Disclaimer: I am working, but I don't own "Working!". The rights belong exclusively to Karino Takatsu and I am only a humble fan.

Author's Notes: I have watched and rewatched this series over and over and still, I never tire of it. Karino is a genius and his dialogue - there are no words to describe. One of, THE best comedy anime and manga ever written, and nearly every character utilize.

Chapter 1: Wagnaria's Super Sleuth

It was the Sunday lunch hour at Wagnaria, and the family restaurant was nearly crowded. The persistent chime of the entry doors and the continuous ring of the cash register indicated it would be about another hour or so before things slowed down. The only seating available was in the smoking section.

Servers greeted and seated guests, took orders, and trekked back and forth from the kitchen to the dining area with practiced efficiency. The cook and his assistant prepared Wagnaria's staple dishes and expedited orders so that the food was still piping hot when served to the customers.

From his place in the kitchen, Souma Hiroomi stood at the gas range staring mindlessly into a frying pan of sizzling hamburger steaks. Every now and again, his eyes would stray toward the dining area or behind him, to the employee changing rooms.

"Oi! Souma!"

The assistant chef jumped on hearing Jun Satou's (the head chefs) deadpan voice interrupting his thoughts.

"Hai, Satou-san!" Souma turned to his superior and received a whack on the forehead with a wooden spoon. "Yeow!"

"Turn the meat," Satou informed him calmly. "You're burning it."

"Hai, hai," Souma muttered tiredly before reaching for the spatula. Once both steaks were flipped, the assistant strayed back to the dining room, keeping vigil on a particular waitress.

"What's up, Souma?" Satou asked as he whisked seasonings into the gravy that would accompany the steaks. "You've got that plotting, scheming, stalking look. Who's your victim?"

"Awww… Satou-kun," Souma whined in his most petulant annoying voice. "You always think the worst. I'm totally offended."

"I do... and you should be," the head cook stated stoically. "For now, shut down that information network until we complete these orders. Focus on work."

"Hai, hai!" Souma sighed again. He followed the orders of his superior and produced the most succulent hamburger steak smothered in gravy and delivered to table 12 in the non-smoking section.

Later that evening, in the girls dressing room, Popura Taneshima, Mahiru Inami, and Maya Matsumoto were changing out of their uniforms, preparing to go home. Taneshima and Inami stood together and engaged in small talk while undressing, but Matsumoto stood alone a short distance away and undressed in silence.

Distancing herself was not a slight to the other girls, Maya just felt it was best to stay clear of her somewhat abnormal coworkers. Taneshima was a hard worker, but overly obsessed with her height. Customers often mistook her for a grade schooler. Inami was a lovely girl, but suffered from androphobia and had to restrain herself from physically punching male customers.

Usually, Maya worked the morning shift and was leaving as Taneshima and company arrived; however, Souta Takanashi, the only male waiter with pedophilish tendencies, was out for family reasons and Maya had to cover his shift. Sliding into her jacket, Maya slipped her feet into leather loafers and moved toward the door.

"Otsukaresama deshita!"

Taneshima called out, thanking Maya for the hard work. The greeting stopped the tall, slender brunette in her tracks; slowly she turned, fully facing her coworkers, bowed and responded in the same manner. With a small smile, she turned and exited the room. Heading toward the back entrance, Maya quickly glanced over the preparations for tomorrows breakfast to make sure everything was ready for the opening shift. Satisfied, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and stepped out onto the empty parking lot.

"Like a ride, Matsumoto-san?"

Satou's voice surprised her, but Maya didn't react. She merely stopped, turned to the sound of his voice to find him leaning against the driver's side of his car. The passenger door opened and Souma got out and stood. His dark eyes assessed her, as they had throughout her entire shift before he lifted a hand and waved stupidly.

"Ah… thank you, but no," Maya bowed to both men. "Oyasumi nasai," she wished her co-workers goodnight and continued walking.

Taking a long drag off his cigarette, Satou blew smoke rings in the air, as he waited for Taneshima and Inami. "Figured she'd say no," the cook said before taking another puff.

