Sunset ^beta

“There’s a thing called ‘trust’ in this world. Trust is very important, both when it comes to work and in personal relations. It’s not uncommon for one to lose everything when they lose that.”

…

“Get it, Tohru?”

Those words rang through Tohru’s impeccably huge, perfect, impenetrable heart. It pierced her chest like a holy sword, struck her skull like a mace enchanted with dragon slaying. Her head rung like a bell with the words over and over and over.

Trust. Trust. Trust.

She trusts me? Miss Kobayashi really trusts me?

What do you care if some pathetic human trusts you!?

I wasn’t sure if she did… she’s so hard to read, she’s so hard to please!

And you trust her!? How? How could you trust a human after all they’ve done, after all they’ve done to you!?

Of course, I trust her! Miss Kobayashi saved me!

She was drunk. She doesn’t care. She never shows she really cares for you!

She does! She has trouble expressing herself, but she does! Just in her own way.

Trust…

Now that I have it… Now that I know I have her trust; my heart feels like it’s going to burst! I’m so happy!

But you could lose it all, too.

I could lose it? I could. I can’t live without it! I’ve only just realized I had it, but if I were to lose it…

It felt like a sword was piercing her chest again, digging deeper. Deeper. Twisting and turning, slicing her innards, bleeding her out until she was nothing.

I can’t lose it. I can’t.

This ‘trust’ isn’t a one-way street. You need to trust her too. Do you really? Do you truly trust that human?

I do! Stop questioning it!

She talks big, that human, but what if she were to lose YOUR trust?

That…

And she felt the sword stabbing into her spine this time, slashing her scales open, boiling her blood under the open sun. But it wasn’t the same as before. She was angry. She was so angry!

She wouldn’t DARE break MY trust!

She might… You know how she is…

I’ll burn her to a crisp! I’ll burn this whole world down to the ground! The streets will run crimson, the sky will rain pale ash!

Tohru scrubbed the plates in the bubbling sink furiously, her hands moving faster than the concept of speed.

I won’t wake her up on time again!! I’ll stop using the spices she likes in her dinner!!

Lemony-clean bubbles foamed in the sink, overtaking everything. Tohru’s rampage on the dirty dishes did not cease.

I’ll do her laundry but purposefully not clean her underwear!!! I’ll leave the TV on when I go to bed!!!

Innocent eyes looked up at the Chaos Dragon, but the Chaos Dragon could not see them. The Chaos Dragon only saw dirt, disgusting, awful, dirt! Specs of filth on her dishes!

“Tohru, that dish is clean enough…” Kanna said.

I’ll make her coffee lukewarm!! I won’t wait at the door when she comes home and instead wait a few seconds later to welcome her!!

Kanna’s little hands tugged at Tohru’s dress weakly. “Tohru, it’s clean…”

She’ll rue the day she ever broke MY trust! She didn’t break it yet, but OH if she DID, I would, I would, I would…!!!

“Stop it, stop it, it’s already clean…”

I’LL SCRUB THE WHOLE UNIVERSE CLEAN; MY POWER IS UNLIMITED! GOD WILL FEAR WHAT HE HAS CREATED WHEN I SHOW UP ON HIS DOORSTEP AND CRUSH HIM LIKE THE PITIFUL INSECT HE IS COMPARED TO ME!!!

Crack!

“Eh?” Tohru whimpered, her voice muffled by sudsy bubbles.

“You broke it…” Kanna was nothing more than a pile of clean bubbles, but her eyes shone through, accusing.

“O-our trust?!” Tohru cried. The kitchen had become completely stuffed with delightful lemony bubbles.

“The plate…” Kanna sighed, again in that accusing tone that wasn’t really accusing but kinda was.

Tohru felt the jagged edges of the plate in her hands. She couldn’t see, of course, because she was more bubbles than dragon now.

“Oh.”

