Chapter 42

Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls (モンスター娘のいる日常, Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou) Chapter 42 is the forty-second chapter of the Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls manga series.

Written and drawn by mangaka Okayado (Inui Takemaru), this chapter was released in Japan on March 19th, 2016, by the Japanese publishing company within the seinen manga and anime magazine,.

The chapter was later gathered as part of the series' tankōbon volume Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls Volume 10.

Plot
In the morning, Kimihito went to the M.O.N Apartments after Tionishia wrote him a message that Manako locked himself in an empty room since yesterday. Tio is worried that something is bothering Manako, so she asked Kimihito to talk to her. Kimihito isn't sure what he can do and feels a bite like Zombina and Tionishia are using him to help Manako so they don't have to deal with it themselves.

As Kimihito looks around, he sees a note on the door of a room on which Manako has very formally written an apology for using the room for herself. When Kimihito puts his ear to the door, he hears Manako's despairing voices, and he throws the door open, afraid that Manako is in trouble. However, when Kimihito enters the room, he gets quite a fright as the walls and ceiling of the room are covered with pictures with eyes. After recovering, Kimihito asks Manako (who was startled by his sudden appearance) why she is in this room, to which Manako, embarrassed, tells him what's going on.

In the apartment's break room, Manako explains to Kimihito that she wanted to overcome her fear of being stared at, since many humans are still afraid of Monoeyes. This fear was compounded when Manako noticed that even her co-workers still won't make eye contact with her. Kimihito now understand that Manako filled the room with eyes to train to overcome her fear, although in his mind he has to admit that he still finds this method strange.

Manako starts crying and says she's afraid to leave the building without the rest of the M.O.N, even for a walk, and feels pathetic about it. Kimihito then kindly tells her that he wants to help her, adding that it's better for Manako to fix the problem with a partner rather than lock herself alone in a room full of eyes. Manako is initially reluctant to accept the proposal, not wanting to burden Kimihito with her problem. She then agrees when Kimihito reminds her of his promise to spend a full time with each of the girls from the M.O.N and that he wants to use his day with Manako to help her.

However, before Kimihito can think of a plan to help Manako, Zombina and Tionishia suddenly appears behind with a large box that says "contraband". The two are in a good mood and loudly announce that they can now start with "operation: free Manako from her complexes". When Manako asks what they are doing here, they say that they knew Manako had never let them to help her unless Kimihito softened her up first. So when Kimihito came, Zombina and Tionishia got ready and waited. Manako accepts her help, although she is still embarrassed.

Zombina asks Manako how she usually covers her face. Manako says she often wears a big hat and looks down. Kimihito suspects that's why she run into stuff so much, to which Tio jokingly refers to Manako as "klutz" (which Manako finds mean). Zombina says that if that the case, they need to find a way to hide Manako's face without blocking her view. She turns to the box she and Tio brought with them.

In the box are all kinds of clothes, which Zombina explains are items that they confiscated during their M.O.N operations. Since the clothes just gather dust in the warehouse, Zombina says that nobody would mind if they put the things to better use, although Kimihito isn't sure if that's legal. Zombina ignores his question about this and pulls out some things for Manako to cover her face with.

Manako tries on a a few outfits, but they all have their drawbacks, such as a biker gear (because Manako can't drive a motorcycle), a soldier outfit (because Manako can't carry a gun off-duty), and a bunny costume (which Tio finds particularly cute).

While Tio cuddles Manako almost to death in the bunny costume because she finds it's so cute, Kimihito and Zombina continue to examine the clothes in the box. However, Kimihito notes that the items in the box are more like costumes than clothes. Even Zombina has to admit that Manako can't walk around in any of this stuff. But then Zombina has another idea and she asks Manako if she still has those sunglasses, which she could wear in combination with some other clothes.

Shortly thereafter, Manako comes back in, wearing a leather jacket with a fur collar in addition to her black Monoeye sunglasses. Tio thinks that Manako is good locking, but Manako doesn't really share this opinion as she doesn't usually wear these stuff. However, Kimihito thinks this is a nice change of style for her, which flatters Manako and makes her feel a little better.

However, Zombina tells Manako that she almost forget the "most important part" and gives Manako a large frame with a large rectangle in the middle. Irritated, Manako holds the frame in front of her and asks what that is. Viewed from the front, however, even Kimihito can hardly resist laughing, because the frame has a lettering like a wanted poster. The title is "wanted Manako" and "reward=1,000,000 Yen", where Manako's "crime" is that she used a room in the M.O.N apartments for herself (referring to the room with the eyes). In addition, Manako is wearing her black sunglasses, which now look like a blindfold, like criminals, who committed particularly bad crimes usually wear on wanted posters.

