Lutrex and Natsuko arrive at the clinic, entering through the lobby. In the middle of the room were two female students who immediately ran towards Natsuko.
The first one caught Lutrex’s eye. She was a very short girl, barely tall enough to reach her lower chest. She had long, green hair with her front bang being purple, heterochromatic eyes of green and blue, pale skin and a childlike face.
What caught Lutrex’s attention though were the mechanical horns, her pointed ears and her tail ending in a metal spade. Coupled with her eyes resembling camera lenses, she deduced the short girl was an android or a cyborg.
The second one was the eldest of the three and undoubtedly human by her smell. She was two inches taller than Natsuko with brunette hair tied in a ponytail, brown skin with freckles on her face and reddish brown eyes.
Her resemblance to Natsuko was so uncanny that the two could pass off as sisters. Lutrex knew they weren’t though because the two smelled different.
Lutrex stayed back as the three shared a tight embrace, Natsuko crying in their arms. Seeing as they were occupied, the oni excused herself and started walking towards the emergency room to check up on Pancake.
After entering, she immediately goes to the counter to ask about his condition. The desk clerk immediately recognizes her and starts talking.
“Ah, there you are! We’ve been wondering when you’d come back, Lady Lutrex.”
“Is Pancake alright?”
“He’s doing great! Let me get the doctor to bring him here for you.”
Lutrex sees the clerk press a button behind the desk. A few minutes later, a doctor in full surgeon's clothes and mask was walking towards them with Pancake on his head, back to his old smooth self.
Seeing Lutrex, Pancake immediately jumps towards her with all his 8 tentacles outstretched, giving the oni a face full of calamari as he hugs her.
“I miss you too, Pancake.”
She says, being muffled by the affectionate creature. After gently removing him from her face, Lutrex places Pancake on her head as she talks to the doctor.
“Thank you for helping Pancake, Doctor. I am forever in your debt.”
“No thanks needed, Lady Lutrex. I didn’t do anything to help him at all.”
Lutrex raised her eyebrow, confused as to what he was saying. Seeing her expression, the good doctor clarified.
“Let me explain. When I contacted a friend regarding Pancake’s species, she told me that he’ll cure himself of the venom overtime then he’ll become immune to it.”
“So the only thing I had to do was make sure he was comfortable until he healed himself. He’s been very behaved.”
“I see. Well, I appreciate that you went through the effort to accommodate him despite not needing to.”
“No problem. Anyways, he’s free to go now Miss Lutrex. Make sure he doesn’t go anywhere near wasp nests in the future.”
“I will see to it, Doctor.”
Both Lutrex and Pancake bow to the two staff before going on their way. Returning to the main lobby, the oni spots Natsuko and her two friends sitting at one of the benches.
To her surprise, they beckon her to come to them as if they personally knew who she was. Not wishing to be rude and wanting to properly say goodbye to Natsuko, Lutrex starts walking towards them while Pancake hides under his sister’s long hair to avoid the strangers.
Reaching the trio, the oni wastes no time in talking to the girl she had saved.
“Hello Miss Amari. Have you had your injury checked?”
“Huh? Oh, Y-yes I have. The doctor says I am fine and that I only need a cold compress on it.”
“That is good to hear.”
“My friends would like to talk to you, Miss Lutrex.”
On cue, the older human and the small android stand up from their seats and introduce themselves to Lutrex.
“Hello, Miss Lutrex. My name’s Ito-”
“And I’m Sylve Esencia!”
“And we’d just like to say, thank you for saving our friend from those people.”
Ito then bows to Lutrex, which the oni returns in kind. Sylve also added her piece on the matter in a more animated way.
“Yeah! I heard from Nat that you were pretty badass too! Disabling those jerks without even showing yourself then throwing that tentacle spear and taking out that whole group!”
Lutrex found being called “badass” amusing. She did not show it on her face though, remaining stoic during the entire exchange.
“I only did my duty as an agent and citizen of Arkham, Miss Esencia. I am just glad that I was able to step in before the situation devolved even more.”
“And we’re very grateful for that, Miss Lutrex. In fact, we’d like to repay you for saving our friend.”
“I am flattered, but you do not have to-”
“We were just about to head back to our dorms to eat. Would you like to join us?”
“Yes, I would love to. Pancake.”
With a single commanding tone, the creature emerges from its hiding place and sits at the oni’s shoulder, still weary of the three. Said three however were wide eyed and charmed by the little cephalopod.
“These three have invited us to eat at their dorm room. What do you say?”