"How'd you know?" Souma asked, sounding more than mildly curious.

"She's worked here for over two years, and each time I've offered her a ride, it's always a no," Satou stated matter of fact. "I'm surprised you have to ask," the chef continued, as he dropped the butt of his cigarette on the ground and ground it underfoot. "You seem to know enough about everyone else."

"I would, but Yamada couldn't find her fil..." Souma's voice froze. "I mean, Otoo-san or Kyouko-san have misplaced her employment file." he grinned sheepishly. "Right now, Matsumoto is a complete enigma to me."

The two stared at each other over the hood of the car; Satou's skeptical glare over Souma's look of feigned innocence. If Satou planned on commenting, it was interrupted by Taneshima and Inami's appearance.

Thanks, for waiting, Satou-kun!" the shorter girl chimed. "I had to prep Inami before we joined you."

Souma quickly opened the door to the back seat but stepped back a few paces as the two approached the car. He was giving Inami a wide berth, just in case she decided to start swinging.

"Remember, Inami," Taneshima said soothingly, ushering the taller redhead into the back seat. "Satou and Souma are girls - keep imagining them as girls."

As the two men got into the car, Satou adjusted the mirror so he could keep an eye on the girl who had cracked many ribs and walls in a state of panic when close to the male gender. Souma's hands were glued to the door latch, ready to 'tuck and roll' if the occasion called for it.

As the car pulled out of the parking lot, Souma searched the street, hoping to get a glimpse of Maya walking through the neighborhood; however, there was no sign of the dark-haired young woman and this only piqued Souma's interest even more.

The backgrounds of every employee at Wagnaria was an open book to Souma. The assistant chef accessed everything from personal files, pictures, text messages even information on family members. However, not once had he attempted to obtain information on Maya Matsumoto. The reason - Maya was ordinary; nothing was exciting, nothing extraordinary, nothing odd about her. She came to work - she went home. Nothing about Maya had piqued Souma's interest until a few months ago.

The issues with Satou and Yachiyo, Takanashi and Inami, not to mention Aoi Yamada's situation had occupied the majority of Souma's sleuthing skills. With those issues now resolved, (Satou and Yachiyo were finally a couple, Takanashi had finally accepted his feelings for Inami and Yamada reunited with her family), the assistant cook was looking for more mischief to create. In his quest to turn another co-worker into a victim, he became interested in Maya on discovering there was no personnel record in the Wagnaria files. None of her coworkers knew anything about Maya outside of work. Neither Otoo-san nor Kyouko-san could recall any information from her original data. Even his accredited sources had tried and were unable to obtain any additional information on Maya Matsumoto. Was that even her real name, Souma wondered.

"You won't get the best of me, Matsumoto-san," Souma said to himself and, unknowingly, emitted a sinister chuckle. "I like a challenge."

A squeal of brakes and the car came to an abrupt stop. Souma was jerked forward, thrusting an arm out to prevent his head from hitting the dashboard, before turning to Satou in surprise.

"Out!" the cook reached across Souma and threw open the passenger side door.

"But - Satou-kun!" Souma whined.

"You're making sinister sounds, while I've got a mini Mike Tyson in the back seat waiting for the bell," Satou told him in a menacing tone. "It's taking everything Taneshima's got to keep her under control. You…" he jammed a finger in Souma's face, "Walk!" The door slammed, and the car pulled off, its tires spinning like Satou was headed for the autobahn.

With a sigh, Souma lifted his collar, zipped up his jacket against the night air and shoved his hands in his pocket. His home was a twenty-minute walk away from the restaurant, but if he jogged, he could make it in ten.

Maya was crossing the small taiko bridge leading to her residence when the sound of screeching tires had her whirling around and racing to the opposite side of the bridge to look down on the street below. She watched, partly amused and partly horrified, as Souma was dumped on the roadside and abandoned by his colleagues.

"Probably deserved it," Maya snorted as she turned and continued on her way. "Such a busybody!" she spat and look down one last time on the lone figure walking the road.

