Two days later and Mamoru was still in the same dilemma that he had started in. He was no closer to figuring out his feelings for Sailor Moon, only now he was even more frustrated because he couldn't seem to begin his plan of operation. It had started out ok when he had woken up the next morning.
He had gone to class as usual determined to find a girl that he might could kiss and hopefully get the answers he wanted. Mamoru had even come to the conclusion that he couldn't just walk up to a girl and kiss her, that wouldn't be right after all. He would need to get whatever girl he chose in the mood for kisses, which ultimately meant he'd have to take her on a date … hopefully only the one.
That was where Mamoru's plans took on a whole new level of frustration for him. He didn't want to date, none of his classmates interested him enough. Besides, taking them out on a date would only encourage them to chase after him and Mamoru didn't really want those complications. He really wasn't interested in having a girlfriend. He had pondered the possibility of going up to one of those girls and just suddenly springing a kiss on them, but that had the potential of serious repercussions. Mamoru didn't really want to have to deal with assault issues after all, besides that could possibly encourage the girl just the same as a date would.
There was the possible chance that he could simply walk up to some girl and explain the problem to them. They might be willing to let him kiss them for his experiment if he was lucky, but then he ran the risk of having his problems gossiped about to every single person on the school campus. That wasn't something Mamoru was willing to have done. He did have his pride after all, besides that would eventually get back to Motoki and well Mamoru would never be rid of his friend's unhelpful advice after that.
These were all reasons why Mamoru had become frustrated with his plan. He was still certain that it was a good plan, he just had to figure out how to iron out a few irritating details. Meanwhile, he was still being frustrated with his growing obsession with the golden haired senshi.
Luckily there had been no fights to occur within the last two days because Mamoru wasn't certain he could keep his hands off of Sailor Moon at this point. He still couldn't get her out of his mind. The smallest little thing had the potential to make him think of her; a glint of something gold in the corner of his vision, a trace of some kind of floral scent that reminded him of her perfume, even the moon itself. Yesterday even the little Odango had managed to make him briefly think of Sailor Moon as she glared up at him during one of their spats, it was getting ridiculous.
He couldn't even go to sleep these days without dreaming about her, not that he was complaining about those dreams mind you. They were pleasant to say the least, but he woke up feeling unsatisfied and even more frustrated then he had been before he went to sleep. Besides, there were times when he missed the princess that use to visit him in his dreams, even if she did constantly beg him for something he had no idea how to get.
All in all, Mamoru was beginning to get tremendously frustrated with no idea how to solve his problems. What he needed to do was figure out a way to begin his plan without having to worry about the consequences. Unfortunately he hadn't figured out how to go about doing that, but Mamoru wasn't about to give up just yet. He wasn't a quitter after all, especially not about something as important as this.
Mamoru sipped at his coffee as he pretty much attempted to ignore the hustle and bustle of the arcade around him. He simply sat in his favorite stool at the counter, one of his text books opened in front of him to the chapter he was suppose to be studying though he'd barely glanced at the page. His current dilemma was far more important then his upcoming chemistry test at least to him, especially when one considered that Mamoru pretty much knew the subject anyway.
His main problem it seemed was finding a way to not encourage whomever he chose to kiss, not to mention finding a way to do it with the least amount of effort on his part. Mamoru really had no desire to find himself in a relationship that he hadn't wanted to begin with. All he needed was a kiss, a simple little kiss, that shouldn't have been too hard right?
Unfortunately Mamoru was fairly certain now that if he went to any one of the girls at his school he would only encourage them in their idolization of him. They were annoying enough, he didn't need to make it worse. He could barely walk past them without hearing some sort of longing sigh these days as it was. It was irritating to say the least. No, it was now clear to him that going to any one of those girls would be a bad idea. Unfortunately, this left him with very few options.
