Kimihito Kurusu, a young soul at the tender age of eleven, stared out upon an ancient forest from the porch of an old traditional house. The sun was setting behind distant mountains, the fireflies were preparing for their nighttime dance, and the smell of cooking meat was in the air.

Surely, anyone would think of this view as picturesque, the perfect subject for a landscape artist, the absolute classic example of the rural Yamaguchi Prefecture's natural beauty.

Kimihito was not impressed.

He would much rather be back home than stuck in an old creaking house at least twenty kilometres through twisting roads from the nearest collection of small shacks and a shop optimistically called a village.

Seriously, when was he going to be old enough that his parents would be able to trust him to be by himself when they left the country?! Why would they just leave him here with his grandparents?!

Two weeks! Two weeks he was stuck here in the boonies! And a least another week and a half to go before his parents arrived back into Japan. All the while his friends were enjoying their summers filled with new movies, cute girls (who would only be admired from a distance) and hours wasted at the arcade!

What was there to do here but stare out into the distance? He couldn't even go into the forest after his grandfather span him some old folklore about kitsune being on the hunt this time of year.

The only thing he could do was talk to his grandparents and god knows how long he could put with that, those boring, cru- "OWW!"

"Stop thinking like that, ya crappy brat." Toshiro Kurusu growled after delivering a sound slap to the back of his grandson's head.

"I wasn't thinking anything!"

"Eh, I'm not surprised! Yer head's still messed up from all that city smog." Grandpa Kurusu laughed, hypocritically taking a puff on his pipe.

Toshiro Kurusu was a fairly tall man, with limbs withered by age and a wispy beard that was trying to make up for a bald head. Despite his lack of hair or youth, he was a happy man, perfectly content with the road his choices had led him down. "Dinner'll be ready soon." He said, slowly taking a seat next to the son of his son. He sniffed, took another puff on his pipe and stared out onto the stunning vista before them. "Why do you have such a shitty look on yer face?"

Kimihito sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to get back to his annoyed musings. "Just... bored."

"Bored! Bored, he says! I suppose it would seem boring out here. Did fer me." Toshiro reluctantly nodded.

Kimihito raised an eyebrow. "For you? Haven't you always lived here, Grandpa?" From what his father had said before dropping him off, his father and grandparents had always lived in this traditional house, his father was twenty before he moved away for the big city where he met his mother.

The old man shook his head. "Life changes, Kimihito. When I was a lad, I lived in Kyoto. Born there, grew up there, planned to go to university there and stay there for the rest of my life. On a whim, I traveled for a bit, went hiking around these mountains," he gestured to the General area in front of them. "Met a pretty young thing and on a whim, decided to make her my wife, even if I had to stay in a backwater place like this."

"Grandma?"

"No. Turns out, this lovely young woman was already taken. But! It turned out she had an older sister who was a hell of a looker!" Toshiro stroked his beard. "Not like now! No, back then she had hair black as night, lovely long hair! Long enough to wrap yourself in, even!"

"Grandpa? What're you talking about?" Kimihito blinked in confusion. Was it normal to get this excited over the memory of hair? The same grey hair that his grandmother had?

"Idiot! What I'm saying is, life changes! For better and for worse! Summer turns to Autumn, Autumn turns to Winter, and the squirrel that doesn't prepare for it starves. Best thing you can do is go along with with life's changes and change it to suit you where you can. A man's strength is shown in how he adapts to his circumstances! A man can take whatever may come his way and make the best of it with a smile on his face!"

Kimihito smirked cruelly. "Aren't you just saying that because you kept making dumb decisions and threw your life away for some girl who wasn't even interested in you?"

"Ha! She couldn't cook to save her life! Far as I'm concerned, things turned out well for me, yer grandma's a real super chef. Yer just a kid anyway, you wouldn't understand this old man's wisdom... At the very least, remember this: Those that face change with a smile will always come out on top."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll keep it in mind." Kimihito muttered. Great, now he was he was hungry, bored, and exhausted from the pointless story.

"Good. Now help me up, I'm an old man. And wipe that shitty look off your face!"

DLWMD

As it turned out, Kimihito did take his grandfather's words to heart. Except for a very dark time during middle school and some of high school (which he would never admit to) he had managed to take the crappy look off his face, became a much more lax teenager who had an amicable smile and a willing to help disposition for everyone who know him.

In fact, it was probably his grandfather's words that helped him to deal with the strange circumstances that defined his life. Fairytale creatures were real? Sure, I guess. Probably won't affect his daily life too much.

