Tiny Demon, Big Trouble!

Chapter 1 - A Stolen Mistake

Fu's POV

If there was one thing I had learned after countless experiments across countless timelines, it was that the most interesting discoveries were never the ones people willingly shared with me.

They were always the ones hidden away.

Locked.

Protected.

Forbidden.

Which, naturally, made me want them even more.

It had started as an incredibly ordinary day. Well... ordinary by my standards, which meant jumping through distortions in space-time while invisible, wandering around Conton City simply because I was bored out of my mind. My laboratories were running dozens of calculations without my supervision, my artificial timelines were stabilizing on their own, and every experiment I had planned for the day had reached the tedious phase where all I had to do was wait.

Waiting was torture.

So I decided to entertain myself.

Invisible.

Watching people.

Specifically...

Them.

Chronoa.

Trunks.

...and that overly cheerful Kaioshin apprentice.

Kaeru.

I floated silently above the Time Nest, completely hidden from everyone's senses. Divine Ki detection was troublesome against normal people, but I had become exceptionally good at masking my own presence over the years.

Nobody noticed me.

Perfect.

Below me, the three of them were standing around one of Chronoa's worktables.

Kaeru was smiling as usual.

Actually...

No.

He wasn't just smiling.

He was laughing.

The kind of laugh that sounded completely genuine, carefree and innocent.

How someone could be that happy every single day remained one of the greatest mysteries in the multiverse.

Chronoa crossed her arms.

Chronoa: "I'm telling you, that's not where it goes."

Kaeru tilted his head.

Kaeru: "It literally has your handwriting on it."

Chronoa blinked.

Chronoa: "...No it doesn't."

Kaeru picked up a tiny bottle with glowing silver liquid inside and pointed toward a label.

Kaeru: "Then why does it say 'Property of Chronoa'?"

Chronoa immediately looked away.

Chronoa: "...Coincidence."

Trunks sighed so deeply that I almost felt bad for him.

Almost.

Trunks: "Lady Chronoa... you wrote that this morning."

Chronoa: "Did I?"

Trunks: "...Yes."

Chronoa scratched her cheek.

Chronoa: "...Well... maybe."