“Shiki-sama, it’s time to wake up.”
It was a simple routine. Ever since he had moved into the Tohno Mansion, no matter how his day had gone, Shiki would be woken up by the calm voice of Hisui. Letting out a comfortable groan, he stretched his arms and legs. Before opening his eyes he grabbed his glasses off his nightstand and slipped them on. “Good morning Hi-” Shiki stopped talking. “What...?” Hisui wasn’t there, the familiar maid with the stoic expression wasn’t standing by his bed. “Aki...ha...?”
The girl who had gone from his adopted younger sister to his lover was standing by his side, wearing a maid outfit. “Ah, Good Morning, Shiki-sama.”
Role RevertShiki’s room was completely silent. The owner of the room was sitting up straight, staring at the girl who had come to wake her up. Akiha stood before him, wearing a maid uniform and a soft smile. She stared at him, waiting for him to say anything. What could he say? The situation was strange, it defied his routine. Was this some joke of Akiha’s? Something Kohaku had cooked up? He couldn’t say. Still, perhaps the best way to get answers was to simply ask the question in the first place. He looked at the oddly dressed Akiha, and spoke. “Um, Akiha, why are you waking me up?”
By Pata Hikari
Part 1: Why am I being woken up by her?
At these words, the smile on Akiha’s face faded. Her expression became an odd mixture of confusion and irritation. “Shiki-sama, I am waking you up because it is my duty to wake you up. Otherwise you would sleep the day away, bringing shame upon the Tohno Family.”
Well, that was direct. Also unhelpful. “No, Akiha, I’m not asking why you’re waking me up. I’m asking why you are waking me up,” He said, hoping this would explain what, exactly, he was looking to find out.
The irritation faded, but the confusion remained. “Shiki-sama, if I do not wake you up, nothing can. I’ve tried alarm clocks, you’ve ignored them. It is only my voice that can stir you from your excessive slumber. Sometimes not even then.”
“OK fine,” Shiki sighed, he obviously wasn’t going to get anywhere with that line of questioning. Time for a different avenue of attack. “So why are you dressed like that?”
Akiha’s patience was visibly running thin. “Shiki-sama, this is my work uniform. I wear this when I do my job.” The look on her face suggested that answering this question was, for whatever reason, part of her job as well. “Perhaps, are you suggesting you wish for me to wear a different sort of maid uniform?” Her expression became dangerous.
“N-no! Not at all!” Shiki said, “It’s... you know what, nevermind. I’m sorry for bugging you about this.”
Ahika’s expression softened, “It is no real trouble, Shiki-sama. It’s my duty to make sure you have no troubles.” She gestured towards his desk, three sets of clothing were laid out on it, “As it is Sunday, I took the liberty of picking some outfits you might wear.” Akiha then turned on her heel, towards the door, “Breakfast is in fifteen minutes, please do not be late, Shiki-sama.” She efficiently left the room.
>-----------------------<The first thing Shiki did after getting dressed was check the calendar. It was not April 1st. While this did not rule out some prank, it made it much less likely.
“I’m here!” Shiki announced as he burst into the dining room. Getting dressed and checking the date had taken up a fair amount of time. Fortunately, he had made it with a mere minute to spare. The table was already set, the breakfast was western style. Toast with jam, sausage, eggs, orange juice, and waffles. Akiha was already there, she pulled back the chair at the head of the table, “Oh, um, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Akiha said, and then stood there, “Well, Shiki-sama?”
“Uh, right, thank you for the meal...” Shiki grabbed a fork and began cutting into his waffles. Akiha stood next to him, watching his every move. An eyebrow raised as he picked up the wrong fork, a sigh as he took a bite of eggs a little too large. It was quickly becoming the most stressful meal he had ever eaten. He quickly drained his glass of orange juice. Moving quickly Akiha picked up the pitcher full of it. “Well... sure, I’ll have some more.” Akiha efficiently filled the glass to just near the top. “T-thanks.” Akiha resumed simply standing by his side. “Um, Akiha, aren’t you going to have breakfast?”
