"I…want to help you…if you'd let me…"

Both fugitives froze dead in their spots at his words, a deep frown of puzzlement darkening their features.

"B-Beg your pardon?" Misaki managed to utter and she even shook her head violently, thinking she had heard wrong and the words she'd listen to this time would actually sound as something more…logical? But she was wrong, for the timid boy only repeated with a bit more confidence the exact same words.

Misaki started chuckling nervously and held up a finger at him. "Heh…y-you're kidding right? He's kidding, right?" she turned her attention to the blond guy who stared back at her speechlessly.

"Don't screw around with us, Kanou!" she took them both off guard as she jumped out of her seat, looking more demonic than ever. Thankfully for Kanou who was shaking like a puppy who had just lost its mummy, Usui's reflexes proved once again valuable as he instantly grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her back down beside him.

"Usui, you moron, what are you doin-? Hey, listen to me!" But of course her words were to no avail as he threw an arm around her shoulders, pulled her against him and shut her lips with his palm. Obviously her struggles were pointless since he wasn't shaken by them, not one bit actually. She huffed in nuisance. He didn't even mind being bitten or licked at the soft center of his palm. He was an M too, after all.

"Now, Kanou-kun… you were saying…?" Usui focused on the dark-haired hypnotist, ignoring shamelessly the struggling girl in his arms.

"Uhh…yes… Umm… I know it must be weird coming from me, President," the girl ceased her abrupt movements once she got addressed to and gazed back at the boy with great caution. "I did hypnotise you and all but, I didn't do it because I wanted to or something. Honestly. I was only paid for it and the moment you got captured, I instantly regretted it. Please forgive me…"

Misaki stared perplexed at the boy who was bowing deeply before her. She attempted speaking but remembered she was being gagged by Usui's palm. She side-glanced at the blond and, after giving him a warning glare, she bit at his flesh with all her might. The boy, as expected, didn't so much as hiss but withdrew his palm off her lips.

"You know, that was really mean and painful."

"And I'm going to give you much more pain if you don't take your arm off of me now!" she exclaimed aggravated and shook his arm off her shoulders. "Now, I'm not sure what to tell you, Kanou. You do look kind of sincere but I find it hard to trust you just like that. For all we know, you may be here as a spy-"

"No, I swear! I am not! I ran away from Maki-sama, I knew where to look for you so I came here to ask for forgiveness and the chance to be of help to you! I was only paid to hypnotize you-"

"What for?"

Kanou glanced at Usui perplexed. "Excuse me?"

"What did you have to hypnotize her for?" he asked again, sudden gravity in his voice, that made even Misaki shiver a little.

"Oh, right. Well, they wanted me to make her forget how she got captured and after that, they probably wanted me to have her do things for them… I don't know what, I wasn't permitted to ask until I had to do it."

"Who is 'they', really?" he questioned again.

Misaki stared at him as one bewildered. He looked so like a businessman, a brow arched cunningly, a smirk of satisfied cheekiness carefully twitching in disguise at the corner of his perfectly shaped lips, and a deep, penetrating look in his jade green orbs that could make even the bravest and most self assured of people go weak in the knees. He definitely looked more than just attractive but something on him made her suppress a chuckle.

Usui glanced at her from the corners of his eyes. "What?"

Could it be that he looked like a mysterious, devoted cop? She restrained herself from nodding to her own question.

"No…it's nothing, please carry on…" she insisted but obviously holding back fits of laughter. Usui only shrugged his shoulders and stared back at their 'victim'. Well, something told her she would get questioned about it later, so she decided to let go of her amusing thoughts.

"Yeah…" Kanou's eyes traveled between them in uncertainty before he shook his head. "Whatever. Who's 'they', you ask… well, Maki-sama was the one who offered me the deal, and his men were the only ones following him. At first, I thought he was the Chief or something but one time, I overheard him while he was on the phone. He was addressing somebody as 'Master', probably the one who is behind all of this."

Usui rested his chin between his thumb and pointer fingers and frowned pensively. "I see." He muttered to himself. A weird noise came again from Misaki. "What now?" But the girl only waved dismissively at him, pursing her lips violently together and sucking in her cheeks. "You know, you kinda look like a codfish right now, Prez."

