Day 22: Repentance

"So that's what's going on," Suisei rubbed her chin as she took her axe out of Ryan's arm.

"You could have waited five minutes," Ryan grumbled as he started to heal himself.

"Is this… normal…?" Rosalyn asked, slightly horrified.

"No/yes," Ryan and Suisei said at the same time.

"What do you mean this is normal?" Ryan turned to Suisei.

"How many times have I cut you up these past few weeks?"

"Well…" Ryan shuffled uncomfortably. "That doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't-,"

"Well, look at the time!" Suisei said, looking at her phone. "We need to get all of you to YAGOO."

"Really?!" Dorris perked up. "Thank you, Suisei!"

"No problem," Suisei said. "Actually, I just got a new car just for this. It's a really fancy white convertible."

"White convertible, where have I heard this before?" Ryan wondered to himself. "Eh, if I'm not remembering it, it's probably not that important. Let's go."

-

Kiara hummed to herself as unlocked the doors from the inside. She frowned as she remembered the events from two days ago. She didn't know if she could see Ryan the same after he basically lied to her as long as he had known her. "Speaking of which, he's running a little late today," Kiara said, taking out her phone. "Maybe I should call hi- wait… what's that noise?"

Kiara looked up when she heard the soft sound of a motor humming. She started to sweat as the sound got louder. "Holy shit!" Kiara jumped as a white convertible drove through the alley. She grabbed the gadget on her belt, extending her shield just in time for the car to crash through the windows. Fire wings sprouted from Kiara's back, propelling her forward so she wouldn't get sent flying back by the car.

"Okay, you are never getting behind the wheel again," Kiara hear Ryan's voice as she looked up to see Ryan exiting the passenger's seat. "You killed like… how many people?"

"Million kill!" Suisei cheered from the driver's seat.

"Where am I…? What happened…?" A familiar voice came from the back of the car.

"Yogiri!" Kiara flinched as she heard the name of her friend. "You're finally awake!"

"Yogiri?!" Kiara almost jumped out of her skin. "She's here?!"

"Yeah, I'm here…" Yogiri sat up in the backseat, looking around. "Seriously, where am I?"

"Actually, we need to get you to YAGOO," Suisei said, turning around to look at Yogiri. "Let me just kick this baby in reverse…"

"Wait no-," Kiara swore she heard Artia's voice being cut off by Suisei flooring it on reverse, the car speeding out of the destroyed building and into the depths of the alley.

"So that just happened," Ryan rubbed the back of his head. "Here, I got this."

Ryan raised his hand towards the mess and concentrated. The shattered bits of glass and brick started to rise, floating over to their original spots before mending itself. He then turned to Kiara. "I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?"

"Yeah, considering you lied to me ever since we met," Kiara said. "Are you even the Little Egg I've gotten to know? I don't even think I could trust you if you hid such a big thing like that."

"Ouch," Kiara flinched as she heard Ryan's voice cracked. His lips twitched, as if he was using every fiber of his being to keep up the small smile he had on his face. And his eyes… Kiara looked away momentarily but forced herself to look into them. If she was going to say something like that, she should look Ryan in the eye, no matter how hurt he looked or how guilty she felt. "I know it's not your fault, but it still kind of hurts, you know?"

"Ryan…?" Kiara honestly didn't know what to expect but considering the fact that Ryan had basically been lying to her ever since he met her, she didn't expect such a genuine reaction.

"I'm fine," Tears were flowing freely from Ryan's eyes, no matter how many times he wiped his eyes, the tears wouldn't stop. "It's just… you're my Mama Birb… and hearing you say that is really painful, even if I honestly deserve it."

When the words "Mama Birb" reached Kiara's ears, she stiffened, her motherly instinct instantly kicking in. She took a step forward, tentatively inching towards Ryan. Ryan stood still, as if still processing what just happened as Kiara slowly walked up to him, looking into his eyes. Kiara tilted her head as she was just a few inches away from Ryan, trying to understand how he felt. After a few seconds of silence, Kiara pulled Ryan into a hug.

"I'm sorry," Ryan buried his head into Kiara's shoulders, trying and failing to hold back his sobs. "I'm sorry."

-

"I-I'm okay now," Ryan pulled away from Kiara's embrace, his eyes red and puffy as he sniffled. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this. I never really wanted to show you this side of me."

"It's okay," Kiara looked at Ryan with a conflicted expression. "I still want to know what's up with you."

"I know," Ryan heaved a sigh, sitting down. "Can you sit down? This is quite the story."

"O-okay," Kiara sighed, taking a seat next to Ryan. Judging by his expression, Kiara could only guess that it was a hard story for him to tell.

"Well, let me start from the beginning," Ryan said looking at his hands. "Twelve days ago, I was nothing but a normal person working for a KFP under you. I met a lot of people and made a lot of friends. Those two weeks were the happiest two weeks of my life. No magic, no danger, no nothing."

