It had been nearly a month of this insanity. Usagi wasn't sure how much longer she could take this. Her caring and friendly personality had caused her to be welcoming and warm to the new boy in her school, but he's taken on a whole new liking to her that was similar to that of a stalker. She didn't feel comfortable in labeling him that at first, but when it had been over three weeks, she was sure that's exactly what he was.

His name was Hiroto. He had dark brown hair with green eyes and glasses. On his first day of school, he had a buttoned up light gray top with a bow tie and slacks. His shirt was halfway tucked in and his books always seemed to fall out of his backpack at the most inopportune time. He had a kind of helpless nerdy look that made Usagi think he was harmless. Boy was she wrong.

Before she knew it, he had been everywhere she looked. After about a week, his glasses were replaced with contacts. His clothes were changed into those that a popular boy would wear and he styled his hair much differently than before. Usagi was hoping that he changed his look was because he felt more comfortable at the new school, but her thoughts changed when she realized that he decided to be with her every second of every day. At first, Usagi hadn't minded because, after all, she had offered to be friends with him. It was when it was starting to get to be too much that she felt it leaned towards more of a stalker-ish vibe.

It started with him offering to carry her books, which she thought was odd since she had none for him to carry. Then it turned into him bringing her lunch. She graciously accepted the first day since she had eaten hers that morning in class because she had woken up late, but it continued. He started doing extra assignments to give to her that she could turn in for homework. She never did, of course, but she thought it was weird and asked him to stop.

About two weeks into this on a Saturday morning, Usagi had been in the Crown Arcade on level 7 of the Sailor V game. Her life level was low and she had almost defeated the boss when she heard him yell her name. "Usagi-chan!" She hesitated and then fumbled, causing her to lose the level and with a frustrated sigh, she looked over to him.

Hiroto was walking towards her holding a small rectangular box with a bow on it. He looked sharp that day. Usagi had to admit, once he cleaned up the geek act, he looked very attractive. It was the creepiness that kept her at bay. Plus, he never really made her feel anything. Kind of like Motoki; when they first met, she thought that he would be a perfect boyfriend, but the more she hung out with him, the more she saw him as an older brother. Hiroto could never be an older brother though. He didn't understand boundaries.

Hiroto gave Usagi the package. "For you, Usagi-chan."

Usagi raised an eyebrow and took the package. "Eh? What for?"

"Our two week anniversary, Usagi-chan."

"Ne?! Anniversary? Hiroto-chan, we're not-"

"If you didn't get me anything, that's ok Usa. I'm gonna go get us some chocolate shakes." He winked at her and smiled before he walked up to the counter leaving a stunned and slightly blushing Usagi; completely unsure of what to do.

Panicking, Usagi did the only thing she knew to do, she ran up to Hiroto, gave him back the gift without a word, and bolted out the arcade doors before he had a chance to say anything. She stayed at home, Senshi duties aside, of course, and did her best at avoiding Hiroto's advances all of that following week which involved her darting from place to place more than usual and avoiding the Crown since he knew it was her favorite after school hang out. Usagi was becoming miserable and didn't know what else to do. She couldn't do confrontation that well. The only person she could yell at and hold her ground was the baka. She didn't want to hurt Hiroto's feelings, but she didn't give him any type of reason to think that they were in a relationship.

Marking the third week, Monday morning was just like any other day for Usagi; she woke up late, got dressed quickly, and scrambled to get out the door as fast as she could, except this time she screeched to a halt when she reached the outside of her house. Hiroto was there waiting for her with a bouquet of tulips in his hand.

How in the world does he know where I live? Isn't he concerned that he's going to be late for school too? UGH! I HAVE NO TIME FOR THIS! "Hi Hiroto-chan! Bye Hiroto-chan!"

Usagi raced past him trying to completely focus on the fact that she was already going to be late. She rounded the corner and BAM! Her nose hit a familiar hard surface and she stumbled back onto her butt.

"Ouch! Mamoru-baka! Why do you always have to be exactly where I'm going?"

"Why can't you just look where you're going Odango?"

Hiroto had been chasing after Usagi from her house and had abruptly stopped when she hit the floor. He immediately went to help her up.

Annoyed at the situation and that she couldn't shake Hiroto, she got up to her feet before Hiroto could offer his help and started to run again. "Shut up baka!"

