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It was meant to be a surprise, dropping by dad’s place.
They didn’t usually do this, because he was always out adventuring in gods know what dungeon this time, but he recently said he retired from that, so they figured he’d be home more often. They did ask if mom was interested in joining them, but she said she’d get a raincheck on that.
It’s pretty evident, judging from the drawn curtains and the somewhat maintained front garden, that dad was true to his word. Though, he’s also prone to lying in favor of saving face, and it’s easier written than said, so there’s still a chance that he might’ve rented his house out to someone for some quick cash.
“Like he’d ever let someone have his house,” Fler waves her hand dismissively in laughter. “Even for a second! Even for a whole chest filled with gold!”
“I still think we should’ve at least let him know ahead of time,” Mei grimaces. “What if he isn’t home?”
“We can just wait inside,” Puck beams, finger pointed.
“How?” Mei deadpans. “The door will be locked.”
“Can’t you just pick the lock?” Puck blinks.
“That’s not what my skill is for!” Mei answers in exasperation.
They reach his door, finding it locked as expected, and Mei does the honors of knocking for the three of them. She’s sure to make it loud enough for it to even wake dad up, in case he’s napping, and the three wait for a moment, listening intently to tell if he’s home.
And they hear someone alright. While Mei is no expert on seeing things through hearing, she’s pretty sure the muffled sounds she heard inside isn’t dad. In fact, it sounds larger, larger than the average half-foot. She glances at her sisters to see if they’re just as suspicious as she is, but only Fler looks just a teensy bit confused, while Puck doesn’t sense anything is wrong at all.
Still, it isn’t enough to convince her that everything is alright, so as they listen to the sound of footsteps getting louder to the door, Mei immediately raises her guard for the worst case scenario. At this point, Fler’s confusion has morphed into slight concern, and it’s only when they hear the door unlock does Puck realize something’s amiss.
When the door swings open, the first thing they notice is the shadow that casts across their entire figures. Both Fler and Puck reach for Mei, watching with fear as the being emerges from the door, ducking under the doorframe to poke its head out.
It stares down at them, animal ears flicking, more perplexed than anything, before a look of recognition flashes across its face and its lips break into a sharp and toothy smile, “Ohh, you’re his kids.”
They had been too afraid to scream, mouths hanging open in pure terror, which slowly close shut when it dawns upon them at last that the thing before them isn’t at all a threat. And, more importantly, with closer inspection, she is not a thing, but a person. Albeit, a really furry one.
She seems to be a beast-man, part big cat to be exact, and though it’s usually hard to estimate how old a person is due to their difference in races, Mei thinks this girl isn’t any older than they are. Tall-men and half-foots have only a difference of 10 years in lifespan, so her guess shouldn’t be too far off.
“Y-You know us?” Fler manages out, pointing between the three of them.
“Yeah,” she nods her head, before pointing a finger at Mei, who crosses her eyes a little to look at it. “Especially you! You really look like him.”
“Acts like him too,” Fler grins at Mei.
She flushes from embarrassment, rolling her sisters off her shoulders, “Quit that! Anyway, who are you and what are you doing in our dad’s house?”
“Did you eat him?!” Puck clings back onto Mei, eyes going a little watery.
“Eyuck, I wouldn’t eat him even if he was the last thing on earth,” she wrinkles her nose up in genuine disgust. “I’m just staying in his house for a while. The name’s Izutsumi.”
“Then where’s our dad?” Fler asks, hands on her hips.
“Working,” Izutsumi answers.
“Where?”
“I dunno? Some shop?” Izutsumi scratches her tummy, ducking her head back into the house. “You can wait for him to come back, if you want.”
They watch as the beast-man walk across the house and towards the only bed in the place, before settling on top of it and curling up, much like a cat. This gives the three the ability to finally look inside, and as it seems, the part-cat was right.
Dad has always been a fairly neat man, in a compartmentalize way. Which is to say that he doesn’t really prioritize aesthetic when it comes down to keeping the place clean. It has always been mom’s job to make things look pleasantly presentable.
But it’s a lot messier in ways to suggest that most of the mess in front of them was caused by the lady sleeping in his bed. Ranging from clothes that could only fit her, to the extra stock of food in the kitchen area—which looks considerably used.
After a while of just standing there, pondering, they decide not to wait for their dad to come home after all. They’ll just visit another day.
“We’ll be going then,” Mei waves, closing the door. Izutsumi responds with an incoherent grumble. She locks the door from the outside, only taking a second to do so, and Puck ends up bringing back the words Mei said earlier about using her skill on things like this; to which Mei noncommittally replies with it being not the same.
