This is when I feel like things started getting pretty good, if only for a couple of chapters.

Saturday, 12:10 P.M

"God dammit, I hate this damn job," Tankman and Pico said at the same time as they entered the restaurant. Tankman's restaurant should've been open about 10 minutes ago, but the manager isn't very reliable when it comes to being on time. Tankman looked over at Pico with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me, I am the only one allowed to say that I hate this job. I'm the fuckin' owner, after all." The soldier said matter-of-factly. Pico simply rolled his eyes.

"No, you're not. Those weird demons are," He said, a small smile creeping onto his face. "I don't why they let you run the place, but they're the ones who own it." Tankman groaned, knowing that Pico was technically correct. He didn't have to listen to him, though.

"That's it, you're fired!" The soldier said, pointing at Pico angrily. The ginger raised an eyebrow at his employer. "Yeah! You heard me! There's the door!"

"Okay, then. You can fuckin' clean up all the tables and messes!" Pico said, turning to the door, and beginning to walk out. "See ya later!"

"Wait wait wait…" Tankman said, putting up his hands in defeat. Pico turned around with a sly grin on his face. Tankman stared for a second before sighing. "Fine, get back here. You're not fired. But don't be annoying today! I had to wake up early, and I don't wanna deal with it!"

Pico snickered as he walked back to Tankman. "For what? You literally don't do anything." He said as he walked past his employer to sit at the front desk. Tankman scoffed.

"I was… working out," Tankman said, turning his back to Pico. He was clearly lying, and Pico knew this. He decided that he didn't want to continue this stupid fucking conversation with his boss and instead, he would think about why in the world he convinced Tankman to not fire him. Just then, another employee, Sunday, entered the establishment with a blanket wrapped around her. Tankman looked over.

"God, how come no one can come to work on time?" He asked with a disappointed tone of voice. "And you have a blanket! There's not really a dress code or anything, but I don't like that kind of blanket. So it's not allowed!" Sunday rolled her eyes as they went to set their stuff down near where Pico was sitting.

"You were literally late, too." The ginger said. He grunted as he propped his feet up on the desk. "I was technically here before you, but you just walk faster." Tankman ignored him since he didn't want to hear any valid arguments. Sunday laughed as Ayana entered the restaurant with her purse in her arm.

"Tell me again why you basically only have 3 employees?" Ayana asked, exasperated. Tankman looked over at her, confused.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I have so many cooks back in the kitchen. You'd know that if you ever even went back there!" He raised his voice as if it offended him greatly. Ayana took a step back.

"Damn, my bad. Struck a nerve there," She muttered as she set her bag down. Pico and Sunday laughed at Ayana's comment as they lounged around, not really doing any work.

"Okay, uh, we would usually have people coming right now…" Tankman spoke as he looked outside to see if anyone would come in to eat. As people saw Tankman looking at them and motioning for them to come inside, they quickly walked away.

"Did you ever consider that maybe, just maybe...you're literally scaring away the customers?" Sunday asked with a laugh. "I would back up if I was you. Maybe then people would want to actually come in." Tankman turned to flip her off.

"I don't have to listen to you! I don't have to listen to anyone! This place literally has my name on it!" He declared but then listened to what Sunday said anyways. He went to his office near the back of the building. "Stupid kid, telling me what to do." The soldier grumbled as he walked past the group. Ayana giggled softly.

"God, I need a different job. But I also hate job hunting," She said, glancing back as Tankman slammed the office door.

1:20 P.M

"Well well, look who it is," Whitty spoke as he entered the restaurant with Carol at his side. "That guy who bothered our first date." Pico rolled his eyes as he watched the two walk into the restaurant from his spot at the front desk. Carol looked at Whitty in confusion as Pico begrudgingly got up to do his job.

"That wasn't my idea, I was put up to it by those two weirdos, Agoti and Tabi." He said in his defense. Carol rolled her eyes as Pico led the two to a table. "It was hilarious, though. I stand by what I did," The couple stared in confusion before laughing together.

"Uh… can we get menus, now?" Carol asked the waiter. Pico loudly groaned, attracting the attention of other customers. Sunday walked by with a smug grin on their face.

"Is your job really that hard?" She asked as they sat down a plate of food at a nearby table, nearly dropping the blanket wrapped around her body. Pico nodded as the two walked back to where the menus were kept.

"Yes, it is. I'm not built for this environment! I need to be out in the city! Shooting people!" The ginger complained to his friend.

"That's something Tankman would say!" Sunday laughed from behind Pico as he lighted smacked at Whitty's head with the menu's

"Ow! What the fuck?" He asked, rubbing the spot that Pico hit. Carol gave Pico a glare, but he really didn't care.

"Oh come on, it wasn't THAT hard…" Pico said as he sat down Carol's menu in front of her. In front of him, he could see Tankman complaining to Ayana.

