It was a normal day for Thomas well as normal as it could be for a foreigner in Japan, you see just two months ago Thomas moved to Japan for reasons of being a otaku who wants more merch acsess. this particular day Thomas was looking for a pretty cure pop up shop when he stumbled across a maid cafe. he had never been to a maid cafe before so what did he do go to the maid cafe he was sat down at a table and asked to order, Thomas ordered a super kawaii hot chocolate and a magical girl pancake.

he was waiting patiently for his food to come when a maid came with his order, she walked quite beautifully as maids do, but then CRASH! she tripped

"aH fiddlesticks" she looked up at Thomas

"OMG your so pretty you should become a maid miss"

"uh I'm not a miss"

"UH wait what"

she picked herself up quite embarrassed

"I'm so sorry sir, Its just"

"Julia stop embarrassing yourself any further!"

the maid who apparently was named Julia scurried away

Thomas shook his head wildly, staring at the bewildered maid as she scuttled off into the kitchen. He was never the androgynous type, or at least, no one ever told him he was. Although, to be fair, he hadn't received all too many compliments in his life, growing up spiritually Japanese in his little town in Wisconsin.

A different maid came to serve him instead of Julia, the clumsy one who had mistook him for a woman. The nametag of this maid read 'Chiyu'. She leaned over the table and tapped the menu with a manicured nail, speaking to him in well rehearsed English that she no doubt parroted to all the foreigners who came to visit. Hah... the shock of her life she would get when he would open his mouth and begin speaking fluent Japanese!

He parted his lips, the words for his order ready on his tongue, when his eyes glanced over the shoulder of Chiyu and caught a woman standing nervously in the background. It was Julia! She was chewing on her lower lip, shuffling her feet anxiously as she waited for Chiyu to leave the table. Thomas stumbled over his words, suddenly finding himself unable to speak the language he had learnt from Duolingo for seven years straight. He sighed and opted for English, gesturing to the menu for omurice with ketchup.

Chiyu winked at him as she left, but his gaze had already refocused on Julia as she sped walked to where he sat.

"Please, sir... I don't mean to disturb your experience. But our cafe is looking for another maid to fulfill the spot of one of our own who unfortunately ran away from home. You would be a perfect fit for our clientele! This job pays handsomely, I assure you."

Thomas raised his eyebrows, certainly not expecting the invitation to join a maid cafe, of all the things. However... the merch he had moved here to buy was getting increasingly expensive by the day... and his current job at the local convenience store wasn't doing him all that well...

"Can I have time to think about it?"

"Of course! We just need your response by the end of this week, and you can start work by the end of the month! Oh, sir, I really hope you do join our little community here."

Thomas left after receiving his meal, calling back Chiyu to have it in a takeaway box instead. He left a small tip, which was all he could afford, before walking home to his shitty little apartment tucked away within an alleyway in the bustling, shining city of Tokyo. And there he sat for a week, weighing his choices and counting the pros and cons.