Greetings, Maid-sama enthusiasts of the world. I did not include author's notes in the previous chapter, as I feel opening a story with lots of unecessary words is distracting and takes away from the initial impact. But that's out of the way now, so here I am. Thank you to those that reviewed, and I apologize for the confusing beginning. It will make sense soon enough.
Humming had always been a pastime for Usui Takumi. He couldn't recall when he had picked it up, but he often entertained himself on long walks by humming melodies. Sometimes he would compose a tune on the spot that reflected his mood. On incredibly boring days like Friday, Usui wandered around doing just that; humming to himself. His weekly obligations came to a halt at the end of the week, and he found himself travelling to the neighboring city to poke around the local shops and potentially find a new book to dissect. He found that being submerged in complete strangers was quite relaxing, as he wasn't constantly hounded by his fan girls from Seika. However, he was stopped occasionally by young and old women alike, whom seemed enraptured by his "model-esque appearance".
"You look lonely, mind if I keep you company, handsome?" An especially cheeky woman, in her late 20's if Usui had to guess, approached him. She reached out a well-manicured hand to stroke his arm, but he pulled away just in time.
"I'm going to see my granny, miss; she gets cranky when I take too long. Bye then~," Usui said with an almost sarcastic smile, not giving the bodacious woman another chance to speak before moving past her. He had been through this multiple times with multiple women, and found that giving an immediate excuse and continuing on was the most effective response. He had no qualms when it came to rejection, and although he was a genuinely nice person, he had little patience for pestering females. Hands plunged into his pockets, he strolled down the street, not looking for anything in particular but to kill time.
After a few hours of mindless wandering and humming had gone by, Usui began the hike back to his apartment. Nightfall was quickly approaching; Usui noted the reddening sky over the cityscape. En route to the train station, Usui noticed an alley-way that offered a considerable shortcut between a convenience store and a maid cafe. Just as he rounded the corner, he heard the backdoor of Maid Latte swing open. Out walked an unmistakable raven-headed girl. Usui nearly laughed in shock, but contained himself and ducked behind the corner to watch in the safety of the shadows.
Sure enough, the Demon President was leaving after her evening shift as a hostess at the café. She looked around with caution before quickly walking in the direction of the train station. Once she was out of sight, Usui returned to his route.
"Wow," he uttered in a seemingly nonchalant voice, but his mind was wildly turning in thought.
Ayuzawa is suddenly very interesting, he laughed inwardly to himself.
For the entire train ride home Misaki swore she felt eyes piercing her back, but shook them off and focused instead on her mental checklist for the coming week.
"EVICTION NOTICE – EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY"
"What… What kind of cruel bastard plays pranks like this?!" Misaki bellowed to no one in particular, waking a few of her "neighbors".
"Sis… We have a problem," Suzuna addressed her sister calmly, yet Misaki still jumped in surprise from her sister's sudden appearance.
"Who put this here, Suzuna?" Misaki asked, anger rooted deep into her voice as she cracked her knuckles. Suzuna didn't flinch a muscle in response to her sister's darkening aura. Instead, she placed a steady hand on Misaki's shoulder and looked into her eyes. Misaki instantly dropped the heated expression, quickly putting together that this was no prank. Trying to maintain an orderly thought process, Misaki immediately pulled out her cheap flip-phone and dialed their landlord. It rang twice before cutting to the voicemail message.
"Hello! This is Haruka Kaito, I cannot reply at the moment. Please call again soon!" His cheery voice only pissed Misaki off more. He had caller ID and knew why she would be calling, yet he rejected the call. Misaki decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and tucked her phone back into her pocket.
"Well, just in case this is serious, we should organize our things and start preparing to move. I'll start looking at local listings. Can you label boxes, Suzuna?" Her sister only gave her a solemn nod in reply, and they headed into their small apartment for presumably the last time.
Though internally Misaki was panicking, she could not exude that mentality in front of Suzuna; she was supposed to be her role model. Since their mother had passed, Misaki made it her greatest priority.
Don't let Suzuna down, be her strength, don't falter.
