"Ah, a maid outfit… Kinda hard to explain on the spot. Let's go home first and talk about it."
Since Shichen didn't have a phone, there was no quick way to show Tohru an example. Without something to look at, she'd never grasp the concept.
"Home… Yes!" Tohru beamed happily.
"You know an invisibility spell, right? I'd rather not have other people seeing you like this."
"My, Shichen-dono is quite possessive, huh? But I like it!" Tohru hugged him even tighter.
At least she knew her own strength—if she squeezed just a bit harder, he'd be crushed.
"Hey, are you actually going to do it or not?"
"Of course I can do it! I'm amazing, you know. I can do almost anything." Tohru puffed her chest with pride.
"Great. Let's— Wait." Shichen glanced at the giant sword and, with Tohru following along, walked over to it.
"Shichen-dono, are you interested in that sword?"
"Not really… Let go of my arm first." Shichen tried to pull his right arm free, but that soft sensation immediately made him pause.
Uh, that's… intense.
"Oh, okay." Tohru obediently released his arm.
Shichen, without looking back at her, approached the sword and picked it up, examining it carefully.
"Shichen-dono, do you want that sword?" Tohru asked curiously.
"Of course not," he said with a laugh and a shake of his head.
"So then?"
"That thing hurt you. I'm thinking about how to destroy it."
"Huh?" Tohru froze.
"What's wrong?" Shichen turned around, only to be greeted by a dazzling display of pale skin.
Her rough cloak was draped behind her, forming an inverted V in the front. Essentially, it only covered the most critical area on her chest, while everything below—her lower curves—was left entirely bare.
Shichen got quite the eyeful.
"Shichen-dono…" Tears brimmed in Tohru's eyes. She looked at him as though she might cry at any second. "You're so good to me!"
"That's 'good to you'?" Shichen chuckled wryly.
This dragon girl was way too easy to win over…
It wasn't like he was trying to impress her on purpose; he genuinely wanted to do it for her.
"Mhm!"
Tohru nodded vigorously, then leapt at him, hugging him tightly.
She locked her legs around him, and his head ended up buried snugly against her chest.
"Shichen-dono, I really like you!"
Shichen found himself enveloped, experiencing a "face wash" he almost couldn't handle. The soft sensation pressed against him was downright lethal.
"Mmph… Let go—I'm about to suffocate!" Shichen tossed the sword aside, patting her rear as he struggled.
At that point, he couldn't care less about how it felt under his hands.
"Ah?! I'm so sorry, Shichen-dono!" Alarmed, Tohru hopped off him in a hurry.
"Hoo—" Shichen inhaled a lungful of fresh air, finally able to breathe again.
Sure, that milky fragrance was nice, but he'd prefer to be mentally prepared for a repeat experience.
"You okay, Shichen-dono?" Tohru asked worriedly.
"I'm fine. But don't ever do that again."
"Huh? Why?"
"Even if you are a dragon, you're still a girl. You shouldn't be so casual about stuff like this."
"But I love you, Shichen-dono. What's wrong with showing it?"
"That's just gratitude," Shichen pointed out.
"No, I mean I want to bear your baby dragons," Tohru retorted.
"…Baby dragons? Why not just children?"
"Because I'm a dragon, obviously. I can't give birth to a human child," Tohru said matter-of-factly.
"Now that you mention it… Wait, that's not the issue! Anyway, don't do anything like this until you really, truly love me! At least not when you're half-naked!"
"Huh? But I do truly love you."
"When you genuinely understand that feeling, you'll get what I mean."
"Hmph, I'll prove it to you, Shichen-dono."
"Good luck, then," Shichen said, patting her head with a smile.
"Hehehe… I love it when you pat my head, Shichen-dono."
"There'll be plenty of that in the future. First, we've gotta take care of that sword."
"Oh, it's easy now that it doesn't have an owner. It can be destroyed any old way."
"Is that so? Want to handle it yourself, or should I do it?"
"Either way is fine. It doesn't mean anything to me."
