Mr. Kobayashi's Dragon Maid
IT'S FINALLY HERE FOLKS!
Author's note: Although this chapter technically takes place during chapter 6 of the manga, many of the events from the original chapter have been altered. By that I mean almost the entire chapter had been rewritten. If you're expecting me to copy the manga verbatim like I did with a certain other 50+ chapter long story in my archive, well, sorry not sorry; I've taken a lotta liberties on how the chapter's events play out and in determining how they tie into the plot later.
Since I know not everyone will get the reference, the chapter title is a play on the Japanese rock band "KANA-BOON", who are known for doing anime OP and ED, most notably for Naruto, as far as my knowledge.
(Not that I've watched Naruto enough to warrant me having any knowledge on the subject.)
Author's note 2: So, I wrote that note above over a year ago. So sorry to the readers of this story for taking so long to release this. Here is Kanna's (official) long awaited introduction to the story.
Author's note 3: I know that probably no one is going to bother reading any of this, but if you haven't already, go check out my
NEW CHAPTER FOR "CALCULUST: A DOKI DOKI LITERATURE CLUB SMUT"
Warning: This fanfiction is a smut. If you're uncomfortable with frequent sexual themes and detailed lemon scenes, you may stop reading at any time. If this is your kind of thing, then strap in and prepare for a semi-genderbent version of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid.
Cover art done by me. Chapter 7 also written by me.
Story and concept by me and Night.
WE ARE SO BACK, BABY! - 12/14/24
Chapter 7: KANNA-BOOM
...
Sunday?
...
Yeah... Sunday...
...
Oh right, Sunday? Yeah, well... Sunday had started just like any other off-day...
Yes... the office was closed on Saturdays and Sundays (surprisingly), and with the day off I hadn't done much except for catching up on some programming work with my computer, read some of the novel I was into, and watch some TV to relax. It was otherwise a pretty uneventful day, though I made decent progress with my work.
...
... or so I would've, had I been able to focus on literally anything at all.
Anything except... except for...
"Ugh..." Taking another swig of beer, I groaned as Saturday's events came flooding back to me all at once, then promptly banged my forehead into the table. Sunday had passed with not so much as a word said to Tohru, on account of the prior evening's... events. It wasn't even that she was mad at me, but there was simply a strange air about us; implicit awkwardness.
Try as I might to wipe it from my memory or to gaslight myself into believing that nothing had happened, there was no denying what exactly I'd done. After what had transpired, I wasn't sure of what exactly my relationship was with her, but at this point it'd become increasingly apparent that she was definitely more than just my maid.
A month is but a long, drawn out moment in time. A drawn out month-and-a-half since our meeting.
"I don't know what to do, honestly..." I sighed, lazily tossing the now empty can of beer upon the table. "I mean, I can't just face her like this, can I? She clearly wasn't in the right state of mind to be able to say no, but the fact stands that I was, and I could've said no. I did say no. I just... I don't know... I feel like I'd crossed a line I shouldn't have, y'know?"
"Mm." Maori grunted but said nothing more, only gulping down the rest of her Sapporo.
"The thing is... I'd been refusing her advances for half a week prior, but I eventually decided to help her out. I mean, I couldn't just leave her to suffer like that, y'know. Although, I still don't know if what I did was right or wrong... she was (and maybe still is) in her heat cycle, which I'm thinking equates to about what arousal is for humans. You know how some people will regret having sex later on? They'd justify it as a 'heat of the moment' sort of thing, right? I mean, we didn't do it, but what if she feels that way?"
...
My statement met only a cold, awkward silence.
"You alright, Maori? You've been kinda quiet." I turned to Maori, who was staring at her can of beer rather intently. After a long silence, she finally spoke.
"This beer... sucks."
"W... what...?"
"Y'know, I don't even know why I drink this shit. Sapporo Premium Beer...? Sucks. 'Premium', my ass." After giving her can of beer a cold, hard stare, she set it gently (but unnervingly so) upon the table. Then, without cleaning up her expression, her head slowly turned to instead glare at me.
Spinal shiver.
"What- where is this coming fr-"
"You know what else sucks? Being fucking lied to by your best friend. The one you've shared most of your deepest secrets with, but is too chicken shit and two-faced to reciprocate."
"Lied to...? When did I ever lie to you?"