As they had no immediate family to contact, they had no one to live with until they regained their bearings. Though Sakura and Shizuko would have gladly taken them in, Misaki refused to entertain the notion; she would not take her friends for granted and abuse the kindness they had always shown her.
If it comes to it, I may ask Sakura or Shizuko to watch over Suzuna for a few days while I sort things out… Even if I have to sleep at the school or in Maid Latte, you will always have a bed, Suzuna. I promise.
Usui's bed felt unusually uncomfortable that night. He refused to acknowledge that his wandering mind was fully attributed to his discovery earlier that night, and simply dubbed it a bout of restlessness. After laying awake for what felt like eons, Usui kicked the covers of his bed off and sat up, rubbing his forehead. He had started to develop a headache, and deemed that taking a short walk in the fresh air would do more good than downing some aspirin.
The night air was more crisp and chilly than Usui had anticipated, but as he pulled the sweet smell of the atmosphere into his nose, he forgot the bite of the cold. He decided that after a quick walk around the block, he would head back to his apartment and try to rest. Before he could think about what he was doing, Usui began humming a melancholic tune that had burrowed deep into his mind as a child. As the first notes resonated in his throat, he smiled to himself as he was pulled into the memory of the first time he heard it.
"He's old enough to attend, don't you think? I'm sure he's mature enough to sit through an entire performance without causing a ruckus."
"Fine. But one word out of the brat and he'll be staying home for good. Have him ready in 20 minutes or neither of you are going."
"Yes, sir."
…
It was indeed Usui's first concert. He had always been an exceptionally bright child, but never took up the practice of music. His interests laid in complex novella and enthralling fiction fantasies. Sitting in the box just above and left of stage, Usui had a clear view of the entire theater.
The audience hummed with unintelligible conversation, and the lights were dimmed just enough to give the air of privacy and intimacy. Suddenly the sliding of the curtains drew his attention away from the crowd below him, and Usui instead trained his vision on the lone grand piano that sat center stage. The piercing white lights that shone above it glistened off of the piano's glossy finish. The black seemed to beckon to Usui like a timeless abyss. The audience silenced, and Usui sat up in his seat in anticipation.
Click, click, click.
The silence was shattered by the prominent sound, which echoed through the theatre until its source revealed itself.
A woman in a floor length gown, as black and enrapturing as the piano itself, sashayed onto the stage. Her countenance was that of a leader; composed, proud, radiant. Usui's eyes widened as he took in the scene before him, and he audibly gasped in excitement. The elegant nameless woman stopped before the ivory keyed beast, turning to the audience and bowing deeply. She faced the piano and seated herself at the bench, raising her arms delicately over the keys. Usui could see that though her arms relaxed gently above the piano, they were capable of playing incredibly powerful music. He watched on.
All at once, a lone note resonated throughout the theater. A swirl of notes followed and danced in Usui's ears. Everything around him fell away; his brother's nervous shifting, his father's hushed talking… All he knew was the sound of her. Lost in the composition, Usui stared on in silence when the audience began to clap. He did not notice that the song had ended until Gerald, his older brother, shook his arm gently.
"Usui, are you bored?" He questioned.
Usui smiled before asking in return, "What was the name of that song?"
"Clair de Lune, I believe," Gerald replied, though he was certain of his response.
"What a pitiful opening, anyone could play that," his father resounded, clearly disappointed in the choice of song.
Usui ignored his father's irritation, repeating the name to himself, over and over.
The pianist played a barrage of compositions after, all of which were far more complex than her opening piece. But Usui paid them little attention. He admired instead the way her composure never faltered, or how her forehead shone from the sweat, or how her fingers brushed along the ivories like touching a newborn baby, yet produced the most enchanting and powerful sounds.
Clair de Lune, was all he knew that night.
As the memory faded off, the last note escaped Usui's vocal chords and he unconsciously came to a stop. He hadn't been paying much attention to where he had wandered, but the second he stopped walking, he was aware that he had not gone "around the block". He couldn't recognize the architecture of the buildings around him all too well; they appeared to be more along working-class apartments than the penthouse style buildings he was accustomed to. He walked a little slower and looked from one apartment building to the next; they all seemed rather lacking in proper upkeep.