"Then go for it."
"I understand."
Tohru picked up the massive sword, gazed at it for a moment, then suddenly changed her demeanor and took a big bite.
Crunch!
A huge chunk was taken out of the sword's blade in one go.
Crunch, crunch…
Tohru chewed on the sword fragments in her mouth like they were crackers, her cheeks puffed out.
Shichen watched with furrowed brows. Sure, she was originally a dragon, but seeing a cute girl munching on a sword—tiny mouth, bright eyes, perfect teeth—just looked all kinds of bizarre.
Tohru didn't notice his expression. In no time at all, she'd devoured the sword completely.
"Buuurp."
She patted her stomach and, looking disgusted, said, "That was gross."
I mean, of course a sword would taste gross! Shichen thought, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Shichen-dono, let's go," Tohru said, smiling brightly as she hooked her arm around his.
"Yeah, let's go."
Arm in arm, they retraced their steps all the way back to Shichen's coffee shop.
Tohru stayed invisible most of the way, so no one paid them any mind. Still, being hugged by a girl wearing practically nothing under her cloak as they walked through town… Shichen felt weird.
What kind of perverted play was this?
At the café entrance, Shichen smiled and said, "This is our home from now on."
"Our home…" Tohru stared at the three-story building, wide-eyed, her golden pupils shimmering.
"Seems a little small, doesn't it?"
"I think it's great!" Tohru beamed.
"That's good. Let's go take a look inside."
"All right!"
They went in and climbed to the second floor, checking out Shichen's new place as they went.
He hadn't had a chance to examine it thoroughly before—didn't really know the layout.
The second floor turned out to be decent, with multiple rooms and a bathroom. There wasn't much furniture apart from one room that had a bed and a wardrobe.
That was probably his bedroom, given it was presumably for the manager himself.
The bed had blankets, and the closet contained a few identical manager's uniforms. Thankfully, there was also a computer. He could use it to explain to Tohru what a maid outfit was—and what being a maid entailed.
The computer was connected to the internet. After pulling up some maid-related tutorial videos for Tohru, Shichen left her to watch them. Meanwhile, he went upstairs to check out the third floor.
The top floor was empty, just as he'd expected, which meant he could turn it into an office or a gaming room if he wanted.
It definitely wouldn't be for "literature." Light novels and manga would be the real focal point here. Given this was a modern world, there had to be an otaku culture scene.
Shichen looked forward to seeing how the "2D culture" here differed from what he knew. Maybe they had the same series, or maybe not.
Either way, he faced a pressing question: money. Without it, he couldn't buy light novels, manga, or games. Could this café make money? Did the place come with any starting funds?
Shichen headed back down from the third floor. When he reached his room, he peeked inside and saw Tohru still absorbed in the video, her golden eyes reflecting the footage, looking absolutely adorable in her concentration.
He gave a soft chuckle before moving on downstairs to the first floor.
Approaching the register, he opened the till and found a fair amount of bills inside—large denominations, too.
Great, no problem there.
Why was it yen? Apparently this place was analogous to Japan?
Oh well, money is money; it'd do.
Relaxed now, Shichen decided to head back up and see how Tohru was doing.
But at that moment, the door suddenly opened. A striking figure walked in, carrying a schoolbag.
It was a girl in a school uniform—likely the spring version, with a white collar and cuffs on a deep-blue blazer, and a matching deep-blue skirt with white stripes. Black tights covered her long legs.
She had sleek black hair with a white headband. She looked composed and mature, and she was surprisingly tall. The black stockings made her legs look especially long.
The girl glanced around the empty shop, then looked at Shichen and asked softly, "Excuse me, is this place open for business?"
Shichen stared back, brows knitted in confusion, questions whirling in his mind.
He wondered if he was seeing things.
He recognized this girl—knew her very well, in fact. As well as he knew Tohru.
But if Tohru existed in this world, then why was she here, too?
What kind of world was this, anyway?
Why was Kasumigaoka Utaha here?!
~~~
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