Day 18: A Better Life

Ryan sighed as he rewrote the letter to King Peafowl VII. He decided to be a bit more of an asshole this time around, because honestly, King Peafowl deserved it. "You know, I really wonder where that MILF soldier went," Ryan said. "Eh, he's probably dead somewhere."

"I assume you want me to give that to Grimm," Nux said, appearing in Ryan's room with his signature white and blue fire.

"Yeah," Ryan handed Nux the letter. "Thanks for that by the way."

"No problem," Nux said. "How are things doing down here?"

"I'm doing alright," Ryan replied, standing up. "What about you?"

"I'm sure the void is planning," Nux replied. "I don't know what it is, but I'm sure we can handle it."

"That's fair," Ryan rubbed the back of his head. "We need to take care of that though."

"Whatever," Nux waved his hand dismissively. "Don't you need to get to work?"

"Actually, I do," Ryan replied, perking up as if he forgot something. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see you around," Nux said, chuckling to himself as he vanished with a flash of fire.

-

Jerry sighed as he and his partner Ronald walked up the stairs. They got a report for a cat girl living in this apartment complex, so he and Roland were assigned to take her out. "Man, I don't think I can bring myself to kill her," Jerry said, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Why not? She's a fucking monster," Ronald growled. "I have no qualms."

"Man, what the fuck is wrong with people here?" Jerry muttered to himself as he stopped at the door. "Here we are."

Roland walked up to the door and pounded on it. "We know you're in there!"

There was a moment of silence before a faint sound of glass shattering was heard from the other side. "She jumped out the window!" Jerry exclaimed.

"Let's go!" Ronald shouted, running down the stairs. Jerry sighed. This was his life now.

-

Ryan sighed as he walked down the street. "Man, even though we're not in a time of peace, things really seem to be uneventful," Ryan muttered to himself as he turned to walk down the alley.

"Get back here!" Ryan turned when he heard a voice. He then saw a Cat girl with long, blue hair with purple streaks dashing down the alley on all fours, being followed by two fully-armed MILF soldiers. She then passed Ryan, skidding to a halt. Before anyone can react, the girl grabbed Ryan, holding a kitchen knife at his neck.

"Stop!" The girl demanded, holding Ryan closer to her. "I'll kill him if you get closer!"

You know, I really need to stop opening my fatass mouth, Ryan sighed. He wasn't afraid since he could just use magic to protect himself. His eyes moved towards to the girl. Her eyes were wild with fear and the hand holding the knife was shaking wildly.

"Do you want some help?" Ryan whispered over to her.

"Help?!" The girl whispered back. "I'm holding you at knifepoint!"

"Whatever," Ryan sighed. He plucked the knife from the girl's hand with his fingers before throwing it, hitting one of the soldiers in the head. He pushed the cat girl to the side, diving to the opposite side as the other man opened fire. Ryan dashed for the dead guard, trying his best to avoid gunfire without using magic. He winced as a bullet hit his leg. He stumbled, landing before the dead MILF guard. He quickly grabbed the rifle off of his corpse and shot the surviving soldier in the head three times.

"Damn," Ryan swore as he watched blood seep from his leg. He tore the fabric from of the dead soldier's shirt, wrapping it around his leg. He then turned to the cat girl who stiffened as his eyes landed on hers. "You, do you know healing magic?"

"Y-yes," The girl responded, inching closer to Ryan.

"Can you help me out here?" Ryan asked. Of course, he was capable of healing himself, but he didn't want to risk using magic that close to KFP.

"S-sure," The girl walked over to Ryan. "It's the least I could do for saving your life."

"It was nothing," Ryan winced as the girl started to use her healing magic. "Name's Ryan Shade."

"I'm Neko Neneka," The girl introduced herself. "Thanks for helping me out."

"No problem," Ryan said. "Being chased by MILF must be tough, huh?"

"Like you would know," Neko scoffed. Ryan could tell she was still wary. He understood her hate for humans. If he was a magical being in this time, he would hate humans too.

"You know, this isn't the first time I got shot at by them," Ryan said, causing her to stiffen slightly. "Do you have a place to stay? Judging by your lack of equipment, I bet they chased you out of your place."

"N-no, actually," Neko looked down. "I really worked hard to get that place too."

"Why don't you come to my place of work?" Ryan said.

"N-no, I don't need that," Neko took a step back, Ryan's leg completely healed. "I don't need any help."

