I'm aware I've sequenced events out of order- For example Grandpa Hino is supposed to be the last rainbow crystal carrier, and I've made him the first. But that's fanfic! Roll with it.
I don't own Sailor Moon
"Oh man I'm so late! Ms. H is going to kill me!" Usagi whined as she barreled down the street. Class had begun ten minutes ago already, and she was only halfway. 'Not my fault we lost power and my alarm reset!' Shaking her head to regain focus, she plowed ahead, straight into a warm body.
"Oi Odango," Mamoru said, rubbing the spot where she had crashed into. "Watch where you're going next time."
"Ohh, you! I don't have time for you today!" She said, standing back up
"Yeah, I'd say not. Shouldn't you be in class already? Or are you ditching because you've finally realized you can't handle it?"
"FOR YOUR INFOR-" Usagi cut off mid sentence, feeling a slight buzz in her chest. With a glare to her nemesis, she continued "I don't have time for this. Later Mamoru-baka." She dashed off, leaving a slightly confused Mamoru in the dust. Dashing into a side alley, she pulled her communicator out of her sub-space pocket. Ami's worried face filled the screen.
"Usagi-chan, there's a youma at our school. Makoto-chan and I can't get out, the whole place is under a lockdown. Please tell me you're on your way?"
"I'm nearly there now. Rei on her way?"
"She's coming, but she's across town. You'll be on your own for a bit. Good luck Usagi-chan. We believe in you." Usagi signed off and took a deep breath before shouting out her transformation words. No sooner had her new red boots touched the ground than they were running the last few blocks to the middle school.
Less than a block away, Mamoru felt a familiar tug and turned around.
Coming onto the scene, Sailor Moon paused, taking in her target. It was a female youma with eight arms. 'Rather like a spider, actually'. Jumping onto the top of the gates, she called into the courtyard.
"Hey scumbag! How dare you terrorize children while they learn? Education is important, and I won't let the likes of you distract these students! In the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!" The spider-esque youma turned toward the moon senshi and shot a thick white netting out of its mouth.
'Supports the spider theory' Sailor Moon thought as she dove for the ground, inside the courtyard. She spun around, readying her attack only to see another stream coming. Diving again she groaned. "Give me a second of down time, jeez! MOON TIARA ACTION!" She shouted, managing to toss the tiara as another shot of web came her way. The moon Senshi closed her eyes. 'This is gonna hurt!'
There was a breeze, but the impact never came. Opening her eyes, she saw Tuxedo Kamen, his cape protecting them. "Are you alright?"
Sailor Moon nodded mutely. 'Oh god, he looks so dreamy…' She would have gotten lost in his eyes, had she not felt the instinctive return of her tiara. Looking up, she jumped, catching the golden headpiece.
"Are you ready Sailor Moon?" Tuxedo Kamen asked, dropping his cape and throwing roses at the oncoming web, shattering it.
"Ready. Moon, Tiara, ACTION!" She shouted for the second time in as many minutes. This time the tiara met its target, obliterating the creature. "Woo! All right! Dusted!" Sailor moon did a little dance, before looking up to meet an amused smile on Tuxedo Kamen's face.
"Thank you for coming, Tuxedo Kamen. I had forgotten how difficult this was to do on my own."
He shook his head. "You're a much better fighter now than you were then. And," He said, taking a step forward and putting his hand against her cheek, "You're never on your own. I will always be here for you." He paused for a moment, and Sailor Moon wondered what the masked man could be thinking of.
"You did well today. I'm proud of you Sailor Moon." he continued, leaning down to press a small kiss to the corner of her mouth. Straightening up again, he avoided eye contact and immediately turned to dash off. Sailor Moon followed his retreating form with hearts in her eyes until she was out of sight, and then touched the place where he had kissed her.
"Wow, how many times have I dreamed of THAT happening!? Rei will never believe this!"
At the next battle a few days later, Sailor Moon couldn't help but look for signs of Tuxedo Kamen out of the corner of her eye. Like every battle though, if he was there, he was too good at hiding for her to spot. With slight disappointment, she dusted the youma and said goodbye to her team. Only Mars stayed behind.
"Everything okay Sailor Moon? You look a bit down." she asked.
"I'm fine Mars, thanks. I guess I'm just a bit disappointed that Tuxedo Kamen wasn't here tonight."
"Don't be so stupid Sailor Moon!"
