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07:15, a Sunday morning.
Shuichi hadn’t even opened his eyes yet or a shock of ache went through his head. It felt heavy like bricks had been wrapped around it to keep him put. With a groan he tried to get up, hoping a glass of water inside of him would do the trick, but even his body felt heavy. Not in the same way, though. More like something laid on top of him. Something soft, something…
Alive?
He finally opened his eyes and looked at what exactly was trapping him in bed.
A girl.
Right under the sheets with him laid a girl, clamping to him with her head resting against his chest. And if that wasn’t reason enough to panic, said girl was Kirumi Tojo.
“Wha-?!” He had to stop himself from entering a yelling spree. What was she doing in his room, and even worse, doing in his bed?!
The reason for his headache suddenly came back to him. For Valentine’s the Ultimate Academy had organized a night party. It wasn’t much different from the regular parties, only the decorations being colored in pink and red instead of the academy colours. Not many people used the party as something romantic as a result. People hung out the same way they always did.
He did remember Kaito nagging him to do something, whatever that something might have even been, later followed by the astronaut pulling him to Kirumi and pulling a ‘Have you met Shuichi?’(Note: Shuichi and Kirumi very much met already considering they were classmates and had cooperated on several group projects. The drinks must have been strong on Kaito). After leaving Shuichi behind with the maid, the two of them made some casual talk while having a drink. There were smiles, and then…
Well, he couldn’t recall much after that. But whatever it must have been, it had landed the two of them in bed together.
…
Fear coursed through his body and he pulled the sheets up to look at himself.
“Oh… Oh, thank God, I’m still in my underwear. Nothing happened…” and dropped himself back into the pillow.
To which Kirumi awoke and a whole new wave of fear coursed through Shuichi’s body.
With a flew slow blinks her eyes came into view. They looked around a bit, unawarely joined by her nails softly scratching into Shuichi’s skin. It sent a shiver down his spine, one strong enough to have Kirumi notice she had been resting her head on something unusual. She stared up to Shuichi.
What was he supposed to say to her? ‘Hi’, ‘Good morning’? He still didn’t know what happened for sure, even if he could put 1 plus 1 together. It’s not as though he had any previous experience to fall back on, let alone be prepared to deal with someone like Kirumi.
But, he didn’t have to think about what to say much longer.
He swallowed loudly. “Erm-”
With a loud yelp Kirumi kicked him out of bed, a painful bang echoing through the room.
“Ow!” Shuichi howled.
“What are you doing here?!” she continued to yell whilst pulling up the sheets to cover herself.
If his head didn’t hurt enough already, it now sure did. “I-”
“Oh God…” Her hands messily ran through her hair, her voice and body quivering in confusion.
“W-wait, Kirumi, calm down!” Shuichi carefully sat himself upright from the pile of discarded clothes. “Nothing happened. It’s okay.”
“Nothing happened?” she repeated with spite. “Then explain why I am naked in your bed.”
“Well…” He swallowed again. While the story was rather obviously a case of things having gotten out of hand yesterday after the party, his face flushed at the thought of having to say it out loud. Just the mere idea of kissing Kirumi sent his heartbeat into a rage.
Kirumi’s face also flushed and her hand covered her mouth. The memories must have started spinning in her mind just as well. To the least it reduced her panic of not knowing what to make of the situation, though she wouldn’t look at Shuichi either.
They stayed in silence like that for a bit. Neither dared to say a thing.
“... Close your eyes.”
He looked up to Kirumi.
“Close your eyes,” she repeated, the sound muffled through her hand. “I don’t want you to look at me.”
Not wanting to upset her, Shuichi closed his eyes and covered them with his hands as an additional measure. Maybe it’d help Kirumi feel a little less tense.
She slowly got out of bed, evident by the sounds of the sheets moving followed by her steps around him. She must be picking up her clothes to put back on.
Shuichi contemplated how to continue things from here. While he knew Kirumi as a clever girl who stood at the ready for everyone - much to her own health’s detriment, Shuichi figured - he didn’t know her personally enough to puzzle what to do with her at this moment. Would she want him to address the elephant in the room, or stay quiet so she could leave and pretend nothing ever happened?
No, staying quiet wasn’t right. Even if he didn’t know her, last night they must have connected enough to warrant a hook-up. He didn’t want to pretend nothing happened between them. After all, Shuichi really wasn’t the type to have a random one-night-stand.
And neither was Kirumi.
“This is so unbecoming of a maid…” Kirumi muttered. Her voice was filled with lament and a strange kind of anger, though it was one directed at herself.
Despite her earlier yells and tone, she wasn’t upset with Shuichi whatsoever. She was upset with herself.
“... What do you mean?”
“This is shameful behavior to show.” She put on her shirt and buttoned it up. “A maid shows restraints, a maid is never selfish, a maid…” She couldn’t finish her sentence, pursing her lips instead.
