SAK Chapter 18 A Bitter Reveal (Patreon)

Evening, Saitama Prefecture, Koshigaya City

Kobayashi’s Apartment, Apartment 303, Livingroom

The sky over Saitama had already begun to deepen into the warm orange of early evening by the time Tohru finally carried Issei and Kanna back toward the apartment complex. 

After an entire day of what Tohru cheerfully described as “proper dragon conditioning,” Issei looked like someone who had been repeatedly thrown through a battlefield and then dragged back from the wreckage. His shirt was burned through in several places, the fabric around one shoulder hanging in blackened strips while dirt and dried blood marked his arms and face. Purple bruises were already beginning to bloom across his ribs and shoulders, smaller cuts ran along his cheek and forearms, and every few seconds another exhausted groan escaped his throat whenever Tohru shifted him on her shoulder. Even his hair looked defeated, flattened by sweat in some places and sticking out wildly in others. 

Kanna, by contrast, looked almost entirely untouched, her expression as calm as ever as she strolled beside them completely unbothered, her white hair as immaculate as when they had left that morning. 

Issei barely managed to lift his head enough to stare accusingly at the two dragons who had spent the entire day trying to hit him. “You two are monsters…” He muttered weakly. 

Kanna blinked up at him with unblinking blue eyes. “We’re dragons.”

Tohru beamed proudly, as if his agonizing state were a glowing review. “And you did wonderfully, Issei-kun! You only nearly lost consciousness seven times!”

Issei’s left eye twitched violently. “That is not something you say proudly…” 

By the time they reached the third-floor hallway, the clock was creeping dangerously close to seven. Remembering Kobayashi’s very specific order that everyone be home for dinner, Tohru immediately straightened her posture and hurried toward Apartment 303, still carrying Issei over one shoulder like a sack of rice. 

“We made it!” She declared triumphantly. “Kobayashi-san will be so proud of my punctuality!” Issei’s head hung limply down her back. 

“I think she’s gonna be more interested in why I look like I got dragged through the ground.” Issei groaned, every breath rattling in his ribs.

Kanna stepped forward and knocked calmly on the door before any more arguing could occur. 

The door opened almost immediately, though the person who answered was not Kobayashi. Instead it was Lucoa, dressed casually in light loungewear, her long golden hair cascading over her shoulders, as she offered them a relaxed, sleepy smile. 

Her mismatched eyes drifted first toward Tohru, then Kanna, and finally toward the practically lifeless boy hanging over Tohru’s shoulder. 

For a few long seconds, she just stared amusedly. “Ara…” She finally muttered, resting a delicate hand against her cheek. “You really didn't hold back on him, did you?”

Issei somehow found enough strength to lift one trembling finger. “Help me…”

Lucoa giggled softly and stepped aside to let them in. “Come inside before the neighbors think Tohru is disposing of a body.”

“I’m not dead,” Issei grumbled.

 “Yet,” Kanna joked smoothly.

“Kanna!” The joke died instantly but that didn’t stop Kanna from snickering, however, the moment Tohru stepped across the doorway and Issei’s tired eyes wandered toward the living room. 

Someone was sitting on the couch. 

For a moment his exhausted mind failed to understand what he was seeing. Then his eyes widened. The petite red-skinned Oni they had rescued from Ginza the previous night was no longer lying motionless beneath blankets in the guest room. 

Instead she was awake as she sat stiffly at one end of the couch with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, her red skin no longer burning with the unnatural corruption that had twisted her during the battle. Her dark hair hung messily around her face, and the small horns protruding from her forehead seemed somehow less threatening now that her eyes were clear rather than consumed by violent madness. 

Issei’s face immediately brightened despite the pain coursing through every muscle in his body. “Akami, you're awake!” He blurted, nearly twisting himself off Tohru’s shoulder in his excitement before his ribs reminded him very violently why sudden movement was a terrible idea. “GAH—!” He collapsed back against Tohru with a strangled noise. “Ow… okay… still happy… just from over here…” 

Akami stared at him in utter bewilderment. She looked at the beaten, trembling boy, clearly trying to process who he was and how he knew her name. 

Lucoa chuckled as she closed the door behind them. “She woke up a few hours ago. Her condition seems stable, but she’s understandably confused. Apparently, she remembers almost nothing about what happened yesterday.” 

