Chapter 209


    "Reza, Emily! We came to visit!" I called into the inte.


    No answer. Not even a peep from within.


    "Maybe they''re at work?" Mio suggested with a shrug. "It''s a Saturday morning after all."


    Mio and I took today off from our part-time jobs to check in with the subi at Aozora Heights. Their survival hinged on behaving, and I wanted to make sure of that.


    "I texted them earlier… Reza went grocery shopping and said Emily would be home. Wait, I got an idea— I brought some brand new issues of a futanari doujin for you!" I shouted.


    Heavy footfalls stampeded over. Emily threw the door open, but her glinting eyes lost their luster as soon as she realized she''d been had.


    "B-Baiting me isn''t fair!" Emily pouted.


    "We''re doing you a favor by visiting. Suck it up, dickgirl lover." Mio cruised inside and made herself at home.


    "I <i>did</i> bring you a doujin you might like, just without futanari in it. These are by a mangaka I''m friends with." I handed her three manga volumes from Kaede, or better known as Megane-sensei in the industry.


    As soon as the books made it to Emily''s hands, she had frozenpletely solid. She grabbed my hands instead and yanked me inside.


    "YOU KNOW MEGANE-SENSEI?!" Emily screamed in my face.


    "For her safety, I''m beginning to think I should say no!" I replied.


    "I''ve sent letters. Tens— no, a hundred by now, begging her to draw futanari. Megane-sensei''s art is so pristine. The lines are crisp. The climax panels make me orgasm just by looking. Ah… If only she came to the dark side, I wouldn''t need any other manga. Please, Queen Saeko! I''ll do anything. I''ll be your personal cocksleeve. CAN YOU CONVINCE MEGANE-SENSEI TO DRAW FUTANARI?" she asked with a passion beyondprehension.


    "E-Emily… I''m losing cirction in my hands!"


    When Emily wouldn''t let go— too lost in a frenzy to hear— Ipelled her with my aura to do so. She sat on her knees, apologizing.


    "Guh… I''m sorry, my queen…" Emily wept.


    "You''re just ovee with gori strength when ites to futanari, aren''t you?" I grumbled, rubbing my sore wrists.


    Meanwhile, Mio was going around the living room in search of something.


    "Hey, I don''t see Taco anywhere. Did Reza get rid of him because you couldn''t stay clean after all?" Mio asked.


    "No! Please, have more faith in me. I''ve been meticulously cleaning after myself! Actually… Taco''s been hiding a lottely. He darts off everytime Ie looking to y with him. In fact, I was looking for him before you two came," Emily exined.


    We joined Mio in the living room to look for Taco. It wasn''t until I passed by the couch and noticed something trying to swat at my foot did I realize. When I kneeled down to look underneath, Taco had squeezed himself under and hid in the very back. Two beady hazel eyes stared back at me.


    "I found him!" I yelled to Mio and Emily.


    The other two leaned down, too.


    "Taco! You were here all along? Come here, little mister!" Emily started rapidly tapping the floor to get the cat''s attention.


    Although Taco''s eyes flicked to Emily''s fingers and dted like he was about to pounce, he ultimately didn''te.


    Mio scoffed. "There''s your problem. You''re doing it wrong. Most cats ain''t gonna give you the time of day unless they want attention. An older one might, but this one still looks like a little furball."


    "E-Eh? But Taco was so affectionate at first… How do I get him out?" Emily asked.


    "Easy. Don''t pay attention to him. He''lle looking for it." Mio snatched the remote from the coffee table, jumped onto a lounge chair, and switched on the television.


    Emily and I stood there, unsure what to do except watch thetest weather report. A few minutes passed by, and Taco emerged from his hiding ce. Instead of going to Emily, however, he jumped onto Mio''sp.


    "Hehe. That''s a good boy!" Mio scratched the kitten behind his ears, drawing a sweet little purr.


    "Gusu… But Taco is my kitty…" Emily sulked.


    It hadn''t even been a month, and Mio was already fairly knowledgeable about domestic animals. Bisha''s passing had really hurt her, but at least that didn''t dissuade her from continuing to work at Asakura one bit.


    Never thought I''d <i>ever</i> say I was d to whore myself out for someone''s sake.


    The front door clicked open. Reza returned with grocery bags in both arms.


