Kobayashi's Tail-Sized Trial

The day had been exhausting. Kobayashi had been dragged away from her normal work all day by Elma on a new tirade against their ‘hostile work environment’. Their company wasn’t even that bad, especially not these days, but it still wasn’t enough for the order dragon. Her only consolation was that Elma had taken on all of the work she’d caused Kobayashi to miss that day, meaning that the tired woman had gotten to go home early for once.

The disgruntled redhead unlocked the front door of her apartment and stepped inside. As she did, an overwhelming wall of delicious smells nearly shoved Kobayashi right back out the door. What was happening? Why were there so many different scents all mixing together? Everything smelled so good individually, but there were so many different ones that she was feeling a bit queasy just from how rich the air in her own home was.

Kobayashi forced her way past the barrier of smells and closed the door behind her. Ugggh, she shouldn’t have done that. Without the fresh air, now everything smelled even stronger… She took off her shoes and trudged into the living area of the apartment. Without a doubt, whatever this crockpot of odors was coming from was the work of…

Tohru. The blissfully dense dragoness spun around as Kobayashi shuffled into the room, a loving smile on her face. “Miss Kobayashi! Welcome home!”

“Yeah, I’m home…” Kobayashi tried to sound upbeat, but she just… couldn't do it. Her eyes drifted over to the dining table and, even further beyond that, the coffee table. She could almost feel the bags under her eyes growing. “Tohru…”

“Yes, miss Kobayashi?”

“What is all of this?”

The busty blonde dragon grinned while setting down a ladle. “It’s a banquet, miss Kobayashi! Back in my old world, lords and masters would always hold banquets like this whenever a great victory was accomplished!”

Kobayashi’s brow twitched. “What? A lord? Who’s a lord here? And what great victory was accomplished?”

“Heh-heh~” Tohru giggled as she sidled up to Kobayashi. “Why, I made it for after you finally make your conquest of my body tonight, of course!”

Yeah, that sounded about right. “Toooohru…”

Tohru pouted but took a couple of steps back. “Oh, alright, fine. It’s just that…” The dragon maid shuffled in place, her large, green tail wrapping around her feet. “I get that you don’t want to eat my tail, but I really want you to… so I figured that if you wouldn’t eat my tail, I could at least make you enough food to make you feel like you’d eaten my tail…”

Kobayashi’s eyes fogged over. The whole dining table was coated in dishes, as was the coffee table. “Tohru, I’m a human. Humans can’t eat this much.”

“What?” Tohru exclaimed. “But I saw it on the television! There was a man who ate enough that their belly was bigger than he was!”

“Was it Two Piece again?”

“Yes!” Tohru responded, her eyes glittering fanatically. “Also, can humans really stretch their arms like that? Can yours do that?”

Kobashi let out an exasperated sigh and raised her hand. She delivered a solid flick to the dragon maid’s forehead, eliciting a small, “Ouch!” from her.

“I already explained that nothing in that show is real, Tohru.”

Tears welled up in the corners of Tohru’s eyes. “B-But Fafnir said-”

“Why are you taking advice on humans from Fafnir of all people?”

Tohru stopped. She put a hand to her cheek. “Oh, yeah. That’s a good point.”

Another draining sigh escaped Kobayshi’s lips. She gestured out at all of the food. “So how much did all of this cost, anyway? Our food budget has to be ruined after this…”

“You think too little of your maid, miss Kobayashi!” Tohru declared. She shuffled around in some invisible pocket on her maid uniform, then pulled out a pile of receipts and coupon stubs. “I scrimped and saved from all of our past budgets, month's worth of coupons, and money I earned for part-time work at the cafe for this! It was convenient that you got off of work early today, but it’s even better since the whole market had a massive sales promotion going on! In the end…” Tohru crossed her arms under her bust, nose stuck straight in the air. “Not a SINGLE YEN was spent from this month’s budget!”

“Ooooh!” Kobayashi remarked. This whole affair was still not great, but Tohru had really put some thought into this if she managed to put together this much food without denting their food budget for the month. Yeah, she must have… oh, no.

“Now, come on, come on!” Tohru said, darting over to the table and pulling out a chair for Kobayashi. “Eat everything up while it’s still warm! Or better yet, if it gets cold, I’ll heat it back up again!” Flames danced on Tohru’s lips as she spoke.