Akami remained silent, her eyes moving suspiciously from Lucoa to Kanna and then toward Tohru. She clearly had no idea who most of these people were. But when her gaze finally settled back on Issei, something changed immediately. Her body went rigid. Her dark eyes narrowed into sharp slits, and her breathing hitched. 

Recognition flashed across her face as memories from Akihabara returned all at once: the strange human boy who had interfered in her clan’s conflict, the red gauntlet on his arm, the humiliating defeat that followed when he proved far stronger than she expected. Her fingers tightened around the blanket around her shoulders. “It’s you…” She hissed under her breath. 

Issei blinked at the sudden spike of hostility, but before Akami could leap to her feet, Lucoa glided over and gently rested a hand on Akami’s shoulder. The gesture was light, almost motherly, yet it carried a subtle, impossible weight that anchored the young Oni in place and softened the tension filling the room. 

“Easy,” Lucoa said quietly. “There are no enemies in this room. You don’t need to fight anyone here.” 

Akami’s eyes remained fixed on Issei. “I know him. He fought us in Akihabara. He humiliated me and my clan.”

“He did,” Lucoa replied with a nod. “But he’s also the reason you’re alive.” 

That statement visibly confused her. Akami blinked, stunned into silence. She looked up at Lucoa as if the woman had spoken in riddles or had misheard.

Lucoa’s smile became gentler. “Issei was the one who refused to leave you behind yesterday.” Lucoa explained softly. “He was the one who realized something was wrong with you, and he was the one who insisted that everyone help remove the curse inside you.” 

Akami’s eyes slowly returned toward Issei, though now the hostility was mixed with genuine disbelief. Enemies did not normally show mercy and save their opponent after a battle. They certainly did not risk themselves to save someone who had tried to hurt them only days beforehand. It defied every brutal rule of her upbringing.

Before the weight of that realization could fully settle, Tohru looked around the apartment with increasing concern, then glanced at the wall clock and panicked. “Where’s Kobayashi-san?” She asked immediately. 

“She hasn’t returned yet,” Lucoa answered. “She may be working late.” 

Tohru froze for half a second before her eyes widened with realization. She still had time. “Then I need to start dinner immediately!” She shouted. 

Without another thought about the tension surrounding Akami, she carefully or at least what she believed was carefully, shifted Issei off her shoulder and shoved him toward Kanna like a sack of laundry. “Kanna, hold Issei-kun!” 

“Wait, Tohru, don’t just—WHOA!”

Issei plummeted as Kanna scrambled to catch him, but given the difference in their sizes, the collision was anything but graceful. They went down in a heap, Kanna barely cushioning his fall as Tohru vanished into the kitchen at blinding speed. The deafening sounds of cabinet doors slamming, pans rattling, and water running erupted almost instantaneously.

“I must prepare Kobayashi-san’s meal before she arrives!” Her voice shouted from the kitchen. “Everything must be perfect!” 

Issei stared after her with a dead expression. “Glad to know where I rank.”

Kanna, grunting with great effort, hoisted Issei by his arms and dragged him toward the sofa, hauling him up and dropping him onto the far end of the cushions. Issei let out a faint sigh of relief, sinking into the soft fabric.

But the moment he settled back, Kanna climbed onto the couch on top of him, shifted twice as though searching for the most comfortable position, and then calmly stretched herself across his battered torso before resting her head against his chest. The result was immediate. 

“GHHH—!” Issei’s entire body jerked as fresh agony shot through his ribs. “K-Kanna…!” 

Kanna blinked down at his tear-streaked face. “What?”

“My… my ribs…!”

“You said they weren’t broken.” 

“That doesn’t mean they don’t hurt!” 

Kanna considered his protest with deadpan seriousness for two full seconds. She shifted her weight two centimeters to the left and rested her chin heavily on his sternum. “Better?” 

Issei stared at the ceiling, tears gathering weakly in the corners of his eyes. “…A little.” 

Across the room, Akami watched the bizarre exchange in complete silence. 

Everything about the household was confusing her further by the second. The boy who had defeated her was lying half-dead on a couch beneath a small horned girl who behaved as though he were furniture. A blonde woman who radiated enough ancient power to make Akami’s instincts scream was calmly smiling beside her. Somewhere in the kitchen, another woman with the unmistakable presence of a dangerous predator was humming cheerfully while chopping vegetables. None of it made sense to her.

