It has good friction."

Cirrus made sure the whole house was as accident-proof as he could.

Ai gets out and dries herself and her hair.

"Hm♪ Hm♪ Hm♪" Ai hums as she uses the blow dryer. "Cirrus makes some handy stuff... Handy…" Her mind wanders a bit. "We haven’t done it a few months because if the baby… Hm. Maybe—Ow Fuck!" She accidentally brought the blow dryer close to her fox ears.

She finishes drying off and wears some loose clothing.

"I can’t even wear the clothes that I like."

She sits on the couch and grabs a hairbrush nearby and begins combing her tail.

"Fufu! The soft tail always wins them over!"

She uses her tail as a bargaining chip against Cirrus and Artemis to get them to do various things to pet her tail. It works more effectively than Ai thought.

While she combs her tail, Fafnir returns.

"Lady Ai, I have brought the paper." Fafnir emerged from the shadows. "I have them in my hair."

"Just in time, could you brush my hair?"

"Hm." Fafnir reached into her hair and pulled out a comb.

While combing Ai asked a question.

"Say Faf, does your hair ever get tangled? It’s so long and flowy?"

"Not really. My body's composition allows for more... easy convenience." Fafnir’s hair then moved around Ai. "They are as part of me as my clothes and sunglasses. So the likelihood of my hair getting tangled would only result if I am asleep."

"Lucky. I wish my hair was that easy to manage."

"Hm. As much as I like it, it has drawbacks."

"Like what?"

"For one, my body is very much, shall we say, like a sturdy water balloon."

"Hm… So what if you're squeezed? Do you just pop and reform?"

"Essentially yes. But given my speed and scales, I won’t get popped anytime soon."

"Hmm… Okay, can you answer me who is faster, you or Nox?"

"Hm." Fafnir stopped brushing to think about it. "I believe... Lady Nox would be faster."

"Really!? But you move really fast!"

"Yes, well, even before this change in the body due to Master being exposed to the Divine Flame and taking in half of Elpis, I still firmly believe Nox to be faster. Hecton shared his memories of the time he fought Master, and even he believes that if Nox is given as much mana as she likes, she could move at the speed of light."

"Ooh… That is impressive. Now that you mention it, Nox used some magic to move really fast during that fight."

"Yes." Fafnir resumed combing her hair. "The only downside to it is that her body is not durable enough to handle those levels of speed. Master even contemplated using it but didn’t wish to learn what hitting a wall at light speed would do to him, the wall, or the contents behind the wall."

"Oh, so he—"

"Master went to the beach, which is now Fuyuhama, and tested it there."

"Wait! Was he the reason that a loud boom rang in everyone’s ears!?"

"Yes. The results of it were conclusive enough that Nox and Cirrus found no real practical use in traveling at light speed."

"Really? Wouldn’t it be really handing traveling?"

"No. They traveled so fast that they entered a world of darkness. They couldn’t see, hear, or touch anything. Like disembodied souls drifting in the unknown. Then they stopped, and Master broke a leg and Nox her left shoulder."

"Even as a level 8?"

"That was why he found that light speed was not worth it. It had far too many negatives to be useful in a reasonable context that isn’t in space."

"Space, huh? Is it as big as Cirrus and Art say it is?"

"Given that Lady Artemis is a goddess of the moon, I would say you take her words on that topic as factual."

"Hm… I see. So if you can shapeshift, would you be able to breathe in space?"

"Hmm… That is a question. Hm. I think that is a question I need to try and find out one day."

"Interesting."

After a while of finishing combing, Ai began to make origami cranes.

"Do you plan on folding a thousand cranes?" Fafnir asked, lying sprawled on the floor.

"I am. But I am folding 2,000 for my and Artemis’ children. It has been a while since I've done it. The last time was when Cirrus left for Telskyura."

"Hm…" Fafnir could see at the pace Ai is going she will run out of paper soon. "Shall I get more paper?"

"Does Cirrus even have that much paper?"

"No. This is all the paper he had. I can purchase some paper if you want more."

"I’m good for now, but I have another question."

"Shoot."

"Where does the stuff Cirrus puts in his shadow go? Is it like an isolated space-like area or like it’s just in a void floating around?"

