Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 1089: Girls to the Rescue!

Looking down at her, he let out a tired breath.

“Yes, but you’re Alice.”

Her head snapped up.

“Hmph! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

He drew her closer, his palm settling over her hair.

“It means you’re my amazing little sister.”

The indignation on her face faltered. She tried to hold on to it while he brushed a strand away from her eyes, but being tucked against her big brother made the effort rather difficult.

“Well… obviously.”

“Others won’t be like you.”

His voice softened further as he looked at the girl in his arms. He was so proud of her courage, so grateful every time she chose to stand beside him. He also wanted her safe with a desperation that made his earlier words feel painfully honest.

“Even with you, I worry.”

Alice tightened her hold.

“Then I’ll help look after them too.”

Yunohana reached him from the other side, her hand resting against his chest. There were tears in her eyes when he turned toward her.

“Yuno…”

“I wish we could give them the childhood you’re thinking of,” she murmured. “I truly do.”

Her fingers curled in his shirt.

The hurt in her expression made him want to comfort her. Before he could find the words, she moved closer and wrapped her arms around him.

“But that age of normalcy is over, my sweet Kaiden. Children awaken and fight monsters already. Others die gruesome deaths before they ever have the chance to grow up. Keeping your offer from them would still leave them in this cruel world.”

He rested his free hand against her back, feeling her tremble as she drew breath.

“For some of these children, dreaming about their future must hurt terribly. Every happy thing they imagined had people in it who are gone now.”

Her voice thinned. Kaiden held her a little more firmly, and she looked up at him through the tears gathering along her lashes.

“You’re giving them a new dream to follow. Somewhere their lives can begin again. That is a kindness to them, and to a world that has lost so many people to despair.”

Yunohana stroked his face, her smile trembling beneath the affection in her eyes.

“I am so proud of you. I wish you could let yourself feel a little of that too.”

Aria’s hand settled on his left shoulder. With Alice tucked against his side, the Moon Valkyrie leaned close enough to kiss his cheek before wrapping both arms around his upper arm.

“We’ll build them a home, Kai. They’ll have neighbors who know their names and friends waiting for them when they wake up. Somewhere they truly belong, not where they’re treated with pity and facing a future of uncertainty.”

He turned his face toward hers. The certainty in her eyes hurt in a tender, hopeful place he had been trying to ignore since the broadcast started.

He wanted that future for them. Of course he did.

He wanted children who could be excited about tomorrow, who had someone to tell when they learned a new skill. He wanted the people arriving in his dungeon to be glad they had come.

“One day,” Aria continued, brushing her lips over his cheek again, “those very children will think of you as the man who saved them.”

“Perhaps.” His fingers tightened against Yunohana’s back. “Or they’ll rightfully think of me as an evil manipulator who forced a life-altering decision on them when they were the most vulnerable.”

Aria rested her forehead against his temple.

“Then we’ll help them through that too. We can keep caring for them even when they’re unhappy with us.”

“Who knew my boyfriend was such a softie?”

Luna squeezed into the space in front of him, slipping her arms around his middle. From beneath his chin, she gave him a fondly exasperated look.

“You just nerfed the shit out of your own authority, dummy.”

Kaiden blinked down at her.

“You practically turned your personal dictatorship into a democracy. They have rights now. They can tell you to fuck off.”

Her cheek came to rest against his chest, though she kept looking up at him.

“You did that because you care about them. Could you give yourself a tiny bit of credit?”

“Hmm…”

“But don’t get greedy. I’m already hugging you.”

He managed a smile at that, and she jumped to kiss his cheek, called him a dummy again, then returned to nestle against him.

Calypso’s arms came around his waist from behind. Her embrace enclosed him with such gentle strength that he let some of his weight rest against her, grateful to be held upright while everyone insisted on taking pieces of his attention.

“Darling…” she murmured beside his ear. “I’m still a bit unsure about human emotions, but as far as I’m concerned, what you did is a very beautiful thing. Demon kids would sing your praises for eternity, even without your choice to lessen your authority.”

“Human kids will do that too, don’t you worry… Kai is just struggling to accept his role in it all.”

