maid cafe special (1/4)
Hinata was not known for her baking skills, so in the weeks leading to the school's cultural festival, she had tried to help her class in other ways – distributing flyers, finding scrap material to paint and decorate, and volunteering to help out on the day. With volleyball practice taking up most of her time, her classmates had assured her that whatever activity she was put down for on the day wouldn't need any prior training. And considering that their class's theme was a maid café – well, Hinata figured her role for the day couldn't be too hard. But to her dismay, they had put her down as a waitress.
"It will be a short shift and I think the morning will be quieter," Hirata Mamiko, the class representative, explained as she read Hinata's frozen expression correctly. "That way you can finish up early and enjoy the rest of the day."
"Ah, ok! It's fine," Hinata said quickly, not wanting to make a huge fuss.
"Don't worry, you'll look really cute," Mamiko said reassuringly, this time misunderstanding her expression. "This is yours." She handed over a large bag that had black and white fabric peeking out at the top.
Hinata managed a smile as she took the bag. "Thanks," she sighed and left the classroom to get changed. She wasn't a big fan of dressing up or costumes and she hadn't been keen on the maid café theme in the first place, but her classmates had been so excited for their first high school cultural festival. And while she didn't quite share their enthusiasm, Hinata was still curious to see how it would all play out. The classroom had been rearranged and redecorated to look like a proper café, and the desserts and treats some of her classmates had brought in looked amazing.
The possibility of getting to eat those treats tided Hinata over as she pulled the costume out of the bag. She didn't know who had supplied these, but it smelled surprisingly clean as she pulled it over her head. It was a white apron over a short-sleeved black dress, with an abundance of frills at the hem and the straps on her shoulders. The costume was nearly a perfect fit – it sat neatly around her waist and still gave her enough space to breathe comfortably, but there was no chance of lifting her arms above her head. Not that she had been planning to do that, considering the skirt fell to mid-thigh but Hinata had worn shorter skirts, including her actual school uniform. And as she did with her school uniform, she was wearing a pair of bike shorts underneath. It wasn't like that much skin was exposed, since the costume came with black over-the-knee socks.
She emerged from the bathroom stall cautiously, and nearly started when she saw a girl in the same costume already there, leaning over the countertop to peer at herself in the mirrors. "Oh, Hinata-chan," Nakamura Risa said, turning over her shoulder to smile at her before she went back to adjusting the costume's headband – just as white and frilly as the apron. "You look so cute!"
"Thanks, you too!" Hinata responded honestly, gathering up the courage to examine her appearance in the mirror. It wasn't as bad as she had feared – in fact, she thought it was pretty cute – but it just wasn't her style. Well, she could live with it for a few hours. "Naka-chan, can you help me put the headband on?"
"Sure! Do you want me to do your hair as well?"
When they returned to the classroom it was with headbands firmly affixed and with Hinata's hair tied into pigtails, her natural curls contrasting sharply to the simple black and white of the costume, and with eyes made a little bigger, eyelashes made a little darker with the help of Nakamura's makeup. Hinata had managed to convince her not to use blush, since she was certain her face would probably be red with embarrassment the whole time.
Mamiko was waiting for them in a matching costume along with three male costumes classmates wearing tuxedos. She launched into an explanation of how the café would run – the classroom was divided into sections for the waitstaff, with Mamiko herself greeting guests at the door and assigning them their seats. The selection of food and drinks provided were posted on large menus around the room, and a photobooth had been set up in one of the corners, with one of their classmates lurking nearby with a camera. Hinata's job would be to take orders, bring food and clear the tables, which seemed simple enough.
"Make sure to be polite to the guests! They're our valued customers today," Mamiko instructed. "Now, the guests also need to be polite to you so let me know if you have any issues. And just to make sure you have enough energy for today, you can sample the desserts!" She grinned and gestured to the display of food, though her gaze narrowed when she looked at Hinata. "But only one each," she added hastily.
Hinata still nearly lunged for the treats. "Thanks, Mami-chan!" she said brightly, picking up a cream puff. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.
"M-Maid café?!" The overly-excited cries were, unfortunately, very familiar to Hinata and she turned to see the volleyball club second-years standing in the doorway. Tanaka and Nishinoya were clutching each other, tears nearly streaming from their eyes as they took in the decorations, the delicate snacks and, of course, her classmates in costume.