Zombina goes into a hysterical fit of laughter, while Manako becomes embarrassed and angry after realizing that Zombina was only trying to make fun of her. Meanwhile, Kimihito continues to rummage through the box of confiscated items and finds a pair of glasses clearly made for Monoeyes/Cyclops due to their one pair of lens. He puts the glasses in front of his eyes and realizes that it magnify everything like a magnifying glass. This gives Kimihito another idea how he can help Manako.

Kimihito gives Manako the glasses with the magnifying lens, although Manako feels uncomfortable with it because she can't see properly with the glasses. Kimihito explains that this might even be a good thing, since Manako might be so sensitive to the gaze of others because she she everyone looking so clearly. So if she can't see the gaze of others so well, it doesn't bother her. Manako hesitantly admits that she can't see people staring through the glasses, but on the other hands, everything is blurred and distorted now and she can no longer see what's right in front of her.

As if on cue, Manako stumbles over Kimihito, causing them both to fall (to which Zombina and Tio comment with an "oops"). Manako has fallen so, that she is now sitting with her bottom on Kimihito' chest and when he lifts his head, he accidentally catches a glimpse of her panties under her skirt. This causes Manako to scream in embarrassment and shock, while Kimihito (who is also red-faced with embarrassment) apologizes and admits his idea wasn't a good one.

Kimihito decides that the only way to help Manako is to get her used to people's stares. However, this could only succeed if the staring would no longer bother Manako, which she doubts that this could work. Zombina tries to cheer her up by saying that Doppel don't mind going around naked either, although Kimihito notes that this is not a good comparison. Zombina adds that Manako's look don't bother the rest of the M.O.N team either, since they've become accustomed to her. However, Manako then begins to cry again, believing that the people's stares would continue to bother her even after everyone gets used to her.

While Tionishia gently hugs and comforts Manako, Zombina doesn't know what else to help her. Kimihito looks around and discovers a festival mask in the box. The he looks at the notice board in the cafeteria, where it says that a regional festival is taking place today. This gives him a new idea. He turns to Manako and asks her if they could go to the festival. Not only would that be fun, but Manako would be able to talk to people in practice without any pressure. Manako is unsure, but Zombina and Tionishia encourage her to try, saying they'll come along to support her. However, Kimihito says it would be better if only he accompanied Manako, much to the M.O.N girls perplexity. Manako anxiously says, that she can't do this without the other girls and even Zombina expresses her concerns. Kimihito assures them that everything will be fine and gives Manako the festival mask he found in the box.

Shortly thereafter, Kimihito and Manako are at the festival, where there is a lot of activity. A group of girls (one of them is Yuuhi) are having fun when one of the girls accidentally bumps into Manako. The girls apologizes to Manako, while Manako in return asks if everything is alright. The girl apologizes again and goes on with her friends. Manako, who wears the festival mask, is almost overwhelmed by this actually simple gesture, since the girls weren't afraid of her. Kimihito assures her that her worries were unnecessary because of the mask, no one can see her face and since it is a festival, no one finds strange that Manako is wearing the mask.

He adds that it's a nice, safe opportunity for Manako to get used to talking to humans. Manako is still uncomfortable as she doesn't get along well with a lot of people, but her thoughts are interrupted when she is approached by a shooting gallery operator. The operator asks Manako if she wants to try the shooting game too, and he provides her with five bullets for 500 Yen.

One of the neighborhood boys, who is also trying his hand at the shooting game, frustratedly asks the operator if the game is rigged since the prizes don't fall down even if he hits them. Annoyed, the operator points out to the boy that he has to hit the prize's center of gravity in order to win the prize. Shaking his head, the operator thinks of his own youth and says that it would be impossible for a "modern girl" like Manako to even win a prize at the game.

Kimihito asks Manako if she wants to try the shooting game. However, Manako's ambition is aroused by the stand owner's haughty words and she has already gone to the booth and paid the 500 Yen before Kimihito has finished formulating his question. With her innate skills as a Monoeye and her sniper training at the M.O.N, she manages to win every single prize on the stand with five shots, so that Kimihito has trouble not collapsing under the mountain of prizes.

Desperate, the stand owner apologizes to Manako and begs her to leave at least half of the prizes as he will be ruined if she takes all his prizes. Embarrassed, Manako apologizes and says she was having fun and couldn't stop. She rushes to leave with Kimihito while the rest of the viewers applauds her talent.

Nearby, a diecut candy stand owner and a goldfish scooping stand owner amusedly observe the situation. The diecut candy stand owner says the shooting game stand has been ravaged, but dismisses it as the weakest of all stands. The goldfish scooping stand owner agrees and says it's a real "shame" for a shooting game stand owner to lose to a "modern day girl".

However, the diecut candy stand owner quickly loses his arrogance when Manako tries his hand at his stand. With her quick reflexes and her strength for detail work, Manako manages to carve even the most complicated shapes out of the candies in a short time, until the stand owner kneels on the ground in desperation in front of Manako and begs her to stop. Embarrassed, Manako also apologizes to him that she couldn't stop because she was having so much fun playing the game. From his stand, the goldfish scooping stand owner watches with frustration that the diecut candy stand is now also ravaged. However, he is still that Manako will not so easily defeat him as his goldfish are an especially lively bunch, making them quite difficult to catch in the game.

