Day 22: Third Cycle

"Babysitting?" Lamy asked. She was on the phone while she and Botan were at Lamy's house, playing Minecraft. "I'm not sure that counts as babysitting."

"Maybe you can take her to the KFP," A-Chan offered. "If you ask nicely, maybe Ryan will give you some booze."

"Booze?!" Lamy exclaimed, causing Botan to look over.

"Lamy, you really need to let up on the booze," Botan said.

"What did you say?" Lamy's expression turned dark as an irritated smile spread across her face. She extended her hand, an empty bottle of booze appearing in her hand.

"N-nothing," Botan said, looking back to her game.

"I'll let you two sort things out," A-Chan said before hanging up.

"What did she want?" Botan asked.

"She wants us to babysit."

-

Ryan looked both ways before crossing the street. He noticed that there were a lot of demihumans that have started to come out of the woodworks and show their true selves. Though it hasn't been an easy change, things have been going very well. "You know, you were the one that made this possible," Edhas said.

'Don't give me a reason to boost my ego,' Ryan chuckled softly. Edhas wasn't exactly lying. If he didn't go back in time and participate in the war, who knows what could have happened.

"Just saying the truth, my man," Edhas said as Ryan turned to the alley.

'Well now that I've done my part, I guess I can go enjoy my life as a KFP worker,' Ryan said as he started walking down the alley.

"It's a boring life, but it's not mine, so I have no right to complain," Edhas said with a chuckle.

'Damn straight.'

-

"Morning Tenchou," Ryan smiled as he walked into the room.

"Can you help me out over here?!" Kiara called over from the back room.

"Sure, what is it?" Ryan walked over to the back room to see what looked like a metric ton of refrigerated (never frozen) chicken. "Why do I even bother?"

"It's important to have a surplus of chicken!" Kiara complained as a crow perched itself on her shoulder.

"What's with the crow?" Ryan asked.

"Am crow!" Kiara exclaimed, the crow cawing in excitement.

"Whatever," Ryan sighed as he stood beside Kiara and channeled magical energy into his arms, boosting his strength. He knelt down to the giant rectangular package of chicken and lifted it with both hands.

"Thanks, Little Egg!" Kiara patted Ryan's head as he struggled to move the chicken in the fridge.

"No problem," Ryan muttered, a scowl on his face. "It's too early for this."

"Nonsense!" Kiara slapped Ryan's back, causing him to flinch. "It's never too early for chicken!"

Ryan was about to retort but stopped when he heard the doors open. He walked over to the main room to see one of the weirder things that has entered this restaurant. A toddler in a pink dress and sunglasses slowly wheeling in on a tricycle, Botan and Lamy following on either side of her, sunglasses on and arms crossed as if they were bodyguards. "Nanoraaa~! (TL: uwu)" The toddler exclaimed as she rode up to the counter.

"Uhhh… good morning…?" Ryan said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Morning, Luna!" Kiara chirped as she skipped over to her employee's side. "It's been a while!"

"Hello!" Luna smiled, taking off her sunglasses. She stood up from her tricycle, letting Botan lift her up on one of the stools before looking at Ryan. "Mama and Papa told me a lot of things about you."

"She's the princess of the Candy Kingdom," Kiara informed.

"I see," Ryan rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm flattered."

"Can I have some booze?!" Lamy plopped down next to Luna, an excited smile on her face as she ripped the sunglasses from her eyes.

"No drinking in front of Luna," Botan sat on Luna's other side, opting to keep her sunglasses on.

"Why not?" Lamy pouted.

"Luna is 0," Kiara said.

"Fine," Lamy slumped onto the counter, a depressed expression on her face.

"There, there," Ryan patted Lamy's head. "I'm sure we can use magic to extract the alcohol."

"It's not the same…" Lamy whined, crocodile tears streaming from her face.

"Well, it's probably the best you're going to get," Ryan said. "Do you want it or not?"

"I'll take it…" Lamy acquiesced with a sigh.

"So, how have you been?" Kiara asked.

"Bloom is coming up!" Luna cheered. "Matsuri has to notice me after my performance!"

"I'm sure she notices you, but 0 years is too young for even her," Botan pointed out.

"You're 0 years old?!" Ryan exclaimed. The tricycle is one thing, but her being 0 years old was another thing all together.

"Nanora!" Luna cheered.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ryan said.

"Luna's actually 3," Kiara said. "Isn't she cute?"

"Yeah…" Ryan wasn't one to think babies are cute, but he had to admit that Luna was a little bean.

"Maybe we should visit the Candy Kingdom sometime," Edhas said. "Their candy is heavenly."

'Is there anywhere you haven't been?' Ryan asked.

"Maybe I'll tell you one day," Edhas said. "It's not that I don't trust you or anything, but my past… let's just say I'm proud of a lot of the things I did."

'That's fair,' Ryan replied. 'I'll wait until you're ready. There's no rush.'

"Thanks," Edhas said, genuine gratitude in his voice. "I truly mean it."

'You don't show this side of you often,' Ryan said. 'It's a nice change of pace.'

"Yeah, I guess that means I'm starting to open up," Edhas said. "It feels… weird. I don't know if I like it or not. It's new, that's for sure."

'You must have had a tough life,' Ryan noted. He's never taken the time to think about his past life. He didn't know whether he was excited or not to find out about it.

"You can say that," Edhas said.

"Ryan?" Kiara's voice snapped Ryan from his conversation. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," Ryan shook his head, dispelling his thoughts. He can think about that kind of stuff later. "I was just talking about Edhas."