“Like I said, Tohru, I can’t possibly eat that much,” Kobayashi said again, but she still went and sat down in the chair. “But… you must have worked hard to make all of this, so… I’ll eat my fill today, at the very least.”

The busty dragon’s eyes sparkled as she pushed Kobayashi’s seat back in. “Yes! I tried to make everything just like you like it, but just let me know if anything needs any seasoning or heated back up!”

“Will do. Thanks, Tohru,” Kobayashi agreed before turning to the unpleasant task before her. Alrighty, then. Just one of these platefuls of food would be plenty to satisfy her, but she promised she’d eat her fill, so she should at least clear a few of them. She just hoped her stomach wouldn’t curse her too harshly later…

The thin redhead picked up a spoon and settled on her first dish, the one right in front of her. Coincidentally enough, it was one of her favorite dishes of Tohru’s, omurice. She scooped up a generous portion and lifted it up to her mouth. The enticing spoonful of rice and egg made saliva start to pool in Kobayashi’s mouth. Come to think of it, she hadn’t had lunch today since Elma had taken it up with a rebellious speech in the cafeteria. The hardworking dragon was normally the first to go for food, but even she forgot her own hunger at times, it seemed. The empty pit in Kobayashi’s stomach might actually be part of why she felt so tired right now. Maybe Tohru’s antics had come up at an ideal time for once. 

As Kobayashi chewed up the omurice and swallowed, her eyes lit up. She looked up at Tohru, who was eagerly watching her. “It’s great as always, Tohru.”

A happy blush crowded Tohru’s cheeks as she put her hands to her face. “Eh-heh-heh~. I’m glad it is! Eat as much as you want! If you run out, I’ll make you as much more as you want!”

This dumb dragon… “Like I said, a human can’t-”

But Tohru was no longer listening. She was happily humming to herself as she made her way around the room divider back into the kitchen. She turned the sink on and began scrubbing at dishes, of which there were… quite a lot. And there would be even more with all of the plates, bowls, platters, and other dishes that were currently covered in food. Instead of harassing Tohru again about her stomach’s limits, Kobayashi held her tongue and helped herself to another mouthful of omurice. It was fine. She would eat as much as she could to satisfy Tohru, then let the other dragons finish the rest. Speaking of which…

Kobayashi swallowed and asked aloud, “Are Kanna and Ilulu here?”

Tohru’s attention on the dishes didn’t waver as she responded, “Kanna is spending the night at Saikawa’s house. Ilulu has the day off, but she was asleep in her room the last time I saw her.”

Kanna didn’t have that big of an appetite, but Ilulu certainly did. Between her and Tohru, all of the extra food could be cleared up in no time. None of Tohru’s hard work would be put to waste. With a lighter conscience, Kobayashi dug into her omurice.

It really was delicious, though. And now that Kobayashi had been in the apartment for a while, the cocktail of food smells wasn’t bothering her anymore, so she could fully enjoy the food she shoveled into her mouth. Before she knew it, she was scraping the last of the egg-coated rice onto her spoon.

She ate it quickly and sighed contentedly, setting her spoon down. She was pleasantly full now, the void in her gut filled with wonderful omurice. But… she could still stomach a bit more, at least, for Tohru’s sake. She set the empty omurice plate up on the kitchen divider and pulled a plate of steak in front of her. Though… how had Tohru managed to afford steak with all of this food?

Kobayashi cut a portion of the steak off and tasted it. Ah, that was why. It was tofu steak. It tasted different but was still amazing regardless. The content redhead happily helped herself to more of the pseudo-steak, eating at a healthy rate until…

She set her fork and knife down on the empty plate. She… was still pleasantly full. Eh? How? This was her second dish already. Sure, Kobayashi had never really indulged herself before, so she didn’t know how much she could reasonably eat, but she was a small woman. She couldn’t possibly fit that much food inside of her, right? That wasn’t how human biology worked. Unless…

“Hey, Tohru.”

The dragon’s head perked up at the sound of her name. “Yes, miss Kobayashi?”

“All of the ingredients in these are from Earth, right?”

Tohru blinked. “They are. I learned my lesson about feeding you food from the other world.”

“Did you use magic on any of this, then?”

Tohru set the pan she was washing down and puffed up her cheeks. “Of COURSE I didn’t! Miss Kobayashi, who do you think I am?”

