• He stood before the very ordinary white door, of the very ordinary gray house, on the very ordinary street. It was amazing how something so ordinary could make his heart pound so much. He was finally going to meet his long admired Yuiko Suzu. It had been his dream for some time to become a professional author so just the idea of working for someone like Yuiko Suzu made him incredibly happy. For the time being, his goal was to make a good impression on Miss Suzu. He wanted to get close to her, to learn from her. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pant's leg and then rang the doorbell hesitantly.

    The door opened suddenly and startled him. A stunning beauty in a short skirt and a long sleeved blouse stood before him.

    He stared at her for a long moment.

    She brushed back her long blond hair and smiled. "If you keep standing there in a daze I'm going to eat you up."

    His cheeks grew slightly flushed as he stuttered. "S-so sorry. I'm Rin Hayashi. I was recommended by Kiseki Publishing to be Miss Yuiko Suzu's new assistant." He offered his hand but she ignored it.

    Still smiling, she turned away, casually motioning for him to follow. "Come in and close the door. Take off your shoes please."

    He followed her quickly and obediently, hoping he hadn't insulted her. Was she Yuiko Suzu? Working for such a beautiful woman... he could hardly imagine it. He pulled off his shoes so quickly he nearly fell over. He stumbled after her as she headed up a set of stairs just past the entryway.

    "Miria! The guy that Kiseki Publishing sent over is here to fill the assistant position!" She called out.

    Rin followed her up the stairs and into a room that looked as though it had been imported directly from Japan.

    The Miria that the unknown beauty addressed sat in front of a low, wooden table. Photos and drafts were scattered in a circular pattern all around her on the tatami flooring and the glow of the laptop in front of her shone on everything in the darkened room. Her dark hair was tied up in a haphazard fashion on top of her head and she wore a wrinkled t-shirt and jeans that added to the feel of slovenliness that she practically radiated. He wondered if this was Miss Suzu's current assistant. If so he understood why a new or additional assistant would be needed. Even though those were his personal feelings he decided not to comment on it.

    He turned to the blond vision beside him, thinking what a contrast these two people were and asked softly. "Is she also one of Miss Suzu's assistants?"

    The blond beauty looked surprised and then snickered. She covered up her mouth to stifle it, glancing at the slovenly figure.

    Miria sat up and frowned at him. "Are you an idiot? Kana, why don't you leave and take this dumbass with you?"

    The beauty, Kana, removed her hand and cleared her throat, regaining her composure. "Don't be like that Miria. He didn't know. Well, I have things to do so I'll be leaving now. See you later."

    She glanced back at him once just before leaving the room and seemed to laugh to herself. The room grew silent to the sound of her footsteps rapidly retreating down the stairs. The sound of the front door slamming shut seemed to echo loudly.

    "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Miria asked finally, leaning against the table and stretching her legs out in the empty space underneath.

    He wondered what exactly was this girl's problem. "Ah, well, I'm Rin Hayashi and I was recommended to this job by some people I know who work at Kiseki Publishing. Nice to meet you. Ah... you are?"

    She sighed and picked up one of the smaller stacks of paper to her left. "Geez. You really don't know anything do you? Listen very carefully to what I'm about to say. I am your employer. Got it? I'm Yuiko Suzu." She turned to the papers and began shuffling through them.

    He couldn't speak for a moment and then said the first thing that came to his mind. "But you look like you're still in high school. Is this... a joke maybe?"

    She didn't even bother looking up from the papers. "I dropped out. When you make as much as I do there's no point in going right? If you still think it's a joke then just leave. I don't need that kind of idiot as my assistant."

    "No, I believe you! It's just a surprise." He couldn't believe Yuiko Suzu, the renowned queen of terror and master of supernatural thrillers was actually this kind of person. He didn't want to believe it, but otherwise who could say such a thing so seriously? She would have laughed at him already if it was a joke right?

    "If you understand, then go clean the other rooms. I'm too busy to do it right now and I don't want to listen to complaints from my mom next time she visits. That woman woman's nagging voice could put a harpy to shame."

    Rin nodded even though she wasn't even looking his way and his shoulders slumped in defeat. "I'll get started right away." He stepped back toward the door. "Well, if there's nothing else then I'll go get started."

    "Umm hmm." She mumbled in response, ignoring him as she sat the papers down on a relatively clean spot beside the laptop and began typing with amazing speed.

