When You're With Me (ch6)

EARLY RELEASE FOR MY $10+ PATRONS!

It's been so long since I've written for them! S2 has blessed us and I finally got a bit of free time to come back to them! Though it's sort of a recycled idea of hurt/comfort and fluff... oh well.

Based off the events of the most-recent episode 7.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon.

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						Chapter 6. A Dragon's Rest

It's always nice for Kobayashi to come home to the apartment without being able to hear chaos happening on the other side of the door.

It was one of those rare evenings where no one must have dropped by unexpectedly, as there was no shrieking or clattering of any kind. She savors that peaceful silence, because in this house, it doesn't happen very often.

Kobayashi puts her key into the lock and opens the door, stepping in with the typical greeting.

"I'm home."

Tohru, who had been finishing up washing dishes, twirls around from her spot at the sink to reply.

"Welcome back, Kobayashi-san!"

"Thanks." Kobayashi removes her shoes and puts down her work bag as she makes her way into the kitchen. Looking around, she takes in the otherwise-empty apartment. "Where is everyone?"

"Kanna is at her friend's place, and Ilulu is at work."

"Good for them."

"And I am hard at work as well!"

"Right. Good job, Tohru."

"Yes! Thank you~!"

Kobayashi smiles as she takes a seat at the table. Tohru already has a cup of tea ready and brings it over to her.

"How was your day, Kobayashi-san?"

"It was all right. No news is good news, they say. What about you?"

"Yes!" Tohru beams, raising her hand up high. "I completed all of my chores in record time! And even though I found another spider, I didn't obliterate it into smithereens and scorch the wall this time!"

"Good work."

"Instead, I simply opened up a portal and sent it to another dimension!"

"…I almost feel bad for that spider."

"It's strange," Tohru says. "Insects and the like never bothered me until I came here."

"Well, since you're in human form, they look a lot bigger to you now since you're smaller."

"That's true. I never took much notice of them before. But now that I'm closer up to them I suppose I can understand why humans dislike some of them."

"Though spiders are helpful," Kobayashi says. "So next time you find one in here, just release it outside."

"Yes, ma'am!"

They chat a little as Kobayashi settles into the comfortable atmosphere of home. Though it's a bit lonely without the younger dragons around, it's also nice to just have some time alone with her maid.

Though Tohru is still her same eccentric self, she's changed quite a bit and is still Kobayashi's favorite person to talk to when she isn't being too hyper.

After a little while, Kobayashi finishes her tea and gets up from the table.

"I'm gonna take a bath."

"Right! I'll go run it for you!"

Tohru scampers off toward the bathroom while Kobayashi gathers her change of clothes. She'd typically thank Tohru with words, but recently she feels the dragon has been working even harder than usual, especially now that she has yet another occupant of the apartment to look after.

So this time, as Kobayashi passes her on her way to the bathroom, she gives a soft pat to Tohru's head.

"Thanks."

As she continues into the bathroom, she can hear Tohru suppressing a soft squeal, like a tea kettle about to burst.

Kobayashi takes her time in the bath, running through some work-related things in her head for a while. By the time she finishes drying off and changing, the sun has started to set.

When she steps back into the main apartment, she can't hear or see Tohru right away. She has an inkling as to why that might be, but stays quiet until she reaches the living area.

And sure enough, Tohru is there again, kneeling on the floor in front of the coffee table with her arms folded on the wood and her head on top of them, fast asleep. Kobayashi smiles a little.

Ever since we had our little chat about sleeping, she's been doing it a bit more often. Not that I mind. She works hard, so even if she doesn't necessarily need to rest, it's nice to see her do it anyway.

Though since Ilulu had moved in, she and Kanna had more or less taken up what had been Tohru's old bed, and it was too cramped for the three of them. So either Tohru would elect not to sleep, or she would curl up on the floor. And Tohru never seemed to mind, but Kobayashi always felt wrong when she saw her in such uncomfortable positions.

So Kobayashi does what she'd always do whenever she found Tohru dozing off in some odd spot of the apartment and grabs a blanket to drape over her back. Tohru doesn't react at all, so Kobayashi knows she's out cold.

Smiling to herself, Kobayashi tip-toes to the couch and sits down to read the newspaper quietly.

And although she's come to enjoy every day since she'd let the dragons into her life, she finds that moments like these are some of her favorites. Peaceful. Quiet. Ordinary. Days like those were often few and far between in her situation, whether there be issues of chaos and harmony factions or even more simple things like trying to explain certain human processes to them. Not that she minded those too much, so long as no one got hurt.

But right now, with the oranges and golds of the sunset leaking in through the windows, the balcony door slightly ajar to let in the rush of distant cars, the lingering scent of tea coming in from the kitchen…

"This is the life," she mumbles contentedly. "You never really learn to appreciate an average evening this much until you start living with creatures from other dimensions."

