"So then, Miss Kunanzuki," Kurusu began, leaning forward as he spoke. "You're from Rachnee's former host family, correct?"

"That's right," Ren nodded, her twin tails bobbing.

Since he was hosting Rachnera, I thought it best for him to take the lead in this conversation. Not only was he one of the most level-headed and understanding people I had ever met, but he also had the potential to ask questions I had not considered due to my extensive knowledge of the situation. I had to take extra caution to avoid any slip-ups due to my assumptions that everyone else was aware of details I had taken for granted. It was best I stayed silent and monitored the reactions of the others.

"And you..." He hesitated, rubbing his chin in uncertainty. "I heard about your family selling her to some terrible man. Is that accurate?"

Ren gulped before offering a single, jerky nod in response.

Cerea's already intense gaze hardened even further as if she were attempting to pierce Ren with her sheer willpower. Mero, who had been doing her utmost to avoid making eye contact with me, pursed her lips and glared downwards, her expression unreadable. Papi stood motionless in shock, evidently unable to comprehend anyone being so cruel. Miia, on the other hand, seemed to be at odds with herself, her eyes flitting between Ren (or, more likely, her scar) and Kurusu beside her. As for Suu... it wasn't easy to tell. She lay in my lap, yet somehow felt far away, almost like she had drifted into her own world.

"If that is indeed the case," Cerea began, her voice low and menacing. "Then I must ask: why have we not sent her and her kin to face the consequences they rightly deserve for their heinous actions?"

Ren looked up and tried to shout but could not finish it. She quietly said, "I didn't decide; it was my parents." Her eyes were still downcast as she spoke, but her voice was full of emotion.

Kurusu asked, his voice tinged with concern, "it Would be helpful if you could explain exactly what happened? It might be best for all of us to know." Cerea was about to respond when he spoke.

Still, Cerea was determined. "Master, why should-"

"Lady Centorea."

Everyone's heads swiveled toward the speaker.

"I, for one, am deeply invested in understanding how such a travesty occurred," Mero said, fixing Cerea with an unwavering, emotionless gaze. A chill ran down my spine, a sensation I had never experienced with Mero. At that moment, I glimpsed an image of a woman who could one day become a formidable leader. I wasn't sure what to make of that. "If this girl can shed light on why and how our beloved friend has suffered, I see no reason to withhold that knowledge from us."

Cerea conceded though she folded her arms in a huff, "Of course, obtaining more information is always pertinent - MON has taught me that much. But I still feel disgusted being in the same room as near slavers."

"That's going too far, Cerea!" Miia protested. "She's just a teenager, not...not one of THEM," she spat, her voice filled with bitterness.

I had almost forgotten that Miia had lost family, however distant, to the atrocities of Enkidu. Even when their memories were reduced to nothing but ashes, the deep and painful wounds inflicted by those terrible forces were still painfully felt.

Ren muttered to herself, "This isn't going the way I expected it to..." I could hear her clearly, sitting right across from her.

"Everyone," Kurusu said, raising a placating hand. "Let her speak, okay? It's only fair that we hear her out." He smiled warmly at Cerea. "Agreed?"

Naturally, Cerea blushed at being the target of his classic charm, though it seemed less prominent than usual. "I had already consented to listening to her tale," she said, her hooves clopping on the wooden floor as she shifted her weight, "I merely wished to express my opinion."

"It's fine," he assured her before turning back to Ren. "Miss Kunanzuki, if you would?"

He didn't apologize to her for Cerea's confrontation, I noticed.

Ren straightened her skirt nervously, her habitual gesture betraying her anxiety as she looked up at us. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she began, "I guess I'll start at the beginning."

"Always a good place," Kurusu said with a light laugh.

"Heh, yeah," Ren said weakly. "Anyway, we had registered with the Cultural Exchange to be a host family a while ago, and when we were finally approved and told our student would be arriving within the month, we were ecstatic! Everything we had seen about liminals had come from those informational pamphlets and the incredible performances by that one idol group... what was their name again...?"

"ANM48?" Kurusu guessed a little more quickly than would've been considered normal.

"Yeah, them!"

"... Who?" I asked.

Kurusu looked at me with disbelief as he informed me, "They are the first idol group to be comprised entirely of liminals, and they are trendy in Japan. How is it that you have not heard of them yet?"

I shrugged. "I don't follow idol groups, dude. Never really been my thing." However, I couldn't help but feel intrigued by mentioning a liminal idol group in the first chapter or episode. It made me wonder what influence they could have on human-liminal relations. Maybe I'd take a closer look into it later. "But let's get back on topic here."

Ren cleared her throat, her embarrassment growing with each word. "Right. Because of those, we thought we'd be getting a cuter liminal... you know, like the ones with the dog, cat, or bunny ears."

"And instead, you received Rachnee," Cerea stated. Ren gave another jerky nod at that.

"Wait, didn't the Cultural Exchange at least tell you what species your exchange student was before she got there?" I asked.

"N-No..."

"God damn it," I mumbled, rubbing my face in frustration. It was clear that the Kunanzuki's had not been informed of Rachnera's species or what was necessary for her to survive, which highlighted yet another failure of the Cultural Exchange program. It was no surprise.

Still, that didn't excuse how Ren's family treated Rachnera afterward.

"We weren't sure how to treat her," Ren continued after pausing to take in my response. "Mom and Dad had told me I had to be strong and confident when addressing her, but I wasn't quite sure why. I think it had something to do with making a good impression on her." She shook her head in confusion.

