Usagi was excited to spend the day with Mamoru before they both went back to school and back to busy schedules. She sat with him at the park as they ate their lunch. She looked up to the clouds and breathed in the fresh summer air. She locked her arm with Mamoru's as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Are you ready to go back to school tomorrow?" she asked, "I think I am ready, but am a bit nervous for my internship tomorrow."

She was silent for a bit longer, thinking about how things had been quiet for so long and how she was enjoying the time she was able to spend with Mamoru, as well as the time she was able to spend focusing on school, she had never imagined she would have made it to college, but it was thanks to her friends and family for helping her and never giving on her.

"Say Mamo-chan," she asked as she twidled her fingers against his arm, "do you think we could go see a movie this afternoon today?" Usagi hoped he would say yes, because she knew just the movie she wanted to go see.

The past few years had been uneventful for Mamoru, Usagi and their friends; and so a quiet day-to-day calm had slowly set into their lives. At first it was weird waking up each day and expecting to see some new enemy on the horizon, but then nothing happening - he was so used to it, it seemed out of place for Tokyo to not be plagued by the supernatural. But quiet morning by quiet morning, real life seeped in and now the fighting and the magic felt like a dream he'd once had. Sure, there were still some left-over perks, like his psychometry and healing and Rei's psychic powers - but those had been there long before the "magic" and fighting and time travelling began. So in other words, life was finally back to normal.

Mamoru and Usagi both advanced in their studies and he was proud that the young woman had managed to push her limits as far as she did. Now she was a college student and she'd been accepted for an internship, that she was starting tomorrow. These were their first steps in trying to build a life for themselves. A normal life.

Now he sat on a park bench, with Usagi leaning against him, clutching his arm as she always had. He leaned his head against hers, breathing in the calm summer air. Then Usagi spoke. She was nervous about her internship...

"You'll be alright, Usako. You've made it this far - I'm sure you'll be able to do anything you set out to do. Including not faint on the first day on the job."

Mamoru laughed a little bit and the continued:

"And school's just routine at this point..."

Usagi sat quiet for a few minutes and Mamoru knew she was trying to phrase something in her mind. And then it came: she just wanted to go see a movie with him. It was so lovely outside that Mamoru wished they could just stay in the park and enjoy the summer for a few more hours. But if a movie would make Usako happy, then a movie it was.

"Sure, let's. And then we can stop for ice cream on the way home. My treat!"

Mamoru loved how much pleasure Usagi took from the simple things. Ice cream was not a big deal for him but it always made her face light up. So then... A movie and ice cream!

Usagi perked up when Mamoru said he would go to a movie with her. She was even more excited when he said he would treat her to ice cream afterwards. She grew a bit too excited and blushed as she said, “can we really get ice cream?” She had always had a sweet tooth and anything that she got to do with Mamoru was special, but if sweets were involved, it made things so much better.

Usagi laced her fingers with Mamoru’s as she enjoyed the small moment with him. “I know of just the movie to go see, she had seen a trailer for a movie awhile back, the movie was called “The Notebook” and she thought it would be the perfect movie to go and see.” Usagi was for all things love, just like Minako, Usagi loved a good love story.


“Shall we head over to the theatre before it gets too late?” She asked as a smile on her face stretched from ear to ear.

Sure enough, Usagi's face lit up when ice cream was mentioned. She was such a child at times - a trait Mamoru found to be endearing, and one of the main reasons he loved her so much. He took out his phone and asked his girlfriend what the movie was called. Then he looked to see which theaters were showing this "Notebook" film nearby, and at what time. Apparently the movie was more than ten years old - some sort of "anniversary re-release" event. Most of the cinemas around them had it; and the one closest to the park had the movie starting in about an hour. Perfect for them to slowly walk over there, buy tickets and popcorn, and settle in to watch the pre-movie commercials and trailers. 

It was a plan.

Mamoru shared his findings and plan with Usagi, took her arm in his, and led the way to the theater. He could see the line from far away - so many couples! And above all those people loomed the enormous movie poster: a man and a woman passionately staring into each other's eyes in the rain, just about to kiss. So cheesy. Mamoru tried to stifle a laugh - he didn't want to insult Usagi for her taste in movies... But goodness, they were so far off regarding cinema! He wasn't the stereotypical action/violence-loving male, but purely romantic movies seemed too lacking in substance to him.

"Two tickets for The Notebook, please", Mamoru said to the lady behind the counter. She handed him two small pieces of paper and immediately gestured to the next couple behind them.

"There you go!" 

He passed the tickets to Usagi, and then added:

"You go find our seats and I'll go get us some popcorn"

In all honesty, Mamoru was hungry. Usagi had eaten most of his lunch along with her own; and now the popcorn was an excuse to make his stomach stop grumbling. He sat in line again and left with one large bag of fresh, hot, delicious-smelling popcorn, and two Cokes.

When he entered the theater the lights were already down and a big, square-chinned American soldier said "What are you willing to die for?" on the screen. Epic music erupted and some red writing flashed over some abstract war scenes. A scrawny younger soldier dropped to his knees in front of an explosion with the camera behind him. The voice-over wisely said "I'm not scared of Hell. War is Hell." And then the title flashed over with a thunderous sound effect, followed by "In theaters Summer 2015". Mamoru sighed in exasperation, but he was happy he could easily avoid that disaster of a movie - none of his or Usako's friends liked this sort of stuff.

Then, as he finally reached his seat, the lights started to dim even more, signaling the start of the film. He handed Usagi her drink and placed the popcorn between them, and "The Notebook" began.

 Usagi smiled as Mamoru bought the movie tickets. He was so kind to her and she loved him for putting up with all her childish antics. She went to go find seats for them in the theatre. She was lucky to find 2 seats in the middle of the theatre. Usagi paid no attention to the trailers. She was happy when Mamoru came in with the popcorn and soda.

The movie started off sweet, Noah and Allie instantly touched Usagi's heart and her eyes were glued to the screen as she watched their story play out. When Allie and Noah had their first fight it kind of reminded Usagi of the days of the past when her and Mamoru were broken up. Luckily the two got back together for a brief moment. Usagi was glad the room was dark because when Allie and Noah snuck off to that old abandoned house and slept together, Usagi's fsce turned bright red. She hoped Mamoru hadn't noticed.

One of the most touching scenes for Usagi was when Allie and Noah unite after years and she learned he fixed up the house they had talked about, which was also the house they snuck off to and slept together at many years ago.

If you're a bird, I'm a bird. Something about this quote spoke deeply to Usagi as she glanced over to Mamoru who was sitting next to her. He was her rock, her everything and she couldn't imagine her life without him.

The rest of the movie passed, but by the end Usagi was in tears when she realized the man was Noah and he was reading to Allie who had developed Alzheimers and couldn't remember him until the very end and then the two sadly passed in each others arms. It was very touching for Usagi and she hoped that the love she and Mamoru shared could last through everything like Noah's and Allies. 

As they left the theatre, Usagi was still wiping tears from her face. She walked next to Mamoru, and laced her fingers with his. "that was such a good movie Mamo-chan, oh it was so sad, but so beautiful. Allie and Noah reminded me so much of you and I, oh Mamo-chan- I hope our love will last forever like theirs." she said as she began to grow happier as they walked back onto the street into the summer sun.

That movie was depressing. The two end up together but then you realize that the old man telling the story is Noah, and that the old Alzheimers patient is Allie. And they both die at the very end... No wonder Usako cried her eyes out! As they were leaving the cinema, she was still wiping the tears off her face and sniffling.

"That was such a good movie Mamo-chan," she said to him, "Oh it was so sad; but so beautiful! Allie and Noah reminded me so much of you and I..." she sniffled again, but this time didn't even seem to notice the toll the film had had on her body.

"Well... It was better than that vampire movie you made me watch", Mamoru answered.

But then again, he was pretty sure that watching grass grow was better than that vampire movie.

"I hope our love will last forever, like theirs", Usagi said.

Mamoru gave her a knowing look, checking to see if the young woman realized the irony in her words. When he got no response to the perhaps too subtle gesture, he said:

"You and I are the epitome of a relationship that lasts forever, bun-head."

Okay, that came out wrong. Very wrong.

"Ahm, what I mean is... Well, you know. We were together before we were even born, before our parents and the world as we know it, were even born. I doubt anyone could beat that."

