Demon Girl
A giant roar blasted through the halls of Seika high and the building slightly shook, prompting a small smile to pull at the corners of Usui's lips. There she went again.
Judging by how he was hearing her angered shouts, she had to have been about one floor down and a couple classrooms over. The fact that Usui was able to hear her so well was quite impressive, considering the distance.
He couldn't make out everything she was saying, but the two words that he heard repeated were "demon" and "president."
Usui sat down in his chair, confident that Misaki could handle herself.
She was the Demon President, after all.
o.O.o.O.o.O.o
Misaki couldn't help her eye twitching as the students she had just been scolding continued on toward their class, the knowledge now firm in their head that they shouldn't say she was manly unless they wanted to face her wrath again.
For some reason, Demon President was fine. She could deal with that, mostly since the reason the students called her such a name was because she was so strict when it came to following the rules and she put up with absolutely no nonsense. More than what their intention was with calling her Demon President, she gladly embraced the title.
Manly, however, was an entire different matter. She was a woman, had a woman's body and values, and most definitely was not a man. There was no way she was manly at all, especially since she was so anti-male.
Or at least, she used to be. Since meeting Usui, though, she didn't seem to be as against males as she used to be, though that didn't mean she particularly liked them.
Usui...
Did he think she was manly? She felt sweat begin to bead on her forehead. He didn't think she was manly, did he? She didn't think she would be able to take it if he thought she was manly. She was definitely a girl, but was he able to see through her demonic leadership enough to spot that fact?
She felt herself blush as she caught onto her line of thinking. More and more these days, she found herself thinking of Usui. She also thought a lot about how he perceived her.
She knew why she was having these thoughts. She wasn't stupid. Perverted space alien or not, he was one handsome young man who spent a lot of time with/teasing her.
Misaki, these thoughts swirling in her head, sat down in her seat for class. She was so caught up in her worry about this that, when class ended to give way to lunch, she didn't even realize she had retained nothing from the lessons.
She ate lunch up on the roof instead of with Sakura and Shizuko, worry and deep thought making her eat much slower than usual. She was finally jolted back to real life when Usui suddenly dropped in from above – from where, Misaki had no idea.
"Yo, Prez," Usui said nonchalantly before taking a seat next to her, pulling out a bento as he did so.
Misaki looked at him oddly, his warm green eyes melting her to an unintelligible mess before she realized what was happening. A brilliant blush stained her cheeks, and she quickly, though reluctantly, tore her eyes away from Usui's penetrating gaze.
Usui grinned at her slyly. "Did the stress finally make you lose it?"
Misaki knit her eyebrows, silently cursing Usui for being so dang perceptive. "It's nothing," she muttered before quickly popping some food into her mouth in a weak attempt to stave off any more conversation.
Usui blinked, his grin fading as he realized something was off. "You okay, Prez?" Usui asked, genuinely concerned.
And for some reason, Misaki snapped. Maybe it was because of how easily Usui managed to push her buttons and get in her head or it might have been because of all of the stress piled on top of this, but it didn't really matter. She scathingly hissed, "I said it's nothing, Usui."
Usui looked hurt, and a quick pang of regret stabbed Misaki. She quickly brushed it off, however, when she thought of how much Usui teased her. He should be able to handle this.
Following this train of thought, Misaki then did her best to hide how much it hurt when Usui grabbed his things and left her alone on the roof.
o.O.o.O.o.O.o
Once again, class passed in the blink of an eye and a flurry of worried thoughts, Misaki not caring that she undoubtedly learned nothing that day.
Misaki went to the student council room, where he continued to find it difficult to focus. Only this time, it was a major problem. She already knew the majority of what was going on in class, but during student council time she was responsible for the well-being of the student body, which meant she had to really be focused on what she was doing. Something needed to be done about this.
Luckily, Misaki knew exactly who to go to.
"Yukimura," she said slightly pleadingly, speaking to him in the hallway outside of the room. "Am I manly?"