Silence washed over the apartment like a dirty rag. Neither moved from their bubbly prison. Maybe because Kanna was pretty good at dealing with bubbles and she didn’t move all that much anyway. Maybe because Tohru was shocked at her own thoughts, her own worries.

Or maybe it was because Tohru heard the flush run through the house and the door from the bathroom creak open. A flash of red appeared as dark as blood.

Kobayashi sighed and sat before the TV.

Maybe Miss Kobayashi won’t notice if I just stay perfectly still. Humans are notorious for their terrible sight, smell, hearing… The list could go on, and it did in Tohru’s mind.

Kobayashi leaned back and closed her eyes, clearly exhausted. “Tohru, when you go to the market today, do you think you could get us some more toothpaste? We’re running low.”

I’ll get a slightly more expensive brand that does virtually the same thing but wastes her money!!

No, I won’t! I’ll get the absolute best bargain for the most quality toothpaste!

“Oh. Sure. Of course!” Tohru said pleasantly, her voice still slightly muffled by the absolutely stupid amount of bubbles in the kitchen. Her bones rattled as she shivered in guilt, but luckily, again—the bubbles hid it.

Maybe she’ll fall asleep and won’t notice what I did.

Kobayashi smiled gently. Something so rare, something so beautiful. It shone brighter than a million gold coins hoarded in a cave, it was more valuable than any universe’s diamond!

“Thank you, Tohru. I know I don’t say it enough, but I do really appreci—” Kobayashi turned her head to the kitchen. Her tired eyes shot open.

“Oh, you’re very welcome, Miss Kobayashi! I love you, too!”

“Tohru.”

“Hm? Yes~?” Maybe if I just pretend I meant to do this, she won’t mind?

“DON’T JUST ‘Yes~?’ ME LIKE THERE ISN’T AN AVALANCE OF BUBBLES COMING FROM THE KITCHEN AND BLOCKING THE HALLWAY!”

“I’m just trying a new cleaning technique that’s sure to affect the entire household, not just the dishes!” Tohru lied.

“WILL YOU GET THE BUBBLES OUT OF HERE? THEY’RE SOAKING INTO THE CARPET!”

“O-of course!”

“She also broke a plate.”

“KANNA, WHY.”

A few days later in Kobayashi’s immaculately clean bathroom…

…

It’d been a long day at work. Kobayashi’s back was killing her, and her brain was fried. The carpet still squelched when she walked by the kitchen but Tohru promised she’d fix that and without using magic for some reason, as if using magic wouldn’t atone her mistakes.

Still. She promised she’d do it. And Tohru was reliable.

Kobayashi’s eyes fell to her toothbrush. Tohru’s bright red toothbrush stood against it in their toothbrush holder, as if saying, ‘Miss Kobayashi’s toothbrush~! I’ll keep you safe~!’ No doubt Tohru made sure to keep their toothbrushes as close as possible.

It was weird. But cute.

She shrugged. Teeth time.

Kobayashi slowly, (Oh, so slowly. She had been working hard and fast all day, she deserved to move like a sloth at a red light if she wanted.) looked down at the toothpaste.

Nearly empty. I hate it when it gets like this—all crinkled up and hard to get the toothpaste out. It takes practically 30 seconds just to squeeze a drop out and it just looks less appetizing. Wait. Not that I’m eating it or anything, but it is going into my mouth.

She turned her head agonizingly slowly to the left. A shiny new toothpaste tube, still fresh in the box. It didn’t have a note, but Kobayashi could hear Tohru say, ‘For you, master~!’ in her mind.

She’s so sweet. She’s so dumb.

But it would be nice to use that now, wouldn’t it? What was better than the first squeeze of a brand-new tube of toothpaste? Nothing, that’s what.

I shouldn’t waste what’s left of the previous toothpaste though.

And then it hit her like a bolt of lightning. Inspiration. Genius. Efficiency. She could use the new toothpaste while still using up the old! A devious smile perked her lips up.

