Meeting the Family by ImoutoCommissions

Chapter 1

When Pudding and Taruto began their relationship, it was all a lot of 
fun for them. After all, they were young, playful, perhaps even a bit 
too playful, and they were in love. It was only natural that they would 
focus most of their time on just having fun together and enjoying their 
new relationship.

But as months passed and things stayed just as fun and wonderful, they 
had to admit that this was really something special. They were clearly 
not just in this for fun, and that meant that they had to get serious. 
Which meant that there were certain things they had to do.

Introducing each other to their friends was at least something they 
could skip. After all the fighting they had done in the past, the groups 
were well-acquainted. Taruto did not have much else of a family to speak 
of, which ruled out meeting the parents on his side, and Pudding's 
father was gone so often that she did not know when that would even be a 
possibility.

But there was the matter of Pudding's siblings. She knew that they would 
most likely adore Taruto as much as she did, but she wondered how he 
would feel about all the children running around. She knew they could be 
a bit bratty and hard to deal with at times, but they meant well and she 
loved them so much. She could never be with someone who didn't love them 
as much as she did, but what if he didn't?

Needless to say, she was very nervous about having him over. She asked 
the kids ahead of time to be on their best behavior and warned Taruto 
again and again that they could be a little much, though he waved it off 
every time. He seemed to be excited for the meeting, and even took great 
care to learn their names ahead of time.

When the day finally arrived, her siblings were off to a good start, 
each one helping her clean up the house to the best of their ability. 
Though she often had to follow along after them to fix mistakes, she did 
not mind. It was the thought that counted, and it was clear that they 
wanted this to go well for her.

They did not really know the full details of the situation. She had only 
told them that he was a "special friend" of hers, and would wait until 
things were even more serious before she let them know of the romantic 
side. It would probably be obvious, at least to her brothers, but she 
still wanted to wait on that.

After they had the house properly cleaned and the children were dressed 
in their nicer play clothes, she felt that she was finally ready to have 
him over. Taruto was punctual, knocking on the door at just the time 
they had agreed on. Heart pounding, she went to answer the door.

When he smiled and greeted her, she almost forgot her nerves altogether. 
Being around him gave her such comfort, and she knew that she would 
likely never find someone as wonderful as him anywhere else. She stepped 
aside to let him in as her siblings lined up and introduced themselves, 
bowing respectfully.

As soon as this was done, however, their heads popped up and they 
scattered, each wanting to do something else. Heicha went to hide 
somewhere, having never been fond of strangers, and the boys went off in 
search of different things to show their new playmate.

Pudding was pleased to see how easily Taruto got along with Lucha, 
Honcha, Chincha, and Hanacha. The boys played and rough-housed, and her 
brothers flaunted all of their favorite toys. She was quick to join in 
the play, of course, and the group had fun for quite some time.

The boys had a seemingly endless supply of energy that Pudding had been 
able to keep up with for quite some time, and that Taruto seemed to 
share with them as well. They got so caught up in their playtime, in 
fact, that Pudding almost completely forgot about her little sister.

When she did at last remember that the little girl was not present, she 
excused herself to go look for her. She found Heicha where she expected 
to- off in some corner of her bedroom, scrunched back behind a toy 
chest. She had most likely cowered there originally, but as time had 
passed, she must have grown bored, because she now played happily with 
some of her dolls.

However, she stopped as soon as she noticed her older sister. She looked 
away stubbornly, refusing to acknowledge Pudding, who only laughed at 
the antics and said, "Were you just gonna hide in here all day, or were 
you gonna come say hello?"

"I'm not coming out until he leaves!" she declared.

"And why's that?"

"Because he's weird! And scary! He...he looks weird and scary, and I 
don't like him at all!"

Pudding leaned down to make eye contact and said, "Now, just because 
someone looks weird doesn't mean they're all bad. He's a really good 
friend of mine, and would I be friends with someone who was bad?" Heicha 
shook her head, and she continued, "I'd really like it if you would come 
out and play with us. I want my friend to feel welcome, and I want you 
two to get along."

