Okay, this is the revised version of my latest fic.  Mostly the
same, but some of it's been given a complete overhaul ('specially
toward the end)  Let me know if you like the changes.  =) Arigatou,
Moonsong, for helping me edit this fic!  Yer a pal!  =)

	Okay, the usual disclaimers...Sailor Moon does not belong to
me (although there really isn't actually any reference to Sailor
Moon in this one, just Usagi and Co., although Luna does appear).
She belongs to the great and wonderful Yuu Watase...oh wait.  Wrong
anime.  Whoops!  Silly me.  <g>  Ahem...AS I was saying, Sailor Moon
belongs to the great and wonderful Naoko Takeuchi, and I promise I
am making no money from this fic.
	Er...For those who don't know, I no longer have my email address
(Stormlight@aol.com) due to circumstances beyond my control (namely
my obnoxious parents).  However, I CAN still be reached at
Riverfell_Den@hotmail.com (OR stormlight1@netzero.net) so if anyone
has any comments for me, please leave them there!  This is my new
addy until further notice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  "Cousins"
by Stormlight
Rated PG13+
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One
~~~~~~~~~~~

	"And this is my all-time favorite after-school and weekend
hangout!" Tsukino Usagi announced proudly as she stepped into the
Crown Center Arcade one Friday afternoon.  Glancing around, her
face lit up in a grin when she spotted Motoki behind the counter,
talking to a customer.  "Hey, Motoki-san!" she called.  "I want
you to meet my cousin, Kuri.  She's visiting all the way from
America for two weeks!"

	The young man glanced up at Usagi as she skipped to the
counter, someone in tow behind her.  A young woman, with golden
hair like Usagi's and the same bright blue eyes, met his gaze and
smiled sheepishly, shrugging one slender shoulder as her cousin
dragged her along.  Motoki smiled back at her.  "So you're the
cousin Usagi's been talking about non-stop for the past two weeks."
He laughed.  "I was beginning to think you were just a myth.  She
had some pretty wild stories to tell about the two of you."

	Kuri grinned and ruffled Usagi's hair.  "Yeah, well,
that was awhile ago, I'm afraid," she chuckled.  "Since my
parents moved to America, we haven't seen each other in quite
a few years.  Since I was twelve, and she was only eight."

	"Yeah!  We used to have so much fun when we were kids, didn't
we?" Usagi piped up with a giggle.

	Kuri raised an eyebrow and grinned.  "What do you mean 'WE
were'?  You're STILL a kid!" she teased, to which Usagi gave her
a light smack in the arm in retaliation.

	"Motoki, give my cousin a chocolate shake, okay?" Usagi
said.  "And one for me, too."  She turned to Kuri.  "They sell
the best shakes here!  You'll love it!"

	Kuri smiled and pushed back her long hair as she slid onto
a stool, her slightly shorter cousin sliding onto the one next to
her.  "He's pretty kawaii," she said teasingly.  "Is he your
boyfriend?"

	Usagi giggled as a blush stained her cheeks.  "Naah.  He's
got a girlfriend already.  She's really nice.  Besides, he's in
college!  I'm just a junior high kid."  She sighed glumly.

	Kuri rolled her eyes and smacked her cousin on the arm
playfully.  "Baka!  Who cares what grade you're in?  You're
sweet!  I don't see why he wouldn't want someone like you for
a girlfriend!  I mean...we look almost exactly alike, and
everyone knows how beautiful I am!  He must be blind or
something," she teased.

	Usagi burst out laughing and Kuri laughed along with
her.  "Arigatou!  You always know what to say to make me feel
better," she replied between giggles.  "But I've long accepted
the fact that Motoki and I are not meant to be any more than
friends."

	"Oh no!  Don't tell me you're TWINS!" a mockingly horrified
voice suddenly cut through their merriment, making the laughter
die in Usagi's throat and fire come into her eyes...which Kuri,
being very receptive (a trait NOT shared with her cousin under
normal circumstances) noticed instantly.  She turned around on
her stool, eyeing her fuming cousin curiously, before turning
her attention to the source of Usagi's outrage.

	And her breath abruptly left her.

	Before them stood possibly one of the most gorgeous
members of the male species that she'd ever laid eyes on in
her life.  His thick black hair tumbled carelessly over his
forehead, partly hiding a set of gorgeous, penetrating blue
eyes...which were fixed intently on her in a manner that made
her blush.  His features looked like they could have been
sculpted by a master artist, perfectly formed, and lightly
tanned.  He stood with an air of casual arrogance, clothed
in khakis and a black turtleneck that failed to hide any of
his slender, muscular frame, with a green blazer slung
casually over one shoulder and a stack of books supported
in the crook of his other arm.  He was tall, she noted-
probably she'd reach his chin, at best-and he had that kind
of predatory grace that any woman in their right mind would
go crazy over.  He HAD to work out, she thought, her amusement
growing.  Nobody could look THAT good and not have to pay for
it somehow!

	And yet...there was Usagi, standing with fists clenched,
ready for battle.  Kuri raised an eyebrow and glanced at the
man again.  She guessed him to be about twenty years old.  He
certainly was handsome...but she didn't like the way he was
looking at her cousin.  Practically sneering at her!  Which
may have explained why Usagi looked like she was ready to kill
him...

	"So...who is THIS?" she whispered in a dramatic stage-whisper
that the subject of her question couldn't help but overhear.

	"Chiba Mamoru," the younger girl replied, spitting it out
like she had just taken a bite out of a rotten apple.

	Now both of Kuri's elegantly-shaped eyebrows shot up.
It wasn't much that could get HER cousin riled like that...but
she'd heard things about this guy... "So THIS is the baka you've
been writing me about?" she mused out loud.

	"The one and only," Usagi grumbled.

	"Awww....Odango Atama!  You've been telling your friends
about me?  I'm touched," Mamoru cut in with a smirk.  Kuri turned
to fix him with a piercing stare, and he abruptly found himself-for
perhaps the first time in his life-to be utterly speechless.

	"Excuse me, but I don't believe you were invited to join
in on our conversation.  Still, since you brought it up...hai,
my cousin HAS been telling me all about you," Kuri replied,
her voice a low purr as she eyed him the way one might eye a
particularly interesting monkey in a zoo.  "And believe you me,
the things she's been telling me have been LESS than complimentary!
Although..."  She suddenly paused and flashed him a wicked smile.
"She failed to mention that you were so kawaii!"

	"KURI-CHAN!" Usagi screeched, making her laugh and wince
at the same time.  Kuri turned around to see her cousin staring
at her, askance.

	"Well, it's true," she added defensively, her eyes taking
on a wicked glow.

	Usagi growled and humphed, sticking her nose into the
air as she turned her back on them...but not before she tossed a
glance at Mamoru's face; he looked absolutely shell-shocked.  She
couldn't quite stifle a smug giggle because, lets face it, Mamoru
losing his composure for ANY reason was something of a phenomenon.
That was why Kuri was her favorite cousin-albeit her ONLY cousin-
just because she wasn't afraid to say what she thought, no matter
how outrageous it was.  She was much like Rei, in that manner...
the difference being that she didn't go out of her way to insult
Usagi like the Miko delighted in doing!

	"So, Mr. Chiba, to what do we owe the...erm...honor of
this little visit?" Kuri was asking politely, although there
was a hint of steel in her voice.  Usagi turned back around
and gave Mamoru a smug look.  No way would he get away with
his usual bull around her cousin!

	Mamoru, for his part, was merely standing there, his
eyes wide with astonishment.  Slowly he blinked, a slow smile
spreading across his mouth.  "Do you mean to tell me that you
two are actually related?" he asked, that same mocking laughter
back in his voice.  "Let me guess...one of you was adopted, right?"

	Kuri snorted.  "Not very bright, is he?" she muttered.

	Usagi let out a squeal of laughter, clapping her hands
over her mouth to silence it.  "Nobody ever said THAT about
him before," she replied, still giggling.

	Mamoru glared at her.  He was not used to being laughed at,
especially by her!  "What's so funny, Odango Atama?" he snapped.

	Usagi glared at him.  "Quit calling me that!" she yelled.
"My name's Usagi!"

	"Chill, Cuz'.  Don't let this creep get to you so much,"
Kuri soothed, patting Usagi on the arm.  "He isn't even worth
your time, so just forget about him."  She turned her back on
the young man, and Usagi, with a smug "So there!" glance in his
direction, did the same.

	Mamoru's jaw dropped at the way the strange young woman-who
looked so much like an older version of Usagi-so casually brushed
him off, like a piece of lint from her shirt, as though he wasn't
worth even looking at.  This was something that had never happened
to him before...and he didn't like it.  Still, as it appeared that
neither one of them was going to say anything more to him, he turned
away to slink over to the other side of the counter.

	"I see you've been introduced to Usagi-chan's cousin."

	He hadn't heard Motoki approach, but now his best
friend's comment startled him out of his thoughts.  He
turned to him, shaking his head incredulously.  "They
cannot POSSIBLY be related by blood!" he replied firmly.

	Motoki chuckled.  "Better get that ego of yours to
emergency care before it shrivels up completely," he teased.
"I saw the thrashing she gave you, and I have to say she did
a pretty neat job of it, too.  She's from America, you know."

	Mamoru rolled his eyes.  "Oh, well THAT explains everything!"
he retorted sarcastically.  "What's she doing HERE then?"

	"She's visiting Usagi's family for awhile, I guess, on
vacation.  Better plan out your attack now, 'cause you'll be
seeing her around a lot, I'm sure, and I think you've just
started a war."

	Mamoru merely grunted and stared down at the cup of black
coffee Motoki had placed in front of him.

	Motoki grinned and shook his head, turning to leave.
Still...he couldn't resist one last dig before heading back
to work.  "By the way, did you notice how kawaii Kuri is?
I mean, if she was a model..."  He whistled softly.  "Maybe
you should ask her out, huh?  I think she kind of likes you!"
Then he turned and hightailed it out of there like his apron
was on fire before Mamoru could retaliate.

*	*	*	*	*
	Kuri paged through a magazine while she waited for Usagi
to finish playing games so they could go home.  She had just
started reading an article on the latest spring fashions when
she realized that someone was sitting beside her at the counter.
Glancing over casually, she was startled to see that it was Mamoru,
and he was watching her carefully.  "Do you want something?" she
asked irritably.

	He flashed her his most charming smile.  "Would a chance
to redeem myself be asking too much?" he asked, somewhat wryly.

	She looked surprised, then smiled back at him, glancing
over to make sure Usagi was still occupied with the games.
"You have two minutes," she told him.  "Start talking."

	"Great!"  He turned to face her fully and cleared his
throat, holding out his hand.  "The name's Chiba Mamoru.  I'm
in my second year at the University, and I'm studying to be a
doctor.  I'm twenty years old, like kids, and I am always kind
to animals."

	She raised an eyebrow.  "Well.  Those things are good to
know, I guess...but I was thinking more along the lines of what
you might have done to my cousin to make her loathe you so much."

	He grinned.  "Why do you think I'M the culprit?" he
retorted.  "I'm not the one who threw the test paper at my
head."

	She raised an eyebrow.  "Test paper?"

	"It's a long story."

	"I like long stories.  Keep talking."

	Mamoru laughed, scratching his head.  "Look, I'll make a
deal.  You let me take you out to dinner tonight, and I'll tell
you how Odango and I met.  How does that sound?"

	She raised an eyebrow.  "We just met and you're asking me
out on a date?"  She couldn't help but laugh a little.  "Usa-chan
never mentioned you as being a womanizer before."

	"N-nani?  ME?"  He laughed outright.  "No way!  I don't
deal with women well.  They're too high maintenance.  I just
thought...you know...maybe you'd like to go sightseeing or
something...and you could tell me some stories about Odango
or something.  You know...something really embarrassing so I
can tease her about them."

	"And you think I'd actually do that to my own cousin?"

	He shrugged and grinned at her.  "Well...there's always
a chance you might let something slip," he replied.

	She shook her head.  "You are incorrigible.  I'm beginning
to understand why Usagi has such a dislike of you."

	"Ahhh...Odango Atama likes to exaggerate things.  I'm not
all THAT bad to her."

	"Well...why DO you tease her then?" Kuri asked curiously.
"Seriously.  It can't be 'cause of a test paper!"

	"She threw it at my head."

	Kuri burst out laughing.  "Yeah...that sounds like
something she'd do.  What...did she give you a concussion
or something?"

	He laughed, too.  "Of course not!"

	"Well then...?"

	He squirmed.  "Well...look at it from my point of view!
I mean...there I am, walking along minding my own business and
out of the blue I'm assaulted by a flying math test!  And that
isn't the only time!  She's thrown everything at me from shoes
to doughnuts."

	A slender eyebrow shot up.  "Doughnuts?"

	"Don't ask."

	Kuri laughed, shaking her head.  "Sounds like you two
have quite a history.  She's never mentioned any of this to
ME before!"

	"Of course she wouldn't.  I'M the enemy, after all."

	"So why don't you just avoid her and let her alone?"

	Mamoru chuckled and sweatdropped.  "It isn't that simple,"
he replied.  "It's like we're magnetically connected or something.
Everywhere I go, there she is, running right into me...literally!
I'm surprised neither one of us hasn't ended up in a hospital or
something.  She's an accident waiting to happen."

	Kuri sniffed.  "I ought to slug you for that remark, but
just 'cause I know it's true I'll let it go this time," she said
wryly.

	"You're too kind."

	"I know."  She smoothed her skirt primly and tossed back
her hair, making him grin.

	"You know, you're nothing like Odango," he told her.
"She has about as much sense as a two year old sometimes.
At least you have a level head...AND a sense of humor."

	"I don't know.  You've never seen me around my friends,"
she replied.  "And quit saying mean things about my cousin, or
I'll have to belt you one!"

	"Sorry.  Force of habit."

	"Well, break that habit!"

	He sighed.  "Look, it isn't that I don't LIKE Odango...
er...Usagi.  She's a sweet kid sometimes, and she's cute
when she gets mad.  She can be really annoying, but I don't
mean any harm.  She just blows things out of proportion."

	"She's fourteen years old, Mamoru-san.  Anything you say
will be taken as an insult if that's all she's used to hearing
from you.  Believe me, I know.  I was just like her at that age,
and that wasn't so long ago."

	"Really?"  He cocked his head playfully and eyed her with
undisguised interest.  "So what happened?"

	She made a face at him and laughed.  "I grew up."

	"Oh, so THAT'S what it's called!"

	She laughed again and shook her head.  "Has anyone ever
told you that you're obnoxious?  BESIDES my cousin, I mean."

	He closed his mouth-which he'd opened to tell her exactly
that-and shrugged, grinning boyishly at her.  "So...you never did
give me an answer," he pointed out.

	"Answer?"

	"About the date."

	She shook her head.  "Sorry.  Tonight won't suit.  I'm
going out with Usagi's parents to do a little exploring.  It's
been a long time since I was in Tokyo."  She smiled wistfully.
"I forgot how much I loved it here..."

	"Have you been Americanized yet?" he teased gently.

	She laughed.  "Well...we live in a nice neighborhood right
outside New York.  There are some other families there from Asia,
a few from Europe, and one or two from other countries, as well,
so it's a nice mix.  My best friend came from India, in fact,
although she's an army brat, so she gets moved around a lot.  She
was born in Australia, I think.  Oka-san won't let me forget my
heritage, though.  She prefers that I speak Japanese, at least
inside the house, and we still observe the old customs and all
that."  She laughed a little.  "She works at a software company,
designing educational computer games.  She's quite good at it."

	"What about your father?"

	She looked away, her smile fading.  "He...died a few
years back.  He got really sick, and we couldn't...it happened
too fast for the doctors to do anything," she replied quietly.

	He touched her arm compassionately.  He had lost parents
himself, after all, so he knew what it was like.  "Gomen," he
said, and she shrugged and smiled weakly.

	"It's okay."  Abruptly she cleared her throat.  "Anyway...
tonight isn't a good night to go sightseeing, but tomorrow night
my aunt and uncle are going to some business banquet, Shingo is
going to his friend's house for the weekend, and Usa-chan's going
to a sleep-over at her friend's house.  She invited me to go
along...but I'd feel kind of weird, being with girls four years
younger than me that I don't even know."

	"Great!  That means you're free to spend the evening
with me!" Mamoru replied with a grin.  "We can have dinner
or something."

	Kuri bit her lip, glancing at Usagi again.  "I don't know.
I'd feel kind of like a traitor going out with you," she said
wryly.  "I don't want to get Usagi mad at me."

	"Ahhh...she'll forgive you.  She can never hold a grudge
long.  Trust me.  I'm speaking from experience," he told her
wisely.  "Come on!  What do you say?"

	She narrowed her gaze at him.  "If I didn't know any
better...I'd almost think you were asking me out just to get
her mad," she replied suspiciously.

	He sweatdropped.  "I resent that implication!  Can't I
ask a beautiful girl out on a date without looking suspicious?"

	She laughed.  "Chill, okay?  I mean...you admitted yourself
that you and girls don't mesh well.  So...why the sudden interest?"

	He blushed faintly.  "Well...I mean...I don't know,
really.  I just...you interest me, that's all," he stammered.
"You aren't...quite like anyone else I've met.  I mean...you
aren't even throwing yourself at me like other girls do all
the time.  In fact, the only other girl I know who doesn't
do that is..."

	"My cousin," she finished for him when he trailed off.

	He laughed nervously, running his fingers through his hair.
"Yeah...well...she isn't exactly my type, anyway," he replied.
"And she's just a little too young for me..."

	"So...what you're saying is...if she WASN'T too young...if
she was...say...my age...you'd be asking HER out, instead?"  Kuri's
eyes danced with amusement, which brightened even more when he
face-faulted.

	"Um...I didn't say THAT..." he stammered, and she giggled.

	"Relax.  I'm only teasing," she replied.

	Although...if she thought about it...she couldn't help
but feel that there was something more to her guesses than he
was admitting.  Now she was intrigued.  This relationship
between Mamoru and Usagi was unlike any she'd ever seen.
They appeared to hate each other outwardly, but she couldn't
help but wonder if it was only an act.  What if they merely
fought like cats and dogs to better hide some deeper, stronger
emotions, especially on Usagi's part?  After all...Mamoru was
charming, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous.  Usagi may have
been a ditz sometimes, but she wasn't stupid, or blind.
Mamoru was definitely what both Kuri and Usagi would term
"crush worthy".

	"You know, I think I'll accept that offer," she abruptly
told him, making him blink in surprise.  "How about tomorrow
night?  Say...six o'clock?"

	"Uh...sure!  I mean...yeah, six sounds good.  I'll pick
you up then," he replied.

	"I'll write down my address for you," she added, rooting
in her purse for a pen and paper.

	"Oh, don't bother.  I know where the house is," he replied.

	She raised an eyebrow.  "Oh really?  How do you know that?"
she asked curiously.

	Realizing what he'd just said, he cleared his throat
uncomfortably.  "Well...I followed her home the other night,"
he admitted.  At her incredulous look, he explained hastily,
"It was dark out!  She's a pretty girl, and it really isn't
safe to be out at night with all those lowlifes, so I followed
her to make sure she made it home okay."

	"You did WHAT?!"

	Mamoru hadn't noticed Usagi coming up behind him...
although Kuri had.  He jumped like a startled rabbit and
turned to face the teen, who was staring at him with
astonishment.

	"You...followed me to make sure I made it home safe?
Wh-why would you do that?" she stammered.

	He ran his hand over his hair again.  "Well...what kind
of gentleman would I be to let a young girl walk home all by
herself?" he replied in an annoyed tone.  "It really wasn't
safe for you to be walking by yourself that late.  I figured
that SOMEONE had better make sure you stayed out of trouble,
and since I was around..."

	She stared up at him, her brow furrowed, but to his
surprise she didn't argue.  "Arigatou," was all she said.
Then, turning to Kuri, who was watching this exchange with
sly fascination, she added, "We'd better get home now.
Oka-san wanted us to be ready to go to dinner before Otou-san
gets home from work.  Besides..."  She paused and giggled.
"I ran out of money to play games."

	Kuri smiled at her and shook her head.  "Don't think
you're getting any out of me," she teased.  "I'm saving up
for our shopping trip."

	Usagi's face brightened.  "Hey, that's right!  Oh, wait'll
you see the mall!  They completely remodeled it!  It's got a big
carousel in the center court and everything, and a whole bunch of
new stores!  You'll love it!"  As she talked, she pulled Kuri up
and proceeded to drag her out of the arcade.

	"See ya later, Odango Atama!" Mamoru called after them,
laughing silently.

	Usagi paused, startled, turned around to shoot him a dirty
look, then stuck out her tongue and razzed him.  He merely laughed
at her, exchanged a sly wink with Kuri and mouthed "Tomorrow night,"
and then the two girls disappeared out the door.

*	*	*	*	*
	"So...I hear you're taking Kuri out on a date.  You
actually took my advice and asked her out?  I think I might
die of shock," Motoki teased as he sauntered back over to
Mamoru.

	"Oh, shut up.  It's not a crime to ask a girl out," he
muttered, burying his nose in his coffee cup.

	Motoki laughed.  "Iie, but for you it IS something of
a national phenomenon," he teased.  "Come on, what made you
ask?  Was it that mane of hair?  Those gorgeous blue eyes?
The smile that can make even the most hard-hearted guy melt
into a puddle of mush?"

	"Stop.  You're making me ill."

	Motoki laughed again.  "Or maybe...you saw Kuri as an
opportunity to get closer to Usagi-chan?" he suggested slyly.
"Not really nice of you, to use her cousin like that..."

	"NANI?!"  Mamoru leaped to his feet.  "What are you talking
about!  I'm not doing any such thing!"

	"Oh no?  Well...hasn't it occurred to you that, if Usagi
WAS four years older, she'd probably look just like Kuri?  Or
pretty close to her, anyway.  Are you sure it isn't your
subconscious mind trying to tell you something here?  Like...
maybe dating Kuri would be like dating an older version of
Usagi?"

	Mamoru glared at him.  "You've had your head too close
to that slushy machine for too long.  It's starting to affect
your brain," he muttered.

	Motoki merely laughed.  "If you say so.  No need to get
defensive.  I'm only pointing out what seems like a perfectly
logical explanation to me," he replied cheerfully.

	"Nobody could ever accuse YOU of using logic to explain
anything," Mamoru shot back.  "Now, if you're finished playing
Dr. Freud, I'd like to pay my tab and leave now.  I have some
studying to do."

~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Two
~~~~~~~~~~~

