Okay now it's off to Maid Latte! :D
(still don't own it).
Chapter 3. Time Alone
Thankfully, by the time Misaki and Usui stepped outside, the rain had more or less ceased for the moment, even though the dark clouds still hovered overhead, obviously still filled with water that was just begging to fall.
"We should run." Misaki suggested, noting this fact and taking off at a quick pace with Usui on her heels. They raced down the sidewalks toward Maid Latte; having left their bags at school due to a graceful lack of homework, they were not hindered by any excess weight.
However, a few blocks away from the cafe, Misaki seemed to remember that she was still getting over a concussion and she slowed to a stop as she felt her head pulsing again. "Okaaay running down the concrete sidewalk with minor head injuries was not one of my greatest ideas." She admitted, holding her forehead with her palm.
"Idiot." Usui stopped beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. At first, this contact made her jump, as always, but she seemed to get used to it much faster this time and she soon felt more relaxed. As though Usui's touch were a cure, the throbbing in her head died away again. She cast a thankful glance up at him but quickly looked away when he smiled, causing her face to heat up and they continued walking. As they did so, Misaki made no objections to Usui's secure arm around her shoulder.
They passed several small shops and hotels and all the peaceful scenes were beginning to make her dreary at one point; she would be happy just to stay like this, content and warm forever, but reality hit her in the face again as a strong gust of wind snapped her out of her fantasies. Moments later, they arrived at Maid Latte and entered through the doors, the bells ringing above their heads.
"Oh! Misa-chan! Usui-san!" Their manager called out as she dashed over to greet them, her usually happy face now plagued with concern. "I heard what happened! Are you really feeling alright enough to come to work today?" She bombarded the questions while glancing doubtfully at Usui's arm around Misaki's shoulder. Misaki quickly shook him off as to not worry Satsuki.
"Oh no, I'm fine now!" She beamed. "I just missed you guys so much yesterday that I couldn't bear to miss you again now." But for once, her very convincing, contented tone did not convince the 30-year-old women, for she looked from Misaki to Usui and back again, her eyes contemplating.
"But I heard you had to go to the hospital yesterday." She stated as Erika, Honoka and Subaru slid in to stand beside her. "I mean we have full staff today so if you want to take another day off..."
"No, that's totally fine! My mom just made a whole episode out of the thing and took me to the hospital but they didn't find anything wrong with me." Her tone was strong and assuring; technically there were no lies there.
The four maids glanced at Usui in unison and the boy heaved a sigh as Misaki too eventually looked up at him.
"I really don't think you should..." he voiced his opinion.
"But you're not me so you don't know that I'm feeling perfectly fine." Her eyes flared slightly as she begged him not to mention the fact that she had nearly keeled over on the way getting there.
"Alright fine." He gave his consent as though he were her guardian. Misaki grinned in triumph, but Satsuki held her gaze a moment longer.
"Okay." She gave in to Misaki's determined stare. "But you know if you feel even a little woozy..."
"I'll let you know. I promise." Misaki nodded, brushing past her friends to the changing room. Usui shrugged and followed her as the other maids dispersed and returned to their tasks.
Just before Misaki slipped away to change, Usui grasped her wrist and yanked her aside.
"What's your problem?" She snapped, a little too harshly, but he did not seem to notice.
"Listen, I know why you're doing this, but you really need to stop acting tough when you're exhausted."
"I told you I am not exhausted." She growled. He just looked intently down at her and she finally sighed. "Alright fine, how about a deal? If I collapse or wuss out or even so much as stagger at all today, you can whisk me away in front of everyone in a bridal style and embarrass me to no end. Would that satisfy you?"
His emerald eyes flashed in amusement, and then his trademark grin crept across his face.
"I'll take that bet." He answered and Misaki's lips twitched upwards.
"Fine. It's a deal." She outstretched her hand and he shook it firmly. "Oh. But of course you know you can't do anything to sabotage me, okay?"
"Why would I do something like that?" He asked innocently.
"Your fingers are crossed, Baka Usui."
"Dang it." He chuckled.
"Alright I'm getting changed now." She informed him as she opened the door and began to slip away. "And no I don't need help." She cut him off as she disappeared. Usui smirked and went off to retrieve his uniform and apron.
Usui watched Misaki vigilantly as she worked that afternoon.
Whenever she passed by the kitchen and came into his line of vision, he ceased whatever it was he was currently doing to peruse her, but every time she seemed perfectly fine. She handled her duties vigilantly and as ardently as she always had, however this was the troubling part for the boy.
She was not being too excessively cheerful, whereas had this been the case, it would have been blatantly obvious that she was faking it in order not to worry her co-workers. Had she moved sluggishly and had her face been livid and pale, it would have been even more obvious that she was exhausted than if she had put on over the top pretenses. But she was acting as she did on any normal day, content and polite to her customers yet was not afraid to show off a bit of resentment whenever she bit off more than she could chew.
These average actions of hers were what confused him the most and he arrived at only one conclusion; she was actually fine.
Though he was obviously elated by discovering this fact, Usui could not help but feel the tiniest spark of resentment, for if she had showed off even the smallest sign of fatigue, he would have been able to take her up on her bet and carry her out of the cafe.
But the blonde boy held true to his word and continued on with his work, while still keeping one eye on her. The other three maids as well as their manager also seemed to be watching the Seika High President with care, in case she overworked herself as she so often did, but none of them could see anything amiss with her behaviors either; it was simply incredulous for them all to arrive at the conclusion that Misaki was not working too hard for once in her life.
The dark-haired girl, of course, had no knowledge of the spectators of her endeavors that evening and continued about her work with a smile while she passed her fellow maids, quirking an eyebrow at their bewildered faces, but not wanting to be rude and incline why their countenances beheld such disbelieving emotions.
