The lone servant at Aihara manor was already hard at work by the time the sun broke on the horizon. As per usual, Himeko had already started her morning routine of dusting, polishing and making sure that all the lamps and lanterns were properly snuffed out before her mistress rose from peaceful slumber.

The manor was large indeed but Himeko never complained about having to do everything by herself. For one, there was nothing to complain about. Mei wasn't exactly a socialite and whatever social gatherings did happen in the manor was mostly just Harumi coming for a visit. The largest number of people who've ever come to the manor was, at most, 5 and in Mei's opinion that was already too big of a crowd.

However, outside of those rare occasions, it was just the two of them and Himeko smiled at the thought of being Mei's sole companion as she threw the last handful of corn towards the chickens and headed back inside with her freshly collected eggs and milk. Coming up to the kitchen, the housekeeper thought of what her mistress would prefer for today's breakfast and she easily decided on the doctor's favorite combination of muffins, sausages and a poached egg on the side.

Himeko's brows furrowed at the thought of how badly she would be scolded if Mei's family knew what she'd been serving the only grandchild of the Aiharas. It wasn't so much that the meal was unsavory or poorly cooked. The problem was that a woman of the doctor's social standing should, at the very least, be served with a five or six-course meal and a simple meal like this would be sneered at by the vast majority of lords and ladies.

The housekeeper was and still is a loyal companion to her mistress and on multiple occasions, she even argued with Mei regarding the woman's utter refusal at living a lifestyle which suited her status. Unfortunately, the doctor preferred to live a life of social reclusion and frugality. A quick meal, lessened social contact and total avoidance of romance meant that the woman had more time to invest in her career and research. Himeko eventually found herself listening to Mei's orders and since then she's been committed to cooking her easily consumed meals aside from when they had guests over.

The sun was already high in the morning sky and Himeko was just about done with cooking breakfast when an unfamiliar 'good morning' greeted her from the kitchen door. Turning around, she found the blonde standing there with drowsy eyes but completely prim and proper... except for the distastefully worn dress that she had on.

"Is there anything I can help with?"

"No. Just sit somewhere and try not to break anything."

Himeko observed the blonde and saw how meek the girl was. Her mistress still hadn't told her what the purpose of adopting the girl was and she didn't know whether Yuzu was staying with them permanently as an additional household helper or a temporary guest, however, Himeko would be quick to refuse should the reason be the former. She was more than happy to be the only servant in the household and she was all that was needed. The fact that she knew Mei would be waking any minute now was definitive proof towards that claim.

Sure enough, the doctor's eyes slowly opened as the morning sun flooded inside the luxurious yet mostly empty bedroom and she struggled to keep her sensitive eyes from being blinded by such bright light. Mei was never an early riser regardless of how much she disliked wasting time and preferring to spend every waking moment on productivity. She was always sluggish in the morning and would often toss and turn in the comfort of her bed before the guilt of wasted minutes crept up on her and she was forced to leave the sheets.

Mei headed for the wardrobe after throwing off the duvet and stepping out of her sleeping dress. Choosing from a wide variety of clothing which she regretfully owned, the doctor gravitated towards a simpler morning gown as she had no plans on leaving her residence for the entirety of the day. She styled her hair in a chignon bun and held it in place with a single violet ribbon before heading off to the dining room where she expected Himeko had already served breakfast.

"Good morning, Miss Aihara." The blonde greeted her as she entered and Mei couldn't help but be a little surprised at the greeting.

"Good morning."

"Did you have a good night's sleep, miss?"

The doctor decided to ignore the blonde's attempts at starting a conversation. She thought she had already made it clear that she didn't want to be constantly spoken to and yet the giddy girl seemed to have already forgotten all of the previous day's conversation concerning not being too talkative towards her.

'How annoying.' Mei thought as she approached the enormous dining table which was obviously meant for a larger family instead of a lone lady. The blonde was already seated at the far corner where two plates had been served with today's breakfast and a newly brewed pot of tea along with the usual accompaniment of sugar and milk.

Mei approached her seat at the end of the table which was reserved for the head of the household. She gracefully began to eat her first meal of the day while the blonde continued speaking in between eating, showing little regard towards manners or the doctor's disinterested face.

"I believe I informed you yesterday," Mei took a napkin and wiped her lips clean before continuing, "and I will repeat this only once more. Don't be so familiar towards me." She said bluntly without care for the blonde's feelings.

"M-my apologies." The girl nervously spoke.

Mei observed the blonde while drinking her tea and waiting for Himeko to appear and take the dishes away. The girl had quieted down at this point but she was clearly fidgetting on her chair as if she couldn't take the prolonged silence; often taking quick glances at the doctor but quickly looking away every time whenever she met Mei's gaze.

"Oh, Mei-Mei. How unusual for you to still be here." Himeko spoke as she entered the room.

Usually, Mei would disappear into the study or her laboratory as soon as she was finished with breakfast but today there was something she had to discuss with her housekeeper and that was this blonde lady who she took home the previous day.

"Himeko, I wanted to inform you about her. She's a private patient of mine. Please treat her kindly and forbid her from performing any household chore or intense activities. I don't want her to be fatigued or stressed as it may hamper my assessment."

Mei considered what to call the blonde the night before and since she couldn't really refer to the girl as a guest nor a helper, the only obvious choice was to label her as an in-house patient, which she technically was.

"Understood, Mei-Mei." Himeko answered with a bit of a sneer towards the blonde.

"You, come with me."