Kobayashi turns through another page of the newspaper to read the next article. All the while, the colors and sounds of evening drift into the apartment.

It's only a short while later when Kobayashi hears a bit of a change in Tohru's breathing. She peers up over the newspaper to glance at her, but Tohru is facing away from her.

Kobayashi watches her for a moment. The tip of Tohru's tail, which has been sticking out from the blanket, twitches slightly. Since Tohru has been dozing a bit more as of late, she's also been dreaming more frequently too. When Kobayashi would ask her about it afterward, Tohru had said most of the dreams were about hunting for prey in her dragon form, or hunting the market place for a good sale in her human one. It was amusing to think how both of her lives would affect her in her dreams.

But not all of a dragon's dreams were always pleasant. Kobayashi knows that firsthand, not just from the first night she'd spent with Tohru, but several other times since then as well. She knows by now when Tohru is in distress versus when she is having a normal or silly dream.

And as she watches and listens a bit more closely now, Kobayashi frowns when she realizes it's the former this time. Tohru's breathing has become heavier, so much so that Kobayashi can see a white stream rising up from her mouth.

She must be fighting. Or worse, cornered.

Kobayashi folds up the newspaper and puts it aside as she gets up, walking quietly over to her maid's side. The moment she can see her expression, Kobayashi can tell it's getting worse.

Tohru is panting for breath, and her brow is furrowed. Her jaws are parted and the shape of her teeth has become pointed and predatory. Kobayashi utters a small growl of her own.

"Nightmares attacking my maid when she works so hard all the time… I won't have it."

Slowly, Kobayashi reaches out to rest her hand between Tohru's horns and rubs her hair softly.

"There, there," she murmurs. "It's okay, Tohru."

Kobayashi strokes over the crown of her head several times in a slow, soothing pattern. Tohru's breath remains white and heated, and her tail lashes again. Kobayashi doesn't want her to be trapped any longer, so she decides it's time to wake her. She gives her bangs another gentle pat.

"Tohru."

This time when Tohru exhales, it's with a rumbling growl.

All at once her eyes fly open, tinted with red. She lifts her head sharply, and her teeth snap the air right below Kobayashi's wrist. Reflexively, Kobayashi withdraws.

"Whoa!"

And then, as quickly as it had happened, it's all over. Tohru's snarl fades into a silent gasp, her teeth revert back, and her eyes return to normal.

"Ko-"

Her voice is barely anything. All the breath in her body seems to fly out of her lungs at once.

Kobayashi recovers from the shock right away when she realizes what's happening. Tohru's eyes are wide with horror at the realization of what she'd just done. Tears spring up and fill them to the brim, then start to spill down her cheeks.

"What… What have I done-?" Tohru pushes herself away, scrambling out of the covering of the blanket until her back collides with the couch. Her breath gets caught in her chest as more tears flood her eyes.

Kobayashi can hardly even fathom what had happened in time. But the sight of Tohru looking like this snaps her out of her confusion.

Tohru. Cheerful, dedicated, hard-working Tohru. Kobayashi has never seen her like this before.

This is different from the terror of waking from a nightmare. Different even from the fear Tohru had expressed when her father had hurt Kobayashi. This was so much worse.

Because Tohru had been the one to lash out at her.

Kobayashi can see the guilt drowning her already. Tohru is shaking all over, looking like she's about to flee. Kobayashi has never seen such weakness from her. Because in the dragon world, weakness made you prey. A dragon of Tohru's status and power would never be allowed to show such emotion.

But now… just at the mere thought of hurting Kobayashi… Everything that the mighty dragon Tohru ever was comes crumbling down.

"Tohru-" Kobayashi shakes her head and makes a move to get closer to her again. But Tohru whimpers and presses herself back further into the couch. And Kobayashi can tell it isn't because Tohru is scared of her. It's because she's scared of herself. Scared she might hurt Kobayashi.

Kobayashi really isn't sure what to do. This has never happened before. But all she knows is that it's killing her to see Tohru crying like this, and she needs it to stop.

"Tohru," she says more softly. "It's all right. I'm fine. You didn't hurt me."

But Tohru brings her hands up to her head and clutches herself, still breathing wildly.

"B-But I almost-"

"Take it easy." Kobayashi offers a pacifying smile. "You were half-asleep and just coming out of a nightmare. You didn't mean to. It was an accident, Tohru." She knows Tohru would never have such a strong reaction to anything else. It was because it had been Kobayashi she'd nearly hurt, the person she loved and cared for so deeply, with all her heart. Just the mere thought of almost hurting her unintentionally had reduced Tohru to tears.

