[SS] Arduous Tasks

“There is no such thing as a time “too early” or “too late” for domestics to fulfil their duties. With such lacking diligence, are you truly a teacher, Mister Li?” She almost despairingly asked, having already an answer of her own without requiring any of his as she let out a sigh; one tinged by both disappointment at the sight of such a “teacher” within the highly retarded establishment of Tokiwadai, and by the shame this exhibitionist seemed to lack.

Noting that it was fortunate for him that the dorm mistress had not arrived first, the maid however maintained an undisturbed stance and gaze, waiting for him to get dressed before crossing her arms in front of her rather modest chest.

"Now, is this a business visit, or did you just feel like some company at this lonely hour?"

A smirk decorated her peculiar features, and she simply lifted one of her arms to point towards the mattress with her thumb. “I am here to ensure that your butler skills are on point for the upcoming festival, and I have the feeling we have a considerable amount to work on.”

Indeed, this girl seemed to fancy the role of a “senpai” and was most rejoiced at having been given that role as if a perfect opportunity to prove herself as a high-tier maid.

She widened her stance and one of her hands on her hips, the other pulling a stopwatch out of one of her many utility pockets before shifting to point in his direction with her index.

“Consider this an evaluation where I will gauge just how much work is required you make you into an acceptable serv- butler. Butler. Now, show me your most sincere display of loyalty towards your employer as you put away this mattress and clean up the mess scattered across this room!”

What mess?

Even for a storage room, it was spotless as usual and expected from anything related to Tokiwadai.

That fact would have proven itself troublesome for the “evaluation” she had planned...

Had she not cruelly raised her leg to throw a fluid roundhouse kick onto a nearby cardboard box, spreading its broken mechanical part contents onto the ground as she began the stopwatch's timer.

“I am here to ensure that your butler skills are on point for the upcoming festival, and I have the feeling we have a considerable amount to work on.”

"I see." He smirked confidently and met her eyes deliberately. "I've never had a girl complain about the quality of my service." He declared dryly, leaving her to decide on how to interpret his words for herself.

Already he was scanning the room carefully. This wasn't the first time he'd been placed in the role of a servant. The room had been carefully maintained to a high level of cleanliness and tidiness but it was not flawless.

Amateurs.

“Consider this an evaluation where I will gauge just how much work is required you make you into an acceptable serv- butler. Butler. Now, show me your most sincere display of loyalty towards your employer as you put away this mattress and clean up the mess scattered across this room!”

Tsubame delivered a deft kick to the box of scraps, sending them tumbling across the floor and Guy shook his head with a disappointed sigh.

Was she even trying to make this difficult for him? He rolled his shoulders and set to work. He had already identified the path to victory. A broom propped up against the wall of the storeroom, no doubt used by the cleaning staff. A disused drying frame. A clear space by the near wall. The tools were at his disposal. This would be easy.

"As you wish, my lady." He said a little too politely for it to not be sarcastic, folding at the waist in a formal bow. Even with the handicap of a single arm he managed to make short work of the scattered debris, sweeping it back into the box which he set back in its original position.

The mattress was next. It was light and he was able to lift it with one hand, tossing it into the air with a flourish and folding it in half in one smooth motion. He left it hanging neatly over the old drying frame.

But he wasn't done quite yet. He arranged the boxes and other contents of the room against the clear space of the wall with the care and precision of a Feng Shui master. The result was undeniable. The room had been transformed with just a few careful movements, the open space seeming to almost double in size.

And for the final touch he reached into his jacket pocket to retrieve a small, folded white handkerchief. A flick of his wrist saw it open up and he paced towards the far wall, quickly brushing off a small, almost unnoticeable trace of a smear from the wall.

As he had decided earlier, a high level of cleanliness and tidiness, but not flawless.

The young man whose casual demeanor seemed at odds with his surroundings stood rigidly to attention and flicked his handkerchief out over the right angle of his right arm, draping the fabric across the cast encasing his forearm.

"I trust that this satisfies my lady?" He lowered his head in an uncharacteristic display of subservient deference and bowed once more.

A small, impressed whistle escaped Tsubame's mouth as she witnessed the surprisingly adept display. It was, indeed, of higher tier than what she had imagined she could expect from such an individual. Glancing at the stopwatch as if seeking a proof to that, she noted it had taken him an approximative mere minute to accomplish such a simplistic task, and she nodded in satisfaction at the sight.

Clearly, the quality and speed of his service wouldn't be a problem to handle and it, in turn, meant lesser work for her.

For reasons much more different than unwillingness to teach or mere laziness...

