“Believe it or not, it’s just....me.”
~The Greatest American Hero TV theme

“If girls aren't strong, if we can't protect the boys we love...”
~Naoko Takeuchi 
BSSM notes, Act 3





A.N: And it’s the amazing story that just keeps changing names!!  

Disclaimer:  Yo no tengo SailorMoon rights.  Yo quiero Sailormoon rights.  Yo 
quiero Taco Bell.  Drop the chalupa.
 
	

Mamoru sighed.  Silently, he wrapped his arms loosely around the weeping 
girl.  She instantly locked her arms tightly around him, rubbing her face into 
the fabric of his shirt, taking comfort in his arms.
	As he continued to hold her gently, anger and confusion still burning in 
his eyes, Mamoru happened to rest his gaze on a nearby bench.  Where Luna sat, 
watching the scene unfold before her. 


Walking the Thin Line part 8
	~Antigone 1999

	Mamoru just met Luna’s eyes over Usagi’s head.  The cat inclined her head 
slightly but the young man just shook his slightly, anger still reflecting off 
his cobalt eyes. 
	The movement disturbed Usagi enough for her to look up two remaining 
tears slipping down her face.  When Luna jumped off the bench and quickly 
started walking toward the couple, Mamoru thought fast.
	“Usagi-chan?” he said, pulling on her hand a little, “Would you like to 
go inside where it’s a little warmer?”
	The evening was darkening quickly, streetlamps had flickered on sometime 
during the last few minutes, mingling a man-made orange glow with the long 
beams of the setting sun.  A cold night breeze was already making its way along 
the city streets, and Usagi shivered a little.  She nodded silently, still 
sniffling as he lead her away quickly, not looking back at Luna.
	“Can you run?” he asked, looking over at her.  He was still reeling from 
her confession of her feelings for him, but managed to put it out of his mind 
for the time being.  The only important thing now was getting away from Luna.  
Mamoru had a sinking feeling that the cat had to give him news he wouldn’t 
like.  And while avoiding the inevitable was something he didn’t usually do, 
his natural defenses against pain forced him to run away, as he had done from 
Usagi before.
	But this time, he was running away and Usagi was with him.  He didn’t 
ponder this either.
	“Why?” she answered his question, with confusion on her face. 
	“Trust me, and just do it ok?”  And with that the two took off.

	‘What the heck do they think they are doing!?’  Luna asked herself, in 
shock.  Even running quickly as she could, they had gotten quite a head start 
and she couldn’t keep up even with all her practice chasing Usagi to school.  
She had seen the anger in Mamoru’s eyes, directed at her, had seen the hurt and 
offensive way he had yelled at Usagi just a few minutes ago.  And now the 
blasted man was running from her!!  
	Luna glared darkly at the rising moon just over the tree tops.  ‘Of all 
the men in Tokyo, you send *him*?!’  Starting to run again, Luna muttered 
something about sick senses of humor, under her breath.

	Usagi didn’t let go of Mamoru’s hand, even though she could hardly match 
his long strides.  She ended up stumbling along and sprinting a few feet behind 
him.  Her long hair caused unwanted drag and she was already feeling out of 
breath from crying for so long just a little while ago. 
	“M...Mamo-chan?” she gasped for breath, “W...why are we running...again?” 
	He didn’t answer just suddenly pulled her around a corner and held her to 
him.  Pressed against the brick wall of a building near to his, Mamoru slowly 
leaned his head against the corner and let his eyes slip to the sides, checking 
the area the way a secret agent would.
	“I think we are safe...” he murmured, still on guard.
	Usagi was giving him a strange look from the protective circle of his 
arms.
	“What?” he asked her, still defensive.
	“What were you running from?”  She asked, perplexed and frankly just 
trying to figure out the apparent sanity of the man she had gone and decided to 
fall in love with.  Both of them had faced many youma, and demons and death 
threats head-on before, Usagi seriously wondered what in the world was scary 
enough to make Chiba Mamoru run away. 
	“Luna.”  He admitted.
	Usagi’s eyes widened.  For a moment she remembered Luna wanting to talk 
to her about something...
	“What are you waiting for?!  Run, Mamo-chan!!!”  This time it was Mamoru 
who was being dragged by Usagi, as she made one of her famous three-minutes-
before-the-bell dashes to the sanctuary of the clear glass doors to the 
apartment building.

