Maid Service
Meeting after meeting every single day, these weeks have been particularly busy for this woman, she’s exhausted. She walks around the city looking for something to eat; unfortunately, all the restaurants and cafés she likes are closed. She keeps searching, anything is okay at this point. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots a place actually open. She doesn’t even bother to look at the name, she’s too hungry.
“Okaerinasai, Ojou-sama!”
Kronii’s taken aback. What did she just stumble into? She stares at the woman who welcomed her, she has green hair and… horns? She’s wearing a kimono too; it doesn’t seem like she’s from around here. The thing Kronii feels the strangest about is her smile, it just seems too gentle.
“Oh, is this your first time visiting a maid café?”
Snapped out of her daze, she shakes her head, “Oh, uhh yeah…” The green-haired girl giggles a little, making Kronii blush.
“Don’t worry! Let me show you the experience~. My name is Fauna, by the way.” She gives her a bow and gestures her to follow.
“I-I’m Kronii…”
That was clearly not the appropriate response because Fauna starts to giggle, “Well thank you, Miss Kronii! Let me bring you to your table.”
While walking behind her, Kronii keeps staring. She catches her scent, it smells like flowers, she just can’t pinpoint which ones though. It’s strangely calming.
Once she’s seated, Fauna hands her the menu, Kronii reads it, but can’t decide on what to order.
“It’s been a day, huh?”
Kronii looks at her, she probably noticed how tired she looks, “…Been some weeks, I’d say…”
Fauna responds with a worried face, “Oh no, Miss, are you alright?”
Kronii gives her a weak smile, “I’ll be fine.” She returns to the menu, but she’s still indecisive.
“Um… I’d recommend the omurice.”
“Yeah?”
“Mm-hmm! If you let me, I can even put a special message on it!” She was already going to go with whatever Fauna would recommend, but the message piques her interest a bit more.
“Alright then, I’ll take that.” Fauna gives her a huge smile as she takes the menu, “I’ll add a melon drink too, on the house!”
Kronii tries to stop her, but Fauna doesn’t budge.
“I feel like you deserve something nice~.” She pats her head, much to Kronii’s surprise, “It’s aaaalright, you can relax here~.” She doesn’t know how to respond, until—
"FAUNA!”
After hearing that voice, she removes her hand immediately.
“WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT TOUCHING CUSTOMERS?!”
She turns to the source of the screaming, “She’s the first one I even do this with!” This makes Kronii blush a little.
“YOU ALREADY KNOW THE RULES, FAUNA.”
She turns to Kronii and bows, “I’m sorry… I’ll bring your food right away.” She can’t even respond as Fauna immediately runs off to the kitchen.
While waiting for her food, Kronii looks around the café. There aren’t that many customers around, they’re all being attended by other maids, but none of them have an outfit like Fauna’s. None of them even have horns. Thinking about other things, she can’t help but recall what just happened. She touches her head, right where Fauna patted her. It didn’t feel like she was doing it as part of the “experience”, it felt more… genuine. The corners of her mouth slightly curl up, coming here wasn’t that bad of a decision.
Fauna returns with the omurice and a drink. “Here you go, Miss Kronii.” She looks at her, she’s still giving her a big smile.
“Thank you, Fauna…”
She takes the utensils and is about to eat, but Fauna stops her, “Wait, I still haven’t written your message!” She shows her a bottle of ketchup. “Do you have anything in mind, Miss Kronii?”
She freezes, she completely forgot about that.
“Want me to write something for you?”
She nods.
“Alright then; but cover your eyes first.”
Kronii does as she’s told and closes her eyes, but she still tries to peek a little, “Hey! Don’t do that.”
“S-sorry...”
She doesn’t have to wait long anyways, “Okay~, you can open your eyes now.”
Hope this heals you.
“A-and one more thing…” Fauna steps back and begins to do a little dance, ending it with...
“…Moe, moe , kyun!”
Kronii keeps staring at her, Fauna’s face is beet red.
“…Please say something…”
Kronii smiles, “…T-thank you.” She slowly takes a bite. Her eyes widen and she keeps eating. Maybe it’s because she’s only had cup ramen these last few weeks, or maybe because she hasn’t eaten anything all day, but this is actually delicious. Fauna giggles to herself, proud of her cooking.
Once she finishes, she realizes she didn’t do anything other than eating, meanwhile Fauna is still standing there, watching her. “Umm… Sorry…”
Fauna tilts her head, “For what? You enjoyed it, right?” Kronii nods, “Then there’s no problem!” She’s beaming. “Now let me take those plates away.” She grabs everything and takes it away, “I’ll bring you a dessert so please wait a bit!”
“…Did I even ask for a dessert…? Whatever.” Kronii can already feel her exhaustion washing away thanks to that green-haired girl. She leans down and places her head on the table. These days wouldn’t be too bad if she had someone like her at her home. She closes her eyes for a little while.
“…Miss Kronii?”
She can feel something poking her cheek, it’s her again.
