A dark room, a bed with rails, tubes coming out from various places of my sight, and a screen with a line moving repeated zig-zags of different heights.

Is this … a hospital room? Am I back home? Wait, why do my hands look so small? No, my whole body has shrunk, and it’s injected with all of these IV’s.

“Jin … chan.”

I hear a familiar voice and turn to the bed next to mine. In that bed is a young girl with long, black hair, sitting up and wearing the same hospital gown I’m currently wearing. No equipment is attached to her and there’s not a bandage in sight, but she sits there trembling and frozen in a pose like she was holding something before it was taken away, trying desperately to move, but so frustrated that she breaks into tears as she shifts her eyes at me.

That’s … Hyo-chan as a kid, right? Does that mean I’ve become a kid again as well? When did this happen? And why does it look like she’s not moving like a statue? It might be the condition I’m in right now that I’m more listless and dumber than concerned for the current situation.

“As you get older, you will be facing many dangers that will try to take what’s dearest to you. It is a dreadful curse that we all share in various forms.”

A grown, mature man’s voice enters my hearing. I look above Hyo-chan’s bed to see a dark figure of that very man’s back as he stares out the window, at the sky still in its nighttime. I could make out his clothes being a pitch-black haori. In his hands behind the back is an empty syringe with a needle that looks sharp to the touch, the size about the same as what could fit in Hyo-chan’s hand that’s forced open.

“The majority of them will look at you with sneers, questioning why such a ‘creature’ is living among them, and no matter what good you’ll do for them, their opinion of you will never change … I did not anticipate things to ever go this far when I made that contract so long ago, to affect your mother, your father, your parents’ parents, your friend here and her parents, and even our little guest behind that door,” he says before turning his head to the door.

“?!”

A gasp is heard, and when I turn to the source, the door is cracked open, but nothing is in sight.

“Now, now, don’t be shy, I know you’re still out there. C’mon in here and join us. I won’t bite,” the man beckons.

At that, the door opens further, and poking a head inside is another young girl with blonde locks tied in a ponytail that stand out from the darkness.

Blonde hair … is this one a foreigner?

“Ahh~, I see, how nostalgic,” the old man says. “Let me guess, did I catch you in the middle of your ‘mission?’”

“?!” the little blonde girl gasps again.

“I figured as much. Do not worry, we will pretend you’re not here and keep your presence a secret between us. Right, kids?” he asks me and Hyo-chan.

I look over to Hyo-chan and she looks back with a worried expression.

“… Mm.” I could only nod. I don’t know what he meant by her being on a ‘mission,’ but she doesn’t look like she intends to cause trouble and I don’t want her to get into it for getting caught. This man here, for whatever reason he’s in this room, also doesn’t seem to be a bad guy from how he’s speaking, so I might as well give him a chance, too.

Then again, it could be whatever meds I’m on and my current age right now that’s likely making me as dumb as a vegetable to have those naïve thoughts.

Even so, Hyo-chan seems to have relaxed a little when she saw my response.

“Why don’t you come in and join us? This involves you as much as these two as well, you know?” the man invites.

The blonde girl wordlessly obliges and gets inside before closing the door behind her. Like me and Hyo-chan, she’s also in some hospital gown.

She’s a patient in this place, too, and she’s expected to continue her ‘mission?’ Who even put her up to this?

“Step over here where I can see the three of you together,” the man beckons the blonde girl.

She nods and moves to the space between mine and Hyo-chan’s beds before standing at attention like some kind of soldier. She doesn’t look my way even once.

The man sets the syringe on the counter next to Hyo-chan, moves to a spot where he gets on one knee and sees the three of us together. “Would you look at that. It’s like I’m seeing a reflection of my past, but with such two astounding beauties instead of my blood brothers. If you got my charms, you’re going to be very lucky with these two down the line, kid.”

““Huh?!”” the girls respond.

I couldn’t help but quirk a brow at that and turn to the girls to ask them what he meant, only to see them jolting their heads away at the same time to avoid my gaze and unwilling to talk.

What’s that guy even talking about? I could feel my mind regressing back to the age that matches my current body as I think that question. I admit that I was pretty stupid and oblivious to what other people were thinking at times when I was growing up.

“Anyway, going back to what I said,” the man continues. “I didn’t anticipate for this curse to extend so far when I made that contract, back when I was still young and foolish to think that this power was what I needed to overturn any odds against us in our line of work, and how much it would affect the people down the line who didn’t even want to involve themselves in what we did. Seeing the three of you here together in this day and age, I can’t even imagine how much you’ve all suffered from my own mistake.”

The man lowers himself further to a dogeza with his head on the floor. “Whatever grudge you may have out of being put in this situation, you may direct your hate and frustrations at me instead of your immediate parents. Just like the three of you, they are also victims of my foolish blunder. For that, I must apologize to you three, especially you, Jinma Kotori, from man to man sharing the same blood, the same ‘curse’ that lives on no matter how many times it has passed down between generations.”

How does he know my name? Is this man … no, it couldn’t be. He mentioned my dad, so it couldn’t be him, but how does he know them all? He said we share the same blood, is he a relative I’ve never met? How are Hyo-chan and the blonde girl I’ve never met even involved with all of this? We’re not siblings … right?

The man stands back up and moves to one corner of my bed. I still can’t make out his features aside from the black haori that blends in the darkness … no, if anything, I could make out a little of his eyes, sharp, fierce, intimidating at first, but I can’t help but feel there is something very sad behind them as he looks at me.

Aside from that feeling, his eyes actually look similar to mine, the same ones that people say I look like a ‘demon’ with them.

