Lunamugetsu: I do not own Toriko.
I was kindly informed that I might be getting Sani's name wrong, and his name is Sunny. I always thought his name was Sani because when I first saw Toriko, the subtitles said his name was Sani and when I read the manga, the translation was written as Sani. I've recently looked at the Toriko wiki and the Crunchyroll translation saying that his name is Sunny. Plus his animal partner is either called Quinn or Queen. Translation varies. So I'm going to be referring to him as Sunny from now on. If anybody does know what the proper translation for his name and his partner is please inform me.
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Kimiko was walking through the woods as Terry started to lead her to where Toriko wanted to meet up with her. She was sporting a pink shirt with beige pants, as Toriko had told her that they were just going to go eat out in the woods and wouldn't be doing anything aggressive. She gave Terry a pet on the head as she smiled at how big the Battlewolf had gotten.
"You've grown so much Terry, you're practically my height now." Kimiko gushed as the Battlewoof preened at the attention.
To think, it's only been a couple of weeks, since Toriko and I formed a combo, Kimiko thought while scratching Terry behind her ear.
"Hey Kimi!" Toriko shouted from the clearing in the forest, as Kimiko approached him. "You're just in time. I was just about to test my skills" He pointed to the mountain sized boulder that was just behind him. Kimiko gawked at the tremendous size of the boulder as Toriko walked up to it. "It's a pretty good sized iron ore, isn't it." he patted the iron ore. I've got no complaints about its hardness and durability either. Get back a bit, I'm gonna demolish it."
"Really?" Kimiko said as Terry bit onto Kimiko's sleeve and tugged her towards the cover of the trees.
My cells evolved even more with the Ozone Herb, Toriko thought as he readied his arm.
"Show me your power so I can measure it" Toriko muttered. "15 REN KUGI PUNCH!" Once the attack had hit its mark, Kimiko held her breath as she saw the the mountainous boulder was starting to get pushed off the ground from Toriko's attack. "GO!" In the next moment the iron ore broke apart into small pebbles that fell harmlessly to the ground.
"You did it!" Kimiko exclaimed as Toriko laughed.
"C'mon, let's go eat!"
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"Idtadakimasu!" the two said as they dug into the meat that was currently sitting on the fire.
"Delicious! The meat tastes like light, first-rate chicken, and yet it's overflowing with juicy fat! Plus the skin is crispy and aromatic, like Peking duck!" Toriko commented before taking another bite
"That reminds me, I found a Miso Fruit and found a Miso Fava Bean inside. So how about using it to season the meat" She took out a brush and dipped it in the miso filled bean and then brushed it on the remaining slices of meat that were on the grill.
"Yahoo! Grilled miso!" Toriko's mouth started to water, "The smell is making me drool!" Toriko quickly took a peace and sighed in happiness, "I can't get enough! The miso enriches the flavor of the meat! And the delightful aroma of the Miso Fava Bean. Kimi, you have to try this!" Toriko picked up a piece for her to bite into.
"Aaah." Kimiko opened her mouth and bit into the meat that Toriko had picked up for her. "Yummy!" she kept on munching on her food as the aura around her started to turn into a flowery warm atmosphere from her happiness.
This is becoming a thing, isn't it, Toriko thought as he looked at Kimiko's blissful face, he gave a grin as he saw that Kimiko was enjoying spending time with him.
"Kimi, let's keep cookin' more meat!" Toriko exclaimed
"Yeah!" Kimiko started humming to herself as she began placing more cuts of meat onto the grill. Toriko gave a small smile as he watched Kimiko continue to hum while making sure that the meat didn't burn. The words of the last conversation that he had with his father started to run through his mind again.
Toriko! After This, I'm going into the Gourmet World. If you boys feel up to it, make yourselves stronger, then follow me!
"Toriko-san, c'mon the meat's best when they're just off the grill." Kimiko's words broke him out of his thoughts making him see that Kimiko was holding a plate of freshly grilled meat while picking up a piece with her chopsticks. Toriko smiled before bending down and biting into the meat that she was holding with her chopsticks. Kimiko gave a grin as she saw that Toriko was enjoying the food.
