Volume 4 - Criminal Crow, Chapter 21 - Play Date

Construction on the covered walkway made good progress again once Misaki had stopped swiping the tools and parts. Within a few more days, there was a complete wooden walkway extending over 50 feet from the spring to the house. It was elevated a bit off the uneven ground and covered by a wide steepled roof high enough for Tsuen to walk underneath.

Mister Satoru still had some finishing touches to put on the hot spring, and occasionally asked for help, but otherwise the girls’ work on the project was done.

One morning as Yuisu set out breakfast, she announced, “Yamato’s going to drop off Misaki in a little bit, and she’ll be hanging out for the day. Haru and I both have work, so it’ll just be you two here, Mara and Tsuen.” Yuisu put a hand on Tsuen’s arm. “I’m trusting you to keep Misaki from getting in too much trouble.”

Tsuen raised a hand to her forehead in salute. “You can count on me, Yuizu.”

Yuisu rolled her eyes and shook her head. Tsuen’s definitely been spending a lot of time with Mara. Now if only she wasn’t so dense regarding Mara’s feelings…

At the front door, Haru and Yuisu paused for a quick kiss before they both left for work. Yuisu’s convenience store was on the opposite side of town from Haru’s job at the butcher shop, so they didn’t bother trying to carpool. Flying made better time down the mountain than Yuisu’s truck anyway.

“Seeya later, Haru,” Yuisu called as Haru unfurled her wings to their full five-meter wingspan and took off.

As she flew, Haru wondered how much she’d actually be able to see Yuisu later. With so much going on around the house, it felt like she never got to spend time alone with her these days.

Yamato’s little green car pulled into the driveway and Misaki didn’t even wait for it to stop before throwing the door open and leaping from the vehicle. She danced around in circles in the driveway, her pink kimono-like dress spinning around her. She pranced around in the fresh mountain air and sunlight until Yamato took her by the wing and lead her to the front door.

He rang the doorbell and Tsuen answered. “Hello and welcome, Yamato and Misaki!” She stepped back and gestured for them to enter.

Yamato frowned and waved a hand. “Sorry, but I can’t stick around. I’m almost late for work at the grocery store.” He patted Misaki on the top of her head. “Have fun today, and don’t cause them any trouble.”

Misaki beamed up at him. “Of course! I’ll be on my best behavior!” Then she spotted something shiny in the entryway and darted inside suddenly, ducking under Tsuen’s still outstretched arm.

Yamato smiled and shook his head. “Seeya later, Misaki!” he called after her, then her turned to Tsuen. “Thanks for watching after her today. It means so much to her to be up here with you all instead of cooped up at home.”

Tsuen gave a strained smile as she tried to split her attention between Yamato and whatever Misaki was doing behind her. “No problem. Seeya, Yamato!” she called, then closed the door and turned to see what Misaki was up to.

She was at the coatrack, trying and failing to take a shiny metal keychain off of one of Haru’s coats. Misaki’s little thumb-like digits were nowhere near dextrous enough to unthread the keyring that held it on. The keychain featured an image of two anime girls holding hands, and Tsuen assumed it had been a gift from Yuisu.

Tsuen darted forward to stop her. “Hey, leave that be! That isn’t yours, Misaki.”

“Sorry. My bad,” Misaki apologized In her light, raspy voice. She looked around the room and finally let go of the keychain. “Where’s Mara at?”

“I don’t actually know.” Tsuen started down the hall and waved for Misaki to follow. “Let’s go find her.” Misaki bounced along down the hall, peeking in every open door and peering at every decoration.

Mara was on the back porch, sitting in a patio chair, tucked under her favorite umbrella and playing on her 3DS. She wasn’t afraid of the outdoors anymore, but she was still afraid of the sky, at least when she could see it. Her trusty umbrella solved that problem and served as a constant reminder of Tsuen’s generosity.

Tsuen easily spotted the large black and white umbrella from inside the house, so she and Misaki stepped out onto the porch. “Hey Mara, want to hang out with Misaki for a while? I don’t think she’s a gamer, but I’m sure you can find a shared interest. I’m going to take a bath, since I still haven’t had a chance all morning.”

