Maid Up His Mind

Haru gingerly forked the omelet rice on his plate, carefully avoiding the words ‘JUST FRIENDS’ encased in a squiggly heart drawn in ketchup. At first, he was in shock that Kasumi had brought him to such a place. But then, she dumped him by the entrance and trotted away. Now, a short maid with fluffy hair and glasses was attending to him.

There was quite the focus on that latter part as a pair of eyes watched Haru’s every movement like a hawk. Maybe it was the typical order of business – for a maid to dutifully watch for the needs of her ‘Master’ during the visit. But for Haru, a cold sweat was developing on his back.

Haru brought the morsel to his lips and froze, paranoid like poison had been laced within. Like the maid’s stare transmitted the toxins right to his spoon. He nervously shoved it in his mouth, every reason to think that he was simply mad. He couldn’t recall making enemies in such a short time.

But as he chewed, a light giggle escaped from the maid’s lips. And once again, the paranoia set in. Haru set his fork down with a clink, his appetite far gone.

“Is there something the matter, Master?”

The maid’s voice hid all sorts of deception. But what remained was an unquestionable thirst for his answer.

“Megu, please don’t scare the customers like that!”

Kasumi’s voice cut through the tension in an instant. Haru felt like he could breathe again. He realized that his heart had been in overdrive the whole time, but the maid’s eerie atmosphere had gripped him so hard he went numb.

“I couldn’t help but analyze this boy that has caught your attention as of late.”

“Cool it while we’re on duty! Or the shop master will get on my case! Especially, when I’m the one that brought him here!”

“I’m sure that my Pop will be a little lenient on us.”

Haru looked back and forth between the two. If the situation hadn’t completely lost him, he would have certainly admired the maid uniforms that they wore – black with white aprons and frills, a cute blue bow around the collar, and a headdress adorning their hair.

Haru couldn’t keep his eyes off Kasumi, who had never told him that she worked in such a place.

“Aren’t you glad that I brought you here?” Kasumi flashed him a grin, obvious to how much he stared. “Make sure you order lots! My wage comes from plenty of service!”

Now Haru understood what she meant by a little give and take. A bit of fanservice in exchange for opening the ol’ wallet. Haru sighed as he allowed himself to be suckered into it. Almost too willingly.

Haru’s eyes darted back to Megu, and he scratched his head as now something seemed all too familiar about her. Kasumi caught the hint and interjected.

“Ah, this is my friend, Nakamura Megumi. Just Megu for short. I think you’ve run into each other a few times before.”

Haru pondered for another moment before his memories clicked into place.

The cake buffet – the ‘Megu’ that liked BL.

Karaoke – the girl that he bumped into at the drink bar.

Haru’s mouth hung with a telling gasp. Megu responded with a curtsy, as expected of a maid. That was a brief distraction before an awkward air settled around her once again.

“W-Would you like a refill? Melon soda, was it?” Kasumi asked.

Haru nodded, if only because his lips fumbled to say anything intelligible. Kasumi turned and glided away with movements of a bandit trying to act casual. Haru was no better. He held his fork like a foreigner with chopsticks.

But as Haru’s next bite jittered all the way up to his mouth, an audible sniff sounded right next to his head.

“Wah! What the hell are you doing?!”

Haru nearly leapt out of his chair, having turned to see Megu’s face right up against him. She was still bent over dramatically with purpose.

“Relax, Sunshine. I was just sampling the air around you.”

“You were what…?”

“This nose here can sense BL from across the room. And I can safely say that your results have turned up negative.”

Haru’s mind whirled at that statement. There were so many things that he just flat out didn’t expect being strung together. He had been essentially struck dumb.

Megu ignored him and folded her arms together. “Sucks, but I guess that means Kasumi isn’t safe around you. It’s my job to make sure that she isn’t taken advantage of.”

That didn’t get lost on Haru though.

“Wait, who’s taking advantage of who now? I’m not the one dragging her to my workplace for some easy business.”

“But you’re still here, aren’t you?”

Haru couldn’t deny it. If he really wanted to, the door was right in front of him. He had no obligation to stay. None to buy the extra-large size omelet rice, along with the personalized message for extra. None to order his third melon soda. If anything, he felt like that would smooth the rough patches over. He just hated when people read the thoughts he wanted to hide.

“You like her, don’t you?” Megu pressed more.

Haru tried to wave her off. “Not this again. I told her. We’re friends. Nothing more.”

