Never let it be said that monster girls had small appetites.
It quickly became evident that there would be no leftovers. Papi devoured anything put in front of her, and at some points the rest of us had to make sure she wasn't inhaling more pizza than she was air. By comparison, Miia was pretty tame, though she eagerly dived into the pizza after tasting it for the first time. Centorea seemed to enjoy it too, slowly but steadily cleaning out over half the veggie pizza on her own.
By the time we'd finished, Papi groaned and leaned back into her seat, rubbing her enlarged tummy. "Papi no hungry anymore…" she whined.
"So I take it you guys like pizza?" I asked, somewhat rhetorically.
They chorused their approval, although Papi failed to make it as emphatic as she would've liked.
"It was great!" Miia said, delightfully swaying her tail as she smiled. "I had no idea humans could make this kind of food!"
"Indeed," Centorea nodded, "Such a versatile dish, with enough diversity for all tastes!"
"You should be on one of those food judge shows," I chuckled.
She smiled and laughed lightly, waving a hand as if to dismiss what I'd said. "Oh, I could never do something like that. I don't do well in the spotlight."
I shrugged. "I can sympathize with that." I checked the time; it was 8:30. I had no way of knowing exactly when the girls would start to feel the full moon's effects. Was it something that gradually wore away at their inhibitions until they couldn't hold back anymore or did it just click on the instant at midnight?
Actually, why not just ask them? Wait, maybe if they thought about it, then they'd be more susceptible to it, or maybe…
Ugh. Since when did cockblocking Kuruso become my job?
"Are you okay, Romance Master?" Miia asked, "You look… frustrated."
Well, I had good reason to, but regardless I cleared my head before responding. "Sorry, just got lost in thought. Anyway, you guys wanna do anything else while we're out?"
It was a transparent attempt to keep them from the house, and at least Miia and Centorea saw through it. Whether Papi would have or not was a toss-up, but the point was moot since the petite harpy was clearly going into a food coma.
"Well… I was actually curious about something," Miia started, shyly tapping her fingers. "About the advice…"
I suppose this was inevitable, wasn't it?
"Before you start," I interrupted, raising a hand for her to pause. "Could we take this outside? I think Papi would feel better in the cooler air."
Miia and Centorea nodded, and as they got up I gently nudged our smallest companion's shoulder. "Hey, Papi? Can you get up at all?"
"Uguu~" was all I got back. A no, then.
Sighing loudly, and hoping that I hadn't accidently poisoned her in some obscure way unique to her species, I slid out of the booth through the other side. I sat down at the edge of her side with my back to her and tugged at her wing, doing my best to avoid tugging at the feathers.
"Come on, Papi, mosey on over," I softly spoke to her. "Time for a piggyback ride."
Papi mumbled something, but otherwise scooted over to me without issue and slowly wrapped her arms around my neck. It was an odd sensation, feeling her feathers brush up against my clothes, but it wasn't anything to complain about.. When she moved her legs so that they were dangling off either side of me, I tenderly reached beneath them to hoist her up, careful not to move too quickly. Her head rested against the small of my back as I rose.
Holy crap, she was ridiculously light, even as full as she was. It was more of a shock for me since I wasn't exactly what you'd call rippling with muscle. I mean, I knew that she was hollow-boned so she could fly, but it was totally different feeling it for myself. Not for the first time, I found myself utterly fascinated by her unique physiology; how could a species roughly the same size and shape as a human develop hollow bones in the first place? How could Papi show ridiculous amounts of physical strength yet be so light?
A giggle interrupted my train of thought. I looked up to see Miia and Centorea looking at us with smiles on their faces.
"What's so funny?" I asked defensively, shifting my arms slightly to keep them from sliding.
"It is just that you looked so natural, caring for Papi like that, Janai-sama," Centorea noted. "We did not expect such tenderness from you."
"Oh," I eloquently responded, before shrugging. "Just my old big brother instinct kicking in, I guess. I got a little sister back home, but it's been a while since I've had to do anything like this."
Miia giggled again, and the sight made me thankful; it looked like her anxiety, for however briefly, had been forgotten. "You two look really cute!"
"Yeah, yeah, just don't get any funny ideas," I grumbled, already making my way out of the restaurant.
