Chapter Text
Oh hey, evening... or afternoon... or morning...! Whatever... depends on what time you're reading this. Anyway... while she's not back home just yet, I think we have time for a story, and judging from the clock, it is enough for a long story, our story...
I'll spare you the details on things like how I was born, or what's my favorite color, it's purple by the way. Ever since I was young, I found myself to be half of a mother figure of my family, not that my mom wasn't around, but having five children isn't exactly easy, so you gotta get all the help you can... By the time I graduated from high school, I was already a decent cook, tailor, and all around care taker, I'm not amazing at all of them, but taking care of four younger siblings for almost a decade should count for something...
Mom and dad had their own restaurant, I was gonna stay behind and help out, but my folks insisted that I go chase my dreams or whatever... I mean, I did want to get out of the countryside, and see what the rest of the country has to offer, so, after I finished my education, I landed myself a spot in Tokyo, which isn't actually the capital of Japan, for it has no official capital city.
Lemme tell you, living in Tokyo is tough, I worked in the service industry for a few months, while living in a shack of an apartment, how could anyone call this living...?
One day, I go home after another shift, sick of being yelled at for no fault of mine in particular, I scroll for new positions for hire, I automatically skip the ads looking for another clerk or waitress, I've seen what these can do to someone who still believes in the goodness of people... Then I landed on this offer...
"Now hiring: Full time domestic helper/maid, salary negotiable"
Or something like that, I can't recall it word for word after so long. I click into the ad, it's exactly what the title implied, working as a beginner maid in a huge estate of a renowned family: the Mejiro family...
I've heard of the family, plenty of their daughters were Uma musumes that ran on the tracks, the elites of the elites. At that time, what attracted my attention more, was that they're absolutely stacked, so maybe the pay will be nice, compared to the work experience... They even provided accommodation, anything to get out of that box...
I clicked apply right away.
...
It's been about a week ever since I applied for that job, now I'm on my way to my interview, hope it all goes well...!
I made it with about 20 minutes to spare, but I gotta say, this manor is really far from the metropolitan area, I hope I brought enough money to take a train back home, hired or not, I'll still need to go back, either for my luggage, or my current dead end job...
Aside from being far from the city, all I could say is that the place is huge! I'm not exactly Shakespeare, so the word "huge" is all I can muster... It's got like three stories, and a massive garden and everything!
A lady at the entrance greeted me, she was expecting my arrival, she's also wearing an actual maid dress, like the Victorian maids you see in movies, am I gonna get one of those too?
The inside of the manor is even more impressive than the outside, everything is shiny, and hallways are super long, here's hoping I don't get vacuuming duties!
While getting to where we're going, I kept getting the feeling that someone's watching me, I turn around, and see nothing, except for seemingly someone retreating back into a hallway out of my view, couldn't really make out any details, but I believe I saw a few strands of greyish hair...
The lady sat me down in some kind of room, she and a man with a moustache sit across from me, the man looks like a disapproving father straight out of a manga, this is like meeting the parents of your boyfriend or something, not that I've had one before...
"... Your records are more than satisfactory, and if your skills are as true as you claim, I would say you have earned an opportunity in this here household..." Says the bearded man, who identified himself as the patriarch of the Mejiro family.
"... Yes sir, it would be an honor to be of service..." I said.
Usually I don't speak like that, but since I'm at a place where you slightly bow at the presence of anyone else, I imagine this would make a good impression.
" However, I should warn you... working in this estate means serving my daughters from time to time, they can have... varying personalities... Will that be an issue?" The patriarch says.
Kids huh...? So long as I don't have to go on breastfeeding duties, I should be fine... I'm kidding about the breastfeeding thing.
"Of course not, sir, I have been taking care of four little shi- I mean siblings of my own, that will be no problem at all!"
Phew... almost let that slip out!
"... In that case... Welcome aboard..." The man says, as he extends a hand for a handshake.
Wow, that's it? I'm hired? That was easy...
I shake his hand, hopefully I don't have hand sweat...
"I see you have not brought your belongings with you, perhaps you can return tomorrow, and we can introduce your duties and quarters to you properly." The lady, who is the head maid, says, after I sign my name on the contract, the pay is really beefy.