I can use the new toothpaste and Tohru can use the old toothpaste.

She nodded to herself. It was so brilliant.

Tohru won’t care that she’s using the worse toothpaste! What would she know about little things like the first squeeze of a full tube? Besides, I don’t think she even needs to brush her teeth! She’s just doing it for fun!

She nodded more, more, harder, faster. Yes. Yes! This was the move of the century! If people knew what she was doing, they’d be writing books about her!

Before Kobayashi even knew what was happening, the new and full tube of toothpaste was in her hands. Oh, this felt so good already! It was pristine! Immaculate! There wasn’t a single drop of sticky toothpaste on the cap or around the edges like the old one! Ooooh, yes, and here it comes, the first squeeze!

Aaaaaah~~~

The toothpaste came out so easily onto Kobayashi’s brush. She barely even put any force on it! Oh, and so much came out, too! Her teeth were going to be so minty after this!

But her eyes fell to the old wrinkly toothpaste tube. She felt guilty. She didn’t worry about it.

However…

Wouldn’t Tohru just use the new toothpaste tube now too? She would, of course she would! She’d get the second squeeze, and that was almost as good as the first squeeze! It’d be mere SECONDS before this new tube of toothpaste was an old wrinkly one!

No.

Like a murderer hiding the corpse of her victim, Kobayashi slid the new toothpaste back into the box. She closed it up, nice and pretty, noting how it appeared it was never even opened. Heheheh… And for good measure she hid the evidence put the fresh toothpaste in the drawer, away from prying eyes.

Yes. Now the new toothpaste was hers. And Tohru would use the old one.

Yes…

Hahaha…HAHAHA!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Oh, god, her back. She can’t keep doing these kinds of dramatic actions. Imagine if Tohru saw. Oh well. Bedtime.

…

Kobayashi slept like a baby that night, her mouth minty fresh. Free of sin.

Even more days later…

…

Tohru hummed a pleasant tune to herself as she scrubbed the bathroom counter. Her tail waggled to the imaginary beat, hips swaying in rhythmic motion.

Those humans certainly know how to enjoy themselves! Music is a pretty good invention and it’s even better in this world! I wonder if Miss Kobayashi would think I’m attractive the way I’m dancing and cleaning…? I bet if she saw me now, she’d practically fall on that delicious flat butt of hers and say—

“AAAH!” Tohru screamed in terror? Maybe anger? Tanger? Angror?

Kanna lazily waltzed in from the other room, eyes accusing yet curious. “What is it, Tohru?”

Tohru’s tail had accidently slapped open one of the drawers in her (very sexy) dancing time. But that wasn’t the problem! The force of it flung the new toothpaste tube out that Tohru had bought a few days back. But that wasn’t the problem either!!!

The tube fell out of the box. The box was opened.

“Kanna, did you open this new toothpaste?” Tohru asked. She wasn’t going to be mad at little Kanna for that!

Kanna simply shook her head. She stared at the tube.

“Well. That’s strange.” Tohru felt it in her hand. It’d been slightly used. “The cap’s loose too. Are you sure you didn’t accidently use it, Kanna?”

Kanna shook her head again, practically shaking her whole body. “I don’t brush my teeth that often. Don’t need to.”

Well. Yes, that’s true. Dragons didn’t need to brush their teeth because their saliva was naturally a cleaning solvent. But it was fun! Tohru still brushed her teeth twice a day! She even struggled with the nearly empty tube in all its sticky ickyness so she could enjoy it!

Kanna tilted her head. “Maybe Kobayashi has been using it.”

Tohru laughed very impressively and not at all nervously. “Hahaha, Kanna! You’re so naïve, so innocent! Miss Kobayashi would leave the toothpaste tube out if she was using it! Why would she hide…” Her words slowed as realization crashed into her like a magical tidal wave attack. “Why would she hide… it…”

Kanna shrugged, clearly bored. She walked back into the living room to finish her homework.

