Introduction

Monsters, or Mamono (魔物) are terrifying creatures who co-existed with humans in the past. However, in order to survive in this ever-changing world monsters take the form of magical hybrids

They keep some of their monstrous qualities but overall look & act like humans, adopting human traits & behaviours that doesn't change their base instincts. Base instincts differ depending on the monster type but no matter how much they evolve they will never be 100% human

So they must hide using a magic formula called a masking potion

--

Omagi, a small ward in central Saitama. A location that sits a four-bedroom house inhabited by monster girls

We have the Oni resident with pale grey skin & round chest. Her most distinctive feature is her deep, chilli red horns on her forehead

This is Mochizuki Haru (望月春)

To begin her usual workday, she wakes at 05:30. She showers, picks her outfit & tidies her blonde hair. Other than her exposed monstrous features, Haru appears as a committed office worker

Once her preparation is complete, Haru exits her room with a large grin exposing her razor-sharp teeth, accompanied by one thought. "Hoshi-san starts school today!"

| Time 06:00 |

Stepping into the hallway in her grey fluffy slippers, Haru widens her yellow-green eyes. On a normal morning she would be battling tiredness & struggling to stand upright. This was no ordinary morning

She makes her way through the hallway with a spring in her step, wearing her generic work outfit; a perfectly ironed white shirt and blazer. She has a black skirt, matching her blazer, that reaches the bottom of her thighs, and dark blue leggings

Her eyes move down the hall to a pair of closed doors. The one opposite her proudly displays some decorations; three green feathers, taped to the door, around a sign saying "Shika" in hiragana on its eggshell-colored surface. Taking a quick glance at the door before turning to the one right of it Haru paid very little attention to that

She is touched by bright light from her left, the morning sun was shining brightly through the window at the end of the hallway. Haru shields her eyes & reaches the door, bursting with excitement

This door matches the color of the last one, but with stickers of stars, black holes & galaxies. These are dark & faded with age

Haru: "Let's find out what you're up to"

Without needing to look, Haru knew the occupant. She tapped the wooden surface with her fingers & waited for a response

She glanced at the doorknob, anticipating it turning. After three seconds she sighed, "no response then. I thought I'd get to see her adorable smile this morning". Turning around, she let her passion & the excitement for today dissipate as she went to the door opposite with a frown

Cat stickers of all kinds, photos of cats, Chibi anime cats, and lots of cakes. The primary colours stand out among them; pink, white & even more pink against pale white wood. Reading the sign (also pink & white) on the door just below her eyeline, it spelt out a name in Katakana. "Neko"

"Must be new" Haru thought, "she's always adding things to this door"

| コン コン | knocking

Haru: "Neko"

She calls to the monster behind the door. Silence follows, not a single sound escapes

???: "Ahh…Light already!"

Finally sound. A bird like screech, only not from behind this door

This sound came from one of the rooms behind Haru. She traced its origin back to the door she dismissed

Rubbing her eyes, she moves towards that door. Haru glares at the large feathers & tiny Hiragana letters. "I don't want to deal with her right now. I can handle frustrating people at work, not in my house. Not in the morning"

She turns away. "Just one quick knock to make sure she's awake but that's it" she thought, "I'm going to regret this one"

| コン | knock

???: "Chaaa!!"

Haru: "No need to be loud Shika! It's still the morning"

She says when she heads for the stairs, hoping to avoid confrontation before she's eaten. as she reaches the stairs, Haru notices something. "Oh how can I miss that?" she thought

Blocking her path is a girl, asleep, on the floor. she's sprawled across the floorboards. Her pink hair is untamed & all over the place, exposing the sides of her head, where human ears usually are. Instead she has large cat ears both on the top of her head

This is Kawasaki Neko (川崎根子), purring loudly as she slept

Laying in light blue pyjamas complementing her luscious pink hair & thin white socks, Neko maintains her youthful look, despite her 20 years. Haru considers Neko's tail laying to her side, not moving. She taps Neko's tail with her foot, hoping for a reaction but nothing happens

