Miss Tohru's Dragon Butler
Chapter 7: Meisuke and Children's Games
A/N: So since the link to the Saikawa concept art isn't working, if you Google "dragonswap riko saikawa" or the tumblr page of one "dragonbanzai" with whom I am in no way affiliated (I apologize if you've noticed this, dragonbanzai, and are mad that I haven't properly credited your work) but whose artwork is very good. I suggest you check it out!
Here's another link so PLEASE GOOGLE WORK WITH ME HERE:
post/170457004272/dragonswap-riko-saikawa-this-is-just-a-sketch-so
ALSO PLEASE PRETEND LIKE NOTHING'S WRONG THIS WAS DEFINITELY THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED AS CHAPTER 7
...
Sitting in a burning field, Tohru stared blankly ahead of her, unable to comprehend the craters, the smoke, the outright devastation that had overtaken the scene before her.
"I thought you said you had been training, Riko!" She heard Meisuke shout somewhere in the carnage. "If this is all you've got, it definitely wasn't enough!"
"Shut up, big sis!" Riko's voice floated through the fog of war. "I'm just getting warmed up! Then you'll definitely shake before my might!"
Suddenly, explosions filled the air, and light flashed and glared around Tohru. Shrieking, she ducked and shivered as she covered her head, waiting for the storm to pass.
"Uwaaah!"
As she began to call out, the explosions faded and the smoke cleared, revealing an unscathed Meisuke and Riko. Pushing a struggling Riko along as she rubbed her neck, Meisuke sheepishly muttered, "Sorry about that, Miss Tohru. I didn't really think about it, but I guess that was pretty intense for someone from this world, huh..." Nudging Riko, she added, "Go on, apologize."
Frowning, Riko shot back, "Why would I!? This is just playing-I didn't do anything wrong!"
With a sigh, Meisuke answered, "Yeah, in our world. But in this one, people get freaked out by the rough-housing of dragons." With a shrug, she added, "Even the normal stuff is over-the-top by their standards."
"No it isn't!" Riko answered. "It's like that for humans in our world, and I've seen their television stuff here! This is barely anything compared to Madoka Magica or something like that!"
"Why would you let her watch that!?" Tohru fumed, turning accusingly to Meisuke.
"I didn't think she would be influenced like this," The dragoness answered with a shrug. "Anyway, hate to tell you this, but human TV isn't... well..." With a significant cough and a nudge to Tohru, Meisuke pointedly turned away.
"What!?" The woman griped. "Why do I have to tell her!?" No answer forthcoming, Tohru instead turned with a huff to Riko and awkwardly explained, "Uh, well... you see... that stuff isn't actually... real. It's just made up... for fun, y'know...?"
Riko's blank, defeated expression was all it took for Tohru to begin tearing up, but before she could begin properly bawling, Meisuke cut in, saying, "Well, anyway..." With a cough, she continued, "Let's just try to keep things to a human level, okay?"
Pouting, Riko answered with a nod.
...
As she leaned back against a tree to watch Meisuke and Riko play in the field, Tohru considered the energy the younger dragoness was frolicking with. After watching this for a bit, she finally called out, "Hey, Meisuke! Riko!"
Pausing in their play, the pair turned to Tohru. Smiling, Meisuke said, "What do you need, Miss Tohru?"
"Well, I've been wondering," Tohru began, "If Riko was drained, how is she all better now?"
With a boastful thrust of her chest, Riko answered, "I take my power from the sun, so a bit of sunbathing and I'm back up to full!"
"Thus the giant forehead." Meisuke said, holding Riko at arm's length as the girl furiously flailed her arms at the older dragoness.
"Anyway," Meisuke said as Riko began to calm down, "Since we're playing at this level... why don't you play along, Tohru?"
Thinking it over for a moment, Tohru answered with a nod and a smile as she rose to join them.
...
"So... should we head home yet?" Meisuke asked as the group reclined on the grass a while later.
"Mmm..." Tohru thought it over. "Yeah."
...
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Riko and Tohru shouted together.
Blinking, Meisuke finished opening the door and entered the apartment, arms full of groceries. "What's this about?" The dragoness asked.
With a cheery smile, Tohru answered, "It's Christmastime, of course!" She paused to hug herself tightly before continuing, "a time of year where the world and all of its people unite in a spirit of joy and love! And," with a sultry smile, she finished, "A time for lovers and the bond between them."
With an unimpressed eyebrow cocked, Meisuke turned to Riko for further information on the subject. Happy to be noticed, Riko added, "The butcher told us it was a holiday just like that! And something about how it was a celebration of the birth of someone called 'Jesus Christ', but how the Japanese don't really care about that."
