Dean walked out of the small building within the Gray family compound.
The air outside was cool as the sun had totally dipped into the clouds at the far east leaving a beautiful sight.
Dean sighed as he looked around in search of Yuki and Nessa. But his gossip-hunting sisters had disappeared from sight.
Making his way into the house from the entrance at the west wing, the same wing he had earlier walked out from.
By the time he entered. The slime familiar on his shoulder had vanished out of sight, returning to whence it was called from.
'Time to explore the system,' he thought, making his way through the increasingly dimmed hallway.
He was about to make a right turn towards his room when a pair of fingers appeared from nowhere and grabbed his left ear.
"Ouch.. Ouch. Ouch.." Dean chorused like he was about to release a terrible music single.
Yuki had grabbed him by the ear and pulled him straight into the kitchen like he were five.
Dean grunted immediately she let go of his ears.
"You-" he hissed with a darkened expression.
Yuki didn't even bother to spare him a look and simply handed him a soapy ceramic bowl.
'Huh' he questioned inwardly, his lips parted slightly, letting out a misty breath but closed before words came out.
'This wench,' he cursed with narrowed eyes. He snatched the bowl from her as he began rinsing aggressively like he couldl see her smug face on the bowl.
Dean had quickly diverted his gaze to the tap in front of him as he rinsed the ceramic bowl, dried it and placed it in the dish rack to his right-hand side.
He never once believed there would come a time he would live in a world without a dish washer but here he was. It seemed fate had other plans, as always.
"What father says is true," a soft and almost angelic voice slid into Dean's ears as he looked around for the source.
It was Yuki. The girl had tied her long black hair into a bun and suddenly sounded like she wasn't a harbinger of death anymore.
Dean stayed quiet as he came to understand the intent behind her dragging him here.
"I know," he answered, trying to allow the conversation flow.
Yuki nodded as she stretched a flat ceramic plate to him.
"Just be careful please," she spoke with a solemn voice almost as if there was something she knew that he didn't.
Dean took the plate and rinsed it before drying.
"I'll try my best," he replied.
His eyes were still on her even as she had begun cleaning some pots alongside her familiar.
The familiar was a humanoid creature, but unlike golems or other human-like familiars, it looked like a giant teddy bear with brown fur.
When Dean had met it for the first time, a day earlier, he had tried stabbing it to death more than once.
Walking toys didn't leave a good impression on him. Anyone who had seen Chucky would understand why.
Dean looked at Yuki and asked. "Why are you telling me all this?"
Yuki stopped scrubbing for a moment, turned towards Dean with a pot in hand.
"Because you're my responsibility, dipshit," the lines on her beautiful face curled into something in-between disgust and love.
'That's more like it,' Dean nodded slowly. This was the Yuki he knew.
"So the pestle was also out of love?" he asked with a mischievous grin.
Yuki's expression suddenly became softer. "The pestle was discipline. Discipline is love."
'Discipline is love. Of course, you tyrant,' Dean queried as he turned back to the dishes.
"I don't see Nessa getting pestle love too, or is that specifically a me thing," Dean teased further.
"Nessa listens," Yuki answered flatly.
"Nessa is seven," Dean snapped.
"And yet."
Dean opened his mouth to respond and genuinely couldn't find a retort.
They washed in silence for a moment, then the teddy bear familiar squeezed past them both to reach the sink, completely unbothered.
Dean watched it work. Retrieving some special ceramics back onto the shelves, they were on the other side of the kitchen.
"Have I ever told you that thing gives me the creeps?" Dean spoke while sneaking the familiar a glance.
"Bun is useful, unlike you," she remarked.
"That makes it worse," he sneered.
Yuki almost smiled. Almost.
She handed him the last pot without looking at him.
"Whatever that familiar is," she whispered, "don't let anyone tell you what it stands for before you figure that out yourself." She paused while slowly taking off her washing gloves.
Dean knew they weren't talking about Bun anymore. His focus shifted towards her completely.
"Even if it is the W.S.A. Your peers. Or even father." She turned to face him.
"Don't let anyone decide for you."
Dean stood even as he recalled a line in that moment. It was a saying he remembered, but he couldn't fully recall its origins.
'People decide what power means for a man before he gets a chance to.'
Dean just held the pot.
Yuki's words landed a lot different from Ying's. The man had placed a weight on him. Whether intentional or not. he was going to figure that out, but Yuki was telling him to take the wheels of his fate.
He looked at her in a new light as his lips parted.
"That's actually really-" he paused. 'Profound,' he completed inwardly.
"If you say something stupid right now, I will end you." She threatened.
Dean smiled slightly and walked closer to her. She watched him without moving an inch. And when they were intimately close, he suddenly placed his palm on her forehead.
"Are you sure you don't have a fever or something?" He smirked teasingly.
She took the pot back from him and aimed directly for the centre of his head.
"Dipshit," she snarled.
Dean dodged by sliding to the side as Yuki's eyes burned like red hot coal.
Yuki chased him through the kitchen while Nessa laughed from the doorway.
By the time Bun finished cleaning up the mess they'd made, the siblings were already calling a truce. They bid each other goodnight, retreating to their various rooms.
<><><>
Dean fell onto his bed with a smile still on his face as he looked at the system panels again.
He knew Yuki was right, and if he was to face this world, he had to understand himself first and everything in his arsenal as well.
"Time to see what this system can really do," he muttered as he reached for the screen.
'Rank up.'
A/N: If you like the Novel please add to Library and support with power stones, Thank You.