Michiru: "Right?! Kids are wild."
She'd clearly found someone who got itlike they were speaking the same language.
Meanwhile, Yor just sat quietly beside them, sipping her tea with a flawless, pleasant smile.
The image of a perfect listener.
But outlets?
Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
Why do kids like electrical outlets again?
Did I mishear?
She refocused, occasionally glancing at Kobayashi and Michiru with subtle evaluation.
Observation was second nature by now.
Kobayashi: standard working adult, kind, a little passive, worn down by life, but easygoing.
Michiru: bubbly high schooler, straightforward, maybe a bit naive, nothing out of the ordinary.
Yor filed it all away internally, still playing the role of the sweet, harmless Forger-san.
Just as the topic of kids wound down and the awkward silence started creeping back
BAM.
Michiru's gaze suddenly locked dead-on to Kobayashi's chest.
The casual look on her face was replaced by intense focus, like a scientist staring at a new discovery.
Kobayashi froze.
She glanced down at herselfold T-shirt, nothing special.
Kobayashi: "Wait did I spill something?"
Yor raised an eyebrow, clearly confused too, and looked over at Michiru.
Michiru looked up, her eyes clear and full of curiosityand in a perfectly serious, crystal-clear voice, she asked:
Michiru: "Hey, Kobayashi-san?"
Kobayashi: "Yeah?"
Michiru's stare didn't budge.
Her brows furrowed slightly, like she was solving a major mystery, and thenwith complete honesty and zero hesitationshe asked:
"Does drinking papaya milk really work?"
PFFFFTTT!
Kobayashi almost died choking on her tea.
She slapped a hand over her mouth, coughing uncontrollably.
Her face turned beet red.
Half from choking, half from total embarrassment.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Even Yorcalm, collected Yorvisibly twitched.
Her hand shook the slightest bit, sending ripples across her tea.
For the first time, a flicker of actual shock passed through those soft eyes.
Her perfect mask cracked, ever so slightly.
Who asks something like that?!
Silence crashed over the room like a tidal wave.
Even heavier than before.
Even more awkward.
The only one unfazed was Michirustill staring earnestly at Kobayashi with her big, innocent blue eyes, clearly expecting a serious, scientific answer.
Back when they were vacationing at the beach, someone had mentioned the papaya milk thing.
Kobayashi even joked she'd try it.
Now that she looked was it working?
Kobayashi kept coughing, mentally screaming:
"What even IS this conversation?!"
"Michiru, what is going on inside that brain of yours?!"
Chapter 851: Kids Revealing Their Secrets
The door to Shin's room was shut tight.
It blocked out the soft murmur of the TV in the living room and the hushed voices of Kobayashi and Yor chatting nearby.
Inside, the air was thickcharged with the kind of tension only kids feel when they're having a top-secret meeting. A mix of excitement and nerves.
Anya was practically swallowed by the squishy cartoon beanbag she was sitting on.
Her signature wide green eyes were stretched as round as saucers, the reflection of the two girls sitting across from her clearly visible in her pupils.
No. "Friends" wasn't even the right word anymore.
Her small pink mouth dropped open in a perfect "O."
Her little heart was pounding like crazythump, thump, thumplike it was about to break out of her bear-print pajamas.
"WhaWaku-waku!!"
She finally found her voice, trembling with disbelief.
She pointed her tiny finger first at the calm, expressionless girl with a cute, dopey look that never seemed to change.
"K-Kanna You're a dragon? A real one?!"
Then she whipped her hand toward the silver-haired girl beside her, who looked like she was glowing faintly, wrapped in an aura of quiet calm.
"Shin You're the Holy Sword? That legendary Holy Sword?!"
Boom. Too much to process.
It felt like someone dropped a giant candy bomb in her braindelicious, but dizzying.
No wonder!
No wonder her mind-reading never worked on Kanna or Shin!
Whenever she tried, it was just static, like a broken radio full of fuzz.
Turns out, it wasn't a problem with her powers.
It was because these two weren't even normal people to begin with.
Their inner voices weren't human thoughtsthey were dragon growls and sword vibrations.
Frequencies way out of range for a regular little kid to pick up.
As the shock slowly faded like a receding wave, warmth rushed in to take its placewarmth and pride.
They had shared something huge with her.
Because they were friends. Best friends.
Anya's face flushed red, glowing like a ripe apple.
She suddenly felt this strong urge to return the favorto show she trusted them just as much.
