Here's chapter two! Yay! This gave me a tiny bit of problem, because it didn't want to write the way I wanted it to, but I eventually got it to work. I actually like this more than the original idea I had.

Anyways, before the story begins, a few shout outs.

Catsafari - I do have to admit, I've done that before. Making the characters quite OOC to fit the plot. But hey, it worked though. I think Baron's a little bit more in character in this chapter. At least, I hope so anyway. Thanks for the review!

Midnight the Black Fox - I love that story by yarningchick! It's one of my favorites for this paring. And I try to update whenever I can. With this story, I'm going to try to update either everyday, or every other day, if I can help it. Thanks for the review!

Nanenna - I certainly hope you'll stick around! Thanks for the review!

Aznchocoholic - I too would love to be Baron's housekeeper! He's so cool! *giggles* And you don't have to worry, Haru shows up in this chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

Bluehatter - Here's the next chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

Okay, I'm done. *smiles* On with the chapter!

"Welcome," a young brown haired girl said as she bowed. Pulling out a small notebook and a pen, she smiled and asked, "What would you like?

The couple in front of her was looking at menus, trying to decide what to eat. The girl finally set her menu down and looked up at the waitress, "I'll just have a bowl of tomato soup and a plain salad, no dressing."

The boy studied the menu for a few moments longer as the waitress wrote down what his female companion had ordered. Finally deciding on something, he also set his menu down and turned to her, "I'll have a bowl of clam chowder and two grilled cheese sandwiches."

The waitress nodded her head as she wrote down the order. She paused for a moment to ask if there was anything else they wanted. Once they said no, she turned and headed towards the back of the restaurant. After hanging up the order so the cook would see it, she picked up another one and hurried out into the restaurant. She approached the table where that she was serving and quickly set their food on the table. The older woman sitting there carefully cut into a piece of the chicken she ordered and took a bite just as the young waitress was about to walk away. The woman spat the chicken out and called to her, "Miss, could you please come back here?"

The girl turned around and walked back over to the table, her chocolate brown eyes filled with confusion as she asked, "Is there something wrong, Ma'am?"

"Yes," the woman said as she sniffed the air disdainfully, "This chicken tastes horrible! I wish to speak to the chef that made it."

"Yes, Ma'am," the waitress said quickly before turning and hurrying into the kitchen. She told the chef that a woman had a complaint and he went to take care of it. Sighing tiredly, the waitress picked up the order the young couple had made and went back out into the restaurant. She glanced over to the chef to see him grimace at the taste of the chicken. Vaguely she wondered what was wrong with it as she weaved her way through the tables. She was just about to walk up to their table when a small boy ran out in front of her. She tripped, and in an effort to not hurt the boy, she twisted her body to the side and fell to the floor with a crash. The entire restaurant stopped talking as they looked over at the commotion. The young waitress sat up and rubbed her ankle, which she managed to twist in the fall. Looking up, she gasped in horror as she saw that the food she had been holding had landed on the girl she was supposed to serve. Standing up quickly, and ignoring the pain in her ankle, she quickly grabbed some napkins and tried to clean the mess up. The young woman stood up, her eyes sparkling in fury as she looked down on the waitress. Her hands balled into fists as she started to yell at her waitress. The brown haired girl opened her mouth to apologize, but found she couldn't even get a word in.

A skinny man with receding hair hurried over to them quickly and attempted to calm the girl down. Only after offering a free meal of their choosing did she actually stop yelling. The man, who happened to be the restaurant's owner, roughly grabbed the waitress by the arm and began pulling her towards one of the exits as he whispered harshly to her, "That's the fifth time this week. The guests are starting to complain. We're losing clientele because of your klutzy ways."

The young waitress feebly tried to apologize, but the owner ignored her and continued to yell at her for being clumsy as he led her out the door. Neither they, nor the guests, noticed as a man quietly slipped out one of the other doors. The owner shook her arm roughly as he said, "I don't even understand why I hired you. You can't focus on your job. You always get orders mixed up. You trip or fall into everyone. You are useless. Completely useless…"

"I'm not useless…" she whispered, her sadness slowly turning to anger.

"I doubt you'll ever amount to anything," the man said, oblivious to her rising anger, "You can't do anything worth saving your life. You are useless to everyone around you and you always will be…"

"I'm not useless…" she murmured even stronger. Her body began to shake in anger and her eyes clouded over in tears. She stopped and pushed him away from her hard as she shouted, "I'm not useless!"