"…and that's why I had to shoot him!" Tankman said as Ayana sighed. She began to stand up and walk away. "Woah woah, where are you going?" He asked.

Ayana looked down at her boss. "Um… I have a job to do?" She said sarcastically, turning away again. Tankman scoffed.

"Fine! Fuck you! Don't expect a raise this year!" He yelled to her, patrons of the restaurant looking over at the soldier. He raised an eyebrow. "What? Go back to eating!" He yelled.

"Huh. What a weirdo," Carol said with a giggle. Whitty laughed as well. "Which idiot thought it was a good idea for him to run a business? That was stupid," As she said this, the idiot who thought it was a good idea walked into the restaurant.

Carol's eyes widened, and Whitty turned to see what she was looking at. Daddy Dearest had entered. He quickly turned around with a shocked face, ducking his head down. "What the fuck?" He mouthed. Carol tried to hold in her laughter but was quickly silenced when Daddy Dearest shot a glance her way.

Sunday stiffened as Daddy Dearest walked up to the counter. The demon was dressed in his usual black outfit with no undershirt. Ayana and Pico stood behind Sunday as they began to speak,

"Um...Good afternoon, Mr. Dearest!" She spoke, feigning enthusiasm. "Would you like our finest table?" The demon glared at her with a scowl, before his expression softened.

"Don't be a kiss-ass, Sunday." He spoke as he walked past them towards Tankman's office. Pico let out a chuckle as Sunday turned with a sour expression on their face.

"Yeah, Jesus, Sunday. Leave this dude alone." He said with a snicker. Ayana looked at him with a concerned look.

Daddy Dearest stopped when he heard PIco's laugh. He turned back around to face the group at the front desk. "I'm sorry, was something funny?" He asked Pico, looking directly at him. Most people would've quietly shaken their heads "No", but not the beloved gun-slinging ginger. Pico finished up his little laugh before finally answering the demon.

"Um, yes, actually. I thought your comment was funny," He said matter-of-factly. The quiet murmurs in the restaurant immediately died down. Every head in the restaurant turned to face the demon and the kid who stood up to him with worried looks on their faces. Sunday cleared her throat and they tried to nudge Pico's elbow, letting him know that they wanted him to shut his mouth. Pico understood but didn't listen.

"Excuse me?" Daddy Dearest asked, genuinely confused. He knew that this ginger kid wasn't too well-behaved, but that didn't mean he could speak up to the headmaster like that.

"Pico, shut your fuckin' mouth," Sunday whispered, lightly kicking his shin. Pico figured that maybe he should, but he also felt that he had already gone too far to turn back now, even though that wasn't true.

"I'm just saying that I thought it was funny. I don't know why you would be mad or whatever you are right now, so just lighten up," He said, crossing his arms. They stood in silence for what felt like an eternity. Daddy Dearest stared for a moment before smirking.

"You have some balls, kid. Just make sure you don't get outta line," The demon spoke as he went towards the offices. He stood in front of his office, which had multiple locks on it, and produced multiple keys from his pockets.

"Pico, you're a fucking idiot," Sunday sighed as she turned back around to face the entrance. "That could've been way worse, you know?" Pico shrugged, knowing full well that Daddy Dearest was being patient with Pico for a reason. He just didn't know for what. Perhaps his office held the answer…?

"It was pretty funny, though. Sunday was being a big kiss-ass." Ayana commented as she examined herself on her phone camera.

"Fuck you! My bad for being a little nervous, I've never stood that close to a fucking demon before!" Sunday exclaimed. Pico and Ayana laughed.

2:40 P.M.

Tankman walked out of his office, noticing that the light in Daddy Dearest's office was still on, meaning he was still around. He looked over to see that Skid, Pump, and a woman, presumably one of the kid's mothers, were the only people in the restaurant now. Skid and Pump were doing that dance, and the woman was typing away on a computer. He rolled his eyes, noticing that his workers weren't even doing anything productive. He walked over angrily, much to the annoyance of Pico, Ayana, and Sunday.

"What are you guys doing?!" He hissed. "The big guy is here! I want you to at least look like you're working!" The group looked up with annoyed like. Sunday was the first to speak up.

"Seriously? There's nothing to do! Everyone got the hell away when they saw him here! We are literally the only ones here. Except for those two kids, for some reason," She looked over to the main dining area to see what Skid and Pump were doing, only to find that they weren't even there. The woman, however, continued to type on her laptop.

"What the…? Where did…?" Ayana asked, sitting up from her slouched position when she noticed that the kids were, in fact, not there. "They were just doing that dance a second ago?"

Pico smirked. "Huh. Those kids are a mys-" He was then cut off by the two kids suddenly jumping up from in front of the front desk, and yelling "Boo!" Ayana Screeched, Pico and Sunday jumped nearly 4 feet into the air, and Tankman screamed like a little girl. As the restaurant workers gathered their wits, Skid and Pump were crying and laughing on the floor.