"I-I'm sorry-"

"You don't have to apologize," Kobayashi says. "If anything, I should be." As much as she wants to get closer to Tohru just to make sure she doesn't hurt herself, Kobayashi refrains. She moves back a little, giving her more space, letting her see she isn't cornered. "I'm sorry, Tohru. I didn't mean to trap you like that. I wasn't thinking."

Tohru just shakes her head, blinking away more and more tears. It's clear she doesn't care about herself or her own comfort at all right now.

"K-Kobayashi-san-"

"Easy," she says. "I'm fine. See?" Kobayashi holds up her arm to reveal that Tohru's teeth hadn't so much as grazed her. "And even if you had nicked me, you could heal it, right? So don't worry." She tries to speak as calmly as possible.

But Tohru is still so ensnared in the height of her panic, so shaken and outraged and guilty about what she'd done that she drops her head into her knees and sobs outright.

Kobayashi has never felt the urge to comfort someone more badly in all her life. But she doesn't want to invade on Tohru's space right now. If Tohru feels best at a distance from her, then Kobayashi will honor that distance.

"It's all right," she says again. "Tohru, you're fine. Everything's fine. Please don't cry."

Tohru curls in on herself and whimpers out a few more heartbreaking sounds.

"I'm sorry-" she blurts out in between gasps. "I'm sorry-"

"I know," Kobayashi replies. "It's all right. You didn't do anything wrong, Tohru."

"But- I almost-"

"'Almost' doesn't count for anything."

Tohru inhales another shaking breath and lets it out in a broken little whine. Kobayashi waits for a moment, relieved at the very least that Tohru isn't intent on running away in her shame.

Once her sobs have quieted down a little, Kobayashi picks up the fallen blanket and gets to her feet. She rounds the coffee table and drapes the blanket over Tohru's back again, then sits at her side. Tohru just sobs again, but she finally lifts her face. Her cheeks are all puffy, and her pretty eyes are still wet and tormented.

"Kobayashi-san-"

"It's all right." Normally, Kobayashi wasn't one for anything very physical. But given the circumstances and how horribly upset Tohru is, how she'd been shaken to her very core so deeply and painfully she'd nearly shattered to pieces, Kobayashi gladly makes an exception.

Slowly, she reaches out to wrap her arms around Tohru's shoulders very lightly, light enough that she can pull away if she wants to. Tohru makes a blubbering sound, stunned and scared to have her so close. But she doesn't pull away, nor does she move any closer. She just cries there in Kobayashi's arms. Kobayashi lets out a small sigh.

That's good. At least she's not so distraught that she's running away.

"There, there," Kobayashi murmurs again, patting Tohru's head. "You're such a good girl, Tohru. Really."

Tohru sniffles deeply a few more times.

"But.. I almost-"

"'Almost' doesn't count for anything, right?"

"…Right…"

"See? Everything's fine. Just take a breath."

By now, Tohru has calmed down enough to try. Kobayashi feels her whole body moving as she draws in a deep, deep breath. When she lets it out it still trembles, but the sobs have stopped.

When Tohru finally lifts her head again, Kobayashi lets her go, but not without patting her head a few more times. Tohru wipes off her face and swallows thickly, and her eyes nervously go back to search Kobayashi's arm. Kobayashi lets her see it again.

"See? Totally unscathed. And even if you'd gotten me, it would've been an accident. I know that, Tohru. I know you'd never want to hurt me or anyone else." Kobayashi offers a small, honest smile. "You may be scary at times, but I'm not afraid of you. I'd trust you to carry me around in your mouth."

"Eh?!" Tohru squeaks, perhaps just a little excited by the idea. Kobayashi holds up her hands in defense.

"I meant in theory. Your back is just fine. If I rode in your mouth I don't think I'd be able to hide the smell of dragon breath on my clothes." Kobayashi reaches out to gently thumb away the last of Tohru's tears. Tohru sighs and leans into her palm a little, though her eyes remain a bit downcast. Kobayashi rubs her hand in a small petting motion.

"Are you okay?"

Tohru takes in another breath before answering.

"Are you…?"

"I'm pretty sure I've been telling you I'm just fine. Don't beat yourself up over this, Tohru. You're fine. I mean it."

Tohru's eyes swell with water all over again. She closes them and dips her head.

"Okay... if you say so, Kobayashi-san…"

"I do say so." Kobayashi gives her one last little pat on the head before rising to her feet. "Do you want some water?"

"Ah. I can-"

"You stay there. That's an order."

"Y-Yes, ma'am!"

Kobayashi smiles fondly as she walks around the table and heads into the kitchen. She prepares two glasses of cool water, because she knows Tohru will feel guilty drinking if Kobayashi isn't doing the same.

