"Just get a job!" Maka yelled, pushing Soul towards the door.

"Maka!" Soul protested.

"Go!"

That had been a week ago. Soul was now gone most of every afternoon, and proudly showing off his earnings, but he refused to tell Maka where he was working. Death city had many places that were willing to give our part time jobs, and Maka had gone around, trying to figure out which one Soul had gone to, but with no luck. In fact, it had been detrimental, because she had been wandering around instead of studying, and now she was rather behind.

She decided that, since the house was too distracting with its emptiness, she would have to go somewhere else to study. She gathered up all of her books, some paper, and plenty of pens and highlighters, piling them into a backpack. Then, she went out.

Unbeknownst to all of her friends, she had a favorite restaurant. It had good food, if just slightly expensive, and the atmosphere was calm, and easy to study in. It was also small, and out of the way, so not very many people came. Most of their business was catering food for parties. But, the reason that it was her favorite, the reason that she would never, ever, ever tell anyone. Not ever, ever, ever. It was her favorite because it was a butler cafe, and sometimes, the waiters also put on cat ears. As much as she hated to admit it, she had inherited some things from her father. She kept them close, deep and dark secrets, but they were still there. Which is why she limited her trips, and never told anyone where she was going.

Maka walked in and was greeted by the owner.

"Good afternoon, Miss Maka!"

Maka heard something break in the back. "Good afternoon."

"We're a bit busy today, we've got a large order to fill. If you don't mind waiting, we'll bring out your usual in just a bit."

"That's fine, I don't mind waiting."

Maka sat down in the corner and pulled out her books. After a while, someone came by and set down a tray. She was rather engrossed in the book, and she didn't look up, just mumbled a thank you. At the end of the chapter, she closed the book. The tray was just the usual, a teacup, a pot of tea, a small bowl of sugar, and a miniature pitcher with milk. But, there was also a piece of paper underneath the teacup. She picked it up.

'Here, we don't know each other.'

The handwriting was unmistakably Soul's. He was working here?! He might have even been the one to bring her the tray, and she hadn't even noticed. Her first thought was that she had been busted. But her second thought was wondering what Soul looked like in his butler uniform.

She shook the thoughts aside and opened up the next book, taking a sip of her tea. But still, at every noise, her head would bob up to see if it might be Soul.

Everything was calm for a while, except for the noise from the back, where everyone was scrambling to prepare the order. Maka actually got a bit of studying done. Her teapot was empty now, and she wanted some more, but no one had come out for a while.

Then the bell at the front door rang as someone entered. It was another girl, of the age to go to Shibusen, but she didn't. Maka had seen her here several times.

Soul came out of the back room. "Good afternoon, Miss."

Maka tried very hard to ignore him while he took the other girl's order. But he really looked surprisingly good in the butler's outfit, and he had a small red flower tucked into his pocket, that marked him as a trainee, but, more importantly, made his eyes look brighter than ever.

And then he was walking towards her, a faint scowl on his face.

"Do you need anything, Miss?"

"Um, you can refill my tea."

"Alright, I'll be right back."

He had already mastered a 'customer voice', and it was odd, being talked to like that from him.

In another hour, the other girl had left, and the order has been sent off. The manager was leaning on the counter. Soul was somewhere in the back.

"Say, Miss Maka?"

"Hmm?" Maka looked over at him.

"You're one of our most faithful customers." He paused for a bit. He usually did. Unless he was giving a practiced speech he tended to talk slowly, with several pauses. "We're trying to be more appealing, and get more customers to come to us. What do you think?"

"Hmm. Well, you could do the cat ears more."

"Those are fun." Another pause. "What about the ears with street clothes? A bit more laid back. Better or worse?"

"I think it can be good, if you switch it up a bit."

"I see. Would you like more tea?"

"No, but I would take whatever dessert is handy."

"Coming up."

Maka ate the pie he brought her, and then cleaned up her books and papers.

"Would you like the bill now, Miss?" The only other waiter, who had just returned from delivering the order, asked.

"Yes, please."

Maka paid and left.

Later that evening, Soul came home.

"So, why didn't you want to tell me you worked there?" Maka asked.

"It's just… it's not a cool job."

"I thought that you looked plenty cool."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"Huh."