Just as you said, my father is an ordinary office worker who works from morning to evening for our family. My mother is an ordinary housewife who makes delicious food for our family morning, noon and evening. However, they raised me up to this point. To me, they're the best parents...

Narrator: "Issei Hyoudou would fight tooth and nail to protect his loved ones. A good thing that this story isn't about that, though he would have to learn to deal with a family easily larger than anything else. Heavens know that that would bring its own batch of craziness."

Not for the first time, Miki felt incredibly out of her depth, and in no part due to her fault—or anyone's specific, really. This was a matter of incredibly out-of-this-world levels of weirdness and happenstance that she was unsure what to think of, and that which she feels like she needs to get a drink for.

This wasn't the first time she'd ever felt this way. Dating, marriage, eventually getting Issei. Plus a couple more minor things that usually ended up with her finding herself in a situation so unexpected that she was lost ninety percent of the time.

Usually, she'd know how to deal with these kinds of situations to an extent. Even if she was greatly out of her depth, Miki preferred trying something rather than doing nothing. After all, on the off-chance that it could help in some small way, then she'd prefer action over inaction.

This particular situation wasn't allowing that, and she was currently going through all forms of emotions and thoughts that were jumping all around her brain and making her question herself, her life decisions and the very world.

For one, what are those things? She'd seen them with her children mere moments ago, and every instinct in her body was screaming for her to do something and get them away. What that 'something' was, she wasn't sure, because she doubted she could realistically do anything to what apparently was a gigantic lizard and an alien dog.

Two, why are they in their house? Oh god, she'd demanded them to enter her house without a second thought, and they were all sitting on the floor in front of her, as if they were naughty children waiting to be told off for something. Perhaps that would have been fitting for Issei and Ophis, but certainly not for the other two.

And lastly, that Gorou did not appreciate, let alone recognize the fact that she'd referenced a meme when everyone looked to the dog was incredibly disappointing.

"Hmph."

"C-Come on, dear. I don't know what you're upset about."

"Then tell me this. What the dog doin'?"

Gorou clearly did not get it, for he looked at the dog in question with a scrutinizing gaze, before looking back at her. "It's… sitting on its hind legs beside Issei?"

"True, but that wasn't the answer I was hoping for."

"Wha—Then what's the answer?"

To be fair, there wasn't exactly a follow-up to that line, since the video appropriately cut off afterwards. Still, it would have at least been nice if he'd recognized the meme.

Ah well, that's his loss. Someone might have an opinion of someone like her seemingly knowing her Internet jokes and the like, but they could take their opinion and wrap it, lubricate it, then shove it up as deep into their rectum so that it never comes out again.

…Snrk.

"Mom?"

"I-It's nothing, ahem," she hid her second snort as a cough into her fist. She really had been on the Internet for too long. "In any case, it looks like we've got… quite the company."

That was putting it lightly. If they were people, then it would be infinitely less insane. But sitting before her and too close to her children was a dog that was supposedly an alien (because no dog should be able to open up like some kind of banana), and a big hairy lizard oh my god why is it so big.

"Issei, dear, tell me. These… um, friends of yours—"

"I am not friends with your spawn," the lizard's sudden interjection caught her and Gorou by surprise. It could talk?! "I'd rather you not make the assumption, human."

"Ahh…"

"Hey, hang on here. Let's all just c-calm down," her husband stuttered, putting a hand on her shoulder and guiding her behind him. She appreciated his intent on trying to shield her, though she genuinely doubted it would do much. "How about you tell us what you came here for? We'll give you anything you want."

"I have no need for anything that you may offer. If anything, I wish to return to my abode. I was simply enjoying my time back home, but then she," it hissed, aiming its ire towards Ophis. "Teleported me here."

"Teleported..?" Miki repeated.

"That… is true, Aunty," the ravenette nodded slowly, keeping her gaze focused on the floor. "I was the one that brought Six-eight-two here."

"What? How?"

"Six-eight-two?" Her husband asked at the same time. "That is your name?"

