Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Wait, why are you asking about my dislikes?” Kobyashi asked Tohru during what could only be described as an impromptu interview of the dragon would-be-maid. “Wouldn’t you usually ask what I like?”

“Oh I can’t do that.” Tohru answered, making an “x” shape with her index fingers as she explained why. “Many of my friends were actually slain using the things they like. Like liquor, women, gems, and such.”

“Not much different from humans.” Kobyashi deadpanned despite the image of those things Tohru listed out being covered in dark blood appeared in her mind.

“But I have to tell you this, I’ll do almost anything you ask Miss Kobayashi, but sexual favors are a no-go!” Tohru declared, looking Kobyashi straight in the eyes as she blushed slightly.

“I’m a woman, though?” was the only thing Kobayashi could respond to the sudden declaration in a slightly confused tone.

“You may have saved me, Miss Kobayashi! And I’m willing to use almost my entire being to repay you.” Tohru continued on, seemingly missing Kobayashi’s deadpan response. “But that’s a line I can’t cross! I don’t think my mate will allow it!”

“Alright.” Kobayashi said blankly, not sure what else to say to that, but would soon blinked as she realized something.

“Wait… ‘mate’? Tohru has a boyfriend?”

The information was a mild surprise to Kabayashi, not that it really should’ve been. Tohru was cute and full of energy, if a bit empty headed at times from what she had seen from the dragon so far. It was just the first time she had mentioned him.

“Though if they’re the only reason she isn’t offering me sexual things, not that I would want it, maybe assuming that they’re a guy isn’t really as sure a bet as you would think.” Kobayashi thought silently, suddenly wondering what kind of person it was that Tohru was with.

“To make up for that though-” Tohru began, bringing Kobayashi out of her musings and back to the conversation at hand, “I’d like you to use me to commute to work again tomorrow!”.

“I had enough of that today. You’re hard.” Kobayashi declined with yet another deadpan.

“Please give me a chance!” Tohru begged. “I was raised to repay all favors, even if owed to fool- to humans!”

Kobayashi raised her brow a bit at the minor slip up, it was the second time that had happened. The first time had happened when she had greeted the delivery man. It had looked like she wanted nothing more than to sneer down at him, but had managed to withhold herself from it.

“Tohru. There’s a reason I won’t use you to commute.” Kobayashi began, filing those observations away for something to talk about later.

“Your lower back?” Tohru guessed.

“That’s half the reason.” Kobayashi admitted as she stood up to emphasize her point. “The other half is… you stand out! I think dragons are better left holding down the fort!”

“Holding down the fort!?” Tohru repeated, clearly not knowing what Kobayashi met.

“You’re one of the stronger dragons, right?” Kobayashi asked for clarification.

“Strong enough to bring about Armageddon.” Tohru confirmed, saying it as if she was talking about the sky being blue despite the utterly absurd claim.

“Don’t bring it about.” Kobayashi told her immediately in reaction. She would then sigh as she put her arms around and begin to explain what she meant. “The world is more dangerous lately. It’ll be a relief to know you’re here keeping the house safe.”

“Understood! Leave it to me!” Tohru declared, now overjoyed to seemingly be of use to Kobayashi.

“Simple-gon.” Kobayashi muttered to herself at how easily she managed to manipulate her, but was more than a little endeared to see her so happy at something so simple.

__________________________________________________________________________

“Hmmm, I still don’t quite get it.” Tohru said to herself as she continued to scroll through the internet.

It was a few days after she first arrived, and she was still getting used to the whole prospect of being a maid. Kobayashi was also making sure to keep a close eye on her, especially after a close incident where Tohru had nearly killed two thieves that had tried to break into the apartment while Kobayashi was at work. It was also apparent that Tohru still didn’t really understand how to properly clean as a maid, or a human in general for that matter.

So Kobayashi tasked her with studying up on proper human hygiene on the internet, which, while it was still something made by those pesky humans, she did find kind of interesting if she was being honest.

The issue was, she wasn’t really understanding it. Not the practices themselves, she had already committed everything she had seen to memory and could perform all of them from memory alone. She was a dragon after all, and could easily do anything a human could.

No, what she couldn’t understand was the reason for it. What was the point in all of this? She got that humans, as inferior as they were, got sick quite easily and had to take precautions to avoid that, but she couldn’t understand why she had to do things this way, especially when her own methods were just as good, if not better.

It was honestly a little frustrating, but Kobayashi had told her to learn it and practice it from now on so that’s what she’s going to do.

Still though… it would help if she could better understand why she was so insistent on it.

“I’ll ask Fafnir again.” Tohru muttered as she picked up the phone, hoping that her friend will help solve her predicament.

“Kill them-” Fafnir began as soon as he answered, and Tohru could immediately tell that he was going to repeat the speech he had given her on her second day as a maid when she had called him to see if he knew what “holding the fort” meant.

“Let’s not.” Tohru muttered as she immediately put the phone down and hung up.

“I’ll ask knowledgeable Quetzacoatl instead.” Tohru said to herself as she picked the phone up again before freezing.

Besides Quetzalcoatl, there was one other dragon she could ask for help. One that she actually needed to call and talk to. A talk she had admittedly been putting off.

After a moment of debating the decision in her head, Tohru would let out a sigh as she once again grabbed the phone. Bringing it up to her ear, she would wait with slight apprehension as it rang. It was only after a couple of seconds where a clicking sound could be heard as the call was answered.

“...Hello?” the recipient answered, and Tohru winced as her heart twisted uncomfortably at the utterly depressed tone of the response.

“Hey, Elma...it’s me.”

There was a few seconds of silence as Elma seemed to process not only her words, but her voice and the fact that she was hearing it. And during that time, Tohru’s nerves grew and she began to doubt whether or not this was a good idea.

“T-TOHRU!?” Elma exclaimed loudly once she finally realized it was her voice, disbelief evident in her voice. “T-the gods tolds me that you died!”

“Well that goes to show what they know, doesn’t it?” Tohru joked, but it sounded half-hearted, even to her, causing her to let out a sigh. “Not that I can say they were wrong in assuming it, considering how close I nearly came to it.”

“For once, I’m just glad that they were wrong.” Elma said, letting out a heavy sigh of relief as she undoubtedly felt a heavy weight that had been on her shoulders for a few days now. “But how did you survive? And why did it take you so long to tell me? I’ve been worried sick, Tohru!”

“Let’s just say I got some help for now…” Tohru said, not thinking that right now was a good time to tell her about Kobayashi. “As for why it took so long, I… I think I was worried about how you’d react to how I died.”

She had briefly considered lying and saying that she hadn’t been able to until now, but having heard what Elma had sounded like before she had made this call, Tohru didn’t think that her heart could handle that. Besides, all she had to do was talk to Fafnir and for the subject to somehow come up that she had talked to him before her for the lie to fall apart.

“Wha- Tohru, what is that supposed to mean? I had heard my mate had died, how do you think I was going to react?” Elma asked in hurt shock, which caused Tohru to wince in guilt.

“I-I don’t know… it’s just, you're a member of the Harmony Faction and it was a battle won by the gods. I think some part of me thought you would be celebrating that, even if it meant my death.” Tohru admitted, feeling a stupid for ever thinking Elma would ever be happy with her death under any circumstances.

Elma didn’t respond immediately, and Tohru didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. After a moment, however, she could hear Elma let out a heavy sigh from the other side of the call.

“Tohru, listen to me, please.” Elma said gently, surprising Tohru, who stayed quiet and did as she said. “I love you, I’ve told you that countless times. I’ve also told you that it’s being with you that makes me happy, that it's what makes food taste so good. So how could I ever be happy without you? How would food ever taste good again?”

Tohru couldn’t stop the snort of amusement that came with that. Although Elma was being dead serious, and Tohru tended to dislike her more gluttonous habits, it made for some… unique ways of trying to cheer her up sometimes. It never failed to make her smile.

“I know, and I was dumb for ever thinking otherwise.” Tohru said, a small smile sprouting on her face.

“Well, you weren’t exactly a genius before, but it wasn’t really your brightest moment was it?” Elma teased through the phone, and Tohru could hear the smirk on her face.

