Izumi and Lloyd were standing outside the house, pacing back and forth, when they finally caught a glimpse of Hyogo approaching from afar.
With him was a lady who seemed like she was the same age as Kanami, dressed in a dull brown robe that was wrinkled from her walking pace.
"I'm sorry I'm late," Hyogo said when he caught up to them. "She was harder to find than I thought."
He turned to her, and she bowed and introduced herself. "I'm Ririsa Ishibashi. I'm an old friend of Kanami and Ayako, and I'm also a physician. I rushed over here as soon as I heard the news."
"How long has it been since it started?" she asked them.
"About one and a half hours, give or take," Lloyd replied. "The girls are inside with her, so we can't attest to her state right now."
"I understand," she said. "Even though I'm not a practiced midwife, I do know my way around the process, so leave it to me."
"We're trusting you with her," Hyogo said.
"I'll do my best," she replied. "And thank you for bringing me the news, Hyogo."
She walked past them and into the house, leaving the three of them standing out there.
"I never asked before, but how do the two of you know each other?" Izumi asked.
"She was the physician Ayako and Kanami took me to when they first found me," he replied. "Ever since then, I've been working with her on remedies to try and recover my memory, but recently I haven't visited her much."
"They all really are skilled, aren't they?" Izumi said. "There's Ayako, Kanami, and Kanako, and now Ririsa. It really puts us outsiders to shame."
"The pursuit of knowledge and skills in those fields by so many young people is probably why the town is thriving as well as it is," Lloyd noted.
"Right," Hyogo mumbled.
A long stretch of silence followed before Izumi awkwardly said, "There goes our attempt to change the subject. I guess it isn't easy making small talk knowing what's going on inside."
"I guess," Hyogo said. "We can't help but be stressed."
"From what I learned from Ayako early on, before you guys came in, Kanami is a pretty sickly person," he continued. "That is why she pulled out from the workshop that early in pregnancy."
"That, along with the little amount of food and water she's been getting over the past few months, could probably lead to complications."
"And now that help has come, Miyuki can't keep using her Vahir to ease the pain," Lloyd said.
"There's no need to worry, though," Hyogo said. "Miss Ririsa is pretty skilled at what she does, and she's familiar with her, so it's the best-case scenario for her."
Izumi crouched down and sat on the grass, saying, "It could take hours before it's over, and pacing around won't solve anything. We'd better just sit down and stay calm so we can react better if something comes up."
"You're right," Lloyd said, sitting beside him. "My feet were beginning to feel sore."
Hyogo followed, and as he did, Izumi asked him, "How did you know what was going on if she didn't make any sound?"
"I was wondering that too," Lloyd added.
"I don't know. I guess I just felt it," he replied.
"Felt what?" Izumi asked.
"I don't know how to describe it," he said. "Like a change in the air. Something just suddenly felt wrong."
"That gut feeling, huh?" Izumi said. "I guess it makes sense."
"All in all, the timing of it is much better now than it would have been during the festival," Lloyd said.
"You're right," Izumi said. "But it would've been even better if it happened when we stopped them and the threat to the town was gone."
"It's pretty confident of you to assume that would be the case," Lloyd said.
"Aren't we doing this in the first place because we are confident?" Izumi replied. "We have to be. Now a new life is on the line, and we have to give it a fighting chance."
"It's the least we can do."
Looking ahead, Lloyd said, "Things will definitely change whether we win or not. If we do succeed in exposing them, then the shrine which everyone in the town revered will lose its credibility, and it will heavily impact the social balance of the town."
"Some arguments here and there are meaningless as long as they're all alive," Izumi said as he stared into his palm. "But I am curious to see how it will look. So we have to get there."
At that point in the day, it was noon, and the sun's rays were shining bright as they pierced through the cloud-filled sky.
The three of them sat there, at times chatting idly, at times staying completely silent, but they always had their sights set on the door, waiting for the sound of it sliding open and the news it would bring.
And so they sat there until the last of the sun's rays vanished past the horizon and the chilling winds of the winter night set in.
That was when it slid open, and Miyuki stepped out. They all shot to their feet at once and rushed to her.
They watched with bated breath as she wiped the sweat off her brow. When she did, she looked up with a faint smile.
"She's okay?" Hyogo asked.
"She is," Miyuki replied, "and so are the babies."
"Babies?" they all asked, confused.
"It's better you come in and see for yourself," she said, leading them in.
Once inside, they saw Kanami sitting against the wall, with Ayako and Ririsa standing beside her and two wailing babies in her arms.
She was smiling, but tears were flowing freely from her eyes as she tried to calm them down. The wailing ceased as they cuddled closer to her, falling sound asleep.
From where they stood in front of the door, they couldn't help but smile too as all the tension they had held throughout the day faded.
They slid the door shut behind them and walked away in quiet steps back outside of the house.