	"So...what's really up with you and Mamoru-san?"

	"NANI?!"  Usagi stopped dead in her tracks and stared at
Kuri suspiciously.  "What are you talking about?"

	Kuri laughed.  "Come on, you can't fool me!  You like him,
don't you?  Admit it!  I promise not to tell anyone."

	Usagi glared at her.  "Did Motoki-san spike your drink or
something?  You aren't making any sense whatsoever!  Me?  Like
MAMORU?!  AS if!"

	Kuri smirked.  "Well...if you say so."

	"I DO say so, and drop the subject before I have to do
something drastic, like stick you in a home for the deranged!"

	Kuri merely laughed and continued to walk silently.  She
wasn't fooled in the least, of course.  The more Usagi protested,
the more determined she became to find out the truth.  Although...
if it turned out that Usagi DIDN'T like Mamoru in that way...she
certainly wouldn't complain.  She wouldn't mind having a guy like
Mamoru for herself, after all.  He was a rare breed, that was for
sure.

	They reached the Tsukino residence shortly, and Usagi
bounded inside, yelling that she was home.

	"You're a little late," Ikuko exclaimed.  "Your father
will be home any minute, so hurry up and get changed.  Kuri-chan,
thanks for walking Usa home from school."

	"Not a problem," Kuri replied.  "We stopped in at the
arcade, and I got to meet some of Usagi-chan's friends.  I
met...a most interesting young man."  She glanced at Usagi,
who nearly choked on the glass of milk she was gulping.

	"Really?"  Ikuko looked interested.  "Who was it?"

	"His name's Chiba Mamoru.  He's quite handsome, and very
charming.  He's the kind of guy you can take home to meet the
folks," Kuri replied innocently, and now Usagi DID choke on her
milk.

	"Chiba Mamoru..."  Ikuko looked thoughtful as she calmly
pounded her daughter's back, being somewhat used to these sudden
attacks.  "Usagi-chan, isn't that the name of the boy who's
always..."

	"Gotta go get ready for dinner, Oka-san!" Usagi hastily
interrupted, bounding up the stairs like lightning.

	Ikuko stared after her, shaking her head.  "How did I end
up with such a strange daughter?" she asked with a long-suffering
sigh.

	Kuri merely smiled.

*	*	*	*	*
	"So...who're you going out with?"

	Usagi bounced on Kuri's bed eagerly as she watched her
cousin brush her hair.  It was Saturday afternoon, and everyone
but for the two girls were gone.  Usagi should have been on her
way to the temple, but after finding out that Kuri had a date-no
thanks to Ikuko-well, she wasn't about to leave before finding
out all the juicy details!  "Come on!  Tell me!" she whined.
"You CAN'T keep something like this a secret!  I want to know
who it is that makes you not want to come to my sleep-over with
me!"

	Kuri rolled her eyes.  "Believe me, it's best you don't
know," she replied.  "Besides, why is it your business?"

	Usagi pouted.  "Well, I'm not leaving this house until I
find out who it is!" she sniffed, crossing her arms.

	"I don't remember you being so stubborn when I was a kid,"
Kuri grumbled.  Usagi merely giggled in return, bouncing on the
bed again.

	"Is it anyone I know?" she asked.

	"Probably."

	"When did you meet him?"

	"Yesterday."

	"Where?"

	"Um...the arcade."

	"Really?"  Usagi sat up straighter.  "Hmmm...I don't remember
seeing you talking to anyone but Motoki and that lowlife scumbag...
and since Motoki has a girlfriend..."  Her eyes widened.  "You
wouldn't DARE go out with HIM!  Not after the way he's treated me!"
she wailed.

	Kuri winced.  "Yell a little louder.  I don't think Russia
heard you yet," she retorted.

	Usagi sat up even straighter.  "You ARE going out with him,
aren't you?!" she cried.  "How could you do this to me?  We're
cousins!  We're BLOOD!  You...you TRAITOR!"

	"Oh, stop it."  Kuri turned to her cousin, annoyed.  "For
your information, Mamoru-san is quite charming.  He merely offered
to take me to dinner.  And I have every right to date anyone I
please!"

	"But...he's a creep!" Usagi protested.

	Kuri laughed.  "Come one.  Why don't you just admit the
REAL reason you don't want me going out with him," she wheedled.

	"And what reason do you think THAT might be?"

	"You're jealous!"

	There was a loud thunk, and Kuri turned around to find
that her cousin was now sprawled face-first on the floor.  She
laughed.  "Well, I'm right, aren't I?"

	"IIE!" Usagi bellowed, leaping to her feet.  "You're not
right at all!  I'm NOT jealous!"

	"THEN it shouldn't bother you that I'm going out to dinner
with Mamoru.  He's sweet, and he's cute, and I like him."

	"But..."

	Just then, the doorbell rang, effectively ending the
argument.  Kuri looked out the window, seeing a bright red
sports car sitting in the driveway, and a young man sporting
an Armani suit and a mop of black hair standing on the doorstep.
"Hmmm...he's way early," she commented, glancing at the clock.
It read five thirty, on the dot.  "Be a dear and answer the door
for me, will you?  I'm not ready yet."

	Usagi sulked, her lower lip thrusting out in a pout and
her eyes large, liquid pools of hurt.  Kuri sighed.  Her cousin
certainly did have that stricken puppy act down to a fine art.
She ought to know; after all she was the one who'd taught her!
"Come on, Usagi-chan.  It's just one date!" she whined.  "Can't
you just accept it and get on with life?"

	Still pouting, Usagi turned and marched from the room
and down the stairs.  She slowly opened the door, looking down
at the floor, and the first thing she saw was a pair of polished
dress shoes.  Slowly, her eyes traveled upwards, over black,
neatly pressed slacks, a black jacket over an immaculately
starched white dress shirt, narrow tie of deep crimson, matching
handkerchief tucked neatly into the pocket of the blazer.  A
black winter coat was slung over one arm, a dozen white roses
clutched in the other hand.  She looked up until her gaze rested
upon Mamoru's face.  His blue-black hair was, for once, not
hanging over his midnight eyes, but slicked back and almost
glowing in the faint light.

	She gulped.  How was it that she had never noticed just
how gorgeous he was before?  She felt a pang of...something...
come over her, and roughly shoved it aside before she could
identify it for what it was.  She didn't WANT to know what it
was.  She didn't want to believe that maybe her cousin had been
right.

	Mamoru, for his part, merely stared back, clearly waiting
to be let inside.  He raised an eyebrow arrogantly when she merely
stood there staring at him, her eyes holding an expression that he
had never seen before.  "Um...mind if I come in?" he asked wryly,
after about a minute of absolute silence.

	Still not saying anything, Usagi stepped aside and held
the door opened wider.  He stepped inside, then gently released
the door from her grasp and pushed it closed.  "So, is Kuri-chan
ready yet?" he asked.

	She blinked, then shrugged and frowned slightly.  "I don't
know.  She's still primping, I guess."

	"Just like a girl to be late," he replied with a small grin.

	This got a rise out of her, just as he'd hoped it would.
She raised her chin and fixed him with the Look of Death.  "It
so HAPPENS that YOU'RE a half hour early!" she huffed.

	He chuckled.  "Sorry, Odango.  My mistake."

	She glared at him and stalked into the living room,
flopping down onto the couch and flipping on the television,
where she proceeded to pointedly ignore him.  He slipped off
his shoes as was custom and followed her, grinning.  Well,
they'd just see how long she'd get away with that!  "Isn't it
proper manners to offer a guest a drink?" he asked, leaning in
the doorway that separated the living room from the parlor.

	"The fridge is in the kitchen and cups are in the cupboard
on the right.  You've got two hands.  Use 'em," she sulked.

	He chuckled.  "You're not much of a hostess, are you?"

	"You're not much of a guest."

	"Ooh!  I'm hurt!"

	"Good."

	Mamoru cocked his head as he studied her, her face
illuminated with the flickering light of the television.
She looked unhappy, her lips pulled into a frown and her
eyes dark with some nameless emotion.  She worried a
thumbnail almost absentmindedly, little teeth clicking
lightly as she stared determinedly at the screen.  He
wondered if she even knew what she was watching.  He
also wondered if she even knew how adorable she looked,
all curled up in a little ball, like a kitten with those
big, innocent eyes...

	**Woah!  Earth to Mamoru!  What are you doing?  Your
date is upstairs!** he reminded himself forcefully.

	Taking a breath, he started to run his fingers through
his hair, before remembering that he'd mess it up, and dropped
his hand to his side.  There was a recliner sitting on one end
of the room, and a love seat sitting on the other end, but he
walked over and plopped himself down on the other end of the
couch.

	"What are you doing?" Usagi protested.  "This is MY seat!"

	"It's a couch, Odango Atama.  There's plenty of room on
it for both of us.  Besides, this has the best view of the TV,"
he replied innocently.

	She glared at him, then proceeded to uncurl herself and
stretch out.  "See?  There isn't enough room for both of us.
Move your butt," she snapped.

	"Sit up," he replied, shoving her legs off the couch.

	"Iie!  It's my house!  I don't have to sit up if I don't
want to!" she yelled back, plopping her bare feet right back
into his lap and staying there.

	He raised an eyebrow at her.  "You are so immature."

	"You're an obnoxious creep."

	He glared at her, and she glared back for a moment
before pointedly turning away again to stare at the TV.
He huffed a sigh, then grinned as an idea hit him.  With
one finger, he lightly traced a path along the bottom of
Usagi's foot, making her squeal and sit up straight.
"What are you doing?!" she yelped.  "Stop that!"

	"Move your feet."

	"Iie!"  She laid back down again and crossed her arms
stubbornly over her stomach.

	"Suit yourself."