"Were it up to me, I would not have chosen such an uncreative name. No, I was designated as such by your kind. Scientists, who captured many anomalies such as myself and many more," that made her go pale. The lizard must have noticed, for it snorted in what seemed like gruff amusement. "Indeed. There are many more the likes of I, though all of us differ from one another. I am the only kind of what I am, while there are others who are their own separate individuals."

"And all of you are just… kept hidden from the world?"

"That is how it is. They deign to keep our existence a secret from you, if only because they recognize that they cannot truly kill us, and decide that it would be much more affordable to simply protect your kind by keeping us away from you. And some of them experiment with us to find some use of us."

Despite the very obvious fear towards this new discovery—that there were indeed dangerous entities out there, and that most of them are kept in captivity—Gorou seemed a little upset. "Human greed," he commented.

"Indeed. Good of you to recognize that."

"Question!" Issei shouted, raising his arm into the air. "If most of you live in science labs, then how'd you get out?"

"That is a good question, and not one I have any answers to," it answered with a hum. "While I'm not obligated to answer, I can at least tell you that there was… well, I was suddenly transported into the forest I live in by means of a forced teleportation. And now that I think about it…" Its gaze moved towards Ophis. "You had no hand in that, do you?"

"No. I, did not even know you existed prior."

"Hmph. Figures. So yes, I know not what allowed me to leave the facilities to begin with. Still, I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and my newfound freedom is indeed one that I enjoy. You'll find me less than amused to be kept away from it. In fact, seeing that I have no further business here, I'd prefer leaving this place as soon as possible."

"So you're not going to eat us, right, Mister Lizard?"

The expression on the lizard's face was somehow able to emulate pure disgust. "Don't flatter yourselves. Your kind tastes disgusting," not sure if she's supposed to be insulted or be afraid by the fact that it ate humans before. "Since I've begun living in the forest, I have had far more appealing meals. Even mere plants are far more palatable than you."

"Plants? I thought alligators are carnivores."

"I am a biologically advanced creature that is limited to no such thing. Whatever I desire to eat, I can do so with ease."

"Then can't you stay for Mom's cooking? It's super good! I know you'll love it!" He turned back towards her. "Come ooon! We can all have dinner together! It'll be nice!"

"Son," Gorou began, head turning to look at Six-eight-two for a moment before looking back at Issei. "We… don't exactly have enough food to feed a crocodile."

Her son looked ready to make some kind of retort, only to pause as a thought came to his mind before he nodded. "That does make sense… It'd be really expensive to feed a crocodile, wouldn't it?"

"It would be. I think a crocodile eats five pounds of meat in a day."

"But, isn't a cow generally around a thousand and eight hundred pounds?" Ophis commented. "That, is already a lot of meat, so it would not be impossible to gather enough to feed a crocodile."

"That's true… but I'm pretty sure beef is relatively expensive, especially if you're thinking about buying a whole cow. And we certainly won't have enough weight in chicken meat in the house to feet Six-eight-two."

"Although, considering that crocodiles don't move a lot, I don't think they have to eat a lot," Miki pointed out afterwards (quietly aware that she had joined the conversation despite the fact that she was busy trying to come to terms with the idea that she was talking about a dangerous entity in their house), though she paused afterwards. "Do they..?"

"I think crocodiles hibernate too, dear, so they would have to eat a lot before they go to sleep to conserve all that energy. And they're pretty big, so they definitely need a lot of food. Although the point that you brought up about them not moving a lot does make sense."

"So do you eat a lot, Mister Lizard?"

"Don't call me that," huffed the creature. "And while all of you are not wrong, basic animal biology does not apply to me. I am able to decide the amount of nutrition I require. I technically do not need any—such is how advanced my biological status is compared to any other lifeforms—but I do eat simply because it's… wait, why am I explaining myself to you again? Damn it. I'd rather be back home," it growled, gaze shifting to Ophis as all of its eyes narrowed. "Dragon. Send me back."

Dragon? Great. There was a dragon in the house, too. One that she couldn't find as she looked around. "There's a dragon in the house now? Where?"