As the three head off, wondering where they should stop by to make their time travelling out here worthwhile, Fler ends up being the first to address Izutsumi living with dad, bluntly stating out loud, “So I’m not the only one who thinks that they’re dating, right?”
“I was totally thinking that!” Puck jumps up and down, pointing at her older sister.
Mei’s eyebrows scrunch. Perhaps she was the only one between the three of them that didn’t think that. Nevertheless, she lets the conversation keep going.
“I mean, it’s so obvious that they’re both using the same bed,” Fler continues. “I don’t think dad would let anyone sleep with him that easily, you know what I mean? Unless he’s, you know…”
Mei preferably does not want to think about their father’s sex life.
“And she has black hair too! Just like mommy!” Puck bounces, before slumping a little. “Ohh, do you think that’s why mommy didn’t want to show up? Do you think she knows?”
“That’s a bit of a stretch,” Fler scrunches up her face. “But I agree with the black hair part. I think they’re totally his type.”
Mei thinks all of this is a bit of a stretch, even the black hair bit.
“And she’s so pretty too,” Puck places her hands on her cheeks, swaying from left to right. “I can’t really tell, but she looks eastern, doesn’t she?”
“Ohh, I think so!” Fler nods her head, before turning to look at Mei. “What do you think, Mei-Mei?”
Mei couldn’t really disagree with that. Izutsumi is in fact fairly pretty, in a really, really disastrous way. She looks like she does what she wants, however she wants. She looks like she’d bite the hand that feeds. She looks like she bites in general. She looks like she keeps secrets that not even she’s aware of. Mei wants to pick her apart.
Reel back. What was that last bit again?
“She looks like our age,” Mei says out loud.
Both her sisters look at her with utmost concern and worry, Fler speaking first with a soft voice, “She is?”
“It’s just a guess!” Mei raises her hands in defense. “And I’m saying it based on tall-men age.”
Fler and Puck grow a little quiet, now a little troubled by the thought of their dad dating someone around their age. It’s a little weird, maybe even discomforting. But, after a while, Fler lets out a smile, “Well, as long as she makes him happy.”
“Besides, he’s really lonely,” Puck adds on. “So, I think he deserves to have someone as long as it isn’t downright criminal.”
“You two shouldn’t be so quick to accept that,” Mei deadpans.
“Well, what do you think?” Fler huffs.
“I think it’s none of my business,” Mei shrugs. “Cool, dad has a girl over. Whatever.”
Except it’s not really whatever, because as the three are exploring the newly resurfaced kingdom, Mei can’t stop thinking about Izutsumi. Her brain keeps going back to when the beast-man had pointed a clawed finger right at her nose, smiling with fangs between her lips.
Mei has never been the most interested in dating, or finding people attractive for that matter. Her sisters may have sucked that trait right out of her with all that talk about marrying a handsome, rich dwarf. It’s just never been that much of a priority of hers to find a girlfriend or wife, unlike her sisters.
So it’s utterly strange, almost frustrating, that her brain chooses now of all times and Izutsumi of all people to find an interest in. Mei has always been more interested in locked chests and puzzle rooms, not people.
If it really turns out her dad and that lady are dating, then she really would be her father’s daughter.
“We’ll go back to daddy’s house when it gets dark,” Puck suggests. “He’ll surely be home by then.”
“Good idea,” Fler nods, before turning to Mei. “What do you think, Mei-Mei?”
“I think I need to get my head examined,” Mei answers out loud, purely on accident.
“Oh dear, are you falling ill?” she feels her sister’s forehead to check, only to find that it’s completely fine. “Maybe it’s all that walking.”
As if Mei isn’t the most physically fit between the three of them, next to Puck. But she doesn’t answer, merely gives her sister a halfhearted smile and a shrug.
“Well, we’ve already walked everywhere anyways, so we might as well start heading back to daddy’s place,” Puck points a thumb back, smiling at her eldest sister. “Maybe Izutsumi will let you have the bed if you’re that tired.”
Mei feels a little troubled by the thought of using her father’s bed, shared with the girl she’s currently fixated on, and smiles at her sisters with more strain to it, “I can sit at the table.”
“You really look horrible though,” Fler puffs a cheek.
“Oh, you’re back,” Izutsumi notes without so much as a smile to express pleasant surprise, nor a frown to express the opposite. “Did you forget something?”