So a snake woman was coming to live with him because of his absent parents and a lazy as hell/overworked co-ordinator? Naturally, he welcomed her into his home as would any good host and learned as much as he could about her so he could make her stay as comfortable as possible. It didn't hurt that she was hot...

Oh, a Harpy, a Centaur, a Slime, a Mermaid, an Arachne, and a Dullahan were moving in? Well, he'd have to make some adjustments to the budget, but sure! More the merrier!

He had to admit, he did have some trouble adjusting to the fact that they had feelings for him, but seeing that they were married with kids, it worked out well.

And speaking of kids and trouble adjusting...

What in the world was this?!

Peering out from the kitchen of the Kurusu Cafe, Head Chef Kimihito Kurusu's eye twitched in uncontrollable rage.

The Kurusu Cafe was a fairly large establishment, booths lined the walls, two walls had booths for larger extra-species and quadrupedal customers, another wall had smaller booths for humans and similarly sized extra-species. In the middle, there were tables for regular sized customers. But why was he describing the layout to himself? That wasn't important!

He could see his beautiful Victoria being seated by the new waitress, Mitsuru-san. Naturally, as the daughter of the owner, she was quickly seated in a booth for large-bodied customers that had chairs on the other side of the table. This was normal, Victoria would often stop in after school, either to lend a quick hand or stop for a meal with her club mates.

What was completely, utterly unnatural about this was Victoria's companion! Who was this kid?! This kid with the bored look on his face? Shitty kid, how dare you show that worthless expression to his precious child?

Wait, what was Victoria saying?

"Takano-kun, thank you for accompanying me today." Victoria said with a small smile.

What?! Victoria was only seventeen! She shouldn't be wasting time with non-family members! She should be busy with studying and club activities! She was the kyudo club captain, you know! Such a skilled girl, she got it from her mother...

"It's fine, Captain. It's not like I was doing anything else... by the way, where's the rest of the club?"

"Oh, they must be busy. Exams are coming up, you see."

Yes, that's right! So why are you here with this idiot!?

"You come here often then, Captain?" The boy, this Takano-kun person, asked as he perused the menu.

He was a plain looking kid, brown hair that looked like it never met a comb, bored, half clothes eyes stolen from a corpse, and a very sloppily worn uniform. Damn it, show so some decorum when dining with a lady!

"My family owns this restaurant, hence the name." Victoria didn't look at the menu. It was Monday, so that meant she'd be having the vegetarian kitsune udon, which was already cooking as soon as she walked in.

It payed to be the child of the owner, you know?

"Really, Captain?" Takano-kun raised an eyebrow. Ah, so you're capable of some expression then?

"Actually... Since we're outside of school and the club, it's fine if you refer to me by name." Victoria blu-

Victoria, no! Don't give the insect any reason to jump to some disgusting conclusion!

"Um, sir?" Koby-kun, one of the other chefs asked nervously. "Is there something wrong? I think some of the customers are getti-"

"SHHHH!" Kurusu hissed, waving away the Kobold. "Get back to work!"

Across the room, Takano-kun nodded. "If that's okay with you, Kurusu-senpai."

"No!" Victoria raised a hand quickly. "I mean that my parents work here and they're also Kurusu and if we meet them, it may cause some confusion! So... Calling me Victoria is fine too... if you want to..."

Gah! Papa can only take so much, Victoria-chan! It was a serious test of his iron willpower to restrain himself from rushing over, wrapping her in a hug and telling her how much she looked like her mother!

Takano-kun was also affected, but in a different way. "I-If you're sure... Victoria-senpai." The poor idiot stuttered. Know your place! Show respect to your senpai, first-year!

"I am." Victoria, his elegant, brave, strong willed Victoria smiled radiantly.

Urgk... He felt as if Victoria had pierced his heart with her bow and arrow.

"Father! Will I be as strong as you and mother one day?"

"Father, can you read this story to us?"

"Father, when I grow up, I'm going to marry you!"

"Father, thank you for raising me, but I must leave now to be by my husband's side..."

"Goodbye, Father..."

Kurusu staggered from the doorway, clutching at his chest. He lurched forward and grabbed a terrified Koby-kun by the shoulders.

"Sir!?" The poor employee yelped.

"Koby-kun..." He groaned. "Tell Miia and Rachnera that I'm not feeling well today... I'm going to bed early today."