Pancake removes his little hat from his head, holding it in his two tentacles, before giving a sincere bow to show his appreciation. Sylve lost it.
“OH MY GOSH, HE’S SOOOO CUTE!”
She screams at the top of her voice, getting the other people inside the lobby to look at the four. Natsuko was crying for some reason and Ito continued to stare at Pancake, with a faint blush on her cheeks.
The scream from the android though was enough to have Pancake retreat back to the safety of his sister’s hair hut. Seeing the reaction, Sylve regretted her action.
“Hehe... Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to scare the little guy.”
“All is forgiven. I would ask you to not do it again though.”
“Promise. So... how about we get back to the dorms so we can start cooking?”
The trio of friends collectively nodded, leaving the clinic with their honored guest.
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The group arrives at the front of the dorms, which resemble more like a parliament house rather than an apartment complex. They enter the lobby then ride the elevator.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Arriving at the third floor, Lutrex and Pancake follow the three along the hallway until they stop at what she assumed was their room, with a plaque that had the numbers 307 to 309 on it. Ito pulls a key out of her pant’s pocket and opens the door, letting the others in before locking it behind her.
The first thing Lutrex and Pancake see inside is room 308 at the end of a short corridor with paths on both sides with a large, open cabinet and a shoe rack near the door to their right.
“Welcome to our humble abode, Miss Lutrex! Feel free to check the place out while we get stuff ready at the Kitchen.”
“Also, please take off your boots and grab one of the slippers on the rack. Thank you!”
“Understood.”
Sylve gives a thumbs up before disappearing into the right path, with Ito following behind. Natsuko turns to Lutrex before going with the others.
“Like what Sylve said, please make yourself comfortable. You’re free to use our bathroom if you need to, Miss Lutrex.”
“Thank you for the hospitality, Miss Amari.”
The girl nods before also disappearing to the right, leaving the two at the entrance. As instructed, Lutrex takes off her boots and places them on the rack, taking notice of a pair of sneakers that resembled the ones Kasao owned.
After grabbing a pair of black slippers from the cabinet, she and Pancake head deeper in to see more of the place. Lutrex decides to check the left side of the dorm first, before the kitchen.
The left had a modest sized shared living room parallel to the kitchen, another bedroom labeled 307 and the bathroom at the end of the hall. Seeing nothing special, she turns around and heads to the other side.
The kitchen was well equipped with the basic necessities such as a large fridge, an oven with a built-in stove on top of it, a sink, a stove and plenty of pots, pans and other cooking utensils.
Instead of a traditional dining table though, it was a small cylindrical table with 6 stools surrounding it. Except for the sad looking dining area, Lutrex was quite impressed at the generosity of the school.
As Natsuko and Ito prepare to cook, Sylve takes her bags and heads to room 309 that faces the kitchen. She pulls out a footstool from the side of the fridge and stands on it to reach the doorknob. To her surprise, it was locked.
“Huh? I don’t remember locking the door when I went out.”
“Maybe a ghost did it.”
Natsuko says jokingly as she was cutting vegetables while also standing on a stool to reach the counter. Sylve, and Lutrex, didn’t pay attention to it because they heard footsteps within the locked room.
Sylve moved the stool and herself away just before the door opened to reveal Kasao standing in the doorway while wearing pink headphones. The blonde was very much confused and surprised to see three new faces staring at her, save for Lutrex and Pancake who gave a silent wave towards her.
“Uhhhhh... H-hi?”
Kasao stammers out, feeling uncomfortable with being the center of attention. The focus on her doesn’t last long as Ito removes the awkwardness from the atmosphere by talking.
“Oh, you must be the student the supervisor talked about. Welcome!”
The older girl says warmly, surprising the other two foreigners. Sylve’s eyes sparkle in excitement to the concern of the blonde.
“Wow! Nice to meet you, roomie! My name’s Sylve Esencia, the demon android!”
Kasao silently looks at the hyperactive midget in front of her before turning towards the other two in the kitchen.
“...Can we trade roommates?”
“WHA- HEY!”
“I’m joking. You can call me Kasao.”
The two share a handshake before Kasao moves to the side to let the small android in while removing her headphones and letting them rest on her shoulders.
As she exits the room, Ito and Natsuko introduce themselves to the new girl while continuing on with their work in the kitchen.
“Nice to meet you, Kasao. You can call me Ito and the one beside me is Natsuko.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Kasao. Sorry I can’t properly greet you on account of me being busy.”
“It's fine. And you can drop the formalities with me. It's not like I’m a princess or something.”