Akiha sighed, “Shiki-sama, a servant eating with you is improper. Besides, I have already had breakfast.”
“Got it,” Shiki said, and continued to eat. The food was good, yet there was something different about it. It didn’t have quite the same touch that Kohaku’s cooking did. “Akiha... who cooked this?”
Akiha gave Shiki the look of one who was very tired of stating the obvious, “Are you well, Shiki-sama?”
“Just... answer the question Akiha,” Shiki said with a groan.
“I prepared breakfast.” Akiha answered matter-of-factly.
“Got it,” Shiki said. So Akiha had made this meal. Granted, enjoying something cooked by Akiha had been a little private fantasy of his for some time now. But this wasn’t exactly the context in which he had wanted it.
“Is there a problem with the meal?” Akiha asked.
“No. It’s great.” Shiki said, and it was. Even if it lacked that spark Kohaku’s meals had. If he had to guess, Akiha was proficient at following the recipes and directions exactly. So what Akiha had produced was technically perfect. Kohaku, on the other hand, did a bit more experimenting, so there was always some minor unique element to her meals.
He finally finished his breakfast, and Akiha began immediately gathering the plates and utensils
>-----------------------<As Shiki had no school to go to, and no further plans for what he could do this day, he decided to stay at home. It wasn’t exactly exciting, but there was little else he could think to do.
The mansion was especially quiet today. While one would never describe the Tohno Household as “bustling”, it had an even greater lack of people today. Hisui and Kohaku, the twin maids who managed everything about the house, had vanished. Their rooms were locked, and he didn’t have the keys to them. His exploration had taken him through every room that was open. Akiha’s room wasn’t any different, but he noticed the bed hadn’t looked slept in. Instead a room near hers with a spartan bed and a closet with a few articles of clothing he recognized as her’s was unlocked and appeared to have been used.
Finally, after wandering around for an hour, he found himself in front of Akiha. She had a broom in her hands and was sweeping the entryway. Shiki sat down in a nearby chair and watched. Akiha’s expression was distant, and her motions efficient and casual. She moved as one who had done this many times before, and would continue to do so many times in the future. Swish, swish. The only sound in the mansion was that of her broom brushing against the ground. He sat, mesmerised by her, until she finally realized his existence. “Shiki-sama,” She said, stopping her sweeping and looking into his eyes, “Is there something you need?”
“No.” Shiki said, “Not particularly. I was just bored, and ended up watching you work.”
“Did you not make any plans?” She asked.
Shiki shook his head, “Well, I’m more of an ‘in the moment’ guy, you know?” He generally did things on a whim. Akiha or one of the servants had often planned activities, and sometimes Arihiko had come over to drag him into some dumb adventure. But now he felt oddly alone, only Akiha who was not quite Akiha remained. It was as if he had been pulled into another world.
Akiha sighed, “You should plan for your future more, Shiki-sama. The Tohno legacy rests on your shoulders. Would it hurt to act with a dignity appropriate to such a duty?”
“What about you then, Akiha?” Shiki asked suddenly,
“What about me?” Akiha seemed to have been caught off guard.
“What plans do you have for the future?” Shiki said, he knew full well what Akiha’s plans were, the two of them had discussed them in length. Still, he felt like maybe this was the point. Maybe she wanted him to think? If that was true, she would probably tell him about them, or tell him to not change the subject.
But instead, Akiha looked away, a faint blush. “I... I’m content with simply serving you.”
“I see.” That wasn’t the answer he was expecting. Shiki had decided, this was far too much work for a simple prank. Something strange was going on.
