"They look so pretty!" Usagi exclaimed as she looked at the cupcakes her friend Makoto made as free samples for the customers at Crown Arcade. Matoki, the owner of arcade, agreed to let her try out her cooking with his customers for some extra business. She was trying out a new recipe and baked a batch of cupcakes for any welcomed taste testers.

"Thanks, Usagi-chan," replied Makoto, "but they should taste good, too. That's the important part."

Usagi nodded her head in understanding as she admired the cupcakes in the Tupperware box. They all had different types of flowers: daises, lilies, petunias, and several others. She then stared in wonder at the cupcake placed in front of Mamoru. It was coated with vanilla frosting and had a single red rose with a stem, and several leaves and thorns as its design.

"What flavor is it, Makoto-san?" Mamoru asked as he, too, stared at the beauty of his cupcake in awe. Usagi's friend Makoto definitely had a gift for making her creations look tempting.

"Chocolate," the brunette replied easily.

"I want a chocolate one, too!" Usagi pleaded.

"Oh…," Makoto looked stunned. "Um…Usa-chan, that's the last chocolate cupcake, sorry." It always hurt to turn down one of her friends, but Makoto didn't have a choice in this matter. Mamoru came in before Usagi and pegged the cupcake with the rose as the one he wanted. It also happened to be the last chocolate cupcake in the batch.

"Oompf!" muttered a crestfallen Usagi. She kept looking at the cupcake in front of Mamoru in longing.

The raven haired man sighed as he looked at the expression on Usagi's face. They may not always be civil with each other but Mamoru certainly had a sweet spot for the young girl.

"Want half, 'Dango?" Mamoru asked staring at her. Usagi perked her head up to stare at him in surprise.

"R-Really?" She stuttered as she wondered if the man next to her was serious in wanting to share his chocolate dessert with her. This wasn't just some trick, right? An evil plot was already taking form in her mind.

"Me share my chocolate with brain-less you?! Get real, Odango Otama!!! Muwahahahhaa *Scarf down cupcake in front of her face.*"

"Sure, what not?" was all Mamoru inquired. "Seems too good of a treat to eat by myself, anyway." This was definitely not the response Usagi had pictured—far from it, actually. He wasn't teasing her at all; Mamoru was being nice to her.

"I'll get a knife to cut it in half." Motoki said and went into the back room to search for a knife.

"How do you two wanna cut it?" Asked Makoto.

"Right down the middle through the rose, I guess," suggested Usagi. "Seems only fair."

"No, no," disagreed Mamoru. "We can't cut it down the middle like that—It would ruin the rose."

"Don't do that on my account," protested Makoto to the two.

"But it's a really pretty rose, Mako-chan," Usagi pleaded.

"It is. It would be best to find a solution to preserve the beauty." Agreed Mamoru with Usagi.

"Then how do you want it cut, Mamoru?" Asked Motoki, back with a simple knife in hand.

Usagi stared at Mamoru waiting for his response.

"Well, the way I figure is that half the cupcake is the rose and the other half is the stem, leaves, and thorns. Usagi can take the rose and I'll take the leafy stuff. Sound good, Odango?" He looked at the blonde as he finished his request.

"Okay, sounds good to me," replied Usagi with a smile. The next second Motoki cut the cupcake in half and excused himself to wash the knife in the back.

"I get the pretty part," sang Usagi and stuck her tongue out at Mamoru in jest. She smiled at Mamoru and poked him in his side.

"Seems only fair, since you're the pretty one," replied Mamoru with a laugh. He gave a smile of his own and ruffled Usagi's hair with his hand.

Makoto smiled at them as she placed two plates with their respective halves of the cupcake in front of them. They thanked her and started digging in on the dessert just as Motoki returned from washing the knife.

"Makes sense to me," commented Motoki, "Usagi's the pretty rose and Mamoru's the stem with thorns that scares away all the guys that wanna ask her out so he can keep her for himself."

Mamoru and Usagi coughed at the same time, choking on their cupcakes while Makoto blushed a pretty red and covered her mouth with her hand and Motoki grinned at everyone's reaction.