Yukimura suddenly looked incredibly apprehensive. "I…uh…I think you're the best of both sexes, kaichou."
Misaki frowned. "What do you mean by that, Yukimura?" It wasn't accusatory in any way; she was truly curious.
Yukimura smiled nervously, sensing that she wasn't very happy with that answer. "Well…uh…you're pretty in the girl aspect, and strong and stubborn and competitive and commanding like a guy."
Misaki took this silently, feeling down at the fact that there were far more guy aspects in her than girl aspects. Then she felt crestfallen when she realized that Usui must have always felt the same way, and that's why he treated her more like a guy than a girl. So, blind determination fueling her, she arrived at Sakura's house not too long after leaving school.
Sakura answered her knock, confused as to why Misaki was at her house, especially at this time. "Misaki-chan, you're already done with your student council work?" she asked.
Misaki suddenly found herself becoming embarrassed, unable to believe she was about to admit this to Sakura of all people. "I still have work," she said quietly.
Sakura's smile never faltered. "Then what are you doing here?" she asked. "Did you need help with something?"
Misaki knew by looking at Sakura's smile that her friend knew exactly why she was here, and was having way too much fun making her say it out loud. Misaki gathered her courage and said, "I need you to make me look more girly."
Just as Misaki had thought, it became perfectly evident that this was what Sakura had expected when she giggled and grabbed Misaki's arm. "Well then, I know just what to do! Come on in!:
And suddenly, Misaki feared for her life.
Sakura dragged her inside eagerly, pulling her all the way upstairs to her room and sitting her at her vanity, not even giving Misaki a chance to voice her second thoughts. Misaki, fear gripping her, hesitantly asked, "Sakura...you're not going to do anything too radical to me, are you?"
"I don't know what you could possibly mean, Misaki-chan," Sakura said cheerfully, setting up for the procedure. "But before I do anything, I want to know why you want me to do this, and now of all times. I mean, you could have done it any time up to this point, you know?"
"I'm doing this because I was called manly again by some of the students," Misaki said easily, the omission not too difficult to slip by Sakura naturally…or so she thought.
"Come on, Misaki-chan," Sakura whined. "I'm not doing this until you tell me why you're doing this for real. People have been calling you manly at school for as long as I can remember."
Misaki fought with herself for a long while, trying to think of any possible way she could possibly become girly without the help of Sakura.
"Misaki-chan~" Sakura sang. "How hard is it to say that you're doing this for Takumi-kun~?"
Misaki instantly flushed red, cursing Sakura mentally for how well she was able to see through her when it came to stuff like this.
"Fine," she grudgingly admitted. "I'm doing this for Usui."
"Oh, so you like him!" Sakura cheered, giving Misaki a hug from behind. "I fully support you then!"
"I don't like him!" Misaki cried, her face far more red than before. "How could I ever like that perverted space alien!"
"Oh, come on, Misaki-chan!" Sakura said. "Your look changes on whether or not you like him. The main aspect of being feminine is liking someone. If you can admit to yourself that you like him and want to be with him, your femininity will come to the forefront and Usui will finally be yours." Whatever romantic vision was filling Sakura's head made her sigh like she was the one who was lovestruck.
Misaki waged war with herself as she tried to convince herself that she didn't really like him. But truth in Sakura's words rang through her head, and she couldn't help but feel that she really needed to admit this out loud right now to accomplish anything. She had tried to deny it to herself for long enough for the fear that liking a boy would make her weak, but enough was enough.
She licked her lips, cleared her throat, the words momentarily catching in it, and finally said, "I...I l-like Usui."
Okay, so it was more of a mumble, but it was more than enough for Sakura, who squealed and cried, "I've been waiting so long for this day, Misaki-chan! Now let's get to work!"
The next hour and a half passed by in a flurry of hands and makeup, and before Misaki knew it, Sakura had laid down her tools and happily said, "All finished!"
Misaki's jaw dropped when she saw herself in Sakura's mirror. She didn't know exactly what Sakura had done, but she was beautiful. The weirdest part about it is that it didn't look like Sakura had done much, but all of the small changes added up to make her look far prettier than she could have ever imagined being.
