It started with the smell of miso soup.
Roset had made it that morning, her usual comforting mix of dashi and soft tofu. But as soon as the steam rose, something in her stomach turned. She pushed the bowl away gently and stood, hand on her mouth, trying not to make a scene in front of Lea.
Hino noticed immediately.
"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, rising from his seat.
She nodded too fast. "Just… dizzy. Didn't sleep well."
He didn't press, but his eyes lingered.
The next few days, it kept happening.
Morning nausea. A sudden wave of fatigue mid-afternoon. The strange aversion to the smell of pickled radish she normally loved.
And then came the moment in the garden when Lea bent to pick a flower and Roset swayed, knees softening beneath her.
Hino caught her elbow just in time.
"Okay," he said, concerned but calm. "You're going to the clinic."
She tried to argue. "It's nothing. Maybe dehydration—"
"Or maybe," he said gently, "it's something else."
She stood in the tiny bathroom the next morning, the test shaking in her hand before she even opened it. She hadn't bought one in years. It had dust on the box, having been tucked away in the back of the local shop.
The first time she'd done this, years ago, it had been a moment of pure hope.
Now, it was a mix: guarded, layered, cautious.
She followed the instructions in silence. Set the test down. Waited. Felt her pulse in her throat.
She didn't sit. She paced.
Roset she finally looked, it was there. Two lines. Faint, but present.
Pregnant.
She sat outside in the garden not long after, holding the test in her hands like something sacred and terrifying. The wind moved softly through the plum trees.
Hino found her there.
She didn't speak at first, just offered him the wrapped test. He opened it slowly, then looked at her.
She nodded.
He knelt down and took her hands in his. "Are you okay?"
"I think so," she said, voice small. "I'm happy. I think I'm happy. But I'm scared, too."
Hino cupped her cheek, thumb brushing a tear away. "You're allowed to be both."
She managed a weak laugh. "I keep thinking… what if?"
"Then we face it. Every 'what if.' Together."
Roset closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, letting the warmth of it ground her.
And for the first time since that strange morning sickness hit, Roset let herself believe it was going to be okay.