The problem was Mamoru didn't actually know all that many girls, not personally anyway. He was a loner and he liked it that way. Relationships were messy and Mamoru was far too complicated a guy to want to entangle himself into one. Besides romance had never been something he frequently thought about. Until recently of course, but Sailor Moon was something entirely different then the ordinary girl.
Motoki would kill him if Mamoru decided to use his little sister in his experiment, for that matter Unazuki herself might kill him. Besides, Mamoru didn't particularly want to kiss his best friend's little sister in the first place. He had known the Furuhata family for long enough for them to almost feel as close as a family might feel, therefore kissing Unazuki was pretty much off limits.
As for the other girls he knew personally, Mamoru was fairly certain that Rei would be willing, but that brought up the very same problems that his classmates came with. Makoto would more then likely kill him if he tried and well Ami might or might not be interested in the whole scientific side of the deal but she'd probably shy away from the thought of kissing any guy. There was the Odango, but … Mamoru shook his head to clear those thoughts away. Why would he want to kiss an annoying little brat like her?
It was at that very moment that Usagi stepped into the arcade almost as if the very thought of her had somehow summoned her there. Despite his proclaimed dislike of the girl, Mamoru's gaze was immediately drawn to her the moment she walked through the door just like it always was. He barely paid attention to the three girls following on her heels, more interested in studying his blonde nemesis as she bounced over to the counter.
Mamoru ignored the flash of irritation that he felt as he watched Usagi flirt shamelessly with his best friend while she waited for her milkshake. That wasn't anything more then being irritated that Usagi was bothering Motoki, it certainly wasn't jealousy. Why would he, sophisticated high school student that he was, be jealous of the bright smiles Usagi sent toward his best friend?
It never once occurred to him to wonder why he didn't also get irritated at Makoto's same shameless flirting. He never bothered to examine the reasons why he always felt like punching his own best friend whenever he watched Motoki interact with Usagi in his normal cheerful way. It was just something he felt and Mamoru rarely ever examined his feelings in the first place.
Usagi ignored Mamoru's gaze for as long as she could, doing her level best to both enjoy Motoki's attentions and the chocolate milkshake he had set before her. Finally she couldn't ignore it any longer and turned to glare at the upperclassman snapping, “Is there any particular reason you're glaring at me today Mamoru-baka? I haven't even been here for five minutes and you're already annoying me! Give it a rest will you? I have better things to do then to bother with you today.”
Mamoru blinked in surprise, not having realized that he had been sitting there glaring at the girl. It didn't take him very long to get into the normal habit of things however, by smoothly saying, “Better things to do Odango and what would those be? You come here every day to do the exact same thing. Playing video games, harassing Motoki, and filling up on milkshakes when you probably should be doing something more useful like studying, or do you like bringing home those 30s on your test papers?”
Usagi frowned and stood up from her chair, unconsciously moving closer to Mamoru as she did so. She never stopped moving until the tips of her shoes hit the stool he was sitting on, not caring at all that she was violating his personal space, or perhaps not even realizing it. “You're here every day too baka, so doesn't that mean you're wasting time just like me and I'm not harassing anyone, especially not Motoki.”
Mamoru grinned smugly as the little blonde rose to the bait as she always did. He would never admit it, but the moments when he was arguing with Usagi were some of the highlights of his day. Mamoru would be the first to claim that she was an annoying brat, which she was, but that didn't stop him from enjoying the day to day bantering. There was just something about watching Usagi get riled up that amused him to no end, though again he would never admit to it.
He gestured to the text book on the counter as he scathingly replied, “If you would bother to look before opening your mouth Odango, you would see that although I am here I am using the time to study so no I'm not wasting my time like you are. Further more, I actually get good grades where as you do not so even if I was just wasting my time as you say, it wouldn't really matter as much.”
Usagi couldn't help the faint blush that spread over her cheeks as she glanced down at Mamoru's text book, having not really noticed it before. She returned her gaze back to Mamoru, refusing to feel too embarrassed. After all lots of people came to the Crown to play games and drink milkshakes didn't they? Usagi was just about to point this out when she realized that Mamoru was still talking.
