Once again, I wake up staring at a white ceiling that I don't recognise. I guess I'm back at my aunt's place then, I think to myself. But once I sit up, I realise this is incorrect. For one, the walls are actually cream, rather than matching the white of the ceiling. The windows are in different places, there is now a wardrobe, and an ajar slider door that appears to lead into a bathroom. An ensuite? Maybe I'm in a hotel, I think. But I definitely didn't have enough money for that. So where am I? I can't remember. The last thing I remember… I think I was by a river… ah, I was at the memorial park. But I don't know what happened after that. Maybe I died from exhaustion, and this is the afterlife? It truly seems like a possibility. I feel kind of drowsy. I was probably asleep for a long time. I find myself staring at one of the paintings, yes unlike my aunt's this room actually has paintings. It seems to be a portrait of someone, but it is kind of… I don't know the word, or at least I can't think of it. Abstract? Yeah, abstract. That's the word I'm thinking of. I look for a way to find out the time. A clock on the bedside table reads 14:25. Yes, I think I did sleep for a while. I don't know when I actually did go to sleep though, so I'm not even sure what day today is. I think I can remember until the afternoon on Monday, or at least I think that is when I was at the park, so today is Tuesday. I hope. It wouldn't be a complete surprise if I slept through till Wednesday. I stand up and walk towards the sliding door. I flick the switch next to it, correctly assuming it will turn on the lights in the ensuite. It looks very flash, and modern. Yeah, there's no way this is a hotel. No hotel I could afford would look like this. But, for some reason I don't feel as concerned as I probably should since I don't know where I am. So I think I'll take this opportunity to have a shower. I mean, there are towels on the rail, presumably for me.
After showering, I put on new clothes. I was impressed by how smoothly the shower ran. The water increased in temperature at a consistent rate, and also the amount. I don't think I've seen a shower that runs so well before. So I guess I should probably have a look around to see if I can work out where I am. The door opens without a hinge squeaking, or catching on anything. The hallway I step out into, has the same colour scheme as the room I just left. White tiles dominate the floor, and cream walls stretch out away from me to both my left and right. But when I look ahead, straight out a window, I see something that really catches my eye. A rather large garden come courtyard dominates the view out the window. It is extremely impressive, with well-trimmed hedges, and stone-carved statues and figures. A tiled area dominates the centre, with benches, covered areas, and most importantly, a large pool. I can see that the house, I think that is what this is, stretches around in a rectangular shape around the whole area. It is quite a large house.
*
I've completed one lap. There were a large number of closed doors along the two sides, where I started and the opposite side, but at the front and back of the house I was greeted with large open spaces. At the front, there was a large continuous area stretching from a lounge, a dining area, and a kitchen and pantry at the far end. It was well over fifteen metres from one end to the other. There was another corridor leading to a front door. I was considering just walking out, but it would be a pain to have to go back down the hallway and get my bag. And I'm also curious to solving the question of where I am, and how I got here. While I'm at the front door, I have a look outside. I can see other impressive houses on either side, as well as across the street from me. Wow, this really is some rich part of town, huh? Not that that helps me work out where I am. For a bit, I thought maybe I had broken in to some unattended house, but there were no signs of a force entry, and I'm sure if I had the energy to attempt something like that, I would at least vaguely remember it.
Down at the far end of the house, there was another large area. It seemed to be another lounge area, like a sunroom or something. This room opened out onto a large field that stretched out rather far, dwarfing the inner courtyard that I had found so impressive. Yeah, this definitely isn't in Tokyo. Or at least, not anywhere near the part I live in. Maybe I have indeed gone to the afterlife after all? If getting a nice house like this is the reward for ending it all, maybe I should have committed sooner. Another possibility is that I'm dreaming. It is entirely possible that I'm still in my aunt's house, and this is all a dream. That would explain the strange leaps, like how I got from the park to here… but it is strangely detailed for a dream. So, I guess it is more likely that I was just too tired to remember anything last night, or maybe it was two nights ago, and that this is real life. How boring.
