All of them, including Yohiro, entered their master’s room, watching as she rose from under her bedsheets, covered in sweat, covering her body for the most part. ‘’Master, this isn’t healthy whatsoever…’’ Clous said in an embarrassed tone, looking around the room and trying to concentrate on Hiona herself. ‘’Incorrect, it’s incredibly healthy to masturbate, Clous.’’ she replied to him in an annoyed, tired tone, as if this was a normal and casual occurrence.

‘’Please, at least cover yourself in front of Yohiro, master!’’ Bernie requested, causing her to look over at Yohiro, finding him staring at the floor, wondering why the lights in the room were off. ‘’I see,’’ she let out as she stepped out of the bed with both her legs, standing up, ‘’How old is that thing?’’ she asked with curiosity, not protecting her fully nude body at this point, most of it covered by the darkness of the room.

‘’He is two days old…’’ Bernie replied close to immediately, biting his tongue a little. ‘’He looks at least twelve, Bernie? You fucking with me?’’ she asked him as she took a few slow steps, standing in front of Yohiro, finally leaving him to raise his head, ending up concentrating on her stomach due to the distance between them. ‘’I swear, master, The Tree itself dropped him from a bubble two days ago, according to Clous, of course!’’ Bernie continued trying to convince her, getting a stern look from Clous as he realised Bernie was attempting to switch the flow of the conversation and leave it in his hands.

Hiona got on knee, placing her hand on his cheek, specifically her nails. ‘’Hello there, master…?’’ Yohiro said with a confused smile, uncertain as to what tone he needed to use there. ‘’Hina is fine, little root,’’ she said, ‘’Hina is perfect, even.’’ The others’ eyes widened in shock as they witnessed their master blush a little. ‘’Well then!’’ she coughed as she straightened up. ‘’H-hey, master isn’t also a pedophile, is she?’’ Rosa asked, looking at Clous. ‘’We’ve never seen her interact with a kid, how should I know?’’ he said back at Rosa, his cheeks reddened.

‘’See, fellow companions, we’ve got an assignment!’’ Hiona yelled proudly, stomping on the floor with her foot so powerfully, Yohiro shook in his spot. ‘’For real?! It’s been two months, master!!’’ Clous ran towards her in happiness, quickly getting slapped across the face and falling to the ground. ‘’Approaching a naked woman… Clous, you’ve got zero tact, my friend.’’ she laughed sadistically, annoying him since it hadn’t even been five minutes since she was pleasuring herself in front of them.

‘’What’s with this assignment?’’ Yohiro whispered to Bernie, watching his relatively happy expression. ‘’It’s when we’re given a job to do, you see! When we finish it, we’re rewarded with money, food or anything else we get from the contract!’he explained, lighting up Yohiro’s eyes in excitement. ‘’R-really?! That’s amazing!’’ he said as he jumped up. ‘’I know, right?!’’

‘’Here’s the catch: it’s a simple theft. No abduction for you Clous, no seduction for you, Rosa, and especially no explosives for you, Bernie.’’ Hiona added in an obvious attempt to destroy their expectations. ‘’Explosives…?’’ Yohiro thought as he looked at Bernie. ‘’Then, the hell are we stealing? Some cabbages again?’’ Rosa asked, crossing her arms. ‘’Hah, in fact… we’re stealing,’’ she started, turning around and stomping, ‘’crates filled with money!’’ she declared, striking an erotic pose. ‘’Too cliched!’’ is what they all thought, with YOhiro the exception, thinking ‘’Why money?’’ Hiona broke her pose and clapped her hands, ‘’A second, rather sudden, announcement: this little piece of wood is joining. That’s not on the table for debate, however.’’ she said, wagging her finger playfully, leaving them with their jaws dropped.

‘’He’s two! Two DAYS old and can’t even make sense of half his body, master!’’ Clous shouted at her sharply, watching her turn her head around slowly, narrowing her eyes in a horrifying for him look, straight-up freezing him. ‘’Not on the table,’’ she repeated, ‘’for DEBATE.’’ The room went completely silent, so silent even a bee buzzing could be heard.

‘’It’s not just my opinion, either. We have to look after him at all times, no exception. I believe you said The Tree let this creature breath and talk, right? If so, he’s a national treasure, sentient or not.’’ she explained herself, ‘’Any objections? Rosa? Bernie? Especially you, little one?’’ she asked, placing her sweaty, wet finger on his chipper nose, causing him to blink a few times, processing the silence on Rosa, Bernie and the already excluded Clous and taking in the new to him scent.

‘’No objections! Though, I have a questions.’’ he said in a straight voice, surprising all of them besides Hiona. ‘’Good then… I love people who agree with the facts. Even those pussy cats right over there are probably yelling ‘No, master!!’ in their heads!’’ she praised him, patting his head, feeling up on his messy white hair. ‘’Before you start questioning me, though, how about I state a rather, AHEM, glaring issue that needs to be pointed out?’’ she said in a slightly worried smile as more sweat began dropping down her forehead.

‘’Are you gonna turn into bone meal, please answer that…!’’ she whispered to him in a scared voice, not able to be heard from the others ‘’Bone meal… I think I won’t, but I am hungry.’’ he whispered back, causing her to clench her fist. ‘’A good diet, good sleep and good playtime! Get him food immediately!’’ she commanded, springing them and leading them to exit the room, running, leaving Hiona and Yohiro in the room.

