Chapter Text
Day 1: Return Home
As Ryan Shade snapped awake in his bed, the color in his left eye shifted from brown to grey. “Finally,” he breathed, sweat beating down his face. “I’ve returned home.”
Takanashi Kiara was unable to sleep. The grand opening of her new Kiara Fried Phoenix location was today, and even better, the reunion with her genmates was at that location. She excitedly grabbed her phone, looking at the time. “Four am?!” She groaned to herself. “At this rate, I’ll die fifteen times before it opens!” She paced around impatiently.
“Whatever,” she said to herself. “I’ll just head over there and call Calli when I get there.”
Flaming wings sprouted from Kiara’s back, flapping a couple times. She let out a cry of joy as she crashed through her window, flying off.
Much to Kiara’s surprise, there was already someone waiting for her when she approached the KFP. She rescinded her wings as she spread her arms. She prayed silently that whoever was waiting for her didn’t notice the lights in the sky. She fell down, using small jets of fire to break her fall, trying her best not to be noticed. She landed behind the KFP, creeping around the side to take a peek at the person standing by her establishment.
The person seemed to be a man. He wore a black hoodie and black sweatpants. His brown and grey eyes taking in his surroundings as he stood with his arms crossed, one of his feet planted on the wall of the restaurant.
“KIKERIKII~!” Without thinking, Kiara just decided to introduce herself. The man didn’t jump, much to her displeasure.
“Morning Shachou,” The man turned to her, an almost nostalgic smile tugging on his lips. “My name is Ryan Shade. What brings you to this tiny place in the middle of nowhere?”
“Oh, I’m the manager!” Kiara replied. “If you’re Ryan Shade, you must work here, right? Just call me Tenchou!”
“If that’s what you wish, Tenchou,” Ryan nodded his approval. “Now, this place isn’t supposed to open for an hour and a half.”
“Speaking of which, what are you doing here?” Kiara tilted her head. “I mean, I’m the manager and I wanted to get everything ready for today, but you’re just a regular employee. You don’t need to be here so early.”
“It’s not like I have anything better to do,” Ryan shrugged. “I mean, you hired a NEET that doesn’t even play video games. What do you expect?”
“I guess that’s fair enough,” Kiara masked her confusion with a smile as she fumbled through her keys. “Ah, that’s the one!”
Kiara winked at Ryan as she unlocked the door. “Well, your uniform is in the break room,” she explained, pointing at the door to the break room in question. “I’ll set up some training for you since you’re early.”
“Thank you, Tenchou,” Ryan nodded politely before making his way towards the break room.
“Now,” Kiara took her phone out of her pocket. “Let’s have a little fun.”
Mori Calliope had half a mind to stab her phone with her five foot scythe. Admittedly, she would prefer her eight foot scythe, but that was too big to stash away anywhere near her bed. Instead, she just fumbled over to her nightstand to grab the phone.
“Who the f-word is it?” Calli groaned.
“KIKERIKII~!!!” Kiara’s voice blared through the phone. “Calli!”
“What the heck, Kusotori? It’s the middle of the night,” Calli grumbled, obviously agitated. “What do you want?”
“Oh, the reunion is today, remember?” Kiara said cheerily. “My wonderful employee decided to show up an hour and a half early!”
“That’s nice,” Calli drawled. “I’ll be at the reunion. Just give me a few minutes.”
“Okay!” Seemingly satisfied, Kiara hung up. WIth a huff, Calli closed her eyes and fell back asleep.
“Ugh, where is she?!” Kiara whined as Ryan exited the break room, all dressed up in his orange and white stripes. Calli said she would be there in a few minutes, but it’s been five minutes and there were no signs of Calli showing up.
“Tenchou, if you call someone this early in the morning, they would probably fall back asleep,” Ryan pointed out as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“But that’s…!” Kiara started, but stopped to think about what Ryan said. Calli was often sleep deprived, and she sounded like she just woke up, so there was a high chance she fell back asleep. “Maybe you’re right. Well, that just means more training for you!”
“I’m ready whenever you are,” Ryan cracked a smile that looked almost nostalgic as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Let’s do this.”
-
Kiara was absolutely befuddled by Ryan. She could have sworn that a normal human would at least complain about the amount of ‘training’ that Kiara would give out, but Ryan never complained, despite struggling with carrying the large amounts of (refrigerated) chicken.
“Are you sure you don’t want any help?” Kiara rubbed her chin as Ryan struggled to carry about 50 kilos of refrigerated chicken. Ryan looked at her blankly, all signs of strain vanishing for barely an instant before he let out a strained smile.
“No worries,” Ryan said, throwing the bag into the refrigerated room before dusting his hands off. “I don’t want to be a burden to you.”
Something’s off, As bottom left as Kiara liked to act on stream, she was millions of years old. She tended to pick up on a few things after being around people for so long. Kiara’s empathetic side screamed to reach out to her troubled employee, but the logical side of her reasoned that he barely knew her. Why would he trust her with his problems?
