Chapter 23: Tohru and Reminiscing
"Work was awwwfuuulll!" Tohru whined, haphazardly throwing the door to the apartment open. Half-stumbling towards the couch, she continued, "why must life be so cruel to someone so adoreableeee?"
The part-time maid flopped down onto her sofa, dramatically complaining about how terrible the day's customers were and how unreasonable Joui had been as Meisuke entered, a cup of tea in hand. Setting the drink down before her friend, the horned butler took a seat next to Tohru before opening a can of beer for herself.
For a long moment, Meisuke simply waited patiently as she listened to the young woman's rant. Nodding idly to the squealing and squeaking from the young woman, she finally said, "Y'know, you really seem to hate working at your cafe. Why do you work there, anyway? Or... why did you start working there?"
Tohru fell silent, her eyes slowly misting over as she drifted off into the past. At length she answered uncertainly, "because I needed a part time job, I guess...? I mean, I had to make rent somehow, so I got a job at the cafe."
"Sure," Meisuke replied, "but why there specifically? I mean, it's not like you didn't have a couple options-a convenience store, maybe, or a bakery. Why'd you go with a maid cafe? It seems... kinda niche, and while I know you're an otaku you're not really that kind of otaku, right?"
Once again pausing to reflect on her butler's words, Tohru eventually said, "Well... I guess it was probably back when I was still in college..."
...
"Hey, hey! Hey miss! Can I get a room for the night?"
Tohru glanced to her side to see a young girl with long silver hair and ragged clothes sitting on the sidewalk, a bright smile and a charming twinkle in her eyes. Tohru was shocked silent for a moment before finally saying, "You have some guts to ya kid, don'cha? This is a college dorm you're panhandlin' outside-a women's college dorm-yeah? Get me?"
"Well, duh, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it here!" The girl replied, her grin taking on a cheeky cast.
With a frown Tohru pulled out her phone, saying, "You think this is some kinda charity, huh, punk!? I can call up the dorm ma or the cops and they'll haul your moochin' butt off! So scram, brat!"
The young girl's expression turned serious... before immediately cracking, her body wracked with giggles and snickers. "I-I'm sorry, miss, but that's gotta be the fakest threat I've ever heard!"
"WHAT'CHU SAY, YOU LITTLE PUNK!?" Tohru roared into the cool night air, flicking out her phone and typing in a number. Seeing that the odd girl offered no sign of concern, she grit her teeth before hitting the 'call' button and holding it up to her ear.
The air between them was tense, each staring into the eyes of the other as the phone rang.
One ring.
Two rings.
Three rings.
"Hello, Yamamoto Family Takeout! How we can we help you, dear customer? ...hello? Hello? Is anyone there?"
Neither said anything, Tohru's face flaring red as she ended the call.
"...Tch... whatever. But you're leavin' tomorrow morning, first thing, got it!?"
...
With a happy squeal the odd girl flung herself onto Tohru's bed, taking the older girl's pillows in her arms and snuggling into them. This elicited another click of Tohru's tongue as she reached out to drag the young beggar off by the head, saying, "Get 'n the shower first, will ya!?"
Nodding in compliance, the youth skipped away to the bathroom. It took a moment for Tohru to realize that her undesired guest was unlikely to have a spare change of clothes. When she did it was with a roll of her eyes and a heavy groan that she dug into her drawers, pulling out an older set of clothes that fit poorly-glancing down at her growing freshman pudge, she tried to avoid thinking about why-and flinging them into the bathroom with a shout of "and no dirty clothes in my room!"
Soon, the odd girl was in Tohru's room once again and had again found her way onto the edge of the bed, swinging her legs back and forth and she clung to a pillow. Turning to the room's owner with a curious glance, she asked, "So what's it like, anyway? Being an adult?"
"Heh?" Tohru asked with a leer, her eyebrow raised in confusion as she rifled through her fridge.
"Well," the youth began, "it must be so great to be free, y'know? Like, people take you seriously! You could get a car and drive anywhere you wanted to! You could work anywhere you wanted!"
Tohru replied with a dismissive snort, eliciting a whining complaint from the young girl as she returned her attention to the fridge.
Mulling over her guest's words, Tohru couldn't help but think, Free, huh...?