No one said a thing. Issei looked like he wanted to, though when he and Ophis made eye contact, he suddenly seemed to freeze up. That alone made her worry, and that only got worse when she raised a dainty hand into the air. "That's… me, Aunty."

"Wha… Ophis?" She muttered. "You're a dragon?"

"I… Yes, I am. Specifically, I am the Ouroboros Dragon," considering that that didn't ring any bells in her head, Ophis went on to explain. "I am one of the most powerful dragons in existence. The representation of infinity. I came from a place called the Dimensional Gap; a place that exists between Earth, Hell and Heaven."

Without saying a word, she pushed back against her hair that framed her face… only to reveal an ear with a pointed tip. She'd realized that she'd never seen the little girl's ears before, as her hair had been long enough to keep them hidden. She would have called it cosplay, though for the fact that it seemed to twitch a little, any opportunity for doubt was immediately dashed away.

Oh, and apparently, hell and heaven exist. And what? Angels and devils exist too and live in those places?

…Somehow, she doesn't feel as if that was wrong. There really might be angels and devils out there.

"A dragon," Gorou muttered, leaning in to take a closer look. "You don't really look like one. Even the ear isn't… er, dragon-like. More like an elf. Are there human dragons?"

"No. This is simply an appearance I've adopted," she explained, letting her hair fall once more, though not obscuring her ear. "I, have taken up many forms beyond this one."

"And you chose this one because it's…"

"Convenient. And, easy to move around."

"That doesn't make sense. A child wandering on her own would surely draw the attention of most."

"Perhaps, though I can always, warp away if I want to avoid trouble," she shrugged back. "It isn't that hard," as if to prove the fact, she allowed traces of purplish-black energy to dance between her fingers, legitimizing the existence of magic for her to see.

Well, that's… great. Fantastic, even! The existence of magic aside, she wasn't sure if a habit of avoiding people by literally disappearing was something she was supposed to be encouraging. If anything, she should have a little more confidence with herself and just—

Miki shook her head. No, Miki! Now's not the time to be thinking about that kind of thing!

"And… what about this one," she gestured to the dog.

Woof!

"She's friendly!" Issei reached over to pull the dog in for a hug. She simply yipped, and Miki had to clamp down on the urge to grab her phone and take a picture of the two. They were just being so adorable! "Ophis, Dad and I saw her when we went to go buy groceries yesterday. Guess she ended up following us!"

"She, attempted to protect me when there were stray devils outside of the house tonight," the girl must have caught onto her panic since she quickly followed up. "We took care of them. The three of us," she gestured to herself and the other two alien-like creatures. "None of them will harm you."

"It's gross out there," Issei remarked. "Won't people get suspicious if they see all those bodies in the morning?"

"I, will remove any traces of them before anyone does. I promise you," she met her gaze once more, wincing. "I suggest you don't look outside. It is not pretty."

Splendid. There were apparently devils outside. Dead, by the sounds of it, and likely in a messy pile on the streets. She both wanted to look outside and close the curtains.

The sheer dissonance from the idea that little Ophis, the girl she had slight trouble waking up every morning, was also somehow responsible for the mass killing of several devils. That's either a joke the three of them (plus Issei, she supposed) were in on, or the actual reality that she was dealing with, which she felt was the likely matter.

Actually, this whole night is beginning to feel more and more like a fever dream. The kind of which was likely a result of her previous incarnation opting to smoke as much coke as she could before she eventually died from the overdose. This surrealness is likely her experiencing a high after the fact.

Oh, and there comes the headache. Just great.

Miki realized she'd fallen onto a chair when she felt a hard surface underneath her butt, the suddenness making her headache a little worse. Gorou seemed to have noticed, moving to her side with a worried look, though she was quick to wave it off.

Honestly, this whole situation was just… too much. Her head was spinning from everything she was learning tonight. Information was practically being injected into her brain without pause that she really felt like her head was going to explode—and knowing that there were three non-humans in her house was not helping matters. Even little Ophis…

God, how had things end up this way? It had been much easier when all she had to worry about was trying to get her two kids eat their vegetables, not dealing with the realization that two aliens and a dragon were in her house.

