Dining at Ryokoma

The restaurant, Ryokoma is one of Japan's most famous attractions. It initially started as nothing more than a large-scale restaurant, however, it is now a full-size mall and entertainment center. Due to initially being built on the site of an abandoned mall, one of the owners adamently pushed to expand the restaurant into a super mall restaurant. Now nearly 7 years after it's grand opening in 2016, Ryokoma had become the all-in-one place, the owner had hoped for it to become.

As for how it got to where it was, the answer laid in the owners of the place themselves. Both were elite chefs and top graduates of Japan's elite cooking school, Tabemono gakuin. The dishes they prepared were not only masterpieces, but affordable as well. Building good community relationships was a core tenant of one of the owners, and as such, the public not only came to appreciate Ryokoma for its food, but also the good people running it. As such, Ryokoma eventually amassed enough funds to expand to include new amenities such as an arcade, movie theater, and even an outdoor 2nd-floor pool. In short, Ryokoma was Japan's premiere hangout spot.

As the three walked in to Ryokoma, a woman with orange hair and green highlights, clad in a chef's uniform and a knit wool hat, smiled as she recognized them. "Well here's an interesting grouping. Our mighty crepe goddess and Emeri along with Yuni."

The woman was 26-year-old Rika Ryono, one of the head chefs and owners of Ryokoma. Originally born into a family of assassins, Rika decided to leave that life behind in favor of pursuing a cooking life.

"So you three want your usuals?" Rika asked.

The three enthusiastically nodded yes, and headed for a table.

"Glad to see you getting back on your feet," Rika smiled as she gazed at Yuni.

"Get this, Rika, the clown tried to fool me with THIS!" Madoka fumed as she slammed Jester's flyer on the table.

""General Masaru's Crepe corps Grand opening"!? The hell!?" Rika fumed as she crumpled up the flyer.

She then blinked and immediately un-crumpled the flyer in order to take some pictures of it's front and back. She had figured it was best to spread word of the false as on social media before destroying the flyer. Once her message had been posted, she re-crumpled the flyer and tossed it over a trash bin. The crumpled flyer was then suddenly shredded to microscopic bits as Rika sheathed her cooking knife and headed into the kitchen.

"Rika really is good with knives," Madoka smiled.

"Didn't she used to be an assassin?" Yuni asked.

"Y- Yeah, though now she's a full-time chef. Still has her edge though," Emeri stated.

...

A few minutes later, Rika returned with the food. "Here we are. One Unadon for Emeri, One oder of Col Masaru's chicken for Yuni, and for the crepe goddess..."

Slam!

"The usual offering," Rika smiled as a woman with short chartreuse hair and a woman with a pink mullet tied up in a ponytail slammed a massive plate full of crepes on the table.

Yuni's eyes bulged at the massive mountain of crepes before her. Though her shock only grew as Madoka began devouring the crepe mountain in seconds.

"Well excuse me. Guess I finished first. So how about you two?" Madoka asked.

"Eat more slowly," Emeri grumbled as she calmly ate her unadon.

"H- How did you eat that so fast!?" Yuni shuddered as she nervously grabbed a piece of chicken.

"Ha, ha! Blown away by the crepe goddess?" Rika chuckled as the two women that brought the crepes out headed back to the kitchen.

"That's not even the start of it."

"Ya know, the funny thing is is that the two of you both had your first meals here on the same day, also the reason we have these dishes in the first place."

"Wait really!?"

"Yeah. I remember it like it was yesterday. In the afternoon, Yuni and her family all came for a splurgefest on food. Yuni wanted some convenience store chicken, so Masaru whipped up Col Masaru's chicken and she became a daily customer since. Later that night, Madoka and her mom arrived for dinner. Madoka was so small and cute and quickly ate through our sweets menu, then after Mimi served em a delicious Kringle, Madoka asked for a Kringle crepe. It was so good she ended up falling asleep peacefully after finishing it. Then a few minutes after they left, Madoka returned for more crepes. We depleted our whole stock to fill her stomach. Then, she immediately got kidnapped. Boy was her mom pissed off when she returned. She really was a cutie back then. Now look at her all grown up."

"Now I'm a mature woman," Madoka proudly huffed.

"You'll always be our crepe goddess here at Ryokoma. Though speaking of which, when did you and Emeri become friends with Yuni?"

"Oh, I think she's the new friend Madoka made last night," a woman with platinum blonde hair and massive breasts stated as she headed to the back.

"Oh hi Mimi, clocking in?" Yuni asked.

"You bet," the woman replied as she headed to the back to change into her uniform.

"Mimi's actually our distant cousin by blood," Emeri explained.

"Really?" Yuni asked.

"Yeah, the Ginkawa family has many branch families, a lot of em are based in Scandinavia. Mimi's from one of them, but lives in the mansion with us."

"Believe it or not, she was actually the reason Momma and I first came here, and I'm so glad we did. More crepes, please!" Madoka smiled.

"Already on it," Rika smiled as another large plate of crepes was brought out.

...

After finishing their meals, the three headed upstairs to play in the arcade before hanging out at the mall for the day. Once they had their fill, they all decided to head home before it got dark, though not before Madoka ordered some crepes to go.

