Chapter 4: new trust, new friends
The whole ordeal in the open waters had left sentaro exhausted from the rush of adrenaline and shock of the ocean's beauty. So he and Lucoa decided to take up residence under the umbrella for a short rest before the girls decided they were done racing each other in the bay, it was quite the spectacle seeing two dragonesses who were, in their opinion, just "playing" with each other out in the sea as massive swells of foamy waves kicked up as both girls zipped like bullets through the water. Abnormal strength, speed and stamina must be part off the territory of being a dragon in human form, perhaps the normal inhibitors that bind and restrain human potential they have somehow unlocked. Maybe...The two then launched out of the water and slammed down in the beach kicking up massive dust clouds.
"That was fun!" Tohru exclaims happily, with Kanna nodding alongside
"Tohru what did I tell you two about overdoing it?! I get its kinda hard for you two to hold back but seriously!" Kobayashi reprimands, causing the two girls to look down to the ground downtrodden.
"Sorry..." They both say, twiddling their thumbs
"I will never understand how that woman has such control over those two, you'd think two anthro dragons with the destructive power to level civilizations would be a bit less cooperative" Sentaro voices out loud to no one in particular, looking on to the display of incredible female dominance.
"It's probably because Tohru respects Kobayashi and feels indebted to her for saving her life" Lucoa comments to Sentaro's open statement as she stops stroking his hair.
"She saved Tohru?" Sentaro inquires
"That's what she told me,when she called me after she traveled here, she claimed she was ecstatic about this world! Going on and on about some amazing woman who saved her from dying in the middle of a forest from some giant holy sword that was embedded in her hide after a fight with the god that exiled here here, and since then she had fallen in love with her and vowed she would be her maid as a thank you and as a way if repaying her debt to her. That's when I showed up and got to witness it firsthand, she truly does feel strongly for Kobayashi, no one had ever gotten so close to Tohru before, but now that there is someone, and that someone surprisingly is a human, it's changed her whole outlook on pretty much everything she's known, talk about a rude awakening" Lucoa explains to Sentaro
"Whoa...I never would have guessed"
"But you deserve credit as well Sentaro, you are the only other human besides Kobayashi to accept her for who she is, you weren't frightened or christened her for being a vicious beast, rather as you stated previously; "we are nothing but misunderstood creatures who had been dealt a bad hand all our lives" and you stayed steadfast to your word, you couldn't have been more right"
"Couldn't have been huh?" Sentaro contemplates as he looks at Tohru, at first she couldn't stand him, but as she got to know him she stared warming up to him and had known previously that she wasn't too favorable of his kind, but now he felt he had an obligation to her, that she needed his help in a way, just like he needed Lucoa's in a subliminal way, that she was striving for compassion and wanted to be who she was but was scared to do so.
"Lucoa.." Sentaro says
"Hmm?" She coos softly
"I wanna help Tohru, but I don't know how.."
Lucoa was silent for a minute, drumming a forefinger on her lower lip before coming up with an answer.
"Well I can't really tell you how Sentaro, that's just something you'll have to figure out, but I can tell you that it will be in your own unique way, regardless, if there is anyone who can get to her besides Kobayashi, it's you.."
He smiled up at her and reached up for her hand, she took the hint and grabbed his
"Thanks Lucoa, that's all I needed..." Sentaro softly praises her, squeezing her hand tight, Lucoa blushes and smiles warmly, then bends down to kiss his forehead tenderly
"Anytime sweetie" she croons
"Well there's a big anime and manga convention headed into town the week, three will be tons of cosplayers there, maybe Kobayashi can convince her to go and maybe seeing everyone dressed up
May help her with her acceptance issue. Plus no one'll suspect a thing and they'll think she's just another cosplayer" Sentaro explains, planning out a strategy.
"See? I told you you would figure it out in your own unique way, when do you want to go?"
"Maybe tomorrow, but I'll have to tell Kobayashi, anywho Lucoa would you mind letting me up?" Lucoa moves her arms so the boy can stand up
"Where are you going sweetie?" She asks almost in an almost dejected tone as if she never wanted the time they were spending together to end.
