It took about an hour to get everything done. Papi was pretty distractible, putting it lightly, so more often than not I had to drag her away from whatever caught her eye. Usually playing with kids. There was also one incident involving some silverware and a birdbath, but the less said about that the better.

Still, it was a successful venture, I thought as we walked back to the house with each of our arms full with loot from the supermarket. As much as I would've liked to fly back home, there was simply too much to carry, and I needed Papi to hold at least some of the plastic bags filled with food.

Of course, that also meant she got exclusive early access to the snacks.

"Papi, try and save some for the rest of us, okay?" I asked her as she began nibbling on no less than five chocolate-covered pocky sticks at once. "I don't want you to get a stomachache."

"Kay~" Papi replied in a tone that clearly indicated she would do no such thing. She hummed a tune I didn't recognize, clearly delighted with the situation.

I sighed but decided to let it slide. She'd be fine, and ruining her mood over something so little would've been just mean.

We rounded the corner to the street that Kurusu's house was on, and we were met with an odd sight. Certainly not one I'd expected so soon.

A tall figure in a maroon high collar shirt and light coat was doing their best to look inconspicuous as they watched the house. Blonde hair framed a face that had green scales going from their purple slit eyes to their pointed ears. A long green tail peeked out from the bottom of the coat as it coiled around their legs reservedly.

"Huh," I breathed. Seeing Draco the dragonewt here and now of all places was a bit of a surprise, safe to say. I didn't think she'd even appear until Kurusu and Miia went out on more dates, but it looked she was actually staking out the house before that fateful time at the aquarium. It made sense, in a creepy, stalker way; what better way to find out your crush's schedule than spending every waking moment watching where they lived?

"Um, big brother?" Papi looked confused as to why I'd suddenly stopped. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I answered distractedly, thinking about how to handle this situation. "But wait a minute, okay? Something's not right."

Papi noticed my hushed and concerned tone, so she inched closer to me. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking back at the imposing figure standing near the house. "Is it that pretty lizard guy?"

I nodded. "I think that guy's a girl, actually. I'm not sure why she's just waiting outside the house, though…" That was a lie, obviously, but hopefully pretending to brainstorm with her would delay Papi long enough for me to figure out how to deal with Draco.

"Well, why don't we ask the pretty lizard what she wants?" Papi simple stated, before running on ahead and waving her wings. "HIIIIII!"

Right. This was Papi.

"Hold on!" I shouted, chasing after her as fast as I could without dropping my precious cargo.

Draco winced at the loud and sudden greeting, but to her credit she quickly put on her Cool Dude persona, smiling kindly while fixing us with an intense gaze. She waited until the both of us reached her before speaking.

"Hello there," Draco said in deep, androgynous voice, regarding Papi and me with purple eyes. "May I help you?"

"Hi! I'm Papi!" greeted my blue-feathered companion with a wide smile. "We just wanted to know why you were standing outside our house!"

The façade cracked ever so slightly, the upward tilt on Draco's lips twitching.

I coughed, deciding to just roll with Papi's incredibly honest approach to this whole thing. "We've had to deal with shady people trying to get in the house before, so we're just a little cautious is all. I'm Juyo, by the way."

"Draco," she bluntly stated, turning her head to face the house. "What kind of shady people?" she asked, while her reptilian hands clenched. I quirked an eyebrow at that, but didn't comment on it.

"I need a little more to go on than just your name if I'm gonna tell you something like that," I told her, eyeing her carefully and making a point of regarding her tail. "Like why you're here and not with a host family."

"Ah, yes, of course," she replied hastily, tapping at her chin with a claw. "Well, my host works often, you see, so I've been given special permission by the Cultural Exchange to go out on my own. So that I'm not unfairly cooped up at the house all the time and that I might better experience human culture."

I nodded slowly, not buying any of that in the slightest. Putting my knowledge of the series aside, I'd read up a fair bit on the Cultural Exchange Bill in my own time and was well aware of the fact that there were very few exceptions to the 'no host, no outside' rule. The only exceptions I could list off the top of my head were the members of MON, thanks to their vital position within the organization that gave them that privilege.

I admit, it was a bit unfair to liminals that were paired with hosts that simply didn't have the time to take outside. Yet another flaw in the horrifically imperfect Cultural Exchange Bill. I could only hope that the damn thing would be reformed sooner than later, for the sakes of my friends and liminal-human relations.

But that wasn't the present issue. I knew Draco had snuck out to stalk Miia, and I needed to put a stop to that. Somehow.

"You need special pessimism to do that?!" Papi asked, eyes wide, "I just go out whenever I want and everything's okay!"

"Special permission," I corrected in a chiding tone, "And we've told you dozens of times that you can't do that, Papi."

"Tee hee, I keep forgetting! Sorry!" she apologized, bonking her head with a goofy grin.

"Hmm," I grunted, desperately trying not to give in to the cuteness. "Anyway, so you have special permission to go out on your own. That doesn't explain why you're here, though."

"Oh, I often take walks through this neighborhood and I'd simply stopped here to admire this beautiful house," Draco lied through her teeth, "It was recently renovated to house a large amount of liminals, I'm guessing?"