She LIED!

No, it can’t be! Miss Kobayashi would never!

SHE LIED!

Well, she never technically lied about anything actually.

OKAY, WHATEVER. She still made you use the lesser toothpaste!

I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this!

She broke your trust!! She wants you to have ROTTEN teeth!

I don’t think that’s how toothpaste works.

Yeah, well, you don’t know!

Fair.

The battle inside Tohru between her enormous raging dragon form and her sexy/cute humanoid form went on for hours. She simply stayed hunched over in the bathroom, holding the toothpaste tube in her hand. Or was it a claw? Maybe it should be a CLAW. Yeah, I think a change in description would work WELL here.

Flames licked her fangs.

And she took a deep breath. She calmed down. Calm! There was no reason to get this upset.

RIGHT?

Tohru heard Kobayashi coming home from literally miles away. She had Kobayashi’s scent. Knew her footsteps. Sluggish. Meek. The front door unlocked with a pleasant ker-chunk! that always sent Tohru’s heart racing. That made her blood BOIL.

“Welcome home,” Kanna said. Tohru heard their voices through the walls. She was still in the bathroom, holding the toothpaste tube.

“Hey Kanna,” Kobayashi said pleasantly. “How was school today?”

“Gooood,” Kanna replied. She never did explain herself more than that. And why would she? To a lowly human.

Kobayashi made a surprised noise. “Hm? Where’s Tohru? Usually she’s here.” Tohru grinned, each fang in her mouth a wicked dagger. Heh! I said I’d do it! I said I wouldn’t greet her on time! “Oh well. Probably got caught shopping or something.” She didn’t sound bothered at all!!!

“She’s here,” Kanna said easily. How could she betray her fellow dragon?! “She’s still in the bathroom holding a toothpa—”

Footsteps, claws pounding into the carpet, the earth cracking beneath her feet!! Tohru the Chaos Dragon darted to the front entrance faster than light, her ebony wings cracking the sound barrier.

“A-ah, Miss Kobayashi!!! W-welcome home!” Tohru said, totally normally. “I was just so busy cleaning I didn’t hear you!”

Kobayashi blinked slowly. There was always that hint of surprise, but then that general aloofness turned out to be more powerful than Tohru could ever imagine. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

Oh god, she’s good!!!

Calm down, you won’t be beaten that easily!

“Well, you know me!!” Tohru said, aggressively scratching the back of her head and waggling her tail and sweating profusely like normal humans do.

Kobayashi raised an eyebrow. Her glasses only amplified her powerful gaze. “Usually that phrase is followed by an explanation.”

“Nah,” Tohru said CASUALLY.

Kobayashi’s piercing gaze continued, glasses refracting a powerful light that would make any criminal buckle under pressure. Wait a minute, I’m not the criminal here!

“Well, whatever.” Kobayashi shrugged. “I’m tired.”

Ha! I knew I’d win!

“Tohru’s upset about toothpaste,” Kanna said suddenly.

“THAT’S A BOLD-FACED LIE! HOW COULD YOU, KANNA?!”

Kobayashi said, “I was wondering why you were holding a tube of toothpaste in your hand.”

Tohru felt the sword in her chest, the mace against her skull, the burning lava in her claws! Did I really forget I was still holding that?!

No more running! Face her like the proud dragon you are!

“T-that’s right!!!” Tohru finally admitted. “I am upset about toothpaste!”

Kobayashi tilted her head. “…Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’?!” Tohru screamed, trying her best to hold back her flames. Her fangs peaked out, but Kobayashi didn’t even flinch. “You know what you did!” She pointed an accusatory finger, green scales and dangerous claw peeking out.

Kobayashi sighed. “Not really, no.”

“LIAR!” Tohru bellowed, her maw nearly blowing Kobayashi out the front door.

