Volume 8 - Gratitude, Chapter 51 - All The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Haru performed her trademark head tilt and blinked her large gold eyes at Yuisu, who was sitting across the kitchen table. It took her a moment to process what she'd just heard. Then she asked, "Mara's trying to get with you?"

"Yep, she certainly tried," Yuisu responded, blushing as she thought back to Mara's strip show. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forget the sight of her spinning her striped panties around like that…

"But you stopped her?" Haru said as she leaned forward over the kitchen table, her eyes dark and unreadable.

"Of course!" Yuisu blurted. "She offered to ask you to join, but I cut that off too."

"Aww…" Haru whined, until she saw Yuisu's eyes go wide with shock. She held up her wings and said, "Kidding! I'm kidding! Thanks for stopping her. Even if I was in a sharing mood, I wouldn't want to get involved in that drama right now."

As Yuisu rinsed the dirty dishes from breakfast, she casually mentioned, "Oh, and she knows about our thing with Quess."

Haru flinched at that. She said, "Oof, I should have known that would get out eventually. I bet Mara heard it from Quess that last night of the trip when she was super drunk…"

Yuisu turned and squinted at Haru, who was still sitting at the table. "You're handling this pretty well. Aren't you jealous?"

Haru shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not worried about you being stolen away from me, so there's no reason to be jealous. Oh, do you have any idea why Mara went after you specifically?" She grinned and added, "Other than how amazingly sexy you are, of course."

Yuisu smiled as she sat back down at the table. "Well, I guess there aren't a lot of relationship options for her here, you know? Especially if Quess and Iormu get together."

Haru nodded. "True. She doesn't know many people."

"Let's solve that," Yuisu said, cryptically.

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"Let's introduce Mara to some new people. Tsuen will meet a ton of liminals at her new job, but Mara isn't gonna meet anyone by staying inside and playing games all day."

Haru nodded. "Agreed. So where can we take Mara to meet liminals?"

"Well, I have been wanting a do-over of our date, one where you don't get sick," Yuisu said. She didn't mention that it was her fault that Haru got sick in the first place. She had encouraged Haru to try frozen yogurt, but she couldn't have known Haru was lactose intolerant. "Let's go to the Wild Life nightclub."

"Ooh, that sounds fun. Iormu and Quess might want to come too, as a new couple." Haru froze suddenly, then carefully asked, "Uh, should we invite Tsuen?"

"Yeah, I think we should. But I get the feeling it isn't really her scene, and she's not big on staying up late, anyway."

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The next day, Yuisu scrambled to invite all the girls and get the date set up, since that evening was her only night off work all week.

Mara was on board before Yuisu could even finish inviting her. "Hell yeah, I'll come to a nightclub with you!" she cheered as she bounced on the couch.

"With me and Haru, and possibly others," Yuisu clarified, brushing a strand of her straight black hair over her ear..

"Yeah, yeah," Mara said, waving a hand dismissively. "Will it be that place you went before? I've been wanting to see inside since… uh, nevermind."

Yuisu sighed. "Mara, we already know that you and Misaki were following us on that date."

"Oh, in that case, I want to go to the Wild Life," Mara said with a toothy grin.

Yuisu smiled and stood up. "Awesome. I'll go invite the others."

Next, Yuisu visited the cabin to invite Iormu and Quess. I hope they're not in the middle of anything indecent, she thought as she knocked on the door, but her worries were unfounded.

Iormu opened the door quickly, fully dressed. "Hey, Yuisu. Come on in," she said as she slid back to let Yuisu inside.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Yuisu asked.

Iormu brushed her long purple hair over her shoulder. "Not at all. Quess and I were just hanging out and reading."

Huh, that is far tamer than what I was expecting… Yuisu stepped in and followed Iormu's tail into the bedroom, where Quess was sitting on the bed, reclined against the wall.

Quess set her book down and looked up. "Hiya, Yuisu. What brings you by?"

Yuisu addressed both women. "Haru, Mara, and I are going to a nightclub tonight. Do you two want to come?"

Iormu absolutely lit up, grinning from ear to ear. "I'd love to! I've been wondering what the party scene is like in Japan."

Quess smiled when she saw Iormu's reaction. "Sure, I'll come too."

