Riku F. continued to stare at the building in front of him before he heard a voice call out to him. "Is there something I can help you with stranger?" It was a woman's voice. Without even looking, Riku could tell it was a woman in her mid-twenties. He looked over to see his assumption was correct. A woman with short black hair, grey eyes, and a slightly athletic build stared at him, arms crossed, standing at the entrance to the small alley beside the building.
"No, sorry, I just got...lost is all." Riku replied.
"You got lost? Do you even know where you are? You know how many times I hear that excuse every day?"
"I actually have no idea where I am for your information."
She stared at him suspiciously, but he didn't seem like he was lying. She kept her guard up though. "You know, Artemis. If you know the god you'd know what this place is..."
Riku thought to himself for a moment. "I don't know this world's gods or goddesses, how am I supposed to know?" He then spoke aloud. "I'm not a very...religious person so I don't know."
The woman sighed. "Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the patron and protector of young girls, and was believed to bring disease upon women and relieve them of it. Artemis was worshipped as one of the primary goddesses of childbirth and midwifery along with Eileithyia. She is the goddess of hunting, wild animals, and the wilderness. Now that you know who she is, do you understand it more?"
He blinked, staring at her with a blank face. Not knowing who any of the gods or goddesses were, he didn't know any of the people she was talking about, but he got the gist of who the goddess they were talking about was and made a guess. "So is this a place for taking care of women or something?"
She stared at him, thinking to herself. "This kid really doesn't know anything huh..?" She sighed before answering him. "In a way, yes, but it's much more than that. Would you like to see?"
"For someone who was just suspicious of me, you're about to let me in pretty easily."
"If you were to try anything I could easily kick your ass. I know you're good though. You are the boy who saved me from a bunch of brutes the other day." The woman giggled.
His eyes widened as he got a better look at the woman. "Wait a minute, you're-"
"Come on, the girls won't bite." She cut him off, signaling to follow her as she walked inside. Riku shook his head before following her inside. He wasn't exactly keen on going into a building where he'd be surrounded by girls at every turn, though it's not like he had much of a choice. The doors automatically opened as they entered.
"Thank god they at least have those in this world..." Riku thought to himself as he followed the woman.
There was another woman at the front desk and she seemed a bit surprised when she saw Riku. "M-Ma'am, who is this?"
"What's your name boy?" The woman who led him inside asked.
"Riku. Are guys not allowed in here or something?"
"They are, but it's very unusual to see. Usually it's a girl's family or something like that." She then turned back to the receptionist woman. "This is Riku." The woman grinned. "Don't worry, he won't be here long. I just want to show him how things work around here, since he doesn't know."
"You do know that could be a trick right?"
"He wouldn't do that. He's a nice kid. He saved me from a bunch of brutes the other day!" The woman beside Riku snickered. "So lighten up a little. Anyways, come on Riku." She walked past the desk and Riku followed slowly, a couple feet behind her. He was still wary and a bit suspicious himself, wondering if she was planning on doing anything to him, so he kept his guard up.
"As you guessed before, this is an association for women; part of it is caring for them, but mostly it's for helping them grow." The woman explained.
"Growing how..?"
"Look and see for yourself." She walked through another set of automatic doors, Riku following. His eyes widened as he saw many different rooms, large glass windows displaying the insides of them. Some were larger than others depending on what they were doing inside it seemed. Some of these rooms had girls doing things from cooking to makeup and hair to caring for younger children. The bigger rooms had them doing things like martial arts and self defense, even practicing with different firearms.
"So this...is what you meant by growing..." Riku F. muttered.
"Yes, we take in any woman. From those who were abused by their lovers, abandoned by their parents, having no one to call a friend, no home, and even the completely normal who just wish to grow. We treat every girl here the same no matter race, age, or background."
Riku gazed at the woman as she spoke and she in turn gave him a bright, sweet smile. He averted his eyes, watching all the girls learning. "That's...amazing..."
"Mhm. There are even some girls who just live here without actually increasing any of their skills. I would say it was because we didn't have what they're looking for, but we have pretty much everything so I doubt it's that option. Some people would just prefer to live here I suppose."
"So you're basically saying this is a school, college, orphanage, homeless shelter, and apartment complex all in one... What are the costs?"
"Depends on your situation."