I am shown my way out, the head maid sees me to the gate, before returning to the estate for her myriad of duties. I take another look at the manor I will soon be working in, this is gonna be great!
Before I turn and leave for the day, I spot another silhouette disappearing quickly from a window on the second floor... Scary... Is the place haunted...? I ain't afraid of ghosts, but not a big fan either...
I go back to my tiny apartment, I actually packed my stuff already, not because I'm fully certain I'll be hired, but I'm really desperate to move out.
I couldn't sleep, mostly because I'm really excited about this new opportunity that opened itself to me... But for a small part, the figure that disappeared in my peripheral vision was... concerning... Was I seeing things...?
...
The next morning, I put on my best outfit and left with all my belongings that fit neatly in my suitcase. Luckily my contract on the apartment expires in a month, so I'll only have to pay the rent once more.
The head maid leads me into the manor again, considering I'm wheeling around a suitcase big enough for me to sleep in... no I haven't tried it, she introduced me to my own quarters. I was expecting bunk beds and roommates, plural, but turns out, I get to have an entire room to myself! It's got shelves, a bed, it even has a wardrobe, which my maid dress, and a few spares hang inside neatly.
Without wasting time, the head maid proceeds to introduce the remainder of the manor to me, the dining hall is almost as big as my folks' house! There's more rooms here than I can count, all the while maids in matching dresses walk pass as they work, I guess these will be my colleagues, I hope they're nice... unlike my last manager!
Turns out, there's quite a lot to do, even as a maid apprentice, there's laundry, cleaning, meal prep, changing, and much more... but nothing I can't handle.
"And that concludes the tour for your first day, your training will begin tomorrow." The head maid says.
"Yes ma'am, my thanks for the tour." I said.
"One last matter before I leave you for the day, I believe I have yet to introduce you the young ladies."
"Y- young ladies...?"
"Yes, they should have returned from school, and are having tea by now, perhaps I could take this time to introduce them to you."
"Of course, ma'am."
We return to the garden, that is bigger than my elementary school playground. Aside from the servants present, there are a few smaller figures sitting around a table, and they are indeed, young ladies, no older than 8 years old.
The head maid stops about twenty meters away from the sisters, I do the same.
"We should not disturb them, this is close enough for you to recognize them."
"Yes ma'am."
"Let us start from the one facing us, that is lady Ardan, due to her conditions, you might be required to carry out relevant duties regarding her legs... But that should be no concern so far..."
Glass legs huh...? I've heard the stories of Uma musumes being injured all the time, I hope she's fine...
"The one on her left, our left that is, would be lady Ryan, one of the more active ladies, however she is a lot more feminine that her appearance suggests, fufu..."
That's a surprise...
The one on lady Ryan's left is lady Bright, she can be clumsy at times, as well as a heavy sleeper..."
She does look like she's already asleep as we speak...
"On the other side, the one on the right of lady Ardan is lady Palmer, just as active as lady Ryan."
Yeah I can tell...
"The one right of her is lady Dober, she... has a fear of strangers, especially males, she may distance herself from you at first, but do not worry, she did the same when I was just an apprentice too..."
Welp, glad I'm not a guy then!
"And last but not least..."
There's one more girl, facing away from us, I can only make out her grey hair with a slight purple undertone in this angle...
"The one directly facing away from us is lady McQueen, she can be shy at times, but she will warm up to you, if she finds you to be a nice person."
McQueen... like a queen...? What a name...
Like a small animal on alert, McQueen turns around, like she heard the head maid's comment, or maybe she really did.
Her eyes looks through the bush we're hiding behind, straight at me, curious as to who I am and why is there a lady stranger in her garden.
There goes the element of surprise, I figure ducking for cover would only make me look more suspicious. I smile and wave at her, maybe that'll convince her that I'm not a weirdo... As soon as I did that, she turns back around, was that a bad move...?
"She is only shy, do not worry" the head maid says, after reading my mind.
"I just hope I had not scared her."
"That should not be a problem, if that is the case, lady McQueen will simply start crying."
"G- Good to know..."
Note to self: Don't scare lady McQueen or she starts crying.
"There is also lady Ramonu, but she is not currently present, it is best to stay on her good side, and that means not making her sisters cry."
How... promising...
"I will bear that in mind..."