"Edhas…" Luna put her finger on her chin. "I think I've heard Papa say that name before."

"It's probably nothing," Ryan quickly said. 'What the hell did you do this time?!'

"I'll tell you eventually," Edhas said, heaving a sigh.

'If you say so,' Ryan said.

"Alright," Luna said, nodding her head.

"A-chan asked you to babysit, didn't she?" Kiara asked.

"Yep," Botan said. "Totally put a damper on date night, huh?"

"You two are dating?" Ryan asked. Botan and Lamy answered with an eager nod. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Lamy smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Neither would I," Botan said, reaching out behind Luna to grab Lamy's hand.

Ryan wanted to say 'not in front of the kids', but it was just handholding. There were plenty of things lewder than handholding. "That's sweet. I'm happy for you two."

"Thank you, Ryan," Lamy smiled softly. "I'm sure you'll find someone soon."

"To be honest, I'm not exactly sure I want something like that," Ryan said, scratching his head. "I just don't feel any of those tingly feelings everyone else feels. I'm not sure if I like it or not."

"That's perfectly okay," Kiara put a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "It's okay to feel what you feel and vice versa. That doesn't take anything away from you as a person."

"Thank you," Ryan said. "You know, I'm really happy that I wound up working here. You guys are all so welcoming."

"Of course," Kiara said. "We're Hololive, a company that accepts everyone, no matter what."

-

Storm sighed as he looked at a mirror. His other eye was starting to be taken over by the darkness. "It looks like my time is running out, huh?"

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Aloe asked, putting a hand on Storm's shoulder.

"Yeah," Storm sighed again, looking his friend in the eye. "I'm content with my life. There's nothing I can do about it anyway. I'm just grateful that I'm going to spend my last days with you."

"It is my honor to be with you in your last moments, Storm," Aloe said.

"Man, such a shitty mood in here," Both of them jumped when Nux's voice permeated throughout the empty void. "You guys are no fun."

"Nice to see you too, Nux," Storm said, turning to the pale man. "Do you have a contingency plan yet?"

"Eh, Edhas'll deal with it," Nux said. "He's actually been planning for something like this for the past couple days. Perhaps not something of your magnitude, but I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I see," Storm smirked. "He's always been a bright kid. If I was alive, I would have made him my successor in a heartbeat."

"Not a bad choice," Nux mused. "I guess all we can do is wait and see."

Omake: Honorary Phoenix

Watame sighed as she felt the life ebb away from her body. Of course, she volunteered herself to let Mio eat her, but that didn't make dying any more fun. At this point, she became numb to the pain. She wasn't angry at Mio for killing her or anything. She would do anything for her friends.

"Hey, Watame," Watame opened her eyes to see Grimm, someone she had grown all too used to seeing. Before Calli took over as Death, Grimm was the one she was sent to meet. Ever since Grimm died, she was sent to see Calli or one of her many subordinates. She looked around, surprised to see that she wasn't in the empty void that she was used to going to when she died. She was in a lush, lively field leading into a forest a few hundred meters away. The sky was blue with only a few clouds, the sun shining down on them. "Welcome to the Phoenix Dimension."

"Why am I here?" Watame asked, turning her attention back to Grimm. "I thought you were dead."

"Well, things have changed," Grimm said. "I now rule the world of the phoenixes. I've been quite busy, you see. How do you like it?"

"It's nice," Watame said as a flaming bird flew across the sky. "I like it."

"That's good," Grimm said. "I've decided to let you come here instead of purgatory after you died, I feel like you deserve it."

"Really?" Watame looked at Grimm, slightly shocked. They've always been in a love-hate relationship, her not being able to permanently die and all. "I'm not a phoenix, though."

"You've been a very positive influence on your world," Grimm said. "You've made hundreds of thousands of people happy with your actions. I feel like you should be rewarded for that. You've always been a selfless person."

"Thank you," Watame smiled at Grimm.

"Now, it may be time for you to go soon, but next time you can come here, you can change the flow of time to take a break here," Grimm said. "I have one more thing for you before you go back to the land of the living."

"What may that be?" Watame tilted her head, an interested expression on her face. Grimm took out his scythe, a majestic golden weapon, the top part orange and the blade a solidified energy, turquoise in color. He slowly moved the blade until it was hovering over her heart. A bead of sweat dripped down Watame's forehead, but she stood still. She trusted Grimm.

"With this, I dub Tsunomaki Watame an honorary phoenix," Grimm said, a small flame forming from the tip and guiding itself into Watame's body. Watame expected it to be painful, but the flame felt warm. She closed her eyes, basking in the warm, comforting feeling as an orange light overtook her sight.

-

"Watame?" A-chan asked. Watame usually took about eight seconds to respawn, but it had been over thirty, and A-chan was starting to get worried.

"Matsuri, did I kill her?!" Mio exclaimed, a shocked expression on her face. Of course, she tore out her throat and ate her, but she didn't expect Watame to actually die. Suddenly, an orange flame appeared out of nowhere, growing in size until Watame stepped through.

"Watame!" Both Mio and A-chan both tackled their friend in a hug, causing her to topple over.

"Ahhh!" Watame shouted as she fell to the floor, Mio and A-chan piled on top of her. "What's the big deal?!"

"You were dead for over thirty seconds!" Mio exclaimed. "I thought you were dead!"

"Don't worry," Watame smiled as she rubbed her hand on Mio's head. "I just had someone to see, that's all.