“Mmm… Sorry…”
She giggles as she places a slice of cake in front of her, “You say sorry a lot, huh?” Fauna looks behind her, making sure no one’s looking. With the coast clear, she pats her head again. “Don’t worry, Miss Kronii.”
Still half awake, Kronii smiles. “Can’t I take you home to take care of me…?”
“H-HUH?”
Kronii jolts up, now fully awake, “W-WAIT THAT WAS JUST—”
Once again, they hear something from the kitchen.
“GREAT IDEA.”
The doors swing open, it’s Fauna’s boss. He runs up to Kronii. “Please take her with you, she’s been living upstairs for some time looking for a place to live after arriving here, she’s a great maid I can vouch for her.”
Fauna tries to push her boss away, “ UUUUUU, YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY THA—”
“Okay.”
They both look at their customer.
“I’ll pay you to be my maid.”
Kronii calls for a cab outside while Fauna packs her things. For calling herself an extremely indecisive person, she sure made that decision instantly.
“Ughhhhhhhhh…” She covers her face, “What possessed me to say that…?”
“S-say what?”
She turns around to see the green-haired girl with her luggage ready. She’s as flustered as Kronii is, but she still manages to smile. “…I guess that’s why.” Kronii returns to her normal demeanor, Fauna doesn’t understand what just happened, but she goes along with her.
While on the taxi, they both try to make small talk. Fauna starts, “Um… since we’re going to be… living together I guess we should start with our names.”
Kronii blinks in surprise, “Oh yeah, I-I’m Ouro Kronii.”
She grins in response, “That’s a nice name, mine is Ceres Fauna.”
“Like the goddess?” Kronii asks, Fauna giggles, “Could be… or the planet, I guess?” A simple icebreaker, but thanks to that, they manage to keep talking, warming up a little more to each other.
“…You live in a mansion?” Fauna gets out of the taxi and stares dumbfoundedly at Kronii’s abode.
“I don’t see the big deal, I just saved up enough for it.”
She looks at her unimpressed boss, “…Yeah, okay... would only take me like 5 lifetimes to save up for that…”
“Did you say anything?”
“Nothing at all, Miss.”
Kronii turns to the taxi, “The driver already dropped off your luggage, let’s go inside.”
While leading Fauna to her room, they keep talking, “Since this house is so big, are there more maids around, Miss?”
“No.”
Fauna stops walking, “Wait, really? Never hired any?”
Kronii turns to look at her, “Oh, I never said that. I did have people here, but they all left.”
“C-could I ask why?”
She gives her a wry smile. “They couldn’t take it, my demands were probably too much for them.” Fauna gulps, it’s too late to turn back now, one could technically say she got fired back at the café now that she left.
“Uuuuuu... I-I hope I can meet your expectations…”
…Uuuu?
Kronii doesn’t turn around this time.
“…We’ll see.”
Kronii wakes up the next morning to the smell of food. “Who is…? Oh.” So that wasn’t a dream, huh. After leaving Fauna in her room, she went to her own and immediately passed out on her bed. She pushes the blankets away and…
Wait, blankets? “But I didn’t get in…” She can’t come up with any reason other than Fauna began to work early and she did something to her. She gets off her bed and walks to the kitchen.
“Good morning, Miss!” Fauna’s already done plating everything for her.
“Good morning, Fauna.” She sits down and stares at her meal.
“I hope you don’t mind if I eat with you…” She sits in front of Kronii, “Oh, it’s fine. Don’t worry.” She happily starts eating, and eventually so does Kronii. The food is still just as delicious as yesterday, so that’s good news.
“Do you like it?” Fauna stares at her nervously.
“Yeah, it’s great.”
She breathes a sigh of relief, “Thank goodness…”
“So, you’re not from around here, Fauna?” Kronii recalls what the owner told her.
“You’re right, I’ve been travelling around for a while.” Fauna responds.
“Then, you’re going to leave after some time?”
Fauna sighs at her question, “Uuuu, well I kinda like this place, I’ve gotten to know a lot of people thanks to the owner making me run errands…”
Kronii picks up the cup of tea Fauna prepared, “Well… I did jump the gun hiring you, so you can leave whenever you want.” She takes a sip. “…Oh, this is nice too.” Fauna grins.
“Well with these compliments, I might stay for a while~.” Kronii can only blush in response.
They’re almost done eating when Kronii finally decides to ask, “So, Fauna… I remember I passed out on top of the bed, so…”
Fauna seems confused at first, but she understands soon enough, “Oh! Hehe, sorry.”
So, it was her. “After I finished unpacking, I went to look for you to say goodnight. I found you curled up on your bed, so I thought you were cold.” Fauna realizes Kronii is staring daggers at her, she tries to make herself seem smaller, “…I-I’m sorry, Miss…”
Kronii shakes her head, “No, it’s fine. Thank you.” She perks up just as she hears that and smiles.
