Once again I dream of a time passed, 1 year after my parents death Arlene became a permanent part of my family. Without her support I feel like I wouldn’t be able to get this far. I got a job at a nearby firm as a regular office worker, Kenny and Mia started to smile again.

My life was finally stable again and we got married, it was a small ceremony with close friends and Arlene’s parents and my siblings. She looked absolutely stunning in her dress, I felt like the happiest man in the world that day. The main part of the wedding was Christian, but there was a second part we prepared with my parents pictures.

It’s a tradition where the bride and groom offer tea to their parents and I was sure to do that for them. They would have been happy seeing this… I hope they can rest better now. My wife Arlene comforts me after we offer the tea to my deceased parents and join the festivities. Kenny is talking with some of my friends while Mia runs towards me when she sees me and I hear a pitter patter as she runs towards me and tackles me?

I awaken to a headbutt to my stomach urg… five more… hours please, I don’t wanna wake up. Grabbing ahold of the person who headbutted me I roll over and see Lilly’s head as she starts trying to squirm away… so cute. Not releasing my grip I sit up and put my chin on top of her head…. Huh?

“Mmmm did you shrink Lilly..? We need to feed you more… or you’re going to get smaller and smaller… you’ll disappear at ...this rate.... ”

I can then feel Lilly turn around and face the same way as me kicking her feet and holding onto my arms. Mmm last time she headbutted me awake I went back to sleep and then she went to get Aoi… She apparently tried to wake me up and I didn’t respond. So she flipped me out of bed… let’s not let her go.

(Lilly) “No Lilly no shwink silly! Kuwo get big! Sleepy Dwagon sleep 3 days. Lilly good girl wait until today to wake up!”

… Huh? I’ve been asleep for 3 days? And I grew? What is this little girl talking about? Looking at my legs my pants seem to have shrunk and my shirt sleeves also seem to be much smaller than before. I’m going to have to get new clothes now great…

(Aoi) “Looks like Lilly got you to wake up finally sleepyhead.”

I look over and see my sister Aoi holding a set of clothing, did she prepare that for me?

(Aoi) “Your reliable Bis Sister prepared these for you for when your growth spurt started. I noticed you have been eating a lot lately so I knew it was nearing.”

It’s great having a big sister like Aoi she’s prepared for everything! After I release Lilly she runs off and I get dressed in my new clothes, a buttoned up dark blue tunic and a pair of black trousers. She even prepared another new pair of boots for me!

(Aoi) “Oh and you have a guest waiting for you Kuro, I’ll play with Lilly so you can go ahead and have a nice time.”

Guest? I wonder who it is? I stop Aoi and Lilly before they leave and give them both hugs thanking them for waking me up as they go to visit Lila.

After fitting my equipment on my new clothes I take a good look at myself in the mirror… hmm I look like a 13 year old now I guess? From what Aoi was telling me the growth will continue sporadically until I reach closer to an adult’s look.

There’s no way to tell how or when it will happen so no use worrying about it! Well then let’s see who this guest is, the only person I can think of is Harvey or maybe it’s Fei? As I enter the Guest house I see a girl with a green beret and dress, her red hair braided to one side.

Getting a good look at her from the side, she’s actually pretty cute. I’ve only seen her in her male getup so it’s hard to tell. As she’s waiting she seems to be nervously twiddling her thumbs looking at the fireplace. I just had a great idea… silently sneaking behind Erin I grab onto her chair and start shaking it around violently.

As the chair was shaking I could hear Erin let out a high pitched scream as she grasped onto the chair terrified. The look on her face was hilarious totally worth the kick to the shins I received as payback. Apparently she had come here to treat me out to a meal as a thank you for saving her and asked me to escort her for a while before meeting up with Harvey for lunch.

“Well I’m not one to say no to a free meal! Count me in.”

Erin smiles at my reply and then pauses for a moment. She looks me straight in the eye and puts her hand on top of her head and mine. Did...she just notice?

(Erin) “EH! Did you grow taller! But but… it’s only been 3 days since I saw you last!”

This girls a little slow isn’t she.

“Well then M’Lady if you are fine with one as lowly as I to escort you.”

Poking fun at her I decide to toy around with her a bit. Her reaction was great, her face went red as she put her hand out like one of those young noble girls. I’ve successively changed the subject so she won’t inquire any further.

Escorting Erin through the city was fun, we ended up going to several clothing stores and shopped for accessories. Women… they always take so long when they start shopping, watching her facial expressions change as she shops is entertaining. She would pick up several outfits and put them against her body and put one back until she wasn’t sure then look towards me for approval.

It’s been awhile since I’ve accompanied a girl shopping, the last time was… ah yes it was with Mia. She was looking for a nice outfit for an outing with some friends she said, obviously I called in sick and followed her to find she had a date. Let’s just say she wouldn’t talk to me for a week after I had a word with him…

(Erin) “It’s rude to be thinking about other things when escorting a lady Kuro.”

