…

"…Eiji-ku—"

I flinched awake, quickly sitting up. "No, wait!"

"E-eh!?"

…huh? Where did the green light orb go? I was just about to catch it… Wait, whose voice was that, anyway? I slowly turned to look at my side, and found Ui, scared shitless. I kept looking at her with tired eyes for, uh, I'm not even sure how long.

As she finally recovered from the scare, she spoke again: "…uh, Eiji-kun?"

"H-huh? What?" I managed to murmur as I was rubbing the sleep out of my eye.

Ui smiled nervously. "Good morning."

"Oh, right. Morning…" I muttered.

Her smile disappeared as she became a bit concerned, and leaned towards me. "Did you have a bad dream?"

I cocked my head, trying to remember. "…not sure."

She seemed to think about something, but didn't voice her thoughts. Instead, she turned around, and walked to the door.

"Come downstairs when you're ready, we're making some breakfast."

"Yeah, cool," I said to her, followed by a big yawn.

I could hear her giggling a bit before stepping out of my room and closing the door.

…wait a damn minute. Now that I'm completely awake, this indeed is my room. So why's Ui here? Did Tamiko invite her over again? Oh well, she said something about breakfast. If it's made by Ui, it'll suit me just fine. Oh, right, it's Monday, I'll have to go back to work today. After stretching for a bit, I walked over to my computer table to check my phone. Ui had woken me up just minutes before my alarm, which I immediately turned off. I also took a glance at my computer. The only reason I got the job was to get that computer a new processor and more RAM. I got dressed up, stopped by the bathroom, and headed downstairs. And indeed, they sure were preparing some breakfast, judging by the pleasant smell.

As I walked over to the kitchen, I glanced at the living room. I saw Dash lying in the middle of the floor, and Yui lying next to her. It made me halt, and after being confused for a bit, I walked over to the two lazy ladies. As I approached them, Dash just raised her head to get a look at me, and got back to lazing around just as quickly. Meanwhile, Yui was lying next to her, her eyes shut… Wait, is she sleeping?

I kept looking at her goofy, sleeping face for a while, until I turned to face the kitchen. "Uh, just why exactly is Yui-san sleeping on our floor?"

"Huh, sleeping?" I could hear Ui muttering, and saw her peeking into the living room, a spatula in her hand and an apron around her waist. As she got a look at the scenario, she got angry. "Sis! Wake up, you can't sleep here!"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Yui squirming on the floor. "But Ui~, I'm still tired…"

I knew exactly what Ui was about to say next, so before she had the chance to do that, I crouched down, poking Yui on the cheek. I wanted to give her a succinct warning.

"No snack," I whispered to her.

The very next second, Yui suddenly jerked awake, making me throw myself backward. "I-I'm awake! I was just, uh, keeping the dog company!"

Hearing this, Dash raised her left ear and let out a snort, almost as if saying 'The hell you were'. It made me grin out of amusement. However, I still hadn't gotten the answer for my question.

I stood up, stretching my legs a bit. "So, I'll ask again: Why are you guys here?"

Yui, who was trying to hide her tired yawn, turned to face me. "Ah, our parents are going on another trip tomorrow, so they're trying to change their sleep schedule."

Wait, what? You mean, they came back home only for a week, and are already leaving? Has it always been like this? Man, no wonder I haven't ever met them. But, do I really want to meet them, though? Well, maybe some other time. Raising an eyebrow, I turned to look at Ui, who nodded in agreement.

"That's right. We came to visit so that we wouldn't disturb their sleep."

Understanding the situation a bit, I looked down at Yui, who was just staring at a wall with tired eyes. "…though you still disturbed someone's sleep…" I muttered under my breath.

"Ah, Ui-chan, I think these are just about ready!" I heard my sister's voice from the kitchen, where Ui quickly returned to. I was just about to ask about what they were cooking, when Tamiko peeked from the kitchen. "Eiji-chan, would you please be so kind and set the table?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, sure."