Misaki's eyes widened and she forgot all about the reason she found so amusing. "What did you just say, you stupid alien?!"

"Oh… so you're back to normal now. Good but you're hurting me again." Usui observed while pushing her away and trying to make her un-cling from his hair which she was pulling at with blood-thirst. "Ahh…do you really want me to fight back, Misa-chan~?"

"Bring it on, you punk!" she challenged with self-satisfaction. Which was instantly lost as she found her arms entangled with Usui's, completely paralyzed. "Wha!"

"I warned ya, Ayuzawa!" the boy said playfully, giving her an irresistible wish to punch him but also silly thoughts of how he looked perfectly adorable at that moment.

"Pffft…"

"Eh?" Both remembered they were not alone and still in the same positions, they turned to look at a roaring in laughter Kanou. "What's so amusing?"

"S-Sorry…B-but, are you two always like this?" the boy recovered rather fast and took them by surprise with his look of friendliness and amusement. At his words, Misaki examined the situation she and Usui were in and instantly felt her cheeks flame up. Usui's and her fingers were entwined with each other's in an unbreakable bond while she was practically sitting on him. "You're really a couple, then?"

With a shriek echoing in her head, she jumped off the blond and sat as far away from him as possible. "No! No! We're not! He's just a stupid, annoying pervert! We don't even like each other, right?" she turned to Usui searching for support. "Right?" But he only looked away with a hard-to-read gaze and said nothing. "Oi, Usui?"

"You mean you wouldn't want us to, Prez…?" he suddenly replied, turning on his full mode of seductiveness and bringing in her cheeks the all too familiar colour of red. He smirked at her horrified face and most unexpectedly, he stood up. "Excuse me for a moment." And he walked upstairs. It was only after they heard his door close that Kanou and Misaki looked at each other again.

"What the heck is wrong with that pervert?! Saying weird things again- Wait, what are you grinning for?" she accused him, noticing his slightly upturned lips. That only caused him to grin wider.

"I never thought that the Demon Prez could be so oblivious, Ayuzawa-san." He commented before his eyes suddenly lit up in remembrance. "Oh, by the way, is it true you work at a maid café?"

That question definitely came out of the blue. It felt as if a rock weighing 10 tons had been thrown on top of her head. Misaki's eyes practically popped out of their sockets and she jumped up in an instant. "Y-Y-Y-Y-You know about that too?! Shit! I'm done for…" she sank in her seat as quickly as she had gotten up, and placed her head in her palms. "Dammit…"

"Pfft…relax, Ayuzawa-san, it's not that big of a deal, right?"

"How is it not?! You said it yourself! I'm the Demon Prez! I go up against the guys at Seika and protect the rights of the girls and yet I work as a maid, as a girl who bends her head down and grants her master's wishes. It's so pathetic and ridiculous… my whole reputation and trust…it's all gone…"

Kanou gave her a good stare before chuckling discreetly again. "Kanou-!"

"Sorry, Prez, it's just that I don't think it's that troublesome."

"How can it not be-?"

"It's not like it's your fault, right?"

"And how would you know about that?" she accused, suddenly getting suspicious. What if they had done research on her, those people who had abducted her? Well, of course they had! They were obviously powerful and they wanted her to do something, it is only logical that they did a background research on her. That was great, more people knowing of her lowly status and humiliation. And the bad ones at that too. How beautiful…

"I guess you suspect my 'superiors' have done a research on you and you're right. But I only learnt about your father from you, Ayuzawa-san. When I hypnotized you, I was asked to make you tell me about yourself so that we would confirm if our info on you was valid. I was alone in the room so I'm the only one who knows; I didn't tell them everything. You even told me the place you and Usui-san are currently living in, that's how I found you. Don't worry, I didn't tell the others."

Misaki scrutinized him up and down and for a moment, she found it weird he didn't make any perverted comment like Usui would have. Stupid pervert, why was she thinking about him even then?!

She shook her head, clearing it, and focused fully on Kanou. He seemed honest and her instinct told her that nothing would go wrong if she believed in his words and trusted him. However, her natural dislike for men would make it hard to decide, blur her thoughts and instincts and confuse her. And of course the fact that Kanou had been part of her kidnapping wasn't helping her either.