Mamoru's smile turned contemptuous as he continued, “and the thing about harassing Motoki, you come in here every single day and chatter at him keeping him distracted. Motoki is running a business here in case you hadn't noticed. You aren't his only customer Odango Atama.”
He heard Motoki splutter something in the negative at his comment, but he ignored him for the time being. Mamoru was far more interested in rising to his own feet so that he could smirk down at Usagi from his superior height. He could deal with Motoki's irritation later when he wasn't tormenting the young golden haired girl before him.
Usagi's eyes flashed angrily, a frown gracing her features as she listened to what Mamoru was saying. How dare Mamoru even suggest that she was harassing Motoki just because she liked to talk to him. Usagi wasn't an idiot, she knew perfectly well that if Motoki needed to go deal with his other customers he would have done so.
It wasn't like she was holding him against his will or something and besides, didn't Mamoru himself chat with Motoki at times? They were supposedly best friends weren't they? Though how someone as wonderful as Motoki could be the best friend of the biggest jerk she had ever had the misfortune to meet, Usagi would never know.
Before she could even open her mouth to refute every thing Mamoru had just said, Motoki came to her defense. Usagi turned to him with a smile of gratitude and would have thanked him before returning her attention to the baka to give him a well deserved tongue lashing, however it was at that moment that Mamoru rose to his feet. She quickly swallowed down her sudden nervousness at his closeness and forced herself to return to her previous feelings of outrage.
Mamoru deserved to be yelled at after all. It didn't matter in the slightest that he was standing close enough to her that she could feel the heat emanating off of his skin and smell his cologne. It was something that smelled faintly like wild roses, sandalwood, and something spicy … cinnamon maybe. She shook her head irritably when she realized she was standing there trying to figure out what Mamoru smelled like. It didn't matter what he smelled like, he was a jerk and that's all he would ever be.
Usagi became further irritated when she glared up at Mamoru only to see that infuriating smirk of his. Once again her eyes flashed angrily as she shouted, “Just because I talk to Motoki does not mean that I am harassing him! Motoki doesn't mind when I talk to him, he likes it. If he didn't, he wouldn't spend so much time talking back to me … besides you talk to him too!”
She suddenly stuck her finger out and jabbed Mamoru hard in the chest as she continued her tirade, “and for the very last time, stop calling me Odango Atama! My name is Usagi, U-sa-gi, got it? I think I've mentioned it enough times by now for even a baka like you to learn it.”
Mamoru was thoroughly enjoying himself as he continued to smirk down at her. This was turning out to be one of the best little spats the two of them had ever had. Usagi was definitely matching him word for word this time, not backing down even a little bit from his remarks.
She had a point about the whole harassing Motoki thing, he'd give her that. He did talk to Motoki whenever the sandy haired blond came over to his counter. He couldn't refute her on that point and so he didn't even try. Mamoru had no wish to look like an idiot by trying to deny something that was easily witnessed and provable by everyone else in the arcade. It was better to just let her win that one silently, besides he had won the point about the studying a few moments before. It was only fair to let her win an argument every now and then.
When Usagi dared to jab her finger into his chest however, Mamoru's smirk suddenly intensified. He immediately reached up and caught hold of her wrist in a tight grip to prevent her from being able to poke him any further. He had opened his mouth to respond to her when he suddenly froze, staring down at the small hand caught within his own.
This felt familiar to him, too familiar really, and he didn't have to think long before realizing that this was almost the same position he had held Sailor Moon captive in a few days prior. Odd, he shouldn't be feeling anything that even closely resembled how he had felt that night, not for the odango of all people and yet … there was something.
Mamoru swallowed uneasily and tried to get back on track with what he had been doing, namely continuing to argue with Usagi. “As for your name, why should I call you by anything other then Odango Atama? I like calling you that. It fits you so much better then your given name after all ...” There, argument resumed.
