Chapter 324
Taira and Hatsumi spared me as much time as I needed to explain the situation to them. Meanwhile, Nyra was on the living room floor, playing with old toys of mine that my sister had kept in storage. Really, I'd like to know why we haven't gotten rid of them yet, but that was a discussion for another time.
"Uwah. This is some crazy backstory that's way out of my depth. I guess you being a succubus means your life is anything but mundane!" Taira leaned back on the couch laughing.
"What's crazy to me is how you two know each other. Is there a story there?" I asked.
"Not really." Hatsumi shook her head. "I ran into Taira while grocery shopping, and I only recognized her as your coworker from Isekai Gohan."
"We ran with different groups while attending Tsukiji. If the winds had blown us in a different direction, we probably would've been friends during school," my peer added.
In a way, they were similar to me, Rika, and Hitomi. If Mio hadn't dropped into my life, I might never have had any reason to interact with them. Things happened for a reason. Me, becoming a succubus. Stopping the dryad menace. Helping Elendir and the elves. Now, with Nyra finding her way into my life, I had a duty to protect her. Maybe even guide her down a different life than her previous one as Demon King.
"To be honest, I'm a little overwhelmed by all of this. Wouldn't it be better to bring Nyra to Elza and have someone with more knowledge take care of her?" Hatsumi asked.
"I thought about that, but they would sooner execute her. What she did in her past life was reprehensible, I get it. But… She's been reborn. This isn't the same person. That's why I came to you. I was wondering if you can give me pointers on raising an unruly kid. I mean, you raised me just fine," I explained,
"Oh, Saeko. You were a very well-behaved child! Taira, you wouldn't believe how cute she was. Here, I still have a video of her calling me 'mama' once!" She whipped out her phone.
"Let me see, let me see! Ahaha! Awww!" Taira squealed.
"Guys, focus!" I buried my face in both hands, sighing.
Hatsumi put her phone away apologetically.
"So… What about her? I feel like we missed who she is." Taira looked up at Erma, who was standing still behind me.
"Oh, this is—"
"My name is Erma Clarenbell," Erma introduced herself nobly. "You may call me Erma. I am Mistress Saeko's mutt and—"
I charmed Erma to stop saying anything more, and she choked on her next words.
"What did I hear? Mutt?" Taira squinted at us.
"Th-That's just Erma being self-deprecating! She's a high ranking military officer in her world. We became close after I visited Elza a few times," I explained hastily.
Thankfully, both of them believed my bullshit answer.
"Why don't we start with what made you decide to come here to begin with?" Hatsumi suggested.
"Well for one," I began with a deep breath, "Nyra attacked a Santa last night when we went to the mall together. But the real problem happened after we got home. She was holding Shadow and Snowball like she was about to hurt them. I mean, obviously we didn't know for sure that's what she was about to do. Given the circumstances though… Mio also blew up on her when it happened…"
Taira grimaced. "Oh, nooo. Mio sends me pics of Shadow and Snowball all the time! Those poor babies."
"And how did you all respond?" Hatsumi asked.
"Elendir and Mio grabbed the cats and hid in their rooms. I milled around a bit before coming to you for help…"
"Did you scold Nyra?" she pressed me.
"I-I don't remember. It's not like I can bring myself to yell at her." I frowned.
Hatsumi sighed at me. Heavily, too.
Suddenly, Nyra started ripping and tearing into an old stuffed animal much like she did with the Santa's costume. Stuffing went flying. A button rolled across the hardwood floor.
"Nyra, bad girl. Don't do that!" Hatsumi raised her voice in a way that made me flinch, then grabbed the torn-up stuffed animal from Nyra.
The demon girl flashed with anger. I rose to my feet, thinking she was going to attack Hatsumi. Instead, Nyra clenched her fist, gritted her teeth, and choked up. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes.
"I have another toy right here." Hatsumi fished out a big stuffed taiyaki from the cardboard box of my old stuff. "But you have to promise me not to break this…" She showed her the other ripped one. "Like you did this. I'll give you the new toy only if you say sorry and promise not to break it."
