4 Chapter 4: KFP
Chapter 4: KFP
"PEKORA-SENPAI!" Kiara shouted through the phone as soon as the Usagi picked up.
"Morning Kiara," Pekora sighed. Of course, Kiara's definition of morning and Pekora's definition of morning were very different. "It's four-thirty in the morning. What do you need?"
"You see, I've been very lonely since my Little Egg went on his little trip," Kiara said, feigning sadness. "Is it possible if I borrow your lovely little husband for a day?"
"I mean, since he's so insistent in earning his keep here, I might as well pawn him off to you for a day-peko," Pekora sighed. "When do you want him?"
"Now if possible," Kiara replied enthusiastically.
"I'll go wake him up," Pekora sighed, getting out of bed.
-
Kei was awoken by a rather loud knocking on his door. "What is it?" He called over.
"Someone wants you for a job and she's wants you there now-peko," Pekora said.
"I don't remember signing up for a job," Kei muttered to himself as he got up.
"One of my friends specifically asked for you-peko," Pekora explained as Kei opened the door. "She caught wind that you're doing work for me somehow and wanted you for a day."
"Yeah, yeah, are you going to drop me off this time or am I going to be forced to find out where this place is?" Kei asked.
"Actually, Mama wanted to give you this," Pekora dug through her pockets before giving Kei the newest model of the KFP (Kiara Fried Phone). "It has a new number and everything. The KFP is logged in there"
"Thank you," Kei said, dipping his head as he put the phone in his pocket. "I'll be working at a KFP?"
"Yeah, basic shit I guess-peko," Pekora sighed. "I never know what Kiara is thinking."
"Huh, I guess she has the perfect name for the job, then," Kei chuckled to himself.
"Let's go with that," Pekora laughed.
"Alright, I guess I'll be off," Kei cracked his back. "Tell Pekomama I say hi."
"Will do-peko," Pekora smiled as Kei walked past her.
-
"What the fuck?" Kei asked himself as he stood before an alleyway, looking at his new phone. According to the phone, the KFP was down this alley. "Makes no sense, but whatever. It's not like I have anything to lose."
He walked down the alley, not missing the magical barrier he crossed after about a minute of walking in. Shortly after, he crossed a threshold to see a basic looking KFP, which looked like your average fast food joint with orange, white, and blue as its primary colors. As he started towards the restaurant, the doors burst open, revealing not just someone he recognized giving him death glares at the wedding, but now that she was wearing her uniform, Kei could easily recognize Takanashi Kiara, the CEO of KFP. "Ah, Kei! I've been expecting you! Call me Tenchou while you're here, okay?"
"Whatever you say, Tenchou," Kei grumbled. "Why am I not even surprised anymore?"
"Well you took my senpai away from me, so expect me to work you to the bone," Kiara said with a large grin on her face.
"Did Pekora have a harem or something?" Kei asked.
"Or something," Kiara answered, putting a finger on her chin. "Anyways, your uniform is in the break room. Get changed. We have a couple reservations today."
"Who reserves a fast food restaurant?" Kei asked.
"You'd be surprised," Kiara replied. "Now go get your ass in gear. We have a lot of work to do today."
"Yes Tenchou."
-
When Kei walked out of the break room, he saw Kiara behind the counter and an unfamiliar woman sitting on one of the stools. The woman had a blonde hair, a halo, and little wings. She wore a white dress, not unlike an angel. "Hey Tenchou," Kei said, catching the CEO's attention, "I found some weird white li-,"
"NO!" Kiara shouted. "Let's not talk about that, please."
"Ah, I see your marriage is proving to be very… fruitful," the angel lady nodded inquisitively before turning to Kei. "Is this the Ryan Shade I've heard so much about? He seems… underwhelming."
"Ryan's off on a business trip," Kiara explained, gesturing towards the corkboard on the wall by the counter, more specifically the plaque that said 'best egg' with a picture of Ryan holding two guns, a scowl and a small blush on his face. "I wonder what he's doing now."
"He doesn't look pleased," Kei pointed out.
"Ah, Suisei blew him a kiss before taking the picture," Kiara said. "Honestly, I don't get why they're not dating yet. I really need to get on that. Plus, he shouldn't have been blushing. Kisses are just customary greetings. People are really weird these days."
"Before we give Kiara any ideas, I should probably introduce myself," the angel gave Kei a soft smile. "My name is Jenma. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Takamura Kei," Kei introduced himself.
"He's Pekora-senpai's new husband," Kiara explained.
"Ah," Jenma smiled. "I haven't heard much about you. You better be treating Pekora nicely, though."
"I've had more than enough people say that to me these past couple days," Kei heaved a sigh, remembering how Moona acted towards him.
"I bet. Pekora's friends are a bit… overprotective," Jenma turned her attention to Kiara. "I'll just have some Birb Mild wings."
"Kei can you make that?" Kiara asked. "I want to catch up with my manager."
"How can you be a manager if you're a CEO?" Kei asked.
"I'm an idol!" Kiara pouted.
"Somehow I doubt that," Kei muttered under his breath. "I'm lucky that I worked at a KFP a few years ago so I know how to make Birb Mild Wings."
"You better hurry before Kiara sends you to the Usual Room," Jenma giggled slightly at her proclamation.
