"WHAT?!" Kobayashi shrieked, unable to believe what she'd just heard. "You ate her?!"
Tohru giggled again, this time nodding. "I was hungry, and now she won't bother the store ever again!" She looked proud, as if her quick meal had been the most clever solution.
"Tohru, you can't just eat people!"
"She was a shoplifter. It had to be done."
"What… what would you do if a dragon ate me?" Kobayashi asked.
Tohru's expression rapidly darkened, her irises narrowing into near slits. "I would destroy them." Quickly, her face lit back up with warm confidence. "But that'll never happen."
The dragon maid's mistress sighed. "I need to go think about this." She grabbed a beer, paused a moment thoughtfully, and then fit two more in the crook of her arm. Before she passed out of the room, she looked back and said, "When you look at a human, see them as a person. They could have family. Kids. Siblings. Wives. You could even be making another dragon very, very unhappy." She ran her free hand through her hair. "Please, Tohru-don't do it again."
The talk didn't totally land on deaf ears, but by the time she was finished speaking and had closed the door, Tohru was slowly making her way towards the couch. The thieving little girl was certainly taking a toll to digest. Tohru yawned widely, not bothering to cover it with her hand since she was alone, and a little burp escaped. She couldn't help but giggle sleepily.
I'm just going to sit here for a little while and wait for her to finish up in there!
Her butt made contact with the couch, and she eased into it. Mmm. Sitting feels great after… long day … work ….
The muffled screams of cicadas gently awoke the dragon from her unintentional nap. Her head rested on the arm of the chair in an admittedly uncomfortable position, and her curvaceous form rested on its side. A blanket covered her.
Tohru peeked up to see if Kobayashi had returned, but didn't see her. The sunrise warm glow filled the seemingly empty apartment. A little disappointed, she pulled the blanket up to her chin, wiggling underneath it in comfortable contentedness. She sighed deeply, her face filled with a grin.
Post meal naps are amazing!
Not a minute passed by before Tohru's stomach began to protest her nap's continuation. It cramped and gurgled a little. Tohru groaned.
She passed through pretty quick. Guess that nap will have to wait…
"Kobayashi!" Tohru called. She'd heard someone come in while she was relieving herself. "Koba-"
"What, Tohru?" Kobayashi approached the yelling dragon, the smell of beer wafting from her like heavy perfume.
"Do you…" Tohru twirled one of her long twintails in her hands, her cheeks warm and pink. "Do you have a plunger for the toilet? I got a little bit of um…"
"Got what?" Kobayashi rubbed her temples in an attempt to keep her anger from bubbling to the surface. "What did you do to my toilet?"
"There's a bit of bone in there. It's a bit stuck, but I think I could-"
"TOHRU!"
The dragon shrunk a little at the outcry. The beer had certainly had an effect on her mistress's volume control. Kobayashi's hair was unruly and a little tangled, and her eyes were red and very tired looking.
"I've had it, Tohru. If you want to stay in this house, you will either go back and make sure you never eat that girl, or you will find her family so you can apologize to them personally. Clearly you've learned nothing, and I will not share living space with a… a KILLER!" Tears sprung up from the corners of Kobayashi's eyes, and she turned away from her maid.
"Miss Kobayashi, I-"
She cut Tohru off. "No. I'm going to bed. If you don't tell me what your choice is by the end of the week, I will assume you're leaving." She finished off her can of beer with a quick chug. "The plunger is under the sink. Take care of it."
Kobayashi left without another word, leaving Tohru in silence. Ever the dutiful maid, she made quick work of the mess that her meal had made. Two troubles that girl has brought me now. At least she'll never bother me at work again….
She took the time to thoroughly clean the bathroom as a sort of apology to Kobayashi. She'd been too busy with finding work to do deep cleans of the apartment, so she used her time then to do so and think about her situation while she cleaned.
A few days of searching brought the dragon no luck. Either this girl had no family, or whomever she lived with didn't care enough to notice she was gone. Tohru went to work and kept a lookout for anyone who looked like her. The store patrons were always pretty courteous, so she had plenty of free time to look around at the area outside the store too. She told her boss she was looking for suspicious persons hiding around outside.
She'd made up her mind pretty quickly. She wanted to stay with her beloved Kobayashi, but there was no way she was going to undo what she had done. The flavor from the girl's brief contact with the back of her throat was exquisite, and her nutrients had left her belly hunger-free.
So, she had to find the girl's parents. Or siblings. Roommates? Whomever she could find. Kobayashi would be happy that way, and maybe she could pay her respects to the people that had created such a fine one-course meal.
Tohru was walking slowly home from work, when she had an epiphany. She was just thinking about her next meal, as she was finally starting to feel hungry again.
I wish I could eat another human, but Miss Kobayashi would surely throw me out. They were so filling and tasty though.
A light bulb of sorts lit up in her head.
Ah, but what if I blended them up? I could make them last longer, and then my belly wouldn't poke out so much.
Tohru giggled mischievously while she continued walking down the dark sidewalk.
Human smoothies! That sounds tasty! Hmm, it's too bad I couldn't do that for that An girl. Anyone else and they might get the law after me. She was pretty yummy too.
Another 'light bulb' lit up, this one even brighter.
I know!
Kobayashi was asleep on the couch when Tohru arrived home, and a few freshly emptied booze containers laid around her.
"I'm home!" Tohru announced. She removed her shoes and went to awaken her mistress. "Miss Kobayashi, you should get to bed. You'll be sore if you stay here." She gently pulled on her. Failing to rouse her, she sighed and carried her to bed instead.
The dragon walked then to the quiet entryway, where any commotion would not disturb Kobayashi's drunken slumber or alert the neighbors.
The bright glow of intricate magic surrounded Tohru, and almost instantly she was transported. Tohru stood then in a familiar gap between buildings. She hid away while a small figure walked quickly by into the dead-end alley. It was almost time.
Tohru created an invisible wall, one that An couldn't see and An or her past self wouldn't be able to get through. She heard a confused growl, and waved towards where she remembered flying, making sure to maintain the barrier.
Past Tohru landed nearby, judging by the rumble, and edged closer to herself.
"Me? Tohru? What are you-what am I doing here?"
Tohru giggled. "You're about to eat a dirty thief, right?"
Past Tohru rumbled. "I hadn't made up my mind yet."
"Definitely do it-she's delish." Tohru smiled at herself, or, rather, where she thought she was. "I've got a better idea though. If you just eat her, Miss Kobayashi will see your belly bump and get really mad and make you apologize. Why don't you clone her and make smoothies instead? You don't have to deal with an angry Kobayashi, and that pesky shoplifter is dealt with too!"
"Won't she get suspicious about these weird drinks?"
"Oh, silly me, just tell her it's some dragon thing. She can't prove otherwise!" Tohru was prepared to send herself off on her way, but she remembered that she had something with her. "I almost forgot! Here's a… carryout bag, you could call it." She giggled quietly and held the bag out.
It floated away from her hand and towards the dead-end alley. There were muffled shrieks, followed by crunches and pops.
"Thanks, me!" She heard herself say as her future self warped and faded with her changing past. "Arms and legs to go! Clones, here we come!"
