As soon as Ayame got to Shigure's house, he noticed the three pairs of shoes by the door. Rushing inside, he was greeted by the smiling face of Tohru.

"_sir Ayame! I haven't seen you in a very long time! How are you?"

"_my dear Tohru, do you know where my brother is?"

The girl replied with an indulgent smile on her face. She knew the snake was making great efforts to be a good brother to Yuki. He felt real remorse toward his lack carefulness when he was younger. The eccentric man went after his brother while Shigure entered the kitchen. Tohru and him were having a pleasant conversation, about leeks and books, when a cry from outside made them smile.

"_you did WHAT?" asked a shocked Yuki.

"_we went to a maid coffee." Replied his brother very calmly.

"_SHIGURE!" the rat came marching in the kitchen, and headed straight for his uncle. "you took my useless brother to a brothel?"

"_Aya went to a brothel?" asked a shocked Kyo. "I was sure he was gay, though!" an indignant grump from the snake shut him.

"_first of all," started Shigure, "it was not a brothel, as Yuki un-knowledgably put it, but rather a maid coffee. And there was a very pretty girl there, with a big breast, long black and silver hair and three piercing in the ear. She also had a tattoo on her arm. Her name tag read Nox. She…"

"_black and silver hair, silver rings in her left ear, three, and a tattoo on her right arm?" asked Yuki, suddenly very interested.

"_yes." Said Ayame. "She had…"

"_she reminds me of somebody I know…"

"_I agree! I think it is Haru who talked to us about a girl with three silver piercings in her left ear and a chocker around her neck." Said Tohru.

"_not Haru" corrected Kyo. "Momiji."

"_we'll ask him tomorrow then. With a little luck, she will be the same girl and then we can all meet her!" Tohru sounded way too enthusiastic…

"_Haru!" the ox turned around at the shout of his name, and was met with the hyperactive face of Momiji and a beaming Tohru. Behind her, she was dragging Kyo and Yuki.

"_Haru… Tohru would has a question to ask you!"

He simply raised his eyebrows, waiting for the girl to talk.

"_well, yesterday, Shigure and Ayame went to a maid coffee and… and…" she turned to Kyo.

"_they met a girl there, and we wondered if you didn't know her." completed Yuki. "She has black and silver hair, three silver piercings in her left ear and a tattoo on the arm."

Haru seemed to think for a moment, before turning to Momiji.

"_she sounds like the girl in our class." The ox nodded. "she's called…" the rabbit seemed to rack his brain, trying to remember the name.

"_Nox. She's called Nox." Said Haru in his calm, even voice.

"_oh my god!" jumped Tohru. "that's what her name tag read! Oh maybe it was really her! we should so go to see her tonight! Oh my god!"

"_I don't think it is a very good idea, but since it is Friday…"

"_let's meet after school. We can go from there. Do you know where the coffee is?"

It turned out none of them did, and it was decided that rather going straight after school, they would first go to Shigure's house and then to the maid coffee. Maybe the dog would know.

Once they reached the part of the town Shigure indicated, the immediately noticed the pink and black sign of the maid coffee. Haru had not come. Couldn't be bothered he had said. Kyo pushed the door and a cute looking maid arrived. She greeted them in the usual manner, bowing and cheerfully declaiming;

"_welcome back home, masters!"

Momiji, being the hyperactive bunny he was, immediately bounced to her and they started chatting. Yuki knew the boy would have carried on during hours with the nice maid, had Kyo not interrupted their little chat.

"_sorry, we are looking for a girl called Nox. Do you know where she is?"

"_we don't really talk about what we do outside our shifts, but she will surely be here at 11. Her shift starts at 10, and is until 12, but she sometimes arrives later or earlier. The boss lets her do that kind of staff because she knows the girl has to keep up with other jobs."

"_what kind of jobs?"

"_we don't talk about that much, but sometimes, men are allowed upstairs, where the live-in maids are. She is one of them. We don't ask what happens. There is no need to."

Yuki paled a bit, while Kyo blushed. Momiji was being too hyper active to realize anything, and Tohru wouldn't have understood anyways. She was too 'pure' for that.

The maid laughed upon seeing the different reaction of the teenagers, and she said.

"_but I forgot all the courtesy, would you like to sit, or have a drink?"

"_no, we'll be fine." Said Tohru. "However, if you could tell her we'll come back?"

"_who should I announce?"

They looked to one another.

"_we met at school. Just tell her that. It should keep her curiosity enough for her to be there when we arrive." Decided the rat.

The maid smiled. Smart guy. If you wanted Nox, you had to make her curious. She watched the retreating backs of the group, and suddenly, for some reason, she felt elated with happiness. She would not have been able to say why; she couldn't even understand the reason for being happy for the girl. Was it because she was always so quiet? Or because she never seemed to smile another smile than the fake one she plastered on her face? Was it because she was so young? Was it her maternal instinct kicking in, just like the boss' kicked in when she was thrown out of her home and trying to find a job? She had no idea. She just hoped those boys would bring a smile on Nox's face. Because she would be a hundred time prettier with a true smile on her face.