With an audible tch!, Meisuke murmured, "That bastard's son, huh...?" Sighing, she asked, "So, what did you guys want to do?"
"HAVE A CHRISTMAS PARTY!" The two replied in unison without missing a beat.
"And who, precisely," Meisuke began as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "would you all invite?"
Both of the girls blinked and their faces began to fall. "Uh..." Tohru began, "Takeshi...?"
"Anyone else?"
Glancing away, Tohru quietly answered, "No..."
After a moment of considering their request, Meisuke finally groaned out, "...Fine. I'll invite some friends of mine so it won't be COMPLETELY barren."
With a bright, sparkling smile, Tohru asked, "Really!? You would do that!?" With a gasp, she enthused, "I get to meet some of Meisuke's friends! Ooh! Ooh! I wonder what they're like!"
"Yes," Meisuke answered with an unamused nod, "They're MY friends, so... try not to expect too much."
"What do you mean by that?" Tohru asked, uncertainty tinging her otherwise joyous expression.
"Just... you'll see."
...
"I'm ba~ack!" Tohru sang as she swung the door open and entered the apartment, a shopping bag swinging from her arm. "Aaaand," she paused for dramatic effect as she reached into the bag, "I brought cake!" With a dramatic flourish, she produced a sizable Christmas cake.
Meisuke eyed the cake suspiciously, saying, "Well, it's pretty big, so you must be expecting a lot of people." With a small shake of her head, she continued, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but only two people from my end are showing up today."
Blowing a raspberry at the dragoness, Tohru replied, "Just because there's only a couple of us, it doesn't mean we won't have fun! Or need a lot of cake!" Huffing, she grumbled, "Honestly, you're such a worrywart!"
Meisuke opened her mouth to reply when she was cut off by the doorbell. As both rose to answer it, however, Riko came streaking past, shouting, "I'll get it!"
Before either could do anything, Riko had already dashed in the hallway, so Tohru and Meisuke simply sat and listened.
After half a moment, they heard the front door open and Riko boldly begin to declare, "Hello and welcome to the Kobayashi Ho-" before suddenly falling dead silent. This silence lasted for half a moment before the door slammed shut once more with a scream from Riko, and with the quick padding of feet she dashed back into the kitchen, breathing heavily.
"A demon!" She cried. "A demon has arrived at the front door to our home!"
"Takeshi." Tohru and Meisuke said in unison.
...
"Greetings to you, Kobayashi household." Takeshi said, bowing low before the trio. "I am Takeshi Ooyama, most humbly at your service." Gritting his teeth, he added, "I deeply apologize for frightening young Riko. It was not my intention to cause any fright to any member of my host's family; it is strictly against what a butler stands for."
"Uh-huh!" Tohru said, snorting with a determined nod. Both Meisuke and Riko declined to comment on the bump which had spontaneously appeared on the man's head and the matching one swelling up on Tohru's hand.
...
"Ah," Meisuke said as the doorbell rang throughout the house, "it sounds like one of my friends are here."
As she rose to answer it, however, Tohru shot up and shouted, "No, no, let me! I want to greet them! I want to greet them!"
Thinking it over for a moment, Meisuke finally sighed and answered, "Well, I don't think I could actually stop you or talk you out of it, so... go ahead. Just... try not to regret it."
Nodding in approval, Takeshi added, "Indeed! If your master has decided on a course of action, it is your duty to respect and support that course. I commend you for your commitment and dedication, Miss Meisuke!"
With a shrug, the dragoness replied, "Yeah, well, it's not like I didn't warn her."
...
"Hello, and welcome to our ho-!" Tohru took in the figure before her. She quietly shut the door. She turned around. And she muttered to herself, "When I turn around, and I open the door again, there will NOT be a massive goat-serpent-dragon thing the size of the building floating out there. There will not be."
Pausing for a few deep breaths, she turned once more to the door and, with an extra-forceful "Hello, and welcome to our home!" she threw it open.
Standing there was a rather thin and tall but otherwise plain-looking twenty-something man with mid-length black hair. And the orange eyes of a goat. And straight white goat horns growing out of his forehead. And a set of fangs lining his mouth.
So... perhaps not entirely plain.
He wore a white button-down shirt with a black tie, dark grey slacks, a black pair of loafers, and a bright smile.
"Hey there!" The stranger began, "I'm Takiya Mokoto, but you can just call me Makoto." Apologetically rubbing the back of his head, he sheepishly said, "Sorry for the shock just then. I kinda forgot that Meisuke asked me to be in human form for this event. I was just kinda..." he paused to find the right word, "Excited that she had made a friend! She was always kinda lonely in our world."