She took a deep breath, gathering every ounce of bravery she had.
Her gem-like eyes sparkled with determination. Her little hands nervously twisted the hem of her pajama top.
"Anya"
Her voice shook a little but came out clear.
"Anya has a secret too. One to tell Kanna and Shin!"
Kanna blinked, her starry eyes wide with curiosity. The little ahoge on her head twitched like a question mark.
Shin tilted her head slightly, silver hair sliding over her shoulder as her calm gaze settled on Anya.
"What kind of secret?"
"Anya has a mind-reading power!"
She puffed up her chest like she'd just made the biggest announcement in the world.
"Anya can hear what people are thinking!"
To prove it, she pointed at the bedroom door and repeated exactly what her "Mama" Yor and Aunt Michiru were thinking at that moment.
"See?! Anya's amazing, right?!"
Her face lit up with pride, cheeks glowing pink.
But then the pride mixed with a little mischieflike a kid who's gotten a peek into something way too grown-up.
"Anya used to wonder why she couldn't hear Kanna's or Shin's thoughts"
"But now I get it! It's 'cause Kanna and Shin aren't ordinary humans! You're a dragon and a Holy Sword! Waku-waku!!"
She waved her little fist in the air, thrilled that she'd finally cracked the mystery that had been bugging her for so long.
And then
She leaned in close, dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, and looked around like she was about to spill top-tier government secrets.
"Anya's got one more secret about Mama, Aunt Kobayashi, and Aunt Michiru!"
Her eyes spun dramatically as she mimicked an adult deep in thought.
"Anya heard itwhen Aunt Michiru looks at Aunt Kobayashi, she's thinking She wants to be a bride!"
"Bride?"
Kanna tilted her head, ahoge forming a perfect question mark.
Clearly, that word wasn't in her dragon-vocabulary yet.
Shin's brows knit slightly as she processed the emotional weight behind it. She wasn't cluelessshe'd spent enough time in human form to pick up on some of these things.
"Yup! A bride!"
Anya nodded so hard her head bounced. She was basically glowing from how excited she was to share.
"And Aunt Kobayashi? Same thing!"
Three girls who couldn't be more different
or maybe, a mind-reader, a dragon, and a swordhuddled together in a circle, trying their best to make sense of adult problems way bigger than them, yet somehow still kind of sweet.
For a few seconds, the room went completely quiet, save for the occasional chirp of bugs outside the window.
"Papa"
Kanna suddenly whispered the word, her violet eyes hazy with something between confusion and longing.
She remembered how Michiru sometimes looked like she wished she had a real family.
She remembered how Tohru always wanted to give everything to Rei Ao-nii.
For Kanna, "dad" was just a word. Something far-off and blurry.
Dragons didn't really have parents the way humans did.
She'd been on her own since she was littlecausing trouble, pulling pranks, just to get attention.
Eventually, they kicked her out of the dragon realm altogether.
But that missing piece"dad"felt like it mattered. At least to Michiru.
Shin glanced at Kanna, then Anya.
She could sense it toothat hidden desire buried deep in Kobayashi's heart. A quiet craving for something whole.
As a sacred sword born of someone's wish she understood that kind of yearning better than anyone.
"Anya."
Anya suddenly clenched her fists, emerald eyes blazing with reckless determination.
"Anya wants a dad! A real one! Someone who can make Mama smile again someone who can take all those sad thoughts out of her heart!"
~~~
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Chapter 852: The Kids Want a Dad!
Anya: "I want a dad!"
That one line hit like a rock tossed into calm water.
Kanna's ahoge perked straight up. She chimed in without hesitation.
"Kanna wants one too. Michiru needs one."
Her logic was simple and blunt.
Michiru needed oneso Kanna did too.
And if she could have Michiru-mama and a dad who both loved her yeah, that sounded awesome.
Shin quietly watched her two companions.
Her Contract Holder's wish. Her friend's desire.
Together, they stirred something in the still waters of her calm heart.
She slowly, solemnly nodded, her silver hair catching the light like moonbeams.
"A wish deserves an answer."
That's what she was. A sacred sword. Granting wishes was literally in her job description.
And just like that, a wild, borderline-ridiculousbut completely sincereplan came together right there in that little bedroom.
No strategy meetings needed.
Just a look.
A nod.
Done.
Objective: Get a dad.
Tactic: Just yell it out.
