Fuck me, this stinks!

I was repeatedly cursing in my head at this point. Avery placed me on removing the Stalker’s head. Completely oblivious as to why until she began giggling like some prankster. I was now gagging and trying to cut the rest of the way through the neck. Aside from the difficulty of cutting the things head off with a knife, when I cut open the throat, the smell of its stomach and other various stench’s bled out profusely. It was only for me, though, because I was right on top of it. Apparently, the smell dispersed before it reached Avery or the other two workers with us. I was thankful that at least there wasn’t much blood. From how Avery described it, the monsters are bled en route and placed on top of drains to further help the draining process. However-

Fuck! Bleh!

I was beginning to feel queasy, not thinking clearly, I moved to push the head further so I could finish quickly and just watch from the side. There should have been a fair amount left to cut, but when I kicked forward at the stalker’s jaws, the neck suddenly snapped back, and the head smacked into the counter, to which the laughing stopped.

Fuck did I break the counter!?

Avery walked up to me, and I found myself struggling not to cower. She was looking at me with a straight face. Lowering her body, she looked at the neck a bit closer before looking back at me.

“Uhm, d-did I do something wrong?”

Did I cut it wrong!? Did I break the counter!? I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!

“Kiki.”

Avery looked at me then smirked.

“Y-yes?”

I was stammering.

“How long have you been hiding that strength?”

What?

 

---

 

“Haaaahhh, I can’t wait to see her!”

Hatsumi groaned, a heavy tone of boredom in her voice.

“You’ll see the little gremlin soon enough. We’ve only got maybe another half hour of walking to go before we’re home.”

Callum had commented, prompting Hatsumi to look at him and puff her cheek some in annoyance.

“Throwing stones?”

Stanis caught up alongside the two, responding to Callum’s tease.

“Maybe I am, maybe not, big brother. Would you rather me be a stick?”

Callum asked, smirking casually to the older man that now walked alongside himself and the beast-kin. Stanis brushed aside his younger brother’s jests and looked to Hatsumi.

“Hatsumi, I wanted to say…I’m sorry.”

“Hmmm?”

Hatsumi hummed.

“For how we acted when you told us, y’know.”

Stanis was struggling to find words he felt were proper for the conversation.

“How we greeted her, it’s been a week, and we still haven’t made good on our promises to try over.”

“Ah.”

Hatsumi looked forward as they walked, avoiding eye contact with Stanis.

“You are right about that big brother. I probably have a higher place in that girl's opinion than either of you.”

Callum prodded once more, looking out the corner of his vision at his brother.

“You and Chessa do need to try and take this a little more seriously.”

Callum added.

“I know, baby brother.”

Stanis did not bother to deny Callum’s statement. After Hatsumi left the dining room, it dawned on himself and Chessa how negatively their initial surprise could have thrown the child into a perception of being unwelcome. Something they thought was evident in her tendency to only stay in Hatsumi’s room when she wasn’t with Lorn or Avery. They had managed to be home in the evenings every day that week, and Kiyomi was the only one not present in the living area aside from Lorn throughout the entire time. Callum had been greeting her with snacks and popping up small talk any time he caught a glimpse of the girl. Stanis and Chessa, however, have yet even to greet her past their initial meeting that previous Sunday. Looking over his shoulder, Stanis glimpsed at Chessa, who had been silent since the end of the hunt. She found herself unable to talk directly to Hatsumi since then, but Stanis knew it wasn’t out of spite. Hatsumi and Chessa argued after they had departed for their first hunt of the week. Chessa’s apparent difficulty was she thought Hatsumi was suddenly trying to replace her late daughter with Kiyomi. Something that angered Chessa, considering she had played the role of the midwife. Chessa helped raise Hatsumi’s child, Yui. When she passed, the most affected person aside from Hatsumi was Chessa. They had all struggled with the event, but the two women were struck the heaviest for obvious reasons. Stanis felt bad for Chessa as she was attempting to come to terms with events in her own way, considering she witnessed the passing.