Sure, she was technically able to do whatever she wanted, but the blond-haired woman had never considered herself free. There were expectations she had to fulfill, both to her parents who had supported her every step of the way and to the society that had raised her. She wasn't angry or affronted, nor did she actually feel overly restricted, but she knew she wasn't actually free.
And what if she didn't have to worry about any of that? What would she do then? It wasn't like she had a dream or anything, or any real plan for the future; she was going through the motions without any real heart, and she wondered if she'd stay that way until she finally died.
What would she do if she was truly free?
"Well," the taciturn woman began, "what would you do if you were like me, kid? If you could do whatever want?"
The odd girl's gaze drifted towards the ceiling as she considered the question before finally saying, "well, I'd see the world! I'd go around and see what's really out there! China, France, Brazil, Hawaii-I'd go see it all!" She then flung herself back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling now as she finished, "And then, when I've seen all that's out there and I'm bored, I'll go work at a maid cafe!"
Thrown for a loop at the girl's sudden shift in tone and frankness, Tohru sputtered out, "Huh!? You'd do all that, and then you'd just settle down at a crappy part-time job?"
With a shake of her head she replied, "Not a crappy part-time job, a maid cafe! I'd get to welcome customers in with a smile and make great food and get clothes that didn't always smell and maybe start a forbidden romance with my coworkers... you know what I mean?
Scowling at this, Tohru said, "Why would ya give up travel an' chain yourself to one lame place!?"
"Because I'd get to choose between things that are actually worth wanting!" The youth replied with a smile. "I've only ever gotten to make crappy choices before... stay and suffer or leave and suffer... But if I was really free, I'd get to choose between things I want to do! And I'd get to choose to go somewhere, and I'd get to choose to stay somewhere!"
Tohru turned away yet again with a noncommittal grunt. She couldn't help but feel jealous of the youth-after all, she had dreams, aspirations.
But what do I have? she wondered.
...
Offering a luxurious yawn as she stretched in the early morning sun, the odd girl said, "Well, it's about time I head out... maybe grab a ride on the bus or a train. Spot me some money?"
Her teeth clenching in rage, Tohru shouted back, "Hell no, punk! Get outta here!"
The temporary guest blew a raspberry at this before saying, "Well, whatever. Thanks, banchou-san!"
Her eyebrow rising at the nickname, Tohru replied, "Even I ain't gonna leave some kid on the street at night."
"No, I mean thanks for listening to me! I really want to see you again, some day!"
Tohru said nothing, instead watching the youth skip out of her room.
...
"...and I guess I should've felt happy that she was gone, because if the dorm mother found out she'd probably kick me out." Tohru said, finishing her story, "But I just felt kinda sad, and I realized just how quiet that room could get."
Nodding in understanding, Meisuke asked, "So she's the reason you picked a maid cafe?"
Tohru sipped her tea as she nodded, saying, "Well, a couple reasons, but that was the main one. I guess I needed a part-time job one way or another, and maids are kinda like butlers, so I went with it."
"Hm," Meisuke hummed, considering the story her friend had told her. "She sounds like an interesting person."
With an agreeable smile, Tohru replied, "yeah, she was! Y'know, I kinda'd like to see her again someday too."
"...but you talked like some kind of delinquent in college, huh?" Meisuke noted with a smirk.
"I was just a kid! I'm not like that anymore!" The young woman whined in reply.
"Uh huh," the butler said, "but wasn't that, like, three years ago?"
Tohru merely whimpered in response.
...
Deep in the neighborhoods of Tokyo, far from the apartment where Kobayashi Tohru and her friends live, there is a small maid cafe. And on this particular day, a young woman with straight, silver hair and a playful temperament sneezed. She glanced to her left and her right, as if looking for the person who was talking about her, and merely shrugged before adjusting the collar on her maid uniform and returning to her work.
...
The bells that announced the end of day rang throughout the classroom, and Riko rose with the rest of her class to put together her supplies and readied herself before stopping as she noticed someone approaching her. Glancing up, she recognized with a blush that her visitor was Kanna, impassive as ever. For a moment both stood silent, Riko expectantly waiting for her friend to speak before finally saying, "H-hi, Kanna, what's up?"
Kanna remained silent for a moment, looking Riko up and down for a moment before saying, "Riko, come to my house."
"HEH!?" The little dragoness squealed, her blush intensifying as her mind registered Kanna's request-though it hadn't really been phrased as such, more a command than an invitation. "Are you sure!? Like, really, really sure!?"