Kimi and Terry aren't ready to go into the Gourmet World yet, Toriko looked as his hand, Just how far would I get with the level I'm at now? I wanna know. I really wanna know.
"Toriko-san, is something wrong?" Kimiko tilted her head in confusion as to why he was silent.
"I'm hungry, c'mon Kimi. Give me more!" Kimiko laughed as she saw that Toriko was drooling. A quick thought came into Toriko's mind making him grin. "Bending down to get food is a bit troublesome."
"Huh?" Kimiko's confusion only lasted a moment before Toriko had placed her on his lap.
"This is much easier for you to feed me," Toriko grinned as he saw Kimiko's face redden. "C'mon Kimi, let's eat!"
"Uh yeah!" Kimi said before she went back to feeding him.
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In a rainy town, in a small restaurant with sweet jazz music playing in the background. A certain multi-colored haired man sat by the window as the warm lighting of the restaurant illuminated the plate of pasta and wine that was placed in front of him. The man gave a delightful hum as he took a bite of the pasta.
"Chestnut Sea Urchin pasta is the best!" He sighed, "For one thing the environment, Raintown, where the rain never stops falling. The constant humidity brings out the rich yet mild flavor even more. And the jazz music playing faintly in the background along with the sound of the rain outside. They all blend in with the antique decor producing an ineffably peaceful, relaxing mood. In other words, this place has harmony." He turned to look at the bluenette that was stuffing his face with pasta. "You understand, Toriko? Harmony. Harmony!" Toriko only twirled the pasta into a gigantic mass onto his fork and shoved it into his mouth.
"Another one of the same! Just keep the dishes coming" Toriko shouted
"You haven't been listening to me at all!" Sunny yelled, "And the way you eat doesn't have one iota of beauty! How Miko can deal with your terrible table manners is beyond me."
"Well, she didn't mind when she was feeding me while sitting on my lap." Toriko grinned as he saw Sunny pause and glare at him.
"If we weren't in such a beautiful place, I would have thrown you through the wall." Sunny grinded his teeth at Toriko's smug grin.
"Yeah, it's not like I kissed her," Toriko goaded only for Sunny to give a grin of his own.
"You think you're the only one, that's kissed her." Toriko frowned at Sunny's comment, "Just because you two are combo partners now, it doesn't mean that I can't show her my appreciation," Sunny's smile only seemed to fuel Toriko's glare as the tables had turned. "Anyway, why did you call me out here, I was in the middle of training."
"I needed to know," Toriko went and inhaled another plate of pasta.
"I can't believe you're serious," Sunny sighed, "You want to enter the Gourmet World."
"Sunny, you've been into the Gourmet World, right? As I recall, you were after an ingredient there." Sunny took a sip of his wine before answering.
"Earth. Acacia's dessert."
"Earth?"
"Yes." Sunny paused as the memory of his utter defeat and pained screams once he had set foot into that world. He recalled the moment when he was littered with bruises and was struggling to look up to see that the Saiseiya Yosaku had saved him.
"Idiot! How many times have I told you that it's too early for you to go into the Gourmet World with your abilities as they are now?! I tell ya, if I hadn't gone in there to rescue you, you'd be dead!"
"I'm not gonna die," Sunny winced at the pain of moving, "Anyway, I had to see for myself or I never would've been satisfied."
"Yeah, I went in there. It wasn't as big as deal as I thought," Sani told Toriko
"I kinda figured!" Toriko grinned, "So, where'd you get in? C'mon, tell me."
Toriko, you're the same as me, aren't you? If I tried to hold you back, it's not in your nature to readily submit. And that wouldn't be beautiful, but this way you can learn an important lesson. Sunny thought.
