HEART WORLD

~ Michi ~

"Ugh…"

"Huh… That uniform… It actually suits you. Color me surprised!" Musca examined me, nodding.

What's so shocking about it? I can look cute too, you know.

"Yes, but your attitude is never cute."

"I'm so tired…" I sighed, ignoring the jab. Just thinking about Shin now made me feel depressed and want ice cream.

"Are you Michi?"

"Muh?" I turned to the person who had addressed me while in the middle of a wide yawn.

"Oh."

"Sorry… I didn't sleep well last night. Not like you care, but… Anyways! Yep, I'm Michi. Who are you?"

"I'm Mine. I hope we get along." She smiled sweetly. See, this kind of cute girl was the kind of person they wanted working at a maid-themed place. She oozed the kawaii vibe while I was probably oozing the deathly sleepy vibe.

"Yeah, sure. Nice to meet you." I rolled my sleeves up. "Isn't there supposed to be another person on shift today?"

"He should be here soon." Mine as basically hopping up and down, she was so eager.

"So this lovely lady is Michi?" A man with sunglasses came in, wearing a self-assured smile. "I've heard a lot about you, but the vision in person is definitely better."

"Uh… And you are?" I frowned up at him.

"Call me Ikki."

"Oh. Yeah, the manager mentioned you once. You're a college student, right?"

"That's right. Hello, Mine." He greeted her. That smile… It was disgustingly refreshing.

"H-h-hello…" She looked like she was about to melt.

Ugh, I wasn't in the mood to witness young love right now. "Gross. Take all of that away from me." I sighed. "I'm going to familiarize myself with the recipes again." I pored over the book of recipes in the kitchen, finding that I luckily still remembered some of them pretty well. As the day went on it became easier to get back into the swing of things, and the methodical movements of working became kind of soothing. A bit relaxing, actually.

"That looks delicious! Everything looks so good… I'm jealous." Musca sighed. "I want to eat an ice cream sundae…"

"You and me both," I laughed.

"Hey, Michi!" Mine poked her head into the kitchen. "There's a table out there that asked for you."

"Eh? Why me?"

She giggled. "Just go on, you have to do it if they ask for you."

"Fine… Finish this order for your table then. I'll be back as quick as I can." I heard her laughing behind me as I went out, and it just creeped me out and made me nervous.

"Michi, over here." Toma waved me over.

"Oh, you requested me?"

"Yeah, we figured since we decided to come in we'd say hi to you, see how your first day back was going."

"We? AH!" I jumped when I noticed Shin sitting there too. "Oh, h… Hi there."

"Hi." He covered his mouth with his hand and I felt my face getting red. He just had to remind me...

"So, um… Do you guys want to order something?"

"Michi."

"OHMAGOD!" I nearly jumped out of my skin. "Manager…? Hi?" He had just appeared behind me like a ghost.

"Michi, now would be a good time for you to practice, especially since it's people you're already comfortable with."

"But…"

"You'll get better tips that way. You don't make much staying cooped in the kitchen all day."

"Urgh... Yes sir." I took a breath, unable to look either Toma or Shin in the eyes and instead looking at the floor. "H-hello…"

"She's never been able to get past this part," Toma commented, watching me with amusement.

"Shut up, you." I glared at him.

"Michi. Start over." The manager, whether or not he found it funny, remained placid.

"Yes sir…" I took a breath again but it got stuck when I realized that Shin was watching me too, but intently, with no trace of laughter like Toma had. "Um…" My attention was still best served on the floor. "Hello…" I squeezed my eyes shut. "Hello master, how may I serve you today?" I glanced up nervously.

Toma looked surprised. "You actually said it. I didn't think you could."

"Take that, Tomato! Haha!" I was triumphant for a moment but then I frowned at Shin, who had turned away and rested his head in his arms. "Are you okay, Shin?" He only nodded in response.

"Okay? Well, would you like to order anything? I said the words, so you may as well reward me by being paying customers at the very least."

"Can we both just have a coffee?"

"Of course. I'll be back in a minute." I went back to the kitchen and blinked at Mine for a minute as she giggled at me. "You. This is your fault, come here!" I wrapped an arm around her neck to trap her and messed up her hair badly before letting her go. "Geez… Putting me in that situation."

"You can be mad now, but I'll tell you this, those boys enjoyed it and they'll be looking at you differently now. You'll thank me later for bringing out your charms."

"We just met and you're already making my blood pressure go up…" But she was a good kid.

"You know, I took a peek at Shin's face while you were doing your maid thing," Musca informed me. "Do you want to know how he looked?"

No. No way. I mean, sort of… But no. Definitely not. Well…

"It's more of a yes or no question."

Look, he's already laid down the terms. It doesn't matter. I have coffees to make.

"Hm… So this is the expression of a girl in love…" Musca laughed.

"Shut up!" I snapped.

"What?" Mine stared at me.

"I was just… Talking to my heart," I mumbled. It wasn't entirely a lie. My heart did need to shut up a little bit.

She smiled. "I understand that."

"Yeah… Mister Sunglasses, huh?" I smirked at her. A guy like that instantly put me at odds against him with that cocky attitude, but other people were allowed to have their tastes.

"What?"

"Ikki. You like him."

"How did you know?" Her eyes got big.

"Because I can see. Look, I won't tell Ikki if you don't tell…" It occurred to me then that she probably didn't even know that I liked anyone, much less who it was.

"If I don't tell who? Oh my gosh, do you like Toma or Shin?"

"No. No. Impossible. I'll kill you. Just, no. Forget you heard anything."

"I'm going to figure it out, I promise you. As a fellow maiden in love, I can tell these things."

"You won't. I'm going to be perfectly composed, like a cricket at a lame comedy show."

"We'll see." She flounced out with the coffees I mad whipped up, sparing me from having to go and face them again.

"… Crap." I sighed. If she was so intent on figuring it out, then there was no telling what she would do when she did.

"She seems like fun. Definitely making things more interesting around here," Musca commented.

"At this point I don't need interesting, I need a nap… Geez." But I was still very glad to be back among these people. More glad than anything.