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*
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*