She felt annoyed by herself, such an important call and yet she was troubled. Why did Usui have to leave them alone at that very moment? He seemed to be more rational on such decisions than her.

"It's ok, Misa-chan, take your time. You don't have to make such weird noises."

"Eh?" She looked up at the tall blond towering over her, smiling gently and yet amusedly at her while his palm was resting carefully on top of her head. She was making weird noises? Well, she had been told before that she was a hard thinker, by her own mother. She blushed in embarrassment. "Where did you come from, annoying pervert?"

"Ahh… you might have seen me if you weren't thinking so hard." He remarked innocently, giving her yet again the need to smack him. That was until he gave her his irresistible, cunning look again. "It's ok for you not to trust him yet, Ayuzawa. But we should at least give him a chance, nee? Should he betray us, we could definitely take care of him ourselves, right?

Kanou shuddered slightly and she felt a small grin make its way on her lips at his words. "Definitely!"

She looked up at him again searching for confirmation only to see him nod in agreement and give her a genuine smile of mirth. She suppressed a gasp of surprise as her heart took her off guard by suddenly accelerating and she had to look away to conceal from him a look of puzzlement and bashfulness.

"A-Anyway… I'm going to get something to eat. You deal with him."


Several minutes later, she was leaning over the kitchen counter, slicing carefully every kind of vegetable she had discovered in the fridge so to make her omurice more…interesting. "Though I'll only end up burning it in the end…"

"Need a hand with that then?"

She looked over her shoulder at the blond leaning at the door frame with his arms folded across his chest, watching her closely with inquisitive intrigue.

"No, thanks! I can do it myself!" she refused, puffing her chest out with dignity and pride, thinking that she just had to learn to do it by herself otherwise she'd be a failure at all feminine activities. "What about Kanou?"

"Oh, I gave him a room next to mine. If he tries anything funny, I'll make sure you give him your special…'greeting'." He assured her, reminding her of the ways she had come up with of welcoming the young hypnotist in their house. She chuckled at the memory and he joined her, before walking beside her. He grabbed a squeaky clean platter from the cupboards and put in all the vegetables she had not ruined yet. "I really think you could use my help, Prez! It's rather weird for a maid not to know how to cook, y'know?"

"Wh-? I don-!" Before she could protest, he had grabbed both of her hands and with gentle moves, he held firmly down the hand in which she held the carrot and begun slowly cutting it with her other one. Of course, Misaki even if she wanted to, she couldn't possibly pay attention to his teaching. She decided against doing any abrupt movements either, as it was highly likely she could injure either one of them, if not both.

"See? Not that hard, right?"

She turned her head away from him but while keeping her gaze on their hands with the corner of her eyes. "Uh..Mmm…" She couldn't get any more embarrassed than that and she hated it. Why did she always get those weird symptoms whenever she was around him? She hated it when he made her heart beat loud enough for the whole world to hear, and she felt like slapping herself when he caused her whole face and body to feel so hot.

"Pffft. You're just too cute, Ayuzawa."

Not standing his boldness any longer, she unconsciously jerked her hands away. A swish and a hiss were all that was heard after that and she stared with regret and horror as a few drops of blood splattered on the marble floor. "Shit! Usui! I'm so sorry!" she shoved the knife in the sink and grabbed Usui's left arm by the elbow. Damn her clumsiness and embarrassment! But it was his fault as well. He went overboard with his teasing. "Such a klutz."

"It's all right. It's just a cut." He attempted to make her feel better but just smelling the metallic scent of his blood made her feel queasy. She examined closely the wound. She had cut him, deeply enough, across the back of his palm, but nothing too severe. With mechanic movements, she grabbed the towel nearby, soaked it with water and cleaned his wound gently.

