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Something was different that morning.
Tohru didn’t figure it out right away. She rose, stretched, took a bath, and prepared breakfast. Soon after, Kanna padded into the room, yawning. Both ate while Tohru tidied up the kitchen and Kanna organized her backpack, and a quarter to eight found them lined up at the front door.
Something was definitely…
The dragons looked at the Kobayashi-sized space between them.
A moment later, Tohru was running to the bedroom, Kanna close behind. “Kobayashi-sama!” she exclaimed as she swung through the doorway, “you’re late!”
Her voice trailed off as she saw that the lump under the covers hadn’t moved.
“Kobayashi… sama?”
Tohru crept around to her mistress’s side of the bed, Kanna a silent shadow behind her, and nervously peeled back the blanket.
Kobayashi was curled on her side, eyes closed. She was breathing, but her breath was labored, her skin deathly pale aside from patches of red high on her cheeks.
With a trembling hand, Tohru reached for her, resting her palm on Kobayashi’s forehead. The human’s eyes opened, peering up at her with a glassy gaze. “T… Toh… ru,” she mumbled.
Her skin burned with an unnatural heat. “Kobayashi-sama… you’re…”
Kobayashi coughed, and Tohru felt like her heart was being squeezed in a giant fist. Her mistress’s lips quirked in a wry smile. “Looks like… I won’t be able… to go to work today.” A clammy hand reached out from under the blankets and touched Tohru’s wrist. “Look after… Kanna… for me…”
Kobayashi’s eyes fell closed once more, and her hand went limp.
Behind her, Kanna burst into tears.
Tohru bowed her head, her bangs casting a shadow across her face.
The plague.
She’d seen it before. Scores of humans falling victim to a treacherous illness which stole the life from anyone it touched, young and old alike. In the other world, it had given her kind a respite from being hunted as humankind searched desperately for a cure. They never found one, and eventually the disease had vanished, but not after taking many lives in its wake.
Tohru wanted to take Kanna to school, but the young dragon refused to leave Koyasahi’s bedside, sheets clutched resolutely in her tiny fists. Secretly, Tohru was relieved. If anything happened to Kobayashi while she was away, Kanna would be able to call for help.
So instead of heading to the school, Tohru flew in a different direction.
A few minutes later, she was sitting at a kitchen table, anxiously gripping a cup of tea. “So? What do you think?”
Lucoa tapped her chin. “Hm… it does sound like the plague,” she said. Tohru’s heart sank. “And you want me to come up with a cure?”
“Yes, please! Unless…”
“I think I can help.” Lucoa counted off a list on her fingers. “You’ll want some vitamin C, some chalk and magnesium, and about twenty lizard eyes.” She smiled and rested her elbows on the table. “Then all you’ll need is one freshly plucked quail, and of course, a few human sacrifices.”
Tohru nodded vigorously. “About how many human sacrifices, would you say?”
“Oh, a good half dozen, just to be safe.”
“You are a demon!”
Both turned to see Shouta standing in the door to the kitchen, his finger pointed at Lucoa accusingly.
Lucoa smiled at him. “Good morning, Shouta-kun! Tohru’s human came down with the plague. Want some breakfast?”
“I can get it myself,” Shouta responded, reddening. Tohru had a brief mental image of Lucoa in nothing but an apron. “A-and don’t change the subject!” He turned to Tohru. “The plague? Does that still exist?”
Tohru looked down into her cup, picturing the exhausted face of her poor Kobayashi. “I haven’t seen it in centuries,” she said sadly. “But when I got up this morning, Kobayashi-sama was…” Her voice wavered. “She wouldn’t get out of bed. She was so pale, but she was burning up, and her voice sounded awful...”
“Sounds like a cold to me.”
Tohru looked up. “Huh?”
“Not the plague?” Lucoa asked, sounding almost disappointed.
Shouta shrugged. “It’s a virus. A lot of people get it this time of year.”
A cold… but Kobayashi had felt so warm. Tohru imagined her shivering, her breath puffing white in the air as she grew weaker… She leaned forward intently. “What can I do?”
“Hm… well, the main thing is making sure she gets enough rest. But you’ll need cold medicine, if you don’t have any! You can get it at the pharmacy.” Shouta went over to the pantry, returning with a rectangular carton. “And here’s some broth, if you want it. Chicken noodle soup helps, too.”
