'This is our home.' said Guy and unlocked the doors to let the girls inside first.
Miss Chihiro followed them and examined the open space, humming and making notes on her pad.
'Ah, Guy, give me your things.' said Mami. 'I'll start the washing machine.'
Miss Chihiro cleared her throat before Guy could react. 'That isn't the duty of a guest.' she said. 'Especially not when a member of a prestigious family is involved.'
'But-' Mami started and miss Chihiro read from her pad. 'It is the duty of the host family to provide all the support to the guest in their living environment.' She looked up. 'Even though we can't really speak of a family and a single guest here. Something I will take up with miss Tesha's superiors on why she allowed this.'
'Come, I'll take care of it.' Guy said to Mami and took the bags with dirty laundry away.
He unzipped the bags and was about to take out the laundry when miss Chihiro shouted 'Stop!'.
'What!?' Guy said and looked back at her. 'Something wrong?'
She huffed. 'Of course!' she said, pointing at the bags. 'Those are ladies' clothes!'
He looked back at the bag. 'Yes?'
She sighed. 'We can't have their valuables be seen by a man!'
'What!?' Guy said. 'But you just said I had to do the laundry!'
'Avert your eyes.' she said and crossed her arms. 'Don't look at them.'
Guy pinched the bridge of his nose. 'And how do I separate black and colours and whites if I can't look at them?'
She opened her mouth, then closed it again and looked on her pad. A moment later she sighed. 'Fine.' she said. 'But you can only take a brief glance to see what colour it is!'
Guy rolled his eyes and took piece by piece out of the bags, taking a brief glance at what it was before putting it in the right hamper. When he got to his own bag he opened it wide. 'This is mine.' he said. 'I presume I can look at my own dirty laundry?'
She scrunched up her nose. 'Of course.' she said. 'But you can't put your clothes with those of the ladies! Separate hamper and washing cycle!'
Guy grumbled under his breath and threw his stuff into a spare hamper.
'Guy?' said Cani when he came out of the laundry corner. 'We're going to Auntie and Uncle's for groceries.'
'Wait!' said miss Chihiro and looked at Guy. 'You're letting your guests do the shopping!?'
Guy wasn't sure what the right answer would be. 'Eh..' he said, glancing at Cani and Mami.
'This is also the task of the host.' miss Chihiro said and made a note on her pad. 'Miss Tesha sure didn't brief you well on your duties.'
'I..'
'We want to be sure we have everything.' said Mami. 'That's why we like to go to the store ourselves.'
Miss Chihiro hummed and made another note. 'Very well.' she said. 'I understand. I will come with you and Guy to make sure he buys the right things.'
Cani wanted to speak up but Guy gestured her to stifle her protest.
The four of them arrived at his family's store and miss Chihiro made notes as she looked around.
'Ah, girls, Guy!' said Auntie as she came from the back. 'How was your trip?'
'Good.' said Guy and gave her a hug.
'We had fun.' said Mami and she and Cani hugged Auntie too.
'And who's this?' Auntie asked as she looked at miss Chihiro. 'Don't tell me you got another girl?'
Miss Chihiro raised an eyebrow. 'What does she mean, another girl?'
'Ah!' said Guy and put his arm around his aunt. 'Just that she thought you were also a guest of mine.'
'Ah. I see.' said miss Chihiro and shook her head. 'No. I'm here to make sure that our guests are treated well and have all the necessities according to the rules.'
'Auntie, meet miss Chihiro of the Commission of Otherspecies Welfare.' said Guy. 'Miss Chihiro, this is my aunt, who owns the store with my uncle.'
'Nice to meet you.' said miss Chihiro. 'Where do you stock the otherspecies basic food items?'
'Excuse me?' Auntie said.
'The otherspecies food that is part of their diet.'
Auntie looked around. 'We just have what we have here.' she said. 'Which is all good quality.'
Miss Chihiro hummed and made another note.
'We also go to the bakery, butcher and others for what we need.' said Cani. 'It's just fine for us.'
'Right.' said miss Chihiro, still writing.
'Let's get what we came here for.' said Mami and turned to Auntie. 'We'll talk later about our trip.'
Auntie nodded and Guy went around the aisles with miss Chihiro following him and checking what he took from the shelves.
Cani almost lost it when she disapproved of her favourite cookies from the store but Mami nudged her.
When their bags were filled Cani reached out to take them but miss Chihiro cleared her throat and frowned at Guy.
'Right.' Guy said. 'Of course.'
He took the bags and was grateful miss Chihiro didn't disapprove of Cani holding open the door for him.
When they came back at the apartment Cani, Mami, and Guy were glad to be home again. Cani and Mami for the embarrassing interrogation of the baker and butcher about the knowledge of otherspieces food by miss Chihiro, and Guy for finally getting to put down the heavy bags he had to carry on his own.
He clenched his teeth. 'It's just for today.' he said under his breath. 'Just today.'
Miss Chihiro looked around while Guy stocked the kitchen. She gazed at Ara's frame with a prototype of her web. 'Interesting.' she said.
