Lunamugetsu: I do not own Toriko. I squished two episodes into this chapter, hope you like it
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He Finally Appears! The Fourth Heavenly King!
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Kimiko was starting to get worried. Well, when wasn't she worried? At this point she was currently worried about her combo partner who was currently talking to thin air. He's been talking to himself the entire time when they left the Gourmet Carriage. In the meantime Toriko said that he was going to get some more food for Zebra to eat. Which didn't really cause any bells to ring in her head at the time, but now Toriko was currently dragging an entire parade worth of beasts he had hunted down behind him. What exactly is Zebra's appetite?
"This should be enough, right, Zebra?" Toriko asked while Kimiko walked beside him.
"Uh, Toriko-san, you've been talking to yourself for quite awhile now."
"Huh, she's my partner. She's a chef, her name's Kimiko," He continued, "What! She's not for you! What were you going to do? Eat her?! Huh? WHAT?! NO, I DON'T DO THAT! She's not that kind of partner! She's my COMBO partner! Ya hear that! "
"What in the world are you talking about?" Kimiko asked. Was Toriko seeing ghosts, that must be what's happening. After all they passed through the Gate to the Underworld, ghosts are the only reasonable explanation. They were practically walking through a desolate wasteland, no animals or plants in sight, just rocks and more rocks. The dark cloudy gray sky wasn't really helping with the atmosphere either.
"I see it Kimi!"
"What? A ghost?" Kimiko asked
"A ghost?" Toriko chuckled, "well there are plenty of those. Over there that's the Gourmet prison, Honey Prison." Kimiko looked into the distance to see what looked like a giant beehive dangling off the edge of a cliff.
"That beehive building is a prison?" She said out loud, "it looks better than I pictured. Plus the name 'Honey Prison' doesn't make it sound bad."
"If only it was that kind of fairy tale place." Toriko said
"It's Toriko!" a voice shouted ahead of them. Kimiko saw that it was a group of prison guards that were standing on the pathway. She noticed that there was a differently dressed person standing in front of the group of guards. This person looked straight up looking like some kind of goblin creature that had been sown together. Kimiko looked at the polka dotted pink coat with shoulder pads he wore over his suit. She took notice of the man's sharp nails and the small horns jutting out of the man's head.
"Hello, I am the vice-chief of Honey Prison, Oban," the man bowed, "the Chief has explained everything to me. I'll be showing you around Honey Prison."
Kimiko was wrong! She was totally wrong! This place isn't adorable at all!
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Honey Prison was a freaking torture chamber for the prisoners inside. Kimiko had learned that those who had been sentenced to the prison were those who had committed heinous gourmet crimes; serial dine and dashers, drug dealers, poachers, stealing from bishokuyas. The list would go on. All of them being subjected to different kinds of punishment, either consisting of either denying the criminal of their favorite food, being given poisoned food, not getting any food and only receiving water, or being sentenced to get your flesh burned off. It's a truly heinous place to end up in. Kimiko looked out at the prisoners that were reluctantly eating meals that disgusted them. As a chef, this wasn't a sight that she wanted to see.
My job is to prepare meals for people, She thought, all I ever was making food delicious for others to eat. But this place was the exact opposite, it takes food away. So this was the dark side of the Gourmet Age.
"Hey Kimi, come on," a hand landed on her shoulder. Kimiko looked up to see her combo partner looking down at her. "You okay?"
"Sorry, I got distracted," she said as they followed up with Oban. The vice chief led them down a hallway before stopping.
"We're here. This is the chief's room," Oban said. Toriko and Kimiko gapped at seeing the huge ornate door that stood before them, it was about the same size as the entrance for Melk's house only this had a door with ornate designs of fruit carved into it.
"It's huge. Is the chief a giant like Melk the first?" Toriko thought out loud
"Chief! I've brought them." Oban said. The door started to creak open. Kimiko's eyes widened as she saw a small stout woman wearing a yellow and black striped gown with some kind of insect hat push open the door.
"Don't go comparing me with that Melk, we're on completely different levels." the woman said.
"I'd say, you look like a kid" Toriko muttered as he looked at the short woman, she's even shorter than Kimiko.
"My name is Love, I'm the chief of Honey Prison," the woman said, taking a seat on her chair which was a pink loveseat. "Don't go calling me a child! How rude! Take a good look at me!"
Huh? Kimiko blinked as she looked at the woman before her, sure she was short, her appearance didn't really change even when Kimiko took a good look at her.
