Misaki Ayuzawa is a protagonist who doesn't apologize for being strong, and the show builds its entire comedy around watching her lose control when someone finds out she's vulnerable enough to need a job. The romance doesn't creep in sideways through forced moments, it lives in the gap between the version of herself she shows the world and the person she actually is. By the second half the plot repeats itself, but the chemistry between Misaki and Usui makes you stay anyway, which is exactly how real crushes work.

Misaki Ayuzawa rules Seika High School with an iron fist as its first female student council president. The boys call her the Demon President, and for good reason: she enforces discipline with her Aikido skills and stands up for the girls at a school that until recently admitted only boys. Her reputation is spotless, and she works hard to make school life better for the girls. But after school, Misaki works part-time at a maid café, keeping the embarrassing job hidden to help her struggling family pay the bills. She has kept up the perfect double life until Takumi Usui, the most popular boy in school, walks into the café. Suddenly Misaki's carefully guarded image is at risk. Usui could expose her, yet he keeps coming back to the café to watch and tease her instead. The result is a romantic comedy with a streak of drama.