Chapter 12: Getting ready!

"Eryn, I'll be bringing the car over here!"

"Yeah, go ahead!"

It had been a few days since Azusa's visit. Eryn was currently readying the monstergirls while Azusa parked the car near the sidewalk of his house. Today was going to be a special occasion for Eryn and the monstergirls…

"How would you like your hair to be tied, Melty?"

"I want cute twin tails!"

"Haha, okay."

In front of the mirror, Eryn was tying her red hair into two little twin tails. He used two black ribbons to tie them.

"Eryn, Eryn." Lofie tugged on his arm.

"Oh, Lofie." Still tying Melty's hair, he turned his head to the little Anubis.

"Look at my hat." Lofie wobbled her head back and forth, showing her elegant straw hat. "Does it look good?"

"Oh, it looks great on you!" he smiled. After Azusa's last visit, she decided to bring a lot of her unused clothing. Most of them were… fashionable items which weren't Eryn's thing, but he figured the monstergirls would enjoy wearing them.

"Hehe…" Lofie grinned, her tail wagging around in delight. "Then I will wear it."

"Sure, sure." Eryn reverted his attention to Melty, finishing up with her hair. He gave her twin tails a gentle squeeze. "There, Melty! How does it look?"

"Hehe, I love them!" Melty fluffed her twin tails, twirling them around her fingers in a playful manner. "Thank you, Eryn!"

"Next is your hat!" Eryn placed a beret on her head, which Melty had asked for earlier. "All right, can you take a pair of shoes from over there?" He pointed to the shoe rack. "Choose whichever pair you like the most."

"Okay!" Melty walked to the shoe rack, looking over the shoes to choose from.

Lofie then stood in front of the mirror, trying to put her hat on. "Mnnngh…!"

"Here, Lofie." Eryn put her hat away and sat her down on the stool. "Let me comb your hair first."

He ran his fingers through her short brown hair. It's very straight and tidy… He began combing it with gentle motions.

"Eryn, Eryn." Lofie looked at him from the mirror. "Can my hair be tied too?"

"Huh… how would you like your hair to be tied, Lofie?" Eryn asked. I don't think that's necessary. Her hair doesn't seem to get in her way.

"Whatever Eryn thinks is the cutest." Her dog ears flopped upward, then back down.

"Mhmm…" he tilted his head in deep thought, inspecting her hair in closer detail. He noticed that the two front bangs hugging the curves of her cheek were longer than the rest. We could work with that…

Eryn took two bright hairbands and gingerly tied them just above the ends of her front bangs. Little tufts of hair poked out through them. "How about this, Lofie?" I think this looks cute on her.

"Hohh…" Lofie flicked her hair bangs with her fingers. "I like it, Eryn!"

"Great." Eryn patted her hair. He gently placed the straw hat on her head and adjusted it. "Looking good, Lofie."

"Hehe!" Her tail bounced against the stool with excitement, flipping her skirt upward.

"Eryn…" Iris tugged on the sleeve of his shirt. "I can't fit these shoes on."

"Oh?" he turned to her. What caught his attention first was her long hair. Out of the three monstergirls, Iris had the longest hair which flowed down to her lower back. Now that's something that needs attending!

"Iris, come over here." He lifted Lofie off the stool and motioned for Iris to come sit on it. She obliged, sitting on the stool and facing the mirror.

"Your hair is pretty long, Iris." He gave it a few fluffs. "We wouldn't want it to get in your way while we're outside."

"Oh." Iris arched her head back to look at Eryn. "Will you tie my hair, too?"

"If that's okay with you, I think it would be better if we tied it." He smiled. "What do you think, Iris?"

"I've… never tied my hair before," Iris said. "I like my long hair, but if Eryn thinks it's better to tie it, then…"

"It's okay. It's only while we're outside." Eryn grabbed the comb and began combing the entire length of her hair. So long and soft… "Your hair is quite delicate, Iris. I wouldn't want it to be ruined."

"Oh, okay!" Iris nodded cheerfully. She enjoyed the feeling of having her hair brushed by him. His hands moved with tender motions. Compared to her sisters, her hair had experienced the most growth for her age.

I suppose a ponytail will do. Eryn took a hairband and carefully tied her hair into a ponytail. "What do you think, Iris?"

Iris looked at the mirror, turning her head left and right to inspect his work of art. A frown formed on her lips. Her expression didn't look… satisfied if he had to describe it.

Does she… not like it? He thought to himself. Mhmm, right… I should have asked first what style she wanted.

"Here, Iris… let me re-do it–…"

"Ah, no!" Iris shook her head. "It looks really nice…"

"Really?" He folded his arms. "You don't seem–I don't know…–happy with it?"

"Mhmm…" Iris's eyes drifted to Melty and Lofie, who were busy picking up their shoes. More accurately, her eyes followed the hats they were wearing.

She seems to be looking at their hats… oh, does she want to wear one? That was his guess. "Iris, do you want to wear a hat, too?"

"… No." she bowed her head, staring at her little hands.

Oh, she doesn't want to wear a hat? This confused Eryn more. Then… what could it be? Although, he noticed there was something in her hands…

"Eryn, can I… wear this hair band?" Iris reluctantly showed a hair band she was holding. It was a pastel blue band with two cute flowers on the sides.

"… Oh." Eryn blinked at her. That's what it was? The matter was so simple that it left him stunned for a moment.

