A Firefly's Glow

Chapter Seventeen: Part Three

Kasumi nearly tripped as she stumbled down the stairway. Her arms were flailing around her head.

She disliked being late. She preferred being punctual, like how responsible maids were supposed to be.

“Honestly!” she hissed, gritting her teeth together. “Of all times to be late!”

The long, descending stairs didn’t help Kasumi with her situation, especially when she got to the section of the stairs where the main room was visible. She knew that her other fellow servants were already standing neatly in their places.

She appreciated that her fellow co-servants had left her space untaken, but she knew that this created imperfection in the perfectly arranged lines that the maids and chauffeurs formed.

 

To make matters worse, the sunlight from the outdoors was entering the room through the door, and she spotted Hanabusa-sama stepping into the main room.

 

Kasumi would have descended down the stairs by skipping three steps with each leap, but she really didn’t want to place the risk of falling the rest of the way down the stairs. Even though the stairs had a spotless carpet covering its surfaces, the carpet didn’t make the fall down the stairs any softer or safer or less stupid-looking.

She knew that her fellow maids and chauffeurs were eying her as she trampled down the stairs. She knew she was perfectly noticeable by the way she was hurrying, with her dark ponytail whipping through the air and the way her legs responded to her pinchy shoes.

However, she didn’t focus on the stares she received from her colleagues. She only focused on the person that was slowly sauntering into the room.

Hanabusa-sama had no expression across his pale face. He didn’t stumble or trip as he walked into the main hall. His gracefulness matched his looks, and his sleek, light hair sat perfectly in place.

He looked nothing like the klutzy girl that trudged into the main room after him.

Kasumi knew what the girl probably looked like without lifting her gaze off of the perfect Hanabusa-sama. The tons and tons of hair mousse used to tame her hair had probably warn off, and her hair was probably flying around her face as if it was alive. The way she was stumbling was probably response to her tightened shoes. Her legs were probably shivering because she wasn’t at all used to wearing a skirt.

Kasumi had this feeling in her head. She was probably sure that Hanabusa-sama shifted his attention to her because of her tardiness, but somehow, she wanted to have his attention. She wanted to know that he knew she existed.

She wanted to know that she was still in his world, even if she was just his servant.

 

But when Kasumi got a better glance at Hanabusa-sama as her feet touched the floors of the main room, her heart seemed to sink. She felt disappointed.

Hanabusa-sama wasn’t looking at Kasumi. His eyes weren’t even facing her direction.

Instead of Kasumi’s hopes, at the moment that Kasumi set foot onto the first floor, Hanabusa-sama stopped in place. He shifted his gaze over his shoulders, keeping his hands loosely by his sides. Kasumi saw what he was looking at.

He was looking at her.

Kasumi’s gaze followed Hanabusa-sama’s. She noticed that her prediction of what the girl looked like as she trudged into the main hall was exactly correct. She was shivering in place, hugging her shoulders and bending her knees in such an informal way.