Day 9: Canning Stereotypes
Inugami Korone was a very carefree person. She did what she want, when she wanted, and she got whatever she wanted. Yubis? She got them. Soap? Absolutely not. This very well may be the first time that Korone has been worried in her life. She laid in her bed, looking at the onigiri shaped box, sweat beading down her face. "Today is the day," she said to herself, trying her best to give a determined look. Unfortunately, she only succeeded in looking like an angry puppy. She doesn't need to know that. "Today is the day."
She sat up, giving the box one last look before pocketing it in her yellow jacket. She sighed as she beaded the sweat from her face. She needed to relax. Something to do. Something to mentally prepare herself before she made the most important decision of her life.
"Ah, I know! I should talk to Kiara-chan!" Korone chirped. Since she was recently married, she could ask her what she did. "To KFP!"
As she stood up, the phone rang. Korone picked up her phone, putting it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Koro-san," At the sound of Okayu's voice, Korone blanched. Usually, Korone would jump for joy, but right now, Okayu was the last person who Korone wanted to see. "I was headed to KFP today to check up on Ryan. I haven't seen him since he got shot in the head, and I thought it would be rude not to check on him. Would you like to come?"
"O-of course, Okayu!" Korone tried to hide the nervousness in her voice but failed considerably. She didn't want to see Okayu at that moment, but she never turned down Okayu. She would get suspicious. Plus, who wouldn't want to hang out with Okayu?
"Are you okay, Koro-san?" Okayu obviously noticed Korone's distressed, as they have known each other and have been dating for years. "We don't have to go if you don't want to."
"No, it's fine!" Korone assured her. "I'll see you there soon!"
Korone hung up the phone, panting heavily. 'Can I do this?' She asked herself. 'No, I can't ask myself that question. I have to do this. For me. For us.'
Korone stood up, the angry/determined puppy look back on her face. It was time to go. It was now or never.
-
Okayu looked at her phone as Korone hung up on her. Something was obviously wrong. Korone never acted like this. Thoughts flew through her head. Was she cheating? No, Korone's a dog girl. She's the most loyal girl ever. Okayu paled as the thoughts in her head got progressively worse. Was she abused? Manipulated? Taken advantage of? A bead of sweat dripped down Okayu's forehead. 'I will get to the bottom of this, whatever this is,' Determination flared in Okayu's eyes as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. 'For me. For us.'
-
Korone walked into the KFP and saw Kiara and Ryan casually chatting. "No, Tenchou," Ryan said. "I will not go to a 'Get Ryan a Girlfriend' event on Saturday. That's just ridiculous."
"But Ryan," Kiara whined. "It'll be fun… and you'll get a girlfriend!"
As Korone knew both of them didn't realize she was there, she decided to get their attention. "Yubi Yubi!" She exclaimed, catching both of them off guard. Ryan's face immediately paled. Korone never knew why Ryan was so scared of her, but it made sense, considering her finger stealing record.
"Morning Inugami-san," Ryan said, his face slowly returning to normal.
"Korone-senpai!" Kiara cheered. "How are things? It's been a while! How are things going with Okayu-senpai?"
"Uh, I actually wanted to talk to you about that," Korone shuffled uncomfortably as she sat down. Both Ryan and Kiara's face instantly contorted with worry. Everyone thought that nothing could get Korone down or even nervous, but to see her like this proved that myth wrong. She took out her onigiri box.
"Oh my god!" Kiara squealed. "I can't believe you're doing that!"
"Doing what?" Korone jumped, shoving the box into her pocket as she heard Okayu's voice. She turned around, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"Morning, Okayu!" Korone cheered, trying very hard to stay calm, which she could not do at the moment.
"Did I make you wait?" Okayu walked over, giving Korone a hug.
"No, you're fine," Korone replied. Okayu pulled away and gave Korone a worried look, which only succeeded in causing Korone to panic more.
"Koro-san, you're shaking," Okayu said, her voice dripping with concern. "Are you really okay? You were acting weird on the phone."
"Was I?" Korone was freaking out at this point. She rubbed the back of her head, laughing nervously. "I don't remember."
"Koro-san, you can talk to me," Tears were forming in Okayu's eyes as she gripped Korone's shoulders with her hands as she looked her lover in the eye. "Please talk to me, Koro-san."
Korone wanted nothing more than to burst into tears and hug Okayu, telling her that nothing was wrong. She felt horrible making Okayu worry over something that was really positive. "Senpai?" Both Korone and Okayu turned when they heard Kiara's voice. Kiara didn't say anything. All she did was give Korone an affirming nod.
"Koro-san, does Kiara know something?" Okayu asked, a hint of betrayal of her voice. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's because this has to do with you," Korone said. This wasn't exactly the ideal place to do what she wanted to do, but it was now or never, considering the circumstances. "I need to ask you a very important question."
"You can ask me anything, Koro-san," Okayu said, too worried to infer what Korone was going to ask. "You know this."
Korone took in a shaky breath and lowered herself down onto one knee as she dug her hand in her jacket pocket. She took out her onigiri box and opened it, revealing a silver onigiri ring. The seaweed was represented by a beautiful onyx gem and the rice was represented by a bunch of little diamonds that sparkled in the light. "Okayu, will you marry me?"