For once, Kobayashi’s eyes widened. “Geez, you really are upset.” She shook her head. “But I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about, Tohru.”

She’s still lying!

Wait, did I misunderstand after all? I pictured it all so clearly in my head…

“T-the toothpaste!” Tohru held it closer to Kobayashi’s face, as if looking at it again would jog her memory. Tohru’s hands had completely turned into scaly claws at this point. “Y-you made me use the old one while you used the new one!”

Kobayashi’s eyes brightened. “Ah.” She paused. “Yeah, I forgot I was doing that. I got so used to it, it just became routine.”

Tohru felt like her whole world swirled down the sink. “Y-you actually admit to it?!”

“Yeah.” Kobayashi shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d get so upset over something so small.”

“Small?!” Tohru cried. “But, Miss Kobayashi, my trust!”

For some reason, that seemed to anger Kobayashi. “Eh? What are you talking about?”

Humans! So forgetful, so pathetic! They can’t even stick to their own morals!

“You were the one who said it! You said how important trust is in this world! You admitted to trusting me and you said if you lose it you lose everything and—and how can I trust you after this?!” Tohru’s words just sort of fell out of her mouth. She had about a hundred different speeches she went over in her head beforehand, but none of them came out.

Kobayashi’s hair prickled up with furious electricity. “That ‘trust’ talk was about you DRUGGING me!”

“So what?! This is the same thing!”

“Giving you some old toothpaste and DRUGGING me are not the same things, Tohru!”

“Trust is trust! And you broke it!”

“You’re such an idiot! You just tried to feed me your tail again this morning! How is that not breaking my trust?!”

“It’s to show you how much I love you!! Giving me your old toothpaste is just proof you HATE ME!”

Kobayashi curled her pathetic hands into fists but didn’t say anything. Is she afraid of me? SHE SHOULD BE!

“This is stupid. I just got home from work. I’m tired. Let me sit down.” Kobayashi moved for the living room.

“You’re not getting by me that easily!” Tohru roared. A scaly arm appeared, bulging with muscles, blocking Kobayashi’s way.

“Will you cut it out, Tohru? You’re really annoying me right now. Just get over it, okay?”

“Trust is IMPORTANT!”

“Come on, it was toothpaste…”

“It doesn’t matter!”

“You’re right, it DOESN’T matter! Now get out of the way!”

Tohru’s eyes turned into slits. The Chaos Dragon was taking over.

“My trust doesn’t matter to you!?”

“If I just say ‘no’ can we be done with this?!” Kobayashi growled.

“RRAAAAAAH! That’s it! I challenge you, Kobayashi, to a CHAOS DUEL!”

“Ooohhh,” Kanna said from over in the living room, snacking.

Kobayashi was never one to back down. Even in the face of a terrible humanoid mess of scales that was Tohru, she still headbutted Tohru’s scaley forehead, right between the horns. “Fine, you wanna fight about this so much?? Then let’s fight! I ACCEPT!”

“Gahaha! Foolish human! You have no idea what you’ve just accepted!” Tohru’s claws ripped the very fabric of reality behind her, opening a portal to another world like a knife raking through flesh.

“Kobayashi… Tohru…” Kanna whined. “That’s a fight to the death…”

“I’ll show you what TRUST means!” Tohru roared, launching Kobayashi’s flimsy body into the portal.

Kobayashi landed on her feet with surprising agility, her worn business shoes skidding in the grassy plains where dragons usually went to duel. “Go ahead, see if I care!”

“Show some REMORSE for your actions!” Tohru bellowed, her true dragon form cracking the earth beneath her feet. Flames sparked around her maw.

“It’s literally just toothpaste!” Kobayashi shouted from below, barely more than an annoying buzzing to Tohru, the Chaos Dragon.

“I LIKE toothpaste! I LIKE brushing my teeth with you!”

“You still CAN! You still DID! Tohru, oh my GOD.”