	He tickled her foot again, making her yelp.  In retaliation,
she tried to kick out, but he pinned both of her legs with one arm
and used the other hand to begin tickling her feet mercilessly.
She shrieked and squirmed, trying to free herself, but he was
too strong.  "So, how do you like THAT, eh, Odango?" he told
her smugly.

	"M-Mamoru-baka, STOP!  Quit it!" she pleaded between
squeals, trying to free her legs.  "You're...such a...bully!"

	"Should have though of that earlier!" he chirped,
chuckling at her hysterics.  "Come on!  Say uncle!"

	"Never!" she howled, beating him over the head with
a pillow.  He ducked away, his neatly-combed hair now mussed,
but he didn't release her, still laughing as he tickled her feet.

	"KUUURIIIIII!" Usagi shrieked.  "HEEELLLLP!"

	"Give it up, Odango Atama!  You're under my power!" Mamoru
cried in a deep, dramatic voice.

	"Well, isn't THIS an interesting little scene!"

	Mamoru, startled at the unexpected voice coming from the
doorway, loosened his grip and looked up to see a highly amused
Kuri leaning against the frame, arms crossed and eyebrows quirked.
A furious, embarrassed Usagi, sensing his distraction, used that
moment to jerk one leg free and, putting as much force into it
as possible, she kicked him in the side as hard as she could.
"YEOW!" he yelped, hurriedly releasing her and doubling over,
grasping his throbbing side as Kuri gasped and hurried over to
him.  "That...HURT!" he gasped, glaring through tearing eyes at
an indignant Usagi.

	"You deserve it!" she snapped, ignoring Kuri's glare.
But when she saw how much pain he appeared to be in, her
expression melted into concern.  "D-daijabu?" she asked
hesitantly.

	"Genki desu," he gasped, slowly straightening.  "Other
than the fact that my liver is now on the opposite side of my
body..."  He winced.  "That's some kick you got there.  Remind
me to never get you mad at me when you're wearing shoes!"

	She giggled and scratched her head.  "Guess I put a little
too MUCH oomph into it.  I didn't think I'd hurt you like that."
Then she glared.  "But maybe next time you'll think twice before
you try something like that again!"

	He shot her a weak smile.  "Don't worry.  You've made
your point," he replied.  Then he turned to Kuri.  "Uh, anyway,
if you're ready we can go now."

	"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Kuri asked.  "I mean...I've
been kicked by her before..."

	"You're NEVER gonna let me live that down, are you?  It was
an ACCIDENT!  And it happened EIGHT YEARS ago!" Usagi yelled.

	Kuri giggled, and Mamoru's smile widened.  "We have
reservations at six thirty at that new restaurant downtown,
so we'd better get going," he said.

	"How did YOU get reservations for THERE?!" Usagi yelped.
"Rei-chan and Makoto-chan tried to get in, but they're booked
for WEEKS!"

	Mamoru shrugged casually.  "I have a friend who works
there.  In fact...his father is the co-owner of the place,
so he pulled a few strings for me," he replied.

	Usagi shook her head.  "Talk about having friends in
high places..."

	"We have to go, Usagi-chan, and you have a sleep-over
to attend, remember?  You'd better get to your friend Rei's
house," Kuri told her.

	"Yeah, yeah.  I'm going!" Usagi grumbled.  "Have fun on
your...date.  As if ANYONE could have fun being HIS date!"  She
stuck out her tongue at him.  "If she tells me you tried anything
funny with her, I'll track you down and kick you again-with shoes
ON-and it WON'T be in the side this time!" she added pointedly,
before turning and bouncing up the stairs.

	Mamoru winced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Three
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Kuri was grinning to herself as she stepped out of the
house.  "I hope I'm dressed fancy enough for this place you're
taking me to," she said, looking down at her soft, navy blue
dress.  It wasn't anything fancy.  Just a plain dress with lace
lining the wrists and the collar, but it was elegant in a simple
way.  A pearl choker and earrings complimented the dress, and her
hair was pulled into a French twist...no easy style to accomplish
with hair as long as hers was.

	"You look wonderful," Mamoru assured her, smiling.
"Oh...these are for you, by the way."  He held out the
bouquet of roses to her, and she gave a soft gasp.

	"Oh, Mamoru-san!  They're lovely!  But...roses on the
first date?"  She smiled slyly.  "You do know how to treat a
lady.  How come no lucky girl has snatched you up already?"

	He grinned as he held open the car door for her.  "Well...
it isn't to say that nobody's TRIED..." he replied smugly.  "I
just have too many other things going on, like school and my job."

	"Must be some sort of job, if you can afford toys like
this AND college," Kuri pointed out wryly, patting the leather
seat of the sports car.

	"Ahh...I saved up to buy this.  Took me five years, and
I got it at a steal, really.  Me and Motoki-san worked together
to fix it up like new," he replied.  He closed her door and went
around to his side, sliding carefully into his seat, wincing at
the twinge of pain that shot through his side.  Usagi had
certainly given him a good jab.

	"Are you SURE you're okay?" Kuri asked in concern, having
seen his discomfort.  "I mean...maybe you should make sure you
don't have a cracked rib or something."

	He laughed.  "I don't think Usagi kicked me THAT hard!"
he replied humorously as he pulled out of the driveway.

	"What were you doing, anyway?" Kuri asked with laughter
in her voice.  "It sounded like World War Three in there!"

	He squirmed uncomfortably.  "Well...I was just playing around
with her," he replied sheepishly.

	"Were you?"  An eyebrow shot up as she eyed him pointedly,
and his cheeks reddened.

	"Not like THAT!  Mo!  I was just having some fun with her,
that's all."

	She giggled.  "Well...she apparently didn't find it very fun."

	He smirked.  "Apparently not.  But I really didn't mean
any harm.  I was...I don't know.  She was ignoring me..."

	"And something tells me that you HATE being ignored, am
I right?" Kuri finished for him, giggling a little.

	He shrugged.  "I was merely teaching her the proper
respect one must show a guest," he sniffed, affecting
indignation.  "She's a terrible hostess."

	Kuri laughed outright at that.  "She wasn't very thrilled
when she found out you were my date," she told him slyly.

	"Really?  What did she say?"

	"Well...basically she accused me of being a traitor to her
and probably the rest of my gender, as well."

	"That bad, huh?"

	"Yeah...well..."  Kuri shrugged, then slanted him a shrewd
look.  "If I didn't know better...I would almost think that she
was jealous."

	"Jealous?!"  Mamoru burst out laughing.  "Why would she
be jealous?"

	"That's exactly what SHE said.  But think about it.
She's known you...what?...five months?  Six?  And during all
those months, the only attention you give her is to torment
her and insult her hair and make her feel awful about herself."
She laughed a little as Mamoru squirmed uncomfortably, before
continuing, "Then, along comes her older cousin...who happens
to be quite beautiful, I might add...and all of a sudden Mr.
Obnoxious Jerk turns into Prince Charming, and pays all the
overdue attention Usagi feels she deserves on the older cousin,
instead...which basically leaves her out of the picture.  After
all...even if Mr. Obnoxious Jerk only teased her all the time,
he was still acknowledging her existence, but now all his
attention will be turned to the competition, which basically
makes her the Invisible Woman."

	There was a moment of silence, and then Mamoru managed to
stammer a remarkably inarticulate, "Huh?"

	Kuri sighed and laughed, shaking her head.  "Mamoru...until
I came along, Usagi-chan was the 'woman' in your life.  I mean,
you don't have a girlfriend, and how many other girls do you pay
any attention to like that?  Even though you teased her, you
still let her know that you knew she was alive, and to someone
her age, that's pretty flattering, no matter how much she huffs
and snorts at you.  It wouldn't surprise me in the least if she
even had a little crush on you."

	"Um...she has a crush on Motoki-san..."

	"Maybe, but he isn't available.  You are.  Maybe she
secretly hoped that one day you'd open your eyes and-lo and
behold-your 'Odango Atama' is suddenly the woman of your dreams.
But now I'M here...AND I'm the right age...and...well, I bet
maybe she feels that you're giving me all this kind of attention
that she's always wanted for herself."

	Mamoru shot her an incredulous look from the corner of his
eye, too stunned to know how to reply.  "So..."  He cleared his
throat.  "Have it all worked out, have you?"

	She giggled.  "Yup.  I've been thinking about it a lot,"
she replied smartly, folding her hands on her knee and leaning
her head against the seat.

	"Even though it's about the most ludicrous thing I've
ever heard?"

	"Funny, that was her response, as well.  It amazes me how
much the two of you have in common."

	He choked on a sharp laugh.  "In COMMON!  US?!"  He shook
his head.  "About the only thing we apparently DO have in common
is agreeing that you're completely nuts."

	She sniffed and stuck out her tongue at him...a gesture
that seemed distressingly familiar to him.  "Well, there's no
need to be rude about it!"

	"Gomen."

*	*	*	*	*
	"Earth to Usagi!  Come in Usagi!  Over!" Hino Rei
proclaimed ironically, waving a hand in front of the other
girl's face.

	Usagi blinked, awaking from her daydream and coming back
down to reality, only to find that all four of her friends were
staring at her curiously.  "Nani?" she asked, feeling her cheeks
redden.

	"Where do you keep drifting off to?" Aino Minako asked.
"You've been spaced out all night."

	"Moreso than normal, anyway," Rei cut in snidely, which
Kino Makoto, the third girl of the group, replied to by whacking
her across the head.

	"Be nice," the tall girl warned playfully as Rei glared.

	Mizuno Ami, who had been listening quietly, now cocked her
head to one side and gave Usagi a serious glance.  "Is something
wrong?" she asked.  "You have been rather distracted tonight..."

	Usagi blushed a little more and shrugged.  "I've just been
thinking about my cousin," she replied.  "That's all."

	"The one who's visiting from America?" Minako asked, clearly
interested.  "How come she didn't come tonight?"

	"She had a date," Usagi muttered darkly.  The four other
girls exchanged looks, sensing that the root of the problem was
close at hand.

	"And why does that bother you?" Minako, always interested
in matters of love, asked coyly.

	"Because she's going out with..."  Here Usagi paused,
unable to complete the sentence.  A picture of Mamoru, looking
devilishly handsome in his suit, flashed through her mind, making
her heart skip a few beats.  Much to her annoyance.  So he was
handsome as all get out.  So what?  That didn't make him any less
of a baka, and her favorite cousin was out on a date with him!

	"Going out with who, Usagi-chan?" Makoto was asking.

	She blinked, then sighed.  "She's going out with...MAMORU,"
she replied, putting as much disgust into the words as she could
muster.  "I mean, anyone else, I could understand...but Chiba
Mamoru?"  She heaved a sigh and shook her head.  "I just thought
she would've had more sense than that!"

	The girls looked at each other, smiling slyly.  Rei was
especially delighted, knowing how much Usagi loathed Mamoru...or
claimed to, at any rate.  Something new to tease her about!  "Bet
you wish it was you instead, eh, Odango Atama?" she said slyly.

	Usagi shot her a glare and stuck her tongue out at the
Miko.  "Don't even go there, Rei," she sniffed.  "I've had
enough crazy suggestions from my cousin!"

	"How do you mean?" a curious Makoto asked.

	"I mean, Kuri-chan had the gall to accuse me of being
jealous!" Usagi spouted, feeling outraged all over again.  "Have
you guys ever heard of anything so absurd in your lives?"  She
gave a small laugh, surprised at how hard it was to force it out.
This whole Kuri-and-Mamoru-dating thing was just too bizarre to
think about.

	"I don't know.  It kind of makes sense, when you think
about it," Ami said thoughtfully.  "Up until now, Usagi-chan
kind of had Mamoru-kun's attention to herself, didn't she?
And now all of a sudden she has competition for his attention
with her pretty older cousin.  I suppose feelings of inadequacy
and competitiveness are only natural..."

	Usagi shot the blue-haired girl a dark look.  "Do you
WANT me to hit you?" she asked pointedly, to which the shy Ami
sweatdropped and closed her mouth.

	"Well, if you want Mamoru-san's attention back," Minako
interrupted coyly, "I have a whole stack of magazines here that
give suggestions on how to get a guy's attention."

	"I don't WANT Mamoru-baka's attention!" Usagi yelped.
"All he ever does is tease me!  If Kuri-chan dating him gets
him to forget about me, all the better!"

	"Wait, wait, wait JUST a minute!  So...NOW you're saying
that your cousin dating Mamoru is a GOOD thing?" Rei exclaimed,
raising an eyebrow.  "Two minutes ago you were acting like it
was the end of the world or something.  Can't you even make up
your mind, Odango Atama?"

	"Iie...that isn't...I didn't mean..." Usagi spluttered
indignantly.  "I just meant that..."

	"Give it up, Usagi-chan.  You're confusing us," Makoto giggled.

	"She's confusing herself," Rei retorted, grinning evilly.

	"Miiiiinnnnaaaa!!" Usagi wailed.  "Can't we just drop
the subject?!  I don't WANT to talk about my crazy cousin and
her stupid date anymore!"

	"Okay, fine, we'll drop the subject!  Just cut the decibels,
will ya?!" Rei yelled back, covering her ears.  "Let's just all go
to bed now!"

	Usagi closed her mouth, sniffled a little, and crawled
into her sleeping bag, making a big show of how hurt she was
at her friends' lack of compassion towards her plight.  Her
friends simply rolled their eyes at her dramatics and lay back
in their bags, ready to call it quits for the night.

	Besides, there would be plenty of time to tease Usagi about
her obvious infatuation with Chiba Mamoru later on.

*	*	*	*	*
	It was close to three PM on Saturday when Usagi left her
friends to go home.  She ran all the way, anxious to find her
cousin and drill her about The Date.  But as she was passing
the arcade, a sight within it caused her to come to a screeching
halt, only just barely avoiding collision with a hapless pedestrian.
"Gomen," she apologized, not really paying attention as she pressed
her face against the glass of the window.  There, within the depths
of the arcade, she could see Kuri relaxing at a table, eating a
banana split.  But, surprisingly enough, the sundae itself wasn't
what had caught Usagi's attention.  It was whom her cousin was
eating it WITH that was so shocking.

	Chiba Mamoru.

	Usagi scowled and prepared herself for battle as she
marched into the arcade.  ONE date with that baka was bad
enough, although Usagi SUPPOSED she could forgive her cousin
for such a betrayal...but TWO?  This was simply...unheard of!

	Motoki was wiping down tables when Usagi stormed in, a
murderous look on her pretty face.  He hesitated, wondering
if he should warn her intended targets or try to distract her
from her obvious intent to commit homicide in his arcade.
After careful consideration, he went for a third option.
Namely staying out of the way and enjoying what was surely
going to be an interesting show.  Heck, he was bored enough
to allow for a little action.  And if the cops showed up, he'd
hide out in the back and plead ignorance.

	Kuri was laughing at Mamoru's hilarious description of
college life when she felt a dark presence at her back.  Startled,
she turned around, then gulped at the sight of Usagi standing there
with flames practically shooting out her ears, arms crossed and one
foot tapping a fast rhythm on the floor.  "Uh...K-konnichi'wa,
Usa-chan.  How was the sleepover?" she asked nervously, wondering
what on earth could have made her cousin so mad.

	"WHAT are you doing here with HIM again?" Usagi almost
snarled, shooting a surprised Mamoru a glare that could level
Mount Fuji.  "I thought you had your date LAST NIGHT."

	"Er...we did," Kuri replied, shooting Mamoru a glance.
He returned it with a grin, his eyes lighting up.  He knew what
the problem was.

	"Kuri-chan...can I talk to you?  ALONE?" Usagi asked,
her voice suddenly as sweet as honey-drenched sugar.  "It won't
take long, really."

	"Usagi-chan, I'm here with Mamoru-san," Kuri replied, frowning.

	Usagi rolled her eyes.  "Does the word 'Duh!' mean
anything to you?"

	"Usagi!"  Kuri was appalled at her cousin's rude behavior.
"What's the matter with you?!"

	"I should THINK it would be obvious!" the younger girl
snapped, shooting a pointed glance at Mamoru, who was, at this
point, looking highly amused at her display of angst.

	Kuri sighed and shook her head.  "Are you STILL upset over
that?" she snorted.  "Get OVER it already!"