The waitress who had served us asked me if Papi was all right, and I assured her that she was fine, just a little tuckered out. Miia paid the bill since my hands were full, and once that was handled we walked out into the night. Sure enough, the full moon was high and bright in the night sky, lighting up the whole world beneath its pale glow.
I suppressed a shiver and idly directed us toward the park. A short while was spent in silence, since there were still people about and I figured the girls would want some privacy when we talked. It didn't take long to find someplace somewhat secluded in the park, a bench illuminated by a solitary streetlamp.
I gently lay Papi on the bench, a little surprised by how careful I was being with her. It wasn't like she was deathly ill or anything; she just had an upset stomach was all. Maybe I was overreacting.
Her amber eyes blinked rapidly at me when I sat her down, and she giggled. "That was goochy! Thanks!"
The smile came to my face before I even realized it. I probably was overreacting, but the harpy was growing on me. I knew she wasn't a child at all and far from innocent in certain aspects, but I suppose I couldn't help myself. I preferred this kind of relationship to the alternative, at any rate.
"No problem," I replied, plopping down next to her with a sigh. "You feeling better?"
"Mm!" Papi started to nod vigorously, but she winced and clutched her stomach. Still, she kept her smile. "Kinda!"
"Just take it easy, then. We'll be here for a while." I hoped. Briefly glancing at the looming full moon to check if it was still there (spoiler alert: it was), I looked at my lamia and centaur companions. Miia was biting her lip and tugging at the hem of her shirt, her knuckles going white. Centorea was doing a better job of hiding it, but if her fidgeting legs and swinging tail were any indication, then she was starting to feel its effects, too. Papi had the benefit of being distracted by her stomach ache, which in hindsight was a godsend since I highly doubted my ability to keep a horny harpy from simply flying away, but the other two had no such luxury.
I couldn't imagine what it'd be like, having something like the moon have such a significant effect on my mind. Losing my self-control didn't exactly appeal to me. Thank god I was only technically a liminal.
"Well, let's hear it," I offered, patting the empty seat next to me. Miia nervously slithered over and sat down, refusing to look me in the eye. Centorea stayed where she stood facing us, a towering blonde wall of barely-suppressed restraint.
"I, um…" Miia breathed, wriggling where she sat. "It's kinda funny." She smiled sadly. "I can't remember what I was going to ask!"
"The moon's making it hard to think, isn't it?" I asked. She nodded slowly. If she or Centorea weren't going to prompt something, it looked the task was to me. So I cut to the chase and told them, "I know what he'll tell you all tomorrow."
That got their attention. But not in the way I'd intended.
Gk! Can't… breathe!
Before I could even blink, I found myself experiencing something all too familiar to my first night here. Namely, getting the fucking life choked out of me.
"TELL ME NOW!" Miia shouted right in my ears as she tightened her grip on my entire body. As an answer, I did my best impression of a wheezing, dying turtle. What few parts of me that were free flapped uselessly as I desperately tried to escape…
"Unhand him at once!" Centorea roared, managing to pry her fingers in the gaps and pushed with all her might, allow me to frantically inhale precious gulps of oxygen. "We will learn nothing if you kill him beforehand!"
I liked to think it was only because of the moon that she valued my information more than my life.
"God damn it," I muttered, every breath a labor. "Why am I even fucking doing this?"
Centorea and Miia, who'd previously been in a heated argument, went silent. Huh, I must've said that louder than I intended. I probably would've cared, in a normal situation.
"O-Oh no, I d-did it again," Miia whimpered, her coils slowly unwinding around me and retreating. "I'm so sorry…"
That must've been the magic word, because something in me snapped.
"Do you guys have any idea how lucky you are?!" I asked, finding it more and more difficult to hold back on the vitriol.
I didn't wait for them to answer.
"Kuruso's a goddamn saint," I continued, dropping honorifics because, fuck it, I was pissed. "Frankly I have no idea how he does what he does. Having three foreign exchange students that can easily crush him dumped on his doorstep, cooking for them, caring for them, getting pummeled by them while they're trying to fuck him all the fucking time, all with a smile on his fucking face!"
For an absurd moment, I wondered if I was getting so enraged because of the full moon. The thought actually sobered me a little bit, as the idea of something like that dictating my actions repulsed me. I stopped, and saw what my words had done: hit home, and hard.