Mamoru then took a long pause, thinking to himself. And after a few minutes he added:

"You know what I don't like about these romance stories? Generally speaking? They're too much about grand gestures and little moments in time - the characters doing something crazy or out-of-this-world romantic together. We were never like that, not even in our prehistoric incarnation. I never made you do outlandish things like lie in the middle of a road at night or climb up on the very ledge of a ship at sea. We were always just perfect for each other and we didn't need magic carpet rides to prove it to one another... I think real love is... well, like this! Small, casual... but constant and permanent. Not like the fictional series of passionate outbursts that we see in movies or read about in romance novels. Do you understand what I mean, Usako?"

Usagi turned her head to listen to Mamoru as he spoke. Mamoru was so wise in her eyes and when he spoke of their love, she couldn’t help but smile because she knew he was right. Their love had transcended love and they had been born again just to find each other.

She smiled and blushed bit remembering their past lives, mostly for how much trouble she had gotten in for sneaking off to Earth just to spend a moment in Endymion’s arms. Their love had been the most real thing Usagi knew and she felt that it would continue to be that way. Yes there were times they didn’t always agree, but she was trying really hard to be more mature and understand things from Mamoru’s viewpoint.

Usagi nodded her head in agreement when Mamoru had explained what he didn’t like about all the romance movies. She couldn’t resist adding in on his thoughts about the magic carpets, “but Mamo-chan, won’t you take me wonder by wonder?” she asked her voice sing songy as she slowly moved away from him in a twirling motion followed by excessive giggling….”sorry I couldn’t resist” she said as she made her way back to him, wrapping an arm around his back.

She really did appreciate the small moments she shared with Mamoru, sure the grand gestures were great, but Usagi would be lying if she said she didn’t like getting texts or voicemails from Mamo-chan.


She walked with him, staying close to him. The afternoon was drawing to a close and the sun was beginning to set. Usagi caught a glimpse of the sunset and stopped for a moment, “look Mamo-chan, the sun is setting again, I just love the sky this time of day, its just so beautiful, don’t you think?” Once he responded she smiled again as she said, “now how about some ice cream, I am ready for a sweet treat.”

Mamoru laughed out loud at Usagi's little Jasmine moment. The girl loved anything animated - be it Japanese or Western - so it was very fitting for her to pick up on that cue and start singing happily. Nodding with enthusiasm, Usako seemed to agree with Mamoru's opinions on romance, so he didn't feel the need to elaborate any further. But hearing himself just now, he was reminded of the days of Tuxedo Kamen - when moralizing speeches were his specialty... That guy really knew how to sweep a girl off her feet. Sometimes literally. As Mamoru, all he had up his sleeves was... ice cream and "The Notebook". How sad.

"Look Mamo-chan, the sun is setting again. I just love the sky this time of day... it's just so beautiful, don’t you think?"

"Absolutely", said Mamoru, still lost in thought.

"Now how about some ice cream, I am ready for a sweet treat."

Mamoru stopped for a beat and looked around them, trying to estimate time and distance. 

"Hmmm... I think I have an idea. Come with me!"

He took Usagi by the hand and they ran up the street, around a corner, and into a hotel. When Usagi had mentioned the sun starting to set, she had given Mamoru an idea. This was sure to be a hit with her! It was still early - early enough that the sunset colors and lights were only now starting to grow in intensity... This hotel had a very nice Swiss Cafe on its terrace - its very high terrace. If they hurried now, they could watch the entire sunset over this area of Tokyo, while enjoying their ice creams.

"Don't worry, you'll love this", he said, leading his girlfriend into the elevator and pushing the last button on the panel.

When the doors opened, he asked the waiter for a table on the outside terrace, next to the railing. Since he already knew the Cafe, he also knew that was the perfect spot: the railing in this place was made of glass - so it was safe, but also allowed full visibility to the city. From up here, they could see the park, the buildings close to them and the ones in a distance, and somewhere up that hill, they might even be able to make out Usagi's roof.

Sitting down on one side of the table, Mamoru told the waiter to bring them the "Desserts" menu, and then turned to Usagi:

"So... Pretty nifty, right? You mentioned the sunset so..."

Usagi ran as fast as her legs would carry her to keep up with Mamoru. She wondered where he was headed in such a hurry. When he led her through a hotel door and onto the elevator her heart began to race. She wasn’t sure what he had planned but appreciated the time she had in the elevator to catch her breath.

When she and Mamoru stepped off the elevator onto the terrace, Usagi sucked in a breath, for out the window was the most beautiful view of the sunset, she could ever remember seeing.  She walked over to the glass and looked out the window. She was in awe, you could see the entire Tokyo skyline, the view was so beautiful, it took Usagi’s breath away.
After a moment of admiring the sunset, Usagi sat back down and smiled at Mamoru. After the waiter brought the menus out, Usagi looked it over and she had her heart set out on ice cream, but she saw the decadent chocolate brownie with a scoop of ice cream and she knew she had to have it. She looked up at Mamoru, her eyes filled with wonder, something like a child on Christmas, “can I get this?” she asked as she turned the menu to show it to Mamoru, pointing to the chocolate ice cream and brownie.

When Mamoru mentioned the view, Usagi beamed up at Mamoru, “oh Mamoru its so beautiful up here, you can see forever, and the sky is just so beautiful, its like our view goes on forever, how did you find this place?” she asked
As they waited for their desserts, Usagi began to grow a bit nervous for some reason, she wasn’t sure why but suddenly she realized she was alone on the terrace with Mamoru and it made her heart beat a bit faster.


She played with her straw before drinking some water, before asking, “do you want to do anything else after this or should we maybe call it a night after this, I still need to get my things ready for tomorrow and figure out what I am going to wear to my internship orientation. I am so nervous, all they told me is I would be doing counseling, but I’m just so nervous. Do you have a busy first day tomorrow Mamo-chan, she asked. As she looked up at Mamoru, the sun was hitting his features in a way that almost intensified them. His eyes sparkled a deep blue and the way he had looked at Usagi made her heart beat more rapidly. She truly was lucky to have someone as great as Mamoru by her side.

Mamoru wasn't at all shocked that his sweet-tooth of a girlfriend wanted more than just regular ice-cream. He'd also noticed the brownie in the menu and it did look absolutely delicious: the kind that has hot chocolate cream on the inside, dripping out at the first touch of a spoon. However, Mamoru couldn't resist teasing Usagi a bit:

"But don't blame me when you get cavities!"

He scanned the menu for himself: while everything did look delicious, he wasn't in the mood for anything too sweet or too... plentiful. He was still a bit hungry from earlier, but Mamoru always made a point of not over-indulging when his stomach asked for nourishment. It was the best way to put on weight and getting fat was definitely not on his to-do list. He took a look at the "Hot Drinks" section of the menu and found a nice big latte for himself.

"She'll have the Ice-Cream Brownie Souffle and a large Frappe with extra cream. And I'll have the large Latte. Please, no sugar in mine. Thank you," Mamoru said to the waiter, handing him back the menus and bowing his head slightly to the side as a sign of gratitude for the service provided. 

Usagi was admiring the view, her eyes glued to the glass separating them from the rest of Tokyo. She asked how he'd found this place.

"A friend of mine designed the furniture for this cafe. It was his first big project and he wanted to show it off, so he invited me and a few others here to celebrate. Five grown men sitting in a delicate romantic cafe, eating profiterole out of heart-shaped spoons and enjoying every minute of it. That was us. I haven't been here since then, but I remember that both the drinks and the foods were very good... and abundant."

"Do you want to do anything else after this, or should we maybe call it a night?" Usagi asked. "I still need to get my things ready for tomorrow and figure out what I am going to wear to my internship orientation... I am so nervous, all they told me is I would be doing counseling, but I’m just so nervous!" - and she looked nervous! "Do you have a busy first day tomorrow, Mamo-chan?"

"No, I doubt it. After the start of the year ceremony - you know, speeches, presentations, a lot of blabber about how awesome the University is and how its students are the best students to ever walk the face of the Earth - after that they'll probably give us our textbooks and the list of separate books we need to buy... and then send us home. Courses won't be officially active until the end of the week - for now we'll just be sorting out paperwork and organizing our classes together with our professors."

Mamoru already knew the routine. It wasn't his first year in college and judging by his friends' accounts, it was the same everywhere.

"I wouldn't worry if I were you. Oh, and please don't get frightened when professors announce that only the brightest make it to the end of the college experience. That's just meant to scare you into ambition... Generally, if you do your coursework, attend your classes, and do your best in exams, you'll pass everything. Don't worry too much..."

Then he paused for a bit and continued:

"But yes, maybe it's best to call it a night after we're done here. You can stop by my place tomorrow afternoon, if you want. Tell me about your first day and..."