In what could only be describe as the purest form of a coincidence, Usui noticed an unmistakable raven-headed girl, leaning against the door of one of the especially decrepit looking apartments.
"Oh?" His voice caught Misaki's attention and she quickly composed her posture and addressed the sudden noise.
"U-…Usui Takumi? What are you doing here?" She questioned suspiciously, not leaving her post at the door.
"I was going to ask the same, but it appears you live here," he offered.
"Not anymore…" she mumbled under her breath, clenching her fist to bite down the aggression she felt towards the entire world.
Usui slowly advanced towards her, to which she pressed her back to the door in response. She hated feeling cornered, and refused to dash into the apartment like a coward. She faced him head on.
"Hm? President, it's pretty cold out tonight. You should go inside and take a bath before you get sick."
"If you don't have any school business with me, please leave," She forced out as calmly as she could manage; he was still walking towards her with an unplaceable emotion deep in his eyes. It unnerved Misaki, and she mentally prepared herself to attack the male that threatened her personal space.
"I have a personal question, actually, Prez," he threw in the nickname just to rile a response out of her.
"You can ask me in public, at school, with students around to witness. Goodbye, Usui Takumi," she attempted to turn to open the door behind her to escape his hard gaze.
Goddammit! Why does he make me feel so nervous?! I could fight him if I needed to…
Before she could reach the doorknob, his hand slammed onto the door next to her head.
She failed to contain the startled gasp in response to his sudden advance. His stone cold eyes bored into her own, seeming to see past the amber wall of defense she had.
"Prez, I know your secret," was all Usui could get out before Misaki managed to knee him squarely in the stomach. While he backed away in surprise, and presumably pain, Misaki dashed into her apartment and slammed the door behind her. She fumbled with the lock for a moment before securing it and sighing in relief.
What a creep, how dare he try to make an advance on me?!
Misaki took a deep breath to recompose herself before processing what he had said before she made her escape.
"Prez, I know your secret."
What did that mean?!
It didn't take long for Misaki to narrow it down to one possibility.
"Oh, no."
Misaki flicked open the lock and flung the door open with enough power to kill a man, or two. Usui was still on her porch, which was only a small slab of cement, smiling as if nothing had just transpired between the two. He seemed to have made a stellar recovery from the blow Misaki dealt just moments earlier.
What is he, an alien?
"What secret?!" Misaki demanded, grabbing the culprit by the collar of his shirt.
"Oh, that?" He seemed completely unfazed by Misaki's threatening demeanor, almost amused even.
"Answer the damn question, Usui," Considering the events of the evening, Misaki's patience was dwindling, and this boy's nerve wasn't helping.
"You mean how the Demon President is a maid?" He almost sang, noting the eye twitch Misaki tried to hide.
"Wh-… How do you know about that? Are you a stalker?!" Misaki could barely contain her rage at his point, and began shaking Usui in anger.
"Easy there, Prez. Don't want to wake up the neighbors, now," Misaki immediately loosened her grip on his shirt, and let out a sigh of frustration.
"Come with me," she demanded, and grabbed Usui's arm to strengthen the fact that it was a demand.
"A confession so soon? But Ayuzawa, we barely know each other," Usui cooed in a teasing tone. Despite the aggressive nature of the girl with a death grip on his arm, Usui felt incredibly calm.
"Shut up, you pervert. And don't address me so informally; you said yourself that we barely know each other."
"Ah, it must be hard," Usui offered, having just heard more of Misaki's personal life than the entire population of Seika High.
"It is, but that's no reason for me to slack off. I have to support Suzuna. I'm all she has," Misaki said quietly.
She had never imagined that she would find herself in this situation; confessing her life story to an almost complete stranger. Even if they were classmates, she still had no reason to trust this boy.
"I see," Usui calmly replied with honest sympathy.
"I'd really appreciate if you'd keep this to yourself. I have a reputation at Seika that I need to uphold," Misaki turned to Usui, holding his gaze with her own, emphasizing the severity of the situation with her amber eyes.
"Alright," Usui replied, and Misaki visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief.
"However, I have a few requests if that agreement is to be kept, Prez," He smiled like a devil, breaking Misaki's calm state instantly.
"Eh?!"