She wasn’t staring because she was mad, she was staring because how did she manage to carry her? She doesn’t seem to be that strong… Just now she realizes Fauna did carry her entire luggage in one trip… Or maybe there were more trips? She doesn’t remember. She decides to drop that train of thought entirely.
After eating breakfast, they lounge around in the living room.
“So…”
“Do you need anything else, Miss?” Fauna stares at her.
“Yeah, um… I’d like you to start cleaning now…”
Fauna tilts her head again, “…Cleaning?”
Now Kronii’s the one confused, “…You know… The thing maids do?” She tilts her head even more.
“…They do more than preparing omurice?”
Kronii’s distraught, “…You can’t be serious.” Now she knows why the owner of the café wanted her gone.
“I-I know the basic stuff!”
Kronii sighs, “That’s… alright, let’s see…”
Fauna does know the basic stuff… The REALLY basic stuff, which only includes washing the dishes and sweeping with a broom. Kronii drags her hands across her face. “Uuuu…” Fauna looks very worried. She can’t just kick her out after being the one who agreed to hiring her.
“…Whatever… Fauna, come here.”
From then on, after going through the hellish time in her job, Kronii teaches her everything a maid must know whenever she has a break from work. From how to act, to every job they must do. Unfortunately, Fauna can’t keep up that well, but even that isn’t enough to make Kronii fire her. “I’m really sorry, Miss…”
Kronii laughs, “Now you’re the one saying sorry constantly.” Fauna laughs with her, “I guess I am, huh?”
Thanks to these lessons and by just talking daily, they become friends. Of course, Fauna still tries to act like a maid, but they frequently get lost in conversation they end up sitting down together chatting the day away. As much as Fauna tries to apologize, Kronii doesn’t mind. Somehow, she really enjoys talking to her. She almost always finds herself smiling when Fauna tells stories of her past.
Fauna is impressed with how good Kronii is at doing these chores, “How can you handle all of this work, Miss?”
Kronii gives her a smug look, “I’m just that good, now go take care of what I told you.” Fauna obeys and leaves her.
She keeps thinking about her boss, if she’s so good at taking care of the house already… wouldn’t that mean she doesn’t need a maid? There must be a reason why she hired her…
A few days later, Kronii continues to show her the ropes. “This time, I want you to tend to the garden.”
She leads her to an area full of plants. “Wow…”
As Fauna stares in awe, Kronii makes a proud smile. “I haven’t had much time to tend to them recently, so I’m gonna trust you with them.”
Fauna gives her a thumbs up, “Don’t worry, I got this.”
Somehow, this makes Kronii worry even more, “I have timetables for when they need to be watered, so check them out.” She thinks Fauna isn’t paying attention while she’s already grabbing some garden tools.
“I-I’ll come back later…”
Fauna finally looks at her, “Yes, Miss!”
Back in her room, Kronii can’t shake the feeling something’s wrong. “…Well since she has green hair, she should be good at… taking care of green things…” She facepalms for thinking such a thing. “There’s no way she can screw up with plants… Right, Boros?”
She turns to look at the cage where her pet snake is. Kronii’s eyes widen. He’s not there. She remembers she always lets him run free most of the time since he doesn’t pose any real danger, and he usually remains in the garden anyways.
Fauna doesn’t know either of these things.
She runs straight to the garden, yelling Fauna’s name. She worries even more when she doesn’t respond. Even though she knows Fauna wouldn’t hurt anything either, bad thoughts remain in her head. She looks around searching for her maid. Suddenly, she hears something.
Giggles.
She looks for the source of the laughter and finds her cute green-haired maid kneeling.
“Fauna…?”
It seems she doesn’t notice her; she keeps talking to herself, “Oh, aren’t you the cutest little boy?”
Kronii walks closer, “Are you okay, Fauna?”
She turns to look at her, “Yes, Miss! Look!” She shows her palm, where her little snake is resting on. “I found Boros on a patch of flowers!” She keeps giggling while patting his head.
Kronii finds Fauna’s giddiness cute. “I’m happy you found my Boros… Wait, how’d you know his name?”
Fauna stands up, “He told me!”
Kronii blinks, surprised, “…He what?”
Fauna keeps smiling, “Yeah! He’s told me so much about you!” Kronii can’t imagine what kind of things her pet would ever say about her, “He keeps telling me what a good owner you are!”
Kronii lightly blushes and turns away, “Of course, I am. I take care of what’s mine.” Boros nods.
“He says it’s true, he also told me—”
Kronii interrupts her, “You know what, I don’t want to know. More importantly… HOW are you talking to him?”
Fauna realizes what she’s been doing and blushes, “Um… Uuuu… Don’t worry about it! I’m just… good with nature!” She gestures around her and Kronii looks around. Somehow, the plants look better than before. “I do have things I’m good at, you know?”
She looks back to see a very proud Fauna. Kronii smiles, “I guess I can trust you with the garden from now on.”