"Wow, thanks Sakura!" Misaki said in awe.
Sakura grinned cheekily. "If this doesn't get Usui's attention, then nothing will."
Misaki felt her confidence building as she imagined Usui's reaction. Tomorrow was going to be a good day.
She listened raptly as Sakura told her how to behave like a desirable woman should in preparation for tomorrow, and before Misaki knew it it was getting dark.
o.O.o.O.o.O.o
Misaki woke up the next morning nice and fresh, even though she had slept in an odd position to avoid ruining the awesome work Sakura had done the previous day. She dressed and ate breakfast quickly and eagerly, and practically ran to school with a smile on her face. She made sure to slow down to a dignified walk by the time she was in sight of anyone, though, remembering what Sakura had told her the night before.
Guys didn't like anyone who came off as manly or tomboyish, Sakura had told her. The fact that Misaki was the second-most manly student in the school (behind Usui, of course) was definitely not attractive. Therefore, Sakura had told her to calm down and behave more lady-like and pretend that she was frail. No more yelling or acting like a demon.
Misaki knew this would be somewhat of a challenge to go through with, considering how the urge to yell at every rule-breaker in the school constantly pulled at her.
Misaki went inside and went to her shoe locker, pulling them on carefully as she took deep breaths. All of her confidence up until this point was quickly turning into nerves. Any second now she would be seeing Usui and prove to him that she was a girl worth having as a girlfriend.
She closed her shoe locker, and...
"Yo, prez," Usui said as usual, leaning on the lockers next to hers.
"Good morning, Usui," Misaki replied, making sure to smile at him and use a gentle voice.
Usui blinked once, his brow furrowed slightly, then a bored look made its way onto his face. "Bye, prez," he said, turning around to walk to class.
Confusion shot through Misaki. Had she done something wrong? She was sure she had done everything Sakura had told her to.
"Wait, Usui," she said, falling in step beside him.
He said nothing, and an awkward silence began to permeate the atmosphere between them. Some students went dashing through the hall, bumping into Misaki in the process and almost making her drop her bag. The urge to yell tore through her and threatened to burst out of her, but she just barely managed to hold it at bay, Sakura's chiding tone ringing through her head.
She looked up at Usui to gauge his reaction concerning the lack of her yelling, only to see that he looked annoyed.
"Is everything okay, Usui?" she asked, lightly placing a hand on his forearm.
He quickly pulled his arm away, making Misaki stop, hurt and confusion reeling through her. Why was Usui behaving like this? What could possibly be the reason for him being angry? Did it have something to do with her, or was he just having a bad morning?
By the time she arrived at the classroom, Misaki decided she couldn't be the reason for Usui's anger; after all, she had one all of this for him, so there was no reason for him to be angry at her. Misaki sat down in her homeroom class, the stares of her peers making her feel uncomfortable as she did so. What made her more uncomfortable than that, though, was the fact that Usui was the only person not looking at her as she took her seat. She didn't care about the other's stares; she only cared if Usui was looking at her.
Besides the nagging worry about Usui and if everything was alright with him, class passed fairly normally. When lunch rolled around, Misaki made a beeline for Usui, telling herself that even though she had been looking forward to today, her conquest could always wait for the next day and today it only mattered that Usui needed to feel better. She would help him feel better no matter what.
"Should we eat on the roof, Usui?" Misaki asked.
Usui sighed and rolled his eyes, but ended up going to the roof anyway. They sat eating in silence, Misaki noticing that Usui was intentionally avoiding looking at her. He also ignored her few attempts at conversation as well.
Near the end of the lunch period, Misaki tried asking him what was wrong.
"Usui, I know something is bothering you, and I want to help you," she said. "So will you please tell me what's got you so down?"
Usui looked over at Misaki with a bored look on his face, and said, "You really have become one of them, haven't you?"
Now Misaki was really confused. "What do you mean?"
