"May I ask, is Mr. Jhin home?" Yunyun, following Yuiyui's instructions, had changed into a pure white dress and put on a straw hat decorated with sunflowers. She'd called it the classic 'first love girlfriend' look — riddled with questionable choices as it was, Yunyun still chose to trust this married woman's fashion sense.
"Such nerve, showing your face at my house!"
Megumin's voice burst out of the house before she did. The instant she saw her old rival dressed up so carefully, all the frustration she'd built up from her own mother got dumped straight onto Yunyun — a flying kick launched with pinpoint precision.
Yunyun nimbly dodged the attack aimed squarely at flattening her chest, then pressed down on her hat and kept asking, "Why is it you who came out? Where's Mr. Jhin?"
"He..." Megumin had been about to say he was sleeping soundly with his arms around a busty beauty, but she caught herself — wasn't that basically slapping her own face? So she coughed and waved Yunyun over instead. "Come here, I'll tell you quietly."
"You're not going to suddenly attack me, are you?"
"What kind of talk is that? Do I look like that kind of person to you?"
"You've done plenty of that before..." Even as she said it, Yunyun edged closer, step by step.
Megumin whispered something into her ear, then immediately hopped back, hands on hips, the corners of her mouth curling up high. Her faintly reddened cheeks couldn't hide the smugness in her eyes.
"H-how could this be—" Yunyun's pupils trembled violently. She sank down slowly like a defeated boxer, color draining from her all over. "I'm too late..."
"Hahahahaha!" An utterly arrogant laugh burst from Megumin's mouth — right now, she'd have made a perfect villain boss.
"Unless you show me your daughter, I refuse to believe your one-sided story!"
"Tch... what a persistent one." Megumin pursed her lips, annoyed. As a fellow victim of their mothers' bizarre sex-ed lessons, Yunyun was naturally someone Megumin figured she could scare off by claiming she already had a daughter with Jhin after their kiss — but she hadn't expected Yunyun's stubbornness to rival her own, insisting on actually seeing the daughter before she'd back down.
Where on earth was she supposed to conjure up a daughter at a time like this?
Watching Yunyun's expression shift from shock to suspicion, Megumin knew she couldn't stall any longer. Her only option now was to find one of her companions to play the role of her and Jhin's daughter.
Appearance-wise, Kokkoro was without a doubt the best candidate.
"Wait here a moment."
With that, Megumin dashed inside, dragged Kokkoro out, and pointed at her bewildered companion while announcing to Yunyun, "Look, this is my and Jhin's daughter. Her name is Kokkoro."
"...?" Kokkoro had no idea why she'd suddenly been assigned the role of daughter, but seeing Megumin's frantic 'help me out here' look, she smiled and nodded anyway. "Hello, I'm Kokkoro."
"Eh? Are daughters born already this big?" Yunyun felt her brain struggling to keep up — but she quickly spotted the problem, pointing at Kokkoro's distinctly elven pointed ears. "Isn't she an elf?"
"Oh, oh, that's... actually, Jhin has elf blood in him, so our daughter's ears turned out like an elf's too. And look at her eyes — they're pale pink, not too different from our Crimson Demon Clan's red eyes, just a lighter shade."
Megumin herself had no idea what nonsense she was spouting — such a flimsy excuse would only work on the fool standing in front of her. Anyone else would have taken her for an idiot.
"I suppose that makes sense... ah, um, that's — I'm your mother's rival and dear friend. I've come to see your father today. This is a gift for our first meeting, please accept it." Yunyun introduced herself very politely, then produced a box of pastries.
Kokkoro accepted the gift, thanked her politely, and asked, "May I ask what business you have with my father?"
"Ah... um, it's... it's just some very ordinary business..."
Watching Yunyun squirm in embarrassment, Megumin turned her back and clamped a hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking uncontrollably — inside, she was already rolling on the floor laughing.
Whatever the case, announcing in front of someone's 'daughter' that she wanted to have children with the girl's father was far too advanced a challenge for Yunyun. She tugged at her skirt hem, opening and closing her mouth for a long moment before finally managing, "It's... it's fine now, nothing's the matter."
"Megumin, why did you drag Kokkoro outside? Aren't we having breakfast?"
Jhin walked out of the house with an apron tied around his waist. The picture-perfect househusband look made Yunyun believe Megumin's story just a little more. Now the sight of this happy little family scene felt too dazzling to bear, and she hurried through her goodbyes before leaving.
"Master, Megumin actually said I was your daughter."
"Huh?"
Kokkoro laughed as she recounted what had just happened. Jhin looked at Megumin, who was still giggling to herself, and shook his head helplessly. "Yunyun's always been a bit of an airhead, and you went and teased her like that. If word gets around, aren't you worried the whole Crimson Demon Village will hear about you having kids?"
"She's not the type to run her mouth."
"I'm more curious how long it'll take her to realize you were lying."
"Heh heh, that airhead? Probably at least half a month."
"Calling someone else an airhead — you weren't much better back in the day. Don't tell me you two both got your sex-ed lessons from your Mother-in-law?"
"Huh, how did you know that."
Jhin rubbed his forehead, speechless. "I was just guessing at random. Seriously, I was right?"
"A-anyway, I've already escaped the abyss of chaos, and the mists of darkness can no longer obscure my sight!"
"Don't start with the chuunibyou lines, go brush your teeth and eat. Shame Yunyun left — if we'd invited her to breakfast, it might've been even more interesting."
Megumin gave his shin an irritated kick with the back of her foot. "You rotten-tempered jerk, do you have to enjoy watching me humiliate myself so much?"
"Don't worry, I like you flushed red too."
"You don't even care whether the red is from anger or embarrassment!?"
"I prefer a different kind of red."
"Pervert, jerk, scum..." Megumin muttered curses under her breath, kicked him a few more times, then dashed inside in a flash.
Kokkoro tugged at her Master's sleeve, her pale pink eyes full of curiosity. "What does 'a different kind of red' mean?"
"Uh..." Jhin scratched his head, hesitated a moment, then leaned down and murmured a few words into her ear — only to earn himself a coy, scandalized glare from the little guide.
"Master's been acting rather indecent lately. His head's full of lewd thoughts."
"On that front, I've noticed something myself too. Do you think... it might be because of the dragon-kind's origin essence I've absorbed?"
Kokkoro blinked in surprise at that, then thought it over for a moment and nodded. "That's certainly possible. Dragons are famously strong in that particular desire — otherwise why would Sub-dragon Species pop up in droves wherever they go?"
"Is there no way to counteract that influence?"
"Of course there is."
"What's the way?"
"Aren't Kyaru and Megumin right by Master's side?"
Jhin decided... his adorable little guide, pink eyes and all, was secretly a bit of a degenerate herself.
____
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🔥 New history: DanMachi: Inheriting the Legacy of Alternate Versions — posted on The_Mikudayo