Day 024: Moths to a Flame

Juniper was in her small form, flying throughout the city. "Damn, there's nothing interesting to do," she said to herself as she weaved her way through people and cars, trying her best not to get squished. She then flew a bit too close to a car, causing her to veer off to the side into an alley.

"Stupid fucking cars…" Juniper grumbled to herself as she flew down the alley. She then spiraled downwards as she crossed the barrier.

"Fuck!" Juniper said as she flopped on the floor. "I didn't know there was a barrier here… I should stay in my small form for now in case anyone else is here."

She started to flap her wings as she ascended from the ground. "I guess I'll continue forward," She said as she continued down the alley. As she crossed the threshold, she saw a KFP in the middle of an open area.

"What's a KFP doing here?" Juniper was hesitant, but as a moth, the lights drew her in. "Whatever. Let's see why a KFP is open at 1 am."

-

Kiara was humming to herself as she arranged everything. YAGOO had told her that KFP would be the meeting spot of a lot of groups to prepare for the upcoming war against MILF. "I'm really excited for this," Kiara said to herself as she wiped down the counter. As she finished, she heard a small thud from the door. As she turned, she saw a small bug. As she approached the door, she heard a faint sound of muttering. Curious, Kiara opened the door.

"Stupid fucking glass I swear to-," The moth stopped talking to give Kiara a blank stare. "Uh… hi…?"

"Do you need something?" Kiara tilted her head towards the small moth.

"Are you open?" The moth asked.

"No, but since you're here, I might as well open up," Kiara replied. "Give me a second. I need to call my employee."

-

"Where did you go?" Suisei asked as Ryan opened the door to his apartment. "I was kind of worried when I came back and you weren't here."

"I had to talk to someone," Ryan replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Just some preparations for the war, you know. Some contacts of mine are preparing to fight at our side."

"That's good," Suisei said. "Now you need to get some rest. You have work tomorrow."

"I guess you're ri-," Ryan was cut off when his phone started to ring. He curiously picked it from his pocket. "Oh great."

"What?" Suisei tilted her head. "What's going on?"

"Overtime," Ryan grumbled as he answered the phone. "Hey Tenchou. What's u-,"

"KIKKERIKIII~!!!" Kiara shouted through the phone. Suisei flinched at the sheer volume, but Ryan just stayed still, a blank expression on his face.

"What's up Tenchou?" Ryan asked.

"We have a customer! Get your ass over here!" Kiara shouted.

"Hai, hai," Ryan heaved a sigh. "I'll be there."

"I guess you have to go," Suisei said as Ryan hung up the phone.

"I'll see you later I guess," Ryan sighed as he turned around, leaving his apartment.

-

"So why are you forcing an employee to work at this time?" Ryan head a voice as he opened the door.

"Oh, it's because he's my Little Egg!" Kiara replied, looking at the counter. "He would do anything I ask!"

"Yeah, I guess I would," Ryan said, catching Kiara's attention. "Where's the customer?"

"Right here," Ryan notice a speck fall from the counter. With a flash of light, it grew into a humanoid moth creature with four arms, long, white hair, and black eyes with yellow irises. "My name is Juniper Actias. Nice to meet you."

"Ryan Shade," Ryan rubbed the back of his head as his clothes shimmered into his KFP uniform. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Interesting," Juniper smiled as Ryan walked behind the counter. "I don't think I've met someone stronger than me until I met you two."

"Huh, I guess I've been progressing," Ryan said, looking at his hands. "That's good I guess, considering we're going to be fighting in a war soon."

"Oh, a war?" Juniper put a finger on her chin. "Do tell."

"Are you sure we should be telling just a random customer about this?" Kiara asked. "I didn't even know you were going to be fighting in the war."

"Of course, I will be fighting in the war. Plus, the more help we have, the better," Ryan said before turning his attention to Juniper. "The whole incident in China is being caused by a certain… entity. We're going to be fighting a war against it to hopefully eradicate it from existence."

"Huh, I was wondering what that was about," Juniper said. "That sounds fun. Maybe I'll join in. Sure as hell beats doing nothing."

"See? What's the worst that can happen?" Ryan asked.

"A lot can happen," Kiara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Anyways, what would you like to order?" Ryan asked.

"Uhh, I dunno, I'll just have fried chicken or something," Juniper shrugged her four arms. "No spices please."

"One Birb Mild Wings, coming right up!" Kiara said, darting over to the back room. Ryan sighed. At this point, it was practically a race to the back room to see who would cook that day, as neither of them wanted the other person to do too much work.

"You know, this place is pretty neat," Ryan turned back to Juniper as he heard her speak.

"Yeah, working here has been pretty nice," Ryan replied, rubbing the back of his head. "The people that come here are usually really nice. Chaotic, but nice."

"I see," Juniper nodded, a satisfied expression on her face. "That's good. I might come here more often then."

"That's good!" Kiara darted out with a tub of fried chicken. "Here you go!"

"Thank you," Juniper said. "I guess I won't hold you up too long. I'll take my leave now. Do I need to pay?"

"Nah, this one is on me!" Kiara smiled brightly.

"If that's all, can I go back to bed?" Ryan grumbled.

"Sure," Kiara said.

