With A Cherry On Top By Sailor Elysia [ely_chan@yahoo.com] and Klutz [lunap@lunap.com] Part 2 Rat: Uh... pg I guess? The sleep over, or cookies can be your yummiest nightmare. With friends like these, who needs enemies? It started out normally enough. Usagi went home after work and packed a small overnight bag, told her mom where she'd be, and went off to Makoto's place. When she reached the door, she could already hear the four girls giggling and laughing over something, who-knew-what, and the smell of freshly baked cookies and other culinary delights wafted out from under the door. Usagi smiled and stepped inside. "Konban-wa minna-chan! I smell Mako's cookies, so lemme at 'em! Oh, and I brought a movie just in case!" she called cheerily. Immediately the entrance way was crowded with the girls, Rei taking her bag into the other room while Ami took the movie to read the back with Minako, and Makoto warned Usagi that the cookies weren't quite done yet, and she could have some later during truth or dare. "So let's get down to it!" Usagi declared, "I'm staaarving!" Makoto grinned evil at the other girls. "All right Usagi-chan, since you're so excited, Truth or Dare?" Makoto asked. "Well which one will get me cookies?" she questioned back. "Truth!" they all exclaimed with fervor. Usagi shrunk back slightly. 'Why do I get the sudden feeling I'm being set up? Cookies or the question, cookies or the question? Err... well, how bad could it be? Cookies!' "I'll take truth then." Usagi stated as calmly as she could, and Makoto stood up, bringing a tray of warm, chewy cookies into the room, the chocolate chips just slightly melted and gooey. Usagi reached over and shoved one in her mouth. "So," Rei pounced on the opportunity, "What's up with you and Mamoru-san? Are you an item, do you like him, does he like you?" Startled by the question, Usagi choked and spit out half the cookie. "NANI?! You've got to be kidding! I'd rather take dare than answer something like that." Mako wagged a finger in Usagi's face. "No way! You can't go back on your choice in truth or dare! So out with it!" Usagi swallowed the rest of her cookie, her throat suddenly dry and her previously huge appetite magically disappearing. "Fine. Truth. The truth is. . . there's nothing between me and Mamoru-kun! We're just working together until Motoki-san comes back. After that, he'll go back to 'Odango Atama' and I'll call him baka just like before. It's just a working relationship," Usagi replied, almost saddened by that thought. It was nice, almost fun to work with Mamoru, even though he was impossible to get along with at times. She took a deep breath. "Although. . ." The four girls leaned forward in anticipation. "I knew it!" Rei sang out. "I knew there was something you were holding back!" Usagi threw her a look. "It's not what you think, Rei-chan. I have to admit, though, he can be nice when he wants to. But he's just Mamoru-kun. That's all." "But what about that little scene of yours at Crown today? When you fell on him?" Minako reminded her. "I saw something pass between you, I'm sure of it." Usagi's eyes widened in shock, and a light blush appeared on her cheeks at the same time. There was no way she'd forget what had happened today either. And Minako was right. Something *had* passed between the two of them, even though it was all in a split second moment. But what she wouldn't give for another moment like that. . . She blinked as Makoto waved a hand in front of her face. "Earth to Usagi-chan! Wow, you must have been thinking about him really hard. . ." she grinned as Usagi swatted at her playfully. "Oh? I know I've seen you looking pretty out of it around Motoki-kun lately, Mako-chan..." Usagi teased back. Mako blushed. "Have not!" The other girls looked at her pointedly. "Well, maybe..." "Ha! I knew it!" Usagi declared happily. "This could be such a perfect match-making opportunity..." "BUT!" Makoto continued, "I have my eyes on someone else..." 'Sempai-sama...' Usagi nodded thoughtfully. She knew the rest of the girls thought Makoto's thing for her 'sempai-sama' was a big joke, but she could tell there was more to it. She really wanted to meet this guy and see for herself what was really going on. "Alright Usagi-chan, it's your turn." Makoto said, finally snapping out of it. "Okay, I choose... Rei-chan!" Rei blanched. "Nani?! There's nothing to ask me!" she blurted out. Usagi grinned. "Oh, it's truth or *dare* Rei-chan," she said, making dare sound viciously evil, "Which would you prefer?" "Uh... I'll take truth." 