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Description
Mai's father kind of revealed. :3c
This is the night after this happened: Kuzuri and Mai: Meeting
Warning: story contains sensitive, emotional materialKuzuri and Mai MeetingKuzuri stood there, staring at the building before him. It was one he had gone into a few times before, but this time was different. He knew this would be his last time. These last few months have been the hardest times of his life, and each day has only become worse and worse. The death of his mother was too much to bear; she was the only one he had ever been very close to, and now she was gone. He thought that maybe leaving the city and living on his own, meeting new people would help him, but everything was so unfamiliar it only made things worse. However, he couldn’t go back. He felt no reason to return to his old life, as he’d only get in further fights with everyone he knew. His father hated him, his “best friends” were against him, his brother was scared of him, and everyone else glared at him with confusion and disgust. He had only been truly happy when he was with his mother, especially cooking with her. So, what was the point to continue on living? He wasn’t even allowed to do his passion of cooking, since men weren’t allowed to for some fucking stupid reason (and only his mother seemed to be okay with it). This was why he chose here to be his last place: a restaurant with chefs cooking in front of you. It was the only place he felt some joy, even if he himself couldn’t be a physical part of the act. At least he could watch.And yet, he hesitated on walking in. He was out of the way of the door, so people could come and go--though they looked at him in judgemental ways as usual, but he didn’t care.He had enough money to pay for anything he wanted here. His father was the Emperor, after all. Would his father even notice it was gone? That he was gone?Kuzuri, after several long minutes, finally made himself go through the threshold that marked the end. At this point he felt rather emotionless. He pushed his emotions away, and instead wanted to hollowly enjoy this last meal. The waitress noticed him, and had seen him a few times before eating here, so she easily led him to the back of the place this time. Usually he was seated closer to the exit, so this was different, but he didn’t care. The place was long instead of wide, and was considered a middle-of-the-road place to eat. There were decorations, but nothing too fancy. With it being later in the night, being dark out, everything was dim inside, too. Just how he liked it.He was seated, and he asked the waitress for sake; a whole bottle. He never really liked the taste of it, but the feeling it would give him would at least make him feel a little better.The waitress didn’t take long at all and was out with a bottle and a miniature cup. She filled the small cup, and set the bottle down. She gave a bow, asked him to enjoy, and then finally left. He simply nodded in response, and took a sip. He wanted to make this last.After a few minutes of “enjoying” his drink, the chef emerged from the darkness. A woman, as usual. He paid no attention to her, as he didn’t care about the chefs themselves. It was only the act of cooking he was here for, so he could imagine himself being in their place. Kuzuri heard her greeting him, as they all do, and he simply ignored her, and went to pointing out various things on the illustrated menu of what he wanted. A steak, salmon, rice, various veggies and a few thin cuts of various meats. With being a last meal, he had to get all that he liked!The setup was a lot like one he used in his mother’s large kitchen: There were burners, a place for preparing, a place for cutting, pans and knives strung up on hooks and various ingredients hanging as well, with a large, metal fan above to suck away smoke. Kuzuri was seated on a stool with an “okay” cushion, his feet firmly planted on the ground and his tail gently wrapped around and over his feet. He had his elbows on the “counter” with his back hunched over a bit, while he continued to sip away at his alcohol. The chef retrieved all the ingredients she needed, and had them facing out to be seen and approved of. She got right into cooking the veggies first in one pan, but started another for the steak. Her movements seemed quick but precise, and Kuzuri did enjoy this. The chef stayed silent while working and let the sizzling do the talking. It was indeed a favorite sound for Kuzuri, and he enjoyed it every single time. It gave him a sense of peace.He watched as she added various herbs and other spices to the pan with the steak, and timed things right to make sure it and the veggies didn’t burn. But… then she added something he hadn’t seen any other chef here add: butter on top of the steak. His attention zeroed in on this, feeling almost frozen in surprise.“You… add butter to meat?” he asked, finally looking up at the nameless chef. Their eyes met each other, and the woman looked embarrassed almost immediately. She looked back down to what she was doing, a blush forming.