-monsters mentioned this chap are-
Giroro- Ganrougel
Dororo- Aldmora
Keroro- Kurse
Natsumi began her walk home unsure of what kind of person she was becoming. She hated lying to her friends but Ganrougel certainly wasn't someone she could talk openly about.
"Natsumi!" Koyuki jumped down in front of Natsumi earning a slight yelp.
"Oh, Koyuki. What's up?" Natsumi calmed down once she recognized the girl.
"I wanted to make sure you were ok. I could tell you weren't really honest at lunch and I want to make sure there wasn't something worse that would make you lie." Koyuki nodded with a kind and almost solemn look.
"That's very nice of you to do but I'm not in any trouble. At least not anymore." Natsumi smiled hoping it would assure Koyuki.
"Whatever it was that troubled you before... Does it still affect you?" Koyuki looked deep into Natsumi's eyes.
"Well... How can you tell?" Natsumi stepped back almost defensively.
"I have a strong intuition. I've been training to be at peace with the world and it all starts with being at peace with myself. I can tell that you aren't so sure of yourself. What disturbs you Natsumi? What keeps your mind from peace?" Koyuki's eyes were honest and focused. The air around her seemed to be stronger as well, swirling about her firm stance.
"I can't talk about it to just anyone... sorry." Natsumi stepped around Koyuki.
"Can I at least walk you home?" Koyuki followed behind Natsumi.
"Why do you want to help me so much? I'm just a stranger to you." Natsumi stopped walking and turned back to Koyuki.
"When I left my village I was overwhelmed and excited by the city. I don't have any friends out here and I can't go back home now so I want to show who I really am. The world out here is strange and full of so many troubles, I want to help as much as I can. Also I can tell you're a good person Natsumi, a good person with a dark trouble." Koyuki gave an innocent smile.
"You really put everything about you out there don't you?" Natsumi looked at the strange girl feeling like she might have fallen out of another time-line if she wasn't wearing her school uniform. She gave the impression of a young warrior of all things good and just.
"There's nothing about me to hide. I'm happy with who I am." Koyuki smiled brighter.
"You aren't scared of what people will do or say? You don't care if they judge you about the way you talk or act?" Natsumi inquired further waiting for Koyuki to admit any fear or self-conscious regrets like everyone else usually had.
"No. Normally when that happens it's less about me and more about them. I have no regrets about my life."
"Nothing you wish you did differently?" Natsumi leaned closer to read any tells of lying or shame.
"No one can get away without feeling like they should have done something different but I accept what's happened and try to make it work for the better instead of letting it make everything worse." Koyuki didn't hesitate or fumble with her answer. It was honest and straight from her heart.
"You're a different kind of person Koyuki. I admire your ability to ignore other people's opinions like that." Natsumi sighed with jealousy as she felt her own weakness.
"The other students talk about you like you're so confident about yourself. Why are you worried about others?" Koyuki perked up with curiosity.
"I'm not as worry free as I seem. I only know how to handle being judged on normal things like clothes and music choice, but there's one thing I haven't been able to really accept about my life." Natsumi looked away as she referred to her monster. The regrets she held onto dragged her heart into her stomach. She understood she was only a kid but she wanted to be so much stronger and defend herself and her family from the monsters that continued to return to her home.
"Natsumi, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Koyuki placed a hand on Natsumi's shoulder.
Natsumi looked into Koyuki's eyes. Natsumi's eyes were dry. "I- I wasn't crying..."
"But, then whose sobbing so quietly?" Koyuki looked around but the streets and sidewalks were empty.
Natsumi felt her body freeze as her blood seemed to thicken and turn cold. Her lungs refused to breath as she grabbed Koyuki's hand. "Koyuki we need to leave right now before we get caught."
"Caught by what?" Koyuki didn't sense anything dangerous and she was confused by Natsumi's sudden reaction.
"I don't have time to explain it all just-" Natsumi looked behind Koyuki to see the slender form slumped against the stone wall. He turned his expressionless face to her.
"It's already too late... You'll be stuck there forever..." His trembling voice seemed to speak out from the space all around them.
"Do you know him Natsumi?" Koyuki clenched her hand over her heart. Her eyes were glued to the stranger.
"His name is Aldmora, he's a monster Koyuki. Run away before he takes you away forever..." Natsumi's voice trailed off as she fell to her knees. The guilt and regret in her heart began to take over her.
Koyuki walked closer to Aldmora and bent down to him. "You don't seem like a dangerous monster."
"She's right though, leave before I hurt you... just like everyone else..." Aldmora gripped his arms around himself, digging into his skin.
"What would you do to me?" Koyuki asked wondering how a crying young man would hurt her if he wanted her to run away from him.