"Oh, now you don't remember what I'm talking about? Daughter of a relative, yeah, right?!" Suddenly, it came back to me: exactly the words I'd said to her upon introducing the two of them.
"Ohhh... that was-"
"Yeah, 'ohhh'. Didn't think I'd notice something was up, did you? How long have I known you? Not only does she not look anything like you, but I know for a fact that relatives don't give each other fucking head in an izakaya, unless you're hiding some really fucked up shit from me. And at this point, I don't know what to believe coming from you!"
"Maori, I-"
"OH, but that's not all! Why didn't you tell me that you were harboring a however-many-meters-tall dragon that one day just stumbled into your life and now you're falling head over heels for just because she sucked your dick?!" Maori, now red in the face (presumably not from the alcohol) was glaring, not daggers, but lasers into my skull. I could do naught but stare blankly back at her, completely taken aback by this sudden outburst. Of course, I'd never seen her this upset, but before I could anticipate another outburst, she hastily gathered her belongings and exited the room without another word.
She'd left me with the bill, which was to be expected after an outburst like that. As she snatched up her coat and left, all I could do was sit there wondering...
...what was that...? What did I do wrong?
Why would she blow up at me like that for something so small...? It's not like I lied to her about something life-changing/threatening like committing a felony or anything like that.
For a solid 10 minutes, I sat there alone thinking about where this all went wrong, only coming back once to politely shoo off a server who came to check up on me, interrupting my thoughts.
Wait. Ohhhh... oh god... I'm such a slow dumbass...
Once again, I buried my face in my palms. It all made sense now. Everything.
Everything.
everything...
ᵉᵛᵉʳʸᵗʰᶦⁿᵍ...
"... ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ᵉᵛᵉʳʸᵗʰᶦⁿᵍ. ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ᵃ ᶜᵃʳᵒusel, you're a wishing well..." The suave voice of Michael Bublé flowed from my phone's morning alarm and caressed my eardrums. Eyelids fluttered slowly open to a humming sunrise glow peeking through the blinds, pouring warm liquid golden light onto my bedsheet.
After gaining my senses and coming to, I closed my eyes and sighed in relief, knowing that I'd only been fabricating a twisted reality, a grossly exaggerated drunk Maori. As if "a grossly exaggerated drunk Maori" was even possible.
After waking up halfway, the taste and dryness of my mouth was eventually dealt with and swallowed instead of getting up out of bed and spitting it out in the sink like a normal person. Too lazy to get up out of bed, and/or too comfortable in bed.
After 20 seconds, one is meant to forget most of what happens in their dreams.
After a minute, all I could remember was that Maori was in my dream.
Phone. Where.
Bedside. Take.
Check. Sunday, 9:04 A.M.
...
... what was that dream about again...?
Tohru had left early to return some stuff at the market, and/or pick up some more things. After preparing breakfast again (this time with some of the food we'd gotten the day prior), I turned off my speaker and sat down to eat breakfast.
A soft knock came from the front door.
"Did I forget to give Tohru a house key...?" I got up, cup of coffee in hand and answered the door in slippers and a bathrobe. Of course, not the only thing I had on; a pair of loose sweatpants and a Galneryus shirt were visible underneath the loosely tied robe.
"Yes? Hello-GUH-!"
Before I could open the door to see who was on the other side, the wind was knocked out of me and I flew back into the wall at the end of the hallway. The silhouette of a small figure walked towards me, and as I looked wearily up I saw a young girl standing over me. She looked to be no more than 13 or 14 years old, and had piercing blue eyes and horns. She wore a... Native American, like, Navajo type outfit...? in all pink. White was the color of her hair and thigh high stockings, with her hair having pink highlights close to the ends which was tied in twintails at the bottom with a few large decorative beads holding the two strands of hair. She had a small wire-like tail as well, ending in a little puffy ball. No doubt she was related to Tohru in some way. Perhaps not a relative, but without a doubt from her world.
"You..." spoke the dragon-child. "You, who have kidnapped Lady Kiene... you have broken the trust between humans and dragonkind..."
It took me a second, but eventually I was able to work through the pain and gain my breath back. "K-kidnapped...? Lady Key-En...? I think you have me mistaken for someone else... Gnnh...!" I winced as the girl stood on my chest. Being a young girl, she didn't weigh too much but it still hurt on account of the fact that she'd just hit me in the chest.
