The Only Exception
Song Fic
Disclaimer: Kaichou wa Maid-Sama does not belong to me. Neither does Paramore or their song "The Only Exception". It would please me much if they do, but I have little luck.
When I was younger I saw my daddy cry and curse at the wind
Broke his own heart and I watched as he tried to reassemble it
I hate men.
They pretend to be strong and dependable, but they will leave you faster than the wind just when you need them the most. That's what my father did to us. He left my mother with two daughters and a large pile of debt he couldn't be man enough to face. Ironic that the man I believed was so strong for the longest time would simply run away from everything because he didn't have the money. Money, apparently, isn't the root of all evil. The lack of it is.
And my mama swore that she would never let herself forget
My mother had a difficult time accepting that the man she loved and shared a family with has left her. It was a tragedy for her. She has never really worked before, during or after my father. Because of this, she had to force herself to work so we could survive, but then she's a delicate woman. She was never meant to do hard labour. Suzuna, my younger sister, was too young to even consider working. She tries to contribute by joining all sorts of raffles. She wins, most of the time, and whatever prize she gets she contributes to help us pull through.
And then there's me.
And that was the day that I promised I'd never sing of love if it does not exist
My father's abandonment forced me to be the surrogate man in the family. I had to make sure that there's enough to at least keep us alive. I'm the only one who wasn't too young or wasn't too delicate. At first, I looked at doing all the backbreaking work I could do. I was strong enough, anyway. But I couldn't sacrifice my education.
I knew that it was the sole existing investment I had to succeed someday. A good education will allow me to get out of this stupor. So I opted to work in a maid café where labour wasn't as hard and the pay was more than most really offered. I promised myself that I was going to work hard in achieving my dreams. And I swore to myself that I was not going to allow myself to suffer the same way my mother did. I was not going to allow any man to take advantage of me. I'm not even going to allow them to get close. And so I decided to hate all of them.
And then there was him.
But darling you are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception…
He was just like the rest of them. A guy often proposed to by some wide-eyed hopeful girl who thought she could make him care. But he never did. How many times have I encountered a girl nursing her broken heart after being turned down? I didn't even understand why they wanted him; he didn't seem any different from anyone else.
Little did I know how different he was. How different he was going to make everything else.
Maybe I know somewhere deep in my soul that love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways to make it alone or keep a straight face
We were on the rooftop. A place isolated from the rest of the world. It was one of those rare days when I had the afternoon off. No student council task to work on and no duty at the café. Even rarer, Usui and I were talking about how we ended up here. How we ended up together. We held a truce before starting. No reprimands, no prejudice. Just honest answers to simple questions that somehow seem difficult to answer. Questions we never really dared ask before.
"When did you realize that you like me?"
I frowned thoughtfully, "You know, I think I've probably liked you for a long time. I just didn't acknowledge it."
"But when did you become aware?" He persisted.
"Resilient, aren't we?" I cocked an eyebrow at him.
He smiled a little as he leaned closer and nuzzled my shoulder, "Answer the question, Pres."
"Baka," I whispered, trying to sound irritated, "you should know that it was around the campaign."
He smiled triumphantly, really nice perfect set of pearly whites, "I just wanted to hear it since you're being very accommodating."
And I've always lived like this keeping a comfortable distance
And up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness
Cause none of it was ever worth the risk
"My turn," I said and looked directly at him, asking a question I've always wondered about, "Why me?"
He stopped at the question as if he expected me to already know, "Well, Misa-chan, because you were the first woman who looked at me and didn't like what she saw."
That surprised me, "I don't understand."
"I'm not trying to brag, but I've had several proposals from a lot of lovely girls. They all said they liked me," he gave short laugh, "but it wasn't me they liked. They just liked what they were seeing in front of them."
He reached out to touch my hair, "But you, you looked at me – Me – and you hated me." He laughed at that, "You hated me with so much passion."
Well you are the only exception
You are the only exception…
"Knock it off, you were a pain," I frowned and added in a whisper, "You still are sometimes."
He pulled me close to him that I didn't even get a chance to pull back, "Don't you see? You're probably the only person who really sees ME. Me, as a person. Not some kind of pin-up."
I never thought of it that way. People paid Usui a lot of attention. He was well-liked even if he didn't like moving in social circles. I have always assumed that a lot of people knew him. Apparently, no one really does. 'No one, but me.' That made me smile.
"I got one more question," he said turning sober, "promise you'll answer and promise you won't get angry."
It looked very important for him to find out that it was difficult to say no. I nodded instead.
"What was your father like?"
I've got a tight grip on reality but I can't
Let go of what's a part of me here
I stiffened at that and pulled away. He didn't say anything. He waited for me to calm myself, since I already noticed that I was trying not to get agitated. Of all the questions he had to ask, it had to be about my father. My father was an off-limits topic. We never discussed him because I decided I didn't want to waste precious breathe on someone who never really cared. I closed my eyes trying to blot away every painful memory. If only shutting your eyes could do that.
I breathed a deep sigh and decided to face the music and said quietly, "My father was my hero."
I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream
"I believed in him so much that when he left, it was doubly painful to realize he wasn't as strong and as dependable as I always believed he was. When he left, I decided I was not going to care for anyone as much as I cared about him. If I do," I exhaled, "I'm going to risk getting that vulnerable again and getting disappointed. I promised myself I was not going to care for anyone so much that they can hurt me."
I realized a few moments later that he has been quiet the entire time. I was hesitant to look at him, even if I wanted to figure out what he thought. How would he react? Hating my father all this time actually rooted from a deep-seated love for the man who abandoned us. I bit my lower lip and turned to him. He was staring at me, "Where does that leave me?"
You are the only exception
You are the only exception…
"You?" I looked at him, a bit surprised. It didn't make sense, at first. What did he mean? And then it hit me. He wanted to know how much I cared about him. If the scars my father left had any effect on my feelings for him. My beloved perverted space alien was anticipating. I could see it in his eyes. His eyes were trying to be guarded, but it was screaming back at me, begging me to take my time to learn to love him. If he only knew…
I turned to watch the horizon, afraid that my eyes would show how much weight my next words has, "That makes you the only exception."
You are the only exception
You are the only exception…
And I'm on my way to believing
And I'm on my way to believing
A.N.: My first for Kaichou wa Maid-Sama! I have never seen a manga couple as riveting as Usui and Misaki that I decided to return to FF for them. Reviews are very much encouraged.