The faint hum of the city outside barely registered in Yuki's ears as she sat curled up on the couch in their shared apartment. The cozy space she and Aki had called home for the past two years was quiet, save for the occasional creak of the old wood floor or the muffled voices of neighbors passing by in the hallway. Normally, the calm would have soothed her, but today, her mind was anything but quiet.
A wave of nausea swept over her again, the latest in a string of episodes that had left her feeling drained for the past week. At first, she thought it was just stress or something she'd eaten, but the bouts of queasiness, paired with the other changes she'd noticed in her body, had begun to plant a seed of suspicion in her mind.
She had mentioned it casually to Aki, and, ever attentive and protective, he'd insisted on going out to the pharmacy to get her something to help. He'd left in a hurry, his concern etched on his face, and now Yuki found herself alone with her thoughts.
