Chapter 16:

Orange v. Blue

I Prolonged the World’s Demise by Babysitting a Kaiju

I grabbed Sae's arm just as she started dialing HQ again. She shot me a questioning look, but let her hand drop. Through the shimmer of electrical haze, I squinted - was that an uprooted tree wrapped around the Furnace Kaiju's tail? It carefully set it down in an empty lot, well away from the brewing fight, before turning to face High Volt.

The two titans circled each other, their contrasting lights painting the street in a surreal dance of fire orange and electric blue. The Furnace Kaiju's chest cavity blazed brighter, steam hissing between its armor plates. High Volt's wire-tentacles lashed around, sparks jumping between them like mini lightning storms.

"Go get 'em, big guy." Little Shit echoed my sentiment, pumping his tiny fists into the air.

High Volt's tentacles snapped forward like live wires, crackling and sparking as they struck the Furnace Kaiju's massive claws. Steam hissed where blazing heat met raw electricity, filling the air with the sharp scent of ozone and burning metal.

The Furnace Kaiju let out a thunderous roar, shaking the ground as its furnace flared white-hot. With a powerful yank, it pulled High Volt in then slammed its head straight into its opponent. The impact sent sparks flying and knocked out the last remaining lights in the neighborhood.

The city went dark, but the battle lit up the night. Fire and lightning clashed in a blinding display. It was terrifying and beautiful and absolutely going to cost the city a fortune in repairs.

The Furnace Kaiju lunged forward, its massive jaws snapping at High Volt's crackling tentacles. The electric kaiju dodged, but not fast enough - those burning teeth caught one of its arms. Metal and circuits melted under the intense heat. High Volt screeched, a sound like a thousand batteries blowing up at once.

I covered my ears but kept watching as High Volt stumbled back, sparks flying from its damaged limb.

With a final burst of flame, the Furnace Kaiju scorched clean through High Volt's arm. The severed limb crashed to the ground, electricity hissing wildly before fizzling out.

The Furnace Kaiju lumbered toward its fallen opponent. Instead of finishing it off, it lowered its massive head until it was eye-level with High Volt. A deep rumble emanated from its chest, like a furnace cycling up.

High Volt responded with a series of electrical crackles and buzzes. Whatever they were saying, Little Shit seemed to understand. He hopped up and down, chirping excitedly.

High Volt pushed itself up. It dragged its damaged frame to the nearest transmission tower. Reaching up with its intact arm, it pressed its wired claws against the tower. Electricity surged from its body into the power lines.

One by one, the streetlights blinked back to life, spreading in a wave down the block. The KaiKool sign buzzed and flickered until its neon kaiju mascot glowed against the night sky.

High Volt trudged away, sparks still dancing between its remaining limbs. The Furnace Kaiju watched it go, steam rolling from its chest in lazy clouds. Little Shit waved goodbye from his perch on my shoulder.

"…You know that kaiju?"

"I guess? The big guy showed up at my apartment once, but that's about it."

"Then why did it go after High Volt like it was protecting you?"

"Beats me."

The Furnace Kaiju's tail curled gently around the uprooted tree it had set aside earlier. It turned back toward us, and then a deep rumble echoed through the air. Nothing threatening, but more like the purr of an oversized house cat.

Little Shit chirped back. The sound made the Furnace Kaiju's eyes crinkle at the corners, almost like it was smiling.

"Hey Sae?"

"Yes?"

"You planning to report this?"

"…Let's keep this between us for now."

And with surprising grace for something its size, the Furnace Kaiju disappeared into the darkness once again.

***

I walked back into KaiKool with Sae, only to find every customer pressed against the windows.

"Kaiju Girl! You called that kaiju here to save us, right?" Some teenage girl skipped over, her eyes sparkling. Before I could answer, Kurumi burst onto the scene, radiating the same manic energy.

"Ryū-chan! You didn't tell me you had TWO pet kaiju!"

I tried to correct her, but my voice drowned in the sea of excited chatter.

"Everyone!" Kurumi stood on a chair, grabbing a salt shaker like a makeshift microphone. "Let's celebrate Ryū-chan's kaiju victory!"

The café erupted into cheers.

I shot Kurumi a you're dead later look.

She just winked and whispered, "Our follower count just doubled. Play along!" before roping Toukawa-san into impromptu waitress duty.

The French customer from earlier stuffed a fat stack of bills into my costume's pockets. "Pour le spectacle magnifique!"

Tips kept pouring in. A group of middle schoolers traded their pocket change for selfies with me and Little Shit, while an elderly man, amused by the "stage play," slipped me a generous tip.

I should've corrected them. Should've explained that the Furnace Kaiju wasn't my pet kaiju. But the weight of those bills in my pocket felt an awful lot like a down payment on that Tokyo penthouse.

"You know what? Sure. Let's celebrate." I said, pocketing another hefty bonus.

Just then, Manager emerged from the back, surveying the impromptu party.

Welp, the party was fun while it lasted.

"Just clean up after," she said, before disappearing back inside.

I blinked. That was it? Maybe she was in a good mood… that, or the world really was ending.

I glanced around at the laughing customers and Kurumi's enthusiastic MCing. Honestly? Letting them believe I'm some kind of kaiju tamer wasn't the worst thing.

"@LittlePoopOfficial, coming to you live from KaiKool, we present our very own kaiju tamer!" Kurumi grabbed my shoulders and spun me around to face her phone camera. "Say hi to your fans!"

My stomach dropped as Kurumi shoved her phone in my face. The comment section exploded with hearts.

"I, uh..." Words failed me. Without thinking, I grabbed Little Shit and held him up like a shield. His confused squeak drowned out Kurumi's protests as I used him for cover, ducked behind a table, and crawled away.

I found Toukawa-san organizing receipts by the register. Just watching her sort papers made the tension ease from my shoulders.

"You're really calming, you know that?"

Toukawa-san's hands stilled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I didn't answer. My mind wandered to the stack of bills weighing down my costume pocket. The Tokyo penthouse dream felt closer than ever, but managing all that money? Not my strong suit. But Toukawa-san...

"Hey, Toukawa-san. Would you want to be our secretary? For the social media thing?"

"Is this because of the glasses?" She adjusted said hers with mock offense.

"I mean aren't you good at math?"

"So it's because of the glasses."

"It's because you're the only person I'd trust to handle money without buying something stupid." I glanced at Kurumi, who was now chugging melon juice for the livestream.

"…I guess someone has to keep you lot in line," she sighed, pulling out her phone. "I'll start a spreadsheet."

"GUYS!" Kurumi shot between us like a sugar-rushed kid, phone held high. "We just hit 100k followers! 100k!"

Little Shit jerked at her voice, nearly headbutting my chin. The stream of numbers and emojis on Kurumi's screen made my head spin.

"This calls for another celebration!"

I caught Toukawa-san's eye. She gave me the slightest head tilt - the universal signal for 'your problem now' - before gathering her receipts and retreating to safer ground.

"Kurumi." I grabbed her shoulders. "I'm still on shift."

"But Ryū-channn~"

"How about we celebrate some again other time?"

Kurumi's pout morphed into a grin. "Ok! But you owe me a celebration!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

***

Ryuka_savings_tracker_v1.xlsx

Updated: [4/13/20XX]

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Ryūka's pathetic savings | ¥373,834

Tips from Kaikool | ¥18,207

Total available | ¥392,041