So I've completed my lap of the house, but I'm not sure what to do now. I go back into the room I woke up in, and open my laptop almost out of habit. There is wi-fi, but the name doesn't give me a clue as to where I am. It is just the name of a telecom company followed by numbers and letters. And I don't know the password, so I have no way of connecting. What else could I do? Maybe getting something to eat would be a good idea. Now that I think about it, I realise I am actually rather hungry. Well, I probably haven't eaten since yesterday morning. I make my way back to the kitchen.
"Oh."
There's someone else in the kitchen. She is a tall, dark-skinned woman, clearly a foreigner. My first thought is to wonder where she is from, but then I remember that I don't know where I am. Maybe this is her house. But I don't know her, so that makes this all the more mysterious.
"Hello."
She is looking straight at me, so she was obviously waiting for me to speak, so I thought I might as well start with 'hello'.
"Good afternoon, Yasuraoka-san."
She knows my name.
"Sorry, have we met before?"
"No, I believe the first time we met was yesterday evening. If we had met before, I can't say I recall it."
"Then, how did we meet?"
"Seijuro-sama asked me to bring a car to the Hokkaido War Memorial Park. You were there with him when I arrived. I think you were asleep."
"Yes, probably…" I say absent-mindedly. Well that clears up a lot of things. So this is Sei-chan's house? I mean, I'd always thought he was probably rich, but I never thought he would be… this rich, I guess. Wow. Is this like his family's maid or something that I'm talking to? I wonder.
"Do you work here?" I ask.
"Ah, sometimes. I'm in the employment of the Tohsaka family, but other days I work at some of their other properties."
"I see," that's what I say anyway. So, is she a cleaner? I guess it isn't really my business. If she doesn't want to spell it out for me, then I suppose I shouldn't really push the issue. I decide to seat myself down at the table. It would be kind of weird for me to go get something out of the fridge while she is still in the room, or at least that is what it feels like to me. I close my eyes, and stretch my arms up towards the ceiling.
"Is there anything I could do for you?"
"Huh?"
I look at her. I thought she would be leaving by now.
"I said, is there anything I could do for you?"
"Oh no, I'm completely fine."
I lie. Just go away so I can raid the fridge, without feeling guilty. Please?
"Are you sure?"
She is looking at me earnestly, waiting for an answer.
I sigh, rather dramatically, "if you insist, I wouldn't mind a coffee and something to eat."
She smiles, seemingly happy, for some reason, with my decision, "certainly. I will see to it right away."
Well, she did offer. And she is someone Sei-chan trusts, at least to an extent, so I guess it is okay. Besides, it seems that she preferred that I asked her to do something, so in a way this allows us to both fulfil our selfishness. I get the meal that I wanted, probably better than I would be able to do as well, and she gets to do something for me, which she appears to be getting something out of. If I had to guess, Sei-chan probably asked her to do this. So she gets to please 'Seijuro-sama', by following his order, I suppose. See, that explains it. Just as Sei-chan says, everything comes down to the selfish nature of humans. We do things, because it best suits our purposes. Whatever the reason we do something, at a basic level, it is a selfish reason.
After I've started eating the sandwich she made for me, I believe it is pork and maybe tomato, she starts talking again.
"Well, I'll be off now. Do you have any questions?"
I'm sure I probably do have some things I need to ask her, but nothing comes to mind as of now. I shake my head.
"Okay then. Seijuro-sama will be back at around six, after his basketball practice," she informs me with a smile, and then heads for the door.
Once I here the door close behind her, I let out a sigh. Alone for… three hours? What to do. I guess I could look around the house a bit more. I'll feel slightly less guilty doing so, now that I know I'm a guest here, and that it is Sei-chan's house… but that want last for three hours. Normally if I have this much spare time, I would go on my laptop and play games, but I don't know what the wifi password is. I knew there would be something I had forgotten to ask her. If I had a swimsuit, I could go for a swim in the pool. Well I could go nude, since I don't think anyone else is going to show up before six. Yeah, I guess that sounds alright.
I've been staring at the television for a while. It didn't take me long to run out of things to do. I went for an extended tour of the house. Along the left side, where the room I'm staying is, there are three bedrooms, each coming with their own bathroom. One is a perfect copy of the one I'm staying in, but the one closest to the front end of the house has a lot more decoration, and a darker colour palette. If I had to guess, it was Sei-chan's room. Although I didn't have to guess, once I saw the shelves of sporting and academic achievements, dating back at least ten years.