"Hey! I-"
"If he doesn't show up that means you did well! You should be happy he didn't show up, that means you're getting better." Mars shook her head. "I'll see you later Moon." With a wave, she dashed off.
Sailor Moon stood there a moment longer, contemplating what Mars had said. 'I suppose it makes sense. I just, I guess I'll miss him if he's not around as much.' With a defeated sigh, she turned to start the walk home.
"She's right you know." Sailor Moon froze mid-step, almost scared to turn around. Tuxedo Kamen had never spoken to any of them outside of battle. "I told you that you're improving. I don't need to intervene nearly as often as I used to."
Turning around, Sailor Moon took in the masked man's form. She had never had the opportunity to really examine him. There were a thousand questions on her mind, and for the first time ever, she had the chance to ask them.
After a lengthy internal debate she sighed. "You say that, but I don't feel like I'm improving." Tuxedo Kamen frowned at her, ready to interrupt, but she continued, "At least, not compared to the other Senshi. They're all so much stronger than I am."
"How can you say that? You're the only one capable of destroying Youma." Tuxedo Kamen countered.
Sailor Moon rolled her eyes. "Yes I know that, but I'm not nearly as intelligent as Mercury, or graceful like Mars or strong like Jupiter. It's like, I'm just here to dust the thing at the end. They're all so much more skilled than I am!"
The masked man stayed silent for a moment. After a moment of consideration, he spoke. "I don't agree with you. I think you are strong, intelligent, and graceful in your own way. However" he said, holding up a hand to silence protests, "If you really feel that way, then there are things you can do to better yourself."
"Like training? I already train with the Senshi but they all improve more than I. It's like I just wasn't meant to be a fighter. I'm the only one who needs to be saved all the time."
"Well you're the only one I'm compelled to save all the time," Tuxedo Kamen replied too quietly for her to catch.
"What was that?"
"If you want," he paused, "I would be honored to help train you" Sailor Moon's eyes widened. Of all the things she had imagined he would say, she never would have expected this.
"Are...are you sure? I might hurt you by accident, and I really don't think I'll improve that much and honestly I think you'll get frustrated with me an-" A gloved finger pushed against her lips silenced the rambling blonde.
"I'm sure. I want to protect you, and part of that is making sure you're confident enough to protect yourself." Sailor Moon nodded against his finger. "We'll start Friday night. I'll meet you by the abandoned construction project by the water? Is 9 an okay time?"
"Let's say 11."
"It's a date. See you Friday at 11, Sailor Moon." He leaned down and paused a moment before kissing her properly on the lips and disappearing into the night.
Mamoru paced his apartment at 10:35, anxiously watching the clock tick. This was the third week in a row he was scheduled to meet with Sailor Moon. He had learned more about his crush in the last three weeks than in the last few months of them fighting together.
She had revealed that she had two parents and a house in the nice part of town to sneak out of. She had revealed that she knew the other senshi's identity. She revealed that the new Senshi, Venus, had taken one look at Tuxedo Kamen and declared that she too didn't think the other scouts should consider him an enemy. She had revealed that she loved milkshakes (Which had prompted him to suggest the Crown Arcade, so he guessed she wasn't the only one revealing things.) She had revealed that her favorite color was pink and bunnies were her favorite animal. She had revealed that she was struggling with her schoolwork in part due to her inability to focus during class when sleep-deprived.
Which led him back to why he was nervously pacing. He was going to offer her a list of tutoring programs. Not only that, but he had included the one that he volunteered for. The pair had a chemistry that he couldn't explain, so he secretly hoped she chose his program. He wanted to help her beyond being a senshi. After all, she was already feeling more confident in her skills after only three weeks of their secret training sessions.
He had also purchased a set of two cell phones for them to use. It was a little frustrating that the only time they could communicate was when she was transformed. Mamoru wasn't sure she'd accept the gift, or how she'd react to the tutoring suggestion, which brings us back to the anxious pacing.
10:41. Mamoru groaned. It was still too early, but just sitting around wasn't going to cut it anymore. He leapt out the window and decided to take the scenic route.
As Tuxedo Kamen came into view, Sailor Moon smiled. "Looks like you couldn't wait either, huh?" She said walking over. She took the beautiful, thornless rose he presented to her and smiled up at him.
"If I could, I would never be away from you" He said, one hand on her waist, the other cupping her face.