“O-oh did you not want that added? Here, I can get a new one--”“No! No, I like it,” Kuzuri almost yelled, not wanting her to stop. “I didn’t expect anyone else to do so…” his voice lowered quite a bit in his realization. “Oh... okay,” she responded with nervousness and a bit of confusion with how he worded it, and tried to focus back on what she was doing. Kuzuri looked back to the steak, but then back to her face. Her ears caught his attention, as they weren’t normal human ears. They were pointed, like one of those elf-humans. That must be what she was. Were others here like that? They were so rare for him to see.While he pondered this and glanced about, trying to see if there were others like her, the chef placed a plate in front of him with the veggies and meat, all finished and ready to go. The meat was sliced, however. He missed one of his favorite parts! The disappointed look on his face got the chef nervous again. “Does it not look good? I can redo everything if--”“It’s fine!” Kuzuri raised his voice again. He saw that she had fear on her face now, so he held a hand up to his forehead, annoyed with himself. He breathed in to let out some frustrations. “It’s not you. I’ve been a little out of it, and you worked so fast I didn’t get to see you cut up the meat and set the plates.”The woman looked perplexed. Was he one of those customers who were super anal about how they want things to go? She didn’t know how to respond to this.“...Could you get me some water?” Kuzuri asked. “Please.”“Right away,” the chef replied, and vanished behind her work station.Kuzuri took this time to try a piece of the steak. He cut off a smaller piece and placed it into his mouth. A sudden rush of emotion hit him, but it hid behind his exterior. He savored the flavor, taking it all in, engulfing his senses. This for sure tasted like her cooking…The chef returned and set the glass on Kuzuri’s side. “I apologize for the wait,” she said, even though she hadn’t been gone long at all.“Hey,” he started, before she could start cleaning up the first dishes. The chef looked to him again, trying to hold back the nervousness. She felt so confused with this guy and his swinging emotions.“...Thank you. For this. It’s really damn good.” Kuzuri smiled a bit.The chef was a bit stunned, but then quickly lit up with his compliment. “Thank you, sir! That’s very nice of you to say.”Kuzuri smiled some more. “To be honest, I was shocked that you used butter like you did. That’s something I have only seen my mother do, while everyone else didn’t do that. It’s very personal for me because of it. I am sorry if I worried you that it wasn’t to my taste.” He took another bite.The chef looked at ease now, understanding the situation better. “Your mother is smart, then,” she said with her own smile. “It adds so much more flavor, don’t you think? My own… I was taught that it brings out even more flavor.”“Is that so~?” Kuzuri could feel himself relaxing a lot more, being able to talk about this, and having someone who understood this simple little detail.-The butter talk sparked up a full on conversation between the two.Kuzuri and this chef continued to talk for a while, mainly about the different ingredients and dishes. He finished his first round, enjoyed every bite of it, and then continued to talk even more. When the chef started up the next round--salmon--she talked throughout her cooking this time, and Kuzuri joined in with speaking. The chef happily talked about a specific glaze she thought would be wonderful over the fish, one that was of her own personal making… so of course Kuzuri had to try it! When he did, the chef was completely right! Kuzuri hadn’t tried something like this before, but it worked so well with the fish flavors. He complimented her work, and mentally took notes of the things she shared. Then onto the slices of meat! Kuzuri was pretty full at this point, but he agreed to a little bit of each of pork, chicken, lamb and venison. He let her decide on what flavoring to add to each, and for him to give his thoughts. Like the steak and salmon, each of these tasted wonderful as well! His many compliments to the chef.By the time Kuzuri finished eating, over three hours had gone by. He hadn’t even touched the rest of his sake since the beginning. He was only slightly tipsy, which brought out a better side of him.“May I ask you something?” the chef said to Kuzuri, while she slowly cleaned up the mess.“Go ahead,” he replied, drinking refilled water.“You know so much about cooking. You only know this from observation from your mother?”Kuzuri paused, set down his glass and quieted his voice: “...It’s because my mother let me cook as well. My father forbade it, but my mother let me cook in secret with her.”“Oh…” The chef looked sad. “I hope I didn’t bring up any sad memories.”“It’s alright. It was a fair question. I miss it, though. Cooking, that is. It has been so long since I’ve been able to do so, so I instead watch others do it instead. It’s calming.”The chef stayed silent for a moment, seeming to be in thought. “I don’t know why there’s a rule that only women can cook,” she said, looking at the dishes she was cleaning. “....Kenji...My father cooks at home, and he’s great at it. Honestly, he’s the one I learned some of these tricks from. He’s the one who encouraged me to keep at it, and to pursue my dream, since he wasn’t able to do the same.”