Sugar Coated-ness

Chapter 1

July 2003-Oct 2003

Kurisutaru

kurisutaru_faithful@hotmail.com

http://fly.to/kuris-chan/

Disclaimer: blah blah... own Sailor Moon?! HECK, I don't have the sanity for

it....BHWAHHAHAHA

I would like to say, that I'm using this following website,

http://www.sugarmountain.ca/, for inspiration and references to actual

candies... BHWHAHAHA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Usagi was almost there. She smiled proudly at herself. The dream was almost

complete; the grand opening of her very own candy shop. She looked around the

empty store, envisioning all the children happily pressed up to the glass

displays, tugging at their mothers' skirts, pleading for a taste; or the happy

couple trading chocolates; or...

All those visions came crashing down to reality as a hand slapped down rather

loudly down her head. "Odango, wake up! There's a still lot to do."

Usagi sighed and glanced over at her business partner. Reality sunk in as she

remembered she was only a poor university student with a dream. The overbearing

man next to her was the annoying reason why her dream was becoming true. Curse

Mamoru Chiba, the only one that had the finances to support her vision! Usagi

got off the ladder and began moving boxes again. She chuckled at the remembrance

of just how she had roped her not-so-great friend, Mamoru, into opening a candy

shop with her.

Ah yes, it had started that very afternoon in the arcade as she was telling

Motoki about the one thing she had always wanted to do. She explained that she

wanted to make her dream a reality, hoping that Motoki would be glad to help her

out with the finances. Alas, it turned out that his resources were low, and he

had a wedding to plan.

So, you may ask, what about Usagi's many other friends? Simply put, Usagi didn't

have the heart to ask them for money. They each had their own dreams they wanted

to follow, and in fact, some weren't even in Japan anymore. Logically her

tuition-paying parents would have been her next best bet. Wrong again; as much

as they enjoyed paying tuition, they would rather not have Usagi doing something

that would take time away from her studies. It seemed that until Usagi finished

school, she couldn't start her business. With years of education to go, she felt

that time was too far away. Usagi had done the research: demographics, target

customers, even a location. All she needed was the money.

Sorely disappointed, Usagi sulked into her milkshake. It was then, that Motoki

had a brilliant idea. What about Mamoru-san?

Just the sound of his name caused the instant reaction of a nose wrinkled in

disgust. It didn't matter whether she disliked his presence or not, her dream

was at stake. It was then that she remembered he didn't seem to like her very

much either. Usagi cringed as she tried to conjure up a memory of a time when

she was actually civil with him. There wasn't even one, not even when he saved

her cat. Usagi cursed at that point.

"Toki-onii-san... There's just no way I'm going to get him to help me, even if I

could accept working with him. Let's face it, the man hates me!"

Motoki rolled his eyes. He would have laughed, too, but that would have drawn

attention to his knowledge of their real "relationship." It was a relationship

of, well, denial really. Since Usagi was in junior high, the two had been

sparking with mutual attraction. This attraction was mainly in the form of

playing a game of "tease and flirt," every day. Well, "tease and flirt" Mamoru's

style, which, unfortunately, consisted of Mamoru bringing Usagi down to the

lowest level of self-confidence. Man, did it suck to be liked by that man. His

expressions of love, concern, empathy, any emotion, simply sucked. Yet, neither

one had figured out that they could potentially have something happen between

them. Above all, they played the game of denial. Most unfortunate.

"Nonsense, Usagi, just trust me on this, okay? He usually shows up around this

time, so just go behind the counter here and stay put. I'll get him to agree

with you. But you're right, it's probably best if he doesn't see you," Motoki

smoothly answered.

As reliable as Motoki's good looks, sure enough, Mamoru Chiba came waltzing in.

"The usual, Mamoru?" Motoki asked.

"Sure," was Mamoru's usual curt reply, unaware of the attacking proposition that

Motoki was about to make. "So, how are you doing lately, Motoki?"

Motoki smirked behind the coffee machine. Good old reliable Mamoru always asked

the same questions. "Man, I'm actually not doing too well right now," Motoki

started off innocently.

Mamoru was a bit taken aback by his reply, but quickly diverted all his

attention to the ordeal. Usagi found herself doing the same as Motoki was about

to plant the question.

"Go on," Mamoru said quickly.

"You see, I have this friend..." Motoki let the statement hang for effect as he

glanced down at Usagi for her last chance to drop out. Since her eyes didn't

waver and she hadn't kicked him in the shins yet, he continued.

"She's very close to me, and has been very upset. You see, she wants to open up

a candy store, but she doesn't have the finances to go through with it. I was

her last hope, but you know how tight I am on money right now," Motoki

explained.

