Learning the hard way.

That makes it the second time in a few days that I have been involved with people whose gaze got me feeling like I was the most ignorant person on earth. Like the way parents gaze at their children playing carelessly and innocently in the garden, oblivious to the world they will have to face by themselves when the time comes.

As I am now I would not even be surprised If tomorrow greeted me with a gun pressed onto my head, the gun of someone I know. Someone I thought I knew. The kind of prospect I wish I wouldn't have to consider at the dawn of my 18th anniversary.

Am I even safe here ? Or am I already in the birdcage ? I don't know anymore.

"Perhaps dying by the hands of someone I know, or even someone I like is the best thing I can hope for right now."

"You may be right about that statement."

This is odd, I certainly do remember her voice since she is the maid who both accompanied us to this room and served us tea, but I don't remember her tone to be this cold, or is it sad ?

"I am deeply sorry, I allowed myself to participate in what sounded like an internal debate of your own. This truly is a lack of consideration from my hand, furthermore this goes far beyond my duty as a maid. I beg you to forgive my rudeness.

And she is now back to her usual maid persona. Without batting an eye. Making me feel like all I heard had been from me daydreaming.
Unfortunately for her, right now I can't stand being left in the fog any further so this time I want to satisfy my curiosity regarding that feeling I got when she reacted to me thinking out loud.

"I don't mind it, rather I am glad you too broke the silence of this place. Anymore of it and I might have gone mad at anything or anyone around me. Truth is I am troubled, and as you had to witness, I am preparing for the worst. I only just entered my first out of the three remaining years in the academy, but lately I keep on being involved in situations spelling trouble for my well-being."

With that she must be thinking my reaction was exaggerated and that I am only worried about what will become of me after graduation. Also the fact I talked about dying in a way that could mean all I ever experienced was sorrow and suffering, and that I can't see any chance of achieving a bright future for my own anymore, might lead her to consider I am to inherit some family business, a name, or both; which would then mean I have a high enough standing to allow myself to dig into her life as more than solely her "master" in this situation. 

"Excuse me but I doubt I am in a position to hear about such pressing matters. I humbly advice you to wait for Hanami-ojou-sama to come back."

"Then this is my turn to apologize. I am sorry I used this opportunity to convey my worries to you when you are in the middle of your work. In fact I am just a commoner, I come from the countryside and had the chance to attend the academy thanks to my parents.
And I am ashamed to admit I always viewed maids almost as slaves to the households they serve, so as I am about to enter society and will most likely end up serving its development, I couldn't help but sympathize to your situation and see myself in you, which lead me to open up to you."

My first approach seems to have put her on guard. So for now I will try to decipher if she is working here of her own free will or if there is a chance she was forced to.
Not that I expect much out of this attempt, but it doesn't hurt to try since It seems like I have plenty of time to kill.

"Ahh.. You are exactly right about society. And it is not just us maids indeed, most people working in this city are being used by the government in order to "preserve peace within those walls", or at the very least that is the reason they use to push people to and beyond their limi-"

Now that's unexpected. And thanks to that I can now almost be certain she is not here because she chose to, which means I was right to worry about my safety within this woman's "headquarters".
Anyway it seems like I found a breach here, so I may as well try to gather intel about her activities and how she treats her servants.

"I-I'm really sorry ! I got carried away and talked way too much, I would not know what to do if Hanami ojou-sama were to hear what I said... I know I am not in a position to ask this much of you, but would you be so kind as to remain silent about what you just heard ?"

Wow. To think I would be able to witness this seemingly emotionless, cold looking picture perfect head maid of a notorious household, blushing and stumbling over her words about a topic... But more importantly, now is my chance to learn more in exchange for my silence.

"No I am the one who is sorry, It seems that I unconsciouly stepped on a landmine once again. You don't need to worry I don't intend to reveal any of this conversation to your mistress. However since I already troubled you with my worries, I would like to know if it would be too much asking of you to tell me how your life has been since you were hired here ?" 

"Will you really keep your promise if I tell you ?"