“That’s very thoughtful of him,” Kuzuri said. “And it’s nice to hear another man is into cooking. That makes me feel not so alone.” Kuzuri had a sad smile on his face. “Maybe…”At that moment, a different woman came walking over to the table. It was the manager. “Excuse me, sir, it’s half passed closing. It looks that you’ve finished eating, so I’ll need to ask you to pay and leave for the night so we can clean up.”“Oh I’m so sorry!!” the chef spoke up, not having realized that no other customers were in the place anymore. They had such good talks, time went by too quickly!“No, I’m sorry,” Kuzuri said. “I took away your time when you should have been ending for the night a while ago.” The chef was going to speak but the manager held up a hand to silence her. Then the woman nodded, and walked away.Kuzuri put a hand into his kimono and took out a wallet. “How much?”“You don’t have to worry about that, it’s on me tonight. This has been a really nice night for me.” The chef said this in a quieter way, not wanting the manager to hear.Kuzuri smiled, but took out a small wad of cash and set it down (which was everything he had).The chef’s eyes grew wide, as the amount he put down was far more than the meal would have cost. “But--”“Please, keep the rest as a tip,” he said, then stood up. “I enjoyed this night as well, and you deserve it. You have a wonderful skill, more so than others.”“My name is Maiku,” the chef said abruptly, a few visible tears in her eyes that she was trying so hard to hold back.“Oh? ...I’m Kuzuri. Well, Maiku, it was a pleasure meeting you. I won’t keep you away any longer.” He bowed, then turned to leave.“S-sir! Ah… Kuzuri!” Mai said, which got him to stop to look back. “Tomorrow night… I’m free. I could show you my favorite shop to get new ingredients. And maybe you could point out something new for me to try? Maybe something your mother uses…? I’d... love to talk more...”Kuzuri stared at her for a little bit, surprised with hearing something like this. His smile came back, and he responded with a soft, “sure. I’ll see you tomorrow, Maiku.” That caused a pleasant happy open mouth smile from Maiku in return, and then she bowed. “Meet in front of here at 6pm!” she said excitedly.“I’ll be there.” Kuzuri turned back towards the door and gave a final wave before leaving....Did he just lie to her?-Kuzuri walked back to his place of rent slowly, deep in thought. His mind had wandered, and he didn’t pay attention to anything around him. It was a blur. The emotions he had went from happiness slowly back to ‘nothing’ as he was by himself again. Once in his room, he locked the door behind himself. It was a rundown place, with rotted wood walls and barely any furnishings. Only a bed, and other essentials that were close to breaking down. He sat down on the bed, and for a long while stared out of the window at the single lamp street light. His mind went over the events of the night, and how enjoyable it was. But his mind also backed up a bit to what he had thought of before stepping into that restaurant.My final night…Kuzuri put a hand into his kimono again, but on the opposite side… and pulled out a chef knife. It was his mother’s, and it was in wonderful condition. The handle was made with the finest of bark with an etching at the end, and the blade itself was durable and sharp and shiny. He held it out in front of himself, horizontally, studying the details. This was what he wanted to use on himself, to end it all. It would be poetic, to go out with his mother’s favorite tool, something he was also able to use while cooking. It could bring him back to his mother, and there wouldn’t be any more pain, no one to disappoint any longer.“Tomorrow night… I’m free.”“...”“I could show you my favorite shop to get new ingredients.”“.....”“I’d… love to talk more.”Time went by. It might have been a while, but Kuzuri didn’t notice. He stayed there, sitting with the knife in his hands while he thought about Maiku’s words. She wanted to see him again. And he… did want to see her again, too. He told her he would. How sad would she be if he never showed up? Would it be worth it to see her again? The happiness he felt when he talked to her, it was genuine and felt wonderful, something he had only felt with his mother. It all came so naturally when he talked to Maiku, someone he never thought he’d connect with. His mother may have been female, but any other female he didn’t trust. But why? Did he have an actual reason to avoid women, besides not being romantically or sexually interested in them?…Kuzuri stood back up and walked over to the sink in his bathroom. He looked at his knife again, seeing his reflection in the steel. He looked tired, very tired.He then set it onto the sink.“...Maybe not tonight.” He walked away from it to go sleep. (written story! No they do not kiss in the story!! lol...)

