Playing videogames with the girls reminded me of something crucial that I'd been missing since I started living at the Kurusu household: a personal laptop. I've become a lot more extroverted ever since going through college and I was honestly starting to enjoy the company of the girls and Kurusu, but there was always that desire to just spend some time alone in my room, and a laptop was key to that. The various books on the CEB we had could only provide so much entertainment, after all.

So I made a quick call to Smith and asked her if a laptop was covered under living expenses so long as I used it for "work purposes". She hastily replied that it shouldn't be a problem and then quickly hung up, much to my surprise. Usually she'd at least throw in a jab or two, but then again I might've caught her at a bad time. Well, so long as I got my answer.

I finished ordering one on my smartphone with the specs I wanted when I heard a polite cough directly above me. I titled my head up from where I was laying on the couch to see a certain blonde centaur almost hovering over me. "Oh, hey Centorea," I greeted, "What's up?"

"Hello, Janai-sama," she greeted in turn. Despite her formal tone, she was fidgeting where she stood and didn't look me in the eyes. "Perhaps… we could discuss that matter now?"

Ah, well at least I didn't have to hunt her down about the issue. The strange sense of awkwardness that hung over our interactions was starting to get pretty bothersome.

I nodded and pushed myself. "Sure. Wanna walk and talk? I was planning on running to the game store and check out what they had since our collection's a little sparse."

There was a flicker of excitement on Centorea's noble features, her long ears quirking slightly. I'd hoped that would reach through to her and cut some of the tension. "That would be agreeable," she answered, clearly restraining herself.

"Cool. Kurusu-san!" I shouted in the general direction of where I assumed he was.

"Yeah?" Sure enough, he was in the kitchen.

"Centorea and I are running out," I informed him as we made our way to leave, "I'm taking the card."

"Sounds good, but try to be back for lunch!" Kurusu called after us.

"Yes, mom," I replied drolly, and at that we left. It was a beautiful day, with a cool breeze that kept the heat at bay and the birds chirping in the sky, which made it perfect for spending it indoors shopping for videogames. For a while none of us said anything, with Centorea's clopping hooves echoing off the pavement being the only sound she made. Thankfully, she was the one to break the ice.

"Janai-sama, I must admit," Centorea started, prompting me to tilt my head in her direction as we kept walking. "What you said the other night… struck a bit closer to home than I would have liked."

No shit. Saying that might've been a bit insensitive, though, so I simply nodded in acknowledgment. "How so?" I asked.

"I… that is, centaurs, have been struggling with a decreased birth rate over the past few generations," she explained, in a tone that seemed forcefully clinical. "It is not exactly something that is advertised to humans, but those working with the Cultural Exchange by necessity are aware of the matter. Have you heard of it?"

Ah, right, I recalled correctly… "It has something to do with the females being unhappy with the males, right?" I supplied, thinking it over more before expanding on it, "The men tend to be pretty simple-minded and only focus on becoming stronger, which is pretty much turning off the women."

Centorea nodded, clearly pleased that she didn't have to explain too much. The subject must've been uncomfortable for her. "It is so. As a result, we've been turning to less… vulgar males to mate with to better suit our tastes. Since our children are always centaurs regardless of the father's species, we believed this to be an acceptable solution to both issues."

"But the centaur men took issue," I said, reaching to the logical conclusion.

"Them, and a… vocal minority of women," Centorea grimaced, and I knew her thoughts were likely turning to her mother. "But not for the reasons you would suspect. The men care not who we desired, so long as we produced strong centaurs, but to them the only way a strong centaur child can be produced is by two 'pure' centaurs breeding."

"Right, gotta keep up the bloodline strong, all that jazz." This was nothing I didn't know already. I was getting a little tired of hearing it all, but I knew Centorea almost never did anything without a good reason, so I let her keep going. She'd get to the point soon enough.

"Yes, 'all that jazz'," she confirmed gravely. "To appease them, a compromise of sorts was put in place."

