Chapter 9 : No Serendipities

The art of tea preparation.

The art of tea preparation!!!

Midori swallowed hard.

Grandpa Takigawa pinned her with death stares.

S-9898, I need you! Midori screamed in her head.

[Yes, Midori-san?]

I want to check my Character Interface! I want to check the stores! What can I buy with the points that I have?

The flow of time was stopped again. As Midori scrolled through her Character Interface, she kept stealing surreptitious glances at Grandpa Takigawa, who looked at her as if he could swallow her whole.

Midori's point stand did not have much to offer.

Life Points : 120 Points

Charm Points : 17 Points

Creativity Points : 10 Points

The only store accessible to her with her current stand of points was the Life Point store, but even then she couldn't find anything that could be helpful at the moment.

Can I not buy skills with points? Midori asked in a hopeful tone.

[I am pleased to inform you that you can unlock skills through two acceptable methods.]

Midori's eyes lit up within an instant.

Yes? Keep speaking!

[The first method that you can employ to gain new skills is learning said skills on your own.]

....

[The second method that you can employ to gain new skills is collecting Creativity Points and buying said skills through the Creativity Point store.]

..... and how many Creativity Points do I need to get the "Tea Preparation Skill"?

[Not much, only 10000 Creativity Points,] S-9898 replied with a pleasant tone, as if Midori could gain 10000 Creativity Points by creatively winking at Grandpa Takigawa.

Are you insane? 10000 Creativity Points??? I will never get that much!

S-9898 broke into a giggle. [Anoooo~ Midori-san, the universe does not believe in serendipities. You need to either put in the hard work or the required points to get what you want.]

Wonderful, Midori snapped. What should I do now?

[If you are ready, we shall resume the flow of time now~]

Hey, wai...

But the time already started running again. With each passing second that Midori remained motionless, Grandpa Takigawa's gaze intensified, transforming into a piercing beam that seemed to penetrate Midori's very soul. 

Midori let out a burst of cheerless laughter.

"Lazy girl!" Grandpa Takigawa slapped his own thigh in indignation. "You are about to become a mother! How are you going to teach your child discipline if you lack the self-discipline to keep practicing the art on your own after leaving your birth family???"

In the end, Midori earned herself an hour of scolding from Grandpa Takigawa. The only silver lining in her failure was that she got to keep all her points.

After Midori stepped out of Grandpa Takigawa's private sanctuary, she heaved a sigh of relief.

She had successfully returned to her birth home. For now, she had a place to stay, food to eat, and plenty of time to think about what to do next. Aside from doing missions, of course.

Her childhood bedroom was located on the second floor at the end of the corridor. As she ascended the grand staircase, Midori's gaze fell upon the framed black-and-white photographs that adorned the wall adjacent to it.

Midori wandered from one framed photograph to the next. She recognized most of the people in there, but there were also people who she did not know. Her own photograph was missing, possibly taken out three years ago when she left the mansion.

Midori's feet took her automatically past the familiar corridors. Her footsteps echoed through the cavernous hallway as she looked around her familiar, and yet unfamiliar surroundings.

When she finally arrived at the end of the corridor, she witnessed a group of maids in kimonos carrying a bunch of items out of her bedroom. The last person to walk out was Onizuka, who had to listen to Fumiko's endless complaints.

"Can you believe that, Onizuka-san?" Fumiko fumed at the butler. "She just arrived and she dared to order people around! Who does she think she is?"

Onizuka did not reveal his true feelings regarding the matter. He merely gave Fumiko an apologetic smile and bowed repeatedly to placate the angry young woman.

When Fumiko caught a glimpse of Midori, she growled like an angry hunting dog. She did not even bother to conceal the animosity she felt toward the other person.

"You!"

Fumiko stomped in Midori's direction. The young woman looked like she wanted to rip Midori into pieces after "stealing" her bedroom away.

"You have some guts," she growled in Midori's direction. "Better cherish that bedroom for as long as you can. I will get it back sooner or later."

Confidence.

Midori whistled.

"Are you going to take a bedroom from a pregnant mother? It is not very nice, is it?"

Fumiko's eyes were filled with hatred.

"Stop flaunting your extramarital pregnancy in front of us!" she snapped. "We are not as shameless as you! Do we even know who the father is???"

Fumiko was hoping to pry this information out of Midori's lips, but Midori was not that dumb. Fumiko thus stomped off into another bedroom, that was conveniently located at the other end of the corridor. It was a charming bedroom, perfect in every aspect. It was just, unfortunately, half the size of Midori's bedroom.

The way Fumiko slammed the bedroom door shut spoke volumes about her dissatisfaction with the arrangement.

Midori walked into her bedroom. After the maids removed Fumiko's belongings from the bedroom, it appeared empty and lifeless.

Onizuka-san appeared a moment later. Beaming at Midori, the old butler shared some good news, "Midori Ojou-sama, I knew that Ojou-sama would return one day. I have stored all of Ojou-sama's belongings in several wooden crates and placed them in the storage room. If Ojou-sama does not mind, I will ask the maids to take the crates out of the storage room and place them here. I can also help Ojou-sama unpack."

Midori smiled brightly at Onizuka.

"Onizuka-san, many thanks. Please bring the crates up here, I will unpack them myself."

The crates contained a lot of Midori's personal items. Even more important, they contained clothes! Midori sighed as she took one kimono after another and paraded with them across her bedroom.

Kimonos!

Not old, tattered ones that were assembled from scrap fabrics.

Beautiful kimonos that were painted by the most skilled artisans, made from the best silk material that only a few families in Japan could afford at that time. They were a far cry from the pathetic clothing that stuck to her at the moment. Oh, she could not wait to take off this ridiculous clothing and change into these beautiful garments.

With light steps, Midori exited her bedroom and strolled toward the bathroom on the second floor. On her way, she passed by Fumiko's bedroom. The sound of ceramic shattering on the wooden floor startled her, and made her stop in her tracks.

"HOW ARE YOU SO STUPID???" Fumiko roared like an angry lion. "LOOK, YOU MADE A TOTAL MESS OUT OF MY CLOTHES!"

A series of sobs was heard, and then a young maid was pushed out of the room. She almost hit Midori on her way out.

The maid raised her head to look at Midori. Her eyes were red and swollen.

"Midori Ojou-sama."

She gave Midori a perfunctory bow before she ran downstairs, presumably to cry her eyes out.

With a slight furrow on her brows, Midori tapped at her cheek repeatedly. She knew this maid from somewhere. Who was she again?

The question quickly left her mind when she came face-to-face with a tub full of warm water. The gentle wisps of steam that rose in the air were akin to an invitation to come over.

For fifteen blissful minutes, Midori let the cares of the world drift away as she luxuriated in the comforting embrace of the wooden bathtub. The water, heated to a perfect temperature, eased the knots and strains that had accumulated in her body from days of relentless travel.

And then, realization struck her like thunder, jolting her out of the warm water. She finally recalled who that maid was.

She was her childhood friend, the daughter of Midori's wet nurse when she was but a child.