"Argh!"
A-chan was feeling her body beginning to collapse under the strong presence. She kept on glancing at her master, hoping she was safe. To her disbelief, Sora was sitting upright as though the pressure did not affect her.
In reality, Sora was utilising [KAGUYA BALANCE] to counterforce the pressure and tried to act as presentable as possible in front of the Chief. Her eyes were pulsing yellow, beating along with her concentration to resist the press.
"Huh, you can't even handle this and yet you still come over. Pathetic." (Chief)
A-chan couldn't say a word and only hung her head down to the pressure. Sora held firm before slowly opening her lips.
"...Kaguya sent us here." (Sora)
"Oh. What for?" (Chief)
"To escape from the Gods."
Chief raised an eyebrow and slightly relieved the pressure. A-chan relaxed slightly, grabbing some much-needed breath while Sora's eyes started to lose their strong intensity.
"Elaborate." (Chief)
"Gods in the Spiritual Plane has begun to seek for more power and created a lot of conflicts. Ankimo decided that we needed to go to Earth Plane to avoid conflict and not become a weakness for her." (Sora)
"So Kaguya sent you two to seek shelter in this plane. Hmm, any reason why you are here then?"
"....Um.."
"You don't need to tell him, Sora. We can't trust him." (A-chan)
"A-chan," Sora's eyes changed into a dark green hue and looked deeply into the tired A-chan, "I will do the talking for now."
"A-a-a-h-h-h-h, yes, Sora." (A-chan)
"Sorry about that, Chief-san. I will answer your question now. I used the power of fates and sensed a strong presence that held a feeling of safety and wandered here. I did not inform A-chan and came here at such short notice." (Sora)
"Fates....interesting. So that power still exists. You probably felt [CARETAKER] or [GUARDIAN] while construction for the company was taking place, so that might be the feeling of safety. Are you worried that the Gods are going to descend and come after you?" (Chief)
"Yes and no. Gods do not descend because they are scared of The Thief but their disciples and descendants can still come down so we are still being careful."
"Are they still hunting you?"
"No, but we will recognise each other based on the laws in our bodies."
"So you need the shelter of someone strong and took this job on a whim."
"....Yes."
"Brilliant," Chief clapped and [DOMAIN] collapsed, alleviating all the pressure and the girls were able to move more freely, "Honest answers and you shall be rewarded. I would have been more suspicious but considering the company is in need of idols, I'll take some lost little kittens and raise them well."
"Lost kittens?" (Sora)
"Don't sweat the small details. I take it that you are willing to be an idol?" (Chief)
"I will." (Sora)
"Ahhh, I'm just here to look after Sora and I don't want to be an idol." (A-chan)
"Look after her? Then you can be her manager. You can help her as she becomes an idol and get paid for it at the same time. I think Sora would prefer having a friend as a manager instead of a stranger given by us, plus we don't have anyone currently for that role." (Chief)
"Really! Isn't that great, A-chan?!" (Sora)
"...Are you sure you can just appoint me as a manager? I'm not too well versed in the idol industry but I'm pretty sure management isn't as loose as just picking a friend." (A-chan)
"Is that so? Oh well, I'll just convince Yagoo about that. I can handle the contracts for you but I still don't know the general gist of the idol industry so he can explain it to you." (Chief)
A-chan dropped her guard around the strong Chief, she had to. She had to act like she trusted the Chief if Sora was adamant about joining the company. There were no issues with Sora having a job, it lightened their budget, but the mysteriousness of the person in front of them was terrifying. She had no idea why Sora wanted to join, only knowing she used some skills before resolving something.
It wasn't Fate.
The Kaguya Family didn't touch Fates to A-chan's knowledge, as it was incredibly taboo and the cost for such arts was usually too hefty. Probably Kaguya-sama touched it a bit, but it didn't look like Sora used it.
'I believe in Sora-sama's judgement.'
Sora's eyes tingled, fading back to a soft hazel colour.
=============
=============
Yagoo came back to the meeting room with the informative documents and the group read them, Yagoo tried his best to explain the profession to three complete newbies. Chief then made the contracts while they were being informed about the workings of the idol industry.