"B-but...but..." She shook her head. "I can't!"

"Come on, I know you're stronger than that! Hey, how about this? If you 
come out and play for a little bit, I'll buy you ice cream after he goes 
home. Sound like a deal?"

She appeared to contemplate it for a second before she said, 
tentatively, "I might be able to try to play with him for a little 
bit...but you better not forget about the ice cream!"

"Wouldn't dream of it!"

With that settled, it seemed as though all would go well, but that was 
not the case. As soon as she brought Heicha out to play with the others, 
she took one look at the boys and their rough games and ran again, off 
to find a new hiding place. Taruto looked up at Pudding in concern.

"Is she okay?"

"She's just a little shy around strangers," she replied. "I thought I'd 
convinced her to come play, but I think you guys scared her with how 
rough you're playing. I guess I better go talk to her again."

"Let me come with you," he replied. "Maybe she'll warm up to me more if 
I sit down and talk with her!"

"Are you sure? She can be a little...difficult, with new people."

"Of course I'm sure. I want to get along with all of your family!" 
Hearing him say that made her love him even more, if such a thing was 
possible at this point. And with that, they took each other's hand and 
set off in the direction Heicha had run.

Chapter 2

They found Heicha once again scrunched up behind something. This time, 
it was a cabinet in the kitchen that did little to actually conceal her. 
She screeched, "Go away!" almost immediately.

"Heicha, won't you please come out?" Pudding asked, trying again to be 
gentle with the younger girl.

"No, I can't! He's gonna beat me up just like the boys!" she wailed.

Taruto stepped closer to her and she trembled as he did. He got down on 
his knees and said, "We were just playing, you know. I wouldn't ever 
hurt them and I wouldn't ever hurt you!"

"No! You're bad!" she said, shaking her head hard. "I can tell because 
you look bad and mean and scary!" She hit him on the head to punctuate 
her sentence, and though she was so small that it didn't really hurt 
him, it became incredibly hard for him to keep his patience with her.

He took a deep breath and reminded himself that she was just a little 
kid and, besides, it wasn't as if he hadn't been bratty in the past (and 
the not so distant past, at that). She was just scared of a new 
situation and he had to be understanding of her reactions, no matter how 
annoying they may be.

"I know I look pretty weird," he started, "but I'm not scary at all! In 
fact, looking weird just makes /this/ easier!" He made a funny face 
then, which she struggled not to laugh at, biting her lip. He made 
another one, keeping it up until finally she dissolved into giggles. 
"See?"

"I...dunno," she said, after she had stopped laughing. "I guess maybe 
you might not be bad..."

"I promise he isn't," Pudding said, finally speaking up. "And don't 
forget that ice cream promise."

At that, Heicha's eyes lit up and she finally came out of her hiding 
spot. She started off to join her older brothers and Pudding and Taruto 
followed, both relieved that they had finally gotten her to warm up to 
him. It had not been an easy battle, but it seemed that she would at 
last play along willingly.

From then on out, the day would be easy. At least, it should have been, 
the way Pudding saw it. But they were not aware of an unforeseen 
complication that was on its way to her home.

~X~

At some point, it had become necessary to move the games outside, lest 
the house not get destroyed by the children. The seven of them had been 
playing happily for quite some time before Taruto noticed something a 
bit strange.

There appeared to be two men on the horizon, slowly approaching. He 
didn't think that they could possibly be on their way to Pudding's home, 
but every time he looked back over at them, they had only grown closer, 
with no appearance of changing direction any time soon. Eventually, they 
were close enough that the others took notice, and though they all 
seemed as confused as he was, they also seemed happy.

And then they all got up and ran at one of the men, embracing him and 
declaring in unison, "Papa!"

A sense of dread fell over him as he realized exactly what was going on. 
He wondered if he should make a quick getaway, but the other man, who 
was a bit younger, had already noticed him and was giving him a 
once-over. There was no way that this could end well for him.

Pudding seemed to realize the problem too, though, and pulled back from 
the hug. "Papa, this is such a surprise...I wasn't expecting to see you 
today! Or...Yuebin." The other man gave her a smile, before turning his 
attention back to Taruto.