"There are three routes to the Gourmet World from land. Zirbel Island, with its "Life Basin", Yuto Island, with its "Bay of Evil Spirits", and Wac Continent, with its "Road of Three Hells." Among the three, the route with the fewest obstacles and the one that's called the easiest way into the Gourmet World, is Zirbel Island, through its Life Basin." Sunny informed him, Toriko gave a grin before shoving the last of his pasta into his mouth.
"Life Basin, huh? Thanks, Sunny." Toriko got out of his chair and took off the napkin that was wrapped around his neck.
"You're going alone?" Sunny asked, "You're not even going to tell Miko?"
"Naturally, I can't take Kimi or Terry there yet. So Kimi doesn't need to know. I'm going to put my strength to the test. So make sure to keep it a secret from the old man!" Toriko waved, "See ya!"
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Sunny yelled making Toriko pause and turn to look at him.
"Oh, that's right!" Toriko clapped his hands together. "The food was delicious! Gouchisousamadeshita!"
"You're making me pay!" Sunny glared at the blue haired man as he saw that he gave Sunny a sly grin before leaving.
"That asshole," Sunny muttered he leaned back to his chair.
Don't do anything rash, Toriko. He thought.
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While working hard at her job, Kimiko was currently busy preparing another batch of Century Soup. She was skimming the scum off of the broth, while replaying her thoughts in her head.
I got to get better, she told herself, So that I can be good enough to go with Toriko when we go to the Gourmet World.
While she was engrossed with her work, the two assistant chefs were staring in awe at her.
"Recently, Chef Kimiko has been totally fired up, you know?" one of the assistant chefs said
"Yeah, I suppose it's because she teamed up with that Bishokuya, Toriko," the other assistant chef said, "She even created the Century Soup. She really is amazing!"
"You think we'll be able to get to her level?" He asked his friend.
"Don't think it, just work hard and learn," Kimiko said making the two chefs jump.
"Chef Kimiko!" They both exclaimed at Kimiko's statement. She gave them a small smile before reducing the heat of the stove to a slow simmer.
"Shigeo-san, Daisuke-san. If you keep on working hard and learn from your experiences from handling food. You will surely get better, but don't set me as your limit. There are tons of chefs that are better than me, if anything, strive to bring out the most in your cooking. After all isn't that our goals as chefs, to make the most of our ingredients so we can create delicious meals for people to enjoy." Kimiko spoke making the two assistant chefs look at her in awe.
"Chef Kimiko." They said
"Oh, sorry." She gave a little laugh, "I'm sure that you didn't want to hear me give you a lecture."
"No, it's fine, Chef Kimiko!" Daisuke said, "If anything it just motivates me more to work harder."
"Yeah, you're really good at making people bring out their full potential." Shigeo said making Kimiko blush at their praise.
"Kimiko-senpai!" The waiter, Gin said getting her attention, "A friend of yours is here to see you."
"Really? Who?" Gin pointed to the Gourmet News Anchor that was pressing her face against the glass of the kitchen doors.
"Kimiko-kun!" Tina's muffled voice came through to the kitchen.
"Tina-san!" Kimiko exclaimed.
"Don't worry, Chef Kimiko. We have it handled here. Go on and talk to your friend." Daisuke said
"Thanks you guys, I'll be back soon." She told them as she left the kitchen
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The two were currently seated in one of the empty tables. Kimiko grinned as she saw that Kruppoh was playing with Yun, her baby wall penguin.
"Congratulations, Kimiko-kun. To think that you'd be combo partners with Toriko." Tina pulled out her camera and pointed it at Kimiko, "I want to know all about it."
"Um."
"So who asked first? Was it you?"
"Well-"
"How did you feel when you two formed a combo?"
"I-"
"What kind of future do you think you two will have?"
"Tina-san." Kimiko said stopping Tina from bombarding her with questions. "I don't really know what's going to happen. But my immediate goal is to get stronger, because one day I'm going to go with Toriko to the Gourmet World."
"Gourmet World!" Tina exclaimed
"Yes."
