Monster Musume: Papi's Flight

…..

I don't own the Monster Musume franchise in any way. Wish I did.

….

Now, be warned: I may have played a bit fast and loose with the sequence of events. If so, so be it. I've done worse. I bet you have, too.

….

Papi's Flight

Midnight at the Kurusu household: a window opened on the second story. There were no lights within; the streetlights outside were the only lights, the only ones to show a slender figure step off the windowsill, and, silent as a ghost, spread wings and soar off into the night.

Perhaps not completely silent. Ghosts don't usually sob.

…

"Darling? You're already up?" Miia was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, yawning. Centorea, Rachnee, Suu, Mero, and Papi had yet to join them. "I was going to cook breakfast for you!"

That's why I got up early, thought Kimihito. He loved Miia dearly—actually, he loved them all—but his stomach could only take so much. "Well, today I treat you and the others." He pointed to several more pots on the stove: one especially large one for Cerea (the phrase, "eats like a horse" came to mind; he quickly banished it; Cerea wasn't a horse), one for Miia (her favorite: eggs), one for Papi (scrambled eggs; he already had the eggs out, and Papi ate pretty much anything you put before her), one for Mero (fish). Suu, of course, could eat anything that didn't try to eat her first, and a few things that did. But he had to avoid the coffee for Rachnera. A drunk Rachnee was a defcon stage alert. "Besides, the way things have been going, I figured I may as well fix some for-*"

"Good morning, darling-kun," said a familiar voice, "Mm. Something smells absolutely delicious." Ms. Smith, their liaison with the Interspecies Cultural Exchange Bureau walked, unannounced, through the front door, causing Kimihito to wonder if she'd been waiting outside all night. Nah, he thought. Probably just her usual timing. Without asking, she took a seat at the table. None of them were surprised; Kuroko Smith had such a consistent habit of intruding into their lives that, by now, they would have been surprised if she hadn't. "Hope I didn't surprise anybody," she said in her mellifluous tone of voice.

"As a matter of fact," segued Kimihito seamlessly, "I was just about to mention you. Won't you have a seat, Smith-san?"

The others straggled downstairs, Rachnee rubbing her eyes—all eight of them; a process which took a bit longer than for those species blessed with only two—while Suu slid down the balcony. Rachnee was carrying Mero in an improvised saddle on her back, the mermaid being unable to navigate outside of water.

"Where's Papi?" asked Suu, looking around for her best friend and playmate.

"She's probably not up yet," responded Kimihito. "You know, she's usually a late riser." The others nodded as they dug into their chow.

"No," said Suu, a worried expression on her face. The tendril on the top of her head wavered back and forth. "Papi's not here."

"I know, Suu, I'll just save hers, and she can eat it when she gets-*"

"No," said Suu, her worried expression increasing, "Papi's not here. Not in Master's house." Her main head tendril quivered as she sought out the harpy's aura. "Papi's gone."

"Oh, god," said Kimihito and Smith simultaneously. Papi had run off without supervision so often Smith no longer even bothered to file the reports. There wasn't any point; the harpy would just run off again. They all realized that Papi's brain just wasn't capable of remembering such things as the importance of not venturing out without supervision. "She's probably out playing with the neighborhood kids again." I'm sure the older boys, in particular, are glad to see her coming, thought Kimihito. Papi, Miss "No Boundaries" herself, was a hugger par excellence, and the boys never complained about being pressed up against her breasts. Well, I guess if I were their age, I wouldn't, either, he thought.

But he worried. For one thing, it wasn't like Papi to miss a meal, no matter what she had planned for the day, and also, it hadn't been that long since she'd laid her egg. He wasn't sure if she was completely alright, medically; humans sometimes experience odd aftereffects upon giving birth, but… "Suu, go upstairs and see if you can find her. She probably just ran off to play again." The slime girl readily acknowledged, and immediately slid back up the staircase. Kimihito shook his head; some things you just never got used to.

"Well, darling-kun," said Ms. Smith, holding out her cup for more coffee, "this is an historic first: Papi, missing a meal?"

"You're right; it is." Why did that thought fill him with dread, all of a sudden?

"Master!" Suu bounced down from the second story to the first with a splat. As was usually the case, it did her no harm. She was clutching a small piece of paper. "Master! Papi's run away!"

"Yeah, Suu, we kn-*"

"No! Left! For good!" And she showed them the scrap of paper, where large letters spelled out:

"Masster I Am leeving gott to go Sory don't try to ffind me Im Sory Love yoo always Papi."