Heh, this mini comic kind of does what I said that annoys me. XD but it's a single page instead of an ongoing comic. >:v
But she does pretty much talk about every little thing that happened when meeting Kuzuri, and how they have a "date" for the next night. Birch, her father, loves just hearing her talk, especially when excited! And more so now that it's a boy in the equation. He knew that Mai has been wanting a boyfriend/husband for a long time, and he knows how hard it is for her... and even though this is just a first meeting for Mai, he knows this is a HUGE step for his daughter. And learning what Kuzuri looks like will make him even more happy for her, since not just a human! Birch wants to wish her well and that she has to give all the details of every meeting!

Now all the other context of the image: So Birch, being a Venekai, he is a part of a normal harem (though isn't the dominant male, just helps out) and he has been with this harem before he met Ayako (Mai's mother) 26 years ago, and they agreed early on that during the winter he'd go with the harem to a warmer place so they wouldn't freeze, while Ayako stayed back. It also keeps Birch, and their family, safer, since they know their relationship is against the law (being human with a Venekai). And their mutual friend, Kenji, is there to help Ayako anyways! He acts as Mai's "father" even when he's not really. It all works out~
But they gotta keep in contact, too! So Birch has a flip phone, so he can talk to his family almost every night while away~ And of course Mai got him a charm for the phone. :3
(the setting is roughly in the 90's of our time)

Birch loves to joke around with Mai, and Mai loves it in return. He's a huge family man, and very loving, so that helps their whole situation out even more~
I'm excited to show more! :3cc

Description
Mai's father kind of revealed. :3c
This is the night after this happened: Kuzuri and Mai: Meeting
Warning: story contains sensitive, emotional materialKuzuri and Mai MeetingKuzuri stood there, staring at the building before him. It was one he had gone into a few times before, but this time was different. He knew this would be his last time. These last few months have been the hardest times of his life, and each day has only become worse and worse. The death of his mother was too much to bear; she was the only one he had ever been very close to, and now she was gone. He thought that maybe leaving the city and living on his own, meeting new people would help him, but everything was so unfamiliar it only made things worse. However, he couldn’t go back. He felt no reason to return to his old life, as he’d only get in further fights with everyone he knew. His father hated him, his “best friends” were against him, his brother was scared of him, and everyone else glared at him with confusion and disgust. He had only been truly happy when he was with his mother, especially cooking with her. So, what was the point to continue on living? He wasn’t even allowed to do his passion of cooking, since men weren’t allowed to for some fucking stupid reason (and only his mother seemed to be okay with it). This was why he chose here to be his last place: a restaurant with chefs cooking in front of you. It was the only place he felt some joy, even if he himself couldn’t be a physical part of the act. At least he could watch.And yet, he hesitated on walking in. He was out of the way of the door, so people could come and go--though they looked at him in judgemental ways as usual, but he didn’t care.He had enough money to pay for anything he wanted here. His father was the Emperor, after all. Would his father even notice it was gone? That he was gone?Kuzuri, after several long minutes, finally made himself go through the threshold that marked the end. At this point he felt rather emotionless. He pushed his emotions away, and instead wanted to hollowly enjoy this last meal. The waitress noticed him, and had seen him a few times before eating here, so she easily led him to the back of the place this time. Usually he was seated closer to the exit, so this was different, but he didn’t care. The place was long instead of wide, and was considered a middle-of-the-road place to eat. There were decorations, but nothing too fancy. With it being later in the night, being dark out, everything was dim inside, too. Just how he liked it.He was seated, and he asked the waitress for sake; a whole bottle. He never really liked the taste of it, but the feeling it would give him would at least make him feel a little better.The waitress didn’t take long at all and was out with a bottle and a miniature cup. She filled the small cup, and set the bottle down. She gave a bow, asked him to enjoy, and then