Somewhere in the cargo bay of one of the aircrafts, Riceman struggled to move the large (and heavy) treasure chest but to no avail. Realizing his strength was not enough, he looked around the aircraft for anything that could help while avoiding being caught. Soon, Riceman spotted Milky Queen strapped to a passenger seat surrounded by men with guns. With a bit of ingenuity (and luck), the little grain of rice sneakily stole the keys to Milky's handcuffs, lured the guards close to a door, and launched them out of the plane through vacuum pressure force.
However, Riceman being Riceman, he made a deal with Milky. He would set her free on the condition that the girl assists him with stealing the treasure chest from the cargo room, but Milky had to be quick as more guards were coming. So, she hesitantly agreed and hurried with Riceman into the cargo room. The two barricaded the door, but they were now stuck. Unsure of what to do next, Milky opened the treasure chest to see if any of its contents would help their situation and found a board-shaped shield within. With the guards about the burst through the door and no other options left, the girl pushed the button on the wall, opening up the docking ramp to the outside and forcing everything out exactly like an open airlock.
Seemingly falling to their doom, Milky (with Riceman hanging on to her shoulders) attached the shield to her shoes like a snowboard by instinct and braced for impact as they descend to a bustling city below. The sloped paved roads managed to lessen their fall impact, but the duo were now sliding at extreme speed. By some insane amount of luck, they managed to avoid any accidents with any cars, trams, and pedestrians while attracting surprised stares from nearby witnesses and finally come to a complete stop. However, their relief soon turned into horror as they looked down and realized there wasn't any ground holding them up and resumed falling once more. Yet, something broke their fall.
One year ago...
It had only been a week after the shikigami of death Calliope Mori was sent to the mortal realm from the Underworld. Struggling to stand out from the other street musicians, she sat on the sidewalk seemingly full of regret...and an empty stomach. However, a young teenage girl of orange hair in a diner uniform came forward, handing her a bucket of fried drumsticks. An encounter that would forever change both their lives...
Present day...
Somewhere in a park within the city, Calliope Mori woke up with her head on Milky Queen's lap after being knocked out from a heavy impact, only to be greeted face-to-face by a flirtatious Riceman upon regaining consciousness, much to her disgust, horror, and confusion. After a few minutes of explanation from Milky about both Riceman and her situation, Calliope didn't believe the story at first until a large mech showed up in front of them.
Through the mech's speakers, the pilot within the mech demanded they hand Milky Queen over. Sensing something nefarious was going on, the shikigami made quick work of the mech with her scythe in a short amount of time. Realizing that Milky and Riceman had nowhere to go and not wanting to leave them on their own, Calliope offered the two to stay at her place.