“Ooooh, really? Cause that wasn’t what you said last time you ate my cooking.” Tohru said, rising to the challenge as her smile turned into a smirk of her own as she heard Elma sputter in response. “I believe your exact words were, ‘Oh Tohru, I can’t believe the Goddess of Cooking blessed you to be such a genius in the kitchen when you’re a member of the Chaos Faction!’”

“T-that doesn’t mean you’re smart and you know it!” Elma sputtered, now solidly on the defensive, and Tohru wished she could see her face turned crimson as it always did when she teased her like this. “It just means you're a good cook!”

“But Elma, you said the word ‘genius’, how can it mean anything other than being smart? And it certainly means I’m smart enough to know how to get you to do what I say.”

“S-shut up!”

The two then began to laugh after a second. Eventually they would stop and let out a deep breath, and a silence would fall over them. But it wasn’t one of those tense silences from earlier, it was comfortable, just the two of them enjoying the presence of the other even if it was only through a phone.

This was good. It was how the two of them always acted together. Even if it had only been a little over a few days, Tohru was happy that this meant nothing had really changed. Especially considering Elma’s devastated and heart broken tone when they had begun.

“So when are you going to come back?” Elma asked after the silence had lasted a few seconds, and Tohru felt like she had been stabbed in the gut.

Of course Elma would ask that. She wanted to see and be with her mate. The fact that Tohru hadn’t anticipated the question reflected badly on her more than anything else.

“I-I’m not… I’m not coming back Elma, at least not for a while.” Tohru answered, faltering at first, and even though she had braced herself for it, she still wasn’t prepared for the heartbreak in Elma’s voice as she responded.

“...Huh?”

“...Remember when I said I got some help that allowed me to survive earlier?” Tohru asked, waiting until she received a hesitant noise of affirmation from Elma before continuing. “Well, I’m staying with the person who helped me while I pay them back. I know I don’t really have much of a right to ask since I didn’t tell you I was alright as soon as I can, but it doesn’t feel right for me to go back until I pay them back.”

“...Alright, I understand.” Elma said after a second, letting out a heavy sigh as she did.

“Wait… what?” Tohru said, blinking in surprise at how fast Elma accepted the situation. “You’re just going to let me stay?”

“Well, I’m not really happy about it, but it would just keep bothering you if you don’t pay them back right? That’s just who you are, so I’m waiting to wait a little while to see you again if it makes you happier.”

“Huh.” Tohru blinked at Elma’s answer, a blush covering her face, making her happy that this conversation was happening over the phone so Elma couldn’t see it. Not for the first time, she gratefully wondered what it was exactly that she had done to deserve a mate as great as Elma.

Still though, that wasn’t going to stop her from teasing her.

“And here I was prepared to make you a full course all-you-can-eat buffet as a bribe to get you to agree.”

It took all of her willpower to avoid laughing as she heard what sounded like Elma promptly choking on her own spit.

“N-now hold on! I didn’t say anything about turning that down!” Elma exclaimed as soon as she remembered how to breathe again.

“Well I don’t know, you already accepted before I could offer it. That kind of defeats the entire point of it being a bribe.” Tohru stated in a faux pondering tone as an evil smile grew on her face.

“M-maybe it doesn’t have to be a bribe! Maybe it could be a reward!” Elma continued, her desperation to have as much of Tohru’s cooking clear and evident with no way to hide it. “I did go this entire week without eating! That deserves something doesn’t it?”

Tohru’s evil smile faltered for a second as Elma unwittingly caused a knife of guilt to stab her heart. Even though Elma had been getting better about her gluttonous appetite because of their relationship since Tohru made it apparent that she wasn’t a fan of it, Tohru knew the reason behind this particular diet streak. That being, she was probably too grief stricken by her supposed death for her to be willing to eat anything.

“I suppose I’ll give it some thought for the next time I see you.” Tohru said, pretending to ponder the conundrum, not wanting to let slip the fact that she had already decided to do it for her as an apology, rather than either a bribe or a reward.

“You’re the best mate ever, Tohru!” Elma exclaimed as Tohru could practically hear her mouth watering, causing Tohru to smile a little at how happy her mate was with such a simple promise.

“But-” Tohru began, putting extreme emphasis on the word, “-as payment, I need you to help me with something.”

“Oh?” Elma let out, clearly curious as to what her mate wanted from her right now.

“I, uh, need your help trying to understand something about humans.” Tohru admitted, playing with the cord of the phone a little.

“Huh? Why?” Elma asked with confusion evident, and Tohru honestly wouldn’t be surprised if she currently had her head tilted. “Not that I wouldn’t be happy to answer anything I can, but it's rare for you to take an interest in anything human related.”

Tohru really couldn’t blame her for being confused, as a member of a Chaos faction and she either viewed humans with absolute hatred or complete disinterest at the best of times. Even if Elma had been trying to improve her view of them, the most she had done was get her to stop calling them weak and inferior all the time. It must seem completely out of the blue for her to ask something like that.

“Well, the person who saved me is a human from the other world-”

“Tohru!” Elma exclaimed through the phone, interrupting Tohru’s explanation. “You know we’re not supposed to interfere with that world! It’s against the rules!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Tohru waved off as she moved the phone to the other ear since Elma’s exclamation caused a bit of ringing in the first one. “I only went here as a last ditch attempt to escape from the gods, and I’ll make sure to be on my best behavior here not to cause any problems. Can I continue now?”

Tohru heard Elma grumbling to herself a bit, clearly not happy about this,but she didn’t say anything else that would be an answer in the negative so she continued.

“So, as I was saying, in order to pay them back for saving my life, I’m going to be working for them as their maid, but I’m having difficulty understanding why I need to clean things a certain wa-”

“Hahahaha!” Elma interrupted once again, this time by suddenly laughing hysterically.

“And what is so funny?” Tohru asked with a slight growl, annoyed at her mate for interrupting her for the second time in a short amount of time.

“Sorry, sorry!” Elma apologized, as she struggled to get control of her laughter, and Tohru could see her wiping a tear from her eye or something. “It’s just that, even ignoring how the mighty daughter of the Emperor of Demise is now a maid for a human, I can’t help but remember that one talk with that Bandit Girl you complained to me about for a week!”

“I thought you had forgotten about that.” Tohru said under her breath, taking her turn to grumble. What didn’t help was that she had thought about her too when she first decided to be Kobayashi’s maid. Even considering her to be some kind inspiration in making the decision, or at the very least, something that helped influence her into making it.

“Nope!”

“Right, well anyway-“ Tohru said, continuing despite her mate’s laughter at her expense. “I need some help understanding why I need to clean a certain way. She won’t let me even clean her clothes with my stain removing saliva!”

“Hmm, well, I don’t have a whole lot of experience with the humans of the other world, but I can make a guess if they’re anything like the ones in this world.” Elma said after a slight hum of thought after finally getting her request out.

“Appearances matter a lot to humans for some reason, I’m not entirely sure why, but they do. When you clean her clothes with your saliva, all she can see is a big lizard getting drool all over her clothes or sucking on them and still think of them as dirty, even if they are arguably cleaner than her method. Plus, magic doesn’t exist in that world for the most part, so it’s probably something she’s unfamiliar with and it makes her a little uncomfortable for the time being.”

“I’m not a big lizard.” Tohru said after Elma finished, having paid close attention to her explanation to see if it made sense or helped her. And it did seem to help a bit. Seems like she would have to give Elma that buffet as a reward after all.

But now it was time to have a little fun at her expense as payback for laughing at her and interrupting her earlier.

“You are in the same way that I’m a big flying snake.”

“Well that’s because you are, but I’m a dragon, not a big lizard.”

“Tohru, you are a dragon and I love you, but you’re also basically just a big winged lizard.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not!”

“Yes you are!”

“No I’m not!”

“Yes you are!”

“No I’m not!”

“Tohru you’re just being difficult right now!”

“And tell me you don’t love me for it!”

Tohru could hear Elma let out an annoyed and frustrated growl, but didn’t hear any form of argument from her. Tohru would let out a triumphant “hmph” and let a victorious smirk grow across her face.