"Not even the shrieks from earlier could wake her" Haru thinks, "How does she sleep so much?" Most would believe it sheer exhaustion but Neko is just lazy

Haru: *whispers* "I'd hate to be her boss at work"

--

With the loud shrieks & sleeping cat now in the distance as Haru heads downstairs. As she steps on the ground floor a strange odour enters her nose

| Sniff sniff | フンフン

She gets a whiff of raw seafood, this faint smell reached her nostrils like a lightning bolt. Closing eyes & hyper focussing on this scent Haru followed it into the living room

She enters the living room, instead of wooden floorboards like the rest of the house this room has traditional Tatami floors. At the center sits a low square shaped Kotatsu table covered by a thick orange blanket

To the far side was a window allowing some light to in & giving Haru the chance to find the source of that fish smell as well as inspect the room's state, "almost spotless" Haru thought as she scanned the blanket laid over the Kotatsu & floors. This room lacks fur or feathers

This neat appearance always gives Haru a beaming smile, she took her gaze to the TV left of the window, between that & Haru was a short stand no higher than the Kotatsu. Atop it was a dark green mat & two tall thin candles on each side,

Haru took more than a quick glance at the empty space between the candles, this was followed by churning in her heart. Like a piece of her was severed, she kept staring at it with her arms down & mournful eyes

She knew there was no time to stare at this any longer she made her exit swiftly & turned into the kitchen. "most likely I'd find a raw fish lying on the counter" she thought while checking all the counters, "ok so it's not there"

Walking straight to the cupboard she traces her right hand on its softwood surface, her hand finally meet the handle to her left, pulling it towards her face to reveal the contents behind Haru can now get a good look at what's behind

Around 5 glasses & 4 tea mugs, one of which is a special Minoyaki tea mug made of porcelain. It stands out from the others with its soft cerulean blue as it sits safely behind the others. "No fish"

This particular mug always fills Haru with a warm feeling however today she can't drink from it, that mug is reserved for the most special of occasions which this morning most certainly is not

"Well I shouldn't let this odour from keep me from my morning tea" Haru tries rationalising her decision to grab a mug to drink tea from. "No I must find where this smell is coming from!"

Her persevering attitude reached its boiling point so Haru placed the mug down on the counter so she can find this fish, closing her eyes again she took a few sniffs of the air around her. "It's much stronger in the kitchen"

| Sniff sniff | フンフン

Haru: "It literally smells like a river in here"

She says in frustration as her nostrils flare but the source of that odour is stronger, it must be close to revealing itself. With that in mind Haru turned to face a closed door that leads to the dinner room from the kitchen, it was the only way to access this room

She knew the smell was coming from there, with her heightened senses she could smell that pungent odour intensifying

Haru clutches the doorknob, the door flings out as if it's being pushed open by a huge gust of wind. "I need to manage my strength with this door" she thought while glancing at the door's warn outdoor hinges

Stepping into the dinner room Haru sees someone already sitting on the table, this person's back was to the door so she could only see her short golden hair & short statue but that was enough to uncover this person's identity. Her yellow-green begin to open wider & her face lights up with joy

Miyano Hoshi (宮野星) is the name of the young girl sitting peacefully at the table gently playing with her hair as she peered out the window seemingly unaware of Haru's arrival. The Oni's face started to light up at the sight of Hoshi

Haru: "Good morning Hoshi-san"

She said with a soft smile & proud eyes as she noticed what Hoshi was wearing while advancing towards her spot left of Hoshi, "Aww! It's her new dress"

Haru bends over to get a better look at her adorable face but as she did the smell of fish grew stronger causing her to hold her breath momentarily, suddenly her yellow-green eyes were taken away from Hoshi & focused on the contents of the plate in front

