A/N: I own nothing of the Maid-Sama series. Enjoy!
PS. Still down with the cold. Am being tortured with bitter Asian medicine to help my cold.
Misaki bit back a hiss of pain as Usui sprayed antibacterial medicine on her scrapes. Despite all her protesting, he wouldn't take no for an answer and bought bandages and antibacterial spray at a local convenience store before going into a cafe.
Finally satisfied after he carefully placed a bandage on each small wound, Usui sat back on the other side of the cafe booth table. "There, all done."
Misaki wiggled her feet. For all his fussiness she grudgingly had to admit that he did a good job on her feet. "Thanks."
"You're welcome."
There it was, that smile again. The corner of his lips were quirked up, one corner just a smidge higher than the others. Yet, the lopsided smile didn't diminish a single bit of his handsomeness. And handsome men Misaki didn't like to trust. Still, those clear green eyes and winning smile seemed to urge her to follow, to give in to their will. His eyes were almost hypnotizing...
"Ahem."
The waitress's cough broke whatever spell she had been placed under. Misaki yanked away from the middle of the table, cheeks blushing. She hadn't even realized that she was leaning closer and closer towards Usui. Curse him. What was he, an alien or a evil wizard?
"Here are your hot chocolates." The waitress carefully placed the drinks topped with foaming whipped cream and chocolate powder before them. "Let me know if there's anything I can help you with." That was obviously directed towards Usui. "Anything," she emphasized again as though her point wasn't clear, her hopeful eyes on Usui.
"Ayuzawa, do you want anything else?" To his credit, Usui dutifully ignored the waitress's hints, almost as though he didn't get her hints. Misaki heavily doubted that he missed the waitress's flirtations. A man of his caliber certainly knew how he attracted females. Even someone as dense as she, according to Aoi, could obviously detect that the waitress was flirting hard with Usui. "This cafe's banana bread is quite good."
"I'm good, thank you." Misaki wrapped her hands around the warm mug, grateful that the heat warmed up her cold hands.
"Then we're fine. Thank you." His tone was polite, but Misaki detected just the slightest tone of dismissal. Or at least, she hoped she did. At least, he hadn't even looked up at the waitress since she handed them menus.
"All right, just let me know and I'll come by right away!" Neither responded with more than a murmur to the server's unnaturally perky voice. Disappointed, the server left with a huff, but not before sending Misaki a dirty look and Usui a besotted one.
Misaki took a cautious sip of the hot chocolate, careful not to let the whipped cream touch her nose. Mmmm, delicious. The warmth tinged with just a bit of mature tasting bittersweet dark chocolate spread from her head to her toes. Delighted, she took another sip.
Now that the waitress was gone and her mind wandered, she wasn't sure what to do or act. Tonight her goal was to observe romantic relationships. So far, she had only seen men grope women in the club and women outrageously flirting but being outright rejected. Great, she sarcastically thought. What a romantic night.
"So what's this about you needing to observe romantic relationships?" Usui asked casually. He looked like a model, laid back as he savored his own hot cocoa.
Misaki cringed. She had been hoping that he would either not hear what she had accidentally blurted out or forget in case he did. But of course he heard and of course he didn't forget. The universe was unforgiving in that way. Maybe if she pretended like she knew nothing about what he was saying? "Sorry, come again?"
Usui must have seen through her tactic for his eyes were alight with amusement. He took his phone and waved it at her. "Sakura texted me saying something about you needing to observe romantic relationships and I should help."
Misaki made a mental note to never let Sakura be near her relationships with a ten foot pole. "Oh. Right."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Misaki grimaced. "No, it's fine. Just gathering...some resources, so to speak. For my novel."
One perfect golden eyebrow arched. "You write?"
"Um, not much. I'm just an amateur. My main career is being the branch manager at the Igarashi company in Japan. And what about you? What do you do?" She quickly changed the topic, not wanting to go into more embarrassing details. Thankfully, Usui didn't seem to have looked through the manuscript she had carelessly dropped. Furthermore, she knew very little of the handsome blonde stranger in front of her. Her date, the little voice in her mind chimed. Her cheeks warmed, not from the delicious hot chocolate, but from how she recalled how he had declared that it would be a date. And yet, she knew absolutely nothing about her mysterious date, besides from the fact that he seemed to be a photographer and knew Sakura and Kuuga. And Sakura seemed completely fine leaving her alone with him. He couldn't be too bad of a sort, could he?
"I'm a photographer." He grinned when she rolled her eyes.
"That's obvious enough."
"No, really. Being a photographer is my job, not a hobby. I make a living out of it."
"Do you usually take professional photos and headshots?" Sounded like a boring job to her, always taking people wearing dull business suits and plastering fake smiles on their faces. She knew all about that, being someone like that herself.
Usui shook his head. "I usually travel around the world by myself and take pictures of local people and learn about their customs. Most of the times I take long hikes and see what scenic places I can discover. I don't always publish my pictures though, in case those places become tourist traps and the natural beauty is destroyed."