	"He's my WORST ENEMY, Kuri!" Usagi wailed.  "You're a
TRAITOR to hang out with him!  I'm your cousin!  We're BLOOD!"

	"Been there, done that," Kuri replied wryly.  "Got any
NEW arguments for me?  Really, Usagi, you're being very immature
about this whole thing."

	"Yeah, Odango, you're being very immature," Mamoru cut
in, unable to resist a chance to tease her.  He fell silent,
however, when both Usagi and Kuri shot him dirty looks, quickly
deciding that it was probably safer to observe rather than
partake of this little spat.  He rather liked his face arranged
the way it was, after all.

	"Okay, Usagi-chan, why don't you calm down a little.
Here, have a seat.  I'll buy you an ice cream," Kuri was
telling her cousin soothingly.  Mamoru opened his mouth to
protest, thought the better of it, and shut it again, simply
watching as Usagi eyed their half-eaten sundae.

	"Well..." she hedged.  "I suppose it's the LEAST you can
do for ignoring me so much lately."

	Kuri snorted.  "I've only been here three days," she
replied wryly.  "I've still got plenty of time with you, so
don't worry about it."

	Usagi sighed and shot Mamoru a dark look.  "So long as HE
doesn't keep on taking it all up," she replied gloomily.

	Mamoru rolled his eyes, unable to stay silent any longer.
"Come on, Odango Atama.  Kuri-chan can hang out with whoever she
wants to.  You can't tell her what to do," he told her arrogantly.

	"Who asked you, anyway, Baka?!" Usagi snapped, glaring at
him.  "She's MY cousin, not yours!"

	"Now, now, kiddies.  I don't want any fighting in my
presence," Kuri interrupted hurriedly.  "Just TRY to get along
for once, for my sake, okay?"

	The two antagonists looked at each other doubtfully.
Sitting together for more than five minutes without insulting
each other or arguing?  That was a lot to ask for.  Mamoru
smiled slightly.  "Well...only 'cause you asked me so nicely,"
he replied teasingly.  "I'll be good.  How about you, Usagi?"

	Usagi blinked in surprise.  That was the first time in
her memory that Mamoru had actually called her by her real name!
She felt a sinking, and quickly shoved it aside.  If Mamoru was
willing to go to THAT length to make her cousin happy...then he
must REALLY like her!  She swallowed, squirming slightly and
looking down at the table.  "I suppose so," she mumbled
half-heartedly, feeling his eyes boring holes into the top
of her head.  She knew he was wondering what was wrong with
her, but damned if she was gonna admit anything to HIM!
Besides...she hardly knew what the problem was, herself.

	She looked up suddenly, fixing a smile on her face as
she addressed her cousin, "Say, I saw that they opened up the
fairgrounds near the park!  We should go, Kuri-chan!  It would
be so much fun, don't you think?  Just like the old days!"

	Kuri's face brightened.  "That's a good idea," she replied
eagerly.  "I remember we used to go to that fair every weekend
when I still lived here!"  Usagi grinned, proud of herself for
thinking of it.  But Kuri's next words sent her heart plunging
into her feet in the very next instant.  "You won't mind if
Mamoru comes along with us, will you?"

	Usagi's head snapped up and she opened her mouth to protest,
then hesitated when she saw the look exchanged between her cousin
and her enemy.  One she had seen too often on Makoto's face when
her friend was talking about a latest crush.  Again that funny
feeling came over her, nearly bowling her over, and she fought
it with all her might, finally recognizing the jealousy for what
it was.  **Kuri-chan's my only cousin, and Mamoru-baka is taking
her time away from me.  I have to share her with him and I don't
like it,** she told herself...but somehow she knew that there was
far more to it than that.

	"Usagi-chan?"  Kuri had an expectant, hopeful look on her face.

	She swallowed.  Kuri was like a sister to her, and being
with Mamoru obviously made her happy...  "Sure," she managed to
choke out, forcing a bright smile.  "I guess that's okay...but
HE has to pay for us both!"  Shooting a triumphant glance at him.
He was giving her an odd, searching look, but at her challenging
stare a gorgeous smile touched his face, and he winked-actually
WINKED-at her.

	"I can manage that," he replied smoothly.  "How about we
leave now?"

	"Let's go back to Usagi's house first," Kuri told him.
"That way she can drop her stuff off and we can both grab our
wallets."

	"Sounds good to me."

	So that was how Usagi came to be walking alongside Chiba
Mamoru down the streets of Tokyo, just as though he was somebody
normal and not her worst enemy, making sure to place herself
firmly between him and her cousin.  She didn't notice the glances
they exchanged above her head, nor the sly smile that touched
Kuri's lips.  It was almost surreal, her walking with Mamoru
instead of running headlong into him, as she was oft prone to
do.  She imagined she felt a hundred eyes staring at them,
whispering behind their hands about the strange sight, and she
almost bolted through the front door when they finally reached
the house.

	"Hello, Dear.  What's the hurry?" Tsukino Ikuko asked when
her daughter came bursting into the house.

	"Going to the fair with Kuri-chan, Oka-san," Usagi
explained breathlessly as she kicked off her shoes and
hightailed it up to her room.  Ikuko turned a surprised
gaze to Kuri, who grinned and shrugged as she closed the
door.

	"This is Mamoru-san," she told her aunt, gesturing to the
tall young man who was hanging shyly back.

	"The young man Usagi's told me so much about?"  Ikuko's
gaze sharpened and honed in on the handsome young man.  "Well,
at last I get to meet the infamous Chiba Mamoru," she continued
on, smiling slyly.  Mamoru sweatdropped; he could only imagine
what sort of stories Usagi had been telling about him...

	Just then a blonde tornado came hurtling through the
kitchen, rushing past her mother in a cloud of dust and
practically dragging Kuri and Mamoru back out the door.
"GoteverythingIneedHere'syourpurseGottagoBye!" she called
loudly over her shoulder, not daring to stop until she was
a safe distance from her mother's snoopy questions.

	"Odango, the fair isn't going anywhere.  We can slow
down now," Mamoru called out behind her, making her come to
a screeching halt.

	"I know that," she replied huffily.  "I just don't want
my mother to start asking questions about you.  Wouldn't want
her to worry about the kind of people her daughter and niece
are hanging out with!"  She smiled at him innocently, ignoring
his insulted expression, and skipped ahead of them, her mood
suddenly much improved.  The birds were singing, the sun was
shining, and the air was warm and spring-like...

	"So, Usagi-chan, don't you want to know how our date went
last night?" Kuri asked innocently.

	The songbirds came to a screeching halt, clouds covered the
sun, and a chill wind swept across the city.

	"Why do you think I care?" Usagi managed to reply, thankful
that her voice came out sounding somewhat normal.

	Kuri raised her eyebrows.  "Oh...I don't know.  Maybe
because my love life has ALWAYS been interesting to you before?"
she suggested wryly.  "Why should THIS time be any different?"

	Usagi shrugged and tried to think of a way to change the
subject.  Finally admitting defeat, she huffed a sigh and said
grumpily, "Okay, fine.  Tell me how wonderful your date was last
night.  But then can we PLEASE talk about something that doesn't
make me wanna yak all over the sidewalk?"

	Kuri snorted with laughter.  "You have SUCH a way with words."

	Usagi smiled sweetly.  "I try."

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Four
~~~~~~~~~~~~

	**That's the LAST time I ever let Kuri tell me anything
about her dates...especially when the date is WITH her!** Usagi
complained silently as the gates to the fair loomed into view.
Once she had agreed to listen, the floodgates had opened and both
Kuri and Mamoru had practically crawled all over each other's
words trying to tell her about every single thing they did the
night before.  They must have gone from one side of Japan to the
other, from what they told her.  Luckily, they spared her any...
er..."romantic" details, which was fortunate or Usagi may very
well have had to make good on her threat.  What she did know was
that they both apparently had a very good time together, and that
they definitely planned to do it again.  She didn't like that
thought at all, but couldn't figure out whom she was jealous of
more.  Mamoru for taking all of Kuri's attention, or Kuri for
taking all of Mamoru's.  She suspected it was the latter more
than the former...but she still could not bring herself to admit
it.

	"All right, ladies, ready for some fun?" Mamoru asked
cheerfully as he looped his arm through Kuri's.  "I dare either
of you to go on the roller coaster with me!"

	At this, Kuri and Usagi exchanged sly looks.  How could
he possibly know that the last time they'd been to a fair together
they'd ridden the double-looped roller coaster five times in a row?
"You're on!" Usagi exclaimed maliciously.  Finally!  Some payback
for all those insults!  And she intended to pay back good, too!

	Mamoru raised an eyebrow at Usagi's devilish expression,
and a grin twitched his lips as she rubbed her hands gleefully
together.  **She looks so kawaii when she has that malicious
gleam in her eye,** he noticed, then blinked at the surprising
thought.  "Um...why do I have the feeling that I've just been
shanghaied?" he asked as an aside to Kuri.  The older blonde
merely smiled and tossed her hair.

	"You'll find out soon enough, dear," she purred.

	Mamoru grinned and shook his head.  Then, without really
knowing why, he took Usagi's hand in his own.  The look she gave
him was startled, to say the least, and he fought down a blush
as he quickly grabbed Kuri's hand, as well.  Something like
disappointment flashed through Usagi's bright eyes, so quickly
he wasn't sure it had even been there.  "Well, let's go in, shall
we?" he asked cheerfully, deciding not to dwell on it at the
moment.  He squeezed both of the hands resting within his...so
different and yet so similar, he couldn't help but think...and
pulled them after him through the gates of the fair.

*	*	*	*	*
	"The Big Dipper," the sign announced.  "Fastest roller
coaster this side of Japan!"  And it did, indeed, look incredibly
fast, not to mention sickening.  It had two loops and a tight,
corkscrew spiral, aside from the various dips and turns, the
largest of which rose a good fifty feet in the air.  All in all,
it was one big jumble of gleaming, oiled steel and motors and
cables...and Usagi couldn't wait to see the expression on Mamoru's
face when she got on it without a whimper!  She shifted impatiently.
"These lines take forever," she complained.  "It's been half an hour
already!"

	"Try complaining a little louder.  Maybe people will get
sick of it and leave," Mamoru suggested snidely.

	She pulled a sour face at him.  "Well, it hasn't worked
on you so far, so I doubt it'd work on anyone else," she shot back.

	His grin was smug as he shook his head.  "I've built up
a resistance to your whine," he countered.  "I can take anything
you dish out."

	"Then WHY do you complain about my complaining?!" she
snapped, shooting him an exasperated glare.

	He smirked.  "Because I so enjoy watching your face turn
such a lovely shade of crimson when you get mad."

	Usagi opened her mouth to retort, thought the better of it,
and closed it again, shaking her head and turning her back on him.
He'd get HIS when it came time for the ride!  They'd been at the
fair for three hours already, and she'd spent most of the time
pretending to be scared of every little ride she went on.  It
appeared to work; he had long given up trying to coax her onto
anything.  He probably thought she was more of a crybaby than
ever.  Kuri, the wonderful cousin that she was, didn't say
anything, although she had a lot of trouble keeping in her
laughter when she saw Usagi playing the coward for the carousel,
of all things, going so far as to latch onto the railing with a
death-grip when Mamoru attempted to drag her on, yelling at the
top of her lungs.  To see him squirm with embarrassment when
people started staring at him was very satisfactory, indeed.

	Finally, it was their turn.  Kuri, pleading a headache,
had gone to sit down, leaving Usagi and Mamoru to ride alone.
Usagi felt bad for her cousin, and had offered to sit with her,
but Mamoru wasn't having any of that.  "Just the perfect excuse
to get out of going on the ride, isn't it, Odango Atama?" he'd
said smugly.  "Sorry, but I'm not letting you out of it that
easily!  We made a bet, remember?"  They had, back at the
carousel.  He'd bet her a milkshake that she'd lose her nerve,
certain he'd win.  Little did he know.

	Usagi shot him an irritated glance, then smiled slyly.
"Fine," she replied.  "I prefer chocolate milkshakes, by the
way."  Ignoring his disbelieving snort, she handed the man
behind the booth four tickets and started to step into a car.

	Excuse me, Miss, but the ride is six tickets," the conductor
told her.

	Her jaw dropped.  "SIX!  But everything else was only
four tickets!"

	This ride's the most popular, so it costs the most
tickets.  Six tickets please," came the reply.

	Usagi bit her lip.  "I...those were my last four tickets,"
she mumbled, feeling a flush rise to her cheeks.  "Can you wait
'till I buy two more?"  The conductor shot her a look that told
her he thought she was crazy.  "Right.  Stupid question."  She
glanced at Mamoru, then smiled slightly and proclaimed, with as
much false cheer as she could, "Darn!  Well, guess I'll have to
sit this one out!  Boy, and I was REALLY looking forward to it,
too.  But you go on and have fun without me."  She patted his
arm and started to walk away.

	"Oh, no you don't!" he immediately exclaimed, chuckling a
little.  Reaching out, he wrapped a strong arm around her waist
and dragged her back in front of him, handing two extra tickets,
plus his own six, to the conductor, before ushering her into the
car.  "Nice try, making sure you didn't have enough tickets and
all," he told her dryly, his breath brushing warmly against her
neck as he strapped her in with him, making her shiver.

	"You think I PLANNED that?!" she protested.  "I'm insulted
at the implications!"

	"Do you even know what that means?" he asked humorously.

	"HAI!" she shouted.

	He winced and chuckled at the same time.  "Okay, don't pop
a lung," he replied, settling back.  "By the way..."  He shot her
a teasing glance as the cart started slowly up the first big hill.
"For my milkshake I prefer vanilla."

	"Ha!" she cried as the cart reached its climax.  "In your
dreeeaaaammmssss!"

*	*	*	*	*
	"One chocolate milkshake, please.  Extra large."
Usagi shot a rather sick-looking Mamoru a triumphant glance,
half-laughing at his expression.  "Do you want anything?" she
asked innocently.

	"I would, but I left my stomach somewhere up on that last
hill the last time around," he muttered, fishing out his wallet.

	She laughed at him, her eyes sparkling up at him in a
way that made his heart beat erratically.  "I told you!" she
proclaimed with obvious glee.  "Didn't I say you didn't have
to get on again with me that third time?  Would you listen?
Noooooo!"

	"Okay, okay.  You don't have to keep rubbing it in," he
muttered, throwing a bill onto the counter.  "You made your point."

	"But it's so much fun being on the giving end of the
teasing instead of the getting end.  Don't YOU find the change
any fun?"  She looked up at him, all smiles and big, innocent
eyes, and he broke into a laugh despite himself.  Her smile
widened.  "Guess you're just not used to taking your own
medicine," she added smugly, taking a large gulp of her shake.

	"Okay, okay.  I yield.  That was pretty sneaky of you.
Didn't know you had it in you," he admitted, playfully ruffling
her hair.  He blinked at the soft strands beneath his fingers,
suddenly realizing that he had never actually touched her hair
before.  At least not on purpose.  It was like warm silk...and
this gesture felt...somehow familiar to him...

	"Uh...daijabu?  Do I have something stuck in my hair or
something?"

	He blinked, suddenly realizing that his hand was still
resting against her head, his fingers caressing the soft locks
absently.  **What the heck am I doing?!** he screamed at himself,
hastily jerking his hand away.  Usagi was still waiting for an
answer, looking up at him uncertainly.  "I...uh..." he stammered,
trying to think up SOME reason for touching her that way.  **I
mistook you for your cousin?  Naah.  That's not exactly true...**

	"Hey!  So how'd it go?  I see Usagi-chan won the bet."

	He started out of his thoughts, turning wide eyes to Kuri,
who was gazing back at him with an impish expression on her face.
"Uh...yeah, she sure had me fooled," he stammered, laughing
unsteadily.  "I taught her better than I thought."

	"Hey!" came the indignant reply, and he felt a small fist
sock his arm lightly.  "You didn't teach me nothing!"

	"Anything," he corrected automatically.

	"Huh?"

	"Anything.  'You didn't teach me anything'.  That's the
proper way to..."

	"Oh, puh-LEAZE!" came Usagi's disgusted response, eyeing
him sourly.  "So who are YOU?  Haruka-sensei?"

	He grinned, relieved to go back to their normal behavior.
"Well, considering your grades, I'd say you could use as many
teachers as you can get," he countered.

	"Before you start one of your arguments, I'm just gonna
cut in here and say I'm going home, okay?" Kuri interrupted
hastily.  "My headache isn't getting much better, and all this
noise isn't really helping.  I think some sleep will help a
lot more."

	"Awww, are you sure?" Usagi asked, clearly disappointed.
"They're gonna start the midnight menagerie parade soon, and we
still haven't covered all the fair yet..."

	"Sorry, Usa-chan."  Kuri shook her head.  "I just don't feel
up to it."

	"I'll walk you back," Mamoru offered.

	"Iie.  That's okay.  There's a bus stop right outside.  I
can take that."  Her face brightened as though she'd just thought
of something.  "Why don't you stay here with Usagi-chan?  That way
she won't have to miss out on that parade, and I won't worry about
leaving her alone here."

	"I can take care of myself!" Usagi protested.

	"Yeah, until you fall into a trash can," Mamoru snickered,
and received an elbow in the ribs for his pains.  He frowned at
her as he rubbed his side-the same one that she'd kicked before,
which was STILL a little tender.  Being around Kuri certainly
brought out her aggressive streak...

	"I know, but your parents would kill me if I left you here
alone," Kuri was saying to her cousin.  "At least this way they
won't worry so much if I leave you with a friend."

	"You don't know my father," Usagi replied wryly.  "If he
finds out you left me here with some guy, he's liable to come
after me with shotgun in hand...AFTER he uses it on you!"  She
giggled.

	Kuri giggled as well.  "I'm sure Aunt Ikuko will talk
some sense into him," she replied.  "Well?  Do you think you
can tolerate each others company for a few more hours?  Or am
I asking for too much?"

	Usagi looked like she was about to protest some more,
but Mamoru answered before she could.  "I'm sure we can be
around each other without killing each other," he stated wryly,
shooting an astonished Usagi a glance.  "We haven't checked out
the petting zoo yet, either."

	"Hey, that's right!"  Usagi looked more excited.  "Well,
okay," she finally agreed.  "I do wanna see all those kawaii
animals..."  Then she frowned.  "Are you sure you'll make it
home okay though?  Maybe I should go with you..."

	"If you do that she'll NEVER get sleep," Mamoru teased,
squeezing her shoulder playfully.  "You're staying here with me,
and that's an order!"

	Usagi blinked up at him, surprised.  "Hai, boss," she
replied meekly.

	Kuri smiled slyly as she watched them, at how close they
were standing, at the way Mamoru's hand rested so protectively
on Usagi's shoulder.  They didn't even realize what a picture
they made.  Hmmm... maybe this headache was a good thing after
all...

	"Well, it's settled then.  See you around, kiddies!
Try not to have too much fun without me now," she teased.

	"HA!  As if ANYONE could have fun with this baka!" Usagi
snorted, but there was no malice in her tone.

	"You weren't complaining a few minutes ago on that coaster,
Odango," Mamoru replied, smiling slightly as they started walking
away, still bantering back and forth.

	Kuri watched them go, smiling wistfully when she turned
toward the gates of the fair.  **Well, there's my answer right
there, everything I needed to know, whether or not they admit
it.**  She sighed.  **Oh well.  Long distance relationships are
hard to keep up anyway...**

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Five
~~~~~~~~~~~~