All of a sudden, none of them had any appetite any longer.

….

"We've got to find her." Kuroko Smith was more serious than they'd ever seen her. "Papi's an innocent. Out there all alone…"

"We'll find her," said Kimihito. "Suu? Can you scan Papi's room, see if there's any trace of anyone else there?"

"You're thinking she might have been kidnapped?" Smith's eyebrow rose above her dark glasses.

"I want to rule it out. But for the record, no, I don't think she was."

"Why not?"

He produced the letter, and the others crowded around him. "See how large those letters are? Papi can't hold a pencil very well, so she has to use big strokes."

"But darling…why would she leave like this?" Miia, for all her jealousy, still felt a kinship with the childlike harpy. She'd been the second liminal to join their household…

"I don't know. Smith-san? Do harpies have anything like, like post-partum depression, or similar problems?"

"Hm. I hadn't thought of that. No, to the best of my knowledge, they don't. I mean, they're egg layers…their biology isn't conducive to such things. At least, I don't think so." She was rubbing her chin, thoughtfully.

"But Papi's just recently had that egg…and there was that bastard Kasegi…" His eyes widened. "Suu. Quick, go check Papi's snacks. Can you analyze 'em, see if…they've been tampered with?"

"What are you thinking, honey?" Rachnee's left sided eyebrows rose almost as much as Smith's.

"I'm wondering if that bastard didn't leave her a little something."

…..

The harpy known as Papi couldn't possibly be more miserable.

How could she ever have thought she'd ever have a chance for Master's hand in marriage? Her? No chest, couldn't even get dressed by herself or hold her own ice cream.

And he'd been so good to her, helping her give "birth" to her egg. She remembered him behind her, coaxing her, massaging her just when and where she needed it the most. And how did she repay him? Always eating, eating, eating. Yeah, so her metabolism required a lot of food, but had she done ANYthing to help out with the bills?

No. Just a freeloader, that's all she was. She wasn't worthy to be called his sister, even, though she still wasn't too clear on the difference between "sister" and "wife." One, she thought, was a different kind of relationship, but she wasn't sure. Here, she'd actually dared to think he'd lower himself to fertilize her next egg. She must've been crazy.

Maybe it was time to go back home. Yes, that would be the best thing to do. Back home to mom, to the harpy nest she'd left. She could see now why the harpies had been so reluctant to join in on the Interspecies thing. It just wasn't gonna work out, at least not for her-*

"Well, hello there, little lady," said a slimy voice next to her. She jumped; it was that phony director, Kasegi. How had she let him slip up on her?

"What do you want?" She edged away.

"I think a better question would be, what do YOU want?" He slid onto the bench beside her. "Here you are out, again, without your host human. Are you trying to get deported?"

"No. Yes. Maybe. Oh, I don't know. Maybe I should be." Such was her misery that she didn't bother to hide it from this clearly untrustworthy human. But she slid over, away from him. Just being near him seemed to soil her, somehow.

He noticed. "Okay, look. I admit it. I…let my…enthusiasm get the better of me, okay? I was in the wrong. It was wrong of me to, to force my way into your household, and, and do what I did. Your boyfriend was right to punch me right in the chops. I deserved it."

"You certainly did. You were gonna sell my egg!"

He was nodding. "Yes, yes I was. I was blinded by the sheer amount of money it would bring. But…" and here he spread his hands in a show of sincerity, "all that's in the past. I'm sorry. I'll never do it again. Okay? Can we let bygones be bygones? Besides, I don't think you came out here to play with the local children, did you? You look more like you're running away."

Sniffle. "Yes, I am. Let them catch me and deflower me, or whatever it was they were gonna do. I, I deserve it. I'm no good to anybody." She couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face.

He appeared to think for a minute. Then, "Look. Come on with me. You're clearly in no shape to be by yourself, not right now. I'll feed you, even. There's a sale on at the local hardware store: birdseed by the pound."

"I couldn't eat a bite."

"Sure you can. You're a harpy; you eat your weight in food in a day. Now come on. You can at least let me buy you lunch. It's the least I can do, considering. Please?" Something about him was just irresistible.

…

"Darling, why are we here?" Miia and Cerea had accompanied Kimihito to the fountain where they'd first encountered Papi.

"Because of what Suu found in her room. That rat bastard drugged her snacks while we weren't looking. According to Smith-san, those compounds can produce feelings of depression in harpies. So I'm thinking she'd come back here, to the place where she first met us. It makes sense."