    "Oh, Queen Saeko, Mio. Hello!" Reza greeted us enthusiastically, but shot a cold stink-eye at her roommate. "Emily, did you offer our guests hospitality when they came in?"


    "Geh." Emily tensed up.


    "It''s fine, Reza! By the way, are we ready to do the thing?" I asked.


    The squad leader of Tokyo nodded.


    "Everyone is on standby and awaiting the interview," she said.


    "In… Interview?" Emily looked at each of us, seemingly genuinely confused as to why we were here.


    "What''s the matter? You should be fine, right?" Mio smirked.


    Over the course of the day, Mio and I interviewed— to put it lightly— the subus residents of Aozora Heights about what they had been up to, their job prospects, and any problems that might have arisen living on Earth. Reza had an entire list and called them up one at a time.


    Many of them were normal stuff I could have heard from a regr human. It was exactly what I hoped for. Some, though…


    "I''ve begun a career in camming!" a silver-haired subus like me named Shara eximed proudly.


    "Camming?" Mio leaned in and whispered.


    "Uhm… It''s… basically doing softcore porn on on the web for money," I answered.


    "The fuck? Why ain''t we doing that? How much you banking?" she asked the subus camgirl.


    Oh, no. I knew this talk was going to go to the money.


    "Well, I''m only starting out. But I''ve been lucky enough to make almost a million Yen so far!" Shara smiled.


    "A MILLION?!" Mio and I gawked.


    "Why aren''t we doing that?" Mio snapped to me.


    "I-I''ve already drawn the line at how far I''m going!" I eximed, only to realize toote.


    She caught on and squinted. "How far <i>have</i> you gone?"


    "Er, uh… Y-You know, gangbangs and… stuff… Anyway, showing myself to a mass of strangers on the inte is a big no!"


    But being able to make that in a month would be a game changer…


    I violently shook my head to wipe the thought away. There were more important things to take care of right now!


    "Keep up the good work, Shara. You''re doing a great service for the lonely men in the world," I said.


    "Thank you, Queen Saeko!" Shara bowed and took her leave.


    Next up was an older subus by the name of Melinoe. Her short ck bob and mature features screamed the perfect image of an officedy. She even had red-rimmed sses and a birthmark under her chin to boot.


    "Wait, let me guess!" Mio opened her loud mouth before Melinoe could speak. "Hmm. You''re a school teacher."


    "Come on, Mio… You have to earn a license to work with children and teach at a school. Beatrice, when she was masquerading as Torii, only charmed her way in. Though,e to think of it… Yumi did too in order to be a nurse…" I sighed.


    "Alright, smart-ass. What do you think Mel is?" she asked.


    I took another hard look at the stone-subus.


    "I''m going with officedy. Maybe at a low-tier or ckpany," I said.


    Our eyes snapped up to her for confirmation.


    "Hehe. Unfortunately, neither of you were close. I work two jobs. In the morning, I''m a plumber. At night, I work at a soand!" Melinoe eximed.


    "What the… Those two couldn''t be further from each other! And, two jobs? Talk about working hard," I muttered.


    "Soand? That some kind of theme park?" Mio asked.


    "It''s a ce where you can get squeaky clean with a customer and have a little fun," the hardworking subus exined.


    Mio looked my way, and I knew exactly what she was going to say.


    "That''s basically legal prostitution, so no." I shot her down before she made a peep.


    Though, <i>that line</i> I''d already crossed. It just wasn''t something I needed people knowing.


    Finally, thest person on the list was Emily.


    The futanari lover who had given us a bunch of troubles a few weeks ago sat across the table from us with her head down, shaking like a scared kitten. Even Reza joined us for this interview, both arms folded and with a shaming look.


    "You''re not working, are you?" I asked.


    "Eep! N-No, my queen! I-I haven''t…" Emily confessed.


    I turned to Reza for answers, because it would probably be faster that way.


    "Emily came to Tsuneo Cleaning a few times with a job application in hand, but she never made it through the front door. When I pressed her about it, she said she was scared," Reza exined.


    Our attention went back to the sulking Emily, who was now kneeling in front of the table, and all we could see was the upper half of her face.