It’s been a few months since Fauna started to work for Kronii and they’ve grown pretty close. Fauna wakes up early to prepare for the day and once everything’s ready, she walks to Kronii’s room to do her favorite activity: Waking her master up. “Miiiiiss~.”
She calls out as she opens the door, finding her master drooling on the pillow again. “Hehe…” She walks up to her quietly and softly strokes her hair.
“Hrmmm…” Kronii reacts but doesn’t wake up. Fauna hums a tune while watching her master’s adorable sleeping face and slowly running her fingers through her hair. Every now and then when Fauna sees Kronii’s face, she’s reminded of the time when she first met her. That depressingly exhausted face still worries her to this day. This pampering is her way to try to help her a little more. And also, simply because Fauna enjoys watching Kronii sleep.
Once she’s satisfied from pampering her master in secret, she leans in right next to Kronii’s ear to whisper. “Miss~… It’s time to wake up~...”
Fauna pulls back before her master opens her eyes; she gets really flustered if she’s too close.
Kronii wakes up and stretches her arms. “Mmm… Good morning, Fauna…” She gives her the same gentle smile she’s used to.
“Good morning, Miss!”
Kronii rubs her eyes, “…Did you play with my hair again?”
“Oh no, of course not!”
“Hmm… I’ll believe you.” Kronii doesn’t want to admit it, but she enjoys the way Fauna wakes her up.
“Alright, Fauna, we’re going to move this furniture to clean up.” She’s gotten used to the workload so they can finally move to cleaning up more things. Kronii has put on a maid outfit too for some reason, “It helps me psyche myself up for this.” That was the only explanation Fauna got for the outfit change.
“This is quite heavy so we’re going to have to lift it toge—”
“HUP!”
Just as she positions herself next to the wardrobe, Kronii blankly stares at it now that it’s up in the air. She looks at Fauna, she’s easily carrying it. “…Huh.” Okay, so it was only one trip for her luggage.
Fauna moves it to the other end of the room and places it down carefully. “And now we clean, right Miss?” She puffs up her chest proudly.
“Uh… Y-yeah… thanks.” Now there’s no doubt in her mind she was carried. Imagining Fauna carefully picking her up makes her blush a little.
Kronii makes good use of Fauna’s strength, and they clean up all the hard-to-reach places in her house. Once they finish, Fauna goes to sweep the entrance of the mansion. Kronii doesn’t have much to do so she just observes her doing her job.
“So, um… Miss?” she starts while still sweeping.
“Yeah, Fauna?”
Fauna looks around, “I didn’t notice until now, but… there’s no one else here, huh?”
Kronii turns her head in the same direction, “Oh, yeah. This street is kind of isolated, there’s not much around here.” Fauna slows down her sweeping.
“Well, it’s not too far from the town at least, buying groceries isn’t that bad.” She turns to Kronii, “Do you get any visitors, Miss?”
Kronii grimaces, “Well… There are some, but they usually just come by uninvited…”
Fauna’s surprised by her reaction, “Do you not like them, Miss?”
Her expression softens a little, “It’s not that I don’t like them… It’s just that I’d prefer it if they actually told me they’ll come over…”
Fauna understands, “So, it’s just going to be us two for the most part, Miss?”
“I guess so.”
Kronii hears that Fauna has stopped sweeping. “Something wrong, Fauna?” It seems like she’s blushing,
“Nothing at all, Miss.”
More months pass, the two are basically inseparable now. Kronii’s proud of herself for making that decision back then, Fauna’s been a massive help for the house and for her. Fauna also seems really satisfied too, being a maid isn’t too bad. Whenever they go out together, the people they’re acquainted with keep pointing out how much happier Kronii has been these days, which only makes her walk away in embarrassment.
The same happens with Kronii’s friends who, just as she said, drop by unannounced. It was pretty awkward to introduce Fauna to them, but they all became fast friends. That being the case, they never missed a chance to tease Kronii whenever they caught her staring at her maid.
One day, while deep cleaning again Fauna faces a large bookshelf in Kronii’s library. “Something wrong, Fauna?” Kronii’s cleaning up with her, she’s gotten used to helping her out with bigger tasks.
“We’ve never cleaned up the top of this, have we Miss?”
Kronii looks up, “I don’t think we have, let me grab a ladd—" Kronii can’t even exit the room when Fauna tries to climb the bookshelf. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
“Don’t worry! I’m good at this!”
Kronii’s heartbeat starts to race looking at Fauna. “Fauna get down here, NOW”
“It’s okay! Watch!” Fauna manages to climb all the way up and cleans everything at the top. “See, that wasn’t so ba—!"
She falls.
Kronii snaps her fingers, making time stop. She immediately runs to Fauna and grabs her. She holds her in her arms and hugs her tight. She could’ve stopped time before she reached the top, but she didn’t, Kronii doesn’t know why. She looks at Fauna’s frozen face, it’s the first time she ever sees this scared expression. This only makes her hug Fauna even tighter. “You’re an idiot…”
She positions her so she’s standing up and removes all the books that were falling. She snaps her fingers again to resume time.
