_Chapter 44-1~ Little Kids_

"Well aren't you a cute little maid."

A tiny smile quirked up the corners of my lips as I faced my cousin, curtsying for emphasis. "I'm basically still out of commission though."

Letting out a laugh, Erika rested her arm upon my shoulder. "Nah, I honestly think the whole bandage business has its own appeal. Trust me, once we start you'll get a ton of customers."

I flashed her a tight-lipped smile as she drew away from me. "Should I really be celebrating over the idea of getting more work?"

"You missed enough school lying in bed," Erika pointed out, pushing open the curtain we were standing behind so we could head out into the open. "I think a little work after all that is necessary. But don't work yourself too hard, all right? I'll cover for you anytime you need."

"Thanks, Erika," I told her sincerely. "You're always looking out for me."

"That's what cousins do. We have to have each other's backs," Erika told me with a wink, handing me a notepad. "Now don't forget the whole maid talk."

"Understood, ojousama," I said with a grin.

She bobbed her head in approval. "Nice."

"We're opening in five minutes," shouted somebody from the front of the room. "Get ready!"

Accordingly, I shifted my gaze to take in the decorations of our classroom, including the outfits for the maid and butler cafe we were running for the Cultural Festival. Luckily enough, after being discharged from the hospital and resting at home for a couple days all the school was really focused on was preparing for this event. It left enough time for me to relax and enjoy it without having to actually worry too much about catching up in class. Akelius was never usually this big on this event but this year I guess they decided to change that; not that I really expected the students classifying themselves as 'delinquents' to loaf around campus on a day like this anyway.

          Turning my gaze away from my crooked bow, I definitely wasn't expecting to catch a glimpse of Ryu hanging around the end of the room, leaning against the back window. Similar to every other guy in the class he was dressed in a butler's garb; sleeves to his white dress shirt rolled back to his elbows, hair slicked back with his front strands tumbled out onto his forehead. Considering his height and lean physique it'd even succeeded in bringing out the colour of his stunning eyes against his pale complexion.

My heart certainly betrayed me by throbbing. He was hot. Incredibly. I mean, he still looked great in his frivolous outfits but this formal attire suited him way more than I thought it would.

I must've been eyeing Ryu for quite a while because I was snapped back to reality with a whistle from Erika behind me. "Whoa there. Ogle at him like that any longer and you may burn a hole through the guy."

I flinched, immediately spinning around to face her. My face had grown unreasonably hot. "O-ogle? U-um, no. I was...um...."

"Having fantasies about him?" Erika finished.

"N-no! I was just...."

"It's fine, I get it." Erika grinned, staring past my shoulder. "He does look great in that."

My face had shifted to an even darker shade of red in embarrassment. Agh, was it that obvious I was thinking that? Way to be discreet, me.

"Aww, don't worry Reina. You're looking good as well. Which is why I'm not surprised that you're not the only one gawking today." Baffled at Erika's words, I looked over towards her and she was wearing a smug smile. She sent me a wink. "He's been staring at you too. In fact, I don't think he can get his eyes off you~!"

My chest swelled involuntarily with momentary surprise. Startled, I whipped my head behind me to see if it was true, and just as I did, I met his eyes, transfixed on me just like how Erika was telling me. My eyelids rose considerably along with his, and my heart skipped its beat. Swallowing back all reluctance, I picked up my hand and waved, forcing a smile onto my face as I did. Though expecting him to return the gesture, Ryu only darted away his gaze, clearly sheepish with pink dusting his cheeks.

It startled me with Erika from beside me let out a muffled squeal. I pivoted to find the reason was because her hands were clasped over her mouth, her eyes glimmering. Immediately, another burst of awkwardness rushed through my veins.

Erika dropped her hands from her mouth and latched onto my arm. "Holy cheese I ship it! Reina, I freakin' ship it!"

Her voice was loud; similar to how it was always whenever the girl got excited. I quickly silenced her with a hiss, "Erika! Calm down!"

"How can you tell me to calm down?" she demanded, a broad smile taking up the bottom half of her face. "Did you not just see that 'oh no, she caught me staring' blush of his? He so feels the same as you!"

