1 Day 1: Culture Shock

Ryan awoke to the permeating sound of his alarm. He gropes around the nightstand before eventually slamming the alarm clock. He contemplated going back to bed before sighing. "Why did they give me the opening shift on my first day?" He slipped out of bed before dressing up in his standard clothing. Black hoodie and black pants. He didn't even bother to put on a shirt. He would be getting his uniform later today anyways. Ryan scratched the back of his head, looking at the door. This was his first job since graduating high school. After that, he decided to sit around and be a NEET for a year, but after his parents decided to stop supporting his unhealthy habits, he had no choice but to get a job. As any freshly minted 18-year-old, he decided to start with working at an international fast-food restaurant joint/dictatorship that aims for world domination. He applied for a few, but most of them denied him. The only one that did accept him was KFP, otherwise known as Kiara Fried Phoenix. His acceptance thoroughly surprised him, considering that despite the painfully average (if not below average) pay, they had amazing benefits. Considering his luck, those healthcare benefits would definitely come in handy.

Ryan opened the door to his apartment, typing in the address on his phone. For some reason, instead of being hired at the one he applied to, he was transferred to one that was just opening. Apparently, they were understaffed for the grand opening, so in their infinite wisdom, they decided to get someone with absolutely no training at all whatsoever to go help out. He sighed to himself, resigning to his fate. He was probably screwed one way or another. 'Might as well get paid, though,' Ryan thought to himself as he exited the complex.

He followed the GPS and took a few turns before stopping. He then stopped between two buildings, turning to look at the space in between. This couldn't be right. The GPS told him to go through a back alley. Why would a fast-food restaurant be through a back alley? He looked at his phone to see if there were any alternate routes, but when he refreshed the page, it seems that the alley was the only way. He sighed, walking into the alley. If he missed his first way of work, he'd probably never live it down. The alley was surprisingly clean and empty. No side doors, no heaps of trash, no thugs ready to rob him within an inch of his life. He continued to walk for a couple minutes before stumbling, suddenly starting to feel dizzy. He massaged his temples and closed his eyes before looking up again. There it was, a generic looking KFP resided at the other side of the valley. Ryan stepped through the clearing and examined the restaurant. The first thing he noticed that there was no parking lot. How did they expect to get money when they made this location so far out of the way? He sighed and walked over to the entrance, nudging the doors. Great, it was closed. He looked at his phone. 6:04 am. Great. What kind of manager was late to the grand opening?

"KEKERIKIII~!!!" A loud voice made Ryan all but comically jump ten feet in the air.

"Who the-" Ryan turned around, ready to tell off the person who startled him, but stopped when he realized who was facing him. "Takanashi-sanchou?!"

He expected some cranky manager, not the CEO of KFP herself. Takanashi Kiara became a worldwide sensation practically overnight. She was able to sell fried chicken at low prices and higher quality than any of her competitors, instantly becoming a hit. Over the past year and a half, she erected locations throughout the globe, even purchasing out companies that didn't specialize in fast food. She owned her own video game company, TV network, music brand, and even hosted a talk show. Her appearance only succeeded in mystifying Ryan even more. Why would the CEO herself show up at some random joint in the middle of nowhere?

"You're Ryan Shade right?" Kiara asked. Ryan nodded his head. "Ah, nice to meet you! You can call me Tenchou while you're here."

"Okay, Tenchou," Ryan replied. He was still thoroughly shell shocked, but he decided to act calm. He's never had a job before and as a result, doesn't know what would be acceptable or unacceptable to say. He reasons that he has a right to be shocked but decided to play it safe. "It seems the manager has yet to show up, so I don't have a way to get into the building. I don't have a key, so I can't open up myself."

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Kiara took out a keychain and fiddled with it for a couple seconds. As she found the right one, Ryan stepped out of the way from the door, shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets to hide his shaking hands. "I'm going to be the manager for this one!"

"W-wait really?!" Ryan exclaimed, losing his cool demeanor.

