Chapter 11: Riko and Shopping
"If I'm going to be the best student," Riko declared as she boldly led the way into the shopping district, thrusting her fist dramatically into the air, "I have to have the best school supplies! That's why I need to get the coolest, best stuff!" Before the arrogant young dragoness could continue her speech, however, she was interrupted with a blow to the head.
Lifting her hand for a second strike, Meisuke replied, "Miss Tohru is paying for all of this, remember? It's her money-and she doesn't have a lot in the first place-so you had better remember to thank her and not expect her to spend it all on you!"
Riko rolled her eyes at the older dragon as she rubbed her bruise, saying, "C'mon, Meisuke! Miss Tohru is a human worthy of the affection of dragons! Surely she can..." She trailed off as she turned to the young woman in question.
"Uwaaah..." Tohru moaned, a dark shadow falling across her features and a smog of depression appearing to cling to her as she reviewed the list of school supplies necessary for Riko's schooling. "All of this is gonna leave me with nothing but cupmen for a week..."
Meisuke sighed, shaking her head at the young woman as she said, "First of all, even if it'll get pricey, it's not that expensive. Second, would you really be that sad if it did?"
Chuckling awkwardly, Tohru muttered, "Yeah, you kinda got me there..."
"Anyway," Meisuke said, taking the lead, "Let's just start with the basics, alright?"
...
"Hello and welcome!" The friendly proprietor of Noyama Stationary called out as their small group entered. "Feel free to browse, and don't hesitate to give a shout if you need help."
Meisuke nodded at the owner before searching through the store for Riko's materials as the young dragon looked on in horror. "What is this!?" Riko cried indignantly, pouting at the various nondescript pencils and notebooks for sale. "None of it's cute! I'm gonna look totally lameee!"
Meisuke shook her head, a scowl quickly forming as she turned to the young dragoness and said, "Be grateful, Riko! Miss Tohru isn't made of money, and school's supposed to test your knowledge, not my patience!"
"Erm," Tohru began, squeaking out of nerves as both Riko and Meisuke turned to face her. Pausing to clear her throat, she tried again, saying, "...I don't actually mind, as long as Riko's happy... I'll be fine with a little extra cost..." She emphasized this by parting her fingers just slightly, adding, "It's not every day you go to school for the first time, y'know?"
For a moment Meisuke maintained her scowl, but she quickly relented. "Alright," she replied, "as long as Riko's happy."
...
"How about here?" Meisuke said, pointing to a brightly decorated stationary store sitting next to the shopping district. "It looks like it'll have what you're looking for, right?"
Stepping into the store, Riko's face lit up as she took in the colorful displays and happy children thronging about before exclaiming, "This is exactly it! It's all so... so... so CUTE!" Pausing for a boastful smile, she puffed out her chest as she concluded, "With stuff like this, I'm gonna be the coolest person in school! Even if I don't know what this stuff is for!"
Frowning as she cocked her head, Tohru asked, "Wait, but I thought you knew about all of this sort of stuff from your research into the human world...?"
Jolting in place, Riko awkwardly glanced away as sweat began to pour down her face. "I... I know, it's just, uh..." Thrusting her finger forward, she declared, "I-I'm just playing around! I definitely know what, uh..." Quickly turning to scan through the various products lining the shelves, the young dragoness's eyes landed on a pencil pouch. Snapping it up, she concluded, "THIS! I know what this is!"
"Oh?" Meisuke deadpanned as she cocked an eyebrow. "Well then, Riko, tell us... what do you think it is?"
An arrogant smile filled her face as Riko replied, "It's obviously a bag for apprentice mages to store their spell components, of course!"
The older dragoness crossed her arms in an 'x', humming a loud bzzz as she said, "Nope! That's a pencil pouch. Kids store their writing stuff in them."
Riko blushed furiously as she shouted back, "I-I knew that! I w-was just... uh... playing around!" With a hurried nod, she added, "Yeah! Just playing! I knew that."
"Whatever you say," Meisuke said, rolling her eyes as she led them deeper into the store.
...
Riko rubbed tears from her eyes as she was led to the front of the store, clutching a small, fluffy white pencil pouch as she muttered, "That poor unicorn!" over and over. As Tohru opened her mouth to ask, however, Meisuke lifted her hand to cut her off.