Blinking in surprise at the man's politeness, Tohru nodded before stuttering out, "O-oh, uh, it's fine." With an awkward glance to the side, she muttered, "I wasn't exactly polite with my response either anyway." Shaking her head, she continued, "Anyway, welcome to our home! Go on ahead to the kitchen-it's right down the hall-and make yourself comfortable!"
With a nod and a bow, Takeshi turned to the hallway and began to walk to the kitchen as Meisuke approached.
"So that's Makoto," she began upon reaching Tohru. "He's a good friend of mine, but he's a bit too casual around people." With a shrug, she concluded, "Well, at least it makes it easier to be around him, even if he does come off a bit... odd."
Shaking her head in disagreement, Tohru said, "Not at all! He seems like a relaxing person to be around, so I'm sure we'll all have a lot of fun together!"
With a smile and a soft pat on Tohru's head-something that made the woman's face flare a bright tomato color-the dragoness turned to return the party as the doorbell rang again. As Tohru shook herself and turned to answer the door, however, it swung open of its own accord.
Standing in the doorway was another odd sight-clearly another one of Meisuke's friends. A small child, a boy with a messy purple bowl cut, stood before them, clutching a gnarled old staff. Though his left eye was shut, his right was vibrantly purple with a black pupil, a shining yellow slit within it. A pair of jagged horns sprouted from the sides of his head, curving to the back like a pair of reversed lightning bolts, and he wore a black tunic that was just a bit to big for his body with a similarly oversized black robe and wizard's hat.
"Meisuke!" He declared. "I have arrived at the correct address this time! The last three houses I tried attempted to offer me candy and announce my presence to someone called 'The Police' so they could escort me home! This is quite agreeable." Pausing, he turned to Tohru and, with a smile on his face, he said, "Ah, and you must be the household leader, this 'Kobayashi Tohru' I've heard so much about!" Pausing for a bow, he said, "I am Magatsuchi Shouta! It is a pleasure to make your transient mortal acquaintance!"
Blinking in confusion, Tohru returned the bow and glanced inquisitively at Meisuke.
The older dragoness sighed as she took in the strange boy's appearance and said, "Shouta, what are you wearing?"
With a boastful grin, he answered, "Mortal clothes, of course! And from only a few hundred years ago this time!"
Groaning at this, Meisuke explained to the confused Tohru, "Shouta may not look it, but he's probably the oldest living thing currently in this world. He's some sort of god, so his life is pretty long; he may look like a child, but he'll barely be scraping puberty by the time we're all long dead. So," she paused to shoot a wearisome glance at the boy, "he sometimes acts like a clueless idiot without meaning to. Now, for instance."
With an offended gasp, Shouta shouted back, "What are you talking about!? I have all the clues! So many clues!" Opening his left eye to reveal a black sclera with a yellow iris and a purple, slitlike pupil, he waved his hands about as he concluded, "I am the cluemaster!"
"Hence why you assume that humans-who live about a hundred years at most-would maintain the same clothes styles for centuries." Meisuke deadpanned back.
With a jolt, Shouta turned to Tohru with an abashed expression. "Truly!? Is that all the time your poor species has?" With a dramatic nod to himself, he added, "I see. How brave of you, Meisuke, to care for such a creature... and for you, Lady Kobayashi, to accept such care." With another bow, he declared, "I am at your service."
Mind reeling from this swift exchange of information, all Tohru could stammer out was, "U-uh, no, it's fine! You can, um, go to the kitchen and make yourself at h-home. Please do!"
With a nod and a salute, he answered, "Thank you! I will!" Turning dramatically, he declared, "To the kitchen!"
Turning uncertainly to Meisuke as the boy sauntered off, Tohru's mouth flapped silently in inarticulate questioning. With a shrug and a sheepish grin, Meisuke replied, "So... these are my friends! Nice crowd, huh?"
Pausing to consider this for a moment, Tohru couldn't help but agree. They were strange, sure, but they weren't bad people; Makoto was polite, if a bit unaware of his own frightening nature, and Shouta was... not perfect, but far humbler than she would generally expect a god to be. They were... pleasant.
With a bright smile and a firm nod, Tohru answered, "Yeah! They are a nice crowd!"
"I was being sarcastic, actually..." Meisuke muttered, rubbing the back of her neck.
"...oh."
***End of Chapter 7***
A/N: Ah, most of the characters have finally been introduced! I'm pretty happy about that-plus, these are the first ones to be sorta kinda my own designs (y'know, because they were LARGELY adapted from the source material and reworked to suit different characters.)
AlsoI'msorryformissinganupdatepleasedon'tgetmadatmealsosorryforshorterchapter