'Nice, isn't it?' Ara said. 'The local coffee shop has offered a nice price to make something to span the terrace in front.'
Miss Chihiro raised an eyebrow. 'You're earning money with this?'
Ara nodded.
'Guy is making you work for money!?'
'Eh?' said Ara.
'This is a grave misconduct!' said miss Chihiro and typed furiously on her pad. 'Hosts are compensated for their expenses! They cannot force their guests to work!'
'Guy's not like that!' said Ara. 'He refuses to take any money I made.'
Miss Chihiro hummed and made another note.
She got a look at the private corners of the girls and the living corner, then checked on Guy when he started cooking. He had expected what she would think of their usual arrangement of taking turns to cook and cooked alone this time, his Versaty clearly displaying a selection of otherspecies recipes.
He didn't bother asking her what she thought though when she hummed and made her usual notes.
Dinner was rather quiet while Guy served everyone and cleaned up on his own. He thought it was a plus he had at least received a compliment that his cooking was nice from miss Chihiro.
Miss Chihiro frowned as she looked around the apartment later.
'What is it?' asked Feli.
'I didn't think of it before, but where do you sleep?' miss Chihiro asked.
'Sleep?' said Feli, already imagining the trouble they'd get when she found out they all slept with Guy.
Miss Chihiro nodded. 'Your personal spaces aren't big enough to sleep in, but I see no other separate areas where you could sleep.' she said and moved towards the sleeping corner. 'What's this here?' she asked, then halted when she saw the large bed.
'Ah.' said Feli. 'That's..'
'This is where you sleep?' miss Chihiro asked and frowned. 'He hasn't provided separate places for you to sleep!?'
Feli searched around for a good reason why there's only a single big bed when she spotted Avia wrapping her wings around herself. 'Ah! It's how we naturally sleep!' she said. 'We're used to sleeping in packs, so Guy provided us with a large enough bed so we can sleep how we're used to back home.'
Miss Chihiro nodded and another note was added to the many she had on her pad.
When Guy was done he wiped his hands on a towel as he came out of the kitchen. 'I suppose you've seen everything now?' he said. 'So we're done now?'
Miss Chihiro shook her head. 'I'm not done yet.' she said and tapped on her pad. 'I'm not convinced yet so I'll be staying.'
Cani gave a small whimper when she looked at Guy before heading for the bathroom.
'Come on.' said Feli. 'You can shower one time without Guy.'
'Don't tell me you like it.' Cani said.
'I don't.' said Feli. 'But it'll be over soon.' She glanced at Guy and thought "I hope.".
Guy arranged a place in the living corner for miss Chihiro to sleep. A futon in his office corner was his own place to sleep. He stared at the ceiling for a while, watching a sliver of light stay in the same place for eternity. Grumbling he got out of his futon and grabbed the pillow from an extra chair, propped it against his chest as he laid on his side and sighed. It just wasn't the same and he thought the night would be the longest one he ever experienced.
The girls were restless and couldn't find the right position to sleep in. They sniffed out the pillows that smelled most like guy, propped them together like a loose doll and snuggled up to that.
'I'll be glad when the morning comes.' said Cani. 'I'll be the first one to get up for a change so I can grab Guy.'
Miss Chihiro slept soundly.
'Wake up! Time to make breakfast!'
Guy's eyelids shot open, then closed tight again from the sudden bright light from hos desk light. 'Wha!?' he groaned, flailing around to get a grip on the floor he laid on. 'What's going on!?'
'It's time to make breakfast.' said miss Chihiro. 'Your guests should be able to have breakfast when they wake up.'
Guy sat up and rubbed his eyes. As far as he could remember he had fallen asleep just a minute before. He blinked and the vague shape of miss Chihiro appeared in his view. She was already dressed in her grey skirt suit.
'Come, get up.' she said. 'The sun will be up soon.'
Now he realised it was barely light outside.
'Remember, it's your duty.'
He groaned inwardly. 'Are you sure you want me to get up now?' he said.
'Yes. You can't let them wait.'
'All right then.' he said, crawled out of his futon and stood up.
Miss Chihiro's eyes went wide and her face red when she saw him standing naked before her. She spun around at once and stepped briskly away. 'I'll see you in the kitchen to see what you prepare for your guests.' she said and glanced back at him before going around the corner and making a note.
Cani woke at first light, crawled out of the messy pile of bodies which had formed from restless sleep, heard sounds from the kitchen and went in that direction, then returned and put on a night shirt because she remembered the presence of miss Chihiro.
She saw Guy at the kitchen counter and wanted to jump him, but he wasn't alone.
She sighed softly as she entered the kitchen. 'Good morning, Guy.' she said.
Guy looked back at her and smiled softly. 'Good morning, Cani.' he said. 'Did you sleep well?'
'Restless.' she said, her ears flattened as she looked at him.
Guy held on to the plate he had in his hand to suppress the urge to cuddle her. 'Probably from the trip.' he said and Cani nodded once. 'Breakfast will be done soon. You'll feel better when you have eaten something.'