Nyra stared at Hatsumi like a lost dog. She tried to grab the toy, but each time my sister would lift it out of reach. Eventually, she became fed up.
"So… wee…" Nyra slowly enunciated the word.
Whether Nyra actually understood what she said remained to be seen, but Hatsumi handed her the second toy. Instead of immediately tearing it apart, she played with it normally like any regular child.
"Wow. That actually worked? But ugh. I felt your scolding in my soul…" I shivered.
"Hehe. That's because you weren't always behaved. I did have to raise my voice sometimes." Hatsumi smiled.
"Well, that certainly explains it. Did I start behaving then though?" I asked.
"Hehe. Not always! When scolding doesn't work, you move on to patience. Patience from you, me, and from Nyra. If you blow up on someone, how do you think they will carry that lesson forward as they get older? Taking care of a whole person isn't easy. But if anyone can do it, I know my little Saeko is definitely one of them." She giggled.
We played with Nyra for a little while longer before Hatsumi and Taira had to leave for their Christmas plans. They had baked some holiday-themed cookies beforehand and gave me a big portion to bring home.
Hatsumi gave a Christmas tree cookie to Nyra to gnaw on, which she seemed to really enjoy. Children and their sweets, demon or no demon.
"Thanks, Hatsumi. You, too, Taira. Even though you were mostly here to just react to my misfortune," I said.
"Hey, no prob! Anything for my cute former coworker! Me and the others still work at Isekai Gohan. Pay is way too good to stop. We'll make you a Love-Love Omurice on the house!" Taira grinned.
"If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to come to me again," Hatsumi insisted.
"Actually, there is. Would it be alright to ask you to look after Nyra every now and then? With Yumi's supervision, of course. I don't want to leave you alone with the reborn Demon King," I explained.
"I'd love to look after Nyra! You would like that, too, wouldn't you?" She kneeled down and patted her on the head.
Nyra giggled and returned the gesture, patting Hatsumi back on the head, too.
"For now, Saeko, maybe try finding something you both like in common? Even better if there is something both of you and the others can do together and bond over," Hatsumi suggested.
Something we would all like… What could that even be? Myself, Elendir, Erma, Mio, Kana, and Nyra made six people. The things we individually enjoyed differed a lot.
"I'll give it some thoughts. Thanks, Sis." I hugged Hatsumi. "Sure you can't make it to the Christmas party later?"
"Hehe. I'm sure. Taira and I made plans with a bunch of other friends to go out tonight! You all enjoy yourselves, too!" Hatsumi squeezed me back.
Nyra, with the stuffed taiyaki in one hand, reached up with both arms as if asking for a hug. My sister obliged and gave her a hug. Taira shied away, rightfully so given what Nyra was. We took the train back home, and I felt a lot better about myself and Nyra after talking to Hatsumi.
"Saeko, I must confess something," Erma suddenly spoke up while we were on the train heading back to Shinjuku.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Your sister Hatsumi is very elegant and beautiful. She reminds me of Princess Amira. Is she truly not a woman of regal status?" She looked serious.
"No, Hatsumi isn't a princess. Neither am I. We're just common folks. And that comparison to Amira… You mean by appearances only, right? Because their personalities couldn't be more different!" I retorted.
The others were preparing Christmas dinner for all of us when we got back. Elendir and Mio had since come out of their rooms, but as soon as I got home with Nyra, the two preemptively went to protect Shadow and Snowball. Even Shadow was on edge and hissed in her direction.
First, I need to try what Hatsumi told me to do. Be firm.
"Nyra, you hurt Shadow and Snowball when you grabbed them. Elendir and Mio love them very much, so it was like you hurt family. If you do something wrong, you have to apologize. Remember what Hatsumi taught you? What do you have to say to them?" I asked, pressing a hand to her back for encouragement.
"Sowee," Nyra mouthed out the apology.
Mio and Elendir were stunned, especially the dark elven monarch.