"Don't," the elder dragoness said, "Just... don't."
...
Fighting back a scowl with all of her might, Tohru halfheartedly muttered, "Yay... the mall..."
Meisuke's expression shifted to one of concern as she said, "I know you don't like this place, Miss Tohru, but there wasn't any choice. Riko needs a backpack and nowhere else sells any. Will you be alright?"
"S-s-sure?" The young woman replied with a shaky smile, "A-as long as you and R-Riko are there, I should be fi-fine."
Thus, clasping one hand over her mouth and the other over her stomach to suppress her desire to vomit in anxiety, Tohru followed Meisuke and Riko into the mall.
...
Meisuke slapped Riko's hands away from a dark red backpack, saying, "No, Riko." Stick her tongue out, the younger dragoness folded her arms and petulantly fumed. Watching this, Tohru couldn't help but cock her head in confusion.
"I don't get it," she said, "What's wrong with that backpack?"
Casting the young woman a wearied glance, Meisuke asked, "Hey, Riko, why that backpack?"
"Because it's a cursed item, soaked in blood and steeped in violence, of course!"
As she shrank back in concern, Tohru couldn't help but concede the point.
...
Riko skipped along, humming a jubilant tune as she followed Meisuke and Tohru-who now held an emerald green backpack-to the checkout line. As she did so, however, she couldn't help but stop and take note of a small, adorable keychain of an alligator with a high school uniform jacket. Squealing with delight, she snatched up the prize and rushed over to her guardians... before grinding to a halt as she overheard their conversation.
"That's... that's almost as much as I make in a week..."
"It's not that much, but it is still a lot... are you sure you'll be okay, Miss Tohru?"
"Yeah, I should be fine... I think. Oh! Uh, that'll be credit, ma'am..."
Glancing down at the keychain for a moment, Riko sighed and-clasping it to her chest for a moment-turned, quietly muttering, "...I can't be great if I'm not good to the people I like, right?" under her breath as she placed the charm back on its respective hook.
Tohru's ears twitched just slightly as she cast a quick glance over her shoulder, taking note of the young dragoness and the charm as she returned it.
...
Humming in discontent, Tohru leaned over to Meisuke as she whispered, "Is this really okay?"
Meisuke shrugged as she sized up the uniform shop they found themselves at. After a moment, she replied, "It's not like we have any choice. We have to get the uniforms here, so we're getting them here; that's all there is to it."
As they entered the store, Riko began to pout, saying, "How are we supposed to find anything in here? Everything looks the exact same!" Fuming, she exclaimed, "Why do humans have to make this so frustrating?"
"It's not about being frustrating." Tohru replied, raising a finger informatively. "It's about being normal. At least, that's what they always told me."
Riko raised an eyebrow in skepticism at this, asking, "Why would anyone want everyone to just look the same? Where's the fun in that?" She stuck out her tongue at this, adding, "I don't want to be NORMAL! I'm already great; why would I want to hide that!?"
Shrugging, Tohru replied, "Well, people... people don't want to be alone, Y'know? It's all because it's... lonely, being alone, I guess. People don't want to be hated for being different, so they try to be normal instead. But being normal's hard!" Pausing to heave an exasperated sigh, she continued, "It's exhausting! And no one can really be normal, so instead... we use the same clothes to make ourselves feel normal, even if it's only for pretend."
"Being normal, huh...?" Riko muttered. "So it's good to be normal?"
Tohru shook her head as she replied, "No, not exactly... but it makes you feel less weird, and while being weird's not a bad thing, it can feel bad. So schools try to protect everyone from being hurt for being weird, I guess." With a smile, she concluded, "I don't really know, though; that's just how I feel!"
Humming as she considered Tohru's argument, Riko finally replied, "So it's about being happy, huh...? Well, I don't really understand it, but I guess if you think it's alright, Miss Tohru, it receives my seal of approval!" She punctuated this statement with a peace sign, thrusting her arm as high as she could to indicate her acceptance.
Tohru and Meisuke both smiled as they returned the gesture, giggling as they all turned for home.
...
"Aaah, I can't WAIT!" Riko declared, pouncing on Tohru as they walked home, struggling to clasp tight both to her backpack and the young woman's arm.