“Is that what you tell yourself?”

“I don’t know why I should see it any other way.”

Megu sighed, the tray in her hand flipping to her side, like she was changing gears.

“Stubborn like Kasumi-chan. Going to get nowhere if I don’t intervene even more, so how about a little test?”

Before Haru could object, Megu grabbed him by the arm and tugged. Surprised by her strong grip, he nearly stumbled before correcting himself. Megu led him straight into one of the side rooms, a private VIP of a place that housed extra amenities beyond the café. Lavish seating around a wide-screen TV, game consoles, a setup for a photo shoot, and even a rack of cosplay outfits – all available for a premium cost.

Haru rolled his eyes, ready to reject this extra service. He scoffed at the thought that Megu would be able to bribe him if Kasumi was called in to attend to such things. He wasn’t going to simp for something like that.

But then, a hard push sent Haru right into the sofa. A foot planted on the cushion next to his head made him break out in a sweat. Megu had her leg raised, the hem of her skirt sliding up just a bit to show thigh. A domineering grin hung in Haru’s vision.

“W-Woah! What the hell-”

Megu shushed him with a finger to his mouth. She grinned wider as she pulled the skirt even higher. Haru tried to tilt his head up to avoid it, but Megu grabbed his face and yanked downward.

“I’m not interested! Stop trying to…”

Haru’s voice trailed off as his brain fought to process what his eyes saw.

Boxer briefs.

Boxer briefs with a bulge.

What should have been there wasn’t and was replaced by something even weirder. His brain instantly short circuited.

“Y-You’re a-”

“Yep, 100% male. Sorry, had to mess a bit with you. That’s just how I roll.”

Haru instantly looked around, expecting for hidden cameras, expecting for people to jump out yelling “Surprise!” with him as the fool for the day. But nothing came. There was just an intensely analyzing Megu still holding his face. Haru gulped and said the first logical thing on his mind.

“Did Kasumi-chan put you up to this? The maid outfit, I mean.”

“I would wear one even without her asking. My family does own this shop, you know. Call me whatever you prefer. I could care less. We’re past simple appearances, aren’t we?”

Haru’s eyes rolled around in his head, locking back in place once the pieces fit.

“You know, that’s the exact same look that Kasumi-chan had when I told her. You two are more alike than you think. The way you hide behind jabs and deflections. How you chase but shrink back when things go wrong.”

Haru didn’t know what to say after that. But then again, he was forced to look at a guy’s junk as confirmation. Nothing he could have said at the moment would have made a lick of sense.

“Most people would give me an instant look of disgust from this revelation. But not her. Kasumi-chan accepts a lot of things about people, for better or worse. She knows that things aren’t always how they seem. She gives people the benefit of the doubt. And in the end, she just accepts them for who they are. She just doesn’t know how to express it sometimes. And the fact that you haven’t shoved me off and run away tells me that you aren’t all that different from her.”

“How can you say that? You don’t know anything about me.” Haru’s tongue finally unfroze from annoyance.

“Because someone like me, what society would point to as a sideshow, knows a thing or two about people’s perceptions. And I am fortunate, truly fortunate, when I find someone that doesn’t mind because they can just accept someone for who they are. Higashi Haru, you may try to act uncaring, but I’ve seen how you treat your friends. I’ve seen how you treat Kasumi-chan. And I’ve seen how you treat yourself. I don’t need to be a psychic to know that you beat yourself up the hardest. So let me ask you… what are you scared of?”

Stuck between a foot and a sofa, Haru wondered how he had gotten into this mess in the first place. But Megu had hit a sore spot. Haru had simply turned Kasumi away ‘as a friend’ because Grace was on his mind. He made the decision on the spot to maintain the status quo.

He was still afraid of reality. Things had gone his way, but he believed that some sort of imaginary karma would rebound to balance things out. So, he stuck to dreaming. He clung to the ideal that was Grace as an excuse.

“I… uh-”

The door of the VIP room swung open.

“Eh? So that’s where you two are. I didn’t think you were into that kind of play, Haru-kun…”

Haru looked over to see a befuddled Kasumi. And then, he turned back to see that Megu had a play whip in his hand.

When did ‘he’ grab that?!

It took ages for Haru to convince Kasumi not to join in on the ‘service’. He ended up paying for it anyway. Megu devilishly grinned when ‘he’ pocketed the cut that came from it.