"That is a fascinating marvel. When Master stores something in his shadow, it is stored in master’s mind palace, as he and Circe put it. It materializes somewhere on the island appropriate for the item in question. Potions and the like materialize in the sea, foods appear in caves, weapons, and other stuff generally appear anywhere."

"Hm, does Cirrus have to look around to get the item he wants?"

"No. Master said he thinks of what he wants and reaches into his shadow to pull it out, regardless of where it is. Hecton or I will push it into his hand to make it seem like it shoots out."

"Aren't you afraid it will break?"

"Hecton and Master tested it, and so long as it’s in Master’s mind palace, the item is between a dream and reality, so it is virtually indestructible."

"Ooh! That’s pretty cool! I always wanted to try and do that! Cirrus makes it look so cool!"

"Do you wish to try?"

"Yes!!" Ai stood straight up.

Fafnir went and got her sword before entering her shadow.

"Ready when you are."

"Alright!" Ai extends her arms, and her katana shoots out from the shadow she cast into her hands. "Oooh!!"

"I am sure if you were more able, you would have made a spectacular showing."

"Next time, you have to help me! I wanna get one over on Cirrus and Artemis!"

"Very well."

Another short while later, it was time for lunch.

"Do we have—"

"No. Eat actual nutrients." Fafnir hands her a plate of well-balanced food.

"Tsk. Fine. I’ll have it as a snack later."

Ai eats the food prepared and goes to the living room. She sits down on a pillow and continues to make more origami cranes.

"Hey, Faf. Where is Artemis?"

"She is in town helping Cirrus in teaching anatomy, how to make a splint, and various other first-aid stuff."

"Hmm… Should I try to learn medicine?"

"I do not see a reason not to. But I think you would find it boring."

"Nu-uh!"

"Yes, uh!"

"I know a good amount about the body!"

"Yes, to cut someone down mercifully or to extend their pain."

"Is that not good enough?"

"Might I suggest reading more about babies? I can lend you the notes Master made on it."

"Oo! Oo! Yeah! That!"

 

After a handful of minutes, Fafnir returned.

"Here you…" She noticed how many origami cranes Ai had made in the short time she left. "You have gotten better."

"Do them enough, and it becomes rather easy!"

When she left, Ai had made 200, coming up to 241, but now there were 253.

"Oh! Sorry, I got lost in the crafting; you have the book, right?"

"Here you go."

She takes the book from her ink-like hair and hands it to Ai.

"Ooh!" She looks at it in amazement. She flipped through the book. "This is Cirrus’s handwriting!"

‘It is good that I kept the more detailed book; I don’t know how to explain to her what English is.’

Ai reads through the books methodically when something caught her eye.

"Don’t talk like a baby?"

"Yeah, you know, like, don’t talk properly and go like, ‘lwook at the wittle baby!’. It’ll stunt their language development."

"Ah, I see! I see! I’ll be sure not to do that!"

This continues throughout the day.

"Lady Ai I have been meaning to ask but… Have you and Master settled on a name? Master and Lady Artemis have already settled on the names. Should they be a boy or girl?"

"Ah… well, it’s hard to settle on something. I want this child to have something from me and Cirrus. I thought maybe putting our names together, but they don’t really mix."

"Well, your child will be born first, so they will be 1st in line to inherit the master’s position in Yamato, no?"

"Yes. They will be the heir to the Kyūjouno Family."

"So why not name the child like the people in Yamato? Master was given the name Hakukumo. I am sure you can do stuff with that."

"Hmmm, Hakukumo… Hm! Hm! I got two names! If they are a boy, I will name them Hakushika! And if they are a girl, I will name them Aikumo! Or maybe Kumoai? Which one do you think sounds better?"

"I have no opinions on it."

"Hmm… Did you ever come up with some names?"

"A few. Master workshopped some names with me, Hecton, Circe, and Vesta."

"What did you come up with?"

"Several thousands of names. Hecton liked the names Cottus and Gyges. Circe liked the names, Odysseus and Penelope. Vesta liked the names Romulus and Silvia. I liked the names Reginn and Ótr. Master, however, couldn’t decide on a name. How fortunate Lady Artemis was to be so set on the names she picked."

"Hmm… I think I’ll work on it with Cirrus. Do you think he would like it if I picked Kaguya as the name if they turn out to be a girl?"

"I think he would be fine with it."