But it was then that Tohru saw the time, and a frown would replace the smirk she had. She had been talking to Elma for longer than she had thought, over an hour at this point. Add in the time that she had spent researching on the internet, and she didn’t have a whole lot more time to do the chores she was supposed to do before Kobayashi got back from work.

“Hey, Elma, I have to go do some work. Thanks for trying to explain some things, so I have to go for now.” Tohru explained.

“Oh.” Elma let out sadly, clearly disappointed that her mate was leaving already. “Can you at least promise me that it won’t take you as long to contact me again?”

“Yeah, of course! I’ll call you again later if I can, but you can definitely expect me to call again tomorrow!” Tohru promised her mate with a smile on her face, not that Elma could see it through the phone.

“A-alright! I’m already looking forward to it!” Elma immediately cheered up with the promise that she would be able to talk to Tohru again in the near future. Which must’ve been an immeasurable relief off her shoulders considering what had happened between this and the last time they had talked. “I love you!”

“I love you too, Elma.” Tohru said with a smile of genuine happiness at still being able to say that after her near death experience.

It took her a second to put the phone down and end the call, clearly hesitant to do it, but she had things she needed to do. There was a slight click as she hung up, letting out a sigh as she did. She still felt bad about how sad Elma sounded when she first answered, but she was happy that she had been able to talk to her and how happy she had sounded after telling her that she was alright.

Her good mood wouldn’t disappear over the rest of the day either. Because when Kobayashi came home that night, she would find that the apartment would be completely clean. And when she found Tohru, she was cooking a large meal with a huge smile on her face, in a particularly good mood.

Chapter Text

“Uh, Tohru? Your tail meat is in my food again.” Kobayashi said, looking at the dragon in question as she pointed at the offending meat in question with a fork.

“Ah! Sorry Ms. Kobayashi, force of habit!” Tohru said as she rushed over to the table and took her plate to go redo her meal, this time without the tail meat.

“I know, you said that the last five times you did it.” Kobayashi said with a sigh.

“Lady Tohru is an airhead!” Kanna said, almost cheerfully, causing Kobayashi to smile at her and put her hand on her head in an affectionate manner.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Kobayashi! Kanna!” Tohru cried out, even as she began to recook Kobayashi’s dinner. “Why do you two have to be so meeean?”

It’s been quite a few days since Tohru called Elma for the first time in this world. Since then, not only has Kanna joined them after the young dragon saw Tohru clear the sky one cloudy with her dragon breath, but Tohru has been making daily calls to her mate. At first, Kobayashi was worried about the phone bill, not really sure how the interdimensional nature of these calls would affect the price, but Tohru assured her that the spell she used for them wouldn’t affect her billing.

Plus, Tohru was always in an extremely happy mood each time she was able to talk to her mate, so even if they did raise the bill a bit, it was worth it.

“How did you even get a habit of cooking and eating one of your own body parts?” Knoayashi asked, ignoring Tohru’s question in favor of asking her own.

“Well, you can blame Elma for that.” Tohru said as she continued cooking, causing Kobayashi to seem to perk up at the mention of her maid’s mate. “Whenever we travel together, I’m the one who always cooks our meals, so I end up cooking a lot.”

“And she likes eating her own girlfriend’s tail?” Kobayashi asked with a little bit of a deadpan tone and disbelief at Tohru’s reason, causing the dragon to shrug.

“It’s the most convenient source of meat I can get my hands on at any time. Plus that glutton would eat whatever I gave her and ask for fifths.” Tohru explained with a shrugged, but before Kobyashi could ask anything else, she noticed Tohru looking down as her hands went up to cover her blushing cheeks as Kobyashi could only guess a large dumb smile was on her face. “… But I can’t help, but find something romantic about it! Having your love eating a piece of you means that a part of you will always be with them no matter where you are! Ah it’s just so perfect!”

“…That’s a “unique” way of thinking of cannibalism I guess” Kobayashi deadpanned in her thoughts as Tohru finished making her food, and put it down in front of her.

“So how is Elma doing today?” Kobayashi asked as she took a bite of her food after reinspecting it to make sure there was no tail meat in it.

All of sudden, Tohru seemed to freeze as she began to turn around. Slowly, almost as if she was made of metal that had begun to rust, she turned to look at the clock of the oven. Then she bolted away with a burst of speed over to where the phone was located.

“I forgot to call Elma today!” Tohru cried out, and Kobayashi and Kanna could hear her frantically grabbing the phone and as she casted the spell. She wasn’t very far away, the apartment was too small for her to be, but Kobayashi had moved the phone to the entrance hallway in order to give her some extra privacy during her calls. But while now there was a set of walls between them, Kanna and Kobayashi could still hear her a little if they tried listening.

“… Lady Tohru is an airhead.”

“…Simple-gon.”

Both Kobyashi and Kanna spoke at the same time in reaction to Tohru’s display of forgetfulness, right before both of them also let out simultaneous sighs.

There was a few seconds of silence as Kobayashi ate her meal and Kanna continued what she was doing off to the side. When Kobyashi finished her meal, she could still hear Tohru talking to Elma on the phone, and Kanna was still minding her own business. With nothing else to do, Kobyashi would lean over to see what Kanna was doing.

“What are you doing?” Kobayashi asked as she looked over Kanna’s shoulder to see that she was making some kind of drawing. There were four main figures in the drawing, one that looked like her holding hands with what looked like Kanna. One the other side of the Kanna figure, there was someone else that Kobayashi guessed was Tohru holding Kanna’s other hand.

But on the other side of her, there was a person Kobayashi didn’t know or couldn’t easily guess who was holding Tohru’s hand. It was hard to tell due to the child crayon quality of the drawing, but they appeared to be a woman with long black hair that ended in purple highlights and they wore some kind of light purple robe or kimono. She also had a singular horn coming out her forehead, meaning she was a dragon. That, and what looked like a light blue tail coiled around Tohru’s green tail gave Kobayashi enough information to guess who she was.

“Drawing all of us along with Lady Elma.” Kanna answered, turning her head to look Kobayashi in the eye as she confirmed Kobayashi’s guess at the identity of the figure.

“… So you’ve met Elma then?” Kobayashi asked as she stared at Elma’s figure in the drawing, now having her first idea as to what Tohru’s mate actually looked like. Even if it was with the quality of kid crayon drawing.

“Yes.” Kanna said with a shake of her head in the positive. “Lady Tohru and Lady Elma are usually always together. This is the first time in over a century and a half I’ve seen them apart.”

“Huh.” Kobayashi said absent mindedly, as a curiosity seemed to bloom with her. She had heard a lot of things about her already from Tohru with the occasional mention of her, but Kobayashi really didn’t know a whole lot about Elma or how her and Tohru’s relationship with her was.

She could still hear Tohru talking on the phone, so she was too busy with her own conversation with Elma to overhear her and Kanna.

“Could you tell me what the two of them are like when they’re together?”

Kanna looked up at Kobayashi in a curious manner for a second before nodding her head before looking back down at her drawing and continue drawing it

“They fight a lot.”

“Huh?” Kobayashi said with a blink, legitimately caught off guard by Kanna’s blunt answer considering what she’s heard from Tohru was almost completely positive, minus her complaints about Elma’s appetite. “Are you sure? They seem crazy about each other.”

“They are.” Kanna said with another nod, before continuing. “But Tohru is a member of the Chaos Faction and Elma is a member of the Harmony Faction, so they disagree over a lot of things.”

“Oh, so you mean they just have arguments similar to a married couple that are part of two different political parties.”

“Last time they fought, three islands disappeared.”

“…Nevermind.” Kobayashi thought with a somewhat exasperated sigh. She really needed to get used to this kind of thing with dragons and how radically different they were from humans.

“But they always heal each other after each fight.” Kanna continued as she finished coloring in Tohru’s maid uniform. “And when they aren’t fighting, they act like Tohru does when she’s on the phone.”

Kobayashi didn’t respond, simply thinking about the new information as she gave a slight hum to show she heard Kanna as she looked off in the direction where Tohru was on the phone.

