Midnight… A World Asleep… Except for One Girl
In the middle of the night…
The whole world was asleep…
The dogs were asleep…
The rich were asleep…
The poor were asleep…
Except for one person:
Kohaku… who just wanted to forget life for three hours.
She was sprawled across her bed, half-covered by a crooked blanket, hair everywhere, face crushed by exhaustion and starvation.
And then—
RIIIIING RIIIIING RIIIIIING!!!
Her phone screamed like a nuclear disaster alert.
Kohaku cracked one eye open…
Reached blindly into the darkness like a zombie crawling out of a grave…
"Who… is the suicidal child calling me now…?"
She slapped the answer button and put the phone to her ear without lifting her head from the pillow.
The Principal's Voice… dripping with luxurious arrogance:
"Good evening, Miss Kohaku.
Oh—apologies. I forgot you're from the commoners.
Good evening… to whatever nowhere-place you live in."
Kohaku, eyes dead:
"…Principal Saito…
Do you realize…
what time…
IT IS?!"
Saito, smiling so wide it could be heard:
"It's three in the morning, of course. A perfect time for important phone calls."
Kohaku suddenly sat up:
"Three a.m.?!
Are you sick?!
Deranged?!
Do you not have a life?!"
Saito cleared his throat dramatically:
"I simply wished to remind you that you still owe the school a very, very large amount of money.
Thought you might've forgotten, Miss Popular-Poor-Girl."
Kohaku held her head:
"Please… tell me you didn't call just to rip open old wounds."
Saito:
"Oh no, no…
I remembered something else as well."
Kohaku yelled:
"WHAT else?! What now?!"
Saito, cold as ice:
"Your father… your great father… also left a small debt behind.
Something about… destruction of school property before he ran away."
Kohaku felt her soul detach from her body:
"Destruction… of what?"
Saito continued confidently:
"Three windows, two office doors, and the statue of the former principal.
Long story."
Kohaku:
"I'll kill him.
I'll kill him if he comes back to life.
I'll kill him if he's a ghost.
I'll kill him even if he reincarnates as a cockroach."
The principal suddenly raised his voice with suspicious excitement:
"Oh!
And school starts in two days.
Prepare yourself…
geniuses like you must sit in the front row… where everyone can see you."
Kohaku gripped the phone so hard it nearly cracked:
"I hate you.
I hate you.
I hate you.
I hope your office collapses on you."
Saito, with sadistic calmness:
"Good night, Miss Kohaku."
Click.
Kohaku threw her phone onto the pillow:
"I hate him…
I hate his school…
I hate the rich…
I hate my dad…
I hate life…
But… the school lunch is free tomorrow…
Just… let me sleep…"
She buried herself under the blanket, muttering:
"If I wasn't poor… I would've smashed a chair over the principal's head…"
_____________________________________________________________________
By evening, the sky had turned a soft violet and the air carried a faint chill.
And there stood Kohaku—frozen in place before a mansion so enormous it looked less like a house and more like its own *independent country*.
Massive iron gates.
Guards in perfectly tailored black suits.
Marble statues.
And golden lights that reflected her poverty like a mocking mirror.
She clutched her tiny, cheap bag—
the kind of bag a background character carries right before dying in episode two of any anime.
In her other hand, she held a small, wrinkled map.
Kohaku muttered under her breath:
"Why… why does a house need to be so big I require a map just to enter?
Everyone here can go straight to hell…"
One of the guards approached, steps heavy, eyes scanning her from head to toe.
The look was polite, but clearly meant: Are you lost, child?
Guard:
"Miss… do you need assistance?
This area is restricted to residents and staff only."
Kohaku stared at him with a dead expression:
"I know.
I'm here for a job interview… as a maid.
I heard you're short on staff."
The guard blinked.
Short on staff?
In a mansion the size of a city?
He checked her outfit:
a cheap shirt, a faded gray skirt, a tiny bag,
and her black hair tied up in the most "I gave up on life" way possible.
Then he asked for her ID.
Kohaku handed it over like someone who had their dreams stolen at birth.
The guard opened his digital tablet…
searched…
searched…
And then raised his eyebrows.
Guard:
"Oh.
Your name is already registered.
Inoomi… Kohaku… Yoorou.
Yes. You've been listed as new staff."
Kohaku:
"Does that mean I can go home?"
He shook his head:
"No… it means you're allowed to enter."
Kohaku, face completely lifeless:
"…Tragic."
The guard opened the massive gate—
a gate meant for royalty and high-class elites…
not for someone like her.
Kohaku stepped through,
the guards' marble footsteps echoing around her,
and a heavy, sinking feeling tightened around her chest.
Kohaku's inner thoughts:
"I am… a disgrace.
A walking disgrace.
Why am I here?
Why am I entering a place meant for the wealthy?