As he was talking, his eyes took on a distant gaze as though he was already wrapped up in his memories of his travels. At once, he seemed worlds apart, aloof even. He must have seen thousands of beautiful places that she had never seen and probably never would see. She hadn't even been on an airplane, much less been out of Japan. How lucky of him. Some photographers she had met didn't have a penny to their name but lived off knowing they had seen some of the most splendid places in the world.
"That sounds exciting. Kind of lonely if you're travelling alone though." Something ticked in her brain and her eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Wait a minute. Usui Takumi? You're the one who published that photography book." Now the name seemed very familiar. She had been looking for a book to give to her friend Shizuko when she happened upon a beautiful book filled with spectacular images of natural landscapes in countries all around the world. Award-winning, the advertisement had called the book. Shizuko had loved it, since she liked peaceful atmospheres such as the calm, serene photos depicted in the book. So this was the man who captured those images. "But why are you taking pictures of Igarashi employees? We're probably such boring subjects compared to what you usually have."
Usui laughed out loud, his husky voice sending shivers up her spine despite the warmth of the cafe and her drink. "Oh, I wouldn't say all Igarashi employees are boring subjects. In fact, I find you very interesting." Her heart skipped a beat and she took a gulp of her hot chocolate to hide her blush. Was he trying to flirt with her? A boring, demoness divorcee? "Which reminds me, your pictures turned out quite well."
Misaki nearly had another heart attack when he pulled up her pictures right up on his cell phone. Her hands shot out to take the phone away and delete the pictures but he was far too quick, simply raising his hand up high where she couldn't reach him. Screw him for being much taller than she was! Even just sitting, he towered above her with his hand just tantalizingly out of reach.
"Are you crazy?" She whisper-yelled, trying not to catch the attention of the other cafe customers. "Why the hell do you have my pictures on your phone? What are you, a crazy perverted alien-stalker?" She tried aiming for the phone again, but this time he tucked it neatly into his pants pockets. There was no way she was going to aim for that area.
Usui choked back his laughter. "Crazy perverted alien stalker? That's a new one. But I'd prefer a better nickname, Misa-chan."
Misaki glared at him, attempting her infamous glare of a thousand demons. It didn't work. "Delete it," she demanded.
Usui shrugged. "Can't help that my phone is connected to my backup storage."
"Delete. It." Did the infuriating man not understand Japanese?
"Why don't you do it if you want them gone so badly? Though I must say, it would be a pity since you look so ravishing in your pictures."
Why, the perverted alien had some nerve! And he even winked at her while he was teasingly pointing to his phone tucked safely away in his pants pockets. He was lucky that her hands or foot didn't prevent him from ever having the capability to have children ever again.
"You-" A loss for words, she simply gave up, facepalming herself in order to try to get some resemblance of self-control left. Breathe in and out. In and out. Try to forget the man sitting in front of her. Forget all his teasing. Forget all about the warmth of his arm around her. The curl of his fingers pressing firmly against her hip and the vanilla and cinnamon smell...
"Sorry if I went too far. It's a bit too fun teasing you."
Misaki glared at his apologetic expression. No matter what expression he wore, he was clearly still laughing at her. "I'm glad you're having fun." She could barely keep the childish pout out of her face.
"Oh, is this date not fun? Hmm, is your 'observation of relationships' not going well tonight?"
Damn him. He was still teasing her. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to flee like she had from previous disastrous blind dates that Sakura had set her up with. She was sure he was some kind of alien. No human could ever have such hypnotizing emerald eyes.
"No. For your information, it is not going well." She turned her glare on the innocent hot chocolate since it wasn't working on Usui. Unfortunately, the delicious hot chocolate was looking less than half-full. She was going to have to find something to distract her from the cunning man in front of her soon.
"Are you writing a romance novel then?"
"No. A mystery novel." His eyes lit up in surprise at this. He hadn't been expecting that. And that made her smug. One point for Misaki, about ten for Usui. Obviously she was still losing, and to a male no less. And she hated it.
And yet, somehow the alien lured her with words with a low, husky voice, beckoning her to spill her secrets until she actually was telling her secrets to him. The plot of her novel fell easily from her lips and he listened, enraptured. Of course, she couldn't tell him the whole plot, nor did he push her anymore to reveal her story. Not that that was needed as she was already telling him all about her ideas. But when the truth of her relationship observations came to light, his serious but attentive expression turned to one of amusement.
"It's not funny! I really can't write about romance. I don't think I've ever even experience something like the romance my editors want. Hey, stop laughing-!"
His forest eyes were certainly hiding something. Like he knew something about the erotic scenes she had attempted. "Ah, no, forgive me. It's just that it's quite hard to believe that a charming woman like you can find it hard to understand romance."
Misaki scoffed at his compliment for what seemed like the umpteenth time tonight. "I'm a divorcee. These days I find it extremely hard to believe in true love or all that crap."
"Hmm, perhaps you haven't met the one yet."
"That's what Sakura said too. Nevertheless, I don't see why my mystery has to have some romance in it. I've already been told by my editor the mystery part is fine."
