This chapter is longer than most of my chapters, but it doesn't have much relevance to the actual plot, it's filler until the next chapter is released.

Chapter 21

Getting Settled In Part 2

Tomoki awoke abruptly. He noticed only Ikaros, who was kneeling beside his bed, remained in the room. Several empty futons littered his bedroom floor. He sighed.

"Good morning, Master." Ikaros said.

"Morning, Ikaros. Where are the others?" Tomoki wondered.

"They got up early. I don't know what they are doing because I stayed in here with you." Ikaros said.

"Thanks Ikaros. Alright, i'm gonna get changed now, i'll meet you downstairs."

"Okay." Ikaros said as she left the room.

Once Tomoki changed, he went to the bathroom. When he opened the door, Charybdis was already in the tub.

Tomoki turned red. Charybdis didn't seem to be affected by the intrusion, though.

Charybdis slowly turned his head to face Tomoki. His eyes were swirls. "T-T-T-Tomoki… Baths... Are good…" He slumped deeper into the tub while Tomoki quickly left the room.

As soon as he left the bathroom, he heard commotion in the hallway. He turned the corner and found the Harpy twins scratching and pulling at each other's hair.

"Uhh, is everything okay?" Tomoki nervously asked.

The Harpy twins both stopped in their tracks and stared at Tomoki. After a few seconds, they snatched him up.

"Tell this imbecile that this is not fat!" The tan haired Harpy commanded as she pointed to her stomach.

The green haired Harpy poked it. "That looks like fat to me!"

"No it doesn't!"

"Yes it does!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

They let Tomoki go and continued fighting. "It's a madhouse in here!" He thought to himself.

Once Tomoki took one step downstairs, a vase hurtled towards him. It hit him square in the face, shattering. Tomoki went down to the ground. Once he regained composure he shouted. "Who the hell did that!"

Grim, H, Thanatos, and Tartarus stood in a line, each pointing at the other. All of them had a childish look on their faces, as if they didn't know any better.

"You know what, I don't care. Just pick it up!" Tomoki instructed.

In a flash, Grim was sweeping, H was wiping, Thanatos was dusting, and Tartarus was vacuuming.

Tomoki sauntered to the kitchen and sat at the table, sighing heavily. "Ikaros, what's for brea- ?" He noticed the refrigerator was shaking violently.

When he opened the door, both Astraea and Hecate tumbled out of the fridge. They looked at Tomoki shamefully and started crying.

"We didn't want to but we had to!" Hecate bawled.

"We got hungry in the night and ate all the food!" Astraea whined.

Tomoki was royally pissed off. "EVERYONE, IN THE LIVING ROOM! NOW!" He shrieked.

Once all the Angeloids were in the living room, they all lined up like soldiers, Tomoki being the instructor. He paced with his hands behind his back. His teeth were points, and his eyes were white.

"I don't know what the deal is with this place, but peace and quiet must be maintained." Tomoki continued his lecture about peace and quiet. Only Ikaros truly listened.

After the speech, all the Angeloids chanted in unison. "We're sorry. It won't happen again."

Tomoki returned to normal. "You're damn right it won't."

Someone was knocking on the door.

"I'll get it!" Nymph yelled. She walked to the door and opened it to Sohara, Mikako, Sugata, and Oregano.

Tomoki sighed again. "Why is my house the only place anybody ever seems to come to!" He thought.

"So, what's for breakfast?" H asked once everyone was settled in comfortably.

"Well, that's a good question, H. Someone, whom I will not name…" Tomoki glanced at Astraea and Hecate. "Ate all the food."

"Why not go out to eat?" Mikako said.

"Hey, that's a good idea! Let's go out!" GrimLock jumped up like a giddy schoolgirl.

"Fine, but i'm not paying." Tomoki stated with his arms crossed and his head held high.

"That's okay, Chaos and I have some leftover money from the race we won in chapter six!" Astraea said.

"Nice break of the fourth wall, Delta." Nymph muttered.

"Yeah, and after that, we could go to the beach? Haven't been there in a while…" Sohara said.

"Okay, okay. We'll go out to eat, then after that, we can go to the beach." Tomoki said. The Angeloids cheered.

Once everyone was outside, Grim and H went behind the house for a minute.

"What're they doing?" Scylla asked.

Nymph rolled her eyes. "They spent their allowance on some stupid tandem bike."

"What's allowance?"

"It's when you get money once a week." Nymph answered.

Grim and H returned from the other side with a two-seater bicycle.

"This is the perfect opportunity to ride our bike! Let's try her out!" Grim said. H nodded. Grim got on the back seat, and H on the front. As soon as they got on, it fell over.