Tohru snatched the offering and sprang to her feet, her eyes gleaming with determination. If there was medicine, there was a cure. “Thank you! Gotta go!” she exclaimed, and dashed out the door.
Before long, she was staring down the long corridor of the shopping center. She knew Kobayashi didn’t approve of her using her natural speed when in the company of other humans, but surely this was a special case. She ignored the shocked stares of the other shoppers as she raced past them, nearly overshooting her destination.
“I hope this won’t take long,” sighed an annoyed voice. “I can’t lose my spot at the front of the line.”
“The game isn’t coming out for five days.”
Tohru skidded to a halt. “Fafnir!”
The dragon and his human companion were exiting the pharmacy, a white bag held loosely in Makoto’s hand.
“Oh, hey!” Makoto gave a small wave as Fafnir inclined his head in greeting. “How’s Kobayashi doing?”
Tohru blinked. “You know about that?”
The human chuckled. “Yeah, she called to let me know she wasn’t coming in today. That’s why I took a detour on my way to work and asked Faf to meet me here.” He held up the bag. “I was hoping he’d be able to drop this medicine off at her place. I didn’t think we’d run into you!”
Tohru grabbed it from his hand, shoving the carton of broth inside. “Thank you!” she exclaimed with a quick bow, and was off before they had a chance to say another word.
As soon as she was out in the open, she threw a cloaking spell upon herself and transformed, the bag clutched in her massive jaws. She took to the air and flew home as fast as she could, her heart filled with worry. What if she was too late? She’d only been gone half an hour, but what if Kobayashi had taken a turn for the worse?
It felt like an eternity before she reached the apartment, transforming back into a human at the last possible second and nearly colliding with the door.
Kanna met her as soon as she crossed the threshold. The little dragon’s eyes were wide. “Tohru-sama… s-she’s…”
Tohru’s blood turned to ice. The bag fell to the ground as she dashed past Kanna into the living room, picturing her beloved Kobayashi, collapsed, the sickness having leeched the life from…
“Oh, hey Tohru.”
Kobayashi was sitting on the couch holding a video game controller, which she waved briefly before returning her attention to the TV.
Tohru’s eyes burned, her vision blurring before huge tears spilled down her cheeks. She threw herself at the surprised Kobayashi, arms wrapped tightly around her, breathing in her scent as she hiccuped, “K-Kobayashi-samaaa! You’re okay!”
She felt Kobayashi set down the controller and pat her arm, gently stroking her skin. It made her cry even harder. “Were you worried about me?”
Tohru lifted her face to meet Kobayashi’s, red-cheeked and streaked with tears.
Kobayashi chuckled. “Sorry. It’s just a cold…” She rested her head against Tohru’s, and Tohru felt her heart expand. “Sorry,” she said again, more quietly.
The two were pushed apart as Kanna wedged her way in between, climbing onto Kobayashi’s lap. “She’s out of bed,” she informed Tohru solemnly.
“I feel a lot better,” Kobayashi explained. She rested a hand on the top of Kanna’s head.
“You’re still warm,” protested Tohru, nudging her forehead against Kobayashi’s. The tips of their noses brushed. They stared at each other.
Kobayashi turned away. Her cheeks were red, but that was probably still from the cold. “Well, I’m not one hundred percent just yet…”
“I brought a cure!” Tohru exclaimed fervently, remembering. “Cold medicine!”
Kobayashi made a disgusted face. “I’m okay, really. You don’t have to worry.” She coaxed Kanna out of her lap and got to her feet. “In fact, I might even go for a walk.” She started across the room.
Tohru watched with awe. So strong, her Kobayashi…
Kobayashi wobbled.
So resilient…
Kobayashi fell, and Tohru raced to catch her.
Her human coughed. She was definitely blushing. “I guess… a little medicine couldn’t hurt.”
Tohru watched her take it, and then tucked her into bed before going to the kitchen to make soup.
(Kobayashi sighed contentedly as she accepted the warm bowl a few minutes later. “Nothing beats a bowl of chicken noodle soup.”
“Yes,” Tohru murmured as she turned away, a gleam in her eye. “Chicken.”
“Tohru!”)