Chapter 10 Battle for the House

Back in the kitchen, the girls were dismayed at the conversation they could overhear. Miia could fell her heart breaking in her chest.

"No!" She wailed. "After all this, his parents will take him away from me!"

"How can they feel this way?" Mero asked. "How can they not love us after what we said about their son?"

"Hate is not something anyone can control," Cerea lamented. "I fear our efforts will be for naught."

Suu wanted to say something to her friends, but as she looked at Miia's eyes, she saw a darkness that terrified her. "M-Miia? Are you okay?"

"No," Miia whispered. "No. I have come too far to lose my darling now. We cannot let this happen!"

"Miia, we cannot fight the Master of this house," Cerea argued. "His will is the law of the land."

"He isn't my Master," Papi said defiantly. "I don't love him!"

"Death has no Master," Lala droned.

"Honey can't hope to tame me, man as he is," Rachnera agreed. "This boy has no chance of bossing me around."

"I won't let them take Darling away!" Miia insisted. "I'll fight them off with my bare hands if I have to!"

"We cannot!" Cerea said. "We must try to change their minds about us?"

"How will we do that?" Mero asked. "They will leave us tonight!"

Cerea took a deep breath. What she was about to suggest was treason against a lord. But it would be worth it for her Master.

"Then we do not let them leave."

…

"Son, wake up. It's time to go!"

Kimihito opened his eyes to his mother and father standing over his bed. He yawned and grabbed his packed suitcase. He couldn't bear to leave his girls behind defenseless, but he couldn't go against his father.

Slowly, the family opened the door and crept down the stairs. None of the girls were waiting for them and all the doors were locked. Even Lala was nowhere to be seen, and she hardly slept at all. It seemed like they were going to make it.

Haruto reached for the door, but the doorknob was stuck in its position. As he pulled his hand back, he felt something sticky covering his hands. His mouth dropped open in horror at the spider webbing between his fingers.

"Going somewhere?" Rachnee revealed herself to be perched just above the door, wearing her trademark sadistic smirk.

"H-Haruto?" Hana whimpered. "It's a s-s-s-spider!"

"Easy dear," Haruto said. "Just head for the back door."

They turned around to see Cerea, Suu, and Papi blocking the exit to the back. "I apologize," Cerea said. "But we cannot let you leave."

"You're not stopping me!" Haruto turned to the side door through the kitchen, but Lala, Miia, and Mero were there waiting.

"Nope!" Miia said happily.

Hana shrank back behind her husband in fear as Haruto stepped forward. "You have no right to keep me from leaving my house!"

"And you have no right to make us leave," Cerea said. "Your son loves us and let us live here. Only he can make us leave."

"This is not his house!" Haruto said. "I say what goes on here, not him!"

"Then let's put it to a vote," Rachnera said. "Who votes we leave?"

Haruto and Hana raised their hands instantly, but Kimihito kept his to his side.

"And all opposed?" The girls raised their hands. Kimihito felt his parents stare at him, waiting for him to say something. Slowly, he raised his hand up with the girls.

"Then it's settled," Miia said. "Why don't we talk in the kitchen, like adults?"

With no other choice, the humans dropped their luggage and followed the girls to the kitchen with Rachnee blocking the rear.

…

The girls sat at the table, facing the humans. Kimihito was dragged to the middle of the girls' side, stuck between Suu and Miia. Hana tried to keep her son by her side, but Rachnee was too strong.

"So, how shall we begin?" Miia asked. "Shall we introduce ourselves?"

"Ms. Smith emailed us the files," Haruto said. "I know who you all are."

"Then you know we are noble representatives of our homelands," Cerea said. "And that we are the ideal partners to our Master."

"Why do you keep calling him that?" Hana asked. "It's extremely creepy."

"She doesn't mean anything dirty," Kimihito said. "They just have pet names for me."

"Oh, trust me, Honey can be VERY dirty," Rachnee purred.

Hana squirmed in her seat as her husband muttered something under his breath.

"Rachnee, PLEASE no more sex talk in front of my parents," Kimihito pleaded.

"Oh, alright," Rachnee sighed. "Prudes."

"We merely wish to show you that we can be the ideal houseguests," Mero said. "And we will share our love with our Beloved as best we can."

"My son is a sex addict," Hana muttered. "My son is a sex addict."

"Mom, please!" Kimihito shouted. Sitting beside his girls was making him more assertive and confidant. "This isn't just about sex! I love all of them! I wouldn't have agreed to marriage if I didn't love them!"