I walked over to the kitchen to get some plates and what-not, when I finally saw what the girls were preparing: pancakes. A big stack of them. With whipped cream and berries on the side. As Ui saw me just staring at the huge pancake stack in awe, she smiled, embarrassed a bit.

"We didn't really have time to eat at home, so…"

Slowly nodding for an answer, I finally began digging around the cupboards for dishes. Ui, however, still kept her eyes on me. When I again turned to look at her, she cocked her head, a bit sorry looking.

"Sorry for coming over so early, and for all the ruckus," she apologized.

I just snorted with a smirk, and continued on gathering the dishes. "Yeah, well, I don't mind. A free breakfast is always welcome. Also, I've caused a lot of ruckus in your house during the past few years, so this is a nice change of pace, I guess. And besides, it's not like you're actually bothering anyo—"

The sound of a door opening upstairs made me fall quiet. It was followed by some heavy footsteps, which soon got to the stairs. Swallowing nervously, I glanced towards the stairs, seeing my tired dad moseying down them, wearing a loosely tied dressing gown. Fuck, it's hard to wake that guy up from his sleep, but when you manage to do it, he's not very pleased about it. And sure enough, he didn't look too pleased. I wouldn't either if I worked night shifts and suddenly woke up after just a few hours of sleep. Scratching his armpit, he scanned around the downstairs area, having a small staring contest with a rather confused Yui, until his tired and annoyed eyes reached me.

"…uh, morning, dad," I said nervously.

He just glared at me. I'm sure he wanted to yell at me, but since Yui was there, he probably didn't dare to do it. Instead, he just grunted quietly.

"What's all this commotion about?"

Man, what excuse would get me out of this trouble? "W-well, you see—"

"Ah, Mr. Sugimoto. Good morning."

My sentence was cut off by Ui's sudden greeting. She had stepped out of the kitchen's other doorway, and was facing my dad. Actually, she was bowing respectfully to him.

It took my dad by surprise, his annoyance having turned into a slight confusion. "Oh, it's you. Morning."

Having gotten his attention, Ui put on a sorry smile. "I'm so sorry for waking you up. You see, we're making some breakfast. But, I guess we got a bit carried away, and completely forgot about keeping the volume down." She then turned her gaze downwards sheepishly. "We originally came here so that we wouldn't wake up our parents, but in the end, we ended up waking someone else's parent. So, please, forgive us."

…man, if that doesn't manage to calm my dad down, then nothing will, and I'll have to put him down. I looked over at him, and sure enough, all the annoyance had vanished from his eyes. Actually, I could swear he was looking a bit embarrassed. Holy shit, now I know who to contact if I ever manage to anger my parents…

Now it was Tamiko's turn to speak to dad: "We're making pancakes. There's a whole lot of them, so I could put some aside, if you want to eat them later."

"Pancakes, huh…?" he muttered to himself, thought about something for a while, and slowly started heading towards the dining area. "…actually, I wouldn't mind having a small snack."

As he walked past Yui, who was still just sitting there in pure confusion, he took a better look at me, and noticed the dishes in my hands. "Set up a plate for me, too, son."

"…oh, uh, okay, sure," I muttered, still a bit dumbstruck due to the whole scenario, and dug out one more plate from the cabinet.

The breakfast was, well, unique, to say the least, if a bit awkward. Regardless, the pancakes were tasty, and my dad headed straight back to sleep after wolfing down a serving twice the size of mine. After finishing the meal, it was time for me to head to work. Just this week left, and I'll receive a fat paycheck, assuming nothing goes wrong. So far I've done all the work I've been assigned to, and then some. Well, I guess I shouldn't be so worried about it, but some carefulness wouldn't do me any harm.

Soon I arrived at the Kotobuki residence, right on time as usual. I headed inside, got changed into my work clothing, and headed back outside, walking to the garage. Last Friday, Saitou told me that I should now be able to handle things on my own, so I wouldn't need to ask for assignments anymore. Of course, if someone asks me to do something, especially a family member, I should always prioritize that first. But right now I didn't have anything on my to-do list, so I did what I've been longing to do for a whole week: wash the cars. It's a great excuse for me to admire them up close. And man, they sure were something.