Without a moment of hesitation, Kobayashi responded, “A simple and lustful dragon who routinely tries to feed me her own body.”

“Miss Kobayashi! Please! I am NOT simple!” Tohru fumed.

“That’s your issue with what I said, huh?” Kobayashi mused. Then she said, “Hey, you used a different seasoning with the tofu steak, right? I could tell. It tasted even better than usual.”

Tohru’s exaggerated fury was immediately melted, being replaced by pleased blushing. “I’m glad it turned out well! I was worried it might turn out too strong, but if it worked out, then I’ll keep doing it in the future too!”

Kobayashi turned her head away from Tohru. “Simple-gon,” she commented. Of course, Tohru didn’t hear her and returned to her dish-washing with a smile on her face.

Still, through all that, Kobayashi got her answer. She set the tofu steak plate up on the divider and grabbed a fried tempura plate next. She crunched through one of the perfectly fried shrimps and found herself still enjoying it as much as if it was her first dish.

There was no magic at work here, nor was it the effect of something from the other world. Despite being an ‘evil’ dragon, Tohru was a horrendous liar. This meant that Kobayashi’s continued eating was entirely due to her own body. Somehow.

The tempura vanished down Kobayashi’s throat and she replaced the empty plate with some natto spaghetti. This dish was certainly one of the reasons why the cacophony of scents had nearly made Kobayashi nauseous earlier, but now that she was nose-blind, all that was left was its delicious flavor.

Soon enough, the spaghetti was gone as well. Kobayashi set the fork she’d used down and sat back in her chair for a moment to evaluate herself. She was now more than pleasantly full - she was stuffed. But she still didn’t feel sick, nor did her stomach hurt. Her shirt was beginning to feel tight though. She looked down at herself and grimaced. She had a sizable bump pressing against the front of her button-down work shirt. The buttons weren’t straining, but they were certainly tighter than they normally were. She tugged at her work shirt, pulling the bottom of it out of her pants. There. Now the shirt wasn’t tight at all.

Still, this was definitely a problem. Kobayashi started to work on a plate of curry, helping herself to a beer that Tohru had set on the divider next to her at some point. She had looked down on Tohru’s ability to lie, but she wasn’t much of a deceiver herself. If she stopped eating before being actually full, then there was a good chance Tohru would see through her.

Kobayashi stared down at the empty plate that had formerly held a sizable portion of curry and rice. She was a small woman. She was a small woman with a lot of food inside of her. Dense, heavy food that was full of calories. Come tomorrow, depending on how much she could really eat, she may no longer be a small woman. Understandably… this was, indeed, a problem.

As Kobayashi started on a bowl of ramen, the sound of a door opening and a massive yawn signaled the arrival of what may be Kobayashi’s savior. She turned around to see Ilulu shuffling out of her and Kanna’s room, her eyes heavy with sleep and her tail dragging on the floor.

“Hello, Ilulu,” Kobayashi said.

“Huh?” Ilulu blinked a few times, her eyes slowly focusing on Kobayashi. “Oh. Hey, Kobayashi. Welcome home.”

The short dragon yawned again and put her hand under her shirt to scratch her stomach. Kobayashi warily eyed Ilulu’s mountainous chest as she slurped at the bowl of ramen. If her body didn’t decide to be full soon, she may very well end up with a stomach the size of that chest… or even bigger…

Finally, after a solid amount of time standing still and waking up, Ilulu’s nose started to twitch. She took a few loud sniffs, then scanned the room. Her eyes fell on the bounty of food on the kitchen table and drool began to leak from her mouth. “So much food! Awesome!” She waltzed over and plopped down in the seat opposite Kobayashi. She grabbed a plate of curry and said, “Thanks for the meal~!” before scooping up a heaping portion. It got closer and closer to her mouth, until-

“ILULU!” Tohru smacked the smaller dragon on the back of the head, making her drop the spoon back onto the plate. “This is all for Kobayashi!”

“Eeeeh?” Ilulu complained while rubbing the back of her head. “There’s no way a human can eat this much. C’mon, just let me have a little-”

“Absolutely not!” Tohru said firmly. She grabbed the top of Ilulu’s head and twisted it to look at the coffee table. “I knew you’d try and stuff your greedy face, so I made you your own over there. Just be happy that I made any for you at all.”

Ilulu looked at the coffee table for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, ok. Thanks, Tohru.”