"Wow! What a beauty!" Toriko exclaimed, making Kimiko snap her head back towards her combo partner. Her partner looked completely enamoured at seeing the warden. Was she not seeing something?
"Don't worry, this happens all the time. Men are so simple sometimes," the warden laughed before snapping her fingers. Toriko shook his head in confusion. "So disappointing, he's not my type."
"Huh? Toriko-san what just happened?" Kimiko was still confused. She didn't see anything, but Toriko did.
"An illusion? No, that wasn't hypnosis." Yeah, if it was hypnosis, wouldn't it have affected both of them? "My senses were manipulated directly, no almost as if they were ordered! Like they were instructed to adore you. Could it be pheromones?"
"Ah, not bad, Toriko-chan. I'm the only one who can manipulate pheromones at will." Love confirmed.
"Pheromones?" Kimiko repeated, "well that explains why I wasn't affected like Toriko."
"That's right. Pheromones are compounds creature's produce and excrete, those pheromones affect others' actions and psychological phenomena." Love explained "What I just shot at you were sex pheromones. It affects the opposite sex. So, of course your little chef didn't see anything you did."
"The chief has the ability to use hundreds of different types of pheromones." Oban supplied
"Like a queen bee." Kimiko said
"Yes, she uses them to control the staff, prisoners, and the beasts. That's how she controls Honey Prison." Oban explained
"So, you can completely control this prison just with your pheromones." Toriko asked
"It's said that pheromones are sensed in the vomeronasal organ in a human's nose. That's where the hypothalamus is. In other words, it transmits directly to the brain. There's no one that can defend from an odorless and tasteless pheromone." Love said
"Therefore, you can control any and all creatures as you wish!" Toriko finished.
Kimiko pondered over what they were saying, talk about an overpowered ability. If nobody can defend against it, the warden's practically invincible.
"That's the thing! There's one who doesn't!" Love exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and running up to Toriko. "Just one person! He won't listen to what I say at all!" Wait, it couldn't be.
"Uh...could that person be… by any chance" Kimiko didn't want to say.
"It's Zebra-chan!" Love exclaimed, with hearts in her eyes. "He's just my type! Zebra-chan is like an arrow to my heart!"
And scary strong if the pheromones don't affect him, Kimiko thought.
"The real reason the chief is against Zebra's release, is because she wishes her beloved Zebra to always be by her side," Oban said. Kimiko couldn't really tell if Oban was blushing in embarrassment or not, because of his orange skin, but his expression said it all.
"What kind of reason is that!" Toriko exclaimed
"HEY! WHAT'S WRONG WITH AN OLD LADY FALLING IN LOVE?!"
"Wait how old are you?"
SMACK!
"Ow!" Kimiko winced, that is not a question you ask to any lady.
"Don't you go asking a lady's age! How rude!"
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"Since it's an order from the President, I can't just ignore it." Love muttered as she led them down the halls, "Even though Zebra-chan's committed such serious crimes, he also discovered even more ingredients than Toriko-chan! He's got some incredible accomplishments as a Bishokuya. Well most of them are off record, though."
Kimiko followed the group quietly as Love gushed over Zebra. That woman was seriously smitten with that man. The chef paused as she felt a gust of air hit her, looking towards the source. The chef's eyes bulged out of her head seeing gigantic beasts sitting just a couple meters away from her. All of them being different, one looked like a dinosaur with tons of sharp teeth, another looked like a love child between a lobster and a t- rex, there was one that looked like an alligator crossed with a warthog.
"T-T-Toriko-san!" Kimiko exclaimed as she hid behind her combo parner.
"Those are." Toriko said looking at the beasts. "Execution beasts."
"This is the floor of the main dish for the Punishment Full Course." Love explained, "all the criminals who've received the ultimate punishment are sent directly to this floor. In other words, all the criminals here are sentenced to death. We also confine dangerous beasts and isolate creatures here. We were keeping an eye on a strange little bird-man creature a while ago."
"It was quite a fierce one." Oban said, "I suspect it was only a child, too."
"By the way," Love turned to Toriko, "Zebra-chan is also on this floor!"
Wait, what? Kimiko looked at the creatures and back to them. The chef really didn't know much about Zebra. What exactly could that man have done to get sentenced all the way down here?
"Um," Kimiko said, "Why is Zebra-san here exactly?" That seemed to have gotten everybody's attention, because now everybody was now looking at her.