He shrugged. "I'm inclined to go with you on that part. Not everything has to be connected with romance. However, love is what excites us the most. There's something primal within us that wants to share our lives with another being. Your editors are wise to expand your target consumers." His eyes sparkled with mischief. "Shall I help you with your observation of romance then?"
"How?"
Usui nodded towards a couple at another booth across the cafe. "Look over there. You can tell how a relationship is just by their body language."
The couple didn't sit across from each other but rather on the same side of the table. They looked to speaking in low hushed tones with their hands clasped together. They looked clearly in love with each other.
"Look how comfortable they are with each other. And not just the comfortable-because-we've-settled-for-each-other-since-there-was-no-one-else. Love can be quite calming like that, like a relationship with your best friend. And look over there."
Another couple sat facing each other, each focused on their phone.
"What's with that?" Misaki wrinkled her nose in confusion. "I thought it was considered rude to be on your phone while on a date."
"It normally is," conceded Usui. "But look closely at their legs."
Misaki thought Usui was crazy for a moment there. And no doubt the second couple would also think her crazy, blatantly staring at their legs like that. But then she started noticing what Usui was pointing out. The female was slowly stroking her foot against the man's leg, dipping closer and closer to the man's thighs. Yet both were staring closely at their phone. Perhaps too focused on their phones. Like they were pretending to be ignorant of what was going on while they played footsie underneath the table. The man let out a small cough as the woman's foot stroked a little too closely to his inner thigh.
Snatching her gaze away, Misaki faced Usui hurriedly. "What the hell were you making me watch, some real-life porn? Were you staring at them the whole time and that's how you knew?" She whisper-yelled again. He really was a pervert, wasn't he?
"Actually, if you recall, I was looking at you this whole time." Which was the truth, now that she realized. He had been looking at her for the whole night. "Just demonstrating that you can find signs of love anywhere, from soft, comfortable puppy love to slow, sensual romance."
Misaki frowned. "But my editors want hot, passionate romance. They said the sexual tension was there, but the climax was a letdown."
"Oh, is that what you're going for? You're not going to find that easily in a cafe."
"Which is why I was supposed to be in the club in the first place." With a large swallow, Misaki downed the last of her hot chocolate, now cold.
Usui reached over absentmindedly, swiping a bit of whipped cream from the edge of her lips with his finger. "Now, now, I said you wouldn't be able to find it easily, not that it's impossible to find, Misa-chan." To her horror and embarrassment, he licked the finger with the bit of the whipped cream on it.
"You-you..." She was speechless. The nerve of his man!
"Shall I show you how to find that type of steamy passion you're looking for?" He prompted, unconcerned that he had just reduced her to a pile of mush. His eyes seemed to see right through her, piercing to her very soul and sending her heart a flutter. His face was too close to hers. If she wanted to, and she certainly didn't want to, she could lean over just a few inches and press her lips with his. When had they started leaning closer to each other again?
Wordlessly, Misaki somehow found her brain working. She stood up, cheeks flushing, threw some amount of money on the table more than enough to cover the hot chocolate and ran outside the cafe. Perhaps the cold night air would clear up the sudden hazy fog clouding her mind.
Usually she would have ran far away by now. Maybe it was her high heels or her injured heels but she managed to only make it a few blocks away before she stumbled on her feet. Too natural were the warm and firm arms clasping her before she tumbled to the ground. How did Usui manage to catch up to her?
"Ayuzawa. Are you all right?"
Her hands had been scrambling for balance and now they found solace in his shirt, clasping on for dear life. He was warm, yet soft and firm in all the right places. Now that he was standing and holding her instead of sitting across from her, Misaki felt even more dwarfed by his tall stature. She shivered against him when his arm (deliberately she was sure) pressed her upper body closer to his chest so her breasts rubbed against him, sending a small heat of desire between her legs.
"Ayuzawa."
His voice was like the devil's, tempting her to do wicked things with their bodies. And she was all too willing to fall into that hellfire if to hear more of that deep voice.
"I'll ask again. Do you want me to show you what hot, passionate, sensual love is?"
Usui's eyes were dark pools of green, seducing her to drown in his promises. He was so close to her. So close that his breath sent delicious tingles down her spine. Was this what she was looking for?
At her breathless answer, Usui grinned before finally capturing her lips with his. And she met him, fire with fire, strength with strength. His fingers dug into her hips, wanting her to move this way and that against his own hips until her legs threatened to collapse as a shock of raw pleasure ran through her. LBut his arms held her up, his hands angling her head until they found the perfect angle to meld lips together. And her own hands explored the wide expanse of his back, the strong muscles hidden underneath his shirt, then tugging at the strands of his now tousled golden hair. She couldn't help nibbling at his Adam's apple, pressing soft kisses until he growled in frustration and recaptured her lips once more.
That night, Misaki didn't go to bed as usual. She sat in front of her laptop, and began to write.
AN: Let me know how I'm doing! Loves and kisses from me to you all.
