Welcome back, Master/Mistress. (Makoto / OPEN)

[Makoto Mariyama]

(OOC: I'm actually not too sure
what the name of the Maid Cafe that
Walker and Erika went to in the anime,
but I'll try to find out more about it someday.
Sorry about being sort of vague on certain things.
Besides that, asdfghj;; for bad introduction.)

2:13:48 PM

Blue. Very blue.

The summer afternoon's sky was bright blue with white patches of cloud here and there. That was what Makoto could only focus on, as she stared outside the small window of the Maid Cafe she was working in. Just slightly more than two hour ago, she had started her afternoon shift, and around that time, the lunch crowd were often bigger than average. Being one of the few Maid Cafes around, they would often get a lot of people during noon, because the nearby store workers would be on their lunch break. Not that their Maid Cafe would be the workers' first choice for lunch break, but at noon, they definitely had more people than usual.

Not that Makoto minded, but it meant she had to serve more people. It was already bad enough that she had to cook for those she served, but to cook for more people whilst looking pretty still? Not really something easy. But fortunately for Makoto, she had some experience to do the job well enough.

The lunch crowd had already reduced, as lunch break was over for most shops. So all they had in their Cafe were their regulars and a few girls who were probably on a mission to experience a Maid Cafe. Makoto would just smile to that, no, in fact, most of the maids would.

With less customers now, Makoto could relax a bit. In fact, she did relax a bit too much probably. She had been blanking out, and staring into the blue sky. Maybe she was just exhausted. Well, she's not too surprised. After all, she had spent almost the whole night playing a certain BL game.

"And I couldn't get that CG out of mind at all, for the whole day," Makoto thought to herself, with a light shade of pink spreading across her cheeks as a certain R-18 CG of some BL pairing flashed in her mind for the nth time that day. "Hehe…" Without her realizing it, she was leering at that mental image like the pervert that she is, and unfortunately for her, she was caught by her co-worker at the wrong time.

"You know, Mariko. That creepy face of yours is definitely scaring away the customers," The girl could hear a woman's voice spoke up from behind, and quickly, she turned to face her older co-worker. "Not that I mind or anything, but since we're maids…" Now that Makoto thought about it, she shouldn't even be making that face at all! "I-I'm sorry. I got lost in my thoughts. I'll get back to work now!" Makoto quickly told her senior, bowing her head slightly, a gesture of apology before quickly making her way to where ever she needed to go to.

For one, one of the Cafe's regular customer had just came in and sat at one of the tables she was serving. If she remembered carefully, the said regular was called "Kiyo", due to his habit of adding '-kiyo' to the back of his sentence. Besides that, she also remembered that this same regular was one of those she had a hard time with. Looks like Makoto's not going to be able to rest anytime soon anymore.

[Asako Kojima]

Dear Kojima-chan,

I'm awfully worried! Just recently, I played a prank on one of my friends when I invited them to my house. She got too scared for some reason and ran off! From what I know, she usually visits the nearby maid cafe. Could you find her and ask her to contact me back? I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding between us. I believe I've attached a photo of her to this letter. You can't possibly miss her!She's like, some sort of foreigner or something... Please hurry!

Nori

What are you up to this time, Asako thought as she walked inside of the cafe's door, and what makes you so sure she'll be here at this time? It simple irritated the young hazel eyed girl, how mysterious her room mate seemed. Not to mention that she wasn't explaining anything well enough, like what exactly happened and why a social recluse like Nori suddenly had a friend. How Asako would let someone like this become a necessity to her life and at the same time hide so many things was starting to become more mere of a justification of what her room mate was doing. Her eyes narrowed as she thought about it. That's it, she finally made up in her mind, I'm going straight home after I find this lady and talk to her about what's been going on lately.

The young woman didn't have a good plan of what might happen if she went too far with her questioning though, but wondered about that as she sat down. Asako wasn't in a fair, dazey like mood like mood like she usually was. After steaming over the frustration she was currently having, Asako started to look around the cafe. It was a nicely organized place, but what especially caught her attention were the maids. I wonder if any creepy perverts come over here and the maids got some guns hidden under their skirts, Asako thought. The image of some sort of fight scene along those lines intrigued her for a while. Maybe they might also be guys themselves, she also thought.

