Hello everyone! Sorry for the long delay! I hope you're still with me :) So for now: Happy Reading!

She had been right. Minako wasn't home, apparently she stuck to her habit of somehow avoiding Usagi instead of gushing about some guy she had briefly seen on the subway almost every evening. Living with her was just like she had always imagined sharing an apartment with the blonde since she had met her in high school. But now it awfully felt like Minako hid something from her. The click of the water heater transported her back into reality, so she poured the hot water over her shrimp-flavoured instant ramen, which she had found in the back of their storage board. All the way back home, her mind had wandered back to the scenery at the conbini. Mamoru was so annoying for most of the time, but in certain moments he could be the sweetest person in the world and that contrast unnerved her to no end. She never knew, what to expect from him. He was always so unpredictable and unreadable. It was actually kind of exciting. And that also unnerved her.

She looked over at the couch, where Luna and Artemis were currently sleeping peacefully. On more than one occasion Usagi really wished to be a cat: Sleep whenever you want and as much as you want, no need to do grocery shopping or cooking or washing the dishes and definitely no need to do anything in the household. But while Luna and Artemis really lived a life as queen and king in their apartment, Usagi mostly came to the conclusion, that being human also had its perks.

Her phone buzzed on the counter and her heart skipped a tiny beat. For one split second she thought it could be Mamoru, telling her how much fun they had not only an hour ago. Like normal people did, like someone like Hachiro had done. She worried her bottom lip. A quick glance at the screen smashed her fleeting hope, but a wave of reassurance flashed through her: The message was from Minako, asking her of her whereabouts and if she wanted to indulge on caramel fudge ice cream while watching the newest episode of Love is Blind Japan. So Minako was back to her usual Minako-esque behavior, which meant the time of her odd antics were hopefully meeting a dead's end. She rushed to sit on the sofa, in the meanwhile sloshing in typical Usagi-fashion some of the hot broth on the floor, juggling her phone in the other hand.

She immediately responded gleefully. "Yessssss! Can you grab some ice cream? Got lots of leftover cake home! Can't wait 3"

Minako was quick in answering herself: "Will do! See u in 30 mins." Heart emoji. Heart emoji.

Yup, that was Minako in a more than good mood. Usagi slurped her instant noodles down in a hurry and scrolled through her phone. She didn't know why, but she suddenly found herself opening the private mode on her browser and before she could stop her fingertips, they were writing letters. Oh. Why was she looking up Mamoru? Again she bit hard into her bottom lip. Didn't she know already everything that she had to know? He was one of the greatest doctors, he didn't have any hobbies, he was only spending time with Motoki…and he apparently was a sucker for chocolate. That was a new information. She gasped. The audacity of him! He always teased her about her love for anything sweet and especially for her favorite drink. Almost every damn time. Ugh, he was such a baka. Usagi kept on scrolling. News article followed after medical article about his achievements and research, but her scrolling came to a halt. Curiously she clicked to link, that led her to site from a hospital website titled "Young doctor sets up event for the children's ward." The site loaded for some time, but then she saw it: A picture under the headline. Taken during a playful moment between said young doctor and a young boy with a bandage around his small head. They appeared to be playing some kind of board game on a hospital bed, while balloons framed the scene. Picture perfect. Just perfect. Mamoru looked really happy and handsome, that smile really suited him. Usagi focused on reading the text, which was basically about the young resident Dr. Chiba, who volunteered on the weekend to entertain some of the kids in the children's ward and then decided to organize a fundraising event to get new toys and books for the kids at the hospital.

She vaguely remembered Mamoru and Motoki talking about something like that a few years prior, but she paid no mind to their words, because Mamoru had looked at her in a strange way again and then said something annoying. She exhaled deeply and looked out of the window into the semi dark sky, which was illuminated by the city lights. He was such a weirdo sometimes. Always had been and possibly would be forever. A cute weirdo nonetheless, she put her thumbnail between her teeth and slowly chewed on the end, but then someone aggressively grabbed her hand thus stopped her nervous motion.

For a tiny fraction panic was bubbling inside of her and she wanted to scream at the person, who seemingly attacked her out of nowhere.

As she opened her mouth to let a loud and hopefully scary sounding screech, she looked into the blue eyes of her roommate, who absolutely hated Usagi's nervous trait: Chewing nails was an absolute No-Go for Minako for herself and everyone around.

"Usagi, I told you –"

"Are you insane?!" The blondes yelled at each other.

Minako let go of Usagi's hand and to strike her signature Minako-Aino-power pose: Hand on her hip.

"Of course not! Gosh, Usagi! You can't continue doing that!"

"I didn't know you were here…" Usagi pouted. Minako was strict in terms of biting fingernails.

"Even if I wasn't, you shouldn't do that. By the way: I said Hello like five times…Why didn't you hear me?"

