9 Chapter 8: Meeting the family

"Sugar, spice and everything nice"

"These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little gir- "

*SMACK!!*

"Ow, why did you hit me?"

(A/N: Stop messing around, the FBI is watching, I don't want them to bomb the comment section or the review section. I won't have my pure work tainted!)

"Pssh, you're going to write mature content and shitty lemons in the future anyways. Besides, this work ain't even that popular yet, those crappy guys won't gun for us cause we're still small fishes."

(A/N: I don't give a hoot, just continue on with the story and do your job properly or I'll replace you with Johnny.)

"What!? Crap, anyone but Johnny, *sigh*, fine let's get on with the story then."

MC POV

5 people are currently in front of me. 2 girls and 3 boys.

…..Now that I look at them, not all of them are kids.

One of the girls next to Gudo was standing up with both hands on her hip, she looks a bit younger than him. She has brown shoulder length hair, hazel eyes and a stern expression on her face as she practically glared at me, kinda cute though not gonna lie. She was wearing a brown kimono with a red belt thingy on her waist and….is….is she growling right now!? The hell!?

The other girl next to him looks younger than the growling girl and was sitting down on her knees, she was patting his back and looking at his wounds with a concerned and gentle expression, she glances at me curiously for a brief moment before resuming her inspection. She has black long hair that reached her waist and was tied into a ponytail, black eyes and was wearing a pink kimono with a blue belt.

A teen boy was currently standing behind Gudo, he was currently holding both of Gudo's shoulders. He looks quite excited and had a wide smile on his face but I can see that his eyes are a bit red and glistening with water...he must've cried. 

He has black hair that kinda resembled an army crew cut. Wears a green kimono with black belt. He looks younger than stern gir but seems older than the kneeling girl. I can see him looking at me while tilting his head a lil bit to the side curiously.

The last one was a small boy. He had his back on me and was sitting in front of Gudo, he was wearing a dark blue kimono with white belt. He turned around looked at me alongside his fellow siblings. He has brown bowl cut hair and brown eyes. 

A clueless expression was etched on his face as he stared at me. He still has baby fat on his cheeks and currently had his thumb inside his mouth.

.…...How cute, makes me wanna kick him! 

This kinda kid frightens me the most, the type that looks quiet and naïve but turns out to be the naughtiest and most mischievous of them all, damn I need to be careful of this one and keep my distance!

It's not that I hate kids but most of the kids I met in my past life are either little devils or just plain annoying too handle. Thankfully some of them are good kids and quite tolerable or I would've committed a crime a long time ago.

"Who are you? Who let you in?" I was snapped out of my reverie by a fierce voice. I look at the source and see the fierce girl looking at me with her hands crossed across her chest...non-existent chest of course or maybe they're just small.

I only took a split second to glance at them since it would anger her and label me as lecherous which might earn me their distrust or getting hit by the girl, she seems like the type that will hit you for the stupidest thing.

I gave them what I consider a 'charming' smile and put one hand on my back and the rest the other on my heart and gave them a bow, like a gentleman.

"Pardon me for intruding and surprising all of you but I was given permission to enter the house by your father and mother."

She still looks angry but it seems her angry soften a little bit compared to before. She opens her mouth as if she wants to say something but someone else beaten her to it.

The boy behind Gudo went around her and runs and then stops in front of me all the while with a huge smile on his face and…is...is his eyes sparkling? The heck!?

He trembles while clenching both of his hand in front of him with his head looking down before suddenly jerking his head to upwards and staring at the ceiling while screaming.

"SOOOO COOLLL!!!!"

I jumped at that, dammit kid don't scream near me. I have a weak heart okay, I'm easily spooked.

Seems like he made Gudo and the others them jump a bit as well with that outburst. He then snaps his head down to stare at me.

"That Mask is so coool~ I've never seen someone wearing a bear mask before! Did you hunt it yourself? How big was it? How did you beat it? Can you teach me? Can I borrow that mask? Can I smell it? Can I lick it-"

I stop him by clenching his face with my left hand which stops his machinegun question. I motion him to be quiet with my right hand,

"*shhh* Be quiet kiddo, slow down, stop yelling and I might answer your question, continue this attitude and I'll make you eat snow till you become stuffed okay?"

He trembles in front of me cause I put a teeny weeny bit of strength in my grip before he nods his head frantically. Good boy.

I nod my head and release him, he then stumbles a few steps back and took a deep breath before smile at me, albeit fearfully. 

"S-sorry sir, I was quite excited to see someone with a bear mask cause that means you must be an impressive hunter to be able to hunt a bear and make a mask out of it or you're a rich dude that bought a bear head from a hunter to turn it into a mask...you must be a hunter judging by your strength...…or maybe something more than that."

Seems like this kid is smart and quite cunning, he purposefully went ham at me and try to annoy me with his enthusiasm to bait me in taking action and gauge me from the exchange...Smart move.

