AN: Been a hell of a long time, but I came across this old story I had started and some of my notes. Now that I've taken a good deal of college classes and can relax a bit, I've re-read everything. (Holy shit I can't spell, sorry you had to read those previous chapters.)
Takumi's alarm buzzed, earning its daily dosage of slaps triggering the snooze button. He checked his phone, looking at his newly acquired lock screen and background. During their time last night, Misaki snuck a selfie on his phone wearing his scarf, it made his chest churn with delight. She was in her room, so it must have been when he used the restroom or something. The scarf was covering the bottom part of her face, with only her little nose, blushing cheeks and shy eyes peering at the lens. With Usui being the possessive and jealous type, Misaki willingly being claimed heightened his feelings towards her.
Usui sprung out of bed, and began getting dressed for classes, he was already running behind. His first class had a lax professor, so he wasn't stressed about being fashionably late, plus due to recent events, people have been giving him a noticeable layer of slack.
His laundry was already done, quick breakfast prepared, and toiletries all in there place. The start to his day was methodical.
...
Usui entered Seika, and saw the Moron trio, except not as fidgety and awkward like they have been known for. Their presence at Maid Latte has been nearly zero since Misaki's absence, and they have seemed to re establish their previous lifestyles, basically no longer babbling idiots. They glared ruefully at Usui, who responded with his traditional aloof wave.
Macro Economics was his first class for the day, a fairly straight forward class that serves as a platform for business majors, but also giving a strong general knowledge to others. On the way, he noticed even more glares and awkward stares at him.
'The fuck?' Usui looked down, looking for something wrong with his uniform, perhaps an embarrassing stain was causing all of the extra eyes today.
Nothing. Must be a coincidence. With a shrug, he popped a sucker in his mouth, feeling instant relief.
He crinkled up the wrapper, and noticed a figure standing directly in front of him, in a bustling hallway. It was Hinata Shintani.
"Sup, long time no see. How'd it go?" Usui asked, remembering their last confrontation involved him giving girl advice.
Hinata trembled, his face was flush, he looked furious and terrified at the same time, but wouldn't speak. Without a word, he stormed off, clutching his books tightly. Usui's eyes followed, the brows perked up due to the peculiarity.
'Whatever, not going to worry about whatever's going on until someone talks to me.' Usui went on his way, slightly concerned.
The day continued with a similar pattern, the students continued to look at him like he was a ghost.
"Good evening, imouto-san, can onii-sama get anything for you?" Usui purred to the table full of young women.
'Man, today's event sucks, I'm the only employee here that has to roleplay. Big brother day? Whatever.'
They squealed and fought to order, but eventually all had placed. A few had tried to talk to him out of character throughout the night, and legitimately ask for his number. Normally a hindrance, this was a good sign. That means what ever reason people are treating him differently at school, it hadn't reached work. That means what ever was going on, its range of influence was limited, and would help Usui start piecing it together.
With a sigh, Takumi straightened out his groomed hair, carefully working in the back room of Maid Latte. A familiar voice chirped from behind him.
"Long day? you've sighed a lot." Honoka asked, beginning to change behind him. "I'm sure this event which is your sole responsibility doesn't help"
The two weren't on bad terms, as co-workers. He had talked some sense into her previously due to her altercations with Misaki, but they've built up a friendship.
"Yeah, long day. Pretty shitty, but not terrible." He grumbled.
"'Sup?"
"Folks at school are acting off, people staring at me, stuff like that."
"People always stare at you, Usui." She responded with a sarcastic tone.
"Yeah yeah, It's different though. It's more out of fear, or like," He paused, finding the right words was a struggle. He drew a blank. "Not sure to be honest, just tired, you know?"
"Yeah no problem. How's the girl? She has called a few times, just wondering how you two are doing."
"Sleepy and improving." He returned the brush and utensils. "I've got to get back to work, ciao." He packed up, and went back out into the spotlight of customers.
As the shift ended, he could finally indulge himself in back and forth texting with Misaki. He hadn't yet told her about the stuff going on at school, not enough time has passed to warrant him complaining about it. He planned to visit the next day. Taking out the trash, he clicked his phone on. 2 notifications.
5:52 PM Misa-chan: Your scarf has your scent
5:54 PM Misa-chan: is it weird that im still wearing it?
As Usui had told her, it was definitely odd how normal and girly she was acting. During their relationship in the past, there was definitely a layer of energy that she had to maintain around him, and now that she's exhausted, its not there. She had always seemed afraid, or ready to pull away from him at the last second.,
8:01 PM You: Not at all. By the way, tomorrow, 8:30 you're mine. Fair?
'She'll be happy to hear that her co-workers are asking about her.'
8:03 PM Misa-chan: That's good, although I'm not sure why I'm worried about sounding weird to a known pervert like you. But yes, that's fair. Not like I can go anywhere lol. How was your day? I saw that Maid Latte had a big brother event?! What was that about!
8:05 PM You: Fine, just tired. And the event was to bring in more customers, basically I had to address girls as "imouto-san" and pretend to be their older brother. You know the drill.
8:05 PM Misa-chan: Yuck, I hope you didn't perv out.
'Damn, that was a peculiarly fast response.'
Usui reached his apartment complex, and was awkwardly standing in front of the elevator texting. He pressed the arrow, and went back to his phone.
'Much prefer just talking to her in person, I feel like an idiot walking with my head down.'
8:09 PM You: Not to worry, I'll do that at 8:30 tomorrow.
Usui smirked, it felt good to be back to how it was, teasing Ayuzawa and making her flustered.
For the next hour or so, Usui took care of his chores to ensure he would be ready to go in the morning. He remembered how his day at school went, and it started to sit in his mind again.
8:12 PM Misa-chan: You idiot, sexually harassing a cripple, you've reached a new low. Im glad the event was a success tho, you're probably tired
9:03 PM Misa-chan: Pet Licht for me, i wish i could vist him
9:03 PM Misa-chan: visit*
9:17 PM You: I may, not sure if I feel like bandaging my hands right now though. I'm going to rest now, you should too. I'll see you tomorrow.
With that, Usui left his phone on the charger, and sat on the couch, Licht scrambled up next to him, with a hiss.
"Relax, bud." He grabbed the remote, turning on the news.
He flipped through a few channels, and stopped on one particular one with a rather annoying woman speaking.
"Hi there! Time for this week's MMO Stream.
You just saw a promo of today's featured game.
And this is what last week's launch day looked like.
Can you guess what everyone's waiting in line for?
Sword Art Onli-"
Usui flicked the channel to Netflix instead, and Licht meowed.
"Agreed, Licht. Dumb commercial."
He purred.
"Want to watch Game of Thrones?"
The cat hissed.
"New episode of Walking Dead?
Another hiss.
"Geez, picky one aren't you." Usui kept searching. "Alright, Kitchen Nightmares, your favorite."
Licht meowed, and crawled into his lap.
'Who ever said I'd never talk to my own cat'. And with that, Usui drifted to sleep.