finally left. He simply nodded in response, and took a sip. He wanted to make this last.After a few minutes of “enjoying” his drink, the chef emerged from the darkness. A woman, as usual. He paid no attention to her, as he didn’t care about the chefs themselves. It was only the act of cooking he was here for, so he could imagine himself being in their place. Kuzuri heard her greeting him, as they all do, and he simply ignored her, and went to pointing out various things on the illustrated menu of what he wanted. A steak, salmon, rice, various veggies and a few thin cuts of various meats. With being a last meal, he had to get all that he liked!The setup was a lot like one he used in his mother’s large kitchen: There were burners, a place for preparing, a place for cutting, pans and knives strung up on hooks and various ingredients hanging as well, with a large, metal fan above to suck away smoke. Kuzuri was seated on a stool with an “okay” cushion, his feet firmly planted on the ground and his tail gently wrapped around and over his feet. He had his elbows on the “counter” with his back hunched over a bit, while he continued to sip away at his alcohol. The chef retrieved all the ingredients she needed, and had them facing out to be seen and approved of. She got right into cooking the veggies first in one pan, but started another for the steak. Her movements seemed quick but precise, and Kuzuri did enjoy this. The chef stayed silent while working and let the sizzling do the talking. It was indeed a favorite sound for Kuzuri, and he enjoyed it every single time. It gave him a sense of peace.He watched as she added various herbs and other spices to the pan with the steak, and timed things right to make sure it and the veggies didn’t burn. But… then she added something he hadn’t seen any other chef here add: butter on top of the steak. His attention zeroed in on this, feeling almost frozen in surprise.“You… add butter to meat?” he asked, finally looking up at the nameless chef. Their eyes met each other, and the woman looked embarrassed almost immediately. She looked back down to what she was doing, a blush forming.“O-oh did you not want that added? Here, I can get a new one--”“No! No, I like it,” Kuzuri almost yelled, not wanting her to stop. “I didn’t expect anyone else to do so…” his voice lowered quite a bit in his realization. “Oh... okay,” she responded with nervousness and a bit of confusion with how he worded it, and tried to focus back on what she was doing. Kuzuri looked back to the steak, but then back to her face. Her ears caught his attention, as they weren’t normal human ears. They were pointed, like one of those elf-humans. That must be what she was. Were others here like that? They were so rare for him to see.While he pondered this and glanced about, trying to see if there were others like her, the chef placed a plate in front of him with the veggies and meat, all finished and ready to go. The meat was sliced, however. He missed one of his favorite parts! The disappointed look on his face got the chef nervous again. “Does it not look good? I can redo everything if--”“It’s fine!” Kuzuri raised his voice again. He saw that she had fear on her face now, so he held a hand up to his forehead, annoyed with himself. He breathed in to let out some frustrations. “It’s not you. I’ve been a little out of it, and you worked so fast I didn’t get to see you cut up the meat and set the plates.”The woman looked perplexed. Was he one of those customers who were super anal about how they want things to go? She didn’t know how to respond to this.“...Could you get me some water?” Kuzuri asked. “Please.”“Right away,” the chef replied, and vanished behind her work station.Kuzuri took this time to try a piece of the steak. He cut off a smaller piece and placed it into his mouth. A sudden rush of emotion hit him, but it hid behind his exterior. He savored the flavor, taking it all in, engulfing his senses. This for sure tasted like her cooking…The chef returned and set the glass on Kuzuri’s side. “I apologize for the wait,” she said, even though she hadn’t been gone long at all.“Hey,” he started, before she could start cleaning up the first dishes. The chef looked to him again, trying to hold back the nervousness. She felt so confused with this guy and his swinging emotions.“...Thank you. For this. It’s really damn good.” Kuzuri smiled a bit.The chef was a bit stunned, but then quickly lit up with his compliment. “Thank you, sir! That’s very nice of you to say.”Kuzuri smiled some more. “To be honest, I was shocked that you used butter like you did. That’s something I have only seen my mother do, while everyone else didn’t do that. It’s very personal for me because of it. I am sorry if I worried you that it wasn’t to my taste.” He took another bite.The chef looked at ease now, understanding the situation better. “Your mother is smart, then,” she said with her own smile. “It adds so much more flavor, don’t you think? My own… I was taught that it brings out even more flavor.”