"I will, I have been through enough trouble myself to imagine just how dangerous it could become for you if I were to reveal any of what you are about to tell me."

I'd better play it safe for now and act compassionate even if it does sound a little too dramatic.

"Thank you so much... So, to begin with I had been initially sold as a slave to the Ashikaga household, and this stamp right there above my chest works as the proof for it.
But as I was already forteen years old at the time, Hanami Ojou-sama's predecessors decided I would serve as Ashikaga Ayato sama's concubine, and If I were to fail at this task, I would be sold again but to nobles from a lower standing where it is said that women are nothing but sexual tools..
Since Hanami Ojou-sama inherited this estate in the conditions you should know, I thought I would be saved from my fate if I was to serve her instead. But it appears that in the end someone as filthy as myself is only able to serve tea with these white gloves in order no to taint any of the house's tableware."

I can't help but find it hard to believe honestly. However considering how things have turned out recently for me and how she doesn't seem like to be lying, I will trust her for now and see where that leads me.

"I see.. But I have to say, words are lacking for me to properly express how I am feeling about your situation. The only thing I can say for sure is that you have been more than courageous to withstand all of these atrocities so far. And I truly hope that talking about it with an external person like me did at least gave you the opportunity to catch even a short breath in this suffocating life of yours."

"Y-yes, thank you very much for asking. In fact I think I longed for someone willing to listen to how I have been living up until now..Really, thank you very much Morine-sama."

"I am glad to hear as much. However while it may be rude for me to ask this now, I can't help but wonder what was the reason which kept you from falling into despair or even worse.
I imagine you never had the chance to think of a way to escape the city, so I wondered what was it that gave you the strength to keep looking forward."

"The truth is, one day when I was sixteen years old, Hanami Ojou-sama who was two years younger than me and who knew about what was happening to me, told me that If I ever wanted to be cleansed of all the filth I ended up covering myself in, I would have to serve her, the next heir of the Ashikaga household, twice the amount of time I had to serve her predecessors, and only then would she set me free or take me under her name depending on what I wish by then."

"..."

SLAM !

"Wonderful !! And I even get to play the hero who brought hope to the damsel in distress.
Hey I never knew you were this good at telling stories Shion, how about I have you tell me fairy tales and less fairy ones before I sleep ?" 

"I humbly refuse. I get the feeling that It will make it even harder for you to sleep and you will end up dying before thirty from sleep deprivation. You really should think more about your health as long as you're still young. However I am grateful for the praise."

I see.

This is a lie, I don't.
What exactly is happening ? Having Ashikaga-san slamming open the door after she unlocked it while it was supposed to be something made out of some heavy meta, doesn't nearly sound as astonishing as their conversation just now. 

"So... may I ask what is going on here ?"

"Oh right Haruka I'd already forgotten about you haha. So I take it that you decided to trust Shion on what she told you just now, right ? Well, it was mainly lies. I asked her to make sure you did not try to leave the building while I was away since I did not know how long it would take me to run the little errand from earlier. But I gotta say she is way more capable than I already knew. 
So how was it Shion ? what do you think of him ?"

"Right, he is just like you told me. His curiosity tends to lead him by the nose, however he remains very cautious nevertheless. What is most troubling about him is that he has a great awarness of people's change of habits and is great at telling what they think or where they try to lead a conversation. However he doesn't show any real interest in them for who they are, plus he doesn't seem interesed in the opposite gender at all.
Honestly, any more of that and I would have lost all confidence in my charms as a healthy woman in her twenties."

"You say that but he didn't even realize you were deceiving him, which makes him the one being read like a book. Well, not like I expect anyone to be able to grasp even a bit of who you truly are. Anyone that isn't me to be more precise."

"I see so on top of being deceived for such a simple purpose, I was also being tested along the way. I don't mind to call it your win, although now I would be curious to know what were the parts of Shion san's story that were true."

"Ah for that you'll have to earn Shion's trust first, and that is no easy task. And don't expect me to spill the beans without her agreement."

