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"What can I help you with tonight, Yonaga-san? The usual?"
Kirumi lingered in the doorway, hands folded neatly in front of her. None of her classmates' dorm rooms were foreign to her. She entered to tidy up, to change bedding, to collect laundry or dishes. Everyone's unique aura and preferences engrained themselves in her memory. Angie's room, however, was becoming more familiar than the rest. This was the third night in a row she'd been summoned there at nighttime, and while she was always happy to fulfill a request, she was beginning to wonder if the others might notice the habit and grow suspicious. Nighttime wandering could be far from innocent in a killing game.
"Oh, Kirumi-chan!" Looking up from her sketchbook, Angie clapped her hands together excitedly. Had she been so focused on her art that she didn't even notice the door opening? "Yep yep, Kami-sama says we should continue working on the plan. If we succeed, then everyone will want to live here in harmony."
"Then let us proceed." Walking farther into the room, Kirumi claimed the desk chair. Angie had previously invited her to just sit on the bed with her, but if it wasn't a direct request, she was perfectly content here. Casual, spontaneous intimacy had never been the kind of thing she excelled at. It felt awkward, unprofessional. She could play the role of an adviser, a therapist, a confidant...anything a client might need. But it was just that: playing a role. Outside the comforting structure of her job, socializing was very difficult indeed. She'd never had many friends.
That wasn't the kind of thing to dwell on right now though. Shoving those thoughts aside, she turned her attention to the papers scattered across the desk. They were in total disarray, as she'd come to expect from Angie. The first order of business would have to be organizing them. Gloved hands began leafing through the pages, searching for names, numbers, anything that she could use to make sense of the notes.
After a mere few seconds of this, she heard quiet sounds of fidgeting. The rustling of sheets and paper, the slight noise of the mattress shifting beneath Angie's weight. A few moments after that, there were a few quiet footsteps, and then a shadow cast over the paper from behind her. She could practically feel Angie breathing.
"Sooooo," she said, drawing the word out until it vibrated with tension. "Who should we start with? Angie just can't decide!"
That peppy tone didn't show it, but it was an awfully loaded question. Angie's plan, which she claimed her god had relayed to her, was to play matchmaker. As the days rolled past, it only became more clear that she favored adapting to life in the Academy rather than making any efforts to escape. Giving up on hope would also remove the temptation to kill. That was the idea, though Kirumi had her doubts. In the interest of making everyone content, why not set them up with each other? Not only was romance something many people craved, forging those intimate connections would further decrease everyone's willingness to kill. Hearing it all laid out like that, it seemed downright common sense.
Angie had requested her help, so she couldn't refuse. As a maid, she was obligated to help with this harebrained scheme to get as many of their classmates into relationships as possible.
"Perhaps Shirogane-san or Yumeno-san?" she offered. "You're quite close to them, are you not? Identifying the proper strategies should come easily. But of course, it all depends on what you desire, Yonaga-san. I will do my best to assist you either way." Kirumi set the stack of papers down, turning her head to meet Angie's eyes. They shimmered with frightening intelligence. She'd long suspected that the quirky Ultimate Artist was more machiavellian than anyone thought.
Maybe she was just a little bitter about it. For if Angie really was as ditzy and carefree as she acted, the lack of Kirumi's name on any of these lists could be written off as a simple oversight. Instead, she could only conclude that she was seen as so separate from the rest of them, so inhuman, that even trying to pair her up was a futile act. Everyone else had at least one or two potential matches written down, little question marks and annotations scribbled in the margins. The only ones who didn't appear at all were Kirumi and Angie herself.
"Kami-sama praises your wisdom! It's true that Angie would like to reward her closest friends first. Himiko-chan likes Korekiyo-chan for sure, but...Angie's not so sure about Tsumugi-chan." Lips pursed into a thoughtful frown, she idly tapped a pencil against her chin. "All of that might have to wait a little though. There could be a more important issue tonight. Someone else who should come first."
"A more important issue? What might that be?" She didn't even notice the slight lapse in her usual poise, the tension in her knitted brows.
"You, Kirumi-chan," Angie announced, punctuating her comment by poking her in the shoulder with the pencil. The eraser end, thankfully. No graphite stains on her clothes. "Something's bugging you, right? Right? You're keeping a secret from Angie."
"No, I don't believe so. There's no need for you to worry about me. I'm here to serve you, after all." It was meant as a reassurance, but if anything, Angie's frown grew.
"Hmm, it's coming to me....Yes, yes, that's it. You're lonely, aren't you?"
"L-lonely?" Her voice cracked in a very unbecoming manner. She winced. Angie caught it all, gaze tracking every minute gesture or change in body language. She leaned in, cupping Kirumi's face in her hand. The sensation of warm fingers tracing her jawline sent a shiver throughout her whole body.
"Uh huh. No one should be lonely in Kami-sama's paradise, right? That's why..." She leaned in even closer, and their lips brushed together in a barely-there kiss. Her lip gloss was sparkly and tasted faintly of peaches, Kirumi noticed. She was curling an arm around the other girl before she could tell herself not to, returning the kiss with one of her own.
"That's why Angie had to save Kirumi for herself, okay?"