"If it makes you feel better, my boss isn't human, though I'm not supposed to know that," Ryan said, watching her ears perk up. "Plus, if it was a trap, why would I kill two people and risk my life for someone I've never met?"

"Fine," Neko said, turning her face in a pout. Ryan tried to stand up but stumbled forward.

"Here, let me help you," Neko grabbed Ryan's arm, hoisting it on her shoulder.

"Thanks," Ryan said.

"No problem," Neko, for the first time, gave Ryan a smile, even if it was miniscule. "It's the least I can do. Now, where is this place of work?"

-

"Ryan! You're la-," Kiara stopped when she saw an unfamiliar girl supporting Ryan inside. "Ryan! What the fuck happened?!"

"Uhh… I found a stray…?" Ryan tried his best to shrug, only to be cuffed in the ear by Neko.

"Don't call me a stray!" Neko chastised.

"What else was I supposed to say? Someone held me hostage against two MILF soldiers so I decided to whip out my latent skills and kill the people that had the guns pointed at my captor?" Ryan asked.

"I guess… you have a point," Neko replied.

"Wait, you WHAT?!" Kiara's voice threatened to make the glass crack. "Both of you, sit down! You two need to explain yourself!"

Ryan and Neko shrunk at Kiara's shouts, both making their way towards the stools. Even Neko was scared of Kiara, even though she had never met her before.

"So, here's how things went down…"

-

"Wow, I didn't know you had it in you," Kiara smiled, patting Ryan on the head. "I'm proud of you, my Little Egg."

"Thanks, Tenchou," Ryan grumbled, looking to the side as if he was a ten year old that claimed to be 'too old' for headpats.

"So, what would we do now?" Ryan asked.

"Well, now that I'm on government record as being a cat girl, I don't think I'll be keeping my job," Neko said, her ears drooping down. "I don't have a place to stay either."

"You know, I think the place next to mine freed up," Ryan said. He vaguely remembered someone moving out, but if that wasn't the case, he was sure Kiara could deal with it.

"Maybe you can get a job here," Kiara said. "We pay good."

"W-what?!" Neko almost fell off her seat. "I-I can't possibly do that!"

"Don't worry about it," Kiara said. "We can work something out for you."

"Well at least stay at the apartment," Ryan sighed. "We're trying to do something good for you."

"Okay…" Neko looked down. "I'll think about it."

"That's good," Ryan said. "Actually, speaking of strays, I actually have to talk to someone."

"You know, since you were already late, I can just give you the day off," Kiara offered.

"Thanks, Tenchou," Ryan smiled. "I'll be right back."

-

David was standing in the middle of the Sahara Desert, looking up at the blazing sunlight. "Damn, you look pitiful," David snapped around to see a guy, roughly 18 walking towards him, dust circling up around him.

"Who the hell are you?!" David's arms turned into wings as he flew up several feet, kicking up a storm of dust towards the man as he elevated from the ground. The man didn't react, just walking forward. All the dust that went towards him just moved around the man.

"Calm down," The man said, smirking at him. "My name is Ryan Shade."

"Ryan Shade? As in the kid working for Kiara?" David only narrowed his eyes. "Last I checked, he was a normal human. How the hell can he be over here?"

"Don't ask," Ryan waved his hand dismissively. "Anyways, I need to get you to KFP."

"Why the hell do you need to get me to KFP?" David said. "I don't want to see her."

David flinched as Ryan bent his knees, jumping up so he was only a couple inches from the sand bird. "Life's about things you don't want to do," he said as he grabbed David's ear and with a flash of light, they vanished.

-

Kiara smiled as she washed the dishes. Neko had gone to Ryan's apartment with one month's rent after she had a plate of fish and rice and was just about to close up when the doors burst open.

"Ow! What the hell?!" A familiar voice caused Kiara turned around. There she saw Ryan, dragging David through the door by his ear. "Is this really necessary?!"

"Yes," Ryan said, shoving him towards Kiara. "I think you have something to say to her."

"David!" Kiara tackled the dusty man into a hug. "It's been so long!"

"Kiara…" David hugged her for a split second before pulling away. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry…"

"Sorry for what?" Kiara tilted her head, obviously confused.

"I'm sorry for being a coward," David explained. "I ran off as soon as I proposed to you."

"David," Kiara pulled David into another hug. "You're still my friend. I never thought that ruined our relationship at all. We'll always be friends, okay?"

"Okay…" David buried his head into Kiara's shoulder.

"Tha-," Kiara looked up to thank Ryan for bringing her friend back to her, but he was already gone. "Heh, he's always been quite mysterious."