	"Oh, it's so KAWAIIIII!" Usagi squealed, cuddling a fuzzy
white kitten, which mewed pitifully.  "Oh...I bet Artemis would
love you!  You look just like him!  Well...except for the eyes.
Those look like Luna's eyes..."  She grinned suddenly.  "Hmmm...
I wonder what those two furballs would say if I mentioned that..."
she muttered to herself, grinning evilly.

	"I wonder that, too, considering nobody I know can
understand cat talk," Mamoru said wryly from right beside her,
making her jump.  He leaned closer, until his breath tickled her
ear, and added smugly, "But I bet if that one could talk, it'd be
screaming for help!"

	"Oh, shut up."  Usagi pouted and stroked the kitten's soft
head.  It yawned and closed its eyes, cuddling into her as it
settled in for a nap.  "See?" she said smugly.  "She knows I won't
hurt her!  Say, maybe you should get a cat!  I bet you'd have a
much better disposition if you had a fuzzy little kitten around
to keep you company."  She held the kitten out to him, and he
backed away slightly when it hissed.

	"Sorry, I'm not a cat person," he replied.

	"Really?  Gee, I wouldn't have figured THAT!" she replied
with false surprise.

	"I'm serious!  I'm never home between work and school.
It'd probably starve to death."

	She snorted.  "Yeah, it'd starve for affection," she
muttered, cuddling the kitten again.

	"What's THAT supposed to mean?!" he demanded.

	"Nothing.  Just that you're about as cuddly as a porcupine!"
she shot back.  "If you have one romantic bone in your body, I'd
die of shock!"

	"Oh, I don't know."  His smile was sly.  "Your cousin
didn't seem to have any complaints last night."  He expected
a comeback.  What he got was utter silence as she suddenly
refused to look at him, finding the rest of the kittens much
more interesting than him.  But...was that a blush on her cheek?
And she looked...upset.

	Mamoru cleared his throat, trying to shake off a sudden
sense of guilt.  What did he have to feel guilty about?  He hadn't
done anything wrong!  So why did he feel as though he'd just...
betrayed somebody?  "D'ya think you could put that thing down and
move on?" he asked irritably, trying to make reality go back to
normal again.  "We've been here for ten minutes!"

	Usagi huffed.  "So...go on then!  Nobody's stopping you!"
she snapped.  "Go...look at the goats or something.  They're more
your type anyhow.  Grumpy and ill-mannered!"

	"Ha ha."

*	*	*	*	*
	Usagi strained to see over the crowds that lined the
main walkway leading through the fair, hoping for even the
slightest glimpse of the coming parade.  It was no good; she
was too short, and the crowd was too thick.  "This is hopeless,"
she muttered to herself, hopping up and down to peer over Mamoru's
shoulder.  HE'D managed to get a good enough spot...but darned if
she'd ask him to let her in front of him!  But people kept wanting
to push between them.  "Quit shoving!" she yelled as a boy her age
pushed between her and Mamoru for maybe the third time.  He sneered
at her and moved away, and she sighed, looking around in hopes of
finding an unoccupied bench close by that she could stand on.

	Abruptly, she was shoved hard from behind, and fell
forward with a startled gasp, scraping her hands painfully
against the stone walkway.  There were suddenly feet and legs
all around her, shuffling and stamping...someone stepped on her
hand, and she yelped, pulling away as tears filled her eyes.
"Mamoru-san!" she cried, trying to find him, too confused to
even think of getting up.  Then she felt someone grip her arms
and pull her to her feet, pulling her against a warm chest and
wrapping his arms securely about her.  Without a word, Mamoru
moved her gently in front of him, keeping himself between her
and the crowd.  "Daijabu?" he asked, his face etched with
concern.

	She gazed up at him, touched by his kindness.  "Genki
desu," she lied, despite the fact that a tear persisted in
escaping, and that her hands stung, especially the one that
had been stepped on.

	"Iie.  You're not fine," he replied wryly, taking her
injured hand and turning it over.  It was raw and bruised on
both sides.  "They stepped on your hand?!"  He sounded absolutely
outraged.  "Some consideration!"

	She blinked.  "Th-they probably didn't see me down there,"
she replied.  "I'm okay, really."

	He sighed and shot her a tender glance, shaking his head.
"Now who are you and what did you do with Odango Atama?" he
teased gently, leading her away from the walk and sitting her
down on a surprisingly vacant bench.

	She blushed a little.  "What are you talking about?  I'm
right here!"

	"No way.  The Usagi-chan I know would be wailing her
lungs out right now, not sitting here telling me she's okay,"
he replied.

	Usagi didn't know WHAT to say to that-was it an insult
or what?-so she said nothing at all; merely watched as Mamoru
dampened a napkin he'd shoved into his pocket at the water
fountain, and then gently wiped clean the scrapes on her hands.
His touch did incredible things to her insides, although she
hardly dared to think why that might be, and she suddenly found
she had a hard time breathing as she watched Mamoru almost
tenderly wrap her bruised hand in a large handkerchief, his
dark head bent over his task in concentration, his soft hair
brushing her cheek.  She had to fight the urge to turn her face
until the shining strands brushed her lips, instead.  When he
finished, he took her other hand, as well, and examined it
carefully.  It wasn't as bad, and barely even stung, but he
was just as gentle as he had been with the first one as he
washed the scrapes clean.

	A ghost of a smile graced his features as he raised dark,
cerulean eyes to meet her own.  "There," he stated in almost a
whisper.  "All better."

	She swallowed hard, feeling trapped in his gaze, and
cradled the hand against her chest, like she'd done with the
kitten earlier.  "Arigatou," she whispered, unable to look away
from that probing gaze.  Not that she wanted to...

	The blast of a trumpet startled both of them into jerking
their heads around, while at the same time the crowds sent up a
cheer, both noises announcing the start of the parade.  Usagi
looked back at Mamoru regretfully.  "You lost your spot," she
said sadly.

	He looked at her, surprised, then smiled and shrugged.
"Ah, that's okay," he replied.  "I didn't really want to see
the parade, anyway."

	She looked surprised.  "Really?  Well...then why did you
stay here with me for so long?" she asked.

	He cleared his throat, running nervous fingers through his
hair.  "Well...I...uh, Kuri-san asked if I would, you know.  Just
trying to help out, is all."

	It seemed that was the wrong thing to say.  Usagi's face
fell, and she looked away from him, her eyes burning.  "I see,"
she replied softly.  Then, angrily, she turned back and added
forcefully, "I don't need a babysitter you know!  I can take
care of myself!  If you want to leave, I'M not stopping you!"

	He blinked at her.  "From fire to sugar and back to fire
again!  What did I say THIS time?!" he asked in bewilderment.

	She sighed, and seemed to slump down.  "Never mind," she
replied, all the fight suddenly going out of her.  "I want to go
home now.  Kuri-chan's headache is contagious, I think."

	He looked at her in concern, but she refused to meet his
gaze, and finally he nodded and stood up, offering her his hand.
She hesitated, looking at it almost longingly, then with a sigh
turned away and began to walk toward the entrance.  He stared
after her a moment, clearly confused at her erratic changes of
mood, then shook his head and followed.  **I will NEVER understand
women!**

*	*	*	*	*
	"Hey!"  Kuri stood in Usagi's doorway, her eyes sparkling
mischievously.  "So...how'd it go?" she asked curiously.  "Did
you and Mamoru have a good time?"

	"Yeah," Usagi replied halfheartedly.  "I thought you had
a headache."  She gave her cousin a suspicious glance.

	"Took some medicine, and it's all better!" Kuri replied
cheerfully, inviting herself in and plopping down on the bed.
She gave Luna a light pat before unceremoniously shoving the
cat onto the floor to make more room for herself.  Luna yowled
indignantly and shot Kuri a look that could melt rock, stalking
out of the room while muttering to herself.  Thankfully the older
girl was too fixated on Usagi's response to notice that her cat
was uttering some very colorful, very human expletives.  But Usagi
noticed, and it was all she could do to keep herself from bursting
into giggles.  After all the scoldings Luna had given HER on
swearing...

	"So...give me the goods.  What did the two of you do?"

	Usagi eyed her cousin warily, Luna's angst-filled exit
forgotten.  Kuri was acting awfully strange... "Just what kind
of medicine did you take?" she asked mistrustfully.  "What do
you care how things went with that baka?"

	Kuri shrugged, examining a well-manicured nail.  "I was
just wondering, is all," she replied innocently.  "Don't get
yourself all worked up over it!"  Then she noticed Usagi's
bandaged hand.  Her eyes widened.  "Kuso!  What happened to
your hand?!" she gasped.  "Mamoru-san didn't do that, did he?!"

	For some reason, Usagi suddenly felt very protective of
Mamoru.  "Of course not!" she replied defensively.  "I got pushed
down and stepped on, and he washed it and bandaged it up for me
with his own handkerchief!"  She pulled it off to show to her
cousin.

	Kuri sighed, her eyes going all liquid and dreamy, and
Usagi realized that her cousin looked frightfully like Minako
in one of her romantic moods at that moment.  "That is SO sweet,
Usagi-chan!" Kuri sighed.  "It's so romantic!  To have someone
like Mamoru take care of you like that... Was he very gentle?"

	Usagi opened her mouth to say no...but the memory of his
gentle touch and soft words and tender expression stilled the
word in her throat.  Swallowing, she nodded softly.  "Hai,"
she whispered, suddenly feeling the urge to cry.  "He was very
gentle..."  Incredibly.  She hadn't ever known that anyone could
BE so gentle.  Especially Chiba Mamoru.  She suddenly wanted, more
than anything, to feel his touch and hear his soothing voice again.

	Kuri looked at her cousin, sensing that something was
wrong.  "So why do you look like you're about to burst into
tears?" she asked gently, putting an arm around the younger
girl's shoulders.

	Usagi's face crumpled.  "Mamoru hates me, Kuri-san," she
sniffled, laying her head against her cousin's shoulder.  "He's
never liked me.  I'm just a pest, a clumsy baka.  I don't know
why he was acting like that; it was just a fluke.  It'll never
happen again.  Besides...why would he want stupid, clumsy me when
he can have you?"

	"Oh, Usagi," Kuri sighed, stroking her cousin's hair as
she sobbed quietly.  She smiled.  "I guess I was right after all.
You do like him."

	"You don't have to rub it in!" came the heartbroken response.

	She giggled a little.  "There's just one thing.  I'm leaving
in two weeks, remember?  When I'm gone...who will be left?  You.
And something tells me that he won't mind that one little bit."

	"Don't be stupid," Usagi muttered, wiping her eyes.  "He'll
probably transfer to some college in America just to be closer to
you."

	Kuri lightly smacked her cousin on the head.  "NOW who's
being stupid?" she teased.  "He'll do no such thing!"

	"Says you!" came the smart retort.

	Kuri sighed.  "Look, we're both tired, and it's late, so
how about we get rest.  YOU still have school, after all!"

	Usagi made a face.  "Don't remind me," she complained,
acting more like her normal self.  She looked up at her cousin
hopefully.  "I could stay home tomorrow, to keep you company,"
she suggested.

	Kuri laughed.  "Sorry, but I don't think your sensei would
go for that.  I'm quite sure I'll manage by myself," she replied
teasingly, tugging on Usagi's ponytail.  "Now go to bed, or your
father WILL shoot me for making you stay up so late!"  She stood
and walked back to her own room, and Usagi sighed and laid back
on her bed, switching out the light.  Her cousin's words came
back to her.

