It just hadto happen today, didn't it?

Misaki Ayuzawa groaned, aggravated. The café she usually visited was barred for renovation. School life was tiring, and she always went to that café for a cup of hot chocolate.

Mmmm…hot chocolate….

Misaki unconsciously smiled at the memories of the brown liquid, its sweet flavor, the soft froth…

BAAM!

"Ouch…." She muttered while rubbing her head. Then glaring at the lamp post she had banged into, it was not the one at fault here, but Misaki was not in the mood of being reasonable.

Hot chocolate does that to you.

Feeling the place that had collided with the lamp post inflame, she rubbed and pressed it until the pain subsided to a degree that was bearable. She didn't think much about it though, or noticed some of the passerby's' jeer and laugh at her.

She strolled on, feeling her grumpiness increase after every step, so much that she was reduced to stop and rebuke a middle-school child for throwing his wasted chocolate wrapper on the street.

"The bin is not even two-steps away! Have your legs stopped working?!"

The unfortunate child was so terrified that he ran two miles away from the her (after throwing his trash in the can of course…) leaving a wide trail of dust behind him, proving that his legs were functioning quite magnificently.

Males…!

This contemptuous thought was followed by more, fueled by her long-standing aversion for men, which had started around the time that man-she couldn't even bear calling him Dad-left and disappeared suddenly along with leaving them to deal with an insane debt. Misaki grit her teeth, memories of that man always made her desire to break something. It was because of him, that today his eldest daughter roamed in streets trying to find a decent job without lowering down to prostitution.

All men were like that.

That's why; she thought scathingly, I am here to make them learn some manners...

Feeling slightly better at that muse and her future aims, she turned to walk from the scene and in search of another place she could get a cup of Hot chocolate. The sun was about to set; the horizon was tinged with a pale orange hue and the temperature was dropping rapidly. Wrapping her scarf around her more securely, her breath making white clouds in the air, she took one look around her at the people enjoying the evening at the park, while it was still warm, but even now most of them were leaving.

Her eyes strayed towards the bench of the littering boy, and stopped.

He left his bag!

She scurried towards the bench and picked up the shoulder-bag, orange and brown in color and it had a name tag hung on it.

Nice Sato

Nice…..what a weird name

She fingered the strap of the bag, feeling the dreaded sensation of guilt slowly overtake her. He most probably needs it. He would probably remember losing it after nightfall and would not be able to do his homework. All because of her! At this time the regret overwhelmed her and shouldering the bag, she rushed after the boy's-Nice Sato's trail.

…

He's going out of town?

No, perhaps he lives out of town.

Misaki grimaced at the thought; this was a total waste of time. She was supposed to be finding a place for a job. But the President would rather wander the streets all night before a school day rather than be the cause of someone else's distress. Her prejudice against men at one side, and atoning for her mistakes another. Even if her mind reminded her many times that it was the boy's own fault for leaving his bag behind.

Boys are senseless anyway….. She countered.

Boarding the train after the boy, she recognized him, messy brown hair and blue?-blue eyes. He wore a sleeveless off-white jacket over a plain blue T-shirt with jeans. Weirdly, he also had a piece of white tape stuck on the bridge of his pointed nose. Misaki thought he was generally good-looking, as did most of the girls surrounding them in the bus. But the place was too packed for Misaki to be able to breathe, much less move or call out to him. He still didn't seem to have noticed the absence of his bag.

Stupid boy…!

After a ride which felt like a day, Misaki finally managed to tumble out of the bus door to find her quarry sprinting up the subway stairs. Following him, Misaki noticed that he also looked like to be in a hurry and was surprisingly fast. Enough so that the she found it nearly impossible to run and shout out to him both at once.

She was starting to feel slightly panicked now; being in a town far from home, in an unknown place; exhausted and maudlin, just to return a bag. It was starting to get colder by every second and Misaki's thin jacket would never be able to hold it out for very long.

She saw the boy round a corner and Misaki struggled with her legs to move faster, finally reaching the corner and stopping. Bending and placing her hands on her knees she caught her breath. He had gone inside one of the small glittery shops in the alley. Resting herself, she hurried towards the shop but again abruptly braked after seeing its unusual façade.

Maid…Latte….?

Misaki stared at it with an open mouth before the door opened with a 'chinnng' and a customer walked out, with a dreamy expression where his eyes were comically replaced with two pulsing hearts. This knocked Misaki back into her senses. Feeling more wary of entering the place than ever, she instinctively put a foot back, but turned after glimpsing the boy inside.

Gulping and reminiscing how much time she was wasting, she stepped inside.

It felt like she had entered a Japanese fairy tale of sorts. A vague scent tickled her nose which reminded her of an old traditional perfume. It smelled eerily attracting and pleasant and Misaki unknowingly felt her senses soothe as a welcome chorus chimed in her ears,

"Welcome back, Milady."

Misaki looked to see two beautiful women standing in front of her dressed in elegant kimonos.

