There are times when we think we've hit our stride, when our life has finally evened out and nothing can really go wrong. That was certainly how Yuki Saito had felt. The young man owned a bakery, and it brought in enough to keep him comfortable. He wasn't rich by any means, but he had enough, and he was content with his life. Even the reveal and influx of Liminals, formerly-mythological beings, didn't really make a difference to him, as they were still people, just with a different appearance.

He was unfortunately broken from this lifestyle by a rather rude girl that was currently living in his guest room. She was apparently a space alien, but he didn't really care about that; the poor girl had stumbled into his shop dirty, hungry, and somewhat injured one day, but she never really left. He supposed he didn't mind all that much, he wasn't exactly low on funds, but she did tend to get on his nerves.

"Your breakfast's waiting, come on out!"

Yuki called into his guest's door, frustrated that she still hadn't come down despite the late hour.

"Imbecile, I am working on a tool to repair my ship!"

"Fine then, I guess I'll just throw it in the trash."

They both knew it was a bluff, but she came out anyways.

"Ugh, fine, you buffoon! But if it is that horrible 'oatmeal' again, know that I will make your life extremely unpleasant!"

Yuki could only roll his eyes.

"Peach, you haven't eaten since yesterday. I know you're an alien or something, but I seriously doubt you can go too long without food. You need to take better care of yourself!"

Peach was a Tuffle, a race of technologically advanced aliens. She had apparently been testing out an experimental hyperdrive for her ship, but her craft was damaged in an asteroid belt, and she was forced to crash-land on Earth, then wander around for a few days before she stumbled into Yuki's life.

"I am trying to fix my ship, Human. I do not wish to stay here any longer than I already have, and I am sure you would much prefer I leave."

"You're not going to make it back if you're too..."

Yuki trailed off, unable to speak at seeing the girl in front of him. She was only wearing panties and a tank top, showing off her curvy blue body and amazing legs.

His voice returned to him as he watched Peach walk down the stairs, her pert breasts and toned ass bouncing ever so slightly with each step.

"You really need to come out here more often."

Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Hey Peach, how about we go for a walk after you eat? I'm sure you need to stretch your legs."

A lecherous smile crossed his face, but he forced it back down.

"Fine, if it will get you to stop nagging me about my health. I don't know why you keep doing so, you don't know a thing about my race."

It was obvious she didn't want to, but she had still agreed! Yuki put his hands together in happiness, and the smile broke free before it was once again smothered under the pillow of not wanting to get slapped.

Peach's breakfast consisted of Eggs, Toast, and Bacon; it wasn't the usual Japanese breakfast, but Yuki's time overseas had broadened his tastes, and he already had two out of three at any given time. He liked to think he was a good chef, but scrambling eggs, frying bacon, and buttering toast wasn't exactly difficult. Then again, he was a baker.

Yuki had already eaten hours ago, it was actually closer to lunch, but that didn't really matter; food was food, after all, and he opened late today.

The two stepped outside, Peach having gotten dressed. In an umbrella hat, thick scarf and sunglasses, a flannel coat, gloves, and thick pants. It was late spring, she might as well have jumped into a furnace.

"You sure you want to wear all that? It's a hot day."

"I'm fine, its not that warm."

"You look like you're trying to get heat stroke."

"I am clearly not a native species. I don't want one of your primitive scientists, if they can even be called that, to try and capture me."

"You look like a human with blue skin. Most people are just gonna assume you're a liminal."

"Fine, I'll take something off. But if I'm captured, I'm taking with me."

Peach took off her scarf, hat, and jacket, forcing Yuki to go put them back inside.

Yuki and Peach were currently sitting in the back of the shop. After their walk, Yuki had opened; it had been a slow day, though a few of his regulars, mostly liminals, had bought something. Right before closing time, however, a small, though certainly not young, girl with silver hair, black and gold eyes, and dark skin came in. She was also completely naked.

"So, Baker, what kind of pies you got?"

Yuki was silent for a time, unable to really process what was happening.

The girl tried to get his attention, but then noticed he was staring at her chest, rolled her eyes, and covered herself with her long hair.

"Hey! Customer here!"

This fortunately woke Yuki from his dazed stae.

"Ah, sorry. What kind of pie would you like?"

"What do you have?"

"There's a list right there," he said, pointing to a nearby sign. "But first, I need to ask: what's it for? Pranking, or eating?"

"Little of column A, little of column B."

Yuki's face lit up.

"Well, then I'd suggest the classic Coconut Cream. It's messy, easy to clean up, and tasty."

"Perfect. Zombina won't know what hit her!"

"I'd suggest getting something else, too. Friendly pranking is all well and good, but it's best to make sure there are no hard feelings."