Mara tipped the umbrella back and smiled up at Tsuen. Mara was wearing a frilly black dress and looking a little bit gothic lolita. “Sure thing. We’ll find something to do.”

As Tsuen stepped back inside and closed the sliding door, she heard Mara say, “So, whadaya like to do, Misaki?”

Thirty minutes later, Tsuen stepped out of the bathing room. Water droplets ran down her bare chest and through the short fur that coated her horse-like half. She reached for a towel but came up with empty air.

I could have sworn there was a stack of fresh towels right there. She walked around the laundry room, her hair and tail dripping cold drops of water with every hoofstep, but there were no towels to be seen.

Tsuen peeked her head out the laundry room door and looked both ways. No one seemed to be in the living room, and Mara’s door was closed. Through the glass door at the end of the hall, the little excercise room looked empty too. But then she saw something.

There was a towering pile of towels right in the center of the gym. It had to be every towel in the entire house. Tsuen blinked a few times, then it dawned on her. “Mara!” she yelled. “Very funny, but I need a towel now! Can you bring me one, please?”

There was no answer. Still looking west towards the gym, she glanced down. Someone had set Tsuen’s slippers out in the hallway, and a bit past that was her hairbrush, and then her green scrunchy hair tie. It was a trail, and it lead directly to the towels in the exercise room.

I guess there’s no helping it, then. Tsuen stepped cautiously into the hallway, keeping her arms hugged against her chest and her tail tucked between her legs. Tsuen always avoided being seen naked, even to the point that she kept a towel around her chest when bathing with the other girls.

She slipped her hooves into the fuzzy round slippers and continued forward. When she reached the hairbrush, she held one arm against her breasts and daintily bent down to grab it. After doing the same for the hair tie, she finally reached the gym. She opened the door and stepped inside. She was getting chilly from the drying water and she eagerly reached for the towels, but she stopped when something caught her eye.

To her right, a large window looked out on the back porch. Sitting in the patio chairs and sipping orange juice were two figures: a tiny pink arachne dressed in black and a tiny black-feathered harpy wearing pink. The matching pair of pranksters keenly watched Tsuen through the window.

Like a deer caught in headlights, Tsuen froze. To Mara’s pleased surprise, Tsuen froze with her perky breasts in full view and her nipples alert from the cold. A wave of red flushed through Tsuen’s face and ears, which folded back against her head.

A chorus of laughter from the deck broke Tsuen’s trance. She grabbed a large towel, knocking the rest of the pile over, and bolted back to the laundry room. Outside, Mara and Misaki high fived, or whatever you’d call a wing coming together with five carapace-covered fingers and one tag-along spider leg.

Tsuen, now fully clothed in one of her typical sporty outfits, sprawled on the couch in the living room and stared out the window. She was uncharacteristically still as Mara approached.

“Sorry if we upset you, Tsuen. It was only meant to be a little prank.”

Tsuen’s ears twitched, but she didn’t turn to look at Mara. It isn’t just the prank that bothers me, she wanted to say. It isn’t even being seen naked, she thought, blushing. Augh! I guess I just don’t like that Mara is having fun with Misaki instead of me! She lowered her head and propped her forehead on the armrest.

Mara stepped closer. “Are you okay, Tsuen? Talk to me.”

Tsuen turned her head and found herself looking right into Mara’s eyes. Mara had crouched on the floor and was peering up at Tsuen. She’s so cute… but frustrating… but cute!

Tsuen sat up and impulsively grabbed Mara around the middle and pulled her close. As she hugged Mara, Tsuen said, “I’m just fine. Thank you for checking.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I guess I was just a little jealous of Misaki.” She pulled back to look at Mara, who looked equal parts surprised and ecstatic with the situation. “How about all three of us go on an adventure?”

Mara took the opportunity to return the hug with as many legs as she could. When it ended, she leapt into the air like a coiled spring and landed in the center of the room. “Yay! Let’s go. I think Misaki’s been itching to explore the property. Let’s do that!”