"He ate too much food." Love said before returning to leading them down the halls.
"And he got the death penalty for that?" Kimiko said
"Yup, now come this way." Love said leading them down the hallway.
Did she say something wrong? Now everybody is so quiet now. She felt somebody ruffling her hair, she looked up to her combo partner who smiled.
"C'mon Kimi." he said as they walked forward. Kimiko nodded as she followed them. Problem child, huh, his problem was eating too much? But how could that possibly lead to death penalty.
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"Is Zebra in solitary confinement or something," Toriko asked
"No, he's in the punishment ward." Oban answered
"He's being punished?"
"Yes, Zebra has been undergoing punishment ever since he arrived here." Oban said
"Seriously? Don't tell me it was actually his idea." Toriko muttered
"You understand well," Love said, "Zebra-chan's nice and fit for punishment. Now then, here's Zebra-chan's room." Love said, leading them to three viewing and Kimiko walked up to one, peering into the room.
"Zebra!" Toriko called out.
"Zebra-chan! It's finally time for us to part!" Love cried
"Hey, we came to get you!" Toriko shouted. Kimiko peered into the room, her gaze focused on the one person sitting there. There wasn't any light source in the room, but she could see that the man was sitting on the floor and was covered in scars. He had tanned skin and dark red hair and while she couldn't judge it accurately from where she was standing. She could tell that he was a very large man that currently had his arms and legs chained. And also he was in his underwear, which is strange because she thought all inmates were supposed to wear the prisoner uniform.
"Hey Zebra!" Toriko called out again.
Wait a minute, he's been silent ever since we got here. He can't possibly… He's been charging up?! Crap! Toriko thought
GROWL!
"The execution beasts are getting ready to move!" Oban said as the beasts growled, "The chains are about to be pulled. Stand back!"
"Wait, what?" Kimiko looked back into the room.
"In this punishment room, chains connected to Execution Beasts are tied to his arms and legs." Oban explained, "When all of them move at once, he won't survive!"
"That's some medieval level type of execution!" Kimiko exclaimed
SNAP!
"Zebra!" Toriko turned his attention back to the window. Zebra had merely pulled back on the chains causing all of the Execution Beasts to be pulled back from running.
"Love you!" Love cried out at seeing the sight while everyone else was speechless.
"Looks like today's the last day I'll get to play around with you guys. See ya." Zebra's voice echoed throughout the chamber as the man stood up.
"This is bad, Kimi cover your ears!" Toriko shouted
"Wha?" she had no idea what was going on.
"Just trust me! Cover your ears and get down now!" Kimiko nodded before raising her hands to cover her ears
"SOUND BAZOOKA!"
Toriko reacted instantly shielding Kimiko as a piercing scream echoed throughout the hallway. The walls breaking and the glass from the windows shattering into pieces.
"What in the world is happening?" Kimiko managed to say as her ears started to ring from the sound. The piercing noise continued as all the beasts collapsed onto the ground.
"You okay Kimi?" He looked down to his combo partner who gave a small nod. He smiled before standing up. "The heck was that Zebra! You trying to kill us, too?!"
"Haha! How about that, Toriko? Did I open your eyes a little. You look like you've gone soft." Zebra grinned as he stood tall, free of his chains. "Looks like the world's pretty boring without me around."
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"Here's our kitchen facilities. We have already butchered the beasts Toriko has brought, they're currently hanging in the walk in '' Oban said as he brought her to the kitchen area. It looked like a standard facility kitchen, being spacious and lots of pots and pans. Kimiko walked over to one of the walk-in fridge to take note of her supplies. They had a good amount of vegetables and fruits, she then went over to the other fridge. She looked over all the cuts of meat she had to work with. There was a whole boar-like beast hanging from the hooks. Kimiko pondered at what she could do with this one. She remembered that Toriko told her that Zebra prefers meat. She could roast it whole, it'll take a while though and she'll need to see if they have ovens big enough. She'll also need to time all of her dishes so that they all come out nice and hot, and can't have a dish sit out for hours getting cold. She'll have to see if they had food warmers here to give her some wiggle room at timing the dishes. Kimiko gave a sigh as she looked at the array of ingredients in front of her. She tied up her hair and looked at her equipment. Looks like she's got her work cut out for her.
Kimiko took out her knife set from her bag and placed them on the counter. She gave a smile as she saw her most recent addition shining under the light. She's going to make sure that she was going to prepare the most delicious feast.
