As it had the first, and probably second time, Yua’s return to the village drew in a large crowd of happy, naked, cat-kin. Only this time it was Mana’s name on their lips.
“Mana, where have you been?”
“What happened? Are you okay?”
Men, women, and children alike instantly crowded around her the moment we stepped through the portal. Children playfully tugged at her arms, lobbing curious questions about what she found in the human city. Women hugged her while a few more checked her all over for wounds. And the men let out sighs of relief over her safe return, all while Mana held a confused smile on her face.
She thought her people were ignoring her, but she had truly been misjudging the situation all this time. Their obvious concern over her and their relief at seeing her return so soon when it took Yua years to do the same, made Mana start to tear up a little.
“Your father has been worrying so much,” said a rather large-chested woman named Moka. “He hasn’t gotten any sleep since you left.”
“Haha… Yea…”
At the mention of her father, Mana’s ears drooped. Yua had explained that Mana was with us when she went to make her report, but it apparently hadn’t stopped the people from worrying. Especially, Mochi, apparently.
I nodded solemnly to our fate. Telling Mochi what we did was going to be hard enough as is, but knowing that he’s sleep-deprived doesn’t make it any easier.
As I lamented the future, surrounded by sea of pointed ears, swishing tails, bare breasts, vaginas and penises, all of which belonged to the crowd clamoring to know what happened to us over the last few days, I took a moment to steady myself.
Being use to the sights and sounds of the village by now, I didn’t let it get the better of me. Nor did I let myself regret the fact that keeping my clothes on this time had really made me stand out. There was no time. We had other pressing matters to worry about.
“Let’s go,” Yua said, unmoved by her people’s glee. Her expression only grew more serious as she pulled us out of the crowd.
The repeated flicking of her ears and her refusal to return any of the greetings that came her way were proof enough she was searching for someone. And knowing who that someone was, we let her drag us along.
I’d teleported us to the edge of the village to avoid the possibility of my violent father-in-law diving through the portal, assuming a fight was waiting for him, only to end up unleashing his power in an easily-destructible, high-class inn whose repair bill would no doubt be staggering. My caution had only prolonged the search, but thankfully, the crowd caught on and quickly quieted.
“…”
After we broke free of the mob, nobody spoke to us. The obvious tension carrying Yua forward made them grow serious. None looked at me with anything resembling hostility, but knowing why we’re here made their collective gazes feel accusatory.
Mana squeezed my hand. Any joy she’d had in finally getting to undress without being scolded was gone now that we’d returned. There was nothing to do but follow Yua through the village, until…
“There he is.”
Even though the front flaps to the chief’s tent were closed, Yua glared at it as though she could see her target standing in front of it, mocking her with a vicious smile.
Fully beyond my control at this point, Yua squat down into a runner’s stance. With her ass up in the air and without acknowledging what those behind us could see of her, her tail gave a single flick before she took off. Jetting through the village, kicking up a cloud of dust in her wake, she flew. With something akin to fear on their faces, everyone she passed was either pulled out of her way or jumped aside to avoid being mowed down. We rushed after her.
Without stopping to kill her momentum, Yua smacked the tent flaps out of her way with the back of her hand to reveal it’s interior, and the single man sitting by himself inside on the cot he called a bed.
Tama’s ears jumped and his tail flicked at the sight of her, but he remained still up until Yua reeled back and launched her fist into his cheek.
She didn’t hold back at all. The way her body moved made it clear that she’d hit him as hard as she possibly could without leading the punch with a cast of Iron Fist.
And yet, Tama being Tama, the only part of him that was affected by the blow was the soft flesh of his cheek where it bent beneath her fist. She might as well have punched a wall of steel.
The crowd uttered a collective gasp, but Tama did not stand. He did not speak a word of reproach. And his matching emerald eyes remained sharp until she raised her voice.
“Where were you?!”
“Daughter, I…”
“You promise you’d be there to help! Alex tried to teleport you multiple times!”
“…”
Seeing that the father-daughter’s third reunion this week was not the loving one they’d been hoping for, the cat-kin near the tent were quick to disperse. Mana, too, moved behind me, peeking out to avoid letting any of Yua’s wrath finding her.
While I fully supported her, knowing how hard it was to treat her beloved father like this, if this was the result of Yua cooling down before confronting him, I was a little scared of what she’d originally planned on doing to him. I mean, she broke my nose just to make a point.
“Well?!”
Tama’s eye twitched, but not from anger. His mask of strength wavered and I noticed how the way he sat, hands gripping his knees, almost made him look like a child being scolded by his parent.
