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When joining the Stellaron Hunters, there was one thing Blade never once took into account: the male-to-female ratio. Specifically, he failed to take into account what came with the female side.
Seeing as two of the five members of the High Cloud Quintet had been female, Blade was not ignorant of the monthly struggles that they faced. However, they never made a big deal of their cycles. They had each other to lean on and complain to. Blade would only be privy to such information if he was paying attention, such as if they were taking something for pain or if their behavior patterns had changed.
Hence, when Blade had joined the Stellaron Hunters, he was unfazed by the fact there was a woman in the group. As he worked with her, he came to realize that Kafka handled any feminine matters privately with only the occasional complaint.
“Here.” Blade placed a teacup in front of the woman sitting at the table.
Kafka pulled her forehead out of her steepled hands, her already empty eyes unfocused no matter how many times she blinked. Finally, they narrowed at the teacup. “What is that?”
“A remedy to ease symptoms caused by… that time of the month.”
A single brow quirked upwards, her violet gaze turning to him. “And what makes you suspect that?”
“The uncharacteristic exhaustion on your part.”
“We had a long mission.”
“I have other suspicions.”
When he didn’t elaborate, she sagged in her seat, her eyelids at half-mast as she eyed the teacup. “I’m being that obvious?”
“I doubt the casual observer would know.”
“But being noticed by you is enough to be concerning.” Taking the cup, she swirled the liquid around before taking a sniff, only to wrinkle her nose. “It reeks of the Xianzhou.”
“You are not obligated to drink it.”
With a sigh, she glanced back at him. The dispassionate veil over her expression had disappeared, allowing him to clearly see her exhaustion and pain. “Does it really help?”
“It was frequently used by two former colleagues.”
Reluctantly, she lifted the cup to her lips. “So be it.”
Kafka did not remain the only woman on the team for very long. Then came the mission that altered everything: a laboratory heist where the targets that needed to be acquired were two young children. He and Kafka had been designated as their teachers, but in reality, they felt as though they’d been thrown into the awkward position of parents. They’d had to teach those kids everything, not only about fighting but about life. Which, as the twins grew older and their bodies began to change, did include a discussion about the birds and the bees.
When it came to Stelle, he’d been content enough to simply agree with her that boys were gross and assure her she never had to let anyone touch her. She could just hit them with her bat if they tried.
However, no matter what she thought on the subject of procreation, she was not immune to the other change in her body.
“I’m sorry.”
The little murmur barely reached his ears in the crowded city. He glanced down at the young teen walking beside him, her frazzled hair hiding her shamed expression. “For?”
“Ruining the mission.”
“And how did you do that?”
Stelle was silent for a few seconds as she awkwardly crossed her arms around her torso. “I wasn’t prepared.”
He sighed. He wouldn’t lie and say it wasn’t problematic, but Stelle was barely fourteen. It was fair to say she was still getting used to these things. For a girl who normally thought on her feet, having to plan ahead for these times was hard for her. However, she was adaptable. She would certainly get used to it as she matured into an adult.
But for now, they entered the nearest convenience store.
They wove through the store, looking at the signs on the aisles to guide them until they found what they were looking for.
“Pick everything you need,” Blade patiently spoke, waiting at the end of the aisle as Stelle scanned all the products.
She was harried, reaching for a box before pulling back and scanning the aisle again.
“Take your time,” he told her.
She flinched, then gradually straightened, her shoulders not wound up so tightly. She went back to studying the products more carefully, even comparing a couple different ones. After a moment, she had chosen two boxes.
“Is that everything?” Blade questioned
Shyly, she nodded.
“Nothing for pain?”
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“Get some anyway. I don’t need you suddenly going down on a mission.”
She ducked her head, but turned back down the aisle. “Okay.”
He sighed. He could tell she was mortified. This whole new world of womanhood was hard on her, but the shame of having to confess that she bled all over the sheets of her bed while they were in the middle of a mission likely far exceeded any discomfort of her actual physical condition.
This time, she had a little bottle in her hand when she returned to him. “Okay.”
Blade reached out, dropping a hand on her head to ruffle her hair in the same way he used to do with that little pipsqueak that used to run around the blacksmith shop he’d once worked at.
Stelle tensed in response, but as he patted her head, she gradually relaxed under his touch.
He reached for the items in her hand. “Go do what you need to do. I’ll go pay.”
She handed most of the items to him, ripping open the remaining box to grab a product from inside before heading toward the nearest bathroom.
“Oh,” she said, turning back. “We need to… uh… get stuff to take the… blood out of—”
“I’ll take care of it.”
With a nod, she scurried off again.
By the time Blade had collected the other things they needed, Stelle met back up with him toward the front.
