Kirumi was, suffice to say, exhausted. She had currently met a client who had 13 children. Not only that, but they all also ranged from the ages of 5 - 17. Kirumi sighed, her sandy blonde hair covering her right eye as she stepped out of her Suzuki Ignis, her black shoes gracefully landing on the freshly paved concrete.

Kirumi eyed the house itself. A lovely 3-storey mansion that was painted a mixture of green, white and gold, the silver-coloured roof shingles matching perfectly with the house's body.

Kirumi's eyes wandered towards the well-maintained garden which greeted her with long, thorny arms. Kirumi didn't like roses much. They were always so… spikey. She didn't know why people were so obsessed with giving them to their lovers. However, she did appreciate it when clients offered them to her, but would always decline - without profusely apologising afterwards.

Kirumi wasn't sure she disliked roses. In fact, it wasn't the flower bud itself that she disliked, but instead the thorns. Something told her to stay away from the sharp, prickly stem, and yet she moved towards it with practised elegance, her hands crossing neatly over the top of her spider-motif pinafore.

Kirumi gazed upon the flower as she dutifully walked past them. Don't get distracted, Kirumi. You have a job to do. Once you finish the job you can visit the gardens.

Kirumi knocked on the dark oakwood door and stepped back a few feet, unsure as to whether or not the door opened towards her.

A young-sounding voice called out from the mansion before multiple heavy footfalls were heard inside. One of the bright gold door handles began to shift and Kirumi held her breath as she gazed upon the person who had opened the door.

The boy, most likely the 17-year-old of the family, had light-green tinted blonde hair and multiple piercings lining his right ear.

"Oh, hey, you must be Kirumi Tojo, right?" his voice was calm and soft, holding a delicate undertone through years of younger siblings. Kirumi felt like she was flying, and her shoulders lifted slightly.

"Yes, that would be correct. Is there anything you request for me to do?" Kirumi asked, beginning to plot out the things that she could do to improve the state of the house.

"Oh, uh, no, I don't think there's anything to work on. If you want, though, you can come inside." Rantaro put his hand forwards, offering for a handshake.

Kirumi hesitated for a moment, before gently taking Rantaro's smooth hands within her own black rubber gloves, her silver ornament knocking against her hidden calloused hands.

"Well then, Master Amami, I believe that we will get along well. I surely hope that I can fulfil all of your requests. May I enter?" Kirumi politely asked as she released her grip on Rantaro's hand.

"Oh, uh, sure. Heh, sorry. Come on in." Rantaro replied as he stepped to the side, opening the doors to their full capacity to allow room for them both to walk inside.

"Uh, do you want a tour? I can give you a brief run-down of the place if you want." Rantaro said as he stepped inside, gesturing his hand around the living room…

"So, this is my room," Rantaro walked around to his bedside table, picking up a book from it. "Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, I keep this place in almost top-notch, so there won't be much you need to do. Of course, if you want, there are some things that we can do together daily, but other than that, just ignore this room."

Rantaro finished his speech, walking out of the room and beckoning for Kirumi to follow him.

Kirumi did and followed Rantaro through the house back down to the kitchen, where they had begun the tour only a few hours ago. "Aaand… that's about it. There isn't anywhere else for you to go, and the guest bedroom is upstairs, down the hall and your first left. Shouldn't be too hard to find it. Other than that, I hope that you enjoy your stay." Rantaro finished, giving a slight bow before standing upright.

"No, no, I shall be the one hoping that you enjoy my services," Kirumi said with a smile, before walking back to the door. "Ah, is it alright if I go and obtain my suitcase from my car?" She asked, her smile returning to her face as she turned back to Rantaro.

"Oh, yeah, sure. No problem. Just enjoy your stay. If you're needed, my sisters will just call for you. Later!" Rantaro said, turning away and giving a wave over his shoulder.

Kirumi returned the wave, despite Rantaro not being able to see her reaction, and turned back to the door, twisting the doorknob and walking through it.

It had been a few days into Kirumi's job, and she was already exhausted. Although the bed that was left in the spare bedroom was comfortable and soft, Kirumi just couldn't sleep. She pulled the covers off of her body, her forehead moist with beads of sweat from the late summer heat.

She stepped onto the wooden floorboards, making sure to avoid anything that would creak. Wouldn't want to wake up Master Amami, now. Although they had become friendly on a first-name basis, Kirumi still felt uncomfortable calling Rantaro by his family name.

She walked to the bathroom, taking small note of the dark bags beginning to form underneath her eyes. Kirumi took the washcloth, quickly running it under cold water before cleaning her face of sweat.