After getting the cars shiny and spending another minute just looking at them, I wiped the sweat off my forehead and headed back towards the house. However, as I was walking, I spotted Tsumugi stepping out of the house.

"Morning, Miss Kotobuki," I greeted her as I got closer.

"Ah, Eiji-san. Would you mind coming with me for a bit? I think I might need your help."

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, sure thing, but where?"

"Downtown, I'll explain on the way," she said, and when she noticed my unsure expression, she added: "Don't worry, since you're with me, it'll count as work."

…well, since she's a family member, I guess it's fine. "Alright, then. Lead the way."

And so we began walking towards the train station, where we boarded a train, and were on our way to the downtown area. Midway through, I realized I was wearing my work clothing. I mean, there's nothing wrong with them, but I felt like my fancy clothes stood out like a sore thumb. One train ride later, we were walking down the street, towards… Wait, where are we even going?

"So, uh, why am I supposed to do?" I asked Tsumugi.

She actually seemed surprised about my question. "Oh? Well, nothing comes to my mind."

"…so why am I even here?" I muttered, unamused.

She just shrugged, and smiled. "I'm sure we'll find something for you to do."

Great, she doesn't even have anything for me to do, she just took me along just for the hell of it. But, she said it counts as work, so maybe I should be glad about getting paid for slacking off.

We kept walking in silence for a minute more, until she spoke again: "So, have you seen Ui-chan lately?"

The question made me almost choke, but I tried my best to keep calm. "Yeah. Actually, just this morning. She came over to make some breakfast."

"Oh, my," Tsumugi muttered surprisedly, a small blush forming on her cheeks. "I didn't know you two were that close."

Frowning, I quickly turned my head the other way. "It's not what you think. My sister just invited her over, that's all."

She chuckled quietly to herself. "Ah, of course." It sounded sarcastic, but I didn't care to comment on it, since she'd probably just tease me more.

We continued on walking, and Tsumugi led me to the mall. As we took the escalator down to the basement floor, I quickly figured out where we were going. And sure enough, we headed to the music store. We didn't have to stay there for too long. Tsumugi headed straight to the register and spoke to the cashier, who dug up a big looking rectangular bag from under the counter, handing it over to her. Tsumugi then returned back to me, and handed the bag over.

"Here, would you mind carrying this?"

"Ah, sure," I nodded, receiving the bag. God damn, it was heavier than what Tsumugi led me to believe. "What's in this, anyway?"

"My keyboard. It's had some annoying static noise lately, so I had it repaired," she explained.

"I see…" I muttered, and shouldered the bag. As I did that, I realized something: "Did you pay for it in advance, since you didn't pay the cashier?"

Tsumugi just smiled. "Actually, my father owns this store."

…

"…huh."

She then thought about something. "Oh, you play guitar, right? If you ever need to buy anything from here, call me first, and I'll arrange a discount for you."

…

"…sure."

"Alright, then. Let's head back," she said with a smile, and began walking towards the escalator.

It took my legs some seconds to slowly start moseying after her. My brains were totally fucked. Yes, her father was a businessman, I knew that already, but this was just too much for me to handle. I didn't know what to think, what to say, what to do, so I just followed her. Out of the mall, to the station, into the train, and so on. My brains recovered just as we got back to the Kotobuki residence. Only then I noticed how much strain the keyboard was giving to my shoulders. Damn, this isn't something a normal lady could carry around on a daily basis. Finally getting inside, I immediately handed the bag over to Tsumugi, and massaged my tired shoulder. I was just about to ask her something, when suddenly, Saitou appeared out of the living room. As he saw me, his expression turned annoyed.

"Sugimoto-san! Where have you been all morning?" he questioned me in a strict tone.

