Secret Cupid
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Chapter Ten

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Friday, February 15th

The Arcade

Usagi sat at the front counter, sipping slowly at her chocolate milkshake and watching Motoki dazedly wipe off the counter. She slurped on her straw and kicked her feet back and forth, watching her friend with a confused look.

"Motoki-kun, what's with you?" She asked, pulling away from her milkshake and burping. She clapped her hand over her mouth.

Motoki grinned at her embarrassment. He shrugged and propped his elbows up on the counter. "I don't know, Usa-chan. Just can't stop thinking about last night." He looked around. "It's nearly 4 o'clock. Why isn't Mina-chan here?"

"Volleyball practice. Pre-season. That sorta thing."

"Oh." Motoki slumped over, looking down at the counter.

The glass doors slid open and Makato walked in, holding hands with a young man. Usagi turned around and grinned. "Mako-chan!"

Makato waved and walked up to the counter. "Hey, Usa."

"Hey, Toro." Motoki said dully, sending the guy beside Makato a short wave. Then he turned and went toward the back room of the arcade, his shoulders slumped.

Makato sent a questioning look to Usagi, who shrugged. "I mentioned that Mina-chan wouldn't be here and he got all depressed." Usagi looked at the joined hands of Makato and the new guy, and grinned. "I take it your date was good, then."

Makato blushed. "Err… yeah. Usa-chan, this is Toro… my boyfriend. Toro, this is my good friend Usagi-chan."

Toro extended his free hand to Usagi. "Nice to meet you, Usagi. You're Mamoru's girlfriend, aren't you?"

Usagi nodded, grinning slightly. "Yeah, I am."

Makato tugged on Toro's hand. "I thought we were going to your place."

Toro grinned. "We are, we are. Too bad Motoki's too depressed to make us a couple milkshakes for our way there…"

Makato shrugged. "Minako withdrawals?"

Usagi giggled. "Poor Motoki-kun."

The doors slid open and Ami, followed by Urawa with a pile of schoolbooks, walked in. The boy dropped all the books on a table and followed Ami to the front.

Usagi waved. "Hey, guys!"

Ami smiled. "Afternoon, Usagi-chan. Where's Motoki? Urawa-kun and I were going to order some food to eat while we're studying."

Usagi rolled her eyes. "Jeez, Ami-chan… is studying all you ever do?"

Ami grinned and looked at Urawa. "Well… I suppose you could say that."

Urawa grinned back, winking and taking the girl's hand. "Anyways, where is Motoki?"

Usagi waved her hand. "In the back, moping because Mina-chan's not around."

The doors opened again and Rei and Yuichiro walked in, both laughing.

Usagi waved to her friend. "Rei-chan!"

Rei walked up to the blonde and ruffled her hair. "Hey, Usa-chan! What's up?"

"Not much! What are you two up to?" Usagi giggled, smoothing her hair again. Usually she would have snapped at Rei, but the girl looked waaay too cheery.

Rei glanced at Yuichiro and grinned. "Well, we're on a mission to sample all the French fries in the entire city. Today's trip is the arcade! So where's Motoki?"

Urawa spoke up. "Back. Sulking."

Rei raised an eyebrow, and was about to reply when the doors slid open again.

Minako walked in, wiping her brow. She carried a volleyball with her, and was red in the face. "Hey guys!" She waved to them, coming up to the front counter and collapsing into a chair. "Boy, sometimes I wish I wasn't on the team! Jeez, the season isn't even close and we're already killing ourselves!"

Motoki's blonde head popped out of the back room at the sound of her voice. "Mina!"

Minako looked up and suddenly her eyes became dreamy. "Moto-kun."

He came out to the front and went directly to her. "Usagi said you had practice."

"I do. I just stopped in for a drink really quick. The coach gave us fifteen." She blushed. "Thought I'd come say hi."

"Hi." He said, grinning.

"Hi." She blushed again.

Their noses started to touch as they leaned in to share a kiss, but they were interrupted by several loud throats clearing.

Motoki looked up at everyone standing around. He grinned sheepishly. "You guys been here long?"

"A lot longer than she has!" Rei retorted. "Can Yuichiro and I get some fries or what?"

Usagi rolled her eyes. "Keep your pants on, Rei." She looked over at Rei's short black skirt. "Or your skirt, whatever."

Motoki laughed nervously. "What about everybody else?"

Makato spoke up. "Two chocolate shakes for Toro and me."

"And two orders of hamburgers and fries for Ami and me." Urawa said.

Motoki looked at Usagi. "And you?"

"My boyfriend would be nice, but I doubt you could conjure him up." Usagi sighed. "Otherwise, no, nothing for me." She pushed her empty milkshake glass away from her.

Motoki ran off to get the orders, double-timing it.

Usagi hopped off her stool. "Mamo-chan's classes must have run long today. He'll have to just call me tonight. I've got to get home."

She waved to her friends and walked out of the arcade.

As she walked down the sidewalk, a soft smile crossed her face. It was obvious that Secret Cupid has indeed worked for her friends, just like Secret Santa had worked for her and Mamoru. All of her friends were happily with guys who cared about them.

She rounded a corner, and walked right into something. Or someone.

Rubbing her nose, she stepped back. "Very sorry, sir. I wasn't watching where I was going."