"I'm just headed off to the tide pools to find an optimal spot to sketch" he reassured
"Forever drawing huh?" Lucoa muses
"Haha..anyway" Sentaro bends down and kisses her cheek which catches her completely off guard as her cheeks flush cherry red"~I'll be back for you later, don't you worry~" he whispers sultrily in her ear which makes her gasp and her horns to twitch, Sentaro chuckles to himself as he walks away.
"Oh man her flustered face was just too precious! 'bout time I got her back too, but maybe I went a little overboard" he admits looking back at Lucoa who's eyes were bugged out and her face looking like it was going to burst like a tomato as she pawed the ground, shuddering with delight.
"Eh..she'll get over it.." He concluded as he walked off, however he was unaware of the pair of bright blue eyes trained on his every move.
"Well this looks as good a place as any" Sentaro proclaims, he climbed the large smooth rocks outside of the colorful thriving tide pools and posted up shop overlooking its bustling activity and toward the bay.
"Ahh..how tranquil and therapeutic the sound of lapping ocean waves are..it does wonders for the weary soul" he sighs contentedly, takes out an HB lead pencil and sketches away.
Sentaro decided he would sketch a water nymph communing with a leviathan in the cresting waves of the water, and so scanned the waves for the optimum spot while laying out the design for the two creatures. About 20 minutes go by and he finishes with both of them, blowing off the eraser shavings and holding up his masterpiece to behold it, it was only then he noticed that familiar light lavender hair and those emotionless yet soul filled sapphire blue eyes.
"Gahh!" He jumps back and almost drops his peice" Kanna? What are you doing?" He asks bewildered
She pulls herself up onto the crag and points to his drawing
"Pretty" is all she says
"Oh yeah I guess it is" Sentaro admits
"Teach me!" She urges once more pushing on his folded legs
"Oh yeah! I ever taught you did I? Cone and sit down kiddo!" As he says that Kanna steps in front of him and his drawing and plops down in his lap
"Ok now your first lesson is drawing an elongated S, now follow my lead" Kanna looks up at him with a confused expression, but Sentaro reassures her and draws a long S curve on a blank sheet of paper
"On now you try draw one parallel to mine" he says and Kanna tries her best to follow Sentaro's example and draw her own and surprises herself by drawing one that looks exactly like his. She coos with delight and looks up at him with wide eyes
"Good job kiddo! You did it! Now onto the next step I'll draw a let's say funky triangle up here" hey says as he sketched what looks like a triangle on the upper s shaped line
"Now you do the same down there Kanna" she follows him again and draws the same thing but roughly, which makes her frown and luff out her cheeks
"That's ok Kanna, your learning, now I want you to draw a another long line here but curve it up" he points to the back of the upper triangle, Kanna follows suit once more and draws a semi straight yet jagged line
"That's perfect Kanna! Now I'll draw one under and add a little hook!" He finishes her line and draws an additional curving line under to form a branching horn
"And we have a horn!" Sentaro proclaims
"Yay!" Kanna proclaims as well throwing her arms in the air
"Alright now we need an eye and some teeth! So I'll draw the eye" he draws a sharp ovular sharp near the base of the head" and you make he teeth! All you've gotta do is draw a bunch of upside down triangles ok?"
"Ok" she coos
"Alright! Now I'll as some detail and scales on the neck and voila we have a dragon head! You did it Kanna!"
The little girl admired her work and turned to Sentaro with a smile, he was shocked, he had never seen her smile before.
"I did it! I did it!" She cheers, bouncing up and down in his lap, sentaro smiled warmly down at her and Ruffles her hair
"Yes you did" Sentaro responds, Kanna blushes and embraces him, burying her head in his chest to hide her embarrassment, sentaro just chuckles at her display of affection.
"You are just too cute you know that? I don't know how Kobayashi and Tohru don't freak out over you being so cute every time you're around them" Sentaro looks at the picture and is surprised by what he and Kanna did, he wasn't even paying attention to what kind of dragon he helped her draw, and Ironically, it looked like Tohru!
"Hey Kanna look who it is!" Sentaro exclaims, and hold up the drawing to her, her expression brightens once more
"Miss Tohru!" She exuberantly exclaims
"Whaduya say we give it to her as a gift?" Sentaro offers and Kanna nods her head elatedly as a response.