Aw, fuck, of course. No one has seen me enter, wash the cars in the garage, nor leave with Tsumugi. I might as well have never been here to begin with in their eyes.

I swallowed nervously. "W-well, uh, y-you see—"

"He was with me," Tsumugi said quickly, cutting me off.

"W-with you?" Saitou muttered confusedly, his annoyance completely gone.

Tsumugi nodded. "Yes, I asked him to help me with some errands."

She then looked… no, she glared at Saitou. Her face was all smile, but I swear I could see her pupils shrink a bit, as if out of furiousness or something.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

…damn, that actually sent some chills down my spine. Saitou, too, seemed to have gone a bit pale.

"…I, well, uh… N-no, it's just that…" he began nervously stuttering. As he couldn't find any words, he slowly began walking past us towards the kitchen. "W-well, carry on."

We watched as he nervously walked away, until he was out of our sight. A bit dumbstruck, I slowly turned to look at Tsumugi, who had a sorry smile on her face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for his behavior, it was just a simple misunderstanding," she apologized.

His behavior? Yeah, his behavior sure was strange, but only after you gave him that death stare! Just what the hell was that? Do I even dare to ask?

"I, uh, see," I said unsurely, and finally recalled the question I was just about to ask her: "So, is there anything else for me to do?"

"My, let's see…" she said, placing her finger on her lip as she thought. "There was a strong wind last night, so the patio and the walkways are probably covered with leaves and such."

I nodded. "Got it."

Stopping by the mudroom to grab a broom, I headed to the backyard. Yeah, there were some leaves here and there, but not much. Well, whatever, I'll just sweep what's there and rake the ones on the grass, that should keep me busy for some time. Without further ado, I began sweeping one of the walkways. It's actually kinda relaxing. Maybe that's why mom does it almost daily. Dad, on the other hand, likes to sweep our car whenever there's even the slightest form of dirt. Tamiko likes sweeping Dash's coat, and my brother… uh, is probably sweeping some construction site, I guess. Blah, what am I even thinking at this point…

Soon it was lunch time. Even though I ate a lot of those pancakes back home, I still had some room for Provenza's foods. After finishing my lunch, I headed upstairs. At first I planned on going to the library, but my eyes were drawn to Sumire's room's door. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen her all day. Hm, I guess having some company wouldn't do me any harm. So, I walked to her door, knocking on it. I swear I could hear something suddenly dropping on the floor.

"U-uh, yes?" I heard her asking.

Now what's all that nervousness about? What's she doing, anyway? My rationality told me to wait until she'd answer the door herself, but my teenager's curiosity made me open the door. Carefully peeking inside, I saw Sumire lying on the floor, her hand reaching somewhere under the bed.

"…uh, you okay?" I asked her.

"O-oh, it's you," she said, quickly sitting up. "I… You just took me by surprise, so I… I tripped."

Bullshit.

"I see…" I muttered, pretending to not know any better. "You mind if I come in?"

"Eh? Oh, uh, no. Go ahead."

I stepped inside, closing the door behind me. Sumire got up, and took a seat on her chair.

"So, uh, what is it?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Nothing, just wanted to hang out a bit."

"Oh? But, I thought I didn't have any books that would interest you."

Yeah, well, I'm not exactly here to read. Originally I came here to just hang out, but now, I wanted something else. I wanted to find out about something.

"Yeah, but you've got juice and snacks," I quipped as I took a step forward.

Sumire puffed her cheeks, a bit annoyed looking. "You're really shameless, you know that?"

I just quietly snickered to myself as I took another step forward. As I did that, I "accidentally" managed to trip on the edge of the rug, and soon came tumbling down. I was lying on my stomach, right next to the bed. Man, I'd be a great actor.

"A-are you alright!?" Sumire panicked.

I, however, ignored her words, as I was eyeing under the bed. Yes, there's the box! And it's not right next to the wall anymore, but in the middle. It must be the reason why she was reaching under the bed just a minute ago. What's in there that has to be hidden? Damn it, I… I just can't fucking take it anymore. Sure, I could get fired, but money can't buy me the release out of this torture called curiosity. With a swift move, I reached for the box, pulling it out from under the bed. It felt rather heavy, narrowing down the things I thought it would hold.