"… I can't?"

"A-Ah… of course you can!" He didn't expect something like this would put such a sad expression on her face. Why would it not be okay? She doesn't even need to ask me. "Here, let me put it on you."

He took the hair band from her hands and wrapped it around her head, careful not to cause discomfort to her cat ears. "There."

Iris stared at the mirror once more, looking at her ponytail and the hair band. She gave the flowers on the band a little poke. Now, a bright smile spread across her lips. "I love it, Eryn!"

"Glad to hear that…" He let out a sigh of relief. I was overthinking this a bit. Still, it left him wondering… why did she feel the need to ask that? Why was she hesitant? If he had to guess, he would put the blame on her previous owners.

Now that I think about it… I still don't know a lot about their past, huh? It had been a few days since he adopted the monstergirls. Some of their behaviors caught his attention more so than others. For instance, Melty felt extremely anxious about waking up when she couldn't find Eryn anywhere. Iris often wanted to help Eryn with chores in return for head pats. And Lofie… she had interesting sleeping habits, and she did bite Azusa. It concerned him to varying degrees, made him want to know more about them on a deeper level.

But it might be better to wait and let them tell me on their own. He didn't know what the monstergirls had been through before they met him. He wouldn't be surprised if they had some particularly terrible memories they didn't want to bring up. I want this to be a safe place for them… where they can open up to me. Until that day comes, he'd give them the best home he could offer.

"Eryn?"

"H-Huh?" Iris's voice snapped him from his long train of thought.

"Is Eryn… sad?" She asked, her tone laced with concern.

"Ah, no, no…" he waved his hand to dismiss her concern. "I was just… lost in thought, that's all." He didn't realize his face appeared lost.

"If Eryn is sad, then…" Iris wrapped her little arms around him in an embrace.

"Iris…?" He arched his brows. Why is she…

"Whenever Lofie and Melty are sad, I always give them hugs!" She tightened her hug. "They say it helps them feel better!"

"I'm not… sad, though." He chuckled, then slowly returned the hug. That's really… thoughtful of her. The warmth pooling into his chest… it was oddly soothing. As their owner, he figured he'd be the one giving them lots of hugs…

Maybe he needed a hug, after all.

"Does this… make Eryn feel better?" Iris asked timidly.

"… Yeah." He sighed, affectionately stroking the back of her head. "Thank you, Iri–bhuk?!"

"No fair!" Melty and Lofie jumped onto his back, taking him by surprise. "Don't hog Eryn all to yourself, Iris!"

"Hug me too, Eryn." Lofie pouted, climbing onto his back.

"G-Give me some space…" Eryn groaned. If there's something else he noticed about the monstergirls over the past few days, they all shared one thing in common…

It's that they were utterly jealous of each other for the attention he gave them. That was already apparent since day one. I'll need to get used to that… he couldn't tell if this was the consequences of their previous owners, or if they were simply like this. Or is this a monstergirl thing? I don't know!

"Eryn, the car's ready!" Azusa popped her head into the entrance. "Oh…?"

"Azusa… a little help here?" Stuck between the monstergirls, he turned to her for assistance… and immediately regretted it as soon as he saw a devilish smirk form on her lips.

"Let me take a photo of this real quick." Azusa whipped out her smartphone and took a picture. "All right, I'll be waiting in the car. Don't take too long!"

"Some help you are!" Eryn huffed, prying the monstergirls away from him. "Lofie, Melty… have you already chosen your shoes?"

"Yeah!" they replied in unison, presenting their shoes to him.

"Great. Let's put them on." He shifted into a sitting position and patted the spot in front of him. "Iris, let me put yours first."

"Okay!" Iris handed him her shoes after sitting down in front of him. Eryn first put little socks on her feet. He then fit her feet into her shoes and tied the laces together. "There, does it fit you well?"

Iris stood up and took a few steps around, lightly kicking her feet. "Yeah!"

Next is Lofie. He did the same for her, first putting on socks, then her shoes, which had zippers instead of laces. How convenient… "How's this, Lofie?"

"It fits!" Lofie hopped around a bit before Iris told her to walk like a normal person.

And lastly… he turned to Melty and held her feet. "Your turn!"

"Hehe, that tickles, Eryn!" Melty giggled.

"Haha, stay still for a bit." He slowly put the socks on her feet as her toes wiggled around. Afterward, he put on her shoes, which were similar to Iris's ones. "There, all done!"

Melty stood up and ran in circles around Eryn. "Hehe, yeah!"

Now, all the monstergirls were dressed up and ready to go! Eryn urged the monstergirls to step outside so he could lock the door.

"The monstergirls are looking lovely!" Azusa grinned, leaning against her car. She opened the car door for them to come in.

"Let's get you inside, shall we?" Eryn walked to the car, followed by the monstergirls. He lifted each of them into the car, starting with Iris, Lofie, then Melty. He then moved into the passenger seat on the side of the driver's seat.

"It's a big day for you, Eryn." Azusa said, getting in the driver's seat and strapping her seatbelt.

"Haha, is it?" He smiled. "I am admittedly a little nervous…"

On this special occasion, they would be going to the monstergirl registration center, so Eryn could finally register the monstergirls under his ownership and acquire monstergirl IDs. It was something he had been thinking about for a while, but he was quite clueless about it. Luckily, Azusa knew someone who'd be able to facilitate this process with him.

And it was someone who knew Eryn quite well…