Archive of Our Own ^beta

It is no secret that Kamisato Ayato is a difficult man.

You’re quite sure that most of the common folk would agree with your assessment, despite never having met the Kamisato clan head face to face before. As the head of one of the most eminent and illustrious clans in Inazuma, surely the Yashiro Commissioner must be a man of high standards and demands, they sympathise with you, shaking their heads in pity. The Yashiro Commission’s festivals and events are all meticulously planned with consideration for the people, but I heard that he only has one personal assistant. Surely he must work you to the bone!

Contrary to what they think, however, Kamisato Ayato is difficult for a completely different reason in your eyes.

It’s only a few weeks from the Irodori Festival, the very first celebration of cultural exchange that Inazuma will be able to enjoy ever since the Raiden Shogun closed the country’s borders years ago. Because of this, the anticipation among the citizens have only been growing ever since it was announced, with many townsfolk passing by eagerly asking after details with bright, excited smiles.

In stark contrast, however, the inside of the Yashiro Commission resembles a swarm of ants on a hot stove, messengers and officials rushing frantically to and fro as you make preparations for the event. And the preparations seem to be only increasing the closer you draw to the date, with your master being called to Tenshukaku more and more frequently for discussions. There is still much work to be done, however, which explains why you’ve been holed up alone in your master’s study for most part of the day with a sore back from hunching over papers and an inkwell that’s fast running out.

Just as you’re about to reluctantly start on a fresh batch of paperwork, you’re interrupted by the door to your master’s office sliding open. Thoma stands in the doorway, just as he has several times over the last few weeks, wearing a guilty grin on his face. While the sight of him used to be a welcome break from work (you are a seasoned taste tester for the fusion desserts he enjoys experimenting with), now you only let out a long, vexed groan and promptly knock your forehead against the expensive Yumemiru table.

“My apologies…” Thoma begins sheepishly, but you don’t seem to be listening.

“He’s got to be doing this deliberately,” you declare in frustration, setting down the pen so that you can massage your temples. “You’re telling me that milord forgot his umbrella again?”

“I did try to remind him before he left the estate this afternoon, but he must have forgotten with how much he has on his mind,” the housekeeper says apologetically. You appreciate the attempt to defend Lord Ayato, but knowing your master, he probably just couldn’t be bothered to remember about it at all.

“This is already the third time this month…” you mutter under your breath as you rise to take the wagasa from Thoma. It’s a beautiful, ornamental yet functional piece of art, its snow white canopy decorated with delicate hand painted camellias, proudly bearing the crest of an owner who can’t be bothered to remember its existence. “After the festival, remind me to make an offering at the Grand Narukami Shrine to pray for our master’s failing memory.”

Thoma lets out a cough at your seemingly insubordinate words, but there’s a trace of amusement in his eyes. “Maybe praying to the Raiden Shogun to make the rains less frequent would be an easier solution,” he quips, and you have to bite back a snort of amusement at his jest. He’s more than used to the strange dynamic between you and Lord Ayato. “The chief should be wrapping up a meeting with the Yae Publishing House at Uyuu Restaurant soon. You should be on your way.”

“He can afford to wait,” you grumble, but begin to put away the paperwork you’d been doing. For someone in possession of a Hydro Vision, your master complains incessantly about inconvenience whenever he happens to get caught in the rain. Much like a cat… or a spoiled brat, really. Still, he’s only just recovered from a fever and you’re not too enthusiastic about having to nurse him back to health a second time, so you wave goodbye to Thoma and begin to make your way to the city.

You’re crossing the Byakko Plains when the first drops of rain begin to fall, prompting you to quicken your pace. Although the walk to the city from the Kamisato Estate is considered quite the distance, you’ve never really minded with how beautiful the scenery is. It’s still far preferable to being cooped inside the office all day, surrounded by ever growing stacks of paperwork.

By the time you’ve climbed all the flights of stairs leading to Inazuma City, briefly stopping for a chat with Yoimiya at Naganohara Fireworks along the way about the upcoming festival (“A festival without fireworks! Can you believe it?”), the rain still hasn’t let up in the least — in fact, it seems to have only gotten heavier. Careful not to step into any puddles, you lift your head when you reach Uyuu Restaurant at last and happen to catch a glimpse of pink hair at the front entrance.

