AN: Hello everyone! Welcome to my contribution to Usamamo Week 2022. My first ever contribution to something like that. I hope you like my clumsy attempt. And don't forget to check out the other works on here and on Tumblr! Many thanks to he hosts for organizing 3

Prompt Day 1: Pearl/Here, this reminded me of you.

Since she was about 7 years old Unazuki Furuhata had planned the birthday party of her older brother Motoki. The sandy-haired business and management student was in his sister's opinion a way too humble person, who could easily be satisfied with a bottle of beer and a freshly made bowl of hayashi rice. So over the years, especially since she had gotten older, her birthday plans for him had gotten bigger and bigger: From renting a baseball playground for him and a selected group of his friends to karaoke-hopping through Tokyo's craziest themed karaoke bars. Unazuki never let him say no. Later on Reika had jumped in on the boat and the two had made even wilder plans to top the last year, which was almost impossible, but they managed. And Motoki happily tagged along. Not only because he wanted to see his two favourite girls happy, he also was kind of excited to see the plan they had come up with.

Much to the regret of a black-haired best friend with the name Mamoru Chiba. He was equally humble as his best friend, considered Reika and Unazuki has his family, but he wasn't as easy to convince to try out something new. He had to be dragged everywhere and sometimes Motoki had to give his longest friend a gentle push. Not only in the metaphorical sense. For example: He once had to actually push him the last steps up on stage to sing some cheesy english lovesong.

And because Unazuki played a huge part in both their lives, Motoki wanted to return the favour for his sister and throw a birthday party, she would never forget. And to achieve that, he had asked Reika and Mamoru for help. However this wasn't just a birthday party: It was a surprise birthday party AND a surprise "Congratulations! You got the job of your dreams"-party. And since Unazuki had been uber-stressed about getting her degree and had been job hunting practically day and night, she forgot to plan her own birthday party. Luckily, that was playing right into Motoki's cards.

Here he was now: Turning the Crown Fruit Parlor in some kind of wonderland. Balloons in various sizes and colours covered the whole ceiling and some parts of the walls. He had drapped pink velvet fabric over every barstool, hung at least 40 golden garlands across the ceiling, set up a dancefloor and bought not only one but ten small and medium-sized discoballs and fairylights as an addition to the already fully decorated ceiling. On top of that he had purchased way too many electric candles to illuminate the bar, since he didn't want to ruin the atmosphere with the garish light of the neon fluorescent tubes, that lit up the room, he had always hated, nonetheless never found the time to exchange them with something more … inviting.

It wasn't as crazy or wild as Unazuki's usual plans, but she would definitely be surprised, overwhelmed and most importantly: More than happy.

That's how Unazuki's closest friends found themselves perched under the tables and the counter on the eve before her birthday, trying to stifle their excited giggles in the dark and waiting for the bell to ring as Unazuki would open the door.

Unauki's closest circle of friends in her life consisted of her best friend Hina, some old friends from school, some new friends from somewhere (Motoki couldn't keep track of his sister's whereabouts), Reika and of course her Crown Fruit Parlor friends Usagi Tsukino, Rei Hino, Makoto Kino, Ami Mizuno, Minako Aino and her brother's best friend Mamoru Chiba.

And all of them were now patiently waiting for their orange-haired friend to fall into the trap, her brother and partly also his fiancé had set up. Motoki lured Unazuki under the guise of an emergency to the Crown. Motoki was nervously checking his wristwatch. He had called Unazuki about 30 minutes ago and she had promised him, to rush to the Crown to check, if had really turned off the coffee machine, since "he had tickets for a concert with Reika and didn't want to be late and in fact, he was also already on the way." Unazuki had probably rolled her eyes at her paranoid brother in a manner, she had copied from no other than Minako Aino. Motoki swore, he heard them roll during the call and scoldingly looked at Minako, who had just winked at him.

Finally, they heard muffled voices from outside the door, the distinct sound of rummaging a key out of a purse and putting it into the keyhole, then the turning of the handle followed by the already awaited ring of the bell.