	**When I'm gone, who will be left?  When I'm gone, who will
be left?**

	Usagi frowned and turned over, trying to banish the thought
from her mind.  The moon glowed full and round in the sky and she
stared up at it, letting its hypnotic light send her into sleep as
it had done many times before.  "I STILL say he'll just follow her
to America," she mumbled drowsily, and then she was fast asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Six
~~~~~~~~~~~

	“I need to talk to you.”

	Mamoru looked up in surprise as Kuri plopped herself down
in the booth where he was seated, her expression unaccountably
serious.  It was growing late; the sky was more gold than blue,
and the arcade was almost empty of customers.  He was waiting for
Motoki to end his shift so they could start their cram session.
Closing his book, he frowned.  “What’s wrong?” he asked.  Then,
as an unknowing fear gripped him, he added quickly, “Is it
Usagi-chan?  What happened to her?  Is she okay?”

	She shot him an amused glance.  “Did I say ANYTHING was
wrong with Usagi-chan?” she asked wryly.  “Just be quiet and
listen, okay?”  When he fell silent, she cleared her throat and
nodded.  “Now, I expect a truthful answer to this question.”

	He nodded, taking a sip of his soda.

	“Have you been seeing another girl behind my back?”

	He choked in shock; soda sprayed all over the table.
Luckily Kuri had anticipated this and had moved calmly out
of the way.  “NANI?!” he bellowed once he had cleared his
lungs of fluid enough to talk.  “What are you talking about?!”

	“Just making sure I had your attention,” Kuri said dryly,
tossing him a napkin.

	“Well, you have it now!” he replied.  “Now what kind of a
question is that?!”

	“A perfectly simple one.  Now…have you been-“

	“I heard you the first time!” he snapped, glaring at her.
His cheeks were a suspicious shade of pink.  “What, do you think
I have a girl stashed in my closet or something?!”

	Her lips twitched.  “I don’t know.  Do you?”

	He shot her an exasperated glare.  “What have you been
eating today?” he grumbled.  “Or should I say drinking?”

	She grinned.  “Usagi-chan came home last night all upset,
and I think it has something to do with you,” she began, playing
with an empty straw paper.  “She told me what happened at the
fair, and now she’s all confused, ‘cause she doesn’t know whether
to keep on hating you or to give into these strange feelings she’s
been trying to hide.  The trouble with THAT is she’s positive that
you don’t like her back.  You really shouldn’t mess with a young
girl’s emotions like that, you know.  They’re very impressionable
at that age.”

	“What are you talking about?” he choked.  “She was hurt!
I was only trying to help her!  It was perfectly innocent!”

	“Right.”  Kuri wasn’t teasing anymore.  “And the result
is that for the very first time, Usagi’s seen a glimpse of the
charming gentleman I saw from the moment I met you.  You’re not
just the baka who teases her constantly anymore.  Now she’s seeing
you as someone whom, I believe, she wants very much to get to know
better.”

	Mamoru stared at her, then shook his head.  “She’s only
fourteen years old,” he pointed out.

	“And yet I somehow get the feeling that you don’t care
about that half as much as you want me to believe,” Kuri replied,
refusing to release his gaze.

	“She…she’s the complete opposite of me in every way!” he
protested.  “She’s…”

	“The perfect complement of you in every way,” came the
smooth response.

	“That’s a load of bull,” he muttered.  “Where did you come
up with this stuff?”

	She smiled again.  “By watching the two of you, actually,”
she replied.  “You may not know it, but your actions toward each
other prove it.  Like the way you treated her last night.  And
following her home to keep her safe?  Are those the actions of
a man who sees her as nothing more than a child?  You said
yourself, she’s a pretty girl.  And she still has your
handkerchief, you know.  I think she put it under her pillow
last night.”

	“So?”  This news made him pleased and embarrassed all at
once, but damned if he’d let her know that!

	“That doesn’t have any significance to you?”  Kuri raised
an eyebrow.  “I used to sleep with a picture of my old boyfriend
under my pillow at night.  That is, before we broke up and I used
it to practice my aim at darts.  I’ve grown quite good at the game,
needless to say.”  Her smile was impish, and he smiled back despite
himself.

	“I still don’t see what that has to do with us,” he said.

	Kuri sighed.  “Okay, fine.  BE that way,” she pouted,
looking so much like Usagi at that moment that his breath caught.
“But I’m just telling you now that I don’t want to pursue this
relationship any further.”

	His eyes widened.  “You’re DUMPING me?” he asked in disbelief.

	She grimaced.  “That’s such an ugly word.  And considering
we aren’t ‘officially’ together to begin with…”  She shrugged.
“I AM going home eventually, after all.”

	“Well…yeah, but I thought that…I mean…” he stammered.

	Her expression gentled.  “Look, Mamoru-san, I really DO
like you.  BELIEVE me.”  She smiled grimly.  “If it wasn’t for
Usagi and the fact that I DO live in America…”

	“I could come visit!  I could transfer schools!” he stated
quickly.

	She shot him a disbelieving glance.  “Egads!  Usa WAS right
about you!” she replied with a laugh.  “That’s just what she said
you’d try to do.  See?  You two know each other so well it isn’t
even funny.  You know just what buttons to push to piss each other
off.  I bet, if you tried, you’d know what buttons to push to turn
each other on, too.”

	“NANI?!”  He shot her a wide-eyed glance.  “I cannot believe
you just said that!” he hissed, glancing around.

	“Oh, stop it!  I didn’t mean it like THAT, you hentai!”
she replied, laughing.  “But you two are so good for each other!”

	“We bring out the worst in each other!” he insisted.

	“You also bring out the best,” she replied.  “Like the way
you treated her last night.  I tell you, if some guy did that for
me, I’d fall in love easily.  Gentleness is a rare trait in these
times.”

	He sucked in a breath.  “So you aren’t going to change
your mind?  At all?” he asked.

	She shook her head.  “Look…when I’m gone, you won’t even
miss me, ‘cause Usagi-chan will still be here.  Frankly…I think
it’s her you’re wanting to be with in the first place.  I’m just
a convenient excuse to be closer to her without letting her-not
to mention yourself-know how you REALLY feel.”

	He smiled wryly and shook his head.  “You DO have it all
thought out, don’t you?” he questioned.

	“Tell me I’m wrong,” she challenged.

	“You’re wrong,” he replied.

	She gave him an admiring glance.  “And you’re resilient.
Not much can hold up against MY logic,” she teased.

	He smiled back.  “Well, I am pretty strong-willed,” he
admitted.  “It’s a survival trait.”

	“If you say so.”

	They both stood up, looking at each other seriously.  Then
Mamoru stuck out his hand.  “It’s been…wonderful knowing you,” he
said softly.  “Arigatou, for giving me the time of day.  Even
though it hasn’t worked out…”

	“Oh, come on!  I’m not going home YET!  I still have a week
and a half left!”  Then she took his hand gently, nodding.  “You
are a good man, no matter WHAT Usagi says she thinks of you.”
She grinned.  “If she wasn’t so hooked on you, I might be tempted
to move back to Japan myself.”

	“So why don’t you?” he asked.

	“Mother would kill me,” she replied humorously, and he
chuckled.

	“We can still be friends, can’t we?” he asked.

	“We’d better. I’m gonna be writing you both, harassing you
about the goings on of your love lives.”

	“May heaven help us all,” he replied comically, and received
a light punch in the arm.  “So THAT’S where she gets it from!” he
added with a grin.

	“Go ahead and laugh, but I predict that by the time my
vacation is over, you two will be so involved with each other
that you won’t even notice the plane flying away.”

	“Right.  I’ll see your bet and raise you a hundred,” he teased.

	“Don’t.  I never lose when it comes to matters of the heart,”
she retorted.

	“Now you’re sounding like Minako!”

	“Really?  Has she been talking with you, too?  Hmmm…maybe
we’ll have to get together…”

	“Oh, please, no!”  He sounded horrified.  “I won’t stand a
chance against the both of you!”

	She chucked evilly.  “That’s the whole idea, lover boy,” she
teased.

	Mamoru laughed and grabbed her suddenly, tickling her
sides, and she squealed and started to fight back.  She was
much stronger than Usagi was, and she was taller, too.  He
couldn’t hold her as well, so he wrapped both arms around her
to get a better grip.  “Nobody escapes from me!” he growled
into her ear as she squirmed and laughed.

	Neither of them heard the arcade door slide open, but the
sharp, surprised gasp that followed brought Mamoru’s head up
sharply.  Something pierced his chest when he saw Usagi standing
there, her face drained of color and her eyes huge and betrayed.
“Usagi-chan…” he began, releasing Kuri.

	Usagi took a step back, lifting her chin stubbornly.  “I
just…I came to tell Kuri-chan that I’m finished buying my clothes.”
She held up a shopping bag.  “I’m…uh…done shopping, so I’m going
home now.”

	“Usagi-chan, wait a sec,” Kuri exclaimed, starting toward
her cousin.

	“Oh, look how late it is!  Oka-san’ll be furious!  Better
hurry up!” Usagi suddenly exclaimed, and took off running from
the arcade.

	“Usagi-chan!  Wait!” Mamoru called, starting after her,
but Kuri held him back.

	“Let her go,” she said.

	“Let her go?  She walked in and saw…I mean…she looked
upset!  Aren’t you going to straighten it out with her?”
Mamoru was looking a bit upset himself.

	She cocked her head to the side and gave him a long,
appraising glance.  “My, my.  How quickly you change your mind,”
she teased.

	“What are you…she’s upset!  She needs to be told what’s
going on!” Mamoru snapped.  “Don’t you even care?”

	Her smile was mysterious.  “If you don’t care about her in
that way, then why do you care so much what she thinks is going
on between us?” she asked in return, perfectly calm.  “It shouldn’t
make a difference to you.”

	He sputtered for a moment, trying to come up with an answer
to THAT, then gave it up when he found he had none.  Besides, right
now finding Usagi was far more important.  “Tell Motoki-san plans
have been changed,” he muttered, hurrying out the door after Usagi.
“I’ve got a girl to catch.”

	Kuri watched him go, smiling demurely.  “I just love it
when I’m right,” she told herself smugly as she went in search
of Motoki.  She had a feeling the arcade manager would be quite
happy to hear the news.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Seven
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Usagi walked along the street, clutching her shopping bag
with both arms and scowling fiercely at the ground in front of
her.  The image of Mamoru embracing her cousin refused to leave
her mind, as hard as she willed it to go, and she felt nervous
and jumpy.  “Why should I care,” she muttered, swiping at a
stray tear.  “He's just a stupid baka!  She can HAVE the jerk!"

	She paused suddenly, realizing that she was standing in
front of the fairgrounds.  Although it was only nine o’clock,
the gates were shut, and the place was dark and deserted.  The
fair was kept closed through the week, but would be opened again
on Friday night for the weekend.  Until summer arrived; then it
would open all week long.  She sighed, gazing in through the bars
of the gates, again remembering Mamoru’s kindness to her.  She
could see the bench where he’d sat with her from where she stood.
“Why can’t he act like that ALL the time?” she wondered out loud.
It simply wasn’t fair!

	And then she heard a cat meowing pitifully from somewhere
on the other side of the gates.  Surprised, she tilted her head
and listened, and shortly thereafter, the cry came again, sounding
scared and lonely.  “Poor thing,” Usagi murmured, peering in the
gate in hopes of finding the source.  She couldn’t see any cat,
but she could clearly hear it.  “I’d better help it,” she decided,
and without another thought, thankful that she was so skinny, she
squeezed between the bars.  “Here, kitty!” she called softly,
hoping against hope that there wasn’t a security guard or possibly
somebody more dangerous lurking around.

	A wind swept across the deserted grounds, picking up trash
and paper and swirling them around.  It was unbelievably creepy in
there with hardly any lights.  Only a few swinging lanterns
illuminated the grounds, and not very brightly, at that.  The
pitiful meow sounded again, and Usagi decided that it was coming
from the left.  Setting her shopping bag down beside the gate, she
ran in that direction, stopping when she reached the roller coaster.
“Kitty, kitty!” she called, pausing to listen.  Sure enough, the cry
sounded again, seemingly more desperate.

	And also seeming to be coming from…above her?

	She looked upward, straining her eyes to see in the
dimness…and there, she could just make out the silhouette of
a cat peering over the edge of the roller coaster track, no
more than a black blob against the twilight darkness.  She
let out a gasp.  “You poor thing!  How did you get stuck way
up THERE?!”  More importantly…HOW was she ever gonna get the
poor cat DOWN again?  She frowned in determination.  “Okay!
Well, I can’t just leave  you there,” she stated.  “So…I guess
I’ll just have to climb up and get you!”

	Easier said than done, of course.  She circled the roller
coaster, looking for some kind of ladder or something, and,
finding none, deduced that the only way to get up was to climb
the track itself.

	“I cannot BELIEVE I am doing this,” she muttered, thankful
that she was wearing a pair of jeans rather than a skirt, as she
gripped the dirty metal track and started to make her way carefully
up.  It was steep, and the track was slippery from years of dirt
and oil coating its metal frame.  It looked much like a railroad
track, with flat metal bars spacing every foot or so, holding the
two rails which the wheels of the carts ran on together.  “Okay…I
saw ‘Annie’…now HOW did she do this…?” she muttered to herself,
cautiously settling the toe of her sneaker onto the edge of one
of the flat bars, hoping that it was thick enough to hold her
without her slipping.  She pushed up, gripping the metal rails
on either side of her with a death-grip.  She repeated the process,
making her way up slowly and steadily, panting with exertion.
“Forget those dumb exercise videos.  If you want a REALLY good
workout, just try climbing a roller coaster!” she grumbled.

	About halfway up, while reaching for a better handhold,
her foot suddenly slipped off the bar she was standing on, and
she shrieked in fear.  Luckily her grip on the rails didn’t slip,
and she hung there, panting heavily, as she sought to gain another
foothold.  Above her, the stranded cat meowed piteously once more,
and she gritted her teeth and kept on climbing.  “It could be Luna
up there…” she muttered to herself.  “You’d do the same thing for
her!  Although…she’s not stupid enough to get stuck up there in
the first place…”  Her foot slipped off the oily bar again, and
she let out a little squeal before she gritted her teeth harder
and kept on going.

	She was fast deciding that maybe she didn’t like roller
coasters, after all…

*	*	*	*	*
	“Kuso!  Where IS she?” Mamoru muttered as he headed
swiftly down the street after Usagi.  “That Odango Atama!
How’d she disappear so quick?!”  He’d seen her only a moment
ago, but then she’d turned a corner, and he’d lost her.  She
appeared to have vanished into thin air!  With a sigh, he
slowed and slumped against a building, trying to think of
where she might have gone.  It wasn’t toward home; that was
in the complete opposite direction.  **The park maybe?** he
thought.  It was close by, and he’d seen her many times sitting
by the lake or near the gardens…but was even she foolish enough
to go into the park alone at that time of night?  Still…she was
upset; might not be thinking clearly…

	He sighed and kept on running.

	And it was then he heard her shriek.

	His heart took a nose-dive into his feet before leaping
back up to start hammering in his throat.  That had sounded really
close… He looked wildly around and his eyes fell upon a fenced-in
area at the other end of the block.  The fairgrounds were right
there on the other side, closed up for the week, and beyond that
was the park itself.  He knew instantly that this was where he’d
find Usagi.  He didn’t know HOW he knew, but he had learned long
ago to trust the instinctive little voice in his head.

	“She’s got no business being in there!” he muttered,
jogging into the park until he found the entrance of the
fairgrounds.  “When I get my hands on her I might kill her
myself for making me worry like this!”  The first thing he
saw was a white shopping bag, sitting half-hidden in
shadows…on the OTHER side of the gates.  He frowned.
Well, he’d found her.  Now how was he gonna get in?
He wasn’t a skinny runt like Usagi was, who could slip
through those bars.  So he did the next best thing.  He
climbed the fence, using the gates themselves and a few
empty wooden crates as leverage to haul himself over the
top.  It was tricky getting over the barbed wire lining the
top of the fence, but his favorite green jacket provided enough
padding to make it safely over…although he tried not to think
about the damage it was doing to the jacket.

	He’d just hit the ground when he heard Usagi’s scream
again, which was abruptly cut off.  Adrenaline shot through
him, and forgetting both jacket and shopping bag, he sprinted