“AAAH!”
Fauna tries to brace herself, only to realize moments later she’s not falling. She looks around, only to find a furious Kronii staring at her.
“What did I tell you to do?”
Fauna looks at herself, how’s she standing up? “W-what happened?” Fauna can’t find an explanation to what happened. The only way this could have happened is if someone… stopped time? Is this how Kronii was able to handle all the chores around the house?
“Fauna.” She turns to her master, “Why didn’t you listen to me?”
She looks down, “…I’m sorry.” She braces herself for whatever punishment Kronii will give her…
But she doesn’t say anything.
Fauna looks at her again, she’s not angry anymore, just worried. “…You could have gotten hurt.” Kronii’s voice sounds shaky, making Fauna feel worse.
“…I-I’m—”
She’s about to apologize again, but Kronii suddenly hugs her. Fauna can feel her heartbeat, it’s so fast. “Please promise me you’ll listen to me.”
Fauna hugs her back, “…I promise.”
They hug for a little more, until Kronii steps back. She notices Fauna’s smiling. “You look really happy for someone who just got scolded…” Fauna giggles,
“…I’m just happy you care enough to scold me.” Kronii blushes, but she manages to pat Fauna’s head.
“I told you, didn’t I?” Fauna can feel how carefully she’s patting her.
“I take care of what’s mine, Fauna.”
Fauna has been working as Kronii’s maid for a year now. They had a modest celebration for her, Fauna basically had the day off, though she just spent it trying to pamper her master. Kronii discovered that when Fauna is comfortable with someone, she just wants to take care of them, specifically by having them lay their head on her lap while she sings them lullabies. Kronii barely survived this ordeal.
After Fauna’s anniversary, Kronii thinks about their relationship while her maid goes back to work. “…So, why did I hire her again?” It was by some miracle she even managed to meet her that day. She still doesn’t know why Fauna treated her that way. She remembers how she told the owner that Kronii’s the first one she ever pampers, at least in her job.
That might have been a big reason why she wanted to take her home. None of the servants Kronii ever hired acted like that. They all kept their distance while obeying Kronii’s orders. It’s not like she was cold or rude to them, but they knew the limits of the relationship they’re supposed to have. Fauna, on the other hand, didn’t really know much about how to act as a maid, maybe she just landed that job at the maid café by pure chance.
Kronii keeps thinking about her, her smile and laughter, both contagious and full of kindness. Just remembering the one Fauna first gave her makes her grin. She’s so beautiful, too. That kimono she had on when she first met her was perfect. Her personality and attitude are also huge plusses, she can deal with Kronii’s bad jokes and even hits back with her own, and just being able to talk for so long almost every day. It’s never a boring day with her, it almost feels like they’ve been friends for a much longer time.
“…No wonder I fell in lo—”
Kronii stops herself and looks around. Fauna’s still busy tending the garden. Thankfully, only Boros heard her… Wait that’s bad too. “Please don’t tell her about this.” Boros isn’t a rude snake, so he nods. “Thank you…” She returns to her seat and covers her face.
“…Maaaaaan…”
Now that she realized it, things are probably going to be awkward.
That night, while eating dinner. Kronii’s head is still clouded with thoughts of her cute maid. She keeps staring at her, making Fauna blush, “M-Miss?”
Kronii blurts out a question, “Do you still want to stay here?”
The question surprises Fauna and she remains silent. Kronii snaps out of it. “I-I’m sorry, I said that without thinking.”
Fauna looks at her, “I’m not sure.” She gives her a nervous smile
“…Huh?” Now Kronii’s getting worried.
“Well, for starters, if I was planning to leave, I’m not going to do that anytime soon.” This calms her down a bit, Fauna continues, “This year working for you has been really fun. You’ve been so patient with me, and you’ve taught me so much a-and your friends and this town, everyone’s so nice, but...” Fauna pauses for a bit, “I don’t know, there’s this strange feeling…”
Kronii feels nervous, maybe it’s…? “I don’t understand it, but… Maybe if I stay for longer I will.” They both awkwardly stare at each other.
“Well, I did say you could leave whenever you want, so the opposite applies: you can stay for as long as you want.”
Fauna gives her a big smile, “Thank you, Miss!”
“But there’s one condition.”
Fauna’s smile falters for an instant, “W-what’s the condition?” Kronii starts to blush.
“…You have to call me “Kronii” from now on.”
Fauna can’t help but giggle, “W-what?” Kronii asks, meanwhile Fauna can’t stop laughing.
“I-I’m sorry, I… I thought you were going to say something more serious!”
Kronii’s a bit annoyed, “This is serious…” Fauna manages to calm down, “I know, I know… Thank you, Kronii.” Her smile seems different this time, Kronii can’t tell what changed. But of course, her mind wants to assume it’s full of love, which only makes her more flustered.
More time passes, and finally, one of Kronii’s friends actually message her that they’re going to visit her. Kronii seems weirdly happy about it, Fauna tries to ask her why, “Oh it’s because I’ll be able to show off.”
