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

some time later Julia came back with the order

"there you are sir, sorry to bother you but your quite pretty and, WOULD YOU JOIN THE CAFE"

"huh, w-what!"

"I'm so sorry, its just we are quite a small cafe and want to grow the business"

"well I mean I will have to think about it" Thomas suddenly realized how much he could spend on his oshi if he got another job

"I will do it!"

Thomas blinked at himself in the mirror, the man he was an hour ago unrecognisable. He had signed up to work at the maid cafe the next day, which it turned out had been struggling for a while now due to other cafes filled with femboys or catboys taking up the streets and gaining more popularity, slowly erasing the traditional female maid cafes. But his addition to the team would change it all.

His hair had been combed through aggressively, with gel used to stick up his dark hair in a spiky, almost tousled look that gave the vibe he had just rolled out of bed. Apparently that was the style these days. His lips had been painted a soft pink, blurred at the edges to give the illusion they were pouty and plump, and his skin was whitened until he looked like a vampire. His eyes were smudged with kohl, giving him an eternally exasperated expression he wasn't sure he liked. But it was all the rage at the other cafes; why not here, too?

Thomas nervously tugged at the edge of the maid dress, fingering the lace and anxious to lengthen the hem. He took a deep breath in, forced a sultry smile, and stepped out of the dressing room awkwardly. His persona had been crafted to curate a clumsy, incompetent and tsundere femboy who needed a masculine figure to tame him, whether male or female didn't really matter to him. A customer caught his eye and waved him over to take her order, a glint in her eyes.

"Wow, I had no idea this cafe had femboys now. Interesting..." She mimicked biting into flesh with a mischievous giggle, beckoning him closer to recite her order from the menu. He spoke in a huffy voice, "Gosh, didn't realise we served cannibals now. Hurry up with your order, idiot." Thomas adjusted his name tag that read 'Tommy', leaning in to listen to her before writing down what she wanted in her notepad. He felt his ears redden when she catcalled him as he walked to the kitchen to relay the menu items she requested, but found that somehow... he didn't mind it. It made something squiggle in his belly, but it was a good, topsy turvy kind of feeling.

Had he found his calling after all?

Thomas clocked out that evening, tired but feeling fulfilled. He had never expected to feel this way about joining a maid cafe, but he was so glad that Julia had offered him a job. There was something satisfying about seeing the customers' lips turn up at the sight of him, calling him pet names and smirking at his attitude towards everything. The persona was a bit of a heavy weight on his shoulders, knowing it wasn't really him, but he could live with wearing a different personality when stepping into the store.

He strolled down the streets of Tokyo, stopping at a crossing where tourists gawked at the Japanese folk like they were a different species. The novelty of this place had eventually worn off after a month of living here, the second month he spent holding much contempt for the visiting foreigners that took pictures of everything, even if it was something like a street light. Being in Japan makes people automatically put on rose tinted glasses, he guessed. It was pretty ironic, seeing that he was also a foreigner. But he thought of himself as a higher being now; as a Japanese person.

Thomas managed to get home without much fuss, squeezing into his tiny apartment with a sigh of relief. He locked the door behind him and threw himself onto his futon, though he forgot it wasn't as thick and springy as a normal mattress and instantly regretted it. He hit his back and groaned, rolling onto his stomach and rubbing his aching spine. No matter, it would be better soon.

He reminisced the day he had in an almost dreamlike state, giggling at some interactions he'd had. He pressed his face into the pillow, kicking his feet behind him. He couldn't wait to go back tomorrow. Being the server instead of the served had a certain appeal to it that called to him like no other job had.

He must still have the rose tinted glasses on.