"Look, Luna said to-"
Ami was hushed by Makoto, who had seen Motoki begin to walk over.
"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" he asked with a grin. All four girls shook their heads frantically. Motoki shrugged. "May I?" he indicated to the vacant seat.
"You may as well," Makoto said, rolling her eyes, "It doesn't look as though Usagi will be joining us anytime soon."
"She may eventually take a break from her verbal sparring with Mamoru-san and grace us with her presence," Rei muttered.
"Ahh, love," Minako sighed.
There was silence, which was broken by four outbreaks of laughter.
"L-love?" Rei stuttered.
"I don't think either of them knows the word when it concerns the other," Motoki said, wiping his eyes.
Minako pouted, "Don't be so sure."
Any comeback was interrupted by a deep chuckle coming from the counter. The occupants of the booth looked up to see Mamoru laughing, genuine laughter, at something Usagi at just said. She was laughing too. Not at her, not at him, but with each other.
"He's… laughing…" Rei whispered.
"They're laughing… together," Motoki said, unsure whether to believe the scene in front of him. All looked at the two agape, except for Minako, who had a smug grin plastered on her face.
"I've never seen him laugh before," said Ami.
"No… he doesn't laugh often. He doesn't smile often, for that matter," Motoki said. "But that still doesn't mean he loves her, Usagi can make anyone laugh if she wants to, I think she just often chooses not to in Mamoru's case."
"Don't be so sure," Minako repeated. "You cannot assume that their arguments are fuelled by hatred. You know what assuming does…"
Motoki laughed. "How many of their arguments have you seen then Minako-chan?"
The Goddess of Love smiled secretly. "You'd be surprised Motoki-san, how people react to love." She gestured to the couple before her, who had started laughing again. "Take Mamoru-san for example, obvious childhood trauma, lives alone, has few friends. He doesn't think he knows how to love. And the way he is with women that fawn over him, he ignores them, brushes away their affections. But Usagi…"
She looked back to her friends, to see them watching her with interest.
But, before she could respond, she was cut off with a loud "Minna!"
The group looked up to a sunny Usagi standing before them, Mamoru looking at her with amusement, but also, affection.
"Usagi-chan!" Ami said wearily, "Not so loudly!"
Usagi pouted, then brightened up again, "Are we still going to the mall?" The girls looked at her and grinned their affirmation.
"Yatta!" Usagi punched the air and skipped out of the shop, calling out, "Bye Motoki-Onii-san! Bye Mamoru-san!"
The girls and Motoki looked at Mamoru then, to see a small smile on his face. He waved a hand in farewell, and mouthed 'Goodbye' at her.
As the girls filed out of Crown, Motoki excused himself and disappeared to the stock room. Minako turned to follow Rei and the others, but stopped.
"Minako-chan?"
"I'll catch up!"
She walked over to Mamoru, who was sitting quietly by himself, staring into his almost empty coffee cup.
"Mamoru-san?" she said quietly, gently breaking his thoughts.
"Hey, Minako-san," he muttered.
'A man in love…' Minako thought happily, smiling softly.
"You really like her, don't you…" Minako whispered.
There was a pause, during which Mamoru stared deeply into the dregs of his coffee cup.
"No, I don't," he said quietly.
"I love her."