Still, regarding the very strange scene before her, it was easily the most disarming and plain thing ever; namely, Issei still hugging the dog and chatting animatedly to Six-eight-two, who kept calling him things like 'annoying' and 'noisy'. Ophis looked uncomfortable. Their eyes met for just a moment before she looked away, something akin to guilt flashing through her expression.

Her throat swallowed, trying to steady herself with a couple slow inhales. This was… This was okay. No one was getting hurt. Six-eight-two, while clearly antagonistic, had made it seem clear that it wasn't going to attack them… maybe. The dog was fine too, and so was Ophis, but she still couldn't help but feel uneasy.

And who could blame her? She was literally sitting in the same room as monsters. Monsters who could very much do unspeakable things, and she wouldn't be able to do anything about them. She'd be helpless.

Her eyes moved towards Ophis, and she didn't see a mighty dragon the likes of which fantasy movies and books often dramatize. Instead, all that she saw was a little scared girl.

Urgh. Curse her weak heart.

"Gorou, can you watch over everyone for a bit? I need to do a little calming down."

"Huh? Oh, um, sure."

Without a word, Miki Hyoudou got up, and proceeded to walk upstairs.

With how loudly everyone were talking, they would have never noticed the human woman leaving the room. However, it was only her loud footsteps that which alerted it, a few eyes snapping her way to watch her go up and disappear out of sight.

"Huh? Mom, where you going?" The human brat seemed to have noticed too, though his shouted question gained him no answer. "Maybe she went to the bathroom."

"No one knows. Regardless, why are you so adamant about me staying here? It will just be myself who will be absent. There is the rest."

"Yeah, but! When's the next time that you'll come, and we get to eat together like this? It would be a better idea to do it tonight! Come ooon, it'll be fun!"

Urgh. Stupid human children and their simple mindsets and their unending insistence. And though it would be so easy to wipe the floor with this idiot, Six-eight-two didn't feel particularly up for it. It wondered why.

"Issei, I really don't think you should bother Six-eight-two all that much. It… He? She?"

"I have no particular gender assigned to me."

"But your voice sounds manly. Maybe you're a guy?"

"I can literally change myself to be a female if I so wanted to, but sure. Anything to shut you up," it—he, huffed. That would be a strange thing to acquaint to, but it—he supposed he could try. It would literally change nothing about… him.

"…I am actually in a room talking to my son, his friend who is apparently a dragon-in-disguise, a talking lizard and an alien dog," Gorou sighed. He then looked to the dog. "You can't talk too, can you?"

Awoo!

"Somehow, the fact that you don't, which should make you as normal as any other dog, isn't helping much."

Six-eight-two's eyes did a collective eye-roll. Really, he was being absolutely silly, though he supposed it would be unfair to the man to consider his reaction exaggerated. After everything thus far, being able to talk would be the least surprising thing.

Its eyes roved over the house's interior, finding it relatively… nice, for a lack of a better term. The many colours in the forms of decorations, hung-up paintings and flowers gave the room a nice touch—leaps above the containment facilities and the corridors. He just can't wrap his head around the idea that those scientists willingly made everything so white it hurt the eyes. Hell, the lab coats they wear are freaking white!

Still, it was relatively small, so he had shrunk himself prior to entering the house when that woman demanded they do so just to make sure he didn't end up squashing everyone to death. Would that have been his first instinct, he wouldn't need to be pestered by this brat every second.

Although, the lack of boisterous shouting has him trying to find the boy, only to see him talking to the dragon. Six-eight-two hummed, able to catch traces of their hushed conversation, indicating that they were trying to keep it as private as possible. He opted to alter his auditory reception to better tune in on their talk.

However, a quick look at the girl's unhappy expression has him pulling back at the very last second, nullifying genetic transcription and returning his body to its original state. The brunette was attempting to cheer her up the entire way, likely giving her comforting words and soft pats on the shoulder.

…Urgh. He really wanted to know. He'll choose to blame laziness on deciding not to listen in on them, and no one could say otherwise.