    "I mean, when you really think about it… wouldn''t it be really awkward to go back to the workce I quit from, apologize to the coworkers that I charmed, and continue like nothing is out of the ordinary? It''s weird! No one will ever look at me the same way! I might as wellmit career suicide!" Emily cried.


    "No, no. You''ve alreadymitted career suicide! The only way to salvage it is by owning up to your mistake," I said.


    "Geh… What if I… work from home? I can be… a camgirl, too…" she muttered unconvincingly.


    "Enough dawdling!" Reza mmed the table with both hands, causing Emily to shriek and hide underneath. "You know damn well you''re just going to ck off at home. You already do! We''re going to find you a job before the end of today if it''s thest thing we do! Isn''t that right, Queen Saeko?"


    "We are?" Mio asked me.


    "Huh? Wait, we were only going to… er…"


    Damn it. I wanted to visit Kana since we took the day off work and were here in Tokyo. The n was only to interview the subus. It was practically evening after speed-interviewing all those subus. Now I had to spend it finding this shut-in subus a job?


    No, I shouldn''t waver. Emily was my responsibility, too.


    "Queen Saeko sure is thinking hard over this," Reza said.


    "Maybe she''s thinking about chucking Emily back to Elza," Mio heartlessly suggested.


    "Please, don''t give up on me so easily!" Emily emerged from under the table, clutching to my skirt and crying.


    "We''re not giving up on you— okay, maybe the other two have— but <i>I''m</i> willing to spare a bit more effort. This is what we''re going to do: Mio, Reza, and I will take you all over the city to look for a new job. You HAVE to pick at least one of them to apply for. Or else we''re throwing you into a portal bound for Elza. Got it?"


    "G-Gaak… Yes, Queen Saeko… I understand…" She sniffled.


    Taco came by and rub his head up against Emily''s leg tofort her. She picked him up like a stuffed animal.


    The three of us pooled together a list of prospective jobs Emily could work at. It didn''t need to be some career defining effort. As long as she got her feet off the ground to start making ie, that was enough. It was already gettingte, too, so we needed to be realistic.


    Our first stop…


    "Why an arcade?" Mio asked, ncing up at the bright SEGA sign above the entrance.


    "I figured Emily wants to be able to interact with as few people as possible. Arcade-goers juste in, exchange tokens through the machines, and employees only need to clean and asionally fix a game," I exined.


    "I believe the real question here is why did Emily bring Taco…" Reza directed our attention to Emily, who had on a backpack with a transparent panel for pets inside to look through.


    Taco''s eyes were wide open, soaking in Tokyo''s nightlife.


    "T-Taco is here for emotional support. He''s my emotional support animal!" Emily eximed.


    We each put a hand to our faces. Bringing an animal to a potential job was more likely to sabotage than help…


    The arcade was neither too crowded nor empty. It wasn''t a center like the one I often went to in Kobe, but a modest-sized ce that likely made enough to be worth staying open. Three rows of machines were all fighting and racing games, ranging from the old ssics to thetest release. Only half of them had someone seated and ying.


    "Alright, Emily. At first nce, does this ce—" I searched around us, but Emily was nowhere to be seen. "Where did she go…?"


    "Uwah. This chick with the cat is wrecking me!"


    We followed the voice to a fighting game machine, his eyes glued to the screen. Next to him was Emily.


    "Hehe. You''re ten years young to take me on. I''ve had nothing but free timetely in getting good!" Emily sneered.


    "Y-You''re proud of that?!" the kid retorted.


    We loomed over behind Emily, sending the fear of death creeping down her spine.


    "You have time to y games but not get a job?" Reza put Emily in a chokehold and dragged her towards the front counter.


    "Uu… Wait… I give… I give!" Emily cried.


    "Uhh…" A young man with old pimple scars stared incredulously at us. "How can I help you?"


    Mio leaned on the counter. "Listen here, buckaroo. This bitch here needs a job. You got any openings? She''s also a subus you''ve probably heard about, which means quickies during lunch breaks."


    "HERE''S AN APPLICATION FORM!" He handed four over, but we only took one.


    "Hold on! This doesn''t help Emily one bit. Can you give us maybe a rundown of a typical day?" I asked.


    Since it was a slow day, the guy named Nishioda gave us a tour and exnation. Apparently, he had been working here since high school. He was twenty-five now, single, and had a gun hobby. It took Reza threatening Nishioda for him to finally start giving us a real talk about the job.