"Makes sense. Pardon me Shion-san, I should have at least asked you instead, that was rude of me."

"Your consideration is enough Morine-san, I appreciate this thoughtfullness of yours."

                                                                                _______


Later Hanami-san told me about her "little errand" and I learnt that Tanabe-san was in fact unknowingly working as a hitman. He had been told defectuous androids of a very high quality got out of control and were slowly rampaging in the backstreets and was given the order to deal with them.
So far he has killed a total of eight people believing in what he had been told.

Thankfully lately he found out by himself after some research, that androids can only "bleed" if they are equipped with a certain liquid you can only buy during october, a liquid that is usually used for pranks.
Also he was in fact on his way to complain to his "boss" today rather than there to work.
However when Hanami-san found him, they also found that the building had been deserted. 
Tanabe-san told her his boss had done a demonstration on a real android with the so-called blood to make sure he would believe it. Also he was told those androids would become violent if he had wanted to cut off their circuits situated on their chest so instead he had to crush their heads which is usually where the AI system is located at.

"Hanami-san offered me a room for the night since she heard the Academy's dorms are closed today, but even now I can't bring myself to relax when I am around her.. I also still can't get Shion-san's story out of my head. It sounded too realistic and yet it feels like it could have been her biggest lie.."


Before I knew it I ended up falling sound asleep, so much that later my slumber would be considered comparable to death itself.

                                                                                 _________

Speaking of which or maybe of witch, I can now feel someone's warmth on my back. 
Considering I only met two persons so far from this building and that they are both women, I highly doubt I will find a man, a child or a pet sleeping besides me. Also I am certain I was alone at least until I fell asleep. I never had a sister or a brother but I do remember my parents slept together so this must be norm. I simply never experienced it up until now.

"Excuse me hanami-san, I just want to get out of bed, so please untie your arms from around my torso, then you can fall back asleep."

"What ?! Is that really all you have to say after spending such a passionate night in the arms of a beauty such as myself ?"

"I don't quite get the connection between you being as charming as you indeed are, and the fact that we slept together. And "passionate" you say ? I admit I have no clue about what you are on about. However something is definetely strange with this situation. I usually don't sleep much more than 6 to 8hours and its pretty rare for it to be straight. And now I find myself sleeping for a whole 11 hours straight, I wonder why-."

"Wait. I need to confirm something. You know how you were born right ? I mean the process that lead to your creation."

"Well yes, I know about sex but why are you bringing that up now ?"

"Woah, so that's what it is. This truly is disheartening... I feel like I understand how Shion felt yesterday now.. That being said I also did sleep pretty well in here which is a rare occurrence for me too. And since you don't mind, I'll help myself next time you come here and stay the night." 

"There is a lot I still don't get but sure I don't mind as long as it can benefit the both of us."

                                                                              _______

After that, Hanami-san drove me to the bookstore where I could finally get my hands on those manuals before taking me for a longer drive around the city, reminding me of its odd layout along the way.
A city built inside enormous black walls and composed of three district in what felt like layers. The highest one, the first district, is the residential area for nobles and people funding the Minamoto clan.
The one in the middle, the second district, is the shopping area. 
If you were to search for a stable and enjoyable job this is where you had the most chances to find one.
Now the third layer, at ground level, the third district, this one mainly consists of the Academy and a bunch of streets with low rent apartments. There are Jobs available for students in here but most of them don't pay very well or look shaddy, so usually most people would aim for the second district instead.
Last but not least, "Fukuoka's heart", the Minamoto Tower. It is situated in the center of those walls and it also tops them. All I know so far about it, is that the head of the clan lives there. 

"I have to say, when I first entered this city I thought I would be suffocating when I looked at those walls and those two districts above us, but the fact that everything is connected by those long roads going up and down and in circles around this tower, gives off the vibes of an amusement park more than anything.
Weirdly enough, driving is the only thing I found to escape my first impression."

I don't exactly know why she tells me something like that but I don't find it unpleasant.
Also I think I'd like to hear more about her, so I will certainly ask her to bring me along next time she goes for a ride.