With A Cherry On Top
Chapter 3
By Klutz and Elysia --e-mail addys and notes at bottom of fic!


    Usagi was bored.  She sighed in protest as she 
glanced at the clock and saw that there was still an hour left 
before she and Mamoru could close the arcade.  Waving to the 
customers who were finally leaving, Usagi propped her hand 
on her chin, leaned on the counter and sighed again.
     Mamoru came up silently from behind and poked her 
in the sides, causing her to squeal loudly and jump about three 
feet in the air.  Usagi turned around to glare at Mamoru, who 
only laughed.  "It's your turn to clean the ice cream machine, 
Usagi-chan.  Motoki comes back tomorrow, and you have to 
show him that you learned something while he was gone."
     Usagi stuck her tongue out at Mamoru, rolled up her 
sleeves, and yanked the cover off the ice cream machine.  
Briefly forgetting that the machine was still plugged in, she 
then peered inside.  Sure enough, the leftover ice cream 
covered all four sides for the machine and the rest of it was 
nearly frozen to the bottom.
     Reaching in the sink for a warm damp rag, Usagi 
started cleaning out the sticky mess, complaining under her 
breath the entire time.  Fifteen minutes later, she wrung the 
freezing cold rag out in the sink, then turned to Mamoru.  "Is 
it clean enough?" she asked tiredly, blowing a stray piece of 
hair out of her face.
     Mamoru brushed past her and peered over the top.  
He was surprised to find the machine spotless, even cleaner 
than it normally was.  He glanced back at Usagi, who stood 
behind him with a hopeful grin on her face.  Turning back so 
she couldn't see the sly smile on his lips, he remarked, "I 
think you missed a few spots, Usagi-chan.  Looks like you need 
to go over it again." 
     Usagi's mouth dropped open, and as Mamoru walked 
to the other end of the counter, she peered inside again.  It 
certainly looked clean to her, what was Mamoru seeing that 
she had missed?  She swiveled around, ready to ask him to 
point out the dirty areas, when she noticed his body was 
shaking with laughter.
     A light came on inside her head, and Usagi realized 
what had happened.  So, Mamoru wanted to play games again, 
did he?  Well, little did he know she was ready to play, and 
she vowed to get back at him.  Spotting the cold rag she had 
used to clean the machine, she picked it up, and lobbed it in 
Mamoru's direction.  It landed squarely on the back of his 
neck, winning a small cry of shock from him.  "What was that 
for?" he asked, pulling the rag away and throwing it down on 
the counter.
     Usagi smirked, and went about cleaning the rest of 
her end of the counter.  "Oh, I just thought you needed to cool 
off a little."
     Mamoru stared at her in shock, then looked away.  
How dare the little odango one-up him!  He couldn't let her get 
away with that.  Staring at the ice cream toppings in front of 
him that he had begun to put away, he grabbed the whipped 
cream can, casually walked over to Usagi, turned the can 
upside down, and began spraying her head.
     "Mamoru-kun!" she squealed, "What are you doing?" 
He chuckled.  "I figured those odangos of yours needed a little 
decoration."
     Before Mamoru knew it, Usagi scooped the whipped 
cream off her head, and flung it at him.  Distracting him for 
just a moment, she grabbed the second can of whipped cream 
and ran out in front of the counter, to make her getaway.  
Wiping the excess whipped cream from his face, Mamoru 
followed closely behind, spraying the cream all over her.
     Usagi dodged around him, laughing as she covered 
Mamoru's face again, then ran back to the counter, realizing 
that her can was now empty and of no use to her.
     Cornering the cream covered girl, Mamoru armed 
himself and prepared to ambush Usagi.  But before he could 
reach her, he slipped in the slick cream covered floor and fell 
flat on his back.  Usagi stopped giggling and moved towards 
Mamoru to make sure he was all right, but she too slipped on 
the slick floor and fell, landing to the side of Mamoru.
