AN: I know my updates on this story have slowed down a bit, but I've been writing a lot for it! Just not necessarily in order... I'm working really hard to create a cohesive story, and right now (for me) that means working backwards a bit.
Plus, I start classes really soon, so I've got some work to do... But thanks for your patience :)
Chapter 7:
The area before the counter quickly became a locus of movement. Usagi wrapped herself around a small bluenette woman Mamoru remembered as the shy girl Mizuno Ami who had also wanted to be a doctor – they had had some nice conversations about it before, when Usagi wasn't screaming like a banshee – and Mamoru could see that for all her usual reservations in public, she was squeezing Usagi right back. Next to them, a gorgeous blonde bounced up and down in excitement – he believed that would be Aino Minako, she and Usagi had always been similar in their unbridled enthusiasm for everything – and directly behind her stood the tall, shapely brunette Kino Makoto and the dark haired beauty Hino Rei. They had all been pretty when they were younger, but he could tell already that they probably got a lot of attention if they ever went out together.
Mamoru quickly caught the eye of Rei, who raised her eyebrows in surprise and then smiled at him kindly. He had always gotten along pretty well with Rei, if only because she had adopted his ingenious nickname for Usagi, and he returned her smile as she sauntered over to say hi.
"Chiba Mamoru!" she exclaimed, catching the attention of the other girls, "I haven't seen you around here in a while."
Mamoru nodded and smiled at the other girls, pointedly ignoring the glare being sent his way by a certain disgruntled, petite blonde. "Ten years, I think."
"What are you doing back in town?" Makoto asked, coming over to lean on the counter as well.
"I'm here on business and thought I'd stop in to see Motoki."
"Did you finish your degree in medicine?" Ami spoke up. Mamoru almost laughed at the way Usagi's mouth was now hanging open – she couldn't be happy with the way the conversation was currently revolving around him – and couldn't resist giving her a wink before turning to her friend.
"Actually I didn't. I majored in economics instead. Did you?"
Ami nodded, blushing when Makoto stepped over and wrapped her arm around the girl, "Ami's about to become a doctor!"
"It's not official yet!" Ami quickly corrected her, but Mamoru was pleased by the pride in her voice, "But I have started working at the hospital in Osaka."
"Congratulations," Mamoru replied, warmly. "I always thought you'd make a wonderful doctor." And he meant it. While part of him sometimes wondered if he had made the right choice in not pursuing medicine, he was glad Ami had continued.
Ami blushed again, but before she could reply, Minako piped up.
"Are you single?"
Her question was immediately met by a couple gasps of surprise and a stern "Minako!" from Rei.
"What?" she asked, completely unabashed. "He's a good looking guy and I was just wondering."
"I am currently single, yes," Mamoru replied, a little surprised by her abrupt question.
Minako nodded as if satisfied. Her friends, however, all continued to stare at her, in different stages of shock, amusement, and anger. Mamoru himself found it rather funny. And, wait, was Usagi turning red? He watched her with interest, but she was too busy glaring at her friend to notice. Funny, even with her skin the color of a tomato she was still attractive.
"Minako." She hissed.
Minako waved her hands dismissively, "I mean I'm not interested, no offense Mamoru-kun."
"None taken," he said smiling.
"I just thought, you know, Mamoru being a friend and all – "
But before Minako could say anything else, Motoki appeared from behind the counter and was quickly met with the same enthusiasm the girls had used to greet each other.
"Hey, everyone!" He smiled, setting a box of napkins down on the counter. "I can be over soon to take your orders if you want. I'm assuming you'll be in your usual booth?"
The girls all thanked him and began walking away, their voices bouncing happily around the room, though Mamoru noticed that Usagi was very clearing tugging on Minako's arm and whispering to her harshly. When he caught her eye she sent him a withering glance and then pointedly turned away.
Mamoru rolled his eyes and turned back to find Motoki watching him with interest.
"So, how'd it go with Usagi-chan?"
Mamoru just glared at him and held up his mug for a refill.
"That well, huh?" Motoki said, with a chuckle, quickly reaching for the coffee pot.
"I don't understand! I was actually nice to her and she seemed to think it was all pretense."
Motoki nodded sagely, "Well you don't exactly have a great record with Usagi, so can you really blame her?"
"No," Mamoru grumbled, glancing over at the girls. Usagi was very clearly in the middle of a story – waving her arms around to the laughter of the other girls. "But it can still piss me off."
"What the hell was that?" Usagi whispered harshly, gripping Minako's arm a little tighter than necessary as they walked towards their booth.
"What?" Minako said innocently, then winced as she felt Usagi's fingernails in her skin, "Ouch, okay, okay! I just thought I'd scope him out a bit, you know, to see if you've got a chance."
"A chance?" Usagi gasped, glancing back to find Mamoru watching her and sending him her best glare, "That's ridiculous Mina, I don't want a chance."
"Usagi-chan, come on. You're both adults now." Minako said, shaking Usagi off long enough to slide into the booth next to Makoto.
"What are you guys talking about?" Makoto asked, looking up from the menu she had grabbed.
"I want to set Usagi up with Mamoru." Minako said excitedly, leaning forward towards the others.
Ami giggled at Usagi's expression while Rei rolled her eyes and Makoto nodded quickly. "He does look really good, Usagi," she agreed.
"What?" Usagi spluttered, "That has nothing to do with anything. He's a complete jerk!"
"How would you know?" Rei asked, primly arranging her purse next to her on the booth, "You haven't seen him in ten years."
"Wrong," Minako said, holding up a finger in triumph, "She ran into him on Wednesday and he was totally interested."