"Be careful, there's a little step… or just wait I'll turn on the light." Unazuki was talking to someone else and Motoki carefully craned his head, to make out the stranger without being seen.

Unazuki's was apparently wearing heels, so her five steps to the switch echoed through the room until she reached the light switch and clicked it, which illuminated the Crown step by step with every light Motoki had set up.

"SURPRISE!" A cheering crowd of 20 people jumped up from their hidden places with numb limbs from their previous hiding positions and startled an unsuspecting Unazuki, who shrieked. Her facial expressions turned from sheer panic to absolute happiness in about one second and immediately started to cheer with her friends.

"Oh my god! This is sooooo cool!" She bounced up and down as she looked around the decorated room and giddily stepped towards her big brother and his fiancé.

"TOKI, did you do all of this?" Before he could answer, Unazuki engulfed both of them in a tight embrace. "I can't believe, that you did all of this!"

"Look, how happy she is!" Rei Hino, with whom Unazuki went to school with back in the day, exclaimed towards her group of friends.

"Yes! But seems like, we interrupted her date? Who is this dashing boy?" Minako Aino looked intently over to Unazuki's obviously just as surprised company, who was still standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Oh no…" a deep voice mumbled from behind Minako and Rei, who quickly turned around at the sound.

"What is it? Usagi took a step closer to the black-haired man, who had just uttered these two last words.

"That's Taki, one of Motoki's classmates." Mamoru whispered just loud enough, so that Usagi, Makoto, Minako, Rei and Ami could hear him.

"So?" Minako interfered.

"I don't think he likes him." Mamoru shrugged, indicating that the case was closed. At least to him. Even though Mamoru had been part of this group of friends for several years now, he tended to forget, how the dynamic of this group worked. In mere seconds, the girls stepped into his personal space and one blonde and one raven-haired female clutched each of his arms. Especially Minako was always chasing a good drama storyline and her dark-haired counterpart Rei was equally interested while adding saucy remarks to the mix. Makoto on the other side was always interested, when handsome guys were the topic and Mamoru could already make out the hearts in her eyes. Ami was the analyzing and rational one of all of them.

And Usagi… Usagi was special in every way. After many, many years of bickering, teasing and provoking followed by many, many interventions by said group of friends and Motoki, Mamoru and Usagi came towards some kind of truce and became kind of friendly towards each other. Still, they avoided spending time alone with each other at all costs and more than once bit their tongue to prevent themselves from saying something nasty and disturb the peace everyone enjoyed. Even though he had closer friendly ties to Rei and Ami, he couldn't stop seeking her vicinity and somehow also her approval. Back then, when they were still fighting, he knew, that she took notice of him and he knew, how to rile her up for hours, maybe even days. That way, she couldn't forget him. That way, she couldn't overlook him. At least, that was his logic. Why he was so focused on her and the fire in her eyes, he didn't know. For the life of it, he couldn't figure out, why he needed her eyes on him. A riddle, that caused him endless sleepless nights. Still.

The fire in her eyes extinguished once they settled their truce, however he was part of her inner circle now. Sadly it didn't feel like he was closer to her.

"Mamoru what are you saying? Motoki likes everyone." Usagi said, disbelief clearly written in her eyes.

"I heard him say, he was bad news or something like that… Maybe I've heard him wrong or I don't remember him correctly…" He shyly rested his hand on the back of his neck.

"Gosh, Mamoru! How many times do we have to tell you? You HAVE TO LISTEN to stuff like that. That is the MOST INTERSTING part!" Minako was in full drama mode again at which Rei rolled her eyes, while letting go of Mamoru's arm and turning around to face the others.

"Well, Toki certainly doesn't look amused…" Makoto concluded at Motoki's sour face.

"I bet Unazuki is going to have a nice talk with her big brother tomorrow." Rei commented, while looking over at Motoki talking to Taki and Unazuki with Reika stroking soothingly his back.