"Now what do we have here?"

Sumire didn't react right away. I'm not sure if it was due to the shock of me falling, or the shock of me suddenly pulling out the box. Well, suits me just fine. I quickly sat up, putting the box on my lap, and opening it.

"…huh?" I muttered to myself.

Right at that second, Sumire finally reacted, reaching her hand towards me. "W-wait, don't—!"

She grabbed the box off my lap. However, she lost her grip, and managed to drop the said thing, its contents scattering around the floor, all for me to see.

"—Ah!"

It was followed by silence, as we both just eyed the things on the floor. Sumire quickly realized there wasn't anything she could do anymore, so she just blushed, covering her face with her hands. I glanced at her, and then at the things on the floor. It was manga, at least a dozen of them. No wonder the box felt a bit heavy, it was filled with those things. I grabbed the one closest to me, checking the pages. High school, gym storage room, boy and girl get trapped and have to spend the night there… and of course sex happens. Just your generic erotic manga. I set it down, and picked up another one. Now, this one's about the secret love life between two girls. And what's this then…? Lolis? Damn, this gal's got everything.

"Huh, great collection," I said, giving a slight nod.

Sumire just kept silent, but I could see her peeking at me through her fingers, probably so she could see my reaction. I wasn't waiting for her to answer. Instead, I picked up the box, and began collecting the manga back into it. Sumire slowly took her hands off her face, looking rather surprised and confused.

She watched me collecting the manga for some time, until I could hear her low voice: "You… You're not going to…?" She couldn't finish her sentence, probably due to embarrassment.

"Judge? Make fun? No," I said, shaking my head. "Why would I?"

My words didn't help with her confusion. "W-well, since… You know…"

With a frustrated sigh, I stopped what I was doing, and turned to face her. "Look, gal. Go outside, find some people your age, and ask them if they have porn hidden in their room. Half of them will be too embarrassed to say anything, and the other half will lie and say no."

Her embarrassment finally started to settle. "…oh?"

I continued on collecting the manga, muttering under my breath: "…besides, I thought it would be something cool."

"W-what do you mean?" she asked unsurely.

"A gun, drugs… hell, even a bottle of booze would've been cool," I answered in the midst of my work.

I got the job done, closed the box, and pushed it back under the bed. I then got up, and sat down on the edge of the bed. Sumire, however, still looked a bit sheepish. Ugh, things will be awkward if this continues…

I slapped my knee lightly to get her attention. "Look, as I said, you don't need to be embarrassed about—"

"Shut up, you shameless idiot!" she quickly retorted, cutting me off. "Just… Just forget about it already."

She was blushing out of annoyance. Well, now. Easily embarrassed, aren't we? Well, at least she's not sheepish anymore. Now that that's taken care of, time to change the subject.

Snickering quietly to her reaction, I sighed amusedly. "Okay, whatever. By the way, what's up with Tsumugi-san and your uncle?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

I tilted my head towards the door. "Earlier today she gave him some kind of a death stare, and he almost shat his pants."

Confused at first, Sumire giggled a bit. "Oh, that. My uncle has a bad habit of being, well, a bit too dedicated to his work. He's always there to serve Miss Tsumugi, whether she wants it or not. And if he happens to bother her, for example when she's having a phone call, there's always hell to pay."

Huh... Good thing Tsumugi considers me as a friend. If I've learnt something during these past few years, it's that you really can't judge a book by its covers. I ended up spending my break talking with Sumire about the various mishaps Saitou has did to anger Tsumugi, laughing all the way.

