But the silence didn't last long. Nyoko looked up and said.

  "Look how beautiful he is… He looks exactly like me!"

  She smiled playfully and stuck out her tongue at her husband, who was quite certain that a few strands of his hair had turned gray from the sheer stress he'd gone through for her.

  And now, here she was , showing him that radiant face that erased everything he'd felt, and finally made him laugh.

  He reached out and pinched her cheek gently.

  "You're never going to grow up, are you? Even now that you're a mom!"

  "Oh… oh… oh!"

  Nyoko feigned protest at his affectionate attack, but their sweet, joyful moment was soon interrupted by the entrance of a nurse through the main door.

  The couple turned toward her.

  She stood there in her pink uniform , indicating she worked in the infant care unit.

  And then, the couple knew it was time to say goodbye to their baby… for a little while.

  Nyoko hugged the child tightly and planted a kiss on his forehead, as if missing him already, though he hadn't even left her arms.

  She whispered softly in his ear.

  "Goodbye… Haruki."

  Nagisa's eyes widened when he heard the name, and a wide smile spread across his face; Haruki had always been one of his favorite names , for the beautiful meaning it carried.

  He sat beside her and kissed Haruki's forehead too, then whispered with a tender voice.

  "Goodbye, little man."

  Nagisa's voice held a deep love for the baby boy, especially as he already bore such a striking resemblance to Nyoko: her face, her hair color , even when he first opened his eyes to see the strange world around him, their color perfectly matched his mother's.

  Nyoko handed the baby to the nurse with extreme care, as if handing over a piece of her soul.

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  "Thank you."

  Nyoko said quietly.

  "No need to thank me."

  When the nurse replied, Nagisa felt that her voice was strangely familiar… but he couldn't recall where he had heard it before.

  Still, he quickly pushed the thought aside and focused his attention on Nyoko

  . He wrapped his arms around her in a loose embrace, careful not to cause her any pain.

  "You're going to be the best mother humanity has ever seen."

  Nagisa whispered these words into Nyoko's ear, then buried his face in her neck, drowning in a moment of indescribable love.

  But the couple didn't get to bask in their joy for long, only a few seconds passed before the doctor overseeing Neoko's condition entered the room.

  He was an elderly man, thin, with white hair, wearing medical glasses.

  He held a stack of papers in one hand, and a blue ink pen stuck out from his coat pocket.

  He politely asked for permission to speak, his face serious and professional, then said in a low voice.

  "Mr. Nagisa, I need you in my office. It's urgent."

  A wave of tension suddenly swept over the room, as if time itself had frozen.

  Nagisa gently unwrapped his arms from Nyoko and stood up slowly, then asked.

  "What is it? Is something wrong?"

  The doctor nodded without speaking and gestured toward the door, signaling that he wanted to speak in private.

  Nagisa cast one last glance at Nyoko, as if to say with his eyes, "Don't worry. I'll be back."

  Then he followed the doctor quietly, walking behind him through the long, silent hospital corridors.

  They reached a brown door bearing the doctor's name.

  The doctor grabbed the handle, turned it, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

  Nagisa followed immediately and gently closed the door behind him.

  The doctor was already seated on his leather chair behind a cluttered wooden desk, and behind him stood a large bookshelf filled with files and medical books.

  He motioned for Nagisa to sit, and Nagisa took the seat opposite him, his hands starting to sweat from the tension, and the tips of his feet growing cold.

  He could read the doctor's expression clearly… Something bad was about to be said.

  The doctor took a deep breath, looked straight into Nagisa's eyes, and said in a serious tone.

  "I want you to know before anything else… this wasn't in our hands. It's a medical condition, quite a rare one."

  The blood froze in Nagisa's veins. It felt like the air had vanished from the room.

  He swallowed a heavy lump forming in his throat and stammered, his voice trembling with fear.

  "What…what are you saying, Doctor? Is Haruki okay? Is he… healthy?"

  The doctor let out a long sigh, as if preparing himself for the weight of what he was about to say.

  "Haruki is perfectly healthy… this isn't about him."

  That sentence hit Nagisa like lightning.

  His heart trembled in his chest, and a shiver ran from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, paralyzing him with fear.

  His shoulders slumped, and his face turned blank, like a stone statue, unable to react.

  Then his lips moved slowly, and he asked in a whisper, as if afraid to hear the answer.

  "Nyoko…?"