Papercut | Akutagawa Ryūnosuke; AR [✔]

07 → Under the Sakura Tree

• Akutagawa Ryuunosuke •

"Master, remedial is done."

A four-wheeled cart in the grasp of my hands, my assistant next to me grabbing the necessary items that I listed down. Ira seems to be too ecstatic than the usual days that I give away orders, so today she was way more talkative. In response, sometimes I would just nod, shake my head if I disapprove, answer in phrases or say nothing at all.

We approached the section for sweets, since Gin had asked me to pick up some of her midnight snacks along the way. It was the last thing on my item list and we'll be done with our businesses here at the grocery.

"So, master," Ira spoke up as her eyes look around for the specific chocolate on the list. "What is it about the chocolates that you wanted to tell me?"

"I found it in my locker," I coughed, grabbing the paper that I shoved in my pocket from the chocolates. "For a moment there I thought it came from you."

I showed her the note that first came along with the box of chocolates -- the one before replacing it and giving it to Ira. She closely analyzed the handwriting and what was written, and weirdly enough, she even sniffed it.

Hello. I would like you to know how special you are to me. Please accept this as a gift of my love.
~ I

"The note smells like gunpowder." Ira commented, turning away to get the chocolate from the high shelf.

Curiously, I also took a sniff on the paper, irritating my nose and earning a small sneeze out of it. I crumbled the paper in my hands and kept it there. The nearest trash can I see and I will throw this away.

"Bless you, master," she added, now putting the sweets in the cart. "Also, when you write a note, do you not write your last name instead of your first name?"

Now that she mentioned it, I looked at the note again to see only the letter 'I' at the end of the note. The only reason why I thought Ira was the one who gave it to me in the first place because of that detail alone. But then handwriting-wise, it wasn't even that close to how she writes.

Low key I forgot that her last name is Mitsuya.

Upon paying for everything we bought at the cashier, we walked back home, dropping off Ira first to avoid the same accident to happen. I just used my ability to lend me extra hands in carrying the groceries.

See, that is the thing that happens when Chuuya gets too creative with his subject. I end up bringing the sentence "I need a hand" to a complete reality.

I came home and everything was neat and tidy. Gin was lying on the couch probably scrolling through social media, ignoring the fact that tomorrow, Ranpo would be conducting another difficult mystery test that usually only he knows the answer to. We should really be reviewing the mystery patterns that he had given from the past.

But of course, who has time to study?

As soon as I was done putting the groceries to their respective shelves, I gave Gin her chocolates and went to sit down at the dining room for me to drink some tea. She came to sit across the table shortly after turning off the television, engaging a random conversation with me.

"Brother, what do you think of Mitsuya?"

I nearly spat out my tea, but I couldn't help but to cough even more violently the moment I let the beverage pass my throat. "What is it with that question? You obviously know that she's my assistant."

"Yes, I know that," Gin replied without even looking at me. "But don't you see her as anything else, other than being your servant?"

I paused, pretending to think of an answer, but I'm actually only trying to get a glimpse of what Gin was scrolling through. All I could see from this angle was a black screen, a shine of white from the reflection of the light.