"Uu… Morning, Akira…"

A drowsy Cresta entered the kitchen as I was making breakfast. She hopped onto a seat and laid her head down onto the counter, looking pretty worse for wear. An unusual thing in the morning for the high-energy catssassin.

"What? Irapesha holding you back from eating too many burgers lately? I'll make you a salisbury steak instead. Not a burger, but with some mushroom gravy, it'll make for a nice substitute," I said from the stove.

In addition to a light stew with extra helping of meat, it should perk Cresta right up.

"Actually… Can you make me something soft? Like really soft? Eggs or porridge sounds nice," she groaned painfully.

"Eh?"

The ladle dropped from my hand.

Just now, I was pretty sure I had heard something outrageous from Cresta. Something that probably heralded the end of the world. Cresta? Asking for eggs and porridge over meat?

"Cresta!" I went over to shake the lethargic catgirl. "Speak to me! What's wrong, buddy?"

"Ahhh! Stop shaking me! It's making my teeth hurt!" she cried.

Teeth?

"Open your mouth," I said.

She did so. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then again, I wasn't a dentist. Her pearly teeth and fangs looked fine as far as my untrained eyes could see.

"How long have your teeth been hurting? Is it just one place?"

Cresta shook her head and pointed to five different places. "It started getting worse a month ago. I've been ignoring it since it wasn't that bad, but now it is…"

"Have you been brushing your teeth?" I placed both hands on my hips.

Although Cresta didn't give me an answer immediately, the sad look in her eyes was enough to confirm my suspicions.

"You haven't been brushing your teeth," I answered in her place.

"But I don't wanna!" She clung onto me and buried her teary face into my stomach. "That white pasty stuff is nasty, and sticking a brush in my mouth feels wrong!"

"Now you have to deal with cavities, and the only way to get rid of them is to go to a dentist!" Try as I might to wrench Cresta off, she wasn't letting go.

Thankfully, Irapesha had come downstairs to pry her away.

"What's going on here? Are you misbehaving again?" the dragonewt asked, holding Cresta like a duffel bag in one hand.

"Perfect timing! We need to drag Cresta to the dentist for her sake," I said.

Fortunately for the stew, Ines had woken up to finish cooking in my place. With Irapesha watching over Cresta so she wouldn't run away, I drove us to a dentist in the city. The surprise on the woman's face when I showed up with two netherfolks was a frameable moment. Her jaw just dropped.

Irapesha and I waited in the lobby. Gentle elevator music almost put me to sleep the second I sat down. My dragonewt companion stared patiently at the fish inside a fish tank like a predator waiting to strike.

Only ten minutes later, the dentist returned and heaved a sigh.

"Cresta has seven cavities," she said.

"Seven?!" I put a hand to my face and sighed as well.

That meant Cresta had to have been neglecting her dental health for much longer than that. Well… given that she expressed displeasure towards both toothpaste and toothbrush, it might have been since coming here.

"I'm actually impressed by the resilience of her teeth." The dentist looked down at her notes. "Netherfolk teeth, or rather, Cresta's in particular, are incredibly tough. Most of her cavities are superficial and have only eaten away a small portion of the enamel. Only one cavity on her right fang is getting a little close to the dentin. We can fill it all today if you like?"

"I don't need to make an appointment for her? Will that be alright?" I asked.

"You're in luck. We just came off a surge of appointments after Halloween and Christmas. We'll be happy to work on Cresta's teeth today. I think she would feel a lot calmer with you two in the room." She glanced over her shoulder to a room where Cresta currently was.

When we followed the dentist in, it was pretty obvious why the request was made. Cresta was scared shitless. Her eyes were spinning circles, teeth chattering, and curled up on the chair.

"Aba… abababa… The nice lady jammed things into my mouth with a gentle voice… I trusted her…" Cresta mumbled in fear.

"I never thought I'd get the chance to call you a scaredy-cat," I said, holding back my laughter.

"H-How much longer do I have to suffer?" she asked.

"Until your cavities are filled. Your teeth will stop hurting, and you can eat whatever you want again! We can even stop by Rocket Burger after this," I offered.

Cresta glanced over to Irapesha who had been controlling her intake of fast foods.

"Very well. Be a good girl and hang in there, then you can eat whatever you like." Irapesha nodded in approval.

For the most part, the procedure went off without much of an issue. Cresta screwed her eyes shut and gritted through the fillings. She did, however, crush the armrests and scared the living shit out of the dentist.

Then it came time to work on the final cavity which was the most damaged part. Cresta was injected with something to numb the gums around the area. Irapesha gave her a hand to hold, since both armrests were destroyed. I would have volunteered if my hands wouldn't have met the same fate. 

The needle injection was fine, however…

As soon as the dentist pulled out a drill and it began whirring, Cresta's eyes went wide.

"Cresta, stay still!" Irapesha was having trouble controlling the dental patient's struggling with only one arm.

However, as soon as the drill reached Cresta's fang—

Kerchak!

Something zipped past my head like a bullet. The head of the drill had broken off and struck the window. All of us cast our eyes to the drill in the dentist's hand which was partially inside Cresta's mouth.

"Did… Did her teeth just break that?" I stammered.

"N-No, that shouldn't be possible. This drill was old, so that might be it. Let me bring a brand new one." The dentist went to retrieve a new drill to begin the process again.

I stood at the corner of the room, away from the trajectory of the last drill head just in case. When the dentist went in on Cresta's teeth, something snapped and hit the window again. There were now multiple web-like cracks in it.

"These cost upwards of thousands of dollars…" The woman stared at her broken drills in disbelief.

"W-Well… At least property insurance covers netherfolk damages!" I reminded her of the bright side.

It took five drills to eventually remove the decayed region. We were lucky that each one lasted only long enough to get piece by piece rather than breaking instantly. Once the hole was filled with composite filling, the drill was able to smooth it out without problem and the procedure was finished.

The visit racked up a little over $15,000 in damages which would be billed to the United States' taxpayers. All because my tenant didn't brush her teeth. Professor Markel was going to give me an earful, I just know it.

"I took the liberty of checking Irapesha, and her teeth were perfectly healthy! I think it goes without saying, please brush your teeth twice a day with toothpaste," the dentist pleaded with the traumatized Cresta.

"If you brush your teeth, you won't have to visit the dentist again," I reminded her.

"I'll brush my teeth from now on! No more drills!" Cresta exclaimed.

As we were leaving, Cresta was pressing her fingers together and appeared reluctant to say anything.

"Rocket Burger, right?" I smiled, starting up the engine.

Cresta lit up and nodded furiously in excitement.

"I suppose indulging in a few burgers won't hurt," Irapesha said. "However, once we get home, it's straight to the bathroom to brush your teeth."

"O-Okay…"