Miss Tohru's Dragon Butler
Chapter 1: From Another World Redux
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A/N: Welp, here we are: the beginning of an alternate universe, where all the characters have had their roles altered or reversed! I've tried to merge the existing dynamics and character traits, and, personally, I think this will be a fun trip!
By the by, this was inspired HEAVILY by this comic from Nightea: /Nightea/status/851636142512365568
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Kobayashi Tohru woke up with a pounding headache and a bad attitude. It wasn't her fault, really; she always tried her hardest to be a friendly, outgoing person, but after long days at the maid cafe, barely scraping by with a cheery smile and eyes that begged 'please help me!' to every customer that walked in, she just couldn't keep up the charade.
Then again, the whole 'pleading-with-her-eyes' thing probably was more offputting than endearing.
Ah well. Tohru didn't have much control over her life, when it came right down to it; when she was younger, she had great dreams for her future-seeing the world! seeking adventure! perhaps finding true love in some foreign place?-but none of those dreams ever really panned out. Instead of reigning her fantasies in and doing something practical when she had the chance, Tohru had drifted through college with barely a care in the world, passing a few low-level courses for an entirely forgotten field (education? history? Tohru couldn't even begin to remember) before dropping out. Thinking that as long as she lived frugally and saved every cent she could she would be able to follow her dreams and see the world one day, Tohru had sought out a part-time job at a local maid cafe. After all, maids were cute and she was cute, so it had to work out!
This was three years prior to now, and, if her current living situation was any indication, would be the case three years later. So here she was, living in an apartment paid for in part (a larger portion than she would like) by her parents, keeping them at bay by pretending she had a plan to get out of her tiny, sorta-crappy apartment and out into the real world.
Well, 'sorta' might be an understatement; whenever she got home from work, Tohru was always so stressed and tired that she would drop whatever she was wearing wherever she was standing onto the floor and collapse onto the couch. Then, instead of getting up to clean up her laundry or dishes or the stack of empty cupmen growing concerningly high by the trashcan, she would sit on the couch and watch whatever anime happened to be on TV at the time for a few hours. As a completely anticipated result, her room was now a pig sty. She groaned inwardly at this-she knew it was childish, a woman at the 'ripe old age' of 22 wasting her days away in front of a television like that when she lived in a dump-, but that never kept her from remaining on the couch until she passed out or got hungry. And speaking of that... which did she do last night?
Tohru lazily turned her gaze to the wall clock, squinting to try and bring it into focus through the buzzing in her head. After what seemed to be hours of trying, she heaved a defeated sigh and shrugged, deciding it was simply not worth worrying about. 4 o'clock, when her shift began on Sunday nights (today was Sunday, right...?), was probably far enough down the line to at least afford her a shower and a glass of water.
Maybe an aspirin to go with it.
Or, judging by this headache, two. At least.
A headache which was, by the way, not particularly fond of the loud banging coming from the front door at the moment, thank you very much.
Wait. Banging? Front door? But that meant...
Tohru tried to simultaneously scramble to her feet and rush to the door, achieving an awkward half-run, half-stumble that led her careening into the plank of wood with a painful thud. It wasn't the most becoming or graceful of gaits, but one could hardly blame Tohru; she couldn't remember the last time she got a visitor when it wasn't a vaguely-disinterested coworker or-gods forbid-her intensely interested coworker, Joui. It might, just might, be somebody new! Even the mailman would be a welcome surprise at this point.
When she finally recovered and opened the door, Tohru certainly got her surprise... though it might have been too much, even for her. After all, it's not every day a butler with horns shows up at your door.
Yet this is exactly what greeted Tohru this... Afternoon? Morning? She still wasn't quite sure. A young woman, dressed in a dashing black suit with a fine red button-up shirt and a yellow tie stood before Tohru. The stranger was a unique person, to be sure; droopy, almost dead hazel eyes sat behind a pair of unobtrusive glasses, with reddish-pink hair tied into a loose ponytail, a splash of electric blue on the tips. She bore an oversized set of canine teeth, and-most striking of all-a pair of thick bull's horns sprouting from the sides of her head.
