114/A Moon Bunny's Birthday at the Arcade

A Moon Bunny's Birthday at the Arcade
Date of Scene:	01 July 2015
Location:	Uminari City - Game Center Crown
Synopsis:	Usagi, Mamoru, and Rei meet at the Arcade for Usagi's birthday. Awkward moments, blushes, and suspicions arise!
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Usagi Tsukino, Rei Hino

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Not that any of the Senshi go to school with him to know it, but Mamoru Chiba skipped, today. That's not something he does on the regular. In fact, Motoki will attest to the fact that he's only done it once before; it usually takes serious illness to keep the high-schooler away from his studies.

He wasn't in school all day, but about half an hour before the middle schools let out, he meandered to Game Center Crown with a scowl and a book. Now he's sitting at the counter reading it with creased brows, glasses sitting perfectly on his handsome face, black coffee in front of him and Motoki giving him a fairly wide berth.

He probably tried either prying or cheering Mamoru up.

Every minute that ticks by, every time the door opens in his peripheral vision, he's waiting. He's probably read the last paragraph fourteen times by now.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi Tsukino may have many faults, but if there's one thing she's good at, is being a cheerful person in general. True, genuine warmth is a rarity in the world, and Usagi was born with it in spades.

Particularly when it's her birthday! The middle school literally skips her way into the Game Center Crown! Her pockets are jingling with change that her Mother blessed her with, and upon her neck, is a silver necklace with a cute little bunny icon! She even has a new blouse and skirt, looking utterly adorable today.

"Motoki-kunnnnn!" She calls out, giggling almost immediately. She spins around in place, laughing.

"It's my birthday today! Momma gave me plenty of change to play with! I'm going to finally beat that last level of Super Sailor V!" Rings out her voice joyously. A stark contrast to the wave of funk and brooding coming from Mamoru.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Motoki comes over right away, grinning and wiping his hands on his apron. "Usagi-chan, happy birthday! As a present, your favorite's on the house today, just for you. Except--" he says, a teasing twinkle coming into his eyes as he leans on the counter, crossing his arms, "--which favorite? Chocolate or strawberry? Extra whipped cream either way!"

The wave of funk and brooding from Chiba dissipates immediately, though he doesn't look up from his book. Forhead uncreasing: check. Tension dissolving: check. The ache from the tragedy the other night will be a long time in leaving, the irritation over having had to tell Sailor V his identity only compounds what happened with Hannah and the fact that Sailor V's allies suspect him of being Nephrite--

But for now, Mamoru needs this distraction, this absurd bundle of bubbling joy with the brightest smiles and the fiercest scowls.

He says, sidelong, picking up his coffee to hide the slight smile growing on his face, "Happy birthday, Odango Atama."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi's eyes go dreamy, hit by the tripple-whammy that is Motoki's handsome visage, his wonderful teasing ways, and offering off a /free/ milkshake! She actively squee's in delight, barely stopping herself from hugging Motoki! Mahou love bubbles float around her the entire time, and...are her eyes heart shaped!?

Must be a trick of the light.

"Strawberry please! Thank youuuu!" When she gets that milkshake, she'll spin around, before attacking the treat like a rabid animal.

Nom nom nom! Slowly, a voice brings her out of her milkshake induced reverie. As she pulls up from the treat, there's a bit of cream on her cheek and the cherry has balanced itself on her nose. Usagi doesn't even notice!

Usagi crosses her arm at seeing her least favorite 'tormentor', and then starts to stick her tongue out him. Then, she literally pauses mid-motion, comically on one foot. She wobbles, and tumbles closer to him, barely catching herself on a chair!

That cherry is /still/ on her nose.

"You're...being nice, Chiba-san." She states, leaning on the obvious. Twitch.

Her hated nickname. /Then/ she sticks out her tongue! Ptbbbbbt!

Only to pause. There's conflict. And then she actually smiles.

"...Thank you! Hee hee hee, it must be a really special day for /you/ to be acting nice!" But something still seems slightly off.

Usagi leans in.