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"A variety of different flavors would be better," Kimiko said to herself while placing slabs of marinated meat into the oven, "having too much greasy dishes will sit heavy in the stomach, I added some herbs that would help in balancing it. Some acidity will help brighten up the rich taste as well. I could incorporate that into a sauce. I hope Zebra-san will like it."
Beep! Beep!
Kimiko turned to look at her phone, she had a moment to spare. She looked at what her phone just got a notification. It looked like she got a news notification. Kimiko raised an eyebrow at it before clicking on the link and reading the headline.
Breaking Gourmet News!
The Criminal Zebra has just been released from prison!
Wow, news travels fast. Well, she didn't have time to read the rest of it so Kimiko placed her phone back in her pocket. Time to focus on cooking the rest of the food.
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"Chief Love!" one of the prison guards called, "The news about Zebra has been leaked!"
"So much for 'top secret'" Love said from her seat, "but I'm not going to just let Zebra-chan's release be a special case."
"Don't tell me, you're just going to use this situation to get closer to try to get more time with Zebra, aren't you?" the prison guard said in disbelief. Kimiko gave a smile as she wheeled in the last of the trays of food into the special dining hall that was reserved for the chief. Which was practically as large as the prisoners cafeteria hall.
"No! Don't you dare go tainting this old woman's love!" Love scolded the man. Kimiko gave a smile, it's nice to see others be in love.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting, this is everything!" She said as she placed the final tray onto the table.
"It's finally ready!" Toriko exclaimed as he sat himself at the table
"Honestly! Who ever heard of a celebration at a prison for an inmate's release?!" Love scolded the blue haired man, "I'll be sure to bill you for all the expenses, Toriko-chan."
"Bill Zebra, although I'm sure that guy will complain and say that this is a meager snack for a release celebration." Toriko said. Kimiko raised an eyebrow at her partner's statement, the table took up about half the humongous room. Just what is Zebra's appetite?
"Um, where is Zebra-san?" Kimiko asked
"With the prisoners."
"Oh," Kimiko perked up, "is he saying goodbye to everyone? That sounds sweet, so he's actually a nice guy that looks scary at first glance."
"Nope," Toriko shot down her notion, "Zebra's currently dealing with the prisoners who talked shit about him behind his back."
"So you mean." Kimiko paused as she heard a series of pained cries echo throughout the prison.
"He's got some sharp ears, nothing gets past him."
"Also, Zebra-chan is said to have the shortest temper of the Four Kings, it's no wonder he's the most likely to start a brawl," Love turned to the prison guard, "Now just stand there, hurry up and deal with him."
"What?!" the prison guard exclaimed
"I don't know of any creature that likes fighting more than he does." Oh great, that doesn't sound terrifying at all. Kimiko shivered at Toriko's description before her eyes widened as she felt a shadow fall upon her. Oh please no. She slowly turned her head around. Yup, standing right behind her was the notorious criminal. Kimiko gave a yelp at the sight of him and fell back onto the ground.
"That's because there ain't anything more stimulating in this world than fighting," Zebra laughed. Kimiko's eyes widened as she saw that part of the man's mouth was sliced open letting her see his side teeth. "Don't make such a fuss, kid or you'll be next." Kimiko whimpered as he walked closer to her.
"Hey." Toriko grabbed onto Zebra's head, "Don't even think about laying a hand on my partner."
"Huh, whose head do you think you're grabbing here?" Kimiko's eyes widened as she saw Zebra stand up straight instead of looming over her. That man was even taller than Toriko.
"Man, your hair's gotten long."
"Oi, you'd better not get in my way here."
"I came all the way here to get you, play nice," Toriko said unbothered by Zebra's tone.
"Don't want to," Zebra grabbed onto Toriko's arm pulling it off of his head, "since you're so eager to get in my way, how about helping me blow off some stress, Toriko? Come on, let's fight."
"W-Wait," Kimiko said, they can't seriously fight right now.
"~I'm jealous. You're so close that you can get into fights so easily~" Love laughed. "Tranquilizing Pheromones!"
"~Sure~" Toriko blushed. Kimiko raised an eyebrow at her partner's face, the dude was blushing too. What exactly was he seeing?
"~Now, let's make up and eat this feast~" Love looked over at Zebra whose face hadn't changed at all.
"Huh?" he said.
"Why isn't it working on you, Zebra-chan?!" Love exclaimed
"What are you talking about?"