"Alright, if I was a girl, I have no parents or siblings, what would the cost be then?"
"Free of charge..." The woman mumbled.
"R-Really..?!" Riku uttered, surprised.
"Yes. We aren't going to force people to pay for situations they can't control. The only people who pay are people who come here to learn and have no real problems and people who choose to just live here."
"I see... That's very generous of you."
"It isn't funny to joke about stuff like that by the way, even if it is just a hypothetical." The woman said sternly.
"Huh? Oh, that wasn't a joke."
"What?"
"I was being one hundred percent serious. I have no parents. They died when I was too young to remember them." Riku just stared at his reflection in one of the glass panes as he revealed this to the woman. He had no problem revealing such things, not seeing the point in keeping them hidden. Besides, he knew women like her had their ways of finding out things like this.
She just stared at him with a blank face, shocked. "Y-You're serious..."
"Yes I am. That's not the kind of thing to joke about." He mocked her, but his tone was serious. He watched the girls doing various activities. "You're doing a great thing here. I don't think I should stay and disturb it any longer. I'll get going." He turned his back on the woman, starting to walk off.
"Wait just a second!" She grabbed his wrist suddenly, causing him to look back at her, slightly wide eyed. He always got a bit flustered when a female he didn't know touched him.
"W-What?" He looked around and noticed several of the females not in one of the various rooms were watching them. After hearing the woman shout, a few of the girls even rushed out of the rooms, each of them speaking one after another.
"President Nishida!"
"Is that guy her little brother or something?"
"What is a boy doing in here..?"
Riku began to sweat a bit, growing nervous with the growing number of females in the hall. The woman, known as President Nishida apparently, didn't even stop to look at them. Her gaze was focused only on Riku. "Why don't you join?"
Riku's face went blank and the color drained from it a bit. "Huh?"
"You heard me, be the first male to join Artemis!" She grinned.
Each of the girls watching stopped speaking and all began shouting in shock and disagreement.
"HUH?!"
"WHAT?!"
"S-SERIOUSLY?!"
"SILENCE EVERYONE!" President Nishida shouted louder than everyone else, to the point Riku's body shook from the inside from how loud her voice boomed. "If you stop and listen to what I have to say, I assure you that some of you might agree with me!" She averted her gaze from Riku and looked around at the rest of the females surrounding them. "If a man joins us, he will see just how great we woman can be. Then we can get even more funding for this organization. It will be bigger, better, and be an even better place to help you grow even further!" She smiled confidently as she spoke.
"So they're planning on using me essentially..?" Riku muttered under his breath.
Some of the girls still looked as if they were thinking about it, others looked a bit hopeful, and the rest still didn't look convinced. "Trust me, this will still be mostly a women's institute. We will slowly increase the number of how many men can join, increase the comments on this organization, and increase the money we receive. If those rotten men see that their own are coming out of this place and have good things to say about it, they can't refuse!"
"Um..." Riku spoke up, everyone's attention focusing on him. "S-Sorry, but no thanks."
Nishida stopped speaking and she went white before looking at Riku. "W-What did you say?"
"I-I said I'm not interested..." His face went a bit red as the girls eyes were on him again.
"And how come..?" Nishida spoke with a slight growl in her voice.
"I have my o-own reasons..." He stared at the ground.
He felt her hands grasp his shoulder quite tightly suddenly, making him jump and look up at her. "Please. I insist." She smiled, but he could feel the malice around her. She felt more dangerous than a dragon to him.
He shivered. "B-But..."
"Come, we'll speak more in private." She grabbed his wrist and pulled him along, the girls making a pathway for them. He noticed a few of them looked relieved, others gave confused looks, and a small amount actually looked somewhat disappointed. Once the two were in a small room; what looked to be an office, he pulled his arm away.
She turned to him. "Look, I get your nervous being in a building full of women."
"I-I am no-"
"Your composure earlier said it all kid." She chuckled, cutting him off. He went silent, his cheeks a faint red. "Look, you're on summer vacation correct? Just stay here during that time and if you don't like it then you can leave. You won't have to pay a penny, you'll be fed three meals a day, and you'll be able to access any class you choose, as well as all the facilities here. Everyone learns at their own level, so you can start at whichever level you choose for the class you pick."
He stayed silent, thinking about it before letting out a sigh. "Fine."