At last, their manager decided to pull the young girl aside as the decline of customers began to become prominent as the sun began to fall victim to the distant mountain ranges.
"Misa-chan?" Satsuki asked her employee in a voice that appeared cheerful, but hid concern. "Are you sure you're feeling alright today?" Her eyebrows furrowed a bit and Misaki was taken aback.
"Yes, I am completely fine, Manager." Misaki blinked slowly. "I think I should be the one asking you that question. You look a little stressed out." Now the teenager's eyebrows furrowed as well.
"Oh, who? Me? No, no no!" The 30-year-old waved her hands in front of her face dismissively. "It's just that I was worried about you, is all."
"But I told you that I'm fine." Misaki insisted truthfully.
"B...But...Misa-chan you see..." Satsuki fumbled for harmless words but Misaki saw right through her.
"You didn't believe me?" She guessed, a bit embarrassed.
"Well it's true that several other times' you've come in saying you were perfectly fine and wound up going home with a 105-degree fever."
"T-That was only...twice..." The girl mumbled, turning her face away to hide her blush. "But...but I guess you may have a point..." She admitted sheepishly.
"I'm glad you see where I'm coming from." Satsuki chuckled lightly. "No matter. You do seem to be fine now, but since there's not looking like there'll be many more customers tonight, why don't you go in back and change?" She suggested with a smile.
"Sure thing." The younger girl agreed, not wanting to push her luck by staying out any later and making her manager worry further.
The girl passed by the kitchen and slipped into the changing room, and a certain blonde, male chef was bold enough to follow behind her. Misaki had just picked up her school uniform and was about to remove her white headband when she spotted Usui's tall figure from her peripheral vision and gasped loudly, nearly jumping out of her skin.
"Geez!" She cried. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack? I really think you are sometimes." She exclaimed, placing a hand over her racing heart. "This is the girl's changing room you know, you pervert." She huffed.
"I know." He replied suavely. "I just wanted to spend some time alone with you." He advanced across the room and Misaki dropped her clothes on the small couch in the room as she retreated a step for every one he advanced.
"Oh, I see how it is; you wanted to spend some time alone with me in the girl's locker room without telling me while I was changing. How gentlemanly and romantic of you." Her voice was lavish with sarcasm before turning to annoyance. "I could definitely report this as sexual harassment or stalking, you know."
"But you wouldn't do that, and we both know it." He told her, stepping closer as she found herself against the wall. "And we both know I didn't come here to do perverted things...Well...maybe a little bit." He chuckled. Misaki hissed and smacked him across the face but his grin only widened. "I'm just teasing." He said affectionately before his eyes turned more serious. "I really just wanted to be alone with you for a moment, and seeing as we were interrupted three times at school before..." He trailed off, letting her figure the rest out on her own as he closed the distance between them.
"H-Hey!" She protested as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She tried vainly to push him off but she was cornered and quite frankly, not as unwilling for this to happen as she had expected. No matter how fervently her mind tried to tell her to push him away, at least until they were out of this non-co-ed locker room, she could not deny the desires of her body and she soon let him pull her into an embrace, relaxing against his strong arms, if only for a moment.
"You seemed alright at work this evening," his voice reverberated slightly in her eardrums. "But can you prove to me now that you're still as feisty as ever?" He challenged.
"You do know who you're dealing with, correct?" She smirked up at him, an expression which his face reflected with passion. Leaning down, he felt her breath quicken slightly as a warmth emitted from her face that made him chuckle from how mind-blowingly adorable she was.
She closed her eyes and was about to consent to the kiss when suddenly the door opened and the chattering voices of the other three young maids filled the room. Before she could so much as react in surprise, Usui, grabbed Misaki and pulled her into the nearby closet where their manager kept many of their cosplays and outfits, courtesy of Aoi. He covered her mouth with his hand as she let out muffled cries.
"Shhh." He whispered; Erika, Honoka and Subaru were still chittering away and giggling, unaware of the room's two stowaways. With great effort, Misaki managed to free herself from Usui's iron grip to an extent to be able to breathe and speak properly.
"What the heck do you think you're doing?" She hissed. "If I didn't know any better, which I'm starting to think I might actually not, I would've yelled 'rape!' by now and called the police!" The boy behind her merely chuckled. "This is not a laughing matter, you perverted outer-space alien!" She snapped.
"Quiet, or they'll hear you." He mumbled; she could still hear the smile in his voice.
After several moments, the voices of the other girls finally died away as the doors closed again; thankfully, none of them had noticed Misaki's school uniform on the couch nor wondered about hers or Usui's current location. The couple finally crept out of the closet and the girl let out an exasperated sigh.
"What is wrong with you?" She barked. "I mean, sure it would have been totally awkward if they had seen us, especially you in the girl's changing room. But don't you think it would've been even more horrendous if they had somehow found us hiding out in the closet together?"
"Haha, but they didn't." He grinned, sounding proud of himself.
"I should punch you. I really should."
He chuckled again. "Well, I would suggest continuing where we left off, but the mood seems to be ruined yet again." The boy sighed as though he were forever cursed to not get a moment alone with her. "Let's head home."
"Wonderful idea. Why didn't I think of that?" She rolled her eyes. "Oh wait I have a better idea. How about you get out of here so I can change and be able to walk home in public in normal clothes?"
He took the hint and left her alone, but she had to wait several moments to make sure he had no intentions of re-entering unannounced before changing.
She wished her manager goodnight and met up with Usui to begin their walk home together.
However, neither of them were expecting to step out of the cafe and into intense, torrential downpour.
A/N: Uh-oh! What'll they do about that? Find out next chapter when the fluff and romance picks up!
Please review!