"Yes, well, I had some time and I thought I would surprise you kids with 
a visit! Yuebin wanted to come along and see his future family," the 
father replied.

"Pudding, who is this?" Yuebin finally spoke up, gesturing to Taruto.

"Oh," she said, trying to think of a quick excuse as her father took in 
the strange appearance of the alien. "That's, um..."

"Her boyfriend!" one of the young boys said.

Another said, "Shhhh! She said he was just her special friend!"

"Yeah, but he's really her boyfriend!" a third piped up.

"Duh, we all know that! But we're not supposed to let her know we know!" 
the fourth said.

"Boyfriend?" her father asked, looking perplexed. "Pudding, is it true 
that this...strange looking gentlemen is your boyfriend?"

"W-well, I..."

"Do you really think you should be pursuing romantic relations with 
anyone, much less someone of /his/ appearance?" interrupted Yuebin.

"It's not-"

"I've seen some strange things in my travels, but he really is quite the 
oddity, isn't he?" her father asked. "But that's beside the point. 
Pudding, you know you're betrothed to Yuebin. Why would you engage in a 
relationship with someone else?"

"Because...because...I won't be marrying him for a long time, and it's 
normal for girls my age to go on dates! I thought there was no harm in 
dating as long as it was ended before my wedding," she lied. The truth 
was that she had no intention of marrying for anything but love, but 
that was something she would deal with later.

Taruto could tell she was lying, so he played along with a lie of his 
own. "Y-yes, sir, she explained her circumstances to me and I know that 
nothing can come out of this."

"That's good, that's good," her father said, nodding. "But! I cannot 
just let my daughter date any man! I would only want her with someone 
that I knew was worthy spending time with her."

"I agree. I would never have my fiancee lowering herself," said Yuebin.

"Taruto's great!" she protested. "He's totally worthy of spending time 
with me!"

"That's for me to decide," her father replied. "And there's really only 
one way of determining if he is worthy of you or not, and one way to 
determine if he is a good match for you."

"Yes, it's the only way," Yuebin said with a nod.

"What are you talking about?" asked Pudding and Taruto in unison.

"Combat!" her father answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in 
the world. "The two of you will fight the two of us. If you are able to 
defeat us, it will prove that he is good enough for you, and it will 
prove that you can work well together and are a good match."

"That's ridiculous," Taruto said, shaking his head.

"Ha! I can already tell he's no good for her," said Yuebin. "He's 
nothing but a coward!"

"I am not!"

"Then why won't you accept the challenge?"

"You know you don't have to," she said, not wanting to push Taruto into 
some crazy test of strength just for her benefit.

"No," he said, "I have to, right? Gotta prove that I'm good enough for 
you."

"Alright," she said. "Then we'll fight them together!"

Chapter 3

Pudding and Taruto were given a few minutes alone before the fight to 
discuss their strategy. The two men were masters of martial arts, and 
made it pretty obvious that they did not expect to be defeated. 
Therefore, they considered it "going easy on" the kids to let them plan 
out before hand.

"Papa and Yuebin are really strong," she said. "But they don't know that 
we're stronger. I'm afraid we might really hurt them if we're not 
careful, so..."

"So we try to fight like we're human?" he asked. "That sounds easy 
enough."

"Thank you for this," she said. "I know it's stupid to have to fight to 
pretend to be a temporary boyfriend, but..."

"No, I understand," he replied. "Whatever it takes to make our 
relationship easier. And if I get his approval now, it might not be so 
hard to get his approval when we tell him that we're really in love and 
that you don't want to marry Yuebin."

She gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. "Alright, let's get 
out there and kick butt!"

~X~

The fight began with the two teams facing each other down. The rules 
were simple: they would not be following any specific style, and would 
instead do free combat. When a team had had either member be held down 
for five seconds three times, they would lose. It did not matter which 
member was held down. Pudding's four brothers yelled, "Ready...go!" in 
unison, and the four charged at each other.

