Responsibility Emergency! Super Emergency!!!
I desperately pleaded with Luna, who was straddling me.
"Luna, calm down!! If we do this, there's no going back!!! You'll definitely regret it later!!!!"
"I-it's, it's okay! E-everything will be fine!!! I won't hurt you!!! You can just lie there, oppa—I'll handle everything!!!"
"Lunaaaa!! You're not in your right mind right nowwww!!!!"
To reach for the hem of my shirt, Luna released her grip on my arms.
I twisted my body and, with my freed arms, grabbed her shoulders to push her away—but my pathetic shut-in physique couldn't resist her superhuman strength at all.
Pushing her off won't work with my lack of power...!!
Pushing wasn't going to cut it.
...In that case...!!
I let go of her shoulders and instead grabbed the back of her head, pulling her toward me.
Luna, who had been leaning in to counter my push, suddenly found the force reversed and tumbled right into my arms.
A classic clinch. Since I couldn't push her off, my resistance was to pull her in and restrict her movements instead.
Her head yanked forward shifted her center of gravity, destabilizing her mount position until she was fully embracing me.
"......!!! Sniff... sniff..."
Wait, something's off here.
Her breath against my chest felt anything but normal. It even seemed a little damp...
Anyway, she seemed calmer than before, so now was my chance.
"...Luna, get a hold of yourself. You don't want our precious relationship to fall apart like this, right?"
"......? What are you talking about... Kyah...!!"
While she was off-guard, I bucked my hips, using the momentum to roll us over half a turn and reverse the mount. Now I was on top.
I quickly pinned her arms, flipping the situation completely. Of course, my strength was pathetic, so if she pushed back, I'd be done for.
Luckily, after the reversal, Luna stayed put, and we stared at each other.
Her face was flushed with excitement. Her pupils gleamed with a bewitching light, and a thin trail of drool leaked from her mouth, wetting her chin.
Breathing raggedly, she gazed into my eyes with a somehow desperate look. Her disheveled face was strangely alluring.
"Luna, you calmed down?"
"...Why, why are you stopping...? You really do hate me...?"
"No, it's not that I hate you... It's my fault for coming over without realizing you were in heat... It's not your fault."
We shouldn't do this unless we're both in our right minds.
At my words, Luna looked puzzled, like she'd heard something weird.
"H-heat...? What do you...?"
"Huh? Wasn't that why you closed your stall?"
"Pardon? No... Then why did you come here, oppa...?"
"Didn't I mention...? I'm opening a new shop soon, and if you're okay with it, I was hoping you'd be the chef... Ah, but don't get the wrong idea—I came because I was worried about you."
"A shop...? Chef...?"
Regaining some rationality, Luna recalled our earlier conversation.
—About our future and our relationship.
Huh...? So 'future and relationship' meant the shop and hiring me...?
Luna's eyes, dazed for a moment at my words, began to lose their spark.
"...Then what was I even...? Ah, no... At least oppa said I was pretty... Yeah... I knew it would be like this anyway... I got ahead of myself..."
She started muttering like she'd lost her mind.
"Uh... Luna?"
Reacting to my voice, Luna stared straight into my eyes with dead ones of her own. Her intensity overwhelmed me.
"Oppa, you said you wanted to hire me, right?"
"...Huh? Y-yeah... I'll meet whatever conditions you want. And I won't meddle much in store operations..."
Luna cut me off.
"Heat cycles."
"Huh?"
"If you hire me and I can't work because of heat cycles, that'd be a problem, right?"
I'm not too fussed about sales anyway, so it'd be fine...
Considering beastkin traits, she could just take 'heat leave' on those days.
"Then you can take those days off..."
"No, I'd feel bad toward you, oppa. Can't do that."
"No need to push yourself..."
"I just realized—if you hug me tight, it gets better. From now on, hug me during heat cycles. That's my employment condition."
...Hug her? I had no choice earlier, but asking a guy like that every time? It felt off. She seemed to be overcompensating so I wouldn't feel shortchanged...
"Luna, think it over again. Even so, asking a guy you're not even dating for th—"
"Answer."
Her eyes were terrifying. Her beastkin slit pupils felt especially sharp. But then, incongruously, she smiled.
"It's fine, so answer me. Oppa."
Her mouth smiled, but her eyes stayed dead.
My instincts screamed it was dangerous not to answer, so I gave in.
"......Got it."
At my response, Luna beamed like sunshine, looking genuinely happy unlike before.
"Really? Then you have to hug me every week from now on?"
"...Do heat cycles really happen that often?"
Every week? That seemed excessive...