Mamoru was silent, and from Usagi's point of view, that was the best situation

she could hope for. For once he opened his mouth, only words of terror would be

coming out.

"Well 'Toki, I'm not surprised that no one is willing to help your friend out.

Not many people know the market for a candy store is good right now. Who's your

friend? I mean, I've been looking for a place to invest in."

Usagi felt herself fall into a state of shock, followed by leaping to her feet

and shouting, "BOO-YAH!"

Poor Mamoru's socks were knocked off by the sudden blonde fluff that came

popping out from behind the back counter. His palms became very clammy as he

realized who Motoki's friend was. As if she read his mind, Usagi chose that

moment to shout, yet again, "You said it, buddy, now you HAVE to help me!"

Horror trickled its way into Mamoru's lungs. He was trapped by the glitter in

her eyes and the you-know-you-have-to look in Motoki's eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My God... He had bought a candy store.

He couldn't recall most of the process. Papers, talk, heart pounding - that was

all he could really remember. It was all such a haze that he thought perhaps it

was just some messed-up dream. However, all he had to do was glance down to his

left hand. It was grasping a small stack of paper that explained the nightmare

in full legal detail.

He had bought a candy store. Okay, so he hadn't bought it all. About 17 percent

of it belonged to Usagi...whose presence only added to his misfortune. Ha! He

had thought Usagi was happiest in the vicinity of a sundae; check her out now!

Glee was all over her face, practically making her eyes look like a pair of

sugar-glazed donuts. Unfortunately, Mamoru only liked chocolate donuts.

"Mamoru, I can't thank you enough again. I really didn't think you'd go through

with this," Usagi said softly. The most obvious thought running through Mamoru's

head was that he hadn't thought he'd go through with it either. Yet he was

distracted; it was rare for him to see Usagi in such a state. She seemed to

float, almost surreal, in her genuine thankfulness. She looked amazing - not

that she normally didn't, in her own quirky way. Mamoru's heart fluttered a

little, like the many other times in the past when he'd witnessed her wonder. It

was simply remarkable how such simple emotion flowed through her; one can't go

on without feeling the comfortable effects of her feelings.

He wanted to open his mouth, to say something, really anything, to keep this

moment lasting forever... "Trust me, Odango, you'll be wishing you hadn't gone

through with it either, once we get started."

Gah, he had ruined it. The familiar crease on her forehead began to form, and

her eyes exploded into a liquidly marble flame. "Mamo-baka! I'll show you!" she

screamed at him before running down the street and out of his vision.

Mamoru looked on as the young woman trampled down the street like a drugged

elephant glowing in its pride. He let himself smile; she had that affect on him,

and the smile lingered until their next meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a Thursday, a very surprisingly wet Thursday. The clouds looked down over

Tokyo high above the skyscrapers. People bustled about with cute rubber booties

and umbrellas in as many colours as the flavours of 'Skittles.' Rain didn't suit

Tokyo, for the pavement was nothing like the absorbent natural grounds that used

to be there. It trickled down the streets like the many roaring rivers of the

Tibetan mountains. Most of all, it made Usagi Tsukino jumpier than usual. One

had to be careful around a jumpy Usagi - not that she wasn't always as jumpy as

a 'Jelly Belly' bean, and as crazy as their flavours, too!

Usagi rolled her eyes again to the sky, muttering at how Mamoru just had to

insist on meeting today. He'd said something about exams... Usagi shuddered at

the thought of exams. She glanced at her watch, only to find that she was late

again! Usagi charged to the Crown arcade where she found Mamoru sitting

leisurely in a booth with his laptop and a cup of coffee. He looked up and

smiled. "Right on time, Odango."

Usagi stared at him. Right on time? She quickly glanced down at her watch in

disbelief. How was she on time? Was this a joke? Yet there were no signs of

mockery on his smooth face. His smile was relaxed, playful. What was going on?

"All right, who are you and what have you done to the Mamo-baka I love to hate?"

For a moment she felt like she had choked on Luna's hairballs; had she just used

the word "love?"

His smile didn't change; he just chuckled a little and smoothly announced that

he had accidentally told her to come earlier. Usagi fumed as she sat down,

muttering, "Accident my ass."

"Anyway," Usagi said rather coldly, "What decision is so important that you had

to call me out here in the pouring rain?" Did he not believe in her abilities to

handle the business tasks?

"Don't give me that look." Mamoru frowned at Usagi's reaction, had he hurt her

that much? "I know you can deal with the necessary details. This is about

picking our merchandise." He concluded by turning his laptop around to show a

list of candies that they could sell.