Pudding went for Yuebin initially, in the hopes that he would go easy on 
her due to their engagement. She knew her father would not go any easier 
on her than Taruto, being a very fair fighter. She hoped her boyfriend 
would fare well, but still hold back to not hurt her father.

Meanwhile, she had to focus on keeping her own powers in check as she 
traded blows with her fiance. Either he was more talented than she knew 
or he was not holding back against her, because she was struggling to 
keep up with him and block. She could barely land any hits, while he 
seemed to not even break a sweat.

She was just starting to contemplate kicking things up a notch when he 
landed a solid hit, pinning her to the ground with ease. She struggled, 
but she was too late. She had not reacted quickly enough in her shock, 
and before she knew it, the five seconds had passed and she had given 
the other team one of the three victories necessary.

And then Taruto launched himself at Yuebin, because he could not stand 
to watch the other man fight her any longer. This left Pudding with her 
father, which was not any easier. From what she could tell, Taruto was 
struggling just as much, and she knew it was too much to focus on 
pretending to be normal and focus on the fight. Holding back was 
weakening them even more than it was supposed to.

The two men were just a lot stronger than she had expected, and she also 
had not expected it to take this much out of her to hold back. It became 
clear to her that if they were going to come out of this fight, they 
would have to let some of their superhuman abilities show.

"Taruto!" she called out, as she barely managed to block another attack 
from her father. "It's okay to not hold back anymore!" She heard one of 
the two men scoff, as if they did not believe the two were not always 
that weak, but Taruto simply nodded.

At first, it was hard to completely stop holding back. Though she was 
faster and stronger, and could land a few hits herself, she was afraid 
of letting herself go too far. But then she saw Taruto fighting Yuebin 
at full strength, and though he had a distinct advantage, it did not 
seem that he was really hurting Yuebin. Before she knew it, Taruto had 
restrained him and they had their first point.

It was her turn. She could not hold back and leave it all to him; she 
would have to fight with him, just as hard. She lunged at her father, 
faster than he could block, and brought him down, restraining him until 
she had scored her second point. Their team now had the edge.

At that point, the men's strategy changed, and they stopped fighting 
separately. They stayed close to one another so that they could assist 
the other in blocking. Somehow, they managed to keep their eyes on both 
fights, and fought perfectly in sync.

But, little did they know, Pudding and Taruto had fought each other 
enough to have their styles down pat. For them, collaborating would not 
be a problem in the slightest. Their movements were almost instantly 
linked, and they fought in an even more perfect sync than either of the 
men could hope to achieve. They were fast and strong, but, more than 
that, they were one.

And, in perfect unison, they struck their opponent and brought him down, 
scoring not only the final point they needed to win, but an extra one. 
They then stood up, sweating and panting, but triumphant.

"We did it!" Pudding squealed, throwing her arms around Taruto's neck.

He grinned, hugging her and saying, "Yeah, we did!"

Her father and Yuebin stood up, dusting themselves off. The former said, 
"Well, that certainly was impressive...and quite a bit surprising. But, 
a deal is a deal, and you've proven yourself worthy of seeing my 
daughter. Not only that, but the two of you make a very good match."

"I do not think I could ask for a better man to look after my fiancee," 
Yuebin said, offering a respectful bow, which was incredibly awkward, to 
say the least.

"It's almost dinnertime!" Pudding said, partially to defuse any budding 
awkwardness and partially because it was true. "Taruto, come help me 
finish getting it ready!"

~X~

Taruto was mostly useless in the kitchen, but Pudding did not mind as 
long as she had him by her side for a little bit. Though things were 
still complicated, they had overcome this challenge together and were 
both confident that they could overcome any future challenges as well.

When the meal was ready, everyone sat together and ate. Her father and 
siblings, the family she loved dearly. Yuebin, the man she could never 
love as a husband but had come to love and treasure as a friend. Taruto, 
the man she loved with all of her heart. And they were all smiling and 
getting along and enjoying the dinner that she had made for them.

Someday, there would be another conflict, when she and Taruto finally 
revealed the true nature of their relationship. Someday, she might have 
to have a much tougher fight with her father. But for now, everything 
was perfect.