“Lady Miko,” you greet, closing the umbrella neatly as you join her under the eaves. She’s dressed in a silk haori embroidered with cherry blossoms today, perhaps a precaution against the cooling weather. You briefly wonder if you should have brought one for your master as well. “It’s a pleasure to run into you here.”

The Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine turns around at your greeting, purple eyes flashing with amusement when she catches sight of the umbrella in your hands. “Ahh, it’s you, darling. Here to collect the Yashiro brat?”

You nod, gracefully ignoring the way she addresses your master. Lady Miko and Lord Ayato have a… peculiar relationship, if you want to put things simply. Lord Ayato states that she’s one of the few people who he actually enjoys working with, while Lady Miko often entrusts your master with carrying out her many strange ideas. However, neither of them seem to be on… conventionally friendly terms, despite this.

“I hope your meeting with my lord went smoothly.”

“No thanks to him, I would say.” Lady Miko sighs dramatically, but there’s a playful glint in her eyes. “Dear me, look at those dark circles under your pretty eyes,” she tuts, grasping your chin lightly between her fingers to turn your head. Used to her behaviour, you allow her to pull and prod at your cheeks obediently. “Have you been staying up late? He’s working you far too hard, the scoundrel.”

“It’s only to be expected,” you answer graciously. You’re only half tempted to rat your master out for giving you the extra work of coming all the way here just to bring him an umbrella. “There’s much to be done for the Irodori Festival, and as one of his servants, it’s my responsibility to lessen the load on my lord’s shoulders.”

Lady Miko only tuts at your response. “It’s a pity a lovely one like you was taken in by that charming smile.” Shaking her head, mischief briefly flashes across her often dignified features. “Perhaps you would consider a position at the Yae Publishing House instead?”

You’re about to reply when the weight of a familiar hand settles on your shoulder, tugging you back gently so that you bump against the person’s chest, out of Lady Miko’s reach.

“I’ll thank you to refrain from attempting to poach my personal assistant, Lady Guuji.” The chuckle that follows his words is so close that you can feel hot breath brushing over the shell of your ear. “I only have one, after all.”

You hold back a shiver at the proximity of his voice.

“Through no one else’s fault but your own,” Lady Miko sniffs as your master smiles courteously at her, ever polite and cultured. “I heard that many of those who tried to become your aides ended up becoming overwhelmed with work. You’re a difficult master, they’ve said.”

Lord Ayato only laughs at her words. “The duties of the Yashiro Commission are not few, I’m afraid. And it is credit to my current assistant for keeping up with me, no?”

“A waste of perfectly good talent, in my opinion. A job at the Yae Publishing House would be far less taxing.”

Although the topic of their conversation, you, on the other hand, are far too aware of the hand still resting on your shoulder to pay attention to another of their petty squabbles. Your master’s thumb is rubbing slow circles where his hand rests, and from the looks of it, he doesn’t even seem to be consciously aware that he’s doing such a thing. You cough subtly into your fist, trying to hint at him to remember his propriety in public.

“I will be sure to properly compensate my assistant, so there’s no need to worry yourself over this, Lady Guuji.” From the way his hand still lingers there, it seems that Lord Ayato didn’t catch on. Resigning yourself to your fate, you turn your gaze to the shops opposite the street in hopes that he doesn’t catch sight of the heat suffusing your cheeks. It's unfortunate for you that the front of Aisa Bathhouse is nothing interesting to look at. “As much as I’m enjoying this pleasant chat, however, there is still much we need to accomplish before the festival, so I hope you’ll excuse us.”

Guuji Yae’s eyes narrow at your master’s words, the tip of one of her ears flicking with amusement. “It’s a pity that not more people can see past that pretty face of yours, Kamisato Ayato,” she says with a smile as sweet as a whopperflower masquerading as a sugar flower.

Your master gives an impenetrable one in return. “Thank you humbly for such a flattering compliment, Lady Guuji,” he accepts graciously, and Lady Miko titters at his response. You do your best to prevent your eyes from rolling to the heavens. That’s your master, just as shameless as ever.

Lady Miko’s gaze slides over to you. “If you ever find yourself in search of a better job, just drop by the Yae Publishing House, my dear. I’m sure I could use an adept worker such as yourself there.”

You bow politely to her. “I’m very grateful for your offer, Lady Miko…” you glance at your master out of the corner of your eye, and he raises an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth quirking up. As if he doesn’t know what your answer is going to be already. “But I have already promised my servitude to the Kamisato clan.”

