Chapter Text
Five years.
It’s been five years since the rediscovery of GOD and the completion of Toriko’s full course - along with Coco’s and the other heavenly kings as well. But Coco can hardly believe it. It almost seems like their voyage to outer space happened just yesterday.
He brought out his tarot cards and started laying them out, musing on the past five years and how much has changed. Even as a fortune teller, he never would’ve anticipated how much he’s grown - not just physically, but mentally. Socially.
Emotionally.
There was a time in his life where occasionally, the only people he would ever be willing to see for the heck of it was Toriko, Maybe Mansam on occasion, and... and Ichiryu. But ever since Komatsu came into the picture, his life, along with many other lives, have been impacted on such a massive scale. And even now Coco doesn’t know if he could ever repay him for everything he’s done.
He tried thanking him for that once, on their last meeting. And he watched as Komatsu only smiled and said “You don’t need to repay me. Ever since I met Toriko and you and all the others, I’ve grown in ways I didn’t even think were achievable. I have you and many others precious to me in my life, and just knowing all of you... is more than enough of a reward for me.”
And there was a calm silent understanding between the two of them, knowing that everyone feels the same way - being glad to have Komatsu as a friend and Komatsu being glad to have the friends he’s made. A quiet, yet deep appreciation for one another that doesn’t need to be expressed with further words, just with the making of new, happy memories and celebrating new relationships.
And speaking of relationships, Coco would’ve never have pictured Toriko getting married and having a child. Admittedly, as much of as asshole as he knows he is for thinking this, he never would’ve imagined Toriko being such a good father either. Rin’s pregnancy was unexpected, with her initially delaying telling her husband about it because she wanted to surprise him once he got home. But her gourmet cells mixed in with fluctuations with her hormone levels due to pregnancy caused serious health complications and Toriko had to be informed about it in space via message from the IGO.
As soon as he heard about it, to the surprise of everyone in the spacecraft, Toriko dropped everything and immediately went back to earth and watch over Rin during the rest of her pregnancy. Thinking about it now, he feels a little guilty thinking about how he thought that Toriko would’ve just left her alone and said something along the lines of “Rin’s a strong woman so everything will be fine!” as the journey continues.
They made the rest of their voyage without him, and Toriko didn’t even seem the least bothered about it, instead gushing about his newborn child to everyone he meets.
Sunny fell in love with the child at first sight. It made Coco chuckle, thinking about Sunny as the gaudy uncle who likes to spoil his niece with gifts. Komatsu would play with her and let her try some of his cooking whenever he visited Toriko’s house. Even Zebra seemed to have a really apparent soft spot for her - something that Toriko absolutely gets a kick in teasing him about.
Coco loved her too, despite being a little uncomfortable at Toriko’s insistence that Coco try holding her (“C’mon she’s your niece too!”). And ever since then, the kid never had any qualms about touching him and cuddling him. It made Coco a little emotional thinking about how much Toriko must absolutely trust him to let his daughter be so close to him, and he intended to be worthy of that trust.
It’s not that Coco is bad at controlling his poison - it’s actually quite the opposite. He’s garnered much more control of his abilities the more confident he’s become. But there’s always that lingering fear, that hesitance, that risk. It’s not being branded as a “high risk dangerous creature” that Coco cares about - it’s the possibility that he could accidentally hurt someone he cares about. Even now, he’s not sure he feels entirely comfortable about being in crowded spaces or with the idea of an intimate physical relationship. He’s made a lot of progress over the past few years and has made friends he truly cares about and loves - but admittedly, growing up with the poison has made him quite the introvert. He loves conversing with people, but when he’s alone, he feels like he’s safe, like he can finally breathe again.
However, during their expedition to rediscover GOD many years back, Coco got the chance to get acquainted with a man that piqued his curiosity for a long time.
Poison Chef Tairan.
A man who works exclusively with extremely toxic and poisonous dishes, not only making those dishes edible but even making the poison edible itself. Ranked 19th in the world ranking, he’s described as a true genius, with his knowledge of the subject of poisons extremely vast.
It was apparent to everyone how complimentary as partners he’d be with Coco from the start, but Tairan and Coco were so occupied with their respective jobs that they never really got the opportunity to interact until they got tasked to find ATOM.
Tairan was a serious and calm man, being able to maintain his composure even in the most dire of situations - an attitude that’s most definitely needed when having to detoxify dishes for a living. In their conversation with each other, he discovered that Tairan was just as curious about Coco as Coco was about him. He was extremely nice and very welcoming and respecting - obviously seeing Coco as an exciting man to meet rather than some creature that’s been branded by the IGO.
They clicked so well that in the end, they even decided to become partners. They were a perfect pair in their respective fields. Tossing ideas and knowledge off of each other - it felt nice, having such a capable partner.
In fact, he was supposed to meet with Tairan today for a mission. Usually he dreaded going to outings, but with Tairan that dread was nonexistent. In fact, he’s actually excited, not just about the ingredient, but about the fact that he’d to get to see and work with Tairan again.
Coco drew a tarot card...
...”The Lovers”? Him? The idea was almost laughable. Perhaps all this gourmet hunting was making Coco’s fortune telling skills suffer.
He gathered all of his needed supplies and whistled for Kiss. It was time for him to depart on yet another adventure.