"Let me assist you to your table, Milady." The shorter of the two, with curly red hair wearing a contrasting sea-green kimono chirped and motioned towards a table further in the shop.

Misaki was speechless for a few moments with amazement, and murmured a small 'wow' before mindlessly following the lady. Why were they wearing such flashy costumes? Why were there so many men here? And all of them were adorning the same goofy smiles and blushes, staring at the waitresses in a cheeky manner which suddenly made Misaki want to throttle them.

The newly born anger made her collect her bearings, and she whipped her head here and there in search for the boy Nice (It really was a weird name) and spotted him at once. He was sitting not far from her; along with, was that a girl? She was wearing a blue and white cap which almost hid all of her face and her black hair was cut short enough to be misleading. Misaki got up and walked towards them, and drawing nearer found that the girl's name was Hajime, and she was indeed a girl.

Hajime and Nice looked up when Misaki approached them, Nice let out a terrified gasp while his companion, pausing in her meal of omelet rice, stared at Misaki with emotion-less red eyes.

"It's you! I promise I didn't litter anything else!" Nice provided almost hysterically, enough for the waitresses to notice and come to them.

Misaki vainly tried to reason with him among a chorus of 'What happened, Master?" and 'May I help you, Mistress?" by the waitresses.

The commotion was getting out of hand, other customers were becoming disturbed too, however it was sorted by the advent of the blue-haired manager, who looked the oldest of them all and had a motherly touch to her demeanor, Satsuki. Misaki was already highly mortified to be the cause of a fuss, in an unfamiliar place, among such regally dressed people, while she was in a mangy sweat jacket and an old pair of discolored jeans. But she explained herself fully, especially after she became accustomed to the inviting and easy manner of the manager. Misaki had always pictured managers to be strict and condescending, but this one seemed as if she was barely resisting jumping and twirling in joy. The others, though not with the same happy-go-lucky air, were calm and pacifying, making Misaki realize that the magical fairy tale-like atmosphere came not because of the decorations, but from them.

She unintentionally smiled at this, for it was a thing that made her happy, though it was unrelated from her. The feeling she absorbed from this was so much like the one her best friends Sakura and Shizuko gave her and it usually happened by just sitting with them and hearing them talk.

…...

"Uh….Thank you! Sorry for over-reacting- I mean you're scary, n-not in a bad way… but thank you very much." The boy, Nice Sato blabbered while rubbing the back of his head and laughing embarrassedly.

"Thank you." his friend, Hajime said in a monotone voice while bowing down to her.

Misaki nodded to both of them while buttoning her coat.

Standing in the now dark alleyway Misaki gestured with her head towards the café at their right, still bustling with customers.

"How come two middle-school kids are in a place like this?" she asked them.

Nice laughed and answered her,

"Well we wouldn't be, but Hajime-chan likes the omelet rice they serve here, won't take anything else."

He talked about Hajime as if she was a spoilt child, if she was; it was by him, obviously. Nevertheless, they both were the same age and quite good friends, it seemed. Hajime didn't speak a word, or do much of anything else. She seemed quite a boring character only intent on eating from her friend's pocket. But…..Nice did not seem to mind. Evidently, he wanted to impress her and did it happily.

Misaki thought that if Sakura was here, she would have deemed it love, and for a second (tiny one) it crossed her own mind too.

Shaking away that momentary blush, she bid them both goodnight and as they turned opposite ways Misaki heard Nice talking to Hajime.

"Oh! I forgot, you love this place's hot chocolate too don't you, Hajime-chan? I am sorry for being late, I ruined our first date."

There was some silence before the girl replied in an embarrassed tone.

"No. You didn't ruin it Nice-kun. It was," she paused, probably finding it hard to get the words out, "It was perfect."

Misaki felt her own face heat up a little and something like which Sakura would refer to 'Moe flowers' sprout about her, but not vividly and she controlled them soon enough.

They were cute.

After reluctantly admitting this, she entered Maid Latte again, having heard that the place held the brown, creamy liquid which for Misaki was the key to heaven. The day had been the worst one for her yet, she had some saved money and for once, just once, she convinced herself, Misaki wanted to give into her desire and relax.

So trampling over her long-standing morals and fundamentals, she entered the magical place again and was again welcomed by the astonished waitresses. She ordered her hot chocolate, which was thankfully quite economical so instead of feeling massively disappointed in herself afterwards, she suffered through a little less regret.

"My apologies for the wait, Milady" the red-head (she looked like a college student) said while settling her cup on the table.

It was steaming, deliciously frothy and creamy, exactly as Misaki had wanted it. They had added two bars of chocolate bars as a bonus, set on a beautiful, yet frilly cloth, which Misaki felt was too much. Living the life she had, where she worked hard every day to put at least one bowl of rice on the dinner table. Too occupied in her inner turmoil, she took a very large gulp and choked.

"Is everything alright, Milady?" Another waitress hurried towards her and handed her a napkin.

Misaki was shocked as how quickly she came here and how definitely concerned she looked. No amount of money could cause that sincerity…..

