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I’m a good friend.
Mamoru grumbles under his breath as he steps through the sliding glass doors and enters the flashing lights and too-loud beeping of the Crown Arcade. To be honest, there’s a headache coming to life at the base of his head after waking up early after another one of his princess dreams. The arcade is the last place he wants to be right now.
But he’s a good friend. And Motoki’s worried about Usagi—who has been noticeably absent ever since the three of them had coffee to chat about her friend with the dubious love interest. Mamoru knows Motoki has better things to be worried about that aren’t missing middle-school customers (namely: upcoming exams). Except…
Motoki does have a point. Even Mamoru has noticed that Bunhead hasn’t graced the arcade with her presence in a while. A day or two skipped is one thing. Some miracle could have happened and she’d decided to study for once. Except she’s been gone for more than a week now. And Mamoru can’t joke about that. He might even be a tad bit worried himself.
Yes, he had tried to discreetly ask Rei about how her friends are doing when they were out together. No, Rei had not picked up the hint and only told him that her friends are ‘as fine as they can be.’
So, despite the fact he should be studying for his own exams, Mamoru makes a beeline toward the back to set up shop. His vision for the afternoon includes setting up at an empty machine and trying to get some reading done while he watches the door. This way he can at least pretend to study before reporting back to Motoki that Usagi had come in smiling without any sense that people had been worried about her.
Instead, as he turns down to the quietest corner of the arcade, his plans are dashed. Usagi is there.
Not smiling.
Not even particularly aware that he had shown up in her proximity.
She’s sleeping. Or, he thinks she’s asleep. Her head is tucked between her arms with her hair pooling around her elbows. So, he can’t quite tell.
He’s overheard her friends talking loudly about how Usagi always oversleeps and thinks napping is an extracurricular. But she’s never looked sleepy when he runs into her—especially not at the arcade when she’s usually too busy fawning over Motoki to blink. Looking at her like this is like looking at a completely different person. Except, that’s an impossible thought. Who else could Bunhead be?
Mamoru shakes the thought from his head. He runs a hand through his hair, trying his best to ignore the sudden tightness in his chest. He’s missing something; he knows he is. This isn’t the time though. He’s got his confirmation that Usagi is alive. He can leave.
He can’t leave.
It doesn’t matter how silly Mamoru thinks she is—he can’t leave a young girl asleep in a public place. He know very well the kind of weirdos that lurk this place.
Mamoru sits at the stool beside her. He reaches over to jostle her awake. But he hesitates before he says anything. What’s he supposed to call her? ‘Bunhead’ is a rude way to wake up, and he doesn’t know her well enough to call her by name. He settles on nothing at all. “Come on,” he murmurs, shaking her shoulder. “It’s time to wake up.”
“Five more minutes, Luna,” Usagi whines, batting his hand away. Except when she moves, the careful balance of her face against her arms is disrupted and she face plants against the game machine. She groans and rubs her face as she sits up. Blinking away her sleep, she turns to Mamoru. To her credit, she doesn’t flinch or yelp. She doesn’t react much at all, actually. “Oh, it’s you,” she says.
He raises an eyebrow. “Well, I’m not your cat.”
She smiles softly at this. “No. You’re not,” she says. “Sorry for getting in your way. I’m on my way out.”
“You’re not—” Mamoru’s floored at how quickly Usagi rises to her feet and smooths out the wrinkles on her uniform. If he didn’t know any better, he might say that she looks like any other middle schooler casually stopping by the arcade after class. Except he knows this isn’t true. Usagi has been gone silent for a week; she can’t leave yet! Before he can process what he’s doing, he grabs her wrist. “Wait.”
Usagi looks at his his hand with wide eyes like she can’t believe he’s touched her. Honestly, he’s surprised, too. “Did you have something to say?” she asks. “A joke at my expense, perhaps? I know, I know. It’s not ladylike to sleep in public.”
He understands the logic in her words. Still, it hurts a little bit (only a little!) that she thinks that all he possibly has to tell her is a joke or an insult. He releases her hand and meets her gaze. “Actually, I wanted to ask about your friend.”
“I haven’t seen much of Rei lately,” Usagi quips. “You’ve probably seen her more this week than I have.”
“Not Rei,” he says. Though, to be frank, he’d rather see less of Rei at the moment. Except he’s not particularly interested in breaking a young girl’s heart. One day (soon, he hopes), she’ll get over this crush and he’ll avoid burning any bridges. He knows what it’s like to be lonely and doesn’t want to extend that burden to a girl who’s sole interest in him is the novelty of having a ‘boyfriend.’ “Your other friend. The one you needed advice about the other day.”