“Show off?”
“You’ll see, don’t come wake me up tomorrow.” Kronii looks at Fauna, she appears to be sad, “…Is something wrong, Fauna?” She quickly smiles back,
“N-nothing! Don’t worry, Kronii. I’ll just prepare breakfast and wait for you.”
“Well, alright then... Oh, if I take too long feel free to eat without me” Kronii walks away to exit the room, but she manages to hear Fauna whisper something.
“…I’ll pamper her extra hard the day after…”
She pretends she never heard that, but she’s also strangely excited for that.
The next morning, Fauna does exactly as she said and prepares breakfast without going to wake up Kronii. “…Will she even wake up?” She thinks aloud while cooking. She really takes her time while cooking and waits a little while after plating everything, but her master doesn’t show up.
“Uuuu…” she mulls over Kronii’s orders, she considers knocking on her bedroom’s door at the very least. As she’s about to leave to do just that, but she remembers the promise she made. “…Uuuu… I did say I’d listen to her…” She reluctantly sits down to eat breakfast alone.
It’s not the first time Fauna’s had to eat by herself, her master occasionally must leave because of her job. But this time it stings a little more since she’s still at home. She silently nibbles on a piece of toast, trying to make more time to see if Kronii manages to wake up. She knows it’s silly to worry about something like this but pampering Kronii and eating breakfast with her have become very important parts of her day.
Almost finished with her breakfast, she starts to seriously consider going to Kronii’s bedroom. Suddenly, she hears the door opening. She runs to the hallway to meet her halfway.
“Kroniiii?”
“Yeaaah, I’m aliiiive.”
She giggles at her response, “Did you wake up in ti—” Fauna freezes when she sees her.
“W-what’s wrong?”
Kronii walks to Fauna, she’s in shock. “Fauna? Hello?” Fauna steps back, looking at her master. She’s wearing a kimono; the design is very much fitting for Kronii. Gears, flowers, fans, and a single serpent going across the entire kimono. An obi, a fur scarf and a fan that perfectly fits her. She even has her hair done with multiple flowers adorning it. She notices little Boros resting on the scarf. She looks beautiful.
“Faaaaaaunaaaaaa.”
It’s not until Kronii places her face right in front of Fauna’s that she reacts.
“K-Kronii?”
She lightly taps Fauna’s forehead with her fan, “You doing alright?”
Fauna blinks, “Y-yeah!” She steps back again.
“Are you sure? Your face is red.”
Fauna touches her cheeks, they feel hot. “I-I probably just need some air. W-what’s the occasion, Kronii?” She opens her fan and waves it at Fauna to try to help her.
“Oh, you know... I told you it’s my chance to show off.” She gives her a smug smile; Fauna responds by turning around quickly.
“W-Wanna eat breakfast?”
Kronii’s surprised, “Yes, please.” She’s even hungrier than normal because she had to stop time for a good while trying to put everything on by herself, of course she’ll never tell Fauna this.
“L-Let me heat it up then…” Fauna heads to the kitchen, stealing some glances at Kronii. She wonders why Fauna’s so flustered. “…Maybe she liked it?” She turns to look at Boros. He lightly nods. “…I see…” She smiles and does a fist pump.
“It was worth it.”
While eating, Fauna continues to bashfully look at Kronii. This makes her very happy but even she’s starting to get embarrassed. She tries to cover her face with the fan, but it backfires, now Fauna’s staring at her eyes. She gives up and puts the fan down.
“H-hey, Kronii?” Fauna still can’t take her eyes off her, “Yeah, Fauna?”
She fidgets a little before asking. “Um… Could you consider putting on this kimono every now and then…? I’d help you put it on.” Fauna’s puppy eyes are very powerful, Kronii has to look away.
“T-this is only for special occasions, sorry.”
Looking back, Fauna seems legitimately sad, “…Okay…” Kronii bites her lip. She’ll definitely put this on again later.
They lounge around together, waiting for Kronii’s guest to arrive. When it’s almost time, Fauna helps her correct any imperfections Kronii finds while looking at herself in the mirror. Once Kronii’s satisfied, they hear the doorbell.
Fauna goes to welcome Bae, who also has her kimono on, “Do you like it, Fauna?” She twirls around, showing off her outfit, Fauna smiles.
“Yeah! It looks so cute on you!”
Bae pouts, “I was expecting a beautiful…”
“That adjective’s mine, Bae.” Kronii walks up to them, gesturing Fauna to return to her side. She opens her fan and stares at the red-haired girl while Fauna keeps smiling.
“…Wow, you look like a power couple.” Kronii tries to ignore the comment while Fauna giggles.
There was no reason for either of them to put on a kimono, they just agreed to do so after Kronii blurted out the idea. Fauna’s thankful her master has such interesting thoughts. Kronii spends the day playing games together with Bae. They invite Fauna multiple times, but she refuses. She’s not sure if she’ll be alright staring at Kronii’s kimono for much longer.