"Maybe we should start to set up the present table?" Ami suggested.

"Oh, remind me to put the candles on the cake later!" Makoto had prepared Unazuki's favourite cake: A cotton soft chocolate sponge cake. But because it was a rather easy recipe, Makoto additionally had prepared a variety of different pretty cupcakes.

"Mina, stop arguing. We're setting up the gift table." Rei could only roll her eyes at Minako, who agitatedly tried to explain something probably useless to Mamoru. Mamoru was always too polite, when it came to Minako's antics and overlong exhilarating rants about basically nothing of importance. She sometimes wished he would use some of the vigor, she had seen him use, when Usagi was around. It didn't take long for her to figure out, that this vigor of him was only reserved for Usagi, who now giggled at her friend's lecture. Though he hadn't used it for some time.

After an hour the party was in full swing, the dispute of Unazuki's company seemingly forgotten after Motoki had served several rounds of colourful, fruity drinks to the party-hungry guests. The sweet beverages had definitely lifted up Motoki's spirits, as he hugged both Unazuki and Reika with red-tinted cheeks.

In front of the one bathroom was a long line and Usagi stumbled from the makeshift dancefloor into the back of the last person in the queue, grasping at the fabric of the person's shirt to steady herself.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Usagi exclaimed.

"It's alright…Usa…gi." Mamoru's tone changed from syllable to syllable. Usually Mamoru would just turn around, but this was Usagi and for the life of it, he couldn't look away, when she smiled at him like that: Rosy cheeks and so much joy in her eyes. From her more than usual wobbly body movements he could tell, there was more than one drink flowing through her blood system.

"So…uhm…Great party?" She offered looking directly into his eyes, obviously trying to hide her slight slurring.

"Yes, Motoki really had outdone himself…", well he himself at a hard time concentrating to form a coherent sentence. Motoki had handed him two different cocktails to try out and there was apparently more booze in them than he had thought. But his act was see-through.

"Are you drunk?" Usagi openly giggled.

"No! Are you drunk?" His ears had turned a dark shade of red by now.

"Yeaaaah. It's a party, remember? Plus: Did you know, that Motoki took barkeeper-lessons? He can flip this silver shaker thing in the air and then the drink is woooooow." Usagi raised her hands up to mimic the uplifting gesture.

"Uh, yes…we both went there." He didn't intend to say THAT! But the words just stumbled out of his mouth.

"You?! No way!" She playfully slapped his upper arm and he could feel the warmth of her body during that short-lived body contact.

"He didn't want to go alone…so I had to accompany him", he shrugged and shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants. With the right hand, he could feel the little velvet pouch, which he had tugged into his pants before he went to the party. Now it rested there, patiently waiting to be pulled out again and to be handed over to the girl, who looked up at Mamoru with wide eyes in that moment. With his thumb and index finger he stroked the soft velvet fabric.

"Prove it!" The wide eyes of Usagi glistened with a challenge.

"What?" Mamoru shook his head. There was already too much alcohol in his system. The movement made him feel a little dizzy.

"Prove to …me, that you actually went there. You are a nerd, Mamoru. I want to know, if you are a nerd at everything." For one moment her face was stern, but she couldn't keep up that façade and so she broke out in laughter again.

"Well…maybe another time." He was not too eager to stand behind the counter and flip the shaker in front of everyone. Barkeepers were always the center of attention at parties. All eyes on him? No, thank you.

"Oh, come on, what are you afraid of?" She slapped his upper arm lightly again. In all of these years, they had known each other, they never actually had a "normal" conversation that lasted more than one minute alone. And since their unspoken truce, Usagi had never been this bold again. And she certainly was never this playful with him.

He had not realized that they were moving the whole time until he heard the click of the bathroom door unlocking.