“Oh.” Usagi pales. She shifts her attention to the ground. “Naru.”
“What did you end up doing with her?” Sure, it’s none of his business. And he doesn’t particularly care about school gossip. There’s a small part of him, however, that wants to know if she had taken his advice over Motoki’s. “Are they still together?”
Her voice is barely a whisper when she replies. “No.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Mamoru’s perplexed by her sudden quiet. “Isn’t that what you’d wanted?”
“I didn’t want him dead!”
Mamoru flinches. The arcade is too loud, too busy for anyone else to notice. Except it echoes hollowly in his head. Dead? Certainly he’s misheard. She didn’t say… “What do you mean?”
Usagi looks up as she realizes what she’d said. Her wide eyes are filled with unshed tears. “Please forget I said that!” she says, backing away. “Naru’s a little heartbroken and it’s really sad, but it’s nothing we can’t get over—” Her voice cracks and a tear escapes down her face.
“Bunhead?” Mamoru rises from his stool. His hands hover halfway to her shoulders, as if his initial instinct was to hold her (can you believe it?). “What happened? Are you okay?”
“I told you that he was evil and would only end up hurting her. I was wrong.” Usagi’s whole body shakes as she cries. She wraps her arms around her torso. “He was ready to change for her—to be good! They shot him down before he had the chance. All Naru wanted was to get parfaits together, and now they never will!”
Mamoru blinks, trying to piece together the fragments of her story. “Who killed him?” he asks. He remembers that Usagi had said her friend liked a ‘bad’ guy, but he’d thought she’d meant a wannabe tough guy smoking on campus. Or even a handsy high schooler. Just who was this man?
“It’s safer if you don’t know.” Usagi wipes her face with the back of her hand. “In fact, it’s better if you forget everything I’ve told you about him. Today and before.”
Her words sound like a riddle that Mamoru’s desperate to unfold. Is it possible that Usagi and her friend somehow got involved with a gang? That would explain the unceremonious revenge kill along with the secrets. He’s desperate to ask more but knows that Usagi will clam up if he pries. There’s no reason to scare her any more than she already is.
Resigned, Mamoru runs a hand through his hair. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Usagi’s eyes widen a fraction, perplexed by his offer. To be fair, he doesn’t know if there’s anything he can do. He’s strong but… even he can’t muscle his way out of a gun fight. She shakes her head. At least she’s not crying anymore. “That’s kind, but no thank you. I don’t want—”
“—anyone else to get hurt,” he finishes for her. He nods. “I get it.” He does not.
“Thanks for talking with me. I haven’t been really able to talk about it with anyone besides…” She trails off at the sound of her pager. She looks at her school bag as if she could strangle it for interrupting. “I’ve got to get going. I was supposed to be at Rei’s place an hour ago.”
“Hey, Bunhead,” Mamoru calls, unable to help himself as he stops her one last time. “Stay safe out there, okay?”
She nods once and turns away to make her exit.
As she leaves the arcade with her head bowed in thought, Mamoru gets that feeling again. The kind of feeling where it feels like he’s watching a stranger walk away.
The next time Mamoru sees Usagi, she wears her trademark smile while teaching a new friend how to play a game. It falters only when she throws her hands up to cheer her friend’s success. Then she watches in abject horror as her bracelet flies off her wrist on a trajectory headed straight to Mamoru. It lands deftly in his lap.
She rushes across the arcade with a panicked apology flying from her mouth. However, she hesitates before approaching Mamoru. He can see it in her eyes—she’s scared that he’ll bring up their last conversation.
But why would he do that? It’s better when she smiles.
Instead, he extends his hand to drop her bracelet into her waiting hands. “I appreciate the non-lethal weapon choice this time,” he says with a small smile.
She grins as she slides the bracelet back on. “Well, I’ve got to keep you on your toes somehow,” she says. “Never let anyone know your next move and all that.”
“Nobody would ever dare call you predictable, Usagi.” Mamoru says. It’s a new thing he’s been trying, using her real name. It’s only one of the first times that he’s used it but she doesn’t seem to mind (he’d half expected her to shout at him for being too familiar with her the first time he’d said it). Using her name makes them feel less like adversaries and more like… friends acquaintances.
Usagi sticks her tongue out at him and flounces away back to her friends while they tease her for her clumsiness.
Mamoru shakes his head as he turns back to his book. That’s the Usagi they all look forward to seeing at the arcade every day. He’s glad she’s smiling again.