Title: This Means War
Author: Maetel
Email: M 15+
Summary: Response fic to the One Hour Challenge 162. When School is cancelled because of a snow storm, Usagi finds herself roaming the city with nothing to do. That is until she happens to run into a certain arch nemesis with just as much free time as she has.
Couple: Usagi/Mamoru
Chapter 1/?
Completed:
Why couldn't it snow everytime there was a test? Usagi thought as she giddily strolled along the snow covered sidewalk. School had been cancelled for the day, and the petite blonde had finally had the opportunity to wear the snow boots her mother had gotten her for Christmas the year before. Not only were they warm, but she'd only slipped once because of the design on the soles of the boots. To boot (no pun intended), they looked so cute with the pants and jacket she was wearing.
She kicked out a bit, laughing at the way the snow seemed to explode at such a simple action. Gods, if she didn't love snow days. It was a pity that none of the senshi seemed capable of seeing the beauty in such a free day. Rei wasn't a particularly big fan of the cold weather, and made sure that the blonde knew that. Ami had insisted on spending the day studying for the exam that she was sure would have to be made up the next day. Makoto was trying to make sure that the flowers she grew didn't freeze. She didn't blame any of them, but it was rather sad.
At least, she didn't have to deal with Mamoru. Hopefully, he'd decide to stay in away from the cold. Such hopes were dashed when the blonde heard the voice of her nemesis coming from the doorway of the nearby Crown Arcade.
Why couldn't he just stay in like the senshi had decided to? She'd at least appreciate that. Well, she'd appreciate it if he simply didn't notice her presence for the time being. The snow had put her into a good mood, and she didn't need him dragging her down. Well, maybe she'd get lucky and he wouldn't notice. Maybe all the hot air that he was full of would cloud his vision enough to shield her from his view. Highly unlikely, but a girl could hope.
So, Usagi squared her shoulders and walked towards the arcade with a smile on her face. Who knew. Maybe Mamoru would opt to leave her alone on such a day. She didn't have to wait long before his ears picked up the sound of her feet as they pushed through the snow, the icy smoosh of her steps ringing clear on the near noiseless day in the normally so lively city.
Mamoru turned towards the direction that someone was coming from, wondering just what sort of nutjob would be out in this weather. Granted, by simple association, he himself was lumped in with those nutjobs, but he could overlook that fact. Especially, since Motoki had called him down, asking for the company since the blonde knew that he lived less than half a kilometer from the arcade.
That didn't explain why a certain Odango was presently making her way up to the arcade, ever present smile on her face as she walked. Was she trying to weaken her immune system and get sick?
"Oi, Odango Atama! What are you doing walking around in the snow like this? Shouldn't there be someone keeping you tied to a chair making sure that you don't trip over a snowflake?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Usagi stopped and glared at Mamoru before "hmph"-ing quietly. "I don't need anyone to keep me from tripping, Mamoru-baka!" She then proceeded to stalk past him, her head held high as she walked through the door of the arcade, not noticing the wet spot that Motoki had asked Mamoru to warn customers about while he went to get a mop and wet floor sign from the back room. It wasn't until he saw the blonde's arms windmilling that he remembered.
The raven haired university student quickly moved to keep her from falling onto the wet floor. His arms came up, sliding between her arms and her torso, wrapping around her, just below her chest. He kept her that way until he was sure of two things - one) she wasn't going to fall, and two) she wasn't going to kill him for not warning her sooner.
Once he was sure of the latter, he chuckled softly and couldn't keep himself from saying, "Are you sure about that, Odango Atama?"
He felt the small blonde tense up in his hold, and he could practically see the irritation rolling off of her in waves. He wished he could see the look on her face at that moment. She was always so adorable when annoyed.
"If you two are just going to stand there and argue in the doorway all day, then could you just take it outside. Business is going to be slow enough as it is, and I really don't need you two scaring off the customers," Motoki told them. Snow days were far from his favorite days, as was blatantly obvious by the way he was all but glaring daggers at the two.
Usagi's mouth fell open at the blonde's words. She'd not even been in the arcade five minutes and Mamoru had managed to get her kicked out. Life was so not fair right at that moment. Unfortunately, before she had a chance to appeal her case, Motoki was pointing at the exit, silently shooing them from the establishment.
Mamoru, however, wasn't quite as shocked. Motoki had warned him that if he picked on the blonde he'd have to pay the consequences. He just didn't think that they both would have to pay. Now where was he supposed to go. The coffee shop at the university, as ill-suited to his tastes as it was, was closed, leaving him with only his apartment to go to as the place for a steady stream of coffee.
He frowned at the idea, but didn't say anything as he let go of the blonde, noting the lack of warmth that was so evident against his front. He shivered lightly, not noticing as she did the same thing.
Turning, he grumbled something along the lines of over reacting, an idea that came to mind with all the more veracity as he something cold, damp, and not quite solid smack into the back of his head. He lifted a hand to see what the offending item had been, only to pull it back to see snow adorning his fingers. He turned to see where it might have come from and saw the petite Odango Atama fuming at him.
"I hadn't even been in there for five minutes!" she snapped. She'd not really planned on what she'd say. She hadn't even been planning on actually hitting him. She knew that she'd hit him on the head before, but those were all accidents. She never thought that she'd have been able to actually aim and hit him head on. Then again, she was used to throwing the tiara and striking down her enemies with it, so why wouldn't her aim have improved?
Had she not been so suddenly drawn from her anger by a moment of introspection, Usagi might have noticed the way, Mamoru's eyes narrowed at her as he knelt down. The way he scooped up a fair bit of snow and wrapped his hands around it.
"That was a cheap shot, Odango. Attacking a person when their back was turned," he said, drawing the blonde from her thoughts. He heard her mutter a soft word of alarm as she noticed to snowball he'd formed in his hand. "Fortunately enough, I'm a little bit nicer than that, but only a little." He watched as she seemed to start backing away from him, as though guessing his next action. "But either way, nice or not, this, chibi odango, means war."
Usagi only had a moment to register as the snowball Mamoru had been holding came hurtling at her.