Chapter 14: Meisuke and Fanservice
AN: Y'know, I wasn't really sure how I wanted to do this chapter or if I even wanted to do it at all! For a little bit I did consider skipping it and moving on to the next chapter, but in the end, I decided that just wasn't all that great an option either. It's tough to do proper fanservice with words when it's normally done with pictures and I'm not precisely inclined to do it, but... make do, I guess...?
...
"Aaaaah! The beach!" Tohru enthused as she threw her hands to the sky. She gleefully spun on the sand, causing the frills on her skimpy pink swimsuit to ripple as she said, "You just can't get more summery than this, huh, Meisuke?"
"Yeeeeeeahhhhhhh..." The dragoness muttered, a heavy pall clinging to her as her as what little light in her eyes dulled before fading away. "Nothing like sitting in the bright hot sun for hours at a time so you can splash in a slimy, salty outdoor pool." Drooping with a heavy sigh, she asked, "So I had to be here, dealing with the crowds and the humidity doing something useful because...?"
Sticking her tongue out at Meisuke and her general lack of enthusiasm, Tohru fumed, "Because it's fuuun being here, playing in the ocean, making sand castles, splitting watermelons... Y'know, just doing summery things! Plus, since Riko's on her school break and I got the day off, it would be a waste to just spend it all cooped up inside!"
"Exactly!" The arrogant little dragon in question affirmed, folding her arms confidently as she said, "If we're going to live in this world, we need to try all of its traditions-especially the fun ones!" With a grin that oozed smugness, she added, "I bet I could beat anyone here in a race! How about I go challenge those big humans over there right now!?"
A swift chop from Meisuke brought this train thought to a screeching halt, eliciting a whimpering complaint. This too was stopped short with a sharp glare from Meisuke before the elder dragoness turned to Tohru with an eyebrow cocked in confusion as she asked, "Why are you so gung-ho about this summer stuff, anyway? I always thought that you'd be the type to stay home and watch anime or play video games or something during school break."
Blushing fiercely at Meisuke's suggestion, the younger woman stuttered out, "I-I'm not some kind of shut-in NEET or something!" Glancing away as her cheeks only reddened further, she said, "I mean... I was kind of like that as a kid, but when I was in high school I kept on getting dragged to stuff like this by Joui... After a while I just sort of stopped hating it and realized I actually kinda liked going to the beach..." Shaking her head with a clap of her cheeks, she continued, "Anyway, after that I started going to the beach every once in a while." A dark shadow fell over her face as she added, "...But whenever I go by myself, I always get hit on by a bunch of creeps..."
The dragoness nodded sagely as she said, "Yep, that makes sense. Plus, it explains why you had to drag us along for the ride." With a smirk, she continued, "Honestly, Tohru, you should-"
"OH WHATEVER!" Riko shouted, cutting into Meisuke's statement as she began to pout, saying, "We're at the beach already, so when are we gonna go swim, huh!? I wanna swiiim!"
Meisuke sighed before waving Riko off, saying, "Alright, alright, you can go ahead." Raising her finger with a stern air, she added, "Just remember: make sure you stay at a human level. We don't want to have to explain why a child is swimming like an Olympian athlete... or god, for that matter. Oh, and don't try to go too deep; everyone would make such a fuss about saving you that they'd just put themselves in danger."
"You worry too much, Big Sis!" The younger dragoness retorted before rushing off to the sea, adding, "I mean, c'mon! Who'd be dumb enough to rush right into the deepest part of the ocean!?"
Noticing Tohru visibly twitch at this comment but deciding it would be wisest not to investigate, Meisuke turned to the young woman and instead asked, "So... you didn't come here when you were a kid? Like, at all?"
Shrugging at the question, Tohru said, "Well, it's not that I didn't go at all-my parents would drag me out here every year or two-but I didn't really enjoy it until I started hanging out with the swim team."
"Your family, huh...?" Meisuke mumbled, her gaze settling onto something far, far away. After a moment she waved her hand as though casting away strange thoughts before asking, "Say, Tohru... what's your family like, anyway?"
"Huh?" The young woman said, caught off guard by the question. "Where'd that come from?"
Waving her hand yet again, the dragoness said, "Ah, it's nothing, you don't have to answer that, I was just-"
"No, no, it's fine!" Tohru said, cutting of her friend's disheartened ramblings. Turning the question over in her mind for a few moments, Tohru eventually replied, "Well... they're normal, I guess. I mean, they care a lot, and they're really supportive-they're even helping me pay for my apartment and everything!-but... I think they want more from me, y'know? They want what's best for me, and they're worried that with the way I've been drifting along through life I won't ever enter the 'real world', but..." pausing to sigh, she concluded, "...I'm already there, y'know? Maybe I'm being too rudderless in the way I live, but they still support me even if they don't agree with me!" Pausing to reconsider her words, she eventually declared, "I guess you could say I have a good family, though I want to think that's normal anyway."
