Disclaimer: I own nothing. Only this story. Only this idea.
Misaki the Supermaid
Chapter Five: Hiding
A maid with short hair pushing a tea-trolley passed by Misa. Her name was Honoka.
"Misa-chan," Honoka called out, stopping in front of Usui's room. Misa had been cleaning outside of it.
"Usui-sama called for you." Honoka told Misa, who stopped dusting the carpet and nodded. Being a personal maid required much, and Misa had trouble keeping up with all the requirements and responsibilities.
"Really? I didn't know. Thank you for telling me, Honoka-chan." Misa thanked the older woman, and bowed politely before heading towards the stairs.
"Oh, and Misa," Honoka called out, which caused Misa to turn her head into the former's direction. The latter stopped in her tracks and the former smiled darkly.
"You should take your job more seriously. Did you think this would be so easy?" She was smiling and her voice was sweet, but the irritation was evident on her face. She was even emitting a dark and scary aura.
"I-I'm sorry," was all that Misa could reply. She gave an apologetic bow and then hurried away to find Usui.
Honoka was kind and sweet, but she could be demonic and took her job very seriously.
Misa soon reached the bottom floor, and poked her head into different doorways to check if Usui was there. He wasn't.
"Ah, Misa-chan, there you are!" exclaimed another maid. Misa smiled at her. The other maid was older (Misa was the youngest maid in the mansion), and she had long wavy hair. She only stood a few inches taller than Misa, though.
"What is it, Erika?" Misa asked the maid, Erika, impatiently. She still didn't know what would happen if she didn't find Usui and serve him. There were no positive thoughts on the outcome in her mind.
"Hurry, hurry. Satsuki's niece is coming to stay in the mansion for awhile. She already arrived, and Satsuki will introduce her to us." Erika motioned Misa to follow her, and clapped. She giggled and added, "I heard she has her own clothing line and style. Dresses and curly hair; all that beautiful flair and lovely girly clothes."
Misa could only nod and pretend to understand. What was so great about all that?
She followed Erika sullenly. Where was Usui? She was still afraid of making him wait. If she failed to prove that she could be his personal maid, then, he might not take care of her and her sister's needs anymore. There was also their mother, who was still in the hospital. At least the debt was finally paid, but the payment could still be taken back.
The two passed many archways and doors. Misa didn't even know that the passageways existed. After all, she had only been in the mansion for five days.
"Well, here we are!" Erika said suddenly, clapping her hands together to show that they had arrived. Misa muttered an "Oh" and smiled at the others present.
Among them were Honoka, Satsuki, Subaru, another maid with glasses and long hair tied in a ponytail, and a shorter girl with long and curly golden locks, a ruffled dress and a proud aura.
"I'm glad you're all here. This is Aoi-chan, my niece. Aoi-chan will be staying with us for awhile." Satsuki introduced the golden-haired girl, a vein throbbing in her head. Misa noted this.
"Hi, I'm Aoi-chan. Nice to meet you~!" Aoi suddenly cried out, smiling cutely (Misa smiled back). She then flipped her hair over her shoulder and patted one of her bags.
"I'll be moving in now."
Satsuki had then grudgingly carried her niece's bags, faking a smile. The fake smile had been too obvious, but no one seemed to notice except Misa, or at least, everyone ignored it.
Everyone went back to their jobs, and Misa was about to return to her quest to find Usui. She jumped in surprise as a hand was place on her shoulder, and turned her head in fear.
She met Usui's familiar smirk.
"Finally found you, Misa-chan." He said playfully, moving his face closer to hers. "Looks like..."
He trailed off, getting nearer and nearer each second. Misa gulped. Their noses were touching.
"I win the game of Hide-and-Seek!" He exclaimed, grinning. Misa glared at him. He only pulled away and laughed.
Misa put a hand to her chest in an attempt to calm her beating heart. She snapped at him, trying her best to coat her voice in sweetness, but failed.
"What-is-it-Master Usui?" She asked him, twitching in anger. Usui laughed one more time before he ran his hand through his hair.
"You've got a lot of work to do, Misa-chan."
She stomped off after him, extremely red in the face.
A week passed, and Misa started getting used to life as Usui's personal maid. She would rise up early in the morning to find that he had already left his room, thank god, and after breakfast, she would start on her daily chores.
Each day, Misa would also meet or pass by Aoi. She would find the little girl walking about, taking pictures of herself, or trying to figure out on her own where this or that room was.