Hiroto sighed dreamily after her and watched her round the corner. Mamoru raised his eyebrow at the obviously love struck teenager. This guy has feelings for Odango Atama? How ludicrous. Mamoru continued his walk to his college and for some reason couldn't get the idea of someone dating Odango out of his head. Was he walking the Odango to school? Well he's obviously doing a horrible job if she's doing her basic morning race to keep from being late. She didn't seem to really even acknowledge him. What if she just didn't want me to know that they were dating? Ugh Chiba! Why is this bothering you so much?! It's not like you have feelings for her. He shook his head in attempts to shake the thoughts from his mind. I need to focus on my studies and forget about the Odango.

Usagi had been in Mamoru's mind all last week since she hadn't shown up to the Crown as often as she normally did. He really only saw her on her morning races to school. Is she not going to the Crown anymore because she's been with that boy? Mamoru couldn't understand why the thought of Usagi and another man drove him into a confusing frenzy of scattered thoughts and jealousy. Of course there is something about that Odango that's hard to ignore. She's so cheerful and feisty. I've actually missed her this past week. He'd noticed that he'd come to look forward to their daily arguments and when she wasn't looking he had always admired her delicate features. She had been shaping up to be a beautiful young girl that he just couldn't ignore anymore.

After school Usagi was expressing her grief to Makoto and Ami. "What can I do guys? Now he's showing up at my house? How did he even know where I live?!"

Makoto and Ami knew that Usagi was not kidding. Hiroto had been head over heels for Usagi, but had pursued it in all the wrong ways. Makoto had even encouraged Usagi to let him down gently by coaching her through telling him that she was only interested in him as a friend. Hiroto only responded by smiling and saying, "I think we're more than friends Usagi. We belong together."

Makoto had been racking her brains in trying to figure out what to do. They walked into the doors of the Crown Arcade and Usagi took in a deep, happy sigh. Even though it had only been a week, she had missed the place. They sat in a booth to continue their discussion.

Makoto had her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. Her other hand lay rested on top of the table while her fingers tapped anxiously trying to think of a solution. The doors chimed and Makoto shifted her eyes over and spotted a promising solution. Her eyes lit up and she turned to Usagi excitedly. "Usagi-chan! What about Mamoru?!"

Usagi looked at her friend like she was crazy. "What about Mamoru?"

Makoto got even more excited and smacked her hand against her forehead. "Oh gosh! Why didn't I think of it before! There's NOTHING like deterring a guy with another guy!"

Ami raised her eyebrows in understanding and Usagi crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What are you talking about? You can't possibly be suggesting that I use Mamoru to get rid of Hiroto."

Makoto bounced in the booth. "YES! Yes! That's exactly what I'm suggesting! C'mon Usagi-chan. If you pretended that Mamoru was your boyfriend, Hiroto would leave you alone!"

Ami nodded and hesitantly spoke up. "It does make sense Usagi-chan."

A shocked expression overcame Usagi's face. "But how in the WORLD am I going to get Mamoru-baka to agree to that?!"

"Get me to agree to what?"

All three girls' heads jolted upwards and saw a smirking Mamoru looking down at Usagi.

Determined to solve one problem first, Usagi looked at Ami and Makoto. "Excuse me while I speak to the baka privately."

She got up and grabbed a surprised Mamoru's arm, leading him to the back room so that she could attempt to get him to agree to their crazy plan. I don't even know why I would even bother to ask him. We're enemies! Well…not really enemies, but the only time we talk is to argue. Even though I've developed a little crush on him in the last year, there's no way I'd become vulnerable in front of him. The only way to keep this secure is to make it a deal and an understanding from the very beginning.

Usagi nodded her head as she opened the door to the back room and switched on the light. Mamoru walked in past her and she closed the door behind them and leaned against it while sighing.

She took a deep breath and began. "Okay. So here's the deal. There's this new guy at my school and it was his first day three weeks ago. Since it was his first day and he didn't know anyone I befriended him. And now, baka, he won't leave me alone! At first I thought it was just how he treated his friends, but no. It's only me. And he follows me everywhere. He keeps getting me gifts even though I don't want them and he showed up at my house this morning! I never told him where I lived, baka! So Mako-chan, Ami-chan, and I were talking about what I could do to make him stop and Mako-chan suggested that I pretend that you're my boyfriend so that he'd leave me alone. Socouldyoupleasedoitplease?" Usagi took in a large breath after her hurried explanation and looked up at Mamoru with wide eyes.