Lady Miko lets out a disappointed sigh, opening her own umbrella as she steps out from under the eaves. “And what a pity that is.” She sends you a little wink over her shoulder. “Well, the offer is always open to you, so long as you desire it. See you around, dearest.” With that, she strolls off leisurely into the rain.

The second Lady Miko is out of sight, you turn around to give your master a scolding look.

“Milord—”

A gloved finger is pressed to your lips before you can so much as begin to speak. “I know, I know. My deepest apologies,” Lord Ayato says, not looking the least bit contrite. You give him a look, totally unconvinced. “Thoma did remind me about it, but I must have forgotten it by the door. How silly of me.”

Silly of him, indeed. You take a step back to put some distance between the two of you, fiddling with the umbrella in an attempt to distract yourself from how close you are standing. “You’re so spoiled, my lord.”

Your master’s eyes curve into crescent moons. “Mmhmm. You spoil me, that’s why.”

You resist the urge to knock him over the head with his own umbrella. Instead, you settle for a long suffering sigh. “Then perhaps I shouldn’t,” you tell him as you open the umbrella and hold it over his head, careful to cover his expensive coat from the rain. “You can stay at the Komore Teahouse until the storm blows over and return to the Kamisato Estate on your own. There is too much work to be done to waste time like this, my lord.”

“Yes, yes, I understand.” He doesn’t mention that although you’ve been threatening him with the exact same thing the last few times this has happened, you’ve never made good on your word to abandon him. The two of you step out into the rain together, the falling drops making little pitter patter sounds against the canopy of your umbrella. “How was the walk here? I trust that the monsters near the paths have already been chased off.”

As the two of you walk under the cherry blossom boughs lining the main street, your master talks to you about anything and everything — from the new tempura dish at Uyuu Restaurant to the new hairpin he’d purchased for his sister, to how he’d noticed that one of the Kujou elders was trying to cover up his balding head with a wig during their meeting today. That forces you to fight back a snort of laughter and a sigh of dismay simultaneously. For someone who claims to find small talk nothing but an arduous chore, your master is rather… enjoyable to converse with, not that you would ever tell him that in fear of inflating his already inflated ego even further.

As soon as you reach the pass at Byakko Plain, however, the rain picks up in intensity all of a sudden, turning from a mere rainshower to an actual downpour. While you’re considering giving your master the umbrella and making a run for it, he beckons for you to hand it over to him instead.

You give him a bemused look. “My lord?”

“I’ll take the umbrella,” he explains, plucking the umbrella from your grasp and holding it over both your heads. Your sore arm is immediately grateful for the respite. “It’ll shield us better if we raise it higher, but,” his eyes crinkle with amusement as he looks down at you, “you’re a little too… vertically challenged for that, so let me do it.”

You grumble at his words but are unable to find anything to retort with, and so keep your mouth shut. Seeing the expression on your face, your master stifles a laugh behind his hand before he reaches out to pull you closer. Taken by surprise, you let out a little yelp when you find yourself tucked against his side and one of his arms around your shoulder. He smells of spring, of petrichor and camellias and an underlying scent that’s just distinctively him. You’re more flustered than you care to admit.

“My lord,” you begin to scold the second you regain your bearings, trying to pull away, “just what are you trying to do this time—”

“Stay closer to me,” your master orders, the corners of his mouth hooked up with amusement. You’re so close that your lips could touch his beauty mark if you just dared turn your head. “Wouldn’t want either of us to get wet from the rain, would we?”

Fox-like would be the word that you would use to describe his smile, dripping with the satisfaction you so often see when your master accomplishes something. You don’t know what exactly he thinks he’s achieving here, but you just sigh and move to hold onto his sleeve with a tentative hand, fingers curling around the silken fabric.

“... Only until we reach the estate, my lord.”

His smile widens just a hint, but you keep your gaze firmly fixed on the path ahead of you as you carefully manoeuvre the two of you out around any puddles. If you look up, Lord Ayato would surely tease you to no end about how red your face is.

You can practically hear the smile in his voice. “Yes, of course.”

Fortunately, the two of you manage to reach the Kamisato Estate without being completely soaked through, with Lord Ayato refusing to return the umbrella to you for the rest of the way. Fortunately for you, Thoma is already waiting at the entrance with warm towels and immediately shoos the two of you to dry up before you catch colds (although he’s probably more concerned about the two of you tracking rainwater all over his painstakingly polished floors).