"Don't lie! I saw you with her! You were making googly eyes at her in the market yesterday! Give her back to me, break up with her, you... you, you... pervert! You pig in glasses!"
"H-hey, now calm down... there's no need for the name calling... I have no idea what you're ta...lking..."
Wait a second. I thought. The market yesterday...? Surely she couldn't be referring to...
"Don't act like you don't know...! Give her back- ahh!" She slipped and fell backwards accidentally, landing on my stomach and once again knocking the wind out of me. She leaned forward and started beating her small fists on my chest.
Everything was pain.
To make matters worse, the front door opened.
"Mr. Kobayashi? I'm ba-" came Tohru's voice, but she was cut off when she saw me lying on the ground with the girl on top of-
oh.
...
oh no.
This looked... really bad.
"T-Tohru, wait. I know this looks bad-" I started.
"MR. KOBAYASHI! ARE YOU CHEATING ON ME?!"
"THAT was your first thought?!"
Tohru opened her maw, about to roast me with a fireball, when...
"... wait..." Tohru then looked at the girl sitting on top of me.
"... Kanna...? Is that really you!? What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, confirming my prior hunch of them being from the same world.
"Lady Kiene... I've been looking all over for you. Come back home with me."
Tohru stared curiously at the girl named Kanna, who had by now gotten off of me and stood up to face her. Kanna only came up to about Tohru's middle.
"Well... tell you what, let's talk about this..." said Tohru, ushering Kanna to the couch in the living room. I got up slowly, still wincing in pain. Tohru came over to help me stand up and I leaned against the wall. My eyes met with Tohru's for a second but then I looked away, an air of awkwardness perpetuating. I nodded to her, and stood up while watching the two as they entered the living room area. Once I'd taken a second to recover from the stomach and chest pains, I followed in shortly after and joined Tohru and Kanna in the living room. Tohru had shown her some hospitality and gotten a glass of water for the both of them.
"So... what are you here for Kanna?" she asked, sitting on the couch across from Kanna, who sat upon the floor.
"Things have changed, Lady Kiene," the girl informed. "We need you back home in Drachaheim; the Thane of Drachaheim, your father Lord D-"
There was a loud crash of tinkling glass, cutting off Kanna. The cup that was in Tohru's hand shattered within her grasp. Looking to her face, Tohru was fuming; clouds of smoke began to literally emit from her ears.
"I am not going back," Tohru growled, gritting her teeth.
I stared in half shock-confusion. "Okay, now wait just a minute..." I looked to Tohru sitting on the couch, then to Kanna who was sitting on the floor. "Things are moving too fast... I'm still stuck on Tohru having a last name...? Well, okay, let's back up a little first. So... Kanna, was it?" The girl nodded hesitantly.
"Right... so you've come for Tohru and I'm currently in the understanding that you two go back, but what has she done to warrant a search for her?" I turned to look at Tohru, who was still holding the broken pieces of the shattered glass cup in her surprisingly unscathed hand.
"The Thane had explicit orders to escort Lady Kiene back to Drachaheim. That's where we're from," said Kanna, pointing out the window, up to the sky. Looking in the direction the little girl pointed, I guessed that both of them hailed from another planet entirely, not just another realm.
I looked to Tohru. "Droc-a-heim...? That's the name of the place you're from?" She looked away. "Well... I suppose it's not strange that you have a family name either..." I guess I'd never asked. "Tohru Kiene...?"
And then it hit me.
Tohru+Kiene...
... did... her parents really name their daughter after a British author from our world...?
"I guess if you say it fast enough, it sounds like 'Tolkien'..." I then glanced over to the hobbit-sized dragon girl on the floor, then to my dragon maid. "Tohru... what is this all about...? You have a father...? I mean... of course you have one, otherwise you wouldn't be here... but I never knew that you..." Tohru still looked away, refusing to meet my eyes. "Tohru... you're from a royal family...? Shouldn't you go back, to... y'know, reunite with your family and-"
"I said I'm NOT RETURNING!" Tohru shouted, startling both me and Kanna. "Kanna, I'm staying here with Mr. Kobayashi, and that's FINAL!"
There was a silence.
