Day 9: Murderers, Memelords, Gorillas, Oh My!

A shiver down Ryan's spine forced him awake. "I thought you said you'd deal with this," Ryan grumbled as the tugging on his mind returned. He stood up and cracked his back, putting on his hoodie. It was early in the morning, and Ryan wanted to get out. He decided to call Kiara and give her a heads up. He dialed up the number and put the phone to his ear.

"KIKKERIKIII~" Ryan didn't actually expect her to pick up, much less so quickly.

"So, I feel like I'm being watched again." Ryan glared at a random window as a feeble attempt to try and spot his stalker. If he was successful, he didn't know, as nothing happened. "Can I hop into the restaurant early?"

"Sure! I'm already there, so you can drop by!" Kiara replied.

"Really? It's…" Ryan paused to look at his phone. "3:45 am. What the hell are you doing there?"

"Adding armored plating to the restaurant," Kiara deadpanned.

"Really?"

"Yep."

"You know, I don't even know why I bother," Ryan facepalmed. "I'll see you soon."

As he hung up, the tugging sensation went away. Ryan sighed with relief as he walked off.

-

The first thing Ryan noticed was the fortifications on the restaurant. Armored plating was slapped on the walls and barred on the windows. "Okay…" Ryan muttered to himself, opening the doors.

"Is anyone there?" He asked, noting that the floors, ceilings, and even the stools were replaced with a shiny metal.

"Oh!" Kiara opened the door from the back, hammer and nails in hand. "It's great you're here! Can you help out?"

"What's…" Ryan waved his arms dramatically. "All this?"

"Oh, it's just tungsten," Kiara replied. "Now, we really need to hurry up and finish this."

"Wait," Ryan held his hands up. "Why tungsten? Why the plating? Why anything?"

"Kaichou's coming today," Kiara said, staring at Ryan as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Who's Kaichou?"

"A dragon."

"Oh," Ryan paused. Without another word, he followed Kiara to the back.

-

After a couple hours, they finished completely fortifying the restaurant. "That wasn't that bad!" Kiara laughed as she ate a fried chicken leg.

"You weren't the one who was forced to make you fried chicken, used as a ladder, and was used as target practice to 'test the melting point'," Ryan was laying on the floor in the middle of the establishment, his chest heaving.

"It was great exercise!" Kiara smiled as the doors opened. When Ryan opened his eyes, a familiar woman was looking down at him, an amused smile on her face.

"Morning Hoshimachi-san," Ryan said, closing his eyes again.

"Morning Ryan," Suisei giggled at the display before stepping over him to sit down.

"Suisei-senpai!" Kiara exclaimed before a multitude of crashing sounds could be heard, followed up with a thud. Ryan then opened his eyes to see Kiara laying face down next to him.

"Oh, morning Tenchou," Ryan said nonchalantly. "You two know each other?"

"Of course!" Kiara hopped up, grabbing Ryan by his collar to force him to his feet. "C'mon, Ryan! It's time to get to work!"

"Ugh, fine!" Ryan groaned as he got behind the counter. "What would you like, Hoshimachi-san?"

"Nothing for now," She gave Ryan a smile. "Feel free to call me Suisei, though."

"Alright, Suisei-san," Ryan cracked his back. He noted that there was a distant sound of wings flapping, thinking none of it. As the flapping noises grew, Ryan's expression contorted with dread. This was it. The dragon that Kiara was talking about. With a crashing thud, a giant dragon revealed itself, purple scales shining in the sunlight. As the dragon landed, a girl with a golden halo that Ryan noted was shaped differently than he would expect.

With a flash of light, the dragon started to shrink in size until a woman with long, orange hair taking its place, purple tail swishing wildly. Ryan recognized her immediately, pointing at her as soon as she opened the door. "I remember you!"

"Good morning motherf**kers!" Coco gave Ryan a thumbs up and a wink. "Did you drink the Asacoco?"

"Coco!" The angel girl gasped, giving her a look. "How could you give him Asacoco! Is that really how you treat him after everything?"

"Everything?" Ryan tilted his head.

"She's talking about something else," Coco waved her hand dismissively.

"Color me curious," Ryan said as Coco and the angel girl sat down beside Suisei.

"A person that looked just like you appeared two years ago," Coco started. "Along with six other people broke into a MILF stronghold. At the time, I was apprehended and forced into suppression. Those six people broke me out."

"So, like a twin or something?" Ryan asked. "That's weird. Another thing is, I can't remember anything before about a year ago."

"The thing is, he was a powerful mage," Coco looked Ryan directly in the eyes. "And he's dead."

"Dead?!" The angel girl exclaimed, shooting Coco a look. "You never told me anything about this."

"We didn't want anyone to know," Coco looked back at the girl. "The existence of YAGOO and the six hooded mages keep the MILF in check."

"You know," Ryan rubbed his head. "I'm not sure if I should be in on all this secret-y magic underground war stuff."

"He's probably right," Suisei chimed in. "Kanata-chan, you haven't introduced yourself yet."

"Oh!" Kanata's face flushed with embarrassment. "I forgot… I'm sorry. My name is Aname Kanata, a first-year student at the Heaven Academy of Angelic Arts. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ryan Shade, KFP employee," Ryan introduced himself casually. "What would you two like?"

"I'll have a dragon-tail steak!" Coco said, raising her hand enthusiastically.

"Isn't that cannibalism?" Ryan asked.

"C'mon! Dragon tail is a delicacy across the magical community!" Coco chirped.

"Whatever you say," Ryan grumbled.

"I'll have pork stew!" Kanata said. At that, Kanata, Coco, and Suisei started laughing.

"Did you get the pot I sent you?" Coco asked Kiara.

"Yeah!" Kiara chirped before giving Coco a confused expression. "Why did you even have a pot that big?"

