Day 6: A Day Off (for real this time)

Ryan had gotten to the point where he wasn't even phased by the phone call. He even set up the ringtone to sound like an alarm so it would wake him up better. He sat up as soon as the phone started to ring, instantly awake. When he answered the phone, he put the phone about half a foot away from his ear to preserve his hearing, but the morning call Kiara always used did never came. Instead, a loud explosion could be heard from the other end of the phone.

"Tenchou?" Ryan asked hesitantly. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what was going on. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, morning!" Kiara's cheery voice was heard over another explosion and several screams of pain. "Uhh, I'm kind of busy right now!"

"I can tell," Ryan deadpanned as gunfire could be heard on the other side of the phone. "What are you even doing?"

"I'm uhhh… playing Call of Duty... no that isn't a game... Was it Cry of Obligational Tasks? Yeah, that's the one! I'm play whatever I just said with Calli! Yeah, let's go with that!" As if on cue, a scream of agony could be heard as well as a barely audible "Don't touch my wife!"

"Was that Calliope-san?" Ryan asked.

"Was it?" Ryan could almost see the expression on Kiara's face. "OhmygoshshelovesmeIhavetogohavethedayoffbye!"

With that, the line went dead. Ryan sighed. What was he going to do now? He put the phone back on his nightstand and plopped back on his bed. Maybe he could decide that in a couple of hours.

-

When Ryan woke up again, the first thing he checked was his phone for the time. 9:46 am. He stood up and got out of bed, assessing his options. He could stay home and rot away as he usually does or go outside and actually do something with his life.

I'm Vitamin D deficient anyways,' Ryan thought to himself as he got out of bed, cracking his back. Maybe he could go somewhere and make friends outside of work, or if he was lucky (or unlucky depending on the circumstance), run into someone he met at work. For some reason, Ryan had the impression that Amelia knew a lot of people. He put on his hoodie and grabbed his wallet. It was time to go.

-

Ryan found himself roaming the streets, going wherever his feet took him. After a couple hours of walking, he had a bag filled with two decks of trading cards, a couple notebooks, some pencils, and about seven issues of varying manga. He sighed as he calculated his funds. 'Damn, I really need to stop impulsively spending money,' he thought to himself. 'I hope Tenchou pays soon. If not, I might be in a bit of trouble.'

He then stopped walking and looked to his right to see a traditional shrine atop a hill, a large number of steps leading to it. Ryan wasn't the most religious person, but he decided to stop by. Though he didn't show it and sure as hell wouldn't admit to it, he was concerned for his boss. 'Honestly, she's such a bad liar,' he thought to himself, stifling a chuckle. He figured he could at least leave a prayer.

"Hey kid!" Ryan was snapped from his stupor as he heard a man call out. He turned to see a middle-aged man wearing torn and tattered clothes looking directly at him.

"What's up?" Ryan asked.

"You shouldn't go there," the man advised, his raspy accent penetrating Ryan's ears. "Apparently one of those freaks is up there."

Ryan's eyebrow creased as the man emphasized the word. "What? It's just rumors. I'll be fine," he said. Whether or not someone was there, he really didn't care. The outcomes presented themselves in Ryan's head. One, no one was there. Ryan reasoned that was the best one. Two, there was someone there, but it would just be a normal shrine maiden or something like that. That wasn't a big deal. Third, a supernatural being could be residing there, hoping not to be attacked. Either way, he would just remain neutral. He wouldn't want to piss off whatever gods he would be praying to.

"Your funeral," the man scoffed and walked away. Ryan sighed and started climbing the steps. Climbing the steps was a good opportunity for Ryan to reflect. As he climbed, he thought about the past few days. As he spent his time as a NEET, he developed several disorders as the isolation almost drove him insane. He wanted to go out and do things, but what happened before he moved to Japan plagued his mind too much.

'Speaking of which, what did happen before I moved here?' Ryan thought to himself. He concentrated hard, trying to find the memories, but they never presented themselves. He knew how he felt about his time living in America, but he couldn't come up with actual memories. It all just felt really hazy, as if there was a huge void in his memories. 'That was weird. Why can't I remember anything?'

Before he could ponder about his apparent amnesia, he found himself at the foot of the giant, red gate. He sighed and walked through. As he passed the gate, he stumbled a bit. The feeling was similar to when he was walking to work on his first day. When he looked up, he saw something that wasn't there before, or rather, someone. A girl with short, pink hair and a shine maiden outfit was seen sweeping the area with a broom, her back facing Ryan.

"Uh…" Ryan thought of something to say but couldn't. What was he supposed to say? A person literally just appeared in front of him.

"Ack!" The girl jumped, dropping her broom before turning around to face Ryan with a defensive stance. When she saw some teen with a grocery bag and his hands shoved in his hoodie pockets, she relaxed slightly, taking a more casual stance, though Ryan could tell she was ready to strike if needed. "Nyahello~! My name is Sakura Miko!"

"Ryan Shade," Ryan introduced himself. "May I ask how you appeared in front of me?"

"I was going to ask how you appeared in front of me," Miko picked up her broom. "Only magical creatures with no ill intent can enter this space and I don't sense any magic on you."

"Apparently I'm 'special'," Ryan said "special" with air quotes. "I was just here to send a prayer for my Tenchou's safety."

"Oh, Kiara-chan?" Miko put a finger on her chin and looked up, as if she was thinking about something. "Ah! She should be fine. She has Calliope-chan with her."