"...Are you okay?" She asks after a moment, a little quietly. Usagi is actively concerned, no matter how much Mamoru Chiba annoys her.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The cherry. On her nose. THE CHERRY. Mamoru's mouth fights to stay in a straight line, fights hard. It twitches up a couple of times as he watches Usagi, and finally he closes his book, moves his coffee, and puts his elbow on the counter so he can lean and prop his head up. Annoying as he is, there's been for a while -- and still remains -- affection undercutting the teasing.

The worst is generally the silent amusement, sometimes mixed with smugness, that he gives her.

The biggest difference today is that there's nothing smug about him. The most subtle difference is that his usually sharply canny blue eyes have the earth's oceans of tired behind them, though they're receding a little at a time.

Mamoru lifts his free hand as Usagi leans in and asks him if he's all right, and he takes the cherry off her nose. Holding it up, he threatens to eat it (SEE IT'S HERE BY MY MOUTH I AM GOING TO EAT IT) with exaggerated gestures, but his eyes are watching hers as he answers with words, "I will be."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's a strange relationship. She, by all rights, should just walk away. Be annoyed. /Something/. But that smile, barely concealed, combined with amusement that's just so quiet, and that smug tone mixed with veiled affection?

Every word, every time she calls back, her own tone slowly matches. Their encounters are combative, and yet, thinking about /not/ having them leaves Usagi with a sense of loss deep in her heart that she can't rightly describe.

No, she is far too childish to admit it, but she considers Mamoru Chiba a friend. And when that smugness is oddly absent in his voice, the corners of her mouth fade just a little bit. Usagi may not be a smart girl, but when it comes to matters of the heart, few are as adept as her.

But first, her cherry is being hijacked.

"Birthday cherry!" In goes the rabbit-teeth, to snap and gnaw at delicious fruit! Nomf! She wiggles on the step, and pauses, far, far, too close. Usagi /blushes/.

And then pulls away, turning around.

Arms cross. She even slides her birthday milkshake 'stealthily' towards him.

"...Well I hope things get better." She whispers.

"Everyone sometimes needs a friend to listen to them."

She shuffles there a little bit, still on her feet, and chewing on a cherry stem.

"...Even if they're a jerk." Mutter mutter. A single, concerned glance back, a silent question.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru actually laughs as he jerks his hand back away from the dangers of snapping teeth, but the rest of him doesn't move with it. He's smiling, and there's still no smugness, but the entertainment level did just leap up about five thousand points.

And then-- she is very close, isn't she? She's not the princess, couldn't be the princess. But she's so--

There's a warmth he feels from her that's like sunlight breaking through clouds, that's like a hearth fire, that's like the clear light of the moon on an August summer night. It's in her smile always, it's in her eyes, such a brighter blue than his own; it's in her presence. Even if he's not looking, he can tell when she enters a room because it lights up.

And it breaks his walls down every time, and he doesn't know what to do with himself, how to cope without them. But he can't stay away-- couldn't even if he wanted to.

They just seem to keep meeting...

When Usagi blushes, Mamoru glances quickly away, hiding the heat flaring across his own face and picking up his coffee. "Thanks, but don't waste your birthday milkshake on me," he says, about to reflexively add something smartassed, but tripping over it. Because there's that whisper, and -- a friend? Even if he's a jerk--?

His eyes flicker over to meet hers again, surprised to the point of incomprehension, however briefly it's there before it's drowned out by the loss he's been trying to mask. She had to notice it. But her response to it makes it lesser, and he leans in toward her a little to whisper back, "Thank you. And thank you for--"

Rei Hino has posed:
Rei Hino is walking right by the arcade. She doesn't have time for games today. She's a very busy miko and she can't waste her evening on nonsense! She passes by the arcade windows without a second glance. If you blinked, you might've missed her.

Rei is now backpedaling hard, quickly and staring /straight/ through the window.

Is she seeing what she thinks she's seeing?

She isn't, is she? This is some trick of the light. Someone who looks like Usagi is talking to someone who looks like Mamoru Chiba, who is so obviously NEPHRITE!

... That's not really a case of mistaken idenity, is it? Rei would recognize Usagi's silliness anywhere. This is actual Usagi and actual Mamoru and-- ARE THEY KISSING?!

The arcade's front door swings open as the baleful image of Rei storms towards Usagi. "USAGI!" Honorific dropped on purpose.

