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 thick—charged 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 crazy—thump, thump, thump—like it was about to break out of her bear-print pajamas.
"Wha—Waku-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 brain—delicious, 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 thoughts—they 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 place—warmth 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 favor—to 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 mischief—like 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 it—when 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 clueless—she'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 sword—huddled 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 little—causing 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 too—that 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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