“Chessa.”

Stanis called over his shoulder, to which she looked up at him. Her face gaining some life to it temporarily. After grabbing the elf’s attention, he nodded for her to walk alongside the three. Hesitating for a moment, she decided to catch up and match their pace.

“Tonight?”

Stanis asked, hoping The elf would catch on. He was not disappointed as she responded with a nod before glancing at Hatsumi and speaking up.

“Hatsumi I...I want to make it up to Kiyomi and you. I should have thought more about your decision. It couldn’t have been easy.”

Hatsumi shrugged at Chessa’s sudden apology.

“Thanks, but the apology would have been nice sooner.”

Stanis looked to the two women before sighing.

“It won’t do for you two to keep that mood between you either. I’ve seen you like this before, and you can move past this.”

Stanis pleaded.

Hatsumi was having difficulty with the situation in a much different way. More so, she was struggling with the child constantly occupying her thoughts at this point. Not to the point of distraction but that Kiyomi would be mentioned during any idle conversation. They all understood this the day after the Trap-door tortoise debacle. But as the week went by, it did not cease. The unceasing tension between the two would continue if it weren’t made clear that none of them held any actual poor feelings on the decision to adopt the orphaned demon.

“We just want an opportunity to make her know we don’t feel poorly towards her. Which we can do if you help us talk to her tonight after dinner.”

Hatsumi looked to Chessa, hesitating to say something before looking ahead of them. There was silence for a few moments before she looked back to Chessa and spoke.

“As long as you two don’t make it seem forced.”

“Wouldn’t, swear on my bow.”

Chessa shot back almost immediately, Hatsumi smirked in response.

“You might have a chance to throughout the evening, actually. Kiyomi’s waited for me with Avery at the carving counter the last two times this week. Maybe she’ll be there today? You three should come with me to check on her instead of dispersing like usual.”

Hatsumi smiled as she suggested the three join her in returning straight home. Looking between each other, Stanis and Chessa both nod with a smile. Callum smiles as well, clearly content with freeing his time in the evening to spend time with the child as well.

“Alright, that settles it, I guess.”

Hatsumi’s annoyance from earlier was clearly gone; her tail swayed high behind her as she walked.

Strangely easy to convince.

Stanis thought to himself before chuckling. They were resolving to give a better impression of themselves, and with Hatsumi’s approval, they would have the chance.

 

The four adventurers were nearly home, and they were approaching one of the front entrances as their conversation picked up once more.

“She should be with Avery about now; you three ready?”

Hatsumi asked, primarily for Stanis and Chessa’s benefit.

“Ready.”

Both of them responded at once.

"Alright, let's head in."

 

“Alright, let's head in.”

Hatsumi said, looking over her shoulder as she pushed open one of the doors leading into the guild. The other three members of the team following behind her.

It’s good they finally spoke up. We couldn’t keep that atmosphere up forever.

She thought to herself.

“Now, she seems to be a bit shy like you all remember, so try not to prod her too much.”

“We’ll remember.”

Chessa responded.

“Okay, so she should be around…here…some-where.”

Hatsumi’s speech slowed as she turned around, the sight greeting them all perplexing her.

Atop the shoulders of a tanned Arachne sat a small demon child. And the child held above herself, the head of the Stalker they killed that morning. Parading the head around with surrounding workers and adventurers cheering her on. Awkwardly smiling and laughing as if she’d won some kind of prize as she touted the giant monster’s skull above her, a smile that disappeared and shifted to fear when her gaze met Hatsumi’s.

What?

Hatsumi’s mind was slammed with a single question as to why the child was holding up the head of a stalker, one that should have weighed more than the girl herself. Seeing Hatsumi and the others, Avery held an ecstatic expression as she prompted Kiyomi to drop the head to the ground. Slamming against the ground with a meaty thud, the weight of just what was being shifted around like a toy was made evident to the four that had just arrived. Not that they were unfamiliar with it since they’d killed it earlier that day. Sauntering up to them with a fairly smug smile, Avery broke the silence that the four had fallen into, with Kiyomi herself choosing to try and appear small and hide behind the Arachne's hair.