‘’Now, time for the examination.’’ Hiona said, beginning to walk over to the door. Yohiro looked at her puzzled as she flipped the light switch inside the room, blinding him with the lights as she closed the door, locking it. He rubbed his eyes slightly, regaining his vision. ‘’Come on, little one, take that shirt off.’’ she asked of him friendly as she bagan walking over to her bed. ‘’Why?’’ he thought, realising she would probably get angry if he declined, starting to take it off.

Hiona moved the bedsheets of her bed, pulling out the crumpled clothes she had thrown there: relatively short and tight leggings and a tank-top. ‘’What’s the examination all about, master Hina?’’ he asked her, tilting his head to the right, watching her put the tank-top on after taking his own shirt off. ‘’Believe it if you want, but I do have a ‘few’ diplomas and certificates in medicine, dear.’’ she giggled, sitting on her bed as she started putting the leggings on as well, covering her shameless exhibition up.

‘’Shake a leg already; on that spinning chair.’’ she pointed, prompting him to walk over, sitting in it obediently, spinning the chair itself joyfully as he held the T-shirt with a strong grip. ‘’Despite what I said, it’s less of an examination and more of me checking you out, ‘kay?’’ she asked with a smile, confusing him as she walked over.

‘’Why do you think master locked the door?’’ Clous asked Bernie, worry clearly filling his words to the brim. ‘’Don’t mind it too much; he’s not screaming, so it’s...probably okay!’’ Bernie tried to reassure him, not realising his own legs were shaking as he took out a slice of bread, placing it in a plate. ‘’Bread? He already ate that back at my place.’’ Clous told him, sneaking a few peeks at Rosa, who was sitting on the couch, looking away from them, mumbling to herself.

‘’I’m not you, Clous. I won’t feed him bread without something added to it.’’ Bernie smiled, trying to cover the insult with his good intentions as he took a butter knife from the drawer. ‘’Now, hand over the butter and maybe...uh… What else do we actually have?’’ he asked, embarrassed. Clous opened the their fridge, looking around as he kept insulting Bernie under his breath. ‘’We got cream cheese. And ham. And that’s it. You’re pretty much as bad as me, you know!’’ Clous shouted, causing Bernie to realise they need to go shopping soon.

‘’Um…! Master Hina, that’s a little cold…’’ they heard a Yohiro’s voice coming from inside Hiona’s room, slightly muffled. ‘’Now, now, stay still! It will feel worse if you move, you know.’’ she replied to him, chuckling through the door, leaving Bernie and Cloud blushing. ‘’I-ignore her, she’s probably fucking with us on purpose!’’ Clous said, Bernie nodding in agreement, both of them starting to neglect the noise as Bernie began spreading the cream cheese on the slice of bread, slicing a bit of ham after wards and aligning that perfectly on top of it.

‘’That’s the best we can do, I guess.’’ Bernie chuckled in a disgusted and depressed manner. ‘’Leave it there and wait for the brat and master to come out.’’ Clous pointed at the table. Bernie carefully placed the plate with the now done sandwich on the table, both of them sitting around it. ‘’...you piss yourself?’’ Clous asked Rosa, getting an extremely violent shake. ‘’Yeah, I almost did too.’’ he said, realising her lie, angering her.

The clock inside Clous’ head ticked as he counted the seconds, trying to distract himself from increasingly loud noises coming from Hiona’s room until the door flew open, getting their attention in an instant. Yohiro walked out, his shirt on and a cheerful smile on his face. ‘’So, master didn’t harass him like he did with us, did she…?’’ Clous thought to himself as Hiona walked out after Yohiro, blushing openly and licked the top of her middle finger. ‘’You’re quite a natural, Yohiro dear. It was a pleasure.’’ she said, rubbing her finger against his back.

‘’She definitely raped him!!!’’ the three of them thought in astonishment, watching as Yohiro walked over, jumping on the cough, sending a bit of dust flying. ‘’H-hey… What did master do to you, kid?’’ Rosa asked him, poking his shoulder. ‘’A back massage, Ms. Rosa!’’ he answered, causing her to let out a quick ‘’Eh…?’’ She shook her head, ‘’What about the whole ‘being a natural’ at ‘it’ part?!’’ she asked again, watching him tilt his head.

‘’I don’t know. She kept gasping and making weird sounds every time she applied pressure to my back; it felt funny to listen to her!’’ he laughed, leaving her looking dumbfounded before a grin appeared on her face. ‘’Don’t tell Mr. Clous and ‘’Mr. Bernie, okay? Even if they ask, it’s a secret!’’ she nodded at him, Yohiro nodding in confusion.

‘’Listen up, you guys! I want preparations for the trip to be made within the next three hours sharp! It’s gonna be a long road through the underground tunnel, and we’ll be riding the trail. Did you get that, all of you?’’ she explained the situation. ‘’That’s too sudden, master, we had no idea this would happen; we aren’t prepared!’’ Rosa tried to stop her. ‘’Last time I checked we were not too high amongst the other groups, despite us getting good results? Why is that?’’ Hiona asked them all. ‘’Bad ratings.’’ they said together, disappointed. ‘’There you have it. All of you, all four of you, get packing! The road will be long, after all!’’ she sealed the deal, stomping extremely loudly as a justification of it.