"You used to get mad at me for making all those girls cry, remember?" he asked.
Misaki nodded. "But what does that have to do with me?"
Annoyance flashed on Usui's face for a brief moment. "The fact that you have to ask that question is answer enough for me." He stood up and gave Misaki a cold look; a look that Misaki thought she would never see Usui give her. Then he walked away, leaving Misaki alone on the roof.
She sat there for a long time taking in what Usui had just said. The lunch period ended and class began again, and she was still on the roof. What did he mean? What question of his had her question answered?
Also, this may have been a point of arrogance on Misaki's part, but she would have never guessed that she would one day receive the icy look Usui saved for other girls that were annoying. She knew she was different than the rest of the girls at the school, and that was one of the reasons why she knew Usui would never look at her like that.
Then again, she had also told herself she would never be like the other girls and let usui make her cry. She had told herself that she would never become so emotionally invested in Usui that he would bring her to tears.
She felt a teardrop land on her hand and looked down on it, and, for some reason, that opened the floodgates. She started sobbing, not caring that her makeup was getting ruined. It didn't matter anymore. She was annoying to Usui and he didn't want to spend time with her anymore. She had put in all this effort for him and this is what she got in the end. The injustice of it made her throat burn.
She blamed Sakura for what had happened for the first few minutes following her realization, but, in the end, knew she had nobody but herself to blame in the end. She knew Usui better than this. It had been stupid of her to try to show her affection and how much she cared for him by acting like every other dumb girl who had confessed to him before.
She was different. She knew she was different. That's why Usui had hung around her for as long as he had.
Misaki angrily wiped her tears away, knowing that this was yet another girly thing to do that would piss Usui off.
She ran to the bathroom and cleaned her face a bit, removing all of the makeup. If anyone looked closely, they could tell that she had been crying, but she was too angry at herself to care by this point. She walked to the classroom and wrenched open the door, her chest heaving a bit. People in the classroom gasped and looked at her like she was a crazy woman, which she was sure she probably looked like. Usui didn't even bother to look at her, which did nothing but increase how angry she was at the moment.
She marched over to Usui, ignoring the teacher's protests all the while, and grabbed his wrist, startling him. She practically dragged him out of the classroom and slammed the door shut behind them, and pulled him all the way back up to the roof.
"You that much of a masochist, prez?" Usui asked boredly. "Do I need to be harsher? You turned into another stupid girl who throws away all of her good traits to spend more time trying to look pretty."
Misaki felt tears in her eyes again, though these tears were more the byproduct of her trying to hold in her anger. "You're an idiot, Usui."
Usui scoffed, and his eyes narrowed.
Pushing the words out through her burning throat, she said, "I was an idiot for trying to act different, but I dressed up a little and tried to change for your sake because I was told I was manly. I realize now that that was stupid. I...I..." Misaki didn't know why, but she didn't know what to say next. Maybe it was because she had never been in a situation like this.
Usui sighed, though this time it wasn't so much a sigh of annoyance. "I know you did it because you like me, prez," he said. "And I won't apologize for being so harsh, because it was the only way to make you realize that what you were doing was stupid."
Misaki was glad that he didn't seem to be as mad anymore. "I didn't know what else to do to get your attention. You never seemed to be that interested in me," she confessed.
Usui laughed out loud, making Misaki's ears burn. "What?" she asked, embarrassed. "Why are you laughing at me?"
Before Misaki knew what was happening, Usui's hand was behind her neck and his lips were on hers, and her eyes fluttered closed as she melted into him.
The kiss was over all too soon, and Usui, his face still close to hers, said, "Maybe we're both stupid, because I've liked you all along...Misaki."
At this point, Misaki was way too embarrassed, especially since she was sure Usui could hear how hard her heart was beating in her chest. "You're a perverted space alien, you know that?" she said, resting her forehead against his chest to hide the smile that had blossomed on her face.
Everything may not have gone as planned, but in the end, everything had turned out perfectly. She would have to make sure she thanked Sakura profusely.
A/N: I hate my endings _