At long last the origin of that odour was found, a dry fish looking to be 22cm long plonked on the plate, white dots across it's body radiating against its juniper green scales. "Umm I'm gonna step back a bit" she proceeds to create distance between her & the fish by straightening her back

As she does so Hoshi abruptly twisted her head to Haru, turning left then looking up at the Oni who towered over her

Hoshi: "Good morning to you too, Haru-san"

Her orange eyes met Haru's as she politely greeted the Oni homeowner with a winsome smile. Haru returned this with her kind & peaceful beam

Hoshi was no ordinary girl, not even an ordinary monster. She takes on the appearance of a child but in reality she's a millennia year old Esper with the destructive capacity of an entire star making her the most powerful creature in all of Japan

Haru: "I see you're up & early, are you excited for your first day of school?"

She went begins to walk towards her chair at the head of the table sitting in front of the window, she takes it out to sit down. Situating herself down like a king & edging the seat forward to get closer to Hoshi, her elbows rest on the table as Haru uses her hands to support her head

Hoshi: "Very much so, I'm eager to see what has changed in schools. I hear the blackboards are being phased out"

She spoke with a soft monotone voice & displayed very little emotion besides a cute smile & wide orange eyes that Haru couldn't get away from. The Oni maintains strong eye contact with Hoshi

Haru: "it would be nice to know what they will replace them with, a giant touchscreen?"

Stroking her cheek in thought Haru ponders this topic for several more seconds, "Hoshi could ask the teachers a lot of insightful questions like this. She could easily become a model student with her intelligence"

Hoshi: "Well nothing can surprise me about humans anymore"

Rubbing her mouth while making this comment her eyes looked away from Haru, under her petite hand the pleasant smile that greeted the Oni was gone

Hoshi: "Anyway, I must taste this white spotted char"

Suddenly her smile returned & wide eyes as she spots the fish on the table. Haru rose one eyebrow & tilts her head in curiosity

Haru: "Where did you get that?"

Hoshi: "I caught this char from the local stream, it's their mating season so there's no shortage of them passing through"

Haru looks away while flaring her nostrils, cupping her mouth as the stench grows. Hoshi takes notice of her distain to the fish smell, the Esper looks directly at the fish & furrows her brows

Hoshi: "I deeply apologize for the odour"

She bows her head slightly towards Haru before raising her arm up to eye level, a couple of her tiny fingers twitch & the plate of raw fish gently lifts off the table at a few centimeters

With a few more twitches of her fingers the plate begins hovering away from the Oni who sits at the head of the table. Haru's eyes view the plate getting further away but she still covers her nostrils

Haru: "The smell isn't going away"

Her voice was distorted by her thumb & index finger keeping her nostrils closed, "I'm just going into the kitchen" she gets out of her chair. Hoshi remains seated but she can sense Haru's frustration after getting a quick glance at her stern frown

Hoshi turned to the plate which sits at the end of the table, she holds her small hand out as if she's trying to reach it. As she takes a deep breath the entire fish flies into her hand, she grabs it with that hand as if she was grabbing a ball heading her way

With the whole fish in her hand she takes the head to her small mouth & chomps down hard, biting off piece after piece like a shark as she gobbles the fish whole despite her tiny mouth

This ancient creature pulls the decapitated fish out of her mouth exposing the severed spin & pink flesh inside, she takes another ferocious bite into the belly of the char

Small chunks of flesh fall out from her fingertips & straight to the floor however they are stopped by an invisible barrier, even the fish's red blood becomes slow motion before halting its advance to the floor

As Hoshi ferociously crunches what's left of the fish Haru stares from the doorway into the kitchen with open eyes focussing on the mess of blood & bones floating around the Esper, her lips begin twitching at the sight of raw flesh being clamped by Hoshi's powerful jaws

She hastily covers her twitching lips with the palm of her hand but this does not stop the feeling she has, "I'm so hungry right now, Hoshi eating that fish doesn't help" thinking with one arm holding her jaws & other grabbing her empty stomach