“Is that so~?” Kuzuri could feel himself relaxing a lot more, being able to talk about this, and having someone who understood this simple little detail.-The butter talk sparked up a full on conversation between the two.Kuzuri and this chef continued to talk for a while, mainly about the different ingredients and dishes. He finished his first round, enjoyed every bite of it, and then continued to talk even more. When the chef started up the next round--salmon--she talked throughout her cooking this time, and Kuzuri joined in with speaking. The chef happily talked about a specific glaze she thought would be wonderful over the fish, one that was of her own personal making… so of course Kuzuri had to try it! When he did, the chef was completely right! Kuzuri hadn’t tried something like this before, but it worked so well with the fish flavors. He complimented her work, and mentally took notes of the things she shared. Then onto the slices of meat! Kuzuri was pretty full at this point, but he agreed to a little bit of each of pork, chicken, lamb and venison. He let her decide on what flavoring to add to each, and for him to give his thoughts. Like the steak and salmon, each of these tasted wonderful as well! His many compliments to the chef.By the time Kuzuri finished eating, over three hours had gone by. He hadn’t even touched the rest of his sake since the beginning. He was only slightly tipsy, which brought out a better side of him.“May I ask you something?” the chef said to Kuzuri, while she slowly cleaned up the mess.“Go ahead,” he replied, drinking refilled water.“You know so much about cooking. You only know this from observation from your mother?”Kuzuri paused, set down his glass and quieted his voice: “...It’s because my mother let me cook as well. My father forbade it, but my mother let me cook in secret with her.”“Oh…” The chef looked sad. “I hope I didn’t bring up any sad memories.”“It’s alright. It was a fair question. I miss it, though. Cooking, that is. It has been so long since I’ve been able to do so, so I instead watch others do it instead. It’s calming.”The chef stayed silent for a moment, seeming to be in thought. “I don’t know why there’s a rule that only women can cook,” she said, looking at the dishes she was cleaning. “....Kenji...My father cooks at home, and he’s great at it. Honestly, he’s the one I learned some of these tricks from. He’s the one who encouraged me to keep at it, and to pursue my dream, since he wasn’t able to do the same.”“That’s very thoughtful of him,” Kuzuri said. “And it’s nice to hear another man is into cooking. That makes me feel not so alone.” Kuzuri had a sad smile on his face. “Maybe…”At that moment, a different woman came walking over to the table. It was the manager. “Excuse me, sir, it’s half passed closing. It looks that you’ve finished eating, so I’ll need to ask you to pay and leave for the night so we can clean up.”“Oh I’m so sorry!!” the chef spoke up, not having realized that no other customers were in the place anymore. They had such good talks, time went by too quickly!“No, I’m sorry,” Kuzuri said. “I took away your time when you should have been ending for the night a while ago.” The chef was going to speak but the manager held up a hand to silence her. Then the woman nodded, and walked away.Kuzuri put a hand into his kimono and took out a wallet. “How much?”“You don’t have to worry about that, it’s on me tonight. This has been a really nice night for me.” The chef said this in a quieter way, not wanting the manager to hear.Kuzuri smiled, but took out a small wad of cash and set it down (which was everything he had).The chef’s eyes grew wide, as the amount he put down was far more than the meal would have cost. “But--”“Please, keep the rest as a tip,” he said, then stood up. “I enjoyed this night as well, and you deserve it. You have a wonderful skill, more so than others.”“My name is Maiku,” the chef said abruptly, a few visible tears in her eyes that she was trying so hard to hold back.“Oh? ...I’m Kuzuri. Well, Maiku, it was a pleasure meeting you. I won’t keep you away any longer.” He bowed, then turned to leave.“S-sir! Ah… Kuzuri!” Mai said, which got him to stop to look back. “Tomorrow night… I’m free. I could show you my favorite shop to get new ingredients. And maybe you could point out something new for me to try? Maybe something your mother uses…? I’d... love to talk more...”Kuzuri stared at her for a little bit, surprised with hearing something like this. His smile came back, and he responded with a soft, “sure. I’ll see you tomorrow, Maiku.” That caused a pleasant happy open mouth smile from Maiku in return, and then she bowed. “Meet in front of here at 6pm!” she said excitedly.