Usagi couldn't help jumping in surprise when Mamoru captured her wrist within his larger hand. True, she had just been jabbing him in the chest but she hadn't been expecting him to do something like that. In all the months that she had been arguing with Mamoru, he hadn't once ever touched her, not unless you counted the many times she had ran into him of course.
This was different then when she ran into him though. In those times she usually just bounced off of his hard chest to land in an embarrassing heap on the ground at his feet. Occasionally he would reach out and steady her, not allowing her to fall but even that wasn't the same as this. This was him deliberately touching her on his own free will, holding her captive so that she couldn't retreat away from him even if she wanted to.
The moment she realized that she wouldn't be able to retreat from Mamoru, Usagi idly considered the thought that she didn't really want to back away, in fact she had the strangest desire to move closer. She immediately shook those demented thoughts from her head almost as fast as they had come. Why would she want to move closer to the baka? She wanted to be as far from him as she could be, didn't she?
Usagi had been so intent upon her own thoughts that she never noticed the brief moment that Mamoru had frozen in surprise just staring at her. However she did notice when he responded to her previous words by refusing to stop using the hated nickname he had given her. Usagi immediately tried to tug her wrist away from her tormentor as she grumbled, “Why are you such a jerk?! Can't you just be nice for once? What did I ever do to deserve you making fun of me all the time? You should learn to think about how others might feel before you open that mouth of yours baka.”
She returned her gaze back up to Mamoru's once more as she was speaking and realized that he wasn't even listening to her anymore. He was simply standing there holding her captive and staring at her, seemingly deep in thought. As she watched him uncertainly, still attempting to tug her wrist free, Mamoru began to get this really intense, determined look in his eyes as he continued to look down at her.
Still holding Usagi's wrist captive within his grasp and preventing her from tugging away from him, Mamoru felt more at ease now that he had successfully continued his argument. Though even as he spoke the words, his mind began spiraling down a much different track.
There was no way that he was attracted to Usagi, right? Mamoru wouldn't deny that with her gold hair and blue eyes she was a pretty little thing, but he still considered her to be an annoying brat. Fun to argue with yes, but still a brat. He was not attracted to her, it was only the similarities of the situation that was getting to him. That was all. On the other hand, now that Mamoru was thinking about it, there was no reason on earth that he couldn't use Usagi in his experiment.
It was perfect really. He could kiss Usagi without the slightest bit of worry that she would want a relationship from him. She hated him, thought he was a jerk and a baka. Usagi proclaimed these sentiments on a daily basis to anyone that would listen, much like he himself claimed that she was an annoying brat. A kiss wasn't going to change any of that. Mamoru wouldn't have to worry about her wanting more, he wouldn't have to worry about taking her out on a date first, and he didn't particularly think she'd file any sort of assault charges on him.
The most Usagi was likely to do would be to slap him for his troubles, but he could live with that. She might even let out that ear splitting wail of hers, but he could handle that. Mamoru knew that he might even have to deal with the possibility of her friends wanting to clobber him afterwards, but again he could live with that. Rei would probably be angry, possibly even have her feelings a little hurt if he kissed her best friend, but she needed to get over the idea that he wanted to date her anyway.
Motoki would more then likely be furious with him. He tended to think of Usagi as a surrogate little sister, but Mamoru wasn't particularly worried about his friend's anger. To get the answers to his questions Mamoru was willing to do most anything, even if it meant kissing the pretty little odangoed brat standing before him.
Usagi shifted uneasily, once she noticed how focused on her Mamoru really was. She swallowed anxiously as a strange fluttering heat began to develop in the pit of her stomach, fueled by the look in his eyes. Usagi wasn't at all certain what was going through the upperclassman's mind at this point. What could he be thinking about so deeply? Why was he so focused upon her? Mamoru had never acted this way before and he most certainly had never made her feel this way before.