She glowers over Usagi for a moment. She wants to upbraid her, but she can't. She can't just talk about that sort of thing here. There really isn't anything else for her to get mad about, either, so it's not like she can make up an excuse. With a heavy sigh, Rei reigns in her temper, putting on a smile.

"Usagi-chan! It's your birthday, right? Happy Birthday!"

Turning to Mamoru with a bright smile, she says, "Ah, Chiba-san! What a pleasure to see you today! Having fun with the birthday girl?" With a slightly flatter tone, Rei adds, "You're such a gem."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Mamoru Chiba tells her to not waste her milkshake, and something about that makes her scowl. Not frown. Not childishly pout. But outright scowl. She's about to say something, some spark of mature insight coming to her otherwise jumbled and immature soul, but it fades out.

All the chance meetings and mixed affection and conflict, and how Mamoru seems to be so very upset about something that's just beyond her reach to offer /help/. It frustrates her for a moment on a level she's never felt before. She pauses, sits down, and slides a stray straw into the milkshake. She sips on it, the other end pointed to the man.

"...There's enough for..."

She never gets to finish the sentence. A dear friend walks in, and berates her with her single name. It all floods back. Mamoru Chiba is Nephrite! (???). She'd, in their interactions, forgotten.

Once more, even as she leaps up and blushes furiously, arms fold. Her head dips.

Her look to Rei is both deeply apologetic, and yet almost inhumanly stubborn. One doesn't need words to see it.

She still does not think that this man is Nephrite. Mamoru Chiba is many things, but she can't look upon him and think /evil/.

That moment of strength fades easily, and she's laughing, joy in her voice. She runs over, and grabs Rei's hands, holding them and jumping up and down! She shows off her new clothes and necklace!

"Momma and Papa got me these nice clothes and necklace! It's so wonderful! Oh, and Matoki-kun gave me free milkshakes, and even my little brother and....Chiba-san have been so nice. They /all/ have, Rei-chan!" Comes Usagi, utterly cheery and doubly happy upon this day. She's almost a literal ray of sunshine being offered to Rei.

That last comment, meaningful, goes right over her head.

"I have plenty of money too! Do you want to play some games, Rei-chan?" Generosity can indeed spread from Usagi Tsukno!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The world may never know precisely what Mamoru Chiba would have done with the offer to share a milkshake, though guesses may be made by the heightened color in his face and the glance at the straw and the strangely awkward silence he's left with.

He watches Rei shout and he watches Usagi's reaction to it, and a small frown starts forming-- and then he watches Rei's killer save. He's almost distracted completely away from Rei's final comment at the transformation that save produces in Usagi, and all of a sudden he's smiling without really realizing it.

That smile turns to Rei as he registers her addressing of him, and it fades into a blank look of total puzzlement as he pulls the gem comment out of his mental buffer. "What? Why?" Damn it, no, no no no, the walls need to be up again, this girl will rip him apart. He can read her anger and has no idea what it's for, and he can't ruin Usagi's birthday. He should leave while he's still in a good mood.

He can't make himself leave.

So: Mamoru waves a hand and then turns around in his seat to lean back against the counter, coffee mug held in both hands, eyebrows arched above his glasses. "Odango here can make anyone have fun. Don't be jealous, it's your turn, isn't it?"

He can still see the sun from this angle. He can't make himself leave.

Rei Hino has posed:
"Games?" says Rei, still cheerful. "Sure, let's play some games. Though I wouldn't want to use up all your money, Usagi-chan." Well, faking cheerful. It's not really the psychotic 'I'm so happy that I'm about to stab you' cheerful so much as it is 'I better put on a good face and not ruin Usagi's birthday' cheerful. She really is trying.

Yet, Maroru's presence is an immediate threat to a dear friend, and she can't be super happy about that. Well, it's not like she knows for a fact that Mamoru is Nephrite, and it's not like he's threatening her outright.

With a sigh, she decides to put up with it. If nothing else, Rei being around will make it less likely for Usagi to be attacked.

There's something in Mamoru's expression that she can't quite read. She puzzles over it. Maybe sometime over the course of the evening she'll figure out what it means.

She'll have to get Usagi a birthday present. Rei sweatdrops at the realization that she forgot.