A moment of awkward silence passed between the blank-faced stranger and Tohru. Another moment passed, and Tohru began to realize how rude it was to remain half-hidden behind her door and wonder whether she was supposed to say something or not. However, this line of questions became moot when, suddenly, the stranger began to speak.
"Hey, Tohru. I came like I promised. D'you mind if I come in?"
This was enough to shock Tohru from her reverie, who began to absentmindedly nod her head in assent. It was only as the stranger began to push past her and enter her home that Tohru snapped to complete attention and fully grasped what was happening.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT!" Tohru cried, desperate to get some sort of handle on the situation. The stranger, now standing in the entryway of Tohru's home, paused to turn to her, a quizzical expression on her rather androgynous face.
Now facing the stranger properly, Tohru struggled to think of something to say. After a moment of frenzied searching for a competent conversation starter, she went with the first thing that popped into her head.
"Who are you!? What are you doing here?" Tohru blurted out. Not the most elegant or tactful of openers, but Tohru found this whole new situation incredibly confusing.
The stranger cocked her head to the side slightly, her brow creased in confusion, before she finally offered a response.
"What are you talking about, Miss Tohru? You were the one who asked me to come live here!"
...
Tohru awoke at her kitchen table, a glass of water and three aspirin sitting before her. She racked her brain for memories of the last several minutes, before it all came rushing back: the knock, the butler, the declaration, and (to her chagrin) passing out.
A rustling coming from her fridge brought Tohru back to the present and, seeming to sense something, the surprising house guest stuck her head over the open door. "Ah! Good to see you're awake again!" She said with a small, soft smile. "How are you feeling?"
Tohru paused, mulling over the question; she was still pretty sore from sleeping on the couch the night before, and had a headache lingering from her... episode... but otherwise felt fine. The panic and shock that had gripped her at the stranger's statement had mostly faded, and she was able to think clearly again. Tohru matched the stranger's smile. "I'm... better, now. Thank you!"
Tohru paused to properly look at the stranger. She hadn't been expecting any visitors, certainly none with horns. Which this one had. And which Tohru realized she had been looking at for some time now. And now the stranger was staring back. Oh. OH.
"Is everything okay, Miss Tohru? You've been kind of..." the stranger tilted her head to the side, as though thinking. "...staring. For a while now, actually."
This caught Tohru off guard, and she jolted to attention as her face began to flare red with shame. Trying to wrest back control of the situation-or at least gain some kind of understanding-she began to stutter out, "Um... well... er, that is, eh... W-who are you?"
The stranger, her head still cocked to the side, began to smile. "What do you mean? It's me, Meisuke! We met on the mountain, remember?"
Tohru turned to her glass of water, dropping in a tablet of aspirin... before following it with another one. This was clearly at least a two-aspirin problem, maybe even three. For now, she would be conservative. Tohru suspected she would need the other soon. After giving it a moment to fizzle down, Tohru began to down the glass, pouring what remained of the aspirin into her mouth before chewing it and swallowing. Tohru couldn't resist a small smile at this; the taste of aspirin always made her happy, for some inexplicable reason.
Which may be why Meisuke was giving her a strange look, a mix of shock, confusing, and perhaps even amusement. "Uh... isn't that supposed to... well... taste bad to humans...?"
Tohru considered her guest's question for a moment, finally responding, "I guess I just sorta... like it?" She shrugged at the baffled Meisuke. "Everyone thinks I have weird tastes, but from where I'm sitting, it's everyone else that's weird!" Tohru stuck her tongue out at Meisuke, making it clear where she stood on the matter. However, after a moment, something about Meisuke's question seemed to click inside her head.
"Wait a second," Tohru began, "what do you mean 'to humans'?"
Meisuke cocked a brow at this question, before doing something completely unexpected.
She unfurled her wings.
