Miss Tohru's Dragon Butler

Chapter 5: Meisuke and Riko

A/N: FINALLY got around to fixing the chapter names! Had been meaning to do it for a while, but... erm... well...

...Reasons.

Important reasons.

Soooo important.

Yeah.

...

Tohru fidgeted nervously as she took a seat across from the young stranger that had sort of invaded her house. She was sure it was Meisuke's friend, at least; no normal parent would let their kid leave the house wearing a tail or horns. However, she had never considered the possibility that anyone would come looking for the dragoness. This was, upon reflection, an incredibly obvious turn of events, and Tohru couldn't help but kick herself internally for making such a careless mistake.

The problem was, regardless of her own mistakes, there was a child. In her house. Who appeared to be here for Meisuke. And she had NO IDEA what to do.

Tohru had begun to wonder if the girl was expecting to her to say something; after all, this silence must be awkward for her, too. So, gathering all her courage and tact, Tohru turned to the girl.

"Hello!" Tohru said with her best maid smile. "How can I help you, miss?"

The child didn't seem pleased with the display. On the contrary, she began to scowl as she shouted, "Break up with Big Sis Meisuke!"

Tohru blinked at this demand. She hadn't really thought about it, but while she WAS nurturing and motherly (to a sometimes irritating degree), Meisuke didn't quite seem like an older sister... maybe an only child that spent a lot of babysitting. Wait, then that would mean...

Tohru tilted her head, saying, "So when you say 'Big Sis', do you mean...?" before trailing off. She was, simply put, out of her depth. "I'm sorry, but... what DO you mean?"

The girl began to angrily pout as she stood up. "Don't play dumb!" She shouted. "I know what you're up to! You're taking her away, luring her with your BODY!"

Tohru flailed backwards in surprise, unconsciously covering herself. Floundering for a moment, all she could respond with was, "But... ugh... WHY!?"

The child fumed, stomping across the room until she loomed over the flabbergasted Tohru. She began to flail her arms at the woman as she crawled on top of her and cried, "Go away! You big-boobed jerk! Meisuke doesn't need a stupid human like you!"

Tohru only raised her arm to deflect the weak blows from the child, unable to collect herself enough to even remind the girl they were in HER house and she couldn't just leave.

This squabble would likely have continued for a while if they were not interrupted by a sudden voice saying, "Wow... that's kinda lewd, Miss Tohru."

The young woman glanced up from the ground to see Meisuke standing over her, a smirk beginning to pull on the edges of her mouth. Tohru then realized the position she found herself in, the way the girl straddled her, berating and ineffectually beating her, and the way she herself simply lay back and took it all. Her entire face began to nearly glow with embarrassment and shame as she shouted, "It's not like that, Meisuke! That's mean!"

Meisuke shrugged, the ghost of a smile still playing across her lips as she turned to the visitor. When she did, however, her face fell almost immediately and an awkward, sheepish grin took shape instead. "Oh," she mumbled, "Hey, Riko... how've you been?" She punctuated her statement with an uncertain thumbs-up.

Riko pouted at the dragoness as she got off of Tohru, shouting, "Where've you been, Meisuke!? I was worried sick about you! No one knew where you were, and people told me you were dead!" She fumed at the dragoness, adding, "Now I wish you were, so that I wouldn't have to see your shameless face! And YOU," the girl spun on her heel to face Tohru, "how DARE you hide precious Meisuke from us! We were worried sick!"

As Riko continued to rant about the injustice of it all, Meisuke turned to Tohru with a sigh. "This angry little girl," she began to a cry of 'Who're you calling angry!?', "is a friend of mine from my world, Saikawa Riko. I used to baby-sit her when her parents weren't around, and she's kind of like a little sister to me." Tohru nodded, already having surmised as much from the girl's appearance and the familiarity with which she interacted with Meisuke. However, Tohru's attention was drawn by something the child had said.

"Wait a second," the young woman asked, "does this mean that you didn't tell anyone from home that you were staying with me?" Tohru began to frown at Meisuke, who jolted in place at the question. "That's no good!" She scolded the dragoness. "Of course little Riko was worried! You must have made a lot of people worry!" She began to cry as she threw her arms around Riko, bemoaning how unfair Meisuke had been. The girl reeled at the hug, swatting against the human and her unwanted physical contact with loud cries of 'pervert!' and 'booby jerk!'.

Meisuke rubbed the back of her neck, sheepishly laughing as she said, "yeah... probably..." She paused for a moment, seeming to contemplate something before finally turning to Riko. "Hey, um, Riko," she began, "How'd you find me here, anyway? All anyone should have been able to figure out was that I had come to this world; I thought I had covered my tracks pretty well!"

Riko scoffed. "Do you think that I could have spent so much time with the genius Big Sis Meisuke, master information gatherer, and NOT pick up on a few of the skills she was trying to impart to me?" She gave Meisuke a smug grin as she said, "I tracked your mana to this world, and upon discovering the faint hint of your scent, I managed to track down the bloodied holy broadsword. Then, I analyzed your signature like you taught me to narrow down your possible locations!" She threw her hands on her hips as she concluded, "After that, it was only a matter of watching and waiting! Once I found your 'keep dry' spell-" Meisuke sighed, regretting her decision to listen to Makoto's advice, "-I narrowed where you were down to a few blocks! Then I saw your AWESOME FIGHT at the shopping district, and now I'm here!"