However, this liveliness is of little use to either the stand owner or his fish when Manako catches the fish out of the tank with a paper shovel (called "poi") at incredible speed and puts them in the bowl. Yuuhi and her friends watch Manako in awe as she tells them that hand-eye coordination is the key. Kimihito went of to get himself and Manako a bunch of food, and when he sees her and the girls at the goldfish scooping stand, he asks what she's doing. A little embarrassed, Manako explains that the girls asked her to teach them the trick to goldfish scooping.

After Kimihito and Manako have said goodbye to the girls and eaten some fried corn on the cob at a stand and it's getting late, they both go back to the MON Apartments. Kimihito had a lot of fun at the festival, and he's happy to hear that Manako had fun too, especially since she wasn't really keen on the idea at first. He adds that all was Manako needed to have fun was a simply mask, which Kimihito takes as an indication that as long as other people are used to her, she can get along with them just fine. Manako admits that she doesn't think this will be possible right now, but she wants to do her best until people get used to her. This pleases Kimihito as Manako now has more confidence.

However, by the time the two reach the MON-apartments, Manako begins to worry again that the humans might not be willing to get used to Monoeyes. Kimihito tries to calm her down, saying not to lose her resolve so quickly, especially after all that work. He opens the apartment door and tells the other MON girls that they are back.

In the cafeteria of the apartment, however, the two find, to their amazement, Tionishia, Zombina and Doppel, where the Shapeshifter woman has tied and gagged two human men with her long hair. When Kimihito asks about the two men, Doppel explains that these are the two co-workers who avoided eye contact with Manako and that Doppel forced them to tell her why they were acting like this. Kimihito still didn't quite understand, so Doppel forces the two co-workers to explain.

Embarrassed, the two co-workers explain that the reason why they couldn't look Manako in her eye was because they felt like Manako's eye could look deep into their "tainted souls" and see all the "perverted desires" of the two. Kimihito and Manako don't really know what to think of this confession. Deeply ashamed, the two co-workers kneels down in front of Manako and assures her from the bottom of their hearts that they never had anything against her and that they are really sorry. Manako is a little scared of this reaction and doesn't know what to do.

The two co-workers add that they actually like Manako, but before they can finish their sentence however, Zombina and Doppel threaten them by asking if they know what will happen to them if they dare lay a finger on Manako. Deeply intimidated, the two co-workers say they are aware.

Manako then speaks up and hesitantly asks the two co-workers if this means that they are not repelled by her because she is a Monoeye. The two co-workers hesitate at first and then admits that it was a shock when they saw Manako for the first time. But now the sight of Manako's eye is completely normal for both of them since they got used to Manako. Manako is happy with this words, although Doppel and Zombina threaten the two co-workers again, while the two meekly state that they had no perverted intentions.

While Doppel and Zombina shoo the two co-workers out of the MON-appartments, Manako turns to Kimihito and thanks him for everything. She shyly asks Kimihito if he can go to the festival with her again, if she manages to overcome her fear of being stared at in the end. Before she can continue, however, Manako begins to tremble from embarrassment at her question, which sounds like a date, and she falls into a semi-conscious state. While Tio is upset and worried about Manako, Zombina tells Kimihito that's it better if he goes home as she doesn't think Manako will recover if she keeps hanging around with him for today. Kimihito agrees sheepishly and goes home.

After Manako has recovered a bit, Zombina tells her that maybe it would be better if she learned not to freak out around guys before they worry about the staring. However, the conversation is interrupted when Ms Smith suddenly arrives in the MON-apartments, prompting Zombina to ask what she is doing here at such a late hour. To the shock of the MON-girls, Ms Smith announces that they have an urgent emergency dispatch. Outraged, Zombina asks if they're still on vacation, to which Ms Smith interjects that they actually were suspended. However, Ms Smith lifted the suspension earlier than planned and says the MON-girls should thank her for it. However, the girls are far from doing so and are quite angry with Ms Smith.

Manako asks why Ms Smith suddenly needs the MON-team and Ms Smith admits there is a good reason: the Japanese government has received information that dangerous Liminals have entered the country. Ms Smith fears it could get really dangerous.

Key Events

 * Kimihito and Manako attend a festival.
 * Smith delivers a warning about new illegal extra-species.

Trivia

 * The two agents afraid that Manako can read their minds with her eye (because they like her) are caricatures of Okayado's fellow mangaka Shake-O (the one with the glasses and eyelashes) and 221. The additional gag is that both are making manga about a one-eyed girl, Nurse Hitomi's Monster Infirmary and Mako-san to Hachisuka-kun respectively.