Gift —Embryologist: Connecting Lives— Episode 8 〖The Finger Pointing at the Full Moon, July 11, 2025, Part 1〗 #CreativeAward2025
Three months have passed since the day of Moe Kashiki's intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Finally, Moe's physical condition has stabilized, and her endometrium is in a state ready to receive an embryo. The embryo transfer has been scheduled for July 14th.
On a Friday evening, with the transfer just after the weekend, Mine was walking with Kobayashi through the connecting corridor leading to the Obstetrics and Gynecology laboratory of the medical school. To get from the hospital to the medical school's research building, one must follow a bizarrely complex route.
“I’m glad you’re here, Kobayashi. I might not look it, but I have a severe sense of direction.”
“Yes. I realized that quite quickly after watching you, Ms. Moburo.”
“Eh? Was it that obvious?”
“Well, you’re always getting lost even inside the hospital, aren’t you?”
“Well, I’ve at least mastered the third floor where the Reproductive Center is.”
Kobayashi rolled his eyes as if exasperated. Today, there is a conference at the Obstetrics and Gynecology laboratory. Mine and Kobayashi were requested to attend the conference as embryologists. Opening the automatic doors and climbing up and down narrow, old stairs, they stepped deeper into the medical school research building.
“Still, Ms. Moburo, aren’t you nervous? Giving a presentation in front of a swarm of doctors?”
“I haven’t spent all these years for nothing, you know. I went to graduate school in the Faculty of Science before re-enrolling in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the medical school, so I’ve been a student for a long time. In my student days, I lived a life of summarizing and presenting research papers every week and reporting on the progress of experiments, right? If you spend a total of ten years as a student, you eventually get used to it. Used to having your heart broken by relentless criticism from seniors and professors.”
“Ms. Moburo. That’s not something to brag about.”
“Oh. Well then, think about it. Compared to the pressure of performing ICSI with difficult eggs, it’s nothing.”
“In the first place, you can’t compare a conference presentation with the pressure of ICSI. You’re just making excuses, aren’t you? You’re not confident about today’s presentation, are you?”
I flinched and stopped in my tracks. I tried to laugh awkwardly to dispel the tension, but it had no effect. When we reached the conference room of the laboratory, Mine and Kobayashi sat in the pipe chairs at the back near the entrance. The room was filled with doctors in white coats, and medical jargon was flying around. Indeed, it was filled with a tense atmosphere completely different from the lab.
The front row of the conference room was occupied by young doctors. I could see the resident, Mari Yoshida. Unlike when she is joking around with the nurse, Sugimori, her serious expression radiated intelligence. The lights went out, and slides were projected onto a large screen. A young doctor acting as the moderator took the microphone and announced the start of the conference.
Once a few presentations were finished, the moderator looked toward the back of the room.
“Professor, what do you think?”
The microphone was passed to the person sitting in the back row. It was the professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sonomi Watarai. Watarai wore a crisp, wrinkle-free white coat over a tweed jacket that looked high-quality at a glance. Her hair was curled symmetrically over her shoulders. Her way of speaking was calm, intelligent, and full of dignity. Female doctors of Watarai’s generation must have taken it for granted that they were at a disadvantage just for being women. Watarai must have overcome considerable adversity to climb to the position of professor.
“Actually, do they really do professor rounds like in the dramas?”
“Shh!”
I nudged Kobayashi with my elbow as he whispered excitedly, and I looked down at the cheat sheet in my hand. The tension was rising.
“Next, from the Reproductive Center, Mine Moburo will speak on the importance of environmental management from the perspective of an embryologist.”
I was called. As I stood up, I straightened my back, approached the screen, took the microphone, and held the laser pointer.
＊
“Good work. That was a good presentation.”
The conference ended, and I could hear the footsteps of doctors leaving the room while discussing. As I sat in my chair, dazed and looking up at the ceiling, Kawase, smiling, entered my field of vision.
“Eh! Oh! Dr. Kawase. I apologize. I was just spacing out.”
“It’s fine. You did well.”
I had completely forgotten that Kawase, who is a doctor, was attending the conference.
“We’re having a barbecue party at the medical office later. Motai-san, Kobayashi-kun, would you like to join us? We have seafood as well as meat. The costs are being covered by the seniors of the Medical School Obstetrics and Gynecology Alumni Association. In other words, it’s free.”
“No, but...”
“We’ll go! Thank you very much!”
Kobayashi raised his hand enthusiastically from behind the hesitant Mione.
“Wait... Kobayashi-kun.”