Mei motioned for the blonde to follow her. She didn't get anything done the previous day because of how long it took just to get the girl back to the manor and how little energy she had left at that point, but today was a new day and the doctor was dead set on drafting her initial diagnosis on the blonde's curious case. Reading a few pages of the documents which the hospital relinquished in her care only served to excite her curious mind even more than it already was.

Opening the door to her laboratory, Mei invited the girl in and asked her to sit on a fainting couch while the doctor herself collected a few supplies which included her trusty notebook, stethoscope, syringe and a thermometer for good measure.

"Excuse me, can you please step on the scale?"

Mei pointed towards the object and the girl obliged by stepping on it and having her weight measured followed by her height and a few other biometrics which the doctor deemed as important or at least thought would be of use at some point.

The doctor carefully wrote down every measurement she took and noted that the blonde stood at 158 cm which partially confirmed Mei's original guess that she was of mixed ancestry but her weight only amounted to 7 stones and a pound.

"You're a little light for your height. Were you always this thin?"

"Yes, as far as I can remember..."

"I see. I'll be informing Himeko to increase your portions for the time being. Please make sure to eat properly from now on or you might throw off the data that I'm collecting. Is that understood?"

The blonde nodded at the doctor's orders and all the latter could do was to hope that the blonde would keep her word and not do anything foolish that would jeopardize her study.

The doctor poked and prodded her patient with regards to the girl's medical history. She made sure to ask the girl everything that popped into her mind on top of confirming every detail that was written on the documents she received from the hospital. When everything seemed to be in order, she decided to release the blonde and allow her to explore the manor.

After parting ways with the girl, Mei decided to head for the study and bury herself in practical research that would help her cause. There was very little to be had in the way of looking for a disease which perfectly aligned with her 'patient's' supposed condition but she wasn't labeled as an obsessive for no reason and she spent the next few hours reading every nook and cranny of the many books that were part of her collection.

Mei pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration when the clock struck three and there was still no tangible information to be found. She knew it wasn't going to be easy but to find absolutely nothing was a first for her and she contemplated between taking a short break or burning a few more hours reading additional books but the decision was made for her when a soft knock sounded from the door.

"Come in." she answered.

A crown of blonde hair emerged from the door and gave her a sheepish smile before revealing a tray which held a teapot along with a basket of scones and blueberry jam.

"You didn't come for lunch, Miss Aihara."

"I was busy, as you can see."

"Yes, Miss Himeko told me not to worry as you often skipped on meals when you're working."

The blonde approached her and softly placed the tray on a table at the center of a luxurious 3-piece set of sofas and beckoned for the doctor to join her for a snack.

"It couldn't hurt to take a break, miss."

Mei sighed and placed her books away in favor of a short break, taking the girl up on the offer of sweets and tea.

"Miss Aihara, if it's not so much to ask... would you mind telling me about yourself?"

"I'm a doctor."

"I already know that, miss..."

"Then there's nothing more to say."

Mei didn't quite understand the frustrated look on the blonde's face after she spoke and since she didn't want to bother with wasting her energy, she just allowed it to continue without giving any further thought to the matter but she was naive to think that the blonde girl would let it go.

"What I meant was if you could tell me more about your interests and such, miss."

"Books, medicine, studying and right now, you."

There was a flustered look on the blonde's face which made the doctor raise an eyebrow and inquire if she was not feeling well but the girl was quick to dismiss any further inquiries on her physical condition.

"W-what do you mean by me?"

"Your condition."

"Oh, r-right. Of course."

A few odd minutes passed and Mei once again noticed that the blonde was fidgeting uncomfortably on her seat much like she did during breakfast and this time the doctor was curious enough that she cared to ask for what was on the girl's mind.

"Is something bothering you?"

"Ah- A little... I guess."

"Out with it then." Mei spoke with a hint of power in her tone like she was trying to pressure the girl out of lying should she ever get the idea to do so.

"It's because of what Miss Harumi mentioned... that you didn't want to call me by my name and I was wondering why."

The blonde twiddled her thumbs together and Mei couldn't help but notice how nervous the girl appeared to be.

"No particular reason. I just feel no need to be familiar with you because, in the end, you're just a specimen to be studied."

That was the truth. Mei had never, not once, tried to be familiar with anyone and she would never do so out of her own accord even when it came to family. Though having gone through the very same conversation a multitude of times, she already expected the look on the blonde's face which she learned to recognize as the expression one makes when they're sad.

"I understand. I'll be excusing myself now, Miss Aihara."

The blonde quickly stood up and approached the door but Mei called out to her just before she reached it and the girl looked back at her as if expecting something.

"Don't forget to take the tray as you go." She reminded her.

Notes:

All right, everyone. Settle down. I DO have other things to do outside of fangasming and making fanfics(friends will disagree and they wouldn't be entirely wrong)... so please be patient with updates especially because I'm only working on this one as a secondary and Caught in a Web takes precedence.

Besides, I just spent how many minutes or hours googling what 1800s British upper-class people ate and what doctors had in their artillery during the time so I'm definitely spending some time on research instead of just writing endlessly. I even converted kilograms to stones...

Anyway, slow burn chapter but I wanted to establish the difference in Mei's characterization in this one and as most of you would've noticed by now, this is nearly entirely in Mei's POV and will predominantly be the same in the future.

Honestly, I got a little too excited about writing this after getting my sights set on an opening and an ending but didn't take the time to figure out the entirety of the body. Typical me. LOL.

Cheers everyone!

Thank you to the guest that's asking everyone to chill. (￣▽￣)ゞ