One Day, I Adopted Three Monstergirls!

Chapter 31: Azusa... again!

"Sorry for the wait, Azusa."

"Awww, they all look so cute, Eryn~!"

Eryn and the monstergirls left their home, walking towards the car. Azusa absolutely adored the new outfits the three monstergirls were wearing. She almost couldn't contain her voice from all the cuteness overload!

"Hello, Iris, Lofie, and Melty." Azusa dropped her hands to her knees. "It's good to see you three again!"

"Hello, Azusa." Iris greeted and bowed her head politely. "Thank you for helping Eryn."

"Hiya, Azusa!" Melty offered a hearty grin and raised her palm.

"... Hello." Lofie stood behind Eryn and poked her head out, clinging to his leg.

That's an improvement, Lofie. He gently stroked her brown hair. She made an effort to greet his best friend, despite disliking her a lot. Baby steps.

"Allow me to open the door for you." Azusa opened the car door and bowed at her waist in a dramatic fashion.

"Why, thank you." Eryn cracked a smile at her needlessly endearing gesture. He helped each monstergirl sit in the car and fastened their seatbelts.

"So!" Azusa got into the driver's seat. "How have you and the monstergirls been, Eryn?"

"Oh, nothing much, really." Eryn opened the door to the passenger's seat and rotated his seat around so it was facing the monstergirls. "We've been... pretty well, actually." Aside from Lofie sleeping underwater and Melty burning a hole through her jeans, everything has been normal!

"Good to hear that." She strapped in her belt. "So, you've been thinking about taking them to school?"

"Yeah, you could say that." He nodded, sitting in the car. "It's been on my mind since my visit to Little Flower."

"I see." She smiled, adjusting her glasses. "I didn't expect you'd reach out to me for this."

"Well..." he rubbed his neck. "You did say you could assist me with this, so I figured I could give it a shot..."

"You don't usually rely on others, do you?" she started the car engine. "Back then, you always lent your hand to others but never accepted anyone's in return."

"... Really?" He sighed. I was like that, wasn't I? He found joy in helping and doing favors for other people. But there came a point where he stepped over his own needs.

"But... it makes me happy, Eryn." She gently held his shoulder. "That you're reaching out to other people. That you're relying on me now."

"... Yeah." He bowed his head. "You always said you'd be here for me, but I never acknowledged that, huh?"

"Because you always felt you'd be bothering me." She narrowed her eyes. "I could never understand the way you think."

"I don't think I even understand myself either..." he chuckled. Since they were kids, Azusa had always been by his side but he felt undeserving of her support. I wonder why I felt that way.

"What matters now is... you're making improvements!" she patted his shoulder. "And I think, learning to depend on each other and realizing you're not alone is a big step."

"Is that so." He pondered her words. Realizing that I'm not alone, huh...? There was a time Eryn believed that being alone was the only way of living. He had cut contact with everyone, after all. He wouldn't care about anyone, and no one had to care about him. That was the life he fell into.

At least, until that day at the monstergirl shelter.

Funny enough... while I can accept living a life where I'm alone. His eyes drifted to the monstergirls sitting in front of him. I would never want them to be alone. I could never imagine a life like that for them. The life he used to live was not what he wanted to give to the monstergirls.