"I forgot. We don't know how to ride a bike…" H admitted.

After a long walk, they made it to the restaurant. When they stepped inside, the aroma of food hung heavily in the air. They seated themselves at a large rounded booth.

The waiter came over with a pen and notepad. "What would you all like to eat this fine morning?" In unison, all the Angeloids except Nymph and Ikaros shouted, "Food! We want food!"

The waiter awkwardly laughed. "Eh-heh, what kind of food do you want?" They repeated themselves. "We want food! Bring food!" Tomoki cut them off. "I think we'll just have one plate of everything." The waiter nodded slowly and walked away.

"You guys really know how to act like children, don't you." Tomoki scolded. They just shrugged.

When the waiter and several cooks came with a massive platter of food, everyone's eyes sparkled with anticipation. Once the plates were set down, it was a free-for-all. In just a few minutes, all the food was gone. Everyone sat back in their seats with fat stomachs and satisfaction.

"That… Was… Amazing…" Tartarus breathed. Charybdis patted him on the back and then let his hand hang loosely.

Astraea was the only one still hungry. "Is more food coming?" She wondered.

"No, Astraea. No more food is coming." Tomoki sighed. He noticed he was doing a lot of sighing these days.

H was twiddling with a toothpick. "So, are we still up for the beach?" Grim glanced at him. "I should hope so." He murmured.

"That's good, because I packed some swim-gear and a volleyball, net included." Sohara said.

"What's a volleyball? Do you eat it?" The tan haired Harpy asked.

"No, not really. It's a game. You hit a ball over a net until the other team drops it. I can teach you when we get there." Sohara said.

The waiter came back to the table. "Was everything to your liking today?" She inquired.

"It was good!" Chaos exclaimed as she threw down a wad of money on the table. The waiter looked astonished as she picked up the stack of money and walked away.

The group grabbed their packs and headed for the beach. Once they got there, the new Angeloids' eyes got big.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Grim said. "And we can do whatever we want! C'mon, let's go swimming." He jogged to the water's edge and waded into the sea, disappearing under the small waves.

Scylla was up to her ankles in the water. "It's kinda cold…" She acknowledged. Charybdis agreed. he was up to his waist, shivering like a cat.

"Oh, I can't wear this." The green haired Harpy complained to her sister. "It shows off my navel." She pointed to her two-piece bathing suit.

"Aww, c'mon. Don't be such a wuss!" The tan haired Harpy teased. She was already dressed in her's.

"I think i'd rather wear the other one." She pointed to a one-piece generic bathing suit.

"Whatever." The tan haired Harpy said with a huff.

Hecate was doggy-paddling closely to the shore. "I'm doing it! I'm really doing it!"

Tartarus got used to the water. He stuck his hand up like a fin and pretended to be a shark. He seized Hecate's ankle and dragged her underwater. "Get off of me!" She squealed and slapped him across the face. He floated away, stunned.

Thanatos sat down and watched the waves with wonder. Tomoki noticed and sat next to him.

"They're pretty, aren't they? The waves, I mean." He clarified. Thanatos nodded.

"Wanna get in the water?" Tomoki asked. Thanatos's eyebrows furrowed. He spoke softly. "Not really, i'm just thinking."

"About what?"

Thanatos looked at Tomoki. "Why would you let us stay with you? After all, we did try to kill you…"

Tomoki only laughed. "Trust me, you're not the first to try that. Nymph was sent to capture Ikaros, Astraea was sent to kill me! Chaos, well, she was sent to kill everyone. Don't sweat it!" Tomoki returned his gaze to the waves. "C'mon, let's get in the water." Tomoki said as he grabbed Thanatos's hand and led him to the shore.

The Harpy twins were finally ready to swim. The green haired Harpy had the one-piece on. They waded around in the water before sinking. The weight of their wings dragged them down.

"This is boring…" The tan haired Harpy whined. After a few seconds of pouting, Grim and H found them and circled around like sharks.

"Whatcha doin?" H asked. His voice was distorted from being underwater. "Aren't you going to swim?"

"Ah, shut up. We couldn't if we tried." The green haired Harpy explained. "Our wings drag us down."

"Right, it's the wings that drag you down…" Grim joked.

"Hey, shut up! When we learn how to swim, you're dead!" The tan haired Harpy snarled.

Grim and H swam back to the surface. "I was just kidding!" Grim said before they left.

Charybdis finally gathered the courage to go neck deep into the water. He shuffled his way down, but was tackled from behind by Scylla.

"Help me, it's cold!" She wailed, the entire time dunking Charybdis under. He shook her off and they both went under, shuddering together.

