Bodies of Monsters, Hearts of Humans

Ch. 02: A Reunion and Rendezvous

-Five Months Later-

The clitter-clatter of the keyboard was heard as the blue-haired young man prepared to submit his report to his employer at Ganbare! Garage. At that establishment, Kaito worked there as a mechanic. Although his vacation in Thailand during June was memorable thanks to that "Snake Woman", he told no one about her, thinking he wouldn't be taken seriously.

The night sky's moonlight was drowned out by the lights in Kaito's house. Although it was early November, an unusual cold front rolled into Japan's weather system. As such, winter conditions were expected for the coming weeks.

As Kaito typed in his name at the bottom, he moved the cursor on his PC to the "Submit" button.

"Okay, done," Sighed Kaito as he clicked the left mouse button.

With that, the report was confirmed to be submitted. It'd be a sure bet his employers would be pleased with this.

Satisfied, Kaito decided to go to kitchen. A treat would boost his happiness to the next level!

Stepping up to the refrigerator and freezer, Kaito opened up the latter. Inside were cartons of ice cream, the blue-haired wonder's favorite food! Although Kaito prided himself a good eater and exercised on a regular basis, ice cream was always a treat to look forward to.

Just as he reached for one, he felt his cellphone vibrate in his pocket and took it out. On the LCD screen displayed a purple-haired man who had his hair tied like a samurai's. Above the green phone icon was the Caller ID, "Gakupo", his boss and his job's proprietor. Tapping once on the icon, Kaito answered the call.

He greeted with, "Hi, Kacho. What's up?"

"Konbanwa, Shion. I'm just letting you know of some big news," Gakupo informed Kaito.

Hearing that from his boss made him feel interested.

Intrigued, Kaito queried, "We're getting national coverage? No, a meeting with the Prime Minister?"

"Actually," Responded Gakupo, "The garage's manpower just increased."

"More manpower? While it would make lighter work for the garage, it only served to pique Kaito's interest further.

"More hands to help us, huh," He asked curiously.

On the other end, Gakupo cleared his throat before explaining further.

He continued with, "Have heard about half-human species entering the ranks of society?"

Suddenly Kaito was taken aback by what he just heard? Half-human species? Like that snake woman? No, that couldn't be...

"Y-you're kidding, right? There's no such thing as," Kaito tried to make sense of this situation.

Gakupo sternly retorted, "Kaito, there are such a thing. So far, we've had a pigtail-haired cat girl, twin fox kids, a centaur, a mermaid and a... snake woman joining us."

Hearing descriptions that Gakupo made Kaito curious up until he heard the last one. Was it the same snake woman he encountered in Thailand?

"Gaku-Kacho," Kaito asked nervously, "The snake woman... Is she a brunette? Does she have a burgundy-colored tail?"

It was then that Gakupo told his employee to wait a moment. Moments later, he came back on the line.

And he replied, "Yes... I believe her name was Meiko. She sounded intent on seeing you the moment she learned you were working with us."

From the moment Kaito's hearing picked up on that, his nerves were shot. That clingy lamia was most likely on her way to meet him!

"Are you saying she's on her way now," A nervous Kaito queried his boss.