Although aware of all the relationship issues at Wagnaria and the odd behaviors of her coworkers, Maya never got involved. She knew from day one that Satou had a thing for the chief. As a newbie, she learned to ignore and never question the holes in the walls created by Inami venting her fear of a male customer that came too close. She ignored the gluttonous Manager's passion for parfaits, which had to be restocked weekly rather than monthly as the restaurant budget allowed and she ignored Otoo-san's frequent absences. Maya merely chose to ignore everything that went on at Wagnaria.

Long ago, the young woman had learned a harsh lesson in meddling in the affairs of others and had vowed never to do so again. Wagnaria consisted of employees with a host of problems, whether personal or family and within the last year, more secrets were revealed and more people exposed, and with Maya's background, that was something she could not afford.

Maya applied for the job at Wagnaria's hoping to start fresh; once hired she went out of her way to be as inconspicuous as possible; to blend in with the environment and not draw attention to herself. Outside of work, there were a few people Maya interacted with, but only two shared her secrets.

After discovering Souma's penchant for sleuthing and prying into one's private life, Maya removed her personnel file from the office. Her necessary information was exact - name, age, date-of-birth, blood type, but her history was false. Maya Matsumoto, the woman, is very different from the impressionable young teenager from three years ago.

Kyouko, the manager in charge while Otoo-san was away, never realized a file was missing. What did it matter? Kyouko-san never completed an employee assessment and could care less. An employee just needed to show up for work on your assigned shift.

Invasion of privacy was a game to Souma, Maya thought, as she approached the gate of her abode. The wood creaked, its rusty hinges protesting loudly and Maya cringed recalling the day Souma decided to set his bloodhounds on her.

It was about a month after Satou confessed to Yachiyo. He was apparently bored and began snooping in greener pastures and into the only employee at Wagnaria he had overlooked. It may only have been a minor interest at first, but his inability to obtain the information he was looking for, presented a challenge to the nosy assistant chef.

Approaching the front door, Maya withdrew her key, inserted it into the lock and turned. Before she could enter, the door was snatched open and an older woman about 2 inches shorter than Taneshima confronted Maya.

"Do you realize the time?" she snapped.

"Yes, Obaa-chan!" Maya responded tiredly. "I picked up an extra shift. Sorry for not calling."

The wrinkled face softened a bit but didn't smile. Stepping aside, the woman allowed Maya entry and shut the door behind her.

"I thought it was the bloodhound again," the old woman said. "He seems to be hot on your heels lately."

"No worries," Maya informed her, dumping her backpack on the floor and slipping out of her jacket. "I'm five moves ahead of him. Every one of his inquiries will lead nowhere. I'm sure Maya 'Normal' Matsumoto won't be exciting enough to hold his interest. Trust me; he'll give up soon enough."

Obaa-chan sighed. "Don't underestimate him, Maya-chan," the old woman implored. "He may not look like it, but he's well connected. My sources hit a brick wall trying to get information on him. Everything before his employment at Wagnaria is non-existent. Like he just dropped out of the sky."

"It'll be the same for me," Maya stated as she sat down on the sofa and propped her tired legs on the low table. "What's for dinner?" She asked, as a means to change the subject. She was tired - tired of discussing Souma Hiroomi.

"You work at a restaurant, and you couldn't take the time for dinner," Obaa squawked. "You get breaks; don't you?"

"Of course," Maya smiled, her dark eyes shimmering with merriment. "I just prefer your home cooking."

That brought a smile to the old woman's face, and she looked down fondly at the young woman who had appeared on her doorstep alone and frightened three years ago. "I'll warm something up," Obaa said and slipped out of the room.

Maya nodded and then closed her eyes, tilting her head back into the sofa cushions. It had been a long day, and she anticipated an equally long one tomorrow. The young woman had her regular AM shift at the restaurant and two classes at the local university after. Sunday was Maya's day off from Wagnaria, and she smiled, looking forward to a day to relax and be herself. A day without guile and pretense, a day to give quality time to spend…

"Okaeri, Haha-ue!"

… with her daughter, Shiori.

end