"This one will be…" Kiara put a finger on her chin and looked up, seemingly fishing for the right word. "Special."

"Whatever you say," Ryan muttered under his breath. If Kiara heard him, she didn't acknowledge it. She opened the door, gesturing for Ryan to enter. Ryan walked in and looked around. If Ryan was completely honest, the interior looked a lot more like a bar or a tavern with a fast foot makeover. There were four tables with four chairs each coated in the standard white and orange. The main highlight was the counter. The counter had a row of eight stools across. There were eight little screens in line with the stools which were at most six-by-six inches. Ryan didn't know why, but for some reason, but he felt that something was different about the counter. He sighed, resolving that he would find out why later.

"I had everything prepared for you in the back already," Kiara said, gesturing to the door behind the counter. "I'll open up today. You should get ready. Our first customers will be coming soon."

Ryan nodded before going over to the door Kiara pointed at and opened the door. The room it led to was a small room with a table identical to the ones out in the restaurant. He looked over to the right of the room to see a counter with a fridge, a water dispenser, and a microwave. He then saw the hanger with one uniform on it. That was weird. Weren't there more employees? Another thing is that at the time he arrived, he was the only one there. Wouldn't there be other people there to work as well? He shrugged to himself. He could ask Kiara later. He noted the door to the left that had a sign saying 'changing room' and grabbed the uniform, a white shirt with long sleeves, an orange button up vest with a golden name plate showing his name, white pants, and brown shoes and walked into the changing room, taking a deep breath. It was time for work.

-

Ryan noted that the uniform fitted quite well. He never gave his measurements to KFP, so having the uniform fit so well was a little bit weird. Ryan shrugged it off as a coincidence and opened the door back into the restaurant.

"Are you ready, Ryan?" Kiara asked as he opened the door.

"Yes, Tenchou," Ryan replied, putting up his best impression of a customer service smile, which wasn't all too good. "If I may ask, where are all the other employees?"

"Oh, we're the only two here!" Kiara replied happily, as if that wasn't an abysmal idea.

"Only us two?!" Ryan exclaimed, completely flabbergasted. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Oh, it'll be fine!" Kiara waved her hand dismissively. "This won't really be a busy joint. You'll see why I was reluctant to hire people for this particular place soon."

"O-okay…" Ryan said nervously. Before he could say anything else, black mist started to form behind one of the stools. As it continued to form, Ryan started to see a person walk out of the black mist. As the person finished walking out of the black mist, it started dissolve. The person was revealed to be a pale, tall woman with long, pink hair. The black dress she had on had two layers, one being that of a normal dress while the other being what looked like a torn robe. As the black mist completely faded, Ryan watched in mounting horror as a scythe revealed itself in the woman's right hand.

"Holy shit!" Ryan shouted out of instinct.

"Calli!" Kiara shouted, jumping over the counter to tackle the woman in a hug.

"Guh!" The woman now known as Calli grunted as Kiara collided into her. She attempted to push Kiara off her as she tried to nuzzle her. "Get the f-word off, Kusotori!"

"Uhhh, should I call the cops or something?" Ryan asked, his finger hovering over the call button on his phone, obviously distressed. He was indeed panicking, but he tried his best not to lose it before he loses his life.

"No, it's fine," Kiara detached herself from the tall woman to look at her employee. "Calli's a friend. You don't have to worry about her."

"O-okay…" Ryan said, leaving the cops on speed-dial, just in case. Part of him wanted to call the cops, but something told him that calling them wouldn't end well. The woman didn't seem hostile and calling the cops might make things worse.

"Oh, you got someone to work here with you. I'm surprised," Calli turned to look at Ryan with her crimson eyes. "My name is Calliope Mori. Make sure the bird doesn't do anything stupid, okay?"