“You said you’d wait for us,” Yua continued, slamming her hands on her hips. She clenched her jaw, bearing her canines, before adding, “Alex almost died. I almost died. And Mana too! If Elane hadn’t’ showed up…”
“…”
“Why are you just sitting there? Say something! If you’re here now, where were you earlier when we needed you?!”
Slowly, Tama closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. As stoic as a statue, he was still for several moments. With those ears of his that apparently dwarfed even Yua’s in their sensitivity, he knew the anger in her voice to be the real deal. And because of his experience as the village’s chief, he knew he needed to think over his answer before blurting out like he normally would.
Finally, he opened his eyes and locked them with Yua’s.
“… The Brawler Bears challenged me for control of the forest again. I didn’t have a choice… I wasn’t in the village when you called for me.”
This gave Yua pause and, if I’m not mistaken, a tinge of regret twisted her brow. She hung her head, shoulders trembling as she clenched her fists, but when her stance softened, I stepped up.
“What are you talking about? We saw one of those bears by the barrier. There’s no way you fought one of those things.”
Even the outrageously strong Tillmann barely managed to give the bear a flesh wound when he drove an axe into it. And it was supposedly one of the smaller ones. Despite this, Tama didn’t have a single scratch anywhere on his body. He wasn’t sweaty, nor did he look even slightly winded from what should have been a life-altering battle. He could have said he’d done nothing but sat there all day and I would have believed him.
After seeing the bear myself, I was almost positive that the stories Yua told about him were just exaggerated tales told on behalf a father by his loving daughter, just to hype him up before we met. But it was the strong, yet shockingly calm look he slowly turned to me that made me doubtful.
He looked reluctant as he stared at me, but it wasn’t the usual, barely-feigned hate he normally shot me with.
“I did fight it, and I won. And when I returned, I heard that you yelled something disrespectful through your spell. But that was before I came back.” He stopped and turned to Yua, her head still hanging. “Daughter, I promise you, I ran to the barrier as fast as I could the moment I knew. Only, when I got there, I saw that the barrier was gone and so were the humans. When I didn’t find you, or your body, I returned and waited right here, because I knew you’d come to me.”
“… Why didn’t you send someone to help?”
“You told me how strong that dwarf was. No one in the village could stand against him without my help. To send them would be sending them to die.”
“You could have sent multiple…” I started, but he shook his head.
“That would leave the village defenseless.”
“What about Mother?” Yua said.
“Unacceptable. You know that one of us must always stay in the village.”
Clenching her teeth, Yua’s hands trembled at her sides, but she no longer looked capable of keeping her fists primed to strike him again.
“Daddy…”
“I’m sorry.”
As if those two words were the last straw, Yua’s ears flicked and a single tear ran down her cheek, but long before it reached her chin, she was already flying into his arms. She wrapped him into a tight hug. Pressing herself to him, she nearly snapped him in half she squeezed so tight, but he bore with it and rubbed her back as she sobbed.
I could only guess she’d heard the truth in his heart, but…
“I don’t get it. He went to go fight something else and basically left us for dead. Why forgive him so easily?”
It was absurd. The only reason why we ever considered fighting the thieves was because we thought he was going to help. If Mana hadn’t been kidnapped, we never would have started without him.
And yet, as I muttered to no one in particular, a pair of alluringly, shockingly-soft somethings pressed against my back and left arm. Overly familiar with the sensation thanks to Yua and Mana, I opted not to look, which caused me to miss my chance to keep her from wrapping her arms around mine. Arm sandwiched in her abundant cleavage; I was suddenly unable to move.
“My Mate had to make a difficult choice,” Kimiko said softly, as though she didn’t want him to hear. “He had to choose between keeping his promise to our daughter, or to leave the village to be destroyed if he failed to meet the bear’s challenge. If he dishonored their challenge by not even showing up, they would have attacked. And it wouldn’t have been just the alpha that attacked us.”
“So, it was the three of our lives against the lives of the entire village?”
The thought of the damage just that one Brawler Bear could do to this place caused me to shiver. The cat-kin were warriors, but that thing made Yua quake in her boots at just the sight of it. If the alpha and the rest were added into the mix…
Still, the bears coming to challenge Tama must be why the one that killed Tillmann was in the area in the first place. They weren’t supposed to exist in that part of the forest.
It must have wandered off from the pack once Tama accepted the alpha’s challenge. Then the spriggans showed up to reclaim their home and controlled it for us. It was pure coincidence and yet, in a way, we were lucky Tama hadn’t showed up.