"I'll be right back. Just keep pressing the towel on the wound." She instructed and rushed out of the kitchen, leaving him stare after her in puzzlement with a faint pink colour on his cheeks. She was back faster than he'd thought she'd take, bandages and a bottle of antiseptic in her hands. "Gimme-"

He obeyed silently, watching the, oblivious to his awed stare, girl. "This might sting a little, just in case aliens can feel too." She warned and he chuckled.

oOoOoOo

"I'm not made of stone, Ayuzawa." He informed. She looked up at him with a terribly innocent gaze, taking him off guard as she unconsciously succeeded in getting him mesmerized in her great, always sincere eyes, a rare mix of gold, honey and amber that were shimmering so brilliantly. However, his trance was abruptly broken as a sudden stinging feeling turned his whole arm numb for a split second. He hissed in surprise at the soaked in antiseptic towel on his wound before chuckling. "You're merciless."

"Fear it. Embrace it." He was surprised that she'd joke, discreetly but still joke, but also pleased. "This has happened, a couple of times, to Sen-chan and Moch-chan, the cooks at Maid Latte. They are still a bit new to working there so I had to tend to their injuries a couple of times!"

She spoke without ever ungluing her gaze off his bleeding arm. She seemed so focused and devoted on what she was doing –and he guessed she probably was like that at everything she'd work on- that it took every ounce in him not to lose his self-control at her unexplainable beauty. And she was saying that he was the one emitting pheromones…

Besides, the cause of his wound was the fact that he embarrassed her and put her in an awkward position before. Still, he had no remorse. To be able to have her back pressed against his chest and her petite palms in his had felt just…right. It was as if he had enveloped her in the loving embrace he so longed to. That girl had managed to break down his defenses, his impenetrable wall of loneliness and boredom in just a few days. She really was amazing.

"Do you know, Ayuzawa?"

"What is it?" she had almost finished bandaging him so she allowed herself to steal one questioning glance at him.

"I think you like your job more than you think."

"Huh?"

"I've been observing you."

"And hence the reason you are the king of pervs."

"Probably. But my point is, some habits, you've probably gotten at your job, are evident. You like to wash the dishes to a squeaky clean extent-"

She slightly blushed. "Manager always tells me to…"

"When you make the table it's always neat, every item perfectly positioned."

The blush grew darker. "What's odd about that?" she pouted.

"Your movements are always so well-balanced and gentle when you move plates and such around."

She was scarlet red by now. "Who wants their dishes to get broken?! It's common sense, you idiot!"

"The towel is always neatly folded too."

Smoke puffed out of her ears. "Shut up!" He smirked out how she had run out of arguments –if you can call them that-.

"And you always have a tendency to take care of people."

"Is that wrong?!"

"I never said such a thing." He smiled kindly but yet in a cheeky manner at her aggravated attitude. Just a bit more of his words that she found oh so annoying, and he'd have her challenging him in a fighting stance. What a girl…! "But I made a new discovery today… Wanna know what that is?"

"Since you obviously plan to tell me, I don't see the point in me refusing, right?" she deadpanned.

"Pffft. Well, for a man-hating girl you have no hesitation in taking care of others, no matter their sex." He brought close to his chest his newly bandaged arm and held it unconsciously in his palm. While he did, she only kept staring at him with a mixture of puzzlement and surprise glassing in her eyes. "Does that mean that you'd also save anyone in need, even if he were a guy?"

His last comment had teasing purposes only but she surprised him by smiling somewhat mischievously, a look, he decided, that he'd definitely want to see more than once and again, and to also be the cause of its appearance. He was becoming a little greedy, wasn't he?

"Of course, I would. I'd even go and save Usui."

She suppressed a soft chuckle of playfulness at his almost inaudible gasp. That sly girl could set his heart on fire without having any knowledge on it at all. Talk about cruelty.

He unplastered the mask of surprise off his face with a relaxed exhale and a smirk. "That's good to know… Ms. Warrior Maid."

A growl of irritation groaned in her throat. "How dare you mock me, you stupid alien?!"


Please do forgive the shortness and the lack of actual plot... The next chapters are going to be more action-filled, PROMISE :D As always, thank you for the support and please keep it up *bows in respect*

I am quite astonished to be so thrilled again about the Maid-sama fiction, I have written so many one-shots that I felt a bit bored and wanted to take a break. But this fanfic sure keeps me on edge about what to write and all. I even want to start rereading and rewatching the manga/anime! But the manga will end so soon :'( Only three more chapters and then... bye bye monthly doses of Usui Takumi... So sad... I'm going over in a corner to weep... See you soon...

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WAAAAAAH!