"What
I wanna know," Kyouko says with an impish grin, "is: has my adorable young cousin met any cute girls yet?"
She's going to tease you to hell and back for weeks, if not
months if she can get away with it, but you suppose you'd better at least give her
something.
"Well," you belatedly begin, "three out of my four closest friends are girls, and one of them, Kurumu Kurono, is practically the heart of the Newspaper Club. She also enjoys baking, and I've found that she's actually really good at it."
Kurumu
also, you say only to yourself and in the privacy of your own head, is a Succubus, has called you her
Man of Destiny on more than one occasion, and has also expressed an interest in bearing your children. And while you are
immensely flattered by all of that, because -- let's face it -- there's no denying that Kurumu is as gorgeous as
Moka, the bottom line is that
you don't know how to respond to her appropriately, because you're pretty sure you're not emotionally ready for that.
You can almost
see a targeting system from some anime activating in Kyouko's head as she seems to focus her attention on the last thing you said. "This Kurumu bakes for you pretty
often, does sh-"
Suddenly, Kyouko blinks. "Wait, you said
three out of four." An odd sense of panic seems to overtake her for a moment, and she stands up in shock. "Since when are you so popular with girls, Tsukki?!"
You remain silent for a few seconds, until you suddenly realize that it wasn't an entirely rhetorical question. Bereft of any better way to answer that, you offer a bemused shrug. "Since.... high school, I guess?"
Her eyes hidden behind her bangs, Kyouko places a firm hand on your shoulder. "Even if they're beautiful, Tsukki.... No,
especially if they're beautiful...."
Kyouko abruptly raises her head, and you fight back an urge to flinch at the passionate intensity of her gaze! "There are some women in this world who would use their looks or other talents as a weapon, to prey on nice and honest guys like you! They're gold diggers, parasites, scum of the earth!"
Her eyes aflame with the power of love, Kyouko's declaration is ironclad: "For your own protection, Tsukki, you need to tell me as much as possible about those girls you hang out with!"
You valiantly fight the urge to sigh.... before giving up and doing so anyway, because this really is - as Jojo-senpai would say - a total pain in the ass. You know Kyouko's intentions are pure,
and you sincerely appreciate that, but she's really letting the 'protective big sister instinct' thing go to her head.
If this world, or any other, had a God in it and if they were listening to you right now, you'd beg them to please, please, PLEASE, no matter what,
never let Kyouko within ten miles of Youkai Academy.
"Okay, I'll spill the beans on everything. What do you need to know first,
mom?"
Before the words are even out of your mouth, you regret saying them. You weren't always that mouthy, were you? Where'd you pick it up from? .............Yukari or Mizore, probably.
Kyouko seems to notice, and calms down a little. "....I didn't mean it like that. I'm just trying to look out for you, you know?"
Heaving a sigh of her own, Kyouko starts to sit back on the bench, before stopping herself as the bus finally comes around and makes its way to the stop. "If you don't want to tell me, then I'm not going to make you."
A moment later, as the bus completely rolls to a stop, her mouth opens into a smile. Looking at her eyes, though, you can tell it's strained. "Part of growing up is learning to make your own choices in life, Tsukki, and picking your friends is a major part of that. And sometimes, I might need to be reminded to take a step back and respect that."
Running a hand through your hair, you let out a breath you didn't even realize you'd been holding. Even if you
do have to hide the truth about monsters, you can't really think of a good reason to not tell your family
anything about your friends. "Actually...."
Kyouko's stepping onto the bus, but stops when she hears you, and turns back to offer her full attention. "I really... probably think I would like to tell you, and Mom and Dad about everyone. So it would probably be better to do it later when we're all together, right?"
Kyouko looks pretty happy to hear that, and you feel
much better now yourself! Like you've managed to left a great weight from your shoulders, and you can finally sit back and relax now. And come to think of it, wasn't there
a commercial on TV this morning for some game that just came out? You occasionally overheard other students talking about playing video games in their own dorms, so that might be a thing you could gather some of your friends around for on the weekends, or something.
As you follow Kyouko onto the bus, you can feel an honest smile beginning to form on your face, because the new state of reality is
finally starting to sink in. You're back in the human world with your family, you don't have to worry about whether the obviously-hungry person sitting next to you is a humanitarian or not, you're off to go see a magic show, and when it's over, you know what! You still have
another week of summer vacation left to do whatever you want, and then it's back to school where you can hang out with Jotaro-senpai, Moka, Mizore, Yukari, and --
"Kurumu?"
....Heh, the sudden reversal of the mood must've been so quick that you're seeing things, now. Shaking your head and blinking repeatedly, you open your eyes again to see your bluenette friend in the bus seat across from you. She looks dumbfounded to see you, before her expression morphs into one of complete and utter
joy. She's wearing a short, stylish red scarf that you know is there to hide the bandages still around her neck; otherwise, you know Kurumu well enough to expect she'd be squealing with excitement. Sitting next to her is a
stunning and fashionable-looking woman that you can only assume is her mother.
[]...what?
[]Don't just stand there gaping like an idiot, introductions are in order!
