Chapter 12: The Annual Grand Breakfast Buffet (Part 3/3)
"A-Ah, Miss Kirisaki! I was just about to get the door for you and yes, we have shifted the layout here and there a little bit again. My sincerest apologies for not relaying that information beforehand," I bow my head and Taiga does the same. "Along with that, this is Taiga Aisaka, my new assistant."
"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Kirisaki," Taiga says.
"Same goes to you, Taiga and don't sweat it, Renji! It's not a big deal. However, I believe I said last time calling me Chitoge was fine," she reminds me.
"I-I'm sorry, but your parents have insisted I must as written in the contractual obligations we agreed upon. Not that I mind, of course," I explain.
"Is that where that's coming from? I should've known. Hold on. I'll make a quick call," she pulls her phone out. Oh no!
"T-that's really not necessary! Last thing I need is upsetting your parents!" I try to dissuade her as she calls them. And here I thought Lady Satsuki or Lord Ainz would be the ones I'd have to worry about today!
"No need to fear, Renji. I got this. Oh, hello? Hey, Mama," she says. Goddamn it! Why did it have to be her mother?! "Things are going just fine. Just a small thing. I want Renji to address me as Chitoge. Is that a problem? … Whether or not he asked is irrelevant now that I'm the one asking you. … His respect won't change in the slightest so no need to worry. …Uh huh. Okay. Good to hear! Thank you, Mama and please don't threaten him anymore! Alright bye!" She hangs up. "There. Now you have permission to say Chitoge with no worries," she smiles.
"T-Thanks, Miss Kiri—Ch-Chitoge," I correct myself, still a bit shaky about it. Her mom is totally gonna kill me!
"No problem, Renji. Now where's Raku and the others?" She asks as her eyes scan the cafeteria.
"Oh yeah. They should be all the way over there in the corner by the windows." I point in the general direction. "Allow me to escort you there."
"Not necessary but I appreciate the gesture. It shouldn't be that hard to walk there by myself," she refuses. I'm not even gonna fight her on this one since it'd just be a bigger waste of breath.
"As you wish. If you need me, just call or shout," I say.
"Will do!" She exclaims, walking off.
"Okay. Problem solved. We can rest easy again," I tell Taiga and she nods. That's taken care of so I'll be sitting my ass back down before something else pops off. The second I take a step, my phone starts ringing. That's totally her mom, isn't it? With a heavy sigh, I answer the phone without even looking at the caller ID.
"H-Hello, Mrs. Kirisaki?" I stammer.
"Renji! I'm sure you understand why I'm calling you. You think you deserve the right to address my daughter on a first name basis?!" Hana shouts.
"N-Not at all, ma'am! She is the one who insisted on the idea!" I answer.
"Oh, so you're casting blame on Chitoge? Is that it?!" She accuses sharply.
"N-No, ma'am! I mean no disrespect!" I apologize.
"That's what I thought! You know how this goes. We better not hear anything bad from Chitoge or we might just have to cut off our little arrangement," she reminds me.
"Understood, Mrs. Kirisaki!" I nod profusely.
"Good. As you were," she says before hanging up. Why can't I ever get a call from Chitoge's father instead?
"Seems you just got chewed out," Taiga points out.
"Don't even get me started," I groan. Returning to our seats, we relax ourselves.
"Everything all good?" Granberia asks.
"Yeah at least for now anyway," I answer.
"Renjiii!" An all too familiar voice yells as it gets closer. Turning my head, I notice Kotoko running to our table with a plate of food in her hands.
"Kotoko? You were supposed to wait until after the buffet was over," I remind her as she sits down beside me.
"I don't see why. All the leftovers will be cold by then," she remarks.
"I planned on Teruteru making more just for you guys. Speaking of which, where are the others?" I inquire.
"They're on their way. No need to worry," she assures. Taiga, Shamsiel, and Granberia loudly clear their throats, not so subtly demanding an explanation from me.
"Oh, that's right. None of you three know yet. This is Kotoko Utsugi and—," I try to explain.
"Renji and Kotoko are over here, you guys!" Masaru loudly announces while pointing at us.
"We have eyes, y'know? We can see him clear as day," Nagisa remarks.
"Oh wow! It's like a party over here!" Jataro exclaims. With the three of them joining us, I sigh loudly knowing I must start over.
"Kotoko Utsugi, Masaru Daimon, Nagisa Shingetsu and Jataro Kemuri," I list them off as I point to each of them. "Only one missing is Monaca but let's not even get into that. Altogether, they're—,"
"The Warriors of Hope!" Masaru proudly proclaims, interrupting me.
"Were the Warriors of Hope!" I quickly correct him even though I still collectively refer to them as such.
"Please don't blow a fuse, Renji. It's not worth it," Kotoko advises.
"Anyway, I could jokingly say that they're my adopted children in a sense but they vastly prefer to call me big brother so they're my little siblings instead and I look after them," I explain.
"What?!" Taiga, Shamsiel, and Granberia yell, shocked by the revelation.
"When he visited our world a couple months ago, he found us amongst the ruins of Towa City and offered to bring us here away from the despair of our world," Kotoko elaborates.