'No way could she know about... hai.' "Okay then Rei-chan, in a thousand words or less, describe truthfully, what's going on between you and Kumada Yuuichirou!" Rei flashed bright red. "You can't ask that!" "And why not?" "Because... because I said so!" Rei whined. "Come on Rei, it can't be that hard, can it?" Minako added in. "Yes, if there's nothing going on, like you're always saying, surely there won't be any problems." Ami said. "But just in case, I'll use my mini-computer to check if you lie at all." She grinned. Usagi, Makoto and Minako howled with laughter, then turned, swallowing the urge to laugh again, to face Rei. Rei gulped and looked away. "Well..." Ding-dong! 'saved by the bell, phew!' Mako looked puzzled, but got up and answered the door anyway. "Okay, we got your double-deckered hawaiian pizza, a medium pepperoni and olives, one mediterranean, and a large pepperoni and cheese. That'll be thirty-two dollars and fifteen cents please." A short, red haired boy carrying numerous pizzas spoke up. "Oh, that'd be me!" Minako jumped up, paid the boy, took the pizzas and closed the door. "Mmm... hawaiian..." Makoto glowered in the doorway. "You ordered food at a sleep over at MY house?! I COOK EVERYTHING! IS this not good enough for you?" "Err... Well, it's not that I don't like your cooking, its the best, always has, always will be, but... I craved pizza and I know we'll need it!" Minako whined. Mako scowled. "No one gets away with ordering food at my sleep over!" She grabbed up a pillow and whipped it at Minako. "PILLOW FIGHT!" The air was soon filled with flying feathers and pillows to Rei's relief. They forgot about truth or dare for a while. *** Two hours later, after pillows had been retrieved from the hallways and corners, not to mention several thumps from the neighbors below Mako, the five girls finally settled down and one by one, drifted off into sleep. Surprisingly, Usagi was the last to fall, usually she was the first to go, off in dreamland and snoring even before the word 'sleep' was mentioned. She didn't know why she was having such a hard time sleeping. Minako, Mako, Rei and Ami were all snuggled in their blankets and out like lights, and there Usagi sat, staring off into the darkness of the living room. Maybe it had something to do with the pizza they had devoured right before bed--getting the evil eye from Mako-chan the whole time--or maybe it was because every time she closed her eyes, Usagi's mind would drift back to everything that happened in the cafe that afternoon. Working with Mamoru, falling on top of Mamoru, getting comments on her hair from Mamoru. . . ARGH! Why was she dwelling over the baka who took pleasure in making her life miserable? It just wasn't fair! But still, falling on top of Mamoru was something she would never forget, though she didn't understand why. Something about him. . . either it was the smile he gave her the first day, or it was just the way he looked at her. . . or perhaps it was the eyes. Usagi had never seen bluer eyes than his. When he was angry or annoyed, it was like gazing into an oncoming storm. And when he was joking around, they would clear up like a cloudless sky. She liked him best when he was joking around though. Even 'odango atama' didn't seem to be as bad it used to be. . . ACK! This is Mamoru you're talking about, Usagi! Remember the baka who likes to tease you about every little thing you do wrong? But then again, since they had started working together, things had definitely changed. But for the better, or the worse? On the good side, if she and Mamoru got closer, she was sure she would find a good friend in him. On the worse, he could laugh in her face and tell all of Tokyo that she, Odango Atama, had finally fallen for him. 'Have I? Have I fallen for him, or is this. . . something else?' It could be just a silly crush, but, it felt different from a crush. 'When I had a crush on Motoki, it was more like a warm feeling, not very strong, but just enough. When I look at Mamoru... my knees go weak and my whole body tingles, I feel my heart speed up and my palms sweat. I've never been like this before...' She shook her head, wrapped her arms around her knees and lay her head on top. 'I'm so confused, where do I go from here? Do I go somewhere, or do I continue as I have been? Are Mamoru and I friends?' she paused. 