Ranko hummed merrily to herself as she added a handful of paprika to the bag of flour she was preparing for the breading on the chicken tenders for the night’s service. Still in her school uniform with a heavy black apron over it, she flitted to the other side of the room, darting into the walk-in cooler for the milk. She shivered visibly as she made her way back out. She hated going in that thing.
“Ranko, honey, would you mind grabbing me the celery?”
Ranko sighed and rolled her eyes. She couldn’t have asked before, so I only had to freeze my ass off once, she thought to herself, but she smiled brightly to her sister. “Coming right up, Izzi!”
She delivered the leafy green stalks to the counter where Izumi sat on her stool, and the elder girl began using a chef’s knife to reduce them to little sticks to garnish the chicken wing baskets with.
“So, cheer’s going better now? Are the girls improving at all?” Izumi munched on one of the celery sticks as she awaited Ranko’s answer.
“They really are! Some of the moves are still tough for a few of them, but I’m really hopeful they’ll all be ready for the Invitational next month.” Ranko smiled proudly. She had done that. The brashest boy at Furinkan High had built a team of all-star cheerleaders, which she led in all but name.
“And what about you? Are you still planning on doing that big jump at the end?” Izumi sipped her tea, continuing to render the celery to a more manageable size.
“If I can land it. It’s tough!” Ranko blushed. When she’d joined the Yusue cheerleading squad, she’d never imagined that she’d find a stunt that would rival some of her best martial arts techniques in complexity.
“Well, you said the last girl to try it was supposed to go to the Olympics, so that’s serious business! Maybe you’ll get an invite too, if you can pull it off.” Izumi winced a little bit. “Oof. Easy there, kiddo. Sorry you don’t like vegetables.” She patted her midsection gently.
“Please, like I have time to go to the Olympics. I don’t think I have time to watch it on TV.” She added two packets of yeast to the flour in the large dough mixer, turning it on.
“You also said that girl got seriously hurt trying it.” Izumi tapped the stainless steel countertop a bit nervously as she spoke.
“Yeah, but she wasn’t… somebody like me. I’ll be fine.” Nothing you can do in the air has ever scared me, and nothing ever will.
“No, she wasn’t. She was better than you at this, because she could land it and you haven’t yet.” Izumi sighed. “I’m just saying, be careful. I know you feel a need to impress everyone all the time. I just don’t want to see you getting hurt.”
“I’ll watch my butt up there. I promise, sis.” Ranko sealed up the container of flour, returning it to its place.
Izumi slid gently off of her stool to her feet. “Man, I gotta get off of this thing. My ass is going to sleep.”
Ranko looked up at the clock and the calendar next to it. It was December 8th, so the exams that would wrap up the semester would be starting on Monday. Plus, she was due at the Yokai office to do the studio recordings for Sneak and Call Me Pandora on Wednesday after school. Even after dropping all of her homeschool classes, a decision she still regretted sometimes, some days there still just wasn’t enough time. She vocalized through a yawn, stretching her arms in the air. “What I’d give if my ass could go to sleep for a few hours, and take the rest of me with it.”
She looked at the bins for citrus garnishes, noticing that the lemons were a bit low. Back to the igloo I go, she thought with a sigh as she made her way into the walk-in cooler again.
As she bent down for a fresh bag of fruit, she heard the hollow bonk of a plastic cup hitting something solid, and then the sound of liquid splashing on the floor.
“Um, Ranko, honey? Could you do me a favor and call Kaito for me, please?”
Ranko stepped back out of the cooler with a smirk, the mesh bag of lemons over her shoulder. “I know your husband’s been waiting on you hand and foot for two months, Izzi, but I think I can handle cleaning up some spilled tea without him.”
“No, little sister. Really. Call him?”
Ranko looked up. Izumi’s plastic tumbler lay on its side on the counter, but nothing had spilled from it.
The liquid on the floor had come from… somewhere else.
“Is it…?” Ranko’s eyes were wide as saucers as Izumi nodded.
“I think so.”
Oh, shit. Ohshitohshitohshit. What do I… Ranko looked around the kitchen frantically, her mind having completely drawn a blank of what she was doing.
“Ranko, baby, breathe. Get the phone.” Izumi leaned on the counter, biting her lip.
Ranko raced to the back bar area in the front of the house, grabbing the cordless telephone from its charger and dialing frantically. “Yes, Kaito Sando please? It’s an emergency.” Ranko waited on hold, looking for something to wipe up the puddle with.
The phone squawked to life. “This is Sando. Who’s speaking?”
“Kaito? Hey, um, you better get to the bar. Like, right now.”
“Is everything alright?!” came the urgent reply.
“I think the baby’s coming! Here, Izzi wants to talk to you.” She handed the phone to her grasping sister.
“Kaito, my water just broke… Yeah, it’s just me and Ranko here right now… Okay. See you soon! I love you!” She pressed the Talk button to hang up the phone, handing it back to Ranko. “Now, if you’ll please call the hospital, and then call mama.”
“How in the hell are you so calm about this?” Ranko paced the floor frantically, waiting for the hospital operator to pick up the phone.