"......Guess it's 'cause I'm a fox beastkin, hehe... My body's heating up again—hug me quick, oppa."
...I-is this really happening...?
I lay on Luna's bed, hugging her.
Her body really is all warm...
"Hug tighter. Hard enough to hurt."
"......"
"One hand stroking my hair, face buried in the top of my head."
This felt weird...
"...Luna, how long do we have to do this? I'm starting to feel..."
"Hehe... A little longer."
Sniff—sniff—
This was dangerous... I held back with sad thoughts, but I felt like an accident was imminent.
I desperately recalled all the shit memes and hate images I'd seen gallery-surfing, chanting mental sutras.
Maha Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva practices the Prajnaparamita...
About 30 minutes passed like that.
I can't take it anymore...!!!!!
I was at my limit. I'd repeated them so much, even the shit memes looked like curry from wear.
No more suppression material left...!!
"Luna! I have stuff to do—can we stop here?"
"......"
"Luna...?"
"Hng... hn... ng."
Tremble—tremble—
Luna shuddered violently, then lifted her face from my chest. Panting with a misty expression, she looked up at me—blood rushed somewhere for a second, making me dizzy, but I barely held on.
"Haa... haa... This should... be enough."
Luna slowly pulled away from my arms.
That was close... Almost became the trash who takes advantage of her heat. Thanks to all that gallery time and hate images, I endured. Thanks, anons.
But that aside, this confirmed it.
I spoke to Luna, who lay on the bed gazing contentedly at the ceiling, still breathing heavily.
"Luna, this seems too risky to keep doing. During heat cycles, you should just rest..."
"Responsibility."
"Huh...?"
"You have to take responsibility...? Because of you, oppa... Now I can't endure without your hugs during heat... If you don't hug me every time, I might not resist dirty stuff from bad people...?"
No, that's too extreme...
"Wh-what are you...?"
"Oppa, you'll take 'responsibility' from now on, right?"
Madness glinted in her expression. What would happen if I refused here...?
Maybe because I'd seen too many new sides of her today, Luna felt strangely off.
"Answer."
"...Y-yes."
In the end, I only got released after promising to take responsibility for her heat cycles.
*
After Soo-chan left.
In one corner of the church cafeteria.
Luna was eating a late lunch. She rarely used the church grounds' cafeteria since she usually ate her street food, but today was different.
(For reference, the church covered her taxes thanks to the saintess, so she didn't need to earn money from her stall—but she did it anyway to repay the favor a little.)
One of the nuns, who always viewed her favorably, sat beside her.
"Luna, you look happy today? Something good happen?"
"Hehe... Good thing... Hee hee, yeah."
"...Y-yeah, you do..."
Even while eating, she seemed to stare off somewhere. Her tail swished happily, so she was clearly in a good mood.
But she seems a bit... off her rocker...
"Hehe... Good thing I got greedy..."
"...! Finally, sister, you've found something to be greedy for. Yes, greed isn't a sin—it's aspiration for tomorrow. I'm glad you've found a goal to live for...!"
Most of the church's patients had already lost the will to live. Her change was worth celebrating.
Hearing the nun, Luna asked,
"Sister, what if... that greed makes someone else suffer? I want it so bad... I can't help it..."
"Well..."
She wants something so badly she'd hurt someone for it...?
Tough question.
"...You should compromise with that person as much as possible...? If you can make it good for both, they'll give you what you want."
"But sister, I have nothing to offer that person...?"
True—Luna was just one monster victim supported by the saintess. Her stall barely made money, and she donated it all to the church.
It must be hard from her position...
Shelter life made offering anything valuable tough for her.
Still, after 10 years of ascetic living, this was her first desire—she wanted to cheer her on.
"Hmm... You don't need something pricey... Like how life is priceless and noble, there might be something only you can give. Why not find something valuable only you can make...?"
At the nun's words, Luna's eyes widened like she'd grasped a profound truth.
"...!! Right! Noble life! Something only I can make...! Thank you, sister."
"No problem. Glad I could help."
"How many kids does oppa want...?"
"...?"
*
After parting with Luna, I used an unfinished ticket to schedule a meeting with the dwarf brothers for my next errand.
"So, if you ever have situations like beastkin heat cycles where you can't work, let me know in advance.
I'm an employer now too, so I need to consider racial traits. Gotta provide some welfare.
One dwarf, glancing around, whispered to the central one.
"Bro... Never heard beastkin have heat cycles..."
"...First time for me too... Guess beastkin where Dungeon Master lived have them. Just roll with it. We just do what we're told."