"But, milord, how could Papi, of all people, remember to come here? You know her brain resets with every third step." Cerea had her sword out, but worry furrowed her face.

"Yeah, but harpies are like humans in one respect: depressed people have better memories than non-depressed people. Anyway, she has to have some memory, otherwise, she couldn't function at all. I'm betting she remembered this place, perhaps remembered it fondly. And if she was feeling depressed…" He turned to Miia. "Can you follow her thermal trail?" Lamias, like snakes, could sense heat and heat impressions.

"I…I think so. Oh, it looks like she got in someone's car!"

"I bet I know whose."

…..

Rachnee's cell rang. "Rachnee? Does Kasegi have any hideouts, besides the ones where you were?"

Rachnee was with Smith-san and the MON team. "Yeah, he's got one on the south side of town. Why? Do you think…?"

"I'm thinking it might be a good idea to check it out."

…..

The MON team, led by Ms. Smith, had taken the directions to Kasegi's hideout. "Now, Kimihito…" Smith was more serious than she'd ever been. "Promise me you and the girls won't go all gangbusters on this. This is what we're here for, what the unit was designed for. And I've got to go with them to make the actual collar, since liminals can't do that, legally, according to the terms of the treaty. And your group is mostly-percent liminals. So, I need you and the others to stand back on this one. Clear?"

"Of course, Smith-san." Kimihito nodded.

After they'd left, Rachnee sidled up to him. "You agreed to that a little too readily, honey."

"Did I?"

…..

Earlier: Kasegi carried the limp body of the harpy into his new hideout. It was one he'd just purchased; he knew damn well that bitch Rachnera would have ratted him out to the authorities, so he had this one on the side.

Papi's body was lightweight enough that he could carry her with one arm. Hollow bones, he thought. Just like a bird. But not a bird. Something much more valuable.

He placed her drugged body into the framework he'd cobbled together: an "X" shaped frame that would hold her limbs apart. It wouldn't be very comfortable for her when she came to, but so what.

Now to prepare the other framework…

…

Miia slipped soundlessly out of the Kurusu household. Everyone was sleeping, even Darling. This was a perfect opportunity.

She'd rescue Papi all by herself. Although Papi was, technically, a rival for Darling's hand, the fact that she'd single-handedly rescued the birdbrain from her captor would cement her relationship with Darling. Now he would have to choose her!

She hadn't lied about losing Papi's trail earlier. But she could trace a vehicle's heat trail also. It was a lot more confusing, what with all the congestion of motor cars on the roads, but, with effort, she could trace an individual vehicle. It took longer, however, and it was getting close to daylight when she found the end of the trail.

The trail had led her to a nondescript warehouse on the edge of town. There were no lights, nor could her senses anything out of the ordinary. It appeared to be abandoned; she couldn't sense any heat signatures from within. That was troublesome; she ought to be able to pick up on Papi's heat sig, at least.

Well, no matter.

She charged, smashing in the doorway with her lower serpentine part, holding her upper half in reserve for more refined forms of combat, looking left and right for the harpy…

…and the net pulled up around her, just as it was supposed to do.

…

Earlier: "You agreed to Smith-san's orders a bit too easily, snookums," said Rachnee. "So come clean. What's on your mind?"

Kimihito shrugged, his face blank. "Now, Rachnee, what could possibly make you think I had something up my sleeve?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you always have had in the past? And maybe…" and here her voice dropped in pitch, becoming even more sultry, "maybe because you go Berserker Mode whenever one of us is threatened? Especially, I've noticed, a certain one."

"Really? I do that?"

…

The present: "Let me go!" Miia thrashed in the net, but it clung securely to her. Strong as she was, she couldn't break the lines.

"Oh, I'll let you go, my dear. Just not right yet." Kasegi had set up his equipment, both his camera, lights, and…one other piece of equipment which, if it did what it was supposed to do, would be well worth the yen it cost.

Miia could see Papi, stretched out in the framework, seemingly unconscious. Miia's heat senses told her the harpy wasn't dead, thank the gods…just out of it. "What did you do to her, you kuso yaro?" (*bastard)

"My, such language. It isn't very ladylike, but then, you're no lady, are you? You're a thing, just like your little friend here. A very valuable thing, however…just like your little friend over there. Don't worry; she's fine. Just a simple application of a potent tranquilizer. I've done my homework, and I know which ones work the best, especially on monsters like you."

