✤
After school that day, Kirara and I had a request to make of Sara.
“Hey, Sara!” I called out as I approached her. “Do you have a sec?”
I knew she’d have piles of work on her plate. With everything she had to do before giving up her post as head maid, she’d be even busier than usual. We were fully prepared to help but sadly couldn’t that day, awkward as that was. That meant we at least wanted to avoid taking up too much of her time.
“Certainly,” Sara replied.
“We’re wondering if you could ask Lady Sakura something.”
“Indeed.”
She’d probably guessed what this was about, so she hadn’t wasted any words. Taking her cue from this, Kirara got straight to the point.
“In the next few days, Lady Kagura is going to officially invite Lady Sakura to join the Sky Salon. If she receives any other invitations in the meantime, we’d like her to hold off on giving a reply. We’re not trying to get a head start before anyone else steals her or anything. It’s just that several salons seem to want her, and it’s going to take the rest of the day to check with them and coordinate.”
“Very well. My mistress is also rather unlikely to commit to joining a salon at such short notice given that she only arrived yesterday. Today I’ll be showing her the areas of the campus that she wasn’t able to see yesterday, so you needn’t worry.”
“Whew, that’s a relief. We’ll definitely make up for it by helping you out, but that’ll have to start tomorrow, okay?”
“That’s quite all right.”
With that, Sara got started with her duties as head maid. It already looked like she was hurrying as much as she could, presumably because she was eager to get back to Lady Sakura as soon as possible.
We were just as eager to get back to our own mistresses.
“Let’s go, Misaki,” Kirara said to me.
“Yeah!”
After a quick wave goodbye to Sara, who looked busy as a beaver, we left the classroom and headed for the Sky Salon without a moment to waste.
✦ ✦ ✦
✤
When we arrived, Lady Saeko’s Seraph, Matsuri, and Lady Sumire’s Seraph, Mihaya, had already cleaned and tidied the common areas. They were so efficient that they’d already gotten everything ready even though we were only a few minutes late.
We’d recently asked for the common area setup to be left to us, only to be told that we should make sure we were doing everything right for our mistresses first. However, as first years, it wasn’t really right for us to leave the older students to do the grunt work, so our makeshift solution was to arrive earlier than Matsuri and Mihaya and take care of it beforehand. If we did that, all they could do was accept it with a strained smile and an “Oh well!”
It’s not totally ideal, though. Matsuri’s pay will go down slightly, and it’ll take her longer to pay off her debts, which worries me.
“Sorry we’re late!” I called to the two older maids as we rushed in. In a hurry to complete our own tasks, Kirara and I split up. I went to Himeko’s private spot and got to cleaning as quickly as I could before arranging the cakes she’d have with tea.
The second I was done, a sound in the distance signaled the elevator’s arrival. Then I heard the voices of Himeko, Lady Kagura, and the Kokonoe sisters. Before going to greet my mistress, I gave the area one last look-over to make sure everything was in tip-top shape.
“Okay, looks good,” I said to myself.
Himeko wasn’t exactly an expert when it came to cleaning, so it was essential that I checked my own work. Even though we had a different arrangement than most mistresses and their Seraphs, I was, at least in terms of appearances, the Seraph of the school’s deputy chairman of the board. My cleaning skills had to be up to par.
Himeko wasn’t too concerned, but that didn’t mean I could rest on my laurels. I had to reach a high enough standard that I was worthy of being called her Seraph. That came with the territory.
“Good day, Lady Himeko.”
“Yes, good day.”
When I went to meet her, she gently stroked my hair and cheek. She seemed to be quite fond of the way my slightly wavy hair felt on her hands. As for the cheek caress, I wondered if it stemmed from the way we communicated while in the bath. By now, we’d gotten into the habit of touching each other’s bodies. I couldn’t really explain it.