She does check up on them constantly, though. Bringing tea and snacks right when they’re about to finish them. Thanks to staying at a distance, Fauna manages to calm down enough to face Kronii normally. And while she makes sure Bae is comfortable, Kronii has a much higher priority.
Noticing the way Fauna smiles and stares at Kronii, Bae can’t help but wonder.
“Hey, Kronii?”
She turns to her friend, “What’s up?”
Bae takes a sip of tea, “Are you sure she’s your maid?”
She frowns, “What do you mean by that?” She stares daggers at Bae.
She flinches a little. “Bruh, don’t look at me like that, it’s not what you think.” After Kronii calms down a bit she continues, “It’s just…”
“…Just…?”
Preparing herself for the worst Bae braces herself, “Instead of hiring a maid, I think you got a wife…”
No response.
Bae looks at Kronii, she’s beet red, “GWAK” She scrambles to grab her fan and covers her face with it. “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.”
Bae can’t help but laugh at how flustered she is, “You know I would have just moved on from that if you didn’t react, right?” Bae moves closer to her, “Soooo? Ya kissed yet?”
Kronii tries to move away but she only falls, “N-Not ye— I MEAN… NO???”
Bae won’t let this chance to bully her slip by, “NOT YET? BRUH, WHAT KIND OF COUPLE HASN’T KISSED YE— Unless you’re waiting until marriage~?"
Kronii’s eyes widen, she imagines Fauna in a wedding dress; she almost faints from such a mental image.
“…Please stop.”
“Stop what?”
They both look at the door, Fauna is standing there with more refreshments. “N-nothing!” Kronii tries to get up, but stumbles with her kimono.
Fauna sets down the food to help her, “Are you okay, Kronii?”
Bae decides it’s enough bullying for the day, “She’s fine, I was only teasing her from how bad she is.” While Kronii appreciates the save, she’ll keep the comment in mind for later. Fauna giggles at her teasing, “Don’t be rude, Bae~.”
While Fauna fixes her kimono, Kronii still has the wedding dress stuck in her head. She looks away immediately whenever her eyes meet Fauna’s. She assumes she’s upset from Bae’s teasing, so she pats her head. Bae cracks a smile “Wooooo~!” Fauna blushes a little from the reaction, meanwhile Kronii’s dying inside.
As the sun comes down, it’s almost time for Bae to leave. Fauna treats her to a nice meal along with Kronii, who’s still flustered. Bae happily eats everything Fauna serves, “Kronii, can Fauna come over for a while to treat me~?” Even while flustered, Kronii reacts quickly, “Absolutely not.”
Bae pouts again, “Fiiiine…” Fauna reaches out to pat Bae’s head, making her blush.
“Maybe some other time, Bae.”
She gives her a gentle smile, adding to the rat’s embarrassment. “Okay, no wonder you hired her.” Fauna’s a bit confused while Kronii looks away.
After saying their goodbyes, Fauna walks with Bae to see her off. “Did you have a good time with Kronii?”
Bae grins, showing off her fangs, “Yep! Thanks for taking care of me, Fauna.”
She pats her head again, “No worries, I’m happy you came over.” Now that Kronii’s not here, Bae can enjoy a little bit of pampering.
“Hehe…”
While waiting for her ride, the two of them chat a little bit sitting on the bench right outside Kronii’s mansion.
“Oh, Fauna, did you like Kronii’s kimono?” Fauna freezes, “W-well…” Bae keeps going, “She got it custom made a while back, she hasn’t had many chances to use it. It looks great, right?”
Fauna looks down, “…Uuuu… Yeah it does.”
Bae notices a smile slowly appearing in Fauna’s face, “Hehe, I’m sure she’s happy you like it.”
Fauna realizes she’s smiling and turns away, “W-well I haven’t actually told her I like it…” The cab arrives, so Bae gets up from the bench.
“Well, you should! I’m sure she’d love to hear that from you!” Bae grabs Fauna’s hands, “I’m cheering for you, okay?”
Fauna starts to blush “W-what do you mean cheering?” Bae turns around and walks to the cab,
“That tsundere won’t know if you don’t tell her! You should know this by now.”
Fauna barely gets to say goodbye, “T-take care, Bae!”
“You too!”
As the car drives away, Fauna looks back to the mansion. She takes a deep breath and walks back inside.
The night continues as normal, Kronii still has some work left and Fauna helps her with what she can.
“Oh… Kronii?”
She turns away from the computer, “What is it, Fauna?”
With a slight blush, she tells her, “I really like your kimono… I really, really like it.” Kronii blushes too.
“T-thank you…”
She gives her a big smile, Fauna stares at her silently, like she’s thinking about something else. At some point, she stops dropping by. Kronii wonders what happened and goes to look for her.
She finds Fauna on the balcony, looking at the moon.
“Fauna?”
She jumps, not expecting her to find her here. “Oh, hi Kronii.”
She walks to her and joins her. “…Is something wrong?” Fauna shakes her head.