"We got you guys with a spooky scare!" Pump said through his laughs. Skid laughed even harder. Tankman growled as Ayana began to giggle, realizing who it was that screamed like a baby.

"You… You're so lucky that you're just kids!" The soldier said, mimicking a strangling motion. The kids finally began to start laughing as Skid's mother, Lila, walked over.

"I'm so sorry about them… they were just playing around," She apologized, much to the appreciation of Tankman. "I think we'll be leaving soon, as soon as we actually eat."

Tankman sighed, as he stared at the ground. "...Okay, um... one of these three workers here with assist you. Sunday, get on that." The Latino groaned softly as they slowly got up from their resting position, exaggerating every movement as Skid's mother, Lila, took the two boys back to their table.

"Seriously? It's not that hard," Pico snickered, much to Sunday's annoyance. "I would totally do it, but Tankman asked you, though, so..." Sunday sighed as she walked over to get the menus. They noticed that Daddy Dearest's office was still in use. Curiosity got the best of them, and they began to inch towards the door. When she reached it, she pressed their ear up to the door to possibly hear what the demon was up to.

"What are we listening for?" Pico asked from behind Sunday, causing them to scream loudly. Pico doubled over laughing, holding his sides. Sunday smacked his shoulder with enough force to sting.

"Fuck you!" She yelled, before giving in and laughing as well. They stood laughing for about another 2 seconds before the office store swung open. Pico and Sunday immediately stopped laughing, putting on the most serious face that they possibly could. Daddy Dearest towered over them, glaring down at the two waiters. Sunday began to sweat a bit. They stood in silence as the demon examined the two.

"What were you two doing? I'm not sure if you knew this, but my office is off-limits." Daddy Dearest said gravely. Sunday noticed that Pico was not speaking up this time around. They figured that it was that Daddy Dearest had caught him off guard, and he was in shock. "Answer my question." Pico finally seemed to regain his wits, but he was still flustered.

"Um... we were just talking about... plans. That we have. Later. We just wanted a place to talk." He improvised. Daddy Dearest raised an eyebrow at the ginger before looking to Sunday. She was staring at their feet, refusing to look Daddy Dearest in the eyes.

"Is this true, Sunday? Do you and Pico have plans together for later?" He asked, tapping his foot impatiently. Sunday looked up at him, merely glancing toward the headmaster.

"Um... yeah...?" Was all that she managed to squeak out. Daddy Dearest seemed somewhat satisfied. Pico and Sunday turned to quickly leave before Daddy Dearest spoke up once more.

"Wait just a minute..." Pico and Sunday felt themselves die inside. The ginger and the Latino both slowly turned around to face their headmaster. "Are you two… secretly dating or something? Why would you make plans privately"

Pico sighed with relief, realizing that they were finally out of the frying pan. They could easily just say no and move on with their day.

"Uh… yeah?" Sunday said quickly. She obviously didn't think this through, and Pico realized now why the saying was Out of the frying pan and into the fire. He would've groaned, but that would've raised too many questions, and now he had no choice but to go along with this.

"Well, that makes some sense," The demon spoke, appearing satisfied with their answers. "Oh, since I have you two here, I might as well say this now… I'm hosting a get-together at my house, and I want certain students to join us. Most of them are couples already, so you shouldn't feel too of place. What do you say?"

The two of them both knew that they couldn't simply decline the offer, especially not an offer from Daddy Dearest. Sunday shook her head yes.

"Um, sure. Sounds fun." Pico said, finally turning and leaving the area.

"I'll email the details to you." Daddy Dearest spoke, slamming his office door.

Once they knew for sure that Daddy Dearest was out of earshot, they began to argue.

"Sunday! What the fuck?!" Pico hissed as Ayana and Tankman watched, trying (and failing) to hold in their laughter. "Why would you tell him we're dating!?"

Sunday shrugged, finally appearing wide awake. "I don't know? That was my first time being confronted by a goddamn demon! I was thinking on my feet!" They hissed back as Pico held his face in his hands, ready to just cry.

"Oh god, now we have to go that stupid ass get-together! I don't even want to know what would happen if we skipped out on it! Once, that piece of shit broke someone's legs just for thinking about his wife! I'm pretty sure he just wanted to." Pico whined to no one in particular. Tankman scoffed.

"I can confirm that. It was actually Steve whose legs he broke," Tankman said, reminiscing about shitty things that Daddy Dearest has done.

"Wait, you say that you're going to that get-together?" Ayana asked. Sunday nodded as they sat down in the nearest seat. "Cool, he invited me, too." She spoke excitedly, before realizing that this was nothing to be excited about. She sighed. Tankman couldn't help but laugh.

"Sucks for you guys! He told me that he wouldn't invite me even if I was the only other person on Earth!" The soldier said proudly, putting his hands on his hips.