    Rin left the room and sighed heavily. This wasn't exactly what he'd expected when he decided to take this job. Forget about getting close to Yuiko Suzu, it seemed as though he was already disliked. He wasn't even sure he wanted to be like by someone like that, but even if she wasn't what he expected she was still the genius Yuiko Suzu, or so she said. Perhaps if he stuck around there were things he could learn from her. Before that he was going to have to find some way to change her impression of him. Well, she'd said he should clean up, so he'd start with that. He'd do a thorough job so she wouldn't have any complaints. He nodded and smiled to himself.

    ___________________________________________


    He ran the vacuum across the cream colored carpet in the hall, humming to himself as he imagined himself at the top of the fantasy best seller list. It took a moment for him to hear Miria's voice.

    "Damn it! Shut the hell up!" She yelled.

    He looked up to see her in the doorway of her room and ducked as a book flew over his head. He turned and stepped on the power button to turn off the vacuum. When he looked up she was disappearing back into the room. He wondered if she was done yelling now.

    Miria reappeared a moment later and stepped out into the hall with a cross look in her eyes and an even bigger, thicker book than the first one in her hands.

    "Umm.... is something the matter?" Rin asked, forcing a smile as he raised his hands before him, prepared to block the next missile if necessary.

    She glared furiously. "Clean quietly a*****e! I'm trying to work here! You're supposed to make my job easier, not harder! If you aren't quiet while I'm working from now on I'll really use this book to beat you to death! All right?"

    He nodded slowly. "Uh, yeah. Sorry."

    She took a deep breath and then huffed. "Idiot." She went back into her work room and slammed the door behind her.

    Rin sighed. He'd been so set on doing a good job cleaning he'd forgotten his overall purpose. What in the heck was he doing, being scolded by a high school drop-out? It was even worse because he couldn't really blame her. If it continued like this he'd be fired the first day.

    ____________________________________________

    Rin had long since finished cleaning everything he could think of and he was enjoying a cup of tea at the kitchen table. He hadn't heard a peep out of Miria since she'd gone to her "relaxation room" after lunch. It was close to dinner time and he was starting to wonder what or if he should cook.

    He got to his feet with a sigh and decided to stop wasting his time and go upstairs and ask Miria. He hauled himself up the stairs and to the room at the end of the hall on the right. He knocked lightly on the door. "Miria?... Miria?" When she didn't reply he knocked again and rose his voice. "Miria?" He waited a moment for her to reply but it didn't come. He wonder if she'd fallen asleep, or maybe she'd gone out while he was still cleaning and he hadn't noticed. He cracked the door open slowly and peeked in. The lights were off but the tv on the other side of the room was stuck on the menu of some game. He stepped into the room. "Miria?" She was nowhere in sight, however, he noticed there was some sort of dark liquid congealing on the floor. The light from the tv reflected off it in an eerie sort of way. He flicked on the lights and froze. He wanted nothing more than to flick them back off again. It looked like someone had splattered blood across the wood floor in front of the tv and there was a trail that lead to the closest on the left of the room. There was no way it was actually blood. It had to be something else. He walked slowly across the room avoiding contact with the mess on the floor. He opened the closet door and stepped back immediately. "Ugh." He released the door and took another step back. Miria sat in front of him, covered in what really did look like blood. When he stepped back yet again, he slipped as his foot came into contact with the sticky liquid on the floor. He landed right in the middle of it and couldn't help but be grossed out as he lifted his hand and found it to be covered with it. He looked back at Miria. This wasn't real right? He thought. He leaned forward, thinking he should check.

    She suddenly reached up and grabbed him with a blood-smeared hand.

    He jumped back. "Gah!" Even if he told himself it was a joke it was creepy.

    "Gotcha!" She yelled out in a sing-song voice.

    Rin could only stare. What the hell?

    She began to laugh, looking at the expression on his face. "How was it? Creepy? I was thinking of writing a scene like this."

    Rin couldn't laugh somehow. "Yeah, it was great." He replied in monotone, trying to hold back several complicated emotions.

    Miria continued laughing, seeming to get a kick out of his response. She finally pulled herself together and took a deep breath. She looked totally refreshed. She smiled sweetly at Rin. "Well, I'll leave the clean-up to you Rin. Have fun okay?"

    "Eh? What do you mean have fun? What are you going to be doing while I clean up your mess?" He demanded, so annoyed he forgot to speak politely to his "boss."

    She got to her feet and looked down at him, placing her hand on her hip. "Well, I'm going to take a shower, of course." She told him matter-of-factly. She didn't seem bothered by his rude tone at all. Then she smiled. "Be sure to do a good job."

    Rin glared at her back as she walked away. This job.... just how badly did he want to keep it?