"And that should be all for today, our dinner serves at 9 in the evening, you may look around to familiarize yourself with the manor, but remember to be ready for your training at 0500 tomorrow morning."
"Yes ma'am."
My pops used to be in the self defense force, I think he also had to wake up around five in the morning...
For the rest of the day, I wandered around the house, seeing all the places I'll be working in. Yet I can't help but feel like I'm being watched from a corner from time to time, just like yesterday...
...
It's been a week since I've began working in the Mejiro estate as a maid apprentice, waking up at five in the morning was painful at first, but I learned to go to bed right after dinner, whatever free time I need will have to wait for my day off.
So far, I have yet to break anything in the manor, though I came close to breaking a vase once. It gets busy right after every morning's rollcall, we get assigned our tasks at the start of the day, sometimes it's simple cleaning, laundry, preparing tea, sometimes I'll be accompanying the young ladies to school, call it a field trip.
As busy as I am, it's just glorified housework, I often find myself time to look around and chat with the other maids during my duties; Most of my colleagues are about my age, though I am slightly younger, the rest of them have been working here for at least half a year, I learned that my position became open because one of the maids had to quit because of stuff happening back home...
Other than work related conversations, we usually talk about things like the hair products we use, or which chauffeurs we find handsome.
Today, I am assigned the usual morning duties, laundry, bed making, all that jazz. Unlike before, I'm also assigned a new task: to wake up one of the young ladies and prepare her for school...
"Yep... This should be the room..."
I stop before one of the dozens of rooms, the name of its occupant marked next to the door.
"... Lady McQueen...? Are you awake...?" I say, after knocking lightly on the door three times, no response.
I try the door handle, some of the ladies would lock their doors after dark, and it appears that lady McQueen did exactly that. I take out the key handed to me in the morning briefing, the head maid mentioned that we get to unlock their doors when it comes to wake-up calls.
"Please excuse the intrusion..." I push the door open slowly, careful not to wake up the lady. For someone so small, her room sure is big, it's bigger than my last apartment.
It seems that she's still soundly asleep, not that I'm in a rush to wake her up, there's still a few minutes before she needs to be up anyway...
Back home, I usually wake up my brothers via a tackle from the back, followed by slamming both of us onto the bed, I suppose now that is out of the question... I approach lady McQueen's bedside, getting a good look at whether she's fully asleep, half asleep, or pretending to be asleep.
The lady is still in her dreams, holding onto her bunny plushie... I can hardly disturb someone this adorable from sleeping, can I...?
After making sure she's really not awake, I kneel down to wake her.
"... Lady McQueen... It is time to wake up..." I said softly, I used to get mini heart attacks thanks to how suddenly loud my alarm clock was, I can at least spare lady McQueen the horrors of forcefully waking up from the doom siren.
"..." She says nothing, obviously I'm not loud enough.
"Lady McQueen... It is morning already..." I gently shake her shoulder, the head maid said I could do that if she doesn't wake up, just be mindful not to be too rough.
"...mhmm...?" At last, there's movement! One more call should wake her enough for her mind to do the rest.
"Rise and shine, my lady..." I said once more.
"... I... I am up..." She sits upright, still clutching onto her plushie, her hair is messier than the last time I saw her.
"Good morning, lady McQueen." I said, wanting to give her a good impression for our first conversation.
"...Good morning..." Says the lady through a yawn, before rubbing her eyes and turning to look at me.
"...!" As she lays her eyes on me, lady McQueen's ears visibly twitch, and she retreats slightly, seemingly startled by my presence.
"Lady McQueen...?! Is something the matter...?!" I ask, careful not to spook her even more.
"..." She keeps her eyes on me, but her ears stop tensing up, recognizing that I'm not a threat.
"My apologies, lady McQueen, did I scare you...?" I ask the lady, who is still looking at me, though not as alerted as moments before.
"... N-no..." She says sheepishly.
"... Is there something I did that offended you in some way...?" I hope I didn't...
"... No..."
"I- In that case, why don't we get you ready for school...?" At least she doesn't seem to hate me, just yet...
"... Okay..." She says, as she gets out of bed.