“No, we’re gonna wait for dad to come back,” Fler shakes her head and Izutsumi steps aside, letting them in.
It’s quite fortunate that dad’s house has a ceiling tall enough not to graze the top of the kitty’s head. Though, if the lady jumps, she might find her head shooting through the roof, which is a funny image for Mei to imagine.
“Hey, you know what would be a good idea?” Puck says with a smile, clapping her hands together as Mei makes her way over to the table to sit down. “We should cook something for daddy to eat when he gets back! Then we can all eat dinner together.”
“Oh, but we’ll have to head to the market before it gets dark,” Fler replies, looking out the window to look for the sun.
“Why? We can just use whatever’s in the kitchen now,” Puck asks, turning to look at the aforementioned kitchen. Though there is plenty to eat, there isn’t much variety to cook with, something Fler noticed a long time ago already. After all, dad isn’t really the type to cook that much.
“Um, no,” Fler smiles warmly.
Mei sighs, getting up as she inwardly laments about just getting to sit down, before being stopped by Fler, who pushes her down back onto the chair by the shoulders firmly.
“Uh uh, you’re staying here,” Fler wags a finger at her.
“What?” Mei furrows her brows.
“You’re unwell, remember?” Fler smiles.
“If you leave me here, I will die,” Mei deadpans, grasping onto her sister’s forearms, feeling them slip from her shoulders.
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Fler chides, shaking her hands off her. “If you keep that up, you’ll look more like dad.”
Mei grimaces and hears the door open, turning to see Puck getting ready to leave.
“We’ll be quick~!” Puck chimes from the door, already one foot out.
“You can’t leave me alone here with…” Mei watches Fler jog off, following after Puck as the two leave the door shut behind them. “...her.”
A yawn takes her attention away from the door, and she’s met with Izutsumi watching her lazily from the bed. Awkwardly, Mei offers the beast-man a smile, to which Izutsumi returns with her own toothy one. Mei gulps.
“So, you’re unwell,” Izutsumi comments.
“Not really,” Mei answers frankly.
“Wanna lie down?” Izutsumi pats the bed, scooching back to make space.
With how dad’s bed had initially been made for two, there’s definitely enough room for Mei to lie down in. But the thought of sharing a bed with Izutsumi, who doesn’t look ready to leave the cozy spot yet, overwhelms her to the point of feeling just a little queasy.
“No thanks,” Mei answers, turning to lean an elbow on the table.
“No, I think you should,” Izutsumi nods, patting the bed again. “If you don’t, I’ll make you.”
Mei slumps against the table, arm stretched across the wood as she considers her options. She’s sure Izutsumi isn’t just saying that to scare her, she will follow through with her word. It’s just a matter of whether Mei would rather be forced to lie in bed with her or willingly get in.
And because the only thing Mei has to lose is her dignity, she gets up from her chair and walks over to the bed begrudgingly, arms folded, before sitting on the edge of the bed and lying stiffly. She’s about inches away from completely falling off, but she’d rather that than moving any closer to Izutsumi.
“Perfect!” Izutsumi says, which confuses Mei for a moment, before the half-foot suddenly feels a pair of arms wrap around her.
The first thing Mei notes is how unbelievably soft Izutsumi’s fur is, before realizing how warm it gets being engulfed by Izutsumi’s body. Well, that latter assessment isn’t quite accurate, considering Mei’s emotional state interfering with her physical one, but it’s an educated guess.
She remains impossibly still as Izutsumi makes herself comfortable, to the point she thinks she hears the beast-man purring. Forget the mystery and the dissection, Mei should look into picking herself apart. She should’ve put a little more fight into it, but here she is, bending to Izutsumi’s will.
“Yep, just like him,” Izutsumi sighs contently, snuggling into Mei.
“Don’t say that,” Mei strains out. Though she’d rather not believe it, her sisters making it apparent that Izutsumi could be dad’s new girlfriend stays stagnant in her mind. It’s baseless, it’s plausible, and it’s making her uncomfortable.
“You really look like him though,” Izutsumi says. “I was expecting it, when he talked about his daughters. He said so, sorta. But, seeing you was still surprising.”
“I’ve been told,” Mei mumbles.
“Do you not like it?” she asks curiously.
“No, it’s just…” she tries to find the words. “...irritating, at worst. I like being my own person more.”
“I can get that,” Mei feels Izutsumi nod against the nape of her neck in agreement. “I’d hate to be tied to someone like that. I’m me! Not some guy’s daughter, or some house pet!”