     At first, there was silence, then the two of them 
started laughing, realizing how stupid they must look.  
Mamoru rolled over onto his side and stared at Usagi.  She 
really was adorable, even when she was covered in whipped 
cream.  Slowly, he reached out a sticky hand and gently traced 
the outline of her face.
     Usagi gasped as Mamoru's hand caressed her face, 
not wanting to move for fear of breaking the mood.  She sat up 
slowly, as did Mamoru who didn't take his gaze away from her 
for a moment.  His other hand came up and he cupped her face 
in his warm yet sticky hands.  Usagi was afraid to stare back at
him, but she lifted her gaze from the floor and glanced at him 
anyway.
     Blue met blue.  Their gazes locked, and they both 
found in impossible to look away.  Before she realized what 
was happening, Mamoru leaned forward and kissed her lightly 
on the forehead, ignoring the whipped cream that covered the 
two of them everywhere.
     He continued kissing Usagi, putting her into a 
hypnotic trance.  Mamoru moved down, gently kissing each 
eyelid, then her nose, then to each cheek, tasting the sweet 
flavor of the whipped cream and her skin combined.
     Gently laying light kisses all around her mouth, 
Mamoru finally kissed her lips, wanting to taste more and 
more of her sweetness with every kiss.  Usagi's arms slowly 
slid up and around Mamoru's neck, surprising him by 
responding to his kisses with equal fervor.
     However, some things were not meant to last, and 
while they were, *ahem* 'busy', the ice cream machine began 
to have a few problems.  A moment later, Usagi and Mamoru 
broke apart as melted ice cream burst from the machine, 
spraying all over the place!  
     "Quick Usagi-chan, pull the plug!"  Mamoru called.  
Usagi dove for the outlet in the wall, and as Mamoru covered 
the opening of the machine with a towel, she grasped the plug 
and ripped it from its socket, and the flow of melted ice cream 
came to a halt.  
     At that same moment, a crowd of people burst 
through the doors, paying no mind to the mess that surrounded 
Usagi and Mamoru.  As quickly as he could, Mamoru mopped 
up the mess on the floor while Usagi ran out to take orders 
from the loud customers.
     Pushing a sticky strand of hair out of her face, Usagi 
wrote down the last order, and ran back behind the counter to 
start making the milkshakes.  Placing the last drink on the 
tray, she was about to pick it up, but unfortunately her feet 
found a puddle of ice cream that had not been cleaned up yet.  
Before she knew it, Usagi was falling back down to the floor, 
and she braced herself for the painful impact.
     It didn't come.  Two warm hands grasped around her 
middle, holding her just inches from the floor.  Usagi turned 
around slightly to face him, fearing what she would find.  
Mamoru gazed down on the petite blonde again, paying no 
attention to the noisy crowd in the background.  All that 
mattered to him at that moment was that he was holding Usagi 
in his arms.  A slight smile flickered across his mouth, and he 
bent closer and closer to her face, ready to capture her lips 
with his again.
     Tonight was not his night.  Before he could get any 
closer, Usagi wiggled out of his embrace and went about 
delivering the milkshakes to the impatient customers as if that 
last minute had never passed between them.  He sighed, and 
ran a hand through his sticky hair.  He just didn't understand 
that girl.
***
	Motoki scuffed the soles of his shoes on the familiar blue shoe-carpet outside the double doors and smiled.  After Rieka had been called back to work early, he had decided to have mercy on Usagi and Mamoru and return a day early.  He just hoped they hadn't killed each other yet...or decided to kill him.  Stepping inside the crown center, Motoki noticed it was packed with more than the usual crowd.  Mamoru was cleaning up a big mess behind the counter, and Usagi was waiting tables like mad.  The strange thing was, Mamoru kept staring oddly at Usagi.  'Maybe Mamoru has finally gotten the hint?' Motoki wondered.  Usagi seemed to concentrate on looking at everything and anything, except Mamoru.  'Well Motoki, you got'em into this one, get'em out!'  Putting on his best 'dazed, happy, and home' face, Motoki walked up to the counter and plopped down on the stool Mamoru usually occupied.