Although I wanted to find the truth in Erika's words, I knew I couldn't. Grasping her sleeve, I tugged my cousin towards an empty portion of the classroom. "You're reading too much into that," I whispered.

"Too much?" Erika jerked her head left and right. "Nu-uh! I'm reading enough into it. C'mon, you have to see it too!"

See it? But... I was the one that liked Iwasaki. There wasn't a guarantee that he felt the same way about me. I would just be getting ahead of myself if I thought that. Anyone would show signs of bashfulness if someone caught you staring at them, right? His eyes just happened to fall onto me in that moment, that's all.

The more thoughts that infiltrated my mind, the more of a jumble they became. I frowned to myself as a result. Jeez... Why was Erika doing this? All she was doing was filling me with hope about this all.

And if it ended up being false hope I didn't know what I'd do.

* * *

How did it come to this?

"Miss Reina is so cute in frills."

"I know right?"

"I'm so glad I came here...!"

The corners of my lips twitching, I set down the drinks that were ordered by a customer, feeling the boring sensation of the many eyes in the room watching my every move. Moving stiffly towards the back where others were preparing the menu items, I let out a loud breath as soon as I was in the clear.

"Reina, Reina!"

My head perked up at the whispers and I found myself staring into the face of Miki—Chiharu and Saika in pursuit.

"Is it true you're a banchou after all?" Chiharu came out and asked.

My jaw fell at the accusation. I felt the curious gazes of my other classmates lingering around in the area around us. "What?" I cried. "N-no! I am not!"

"Then why are those delinquents here?" Saika said. "They're kind of acting like puppies. Plus, they're just watching you like you're some higher levelled creature worthy of their respect."

"That's— It's nothing serious, promise!" I assured them, shaking my hand. "I used to help out at the infirmary and they kind of just stuck to me there. But I swear I don't know the reason behind this puppy-eyed behaviour either!"

"You helped them out in the infirmary...?" Miki tentatively repeated. Without warning, she gained an elated sparkle in her eye. "Wait, so you not only nursed their physical wounds back to health but their cold, unfeeling hearts as well? And now they've devoted the rest of their lives to support and idolize you?"

Both Saika and Chiharu looked at the girl. Eventually, she snapped out of her reverie and met their gazes with a shrug.

"What, I watch a lot of animes."

"Hello, hello!" the familiar chirp of a voice ripped through the entire classroom. "Is Reina Kikuchi present?"

At the call of my name, all three girls plus me poked out heads out to see the owner of the voice. Gasps simultaneously left the mouths of all the students in the room with the exception of me and even Ryu who had been serving one of the customers. Aki flashed his older brother a friendly wave—the exact opposite of the scowl that had painted itself on Ryu's face—and right as I attempted to run away to hide, he chose that moment to dart his gaze in my direction. As soon as I met Aki's eyes, he brightened considerably.

"Kikuchi-senpai!" he cheered, jogging towards me. He came to a halt in front of the curtain and immediately pulled it back so that I was staring at his face. He grinned straight away. "Whoa, you look really cute dressed like that! I like it. You should totally become my own personal maid for a day."

"Kaichou wa Maid Sama vibes oh my God," Miki squeaked from behind me. She was immediately silenced by Chiharu and Saika who flung their hands over her mouth.

I met the teen's eyes before dropping my focus onto the camera that he had hanging around his neck. Seeming to catch what I was looking at, Aki rose the camera up to his field of vision.

"I'm going around taking photos of the Cultural Festival today," he enlightened me, rotating the camera lens. "This guy from the Student Council asked me to. I guess it's because he didn't want me pranking and causing trouble like I do every year... I don't know why people are so uptight about things like that."

"They should be," I finally spoke. "I've heard rumours about your antics. They're not anything small, they're very large scale pranks. Besides, the event is supposed to be a fun thing."

"How are you telling me that having the entire school grouped together at once is not the best opportunity to prank them? Their reactions are plenty of fun—they can last you through a year I tell you," Aki admitted with a laugh. "Anyway, I came by to take pictures of you, Senpai. Smile for me."