It was still a bit of a shock to Kobayashi that the two mates fought each other. She hadn’t really listened in on Tohru’s talks with her over the phone, mostly because they usually happened when she was at work as well as a want not to eavesdrop on them, but from what she had heard and the good mood Tohru was always in after them, the image of the two of them fighting didn’t really line up. True, Tohru would occasionally complain about Elma sometimes, usually about how the other dragon was evidently quite the glutton, but that was about it.

Though, she supposed, it was something

But, she supposed, the fact that they fought as much as they apparently did but were still together was kind of a good thing. It meant that, despite their many disagreements, that the two of them legitimately cared for each other. Plus, even if they did fight, that didn’t stop Tohru from being happy all of a sudden just by talking to her for a little while.

Well, it wasn’t really her business, and Kobayashi felt like she was intruding enough as it was. If Tohru was happy with Elma despite whatever weird quirks that their relationship had, it wasn’t her place to judge. Though, then again, maybe their relationship wasn’t all that weird amongst dragons considering what Tohru and Kanna had told her about them.

Either way, she had other things to think about, like whether they should move to a new apartment.

It was an odd concept to her. Had things been like they had been even a month ago, Kobayashi would’ve never considered moving. But since Tohru had arrived, and especially after Kanna had joined them, her once cozy apartment had felt a lot more cramped and tight.

It was still something that was still only under consideration right now, but she was starting to consider it more and more.

____________________________________________

“Uh, Tohru? How many people did you invite?” Kobayashi asked.

“Only three friends of mine.” Tohru asked, looking over at Kobayashi with a slightly confused head tilt at the question. “Why? You invited only Taikya right?”

“Yeah.” Kobayashi answered with a nod.

“Oh, so four people are coming over altogether? Then this should be just enough!” Tohru said happily before going back to cooking what looked to be more like a feast for fifteen people rather than a meal for three hosts and four guests.

“Are you sure about that?” Kobayashi deadpanned, only able to wonder where she had gotten all of that food.

“… Nah, you're right, I need to make a bit more.” Tohru said after a second of thought, already going to the fridge to get the necessary ingredients.

“That isn’t what I meant!” Kobayashi cried out in mild despair, suddenly wishing that she had just kept her mouth shut as Tohru didn’t seem to hear her.

Kobayashi could only sigh at her maid’s behavior. She had already tried to get her to stop cooking so much, but she was insistent and there wasn’t a whole lot she could do to stop the dragon. So she had little other choice than to let Tohru cook as much as she wanted.

“Congrats on beating it! Now just ignore that treasure chest to your left-“ Kobayashi heard Taikya say, right before some noise came from the tv that sounded like something being eaten. “That was a mimic.”

“Grrr!” Came the sound of frustration from Fafnir at being tricked by the promise of treasure.

Turning around, Kobayashi saw that Fafnir was now playing the game that Taikya had brought over, with Kanna watching them with interest. Honestly, it had Kobayashi feeling a little nervous since the game was known for being difficult and frustrating, and the shit in dragon had already displayed a lot of hostility when he had first arrived. But nothing had happened so far and the dragon had already been privy to one of the game's most annoying parts, so she supposed that it was alright.

It had been a couple of days since Kanna, Kobayashi, and Tohru moved into their new apartment since their old one had gotten a bit too cramped for the three of them. It had been a strange sort of nostalgic fun, going through all of her things and packing them up alongside Kanna and Tohru. Now they were in a much larger apartment that had enough room for the three of them, and were partly settled.

It would take some getting used to the environment before they could fully settle. They had already had an issue on the first day they were there since they’re neighbors had been way too loud when she had a hangover. Luckily, they had gotten the problem taken care of without much issue by working together and making a schedule for each of their activities to avoid bothering the others as much as possible.

Now, they were throwing something akin to a house-warming party to celebrate the move. Though it wasn’t the entire reason. It was also mainly to create some sort of excuse to avoid going on a company trip that Kobyashi really didn’t want to go on.

Suddenly, there was the sound of someone knocking on the door.

“Could you get that, Ms. Kobayashi? I’m a little busy right now.” Tohru asked as she continued cooking something.

“Sure.” Kobayashi answered as she went to go get the door and welcome whatever kind of dragon Tohru had invited to their apartment.

“Oh, hello there.” Said an unfamiliar blonde woman as Kobayashi opened the door, only to feel a sudden and sharp stab of jealousy as she saw the absurd size of the woman’s chest.

“Why do dragons have to be so big?” Kobayashi jealously grumbled under breath, causing the blonde woman to tilt her head in confusion.

“Nevermind. Are you one of Tohru’s friends?” Kobayashi asked, moving on from the subject

“Yeah, my name's Quetzalcoatl, though Lucoa is fine.” the blonde dragon introduced herself, as Kobayadhi looked her over. She would frown slightly, wondering if Lucoa had really walked over here in that outfit when it looked quite slutty by human standards. She was going to ask about that, but Lucoa continued speaking before she could.

“Sorry, I’m a bit late, I had to pick her up.” Lucoa said as she moved a bit to the side a bit, revealing to Kobayashi that there was another woman that had been standing behind her that Kobayashi hadn't seen before.

The woman seemed to be looking around the entrance of the apartment before jumping slightly when she realized Kobayashi’s attention was on her. She was dressed in an outfit that looked like an archetypical shrine priestess costume that wouldn’t look out of place in an anime convention, but Kobayashi wasn’t really paying attention to what she was wearing at the moment. From the moment she had seen the short hair with purple tips, Kobayashi had been far too busy flashing back to the image of a certain crayon drawing.

“Hello, nice to finally meet you.” She said with a friendly, clearly a little embarrassed she had been caught checking the apartment out. “I’m El-“

“Elma!” A familiar voice called out, interrupting Elma’s introduction as Tohru, who was apparently done cooking for the moment. bolted past Kobayashi and practically Elma.

“Mm-!” Elma let out in surprise as Tohru collided into her and pressed her lips against hers. She was quick to recover from the suddenness of the kiss before returning it, throwing her arms around the neck of her mate while Tohru slipped hers around Elma’s waist.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds before both of them broke it. The two of them then put their heads against one another, with both of them simply smiling at one another. Clearly, the two mates were very happy to see each other again.

Then Tohru blinked as she seemed to realize something.

“Wait, why are you wearing that, Elma?” Tohru said, pulling back from Elma a little bit. “Don’t you think your priestess dress stands out too much?”

“Uh, well-“ Elma began, stammering a little from embarrassment as her face turned scarlet from a blush. “Lucoa just kind of showed up to pick me up all of a sudden, and I was just so excited that I got to see you after so long- And I’ve never been to this world before so I didn’t know what they wore-“

“Ugh, Of course you would do this after how much you’ve nagged to me over the phone about keeping a low profile and not interfering.” Tohru said in an annoyed tone as Elma rambled on for a bit longer to excuse herself.

“T-Tohru! I can hardly be blamed for this!” Elma cried out as Tohru pulled away, breaking the hug to cross her arms and look at Elma in an unimpressed manner at her.

“Ahem!” Kobayashi coughed into her hand as Tohru opened her mouth to say something, reminding the two mates that her and Lucoa were present.

“My, my. I see you two are as cute together as ever.” Lucoa said in amusement and with a smile, causing the two mates to turn crimson in embarrassment.

“Uh, Ms. Kobayashi, I’d like you to meet my mate, Elma.” Tohru said after a second, still blushing and clearly embarrassed, wanting to quickly move on, hence introducing Elma even though it was obvious who she was.

“Pleased to meet you…” Elma said quietly, unable to look Kobayashi in the eye as she looked down in embarrassment, even as she offered her hand. “Tohru’s told me a lot about you.”

“Likewise.” Kobayashi said with a smile as she took her hand with her own and shook it. She was clearly amused by the dragons’ embarrassment, but she decided to take pity on them and spare them any further for the time being. “Come on, let’s go say hi to everyone else.”

“Alright!” Lucoa said happily while Tohru and Elma could only give silent nods, though they shot her a grateful look each as they followed her back to the main room of the apartment

Not much had changed between the two males and one child in the group while Kobayashi and Tohru were gone. Fafnir was still playing the game, and Taikya was giving him the occasional piece of advice when he needed it while Kanna just watched in interest. Though when they returned, Kanna hopped off the couch and made her way over to them.

