It's finally summer, and it's about time I put forth more effort into my fanfiction account. I've been a HUGE fan of Maid Sama for a long time, and I'm surprised I haven't come up with a fanfiction until now. Once more, though, I am going mostly on a vague idea of how the story is going to go, and I sincerely hope it doesn't turn out like my Inception fanfic, which has yet to be rethought out so that it becomes a worthwhile story... Anyway, after such a long run-on sentence, I'll go ahead and start writing.

~~~~~I regrettably do not own the rights to Maid Sama; that honor belongs to the wonderful Hiro Fujiwara~~~~~~~

The din of the bustle in Maid Latte came to an abrupt halt upon the sound of shattering glass, which was as light as water and as sharp as needles.

All gazes turned to Misa-chan (also known as Misaki Ayuzawa, or, more commonly, the Demon Prez, at Seika High), who stared uncomprehendingly at the broken glass that had slid off of her tray and onto the tiled floor of the shop. For nearly a full minute, she did not move, not seeming to see anything in front of her or hear anything around her until she at last came to. Her body suddenly jerked, as if waking from a bad dream, and her distant eyes finally focused on the mess in front of her. "Excuse me!" she gasped, an embarrassed flush flying across her cheeks. "I apologize!" She quickly ran for maintenance supplies, returning hastily to begin cleaning the mess.

From the kitchen door, the manager, Satsuki, watched with brows close-knit in concern as Misaki cleaned. Although she was more alert than before, Satsuki could tell that that she was still not quite there. Even as the manager thought this, Misaki's hands fumbled, the glass piercing through the rubber gloves and into her skin. Satsuki flinched just seeing it, but Misaki didn't even seem to feel it. She continued cleaning, the simple and ordinary pains of the world lost to her distant gaze.

~Earlier that Day~

Misaki awoke that morning as bright and early as usual, readying herself for school. Her uniform was put on and her school books gathered in no time at all, and she was soon heading for the kitchen in search of some breakfast. But when she got to the kitchen door, she came to a slow halt. Something was off.

The location of the kitchen was directly across the hall from Suzuna's room. Normally, faint sleeping noises could still be heard coming from her room by the time Misaki got around to looking for some food, and Misaki would go to wake her with a sigh. But this morning, there was nothing-not even the occasional stir of sheets. Misaki listened harder, straining for sound, and she pressed her ear to the door. Not so much as a breath. Fearing that some kind of harm had befallen her sister, Misaki gave a quick knock, saying, "I'm coming in" even as the door was swinging open.

Suzuna was gone. The bed sheets were still in full disarray, and the pillows strewn across the bed, as was her habit. Aside from the bed yet to be made, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary.

Misaki scratched the back of her head, suddenly feeling ridiculous. She was probably just in the bathroom. Just comes to show how odd it is to find her already up, I guess, Misaki thought.

But Misaki realized after finishing off her breakfast that Suzuna still had not appeared, and that something still seemed off about the house. It was too quiet even for their house, which was always cozily silent in the morning. This was an eerie silence, so strong that it was like an echo pulsing through the house so loudly that you wanted to cover your ears.

Misaki stood quickly, returning to Suzuna's room to find it still a mess. Not even Suzuna would be that slow to get ready for school. Misaki hurried to the bathroom to find it empty as well, and a quick check at the front of the house ended the possibility that Suzuna had already left for school: Her bag was still there. Becoming concerned, Misaki hurried down to her mother's room to tell her about Suzuna's disappearance. But when she opened the door, she found her gone as well.

The teenage girl stood frozen in the doorway for a few seconds, breathing hard, before leaning against the rotting-wood door frame, which uttered a small groan of protest as it accepted her weight. If the two had been going to some parent-teacher meeting, they would have told Misaki about it. And even if the information had somehow slid past her, the pair still wouldn't have left in such a rush. With nothing else to do, Misaki made her way slowly back to the kitchen to sit down and think. For the moment, school had completely flown out of her mind. Where in the world could they have gone? Misaki thought, gnawing the inside of her cheek.

The answer presented itself sooner than she believed possible.

A note that had passed her half-awake attention was lying on the kitchen counter, scribbled on a used piece of paper in a way that Misaki had to study it for a moment to make out the words:

Misaki,

Sorry to disappear so suddenly. I...don't quite know what to say because I know it will upset you, but...

I don't really have a choice, do I? I got a call in the middle of the night from some authorities in Hokkaido informing

us that your father was in their custody. Our names were the only ones they could get into contact with from his

records, and we really had no choice but to come up here because trouble he has caused really does call for

immediate attention. I was going to come by myself, but Suzuna was up in the nightand overheard the call.

She insisted on accompanying me because she wanted to see your father. I know you probably think it's

ridiculous of her to wish that, and she knows it, but she never really knew who he was like you did. It's only fair that she get to see him

and remember him just once. I am so sorry, honey. I'm sure it opens up a lot of old wounds for you, but I couldn't just

lie to you. I love you, and we will be home soon. I already informed the hospital that something came up, but could you

please tell Suzuna's school? Thank you, sweetheart, and don't become sad again over something like this.

Love, Mom

P.S.- I'm sorry, Sis. I had to use the tickets I won in the raffle the other day. Please forgive me. Love, Suzuna

Misaki nearly laughed aloud from sheer bewilderment at Suzuna's concluding sentence. She couldn't see straight, she was so startled. It wasn't sinking into her in the slightest that her dad, her renegade father, was once again causing problems for the family that he had abandoned. After a few minutes of doing nothing but standing in the kitchen, staring at the words without seeing anything, all Misaki could do was leave for school. And without even realizing it, her eyes were immediately searching for Usui the moment she reached Seika. But even when she was sitting at her desk in the student council room, running mechanically through paperwork, the devilish boy still hadn't made an appearance.

Nothing was making sense anymore.

~~~~~firstchapterend~~~~~

And that's it for the first chapter! I don't exactly remember when it was that Misaki's dad ran out on them, so I just kind of made it up to fit the story. This just came to me randomly while I was watching my knew DVD of the first half of the show, and I couldn't help but get it down on here. Like I said before, it's about time I got a Maid-Sama fic on here. Please, please, PLEASE review! It inspires my creative genius! :P And sorry if there are any mistakes in here...I never bother to check... And, once again, I apologize for having ridiculously short chapters. Maybe, just maybe, they will lengthen out in the future...