Suddenly, Tohru turned to Kanna. "You couldn't have possibly gotten orders to bring me back; that pitiful excuse for a thane shouldn't even have the gall to call himself my father, let alone want me back home. So then..." Tohru spoke to Kanna seriously, causing the girl to wince a bit. "Tell us honestly. Why did you actually follow me here, Kanna? He doesn't want anything to do with me, and neither do I with him." Kanna seemed to wince from Tohru's question.
"So then, if you're certain that your father didn't send out an order to bring you back... why else would she leave your world to come and find you...?" I said, causing Tohru to eye her suspiciously.
"Unless... she didn't leave willingly." Suddenly, Kanna tensed up and froze, as if she'd been caught. "Unless she was ordered to come here, but not for the reasons she said."
"Tell the truth, Kanna. What's the real reason that you're here...?" The room was silent for a bit, and then Kanna began to sniffle.
"I... I-I actually..." Kanna stuttered. Tohru opened her mouth to say something again, but I held up my hand to allow the little girl to speak. She couldn't form the words; all Kanna could do was sniffle and hiccup.
"Hey... it's okay, Kanna. Just take a deep breath, okay?" I said, kneeling down to face her at eye level. Kanna did as she was told: a wavering inhale, and a shaky exhale. She opened her mouth to speak, but was hesitant.
"It's okay, use your words Kanna. You can talk to us." Kanna looked down and sighed. After a long silence, she spoke.
"I... I was..." Kanna then turned her head away from me and Tohru. "I got kicked out..." Kanna went on, explaining the reasons for being kicked out. As it turned out, she was quite the mischievous kid, fond of pulling pranks. However, this recent one had apparently cost her citizenship, punishable by banishment to Earth.
"So I was right, this isn't about him after all..." muttered Tohru. "Then... why did you come looking for me?"
Kanna hesitated, as if she was scared of another outburst from Tohru, but took a deep breath when I gave her a nod of encouragement.
"W-well... I did overhear the Thane talking about bringing you home, Tohru-sama..."
"So that wasn't a lie..." I mused, trying to piece everything together.
"B-but..." stammered Kanna. Suddenly, she began to cry. "... my power to return to Drachaheim had been taken away to prevent me from coming back... I can't return home unless I've learned my lesson..." Tohru looked down regretfully, seemingly feeling bad about getting confrontational with Kanna. Kanna tried wiping away her tears with her fingers, with her hands. Instinctively, I searched for the box of tissues and gave a few to her; her hands might've had dirt on them, and the dirt particles could've gotten into her eyes. No good.
"T-Tohru-sama... can you help me get back to Drachaheim...? You're able to open a gateway back to our world, right? I know you don't want to return, but you can help me get back... right...?" To this, Tohru sighed and shook her head ruefully. Kanna's eyes welled up with tears and she began to sob uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry Kanna, I really am... but I don't wish to return to our world. You must understand, I have a new life here with Mr. Kobayashi, I'm-" Tohru's eyes met mine and I looked away awkwardly, still a bit guilty about yesterday's events.
"The truth is... I'm in love with Mr. Kobayashi. And I don't intend to leave Earth any time soon." Upon hearing this, Kanna's teary-eyed expression turned into that of anger and she stood up.
"It's not fair! It's your fault, you... you pervert! You dirty sorcerer, you evil incubus...!" she shouted, running toward me very quickly to headbutt me in the abdomen. But before Kanna could do me any harm, Tohru stood in front of me to block Kanna's incoming attack. Their hands met, and a glint of malice flashed across her face as she wrestled Tohru before losing strength and dropping to the ground once more. All the while I stood behind Tohru, watching everything.
"Kanna... you have to understand, I can't send you back. Even if I did, you would be quickly found out and sent back here again, and you would be no better off than where you started. I came here unintentionally, but I've stayed here for so long because I have a purpose here. Mr. Kobayashi is my reason for being here. Perhaps you're here for a purpose too."
Kanna sniffled, and then sighed. "It's just not fair... banished for something so harmless, into a world where I don't know what to do... I don't even know where to stay..." She looked to Tohru and then to me with a look of despair and desperation. Something about her situation seemed familiar to me, and despite her attempted attack I grew immediately sympathetic for her.
"Well... you could stay with us, Kanna." Her head perked up, and she stared at me before adopting a worried expression.