How have they not kicked me out already?
Even the AIR here is richer than me."
She passed a luxury car worth eighty million yen.
She glared at it with pure disgust:
"One car here equals my debt × a hundred.
Damn my father… if he wasn't missing, I'd kill him."
As she continued forward—
the gardens sparkled,
the fountain glowed,
and the mansion doors looked like they were made of gold… or something very close.
Kohaku whispered:
"I'm gonna die here…
I'll fall down the stairs…
I'll crash into a statue…
Or worse…
I'll run into the stupid heir."
The inner doors of the mansion swung open…
and Kohaku stepped inside with extreme caution,
as if the floor might explode at any moment.
Cold air.
Shiny marble.
And wealth so aggressive it felt like it slapped her in the face.
Suddenly—
Tuk… tuk… tuk…
Footsteps made by a wooden cane.
An elderly woman—at least seventy—approached.
Despite her age, her posture was unnervingly straight,
and her eyes sparkled with a level of enthusiasm that should be illegal for someone her age.
The Elderly Woman – Head Maid Misaki:
"You… are Inoome Kohaku?"
Kohaku, deadpan:
"Unfortunately."
Misaki scanned her from head to toe,
and sighed as if witnessing a tragic documentary:
"Oh dear…
The master adores the young heir, so he personally chose me to train the new maids.
He told me, word for word:
'Test them… according to his exact mental level.'"
Kohaku blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"…His mental level?
Am I taking an exam or joining a circus?"
Misaki grabbed her hand and dragged her with terrifying strength:
"No time for chit-chat!
To the examination room!"
Kohaku was pushed into a massive hall.
One table.
One chair.
Spotlights shining directly on her.
Kohaku:
"Am I… on a TV game show?"
Misaki slammed her cane against the floor.
THRAAACK!
"Sit!"
Kohaku sat like a bullied student about to fail midterms.
Misaki lifted her arms toward the ceiling,
as if declaring the start of a war:
"According to the master's orders…
THE COMPETITION BEGINS!!!"
Kohaku jumped:
"Competition?! What is— why are you yelling?!"
Misaki cleared her throat dramatically:
"The test is simple.
Very simple.
Perfectly suited for the intellectual level required to serve the young master ."
Kohaku placed a hand on her forehead:
"Oh God… I really will be working for an idiot."
Misaki slammed the table:
"Silence!!!
Now… I will show you one image.
All you must do is:
Describe it accurately.
Just like young master would."
Kohaku trembled:
"That's… terrifying."
Misaki motioned grandly with her hand.
Lights focused on a large wall.
A massive panel descended…
So massive it was ridiculous…
A high-resolution image, glowing, sparkling—
A stunning mermaid tail.
Shimmering.
Sky blue.
Dangerously beautiful.
Kohaku stared at it…
Then at Misaki…
Then at the picture…
Then back at Misaki…
---
Kohaku:
"…Is this an exam… or a commercial advertisement?"
Misaki, with explosive enthusiasm:
"EXAM!!!
And now…
DESCRIBE THE TAIL!"
Kohaku opened her mouth, her brain shutting down entirely.
"..."
Misaki struck the floor:
"Hurry!
The heir's mental level depends on you!"
Kohaku:
"…That sentence is more frightening than motivational."
Misaki opened a notebook—
a thick one filled with what could only be described as aggressively childish scribbles.
"Behold… this is the young master's description—at age ten—of a picture of a jellyfish."
She cleared her throat proudly and read:
A soft creature… flying in the water… like burnt jelly… and if you touch it you might die… but it's pretty."
Misaki clapped her hands with the enthusiasm of someone who believed she just discovered a new physics theory.
"Amaaaazing! Isn't he a genius?! A vision from another dimension!"**
Kohaku froze…
slowly raised her hand…
and slammed her forehead against the desk without meaning to.
"No… no, no, no… this is too much.
You people live on a different planet."
She shook her head violently, muttering:
"Is this a description or a cry for help?"
"Burnt jelly?! Where did the genius go?!"
"Why am I here? Why did I take this job? Why was I hungry yesterday?"
Misaki smiled, deeply pleased:
"My, my! You have the exact same shock we all had when we first witnessed his genius!"
Kohaku replied with cold, lethal honesty:
"I'm not shocked. I'm depressed."
Misaki clapped her hands once.
"Alright, dear!! Now it's your turn!
Describe this gorgeous mermaid tail with precision!"
Kohaku, sounding spiritually dead:
"…I want to go home…"
Misaki:
"Come on, girl! Summon your inner genius!!"
Kohaku, internally:
"If I manage to leave this place without becoming stupid like them… then I'm strong."
She inhaled…
or tried to…
as her will to live dropped by the second.
Kohaku stared at the huge, sparkling mermaid tail on the screen.
