Honkai: Starting to Wander with Kiana

It had been a week since Kiana started working at the coffee shop. Ryn had also been holed up in the internet café for the past seven days, barely moving a hair.

"Finally finished the outline for Dark Souls: Dying Twice. Next step is to post it online and try to find some backers. It's getting late. I need to pick Kiana up." Ryn sent his proposal to several game companies before logging off and heading out to bring Kiana home.

Out of consideration for their students, the city authorities limited student work hours. Kiana only worked an afternoon shift every day at the coffee shop, leaving her plenty of time to hang out with Kurui Shinano at the fried chicken restaurant.

At first, Kiana hadn't planned on visiting the restaurant, since she didn't have much money. She'd just be looking at food she couldn't afford. But the coffee shop owner, Mrs. Yamane, had a habit of dropping by the restaurant every few days, striking up a conversation with its owner, and sometimes bringing Kiana along.

Both Kiana and Shinano enjoyed these outings. Kiana because Mrs. Yamane treated her to snacks; Shinano because she'd made a new friend.

When Ryn arrived at the coffee shop, Mrs. Yamane told him, "It's been a slow day. I closed early, so Kiana's already gone to the restaurant to play with her friend."

After chatting with the café owner about Kiana's latest activities, Ryn bid her farewell and headed towards the fried chicken shop.

Beep beep beep! On his way, Ryn's communicator sounded. He had a new message: a technology company was interested in his project and wanted to meet with him soon to discuss collaboration details.

Ryn mentally cheered: Yes! Kiana, we're going to have some real money now.

Pushing open the fried chicken shop's door, Ryn saw Kiana, her face greasy from eating. She spotted him and rushed over for a hug without even wiping herself clean. Ryn patted her head, exasperated, and then helped her wipe the mess from the corners of her mouth.

"Dummy Kiana, next time clean up first. You've got me all oily now."

"Heh heh, I just wanted to hug you right away. I didn't think about it..." Kiana awkwardly patted Ryn's chest, trying to remove the obvious grease stains, but clearly it didn't do much good.

"Never mind, I'm used to it. We'll just wash up when we get home," Ryn said. He'd long since come to terms with it; after all, he had mastered over a hundred techniques for cleaning oil stains. What good would it be to learn them if he couldn't put them to use?

"Eh-heh"

Kiana stuck out her tongue, showing she knew she was in the wrong, but that she'd probably do it again.

"Every time I see you two, I can tell how close Ryn and Kiana are," Kurui Shinono remarked enviously from the side. In this era, the concept of "doomscrolling" hadn't yet been coined; otherwise, Kurui Shinono would surely have felt her dinner was going right out the window.

"Of course we're close! Ryn is my closest friend, even closer than my own dad," Kiana said, her face beaming with joy. Despite the tough times they'd shared, she always seemed to find happiness in the simplest things. (Ryn: I'm sorry, Kiana, for making you suffer like this, but have you forgotten who's actually responsible for all this misery?!)

After saying goodbye to Kurui Shinono and the fried chicken shop owner, Ryn took Kiana by the hand, and the two set off on their journey home.

As they walked, Ryn suddenly remembered the text message on his phone. Smiling, he said to Kiana:

"Kiana, someone likes my idea. We're about to get rich!"

Kiana paused for a moment, then looked at Ryn.

"How rich? Will we be able to eat our fill?"

"Eat, eat, eat! All you ever think about is food. But if it gets as popular as I hope, you'll be eating chicken legs every day for the next three years!"

"Yay!"

After arriving home, Ryn followed up on the text message. He contacted the person in charge, exchanged a few simple messages, and agreed to meet at a specific time and place.

The next day at noon, Ryn took Kiana to the coffee shop for work. But this time, unlike usual, Ryn didn't leave right away. Instead, he ordered a coffee and waited by the side for someone they'd agreed to meet.

Before long, an elegantly dressed blonde man arrived with a white-haired woman wearing amber-colored glasses.

The woman scanned the coffee shop, then led the man over to Ryn.

The man sat across from Ryn, while the woman stood off to the side.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" Ryn asked politely. It was his first time talking to someone about work, so unsure how to start, he just asked something basic.

Kiana, carrying a menu, jogged over and set it down in front of the man.

"No need, thank you. Hello, Mr. Ryn. I'm Otto Apocalypse. This is my secretary, Amber Apocalypse." Otto didn't even glance at the menu as he introduced himself.

Seeing Otto's face, full of confidence, made Kiana suddenly want to punch him for some reason. She shook her head, wondering where such a dangerous thought had come from.

This caught Otto's attention. His green eyes seemed to brighten a little.

"What a lovely girl! Your eyes remind me of someone. What's your name?"

"Kiana Kaslana," Kiana said proudly. She always felt good saying her name because it was the best birthday gift ever from her rotten dad.

Otto nodded and gestured for Amber to step back. Amber understood and turned to Kiana.

"Mr. Otto has unique tastes. Dear miss, would you mind taking me to the kitchen so I can make a special coffee just for him?"

Kiana hesitated a moment but didn't think too much about it. The boss lady allowed customers to make their own coffee, as long as someone supervised them. So Kiana led Amber away.

"Okay, now let's talk about working together on Dark Souls: Dying Twice," Otto said with a clap. He turned Ryn to face him, his green eyes staring right into Ryn's. It felt like the weight of a powerful man was crushing down on Ryn.