Hoshi reaches the end of the fish's tail & chomps it down with a single bite, the crunchy sounds of bones being broken with her jaws reached Haru's ears. The smell raw fish continued making its way to Haru's nostrils but she isn't taking steps to evade it. Where this raw fish odour would repulse Haru now it's having the opposite effect on this hungry Oni

Haru holds her stomach tighter, a tiny growling sound comes from it & is heard by Hoshi who pauses mid eating. The tiny girl angles her body so she can face Haru, she gives a curious glare with the fish's tail handing from her mouth

Before proceeding any further she slurps put the fish's tail than rubs her lips with her short fingers

Hoshi: "Is something the matter? Haru San"

She tilts her head as she inquires Haru's behaviour, still holding a face void of emotion

Haru: *taking deep breaths* "I am starving. I need breakfast"

She declares rushing inside the kitchen to prepare a morning meal for herself

--

Walking back into the dinner room after several minutes carrying with her a large plate of rice, vegetables & one big slice of raw salmon taking center stage. Haru's nostrils began to relax as the raw fish odour became faint, the enormous smell of freshwater char faded while Haru prepared her breakfast that now fills the room with an appetizing aroma

Though her nostrils have relaxed her stomach was still empty, making this fact known to all with occasional growls & pats of the belly

Nevertheless she takes her plate to the head of the table using the sunlight projecting itself from the window behind as a guide to the stop that's rightfully Haru's. she places the plate down before pulling her chair out

To her right Hoshi stayed seated observing the Oni in her morning glory, again tilting her head in curiosity. Haru came back to the table with a plate full of food, she sits down & gazes at her morning meal while licking her lips seemingly unaware of Hoshi has noticed

Haru: "Bon appetite"

She says with a merry grin exposing her sharp white teeth, twitching her fingers at the sight of this plate full of delicious food

Hoshi: "Won't Haru-san eat using chopsticks?"

Before hearing what she asked Haru picked up the raw slice of salmon with her bare hands, unable to properly respond the Oni takes a giant bite

Haru: "Hmm this is delicious"

Moaning as the taste of full flavoured fish enters her mouth, unlike canned salmon which tastes bland this had a rich flavour making Haru's face light up like the sun

Haru: "Wah!"

She lets out another enthusiastic cry before moving to devour her meal, her sharp white teeth rip into each slice of salmon she takes to her mouth. The Esper remains seated witnessing the rare sight of Haru being sloppy

Hoshi's eyes widened in shock as Haru seems to imitate the eating style she had moments ago, but without having psychic powers like Hoshi there is little to stop chunks of flesh or droplets of grease from staining Haru's office blazer

Hoshi: "Haru-san please take care of your attire"

Alarmed at Haru's careless way of eating she took her small hand out to get Haru's attention, the Oni looked up at Hoshi large eyes & cheeks stained from that oily salmon

Haru: "Hah hah! I'm sorry, don't look at me"

Instantly she drops everything back onto her plate & conceals her face with both hands, behind her palms a look of embarrassment. Her cheeks turned red like her horns & body curled away from Hoshi, "crap! I look like a child" she thought

At the sight of a heavily flustered Oni Hoshi just gave a blank stare, giving no reaction other than a slight eyebrow raising before turning away to face the beaming sun shining through the window in front of her

She sticks her short arm upwards gently & with one twitch of her index finger something came into the room from the kitchen, like a speeding airplane kitchen paper flew in & landed onto Haru's side of the table

Haru sees this from in between her fingers & immediately grabs as much as she can, she hastily rubs her cheeks. They are soft to the touch, after every rub she found them changing in color gradually but unsatisfied with this result she gets up

Haru: "Thank you, Hoshi-san"

She says, gently bowing to Hoshi before dashing back into the kitchen to turn the tap on. Hoshi's eyes follow her into she was out of sight, the Esper's facial expression is left unchanged as she tilts her head at this development before turning back to the window