“I see, I see. So there is a quality standard to Milady's acquaintances. Oh, how pleased will my brother be to hear this slight piece of better news.” She quietly sang to herself before putting away the stopwatch, staring back at the improvised butler with a smirk. “But that wasn't good enough.”

The girl, seemingly well-versed in the art of extravagant body mannerisms and speech returned to pointing at the man facing her, an almost condescending look decorating her equally amused features.

“Firstly, your sarcasm. Oh, how it won't do! A domestic must always serve with the most heartfelt and earnest joy! Lingering rudeness towards our ladies will simply not do and I can feel your voice dripping with mockery and sass.”

Reflecting onto the test performance, she had also spotted another glaring issue.

“And that last action of yours doesn't make you look attentive to details, it makes you look like a maniac. Understand, Mr. Li? Such minuscule details must always be taken care of while you're alone, and certainly not in the presence of the people you are serving. Our ladies must never take a glance at the most disgraceful of details, and a true butler will handle it as their backs are turned, as if it never existed in the first place. Not while they're looking on.​”

Her bizarrely specific semi-lesson on the backscenes of the butler life done, she pushed her rather small and discrete glasses back onto the bridge of her nose as she fell deep into thought, shoving a hand into another of her numerous multi-purpose pockets. From it, she pulled a rolled up measuring tape she proceeded to extend.

“Your appearance is also another problem. For various reasons alike, our ladies will likely faint should you serve them in your undergarments. And I dare say you will find no establishment in Academy City that provides the opportunity for you to deliver that kind of service...”

Grasping the still rolled part of the tape with one hand, she firmly tugged on the part that she had extended, an explicit invitation to obediently let her measure him.

“So let this not be painful for either of us. The sooner clothing can be arranged for you, the safer you'll be from being made a maid down to your briefs.”

“I see, I see. So there is a quality standard to Milady's acquaintances. Oh, how pleased will my brother be to hear this slight piece of better news.

Guy straightened his back. There was a brief flicker of an arrogant smirk at the corner of his mouth.

But that wasn't good enough.”

His expression fell, that smug twitch of a smile drawing long into a nonplussed expression similar to the one he had worn when being threatened by the Dorm Mistress. Like the tingles on the back of one's neck when being watched or goosebumps from imminent danger he could already sense a lecture coming on. Oh, how he loved being lectured...

“Firstly, your sarcasm. Oh, how it won't do! A domestic must always serve with the most heartfelt and earnest joy! Lingering rudeness towards our ladies will simply not do and I can feel your voice dripping with mockery and sass.”

He bit his tongue, almost literally as well as figuratively. This girl was pretty imperious. Almost as much of a haughty princess as the girls she served. But that was fine. He was used to the princess types by now.

“And that last action of yours doesn't make you look attentive to details, it makes you look like a maniac. Understand, Mr. Li? Such minuscule details must always be taken care of while you're alone, and certainly not in the presence of the people you are serving. Our ladies must never take a glance at the most disgraceful of details, and a true butler will handle it as their backs are turned, as if it never existed in the first place. Not while they're looking on.”

And if I hadn't, you would have failed me on it anyway... He thought to himself, still holding back the impulse to speak out. It was a true catch 22 situation.

“Your appearance is also another problem. For various reasons alike, our ladies will likely faint should you serve them in your undergarments. And I dare say you will find no establishment in Academy City that provides the opportunity for you to deliver that kind of service...”

"Well, I don't know about that..." Guy's resolve finally cracked and he looked away, scratching behind his ear in an attempt to cover his mischievous expression. He could think of a couple of places that would offer that sort of service. Not that he frequented them, of course. He had far too much self-respect.

“So let this not be painful for either of us. The sooner clothing can be arranged for you, the safer you'll be from being made a maid down to your briefs.”

"I already have a uniform. If I was informed about this little 'arrangement' I could have picked it up.

“If you ever found an establishment like that, I'm preeeetty sure the city would be facing a revolt in the form of lawsuits from outraged parents.”

A fairly strained and tired voice suddenly appeared from the slightly ajar door, leaning on the nearby wall as if indirectly indicating that she'd been there for a while. Its owner was a sight becoming familiar to both of the “servants”, a brown-haired girl whose usually bored expression was replaced by sheer tiredness in this far too early morning.

“Milady! Have you slept well?” Tsubame asked as she redirected all of the focus she had had towards the older boy for the newcomer, a sense of deep familiarity running through both. Somehow, it seemed like Tsubame wasn't an unpleasant presence for Natsumi, in fact quite the contrary as she answered the question with a small, amused smile.

“Heavenly. Just like on a parking in snowy winter. But don't mind me, go ahead and take his measurements.” She gestured for the two to get on with it as rapidly as possible; this day would be heavy enough for all of them, after all. And the question had been far too obvious for her to resist making a sarcastic reply out of it.