Eventually the room became painfully quiet. Akami stood near one end of the living room while Issei remained sprawled at the other, Kanna resting across him without the slightest concern. Their eyes occasionally met, and each time both quickly looked away again because neither seemed to know how to begin the conversation.

Lucoa eventually took pity on them. She moved gracefully between the two sides of the room and lowered herself onto the chair across from the couch, effectively placing herself between the former enemies. 

“Well,” She said lightly, folding her hands together in her lap, “since everyone is awake and nobody is currently trying to kill anyone, perhaps this is a good time to talk.” 

Akami frowned slightly, wrapping her blanket tighter, but remained silent.

Lucoa looked down at Issei, giving him a gentle, encouraging nod. “You had questions for her, didn’t you, Issei?”

Issei took a slow breath and nodded. He shifted slightly beneath Kanna, immediately regretted it when pain shot through his shoulder, and eventually settled for looking toward Akami from where he lay. His expression was noticeably softer now with genuine concern . “First… are you okay?” 

The question caught Akami completely off guard. She had prepared herself for an interrogation. Demands for intelligence. Threats. She had not prepared for genuine sympathy. 

“I… think so,” She answered cautiously. “My body feels weak. My head hurts. And I don’t know why I’m here.” She hesitated, frustration tightening her expression. “I remember Akihabara. I remember fighting you. I remember my clan leaving afterward. But everything after that is…” She raised one hand toward her temple and grimaced. “It’s just fragments. Heat. Anger. Voices whispering in the dark. Nothing clear.” 

Issei’s expression immediately grew serious, the remaining exhaustion on his face was quickly overshadowed by the gravity of the memory. “Then I guess I should explain what happened.” 

He paused for several seconds, clearly trying to organize events in his exhausted mind. “Last night, Ginza was attacked by a large group of Oni. You were with them.” 

Akami’s face tightened immediately, but Issei continued before she could interrupt. “By the time we got there, the Onmyōji had already put a barrier around the area so normal people wouldn’t see what was happening. Inside…” His eyes lowered slightly as the memories returned. “It was bad. Really bad. Buildings were smashed apart. Streets were destroyed. There were fires everywhere. Oni and Onmyōji were fighting across the district, and people were already hurt before we even arrived. Mina, a friend of mine, an Onmyōji and a Miko, was sent in to stop the rampage, and she brought us along as backup. Kanna came too.” 

Kanna gave a tiny nod without lifting her head from his chest. 

“We fought our way through some of the Oni, and eventually I found you near one of the shrines.” 

Akami stared at him in silence, observing everything he said.

Issei swallowed. “You attacked me almost immediately. And you were stronger than you were in Akihabara. A lot stronger. But something was wrong. You didn’t fight like you did before. Back then you were angry, but you were still… you. Yesterday you were attacking anything around you. You barely seemed to recognize anyone.” His voice became quieter. “But every now and then, you stopped. Your body would twitch and you’d hesitate, almost as if it looked like you were fighting yourself.”

Akami slowly lowered herself back onto the edge of the couch, the blanket tightening around her shoulders. “I don’t remember any of that,” She whispered. 

Issei nodded sadly. “Mina figured it out afterward. She sensed something inside you. A curse, or some kind of corruption. Whatever it was, it wasn’t just affecting you. The other Oni had the same thing. It boosted your power but messed with your mind and forced you into some kind of frenzy.” 

Akami’s expression shifted from confusion to growing horror. 

Issei continued carefully, choosing his words slowly. “The Onmyōji fighting in Ginza probably didn’t know that during the battle. All they saw were the Oni destroying the district and killing or hurting their people. Mina warned me that once everything was over, they probably wouldn’t care much about the reason. The supernatural world has rules about exposing things to ordinary humans and about disrupting the balance between everyone. Ginza was already a disaster. She said some of the clans might decide it would be easier to just blame the Oni and… eliminate anyone involved.” 

Akami’s fingers trembled slightly beneath the blanket. “So why did you bring me here?” she finally asked. Her voice carried confusion more than anger now. “We fought each other. My clan tried to crush you. I tried to hurt you. If what you’re saying is true, then leaving me behind would have solved your problem.” 

Issei looked at her for a long moment before answering. “Because you were still fighting it.” His response came simply, without hesitation. “Whatever that thing did to you, you were trying to stop it. I saw it. You could barely control your own body, but you were still trying.” 