As they passed the snacks that were arranged before the checkout, Blade grabbed one of the candy bars he knew Stelle liked. While Blade didn’t often find merit in indulging the twins, he thought Stelle had suffered enough. He would ease the pain this once.
The old man at the checkout looked at the products, then looked at Stelle, an odd sort of grin creeping up on his face. “Ah, that time of the month, huh?”
Blade leaned against the counter, calling the man’s attention before he could finish whatever he was about to say. “And? Your point?”
The man gaped like a fish, then with a shake of his head, lowered his gaze as he hurriedly rang up the items.
It wasn’t long before Blade and Stelle began making their way back to the hidden house they were temporarily staying at. He thought of the candy bar that was in the bag, but when he noticed Stelle looking over at a donut shop across the street, he paused.
“This once,” he muttered.
Stelle looked up to him, hope in her eyes. “Really?”
“If you promise not to let this happen again.”
“I’ll be more prepared next time; I swear it!”
“Good.”
Light finally returned back to her eyes as they crossed the street toward the sweet smelling shop. It was early enough that there were only a couple people in the whole store. He allowed Stelle to pick an item she wanted, and grabbed a coffee for himself. In the span of a minute, they were back on the street.
Stelle swallowed her bite of donut. “Hey, Blade…”
“Yes?”
She stood a half-step closer, her shoulder brushing against his arm. “Thanks… for everything.”
“You can thank me after we clean the sheets.”
She lifted her donut to his face. “Can I thank you with a bite of donut?”
He quirked a brow.
“The dad in the shop stole his kids’ donut hole and said it was parent taxes.”
Parent taxes, huh? He took a bite. He should have taken two with all the trouble she caused, but he’d cut her some slack this once.
When Silverwolf joined, the ratio of men to women equalized. In Blade’s opinion, the additional woman in their group made shifts in temperament all the more noticeable. He knew women tended to sync up on their cycles, meaning if one was irrationally off, then it was likely all three were suffering the same way. That one additional woman had shifted everything from Blade being mindful of those times to navigating a varitable minefield.
Except the blowing up of this minefield couldn’t even kill a normal man, never mind an immortal.
Hence, there was only one thing to do: take a page from Silverwolf’s book and be prepared to cheat the system. And if all else failed, have three escape routes already planned.
“Why are they so loud?” Kafka groused, glaring at the other room. Terminus sat on her lap against her stomach, purring as Kafka continued stroking the black cat.
In the other room, the twins and Silverwolf were fighting over a video game. More specifically, Stelle and Silverwolf were going at it as Caelus slipped from the room, looking dazed.
“What is happening?” Kafka demanded.
“Don’t know; don’t ask,” Caelus squeaked, throwing his hands in the air.
Blade spared a glance at the other room, where two irritable girls were still bickering. Then he glanced at Kafka, who was tolerating Terminus resting on her lap far longer than usual. Almost like… a hot water bottle.
With a sigh, he stood, heading into the kitchen. Sparing a glance in the kitchen, he noticed it was emptier than he’d like it to be. Particularly considering this current situation. Yet, he managed to find two pudding cups. It would have to do for now.
Daring to enter the warzone, he walked between the two and shoved a cup into each of their hands.
Surprised, the girls stopped immediately.
But then Silverwolf glared at Blade. “What, you think we’re hangry?”
“Yes.” He prepared to walk from the room.
Silverwolf scoffed. “Pudding isn’t going to solve stupidity.”
“Who are you calling stupid?” Stelle quipped.
“You, stupid.”
Before Stelle could retort, a spiderweb appeared in the room.
“For the love of Terminus,” Kafka grumbled. “Both of you, knock it off.”
“Blade’s insulting us with pudding!” Silverwolf snapped.
Elio—"When had he even shown up?” Blade wondered—sighed. “Blade only forces pudding for one reason.”
“Because we’re hangry?” Silverwolf quipped.
“Because you’re particularly temperamental,” Kafka snipped.
“And what does that—” Silverwolf paused, shared a look with Stelle…
Then left the room for one blissfully quiet minute.
“Elio,” Kafka said, frowning as Terminus hopped from her lap. “Is a script really necessary at this time?”
“It will not be for you.” Elio handed a page to Blade.
With a frown, Blade took it.
“Okay,” Silverwolf said, emerging from the bathroom before Blade could look at the page. “Monthly achievement unlocked. Sorry for being a bitch.”
“Ohhhhh,” Stelle remarked. “Yeah, back at you.”
With a sigh, Blade finally glanced at the page.
Escape with Caelus. Immediately. Three days. DO NOT kill anyone on day two.