While making up weird stories about the maids to herself while she looked around for that one person, Asako decided to order something. She had in mind that she could hide the cup of what she ordered under he seat real quickly and ask another maid that didn't see her that her order was taking to long and keep doing that. Asako thought it was a stupid idea, but she couldn't help but want to try it.

"Um ... is anyone ... here to take orders?" Asako asked aloud in her slow speech. It seemed the cafe was almost empty, so she waited for someone to come.

[Makoto Mariyama]

Makoto had been forcing herself to keep a smile on her face as she finally served Kiyo his order of a cup of 'Vanillove' coffee, and as the name described it, it was simply a cup of vanilla latte with extra love in a form of foam and cream. Makoto wasn't too sure, but her senior always told her that the cup of Vanillove coffee, or in fact, all of their dishes, depending on who makes it, the person's true feelings and personality would reflect on what and how they make their stuff. The fact that Makoto's cup of 'Vanillove' coffee was too sweet made Kiyo think that the maid was such a sweet thing.

"It's not… that though," Makoto could only think to herself, forcing a small laughter as Kiyo made such a statement. She wasn't a sweet little thing. No, Makoto just didn't want to serve Kiyo as his maid. It was just… unbearable to her.

"Um,... is anyone... here to take orders?" Upon hearing an unknown voice call out, Makoto quickly turned her head to look in the direction of a… girl? No, it was no ordinary girl. It was her customer! A chance to get away from Kiyo! "I will take my leave now, Master. I hope that you truly enjoy the Vanillove~ coffee," Makoto excused herself with a small bow, and another sparkling smile. "Excuse me." With that, Makoto quickly turned around and walked quickly towards the girl without taking a glance back at Kiyo or his lingering stare at her back. His stares were enough to make her shiver, and not in the good way.

Fortunately for Makoto, the girl sat quite a distance away from Kiyo, and almost defenselessly, she let out a small sigh of relief once she got close to the girl. "I'm glad someone else is here," she thought to herself, before shaking her head a bit and turning her full attention on the girl. Hazel eyes, were the first thing Makoto saw. Hazel eyes behind a pair of glasses. She looked… "Adorable." Makoto couldn't say it out, but it was evident on her face that she was thinking about the girl. She had a small smile, more genuine and relaxed than the fake ones she forced onto herself before.

Oh yes, she called her over for a reason! "A-Ah, yes! H-How can I be of service, Mistress?" Makoto asked, stuttering a bit in her earlier speech, smiling still.

[Asako Kojima]

Vanillove? One that apparently loves Vanille ... or at least the coffee does, Asako started to think about the name she over heard. Why would one name coffee that, Asako wondered, would it be possible for some coffee to like someone? Perhaps it was just her thinking about things to much and not being the sharpest tool in the shed, but she couldn't help thinking about such an odd name and why it was named as such. Asako felt her eyelids lower and yawned as she waited. When is someone coming, she thought to herself.

It took her some time for her to notice that someone was there. With someone suddenly there, Asako couldn't help but jolt in surprise. After getting use to being awake again, she noticed that this person seemed to be smiling at her. Asako tilted her head slightly to the side in confusion. Oh, she thought, this must be the waitress ... she's obviously a girl. She took a quick glance at the person she was taking orders from last. What was he doing?

"Oh yes... Well, I'll have what that man... was having over there ... but I have a ... few questions first ... why may it be called ... Vanillove? ... What may ... this coffee be all about?" Asako pushed her glasses up while speaking. It was sometimes hard to order when Japanese was a second language. It was probably even more odd when one had the accent already pinned down, but whatever. Asako didn't care. "Oh, I almost forgot! There's ... this girl that ... usually comes here that my friend ... was looking for." With that, Asako showed her the picture attatched to it."Have you ... seen her?"