"What's the Usual Room?" Kei tilted his head, curious.
"I'm so glad you asked," Kiara pressed a button under the counter. Kei couldn't see any change, but he could hear mechanical whirring followed by screams of agony. After a few seconds, the screaming faded, followed by the whirring a few seconds later.
"Uh… what the fuck was that?" Kei looked visibly shaken.
"Oh, that was just Andrew," Kiara waved her hand dismissively, an unsettlingly cheery smile on her face. "The usual room is used to harvest souls and negative emotions for our more… demonic clients."
"I'll… go make those wings for you, Jenma," Kei made a break for the back room, navigating the fridge and the deep fryer.
As Kei dipped the chicken into the oil, he took the time to reflect on what had been going on the past couple days. He acknowledged that no normal human would have accepted this life, but to be fair, anyone who would have tried to run wouldn't have made it ten feet from their front door before having all 30 of their human rights violated at once. If he was being honest to himself, he wasn't all too mad about where he was at in life. Even though Pekora didn't exactly love him, they got along fairly well. Kei felt like if they weren't forced into this marriage, they would have become fast friends. On top of that, Pekomama was a very nice woman, treating him not unlike how his mother treated him when he was a child, except it didn't feel like she was treating him as a child, but respecting him as a full-grown adult. As he spaced out, he started to hear the sizzling intensify and realized he slightly overcooked the chicken.
"Shit!" He rushed to put the chicken wings in a tub that he almost dropped, turning off the frier. He took a deep breath, walking out of the back room. As he walked out, the front door opened. Two rather tall women (both of them taller than Kei, much to his annoyance) walked in the restaurant. The first woman was someone he easily recognized. She was a very popular rapper amongst the interns and the apprentices in Kei's old job, but he's never listened to her music himself. Despite the giant scythe in her hand, he was more intimidated by the second woman. She wore her long, brown hair in a ponytail and wore those kinds of round sunglasses some cheesy action movie protagonist would put on as they walk away from explosions. What really intimidated him was the blood dripping from her fists.
"Calli! J-Chad! I'm so happy you made it!" Kiara cheered. "I hope you didn't treat Reporter too badly."
"Next time you warn me when you send a living person to the underworld," The taller woman, J-Chad grumbled. "I thought he was trying to revive someone without permission. I'm surprised he's still alive."
"Me too honestly," Kiara sighed before looking to Kei. "Kei, this is my wife, Mori Calliope and her manager J-Chad."
"I was at the wedding, but I didn't get the opportunity to speak to you," Calli heaved a sigh. "I would threaten you, but I don't think I could do anything worse than what Kuso- Kiara would do to you."
"That sounds reassuring," Kei placed the tub in front of Jenma. "I'm sorry if it's a bit overcooked, I kind of spaced out at the fryer."
"Ah, don't worry. People tend to do that here," Kiara said. "I'll let you off this once."
"I have a feeling this is going to be a fun day," Kei grumbled.
-
"Finally," Kei stretched as he exited the break room in his normal clothing. As he saw Kiara humming to herself as she wiped down the counter. "I can't believe you held me here for that long. Pekomama expected me back at least six hours ago."
"Don't worry, she knows how I am," Kiara giggled a little bit. "I'm surprised you didn't at least pass out from exhaustion."
"That's really reassuring," Kei muttered under his breath. "Well I'm going to go now."
"I'll be sure to call you in again someday!" Kiara called as Kei opened the door.
"Please don't," Kei sighed as he closed the door. As he walked into the dark alley, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck shoot up.
"Takamura Kei," Calli's voice rang throughout the alley. Kei turned around but he didn't see Calli. "You better not pull any shit. I've had enough people in that KFP cheat death."
"How the hell would I cheat death anyways?" Kei asked the shadows, tilting his head. "I mean just because I survived Ten- Kiara's antics for a day doesn't mean I'm able to cheat death."
"Whatever. Just know if I catch you coming back from the dead, I'll personally kill you again," Calli's voice warned.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll keep that in mind," at this point, Kei didn't take anything seriously anymore.
"Calliope, if you don't mind," Kei snapped around to see Pekomama walking towards him, a sweet yet malicious smile on her face. "He's married to Pekora, not Rushia. Please don't harass my son-in-law."
"A-alright, but just because you asked," Calli stuttered, the slight chill in the area fading slowly.
"Ah, now that that's done, let's go home," Pekomama's smile became less malicious and gentler, as if she was looking at a toddler playing on the playground. "There may be other scary things lurking about and you wouldn't want to be caught up with them, right?"
"Sure…" Although Kei agreed with Pekomama, he doubted there was anything scarier than her.
-
Arashie heaved a sigh as she received another denied application. Her old boss didn't state that she wasn't human in the 'recommendations' that he gave but didn't fail to attempt to slander her as much as possible. "I wonder what Kei is doing right now. Maybe he found another place to work."
She took out her phone, scrolling down to Kei's contact and calling the number.
"We're sorry, but this number is no longer in use," an automated voice said through the phone as soon as she put the phone to her ear. "Goodbye."
Huh, Arashie thought to herself. In the past, the number had worked whenever she needed to call him to ask for particular files and such. She looked out of the window and at the moon.
I sure hope he's safe.
