-Setsurayuki-
2 hours had past and it was time to switch shifts, it felt like an eternity really. It was my turn to monitor the Diamond casino which was on the Sixteenth floor; as every deck had its own casino. Spades was on level 2 up to 15, Diamonds was on level 16 to 25, Hearts on level 26 to 34 and finally, Clubs upon the last 6 floors. The higher you stayed, the more expensive it was. I gave a wave to Touyu, who proceeded to leave his post and come greet me.
"You're heading up to Diamond now, aren't you?" He asked nonchalantly, leaning his arms on the front desk, his eyes scanning the papers that lay out across it.
I nodded with a small sigh and stared down at the ground below me. Suddenly, I felt a hand under my chin which raised my head back up. Touyu's eyes bore into mine, you could almost see the flames that lived within them. My breath caught in my throat, Touyu would always surprise me.
After a moment of awkward eye contact and deathly silence, Touyu finally broke the tension.
"You're not getting enough sleep, are you?"
I froze. Was it that easy to tell? I had been staying up rather late to do research. I didn't think it would be too obvious though.
"I'm fine, Touyu."
I tried to reply nonchalantly, almost mimicking Touyu.
"If you say so, Setsu."
Of course, Touyu read right through me.
Damn.
Touyu's gentle grip eventually slipped away from my chin, making his hand fall back to his side. But his eyes still stared straight and true into my own. It was impossible to look away, Touyu had some sort of knack for a slight sense of hypnotisation when anyone looked at him; something I never learned to escape.
"You know the rules, Setsu. What's mine is mine and what's yours..?" His voiced seemed to trail off and his eyebrow raised, obviously wanting me to finish his sentence.
"We share." I said weakly, but I had no intentions of breaking our current staring contest.
Touyu released a small chuckle and closed his eyes, allowing me to finally look somewhere that Touyu's presence was not. "Good. Glad you remember. You can go now." He uttered to me as he turned himself away.
A weight seemed to lift off of my shoulders. Boy, Touyu could be a handful for me sometimes.
Maybe that isn't the right way to put it.
I'm a handful for Touyu, apparently. Although it's difficult to read what someone wants when all they do is glare at you. Still, I try my best, sometimes he should acknowledge that.
"Get going, Setsu." Touyu's sharp voice rang through my ears, making me get straight back to work; I ran for the elevator where I punched the number 16 on the enormous dial of keys. Once the doors closed and I began ascending, I dropped my shoulders into a slouch. Boy, I wish I didn't work here. That thought would always cross my mind when I was alone, but being alone rarely happened; only in circumstances such as these where I was changing shifts was I able to have time to think.
The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, revealing a range of machine slots and poker desks as well as a few roulette tables. There was a large number of people here, crowding tables and slot machines as well as the constant sound of money and roulettes being used.
"Setsu, you're here!" A short girl shouted and ran towards me, almost knocking me off my feet when her arms wrapped around me for a hug. "Hey Reol. Anything happen up here?" I replied, hugging the girl back. Reol was smaller than me and had short brown hair which swept into a side ponytail, her green eyes lit up at my question. "Actually, yes, we've had someone new in this morning, he's rather handsome and he's staying up in Clubs." Reol answered, gesturing upwards towards the top floors. "He's staying on Club deck?!" I shouted, then quickly hushed myself before I gained any unwanted attention. A smirk rose onto Reols face as she replied "Uh-huh, and he's in here today, not sure why when he's pretty much got the entire Club casino to himself but, he can do what he wants I guess."
I could feel butterflies rise in my stomach, there's only been a few instances where someone has stayed on Club deck; those people are filthy rich or deemed as royalty. I'd have to meet them eventually too.
"Who's catering for him?" The words just slipped out of my mouth.
"I don't think he's picked just yet~" She teased towards me, raising her eyebrow suspiciously in my direction.
If anyone is lucky enough to stay upon Club Deck, they get to pick any member of staff to be their personal servant. Although usually they pick a member of the Elite staff, which is comprised of people like Touyu. Most of the elites are made up of boys, because we've only had women stay within Club Deck and they usually... Well, the filthy rich are spoiled too. Club=Majesty will give them whatever they wish.