"The pheromones!" she exclaimed
"What's that? Something you can eat?" he said making Love give a scream of frustration before heading back to her chair. Maybe she'd have better luck next time.
"Hey Zebra!" Toriko called out from his seat at the table, "Let's eat."
"Fine, we'll fight later then."
"We're not going to fight at all." Toriko said as his brother sat down at the table. "I give thanks for this world's bounty, idtadakismasu!" Everyone went to dig into the feast.
"Like I said, you have to capture 500 wanted criminals and discover 100 new types of ingredients. Those are the conditions of your release." Love lectured to the two men who were currently shoving food into their mouth.
"Hey, this is my celebration, don't go hogging all the food." Zebra said
"There's enough food for everyone."
"Are you hearing me? Those are the orders of the president! Listen to me Zebra-chan!" Love exclaimed. Kimiko gave Love a sympathetic smile, those two guys were in their own little bubble when they're eating.
"You like cola, don't you? Drinking it will be worth your while."
"Cola?! What am I, a little brat?" Zebra said while drooling.
"I can see your drool." Toriko fired back.
"Are you two even listening? The capture of 500 wanted criminals and the discovery of 100 new ingredients!" Love pouted as she was ignored.
Kimiko blinked as she sat at the table. All the food that she had made was gone in an instant. Only empty dishes remained. She looked over to the man sitting on her right side, Zebra, a man who was sent to prison for eating too much. Could eating too much be a crime serious enough to be sentenced to death for?
"Hey brat," Zebra said, making Kimiko jump and look up at him. "Is it true you're the one who made this food?"
"Y-Y-Yeah," she stuttered, "I took the liberty of cooking for everyone, did it suit your taste?"
"About that," the man said, making Kimiko stiffen, "You said all of those things, too." Kimiko raised an eyebrow. What did she say? "Brat!"
"Yes!"
"Don't get cocky!"
"Uh, okay?" she nodded along.
"I hate cocky bastards more than anything! Every time I look at them I just want to crush every last one of them into a pulp." Zebra said. Was he saying that she was cocky?
"Uh, okay, sorry for being cocky?" she said
"So you were getting cocky!" he yelled making Kimiko's heart race
"No! No I wasn't! Not even a bi-wah!" Kimiko fell out of her chair in her haste. "Ouch." Wonderful Kimiko, great first conversation you've had with him.
"Chief," Oban said as he walked into the room
"What is it Oban?"
"The Magma Tortoise has arrived." The room went silent.
"Oh, what a pain," Love frowned at the news.
"Magma Tortoise? What is it?" Kimiko asked as she stood up.
"It's a turtle that awakens once a year, during Monster Season." Love explained
"Turtle, monster season?" Kimiko repeated
"The Death Season Forest surrounds this place." Love said, "it's a harsh environment that rivals the Gourmet World itself. It has four seasons, Magma, Mist, Freeze, and Monster. Magma season is when lava erupts everywhere. Mist season is where the forest is enveloped in a poisonous mist. Freeze season is a twenty four hour blizzard that freezes everything. The season we're in now is Monster Season, it's when ferocious beasts awaken and devour anything in sight. The average capture level of these beasts is 60. The strongest one among them is the Magma Tortoise."
"Toriko-san and I walked here, and we didn't encounter beasts that were around that capture level." Kimiko said
"You came here when the season just transitioned in." Love said, "it's a small window, but during that time, only the weaker capture beasts will roam around at a chance for food. All of the capture beasts with higher levels would still be in hibernation during that time. Think of it as the calm before the storm. You two were very lucky, if you had tried to come here any time llater you two would probably be sitting cozy in some beast's stomach."
"Oh," Kimiko said as she curled in on herself.
"Perhaps it'd be best to wait for the season to be over before we release Zebra?" Oban suggested
"It is dangerous," Love said
"That thing, he's getting cocky," Zebra laughed as everyone looked at him
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Kimiko's eyes bulged as she looked out the window, various beasts were all piling on each other, relentlessly fighting tooth and nail for survival.
"All of these beasts popped out of nowhere," Kimiko commented while looking out the window.
"It's the beginning of the season, all of the beasts are awake now." Obon said, "It's best not to go outside unprepared."
"Over there, it's the Magma Tortoise," Love pointed out, Kimiko looked over to see a gigantic tortoise with what looked to be multiple volcanoes on its shell that was currently spewing out molten lava at the beasts that were coming near it. All of the beasts ran as they didn't want to be anywhere near the lava as the tortoise walked by.