toward the source of the scream.  “Usagi!” he yelled, looking
frantically around, fully expecting to see her being cornered
by a gang of thugs or something.  “Usagi!”

	What he did NOT expect was Usagi’s highly annoyed
voice…coming from ABOVE him, no less…to hiss, “Will you
be quiet?!  You’re gonna scare it away, you baka!”  Startled,
he looked up…and his heart nearly stopped when he saw Usagi
perched precariously on one of the higher, steeper tracks of
the Big Dipper, her hair shining like pale gold in the dim light.
She appeared to be talking to someone, although there was nobody
in there that he could see.

	“What are you doing?!” he shouted.  “Come down from there
right now!”

	She looked down at him, and he saw the glitter of her eyes.
“Shut UP!  I’m trying to rescue this cat and you’re scaring it!”
she called down irritably.  “What are YOU doing here, anyway?
Where’s your girlfriend?”

	“What do you mean?  I don’t have…”  He broke off and shook
his head.  “Now just you wait a second!  We’re talking about what
YOU’RE doing here, not what I’M doing here!” he continued.  “Will
you come down from there before you fall and kill yourself?!”

	Usagi sighed, deciding it best to ignore him for the moment,
and turned her attention back to the stray.  She saw with surprise
that it had scuttled away from her, apparently startled by her
sudden outburst.  “Great!  NOW look what you made me do, Chiba!”
Usagi hissed, trying to scoot closer to the frightened cat.
“Boy, where’s some cat nip when you need it?”

	A sudden scuffle from below made her look down, and her
mind registered shock when she saw Mamoru scrambling up the
track after her, his expression a mix of fear and anger.  “Don’t
move,” he ordered her.  “I’m going to come help you.  Just…don’t
do anything stupid!”

	“I don’t need help!” she hissed.  “Go away!”

	Of course he didn’t go away, and she suddenly realized what
he was doing.  He thought she was up there because she was going
to jump!  She moaned softly and dropped her head into her hands.
“This is SO embarrassing!” she groaned.  The black cat meowed
softly, as if in agreement, and she glared at it.  “This is all
your fault!” she complained.  “I swear, if you didn’t look so much
like my Luna, I’d just leave you up here!  Lucky for you I’m a
sucker for an animal in distress!”

	The cat meowed again, scooting away even further…and then
it jumped.  “Iie!” Usagi shrieked, lunging after it, but she missed
its tail by a mere hair.  “Ohhhh nooooo!” she wailed, scrambling
up until she reached the level part of the track, ignoring Mamoru’s
outraged shout, and peered over the edge, fully expecting to see a
furry pancake on the ground twenty feet below.

	The cat sat calmly on a lower track, highlighted by one of
the few lights illuminating the roller coaster.  It gazed up at
her through glowing eyes, tail tucked contentedly around it’s
body, and meowed again.  Then it stood and picked its way down
the track to the roof of a nearby snack stand, leaping easily
onto it, and from there into a tree, and from there to the ground,
and then it trotted away, quite content with itself.

	Usagi’s jaw dropped open as she watched the critter
disappear into the shadows.  And then her temper snapped.
“You stupid cat!” she yelled furiously.  “You were never
stuck at all!  And here I am risking my LIFE trying to help
you down from this stupid roller coaster, and my worst enemy
thinks I’m up here ‘cause I’m suicidal, and you have the nerve
to WALK AWAY?!”  She paused and took a deep breath.  “I HOPE
YOU CHOKE ON A FURBALL, YOU MANGY ANIMAL!” she roared.  Then
she sniffled and dropped her head into her dirt-smeared hands.
“This is the worst night of my life,” she whimpered.

	“I’ve had better nights myself.”

	Usagi stiffened in surprise, then slowly turned her head
as Mamoru took a careful seat beside her, watching her suspiciously.
She’d almost forgotten about him… “Quit looking at me like that!
I’m not gonna jump, and even if I was it’s certainly not ‘cause
of YOU!” she snapped.  “I was just trying to help an ungrateful
little beast of a cat!”

	“So I gathered,” came the amused reply.  “I think they heard
that all the way over in China.”

	She pouted and shot him a dirty look.  “If you’re gonna
just sit up here and insult me, you can take a leap off the track
yourself,” she huffed.

	He snorted and ran a hand through his hair.  “Actually I
came up here to rescue YOU,” he told her.  “So how about actually
using your head for once and coming down from here.  Or do you want
me to THROW you down?”

	Usagi glared at him.  “Don’t tell me what to do!” she
snapped.  “If I wanna sit up here on a roller coaster track,
I can!  You’re not my father!”

	“And you’re lucky I’m not, or I’d have to smack your
disrespectful little behind,” he replied grumpily.  “Of course,
I might do that anyway.  Hasn’t anyone ever taught you to respect
your elders?”

	“You hentai!  You just TRY it!  I’ll give you such a
pounding!”

	He snorted in laughter.  “Oh, I’m shaking.  You couldn’t
hurt a fly!”

	“Oh yeah?!”  She reached across his body and gave him
a quick jab in his still-tender side, and he grunted in pain.
“Remember THAT?” she told him smugly.  “I can make your OTHER
side feel just as good!  AND I’m wearing shoes this time!”

	He scowled at her, growing a bit annoyed.  “Do I have to
drag you down from here?” he asked.  Then he grinned slyly.  “Or
are you afraid, Odango?  Is that why you don’t want to climb down?
You gonna spend the rest of your life sitting up here…”

	“YOU SHUT UP!” she yelled.  “I’m not afraid!”

	“So then prove it,” he replied smugly.

	“FINE!  Whatever it takes to get you to shut your mouth,
baka!” Usagi snapped, blinking back sudden tears.  She REALLY
wasn’t in the mood for this right now…

	Trying to ignore the self-satisfied smirk he was giving her,
Usagi watched as he began to make his way down the narrow track.
He made it look so EASY, she thought disgustedly.  He didn’t even
slip once.  In no time at all, he’d reached the bottom platform and
stood staring up at her.  “I’m not getting any younger you know,
Odango!” he called.

	She glared down at him.  **So it’s back to Odango now, is
it?  No more Mr. Nice Guy?  I KNEW it was too good to last!** she
thought, trying to ignore the heartache the thought brought her.
She turned around and carefully placed her foot on one of the flat
bars, gripping the rails tightly.  “I actually CLIMBED this thing
the whole way up?!” she grumbled to herself.

	“Like a monkey,” he replied snidely.  “What’s the matter,
Odango?”  He could tell she was nervous.  “I thought you liked
roller coasters.”

	“I do…when I’m riding in the cart!” she snapped.  “And why
can’t you just GO AWAY?!”  One good thing about that baka; he was
making her too mad to worry about being afraid…and she was more
determined than ever to show him up!  She was nearly halfway down
now, and doing a pretty good job, too.  Taking another cautious
step downward, she found another foothold and shifted her grip
on the rails…and that was when she slipped.

	She let out a startled cry as her feet scrambled for a
foothold, but the oily metal offered no purchase, and she found
herself sliding down the track, hands desperately gripping the rail.
She thought she heard Mamoru call her name, but wasn’t really sure.
She was too busy trying to save herself.  **Let go,** a little
voice in her head whispered to her.  **Jump away.**  So she did,
letting herself fall, twisting around, as lithe as a cat.  She hit
the platform feet-first-a miracle in and of itself, part of her
thought wryly-and tucked herself up into a little ball like she’d
learned to do in gym class, doing a somersault before letting
herself sprawl out on the wooden platform.  She lay there panting,
the adrenaline rushing through her, basically unharmed if not a
little dazed, and stared up at the sky.

	“I REALLY do not like roller coasters,” she muttered weakly,
slowly sitting up and rubbing her head.

	“USAGI!”

	The next thing she knew she was engulfed in a pair of strong
arms and a warm chest.  She blinked in surprise, realizing that it
was Mamoru that was holding her so tightly, as if she’d disappear
if he let her go again.  She blushed at the feeling of being held
so tightly, and her heart began to beat erratically.  It was just
like that episode of Fushigi Yuugi-her favorite anime-when Miaka
discovered that Tamahome loved her for the first time, and he’d
embraced her and held her as though his life depended on it, and
then he had kissed her… But this was MAMORU, and this wasn't any
anime!

	“You scared me to DEATH!” Mamoru growled suddenly, bringing
her thoughts back to the present.  She realized with surprise that
he was trembling. “What were you thinking, climbing up that thing?
And for a mangy CAT?!  You could’ve gotten us both killed, you
baka!”

	She was silent as she struggled to regain her senses.
Mamoru was yelling at her…AGAIN…so why wasn’t she getting angry
about it?  “Well…I didn’t…it wasn’t MY…I didn’t ASK you to come
rescue me!” she finally sputtered, trying to push him away.  But
he wasn’t letting go.

	“Do you actually think I had a CHOICE?!”  She blinked in
surprise at the sudden desperate note in his voice, and he released
her just enough so he could look her in the eye, his hands still
planted firmly on her shoulders.  “Mo, Usagi…”  He paused and shook
his head.  “When I saw you up there, all I could think about was
reaching you before you fell!  And then you DID fall and…I just…”
He hugged her close to him again, holding her almost fiercely.
“…I wouldn’t ever be able to forgive myself if anything had
happened to you!”

	“Because I’m K-Kuri-chan’s little cousin?” Usagi asked,
brow furrowing.  She was having a really hard time trying to
keep up with these mood swings of his!  “You don’t have to be
responsible just ‘cause I’m related to your girlfriend,” she
added stiffly. “I’m NOT a little kid!”

	“I know that,” he replied, sounding surprised.  He sat back
again and regarded her, and then a mysterious smile touched his
lips.  “And Kuri isn’t my girl, you know.”

	Usagi blinked.  “N-nani?” she stammered.  “But I saw you
two…I mean…in the arcade…”

	“We broke up.”  No way was he going to admit that SHE had
done the breaking up part.  Male ego just wouldn’t allow that
indignity.  “It wasn’t really serious in the first place,” he
added with a careless shrug.  “I mean, she IS going back to
America, after all.”

	“You’re not…gonna transfer schools and go with her?”

	He blinked in surprise, then laughed.  “Why should I?
I like it where I am.”  He shot her a sly glance.  “If I didn’t
know better, I’d almost think you were jealous!”

	Her jaw dropped.  “N-nani?” she squeaked, then glared.
“AS if!  Don’t you just WISH!” she snorted, crossing her arms
stubbornly.  But behind her indignant facade…he could detect
just the slightest bit of melancholy in her eyes, the faintest
hint of longing in her tone, and his gaze sharpened, honed in
on her, and began to really…SEE her.  For perhaps the very first
time.

	She was an utter mess, although he suspected he wasn’t in
much better condition.  Her hair was tangled and falling out of
their odango, but it seemed to glow silver in the moonlight,
falling softly over his hands, making them itch to bury themselves
in the silky locks.  Her face and hands were smudged with dirt,
but her eyes glittered up at him in a manner that made his heart
stop beating.  They were beautiful eyes, he thought, although they
looked rather confused at the moment.  Her clothes were filthy and
wrinkled, torn in one or two spots where they’d caught on loose
screws, but he could see the outline of her slender little body
hidden beneath them…and he realized, with a kind of start, that
she had never looked more beautiful.  And he had almost lost her.
She could have been seriously hurt tonight, perhaps killed.  The
thought of losing her pierced his heart, and his look turned
incredulous as he gazed down on her indignant little face.
**Good grief,** he thought in a kind of daze.  **I think…I think
I might actually…LOVE the little odango!**

	He’d always cared for her, of course, even though he’d walk
through fire before ever admitting it to anyone…but LOVE?  Was he
even CAPABLE of such a feat?

	“What are you LOOKING at?!” Usagi abruptly demanded,
squirming uncomfortably under the piercing gaze he fixed on
her.  What was WRONG with him?  He wasn’t acting…normal.  At
her words, his gaze fell to her lips, fixing on them with a
single-minded determination, and her heart skipped a beat or
two-or ten-at the expression in his night-shadowed eyes.
**This is getting WAY too weird for comfort…** she thought
desperately…and yet she couldn’t seem to bring herself to move.

	Slowly, he brought his hands up to cup her face, letting
them slide from her shoulders up her neck, fingers caressing her
skin lightly.  By then it felt like even her TOENAILS were
blushing!  Her entire body was flushed with heat.  And he was
still gazing at her lips as he slowly leaned in toward her.
His eyes looked almost…hungry.

	“Wh-what do you think you’re doing?” she gasped out.

	He paused, blinked at the question as though it had
surprised him.  He brought his gaze up until it met hers,
seeing the wide-eyed look she was giving him.  As though
he’d completely lost his head.  Which, he supposed, he had.
But for once…he just didn’t care.  “Isn’t it obvious?” he
replied, somewhat amusedly.  “I’m going to kiss you.”  Her
eyes grew even wider, but before she could utter a sound,
he brought his mouth down over her own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Eight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	She was dreaming.  That was the only logical explanation
she could come up with.  She had been hurt, after all, and was
in a coma in the hospital, and was dreaming about kissing Mamoru.
Or maybe the roller coaster part had been a dream, too, which
would explain why the cat had looked like Luna, minus the crescent
moon mark and the talking.  After all, even the best dreams
needed props.  And the part with her kissing Mamoru?  Well…hadn’t
she always wanted to be kissed like this?  True, Mamoru wouldn’t
have been her first choice, but she supposed it wasn’t any weirder
than climbing up a roller coaster to rescue a Luna look-alike.

	And it just felt so GOOD!

	She had to admit, she LIKED this part of the dream!  Very
much.  And it was so REAL!  Of course, the whole thing had felt
real to her, but this felt REALLY real.  His lips were so very
soft, so warm as they caressed hers, and his hands were so gentle
as they stroked her face.  Her blood was on fire, and from where
her hand rested delicately on his chest, she could feel his heart
pounding.  **Am I doing that?** she wondered.  **Am I making his
heart beat so fast?**  She knew then it HAD to be a dream.  She’d
never affect the real Mamoru like she was doing the dream Mamoru.

	She sighed softly, leaning into him a little more, wanting
to be closer, and felt him slip his arms around her, one hand
reaching up to cradle her neck while the other rested on her
lower back, pressing her against him.  Were dream people supposed
to feel so WARM?  And still the kiss went on, growing deeper and
more passionate by the second.  She felt him gently nudging her
lips apart, and at first resisted, a stroke of fear shooting
through her.  This was getting out of control WAY too fast.

	**But if it’s only a dream,** she reminded herself,
**nothing really bad can happen, can it?**  So when he nudged
at her lips again, she shyly allowed him entrance…and immediately
found herself being swept away to a whole new level of pleasure.
If there was one good thing she could say about Mamoru…he
certainly knew how to kiss!  **I suppose I should wake up
soon,** she thought regretfully.  **Probably they think I’m
dying or something…but I really don’t want to end this…**  And
if she WAS dying, well…WHAT a way to go!

	She felt a breath of wind on her face, and realized
suddenly that Mamoru had finally let her go, even though her
lips still tingled from the heavy pressure of his own and his
arms were still embracing her.  She could still taste him,
something both sweet and wild at once, on her tongue.  Her
breath came in heavy gasps, and could feel his breath, as
well, coming in soft puffs as he nuzzled his face into her
neck, pressing soft kisses against tender flesh.  She shivered
at the sensation, and slowly opened an eye, almost expecting
to find herself in a hospital bed with tubes poking out of her
and people standing around her looking worried.

	Both eyes opened wide when she realized that she was,
indeed, sitting on the bench-although, given her current position,
it could technically be classified as LAYING on the bench-cradled
against Mamoru’s chest as he leaned over her.  She could still
feel his heartbeat pounding erratically against her hand.  “I’m
still here.”  She sounded like she couldn’t quite believe it,
and felt the gentle rumble in his chest as he chuckled softly.

	“Where did you expect to go?” he asked softly.  “Although,
I admit that for awhile there I was flying…”

	“I-it isn’t a dream?” she questioned, slowly sitting up.
He let her, although he still kept an arm around her shoulder,
almost possessively.  She could feel her cheeks burning.  “I’m
not laying in a hospital bed with tubes poking out everywhere?”

	He looked at her incredulously, then shook his head with
a smile.  “Iie, you’re making out in a deserted amusement park
with me,” he replied, apparently deciding it best to humor her.
He reached up to brush his hand tenderly through her hair.
“What’s the matter, Usagi?”

	**So NOW were back to Usagi again.**  She frowned…and