"Six-eight-two…" The gigantic lizard turned his head towards the human man. His posture was clearly tense, which was appropriate considering the ongoing situation, but his expression was… curious? "If you don't mind my asking… why did Ophis bring you here?"

"Hmm. Both she and your brat wanted to confirm if myself and her," he nodded his head to the dog, who noticed and barked back happily. "Were related. We are not, in case you are wondering."

"You two are… almost similar, right? Like, the things you can do?"

"Only to an extent. While I am not sure what kind of dog she is, I know that I myself am one of a kind. Whether I was engineered by humans or born through natural means, I am unsure, but my capabilities far exceed any other organisms'."

"Wow. And you've been kept locked away the entire time?"

Unhappy memories resurfaced, making Six-eight-two bristle. "Indeed. Your kind was afraid of the damage that I would cause to you, so they sought to encase me in a vat of acid to keep me from regenerating my body, flee the complex and wreak havoc on your population."

Rightfully so, he supposed, since he attempted to escape at every chance he got. However times he failed, he'd still managed to kill quite the number of scientists, and the few times he did usually brought about disastrous consequences on the humans' side.

All that culling… What a rush it had been. And all of it had been worth it, now that he was finally granted sanctuary someplace far, far away, hopefully to never be found ever again.

"That's sad…"

Six-eight-two perked up, head turning backwards to regard the speaker. Rather than his earlier cheer or sedated empathy, he looked… sad, now, pouting at him.

"What?"

"I mean, maybe if they talked to you, you guys could have worked something out! You could have worked together instead!"

Such naivete. Six-eight-two found himself chortling sharply. "Work together? With your kind? Bah! Don't make me laugh. Like that would have ever happened. All you humans ever want is to be on the top of the food chain, never willing to accept being the weaker ones. And to that end, you would do whatever it takes to assert your control over everything, just so that you can satisfy that ego of yours. No one would think to stop and talk to the thing that threatens their position in the world."

"Hey now, no need to get so antagonistic," Gorou moved towards his son, hand on his shoulder and face tugged in a worried frown. He hardly looked terrifying that way, but he was firm in keeping eye contact with the beast. Six-eight-two broke off first with a scoff.

"True… At least you don't have to deal with that sort of stuff anymore, huh?"

"…I suppose."

"And, and! We won't tell anyone about you!" He continued, a little more upbeat this time. "You said that there are people who are looking for you, right? I bet that, if they found you, they'll take you back to their labs! So we'll keep quiet!"

"What? Son, that's—"

"I mean, none of us are supposed to know Mister Lizard is even real, right? So, we can just pretend like he doesn't exist if any of them asks us! And if they ask about crocodiles, we tell them that there aren't any lakes or rivers around!"

"That's… true, but also a little silly, Issei. No offense."

"None taken!"

"You would choose to keep my existence secret from an international, secretive organization that seeks to protect you from monsters like us, which would make you liable for accusations of being in collusion with a dangerous beast such as I," he said. "What do you gain out of that?"

"When you put it like that, that does sound scary…"

"Obviously."

"But… Well, it, means you'd get to live in peace, right? Because no one would know where you are, so they'll never be able to bother you ever again," he said, beaming at him with that stupid grin of his. "I think that's good enough for me!"

For a moment, Six-eight-two was left momentarily speechless by the boy's words. Any kinds of deceit or sarcasm was completely absent from this child's tone, indicating completely genuineness.

The beast huffed, wishing he could have said something back. A sarcastic retort, or some kind of insult. Instead, he simply simmered in silence, upset and… pleased? Urgh. Stupid human brat.

The group remained sitting downstairs for an hour or so. Things had relaxed somewhat, and Gorou certainly looked less likely to go into a comatose state. That likely had to do with his brat talking his ear off and doing his best to just calm the man. Getting him to play with the dog helped as well, it seemed.

The dragoness wasn't any better, for all that she managed to look like she was forged out of stone—reminding him much of One-seven-three, that sneaky bastard. There was no knowing if it was actually a living, breathing thing or just some kind of moving statue. The thought was uncomfortable.