His hand curled weakly against the couch cushion. “And honestly… I already felt guilty about everything happening. The whole mess in Tokyo started because everyone got scared when Tohru showed up in Saitama. People fled, territories changed and everyone started fighting over what was left.” 

His eyes drifted toward the kitchen, where Tohru was still cheerfully chopping vegetables and humming a light tune, blissfully unaware her name had even entered the conversation. 

“Maybe none of us intentionally caused what happened to your people, but I couldn’t look at you fighting against that curse and then just walk away. It would’ve been wrong. So I asked Mina if we could help you. Kanna carried you here. Mina and Lucoa removed the curse.” 

Lucoa smiled faintly but remained silent. 

“And that’s it,” Issei finished. “I wasn’t trying to get anything from you. I just didn’t think you deserved to die for something you weren’t choosing to do.”

Akami stared at him as though she were looking at an entirely different person from the boy she remembered in Akihabara. Then something else seemed to strike her. Her eyes widened sharply. “My clan.” 

The room went quiet. 

She leaned forward suddenly, ignoring the weakness still lingering in her body. “What happened to them?” 

Issei’s expression immediately fell. He had clearly been hoping she would not ask yet. 

Akami saw the hesitation and her breathing became uneven. “What happened to them?” she repeated, louder this time. “The Iron Horns. The others who were with me. Where are they?!” 

Issei opened his mouth, but no answer came at first. He looked toward Lucoa almost helplessly before lowering his eyes again. “Akami…” His voice was barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry.” 

Those words alone seemed to drain all color from her expression. 

Issei forced himself to continue. “A lot of Oni were captured after the fighting. I don’t know where they were taken. Mina went to headquarters today to find out what’s going to happen to everyone. She hasn’t come back yet, so I don’t know anything more than that.” He swallowed painfully. “But some of them… didn’t make it.”

Akami stopped breathing for a moment.

Issei’s fingers tightened against the fabric beneath him. “Some were killed during the fighting. There were Onmyōji dying too. By the time we arrived, it had already gone too far. We were just trying to stop whatever was happening before even more people got hurt.” 

Akami’s lips parted, but no sound emerged. Her shoulders began trembling beneath the blanket. 

Issei continued because he knew leaving the truth unfinished would only be crueler. “I don’t know who survived. I don’t know which ones were captured. I don’t know what the clans are going to do with them.” His eyes closed. “I’m sorry. I saved you because you were the one I could reach. I wish I could’ve done more.”

The first tear slipped silently down Akami’s cheek. She raised a trembling hand to her face as though surprised to find herself crying, but another followed immediately after, and then another. Her breathing became ragged. 

“Those idiots…” She whispered, voice cracking. Her fingers curled tightly into the blanket. “They were supposed to stay together.” A small, broken laugh escaped her throat before collapsing immediately into a sob. “I told them… I told them we would find somewhere else. We would rebuild. We didn’t need Saitama. We didn’t need Tokyo. We could…” Her words failed. 

Her words failed completely. Haunting, hazy memories flashed through her mind, voices, laughter, and faces of clan members whose fates were now shrouded in dark uncertainty. 

She pressed both hands against her eyes, but the tears came harder. “And I can’t even remember what happened to them.” 

For perhaps the first time since Issei had encountered the proud red Oni in Akihabara, there was no aggression in her posture, no arrogance, no strength she was trying desperately to display. She simply looked like someone who had awakened to discover that her world had broken while she was unconscious.

Lucoa moved immediately. The ancient goddess crossed the small distance between them and knelt beside Akami, wrapping one arm gently around her shoulders. 

Akami stiffened reflexively, her pride urging her to pull away, but Lucoa’s serene, divine warmth washed over her like a calm sea.

“It’s alright,” Lucoa murmured softly, stroking the girl's dark hair. “You don’t need to hold it in.”

That was apparently the final thing keeping Akami together. Her composure shattered. She leaned into Lucoa’s embrace and began crying openly, her body shaking as grief she could neither understand nor remember poured out all at once. Lucoa said nothing else. She simply held her, one hand running slowly through the Oni girl’s hair while allowing her to mourn.

Across the room, Issei watched silently. The happiness he had felt upon seeing Akami awake disappeared beneath a crushing weight in his chest that had nothing to do with Tohru and Kanna’s training. He knew logically that he could not have saved everyone in Ginza. 