Nonetheless, Tsubame laughed at the sound of this peculiar definition of “heaven” and turned back towards Guy.

“Tokiwadai insists on issuing their own uniforms for events it is affiliated with and as such, whatever rags you may have that would serve as a “uniform” would be truly unfitting.” Cruel words willingly thrown by the petite girl were reinforced by her tugging on the measuring tape once more.

Tug, tug, tug.

“Truly unfitting.” She repeated with a small smile, leaving no doubt as to the heightened expectations they would all have towards him.

***

“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Li! Worry not, this Amaya Tsubame will ensure that you receive your uniform within the most respectable of delays!” She beamed as if not having been source of pure condescension mere moments earlier. Putting away all of the tools she had used for the sake of measuring, she waved a hand as she left a seemingly specific demand to Natsumi on her way out of the storage room.

“Milady, please ensure that my brother doesn't hear of this matter. He would surely lose the remainder of his sanity were he to know that such a... “peculiar” individual resides within the walls of the School Garden.”

Uncharacteristically awkward laughs escaped Natsumi as she scratched the back of her head with her only free hand. Her bothered expression was clear testament to the fact that whoever this “brother” was, it was certainly not someone she could easily handle.

Leaning back onto the wall, she pointed outside the storage room as she then spoke to the older boy.

“You're quite the popular one today, aren't you? First Tsubame and a special lesson on how butlers should act, next the headmistress' and her convocation that should happen in...” She pulled her phone out of her skirt's pocket and looked at the permanently displayed time, a grin forming on her face as she slowly spelled out his potential doom.

“Fifteen minutes. And I'm sure you know her office isn't in this building.”

**

4:59 A.M, Tokiwadai Middle School, Headmistress' Office

Two women were present in this room that represented the enforcement of the entire school's regulations and expectations towards their students.

One was a rather enigmatic headmistress. Appearing to be rather well-maintained for a woman of her advanced age – her facial features being the only hint to it – though unsurprisingly considering her social status, she was not often seen around the premises of the school nor the dorm. Yet that precise lack of presence meant that you would know her more terrifying aspects if you were to be too familiar with her too often, for she could decide of the educational fate of any one of her students.

For those with enough of an upstanding scholarship and behaviour to not require regular meetups with authority figures, however, they would know her at most as the grandmother warmly watching over the entire school who also happened to have a nephew most of the girls were familiar with.

The other one was a lot more (in)famous, however, for being the most terrifying out of the two dorm mistresses in Tokiwadai.

Students even outside Tokiwadai knew her and could describe her as a demon who would be present anywhere offences to the rules were committed. Rumours were uncertain on whether to settle as her being once part of the military, her being an experimental robot to replace human teachers, or simply a supernatural existence that none could defeat besides the elderly woman sitting near her.

That woman who could only inspire theories and speculations by the thousands slightly raised her head towards a wall clock.

“He should not take much longer to arrive.” The headmistress proclaimed as if sensing the thoughts of her “co-worker”, who merely nodded in agreement as she hoped yesterday's warning proved to be fruitful.

August 5^th, 5:30 A.M, Tokiwadai Middle School's Dormitory.

It had been a truly rough night.

Not because she had been plagued with nightmares ot had found herself too anxious about any given problem to fall asleep. She hadn't remembered any sudden task she had forgotten to complete.

No, the source of her restlessness was simply that she had been so exhausted that her body had entered a weird trance of struggling to fall asleep and rest the more she consciously tried to do so. It made her realise that having a healthy sleep schedule that would facilitate productive rest was not something to undermine or take for granted, and for a brief moment she found herself feeling compassion for those with insomnia.

And the only reason she had been pulled out of that so hard-earned sleep was that Mikoto's alarm clock had gone off. It was ringing earlier than usual due to how much work would need to be done today for the dorm mistress to repeat her regular infractions, and so she had no choice but to reluctantly mash her phone's buttons to turn it off.

Sluggishly sitting straight on her bed after tearing the light blanket off her, she audibly yawned and stretch, suddenly realising that sun was starting to seep into the room.

“Kuroko, wake up. The dorm mistress is going to kill us if we sleep in today...” She called out in-between persistent yawns.

Unlike Mikoto, however, Shirai Kuroko had fallen deep into slumberland early on that night and slumberland had intended to keep her as she slept through the alarm that Mikoto had so diligently set up. Normally, it would be aberrant for a diligent, albeit somewhat reckless, Judgment member like her to let herself stay under the whims of Hypnos even after the designated time to be set free had passed. But all aberrations had some reason.