As Ilulu got up and walked over to the table, Kobayashi silently cursed Tohru for her foresight. Still, she had to try something, at least. She spoke after Ilulu, “If you finish all of that, then you’re welcome to have as much as you want from over here too!”

“Really?” Ilulu said, tail swishing. She beamed at Kobayashi. “Thanks, Kobayashi! You’re the best!”

Tohru, however, was not pleased. “Miss Kobayashiiiii, how could you!” She mourned as Kobayashi slurped at the dregs of her ramen. “All of the food over here is filled with my love for you! How could you offer it to Ilulu like that?”

At times like this, Kobayashi was more thankful than ever that Tohru was simple. “I did it because it’s filled with your love. It would be a shame to let your efforts be wasted as leftovers or from it going bad. I want to make sure it’s all eaten fresh.”

Tohru started to grin bashfully but shook instead her head. “But I want you to eat it while it’s fresh…”

Kobayashi sighed, then gestured for Tohru to come closer. When she did, Kobayashi reached up and ruffled the top of Tohru’s head. “I’ll eat as much of it as I can, ok? So keep cooking for me in the future. Just… please, not as much. If I eat like this every day, I won’t be able to fit in my work clothes anymore.”

Tohru gave Kobayashi a small smile, then nodded. Satisfied, Kobayashi turned back to the table while Tohru went back to the kitchen. Except…

This wasn’t good. Kobayashi still didn’t feel anywhere close to full. Her stomach felt heavy on her slim frame, packed full of hot, dense food, yet she felt no hesitation at all as she reached over for a set of three hamburgers on one plate. Eating like this wasn’t natural, was it? There was no way. If she kept eating like this, if she didn’t start to feel full at some point, she was going to burst, wasn’t she?

The three burgers went down smoothly, accompanied by the rest of the can of beer Kobayashi had started with the curry. She casually ate the fries Tohru had made with the burger, then moved on to a sushi platter. Needless to say, the sushi, as well as everything she’d eaten before it, was delicious. If there was one area that Tohru had truly mastered as a maid, it was cooking. She was doing well enough in her other stations as well, but this food was on another level. The flavor almost made Kobayashi forget that her shirt was starting to feel a little tight on her stomach again somehow.

The sushi was followed up by a heaping plate of fried rice. Kobayashi hoped that the dense, filling rice would be enough to finally make her feel overfull to the point of illness so that she could quit, but… soon enough her spoon found no more rice to shovel into her mouth.

Kobayashi sighed as she reached for another bowl of ramen. She quickly ate all of the noodles and filling, then lifted the bowl to her lips to drink the broth. As she did, she started to notice a… peculiar feeling. As she rapidly downed the rich liquid, she could actually feel her skin stretching, her belly expanding to accommodate everything Kobayashi was pouring into it. A bit of a blush rose to her cheeks as she realized just how glutted she must be to be able to physically fee her stomach growing, and…

She set down the empty ramen bowl and reached down with one hand to feel her stomach through her shirt, which was once again being pulled tight by the swollen belly underneath. She pressed down on the solid surface and reveled at how much it resisted her hand. She bit her lip softly as she gave it a small shake, feeling all of the liquid from her two ramens slosh around inside of her. Her stomach let out a loud rumble, which she felt against her hand. She was inhumanly full, and yet… what was this feeling? She couldn’t quite place it…

Kobayashi shook her head and reached for the next dish. Another tofu steak soon found itself being quickly but cleanly cut apart and carried into Kobayashi’s waiting mouth. She was clearly overstuffed. This wasn’t healthy. Her skin was starting to feel a little tight under her shirt. She likely could excuse herself from eating anymore just by using her straining belly as evidence, having Tohru feel it to prove there was no room left. But… for whatever reason, Kobayashi felt a need to keep eating. To keep pushing her stomach further and further, piling more and more food into it. What was this? Why did she feel this way? Why-

Kobayashi was shaken from her thoughts as the chair across from her scraped across the floor. She glanced up to see Ilulu once again settling down into the opposite seat, though flecks of rice now adorned the area around her mouth. She happily picked up the spoon she had dropped before and raised it to her mouth again, this time managing to claim the curry and rice with her tongue.