Ddraig had reminded him more than once that he was still inexperienced. Mina had warned him how dangerous the battle was. Kanna had fought beside him. They had done everything they could. Yet none of those facts made Akami’s tears easier to watch. His gaze dropped toward his battered hands. “Damn it…” He muttered quietly under his breath.

Kanna slowly lifted her head from his chest, studying his pained expression. She didn’t say anything at first. Reaching out, she wrapped her small fingers around his and gave his hand a gentle, steady squeeze.

Issei glanced down at her.

“Don’t be sad,my love.” Kanna said softly, her voice carrying an absolute, unshakeable clarity. “You saved her.”

Issei’s jaw tightened, his guilt refusing to let go so easily.

Kanna looked toward Akami crying softly in Lucoa’s arms, and then back up into Issei’s eyes. “She might not be everyone,” The small dragon whispered. “But one is still someone.”

For several long seconds, Issei stared at her. Slowly, the crushing tension in his chest eased just a fraction, and his fingers tightened around hers in return.

—------------------------------------------

As Akami slowly worked through everything she had just been told. Her crying had gradually faded into uneven breaths, though her eyes remained red and swollen and the blanket around her shoulders was still clenched tightly between trembling fingers. 

Lucoa remained beside her throughout it all, one arm resting gently around the Oni girl’s back without forcing conversation or trying to rush her grief, while Issei stayed sprawled on the opposite end of the couch with Kanna still curled against him, watching Akami with an expression caught somewhere between sympathy and guilt. 

Eventually Akami wiped the last traces of tears from beneath her eyes and took several slow breaths, visibly forcing herself to regain some measure of composure. Her pride clearly hated being seen like this, especially in front of someone she had fought only days before, but something Issei had said earlier continued bothering her enough that she could no longer ignore it. 

There’s something I don’t understand,” She said quietly, her voice rough after crying. 

Issei lifted his head slightly. “What is it?” 

Akami hesitated before looking directly at him. “Earlier, you said you felt guilty because of what happened to us. You talked like you knew why we were forced out of Saitama.” Her brows drew together in confusion. “How could you know that? We never learned what happened ourselves. One day everything was normal, and then suddenly…” She paused, visibly remembering that terrible sensation. “There was this presence. It came from nowhere. Something enormous. Oppressive. It covered the entire area like a predator claiming territory. Our weaker members collapsed just from feeling it. Even those of us who could remain standing felt like our bodies were screaming at us to run.” Her fingers tightened around the blanket again. “Nobody knew what it was. We thought maybe a god had descended. Or some ancient youkai had awakened. Some said it was a dragon, but no one wanted to believe something that powerful had suddenly decided to live in Saitama. We didn’t investigate. We just ran with everyone else.” She stared at Issei intently. “So what exactly do you know?”

Issei immediately became uncomfortable. His eyes shifted away from Akami and toward the kitchen, where the sounds of sizzling food and humming could still be heard. A bead of sweat rolled slowly down his temple, though this time it had nothing to do with the injuries covering his body. 

Kanna noticed his hesitation and looked up at him, while Lucoa’s lips curled into a faint, knowing smile as though she already understood precisely what he was struggling to say. 

“Yeah…” Issei muttered, rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck before remembering his shoulder was badly bruised and quickly lowering his hand with a wince. “About that. There actually is an explanation.” 

Akami’s eyes narrowed. “And?” 

Issei exhaled slowly. “You remember the blonde woman who was carrying me when we came in?” 

Akami glanced toward the kitchen. “The maid?” 

“Yeah. Her.” Another pause followed. “She’s the reason.” 

Akami stared at him blankly. “The maid.” 

“Uh-huh.” 

“The blonde woman wearing an apron.” 

“That’s her.” 

Akami’s expression became increasingly skeptical. “You’re telling me that woman is responsible for the aura that caused the supernatural population of Saitama to flee?” 

Issei gave a weak, embarrassed smile. “Technically… yes.” 

Silence filled the room again. Akami looked toward the kitchen as though expecting some hidden monster to emerge from behind the woman’s human disguise. “What is she?” she asked carefully. 

Issei swallowed. “A dragon.”

Akami’s head slowly turned back toward him. “A what?”

“A dragon,” Issei repeated. “A really powerful one.” 