After all, exhaustion tends to work in wondrous and mysterious ways. Despite getting a fair amount of sleep from various reasons in the past 24 hours, she had finally found comfort on her own bed at a place she generally called a home.

It was almost excusable. Almost.

“But, Onee-sama. The whipped cream...”

In the end, she was merely being anchored a dream dyed in pink for longer than she was supposed to.

“Your Kuroko will eat it all up...Ehehehe.”

A single line of saliva flowed from her open mouth after those soft, yet audible utterances and landed on her pillow as she continued to sleep, blissfully unaware of her dear onee-sama’s obvious warning.

“Tokiwadai insists on issuing their own uniforms for events it is affiliated with and as such, whatever rags you may have that would serve as a “uniform” would be truly unfitting.”

He smiled sweetly, laughing along with her in the way that he had become so well practiced at. Humouring the bizarre whims of these girls had become almost second nature at this point. Though she was probably right in this instance. The waiter's uniform he had been supplied for his part-time job at the bistro was customised to fit his frame but it was not crafted from the finest materials or made bespoke. If the school was really going out of their way to provide him with a brand new outfit then he could expect it to be the very highest quality. He could only hope this new uniform wouldn't be too humiliating.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Li! Worry not, this Amaya Tsubame will ensure that you receive your uniform within the most respectable of delays!”

"Don't tell me. We're going to match like a couple on Prom night, right?" He cocked his head a little to look down at Tsubame. "If I get you a rose for your hair I can wear a matching one in my lapel."

“You're quite the popular one today, aren't you? First Tsubame and a special lesson on how butlers should act, next the headmistress' and her convocation that should happen in...Fifteen minutes. And I'm sure you know her office isn't in this building.”

"I get it, I get it..." Guy waved Natsumi off while walking in the direction of the designated building. Despite the threat of punishment looming over him he didn't hurry. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were enjoying this." He rolled his eyes.

***

He arrived with not a second to spare.

"Good morning!" He sounded far too alert and cheerful for the early hour. "How are my two favourite ladies doing today?" He immediately began to sweet talk the pair without a hint of irony. He knew of course that the woman known as the Dorm Mistress wouldn't be taken in by simple flattery.

On the other hand, he was familiar enough with the Headmistress to know that, as an old-fashioned sort of woman, she found such behaviour quite quaint, even if she didn't necessarily believe a word of it. It was all part of the song and dance between gentlemen and ladies that the younger generation seemed to consider outdated.

Truth be told, he and the Headmistress got along quite well.

The two women exchanged briefly glances as the man “cheerfully” arrived; at the very least he seemed to have the moderate awareness that his job came with responsibilities including respecting appointments. If only that were enough to satisfy the dorm mistress...

“As occupied as one would expect during school events, Li-kun. How about you? Is the storage room to your liking? I recall it should still be considerably larger than your current living space.” The headmistress whose expression and tone vastly contrasted that of her friend's replied, a tone indicating very well that the behaviour and ideas of her workers bemused her greatly and heeding no mind to the subtle and possibly unintended insult towards his dorm room.

As the headmistress spoke, however, the other woman found herself intricately observing him, likely not in ways that he'd found himself appreciating. As if reaching a conclusion, she waited for the casual chatter to end before pushing her glasses back in place and speaking up.

“Following yesterday's matter...” Her voice carried a sense of doom as it was made obviously clear that she'd only let off yesterday's nonsense temporarily. Was this appointment an ambush to force the truth out of him this time around, or had the headmistress actually requested to be explained things herself? It was indeed hard to figure out what was premeditated and what wasn't with this woman.

“Keep in mind that while Tokiwadai's image can't afford to fire a teacher who's only been here for a few months, the same doesn't apply to those girls.” At this, the headmistress had a somewhat bothered yet apologetic look on her face, indicating that she couldn't be of any support here.

“Even if it was to support you, their rather grave injuries indicate that they've gotten themselves injured in a brawl far beyond what a Tokiwadai student should allow herself to, and that's excluding them being away from the school for extended periods of time. If people were to start rumours that our ladies at Tokiwadai get involved in petty delinquent fighting at any given opportunity and ignore their studies as a result, with the track record they have with "respecting" authority and rules, expulsion isn't out of the question...”

A defying glimmer shone in the stern eyes behind the glasses; she was openly daring him to convince her that a matter that had been going on for nearly a month wasn't worth taking reasonable action against.

“What do you say, Li-kun? Are you sure that's the extent of what's been happening the past few weeks?”

“But, Onee-sama. The whipped cream...”

“...”

For a brief moment, she had almost been brought to regret returning to her everyday life. Almost. But she wanted to keep confidence that Kuroko's antics, no matter how inherently disgusting they could ever be, they would never turn her away back into that world...