    All in all, it seemed easy. This ce mostly received children with allowances as patrons. Some of the token machines asionally broke down and needed a little punching. Emily would only need to make sure they get fixed up, break up fights between kids, and make sure to arrive on time in the morning.


    Nishioda even brought us to a currently-broken token machine to show us how it was done. Even to me, the box looked pretty hefty in weight and make.


    "All you gotta do is… smack it." He did just that, plugged a few coins in, and tokens spilled out. "Why don''t you try?"


    Emily nervously and cautiously walked up to the machine like it might hurt her. She gave it a good smack. Her hand went through the side. When she pulled away, tokens spilled out by the boatloads. Nishioda''s jaw dropped.


    "Did no one ever teach you to control your strength?!" I sighed into my hands.


    "M-Maybe arcade isn''t the best ce…" Emily stammered.


    "Does this mean I don''t get to have sex with a subus?" Nishioda''s shoulders ckened out of disappointment.


    The next ce was Reza''s pick. A family restaurant, and we arrived during the evening rush. It was packed inside. We managed to snag thest table without needing to wait. Reza and I sat on one side while Mio and Emily sat on the other.


    "I don''t mean to rag on you, Rez, but ain''t this ce kind of a big hurdle?" Mio eyed the waitstaff running around to take orders, deliver food, and answer requests.


    "I figured Emily could learn to better her social skills through brute force." Reza smirked, and only then did I realize this was just her idea of punishing Emily.


    When a cute waitress came to take our orders, I wanted to ask about a job opening, but Mio hit on her first.


    "Damn,dy. You free after work to serve me?" Mio chewed on her lower lip.


    "Hehe. Sorry, I''m married." The waitress named Shino revealed a gold ring sitting snug on her left hand.


    "Alright, Mio. You had your turn. We were actually wondering if the restaurant has a job opening. For this one right here." I pointed at Emily who sat across from me.


    "Oh? We actually have two openings: one to wash dishes and equipment in the back and another as waitstaff," Shino exined.


    "She can wash dishes. I made sure of it." Reza red.


    "Guh… B-But I wash enough dishes…" Emily shrunk in her seat.


    Somehow, I doubted that.


    We ordered our food and ate while Emily mulled over her choices. She seemed very against being a waitstaff.


    "What''s there to think about? Even I can do this, and I think of humans as nothing but cattle," Reza said.


    "No offense, but I don''t trust you to be in the service industry…" I shot her a side-eyed look.


    "They''re just bringing food. Saeko and I worked at Isekai Gohan, so we''re pros at this shit." Mio picked up the carafe of water to refill our cups half-full with, then handed it to Emily. "You try. Fill it the rest of the way."


    "Eh… Me?" Emily grabbed the carafe and hesitated.


    The rest of us exchanged uneasy nces with one another, because the petrified subus didn''t move.


    "What are you waiting for? Just pour the water," I said.


    "Seriously? You can''t even do that?" Reza groaned impatiently.


    "Awawa… Awawawawa—" Emily''s hand shuddered so much until she snapped. She sshed the entire carafe into mine and Reza''s faces, drenching us from head to toe in water.


    Mio erupted intoughter. The entire restaurant gawked at us.


    Calmly, Reza wiped her face with a napkin. But because it was already soaked, it came apart into pieces. She lunged across the table and grabbed Emily by her cor.


    "I''m going to kill you!" Reza growled.


    "I''m sorry! I''m sorry!" Emily apologized repeatedly.


    I strangled both of them with my aura and mind-controlled them obediently back into their seats. Shino, the waitress, came rushing over to our table.


    "What happened? Oh, my god… Is everything okay? Wait right here, let me bring you—"


    "No, actually. Just bring us the check…" I said.


    After paying for dinner and apologizing, we left the restaurant under shaming gazes without a job application.


    "That was a bust. Mio, what did you pick?" Reza asked as she and I wrung the water from our hair.


    "Finally, it''s my turn! I—"


    "Maybe I should go back to Elza after all…" Emily slumped into a bench on the sidewalk and held her backpack. "I''m no good with people, I get nervous easily, and working sounds hard… Queen Saeko, all I ask is… Can I bring Taco with me? Oh, and would it be alright if you send me a few futanari doujins every other month?"