Meisuke sighed as Tohru said, "SEE!? You were found out anyway! You should've dried the clothes with a SKY LASER!"

Riko stamped over to Meisuke, gripping the hem of the older dragoness's suit-jacket as she whined, "Meisuke! We need you back at hoooome! It's not the same without youuuuu!"

Meisuke shifted to kneel in front of Riko, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder as she said, "I'm sorry, but... I can't go home, Riko. I made a promise that I will always take care of Miss Kobayashi." She gave the girl a comforting smile. "I'm not expecting you to understand, but... I hope that you'll at least accept it."

Riko began to pout again. "It's just like I thought! That stupid human has enslaved Big Sis to her will!" She shook her head rapidly, displeased with the mere idea of such a thing. "You used your booby magic to seduce her, and now Meisuke's not going to go home!" She stood up, angrily thrusting her finger at Tohru as she declared, "I've made my decision! I will not accept this! I'll fight you... FOR BIG SIS MEISUKE!"

Meisuke cried out, reaching to stop Riko as she leaped across the room upon to Tohru and beginning to pummel her with her tiny fists. However, the dragoness paused when she realized that-although Riko had managed to push Tohru over-the strikes were weak and infantile. Meisuke half-suspected that Tohru only fell over out.

"Riko..." Meisuke began, "You're barely doing anything. You may be young, but I know better than anyone that you are a LOT stronger than that."

Riko angrily stuck out her tongue at Meisuke. "That's because this world's WEIRD!" She complained. "The mana's way too impure here; only someone as smart as you could filter it enough to do anything with it! I know I couldn't, and I don't think anyone else could, either!"

An uncertain silence settled over them before Tohru tilted her head to the side as she asked, "Wait, Riko... if that's true, then how're you supposed to get home?"

Riko jolted in place, crossing her arms and turning away from Tohru as she shouted, "What!? Easy! I could go home any time I wanted! I just..." She faltered, "...um... well, y'see..." She began to fiddle with her hands, avoiding the gaze of Meisuke and Tohru.

"Rikooooo!" Tohru cried as she threw herself onto the girl. "Tellmetellmetellmetellme TELL ME!"

Meisuke shook her head at this display, before turning to Riko. "Riko... I don't know what you're up to, but I don't think Miss Tohru's going to stop until you explain just what is going on."

Riko scrunched up her face and turned away from both of them before she finally relented in the face of Tohru's display. "All right! All right!" She shouted, glancing down. "I'll tell you. I... just... please listen to it all." She began to cry. "It all started when..."

...

"So, um..." Tohru tilted her head, trying to comprehend Riko's story. "You were sent here because you broke something important looking for Meisuke?"

Riko silently nodded as Meisuke shrugged. "Riko's always been a bit of a brat, and kinda bossy." She mused. "I guess this would have to happen sooner or later; I'm kinda sorry you did this for me, though... Especially since they won't let you go home until you've had some time to reflect."

"Wait," Tohru said, "So it's like when your parents kick you out of the house for lying or something, and don't let you back in until you apologize?"

Meisuke nodded. "Yep, exactly," she said. "I couldn't do a thing to help her now."

Tohru began to frown, tearing up slightly at the thought. "So she's stuck here, with nowhere to go and no one to turn to...?" She wondered aloud. Meisuke simply nodded in response.

Tohru leaped onto Riko to her cries of 'get off, human!', bawling out, "Uwaaaah! Riko, you can stay with me now! I'm sorry you got kicked out, but pleeeeease don't go away!"

The young woman turned to Meisuke and the now sarcastically cocked eyebrow of the dragoness, wailing, "Sure, it took me a bit to take you in, but I did it! Plus, she's a kid, and that's so saaaaaaad!"

Riko pushed against Tohru, scoffing, "What!? And trust a lowly human!? No way! You're just a stupid brute who'll try to take advantage of my greatness! There's just no way!"

Tohru's loud sobs drew to a halt as she pulled Riko into a deep embrace and began to stroke her hair. Riko's protests fell silent, surprised by the intimacy of the hug before Tohru began to whisper, "I know it's hard to trust strangers... I can barely keep myself from running away and hiding whenever I try to talk to someone I don't know." Tohru pulled back, still gently gripping the girl's shoulder and stroking her cheek. "...but," she continued, "I've gotten better now. Meisuke helped me get better, and I trust her." Tohru smiled at Riko. "I trust Meisuke because I know she's a good person, and since you don't know what kind of person I am, there's just no way that you could trust me." She sat back, helping the young dragoness to her feet and concluding, "So I won't expect you to trust me. I just don't want you to have to be alone. I want you stay here. With Meisuke." She pat Riko on the head. "And me."