'That also explains why no one really went crazy with me wearing this bear mask cause it might be the norm for them or they might've seen something similar.'

I just grin at him and his nervousness seems to grow but before any of us could say anything a voice spoke up.

"Taka! That's no way to treat our guest! You're being rude!" A gentle yet somewhat angry voice sounded out and I glance at the source of the sound and saw ponytail girl glaring menacingly at him...which failed spectacularly because it doesn't look menacing at all and she looks funny rather than scary.

She noticed me staring at her and blushes before looking away from me by looking down to the ground. Aw, how cute.

"Taka! Get back here right now!" Ohhh, I don't need to look to know who's yelling fiercely right now.

'Taka' flinched, "Yes! Yes! Okay, sheesh, calm down sis." He then got up and scurried back to his sister that's currently glaring at him.

This is getting nowhere, I cough unto my fist to garner their attention which works spectacularly, all eyes are on me now.

"Let me introduce myself once more. Name's Ryu and I am a bonafide hunter. I met your father's hunting group yesterday and helped them take down a bear. They then invited me to come here to the village since they feel indebted to me."

I stare at miss glare, "As for your question, Hoemi-san and Arai-san asked me to come inside. Wouldn't want a guest to freeze out there in the cold, no?"

She seems agitated and shifts in place for a bit before looking away to the sides, "*mumbles*well, sorry for being rude"

I gave her a smile, "That's fine, you were just asking. No harm done."

She flinched and looks at me with shock all over her face. Seems like she didn't expect me to hear her.

Before any of us can continue the flow of conversation, Hoemi and Arai came out of the doorway on the wall behind them all.

Hoemi came over smiling as she looks at us all and her smile grew wider when she saw me. "Welcome Ryu-san to our humble abode!"

She looks at her childrens with a stern look, "I trust none of you were being rude at our guest? We heard loud voices when we were in the kitchen just then."

I answered before any of them said anything, "It's fine Hoemi-san, they were just excited to see my bear mask." I said as I removed the bear mask.

They were a bit shocked to see my face wrapped up in clothes, "My skin is sensitive to the sun and whatnot, that's why I wrap my head up with these clothes."

They seem to accept these reasons as they give me a look of pity..…..Arai seems a bit suspicious though.

I then heard the front door being slid open and the pitter-patter of steps frantically going towards the room we're currently in before the door was slid open loudly.

I can see two small creatures standing in front of said door.

"WE!" A little girl with brown short pigtails wearing a red kimono with blue belt stands there with both of her hands raised to the right in a classic action kamen pose.

(A/N: It's a Crayon Shin-Chan reference for those who're uncultured, now go watch it)

"HAVE!" Another little girl with the same hairstyle and color but was donning a blue kimono with red belt stands next to her with the same pose but pointing to her left.

"ARRIVED!!" They both then pointed their hands to the opposite sides, bent their legs, turns their head to the side and...dabs.

....

…..

These are good kids. I approve!

Two figures appeared behind them

"You" Kin appears behind the red one. He then bonks her head with her fist.

"Shouldn't Have" Gin appears behind the blue one and bonks her head too.

"DONE THAT!" They both pick the kids up by the scruff of their neck like cats.

"OUCHIES!"2X both of the girls yelped and started squirming under their grip.

I then heard Kibo's voice behind the twins. "All of you stop this at once!".

Damn…this seems like it will take a while….

Kimetsu~(Chibi Kin, Gin and the little twins can be seen kneeling in front of Kibo with bumps on their heads)

(A/N: Got this idea from isekai quartet chibi forms)

A few headbonks and minutes of scolding from Kibo was the result of the stunt pulled by the two twins.

He sighs as he looks at Arai and Hoemi, "Sorry for being boisterous, I'll be sure to drill manners into them again when we get back home."

Arai just nods his head while Hoemi covers her mouth with her hand and giggles, "Oh, it's quite alright Kibo-san, it's quite fun to see them being so active."

Kibo sighs again but this time two small hands pat his his lower back.

"There, there" Little Red went first.

"It's okay dad" Little Blue.

"You've worked hard" Both of them said with a big smile on their face.

I can see an imaginary vein popping up on Kibo's face as he bonks both of the little twins on their head once again.

"You both are the cause of this! Don't act like you're both innocent!" He yells.

...As much as I love comedy, this has gone long enough.

"Kibo-san, is your whole family here? Shall we start the feast soon?" I throw in a little smile to appear amicable.

That seem to work as he snapped away from his session of scolding and glance at Arai before looking back at me and gives me a nod. 

"There's one more but I think we should start our feast now."

Hoemi cuts our conversation, "I think some introductions are much needed first!"

She then puts her right hand on her hips and points to herself using her left thumb.