"You know Tenchou?" Ryan noticed how Miko pronounced "Calliope" a bit weird but shrugged it off. "Do you know what she's doing right now?"

"It's a secret!" Miko leaned forward slightly and put a finger to her lips, smile wide. "If she didn't tell you, it was probably for a good reason."

"Secrets, secrets," Ryan muttered under his breath.

"So, if you know Kiara-chan, you must be that employee!" Miko said, her eyes drifting up and down Ryan's form.

"That employee?" Ryan echoed. "Is she talking about me?"

"I-" Miko's mouth slammed shut. "I shouldn't have said that."

"It's whatever," Ryan waved his hand dismissively. "At least I mean enough to her for her to talk about me."

"Do you like her?" Miko gave Ryan a suggestive look.

"Thank god I don't," Ryan said back. "I'm not sure if Calliope-san would let me live if I did."

"Fair enough," Miko smiled.

"Well, I'm going to go now," Ryan turned around to leave.

"Weren't you going to leave a prayer?" Miko asked.

"Eh, you can do it," Ryan shrugged. As Ryan left, he could hear a loud "FAQ!" In the distance.

-

Ryan spent the next few hours sitting at the park, pondering the previous conversation. 'Jeez, how many people does Tenchou know?' He thought to himself. She had connections everywhere, from famous rappers, to construction CEOs, to pro gamers, to a random shrine maiden from the middle of nowhere. He stood up as he watched the sun set. 'Time to go home.'

As he started to walk back to his apartment complex, something caught his eye. He turned to see an alleyway with three guys cornering a girl. The thugs weren't what caught his eye. If anything, they seemed a bit unremarkable. He focused in on the girl who had sky-blue hair neatly tied into a ponytail. The thing that really unnerved Ryan was her eyes. He recognized the glint in her deep, blue eyes and he didn't like where he recognized it from. He saw that glint in Calli's eyes when someone got too close to Kiara or when some poor sod places their had on Korone's head. There was no denying it. That girl was going to kill those three thugs.

Without thinking, Ryan threw his shopping bag aside and grabbed the head of the nearest thug, slamming his head into the wall. Now none of this was Ryan's business, but he couldn't leave those three men to die to whatever that girl's murderous gaze foretold. The three people left conscious all turned to him in shock. As passive as Ryan was, he wasn't a pushover when it came to fighting people. Sure, he wasn't anything remarkable, but he taught himself to fight back when… that was weird. Ryan couldn't remember when or why he taught himself how to fight. He landed an uppercut on the next thug's stomach, only to slide backwards to land a roundhouse kick on his temple. As his foot landed, he spun on it and jumped up, kicking the man again with the same foot. As the man stumbled, hitting his head on the alley wall, Ryan took a step, letting his right foot cross his left before raising his left foot to kick the third thug square in the face. Before he could react, Ryan jumped up, kicking him in the chin, causing him to stumble backwards, unconscious.

He then stopped and turned towards the girl, panting as his adrenaline continued to spike. "Thank you for saving me," the girl offered a sweet smile.

"I wasn't saving you," Ryan replied. His tone wasn't cold, but it wasn't exactly bright and cheery earlier. "I was saving them." He gestured toward the thug behind him who was slumped on the floor.

"I see," the murderous glint returned. "Do I have to kill you too?"

"I would rather you not," Ryan sighed. His calmness in life threatening situations genuinely started to worry him. "If I die, I'm not sure I'm going to hear the end of it from my boss."

The girl chuckled at that. "No, I guess not," she replied. Ryan wondered if she knew Kiara, too, but pushed the thought away. That would be too much of a coincidence.

"Name's Ryan Shade," Ryan offered to shake her hand. "I would say it's nice to meet you, but I'm not sure this is the best time to meet someone."

"Hoshimachi Suisei," the girl, now named Suisei shook Ryan's hand. "I would love to stay and chat, but Anemachi would kill me if I arrived home late."

"Well, see you, I guess," Ryan waved his hand as he turned to leave.

"I have a feeling we will," Suisei's words caused Ryan to freeze. When Ryan turned to ask what she meant, she was gone. Replaced by a gust of wind.

"You know, I really hate it when people do that," Ryan grumbled.

-

As Ryan entered his complex, a familiar blue haired girl smiled psychotically. She held out her hand, and with a gust of wind, a gigantic golden battle axe appeared in her hand. "Ryan Shade, huh?" She giggled. "Very interesting."

-

Ryan's apartment wasn't far from the alleyway. He opened his apartment door and took off his shoes, getting a wet paper towel to clean them. He sighed as he scrubbed the blood off of his shoes before flopping on his bed. He took out his phone and dialed Sabrina's number. He's seen it enough to have it memorized at this point. As usual, it went to voicemail. Ryan wasn't disappointed anymore at this point.

"Hey, Sabrina," he said, more as an exasperated sigh rather than a greeting. "Well, I got into a fight today. Well, I'm not sure if you can consider it a fight. Those guys weren't all too tough. If looks could kill, though, those thugs would have been dead thrice over from the look that one girl was giving her, though. Hell, they might have ended up dying if I didn't step in. She kind of reminds me of you. Hey, remember when… wait a second…" Ryan rattled his head, trying to remember what he was going to say. "Weird… I don't remember. That's kind of ironic, huh? Anyways, I'm going to leave that there. I'll call you tomorrow, I guess. Goodnight, Sabrina."