Something clicked in Ryan's head. He's heard that name before. He was still relatively new to the rap scene, but Calliope Mori was a name that popped up a lot. Ryan remembered the first time listening to her song, "Cursed Night". The song really resonated with him, and ever since then, he had been an adamant fan of the musician.

"It's nice to meet you, Calliope-san," Ryan bowed respectfully, half out of fear and half out of respect. "I'm a huge fan of your music."

"You flatter me," a soft smile formed on Calli's face before facing Kiara. "I'll have the usual, please."

"You got it!" Kiara walked around to the back of the counter and opened a cupboard underneath the counter and took out a bottle of red wine and a wine glass, placing it on the table in front of her. Calli sat down, letting her scythe lean on the counter as she let leaned in, resting her elbows on it.

"When are the others coming?" Calli asked as she poured herself a glass.

"Right about…" Kiara started, mere seconds before the door flew opened. "Now."

"Oocha!" A small girl with while hair, blue eyes, and an oversized shark hoodie shouted enthusiastically. Ryan noticed the tail but decided not to comment on it. Unlike a lot of people, he was a rather progressive person. Magical beings were brought into common knowledge just recently but were poorly received. A majority of people were scared of these magical beings, as magic was something that they were unfamiliar with. Sure, magic is a wonderful and all, but a vast majority of spells had a hard time stopping bullet. Honestly, Ryan didn't know what the big deal was with all of this. Retaliation from the magical side of things have been exceedingly low, and in his personal opinion, cat girls deserve pets rather than death. "What's up?!"

"Oh, hey, you managed to drag someone into this mess," a small girl with short, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a terribly smug smile fixated on Ryan. She wore a detective's cap, a white dress shirt, a brown trench coat, and a red tie. Ryan recognized her immediately. Amelia Watson was a pro gamer that had taken the industry by storm. She won 15 world championships back-to-back for an FPS that Ryan didn't care to remember. "You have your mom's number, kid?"

"Uhh…" Ryan shuffled nervously.

"Ame~," The small girl whined, who Ryan will refer to as Shark Girl until he gets her name. "What did I tell you about ground pounding people's moms?"

"I can't resist, Gura," Amelia giggled at the small girl. Ryan noted that her laugh was akin to that of a gremlin that Ryan would normally see in cheap TV shows.

A third girl bounded over to Ryan and offered her hand. "Hi! I'm Ina! It's nice to meet you!" The only thing Ryan didn't find absolutely adorable about the purple haired girl was the multiple gigantic tentacles jutting out of her back. "What's your name?"

"M-my name's Ryan," Ryan shook her hand, trying his best not to be freaked out. Between the scythe, shark tail, and the eldritch tentacles, Ryan was thoroughly shocked. His mind was racing. At that point, he remembered something during his interview. One of the questions referred to serving magical beings. A lot of places had them on their application. Ryan of course said yes, even though a lot of places would deduct points off for saying yes, calling those people sympathizers. Ryan personally was thoroughly disgusted by how people treated magical beings. They were still sentient beings too. "It's nice to meet all of you."

"Nice to meet you!" The one known as Gura bounded over, Amelia following close behind. They all took their seats next to each other and the small screens by their seats flared to flared to life, showing a cartoon model of they as well as their names on the side behind the counter.

"What can I get all of you?" Ryan asked, putting on a customer service smile. Despite receiving no training, he wanted to try and help somehow.

"Nothing for now, but can I ask you to take this?" Amelia reached into the inside of her coat and took out a syringe with a glowing blue liquid sloshing in it. "It's safe, I promise."

"Ame, no poisoning my employees," Kiara said sternly, confiscating the syringe before Ryan can react. "Don't worry about their orders. I already know what they want. You should get to know these people while I prepare their orders."

Ryan sighed as his only chance of survival left to go cook. He felt like he should be back there, learning how to operate the fryers and such, but he wasn't the boss.

"So, Ryan," Calli caught his attention. "Why did you get this job? I'm sure you were aware that this was going to be a magic-only establishment and I don't sense any magic energy from you."

