2 Meeting The Girls

'A suit?' Looking at myself in the mirror, all dressed up in a dark suit I couldn't recognize myself. Once a lost child with no parents at the steps of an orphanage, and now the manager of a multi-storied hotel filled with guestrooms, casinos, and buffets. 'I guess my luck finally turned for the better.'

A smile washed over my lips as I combed my shiny silver hair. Plucking at broken eyelashes, I wiped them from before my eyes. However, on doing so, I found myself staring at my reflection, and not just the image in the mirror but the one reflected in my eyes.

 'I wonder if they had dark eyes like me?' Reaching forward, I wanted to pull out the reflection as a twin, but of course that's not how you get family. They are chosen for you not by you. At least that's what the nuns told us when we begged for our parents. It was their way of showing contempt for the snarly children around them, their way of telling us that the family chosen for us chose to abandon us like a burden.

"Boo!" From the other side of the mirror, a pale hand grabbed my wrist. Shocked by the cold grip, I tried to pull back, but before I could gather my strength the hand itself pushed me backward. "Ahaha, got ya!"

As I stood there frozen in shock, a girl dressed in a flamboyant crimson skirt emerged through the mirror. Staring at her sharp red eyes, I felt fear gripping my heart. Licking her cherry lips she walked forward with a bounce, making her bat-shaped earrings and blood-red brooch jingle with every step.

Like a countess, her fingers were adorned with jewelry befitting a vampire. Not to mention the frilly clothes that only medieval royalty would ever put over their shoulders.

"R-Rin?" I muttered, remembering her face from the contract pages.

"Ah well, the very same," chuckling to herself, she puffed her ample chest and walked even closer until I could feel her against my chest. Peering up at me with furrowed brows, she lifted herself on her toes and leaned against my body some more. "And you must be the manager, the man who's supposed to bring humans and monsters together?"

Pressing her finger against my nose, she glided it down to my lips before biting her own lower lip. Although her body felt cold, the mushed feeling of her breasts against my chest had me feeling a little fuzzy.

"You should get dressed for the job," taking a deep breath, I stepped out of her reach. Her charm may have been unmatched, but the fact remained that she was a bloodthirsty vampire. "Wouldn't want to be late on the first day now, right?"

"As if I care," moving close once again, she reached for her collar and tugged onto the lace that was holding her blouse together. The slightest undoing made her chest nearly burst out, but the loose lace still managed to hold her clothes together. "I need blood, and…a man."

Her lust-filled eyes reminded me of someone, someone from the past who'd tried to seduce me once. That alone was enough to make me want to put her in her place. The fear of monsters was still present in my heart, but letting someone toy around with me again was not something I could tolerate any longer.

"Now come he-" Grabbing her by the throat, I choked the words out of her mouth. Her hands desperately began clawing at my wrist as her eyes popped out more and more. "L-let g-go!"

Moving without a thought, I leaned closer to her ears to whisper.

"You're not the only one who can be scary," letting go of her as I spoke those words, I moved my hand to her cheeks instead. "And though I admit, I'm terrified of you monsters, you need to know that humans can be just as terrifying when left no choice. So how about we call a truce, and just work with each other?"

As the light returned to her eyes, she coughed a few times before staring into my eyes. Suddenly a smirk came up her lips and she moved her head towards my thumb which had been caressing her cheek.

"Oooo, I like you," she mumbled before gently biting my thumb.

A trail of blood was pricked out from her bite. Licking it off, she shut her eyes for a moment, contended.

"And you're warm," she whispered, rubbing her face against my hand.

Drawing it away, I turned around to meet the others and potentially figure out how exactly I was supposed to manage such a massive hotel. The room I was staying in was exquisite enough, and I could only imagine what the rest of the establishment looked like.

As I opened the door to exit, hushed chuckles echoed behind me. But as I turned around to look, Rin was no longer there. Shaking my head, I brushed her off my mind and made my way down to the reception area.

If I remember correctly, someone from the Embassy of Human and Monster Relations was supposed to take me and the girls on a tour around the place. More importantly, however, that very person was going to oversee this project and report on its effectiveness to the higher-ups in the embassy.

'Let's just hope this person isn't as colorful as Rin or that receptionist from yesterday.' With that thought I marched down the red-carpeted staircase. Looking around on my descent, I caught a glimpse of oil paintings depicting unity between humans and monsters. Some pillars even had stone carvings of fable monsters who'd ever so often lent a helping hand to us humans.

"Finally!" The sharp voice of a woman was followed by the striking sound of clicking heels. "You're late on your first day, Mister Ken!"

As soon as I arrived at the reception, the overseer dressed in a navy-blue suit and a captain's hat glared at me with fury. Her tied red hair went well with her loose temper, but that wasn't something I could mention on our first meeting.

"Where are the girls?!" She exclaimed, frowning her thick brows deeply.

"I-" Before I could utter another word, the sound of approaching steps began climbing down the stairs.

Turning to the sound, I finally laid eyes on the other three. And the first thing that came to my mind upon seeing them together was…

'Beautiful.' Thinking back on the black-and-white pictures, they really didn't do their beauty any justice.