| Chocolate Syrup Overdose Chapter 6 - Strange, Strange, Strange... Ami and Minako were sitting at their regular booth at the arcade when Rei and Makoto walked in. Makoto looked stressed and Rei looked mad and ... muddy? "Rei, are you alright? What happened? " Ami asked. Minako started to laugh, but she stopped when Ami elbowed her and gave her a look. "Did you find Mamoru? We don't know where Usagi's gone to," Minako said. "Yes," Makoto said. "We found Mamoru in the park ... skipping ..." Makoto was still surprised by that. "He wouldn't come back with us, though." "You didn't leave him there, did you?" Ami asked. "Of course not," Rei said. She seemed angry that they weren't asking about her. Makoto rolled her eyes at Rei's moody reply. "I left Rei with Mamoru while I came here to get Usagi. Mamoru refused to leave without her. I can see now that leaving those two alone was a big mistake." Rei rolled her eyes. "They tripped themselves into a pile of mud." Minako busted out in laughter, Ami tried to hide a smirk, and Makoto just sighed and slid into the booth. "Oh, don't get so upset, Rei," Minako said. "It's just mud! There's no use crying over misspelled silk, you know." All three girls rolled their eyes at Minako's propensity for confusing her words. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Usagi and Mamoru hadn't tried to keep up with Rei and Minako, and none of them had really noticed it. It seemed familiar, almost natural, to be so close to Mamoru. 'I never thought I'd think that before,' Usagi thought to herself. Mamoru had tried to start skipping again, but Usagi had made him stop. She was still getting used to the fact that they were friendly enough to hold hands. She couldn't think about skipping together... Just yesterday, he was making fun of her grades, hair, clumsiness, and anything else he could pick out. But today he was being.... nice? Yes... nice. And fun. 'Two words I'd never have used to describe Mamoru before... nice and fun,' Usagi thought, smiling inwardly. Usagi was knocked out of her thoughts by a gasp from Mamoru. "What? Is something wrong?" she asked him. "Usagi?" he asked shakily. "Yes?" she said, looking worried at what could have caused him to look so upset. "I think I left my Barbie dolls in the park..." Mamoru said. "Oh," Usagi said, trying not to laugh. Mamoru missing his Barbie dolls... just another strange thing to add to her strange day. "Don't worry! I'm sure they're fine where they are." Usagi wasn't to eager to have to turn back around for the Barbie dolls. She had received enough stares from passersby earlier thanks to the dolls and didn't want to have to go through it all over again. "Are you sure, Usagi?? What if... what if they get lonely??" Mamoru said. "I'm pretty sure they won't, Mamoru..." Usagi said. His Barbie obsession was starting to worry her. 'I hope there's no lasting emotional damage on him after this day,' she thought. "OK, Usagi," Mamoru said. "Maybe they found some friends!" "Yeah, Mamoru. Maybe they did," Usagi said. Mamoru gave her a big smile. "You're smart, Usa-chan!" Mamoru leaned down and gave Usagi a quick peck on the cheek. When he pulled back, he smiled again and pulled Usagi off towards the arcade. He didn't notice the blushing, dazed look on Usagi's face. 'I really didn't see that one coming,' Usagi said. 'But I'm glad it did.' *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ After a mild debate, the girls decided not to go look for Usagi and Mamoru. It was almost time for some of them to head home, anyway. They figured that they'd be back soon, and stopped each other from worrying. It's not like they could have gotten lost. They'd both been to the arcade so many times that they could probably walk to it in their sleep. "I'd really love to get these muddy clothes off... Could someone explain to me why I have to stay here again?" Rei said, wiping some mud off with a napkin. "Because, Rei. We think you should try to apologize to Usagi and Mamoru," Minako said. "For what?" Rei said. "You've been acting quite rude around them both today, Rei," Ami said. "And Mamoru's also covered in mud, if you didn't notice," Makoto said. "OK, I can agree with Ami, I guess. But it really wasn't my fault that we're both covered in mud," Rei said. "If you say so..." Minako said. Rei rolled her eyes and grabbed another napkin for her shirt. "Well, I can't wait any longer," Minako said. "I've really got to go! I can't be late tonight. Things to do, people to see..." Minako stood, said her goodbyes, and walked toward the door out of the arcade. She stopped before exiting, though, due to something very interesting happening right in front of the door. |