Mamoru's speech was cut short by the arrival of their order.

He remembered the "abundant" part of his cafe description when he saw what the waiter had brought them. Usagi's ice-cream brownie was huge: several scoops of ice cream decorating one side of the plate, forming a crescent moon shape; chocolate sauce laced all over them; a fist-sized brownie close to the center of the plate; and decorating the other part (for composition's sake), three chocolate biscuit sticks. The frappe was equally huge: a big glass of milk/chocolate/coffee mix - to Mamoru's estimations the liquid itself was probably 0.5-0.6 liters. The insides of the glass were laced with chocolate syrup, and then the syrup continued to lace the huge amount of cream on top. Finishing the ensemble were two smaller chocolate biscuit sticks and two colorful straws: one very thick and one very thin. Mamoru's latte was also in the 0.5 liter area, but it was only milk and coffee - to his relief!

"Umm... that's A LOT of sugar, Usako. Don't... feel obliged to finish it all if you don't want to. No, really, I don't want to see you getting sick on my watch."

Usagi listened as Mamoru told her about how he had come to find this place. She was happy he did, it would become one of her favorite places to be as the view was astonishing. Usagi could see the moon in the horizon, making its way to greet the city. Usagi smiled at the moon, remembering of times past when  she has both been on the moon and snuck off to Earth to be with Endymion for a moment.

Usagi’s eyes widened when she was presented with the brownie and frappe. Even she wondered if she would be able to consume all of that sugary goodness. Usagi picked up her spoon and scooped a part of brownie and ice cream up into her mouth. She closed her eyes and let out a sound to indicate the food she was eating was delicious. She drank some of her frappe, but with all the creamy food her throat was a bit parched and she asked the waiter to bring her another glass of water.

Usagi sipped her water before continuing to eat her brownie. She finished her brownie, but could only drink a bit of the frappe because all of the sugar was beginning to set in and she decided to stop before she got a stomach ache. She put her utensil down after scooping the last of the whip cream out of her frappe. She didn’t know it, but she had a trace of whip cream just above her lips.


She turned her gaze back to Mamoru, she smiled up at him as she spoke, “thank you for the sweet treat Mamo-chan, this was truly a great surprise.” She said with a smile on her face. She stood to get ready to leave as she walked over to Mamoru, “are you ready to head out?” she asked after Mamoru paid for their desserts?

Usagi's eyes had widened to resemble saucers when the desserts came in, and Mamoru worried that she would view all that sugar as a challenge. Luckily though, the girl had grown to know her limits. She asked the waiter for water, to help wash down the brownie, and Mamoru silently approved. She then took her time in sipping from the frappe, but soon she concentrated only on the whipped cream on top. Mamoru watched her pick up the cream with the mini-spoon provided by the thicker straw. The girl then proceeded to lick the length of the straw one last time, to be sure she got all of the cream before giving up on the drink altogether. Any other woman would've made that gesture look... inappropriate. But Usagi... let's just say that ship sailed when she wound up with a big chunk of chocolate-y cream on her upper lip.

Mamoru let out a small laugh and leaned in for a creamy kiss, without telling Usagi that she had a little something on her lips. He then finished the last of his own latte and left the money - tip included - in the little "booklet" the receipt had come with.

Usagi thanked him for the treat and he replied:

"I hope you liked it. Maybe we can come here again sometime."

And when Usagi asked if he was ready to go, he just gestured a comical "after you" and followed the young woman's flowing blond pigtails. Once out of the hotel, the two had to part ways - at first Mamoru thought of offering to escort Usagi to her apartment block. But he'd noticed earlier how nervous and hurried she was, and decided that it may be better to give her some time to herself.

"I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then. Don't worry, Usako, you'll be fine. Please try to get some sleep, don't just sit around the house all night, fretting!"

He leaned in for a hug and kiss and when he felt Usagi was ready to let go, he gave her a teasing pat on the head and turning around to leave, said:

"Knock'em dead!"

Walking home that evening, Mamoru felt light-hearted. The sky was a lovely combination of navy blue and pink-ish purple, still partially ablaze from the dramatic sunset earlier. The air was a little bit chilly - but the way that fresh spring and autumn air can be chilly - relaxing, pleasant. Soothing. 

Mamoru walked past clothes shops and toy shops and even a shop filled with anime and manga figures. He slowed down a bit here, looking at the wonderfully sculpted and painted plastic. He knew that inside there must be some more questionable figures; but in the shop window he only saw fairies and dragons and dancers - some of them were little works of art. He then sped up again, passing by a shoe shop and a pet store. Sometimes those places emitted smells that did not please Mamoru. He was now close to the intersection, where he would turn right and enter his own neighborhood. Just one shop left, a jewelry store: all lights and reflections and rainbows. Mamoru never gave them much thought - after all, he'd seen the Universe's most powerful crystals up close... It'd take some serious craftsmanship for a jewel to impress him now! But as he was about to pass the shop and carry on his way home, Mamoru got an idea. A crazy idea. The sort of idea that normal people plan for months before doing anything... But Mamoru didn't need the planning and the drama - it just felt right. He stopped and went in.

Usagi’s face turned bright red when Mamoru leaned in and kissed her. She closed her eyes for a moment as she kissed him back.  It wasn’t that she was embarrassed, well maybe she was. She felt like even though she had been dating Mamoru for some time now, even the smallest things, such as a brief kiss still gave her butterflies and made her heart beat quicken.

Usagi smiled when Mamoru told her he hoped they could go there again. As they walked out of the hotel, Usagi felt a cool summer breeze blowing across her ankles. When Mamoru told Usagi not to worry too much about her first day back and that she needed to try and get some sleep, she nodded and replied, “I will do my best Mamo-chan, I even set an alarm so I don’t wake up late and go to class late.” She said matter-of-factly feeling quite proud of herself.  Before parting ways with Mamoru she raised on her tiptoes and gently kissed him.  She wrapped her arms around him in a light hug before she turned and went home. 

When Mamoru patted her head, Usagi couldn’t help but stick her tongue out back at him. She smiled once more before she turned and made her way to her own apartment. Usagi still wasn’t used to living on her own and even though she still went and stayed with her parents on the weekend, she missed having someone around to talk to when she got home. Part of that loneliness sparked her to buy a cat. Luna had been returned to her human form along with Artemis and they were happily enjoying each other’s company. Usagi bought a Siamese kitten from the local shelter one day and it had been love at first sight. She named her kitten Nala because she had the energy of a baby lion.

Usagi walked through her apartment door soon enough after leaving the hotel. She slipped off her shoes and slipped into her slippers. She called out to her kitten who came tearing out of Usagi’s room to greet her. 

Usagi sent a text to Mamoru- “Just wanted to let you know I made it home okay Mamo-chan, hope you made it home okay as well. <3” she sent the text as she started humming to a love song she had heard on the radio all week. Her little Nala ran away, scared of the noise Usagi was making. Usagi laughed as she walked through her apartment to her room. She got her things ready and took a shower. She was singing romantic songs through the whole shower. She came out and dried off, slipped into her pajamas and went to blow dry her hair.

Once her hair was dry, Usagi prepared her messenger bag and binder for the first day of school. She had two classes and orientation for her internship tomorrow and wanted everything to be organized for the first day. She had asked Ami for tips to help be more organized with her studies and her tips were paying off.

Once Usagi was convinced her bag was ready, she grabbed Nala and climbed into her bed, after turning off the light. She tossed and turned for hours thinking about the first day of school. Eventually she fell asleep and drifted off into dreamland.

"Just wanted to let you know I made it home okay Mamo-chan, hope you made it home okay as well. <3" said the text on Mamoru's phone.

"Nope, I've been kidnapped by terrorists!" was the reply he first typed out. Mamoru liked to make fun of Usagi when she was unnecessarily worried about things - particularly about his well-being. However, rereading the text he decided it was too sarcastic. So he deleted the writing, replacing it with "Never been better ". Sent.