Aki's proximity with the camera made me shake my head and turn away. "No, stop! I don't like pictures."

"Why not? You're so pretty!" Aki protested. "I'll capture your beauty perfectly, don't worry!"

I covered my face the best I could as Aki continued to hover around me. When I heard sudden footfalls come to a halt in front of me, I carefully peeked through the cracks between my fingers. "There's no way I'm letting you have pictures of her on your camera."

My eyelids shot upwards when I saw that the owner was Ryu, who had reached for Aki's collar, scowling daggers into him.

As a result, Aki made a face, briefly considering his hold on his shirt. "Great, the party-pooper makes his appearance. Let go of me will you?"

"Put down the camera then," Ryu said.

Aki glared at him, taking the initiative to push Ryu's grip off of him. "I don't have any obligation of listening to you."

"Then you should listen to her," Ryu snapped, blocking me off from him. "If she doesn't want to take a picture you can't force her to."

"I wasn't forcing anybody!" Aki retorted, clenching his teeth. "Besides, it's my job to take pictures! I bet the reason you're stopping me is because you'd be jealous since you don't have any pictures of her yourself!"

Taken off guard by his accusation, Ryu promptly reddened. "I— No, I'm not!"

"Sure," Aki scoffed. "You're not fooling anybody in this room, Ryu."

Ryu's fists clenched. "Don't call me that."

"Why? Is it bringing back bad memories? Goes to show you can't leave everything behind you, Ryu."

"Shut up already!"

"Why don't you make me?"

Knowing that Ryu looked about ready to deal Aki with a punch—Aki withholding the same amount of irritation—I stepped in between them, pushing them apart with my hands. They both craned their necks down in unison and Aki frowned straightaway.

         "Senpai," he said, glare still fixed at Ryu, "tell this guy to go screw himself and leave us alone."

          I rolled my eyes. "Aki, if you came to our class to cause trouble, get out of here."

          The redhead's eyelids shot upwards, vision training itself onto me in shock. "What? But...."

           "And Iwasaki, you're scaring everyone in this room with that hostile behaviour. If you try so much as swing at Aki I'm not forgiving you."

          Ryu's anger lightened up, replacing itself with astonishment. "But he...."

          "You're both ruining business here," I stated. "Go somewhere else if you're going to squabble like little kids."

           "But Senpai, it's not my fault! Iwasaki's the one that cut in on our conversation!" Aki said in disbelief.

           "She told you she didn't want a picture!" Ryu responded with a scowl. He returned his eyes to me, suddenly apologetic. "I was only trying to get him to leave you alone."

           Meeting Ryu's eyes and hearing his voice honestly blanked my mind for a moment. After a couple of seconds, I managed to regain myself and quickly darted my gaze. "I appreciate that, but...."

           "I'm right, right?" Aki finished for me hopefully.

           "No you're not!" Ryu refuted.

           "Am too!"

           "Are not!"

          Watching as they once again growled like rabid dogs at each other, a hopeless sigh left my mouth. Were they kidding me...?

           A tap on my shoulder successfully snatched my attention and I turned my head back to see Erika. "I see that things took a little tense turn when I went for my break," she started, poking her index finger behind her head, "but there's somebody at the door looking for you."

           "Somebody...?" I turned my head to see who she meant, praying that it wasn't yet another person that could add to the disaster already unfolding before me, and was startled to see him standing there, looking panicked out of his mind. "Daichi?" I murmured, blinking.

           Slipping away from Ryu and Aki who only continued to childishly insult each other, I made my way towards the entrance.

            "Daichi, what are you doing here?" I asked him.

            Daichi, dressed head to toe in a regal-like attire, met my eyes with his widened hazel ones. "Reina, please... Please be my princess!"

             My plummeted jaw and eyes which had shrunk back had nullified all other noises zooming past my ear. "H-huh...?"

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Aki and Ryu are honestly fun to write scenes together with lol. It's always like 'are you kidding me right now?' -__-" It really makes you wonder why they dislike each other so much doesn't it...? x)

Besides that, what did Daichi's last line mean? Any guesses? I'll try to update again tomorrow!

-Misty