“But you LIED to me! If you had just ASKED...”

Kobayashi held up her hands. They were trembling, but only because she was so angry. “Again. It. Was. Toothpaste. Tohru.”

“It’s not just the toothpaste, it’s my TRUST! You broke that, so now you must DIE!”

Tohru’s maw opened wide, wider still. Runes screaming with power appeared at her mouth, magic so powerful that even the strongest wizards of her world would cower before her. Without hesitation, she launched deadly fire breath infused with chaos at the tiny human.

“Cut it out!” Kobayashi growled, slapping the magical attack away with the back of her hand. The attack landed against a mountain in the horizon, vaporizing it instantly in a terrible explosion.

“How did you…?” Tohru’s massive body took a step back. “No matter! Maybe your magic is stronger than I thought, but you won’t be able to handle my RAW physical power!”

“Don’t you do it!” Kobayashi shouted, digging her business shoes into the dirt. “If you get my work outfit dirty, you’re cleaning it!”

“I’ll do more than dirty you—you rotten TOOTHPASTE BETRAYER!” Tohru dashed forward towards the little red spec that was Kobayashi, horns poised for killing, her skull thicker than steel. Lava erupted under each step as she charged, the planet’s core crying out in pain just at her mere presence.

Kobayashi didn’t flinch, didn’t blink. She just took a weird stance like she was about to get jumped on by a little dog. Ha! She’s nothing! When Tohru’s stadium sized body slammed into Kobayashi’s twig-like, nearly middle-aged body, she didn’t expect what happened next.

SU-PLEX!!!!!

Kobayashi screamed, taking Tohru’s massive skull in her arms, somehow, and lifting her up towards the heavens. Tohru’s eyes widened like squiggly little dinner plates. Weh??

With a planet-sized crack, Kobayashi fell onto her back, taking Tohru with her, slamming the giant dragon into the earth with the power of several galaxy-destroying meteors. It was enough to throw Tohru back into her (mostly) humanoid form, her chest rising and falling with adrenaline.

“Are you done?!” Kobayashi groaned, her head lying next to Tohru’s. She was panting as well.

“How did… how did you beat me?” Tohru asked through heavy breaths.

“Trust.”

“Huh?!”

Kobayashi sighed. “I trusted you. I knew you would never hurt me, Tohru.”

Tohru felt tears welling up on her face after all she had just done. The fearsome dragon inside her was tired, taking a nap. “But I used my strongest magic against you! I charged at you! I threw you…”

“You made your magic miss,” Kobayashi said easily. “When you threw me in here, a gentle wind caught me and put me on my feet. When you charged into me, you practically lifted yourself over me. I knew you were just upset and wanted to take it out on me instead of Kanna for a change.”

Of course I’d never hurt Miss Kobayashi…

“You’ve really been worrying about trust, haven’t you, Tohru?” Kobayashi said gently. Her voice… “I didn’t mean to get into your head that much.”

“But you were right! Trust is important! It’s so important! When—when you told me about trust, you basically told me I had yours! And I never knew… I… I couldn’t lose it…”

“You really didn’t know I trusted you?” Kobayashi asked genuinely.

“I wasn’t sure.” Tohru stared up at the bright night sky, up at the stars, into the purple galaxies, the pink universes, all mixed together in an ocean of inky black space. She hoped Kobayashi noticed how pretty they were too. She hoped Kobayashi was looking at the stars with her.

“I’m sorry then. I trust you, Tohru.” A pause. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do!” Tohru shouted. “I trust you with my life! With everything! I—I don’t know why I got so upset. I should be the one apologizing. I’m so sorry, Miss Kobayashi.”

A tiny hum of thought. “It’s okay. I think I know what’s wrong. Trust is still the cause of this, but it’s not our trust in each other.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I think you don’t trust yourself.”

“What? I…” Tohru looked at her claws her hands her… whatever this was. They were trembling.