Akami remained completely motionless. 

Issei decided it would probably be safer to explain everything before she decided he was making fun of her. “Her name is Tohru. She’s not from around here. Actually, she’s not even from this world. She came here after getting badly injured during a fight back where she came from. Somehow she ended up in the mountains near Saitama, and my aunt happened to find her.” 

Akami blinked. “Your aunt found a dying dragon.” 

“Yeah, randomly.” 

Akami stared at him with increasing disbelief. “And survived?” 

Issei gave a tired shrug. “That’s Oba-chan.” He continued before Akami could interrupt again. “Apparently Tohru had this huge sword stuck in her body. My aunt was drunk at the time and somehow decided pulling a sword out of a dragon was a completely reasonable thing to do. She saved Tohru’s life. And after that, Tohru became completely attached to her. She decided she wanted to repay her as she fell in love with her somewhere along the way, and eventually moved into this apartment to serve as her maid.” He pointed weakly toward the kitchen. “That’s why she dresses like that. It’s not some disguise or anything. She genuinely enjoys being a maid to my aunt as it’s one of her fetishes.” 

Akami’s mouth slowly opened, though no words came out. The entire catastrophe that had uprooted her clan, scattered supernatural communities across prefectures, sparked territorial disputes, and eventually contributed to multiple violent confrontations had apparently begun because a dragon from another world had fallen in love with an office worker and moved into her apartment. 

Issei could practically see the moment Akami’s mind rejected the information. “So…” she finally said, each word slowly and carefully, “the creature that appeared in Saitama and frightened everyone… The overwhelming aura we thought belonged to something preparing to conquer the region… The reason every weaker youkai and spirit started fleeing before anybody even understood what was happening…” 

Issei winced. “Yeah that was all Tohru.” 

Akami’s eye twitched. 

Issei hurriedly lifted both hands as much as his injuries allowed. “But she didn’t mean to do it! Seriously. Tohru wasn’t trying to take over anything. She didn’t even understand how the supernatural side of this world worked when she first arrived. She was just living here with my aunt and didn’t realize how much of her presence she was leaking out. From her perspective she was just… existing.” He gave another awkward laugh. “Unfortunately, when someone as strong as her ‘just exists’ without hiding their aura, everybody else apparently assumes the apocalypse moved into the neighborhood.”

Akami turned her gaze toward the kitchen again. Her expression was almost painfully blank now. “You’re serious. She never intended to chase us away. She never claimed Saitama.” 

“Not unless you count claiming my aunt,” Issei joked weakly, trying to defuse the atmospheric pressure in the room.

Lucoa giggled softly. Beside him, Kanna gave a solemn nod. “Tohru claims Kobayashi very aggressively.”

Issei sighed softly. “Thanks, Kanna.” He looked back at Akami, his tone growing sincere once more. “That’s why I felt so guilty. Tohru didn’t intentionally hurt anyone, but she’s part of my family now and what happened because of her arrival destroyed your home, making everyone panic over a complete misunderstanding, which pushed displaced factions to fight over Tokyo. I know I didn’t personally cause it, but once I learned the truth, I couldn’t just pretend it had nothing to do with me.”

Akami stared at him for several agonizing seconds, her mind warring between outrage, profound disbelief, utter exhaustion, and a sudden urge to laugh hysterically.

“All of it…” she whispered, her voice cracking softly. “The running. The bloodshed. The territory disputes. We lost brothers and sisters trying to survive somewhere else.” Tears threatened her eyes again, but this time driven by pure exasperation. “And it started because a dragon forgot to turn down her presence?”

Before Issei could attempt an apology, Kanna calmly raised her head from his chest. “Yeah, Tohru is really bad at being subtle.”

Issei stared down at her. “That’s an understatement.”

Without any sense of dramatic timing, Kanna sat upright on Issei’s lap and allowed her human glamor to drop slightly. A soft, puffy white tail manifested behind her, and two thick, spiral horns emerged from her pale hair.

Akami’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “You’re…”

Kanna nodded plainfacedly. “Also a dragon.”

Akami blinked dumbfoundedly. “...Another dragon?”

“I came here looking for Tohru.” Kanna added matter-of-factly. 

Akami’s expression somehow became even more strained. Before she could recover, Lucoa cheerfully lifted one hand. “And I’m partially a dragon as well.” 

