1 Chapter 1: Upside Down
"Tch," Takamura Kei scoffed as he opened the door to his crappy apartment, his tie crooked and his shirt untucked. To say he wasn't having a good week was a massive understatement. Both of his parents had recently died in a car crash and with no extended family or funds, Kei could only afford to cremate them. Then today he got laid off from his job as an engineer and used some really scummy moves to make sure he didn't get his severance pay. He trudged passed the half-kitchen to his bed which was only a few feet away and laid down, fumbling on his nightstand until he grabbed a piece of paper. A letter that was mailed to him from his parents.
Dear Kei,
If you are reading this then we must have died. Whether it be from old age or an unfortunate accident, we are gone. We are very sorry to leave you alone in this world but it seems that our time has come. As much as we wish we could leave you a will that can help keep you afloat, but unfortunately, we have no suck money, as you know, but we have one last thing for you. You will know when it comes along. We're sorry. We love you.
Love,
Mom and Dad.
Kei stared at the paper for a few seconds after reading it before putting it back on the nightstand, turning to his side as he stared off into the distance. 'Just what did Mom and Dad want to give me?' Kei wondered. His leg started to twitch as the used flip phone he had in his pocket started to vibrate. "What is it now…?" He grumbled as he shoved his hand into his tight pockets, grunting as he strained his fingers to grab a hold of the phone. He heaved a sigh of relief as he successfully managed to pull the phone from his pocket, revealing that an unknown number was calling. Kei suspected that it was one of those scam calls, but answered in anyways, just in case he was wrong.
"Hello?" Kei sat up on his bed as he flipped up the phone, putting it to his ear.
"Is this Takamura Kei?" A sweet sounding voice came from the other end of the line. The voice was sweet and inviting, as if soothing Kei just by hearing it. The perfect voice for a scam artist.
"Look, I don't really care what kind of scam you're trying to pull here, but I'm not interested," Kei replied with a tired voice, ready to close the phone but was stopped by the next six words to come from the phone.
"I was friends with your parents."
Kei stopped dead in his tracks. A multitude of questions flew through his head. Who was this person? Why didn't they contact him earlier? If this person was friends with his parents, how come he has never heard of this person? "I'll bite," Kei said tentatively, raising the phone back to his ear, "who are you and why weren't you around when they died?"
"My name is Usada Pekomama," the voice replied, a hint of regret and guilt in her introduction. "I really wish I could have been there, genuinely, but there were conflicts I had to take care of."
"I… I guess it's alright," Kei forced back whatever choice words he had to say. He would have appreciated it if someone was there for him during his parents' death, even if it was just a stranger who knew his parents. He didn't really have any friends and he had no family other than his parents, so he had no one to confide to. He couldn't afford a professional and he didn't want to post about his struggles all throughout the internet, so he just kept it to himself, crying and grieving in isolation. "So… what do you need?"
"I wanted to talk to you about the details of the arranged marriage-,"
Click. Kei liked to think he was a tolerant person but this sick joke has gone too far. Someone comes out of nowhere and claims that she knew Kei's parents before talking about an arranged marriage?! That was too much for Kei. He groaned as his phone vibrated twice, indicating that he got a text. He flipped it up to see the exact number that called him earlier.
"We will be coming to stop by tomorrow."
"Great," Kei grumbled inwardly. He reasoned he would just deal with the problem tomorrow. He placed the phone on his nightstand and closed his eyes. 'Tomorrow…'
-
"Mom!" A familiar blue-haired rabbit shouted as she stormed into the room. "I already told you that I don't want to be in an arranged marriage-peko!"
"I'm sorry," Pekomama heaved a sigh as she turned to look at Pekora, a genuine look of guilt in her eyes. "It was a pact that I formed with Kei's parents a long time ago. On the bright side, if you don't like him, you can just kill him."
"So, you'll make me go through this marriage, but you won't stop me from killing him-peko?" Pekora tilted her head, genuinely confused.
"You just have to go through the marriage to fulfill the contract," Pekomama gave her daughter a disarming smile that dripped with malice. "If an unfortunate accident befell him afterwards, there's nothing I can do."
"Thanks mama!" Pekora tackled her mother into a hug. "You're the best."
"No problem-peko," Pekomama smiled gingerly.
"MAMA I TOLD YOU NOT TO SAY THAT-PEKO!" Pekora shouted, throwing a fit. Pekomama just gave her daughter a cheeky grin and a giggle.
-
Kei was jolted awake when he heard knocking on his door. He grabbed his flip phone, looking at the time. 4:00 am on the dot. "What the hell?" He wondered to himself as he stood up, changing into a T-Shirt and cargo shorts, one of the few changes of clothes he had.
"Coming!" He called over as he walked over to the door. He opened the door to see two women who seemed to be related to each other. They both had sky blue hair and orange eyes, not unlike the color of a carrot.
"Hello Takamura Kei," the taller woman spoke, having the same voice that was over the phone yesterday. "It's a shame that the line cut yesterday. I would have really enjoyed talking to you more."
"Yeah, what a shame," Kei tried his best to sound genuine. Judging by the smaller woman's twitching eyebrow, he assumed that it failed. "May I ask why you're at my doorstep at four in the morning?"
"I promised that we would stop by to visit today," Pekomama said. "Pekora would you be a dear and introduce yourself?"
