Ashes and Riches
By moonlight ray
Chapter 1
A Mysterious Student at Seika
Disclaimer: Maid-sama belongs to Fujiwara Hiro, not me. But I can wish, can't I?
[A/N: I know I'm supposed to be working on Maid-sama Survivor now, but I've just thought of this amazing story idea and I just can't not write it down. It won't be easy to have two stories going at once, and there's this annoying thing called school always interfering and cutting away time, so updates won't be quite as fast. I'm going to be writing this story in the week I'm waiting for the Survivor votes to come in. Do rest assured, though, as I will try my best to make it work. Please review; they really help and encourage me! Thanks, and enjoy!]
Misaki was patrolling the hallways again after school. She was just passing by a classroom, when she heard voices from inside. Misaki was about to peek in to see who it was, but something interesting caught her ear. She pressed herself against the wall, listening in on the conversation.
"—insists on everyone calling him by his given name." a female voice was saying.
"Really? That's strange." another remarked.
"I know, and now I'm not sure what to call him." the first agreed.
"Could it be that he's not Japanese and isn't accustomed to tradition?" a third chimed in.
"He doesn't look like a foreigner, his Japanese is fluent, and his name isn't out of the ordinary."
"What is his name, by the way?" inquired the second girl.
The first girl looked down, a light blush colouring her cheeks. "It's embarrassing calling him by it, plus he's kinda cute."
The other two giggled.
"Katashi," their friend murmured, so quietly that Misaki had to lean in in order to hear it.
The group of girls continued their conversation, but Misaki was no longer listening. Quickening her pace down the hallway, suspicious thoughts pounded through her head. Was this student another rebellious troublemaker? Or maybe he was teasing the girl to make her uncomfortable? Still, it was a strange situation. Katashi, was it… Misaki continued her patrol, but made a mental note to find out more about this boy later.
The next day…
Misaki sat at the student council president's desk, shuffling through a stack of papers. It was just the beginning of the year, and no class photos were taken yet, so Misaki couldn't find Katashi the same way she did Kanou. But because it was the beginning of the year, the Student Council was in charge of keeping track of the new enrollments. Misaki would usually have let the rest of the council or Yukimara handle this task, but this time she insisted on doing it, making up the excuse that she just wanted to check if the female population had increased.
It wasn't completely a lie, as she flipped through the documents, tallying up the freshman population for each gender. She was partly looking for an increase in the female enrollments, but only partly. Finally, Misaki found what she was looking for. Separating the form from the rest of the applications, she scanned over it.
Name: Katashi
Age: 15
Birthdate: March 18
Physical Description: 5' 5'', blonde hair, brown eyes, blood type O.
Something was attached to the paper, but had been ripped off, leaving twin staple marks in the top left corner. Misaki stared quizzically at the application form. Holding it at arm's length, she held it up to the ceiling lights, as if expecting a hidden message to appear. Nothing did.
"That's odd," said a voice from over her shoulder.
Misaki jumped. A soft chuckle came from that same spot.
Misaki glowered at him. "Usui, how many times have I told you not to just barge into the Student Council Room on a whim!?"
Usui acted as if she hadn't spoken and reached for the sheet of paper she had dropped onto the desk. "Interesting…I don't think the school would have accepted a person who didn't give their family name."
Misaki sighed. "Neither did I. But the question is," –she pushed her hair back—"why?"
Misaki was walking home from school with Sakura and Shizuko that evening. She didn't have work that night because the manager had caught the flu that had been passing around lately and decided to close Maid Latte for one night. Everyone else had insisted that they could take care of the café just fine, but Satsuki objected, saying she didn't want to burden them all.
"Did you hear about the strange new first-year?" Sakura asked.
"They say he will only tell people his given name and insist that they call him by it." Shizuko added, nodding.
"You know about that?" Misaki questioned, surprised. "Have either of you talked to him?"
Sakura shook her head. "I've only just heard about it from the first years."
"It's very peculiar, if you ask me." Shizuko looked deep in thought. "Do you think he might be a runaway, or maybe even a criminal?"
"Oh, I hate to think of it like that!" Sakura protested.
"Well, then what other reason would he have to hide his family name?"
"I… don't know. But that's a both terrifying thought and a horrible accusation, Shizuko."
"He could also be a terrorist, murderer, or—"
"Ah!" Sakura was beginning to get genuinely frightened. "Misaki, please don't tell me it could be true!"
"I don't think so. The school wouldn't accept him if he was something like that." Misaki pointed out.
"But I am a little curious, who is he?" Sakura wondered.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Misaki mumbled.