When she returns, Tohru has finally stopped crying. Kobayashi hands her a glass and sits beside her again. As she'd thought, Tohru doesn't drink right away, but the moment Kobayashi takes a sip, her maid starts draining her glass in gulps until it's empty. Kobayashi smiles.

"Want some more?"

Tohru puts down her glass and shakes her head vigorously.

"N-No! That was perfect. Thank you, Kobayashi-san."

Kobayashi can tell she's only saying that so as not to make her feel obligated to get up and go fetch more water. So Kobayashi casually places her own unfinished glass on the table.

"Well, I'm finished, so if you change your mind…"

Tohru perks up, not just at the water, but at the fact that it was water from a glass that Kobayashi had drank from. It's times like these when Kobayashi doesn't mind using Tohru's affections for her to her advantage.

"W-Well then if you're certain you've finished-"

"I am."

"Th-Then please don't mind me." Tohru picks up Kobayashi's glass and drinks the rest of the water slowly. Kobayashi is satisfied with that much.

She did a lot of crying. She needs to make up for it.

When Tohru is finally finished and puts down the glass, she lets out a small yawn.

"Still tired?" Kobayashi asks sympathetically.

Tohru blinks, puzzled.

"Even though I don't need to sleep and even though I just took a nap… Why is it that sometimes sleeping makes you even more tired?"

"Well," Kobayashi says. "There's a lot of physiological stuff behind it for sure. But I think in your case, you didn't exactly have a restful sleep just now. It's no wonder you're worn out."

Tohru bows her head, still looking a little guilty. Kobayashi puts a hand on her back.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Though I can already assume enough.

She isn't all that surprised when Tohru shakes her head.

"I'd rather not."

"That's fine."

Kobayashi lets her hand linger for a moment, rubbing softly between Tohru's shoulder blades. Tohru fights back another yawn. Kobayashi can only assume she's going to refuse to sleep anymore so nothing like this will ever happen again.

While I appreciate the sentiment, that's no good.

"Tohru. Do you wanna rest a little bit more?"

As she anticipated, Tohru stiffens and gets a hard look in her eyes.

"No. I won't sleep anymore."

"That won't do. Even if you are a dragon, you're doing human work and living a human life in a human body. You need to sleep eventually."

"Then I'll hold out until I can't last any longer."

"Rejected." Kobayashi gives her a light chop on her head. "No maid of mine is going to deprive herself of sleep until she get sick."

"I won't get sick-"

"I said rejected." Kobayashi chops her again, and Tohru yelps.

"Okay…"

Kobayashi turns her chop into another head-pat.

"Maybe if you slept somewhere more comfortable, you'd have better dreams." She gets up only to sit back down on the couch, moving the newspaper aside. She pats the cushion beside her invitingly. "Come here."

"Eh?" Tohru clutches the blanket more tightly around herself. Kobayashi nods.

"I insist."

Tohru can't possibly resist that offer, even if she is still a bit frazzled. Slowly, she pushes herself to her feet, keeping the blanket around herself as she slowly lowers her body onto the couch, letting her tail dangle off the side. Kobayashi pats her lap.

And though Tohru is clearly still repenting, a blush still comes across her face as she obeys. She turns away from Kobayashi, but she rests her head in her lap nonetheless. Kobayashi places one hand on her maid's head and starts to rub.

"There. That's better." She runs her other hand up and down Tohru's side. Tohru still feels tense for a moment, but at last she exhales a long sigh and finally allows herself to relax. Kobayashi smiles.

"You know, you can always sleep in the bed during the daytime when Kanna and Ilulu aren't here," she suggests. "If you're in a human body, that's better than sleeping on the floor."

"Mm…" Tohru draws in another deep breath and lets it out. "Kobayashi-san, I'm-"

"I know." Kobayashi murmurs. "Get some rest, Tohru. Thank you for working so hard again today, too."

She hears a happy whimper of a sound from her maid, and then feels Tohru let out another exhale. In only minutes she's deeply asleep once again.

Kobayashi is more than content to stay here with her like this. There's ample time for a good nap before Ilulu and Kanna come back.

With the incident behind them, and Tohru now at peace with herself again and resting properly, Kobayashi slouches back against the couch comfortably. She lets her hands pet along Tohru's side and hair a little more before she feels herself dozing off as well.

"This really is the life…"

And so long as she has Tohru and the others, she's going to keep enjoying every day of it to the fullest.

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A/N: At first it was just gonna be them napping but then I was like 'what if Tohru snapped at her cuz she was stuck in a nightmare?' and then yeah... I feel she'd be absolute panicked if she ever hurt Kobayashi. Like, that's the biggest taboo for her. She would never forgive herself. But Kobayashi would always understand ;v;

Next chapter is gonna be Kanna and Riko for a change!