"Servant of Monsters"

Chapter 3 - Enter the master

"My Kenjutsu classes ended just a moment ago, I tried to walk here as soon as possible. Shiro had an emergency call from his patient, so he's in his office." The boy explained. "As for Kon, I have absolutely no idea. My guess – he's locked inside his room, either working or reading perverted magazines." Mrs Kurosaki sighed.

"Ehh, everyone's as busy as always..." Masaki shook her head. "Anyway, dearie, the boy here is going to be your new servant." Kaien stood up and held his hand in front of him.

"Shiba Kaien. Pleased to meet you." The orange-haired grabbed the hand firmly. Wow, he's got a really attractive physique... The orange boy blinked a few times in confusion. Kaien blinked as well, even more puzzled. In the background, Karin smiled smugly and giggled. W-What's going on?

"Kurosaki Ichigo. Likewise." The boy finally introduced himself. "Do you know everything about the orchard and the salary?" Kaien nodded. "Good. Follow me, I'll show you your place."

"Oh, okay." Kaien bowed to the rest of the family and went out of the Main room. Passing some corridors with lots of antiques, he entered a different part of the mansion. This time it was more homey, with cream-white walls and some pastel pictures. "This is my and my brothers' wing. If you go to the left..." Ichigo pointed. "...you'll enter the Clinic area. There you'll find Shiro's psychotherapy office and my Emergency room. To the right..." Kaien's head snapped. "It's a part of daily Clinic. My father is in charge there." The tour was pretty quick, but somehow the black-haired managed to remember about the Clinic part. They reached sliding doors at the end of the corridor. "These are training grounds. When I'm not needed at the Clinic, I stay here." Kaien noted.

They turned to the left, entering a big living room. Two walls were made of glass with a view at the apple orchard. It was surely breathtaking. "It's our living room. Also, this way..." He pointed at glass door. "... You'll immediately go to the orchard to pick up apples. See that shack over there? There you can find everything you need – a ladder, a basket, scissors, whatever is needed for you. You can even climb the tree yourself. But I warn you – you must not be late with the delivery. Not even a second." What's with the apples, anyway? Kaien thought. "The apples at noon and midnight are a respected long tradition in the Kurosaki mansion. Tradition is a major principle here, so I recommend sticking to it." Kaien jumped at response. It almost sounded as if the Kurosaki boy answered his question from his thoughts. Not questioning it any further, he made a mental note – I have to bring these apples or I'll be fired on the spot... They left the room and entered a corridor with 4 different doors. "This is our bedroom area. Shiro lives here." He patted the white door. Reaching the blue one, Kaien heard some strange noises from behind it. It sounded like girl's moan. Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is Kon's room. Just ignore the sounds..." Kaien coughed into his hand, holding back a blush. "These doors are mine." His doors were dark-brown. "Finally, you are going to live here." Ichigo took out a silver key and opened the light-brown door. Kaien looked around at his room.

"Wow..." It had a homely touch. Fully furnished, with shelves full of books, a plasma TV hanging on the wall, and a desk with a laptop. On the other side of the room was a small kitchenette, equipped at its finest. There were also two other doors – the first one was leading to a beautiful, pearl-colored bathroom. The second lead to spacious bedroom, with a king-sized bed and an enormous wardrobe.

"This is going to be your new apartment. Our servant, Agata-san, rides every Monday and Friday to the Karakura Centre for shopping. Make sure you control your fridge every day. If you need anything, you have to ask her." Kaien nodded.

"How much should I pay for renting this room?" Ichigo frowned at the question.

"Pay?" He repeated. "Your salary won't be affected with the rent. We provide you with everything you need."

"B-But that's just too much!" Again, the absurdity of the job didn't stop to amaze Kaien. Ichigo smirked.

"Last servant claimed it wasn't enough to make him stay."

"Last servant?" This intrigued Kaien.

"Trust me, you'll see if you fit into this lifestyle after a week." This was the first time someone actually showed Kaien that the work in here might be hard. No matter what will happen here, I won't let my family down! I'm doing this! Ichigo's eyes widened. "Anyway, do you have any experience in fighting?" Kaien thought about the weird question.

