Kanna's entrance startled both Yusei and Tohru. They quickly separated, only relaxing when they saw it was Kanna.
"Kanna? What are you doing here?" Tohru looked at Kanna, puzzled.
"Tohru-sama wasn't there just now. I couldn't sleep well," Kanna said obediently.
A smile appeared on Tohru's face as she spread her arms, "Then let's sleep together!"
Kanna's eyes lit up. She looked at Tohru-sama, then at Yusei, who nodded in agreement, and happily burrowed into Tohru's embrace.
The three of them lay in a row. Yusei wasn't in the middle, Tohru was, because both Kanna and Yusei liked holding Tohru.
The next day, Yusei woke up. Today, he had promised Tohru he would spend the whole day with her.
If described normally, it would be called a date. But with Tohru, it might just turn into 'playing'.
For dragons, playing often meant fighting and sharpening claws. Yusei wouldn't put it past Tohru to excitedly drag him to the Mongolian steppes for a brawl.
However, when Tohru, dressed in her maid outfit and holding a shopping basket, stood at his door calling for him, he was somewhat taken aback.
"Are you going grocery shopping, Tohru?"
"Yes! Doesn't Yusei want to go? You promised to spend the day with me..." Tohru's expression fell slightly.
"No, it's not that. I just thought you might want to go on a date with me, or maybe have a fight," Yusei explained.
"Oh, I see. That does sound nice too. But we have Yui, Shiro, and the others at home. And I love cooking for Yusei. I think making food for Yusei is happier than anything else!" Tohru smiled gently.
Looking at Tohru's soft, smiling face, Yusei gently reached out and touched her smooth cheek.
Noticing her exposed, swan-like neck, Yusei took the scarf hanging on the coat rack and gently wrapped it around Tohru's neck.
Tohru quietly enjoyed the moment. Her dragon eyes, symbolic of violence and destruction, grew increasingly gentle. It was hard to imagine these were the eyes of a dragon.
"Let's go."
"Mhmm!"
Yusei accompanied Tohru grocery shopping, witnessing her daily routine.
First, they went to the market, basket in hand, searching for high-quality ingredients.
Then, she would approach vendors, select items, haggle over the price, and finally make the purchase.
This version of Tohru didn't feel like a lethally powerful dragon to Yusei, but more like an all-around excellent homemaker.
Of course, if they occasionally encountered petty troublemakers on the street, Tohru would step in to stop them.
Setting aside her immense combat power, she was just a concerned citizen.
"Hum hum la la ah~" Tohru held the shopping basket with one hand and linked her other arm through Yusei's, humming an unknown, pleasant tune with a blissful smile on her face.
"Hey, Yusei, don't we look like a married couple now? I saw on TV that wives often link arms with their husbands like this."
As she spoke, she held his arm tighter. Yusei could feel the soft pressure against his arm.
"Probably. I've never been married myself. But for ordinary couples, this is probably a way to show their affection for each other," Yusei said.
"Is that so? Haha, see! Yusei and Tohru have the best relationship! Tohru likes Yusei the most, the most, the most!"
The morning 'date' concluded. Though called a date, it was essentially just a trip to the market and the supermarket to buy groceries and dairy products.
Tohru was very thoughtful, even specially preparing milk daily for the little fox, Hong Hong.
Despite the little fox's big attitude, her actual age was very young. Her teeth probably weren't even fully grown in yet, so Tohru preparing three servings of milk for her daily was perfectly fine.
After enjoying the lavish lunch Tohru prepared, Yusei stayed by her side, watching her wash all the dishes and utensils before they returned to the room.
Tohru often napped in the afternoon, usually from around 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Today was no exception.
Naturally, Yusei stayed with her, as promised, for the entire day.
After napping with her, Tohru would wake up in the afternoon and read magazines, novels, or manga.
Around past five, Tohru would start preparing dinner. After the meal, she'd wash the dishes again, then draw baths for everyone.
By the time all the busywork was done, it was already 9 p.m., which was their group TV time.
After watching for about an hour, around past ten, Tohru would carry Kanna back to their room to sleep.
Yusei spent the entire day like this with Tohru, right up until she fell asleep at night.
Tohru's day was simple and fulfilling. It might seem boring to others, but Tohru found joy in it.
The day spent with Tohru ended, but it gave Yusei a deeper understanding of this dragon girl and her simple, pure love.
Perhaps, after living fifty thousand years, what she yearned for wasn't peerless power or a long life, but simply these ordinary, happy, and fulfilling days with her loved one.
Whether Yusei had changed her or not was clear. He faintly remembered his first meeting with Tohru, her undisguised hostility towards him.
On the Mongolian steppe, the pride of that proud dragon head, pressed down by powerful lightning yet refusing to yield...
And now, looking at this affectionately clinging Tohru, Yusei felt that even if he pressed her head down, she would definitely agree, and might even be happy about it.
'Uh... haven't we already done that before? And more than once?'
Cough. In conclusion, having a dragon maid like this was truly wonderful.
…
Lately, Yui hadn't been in the best mood. It wasn't because something bad happened, but she felt somewhat dejected about her parents being busy.
Back in SAO, those were Yui's happiest times because both her Papa and Mama would be with her then.
The three of them together, her hanging onto Papa, or being held by the hand by both Papa and Mama, that, in her view, was her happiest time.
But now, neither Yusei nor Asuna had much time for that. The three of them hadn't been together like that for a while.
Calculating the time, it had been quite a while since SAO.
As Yui's best little friend, Hong Hong noticed her friend's somewhat distracted demeanor and immediately sensed that something was on her mind.