“My Mate is this village’s chief,” Kimiko continued. “He steeled himself and chose the harder choice, because it was right. Even though neither of us liked it.”
“But you won your fight,” Tama said. He took Yua by the arms and pushed her just far enough away to look her in the eye. “I’m proud of you.”
Yua sniffed and whiped at her tears, but shook her head. “I wasn’t able to do much of anything. Tillmann was too strong.”
“Doesn’t matter. You survived. The experience surviving such a battle is alone victory enough.”
“Daddy…!”
Shaking off his hands, Yua once more threw her arms around his back and pressed herself into his chest. Finally letting his tail give a happy flick, he locked his arms around her as well.
Unable to hold onto my anger after seeing Yua forgive him so completely, I forced myself to see things from his point of view. This doting father had reluctantly chosen to forsake his daughter for his people. I had no children myself, but just the thought of being made to make that decision made me regret forcing him to say all that.
I closed my eyes, ready to let it all go, and started pulling out the boxes of essence crystals. I set them in front of Kimiko’s feet and, surprised by their sudden appearance, she gasped.
“These are the essence crystals Tillmann and the humans were stealing from you. I know you didn’t know anything about them, but as far as I’m concerned, they belong to you. Since, you know, you did win the contest with the bear. I guess.”
Okay, maybe I wasn’t fully ready to let bygones be bygones. But in my defense, I did almost lose my head, you know?
Kimiko let go of my arm to squat beside the boxes. With just a finger, she pried and flicked open one of the lids to peek inside. I could tell she found the purple crystals pretty from how her tail swished, but she looked slightly confused.
“They don’t look like much, but they’re worth a lot of gold. I already set up a trade deal for you with Guerraway’s Enchanter.” I leaned in to whisper in her ear the most sensitive part of the information. “He’ll pay you 1,200 gold per crystal.”
“Th-That much?”
This drew a crowd of gasps from the villagers. Despite my efforts, the cat-kin’s penchant for eavesdropping got the better of us all.
“There’s also this.”
I dropped the sack full of the coin the thieves collected. Save for Tillmann’s personal stash, I gave them everything. The sack hit the ground with a loud thud and Kimiko jumped back in surprise, her full naked form now thrust into full sight.
It wasn’t as much coin as one would think given the crystals’ value, but it was still quite the heavy sack. I guessed the thieves had been selling at a significant loss to Lord Argento, since the number of crystals I saw them haul out of the mine just didn’t add up to the coin. Knowing they were losing out on a lot of gold must have been why the thieves sought trade with Mobus.
Unfortunately, the crystals Elane confiscated from them also didn’t add up, either. The thieves had been working this gig for months now. They had plenty of time to sell their loot. Lord Argento must have had a second boat that already ferried the rest back to Dragma.
“It won’t fix the damage done to the forest, but it should be more than enough for you to buy what supplies you’ll need to make it through winter. And then the next several winters, if you spend it wisely.”
“But we only asked you to get rid of the humans,” Kimiko said, stunned as she looked up at me with concerned twisting her pretty face. “You didn’t need to go this far.”
“I did. As far as I’m concerned, all this belongs to the cat-kin.”
And I’m not about to steal from the family I just got. I’d rather not ruin my relationships with my new family the way I had my old one.
Well… Except, maybe, Tama could keep some distance between us.
“Daughter!”
Looking as though his joy for life had been fully and completely restored after earning her forgiveness, Tama squeezed Yua against his chest hard enough to worry that her bare breasts might actually pop against his equally bare pecs. And yet, despite his death grip, Yua’s tail swished happily.
I was only moderately annoyed to see that his hug had made her so happy, but I bore with it. After all the trouble I caused her, it was the least I could do to let her have this moment.
Besides, I suddenly had much greater concerns.
“Are you sure the humans are gone?” Mochi asked.
At some point while I was watching Yua get squeezed to death, Mana’s father appeared beside Kimiko where she remained crouched. And as expected of a member of the cat-kin, Kimiko was entirely unmoved by the fact that Mochi’s penis was close enough for her ear to brush against it if she so much as turned her head.
Not that she was of the mind to, though, as she gazed worryingly into the sack of coin. Points to her, at least she’s not greedy.
My heart, however, nearly stopped at the sight of the man. Along with his sudden appearance, and the heavy bags under his eyes, he’d also snatched Mana away from me. Seeing her held so tightly in his arms, as though protecting her from me, I gulped and answered promptly.
“Yes. Tillmann and the humans are dead.”