"So," A-chan raised her hand as she was going through the contracts for Sora and herself, "Are these terms printed wrong?"
"What do you mean?" (Yagoo)
He picked up a copy of the contract for Sora and carefully read it. An eerie silence emitted from Yagoo as he slowly turned towards Chief.
"....Chief." (Yagoo)
"Yeah?" (Chief)
"What are these terms?! $1 Million contract for only a year! $100k for sign-up! At least put these numbers in Yen! Even the current idol contracts barely hit $200k! Premium insurance! The standard business ones should be able to cover everything, no need to go over the top, it even has overseas coverage!" (Yagoo)
"Why are there so many benefits, Chief-san?! Dorms, canteens, transportation and even an onsen?! What kind of company has an onsen just ready for their employees to use?!" (A-chan)
"Well, we just built it, so of course we use it." (Chief)
"..." (Yagoo)
"..." (A-chan)
"Where do I sign? These terms seem fun and look great!" (Sora)
Sora was very excited about reading the benefits and was eager to sign the documents.
"Please wait, Sora. I need some clarification on some of these absurd terms." (A-chan)
"Okay. Can I please have another cup of tea, Chief-san?" (Sora)
"Of course." He poured the fragrant drink and watched her cheerfully drink it, "And I don't think these terms are absurd."
"My wife would have fainted at such great terms and would immediately sign it. You wouldn't put any loopholes, right? It is a bad idea for our first idol." (Yagoo)
"What do you mean?! I don't need such tricks. Look, she's already eager to join us so I'll reciprocate those feelings with good conditions." (Chief)
A-chan stood up to face Chief, holding a selective stack of papers and carefully adjusted her glasses.
"I still need to question some of these conditions." (A-chan)
"Fire away." (Chief)
"Why is the manager's salary coming from the company instead of a cut of the idol?" (A-chan)
"We hire you to be a manager of our company and hope to hone your skills to be able to assist other idols as well as keeping an eye on Sora-san. We also don't want to burden your finances if your idol goes on a slump and makes your job stressful." (Chief)
"Why are there clauses for education and tutoring lessons?"
"We don't want to have our talents feel lost if they suddenly retire so I prepared back-ups so that they can still move on to other careers."
"That would decrease efforts and be a waste of time if they have divided responsibilities."
"That's good then. That would prevent our talents from tunnelling and avoid them overworking themselves."
"That business model would be a waste of time and money for your company. Many investors would not be pleased with such plans."
"Money is not an issue."
".....What a powerful company."
"I shall provide the best for fulfilling your dreams."
"Dreams?"
"Yes, your ambitions, your hopes, your goals. I shall help you."
".....Wo-"
"WOW! Does that mean you can help me become an idol?" (Sora)
Sora clapped her hands and thought about the prospect of her future career.
"Yes, your efforts won't go unrewarded with my support for your endeavours." (Chief)
Sora smiled more cheerfully, humming a tune and looked at the contract.
"I'm glad to hear that! Let's sign it!" (Sora)
"Wait, Sora! I still need to ask one last question." (A-chan)
"Signed and done! When do we start, Chief-san?" (Sora)
Sora showed off the papers and pointed at the signature and seal that finalised her contract. It shone a bright gold and returned back to normal, signifying the completion of the contract.
"..." (A-chan)
"..." (Yagoo)
"Great, let's finish A-san's questions and we can give you a tour of the company building. Yagoo, can you give Sora an advance tour and we'll join you later." (Chief)
"Chief, I just came today! I don't know the new layout." (Yagoo)
"Figure it out on the fly," Chief waved his hand to shoo them away, "Isn't it fun to explore your new base of operations? It will be boring to do a tour with the other employees laterwards."
"Just pass me the map of the layout."
"...I haven't made one yet."
"...Great! I going to get lost!" Yagoo proceeded to storm out of the meeting and picked left as his starting direction, "Let's go, Sora-san! I'll call this maniac if we get lost!"
"Right behind you, CEO! A-chan, hurry it up and let's explore the place." Sora followed behind Yagoo, obviously curious about her new workplace. A tint of purple glittered in her eye as she stared at her friend before turning around and following Yagoo.