"The term in liminals, creep!"

"You're monsters. You…and this winged…creature. There are no males in your species, so what do you do? You kidnap human men. And what then? A great party? Sure. For you. But for those men? Calling it 'non-consensual sex' sounds sooo much better than rape, now doesn't it?"

"It's not like that!"

"Oh? Then what's it like? Oh, I know, lamias have that chemical incense, but it's still rape. If a man did that to a woman, wouldn't he spend time in prison? So tell me, Ms. Lamia, Ms. Monster, how is it different?

"And can you honestly say that you have never tried to…force yourself upon your human boyfriend, your 'darling'? I heard you even dislocated his shoulder once. Tell me, if the sexes were reversed, how could that not be a crime?"

Miia struggled, but couldn't begin to break the net. "Oh, don't bother. That net is specifically designed to hold you. Yes. Hold you safe and snug…until I'm done with you."

"What are you going to do with us?"

"I think that should be obvious.

"Think. If an unfertilized harpy egg goes for millions, how much would a fertilized one go for?

He went over and patted an ominous looking machine. "And, while we're at it, how much would a fertilized lamia egg go for?"

…..

"We cannot simply sit by while one of our number is in captivity!" Cerea was not shouting, but her voice was very intense, and carried. "We must do something!"

"They're gone!" Suu slid down the staircase, her yellow raincoat flopping about her.

"Who? Who's gone, Suu?"

"Miia! And, and Master!"

…..

"Awright, who we gotta shoot fulla holes this time?" Zombina was restless, as usual, all the more keyed up because the villain was apparently a human who'd targeted a liminal. Those just set her off.

"No, Zombina." Agent Smith made a chopping motion with her hand. "You and the others are in reserve. Our perp is human, which means I've gotta do it. But you and Tio—and the others—need to keep ready. There's nothing that says this creep hasn't hired some muscle, maybe Orcs. And, even if he hasn't…" She didn't finish the statement. The perp might be "only human," but that didn't stop him from using lethal force: guns, landmines, other lethal traps and weapons. She might need the MON team to subdue him, though, one on one, she was confident of her own abilities. In spite of her demeanor, Kuroko Smith was a highly trained government agent, well versed in hand to hand combat.

But a little backup never hurt.

Now to find the creep.

….

"So…what are you going to do to us?" Miia was more scared than she'd ever been. This human didn't even see her as a person, but only a monster, a thing…

…a thing, perhaps, to be used?

"Nothing nature didn't design you for. I'm simply going to use my little friend here to inseminate the both of you. Your eggs will bring quite a pretty yen on the black market." He made a few more adjustments to the device, and swiveled it around to face Miia. "Since you're awake, I'll do you first. It'll be more fun that way." The netting she was in suddenly tightened, forcing her onto an elongated framework she hadn't noticed, holding her perfectly still in a most awkward pose. "A little payback for all those men you stole. Fitting, isn't it, that you, a daughter of rape, should be first, wouldn't you say? Then your friend." Papi groaned, beginning to come to. "Perhaps she'll be awake by then." The machine whined ominously, and a robotic arm emerged, tipped with what looked embarrassingly like a male organ. "If you like," he continued, as the device rolled on treadmills towards her, "you can close your eyes and call it 'darling'…"

The door crashed in. "Nay, varlet! Unhand our comrades!" shouted Centorea, brandishing her sword. Her real weapons, though, were her four metal-shod feet.

"Oh, please." He touched a control, and another net sprang up between them, trapping the centaur. Suu, however, slid through it, leaving her raincoat behind. There was a menacing expression on her face.

"Now, now, you don't want to harm me. Besides…" he touched another control, and Cerea cried out as electricity shot through the net…"you wouldn't want anything to happen to your friend, now, would you?" Suu hesitated, an expression of concern on her face.

"They're not the ones you have to worry about, bastard!" Kasegi whirled around, just in time to see Kimihito's fist on a collision course with his face. Oh, not ag-* What seemed like a detonation in front of his face flung him across the room, where he lay senseless on the floor.

"Darling!" Miia cried out. The insemination machine was getting a little too close to her private parts…

Kimihito grabbed the bulky contrivance, lifting it completely off the ground. The others stared; the machine must weigh at least eight hundred pounds. He threw it completely across the warehouse, hurling it against the wall. It smashed apart into a hundred pieces, amid a shower of electrical discharges and small explosions.

…

"But how did you find us?" Miia asked Smith.