Like a coward, he just turned around and entered the bathroom and even managed to bump a little into the person exiting. Usagi blinkingly stared at his back until it disappeared behind the closed door. She couldn't help but wonder, if her words had in any way upset him? She had no idea, how to interact with him. It was okay, when the others were around, but them alone always felt awkward. A deep sigh left her throat. Deep down, she wished they could be friends. Admittedly she would never say that out loud.

Mamoru carefully opened the door and greeted her with a very shy smile, barely making eye contact. Of course, she returned it. She would pee, rearrange her bubble pigtails and make her way back to the dancefloor and forget his apparent dismissal. Seeing herself in the mirror as she lathered her hands with soap, she could make out the disappointment, that was carved into her facial features. So she smiled at herself in the mirror. Mamoru would not bring her down on this evening.

To her surprise he was still standing in the hallway expectantly looking at her, hands still buried deep in his pants pockets in a nonchalant gesture but a determined gleam in his eyes, as she crossed the threshold of the bathroom door. Seemingly waiting for her?

She wanted to say something, but she had a hard time thinking of something, so she kept her glossed lips together.

"Maybe…now is the time. But… we're doing it in the staff room." On the outside he was calm and collected, but on the inside he felt like he was a stuttering mess. He was more than nervous as he awaited her reply.

However her reply was just a confused look followed by "Uhmm…" But before he could clarify his suggestion, her face lit up.

"Ah… you're talking about cocktails! Yes! Let's do it!" Her smile was infatuating and he couldn't help himself from smiling in return.

With Usagi in tow he made a way through the dancing and cheering crowd. His fingers twitched, but he fought the urge to hold her hand. It was silly. The Crown was not a huge and unknown place, but he still kept his eye on her to see if she was still following him.

He reached the counter, walked behind it, grabbed one shaker, several bottles and handed Usagi a bowl with different slices of fruit. Motoki was too busy and too inhibriated to notice Mamoru and Usagi together or else, he would definitely wiggle his eyebrows Minako-style. He tended to become a male version of Minako and her wits, whenever he drank too much.

With their hands full, he carefully kicked open the swinging doors behind the counter, where the kitchen and the staff rooms could be found.

"You can choose between an Umetini, Yuzu Mule or a Midori Sour…" He offered.

"A Yuzu Mule, maybe?... You really know how to make these?" Usagi still couldn't imagine someone stiff and proper as Mamoru would actually partake in something fancy as cocktail-making-sessions.

Instead of answering with words, he picked up one yuzu from the bowl Usagi was still holding in both of her hands. His long and elegant fingers holding a knife and cutting the fruit expertly in two halves, then pressing them together letting the freshly pressed juice flow into the shaker. Then he added some ounces of sake with a tumbler into the shaker, some ounces of ginger beer and let ice cubes after ice cube fall into the liquid. Usagi followed the motions of his hands, the ones who were usually holding a book or a cup of coffee, were now shaking the ingredients like a pro without saying a word.

Usagi was impressed as he poured the glistening beverage into two cocktails glasses equally in one take.

"Voilá! A Yuzu Mule." He handed her the cocktail. The glass was cold and thus a little slippery, but she managed to steady her hand. But it wasn't just the slippery glass, that had led to her trembling hand. It was also Mamoru's intense look in his eyes, that let her stomach do somersaults.

"Kanpai" The two said in unison while clinking their glasses together. Usagi took a delicate sip. The liquid danced on her tongue and she closed her eyes to savor the taste. It was divine. The best Yuzu Mule she ever had, even though she hadn't tried that many. And she probably would never try a different one again.

She took another sip, this time a bigger one. She couldn't get enough and moaned as the cocktail melted in her mouth. Sweet, but not too sweet, sour, but not too sour. And he had added the right amount to create the perfect balance between sake and ginger beer.

As she opened her eyes, she not only realized that she had emptied her glass in under a minute and that Mamoru was directly staring at her, but averted his gaze quickly as he got caught.

Rei had often told her, that her moaning could be a little… overwhelming. Especially for guys. So Mamoru's reaction was not entirely surprising, but it was surprising because it was him and his reaction. But the quick intake of the drink and him openly gaping at her with this indescribable expression in his features, made her a little dizzy.

