Crow Tengu Story

>It's been half an hour and you're still waiting.
>Normally you would be fine with this, but since you've just moved to a new town filled with those monster women that have been all over the news since they suddenly appeared two years ago, you're a bit on edge.
>Especially considering how tight security was to get in here, the guards went over your information and questioned you for hours.
>Then there's the horror stories that you occasionally hear online, with the phrases "Bruised pelvis" and "Emotionally scarred for life" being the main stars.
>As your mind starts to go off to dark places, you hear the door being pushed open behind you
>You see a harpy waddle through the door carrying a box of papers in her wings
>She huffs over to unused corner of the room and drops it before she turns around and walks over to you.
>Now that she's closer to you, you get a good look at what she looks like.
>She seems to be young, maybe in her 20's, but its hard to tell with monsters. Her wings are long and black, the same color as her hair which is kept short and simple.
>She's wearing a blank T-shirt that is too big for her, probably meant for a larger human man but repurposed for her. On her head is a silly looking lopsided red cap which is is in the middle of adjusting.
>When she's done with that she extends her wing towards you. "You must be here for the job. I'm Yokoyama Akemi, Ill be working with you."
>You grab the tip of her wing and shake it. "I'm anon, it's nice to meet you"
>After you're done with introducing each other, she walks toward a door on the other side of the door and mentions for you to come inside
>Stepping in you see tables and filing cabinets full of books and old documents
>"This is where most of the papers we'll be transcribing will be. most of these are pretty old and we don't have many copies which is where we come in.
>"All we have to do is transfer the information to the computer archives, which we'll do in the room back there" She says as she points back to where you came from.
>"We'll go over how to safely handle the older stuff without it crumbling to dust later, most of what we have here isn't too important, but it'll still be a loss for us.
>"Other then that, we'll just sometimes have to check to see if there's any errors in the work, but I'm sure we won't have to do that much."
>"After all, many of these record are written by crow tengus, and we pride themselves on writting the best and most accurate documents" She says as she puffs her chest out with pride
>You take the chance to ask her a question you've been meaning to ask for a while.
>"So when will we meet the rest of the people that will be helping us?
>Hearing this, her smile falls and she begins to awkwardly shift her talons
>"Oh funny thing, it's just us. Not only are the human governments being strict on who can live here, almost all of the funding is going to other places. I could only manage to get a some dusty old records, a few computers, and one worker."
>Sensing your doubt she tries to reassure you.
>"But don't worry! I'm sure we'll be fine, after all, we have classic such as.....
>She grabs a paper at random and reads it aloud
>"Births and Deaths of Stonewall: 1405:1410"
>"See?" she says, forcing a smile "It's going to be fun!"

>It turns out to be sorta fun
>Not so much the work itself, much is mostly looking and back forth from paper and the computer screen as you type down everything as it appears, with the occasional calls to whomever you got your information from in case of a contradiction.
>As Akemi said, its mostly unimportant stuff, histories of small stories and minor battles, regional legends and folklore, and dairies of paladins who lit themselves on fire rather then be captured by the enemy.
>However, Akemi herself keeps it from getting too boring . She actually is really knowledgeable about these things, and she's always willing to help you out if you need it.
>Yo do have to be careful about what you ask her, because she can definitely go on about how how legends are a mirror into a societies hopes and fear, or how it's better to read history first hand or about how great the grand tengu archives are and if you can only visit it you would be really impressed.
>A few weeks into your work, you've settled into a pattern and can do most of your work by yourself
>As you finish up an very vivid account written by a Anubis on her testing the Pharaoh's hopeful suitors, you notice Akemi behind you
>"So anon, have you see the town lately?" she asks, fiddling her wings
>"Other then here and the grocery store, not really, why do you ask?"
>Akemi folds her wings "Well there's this nice quiet tavern nearby. You've been working hard lately, so I thought you might want a few drinks"
>Some beer does sound nice, so you decide to agree
>She seems pleased by that and heads off to finish off her work before leading you out the door.
>The tavern is only a short work away, and like she said, it is pretty quiet
>There's only a few other patrons other then yourselves as you sit down and take your order from a werecat waitress
>When your drinks are placed in front of you, Akemi takes a gulp of hers before facing you.
>"Anon, I've been meaning to ask you, why did you take this job in the first place?"
>Oh, that's rather direct.
>"Well, I guess it was mostly to get a free pass to head over here. Ever since the big event two years ago, I've just been really curious about all of you."
>"So when I heard of this job I took it . It seemed normal compared to all the ads for 'film stars'" you continue
>Akemi takes a sip of her beer "That's the story of most of the men of some here to be honest. They see the videos of all the succubi or dragons and they pack their bags and come over here."
>"Not that that's a bad thing" she hastily adds "It keeps everyone happy, and its good to see more men dispute all those rumors"
>"The mean the rumors about all the rape and abuse?"
>You feel a few pairs of eye on the back of your head and Akemi motions for you to be quiet. "That's a real soft spot for a lot of the monsters here. Many of us are playing by the rules that were put on us, or at least trying to."
>"But you have the girls that go out and do awful things to poor little human boys and it makes everyone look bad"
>She sighs and put down her mug "That's part of the reason why I came here. I want to show mankind that we have history and culture so they realize we're pretty similar."
>The both are you are mostly silent from them on, but near the bottom of your second glass you ask her something.
>"Before coming here, I hardly heard anything about tengus, there was nothing on the news or online, why is that?"
>"Ah" Akemi says "That's for a few reasons. One is that people only pay attention to the stars of the show. Dragons, Kitsune, Succubi, and Kikimoras, all of them are always in the spotlight. not all of us can compete with that."
>Reason two is that we're not that common, as a species crow tengu are fairly rare and kept out of the public eye. I think that there' maybe less then a dozen total of us living here, including my mom"
>Still curious after her little rant, you question her again.
>"So since tengus don't get much attention, why don't you tell me more about yourself? You've honestly got my attention
>Akemi tries her best to control her smile but it's still obvious
>"Well, if you insist. As you know by now, we're mostly scholars, writing down histories and folklore. We come from the island country of Zipangu and we mostly all live in the mountains there."
>"It's common for tengus to spend most of their life in their homes, only coming down to nearby human settlements to write own any developments, collect supplies and....
>She fidgets in her seat and takes a sip of her beer "Look for mates. it's a tradition to be very careful on who to pick,, you're supposed to get to know the man you want very well. It's to show that you have mastered the art of investigation and scholarship and can use them to improve your life with a man you can be truly happy with.
>"So you never found a man you liked?" You ask.
>Akemi turns her head "Ah well, it's supposed to take a while, you have to be be complete in checking all the men you like out. It didn't help that the largest village near us got a new mayor that hated all monsterkind. One corrupted his daughter you see, so me and mom were banned."
>"Besides, it didn't help that there was plenty of competition. Not only were the other monstergirls snagging all the men, but those human women could be fierce if they thought you were trying to be with a man they liked."
>"I'm not going to lie, that played a big role in why I came here. With all the men coming here, I thought I could get a piece as well, same as you."
>She chugs the rest of her beer and places it down on the table "It's been nice but I really have to get going, I'm expecting some more records to be shipped to us. Take  care"
>You both split the bill and go on your separate ways.