Ah I forgot she was here…

“Sorry, I was just thinking about how the pink hat over there fits you. It’ll bring out the beauty of your hair more I think.”

And she bought that hat so quick… I never understood why women need so many sets of clothing. After being Erin’s bag boy and consultant for a few hours we ended up getting dinner instead of lunch. When we reach the restaurant I can see Harvey sitting by himself at a table with nothing but a cup of water.

(Erin) “I’m famished, I only had a light lunch what about you Kuro?”

As Erin pulls up a chair and sits Harvey’s face brightens up for a moment until he notices she said opposite of him… next to me?

(Harvey) “Erin, why don’t you sit next to grandfather.”

Erin just shakes her head and looks at Harvey

(Erin) “I’m too hungry to move grandpa, and haven't we spend the last 3 days together already?”

She then turns back to me and asks me the same question again.

“Ah… I didn’t eat breakfast because there was a guest. That guest then proceeded to drag me around town for a couple hours promising lunch but instead it became dinner.”

Erin’s face pales for a second and apologises to me, Harvey however saw the grin on my face and laughs

(Harvey) “Don’t worry so much Erin, that bottomless pit over there wouldn’t last this long without eating.”

Unable to grasp what was going on I show Erin my bag and I pull out a loaf of bread and eat it. Erin of course threw a swift kick to my shins and ran over to sit next to her grandfather to spite me. Of course me and Harvey were laughing it up at her expense.

The waitress finally comes over and Harvey orders the food for us. The look on their faces as Harvey order was hilarious, it went from a normal look to a slightly confused look and finally absolutely baffled. She even confirmed the order twice saying are you sure you want that much food, even Erin was protesting saying there’s no way us three can eat that much food.

(Harvey) “In order to feed that kid, this much is the least you can order. Don’t worry he can finish it all by himself if he really wanted to.”

Harvey had ordered 3 appetizers and 6 main course dishes and some ale for him and a stout beer for me.

(Erin) “Grandfather! Kuro’s too young to drink please be more responsible!”

This world of course doesn’t have an age limit for alcohol consumption, how ever usually only adults choose to drink it.

“Ah about that Erin… your grandfather is doing me a favor ordering that for me.”

She slowly turns to me in disbelief and slams her hands on the table.

(Erin) “Kuro you should listen to me since I am older and wiser than you. You should just stick to water or juice!”

… She think’s she’s older then me, of course she does. She’s 16 now I’m told, my guess was off because I had assumed she was a girly boy and voice hadn’t changed yet.

(Harvey) “Erin… honey… Kuro’s older than you… and definitely wiser… Sometimes”

We should probably explain to her huh… she think’s I’m human. And did you REALLY need to add that sometimes Harvey?

“Erin… I want you to look into my eyes for a moment and stay calm.”

Confused she listens to me and looks me in the eyes with those green eyes of hers… for suspense I wait a moment before changing my eyes into my dragon’s eyes and stick my tongue out at her causing her to jump back into her seat holding her mouth shut.

After me and Harvey laughed it up for a while the food came and we started to eat while explaining my situation. The entire time Erin didn’t speak she just nodded as we ate, that was until she and Harvey had eaten their fill.

(Erin) “I told you guys we couldn’t eat this much! And this whole thing must be a prank set by you two.”

I’ll leave her to Harvey for now to convince as I continue to stuff my face. After they were going back and forth for a while Erin eventually looks back to the table and her jaw drops as I’ve already polished off two-thirds of the food and was still eating. She continued to stare at me in disbelief until I finished eating everything.

(Erin) “You… really… ate... all... that… HOW!? Where does it all go!?”

She’s definitely related to Harvey, there’s no doubt in my mind. I snicker at her before answering.

“My stomach is the entrance to another dimension.”

She responds by clumsily throwing her fork at me. She continued to pout as her attack missed it’s mark and started to believe the fact that I was not only older than her, but not even human. Technically…Although I still think I am one, my mind and soul…is human. Once we finally drilled it into her head it I found out that this dinner wasn’t only a thank you, but they had a request for me too.

Erin was going to go home in two weeks time so Harvey wanted to send an escort with her, however Erin refused to travel with an escort other than me. Harvey didn’t want to trouble me, but in the end had to in order to keep his granddaughter safe. Harvey offers to pay me, but I refuse… I couldn’t take the money of a friend for something like this.

“Just pay for a round when I come back and we’ll call it even.”

Harvey gives me a grin and agrees. By the time we were done talking it was already nightfall so we went our separate ways but not before Harvey told me one more thing.

(Harvey) “Kuro, come by tomorrow… there’s a matter that we need to talk about tomorrow. Nothing urgent it can wait until tomorrow.”