Volume 10 - Extending Family, Chapter 74 - Between a Hawk and a Hard Place

Agent Will sat at the kitchen table, idly scratching his ear and making small talk with Yuisu, catching up on things how things had been going around the Nakahara household. "Oh, before I forget…" he said, then grabbed his briefcase and dug around in it. After a moment, he set two small, colorfully wrapped presents on the table and said, "Sorry about the delay. Work's been pretty busy, but I picked these up on my latest business trip." Each one had a little tag, one made out to Haru and one to Mara.

Yuisu looked at the little gifts and thought, It's been almost a month since Haru's birthday, and two weeks since Mara's, but better late than never. Yuisu smiled and replied, "No worries. I'm sure they'll be happy to know you were thinking of them. I'll pass the gifts on later. Mara should be awake soon, but Haru won't get home 'til six."

Agent Will bowed slightly and said, "Thanks, Yuisu." After a moment, he added, "Speaking of Haru, I had another reason for dropping by today. Her mom wants to come to town to visit Haru soon. Can you arrange that, please?"

Yuisu tilted her head, a habit she'd picked up from Haru. "Why me? Don't you normally organize those things, like with Mara's mom?"

Agent Will cleared his throat. "Uh, normally, yes… but I don't want to give Kohaku the wrong message. I think it's for the best if I don't interact with her too much during her visit."

Huh? What the heck does he mean by that? thought Yuisu. "Uh, sure. I'll work with Haru on that. She'd love to help organize her mom's visit."

"Mmm, that feels good," Yuisu whispered into the dark bedroom. She was enveloped from behind by Haru's soft, warm wings and Haru was nibbling sensually at her neck.

"I just wish I had normal hands so I could do more for you…" Haru replied suggestively.

"Oh, you can already do plen—"

KNOCK KNOCK! Yuisu was cut off by the sound of hurried knocking on the bedroom door.

Yuisu slumped and let out a sad sigh, mourning the loss of a wonderful moment. Then she called out, "What is it?"

Mara's voice called back through the door, "Some harpy lady's at the door, and she wants to see you two. I gotta get back to my raid. Seeya!"

Haru jumped up from the bed, leaving Yuisu's bare skin exposed to the cold air. "Ah, crap. That's my mom. She loves to arrive early." She turned on the lights and pulled on jeans and a t-shirt over her lacy underwear as fast as her ineffective thumbs would allow.

"But twelve hours early? Seriously?" Yuisu said incredulously, already digging through her dresser for clothes of her own.

"Yeeeah… she's odd like that."

After putting on some underwear and pants, Yuisu pulled a green v-neck sweater over her head and ran a hand through her messy hair. "Ugh, so much for good first impressions. I had been planning to get all fancied up before meeting your mom…"

Haru planted a quick kiss on Yuisu's cheek and said, "You look fine. Now let's go let her inside before she freezes out there. Harpy feathers are warm, but not that warm."

The couple darted out into the hallway and ran the short distance to the door, only to find an unfamiliar harpy-style coat already on the coat rack. It seemed that someone had already let Haru's mom inside.

"Over here, Haru, Yuisu!" came a chipper voice from the kitchen. It was Chione's.

They continued past the entryway and into the kitchen, where Chione was sitting at the table with an unfamiliar guest. From behind, they could only see her white hair and her fluffy white wings.

Chione smiled up at Haru and Yuisu, her eyes bright and cheerful despite the late hour, or more likely, because of the late hour. As the only fully nocturnal member of the house, she didn't get to spend that much time with people and she seemed to be enjoying the company. She tucked a strand of her cobalt hair behind a horn and said, "When I came back from my midnight flight, I found Ms Kohaku out on the porch in the cold, so I let her in."

"Just Kohaku is fine, Chione," Kohaku said in a smooth, melodic voice, then she stood up and turned around to look at her daughter for the first time in almost a year. "Haru! Come give your mom a hug," she beamed, holding her white and black wings wide.

Kohaku looked a lot like her daughter, except Kohaku's hair was shorter and shot through with occasional strands of black. On closer inspection, her gold eyes were wider and looked more passionate, and her skin was more tanned. She wore a light blue blouse and some torn jean shorts that looked right out of Haru's wardrobe.

Haru stepped forward into the hug, awkwardly holding her wings low so they didn't collide with her mom's. As she was engulfed in motherly love, she said, "Hi, Mom. It's great to see you."

