I ate. It was the best meal of my life.
"Don't be afraid of the heat," she murmurs. "The heat is just energy. You control it, or it burns you."
Tomoe-san is eight feet of muscle wrapped in a floral apron. Her horns curl back like a ram’s, shaved clean to keep them from snagging on her laundry line. Her tusks, filed down to dull points, peek out when she smiles. And she smiles a lot.