“You’re always such a mother hen, Thoma,” Lord Ayato comments with a laugh, shaking his head as Thoma drops a towel into his arms. “The rain wasn’t that heavy.”

You nod in agreement, beginning to towel your hair dry. As heavy as the rain had seemed, you seem to be relatively dry. Perhaps Lord Ayato’s method of holding the umbrella higher really did work.

As your master is ushered away by Thoma to change into dry clothes, however, you notice that one side of his sleeves has been soaked through with rain.

And against your better judgement, your heart skips a beat.

Fortunately for you, your master does not fall ill after his little stint in the rain, which means that you are not left to sort out the remaining piles of Irodori Festival paperwork on your work. Unfortunately, however, you are still holed up in Lord Ayato’s office for hours on end, several days in a row, poring over pamphlets and proposals sent by various vendors from overseas.

“My lord, I think we’ll need to reorganise the layout for the event square at Ritou,” you tell your master, pointing at the plans spread out over his table. It’s been hours since the sky has fallen dark, but the two of you don’t have the option of not working through the night with the Irodori Festival drawing ever closer. You can count the hours of rest you’ve had for the past few days on both hands. “One of the vendors managed to free up some time in their schedule to attend, so we need to shift some of the makeshift stalls to give them space.”

Lord Ayato sighs as he looks over the plans a second time. The shadows under his eyes are even more pronounced in the flickering candlelight of the lamps, and he’d abandoned his coat completely at some point, the expensive garment thrown over one of the decorative folding screens in the corner of his office.

“Can’t we decline them?”

“It’s a pop-up store sent by Mondstadt’s Angel’s Share, my lord,” you explain ruefully, and your master pinches the bridge of his nose, clearly vexed by all the last minute changes. “It’s not our best interest to turn them down, not when the Dawn Winery has been so highly anticipated.”

“Have them discuss sharing a space with the Sailing Breeze,” he decides at last. “If we cannot come to a consensus, we will look into revising the layout of the stalls. How are the publicity pamphlets coming along?”

“Printing is already done and the pamphlets are stored at the Yae Publishing storehouse for the time being.” You look down at the list of logistics in your hands. It’s so long, you’ve already tripped over it twice. “They’ll begin distribution to the surrounding villages tomorrow.”

“Wonderful. Do remember to have a gift sent to Lady Guuji in appreciation of her help tomorrow.” His tired eyes narrow in a brief spark of amusement. “Perhaps some of that pickled kiviak we’ve received from Snezhnaya's merchants... What a rare treat, don’t you think?”

“I’ll deliver some of Uyuu Restaurant’s fried tofu to the Grand Narukami Shrine tomorrow,” you answer, shaking your head at your master’s antics. He has quite the penchant for thinking about how to step on people’s toes, though most of them are rarely carried out (fortunately).

Your master sighs in faux disappointment, but nods anyway. You’re halfway through noting that down when he frowns all of a sudden and shakes his head. “No, you’ll stay here with me tomorrow,” Lord Ayato orders. “There’s no need for you to head to the Grand Narukami Shrine. I need your help with going through the… budget proposals.”

Briefly, you wonder if his memory is truly falling apart with how much work he’s been doing. Perhaps a visit to the Grand Narukami Shrine is really in order to pray for your master’s head. “My lord, we did the budgeting just yesterday. It’s quite difficult to forget, considering that we spent the entire afternoon on it.”

“Financing is an important part of running an event,” Lord Ayato chides, returning his attention to his work. You give him a look, unconvinced. “Those vexing Kanjou officials will hound our people if a single Mora is unaccounted for, so we’ll go through it again briefly to make sure everything is in order. As for sending a gift to Lady Guuji…” He considers this briefly. “I’ll send Thoma. That expression he makes whenever I tell him he has to visit the Grand Narukami Shrine… yes, ever so amusing. It’ll be a perfect break from work.”

He chuckles at the thought of it. Wordlessly, you reach over to a pile of scrolls next to you, pick up a moderately thick one and promptly proceed to knock your master over the head with it.

“Ouch. What was that for?”

“Please stop smiling like that,” you say, frowning at your master. “It makes you look like a pervert, my lord.”