"Enthusiastic as always, I see," Kohaku teased. Then she stepped back, held Haru by the shoulders, and looked Haru up and down. "You're looking good Haru. Not as muscular as you used to be, but you must be staying pretty active." With a concerned look, she asked, "Have you been eating well?"

"Yes, Mom…" Haru said with an embarrassed smile. Being around her mom always managed to make her feel like a little kid.

"Good, now introduce me to your fiancée here," Kohaku said with a mischievous grin.

Haru and Yuisu flushed red in unison, then Haru floundered, "Girlfriend, Mom! We're just girlfriends!"

"A mother can hope," Kohaku responded, still grinning. "And there's still time for that in the future." She waved a big fluffy wing dismissively and said, "Anyways, Haru, please introduce your girlfriend."

Haru cleared her throat, then raised one wing toward Yuisu and said, "This is Yuisu. She's only 21, but she's super responsible, and caring, and, uh, I love her." Haru hid her face behind her other wing. She hadn't realized how difficult it would be to introduce her mother to her lover.

Yuisu steeled her nerves and stepped forward. "It's nice to finally meet you, Kohaku."

Yuisu yelped in surprise as Kahaku suddenly pulled her into a tight, feathery hug. Pressed up against Kohaku's body like that, she learned firsthand that Kohaku had a similar figure to Haru, if a bit curvier in the hips, and that she wasn't wearing a bra under her light blue blouse. Yuisu got a faceful of E-cups and had to fight with every drop of willpower to keep from going all Yuri-su.

For what felt like an eternity, Yuisu tried to think about anything other than the boobs in her face. When the hug finally relented, Kohaku grinned, baring her sharp teeth, and said, "It's nice to meet you too, Yuisu. I hope you've been treating my precious daughter well…" Her hawk-like eyes were sharp and narrowed, and there was more than a hint of a threat in her voice.

"O-of c-course," Yuisu stuttered, her face going pale. She knew just how scary raptor harpies could be.

The storm passed as quickly as it came and Kohaku smiled warmly. "Great! Well, I'll let you get back to treating her."

"Huh?" Yuisu said as she and Haru tilted their heads in unison.

Kohaku shrugged and blinked her bright gold eyes innocently. "I apologize for prying, but it was pretty obvious what my arrival interrupted… I can smell you on each other."

Yuisu's cheeks burned with embarrassment and Haru flushed red too.

"Mom! We weren't- I mean-, ugh, nevermind!" Haru blurted, adorably flustered. She turned to Chione and rattled off, "Gotta go to sleep. Can you show my Mom to her guest room? Thanks! Goodnight!"

The blushing lovers turned on the spot and escaped to their room, but they were far too flustered and uncomfortable to resume any intimacy that night.

Once they were out of earshot, Kohaku turned back to Chione and smiled. "Ahh, I know I probably shouldn't, but it's so fun to tease Haru. Yuisu does seem like a great girl."

Chione nodded fervently. "Oh, yes. She's amazing. Yuisu does so much for all of us here." She paused in thought, then added, "Though because of my sleep schedule, I spend a lot more time with Haru. She's been like a mentor to me, and I'm very thankful."

Kohaku opened her mouth to reply, but Chione continued, "Haru's a great person, and you raised her very well, Ms Kohaku."

Kohaku smiled with pride and said, "Please, just Kohaku is fine. I've got enough black hairs and wrinkles already reminding me of my age. It'd be nice to be just 'one of the girls' for a while."

Chione nodded, but overcoming the formal habits she picked up in boarding school would be difficult.

"On that note," Kohaku started, "tell me a bit about yourself, Chione…"

The next morning, Haru stepped into the kitchen, her talons clicking on the hardwood floor. She beelined for the fridge, but stopped when she saw who was at the table.

"Good morning, Mom. I see you've already met Tsuen," Haru said.

Kohaku turned her head nearly 180 degrees to look at Haru. "Good morning. And yes, we've been talking for a while. Tsuen's kindhearted and upbeat, and she's so cute that I just want to eat her up."

Tsuen blushed at the compliments, but then shifted uncomfortably at that last part. Predators always made her a little uneasy. "Uh, thanks, Kohaku," she said quietly.

Kohaku gestured at Tsuen and said, "I was just telling her about a strange bouquet of flowers I got the other day. Do you know anything about it, Haru?"

Haru carried a container of leftover hamburger steak from the fridge to the microwave. "No idea. What was strange about it?"

"It didn't have a sender's name, just a tag that said, 'With love from the Interspecies Exchange Program'. The flowers were simply beautiful though. I kind of wish they were from some handsome suitor…"

Haru pondered that for a moment, then said, "Sounds like they could be from Agent Will, since he's our Exchange Program Coordinator."