The man stumbled and grunted as his back came in contact with the wall behind him. The young girl gasped at what she had done and her hands flew to cover her mouth. Her eyes widened and she whispered, "Oh my… I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

He glared at her, his eyes filled with anger as he slowly stepped towards her. Raising his hand, he said angrily, "Why you…"

Just as he was about to hit her, a gloved hand shot out and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back as he was shoved face first into the wall. Whoever had grabbed his arm let go and he turned around, growling at the interference before the noise died in his throat. His own eyes widened and he took a step back at the intense glare he was on the receiving end of. In front of him stood a tawny haired man with deep emerald green eyes that were narrowed angrily at the owner. The light grey suit and polished wooden cane gave away exactly who he was and the owner gave a small squeak in surprise as he tried to find his voice, "M-M-Mr. Von Gikkingen…"

"Just what exactly were you going to do?" Baron's voice whispered quietly.

The man gulped visibly and tried to explain his actions to the furious nobleman, "You see, I…"

"You were going to hit a defenseless young woman," Baron said, his fury clearly evident in his voice. His green eyes glittered angrily as he gently pushed the young waitress behind him, her eyes wide as she looked at him, awe clearly showing on her face.

"I… she…" the owner stumbled over his words as he started to quake in fear. He took another step backwards and gasped softly as his back connected once more with the brick wall.

Baron took a step forward and looked down at the man, contempt written all across his face as he said, "Get out of my sight. I never want to see you step near this young lady again, understand?"

"Yes, sir," the man squeaked as he took off running back into the restaurant.

Baron glared after him before giving an irritated sigh. Turning around, he smiled at the young waitress kindly, "Are you alright, Miss?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yes," she said as a dark blush slowly spread across her cheeks, "I'm fine, thank you."

"You're quite welcome," Baron said as he swept his top hat off of his head and bowed to her, "Please forgive my manners, my name is Baron Humbert Von Gikkingen."

"H-H-Haru," she said quickly, "Yoshioka Haru, but please, call me Haru."

Baron placed the hat back on his head and smiled warmly at her, "It's pleasure to meet you, Miss Haru. Now, what exactly was that all about, if I may ask?"

"Oh," Haru said her expression turning from awe to slight sadness, "That was Mr. Yoko. He hired me three weeks ago. I get really nervous around people and it makes me a little bit klutzy. I guess he got tired of me always causing accidents. I swear I don't mean to. They just sort of… happen."

"But that wouldn't have warranted enough for him to hit you," Baron said as he crossed his arms and looked at her thoughtfully.

Haru blushed and looked down at her feet, her expression turning even sadder as she whispered, "He was going to hit me because I shoved him. He called me useless and I got angry. I know I shouldn't have gotten angry. He was right after all. I am useless, I guess…"

She abruptly stopped speaking when a gloved hand gently reached under and lifted her chin up. Her blush darkened when she noticed how close Baron was to her. She looked into his eyes and suddenly felt like she was drowning in their emerald depths. He stared into her own eyes as he said quietly, but sternly, "You are not useless, Miss Haru. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Everyone has a use, no matter how small it is. Always believe in yourself. Do this and you can do anything. Understand?"

Haru nodded slightly as she gazed up at him. She seemed frozen in place, whether by his words or by his touch, she couldn't tell. All she knew was she wouldn't mind listening to him talk all day. He's so cool… she thought to herself.

Baron took a step back and released her chin. His smile returned as he offered her his arm, "If you don't mind, I would like to escort you home."

"Oh, okay," Haru murmured as she looped her arm through his. She forced herself to look in front of her instead of at his face as they began to walk. Everything started to finally start processing in her brain and she gave a small groan.

"Is there something wrong?" Baron asked as he looked down at her.

"I'm going to have to find another job," Haru said with a heavy sigh, "I won't be able to afford my apartment if I don't find another one. Just great."

Baron became strangely quiet for a moment, his expression thoughtful. She did admit to being clumsy, and he had seen what had happened in the restaurant, even if it wasn't her fault. He didn't even know if she could do housework at all… but something was telling him that he should hire her. It wasn't as if he had anything to lose, and she had to be better than the last girl. He shook his head slightly before looking down at her and asking, "Miss Haru… how well can you clean?"

Cliffhanger! I couldn't help but leave it off there. The story practically begged that it be stopped there.

Don't forget to review! See you in the next chapter!

Jaa!