On the other side of the house, I found a fourth bedroom in addition to a pair of offices, a laundry, and a toilet near the kitchen end of the house. The fourth bedroom was much larger than the ones in the side of the house I was staying in. It even had a very large, and very full, walk in wardrobe. I don't think I've seen one before, but that is the only thing I can think of to describe it, so that must be what this is.
After my extended tour, I went for a swim in the pool. Even though I got the feeling that it was rarely used, it was rather clean, and the water was an inviting temperature. As I mentioned earlier, I had to go nude due to my lack of a swimsuit. It was hard to know how much time I spent in the pool, but it felt very nice and refreshing to me. I wonder when the last time I went swimming was. It definitely shows though. I can feel myself floundering, and treading water much more than someone who swam regularly would.
I dried myself using a towel from the room I woke up in. Afterwards, I drifted towards the open lounge area at the back of the house. Even though reading isn't something I normally do, I found myself attracted to the large bookcase located in the room. Of the books that were actually in Japanese, they were all uninteresting, or overly complicated. I was however impressed with the huge variety available. I spotted the Latin alphabet of the Westphalian languages, as well as the Cyrillic found in Anglo-Russian texts, and others in what could only be Chinese or Korean.
And so, without finding a book that was interesting enough to make me want to read, I turned to the television. It was gargantuan. Korean made, well Korean designed, Chinese made, but same difference. The point is that it was easily seventy, eighty inches across. So I watched television while I waited out the time remaining before Sei-chan is supposed to return. To be honest, I didn't really even know what I was watching, some kind of soap opera if I had to guess. I wasn't paying much attention. All I was doing was sitting here, while I passed the time.
It caught me by surprise when Sei-chan cleared his throat behind me. As it turns out, you can't hear the front door from where I was seated. Once I had recovered, I turned the television off, before twisting my body to face him. We kind of just stared at each other for a while. I wasn't sure what I wanted to say. It would probably be best to thank him for well, everything. Absolutely everything that he has done for me, but I'm not sure if I can express that well enough. Everything I want to say, doesn't come out of my mouth. Partly because I can't express, and because I'm worried I'll tell him about something I don't want him to know. So we just keep staring at each other.
"Good evening."
Sei-chan eventually breaks the silence. Well I guess we can't just stay like this forever, although I don't think I would mind it if we could.
"Was your basketball practice good?"
Shut up. That was stupid. Why am I talking about his practice? I need to thank him for everything. Even if I can't exactly tell him how grateful I am, I can at least show that I am indeed thankful for everything. Great, Sei-chan is just staring at me. Yeah, I really need to just thank him right now. I suppose it will only get awkward and even more difficult to do so the longer I wait.
I open my mouth to speak, but Sei-chan speaks first, "did you go for a swim?"
"Huh?" he catches me off guard, "uh… yeah, that's right. How did you know?"
"Your hair is wet."
"I see."
"Why would you bring a swimsuit with you when you are running away? Surely there are more important things to take?"
"No… I didn't bring a swimsuit."
"So then…"
…
"right," Sei-chan looks somewhat flustered by this for whatever reason. That is an incredibly rare reaction from him. In fact, it is probably the first time I've seen him go red like that, even as slight as it is. To be fair, I guess it isn't really 'for whatever reason'. I swam naked in his pool… now I'm making myself embarrassed. Well, I'm glad he didn't come home early.
"I'm going to make something to eat, do you want any?"
Sei-chan breaks the hanging awkwardness by changing the conversation, back to his usual, controlled self.
"Ah… sure, thanks."
"You can cook?"
"Somewhat," Sei-chan replies from the kitchen. I'm sitting up on the breakfast bar. I wouldn't have thought Sei-chan knew how to cook, especially after seeing the level of luxury he lives in. He doesn't continue the conversation, and I'm not one to continue talking, simply for the sake of it. So we fall back into this silence. The two of us often spend time silently with each other. I don't know if that is normal or not. Probably not, but it makes me feel more comfortable with him. Our silences don't feel awkward, or that we aren't talking because we don't know what to say to each other. It is more like there isn't anything we need to say sometimes, because the other already knows what is going through our head. It makes me think as if we share some special bond, that makes us closer than anyone else. Maybe we do. I know that I don't see anyone else the same way that I see Sei-chan, and he treats me differently from anyone else I've seen him talk to.
