# 25: Caramel Apple

It was the oddest thing.

Two golden odangoes were floating beside Mamoru's table. Now, most people might have drawn back at the sight, maybe screamed about UFO's (Unidentified Flying Odangoes), or (if that particular person was hungry) attacked them with a fork. Not Mamoru. As he continued to feign studying up on the physiology of an ameboid protozoa he said, "Odango, are you trying to make yourself invisible? Because, you're not very good at it. Unfortunately," he added, making sure to be loud enough for her to hear.

"Oooh, be quiet Mamoru-baka!"

He winced at the squeal. If she'd been trying to hide, her cover was definitely blown "I've got an idea. Next time try being inaudible."

He discovered that a head came with the odangoes as it popped up along with a tiny fist holding a caramel apple. A pink tongue came out to lick the apple.

"Odango, excuse me for asking, but why are you making a pathetic attempt at hiding from, if I'm correct, your reflection?"

Usagi looked ready to shove her apple into his mouth to stifle his comments. Then she looked at its smooth, shining surface and licked it again.

Usagi unexpectedly slid into the booth beside Mamoru, ducking her head as she did so.

"I'm hiding from my Great Aunt Hisa. She's visiting and whenever she does she never lets me eat the things I want to."

"I wonder why." Mamoru visualized the many tooth-decaying, sugar-ridden treats Usagi cherished and grimaced.

"She seems to think I'll gain twenty pounds for every candy I eat! Anyway, if she sees me with this she'll say how it's my one-way ticket to diabetes and so on and so forth. But I couldn't help buying it at the carnival. I sort of.."

"Ditched your aunt to eat it?" he asked in amusement.

She looked shamefaced. "But still, doesn't it look scrumptious?" she asked as she ran her tongue over the apple.

"Uh..." Mamoru seemed to have forgotten how to form intelligible words.

Usagi didn't notice though. Her cornflower blue eyes widened and Mamoru looked to see what she was staring at.

In walked Usagi's posse, followed by a skinny, severe-looking woman.

"Usagi, your aunt's been looking for you," Minako said.

The harassed girl had ducked too late for her aunt had already nailed her with a piercing look. "Usagi, where have you been? Come along, we're due to help your mother cook dinner. And what is that?" she asked, spotting the caramel apple.

"Erm a...protein...apple?"

"You get rid of that one-way ticket to diabetes, Usagi. Put it in the trash and come along home. You girls are having dinner with us?" she asked, turning to the four girls.

"Er, yes Tsukino-san," Makoto answered, elbowing Rei as she began to grumble about "of all the days we say yes to having dinner with Usagi."

Great Aunt Hisa briskly walked out the door, calling for Usagi to toss the caramel apple and didn't she know what a trash can looked like?

With a somewhat pained expression on her face, Usagi whipped her head from the apple to the door and then to Mamoru. A sudden gleam came to her eyes and she thrust the apple into Mamoru's hands. Before he could raise an eyebrow she'd run out the door giggling. He heard her answering her Great Aunt Hisa, saying that yes, she'd found the trash can.

Grinning, Usagi's friends followed out her the door. All except for Rei, who was pretending to eye the apple, while really eyeing Mamoru.

"You probably want to throw that away, Mamoru-san. Maybe even burn it," she said, her eyes gleaming at the prospect. "What with it having Odango germs. Licking it would be like..." she trailed off, but smiled with a toss of her head as if the insinuation was enough to disgust him. "Well, gotta go. See you later."

"Bye," Mamoru mumbled. He looked down at the caramel apple, shining in the light. Rich and brown, with tell-tale "nibbles" dotting its surface.

Mamoru cautiously checked to see that no one was around. Once he had done that he took a miniscule bite out of an unmarred area of the warm caramel apple. Scrumptious. Then he heard Motoki returning from the men's room and hurried to take the apple to its final resting place, the trash can, all the while comaplaining about Odango and her disgusting confections.

But from that day forth, caramel apples seemed to Mamoru, the most heavenly of treats.