Chapter 19 – Admissions

I walk down the street, Lulu and Mina in tow, holding my back in an attempt to realign my spine from Mina’s damaging hug. Eventually, Mina speaks up to the two of us.

“Uhm… You guys… Thank you, truly. I never expected anyone to stand up for me like you two did. Especially not so quickly after meeting. Honestly… Seeing the two of you protecting me from that cultist… Made my heart flutter a little.”

Mina begins to blush as she continues on,

“Th-that’s why… I-I want to join you! W-will you please let me join your party? I’ll cook all the meals you want-“

Suddenly, Lulu jolts forwards and grabs onto Mina’s hands before shouting out,

“DEAL!”

*deal-deal-deal*

As her voice echoes through the city, bringing with it the confused stares of the people around us. Lulu notices this almost immediately and begins to glow like a red neon sign. Mina and I can’t help but chuckle as she adorably hides herself away in my jacket.

I wrap my arm around her before addressing Mina,

“I agree with Lulu. You seem like a good person. It’d be nice to have a good chef with us while adventuring. I can cook a bit, but nothing like what you can. Though, there’s some stuff we need to tell you beforehand. Stuff that may make you change your mind. We have a room at an inn nearby. We can talk more there.”

Mina seems to stiffen up at my words, seeming to get the smallest bit nervous as we talk. She appears to get lost in her thoughts for a second before seemingly coming to a conclusion in her head. She nods before saying,

“Sure! Lead the way!”

When we get back to the inn, Lulu and I sit on the couch, while Mina takes the armchair. We take a few seconds to get comfortable before speaking. Instantly, a heavy atmosphere starts to build up.

I look over to Lulu and see her nervously rubbing her hands together with a cold sweat running down her back. Mina isn’t looking much better. For some reason, I don’t feel the slightest bit nervous. Instead I feel like I already know that she’ll accept us. I don’t know how I know it, I just… Do?

I clear my throat and speak to her,

“So, Mina. If you want to adventure with us, there’s two things you have to know. They’re very important, and if you no longer want to join us after learning, I understand.”

I hold my hand up holding up a finger,

“One: Lulu and I are not, in fact, high elves. Or elves at all. We’re not humanoid at all. We’re also not classified as monsters.”

Mina looks at me a little confused, but isn’t showing any outward signs of hostility. I figured I should probably allude to what we are before actually telling her. She looks at the two of us, waiting for one of us to say what we are.

“We’re demons.”

Almost instantly, I feel a bit of fear begin to fill the room. Not from Mina, however, but from Lulu.

I wrap my arm around her, comfortingly pulling her into my and holding her hand with my other one. I look up at Mina and see no distinctly negative change to her face. Instead, she looks more… Surprised? She looks at the two of us before saying,

“Really? Wow! Aren’t demons super rare? I can only imagine how rare twins would be! I can see why you wanna keep your race hidden, especially with how humanoids view you! I’m actually a harpy, so I can understand a bit. Humanoids tend to view us in a negative light as well. Though… I imagined demons being a bit more… scary… from how humanoids described them at least. Like, where’s the horns? The claws? The wings? Ah!”

Mina suddenly reaches up and covers her mouth as though she’s said something insulting,

“I-I’m so sorry! That was so rude of me! I shouldn’t assume things about other people because of stupid rumors-“

Suddenly, sweet laughter echoes out from under my arm. The scared aura leaking off of Lulu has fully dissipated, being replaced with one of both happiness and relief. Her cute smile warms both Mina and I’s heart as she talks to us through her giggles,

“No, no, it’s fine. We know how rare we are. It’d be a bit silly to not expect some stereotypes. Though, for the most part, you’re correct. Though, I don’t really think they’re scary, per say.”

Lulu brings up her status and unequips the choker from her outfit set, revealing her cute little horns, fangs, and wings to Mina, while also showing off her slightly sharp nails. Mina stares at Lulu for a few seconds before saying,

“So cute… Ah! I’m sorry! That slipped out!”

I smile and hug Lulu a little bit tighter before saying,

“Isn’t she?! Especially those little fangs! You should see her when she gets all smug, she really starts to look like a cat!”

Mina looks at Lulu closely, squinting her eyes as Lulu’s cheeks begin to glow red under her gaze. She nods her head and says,

“I imagined it. It’s adorable. She really does give off cat vibes.”

I nod my head, and laugh a little at the expense of Lulu adorably getting embarrassed. As she nuzzles into my side, I hold her tightly as I move on to the next subject.

“Well, second of all… Lulu and I… don’t have a very… traditional relationship. We-“

Mina suddenly interrupts me with a knowing gaze,

“Are dating, right? It was pretty obvious from the start. The subtle affectionate touches, the gazes, even just how you react to one another. Most people probably can’t tell, but us harpies show affection through those means nearly exclusively. My senses may not be the best of my kind, thanks to me living amongst humanoids, but even I can sense that. Not to mention how often she’s holding onto you in places much more intimate than siblings usually do.”

She motions to Lulu’s hand, which is wrapped around my waist and is rather low on my hips. I feel her hand shift further up my waist and feel a little bit sad because of it. So, I tease her by putting my hand on her lower back, just above her ass.

Mina looks at the two of us and smiles,

“Honestly, I think you guys are adorable! You make a great couple!”

The rest of the remaining daylight, we chatted with Mina. She seemed to avoid talking about herself and instead asked questions about us. I respect her privacy, though. From the way she was talking before, it’s clear that she went through some rather traumatic stuff in the past. I decide to prod her a little bit, without going too far. Right as I’m about to mention our skill Universal Appraisal. Right before that, though, the sound of rustling bushes and a thud rings out from the back of the house.

*schhh THUD!*

Lulu and I both stand up relatively quickly, I ready a spell, and she readies her spear. We walk to the backdoor and open it, stepping outside into the fenced in area and walking over to the bush in question. As we get closer, the sound of heavy breathing and groaning rings out. Looking inside, I’m shocked when I see Alice lying there with wounds covering her body.