“That so?” he said and squinted at me.
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When his ears flicked, I nearly panicked. Technically, one of the humans wasn’t dead, as we let him go, but did my heart let the truth slip? Did it matter? He only asked to get rid of them, not kill them.
“… I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Haha… Well…”
“Grr! Daddy!” Mana shouted, squirming wildly in his arms until she managed to free herself. She fell to the ground, but shot right back up. “Don’t be mean to Big Bro. He’s been nothing but nice to me. And he even made me stronger like he promised. Look, look, I’ll prove it. Big Bro, give me my bow.”
Standing tall, grinning as her tiny chest puffed up with pride, she held out a hand and beckoned me. Mochi raised a brow, but crossed his arms and waited. Confused, but curious to see where she was going with this, I did as I was asked and dropped her bow out of my item box.
She caught it easily without even looking and shifted it in her hands into a proper hold. Then, holding it aloft and aiming at nothing, she demonstrated her newly advanced strength by… pulling the bowstring?
Her grin widened when she saw how easily it moved. Even though she’d chosen this as her proof, it was the first time she’d actually tried it since I last updated her stats. It was a wonder if she knew she’d be able to pull it off before she tried.
“It’s not just this,” she continued proudly. “He’s helped me lots. Fed me lots of tasty food. Let me sleep in a really soft bed… Oh, oh! And he only fought the humans because they stole me from him! He saved me!”
Mochi watched, silent, as she repeatedly pulled on the bowstring that once gave her trouble. While I questioned her method, as Mochi likely didn’t even know I’d bought her the bow or how strong it was in the first place, he apparently had another question in mind. And he aimed it at me.
“Alex… I thought she had to be your slave to get your power boost?”
I froze, as did Mana, her ears falling flat. She’d said too much, too soon. Her fingers slipped off the bowstring and it snapped with a loud twang that cut through the air.
Mochi glared, and not because of the loud noise. The fact that she was safe and sound allowed him to ignore the mention of her kidnapping, as he didn’t even ask for clarification.
“Explain. Now!”
“I…”
“Did you enslave my daughter without my permission?!”
Why does that question sound so weird?
“Daddy, I wanted…” Mana started, but stopped when her ears shot to attention. Mochi’s did the same and both father and daughter turned to the right at the same time.
Ripping through the village like a bolt of lightning, Chibi rammed her shoulder into Mana’s gut, knocking the both of them into the dirt in a cloud of dust. Grinning, Chibi grabbed Mana by the hips and flipped her onto her head, as if trying to show how to do a piledriver. And before Mana could make sense of what was happening, her mother’s hands shot between her legs and pushed them far apart.
“M-Mother?!”
Suddenly forced into an upside-down split, Mana tried to squirm out of her mother’s hold, but her kicking was fruitless. Chibi had wrapped a leg around her daughter’s waist to lock her in place.
“Hehehe!”
Still wearing that giggling grin, Chibi slapped her palms down on either side of Mana’s crotch and, shocking everyone, Mana’s cute face then turned bright red. Flushed with embarrassment for what may be the first time in her life, Mana pleaded and squirmed.
“Mother, stop! Don’t!”
But the equally petite mother paid her no mind at all. Easily fighting off Mana’s squirms, she ducked the heel kicks sent flying at her. I took a step forward to stop them, thinking she wasn’t aware of the situation, but then Chibi did the unthinkable.
Giggling evermore, she excitedly pressed her thumbs inside Mana’s pussy and spread her open in front of everyone.
… And when my brain finally managed a complete reboot, I found myself watching as Chibi then leaned over Mana to peer inside. Perhaps confused, Mana mistakenly covered her face with her hands, instead of the part that really needed the protection, but it was already too late.
It was then that my damned memory so graciously decided to remind me of the fact that the cat-kin could actually see in the dark. And when I realized this, I knew that the hymen Chibi was looking for was not going to be found.
Mochi said nothing. Nor did he do anything to stop this. He just crossed his arms and watched his mate. It was almost like he was waiting for her verdict. And finally, Chibi’s grin widened.
“Yes!” she shouted, letting go of Mana’s special place.
Jumping to her feet, Chibi grabbed hold of Mana before she could flip herself over and hoisted the girl up over her head, as if presenting the antidote to a dreaded plague that had been ravaging their village for years.
Then, as loud as her tiny frame could have ever possibly allowed, she yelled, “HEY EVERYONE! MY MANA’S FINALLY BECOME A WOMAN!! SHE’S BEEN BLED!!”