What was Ilulu doing here? Kobayashi looked over at the coffee table and her heart skipped a beat. It was a mess. The dishes were scattered across the table, remnants of food mixing with each other. But there was not a single dish left. There hadn’t been as many dishes on the coffee table as there had been in front of Kobayashi, but there had still been a lot - yet Ilulu had devoured them in record speed and was now claiming the dishes on the dining table as well.

Kobayashi should be feeling glad. She was getting her wish, wasn’t she? Her waistline was being saved by the gluttonous dragoness. Dish after dish was disappearing past Ilulu’s flashing fangs, everything being compacted into the short stack's small body. This was what Kobayashi had wanted.

So why did she feel so disappointed? Like she was missing out on something wonderful? Why did she feel… was this… longing?

Kobayashi did not speed up her eating, even though her body was yelling at her to do just that for some reason. Instead, she continued to eat at a calm pace, even though every time Ilulu scarfed down a new dish, a twinge of regret pricked at Kobayashi’s skin. Finally, there was only one dish left. And Kobayashi made no effort to stop the red-headed dragon as she ravenously snatched it up.

The short dragon crammed most of the final tofu steak into her mouth, gnashing it up with violent teeth before swallowing it in one go. She licked her lips, then her face twisted for a moment. Her cheeks puffed out, and then-

*OOOOOooooooOOOOOUUUUUUURRRRRPPP!*

“ILULU!” Tohru yelled, whipping around to scold the smaller dragon.

“What?” Ilulu asked plainly. She leaned back in her seat, patting the top of her belly contentedly as she did. Kobayashi’s eyes twitched as she followed the curve of Ilulu’s bulging stomach. Good lord, it stuck out even farther than her breasts - and with how menacing those things were, that was quite a daunting feat indeed. Her black shirt, which normally hugged her chest snugly and hung loosely on the rest of her body, was now stretched taut over a third oversized mound. In fact, it no longer covered the whole thing - the hem of the shirt had risen to just below her navel, which Kobayashi only noticed thanks to how far back Ilulu was leaning in her chair.

The glutted dragon used a claw to pick at something in her teeth as she responded to Tohru, “That was just proof of how good your cooking is. You should be thanking me for the compliment, really.”

Tohru stomped around to stand behind Ilulu and leaned over her. “We are NOT in the other world! That behavior is rude in the world of humans!”

“So?”

A vein throbbed in Tohru’s forehead. She reached down and grabbed the sides of Ilulu’s massive gut. She shook it violently, causing Ilulu’s shirt to shoot upwards to just under her breasts while the creamy orb that was her stomach wobbled and audibly groaned. “Just look at yourself, you dumb idiot! At least half of this was for miss Kobayashi, so how did it end up in here instead!?”

“Ooooowwww! Stop that! You’re making my belly hurt!” Ilulu groaned while weakly grabbing Tohru’s arms. “Kobayashi said that I could have it, so step off! Ow-ow-ow!”

Kobayashi sighed and took off her glasses to wipe them as the shameful display continued in front of her. She put her glasses back on, then said, “I did say that Ilulu could eat whatever was left here after she was done, Tohru.”

“I know, but… you weren’t done yet!” Tohru protested. She gave Ilulu’s belly a few solid smacks that sounded like drums and made her whole belly tremble. “You weren’t full yet, but this little boar went and ate the precious food I made for you!”

“Oh no, I’m definitely full, Tohru,” Kobayashi assured her. She scooted her chair back, then went to stand, but it was harder to stand than she thought. Her legs shook as she pushed herself to her feet, her stomach feeling bigger and heavier than ever. Just how much had she eaten, anyways? When had she lost track?

Finally, Kobayashi was on her feet. She turned to give Tohru a side profile, one hand on her back and the other resting on top of her belly. “See? I’m *urp* full to the brim. Solid as a rock.”

Tohru’s eyes seemed to track the entire expanse of Kobayashi’s distended belly, scowling. Kobayashi began to sweat. Standing like this was actually pretty difficult. And for some reason, her shirt felt tighter than ever now that she was standing. She could feel a draft on her lower belly, which meant that her shirt no longer met her legs anymore. And from the amount of her belly feeling chilly, there was apparently a great distance between the front of her shirt and her waist now.

Eventually, Tohru seemed to believe Kobayashi’s words. She let out an exasperated breath and released Ilulu’s globular belly to wander into the kitchen. “Fine. You’re safe for today, Ilulu.”