“I look like a pervert?” A laugh bubbles out of Lord Ayato’s chest, and he reaches out to poke your forehead with his brush in retaliation. “I seem to remember Lady Guuji praising my good looks just this afternoon. Are you saying that the Chief Priestess of the Grand Narukami Shrine was lying?”

“She was insulting your personality, my lord. Are you sure your mind isn’t failing you? Perhaps you really do need some rest.”

Your master must pick up on the note of worry in your voice past the verbal jabs, because he pauses in his work to reach over and pinch your cheek. You bat his hand away, but he’s already chuckling, brush twirling lax between his long fingers. “I’m quite alright. This is hardly the worst I’ve been through,” he reassures you, and to his credit, as tired as he must be, there’s a certain liveliness in his eyes. “How about you?”

You blink at him, confused for a moment before you realise that he’s asking after your wellbeing as well. “I’m fine, my lord, there’s no need to worry about me,” you try to say as convincingly as you can, as though you weren’t holding back yawns just a while ago. Lord Ayato has asked you to retire for the night multiple times, but you’ve refused. How can a servant possibly head to bed before their master? You pick up a stack of books and set them on the table in front of you. “The faster we finish this, the sooner we can rest. Let’s keep going, my lord.”

Your master eyes you with a steady gaze, but chooses not to say anything. He probably knows that you’re far too stubborn to listen to what he has to say, anyway. Returning to your work, you start to go through the harbour schedule. “Watatsumi… Liyue Harbour… Dornman Port…”

The two of you continue like this, the only indication of the passage of time being the growing pile of completed paperwork at your side. While you would normally be proud of the amount you’ve achieved in such a short time, you’re so tired that you’re already struggling to keep your eyes open.

In an attempt to stay awake, you begin to speak aloud as you work, hoping that doing so would help to keep your mind alert.

“My lord?” Lord Ayato doesn’t look up from his work, but he does hum lightly in response to let you know that he’s listening, so you continue. “Did you know that I used to think that you were the sort of person who actually enjoyed work?”

A quiet laugh escapes him. “Why, how flattering. I can’t imagine anyone regarding work as a hobby.” There’s the sound of a page turning. “That sounds like a nice thing, however. It would probably make it a lot easier to finish all of this work.”

You grumble when you see two clashing docking schedules. You’ll have to bring this up with the officials at Ritou tomorrow. “I wonder just how you used to manage without me.”

It’s only after you say those words do you realise that you sound like you’re bragging, but your master replies before you can take back your sentence. “I wonder about that sometimes. Well, staying up would be far more boring without your company, for one.” The movement of his pen is almost hypnotising to watch, long fingers guiding the nib to leave bold, elegant strokes on the paper. You press the back of your hand over your mouth and try unsuccessfully to hold back a yawn.

“I hardly see how I make interesting company at this godforsaken hour of the night.” Turning back to your work, you’re about to dip your pen back into the inkwell when your master suddenly pipes up.

“What else did you think of me when you first met me?”

You blink, unused to your master initiating conversation while the two of you are working. He’s a little more indulgent of you when you need a break from work, but he often prefers to work in silence, keeping his words curt and efficient with most of the other servants. Still, since he asked… Pausing in your work, you recall when you’d met your master for the first time.

The first time you’d met Lord Ayato had been a few years ago, at a job opening for the position of his personal aide. The Kamisato clan was practically a household name in Inazuma, as one arm of the Tri-Commission. Other than that, you’d also heard the rumours, of course, from those who had previously held the position. Most had either quit of their own volition or been fired by the young master of the Kamisato clan. In addition to this, the fact that most of them were learned officials in their own right made you almost give up entirely on attending the interview.

“That you would be a slave driver,” you mumble in answer, your words interspersed with a yet another yawn. You’re far too tired to hold back the next sentence that springs into your mind. “And that you were kind of an asshole, probably.”

“That’s quite crass,” your master comments, but he sounds more amused by your observations. “And yet you still decided to work under me. Perhaps you found me too charming to resist? Lady Guuji did say that I have you bewitched by my good looks.”

“The pay was good, my lord,” you retort, but your words lack any bite. “Perhaps if you want to keep me by your side, you should raise my salary.”

It’s a joke, of course, but Lord Ayato looks up at you immediately with a serious expression on his face. “If that is what you desire, then you simply need to name your price. I believe you more than deserve it.”

