I wasn't having the best night of my life. I dropped my chips from the shock I was witnessing. Thank god there were firemen in action already.
A crowd of people gathered to watch the firemen put out the fire. I recognized one of the people in the crowd to be the landlady. I rushed toward the landlady to ask about the fire.
"Oh... uhh Kyou was it? Thank god you weren't caught in the fire," The landlady sighed in relief.
"Thanks for your concern," I replied. "So what happened here?"
"I don't exactly know the details. But when I heard some residents shouting 'Fire!', I grabbed the extinguisher and did my best to put out the flames," The landlady explains. "However the flames spread quickly so I decided to evacuate the residents. Thank god no one was hurt."
I sighed in relief, knowing no one got hurt. However my stuff burned with the flame. The size of my clothes are pretty difficult to find, especially since I don't know if Takano even has my size. Also, I've been keeping a metal suitcase with me. I hope that didn't burn down.
"Before I forget, here's the money for this month," I gave her a stack of bills worth 10,000 yen.
"Oh don't worry about the rent. Keep that money for your other needs," The landlady politely refused my money.
I smiled back at her kindness and took out my phone. I called Kiara's number which she placed in my phone for emergency reasons, and this was certainly an emergency situation.
The phone rang for a couple of minutes but no one was picking up. I tried and tried again, but to no avail. I sighed and thought of staying at a hotel for the meantime, but I don't know any hotels nearby.
I asked the landlady about any hotel close to the KFP. She directed me to a hotel that she knew was close. However, upon searching for the place, it was still pretty far from the KFP.
At least I have an option. I checked the map for more hotels and well everything else was pretty far except for the suggested hotel.
I put my phone back into my pocket and pondered what I should do next.
My brainstorming was interrupted by my ringtone. I picked up my phone and saw it was Kiara who was calling. I answered the call immediately.
"Hello~" Kiara greeted me. "Takanashi Kiara speaking..."
"Hey Tenchou..." I replied.
"Oh Kyou, I just came out of the shower when I saw missed call notifications on my phone. Is there something wrong?"
"Yeah... there's something definitely wrong."
"What is it?"
"I don't have a place to stay anymore."
"Huh!? What happened?"
"My apartment sorta burned down."
"Oh that's sad."
"But good thing is, no one was hurt. Although, I lost most of my stuff in it."
"So what're you gonna do now?"
"I was thinking of maybe coming in a little late tomorrow since I have to find a hotel to stay in for the night."
"I can give you the day off if you want. However, you will be working overtime the day after tomorrow, understand?"
"Yeah yeah... thanks anyways."
"Okay~"
I could get the day off tomorrow which is cool. But I have to work my ass off the day after tomorrow. Well I guess I'll have to work tomorrow to avoid overtime.
Now back to the main problem which is finding a place to sleep. Right after thinking of a place to sleep, my phone started ringing again. Did Kiara find me a place to sleep?
I answered the phone. To my surprise, it wasn't Kiara.
"Heya Kyou. I heard your place burned down," A different voice rang over the phone. Confusion began to cloud me. How in the world are they getting my number? "It's Ame by the way. Kiara texted me and your place burnt down, so you mycan come crash here at my place. Gura was supposed to move in with me. But I told her about what happened to you and everything so yeah, that's it."
"Uhh how did you get my number?" I rubbed my eyes.
"That's not important, alright. What's important is you have a place to sleep," Ame dodges my question. "Now I want you to find a Smol Ame poster and pat its head twice."
"A what now?"
"Just do it!"
"Alright alright jeez."
I follow Ame's instructions and look for a Smol Ame poster. Coincidentally, I was standing across from one. Now, how in the world should I pat its head?
I placed two fingers on the mascot's head and rubbed it twice. Just like that, the poster started glowing a yellow light. I was taken aback by what was happening. The light swallowed my vision for a few seconds before it started to dissipate.
As soon as the light dispersed, I looked around to see I was in some sort of hallway. Behind me was the very same Smol Ame poster I touched. To my right was a white door with some of its color fading.
I knocked on the door, assuming it was Ame's room. There wasn't any reply. I put my ear close to the door to listen what was going on inside. I know it's rude to do this but it's better than knocking on the wrong door.
As soon as my ear touched the surface of the door, the door swung inwards, which caused me to fall forward. I looked up and got a glimpse of a black pair of tight shorts.
"Oh shit! I-I didn't mean to," I quickly covered my eyes with my hand.
"Oh, you're here! Perfect timing," Ame says with a smile on her face, ignoring what I said. "C'mon, make yourself at home."
"T-thanks..." I got up from the fall and bent my head over a bit to enter Ame's apartment. The first thing I noticed was that the ceiling's pretty high so I don't have to bend my head much. It's only the doorways that required bending over. The apartment looked pretty normal just like mine.
Ame grabbed my arm and pulled me to her bedroom. The first thing I noticed was the gaming setup she had. The colors of the lights were changing every few seconds. The cables were pretty messy but it didn't bother me too much.
What bothered me was the size of Ame's bed. It was pretty big, bigger than my bed in the apartment.
"What's with the huge bed, if you don't mind me asking?" I questioned as I pointed at the bed with a confused look.
"Oh I just move a lot when I sleep," Ame anxiously replied.
"I see..." I responded.
Ame jumps onto the bed without even changing her clothes to her pajamas. Unless, she really sleeps in that.
We both went to bed, saying goodnight to each other. Finally some rest after a really long day. I just hope the night goes pretty peaceful.
