13. Poetry

Alicia Blade

504 words

"I won!" Usagi squealed, sprinting into the arcade with a newspaper dangling from tightly clutched fingers. Motoki barely had time to greet her before she lunged into his arms in a huge bear hug, repeating again and again, "Motoki-san, I won!"

Laughing, Motoki managed to pry the girl off him. "What did you win, Usagi-chan?"

"A haiku contest for our school newspaper! Can you believe it? I always thought I was horrible at poetry, but maybe I have some hidden talent nobody knew about."

Still chuckling, the arcade clerk congratulated her. "That's great! How about a milkshake on the house? Did you win a prize?"

"Yup, I got a $25 gift certificate to a bookstore. At first I was just going to give it to Ami, but I hear this bookstore sells manga."

"I tried to convince her to get some poetry books, but I don't think my suggestions will be appreciated," said Ami, smiling as she and Makoto walked into the arcade, obviously having been left in the dust in Usagi's mad rush to share her news.

"It's quite the accomplishment," added Makoto. "There were probably forty or fifty entries. Usa's going to be the next Maya Angelou."

"Who's that?"

A snort was heard from a nearby booth and Usagi turned to see Mamoru smirking at her. Her good mood immediately fizzled.

"I somehow doubt she's going to be the next anything," the man said, aiming to infuriate the girl as much and as quickly as possible. "So are you going to read this great masterpiece to us?"

The girl's eyes widened drastically, and he could have sworn a blush spread over her cheeks, but assumed it was just slow-to-rise anger. "Absolutely not!" she spouted. "You don't deserve to read my prize-winning haiku!" Sticking out her tongue and grabbing the milkshake, she stormed to the other side of the arcade, possibly to soak in creative genius for awhile.

"Actually…" Makoto murmured, approaching the dark-haired man and fishing through her book bag, "Usagi's just being shy. I think you might enjoy this poem, Mamoru-san." Winking mischievously, she turned and took a gawking Ami's hand, leading her back toward their blonde friend.

As they left, Mamoru could have sworn he heard Ami whispering, "Usagi-chan is going to kill you if she finds out you gave it to him!"

Curious, and curiously interested, Mamoru looked down at the amateur newspaper, noting that the haiku contest article had been flagged and highlighted. Usagi's was at the top of the page. The first reading took his breath and left him wondering if he'd misread. The second reading led him to believe it must be some sort of joke. But the third reading gave him the most peculiar sense of hope.

True love is scary
When you fight everyday
Afraid to say more

Submitted by Tsukino Usagi, written for C.M.

After the fourth reading, he tucked the paper away with a broad smile and went to congratulate the prize-winning poet on the most wonderful thing he'd ever read.