“Your Kuroko will eat it all up...Ehehehe.”

...Even if she was really tempted right now.

Mikoto violently shook her head to remove that idea from her mind and with a deep breathe...

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

“Good morning.” Her threatening voice called out an only half-sincere greeting as she moved out of the way of any potentially falling-from-bed, blackened corpses, her arms very sternly crossed across her childish pyjamas. “Are you fully awake now?”

It only took a few moments for such bliss to be ripped away and replaced with the pain of dangerous muscle spasms, burning flesh, and heat that came from being struck by lightning.

Kuroko’s eyes, finally having had all sight to whatever pink-colored dream cut off finally took in the sight of a stern Misaka Mikoto standing before her bed, arm’s crossed over her childish night clothes.  Were it not for the sudden shock that woke her up, Kuroko would almost find herself slightly disheartened by the shift from [REDACTED] to her fully-clothed onee-sama.

“Yes, Onee-sama.” Forcing herself to move out of a contorted position that would make Nyarlathotep jealous, Kuroko straightened her body out and stretched herself before finally getting off of bed.

Her eyes drifted away from her stern onee-sama to the clock in the room. “Oh, yeah. The Dorm Mistress’s punishment,” she sighed as the reason behind her early wake-up call came back to her.

“Do you remember where we were told to head off to once we got ready?” Kuroko forced herself back onto topic as she dusted herself and her clothes off.

“As occupied as one would expect during school events, Li-kun. How about you? Is the storage room to your liking? I recall it should still be considerably larger than your current living space.”

"Haha. Yes. That's true." He agreed. Having been forced into living in a student dormitory due to 'a mixup in accommodation', Guy had adapted quite well. He wasn't someone who felt pride in having an extravagant home or expensive possessions, so a student dormitory was quite adequate for his needs. "It was quite comfortable actually. And I really must thank you for the wake-up call this morning. Your staff are quite diligent."

“Following yesterday's matter..."

The smile left his face to be replaced by an expression of weary boredom. So she was still on about that?

"Keep in mind that while Tokiwadai's image can't afford to fire a teacher who's only been here for a few months, the same doesn't apply to those girls.

Even if it was to support you, their rather grave injuries indicate that they've gotten themselves injured in a brawl far beyond what a Tokiwadai student should allow herself to, and that's excluding them being away from the school for extended periods of time. If people were to start rumours that our ladies at Tokiwadai get involved in petty delinquent fighting at any given opportunity and ignore their studies as a result, with the track record they have with "respecting" authority and rules, expulsion isn't out of the question...”

“What do you say, Li-kun? Are you sure that's the extent of what's been happening the past few weeks?”

"Okay, fine. You've seen through my flawlessly constructed cover story." He ran a hand through his hair with a defeated sigh. He didn't really care whether they believed him or not, and the consequences were even less of a concern. He had lied not to save his own skin or even that of the three students. Rather, his intention had been to spare them the details of the true incident. Rumours were already circulating it seemed, but he doubted those behind the experiment would take kindly to anyone knowing the full details.

"The fact is those girls and I sustained these injuries preventing a conspiracy to increase the power of a psychotic Esper at the cost of innocent lives." He said matter-of-factly. When presented with his two stories side by side, any sane person would choose to believe the one involving a gang of delinquent troublemakers. One might have expected him to crack a smile and laugh after telling such an outlandish tale. But he merely shrugged in a resigned way as though to say 'take it or leave it'.

At this very dubious claim, the two elder women could only stare at him in as much disbelief as they could allow to show on their faces. For these girls who regularly got involved in mere squabbles, proclaiming that they had been involved in some kind of terrorist-like scheme was a bold move.

Seemingly irritating the dorm mistress to a point where she nearly spoke up her displeasure at this joke, the headmistress simply lifted a hand to indicate to be silent and pondered. It seemed to last for an eternity before she finally opened her mouth to call out...

“Tsubame-chan.” Spoken a little loudly in order to be heard outside the office, and as if on cue, the dark-haired girl with a swallowtail vest appeared with a graceful bow and a teasing smirk towards Guy. “Ensure that the first aid kits are readily available and that they have people nearby at all times should anything happen during their punishment.”

“Understood. I will ensure that they have highest quality of stalking services!” She proudly proclaimed as she brought a fist to bump her chest, pointing out once again her bizarrely extravagant mannerisms as the headmistress could only gave an awkward laugh before returning her attention to the sole man in the room.