"Great. I'll go get things ready. Try to be ready to go around eight," Yuisu said, then turned to leave.

As Yuisu left the room, Iormu slid up onto the bed and looped herself around Quess. She picked up her own book, cuddled up against the soft pink slimegirl, and resumed the story she'd been reading. It was an odd tale about a man called Detective Manzo in a strange alternate-history ancient Japan.

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Yuisu had to wait for Tsuen to get home from her job at Sports Club Kobold to talk to her. When she finally did invite her to the nightclub, Tsuen turned down the offer, as expected.

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"I have to get up early in the morning for work. Have fun without me," Tsuen said, not taking her turquoise eyes from the weatherman on the TV.

Yuisu set a hand on Tsuen's shoulder and asked, "Are you sure? It'll be lonely here."

Tsuen finally turned toward Yuisu and nodded. "I'll probably be at the gym for part of the evening anyway. I'm going to head back down there in a bit, since I'd like to get more experience on all the equipment so I can instruct people properly."

Yuisu watched Tsuen for a moment, trying to read her attitude. She's gotten really serious since the breakup… Then Yuisu stood up from the couch and said, "Alright. Send me a text if you need anything."

Yuisu walked a short way down the hall and slipped into her bedroom, where Haru was already getting dressed for the date.

"So, how'd that go?" Haru asked as she pulled her strapless bra into place.

"Tsuen's out, so it'll just be the five of us."

"Alright. It could have been pretty awkward if Tsuen and Mara both came. And hopefully being a fifth-wheel will get Mara talking to strangers," Haru said, then she held a wing towards Yuisu. "Can you help me with this?"

Yuisu took the shimmery piece of cloth Haru had been holding and held it out. It was a silver sleeveless dress with a low cut and high slits up the sides. "Whoa, this is new. Going all out tonight?"

Haru smiled mischievously. "Yep. I'm hoping for a repeat of how we turned heads on the beach."

Yuisu returned the smile as she helped Haru into the skimpy dress. "Later, I'd like a repeat of what we did after that…"

Without getting too distracted, Haru and Yuisu finished getting dressed. Yuisu had decided to wear the same purple dress she'd worn on their prior night on the town. She liked how its gold flowers looked next to Haru's silver dress.

When they stepped into the living room, the other girls were already dressed up and waiting. Iormu was wearing a slinky black dress, along with all her normal dangly jewelry, while Quess was 'wearing' a short-skirted version of her normal fancy pink dress. Mara's outfit, however, caught everyone a little off-guard.

Mara wore an ornate black dress with lacy black frills and little pale-pink bows everywhere. Her hair was pulled back by two large black bows into twin pigtails, showing off earrings that featured some sort of bloody teddy bear character. On her legs, Mara wore simple toe-less black stockings, except on her palps, where she wore light pink socks with the same bloody-mouthed teddy bear. The socks came up to just under the bottom of her short black dress, showing just a hint of soft skin.

Yuisu felt herself grow hot. Oh man, she looks pretty sexy. She calmed herself, then said, "Wow, Mara, you look great!"

Mara smiled up at her. "Thanks! I was worried about not standing out in the club because I'm so small, so…"

Quess walked around Mara in a circle, making a show of looking at her from every angle. "Oh, you'll stand out, alright. I especially like the high socks and short skirt combination."

Mara grinned mischievously. "Ah, that's what I was going for. 'Absolute Territory' is what internet otaku call it, that wonderful bit of thigh showing between skirt and socks." She shrugged, still smiling. "I've got no boobs or booty, so I gotta work what I do have."

Iormu fidgeted with her beaded necklace. "Isn't the whole outfit kind of… grim? Won't people get the wrong idea about your personality?"

Haru spoke up. "Gothic lolita style isn't as dark as it looks. It's pretty fashionable and popular these days. I don't think people will read too much into it."

"In any case," Yuisu said, looking up from her phone, "I just got a text that our ride is waiting outside. My little truck wasn't going to work for all of us, so I pestered Agent Will until he agreed to pay for a bigger vehicle for the night."

The five dressed-up girls stepped out onto the front porch, where everyone except Yuisu froze in shock. Where they were expecting a rental truck or some other utilitarian vehicle, there was a limousine. But not just any limousine…

"A stretch Hummer?!" Mara practically shouted.

