"What Goes On" - a fanfiction by MaclaurinSerious00
**author's note: I don't own Sailor Moon or its characters, the rightful property of Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, and diverse other demigods. Nor do I own Shinobu Maehara from Love Hina, property of Ken Akamatsu. "What Goes On" sort of rewrites the whole scenario, leaves out the crimefighting bit to focus on the drama, and I'm kind of halfheartedly noncommittal about who's what age. 1% AU, I guess. Oh, & I figured that we never hear anything about Saeko, so what is she up to, anyway? R&R, still sort of a noob at this, have a few unpublished efforts to my name already.


01:Flowers on the Wall


Mom –hope you have a good day. Off to school now. Love you, Ami-chan.

Saeko sighed as she read the sticky-note on the modest sized fridge, plastered with stellar exams brought back and clippings from newspapers and magazines, paeans to the girl genius. Well, you can't say I didn't at least get my daughter's growing-up from primary sources. A picture of Ami and Shingo at the beach, holding hands, both, blushing. This one was a particularly finely-whittled point this morning. Her daughter's life in mementos. Nothing about Dr. Mizuno's breakthrough in protein folding analysis. Perhaps that's enough to, and she shook her head, her heart doing a brief turnover in her chest as she plucked an exam from the side of the fridge – where there was some spillover from the front - and, crumbling it up, fed it down the garbage disposal. She couldn't have seen it. Still, right out there. Saeko poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down, head in her hand, a tallish, thin woman, an older Ami, hair the same deep blue but showing a gray hair or two, wrinkles making a slow but sure onset on her once-babyface. Four hours of sleep overnight – actually, closer to two and a half – and she would have to be at work in three hours.

"So goes a well-lived life. But that's not really the issue, is it?" she asked the empty kitchenette that was clean due to sporadic use. "No, it's not. How did I get into it?"

A sleeper turned over in the next room, shifted in bed.
"Honey, you'll be late!" Saeko called out, before tipping back some joe. Runs in the family. Iku-chan always dozing off in class."

"Oh, cripes!" The young man hurried into the shower. If he and Ami, and her stomach turned over. Saeko thought back to the night before. Her heart had been in her throat – the taboo of it, the thought of her own daughter in the next room, liable to walk in at any time, wasn't she?

It's obscene. I could be his mother. Saeko Mizuno, over to MIT at sixteen, then back to Tokyo the rest of her life to make the Nobel waiting list while working in a second-rate hospital. Just enough income to have a nice apartment & put her daughter through cram schools. Works to exhaustion, kicked a mild amphetamine habit, and now I'm a cougar. Seduced the boy who could be my son. and he likes it, and I sure like it. Hiro-chan never was as good in bed as he is.

"Okay, I'm going," the young man said, bookbag slung over his shoulder, running a quick hand through his hair to approximate a combing.
"Take care, sweetie," Saeko said as the two kissed, each giving a little tongue. The younger man tentatively gave Saeko's rump a tweak before running out the door. Saeko felt a surge of heat, but her lust collapsed and left with another sigh. She got up and emptied her cup in the sink before stumbling off to her bedroom. Best get to bed for a little bit, I have that meeting today. Another sigh.

"Ami-chan, wait up!" Usagi ran up behind her friend. "Want a donut?"
"Usagi, is that an entire bag of Boston cream pies?"
"Yeah, Mako-chan had some leftover. She's trying out the new recipe. Sure seems good! Anyway, did bay-by bwothow propose yet?" she punctuated this pinching Ami's cheeks like a fawning aunt. Ami shook her away.
"Usagi, you pick the worst times to bring things up!" Ami was close to breaking down sobbing. Usagi debated whether to speak or hold her peace. She had never viewed herself as such a relationship guru as Mina-chan, but Mina was God-knew-where, so Usagi decided to give it the ole college try.
"What's wrong, Ami-chan?" Ami choked down her sobs and grabbed a Boston cream. The two walked on in silence.
"I haven't seen Shingo in a week. I've talked to him over the phone for five minutes."
"So is Shingo…cheating?"
"I don't know, Usagi. I don't know. And that's what makes it so hard. We're inseparable for the longest time, Mom takes time out of her busy schedule to talk about the birds and bees, and all of a sudden he's gone and cold."
"Well, sometimes Mako-chan is busy."
"It's not the same! He's hiding something, I know it." Usagi could see it in her friends' eyes – conviction. Ami knew something was wrong, and something was wrong. Usagi lost the bubbly princess persona in a second.
"Okay. I'll talk to him."
"Usagi, don't."
"So you're going to die over this forever? Come on, Ami-chan, I'll talk to him and we'll find out. Just know what's happening."
"Usagi.."
"Ami." Usagi took Ami by the shoulder & halted her. "I'll talk to him. Okay."
Ami looked at the ground for a long moment, then cracked a smile. "Okay, Usagi. Thanks."
"Alright! Now let's get going. So aren't these Boston cream pies to die for?" This as Usagi demolished another one.
Ami laughed as the two chatted and walked along. I actually think this will work out alright. Shingo's not cheating on me. He told me he loved me.
"Hey guys, wait up!"
"Mako-chan, what's up?"
"First things first. Ami, Shingo ordered a dozen roses at the florist's. Maehara-san will send me around with deliveries this evening."
"Oh, so everything's alright, isn't it, Ami-chan."
Ami blushed, smiling. "Yes, I guess so."
"Huh?" quoth Mako.
"Ami thought wittle brothow was cheating on her. and you are so adorable when you get puzzled, Mako-tan."

Makoto blushed, along with Ami. Makoto and Usagi had been fooling around a bit for awhile, not really steady yet, but definitely beyond kissing.
The three went on, razzing each other as the sun rose in a triumph from behind the thick clouds overhead.