Miia and Centorea looked utterly ashamed, staring down at the ground and utterly still. Even Papi, who'd unsurprisingly paid attention to the shouting match, seemed at a loss for words. Fuck, I… rarely ever got that angry. I guess it was triggered by almost killed. Again. No, actually, I knew exactly what it was.
I hated harems. I hated the idea of them, I hated that they even existed. It was such a bullshit fantasy that reduced girls to sexual objects blindly craving one bland dumbass who never knew how good he had it.
I took a deep breath. I couldn't afford to ramble now, not with the girls like this. I needed to clean the mess I made.
"And yet… and yet… he still sees the good in all three of you."
I had no idea what I was doing.
I paused for a moment, mulling over what to say next. "He cares about you all so much, that the idea that he has to make you unhappy at all panics him. He loves your passion, Miia. He loves your playfulness, Papi. And he loves your chivalry, Centorea. I couldn't even begin to list everything else, if only because I don't know you as well as he does."
A deep, shaky breath. I licked my drying lips. "So please… don't let this marriage bullshit make you risk that. Because I'm telling you, if you go to him as you are now, it will end horribly. Wouldn't you rather be with him on your own terms instead of while the moon is messing with your feelings?"
Was that it? … No. One more thing.
"He'll come to you, if he loves you. If it's meant to be." I finished firmly. "It's not the end of the world, okay? Your lives will go on, regardless of what'll happen, and that's what matters most."
There. I couldn't bring myself to say anything else.
The girls said nothing. I would've thought that one of them would've argued with me, most likely Miia, yet all of their energy seemed utterly drained. Each one looked completely downcast, and the sight made my heart sink. I must've gone overboard, I thought bitterly. Go me.
When the silence stretched for a bit longer than I would've liked, I let out a long sigh and stood up. "We should head home," I declared as I stretched my back. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm sick of today."
Something soft grabbed my wrist. I turned to see Miia looking at me, her golden eyes almost luminescent in the moonlight.
"I'm sorry."
Despite the atmosphere, I smiled slightly. "Apology accepted," I told her, and she let go. I kneeled in front of Papi so that I could look her in the eyes. "Hey, wanna ride?" I offered.
"You're… you're not gonna yell again, are you?" she asked.
"Nah," I shook my head, "Yelling's not that fun."
In response, Papi smiled and reached out with her wings. "Yay!"
I hoisted her up and Miia joined us. Centorea lingered as we began to walk away and I called after her. "Hey, you coming with us?"
It was then I noticed her hands were balled into trembling fists, but I elected not to say anything. Nothing more could be gained from pushing things further tonight. After a pregnant pause, she finally uttered, "Yes."
The remaining trip was silent. We reached the house to find all the lights out. Kuruso was probably asleep, or at the very least taking shelter in his room. Centorea made for her room without saying goodnight, while Miia and I went upstairs, Papi in tow.
The lamia lingered by his doorway, giving it a longing gaze before moving away. I was about to take Papi to her room when I was stopped by a soft "Wait."
Miia took a deep breath and looked right at me. "I love him. I'm not… I'm not justtrying to have sex with him. I really do love him."
Why was she telling me this?
I was too tired to wonder too much about it, so I simply nodded and told her "I believe you."
She nodded in turn and left with a "Goodnight." I slowly shambled to Papi's room, feeling more exhausted with each step. Unsurprisingly, her place was a cluttered mess, and it took some careful maneuvering around discarded clothes and various unmentionables for me to reach her nest-like bed.
Papi happily fell into the plush cushions, giggling as she nuzzled her pillow. "Today was fun," she murmured, so softly that I almost didn't catch it. Had she already forgotten what I'd said? I looked her over, saw the contentment on her youthful face and her earnest amber eyes looking back at me, and knew that wasn't the case.
"All of it?" I found myself asking.
"Mm," she mused, shifting in her bed. "Nope. I don't like seeing Boss sad, or big brother sad, or even Miia and Cerea sad. But still," Papi flashed me a smile. "It was a good day!"
I laughed a little, not really believing the girl's spirit. "Yeah, maybe it was. Goodnight, Papi."
"Goodnight, big brother!"
Somehow, I ended up in my own bed after that. As I sank into the sheets and sleep overcame me, one realization popped to mind.
"Wait… big brother?"
