Maid-sama Survivor

By moonlight ray

Chapter 9

Solving the People Puzzle

Disclaimer: I don't own KWMS. Fujiwara Hiro does (I'm so jealous).

[A/N: Sorry I kept you all waiting for so long; I had a stupid six-page report and presentation that took up a lot of my free time. Thank you to everyone who patiently stayed tuned to this story, even though it's been ages since I'd updated! Arigato! :) Hopefully the next chapter will be a faster update! Don't forget to drop me a vote for the next chapter!]

"Now you've got about an hour or so of free time. You're all free to go." Maria declared.

Within seconds, everyone else had left, leaving only Misaki and Usui alone on the beach. An awkward silence hung in the still air for a moment. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Misaki smacked Usui in the shoulder. "What were you thinking, starting a fight Igarashi-kaichou!?" she demanded, rather angrily.

Usui, taken aback, began, "Ayuzawa, it was—"

"Even if you are a perverted outer space human, nobody just randomly punches other people out of the blue!"

Usui rubbed his shoulder in the spot where she had smacked him. "You shouldn't be saying that, Ayuzawa, considering that you just…"

Misaki cut him off. "You could have gotten seriously hurt in a fight! What were you doing; that guy is a judo expert! I don't care if you could defend yourself, you have no right to—"

"Misaki," That stopped her mid-rant.

"W-what's with that all of a sudden!?" She raised her hand to smack him again, but this time Usui caught it. "L-let me go!"

"Oh, I think Misa-chan's gotten stronger after all these challenges~ That's our battle maid 3 (heart)"

"Take this seriously, you stupid Usui! I'm worried about you, dammit!"

His grip on her hand loosened, and his expression softened. "I know, Ayuzawa."

Misaki could feel the fiery red blush heat up her face. "Then tell me why you started a fight with him!"

"I've told you before," Usui lowered her hand and readjusted their hold so that they were holding hands instead. "I'm territorial, and Igarashi was treading on what's mine."

"Baka Usui, you never make any sense," Misaki mumbled, but she didn't press any further. "Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"I'm fine. Come on, Ayuzawa. I think Aoi and the manager still need two more players for their volleyball game, ne?"

"Fine," Misaki agreed. "We still haven't finished that last game at the beach volleyball tournament anyways. Be prepared to lose!"

Usui chuckled. "Whatever you say, Ayuzawa,"

Kuuga and Sakura went boating, Misaki and Usui joined Satsuki and Aoi's volleyball game, Kanou just hung out in the beach house, Shintani went food-searching, and Tora and Maki… well, who knows? After the hour had passed, Maria sounded the PA system and called all the contestants back to the beach, where there was now an elaborate high-ropes course set up along the cliff.

"High ropes…? What are we doing, relay?" Aoi asked.

"Ehh!? But I'm scared of heights!" Sakura squirmed.

"It's something like a relay," Maria started to explain the challenge. She pointed to a pile of large puzzle pieces, each about the length of her arm, in front of the ropes course. "Each of those puzzle pieces has a specific fact written on it. You take the one that implies to you, and ascend the high ropes with it. At the top of the cliff, there will be a spot drawn for each team to place their puzzle pieces. As a team, your job is to put together the puzzle before the other team.

"This challenge can only work if you are honest. There is only one puzzle piece that is meant for you, so if you lie and take someone else's it will not fit. Also, there are a few extra pieces in the pile to make things harder. How you take the puzzle piece to the top is up to you; you may carry it, throw it, tie it to your clothes and drag it… all is fair game. One member from each team goes at a time.

"Oh, and one more thing: if you drop your puzzle piece while climbing, your whole team's puzzle has to come back down, regardless of how much has been completed."

"What kind of sadistic rule is that…?" Kuuga inquired.

Maria shrugged. "I'm not the one who makes these up~ Now, please get a harness, everyone…"

{Scene change to private room with Shintani pouting at the camera}

"It's not fair," he whined. "There's not enough food on this island, Misaki-chan's on the other team, we keep losing every challenge, and there's no snack time! I'm hungry!" Shintani stomped his foot, huffing. "Why did Suzana-chan have to drop out on me at the last minute!? Why did she suddenly have to receive so many prize deliveries to sign for this month? Why couldn't she have come too? Why—"

He stops, his face going bright red. "N-n-not that I only want her here! I-i-i-it's not like I like I her or anything! Th-that's not it at all! This is so embarrassing, how do I clear the footage!?" Shintani shook the camera, trying to rewind. Instead, his attempts resulted in the screen going blank. "No, don't turn off! How do I use this—?" He began pressing random buttons haphazardly, but to no avail. Finally, he could be heard stomping off to find someone who could fix the camera.

"Ready and… go!" Maria signaled for the contestants to start climbing. Misaki and Satsuki went first; Misaki dashed for the puzzle piece pile, grabbed the piece that read, 'Has successfully beat up and turned in 12 purse snatchers' and scrambled up the wall, her piece clamped between her teeth. Satsuki took the piece reading, 'Plays erotic maid games' and began escalating the course, a full meter behind Misaki. She carried her piece tied to her belt.

Misaki made it to the top in a matter of seconds, placed her puzzle piece in the indicated area, and hurried down. Kuuga went next, scooping up the 'Dumped a girl on a dare' piece, and began climbing just as Satsuki was on her way down. Maki went after Satsuki, taking the 'Has spent over 100 million yen on education in the arts' piece.

Kanou took the 'Holds a hypnotic skill' and Usui the 'Perverted Outer Space Alien Stalker' (everyone looked to Misaki, who shrugged and mumbled, "It's true,"). Tora held his piece tucked under his arm the whole time, easily ascending the course using only one arm, so no one had been able to read the puzzle piece. Shintani's piece read 'Has used a cake for a pillow', and when he realized what it read while climbing, he almost dropped the piece from surprise. "How did you know that!?" Maria just giggled and said she had "sources".

Sakura carried the 'Has turned down the same guy 250 times' piece and Aoi the 'Is a well-known internet idol as both a guy and a girl' (after he shut down his AOI-chan website, he started up a new one where he showed off his latest designs. People loved it, and he soon became known as a young designer.) Sakura had only shakily touched the ground five seconds before Aoi finished, and Team A had won again.

Sakura gratefully latched onto Misaki. "Waah, that was so scary! I thought I was going to fall off!"

Misaki patted her friend on the back, sighing. "You did well, Sakura,"

Even Kuuga grunted a "Well done," as their team went to celebrate their victory at the beach house, where a beach-themed buffet was laid out for them.

Maria felt bad for Team B, as they were forced to vote off another team member. The contestants filed in their votes, one by one, most of them giving no comment. Satsuki apologized as she entered her vote, and Shintani tossed his paper in cheerfully. "No offense, right?"

As Maria riffled through the names, she was surprised that the vote was unanimous. "Sorry, Aoi-kun, it looks like you've been voted off."