Miss Chihiro cleared her throat. 'It's not decent for a guest, especially a female one, to walk around in night wear in front of the host family.' she said and glanced at Guy. 'Certainly not a male host.'
Cani sighed. 'Right.' she said and shuffled back to the sleeping corner.
Breakfast was eaten in a heavy atmosphere, the girls all feeling groggy and blinking their eyes more, mixing up their tea with juice by mistake or experiencing new tastes like egg and peanut butter when they didn't notice what they put on their bread. At least the notes made by miss Chihiro were minimal.
The mood was just slightly better after breakfast. Feli and Mami sat in the living corner writing about their days at the city on their diaries, Avia did some dance moves in her native form of exercise, Ara plucked a bit on her project and Cani read through the latest gaming magazines online. Miss Chihiro was typing on her pad again.
The doorbell rang and Guy opened to see Anna, Michelle and Sade at the door.
'Good morning.' Anna said. 'Can we see the girls?'
'Sure, come in.' said Guy.
Sade went over to Feli, hugging her and showing off the stitches and scar on her stomach, Anna discussed math homework with Mami and Avia taught Michelle dance moves.
When the doorbell rang again it was Crissy who was asked to bring over the plans of the coffee shop terrace and drop off a batch of sample cookies from the baker for an otherspecies party at the lower school to be held a month later.
Miss Chihiro watched it for a while, then asked Guy for the program from the IPA for the girls. Guy watched her read it, then put it aside and make more notes on her pad.
She kept observing the rest of the day as the girls and Guy went about their daily business in the neighbourhood. At the end of the afternoon she called Guy to her in his office corner.
'Yes?' he sighed, wiping his hands on a towel because he was busy preparing dinner on his own.
'I've seen your guests go around all day, spending time doing frivolous things which are not related to the IPA program.' she said, checking her notes. 'You're responsible for your guests following the program and you've done a very inefficient job.' She looked right at him. 'Including all the duties you've neglected, I have no choice but to recommend the administration to dismiss you as host and place your guests at host families that abide by the regulations.'
'What!?' said Cani who overheard the conversation. She stormed to Guy and snatched him in her arms. 'You're not taking away our Guy!'
Miss Chihiro blinked. 'But he's not fit to be your host.' she said. 'You're here to learn about human culture and how our species can work together and you've barely done anything on the required list.'
'You mean the list that has us watch humanity through a screen, or from looking at history?' asked Feli as she walked in. 'Without actually interacting with humans?'
'Ehm, yes?' said miss Chihiro. 'It's required material.'
Mami joined Feli. 'Required maybe, but it doesn't teach us anything about what it's really like living among humans.' she said.
Avia and Ara came up behind the others and Feli took Guy's arm in hers. 'It's because Guy involves us in the day to day life here that we got to know and love the people here.' she said. 'We've learned a lot more about real life here than we could by watching it from a distance.'
Ara slid her arms down Guy's chest as she moved up behind him. 'It's thanks to him that I can report that our species doesn't have to worry much about being thought of as scary or horrible by humans. Nor from other species like my friends here.'
Avia nodded. 'Our species won't have to mistrust humans or others. I know that now and will tell that to my superiors.'
'So,' said Feli and frowned at miss Chihiro. 'if you want to take our group apart, you'll find out just how close we've gotten to each other.'
'And how the public will react when we have to get out of a neighbourhood that has welcomed us in its midst.' Mami said.
Miss Chihiro looked back and forth at her pad and Guy who smiled softly at the girls. 'But..'
'I think they've made it clear enough.' said miss Tesha who walked in and looked at Guy. 'Your front door was open and I just stepped in in time to hear your discussion.' she said and handed a newspaper to Guy. 'Just wanted to show you this. The studio that made the latest movie with miss Minou is working on a collaboration with a studio here to make a movie involving several species.'
She looked at miss Chihiro. 'The commission already dismissed any possible violations of conduct you might have seen here and is discussing some of the rules put on hosts and guests with the IPA.'
Cani grinned. 'I guess there's no need for you to stay here anymore.'
Miss Chihiro puffed up her chest. 'Fine.' she said. 'I'll leave but I'll be talking to my supervisors about this!'
The girls watched her stomp out the office and sniggered.
'Finally.' said Cani and kissed Guy hard.
When all the girls were done kissing and hugging Guy tight he smiled wide. 'I've missed this so much.' he said.
Miss Tesha cleared her throat and the rest chuckled as they remembered she was there. 'Now that's been cleared up, how about a cup of tea?'
'Coming right up!' said Guy.
'And I'll help!' said Cani.
They all went downstairs and enjoyed their tea while reading the newspaper article.
'You even have a good influence on those who met you guys briefly.' miss Tesha said. 'Jasna and Osgar are doing well with setting up their business making the quill filer.'
Feli smiled and nodded. 'Good to hear.'
'Well, I hope we'll keep it up for a while longer.' said Guy.
'What are you going to do next then?' asked miss Tesha.
Guy smiled softly at Mami. 'A visit to Mami's family.'