Sailor Moon blushed and pulled away to look at her newest rose. When she returned home, she would have to add it to her growing vase of never-wilting roses.
"I brought you something." Tuxedo Kamen said, reaching in his subspace pocket.
"Is that…"
"Yeah," he replied. "It's a cell phone. It's a matching pair, as I didn't think you'd want to give me your civilian number just yet." he said with a chuckle. "I just, I wanted a way to talk to you without waiting for a battle."
Sailor Moon smiled at his nervousness. "I love it. I love that I'll be able to talk to you whenever I want now. Thank you Tuxedo Kamen." She said, placing it in her own pocket. She would examine it more closely later.
"It's my pleasure. I also had one other thing. Please don't take this the wrong way, but I know you said you were struggling with school, so I thought maybe you'd be interested in a tutor? I made a list of some reputable services that are free for you to look through. If you're not int-"
Sailor Moon grabbed the list from the masked man, cutting off his rambling. Skimming it over she placed it her subspace pocket next to the cellphone. "Thank you for going to all the effort Tuxedo Kamen. I will be sure to look it over and perhaps try one of them. Though honestly, I just appreciate you listening to me about everything. Sometimes I feel like being a Senshi doesn't take as much out of my companions as it does for me. They just don't get why I'm so exhausted all the time."
"I know. And now you can talk to me about it whenever you want." Sailor Moon smiled and hugged the older man. She pulled away quickly though, feeling the telltale buzz in her ribcage. She whipped out her communicator, turning away from her crush.
"Moon here. Location?"
"The Shrine." Came Mars' reply. Sailor Moon paled. Could it be that the dark kingdom had finally figured out their identities? She turned to the man next to her. "We need to be there, now."
He nodded, picking her up. "I'm faster."
"The Hikawa Shrine." she replied, and held on tight.
Sailor Moon peeked out from behind the tree that Tuxedo Kamen had dropped her off behind. There was a black and red flash running around, throwing things at the senshi. Sailor Moon readied her tiara. Stepping out, she shouted, "Moon, Tiara, AC-"
A hand covered her mouth and stopped her from finishing. That thing is Grandpa Hino. You can't kill it." Mercury said, letting her go. Unfortunately, Sailor Moon's attack had drawn the attention of the creature Pox, who came barreling at them.
A rose stopped the creature in it's path, and Tuxedo Kamen jumped down. "Why did you stop her?" He asked of the blue senshi.
"That thing is a person. A human." Tuxedo Kamen looked alarmingly back at the creature who was now bound by Venus. "We can't just kill it. " Sailor Moon turned to Mercury. "Is there a way we can save him?"
Mercury shook her head and tapped away on her minicomputer. "I'm not sure yet. I'm working on it. Help Venus keep it busy."
The pair nodded and took off to chase the creature who had just broken free. After a few minutes, the Senshi were wearing thin trying to outpace the speedy youma.
Sailor Moon stopped, catching the creature's eyes as it started to barrel at her. Locking eyes, Pox stopped as well, and Sailor Moon felt something shift inside her. Tuxedo Kamen ran over to rush her away but she stopped him with a hand.
It took a moment for everyone to realize that there was no more movement from the creature.
"Sailor Moon?" Mars called out, confused.
"I...I think it's, I think the human inside is telling me that I can heal it."
After a moment of mass shock, Tuxedo Kamen stepped behind her, and put his hands on her shoulders. "If you feel like you can do it, then you can do it. You just need to believe in yourself. You have proven yourself strong and you have made leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. I know you can do it Sailor Moon. I believe in you."
Sailor Moon closed her eyes, breaking her connection with the creature. Taking a deep breath, she tried to grab ahold of the shifting power inside of herself, and started to feel something materialize in her hand. Opening her eyes again to stare down the fast approaching youma, she raised the wand now in her hand and shouted "Moon Healing Escalation!" promptly blinding all present.
When the light faded, Grandpa Hino lay there, sound asleep while the youma was nowhere to be seen. While Mars, Mercury and Jupiter rushed in to check on the elderly man, Tuxedo Kamen turned the Moon senshi to face him.
"I knew that you could do it. You are just as powerful as all your senshi, if not more so." He snuck a small kiss to her cheek while the other senshi were distracted before fading into the darkness.
Sailor Moon turned back to see a smirking face belonging to the other blonde on the team. "Later" she mouthed, before stepping over to check on Grandpa Hino herself. Venus just rolled her eyes, but let it go for now.