The fourth time he saw her was back at the arcade. He was again sipping coffee, studying, and chatting with Motoki. The only warning that she was coming was a smirk from his friend and the woosh of the door.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so tired!" he heard and turned, surprised to see a perky-looking Usagi. She then continued, "This sucks! Motoki, I need a coffee. Make it strong."

Her brother shook his head and made her a milkshake as she plopped on the stool beside Mamoru. When he gave her the drink, she sipped at it gratefully. "This is the best. No one else makes it right."

Mamoru had a deep look of confusion on his face. "That's a milkshake..."

She gave him a fake glare. "Shhh, that sounds childish to order." She held one finger to her lips to silence him.

Mamoru burst out laughing. "So you have a code?"

"Yup! Strong means two cherries," she said, pointing at them. She then plopped one in her mouth, pulled the stem off, and twisted it in her fingers. He had to drag his eyes away from her lips.

"And tired is code for?"

"No, that's real. I just had a huge test. I'm exhausted."

When Motoki refilled Mamoru's coffee, it reminded him that his friend was there. Motoki asked, "And how did you do?"

She frowned. "I think I did well."

"Shouldn't you be pleased?" Mamoru asked.

"I studied really hard for that test. If I did well, it meant the effort paid off, and I will have to do it again. It's my worst-case scenario."

Motoki rolled his eyes. "I told you if you studied, it would help."

Usagi pointed to her brother. "And there is the 'I told you so' I was dreading. See, studying sucks!" She then cracked a smile.

As Motoki went off to wait on some customers, Usagi pulled something from her bag and set it in front of Mamoru. "Thank you."

He blinked; there was a bag of his favorite expensive coffee beans he would treat himself to occasionally. "What? Why?" He was speechless.

"Motoki helped me. I wanted to say thank you for your help on that paper and for taking all that time to teach me." She shrugged. "You were sweet about how much you helped me, but I wanted to do something."

"You don't have to… Do you have the receipt? This was expensive. Or I could pay you back…."

Suddenly, Mamour felt Motoki's hands come down hard on his shoulders. "Say thank you to my sister. And let it be," he said, squeezing threateningly.

Mamoru looked over at a nervous, blushing Usagi and said, "Thank you, really. This is nice."

She stared at the counter as she grabbed her bag. "You're welcome. It… Thanks for the help." She then turned, slid off her chair, and left the arcade.

"Leave it to you to screw that up," Motoki lamented. "I even did my exit perfectly so she could give it to you."

"What?"

"You're your own worst enemy sometimes." Motoki shook his head and walked to his side of the counter. "When a woman gives you a gift, you don't offer to pay her for it or tell her to return it!"

"It's expensive! And she doesn't owe me for helping her." He frowned. "I didn't do it to get amazing coffee," he amended. "I liked helping her. She owes me nothing. I wanted to help her. Getting something for it in return… Nevermind."

"She likes the chocolates at that boutique down the street," Motoki said.

"What?"

Motoki leaned against the counter, smiling wide. "She likes chocolates."

"Still not understanding you."

"Buy Usagi her favorite chocolates as a thank you for the amazing coffee. You're welcome."

Mamoru cocked his head. "You're setting us up?"

"You helped my sister for over three hours on a paper in your favorite secret space in the library on a Wednesday afternoon. That's your blocked off 'you won't ever share it' study time. And I don't even know where your hidden study space is!

"Now, I've told her none of that. I just listened while she told me how 'sweet' you were to her." He sighed. "Yes, I told her where to get the coffee. She was happy to spend the money, and she didn't even know how much you really sacrificed for her."

Frowning, Mamoru asked, "Why did she leave in a rush?"

"She was embarrassed that you didn't want a gift from her. And if she has a crush on you, as I think she does, she feels a bit rejected."

Mamoru dropped his head to the counter. "I'm not good at this stuff. Why would you want your sister even to have to put up with me?"

"You fumbled the gift but not the time you spent helping her."

"I'll need to know when I'm going to see her again to give her the chocolates," Mamoru said, scratching the back of his neck in thought.

Motoki just smiled, "Come over to play video games tonight. Bring them and a note. I'll drop them off in her room."

Mamoru nodded. "Okay."