Chapter Two

Life can be very tiring when you're constantly assaulted by bad luck. For example, when you accidentally start a fire while making breakfast, have a neighbor rat you to the landlady, end up late to class because you were apologizing to said landlady, realize you had forgotten your homework because you were running late, have to play yet another round of blindfolded poker with the ruthless Komoe-sensei, and then have it rain on your way home. Bad luck is certainly a slippery slope.

Dismayed by his morning, Touma was in no mood whatsoever to go anywhere but home. But, alas!, the day was only half over. He may have indeed made it home had he ran, but his despair demanded that he soak up the bad luck to satisfy his mood. No matter how literal that happened to be. So instead of making it home, he was hailed by an all-too-familiar "Kami-yan!"

Sighing at the perpetuation of the day's events, Touma hung his head for a moment before turning his exhausted visage towards the café door. As expected, his blue-haired classmate was there waving at him.

"Here, here!"

Sighing yet again, Kamijou Touma took his time getting to the entrance. Once inside, he was accosted by a simultaneous chorus of "Okairinasai Goshujin-sama~!"

… He would be hanging out at a maid café… Touma thought to himself as he surveyed the myriad of maid costumes.

Aogami led him to a booth against the window. There was another young man seated there. He was perhaps a year or two older, had brown hair that fell well past his shoulders, and wore glasses. He gave a timid smile and bowed his head slightly.

Another unfortunate soul like myself. Touma conclude. Hopefully the two of us will be able to keep the conversation normal.

"Hey, Kami-yan, this is Musujime-dono."

The addition of -dono caused Touma to reconsider his assumption.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Musujime Takeki," the boy bowed again from his seat. "If you would excuse me for not standing, I hurt my leg."

"It's alright. I'm Kamijou Touma." Touma returned the bow.

"Don't let his polite speech fool you, Kami-yan! This guys an adamant maidotaku all the same!"

"I wouldn't…" Takeki bashfully tried to defend himself.

"You should have seen all the girls around him when I found him!"

And now there are none in sight. Touma thought ironically to himself with a bit of a smile.

"I wasn't trying to-"

"So, Musujime-dono! What kind of girls do you like? It's gotta be loli, right? Or maybe you're into glasses-moe!"

"Um… No… I simply came in… I didn't know…" Overwhelmed, Takeki could only manage to speak in pieces as he fiddled with his hair.

Guess I was right about him. Poor guy. Touma took another sideways glance at Takeki while reading the menu. He's pretty girly, though.* Well, not like I haven't seen weirder things.

The approach of one of the maids stopped Blue-Hair's verbal assault on Takeki. Her maid outfit was sleeveless with puffy fabric around the shoulders, her skirt ended just above the knees, and her slim legs featured black stockings. Tilting her cat-ears crowned head with a large smile, she offered a towel to Touma and placed a parfait and cake in front of Takeki and Aogami respectively. As she spun around gracefully to place Touma's order Blue-Hair leaned over the table to Musujime.

"I knew it, it's cat ears!"

"No, no, I-" Takeki stumbled over his words as he panicked to see if the waitress had overheard.

Aogami continued to pester the blushing Takeki as they delved into their deserts. Within a few minutes Touma had managed to dry what he could before his own cake came. His spoon was millimeters from the vanilla frosting as his cellphone rang. Picking it up without looking, he was startled to hear the voice from the other side.

"Tooouuuuma~! I'm hungry! It's dinner time and you're not home. You better not be out enjoying treats while Sphinx and I are starving at home!"

Crap! "Ahh, of course not! Why would I being doing something like that? It's not like I have the money for something as extravagant as a strawberry-topped cake with strawberry syrup!" Blue-Hair and Takeki both gave Touma's cake a good look. "Not that I wouldn't pay for it if I decided to order it!" Touma added in response.

"Why aren't you home yet!?" Index demanded.

"I'm sorry. I had to stay after school with Komoe-sensei because I was late this morning and forgot my homework!"

"Ah, I forgot you had a girlfriend, Kami-yan!" Grinning, Blue-Hair leaned across the table so he could get a better look at Touma's face. "It's that brown-haired ojou-sama that tackled you that time, right?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Kamijou corrected in a loud voice.

"Ah, Kamijou-san, we're in a café," Takeki cautioned.

Touma took a quick look around, slightly embarrassed.

Index's voice came over the phone. "Who are you talking to, Touma? I thought you were on your way home."

"Ah, um, just myself." Before she could question his mental health he covered his mouth and whispered, "I'll be there in just a moment, okay," and hung up.

"Hyuu, hyuu. What was that you just said to your girlfriend? Was it something so naughty you couldn't let us hear it?" Blue-hair teased.

"I told you, she's not my girlfriend!" Knowing he wouldn't be able to sneak the snack home, Touma devoured the cake he had hoped to savor.

"But it was her." Aogami's smile only brightened more.

"Whatever." Kamijou slapped his money on the counter and headed towards the exit, making sure to thank the maid for the towel.

* Aside from his hair style, Takeki uses "Watashi" over "Boku" or "Ore" and uses polite speech. That's a little difficult to convey in English.