As you’d expect from a village filled with people with super sensitive ears, everyone heard and looked at the mother happily dancing in place. A few of the village women giggled, but several more men clapped raucously as they cheered for Mana’s progress in life.
I, however, just blinked.
“Nooo!” Mana cried, her cheeks a deep shade of crimson. “Mother! I told you I didn’t want to do this! You’re making Big Bro uncomfortable!”
“Hahahahahahahaha! I don’t care! You’re my daughter, and now you’re finally a proper woman! How was it? Did it feel good? I bet it hurt the first time. Alex is pretty big, after all.”
“Grrr!”
Growling, Mana doubled her efforts to squirm free and succeeded in breaking free of Chibi’s hands. Landing nimbly on her hands and feet, she kicked off the ground into a full-on sprint, but Chibi was already long gone, laughing uproariously as she ran away.
Stunned speechless, I watched as Mana chased her mother throughout the village.
I blinked again, but the memory of that moment was still there. It really happened. I couldn’t undo it.
“She mentioned it before, but… I thought she was just joking about checking Mana’s virginity…!”
The moment it dawned on me that I still had a lot to learn about these people, or at the very least her family, a chill tore up my spine. It was getting late, but the sun was still visible in the sky and yet, it felt as though the blood in veins had been assaulted by a thousand-year-winter.
A hand fell on my shoulder and I jumped, but the grip it exerted kept me rooted. Even more so than when I was poisoned and pinned, I felt as though death was beckoning me.
His tail whipping the air furiously, Mochi glared at me, fists clenched white. Only, he was standing in front of me. The hand did not belong to him.
Sweat dripped down my face when my back and arm were once more greeted by the unfortunately alluring softness of a woman. Even knowing who the gigantic mounds belonged to, I was too scared to move.
She’d been kneeling in front of me only seconds ago. I never even saw her move.
“Alex,” Kimiko whispered directly into my ear, her voice anything but sweet. “I thought I told you, you weren’t Mana’s mate yet. Remind me, did I say that?”
“Y-yes, ma’am.”
“Then why did you mate with her?”
“I…”
“Our customs are clear. If the love is mutual, you can be with each other as much as you want, whenever you want. But her father explicitly asked you to wait. And as the father of his once pure daughter, his word over her is law.”
“I know, just let me explain…”
“You mated with my Mana?” Mochi said, fists trembling. “My baby? My pride? My Mana? You bled her? With your manhood?”
Anger overflowed from the man, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but pity him. He had every right to be mad, but for some reason, I got the impression he was more concerned about his daughter being taken from him, than he was the timing. He’d already promised her to me, but now it looked like he was regretting that he really gave her up.
“Oh, come on Mochi,” Yua said, raising an almost condescending brow at him. “They love each other. Besides, I the one that let them…!”
Before she could finish, Tama clamped a hand over her mouth and an arm around her waist before pulling her back against him. She tried to pull his arms off her, but the effort was even more pointless than Mana’s had been.
“He may be your mate,” Tama said evenly. “But this doesn’t involve you.”
Kimiko’s grip on my shoulder tightened. The pain wasn’t yet unbearable, but it did spur me into action.
Wrenching my shoulder out of her grasp, I jumped away. I got the feeling she could have been on me in less than a second, but she stayed put. Turning away from the fires of hell burning in her eyes, I faced Mochi.
“Yes, I did it. I mated with her.”
Mochi flinched, but said nothing. That much he knew. What he wanted was an explanation.
I wasn’t going to bring up how I was drunk or how Mana had been the one that initiated that night. Shifting the blame to her wasn’t going to solve anything. So, I’d bear the brunt of it for both of us.
“I know it was wrong, but I don’t regret it. I love her and I know she loves me. I was impatient, but I never forced her to do anything she didn’t want to do herself.”
Mochi gnashed his teeth, but I straightened my back and threw up my arms, purposefully leaving myself defenseless.
“Listen to my heart. Tell me I’m lying.”
Reluctantly, but almost on instinct, Mochi’s ears flicked. His eyes widened with the answer he already knew, but didn’t want to admit to. I continued.
“We’ve only been together for a few days, so I know it may sound weird, but I already know I want to spend the rest of my life with her. The order wasn’t what we agreed to, but I fulfilled my promise. The barrier and the thieves are no more. I am sorry we went against your wishes, but Mana’s my mate now, and I’m not going to give her up no matter what… Even if that means fighting you for her.”
Instead of raising my sword, or my hand to cast a spell, I lifted the front of my shirt, bearing my stomach.