Gorou left the room for a moment to go retrieve some drinks for everyone, Issei and Ophis accepting their orange juices. He even offered a bowl of water for the dog and for him each. Six-eight-two had given him an unamused stare before opting to go without, dehydration literally one thing it would never have to deal with.

As time went on, Six-eight-two was beginning to think that perhaps he might have to take his leave now. However, before he could even call for the dragon to send him back, he could hear the sounds of footsteps from upstairs. The woman of the house was coming once more, and she seemed a lot more steady than earlier, when she had looked just an inch away from breaking into a panic attack. Now, her face was schooled in a steady calm expression.

The chatter finally stopped, all eyes on her now. The dragon, for how powerful she is, looked absolutely terrified in that moment, made evident only by the way her hands were tightly balled and the slight tremors in her lips.

With slow steps, Miki Hyoudou returned to sit beside her husband on a chair, the man supporting her by the shoulder. She hummed back, though it was clear as day that her attention wasn't on him or anyone else. If anything, she was looking only at Ophis.

"…Ophis," she called softly. Somehow, even Six-eight-two gulped. "Can you come here, please?"

The girl didn't seem to react at first, rooted to her spot out of fear. Eventually, however, she forced herself to stand and walk slowly towards her, stiff like some kind of robot. Her expression rarely gave away anything, but in this moment, it was easy to tell that she was distressed. Her hunched shoulders and tense body likely meant that she was thinking about running away, which was boggling to the lizard in every way.

It took no less than ten seconds for Ophis to reach her, but it must have felt like hours to the little girl—something about time coming to a crawl during situations of extreme stress. Strange that she was a dragon, and yet could be so afraid of a weak, helpless human like her. If anything, she behaved like a girl about to get a scolding from her parents.

"Aunty," she muttered, head angled low and eyes not meeting hers. Her hands bunched up her skirt.

Six-eight-two regarded the scene with some amount of confusion and awkwardness. This Hyoudou woman must mean a lot to her if she'd gone out of her way to protect the family from those devils outside. Plus, to be so cowed as she is now, she was definitely afraid of upsetting her in one way or another.

"…You know, I did think it was weird to find a girl out at night on her own, and apparently without parents to be watching her," she began, frowning. "It was hard even harder to believe that you were able to just… go everywhere on your own. With the number of bad people out there, anything could have happened to you, though I guess that wouldn't be possible, considering what you are, huh?"

No answer.

She sighed. It was a deep, stretched-out thing that had Six-eight-two cringing, and so did the other two Hyoudou males. Even their canine companion whined. Man. This was way too awkward to watch.

"Alright. I've made my decision."

"I… understand. I'll accept whatever you've decided."

"Are you sure about that? It's easy to say things, but to actually accept, let alone do them are two different things," bloody hell, she was making all of this stressful.

"I… I am," she nodded, shoulders hunching higher.

"…Well, if you say so. Ophis…" The girl hummed back. Six-eight-two prepared himself for the worst. "What do you think about becoming Issei's little sister?"

"What?"

"…What?"

"What."

"Orf!"

Though Ophis had never exactly kept a close ear to reception towards her, she was vaguely aware of the many people's opinion on her—hard not to when she was a being of unimaginable power and practically every being in existence were terrified of her. Couldn't be sure of what to think of her outside of the fact that she had enough power to destroy their home worlds if she ever came around to it, despite her actually never really caring enough to pursue such thoughts.

But when it came to the people she actually cared about, like Issei and his family, well… she'd hoped really hard that she could keep it a secret from the others. It would have been simple; just don't use her powers and act as normal as she could do.

Well, maybe tonight was just a really bad night for her. Maybe her luck had decided to take a nosedive off the roof of the house just to prove a point to some god. Things are just meant to go bad every once in a while, but she hadn't thought it would do so tonight.

And to see that fear in Aunty's eyes… It hurt. And she'd mentally prepared herself for what was next to come out of her mouth. Something along the lines of an insult or a curse when she'd returned from upstairs. But this?

Blinking, mind still reeling from the sudden question, Ophis finally raised her head to look into Aunty's eyes. And, rather than finding scorn or fear or something equally negative, there was… nothing. Absolutely nothing but a kind of motherly warmth that she had gotten so used to experiencing since she'd began living with the Hyoudou's.

