[[Category:Volume Volume 12 Chapters]]
Mai Dear Sister Mei (
Summary[]
Within the Hanazono household, Mei is working alongside a white-haired maid who looks at her admirably but who has a clumsy streak, tripping while on duty with Mei forced to prevent her from falling and who shows great admiration for her "dear sister." However, when Rentarou arrives at the mansion, the same maid is immediately furious, seeing him as getting in the way of their moment and wanting to kill him!
As Mei and Rentarou head off to speak, the white-haired maid states that this was actually a perfect opportunity: the mistress and her daughter were away, and Mei and Rentarou were going to spend the day baking cakes, thus allowing her to "help" only to sabotage Rentarou's action, breaking Mei and him up and thus allowing her to impress "her sister" with her own unrivaled cake; though tripping once again forcing her to be saved by Mei. As Rentarou and Mei cook, the maid plots to place salt on the sugar. She continues to admire Mei's work, but Rentarou notices her; in her distraction, the maid trips once again forcing Rentarou to save her and leading to him unexpectedly "zinging" with this maid! As Rentarou checks up on her, the maid is just shocked at how cool Rentarou is, stating she avoided looking at his face up until this moment but realizes now how amazing he is... until she realizes he's still the man trying to take Mei away, forcing her to get away from him only to trip and be saved by him again leading to more frustrated emotions!
Mei immediately apologizes that this maid is bothering Rentarou in such a manner. The white-haired maid calls Mei her "sister" and claims she is actually her older sister, surprising Rentarou until Mei states, "she has no younger sister," confusing things. The younger maid's explanation is since both are working under the same mistress, Mei is the "big sister," and the maid is the "little sister" and are similar to the point that they share the same last names (not quite: both have the last name "Meido" but Mei's and the white-haired maid use different kanji with the same reading). Mei touches Rentarou's hand, angering the white-haired maid who hits him over and over, but due to his dealings with Karane, Rentarou isn't affected by her violence as if she's like a puppy, all while the maid claims she wants to be held against Rentarou's strong chest until Mei slaps her on the back of her head and the maid falls once again.
Still seeing the problems of the white-haired maid, Mei apologizes as the duo lay her down on a nearby couch. Rentarou asks about the maid, why she's so fond of her, and if she's worked there long; Mei reveals that the maid's name is Mai, and she is the granddaughter of the former head maid of the Hanazono Estate; Mai had seen Mei working there when she followed her to work one day and gained a deep impression from the encounter, to the point that Mai would assist with duties when on break from school until she graduated Junior High this past spring (making her Rentarou's age) and began working as a live-in maid at the estate.
Mei heads off to clean up Mai's mess as the white-haired maid wakes up, swooning over Rentarou before stating he'll never get her approval for Mei's love. She begins to show her obsessive knowledge of Mei, revealing things like the sound she makes sometimes, but Rentarou counters with his own Mei trivia about her hand motions; the duo goes back and forth with Mei trivia as the maid stands to the side, letting them at one another as they deliver blow after blow until eventually, Mai runs out of brags about "her sister." Rentarou states he still has a trillion things to say about Mei, while Mai feels like she'll be inferior if she doesn't come up with something else, and Rentarou is the superior in the match, upset that she's been yearning for Mei way longer than Rentarou and refuses to let a stranger take her from the white-haired maid! But without warning, Rentarou states he's all out of brags; he states Mai took the first move, and he can't let Mei see him lose, so it's easier to call it even between them. Mai confidently takes the tie, stating that he'll never get her approval if he can't beat her.
However, without warning, the phone rings, and Mei receives a call from Hakari. Mei becomes shocked as she finds out Mistress Hahari has a blister! Mei decides to call a car, and while Rentarou relents he wishes he could run there faster, he lets her go and decides to hold off on the cake-baking until another time. As Mei leaves, Mai acknowledges how Hahari is the top priority for "her sister," as Rentarou agrees that she would rather put her mistress above anyone, even on dates. However, Mai realizes that Rentarou gave another brag about Mei, proving he wasn't out; Mai wonders what he's planning about his "draw" accusation, but he states that he realized how important Mei was to Mai during the brag match. Mai wonders how Rentarou made sure she didn't lose and thus the idea of giving her approval to date Mei and no longer get in his way. But Rentarou knew how much she cared for Mei and would rather prove over time that he was worthy of how he felt about her for Mei's happiness and Mai's. Mai starts swooning about how his soul is as good as his face as Rentarou adds that he had fun talking about Mei with her and hoped they'd do it again. Mai is upset that Rentarou is hitting on her despite all the other girlfriends he has, but he states that whether or not he's hitting on her, he admires how Mai fawns over the person she admires.
Shocked and confused, Mai confesses her love for Rentarou but only under the condition of joining the family to keep an eye on him and Mei and maybe date them.
Characters[]
- Mei Meido
- Mai Meido
- Rentarou Aijou
- Mai's Grandmother (flashback)
Quote[]
Beginning: A maid enthralled by a maid.
Cover: My uncontrollable fury.
End: Are you well, Mai?
Next Chapter: My, my, my, girlfriend of mine, my, my, my, she continues to pine.