I'll Do Better
"We bought more than I thought we would."
Even a single shopping bag felt surprisingly heavy in this body. Not that most of them weren't being carried by Noxshia anyway…
"Still, I'm happy we got to buy you so many nice clothes, darling~!"
"I feel better about the groceries, honestly…."
I shot a sidelong glance at the pile of shopping bags in Noxshia's arms.
"Um, I could still carry one more, you know."
"Tsk~"
"Huh?"
Noxshia shook her head firmly, as if to say absolutely not.
"You just walk along comfortably, darling! This much isn't heavy at all~"
"…Hmm."
It felt a little unfair that I was the only one getting to take it easy…
But Noxshia looked so completely unbothered that, in the end, I just gave up and nodded without arguing any further.
…At this rate, I supposed we wouldn't have to worry about an empty fridge for a good while.
We walked side by side, taking in the sights of the street, doing our best to ignore the stares that kept raining down on us.
…And yet, all the way home, something strange kept nagging at a corner of my chest.
At first I thought it was just the swollen tightness I'd been feeling there all day, but it was somehow different from that physical discomfort.
No reason I could name—just an inexplicable unease, like I needed to hurry back toward home.
Step, step.
Step.
"Hm? Darling, why are you walking so fast?"
Noxshia's voice drifted from behind me. When we'd headed to the department store, I'd been the one scrambling to keep up with her—but now I was somehow several paces ahead.
What is this…?
I didn't understand it either. Something had me in its grip, pushing my steps faster and faster toward home.
"I… I don't really know. I just…"
Unable to properly explain this suffocating feeling, I quickened my pace anyway.
"…Uh, Noxshia? Could we maybe hurry a little—"
CRASH——!!
"Aish! Why would you drop that?"
"I-I'm so sorry! My hand slipped…!"
Someone right beside the shop next to us had dropped what looked like a heavy load. Normally a sound like that would have made me jump, nothing more.
But…
"…Ngh."
Something in my chest dropped like a stone.
I felt anxious for no reason at all—as if that sound were announcing something terrible about to happen.
My tail had gone limp without my noticing, so heavy it dragged along the ground, the very tip scraping the pavement.
…Ugh.
Why did I feel this awful?
For a while I just stood there, staring blankly at the shop where the noise had come from. And then, suddenly—
…Huh?
I felt a gentle sensation from below, as if something were lifting my sagging tail.
Only then did I lower my gaze and look to the side.
Noxshia had knelt down beside me at some point, carefully cradling my tail in both hands where it had lain limp against the ground.
"Darling."
Her mouth and eyes were smiling, but it was somehow different from her usual sunny grin.
"You mustn't let it drag on the ground like that. Your pretty tail will get all dirty…."
Still cradling my tail gently in her hands, Noxshia stroked it slowly. Then, in a voice lower than before, she asked:
"What has my darling so worried?"
"…W-well, it's…"
My mouth hung open, but no words came for a long moment.
Should I even say it? It was nothing I could be sure of—just a worry echoing up from somewhere deep in my chest. I kept wetting my lips, half afraid I'd sound crazy.
But here was Noxshia, kneeling in front of me, carefully brushing my tail…
Somehow, with her, it felt like I could pour out even this anxiety I didn't understand myself.
"…I don't know."
My voice trembled on its own.
"But… I keep thinking about it."
The words I'd been holding down deep in my chest finally came spilling out.
"G-Gyeoul… she…"
"Yes."
"…I think Gyeoul is scared right now. …She's trembling all alone."
Noxshia said nothing. She just looked at me for a moment, then quietly wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close.
"Shall we go?"
"…What?"
"To the nest."
The crimson eyes looking down at me were deeper and colder than usual. The arm around my waist carried a hidden strength, holding me firmly as if to leave no room for escape.
It was certainly a little intimidating—threatening, even. And yet, strangely, I didn't hate it.
If anything, being held like this settled my heart in a way I couldn't explain. I felt like if I left it to her, everything would be all right. Even the tip of my drooping tail had begun to sway, without my even noticing.
"If Gyeoul is frightened, then we simply go home right away. Darling."
"…Okay."
…Swept up in that feeling that she could fix anything, I'd simply handed everything over to Noxshia.
And this was the result. Looking down from the sky, the neighborhood I'd always lived in looked so small it fit in a single glance.
…And thankfully—or perhaps not—we were now quite far from the intersection where Noxshia had transformed.
Not that the aftermath had entirely faded…
The moment a colossal black dragon had appeared, people had fled the streets screaming, and cars had screeched to a halt everywhere, tangling the roads in an instant. Horns blared from all directions; someone clutched their phone, urgently dialing emergency services.
Yet far from being afraid of Noxshia in her current form, I felt impossibly calm.
I'd always been rather afraid of heights, but pressed against that broad, solid back of black scales, such thoughts barely surfaced.
…Not that falling was a separate matter entirely, so my hands stayed clamped onto Noxshia for dear life.
Riding on the back of Noxshia grown as large as a building, only minutes had passed before a familiar scene appeared below.
The wide construction site right next to our house, bustling in the middle of its work.
"N-Noxshia? We can land over there."
As if she'd understood, the enormous body slowly tilted. I couldn't tell whether she was being careful because I was on her back, but she descended far more slowly and gently than before.
THUD—!!
With a heavy tremor, Noxshia's feet came down on the open ground.
…But looking down, there were more people there than I'd expected. Workers in hard hats had been scattered across the lot, and one by one they looked up at the massive shadow swallowing the sky.