“I’ll be there.” Kuzuri turned back towards the door and gave a final wave before leaving....Did he just lie to her?-Kuzuri walked back to his place of rent slowly, deep in thought. His mind had wandered, and he didn’t pay attention to anything around him. It was a blur. The emotions he had went from happiness slowly back to ‘nothing’ as he was by himself again. Once in his room, he locked the door behind himself. It was a rundown place, with rotted wood walls and barely any furnishings. Only a bed, and other essentials that were close to breaking down. He sat down on the bed, and for a long while stared out of the window at the single lamp street light. His mind went over the events of the night, and how enjoyable it was. But his mind also backed up a bit to what he had thought of before stepping into that restaurant.My final night…Kuzuri put a hand into his kimono again, but on the opposite side… and pulled out a chef knife. It was his mother’s, and it was in wonderful condition. The handle was made with the finest of bark with an etching at the end, and the blade itself was durable and sharp and shiny. He held it out in front of himself, horizontally, studying the details. This was what he wanted to use on himself, to end it all. It would be poetic, to go out with his mother’s favorite tool, something he was also able to use while cooking. It could bring him back to his mother, and there wouldn’t be any more pain, no one to disappoint any longer.“Tomorrow night… I’m free.”“...”“I could show you my favorite shop to get new ingredients.”“.....”“I’d… love to talk more.”Time went by. It might have been a while, but Kuzuri didn’t notice. He stayed there, sitting with the knife in his hands while he thought about Maiku’s words. She wanted to see him again. And he… did want to see her again, too. He told her he would. How sad would she be if he never showed up? Would it be worth it to see her again? The happiness he felt when he talked to her, it was genuine and felt wonderful, something he had only felt with his mother. It all came so naturally when he talked to Maiku, someone he never thought he’d connect with. His mother may have been female, but any other female he didn’t trust. But why? Did he have an actual reason to avoid women, besides not being romantically or sexually interested in them?…Kuzuri stood back up and walked over to the sink in his bathroom. He looked at his knife again, seeing his reflection in the steel. He looked tired, very tired.He then set it onto the sink.“...Maybe not tonight.” He walked away from it to go sleep. (written story! No they do not kiss in the story!! lol...)

Heh, this mini comic kind of does what I said that annoys me. XD but it's a single page instead of an ongoing comic. >:v
But she does pretty much talk about every little thing that happened when meeting Kuzuri, and how they have a "date" for the next night. Birch, her father, loves just hearing her talk, especially when excited! And more so now that it's a boy in the equation. He knew that Mai has been wanting a boyfriend/husband for a long time, and he knows how hard it is for her... and even though this is just a first meeting for Mai, he knows this is a HUGE step for his daughter. And learning what Kuzuri looks like will make him even more happy for her, since not just a human! Birch wants to wish her well and that she has to give all the details of every meeting!

Now all the other context of the image: So Birch, being a Venekai, he is a part of a normal harem (though isn't the dominant male, just helps out) and he has been with this harem before he met Ayako (Mai's mother) 26 years ago, and they agreed early on that during the winter he'd go with the harem to a warmer place so they wouldn't freeze, while Ayako stayed back. It also keeps Birch, and their family, safer, since they know their relationship is against the law (being human with a Venekai). And their mutual friend, Kenji, is there to help Ayako anyways! He acts as Mai's "father" even when he's not really. It all works out~
But they gotta keep in contact, too! So Birch has a flip phone, so he can talk to his family almost every night while away~ And of course Mai got him a charm for the phone. :3
(the setting is roughly in the 90's of our time)

Birch loves to joke around with Mai, and Mai loves it in return. He's a huge family man, and very loving, so that helps their whole situation out even more~
I'm excited to show more! :3cc