Tohru nearly fell out of her chair as she jumped back in surprise at this turn of events. Suddenly, out of Meisuke's back a pair of wings covered in dazzling red feathers, like that of a falcon or perhaps an eagle, had spontaneously sprouted. Her horns began to loom larger, a shining black serpent tail tipped with a shock of red feathers popped out of her rear, and her eyes had shifted to reptilian slits.
"Because I'm a dragon, of course!" Meisuke said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Tohru wasn't sure what to make of this whole situation; it seemed like a dream, too ridiculous to possibly be real, but she was pretty sure dreams didn't hurt quite this much... ah, wait, the aspirin was starting to kick in. Things were coming more clearly in to focus for the part-time maid, and memories from the Saturday night before began to trickle back to the surface...
...
It was eleven o'clock in the pm, and Tohru ought to have been home by now. The night before had been hell at the maid cafe: creepers being creepers in spite of the rules, angry bosses, snarky coworkers, and that damn Joui-
But now was not the time to think of such things. Now was the time to relax, the time to have fun, damn it!
Tohru had arrived home and slept from Friday night all the way into Saturday evening (something she wondered if she should be worried about before deciding against it) and when she awoke, she decided it was time for a rare night on the town. So, she put on her nicest, "cleanest" clothing (Tohru's standards for casualwear weren't very high), and wandered into town for one of her incredibly rare drinking binges. Tohru vaguely remembered deciding to go on an "adventure" of some description, but couldn't remember the details in her inebriated state. What she did know was that she was wandering up the side of a mountain in the middle of the night with some sort of alcohol boldly named "Dragonslayer" in her hand. Oh, and that there may have been a caution sign at some point...? Again, still fuzzy on the details.
Tohru likely would have continued to stumble like a drunken idiot-which she was at the moment, by the way-for most of the night if she had not been interrupted by a strange voice.
"Hey!" someone seemed to shout from the nearby treeline. "Excuse me! Miss?"
Tohru turned to the treeline, grumbling about 'some noisy person', before beginning to wander towards into the woods in search of its source.
It didn't take long for Tohru to enter a clearing, where the voice was coming from. The trip was worth it, however, for in the center of the small hideaway stood (or perhaps coiled would be a better word?) an impressive sight: a massive black serpent with a fearsome set of red wings and brownish-yellow horns loomed before her, an impassive expression inset with dead eyes upon a ginormous head filled with razor fangs, fins rippling in the cool night breeze along the side of her neck. This would all have been far more impressive to Tohru if two things weren't getting in the way: one, the incredible creature seemed to have a massive sword hanging from its side, something which would diminish the majesty of anything, and two, Tohru was stinking drunk.
So, instead of doing the reasonable thing (turning around and fleeing with a bloodcurdling scream), Tohru gave the beast a winning smile and said, "Hiya, dragon!"
The dragon tilted its head as though unsure what to think of the girl before finally shuffling its wings as if it were shrugging. Then, a greedy glint entered her eyes and her nostrils flared as the dragon began to eye Tohru's bottle. "Please, ma'am," the dragon begged, "it sucks, but I'm kind of dying here. Do you mind if I have some of your drink?"
Tohru pouted at this, displeasure radiating off her in waves. "That'sh no way to greet someone!" She proclaimed with a slur. "You have to shhaare namesh firsht! For exshample: I'm Kobayashi Tohru, but... well, everyone jusht calls me Tohru. And another thing!" Tohru held up a finger informatively, "you're jusht too big! If you want some, you're gonna have to shrink down a bit! Geez, don't y'know anything!?"
The dragon tilted her head, seeming to consider Tohru's words before finally shrugging with her wings again. "Your sake, your rules. I'm Meisuke." Meisuke then shifted uncomfortably, pointing at her side apologetically as she said, "Although I can't really do much about the size thing right now. This sword is making it kinda difficult."
Tohru shifted her pout to the offending implement. It was clearly in deep, and looked heavier than anyone she knew could lift normally, but when something keeps Tohru from something she wants, drunk logic can be an incredible thing. And right now, Tohru wanted a friend.
"Well then," Tohru said, standing up and stumbling towards the hilt of the weapon, "I'm gonna have to show thish ssstupid sssword who'she bossh!" she declared, rolling up her sleeves and grasping the hilt of the weapon.
