Hayashi immediately recognized her—Kanna.
Of course. Now that Tohru was here, this little one was bound to follow eventually.
And here she was now, pointing a tiny finger at him, accusing him of great sins with her pouty mouth.
"I know what you did! You totally used your body to seduce Lady Tohru!"
Hayashi: "…"
"You homewrecker! Pervert!"
Hayashi: "…uh…"
It had sounded adorable when Kanna said things like this in the anime.
But when she said it to his face—and when she wasn't completely wrong—it became hard to keep a straight face.
Then, seeing him silent, Kanna rushed forward and began pummeling his stomach with her tiny fists.
"Break up with her right now! Give Lady Tohru back to me!"
"Wait, wait—" Hayashi caught her little fists. "I didn't trick Tohru. She's doing perfectly fine."
"Liar!" Kanna's eyes teared up. "I saw you two shopping at the market! You bought her cute clothes! And round bouncy balls!"
"Those were for supplies," Hayashi explained. "We were stocking up for the store—we just happened to grab those too."
Kanna wasn't convinced and still looked like she was about to cry.
"Hayashi-san? What's going on?" Just then, Tohru came out from the kitchen, having just finished the dishes.
Kanna instantly perked up. Her head tilted like a puppy hearing a treat bag crinkle.
"Lady Tohru!"
Tohru's eyes widened. "Kanna?!"
"Tohru-sama!"
Kanna ran forward. Hayashi stepped aside to let her through.
Her little legs flailed as she ran. But she stumbled partway—only to fall directly into Tohru's arms.
Tohru caught her and helped her stand straight.
Kanna clung to Tohru's waist and buried her head against her stomach.
Tohru gently patted her head and smiled softly.
"Kanna, what are you doing here?"
"I couldn't find you, Tohru-sama… I searched forever to find this place." Kanna's muffled voice came from Tohru's waist. "Come home with me, please."
Hearing that, Tohru's first reaction was to nervously look at Hayashi.
For some reason, she suddenly felt scared. What if Hayashi heard that and decided to let her go?
She pulled Kanna away slightly and explained:
"I came here by choice, Kanna. This place… this is my home now."
Kanna was stunned. "What…?"
She couldn't believe it. That Tohru—a dragon—would settle down in the human world?
She refused to believe it was genuine.
Kanna turned and flapped her way back over to Hayashi.
Then she resumed her pummeling.
"Give Lady Tohru back to me…!"
The punches did no damage.
After a while, tired out, she paused…
Then started again, even weaker than before.
"You must've used your body to seduce her!"
Hayashi: "…"
That one finally broke him.
He met eyes with Tohru.
Tohru, flustered, scratched her head bashfully.
Eventually, Kanna got so tired she slumped against Hayashi's leg.
Then she turned to Tohru again. "Tohru-sama… come home, please."
"No," Tohru said firmly, shaking her head.
"Why not?" Kanna's expression turned utterly heartbroken.
Tohru knelt down and looked her in the eyes.
"Kanna, I'm serious. Hayashi-san treats me really well. We live happily. There's good food every day. Fun things to do every day."
Hearing that, Kanna pouted.
"I knew it!"
"You two went on a date yesterday, right? I saw you on the street—buying things, holding hands. That was totally a date!"
Hayashi sighed. Even running errands got labeled as a date now.
Tohru, however, beamed. "Ehehe~ well, if you put it that way… I guess you could call it a date."
"…Tohru," Hayashi looked at her, then at the nearly-broken Kanna. "Can you answer seriously? She's about to mentally crash."
"Oh! Right, right," Tohru quickly regained composure.
Then she turned to Kanna and said, solemnly:
"Do you want to know why I won't go back?"
Kanna nodded earnestly. "Mm!"
Tohru took a deep breath.
Then raised both hands toward Hayashi and declared:
"Because I love Hayashi-san! It's true love! I mean it!"
Hayashi: "..."
Kanna: A.
Tohru's final blow nearly sent Kanna into grayscale.
Hayashi thought Tohru would give a serious answer.
Well, Tohru thought she had given a serious answer.
But Kanna didn't think so.
Seeing Kanna's tear-filled eyes, Hayashi let out a long breath, rubbed his forehead, and waved Tohru aside.
"I'll handle this. If I let you keep talking, she's going to have a full-on emotional breakdown."
Tohru stepped aside.
Hayashi brought the two of them to the dining table and sat them down.
He served everyone a glass of lemon tea.
Then he turned to Kanna.
"Hmm… where should I start? Let's do introductions first."