"Are you serious, Kimiko? That's a huge scoopful of danger! Do you remember the press conference awhile ago?" Tina frowned as Kimiko's confused look. "There was a journalist that went into the Gourmet World, his statement completely changed everybody's opinion of the Gourmet World being a 'Food Paradise'. His statement of saying of how every part of the environment was hazardous, the sky, sea, land, the beasts, and weather. Everything was completely unpredictable even though he was a qualified weather forecaster with navigational skills. The fact that he was able to make it out of there alive was simply a miracle. What made it his testimony strike more was that he was once a top-ranked Gourmet Hunter himself. It was soon after that, the IGO put walls separating the Human World from the Gourmet World and designated the Gourmet World as a danger zone."
"I remember now," Kimiko said, "Finding out how terrible the Gourmet World is." She looked up to face Tina, "But I'll be fine if I'm with Toriko-san. I'm sure."
"You really trust Toriko, don't you Kimiko." Tina said making Kimiko laugh.
"Yeah, I believe in Toriko a hundred percent," Kimiko told her making Tina grin.
"Toriko probably trusts you a lot too. You guys probably tell each other everything," Tina said
"Well I don't keep any secrets from him," She told Tina making the newscaster raise an eyebrow.
"Do you think he's not telling you something?" Tina asked making Kimiko flinch at the suggestion.
"Well, I believe everyone should have their right to have secrets," Kimiko laughed making Tina frown.
"Kimiko, although I've never been in a combo, I'm sure that partnerships are never one-sided. If you trust him with all your heart, shouldn't he do the same?" Kimiko gave a sad smile at Tina's reasoning.
"When I saw him last time, it felt like he was going to do something dangerous without telling me. But he didn't act any different than what he usually acts like. So I feel like it's probably just me being paranoid, or just me getting so antsy from all of the adventures we go on." The chef told her.
"Well the next time you see Toriko, why don't you ask him?" Tina said, "after all you're combo partners. You shouldn't be hesitating to ask him about anything."
"Yeah. I'll make sure to do that." Kimiko said giving Tina a big smile, Tina gave a smile of her own seeing that Kimiko was feeling better.
"The worst thing that Toriko could have done is to have gone into the Gourmet World without even so much as a goodbye," Tina joked, "There's no way he would have done that, that'd be downright cruel."
"Yeah, that would be uncalled for." Kimiko sighed.
"Oh that reminds me, it's been awhile but I never got to thank you." Tina said
"Thank me for what?" Kimiko tried to think about what she had done that could have warranted a thanks.
"Remember that time with the Rockdrums when we were trying to get the Jewel Meat. The Rockdrums would have came after me, but you directed their attention towards you instead." Tina explained making Kimiko remember.
"Tina-san that was forever ago. You don't need to thank me, any good person would have done that." Tina frowned at Kimiko's statement.
"Then how about this, you stop adding the -san honorific to my name and just call me Tina, and I'll drop the honorific for you" She said, "after all aren't we friends."
"Friends?" Kimiko repeated.
"Yes! Us strong independent working women have to stick together in order to carve our own paths in the male dominated workplaces that we're in!" Tina exclaimed, "that and don't you think going through life or death situations together warrants a friendship."
"I suppose, but I don't really think being girl should affect a person's career." Kimiko said
"Of course, but you can't tell me that you haven't encountered a sexist person before"
"True, when I was in culinary school, there was those couple of guys that thought that women couldn't handle being in a professional kitchen." Kimiko muttered
"Really?! That's a heaping gram of nonsense!" Tina yelled angrily, "Haven't they heard of Setsuno-san, she's one of the Gourmet National Treasures, do they even know how many times she won the Cooking Fest!" Kimiko laughed as Tina started to rant. "They were probably trying to make up for the fact that they probably had a small-"
"Yun! Yun! Yun!" the penguin chirped stopping Tina from finishing her statement
"Please calm down,Tina. Plus, those comments never got to me." Kimiko smiled, "I knew that if I work hard and continue to improve. I would be able to reach my goal." She turned to Tina, "To be able to serve people delicious food. If I'm able to do that then all my years of schooling and hard work paid off."