Tohru blinked in surprised before quietly returning the hug, her confusion slowly turning to contentment as she fought both to walk and guide Riko at the same time.
Taking a long sip from a can of beer, Meisuke smiled as she looked on. It's nice to see Riko getting on with this world and Miss Tohru, too. I don't think she's noticed it herself yet, but already Riko grown up a lot, huh.
"Wait, Meisuke, where'd you get that!? You shouldn't be drinking while walking down the street; you'll set a bad example for Riko! What if she becomes a delinquent who buys juice from a vending machine and then spills it all over the place as she walks down the hallway!?"
"What, in elementary school? I think we can wait a few years before we worry too much, Miss Tohru."
...
"Hi, everyone! My name is Kobayashi Riko! It's nice to meet you all!" Riko declared, posing dramatically as she introduced herself.
"Uh, yes," her teacher said, taken aback at the interruption, "A-as I was saying, this is your new classmate, Kobayashi Riko. Let's all give her a warm welcome!"
A bit of chatter ran through the class, some commenting on her forceful personality and others declaring how pretty she was. After a moment, the chatter died down as a student called out, "Where are you from?"
Smirking at the inquiry, Riko dramatically threw out her arm, replying, "An excellent question! I am from... Ushishir!" A ripple ran through the class at this information, and the students began to marvel at the strange foreigner among them. Riko smirked; this was going better than even she had anticipated!
...
"Yeah, everything seems to be going pretty well in there." Meisuke muttered to herself, watching from the roof of a nearby building. "I get Miss Tohru figured it would be fine, and school doesn't seem like such a bad place, but... I'm worried." Sighing, she added, "Riko has a tendency to butt heads with people. Will she really be okay?"
...
"And how about this one, class?" The teacher asked. "Riko, what about you?"
Stepping towards the board with confident smile, Riko quickly wrote out the answer and, after a smile and a nod from her teacher, returned to her seat.
Meisuke hummed uncertainly. "I wonder if she's enjoying this as much as she though...?" She asked. "I know she wanted to try something new, but I'm surprised she doesn't find it boring as well. Still, she hasn't given up; I would've expected her to do that within ten minutes of the class beginning. Good on her, I guess, but how long will she keep this up...?"
Lounging on the roof as she kept watch for the next several hours, Meisuke couldn't help but reflect on the way schools were run in this world, she couldn't help but mutter, "Ugh... the gods of this world get schools dedicated to them... why don't dragons get the same, huh...?"
...
Riko grunted, hurling a dodgeball across the court line, pelting her foes mercilessly with rubber projectiles.
"Y'know," Meisuke muttered as she looked, "I figured they had got rid of that game years ago. Good for them, I guess, and clearly for Riko as well." Her eyebrow shot up in interest as she watched a few of Riko's classmates approach her and began offering praise and encouragement to the girl. The older dragoness shrugged as she concluded, "They're all swarming her because she holds power, huh...? Well, it's just human nature I guess..."
As she rose, deciding that she had seen enough and that Riko was in good hands, she couldn't help but add, "Well, maybe... or maybe not."
...
Taking note of a mass of students swarming around a single desk, Riko tapped a nearby classmate on the shoulder and said, "Hey, what's all this crowding about?"
Her classmate shrugged in reply, saying, "Eh, it's Kamui Kanna; it's been a while since everyone's seen her thanks to summer break, so everyone's real excited to greet her."
Excited!? Riko thought, beginning to push through the crowd in a huff. I'm NEW! I should be WAY more interesting than this 'Kanna' girl!
"HEY, KANNA!" Riko shouted, a grim shadow falling across her face as she forced her way to the front. "I WANNA TALK TO YOuuuuuu..."
Her voice fell silent as she caught view of the popular girl, but her thoughts did not. That pure, silky white hair! She squealed to herself. Those clear gray eyes, so trusting and kind! That adorable little bow! Riko began to nod subconsciously. She's PERFECT!
As she considered this, however, Kanna sat stock still, visibly shaken by the dragoness's forceful introduction. She remained silent for a long moment.
And then she began to cry.
***End of Chapter 11***
A/N: Today is Sunday, right...?
...Yeah, let's all just call this "Sunday", okay?
Please?