It shimmered…
It glittered…
It radiated fantasy vibes…
But Kohaku?
Kohaku looked like someone being forced at gunpoint to admire art.
She exhaled—long, painful.
"…Fine. I'll describe it."
Misaki leaned in, eyes blazing with excitement.
Kohaku pointed at the tail with the enthusiasm of a dying snail.
"…It's… a tail."
Silence.
Misaki blinked.
"…Yes? Continue?"
Kohaku squinted harder.
"…Blue."
Misaki clutched her chest dramatically.
"Amazing!! Already more detail than the young master at age twelve!"
Kohaku looked offended.
"…That's not a compliment."
Still, she tried again.
She inhaled as if preparing for an Olympic event.
"…Okay. It's a long, shiny, fish… thing.
Sparkly. Very sparkly.
Sparkly enough to insult my poverty."
Misaki nodded proudly:
"Beautiful! Poetry!"
Kohaku glared.
"It looks expensive.
Like… 'I could sell this and pay off my father's debts' expensive."
Misaki wiped a tear.
"Touching! You captured the emotional depth!"
Kohaku snapped:
"I wasn't trying to!!"
But she continued anyway, hands trembling:
"…Fine, fine.
The scales look… soft? No, wait. Sharp?
Ugh—whatever.
It's a shiny tail that looks like it would slap me into the afterlife if it moved."
Misaki gasped.
"EXACTLY how the young master would describe it!!
You truly are… gifted! A natural!!"
Kohaku froze.
"…Gifted??
Don't curse me."
Her soul left her body a little.
Misaki slammed her cane on the floor.
"Congratulations!!
You passed the Genius Compatibility Test!!!"
Kohaku blinked.
"…I passed? With THAT description?"
Misaki:
"Yes!
You are now qualified to work with the young master!"
Kohaku whispered in horror:
"…I'm not sure that's a win."
The doors burst open from every direction, and Kohaku is dragged like a premium sack of potatoes as she screams:
"Wait— waaait!! At least let me breathe!!!"
But no one listens.
The maids are thrilled, as if they just discovered the new queen of the universe.
Within seconds:
They throw the shiny black maid uniform on her
They style her hair despite her shrieking
They place the tiny white maid headpiece on top as she threatens everyone's existence
They also took her hand to sign a paper, and she didn't notice.
One maid lifts Kohaku's arm proudly:
"What an elegant maid!"
Then— in one single shove —
they push her through towering doors that open slowly.
She ends up standing in the middle of an enormous indoor courtyard, almost like a royal palace garden.
Kohaku stands there, holding the edges of her maid dress like she's holding a trash bag:
"… This is so annoying…"
She looks around. Golden pillars. Marble walls. Fountains spraying water like they're greeting her.
Kohaku:
"If poverty were a man, I'd punch him…
If wealth were a man, I'd kill him."
A gentle breeze flows by, lifting her skirt slightly. She grabs it violently:
"Even the AIR is against me?!"
Suddenly, all the maids line up in perfect formation—almost like a military parade.
One maid shouts dramatically:
"Prepare yourselves! The Master is arriving!"
Kohaku rolls her eyes:
"Great… the lost idiot is finally here…"
High up on the second floor, huge doors open.
Slow, elegant footsteps echo:
Tack… Tack… Tack…
A tall figure steps into the light, standing at the balcony edge…
and looks down directly at Kohaku.
The doors of the upper floor burst open with force…
Kohaku freezes in place, because the voice coming from inside is way too familiar:
"HEEERE I COOOOOME!!!!"
Before she can even process anything, someone zooms down the stairs like a shoujo-manga prince descending straight from heaven.
Kohaku:
"… No… No way… Not HIM…"
From the shadows emerges—
✨ Mitsura Arisaki ✨
His pale blond hair is messily perfect, like he just walked out of a shampoo commercial
His garnet-red eyes sparkle with unreasonable enthusiasm
And that smile—way too wide… way too bright… as if life is made entirely of sunshine
He stands at the top of the stairs, raises his hand dramatically like a stage performer:
"IT'S YOU!!!!! The girl from the shop!!!! This is… WONDERFUL!!!"
Kohaku's eyes widen so much you can physically see her soul exiting her body:
"… Don't tell me…"
He jumps down the stairs, every step making an overly dramatic TACK TACK TACK.
The maids whisper excitedly:
"He's in a good mood today… he seems SO happy!"
He lands right in front of her—way too close—smiling with blinding sparkle:
"Oh!! I didn't get to introduce myself yesterday!! You ran away too fast! I wanted to know your name! But it's fine, it's fine!"
He proudly places a hand on his chest:
"I am— Mitsura Arisaki!
The one and only heir of the grand and absolutely AMAZING Mitsura family!