"Yes, sir!" He said, watching his stricken employer move like a Romero movie zombie. Poor guy, he thought, he looked like he had seen a ghost...

Wait, was that politically correct?

DLWMD

Kurusu released an anguished cry as he fell through his front door of his large home.

Aoko and Morrigan sprang from the living room and rushed to the hallway to find their father face down with his shoes still on.

"Daddy?!"

"Honoured Patriarch?!"

They both recoiled in horror at the sight.

"Girls!" He shouted as he raised his head from his faceplant. "My precious angels!" He caught them in a crushing hug. "You'll stay with me forever, right? My little girls!"

"H-Hey! I'm still growing!" Aoko protested, struggling to free herself and her sister. She was a Harpy, cut her some slack, damn it!

"Are you possessed?! Should I inform Mother?" Morrigan questioned, her phone already in hand. "My scythe's in my room! I'll free you myself if I have to!"

Let's relax for a second there, Magical Girl Morrigan!

"No... Daddy's just really, really sad, sweetheart!"

An hour later, after an unsuccessful consoling from Aoko, Morrigan, and Suu, who should walk in but a rather perky Victoria, happily humming to herself.

Well, that changed as soon as she lay eyes on the feeble form of her normally strong and calm Father. "F-Father!? What's wrong!? What's happened!?"

"We were hoping you could tell us." Morrigan replied in his stead.

"Hmm? I'm not sure what you mean? I was at the restaurant, but I'm afraid I didn't see Father." Victoria glanced to the side and blushed. "I suppose I wasn't really paying attention..."

Another low pained whine...

"Father, are you alright?" Victoria knelt down to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Kurusu smiled weakly and covered her hand with his. "Victoria, my precious daughter... Forgive this selfish old man for disturbing your happiness."

"Father, you're only thirty-eight..."

"No, no... You're a woman, children grow up. I can't expect to be the only man in your life."

"Daddy, are you DYING!?" Aoko shrieked. Oh no! Oh no! Nonono! Mama Lala could do something right?!

"No, Aoko, no... just my soul... Victoria, give Takano-kun my regards. If he's the man you've chosen, (even though you can do much better than a dead-eyed idiot)."

"T-Takano-kun?" She yelped. "No, no! See, it's just that, that... Takano-kun is just a new club member! In fact! We, the rest of the club, were supposed to welcome Takano-kun to the club with a meal, but everyone just happened to not show up! A complete coincidence!" She giggled nervously under the unimpressed gazes of her younger sisters.

"Wait, is this Takano-kun the boy we saw last week with the ca-" Morrigan tried to ask, but was swiftly cut off her Victoria's hand.

"He's no-one! A complete non-entity! You don't even know him!" Victoria protested.

Kurusu shakily stood up on unsteady legs. Truly, this was her mother's daughter. "Victoria. What is your relationship with this Takano-kun person?"

"W-Well, he's really just a new club member. We met some time ago and I invited him to join the kyudo club. I'm not sure if we could even be called friends? He always seems rather bored, in fact... But! I know that he can be better than he is! I want... I want Takano-kun to be the person I believe he can be." She spoke, her words gaining more conviction as she went on. "And even if he made my heart skip a beat, it was only one time! A complete fluke!"

Kurusu released a deep, suffering sigh and hugged his third born child. "Well, that's fine." He smiled widely.

Life changes, Kimihito. A man can take whatever may come his way and make the best of it with a smile on his face! Now wipe that shitty look off your face!

"You're a good girl, Victoria. I'll trust your judgment." Yeah, he raised some good kids, kids that would keep growing up, kids that would have their own kids.

Ugh, did that mean he'd have disrespectful brats to deal with too?

At least that was years away... Oh, good, he was sad again.

"I'm going to go lie down, girls."

"Yes... Get some rest, Father."

DLWMD

"Sooooo... Who's Takano-kun~?" Aoko giggled.

"Nee-san! Even if our family owns the restaurant, it's no excuse for lewdness! People eat there!" Morrigan hissed.

"What lewdness?!"

"Obviously, you were doing something to upset the Honoured Patriarch! First, Emilia-neesan's filthy publications and now lewdness in a public place... A curse is upon this family!"

"Noooo! It was just a meal!"

Even as she tried to snatch Morrigan's phone from her hand to prevent her from spreading rumours of her supposed perverse habits to her sisters and mothers, a few choice thoughts ran through her mind.

'D-Did we really look like a couple? And does this mean Father approves?!'

Grandfather, please smile on your poor grandson from heaven.