The customer agreed, deciding to purchase two pies. Yuki went back to grab them, and the girl took the opportunity to steal a few cookies on display.

She then noticed Peach, taking note of her appearance. Doppel didn't recognize her species, and certainly didn't remember her being placed here. Her skin color screamed 'Dullahan', but her shirt clearly showed her head was still firmly attached to her neck. Either way, she probably didn't get here legally.

She wasn't really in the mood to do her job, considering she wasn't on the clock, but she supposed a warning couldn't hurt.

"So… do you have a host family?"

"Host family?"

"Yes, host family. The person or people housing you while you're staying in the country?"

"Oh, right, my host family. He is currently getting your pies."

Peach was a terrible liar, and, to someone like Doppel, she might as well have said the truth.

"We both know that's bullshit."

Peach shoved a nearby napkin dispenser in the other girl's face.

"Agh, my nose!" shouted Doppel. Peach took the opportunity to run like hell.

She knew she would be discovered eventually, but she had hoped that her ship would at least be somewhat repaired first. She had only trusted Yuki because he had taken her in and bought her clothes. She remembered when they first met, how she stumbled into his shop, injured and starving, and how he had fed her, tended to her (admittedly minor) wounds, and given her a place to sleep. She remembered how he didn't really seem to care if she was an alien, especially considering his planet had yet to develop anti-gravity tech, let alone long-distance space travel. Though she would never admit it, even to herself, she liked how open he was, how he always spoke his mind and told the truth, even if he did tend to say the wrong thing.

As Peach hid in an alley to catch her breath, the situation finally took hold.

"What am I doing?" she asked herself, curling in on herself.

"You sure this'll find her?"

"Maybe?"

"And what else might happen?"

"It could break, lead me on a while goose chase, just not work, or explode. I really hope it's not the last one. I'm not ready to die, and she's not ready for hobos and muggers."

"I'm sure she's a smart girl, she'll be fine. Either way, I'm not paid enough to deal with aliens."

"You and me both."

Dopple and Yuki were upstairs fiddling with a strange device that mounted to your ear. After a struggle to get it to sit correctly, Yuki gathered his nerves of yarn and cautiously pressed the button on the side, activating it.

The machine beeped, and numbers and words flashed across the screen. It apparently picked up every living thing on this side of the planet, and even color-coded the different species, though it only had two programmed in: Human, blue, and bright Green, Tuffle.

"Good news is, I found her. Even better, I'm not dead!"

Dopple gave a small smile.

"Do you see her?"

"Yeah. Looks like she's... about a mile south of here."

"I probably need to report this. Hold on."

"…?"

The small shape-shifter pulled out a phone from... somewhere and made a call. Yuki felt shivers go down his spine at her devious smirk.

Peach sat in an alley way, in the dark and the cold.

"So this is the Alien?" said a woman in a black suit accompanied by Yuki. Before Peach could do anything, the woman looked her up and down.

"Miss Peach, is it? I'd like you to answer a few questions for me."

Peach looked at Yuki, but he only nodded.

"Okay.."

"Are you here to invade?"

"Of course not."

"Do you hate Humans?"

"Not really, no. You are rather primitive, but I suppose you can't really help that."

"Are you going to cause trouble in any way?"

"I'm just trying to repair my ship and go home."

"Okay, then. Welcome to earth."

Was... was that it?

After returning Peach to Yuki's home/bakery, the agent pulled Yuki aside.

"Listen, I'm going to make you a deal. I'm only supposed to deal with Liminals, and I really don't need the extra work, but I can't just let a non-human stay with an unregistered civilian."

"What are you getting at?"

"Well, it would be easier for both of us if no one else knew about her. But because I'm doing this for you, I need you to do something for me."

"I don't like where this is going."

"I want you to register as a Host Family. If you can take in an Alien on your own, then I'll trust you to handle... delicate cases."

"Oh… okay…"

"And I want free cake."

"Yeah, I figured. I still have to make a living, though."

"Oh, don't worry. We only need enough for eight people."

"Eight?! But-"

"Well, it's really only five, but Tio's an Ogre, they eat more than we do. Now, I need to go home, but you can expect your first official homestay tommorow."

Yuki couldn't believe it. This woman was forcing him to house a liminal! It's not like he didn't like liminals or anything, but taking care of Peach was already plenty of work. Unless this next person could take care of themselves, and he doubted it, he'd have to seriously reduce his hours. They had better make up for it...

As Yuki laid down to sleep, he noticed a sheet of paper lying on his bed. It was a note from Peach.

"I didn't need your help, but I appreciate it, even if you are an imbecile."

Well... it was something.