"Actually, I wasn't aware about that," Ryan sighed. He really should have been warned. Kiara seemed to be really bad at this, but he decided to let it slide for now. It's not like he could quit or anything. He didn't have a backup plan, so he was stuck with this. "But what can you do? I don't really mind, anyways."

"That's new," Amelia said, her smug smile turning a bit softer. "A lot of us have to hide our identities to make a living here."

"You're a magical being?" Ryan asked, confused.

"I'm a mage. You can blame this right here," she pointed to the clock she wore around her neck. "This thing put me through quite the trip."

"I'm still mad about that," Gura pouted.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stay with you for four thousand years!" Amelia shot at the shark girl. "I'm sorry I'm not immortal like some people!"

"I'm not immortal!" Gura shot back, causing Calli to facepalm.

"Excuse me," Ryan looked at the two bickering girls. "But what the hell?"

"Assuming you survive this job, I'm sure we'll tell you eventually," Amelia smirked at the employee.

"I'm really not liking my odds here," Ryan deadpanned.

"Don't worry, you're not scheduled for a while," Calli said, a tablet appearing in a black mist.

"What's that?" Ryan asked, curiously.

"Calli's death," Ina replied bluntly.

"What?" Ryan asked, his face flashing an expression of shock before returning to his normal deadpand. "You know what? I'm not even going to ask."

"Probably a smart idea," Kiara said, bringing out a tray of food from the back. She placed the food, a cut of grilled fish and a bowl of rice for Gura, tacos for Ina, a bag of salt for Amelia, and more wine for Calli.

"Not funny," Amelia deadpanned, though Gura was laughing hysterically.

"Can we taco bout this?" Ina asked, causing Ryan to facepalm. Eldritch horror aside, that joke sounded like something he would have said, and that wasn't really a good sign.

"Are you really sure more wine is a good idea?" Ryan asked Kiara.

"It's fine," Kiara replied. "Drunk Calli is so cute!"

"I'm not drinking for your amusement," Calli glared at Kiara.

"Thank you for the food!" Gura clasped her hands together before getting a pair of chopsticks and digging in.

"Check in, everyone!" Kiara smiled at the four people on her counter. Ryan knew that they knew each other, so he decided not to say anything.

"Finally off those scythe swinging classes," Calli said, finishing another glass of wine. "I have a lot more time to stream and make music."

"You stream?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, it's pretty fun," Calli replied.

"I just opened art commissions," Ina took a bite out of her taco. "I've been pretty flooded recently."

"YAGOO finally started talking to me about my 3D model!" Gura cheered, her mouth full of food.

"That's great!" Kiara cheered, patting Gura's head. "I'm so proud of you."

"I'm off to ground pound Ryan's mom," Amelia chuckled to herself.

"I would prefer if you didn't," Ryan mumbled, an image that would classify as the opposite of seiso flashing through his mind. He had to refuse the urge to gag.

"Yeah, Ame," Kiara shot at the pro gamer. "Stop ground pounding my employees' moms."

"Fine, fine," Amelia put the salt inside her trench coat. "Anyways, I should probably show up at the agency soon. My boss would have my head if I came late again."

"Thank you for the meal!" Gura put the empty bowl back down. "I'm going to head out too!"

"I have a stream in thirty minutes," Calli put down her empty wine glass. "It was nice meeting you, Ryan."

"I need to get back to work too," Ina smiled at Ryan. "It was nice meeting you, Ryan."

"Nice meeting you too," Ryan waved awkwardly as they left one at a time. "Wait, they didn't pay, did they?"

"Don't worry!" Kiara slapped Ryan's back. "They'll pay me eventually."

"That's not reassuring," Ryan grumbled. "Anyways, that was an eventful day."

"Day?" Kiara asked confused. "It's only 7 am."

"What." Ryan looked at Kiara with pure shock.

"It's time for training!" Kiara shot her fist in the air. Ryan groaned. This was going to be a long day.