“No, I just wanted to see the moon. Sorry for disappearing on you like that…”
“Don’t worry, I finished already.”
They stare at the night sky for some time. Kronii can tell something’s different with Fauna, they’ve been together for enough time now. “…You can talk to me, you know?” Fauna makes a deep sigh and looks down.
“I’m sorry Kronii… I’ve been thinking a lot.”
Kronii looks at her, “Yeah?” She lets Fauna talk.
“I’m really grateful, you know? You took me in on a whim and… I thought that was a joke and you’d kick me out at some point, but… You kept me around.”
Kronii turns to look at the sky again, “Fauna, can I ask you something?”
“Mm-hmm”
Now Fauna’s the one looking at her. “Why did you treat me like that?” Kronii’s eye gleam from the moonlight.
“…I’m not sure, actually. We’ve had customers before that were in the same state as you… But when I looked at you, I felt something… I want to pamper this girl is what I thought.”
Kronii can’t help but laugh, “Really? That’s why?”
Fauna laughs as well, “That was the first time we met! And unlike you I didn’t blurt out ’can’t I take you home to take care of me’!” Kronii makes her usual flustered noises.
“I can’t believe you remember what I said…”
Fauna smiles, “Of course I do! I remember everything from that day.”
“Why…?”
Fauna looks down again, “…Cause it’s an important day for me...”
“...You don’t know how happy I’ve been this entire time. I didn’t think I’d even be here for an entire year, hehe…”
Kronii smirks, “Yeah, me neither…”
They stay silent for a few minutes, listening to the wind.
“…You know how you said I could leave whenever I want?"
Kronii feels a sting on her chest, “…Yeah” Fauna looks at the town.
“I’ve been thinking about that too. I’m not as much of an adventurer as Mumei; but visiting different places… that was fun.” Kronii’s chest starts to hurt more, she looks at Fauna.
“S-so, what are you going to do?”
“Well… I’ve been trying to imagine myself travelling again.” Kronii fears the worst and braces herself. “But… No matter what situation I imagine…” Fauna turns to face her, “I always end up thinking about you.”
Kronii’s eyes widen. “Remember that strange feeling I told you about? I was never able to get rid of it.” Fauna continues, “It kept showing up over and over again… Whenever I looked at your sleeping face in the bedroom… Whenever I looked at you while cleaning or when you’re working… Whenever we talked… It always appears when you’re involved.”
Kronii blinks a few times, “Is… Is it a bad feeling?”
She shakes her head in response. “I came to realize it’s… it’s nice… it feels warm whenever it happens.”
“I wasn’t able to describe it for some reason, I had to talk to so many people in town and to our friends to even understand because I never felt something like this before…” Kronii notices her voice is wavering. Fauna gets closer to Kronii and caresses her face, she tries to walk back on instinct, but she stops herself. “But now I know.”
Fauna leans in, closes her eyes and presses her lips against Kronii’s. Kronii can almost feel her heart about to burst. Fauna pulls back and smiles.
“I love you, Kronii.”
Kronii freezes. “I know it’s weird since we’re master and maid, but… I really want to stay with you for a long time… If you’d let me that is…”
She finally reacts and hugs her.
“…Then I fire you.”
“W-what?”
She tightens her hug.
“You’re not my maid anymore… You’re my partner.”
“I love you too.”
Fauna can feel tears welling up, she hugs Kronii back. “Yeah… I’m yours.”
“I’m not letting you go, Fauna.”
“You better not.”
Fauna wakes up early as always, but she doesn’t get up. She looks down to find someone nuzzled up against her chest, using her as a body pillow. She strokes her hair and softly hums. She can finally do this as much as she wants. “Hrm…” Kronii slowly looks up and opens her eyes.
“…Good morning, Fauna.”
She smiles, “Good morning, dear.” Hearing that makes Kronii’s heart skip a beat. She hides herself in Fauna’s chest. “Hehe… Did you like hearing that?” She lightly nods. “I liked saying it.” She softly kisses Kronii’s head.
“Now, let’s go eat breakfast, okay?” She tries to get up, but Kronii doesn’t let her.
“…Please stay…”
Fauna giggles, “Awww is someone feeling lonely?”
Kronii looks up to her again, “I can do this now.”
Fauna hugs her, “Well… Since you’ve canceled my maid services by firing me, I guess you can.”
Kronii slowly closes her eyes again, Fauna’s pampering is too effective. “Sleep as long as you want. I’ll be here with you.” Kronii falls asleep again and Fauna starts to feel drowsy. “…Is sleep contagious…?” She yawns, “Hehe… Guess I can still learn new things about you…” She runs her fingers through her hair. “…I’m glad you hired me that day.” She kisses her head one last time and closes her eyes. Just before drifting off to sleep, she has to say one more thing, 3 words she’ll keep saying for as long as possible…
“I love you.”
t. Nameronii
Source for the art used: https://twitter.com/swdrk_/status/1482766673791041536