Volume 3 - Speedy Centaur, Chapter 15 - Hot on Her Heels

Yuisu was in a good mood, humming along with the radio while she drove through town. The weather was beautiful, work was done for the day, and Yuisu had landed day shifts at the convenience store for the rest of the week. Now that their schedules aligned, Yuisu was excited to spend more time with Haru.

As she slowed down to make the turn onto the dirt road that lead home, Yuisu thought she heard a strange drumming sound. She turned down the radio and listened closely as the little red pickup truck sped back up, but the sound faded away. Satisfied that the sound wasn’t a problem with her truck, she cranked the radio back up and hummed along.

Near the gate to her property, she thought she heard the noise again, so she pulled over and stopped. Aw, man. I really hope nothing’s wrong with my truck…

Yuisu turned the truck off and got out. Rather than stopping when the engine did, the sound got louder. A lot louder. She turned to look down the hill and saw a long plume of dust, bigger than what her truck alone would make. Something pinkish-orange was at the front of that plume and approaching fast. Before she could identify it, it had arrived.

A tall figure skidded to a stop next to the truck and kicked up dust in Yuisu’s face. She covered her eyes with one hand until the dust cleared. Through her fingers, Yuisu saw a set of hooves dug into the dirt of the road. Her eyes moved upward, following the visitor’s thin, dark brown legs up to some tiny orange runner’s shorts. Well, tiny vertically, but not horizontally: the shorts actually extended all the way back to the centaur’s rump. Above her shorts started a taut and toned midriff with a six-pack of abs.

And I thought Haru was fit… Yuisu thought, as her eyes scanned the rest of the new arrival.

She wore an unzipped pink sweatshirt over an orange sports bra that matched her shorts. Finally, short magenta hair framed her bright cyan eyes and youthful face.

“Hello… My name’s… Tsuen…” she said between breaths. She was still breathing hard from her high speed run, her modest chest heaving. Suddenly she gasped. “Wait, right.” She twisted her upper body around so she could reach a very full bag strapped on her back. She dug around for a second, then pulled out a handful of papers, unsorted and creased.

With a satisfied smile, she presented the loose pile of paper to Yuisu. “Here you go! I think my forms are in there.”

It was then that Yuisu started to understand what was going on. She didn’t know who to be more upset with: Agent Will for unexpectedly dropping another monster girl on her, or herself for thinking that he would ever improve. She took the offered forms and set them on the seat of her truck. “Are you here for the Interspecies Exchange Program?”

The centauress grinned, having mostly caught her breath. “Yep! And you’re my host, uh,” she paused in thought, then finished, “Nacka-hare-a Yoo-eez-oo!”

Yuisu cringed. Judging by her accent and awful pronunciation, she’s new to speaking Japanese… Yuisu forced a smile and corrected her. “It’s pronounced Nakahara Yuisu. You can just call me Yuisu. And you said your name is Tsuen?” Yuisu offered a hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too!” Tsuen shook the hand, then let go and turned away. She looked around distractedly, taking in the pine trees and sweeping view of the town at the bottom of the hill. “It sure is pretty up here. The air is thin though, makes it a bit harder to run.” She snapped her head back around and looked down into Yuisu’s eyes. “But that’s great! You have to push yourself sometimes, you know?”

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Yuisu gave a slow nod. “Uh huh.”

Tsuen just stood there, smiling, and made no effort to move or say anything.

Yuisu took the initiative. “So, if you’re staying with me now, shall we go up to the house?”

“Oh?! Is that where you were going?”

Yuisu nodded again. “Yes… Isn’t it where you were headed, too?”

Tsuen pawed at the dirt road with one hoof. “I guess? I was just following you.” She shrugged and her sweatshirt fell down around her bare shoulders. “I’m terrible with addresses, so I got lost in town. When I recognized your truck from Agent Will’s description, I decided to follow you.”

Yuisu frowned in thought. “Wait a minute… You were just wandering around in town by yourself? Didn’t Agent Will arrange your travel, or give you my number to call?”

Tsuen’s eyes darted to the ground, then the trees, anywhere but Yuisu’s face. “Maybe? Maybe I lost your number. And maybe I lost my phone charger, so maybe my phone died so I couldn’t call Agent Will either.” She shrugged again. “We’ll never know for sure.”

Wow. She’s the worst liar I’ve ever seen. “And how were you originally going to get to my house?”

“Oh, that part was easy. I was going to call you when I got off the train and you’d come get me. That’s why Agent Will told me what your truck looks like.”

“Hmm. Agent Will almost got it right this time. Some advanced warning would have been nice, though,” Yuisu grumbled to herself.

Tsuen’s dark brown ears perked up, sticking out sideways from her magenta hair. “What was that?”

Yuisu waved a hand dismissively. “It’s nothing. Let’s head up to the house.” She opened the driver’s side door and started to get in, then stopped. “Do you want to walk up the hill, or ride in the back of the truck?”

“I’ll walk. More exercise is never a bad thing!”

Tsuen managed to keep up with the truck pretty well, even uphill. As Yuisu stepped out of her truck, Tsuen galloped into the gravel area that functioned as parking lot and front yard and slowed to a stop next to Yuisu.

“Wow, you sure are fast, Tsuen,” Yuisu said as she tucked Tsuen’s paperwork into the backpack that she used to bring her lunch and uniform to and from work.

Tsuen smiled and nodded in thanks, but didn’t try to speak. She was out of breath again, and fanned her chest with a hand. Rivulets of sweat ran down her skin and steamed a little in the cool spring air.

“Well, let’s head inside.” Yuisu started toward the porch, then noticed the bag on Tsuen’s back. She asked, “Is that all you brought? Do you have other stuff we need to pick up?”

Tsuen took a few deep breaths before responding. “Nope. This is it. I travel light, so that I can leave quickly if I need to.”

Yuisu stopped at the front door to unlock it. “To leave quickly? Why?”

“Because most people in my homeland—” Tsuen started to say, but she was interrupted when the front door flew open.

Haru leapt out and nearly tackled Yuisu from her feet. Yuisu was wrapped in a feathery embrace, and then pulled into a long kiss.

Tsuen stood mere feet away and watched with a blank expression. Eventually, she tapped one hoof on the wood porch to draw attention to her presence.

Haru pulled back from the kiss and turned to the centaur. Her golden eyes narrowed and glared at the new arrival and she held Yuisu even closer in her wings. “Who’s this?”

Tsuen smiled her innocent smile. “I’m Tsuen. I’m going to be living here. Do you live here too?”

Haru didn’t answer. She turned back to Yuisu and peered into her eyes suspiciously. “Did you know she’d be coming?”

Yuisu sighed. “Nope.”

“Agent Will screwed up again?”

“Yep.”

“Ughhh,” Haru groaned, then suddenly let go of Yuisu and stepped inside. “I’ll be in my room, when you’re done giving her the tour.” She strode stiffly down the hall and out of sight.

Tsuen frowned and her ears lowered. She looked like a sad puppy. “I’m sorry that I’m a bother. I can go find a different host family.” She looked down at the porch, her hair covering her face. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Yuisu darted over and gave her a hug. Because of the height difference, she ended up wrapping her arms around Tsuen’s bare midriff, which was still a little sticky with sweat. “You are welcome here,” Yuisu insisted. “Haru’s just being a grump for some reason.” Probably the same reason my own mood is falling. I was really looking forward to some alone time with Haru… Yuisu steeled herself and put on a smile. But none of that is Tsuen’s fault.

Yuisu broke off and stepped toward the door. “Welcome home, Tsuen. I’ll show you your room.”