Back at the beach-
The day was getting late and Lucoa was still lounging under the umbrella while Tohru and Kobayashi walked back up from the beach after looking like they were talking for a while.
"Hey you two! you were gone for a while!" Lucoa calls out to the two girls
"Yeah Tohru had something bothering her so we decided to talk about it" Kobayashi confirms
"Ooh well I won't press on if it was personal, but while on the subject of talking I'd like to ask you something Tohru" Lucoa inquires
"What is it?" Tohru asks
"What do you think of Sentaro, honestly?" She hones in as if it were a touchy subject
"Well, it kinda feels strange befriending a human besides Kobayashi, I'm definitely not used to it because of my prior experiences, but for some reason I feel like I can trust him, I can't really explain it..." Tohru responds
"I feel the same way Tohru, and it's not just because I've developed feelings for him, it's because being around him makes me feel more comfortable about being myself, that there's nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of and I'm wanting to be around him more and more because of it" Lucoa agrees
"I think I might know why" Kobayashi interjects, which makes the two dragonesses stare in her direction
"Maybe it's because he's not like most people, he's more open to accepting the stranger things in this world rather than the norm, he's always been different, even his mother admitted it to me. So like I told you before Lucoa, he's pretty level headed for someone his age and its led him to view the supernatural and unexplainable as a part of life or with a grain of salt, and is content with the many many things in our world that can't be explained. Maybe that's why you both feel so gravitated toward him, because he is will to accept the fact that your both real, on top of his love for your kind! Maybe he acts as some kind of supernatural dragon magnet!" Kobayashi explains
" I guess that makes sense" Lucoa says trying to find some inkling to comprehend what Kobayashi just drawled on about
"I'm just shedding a little light in the subject" Kobayashi comments
"Speaking of him where is he?" Tohru inquires
"Oh he went off to draw somewhere near the tide pools, he should be back soon"
"Hmm...sounds like Sentaro, but where's Kanna, did she go with him?"
"Probably, don't know where else she would go she usually sticks very closely to us though" Tohru thinks out loud mildly confused by her not being there
"Oh there they are!" Kobayashi exclaims casually, but is shocked by what she sees, Kanna is holding hands with Sentaro and smiling up at hi. As if her were her caring big brother or father
"Is she smiling?! She never smiles!" Tohru gasps astonished
"I-I know!" Kobayashi agrees, equally shocked
"Oh hey guys! We were just talking about you!" Sentaro greets walking up to them
"How goes the new art Sentaro? Did you get anything done?" Lucoa asks almost pryingly
"Sure I drew a leviathan and a water nymph, then Kanna came along and asked me to help her draw so I did! Which reminds me, Tohru, Kanna has something she wants to give you, don't you Kanna?" He asks the girl who nods nervously"well go on!" He urges nudging her toward Tohru
"What is it you want to give me Kanna?" Tohru asks softly bending down on her knees to her, Kanna then shakily hands her the peice of paper.
"F-for you m-miss Tohru!" She hesitantly responds
Tohru takes the paper and gasps at what she sees, it's a drawing of her in her dragon form
"Oh Kanna! It's beautiful!" She squeals with delight, Kanna fights back and forth twiddling her thumbs
"S-Sentaro helped me make it.." She squeaks
"Yeah I did! Though most of it she did herself, I should have guessed she was doing this for someone given how insistent she was on me teaching her, but she surprised me with what she claimed she didn't know how and did anyway! She's got some talent and I'm proud of her!" Sentaro praises, making Kanna's face go deep red and make her bury her face in her swimsuit.
"Thank you Kanna! This was really sweet of you! You should thank Sentaro as well! You wouldn't have Ben able to do this on your own without him!" Tohru croons to Kanna, pulling her in for a hug and acknowledges Sentaro's skill, which surprised him, Lucoa and Kobayashi
She then looks up at Sentaro and smiles
"Thank to you to Sentaro! I guess I kinda misjudged you at first, but if you can make Kanna smile, then you really do understand us!" Tohru proclaims happily, sentaro was both surprised and relieved by her finally accepting him or at least acknowledged him as a cut above the rest
"Don't mention it Tohru, just doing what I do best!" Sentaro admits humbly
Kobayashi and Lucoa look on with proud smiles, this boy had managed to win over two more dragons in just 2 days, one of which was the most stubborn you could find, and the other an enigma,a stigmata of confusion, you never really knew what was going through her head. And yet he reached them both on they're own respective levels with very little effort, it was an admirable trait in him, being able to connect to certain people with out even trying, Sentaro truly was special, even if he didn't realize it.