You give him an unimpressed look, although it’s probably ruined by the yawn you let out. “My lord, don’t just make offers like that. What if I took advantage of it and demanded some sort of extravagant salary, hmm?”

“Money is of no bother to me,” he laughs lightly, and you roll your eyes. The spoiled brat… “And besides, I think I can offer a far more competitive price than the Yae Publishing House ever could.”

Upon hearing those words, you let out a graceless snort. “Is that why you’re sending Thoma to the Grand Narukami Shrine in my place instead?”

“Of course not. As I said, the budget is a matter of grave importance.” Your master’s voice is just a little too smooth for your good, perhaps... Your eyelids are so heavy, you can’t keep them from slipping shut. “When it comes to major events like festivals, all financial matters need to be carefully taken care of…”

Ayato catches the brush right before it can slip from your grasp with one hand, the other reaching out to cradle your head with lightning fast reflexes so that you don’t knock face first onto the table. For a moment, the young lord simply stares down at you, stunned, before he lets out a stifled laugh and shakes his head. You actually fell asleep like this…

“Am I truly that boring?” He asks aloud, but you don’t reply except with a quiet snore. A light chuckle escapes him.“Silly. If you were that tired, you should have just gone to bed first…”

Setting down the pen in his hand, Ayato moves all the brushes and papers over to his side of the table so that you don’t end up drooling on any important documents, before delicately resting your head on the tabletop. You don’t stir in the slightest, obviously done for the night. “Now, now, what should I do with you?”

Some part of him considers carrying you back to your quarters so that you can sleep properly, but if you happen to wake up, he’s sure that you’ll insist on continuing to do work with him. No, that won’t do, so he’ll simply have to think of another way.

“Hmm.” Rising to his feet, the Yashiro Commissioner gathers just a hint of hydro energy between his fingertips, before proceeding to extinguish all the lanterns in his office, save for the one beside his desk. Next, he reaches for his coat and carefully tucks it over your shoulders, holding his breath when you grumble a little in your sleep. There, that should be comfortable enough.

Satisfied, the Commissioner settles behind his table once more, returning to his work. And if he lets his gazes stay a little too long when he glances up between pages, or his touches linger just a bit when he brushes the hair from your mouth with his bare fingertips, well…

… only he has to know that, doesn’t he? 

The sounds of birds chirping outside rouses you from your slumber.

Sitting up in alarm, it takes a moment for what had transpired yesterday night to catch up. You had been talking with your master, and had somehow fallen asleep right in front of him… Groaning, you drag a hand over your face to wipe the sleep from your eyes, only mildly embarrassed. So much for a servant not retiring before their master, you’d even fallen asleep in the middle of a conversation with him! You don’t quite remember it happening, but you hope that your master didn’t have too much of a hard time getting you back to your quarters.

Another chirp spurs you to get your day started, and you’re just about to extricate yourself from the warmth of your blankets only to realise… that these aren’t your blankets. Frowning down at them, recognition dawns slowly upon you when you see the elaborate camellias embroidered over them with fine silk thread, a luxury that you would never be able to afford. The only reason you do recognise them is because—

“Milord?” The word is choked out of you, strangled, and you sit up properly to realise that you are not in your own room after all, but in an empty corner of your master’s office, cleared of books and paperwork for you to sleep comfortably at. His coat, which you realise that you’ve been lying on for the entire night, has been neatly folded and tucked under your head to serve as a pillow. And as for the man himself, well…

Your master is still seated at his desk, but he’s fast asleep, head resting on his arms and his pen abandoned a short distance away from him. As quietly as possible, you reach out and close his inkwell for him even though what’s remaining must have been ruined from evaporation by now. The candle in his tableside lamp has been burnt to a stub. He must have fallen asleep before putting it out.

For a moment, you contemplate waking Lord Ayato — if he truly does want to go through the budgeting again today, he’ll have to get a lot more work done in the morning. Still, you have a feeling that he won’t oppose putting it aside if you send Thoma to the Grand Narukami Shrine instead. You quietly apologise and thank the poor housekeeper deep in your heart.

Kneeling at the opposite side of his desk, you reach over and gently brush his hair behind his ear. “What a difficult man,” you mutter under your breath, but there’s a smile on your face as you let your master sleep just a moment longer.

The Yashiro Commissioner is a difficult man, yes, but Kamisato Ayato is so very easy to love.