"Do you believe me now?" He had gathered his wits again and emptied his own glass, while holding her gaze. She watched his Adam's apple move as he gulped. He really had a gorgeous neck. How come she never realized that?! If he were someone else, she would totally make her move on him and start nibling on the delicate skin of his neck. However, this was Mamoru, not someone else. And that little phantasy of hers? Never going to happen.

"Uhm…yes. It was delicious. Don't tell Motoki, but you're way better at this than him!" This time Usagi winked at him.

Mamoru laughed. "I have no intention in doing so. Or else I would stand the whole night behind that counter."

"So, you have no intention to share your talent with the world?"

"Well, I am sharing it right now, isn't that enough?"

"But I am not the world… I am just Usagi." She shrugged, twirling the stem of the glass between her fingers.

"Well…yeah…"

"Well, I appreciate you're sharing it with…me." She averted her eyes again. This conversation suddenly felt rather intimate for no reason. When did the air between them shift like this?

"Errr…of course." He buried his hands back into his pants pockets. For once he wasn't wearing his usual grey slacks, but chose rather tight dark green pants, which were accentuating his longs legs.

"So…um… could I try the Umetini next?" She was looking expectantly at him.

"Sure." And with the that, his hands and his fingers started preparing the next cocktail with precise movements. A few moments later she was holding the next drink in her hand. Another perfectly executed cocktail that brought her taste buds back to life.

They clinked their glasses again.

And she started to wonder, if they had ever spent so much time with each other alone. It was still a little strange and kind of awkward, but also somehow strangely exciting.
With each sip, she felt bolder. And he did too, as he also stepped closed to her, held her gaze with mischief in his eyes, raised his lips in a devilish smirk. He had gorgeous lips and they seemed exquisitely soft.

Mamoru couldn't help himself. He was a moth and she was the flame. He just couldn't resist to be close her. The smell of roses and vanilla and something sweet was everywhere and he feared, that he could never get enough of it. He had always known, what she smelled like, however he had never been in her orbit for so long to be totally engulfed by it. And the booze was on top of it also messing with his senses. He really couldn't help himself. So instead of returning to the party, he started to mix the third drink. A Midori Sour.

His fingers felt cold from touching the ice cubes, but the little velvet bag in his pants pockets was burning on his skin, signaling him, that it wanted to serve its purpose.

The third drink seemed to do the trick. Usagi was red-faced and giggling at something that he had just said. His tongue was too loose, he was practically babbling.

"Really? That was you?" Usagi was holding her belly from laughing too much.

The Crown was the only arcade with a Sailor V game. After many years the game had faced its final play. Motoki was unable to find anyone, who could fix the game again. For several months Usagi dragged herself away from the game, after she practically begged the machine to start working again. She was sad for weeks. On the day she wanted to say her final goodbye, she pressed the Start-Button out of habit and surprisingly the machine lit up again. And so did Usagi in that moment, jumping up and down and a little squeak escaped her throat, but she didn't care. Her favourite game was working again! Naturally Mamoru had watched her with an amused grin. At that time she thought he was silently judging her childish-like joy, but no. He was the one, who repaired the machine and thus happy to see her happy.

"I liked that game too…And I felt a bit nostalgic, so…I read that manual…and it was reallyyyyy not a big deal…" He shrugged again. His words were getting slurry, his cheeks had a permanent rosy stain now and mirrored Usagi's state of drunkenness.

"I am forever indebted to you! The next drink is on me! I'll make you my famous drink. It's the only thing, I know the recipe by heart."

"And what are the ingu ..ingru… errrr… I mean ingredients…" He shook his head. On another occasion he'd go home by now.

"It's basically just gin, grapefruit soda aaaaand…", she held up some of the pre-sliced lime slices, pressed them together and let some droplets fall into the glasses and tossed two ice cubes with a splash into the glasses.