"Did you find out his name?" Curiosity would always get the better of me, maybe I should find out myself for once, but it couldn't hurt to know a little more about this special guest. Reol shook her head and a sigh escaped her lips. "Nuh uh.. He's a mysterious one. Maybe you could find out a little more. I'm taking your shift with Touyu right? Glutamine is around here somewhere, make sure you tell him you're here." Before I could say another word, Reol turned and skipped to the elevator, entering it after waving at me briefly. I couldn't help but smile, although she was a little loud, Reol was always refreshing and would make me forget about my worries; even for a second, it was worth it. Reality soon crept back and latched itself onto my consciousness. I felt a little dizzy. As much as I needed to find Glutamine, I wanted to refresh myself in the bathroom; and give myself a moment of peace.
I pushed open the door to the ladies bathroom and was immediately blinded by the pure white marble floors and walls.
You can't catch a break.
The room was cold and quiet. I picked up my feet a little to bring myself over to the sinks and mirrors, where I stared at myself in the reflection.
It's me.
I noticed a small lock of hair had fallen out of place. My hand quickly tucked it behind my ear.
Boring, huh.
My hands reached down to pull up my long sock, which had fallen for the thousandth time today. I looked back up to the mirror.
It's you.
A bathroom stall opened and out from it came a guest, who stood across from me to wash their hands.
I don't understand.
Their eyes soon met mine and I smiled happily towards them, the feeling was mutual, they returned the smile.
Why am I here?
Being a member of staff of course, I picked up a towel from the counter and approached them to offer it.
I feel sick.
They took the towel and dried their hands, offering a thanks before they left through the door I entered in.
Get out of here.
It was time for me to get to my shift, I followed after the guest, where I was hit with the bustle of Club=Majesty's Diamond Casino. My heart began to pound ferociously in my chest, my ears flooded with noisy laughter and cheers. I could hardly stand straight, my vision was becoming blurry.
I staggered slightly and luckily felt a cold, hard wall which I started to slip down. Fatigue washed over my body, maybe it was because I stayed up too late. Maybe it's because I've been overworking my body.
Touyu could tell this, Touyu knew.
Why didn't I listen to Touyu?
Almost instantly, I felt hands slip around my waist, hoisting me up.
"Setsu, it's okay." A distant, low voice soothed into my ears, they began to hum softly. All at once my senses returned and the dizziness faded. My eyes became clear again and I could stand. The hands that held me turned my body around. I looked up to see the person that aided me.
Dark brown hair, a wide smile and bright purple eyes that match their purple bow. There was only one.
"Glutamine!" I yelled and hugged the male tightly.
"It's good to see you too." He chuckled, returning the hug with a tight squeeze. "You should be more careful and learn that sleep is something that is needed for each member of staff here at Club=Majesty." Glutamines voice was a little high pitched, it sounded like he was straining it, maybe he tried to mimic Touyu..?
There was a moment of silence before we both burst into laughter.
"That was awful Glutamine, never do that again." I giggled.
"It was worth a shot, but seriously Setsu, you need more sleep, I don't wanna find you passed out in one of my shifts." He soon let me go and nudged my back gently. "Do you know there's someone staying on Club deck? And it's a guy, what does that even mean?" The male scratched his cheek in thought.
"Yeah, I heard. I think it's good. They haven't picked a caterer yet though." I used the knowledge that Reol gave me to my advantage and a large smirk fell onto my lips.
"I see Reol passed on the message then huh?" He smirked back at me.
Damn it.
"Oh, speaking of messages, I have a letter for you." Glutamine reached into his back pocket to pull out a grey envelope. "I don't know who it's from, it's just got your name on it."
A letter? For me? I've never received a letter before.
"I won't peep or anything." Glutamines eyes averted to the side as he held out the letter in front of me.
I took it and scanned the envelope.
It was a plain grey envelope, there was nothing that special about it. I turned it over to be addressed with the name 'Setsurayuki' written across it in fancy writing. On the bottom of the envelope was the stamp from Club Deck.
Wait, what?
"This is from Club Deck, Glutamine." I looked up at him, furrowing my eyebrows.
"Well yeah.. I knew that, but that's all." He winked at me with a cheeky grin.
Instantly, my hands ripped open the envelope, I pulled out the paper within.
The words were written extremely neatly by hand, it read:
Dearest Setsurayuki,
Your work here at Club=Majesty is both inspiring and acknowledged. I believe that you are the perfect person to aid me whilst I stay here at Club=Majesty. I've spoken to Touyu in advance and everything has been arranged for you to stay on Club Deck until my visit here is over. I want you to be my caterer. Your job for me is no easy task but the work that you do has proven you are capable of achieving what I want and need.
I look forward to hearing your decision, please choose wisely.
Yours Truly,
Itou Kashitarou.