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Magma Tortoise (Amphibious Beast) Capture Level 70
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"That's the Magma Tortoise," Kimiko repeated, "Zebra-san went outside all by himself, with it being so dangerous out there. Is he going to be okay?"
"Dangerous? Oh yeah, I never told you, did I." Toriko said
"Told me what?"
"Zebra's crime," Toriko said as they watched the scarred man walking outside.
"This guy's cocky as hell," Zebra said as he spotted the familiar beast walking towards them.
"Zebra's hearing is sharp as hell. He can catch the sound of a coin dropping from dozens of kilometers away. He also has the power to manipulate his voice and can use its vibrations to destroy everything." Toriko explained.
"So during that execution, it was Zebra's voice that took out those execution beasts?"
"Yes, when it comes to power and destructive capability, Sunny, Coco, and I don't even hold a candle to him." Toriko explained, "the problem is his appetite and readiness to fight." The two watched as Zebra took a deep breath in as he stood on top of one of the towers. Toriko's eyes widened as he remembered what was going to happen."Kimi cover your ears!"
"Wha?" Before she could ask why, a piercing noise met her ears making her cover them on impulse. Everybody watched as Zebra had sent something to the air. To Kimiko it kind of looked like a ball of compressed air that was hanging in the sky that was slowly growing in size.
"Whether it's prey that he likes or people that tick him off, he'll devour them to extinction." Toriko said.
"Extinction?" Toriko nodded.
"He's made 26 species of creatures go extinct up to now," Toriko explained, "and that's why he's been designated as a first class dangerous creature. Of all the monsters that are outside right now. The most dangerous one is none other than." they turned to look at the man standing outside, "Zebra."
"THUNDER NOISE!" Kimiko's eyes widened as she saw that the ball of air had started to glow and then suddenly dispersed an electrical charge on all of the beasts that were surrounding the prison. All of the beasts screamed in pain before collapsing, only the Magma Tortoise still stood tall among all of the creatures. Zebra grinned as the Magma Tortoise gave a roar before charging at the smiling man. Zebra opened his mouth again, meanwhile Toriko acted quickly grabbing Kimiko covering her ears and making sure to hit the ground with his body covering hers.
"NOISE MISSILE!" the voice reverberated the entire area, with everything shaking. Even with her ears covered, she can still hear the ringing. She closed her eyes in a fruitless effort of lessening the pain. It was only when Toriko lifted himself off of Kimiko, is when she opened her eyes. Her blue haired partner helped her up as they looked outside. Kimiko's eyes widened at the dozens of fallen beasts on the ground and what caught her eye was the body of the Magma Tortoise that was lying on its side, completely defeated.
"He's gotten stronger," Toriko said looking at the destruction.
"All those beasts wiped out in an instant," Love said as she looked at the scene with hearts in her eyes.
"Toriko," Zebra said from where he was now sitting, his voice was hoarse now, "that took a lot out of me. My voice is all botched now." He grinned and looked over at the blue haired man, "Toriko, after I eat these guys, I'll want a nice drink to wash them down."
"Then how about some cola?" Toriko grinned
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"Was it really a good idea to release Zebra?" Oban asked as he and the chief were standing in her office. Zebra had just left the prison with Toriko and his combo partner.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine. Zebra-chan will come back to me," Love said, "absence will make the heart grow fonder. Once he's had some time to himself, he'll realize how much he misses me. Plus I made sure to tell that sweet young lady that Zebra was mine! She even reassured me that she had no interest and she made me some honey buns." The woman said as she took a pastry from the table next to her
"That's not what I'm worried about." Oban blushed, "I was wondering whether releasing someone with that much power was a wise decision."
"The president took into consideration how Zebra-chan is and still granted his release." Love said, "That goes to show how difficult it is to obtain the Mellow Cola. Zebra-chan and Toriko-chan, their road ahead might be rough for those two. Plus that poor young lady as well. They'll have to get through the Red Dessert, that labyrinth."
"Yes, that truly is a difficult place to survive, let alone travel through."
"Ah, I wonder how my Zebra-chan is doing right now." Love sighed.
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Kimiko held in a sigh as she heard people screaming and running for their lives as they walked around. Not that there were a lot of people around to begin with, but all of the employees of the place they were visiting were currently looking like they were all about to keel over from fright. She looked over to her combo partner who only laughed at the commotion before going over to the employee that was currently manning the desk. The chef could see that the lady was currently shivering in fear, no doubt already seeing the scarred man that was wandering around the lobby. Thankfully, he was wearing a pair of Toriko's clothes, she couldn't imagine what kind of commotion the man would cause if he was still in his underwear.
