According to anime, anything over 5'7 is tall for a girl in Japan, so Tsubasa's 5'10 is very above average (I just finished re-watching Lovely Complex and I always thought homegirl was some giant like 6ft or something but nah she's just 5'8 what even two of my best friends are 5'9 and 5'11 this is exciting). I own nothing.

Sweet Like Sugar

Aoi normally didn't like taking people anywhere near the cafe, and especially when those people were his classmates. He liked coming to the cafe dressed as Aoi-chan.It made him feel good, made him feel...powerful, in a way, to have the attention of so many people. As Aoi-kun, he was a freak, a strange kid with a weird hobby.

Tsubasa didn't seem to mind though. She was...ridiculously easy-going, stupidly blunt, and seemed to have an endless supply of patience and calm in the face of his outbursts and insults. It threw him for a bit of a loop, and he didn't appreciate that.

"Why are you buying ice cream?" He asked her, folding his arms across his chest as she purchased what looked like a blue ice lolly with two popsicle sticks. "We're going to the cafe. You're just going to make yourself fat."

"Am not!" She grinned widely, and broke the popsicles cleanly in half. Aoi rolled his eyes as she took a large bite of one half, and squealed at the shock of the cold. He then blinked in surprise when she held the other half out to him. "Want one?"

He sniffed and folded his arms across his chest. "No thanks. Unlike you, I care about what I put in my body," he waved a hand in the direction of the frozen stick, even as she waved it tantalisingly. "Besides, it's just frozen sugar and water."

Tsubasa pouted, and he noticed that the paint on her fingernails had begun to chip away. "Aw, but it matches your eyes!"

"It does not!" He retorted. His eyes were clearly dark blue, while the ice was much lighter in colour. She kept waving the popsicle in his face, and it was beginning to melt just a little and drip down the body. "Ugh, fine!" He snatched the stick out of her hand, and took a much more modest lick. Aoi ignored the pleased smile on her face, but couldn't ignore the weird churning he was getting in his stomach.

They finished the treat just before they got to the cafe. The bell atop the doorframe chimed softly, and one of the waitresses/maids – Honoka, the one with strawberry blonde hair that seemed to have a weird dual personality – hurried to the front. "Welcome back, Aoi and...Mistress?"

Aoi wanted to snicker at Honoka's bemusement, but settled for a subtle roll of his eyes. They were sat, and Tsubasa wasted no time in going through the menu. Honoka disappeared through the curtain that separated the main part of the café from the back, and a moment later his aunt came bounding out.

"Aoi, hello!" His aunt came bustling out, smiling widely. "I wasn't expecting you today! Oh, and you brought your friend!" Her smile faded to a perplexed frown as she peered at Tsubasa a few seconds longer. "Hey...weren't you in the male school uniform last time?"

"Aoi-kun asked me to wear the female uniform today," she replied with an easy smile.

"At least you actually look like a girl today," he sniffed and folded his arms, resting them on the tabletop.

Tsubasa leaned forward and patted his head soothingly, although it looked more like she was stroking his hair. "Yes, Aoi-kun," she cooed, and then snickered when he smacked her hand away with a scowl and a pale blush. Hyoudou Satsuki took in the sight curiously. Aoi didn't bring friends to the café. He must really like this girl.

This girl...who was tall...masculine-looking...and had dark hair and eyes...huh, now wasn't that familiar.

Satsuki covered her mouth to hide her grin. "Well, I'm happy to welcome you properly to Maid Latte..."

"Tsubasa," the girl replied with a smile. "Yamaguchi Tsubasa. It's nice to meet you, Hyoudou-san!"

Okay, maybe not thatfamiliar. "It's nice to meet you to, Tsubasa-kun!" The little title slipped out before she could rectify it. "I'll send one of our maids out to take your orders!" With that, she darted back behind the curtains and went to find the maid Tsubasa had put her in the mind of.

The girl in question cocked her head at Aoi. "Your aunt seems nice."

Aoi snorted and brushed a strand of dark blue hair out of his eyes. Tsubasa watched the play of afternoon light on the locks. "She's annoying. She never lets me try on the uniforms, even though I would obviously pull in so many customers." He wanted to bite his tongue after that little speech, but Tsubasa just hummed.

"Aw, that's not a nice thing to say about your aunt," she replied.

The boy eyed her for a moment, and then looked away. "I...guess she's okay sometimes...She lets me have her old clothes so I can redesign them."

Tsubasa ooh-ed appreciatively, and leaned closer. "You sew the dresses you wear? That's so cool! I can't do anything domestic really, except cook, but I'm a really mediocre cook. I mean, I won't burn anything, but it's not exactly restaurant material." She rubbed the back of her neck and laughed, and Aoi hated the weird flip in his stomach.

"For what it's worth though..." He glanced back at her, and she seemed to have recovered from her awkwardness. Tsubasa grinned at him. "I think you'd make a cute maid. You have the legs for it."

"Wha-!?"

"Aoi-kun!" The boy stiffened at the familiar voice, cutting off his mortified exclamation. Misaki stood beside their table, smiling at him cheerily. "Tenchou-san said you'd brought a friend." He took back every nice thing he'd briefly thought about his aunt, because obviously this was herdoing.

Huh, hadn't seen her in a while. He wondered if she was still in denial about her feelings for Usui.

"Hi, I'm Tsubasa!" Tsubasa got to her feet and held out her hand to Misaki. "It's nice to meet you!"

Aoi blinked several times in surprise at the difference in height. He knew he was short, barely 5'1, and Misaki had about four inches on him, but Tsubasa towered over the two of them. He wondered if she was as tall as Usui, and then wondered why that made his stomach do that weird flippy thing again and whether or not he needed to get that checked.

Misaki tilted her head back to look up at her. "I'm Misaki, it's nice to meet you too. May I take your order?"

Aoi watched as Tsubasa proceeded to order the most sugary drink on the menu, which was cold, and looked like a rainbow had been frozen, crushed, shoved into the glass, and then topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. He had arched an eyebrow at her in disgust, before ordering a simple green tea latte, which arrived with a little heart drawn in it.

He watched Tsubasa over the rim of his cup as she took a sip of her drink, and moaned quietly in pleasure. "Aoi-kun, you need to try this!"

"I already satisfied my daily sugar intake with that ice cream you made me have earlier," he replied.

"But it's so good!" She took a longer, more enthusiastic sip, and got whipped cream on the tip of her nose. "Whoops!" Tsubasa went cross-eyed trying to spot the errant spot, and Aoi sighed with what could have been fondness, but he chose to identify as resignation.

"Here." Tsubasa uncrossed her eyes to focus on the pretty yellow handkerchief in his hand. He held it out to her with a bored expression on his face, though the expression was made less effective by the blush on his cheeks and the way he resolutely refused to look at her. "Use this. I don't want to be seen with you if you can't even look after yourself."

Tsubasa giggled and accepted the handkerchief. "Aw, but I like being around you." She wiped off the cream, missing the way he bit his bottom lip. Aoi shook his head to dislodge the weird thoughts, and held his hand out for the cloth again.