Day 027: Calm Before the Storm

Kiara woke up to her phone pinging. She rolled over in bed, grabbing her phone. Her smile widened as she read the message.

YAGOO: Everyone wants to meet at KFP today. I hope you and Ryan are ready

"Well, looks like we're going to have our work cut out for us."

-

Ryan sighed as he woke up. Suisei placed a note on the nightstand saying she was going to Cover Corp for a 3D stream (whatever that was) before going to run a couple errands. "I guess I'm on my own today," Ryan sighed.

-

Ryan felt his own vibrating as he crossed the threshold to the KFP. He looked at his phone to see it was Kiara. "Tenchou, I'm right outside," Ryan said before hanging up the phone. He put his phone in his pocket and looked up as Kiara ran out of the back room, opening the door for Ryan.

"Morning Ryan!" Kiara cheered, her tone noticeably more excited than usual.

"Morning Tenchou," Ryan smiled as he looked at her. One thing he could never get enough of was Kiara's enthusiasm. It was really infectious, helping Ryan get through the day more than once. "You seem excited about something."

"Everyone's going to come here to hang out before the war!" Kiara said. "You better kick your ass into high gear, because it will get crowded from here on out!"

"Of course, Tenchou," Ryan smiled, dawning his KFP uniform.

"Oh, and by the way?" Kiara said.

"Yes, Tenchou?"

"Here you go," Kiara opened her hand, a KFP cap appearing in her hand, 'BEST EGG' written below the KFP logo. "I thought you would like this."

"Thank you, Tenchou," Ryan wiped a tear from his eye as he put on the cap. It wasn't much, but it meant the world to Ryan. "Let's do this."

-

"Shuba!" The first person to walk in was Ui who was carrying Subaru in her arms.

"Pipipi!" Kiara replied in her own form of 'birb talk'.

"Good morning," Ryan said, directing his attention to Ui, as he didn't understand what Subaru and Kiara were saying. "My name is Ryan Shade. It's nice to meet you."

"My name is Shigure Ui," Ui introduced herself with a polite nod as she sat down, placing Subaru on the counter. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Reine has said a lot of nice things about you."

"Yo dayo!" Ayame burst through the doors, Choco following not too far behind, dragging Aqua and Shion with her.

"Ara, it's nice to finally see you at your place of work, Ryan," Choco said, letting go of the two brats to put a finger on her lips before turning to Shion and Aqua. "You two will behave now, right?"

"Hai, Choco-sensei," The two said in unison, crocodile tears pouring from their faces.

"I see you had to be rough with them," Ryan said, shuddering as he remembered her fight with Mary.

"I see you remember our sessions together~," Choco said.

"I don't, but I honestly don't want to," Ryan said, looking around nervously for a way out. "Who are those two people you were dragging?"

"Oh, I'm Minato Aqua!" Aqua shot up, a cheery smile on her face. "That garlic over there is Murasaki Shion. Don't mind her, though. She's a brat."

"Neeeeee?!" Shion jumped up, getting up in Aqua's face. "What did you say about me?!"

"Do I have to tell you two to behave again~?" Choco asked.

"No, Choco-sensei," the two stiffened.

"Hey guys!" Subaru jumped from the counter, transforming into her human form. "Want to get a table?"

"Sure!" Aqua chirped, sitting down at the nearest table.

"I guess that's fine," Shion said, trudging after her as Choco, Ayame, and Ui walked over with them.

"Tenchou, I think we forgot something," Ryan said as he heard the faint sound of wings flapping.

"What did we forget?" Kiara tilted her head.

"The tungsten," Ryan said as the giant purple dragon landed outside the KFP.

"Shit," Kiara said. "Eh, we'll probably be fine."

Coco reverted to her human form, Watame and Kanata hopped down while Towa floated down, carrying Luna.

"Nanora~!" Luna chirped as they opened the doors.

"Good morning motherfuckers!" Coco exclaimed.

"Morning Kaichou," Ryan said, walking around the counter towards a table. "You five can sit here."

"Thank you," Towa said as she sat down next to Kanata. "Is there any way that I can tip you?"

"You don't need to be so kind," Ryan said, offering the others a wink.

"D-don't call me kind!" Towa's face flushed as she recoiled in absolute shock. "I'm a devil, you know?!"

"Whatever you say," Ryan chuckled. Ryan suddenly got a bad feeling right when the doors opened. He turned to see Korone and Okayu walking in, holding hands (AN: lewd). He never did forget that time Korone stole his yubis and the dog girl still absolutely terrified him. She was one of the most adorable things to walk through those doors and Ryan loved her bubbly personality, but that didn't make her any less scary.

"Good morning," Ryan forced his customer service smile as he pushed down the thoughts of his fingerless hands. "My name is Ryan Shade. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Mogu mogu… Okayu!" Okayu closed her eyes, her smile widening as she introduced herself.

"Yubi yubi! I'm Inugami Korone!" Korone introduced herself.