"Thank you."
"For everything?"
"For everything."
See? He already knew what it was I wanted to thank him for. Well, okay maybe that is a weak example. I'm sure a lot of people would have already known what I was thanking him for, but I hope you get the point.
"I don't know how to express, just how grateful I am. So, I'll do anything you ask of me."
"Don't you have to do whatever I ask of you anyway? Remember, our contract."
"That's right."
Yeah, Sei-chan can already ask me to do everything, and I have no option to turn him down. So I guess there really is no way that I can show how grateful I am. But he will understand. He always understands things like that. Well, at least I've thanked him now. That gets that out of the way. I suppose I'll also have to thank his parents whenever they get home.
I wake up. My first thought is that it must be the dead of night, but then I remember that this room always looks like this with the curtains shut, because of how well made they are. A look at the bedside table shows me that the time is closer to seven in the morning. That's right, I was dreaming. And for once I can actually remember what the dream was about, or at least parts of it. I was dreaming about how I first came to Sei-chan's house. I'm not sure how accurate it was, but for me to remember what it was, then surely at least most of it was how it really happened, or close to it.
"You awake?"
I jump. I hadn't realised that someone was in the room. Panicked I turn on the light, and look at the intruder. It is Sei-chan. At least it isn't one of his parents, or the attendants who constantly come and go, like Maria, the Algerian woman who helped Sei-chan take me to his house. That would be creepy if it was one of them. Wait, no this is creepy. Why would he stand in the dark like that?
"Why wouldn't you turn the light on?"
"I did not want to wake you."
"Then what, you were watching me sleep?"
"No, I was deciding whether I wanted to wake you up or not."
I narrow my eyes suspiciously, "how long were you standing there for?"
"I just walked in now."
Although I'm still somewhat suspicious, when I look over at the doorway, it is open, so he's probably telling the truth, or at least part of it. So I guess I'll forgive him for whatever he was doing, but I probably won't if something like this happens again.
"So, since you are awake, you are going to school today."
"Huh?"
"I mean, you have to go back eventually, and you've already spent two days lazing around here, plus you missed Monday as well."
"… I guess you're right."
I've been trying to avoid this. I don't really want to go back to school. I mean, I don't know what it is going to be like when I go back, so I guess I'm scared. Scared of what Ueno-chan will think. Scared of what my teachers will say, because I'm sure my parents will have contacted the school. So I've been delaying it, and staying here, moping, slacking, and playing games all day. But, I guess he's right. It's the same as when I needed to thank him for everything he did for me up to now. It is better to do it now than later. But now I just owe him yet another thing. At this point, it might be best to just give up entirely, and accept that I will be indebted to him for the rest of my life.
"Okay, stop looking at me. I'll get up. What time do we need to be ready to go to school by?"
"I walk to school, and it takes about half an hour, so… just before eight?"
I look at the clock again.
"That's only forty minutes!"
He looks at me questionably, "is that an issue?"
"Uhh… well, I'm rather slow at getting up in the morning," I say. For some reason that feels embarrassing to say to Sei-chan.
Sei-chan either doesn't pick up on it, or ignores it (probably the latter), "is it possible to be that slow?"
I glare at him. Or at least I try to, but as I said I'm not a morning person. I'm not even sure I'm looking straight at him.
"Okay, I'll let you get ready then. Be ready five minutes before eight."
I thought I'd rushed the shower, but by the time I get out, and struggle to put my uniform on, I only have about ten minutes left. And I still feel extremely sleepy. Somewhat dazed, I walk down the hallway, and out into the kitchen, carrying my bag over my shoulder. Once there, I see that Sei-chan's mother, Tohsaka Shoko, is seated at the table. Sei-chan is standing near the doorway, as if he's already waiting for me, standing incredibly straight and attentively as always. He notices me walking in.
"Are you ready?"
"Well… I haven't had anything to eat yet. Or coffee."
"I don't think we have time for coffee, but grab something to eat."
I can already tell this day is going to go well. No coffee is going to make my day go so much better, I'm sure.