"Become… Issei's sister?"

The woman nodded. "Gorou and I had been thinking about that for some time, to be honest. Heck, we were planning on asking you tomorrow, but I suppose it's okay to ask you now too," and then, she shrugged with a weak smile. "Although, I guess you could say that the timing is a little off."

"Understatement of the year. She literally exposed her identity as a dragon and your response is to ask her to be your daughter? I don't even know how it got to this."

"In case you don't realize, I'm the woman of this house, buster, so I'd suggest that you shut it."

Ophis was too busy blinking in shock to actually notice the way Six-eight-two grumbled but didn't fight back. If anything, she tried to rewind the words in her head a few times before she suffered what might have been an aneurysm and a stroke, the only word coming out of her lips a garbled: "Bweh?"

"I mean, it's just… I thought it would be nice, you know!" She crossed her arms, sighing. "I've always wanted a daughter. I mean, I'll forever be grateful that we have Issei. Nothing in the world will ever change that. But we'd always wanted to know what it would have been like to have a daughter too."

"Could have had one too, perhaps, although things just weren't meant to be that way," shrugged Uncle. Aunty just smiled back, albeit a little weakly.

"Why?" She ended up asking. "Did something happen?"

"Miki miscarried," at her confused expression, Uncle continued. "It means that the baby died, either inside the mother or when it came out. Issei should have two older siblings—one boy and another girl, I think—but both died."

What? She never knew. Ophis cringed, and even Six-eight-two did. Her eyes sought out Issei, and rather than be sad about it, he simply shrugged back. He must have known, and he'd simply accepted it.

"And then you came into our lives," she looked to Aunty once more. Her expression was happy. "We started off on a weird note, I would admit, but there's never been a day where I regretted taking you in. Issei got better, too, thanks to you. He's so happy with you, Ophis."

"M-Mooom!" The boy in question cried out, burning red to the tip of her ears.

"What? It's true."

"That doesn't mean you have to tell her..!" He whined back.

"Why? Did something bad happen?"

"It's nothing. It's just silly…"

"Issei had a really close friend, but she and her family moved away shortly before you came," Uncle explained before Issei could stop him. "He was really broken up about it for weeks. They were really close, you know? Almost as close as you two are, and when they went away…"

She could imagine just how hurt Issei would have been. He struck her as the kind of person who really cared about the people in his life, and to never be able to see them ever again must have really stung.

And to learn that her presence, though completely by chance, had managed to mend that wound… she felt flattered. A warmth settled in her chest with that realization.

She'd only ever wanted to find something fun to do, but being Issei's friend had meant much more to him, it seemed. And… she was happy that she had done so.

Someone's cry snapped her back to reality. Uncle was suddenly dealing with Issei drumming his hands against his side, chuckling the entire time while his son whined into his side. Aunty did too, having found the sight amusing enough that she was able to smile a little more.

"So, yeah. That's the long and short of it. It's not exactly the most world-changing story you'll ever get, but it is what it is."

"And… you want to take me as your daughter?" Her question prompted a nod from the woman. "Why? Aren't you scared of me?"

"Oh, I was, two minutes ago. I mean, a living dragon, in our own home? I was afraid someone—me, or my husband, or my son—would get hurt. There would literally be nothing stopping you from doing all kinds of things to us."

Her larger hands sought hers. They didn't crush her; simply held her, and she could practically feel the kindness wafting off of her. It was enough to make all the stress in her being ebb away, drained out of her like tap water.

"But here I am, looking at you from head to toe, and all I see is a little, beautiful girl who made my son the happiest boy in the world, and has been nothing but a wonderful part of our family since that very first night we took you in. Even though you've told us that you're a dragon, all I hold now is the hands of a girl I love like my own daughter. Faced with that… how am I supposed to be afraid?"

Somewhere in the background, Uncle made an 'Aww..!' sound, while Six-eight-two must have looked like he was both touched and dying on the inside.