-999 hp! Super effective! Ryan winced in pain as the cuteness started to overload his systems, but he tried his upmost to stay professional. "There are some free seats at the counter if you would like to sit there."

"That sounds great," Okayu said as they all walked over to the counter as Kiara walked from the back room with a comically large pot of stew for Gen 4.

"The usual I assume?" Ryan asked.

"You know what we want?" Okayu asked.

"Yep," Ryan said. "By the way, I'm not falling for that trick."

"Aw," Korone looked down, her shoulder slumping.

"Don't worry, I have some yubis for you in the back," Ryan said, a reassuring smile on his face.

"Thank you," Korone's smile widened, her tail starting to wag.

-100 Hp! Critical Hit! Ryan smiled and walked to the back room before clenching his chest. The cuteness was just too much for him.

"You doing alright there?" Ryan turned to see Kiara walking up to him.

"Yeah, do you know where the fingers are?" Ryan asked.

"I'll deal with the fingers. Can you make the onigiri?" Kiara said as a smile started to form on her face.

"I thought you would never ask."

-

"Thank you for the food!" Korone cheered as she stood up.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Okayu said, a smirk on her face as she put her hands in her pockets as the two walked out. They were the last two to leave, so that left Kiara and Ryan by themselves.

"I'd say that was a pretty successful day," Kiara said.

"Heads up," Ryan said. "There's more coming."

"Oocha!" Gura kicked the doors open.

"Gura, don't bully the doors too much," Amelia said, patting Gura's head.

"Hey Ame," Ryan waved lazily at the detective. "How goes it?"

"Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish my mecha before the war, but at least I got the arms down," Amelia said, holding out her arms. With a yellow glow, two giant, robotic arms that went from the entrance to the counter appeared, dozen of guns mounted on them.

"Even though we do allow weapons, I think I would have a hard time serving you like that," Ryan rubbed the back of his neck.

"But Ryan~," Ryan was surprised when Kiara was the one to whine. Ryan turned to his boss to see stars in her eyes. "They're so cool."

"You'll get to see them tomorrow," Ryan said, putting a hand on Kiara's head.

"Fine," Kiara and Amelia said at the same time as Amelia dispelled the arms.

"The usual, I assume?" Ryan tilted his head.

"Yep," Amelia said. "And doughnuts for the apex predator."

"Of course," Ryan smiled at Gura before going to the back to heat up some water for tea, walking to the storage to grab a box of doughnuts. As he walked out, he poured the boiling water in a tea kettle before grabbing a couple bags of tea.

"Order up," Ryan said as he walked out. When he did, he noticed Ina was there as well.

"Afternoon," Ryan said as he placed the doughnuts and tea on the counter. "What would you like to eat."

"Kiara's already on her way to fire up some Takoyaki," Ina said, nodding to herself.

"That's a stretch, even for me," Ryan grumbled. "But I'm not In-a mood to judge."

"Anyways, tomorrow is going to be a blast, right?" Ina asked, winking at Ryan.

"I'm ready to deal out some punishment," Ryan said, cracking his knuckles.

"Please, for the love of everything that is good, stop your puns," Amelia said, massaging her temples.

"C'mon, Watson! If you ask me, these puns are Ame-zing!" Gura said, munching on a doughnut.

"Takos are ready!" Kiara ran over with a plate of Takoyaki to place in front of Ina.

"Thank you," Ina said as she took a bite. "Humu-humu."

"Now, I suggest you all get a good night's sleep for tomorrow," Kiara said. "Make sure to hydrate and arrive at HoloHQ at time, alright?"

"Yes, Mama Birb," Ryan said.

"It's good that you know your place, my Little Egg," Kiara patted Ryan's head. Ryan smiled. He could get used to this life.

-

Ryan took off his cap as he walked down the alley, a smile on his face. As black mist started to move across the floor, Ryan stopped.

"You have some explaining to do," Calli said as Ryan turned to confront her. Ryan walked up to calli, looking up at her, miffed that she was taller than him, but understood how she felt. Apparently, her sensei was alive and he didn't tell her, but decided to tell someone who seemingly had no association with.

"Grimm's a friend of a friend," Ryan said simply. "Since my friend is gone, Grimm went to me. Grimm only gained the ability to come here recently. Last I checked, this was his first time coming to this dimension."

"I see…" Calli rubbed her chin. Ryan could tell how conflicted she was. He smiled softly and pulled her into a hug.

"W-wha…!" Calli flushed, shocked.

"Just accept the hug, dad," Ryan said.

"Fine," Calli pouted, hugging back.

-

Ryan sighed as he opened the door to his apartment.

"How was work?" Suisei asked, running over people in GTA V.

"I'm sure you already know," Ryan said, placing a hand on Suisei's head.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Suisei asked, pausing the game to look at Ryan.

"I'm as ready as I can be," Ryan said, offering Suisei a reassuring smile.

"Just do me a favor," Suisei said. "Don't die."

Ryan forced a smile, knowing that the next words he was going to say was a lie. "I won't," he said. "That's a promise."