"So, CEO!"
"Call me Yagoo-san."
"How did you meet Chief-san?"
"It is a long story, I was..."
Their distant conversation slowly faded as the duo walked away from the meeting room. A-chan was standing and stared down at Chief, who was casually drinking the last bit of his tea.
"...Finally, we are alone."
"I reckoned you needed the privacy on the topic considering how hard you are gripping the paper."
"Of course, this concerns the Kaguya's Family well-being."
"I don't think it's that serious."
"It is!"
"What seems to be the problem then?"
"Why is there no mention of relationships for idols!"
"Oh, forgot about that."
Chief dug his hand into [INVENTORY], pulling out a few more written papers for the contract. A-chan wasn't fazed by the appearance of papers, as she had seen the uses of similar skills in the Spiritual Plane.
"I was thinking it wasn't that important so I didn't bother adding it in."
A-chan took the papers and mumbled as she scrutinised the terms.
"Geez, even Sora-sama knows that relationships in the idol industry are forbidden. How did you even become Chief for the comp-"
A-chan slammed the pages and pointed at the specific clause of having relationships.
"CHIEF-SAN! DID YOU MAKE A MISTAKE?!" (A-chan)
"No? I made sure they are perfect as per protocol." (Chief)
"Protocol? You're allowing IDOLS TO HAVE RELATIONSHIPS."
"Yes?"
"What do you mean, yes?! This goes against the foundations of the industry. The knowledge of Cover's idols being permitted on having relationships will deter many fans and affect our reputation."
"Hmm, I don't care."
A-chan was shell-shocked from hearing the response.
"...Excuse me, I don't think I heard it correctly."
"I don't care. A person should be free to have relationships with anyone regardless of their job. Of course, you shouldn't make out in the workplace but I believe that dating doesn't affect our idols' schedule."
"But what about the parasocial relationship between idols and the fanbase?"
"Don't care. All I care about is the idol's well-being and the motivation for their dreams. Effective training with adequate breaks helps build their skills and maintain their best state of performing to their dreams. True fans should be content with watching their idols thrive and those other frantic fans will cause harm to the idol, directly or indirectly. I have taken safety measures in case fans attack idols if you are concerned about that."
"....Aren't you afraid of the backlash?"
"Why should I be? That is what the company is built for, to handle press and any problems that the idols might face when they achieve their dreams."
"....And I was hoping we could use this idol job as an excuse to avoid political marriages."
"Arranged marriages? The Kaguya Family still does that?"
"Of course, to keep up with the relations of the noble houses and territories."
"Ha, and I thought I warned the Old Hag already. I need to give her a knock on the head."
"Old Hag?"
"Also, don't worry about that. Term 12.4 states that the idol is free to have a relationship of her choosing."
"So?"
"My contract is stronger than any other contract, so if she were to sign an arranged marriage out of her free will, it would destroy the effects."
"....You sure?"
"We can test it out right now, sign your manager contract and then make a marriage contract with me to prove that my contract can nullify its effects."
"....Huh? Why should I make a marriage contract with you?"
"To prove that the contract would break if you were to unwillingly have a marriage with me."
"And if it doesn't work."
"Wow, no trust. Just make the contract expire in a minute or so."
"What?! The Goddess of Marriage wouldn't like her vows to be carelessly used."
"She won't bother us, I promise."
A-chan signed her manager's papers, glowing a bright gold to signify its completion. She conjured another contract of her own, holding a similar power standing to the Kaguya Family and should have a stronger power for the bind. Chief simply signed his involvement, using a mixture of his past identities from previous [RUNS]. Marriage contracts won't be completed unless the two partners were truthful in their identities, which Chief could easily bypass. He could even get away with just leaving the parts blank but A-chan would probably be more puzzled so Chief refrained from the little act.
"Okay," A-chan stiffly stamped her seal on the marriage contract to finalise it, "I can't believe I'm marrying someone for a minute."
The contract started to glow and shine their names and seals.
CRACK!
