Closet

Alicia Blade

509 words

Motoki felt his heart sinking down to his stomach the second Mamoru opened his mouth. For some reason that the world may never discover, Motoki had hoped that maybe this time, just like he had hoped every other time, Mamoru would be kind and friendly toward cute little Usagi, rather than mean and insulting. Motoki had hoped that this time he would be able to enjoy a quiet, peaceful afternoon in the arcade, rather than listen to the duo's bickering—for the fifth time that week.

And it was only Tuesday.

When would they ever learn?

"No, I did not fail a test today!" he heard Usagi scream, almost at the top of her lungs. Of course, not quite at the top of her lungs because then he and all of the arcade's patrons surely would have lost some percentage of hearing, but still, enough to make the blonde clerk cringe and silently curse Mamoru's stupidity. "Besides, you asked that question yesterday," the girl continued, decibels lowering slightly. "What, do you think I have a test every day or something? I'm in junior high, not college!"

Mamoru snickered. "Yeah, because lord knows you could never make it into a university. In fact, I'll be shocked if you even graduate from high school!"

The callous statement sparked a barrage of insults from the girl, mixed with the familiar terms of arrogant, jerkwad, and the ever-popular Mamoru-baka.

The baka only laughed in response, even further igniting the girl's temper.

Finally, Motoki felt his patience crumbling and he tore off his apron and slammed it down on the counter—not wanting to be in his responsible employee role when he did what he was planning on doing.

"That's it, you two! You're both coming with me!" Rounding the counter, he grabbed each of the self-proclaimed enemies by their collars and dragged them toward an open broom closet beside the public restrooms.

"Now, this constant arguing has got to stop!" he chastised. "You both need to learn to be mature when you're in my arcade or my customers are going to stop showing up whenever you two are around—which is, incidentally, the busiest time of the day. So you're both going to stay in here until you can learn to talk like normal human beings, understa—aah!"

Motoki's lecture was cut short as his two captives simultaneously squirmed out of his grip, ducked beneath his arms, and shoved him into the closet.

By the time Motoki had stopped feeling stunned, the closet door had already been shut and locked.

"And you are going to stay in there until you learn that you can't lock us in a closet together!" he heard Usagi say through the door.

"Honestly, Motoki. What is this, the sixth time you've tried? When will you give up?"

With the momentary truce over, the two returned to their squabble, leaving Motoki alone in the closet. With a pathetic sigh, the arcade clerk buried his head in his hands with a growing sense of foolishness.

When would he ever learn?