'Yes, I think we are friends, but. . . I get the feeling I'd like to be more.' Sighing, Usagi lay back and let her eyes close, finally falling into a deep sleep filled with dreams of a dark haired husband with deep eyes, who loved her very, very much. *** Usagi smiled in her sleep and Rei growled under her breath. Somehow, she had woken up with all her blankets pulled into Usagi's arms, and the girl was smiling and mumbling incoherent words into them. 'Do I let her sleep, or do I yank all my blankets away from her in one fell swoop?' Rei thought for a moment, then reached down and snatched her blankets out of Usagi's grasp. Groggily opening her eyes, Usagi complained sleepily about someone stealing her boyfriend away. "Give him back, he's-! Oh?" Usagi blinked and rubbed the sleep from her eyes with a soft hand. "It was just a dream. . . It was such a sweet one until *someone*" she paused to glare at Rei, "Stole my nice soft boyfriend away from me. He was so sweet too. . ." she whined. Then Usagi paused and sniffed the air. "PANCAKES!!!" She screamed, tossed her blankets in the air and raced into the kitchen. Rei snorted as the blankets landed draped over her head. "Last time I ever sleep next to Usagi," she grumbled, and dropping the blankets to the floor, followed the blonde into the kitchen. As usual, Makoto had risen early and started preparing breakfast, knowing that it was only a matter of time before Usagi woke up to snarf it down. Sure enough, the pigtailed blonde rushed in, followed by a grumpy Rei, and plopped down in front of the tall stack of steaming pancakes. Usagi inhaled deeply, and as Ami and Minako--still sleepy-eyed--stumbled into the small kitchen, she snatched the top third of the stack and began devouring it. "Usagi-chan! Don't you ever wait to actually taste what you're eating?" Rei complained. "It'sh too gush to whait fur," she replied through a mouthful of pancake. Minako rubbed her eyes, blinked once, then happened to glance at the clock on the wall. "Hey, Usagi-chan, do you have to work today?" Usagi swallowed quickly, then nodded. "Hai. I'm supposed to go in around 11:00." Reaching for another pancake, Ami suddenly stopped her. "Erm, Usagi-chan? It's 10:45 now." The fork clattered to the plate, and Usagi whipped her head around to stare at the clock. Sure enough, it was as Ami said, inching closer to ten minutes til. "NANI!?!" she screeched, and ran into the other room to gather up her things. "I'm going to be so late! Mamoru-kun's gonna murder me!" Placing a hand over her mouth to muffle her words, Makoto muttered, "Since when did she care so much about what Mamoru-san thinks?" Rei winked in her direction. "There's more to this that she isn't telling us. You should hear what she was mumbling in her sleep." Hearing the apartment door slam behind Usagi, Rei started sharing with the three other girls what she had overheard that morning. Usagi managed to make it out the door in five minutes and was currently racing downtown to make it to the arcade in time. 'Gotta hurry, gotta hurry... Can't let Mamoru-kun see me screw up again!' Usagi jerked around the corner to the arcade in a hairpin turn and just seconds before she reached the door smacked into, as usual, her surprise guest for the morning. Usagi was on her feet in a second. "Gomen nasai sir, I'm very sorry, but I'm going to be late for work if I don't get in there in two seconds and then I'll never live it down!" Usagi rambled on down her thought line. Mamoru slowly got to his feet rubbing the back of his head. 'Looks like I wasn't the only one who slept in this morning.' "Hey, Usagi-chan, it's okay, I'm late too." He cut in finally. Usagi froze midsentence and blinked, looking up to see Mamoru smiling at her. Her knees went weak. 'Why does he have to look so *good* at this hour? Even the rumpled hair makes him look good, kind of like a sleepy puppy!' She blushed lightly at the thought, then started talking again to cover it up. "Ah ha! So you aren't Mr. Perfect after all! I didn't know it was physically possible for you to be late, Mamoru-kun!" she said gleefully. Mamoru shrugged and pulled the key out of his pocket, unlocking the door and holding it open for her. "Guilty as charged. Sorry, I overslept." Usagi stepped inside and hit the lights. "No problem, I over slept at Mako-chan's anyway. I just barely made it here on time!" she exclaimed. Mamoru rolled his eyes as he put the keys back in his