	Leaning against the bus stop sign, Hino Rei watched the setting sun 
present all its beauty and color to the city as she waited for the cross-town 
bus to take her back to the shrine.  She had long since decided to stop waiting 
for Usagi, apparently Mamoru wasn’t too sincere in his promise to bring Usagi 
back any time in the near future.
	The beautiful priestess distractedly ran her fingers through her long 
hair.  ‘Was it my imagination or did he walk off with her, holding her hand?’  
Rei scowled at the sky.  ‘They better not have hooked up--’  Violet eyes 
narrowed, ‘--without Usagi telling me or anything.  She’s supposed to be a 
friend, and *share* the gossip!’
 	“Rei-chan!”  A voice came from Rei’s ankle and she jumped.
	“Luna?!”
	The panting cat had no time for introductions, “Did Usagi and Mamoru come 
this way?!”
	Rei shook her head.  Luna groaned and turned and began running away 
again, full speed.
	“But Luna...  Hey!  Wha---“  But her friend’s cat was already gone. 
	Blinking, Rei turned back to wait for the bus, a sweatdrop appearing on 
her head.  Just then, she thought she saw movement out of the corner of her 
eye, and turned to see what she could have sworn was Tsukino Usagi dashing into 
a nearby building and dragging a stumbling Chiba Mamoru behind her.
“Must be a full moon.”  Rei murmured.

	Usagi stood in Mamoru’s living room for the second time in nearly as many 
days.  It *was* warmer, and the window gave a wonderful view of the park.  In 
fact, Usagi would be extremely comfortable if her companion hadn’t suddenly 
started acting like he was a few toppings short of an ice-cream sundae. 
	The minute they had arrived, out of breath and pretty fairly shocking the 
doorman, (who had since decided that Chiba-san was either in love or had an 
evil twin), Mamoru told Usagi to wait where she was.  He then preceded to rush 
into another room, Usagi heard something slide closed and the click of a lock.  
Then he rushed into yet *another* room, and pulled a chair into the first room, 
and she heard him push it against something.  Then he exited the room, wisps of 
hair flying back from his forehead, face red-tinged, and muttering, “I’d like 
to see you get through the balcony doors now...”
	Usagi cleared her throat and Mamoru jumped.  He blinked a few times and 
faced her.  
	Silence.
	He smiled.
“Want some hot chocolate or something?” he said smoothly.  
	Usagi sweatdropped. 