A week went by in a flash, and it was already Friday. Wake up, go to work, do some chores, eat lunch, do more chores, clock out and head home, talking with Sumire and Tsumugi once in a while. Such a simple job, as far as summer jobs go. I actually ended up kinda liking it. If it would be possible, I'd have this as my day job. I mean, I guess it would be possible if I somehow joined the Saitou family… Yeah, no, not going to happen. Speaking of the Saitou family, I was spending my last break in the library with Sumire. She had brought some snacks along as a 'farewell gift', even though I still had a few hours of work left. Well, whatever, I appreciate the gesture. We were talking about our plans for the future.

"…so, assuming you'll get accepted to Sakuragaoka, we might meet there next year," I finished my sentence, and sipped my drink.

"Oh? So, you'll stay in this town after high school? No plans for college?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Nope. I guess I'll find a job."

Sumire thought about something, and got an idea. "Ah, I remember hearing Kotobuki-sama talking about how one of his offices will soon be needing more workers, so maybe you could—"

"Hell no," I said swiftly, frowning a bit. "I need a job, yes, but I won't become a salaryman."

Taken aback at first, Sumire soon smiled slightly. "Well, suit yourself."

An hour later I was working on the backyard, trimming the bushes with a pair of hedge shears. Since it was my last day here, I wanted to get this done right, so I took my time, being careful and precise. Or maybe I took it slow out of laziness, who knows. Anyway, after a few more snips, I took many steps backwards, scoping out my work. Yup, seems about right. Maybe a more skilled gardener would've done a better job, but whatever. Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I headed to the mudroom to return the shears, clean my shoes, and walked further into the house to find something else to do. However, as I stepped into the living room, I could smell something. Smoke. And not just any smoke, it was cigar smoke. Slowly and nervously, I turned to look at the couches. On one of them sat a well dressed man, smoking a cigar and reading a newspaper.

…wait, those eyebrows…

…oh.

…Oh!

Right when I finally realized who he was, he turned to look at me. His eyes… I'm not sure why, but just being under his gaze caused a feeling of humility to rush through my whole body. I just stood there like a fucking idiot for three whole seconds, until I remembered to greet him.

"Good day, Kotobuki-sama," I greeted him, bowing respectfully.

I could hear him rustling his newspaper, followed by his deep, hoarse voice: "So, you're Sugimoto, our newest summer employee?"

"Yes, I am," I answered, straightening my posture. Keep calm, Sugimoto. Keep calm and breathe.

"Well, then…" he said, returning to his newspaper. "I'd like some tea."

I nodded. "Right away."

I almost began sprinting towards the kitchen, but my quick thinking limited my speed to just fast paced walking. Through the lobby and the dining room, I finally got to the kitchen.

"Hey, Provenza. Kotobuki-sama wants some tea," I told the chef.

"Of course. He arrived just fifteen minutes ago. I was starting to wonder why he hadn't asked for tea yet," he muttered to himself, and began digging around the cupboards. "While you're there, fetch me a serving tray and some Nordic sugar cubes."

Minutes passed, and the tea was done. Provenza loaded the tray full of stuff, and now it was my time to shine, or to fuck everything up. Quickly but carefully, I carried the tea tray over to the living room, setting it down on the coffee table. Following Sumire's teachings, I poured the tea into the cup, setting the cup in front of Kotobuki.

"How many sugar cubes would you like?" I asked him, just as Provenza instructed me to.

Without turning his gaze from the newspaper, he said: "…I think I'll have three."

Plop, plop, plop, went the sugar cubes. Provenza also told me to leave the tray until he would be done with his tea. Good, gives me a change to go somewhere else so I won't fuck anything up here.

"Enjoy your tea, Kotobuki-sama," I said, bowing. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

And just as I was about to make my leave, he suddenly set his newspaper aside, saying: "Wait." Shit, did I do something wrong!?

"Sit down," he continued. "It won't take me long to finish this tea."

Just like Tsumugi, huh… Well, it's an order from the big man himself, so I took a seat on one of the couches. Taking one last puff from his cigar, Kotobuki set it down on an ashtray, and picked up his teacup. He took a long sip, and let out a sigh.

"I've missed this taste," he muttered to himself.