“Lady Elma. Lady Elma.” Kanna said in a monotone but clearly happy tone as she bounced up and down in front of the Harmony Dragon.

“Hello there Kanna, have you been behaving for Tohru and Ma. Kobayashi?” Elma asked the younger dragon with a smile as she crouched down to her level.

“Mhm!” Kanna hummed in affirmation as she gave a quick nod to Elma, who gave another smile in response.

“That’s a good girl.” Elma said, leaning forward a bit and kissing Kanna on the forehead, which promptly caused the young dragon’s face to lit up in happiness.

“Cute.” Kobayashi thought at the display, taking a glance over at Tohru and Lucoa to see they had similar reactions, especially Tohru.

“What is tha-'' Elma began, sniffing the air a little before looking over to the kitchen and seeing the massive amount of food that Tohru had made. In response to the sight, Elma would shoot up as her eyes went wide and she began to drool a copious amount. It was then she seemed to remember where she was, or more accurately, who she was with as she nervously turned to look at Tohru.

“Yes, you can eat some of it. I made so much of it because of you.” Tohru said, mumbling the last bit to herself as Elma let out a cry of joy before wrapping her arms around Tohru and kissing her cheek.

“You’re the best!” Elma cheered, even as Tohru made an attempt to push her away in an irritated manner, but she wasn't able to hide the smile she had.

“So how much of that is she going to eat?” Kobayashi asked as Elma shot off and began eating the food, letting out loud moans at each bite, exclaiming how tasty the food is with each bite.

“Most of it.” Tohru said with a sigh. “Only reason she won’t eat all of it is because I hid the dishes I made for everyone else.”

“Lady Elma is a glutton.” Kanna said matter of factly, making Kobayashi remember all the times Tohru complained about that trait of her mate alongside the sight she was seeing here.

“I thought you hated it whenever Elma ate too much like this?” Lucoa asked, looking at Tohru in a confused state. “So why did you make so much for her then?”

“Uh, well, let’s just say that I gave her a promise that I’d give her an all you can eat buffet next time I saw her.” Tohru explained, confusing Lucoa even more as she could only wonder how that promise came to be.

“Lady Tohru felt bad for worrying Lady Elma so much after nearly dying.” Kanna explained bluntly, causing Lucoa to understand everything, and for Tohru to give the young dragon a look of betrayal.

“K-Kanna!” Tohru cried out before her face flashed with anger and she pounced on the younger dragon, drilling her fists into the sides of Kanna’s head in retaliation. “I told you not to tell anyone that!”

As Kanna let out moans of pain and discomfort and the double noogie that Tohru was giving her, Elma would let out moans of happiness and joy at the taste of each bite she had. Fafnir was still playing the game under Taikya’s instruction, ignoring everyone else as he gave the tv his absolute attention. It created quite the bizarre scene to see for Lucoa and Kobayashi.

“My, my, it sure is lively here, isn’t it?” Lucoa said in amusement, clearly enjoying everyone’s energy.

“Not to this degree usually, but I can’t really say you’re wrong.” Kobayashi admitted in a tone that was somewhere in between tired and amused.
____________________________________________

Things would calm down a little from there.

Kanna managed to eventually escape from Tohru’s grasp and returned to the couch to watch Fafnir and Taikya play their games. Tohru then managed to move Elma out of the kitchen and sit her down at the table to begin cleaning the dishes, though Elma never did stop eating. Lucoa and Kobayashi were also seated at the table, with Kobayashi sitting next to Elma on her left and Lucoa sitting across from their host.

Though they weren’t eating very much, in comparison to Elma at the very least. They were much more focused on conversing with each other.

“That’s the last one you’re getting for tonight.” Tohru said, picking up Elma’s latest emptied plate as she placed the last of the cooked dishes that she had made for her.

“Huh!?” Elma cried out in despair at the knowledge that she would no longer be able to eat more food for the night. “B-but Tohru! I’m still hungry! And you said I could eat as much as I want tonight!”

“I’d rather not drive Ms. Kobayashi into homelessness after getting this apartment just to try and fail your bottomless pit of a stomach.” Tohru said bluntly as she rounded the corner of the counter to continue cleaning the dishes.

“I would prefer not to do that either.” Kobayashi added, taking another sip of her beer.

Unable to argue against that point, Elma silently fell into a slump, looking awfully depressed at the knowledge that this was her last meal for the night, even as she continued to eat it.

“Maybe take it easy on her, Tohru!” Taikya called out from over Fafnir’s shoulder to the dragon maid. “In her defense, your cooking is actually incredibly delicious. I can see why she can be such a glutton if you’re the one cooking for her.”

“Taikya! Stop talking and tell me how to do this part!” Fafnir demanded, practically growling at him as he ran into a particularly tough part of the game.

“Alright, alright.” Taikya said helplessly, placating the fearsome dragon before telling him what to do as Tohru gave him an odd look.

She and Taikya had met once before when she, mainly out of boredom from completing all her chores, had gone to pick Kobayashi up from work during the first few days she had been in this world. Instead, she had ended up being dragged along with the two of them to the bar and had been subjected to the two of them as they had gotten drunk. Tohru wasn’t really overly fond of him, he seemed nice enough, but she was cautious around him since she thought he was trying to get with Kobayashi.

Of course she knew now that the two of them were just good friends. It also wasn’t really her place to butt in since Kobayashi could make her own decisions and she had and loved Elma. But Tohru couldn’t really help but feel a little protective of Kobayashi.

Maybe that came from her naturally possessive instincts and nature as a dragon. Who knows?

Either way, Tohru more or less felt neutral towards Taikya overall, but she could appreciate his compliment towards her cooking at least. She could also admit that he had amazed her with how well he was able to handle Fafnir despite the cursed dragon’s infamous distaste for humans.

“Don’t worry.” Tohru began as she finished cleaning one of the plates. “If she’s still hungry after that, I have a… special meal in mind, just for her.”

Elma seemed to light up at that, missing the way that Tohru had spoken. Though she quickly seemed to realize what her mate meant as she looked up at Tohru, only to see her looking at her with hunger in her eyes and licking her lips. At that and the immediate realization that followed, Elma could only look back down at her food, unable to look anyone in the eye as she promptly turned scarlet.

“Well you’re certainly being spoiled today, aren’t you?” Lucoa teased the poor dragon, somehow managing to turn Elma even redder as she still felt her mate’s eyes on her.

“Just make sure no one sees or hears you, especially Kanna.” Kobayashi said after a second, with an awkward blush of her own.

She felt a little awkward being privy to the couple’s “activity”, but who was she to put a stop to it? Especially considering how long the two of them had been apart. The most she could do was ask that it didn’t bother anybody.

“Of course.~” Tohru said, her eyes still on Elma, almost as if waiting for the exact moment that she finished eating to jump her mate.

“By the way, Lucoa, what do you mean earlier when you said that you had to pick Elma up?” Kobayashi asked, moving the subject on.

“Oh, that’s because Elma isn’t capable of traveling in between worlds on her own, and Tohru asked for me to help.” Lucoa explained for Kobayashi’s benefit, who nodded in understanding.

“I was wondering why you didn’t just come and visit Tohru after the first couple of calls.” Kobayashi said, looking at Elma before taking a sip of her beer. “I guess since you couldn’t come here by yourself, would be the reason?”

“It’s the main reason.” Elma admitted with a nod, taking another bite as she elaborated. “I also have my duties as a member of the Harmony Faction, but I honestly probably would’ve rushed here the moment Tohru told me where she was if I could.”

“Ugh, it’s honestly so annoying that you can’t even though you’re just as strong as me.” Tohru complained, clearly unhappy with how Elma’s inability to travel the worlds made it so difficult to be with her mate.

A sentiment that Elma agreed with, letting out a hum as she took another bite of her food.

“Oh yeah!” Elma said before turning slightly to face Kobayashi. “Before I forget or get… preoccupied-“

Both Kobayashi and Elma then took a glance over at Tohru, who seemed to be putting up a coy front, pretending not to know what her mate meant.