Well it was peaceful until I felt something hitting my back. Ame was lying when she said she moves in her sleep. She's throwing punch and kick combos at my back. It was extremely difficult for me to get some shut eyes with Ame beating up my back.
First thing tomorrow, I'll go buy myself a huge pillow to put in between me and Ame, 'cause the only thing worse than getting punched in the back is getting punched in the face, If ever I have to turn in bed. For now, I'll just have to take these blows like a champ.
####
"Good morning Kyou! How was your first night at Ame's?" Kiara greeted me at the counter. I was accompanied by Ame since I'm pretty new to the teleporting thing and could end up elsewhere.
"To be honest... I got beat up. Maybe I should've slept in the couch instead," I placed a hand on the back of my head.
"Hey! That's not nice," Ame pouted as she punched my arm.
"What's also not nice is having a footprint imprinted on my butt," I deadpanned.
Ame pouted more while Kiara chuckled. I walked into the break room to change into my KFP uniform. I went back out to see Ame and Kiara laughing together. It was like Ame hadn't been pouting at me a few minutes ago.
"What were you guys talking about, if you don't mind me asking?" I interrupted the conversation.
"Oh it's nothing, just something funny that happened before," Ame waved her hand dismissively.
As I took my place at the counter, black mist started to form on Ame's left. Kiara and I immediately knew who it was. Kiara grabbed a bottle of red wine and a wine glass from under the counter.
Calli walked out of the black mist and came another person. They had bright red her with black and white hair for their bangs. They had giant mouse-like ears and wore an off-shoulder white shirt with the words "RAT" on it. They also wore a spiky choker with a key hanging below it.
"CALLI!!!" Kiara screeched. Kiara wanted to pounce onto Calli but I immediately locked my arms around her waist. "Hey, let me goooo!"
"C'mon Tenchou, not this again!" I struggled to keep my arms locked as she tried to wiggle out of my tight grip. "Chill the out, Tenchou. We have work to do!"
"Hmph! Okay..." Kiara calmed down. "But your action grants you overtime for both today and tomorrow!"
My jaw dropped to the ground as soon as I heard Kiara's announcement. I just lost my home last night and came to work today so I don't have to work overtime tomorrow. Thanks to me not letting Kiara tackle Calli, I got myself double overtime. I heaved a heavy sigh in response to Kiara.
"Is it always like this here, sis?" The red-haired girl asked Calli.
"Wait! Sis!?" Both Kiara and I exclaimed at the same time. I don't personally know Calli but even I can't believe a grim reaper like her would have a cute sister, she has a little street punk vibe to her, and with abnormally large mouse ears on her head.
"How did Bae become your sister?" Kiara questioned.
"Well Calli and I technically have the same father, so that makes us siblings," the red-haired girl, nicknamed "Bae", explained.
"How in the world did this... uhh... hamster... become your sibling?" I leaned in closer to inspect Bae's appearance.
"Oi! Who're you calling a hamster? I'm a rat!" Bae scolded me.
"A rat?"
"Yeah I'm a rat. It says here on my shirt."
"I see..."
"So Kyou, I heard you're staying with Ame now," Calli said as she poured herself a glass of red wine.
"How do you know?" I questioned Calli."Tenchou, did you tell everyone about my situation, right?"
"Well you need help, right? Since you're recovering from what had happened last night," says the one that gave me overtime after trying to make her stay professional.
"Oh so that was your apartment that burned down?" Bae questioned. "I feel sorry for you, mate."
"W-what?" I stuttered. How does she know what happened to me? I never mentioned my apartment burning down and yet she guessed what happened. "How do you know?"
"Takano's an isolated city. News 'round here goes around pretty quick," Bae winked.
"Uhm we haven't fully introduced ourselves yet," I rubbed the back of my head.
"Oh right. I'm Hakos Baelz but you can call me Bae. Cheesed to meet you!" Bae giggled behind her hand.
"Uhh... Kyou, Kyou Hitsoka..." I stretched out my hand.
"Kyou huh? I can tell you're not from Takano, or maybe the world's different now from what I remember," Bae stroked her chin.
"So do you guys want anything?" I asked for their orders.
"Nah, I'm fine," Bae waved her hand dismissively.
"Yeah same here," Calli joined.
I turned to Ame, who also waved her hand dismissively.
Calli and Bae walked through a portal of black mist for their departure. Ame exited through the doors like a normal person while waving Kiara and I off.
####
I arrived back at Ame's apartment via the Smol Ame poster. I casually opened the door and entered in. I fell onto the couch due to the exhausting overtime chores Kiara made me do. My eyes were really heavy and I wanted to skip dinner.
"Hey Kyou!" Before I could close my eyes, I heard Ame call me. "You don't want some leftover noodles?"
"No thanks..." I refused.
I mustered up my remaining strength and dragged my body to Ame's bedroom. I pushed the door open and took off my coat. I threw it on the coat hanger on the back of the door. I took off my socks and shoes and laid down on Ame's huge bed. I didn't bother to turn off the light. I was simply too tired.
Hours later, the room had darkened. I saw the light through my eyelids disappear. Ame had turned off the lights for me. It wasn't long until I felt Ame getting in bed as well.
The next few hours were silent, Ame wasn't kicking my ass, thankfully. However, that silence broke for me as I heard a message notification from my phone.
I grabbed the phone and looked at the message displayed on the screen.
"Hope ur doing well <3" the text read out. The sender was labelled "Sis". I guess she's checking up on me.
I placed down my phone and heaved a sigh. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.