Mamoru was in a cheery mood. First thing he did when he got home was hide the little velvet-y magenta box: if Usagi was coming by tomorrow, he didn't want her to find it lying around! He then took off his jacket and T-shirt, gathered his things, and hopped into the shower. Thoughts of Usagi even followed him here, where complete privacy should normally be a given. Again, not the type of thoughts one would expect - nothing sensual... Instead, his issues were practical: his girlfriend's shampoos and conditioners and gels and scrubs and creams and bubble baths and perfumes and treatments and oils were everywhere! The girl spent a total of 3-5 nights a month at his place and yet her stuff drowned out any remaining space for his own things. Mamoru was not in the mood for moving things around, so he just pushed into a wall of colorful bottles, hoping to stack them together better and give himself some space. Yeah, right. Instead of helping his cause, some of the bottles fell from their place and into the tub. He wound up playing Tetris with the bottles for the good part of half an hour, finally managing to cram his own two bottles into the stack. While washing he had to pay extra attention where and in what position he placed things. It's not that he had a problem with her gels and shampoos - he was sure they were all great quality and nice and everything! But Mamoru just didn't wanna go out smelling like strawberries... So it was mandatory for him to at least have two things: his own gel and his own shampoo. Neither of which smelled like strawberries. Or vanilla. Or lily of the valley. Or hyacinths. Or goodness knew what other fantastic fragrances those bottles had inside of them.

Once clean and dry, Mamoru made sure he had everything prepared for tomorrow. He knew courses wouldn't be starting officially for at least a couple more days, but he wanted to be properly prepared just in case he had some extra-serious professor this semester. With his briefcase ready and tomorrow's clothes lined up neatly, Mamoru was ready for bed. In his PJs he opened his laptop to check his email and - of course - his Facebook account. He spent about 20-30 minutes on there, but there was nothing interesting going on. Some of his friends had tagged themselves in restaurants to show off, others were posting about social issues, a couple of puppies were up for adoption... and one of his University colleagues was warning about muggers in their area. Mamoru quickly scanned her story and continued to scroll past images of food and someone's movie review... And then he decided he'd had enough for the day and shut down the laptop. 

Mamoru fell asleep almost instantly.

Usagi woke up late the next morning, but luckily not too late. She scrambled to get ready, trying on at least 6 different outfits. She settled for a black pleated skirt that went to her knees, a pink blouse and her white cardigan with pink polka dots.

Usagi fed her cat Nala, packed her own lunch, grabbed a water and her things before she headed out to school.

Usagi walked to the bus stop and got on the bus that was just a short way from the university. Usagi walked to her first class of the day feeling excited and nervous for her first class. She decided to text Mamoru before going into the classroom.

“about to go to my first class, wish me luck. Hope you have a wonderful first day Mamo-chan, XOXO- Usa”

Usagi silenced her phone and walked into the classroom. It was packed but she found an empty seat next to a girl who introduced herself as Minami. Usagi chatted with Minami briefly before class started. It was just a general social work class that was a basic review of the world of social work as well as the type of conditions kids and adolescents face where social workers step in and intervene in the situation.

Her next class was psychology. Usagi sat almost in a dazed stupor, the professor moving so rapidly through the syllabus and assignments, Usagi couldn’t process what she was talking about and Usagi was a bit intimidated by the class, she felt like it would be too difficult for her, she was extremely happy when she left that class, because she had a break and could grab some coffee.

While at the café she sat gazing out the window deep in thought, thinking about her classes, the ones she had for the day and the ones she would have later in the day. She was also thinking about Mamoru and how much she had wanted to see him despite the fact that it had only been a day since she saw him. Usagi was brought back to reality when she heard someone sit across from her, it was Minami from earlier.

Usagi talked with Minami and discovered that she also was in the internship with Usagi, but Minami was interning for psychology. Usagi smiled wondering if Minami would help her with psychology, but Usagi wanted to get to know the girl first. They chatted briefly and then walked to the other side of campus for their internship orientation.

Usagi had been excited about the internship, but when she learned about the cases she would be working with, her heart sank. She couldn’t believe that there were people in the world who were so cruel to hurt their children. Usagi had to hold back the tears she felt welling in her eyes, if she cried she might be dismissed for being too emotional, but Usagi had wanted to do this, it would help people.

Usagi was led to a cubicle office and handed a stack of 4 folders. They were for the kids that Usagi would be meeting up with the following week. Usagi had decided to go the counseling route until she learned more about her role as a social worker. Usagi’s heart broke in half when she read about a young girl who’s mom had thrown her out a window, and a young boy who was abandoned at a supermarket, Usagi had to step away for a minute when she read the next file for one of her kids she would be meeting with, what was in the file made her sick to her stomach and she couldn’t ever imagine someone would be so sick to do that to their relative. After getting some air, Usagi read her last case folder which wasn’t too sad, there was a young boy who had lost his parents and they were trying to find somewhere for him to stay permanently.


The last case file made her think of Mamoru. Once Usagi left her internship, she pulled out her phone and texted Mamoru, “hey Mamo-chan- hope your day is going well. I was wondering if you would be free later tonight, maybe we can do dinner or something J let me know.” She hit send as she strolled around campus before going to her last class of the day.

Mamoru woke up before the alarm went off, and he extended a lazy arm towards the clock on his nightstand, to see how much longer he had to sleep. He had... 3 more minutes. How sadistic, waking up three small minutes before your alarm went off! He set off the alarm, happy to at least avoid its hysterics. Usagi's mum had given him that clock a year or so ago, when she was going through a "buy everyone clocks" phase - and the sounds it made could wake up the dead.

He got up and spent a few more minutes on the edge of the bed, trying to wake up properly. Then he walked to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and got ready, put on his clothes, and Mamoru was ready to head out. It was still early so he stopped to buy himself some coffee.

The day itself progressed normally - pretty much the way he'd expected it to. Mamoru and Usagi went to different schools - while hers followed the American system, his was more European at heart. That, coupled with the pride and arrogance associated with those studying Medicine ("we save lives!"), led to some annoyingly "majestic" events every time the school had an opportunity: start of the year, start of the semester, end of the semester, important guest in the school, important Medical event in the city, etc etc etc. Basically, his professors loved to hold a mic and strut around a stage in an amphitheater filled with not-yet-awake students, talking about the importance of their jobs (because up until that point, surely none of them had any idea that doctors were important!). The "start of the year" ceremony was more aimed towards those starting their first year: to make that clear, they even had a reserved area in the front. The professors liked to horrify young students, telling them how hard their courses were going to be, how few actually get to finish this University out of the ones who start, how not everyone who thinks has seen enough SAW movies to not care about gore actually has the stomach to attend these classes... And of course, at the end, the speech about their school being "prestigious" and their students superior to other students. Bla bla bla, yadda yadda yadda. 

Needless to say, Mamoru didn't like the elitist vibe in his school, though he did suspect it had had an influence on him and his behavior - whether he liked it or not. 

"I think old man Tenma is going to have a heart attack on stage", Mamoru texted Usagi.

He'd told her about this professor - an old, sour man who took pleasure in torturing his students and believed himself to be the alpha and omega. If you weren't very good at his class you were in trouble. However, if you had a tight hold of the subject he was teaching, you were not only safe, but were also guaranteed some serious fun at his courses: watching him get angry that he couldn't catch you unable to answer his questions was a delight! 

Finally, the students were told that a list of textbooks and other necessary publications was to be sent to their official University email addresses later tomorrow; and that their schedules would show up on the University website later in the week. They were such a "prestigious" school, Mamoru thought, and yet they weren't capable of sorting these things out before the school year began...

After the ceremony was over and the first-years looked mortified enough, Mamoru was invited to have some coffee with his colleagues. He happily accepted and half an hour later he was sitting crammed between a friend and a stranger, on a cafe sofa, drinking one of the 20 lattes the barristas had prepared for their group. Mamoru always had lattes or cappuccinos - he wasn't a big fan of either black coffee, nor sugary things like frappes and hot chocolates. Middle-ground was perfect for him. 

His colleagues did all the talking. Mostly they chatted about their summers: what countries they had visited, what exotic beaches they had swam on - that sort of thing. Truth be told, most of his colleagues were either rich, or pretending to be rich. One of the girls was warning against muggers again, but the men at the table rolled their eyes and changed the subject to something happier: someone's girlfriend was pregnant! Yay! Mamoru personally thought that having children without having your life in order was irresponsible and cruel towards the child, but he smiled a fake happy smile at the proud future-daddy and internally hoped the subject would change again or the group would break off and he'd be able to leave. He wasn't able to leave but the subject did change... In the next two hours Mamoru learned everything there was to know about all of his professors' personal lives. How fascinating. 