And now… you'll be working here!!! Isn't that incredible?! Fun?! UNBELIEVABLE?! We're gonna be a team!!"**
Then he starts talking at light speed:
"I got lost yesterday— don't ask how— but Koenchi was SO mad!
By the way, did you know that candy was REALLY heavy??
Also why were you hitting your head on that shelf??
Is that, like… a ritual?? I LOVE weird rituals!"
And Kohaku…
Silent. Frozen. Staring into nothingness.
It's like her brain escaped without taking her with it.
Dull grey eyes.
Mouth slightly open.
A thick, heavy dark aura swirling around her.
Kohaku… after several long, frozen seconds…
her lips begin to twitch…
and the dark aura around her rises so intensely that even the maids freeze in place.
Then—
She E X P L O D E S.
She snatches her little white maid cap at lightning speed,
raises her arm high—
and fires it at his face like a bullet:
"TAKE THIIIIIIIS!!!"
The cap slams into Arisaki's face with a dramatic BOOOF!
The maids:
"HUUUUH?!"
Arisaki stumbles back a step, eyes wide, utterly shocked:
"W–what…?"
But Kohaku doesn't wait.
She points a finger straight at him and screams:
"ARE YOU MESSING WITH ME, YOU— YOU IDIOT?!!"
She raises her other hand, shaking with rage:
"I would rather swallow FIVE KNIVES than work under a loudmouth fool like you!!"
Then she gestures wildly at the palace around her:
"This amazing place?! This fancy palace?? I'd rather KISS THE FLOOR than clean it!!"
The maids cover their mouths in horror.
Misaki drops to the ground like she fainted.
One guard whispers:
"H–he's going to kill us all…"
But Kohaku is not finished.
She screams even louder:
"Are you actually stupid enough to be HAPPY that I'm here?! You think this is FUNNY?! Is your life EMPTY?!"
She grabs her head, shaking:
"I'm TIRED!! TIRED of this nonsense!! I HATE wealth! I HATE palaces!! I HATE the candy that fell on me because of YOU!!!"
Then she spins around, wraps the maid dress around her legs to run faster, and yells:
"That's it!!! I'd rather DIE!! I LIKE being poor!!! GOODBYE, MY LIVING NIGHTMARE!!!"
And—
she runs.
She sprints toward the gate at incredible speed,
running while shouting curses at the ground, life, debt, her boss, and even the candy.
Arisaki remains standing there… frozen.
The maid cap lies on the floor.
He slowly picks it up as if it's a fallen relic.
"Sh–she… would rather die…? Than work… here…? With me…?"
His eyes tremble.
His shock radiates all the way to space.
Koenji suddenly appears behind him, sees the disaster, and sighs:
"Sir… should I reboot you?"
Arisaki, in a tiny broken voice:
"Koenji… she… insulted me…
more than my father did when he called me 'the nice, dumb one'…"
Then he falls to his knees—
exactly like he did at the shop.
The servants are stunned.
Misaki is collapsed on the floor.
Koenji gasps:
"She's escaping at sonic speed…"
As for Arisaki—
he suddenly jumps up and runs after her, ignoring Koenji shouting for him to stop.
He reaches out a hand toward her, yelling at the top of his lungs:
"WAAAAAIT!!! PLEAAASE!!!"
His voice cracks… the tone strangely childish and desperate.
"Be my maid!!! Please!!! I want you here!!! Work with me!!! Be… even my friend!!!"
Kohaku doesn't even look back.
She keeps running mercilessly.
From far ahead she screams:
"FORGEEEET IIIIIIIIIIT!!!!"
The emotional damage hits him harder than he ever expected.
He stops in place…
his hand still frozen in the air…
watching her disappear into the trees surrounding the mansion.
A sad, overly dramatic soundtrack plays—completely unfitting—
like he's a tragic romance hero, even though he's just… extremely dumb.
He thinks slowly:
"…Not again…"
His wine‑red eyes blink, shimmering with a familiar ache:
"Every time someone I like appears… they run… they sprint… they vanish…
as if I'm… a nightmare…"
He places a hand on his chest:
"Why does this happen? Am I… really that awful?"
A small internal voice whispers:
"The problem isn't my brain… right?
I just… don't understand life well…
That's all… right?"
He looks toward the gate she escaped through:
"But… she's different…
For the first time… she wasn't scared of me…
She was… angry."
He takes a deep breath:
"That's… better than being ignored."
Koenji appears behind him, speaking softly:
"Sir… should I go after her?"
Arisaki shakes his head:
"No… she'll come back."
Koenji raises an eyebrow:
"And what makes you think that?"
Arisaki smiles—far too innocently:
"Because she signed the contract earlier… and she didn't read it."
Koenji:
"…That's… evil, sir."
Arisaki:
"No! I just… don't understand life very well…"