Kohaku's head whipped around to look at Haru, her shoulder-length black and white hair flinging outward from the speed. "Ooh, really? I've always assumed he was taken. After all, he never accepted my invitations to come visit…"

Haru stopped partway to the table, still holding her plate of food awkwardly with both wings. "Really, Mom? Really?" she said, exasperated. "All the men in the world, and you go after my Exchange Coordinator?"

Kohaku shrugged. "What can I say? I've grown to like him from all the times we talked on the phone and how well he takes care of my precious only daughter." She smiled wide. "And if he's sending me flowers, maybe I have a chance…"

Just then, Mara shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She had caught some of the conversation and she said, "Are you talking about Agent Will sending out flowers?" She approached the chair next to Tsuen, turned it sideways to make room for her abdomen, and climbed up. Once seated, the little arachne continued, "My mom received some of those too, right before her trip. But it was weird for him to do that, since he just played hard-to-get during her entire visit."

Simultaneously, Kohaku's expression wilted and Haru's turned into a knowing smile.

"Aww, maybe they weren't meant to be romantic after all…" Kohaku sighed.

"Ah ha! I bet he didn't send them at all," Haru exclaimed. When the three other women in the kitchen looked at her suspiciously, she said, "I'm going to go have a talk with Quess, our resident flower shop operator…"

Haru leaned forward and propped herself up with a wing on the table. It was just her and Quess in the cabin's little kitchenette. "I'm not saying your intentions were bad, Quess, but I don't think this plan will end well." In her head, Haru continued, None of your plans seem to end well. Sneaking into our house and pretending to be a queen, then trying to seduce Yuisu, and now playing matchmaker with Agent Will…

Quess slid back defensively. "That's a bit presumptive. By sending out flowers on behalf of Agent Will, I'm simply sowing the seeds for a relationship. It either blooms or it doesn't, and the parties involved never need to know I had a hand in it," she said.

Haru started to nod in agreement, then stopped herself. Quess's way with words was as slippery as her slimy body.

Haru sighed. "Please, just think about the situation you're putting Agent Will in. It looks like he was sending romantic gestures to Eria and my mom, and if he doesn't return their advances, he looks like an indecisive jerk. Think of the tension that could put on the relationships between exchange homestays, their parents, and the program itself."

Quess's yellow tendril wilted a bit at that. "Oh, I hadn't thought of that…"

"The damage is already done with Mara's mom, but we can still fix this for mine," Haru said, sternly. "We're going to come clean with Agent Will." Haru swallowed hard and added, "…and my mother."

"Alright, just give me a second." Quess peeked in the bedroom to check on Iormu and Pwess, who were napping peacefully. Only after planting a little kiss on each of their foreheads, she slid along behind Haru toward the house. On the way, she asked, "So what's the plan? Get them both in the same room and tell them at the same time, or…?"

Haru hesitated with one foot on the back porch. "Ugh, that sounds too awkward. I'll tell my mom, and you can call Agent Will."

Quess turned a sickly, pale color as she recalled how Agent Will had angrily approached her flower stand a few weeks before. "Actually, let's trade. I still need to meet Kohaku after all."

"Sure. Wait, how do you already know-" Haru started, then shook her head and started toward the back door. "Ah, nevermind. You clearly already researched her so you could send those flowers…"

As soon as they stepped inside, they could hear conversation in the kitchen. It seemed Mara and Kohaku were still hanging out.

"Online games are also really good for keeping in touch with friends and family long distance," Mara explained.

"Oh, I don't doubt that, but these modern games just aren't for me. When I was stuck at home raising little Haru, I had one of those Gameboys, but anything without big, easy buttons just isn't worth the hassle with these wings." Kohaku paused the conversation to look up at the new arrivals and she called out, "Hello! Quess, I take it? Haru talked a little about you on the phone."

At that, Haru waved a wing dismissively and said, "I'll let you chat. I've got a phone call to make."

"You've reached Agent Will with the Cultural Exchange Program, Okayado region. How can I help you?"

"Hey, Agent Will, it's Haru," she said as she paced around her bed. She had taken the cordless phone into her bedroom to get some privacy.

"Hey hey, how's it going? Your mom arrive in town okay?"

"Yep. Twelve hours early, actually, but that's normal for her."

"Good to hear. So, what's up, Haru?"