Aoi was a stubborn girl. She was proud, and soon, Misa knew why Satsuki was so annoyed with her niece. The young middle schooler didn't even get along well with Suzuna.
Suzuna. The job as a personal maid took all of Misa's time. She didn't even get to talk to her sister, even though they had meals together. Of course, now the butler, Usui, Misa, Suzuna, Satsuki, Subaru, Erika, Honoka and Aoi ate together ("We're like a family!" Satsuki had always said). Meals were happy and not awkward unlike the first time, but they were silent.
Misa shook her head. She had to concentrate on her maid duties.
It had been about two weeks after Misa first started her job as Usui's personal maid. She had been watering a few plants (Subaru had asked Misa to do it because she was busy with the new greenhouse), when Aoi came.
Aoi usually visited the gardens. Of course, there wasn't much to do, and getting lost in the mansion was unwanted.
Misa tried to ignore Aoi. After all, she wasn't bothering her. She wasn't hindering her from doing her job.
Aoi leaned over the railing. The garden was located high up on a hilltop, overlooking a forest behind the mansion.
She seemed to be searching the skyline for something. Misa watched the younger girl from the corner of her eye. Aoi held a pair of binoculars to her eyes and then leaned over again, searching the vast sky for some tiny object.
Aoi pouted in dissatisfaction. She placed a boot on the railing's lowest bar and then hoisted herself up. A few more bars higher and she would be standing on the handle.
The handle was already against Aoi's knees. A strong wind blew, and the binoculars' strap flew in the air. Aoi pushed her hair behind her ear when some wind blew it out of its place and nearly dropped the binoculars. She reached out for the binoculars, only hand holding onto the railing releasing in a futile attempt grab the binoculars safely and securely.
Misa placed the watering can down quickly and ran towards Aoi. She saw the girl loop her arm around the binoculars' strap, making sure that it wouldn't fall, and loosing her balance. Her small body stretched out towards empty air, dress flapping in the wind-
CRASH
Misa had pulled the hemline of Aoi's skirt just in time and sent her toppling over her. Aoi lay on her stomach, arms spread out in front of her. Misa shook her off and stood up, brushing the dirt away from her own outfit.
Aoi glared at Misa, as if the whole ordeal was her fault, and sat up, rubbing her head. Misa muttered a "You're welcome" and was about to turn away when she noticed Aoi's golden curls slipping away, revealing neatly combed black hair underneath.
Muttering a curse, Aoi checked her binoculars and found no signs of damage. Her blond hair had fallen away completely, and her eyes widened once she realized that Misa was staring at her, without her wig on.
Did Aoi really have short black hair?
Aoi huffed and stood up quickly. She pulled her wig on angrily and glared at Misa.
"So? Are you going to make fun of me?" She asked, legs spread apart and hands clenched into fists.
Misa shook her head. "No, why should I?"
Aoi pouted and glared again, before looking over her shoulder, eyebrows knitted together in a hurt expression.
"Because," she muttered sadly "Everyone else does. They tease me for being a cute girl. Why can't they understand that I'm a cute girl and not a manly boy?"
Misa put two and two together. She sighed.
Aoi was still looking away. Sh-He, yes, he was busy glaring at the floor.
"I won't make fun of you, Aoi-chan. I accept the truth, and I get why you...dress like this." Misa told him, smiling softly. Aoi looked up at her, glares and proud aura disappearing for a short moment.
"Really?"
He looked so vulnerable. Aoi was no longer the Aoi Misa knew. He was different. Perhaps it was due to the fact that his greatest secret had been revealed, or had he always been like this? Forced to hide everything beneath a fake personality and being, or rather, forced into hiding, because of fear of rejection and failing to gain acceptance.
"Yeah, of course."
Aoi's eyes widened for a moment before he coughed and crossed his arms over his chest. He glared at the floor again, and walked away, but not before telling Misa, "You should."
Misa laughed and earned another glare.
Aoi stomped off.
Hmmm...was this a long one? I always wanted to write Aoi. Ever since I read Sidestory 4: Aoi and His Happy Friends, I always had a different perspective towards him. He isn't that bad once you get to know him. True, he's still annoying and bratty, but still, everyone has a nice side, no matter how well they hide it.
I like this chapter. Hurrah! Another good one! Tell me what you think. As I said before, I love hearing all your comments.
R & R! And as I said before, that means Read and Review, not Read and Run. I'm sorry I can't reply to your individual reviews, but if you have questions, I will. Questions, or anything else that would need clearing up. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did!