"The teasers," I said, and Centorea gave me an appraising look. Clearly she hadn't expected me to know the term. "I did a lot of reading on your species when Smith-san told me who I'd be living with," I explained. "You don't strike me as the type of girl who'd want that kind of relationship."

"I do not!" Centorea answered vehemently, raising her voice in such a way that caused passers-by to stare at us. They already were anyway, since even now centaurs weren't exactly a common sight, but only now did Centorea seem self-conscious about it. She cleared her throat and folded her arms, expression sincere.

"When you first asked why I came to this land, I only gave you a portion of the truth. I did indeed wish to seek a lord worthy of my servitude, but that wish was born of a desire to escape my home and the… base rutting," she spat out the words as if they were venom, "That I would be forced to partake in."

At that moment, a light bulb turned on in my head.

"That's why you were so upset," I realized, feeling it all click into place in my head, "What the full moon did to you…"

"If I am to be completely and shamefully honest, I likely would never have noticed my hypocritical loss of control had you not said anything," Centorea confessed, looking down at the ground, "Indeed, even if I hadn't… m-m-mated with Master without your intervention, this whole matter would likely have bothered me very little."

I frowned and scratched at my temple, struggling to remember my exact words when I blew up at the girls that night. I suppose it made sense, since Centorea in canon clearly moved on from the events of the full moon without too much issue. So what was it…

"I almost lapsed into the same behavior that forced me from my home in the first place. To have my ideals so compromised by my own desires so easily is unforgivable for a proud woman of the centaur," Centorea continued, steely resolve replacing the wavering doubt from before. "I will take what you said to heart," she beat a hand on her chest for emphasis, causing me to very deliberately look only at her face, "And pursue Master in a manner true to myself!"

I stopped where I stood, feeling a touch conflicted. On one hand, I was glad to see her being so honest with me and see that she wanted to improve. But still…

"I think…" I started slowly, "You're being a bit melodramatic about this."

To my utter bafflement, Centorea laughed at that. "I expected you to say such a thing," she replied cheerfully. I was finding it a little difficult to keep track of her emotions, but it seemed like she was feeling better the longer we talked. She likely was just glad to finally have it off her chest. "You have a tendency toward blunt honesty, Janai-sama."

"Eh, I dunno about that," I scratched the back of my head, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

"I did not mean it in a poor manner," Centorea clarified with a smile, "But regardless, I had been avoiding you because your words were the source of my discontent and I was unsure how to treat you as a result. For that, I apologize."

"Ah, don't worry about it," I assured her. "It really isn't that big of a deal. You're a good person, and Kurusu-san's a damn lucky guy to have you."

Centorea's cheeks became a vivid rosy red. "I-I, well, that is… thank you," she replied meekly.

"So we done with the real talk?" I asked sarcastically, already walking on ahead. "Not that I mind, I've just had more than usual lately."

"I have said all I wanted," Centorea answered, and as she caught up to me I sensed a lightness to her steps. No small feat, considering her size. The sight made me smile. "I feel much better now."

"Glad to hear it. So what kind of games do you like? It's obvious you've played at least a few."

"I have become somewhat fond of role-playing games," she admitted, "Particularly of the fantasy genre."

"That's not surprising," I laughed, "I'm a big fan of those as well. What type of character do you usually run?"

"Run?"

"Ah, I meant play. Sorry, gamer jargon."

"I see. Well, I typically 'run' as a stalwart warrior, taking to the frontlines and slaying my foes with steel in hand so that I may protect my comrades!" she declared proudly.

"Yeah, that sounds exactly like you!" Usually people played RPGs to be someone unlike themselves, but knocking Centorea for something like that felt a little childish. "I usually go for a mage build, myself. But since you like playing the knight, I think I have the perfect game in mind for you, if you like a challenge."

"As a knight, I never back away from a challenge!" Centorea boasted. "Pray tell me of this game, and hopefully we may find it at the store."

Centorea, you might want to be careful what you wish for.

Okay, maybe I was enabling it pretty badly, but she did say she liked a challenge…

Totally not feeling guilty at all, I asked her, "Have you heard of Dark Souls?"