Day 21: A Mother's Love

Day 21: A Mother's Love

Last time on KFP: Double Back

"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?!" Subaru exclaimed. "Why did you have to drag me into this?! Ui-mama is going to go ballistic!"

"Shit!" Kiara and Marine said at once. Kiara grabbed her notebook, hastily crossing off Subaru's name.

"If you don't live to the end of the week, then I apologize in advance," Kiara turned to Ryan.

"Whatever," Ryan grumbled. "It's not like I'm not used to it."

-

In an unknown location, Shigure Ui sharpened a knife, an annoyed smile on her face. "Who tried to sully the purity of my daughter…?"

-

Now, on KFP: Double Back

Ui twirled her knife around her fingers, tossing it up and down as she walked down the street. "Are you sure, Subaru?"

"For the last time, Ui-mama, I'm sure!" Subaru shouted. "There was no one trying to hook me up!"

"Something tells me that you're lying to me," Ui gave Subaru a sideways glance, her emerald eyes glowing slightly in the daylight. "Tell me the truth."

"Okay, I was added onto a list that Kiara and Senchou made, but the immediately crossed my name out as soon as I walked in!" Subaru defended. "They didn't try to hook me up!"

"That's still too much," Ui said. "Tell me where they are."

"Ui-mama, you can't expect me to-,"

"Tell me where they are," Ui stopped to glare at her "daughter", her eyes glowing brighter as a murderous aura emanated from the supposed high school student.

"Fine, but they don't open for a little while," Subaru said. "Follow me."

-

Ryan sighed as he walked down the street. 'Yesterday was eventful, huh?'

"A bit too sentimental for my taste," Edhas said. "I would have preferred a good old-fashioned fight to be honest."

'You've grown a lot, though', Ryan smiled softly. 'You were so impulsive back then. Feels like yesterday.'

"You have the right to remain silent," Edhas said in a monotone voice. "Do you think that'll be good enough for Roboco-san?"

'You already saw Roboco-san's expression to the mere notion of dating me,' Ryan pointed out. 'I'd doubt you have a chance. Plus, I don't think your aggressive nature would be right for her. She's too pure.'

"I guess you're right," Edhas heaved a mental sigh. "Will I never be able to be in a relationship again?"

'Maybe if you flirt with Subaru, that Ui person would hook you up with Calli,' Ryan quipped.

"You know you would die with me," Edhas shot back.

'It would totally worth it to see your egotistical ass ripped to bloody Sunday,' Ryan said.

"Fair enough," Edhas said Ryan turned to the alley leading to the KFP. As he did, he felt a shiver down his spine.

"What was that?" Ryan asked aloud.

"Probably nothing," Edhas said, holding back a snicker. Fortunately, if Ryan noticed, he didn't react. He just shrugged and started his journey down the alley.

-

"KIKKERIKIII~!!!" Kiara called as Ryan opened the door. "Are you feeling alright after yesterday?"

"I'm feeling alright," Ryan said as he joined his manager on the other side of the counter. "Edhas is finally maturing for once."

"I could tell," Kiara said. "I don't want to imagine what things would be like if Edhas wasn't there to talk things out."

-

Meanwhile, in an alternate dimension, Haato smiled creepily as Haachama's head rolled on the floor in her mindscape. She opened her hand and a phone appeared in her grip. She threw aside her knife and tapped on the phone until Twitter opened. "It seems that the Haatons are reacting like I expected," Haato tilted her head. "Maybe I'll need to silence them too."

-

"Yeah, I would rather that thought stay out of my head," Ryan said, shuddering at the thought of what Haachama would do unrestrained. "Anyways, what happened yesterday?"

"We had to gather to deal with Haachama," Kiara said. "Luckily, we didn't have to do anything."

"I see," Ryan said. "With luck and a few choice words, Haachama shouldn't be as threatening anymore."

"Yeah," Kiara took out her phone as she heard a ding coming from her pocket. She took one look at the phone and paled. "Shit."

"What's up?" Ryan asked. It wasn't common to see Kiara this scared. She wasn't even scared when she stared death in the face in the form a giant laser.

"Ui-mama's coming," Kiara looked at Ryan, her eyes wild with fear.

"I've heard that name a couple times," Ryan rubbed his chin. "Why is everyone scared of that name?"

"I'm sorry!" The doors slammed open as Subaru ran through the door. "I tried to stop her!"

"Nonsense," A soft yet crass voice caused a shiver to crawl up Ryan's spine. He saw a girl that looked eerily similar to Subaru. She was a bit shorter than Subaru, her hair blonde instead of a dark brown. She wore a beret instead of a cap and had a school uniform on. Her eyes were a piercing emerald that permeated through Ryan, as if she was staring into his very soul. "She couldn't have stopped me anyways."

"U-Ui-mama!" Kiara stiffened slightly. Though the girl was intimidating, Ryan didn't know why Kiara was so scared. He just looked between the girl and the phoenix with a confused expression. "What brings you here?!"

Ryan directed solely to her as Ui walked up to him, stopping before the counter. "So, I heard you were trying to hook up with Subaru?" A green aura started to surround the girl as the ground cracked from the sheer pressure emanating from her.

"Sorry but you're on your own for this one," Edhas said as he shrunk into the deepest corners of Ryan's psyche.

'Asshole,' Ryan thought as he assessed his situation. There was only one logical thing he could do.

"Tenchou was the one who organized all of it," Kiara gasped in shock as Ryan jutted a finger towards her. "I'm just as much of a victim as anyone."

"How could my Little Egg rat me out like this?" Kiara said, her voice filled with shock.