"We didn't, actually." She gestured up. "We followed her. Come on down, Rachnera."

The spider woman dropped out of the sky, her webbing suspending her against the wall of the warehouse. "I guess I have to work on my stealth," she muttered.

"You might start by not leaving webbing all over town, leading right to you." She turned to Miia. "And, of course, Rachnera was following Cerea." She gestured to the centaur. "I thought we asked you girls not to get involved in this."

"Verily, two of our own were endangered. Would you have sat idly by and let the scoundrel have his way with them?"

"That's not the point, but…oh, never mind." Smith obviously had something bigger on her mind. "Tio?" She addressed the ogre, who had just come up, from where the others were finishing their sweep. "Anything?"

"A few more easily disarmed traps, sir. But we found a supply of chemicals, many tailored to liminal biology. Not all of them mere tranquilizers, either." Her face twisted. "Monako is currently going over his computer files. But it looks like Kasegi wasn't operating alone."

"I was afraid of this." Smith turned back to the others. "You didn't hear this from me, but…there are, well, shall we say, resistance groups scattered across the globe, apparently dedicated to waging war upon all liminals." Miia and the others gasped. They knew not all humans accepted them, but war?

And Miia remembered Kasegi's words: daughter of rape. Did some people really see them that way?

It seemed some did.

Suu brought a still-groggy Papi over to the bench, and Kimihito joined them there, sitting between Miia and the distraught harpy.

Papi leaned against his shoulder, crying. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Master! I've caused you so much-*"

"Stop right there," he said, putting his arms around her. "It wasn't your fault. That bastard poisoned your food. None of this was you, Papi. So, sh. It's alright." He pulled her a little closer. "Me, I'm just glad I got my little sister back, alive and unharmed."

Little sister…she wrapped her wings around him. He'd never know just how much those simple words meant to her. She cried a little more, but not tears of sorrow. They'd given her drugs to counteract the sedatives Kasegi had injected her with, but the others were unknown. They'd keep her monitored, but Smith was of the opinion that it might be best just to let them wear off on their own. Fortunately, with the harpy's naturally rapid metabolism, that shouldn't be long.

He turned to Miia. Miia's face was burning; all her carefully—make that carelessly—laid plans of rescue and heroism had been for naught. Now Darling would see her as the completely useless, and even troublemaking liminal she was. She'd be lucky if he let her stay. After all, what good was she?

Her fingers found the necklace he'd given her, one of her most prized possessions. She hoped he didn't want it back, but he probably would, and she would, sorrowfully, relinquish it. She made a move to unsnap it…

But he pulled her close, put his face near her ear, and said, in a voice too low for the others to hear, "I'm especially glad I got you back, Miia. Especially you."

Both her ears shot skyward, her eyes widened, and her hearts started beating faster than they ever had. The emphasis had been quite clear. "Huh? D-Darling, are you saying…?"

He turned to Cerea, Suu, and Rachnee. "I'm glad you're all safe." To Smith: "Please tell me that bastard won't get off with a warning, this time." The government agent had, as usual, arrived just in time to see nothing ("What? I didn't actually see anybody hit anybody! Destruction of property? Oh, I guess I must've been looking at something else…{wink, wink}").

"Oh, no. He's facing several serious charges: kidnapping, assault with intent to harm, aggravated sexual assault—you know, technically, Papi's an adult, but maybe if I juggle the books just right…maybe sexual assault of a minor…no promises, though—endangering others, conspiracy to harm, and with all those illegal liminal-based drugs, possibly possession of weapons of mass destruction, with intent to distribute…and all these against liminals, too. The terms of the Treaty are most clear on that. Oh, he's going away for a while, don't worry." She dropped her glasses a bit, looking over the tops of them at Kimihito. "I'm more worried about you, darling-kun."

"What? I didn't hurt myself this time." The first time he'd thrown a punch, in Miia's defense, against the "douchebag twosome," as he and the others had come to call them, he'd done more damage to himself than to the ones he'd punched. Smith had laughed about that for a week.

"Nooo…it's not that. It's…something I need to talk to you about." She looked at the others. "In private?"

Cerea, Rachnera, Suu, and Miia looked at each other. Then, in unison, they resolutely crossed their arms and glared back at the government agent. For once, her intimidating presence wasn't working.

She sighed. "Well, okay. Perhaps it's something the lot of you should hear, anyway." She turned to Kimihito, on whose arm Papi was still clinging, wiping her tears on his sleeve. "You remember, back when you got sick? We took extensive samples, tests, to make sure the virus didn't cross species, result in a pandemic among liminals?"

