Knock, knock, knock. On a Sunday afternoon, Kouji was knocking on the door of a rather big mansion. He wasn't alone either.
"Why do I have to be here?" Himawari complained to him. All of the other girls, minus Yuma, were standing behind him.
"Because, I needed you guys to vouch for me. I don't want her family just thinking I'm trying to scam them." He was told by the headmistress to aid Yuma. Her last test ended up rather pitiful. Therefore he was going to have to help her out even more than what he was already doing.
However, that girl always said she couldn't stay after school. Taking a long time to come up with an excuse. He could tell she was thinking of something to get away from him. Now it was time to corner her at her home.
"I still don't know why you needed all of us." Teru crossed her arms. "After all, it's not like any of us are all friends."
"Yeah…" Waa gave a big yawn. Today's usually my sleep-in day. She gave herself a nice long stretch, loosening her body.
"Because, if I'm going to help Onodera with her coursework, then I might as well kill five birds with one stone here." The door opened, ending their conversation. The person that greeted them appeared to be one of the family's servants. An older man, one that gave an aura of the experience he had built over the years.
"Ah yes. You must be Kouji Arisawa." So he had been talked about here as well. Maybe he shouldn't be surprised at his notable infamy. After all, his presence was an oddity for the school. "And you all must be Mistress Yuma's friends." That wasn't a true statement, but they weren't going to deny it.
"Yes, well then. We're here to help Onodera with her studies." Kouji tried his best to remain respectful. It would be a shame to get on this family's bad side right away. He motioned the others to back him up, but only Anastasia actually did anything remotely to aid him.
"That is a wonderful deed that you are performing." That wasn't praise he was expecting to get from the man. "Come, all of you." They entered the large mansion, a rather traditional style of Japanese architecture.
This place was beyond huge. Without even seeing the entirety of it, Himawari informed him that this location was probably capable of housing dozens of people. As they walked, the butler told them his name. He was Shinkai Isawa. A servant for the Onodera family for many years now, ever since he began this job when he was 20.
That was the year Yuma was born, and he had been there for her to help raise her. While he didn't tell them his age, if his story was accurate. Then that would make him at least 35 now.
The more he talked about that girl. The more the man seemed to beam with pride. Kind of like a father might talk about their child. It made Kouji wonder how much that man took care of her.
"So here is a good place for you all to study at." He opened the door to a mostly empty room. The only furniture in it, was the table for them to all use. It was gigantic, probably twice as large as the one that Kouji owned.
"Thank you." They all expressed their gratitude to Shinkai. Bowing their heads. If only they were like this for Kouji, that would make his job 100 times easier.
"Now, if you all will stay here. I will go fetch the mistress."
"Actually, I'd like to go find her." Kouji offered. "After all, she's my job to handle." He laughed, but the butler didn't handle his joke too well.
"But… She's always been my… responsibility…" He was sweating bullets at being told not to look for her. "I must request that you all stay here."
"I mean, this seems like a big place. Maybe it'll be faster if we both look for her?" Kouji offered.
"If that's what makes you happiest." The butler respectfully conceded. "But I believe that I will be the one to find her first." This wasn't supposed to be a competition. He wasn't sure what the concern from this was.
"I suppose we'll all look for her then." Himawari was about to get up, until he prompt sat her back down.
"No." He told them all. "What you're all going to do, is do your homework until I get back." That got him a lot of pouting from the girls. With that, he exited the room. Seperating with Skinkai for the search for Yuma.
"Hmm, now where could she be?" That girl had the reputation for not attracting a lot of attention. Perhaps more accurately, having some of the girls being a little afraid to approach her. Whenever she was asked something, she always had that look on her face that made people think she was upset at them. She never said anything either, making them so unnerved that they walked away from her.
But after seeing her for a little bit now, he was beginning to realize something about Yuma. That would have to be the utter slowness of her actions. It was like watching a human sloth try to do literally nothing. That girl had no pace to her at all. No urgency.
The kitchen, this was the first place he decided to stop by at. It was still lunchtime, so maybe she was grabbing a meal. However, there was only a maid standing in the room with him as he entered.
Her back was turned to him, it appeared she didn't hear him entering. Interestingly, she also had pink hair like Yuma. Not wanting to waste too much time, he hoped this girl might be able to point him into the right direction.
"Um, hello?" He said, grabbing her attention. As she turned around, he couldn't believe his eyes. That pink hair wasn't just similar to Yuma's. It was the same, because that maid was her?
The two stared at each other. She wasn't saying anything, and in his shock, neither was he. She was wearing a traditional black maid outfit. One might say this was a familiar sight to some types of people.
"H-hello?" Yuma finally answered him. She was visibly confused as to why he was in her house. "How did you?"
"I was let in." He explained. "Um, I'm here to tutor you?" Now that he was saying it, with what she was wearing. He wasn't even confident in that anymore.
"Wow, I never thought that you were into that stuff." A new voice entered this conversation. More accurately, four other people entered the room they were in.
"What? I thought I told you all to go do your work." He scolded them. They didn't do their work at all. Instead they spent that time to follow closely behind him.
"Heh, like we'd really do boring stuff like that on our own." Teru chuckled. "And what's with the ridiculous getup?" Yuma didn't reply to them, only turning her head slightly downward to avert her gaze.
"Ahh, mistress I've finally found you." Shinkai had made his arrival. "How pitiful of me, that I didn't find you before this young gentlemen did." He made a dramatic showing of it, with tears and everything. That was one devoted servant.
"It's okay." She smiled, giving him a pat on the head. "I'm sure you did your best."
"What's going on here?" Kouji was standing in bewilderment at this sight. This girl is the daughter of the family, right?
"Ah Shinkai. I saw you walk in here and… Oh I see our visitors are here already." A another man walked into the kitchen. Given his appearance, it was clear he was Yuma's father. "It's nice to meet you all."
"It's… nice to meet you too?" The pair shook hands, this person was very inviting to him. Unlike most of the girls that went to his school. "What's going on here?" He asked him.
"Hmm? Oh right, I'm sure to plenty of people would find this a strange sight." That was an understatement. How his daughter was dressed as a servant would be a question anyone would ask him.
As it would turn out, this was an Onodera family tradition that had lasted for generations. The children of the family were to perform duties of the servants as a means of understanding how they worked.
That way, they could not only grow their skills of caring for themselves. But also to respect the work done for them, and to always appreciate those serving under them.
"See, check this out." Her father pointed to them a photo of him during his teen days. Wearing a butler's outfit smiling to the camera. "This is me doing it myself."
"Wow, that certainly is an interesting tradition." Himawari commented. "And this photo is of…" There was another set besides his. It was of a lady, much older than what he appeared to be in his picture. From her appearance, she looked a lot like Yuma.
"That's my wife." He answered her. "You see, she married into the family." While it wasn't required of her to do it. She told him that she'd like to be able to partake in the same tradition as he did when he was younger. "It was such fun times…"
"That does sound interesting indeed." Kouji had his hand under his chin. He was clearly devising something.
"Hmm? Are you thinking of something." Anastasia asked him.
"Heh, I think I got an idea for all of you..."