Yua already thoroughly explained the consequences of my wrongdoing. About what could come of admitting to it, but I’m not lying my way through it. I’ll take his wrath and, if he wants it, we’ll fight it out the cat-kin way. Winner take all, and the prize would be Mana, but I’d give him the first punch.
“Ha.”
Tama snickered with a half-assed grin and Mochi kicked of the dirt. Flying at me faster than expected, I had no time to brace myself as his fist flew straight into my gut. At the same time, he grabbed my shirt, pinning me in place. Forced to lurch over his shoulder, my vision swam.
Mochi wasn’t as strong as Tama, wasn’t anywhere near his level. In fact, I was fairly certain Yua was stronger than him, but his technique was perfect. His knuckles slipped between my abs and twisted right as they made contact with the softer part of my belly. It was the same spot Tama had hit the other day.
I’d left myself defenseless on purpose to show him I meant business, but now it took all my resolve to keep strength from draining out of my legs.
He held his fist there, unmoving. He didn’t pull back to strike again, nor did he speak a word. It was a punishment. No, this silent conversation was a test. Man-to-man, father-in-law to son-in-law, we were going to hash this out. He’d struck first, but it was up to me to react. Without a word between us, we agreed to this.
He loved Mana as much as any father could love his daughter. His caution over us being together when she first confessed her feelings and his fury now made that clear, but he knew what she wanted as well as I.
What he wanted to know was if his daughter’s mate was strong enough to protect her. Unlike Yua, Mana didn’t make it her life’s goal to become a better, stronger fighter. She’d need support.
So, I grit my teeth and forced my eyes to stay open.
I focused on my breathing, willing the pain to leave my body. He twisted his fist and I could feel it grinding against my organs, but I suppressed a grunt. It was a weakness I couldn’t afford to show him.
He went still again. His fist didn’t drive itself any deeper. I clenched mine at my sides, fighting without moving to keep my consciousness in place.
I had no idea how long we stayed like that. Nor could I tell who or how many of their people were watching us. It didn’t matter. It was only us here. Everyone else might as well have been a myth.
Finally, just as the pain was starting to subside and I could breathe normally again, he pulled his fist back out of my gut. This brought a whole new pain, but I braced myself for another severe punch, anyways. It never came. Instead, he pat my shoulder.
Confused, I met his eyes and saw him suppressing his tears.
“I accept you,” he said, squeezing my shoulder. “For Mana’s sake… No. You’ve already proven your love for her. So, welcome to the family.”
Stunned yet again today, it took me several seconds to register what he’d said, but when he pulled away, my hand shot up on its own to grab his shoulder right back. Equally shocked and bracing himself, but his fury gone, Mochi watched me.
I leaned in close to whisper in his ear, so that nobody but he could hear me.
“I promise I will take care of her. And I may still not know everything about your culture, but I’ll do my best to live up to what being her mate means to her. But before that, there’s something you need to know.”
Mochi waited, his ears flicking. I thought to tell him about my reincarnation, but stopped myself. Telling family was one thing, but I didn’t want to announce it to everyone else. Though nobody was directly looking our way, I was under no illusion that this conversation was as private as I wanted it to be.
Besides, I had something more important to say.
“Mana thinks you’ve been ignoring her.”
“What?”
“It’s true. You and everyone else here. She told me herself. It’s because you always look away when she’s talking to you.”
“But that’s… I can’t help it,” he admitted, a little too easily. “My daughter is too adorable. Way too adorable! I… Even though I’m her father, I feel like I can’t discipline her properly because my heart melts just looking at her. I know that all she has to do is pout and I’d give into anything she asked for, no matter how poor a decision it’d be to let her have her way. I mean, what kind of father can’t say no to his daughter?”
My brow twitched. I couldn’t believe that really was the reason, but points to him for being so open about it. I guess.
“I can understand that myself,” I said. “But she’s been feeling lonely because nobody takes her seriously. I promise you, she’s not using her cuteness to get her way, she just wants your attention.”
Mochi took this in and scrunched up his face as though my words had physically pained him. He hung his head.
“Why didn’t she say… No, maybe I wouldn’t have listened if she tried. I’m a terrible father. How could I not notice?”
“From what I understand, nobody noticed. So don’t feel so bad. But I’ll let you in on a little secret. How you can improve your relationship with her before we go.”
“Before you go…” Mochi closed his eyes. We didn’t live here, so leaving was inevitable. The fact that he’d be giving up his daughter and that she’d have to move away struck him once more a little too late. But he pushed the sadness aside to ask, “What should I do?”