She says while side-eyeing Lutrex, who was starting to drool from her mouth from the smell of the dish being cooked. Seeing as the others were busy and that the android had left the bedroom, Kasao sees this as a chance to talk to the oni again.
Walking towards the towering woman, Kasao pokes at her arm enough times for Pancake to realize that she wants to talk to her. With a light but wet slap of his tentacle, Lutrex is directed to the psion beside her.
“Yes, Kasao? Do you need me for something?”
“I wanna talk to you. Let’s go to my room.”
“Very well.”
“I’ll knock when the food’s ready then.”
Said Ito before the two agents head inside the room for a private conversation, leaving the three friends to cook and chat by themselves.
The bedroom was quite spacious for two people. To the left of the door are two wardrobes for the two roommates to use, a bunk bed with drawers at the left side, two study desks placed in front of the window at the end of the room and hanging bookshelves on the right side.
“Grab one of the chairs at the study. I’ll be sitting on the bottom bunk.”
Lutrex nods before dragging one of the office chairs in front of the bunk.
“So, mind telling me what happened during your final test?”
“...I suppose the noise from the kitchen and the closed door is enough to silence our discussion. Me and my uncle, who is also my instructor, were tasked to eliminate the anti-foreigners within an old sawmill along with retrieving valuable information.”
“After retrieving the documents, I found out that they were keeping foreigner children as prisoners. After I went out of their cell to head back outside, I was ambushed by the leader of the group stationed there.”
“I managed to escape from the man and lead him outside to increase our chances of defeating him. After a painful and life-threatening bout, we were able to kill him.”
“Damn. So even with a Spear backing you up, you two had a hard time beating him? He must’ve been a monster.”
“If only that were true. The reason for our sorry state was due to my carelessness and uncle’s insistence to not use an exosuit.”
“What? Is he suicidal?”
“No, but I understand why many would see him in such a manner. He, in his own words, wants my father as far away from his body as possible.”
“Anyways, is that all you wanted to talk about Miss Kasao?”
“Depends. Did the documents say anything about a fort in the middle of a desert lake?”
“...Yes. How did you know this information?”
“Because my final test was to kill everything inside that fort and rescue the foreigners in it. My platoon, along with four agents, went in and shot the place.”
“Really? Then that means-”
“Yeah, sorry about that. When we reached the underground lab, everyone including the foreigners got evacuated. And no, we couldn’t follow them ‘cause it was too dangerous and the teleport room was rigged.”
“I see... I hope they are still alive. For their sake and their children’s.”
“I doubt it. It's been over a week and I doubt the anti-foreigners like keeping them alive for that long.”
“It is a foolish thing to hope for, is it not? Still, I appreciate what you and your platoon has done.”
“Don’t be. It was just a part of the test.”
“It still deserves commendation.”
“If you say so.”
The two remain quiet for a while, with only the sounds of muffled chatter from outside being heard. Just before the silence could get truly awkward, they hear a knock at the door followed by Ito’s voice.
“Hello? I’m sorry if you two aren’t done talking, but the food’s ready. Grab a bite before it gets cold.”
With nothing else to talk about, the three head out of the room to have a well deserved lunch after the events that happened.
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After stuffing themselves with food and chatting away the hours, Lutrex and Pancake say their goodbyes to the four before heading back to the apartment.
Arriving back home, she knocks on the door to let her uncle know they’ve arrived.
“It’s open!”
She hears her uncle’s muffled voice from within, telling them to come in. She enters the apartment and heads to the living room to see Calian watching TV, wearing a white tank top and white cargo pants with yellow and black accents.
“Heard you two got into a bit of trouble at school.”
Lutrex and Pancake freeze in place just as they were about to enter their bedroom. The two slowly turn their heads towards Calian only to see that he was still focused on the screen.
Seeing that the question wasn’t said with any intention of punishment or reprimand, Lutrex hesitantly answers her uncle.
“Y-yes, we did. H-how did you-”
“Got notified by the university’s staff on two separate occasions. Must’ve been a hell of a first day.”
“I suppose it was quite chaotic for my first day on Earth...”
“Well now that you’ve been acquainted with a fragment of the people who live here, start preparing yourself tomorrow.”
Lutrex and Pancake tilt their heads, not getting what the older man met. Seeing their confusion, Calian adds to his dialogue.
“We’re going to the base tomorrow to pick up your things.”
“Oh, I see. I suppose I can wash my dress today and it’ll dry off at night.”
“You do that. Also, it's your turn to handle dinner.”