"Konpeko, konpeko, konpeko! I'm Hololive 3rd Generation's Usada Pekora-peko!" The now named Pekora exclaimed, striking a pose. "D-omo! D-omo! D-omo!"
Cute, was the first thing that crossed Kei's mind shortly before Almond?
Although he admitted Pekora was cute, he kind of saw her more as a cute and innocent idol rather than someone he would like to date, much less marry. "I'm Takamura Kei. It's a pleasure to meet you." Kei said, his smile more genuine this time, even if only a little bit. "Come in."
He stepped aside as the two ladies stepped inside the apartment. "I'm sorry for the mess," Kei rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Although he tried his best to keep the apartment tidy, he didn't have a lot of funds to make anything look nice.
"Oh, don't worry about that," Pekomama's smile started to grow as she looked around. "You'll be moving in with us once you get married to Pekora."
"What?!" Both Kei and Pekora shouted at the same time.
"Why is he living with us?!" Pekora shouted.
"Would you rather live here?" Pekomama asked, her tone stern despite her gentle expression. "No offense to you at all, Kei."
"No offense taken," Kei held his hands up, shrugging. "This place is kind of a dump."
"I guess you're right-peko," Pekora rubbed her chin, nodding inquisitively.
"Kei, would you be a dear and tell me where the bathroom is?" Pekomama inquired, tilting her head at the host.
"It's just over there," Kei replied, pointing over to a door. His apartment was fairly small so he could easily point to any of the rooms.
"Thank you," Pekomama said. "Play nice, you two. I'll be back."
With that, Pekomama walked over to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Instantly after the door closed, the temperature of the room went down several degrees. Kei shuddered as he turned to Pekora, instantly flinching as he looked into her eyes. Those eyes… those weren't the eyes of an innocent girl. Those were the eyes of a stone cold murderer. "Listen here-peko," Pekora growled, instilling a decent amount of fear into Kei. "I don't know what kind of shit you pulled, but you will not pull anything on me or you will regret it."
Thoughts rushed through Kei's head. Something told Kei that Pekora was capable of making his life a living hell. It was obvious that Pekora was just about as excited about this arranged marriage as he was. He then bowed deeply to Pekora. "I sincerely apologize. I never had any intention of marrying you. In fact, I had no idea who either of you were until last night when Pekomama called me. I don't know our parents' reasoning for setting this arranged marriage, but I shall try my best to accommodate your every need."
Pekora looked at Kei, slightly shocked. She expected some perv to be on the other side of this arranged marriage solely to take advantage of her and/or Usada Kensetsu to mooch off her wealth. Her intuition told her that Kei was being completely honest. "I guess you're alright-peko," Pekora said, crossing her arms.
"Alright the limo is coming!" Pekomama exclaimed, bursting out of the bathroom.
"Limo?" Both Kei and Pekora tilted their heads, obviously confused.
"Oh, the wedding is today," Pekomama said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
"WHAT?!" Both Kei and Pekora shouted.
"Mama why today?!" Pekora exclaimed.
"Why not?" Pekomama gave her daughter a foxy grin. "Now let's go. I already prepared your gown and tux."
-
"Uh," Kei stepped out of the limo wearing his tux to see a building with the world "Hololive" on the wall in blue text. "May I ask where we are?"
"We're at HoloHQ of course," Pekomama explained. "Hololive members are always married here."
"Okay…" Kei shuffled nervously.
"Can we just get this over with-peko?" Pekora asked.
"I would be more than happy to," Kei grumbled.
-
The wedding was very tense. Kei tried to focus on the ceremony but the multiple death glares he got was too distracting. He noted that the death glares were coming from a woman with orange hair and amethyst eyes who seemed to be attempting to set him on fire with his gaze, a woman with long, purple hair and yellow eyes that looked like she was about to snap, and a girl with pink hair who made a face that made her mouth look like Mt. Fuji. The kiss was especially awkward as the two just pecked each other on the lips.
Kei heaved a sigh as he leaned on the wall, his appetite completely gone. "Hey, congrats on the marriage," Kei snapped from his stupor as he saw a heterochromiac man with black hair walk up to him. His right eye was brown while his left eye was grey. It was an odd combination, but Kei wasn't one to judge.
"Thanks, I guess," Kei heaved a side. "Name's Takamura Kei."
"Ah, I know what it's like being forced into something without knowing what's going on," the man chuckled dryly, extending his hand to shake. "Name's Ryan Shade. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure's all mine," Kei said. "It's nice to see some normalcy here. If looks can kill, I would be dead three times over."
"Oh, don't worry about them," Ryan chuckled. "They won't kill you… yet."
"That sounds reassuring," Kei muttered.
"Hey Ryan!" The two men turned to see the fiery orange-haired girl that was giving Kei death glares during the wedding. "Ame wants to talk to you! Get your ass over here before I get your ass over here!"
"Well, I guess I'll see you around," Ryan said. "I mean, I'm only here for today because I heard Pekora was getting married since I'm supposed to be on… a business trip. I'll be back eventually. You seem pretty cool, Kei. Don't die on me, alright?"
"I'll try my best," Kei said as he watched his new friend walk off.
"Did you enjoy the wedding?" Pekomama asked, walking over to Kei.
"I guess," Kei said. "I think there's more food here than I've ever seen in one place."
"You must have lived a very modest life, then," Pekomama smiled. "Well enough of that. You'll be living with us from now on."
"Thank you for your hospitality," Kei said, smiling. Little did he know that this event would turn his entire life upside down.