“I got you something. I think you can call it a housewarming gift!” Elma said as she reached into her robe before pulling out what looked like a classic charm.

“Tohru said that you suffered from pain in your lower back a lot, so I made a charm that helps deal with it!” Elma explained as Kobayashi took the charm, giving it a cautious look over to see if there was any visual difference between it and a normal charm. “Though be careful not to do anything too crazy with it since it stops you from feeling it as long as you’re wearing it. Once you take it off, you’ll feel it all at once.”

“Thanks. I’ll definitely be using it a lot if it works.” Kobayashi said as she put the charm on around her neck, and already she could feel her ever present back pain lessen a little.

“I wouldn’t worry about the quality.” Lucoa said, opening one of her eyes a bit as the table’s other occupants looked at her. “Elma's a famous member of the Harmony Faction. A lot of dragons and humans would pay a lot of money for a charm made by her. Though she’s infamous for only making charms for people that she likes.”

“I-it’s only because you helped Tohru and she’s said a lot of good things about you-” Elma stammered a bit, blushing lightly as Kobayashi looked back at her in mild surprise.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s a nice gift.” Kobayashi said with a smile as she patted Elma on the head, interrupting her and causing her blush to grow stronger. After a second though, Elma would give one of her own smiles in return for Kobayashi’s.

All the while, Tohru was watching the interaction with interest over the kitchen counter, and a small smile of her own would soon appear at the display.

Soon after, Kobayashi and Taikya would drink too much and end up getting drunk, resulting in their typical arguments. Fafnir would unfortunately get caught in the crossfire as he ended up literally in between the two of them as he did his best to ignore them and focus on the game. Lucoa and Kanna, meanwhile, would simply watch it all in amusement.

Elma and Tohru on the other hand, seemed to have disappeared when no one was looking.
____________________________________________

“Ugh.” groaned Kobayashi as she gained consciousness, and immediately began to feel the effects of a hangover.

Slowly, she would get up and out of the bed, and exit her bedroom to the main room of the apartment. Immediately she would see Tohru in the kitchen, already cooking breakfast for all of them. At roughly the same time, Tohru would notice her exiting her room and would greet her.

“Good morning Ms. Kobayashi! How’s your hangover?”

“Morning Tohru. It’s fine for right now.” Kobayashi said, returning the greeting as she seated herself down at the table to wait for Tohru to finish making the food. “Kanna still asleep?”

“Yep! You know how she likes sleeping in.” Tohru answered as she chopped something up.

There was a short silence after that as Kobayashi looked around the apartment for a bit, almost as if she was expecting something.

“Is Elma still here?” Kobayashi asked after a minute as Tohru put her food down in front of her along with a cup of coffee.

“No, she had to go home with Lucoa since she can’t open the gate on her own.” Tohru explained in a bittersweet tone. She was clearly happy to have seen her mate in person for the first time in a while, but was also sad to have seen her go.

“Right.” Kobayashi said, remembering that part of the conversation from last night as she took a sip of her coffee. “Well, give her a hello from me when you call her later.”

“Of course!” Tohru said as she went back to the kitchen. But when she got there, she would glance back at Kobayashi as she drank her coffee in peace, a silent debate raging in the dragon’s head.

“So what did you think of Elma?” she finally asked as she tried to play it off coolly by putting away the dishes she had cleaned last night.

“Hm.” Kobayashi hummed as she looked up in thought, a little surprised by the question, but saw no harm in answering it. “Well, you weren’t kidding about her being a glutton.”

Kobayashi had to repress a snort upon hearing Tohru grumbling to herself about that being the first thing she said.

“But, she’s nice and, if this charm is anything to go off of, talented and smart too. Not to mention how much she cares about you” Kobayashi continued, gesturing to Elma’s gift that was hanging around her neck. “I can definitely see why you love her so much.”

Tohru seemed to beam at that for some reason, not entirely sure why Kobayashi’s approval of her mate meant so much to her herself, but it improved her already good mood this morning even more. With how good she felt, Tohru could already tell that she was going to give today her all! And make absolutely no mistakes at all-

“Tohru, tail meat.”

“Ah! Sorry Ms. Kobayashi! Old habit!”

…make absolutely no mistakes at all starting now.

Chapter Text

“Sorry for coming by so much.” Lucoa said to Kobayashi, leaning into her chair slightly.

“It’s because you’re checking in on Tohru, right?” Kobayashi asked as she took her seat in the chair across the table from her.

“So you knew?” Lucoa said with a smile as she took a sip of the tea that Kobayashi had given her. “Mmm! This is actually really good.”

“Well that cosplay maid had to learn from somewhere, didn’t she?” Kobayashi said, letting her ego feel a little stroked upon getting the praise from an actual goddess. Well, ex-Goddess, but same difference really. “And, well, he’s here too.”

Lucoa followed Kobayashi’s face as she looked over to Fafnir, who had just died in the game he was playing. Upon noticing that she and Lucoa were now looking at him, he promptly looked away and ignored them.

“I’m bored of this now. I’m going to play something else.” Fafnir said in an irritated tone rather than a bored one rather than he claimed.

“To be honest, you’re here to check on Tohru, too, right?” Kobayashi asked as Fafnir changed out the game that he had been playing for another one, not dignifying Kobayashi’s question with a response.

“Though, if I’m being honest, that isn’t the only reason I’m here.” Lucoa said, prompting Kobayashi to send her a questioning look as the dragon gave a small smile. “It also gives those little love drakes a chance to see each other.”

“Ah.” Kobayashi let out in realization, knowing she was referring to the fact that, everytime that Lucoa had come to visit, Elma had come along with her.

It was actually the reason that Tohru wasn’t there, and why Kobayashi had to give Lucoa tea herself.

Elma was still wearing her priestess outfit whenever she came over, causing Tohru to get frustrated with her mate’s absent mindedness. The dragon maid would then all but drag Elma out of the apartment, saying that they were going to a store so Elma could at least see what normal clothing looked like so she could change her scales to resemble one next time. Though Kobayashi was reasonably certain that that was just a convenient excuse so that the two of them could be by themselves for a while.

It was then that the door to the apartment opened, and with the way that her life had been going lately, Kobayashi was expecting Tohru and Elma to have come back at that exact moment since they were talking about them. But that hadn’t happened this time. Instead, as Kobayashi turned to see who had entered, she saw and heard a different dragon announce that they were back.

“I’m home.” Kanna said as she walked through the door, with her friend Saikawa close behind her.

“Welcome back Kanna-Oh?” Kobayashi greeted the young dragon, but would look confused upon seeing that Saikawa was crying behind her. She would then get up from her seat to go up to them as she asked what happened, not expecting the sudden serious look that Kanna would give her in response.

“A duel.”

“A duel?!” Kobayashi repeated in disbelief before feeling a chill down her spine as she felt an ominous presence behind her.

“I’ll kill them.” Fafnir said after seemingly appearing behind Kobayashi, who didn’t even hear him approaching.

“W-wait you delinquent!” Kobayshi exclaimed at the cursed dragon, looking back at Kanna in hopes she would explain what she meant, to which Kanna would do so.

And apparently, what she meant was that Saikawa had ended up picking a fight against a group of grown ups. Now, she has to play a game of dodgeball against them tomorrow. To make matters worse, Saikawa evidently wasn’t very popular at her and Kanna’s school so she didn’t even have enough friends to make a team outside of Kanna.

“Well, what to do then?” Kobayashi asked after the two of them explained what had happened. “I think you can still nego-.”

“We’re back.” Tohru announced, interrupting Kobayashi as she and Elma opened the door and walked into the room mid conversation.

“Oh, welcome bac-huh?” Kobayashi began to welcome the two, but would stop herself in surprise.

In contrast to when the two had left on their own, both Tohru and Elma were both bruised and battered, with the two mates looking like they had to lean against each other to stay standing properly. Alongside this, rather than Elma having come back in new, normal clothing, she was not only still in her priestess clothing, but it was completely torn up, along with Tohru’s maid uniform. It was a far cry from the image Kobayashi had been expecting to see when the two came back.

“Did we come back at a bad time?” Elma asked, seeing how everyone was around the couch together, with Saikawa still crying over her current predicament a little.