With a swift, assertive nod, Kanna replied, "yes. We have lots of games and stuff. I want you to come so we can play. And also, I have a butler, so bring yours. She'll want to talk to her. Here's my address." Having said her piece, the enigmatic girl placed a slip of paper on Riko's desk and strode out of the room.
"Kanna~!" Riko moaned, grinning stupidly at the encounter. She'd been noticed, Kanna had noticed her, she'd been invited to her house, she'd been-
"Hey Riko, what's up with that creepy grin?" A classmate called out.
The excitable young dragoness immediately turned away in embarrassment, now blushing for an entirely different reason as she shouted, "Nothing! Shut up!"
...
Taking in the relatively large house before her-two full stories, several rooms per floor, and an attic that could be called 'respectably sized' even from outside it-Meisuke couldn't hold back a whistle of admiration as she said, "so this is where your friend and that butler who wants to talks to us lives, huh?"
Riko puffed up her chest as she declared, "Yep! Bigger than our apartment, right?"
Both adults cringed at this comment as the young dragoness rang the doorbell, singing, "Kanna~, I'm here~! Riko is here, Kanna!"
Before she'd even finished ringing, the door flew open to reveal Kanna. "You're here." She deadpanned. "Come in. I want you to be here."
Her face immediately taking on a bright glow at the sight of Kanna, Riko replied, "O-oh! Well, of course you'd want to see me! A-anyway, this is my... er... guardian, Miss Tohru!"
Turning to the Tohru, the silver-haired girl bowed, saying, "Hello, Riko's sister."
"Huh?" The young woman whined, "b-but I'm an adult! I'm not a kid! I... I can drink! I can drive-"
"No you can't." Interjected Meisuke.
Tohru frowned at this, sulking as Kanna looked on with naive confusion.
"Miss Kanna, I apologize for not being prepared to take the door! It was a gross oversight I simply must correct!" A voice bursting with energy called from the staircase.
Turning towards the voice with a small nod, Kanna said, "this is our butler, Darling."
Descending the stairs was a woman-though from her fresh features and height, barely scraping Kobayashi's shoulder, seemed to suggest that 'girl' was a more appropriate title-with straight black shoulder-length hair and wide grey eyes. She was dressed in a pair of well-ironed khakis, a fine light blue button-up shirt, and a light brown sweater vest.
Reaching the bottom of the steps, she offered a genteel bow and said, "Welcome to this lovely home! It is the greatest pleasure one can experience to make your acquaintance, masters!"
Meisuke blinked in confusion, turning to Tohru as she said, "Hey... is that a butler?"
Already having donned her swirly-lensed glasses, Tohru said, "indeed! While classical butlers traditionally wore distinctive livery to distinguish them from other mail house servant, a tradition that has carried on into modern times, it's become more and more common to wear more casual-but still carefully chosen, refined business casual-clothing appropriate to the time of year and occasion! Darling's dress is perfectly selected for a Japanese Winter during a casual playdate for children to put them at ease and appear approachable adults! And the quality of the garments themselves!"
Her eyes flashing with a slightly dangerous glint, Darling replied, "Oh, most excellent! You've fully grasped the intent and style of my dress with merely a glance, Lady Kobayashi! Clearly you're well informed on the subject of butlering-we must talk in detail on this subject!"
"I see..." muttered Meisuke as she watched the pair happily converse on the various points of butlerhood.
Noticing the comment, Darling turned to her fellow butler and said, "Oooh~! You must be Meisuke, of whom I've heard so much at the market! Your suit is an excellent work, and that tie is brilliant! Come, please, for the three of us must discuss such matter in detail!"
With this, she politely gestured to the stairs and began to climb them once more. Tohru nodded in response, grabbing Meisuke by the hand and dragging her friend up the stairs as the latter allowed herself to be pulled with a good-natured smile.
A moment of silence passed between Kanna and Riko as they realized that they were now alone.
"She's doomed." Kanna stated matter-of-factly.
Blinking in surprise at this, Riko asked, "What?"
"Nothing." The silver-haired girl replied with characteristic nonchalance as she turned away, adding, "Follow me."
With this, she headed deeper into the house, prompting the infatuated Riko to follow after her without a second thought regarding Kanna's ominous comment.
***End of Chapter 23***