"During my college I signed up for Karate Kyoukushin and Naginata-do." Ichigo hummed, impressed by the response. "Though, my skills might be rusty now, I haven't trained anything for over 2 months."

"I'm sure you'll manage some free time and dust off your skills. You can use the training area and if I have some spare time, I can teach you some new techniques." Kaien nodded, though looked suspiciously at the orange-haired boy. Why would I need to know how to fight? Again, Ichigo acted as if he heard these thoughts, because he looked up and stared. …I think I'm becoming paranoiac... "Do you need anything else?" Kaien looked at his bedroom, especially at the wardrobe.

"Yes. Your butler, Tensa-san, didn't let me bring my clothes."

"Hmm, check the wardrobe." As told, he slid the wardrobe's door. Inside, he saw lots of clothes – sweaters, golfs, shirts, jackets, cardigans, trousers, boxers, all kinds of shoes, coats, glassess, hats, bags, etc. Only one thing stood out – everything was black. "Seems like Old man Zangetsu prepared everything." That was just way too strange for Kaien. Incredulously, he looked at Ichigo. "Black is the most formal of colors. Don't worry about the size – I'm sure Old Man got everything right" Being the lover of colorful and bizarre stuff, Kaien dropped his head. "I'll leave you now, so you can change peacefully. Make sure to hide your current clothes in the wooden box over there." He pointed at the small box, hidden right under his bed. "After you're done unpacking, come to my room." Kaien thanked for the instructions and so Ichigo left.

This is probably the most random situation I've ever experienced in my life... What a weird mansion... Looking through the piles of black, Kaien decided to go with the black, tight turtle-neck shirt and black trousers. He looked at himself through the mirror. Slender body was even thinner than before and black composed well with his fair skin and black spikes. Heh, I ain't looking half bad! After sending a wink to his reflection in the mirror, he took all the stuff from his bag and left them on his new bed. I'll take care of that later. Kaien was more interested in his living room. The TV worked perfectly fine and the laptop was so new that he was too afraid to touch and break it. His eyes scanned the books on shelves. "Huh?" He picked a random title. The guide to the Underworld and back... Another book. Thousand curses... A few more. The Book of Beasts, tome three: Demons of human soul... Fighting against the untouchable.. Abominations underneath the human nature... Hundred ways to salvation... Just what the hell are these? Kaien scanned more demagogic books, sorcery guides and incantation instructions... Did they belong to the former servant? Or someone here has got a strange hobby... Maybe I should ask about those later. Nevertheless, Kaien got interested in some of the titles. I'd be nice to read something else rather than political magazines or mundane romance novels that his mother looked at the clock. It was 10.40. I'd better mind the time. Only 50 minutes until I have to bring the apples. He closed his room with the silver key and knocked on Ichigo's.

"Come in!" He entered the room. It was fairly the same as his own, though instead of enchanted books he noticed lots of weaponry. Ichigo was sitting near the desk, scribbling something down. He also changed his clothes into black T-shirt and trousers. Finishing the note, Ichigo stood up and passed it to Kaien. "Here I wrote down things I need you to do for me every day. Make sure you check everything out. Also, if there's anything new, I'll leave a note on your door."

"And what if something suddenly comes up?" Ichigo smiled at the question and handed a small, black phone.

"Then we'll be in touch. In the address book you'll find all information about every person in this mansion." Kaien nodded. "Ok, I'm supposed to help my mom with her newest sculpture, so I'm leaving you now. You'd better go and introduce yourself to Kon and Shiro, they'll give you their own tasks."

"I understand, Ichigo-sama" Kaien smiled. Ichigo was really well-organized and he felt that he wouldn't have any problems with him.

"Yeah, I really don't like that title." Ichigo chuckled. "Use it only when my parents and Zangetsu are around. When we're here, you can just call me Ichigo, okay?" Kaien nodded, feeling the pressure being lifted a bit. After all, they were the same age and Ichigo disliked the name because it sounded so superior.

"Don't hesitate to call me Kaien, then."