"You'll leave this world, they all do eventually... You'll be forgotten and no one will miss you." Aldmora turned his eyes away as tears started to travel down his cheeks. "It's already happening to your friend."
Koyuki turned to see Natsumi's hollowed expression. Her eyes were dead as she leaned against the wall. It looked like she lost all hope and didn't care if she lived or died. Koyuki took a deep breath before placing a hand on Aldmora's arm. "I don't think you'll hurt me though."
"What?" Aldmora turned his surprised eyes to her.
"I don't feel like Natsumi is right now, I think that's what you meant by hurting me at least. Look I'm fine." Koyuki gave him a bright smile showing she didn't feel dark emotions.
"But... I don't understand..." Aldmora stared at her perplexed.
"I don't really know either but it looks like you can't hurt me, isn't that good news? You don't seem like you want to hurt people." Koyuki was patient about understanding everything about him later. She was currently fixed on calming him down and seeing if she could help Natsumi.
"I... I don't. I hate what I do... I can't stop it no matter how hard I tried... even if I walked or ran away they would follow and still vanish from existence." Aldmora curled into himself once again, recalling all of the people he took away. "I hate myself for it."
"But you didn't do it on purpose right? So you can't be held accountable." Koyuki tried to reason with him.
"But I should have been able to stop it somehow... It's all because of me." Aldmora's voice cracked as he held himself tighter. Koyuki quickly glanced at Natsumi to see her almost transparent. She saw that Aldmora's guilt couldn't just be waved off with excuses and reasoning. She wrapped her own arms tight around Aldmora's shoulders. Aldmora froze from the foreign contact.
"I'm sorry you were forced to do all of that. I want to help you so you don't have to do that anymore." Koyuki pulled away and looked clear into his eyes. "We can still stop it now if you want to save Natsumi."
"You want to help... me?" Aldmora didn't know what to do with such an offer.
"Of course, we should be friends too. You seem very nice and just in a bad position." Koyuki smiled.
"Even though I'm deformed?" Aldmora stared at her in disbelief.
"Deformed?" Koyuki looked at him confused.
"I'm thin and weak, I don't even have a mouth." Aldmora blushed and pointed to the blank space on his chin where a normal person would have a pair of lips.
"Oh, are you self conscious about that? Wait I think I can fix that." Koyuki opened her bag and rummaged through her things. It wasn't long before she pulled out a piece of cloth. "Here it's an old ninja mask from my home village. Now no one will notice and you won't have to feel like they'll judge you."
"Th-thank you... so much." Aldmora started to cry once more but his voice wasn't stuttered by sobs and unsettling trembles. It was light and pure. His eyes curled happily, like he was smiling.
"Are you feeling better?" Koyuki smiled happily by his change of mood.
"I don't know... I've never felt like this honestly." Aldmora looked at his hands. "It feels so light."
"That means you're happy." Koyuki explained.
"Koyuki..." Natsumi looked around before standing up. "What happened?"
"It's alright. Everything's better now." Koyuki stood up with her bright smile. Natsumi wasn't under Aldmora's influence anymore and she was normal again.
"I thought it couldn't be stopped, that everyone he ever met had to vanish." Natsumi looked at her hands checking for any invisible fingers.
"It... it was never stoppable before. Even Ganrougel couldn't figure it out." Aldmora joined the conversation, slipping on the mask Koyuki gave him.
"You're a new level of naive if you thought that monster could figure out how to bring peace to a depressed spirit." Natsumi crossed her arms.
"Who's Ganrougel?" Koyuki asked.
"I'll introduce you to him later." Natsumi decided to try and leave that kind of surprise till she could help her process it later.
"Is he the 'red' guy you spoke of earlier?" Koyuki tilted her head to the side.
"Well, yes and no. He is the thing that pretty much tormented me my whole childhood but not a boyfriend in the witness protection." Natsumi rubbed the back of her head embarrassed by her lie.
"What do you mean he tormented you?" Koyuki leaned closer to Natsumi, eager to learn everything about this threat.
"He used to attack me but it's all cleared up now." Natsumi waved her hands in front of herself. Except for the how he disappeared each time part.
"So you're that girl..." Aldmora spoke up.
"Oh, did he talk about me?" Natsumi blushed at the idea of getting such attention, even if it was from a monster.
"He was obsessed with you to say the least. You puzzled him for the longest time. It was interesting to see him look at a human differently than he usually did. I've never seen him hunt someone so fiercely."
"Yeah, he's told me that too." Natsumi smiled. She brushed off her skirt and picked up her bag. "Alright one less monster to worry about coming after me."
"I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble." Aldmora bowed to Natsumi. His silver hair draped over his shoulders like silk.