There was also this one thing about this girl Asako had to ask about. She didn't know exactly why, just something about her speech and that look on her face early on.
"Are you ... alright, pink hair lady? You seem ... off ..."

[Makoto Mariyama]

Makoto noticed the girl taking a glance at the previous customer she had been serving who happened to be Kiyo. It made her a bit nervous when the girl did that. Was Kiyo doing anything weird… behind her? She was hoping that he wasn't. She could already sense his glances and gazes at her as he drank up the coffee she made for him with supposedly 'love', and enjoying the warm, sweet drink.

Makoto tried her best to ignore him, so she simply watched the girl with the same smile plastered on her face. When the girl told her that she was also getting the Vanillove, Makoto just blinked a few times. She was a bit surprised, but that was all. But she felt even more surprised when she was asked about why it was named Vanillove. She thought it was a bit obvious, but true enough the name was a bit tacky. Her owner liked to squeeze two words together just to form another, and Vanillove obviously came from Vanilla and Love, the main ingredients of the coffee.

"Oh, well," Makoto paused a bit as she placed a finger on her bottom lip as she thought about it, staring at the table with a thoughtful look. "Vanillove is simply a latte with a vanilla taste. I would say that it's the drink a vanilla lover would go for, since it's quite sweet. But another reason behind the name is that we, maids, make this coffee with love." She tried to explain, smiling at the girl a bit. It was such a bad explanation. She had a clear idea of the reason, but it was just hard to explain it, she thought. "I apologize. It's difficult for me to explain it properly."

Back to her order, Makoto quietly scribbled the girl's order on a notepad she took from the front pocket of her frilly apron. "I'll make a Vanillove coffee promptly, Mistress." She stated, bowing her head a bit. But before anything else, she was stopped by the girl's question on another girl, and even showing her the picture.

"Ah," Makoto knew the girl. The girl isn't particularly one of her regulars, since usually she would request another maid or something. She wasn't too sure about the girl, but she have seen her around, she thought. "I saw her around a few days ago, but I haven't seen her today at all. She may be coming in today, but I'm not too sure," she answered in a low tone. She flashed the girl another smile. "I'll inform you if I see her come in today, Mistress," she told the girl with the same smile.

Makoto had really planned on taking her leave for real now, until the girl spoke up once more with another question. …Was there something wrong with her? She wasn't so sure. "I apologize if I seem off, but I'm completely all right. Thank you for your concern, Mistress," She said in a gentle voice, bowing her head again.

[Asako Kojima]

Ooc: I apologize for shortness. I had a huge mega writer's block that was SO hard to get rid of. If you want me to expand the post or change it in any way, just tell me .)

Asako stared at the maid in a stoic way. It was a look that seemed to say all in itself please don't put love in my cup, creeper. Would that be secret code for drugs, she wondered, because that would be funny. What is this love she's talking about ... Asako didn't talk for awhile and looked out of the window. She would have usually gone back to her mind wondering or falling asleep, but Nori came up in her mind again. To the girl, that must meant it was more important than usual. It was just the Mori's personlity; though it didn't bother her at first. The more she thought about her, the more she began to think there was obviously more to her personality than she was thinking.

After a few seconds, Asako started squinting her eyes towards the cafe maid taking her order; like she was studying her. Did something happen here that involved Nori involving the person in the photo? And if it did, would this maid have seen what had happened? She claimed she saw her a few days ago, but maybe she could tell her what happened if she asked if she saw Nori.

"Wait!" Asako started to say out loud; like she was suddenly waking up from her sleepy behavior. Then she started to continue back in her usual slow tone, but with a few other statements before continuing on about the matter of Nori.

"Its alright ... I was worried there ... and don't put love in my coffee ... if its dangerous ..." Asako paused for a bit to think what she was going to say next, than continued.

"Did you ... see a girl with ... short black hair ... small brown eyes ... sort of boy-ish looking ... with this person in ... the photo? I know that sounds ... common, I can ... expand furthur on that if you like.... did you know ... what happened between them? ... I'll give you extra pay ... if you tell me everything you can .... if you know."