"W-with you? B-but why...? I don't know you, you're a stranger! I don't trust you..." Upon hearing this, I approached Kanna closer, kneeling down to be at eye level with her. I gave her a pat on the head, caressing her hair gently.
"I don't blame you. If I was you, I wouldn't trust me either. And you know, you're just as much of a stranger to me as I am to you. But..." I looked to Tohru behind me, who smiled a little in encouragement. "... being that you don't have anywhere to go, nor do you know anyone else in this strange and foreign world, I'd much rather take care of you here than have you out on your own. I'm sure that Drachaheim is a dangerous place to be, but so is Earth..." As I spoke gently to her, I took up a tissue to wipe her tears away. "I know how it feels to be in your shoes, Kanna. Being out on my own for the first time was rough too, and I also didn't know anyone or know what to do. It wouldn't be fair to have to make you go through the same thing, so..." I held out my hand for Kanna, who eyed it tentatively.
"I want to help you. Even if you don't trust me, that's okay, you don't have to. But, I can at least promise you a safe place to live while on Earth. And, it won't be completely foreign to you; you know Tohru pretty well, it looks like, and if she's already living with me, then I can let you too. What do you say?"
Kanna sat for a while in thought, looking down at the floor, then to Tohru, then to me, and back at the floor again. She didn't reply verbally, but eventually she nodded her head. I smiled and gave her another gentle pat on her head, and Tohru came beside me sitting on the floor to match Kanna's eye level as well. Kanna sniffled and threw her arms around Tohru and she reciprocated, holding Kanna close and comforting the scared girl. For a little while nothing happened and the three of us sat on the floor rug in silence, save for the occasional sniffling from Kanna and Tohru whispering, "shhh, it's okay," and "I'm sorry for getting upset earlier, I'm sorry," and other things. We all continued to sit in silence until...
... my phone's alarm began to ring! The time read 10:00 A.M.
And before you ask, yes. This is the part of the chapter where I throw in the chapter's name/pun, because the alarm's song was in fact Silhouette by KANA-BOON. So clever, right?
"Whoops! That's my second alarm, I forgot to turn it off!" I exclaimed, causing Tohru to giggle at me. I thought I saw Kanna smile a little bit as well. As I stood up, I looked to the table to see that my breakfast was still sitting there: no doubt having gone cold by now. The breakfast that I'd made and sat down to eat before I was interrupted by that knock on the door. Looking to Tohru and Kanna, I had an idea.
"Kanna, have you eaten anything?" To this, she shook her head. "Tohru?" Same response. "Well... how about I make some breakfast for us? I bet you're both hungry."
"That would be lovely! Ooh, Mr. Kobayashi, I got some more stuff from the market this morning! I was getting some strange stares, though, probably due to yesterday''s events..."
Ah.
Yesterday's... events.
As I made some breakfast in the kitchen for Tohru and Kanna (eggs in one pan, bacon in the other), I thought about the events of yesterday. Tohru seemed to be acting normal and it was hard to read her from the way she was behaving. An air of regret still clouded my thoughts at times, and every time I looked at Tohru I would feel a sense of guilt.
Tohru... mustn't have been in the right headspace yesterday, I thought as I flipped Tohru's eggs. Tohru was, and may still be, in heat... how could I have done such a thing to her while she was in a vulnerable and instinctual state as that? This can't be right... even if she says it's okay, she doesn't know anything about this world, about our rules and norms, about our laws... did I take advantage of Tohru...? Does she feel that way?
Flip. Serve onto plate.
What if she's just hiding her feelings really well...? Has there been a shift in our dynamic? ... did I mess things up by giving her... "cunnilingus on my couch"...?
Egg. Crack. Toss shell. Egg. Crack. Toss shell.
What am I gonna do...? I ended up giving into lust...
"Mr. Kobayashi..."
... was it really wrong, though...? She seemed to want it...
"Mr. Kobayashi...!"
I need to talk to her about this...
"Mr. Kobayashi! The bacon! It's burning!" cried Tohru.
"O-Oh god! Oh shi..." I quickly removed the pan from the burner, turning the air vent up to the max. I'd started to cuss, but then thought about Kanna.
"Oh, shhhhhhhh...ship's biscuits..."