"Thank god," Ryan sighed. "I'll see you."

With a snap of his fingers, he was gone.

-

Ryan woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. "Do I have to?" He grumbled to himself as he rolled over, grabbing his phone.

"Work is work," Suisei said. "Sorry guys, that's just my roommate waking up."

"I don't want to hear that from a streamer," Ryan muttered under his breath as he picked up his phone.

"I assume you want me to come to work?" Ryan asked.

"KIKKERIKIII~!!!" Kiara shouted through the phone. "Yep! Did you really expect to get the day off because you came in for an hour?"

"I guess not," Ryan grumbled to himself. "Hold on, I'll make my way there."

-

"You know, a day off wouldn't hurt," Ryan grumbled as he opened the doors to the KFP.

"Nonsense! If I can do it, you can do it!" Kiara exclaimed as Ryan walked to the other side of the counter. "Now go get dressed!"

"Yes Tenchou," Ryan said as his clothes started to shimmer for the second time that day.

"Do you know who's coming today?" Ryan asked.

"Actually, Reine is coming today!" Kiara said. "Have you met her before?"

"Funny story…" Ryan rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, I can't believe the fifth mask himself wrote a letter to get me out of there!" Ryan turned as he heard Reine's voice to see her walking in with a fairly short girl with white hair that went down to the middle of her back and little wings jutting out of her head. "He's a legend!"

"Yeah, yeah," The girl waved her hand dismissively. "Doubt he's all that strong though. I could probably kick his ass in a fight."

"I'm happy you got my letter, Reine," Ryan said, causing Reine and the unnamed girl to stop.

"Wait, you're the fifth mask?!" Reine gasped, pointing at Ryan.

"You're a part of Masked Mages?!" Kiara shouted.

"I'm just an honorary member," Ryan waved his hand dismissively. "I'm taking his place until he comes back, but I did use his name to get you out of there."

"Thank you," Reine bowed. "I don't know what would have happened if you didn't me get out of there."

"Don't mention it," Ryan said. "I know how much of a dick Peafowl can be."

"So, you're the one who brought my family back to me," The girl walked up to the counter, smirking as she held out her hand. "Name's Iida Pochi. Thanks for saving her for me."

"Name's Ryan Shade," Ryan smiled as he shook her hand. "What would you like to eat?"

"I'll have cereal," Reine said, sitting down.

"I'll have the same," Pochi said.

"Sure," Ryan said, making his way to the back room.

"I'll make it!" Kiara volunteered.

"Tenchou, you did the cooking earlier, so I'll prepare the cereal," Ryan said.

"Awh, fine," Kiara sighed.

"Thanks, Tenchou," Ryan smiled as he made his way into the back room.

"So, are you going to be going to China?" Ryan heard Kiara ask the two as he got the box of cereal from the back room.

"Yeah, wouldn't miss it for the world," Pochi said.

"Anya and Ollie are going to be there," Reine said. "Apparently Ollie wants to bring her girlfriend. I don't think that's the best idea for a date, though."

"I'm not sure Ollie is the best when it comes to planning dates anyways," Ryan said, walking out of the back room with two bowls of cereal, placing it in front of the two customers. "Here's your food."

"Thank you," Reine said, grabbing the spoon that Ryan handed. "You did put the cereal first, right?"

"What do you take me for, a neanderthal?" Ryan asked, tilting his head.

"You're right, I shouldn't insult you like that," Reine chuckled to herself as she took a bite. "You're going to China, right?"

"Yeah, though I'm probably going to be representing the Masked Mages," Ryan said. "Huh, I never thought I'd have to represent something in a war."

"Now that you think of it, that is kind of weird," Pochi rubbed her chin.

"Thank you for the food," Reine said, placing the empty bowl down on the counter.

"This cereal is actually surprisingly good," Pochi said, placing her own empty bowl on the counter. "What do you want to do now?"

"Do you want to play Minecraft together?" Reine tilted her head.

"Reine, how many times do we have to tell you that the amount of time you're spending on Minecraft is not healthy," Kiara said, bonking Reine on the head.

"Hey! I just… really like it, okay?!" Reine said defensively as she held the spot where Kiara had hit her.

"We're going to war in a few days, so I think it's okay to let Reine play Minecraft as long as she wants for now," Pochi pointed out.

"That's fair," Kiara sighed, her shoulders slumping.

"I guess we can play Minecraft together if that's what you want," Pochi said, turning to Reine.

"Really?!" Reine perked up. "Let's go!"

"Whatever you say," Pochi smiled as she watched Reine dash off. "Before I go, I just want to say one thing."

"What would that be?" Ryan asked as Pochi turned to him.

"Thanks for rescuing Reine. She told me about how things were back there. You really did her a favor," Pochi said.

"It's no problem," Ryan said. "Anything to help out a friend."

"Friend, huh?" Pochi put a finger on her chin. "You really are something special, huh? I'm glad you consider her a friend. Just keep her safe, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Ryan replied with a nod.

"That's all I ask," Pochi said before turning around, following Reine out of the restaurant.

"I guess you are a pretty good person," Kiara smiled as she looked at the exit. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

"It's okay," Ryan said. "It's only natural, though. To helped the ones who pulled me out of darkness."