Unconsciously she licked her lips, a nervous reaction, before dropping her gaze back down to her wrist still held tightly within Mamoru's grasp. These feelings weren't exactly strange to her, she had felt them before after all. Usagi had felt them while being held by Tuxedo Kamen in this very same position just the other day, though they had of course been new to her then. It wasn't the feelings that were confusing her, though she couldn't exactly say she entirely understood them. It was the person that was bringing them to her that most confused her. Usagi refused to believe that she felt anything even remotely similar for Mamoru that she felt for Tuxedo Kamen. It was impossible, Mamoru was a baka and nothing like her hero Tuxedo Kamen.
Unfortunately, Usagi couldn't deny the fact that she was feeling something, it would be stupid to try. At the very least Mamoru was making her nervous simply because he wasn't talking anymore. He was only staring at her with that determined look in his eyes that she couldn't begin to decipher. He was acting oddly and so she was feeling off kilter, that was all. That was definitely all, there wasn't anything more to it. Mamoru was a jerk and there was no way that she would ever feel anything at all for him.
Just as Mamoru was getting himself ready to get the deed over with and kiss Usagi before she had a chance to object, he noticed her staring up at him with an odd look in her eyes. It was certainly something he had never seen in her eyes before, not that he ever took much notice of her beyond their normal arguments mind you. This was, well it was something he had never expected to see in Usagi's eyes, at least directed his way.
The uncertainty he could understand, this was Usagi he was looking at after all. She was probably uncertain about a lot of things in her life. She was only fourteen and besides that, Usagi was the most air headed ditz that he had ever had the misfortune to meet. Not to mention, Mamoru was certain that she probably had no idea what he had been thinking about while studying her so intensely. Yes, the uncertainty he could understand. It was the other emotion beginning to faintly burn in her eyes that both surprised and intrigued him, the emotion that he could swear was desire.
For a fraction of a second Mamoru considered throwing out his new plan of action, after all if there was even the slightest bit of chance that Usagi was attracted to him then that could throw the whole operation off. That had been the problem with his classmates and Rei, they would have complicated matters with their feelings of attraction. Though Mamoru couldn't deny a certain amount of fascination with the idea of Usagi possibly being attracted to him, he did not want to encourage any sort of feelings in his little blonde nemesis. That would have simply been too strange, not to mention awkward. He enjoyed fighting with her, he most certainly did not harbor any feelings more complicated then that.
For that fraction of a moment, Mamoru considered Usagi's feelings and almost released her without doing a thing. However when she ran her little pink tongue across her lips, all thoughts of releasing Usagi, not to mention pretty much anything else other then kissing her flew out of his mind. Besides, he didn't need to worry about Usagi, even if she was feeling something like attraction it wouldn't last.
She hated him, that was what had made this so perfect. Usagi wasn't going to want a relationship with him because she would forever consider him the jerk, the baka that tormented her so. The only thing that had changed was that this might not be such a chore to pull off. This kiss might just possibly be more enjoyable then he had previously thought, once one got passed the whole idea that he would be kissing the little odangoed brat of course.
Taking a deep breath to try and steady her emotions, Usagi returned her gaze back up to Mamoru determined to make him let her go. He couldn't keep holding her captive like this, there was probably some law against doing things like that right? She wouldn't stand for it any longer. Mamoru was going to release her, they would finish their argument like normal, and then she would return to enjoying her probably by now melting milkshake and Motoki's attentions forgetting all about him until the next time she ran into him.
Unfortunately, she hadn't counted on the fact that somewhere during the couple of minutes that she had dropped her gaze to her wrist, Mamoru's entire expression had changed. In just that short amount of time, Mamoru's eyes had darkened considerably, burning with something that she couldn't easily identify, something that caused that fluttering heat in the pit of her stomach to grow hotter and spread.
Usagi caught her bottom lip between her teeth, nibbling at it nervously, unsure of what she was suppose to be doing now or how she was suppose to be acting. Mamoru was really acting strangely and it was beginning to confuse her and make her more then a little anxious. He was suppose to be making his insulting remarks so that she could do the same before they both stalked off to do their own thing, not this … whatever this was.
