Monsters 4
Summary: Hermione fought to protect her friends. She would do anything to give Harry victory and to save their friends from the Dark Lord's reign. She did not know the price she had to pay for protecting her loved ones. She stopped feeling emotions and, ultimately, stopped being human. But what are monsters and what are humans? Can she still find happiness with what she's been given?
A/N: A series of non-chronological shorts inspired by The Creature's Cookbook: Diary of a Humanitarian by Simon Alkenmayer but I took some liberty in changing things. I also borrowed elements from Golden Bowl (2002), which of course has my favorite Takeshi Kaneshiro as its lead actor.
I would like to thank pianomouse, LeonaMasha, Vulca and LtheWolf for their kind reviews. :) Please remember that Shu is, first and foremost, a monster who eats human. Its kind is the source of all those we imagine and fear. But like a coin, there are two sides to it.
Routine
The alarm buzzed. The creature ignored it, drowning out the deafening noise by covering its ears. It tightened its grasp on the pillow it was cuddling to when the warm pillow groaned. The creature nuzzled its nose into the warm pillow, while the pillow blinked her eyes opened. "Shu, wake up, we'll both be late for work," said the familiar voice of the "pillow.
Said pillow fell asleep in his apartment after they got home really late and had not even been able to eat dinner as she fell asleep the moment she sat on his couch out of exhaustion and the lateness of the hour.
"Five more minutes, Hermione." The creature groaned using its weight to pin down the struggling pillow. "It's your fault we stayed up late at the bowling alley." The pillow complained struggling to get out from her position and dragging the creature up from bed and into the restroom.
The creatures eyes blinked and started its daily routine of brushing its teeth before putting on its veneers and washing its face. Hermione was right beside it, making do with the small space of its apartment, when hers is right next door.
Breakfast was a rush, Hermione was toasting bread while the creature was frying some human meat to put on its bread. Hermione squeezed her oranges while waiting for the breads to toast while the creature seasoned the meat perfectly. Hermione wrinkled her nose in gag reflex, knowing that the nice smell coming from the creature's frying pan was once a living person.
Hermione is supposed to report for work in Wizarding Tokyo. Since she is trying to lessen her magical trace at home, she had neither a floo nor a permanent portkey in her house. Thus, whenever she needs to get to work, she would take the morning train with the creature.
As usual during rush hours, the train was croweded and Shu used its large frame to shield Hermione from people pressing down on them. They stood face to face with Hermione's back to a wall as Shu had loosely had one arm protectively around Hermione while his other hand held on to a rail to steady them.
The philosopher's stone altered Hermione's physiology to remain static as it was when it was first bonded to her system. Thus, in reality she is still very much a teenager, both in body and reaction.
Human emotions may seem slowly ebbing away but not all emotions or feelings would, her reaction at the proximity of a very attractive man-like creature is still that of a teenage girl. Her heart beats slightly faster and her face flushed despite the routine this had become for them. Shu, a predator whose sensory abilities are beyond those of its prey knew of this and fought the overwhelming urge to kiss its friend.
After the first stop, the train jolted a bit and came to a screeching halt with the conductor apologizing in the background. Shu's grasp on Hermione tightened a bit and Hermione had to hold on to Shu so she won't go out of balance.
Beside them, a group of teenaged girls wearing school uniforms giggled. "That couple looks so sweet…" said one girl. "I want to have a boyfriend like that, too." Gushed another girl.
Shu leaned closer to Hermione so he could whisper in her ear. "Those girls would cook well in a hot pot. Especially that plump one." He said appreciatively. "I thought you said you only eat those who won't be missed and are of danger to society." Hermione reproached slightly. Shu shrugged. "Yes, but it doesn't hurt to appreciate food every now and then." Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head at his comment and he laughed.
Shu and Hermione met up at the groceries after work. It was a weekly habit, Shu liked doing its shopping on once a week, preferably on a weekday to avoid the weekend crowd. Hermione, as usual, has a list while the creature plans to just wing it.
Hermione had not had much time for childhood back in England, but she is certainly making up for it. The creature made sure of that. Thus, it has become part of their grocery shopping routine for Hermione to ride the bottom bar at the bottom of the cart (Shu tried to make her ride the cart but the employees at the grocery store asked him not to put Hermione in it as she is not a baby or toddler).