It was clear that Ren had learned the wrong way to "handle" liminals. If they had planned to treat the "cuter" species, such as nekomimi or usagimimi, in such a manner, then it was evident that there was no genuine desire to foster better relations between humans and liminals. This was already strongly apparent with the selling of Rachnera, which caused my stomach to clench in distress. People like that deserved far worse than just being blacklisted - they deserved to be punished.

"A couple of days had passed, and things were... alright. Not ideal, but not horrible either," Ren said. "It was like no one wanted to talk about it, and no one wanted to be in the same room as Rachnera by themselves. I could understand how they felt; I was the same way..." Her head drooped slightly.

"She must have felt quite unwanted," Mero said softly, one of her webbed hands tightening its grip on her wrist.

"I kept doing it, even though I despised it," Ren admitted. "My parents said it was acceptable since I was being careful and wise, but it certainly didn't feel right. I still don't understand how you two can do it effortlessly." She glanced at Kurusu and me with a puzzled expression.

"'It'?" Kurusu echoed, tilting his head.

Ren elaborated, her discomfort and uncertainty evident in her words, "Just be yourself around them. I'm sorry, I don't know how to phrase it better without sounding rude..."

At her words, I let out a deep, thoughtful sigh. "That's... it isn't elementary. I never really had to think about this before I moved here. Before, I never thought liminals even existed. So when I found out they did, it was like a shock. But then, after the shock faded away, I got to know everyone here, and it wasn't so hard to treat them like I would treat anyone else. Of course, some may still get a little extra special treatment," I added with a fond smile, softly petting Suu on my lap.

Another thought occurred to me when I remembered someone else important. "Mistakes still happen, whether it be cultural faux pas' or other misunderstandings," I continued, glancing at Mero, ensuring our eyes connected without being too overt. "But that's more because of my inexperience in social situations than anything else. Understanding people and emotions is challenging, isn't it?" I chuckled ruefully.

Mero stared at me for a few moments before turning away, biting her lip.

"Growing up, my parents always instilled in me the importance of kindness and helping those in need," Kurusu said pleasantly. "So, it's been an easy decision for me to treat all the girls around me as equals!"

"Kimi..." Ah, Miia is making googly eyes at him again.

Ren's eyes were wide with astonishment. "It's... so effortless for you?" When we both nodded in affirmation, her lips contorted into a frown, and she shook her head in disbelief. "Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a decent person, then..."

"Let's wait and hear the full story before we pass judgment," Kurusu said soothingly. "But, even so, I don't believe someone truly bad would say something like that."

"I guess..." Ren didn't seem convinced. "But regardless, the guilt I felt for how I had treated her came flooding back, and when I saw her struggling to climb up into the attic that night, I panicked and acted in a way that only made matters worse..." She took a deep breath. "I m-made it all go wrong..."

"How do you mean?" asked Kurusu.

"I made a mistake," Ren said, her voice trembling as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "The ladder to the attic was too small for her, and the wood was creaking so loudly, so I tried to grab onto it to hold it steady. But her leg slipped and swung at me, and I screamed and instinctively yanked the ladder away without thinking. She screamed in surprise and alarm as she suddenly began to fall, and then the pain was unbearable when she hit the ground. And, and...I wish I could take it back."

"Hey," Kurusu stepped forward, kneeling before Ren and resting a hand on her shoulder. The girl was in hysterics now, sobbing and sniffling loudly. "It's okay," he told her soothingly. "It's okay."

I had to force myself to take a few deep breaths and attempt to calm down. My heart was racing in my chest, and my hands had involuntarily balled into fists, my nails digging painfully into my palms. No matter how often I encountered such things, it never became any easier to bear. I had already encountered far more devastating experiences since coming here than I anticipated, yet I still had no idea how to process it all.

Back home, I was never particularly good at comforting people. I'd stay silent, my mind filling with their emotions, intensifying them. I'd question why they came to me, but I could only offer them a reassuring hug. Most of the time, that was enough to help them feel better. On one occasion, however, it all backfired and made the situation much worse.

The point that I'm thankful for is that Kurusu could be trusted in this situation. Ren was a victim in all this, just like Rachnera, and deserved to be consoled. All I could do was sit there, feeling helpless and mostly thinking of myself.

In my lap, Suu gently nuzzled my hand. On autopilot, I rubbed her side in response.

Everyone else was quiet, either staring at Ren or looking away.

Eventually, Ren found her voice again, her words trembling. "That... that was how I got this," she said, her dainty finger dragging along her scar. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "While my parents were yelling and calling the ambulance, I saw Rachnera just... staring at me with her eyes so wide and looking so... scared. She was leaning against the wall, with one of her legs curled underneath her... I think she was hurt, too. And there was... there was blood dripping from her hand, and she just stared at it and me, her expression filled with fear and confusion, until I was taken away."

"After that, while I was in the hospital, that man came to our house," she continued, her voice drained. "I don't know how he knew, but he did and offered to take Rachnera away from us for a price. I didn't find out until I got home, but my parents had already accepted the offer. They said it was the best way to ensure our safety.

Ren shook her head sadly and went quiet for a few moments. Eventually, she spoke again, her voice weak and apologetic. "I felt terrible when I heard about it. I wanted to apologize for hurting her, even though she had hurt me too. I just wanted to help." She dropped her gaze, her brown bangs hiding her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Seconds dragged on with no one speaking, and turned into minutes. When the sound of creaking wheels was heard, everyone looked up with a start.

"Excuse me," Mero said, pushing herself forward and out of the room. "I shall return shortly."

Privately, I hoped she was going where I thought she was.

To be continued...