“You’re not a burden,” Kiara managed a smile. “You’re already helping out a lot.”
Ryan paused for a moment, as if he wanted to say something, but apparently decided against it. “Thank you, Tenchou,” he replied, nodding politely. Before Kiara could respond, a telltale black mist started to flood the floor of the restaurant. Kiara looked to Ryan to see his reaction. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead as Kiara saw his muscles tensed. It would make sense to have such a reaction, as Ryan hasn’t met the Grim Reaper’s student at this point and time.
“Morning Kuso-,” Calli cut herself off as she laid eyes on Ryan. They tensely stared each other down for a few seconds before Kiara spoke up.
“Do you two know each other?” Kiara asked awkwardly as she felt the temperature of the room lower.
“No,” Ryan finally said. “I’ve never met this person before in my life.”
In Calli’s millions of years of existence, she has never met a living person who had such a strong stench of death on them. Ryan Shade was a paradox wrapped in an enigma. Even the number one zombie idol, Kureiji Ollie didn’t have as strong of a deathly aura as Ryan Shade. She had a feeling that Ryan was lying when he said that they haven’t met, but Calli doesn’t remember meeting anyone like Ryan, so she can’t say for sure.
“My name’s Ryan Shade,” Calli could see the strain in Ryan’s smile, but she knew she was hyperfixating. Ryan was giving her bad vibes and she was trying to find anything that ticked her off. She decided to not speak on her bad feelings, for now. After all, today was about HoloEN, not Ryan Shade.
“Name’s Mori Calliope,” Calli replied, sitting down.
“What would you like today?” Ryan asked, his customer support smile not wavering.
Calli turned to Kiara. “I’ll just have the usual.”
“No problem!” Kiara crouched down, opening a cupboard. She pulled out a bottle of red wine and a wine glass, pouring Calli a glass.
“Huh, I thought today was the grand opening,” Ryan mused to himself. “It’s weird we already have ‘regulars.’”
“Calli and I go way back,” Kiara winked at her soon-to-be wife. “We’re dating.”
“We are not dating,” Calli growled. They were, in fact, dating, but Calli was still going through a phase of denial.
“I somehow doubt that,” Ryan said offhandedly. Great. Ryan was rising on her s-word list by the second.
“Thank you, Ryan,” Kiara smiled. Before Calli could speak, she could hear the door open. At that moment, she could see the faint glimmer of hope fill his eyes.
“Huh, you got someone to work for you? I’m surprised,” a new voice said. “Hey kid, you got your mom’s number on ya?”
This new person that Kiara hired completely befuddled Amelia. As soon as he turned to Amelia, he looked at her like he was looking at a friend while hanging on the edge of a cliff, despite Amelia never seeing him in her life. After a couple seconds of tense silence, the hope from the man’s eyes faded away as he put up one of the most convincing fake smiles Amelia’s seen in a long while.
“I’m sorry, but I never really knew my mom,” He replied with an absent tone, “Anyways, my name is Ryan Shade. What’s yours?”
“Amelia Watson,” Amelia said simply as she took a seat next to Calli, “I’ll have some tea please. Yorkshire, preferably.”
“Brits,” Ryan muttered under his breath as he went to the back.
“Wait! Do you know where-,” Kiara was cut off when Ryan gave Kiara a reassuring smile.
“Of course I know where the tea is, Tenchou.” Ryan reassured her before disappearing to the back room.
“What an interesting fellow,” Amelia tipped her hat and rubbed her chin.
“Yeah, the information that YAGOO gave me about him doesn’t match up at all,” Kiara looked blankly at the door to the back room.
“YAGOO knew about him?” Amelia asked.
“Yeah, he personally asked me to hire him. Said it was a favor to a friend,” Kiara turned to Amelia and smiled, “Watch your left.”
“Wha-,” Amelia was interrupted by the force of a small person barrelling into her.
“Ame!” Gura exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around the detective, “It’s been so long!”
“Gura, we live in the same house,” Amelia gently informed the shark as she rubbed her head.
“Yeah, but you left before me!” Gura whiled.
“That’s because you overslept,” Ame informed her.
“Careful with that, Gura, or she’s going to have to put you under a-rest,” The group turned to see Ina standing at the entrance.
“Ina!” Gura unlatched from Amelia to give Ina a hug.
“Looks like the gang’s all here,” Amelia chuckled as she beckoned the two over, “Come on. Take a seat.”
“Tea’s ready,” Ryan came out of the back room with a kettle and four teacups.
How did he know that there were four of us? Amelia narrowed her eyes. She looked down at the clock hanging from her neck.
Could it be? The wildest theory popped into Amelia’s mind for a split second, but she dismissed it just as quickly as it came, No, it’s impossible.
“Does anyone else want to order something?” Amelia looked up to see Ryan’s smile.
“Ooh, can I have some salmon?” Gura waved her hand excitedly as if she was a kid waiting to be called on in class.