"It's alright, it wasn't your fault. If I can forgive Ganrougel for purposefully hunting me down I can definitely forgive you. I'm just glad to see you happier now. When I first saw you, you were so sad and I felt terrible for you." Natsumi looked to Koyuki. "I guess you know my big secret now. You won't tell anyone else about them will you?"
"I promise I won't tell. Even I know that being a human with monster friends would be extremely weird." Koyuki nodded.
"I tried to keep them from knowing so they wouldn't have to be attacked by any of them or ones that I haven't even met yet." Natsumi sighed. "Let's go to my house now, I've gotta help Ganrougel figure something out."
It was a quick walk but Natsumi was still adjusting to actually bringing a friend home. She lead Koyuki and Aldmora through the front hall. They entered the living room to see Fuyuki scribbling over his notebook.
"Hey sis- Oh wow you brought some people over." Fuyuki smiled as he finished a note quickly and walked over to meet Natsumi's friends.
"This is Koyuki and Aldmora." Natsumi gestured to each. "Guys this is Fuyuki my little brother. He's into monsters and supernatural stuff so he won't judge or hurt you, Aldmora."
"Oh my gosh, you're transparent! Are you an apparition? Some other dimensional being?!" Fuyuki became excited, taking in all of Aldmora's features.
"Um... I'm..." Aldmora struggled to come up with a response. The attention was new to him.
"If he makes you uncomfortable just let me know." Natsumi explained before walking towards an odd noise from the kitchen. "Fuyuki you don't have someone else here do you?"
"No, I don't have friends to bring home." Fuyuki called back to her as he scribbled in his notes again.
Natsumi followed the rustling to see the fridge door was open and Ganrougel was pulling out items. Jars scattered over the counter accompanied with packages of meat and cheese.
"What are you doing?!" Natsumi shouted.
Ganrougel flinched by her reaction. "Why do you humans have so much food?"
"We have to eat and there are three of us living here so we have to have enough for everyone." Natsumi explained hurriedly as she grabbed items and tried to sort them back into the fridge. She moved around the red monster who still held the door open, climbing between his arms. "You idiot our food will spoil if you leave it out of the fridge."
"Sorry your human customs are weird." Ganrougel stood back and leaned against the counter, annoyed that she seemed to be yelling at him over nothing.
"Don't you know anything about food? You have to eat too right?" Natsumi crossed her arms.
"Actually no. I know I look like a living thing but I don't eat, sleep, or even have a heart beating inside my chest." Ganrougel answered easily. "The best explanation I've got for what I am is a possessed and mutated corpse."
"Oh... I'm sorry." Natsumi's eyes softened. "I didn't know."
"Hey sis did you happen to see Kurse anywhere? I figured since you let Ganrougel stay and you brought another ghost type here you might let him back too." Fuyuki entered the kitchen flipping through the pages of his notebook.
"Another one?" Ganrougel questioned before Aldmora and Koyuki followed Fuyuki into the kitchen. "Aldmora! Why are you here? Natsumi take you friend and brother and get out of here!" Ganrougel stepped in front of Natsumi with his arm braced against her chest, keeping her form getting closer.
"It's fine! Koyuki made him better. I walked home with him and I wasn't in danger." Natsumi blushed by the sudden action to defend her.
"What?" Ganrougel looked to her before taking a closer inspection of Aldmora.
"It's true. I don't... feel terrible anymore. Koyuki was very kind and made me her friend." Aldmora spoke softly as he clarified. "Koyuki wasn't even affected by me at all."
"Yeah, he won't be hurting anyone today." Koyuki nodded.
"Oh, I'm glad for you." Ganrougel loosened his stance.
"Can you, ya know... remove your arm now?" Natsumi almost stuttered. Her cheeks burned bright as her hands tried to push Ganrougel's strong fingers away. They had been placed right below her clavicle and she wasn't prepared for the contact.
"Sure." Ganrougel stood up and retracted his defensive brace from her. "Why is your face red? Are you still mad at me?"
"No it's just..." Natsumi didn't know how to explain it. Her brother had already covered his eyes and slowly leaving the room. Koyuki was distracted by talking to Aldmora and trying to understand more about him. "A girl usually doesn't get touched there... unless it's by her crush or something."
"What?" Ganrougel's face lost color to a paler red. He quickly marched out of the kitchen muttering to himself. "You humans and your stupid mating rituals."
Natsumi took a deep breath and released it. Hoping to calm down. She understood Ganrougel didn't mean it like that but she couldn't help her reaction. Ok, two monsters in my house. What is my life even right now? Oh well, at least they won't hurt my family and friends.
-I feel like Aldmora's introduction should have been more dramatic?... Idk.-
-On another note I learned that the space Ganrougel touched Natsumi is called the décolletage. I wasn't sure if people would know what it actually meant so I left it out of the story. Yay learning.-