So that's just the way humans are, huh...? Meisuke mused. I guess that's just Tohru's way of looking at it, but... if humans were truly terrible, they couldn't have produced a person like Miss Tohru, could they? Her mind drifted back a thousand years, and words of hate spoken against humankind resurfaced, words that indicted them as a species of weaklings and cowards who, had they the strength, would be as great and terrible as any dragon on the face of the world. Yet again she doubted these words, but before she could think too deeply on them, Tohru's voice called her back from the void.
"...like, Meisuke?" The young woman asked, interest begin to sparkle in her eyes.
Pinching her nose for a second to ease the slight headache her memories had bidden forth, Meisuke said, "Sorry, I was distracted for a second there. What'd you ask?"
"I wanted to know what your family was like, too!" Tohru replied, a bright smile on her face.
Cringing at the question, Meisuke muttered, "Well... erm... I don't have any."
Tohru visibly deflated, saying, "oh... uhm... oh..."
"Yeah..." The dragoness agreed, "It's nothing that important, I just... wanted to know what it's like, I guess..."
Casting her gaze around for something-anything-to distract the listless Meisuke, Tohru's eyes settled onto a nearby cafe. The beginnings of a smile took form on her lips as she said, "Hey, Meisuke..."
Blinking out of her reverie with a small nod of assent, Meisuke said, "What is it?"
Smiling broadly, Tohru asked, "Wanna go inside for a bit, get out of the heat and maybe get something cold?"
A moment of surprised silence from Meisuke was followed by another nod as she replied, "Yeah, that sounds... good. Let's just grab Riko first."
"Alright!" Tohru cheered, "She was right by the shore a second ago, so it shouldn't be... Was that massive wave heading this way there before?"
"...No." Meisuke replied, pinching the bridge of her nose once more. "No it was not."
...
The trio sighed in unified pleasure, each taking a moment to appreciate their chosen frozen treat in the air-conditioned store.
"It's kinda strange, actually," Meisuke said, "it's not that dragons have to worry that much about temperature, but… it's kind of nice to relax inside without all that heat beating down on you."
"So dragons don't have any, like… cooling spells or something?" Tohru asked, absentmindedly nibbling on her popsicle before stopping short, a shiver running through her as she clutched her head in pain and began to moan about her teeth.
With an amused smile and a shrug, the dragoness replied, "Eh, not really. Most dragons just use their magic when it's convenient or necessary and don't think too much about comfort. Luxury's kind of a foreign concept to us-unless you count gathering treasure and sleeping on it, which I don't." Sticking her tongue out as she furrowed her brow in disgust, she concluded, "Gold's all hard and sharp, ancient artifacts have a 50/50 shot of being horrendously cursed, and don't even get me started on jewelry."
"That's just 'cause you're weird!" Riko declared, jabbing a finger at her elder with a smug grin. "You don't get the greatness that is sleeping on a ton of cash and valuable junk, knowing that you're sleeping on a bed worth more than some miserable human will make in their life!"
Meisuke leaned back into her chair with a slight chuckle, waving Riko off as she said, "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure it is. But until I start to feel something like that, I'll stick with cotton beds and a/c."
Watching all of this with a small, contented grin, Tohru considered her earlier conversation with the dragoness. After taking a moment to gather her courage, the young woman asked, "Meisuke… you really don't have any parents…?"
Taken aback by the unexpected question, Meisuke spent a long, silent moment before offering a small nod, saying, "Yeah… my parents disappeared before I was old enough to remember anything. Instead, I was raised by an old stubborn drake who told me my parents were slaughtered by a couple of humans." Pausing for a chuckle, she continued, "Honestly, I think he just told me that because he didn't want me to think I was just abandoned by my parents… well, that and because he'd gladly take any opportunity to express his hatred for humans. I'd introduce you to him sometime, but he would probably kill you." She sighed before resting her chin in her hand, taking a pensive lick from her popsicle as she mused, "Honestly, I think he's just worried for me more than anything… He taught me everything I know about magic, and I want to go see him sometimes, but… I don't know…" Sighing again, she concluded, "That's just how family is, I guess. You don't agree with them all the time, but they still keep respecting you and caring about you anyway."
"Wow…" Tohru muttered, slowly leaning back into her chair as she digested Meisuke's story. "I guess that's how it is, huh… but, well, it means you've grown up, right?"
