"Servant of Monsters"
Chapter 4 - Enter the rest
Both of them exited the room and Ichigo disappeared behind the corner. Hmm... Maybe I should try to knock on the blue door and draw Kon-sama's attention. After 3 minutes of smashing, he finally achieved something. Strange moans became quieter. He heard a small cracking near the lock. Behind the door was standing Ichigo's replica – same orange locks, same facial features, but this time they weren't sharpened by an eternal scowl. The boy's face was actually quite lazy, dark rings visible under his dull eyes. Kaien also noticed a difference in body shape – Ichigo's muscles were gracefully hinted (not over-muscular) and Kon was pretty skinny. Both of them were looking at each other, when Kaien finally spoke.
"Hello there, Kurosaki Kon-sama. My name is Shiba Kaien and from today on I'm going to be your personal servant." He held out his hand and smiled warmly. Kon yawned in response, wiping his tired eyes.
"I told mom to make sure the servant was a cute Lolita girl." Kaien blinked, giving up on the handshake and hiding his palm. "How can I ever finish making the "Doki-Doki Heart Race" game, when I'm never inspired!" The orange boy pouted.
"Eee... I'm sorry?" He wasn't sure if he should even apologize to this arrogant attitude, but did it anyway. Kon only waved his hand. "I wanted to ask if you have any daily tasks for me. Ichigo told me to contact you."
"Argh, that moron..." Kon whined. He went back inside of his room. Capturing a small glimpse, Kaien noticed how all the curtains were down, darkening the room entirely. Also, there were many empty boxes of pizza, bags of crisps and bottles of soft drinks. Kon came back to Kaien and handed him his note. "Is it all? Can I come back to work?" Kaien nodded insecurely and so Kon immediately slammed the door in front of his nose. Breathing in and out, Kaien calmed himself down. It'd be too good if everything went well...
Kaien looked at the note and entered the living room. To his surprise, somebody was inside, watching a documentary on the TV. It was the third of Kurosaki triplets. The distinctive feature of the third son was his really long hair, reaching to the lower back and captured in a loose ponytail. He wasn't as well-built as Ichigo, but also he didn't have a lazy expression on his face. With glasses on his slender nose, he seemed more focused, intelligent-looking. The third Kurosaki son noticed incoming Kaien and smiled widely.
"My, my, my, M'really lucky to see ya." The boy put down his glasses and stood up. "Or should I say 'Ya're really lucky to see me', since it's not easy to catch me during my workin' hours." Kaien bowed politely. "So ya're my personal assistant?" Kaien smiled.
"That's right." The orange-haired male threw his ponytail back and offered his hand. "Shiba Kaien."
"Kurosaki Shiro. M'the oldest of the three. Pleasure to make yer acquaintance." Kaien shook hands. "I'm the head of Psychology and Psychotherapy part of the Clinic. Sorry I couldn't welcome ya with the rest of the family, but somethin' came up."
"It's not a big deal, really."
"Hmm..." Shiro smiled widely, eyeing Kaien's figure from head to toes. "I can see ya're pretty strong-willed. Maybe ya'll find this job more entertainin' than all our previous servants." There were more than just one servant? Kaien blinked. "I ain't gonna lie to ya – ya picked a tough piece of bread for a job. Don't worry, though – we'll give ya enough time to come around."
"And the earlier servants? They were fired, because...?"
"Oh no, we never fired anyone. All of them quit." Kaien's face paled. Shiro laughed evilly. "But I have got a good feelin' about ya. Then, of course, I always say that to every new servant. We'll see if ya'll be the first to fulfill all the duties. Speakin' of which – here ya go." Shiro handed a small note. "Ichigo was pretty smart with these notes. Do all the things and check them. After ya're done with all chores, you're free to do whatever you want on the mansion's grounds." That statement made Kaien realize something.
"What about if I want to take a day off?" Shiro blinked and smiled.
"Of course, but ya have to let us know earlier. Also one thin' – if ya happen to have more days off, the only thin' that ya MUST do is to come back here before the noon and midnight."
"I have to come back just to pick up the apples?" Shiro nodded. The request was pretty ridiculous and it showed on Kaien's face.
"If ya really care about maintainin' the job, ya'd better get used to... extraordinary conditions." He whispered sinisterly. Confusion welcomed Kaien's face, not like it hadn't done millions of times that day. "Alright, I have n'other patient in 5 minutes, so see ya!" Shiro picked up his notebooks and left the room. Kaien huffed and looked down at three different papers. He decided to go through all the lists carefully:
From Ichigo:
- The most important is the equipment in the Emergency room. Make sure all supplies are full and ready to use, contact me if something is missing (The list of supplies is in the Emergency room);
- Weapons in the training room need to be sharpened from time to time. If the blade can't easily cut a sheet of paper, then it needs to be brought to our blacksmith, Tessai;
- Make sure the living room is clean – there might be visitors coming;
- Take care of documentation of the Dojo trainings;
- If your phone shows 'Kendo classes', pick it up;
- If your phone shows 'Emergency', redirect it to me immediately and rush to the Clinic;
- From 6:00 to 9:00 I want you to help me in the Emergency Clinic;
Kaien frowned. That was a lot of things to do just for one person. He sighed and looked at the second note:
From Kon:
- Do not disturb me, unless I want you to disturb me;
- Bring me all letters and magazines from the morning post (around 8:00);
- Bring every breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and supper into my room. I'll get the apples myself;
- When I'm out, take care of my room. I'll text you when I'm out;
That Kurosaki boy surely got on Kaien's nerves. He had the lowest possible duties with that note. The last one belonged to Shiro:
From Shiro:
- Prepare me a morning coffee (I start my work around 6:00, just like Ichigo) and leave it in my office;
- Make sure that the Therapy room is clean and fully equipped;
- Go to my office every day after my working hours (past 18:00) and arrange all bills and invoices from the day. Go through all patients' files and prepare the tools for the next day;
- Watch out for any unwanted guests ;)
Kaien had to re-read the last paragraph. What did Shiro mean about 'unwanted guests'? That didn't sound good. Despite that, I wonder if any of those guys included my breaks to the bathroom, any time to eat or have some sleep! He groaned. He had to wake up in the middle of the night to prepare stupid apples and then he had only around 5 hours more of sleep. I have no idea about the medicine... Or martial arts...But I have a vague knowledge about psychology. After the last complaint, Kaien took a few minutes to organize his regular plan. He wondered how he'd be able to bring Kon's correspondence and help Ichigo with the Clinic at the same time. He didn't know the eating hours at the mansion. I'd better ask somebody from staff. Also, he had to learn about some vital points of the mansion, like dining room or the blacksmith's. Looking at the time, the clock showed 11:24. Okay, time to pick some apples...