"... Lady McQueen, raise your arms please..." I ask, before the lady does so. My brothers back home won't let me help them change, but my sole sister would do the opposite, even when she's in elementary. Helping the young lady change reminds me of helping my sister change, though lady McQueen feels a lot more fragile compared to my sister. This feels a little wrong, one of the very first things I do after formally talking to lady McQueen for the first time, is taking off her clothes, for the purpose of putting on a different set of clothes of course... I do pray for the sake of my spot in heaven, that this is completely normal for a maid.
Lady McQueen wouldn't directly look at me during the process, but I did see her secretly glancing at me through the reflection on a mirror.
"And it is done, please take a seat, my lady, I will comb your hair next..." I said, although I mentioned hair, I'll also have to comb her tail as well.
I run my fingers through her hair that flows down to her waist, her hair is smooth like silk, the comb passes through like a hot knife through butter...
After finishing with her hair, I shift my focus onto the lady's tail. I've never combed an uma musume's tail before, I've never even touched one before... This'll be new...
I tuck my hand under the tail, it feels just like her hair, except for the fact that it moves by itself... and quite a lot, I might add...
"...!" She says nothing, but her tail wiggles even harder, thus making my job even harder...
"L-Lady McQueen...? Please stay still..."
"... I- I am sorry..." Says the lady, but her tail seems to not be fully under her control, maybe she's still nervous...
By the time I'm done combing her tail, it had slapped me in the face half a dozen times, I'm sure she didn't mean to, nor did it hurt...
After about ten minutes, I successfully changed the lady into her uniform and combed her hair, I did the same for my siblings faster, but I guess I'll get better at it the longer I work here... On one hand, I had to slow down sometimes since lady McQueen was so frail... and on the other hand, she doesn't resist like the kids back home would...
"..."
"All done, my lady, let's get you to the dining hall..." I said, as I prepare to escort her to breakfast.
"... Thank you..." Says lady McQueen... She thanked me... despite still being a little scared of me...
According to the head maid, even after preparing the lady for school, I'll have to be on stand by until she leaves for school. Lady McQueen doesn't eat like a girl of her age, but someone a lot more mature, I don't think I could be that elegant at the dinner table even now...
After breakfast, I would accompany the lady to her transportation, just in case she needs something brought to her, or anything urgent at all. Before the car leaves, I see lady McQueen shyly waves goodbye at me, she's such a nice girl... I return the gesture, wishing her a good day...
...
Two weeks have passed since my time at the Mejiro Family began, things have been great, I've been assigned every possible duty possible for at least once, the head maid made sure to have me ready for anything in the near future, the only slight complaint I can think of, is that I don't really have time to call my folks and siblings thanks to how little free time I have when I'm not asleep, I wonder how they're doing...
It's another day of hard work, waking up lady Palmer, dusting the hallway, going out to collect documents, preparing the ladies' pastries for tea, it's quite a lot, but it's honest work, and it's still miles better than working in a convenient store.
After tonight's dinner, I return to my room, ready to go to bed, with about half an hour to spare, I could use this time to wash up, and check my messages, I don't really get to do that very often now, back then, I can sneak my phone into work, but now, the head maid would collect our phones in the morning and return them after the shift, I made sure to give my family the number to the estate, that way they can call when something urgent happens...
After taking a shower and brushing my teeth, I check my messages, one of my brothers texted me saying he's got a B in a test, that's probably better than what I could do; Aside from that, there's not much else to do, at first I thought the limited free time might force me to do quite a lot between the end of my shift and bed time, but there's really not much that happens, my parents are busy with their shop, my siblings are busy either studying or mucking about, and I'm not exactly dating anyone.
Seeing the time close to ten, I get ready to change into my sleepwear and go to bed; But before I could do that, I hear two knocks at my door...
That's odd... Usually everyone, aside from on-site security is asleep by now, maybe it's the head maid doing a lights out check? She never said anything about this before... But oh well...
"One moment please...!"
I unlock and open the door, but to my surprise, I see no one directly before me...
"... What in the..." I say under my breathe.
It's not the head maid, nor is it any of the other maids here, surely all of them are about my height... Height...?
I look down, and I see her standing there...
"Lady McQueen...?!" I gasped, quiet enough to not wake anyone up.
She is standing before me in her nightgown, still holding her favorite plushie behind her forearms, looking up at me without a word.