“I plan on resting here for a little while. Spend some time with her while you can. Forgive her for disobeying you, pretend it didn’t happen, and give her a happy send off.”
I let go of him, feeling as though I made it sound like he’d never see her again, but as we agreed the other day, Mana could visit literally whenever she wanted via teleportation magic. I just didn’t want them to part with her knowing how much he actually cared.
“I understand,” he said firmly. A small sniffle struck my eardrums, but I elected to ignore it as he drew a long breath. “Then, as her mate, I’d like to ask you let me borrow her for a while.”
“Have fun.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, and showing a side of himself I hadn’t seen much of, the side that was more “doting” than “father,” he took off running. He seemed to already know exactly where his mate and daughter ran off to, so he dashed straight through the village to find them.
I watched him go, imagining him rubbing his eyes as he ran, when another pair of soft somethings pressed against my arm. Noticing they were much smaller than the previous ones, but also how they were no less soft, I recognized her immediately. Still watching him, I put an arm around Yua’s waist.
“So, how much of that did you hear?”
“None at all,” she said, pressing her hand to my chest. Smiling warmly, she healed me. “But are you sure you want to stay? Don’t you have to turn in the quest and brew those potions?”
I laughed, but hooked my hand around her hips to slip my middle and ring fingers inside her vagina. Despite the fact that we were standing out in the open amongst her tribe, she didn’t so much as twitch in discomfort, nor did she stop her Healing Fist. Her warmth only hugged me tighter.
As we were still within the village, I’d live according to their ways. And I wanted her to know I was being serious.
“I promised to let you spend some time with your family when we were done with the quest, remember? Let me handle the boring stuff while you go have some fun.”
Turning in the quest aside, I’d already done the math. Even if the Cure Poison potions ended up taking a little longer to brew than Health Potions, I still had plenty of time before the deadline. And if all else failed, I could buy a few more cauldrons to speed up the process.
“Are you sure?” Her healing finished, Yua shifted her hand down to my crotch and squeezed me lightly over my pants. “We could go finish our work and just come back after.”
“You’re persistent, aren’t you?”
“Well, I know you’ve been worrying about finishing the quest on time, so… Hueh!”
A surprised squeak caused her loving expression to break form. Without either of us noticing, Tama appeared behind her, grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up and away from me before tossing her over his shoulder. The thought of her bare-naked ass being shown off to the village bounced off my mental forcefield before it could bother me, even though her pussy was now staring me in the face.
“Daddy? What are you…?”
“The boy said you can stay. So…”
He paused, holding Yua by the backs of her thighs, and looked me up and down. For a second, a very brief second, it looked as though he was about to apologize, but I wasn’t surprised when he didn’t.
“Boy, I thought you accepted our culture? Why are you wearing clothes when your mates aren’t?”
“Wha…But last time, you said…”
“Bah,” he scoffed, adjusting Yua on his shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes. “It doesn’t matter. Daughter, let’s go fight.”
“But… Hey! Geez.” Yua shot me an apologetic look, but surrendered easily enough and let herself be carrier away. “Let me know when you want to go!”
“Okay!” I called back, then in a lower tone, added, “They both just lived through a supremely dangerous battle, but they still have the energy to fight?”
Laughing a little too wryly at myself, I took a brief look at Mana’s outline to make sure she hadn’t chased Chibi until she’d collapsed from exhaustion, only to find that she wasn’t too far away. She was sitting near one of the village’s many campfires, hugging and nuzzling her cheek against Mochi’s arm while Chibi pat her head tenderly. Though, Chibi was still grinning.
Wondering if she was the root cause of what happened between Mana and myself last night, and her running away from the village to join in the first place, I shook my head. Clearly, I had Chibi’s approval from the start, but it would have been nice if she’d at least pleaded my case while we were gone.
Before I could decide how to spend my time during this little break, Kimiko rushed over to me. I froze stiff, but the obnoxious an overly-exaggerated bouncing of her mountainous bare breasts made it impossible for me not to notice her approaching.
“Wait, Alex.”
“In my defense, Mochi already forgave me, so there’s no need to…”
She laughed, but shook her head.
“Don’t worry about me. I was only angry on his behalf. You broke our rules, but since they were rules regarding his daughter, it was always going to be up to him to decide your fate.”
“Could you maybe not word it like that? Fate is a really strong word.”
I’d rather not think about my wife’s mother killing me because my other wife’s father asked her to. It was a weird string of thoughts that shouldn’t be possible, but that’s actually what almost happened. Kimiko could be scary at times, but I’d always prefer seeing her as a warm, motherly sort of figure.