Mei makes a careful note on that last bit, filing it for the future.
“You’re also really warm like him, though,” Izutsumi hugs Mei closer. “I haven’t been able to nap all day since he’s out.”
“Is that why you stay with him?” Mei asks. “To sleep better?”
“Yeah,” Izutsumi hums. “Something like that.”
“My name’s Meijack, by the way,” she says, shifting in Izutsumi’s grip so that she’s lying on her back instead of on her side. “I forgot to introduce myself earlier.”
“I think I remember that name,” Izutsumi yawns, growing drowsier by the second. “Did you know? Your first name, it means ‘beautiful’.”
And then Mei promptly hears her fall asleep.
She hears her sisters come back before they can see her. She stayed awake the entire time just so she can catch them before they can catch her, mostly so she could avoid having to explain herself to them, who have very much convinced themselves of their own narrative of the situation between Izutsumi and dad.
The moment their footsteps near, she slips from Izutsumi’s grip without waking her up and returns to her position at the table, right as they open the door, and she perks up in pleasant surprise when she also sees dad walk in.
“Mei!” he grins widely, and somehow she senses he’s grown softer since the last time she saw him. He looks better too—well rested, less thin. He’s definitely been eating more. She gets up from her seat to give him a hug.
Less emotionally constipated, she concludes when she feels him melt into the hug, feels him actually hug back, and so she ends up mumbling out a, “I missed you.”
She does feel him stiffen a little, but relaxes soon after, and he sighs in response, “Missed you too, Mei.”
He doesn’t seem to acknowledge Izutsumi sleeping in his bed, and frankly flats out ignores her for the rest of the hours as they prepared for dinner. Mei does catch him occasionally looking over his shoulder to check if Izutsumi is still there, but that’s the most he really does until dinner is done.
The smell of food rises Izutsumi from her slumber and she is quick to raise her head, blinking blearily towards the direction of the dining table. She stretches out like a cat and takes a second before she actually starts making her way over to eat, to which dad finally acknowledges her.
“At least say something before you start eating,” he nags at Izutsumi, who begins eating before the rest of them do.
“Um,” she says, looking at the rest. “Thanks?”
“Nice job,” he deadpans, and then they eat.
Mei takes note of how Izutsumi doesn’t use a chair. Just by sitting on the floor the table already reaches up to her torso, which is high enough for her to eat. Not only that, but it seems she’s more comfortable sitting on the floor too.
The most they do is catch up. Dad fills them in on what’s been going on with him and talks little about his dungeon experience. There’s not much they know aside from the fact that he apparently had to eat a party member? And he played a part in that kingdom from resurfacing.
They absolutely do not talk about why Izutsumi is living with him, and all he does is briefly touch on her being a party member of his that joined late. If it weren’t for the fact that Mei’s sisters got instantly hooked onto the slight mention of a dwarf in his party, she thinks they would’ve subtly pressed him more for details on Izutsumi.
Yet. with the way Izutsumi seems to gravitate towards him, and how he doesn’t mind her occasionally sticking too close as they talked and ate, it’s hard for Mei not to think that maybe her sisters were right about their conclusion on his relationship with her.
Which makes her feel a little awful, because she was lying in bed with Izutsumi earlier, and that must be immoral in some ways and downright wrong in others. It could even be straight up cheating. But she still had doubts, reasonable ones, so she shouldn’t settle with her guilt just yet.
“I think I’ve got some spare bedrolls you three can use,” dad says as they begin cleaning up. “You should spend the night and head home in the morning.”
“Really? Yay!” Puck cheers, grabbing onto dad’s hand to do a little jump.
“Or you could, you know, call your dwarf friend to walk us home,” Fler smiles.
“No,” he says, and it’s not like he can anyway.
It’s when they finally get to sleep, bedrolls rolled out next to his bed, that the final nail in the coffin is hammered down on Mei. She already gathered that Izutsumi regularly sleeps with dad, but seeing it happen and watching Izutsumi knead his bed next to him is totally different from just knowing.
She sleeps pressed against Fler, upset in more ways than one, back facing the bed.
“Let’s eat breakfast before we go home!” Puck claps her hands, jumping up and down as her sisters washes up for the day ahead. “We’ll eat bread and jelly and eggs and bacon!”
“Wonderful energy for the morning, Puck,” dad says groggily from the bed, half his body hanging off of it. The only reason he hasn’t fallen off of it yet is because Izutsumi has a tight grip on him, still sound asleep, curled up on the bed.
