3 Chapter 3: Kensetsu
Chapter 3: Kensetsu
Pekora flopped on the bed as soon as they got home that day. She really wasn't used to running long distances and the mansion was several kilometers from the mall. As soon as she closed her eyes, the phone went off. "What is it now-peko?" She grabbed her phone, looking at it. "Ah shit."
"Hey Moona!" Pekora shouted with as much energy as she could muster as she accepted the call. "What's up?"
"Shachou, you're going to need to come in tomorrow," Moona said with a flat tone. "I understand that you're meeting your new husband and whatever, but you can't keep slacking off."
"First of all, it wasn't even my idea," Pekora grumbled. "I think Mama said something about Kei coming to work with me tomorrow so maybe you can meet him."
"Perfect- I mean that's fine," Moona replied. "If he falls behind, I won't hesitate to kill him, though."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll probably kill him first-peko," Pekora sighed. "As much as I want to kill him and be done with it, I don't want to kill an innocent person."
"Tell that to all the villagers you slaughtered in your 'experiments'," Moona heaved a sigh. Pekora could practically feel Moona shudder at the memory.
"Hey! That was for a good cause-peko!" Pekora shouted in a feeble attempt to defend herself.
"Whatever you say, Shachou," Moona groaned. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow, Moona," Pekora smiled as the line went dead. She put the phone back on her nightstand before rolling on her back. "I'm so grateful to have such a protective second-in-command."
-
A knock on the door startled Kei from his dreamless sleep. He stood up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he walked over to the door, opening it. "Are you ready-peko?" Pekora asked indignantly as soon as Kei opened the door, holding a pickaxe and wearing a construction helmet with little holes where her ears could pop through.
"Ready for what?" Kei asked in response, scratching his head in response.
"For work, obviously," Pekora replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. "Mama said you wanted to come-peko."
"Ah, will I get equipment like you?" Kei asked, shooting a glance at the pickaxe in her hand.
"It will be provided at the workplace," Pekora said. "IF Moona is feeling gracious."
"Who's Moona?" Kei tilted his head.
"My second-in-command," Pekora gave Kei a smug smirk. "She's the best ever."
"Alright, alright," Kei waved his hand dismissively. "Let's go."
-
Kei's hope for a normal day was dashed as soon as he saw an explosion go off as soon as the two arrived in the construction site. "Should I be scared?" Kei asked, turning to Pekora.
"You should be," A new voice answered. The two directed their attention to the voice to see a woman with a construction hat and eloquent, flowing purple hair. Kei could swear she was glowing a little bit. He recognized her as one of the women giving him death glares back at the wedding.
"Hey Moona!" Pekora ran over to the woman, tackling her in a hug.
"Shachou, you shouldn't be doing things like this around your husband," Moona practically spat out the last word, giving Kei a glare.
"I don't mind," Kei shrugged. "We were both forced into this marriage. I just feel that it's wrong to force Pekora to not express herself or love who she wishes."
"Huh," Moona rubbed her chin. "You're better than I thought. I still hate you for stealing my Shachou from me."
"Wait, were you planning on marrying her?" Kei asked, before bowing deeply. "I am very sorry for stealing your marriage like that."
"Pekora is my friend," Moona stated simply.
"Don't hurt me like that-peko!" Pekora cried in anguish as she pulled away from her 'friend'. "Kei, this is Moona Hoshinova-peko. She's my second in command here at Usada Kensetsu. Today you'll mostly be reporting to her."
"Alright, before I ask, is this job safe?"
"Moona!" The three turned to see a man running over to the group, holding a clip board. "I need you to sign these safety waiv-"
The man was cut off when he was crushed by several construction pillars that were tied to a crane. "Sorry about that!" Kei looked up to see a girl with long, purple twin tails and a black hat piloting the crane. "I'm still learning how to use this thing!"
"It's perfectly safe," Moona said.
"But-," Kei looked at the splattered blood before him.
"That's Zard," Moona waved her hand dismissively. "He'll respawn… probably."
"Dinosaur people don't-,"
"He doesn't need to know that, Shachou," Moona clamped her hand over Pekora's mouth. "Anyways, I prepared your gear. Shachou, Botan wants to have a meeting about building a new Menya Botan location in this city. You better head there now."
"I guess you're on your own, Kei," Pekora shrugged. "Moona, don't kill him-peko. Mama would be really mad at us if you do."
"Unfortunate," Moona sighed. "I'll keep my promise as long as he listens and doesn't try to run. Follow me, Kei."