"You're gonna get fat if you eat all those," Yuni glared.

"Never have, never will. Besides, Rika's the one starting to get fat," Madoka pouted.

"I ain't fat, I'm pregnant," Rika chuckled as she patted her stomach.

"Again? Are you gonna have quintuplets this time?"

"Nah, it's just one girl. She's expected in September and will be our last kid."

"Now that you mention it, she'll be your 7th child, right?" Yuni asked.

"Right you are, detective. Reika would be proud to see you back on your feet," Rika smiled.

"It's rare to hear you talk about her in a positive light," Yuni noted.

"I still think she's the most unreliable woman in the world. You have any idea how many people she's told me to look after? You, Serika, now I guess maybe Bianka too."

"You're close with those two?"

"Mainly Serika. She acts tough and has a foul mouth, but deep down she just wants love and care. Wish that unreliable bitch kept her on as a second partner, but I guess I can kind of understand why she didn't want to drag her into anymore danger."

"We've never really gotten along, heck I remember when we first got in a shouting match here while we were still in school," Yuni stated.

"Heh, just a 'shouting match'? You two were yanking each other's hair out and made a mess. I was so pissed I made you two mop the floors and clean the bathrooms."

"Ugh, I was trying to forget that part."

"Heh, Serika always gets red in the face when I bring it up. I'd try and reconcile with her, maybe explain everything that happened to Reika."

"Sorry, the details are classified. I promised Sensei not to tell anyone, but you about her in her final moments."

"Unreliable to the bitter end. If that bitch wasn't already dead I'd kick her ass. Well, your to-go crepes are finished," Rika smiled as Mimi emerged from the kitchen carrying boxes of crepes.

"You ordered THAT many!?" Yuni gaped in shock.

"Hey, I'm a big girl now," Madoka grinned as she jiggled her breasts.

"You did that on purpose," Yuni glared.

After loading the crepes into a black sedan driven by one of the Ginkawa's servants, Madoka and Emeri hopped in and offered to give Yuni a ride to her place. Yuni accepted and the three headed off.

...

As nightfall hit, Serika strolled into Ryokoma. "Takoyaki and matcha soda... Honey pancakes too," she grumbled as she headed up to the restaurant's second floor seating to sit in her usual spot.

"Not dining with Bianka today?" Rika asked as she strolled over.

"Ever since Sensei died, she's kind of been a little distant with me. She even filed a transfer request to go to HQ. Probably to be closer to Mochi. Though now I'm partnerless again."

"Why not partner up with Yuni then?"

"HELL NO! I can't stand that twintailed bitch!"

"This is why I told Reika to make you two get along. Unreliable as always."

"Heh, guess Sensei really didn't get along with you either," Serika chuckled.

"So how much did she tell you about me?"

"The full bio."

"That bitch. I hate how she's smug and smart, but also very unreliable."

"Though she wasn't as unreliable as you rant about."

"Yeah, I know. When she was reliable, she was a great ally and friend. It's also thanks to her that I can chat with you and cook for you."

"Yeah, I owe everything to Sensei," Serika somberly smiled.

"Well brighten up girl, your food will be arriving shortly," Rika grinned as she waltzed over to the dumbwaiter and grabbed Serika's order. "Pipin' hot takoyaki, a matcha soda, and some honey pancakes for dinner. Chopsticks included," she grinned as she set the meal down.

"I know not to grab it with my hands. I only did it back then cause I thought you ate it with your hands like sushi," Serika grumbled as she ate.

"Heh, you've really grown since then. Reika would be proud to see you living on your own two feet."

"Shut up... Guess you're right. Sensei, hope you don't mind me eating your meal again," Serika tearfully smiled as she finished the takoyaki and began eating the pancakes."

"You're eating Reika's meal, just like on the day you first came here," Rika happily thought.

...

Yuni changed into her pajamas and laid down on her bed staring at her phone. She was in a group chat with Madoka and Emeri and chatting with them about various things.

“Hey Yuni, don’t you think Emeri should do a face reveal?” Madoka asked.

“Mado-chan! I’ve told you, that’s only as a last resort,” Emeri replied.

“What do you mean?” Yuni asked.

“If my identity gets revealed to the police or leaked, I’ll do a face reveal in order to make it harder for Illumous to get rid of me."

“You know about Illumous!?”

“Yeah, I’ve hacked and exposed some of their members online. Plus, I’m technically part of the Ginkawa family by blood. My mother and Mado-chan’s mother are biological sisters even though my mother disowned herself from the family."

“Emeri’s mother is my aunt. Though I don’t know why Emeri doesn’t have silver hair considering her mother had it,” Madoka stated.

“It’s called a recessive gene, my eyes and hair come from my father. My younger sister has red hair too, heck my mother's been dying her hair red ever since she disowned herself.”

“But your dad is bald.”

“He had hair in his youth.”

Yuni giggled as she watched the banter, it felt nice to have friends. Though tomorrow, she was heading back to work, a place where she didn’t have anyone she was on good terms with besides Mutsumi.

“I hope I don’t get yelled at and treated horribly tomorrow," she thought.