She began to walk away, bowing as she went. 'Jeez, I run into everyone.' She thought, shaking her head.

"Usako?"

She stopped, her eyes widening. She turned around to see Mamoru grinning at her, standing just a few steps away.

She rolled her eyes and began to giggle. "Oh, who am I kidding? Who ELSE in the world do I barge into everyday but you?" She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "The world wouldn't be the same if we didn't run into each other, would it?"

"Definitely not." Mamoru replied, kissing her nose tenderly. "I'd say I'm a pretty lucky guy to have you run into me everyday."

"Mmm." She nodded. "Guess so. Oh, you won't believe this. All of the Secret Cupid couples have hooked up! Everybody! I just came from the arcade, and they're all there! It's so sweet!"

Mamoru laughed. "Well, that's great and all, Usa, but really I don't care about anyone in the world right now but you. Want to get some pizza and go watch some movies at my place?"

She pursed her lips together. "Can I pick the movies?"

"Err…. Alright."

"And I get anchovies on my pizza?"

"Who are you, Luna?"

Usagi gave him an evil look.

"Alright, Usako, yes, you can have anchovies…. on your half."

"Alrighty then! I'll call my mom later." She grabbed his wrist and began dragging him down the sidewalk. "You owe me for passing out on me yesterday, anyways!"

"Errr…. I had hoped you would forget that…."

"No chance, Mamo-chan."

"Right… well, a guy can try…."

"And buying me pizza is a very good try. A good start, really."

"Start… yes. A start." Mamoru sweatdropped. "Somehow I get the feeling the start is very far off from the end."

Usagi turned and pecked his cheek. "Not too far, Secret Santa. C'mon, Mamo-chan, we've got pizza to eat."

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Makato and Toro walked hand in hand in the park, with a clear sunset right in front of them. Makato sighed happily and laid her head on Toro's shoulder.

"Maybe I should cook for you tonight." She said, looking up at him with a small smile.

Toro laughed, pulling his hand from hers and wrapping his arm around her waist. "That'd be great, Mako. That'd be really great."

Makato grinned and snuggled into his embrace. "Good, Secret Cupid, because that's exactly what I'm going to do."

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Ami sat poring over a physics book, munching on a French fry. She looked up at Urawa, who sat on her bedroom floor in front of her, reading the same book.

"How far behind did we get?" She asked, laying down on her stomach and flipping through the pages of her book.

Urawa slipped his glasses off and looked at the girl. "We're only five chapters ahead because of yesterday."

It was quiet for several minutes as Ami took this in, and she looked down at her book in confusion for quite a while. Looking up, she noticed Urawa glancing up at her as well.

They looked at each other, and then down at the books in front of them again.

Urawa pressed his lips into a thin line, looking at his new girlfriend. "Do you want to go see a movie?"

Ami looked down at her book, and then up at him again. "Yes, Secret Cupid, I do. Four chapters ahead will have to do!"

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"The arcade fries don't match up, do they?"

"Mmm… not really. I do believe we had the best Tokyo has to offer last night."

"I think we need a new hobby."

Rei looked over at Yuichiro, who sat beside her on the temple steps, and grinned. "Well, finally you get that in your head."

Yuichiro gave her a hard look. "Don't you dare start on my music again."

Rei threw up her hands in defense. "Now, Yuichi-kun, you know I didn't say anything about it…"

Yuichiro rolled his eyes and leaned over, kissing the girl's lips. "But I know it was running through your head."

Re giggled. "Alright, so I can't help it." She glanced in the window and grinned. "Hey, Secret Cupid, we better get back to chores before Grandpa kills us both!" She sprang up and grabbed a broom, rushing off. She turned back and looked at where he sat on the steps still and blew him a kiss. "Hurry up, let's go!"

Yuichiro rolled his eyes. "Still so bossy!"

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Motoki watched as Minako slurped down the coke he had given her. She drank the beverage in less than a minute, and it surprised him.

"Thirsty?"

She looked up and blushed. "Volleyball can really drain you, ya know."

He laughed. "Obviously it can." He looked around the arcade, making sure he wasn't needed, before looking back to her. He grinned and pulled two slips of paper out of his pocket.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream, tomorrow night, me and you… you interested?" He showed her two tickets for the play.

Minako squealed and nodded her head excitedly. "Of course!"

Motoki looked around swiftly again before leaning down and quickly placing a soft kiss on the girl's lips. "Great. I'll pick you up tomorrow night at 8, okay?"

She nodded and jumped off her stool, her blonde hair bouncing around behind her. "Sounds great to me! I gotta get back now, before the coach kills me." She gave him a dazzling smile before turning and heading out of the arcade.

Before reaching the doors, she turned and looked at him standing up at the counter. "By the way, Secret Cupid, last night was the best night of my life." She winked and left the arcade.

Motoki grinned and grabbed a cloth, beginning to wipe off the arcade counter. "Yeah… I could say the same thing for me, too."

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THE END

Ta-da! Finally finished! Hope everyone liked… please drop a review if you did, and even if you didn't… but please don't bash me too hard, okay? Lol… my poor little heart would cry so very, very much…. T-T

Lol, anyways, I do hope everyone enjoyed this… took long enough, didn't it?