Okay, I think I was having enough of this.

"Papi, you can head on in if you want, you're probably getting hungry," I told her, not-quite looking away from Draco, "Could you tell the others I'll be right behind them for me, please?"

"Kay!" she happily replied, "Bye bye, pretty lizard!" At that, she darted inside.

I faced Draco, measuring my next move. Dragonewts were some of the stronger liminal species out there, considering Draco had easily overpowered Miia in canon, and temperamental to boot. I didn't think they were on quite the same level as ogres when it came to strength, but that hardly meant anything to a puny human like me. I had to be careful.

But not so much as to look weak. I wasn't about to eat out of her hands just to keep the peace.

"Is that really why you're here?" I asked, ignoring her earlier question.

Draco's smile faltered. "Yes," she stated firmly, slit eyes narrowed. "Do you not believe me?"

"Well, like I said, we've had shady people poke around here earlier. Just yesterday, in fact. So I'm a little suspicious of strangers in coats just staring at the house." I shrugged. "Can you blame me?"

"I suppose not," Draco replied lowly, some tension only slightly leaving her, "But I assure you, I have only the best of intentions."

Yeah, for yourself and regardless of what Miia wanted.

"And what are your intentions?"

Draco went silent at that, the only indication of her true feelings being a longing gaze at the house.

I sighed. "Look, Draco, the head coordinator of the Cultural Exchange and the MON Squad are currently in the house right now," I told her, "I'd really prefer to not have to drag them out and fact-check your special permission, especially since the coordinator hates having to do her job." Well, most of her job.

Draco flinched, but still kept a cool head. "Are they really?" she asked, doubtful, "Why would they be here?"

"We're friends," I replied nonchalantly, "And Smith-san pops in almost daily to mooch off our food."

"I see…" She was wavering, finally. Good, I was starting to get nervous. "Hm. I would like… for that to not happen, either."

"Glad to hear it," I nodded, impressed with her calm demeanor. Perhaps it was only when she saw Miia or Kurusu that she went violent. "So, why are you here? I promise I won't tell anyone."

Draco wait a few moments, before… Wait, was she blushing?

"I… well, that is…" she stuttered, meekly tapping her foreclaws together. Holy shit, what happened to the prideful descendent of dragons? "I was hoping I might see a girl that lives here…"

"R-Right," I said, still not quite believing how just talking about Miia completely changed her. Perhaps I'd underestimated just how much of an impression the lamia had left. "Can I ask which one? There's a lot of them."

"Miia," Draco breathed the word in a reverential tone, "She was so kind to me once, so I just wanted to…" She trailed off, apparently unwilling to elaborate.

It was getting harder and harder for me to treat Draco in a way based off of her actions in the series. Right now, she didn't look at all like the creep who'd tried to force herself on Miia or kill Kurusu. She just looked like a girl with a crush. Granted, a girl that could easily bend me like a pretzel and then some, but still. Even worse was that I knew there was no chance in hell that Miia would choose her over Darling.

Oh, unrequited love. Mero would get a kick out of this.

I shook my head. C'mon, man. Don't go pitying her now, you need to figure out a solution that doesn't end in Draco attacking someone.

"I see," I nodded in understanding, "But I think you can talk to her in a way that doesn't involve following her around. She's not the type of girl that'd react well to that sort of thing." Unless it was Kurusu doing the following, but leaving that little nugget out was probably for the best.

"Do you know her well?" Draco asked, eyeing me suspiciously. Oh jeez.

I rolled my eyes. "As a friend only," I assured her. "I've been-"

I was interrupted by Draco viciously grabbing me by the collar and pulling me close. "Tell me what she likes!" she shouted in my face, "Is she seeing anyone? Is she staying here long? How does she feel about dragonewts?!"

"Gah!" was my first response, trying to recover from the sudden force. "Hey, let go of me!"

"Not until you tell me everything!" Draco hissed.

"You do realize I told Papi I was going to be in soon, right?" I retorted, "If I'm not back soon, the coordinator and MON Squad will be hot on your heels."

I was silently praying that Papi actually remembered to do that.

"Hmph!" She pushed me away, folding her arms and glowering at me. "Fine. But I still want to know everything!"

"Later," I hastily promised her, just wanting to get away from Draco as quickly as possible now. I'd almost forgotten what it was like dealing with liminals that didn't keep their strength in check around humans, so I was feeling a bit flustered now. "Look, meet me out here at like seven tomorrow night, alright? We'll talk more later, but for now I really should head in and I'd really rather not send Smith-san to deal with a liminal outside without permission. That work?"

Draco narrowed her eyes at me even more, which I didn't think was possible. After a pregnant pause, she sighed and put her claws in her pockets.

"Yeah, that works," Draco stated, "Just don't forget it." At that, she walked away without so much as a thank you.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding as my shoulders sagged. I had no idea how the hell I was going to deal with the irate dragonewt tomorrow, on top of my already scheduled meeting with a raptor, yet another violent species.

Shit like this was why I made sure to buy some beer earlier.