"Name's Hoemi Okitsu! I'm the loving wife of Arai Okitsu! I love my kids equally! Nice too metcha once more!" She ends it with a grin. 

She then points to her husband using both hands like and I swear I heard a bam sound effect when she did so.

"Meet my Cool and Stern husband, Arai Okitsu! A man that looks cold and fierce on the outside but is actually a real softie at heart!" She seems proud of what she said.

Arai gave an exasperated smile and pats her head which made her giggle. This in turn produced a flowery pink background behind them both.

Gudo sighs," Let me take over, I am Gudo Okitsu, this fierce girl is Hana Okitsu, this gentle girl is Minako Okitsu, that loudmouth is Taka Okitsu and the little one is Ichi Okitsu." He introduced each one of his siblings.

Hana glares at him, Minako smiles shyly at me and gives me a small nod, Taka grins and waves at me while Ichi just glance at me and gave me a small nod before looking away.

I then heard coughs behind me, I looked behind me and saw the two twins looking at me with wide smiles on their faces.

"Name's Kin Akagiri!" He posed with his right hand holding his chin and the other hand hugging his torso.

"Name's Gin Akagiri!" He posed with his left hand covering the lower part of his face while his other hand hugs his torso.

The little twins ran around the older twins and took their position.

"Saya Akagiri!" Little Red posed like Killer Queen.

(A/N:For those who're uncultured, look it up and you'll know, for those who know…. great job!)

'She's officially my favorite kiddo for that reference alone. The name made me chuckle as well.'

(A/N: FYI, the word 'Saya' means 'me', 'I' or 'I'm' in Malay, so she's basically saying, 'I'm Akagiri')

"Youra Akagiri!" Little Blue posed with one of her hands on her forehead and the other on her chest with the palms facing outwards.

(A/N: Like Josuke, nuff said)

I finally laughed cause her name kinda sounds like 'you are Akagiri'. Damn man I think I like this twins very much.

I cover my mouth with my hand to muffle my laugh a few moments I managed to my laugh and I the removed my hand.

I gave the little twins my widest smile and posed with my arms crossed in front of me in an x shape.

"And I! Am! Ryu Yoshikage!"

Kibo's exasperated expression turned into bewilderment and shock when I introduced myself.

I don't know the reaction from Arai and his family but I thin Hoemi is quite surprised judging from the small 'oh my' that I heard behind me.

The twins reaction was quite enjoyable though.

They all halt their movements completely and became statues…...A few minutes later, the little twins moved and jumped towards me.

Needless to say, I caught them both with my arms.

I felt something wet on my body and I look down towards the twins.

That's when they both look up towards me and into my eyes.

They were crying. There were tears in their eyes and they're also...ar...are those snots?

They buried their face into my clothes and started sniffling and crying.

The whole room was silent except for the sound of muffled cry and whimpers coming from the two bundles of joy in my arms that are currently bawling their eyes out.

I looked up from the two crybabies and stare at the older twins.

Surprisingly, they're both crying too, not like the little twins but they were snifling and wiping the tears in their eyes with their sleeves.

Kibo looks like he's fed up with everything and confused about the course of action he should take next.

Nevertheless, he didn't hesitate to walk towards the older twins and stops behind them.

He then pats them on the back and they started to cry even harder.

The older twins then turned their bodies around and hugs their father.

They started crying into his shoulder as he pats them on their back and head.

He sighs and kept patting them as if he's a father that's trying to calm down his crying children.

…..oh wait, he is a father and they are his children.

Which seems to have the opposite effect as they both started crying even harder.

He closes his eyes and gave a deep sigh, "There, there, is seems like you kids finally found someone similar to you guys. There, there."

Those words actually shook me for a bit. Wait, maybe they-

Before I could continue my line of thought, I register a new sound.

The sound of sniffling.

Like.

Right behind me.

'Dont tell me', I groaned before turning my head to the sides to look behind my back.

Hoemi was hugging Arai and crying into his bosom while he strikes her back and pats her head.

Gudo was using his right hand to wipe the tears from his eyes.

Hana was looking to the sides while covering her face with her sleeves but a sniffle or two can be heard coming from her.

Minako was currently in tears and trying her hardest to wipe those tears away with her sleeves. Which seems to be flowing infinitely.

Taka was currently showing his back to me. But I can see him shivering from time to time and slight sniffles coming from him, perhaps from him wiping his nose.

Meanwhile….the little brat was currently sucking on his thumb and looking around the room with a clueless expression.

…..I swear I'm gonna kick that kid for real.

I then gave a heavy sigh before looking to the ceiling.

'sate, sate, sate, what should I do now?'

(A/N: It's a nanatsu no taizai ref, it means 'well, well, well')

'the atmosphere is quite melancholic and they seem like they need this, so it seems I'll need to wait for a lil bit till they all calm down.'

'.....hopefully in won't take too long'