"Long story," Kanata interjected, causing the trio to laugh again. "Can you use that pot please?"

"Sure, why?" Kiara asked.

"Just… humor us," Suisei said. "We'll pay for the entire meal."

"Whatever you say," Kiara headed to the back. "Since dragon meat is very delacite, I'll do the cooking this time."

"I never get to cook," Ryan muttered under his breath.

"Do you want to ruin tens of thousands of gold coins in dragon meat," Kiara quipped.

"I guess not," Ryan sighed. He didn't know how much a gold coin was worth and part of him didn't want to know.

"Thought so," Kiara nodded and turned on the grill.

"So, what are you guys going to use with the leftover stew?" Ryan asked. "Assuming the pot is big enough for you guys to have extra."

"Maybe we can give the rest of it to YAGOO," Suisei suggested. "He really deserves it."

"I'm sure YAGOO loves our cooking," Coco said. "After all, Kiara-chan is using our recipe."

-

"You alright?" The man on the phone asked.

"Yeah," YAGOO shuddered. "I just got a bad feeling. Don't worry about it, Shade."

"If you insist," Shade replied through the phone. "Anyways, what do you think of him?"

"I think he'll be ready for magic in a few days," YAGOO replied. "He's really grown this past week. I have to say I'm proud of him."

"Just because your idols are raising him doesn't mean you are," Shade said.

"I guess not," YAGOO replied. "Are you going to send someone?"

"There aren't many of us left," Shade replied. Depending on our situation, I might be able to send Godslayer in 5 days. She hasn't stopped bothering me about him. If I don't relent, I think she might run off to Japan herself."

"Give him five days," YAGOO replied. "It'll be a nice surprise to celebrate half a month of work, I suppose."

"That sounds like a good idea," Shade said. "Maybe finally I could get some peace. By the way, do you have some more of that stew? Godson has taken a particular liking to it."

"How does he even handle that stuff?" YAGOO asked, massaging his temples. "I think I saw him eat Haato-chan's cooking once."

"He eats it exclusively with alcohol," Shade deadpanned.

"I see."

-

"Yeah! Coco's cooking is the best!" Kanata chirped.

"I'll have to take your word for it," Ryan offered the trio a smile.

"Hey Ryan," Coco said in English, giving Ryan a suggestive look. "Who's you're favorite customer?"

"I'm not sure I should be answering that," Ryan replied in kind.

"What are you saying?" Suisei asked.

"Don't worry about it," Coco said in Japanese before switching back to English. "This could stay between us."

"Fine," Ryan grumbled. "I have to say Tenchou is my favorite."

"Really?!" Kiara brought a massive pot and placed it on the counter with a thud before attempting to hug Ryan, who expertly dodged out of the way.

"I'm not too fond of physical contact," Ryan said.

"Choco-sensei would probably have something to say about that," Suisei offered Ryan a wink.

"How do you know about that?" Ryan asked, narrowing his eyes.

"So, you two did spend the night together!" Kiara cheered.

"No, they just hugged," Suisei corrected.

"Stop dodging the question," Ryan said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Suisei offered Ryan a kind smile.

"Is this normal?" Ryan turned to the other two customers.

"Yep," Both Coco and Kanata said at the same time.

"Wonderful," Ryan muttered under his breath.

"Anyways, I'm off to deliver this to YAGOO," Coco stood up.

"What about your tail steak?" Ryan asked.

As if on cue, Kiara gave Coco a bag. "Thanks!" Coco chirped as the three of them walked off.

Before Suisei exited the door, she turned to Ryan and gave him a wink. "I'm looking forward to seeing you again."

"Sure," Ryan said, unsure of what to think.

Ryan turned to Kiara as Suisei left. "Is that normal?"

"Probably," Kiara replied.

"Great."

-

Ryan flopped on the bed, groaning. He took out his phone and dialed up Sabrina's number. "Hey, Sabrina. It's me again," Ryan said, a smile on his face. "I met a dragon today! How cool is that? She's really nice, other than the fact that she gave me drugs the first time I met her. She came with an angel too! Aname-san seems really sweet. Overall, I had a really good day. I still miss you, though. I would love to see you some day soon, but I'm not sure how possible that is. Maybe I can ask for a few days off after a couple weeks and fly to America. That sounds nice. Anyways, I'll call you tomorrow. Have a good night, Sabrina."

As he hung up, Ryan flopped on the bed. Life was really looking up for him. He smiled.

-

A hooded figure hopped out of a portal inside a building. "So, this is how Japan is now," the hooded figure muttered to herself. "All I need to do is find Edhas."

As she took her first step, her phone vibrated. "Crap," she muttered. Suddenly, she took out a wand and with a flick of her wrist, the wand extended into a baton just in time to clash with a katana.

"Yo-chan," her attacker said. "YAGOO said you wouldn't be arriving for another five days."

"What can I say?" The hooded figure, Yo-chan replied. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Kurokami-san."

"I see," Kurokami sheathed her sword. "So, you want to see him."

"I do," Yo-chan replied.

"I can't let you-," Kurokami started before wincing in pain. "Fubuki says that I should let you. I'm going to get in trouble for this, but I guess I owe you one."

"Thank you, Kurokami-san," Yo-chan bowed. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Whatever," Kurokami replied, offering her a pout. "Just don't reveal your identity to him. We don't know his current mental state. I think you know what would happen if he snaps."

"But-," Yo-chan started, but stopped to consider. "Fine. I guess I can't ask for too much. Where is he?"

"Don't get too impatient," Kurokami said. "We'll visit him at work tomorrow. That's probably the best idea."

"As long as I get to see him," Yo-chan replied. She smiled underneath her cloak. After all this time, they will finally be reunited.