"It's nothing, I was just lost in thought…" Usagi nervously laughed in a too-high voice at which Minako raised one of her perfectly plucked brows.

"Since when are you so lost in thought, that you don't notice me? ME?" With that she dropped the plastic bag with the ice cream buckets on their old couch table.

"Uh…I don't remember", Usagi felt her cheeks getting hot and turning beet red, "or maybe you were not loud enough?" Yeah, there was no way in hell, that Minako would ever be not loud enough to hear. She loved an entrance, even if it was just coming home.

"Uh, uh…" her blonde best friend she smirked at her, obviously seeing through her blatant lie, though thankfully not digging into the matter any further.

"Soo…then let's get ourselves some ice", Usagi grabbed the plastic bag and took the two ice cream containers made of carton out of it and went to the counter with them. Minako had bought vanilla ice cream with a huge salted caramel core and double cheesecake ice cream. She would totally try the cheesecake with the cheesecake ice cream. Cheesecake overload.

Minako had followed her suit and was already placing two bowls next to her on the counter. They had bought them together at IKEA the second they'd gotten the call from the landlord of their apartment, who had told them, he had chosen them as the next tenants of this cute little space. It was summer some years ago, it was hot on that day and they were working at an amusement park for the summer holidays in the swelling heat. They were exhausted on that day, but the good news about finally getting their own apartment got them so excited, they practically ran to IKEA after their shift had ended and they made picture of everything they wanted to get for their new home. The bowls were from some special collection with different colours and rectangular motifs on it. In the moment of laying their eyes on them, the girls just had to had them. Nothing else had been purchased on that day. With a big smile Minako and Usagi left the store, bowls in their backpacks and lots of interior ideas in their heads. The colours on the bowls had already started to fade out a little bit, but they didn't care. Usagi smiled fondly at the memory of that day.

"Oh no! We've run out on chocolate syrup!", Minako pouted while she was staring at the spot in the cabinet, where the syrup usually had its place. Not that their apartment was in any way organized, but some things had a special spot. The really important ones, like the syrup, maple syrup, mini marshmallows, sprinkles…basically everything that they could decorate ice cream or pancakes with. Needless to say, that they had a whole cabinet just for other sweet stuff: candy, cookies, chocolate bars… The two blondes were practically on a sugar high all the time.

Usagi opened the fridge to get the cakes and spotted a little jar with a cute pastel green sticker on it. There was "Caramel syrup" written on the sticker in Makoto's neat handwriting. Bingo!

She gleefully held the jar up. It was still closed. "I found the perfect substitute!" Usagi happily exclaimed.

"I completely forget about that. Where did you find it?" Minako closed the door of the cabinet with a little too much enthusiasm.

"It was kind of in the back of the fridge…"

Then Usagi unstacked the plastic boxes with the cakes on the counter and opened them to set them into the bowl. She figured, since she had a fair share of every type of cake she bought at the conbini, she didn't have to ask Minako which one she liked the most.

"Ummm…Didn't you just say leftover cake?" Minako put the leftover in airquotes as she spoke.

"Yeah, I did. These are leftover cakes. We didn't finish them… all…", Usagi immediately recognized her error. But it was probably too late.

"We?" Yup, too late. She could feel Minako's eyes burning stare on the backside of her head and there it was again: That certain edge in her voice, she subtly noticed earlier. It felt like she was falling into a trap. A specific Minako trap. Or was she just imagining that? Was she finally going crazy?

"Umm…yeah. I went to the conbini earlier and I ran into Mamoru and…" she really tried to train her eyes on the plastic containers in front of her while Minako's stare got more intense.

"And?" Minako questioned in her sing-songy voice, that was probably supposed to sound innocent, but Usagi knew better. Minako was on her interrogating path and she knew, she couldn't escape her best friend's cross-examination.

"And… we ate some cake, but he had to go…some kind of emergency at the hospital or something like that…and that's why I have so much left." She still fiddled nervously with the package. Her face was probably beet-red by now.

"You and Mamoru ate cake? Together?! I thought you couldn't stand each other." Usagi still avoided looking at Minako, however she knew her friend was grinning in her I-already-know-everything way. Ugh. Usagi figured it would be best to face the blonde now and get it over with. When she turned her body around, Minako had already inched closer towards her. She just hoped, that her face had lost its crimson colour again. Of course, there it was: Minako's knowing smirk and that special glee in her eyes, when she was following a track. But the question remained: What was Minako up to? Usagi was seldomly one of Minako's targets, she was mostly observing her friend on the sidelines, when she was on a mission.

"Like I said, I just ran into him and … I don't know, we talked, I bought cake and we ate it together. And then he had to go. Nothing special." She shrugged, to underline her words. It was best not to comment her last statement. The spark in Minako's eyes got brighter, which could only mean, that something in Usagi's words were like a missing puzzle piece for Minako.