"W-W-Welcome, t-t-t-to L-Lift House S-Services. H-H-How m-may I-I help you," the woman managed to stutter out.
"Yeah, I ordered a custom made Lift House, it's under the name Toriko," Toriko said.
"O-Oh yes! I know that order, w-we could have it ready in about an hour," she said, "w-what kind of provisions would you like to have?"
"Oh that, one sec," Toriko turned around, "hey Kimi, over here." The chef perked up and walked over to her partner. "Any questions on food, you ask her." He pointed to the lady who gave a smile. "We're going to need food that will last us for a month. All the provisions are up to you."
"Okay, you can count on me," Kimiko said before turning to the employee, "Can you tell me how much storage room I have for food."
"O-Oh, I-I can h-have s-someone show you, p-please follow me," the employee gestured to follow her.
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"So the building that Toriko has reserved is a two story house with eight spacious personal rooms, it's outline design was designated for large families of at least eight. Although Toriko has requested for some of the rooms to be altered." the employee informed Kimiko as he brought the woman to an open area that was as large as a warehouse. Kimiko looked up to see that there was railing near the ceiling that was currently holding what looked to be a sizable house in place on a platform. Kimiko took note of how big the kitchen area was and the rooms that were converted into storage rooms for food. "If you'd like a more convenient option, we could just go with the eight person food care package. There would be enough food for three people to eat comfortably." The employee that was showing Kimiko around wore glasses and appeared to have a runny nose as they were holding a box of tissues and he kept on picking up tissues to blow his nose on.
"I believe it'll be better to order the food myself and keep track of all of it," Kimiko said as she looked at the rooms. Three of the rooms have been converted into walk-in fridges, and one room that was made into a walk-in freezer. The rest of the rooms could be used for storage for pantry staples or other foods. With what she saw how much Toriko ate, those care packages wouldn't even be fit for a snack for him. Not to mention, Zebra eats more than Toriko. Kimiko looked at the rooms. Maybe she could share a room with Toriko to help have another storage room for more food. She'd have to ask her partner if he'd be comfortable with that though.
"AH-CHOO!" the employee wiped his nose with another tissue.
"Are you okay?" Kimiko asked, she could tell that the man's nose was starting to become red.
"Ah, just a bit of a cold, it wasn't that bad this morning. I guess I was wr-ah ah AH-CHOO!" the man sneezed at Kimiko's face making the chef wince. "I'm so sorry!" the man was quick to offer his box of tissues.
"Just make sure to sneeze in your elbow next time," Kimiko said as she took a tissue to wipe her face. "Could you tell me what kind of provisions you have to offer?"
"Of course, we have a wide variety of options for any type of consumer. Here's a catalogue that shows everything we have to offer," the man held out a catalogue for her to look through, it was thick and she flipped through the pages. They surely did offer variety from having slabs of Galala Crocodile meat to even vegan meat substitutes.
"Could I hold onto this, I want to discuss with my partner what he'd like to eat."
"No problem, in the back of the catalogue there's a couple of fill out forms so you could just right down the id number of the items you want and how many you want on there. Anything else I could do to help?" the employee informed her.
"Could I have a couple more of those fill out forms. I just want to be super sure," The employee raised an eyebrow before handing her a couple more sheets of the forms. "Thanks, I'm just going to go talk to Toriko-san, I'll be right back."
"No problem, miss."
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BANG!
Kimiko jumped as she heard the loud noise, when walking over to where it was coming from. She held back a sigh of exasperation, it looked like Zebra was trying to get into a fight with Toriko and all the employees were running for their lives. She jumped as a stray chair hit the wall next to her. She took a deep breath as she walked closer to them.
"Um, Toriko-san," she called out as the two were grappling. "Toriko-san." she called out again, no difference, "TORIKO-SAN!" Zebra threw Toriko into the wall, effectively destroying it.
"Oh hey Kimi, need something," Toriko said as he got up.
"Um," eh, just roll with it Kimiko, "I'm going to be ordering the food we're going to be needed on the journey. Is there anything you two would like?"
"Y'know me, any food's good for me," the bluenette shook off some of the rubble, "Zebra's the same-ooph!" the man was slammed into the next wall.