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to say anything, but I didn't want to risk it. He took another sip, this time a more casual one, and cleared his throat a bit.

"So," he said. "I've heard that you do a fine and diligent job. That's good."

"Uh, thank you," I said sheepishly.

He was about to take another sip, when he halted, thinking something. "Sugimoto…" I could hear him muttering to himself. Finally taking that sip, he asked: "Where does your family come from?"

"Well, my father's family is from the northern parts of Iwate Prefecture, that's also where I was born. And my mother's family is from this area," I told him.

"I see," he nodded.

The following minute was spent in silence, as Kotobuki was sipping his tea once in a while. Meanwhile, I was just sitting there, eyeing around the living room. My nervousness began to settle a bit.

"Are you planning on going to college?" he suddenly asked me.

Hesitating a bit, I shook my head. "No, I'm not. I think I'll look for a job after I graduate."

Kotobuki kept looking at me for some seconds, until he nodded approvingly. "Well, it's better than nothing." I don't think I won any points with that answer…

He drank the rest of his tea, set the cup down, and sighed. "For the past couple of weeks I've done nothing but traveled from place to place, attending different meetings. Hell, even here at home I can hardly get away from work."

Damn, the more he talks, the more he starts sounding like an actual human being rather than some hard-boiled business tycoon.

"What about vacation?" I asked.

He raised his eyebrows slightly, almost as if he was surprised by my words. Shit… Well, I already opened my big mouth, so might as well say what I think.

"Maybe it would help if you had a chance to clear your mind, and just relax for a bit."

He kept looking at me for some seconds, which seemed to last for way too long. Then, he just snorted, turning his gaze forward.

"You know what? That might actually be what I need right now." Wait, really?

He reached his hand towards his shoulder and massaged it, grunting slightly. "Maybe a few days in Northern Europe, the lakes there are a beautiful sight."

"Sounds good," I said with a nod.

He didn't say anything else. He had already finished his tea, so I decided to clear the tray away. I picked up the empty tea cup, set it on the tray, and picked it up. Now, I'll just take this to the kitchen, and maybe—

"Wait," he said, and I immediately halted, turning to face him. "Just leave it there, I'll have someone else clean it up. Also, I have something to say."

Just as he ordered, I lowered the tray back on the table, and stayed where I was. He reached to pick his cigar from the ashtray, relighting it, and taking a puff. He then turned to look at the window, and the blue sky behind it.

"It's a beautiful day outside. A young, healthy man such as yourself shouldn't waste it doing chores around some house," he explained, and I swear I could actually see him smiling a bit. "I hope you've learnt something during your time here, and that it'll help you in your future. You'll receive your paycheck next week's Monday. It has been a pleasure to be your employer."

Wait… Did my comment about a vacation actually please him? And now he's letting me go early? Okay, maybe I've been a bit too pessimistic during this whole time. After all, he's just a man, just like me. Only older. And richer. And more powerful. And… Aw, screw it, I'm getting out of here. But not before I play a butler for one last time.

"Thank you. It has been a pleasure to work here," I said, bowing one last time, before heading off to the mudroom.

Getting my clothes changed, I was once again dressed in my good old red hoodie. Nicely folding my work clothes, I put them into the locker. I almost took a step towards the door, until I realized I accidentally pocketed the house key. I dug the said thing out, looking at it. Hmm, what if… No, security cameras and all. Looking at it for one second more, I finally put it into the locker next to the clothes. And now I was ready to leave. I stepped outside, and began walking towards the gate.

"Eiji-san!"

I stopped and turned around, seeing Tsumugi standing at the front door. She was waving at me. "Goodbye!"

I couldn't help but smile as I waved my own hand.

"See ya, Tsumugi-san!"

God damn, it felt good to speak to another person like an actual human being instead of kissing their ass. Heh, I take back what I said earlier; I don't think this work would suit me after all.

/AUTHOR NOTES/

Double upload today. Also, you might not know this, but this story has quite a bit of artwork. You can find the link to the gallery from my profile.