A subtle shimmer passed over her body and portions of her nonhuman traits became visible for a moment, accompanied by the faintest release of that ancient aura Akami had sensed earlier like sunlight resting over an ocean. 

Akami’s mouth fell open. Her eyes darted frantically from the small electric dragon on Issei’s lap, to the ancient deity sitting across from her, to the maid cheerfully frying meat in the kitchen, and finally back to Issei, the beat-up high schooler sitting in the middle of this madhouse.

Akami slowly covered her face with both hands and let out a long, agonized groan.

Issei offered a weak, sheepish laugh. “Yeah… you kind of get used to it after a while.”

“No,” Akami replied immediately from behind her hands, lowering them to reveal completely hollow eyes. “No one gets used to this. This is madness.”

Lucoa chuckled softly. “You’d be surprised how adaptable humans are.”

Akami leaned her head back against the couch cushions, staring up at the ceiling lights. She looked genuinely torn between screaming, crying, or passing out. The grand, terrifying mystery that had haunted her clan for months had finally been solved, yet the answer was so thoroughly ridiculous that it felt like a cosmic insult. There had been no war for dominion. No dark conspiracy. Just a dragon who had fallen in love and forgotten to conceal her power.

“We nearly destroyed ourselves over a misunderstanding…” Akami whispered faintly.

Issei grimaced sympathetically. “When you put it like that…”

“That is exactly what happened.” Akami covered her face again. “I hate this world.”

Before anyone could respond, the lock on the apartment door clicked.

Instantly, the room shifted focus as everyone turned.

The door opened and Kobayashi stepped inside, looking exactly as exhausted as one would expect after another full day of work. Her reddish-brown hair was slightly messy from the evening commute, her glasses had slid low on her nose, and a shoulder bag hung heavily from one arm. She stepped across the threshold with a tired sigh and began removing her shoes. 

“I’m home…” She sighed tiredly, slipping off her shoes.

“Welcome home!” Several voices called out in unison as Tohru’s head instantly popped around the kitchen doorway like an eager golden retriever.

Kobayashi glanced toward the living room, her tired eyes taking in the bizarre scene: the awake, blanket-clad Oni girl; Lucoa lingering nearby; Kanna sitting on the other sofa; and Issei looking like he had been run over by a train, pulled out of the wreckage, and run over a second time for good measure.

She stared at her nephew for three long seconds.

Issei gave her a weak, trembling wave. “Hey, Oba-chan.”

Kobayashi’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but before she could initiate an interrogation, she stepped slightly to the side. “I ran into someone on my way up.”

A second figure stepped into the entryway behind her. It was Mina, dressed in casual clothes, a soft pink blouse and a white skirt, rather than her traditional miko robes. Her long hair was slightly messy, and faint dark circles beneath her eyes made it clear her trip to headquarters had been anything but pleasant.

Slipping off her shoes, Mina adjusted her glasses and offered the room a polite nod. “Good evening, everyone.”

“Mina!” Issei perked up, wincing as his core muscles protested the sudden movement.

Kanna raised a small hand. “You came back.”

Lucoa beamed warmly. “Welcome back, Mina-chan.”

Akami watched the newcomer carefully, recognizing her from Akihabara and considering Issei’s explanation, this had to be the Onmyōji who helped cleanse her.

Mina returned the greetings before her gaze settled on Issei and froze. Her eyes slowly traveled from the burned remains of his shirt to the bruises along his arms, the scrapes across his face, and finally to Kanna, who had already resumed using his torso as a resting place. “What happened to you?”

Issei laughed weakly. “Heh… training.”

Mina stared at him. “Are you sure it was training? You look like someone attempted to kill you with artillery.”

“It was very thorough training.”

Kanna nodded. “He improved a lot.”

Mina adjusted her glasses and looked toward Issei with the exhausted expression of someone deciding that she did not possess enough energy to unpack whatever madness had occurred while she was gone. “I see.”

Issei quickly decided to change the subject before she started interrogating Tohru. “Anyway, forget about me. I’m fine.” His entire body immediately protested that statement with a sharp throb, causing his smile to tighten. “Mostly fine! How did the meeting go with the high clans?”

The mood in the room instantly plummeted. Mina’s expression darkened as she let out a weary sigh, rubbing her temple. “Troublesome. Exactly as I feared.”

