It could have been far worse, I thought to myself sadly. My suggestion to Smith had come too late to save Rachnera from her dire situation. I hoped that the same would not be true of Kii. I decided to visit the woods later to investigate the case more closely.

I informed Smith of the recent events and inquired if Rachnera would be comfortable enough to relocate to our home, given the renovations we had recently made to accommodate the larger liminals. Rachnera remained quite still, which was peculiar given the enthusiastic laughter that had escaped her only moments before. Smith seemed hesitant but consented to the idea when Rachnera expressed her approval.

"Leave it to me," Smith said as she pushed up her sunglasses. She had been wearing them despite the darkness of the night as if to protect her from the bright light of reality. "But are you sure about this, Aki-kun? You haven't even talked with Darling-kun about it."

"I promise I will talk to him," I reassured her. "It would also mean less work for you, wouldn't it?"

Smith nodded in agreement, yet her expression remained troubled. "I must admit, I'm quite astonished to see you so eager about this. It's not often that someone kidnapped is so willing to welcome their kidnapper into their home."

"That would be because our dear Counselor-san here seems to have a certain level of trust in me for some inexplicable reason," Rachnera murmured beside me, an enigmatic smile playing on her lips as she rested her cheek against her palm. "I can't help but wonder...could it be that he has an ulterior motive?"

"No, I don't," I replied firmly, wrapping my safety blanket protectively around me, "I believe that Kurusu-san is the best option if you want to find a host family that will truly accept you."

"We'll see."

Smith sighed, reluctantly conceding the point. "Very well, Darling-kun will have to sign this," she said as she handed me a form from her binder. "Please make sure to have it returned to me by tomorrow morning. And Arachnera-san, you must accompany me this evening to sign off on the necessary documents."

"I can't believe you bring host forms to hostage situations!" I said, bewildered.

"You never know what the future may bring, Romance Master-kun," Smith said with a playful wink. Rachnera gave a sly smirk in response, leaving me utterly perplexed.

"Whatever," I sighed, feeling frustrated as I realized I didn't have pockets to put the form into. "Can I please go home now?"

"She's waiting to take you back," Smith motioned with his head towards the front of the warehouse, where a familiar redhead was beckoning us with a wave. "Until we meet again."

"Later." I stopped, turning back to face Rachnera, "So... you sure you want to move in with us?"

Three eyebrows raised in surprise. "Why are you asking me now? You were eager about it before."

"Yeah," I said, rubbing the back of my head apologetically. "I got a bit carried away there. You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

Rachnera studied me for a few moments before releasing a deep sigh and shrugging her shoulders. "You're right; this is the best option for me. I guess I'll have to go with it."

Why did I sense an unnecessary and unspoken "for now" lingering at the end of that statement?

Maybe it was just my imagination.

"Awesome!" I said enthusiastically, giving her a thumbs-up and walking away. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Indeed," Rachnera said, that strange smile once more on her face.

Yeesh.

Zombina whistled as I strolled over to greet her. "We need to stop meeting like this," she commented with a mischievous smirk, "First, you were wearing nothing but a towel; now it's just your boxers... do you have a problem with clothing or something?"

I was about to challenge her reasoning, but I quickly realized there was no sound basis for her arguments, so I kept quiet.

"It was so sweet of you to tell her to drag her arthropod ass out for my sake," I said instead, keeping my tone light as we made our way out and through the policemen already packing away their equipment. "Nice to see you were all torn up about me getting kidnapped, by the way."

"Yeah, yeah." She snorted and roughly bumped me with her elbow, nearly knocking me over. "Let's get your Light skinned ass back home."

I asked in mock horror, my eyes widening as I tightly wrapped the blanket around my body. "Wait, you can see it?!"

Zombina laughed, the sound of which made me smile.

"Excuse me," a timid voice spoke as we reached the car, "Bina-chan, would you mind if I joined you for the ride?"

We both spun around to encounter a girl with a thin physique and shoulder-length black hair in a chic bob cut. She shied away from us when we made eye contact, but I could still see the vast, singular eye that decorated her countenance.

"Sure thing, Mana-chan," Zombina answered with a smile, beckoning her to join us. "Oh, I almost forgot; you two haven't met before, right? Aki, this is Manako, our skilled mono-eye sniper. Mana-chan, this is Aki."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said warmly.

"Likewise," Manako said, biting her lip as she hefted the massive sniper rifle, which looked like it weighed more than she did. She paused momentarily, then added, "So, can we get going now?"

We all filed into the van and, with Zombina taking the wheel, drove off. We were all quiet for a few minutes, but the silence was broken, surprisingly, by Manako.

"S-So, are you the man B-Bina-chan won't stop texting?" she asked, not quite looking back at me from The passenger seat.

"Mana-chan?" Zombina groaned.

"Heh, probably," I answered, leaning back in my seat with a devilish grin. "Unless some other lucky guy is vying for her attention..."

Zombina flipped me off without looking back.

"I see..." Manako murmured before taking a deep breath. "Please tell her to stop texting during missions!" she shouted, "It's hazardous and up-p-professional!"

"This again," the zombie whined upfront.

"She won't l-l-listen to us when we tell her...." Manako continued, "M-Maybe she'll listen to her boyfrie--"

"We're not dating," Zombina and I said in unison, our voices tinged with an irregular edge. We exchanged strange glances, the tension between us palpable.

"Can we pretend that didn't happen?" she asked.

"Sounds good to me." I sighed. "Manako, something tells me Zombina will do what she wants regardless of what I tell her."

"Damn straight."

Manako looked like she had much more to say, yet her lack of self-confidence prevented her from speaking. She eventually stayed silent, unable to verbalize her thoughts.

Seeing her figure slump, I felt a wave of sorrow wash over me, so I asked her gently, "Are you my partner for the next counseling session?"

"Y-Yes," she answered, perking up slightly. "I'm the best equipped to deal with r-r-raptors out of MON, so I hope you don't mind me...."

"Not at all," I reassured her. Manako was perfect for the task of taking down the fast-moving raptors. Her impressive speed and unerring aim with a tranquilizer rifle made her an ideal candidate. I was thrilled that she would be joining me on Tuesday. "I'm looking forward to it," I added enthusiastically.

"O-Okay." She didn't sound like she believed me. Well, that was fine, I guess. Her trust was something that'd only come in time.

Like how Rachnera's should have, come to think of it, but I would ponder more about that later.

We finally pulled up to the Kurusu household. The host family form in hand, I left the car and thanked them for the ride back.

"Don't sweat it, Hot Pink," Zombina waved me off, "Catch ya later."

"Looking forward to that text!" I shouted after their departing vehicle. Zombina poked her arm out the window and flipped me off in response. Once they turned the corner, exhaustion hit me.

"Ugh," I groaned, wiping the sweat from my face as I trudged towards the doorway. My feet felt like they were lead. "Was it just adrenaline that kept me going this entire time?"

I frantically fumbled in the darkness for the spare key, grumbling in frustration until I finally located it. All I remembered after that was a hazy blur until I eventually found myself lying on my bed. As I snuggled up in my blankets, I was relieved everything had worked out alright.

To be continued!