“IN OTHER WORDS,” the woman in sunglasses said solemnly as she lifted her coffee, “I’d like your group of monster girls to start working.”
“I’m sorry?” Kurusu Kimihito tilted his head at her.
This was his interspecies cultural exchange coordinator, Ms. Smith. Though she had the picture-perfect look of a businesswoman, she was hopelessly disorganized. It was unclear whether she was too busy or just lazy, but she always lost track of things and surprised Kimihito with short-notice requests.
That was what led him to his current living situation: seven monster girl exchange students in his home, under his care.
Today there were even more, because Smith had brought the four members of MON with her, which meant this would definitely be more of a pain than usual.
“It’s another part of the Interspecies Cultural Exchange. Miia and the other girls have been here under the pretext of a study abroad so far, but eventually, we intend to expand the liminal presence into the workforce. We’d like to set some precedent ahead of that.”
“What kind of ‘precedent’?”
“At this point, liminals are able to work part-time, but in the future there’ll be more and more who want to work at companies or start their own businesses.” She remained serious. “So we’d like some examples of liminal labor to show off.”
“Ahhh,” Kimihito replied, “I guess I understand that.” There was still some doubt in his voice.
“That’s why…” Smith trailed off as she looked to the girls lined up behind Kimihito.
Miia, the lamia.
Papi, the harpy.
Centorea, the centaur.
Mero, the mermaid.
Rachnera, the arachne.
Suu, the slime.
And Lala, the dullahan.
Each of these seven monster girls had her own charms and idiosyncrasies and, through her unique circumstances, had come to live at Kimihito’s house.
“These girls are going to be our test cases. That said, for them it’ll probably just be part-time,” Smith concluded.
“How’d you decide on us?” Kimihito replied.
“C’mon, who else is there? It’s the only home with this many different types of monster girl living together. Plus, Miia-chan has experience as a priest. Even if I really tried, I’d never find such a convenie—”
“Aha!” Miia protested, her ears pricking up, “Smith-san just said ‘convenient’!”
“N-no! What I meant to say is there are so many excellent girls gathered here that I knew you’d be perfect for this important duty! Girls I could proudly introduce to any workplace!”
“Is that true?” Miia asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Absolutely.” Smith maintained her poker face.
Kimihito, meanwhile, scowled as he mulled the proposal over. Smith had been very helpful in the past, so he didn’t want to refuse her request, but it wasn’t going to be him doing these jobs. He couldn’t force this responsibility onto the girls.
Rather than wait for his answer, Smith thrust a sheaf of papers at him. “These are the businesses that have accepted our request to take a liminal worker for a day.”
With the papers held where the girls could see them, Kimihito looked through them.
“This missive mentions a tavern in the city. I suppose my duty would be to service its customers, Milord?”
“Oh, this gig’s on stage. Wonder what I could do for it? A bondage show, maybe?”
“That’s too cheeky, Rachnera!”
“What about Papi? What’s Papi get to do?”
“Suu wanna help, too.”
Papi and Suu, the youngest of the crew, were surprisingly into the idea, while Centorea, Rachnera, and Mero wore complicated expressions—probably because they knew more about how hard work could be.
“Oh!” Smith added, “And I’m assigning the MON members as backup!”
The MON members shouted “what?!” in unison. It seemed that Kimihito’s housemates weren’t the only people she’d sprung this on.
“C’mon, Smith, we’ve already got work pilin’ up back at the office!” Zombina the zombie protested.
“We’re not going to have to use our vacation days for this, are we, Ms. Smith?” Tionishia, the ogre, asked in a voice unusually sweet for her height and muscle.
“Could I even do these sorts of jobs?” mumbled Manako the cyclops. “Won’t I scare the customers away?”
“No! I’m not doing any job that doesn’t involve beating the crap outta bad guys!” Doppel, the doppelgänger, said with finality as she crossed her arms.
These were the esteemed members of MON—Monster Ops: Neutralization. Due to the bylaws of the Interspecies Cultural Exchange Accord, humans were not allowed to harm liminals, so an exclusively liminal special forces team was formed to combat liminal crime. Four valiant women sworn to protect the public using their remarkable martial specialties.
Of course, Kimihito mostly saw them when they were struggling with some pointless assignment from Smith. They did so much busywork, so many errands, that he had to wonder whether the government needed extra help around the Interspecies Cultural Exchange Office, too.
“Oh my! Did I forget to mention?” Smith said, raising her eyebrows above the frame of her sunglasses.