"Not before we kept trying to kill him in his numerous attempts to appeal to us," Masaru adds, chuckling.
"We were mostly just worried that he was trying to apprehend us for the adults… and his tail and horns also didn't help in the slightest at easing us," Nagisa comments.
"But when we finally gave him our trust and he showed us his resort where we can have all the fun we want, we would be foolish to turn it down. So now here we are!" Jataro concludes.
"And that's why he's our Big Bro Renji!" They shout simultaneously.
"Aww, I didn't know my Renji goes out of his way like that!" Shamsiel says.
"Ignoring the attempts on your life, it's nice to see that you're willing to be more charitable than greedy," Taiga compliments. The sponsors take umbrage with that sentiment… as well as my business rival.
"I-I do a lot of things besides running this resort that no one witnesses so t-thanks," I stammer.
"You like hiding things from me, Darling?" Granberia asks.
"N-No, I just didn't think you would be interested," I answer.
"I'm always interested in what you do. After all, we live much different lives and are worlds apart so I'm excited to hear about your experiences just like you are with me," she assures with a slight blush on her face, hugging me.
"I-I-I appreciate hearing that, Honeydragon! I'll be sure to share everything with you from now on!" I stutter, feeling my face blush back. She kisses me on the cheek.
"Later," she whispers seductively.
"Big brother Renji has a girlfriend!" Kotoko claps.
"This is nothing new. I just never said anything because I know how all of you are," I point out.
"Gross! Big bro has cooties!" Masaru and Jataro react.
"C'mon, you two. We are past stuff like that even if I could've gone without knowing that information," Nagisa says.
"Exactly as I said," I groan. "Anyway, this is Granberia. That's Shamsiel and that's Taiga, my assistant. Please be kind to them."
"No problem! Nice to meet you three!" The Warriors nod.
"Nice to meet all of you too!" Taiga, Shamsiel, and Granberia reply back.
"Now let's continue eating so we can finally move this along," I say. We surprisingly manage to finish our plates without another interruption. I guess that means the other sponsors will wait until our annual meeting for dinner. Thankfully, that's a couple months away from now. Coming from the kitchen, Teruteru scurries over to our table.
"It's that time, Boss!" Teruteru informs me.
"So it is," I sigh and stand up. "Guess I should go make the announcement to get things truly in motion."
"I know I already know the answer but I must ask all of you how the food was," Teruteru requests feedback, just wanting to hear praise.
"I don't blame you when it's a ten out of ten every time!" I compliment him.
"It was very delicious," Nagisa states, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"Super yummy!" Kotoko and the rest of the Warriors chime in.
"Scrumptious!" Shamsiel licks her lips.
"Amazing as always!" Taiga answers.
"Fantastic! I can't believe it somehow tastes even better than last year!" Granberia praises him.
"Thank you! Thank you! I always aim to please!" Teruteru chuckles, grinning.
"Before you wind down the kitchen until lunchtime, please make sure someone delivers breakfast to Monaca," I request, ignoring the quiet grumblings coming from the Warriors.
"No problem! I'll get on it!" Teruteru hurries back to the kitchen. Grabbing the microphone, I take the metaphorical stage in front of all of the guests.
"I hope that everyone has satiated their morning appetites! My hardworking staff and I here at The Takeuchi Resort must once again state how ecstatic we are to have all of you here! Please feel free to explore the resort and make use of all the amenities bestowed upon you! For any other additional details such as cafeteria meal hours, rules, and the like, please once again refer to the pamphlets. If that's not helpful or you have a complaint to voice, then please get in touch with a staff member or me myself. With that said, this concludes the Annual Grand Breakfast Buffet! Have fun, everyone!" I bow briefly, seeing and hearing applause from the crowd just before they start leaving in droves.
"Mr. Badguy, your suite awaits!" Jack-O giggles.
"Our suite, you mean? This vacation's been a long time coming," Sol grins.
"Time to make the most of this trip, Eureka!" Renton excitedly takes her hand.
"Certainly, Renton," Eureka smiles at him.
"I'm gonna fuck mad dicks like you wouldn't believe! You with me, Stocking?" Panty declares.
"Hell no! You can have that shit all for yourself! I'm more concerned with all the new yummy sweets we'll get to taste!" Stocking drools while fantasizing.
"Hmm, quite the interesting assortment here! I wonder if there are any brothels in this world like the ones we got back home," Stunk ponders.
"Only one way to find out!" Zel smirks.
"Even on vacation, you two are nothing but horndogs. Can't be helped, I guess," Crimvael shakes his head and shrugs.
"Plenty of strong looking people here. Maybe one of them can withstand my punch?" Saitama thinks aloud. Only just a couple faces and voices I can make out among the flowing sea of chattering guests. Granberia and the others join my side.
"Everything all set, Renji?" Taiga asks while Granberia latches onto my left arm.
"Y'know it!" I affirm.
"I can't wait to spend so much time with you, Darling!" Granberia smirks while squeezing my arm.
"Right back at ya, my Honey Dragon! Now let's finally get the ball rolling!" I exclaim. What sorta crazy shit will happen this year I wonder?