Usagi's eyes lit up like newspaper on fire, positively glowing. She grabbed the

laptop from across the table and clicked away, while making a terrible "fwu fwu

fwu" noise with a hideous aurora bubbling around her. Mamoru's blood curdled a

little; was she laughing? He realized that perhaps it was a bad idea to give

Usagi the power to pick sugar types.

The rain continued to fall outside as several hours passed. Usagi had shuffled

next to Mamoru to share ideas on the kinds of candies the store should have.

Usagi glanced down at her empty mug and looked away from the cancer-giving

screen to order another cup of hot cocoa. The waitress came to take Usagi's

order, while clearly gawking at Mamoru's obviously boyish good looks. Usagi

raised an eyebrow with the thought that the woman seriously needed to get out

more. As usual, Mamoru was completely unaffected by the flamboyant gestures the

waitress made to get his attention. Instead, he burst out into amused laughter.

"HAHAHA! Odango, look at this one, they're called 'Cow Tails'," Mamoru said as

he pulled the laptop into her view.

Usagi just gawked at his sudden free laughter. First, it was unusual to see this

man not uptight and unemotional; he was loose and actually kind of comfortable

to be around. Second... "What's so funny about 'Cow Tails'?"

Mamoru stopped laughing and stared at her rather obvious hair. The waitress, who

for some odd reason hadn't left yet, glanced at Usagi's hair and actually had

the gall to join in the laughter. "You're so right," she coyly giggled.

Agitated, Usagi snatched the laptop and turned it around again in perfect view

of the waitress. "At least I'm not a 'Malteaser,' trying to pick up customers

from who-knows-where." It was then that Mamoru realized that the waitress was

even there. She turned red as a beet and quickly scuffled away. Mamoru, as

strangely easy-going as he was, laughed it all off. Usagi smiled; her cocoa

arrived, via another waitress, and they continued on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weeks - or was it months? Usagi couldn't remember how much time had passed by.

She hadn't seen Mamoru much since the day they had picked the merchandise. Sure,

there were a few curt conversations on the phone, but nothing significant. Of

course, Usagi wasn't looking for a significant conversation with Mamoru. Err, of

course not.

By this point they had worked out all the major details. The candy started to

arrive and they had started working on the store itself. Actually, this weekend

they were going to gather a bunch of people to help paint the store and get the

shelves installed. Usagi felt her heart gurgle with excitement; her dream was

getting closer and closer to becoming a reality. The unfinished store had become

her second home. She studied and laboured in it. With school during the day, she

couldn't remember much of anything to do with time. Midterm after midterm after

essay, it all deprived her of sleep and haunted her. Usagi was ecstatic when her

last day of major exams arrived. Today was the first day in a while that she had

been able to visit the store.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Usagi rubbed her eyes while she dangled her keys: clang, clank they went. It was

strange; the light was on inside. Obviously Mamoru was there, she pounded the door

a few times more, but he wasn't answering the door. She wobbled to the front of the store, slithered the key into the keyhole and popped open the door. Usagi stared in shock as she found

Mamoru with a set of pounding headphones drooping from his ears. His body was clad in

sweats, with all the muscle presenting itself as he shifted some boxes of 'Hubba

Bubba.' Ha! What perfectly-suited candy. Ha, but the kicker was that he was doing

it all while chewing the biggest chocolate bar she'd ever seen.

"MAMO?" Usagi wailed in shock, her arms slipped downward and her bag plopped on the floor.

Mamoru quickly realized he was no longer alone. Surprised, he dropped the box

that was in his hands and tore the headphones from his ears. Trying to be

casual, he nibbled at the chocolate bar and took it in his free hand. "Hey,

Odango, I didn't think you were coming by..." he said somewhat nervously.

Why does she always catch him off guard he demanded of the supernatural. He

could see the sweat drop breaking its meniscus, ready to fall, driven by the

loud beat coming from his headphones. Quickly breaking the tension, he shoved

the half-eaten chocolate bar toward her and croaked, "You want some of this?"

Usagi cracked into insane laughter. Never had she expected Mamoru to be so

absolutely cute.

"Wait a minute. You Mamo-baka! Who told you, you could eat what we're going to

sell?" Usagi screamed.

A solitary bunny-laced shoe smacked into Mamoru's head. Mamoru cocked an eyebrow,

and took a HUGE bite out of the candy bar. Usagi laughed again, this time she pushed

her fallen belongings to the side and rolled up her sleeves to tackle the remaining

boxes, and grab her own stash of chocolate.

Slowly, they were growing closer...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Erhm... so... ^^"' how was it? (email email!! I haven't gotten one in so long...

:( )

Be gentle :D

SLAVE... I'm a slave to failing school..... *wails*