That was fine by him. They needed more pudding, anyway. Although that third line was concerning, Blade was not going to turn down this escape route.
Folding the paper, he took a glance at Caelus, who was reading a page of his own, brow furrowed deeply. When he looked up to Blade, Caelus’ confusion only grew.
It made Blade curious as to just what his script said. Maybe it elaborated on that “don’t kill” line.
Still, a script was a script. Blade tipped his head toward the door, one that happened to be closing behind the glowing blue tails of a jacket. Silently, Elio appeared, and just as silently, he escaped. Given the current situation, Blade couldn’t fault him, even if he wanted to.
Firefly was the last to be added to the group. With the addition of a fourth woman, particularly one who had medical issues that worsened her own monthly time, period talks were completely and shamelessly out in the open. The presence of Blade, Caelus, Elio, or even all three at once was not enough to deter them.
Such was the life with four headstrong women.
“Last girl down,” Silverwolf remarked, entering the living room where Kafka, Stelle, and Caelus were going over files for their next mission. Blade was coming out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with three cups of tea and several different packages of snacks. He hadn’t planned to pull out this many snacks, but Terminus was tired of being fought over and forced to serve as period pain relief. Hence, Blade had had to remove snacks to make room for the poor creature to hide in the cupboard.
“Is she okay?” Kafka asked.
“Painkillers and a pad are needed.” Silverwolf then looked back toward the bathroom. “Maybe a bucket and water.”
“Got the first two,” Stelle said, popping up off the couch.
“Got the last,” Kafka added, following suit.
Silverwolf looked back toward the bathroom, concern etched on her face. Blade would assume that meant Firefly was not to be left alone for too long. He hated to see her in this state. They all did. Some months were better than others, but this one clearly promised to be worse than most.
Blade glanced over to Caelus. “You have a script?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Tell me it doesn’t include Firefly.”
Caelus was quick to pull up a document, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the text. “It… actually says to send something to Firefly who will be serving as home support.”
He hummed. That, at least, was comforting.
Stelle was quick to reappear, flashing three colorful squares. “Regular, overnight, or basically diaper?”
“You know she’s going to want the diaper.”
With the skill of a professional frisbee player, Stelle chucked the purple square across the room, Silverwolf snatching it out of thin air. It would have been impressive if it weren’t so ridiculous.
By then, Kafka reappeared with a large bowl from the kitchen along with a waterbottle.
“Swish it!” Stelle then chucked a particular pink bottle across the room. It landed in the bowl with a plastic smack. “Score.”
“Silverwolf, go read your script.” Kafka then extended the bowl to her. “I’ll take care of Firefly.”
After a second of hesitation, Silverwolf dropped the large pad into the bowl. “Okay. Hey, Stelle. Wait a sec.”
“What’s up?”
“Throw me the regular.”
“Get your own!”
“Why? You’re right there with it.”
With a scoff, Stelle chucked that one over Caelus and Blade’s head, the little green square whizzing like a spaceship through the air.
“Ack!” Silverwolf had to stretch to snatch it. “At me, next time.”
“Got it. I’ll aim for your face.”
“Don’t be mean.”
“Don’t be lazy. You don’t even like that brand.”
“It’s not the brand. I hate the wings.”
“The wings are the only thing that keep that thing secure! What psychopath doesn’t want the wings?”
“They bunch up when you sit too long.”
“Then get off your lazy ass.”
“Excuse you!”
“We’re right here,” Caelus muttered, too quietly so as not to catch the bickering girls’ attention. “TMI much?”
Blade just sighed. “Obviously, there was no such thing as discretion or tact when living in a house with four women.”
Of course, when living in a house with four women he cared for, there was one last thing that Blade had been forced to adapt to. And a certain slave of destiny was learning that firsthand alongside him.
“Why am I here with you?” Elio questioned.
Blade shoved the box of pads into Elio’s arms. “Carry that.”
“For?”
“You see the future, yet you need me to tell you?”
Elio huffed, balancing the items Blade continued to pile on top of him. “When it comes to those girls, clearly you can, too.”
“Observation is incomparable to your talents.” He shoved a fourth box at Elio.
Elio’s eyes narrowed. “All of these?”
“Everyone has their own preferences.”
“And why are we getting them?”
Blade leveled a quizzical look at Elio. “Did you want to be in the house at this very second?”
That got Elio to pause. “Fair point.”
“Come,” Blade instructed, marching through the store to find the hot water bottles. Terminus had officially hit his limit being used as one. “We still have other things to collect.”
“Chocolate cheesecake.”
Blade paused. “What?”
“I can tell you right now the script will be shorter and less violent if we bring home chocolate cheesecake.”
He made a sharp detour toward the food section. “Noted.”