“You’re so afraid of losing my trust. You’re so afraid of losing your own trust with me. I do believe trust is important, but it’s not just something between two people. It’s something for yourself, too.”

You’ll KILL her.

She’ll hate you.

You’ll hurt her.

She’ll forget you. You aren’t good enough.

You’re weak. You can’t control yourself.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Kobayashi said, as if she could read the swirling thoughts in Tohru’s head. “It’s really hard to trust yourself. I struggle with it plenty. It doesn’t mean you’re bad. I promise. Just remember that I trust you. Even when you think you can’t trust yourself.”

“Miss Kobayashi, I don’t… I…” She felt the urge to cry. To cry! Really?!

“Sometimes words aren’t good enough.” Kobayashi groaned as she propped herself on her elbows and leaned towards Tohru. “…Ugh, my back…”

“H-huh?”

Kobayashi’s face appeared over Tohru’s, her light smile brighter than any star in the sky. Her ponytail trickled down her face, tickling Tohru’s nose. She leaned down and pressed her lips gently against Tohru’s before returning to her spot on the grass, complaining about the strain of moving.

Huh, huh huh, WHAAAAAAAAAT? A KISS? A KISS FROM MISS KOBAYASHI? Her lips!! They were dry, and her kiss was so limp! But…

It felt so good!!!

Tohru writhed in the grass, her tail wriggling beneath her backside, her hips rising and falling as the electricity of Kobayashi’s trust ran through her entire body.

“Tohru, please don’t tell me you just…”

“Miss Kobayashi~!”

“Just from a kiss?! Are you serious?!”

“Ohh, you must not trust how much power you have over me, you crass woman~!”

Kobayashi let out a deep sigh. She was never one to give away anything, but Tohru was sure she must have been smiling.

“Can we go home now, Tohru? We should probably tell Kanna that we didn’t kill each other.”

“Of course, Miss Kobayashi!! Anything for you!” Tohru flipped up onto her feet, despite her legs still feeling a bit jelly-like after their kiss.

Kobayashi was still laying in the grass like a dead fish. Tohru stared. Kobayashi sighed. “…Could you carry me home? I think I threw out my back with that suplex.”

Hearts bubbled out of Tohru’s horns like a sink full of dirty dishes. Even her eyes seemed to transform into pounding hearts. “I’ve always wanted to do that!” In a flash, she scooped up Kobayashi into her arms, pressing the human into her soft cushy chest. Kobayashi groaned with annoyance but didn’t struggle much. “I’ll make sure to give you a ~full body massage~ when we get back to fix your spine up!”

“Keep your clothes on…”

“Oh, so we can take off yours then~?”

“I’m going to pour toothpaste in your ears.”

“That’s fine! As long as we get our happy ending~!”

“Stop adding that weird squiggle to everything you’re saying!”

“You love it~!”

“Ugh!”

“I don’t hear you saying you don’t~…”

Tohru giggled as she sliced open a portal home with her claws again.

Kanna stared at the two of them with accusing eyes when they got back. “Did you kill Miss Kobayashi, Tohru?”

“No, she just normally looks like that.”

“Ah. That’s right.”

“Kanna, WHY!” Kobayashi complained, her body still in Tohru’s strong arms.

It wasn’t long before things settled back down to normal. At least as ‘normal’ as things could be with Tohru.

Although, maybe that wasn’t true. As they watched mindless TV and Tohru worked her continent crushing claws over Kobayashi’s frail back, Tohru couldn’t help but feel her heart pounding in her chest. (Kobayashi felt it too since Tohru was pressing her breasts into her back.)

But it was okay. She trusted herself. Kobayashi trusted her too. These new feelings burning and tickling her heart—they were new, they were scary, but they were also so good. As long as Kobayashi was here to help her through it, Tohru was happy to feel them.

That night, they slept together in peaceful bliss. Their breaths intertwined as they snored, minty fresh.