Meisuke cringed at this, beginning to form some sort of warning before it died in her throat. According to everything Meisuke knew, Tohru should have been disintegrated the second she touched the sword; only a person of extraordinary character or magical power could touch a divine weapon and live, doubly so if they tried to draw the thing. Thus, it was to Meisuke's shock and disbelief that Tohru began to actually draw the sword out of her side.
"Ah!" Tohru cried, "Shhhhtupid thingy! I'm trying'a talk with a friend, and you're getting in the waaay!" She gave a massive heave, digging her heels an inch into the soil and leaning back against the holy weapon with all of her might. She began to feel the sword give way before it popped out of the side of her new friend with a satisfying *shhhk*!
Tohru collapsed onto the ground and let the sword roll away while Meisuke inspected the wound left by the weapon as it began to close. Just a few moments ago, her death was assured, but now she would live... and she had the lowly human, Miss Kobayashi, to thank. Meisuke grinned as she began to envelope herself in a red light and her form shrank. This would be fun.
Eventually, Kobayashi settled into a human form, naked beneath the moon to Tohru's sudden crimson blush. Tohru stammered for a moment, barely managing an "Ugh... bugh... huh!?" before a slight nosebleed began to drip down her face.
Meisuke sighed. Her savior seemed to be a childish person, shut down by the mere sight of a dragon in her beautiful, human form. Inwardly, Meisuke shrugged; she knew dragons could seem pretty impressive to humans, but this took it a bit to far. Oh well.
Meisuke kneeled down in front of Tohru, wiping the blood away with her thumb. Tohru squeaked at this sudden physical contact, her face reddening even more than seemed possible before hiding her face behind her hands. Meisuke shrugged, picking up the bottle Tohru had discarded in the process and taking a nice, long draw. Finishing her swig, she upended the bottle to see if there was anything left; finding the bottle barren, the dragoness heaved another sigh and cast the vessel aside.
"For someone who seems so childish," Meisuke began, "you sure managed to help me out there!" Meisuke enjoyed a long, luxurious stretch for a moment before noticing that Tohru was taking a few peeks at her bare form from behind her fingers. A slight smile began to play around Meisuke's lips, before she suddenly stood up and thrust her hand to Tohru.
"I've made my decision!" Meisuke declared. "To pay you back for saving my life, I'll be taking care of you from now on!"
Tohru cocked her head as everything about the situation began making perfect sense in her addled state of mind. "Well, ifff you're going to do thhhat," Tohru began, "you're going to need a placshe to shtay." Tohru's brow furrowed for a moment as she tried to perform a few mental calculations before her face broke into a dazzling smile. "Why don't you jusht ssstay at my houssse from now on?"
Meisuke nodded vigorously, a determined expression on her face. "It's settled! From now on, I'll be Miss Tohru's Dragon Helper!"
"Yay!" Tohru cheered in response. "Miss Tohru's... Dragon..." suddenly, Tohru slumped over. Meisuke managed to lunge in time to break her fall, gently lowering her savior, friend, and now master to the ground as she passed out, the alcohol finally delivering its blissful sleep upon the young woman.
Meisuke gave the sleeping Tohru a once-over, before reaching into Tohru's pockets and rifling around. Eventually, she produced a small, pink rectangle from Miss Tohru's pocket. Meisuke looked at the device quizzically before waving it beneath her nose. Eventually, she shrugged and began to wave her hand over the device. A magical circle appeared to hover over the device for a moment, and green characters began to play over Meisuke's eyes. When the glowing figures began to fade, Meisuke returned the phone to Tohru's pocket.
"So she's into THAT, huh...?"
Meisuke gave the slightest hints of a grin as a glowing light enveloped her once more...
***End of Chapter 1***
A/N: Meisuke's name is a portmanteau of the phrase "meido ga suki", which apparently means "likes maids". I don't speak Japanese, though, so I probably just pissed a bunch of people off with how wrong that is. Ah well.