“How long will it take for your and the girls' injuries to heal? I see both you and the young Hujisaka required arm casts.” The question itself wasn't particularly lined with any sort of accusation, but mere concern both for the injured and the image people would have of Tokiwadai should its students publicly boast of very unladylike injuries.

Expressing her contentment of Kuroko's answer with a grim nod proclaiming that the abuse would continue to be necessary as long as the younger girl carried on with that freaky behaviour, Mikoto turned towards her bed and pulled her phone out from under the pillow.

“Do you remember where we were told to head off to once we got ready?”

Thinking about it a little, she realised that they had never been told their explicit schedule for today. Weird. Usually the dorm mistress found great enjoyment out of fixing a dictature-like schedule as revenge for their regular rule trespassing.

“Ahh... No, I don't. I guess the dorm mistress forgot? Though we're probably the only ones up at this hour, so maybe we should start by the school and then the dorms when everyone's awa-aaah-ke?” Her sentence was interrupted by a yawn as she fully stretched; honestly, if she wasn't sentenced to being a housemaid, she would've gladly slept in today.

“She's probably in the school anyway, so let's just ask her directly. I wonder what's up with her lately?” She dropped as a final conclusive answer as she was headed towards the bathroom with her phone in hand, making extra sure to lock it behind her no matter how inherently useless it would've been against someone like Kuroko...

With all that had been going on combined with the state of being KO’d more times than she wished to count in the past few hours, Kuroko neglected to spare any attention to the deviations in behavior that Mikoto had pointed out.

Though, in retrospect, Mikoto was absolutely right. The dorm manager’s actions were definitely deviating from the norm.

“Beats me.” She said in response to Mikoto’s own question. “I don’t think I’ve ever been able to understa-aaah-and what she’s ever thinking.”

Kuroko could feel her eyelids drop in reflex. Yawning was truly a contagious phenomenon.

While Mikoto was getting ready to change in the bathroom, Kuroko shuffled around until she pulled out her own set of clothes and begin to change into them.

“But frankly, I don’t think trying to figure that out will be useful to us at all.” She sighed, forcibly preventing herself from trying to delve into that woman’s mind.

The cocky young man didn't seem fazed by the uneasy silence that followed. As he saw the dorm mistress open her mouth to bark at him his expression slipped into the same comfortable apathy as before in preparation for the barrage.

Thankfully for all involved, they wouldn't have to waste the next few minutes of their lives in a one sided argument because the headmistress interjected.

“Tsubame-chan. Ensure that the first aid kits are readily available and that they have people nearby at all times should anything happen during their punishment.”

Should anything happen? Just what are you planning for them that you have those kind of concerns? He wondered with trepidation.

“How long will it take for your and the girls' injuries to heal? I see both you and the young Hujisaka required arm casts.”

While Guy did not know the extent of Natsumi's injuries, he had reason to suspect they were somewhat less severe than his own. And while it was commonly accepted that kids healed faster than adults anyway he wasn't sure if the age difference was big enough to matter in this instance.

"That old fella told me it would take a couple of months with proper treatment. Really, the medical facilities here are miraculous, aren;t they?" An injury as severe as his would normally take at least 6 months to fully recover, but Heaven Canceller had estimated less than half that time. Even accounting for Guy's natural resilience it seemed too much like wishful thinking. "I'm sure it would speed up even more with some r&r, but I couldn't leave the kids without their teacher. Don't worry, I'll grin and bear the pain for the sake of the students." He added in a transparent attempt to garner sympathy and possibly a few points for dedication.

“Really? I think it’ll be helpful.” Mikoto stated as she finally walked out of the bathroom, fully clothed in their sober beige uniform. “You know her punishments are a lot more terrible when you don’t actually know what to expect...” Their shortness on time to get going to the school made it that the two of them had to regretfully pass up on a quick shower before getting to work, and the girl merely sighed loudly at the prospect.

“…Haaaah. And I hope that pervert isn’t planning something weird. I bet you anything he’s just happily snoring away waiting for some room service.” She mumbled, fairly bothered.

Maybe it was the influence of the upcoming terrible day, she reckoned as she prevented another sigh from escaping her.


“Ah, whatever. Come on, hurry up! Thanks to your weird dreams, we’re going to be la-…” Picking up her phone, she noted that it would soon be 6 A.M, and so she could only verbally rush Kuroko as her eyes slowly acknowledged something very wrong. “…Huh?”

Wasn’t there something missing to that bizarrely shaped phone of hers?

The image of the laboratory ruins she had made a temporary “home” out of came to mind and nagged her as she repeatedly turned the phone around, almost desperately looking for that something.