"Mina," Usagi whined, "That's not true!" She quickly launched into the correct rendition of her story – explaining to her friends about the meeting and then the awful run-in with the Baka in the elevator. The only thing that made reliving the experience worth-it, was the reactions of her friends. Minus the ridiculous topic, this was just like old times, and Usagi was loving it.
"So he cornered you in the elevator," Makoto asked, raising her eyebrows with interest.
"Well, not like that, but yes. He was just trying to intimidate me."
"It sounds like he tracked you down." Rei said, scanning Usagi's face with that look that always made her squirm, as if Rei knew exactly what she was thinking, or worse, feeling.
Usagi rolled her eyes. "I think it was just a coincidence."
Ami shrugged, "I don't know Usagi. The manner in which he addressed you makes it sound like he may have been waiting to speak with you."
"Well it doesn't matter," Usagi huffed, "Because he didn't speak with me, he insulted me!"
"Yes, but he's always done that." Rei said, rolling her eyes.
"Exactly!" Usagi exclaimed, "He always does this! It's like he thinks I'm still a teenager."
Makoto laughed, "Oh don't worry, Usagi, I don't think he thinks that at all."
"What do you mean?"
She watched in frustration as her friends exchanged knowing glances and small smiles. "Guys!"
"It means we saw him wink at you!" Makoto said, leaning forward in excitement.
"And the way he was practically undressing you with his eyes."
"Mina!" Ami scolded, but Usagi noticed even she seemed to be agreeing.
"What?" she squawked, "You guys, no," she shook her head vehemently, "Just no!"
"Oh, come on Usagi," Minako said, with an air of superiority, "Can't you just admit the guy is gorgeous?"
"That has nothing to do with anything," Usagi sniffed.
Her friends all groaned, but before they could continue the discussion Motoki came over to take their orders and Usagi made sure to change the conversation as soon as he left. She refused to let her time with her friends be dominated by that admittedly attractive jerk. She just wished he would stop glancing over at them. It was very distracting.
After chatting to Motoki for a while, and trying in vain not to listen to or glance up at the happy squeals of Usagi and her friends, Mamoru decided to wander over and say hi. After all, it was completely natural for him to want to catch up with some of them after so long. Right?
He had continued to deny Motoki's accusation that he was interested in Usagi – so he thought she was a little attractive, so what? – but he had accepted his friend's help in the hopes that they could at least become better friends. The death glare she sent his way as he walked over didn't look promising, however, even if it was adorable.
"So any of you girls needing refills or anything?" he asked smoothly. Might as well act like his presence was completely normal. That question of Minako's had thrown him for a bit of a loop.
"Business must not be going well for you, huh Mamoru?" Usagi asked, in a voice so sweet he expected to have a cavity tomorrow, "If you've decided you need to start doing Motoki's job."
"Usagi," Rei hissed, while Makoto snorted into her hamburger.
Mamoru simply laughed. The Odango really was a sharp one. "Actually, business is going quite well, thank you for asking."
"If you don't mind me prying, what are you currently working on?" Ami asked. Mamoru tore his bemused gaze away from the Usagi to see the other girls looking at him.
"I'm a head executive at a bank in Kyoto, but I'm here for meetings and interviews about the CEO position here in Tokyo."
Mamoru noticed the girls all looked suitably impressed, even Usagi for an instant, before she rolled her eyes.
"Why don't you stay in Kyoto?"
"Usagi!" This time it was Ami who was reprimanding her friend. "Mamoru is obviously here because the opportunity is better for him and – "
"It's okay, Ami." Mamoru said, leaning against the table and gazing down at Usagi, "It's obvious the Odango just missed me." He smirked, watching as her face darkened, the poor french fry she was grasping becoming potato pulp in her hand.
"Ooooh, you wish, you Baka!"
Mamoru leaned down, catching her eyes for a moment and watching them widen in surprise at his proximity.
"Maybe." He breathed. Then, before she could say anything, he stole a fry off her plate and strolled away.
Makoto's wolf whistle was immediately drowned out by Usagi's screech of "Baka!" and Mamoru winced as got back to the counter to find Motoki staring at him with one eyebrow raised.
"Well that was a disaster," he said, pointedly, as they both listened to the other girls desperately trying to calm down their friend.
"Shut up," Mamoru muttered back. He really didn't think he could be blamed for this. He had tried being nice, and her presence was just so intoxicating that...wait, that wasn't what he meant. Infuriating, that was it! Yes, she was infuriating. And gorgeous, a small voice in his brain added.
Mamoru groaned, "Give me another refill, Motoki. I'm going to need it."
The girls finished eating not long after, and Mamoru watched a bit sadly as they prepared to leave. And if his eyes lingered a bit longer on Usagi than everyone else, that didn't signify anything.
She very pointedly ignored his presence when the other girls said goodbye, though, and was almost out the door when Rei headed his way.
"We're going to a dance club tonight – Helium Lights." She said, and while she was addressing both men, her eyes lingered significantly on Mamoru, "You guys should come."
He raised his eyebrows in surprise, but ignored Usagi's angry gasp. So the Odango was going dancing tonight? Maybe if he couldn't talk her into being his friend, he could charm her into it. Oh yes, that could be fun.
Quickly pushing away the images of what Usagi might decide to wear tonight, Mamoru gave the woman before him a smile, "Thanks, Rei."
"See you guys later!" she called over her shoulder.
Mamoru just barely caught Usagi's angry whine of "Why would you do that Rei-chan?!" before he turned to Motoki with a grin. "So, you up for some dancing tonight?"
AN: I may have rushed this scene a bit, but I want to move forward with the action! Please review :)