Kobayashi, who was setting her work bag by the coat rack, offered Mina a sympathetic sideways look. “That makes two of us. Work was a disaster.”

Mina managed a faint, tired smile. “It seems it has been a long day for everyone.”

As both women walked further into the living area, they properly turned their attention to Akami.

Kobayashi’s stern demeanor softened first. She walked over to the sofa, looking down at the red-skinned Oni wrapped in the blanket. “So, you’re awake.”

Akami sat up straighter, her posture reflexively stiffening.

Kobayashi gave her a small, tired nod. “I’m glad to see you’re looking better.”

Akami hesitated, her voice quiet. “Thank you… for allowing me to stay in your home.”

Kobayashi waved the gratitude away with one hand. “You were unconscious. Throwing you outside wasn’t exactly an option.”

Mina stepped forward next, studying Akami carefully with professional concern before relaxing slightly when she sensed no trace of the violent corruption from the previous night. “You look much better,” she said. “I’m relieved. Your condition yesterday was extremely unstable.”

Akami looked up at her. “You’re Mina, correct?”

Mina bowed her head politely. “Mina Tadayuki. I assisted Lucoa-san in the purification ritual.”

Akami bowed her head deeply in return. “Then… you have my gratitude.”

Mina looked slightly taken aback by the proud Oni’s humility, but offered a gentle smile. “You are very welcome.”

The atmosphere was finally beginning to settle when something moved through the apartment with terrifying speed.

“KOBAYASHI-SAN!” Tohru launched herself out of the kitchen like a missile, wrapping her arms around Kobayashi’s waist from behind with enough force to send the tired office worker staggering forward half a step.

“Tohru… let go…” Kobayashi grunted flatly.

“My beloved Kobayashi-san has finally returned to me!” Tohru cried in absolute ecstasy, nuzzling her cheek aggressively against Kobayashi’s shoulder. “You must have suffered unspeakable torment at that wretched office without my comforting presence!”

“I was working overtime.”

“Nine agonizing hours in the darkness!”

Kobayashi let out a long sigh, though she didn't actually push the dragon away.

Tohru suddenly snapped upright, her green tail swishing in rapid, happy arcs behind her. “But all suffering ends now because dinner is served!” She pointed dramatically toward the dining table, which was laden with steaming bowls of rice, meat, and vegetables. “I made a massive feast for everyone! We can discuss political disasters and clan conspiracies after we eat! No one should make life-changing decisions on an empty stomach!” 

Issei stared at her from the couch. “That is… remarkably sound logic.”

Tohru puffed out her chest proudly. “Of course! I am the ultimate maid!”

Kobayashi looked at the spread, then surveyed her overcrowded living room—currently filled with high schoolers, ancient dragons, an Onmyōji, and a former enemy Oni. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “…Fine. Dinner first.”

Kanna immediately slid off Issei’s lap. “Food.”

Issei let out a dramatic gasp of relief as the pressure was finally removed from his bruised ribs.

Then Kanna grabbed him firmly by the wrist. “Let’s go.”

“Kanna, I literally cannot stand up right now.”

“I’ll drag you.”

“I’m pretty sure my remaining dignity won't survive being dragged across the carpet.”

Kanna stared down at him with unblinking eyes. “Tohru carried you down the street like a sack of rice.”

Issei paused. “…Fair point.”

As the group began migrating toward the dining table, Akami remained seated on the couch for a moment longer. Her dark eyes swept over the bizarre ensemble gathering around the food. A dragon maid fussing over a deadpan office worker; a little thunder dragon hauling a beat-up boy across the floor; a divine goddess laughing softly; a tired Miko adjusting her glasses. 

Nothing about this household aligned with anything Akami understood about the supernatural hierarchy. It was chaotic, surreal, and fundamentally nonsensical. Yet this very apartment had pulled her from the brink of corruption and saved her life.

Tohru leaned out from the dining area, waving energetically. “Akami-san! Come sit down! I made extra for our guest!”

Akami blinked, stunned by the warm invitation.

She looked at the golden-haired dragon maid, the very force that had unintentionally uprooted her clan and set off a chain reaction across Japan. It was going to be an impossibly complicated dinner. Slowly letting go of her blanket, she stood up and walked toward the table.

Done. Tell me what you think and if I missed anything or made a mistake. What do you think will happen next? Give suggestions and comment to give me ideas.