55 Familial Bonds (16)

The rustling of the plastic bag was like a death knell in Iris' ears. She wished he really stopped bringing her 'gifts'. That last one yesterday was plenty enough.

Yet what he brought out was not more insects, like she had expected. Instead, he held out a blueberry to her. For a moment, she just stood still, disbelieving. Had he really brought out something that she could eat?

"You don't want this?" he asked, with a bit of concern in his voice. As he said that, he also moved to lift his hand up.

'I want it!'

She pounced on his palm and snatched the berry. Her rush resulted in her scratching his skin a bit, but who cared about that. She brought the blueberry to the other side of the sofa and swiftly ate it, before he could take it away from her.

Kyro looked down at his palm, then at Iris. "I guess that means you like this?"

How could she not? When compared to insects, even her least favorite meals sounded like great things, let alone berries that she normally enjoyed eating. If she was given a choice, she'd start eating them every day.

Like an excited puppy, she ran back to him and cried out for more. It couldn't be that he had only bought a single blueberry. That'd be way too crazy.

He took out a couple more and lowered his palm to her. This time, Iris didn't rush like before, but instead carefully scooped one up and chewed it slowly. The berry was fresh and juicy, and as large as her mouth. It actually took a bit of effort to eat it.

To her disappointment, Kyro didn't give her as much as she wanted to eat. After a handful of them, he caressed her head and said that it was enough for now. She screamed out at him at the unfairness of it, but he didn't seem to care, so she just walked away and lay down to rest.

Now that she moved a bit, she noticed that her little stomach was actually quite full. She had forgotten just how small she was. A handful for a human was just a taste, but for someone her size…

---

The next couple days passed in a comfortable routine. Iris woke Kyro up, then watched him leave and spent most of the day before the TV. In the evening, she got to eat some berries and tried to decipher his password. By now, she had managed to grasp that it was made up of nine symbols, the first half of which were 'cj1S9!'.

Friday seemed to be going as usual. When Kyro returned, he checked if she'd eaten her meal—a bowl of insects and worms—and then gave her some berries. Once she lay happily on the sofa, the doorbell rang. She looked up questioningly at Kyro.

It was a bit too early for the deliverer to bring him dinner, and nobody ever came over. Or wait, was Gale coming back again? She hadn't heard anything about him the whole week. It was hard to know things when you spoke a different language than your roommate.

When she looked over at Kyro, his expression was dark. He stood up as if in slow motion, his actions rigid. It was as if he didn't really want to go over to the door. 'Guess he's not waiting for Gale…'

When he finally went over and opened the door, his voice was ice cold. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to you," a woman answered, her voice deep and seductive. She had a voice that could charm a man into her bed before he even saw her.

Iris rolled away to face away from the door, annoyed against herself. She had never worried too much about her appearance, but her voice always got on her nerves. It was a bit too high-pitched, a bit too young-sounding. People often placed her voice to someone in middle school, so they'd do a double-take once they looked over and noticed that she was over twenty.

It wasn't anything life-changing, but she got pissed every single time they did that. Especially since they couldn't just leave it at that, either. No, they had to comment and laugh awkwardly at how young she sounded. What a surprise! Thanks for telling! She certainly hadn't heard that for the last seven years.

Every time that happened, she wished she could have a voice like that of this woman. It wasn't grave deep, but sonorous and husky, the kind people called bedroom voice.

While Iris was lost in her recollections, Kyro had led the woman in. She noticed Iris in an instant and came over with a bright smile. "What a cute thing!"

Iris screamed out in anger, then jumped away and off the sofa. There were two directions for her to choose, and in the end she decided to go for Kyro. With her around, he probably would stay away from the woman. A pet jumping around and screaming at all the right moments could certainly destroy any romantic mood.

Or at least Iris hoped so. She wanted no inappropriate stuff happening in this house while she was around. They might not have come up with any roommate rules yet, but she was absolutely against him taking any women into his bedroom. After all, Iris herself was sleeping in that bed.

No way was she going to allow him to pollute it like that.

Since she kept screaming from behind Kyro's legs, he finally gave in and picked her up. "Shh, enough. She's no more of a threat than Gale was."

Iris looked up at him, her eyes expressing her utter disbelief. Had he heard that woman? She used the bedroom voice while they were outside, so was there really a need to question her plans next?

Besides, the newcomer wasn't just a voice, either. Her hourglass figure was meant for seducing unwary men, and her dress didn't attempt to hide it in any way. The woman was proudly displaying all she had, not a smidgen of self-consciousness to be found.

Iris took a deep breath and prepared for a hard battle. It was impossible that Kyro would send the woman away, so she would have to make her leave herself. She flexed her nails and got ready. Since she had decided to call this place home, no temptress was allowed to charm her man.