The space next to the contract cracked, a little hole expanded outwards into a web and slowly peeled off. A dark demonic hand stretched out of the gap and forcefully grabbed the golden contract, scrunching it into a measly paper ball. The contract corroded, fluttering into black ashes and the hand shook a bit to get rid of the dust.
"Thanks for the help," Chief waved at the hand, "I'll treat you to some onigiri next time I visit."
The dark hand gave a friendly wave back and clenched its fist before withdrawing back to the hole. The tear in space picked itself together and was repaired like it was never broken in the first place.
A-chan was frozen, still staring at the empty space where the hand once stood.
"....W-w-wwhat was that?" (A-chan)
"[CONTRACT ENTITY], it makes sure all contracts associated with me are kept within the terms. After sensing you signing with me out of your 'free will', it'll overpower and destroy that marriage contract."
"B-b-b-bbb-but what about the Goddess of Marriage."
"Who knows, she's probably fine."
=============
=============
(Somewhere in the Spiritual Plane)
A small little loli with curly turquoise hair was face flat on her desk that was filled with hundreds of marriage certificates. Her nose was trickling blood and her head was ringing badly from a broken contract. Her power over the authorisation of marriage was forcefully overwritten, giving her a powerful backlash.
"Ugh...god dammit, Chief. Why did you do it again? Arrrr, my head hurts so much."
=============
=============
"Why haven't you been smitten yet for the defiance against her speciality?" (A-chan)
"She's probably writhing in pain and headaches." (Chief)
"?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Hmmm, I'll go and inform Sora-sama that she doesn't have to worry about those marriages."
"She hated them?"
"Sora-sama loathed them, and believed that relationships should begin with love."
"Innocent opinion."
"Indeed, but I still respect and will help Sora-sama."
"Okay, I'll put away these contracts. You can meet up with Sora-san and Yagoo, take two left, two right and two left. They went around in circles on the ground floor so you should be able to find them easily."
Before A-chan left the meeting room, she turned around and bowed towards the Chief at a 90-degree angle.
"Thank you very much for giving us this opportunity and protecting us, Chief-san."
"Don't worry, Sora-san wanted to be an idol and I gave it. I'll catch up with you guys when I finish sorting the contracts out."
"Okay."
Little steps slowly faded as A-chan left with her directions while Chief was carefully collecting the rest of the contracts before he exited the meeting room and went right.
The meeting room was empty with all the previous participants doing their own thing.
... A time portal opened in the meeting room, gusts blowing the office supplies into a mess.
A short blonde girl jumped out of the portal, her hand pressing down on an antique pocket watch. She glanced around the room, disappointed that it was empty and released her grip on the watch, making the portal disappear.
"Huh? Did I come at the wrong time? I thought I calculated it when I asked Sora-senpai. Did I make a mistake?"
She began to look at her watch, checking if she placed the right inputs.
"Date? Check. Hour? Check. Minute? Check. Second? Chec- Oh, I messed up here. Did I miss by a few seconds? Dammit, I blew it on my monthly warp. Maybe they haven't gone too far from the room."
[MARIONETTE]
The blonde girl was about to exit the room when her body suddenly turned around and forcefully sat on the couch. She was visibly shocked at losing control of her body before realising something when she regained her freedom after sitting on the couch.
"Chief, you know I can't see you."
"Right, forgot to take it off."
[DISTORTION]
The Chief was sitting in the same spot as before, looking a bit annoyed with some veins protruding on his forehead.
"Amelia Watson." (Chief)
"Y-y-y-yes, C-c-c-cc-c--chief?" (Amelia)
"What did I say about time travelling into our timeline?"
"A-a-a-a-ah, it's forbidden."
"Do you know why?"
"N-n-n-nn-n-o?"
"It is so I don't have to deal with a Steins-Gate scenario if things get out of hand. I told you and Kronii, you can go anywhere else but not this timeline."
"Y--y-y-yes, Chief!"
"Jesus, thank god I delayed your portal so you would come out a bit later when the meeting ended."
Amelia instantly malded and threw a tantrum.
"It was YOU! I was wondering why I got it wrong even though Sora-senpai told me the time right down to the second. I knew it wasn't the genius Watson's mistake, it turned out to be Chief who ruined my machinations. I was going to meet Sora-senpai when she first started as an idol!"