“I’ve done it before. And don’t worry, we haven’t gotten to the hard part yet. You’ll likely see me screaming before it’s over.”
Ranko hoped not. “Yes, hello?! We’re at the Phoenix Bar, in Minato. My sister’s in labor. Please send some help? Hurry!”
“... Okay. Thank you!” Ranko hung up the phone. “They said the nearest ambulance is just a few minutes out, and it’s on the way.”
Izumi nodded. “That’s good. Now, mama?” She looked up at the clock, counting seconds under her breath.
Ranko punched a few more digits into the handset, waiting until she heard her mother’s voice on the fifth ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey, mom. It’s Ranko. You mind coming in a little early today?”
Ranko smiled up at her sister in response to whatever Hana had said on her end of the phone. “No, the fryer isn’t acting up again. I just thought you might like to come meet your granddaughter.”
Ranko held the phone away from her ear, but from three meters away, Izumi could hear her mother’s excited shriek come through the monaural little phone speaker.
“I think it’s safe to say she’s on the way.” Ranko grinned. “What can I do to help?”
Izumi looked around, wincing and applying pressure to her abdomen with her hand. “I need to lay down somewhere until the paramedics get here.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Ranko turned her head and glanced at the staircase behind her. “Do you think you can make it up the stairs to my old room?” Izumi shook her head in the negative.
“Okay, what if I grabbed a couple of the cushions from the booths and brought them in here?” Getting a nod from her sister, Ranko dashed into the front room and returned in a flash with three long red vinyl-covered cushions which she laid side-by-side to create a roughly square mat.
“Alright, c’mere.” Ranko braced her arm, helping her sister move the two steps to the padding she’d put down and slowly lowering her to the ground. “Alright, now what? Is this where you do that weird breathing thing where you sound like you’re about to sneeze?”
Izumi managed a small laugh, shaking her head. Oh, that girl. Sometimes I wonder about you, kiddo. “I don’t knoooooooooooooww!” She looked up at the clock again. Shit, she thought to herself. Those are getting awfully close together already.
Ranko knelt next to her sister, holding her hand. “It’s okay, Izzi. I’ve got you.” I have no earthly idea what I’m doing, but I’m here. “Smile, big sister. You’re gonna meet your little girl soon.”
“Mm-hmmmm…” Izumi gritted her teeth, squeezing Ranko’s hand tightly as another contraction hit. “You’re doing great, Ranko.”
The redhead blushed furiously. “Hey, I’m the cheerleader, you’re the lady having the baby. No switching jobs.” Please. Because, like, for real, no thank you. Ever since her body had started behaving like a typical woman’s a few months ago, she’d given it the occasional thought. Usually in the form of a nightmare. She’d long ago come to the conclusion that, if she and Akane ever decided to try and start a family, it would probably involve a tea kettle, a lot of screaming, and a very awkward few minutes, and that it would almost certainly be Akane in Izumi’s role. That would certainly be the way Ranko would want it, anyway, but dread of the unknown had a nasty habit of creeping into the corners of her mind sometimes. As much as she wanted to say not a chance in all hell, Ranko knew when it really came down to it, there was nothing she wouldn’t do if Akane asked.
She was pulled out of her spiraling thoughts by the crash of Izumi’s husband barreling through the saloon door. “Izzi? How we doing, love?” He knelt at her other side, across from Ranko.
Izumi smiled brightly, even as her face glistened with sweat, trying in vain to find a more comfortable position on the makeshift mattress as Ranko braced her back. “Kaito, you’re here! Oh my gods, I love you! Contractions are just a few minutes apart. Holy shit, somebody’s in a hurry to meet her daddy.”
Kaito blushed. “I can’t wait to meet her either, but let’s take care of mommy first, okay? Ranko, have you called the hospital?”
The redhead nodded, her eyes widening as Izumi squeezed her hand hard. “Right after I hung up with you. Based on when they told us, they should be here any second.” She smiled as she heard the rumble of a motorcycle coming to a stop outside the steel door leading to the back alley. “And that’ll be mama.”
Hana burst through the back door, scanning the room and quickly finding the trio on the kitchen floor. “There’s my baby girl. Izzi, hi, honey.” She dropped to her knees, wiping the sweat from her daughter’s brow.
“Hi, mama. I’m having a baby.” Izumi grinned weakly.
“I can see that!” Hana laughed, wiping the corner of her eye. “I love you, sweetheart. You got this.”
“Love you too, mama.” Izumi’s eyes widened as another contraction hit her, squeezing Ranko and Kaito’s hands tightly.
The saloon door swung open again, and three paramedics in dark blue uniforms entered the kitchen, which was getting awfully crowded. “Hello, everyone. We’re with Tokyo Fire and Rescue. I understand somebody’s having a baby?”
“Not it!” Ranko raised her free hand.
“Alright, and we are?” The paramedic scanned the room’s occupants.
“Grandma,” Hana said, smiling into her daughter’s eyes.
“D-dad,” Kaito stammered, as if he couldn’t believe the word was coming out of his mouth.
“Auntie,” Ranko said, her face flushing.