And then about Townsends, apparently.
Tohru got up from the table and rushed over to help me with the stove. "Are you okay, Mr. Kobayashi?" Dazed nod.
"Geez, Mr. Kobayashi... you looked so lost in thought... are you sure you're okay?" Nod, nod. Tohru decided to help me out in the kitchen anyway as I cooked the eggs. "So... what were you thinking about anyway...? Was it about... me?~" she winked as she said this, causing me to freeze up a bit. I hoped and prayed to some transcendental entity that the same clairvoyance Tohru used to check through my laundry couldn't also be used to read my thoughts, otherwise I may as well have ceased to exist right there.
Tohru giggled. "You know, if you're thinking about me that much all the time, you might as well just tell me!~ Ehehe~" I avoided eye contact with her at all costs, instead just looking down at the pan to gauge when the eggs were done over-medium.
Okay. With the way she's acting, she doesn't seem to feel awkward about yesterday, nor does she seem to have a problem with our foreplay session. Should I bother bringing it up to her...?
I continued to think about this and wrestle with the decision to tell Tohru what's on my mind or not to as the three of us ate breakfast and talked amongst ourselves. It was about 11:00 A.M. by the time we were finished with breakfast, and I still hadn't decided if I wanted to tell her.
Maybe a nice walk in the city would be... uhhh, nice. Maybe that'll help me get my mind off of this for a while.
"Say, now that we've had breakfast, what do you two wanna do for the day? I was thinking of going for a walk, what about you?" I asked Tohru and Kanna. Tohru's face lit up.
"Oh! It's funny you should say that, Kobayashi-san! I wanted to show Kanna around the city, perhaps this would be the perfect time to do so, since you're also thinking of going for a walk!"
I nodded in agreement, then looked to Kanna. "Kanna, does that sound good to you?" She nodded, and I went to start getting ready for the day.
As I was getting ready in the bathroom, I heard the door of my room open, and then gently shut. Next, the bathroom door crept open, and Tohru's head poked in while I was shaving.
"What's up Tohru?" I asked, as she came into the bathroom with me, closing the door behind her. Her expression was not a happy one.
oh no.
"Kobayashi-san... I need to talk to you..."
Oh no.
"O-oh, really...? Ab-about what exactly...?"
"It's... about yesterday..."
Oh, NO.
"Y-yesterday? Oh! Uh, w-what about y-yesterday...?"
Tohru sighed, stepping a bit closer to me.
"Remember when we got back from the market yesterday, and you were helping me... relieve some tension?"
Oh. FUCK.
"Mr. Kobayashi... I need to know something..."
"T-Tohru... before you say anything, there's something I need you to know. I've been thinking about this all day, and it's been concerning me too. As your... uhhhh... 'guardian', I felt strange enabling you like that, being that you are my maid after all... please forgive me, I wasn't sure of what I was doing... I didn't mean to take advantage of you while you were in a state of... 'increased libido'..."
Tohru shook her head and took my hand in hers. "Kobayashi-san, please listen to me... I may only get the chance to ask this once." She sighed, and I braced myself for the question that I'd feared the most:
"Mr. Kobayashi, I want to know what that meant yesterday... what are we...?"
I knew the question had been coming, but it made me no more prepared than before. I stared into her glimmering eyes, her expression turning from serious to curious, from curious to worried.
"That's... a loaded question. How am I supposed to answer that...?"
"Like, what are we? Lovers? Slave and master? Friends? Friends... with benefits...?"
"O-okay, first of all, don't say... that."
"What, friends with benefits?"
"N-no, the... 'slave'... thing. You're my maid, but I don't own you..."
"Kobayashi-san." Tohru looked at me more seriously now. "It's been a month and a half living together. I've been... torturing myself, trying to drop subtle hints here and there... but after yesterday, I can't be subtle anymore."
All the while, I was completely dumbfounded. Tohru was acting like a completely different person, and I didn't know what to think of it. This was an entirely new side of her that I'd never seen before, and I was worried about what would happen.
"I know that I said before various times that I love you, that I'm in love with you, but what I think you don't realize is that I'm serious! I don't say that about anyone, not even my... father." There was a visible grimace as she mentioned her father. "All this time I think I'd just assumed that you felt the same way about me too, but remembering the way that you were treating me yesterday, as more of an animal and less like a lady, I realized that I actually didn't know how how felt about me."