The three girls popped up from their floor cushions like springs.
Anya stood in the center.
To her left: Kanna, eyes determined (even if her face was still adorably blank).
To her right: Shin, cool and composed.
They exchanged a glance.
Took a deep breath.
All three grabbed the doorknob together.
"One, two, three!"
Click.
The bedroom door flew open.
The living room came into full view.
Kobayashi was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, frowning at her laptop, a hot cup of tea in one hand.
Michiru was draped lazily over the sofa armrest, scrolling through her phone like she was waiting for inspiration to strike.
Yor sat primly on a single armchair, flipping through a fashion magazine with a glass of water beside her.
The three of them had long since moved past awkward chitchat and were now comfortably doing their own thing.
This was their balancecasual, chill, introvert-approved.
Then it hit.
Three tiny, confident voices exploded like thunder across the room:
"Mama (Kobayashi! Michiru!), we want a dad!!"
Anya, Kanna, and Shin's voices blended in perfect sync, loud, clear, and absolutely serious.
For a beat, time stopped.
"PFFFFFT!!!"
Kobayashi spat her tea out in a glorious arc, straight onto her laptop keyboard. The screen was instantly soaked.
She froze like she'd been tasered.
Eyes wide. Face locked in a Did I just hear that?! expression.
"PFFCOUGH COUGH COUGH!!"
Michiru's fingers slipped. She choked on her own spit and broke into a violent coughing fit.
She shot upright like a board, face bright red, eyes locked in disbelief on the trio in the doorway.
"Pffft"
Yor's hand shook. Her water glass sloshed overhalf spilling on her expensive dress, half splashing onto the floor.
Her usually sharp, elegant gaze was now full of stunned panic.
She sat frozen, glass in hand, water dripping off her fingers.
CLUNK.
Kobayashi's laptop, soaked in tea, slid off her lap and hit the carpet with a thud.
The screen flickered a few times then gave up and shut off.
"Coughughwwhat did you three just say?!"
Kobayashi finally choked out, voice hoarse and panicked.
She scrambled for the laptop, but her eyes were glued to the three girls, who stood there with smug "mission accomplished" faces.
Yor gently set down her glass, trying to look composed.
But her trembling fingers and the wet blotch on her dress told a different story.
She inhaled deeply and tried to speak calmly.
"Anya? Did you just say?"
Her eyes drifted across Kanna and Shin, then landed on Anya's facefull of sparkles and expectant joy.
"A a dad?"
Michiru was completely thrown.
She was Kanna's guardian, sure.
Kanna had even started calling her "Michiru-mama" like the others.
But she was still just a studentdefinitely not an actual mom.
And now Kanna was saying she wanted a dad?
Michiru's brain filled with question marks.
Where the heck did this come from?!
The living room was in chaos.
A soaked keyboard. A wet rug.
Michiru coughing her lungs out.
Kobayashi frozen mid-panic.
Yor looking coolbut clearly cracking.
The air smelled like tea and confusion.
And right there, at the eye of the storm
Anya.
Kanna.
Shin.
Standing proudly in a row at the doorway, faces glowing under the combined shock and curiosity of the three adults.
Anya looked so proud. Her whole face practically shouted: We nailed it!
Kanna's ahoge stood tall like a victory flag.
Shin looked completely at peacelike her job was done.
After all, she'd already nudged Kobayashi toward Rei Ao.
And as far as she was concerned, Rei Ao-nii should be her dad anyway.
Now with the three of them pushing at once?
Flawless execution.
The whole situation was wild. Awkward. Tense.
Kobayashi, Michiru, and Yor all stared at each other. No one had a clue what to say.
And that one line"We want a dad"had only just started making waves.
Chapter 853: SS Ghoul Binge Eater
Tokyo's 20th Ward.
The early morning mist still hadn't cleared, casting a soft gray veil over the outskirts of the city.
The streets were nearly empty.
All you could hear was the occasional train passing by and the quiet scraping of a street cleaner's broom against the pavement.
The heavy wooden door of Anteiku creaked open from the inside.
Touka Kirishima came down the stairs, her short, messy dark-blue hair slightly sticking out in all directions.
She was wearing a high school sailor uniform from a nearby school.
Dark circles hung like ink stains under her eyes, standing out sharply against her pale skin.
"Ha~"
She let out a long, lazy yawncompletely unbothered by how unflattering it looked. Tears welled up in her eyes from pure exhaustion.