"And what about the rest?" Haruto asked. "What will you do? Keep six girlfriends with your wife? Can you trust seven monsters to live together like a sorority?"

Now Kimihito was getting angry. "Stop calling them that, Dad. They are people."

"They are female, yes, but they aren't human," Haruto said. "How can you trust them? How will you live your life?"

He leaned across the table to face his son, who was stewing with rage. "Stop insulting them, Dad!"

"What makes you think they care for you? They just barge into our house and expect to be welcome without informing me or your mother! What if all they want is a foolish boy to satisfy them? Is that what you want? A life of debauchery and sex?"

Kimihito leapt out of his seat. "If that's what they want, then yes! I will happily live that life if it makes them happy, because it makes ME happy! I love them, do you understand! I love them!"

The whole table stared in shock at Kimihito's outburst, especially his parents. They had never seen their son this angry in their entire life, even after everything they said to him.

Kimihito took a deep breath and regained his composure. "I know it's unconventional, and that you didn't plan this for me. I didn't have this planned either. But you don't choose who you love."

He turned to face the women. "This was never about just making a point about rights to Liminals or the chance to live every man's dream of a harem. Each of these girls give me something I've never had: the confidence to be myself. I see myself in each of them, and they all bring out something in me that I never knew I had before. If I could, I would take every on of them as my wife, but the law doesn't work that way."

He sat back down to face his father with his hands folded. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you and Mom, but I'm not sorry this happened. This is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I will fight to keep these girls in my life. I don't need your permission and I don't need the government's. We are a family now."

Kimihito took another breath and drove the point home. "And as far as I'm concerned, we're already married. All of us."

The girls blushed at their husband's speech. Hana looked down at her hands in shame, unwilling to look the girls in the eye. Haruto sat with his mouth open at his son until he managed to close it and speak with some minor difficulty. "This…this is how you truly feel?"

"Yes, Dad," Kimihito said.

Haruto scanned the women before him. This was uncharted territory for him. His son had never even had a girlfriend before. "I need some time to think, son. Why don't we pick this up later and get some sleep?"

Kimihito smiled. It was a start. "Thanks, Dad. That sounds good."

Miia stretched and went for the cupboard. "Does anyone need a midnight snack? My treat!"

"I can already smell the smoke," Cerea said.

Papi smelled the air. "Hey, I smell it too!"

Intense light blazed from the front yard. The trees were doused in flame as Jonathan slowly walked to the front door with his makeshift flamethrower in hand.

"It's Jonathan!" Kimihito said. "He found us!"

"Who?" Haruto asked.

"He's with Sparta, a group of extremist monster slayers," Cerea explained. "He's been trying to kill us."

"He what?!" Hana asked. "How many times have you almost died?!"

"To my room!" Mero ordered. "It has a pool! We will be safe!"

The family rushed upstairs to Mero's room just as Jonathan kicked the door in. Kimihito ushered everyone inside, but stopped as the last person came in.

"Son, what are you doing?" Haruto asked.

Kimihito swallowed. "Girls, take care of my parents. I'll distract him so you can get out."

"Darling, no!" Miia said. "You'll die!"

"Go, now," Kimihito said. He closed the door and propped a broom against it to keep the girls inside. This fight was between him and Jonathan, even if it meant his death. He steeled himself and went back down the stairs to face him.

Jonathan was waiting with his flamethrower aimed at the boy. Kimihito stood still, eyeing the fire extinguisher. "You're not hurting them tonight."

"Brave of you, boy," Jonathan spat. "Facing down your doom. Shame you couldn't be on our side."

"I will never be a murderer," Kimihito said. "I will fight Sparta until they are destroyed and Liminals are free to live like the people they are."

Jonathan toyed with the knobs on his handle. "Fitting words. It's never gonna happen, and you're about to die."

He pulled the flamethrower up and was about to spray Kimihito when Papi flew overhead and grabbed it in her claws. Jonathan tried to wrestle it back, but his foot was stuck in a large green slime. Suu kept him rooted to the floor.

Kimihito seized his chance and raced forward to punch Jonathan in the gut. Unfortunately, he recovered too fast and knocked Kimihito back before scaring Suu and Papi away with blasts of flame. He aimed back to Kimihito and blew a stream of fire.