Kirumi finished, looking at herself in the mirror, before taking a towel and drying her face. That's better. Now, to get changed, Kirumi thought as she replaced her pyjamas with her white undershirt, quickly slipping on her pinafore and her stockings, straightening her tie, pulling on her shoes and adjusting her headdress. There. Now, I am presentable.

Kirumi entered the spare room again, moving towards the corner of the room and taking a long-handled wooden broom. Kirumi left the room, opening the door that lead to the large and overwhelming hallway. Go. You need to fulfil your duty.

Kirumi walked down the hallway, her green eyes scanning her surroundings for any sign of filth. She walked down the stairs, masking the sound of her shoes as she landed on the first floor. Kirumi walked into the kitchen, spotting a large puddle of water on the ground. Get rid of it. Eliminate it. Fulfil your duty. Kirumi thought as she grabbed a few spare pieces of paper towel.

A few minutes later, Kirumi had finished cleaning up the puddle of water, unsure as to what the source of the problem was, and resumed her hold on the broom. She walked through the kitchen, pushing multiple specks of dirt along with the spikey thistles attached to the head of the broom. She reached the end of the kitchen before walking back to the sink and pushing the broom in the same direction she just had, catching more dirt in the process.

Kirumi felt satisfied after 15 minutes of sweeping, in which she had collected multiple piles of dirt and pushed them into one before sweeping them up into the trashcan. She repeated this process multiple times, ensuring that the kitchen was spotless, before moving on to the living room. Kirumi repeated this process - sweep up all the dirt, collect it in one pile, throw it away, repeat - for every room on the first floor, only feeling satisfied when she rubbed her latex glove across the floor and released a sigh of relief when no dirt remained on her finger.

Kirumi walked back to the kitchen, gazing upon the counters with disgust. There were multiple stains left on the bench, despite Rantaro's attempts to help clean up.

Kirumi took a washcloth from the sink and began to wipe over the bench - after rinsing the cloth under cold water, of course.

Kirumi had only just managed to finish cleaning the kitchen when she heard a creak. She stiffened, feeling a pair of green eyes, similar and yet so different to her own, staring at her back.

"Hey, Kirumi? Is that you?" Rantaro's soft voice entered into the room, swirling Kirumi as she relaxed her shoulders subtly.

"Yes, it is. There is no need to worry, Rantaro. I apologise if I frightened you with my cleaning." Kirumi bowed apologetically, straightening back up to look at Rantaro, who was still fiddling for the light switch.

"Rantaro, let me help with that," Kirumi said, walking over to Rantaro and swiftly turning on the light.

"Oh, uh, wow, Kirumi. You… really take your work seriously, huh?" Rantaro asked, gazing upon the freshly cleaned kitchen, his nostrils being attacked by the soothing scent of citrus.

"I take pride in my work, Rantaro. After all, the motto for any maid is 'duty before self' -, especially for the ultimate maid." Kirumi finished, returning her mind to the task at hand (Cleaning the floor again).

"Kirumi, I know you take your work seriously and all, and I thank you for that, but it's three in the morning. Couldn't you have waited until after breakfast?" Rantaro turned his attention to the counter. "Besides, my sisters will just make this a mess again, so there's no point in even trying to make it look nice before breakfast. Trust me."

Kirumi looked to the floor. Only once had she gazed upon the pure destructive force of 12 young children, all eating at the same time. Needless to say, she had spent a good hour and a half trying to remove all of the stains from the table before lunch.

"While you do have a point there, Rantaro, I must always remember the motto of a maid. So please, do allow me to complete this task." Kirumi told him, turning back to the floor and preparing her broom.

"Kirumi, listen to me. You're overworking yourself. You need a break. If you can't sleep, let's just go and watch a movie in the living room, okay? Just stop working for a while."

Rantaro walked to the living room, still stumbling around, and turned the lights on. He waved his hand, giving a lopsided smile as he plopped down on the couch, sinking down faster than a rock thrown in the ocean.

Kirumi gave a weak smile, the sleep finally getting to her.

"Hey, so… What do you want to watch?" Rantaro asked as he pulled the TV remote from the couch arm.

"I don't necessarily mind. You choose the movie and I shall watch." Kirumi stated, settling down onto the couch.

"Hey, I'm doing this for your break. Let's start at the beginning. What genre do you want to watch?"

Kirumi shrugged. "I… don't know. I don't usually get to watch movies. I suppose that, if I have to choose, I wish to watch a comedy."