Kiara looked at Ryan, her confusion peaking. "Then six days from now, you decided to celebrate two weeks since the grand opening, but instead of celebrating for KFP, you decided to host the party for me, celebrating me being employed for two weeks," Kiara flinched. Before the whole MILF thing, she had just started planning a celebration for Ryan. How did he know about that? Even more so, how did he know the exact day that it was going to happen? "You know, that was one of the best days of my life. Well, that until I got shot in the head."

Kiara froze. "Y-you were what?"

"Actually, I think Ame needs to hear this too," Ryan sighed, taking out his phone.

"Why does Ame need to know this as well?" Kiara asked. She didn't have any problem with Ame hearing the story, but she was just curious.

"You'll find out soon," Ryan said. At that moment, the doors opened, Amelia walking in.

"You're finally going to tell me the full story now, huh?" Amelia asked, sitting down next to Ryan.

"Yeah, I was in the middle of telling Tenchou," Ryan said, looking at Amelia with conflicted eyes. Before looking at the counter. "Anyways, me getting shot in the head."

"Yeah, I know that part," Amelia said. Kiara's attention snapped to Amelia as soon as she said that.

"You know Ryan was shot in the head?!" Kiara exclaimed, more shocked than angry.

"Well, that was the first time I was shot in the head," Ryan cut in, causing both of them to freeze. "I was thrown back in time to my first day. Things went down a lot differently than they did this time. Technically, I got my magic two days ago."

"This isn't your first time going back?" Amelia asked, her face paling as she remembered her boss.

"Jack already knows," Ryan said.

"Wait," Kiara held her hands up. "Who's Jack?"

"The person who created the ability to travel through time," Ryan explained. "Anyways, six days from now, we entered a war with MILF. That's when I got shot in the head a second time."

Both Kiara and Amelia shuddered as Ryan talked about something that should be fatal so casually. "That's when I met him. My other half. Edhas. The Fifth Mask. We had our differences, but we sorted them out, winning the war."

Kiara and Amelia leaned in, morbidly interested. "After that, I spent a while enjoying my life. Tenchou got married to Calli, Korone got married to Okayu, and everything was going fine. Tenchou even tried to hook me up with a girlfriend," Ryan chuckled to himself. Kiara smiled. That did sound like something she would do. "Well, and then the void came. An acquaintance of mine got possessed by the void. Kind of like the soldier that I fought a couple days ago. We won, but Edhas… he…"

Ryan wiped his eyes, but a single tear escaped, falling onto the counter. Ryan then turned to Amelia. "That's when you gave me this," Ryan sighed, showing Amelia his watch. "Then I travelled back in time again. To save Edhas."

"What happened then?" Kiara asked, causing Ryan and Amelia to direct their attention to the phoenix.

"I think I can explain this one," Amelia said. "I knew Ryan for about two weeks as he worked here. He was quite mysterious, but he was a good person. He did a lot of things for us. He even found a way to have Aloe see HoloFive for a day. Then six days from now… he got shot in the head again, pushing you to the side so you wouldn't get hurt."

"Y-you took a bullet in the head for me…?" Kiara asked, looking at Ryan with a shot expression. "You know I could come back to life, right?"

"Yeah, but the thought of you being hurt was too much for me," Ryan said. "If I had to do it again, which I have, I would take the bullet again. I would do anything for you, Tenchou. You're my Mama Birb, and I'm you're Little Egg."

"Ryan…" Kiara pulled Ryan into a hug, giving him a noogie. "You idiot! Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!"

"I didn't want any of you to feel obligated to become my friend," Ryan said, burying his face into her shoulder. "I wanted you to become my friend from your own free will."

"I guess I taught you well, huh?" Kiara said, stroking Ryan's hair. "I'm really happy you told me, though. Your Mama Birb will always be here for you."

"Ryan…" Kiara stiffened as Calli appeared, black mist enveloping the entire floor. If looks can kill, Calli would personally be escorting Ryan to the afterlife. "What are you doing…?"

"Oh, if Kiara is my Mama Birb, I guess you're my dad, huh?" Ryan looked towards Calli, giving her a wide smile despite his puffy eyes. "Come join the family hug."

"D-dad?! Where did you get that idea?!" Calli exclaimed, her face beet red.

"Just get over here," Ryan used magic to pull Calli over, forcing her into the hug.

"You know what?" Calli smiled, embracing Ryan and Kiara. "This isn't too bad."

-

"I'm home," Ryan sighed as he opened the door, walking into his apartment.

"Welcome ba-," Suisei popped her head from the door to his room but stopped herself when she saw Ryan's red and puffy eyes. "What happened?"

"N-nothi-,"

"Who do I need to kill?" Suisei's expression darkened as she summoned her battle axe.

"N-no one!" Ryan held his hands up, looking distressed. "I… I told Tenchou the truth today."

"Oh, I see," Suisei said, dismissing her axe as she walked up to Ryan. "I guess it was hard, huh?"

"Yeah, it was," Ryan said, looking down. Suisei then pulled him to a hug, Ryan flinching in response.

"C'mon Ryan, it's just a hug," Suisei giggled. "Are you that afraid of intimacy?"

"Yeah," Ryan said, awkwardly hugging back. "It does, but I think I can make an exception. Just for you."

"Of course," Suisei said, smiling. "That's what friends are for, after all."