“Hatsumi!”

“Avery”

The two demi-humans greeted each other.

“Avery, was that the Stalker?

“Mhmm!”

“And she was handling it as if it were a toy?”

“Yep”

Avery continued to answer, her face still holding its smug expression.

“Already?”

Hatsumi asked, looking back to Kiyomi, who still sat atop Avery’s shoulders.

“I had her cut the thing as a joke, and she snapped its head nearly clean off from a kick!”

“I-I already cut it halfway!”

Kiyomi attempted to intervene in the conversation.

“Kiki, for the last time, you should be way happier about this!”

Avery responded, lifting Kiyomi over her head and placing her between herself and Hatsumi.

“Hatsumi, did you never tell her?”

“Tell me what?”

Kiyomi spoke again, this time sounding upset.

“Ahhhahah, I didn’t expect that this early.”

Hatsumi awkwardly laughed, her ears pinning downward as she leaned forward to speak to Kiyomi.

“Well, Kiyomi. We uh…Lorn may have told us your stats…seven-teen strength. We were waiting for you to figure out how to apply it.”

Hatsumi smiled awkwardly, trying to express a sort of apology to the little girl in front of her.

“It’s good to see you finally managed to muster it up.”

 

Wait, when the hell did you see my damn stats?!

I was staring up at the two women talking back and forth over me. They just casually brushed over the fact I was trying to hide my stats from them.

And here I was panicking on how to explain myself?!

Hatsumi and Avery talked casually about my stunt from just now while I was beside myself.

Was this bad?

Probably noticing my sudden panic, Hatsumi kneeled down.

“Don’t worry; you’re not in trouble, Kiyomi. You can stop looking scared.”

Hatsumi attempted to console me.

“Actually, she broke the counter when she kicked the head.”

Avery mentioned under her breath.

“She what?”

Hatsumi looked up to Avery, her smile now turning into one of irritation suddenly.

“She may have broken the counter, and it’s gonna cost a few silver.”

Avery’s smile turned from smug to awkward as she avoided eye contact with the long hair below her. Hatsumi brought the same gaze down at Avery's comment as she was kneeling, eye level with me.

“Since you’re so strong, Kiyomi, how about an extra half hour with your sword tonight?”

She asked, her tail sweeping from side to side. The behavior unsettling me.

I don’t think my body can handle it, please no.

I was caught up in Hatsumi’s proposed punishment for breaking the counter before realizing something as I looked past her shoulder, attempting to avoid eye contact just as Avery was. The rest of the team was present. Noticing my distracted gaze from my foreshadowed suffering of the muscle, Hatsumi turned to bring Stanis, Chessa, and Callum back within her view.

“Oh, Kiyomi! They all wanted to see you.”

Hatsumi’s mood took a one-eighty.

“Stanis and Chessa wanted to give a better impression. So they joined me in checking on you first thing.”

I could feel Hatsumi’s tail pushing at my backside lightly, trying to push me towards the group.

“Ah, uh…hi.”

I spoke, trying my best to no longer seem meek.

“Good enough start.”

Hatsumi said in an encouraging tone, her ears twitching just after.

I thought I was unwelcome.

The thought moved into my mind as I managed to lock eyes with the three looking down at me.

Callum isn’t making me nervous. But Stanis and Chessa, were they really okay with me?

Looking directly to Chessa, I remembered the response she gave at the announcement of my adoption. She looked at me then with disgust in her eyes, yet at this moment, she averted her gaze and began to frown slightly as she noticed my eyes were locked on her. Until of course, Stanis, who stood next to her, nudged her forward. Hesitantly she spoke up, managing to look to me before speaking.

“I hope we can give you a better impression of ourselves tonight and tomorrow.”

Chessa said confidently, attempting to seem approachable compared to the initial interaction from nearly a week before.