And they keep calling me 'Milady' ….

Maid….Latte….

No Way…..

A man got up to leave; all maids bowed to him and sang in unison,

"Have a safe trip, Master."

Misaki could not take it anymore.

She abruptly stood up, so violently that she tripped the mug and hot chocolate spilled all over the cover, her face hidden in shadow, she stood bowed against the table catching the whole room's attention.

"How?" she breathed, "how can you ridicule yourselves so much! Lower down so much in front of THEM!"

Her voice increased to an impertinent level. This was a public place; she was disgracing herself, causing a commotion. But the day's frustration combined by her principled hatred towards men made her so. Men were not worth wasting breath on, much less for acting like there maids! Responding to their every command! Bowing in front of them! The men here were nothing but perverts! She could see it in their eyes! How could these women serve them with smiling faces? Money really cannot do that, can it? Even if that's the problem, they could easily prosper with a simple café. Then why? Why do they undermine themselves?

She shouted all of this at them, her eyes wide and face red, her expression wild. The passion came from all the hurt she had felt all those years, she let it all out, ignoring the flabbergasted people around.

When she finally came around, the sudden comprehension of her blunder made her tremble and fall on her knees on the cold, hard ground.

What had she done?

Burying her face in her hands, she let the full impact of it hit her and make her cry.

…..

"Misa-chan…." A tranquil voice spoke, while its owner soothingly rubbed her back.

Misaki was seated in the staff chamber of Maid Latte, with her knees between her folded arms and her face hidden in them. She had stopped crying a while ago, but her face was still red and blotchy and Misaki was so horrified by her behavior that she couldn't imagine ever being able to face another human being again.

"Misa-chan, at least drink some water." The voice spoke again.

"No." was Misaki's muffled reply.

"It will make you feel better."

"No thank you."

There was silence again, in which Misaki thought that she was acting like a stubborn child. Moreover, she did not understand why these people had not kicked her out yet. The way she had acted, she might have destroyed their whole business. No, she most positively has done that. This churned Misaki into deciding that she needed to take responsibility now, she was not a child anymore. She couldn't stay like this, forever either.

Hopefully it will be over quickly.

She slowly raised her head, inhaling through her nose and tucking her stray hair back. Wiping at her tear stains roughly, she turned to Satsuki, the kind manager. She smiled at Misaki, causing the latter to be immensely relieved and humiliated at the same time.

It would have been better if they had just thrown me out.

She did not really mean that.

"How are you feeling now, Misa-chan?" Satsuki asked; both hands comfortingly placed on Misaki's shoulders.

Misa-chan…..

She had spouted her name to the others during her wailing, and Satsuki had somehow concluded on calling her 'Misa-chan'. Satsuki reasoned that it was cute and fitting. Misaki silently agreed but grudgingly, she was not that much into 'cute' labels, which are most commonly overdone and become revolting. But only 'Misa-chan' was not that bad, if nobody else knew about it.

"Better, Miss Manager…..uh thank you very much and I am very very sorry…..I just-" she started, but was interrupted, which was just as well because she could not get anything coherent out of her anyway.

"-Oh! Call me Satsuki, dear," the manager said joyfully, "And it's very alright. You seem like you are very stressed, my dear." She finished softly, gazing at Misaki thoughtfully.

"Um…it's nothing Miss Satsuki." She replied, "I am just extremely sorry. And-" she now had a significant touch to her voice, "I would like to pay you back or make it up to you, in any way you please."

Satsuki looked taken aback at the girls' resilience, added with her dignified and independent manner. Well she did have something the girl could do, but Satsuki would not force her into it. No.

"You can leave without doing that. There is no retribution." She sweetly answered a surprised Misaki.

"No! I have to pay you back or I won't be able to be at peace!" her voice was raised again as she too stood up and gave the other a pleading look.

"Oh, Misa-chan!" Satsuki protested.

"No, please Miss Satsuki! I do not want to be indebted!"

Satsuki could not overlook the desperation of the child and she was warmed and heartily impressed by the immense passion the girl had. She would do everything, committing her whole self. She was pretty too, but her inner fire enhanced that beauty.

But

She will find the way by herself.

"Are you sure, Misa-chan?" the manager's tone turned serious, "there will be no compensations or returns." She waved her finger warningly at her.

"Yes. Yes" Misaki solemnly nodded.

Whatever might come, she must embrace the future no matter how sour.

"Very well. What is your age?"

"Sixteen, ma'am"

"Oh! Ma'am" Satsuki seemed surprised by being addressed like that. But she cleared her throat and became critical again. "Class?"

"First year of High school, ma'am"

Satsuki was on the verge of telling her not to call her like that, but decided that she could say no only so many times.

"Very well. Go around this room and you will find job requests, we have two vacancies. I will let you choose….alone." Giving her these brisk instructions, Satsuki exited the room.

…..

Heyyy do you think I should end it like this? Will decide on your opinion.

RxR!