It was easy to see that Mamiko was not impressed, despite the bright smile she wore. "Hello, and welcome to Class 1's maid café!" she chirped, and the boys turned their lovestruck gazes to her. In return, her smile seemed to sharpen as she said, "Please treat our staff with respect, or we will not allow you inside!"
It took a moment for her message to sink in since she had delivered it so sweetly, but the dawning horror on both Tanaka and Nishinoya's faces made it clear they understood. "Yes, ma'am," Nishinoya blurted.
"We're so sorry," Tanaka added, his voice hushed.
"Please accept our apologies," Ennoshita said, shoving them aside as he smiled ruefully. "We should know how to treat our kohai better than that, right?"
The two troublemakers nodded dutifully. Mamiko scrutinised them carefully before her expression relaxed, appeased by their silence. "Thank you," she said finally, before directing them to a table in Hinata's section. Ennoshita nodded gratefully towards her as he began herding them all towards the table, Kinoshita and Narita following from a short distance, still embarrassed by the whole ordeal.
As they sat, Hinata hurried over. "Welcome to Class 1's maid café!" she recited. "May I please take your order, sir?"
"Eh? Hinata?" Tanaka gaped, staring blatantly as he took in the maid costume.
"Wow, Shouyou! You look so cute!" Nishinoya said excitedly.
Hinata blushed slightly as she thanked them. It made her feel awkward to be complimented so much on her appearance and it reminded her of the first time she had met them – Tanaka, although taken aback by the idea of a girl in the volleyball club, had recovered quickly enough to help her and Kageyama with their match with the other first-years. Nishinoya, to her chagrin, had liked the idea of having a cute, female kohai a little too much but it hadn't taken him long to take her seriously.
"Yeah, super cute!" Tanaka agreed, though his expression shifted into a little more menacing. "I hope no one's been giving you any trouble."
She hid a smile. Once they'd adjusted to having her as part of the club, her teammates had rapidly adopted a more protective stance, though they weren't quite as aggressive as they were when they were around Shimizu, whose classical beauty attracted far more attention. "No, everyone's been fine," Hinata assured them. "Besides, Mamiko is very good at scaring people off."
Nishinoya, in the middle of baring his teeth to any boys nearby, hastily changed his expression to something more innocent as he recalled her warning. "T-That's great," he said, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
"Calm down," Ennoshita sighed. "Hinata can look after herself, and she has friends who can look out for her. You'll just make a big fuss."
"Don't worry, I know I can always count on my senpai to help me out," Hinata said cheerily.
Tanaka preened. "That's right! We'll always protect our kohai," he boasted.
"Yeah! No one will bother you while we're here," Nishinoya added.
Behind them, Mamiko cleared her throat, the warm smile from her initial greeting now frozen in place. "And what if you're bothering everyone else?"
Daichi rubbed his hand against his face wearily, the expression and motion very familiar to Hinata since she had seen it directed towards herself multiple times during training. "I hope they behaved after that."
"They didn't say a single word until they left," Hinata recounted, grinning. Daichi returned her smile, while Asahi and Suga laughed.
"Ennoshita is good at keeping them in line," Suga noted.
"He's had a lot of practice," Asahi said reasonably, and it was because he was right that they all laughed again. "Hinata, this is delicious. Did you make any of these?"
She flushed. "Ah, no, I'm not very good at baking," she admitted. "That's why I have to dress up today."
"You look very nice," Suga said cheerfully. "And you've been very a very helpful waitress too!
"Your class did a good job," Daichi said warmly.
"Thank you," Hinata said, smiling embarrassedly until another table waved her over. "Ah, I'll be right back!"
The third-years watched her go. "Let's get a photo with her," Suga suggested. "To celebrate our last high school cultural festival with our favourite kohai."
"I though we weren't supposed to have favourites," Daichi said dryly.
"We can take photos with the other first-years too," Suga offered, nearly choking on the words as he pictured it – Tsukishima would smile in that politely sarcastic way of his, glaring scathingly at them all as he tried to excuse himself, and Kageyama–
Well, Kageyama might also need some convincing to take the photo, but the real struggle would be getting him to smile. Suga shuddered as he recalled his previous attempts. "At least Yamaguchi can behave," he said finally, in the same tone that one would offer their condolences.
"Ennoshita is going to have a tough time as a captain next year," was all Asahi could say.
fun fact: I once wanted to write a chapter about Hinata wearing the girls' volleyball uniform and the aftermath of wearing shorter shorts until I realised that skirts for the normal school uniform are already...really short lol