Riko didn't know what she was doing; all she knew was that, right now, she needed this. Once more, she leapt onto Miss Kobayashi Tohru. However, this time was not to attack her or berate her. This time, she pulled the woman into a hug. Before she knew what she was saying, Riko had already cried out, "O-okay! I'll stay here!" She swallowed her tears. "With you!"

Meisuke smiled at the happy pair. In this moment, she couldn't be happier to have been saved by Tohru.

...

Riko rubbed her eyes as she began her morning, heading towards the bathroom. She had seen Tohru go there at about this time the day before, but wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be; she hadn't been in this world very long and much of it didn't make sense to her, so she resolved to learn through exploration and experimentation. For example, after a few hours of fiddling the previous evening, she had determined how these 'doors' and their 'knobs' were supposed to work. She recognized her chance to prove this knowledge when she arrived to find the bathroom shut.

The girl beamed with a smug grin as she took hold of the handle to the bathroom door and turned it... or tried to, anyway. For some reason, the door was resisting her commands. She furrowed her brow and began to snarl. How dare this stupid door oppose her! She would show it! She would!

She began to turn the handle harder and harder, and yet still it refused to budge. Her snarling became a growl as she shouted, "Open, darn you!" With a ferocious twist, she heard a "pop!" as the door finally gave up its resistance. Before promptly falling over.

...Revealing Tohru sitting on the toilet, aghast at being walked in upon-though 'walked in upon' was perhaps an inadequate way of expressing the door being torn off its hinges by a small child.

"Oh!" Riko said. "Good morning, Miss Tohru!"

...

"Seriously, Riko!?" Meisuke scolded the girl. "I thought you said you understood how doors worked! If you thought something was wrong, you should have come to me or Miss Tohru!"

The young woman in question hid just beyond the kitchen, unwilling to enter the room when Meisuke was in full 'angry big sis/mom' mode. She did feel bad for Riko (though she could do without being interrupted on the toilet), but that empathy wasn't enough to compel her to aid the girl.

Meisuke pinched her nose, pausing for a few deep breath before saying, "Alright, Riko. Today, I'm going to teach you how this world works! Today, you're going to learn common sense!" She then turned to Tohru. "Speaking of which," she added, "Miss Tohru! Eat your breakfast quickly and get going, or you're going to be late for work!"

Tohru jolted, fidgeting slightly as she glanced at the kitchen clock. Her eyes grew larger than grapefruits as she shrieked, "UWAAAH! I'm gonna be late!" The young woman began rushing around the house, haphazardly throwing on clothing as Meisuke began to prepare some toast and a thermos of coffee. "Honestly," the dragoness said, "How exactly did you manage not to get fired before I got here...?"

Tohru, either too busy or too abashed, declined to answer.

Riko tilted her head, unsure what to make off the woman's scrambling. "Huh?" She wondered. "What's going on? What's Miss Tohru doing?"

"She's getting ready for work," Meisuke answered as she passed Tohru's impromptu breakfast to her, placing the toast into the woman's mouth. "She has to go there a few hours a couple times a week and do things for them so that she can make a living. It lets her pay for her apartment, for one, and pays for the food and everything else in it!"

Riko nodded in understanding. "Okay. I'll go with you!" She said, walking over to Tohru and throwing her little arms around the woman's leg. Meisuke frowned at the girl, saying, "Yeah, no. You're coming with me today; if you're gonna stay here, I have to at least show you the ropes. Otherwise, stuff like this morning will keep happening, and that isn't okay."

Riko pouted at the older dragoness, shouting, "but I wanna go with Tohruuuuu! I can figure out this world on my OWN!" She punctuated this statement by proudly thumbing her chest.

Meisuke and Tohru exchanged a confused glance, both having difficulty understanding how Riko became so attached so quickly to the human. Finally, Meisuke shook her head, dragging Riko off of the woman to cries of 'I want Tohru!'. "Riko," Meisuke scolded, "wasn't being selfish like this what got you banished in the first place!? Seriously, show some restraint!" Riko merely pouted before finally allowing herself to be carried away.

Meisuke nodded. "That's better. Anyway, have a nice day, Tohru!" She said, elbowing Riko. Riko turned towards Meisuke, uncertain of what to do before turning to Tohru and awkwardly repeating, "Um, yeah, have an icedai!"

Meisuke sighed. It would be a looong day.

***End of Chapter 5***

A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter! Just wanted to mention before I forgot (again), at the time of my writing this (May 21, 2019 if you want me to say it), Miss Tohru's Dragon Butler is officially up and available on Archive of Our Own (Archive Of Our Own?)!

...Which probably shows you all that I REALLY should post these when they're DONE, not according to some 'schedule'.

...But since when have I listened to advice from myself?

Also, weird note: This website turns all hyphens (two '-'s) into dashes (one '-'). This took a while for me to realize, and, as you guys are seeing this long after I've already written it, PROBABLY should have been added to earlier chapters. Ah well. Also, there are a few other weird formatting bugs this site introduces which'll be a FU(checks rating)N thing to figure out! Sorry, and please, though I have no right to ask this I would like you all to please bear with me!