"That sounds reassuring," Kei heaved a sigh as Pekora walked off. He then turned to Moona, an uncertain look on his face. "I guess I'm in your care."
-
"This has to be violating at least fifty safety laws," The only safety gear that Kei was given was a construction helmet. He wasn't even given a vest.
"Eh, don't worry about it," Moona replied. "A friend of Pekora's runs the police department, so we won't get arrested."
"That sounds corrupt as hell," Kei deadpanned. "So, what do you want me to do?"
"I don't know, just stuff and things," Moona waved her hand dismissively. "I have shit to do."
"What do you mean stuff and things?" Kei tilted his head, slightly annoyed at this point. "Aren't you supposed to be responsible for me?"
"Eh, this is how Shachou runs things and we've been fine," Moona answered casually.
"Sure," Kei said as a well-timed explosion went off behind him. "Things here are going really well."
"Whatever. Just get to work," Moona grunted as she turned around, flicking her hair before stalking off.
"Sure, I'll do just that," Kei sighed as he walked off.
-
"Excuse me?" Kei walked up to the first person he saw, which seemed to be a girl with white hair a little angel wings carrying what looked like multiple tons worth of construction pillars.
"Ah, you're Pekora's new husband, aren't you?" The girl turned around, forcing Kei to duck underneath the pillars. "Sorry about that. I'm Amane Kanata! What can I do for you?"
"Moona told me to get to work, but she didn't tell me what to do," Kei explained, rubbing his back. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Ah, there's one pillar left over there," Kanata let go of the pillars with one hand and pointed off into the distance. Kei was thoroughly shocked when Kanata showed no signs of any strain as she did. "Are you able to get that?"
"Er… I'll try my best," Kei said. If someone as short as her was carrying several pillars without any strain, the pillars must be very light. "Thank you."
"Thank you!" Kanata smiled as she walked off. Kei made his way over to where Kanata directed him. The walk only took a couple minutes. Kei sighed as he looked at the pillar. It looked exactly like a normal construction pillar.
"Guess I should get going," Kei muttered to himself as he bent down to pick up the pillar. He heaved with as much strength as he could muster, butt could only barely lift the giant object.
"Man, how was she able to do that?" Kei asked to himself. "Eh, no matter. I'll just drag it."
He placed the beam down before walking to the edge, picking it up. Kei tried to drag it, but to little avail. With all of his strength, he could only move the giant pillar about half a meter at a time. Kei really wanted to give up, but he was expected to do a job. If this was how he was going to pay for the hospitality that the Usadas have given him throughout the past couple days, then he would go through it. After about an hour (with a few breaks), Kei was able to make it to where he originally met Kanata. As he did, he placed it down, heaving a sigh.
"Damn, this is hard," Kei said to himself. He looked up as he heard footsteps to see Kanata running over to him, waving frantically.
"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Kanata stopped before Kei, giving him a reassuring smile. "I completely forgot that normal humans can't lift these things. Would you like me to help you?"
"S-sure," Kei stood up as Kanata grabbed the front half, lifting it with ease. Kei walked over to the other side, lifting it up. It was a lot lighter with Kanata helping. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," Kanata turned her head, smiling at Kei as they walked through the construction site.
"Oi Kanatan!" When the two arrived at their intended destination, a well-endowed woman with horns and large, purple tail was sitting on the stack of pillars that Kanata was carrying earlier. "Where did you go off to?!"
"Ah, I was just helping out our newest employee," Kanata explained as she and Kei set down the pillar. "Kei, this is Kiryu Coco, my girlfri- I mean fiancée."
"Oh, congrats on that," Kei said, inferring that their proclamation of marriage wasn't too long ago, considering Kanata's slip up. "I'm Takamura Kei, Pekora's new husband."
"Ah, I've heard a lot about you," Coco said with a foxy grin and narrowed eyes, her tail swishing back and forth. "You made a lot of girls jealous you know."
"Well it wasn't exactly my choice to get married, but I'm guess I'm stuck with it," Kei sighed, shaking his head. "My life has been really weird these past few days."
"That's to be expected," Coco laughed heartily. "Hey, follow me. I have something to show you."
Kei uncertainly followed the two into the middle of the construction zone. Coco and Kanatan looked at each other and nodded, walking off to two separate pillars before knocking on them softly twice. The ground shifted before them, opening up a secret trapdoor.
"Should I be seeing this?" Kei asked, shuffling uncomfortably, dreading what Moona would do to him if he slipped up and accidentally saw something he shouldn't have seen.
"Don't worry about it!" Coco slapped Kei's back. "Come on in."