"AAAAAH——!!"
"A wyvern?!!"
"RUN! Run now!!"
One man threw down his shovel as he bolted; another sprinted for his life, hard hat flying off without him even noticing.
…In seconds, the construction site had descended into total chaos.
The silver lining, if there was one, was that the workers fled with truly astonishing speed. Thanks to them, no one was left nearby to witness us up close.
Only then did I catch my breath a little and turn my eyes toward our house. And the moment I checked my own bedroom window—
"…Ah."
Gyeoul was standing on her hind legs on the windowsill, barely balanced, both front paws raised high above her head.
It was a red panda pose—trying to make herself look as big as possible.
Even though we had come back, Gyeoul's eyes were still locked on the construction site. She must have been holding that stance the whole time, staring at the spot where work had been in full swing until moments ago, ever since we left.
"…Hah."
Seeing her like that tangled my heart into knots, and something stabbed at the corner of my chest like a needle.
How frightening must that enormous sound have been for such a tiny child?
And I'd left her—left something that knew nothing of the world—all alone, while I leisurely went shopping.
"Noxshia, I'm getting down right now…!"
Too impatient to wait for an answer, I jumped up, body first.
How to climb down, what would happen if I just leapt—I didn't think about any of it. The only thought in my head was that I had to get to Gyeoul as fast as possible.
FWUMP—!
Noxshia lowered her body into a crouch. Then one massive wing slowly unfurled beside me and, as if laying down a path for me, sloped gently down toward the ground.
"…Oh."
Only then did I come back to my senses a little and realize what I'd almost just done.
Scamper, scamper.
The moment my feet touched the ground via her wing, I sprinted straight for the house. I practically punched the door code into the keypad, threw the door open, and dashed inside—shoes still on—straight to my room.
Gyeoul was still frozen at the window, in that exact same pose.
The sight was too pitiful. I went straight to her, slid both hands under her armpits, and lifted her carefully into my arms.
"Gyeoul…."
I glanced at the desk. The Nutrient Milk I'd portioned out for her this morning sat there, almost untouched.
She hadn't taken a single sip.
"…I'm sorry."
I pulled Gyeoul tighter against my chest.
"I'm sorry, Gyeoul…."
"Pii… pii…?"
Only after she was in my arms did Gyeoul's rigid little body begin to soften. Her stiff front paws went slack, and soon she let go of every last ounce of tension, nestling deep into my embrace.
"…There. It's okay now."
I held her tighter still, afraid to let even an inch of her slip away.
"I'll never leave our Gyeoul alone again. If you need anything, anything at all, I'll get it for you."
"Pii…."
"So… today, it was Teacher who was wrong."
Gyeoul didn't cry at all. She just lay in my arms, giving my finger tiny little licks.
Was she forgiving me? Or did she simply think of me as her mama and accept me without any conditions at all?
"…What am I supposed to do with you."
…Somehow, that only made me feel guiltier.
Somewhere along the way, Noxshia—back in her human form—had slipped into the room as well.
"…Darling, sit down with me for a moment."
"…Okay."
As I perched on the edge of the bed with Gyeoul still in my arms, Noxshia settled down right beside me.
"It was my fault too."
"Why would it be yours…?"
"…I'm still not used to living in the world of you mortals."
Noxshia gently stroked Gyeoul's head.
"I set it so no one with ill intent could approach the nest… but I never imagined Gyeoul would end up trembling in fear like this…."
"…No, it wasn't your fault."
I hugged the little one in my arms even closer.
"We could've just ordered whatever we needed online. There was no reason to leave Gyeoul behind and go out at all… we should have brought her with us from the start."
"Then we simply won't do it again."
Noxshia wrapped her arms around both me and Gyeoul at once, holding us together.
"Next time, let's do better. Together. Darling."
"…."
Getting used to this life in two days flat had clearly been too much to ask. Honestly, I wasn't sure I ever would fully adjust.
But there was at least one thing I knew for certain…
…Gyeoul is still a baby.
Whether I was a woman or a man, none of that mattered. Gyeoul was a baby who still needed an adult's protection—someone like me—and that much, even the current me, could provide.
If I didn't know something, I could learn it. If I was clumsy at something, I could practice.
…From now on, I truly wanted to do right by her.
"I… I'll do better, Noxshia."
That day, I didn't put Gyeoul down once. Even when I went to the bathroom, I kept her somewhere I could see her; even when I went to drink water, I carried her snugly along with me.
I simply couldn't bear to leave her alone again. …And maybe Gyeoul understood, because she stayed quietly nestled in my arms, more docile than usual.
A day passed. Then, the next day at lunchtime, Noxshia was once again cradling Gyeoul in her arms, nursing her as she always did.
Not that I was pointedly averting my head, pretending not to see.
Slurp. Slurp-slurp….
"Pii…."
But before long—
"Piiat!"
Gyeoul pulled away from the breast and began firmly pressing her front paws against Noxshia's chest, as if something wasn't quite enough.
"Pii! Piiat!"
"Hehe…."
While Noxshia laughed awkwardly, Gyeoul slipped out of her arms without a trace of hesitation and toddled over toward me instead.
"Uh, um—?"
I caught her in a daze, and she burrowed into my chest as naturally as anything. Only then did Noxshia speak up, looking a little sheepish.
"Darling…."
"Yes?"
"The, um… I think the Nutrient Milk is all gone…."
"…I'm sorry, what?"