The man looks to have push his sadness aside and maintains his serious tone. “I know this will not be enough to make up for what I’ve done, but let me give something to make things a little easier for you three down the line.”

He reaches into his haori and pulls out some ring-like object that fits over his hand, a bracelet? Under the moonlight, it shines gold before a white aura emanates from it.

The next thing I hear from him is complete gibberish, a language unlike anything I’ve ever heard before.

“[email protected]#%%$^%(&%(%&*$%^&$*$%&^$#&$^&$^&E#$&$*&^%^#$^*$%$($%&^%*.”

““#%^$^%$*&$%^($%^*%^($#*%#^%%&^$%$^#$$&^$%^^*$^%.””

That last quote sounds more like a collective chant from some kind of group. I must have heard it in my head because I don’t see anyone else here other than the four of us.

After that, the man then suddenly emanates the same white glow as the bracelet before it disintegrates into particles of light that go up and through the ceiling. Looking back to the man, even though he glows now, I still can’t make out the features other than his demon-like eyes that look to be smiling now.

I also notice then that same white aura is phasing through all of our chests.

“W-What’s going on?” Hyo-chan asks. The blonde girl seems to can’t move from her position as well.

“My time is finally nearing its end, but allow me a chance as your old man who’s lived a long life to give you some advice as my last parting gift to you, Jinma Kotori. You two ladies listen to this as well,” he then says back in fluent Japanese. “There will be people in this world and the next who’ll try to put you down, to talk you down on anything you do just for being so different from them.

“My advice? Fuck those people.”

“H-Huh?” I utter for the first time since I woke up. To hear something so blunt and crude from a man to three kids, if he’s my ‘old man,’ I can’t imagine how his own kids have lived under this parenting.

“If they’re going to disapprove everything you do anyway, then why bother proving yourself to them? Fuck them all, don’t let them get you down, and don’t let those assholes decide what’s best for you, kid. You have the right to live your life any way you want to. Decide for yourself what’s best for you, what and who is worth protecting, and don’t let any of those bastards get away from doing anything to what matters to you most.

“To straighten out bastards who even dares to fuck up what’s precious to us when we’re trying to live as decent citizens, to take matters into our own hands when the law only fucks around and twiddle their thumbs, to live however we want no matter what they all say, that is how we run things in our family.

“Now, Jinma Kotori, Hyoko Ishima, and ‘****** ******,’” he then says, the last name interrupted by such loud static that I couldn’t hear it, “take this gift. Use it and the curses bestowed upon you three to live your lives to the fullest, become the kind of people you want to be, man or woman, and most importantly, no matter how far you may have fallen, no matter the number of times it will happen, always remember that only you have the choice and power to get back up.”

The man’s figure fades into white, along with the glowing aura and my vision.

“You’re gonna do great things, kids, I just know it. You three a part of this splendid family of mine, after all.”

~~

The light fades to darkness as I suddenly feel weight pressing down on my body and something wet invading my mouth. I slowly open my eyes and see a familiar face with hers closed, sighing through her nose and moaning in content as she works her tongue around mine.

Even not knowing what was going on but still mildly awake, I wrap my arms around Ume’s lower back and put in some work into our kiss as well.

[Conditions met, the skill, ‘Poison Resistance’ MAX LV has now evolved into ‘Poison Nullification*’.]

Whoa, that’s weird. I was wondering how some skills didn’t evolve after maxing them out. Do some not take into effect until I rest my body?

Well, whatever. ‘Poison Nullification’ means I won’t ever get like a ‘poisoned’ ailment and be unaffected by any type of poison, right? Sweet, I’d like to give a personal thanks to my mother and her possibly deadly cooking that might’ve made me having the ‘Poison Resistance’ skill possible.

Still … what was with that ‘dream’ last night? It seemed all too real and sophisticated to have all of that be made from my head on the spot.

Ume pulls back and takes a shallow gasp while leaving a mess of saliva on our faces, then taking her long, reptilian tongue to wipe what was on hers, as if to savor the taste of the kiss we just had. She then squints her eyes open with a delightful smile that matches the one on her lips.

“Good morning, Jin~.”

“Morning, Ume … even though it’s still dark to even call it a morning yet.” Indeed, aside from clearly seeing Ume’s beautiful face, the room we’re currently staying in is still dark as there’s no light shining in through the large windows. It must be a new day now, but still too early before the sun starts to dawn.

“What’s the occasion on the passionate kiss this morning?”

“I’ve read how human wives would wake up their husbands with this ‘Good Morning Kiss,’ and so I wanted to try it for myself. Did you like it?”

“Hmm, I don’t know, I might still be dreaming having such a beautiful woman doing that much for me. Maybe I need a second dose?” I ask before giving her another kiss, eliciting a giggle while she happily obliges. Our bodies are currently stripped of clothing with only me in my briefs, so having such a naked and beautiful Lizardman/Dragon girl on top of me while we’re under covers already has me very much awake, same goes for my little buddy that’s sandwiched between us.

If I were to be wake up like this every day from now on, then I definitely made the right choice in having Ume as my first mate/wife.

Our second kiss is only brief, however, as Ume pulls back again and sets a hand over my cheek. “There’s another reason why I woke you up so early before the others do, you know? After all the craziness that happened yesterday, I realized there’s something we haven’t done yet that I want to do now when the sun rises, to make us official as mates in accordance to our customs.”

I glance over to my side and see Ren and Erizora still sleeping in Japanese futon-like beds with a [Soundproof] barrier surrounding them. I didn’t put that up last night, so Ume probably made it somehow before she made her move to wake me up only.

“Dragon customs?” I whisper, and she nods in confirmation. “All right, I’m all for it. What do we do?”