Lucoa then let out a sigh before Kobayashi could ask what happened.

“Oh my, did you two get in a fight while you were out?”

“Uh, yeah. Something like that…” Elma said, blushing a little and looking away in embarrassment. She then opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped when Tohru started talking while walking over to the couch, with Elma letting out a slight yelp at the sudden movement as she was dragged along.

“This idiot couldn’t decide on any outfits.” Tohru said curtly as she sat herself and Elma down on the couch. “I got annoyed with how long we were taking, and we fought to decide over what she wore.”

Kobayashi raised a brow at that, and how Elma looked off to the side, seemingly from embarrassment and not being willing to meet anyone’s gaze. She knew from Kanna that the two of them fought a lot, but that seemed like a really silly reason to fight. But all she could really do is sigh and keep that thought to herself as she walked away briefly to go get the first aid kit for them. Not that the two dragons actually needed it.

But she didn’t miss how Lucoa would frown as she walked by.

“A dispute settled by power alone. It has my approval.” Fafnir said, evidently not caring about the levity of the actual dispute.

“So, uhm, who won?” Saikawa asked a little awkwardly and clearly not really sure how to participate in the current subject.

“We tied, of course.” Elma answered, causing Fafnir to click his tongue in disappointment as she slumped backward, leaning her body weight against Tohru, seemingly getting comfy.

“Is this normal for them?” Saikawa whispered to Kanna, still not entirely sure what to make of the situation as Kobayashi handed the first aid kit to Tohru.

“Yes.” Kanna nodded at her friend. “Lady Elma and Tohru are dating.”

“Huh?! Are you supposed to fight like that when you’re daring?” Saikawa asked, looking back at the two and seeing all of their bruises.

“Of course not.” Kobayashi answered before Kanna could, making sure that neither of them had the wrong idea.

“They’re just a bit unique.” Lucoa explained to the young girls.

“So what were you all talking about earlier when we got back?” Tohru asked before either of the girls could ask what she meant as she used a bandage from the first aid kit to cover a cut that Elma got from her during their earlier fight.

“A duel.” Kanna repeated in the same way that she had said it earlier, and as Saikawa teared up again at remembering her current predicament.

“I’ll aid you!” Tohru responded instantly, an intense look on her face as she gave off a similar ominous aura as the one that Fafnir had given off earlier.

“T-T-Tohru!” Elma cried as her mate tightened her grip on her arm to the point of causing pain without realizing.

“Ah! Sorry!” Tohru apologized immediately upon realizing her mistake.

As Kanna began to retell the story, Kobayashi could only let out a sigh at both her maid’s absent mindedness and delinquent-like attitude. When Kanna was finished and the situation was finished being explained to the two, both Elma and Tohru had finished using the first aid kit to treat each other’s bruises and scratches.

“As I was saying earlier, I still think it’s possible to still negotiate with them.” Kobayashi said, not missing how Fafnir sent her an unimpressed look, the dragon evidently not being a very big fan of peaceful solutions.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Elma said, giving her thoughts on it, causing Fafnir to transfer his unimpressed look to her and Kobayashi to send her a grateful one for being a fellow voice of reason. “I’ve never liked humans fighting each other, so I think it would be better to talk it over and end it without any conflict.”

“How can you say that Elma?! We can’t have them taking us noble, proud dragons lightly!” Tohru exclaimed in shock at her mate’s answer.

“They weren’t taking dragons lightly! They don’t even know that dragons exist!” Elma shot back, turning around from her position on the couch to face Tohru, causing them to literally butt their heads together.

“As if that matters!” Tohru growled at her mate, and it looked like they were going to have another fight.

“Do you even know the rules, Tohru?” Kobayashi asked before Elma could respond with anything else to mediate for the two mates. She also took the opportunity to look at Saikawa to see how she was reacting to this. She was clearly uncomfortable seeing the two of them fight, but at the same time, she didn’t seem to really believe what they were saying about them being dragons based on her disbelieving expression.

She probably thought it was some sort of cosplay bit considering Tohru’s maid and Elma’s priestess uniforms.

“Yes!” Tohru answered immediately, turning her head to look at Kobayashi, only to be headbutted by Elma in the nose since the Harmony dragon’s head no longer met any resistance.

“I know them, too.” Fafnir said, giving a mild disgusted look to Elma and Tohru as they both let out whines from the accidental headbutt. “I’ve played a lot of Explosive Dodgeball.”

“It isn’t that kind of game.” Kobayashi deadpanned immediately.

“So let’s do it!” Tohru cheered out, shooting up from her sitting position on the couch, one hand up in the air and the other covering her nose.

Kobayashi gave an uncertain look to her maid, even as Kanna and Saikawa mimicked Tohru and cheered. She still wasn’t really sure if this was a good idea. After all, this was essentially having a group of normal people go against a group of extremely powerful dragons.

She wasn’t the only one who thought that this wasn’t a very good idea either. After having her opinion in the situation ignored by her mate, Elma had stopped rubbing the new red spot on her forehead to cross her arms and pout. Even as Tohru sat back down and began to pester her to cheer up, kissing Elma’s cheek and hugging her tightly, Elma would puff her cheeks and look away, not letting Tohru see her glowing blush.

“Don’t worry, it will work out.” Lucoa said with her smile, having been silent throughout the discussion, content with simply watching until it was evident that Kobayashi needed a bit of reassurance.

Kobayashi still wasn’t entirely sold off of the ex-goddesses words, but there really wasn’t a whole lot she could do at this point to stop it. Even Elma’s will was clearly breaking down due to Tohru promising her mate dinner, and it was only a matter of time until it broke entirely. Kobayahsi had little other choice but to hope Lucoa was right and that it would indeed work out.

____________________________________________

“Where did my peaceful, everyday life run off to?”

That was what Kobayashi couldn’t help but ask herself as she watched Tohru and Kanna go head to head against Lucoa and Fafnir in a game of dodgeball.

The game against the adults that Saikawa had picked a fight against was long over, having been completely dominated by the dragons from the very moment the game had started. But immediately afterward, the dragons began a game of their own, not having been satisfied with their crushing victory. Now the park they were all at had essentially turned into a warzone as they all played, going all out in the process.

Next to her, Saikawa had gone completely pale and her mouth hung open in complete shock and disbelief at what she was seeing. She was completely unresponsive from being unable to process what she had been seeing, even as Kobayashi waved her hand in front of her and tapped on her shoulder. Kobayashi wasn’t really surprised by this, as she could hardly blame her for being so utterly shocked by what she was seeing either.

But what did surprise her was the other person standing next to her: Elma.

The Harmony dragon was on the other side of her from Saikawa, and was actually wearing a set of normal clothing for the first time since. Her outfit consisted of a normal white t-shirt with a blue square over her chest that framed the word “eat” in the same white as the rest of her shirt, and plain black pants. With it on, she now looked like the most normal looking out of all of the dragons, in contrast to how she had arguably been the one that stood out most with her priestess clothing.

Elma squirmed a little as she watched the other dragons play against each other. Though more specifically she watched Tohru, as she hardly glanced away from her mate. And with the way she moved around anxiously, it was clear to Kobayashi that Elma wanted to join in.

“I’m surprised you aren’t playing too.” Kobayashi said, making Elma jump a little in surprise at the sudden statement. “You said the only reason you didn’t participate in the earlier game was because it was against humans and you clearly want to play now, so why don’t you?”

“Oh, well, there’s only five of us altogether, so if I joined, one side would have more members than the other. Wouldn’t that be a little against the rules?” Elma explained a little embarrassment that Kobayashi had so easily read her.

“Fair point.” Kobayashi said with a shrug as the two looked back to the game just in time to see Fafnir catch a full powered throw with one hand before sending it back at her in a likewise fashion, causing Tohru to skid backward a fair distance. “…Though it seems like Fafnir and Lucoa wouldn’t mind a three person team.”

“Oh no, I’d be on their team.”

“Eh?”

“I’m saying I’d rather play against Tohru.” Elma explained to a mildly surprised Kobayashi before going back to watching the game.