She and the creature made a game of her calling out the items from the list and Shu would run to the aisle to get it and run back in time to catch the cart before it sped off. This had been the second time they've done it.
'Of course that game was a bad idea.' Hermione mused after she fell onto a new obstacle of pyramid of noodles packets and twisted her ankle.
Shu offered to carry her on its back on their way home to the apartment complex. The creature supported her on its back as she carried the two plastic bags of groceries.
The creature came to a curious conclusion. It squeezed both of her ass cheeks alternately to verify its initial hypothesis. "Hey! Stop doing that." Hermione complained as it did so. "You have uneven butt cheeks." The creature concluded in a serious tone. "Just don't touch my arse." Hermione complained again.
"I can't, you'll fall down if I don't support it." The creature replied with seriously but with a hint of mirth in its tone. It squeezed her ass again. Hermione reacted by trying to get the creature out of balance by wriggling and moving in different directions.
"Stop doing that! We'll both fall." Shu protested. Hermione just laughed. "If you don't stop doing that, I'll tell the whole world that your ass is lopsided." The creature teased. "You wouldn't!" Hermione protested but still continued trying to tip both of them out of balance.
"Hermione's ass is lopsided!" Shu shouted to the night in their densely populated street. Hermione was protesting and wriggling with all her might that the creature was forced to run in zigzags just to compensate for the lack of balance.
As soon as they got home, Shu started munching on some meat jerky as it prepared to cook dinner for both of them. He had Hermione's leg propped up on the sofa. Shu talked about its day while Hermione discussed her progress with her research and how her research in a charm anchored aging glamour is coming along.
Shu ate its dinner faster than usual as it knew it had to attend the tenants' meeting and it insisted that Hermione stay and rest, despite its usual apprehension of attending what it calls "the wives' club" alone and without Hermione's feminine protection. The creature plied her with freshly popped popcorn to watch her movie with as it attends the meeting.
Most of those who attend the tenants' meeting are housewives and despite the lack of verbal or even any kind of confirmation, believes that Hermione and Shu are in a relationship and are practically living together.
The meeting ended up without anyone paying attention to its agenda while the association turned its sights on Shu, asking him how old he and his girlfriend was, what their plans are and if they can be of any help to their wedding arrangements. Shu was overwhelmed with their questions and the moment the clock indicated the end of the meeting, it practically ran back home.
Most of the time, whenever Hermione falls asleep while watching a movie with it, the creature would just carry her to share its bed. It likes having her beside itself at night, even during those nights it didn't need to sleep.
Of course, it has a key to Hermione's apartment but it really didn't like carrying her all the way to her house when it can have her beside him for the rest of the night. Unlike most nights when it would tuck her in its bed and it would go in the covers with her for the rest of the night, it just kissed Hermione's forehead and bid her good night as it decided to think over certain things in the comfort of its living room.
The creature paced back and forth in its living room. It had already purchased a nice house not far away from this apartment. It has small yard where Hermione can garden and where it can drink its tea while staring at the greenery. It's an old fashioned Japanese home with a lot of character and it is just a station away from here.
Convincing Hermione to live with it is not really that difficult since the creature agrees with "the wives club" that they practically live together. What are they really? The creature knew it felt displeasure when other men or even women gets too close to its Hermione and even admits to jealousy, as it guards its territory jealously, seeing Hermione as a practical extension of itself. Why it feels this way, it doesn't really know. It also feels protective of her, wants to take care of her and wants to make her feel happy.
The creature also knows that Hermione feels protective and at one instance had seen her a bit jealous when it came to a pretty ex-girlfriend.
Maybe it isn't love as it sees in movies or read in stories. But for two unique creatures such as them, maybe it's the nearest they have. The creature looked at the diamond ring it purchased, it was classy, beautiful and, of course, expensive. It sought the help of some officemates to purchase this ring, asking for specifications on what a girl might like.
It really didn't know if Hermione would at all agree to marry itself, given she can have any man she could want. But it knows that it can be with Hermione for a very long time, far longer than any human. Hermione might turn it down, but it knows that at least this ring would look good on Hermione's ring finger and it plans on giving it to her no matter what she says.