"To think I would ever hear the Demon King utter an apology. I'm touched, Saeko. But unless Nyra actually means and understands what she has done, it is meaningless," Elendir explained.
"Well, do you?" I asked Nyra.
The girl struggled to find the right words. We had practiced this on the train ride back with Erma's help. I tried patience, like Hatsumi suggested, getting through to her why what she did was wrong. Maybe these lessons were going to turn out meaningless, or maybe not. What mattered right now was that Nyra at least showed an effort to try and be sincere.
I did realize that Nyra was actually more intelligent than she let on, for a child of her age. It likely had to do with who she was in the past, having lived an entire life for god only knows how many years. Somewhere inside her, there must be fractured pieces of her Demon King self. But by my resolve, I wasn't going to let her be like that.
"N… No more… hurting kit… ties." Nyra looked up at me as though wondering if she did a good job.
"Don't look at me. Look at them. You're asking the others for forgiveness," I said.
Nyra hung her head, then lifted back up to hold Elendir's gaze.
"Apology accepted." Elendir smiled.
Elated, Nyra turned back to me with an even bigger smile. However, there was one more person she needed to seek forgiveness from. But Mio was going to be a harder nut to crack.
"Nope. It's not gonna be so easy with me. She's gonna have to earn my forgiveness. Until Shadow accepts her, the most Nyra gets from me is some tolerating." Mio folded her arms.
Nyra sulked. But I supposed that was fair coming from Mio. After all, if Nyra had gotten a few more uninterrupted seconds, she could have seriously injured the cats like she did Santa's costume.
After an amazing Christmas dinner full of hot pot, sushi, barbecue, and a ton of karaage at Mio's behest, everyone gathered around the living room where our tree had presents underneath. This year, we collectively agreed to buy presents if we felt like it. I didn't want to pressure Elendir and Erma, who was still new to Earth culture, to try and assimilate so quickly.
"I know you've been working hard on Japanese, so I got you a robust textbook with tests inside and everything." Kana handed Elendir a heavy book.
"You did? Oh, thank you. That's very thoughtful. I've only been able to come this far thanks to your lessons." Elendir smiled.
"Mistress." Erma came up to, face flushed a little red. "I bought you a gift with Elendir's help."
"Really? Aw, thanks." I opened the small box and pulled out an inward-facing spiked collar with a leash attached to it.
"It's for you to put it on me!" she exclaimed gleefully.
"THAT'S NOT A GIFT FOR ME THEN!" I put a hand to my face and sighed.
"Hey, I'm down with it!" Mio snatched the collar from my hands, snapped it onto Erma's neck, and tugged her around the living room.
"W-Wait, Mio… Nnnh… I would much rather my Mistress— Actually, this feels nice…" The elf shuddered in pleasure.
While all the gift exchanging was going on, Nyra sat at the end of the couch holding the stuffed taiyaki Hatsumi had given her to her chest. She watched on with a sort of longing look, a quiet desire to be a part of the festivities.
Nyra dropping into my life was so last minute, I didn't even consider getting her a Christmas gift. The few things we bought or gave her, she ended up breaking. But before I could go give her some company, Mio beat me to it. Silence fell over the living room. Nyra stared up at her as if expecting a scolding.
"I'm still mad that you hurt Shadow, so don't take this the wrong way. I got you something. That way, you can go messing with it instead of my kitty." Mio gave her a colorful paper bag which seemed to contain something inside it.
When Nyra looked inside, her eyes lit up and lips peeled back to a big smile. She pulled out another stuffed toy. A cat. Dark brown and white in color.
"Oooh!" Nyra held up the new toy like Simba was in the beginning of the Lion King.
"What do you say, Nyra?" I chimed in.
"Danks!" she exclaimed, hugging both toys.
Good enough.
"So, you said you had a surprise for us? What is it?" Mio asked me.
"Yeah, you've been keeping a tight-lip about it. Is it another vacation elsewhere?" Kana turned to me.
"Well, I've been thinking… We all go to Elza together for a mini-adventure. Just us!" I suggested.