	“So...” Usagi wrapped her fingers around the warm mug, and rested her 
elbows on the counter watching Mamoru has he stood on the other side of it, 
leaning against the refrigerator, and sipping from his own mug. 
	Uncomfortable silence. 
	“You’re Tuxedo Kamen, huh?  And to think, I saw you nearly every week or 
so and neither of us knew it...Of all the people in Tokyo...isn’t it just 
so...” Usagi searched for a word,  “It’s like some sort of cosmic coincidence.”  
She finished. 
	Usagi watched the marshmallows dance along the edges of the mug.  
“Someone once told me that there is never such thing as a coincidence,” she 
continued, “But I don’t remember who it was...”
	Silence again.
	Usagi sighed.  “Are you still angry at me?” 
	Running his head through his hair, Mamoru shook his head, not meeting her 
eyes.  “I’m not sure.”
	Blue eyes didn’t take him out of their piercing gaze.  “Why were you 
running from Luna?”
	He was silent for so long Usagi began to think he wouldn’t answer her.  
When he did, his voice was quiet, but his eyes finally met hers. 
	“She’s going to ask me about...” he trailed off of a second, “I dream 
about the princess.  The one Luna is searching for.”
	“I know.” She whispered.
	Mamoru walked around the counter to look out the large window.  “For so 
long I never saw her face, or knew anything about her.  But lately... lately, I 
know who she is.”
	Usagi’s mug tipped over, lukewarm chocolate liquid spilled silently over 
the marble onto the kitchen floor.  Neither of them noticed. 
	“You do?!”  She jumped up, ran to him, pulling on his sleeve. “Who?!”
	He cringed.  “I don’t know.  I know her in the dream, when I’m asleep its 
so obvious and so perfect.  But when I awake, I might as well be ignorant of 
everything.”
	Disappointment filled her heart, but she tried not to show it.  Instead, 
Usagi nodded sympathetically.  “I know what you mean.”  She said, an ironic 
laugh escaping her.  “It’s so real... and it feels like you *should* know it, 
and for maybe a second its there and you know but...when you wake up it fades 
so quickly.  The only thing that stays are the feelings and the longing...”  
her small hand had balled into a fist, which she pressed against her chest, a 
look of pain slowly flittering past her features.
	“Usako...”
	She jumped suddenly, seeming to just realize she had spoken out loud.  
Nervously, she slipped her arm behind her head, giggling nervously and loudly.  
“But we aren’t talking about *me*!!  Go on, Mamo-chan.”
	He didn’t smile.  “Why are you looking for the princess, Usako?”
	Pursing her lips for a moment, Usagi brushed a strand of hair behind one 
sea-shell ear.  “Well, I’m not entirely sure.  I know we, the senshi that is, 
must protect her.  It’s our job.  I guess that makes us sort of body-guards,” 
she giggled again.  “But that’s all I know.”
“That’s really *all* you know?” he asked, incredulous. 
	“Just that and she’s beautiful, and powerful, and comes from the moon.”
	Mamoru just watched the last rays of sunlight of the day play across 
Usagi’s features, lighting each curl of blonde escaping her odangos, and 
illuminating her eyes.  A smile tugged at his mouth, “The moon?”
	Blonde eyebrows knitted together for a moment.  “Yeah...or something like 
that.  I think the moon has something to do with it.”
	Mamoru’s gaze didn’t change, thoughtful and scrutinizing.  
	“That’s not a lot to work with.” He murmured.
	The pained look was back in Usagi’s eyes.  “Tell me about it.  She could 
be anyone.”
	“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.”
	Usagi shot him a curious look.  “Why?  How much to do *you* know?”
	“More than I did thirty seconds ago,” he answered, “but do you hear 
something?”
	A muffled meow and scratching reached Usagi’s ears.  “Luna.”
	“As much as I’d love to leave her to freeze in the dark,” when he said 
this Usagi glared at him, and he quickly added, “you can let her in if you 
want.  It’s the first door over, just unlock the balcony and open it.”  He 
laughed a little, “Oh, yeah, you’ll need to move a chair.”
	 After Usagi left, Mamoru leaned his forehead against the cool glass of 
the window, the moon and stars were beginning to come out against a light 
purple sky.  He shut his eyes and let the thought and feeling burning through 
his mind to come to the surface and he let himself whisper, “Of *course*.”

	Usagi had seen Luna pretty ticked-off many a time before, but it never 
ceased to scare her no matter how often it happened.  An angry Luna was indeed 
a scary Luna, eyes could sizzle and hair could stand on end and tail could puff 
up and teeth could be bared.  And all that was done when Usagi entered Mamoru’s 
bedroom to let her cat inside.
	‘Sure, send me to deal with Death Cat, Mamo-chan’ she thought 
sardonically, rolling her eyes, ‘Some protector *you* are.’ 
	However, Luna didn’t attack when Usagi let her in, only glared a lot.  
Strutting into the living room like, Usagi noted, she owned the place, Luna 
stopped in front of Mamoru.
	“Very funny, Chiba, especially the chair.  Remind me to compliment you on 
your extreme cleverness once I cool off.”
	He grinned.
	Luna glared harder.
	“Usagi-chan, go home.”  Luna said to her charge, and Usagi put her hands 
on her hips.
	“No way!  You aren’t the boss of me!”
	“I want to talk to Mamoru alone.”
	Usagi shrugged, “Tough.”
	“Usagi-chan,” Mamoru’s voice made her look up, “It’s getting pretty late.  
Don’t get me in trouble, ok?”  She stared at him in shock.  He smiled to take 
the sting out of the words, but it was too late.
	Masking the sharp pain in her heart, Usagi just stuck out her tongue and 
turned on her heal.  “Traitor.” She muttered loud enough for him to hear.  She 
put on her shoes in silence and then slammed the door loud enough to make the 
neighbors complain.  ‘And I hope they do.’  She thought bitterly as she 
flounced home.  ‘What is *wrong* with him?  If he can’t even make up his mind 
about what to *call* me, how can he decide to love me?’  The last two words in 
that thought made tears fill her eyes for the third time that day and she 
didn’t bother to hold them back.  ‘Mamoru-baka.’  
Usagi cursed him in her mind the entire way home and then threw herself 
on her bed and cried her heart out for him.

	
End part 8.
This is a little short but I have the very last part all planned out for next 
time!
...
Oh, come *on*!  At least *pretend* like you care.