#starters:kouta

Kouta couldn't say for sure how he'd gotten himself into this situation, really. He was too caught up in thinking of ways it all could have been avoided.

      Maybe he should have spoken up sooner. Maybe he should have taken a different route that day. Maybe he should have left school a little later. Maybe he should have cut his hair; he'd been meaning to all week, after all. If he'd done just one of those things, maybe...just maybe he wouldn't have gotten himself wrapped up in this.

      He wouldn't be working at a maid cafe, covering a shift for a stranger who'd mistaken him as a girl.

It wasn't the first time someone had made that mistake, and it probably wouldn't be the last. It's not that he was the type to get especially offended by being misgendered, but...a maid cafe? 

     The boy shoved the climbing anxieties back down, straightening the ribbon on his chest in stride. This would be fine, he could do it, no problem! He was helping someone who needed help, after all! As long as no one from school saw him like this...he'd be fine, right? As long as no one could tell he was a boy, he'd be fine! Things like this happen in anime and manga all the time, right?

     He hardly had any time to get himself settled down before a new customer had come in. In and out, like little breaths. Speaking of breaths, the temporary maid took in a deep one before flashing a (somewhat nervous) smile.