Profit ~TodoBaku~

Chapter 5: work should usually have some sort of shift, right?

CW // a rather graphic depiction of death 😊 (NOT MCD, so don't worry)

Katsuki Bakugo

12:01 AM, Monday, 15th July. My first minute working under conglomerate-enterprising businessman Shoto Todoroki...and he's fallen asleep while watching tv. He'd demanded that I watch some stupid movie with him, despite the fact that it was definitely a cheesy teen horror flick. He'd made a total mess of the carpet with errant snacks that had been flung, but had insisted on cleaning them himself, since "you don't work for me yet~"

But now, with him slumbering on the ugly as hell sofa, I'm left with a dilemma. Technically, I'm his servant now, so should I...take him to bed? Would it be considered too invasive for me to be seen carrying the boss to his room in a vulnerable state within 90 seconds of my employment?

Well, yes, it would. But...there shouldn't be anyone else here, right? The cook leaves at 8, the dog-walker at 9, and the two other servants are surely asleep by now, so it should be safe to move him.

Oh, right! I'd been introduced briefly to the other members of staff around the house, and had made somewhat quick judgements about all three. All of them seemed to be rather neutral, not really displaying much emotion at all to be honest. The cook, who's name I won't even pretend to remember, had simply given me a short smile before getting back to stirring some broth-like creation. The dog-walker was a little nicer, and the two dogs he handled were certainly very friendly, so he seemed like an ok guy.

The two other servants were probably more interesting. Neither really seemed to actually do much...in fact, I don't think they've even left their rooms since I met them, and even then it was just outside their doors...perhaps Shoto just had a great deal of leniency with his employees?

Back to the matter at hand, there was a to and fro debate being staged in my mind right now over whether to lift him up the many stairs and to his bed, or whether to silently stand, and keep the pretence of ignorance to his sleep.

After maybe 25 seconds of the latter, I got bored, and crept over to him. He was curled up in a foetal position, rustling slightly uncomfortably as he rested. It was almost cute, how such a powerful man came across so humble and timid.

I was expressly gentle as I scooped him up into my arms, slowly pacing up the steps. As soon as I made it to the room I'd seen him come out of a couple of times before, I did my best to lay him down onto the bed without waking him up. Unfortunately, he began to stir, and I awkwardly shuffled back to stand a respectable distance from him.

"Mmm...Katsuki? What..what time...?"

"It is 12:06 AM, Shoto"

"And did I fall asleep on the couch again?"

"...yes"

"Ugh! I'm sorry, it's really a bad habit of mine. Thank you for getting me to bed though, I hope it wasn't a struggle?"

"Not at all. I'll leave you some peace to change, I'd there anything you need?"

"Tea would be nice. It helps me sleep"

"I'll be back in a couple of minutes"

I gently shut the door as I vacated the room, giving him privacy to change into nightwear. I smirked a little bit at how quickly I'd adapted into the roll of his...butler? Carer? Servant? It was strange how it felt almost natural, despite never doing it before. Perhaps being a waiter gave me a slight edge over others, but it was especially different work. I'd been an idiot and forgotten to ask if he took sugar, so I elected to put half a teaspoon of it in, sweetening it slightly but not quite blatantly.

His bedroom was quite far removed from what I'd expected before I met him, but almost exactly what I had after. I'd initially thought the whole house would be very old-fashioned, but his bedroom turned out to be..quite like my old one, actually. My...childhood one. Lots of stuffed animals and clothes littered around the room gave it the look of a pre-teen, the height of rebellion being an unmade bed. It was particularly out of place in such an old fashioned place as this, and I think my face must've shown it as I brought him the piping hot tea.

"I know. Like I said, this isn't one of my favourite houses, and this room is likewise. My favourite is the one in London, I have these massive blinds that are remote control and lift up and down! You can see the entire city from up there! You really must see it someday!"

He's so...animated when he talks, even so early in the morning. His hands flailed around in excitement, whether genuine or not I couldn't say.

"I look forward to it. I'll let you get some rest now"

"Come, I feel awake. Your voice is calming to listen to, so...read to me?"

"If you wish. Any preferences?"

"Not Twilight"

"Fair enough..."

I absentmindedly picked a book I hadn't heard of, The Great Zoo of China by some American guy, seeing that it looked new and unread. I switched on a small bedside lamp, and pulled an armchair from the corner of the room over to him. I turned open the first page, and spoke aloud, reading him the story, starting with the prologue.

Breathless, bleeding and covered in sweat, Bill Lynch dropped into the mouth of the cave and crab-crawled further into it as quickly as he could. He snatched his cell phone from his trouser pocket. No signal. SOS only.

"Fuck" he said to no-one. The bastards had jammed the entire valley. Voices from outside made him spin. They spoke in Mandarin.

'—went that way—'

'—into that cave on the cliff face—'

Lynch heard the safeties on their assault rifles click off. Beyond the mouth of the cave, Bill Lynch saw a jaw-dropping view: a broad valley featuring lakes, rivers and waterfalls. In the middle of it all, shrouded by the hazy air common to southern China, was a huge central mountain that stabbed the sky...

And so I continued. I continued for what felt like an infuriatingly long time to read 4 pages of a book, but what was in reality about ten minutes. I continued reading and reading until I reached the final paragraph of the prologue, and perhaps my tiredness shone through as I read out the final few words

Bill Lynch had no time for another thought, for just then the massive thing roared and rushed at him, and within seconds Lynch was lying on the floor of the cavern....

...screaming desperately and spitting blood as he was foully eaten alive.
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Shoto Todoroki

"Woah! So cool!"
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Ikr, getting eaten by a dragon is like, GOALS-

I feel like I got a little sidetracked in this chapter-

Fact of the Day: The Great Zoo of China is an absolutely wonderful book written by Matthew Reilly. You should definitely read it, it's by far my favourite!

(Just a disclaimer, I take NO ownership of The Great Zoo of China, licensing for that belongs to Matthew Reilly and Karanadon Entertainment Pty Ltd. PLEASE check out the book, as well as his other published works)