So I'm an idiot and thought this started NEXT week. So this is late so sorry. My first chapter for UsaMamoweek2019! Soooo excited but this was written in like five minutes and it has not been betaed. Sorry, just hate being late, takes me back to college. Stressful! Hope you enjoy but know, this is not my best. I will do better tomorrow...hopefully.

In Her Eyes

It was her laugh, that was it. Bright like bells and twanging deep inside his chest every time. Like a vibration from his very soul. Even without looking back, seeing her with her head thrown back and her eyes closed while her pink lips pulled tight around her wide open mouth, he knew her laugh. And it knew him, making him shiver as she let loose again.

Finding her in the mirror behind the counter, the Crown his current backdrop, he could only see the back of her head as it rolled back and forth, up and down. Speaking with all those near, she was so animated and kind.

It was her spirit, the candy sweet nature of the girl with the largest heart in the world. That was what it was, truly. A smile that brightened the darkest of days, rays that shot through the clouds hanging overhead, a constant doom and gloom couldn't measure up in the slightest. It didn't matter who you were, where you came from, or what you believed in she would smile at you and you would go weak in the knees.

She shifted in her seat, one of her other friends joining and wanting to sit on the inside. She stood, a few short inches from him and he didn't waste the opportunity to drink her in.

Her hair, long golden streams that nearly touched the floor, certain they would if she didn't wrap god knows how many inches up in those buns. A strange style for sure, but no one else could pull it off as she could. And it all only proved how much of a true individual she was. Who else had hair like that? No one, it was her hair, it had to be. Gold and shimmering the sunlight as she twisted and flicked it over her shoulder, falling back to her chosen seat.

Motoki blocked his view for the moment, setting down the group's order. Part of him hated the guy, who when he worked, always went to the girls instead of them coming up to the counter where he sat. It made talking to her that much more difficult.

Her voice? Springy tones that were always ones of optimism. Unless talking about her grades but even that didn't deter her, finding the means to lift her own spirits. Even with her grades less than stellar, she used that intoxicating voice of her to whip out jabs of pure poetry. He loved watching her tongue as her lips folded and pursed to deliver her lines to him. A well-rehearsed play, the two of them guided around one another; words, actions, and, if he was lucky enough, touches that made his heart feel like lead when they were done. A marathon of beating and stopping and skipping, it was a wonder he survived any of their meetings, nearly having a heart attack from one encounter.

Ducking, the golden girl slid out of the booth she shared and made towards him. Nearly caught staring, he made sure to keep his head down and his eyes low, not wanting to give his pervy tendencies away.

"Why is it, no matter what, you always sit there?"

Dancing in his ears, he was drawn out, looking at her mouth while she smirked so close to him. "This is 'my' seat. Why wouldn't I sit here?"

She sighed, switching her weight in feined irritation that she no longer had with him. "I feel as if, the world could come to a screeching halt and I would still find you here, on this stool."

His chuckle alerted her, he was taking the bait. "Doesn't that comfort you?" Tilting it to the side, blonde tendrils bouncing, she looked at him a little sideways in her curiosity. "Knowing where to find me? No matter what happens?"

The distance between them was already small and yet, she took another step closer. "I think, you sit here, so you can watch me."

"You know I like keeping an eye on you. You are always causing trouble."

Her attempt to slap his shoulder was thwarted, him grabbing her hand in progress and yanking her to him. She let out a small squeak and then a giggle, letting him wrap an arm around her waist and hold her still.

Lidded and lacy, she slowly lifted her lids, letting him get a look into her eyes and his breath caught. A swirl of blues and greens, the bright orbs looked on his, piercing. Windows to the soul, that's what they say. Only with her did he ever think this was true, not only seeing to her soul but knowing she saw his winking back at her. He swore he saw a spark in them just before she leaned in, brushing her strawberry lips across his. The grip he had on the back of her shirt tightened, letting her sweep her tongue across his mouth and press her lips once more to his before pulling back.

Pupils wide and dark, the cerulean of her irises only looked brighter as the whites of her eyes disappeared from their size. Swimming in them, he struggled to breathe again, knowing without a doubt that she only looked at him like this. And he gave her that look right back.

It was her eyes. That's what he loved most about her, blue pools that rivaled the Mexican Gulf in their intensity.

"I love you, Mamo."

"I love you too, Usako."