“Were we supposed to figure it out just from you saying you wanted us to come with you to what’s-his-face’s house?”
“Now, now. There’ll be bonuses for completing this mission.”
“Oh.” The MON team shut their mouths. It seemed even they weren’t opposed to some extra cash.
“All our test cases will be properly remunerated for their assistance on top of the payment for their work. Even you girls.” She gestured to Miia and the rest with one hand as the other rummaged in her purse for a calculator. “Something like…” She input a few numbers and then turned to show the total to the room. “…this much?”
“What?!”
Kimihito couldn’t keep his eyes from boggling when he saw the numbers on the calculator screen. The girls stared intently too, but not all of them were impressed—Mero would’ve seen similar amounts in her royal treasury, and Papi and Suu probably didn’t know math.
“I could buy that new scale moisturizer!” Miia gasped.
“It’s enough for a set of removable shoes,” Cerea pondered.
“And I,” said Rachnera with a smile, “thought I needed a wardrobe update.”
The thought of a little spending money had burst the dam on the girls’ desires. Kimihito was tantalized, too. The government provided the bare minimum compensation for their room and board, with nothing left over for entertainment, let alone hobbies. This windfall would mean a lot to everyone.
But test case or no, work was work. He wouldn’t dream of forcing the girls into this if they didn’t want to—not that he could force them to do anything. “Miia, what do you think? It’s your choice,” Kimihito said, even toned.
“Hmm.” Miia lifted the tip of her tail to her chin and rested her head upon it in thought. “All right, everyone except Darling, let’s huddle!”
“What?!” said Kimihito.
“Sorry, but we’ve gotta talk it over between ourselves!”
“Oh.” Kimihito nodded. “Yeah. Of course.”
The homestay girls formed a tight huddle, Miia at its center, and whispered amongst themselves.
Miia had been the first liminal to arrive at Kimihito’s house, but Rachnera and Lala tended to ignore her seniority. Today, though, they were amidst the group whispering with the rest.
“What should we do? It’s a lot of—”
“Nevertheless, we must consider—”
“I suppose if they’ve given permission—”
“We’re all gonna do it—?”
“Suu agrees—”
“If that’s the case—”
“Righty, then—”
As they reached their decision, Miia slid from the huddle and over to Kimihito. “Darling, we’ve decided! We’ll try it!”
“You’re sure?” he asked.
“It’ll be fiiine! I’ve got my experience as a priestess to fall back on. The others might have trouble, but…” She side-eyed Centorea and fought back a smirk. “Who cares, right?”
“H-how dare thou mock me! I am certain I shall provide exemplary customer service!”
Rachnera rolled all her eyes. “Don’t get too cocky, Miia. Cafés and bars might seem easy from the front, but there’s a lot hidden behind the counter. You might have to practice your cooking.”
Miia froze. Though her recent training had shown results in the form of mostly edible meals, she hadn’t shed her tendency to over-season everything.
Smith was unperturbed. “There we have it, folks. I’ll send the details later.” She stood from her chair, seeing her part in the conversation was over.
“S-sure,” replied Kimihito.
“Oh, and Darling-kun—make sure you’re on-site with the girls? I’m sure it’ll help them stay calm.”
“Of course, I was planning on it.”
“All right, we’re done here. Back to the office. Lots to do. Busy, busy.” Smith breezed out the front door of the Kurusu house as quickly as she’d entered. “Thanks for the coffee!”
The MON members, less practiced at that type of getaway, rose in a flustered group to chase after her. Only Manako took the time to say a proper goodbye, bowing deeply and muttering “Let’s do our best! Thank you for your help!”
“Sure…” mumbled Kimihito in reply. No matter how often this happened—Smith appearing, upending his life, and leaving before he could react—he never got used to it. At least this time, Miia and the others were enthusiastic. They were ready to do their best for the work pilot program, and as their host, he had to be there to support them.
Knowing that didn’t make him any less nervous. “Sorry, everyone, it all happened so suddenly.”
Wriggling her snakelike lower half, Miia slithered toward Kimihito. “No, it’s fine! As long as you’re with me, Darling.”
“Yeah. Let’s all do our best,” Kimihito replied, feeling his anxiety start to dissipate.
“Yeah!” all the girls cheered. Miia punched her arms in the air, Papi extended her wings, and Suu raised her appendages to imitate the pair of them.
And so, another tale of the everyday lives of monster girls began, as they strove to go out into the world as working women.