"Hah.. hah… Damn, I am- no, may be unfit- no, more unfit than I initially thought."

Dad smiled wordlessly, with a look of reassurance in his eyes.

"Don't give me that look! I'm not rationalising my health! I'm perfectly fine thank you!"

"We won't judge you, we will always support you no matter what. Regardless of your self-esteem issues and your athletic ability." My mother gripped my shoulder comfortingly, emphasising the last sentence.

"No! I am really fine!" I said, close to screaming.

"It's okay big bwudder." Yenila tugged on my sleeve.

"You're all traitors." I hissed as I tucked a chair and sat on it.

I glared at the slice of rollcake they ordered for me beforehand then stabbed it with a fork.

"Don't be like that bwudder."

I turned to my little sister, seeing her absolutely adorable pout made my foul mood vanish in an instant. I patted her head, prompting her to beam warmly and open her arms for a hug.

Did I mention that I loved doting on my sister?

"So how's school?" Dad asked.

"The usual, how's life as an old man?" I absentmindedly replied as I scooped Yenila into my arms, made her fly for a second before dipping her low, causing her feet to skim the floor, and placed her onto my lap gently.

During the process, my sleeve slipped up slightly.

Frick. I hastily pulled it down again, hiding any signs of abuse from my classmates before secretly glancing at the table's occupant to see if anyone saw.

I need to be more careful, I nearly blew my cover.

"Hey! Retirement does not automatically mean you're old!" My father protested.

I couldn't muster a comeback as Yenila's giggles rang through my ears when I wiped some crumbs off her mouth. So I just left the argument at that.

Mum and dad are retired mercenaries, I used to travel the continent with them. Once my parents got slightly injured, awakening my abilities. After having my sister, they decided to settle down. Since they live far away, only once a month on a weekend, they visit me to catch up on news and vice versa.

A wave of curiosity washed over me.

"Yeni, how ar-"

"Are you ignoring me? Going into your rebellious phase are you?" Dad cut me off, headlocking me and ruffled my hair as he did so.

"Let him have his way, Arthur!" Mum scolded as she pinched his ear, only letting go when he did. Ah. She's such a saintess isn't she?

"As I was saying, how is Yeni?" I asked.

Ignoring my question, dad grumbled saltily, "You were supposed to take my side…" as he rubbed his ear soothingly.

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I stuck my tongue at him with a triumphant expression.

"OI! I saw that." My mother swatted my shoulder and ruffled my hair.

Man… Yeni just fixed my hair too… My mum is a devil…

My thoughts must've shown on my face because dad smirked, after he was satisfied he began, "So Yenila…"

After that slight alteration, the luncheon seemed to carry on well. We were after all engaged in a long conversation as we munched on desserts and sipped on drinks.

Suddenly I thought, 'You should go to the bathroom.'

With that sudden urge, I excused myself and made my way to the toilet.

Coming to a halt, I frown in confusion. Only when I locked myself into a cubicle, I realised I had thought 'You should go bathroom' instead of 'I should go bathroom'.

What?

'Ehehe, I'm so smart, are you proud of me papa?' I thou- wait… 'papa'?

I widen my eyes in realisation, and took out the ring in my pocket.

The ring molded into a straight line and grew longer into about half a metre. The end of the stick bubbled and morphed into the girl with horns while the rest of the stick turned into her arm. At the end of her arm where the stump was, shaped into her hand which gripped mine tightly. Her figure, glowing silver, soon faded back to normal.

The dragon smiled wickedly and communicated in my mind, 'Papa, you'll swallow a fly if you don't close your mouth.'

This cheeky rat. I hesitated before thinking, 'Can you hear me?'

'Mhm.' The girl nodded. So it did work.

But the roll… Ah, so she used my bamboo bolster in place of the body… Is she that short though?

The dragon pinched my palm, 'Ouch' releasing her hand, I looked at her and raised a brow. Why was she throwing a tantrum now?

'You don't know?!' she shrieked, wait… Is she reading my mind right now?

She huffed, 'No, you're the one projecting your thoughts.'

I groaned, I'll have to learn how to not-project my thoughts later. For now, I would need to go back. My parents were probably getting suspicious.

'Can you turn back into a ring?'

'Give me a name first.' The girl murmured as she twiddled her fingers. She refused to meet my eyes and added, 'I'm hungry too.'

'Hm? And here I thought you didn't want to tell me your name.' I said. 'Why don't you turn into a ring and I'll think about it, names are important after all. I'll save you some food if you want.'

The dragon visibly perked up, knowing she won't be nameless for long, and her stomach would be full, she was much more cooperative.

After sliding her ring form into my pocket, I came back to the table.

Dismissing any ridiculous concerns of me crying in the bathroom because of my "athletic ability and self-esteem issues", I took my family shopping.

As the day came to an end, I bid my family goodbye, but not before making sure Yenila was satisfied with the number of stuffed toys I gifted her, the total amounting to roughly double her body weight.

Then, I thought of the little dragon, remembering to stop by a bakery as I walked back to the campus.

***

I dried my hair, dripping wet with a towel after a shower as I observed the girl gobbling up the pastries with sheer speed, her hands a blur. Wow. With this speed she would destroy competitive eating competitions and ruin the career of its champions.

Her abnormally largely inflated cheeks, stuffed with cakes disappeared in an instant, going down her throat before being replaced with more cake. This cycle repeated a couple of times before all the boxes were empty.

Swallowing what I presumed to be the last of the final cake, she dipped her head as an air of gloom hung around it, staring at her empty plate intensely. Ah, she's so cute.

…

Cute?

She was growing on me before I knew it.

Even though we had spent such little time together so far, I could no longer imagine my life without her. Little did she know, before she came into my life, I spent my days dreading every tomorrow, filled with nothing but bruises and scars that I needed to hide. Even when I met up with my family, all I could do was put up a facade and laugh half-heartedly whenever Yenila made a funny face.

I monitored the clock, time seemed to tick faster than what I would like.

I put out a hand in front of her downcast face, bringing her temporarily out of her misery.

"Hey I've decided, do you want to sign a contract with me … "

I paused for a little, hesitant, before spitting out my next words:

"Mulkaida?"