“Slept well, dad?” Fler asks, lips curled slyly, which makes Mei want to pull her eyeballs out of her eyes.
“Like. A. Baby.” he smiles back at his daughter, and Mei seems to be the only one that picked up on his sarcasm. “Pull me out.”
Fler grabs him by the arms and helps him out, which effectively wakes Izutsumi up the moment he’s freed from her grasp. She raises her head for a moment, confused that her heat pack has gone missing, but after a moment of deliberation on whether she’s going to make the effort to get it back, she decides against it and falls back asleep.
Mei notices a few claw marks on him and how he’s a little sweat stained, and it dawns upon her that he must not actually like sleeping with Izutsumi—judging by how disgruntled he looks. It’s a wonder how dad even manages to clock in the hours to sleep if he’s that uncomfortable the whole time. Perhaps he’s getting too used to it.
He must really like her to be able to put up with all of that.
Dad stretches, popping a few joints in his back, which does nothing judging from the way he doesn’t look too satisfied. Puck notices this and pulls her sleeves up, beaming wide and she walks towards him.
“Do you want me to help you with that?”
He pales, staring at her raised fist, “No thank you, Patti.”
Meanwhile, as Fler heads over to the kitchen and Puck continues to insist on giving dad a back massage, Mei slowly inches closer towards the bed to check on Izutsumi.
Momentary affection, she decides to settle her feelings on as Izutsumi continues to slumber. And perhaps she can live without ever having to learn who Izutsumi actually is. With her own job, she’ll hardly have time to visit dad enough to get to know Izutsumi better, and she thinks it’ll be a while before she’s free again to come visit.
By the time she comes back, she might’ve already moved on. Which somehow feels a lot sadder than staying attached.
Absentmindedly, Mei places a hand between Izutsumi’s ears and strokes her hair, and the other lets out a quiet purr.
“Bacon, dad?” Fler offers, holding it up with a fork.
“Ughm, nah. I’m taking a break from meat for a while.” he raises a hand.
From next to him, Izutsumi suddenly surges a head forward and snatches the bacon with her mouth, devouring it in one gulp. Mei couldn’t really look away the entire time.
“Well, we’ll be off then,” Fler smiles, giving dad one last hug. “You have to introduce us to your other friends when we come around again.”
“Haha, sure,” dad answers, sounding not so enthusiastic about that idea.
They’re standing outside as they begin to leave, with him standing at the doorway to see them off. Work for him doesn’t start till later, so he doesn’t leave the house with them. They did think of leaving together, but the girls needed to head back soon if they want to get back to work on time.
“Ouh, bye bye,” Puck sniffles as it comes her turn to give him a goodbye hug.
“I’m only pushing 30, Patti, don’t cry,” dad sighs, rubbing her back gently.
Then comes Mei’s turn, who hesitates for a moment, because it’s always been easier to say hello than to say goodbye. Fortunately, dad picks up on this, and starts with spreading his arms out and softening his look. Slowly, she steps forward and buries herself in his arms.
“If only mommy was here,” Puck feigns wiping away a stray tear. “She’d want a picture, I’d imagine.”
“Look how constipated they are,” Fler mumbles, yet remaining loud enough for the rest to hear her.
“Watch it,” dad points a finger at her, who giggles in response.
With her chin resting on his shoulder, Mei could see into the house, where she can see Izutsumi watching from the bed. She’s always looked a little disinterested in the things around her, but this is the first time Mei has seen her slightly intrigued, watching Mei carefully, like she’s wondering what the half-foot will do next.
And then Mei finally lets go, after what feels like forever.
“Bye, dad,” Mei says flatly.
It really looks like he wants to say more, none of which Mei can guess or decipher, and after a minute has gone by, he finally settles on, “See you around, Mei.”
“We love you, dad!” Fler waves an arm as the three begin heading off, to which he answers with a small smile and a nod.
He closes the door once their backs have been turned, and as they walk down the path leading to the road, Fler sighs, shoulders shrugging with her hands raised.
“He’s doing better, but he still has a long way to go,” Fler tells the two of them.
“I’ve never seen him talk so much, to be honest!” Puck smiles.
“He’s going to break Mei’s record of number of smiles,” Fler snickers.
“Stop that,” Mei grumbles.
“Mom will be so happy to know he’s changed,” Fler hums cheerfully.
“Oh, but what about his girlfriend?” Puck asks.
“We don’t know if they’re dating,” Fler wags a finger at her younger sister. “You shouldn’t be making assumptions like that.”