"Don't go speaking for me you cocky shithead!" Zebra yelled as they got back into a fight. Kimiko blinked as she surveyed the scenario in front of her. How was she supposed to handle this?
"Um, Z-Zebra-san," she managed to say, making the man pause.
"What!" Kimiko flinched at the tone.
"I-Is there anything specific you'd like to eat on the journey?" She took a step back as the man frowned.
"Just fucking make food." he said before tackling Toriko. "DON'T YOU DARE GET COCKY!"
"Uh, okay," she'll write that down as he'll be fine with pretty much anything. She should also talk to Toriko about the room arrangements. She looked back at the two that were currently stuck in a brawl. The floor shook as Zebra sent punch after punch. Oh why her. Well, it's better to get it over now. "Um, excuse me!" she called out only for her voice to be drowned out by the fighting. There was no way she was going to get their attention like this. She jumped as a stray piece of rubble almost hit her.
"TORIKO!" Kimiko shouted, said man quickly threw his brother off of him.
"You need something Kimi?" She nodded and gestured to him to come over.
"It's about the room arrangements," she said, he nodded showing that he was listening, "there are currently four rooms that have been remodeled into fridges and a freezer, so that leaves us with four rooms. I know that one room is going to be repurposed as a storage pantry. But if you're okay with it, we can share a room and repurpose the unused room as another food storage room."
"That's cool with me, you can bunk in my room, it's big enough to fit both of us," Toriko said, ruffling her hair. "Anything else you need to ask me?"
"No, that'll be all. I'll get started on ordering the food," just as soon as she finished her sentence Toriko was being tackled by Zebra. The ground shook again as they started fighting, she took a deep breath to calm herself before heading off.
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The employee did a double take on the order forms that the chef had just handed to her. This has to be a mistake, there's no way three people would need this much food for a month long journey. Three dozen bags of flour, over five hundred pounds of assorted cuts of meat, ten whole Barbecows, over fourteen dozen eggs, the list went on. She practically ordered the maximum of everything. He had to double check this, the chef filled out every space on the forms.
"Excuse me, are you sure you want everything on these forms?" He asked the chef was currently taste testing some of the sauces that they provided for customers to try in case they want to take some with them.
"Actually, I wanted to ask if I could double everything." Say what.
"D-Double," was this lady serious?
"Yes please, oh and I'd like about ten cases of these sauces as well." She pointed to what she was tasting before. The employee could only nod at the woman not batting an eye at the quantity of food she was ordering. The customer's always right, plus it's not like work's been busy lately. A heavy spender is greatly appreciated.
"Of course, we should be able to prepare and load all of the food into the house in about two hours" He informed her. "Would you like to have any extra appliances to be provided to your Lift House, do be aware of the extra charges."
"I'm going to look at them now, one of the employees said that I could just have them loaded into the house without having to wait, right?"
"Yes, all we need to write down the appliance's id number down onto your receipt and you could load it into the house. Would you like to look at them, they're in the next room."
"I would appreciate that."
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Geez, was this lady trying to cook for an army? Was the collective thoughts of all the employees as they were loading everything into the Lift House. They would catch glimpses of the chef telling the other employees where to place everything. It took awhile, but the all employees gave a sigh of relief when they finished.
"Looks great, thank you all," Kimiko told them, "I'll have to tell Toriko-san and Zebra-sa- uh, are you all okay?" She was looking at the pale group of employees that were all shaking from where they were standing.
"U-U-Um," one of the employees pointing in the direction behind Kimiko. Kimiko felt a shadow fall over her. Oh that certain someone was right behind her wasn't he. It wasn't even a question.
"Wow! You guys work pretty quick," Toriko laughed, "What do you think Zebra?"
"Out of my way," the man said, making all of the employees run away.
"Hey don't make a scene," Toriko said
"You looking for a fight?" Oh, please no.
"We're not fighting, we're leaving!" Toriko said, pushing his brother into the house. "We'll be taking out leave now!" he told the employees who all nodded at the same time.
"Thank you," Kimiko waved to them as she followed her combo partner into the Lift House. The employees all waved to them with only one thought on their mind.
That poor chef is going to be trapped in that house with those two guys for a whole month
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lunamugetsu: that took a long time to finish. Thank you to all of those who have been patient and waiting for this update. The next chapter will be a filler one where it's basically Kimiko living with Toriko and Zebra for a month. Who's excited to see that! Comment what you think's going to happen!