Chief had a subtle neutral expression and walked over, instantly vice-gripping Amelia's face.
"Owowwowwowwwowch, wait Chief! This is hurting, THIS IS HURTING! Hold up! Wwwwwwaaaaahhhhhh! You're hurting my forehead! I don't want to have a big forehead like Ina!"
He still didn't loosen his grip and looked deeply into Amelia's eyes.
"Remember."
Amelia gulped.
"We do not mess around with the original timeline!"
"Yy-y-y-yes, Chief!"
Amelia saluted to Chief out of reflex, realised her actions and quickly hid her arm away.
"I won't be giving back the monthly warp, take it as a lesson to you and a warning for Kronii."
"Waaaaaa, you are being too mean, Chief!"
"I'm sending you back."
"Wait-"
While still gripping her forehead, Chief opened a time portal underneath Amelia and released his hold.
"YABE!"
The little detective got sucked in without any resistance and Chief looked to make sure it was going to the right destination.
He stood there for a while, checking some calculations with Alice-chan before looking at the wall behind him.
[TRUE SIGHT]
They looked at each other's deep red eyes, as though the physical obstruction of the buildings didn't exist. The Chiefs observed each other, completely silent before activating their skill.
[SOUL LINK]
They were the same being.
'Future?'
'Future.'
'Any problems?'
'None, I need to leave.'
'Noted.'
The Chief jumped into the portal that led back to his future, while the current Chief immediately took notes to prepare for the future.
'Amelia Watson, what a troublesome idol.'
=============
=============
{Little Segment}
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"
"Three Sword Style: Oni Giri!"
"Black Leg Style: Collier!"
[ZEROTH BREAK]
The white-haired man swung his bladeless scythe; smacking the fist away, disarming the swords and halting the kick.
The trio were shocked by the sudden break in their attacks and the man took the chance to bonk each head.
BONK BONK BONK
The trio held their head as they fell back from the quick smacking, holding their head to ease the big lump on the top.
The man sat back down on a nearby chair, pulling out a Salmon Don from [INVENTORY] and slowly savoured the flavour. The rest of the crew were relaxing as they watched the Chief sweep the floor with the Monster Trio.
"How do you hit harder than Grandpa?!" (Luffy)
"You should've aimed for his legs, stupid cook!" (Zoro)
"So I let you have the finishing blow?! Not on my watch, Marimo!" (Sanji)
"You guys need to coordinate better and cover each other while attacking. It's hard to see the effects when you are just attacking one person but in a full-on fight against another crew, it will get chaotic." (Chief)
"Then I'll just smack the whole crew with Gear 3!" (Luffy)
"I'll chop them all up!" (Zoro)
"I'll kick all their asses!" (Sanji)
DONK DONK DONK
Their heads are smashed into the wooden floor, Nami holding her Fiery Fist of Love and pretty pissed off at the attitudes of the trio.
"When will they ever learn?" (Nami)
Chief finished munching his current sashimi piece and advised.
"Can't be helped, Miss Navigator. Captain has been like this ever since so I just got to brute force it." (Chief)
"But they just-"
Chief shoved a piece of sashimi into Nami's mouth to pause her talk
"Don't worry, despite how it looks, they learn a lot from this training. Just trust them, Miss Navigator" (Chief)
He sat back down and continued to eat the bowl, passing some of the sweeter pieces to Chopper. Usopp joined in the meal as well, eating a share plate of grilled salmon with various sauces.
Nami still looked at him, staring at him with slight frustration before going off to do her own thing. She was still frowning, thinking hard about the peculiar way of Chief's attitude to each of the crew members.
Chief only called them based on their positions in the crew.
She and the others were also concerned about his attitude being quite distant but Luffy assured them that it was fine as he was the first person Luffy tried to recruit. Even on some occasions, Chief accidentally called him 'Luffy' before quickly switching to 'Captain'. Luffy loved making fun of those mistakes and Chief silently goes along with the jokes.
She wondered.
What was the Straw Hat Crew to Chief?
Iamnotabot· Oct 14, 2022