Yuisu nodded. "Yeah, it's a little clunky, but it was the only thing the limo company had that could fit Iormu and get up our dirt driveway."

"It isn't 'clunky'. It's awesome!" Mara skittered forward, then ran around the whole 30-foot long SUV, grinning from ear to ear the entire time.

Haru leaned close to Yuisu and whispered, "Well, we certainly got Mara out of her funk. She's happy and hyper again."

Just then, Mara noticed the dark evening sky above her and stopped moving. She didn't have her umbrella, or any other way to block out the sight of the vast night sky. The sky that felt like bottomless pit, waiting to swallow her whole. She grabbed the nearest door handle on the limo and yanked it open, then leapt inside.

From the porch, it almost looked like Mara was just eager to get in the limo, but Yuisu knew better. If she'd just use the umbrella… I hope her and Tsuen can at least be friends again soon.

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As the limousine pulled up in front of the nightclub, it drew the eyes of everyone that was hanging around outside, talking and smoking. The bouncer at the front door froze stock still for a second, then darted forward to greet the mysterious and clearly important people that were arriving in the excessive limo.

"Welcome to the Night Life Wildclub, uh I mean Wild Life Nightclub!" the seven-foot tall orc bellowed as the limo door opened.

Yuisu stepped out first, holding onto the door handle to make the descent down to ground level from the tall vehicle. She turned back to help Haru and was surprised anew at how light Haru was for her size. It makes sense, being a harpy and flying and all, she thought.

The two beautifully dressed women were immediately the focus of all the onlookers. Their sexy outfits were doing good work. As Haru helped the next woman out of the limo, Yuisu stepped up to the bouncer, who finally recognized her.

"Oh, it's you!" the orc said with a kind smile. He had dark skin and a red mohawk over his pig-like face. "We met last time you were here. I'm Kyle."

[https://i.imgur.com/gL3PWwt.png]

Yuisu smiled up at him. Way up, since he was so much taller than her. "Yuisu, and this is Haru," she said as she gestured at the white feathered harpy that was trying to smooth out her form-fitting silver dress. "Thanks again for your help back then, Kyle. The club isn't too busy tonight for our party of five, is it?"

"Not at all! It's hopping tonight, but we've got plenty of space." After he said that, he thought, Why would five people need that massive limo? His question was immediately answered as the last woman exited the limousine.

Foot after foot after foot of Iormu's purple-scaled body filed out of the vehicle, to the amazement of everyone watching. It coiled next to her upper body on the sidewalk until all forty-plus feet of her had exited the limo, then she closed the door. "This is so exciting!" she cheered. "I haven't been to a club since they were called speakeasies."

"Called what?" Mara asked. "Is that an American thing?"

"You could say that," Iormu replied without elaborating.

Meanwhile, Yuisu was still chatting with the bouncer. "Kyle, wasn't it? I assume you're under Agent Will's purview too?"

"Yup, he's great. Except when he's not, if you know what I mean," he said with a wink.

Yuisu smiled. "Oh, I know. Anyways, looks like we're all ready. Can we head inside?"

"Of course. Just let me see your IDs on your way in."

Kyle quickly glanced at Haru and Yuisu's IDs, as well as Quess's. He did a double-take on Mara's ID, since she looked so much younger than her real age, but did a triple-take on Iormu's. He looked up at the beautiful, busty woman in front of him, then back down at the ID in his hand. It was obviously issued by the Exchange Program, so it wasn't the layout or anything that was confusing him. It was the date of birth.

"Uh, is this a typo?" he asked.

After confirming that the other girls had gone inside the club and out of earshot, Iormu leaned forward and said, "No, I assure you it is correct."

"The year seems to be missing some digits. These IDs normally use all four digits of the year, and these two digits don't make sense. This makes it look like you're"—Kyle paused to do the math in his head—"85 years old!"

Iormu burst into laughter for a good fifteen seconds. When she stopped, she muttered to herself, "I suppose, if you only counted the years I was awake…"

Iormu she shook her head and rose up on her tail to put a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "I promise that the year printed there is complete, but please keep that just between us. A girl's gotta have some secrets, after all," she said with a wink.