>-----------------------<
The hours passed, Shiki waiting, Akiha working. There was nothing to do, nothing he could think of. He couldn’t just relax, not when half the home’s residents were missing and the other was acting strangely. With nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, he ended up in the library. Shiki didn’t particularly want to be in here, but there was nowhere else to be, and if he could find a book he might not be so bored. Wandering through the shelves, he picked up a book. It was a simple enough subject, the Tohno Family history. “Tch.” He became annoyed looking at that book, still, he opened it up. It was a mix of handwritten memoirs and newspaper clippings. He flipped through it for a few minutes, reading about activities his adopted ancestors had done. The book ended, naturally, with the death of Makihisa. Putting the book away, he looked around for some fiction, something else to distract his mind.
“Shiki-sama.” Akiha’s voice announced her presence, entered the room, “Dinner is ready.”
“It is? Shiki sighed, “Guess I didn’t find anything interesting after all.” He began to walk out of the library, stopping as he passed Akiha.
“Yes...?” Akiha said.
Shiki thought about what he could say to her. Asking her to stop? Telling her that this was enough? He didn’t know. This day was strange and he didn’t even know if he wasn’t the one going crazy. “Isn’t it a lot? Doing all the cooking and cleaning by yourself? Don't you have any help?”
Akiha, again, reacted to him with confusion. “Are you absolutely sure you’re well? You’ve been acting strangely all day, and seem to have forgotten much.” She shook her head, “Still, I can answer the question. I am the only maid in the household. It is not much, I am only caring for you along, after all.”
“Are you sure?” Shiki found himself believing her. “I wouldn’t mind help-”
“No.” Akiha said forcefully.
Shiki couldn’t help but smile, “So I’ve offered that before?” He had actually made the same offer to Hisui and Kohaku several times, they had never accepted it though.
Akiha smiled back, “Many times.” She walked out the door, her dress fluttering with each confident step, “Well come on Shiki-sama, I worked hard on dinner, are you going to ignore it?”
“I’m too hungry for that.” Shiki admitted.
>-----------------------<Dinner was, like breakfast, western style. Grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, some rolls, and to his surprise, wine. When he had questioned it, she said, “There’s nothing wrong with a little wine with dinner, Shiki-sama.” Shiki, of course, figured she just wanted an excuse to drink some herself later. Of course, dinner was still mildly stressful. With Akiha leaning over his shoulder (figuratively, he was sure she’d call doing it literally “improper”) he felt like he had to put on a display of perfect table manners, otherwise she’d just look at him disapprovingly and he’d feel terrible. So even though it was just the two of them, Shiki put on the show of a perfect gentlemen.
“It was good.” He said as he finished off the rolls, leaving nothing on his plates.
“Thank you.” Akiha curtsied, “I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Shiki’s face turned red as it came to him. He had been distracted all day by the strangeness of it all, but now one fact came to him. Akiha was really cute in that outfit. Akiha was rarely ‘cute’. Most of the time she projected an image of elegant beauty, only rarely seeming ‘cute’ when they were alone. Plus, he had to admit, he had a few times wondered what she would look like in that maid outfit. “Oh... uh...” Akiha seemed to realize what Shiki was thinking, and her face became a little red as well. “W-well, Shiki-sama, is there anything else you need?”
“I think I’ll just go back to reading.” Shiki said quickly, and after saying so Akiha quickly gathered up the dishes and ran out of the dining room.
>-----------------------<While Shiki wouldn’t call it the weirdest day he had experienced, it was definitely up there. Still, whatever it was, a prank, a weird dream, whatever, Shiki was sure that things wouldn’t continue on like this. By tomorrow things would be back to normal, Hisui would wake him up, he and Akiha would be back to their normal relationship, and they would either laugh at their prank or he would laugh at this odd dream. Yes, that must be it, this is all just a dream...
>-----------------------<
“Good morning, Shiki-sama.”
Shiki pulled on his glasses and opened his eyes as he sat up.
Akiha, still wearing that maid outfit, smiled at him.
Thump. Shiki fell back into his bed.
“Shiki-sama!?”
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Originally Posted by hayate