Tohru raised her hand to help with that.
"This is Kanna. She's a young dragon. I met her while traveling between worlds back in the other realm. We were apart for a while after that, and then I came to Earth."
Kanna nodded seriously to confirm.
Only… the table seemed a little too tall for her. After she sat down, only her eyes and forehead were visible.
"Hold on a sec."
Hayashi got up and grabbed a cushion, setting it under her so her whole head could peek over the table.
Then he sat back down and continued.
"So, Kanna, why did you come to Earth?"
Kanna pointed at Tohru. "To bring Lady Tohru back. I've lived with her since I was little."
As she spoke, Kanna's little nose twitched. She sniffed the air and looked curiously at the lemon tea in front of her.
Hayashi asked again, "So, can you still go back now?"
"Uh…" Kanna fell silent.
"You can't go back?"
"…Mm." Still quiet.
Tohru looked at her, surprised. "Why not?"
Just then, Kanna's stomach let out a loud gurgle. She rubbed her belly and murmured, "I'm starving. I've got no energy left."
Hayashi finally realized why she had no strength earlier—why her punches were weak and she nearly tripped.
He pushed the lemon tea toward her.
"Have some of this first, to whet your appetite."
Then, he took out the big snack pack he had made for Tohru from the system inventory and set it on the table.
"Here, try these too."
It was full of all sorts of treats—candied fruit, cookies, bread, pastries—you name it.
Tohru picked up some cookies and handed them to Kanna.
"Kanna, eat up! Hayashi-san's cooking is amazing—you're going to love it."
Kanna looked at the food, then back at Tohru.
"Do you like it?"
Tohru nodded enthusiastically. "I love it! I only eat Hayashi-san's cooking now~!"
"Then I'll try it."
Kanna took a small sip of the lemon tea.
Just one sip—
And her eyes widened, eyebrows raised, her floating tail perked up like a cat's.
Then she started sucking the straw harder.
In a blink, the tea level dropped fast—
Two-thirds gone…
One-third…
Empty!
"Sssss~~~"
The straw let out that telltale slurp of emptiness.
Kanna looked up, her mouth slightly open.
"Haaah~"
Tohru asked, "Well? How is it?"
"It's good!" Kanna nodded.
Hayashi pushed the cookies and bread closer. "Try these too."
Kanna glanced at Tohru.
"I'll go get another pot of tea," Tohru said, standing up.
Only then did Kanna pick up the bread and take a bite.
One bite—
And she made the same face again.
Eyes wide, eyebrows raised, tail straight up again.
"So yummy!"
Then she went in for a second bite, third bite—devouring it in big mouthfuls.
Before long, she had finished the entire slice of bread.
Hayashi smiled and offered her some cookies.
"Try these?"
"Mm!"
Kanna opened her mouth and chomped on a cookie.
"Careful, don't eat too fast. You might choke."
"Cough—"
Hayashi had just said that—
And Kanna froze, clutching her chest.
"Tohru," Hayashi called.
"On it!"
Tohru came back just in time with more lemon tea and filled Kanna's glass.
Kanna took the cup and drank deeply.
Gulp gulp gulp—
She let out a long breath. "Ahhh~"
Hayashi asked, "So? Good, right?"
Kanna pursed her lips, paused, and said:
"I get it now… So this is how you seduced Lady Tohru."
"It wasn't just that," Tohru said, crossing her arms proudly. "Hayashi-san is honest, super gentle, and really thoughtful. You'll see if you stay with us long enough, Kanna."
Speaking of staying—
Hayashi suddenly remembered something and looked at Kanna.
"How long have you been in this world?"
"A while," she replied.
"Where were you sleeping before?"
"In the forest, on mountains, on islands—anywhere, really." Kanna's voice went quiet.
"???" Hayashi blinked. "Then what were you eating?"
"Not much." Kanna shook her head. "When I got really hungry, I'd eat some fish… or bugs."
"Fish… raw, right?"
"Raw."
Tohru's mouth fell open in shock, her face filled with concern.
Hayashi was already rubbing his forehead.
Kanna looked like a 10-year-old, and she was this cute—and yet she'd been out there every day sleeping rough, eating raw fish and bugs.
That… really didn't sit right.
"Kanna…" Tohru looked heartbroken. She hugged Kanna and gently persuaded her:
"Stay with me, okay? Live here with us—with Hayashi-san too. Please?"
As she spoke, she glanced at Hayashi, silently asking for permission.
Could Kanna stay?
Did she even need to ask?