"Oh Sentaro now would be a good time to tell Kobayashi your plan!" Lucoa interjects
"Plan?" Kobayashi comments quizzically
"Oh right, hey Kobayashi is it ok if I invite you and Tohru to a cosplay convention that's coming to town this weekend?"
"Oh uhh, this is kinda sudden..." Kobayashi contemplates, she looks back at Tohru to for her opinion on whether she was along with this plan, Tohru gives her a brave smile and a nod which assures Kobayashi her final decision.
"Well if Tohru is alright with it then I guess it'll be alright!" Kobayashi confirms
"Yes! Yes!" Sentaro exclaims as he literally jumps for joy"oh man this is gonna be so frickin awesome!
"Oh teenage boys, if they're not geeking out over one thing it's the other!" Kobayashi drawls once more
"I think it's kinda cute! It shows even he has passions! And everyone should!" Lucoa explains
"You think this is a good idea Lucoa?" Kobayashi adds, with a semi serious tone
"I wouldn't agree on it if it weren't, trust me Kobayashi, this will be good for both of them, I have faith in Sentaro, I would believe you would as well seeing as you two were practically family at one point"
"Your right your right! Sometimes I get stuck in mother mode!"
"It's understandable! You care, it's amazing and you aren't even related!"
"This is one weird family unit we're a part of Lucoa!"
"That may be true but we are family none the less, an we all look out for each other, now let us depart, its getting by late"
"Yeah we probably should.."
Later that night-
"Wow today was crazy! I swam for the first time and taught a dragoness how to draw and it was strangely empowering for some reason" Sentaro reflects making Lucoa giggle next to him, she poked his cheek and responded
"You've done a lot these two days, and on top of that you've grown quite a bit! I'm proud of you sweetie!" She says scooting closer to him in his bed, wrapping her arms around his waist
Sentaro smiles and grabs her hands
"You know, it's weird Lucoa, previously it seemed like I was some kind of scapegoat to you so you could stay here, but as I've gotten to know you and our relationship grew, you changed! Now your like this super supportive and cheerful girlfriend every guy wants and craves, and I feel almost guilty for being the guy that has you" she puts a hand up to his mouth and shushes him audibly
"Don't feel that way, I chose you remember? your special, a cut above the reat some would say, no musclebound jock has a thing on you except there bulging muscles or some self proclaim stud has hey good looks, you have everything they don't, you have the ability to reach people Sentaro, you reached me without trying, you reached Tohru through your kind me words and reverence towards dragons, you reached Kanna by teaching her something new and getting her in touch with her own feelings. To say the least your incredible Sentaro and I can't wait to see you grow more from this, and just know I'll be here cheering you on all the way sweetie" she croons once avian and pecks his cheek softly
Sentaro was almost brought to tears fronhege words and actually began to believe that Lucoa was sincere about everything she said about him, that she actually loved him.
"T-thanks Lucoa.." Sentaro chokingly responded
"Sweetie? Are you crying?" She asks
"N-no! I-I've just, got some sand in my eyes is all"
She giggles briefly then begins
"Well you'd best get some sleep, you have a big day tomorrow! Something exciting is gonna happen! I just know it"
"You say that as if I'm gonna be hit by some kind of flying object tomorrow"
"I'm not holding my breath!" Lucoa muses
Sentaro scoffs good natured
"Alright alright! Goodnight Lucoa!"
"Goodnight sweetie, I love you!" She croons even sweeter tightening her grip
"I-(sigh)..I love you too.." Sentaro admits with a resigned sigh, he wasn't gonna lie to himself anymore, so curled up against her and closed his eyes waiting for the sounds of silence to put him to sleep...
Off in the outskirts of the city a portal opens in the sky, with its appearance a large blue serpentine creature slithers out and transforms into a human girl, she then carefully floats to the ground and looks out to the city with a fixed scowl.
"Where are you...Tohru?"