Whatever was that supposed to mean? Was she angry with herself for satisfying a need - one that he clearly happily joined her in? She wasn’t being fair towards herself.
He uncovered his eyes and looked at her, “Wait, Kirumi-”
“I said eyes closed,” she quickly objected. Even if she was mostly covered by now, it wasn’t enough per her regular standards.
“This is not something you need to be ashamed of.” He stood up and looked her in the eye to make sure she’d hear him. Kirumi had given him a peace of her mind in regards to his self-depraction before, and now he had to return the favour. “Look, clearly we did something together… And neither of us is the type to randomly spend the night with someone… So-”
“So now Iruma will nickname me a maid whore.” She was still buried in her self-loathing.
“Wha- No! Listen to me for a moment! What I’m meaning to say is that we must have had a genuine reason to do this. And I think that’s because we…” He bit his lip for a moment. “... We like each other… Isn’t that good? Yeah, maybe it got out of hand, but we did it because we wanted to.”
At the mention of liking one another, Kirumi blushed. She knew Shuichi’s logic to be true - his detective skills were but one of many reasons why she held a secret admiration for him in the first place. But, it didn’t take her personal feelings away. Her difficult expression proved as much.
“... Let me take you out on a date.”
Her brow rose out of surprise. “... What?”
“The problem is that you feel like we ‘just’ jumped in bed with each other, right? So, let me take you out.”
Her difficult expression returned, “The date should happen before… this… The order is all wrong. Besides, you really do not have to bend yourself over backwards for my comfort, Shuichi.”
“But I really do want to take you on a date.” His chest staggered, “It’s like I said, I-... Clearly there’s something between us, so… I think it’d be nice to spend time with you. … But, without a Valentine’s party that includes free drinks, so we can actually remember everything.”
Her eyes fell down now, her hands starting to fidget on each other. By all accounts of body language, she wanted to go on that date. It was her brain that restrained her heart. “... As a maid, a romantic connection is not-”
“Kirumi. Don’t make me repeat the obvious again.”
“.....”
“Of course, you don’t have to say yes, but I don’t want you to say no for the wrong reasons either…” He grabbed his pants and put them on, “You can go freshen up, I’ll make breakfast and bring it back.”
As if things hadn’t been confusing enough yet, now Kirumi, despite the offer charming her, also had to deal with the idea of someone else but her making breakfast. “You continue to mess with the order, Shuichi…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make something good.” He put his shirt on and gave her a sheepish smile, “I make a pretty mean omelet.”
07:15, a Sunday morning.
Shuichi slowly awoke from the 20 year old dreamy memory, craving to stay in it just a little longer. Any other Sunday, he’d be in his right to. The dark curtains kept away any of the light that might be peeking at the horizon to light up their big bedroom.
But this wasn’t a regular Sunday.
A door creak opened in the distance, followed by a couple of steps and a shift by the mattress.
A voice softly sounded in his ear, “Are you awake, daddy?”
His eyes slowly fluttered open, the haze disappearing and being replaced by his 6 year old daughter standing by his bedside in her pajamas. She must have just awoken herself, not having bothered as much as brushing her raven hair to neatly curl at the tips instead of blowing every which way but the correct one. Her mother’s teachings to neatly present yourself before leaving the bedroom hadn’t quite stuck yet.
“Daaaad.” She got closer, her amber eyes staring intently into Shuichi’s, “Dad, come on, wake up.”
He let out a small groan and yawned.
“Dad.”
Now fully awake, he smiled lightly, “Sophie.”
Her whispering vanished as soon as Shuichi answered. “You’ve gotta get out of bed. Remember? Before mommy wakes up.”
Right, he had made a point yesterday on needing to wake up before her. Sophie must have remembered and made it her task to make sure all would go well. Though, with how their daughter now stood here speaking on elementary volume, along with the other normally being an early bird, she’d, if she wasn’t already, surely be awake by now.
Shuichi lightly turned to his side and looked at Kirumi.
She laid still under the packed sheets, face turned to Shuichi but her exact expression obscured by her short blond hair. Still, through the hairs, he could see an emerald eye lovingly looking at him. She was definitely awake, but pretended to be otherwise. It was on purpose.
With a small smile he turned back to his daughter, who was about to climb on top of him after seeing him still not make an effort to leave, and slowly crawled up. “You’re right. Good thinking.”
She smiled out of pride, only for her brain to get into its thinking mode. “Daddy, what I just don’t understand is why you want to make a special breakfast the day after Valentine’s. Shouldn’t you do it on the day itself?”
“Most people would,” he replied as he stood up and scooped Sophie into his arms, “but this is something specific between your mother and I.”
“Can I help?”
“You must. Mommy’s eating for two, we’re gonna need lots of food.”
“What are we gonna make?”
“Hmm…” Before leaving the room, he looked back at Kirumi one more time, “Well, I do make a pretty mean omelet.”