Finally, people seemed to be getting bored of each other's presence and a certain type of "I wanna leave now" silence set upon them. When someone proposed he should ask for the check, everyone said "yes" just a little bit too quickly. Mamoru was relieved when he could finally leave the group without seeming like a party-pooper... He texted Usagi to see how she was doing and set off for his apartment, where he would wait for her:

"How are you? Still on for tonight? :-) "

Usagi had just got on the bus to head home when she got Mamoru’s text. She smiled at her phone as she text him back, “of course Mamo-chan, I would love to spend time with you, I just have to go home and drop some things off and feed Nala, but then I will be over, plus I want to hear all about your day. J” she hit send as she smiled and was in a dream world for a moment. Usagi loved many things, especially spending time with Mamoru.

Usagi got off the bus a moment later and walked to her apartment. She was greeted by a hungry Nala. Usagi slipped off her shoes and pet her cat. She walked to the kitchen and got some food. Usagi changed her clothes. She slipped into her dark wash skinny jeans, she had chosen these jeans or rather Minako had helped her choose them saying they made her curves look good, or something of the sort. Usagi had never doubted her fashion sense but the senshi of love had insisted Usagi step up her game and apparently Usagi needed to dress more to accentuate her, as Minako put it, her cute body. Just looking in the mirror while in thought was enough to make Usagi blush.

Next Usagi rummaged through her shirts and remembered a shirt Makoto had gotten for her on her past birthday. Usagi hadn’t worn it yet, she was a bit nervous to wear the shirt, but Makoto said that if she wore that shirt when she was with Mamoru he would be happy. Usagi slipped into the shirt and pulled it up, she couldn’t figure out why the shirt had no straps and why it was quite low cut, but she thought if Mamoru would be happy seeing her in the shirt, then she would wear it.

Usagi slipped into her little black ankle boots. She walked over and touched up what little make-up she was wearing. She felt so bare with her arms and shoulders exposed. Usagi took part of her hair down, golden waves cascading down her back. It made her feel  a bit better to not be so exposed, that and she had been experimenting more with her hair lately. She put a small touch of perfume on before grabbing her clutch bag and leaving her apartment.

Usagi took the next bus to the neighborhood Mamoru lived in. As she neared his apartment, her heartbeat began to increase, why was she so nervous? Was it even nerves or was she just so happy to be spending time with her beloved that her heart skipped a beat?

Usagi walked into Mamoru’s building and got on the elevator to the floor Mamoru lived on. She got off and walked towards his apartment.


She smoother her shirt and adjusted her hair before she gave a knock on his door.

It was going to take a little longer until Usagi reached Mamoru's place, and he was perfectly fine with that. He had plenty of time to tidy up the apartment and think about his plans for dinner. He didn't have anything fancy planned, and he definitely didn't have the time or the supplies to cook anything. So, because of that and because they were, after all, young people making a life alone, he decided he was just fine with takeout. Mamoru knew Usagi wouldn't object either, so he just gathered a few menus and let them out on the table, to let her decide what she wanted to order when she got there. 

Then he went into the bathroom, armed with a black permanent marker. He was in a cheery mood, and the bottle situation in there was out of control, so he'd thought of a funny way of telling Usagi that she might want to help him out a bit... He opened each bottle by taking the plastic lids off, and checked how much content was still in them. As suspected, half the bottles were already empty. So on each empty bottle, Mamoru drew a sad or scared face, and wrote a small message such as "Please don't throw me out", "I am no longer useful" or "Don't let them know I'm empty".

You're not going to throw me away, are you? :

As he was looking at his masterpiece with the pride of a 5-year-old who just did something that's gonna get him in trouble, there was a knock on the door. Mamoru didn't have time to turn off the bathroom light and close the door, so he ran into the hallway, opened the door for Usagi, said an almost automatic "Hey, Usako!" and turned around to finish disguising his masterpiece. However, he didn't even get to the bathroom before he did a double-take and looked at Usagi more attentively. A short pause.

"Wow, you look good!" he said admiringly. "But come on in, don't just stand there!"

Mamoru turned off the bathroom light, closed the door, and followed Usagi into the living room. She wore a pink frilly top that looked both sensual and innocent. The top was very Usagi, but the jeans, while sexy, were atypical to the girl who wore skirts even in winter. Mamoru liked the change, but he wondered if the young woman felt "in her element". Her hair was also styled differently. It looked wonderful but again, Mamoru did wonder if his girlfriend felt okay with this look. 

"Okay, so... I hope you don't mind ordering food? There's a bunch of menus on the table over there - just pick whatever you like and I'll call to order."

After the food part was out of the way and Mamoru had called to order, he sat down on the sofa next to Usagi and asked:

"So tell me: how was your first day? It seems you've survived but hey, I may be speaking to a spirit for all I know". He laughed a bit and then eyed Usagi warmly as a sign that, while he was joking about the spirit part, he did want to know how her day had been.

Usagi beamed at Mamoru when he opened the door and invited him in. She was so happy to see him after her first day of school. When he told her that they were ordering take-out and told her to look at the menus, Usagi slipped off her boots and walked over to look at the menus.

Everything she looked at looked delicious, she saw a menu that had udon noodles with veggies and chicken. “How about this Mamo-chan?” she asked pointing to the food, “and look they even have desserts,” she said with a hopeful smile.

She handed the menu to Mamoru and waited while he ordered. Once he came back and sat with her, he asked how her day had gone. Usagi was glad to share her day with him and hoped he would tell her about his day afterwards.

“Well it went quite well, the classes seem like they will be okay, but my psychology professor, he went so fast, I don’t even know what he talked about today. He read the syllabus, but none of it made sense. Oh and I met a nice girl in one of my classes, her name is Minami and she is studying psychology, but she is working with the older students where my internship is. And English class, Mamo-channnnnnnnnnnnn why do I have to take more English, I thought I would be free of English after I graduated high school,” she whined a bit before adding, “but the professor seems nice enough and said she would help out where we needed help so that makes me feel a bit better.”

Usagi paused for a moment before telling him about her internship, she was trying to collect her thoughts. “Orientation went well too, they told us a lot of information but they also gave us a handbook with the orientation documents in it, that will help because we know sometimes I can forget things. The director even showed me to my little cubicle today and he gave me the files to read on the kids I will be mentoring and talking with….” She paused as she felt her lip begin to quiver, sometimes having sucha  big heart for others had its downside.

“I..I don’t know if I can do this Mamo-chan, I read those files, and I just don’t know that  I am cut out for this.  Why are people so cruel Mamo-chan, and to their children, why would someone hurt their child, children are the most innocent beings, how could someone hurt their child?” She could feel herself getting worked up as she felt the tears welling to her eyes, great just great, Usagi why do you have to cry over everything, here Mamoru invites you for dinner and you turn into a crybaby moments later. She thought as she drew in a breath to calm herself.


“One of the kids, her mother threw her through a window, another child was abandoned at the supermarket, one child, no I can’t say- its too cruel how could anyone do something that sick to a child,” Usagi didn’t know how to phrase the child she was talking about’s situation but she hopes Mamoru would figure it out. “The last child, he has no one Mamo-chan- they are working to find a relative but they can’t find anyone, this little boy’s parents were killed in a car accident and he’s all alone and has no one. Mamo-chan I just don’t think I can do this, my heart just breaks for these kids, how can I possibly help them if I can’t even keep from wanting to cry when I read their file?” She said as the tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"Don't worry about Psychology... I can help you out with it. And besides, once you get the main ideas it's an easy class. I had to take it during my first year at University and while it wasn't as insightful as I'd hoped, it was definitely interesting... Since you're all beginners I assume you'll be talking about the absolute basics in your first semester: Freud, Jung... conscious and subconscious, archetypes, and so on." Mamoru let out a small laugh and continued: "Just wait until they start talking about Freud... The guy was mental! He was this raging misogynist and assumed that his ideas about women were law even though most women would argue that they're silly. He even said that women have this inborn jealousy of... certain male parts. And he coined a term for it and used the notion like its existence was a given... Anyway, point is, he had an obsession and once you start learning about his ideas you'll probably want to punch someone."

"Jung was nicer but had other obsessions. You'll like him. He was into spiritism and believed in unknown forces and spirits. Hm, actually, come to think of it... he might've been on to something."

"And I'm sure your favorite part of the course will be once you get into the Temperaments and the Myers-Briggs personality types. It's kinda like zodiac signs, only instead of being based on your birth date, it's based on questionnaires that you fill out."

"Umm... I can help you out with English, too. But... don't you think it's about time you got a better handle of this language on your own, Usako? Join some online communities and force yourself to speak the language - the entire Internet is in English! In today's world it's a handicap to not speak it..."