“Great. Then, I’ll be waiting in the space next to the main entrance of the medical school in thirty minutes.”
Kawase waved cheerfully and disappeared behind the laboratory door. The “Biohazard” mark stuck to the door looked somewhat ominous. Beyond that door was another world, one that Mione and Kobayashi could not fathom.
“Motai-san, what’s wrong?”
I realized it when Kobayashi called out to me. I had been staring at the laboratory door unconsciously.
The barbecue party was, to put it mildly, very luxurious. There were five barbecue grills, and on the tables next to each grill, packs of high-quality marbled beef were stacked high. Thick slices of skirt steak and beef tongue, as well as scallops and oysters in their shells, were sizzling as they cooked over the charcoal fire. Mione and Kobayashi exchanged glances involuntarily. Their stomachs growled.
“This is the best.”
Kobayashi, sitting on a blue picnic sheet, muttered while holding a paper plate. He dipped a large, well-grilled piece of beef tongue into the yakiniku sauce, picked it up with his chopsticks, and stuffed it into his mouth. Perhaps because it was so delicious, he closed his eyes and chewed the meat slowly. I was worried he might get sauce on his white coat.
“It really is the best.”
Following Kobayashi’s lead, Mione also raised her voice in admiration. She drizzled lemon juice and pepper over a large, piping-hot steamed rock oyster and swallowed it in one go. The scent of the sea that spread throughout her mouth was irresistibly sweet. Just as she stood up, thinking of eating a scallop in its shell with butter and soy sauce next, a small hand tapped her back. When she turned around, a little girl holding an insect cage was standing in front of her.
“Chrysalis, see?”
The girl was wearing a light blue dress over gray leggings. She stood firmly on the picnic sheet with a look of complete confidence, looked at Mione and Kobayashi alternately, and grinned.
“Hey. Chrysalis, see?”
It was cute that she still pronounced “see” as “see-you.” Inside the insect cage were a tree branch with leaves and a green chrysalis clinging to a leaf. It seemed the girl wanted to surprise Mione and make her react by saying, “Gross!” However, Mione was not a frail girl who was afraid of insects.
“This is a Great Purple Emperor chrysalis, isn’t it? It’s a beautiful color, just like a leaf! Where did you catch it?”
“Daddy caught it on the mountain.”
“I see! A very beautiful butterfly will come out of this green chrysalis, you know.”
The girl’s eyes widened and sparkled. She hugged the insect cage with both hands, stared at the chrysalis, and let out a sigh of wonder. When Mione looked next to her, Kobayashi was trembling. Kobayashi was extremely bad with insects.
“Motai-san, are you okay with bugs?”
“Well, yeah. I didn’t go to the Faculty of Science’s Department of Biology for nothing. In the biology department, there are reptiles, tapeworms, and cockroaches, too.”
Kobayashi screamed and shuddered. He almost spilled his yakiniku sauce. The girl, who had been following the exchange between Mione and Kobayashi with her round eyes, grabbed Mione’s white coat with her left hand.
“Hey, big sister. When does the chrysalis become a butterfly?”
“It’s the middle of July now, so maybe in about two weeks.”
“Is two weeks tomorrow?”
“Two weeks is, well, way after tomorrow. Today’s moon is perfectly round, but once it becomes perfectly round, the moon gradually gets thinner. The day the moon disappears beautifully is two weeks from now.”
“Hmm.”
“Was that too hard?”
“I get it. Moon, see.”
The little girl gently placed the insect cage on the picnic sheet, nodded with a serious expression, and looked up at the evening sky. She is a smart child.
“What is your name?”
Kobayashi knelt on the sheet to meet the girl’s eyes. It was a natural movement. His eyes were gentle. That’s right. Kobayashi loved children. He had even been torn between becoming an embryologist or a nursery teacher.
“I’m Teru.”
“Teru-chan? That’s a lovely name. How old are you, Teru-chan?”
“Three years old!”
Teru held up four fingers, stared at her hand, and then corrected them to three.
“And what about your big sister and big brother?”
“I’m Amane.”
“I’m Yusuke.”
A sun-like smile spread across Teru’s face.
“Amane-chan! Yusuke-kun!”
Teru pointed at Amane and Kobayashi in turn and giggled. Teru’s short bobbed hair swayed in the evening breeze. Small children are adorable. This child, too, was once just a single fertilized egg.
“Hey, Teru-chan. Are your mom or dad here?”
Just as a worried Amane was about to touch Teru’s shoulder, footsteps were heard from behind.
>> Episode 9 〖The Finger Pointing at the Full Moon, July 11, 2025, Part 2〗