“Uggghhhh… am I, though…?” Ilulu moaned, sinking into her seat. Her face had traces of green on it as she rubbed her bloated flanks. “All that movement made me *HIC* all queasy…”

The last thing Kobayashi needed was dozens of pounds of a dragon’s stomach contents coating the apartment’s floors. “You should go lie down to let your stomach settle,” Kobayashi urged. “Lay on your side just in case and try to sleep. You’ll feel better after you wake up.”

Moaning and groaning all the while, Ilulu heaved herself to her feet and trudged over to her room with her massive stomach jutting out abruptly in front of her. “Thanks, Kobayashi…” She mumbled as she passed by, which was immediately followed by a long, low, and wet belch. Kobayashi grimaced. Tohru might need to do some emergency cleaning pretty soon.

“I started the bath while you were eating, miss Kobayashi,” Tohru said, drawing Kobayashi’s attention. “Why don’t you wash up before you start to get tired?”

“Yeah, I should do that,” Kobayashi said. “Thanks, Tohru.”

The formerly slim redhead made her way over to the bath, going slowly to avoid ending up like Ilulu. Once in, she carefully stripped and continued - though not before catching a glance at herself in the mirror.

She was massive. Not as large as Ilulu, but not as far off as she might’ve thought. Her stomach stuck well out in front of her but didn’t droop at all, proving just how tightly packed and full it was. In fact, with her tiny chest, her belly looked even bigger than Ilulu’s had in some ways.

Kobayashi started to run a hand over her engorged stomach, feeling how taut and smooth it was, before pulling herself back to reality. This was too weird. She didn’t know how she was able to eat like this, nor why it seemed to feel so attractive to her, but it was just too much. And, beyond all else, she could not let Tohru know what she was thinking about all this. If that lustful dragon caught wind of this, then-

Kobayashi started as the door to the bath slid open, then closed. She stood stock-still as bare feet padded against the tile floor, then…

“Can I wash your back like usual, miss Kobayashi?”

Kobayashi gulped. “S-Sure, but - aren’t the dishes going to set if they’re not done?”

Tohru gently nudged Kobayashi forward towards a plastic stool next to the showerhead. “I got all of the worst ones already and some extra effort will get the rest. Besides, this is much more important than that.”

For once, the stool beneath Kobayashi’s butt seemed a little small as she sank onto it. Or, rather, the heavyweight in front of Kobayashi threatened to tip her forward unless she sat far enough back on the stool. The force of her belly on her legs… the warmth of the water as Tohru turned on the showerhead and sprayed her… the palpable feeling of her stomach churning, rumbling as it tried to digest everything she’d crammed into it…

Kobayashi’s face started to heat up. But it wasn’t from the hot shower water. Uh-oh. She really did like this feeling, didn’t she?

A yelp escaped Kobayashi’s lips as a pair of soft mounds pressed into her back and a pair of firm hands pressed into her belly from either side. “T-TOHRU! Wh-What are you-”

“Sorry, miss Kobayashi~” Tohru teased as she ran her hands along Kobayashi’s flank, her fingers pressing hard into the taut surface. “I used too much soap on your back, so I figured that I should use the extra to wash some more of you.”

Crap, crap, crap, crap! Kobayashi’s vision swirled as she tried to hold onto her senses. Tohru’s firm hands were slathering her gigantic, tense belly with soap, making it slick and smooth to the touch. She was rubbing her hands all over her, massaging every inch of her- her-

“Don’t worry, miss Kobayashi~. Even if you didn’t eat enough to match my tail, I'm still happy that you tried so hard. And if we keep trying, then maybe one day you’ll finally do it~.”

Keep trying? Do this again? Kobayashi’s head was swimming. She wanted to. She couldn’t. It was too much. It wasn’t enough. What was going on? What was this warmth flowing all over her body? What was-

“By the way, I read online that rubbing a full belly helps humans digest big meals better. It would be a shame if you ended up like Ilulu, so please, let me help you digest my cooking, miss Ko-bay-a-shi~.”

Crap.

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I had a sudden urge to write for that one dragon show everyone is horny for, so here it is! 

Somehow, I ended up with Kobayashi as my focus instead of one of my favs, Ilulu or Elma... 

Well, Ilulu still got some pretty heavy love, so it's fine. And every one of the main gals in this show is a fantastic choice anyway (apart from Kanna, obviously, since She. Is. A. Child.), so overall, no regrets!