    I sat down and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You can''t give up yet. It''s only been one night. Some people job hunt for years! Maybe we were the ones rushing. Let''s check out thisst ce and head home. Mio, where was it again?"


    "A soand called Wishy-Washy-With-Me," Mio said with a straight face.


    "You chose a soand?! That''s like one of thest things Emily is capable of doing!"


    "Well, fuck. I want to see what all the hubbub is about getting squeaky clean with some hot babes! It sounds like fun!" She pouted.


    "Okay." Emily relented. "Just… give me a few minutes to recharge with Taco."


    Taco was looking a little frazzled and panicked inside the backpack. It had holes for venttion, but being cooped up in there as a young cat was probably stress-inducing.


    Emily unzipped the back, but Mio went into hysterics.


    "Wait, don''t open that here!" Mio shouted.


    Toote. As soon as Emily pulled Taco out, he darted out of her hands and down the sidewalk.


    "Taco!" Emily shrieked.


    "Get that cat!" Mio spread her wings.


    We all did and gave chase to Taco from the air. The little ck kitten was fast. He was a cat after all, one that was full of energy. People passing by jumped as a furball darted between their legs. That only terrified Taco even more.


    "Taco,e back! Don''t leave me!" Emily cried.


    The crowds were too thick. Tokyo was full of people even at night. I couldn''t find a good opening to dive in and swoop Taco up.


    Without warning, Taco darted into the busy streets. All of us gasped as a car sped through, and the kitten, petrified by the noises and bright lights, stopped in the middle of the road.


    "Not on my watch!" Mio dive bombed for Taco and rolled to the other side of the street, narrowly avoiding being hit by the car.


    "Mio, are you okay?" Inded next to her, followed by the other two.


    "Y-Yeah…" She unfurled her wings to reveal Taco in her arms.


    The troublemaking cat meowed like he wasn''t about to turn into pancakes a second ago.


    "Thank goodness! Taco! Thank you, Mio!" Emily scooped up Taco and cradled him tightly.


    Mio was only a little bruised up. Nothing a bit of sex wouldn''t fix upter.


    "I don''t think Mio was ever in danger, but that was still too close forfort… When I find that chariot, I''ll grind it into dust!" Reza bellowed into the street, scaring away the group of people who had stopped to watch.


    We stopped by a city park to rest before heading home. I bought a couple of sweet drinks from the vending machines for the others. Emily had put Taco into the backpack again. He seemed perfectly fine staying in there after the earlier ordeal.


    "I-I''m sorry for today, everyone…" Emily couldn''t meet our eyes. "Maybe I should give Taco up to an animal center and go back to Elza alone…"


    Taco started pawing at the transparent panel, probably trying tofort Emily again.


    "You''re giving up that easily?" Mio clicked her tongue.


    "Eh?" Emily lifted her tearful gaze.


    "Think about Taco. Does it look like he wants to leave you? No, and it''s obvious you don''t either. But you gotta be real about this shit. When you run out of money, how are you going to take care of him? You need money to pay for food. Toys, too, or else he''s going to get stressed. What if he has a health issue and needs to be taken to a vet? You going to have money to pay for his treatment? Because if you don''t, you''re just going to end up letting him suffer. All because you didn''t want to work. If you really want to give him up, then I know a ce. But <i>really</i> ask yourself. Is this what you want?" Sheid into Emily without mercy.


    I thought it was a little too harsh, and bringing Taco into this was an especially low blow even if Mio had a point.


    "Hey, Mio… You''re right, but you could have worded this more nicely," I said.


    Emily shook her head. "I… I''ll do it. I want to be better, not just for myself, but for Taco!"


    "You''ll work?" Reza gasped.


    "I-I really don''t want to… but I want to stay on Earth to be with Taco and continue reading futa! To that end, I will… choose… uugh… to work at the… arcade." She managed to get it all out before running out of steam.


    Well, progress was progress.


    "Yo-sha!" Mio leaped off the bench. "We got Emily to pick a ce to work before the end of the night. That calls for celebration." She threw an arm around mine and Reza'' shoulders. "Whaddya say we hit up a soand?"


    "That''s what you wanted all along to begin with, wasn'' it?" I rolled my eyes.