"I wasn't treating you like an animal...!"
"Yes you were! Treating me like a responsibility... I may be a dragon, but I'm a lady first and foremost! Animals go into heat; ladies don't!"
"W-well..." I rubbed the back of my neck with both hands, taken aback and overwhelmed, not just by this interaction, but everything that had happened that morning. "I... I'm sorry if I made you feel like less than what you are... you don't deserve that."
"Yeah? So then when are you gonna tell me what I do? Huh?" Tohru stared intently at me. "When are you gonna tell me what I do deserve, huh? Is this... just a fling, just a one-sided love...? Or are you gonna man up and tell me what we are, and how you actually feel about me...?"
I froze.
...
"... I... I'm... unsure of my own feelings, myself. I honestly don't know what to think... I've been struggling to answer this, fighting with my morals and my feelings for the longest time, but I still can't come up with a straightforward answer... it's complicated..."
Tohru shook her head in disbelief, her expression more frantic now. "No it's not...! It's not that hard! Just tell me how you feel about me! Tell me if you love me!"
There was a silence.
"... do you? Mr. Kobayashi...?"
I couldn't answer.
"I... don't have a clear-cut answer for this, honestly... I need time, please... I need time to sort out my feelings, and then when the time is right, I'll give you an answer, okay?"
Another silence.
Tohru shook her head again, tears welling up in her eyes.
"No need... I already have my answer."
"T-Tohru, wait a second..." But before I could say anything else, Tohru up and left the bathroom. Soon, I could hear the door close as Tohru and Kanna left my apartment, leaving me all alone in my thoughts.
That was...
Instead of following, I hung back for about half an hour with a lot on my mind. What could I do? Against that kind of logic, would I just have to let things work themselves out? The whole confrontation left me with an empty feeling in my stomach, and the feeling of hopelessness.
...
Well... sitting around isn't going to fix anything...
I needed to get out of the house. Half an hour later, I found myself standing solemnly at the train station.
Guess I'll spend the day by myself, I thought to myself as the train pulled in, and I boarded without a second thought as to where I was going to.
Confront, pt. 5
N - Okay, is this thing on?
B - I think it is, thanks Night.
N - No problem. Hey, you don't mind if I sit in for a bit? I figure since we're back for the weekend, we may as well record a couple of shorts.
T - That's fine by me.
B - I mean, you can, but don't you and the gang have stuff to do?
T - The "gang"? What does he mean by that, Miss Night? Are you part of a gang?
N - No, he means the guys I travel with when I'm not home. Vin took Jordon back home, and he said he'd be gone for a while. As for the other two, I dunno. I'm clueless as to where they've gone.
B - Oh, okay. As long as they're all doing okay, that's fine. I was just curious if you had important business to take care of with them.
T - I'm... very confused.
N - It's okay Tohru, don't worry. It's not stuff you need to worry about. Anyway, where were we at for this little short?
S - Hey, have you guys seen Kanna?
T - I let Kanna-chan go to the park with Saikawa and her parents. Saikawa's parents said that they would be back in an hour.
B - Hey, Kobayashi. We were just about to record a few shorts, care to join?
S - Oh, that's okay. I'm a bit tired, I'm gonna hit the hay. G'night guys.
B - Okay, good night.
N - Good night dude. So, where were we? Ah yes, the session.
T - Yes... it's been a long time since we've had one of these, hasn't it? What was the reason for that?
B - Procrastination. And a whole lot of it.
N - Yeah, but you also had college, didn't you?
B - Sure, but I could've balanced schoolwork and my writing hobby. Realistically, though, I couldn't because I'd just been putting this shit off for god knows how long.
T - Well, it's good to have you back.
B - Oh, thank you. I didn't think that you cared. Or anyone for that matter.
N - Hey, don't beat yourself up like that. Talking about yourself like that isn't good for your mental health.
T - Miss Night is right about that, B33f-san. Everyone should always try to keep a positive attitude, even through the toughest of times. Because what is life if not a compilation of trials?
N - That's right; if you just remember to stay strong and try to keep a positive attitude, positivity will outshine the bad times, and you will triumph eventually. And... on that note, I think that's it for this part.
B - See you all next time for part 6.