"Kiara~," Ui turned to Kiara, who stiffened as she saw the girl's twitching smile. "Can you please lead me to the Usual Room?"

"Yes, Ui-mama," Kiara slumped, a defeated expression on her face.

-

"Sorry about that!" Ui walked out of the back room, dragging a seemingly unharmed Kiara behind her, who had a comical number of tears streaming down her face. "I never introduced myself. My name is Shigure Ui. It's nice to meet you, Ryan. Kiara told me all about you in the Usual Room."

"Nice to meet you too," Ryan said as politely as he could. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine," Ui waved her hand dismissively.

"So," Ryan turned to Subaru. "What would you two like to eat?"

"Shuba!" Subaru quacked (shuba'ed?), suddenly turning into a duck.

"I'll just have the birb mild wings," Ui said.

"Since Tenchou is in no condition to cook," Ryan cast a pitying glance to Kiara, who was faceplanted on the floor, a puddle of crocodile tears forming around her. "I'll get the food."

"Kiara's just over-reacting, right?" Ui gave Kiara a smile.

"But Ui-mama!" Kiara stood up, a pout on her face. "You killed me!"

"You deserved it," Ui shot back, her expression unchanging.

"I think you two should sort this out on your own," Ryan said, inching away. "I'll be right back."

"Wait! Ryan!" Kiara extended an arm towards Ryan, her face contorting in anguish. At this point, Ryan was sprinting for the back room door. "Ryan! You traitor!"

-

"How the hell did you get in here?" Grimm was in his own domain, the Phoenix Dimension. The Phoenix Dimension was a sort of pit stop for phoenixes who have died. A phoenix who dies can spend a set amount of time depending on their age and power to communicate with other phoenixes and relax before being sent off to another dimension. For a long time, Kiara was the last phoenix, making the Phoenix Dimension a dull and desolate void, but ever since Grimm officially took over, he has started to turn the Phoenix Dimension into a vast landscape, bringing life to new phoenixes around the multiverse, though since most phoenixes have just been set out into the multiverse, the Phoenix Dimension was practically empty.

"Can't I stop by to see an old friend?" Nux shrugged, walking up to the ex-reaper. "You've been busy, huh?"

"I've been doing pretty good, if I do say so myself," Grimm said as a gigantic fire bird flew through the sky, directing itself towards grim before turning into a human. The phoenix didn't look too far off from Kiara. She had longer hair, crimson eyes, and wore a blue military outfit instead of a KFP uniform. "How are you liking it here, Hino?"

"This place is great!" Hino exclaimed. "I just wish Reine can come here with me. Who's this?"

"This here is a friend who invited himself in," Grimm shot Nux a look. "It seems we need to have a few words in private, though."

"Okay! I'll leave you alone, then," Hino said before turning back into a gigantic bird of fire and flying off.

"How's Storm?" Grimm turned back to Nux. Nux's ear-splitting grin turned into a toothy frown.

"Not good," Nux replied. "He only has a few days at most."

"Do you know where his first target would be?" Grimm asked.

"Probably Edhas," Nux said, his smile returning. "I can't lie and say things won't be interesting. Edhas is a flexer after my own heart."

"Yeah, yeah," Grimm waved his hand. "Why are you here anyways?"

"I had a few questions considering time travel."

-

"Shuba!" Subaru exclaimed before she dove into the KFP high-quality duck food.

"Glad you enjoy it, I guess," Ryan sighed as he placed the Birb Mild Wings in front of Ui. "Here's your food. Where's Tenchou?"

"She went to seek comfort from her wife," Ui said, grabbing a chicken wing with her hands and biting into it. "This isn't that bad."

"I try my best," Ryan said, offering Ui a polite smile.

"You've done a lot for the magical community," Ui said. "The skills you demonstrated during the war were quite astounding."

"I'm sure Subaru outshone me in every way, though," Ryan looked at the duck on the counter, remembering the gigantic mecha that Subaru brought to the battlefield.

"Shuba!" Subaru shouted, looking up at Ryan before she dug bag into her food.

"She says you still did great," Ui translated.

"You can understand her?" Ryan asked.

"Of course," Ui nodded with a satisfied expression. "She's my daughter."

"She's your what?!" Ryan exclaimed. Not a lot surprised him anymore, but Subaru being this seemingly teenager's daughter was another thing. Before Ui could reply, Ryan could hear a crashing sound from the break room.

"Tenchou…" Ryan rubbed his temples. "I guess I found her."

"I think you should go deal with that," Ui said with a slight giggle.

"Thank you," Ryan said, cracking his knuckles as he walked towards the door to his sanctuary to break off a ground pound.

-

"You can't possibly mean…" Grimm's normal scowl was replaced with a look of pure shock. "How certain are you?"

"Pretty certain," Nux said, chuckling a little. "I'm not flexing when I say this is going to be the greatest arc yet!"

"You and your anime speak," Grimm said. "This is a serious matter."

"Oh, my dear chummy pal," Nux laughed as he softly punched Grimm's shoulder. "I'm dead serious."

-

"Why do I feel like someone is talking about us?" Edhas said as Ryan sneezed.

'Someone's always talking about us,' Ryan said. 'Even when we weren't famous, I was always a topic for discussion.'

"You're right," Edhas said. "It's probably nothing. You should probably get back to training, though."

'I don't see the point of this,' Ryan said.

"You can't always rely on me," Edhas said. "What if I'm not here anymore?"

'I'll celebrate when you're out of my mind,' Ryan said.

"Oh, shut up," Edhas scoffed. "You can't live without me."

'No,' Ryan admitted with a slight chuckle. 'I guess I can't.'