"Uh, I've got an apology to make…" Haru started. She took a breath and continued, "On Quess's account."

"Oh, what'd she do now? Something to do with the pheromone love spells she's been putting on the townspeople?" Agent Will asked, clearly still annoyed with Quess's previous flower-shop antics.

"What? She's been doing that?" Haru asked, then shook her head and said, "Nevermind. No, this is different. She's been sending flowers to some of your homestays' mothers, and making it look like they're from you." After dropping that revelation, Haru listened carefully, awaiting Agent Will's response.

When he didn't respond for almost thirty seconds, she asked, "You there?"

He quickly responded, "Yeah, just putting all the puzzle pieces together." He took a deep breath and said, "So, I assume she sent them to Eria, and Kohaku too? That would explain the way that Eria acted like we were already dating…"

"Uh huh," Haru answered. "I stopped her before she sent any to Mimi's or Chione's moms."

"Oh thank God," Agent Will gasped. "I don't think I could handle Tess if she thought I was interested in her after all, after turning her down before."

Haru squinted in thought. "Wait a minute, Agent Will…"

"Hmm?"

"Tess, Eria, and my mom were all interested in you, but you turned them all down?" In a teasing tone, she asked, "Do you not like older women? Or is there something else you've been hiding?"

"No, I'm not gay," he said, putting an end to that line of thought. "I just don't want to risk hurting my relationships with you girls by getting tangled in family affairs."

"Aww, Agent Will, you know you're like family already," Haru said, then stifled a giggle and thought, Just like family, I never chose to be stuck with you. Haru hummed in thought for a moment, then said, "It was weird to me at first, but now that I've thought about it, if you dated my mom, I guess I'd be cool with it."

"Huh," Agent Will whispered, "I guess I wasn't expecting that." After a second of silence his voice came through loudly on the line, "But that doesn't matter. It wouldn't be professional, or legal."

"Psh! As if you ever cared about that. I know you're the kind of guy that does what's right, even if you have to bend the rules. And I know you want some romance in your life. Quess sent those flowers because she saw how lonely you seemed."

"Fine," Agent Will whispered in a sad, heavy voice. "I'll tell you the biggest reason…"

Haru strained to listen closely as he continued.

"All those liminal women, they want more kids, they want families, and they need to carry on their species." There was a long pause, then he said, "And I can't do any of that for them. Alright?"

"Huh? You don't like children? You got along great with Missulena," Haru said, smiling at the memory of the tiny red-haired arachne peering out at the world from the top of Agent Will's head, like a sailor in the crow's nest of a ship.

Agent Will blurted out, "I can't have kids, alright? I'm infertile."

"Oh." Haru went cold as she took that in. A wave of guilt hit her and she felt absolutely awful for teasing Agent Will. She flumped down on the floor and leaned against the bed, feeling deflated. She whispered, "I'm so sorry, Will… I… I shouldn't have pried…"

He continued, as if he'd been waiting to let this off his chest for a long time, "When I first got into this extraspecies exchange line of work, back when we were making first contact with the liminal world, I told myself it was an upside." He chuckled a little, but it was a sad sort of laugh. "It was my superpower. I could visit the homelands of the more enthusiastic liminals like Lamias and enjoy myself without worrying about any diplomatic issues related to new pregnancies. But now…"

He took a slow, deep breath. "Now it's my curse."

When she was sure he had said all he was going to say, Haru spoke up. "Um, Agent Will?"

"Yeah?" His voice was tired and weary.

"You know I'm an only child, right?" Haru asked.

"Yeah, it was in your file."

"But do you realize how rare that is for harpies? They can lay several eggs per breeding season, for decades…"

"Oh," Agent Will said, a hint of surprise in his voice. "I never thought about that."

"Mom probably won't be happy that I'm telling someone this, but… the only child thing… well, it wasn't for lack of trying. You and my mom have more in common than you thought."

There was silence on the line that stretched out for what felt like forever. Finally, Agent Will's voice came through the phone, faint and ponderous, "Huh. So Kohaku is… She isn't looking for more kids?"

"Nope. She came to terms with that long ago, and spent all her efforts spoiling me instead." Haru smiled at the thought. Being an only child in a society full of big families was tough in some ways, but having her loving mother all to herself more than made up for it.

"Well, thanks for the call, Haru. I'll let you go now. I've… got a lot to think about," Agent Will said.

"Sure thing. Seeya, Will."

"It's Agent Will, please," he corrected, almost automatically.

"Uh huh," Haru said sarcastically. "Bye, Agent Will."