But in that moment, Ophis couldn't possibly focus on them. All that she thought of now was the words spoken, that which brought nothing but a surge of confusion and… and…

"What do you think? Would you be okay with that, Ophis? Becoming a part of our family, I mean."

"I…"

"How about you, Issei?" Aunty asked. "Would you like it if Ophis became your sister?"

"E-Eh?" Yet again, she has the rare opportunity to see Issei looking flustered, those brown orbs looking everywhere but her. Ophis watched him all the while, wondering what his response would be. "I-I mean… Not saying I don't want that, but like… Umm… It'd just be weird, you know? Like, she's been a friend all this time, and… well…"

"So you don't want her to be your little sister?"

"I didn't say that!" He yelled back. "I'd always wanted a sibling! Maybe an older brother, or a younger sister—or anyone! I always thought it would be a lot more fun!" He turned to look at Ophis, an equal balance of excitement and embarrassment in his expression. "I know I can't have my older brother and sister back, but if you get to be my sister, then I'd want that! If you want to, I mean, 'cause you know… that's, well, um…"

Somehow, in the entirety of his speech, he'd developed into a mumbling spree, tripping over his words because he barely knew what to say anymore. At that point, Ophis almost couldn't believe that the boy before him was the same, exuberant person she'd been friends with since she came to Earth.

But if there was one thing that she knew, it was the fact that being with him and his family… she would never say she regretted it. There was never a day where she'd ever experienced boredom. Even the days where nothing overly exciting happened were filled with such comfort that made her so happy to have met them.

And the prospect of becoming an official part of their family…

Honestly, nothing would really change. Things would still remain the same, but she'd actually have a mother, and a father, and a brother…

"I'm pretty sure I speak for both myself and Miki when I say we'd be incredibly happy if you agree to be our daughter, Ophis," Uncle said, grinning. "What do you say? Our little dragon girl, Ophis Hyoudou. Has a nice ring to it!" Ophis Hyoudou…

Her eyes met Issei's, and then Aunty's. Both were expectant, hopeful in the former's gaze. Even if it was for a short moment, she could tell that this meant a lot to Issei. He probably wanted a sibling for the longest time, and she could be that for him…

The question that remained: Did she want that?

"I…"

For the second time that night, she felt heat rise up to her cheeks, timid but hopeful. In that moment, she didn't feel like some kind of almighty dragon, but a little girl.

"I would like that…" And somehow, just speaking those words felt like the rightest thing in the world.

Author's Notes:

I mentioned this before, but in my old story Khaotik Afterbirth, I tried to write Ophis as a mom figure. Yeah, that's a little strange, but have you seen the number of anime's out there where the mom looks like a loli?

…Okay, maybe there aren't that many, but the point stands that they do exist, so that's that.

In any case, portraying her as a sibling would be a much more fun avenue. I mean, we get a small glimpse of it in the prologue, and in the original show, Issei proved to be a great brotherly figure to Gasper, so it felt right to go with the older brother path (although, as also shown in this story's prologue, he'd also be getting an older sibling).

Frankly speaking, I've never read the light novels, so I don't know if it was ever mentioned that he wanted siblings or not. Perhaps the anime did it, but I don't remember. Regardless, I feel like such is a thing that would make sense; that was exactly I felt back when I was much younger, and I could imagine just how surprised but happy I was when my mom had my little sis. And Issei might just be the kind of person who'd want siblings as well. Asia is technically his foster sibling, but come on. They're obviously in love with each other, so that doesn't really count.

Oh, and yes, I do recognize that the final segment cuts off rather abruptly. Could have drawn out the moment with everyone's reactions, but I suppose it would be more appropriate to just have that moment in the very next chapter.

Random self-written story advertising: if you're in search of something with a similar spice to this story but catered towards horror and reaction-esque, maybe give Little Horror Club (written by yours truly, lmao) a try? There's not much in the ways of plot in that story compared to this one, but hey, it's relaxing. Most times. It's all about our favourite RWBY characters having fun talking about scary stories and bonding over them. And you might discover a new story that you never knew before.

Thanks again! Stay safe out there.