"Alright then," Rantaro said as he navigated to the comedy section of movies. "Which movie do you want? There's a load of options here, so take what you want."

Kirumi navigated through the section, her eyes gazing upon the movies one by one. Kirumi shuffled, feeling uncomfortable as she looked through the selections.

After choosing a movie that was kind-of-recent, Kirumi snuggled back into the couch, slightly brushing her hand against Rantaro's. Kirumi pulled away quickly, apologising profusely.

"Ah, my most sincere apologies, Rantaro." Kirumi said, trying her hardest to bow despite sitting down.

"Oh, uh, it's no problem, Kirumi." Rantaro said, slightly blushing as he tried to settle back to the position he was in already, although it was extremely difficult.

Kirumi kept shifting too, longing for more of Rantaro's touch, to try and be as close as possible. Nobody had been this nice to her for forever. She craved for him, willing to let their hands touch once more, even if it was only accidental.

Rantaro looked down at Kirumi, who had fallen asleep quite a while ago. Kirumi had nestled up against Rantaro's side and he smiled, happy that he had finally gotten Kirumi to rest.

Rantaro looked to the paused TV screen before turning it off. Rantaro got up, trying not to move Kirumi, before heading to his room and getting a blanket.

Rantaro returned, lightly draping the blanket over Kirumi's shoulders before snuggling in himself. He wrapped his arm around Kirumi, before lowering his head onto hers and falling asleep.

Kirumi awoke with her head feeling quite heavy. Have I fallen asleep on the job? Please tell me I didn't fall asleep on the job.

Kirumi felt something heavy around her shoulder. She to her right and saw a pale arm, with soft digits and painted fingernails. In her peripherals she could see a striped dark and light blue shirt just cut off at her neck.

Kirumi relaxed, feeling herself slink back into the touch. Maybe she didn't have to work all the time and she could take a break every once in a while, especially with Rantaro. Kirumi felt a slight nagging in the back of her mind telling her 'Come on! Get up and finish the job!', but she ignored it, opting to just stay in Rantaro's touch for a few more minutes.

Kirumi left the building with a sigh. She really was going to miss Rantaro. She stood out of the door, exhaling again as she thought about what Rantaro had done for her.

Well, first off, he taught Kirumi how to properly relax. He gave Kirumi somebody to care about, he gave her a relationship. He even gave her something to stop everything for, and now she realised why people were so desperately romantic.

Rantaro crept up on Kirumi, as silent as a fox as he tip-toed behind her.

"Boo." He said, grabbing her by the waist. Kirumi was startled, not having expected a surprise visit from Rantaro.

"Oh my, where oh where has my lover Rantaro gone?" Kirumi asked to the wind, turning around before embracing him in her arms.

"You know, I'm really going to miss you, Rantaro Amami. You changed my life around for the better and I thank you for that." Kirumi said, as she pecked her lover on the cheek.

"Yeah, I'm going to miss you as well. Oh! That reminds me - I got a gift for you this morning!" Rantaro said, running back into the kitchen. Oh? Rantaro got me something? I wonder what it is. Kirumi pondered as Rantaro returned

In Rantaro's hands was a large pink bouquet of roses, all coloured different shades of yellows, pinks and reds. "I got you this, as a thank you gift for everything you did for me. And I even left you my phone number, so we can still talk while you're gone, you know?" Rantaro stated as he held his hand out for Kirumi to take the flowers.

Kirumi froze. She had always hated roses, and that fear came rushing back into her in an instant. The nagging voice in her head told her No! You'll only get hurt if you take them!

Kirumi shook her head before taking the bouquet in her hands and giving Rantaro a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be sure to message you as soon as I get home, my love. I promise you."

Rantaro smirked, "Be sure you do, Kirumi, or I'll have to get my dad to hire you again… Actually, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea…" Rantaro trailed off into thought before speaking again. "Well, I'll be sure my dad goes on holidays again, for sure."

Kirumi was silent. She really didn't want to leave Rantaro, but she knew she must. "Well, I'd best be going now. I'll call you the second I get home, alright. Love you!" Kirumi called over her shoulder after giving Rantaro one more kiss.

"Bye, Kirumi! Love you! Talk to you soon!" Rantaro called back to her, waving to her as she left the driveway.

Kirumi looked back down to the roses and lifted them up to her nose, carefully taking in the calming scent that they gave off. She sighed, loving the smell that they gave off. It reminded her of Rantaro, and she loved it. Kirumi finally understood why people - lovers - were so obsessed with giving eachother roses.