REMAID- VOLUME 1 EPILOGUE- Brand New Day

September 17th, 2023

Mina opens her eyes to the maid’s quarters she’s known for years now. Stretching her arms, she sits up. The place feels strange. She looks over to see Yoru sleeping peacefully next to her mother. With a sigh, she moves out of bed. Checking the time, she sees it’s around 4 AM. Around the time Yuta makes his grandmother breakfast.

“Yuta…” Her cheeks turn red. “I’m an idiot.” She whispers to herself, before putting on a pair of sweats and a tee. She can always change later. Moving to the door, she opens it to a stale atmosphere. The air, filled with a sickly, dreadful feeling, keeps her standing where she is. After a moment, Yumi comes to lean against the wall. She’s smiling, but her eyes are red.

“He still came to make breakfast. My grandson…he’s so foolish.” Yumi speaks through a lump in her throat. Mina, confused, walks out from the room and reaches out to take Yumi’s hand.

“What’s wrong? Hey, no need for crying now.” Mina leads Yumi to the dining room table, where breakfast sits waiting. Sitting her down, Mina takes a seat next to her.

“Mina…I failed her.”

“Failed who?”

“My daughter…I couldn’t keep her son out of trouble. Now he’s gone and I don’t know what to do.” Mina, absolutely lost, lets it fall off her shoulders.

“I’m sure you haven’t failed anyone. Now, don’t let all these tears make your morning. You have such a day ahead, as always.” Mina comforts, rubbing her cheek against Yumi’s. “Let’s smile, okay?”

“Oh Mina…” She wraps her arms around the teen, crying her eyes out.

“There there, it’s all gonna be okay…oh Yuta, what did you do?” She whispers the last half to herself as she rubs the old lady’s back.

###

“Goodnight, Rimi.”

The words ring in Rimi’s head as she lays alone. A feeling of loneliness prevails inside of her as she watches the ceiling, holding a pillow tight.

“Where are you, Yuta?” She wonders out loud, her finger caressing the pillow. The day waiting for her seems so long for some reason. Gulping, she sits up. “At least tell me good morning you idiot.” She whispers, before noticing a strange, small obstruction to her vision in her upper peripheral vision. She feels her forehead and notices something like paper. Pulling on it, a sticky note comes free from her skin.

Morning dummy.

She smiles.

“You’re the dummy.”

###

Wiping down the kitchen counters, Tanya watches Yumi from the corner of her eye. Sitting quietly on the couch, she holds a book in her hands but seems unwilling to actually read it.

“Master Yumi?” Tanya calls out. Yumi seems to jolt, before turning to stare at Tanya. She smiles, unconvincingly.

“I’ll be fine Tanya, thank you.” Yumi assures before finally opening her book, likely only to make Tanya feel better.

“Oh Yumi…” Tanya turns her eyes away from the pained grandmother, focusing on cleaning, when a knock comes to the door. Curious, Tanya makes sure she looks presentable before answering the door. “Hello?” Tanya asks, cocking her head. Standing before her, a man with brown hair and blue eyes looks like he’s been star struck.

“Ah…uhm…wow…” The man looks away, coughing out a supposed obstruction from his throat, his cheeks turning red. “F-forgive me, I wasn’t expecting to see you. Uhm…jesus, now I’ve lost my train of thought.” The man sighs, rubbing his temples. Tanya, seeming to catch on, chuckles gently.

“Well, sir, whoever you are, your blush is charming.”

“Ch-charming, huh?” The man smiles some, before cracking his own laugh.

“Before you lose yourself any further, may I ask what business you have here?” Tanya drags the conversation to a more productive angle. Realizing he’s lost the plot, the man slaps his cheeks.

“Uhm, yes, call me Ryujin. I’m here to see my son. Do you happen to know where Yuta is?”

###

“A butler for that prick Miura?! Hell no, that’s some bullshit!” Take smacks a fist against his other hand. Mina nods with a fiery conviction while Rimi seems lost in thought.

“This is my fault…” Rimi says, curling up tighter.

“Aw hun, you know your man would call you an idiot if he heard you say that. Come here, you have no reason to blame yourself.” Mina hugs the balled up girl tight, shaking her some.

“We gotta do something! Fuck being the leader, I’ll beat his ass till he puts this stupid shit in the aether where it belongs!” Take stands up only to get pulled down by Mina.

“Dumbass, and how are you gonna do that? Last I checked, you don’t have as much power as a massive corporate CEO or some shit like that. We’re pretty fucking helpless. Going in guns blazing will just make shit worse.” Mina lays down on the ground, groaning. “Ugh, life just keeps fucking with me.” Mina complains.

“Hey…maybe we can convince him to drop the punishment? Convince the leader that Yuta was acting in the right?” Rimi suggests.

“Yeah? How are we gonna do that? Blowing up on the leader’s kid is a pretty big offense, last I checked. If you don’t have some serious shit with you as evidence, you may as well have nothing.” Mina says, before groaning. “And we don’t even have something small. So, we literally got nothing.”

“Um, we stage an uprising?” Take suggests.

“Yeah, right, and how are we gonna do that?” Mina raises an eyebrow.

“I mean, I don’t think anyone here really likes Miura. Let’s just get everyone to agree that Yuta was in the right. The leader can’t just disregard a whole town, can he?” Take shrugs his shoulders.

“That’s…not the worst idea.” Mina sits back up. “So, how do we do that?” Everyone in the circle remains silent.

“...let’s use the worst thing he’s done against him, for a start.” Rimi says, uncurling herself.

“Oh? What’s that?” Mina cocks her head.

“Do you remember Aya, Mina?” Rimi asks.

“Aya…yeah, we used to talk some…uhm, Rimi, last I checked the last one to be with her was you, right? I don’t think Miura was ever mentioned to have anything to do with it besides catching you alone…right?” Mina asks. Rimi gulps.

Sitting together, Rimi recalls to them everything.

###

As the day passed, the village of Malikawa remained peaceful. Despite the formulating plans, the grieving persons, and the rosy cheeks of the newcomer, it was a Sunday of little remark.

As the sun sets, and the moon rises, a boy dressed in a butler's uniform lays on an air mattress, staring out the window of his master’s attic. Bags hang strong under his eyes. With luck, he’ll get his first bit of sleep since waking Saturday morning.

“Thank fuck for your bizarre nap schedule you cunt.” Yuta grumbles, curling up, when he hears the door of the attic open. Walking inside, a man in his older years with thinning white hair and an unkempt white beard wearing a similar butler’s uniform stands tall, looking straight at the form of Yuta.

“I don’t believe you are truly trying to sleep when you still have much work to do.” The man speaks in a tired, aged voice.

“Carson, please…” Yuta complains.

“No complaining to me, Yuta. If you haven’t learned how to make the young master’s breakfast, then you have yet to earn the right of sleep. Now, get up. I’ll make you some coffee. I expect a long night.” Carson crosses his arms, watching the boy until he finally gets up.

“I fucking hate it here.” Yuta complains under his breath, before taking one more look outside. To everyone, all there is to see is a window. But to Yuta, something is born from his mind that no other can comprehend. Just in front of the window, a woman with a cut noose around her neck stands, smiling.

“Good luck, Yuta.” She says.

Yuta smiles.