“…Is everything alright between you and Tohru?” Kobayashi asked after a second, catching Elma off guard with the question. “It just seems like you two are fighting a lot lately. Certainly much more than a few weeks ago.”

“That’s because we were both just happy to see each other in person again.” Elma explained, realizing what Kobayashi was getting at. “This is much more normal for us.”

“…That’s mildly concerning.”

“It’s just how we are.” Elma said with a shrug, not really seeing the problem. “It’s only natural considering she’s a Chaos dragon and I’m a Harmony dragon, and it’s been this way for centuries between us.”

“Well, I guess it’s not really my place to judge.” Kobayashi said with a sigh, looking away from Elma and back toward the game. “It just seems like you fight over the littlest things, like how you came back yesterday from clothes shopping over what clothes you were going to wear.”

“…That was actually a bit more serious than our usual fights.” Elma said with a sigh as she suddenly seemed a little uncomfortable and scratched the back of her head, surprising Kobayashi a bit. “Don’t tell her I told you, but if I’m being honest, I think you have a right to know the actual reason since it has to do with you a bit.”

Kobayashi didn’t say anything for a second, but Elma could feel her eyes on her, showing that she was waiting for her to continue. “…Lucoa said earlier that she might try and find a place to stay in this world since it would be more convenient for her than going back between the worlds.”

“But if she did that, you either wouldn't be able to see Tohru or go back home.” Kobayashi said, realizing where Elma was going.

“Right.” Elma said with a nod. “So yesterday, I brought it up to Tohru, saying that I thought that I wanted to stay in this world with her.”

Elma then clenched her arm with one hand as she frowned as she remembered the interaction.

“She didn’t think it was a good idea…”

“Huh?” Kobayashi let out, evidently confused by the revelation. “How come? I’d think she’d jump at the chance to spend more time with you.”

“That’s what I thought too, but she was worried about something else.” Elma agreed before explaining Kobayashi's confused expression. “The Harmony Faction isn’t like the Chaos Faction where it’s more like a loose confederation where anyone can do whatever they want as long as they have the strength to back it up. Since we value order and law, we have a strict set of rules that we have to live by that are set by the gods, and if we break them, there are consequences.”

“And is being mates with a Chaos Dragon against those rules?” Kobayashi guessed

“No, actually. The gods didn’t particularly care surprisingly enough. The same can’t be said about most of the other Harmony Dragons…” Elma said before sighing at the end. “Most don’t think I’m trustworthy any more, some even think I’m a traitor because Tohru is my mate.”

“And I’m guessing that they jump at any opportunity to make life difficult for you because of that?”

“Yeah.” Elma said with a sigh. “And I don’t think I have to tell you how they’ll react to me putting off my duties to come to this world which we aren’t supposed to interfere with just to spend time with my Chaos Dragon mate.”

“Not well?”

“Some of them may even try to kick me out of the Harmony Faction over it.” Elma explained with a heavy sigh. “Only reason they haven’t tried anything yet over the visits so far is because of my grandmother and that it’s Lucoa bringing me back and forth so far. Tohru knows this and how much being in the Harmony Faction means to me, so she doesn’t want me staying here since that’s inevitably going to get me in trouble with my faction.”

“Hmm.” Kobayashi hummed in understanding as she took in the information and thought it over. It seemed that Tohru’s and Elma’s relationship was a bit more complicated than she thought…

There was a bit of a lull in the conversation as Kobayashi looked around the park to see what was going on. The game between the dragons had amassed quite the crowd, watching in the same slack jawed awe that Saikawa. The dragons themselves were still going full force, not having slowed at all as far as Kobayashi could tell.

“There’s one thing I still don't get.” Kobayashi said after a second, ending the lull, and prompting Elma to give her a curious look. “Earlier you said that it had something to do with me, but I don’t see how.”

“Oh, uh, W-well…” Elma stammered before looking away from Kobayashi as she seemed to blush as she scratched the back of her head, her expression one of embarrassment and not a little shame. “D-during the argument leading up to the fight, I-I maaay have said a few things about you..?”

“Huh? Why would you do that? Did I offend you somehow?” Kobayashi asked in legitimate surprise, having thought she had gotten along well with Elma so far.

“N-no! N-nothing like that! I-it’d just that…” Elma trailed off nervously, seemingly squirming uncomfortably as Kobayashi stared at her waiting for an answer, before finally taking a deep breath to get a hold of herself. “Look… I do like you, but my history with humans hasn't been the best and I have a hard time trusting them now because of it. And, well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous.”

“Jealous?” Kobayashi repeated with a blink, clearly not following since she didn’t see what she could possibly have that Elma could be jealous of.

“…Tohru hasn’t been here a very long time, but despite that, she’s changed.” Elma began, looking longingly at her oblivious mate as Kobayashi listened. “She used to despise humans, even going off to destroy their villages at times when I wasn’t there. Alongside that, she never would’ve been caught dead wearing those types of clothes she wears now, and it’s weird seeing her in them rather than the thick cloak she had before. But, above all else, I never used to see her smile so much back in our world… or with me.”

“…And you think it’s because of me?” Kobayashi asked, to which Elma gave a hesitant nod. There was a pregnant silence for a few seconds as Kobayashi looked up in thought, thinking about what to say next.

“This may sound a little rude, but would you do it if it turns out she’s happier here without you?” Kobayashi asked after a second, causing Elma to visibly tense at the question.

“I-I…I don’t know.” Elma answered before sniffing with tears clear in her eyes as she clenched her eyes. “I want her to be happy more than anything else, but… I don’t want her to leave me again…”

Kobayashi’s brow raised at her answer, specifically the last part. It hinted at a part in the history of her and Tohru’s relationship she didn’t know about. She wanted to ask about it, but now wasn’t the time for that.

“That’s not a bad answer, but I don’t think you have to worry about her leaving you or anything.” Kobayashi said as she put a hand gently on Elma’s shoulder in a comforting fashion, making Elma jump in surprise as she turned to see her smiling at her. “If you really think that she’s happier here without you, you should know that she smiles the most whenever she’s thinking about you.”

Elma couldn’t say anything for several seconds as she simply stared dumbstruck at Kobayashi. When she seemingly finally realized what she said, her eyes would widen and seem to shine a little thanks to the tears that were already there. She opened her mouth to say something to Kobayashi, but she was interrupted before the first sounds could leave her mouth.

“Is everything alright?” Tohru asked in a tone of concern, having seemingly appeared in front of Elma, surprising both her mate and Kobayashi.

“Oi, Tohru!” Fafnir called out from where he had been in the game, looking irritated. “Throw the ball back!”

“I called time out! So wait a second, you cursed dragon!” Tohru yelled back, prompting Fafnir to click his tongue in irritation, muttering his annoyance as he looked away.

“You didn’t say anything mean to Elma, did you Miss.Kobayashi?” Tohru asked as she looked back to them, giving Kobayashi a hard look as she stepped between her and her mate in a protective fashion.

Evidently, she hadn’t heard what the pair had said. She must’ve only seen that Elma had teared up talking to Kobayashi while she was playing the game.

“N-no, she didn’t.” Elma said, making Tohru look back at her in a speculative manner as her mate gave a smile. “I just got a little emotional while we were talking about something. It’s nothing you have to worry about.”

Tohru would stare at Elma’s face for a few seconds as Elma took the hand that wasn’t holding the ball into her own, gently squeezing it. Elma’s eyes were still a little wet, but the smile she wore was genuine. It was clear that Tohru wanted to know more about it, but was situational enough for once to know that this wasn’t the time and she didn’t need to.

“Alright. But before I go-” Tohru said with a sigh before leaning forward quickly leaning forward to peck Elma’s lips with her own in a momentary kiss. “I’m taking that for good luck!”

Elma turned crimson as Tohru ran back to the other dragons before she could fully process or respond to the kiss. They then quickly resumed the game as if the brief break had never happened. All the while, Kobayashi and Elma watched it in a comfortable silence as Saikawa was still in shock next to them.

“… Thanks for telling me about that. It really helps.” Elma muttered to Kobayashi after a little while as the game’s participants finally started to slow a little.

“No problem.” Kobayashi responded, sending Elma another smile as the silence returned and the game of dodgeball continued.