Something large and black blocked his path, absorbing all the fire. Lala stood still as a statue, unharmed by the fire. Before he could act, Jonathan felt pulled back by spider webs from the ceiling. Rachnee worked him like a puppet, throwing his body around the kitchen into the walls, but it did not stop him. With his free hand, Jonathan grabbed a knife at his side and cut the webs away.

He looked up to throw the knife at the spider, but a sword knocked it from his hands. Cerea pointed the blade towards his throat, bravely facing him down. She failed to notice the end of his flamethrower still pointed at her legs. Jonathan smiled and pressed the trigger, but only a hissing sound came out. He looked down to see Mero holding a bucket of water to the barrel.

Jonathan looked up in anger. "You think this will beat me? We are Sparta! We will never bow to-!"

A frying pan bounced off his head, knocking him unconscious. Miia twirled the utensil in her hand like a baton. "Idiot."

The girls ran to help Kimihito to his feet, showering him with hugs and kisses.

"You're so stupid!" Papi said.

"You could have died!" Miia cried.

Kimihito hugged them all and smiled. "Like I said, I'll fight to the end."

Hana and Haruto looked on from the top of the stairs. Haruto was already calling the police.

"Are you okay?" Hana asked. "Is anyone hurt?"

"I feel cold," Lala said. Nobody had the heart to point out how little of her dress remained from the fire.

…

Police cars lined the street, assessing the damage Jonathan caused. Ms. Smith also arrived to help the family, scanning them for wounds.

"Glad Jonathan is gone," Smith said. "We've been looking for him for ages. He'll be getting extradited back to his homeland of America. Turns out he's been involved with some pretty nasty Sparta knock-offs there, and plenty of American Liminals have dibs on him."

"Nice to know you care more about that," Haruto spat. "Look at my house."

"Oh, the Program will have that fixed tomorrow," Smith said. "But that will be the last bit of help I can offer for a while."

"What do you mean?" Kimihito asked.

"I'm being suspended pending an investigation," Smith said. "Your dad's call has placed my work into question. MON will still help you and the city, but they'll be under limited jurisdiction, so they'll primarily be stopping by to check on you all."

Kimihito didn't like her, but he didn't feel she deserved this. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Smith asked. "I just got a free vacation! I needed the extra time to myself! Anyway, get some rest and give me a call. I love our talks!"

Smith walked away with a merry spring in her step. Kimihito shook his head. That woman would always be a mystery to him.

"You all were willing to sacrifice yourselves for him," Haruto said to the girls. "That man could've have killed you all, and you still tried to stop him and save my son."

"And you!" Hana grabbed her son's head in her hands. "You almost died! Are you crazy?!"

"Yes," Kimihito said. "Love does that."

Hana found herself smiling. She kissed her boy's forehead and held him close. "I raised such a brave boy."

The family watched Jonathan be loaded into a large metal box and be thrown into a truck. Once all the police had left, they headed back into the house.

Haruto looked at the girls in shame. "So, I owe you all an extensive apology. But first, I need to sleep for at least a week."

"We promise we will be more accepting," Hana said. "Shall we start over tomorrow?"

The girls all answered. "Yes."

They all walked back to their rooms, ready for a good night's sleep. Miia stopped by Kimihito's room and slithered towards it, giggling to herself. "If I'm quiet, Darling's Mom and Dad will never know."

Hana stuck her head outside the door. "Don't even think about it."

…

Jonathan came to in a lot of pain and in a dark, tight space. The air was thick and he couldn't find out where he was. His flamethrower was gone and he knew that Kimihito and those freaks were alive. Maybe Sparta would come and save him.

He heard something outside rattle. The lid of the chest opened to reveal three stunningly beautiful women. Two were Native American while the other was a blond in a cowgirl outfit. He must have been shipped back to the United States.

He smiled and climbed to his knees. "Oh, thanks you girls! Thank you, thank you, th-!"

He stopped at the sight of the girls' feet. They were blue and decaying, like the undead. The toenails were curved, reminding him of deer hooves. Looking back up, he noticed the girls had lustful gazes, and their smiles showed off their sharp teeth.

The cowgirl spoke with a heavy Southern accent. "He's got a real purty mouth. I bet he can make me squeal like a pig."

Jonathan's gaze finally focused on the sign hanging on a tree behind the girls' heads.

Wendigo Reservation

I was torn between using Wendigos or Wampus Cats for the American Liminals Jonathan would meet. I settled on Wendigos because this universe has enough cat girls and I wanted to do something different.

It also just felt like it fit better with the Deliverance reference.