Nyx had fitted her soft curves against his right side, her fingers moving through his hair while Yunohana remained close beneath his arm. Her perfume reached him whenever she leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth.

Between her affection and Aria’s kisses, keeping his gaze lowered was becoming thoroughly impractical.

He wanted to look at them. To answer the love in their faces. Yet each time he tried to turn toward one of his lovers, another drew him back with a caress or a kiss, quite determined to have her concern acknowledged as well.

“I love you,” he said, looking from Aria to Yunohana, then toward Nyx.

“We know, Kai.” Nyx kissed him again, then giggled. “We’re rather fond of you too, if it wasn’t obvious.”

He was about to answer when Bastet stepped up behind the group and sprang onto his back.

“Bastet?”

Using his shoulders for support, she climbed above Calypso’s embrace and settled astride his neck. Her legs hung down his chest as she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his head and her soft thighs around his neck. She pressed her cheek to his hair.

“There was no room, Master.”

Kaiden tried to look up at her, but her arms tightened affectionately, keeping his cheek against her forearm. A helpless laugh escaped him.

“I love you so much, Master…” Her words came with a tender kiss to the top of his head. “I’ll spend the rest of my life cheering you up, if that’s what’s required to see you happy again.”

Alexandra had come close enough to join them, only to find every place beside him occupied. Her hands hovered for a moment before falling to her sides.

“Bestie, you’re too shy for your own good.”

With a mischievous smile, Nyx took his right hand and guided it around her side toward Alexandra.

“There’s still some Kai left,” Nyx told her. “There’ll always be some of him left for us all.”

“Nyx…”

Alexandra went pink when Kaiden opened his fingers to her. Encouraged by his affectionate smile, she came the last step closer and took his hand between both of hers, pressing his palm to her cheek.

“I’m proud of you too, Kai,” she whispered. “I hope you know that.”

His thumb brushed across her warm skin. She closed her eyes for a moment, hugging his hand closer, and the tenderness of it left him struggling to answer.

“I do. Thank you, my protector.”

“Good…” Alexandra nodded softly.

Then, suddenly, her gaze turned stern, disapproving. “As someone who has been in a terrible position since childhood… Had someone offered me what you offered those kids, I would’ve cried tears of joy and called them my hero for it. I think Luna is right for once. You’re too much of a softie.”

“Hah? For once?!” Luna scoffed, receiving a round of giggles from the women around her. That only served to make her scowl harder.

Taigi watched them from beside the steps with a sweet smile, her lord so thoroughly surrounded that she had to move a pace to see his face.

“My lord?”

He found her beyond Nyx’s shoulder.

“If a child chooses to fight, I will see that they are prepared before their first mission. They will learn to use their abilities and fight beside people who can protect them. I will take responsibility for their training myself, should you let me.”

Her hand rested over her heart as she addressed him.

“You gave my people the chance to become strong. Please let us help give them the same.”

Kaiden looked at the warrior who had stood beside him through the announcement. “…Thank you, Taigi. Naturally, you’ll remain the leader of the Dungeon-Born.”

“My lord…” The bronze-skinned woman bowed, joy sounding through her shaky breath.

His gaze lingered on the captain who was far too loyal for her own good before moving to the women holding him. They were already thinking about the children who might come, making room for them in the home he had offered.

He loved them so much that his chest hurt. Their pride in him, their hands refusing to let him withdraw, Alexandra holding his palm to her flushed cheek… The fear for those children remained, but he could breathe more easily with his family holding him.

“Thank you, everyone. I think I’m fine now.”

Yunohana brushed away the tear that had escaped her eye, then kissed him softly. When she drew back, he followed far enough to rest his forehead against hers.

“But could we stay like this a little longer?”

“Yes, we must.” The Japanese beauty nodded with grave sincerity. “We need to make sure you’re truly fine.”

Above him, Bastet rested her cheek on his hair again, while the arms around him tightened.

“Agreed…” the girls decreed in a chorus.

With Kaiden’s guilt overpowered by the girls’ overwhelming affection, it was time for the gang to look forward!