"That's sounds amazing, Kimiko." Tina said, "Y'know that makes me wonder, how was culinary school like? It must have been hard, especially since you'd be competing with so many other people in this day and age."
"Yeah, it was difficult then, but now I feel that it was worth it. All of those long days and nights. I was so busy with studying and sharpening my skills that before I knew it my hair grew out." Kimiko reminisced.
"Wait," Tina paused, "You had short hair?" She pointed at Kimiko's hair that was long enough that it was currently being held in a high ponytail as in not to get in her way while she was cooking.
"Yup, when I first started school, it was a little bit longer than a pixie cut, almost chin length." Kimiko motioned to the area that was right above her chin, "I think I still have a photo of me back then."
"You have to show me," Tina said making Kimiko dig into her pocket and took out her phone.
"I think it's" She browsed through her photos, "Oh there it is!" She turned her phone towards Tina.
"Oh! You look so cute with short hair!" Tina gushed. The picture was of Kimiko in her school chef's uniform sporting an angled bob haircut, where it was slightly longer in the front but shorter in the back. Kimiko in the photo was giving the person holding the camera a big smile while holding a bouquet of flowers with a card that said Happy Birthday.
"I agree, having short hair really brings out your eyes." Tina and Kimiko looked up to the speaker of the voice to see that it was Sunny. He was wearing as red jacket with black slacks and his hair was down.
"Sunny-san!" Kimiko smiled and got out of her chair to hug him.
"It's nice to see you again, Miko." Sunny told her as he returned her hug.
"What brings you here?" Tina asked
"I hate to cut your conversation short, but I have to talk to Miko for a couple of minutes." Sunny told them.
"I understand, I have to get back to work anyway. I'll talk to you later Kimiko. Bye Sunny." Tina said while waving goodbye along with her carrier balloon pigeon.
"C'mon Miko, this is something that I'd rather speak with you in private." He told Kimiko making her sport a confused expression as he guided her to the hallway that led to the kitchen.
"Is something wrong, Sunny-san? I thought you were busy with training." She asked.
"I wanted to give you my congratulations on partnering up with Toriko," Sunny said
"Thank you," Kimiko blushed.
"So, about Toriko." He said getting her attention, "Right now, he's heading for the Gourmet World."
"Really?!" She cried, "He didn't even tell me."
"Well with the way he is now, his life is in danger. Oh well, it has nothing to do with me" Sunny turned to leave.
"Sunny!" Kimiko called making him look at her. His eyes widened as he saw her watery eyes, "What can I do? I have to help him!"
"Y'know. If I was your partner, I'd absolutely never do anything this lacking in beauty. I would never do anything to make you cry." He knelt down and cupped her face with his hand, "But Miko, if it's really your will to save Toriko" He took out a slip of paper in his pants and held it out to her. "Call this number, immediately!" Kimiko took a hold of the paper, but before she could say anything to Sunny, he was already walking away from her.
Miko, Sunny thought, you might not know it, but you taught me a valuable lesson too.
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When Yosaku had dragged Sunny back from the Gourmet World, he felt humiliated at how he was completely overpowered in that place. Sitting up in his bed, he looked at his arms that were bandaged in order to help the wounds heal and from becoming infected.
"Hey pretty boy! You got a visitor!" Yosaku yelled making Sunny fume at the nickname.
"Stop calling me that!" Sunny then sighed, "Who would come to see me right now?"
"Sunny-san," Kimiko poked her head into the room to look for him only to yell in surprise, "What happened? " She ran up to his bedside and looked at his bandaged form.
"Miko!" he screamed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I asked Rin where you were and she said that you should still be at Life, so I sent a message to you, saying that I was coming by, I guess you didn't receive it," Sunny flinched at the comment because he had left his phone back at Yosaku's place when he had left to go into the Gourmet World.