“Oh no…”

“Worry not, Mr. Li. Once you fully embrace the wonderfulness of serving, the mere idea of work will rejuvenate you!” Tsubame happily chirped once again, proving to be a master of unnecessary, sassy interventions. Or perhaps it was her way of making sure the mood wouldn’t drop as it usually does with adults?

“That’s hoping he doesn’t start talking like you do.” A new voice made itself heard as Natsumi stepped into the office, seemingly bothered by the current reunion. Running her only free hand through her head to quell her last bit of bed hair, she only acknowledged the headmistress with a nod.

“You haven’t actually told us what we're expected to be doing today.” She reminded the dorm mistress as Tsubame stepped back into the hallway.

“Oh, haven’t I?” The older woman fell into quick consideration; indeed, she had only given a vague outline despite her usual schedule rigidness. “You’ll be taking care of cleaning the school and its pool until the girls wake up. Afterwards, you’ll take care of the dorms and help out with the festival preparations throughout the afternoon and evening.” She quickly composed herself and gave a fairly reasonable, if certainly elaborate, plan for the day.

“Sounds rough on four people…” Natsumi cringed at the idea, though the dorm mistress hardly seemed fazed by the remark. In fact, she seemed oddly distracted compared to her usual self.

“That’s where I hope Li-san’s aptitude at leadership and efficiency will step in.” The headmistress took over with a wink, and rapidly clapped her hand. “Feel free to organise yourselves as you see fit. I won’t keep you any longer. There’s a lot of work ahead, so you’re now dismissed!”

“You say that, but there’s not much we can do to brace for whatever she ends up throwing our way regardless of if we know what she’s up to or not.” In the end, Kuroko could only come to realize that work of tedium and exertion remained as such regardless of how much one anticipated it. It was an integral part of the nature of those odd, tedious jobs. “Though, I guess the placebo might not be unwelcome.” She simply said out as she finished pulling zipping up her skirt, completing her dress-up for the day.

Unfortunately, her attempts at trying to keep her spirits as high as possible were thwarted with Mikoto’s mumbling. Though, it was not the contents of the mumbling but the general ambiance around her that got to her.

Negativity had a way of spreading, regardless of who it came from.



“Now, onee-sama. That’s rude. My dreams come from a place of pure respect. So don’t try and pin the blame on them~” Kuroko chimed in response while following Mikoto. But, she cut her smile short the moment she heard Mikoto’s ‘Oh no’.

She seemed to be looking at her phone but that was hardly enough for Kuroko to be able to tell what was going on.

“Is something wrong, onee-sama?” Going through all the possible actions, this was probably for the best.

“That’s where I hope Li-san’s aptitude at leadership and efficiency will step in.”

Guy gave a quick and confident thumbs up that was undermined slightly by the overly serious expression he wore.

“Feel free to organise yourselves as you see fit. I won’t keep you any longer. There’s a lot of work ahead, so you’re now dismissed!”

"You can count on us!" He continued to show an uncharacteristic eagerness for work that could only mean he had some sort of ulterior motive.

As soon as he left the office though, Guy dropped all pretence of reliability and professionalism, shoulders relaxing into his usual casual posture. Far from a young teacher at work, he looked like a party-goer on his way to the next club.

"Okay, let's get to the pool." His words were somewhat surprising considering his attitude. "We wouldn't want to keep the young ladies waiting, would we?"

Yes, he definitely had some ulterior motive.

Arriving at the poolside Guy was quick to test the equipment. Hoses were sturdy and seemingly lacking in leaks. The water was flowing and easily linked. Mops and sponges and other cleaning supplies were in ample supply. He diligently checked every single requirement like he was running off a checklist.

There was absolutely something suspicious about this.

Kuroko’s words had fallen on deaf ears as the older girl quickly paced to her belongings, scrambling through her bag and desk in search of what seemed to a loss of a valuable item. Even if she could pinpoint where, she had no remote idea of when she had dropped it and at this point going back would likely be useless in all the mess that had been left behind and was probably being taken care of now.

So she let herself be fancied by the idea that she had simply put it away and not entirely lost it, but as expected, nothing turned up from her suddenly frantic search.

“Dammit…!” She uttered while dejectedly rearranging her bag before realising that Kuroko was staring at her quite worryingly.

“A-Ah, sorry, Kuroko! It’s nothing, I just forgot where I put my… Umm…” She suddenly stuttered, unable to find a makeshift item to pretend she had lost; Kuroko was far too smart to try and play off the fact that her odd behaviour started the moment she took a deeper glance at her phone.

And so, hurriedly shoving it into her skirt’s pocket to hide the main object of suspicion, she simply cut it there and motioned towards the door.

“Whatever, it’s fine. Come on, let’s go!”