"Ta-Dah!" She handed him his glass. This just looked like a cheap version of a cocktail.

"And what is its name?" He winked at her.

"It doesn't have a name." With that she brought their glasses together and she watched as he lifted the glass to his mouth, opened his lips and closed them around the brink of the glass.

"Hm…" he hummed. His tongue was licking his upper lip in what appeared to Usagi in slow-motion.

She almost sputtered at the sight. He was too handsome for his own good. Was he aware of his own good looks? Someone like him could easily wrap every girl he wanted around his little finger, but she never saw him with anyone…Or was he really good at hiding that part of his life?

Her vibrating phone in her pocket brought her back to reality.

It was a text from Makoto, asking if she already left the party without saying good-bye, followed by several sad-looking emojis.

"Oh, I think we should go back. The girls are already waiting for me." She hiccupped at that. Maybe she should get some water soon. Mamoru raised his arm to take a closer look at his wrist watch. His sight had become blurry.

"We've been here for over an hour…."

"You know, what they say…time flies when you're having fun." She laughed and he crooked his head to the side, as if he had a hard time understanding that phrase. Fun and Mamoru had previously been an unusual combination. Awkward silence suddenly stretched between them.

"Don't worry, your secret issss safe with meeee." She giggled as they started to clean their little mess up.

"Is it?" He teased.

"Hey, of course! I can keep a secret! Especially if you are my personal Yuzu Mule mixololooogist from now on. " She elbowed him again.

"For sure!" He just nodded. She was stashing the empty bottles next to the trash bins and as she turned around, Mamoru was still standing there, one hand in his pocket, looking rather nervous.

"Shall we go?"

"Uh-uh…" He took a few steps towards her and the room's door, but came to a sudden halt. He swayed a bit on the spot and didn't make a move for a few seconds, just stared at her. Then he pulled his hand out of his pocket. It wasn't empty.

Usagi could only raise her eyebrows in question. She was confused by his out of character behavior.

There was a little purple velvet bag resting on his palm, which he held out for her.

"Uhmm… This is for you." He shyly admitted.

"For…for me?" She must've heard wrong or maybe…she was dreaming. Or Mamoru was abducted and replaced by an alien, when she was in the bathroom. Or she had stumbled into a parallel universe.

He came closer to her, still holding out his hand with the little bag for her.

"Yes…" With trembling fingers she picked up the bag made of soft fabric and carefully opened the bow and knot, to see what's inside. Two hairpins each adorned with three shiny pearls in different sizes. They were beautiful and she immediately thought of an ancient goddess, who'd wear this kind of hair jewelry.

"When I was picking out a present for Unazuki, I spotted them and…" he cleared his throat and continued with a much quiter voice "they reminded me of you."

These hairpins looked so elegant, she'd never pick these for herself, she was not elegant. But as she adored them in her hands, she didn't doubt, they'd look good on her. She had no idea, what to say… They had teased each other for years, then more or less avoided each other and now he was handing her these gorgeous hairpins. It didn't make any sense to her.

"Do you like them?" She snapped out of her thoughts and looked into his beautiful, but anxious-looking midnight blue eyes.

"Yes, they are.. they are beautiful. Thank you!" She gulped and awkwardly bowed.

"I'm glad." He didn't smirk this time or presented her his usual cocky grin, he was genuinely smiling.

If only they knew, how fast each other's heart was beating at that exchange. They quickly parted ways in the party crowd, without saying another word to the other until the party came to an end and everyone said their goodbyes.

AN: This is going to be an ongoing story. I hope I can post everyday since I have plans for every prompt! I was on vacation for the past week and I thought I could finish the whole story then. Silly me. Even though I love to write, I also needed a lot of rest from work and life generally. That being said, I plan to finish this with the prompts, but it could take some time. I'm trying my best. Reviews definitely help with that. I would love to hear, what you thought of this and also don't forget to check out the other works and leave them some love. But now I need a nap.