“What about pizza?” Kiara asked.
“Gura only likes to eat pizza in the tub,” Amelia chuckled. Gura let out a pout, causing everyone to laugh. Even Ryan let out a small chuckle.
“And what about you, miss?” Amelia thought Ryan would be disturmed by the tentacles jutting out of Ina’s back, but he was very good at pretending he didn’t see them.
“I’ll have some takoyaki,” Ina said with a smile, “Kiara knows how I like it.”
“Come on, Ryan, I’ll show you how to make the takoyaki,” Kiara ushered Ryan into the back room.
“So, what do you think of the new guy?” Amelia asked as she looked at her friends. Calli looked uncomfortable, but she hid it well behind her glass of wine. Ina was looking at her book, AO-chan with a contemplative expression. Gura looked unbothered, looking up at Amelia with an expression that made the sun seem dim in comparison.
Dear Matsuri, I love this shark, Amelia smiled at her lover who returned the smile genuinely.
“I don’t know, but something rubs me the wrong way about him,” Calli, taking another sip of her wine, responded, “He seems like a nice enough guy, but the aura he exudes… it’s not human.”
“I can’t get a gauge on him… Even AO-chan is confused,” Ina replied.
“Yeah, something’s off,” Amelia concluded as she took out a notepad, “As Calli said, he doesn’t seem hostile, but things aren’t adding up.”
“He looks like he’s hurting,” Gura cut in, causing everyone’s attention to turn to her.
“I…” Amelia paused to think. The look Ryan gave her when she entered. Gura was right. Amelia was about to respond but stopped when she saw Ryan and Kiara come out of the back room with sashimi and takoyaki.
“Here you go,” Ryan placed the food down in front of Ina and Gura, “I hope you enjoy.”
“You’re surprisingly good in the kitchen,” Kiara slapped Ryan in the back joyously. Ryan smiled shyly at Kiara.
“Thanks. I was taught by the best,” Ryan said. Amelia didn’t miss the bit of longing in his voice.
“I don’t know about that. After all, no one’s better than me!” Kiara exclaimed. Amelia wanted to say something. It didn’t take a detective to tell that he was referring to something he lost, but it helped that she was.
“Whatever you say,” Ryan’s expression lightened up as Kiara said that.
Seriously, I don’t get this kid, Amelia resisted the urge to sigh at her own thoughts.
“How’s the tea?” Amelia snapped up at the question. She looked up to see Ryan looking concerned. Something told Amelia that his concern was genuine.
“Are you alright?” Ryan asked.
“I… I’m fine,” Amelia answered apprehensively, “I just have a lot on my mind.”
“I understand how you feel. Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Ryan smiled in response.
“I’ll try my best,” Amelia gave Ryan a shaky smile. Perhaps this kid was alright after all.
“Man, what a first day!” Kiara exclaimed proudly as she put her hands on her hips. The sun was finally starting to set.
“So, how was your first day?” Kiara asked. The smile faded from her face as Ryan stopped wiping the counter. His smile twitched as if his face was fighting to set on an expression.
“I’m happy,” Ryan’s eyes were glued on the counter, “I’m so happy I got this job.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Kiara replied. Ryan was supposed to be the perfect worker. His work ethic was something Kiara rarely sees and nothing has broken through his iron will. Even so, why did Kiara feel so uneasy?
“He looks like he’s hurting,” Gura’s words stuck in her mind throughout the day as she watched him work. Despite Ryan’s eagerness to carry out any order Kiara gave him, he always seemed distant.
“Well, I guess I’m going to clock out for today,” Ryan heaved a tired sigh, “What time do you want me to be in tomorrow?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll call you,” Kiara gave Ryan a malicious smile. Of course she was going to call him. She always did this whenever she had people under her. She even pounded on people’s doors before phones were created.
“Sounds good,” Ryan’s response, yet again, surprised Kiara. She tried doing this a couple years ago when she created the first KFP, and her employees weren’t exactly happy with her. Of course she didn’t stop, but to see Ryan okay with it was surprising.
“Anyways, I have to go. I have something to do today,” Ryan said as he started to walk off.
“Wait! What about your uniform?!” Kiara called after him.
“I’ll bring it back tomorrow!” Ryan didn’t even care to look back. Kiara just heaved a sigh as the glass doors closed behind the man.
I really have my work cut out for me, huh? Kiara heaved a sigh. She wasn’t as concerned for the restaurant as she was for him. Gura’s words echoed in her mind one more time.
I hope he’s alright.
Ryan threw a watch violently on the ground in an undisclosed graveyard. He opened his hand a small jar labeled “PHOENIX ASHES. EMERGENCIES ONLY.”
He opened the jar and sprinkled the contents on the watch before pocketing the jar and taking out a lighter.
“No more,” Ryan whispered as he flicked the lighter on and tossed into the ashes and the watch. He didn’t even care to look back.