Happiness had a different impact on different people. And while the most common way of gauging it was by seeing how it impacted the person it concerned, analysing the effect it had on their acquaintances also had its fair share of interest.

As far as Natsumi was concerned, not only was she heavily wary of the notion of “happiness” to begin with, but she was also very suspicious towards usually grim people suddenly finding reasons to be joyful.

So Guy’s more than earnest interest in their common punishment was, needless to say, less of a reason to relax as it should’ve been between a “teacher and student”, and more of a reason to be concerned. She held herself quite a distance away from the boy running through what would be their best friends for the day: Mr. Mop, and Mrs. Bucket.

“…It’s six in the morning. And I’m sure you know there aren’t going to be any girls – much less in their swimsuits – until we’re done cleaning and gone. So what are you planning now?” She honestly asked, unwilling to bear a full day with this creepy display.

“And don’t give me this “nothing, I’m just content of being able to help my students” bullshit you think works on people.”

A scorn decorated her face as she anticipated any makeshift response he could try to pull; it seemed she had a difficult time hiding her sheer disgust at this unusual show of character.

“Onee-sama.” What came out of Kuroko’s mouth was neither a concerned utterance nor one of gentle care. It was the tone of someone who had seen the same song and dance before and was tired of it. Needless to say, Kuroko’s deadpan would probably be fairly obvious to her dear onee-sama.

But, that obviously would not be enough to stop Mikoto from evading her. Kuroko had known Mikoto too long and too well for that to be where she stopped. Her hand quickly stretched out to make a firm, though not painful, grip onto Mikoto’s shoulder.

“Clearly, you haven’t learned to stop hiding your problems.” Clearly, there was no way Kuroko would let this go. Almost like a stern mother, she made sure to speak as directly as possible.

In the end, she had seen Mikoto’s shifty actions, or at least caught a glimpse of the fact that she was trying to hide something. “You can confide in your dear Kuroko, no matter how big or small the problem is, alright?”

If she was asked, it was likely Mikoto wouldn’t be able to tell whether there was more warmth in Kuroko’s voice or pure disappointment from the state of her behaviour. It had, after all, only been about a day since she had been lectured on relying on others and how not doing so had a tendency to get her in the trouble she always did.

“Ahahaha, I’m telling you, it’s nothing! I’d tell you if it were a bad situation!” The more frenzied she became to get Kuroko off her case, at least this case, the more Mikoto's blush grew into a very persistent pink colour...

Now if only Mikoto could actually explain why she couldn’t count on Kuroko for this.

It was nothing along the lines of a courageous effort to find by her lonesome what she had lost by her own fault, no. Nor was it her typical habit to charge ahead in any situation unaccompanied, either.

The reason was very fundamental: Kuroko would lose whatever was left of her mind if she found out what she lost and how much it bothered her. Yes, this would surely open a Pandora’s Box unlike any other breakdown Kuroko had had at unsightly implications before…

"Now, really, I’v- we’ve gotta go!” She quickly shrugged herself away from Kuroko’s motherly grasp as she flew out of her dorm room, only to be unfortunately met by another, unexpected human presence.

In a matter of collision, at that.

“Uwah?!  I’m sorry!” She automatically blurt out as she landed on her ass, trying to get a glimpse as to who she had accidentally charged into…

Aiko yawned as she meandered down the hall of the Tokiwadai dorm. It was much earlier than she'd normally get up but today had been somewhat different... or rather, it was supposed to have been different. Someone had contacted Aiko about a job they wanted her to do, however it necessitated her waking up at this unfortunate hour. So, she had woken up early, taken a quick shower and put on her uniform only to then check her phone and see that her contact had decided to cancel the job last minute... Oh well, now she was awake and with no job to do, had nothing but free time. Aiko considered going back to sleep but she'd already finished her morning routine and really didn't feel like doing that a second time so ultimately she decided to just grab some food.

Moving slowly down the empty hall, Aiko thought for a moment about how not being able to do this job left her with a bit of a deficit in her wallet. She let out a deep sigh laced with disappointment. At least she charged a small fee for booking in advance just for this situation.

(Enough dwelling on this though, I should grab some food)

Suddenly the door next to her burst open and quickly following it was the sudden arrival of another student, so sudden in fact that they collided with Aiko, knocking her off balance. Luckily she managed to catch herself against the wall on the other side of the hall, not however without letting out a "Gweh" upon colliding with the other student. Steadying herself Aiko gazed down and extended a floppy sleeved hand to the fallen girl to help her to her feet.

"Uwah?! I'm sorry!" the girl on the ground exclaimed.

"No problem." Aiko said with a smile. Looking now at the girl she recognized her. "Oh, Misaka-san. Where are you heading off to in such rush so early?"