Everyday Life with Monster Tenants (Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou fanfic)

Chapter 8: Out and in...

Tatsuki took a seat at the edge of Miki's bed and waited. The house creaked as the heater came on and Suki counted the seconds until Miki finally spoke. 

"I can shape-shift, but I don't like telling people, because my last host..." She stopped and bit her lip as if it were as difficult to get the next bit out as it was to keep it in. Tatsuki watched her carefully, not pressuring her, but making sure she knew he cared. "He would make me change his appearance to fit his fetishes." Suki's hands instantly balled into fists, "I tried to tell the agency, but my coordinator, at the time, was friends with the guy and wouldn't do anything about it. Sometimes they'd take turns..." She curled up into a ball and Suki found himself gnawing on the inside of his cheek. He wanted to ask why she didn't fight back, but knew the answer before she said it. "They've fixed the rules now, but at the time it was against the rules for liminials to attack humans and vise-versa, so they used that to control me, along with threatening to get me fired from my job, I was new to the program, didn't have any friends, and no one would believe that a coordinator would do that kind of thing, so..." She looked up at Suki who was staring at her with watery eyes. 

"Don't worry, this story has a happy ending." She sat up and hugged him, which he returned with rib crushing strength. "One day, I finally worked up the nerve to go to the office. I got the reaction I expected as a few of them who knew both the guys brushed me off, but one actually listened. I thought that was all he did, but the next night, I was suffering the same way I did every other moment in that house. Suddenly, the whole room seemed to cave in and the three of us were surrounded by a MON crew and SWAT team." She pulled away and her eyes sparkled as she recalled the moment, "and there in front, punching the crap out of those assholes, was the first coordinator who heard my desperate plea for help. I ended up living with him for quite a few months before I was informed of the opportunity to stay with you. During that time, he helped me learn to trust others enough that I felt confident staying here."

"To be honest, I was really nervous about bathing with the two of you." She confessed, holding tightly to Tatsuki's hand. "It was kind of a test for me, to see if I could really be truly comfortable around guys like I'd been before my last host. Ame barely looked at anything other than my eyes and your stare was more out of curiosity. It was so liberating after being treated like a piece of meat for so long." Miki sighed and released Suki, who wiped away a few stray tears. "My energetic greeting was me compensating for all that time I couldn't find it in my heart to be happy. From the depths of my soul, thank you for becoming a host. I know we haven't known each other long, but I'm confident you will bring me more happiness than any other." 

"I'm so glad Saketo showed up at my dorm...Who was the coordinator who rescued you?! We should have them over!" Suki jumped up as Mikichi laughed.

"It was Saketo. That's how I got hooked up with you," she chuckled as Suki stared in shock. "And he'll just say I've thanked him enough already. You don't owe him anything anyway." Tatsuki shook his head defiantly.

"Like you said, we've only know each other about 24 hours, but I'd still consider you my friend! Without him, we probably never would have met and he may just think he's just doing his job, but I feel like I owe it to him to express how much his kindness means to me!" Miki blinked in surprise at his passionate reaction and felt her own eyes become watery. 

"You're right! I'm sure he'll find an excuse to stop by tomorrow to see you, so we'll do something for him then." She smiled and accepted another hug from Tatsuki. 

"Wait, see me? No, never mind. Before we go downstairs, I also need to pry into why you don't want to meet our new guests." He didn't want to throw her on another emotional roller coaster, but didn't like the thought of her running off every time they entered the room.