H watched them with curiosity. "You'd think that Angeloids who were named after Greek water monsters would enjoy being in the water." They gave him a death stare, but he just swam away.

Chaos built a sand castle with Nymph. "Why don't you want to go swimming?" Nymph asked.

"Ever since I was left underwater, I don't really like it… You?" Chaos said.

"It's just not really my thing." Nymph answered.

After a few more minutes of swimming, Sohara, Sugata, Mikako, Ikaros, and Oregano finished up setting the volleyball net up.

"Volleyball is ready!" Sohara announced. Tomoki heard her and passed the news on.

Once the swimmers were out of the water, they toweled off quickly. Immediately after, Tomoki, H, and Grim positioned themselves on one side of the net, and the girls went to the other side.

"Okay, all the guys on this side," H shouted. "And all the girls on this side!"

Once everyone was in position, Ikaros served the ball.

"So, you just hit it over the net?" Thanatos asked.

"And don't hit it out of bounds, you got it." Grim said.

The ball went to Tomoki first, who hit it back over the net.

"Okay, I get it." Thanatos exclaimed. He stood triumphantly, but the ball was coming to him. Before he noticed it, the ball landed next to him. The girls laughed.

"You gotta keep your head in the game!" Tomoki yelled.

Ikaros served again, hitting the ball to Grim, who hit it with his chest. While it was in the air, Tomoki jumped and slapped the ball, hitting it over the net.

"What was that supposed to be?" Tartarus wondered.

"That what we call a combo." H said.

The ball came back to the boys' side of the net, Charybdis hit it into the air. Grim and H jumped up and, in the air, hit it together over the net, sending it careening back down.

The game got more fast paced. The girls used a few combos as well. Nymph, Astraea, and Chaos hit the ball to the net, and Sohara chop-spiked it over, scoring a point.

"It's getting pretty competitive…" Grim murmured. "Let's step it up a notch!"

It went on like this, each side using different acrobatics and combos to hit the ball, leading to an extreme, fast-paced game.

It was a tie, each team with twenty points. One more point for both teams would mean victory.

Tomoki served. Hecate returned it. Charybdis and Tartarus comboed the ball back to the other side. Mikako retaliated with a backhand swing, but Thanatos was ready, spiking the ball to the tan haired Harpy, who somehow managed to keep the ball afloat, allowing room for Sohara to deliver a devastating spike.

Tomoki ripped off his clothes, his crotch glowing a brilliant yellow. He jumped into the air, his genitals inches from the ball. Sohara was right there, as well, lining up a chop-spike.

"Kill it, Tomo!" Grim cheered.

Both the genital shot and chop hit the ball at the same time, but Tomoki's thunder crotch over matched Sohara's chop. The blast sent the ball and Sohara back to the sand, leaving a crater.

Tomoki cheered with his team. They jumped in the air, proud of their achievement.

"What now, Sohara?!" Tomoki taunted. He regretted it when she emerged from the crater, purple aura surrounding her. "Oh crap!" He thought.

She stood up and chased him down, chops blazing. Tomoki ran for his life.

Everyone else just watched in amusement.

-oOo-

Back at Tomoki's house, everyone had an easy dinner, just some soup and rice. After dinner, Sohara, Mikako, Sugata, and Oregano went back home.

Thanatos sat in the bathtub, remembering what Tomoki said earlier that day. The Harpy twins walked in on him without a second thought. They both had toothbrushes in their hands.

"Do you mind?" Thanatos growled.

"Calm down." The tan haired Harpy said coolly.

"Yeah. That, kid, Tomo-whatever, told us that we have to brush our teeth." The green haired Harpy continued. "I don't see the point, though. Our teeth look just fine." She bared her teeth, showing the sharp canines.

"Fine... " Thanatos watched them brush for a while before asking, "Should we go back to Synapse?"

They both looked at him. "Why should we? He tried to kill us, remember?" The green haired Harpy said.

Thanatos started to protest, but the tan haired Harpy interceded. "Plus, it was pretty boring to do his dirty work, anyway. This place is small, but... " She paused. "I suppose it has its charms."

Thanatos sank deeper into the tub. "Okay, your right, but we're still Angeloids, and Angeloids are meant to serve their masters."

"That kid told us that we should be allowed to make our own decisions." The tan haired Harpy retorted.

"And you're going to listen to him?!" Thanatos raised his voice.

"Aren't you? You're in his bath after all." The green haired Harpy mumbled.

Thanatos was caught off guard. "I-I don't know…"

"Whatever, you can go back, but I don't think the others are, including us." The tan haired Harpy said as they finished brushing and left.

Thanatos sighed heavily. "Maybe…" He whispered to himself.