I drop to a kneeling position, that way she doesn't have to look up to talk to me.
"... My lady...? Is something the matter...? Why are you here this late...?" I ask, not sure what's makes her come all the way out here at this time.
"..." She doesn't say anything, and looks away, but she doesn't leave.
"... Are you having troubles sleeping...?" I suggest, that could be it, I know I wander the house around when I can't sleep.
"..." Her head moves slightly, but I can't tell if it's a nod or a headshake...
"... Would you like me to take you back to your room, my lady...?" That's probably the best thing I could do, not that I could think of another option...
"...!" This time, I can clearly tell that she's shaking her head, strongly opposing the idea.
"...M-my lady...? You still have school to attend tomorrow, if you do not go to sleep..." This is quite the predicament, I can't exactly leave her in the hallway, nor can I forcefully take her back to her room...
"... Can I sleep here...?" The lady asks, after a long time of staying silent.
"H-here...?" I ask, followed by her nodding.
"... My bed is quite small, lady McQueen, surely you would prefer your own over mine...?"
"..." She continues looking at me in a pleading manner, seemingly to not take 'no' as an answer.
"... Very well then... Please, come in..." I relent and the lady welcomes herself into my room. That's probably better than having someone see lady McQueen standing outside my room...
Lady McQueen looks curious as to how my room looks, I've seen the quarters of other maids, they're basically a copy of mine, maybe the lady hasn't seen a maid's room before...? Her gaze fixes on the one framed photo I have on my desk, it's one of my few personal belongings on display in the room, a photo of my whole family, I look a lot younger in it, but I can still be recognized to a degree.
"... Ah... That is my family..." I explain, they're not dead or anything, but it's one of the very few photos with the whole family in it, so I keep it around.
"It is getting late now, let's get you to bed, my lady..." I ready the bed for the lady to climb in, it's only a single bed, but it should be big enough for the lady to not fall off in her sleep. Lady McQueen climbs in, but instead of staying still, she scooch over to one side, seemingly making space for someone.
"...My lady...? What is the matter...?" I ask. Maybe she's making space for her bunny plushie? It's a pretty big space for something so small.
"... Are you not going to bed too...?" She inquires.
"... M- Me...? I will sleep after I change. Please, go to bed first, I will turn off the lights soon..." I'll probably spend the night on a chair, did that plenty of times before I got this job.
"... Hmpf..." She pouts, not satisfied with my answer for some reason.
"... My lady...?"
"... You can sleep here..."
It appears that she's suggesting that I get in the same bed as her... Huh?!?!?!?!
"M-My lady?! I cannot do such a thing...!" I explain, I really couldn't, what if people find out? Not to mention this isn't exactly good PR for me!
"... Then I will stay up..." The lady protests.
Maybe I could get in bed long enough for her to fall asleep, then quietly take her back to her room...?
"Very well then... But please put on the blanket while I change, young lady, you might catch a cold other wise..."
She pulls the blanket over her and the doll, before watching me do my thing, maybe this is revenge for last week...
I climb into bed after hanging up my dress and switching off the lights, the spot she left for me is quite warm...
"Okay... It is time to sleep, my lady, good night..." I said.
"... Good night..." The lady responds, but instead of hugging her plushie and falling asleep, she wraps her arm around me, with her head close to my chest.
"... Lady McQueen...?!" I gasped, expecting her to simply go to sleep, this makes my plan a lot more difficult to carry out...
"...D-do you hate it...?" Lady McQueen seems spooked by my surprised response, but more so sorry for doing something wrong.
"... N-no, o- of course not... Good night, my lady..." I say, the last thing I need is for her to start crying... I have dealt with crying kids before, but I'm not sure if the same trick works on lady McQueen... And I'm not about to risk it.
"... Good night..." She says for the second time, and closes her eyes.
I didn't dare make a noise, disturbing her sleep might not be helpful in this situation, but it's not like I could get out of it anymore, as she falls asleep, she holds onto me tighter, any sudden movement risks waking her up.
"... ..." Her breathe is soft and slow paced, she seems tired, did she sneak out here long after lights out...? We're not gonna have people standing guard outside the young ladies' rooms, but the security could really use an upgrade of sorts...
