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The role of Library SEKAI’s housekeeper usually fell on KAITO. A lot of his time was spent dusting off the statues and organizing the bookshelves, as well as helping out around the cafe. It wasn’t something he hated, not at all! He wished that the other 6 residents helped out just a teeny bit more. The only one who really did was Eden Doucet (and occasionally Hana Sonobe), who wasn’t even there 24/7 like the others were.
“I appreciate the help, but you really don’t have to do this, Eden,” KAITO said, scrubbing the crumbs off a dessert plate.
“But I do.” Eden shook his head. “I’m the owner of this SEKAI after all. The least I could do is help you clean up.”
KAITO shrugged and let out a sigh, knowing that this conversation wouldn’t go anywhere. He wiped off the water from the plate and put it on top of the others. Meanwhile, Eden went back to wiping off a table. Once he was finished, he glanced over at the calendar behind the counter. It was the second week of February, however, what stood out to him most was the third week. February 17th, which was circled in a red pen. “KAITO’S BIRTHDAY” was written in the small square, in pretty neat handwriting
“…Hey KAITO? If you could get anything you wanted right now, what would you ask for?” Eden asked.
“Hmm…” KAITO thought, before snapping his fingers. “A photo album and a camera would be nice. A lot of stuff happens here, so why not make those moments last forever with a picture? Luka and I didn’t take a lot of pictures of our own when we were in Brilliant Stone, and that’s one of the things I really regret.”
“Mhm, mhm. Got it!” Eden nodded his head.
“What’s this for?”
“Oh! Uh, nothing! I was just curious! Maybe it could be for Christmas or something.”
“February is a little early to be planning for Christmas.”
“That’s what you think. You can never plan too early!”
“…Riiighhhtttt.”
With that awkward ending being over with, Eden left the cafe and gathered the rest of the inhabitants together.
“Okay everyone. Uhm, you all know that the 17th is KAITO’s birthday, right?” Eden asked. Turns out that 2 of the people there, Luka and Miku already knew. Miku because she was a Brilliant Stone super fan, and Luka because she already looked at the calendar. “I think that we could do something special for him. Like, along with the usual birthday stuff, we could clean up the SEKAI as well.”
Len whined, “Do I have to?”
“N-No, but it would be nice.” Eden nervously smiled.'
“I wouldn’t mind” MEIKO said. “This library is huge, but there are a lot of us, so we’d be able to cover a lot of ground.”
“But if this is supposed to be a surprise, then however are we to keep it a secret from him?” Rin pondered.
“I can handle that. We can talk for so long that hours could pass and we wouldn’t notice.” Luka explained.
“Thank you, Luka! Back to my plan, we should start on the 16th. Hana and I will take care of the gift..” Eden smiled.
Once the 16th hit, the other vocaloids cleaned up the place, while Luka distracted KAITO in the music sector. They had a couple of jam sessions, talked a whole bunch, you know the deal. The others did pretty well on their part as well! With how well they cleaned, you would think that KAITO did it! The library looked like an old painting come to life. However, they struggled with the statues. No one really knew how to take care of the statues beyond just dusting them. While MEIKO and Miku went to look for a guide, some of them kind of messed up.
“We’re back!” MEIKO announced.
“Yay!” (H)IBA cheered. “Uhm, can we use vinegar to clean the statues?”
“…No.”
“Whoopsie daisy!”
“(H)IBA-”
…Yup. One of the statues was now permanently etched. All they could’ve done was put a white cloth over it and pray that KAITO didn’t notice.
After those hiccups, the big day finally arrived! KAITO was taking a nap on one of the couches, and when he awoke, everyone was waiting for him. Originally, he thought that they needed his help with something (as usual), but instead, they asked him to follow them. The group then took a trip around the SEKAI, and KAITO noticed just how clean everything was.
“Did Eden do all of this? God, he pushes himself way too much…” KAITO remarked.
“That’s a secret.” Miku giggled. Making their way to the cafe, the vocaloids find Eden and Hana.
“Finally, you made it! Me and Eden have a gift for you!” Hana waved.
“Oh?” KAITO tilted his head and walked up to the two kids. Then, he saw it! A Polaroid camera and a very large photo album. Upon seeing this, KAITO gave a warm smile. “I knew you weren’t planning for Christmas. Thank you so much, you two.”
“Hey! We did something for you too!” Len butted in. “Who do you think cleaned up the place?”
“Eden.”
“…Okay you have a point but it was us!”
“Eden gave us the idea, but considering you do a lot around here, we wanted to do something nice,” Luka told. “You’re not just the butler, but a good friend of ours.”
KAITO shook his head and smiled, “Thank you, all of you.”
“Uhm, how about we put this camera to use?” Eden asked. Everyone then grouped together, the camera shutter went off, and the photo was printed out. So many smiles, and there were plenty more to come.