As a faint sound of water ripples enter the silent atmosphere Hoshi focuses on light entering into the room only to be reflected by Hoshi's glowing orange eyes, for most people this amount of light from the sun would damage their retina but for this girl no harm is being done

She begins to have a momentary change of face, her lips open & eyes widen along with her rising cheeks. The bright ray from the window weds the orange glow from her eyes as this girl lets out an approving smile

Haru: "Again sorry about that"

She walks back into the dinner room holding a pair of clean chopsticks, as she reaches her seat those rosy, red cheeks continue to glow. Taking her seat once again Haru gazes at Hoshi's glowing orange eyes, "wow they're doing it again" she thinks while looking into Hoshi's beaming orange pearls for eyes

She furrows her brows & turns to the direction of Hoshi's peer, she is met with a bright ray of light coming from the large morning sun as it rises above the buildings of the Omagi Neighbourhood. Her eyes shut before her arm comes up to shield them from this blinding light

The Oni begins to face down & opens her eyes, her view was now dominated by flashing blemishes dancing across her retina. She has a look of frustration as her pupils spin round & round, when those blemishes disappear Haru's vision becomes clear allowing her to see the plate of food placed in front of her

Her eyes then turn to see her chopsticks resting in between her fingers, with that she starts to eat once again. Poking around in the rice until she gets a large enough chunk to scoff down

She takes that chunk of steaming white rice to her gaping mouth & begins to chew, the warm sensation she feels on her tongue causes steam to flow out of her mouth & to chew slowly. She finally closes her mouth than swallows the rice with her eyes closed. "That was delicious" she thinks while a small placid smile appears

Now that her mouth is clear & memory of earlier events seemingly forgotten Haru works up the courage to converse with Hoshi, she straightens her back & gives a deep breath. "What could I talk about though" her eyes glare at Hoshi before looking away instantly, "Hoshi-san has been staring into the sun a lot recently, I should ask what that is about"

Haru: "Hey Hoshi-san…are you ok?"

She says as she looks at Hoshi once more but she doesn't get a replay, Haru begins to pout & look away as the young-looking girl continuously stares into the bright ball in the sky until she starts blinking rapidly

Each blink was swift, Haru notices this action when she turns back to Hoshi & begins to feel uneasy at the sight of this rapid blinking. The glow from Hoshi's eyes appear & disappear as she blinks like a light bulb being turn on & off constantly

Haru: "Umm Hoshi-sa…"

Haru looks on in worry but as she speaks this sequence of blinking ends leaving Hoshi's eyes wide open & no longer glowing, the light radiating from her was gone

Her eyes shift leftwards, they make direct contact with Haru's eyes. The Esper starts to relax her eye lids & appear nonchalant towards Haru

Hoshi: "I was conversing with the sun"

She grows a little smile after saying that, seemingly unaffected by whatever caused the rapid blinking. Haru expresses shock

Haru: "You were talking to the Sun!? How!?!"

She drops her chopsticks on her plate as she pleaded for answers

Hoshi: "One could say I have a psychic connection with all the celestial beings in the sky. She's the only one I see here that understands me, being 4billion years old. Far older than I am"

Haru kept up her gaze & could only think about Hoshi's position. Living amongst mortals for centuries on this planet, they would naturally live full lives but to Hoshi that's not long. "That must be lonely existence." That's all Haru could say in her head at this point

Maybe her perception of time differs? Living for centuries, millennia even

Haru could sit at the table having an existential crisis within her head, nothing Hoshi isn't familiar with perhaps. Nevertheless, today is a big day for this Esper. "I just need to say it out loud" Haru thinks as she thinks of a way to address the subject but something else was stuck in her mind

Haru: "But you were blinking incredibly fast, it looked unnerving like something was wrong"

She gave a concerned look to Hoshi who merely sat in thought, caressing her tiny chin with her thumb

Hoshi: "Hmm I suppose that could be a by product of my soul traversing great distances, it isn't anything to worry about"

This girl brushes off any concern coming from Haru with a gentle smile

Hoshi: "Please trust that I'm fine"

Haru looks on with her mouth closed & brows furrowed, like she struggles to believe that however she also knows "I still don't know enough about Hoshi-san to be certain". With that in mind she changes the subject to the original thing she wanted to discuss with Hoshi

Haru: "Hoshi-san. Are you ready for school today?"