“Okay,” the lead paramedic said. “We need a little room to work, and it’s a little tight in here, so could we maybe ask one or two of you to step out for a little bit so we can check mama out here?”
Ranko stood. “I’ll go. Mom and Kaito should be here.”
“Thank you, Ranko,” Hana called as her youngest daughter walked toward the saloon doors. As she pushed through the doors, she heard Izumi tell her mother, “Mama, she did so great.”
Ranko walked behind the service bar, washing her hands with cold water. Drying them with a light blue bar towel, Ranko sat at the far end of the bar counter, watching the door for signs of news.
The door did bang open, but not the one Ranko was watching. She heard a panicked voice come from behind her as the sound of a motorcycle pulled away. “Ranko? What’s going on?! There’s an ambulance outside!”
Before she could turn to answer Yui, a noise somewhere between a scream and a roar came from the kitchen.
“Izzi?” Yui stalked closer, her platform heels clacking loudly on the hardwood floor.
Ranko nodded. “Yep. Mama, Kaito and the paramedics are in there with her. They said we can’t go in right now.”
Yui gave an excited little squeak, rushing over and straddling the stool next to Ranko’s in her red jeans.
“Couldn’t help but notice the motorcycle leaving…” Ranko smiled.
Yui shrugged. “Yeah? So? Lots of people ride motorcycles.”
“Yeah?” Ranko grinned, hiding her face teasingly behind her soda glass. “What kind does Sakura have again?”
“A Yamaha FZR six hun… hey!” Yui blushed furiously, whacking Ranko gently in the shoulder with her little black clutch.
Ow. Why does everybody hit me when they think something’s funny? “Gotcha.”
Yui’s face was the same color as her jeans. “Listen here, you little shit… just because I spent the night at her place doesn’t mean…”
Ranko interrupted her. “Yes it does.”
Yui hid her face in her hands, resting her elbows on the bar top and laughing into her palms. “Okay, okay, yes, it does…”
One of the junior paramedics came through the blue swinging door to stand behind the bar. “Hi, auntie and…”
Yui popped her head up and finished the medic’s sentence for her with a wave. “Other auntie.”
“Okay. So good news, you’re gonna get to meet your niece soon! Very soon. We don’t think we have time to get her to the hospital. The baby’s coming now.”
“What can we do to help,” Ranko asked, rocketing up from her stool so quickly that Yui had to stabilize it to keep her from falling over.
“We’ve got it, honey. Your mother and brother are helping. You can just hang out here, direct traffic and get excited!” The paramedic smiled. This was her favorite part of her job. She liked it way better than watching people clinging to life and oftentimes, not doing so successfully.
The glass front door swung open again, this time admitting Crash and Jacob. “Hey, Ranko,” Jacob said with a wave. “What’s goi…”
Another agonized scream came from the kitchen.
“What the hell?” Jacob looked up with confusion and worry.
“Izzi’s baby’s coming,” Ranko said with a grin. “Welcome to the waiting room.”
Jacob frowned playfully. “But… but that means my cheese sticks are in the delivery room.”
“Sorry, bud. Priorities.” Ranko laughed, rolling her eyes. Boys.
There was another scream.
And then another.
“One more, Izzi. One more big one and we’re all done, baby. Come on, girl!” came Hana’s urging voice from the kitchen. Yui’s eyes didn’t leave the door, but she reached to her right, grasping Ranko’s hand and holding it tight.
There was yet another scream, this one louder, and longer, than the rest. As it faded from the air, a new sound took its place. One that sounded distinctly like a baby crying.
Yui leaned over excitedly, giving Ranko a tight hug. “She did it!”
Ranko blushed, grinning proudly. She hadn’t done much, but she’d gotten Izumi the help she needed, and that wasn’t nothing. “Yeah, she did.”
A few moments later, Hana exited the kitchen, tears in her eyes, washing her hands in the sink behind the service bar.
“Well?!” Yui stared at her mother with urgency.
Hana nodded, biting her lip as she wiped her hands with the towel. The dryer her hands got, the wetter her cheeks did. “Ten fingers, ten toes.”
“Do we have a name,” Yui asked excitedly, her hand still braced against Ranko’s back.
Hana nodded again, her crying intensifying as she smiled at her girls. “Mioko.”
Ranko grinned. “I love it. Welcome to the family, Mioko.”
Sitting on the edge of the stage with a bottle of beer in his hand, Jacob leaned over to Crash. “What’s that mean, man,” he asked in English.
Crash shrugged, answering in English. “In Japanese, the same name can have lots of meanings, depending on how it’s written. For this one, I’d guess it’s something like ‘pretty guardian’ or maybe ‘fruit of the cherry tree’?”
Jacob shook his head, laughing. “Well, I doubt Izumi named her kid after the girl Yui’s bedding.”
“Hey! Don’t think I don’t understand you over there, Jacob Trimble,” Yui glowered, blushing furiously and replying in English as well.
Hana smiled warmly up at the trapezoidal logo stenciled in red paint on the wall behind Jacob, answering in English, the closest thing to a family crest she and the girls she loved would ever have. “It means ‘beautiful daughter of the Phoenix’.”