Ever since they first met, when Usagi was 14 and Mamoru was 16-17, Usagi had had problems with English. In fact their very first encounter was on behalf of a crumpled-up English test that she had tried to throw away to avoid her parents' anger. It was a failed 30% test and the sad part is, the girl's language hasn't evolved much over the years...

Then Usagi's face got serious. She suddenly seemed worried or upset. Did she have problems at her internship? No. Apparently the internship itself worked out just fine - but Usagi was having a hard time accepting the cases she was given.

Mamoru studied the young woman's body language as she spoke to him about the children in her case files. A poor kid who got thrown out the window by his family. A miracle he even survived, and now there was so much more heartbreak to come... A child that Usagi said suffered unspeakable abuse. Mamoru understood what Usagi meant and a tinge of heartbreak touched even him. He'd known kids in that situation back when he was living at the orphanage. The life-long effects that such events have on anyone - let alone an impressionable young child - were devastating. Mamoru shuddered and listened to the last case that Usagi described: a young boy whose parents died in a car crash. This hit way too close to home. Mamoru lost eye contact with Usagi, lost in his own thoughts and memories.

"Mamo-chan I just don’t think I can do this, my heart just breaks for these kids, how can I possibly help them if I can’t even keep from wanting to cry when I read their file?" Usagi's voice resonated from the present.

Mamoru took a second to re-initiate eye contact and invited Usagi into his arms for a hug. He let her settle her head on his chest and stroked her long hair a few times before he responded:

"I know it's hard... Usako, I was one of the lucky ones. I don't remember my parents, but I only lost them because of a stupid accident. My case was a rare one in the orphanage: I was not haunted by my memories. I did not have nightmares of a drunk father coming home and beating me bloody. Most of my friends from the orphanage came from abusive homes, horrible parents and relatives who mistreated them and traumatized them for life. I know it's hard to hear these stories, but... You, your kind heart, your empathy - this is exactly what these kids have never known, and exactly what they need. Don't let them escape the horrors of their home life only to be shunned into a cold, unforgiving system that only wants to see their papers signed and them out of the system. Listen to them, assess their needs - help them! Each case is different: some are better off at the orphanage, others need foster parents who can offer them something close to a home. And the foster parents... pay attention to them, as well. I've seen kids leave the orphanage and then come back from their foster families or adoptive parents in worse shape than they were when they first arrived..."

Usagi listened as Mamoru told her he would help her with psychology and that the class should be pretty basic. It made her happy to have him in her life, not just because he could help her with her homework, but that he continues to be her rock and her strong hold in life. When everything is messed up she can turn to him and know that he will help her get through the tough times.

She knew he was right when he told her that she had to take some initiative with learning English. It was just such a complicated language and Usagi got so frustrated with it. She glanced over at Mamoru who told her to practice online, “do you think you could help me find some sights, oh Mamo-chan is there anything online like a video game that could help me learn English, I think I could handle it if it were a game,” she said hoping he wouldn’t tease her too harshly, she just felt all the textbooks, tests, and worksheets were so overwhelming, but if she could practice on her own or with others, then it might not be so bad.

After sharing her experience with the internship, Usagi was more than happy when Mamoru pulled her into him for a hug. She wrapped her arms around him as she pressed her face against his chest. She could faintly hear his heartbeat and somehow just being close with him like this made her feel like everything would be okay. Usagi spoke softly, her cheek still resting against his chest, “I will give it my best Mamo-chan, and I think they will have someone in there who is more experienced until I get used to the position. I know it will be hard, but I have to remember how I will be a help to these kids. They are coming to see me to have hope put back in their lives and I can’t do that unless I show them a smile and welcome them warmly and try my best to help make their lives better.” She had shed a few more tears but quickly pulled herself together.


She released her embrace as she turned slightly so she could lean against Mamoru, “so how was your first say back Mamo-chan, I got your text about your professor, but I want to know how the rest of your day went.” She asked her voice carrying a usual cheerful note.

Mamoru was relieved when Usagi asked about online learning methods.

"I've never looked for anything of the sort, but there must be! Maybe I can find you something like a Japanese-English Pimselur... You'd have to talk along with an audio CD. Or better yet, why don't you focus on music lyrics? Music is a pretty good way to memorize things... Oh, or watch animated movies in English, without subs! You already know the lines by heart and maybe through repetition and together with other methods, you'll start grasping the language... I'll look into it tonight or tomorrow afternoon, and I'll send you some links."

The conversation about the internship and the kids she was overseeing was a heavy one, and Mamoru knew they would come back to it as time passed. The truth was, Usagi was perfect for the job. She had the kindness these children needed, and the wisdom to see what was best for each of them. She wasn't the type of person to walk into a situation with a ton of prejudice guiding her way. The toll the cases took on her, emotionally, was going to be big. But in the long run, Mamoru knew this sort of job would be far more rewarding to her than doing paperwork and calculations in some corporate post. Usagi was used to saving people. This was just a different type of saving them...

As she leaned her head against his shoulder and asked how his day had been, Mamoru sighed in relief. He didn't have much to say on the topic, but he was glad to turn his mind away from the other subject.

"Not much happened afterwards, really. Just the usual speeches and such. They said they'd email us our list of textbooks and our schedule but I haven't received anything yet. I'll probably be at home this week, after I've bought my books," Mamoru was a bit disgusted at the snail pace of things in his school. Usagi already had her first course and they were too busy being important and monumental...

"I went for coffee with some of my year-mates. They talked about their summers and their lives... Boring stuff. And... that's about it, really."

They sat in silence for a bit, just happy in each other presence. Then, as Usagi was sitting there, relaxed on his shoulder, Mamoru decided to take her by surprise with a round of tickling. He snuck up his arms around and behind her and before she could tell what his plans were, he dug his fingers into her side and stomach, tickling her into waking; awaiting the start of her giggles.

Usagi was lost in thought as she rested against Mamoru, she was brought back to reality when she felt his hands around her and his tickles spreading from her stomach to her sides. She grabbed his hands in response as giggles escaped her lips.

“M-mamo-chan,” she said through giggles trying to protest his tickles. She tried to get away but it was no use, he had a firm grasp on her. Usagi turned and shifted which only made matters worse, well maybe for her, though she was sure Mamoru was enjoying himself. Usagi was hoping he wouldn’t find her most ticklish spot, her sides and stomach were ticklish enough, but if he found his way to her hips, lower back or her neck it would all be over.

Usagi was now laying on the floor, her legs flailing as she tried to break free of his grasp. She had been laughing so hard, breathing became difficult. Usagi called out through her giggles, “okay okay, I give you win.”  Usagi hoped Mamoru would release her soon.

Usagi realized Mamoru had probably been trying to cheer her up and it worked.  Usagi then thought how lucky she was to have as great a guy as Mamo-chan in her life, he really knew how to put a smile on her face when she was in the saddest of moods.

The effect was better than Mamoru had hoped for. Usagi was giggling wildly, her face red from all the strain in her muscles.

"Okay, okay. I give you win!" she shouted amidst giggles.

"Ooooooh I win, do I?!?" Mamoru said, laughing. He was still tickling her, but slower and with less force, making it clear that if the girl wanted to get up from the floor (and from his tickles) she could easily do so. "What do I win? Eh, Usako?"

He was on his knees on the floor, next to Usagi. Her hair was all over the place - under her body and next to the two of them, and some of it still sprawled over the sofa above them. It looked beautiful. Mamoru rubbed his chin looking at his girlfriend, pretending to be deep in thought.

"Hmmm... I'll settle for a kiss. Nothing more and nothing less," he said with a smile. "Do we have a deal, mademoiselle?"

Usagi was relieved when Mamoru’s tickles slowed. Usagi slowly felt calmer breaths coming from her lips and felt the redness fading from her face. She had been laughing so hard she was crying and had to wipe the tears from her face. Usagi sat up  and looked at Mamoru who looked like he was in deep thought.

Mamoru had been thinking about his victory prize and Usagi sat nervously as he was thinking very quizzically. He had wanted a kiss. Usagi was pleased, a kiss, something simple yet satisfying. She decided it was her turn to toy with him.

“I don’t know, that seems like quite a mighty prize.” She said with a smile as she stood and started to walk away from him. She hoped her tactic would work. She had gotten about three feet behind him, leading him to believe or at least she hoped he was thinking she would not give him his kiss.

She turned around and walked close to him and sat down behind him encitcling him in a hug from behind. Her hair trailing behind her, she leaded over his shoulder and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. She then moved so she was directly across from him. She looked into his eyes for a moment before she wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands playing with the hair at the base of his neck and leaned in for a kiss. She closed her eyes as her lips first softly touched his and then she deepened her kiss a bit to give Mamoru an appropriate kiss for his so called win.