So caught up in themselves and the situation at hand, Usagi and Mamoru had forgotten that they were in the middle of a busy arcade. They both failed to notice that everyone in the Crown was now paying sole attention to them. They never noticed that not one person was saying anything. That they were all amazed and bewildered with both of their odd behaviors. In fact their audience was barely breathing so intent were they to not miss even a single word that either of the two antagonists might say. The only sounds echoing throughout the arcade right then were the cheerful background noise from the games themselves and the argument itself. The crowd, most especially the ones closest to the commotion, barely blinked so that they wouldn't miss even the slightest little thing that either of the two combatants might do next. After all everyone that frequented the arcade regularly knew all about the arguments that Usagi and Mamoru generally got into, anything to do with them was bound to attract the attention of most people.
Usagi tensed uneasily as Mamoru's gaze shifted to her mouth, his eyes starting to burn even hotter with something that both frightened and confused her with its intensity. Tugging unsuccessfully at her wrist once more, Usagi gazed hesitantly up at her tormentor and unsteadily stuttered, “M … Mamoru?”
In an attempt to reassure her and to put her at ease, Mamoru immediately directed his most charming smile toward his companion the moment he heard her stuttering out his name. He then bent down slightly, lips touching the curve of her ear as he whispered, “Don't worry Usagi, there's nothing to be scared of. I just suddenly realized that you would be the perfect person to help me with this problem that I have, that's all. You wouldn't mind helping me out a little would you?”
Usagi shivered slightly as Mamoru's warm breath stirred the curls that lay against her ear. She couldn't understand why she was feeling so excited by his closeness, why she wasn't just shoving the guy away from her and storming off angrily. Usagi was wise enough to recognize her feelings as being the same ones she had felt in Tuxedo Kamen's arms just the other day, but she really couldn't begin to understand why she was feeling them for Mamoru. It didn't make any sense to her. She didn't like Mamoru, didn't want him anywhere near her, she most certainly did not have the same sort of feelings for him that she did for her hero Tuxedo Kamen.
She swallowed uncomfortably, trying to force her mind to think, to understand the words he was saying to her, to forget the feelings surging through her. Help him with a problem? She was still having trouble focusing on much more then him and his nearness, but she was fairly certain that was what he had said. She could do that, Usagi never minded helping people out no matter the situation. She was always there to help someone when she was needed, even jerks like Mamoru … after all she was Sailor Moon wasn't she?
Once again tugging unsuccessfully in an attempt to free herself from Mamoru's grasp, Usagi nodded briskly, edging as far from him as she was allowed to do, and muttering, “I don't mind helping, just get whatever it is over with … I told you, I have better things to do then hang around you all day.”
Mamoru pulled back slightly at her response, a smirk once again making its way to his face. Despite his earlier reservations, Mamoru was very much aware that he was going to savor the next few moments greatly, which he still found a little odd considering this was Usagi. It didn't matter though, the only thing that mattered was that he was certain that whatever happened after he kissed Usagi, it was going to be worthwhile. He would not only have the answers to the questions that were driving him insane, but it was going to be pleasurable.
“If you're sure ,” he murmured softly as he slid his free hand around her waist, pulling her body closer to his so that they stood as close as he could get her. Mamoru released Usagi's wrist and reached up to stroke a finger along her cheek, then cupped her jaw and smoothed his thumb over her bottom lip. She started visibly trembling under his ministrations, her wide eyes reflecting his image. For just a moment he silently watched the emotions flicker transparently across her face, panic and tension mingling into a heady combination that called forth an answering response in him. Mamoru couldn't help the satisfied smirk that crossed his own face before he suddenly bent down once more and captured her lips with his own. When Usagi gasped in surprise, he quickly took advantage of her parted lips to deepen the kiss.