pocket, and reached for the aprons behind the counter. Handing one of them to Usagi, he muttered, "Why am I not surprised? Though I didn't expect to see you for another hour." Usagi wrinkled her nose and stamped her foot. "Mamoru-kun! That's not fair! I've been trying my hardest to do my best, and you have to go and spoil it for me." She stuck out her tongue, and stomped away to turn on all the video games. Mamoru watched the petite blonde walk off in a fury, and chuckled to himself. She was always so adorable when she got angry. . . Whoa. Back the train up. Since when did he consider Usagi adorable? She was. . . a co-worker, and a hard-working one at that, even though she tripped over her own feet occasionally. Mamoru blushed slightly as he recalled yesterday, and how so many feelings flooded through him then. Why was Usagi making him so crazy? All he had to do was work two more days with her, and then they would return to the way things were before. . . name-calling, constant insults and snide remarks. . . did he really want to go back to that? Not really, he admitted to himself. He liked being close to Usagi, being her friend almost. 'Though I wish it were mor- ACK! Mamoru, don't even think it! The girl is invading your brain, you've got to get a hold of yourself!' Usagi grumbled to herself as she switched on the machines. 'Stupid Mamoru-chan and his insults... And here I thought he was actually being nice! *sniff* Mamoru-chan, why did you dooo that?' she wondered. Straightening her shoulders, Usagi slipped her apron off the hook and over her head, tying it in the front and flipped the sign in the door to open. It was not an hour and a half latter that the arcade was packed to the brim with people and children of all ages and sizes. Mamoru and Usagi were drowning in business. Usagi rooted through her change pocket and counted out the right amount of coins for the boy she was helping, gave them to him, and then leaned back against the wall to survey the room with a sigh. How did Motoki cope with this everyday all day of every week? Mamoru on the other hand was smiling she noted. Usagi focused her attention in him for a few moments. He was on the othher side of the arcade, kneeling in front of this too-cute-for-words four or five year old. Stepping silently closer, Usagi managed to get within hearing range, so she could understand the situation. The little girl was crying, though less and less the more Mamoru talked to her. Her, Usagi assumed it was the girl's, icecream cone lay in a horrible state on the floor of the arcade. "Hey, I know! Since it wasn't your fault that the icecream fell, why don't I make you a new one, and I'll even put some gummi bears on it!" Mamoru exclaimed, trying to cheer her up. "But, I don't have any more money!" The little girl sniffled. Mamoru smiled. "No charge, now come on before all that icecream melts!" he joked. Usagi smiled softly. That was one of thoses times when she forgot everything mean Mamoru had ever done, and just felt like giving him a hug for being so sweet. 'Sweet? Oh kami-samma Usagi-chan, you've gone crazy!' But still there was the slight weakness in her legs, and the happy warmth spreading through her. Mamoru *was* sweet, no matter what the little voices in her head said. She glanced over to the counter where Mamoru and the little girl were sitting jusst in time to see Mamoru take out a tissue and wipe her tears away. Usagi smiled again. How sweet did this guy get when he wanted to be? Mamoru looked up then and saw her watching, but she turned away. Mamoru smiled. Maybe there was hope after all... 'Hey! Hope for what?!' Usagi walked away and went back to making change for the customers, while Mamoru sat with the little girl until she left. He couuld start to like this job, it was fun, and if Usagi got that smile on her face everytime he did something nice, definitly worth it. Not that he liked her! As he had said earlier, they were friends, co-workers! She was just the klutzy girl who fell down a lot and had the soft long hair, and those big blue eyes and, and... 'Mamoru, who are you kidding? You're a gonner Mamoru. She's got you hook, line and sinker.' Mamoru sighed. The voices in his head were right. To be continued.... !! We've already got more of this in the works... um... feedback would be greatly appreaciated. ^^ Klutz (MKC) Proud webmistress and owner of Luna P dot Com! 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