A moment later she pulled away, her face a bit flushed, but she smiled at Mamoru as she said, “there’s your prize Mamo-chan, I hope it was satisfactory,” she said as she crossed her arms and then looked up, only to burst into laughter a few seconds later.

What? No kiss? Usako, you little tease. Mamoru was surprised at her response, but he kinda liked how she was leading him along, using anticipation to make the moment more enjoyable when it did finally come. She got off the carpet and walked around a bit, her hair flowing behind her and the shape of her body visible through the tight jeans and the small top. Mamoru, however, refused to get up and follow her around. Too cartoony. Instead he just stood there and watched her walk behind him, and soon enough he felt her hug him from behind. He liked this! He felt her small warm body against his, felt her flowery perfume, and closed his eyes as her lips touched his cheek from behind. He then turned around a bit as Usagi herself moved to face him, and he was surprised by the deep, passionate kiss she planted on his lips, her hands playing in his hair.

After they separated, she said to him, in a cartoonishly lustful voice: "There’s your prize Mamo-chan, I hope it was satisfactory." Mamoru's eyes grew to be as large as saucers, his eyebrows raised in disbelief, and in a few moments they were both laughing out loud like children.

"Five star rating, Usako! You had me going for a moment there!"

As he said this the doorbell rang. That was their food.

"I'll go get that, and you go ahead and wash up for dinner," Mamoru told her, getting up from the floor and giving Usagi a hand to pull herself up.

He answered the door, took the boxes of food from the delivery boy and paid and tipped him. The two exchanged goodbyes and Mamoru quickly ran with the packages to the living room. As he was doing this, he remembered his masterpiece in the bathroom - the same bathroom Usagi was washing up in. Well... someone was in for a kick in the head - and it wasn't Usagi, nor the delivery boy. He took out the eating utensils as he was getting ready for his punishment to come.

Usagi smiled at Mamoru. Her little plan had worked, she was able to keep him on his toes and she loved every second of it. She walked to the bathroom to wash her hands. While she was washing her hands she caught a glance of something in the mirror. Once she finished washing her hands she dried them and walked over to the shower. She saw all of her shower gels, shampoos and such marked with funny faces. Usagi was a bit confused, but knew there had been a method to Mamoru’s madness.

She playfully stomped out of the bathroom carrying one of the bottles in her hands. “Mamo-chan, just what have you been up to and why are all my bottles marked with sharpie?” She said with some sass, she was teasing him of course, but she was on a roll so she decided to see if he could tell she was playing or if he thought she was serious. She placed her hands on her hips and gave him a glance as her bros furrowed together.

She was able to keep her composure for quite some time before she burst into giggles again. “But seriously Mamo-chan,” she said as she walked over to him bottle still in hand and lightly tapped his shoulder with the bottle. “What is all of this about?” She asked when she saw the food had been delivered.

With an almost who cares attitude about her bottle she walked over and tossed it, she knew Mamoru was a stickler on having a clean apartment and as much as she wanted to set the bottle down she could tell it was practically empty so she decided to part with her precious shower gel.


“Finally I am starving” she said as her eyes widened when she saw all the yummy food before her. “Thank- you for dinner Mamo-chan.” She said with a smile, before adding “itadakimasu” before eating her meal.

He took out the eating utensils as he was getting ready for his punishment to come.


And it sure came fast! In the form of “Mamo-chan, just what have you been up to and why are all my bottles marked with sharpie?”


Ooooh boy. Looking at Usagi Mamoru sighed, wondering what the best response was. The serious "You've got too much stuff in my bathroom"? Now that's a mood killer. The joking "Haha, I was just kidding around before you came, no biggie"? Too... un-Mamoru. Plus unproductive, since the reason he defaced the shampoos in the first place was to prove a point. How about the apologetic "Sorry Usako, it seemed funny at the time"? Yeah, before... you were proven to be heartbroken. Oh and before you slayed me with that kiss.

Usagi lit up fast and tapping him on the shoulder with the empty bottle, she asked: "But seriously Mamo-chan, what is all of this about?"

For a second there Mamoru wondered how she couldn't tell that the bottle was empty when she tapped him on the shoulder with it. But that thought lasted about 0.3 seconds, until Usagi saw the food and lounged into it, throwing the bottle in mid-air, ready to hit just about anything in the room - including Mamoru's head. It landed on the floor with an empty thud and Mamoru suddenly knew the answer to Usagi's questions:

"You hear that, Usako? That's the sound of the nothingness inside that bottle. And the one next to it. And all of the other depressed little shampoo bottles. They know their end is near but they don't know when it's coming... When is it coming, Usako?"

It was Mamoru's turn to pretend to be angry. Usagi was so angry she forgot all about the bottles the second she saw food. Mamoru was... well, just about as angry as painted shampoo bottles could make anyone, really. Which is... not very much. He gave Usagi a serious look for a few moments but then smiled and continued:

"I'm pulling your leg, you goofball! I just thought it would be a funny way to say that there's too much stuff in that bathroom that needs throwing away - and most of it's not mine so I won't be throwing your stuff out... When you have the time, can you please inspect the bottle situation in there? Please? I tried to take a shower today and wound up covered in empty bottles..."

"And yes, you're welcome for the dinner... Let's dig in and we'll chat about the cleaning later."

But they didn't chat about the cleaning. 

They took their time, eating and drinking juice and joking about Mamoru's snobbish classmates and news that Usagi had about her ex-senshi friends. Apparently Rei was finally with that rock'n'roll-ish dude who worked at her shrine. Jokes about rock'n'roll Rei followed. And Ami apparently had a hilariously awful first day of University. The story tied together nicely when they realized that Ami was attending the same University as Mamoru - that would explain why she was so disgusted with everyone and everything.... And last but least, they discussed their lives in the past few years - the way that they had changed now that normal was an option for them... As they were talking about Usagi's case files again - this time with drier eyes - the girl started to fall asleep. Mamoru put an arm around her, kissed her awake and told her he'd called a cab for her. It was late anyway, and she had school and work tomorrow. She could've stayed over of course, but all of her school stuff was at her place, and Mamoru somehow suspected she didn't want to go dressed the way she was now. As she was getting in the cab they shared one last kiss and promised to meet each other as soon as possible.

OOC:

Usagi gave Mamoru  a teasing glance as they ate, “I can take care of it this weekend, I will come over and inspect those little bottles myself.” She was happy to be spending time like this with Mamoru. This sense of normalcy seemed so unreal still, like it could slip away at any moment. Usagi was happy to share what Rei, Minako, Ami, and Makoto had been up and Usagi and Mamoru had a good laugh over Rei and Yuuchiro had finally started dating. Usagi knew the two would end up together and was happy for her friend.

Usagi had started to doze off and was glad Mamoru had woken her up, she was a bit sad when he called a cab, rather than offering her a ride home, but she wouldn’t complain, she didn’t want Mamoru to lose sleep, so when they kissed goodbye she treasured his goodnight kiss. She could still smell his aftershave and in that moment she wished she could just stay with him, but it was such.

Usagi rode home safely and thanked the cab driver. Usagi walked into her apartment and changed into her pajamas and went to sleep.




TIME JUMP TO FRIDAY

Usagi woke up early Friday morning, she had an early day at the university and wanted to be on time to class. Her week had been fairly eventful. She had met with each of her kids and had begun talking with them, mostly getting to know them. They were all such sweet kids, Usagi was determined to help each and every one of them out of their terrible circumstances.

Usagi hadn’t gotten to see Mamoru much, he was very busy after his opening ceremonies. Usagi was able to have lunch with him one day. They were able to talk each night briefly, but it wasn’t the same, which is why Usagi was especially excited for tonight. Mamoru had some surprise planned apparently and he wouldn’t say a word about it, but it made butterflies dance in her stomach.

Classes went by fast and Usagi was now at her internship. She had just met with her last child. Little Kai, he had lost his parents and Usagi was working very hard to find another family member. She had to take a break from staring at the computer for too long. She took a walk to the other side of the office to get some water. She sent a text to Mamoru to let him know she would be leaving soon.

Hi Mamo-chan, sorry I know I am probably running late, I have been working on one of my cases and I feel like I am so close to finding something. I will be over as soon as I finish here. I will call you once I am leaving. XOXO Usa


Usagi walked back to her desk. She had a couple pictures on there one of her little girls had drawn for her. Drawing had seemed to be the best therapy, that and holding a plush bunny. Usagi had her mom bring it by her apartment earlier in the week. She had remembered how many bad dreams and bad times that bunny had gotten her through and now it was helping another little girl.