Kei followed in after Coco and Kanata down the stairs to see a large room with four high-end gaming computers, a TV with multiple gaming consoles, a minifridge, and multiple couches. "What's this?"
"Something that we build in every construction site," Coco explained. "It's like a secret break room. Pekora and Moona don't mind it when we use it. We'll vouch for you so you can chill here for today."
"I-I don't think I should be here when everyone else is working," Kei muttered. He hated making other people picking up his slack. It makes him feel worthless and undeserving so he always tries to earn his keep wherever and whenever he can.
"Well Kanatan and I are here, Towa's learning how to operate the crane, Moona's probably resting since she's nocturnal, Pekora's with Botan, and Zard is… well you saw what happened to him," Coco explained. "There's pretty much nothing for you to do."
"Wait, so it's only you guys?" Kei asked. "How do you guys get anything done?"
"Well it was Zard's first day, so he doesn't count," Kanata added helpfully. "We're not a normal construction company, if you couldn't tell."
"I'm not sure I want to ask," Kei shook his head.
"So!" Coco exclaimed, a malicious smile on her face. "Who wants to play some ARK?"
-
"C'mon let's go tame this one!" Pekora and Moona heard Coco's shout as they entered the secret break room.
"You know, we should really be getting back to wo-,"
"Don't be such a party pooper!" Coco interrupted. "It's not like Pekora knows we're here!"
"I don't know what-peko?" Pekora said as she walked into the room, snapping the three to attention.
"Told you," Kei grumbled.
"Hey! At least you had fun!" Kanata complained.
"You two are really fun to play with," Kei admitted.
"You know, I might ask you to fill in for my organization," Coco rubbed her chin.
"And what may that be?" Kei tilted his head, his interest piqued.
"She's the chairman of the yakuza," Moona explained.
"I think I'll have to pass on that," Kei saw the loud, foul-mouthed dragon in a whole different light after that.
"So, what should we do with him?" Moona asked.
"Well, this is the average experience here at Usada Kensetsu," Pekora said. "If you don't die, you can have fun in here."
"That's fair," Moona said. "You two should get out of here before I change my mind on this."
"Thanks, Moona!" Pekora ran over, grabbing Kei's hand. Kei shuddered as the temperature of the room dropped several degrees. When he looked at Moona, he blanched as a shining rapier was now in her hand.
"You have five seconds," Moona declared with a monotone voice.
"Shit! Let's get the fuck out of here-peko!" Pekora ran off, leaping through the entire flight of stairs in one bound.
"Warn me before you do that next time," Kei held his head, nauseous.
"No time for that-peko!" Pekora shouted. "Run!"
Kei turned around to see Moona climbing up the stairs, her bangs covering her eyes. "Ah shit."
-
Meanwhile, a meek woman with curly, dark purple hair and glasses stood before the door to her boss's office, knocking on the door.
"Come in," the voice came from the other side of the room.
The woman opened the door, stepping in to see her boss filing through some paperwork. "Arashie," the woman's boss looked up, a smile on his face. "What is it that you need?"
"Y-yes, Kei hasn't been here for a couple d-days… do you know where he is?" Arashie looked around. Although she didn't consider Kei her best friend, he was pretty much the only one who talked with her since they were both known for taking ungodly amounts of overtime, even though they were not paid of it more often than not.
"Oh, that bastard?" The boss's smile was replaced with a scowl. "I caught him using magic in the workplace so I fired his ass. Fucking disgusting."
"I-isn't that illegal now?" Arashie asked. Although people are still discriminatory towards beings of magic, openly discriminatory acts like firing or arresting them for no reason was recently outlawed.
"Yeah, but I'll take my chances with the law to keep a monster like him out," the boss scoffed.
"I-if that's the case, I-I'd like to hand in my two-week resignation…" Arashie said, fishing for a letter in her pocket before putting it on her boss's desk.
"W-what?!" Arashie's now ex-boss roared. "You're my best employee! You can't just do this!"
"I-I refuse to continue to give my hours to s-such a bigoted man," It was obvious that Arashie wasn't used to confrontations like this, but she felt like she had to make her stance.
"I can't fucking believe you! Throwing away your job for some shit like this!" The boss yelled in a rage, picking up his mug and throwing it at her. Suddenly, six tentacles sprouted from Arashie's back, forming a protective wall in front of her, blocking the mug.
"Y-you're one of them too…" The boss took a step back.
"I-I'm sorry, b-but I will take my leave now…" the tentacles retracted back into Arashie's back as she turned around and walked away, leaving the boss to stand there in shock.