Putting aside the fact that Kanna could probably "level Tokyo" if she wanted to—
Just her looks alone made her a perfect fit for the store. A living mascot.
Brains and beauty in one package!
Hayashi nodded. "If it's Kanna, anything's fine. She can help out around the store however she likes. Your Tohru-sama is already a huge help—without her, I'd be drowning every day."
It was true.
Without Tohru, Hayashi would be back to doing everything alone, and he'd probably keel over from exhaustion.
Tohru lit up instantly.
She grabbed Kanna by the shoulders. "See? Kanna, you heard that, right? Hayashi-san said yes! Come live with us!"
Kanna looked at the food in her hand… then at Hayashi's face… then back at Tohru.
Finally, she nodded.
"Okay."
"Yay~!" Tohru immediately hugged her.
Her magnificent D's nearly smothered the poor girl.
Kanna wiggled out and pointed at a dessert.
"I wanna eat that one."
"Go ahead and eat," Hayashi said, pushing the dessert closer when he saw that Kanna couldn't reach it. "This is a reward snack feast that Tohru earned by doing a great job. As long as she agrees, you can eat as much as you like."
Tohru nodded. "Go ahead, Kanna."
"Snack feast." Kanna nodded and committed the name to memory.
Then, under their watchful eyes…
Kanna began devouring the food with gusto.
Bread in her left hand, cookies in her right, washing it all down with lemon tea.
In no time at all, she'd cleared more than half of the table.
At last, when she couldn't eat another bite, she collapsed into the chair, holding her visibly bulging belly and letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Arigato, Hayashi."
"Full now?" Hayashi asked with a smile.
He really didn't mind—he had plenty of food in storage. All of it was bought at cost from the system.
More importantly, he couldn't possibly go broke feeding others. That would be a joke.
"I'm full," Kanna answered earnestly.
"Want to eat again in the future?" Hayashi asked.
"I do."
"Then live well with Tohru. Let's all enjoy every day together."
"Mm. Hayashi is a good person."
"..."
That last part made Hayashi twitch a little.
Calling him a good person wasn't wrong—it just depended on who you asked.
To his friends, he could be better than good.
To his enemies, he could be worse than evil.
"Take a rest," Hayashi said, putting away the leftovers and leaving the lemon tea. "We'll be heading to the market later to restock. Want to come?"
"You mean the place you two went on your date?" Kanna asked.
"Ahh, Kanna~" Tohru lit up with joy.
"Well... you could call it that," Hayashi replied with a nod.
Since their relationship had already become real, he had no reason to deny it.
"Then I'm coming." Kanna nodded.
"Alright, rest a bit. We're just waiting for a certain airhead before heading out."
The airhead he meant, of course, was yesterday's special guest—Power.
"Hayashi~!"
Right on cue, Power's voice rang out from outside.
Hayashi got up and walked out the door.
Power was wearing short denim shorts and a jacket—her figure was outstanding, and she looked fresh and breezy.
When Hayashi looked over, Power puffed out her chest proudly.
"All set?"
"Of course!" Power clenched her fist. "Today, this great me will definitely kill that Bat Devil and rescue my cat!"
"Still remember the price you agreed to?" Hayashi reminded her with a smile.
Power froze, then puffed out her chest again. "Doesn't matter, I'm not at a loss. I'll do it anytime—just not now. Gotta save the cat first! I'm not someone who goes back on her word!"
Hayashi nodded.
Power might be dumb, but she did keep her promises.
"Don't worry, I'm not afraid of you backing out. If you do, either my dragon will turn you into dust, or Makima will fully dominate you. Pick your poison."
Power shivered, sweat beading on her forehead.
Either option sounded worse than death.
"R-right! I got it!"
"Mhm." Hayashi nodded and called out toward the door. "Pochita, come here."
"Woof~!" Pochita immediately trotted over.
Hayashi scratched under its chin and fed it a treat, then said:
"Follow this idiot Power and take out a Bat Devil. Rescue the cat. Don't worry about anything else—just keep yourself safe."
"If Power betrays you and helps the Bat Devil, then kill both the Bat Devil and the dumb Blood Devil. Or wait—don't kill the Blood Devil, just bring her back and I'll work her to death."
Pochita nodded—message received.
"Good Pochita." Hayashi patted his head. "Go on. When you get back, I'll cook you a feast—whatever you want."
"Woof~!" Hearing the promise of an all-you-can-eat meal, Pochita spun in place excitedly.
Power, standing nearby, was silent.
She had the sudden realization that… she wasn't even as well-treated as a dog.
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