	"Kon-wa Mamoru-san, having fun?" he asked.  Mamoru looked up at him, surprised.  Motoki was going to have fun with this...for a few moments at least.  Now maybe Mamoru would know what it was like when he came in everyday while Motoki was hard at work!  But when he saw how confused Mamoru looked, he took pity again.
	"Kon-wa Motoki-kun, you're back early."  Mamoru commented with a forced smile.  Motoki shook his head.  
	"Girl trouble with Usagi-chan?" he asked.  Mamoru looked flabergasted.
	"W-what?!"
	"Aw, come on!  I took one look at this place and noticed!  You staring at her longingly, her avoiding your eyes... Come on Mamoru-kun, tell me what happened!"
	Mamoru looked more shocked than anything else, though he did have the grace to turn red.
	He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.  "I don't know, Motoki-kun.  One minute we were hating each other to no end, the next... I held her in my arms and couldn't keep my eyes off her."  He set the towel on the counter and stared at it.  "I've never felt that way about anyone before.  It's almost like she completes me.  But every time I get near her now, she avoids me like the plague."
	Motoki grinned slightly.  "It doesn't matter which side of the counter we're on, does it?  I'm always giving you advice.  You know what you need to do now?"  Raising an eyebrow, Mamoru looked up at Motoki.  "No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me, aren't you?"
	Grabbing the towel, Motoki flung back at Mamoru with a grin.  "If Usagi-chan means that much to you, then you have to do something about it, before she slips out of your hands."

***latter***

	Mamoru saw his chance. Usagi had been avoiding him all day, and he wanted some answers.  Was she just not sure how to act around him?  Usagi was on break and he watched as she stepped outside.  Giving a look to Motoki, Mamoru negligently dropped his apron behind the counter, and followed her.
	She walked a few feet around the corner to a stretch of grass and trees seperating the sidewalk from the park, and leaned against a tree, closing her eyes with a sigh.
	Mamoru walked quickly over, placing an arm on either side of her, she wasn't going to avoid him this time!  Usagi's eyes opened, noticing the change.   They widened slightly when she saw Mamoru, not twenty centimeters from her face, deep blue eyes looking directly at her.  There was no escape!
	"Usagi-chan...please, answer me this time?  Why are you avoiding me?  Are you afraid of something?" he asked softly.  Usagi's heart sped up.  He was just inches away, and his voice was so soft, pleading...
	""Mamoru-kun..." she started, "I--I... I was afraid that when Motoki came back, maybe you didn't want him to see whatever this is, if we have anything at all... I mean..." she stumbled over her words, tilting her face down and away from him.
	Mamoru licked his lips.  Did she have any idea what she was doing to him?  That cute little pout, her voice quiet, just for him to hear, eyes looking so lost and,... 'Oh Kami-samma, I'm going to kiss her again...' he thought.  He tilted her head up with one hand and leaned in and gently brushed his lips over hers, eyes falling shut softly.  Usagi's eyes fluttered closed and instant latter as she responded lightly to the feathery touch.  It was sweet and soft, light.
	Usagi was in heaven.  A sweet, warm, heaven. 
	BEEP!  BEEP!  BEEP!  
	Usagi jerked away, her watch alarm was going off, she had to be back at work, NOW!
	"AH!  I'm going to be so late back to the cafe!  Who's going to wait tables?  Who's going to serve?  Ah!" she said franticall, turning to run back to the crown center.  Mamoru grabbed her arm.
	"Usagi, Motoki came back!  You didn't see him, he'll wait tables!"  Usagi gave Mamoru a strange look.
	"That's crazy Mamoru, I gotta go!" and she zipped back off to the cafe.