Mei shoots her an unimpressed look, which goes unnoticed by Fler.
“In any case, he’s still doing that thing,” Puck makes vague hand gestures. “You know, the arms’ length thing. But the hugs are new, and I really like them!”
“Expected,” Fler shakes her head. “That’s why I say he still has a long way to go. People who hide their feelings will never go anywhere.”
For some reason, Mei thinks that’s also aimed at her.
“I mean, the whole ‘I’ll secretly love you’ thing is cute and all, but it gets super annoying after a while!” Puck nods in agreement. “No one can read your mind! And doesn’t it hurt you in the process?”
Mei suppresses the urge to let out a choke.
“Totally! And look what it did to dad! Everytime we mention mom, he looks like we just kicked him in the nuts! Self sabotage, I tell ya.” Fler huffs, gesturing a hand forward, before turning to smile at Mei. “What do you think, Mei-Mei?”
Mei opens her mouth, then closes it, then opens it again. Something in her stomach settles. Fler’s expression morphs into concern and Puck tilts her head, curious.
And then Mei is turning on her heel, running back to dad’s house, her sisters jolting in surprise. They follow after her, worried for her well-being, but by the time they’ve caught up to her, Mei has already thrown open dad’s door with an extremely strained look.
“Wow, you’re getting faster at lockpicking,” dad says, quite impressed. He’s midway through getting dressed for work, Izutsumi hanging by the window with her head poking out and only turned to look towards the door when Mei returned. “Did you forget something?”
“Um, uh,” Mei suddenly grows cold feet, hand falling from the door handle as she frets for a moment, ears flushing.
Izutsumi watches curiously, lips curling in amusement.
“I really like Izutsumi,” Mei confesses, feeling her face burn impossibly hot. “And-And I know she’s living with you and everything, and I know you might not be willing, but if it’s okay… Can-Can she live with me? Instead?” then she stammers a little, turning to look at Izutsumi, “I mean, I mean. Do- Can- Please?”
“Mei!” Fler gasps, grabbing onto her sister’s shoulders, looking incredibly amazed and excited by the event unfolding in front of her.
Dad blinks slowly, both surprised and also confused, “You’re asking me?”
“Yes…?” Mei rolls Fler off her shoulders, already embarrassed enough as it is.
“Um,” he scratches his head, then looks over at Izutsumi, who looks just as confused, but no less amused than she already was. “Okay. Actually, I’d be more than happy to let you have her, if it was my decision to begin with.”
“You’re cruel!” Puck suddenly pushes her way over Mei’s shoulder. “You’re just going to let her go that easy?!”
“What on earth are you talking about, Puck.” he deadpans.
“Puck, Puck, shut your mouth, Puck,” Fler pats her sister’s face, pushing her off Mei.
“I mean, don’t you sleep together?” Puck cranes her neck to avoid being gagged by Fler. “Aren’t you two—”
He lets out a strangled yell, eyes widening as he realizes what his daughter is implying. Instead of flushing in embarrassment, a queasy look washes over his face, casting a shadow over him, “What the hell have the three of you been talking about behind my back?!”
“I didn’t say anything!” Mei pipes up in exasperation.
“Oh,” Izutsumi says, fist landing on palm. “You thought the two of us were dating?”
“My gods, even my own daughters think I’m…my gods…” he sinks to the floor in a squat, elbows on his knees as he presses his forehead to his arms.
“We aren’t,” Izutsumi says. “Also, he doesn’t own me. Nobody does. I chose to sleep in his bed because I want to! He’s very warm and comfortable.”
“What a barbaric woman,” Fler mutters, shocked that she would even admit that.
“I need her,” Mei chokes out.
“In any case, I accept your proposal,” Izutsumi turns up her nose, getting up from the window to walk over towards Mei, looming over her. “You don’t move in your sleep, I like that!”
“Okay,” Mei blinks rapidly. “I didn’t think I’d get this far.”
“Lead me to your house!” Izutsumi points out the door.
“Okay,” Mei steps back, making her sisters stumble behind her. “Okay, okay, okay.”
Dad watches from his still squatting position, perplexed about their current situation, though still looking unbelievably tired and pained from the revelation of what his daughters were thinking about earlier—but increased by tenfold now that it seems like his eldest daughter is head over heels for Izutsumi of all people.
“Um,” Mei looks at him again, adrenaline still running through her system. “Really bye now, dad.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Visit again, sometime,” he nods, waving.
Izutsumi does the honors of closing the door for them.