"Don't worry Miko, my phone was turned off, that's why." Sunny said making Kimiko perk up.
"By the way, I wanted to give you something," Kimiko said presenting him with a Gourmet Case that she was carrying.
"What?" Kimiko opened the container showing that there was a large leaf that was translucent in color and covered with moisture."
"This is the Ozone Herb. Toriko-san and I managed to get a couple of these down from Vegetable Sky." Kimiko said as Sunny's eyes sparkled at looking at the ingredient.
"Beautiful! That's one of the most 'esthetic looking vegetables I've ever seen!" Sunny exclaimed while pointing at the Ozone Herb.
"It looks great, but eating it is a bit of a hassle." Kimiko gave a small laugh, "you have to eat it with another person. You both have to bite into it at the same time, if you're even one second off. The leaf will rot."
"Now that sounds a bit high maintenance, even to me" Sunny said
"It does but I feel like you'd enjoy how the Ozone Herb looks and flavor more, than the inconvenience of having to eat with another person." Kimiko reasoned as she placed the Gourmet Case on the table next to his bedside. "I figured you could probably eat the Ozone Herb together with Yosaku-san."
"Yosaku." Sunny repeated only to have his face morph into a mix of terror and disgust at the thought of eating the same thing with that guy.
"I'm guessing that's not an idea you favor." Kimiko held back her giggles at seeing Sunny's face
"The idea of biting something at the same time as him," Sunny felt a shiver go up his spine, "It's disgusting!" He then pointed at Kimiko, "Miko! You have to eat this with me!"
"Me?" She pointed to herself, he nodded.
"Since you brought it for me, it's only fair that I get to eat it with you," Sunny explained.
"But what if I mess up on the timing," Kimiko started to fiddle with her fingers, "I'd hate for you to not be able to taste the Ozone Herb."
"Don't worry, Miko. I trust you," Sunny said making her look up at him. "Shall we bite it on the count of three?" Kimiko nodded and held out the Ozone Herb for both of them to bite into.
"One. Two. Three!" Both of them bit into the herb and pulled back to see that it was completely in tact.
"It's fine!" Kimiko exclaimed before she resumed in chewing the Ozone Herb. "Yummy! No matter how many times I chew on it, the flavor is always refreshing!" She looked over at Sunny to see that he was unwrapping his bandages. "Sunny-san, you shouldn't be doing that!" Sunny didn't say anything, once he took off the bandages, they both saw that there was no wounds on his person.
"Looks like your Ozone Herb, was just the ingredient I needed to heal my wounds, Miko!" Sunny said and then he used his Touches to pull her towards him. Kimiko gave a little yelp at the sudden force of movement only to silence herself as Sunny kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you, Miko."
"You don't need to thank me, I just wanted you to have something to eat." Kimiko managed to say with her face turning red. "I'm glad that you're okay. Seeing you all bandaged up like that, scared me."
"Miko." Sunny said as he saw the chef turn to smile at him.
"Make sure to take care of yourself Sunny. I'd hate to find out that something bad happened to you. I was so worried when you didn't respond to my messages, like you usually do." Kimiko said
"You were worried." Sunny repeated, Kimiko nodded in response.
"I care about you Sunny-san. I know that there are always risks whenever you go out to procure an ingredient, but at the end of it all. I still want to be able to see you come back," Kimiko said making Sunny look down at his lap and clench his hands in the bedsheets.
"Sunny-san, is something wrong?" said man lifted her up and hugged her close to him. While surprised Kimiko gave a small smile and returned his hug.
"I'm sorry, that I made you worry," Sunny's voice was muffled but Kimiko could hear his heartfelt apology.
"It's okay, Sunny-san." Kimiko gave him a smile while petting his hair as he continued to hold onto her.
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I was so focused on wanting to go into the Gourmet World, that I didn't even consider about how you would feel, if I suddenly didn't come back one day, Sunny thought, I promise to get stronger, not only for myself, but so that you won't have to worry, Miko.