Mamoru had been completely thrown. He had been thinking about the possibility of Usagi dating the boy from this morning, but never the fact that he was stalking her. Stalking had a history of escalating quickly and that concerned Mamoru. Usagi was in no position to ward off a persistent boy. He had never even seen her be unkind to anyone except for him and even he knew that it was just their way of normalcy. After you argue with someone for three years, even if you do become some type of friend, the arguments don't just stop.

After a long pause, Mamoru brought his hands up to his eyebrows and rubbed them. "Okay, so you're asking me to be your pretend boyfriend so that this guy will leave you alone?"

"Yes."

"You HAVE to be joking. Why don't you just tell him you're not interested?"

"Mamoru, I have! Numerous times! I've told him I just want to be friends, I told him I didn't want gifts, I told him that I didn't need my homework done for me, I told him that I didn't want to give him my phone number for - " She put up air quotes " - late night study sessions - " Mamoru chuckled.

"AND I've told him that I didn't want to be walked home which is why I can't believe that he knows where I live!" Usagi started to pace. "This is getting past the whole crush phase and flying into a creepy oblivion!" She turned towards Mamoru. "I need your help, baka. I don't know what else to do and you're the only guy I trust to do this with!"

Mamoru felt for her. He had his own weird fan club at his school and he didn't know what he would do if one of them decided to start stalking him. He'd probably lose his mind and avoid all of his regular spots. Then the thought occurred to him. "Odango, is this why you weren't at the Arcade all last week?"

Usagi clamped her eyes in frustration. "Yes! He comes here looking for me and messes up my Sailor V score!"

Mamoru laughed lightly at her comment and sighed. "We're going to have to establish some ground rules if this is going to happen."

Usagi's eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly. "Yes. Anything."

"We're going to have to act the part. No name calling or teasing. There's going to have to be a comfortable amount of physical contact and a sense of normalcy. If this guy sees any fault in our behavior, it may not work."

Usagi had her face scrunched up while she thought over the points that Mamoru had just made. They made perfect sense and although she had earlier resolved not to be vulnerable in front of Mamoru, she agreed that it had to be convincing.

"Ok, so…names. What do I call you and what do you call me?"

Mamoru put his hand to his chin. There has been a name I've been wanting to call her for quite some time… "How about Usako?"

A blush spread across Usagi's cheek. "O-oh, uh-uhm ok. T-that sounds good. And I'll call you…" She smiled inwardly and thought of the name she called him in her thoughts. Mamo-chan. "Mamo-chan."

Mamoru couldn't hold back the smile that formed across his face. He'd never heard a nickname like that for him and he immediately accepted it as her new name for him without question. His reflection on the new name was interrupted when Usagi let out a small sigh.

"There is one more thing though."

Mamoru raised one eyebrow and smirked. "Oh no. More stalkers?"

"No. I've uh. I've err…I've never been kissed before."

Now it was Mamoru's turn to blush. "Oh. Uh. Well we don't have to – uh – do that, ya know."

Usagi raised her hand and shook her head. "No no no. It's a crucial part of dating. We should just get it out of the way now."

"What?!" Mamoru was taken aback at Usagi's indifference at something most girls her age found to be quite special. She wanted to just get it out of the way? In the back room of the Crown? Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I can handle being Odango's pretend boyfriend if this is how she operates.

"It's not a big deal. Honestly. And I want this to be convincing. So…" Usagi stepped in front of a slightly uncomfortable Mamoru and a look of determination flashed across her features. She put her hands on his shoulders and Mamoru seized. Usagi's hands traveled up to the back of his neck. If this is going to be my first kiss I might as well have control and do it right. She stood up on her tippy toes and touched foreheads with Mamoru. Her nose brushed against his and she bit her lip slightly before pressing her lips against his.

Mamoru felt an electric sensation run through his body that began with his lips and ended at his fingertips and toes. Usagi had felt it too and although she had intended the kiss to be just a peck, she couldn't help but further it. Mamoru responded eagerly and wrapped his arms around her, deepening the kiss. Usagi moaned lightly and after a few seconds, pulled away a few inches from his face.

"Mamo-chan?" Usagi was breathing heavily and attempted to stabilize herself against his body.

"Hmmm?" Mamoru looked into her eyes with an admiration she'd never seen before and he pushed some of her hair back behind her ears.

She felt another tingling sensation at his touch and involuntarily leaned towards it. She kept her eyes locked onto his. "Are we still pretending?"

Mamoru smiled affectionately and shook his head slowly. "Oh, Usako, I think we're done pretending." And he went in to give her another kiss which she willingly accepted.

*Author's Note: By all means, tell me what you guys think in the reviews! It encourages me to write more than you know!