"That sounds nice. How much ice cream do you want on your cake?" Usagi tried to keep her face as neutral as possible, even though she was sure, that this was not the end of Minako's interview on that matter. She was a pro in that department.

"A lot! Like always, Mina!" She playfully elbowed her friend to ease the tension in the room. It was time for some sugar and some fizz to calm her fluttering heart.

The girls settled themselves on the couch. Artemis and Luna had woken up and seated themselves on a pillow in front of the TV. As the sparkling wine flowed Usagi felt much more at ease and kept herself from thinking about Mamoru, Hachiro or Minako and her interrogation, while they shouted at the girls and guys at the TV and their love life. Everything was just as it always was.

The credits of Love is Blind appeared on the screen and Artemis and Luna stood up and went to their respective food bowls.

"Okay, so what was up with Kiko? Why does she like Joben so much? Ugh, it's so frustrating to watch." Usagi hugged her pillow tight.

"I know, right? Masanori was such a better fit for her!" Minako exclaimed as she took the last sip of her drink.

"Are you kidding me?" Usagi's voice was slightly raised thanks to the booze and sugar intake. "Taku is the one for her!"

"Taku? Oh my god! No!

"What? Why not? He's perfect for her!"

"Um… No! They are way too much alike!" Minako flipped her hair back.

"Yeah, that's kind of the point, Mina?!"

"Definitely not. Relationships in any form should have some yin and yang-like energy. Masanori is just Kiko's male version. I don't think, this will ever work out."

"Of course, it would! You need to have similar interests and opinions and like the same stuff to –"

"How boring would that be? I mean, take us as an example. We do like similar things, but in the end we're different in many ways and that's why wo complement each other so well. If two people are too alike, there is no room to grow."

"Well, if you put it that way…" That did made Usagi think. None of her friends were exactly like her. She had never questioned, why their friendships had such a strong bond.

"But Masanori was sooo stuck up and she seems like such a free spirit. Why do you think it could work out?"

"Because they balance each other out. And if you recall the last episode, they did have a lot in common. They just didn't talk about it for too long. It takes time to really get to know someone. Don't you think?" Then Minako hiccupped. She was also slightly plastered from the two bottles of sparkling wine. Way too much on a usual workday, they both needed to go to bed and sleep it off.

"Maybe, you're right, I don't know…Mina, I'm tired," Usagi whined and yawned deeply.

"Yeah…me too. Oh, wait." Usagi slumped back down on the couch.

"Do you already have something to wear for the Christmas party?"

"Umm… haven't thought of it, yet."

"How about we do some shopping in the next days? I need something new! And I am in desperate need of a retail therapy."

"Oh yeah!" Usagi voice was so high-pitched at that, Artemis and Luna raised their heads.

"Thursday afternoon?" Minako scrolled through her calendar on her phone.

"Uh-uh!" Usagi nodded her head excitedly.

"Okay, great!" Minako smiled brightly at her but switched her attention back on her phone and let her fingers glide quickly over the screen. Usagi shook her head lightly, Mina was such an addict sometimes.

They got up, took the bowls and glasses and put them on the counter, then went to the bathroom together to wash their faces and indulge in a little skincare routine. But before they reached the last step, Minako's phone buzzed and she reached for it. Involuntarily Usagi looked at her friend's screen and saw Motoki's name on it.

Since when was Minako chatting with Motoki? What was going on between them?

"How are things with Kazu by the way?" Usagi tried to imitate Minako's interrogating skills.

"Hm?" Minako was again absently typing on her phone, but then she looked up. "Great, he is such a gem! I can't get enough of him! I'm so happy, you guys will meet him soon." She had definitely hearts in her eyes.

"Is he texting you right now?" So much for being inconspicuous. She wanted to slap herself.

"No, he's currently in Europe and probably asleep right now. Living in different time zones suck!" She put her phone back on the bathroom sideboard.

"When is he coming back?"

"Tomorrow, but he's going to be super jet-lagged and tired, so I'll meet him Thursday evening. So I also need to get something spicy on our shopping trip." Minako winked at her. Usagi laughed at that. Her friend was at any rate totally head over heels for this guy, but she still wondered why she was seemingly secretly texting with Motoki.

Later in bed, Usagi tried not think of the worst. It was too surreal, that two of her best friends, had some kind of secret relationship. Motoki and Minako were not like that, and they wouldn't do anything like that, Usagi was sure of it. But something still didn't add up. She just didn't know, what it was.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful reviews so far! I still need to reply to most of them. I am very sorry, that I haven't! The last few months have been super busy! I didn't even had the time to read other fics :( And I had to get my groove back on. I want to write the next part in the next days and then try to contribute a work for UsaMamo week 2022. I've never done this before, but I will try! :) For the ones, who are also reading my other fic: I putting it on hold for the moment.

I hope you enjoyed this short chapter! Please tell me, if you did :)