Sunny looked up at the sky and narrowed his eyes.
Toriko, you have to learn that too, you're part of a combo now. If you don't understand that you're no longer by yourself, your partnership with Miko is doomed. Sunny gave a sigh before heading back to Life.
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Toriko couldn't believe it, just as he had stepped into the Gourmet World he was completely outmatched. With deserts that dried out his body in seconds, plants that made the area around them lose oxygen, and falling water that delivered as much force as a military missile. Not to mention, the beasts that didn't even bat an eye at stepping on such a weak opponent, such as him. It was only thanks to Knocking Master Jiro, for keeping him alive. The two were currently sitting in a clearing where Jiro was cooking up some snails.
"Toriko-kun, the way you are now," Jiro took one of the snails that he was cooking, "you can't conquer the Gourmet World. I was the same way when I was young. I tried to do everything myself. I thought I could do it alone, but the Gourmet World isn't that simple" Jiro took a small pause in order to eat the snail meat. "Toriko-kun, it isn't power that you lack right now. It's trust. You don't believe in your partner, Kimiko-kun."
Toriko stood there in silence as the memories of his combo partner invaded his mind.
"Toriko-san!" an image of him seeing Kimiko in her chef's outfit getting ready to prepare food for him.
"Wait for me,Toriko-san!" the scene of her running after him while on one of their food adventures.
"Toriko-san your face is a mess again," Kimiko laughed as she wiped Toriko's face clean.
"Partnering with Toriko-san," Happy tears streamed down Kimiko's face, "This makes me so happy!
"Kimiko," Toriko said.
"The person who asked me to help you here, Toriko-kun, is none other than Kimiko-kun." Jiro told him, "She said, 'If anything should happen to Toriko-san, please help him.' While I didn't see her, I could tell that she was crying when she requested my help. While you said nothing and just went off on your own. Kimiko-kun has been worried about you, praying for your safety." Jiro gave a small smile as he saw that Toriko's eyes were watering at realizing the consequences of his decision. "You should return to the Human World. And then, one day...challenge this world together!"
"Kimiko." Toriko cried as he looked up at the sky.
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Kimiko stood in the dining room as she had been entrusted to carve up the slices of roast beef for the guests. While she stood there ready to serve anybody who requested for more food, she had a melancholy look on her face. Her two assistant chefs were by her side if she ever needed some extra help.
"Chef Kimiko, isn't acting like herself," Daisuke whispered to Shigeo, "Do you think something happened?"
"Don't know, I've never seen her like this before." Shigeo whispered back.
Toriko-san, Kimiko thought, Please be alright.
"I'm starving, Kimi!" Kimiko held her breath as she heard the voice that she was so familiar with. Looking up she could seem her combo partner standing in the dining room in his yellow and black jumpsuit, even though the right sleeve of his outfit was torn off, and he looked a bit worse for wear. He gave a bright smile as he looked at Kimiko.
"Toriko-san." Kimiko said and started slowly walk towards him, "Toriko-san," Tears started streaming down her face. "Toriko-san!" her pace sped up as she ran at him. "Toriko-san!" Toriko held out his arms as Kimiko jumped into his arms. " You big dummy! I was so worried, and you didn't even tell me. We're combo partners, aren't we? You're supposed to trust me, just as much as I trust you. When you were gone, all I could think about was whether or not you were going to be okay!" Kimiko kept on crying as Toriko held onto her, she slowly tried to steady her breathing as Toriko patted her head.
"I'm sorry, Kimi. I was a fool, that didn't think about how you felt" Toriko told her, "I promise, that I won't make you cry tears of worry." He gave a kiss to her forehead as she continued to hug him.
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Lunamugetsu: Wow I'm speeding through these chapters real quick. Maybe it's because I really want Kimiko to meet Zebra. Anyway since Tina doesn't really do anything for the story, I'm going to write her as a supporting friend character to Kimiko. The next chapter is going to be a filler, but Toriko, Sunny, and Coco are going to be in it, so stay tuned.