I seriously need to sleep now, these ear buds are really uncomfortable to wear in my sleep, but I gotta make sure the alarm only wakes me up five in the morning...
Looking at lady McQueen's sleep, she reminds me of the kids back home, we would all share one bed when we're a lot younger, sure it was cramped, but I'm happy nonetheless... Against my better judgement, I begin stroking lady McQueen's hair, the slight movement causes her to come closer, luckily she didn't wake up because of that...
Get it together, me! What am I doing?! What if the boss man finds out that I am literally sleeping with his daughter, albeit just on the same bed?! It still sounds kinda bad! Maybe he'll fire me! Then I'll have to go back to getting yelled at too much for a salary too little! I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there...
Even though the situation is concerning, having lady McQueen with me does alleviate my insomnia, it's like having my favorite plushie with me... Maybe that's why she does it...?
Before long, my worries slowly fades, leaving me to sleep for however many hours there are left...
...
A ringing sound begins to play, almost from inside my mind, and it gets louder and louder... until it's so loud I can't stand it anymore...
I reach up to remove my ear buds, cutting the irritating audio, before opening my eyes. The sun barely shines through my curtains, meaning that I woke up in time...
I attempt to leave bed, as usual, only to find myself restricted from moving...
Looking down, I see lady McQueen, still clinging onto me, unwilling to let go. Fortunately, her grip has been loosened, seeing this opportunity, I carefully remove myself from the bed, without waking her up, she still has a couple hours of sleep, leave waking up this early to the adults... After getting dressed and ensuring lady McQueen is still asleep, I leave for the morning briefing.
"... You will be responsible for preparing lady Dober for today." The head maid orders one of my colleagues.
"Yes, head maid."
“And for preparing lady McQueen-"
"U-Uh, if I may...!" I raise my hand, interrupting the head maid before she can issue the order.
"Yes...?"
"Head maid, may I take that duty today...?" I request, out of line.
"... Is there a reason for this request?" The head maid asks.
"Can we talk in private for a moment...?" I whisper in her ears.
"What is it?"
"Let's just say, whoever you assign to wake up lady McQueen will not find her in her room..."
"What is the meaning of this...?!" The head maid sounds rightfully worried.
"Let's just say, she snuck into my room yesterday..."
"... Hah..." The head maid thinks for a moment, before sighing, more frustrated than surprised.
"Very well then, you may prepare lady McQueen for the morning..."
"... My thanks, head maid..."
"At least it was her sneaking into your room, and not the other way around..." She says, true enough, if it is, they'll probably have to involve the authorities, I mean, sneaking into a young lady's room, just sounds horrible, regardless of the context...
"Yes, ma'am..."
"... Now, where were we...? Next would be lady Ryan..." The head maid turns to issue the next order.
After the briefing, I collect my essentials, as well as lady McQueen's uniform, and return to my own room.
Even though it is my room, I knock on the door, just as I would hers.
"Lady McQueen...? It is morning..."
Opening the door, I see her still in bed, just like she would be at this time in her own room...
"... My lady... It is time to wake up now..."
"...!" She tugs the blanket over her head, what a typical thing someone asleep would do...
"Very well then, my lady... I will come back in a few minutes..." I pretend to not see it, while cooking up something to wake her up in time...
I walk to the door, open it, and close it, before tiptoeing to the other side of the bed.
Just as I expected, the lady slowly reveals herself from the blanket, her eyes fixed on the door, certain that she had fooled me...
"... Good morning, my lady...!" I say, as I poke my head out from the other side of the bed.
"...!" She turns her head to see me, I caught her completely off guard!
"... Sniff..." She starts crying...
Oh no... This is the one thing the head maid said not to do...
"M- My lady...?! I'm sorry...! I'm sorry for making fun of you..! Please don't cry-" I try to make her stop crying, but in hindsight, it probably wouldn't have worked... for someone actually crying...
"... That was for leaving me alone this early..." Lady McQueen immediately stops sniffing tears and says.
She... she can do that...?! She's a lot smarter than I thought!
"... My apologies, my lady, I did not mean to..." I apologize to the girl in my own bed.
"... It is okay..."
The lady dives at me for a hug, one that I would return.
"... Good morning..." She says to me...
"Good morning, my dear lady...!"
...