-
'What. The. Fuck,' Ryan thought. Out of ALL the places that you can propose to someone, Korone decided to propose in a KFP? Really?
"Man, that needs to be you someday," Edhas said.
'Shut up. This is an emotional moment,' Ryan said as he watched the scene unfold. Okayu gasped with her hands over her mouth. Instead of wiping the tears in her eyes, they started to flow down her cheeks.
"Koro-san…" Okayu managed, holding back sobs. "Are you sure about this? This is a huge decision."
"I'm very sure," Ryan knew that Korone was trying her hardest not to cry. "I love you so much, Okayu. More than anything in the world. I love you more than I love yubis."
"Then of course I will marry you," Okayu said, unable to hold back her sobs.
"Okayu!" Korone jumped up, tackling her new fiancée in a hug, now openly sobbing. "I love you!"
"I love you too, Koro-san," Okayu hugged her back, the normally laid-back cat girl crying tears of joy. "I'm so happy that you asked me."
"Me too, Okayu," Korone said, sniffling. "Me too."
-
It took a while for the two to calm down, which Ryan understood. Ryan and Kiara gave them tissues and head pats in hopes to help comfort them. "I'm so happy!" Korone exclaimed, hugging her new fiancée. Okayu had her arm outstretched, admiring the new onigiri ring on her finger.
"I want to eat it," Okayu said, drooling slightly with sparkles in her eyes.
"Actually, I prepared some celebratory onigiri for you!" Kiara said, presenting a huge plate of onigiri.
"Really?!" Okayu sat down in front of the big plate, shoveling down the rice balls like a starved lion or Marine consuming doujinshu.
"And some yubis for you!" Kiara put a plate of similar size to Okayu's with fried human fingers.
"Yubi yubi!" Korone cheered, plopping down and wolfing down the fingers just as fast, if not faster than Okayu eating the rice balls.
"Koro-san, we need to get you a ring!" Okayu said, stuffing the last rice ball into her mouth.
"You're right!" Korone jumped up, a finger sticking out of her mouth. "Let's go Okayu!"
The two ran off, their mouths still full. "You know," Ryan rubbed the back of his head, a huge smile on his face. "I would complain about them not paying, but I'll let them go. Just this once."
-
"Moona?" Iofi walked along the surface of the moon, looking back and forth. "Where are you?"
"Iofi?" Moona appeared a few feet behind her, a befuddled expression on her face. "You never come visit me here. You could have just called me, you know."
"I know, but I wanted this to be special, so I decided to come here," Iofi smiled at her lover. "We really need to talk."
"What do you need?" Moona asked, hiding her worry. In reality, Iofi could want to talk about anything. Was her affection towards Pekora causing Iofi distress? Moona loved Iofi but didn't want to give up her best friend and CEO.
"Hoshinova Moona," Iofi walked towards Moona until she was only a few inches away from Moona. She then slowly dropped to one knee, splotches of paint gently floating off of her overalls. The balls of paint started to fuse together, creating a small light. Moona looked away as the light intensified, shielding her eyes with her hands. As the light dimmed, Moona looked back and audibly gasped when she saw a beautiful golden ring, small diamonds forming the shape of a crescent moon. "Will you marry me?"
-
Ryan sighed as he flopped on his bed. He still felt really bad about what happened with Sabrina, but he didn't know if it was the right time to talk to her.
"I don't think you should, Ryan," Edhas said as Ryan sighed. "When Sabrina wants to talk to you, she'll come to you herself."
Whatever you say, Ryan said, sighing as he closed his eyes. Maybe a nap would clear his head.
"Maybe Kiara is on to something," Edhas pondered. "You should probably go get a girlfriend."
You're an idiot, Ryan grumbled as he slowly let himself drift off into sleep.
-
"Are you ready to go?" Storm asked, looking at Grimm, who was washed up with a new, black robe and a new scythe, its outline black and orange and the blade made of a green plasma, not unlike Kiara's sword and shield.
"Yeah," Grimm said, cracking his neck, opening a portal. "I'll see you soon."
Storm waved as Grimm walked into the portal. "Good luck, big bro."
-
Grimm walked out of the portal, instantly deducing that he was in a very familiar alley in Japan: the alley that Ryan and Edhas walk through every day to go to work. "My students," Grimm started, the corner of his lip curving upwards in a smirk. "I have returned."
-
Omake: Professional Assistance
Kiara sighed as she watched Ryan left the building. "What am I going to do with that boy?" She asked herself, massaging her temples. She walked over to the break room and pressed a hidden button in one of the cupboards. With a hiss, a notebook revealed itself in the hidden compartment. Kiara took out the notebook and started reading it. It had the names of all the hololive and holostars idols, as well as anyone else who has walked into the restaurant with check marks and 'x'es marked next to their name. She took out her phone and dialed a number.
"Moshi moshi~?" Marine's voice was heard on the other side of the phone. "What do you need, Kiara-chan?"
"Senchou!" Kiara cheered. "You see, I'm trying to hook Ryan up, and I really need your help."