Usagi had been at the office for nearly 4 hours after she was supposed to, the sun had set, but Usagi was working away. She had found a long lost aunt who lived in New York. She sent him an email hoping she would be willing to take the boy and help him have a normal life. She hit send before powering the computer down. It seemed everyone else had already gone home.

Usagi hadn’t realized how late it was, and not only that but a summer rainfall had started some time ago. She put on her coat and locked the door behind her. She was just about to pull her phone out to call Mamoru and let him know she was on her way she felt someone grip her arm hard and slam her against the wall.

She sucked in a breath as she turned and saw a group of four men before her with evil smirks on their face. She looked down and saw her phone was no longer in her hand. Where is my phone? She thought in a panic. The biggest guy got right in her face, he was holding a knife and Usagi felt chills roll down her spine. The man looked her over head to toe like she was a piece of meat, he spoke his voice full of evil, “give us the purse lady.” Usagi clutched her purse to her chest as she shook her head and tried to run away when the other muggars block her path. She turns to try and run the other way only to be gripped hard and feel the edge of the knife on her arm.

She tried to fight them off, but as Usagi, she didn’t have the strength to fight off four big dudes, especially one who had a weapon, Usagi wished she was with Mamoru right now in his arms, somewhere safe, but here she stood in the cold rain surrounded by four muggars.

After an unsuccessful attempt to get away she threw her bag at them and took off running as fast as she could, she didn’t care at that point, nothing mattered other than her living another day. She ran at a lightening speed towards Mamoru’s apartment. She felt a sharp pain in her leg, but ignored it as she pushed through. The rain came down harder. It was pouring horses and elephants at this point and Usagi slipped several times. She had to continuously wipe her vision, she couldn’t even tell anymore if it was the rain or her tears.


Finally, after what seemed like forever, Usagi saw Mamoru’s apartment complex. She ran across the street, through the door, into the elevator and rode up the elevator. Her body was beginning to realize the stress she was under and she began to violently shiver. When the elevator doors opened Usagi ran down the hall leaving a trail of water behind her. She ran to Mamoru’s door and rose her hand to knock on the door.

It had been a long and busy week. Mamoru's schedule and book list had finally come in and he found himself scouting all sorts of stores to find what he needed for the semester. Some of his professors required books that were long out of print and which he could only find second-hand for hundreds of dollars. They were aware these were just penniless students, right? Mamoru did have a pretty good sum of money left behind by his parents. But even so, he wasn't going to spend thousands of dollars on one semester's worth of textbooks. In the end he decided to go the "bankrupted student" way: he and a bunch of other year mates bought one book of each of the more expensive ones, and then they photocopied it for everyone in the circle. Mamoru spent the better part of three days sifting through papers upon papers upon files and boxes, trying to organize all of his courses properly. At the end of his work, he had a large but neat pile of filed textbooks on his desk - each big chapter treated as its own entity, to make things easier when studying for exams. 

Apart from the textbook hunt, he wound up having coffee with his mates a couple more times in the week. They were starting to grow on him, now that they stopped talking about expensive holidays and pregnancies. But even so, he couldn't spend more than an hour, and hour and a half in their company. Overall, they were still loud and acted on Mamoru not unlike energetic vampires.

He'd also met Ami on the university halls one day. They were both going to different registry offices to fill in paper work, but they stopped for a few minutes to chat. Ami was Mamoru's favorite of all of Usagi's friends. She had a pleasant disposition and a calm approach on life, and understood what science and culture meant to them as a species - in other words, she was one of the few people Mamoru could talk to about serious things. During their short little chat, he'd let it slip that he hadn't seen Usagi in a few days but that he had something special prepared for Friday evening. He didn't say what that something special was, but this was Ami he was talking to - his blush might've given it away, because her attitude was suddenly eerily teasing. They spoke for a few more minutes and then each headed to their own destination.

Mamoru did have something special prepared for tonight. He'd been thinking about how to do this ever since he'd stepped into that jewelry store a week before. He thought about a romantic restaurant but that seemed too cheesy even for him. The park was a nice "Usagi" type of place but that's maybe a bit too casual. In the end, school caught up with him and swallowed him whole, left him with only the option of an improvised dinner at his place. Which was good enough - maybe Usagi would actually appreciate the intimacy this gave them. Or maybe she'd think he was being cheap. He sure hoped not.

Refusing another coffee with his colleagues, Mamoru left for home early on Friday. He had a lot of things to do... First off he stopped by at a supermarket in the center of town. He bought all of the ingredients for the dinner he was planning. He decided he was going to make a lasagna and a nice cherry pie. As far as drinks were concerned, he bought a nice bottle of wine and some juice - because this is Usagi we're talking about and Usagi should not be in the company of alcohol for too long. Passing by the aisle of silly stuff nobody needed, he wondered whether he should buy some incense or perfumed candles. At first he thought that, too, would be too cheesy. But on the other hand, Usagi would like it - cheesy or not. He went into the aisle and got two candles: one vanilla scented and one chocolate scented. They were both held in a medium sized recipient made out of glass and shaped like a closing flower. They were what you would call "pretty" (though also tacky by Mamoru's standards).

He arrived home and started to work on his food. Mamoru was no Makoto in the kitchen but he did alright. After a while he left the food in the oven and went back to the living room to clean up a bit and organize the "atmosphere". He set up the table for the two of them: plates, glasses, forks, knives, spoons - and in the center he placed the chocolate scented candle and a small recipient with one single red rose hanging from it. He thought it'd be a nice reminder of their crime-fighting days. When the time came for him to start expecting Usagi he also took out the bottles of wine and juice - he placed them on the table, a little to the side. The things in the center were starting to annoy the more practical Mamoru - now he decided that after Usagi saw them he'd unceremoniously move them someplace else so that they could look at each other while eating and talking. The food was ready, the table was set. Now Mamoru just waited.

And he waited... And waited. He fidgeted around with the small magenta-ish box, placing it on the table and off the table. He put it on Usagi's plate. Umm... no. What was he implying, that he's serving "box a la box Mamoru"? No, just no. He then moved it next to the flowers and candle. Now that looked awful as well - it was barely visible, which was a bad thing for the piece de resistance. And it really filled up the space too much. He moved it to the side. No... that looks like an afterthought, something you just forgot on the table. After a lot of fidgeting and studying the general composition of the table, Mamoru just placed the box inside of his pocket and let it stay there until further notice. 

And so he waited some more. He was starting to get impatient when he got the text from Usagi, saying that she'd be late. Awesome... Better wait some more.

He grabbed a book and started reading. Although he was more looking AT the book than in it. An hour later he was impatient again. He called Usagi. Nobody answered. He called again. And again. And again. No answers. He suspected she had her phone on "silent" and in her purse. He was getting annoyed. A few more calls and annoyance turned into worry. It was dark outside and it was raining cats and dogs - what if something had happened to her? Usagi was indeed and airhead but she wasn't the type to disappear for hours.

Mamoru decided to call some of her friends - maybe she'd taken refuge with them. He started off by calling Minako, since she lived close to Usagi's internship office and Mamoru thought she might've paid her a visit or ran into her on the street... Minako had no idea about Usagi's whereabouts. Nor did Ami... Makoto... And Rei got annoyed at the phonecall and Usagi's MIA status almost immediately. Bottom line: none of the girls knew where she was. Mamoru wished he knew that girl Usagi had been talking about - Minami? Maybe she knew something...

He took a glance at the pouring rain outside, at the darkness and the cold. And he decided the best course of action was to go ahead and look for her. Maybe he was being paranoid, maybe she'd just forgotten about her phone - but Mamoru couldn't risk that not being the case, especially now that he had a "bad feeling" about the whole thing. He would set out on the road between his house and the office.

Mamoru put on his shoes, picked up his rain coat from the clothes rack, and took two umbrellas with him. He opened his front door... 

And there she was. Usagi was in front of his door, absolutely drenched, water dripping out of her and to the floor below. She was so wet her odangos were practically glued to the rest of her head like mush. Her face looked terrified and heartbroken - had she been crying? Or rather... WAS she crying? Her clothes were ripped in places. And a trail of blood was visible running down her leg, mixed with rainwater and dirt from the wet and dirty street.

Mamoru's jaw dropped, as did one of the two umbrellas he was carrying.