An enthusiastic smile took center stage

Hoshi: "Ah yes, School"

Haru heard that & repeated it in her mind, "ah yes, school! An environment where Hoshi-san can learn alongside future generations. With her wealth of knowledge there's no doubt this will leave a positive impact on not just the school but for Hoshi's life too" she continues "it's better than staying home all week"

Hoshi reminisces on the last time she attended school with a less radiant smile

Hoshi: "1976 was the year I last went, it was a different time. I'm excited to see what's new, I am not sure if those blackboards are still in use, they bring back excruciating memories due to the sound they make when someone scratches on their surface. I'm sure you remember what they sounded like when you went to school that time"

Unknowingly Hoshi triggered a burning fury inside Haru. Then suddenly a wave of anger flew towards her & all she can do was sit there staring at Haru's vicious yellow eyes

Haru: "I'm 25! There's no way I'd know! I wasn't even born yet!

Hoshi takes a second to think then begins to apologise

Hoshi: "I am regretful of my statement, I didn't mean to offend. Truly I apologise"

Haru's anger quickly dissipates as she crosses her arms & gently lowers her head

Haru: "No no, I shouldn't have gotten that angry over it. I just have to control my temper all day long, in the morning I'm definitely more irritable"

Hoshi: "So that's something you have to hide at work then?"

Haru give a light nod in response before tracing her eyes to the empty plate in front of Hoshi

Haru: "Did you enjoy the fish?"

Raising her eyebrows as she inquires on an earlier event where Hoshi munched an entire fish

Hoshi: "The white Spotted Char had a fascinating flavour, you could say it's a cross between salmon & trout but considerably closer to what trout tastes like"

This in-depth response causes intrigue in Haru, she begins to rest her elbows on the table & head in her hands as she leans in with curious wide eyes

Haru: "Would you recommend it to an Oni like me?"

Giving a soft smile Haru anticipates her answer

Hoshi: "Yes, an Oni can definitely eat this"

She reaches back to rest on the back of her chair & turns forward closing her eyes

Hoshi: "A like this will go great with brown rice"

The smile on Haru's face dissolves has she springs back & crosses her arms

Haru: "Please stop telling me to eat that"

She says while childishly moping, her face turns away from Hoshi. where her face is concealed from the Esper. "Come on Hoshi-san" She gives a little mischievous smile at the thought of Hoshi reacting to this behaviour

She gradually swings her head around to see Hoshi, "nothing, she's as still as a rock". Her plan to create some childish banter with the oldest person in the house failed

Haru: "Well I tried"

She makes no attempt to hide her defeated expression, she puts her hands on the table & caresses the smooth wooden surface. After this action Haru grabs the chopsticks & continues her breakfast, she takes in another bite of rice before a new thought came into her mind. "I still smell that fish"

Haru: "Hey Hoshi-san I can still smell that char you were eating, I think you need to clean your mouth out"

She takes her chopsticks down to her plate & continues

Haru: "You wouldn't want to go to school with fish breath, children can be mean"

She looks at Hoshi with another pleading face

Hoshi: "I understand"

She says before looking out of the window once again, Haru swiftly moves her arm to intercept Hoshi's field of view with a finger pointed directly at the girl

Haru: "You must brush your teeth in the bathroom. We don't want a repeat of last time"

Haru refers to the time when Hoshi used her psychic abilities to bring the toothbrush, toothpaste & glass of water to the table. The chaos that came during that is not something Haru wants to relive

Seeing this Hoshi gives a look of "alright" before she prepares to get off her seat