"Grown up?" Meisuke repeated, tilting her head in confusion.
"Yeah!" The young woman asserted, nodding fervently as she continued, "You're old enough to know that not everything you were told as a kid was right but can still get why he told you what he did and still love him anyway!" Tilting her head as she considered this, she added, "I don't really know if I'm the best example of a 'grown-up', but… everyone can choose to turn into an adult, and learning how to do that without hating the people who messed up around you is what shows what you chose, right?"
A long pause hung in the air before Meisuke began to nod, smiling as she said, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
...
"Hey, I got something weird at the market today," Meisuke said as she entered the apartment, arms laden with groceries. She paused to turn and close the door behind her before adding, "I don't really care one way or another, but... I figured you guys might want to play with it, so..."
As she turned once more to remove her shoes, however, she found herself face-to-face with an ecstatic Tohru and Riko, their faces shining brightly with interest and excitement as they began to paw at Meisuke's bags. For a moment she desperately tried to fend the childish pair off before finally reaching into her bags and removing a small square box, the words Dragon's Breath written on the side in dramatic, bright red font.
"Fireworks!?" Tohru enthused with equal measures surprise and delight, taking the box and passing it to Riko. "It's been years since I've played with these things! And these look like good ones!"
Enthusiasm changing to confusion as she examined the box, the younger dragoness asked, "Fireworks? What're those?"
Tilting her head in confusion, Tohru asked, "Huh? None of your friends from school said anything about fireworks?"
"Yeah," Meisuke chimed in, "didn't you learn about them when you were doing all your research? Or did that get missed too…?"
A bright blush rose to Riko's cheeks as she began to frantically wave her arms, saying, "I-it's not like I'm missing stuff! It's just that I forget it sometimes, okay!? Plus, anything I'm missing'll just get filled in by school anyway!"
"Sure, sure, whatever," Meisuke said, waving the child off with a smug grin. "Anyway, fireworks are like… eh, they're like our fire breath turned into balls that expand, I guess? A lot of people say it's like flowers of fire in the sky, and it's kinda right, but they're kinda loud and bright for flowers… and you don't set flowers on fire to make them bloom."
"Wow!" Riko said, smiling in delight as she imagined this spectacle. "C'mon! Let's go light it up! This'll be great!"
Nodding in agreement, Tohru said, "Yeah! Let's do it; fireworks are what Summer's about, too!"
With a sigh, Meisuke said, "Alright, alright. Let me just put these groceries away before we head up to the roof."
"YAY!" The pair cheered in unison.
…
Meisuke stepped back from the firework, watching the sparks crawl along the fuse with wary eyes as Tohru and Riko danced in place. They began to squeak and squee, unable to contain their excitement. A moment passed and then another as inch by inch the fuse disappeared, leaving ash and a growing impatience. Finally, it went off, and anyone nearby would be treated to three different reactions as the oversized candle turned into a flowing pillar of sparkling fire.
A small smile took shape on the elder dragoness's face, unmoved by the pyrotechnic but still pleased by the effect. Meisuke glanced at the two next to her, her smile growing as she took in their reactions.
Bouncing from one foot to another as she looked on, there was very little to distinguish Tohru from a boisterous, oversized child. She cheered and laughed as she looked on, as though reliving the best of her past summers.
Riko was frozen in place, her face a shattered wreck of disillusionment and disgust. For a moment, she remained still and silent, incapable of comprehending what she had just witnessed. After a moment, she finally spoke.
"Is that IT!?" She cried, throwing her hands in exasperation at the offending device. "YOU CALL THAT WEAK PIECE OF JUNK A 'FIREWORK'!? THE ONLY WORK HERE IS WHAT THE PEOPLE WHO HAD TO MARKET THIS CRAP DID! I COULD DO BETTER WITH HALF THE EFFORT, AND MEISUKE COULD WIPE ALL MEMORY OF THIS THING FROM THE WHOLE WORLD!"
"Wait, really?" Tohru asked, taken aback both by Riko's outburst and the assertions she made. The young woman considered this for a moment before she began to nod unconsciously, saying, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense… you guys did do all that crazy 'roughhousing' a while back… but… wait…" She fell silent for a moment before turning to Tohru, her eyes sparkling as she said, "Wait, so does that mean-"
"Yes, Miss Tohru," Meisuke replied with a long-suffering sigh. "Sky laser."
Tohru teared up, falling to her knees as she was overwhelmed with joy.
***End of Chapter 14***
A/N: ...as you've probably noticed, my method of 'making do' is by mostly neglecting fanservice.