And as if noticing my trepidation, she giggled. It hadn’t lasted long, but her malice was thankfully nowhere to be seen.
“Here, take these,” she said, holding out her hand. When I reached out, she let a pair of essence crystals and ten gold coins drop into my palms.
“But I collected these for you guys.?”
“And you gave us more than enough. You take a few for yourself. Think of it as an apology for My Mate not being able to keep his promise.”
“Haha. Then shouldn’t he be the one giving them to me?”
Her smile turned just a tad sympathetic as she shook her head.
“Sorry, but he asked me to do this. And that’s the best you’re going to get from him. Though, he did apologize profusely to Yua once you were out of sight.”
“I figured, but didn’t want to assume…”
I sighed. Even ridding the forest of its illegal inhabitants wasn’t going to be enough to appease dear old dad.
As I was lamenting this, Kimiko leaned in and planted a quick peck on my cheek before tussling my hair with a smile.
“As Mochi said, welcome to the family. It’s interesting that the girl I treated like a daughter has actually become my daughter now. Well, sort of.” She giggled. “I’m going to go watch My Mate and daughter fight. I know you really aren’t interested, but…”
“I’d love to watch,” I said, offering her my arm. She took it gladly and with a smile.
We took our seats, not on one of the log-benches, but directly on the ground, as it was the only seating available around the sparring grounds. Kimiko sat with her legs crossed and without care for how exposed the position left her special place. I sat beside her, mainly so I wasn’t tempted to look.
The fight between Yua and Tama was already well under way and going exactly as one would expect, but even after Tama’s punch lifted Yua off the ground, he grinned proudly at her.
He’d noticed a small change in my strength just by being near me when I used my stat points, so fighting Yua must have really drilled in how much progress she’d made.
Sighing contentedly, Kimiko let herself lean on me as she watched the two with a smile every bit as loving as a mother watching her husband and daughter having a tea party.
Once the fight ended with the victor surprising no one, Tama slapped his hand on Yua’s chest, healed her, and she jumped right back up to accept her next challenger. He stood nearby, watching.
As we watched along, I explained the events leading up to our fight with Tillmann, how it ended and what we did afterword to Kimiko. She nodded along without cutting in, despite several questions flitting across her face. And when I ended with an explanation of how to find the Enchanter’s shop in Guerraway, she finally spoke up.
“A third wife, hmmmm?~” she joked. “Your manhood’s rather large, but it sounds like it’s really energetic too.”
Wearily, I laughed at my own expense and said, “Yea, well, maybe I’ll bring her along next time we visit.”
I’d have to give her a thorough warning of what she’d be witnessed too once she got here, though.
Yua’d finished another fight and this time won, but was knelt in front of Tama as he explained how she could have done better. As I watched, I was once more forced to take note of the scars on his chest when Yua pressed him for another hug, this time in thanks.
“Hey,” I said. “If the Brawler Bears are so huge, why are the scars on Tama’s chest so small?”
Just the smaller of the bear’s claws could have cleaved him in half, but the scar looked like they had been put there by, at most, a regular bear from Earth.
“Oh,” Kimiko sighed. “It’s because he insisted on keeping the scars in the first place, but refused to stop fighting. The wounds kept reopening and didn’t heal right. He might not even have a scar if he’d just stayed put.”
“… I believe it.”
Finished with their most recent hug, Tama lifted Yua up over his head and threw her at her next opponent. And I unfortunately mean that literally. Threw her through the air like a javelin.
I don’t think I’ll ever stop being amazed at how much these two love to fight.
Eventually, Mana and her parents came to join us. Much calmer now, Mochi didn’t look even slightly upset when Mana plopped down on my lap and pulled my arm around herself. Now that there was nobody to stop her, she eagerly pushed my hand between her thighs so I could hold my mate how their people demanded.
Chibi, however, for reasons I couldn’t begin to guess at, opted to sit on my shoulders and fool around with my hair, as though amused by my lack of cat ears.
Like this, I tried to relax and watch the fights as one of my mothers-in-law pressed her breasts into my arm, while the other pressed her pussy against the back of my neck. Seeing how closely the other cat-kin sat together around the sparring grounds in similar fashion, I tried not to dwell on it as we watched the fights progress.
It seems I’ve been fully accepted as a part of their people. Only, I’m not sure this was how I would have liked to find out.
After an hour or so of enduring this, and after making sure Yua was properly healed, we said our goodbyes and made for Amoranth.