Inside the mansion, Naomi can't help but notice the beauty and luxury of every detail. The living room with Japanese decor and indirect lighting, with a large gray retractable corner sofa. Some antique artifacts adorned the coffee table, decorative swords attached to the wall. When Satoru approached and said:
"Naomi, come with me. I'll show you the room prepared for you.
Without a word, Naomi followed him down the hallway to the end, where next to a winter garden stood a wooden staircase.
"Mr. Tatsuo informed me of the deal you made." said Satoru suddenly.
"He told you?" said Naomi in surprise.
"Yes. And as assistant, it is my duty to inform you about the house rules, Master Tatsuo wakes up at 6 o'clock, so we serve breakfast at 6:30. Dinner starts to be prepared an hour earlier and at 8 o'clock we serve it, because it is…"
"Why and when is Tatsuo coming back to the mansion?" said Naomi, interrupting Satoru. "And lunch, what time is it served?"
"At noon," Satoru replied coolly. "You can eat in your room or in the kitchen together with the staff. But when Mr. Tatsuo is making meals, you must be next to him."
"hmmm... It's okay," Naomi said.
After climbing the stairs, they walked through a hallway with the metal-framed sliding doors. Naomi remembered being in this part the last time she was in the mansion. And stopping in front of a door, she opened the door and saw that some of her belongings were already there.
"As you can see, we've moved some things out of your apartment," Satoru said. "I'll let you rest, tomorrow we'll talk about the rest of the house rules and what you'll do while you're here."
"I like it, I even brought some of my stuff. You seem like a nice guy, four eyes," said Naomi, turning to Satoru, who was standing behind.
"What, four eyes?" asked Satoru indignantly, as he adjusted his glasses on his face.
"Oops, haha... I'm sorry," Naomi said nervously.
"I'm going to go," Satoru said angrily.
☸☸☸〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰☯⚛☯〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰☸☸☸
Lying on the bed, Naomi was staring at the ceiling, her thoughts empty, when she heard the sound of knocking on the door. She quickly got up and opened the door, and saw that it was Tatsuo.
"Tatsuo. What do you want?" asked Naomi in surprise.
"I came to see if my guest, is well installed," Tatsuo replied, entering the room.
"Ahn… Yes, I'm fine. Thank you," Naomi replied as she closed the door.
Tatsuo looked around, nostalgically, and looked back at Naomi, and said:
"Is the room okay for you?" asked Tatsuo.
"Yes, it's fine. Ah! And even better than the last one," Naomi said, referring to the room she was in before escaping.
Tatsuo smiled at Naomi's unprecedented sincerity and strokes his head, which has been left with messy hair, as he says:
"Okay, I'll let her sleep then," Tatsuo said. "Good night, Naomi."
"Good evening... Tatsuo." Naomi replied shyly.
Without looking back, Tatsuo leaves silently.
☸☸☸〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰☯⚛☯〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰☸☸☸
The birds were singing a sweet melody as Naomi slept peacefully, when Satoru abruptly entered the room, saying:
"Let's wake up, Master Tatsuo will soon be having breakfast."
"Hein? Hum?" Naomi grunted inarticulately, waking abruptly from a deep, restful sleep.
Satoru walked to the window and opened the curtains, allowing the pale light of a dawn to enter.
"Four eyes. I take back what I said yesterday about you being a nice guy," said Naomi, covering herself with the blanket.
"I don't care about that. Now come on, obey Mr. Tatsuo's orders," said Satoru.
Approaching the bed, with an abrupt movement, Satoru pulled the blanket, Naomi squirmed and said with a grunt:
"Grrr!!! All right, I'll get up."
Reluctantly, Naomi got up, Satoru looked at the print on the T-shirt she wore to sleep, it was written "sleep all day" and just below it the drawing of Garfield hugging a pillow, and said:
"Pff..." Satoru stifled a laugh and said. "That shirt really suits you," he wryly referred to the shirt's print.
Naomi looks down at her shirt and frowns angrily, and grabs one of the pillows that was nearby, and in one swift motion throws it toward Satoru, who dodges it without much difficulty.
"You look full of energy today," Satoru said with a libertine smile on his face. "Now stop fooling around and get ready for breakfast. Master Tatsuo doesn't like to be kept waiting," he turned and left the room.
☸☸☸〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰☯⚛☯〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰☸☸☸
After her bath, Naomi left her room and went downstairs, her eyes scanning everything around her. As she was looking for the dining room, she saw some of Tatsuo's subordinates gathered together and, frightened, she hesitated to approach to ask. When among them was Seiji who saw her and approached and said:
"Ah! the runaway girl. What are you doing here?"
"Ahn… haha! I'm going to live here for now," Naomi replied with some apprehension. "Your name is Seiji, right?
"Yes, that's my name. What's yours?"
"And Naomi. Well... Can you tell me where the dining room is?"
"I was on my way there. Do you want to join me?" said Seiji softly.
Naomi's eyes sparkled with emotion at such kindness transmitted by Seiji.
"Yes, thank you!" replied Naomi happily.
Naomi thought that maybe not everyone there was as evil as they seemed. But that didn't hide the fact that they were dangerous. And that she couldn't get too close, or the darkness that surrounded them would mercilessly smother her.
Seiji opened the dining room door, smiled and waved goodbye. When Satoru greeted her, saying:
"At last you have arrived, come and sit down."
"Ahn... Okay," Naomi said.
The tension of the place made Naomi feel an ache in her stomach. She helped herself to breakfast and noted that it was unexpectedly normal and every day for the Japanese, compared to what she thought would be served as excessive and more caloric.
"Thank you for the food." Naomi said in thanks, and soon began to eat.
Naomi looks at the food served to Tatsuo, who was reading a newspaper, and is surprised that it is only coffee, and thinks that an important person like him would not eat rice with missô soup for breakfast. When Tatsuo asked:
"What are you going to do during the day, Naomi?"
Quickly finishing chewing her food, Naomi responds:
"Ahn... No, I have no idea what he does..."
"But if you need to go out on any business, I have already spoken to Satoru to arrange for two men to accompany you," Tatsuo said with his elbows resting on the table and his fingers interlocked in front of him.
"Yes, I appreciate it." Naomi responded by nodding her head.
"Well, I'm leaving now," Tatsuo said just after looking at his wristwatch, he stood up. "Satoru, I leave the house in your hands."
"I wish you a good day, Master Tatsuo," Satoru said, bowing to Tatsuo. "And an honor to guard the mansion."
As Tatsuo chatted with Satoru, Naomi watched him silently as their gazes met again. Tatsuo smiled and said:
"Have a nice day, Naomi."
"Er... For you too, Tatsuo," Naomi replied.
☸☸☸〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰☯⚛☯〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰☸☸☸