Makoto was enjoying her Saturday by trying out a new cooking recipe she had come across in a new cookbook that she thought looked interesting. She stirred a long wooden spoon in slow circles through the stew filled with chicken, vegetables, and spices. She then raised the spoon to her lips and took a small taste. 'Maybe a little more pepper.' She thought to herself, but before she could grab the pepper she heard the doorbell ring.

Mako walked out of the kitchen to the door, then opened to see her landlord standing there. "Uncle! Hi, how's it going?" Mako said cheerfully but the smile on her face soon vanished when she saw the perplexed look on the man's face. Makoto had referred to the man as 'uncle' because he and his family had been very good friends with her parents back when they were alive. When Mako's parents had died in a plane crash, it was his family that took her in and offered to look out for her in place of her parents. His family owned her apartment building and was even letting her stay there at a very cheap price. Mako probably wouldn't have been able to make it on her own, especially starting out, without his help.

"Good day Mako-chan. Ah, cooking as usual I see." The landlord said, referring to the white apron Makoto was currently wearing. The man bit his lip and fumbled with the hat that was held in his hands. "I'm sorry to disturb you but, might I come in for a moment? I have something very important to talk with you about."

"Sure thing, what's the matter Uncle?" Mako asked curiously as she moved to the side so that the middle-aged man could come inside. Makoto walking behind him and returned to her cooking in the kitchen as she asked, "Would you like to stay for this lunch? It looks like it should come out pretty good."

"N-no thank you, Mako-chan." The man replied then paused for several moments before he cleared his throat and began, "Makoto, I am very sorry to tell you this but….I'm afraid that we're going to have to sell this building. We've been bought out by a company that was interested in building a new office in this area. Times have been hard lately and we were given an offer we just couldn't refuse. I'd like to say it was completely out of my hands but…that's not the case. They're going to begin demolishing this building in about two months."

Makoto's eyes went wide at this news. She quickly looked over at her landlord and said, "Uncle, I'm very sorry to hear that. So I guess this means I'm going to have to find a new place to live….huh?"

"Yes, I am so sorry Mako-chan. I came over here to let you know as soon as it was finalized so that I could give you as much time as possible. But don't worry. I've already talked it over with the rest of the family, and we're more than willing to let you stay with us until you can find a new place. In fact, I'll do everything I can to help you find a new place too. You know that if you ever need anything, then you can come to me. Your parents were my very best friends, and I couldn't bear to see anything happen to their only daughter." Mako's landlord said full heartedly.

Makoto smiled brightly, feeling herself warmed by her 'uncle's' tender words. "Thank you Uncle. But I'd hate to be any trouble to you or your family. I'll find somewhere, no problem!"

Mako didn't want to worry the man any more than already so she made sure to put on a brave face. The fact of the matter though was that Mako had never searched for a place to live before in her life, so she was blindly heading in to unknown territory. Her landlord stayed for around another half hour and they chatted about various things. But once he left Makoto wasted no time in grabbing the newspaper and looking through the classified ads for any apartment listings and circled any that looked promising. Even though Makoto was quite the tomboy, she had a natural talent for running her household. She would have to be, given her situation. Makoto was too young to have a job yet, and even if she wanted one it was against the rules of her school. Mako's only source of money was her inheritance from her parents, so she made sure to budget everything very carefully. Makoto had been living in her apartment at around half the price of what anyone else would have paid, so it would be difficult for her to find anything close to that. But that didn't matter; she'd have to do her best either way.

Two days later Makoto was sitting on stool in the game crown arcade in front of one of the new games. She had her left hand on the control stick as her nimble fingers punched away frustratingly on the buttons. She had no luck finding a new place to live. She thought the hardest part would be to find a place that was affordable for her, but she wasn't even able to get that far. It turned out that most people weren't too willing to lease an apartment to a teenage girl with no job, regardless of inheritance.

Makoto needed to blow off some steam, and she was now taking it out on a new video game. The expression on her face slowly went from focused to intense to frustrated to enraged. She died and the screen flashed 'game over' yet again. "Grrr!" Makoto gritted her teeth and grabbed the sides of the game cabinet, beginning to shake it violently. "Don't mess with me, Game! I'm not in the mood!"

"Whoa whoa, easy there. This machine is brand new." Motoki said as he walked around the corner. He stopped and smiled a little seeing Makoto. He then said, "Oh, hello Mako-chan. I didn't know you came in. How have you been?"

Makoto's eyes went wide once she realized she had been caught and blushed, feeling embarrassed from having Motoki catch her doing something that was the polar opposite of what any feminine girl should be doing. Sometimes she worried if her tomboyish nature would cause boys to not like her. It also didn't help that she was rather tall for a girl of her age, sometimes taller than boys in her school. Maybe that was part of the reason why she tended to be attracted to older guys. Needless to say Makoto would always try to show her feminine side whenever she was around a guy she liked, especially Motoki. "H-hi…Motoki. I was just uhh…." Makoto stuttered out.

Motoki simply smiled and let out a small laugh then said, "I'm glad to see you're just as lively as always, Mako-chan. Just please be careful with the machines, they're kind of expensive."

"Sure….I'm sorry about that." Makoto apologized, but she was relieved that Motoki didn't seem to mind her outburst.

"It's no problem. So, you seem pretty frustrated today. Did something happen?" Motoki asked curiously.

"No, not really. It's nothing. I've just had a bad couple of days lately, that's all. Anyways….I need to get going. I'll see you later." Makoto said and waved to him as she walked through the automated doors. She really wanted to hang out and talk with him some more but she really needed to follow-up on a few more apartment leads before the day was over.

