"Give me back Tohru-sama! Give me back Tohru-sama!" Kanna cried, her tiny pink fists thudding against Sui as she shouted in her childish voice.
Sui sighed, feeling a headache coming on.
At that moment, Tohru stepped out of the kitchen, having finished cleaning the dishes. When she saw Kanna, she froze in surprise.
"Huh? Kanna?"
"Oh, right! Tohru she's your friend, isn't she?" Sui asked, turning to Tohru.
"Yes," Tohru nodded, walking over. "This child is Kanna Kamui, my friend. But Kanna, how did you end up here?"
"I've been searching for Tohru-sama ever since you disappeared," Kanna replied, her eyes narrowing as she glared suspiciously at Sui. "I never expected you to be living with a human! Humans are tricky and cannot be trusted!"
Holding onto Tohrus hand, Kanna pleaded, "Tohru-sama please come back with me!"
"No way! I'm already living happily with Sui," Tohru said, hugging Sui's arm tightly, her little fang poking out as she smiled joyfully.
"As I thought! Tohru-sama has been deceived by a cunning human!" Kanna accused, pointing at Sui. "I saw you two out on a date before!" She then declared, her voice filled with childlike indignation, "You pervert!"
Sui: "..."
He was left speechless, watching this adorable little girl accuse him of being a pervert in her babyish voice.
"I won't allow Tohru-sama to keep being deceived by a human like you!" Kanna's face grew stern, and an ominous dragon aura began to emanate from her small form. "Even if I have to kill you to take Tohru-sama back…!"
"Die!" Kanna charged at Sui at an incredible speed.
And then…
She began punching Sui's legs with her tiny fists.
After a few moments of futile effort, she became visibly tired, panting heavily. Taking a short break, she resumed her ineffective attack with her little fists.
Sui: "..."
"Die, you jerk! Go to hell!" Kanna continued, stubbornly trying to beat Sui to death with her harmless pink fists.
"Kanna, what's wrong with your strength? You seem so weak," Tohru asked, puzzled.
"The concentration of mana in this world is too low," Kanna huffed, still catching her breath.
"So, you can't return to your own world, can you?" Sui asked calmly.
Kanna stiffened, her face growing tense as her thoughts were exposed.
"N-no… that's not true!" she stammered, turning away in a vain attempt to hide her guilt.
"But you don't have anywhere to go, do you?" Sui pressed. "You came to find Tohru because you're homeless, right?"
Kanna flinched again, remaining silent as she turned her head away, on the verge of tears. 'Humans are so scary and cunning!' she thought miserably.
"Kanna, is it true that you can't go back?" Tohru asked gently.
Kanna hesitated for a moment before nodding silently. Finally, she confessed, "Actually…"
"So, you were banished for pulling pranks?" Sui asked, his tone full of understanding.
"Kanna loves playing pranks. Even though she's over 14,000 years old, she's still a child by dragon standards. We dragons live for millions of years, after all," Tohru explained.
"So, it's like a human child being kicked out by their parents for being mischievous and ending up homeless?" Sui asked.
"That's about right," Tohru nodded.
Kanna, now sitting alone on a chair, looked pitiful with her head turned away, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She resembled an abandoned child, which tugged at Sui's heart.
After a moment of thought, Sui suggested, "Why don't you stay at my place? I mean, I already have a dragon maid, so why not a dragon loli as well?"
Kanna was adorable, and having her around would be pleasant. Besides, Sui mused, while most people kept pets, he would be raising a dragon loli. That sounded kind of cool.
"I don't want to! Humans are all liars!" Kanna stubbornly declared.
"Speaking of which, Kanna, are you hungry?" Sui asked, smiling like an uncle trying to bribe a little girl with candy.
"Hmph! I'm not eating human food! You probably poisoned it, right?" Kanna responded, her face filled with disdain as if she had seen through his "trickery." Despite her distrustful expression, her round, innocent face remained irresistibly cute.
"Tohru come eat with me. I haven't had dinner yet," Sui said to Tohru.
"Really? That's great!" Tohru exclaimed excitedly.
Sui walked into the kitchen and began cooking. Now that his culinary skills had surpassed level 40, the variety of ingredients he could purchase had expanded significantly, allowing him to prepare more lavish meals.
A short while later, three large bowls of fragrant Sinangag Fried Rice were ready, accompanied by a generous portion of Sautéed Cabbage. Sui's version was even more luxurious, fried with Jelly eggs, making it much better than the dishes served to customers.
"Wow, it smells amazing! I didn't expect Sui to be such a skilled cook!" Tohru inhaled the aroma and was instantly enchanted.
Sitting down, Sui glanced over at Kanna, who was still sitting silently with her back to him. She seemed determined to hold out.
"Do you want to eat with us?" Sui asked, glancing in her direction.
"I told you, I don't eat human food!" Kanna retorted, her mouth already watering, but she stubbornly maintained her proud demeanor.
"Alright then, let's start eating," Sui said, beginning to dig in alongside Tohru.
"This is delicious! Sui's cooking is out of this world!" Tohru praised as she wolfed down the food.
As Sui ate, he kept an eye on Kanna, who was still sitting quietly, pretending not to care. She was clearly holding on, but just barely.
"Since you don't want any, we'll just finish it ourselves," Sui said loudly, deliberately taunting her.
At first, there was no response. Just as Sui was beginning to think his plan to tempt the little dragon had failed, a shadow suddenly darted toward the table. Kanna leaped up like a starving puppy, buried her face in one of the rice bowls, and began eating voraciously.
Sui: "..."