"Yeah. You must've gotten a gallon of my blood."

"Well, the reason we needed so much…" She struggled momentarily with herself. "The reason was…we found something…odd…in your genetic makeup."

"'Odd'? What do you mean, 'odd'?"

"A couple of chromosomes that…didn't correspond to the norm. We haven't been able to identify them, but they don't match anything we have on record. That is, anything…well, anything human."

Dead silence. Then he asked, "So…you're saying I'm not human?"

"Oh, you're human, alright. In…most ways. All the ways that count, I mean. But…there is something else in you. Something…a bit strange. It could…" she hesitated, "It could be a recessive gene from…well, from some liminal strain."

"So I'm a liminal?"

"No! That's not what I'm saying! But look…twice, no, make that three times now, when…someone you care deeply about…" and here she glanced at Miia, who didn't notice, her rapturous gaze still fixed on her Darling… "you've gotten extremely angry, you've displayed pretty impressive strength for a man of your size and build. I mean, knocking two people completely out with one punch? Slamming a grown man clear across the room? And just now: you lifted a machine that outweighed you by a factor of at least four, and hurled it across a warehouse. I know, adrenaline surge could explain some of that…but not all.

"If there is a liminal in your ancestry, it would have to be a pretty strong one." All eyes turned to Tio, who blushed. "Don't look at me! I don't know of anything like that in my family!"

"It needn't be an ogre," continued Smith-san. "There are liminals whom we haven't made contact with, yet. Some of them are even stronger than ogres. But…what concerns us—no, make that concerns me—the most is the distinct possibility—which is very slight, let me hasten to add—that it may not be a liminal strain at all."

"What?" said a puzzled Monako, just then bringing the computer files they'd collected. "If it's not a liminal, what could it be?"

Smith didn't say anything, but just glanced skyward. Skyward at the stars overhead.

"Oh, come on," Kimihito said, breaking the shocked silence. "Me, a space alien?"

"Well, there have been reports of humans being taken aboard what appear to be nonterrestrial space craft, and subjected to, er, some rather invasive tests, shall we say? And remember, your upcoming marriage to one of your…houseguests…is basically an ahem attempt to see if liminals can integrate into society well enough that female-only species will no longer have need of kidnapping men to propagate their species.

"It's not beyond belief to think someone's beaten us to the punch, er, no pun intended.

"BUT," she said, including the others in her words, "All that's sheer conjecture at this point. All we know right now is, Kimihito has an extra kink in his DNA, and seems to go crazy strong whenever his loved one-Ehrm—make that loved ones—are threatened. And all that could be explained in some perfectly logical way.

"So…more tests are in order." Kimihito groaned.

…..

Later, as they were heading home, Kimihito noticed Miia's downcast expression. "Miia, what's wrong? Is it this genome thing?"

"No, no, Darling, it's nothing at all like that. It's…it's what that man said." She paused, trying to frame the words right. 'H-he said I was a 'daughter of rape.' That, that hurt, Darling…especially because, because, in a way, it's true." This last said in a whisper only he could hear. She knew that he knew about the lamias' custom of kidnapping a human male to be passed around among all the fertile females in the tribe. True, they had that incense that made a man super horny, but still…was that any better than a man slipping a "little something extra" into a woman's drink?

He turned to her. The MON truck was backing up; the liminals could take it back, most of them being too large to fit in the car. Smith-san had offered him a lift back, in the car with the MON girls. "Miia, I don't care what that son of a bitch said or meant. You're a person to me, and furthermore, you're a girl. So you come from a culture that's different from ours. So? It's not like you asked for that. All cultures are different in some ways." He looked up. Ms. Smith was bringing the car around. "Hey, loverboy!" said Zombina from the back, "C'mon! I've saved you a seat right by me!"

"Ahem." Smith used her "business" voice. "Mr. Kurusu will be sitting by me." Zombina made a disappointed grimace, and sat back with her arms crossed.

Kimihito turned to Miia. "Well, looks like I gotta go. But Miia, I just want you to remember one thing, okay?"

She looked up at him, as he embraced her once again and drew her close. He put his mouth close to her ear. "OUR daughter WON'T be the product of rape. Just remember that." And then he was gone, getting into the passenger side of Smith's car, leaving a completely flabbergasted Miia standing by the side of the road, mouth open, watching him disappear into the distance. After a while, she began to smile.

The End.