"Heh, that Mako-chan. She's always so lively. I wish I had her energy." Motoki said with a small sigh and then continued on with his work. There was no one else in the arcade at the moment so he started to move around a little slower. He seemed distracted to the point that he didn't notice someone else had come in to the arcade until he heard a familiar voice.

"Motoki, how's it going?" Mamoru asked as he walked over to his friend. In one hand he was holding a small paper bag of food, and in the other a soft drink.

"Hey Mamoru, sorry. I guess I didn't see you." Motoki said then noticed the food his friend had brought in and added, "What's all that?"

"It's for you, I know you have been working your tail off lately and haven't been eating much. If you keep going like this then you're going to run yourself in to the ground." Mamoru said as he put the food on top of the nearby counter. "Why don't you take a little break while this place is empty?"

"Oh, thanks a lot. You didn't have to do that though." Motoki said but accepted the gesture as he sat next to his schoolmate and began to snack on one of the burgers in the bag.

Mamoru watched as his friend scarfed down the burger. He also noticed his blonde friend seemed to have less energy than usual. "So, you've been pulling double shifts again, huh?" Mamoru asked as he leaned his head against his arm which was braced up on the counter.

Motoki smiled and nodded. He swallowed the food in his mouth before replying, "Yeah, but it's no big deal. I'm feeling fine."

"Feeling fine huh? So is that why you've been falling asleep in class the last few days?" Mamoru questioned, raising an eyebrow and thought silently to himself, 'Typical Motoki…'

"Heh, you noticed huh? I only dozed off a little." Motoki said, waving it off.

"If you say so. So, you have any luck finding anyone to replace your roommate?" Mamoru asked curiously. He knew the reason why Motoki had been working so much lately, the reason why he was so tired even though he tried to hide it was because his roommate had moved out now that he was done with school. That left Motoki on his own to pay both halves of the rent since his previous arrangements had fallen through. Mamoru added, "You know, you can always move in with me for a little while if you want."

"That's alright, please don't worry about me. Besides I know you prefer your privacy, probably even more so now that you and Usagi are a couple." Motoki said, smiling as always.

"That has nothing to do with it. It's not like Usagi comes over that much, which is probably for the best when you consider her age." Mamoru commented.

Motoki laughed at this and said, "You're probably right about that. You said before that her father hadn't taken a liking to you, right?"

"That's putting it mildly. Let's just leave it at that." Mamoru said and crossed his arms over his chest and his brow furrowed at the last time Usagi's father saw the two of them together. Mamoru paused as he tried to think of another direction to steer the conversation. What came out may not have been best. He looked away and quietly said, "So hey, I'm sorry about Reika…"

Motoki stopped eating and remained still for several moments before looking at his friend and schoolmate to say, "It's alright. In the end, it was probably for the best."

Mamoru rolled his eyes and said under his breath, "Yep, typical Motoki."

"Hm? What was that?" Motoki asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Nothing. Anyways, I need to go meet Usagi. Do both me and you a favor and take it easy for a little while." Mamoru said as he stood up and started to walk out.

Motoki smiled and commented, "Where's the fun in that? See you around, Mamo."

Mamoru gritted his teeth and said, "Don't call me that!"

Motoki chuckled a little and returned to work once Mamoru had left.

"Aww, c'mon Mamo….It'll be a lot of fun. My mom asked me to see if you wanted to have dinner with us." Usagi whined as the two of them walked down the street early that evening. "Trust me; I know my dad probably really likes you. He just needs to get to know you."

"Last time I went over to your house, your dad literally chased me down the street throwing rice balls at me and called me every name in the book. Plus a few I think he made up on the spot. Yeah, he just loves me." Mamoru said sarcastically as he felt Usagi clinging to his arm.

"He was just messing around…probably." Usagi said then looked at the soda in Mamoru's hand. She puffed her face out a bit and asked, "Hey, did you go eat without me? We could have gone together."

"This? No, I just took Motoki a little food before meeting up with you. I figured he needed it." Mamoru explained.

"Well that's nice. But is there something wrong with Motoki?" Usagi asked.

"Let's just say he's been under a little stress lately." Mamoru said evasively.

"Aww, how come? What's the matter with Motoki-nii?" Usagi asked curiously.

"Motoki doesn't like troubling other people with his own problems. He wouldn't want me to tell you." Mamoru said and hoped that would be the end of it. But knowing Usagi, it wouldn't.

"But I'm your girlfriend, and Motoki is our friend. You can tell me. I won't tell anyone else." Usagi said with a big smile on her face as she made giant puppy dog eyes staring up at the older boy.

Mamoru sighed and said, "Oh alright. Motoki has been working his butt off lately because his roommate is going away on account of finishing school. They both knew this was going to happen and Motoki had made arrangements for when his roommate left, but now something has happened and he's going to be living alone. That means he's stuck paying for their apartment now by himself."

"Hmm, sounds tough." Usagi said then stopped in her tracks as a brilliant idea came to her. She grinned mischievously and said, "You know…Mako-chan is looking for a new place to live…."

"Wait a second Usagi, what are you thinking about? You just said that this wouldn't go further than the two of us." Mamoru reminded her.

"Just because I don't tell anyone about Motoki's problems doesn't mean I can't do anything about it, hehe." Usagi said with a big smile on her face. She grabbed on to Mamoru's arm tightly and started to drag him away, "C'mon! You're going to help the Great Matchmaker Usagi's latest case!"