suddenly the awful truth hit her like a sack of bricks.  She
was on her feet in an instant, staring down at him in horror.
“Then you…and I…and we were…you were KISSING me?!” she yelled,
hands flying up to touch her swollen lips, her tingling neck.

	A light seemed to go out in his eyes as he looked up at
her, and it was a moment before he could speak.  When he did,
his voice was cold.  “Excuse ME, Odango, but it takes TWO to
kiss, you know.  And you certainly weren’t complaining a few
seconds ago!”

	“And there we go with the Odango again!” she yelled,
clenching her fists furiously as she glared down at him.
“Can’t you even make up your mind?!”

	He looked shocked at her outburst.  “What are…?” he began,
but she didn’t give him a chance to finish.”

	“Iie!  I DON’T want to hear it!”  To his horror, she began
to cry.  “You…you KISSED me!” she sobbed.  “You took it away from
me!”

	“Took WHAT away?” he asked roughly.  “What are you talking
about?!”

	She glared at him through the tears that streamed down her
face.  “You don’t even know what you did, do you?!” she screamed.
“You USED me, Mamoru!  It was supposed to be SPECIAL!  My first
kiss!  You took it away from me!”

	His heart stopped, and a feeling of overwhelming guilt
came upon him.  **Her first…** His breath caught.  He hadn’t
even stopped to consider… he’d just assumed that… “Usagi,” he
whispered, his expression stricken.  He reached for her, wanting
to comfort her, to stop her tears, but she danced out of his reach.

	“It was supposed to be special,” she repeated, sniffling.
“All my life I dreamed of my first kiss…of what it would be like,
and when it finally happened it was so beautiful and…and…I never
wanted it to end!  And it was my WORST ENEMY!  It wasn’t even by
someone who even PRETENDED to care about me!”  She hiccuped softly
and turned away from him, burying her face in her hands.  “Why’d
you have to do it, Mamoru?” she whimpered, shoulders heaving as
she gasped for breath.  “Why do you hate me so much?  Am I really
that awful?”

	He was on his feet in a single movement, arms slipping
around her from behind, pulling her against him as he buried
his face in her neck again.  She struggled briefly, but he
refused to let go.  “Don’t say that!” he commanded harshly.
“It isn’t true!  I NEVER hated you, Usagi!  Gomen!  I never
even thought… I just couldn’t help myself!  I didn’t mean to
steal anything from you!”

	“It’s too late for apologies,” she said, her voice sounding
cold and dead.  “You can’t take it back.”

	He froze, then whispered, with utmost tenderness, “I don’t
WANT to take it back.”

	She swallowed, her eyes widening slightly.  “N-nani?”

	“I said…”  He pressed another soft kiss to her throat,
tightening his arms around her when she stiffened.  “I don’t
want to take it back, even if I could.  Because that was one
of the most wonderful things I’ve ever experienced in my life,
and even if you’re sorry it happened, I’m not.  Gomen,” he
whispered, “if that sounds incredibly selfish to you.”

	She didn’t know what to say.  His words had shocked all
the anger and resentment right out of her, and her heart was
pounding again.  She knew he could feel it; his hand rested
directly over it.  “But…but I don’t understand,” she almost
pleaded.

	He smiled slightly.  “Usako,” he whispered, hearing her
soft gasp at his gentle endearment, “Can you honestly tell me
that you hated what just happened between us?  Was it really
so terrible for you?”  She remained silent, and he sighed softly
and once again kissed her throat, feeling her shiver.  “I don’t
pretend to understand this, myself,” he admitted, “but I’d really
like it to continue.”  And that was as surprising to him as
anything.  He slowly released her and turned her so that she
faced him, nudging her chin up so she looked him in the eyes.
He smiled at her expression, all wide-eyed and uncertain, and
added teasingly, “Come on!  I’m not THAT terrible a kisser, am I?”

	“Iie!”  That surprised an answer out of her, and she
blushed and bit her lip while he tried not to smile.  “I
mean…you’re not really…that is…”  She stammered to a halt,
the blush growing more pronounced.  “You weren’t bad,” she
finally admitted.  “I…I really liked it…and THAT’S what got
me so mad!”  She flashed him a brief glare.  “I don’t WANT
to like it!  I don’t want to like YOU!”

	“Why not?” he probed.

	Her gaze faltered, dropped.  “I don’t…I don’t want to get
hurt anymore,” she whispered.

	He sighed, dropping his hands from her shoulders.  “I don’t
suppose you’ll believe me if I tell you that I don’t want to hurt
you anymore,” he replied seriously.  She refused to meet his gaze,
and he nodded.  “But I’m going to tell you that, anyway,” he added,
causing her to look up in surprise.  “Can I ask you something?”

	“Nani?” she asked suspiciously.

	He took a deep breath.  “Will you go out to dinner with
me sometime?  Like…maybe tomorrow?”  Her startled expression made
him smile.

	“Doushite?” she breathed.

	“Well…”  He paused and scratched his head.  “Isn't it obvious?
I mean, it's pretty obvious to me..."

	“B-but what about Kuri-chan?  I thought you and she…”

	“I told you, we’re not together.  And I realize now it’s
all for the better.  Kuri is a special person, and I like her,
but there’s just one thing wrong with her,” Mamoru explained
softly, gazing deeply into her eyes.

	She blinked.  **What could POSSIBLY be wrong with my
cousin?  She’s PERFECT!** she thought.

	As if hearing that thought, Mamoru’s lips curved into
a sensuous smile, and he rested his forehead gently against
Usagi’s own, never breaking eye contact.  “She isn’t you…”
he whispered.

	Oh.

	He leaned back, then gently took her small hand into his
own, interlacing their fingers.  “Think about it,” he told her.
“Right now I think I’d better escort you home.  I don’t want
anyone to worry about you.”  He smiled at her dazed expression,
gently tugging her forward, and she followed without really
noticing that she was walking.

	They walked in silence for several minutes, until Usagi
shyly looked up at him and whispered, “Mamo-chan?”  He seemed
to start, looking down at her hopefully.

	“Hai?” he whispered, his gaze resting steadily on her face.

	She hesitated.  “When…when we have dinner…can we go to the
Imperial Gardens?” she asked in almost a whisper, hardly able to
meet his gaze.

	He stopped in his tracks, smiling down at her.  “We can
go wherever you want, Princess,” he replied softly.  She smiled
as they continued to walk.

	“Usako?”

	She looked up to again meet his gaze.  “Hai?”

	“May I kiss you again?”  Her breath caught as they stopped,
facing each other.  His eyes glittered as he drew closer to her,
a hand reaching up to caress her face.

	“Hai…”

	Her voice was little more than a breath against his lips,
and this time, as she found herself enfolded in his arms once
more, she gave back as good as she got.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Nine
~An Epilogue~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	“I’m gonna miss you so much!” Usagi wailed as she bawled
into her cousin’s shoulder.  Kuri laughed and patted the sobbing
girl on the back.

	“Oh, come on!  It isn’t the end of the world,” she teased.
“I can always visit again, and if we both gang up on your parents,
I’m sure they’ll let you come visit me!”

	“You think so?” Usagi sniffled, looking up hopefully.

	“You bet!  In fact…”  Kuri tossed her cousin a sly glance.
“I bet if you told Uncle Kenji about Mamoru, he’d practically
THROW you into America!”

	Usagi looked horrified.  “Yeah, and he’d never let me out
again, either!” she exclaimed.  “I’ll be stuck there ‘till I’m
thirty!”  The two cousins looked at each other, before bursting
into laughter at the thought of Kenji’s reaction to Usagi having
a boyfriend.

*	*	*	*	*
	Meanwhile, Kenji was frowning at his daughter and niece,
sitting stiffly on one of the uncomfortable lumps of plastic that
the airport tried to pass off as chairs.  “From the way those two
were carrying on, you’d think they were glad to be rid of each
other,” he told his wife, who merely smiled and cast a casual
glance in the direction of a tall, handsome, black-haired young
man who was just arriving on the scene.  Kenji sighed again and
shook his head.  “I don’t think I’ll ever understand my daughter,”
he added mournfully as his wife soothingly patted his arm.

	“Yeah, girls are SO weird,” Shingo readily agreed as he
determinedly shoved a pair of straws up his nose.  “Hey look,
minna!  I’m a walrus!”

*	*	*	*	*
	“It’s a good thing you showed up, Chiba, or I would’ve
had to hunt you down and strangle you,” Kuri said seriously
as Mamoru hurried up, panting slightly.

	He shot her an apologetic grin and held out a small bouquet
of carnations to her.  “Sorry, but I had to pick something up,”
he replied, his smile widening as she grinned in delight.

	“You are so sweet!” she cried, taking the flowers from him.
“Arigatou!”

	Usagi turned a sorrowful glance to him.  “I thought I'm
the one who’s supposed to be getting flowers from you,” she pouted.

	He glanced down at her and winked before reaching into his
(well-mended) jacket and withdrawing a perfect, red rose.  “As if
I could ever forget about you,” he whispered, handing it to a
breathless Usagi.  Leaning closer, he murmured, “I have something
else for you to go along with it…but it will have to wait until
we’re alone.”  He cast a meaningful look in her parents’ direction,
and she blushed, suddenly wishing that they WERE alone…or at least
out of her parents’ line of vision.

	Kuri watched the two of them with a self-satisfied grin on
her face.  “You two are so sweet together.  And to think, if it
wasn’t for me, you’d never have figured that out,” she told them
smugly.

	“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Mamoru replied softly, his
eyes never leaving Usagi’s.  “It might have taken us longer to
realize it, but we would have come together eventually.  That’s
the way true love works, after all.”

	“True love,” Usagi whispered, her eyes going soft and hazy.
They might have kissed then and there., but Kuri cleared her
throat pointedly-a clear reminder that they were NOT alone, and
that Usagi’s parents (especially her trigger-happy father) were
sitting only a few feet away.

	Usagi shot said father a nervous glance, but it seemed
that Ikuko was keeping him occupied with a magazine.  Usagi
frowned.  Was it her imagination, or had her mother just glanced
up and…WINKED at her?

	“Flight 780 now arriving,” a monotonous voice droned over
the loud speaker.  “All passengers of flight 780 please report
to the waiting area for boarding.”

	“Well, guess that’s it,” Kuri said, picking up her small
carry on.  She gave Usagi a bear hug, and then a playful noogie,
making her cousin squeal and laugh at the same time.  “You take
care of yourself, blondie,” she commanded affectionately.  “I’d
better get some letters soon.  Oh, and if you ever get tired of
that sweetheart over there, you know where to send him!”

	“AS if!” Usagi exclaimed, lightly punching her arm.  “You
had your chance at him!  Now it’s MY turn!”  Then she giggled.
“My friends STILL can’t believe I’m actually going out with him,
though,” she added in a whisper.  “They keep thinking its some
kind of joke we’re playing.”

	“For almost two solid weeks?” Kuri raised an eyebrow and
grinned.  “Poor deluded fools…”

	Usagi giggled.  “You’d better visit again real soon, do
you hear me?”

	“Yes, MA’AM!” Kuri replied, giving her a salute as the
passengers from the plane began to stream into the airport.
She turned to Mamoru, giving him a smile.  “Well, it was really
nice to meet you, Mamoru-san,” she told him, reaching out to
shake his hand.  “Thanks for being so great to me.  You are one
of the few remaining nice guys on the face of this planet.”
She smiled when he blushed, then added teasingly, “If Usa-chan
gives you any grief, just send her my way and I’ll put her in
line.”

	“HEY!” Usagi yelped indignantly.

	The rest of the family drifted over to them, and Kuri bowed
to them respectfully, saying, “Thank you both so much for your
hospitality.  I really enjoyed my stay here.”

	“It was our pleasure,” Ikuko replied, reaching to give her
niece a hug.  “Say hello to your mother for us, will you?  And
tell her that next time she’d better come along and visit her
little sister!”

	Kuri laughed.  “I will, but you know how she is,” she
replied with a shrug.  “Well, anyway, guess I’d better get on
board now.”  She hugged her uncle, and started to reach for
Shingo, then stopped when she saw he was holding a bloody tissue
to his nose and scowling.  “What happened to you?”

	“None of your business,” he grumbled.

	Usagi rolled her eyes.  “And that’s about as much affection
as you’ll get out of HIM!” she snorted, smacking her brother across
the back of his head.  He ducked away and gave her a look that
simply screamed bloody murder.

	Kuri laughed as she handed in her ticket to the official
standing behind the desk.  “Make sure you write!” she reminded
Usagi once again.  Then, as she disappeared into the tunnel
leading to the plane, she looked back with a wicked grin and
added slyly, “Oh, and I’d better get an invite to the wedding,
too, Usa!”

	Usagi’s jaw dropped in shock and she heard Mamoru choke
beside her.

	“Wedding?!”  Kenji fixed his daughter with a hard look.
“What’s she talking about, Usagi?!” he nearly bellowed.  “WHAT
wedding?!”

	“Uh…heh heh…”  Usagi sweatdropped and started backing away,
sticking a hand behind her head.  “Uh…nothing, Otou-san,” she
replied.  “It was…a joke!  Yeah!  That’s it!  Only a joke!  I’m
not getting married!  At least, not yet…”

	“Usagi…” Kenji growled.

	Usagi grabbed Mamoru’s hand.  “Uh, gotta go, minna!
Mamoru’lltakemehomeseeyalaterkay?”  And with that she hightailed
it out of the airport, dragging Mamoru behind her in a cloud of
dust, leaving her mother and brother to hold back a fuming Kenji.

*	*	*	*	*
	“Whew!  That was a close one!” Usagi gasped, giggling as
she and Mamoru headed toward the parking lot where he’d parked
his car.  “I’m gonna get Kuri-chan back for that one!  Maybe I’ll
mail her a bomb or…um…I know!  I’ll send her the fruitcake Grandma
sent us last Christmas!  Yeah!  That’ll teach her!”  She laughed
evilly and rubbed her hands together.

	Mamoru chuckled and shook his head at her.  “I’m not gonna
need anything like police protection now, am I?” he teased.  “Your
dad is scary when he’s mad!”

	Usagi giggled and waved her hand at him.  “Don’t worry
about Otou-san,” she replied.  “He’s overprotective, sure, but
when he realizes what a great guy you are, he’ll come around.
Besides…I have the feeling that my mom is on OUR side, and even
HE can’t stand up to her when she makes up her mind!”  She giggled
again.  “Ya know, it’s so weird, listening to myself talk like this.
Just think, two weeks ago, we couldn’t even stand being in the same
room together, and now…”

	“Kuri simply helped bring out the emotions we both refused
to face.  She’s a great person.”  Mamoru’s soft voice wrapped
around her, and she looked over at him, her gaze searching.
“What’s that look for?” he asked, stroking her cheek gently.

	Her brow furrowed, and she looked at her hands folded in
front of her as she walked.  “I just can’t help wondering…if
you’ll…regret it,” she replied in a whisper.

	“Regret it?”

	“Yeah.  That maybe you’ll realize that you chose the wrong
cousin.  Kuri is so…well…everything I’m not.  I’m just a clumsy
baka, and not even very smart…”

	“That’s not true!” he protested.

	She smiled wanly.  “Sure it is.  You said it yourself.”

	He sucked in a breath, and then she felt gentle hands rest
on her shoulders as he turned her to face him, and his forehead
touched her own as he stared deeply into her eyes.  “Iie,” he
told her, so firmly that she blinked.  “Forget everything I’ve
ever said to you.  Please.  They were the words of a man who
didn’t understand what true love is.”  He paused and took a
deep breath.  “You are everything to me.  I worked so hard to
keep everyone at arm’s length, but you kept working yourself
deeper and deeper into my heart and…I didn’t know how to make
you leave.  Deep inside…I didn’t WANT you to leave.  Because
part of me knew that once you were gone, I’d be alone again.
Aishiteru, Usako.  More than I’ve ever loved everyone.  Please
don’t ever doubt that.”

	“Mamo-chan,” she whispered, tears glittering in her eyes as
she threw herself into his arms.  “That’s why I kept coming back,
‘cause even if you only teased me at least you talked to me!”
she admitted, laughing a little.  “I guess I’d always wanted to
be noticed by you, even if all I could do was make a fool out of
myself.  But I couldn’t admit it, ‘cause you were so smart and
handsome and popular, and I was just me!  But then Kuri came and
when you started doing all the things with her I wanted you to do
with me, I just got so jealous!  And then I guess I was forced to
admit to myself that…that I loved you.”

	“So it looks like your cousin was right all along,” Mamoru
replied as he held her.  “She knew.”  His grip tightened as he
added, “Arigatou, for not giving up on me…”  He smiled slyly.
“…Odango Atama.”  And whatever protest she might have made to
that was effectively blocked as his mouth descended to touch her
own.

	And indeed, whatever protest she might have made was long
forgotten by the time the kiss-the kiss of Soulmates finding each
other for the first...or perhaps for the second time-had ended.

	While above their heads a silver plane soared, gleaming
in the sunlight, and vanished into the clouds on its west-bound
flight to America…

~~The Beginning~~