Hey folks! Nice to see you again. Now, to continue where we left off, a dark haired dude enters the classroom (Mamoru), and the setting is still in flashback on the first day of school.

*Continues flashback*

"Hello, Mamoru, and welcome to this class. I'm Haruna-sensei. Everybody, welcome Mamoru to our class."

Hi's, What's ups, and Hellos filled the room.

Miss Haruna turned to Mamoru. "Mamoru, would you like to tell us something about yourself?"

Mamoru shifted uncomfortably.

"Umm.....I'm 16 years old, I live by myself....I like roses...."

A brown haired boy raised his hand.

"Yes, Umino?" said Miss Haruna.

"Um, yeah, I have a question for Mamoru."

Mamoru nodded his head slowly at the 'geek'.

"Why do you live by yourself?"
Anger, frustration and depression filled Mamoru's face.

"I--I live alone because I don't have any parents. My parents died in a car crash when I was very young."

Silence filled the room. Mamoru took a deep breath and continued on.

"The orphanage is still my legal guardian, until 18 of course, but I live by myself. They still take care of me, if that's what you mean."

"Oh."

"Well, okay, class, get out your pencils and some paper, we're gonna take a pop quiz seeing how much you still remember from over the summer." Miss Haruna said cheerfully.

Groans and 'awwwwwww.....'s filled the room.

Just as Mamoru walked to his seat, and sat down, his dark blue eyes interlocked with Usagi's light blue ones. Usagi was crying.

*End Flashback*

USAGI

Yup, that was really sad. I still can't believe that Mamoru's an orphan. I'm so lucky that I still have my mom and dad, and even Shingo, even though he is annoying!

I sighed. What is it like to have no parents, and almost no one who really cares about you? And what is it like to be admired by so many girls, but never experiencing any emotions towards them?

AUTHOR

Usagi sat and thought quietly as Mamoru took the seat next to her.

"What's up, Odango?" he asked disdainfully.

"Wha?" Usagi snapped back into reality. "Chiba, how nice to see you," she said sardonically. "How's everything?"

"Great...Odango," he said through gritted teeth. "Just great..."

"Oh, and how are all the admirers? Do you have your eye on anyone?" she smirked.

Before Mamoru could deliver a nasty comeback, Makoto interfered.

"Break it up! Break it up!" said Makoto. She sensed a fight beginning.

"My pleasure." Serena said icily.

"I'll be on my way, then," Mamoru sneered. "Wouldn't wanna waste my time on Odango Atama here."

Makoto, Minako, Ami, and Rei had to hold Usagi back from punching Mamoru in the nose.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU, MY NAME IS USAGI, NOT ODANGO ATAMA!!!!!!" Usagi screamed at the closing door of the arcade. From outside, she could see him mouth, 'Bye Odango'. He then walked out of sight, snickering.

Usagi sat down. She was glowering.

"Actually, Usagi, I think it's kinda sweet." said Rei, slowly.

"What is?" asked Usagi crossly.

"How Mamoru has a nickname for you. It's cute!"

Usagi stood up and stomped her foot. "It is NOT cute! It's immature, and a horrible nickname. Do I look like a Dumpling Head to you?"

Rei giggled. "Actually, you look more like a Meatball Head!"

"THHHHAAATTT's it! I'm going home!" Usagi yelled. "And if you see that Mamoru-baka again, tell him--tell him--tell him he STINKS!!!"

Usagi stormed out of the arcade, toting her packages behind her.

The rest of the group sighed, and continued sipping their hot chocolates.

"She'll never learn." they said in unison.

"Ha! And look at Mamoru, he's always staring at Usagi!" Motoki crowed.

The friends nodded.

~In Usagi's room~

"Luna," asked Usagi, "do you think I look like a Meatball Head?"

Luna chuckled. "No, why?"

"There's this guy, Mamoru...do you know him?" queried Usagi.

"Well...I've heard the girls talk about how cute he is....and I've see him on the sidewalk sometimes, walking to school, why do you ask?"

"Because he always calls me Odango Atama. And it really gets on my nerves. I tell him to stop, but he won't."

Luna grinned. "You know, sometimes very clueless boys use teasing as a way to flirt."

"Clueless is right!....Wha? Mamoru, trying to flirt with me? That's just uncanny!" Usagi gasped.

"It's possible." Luna replied.

"What do you know about love, anyway?" asked a sly Usagi.

Luna blushed a crimson red. "Ah...Well....you see....Ah...Artemis...and then....well....if you understand........"

"HOLD ON A SEC!!! DID YOU SAY ARTEMIS????? Oh!!!!! Wait til I tell Minako-chan!!!"

"NO!!! Don't, Artemis doesn't know that I like him....you see...so...um.... I'd wish you didn't say anything about this to blabber-mouth Minako...."

Usagi smiled. "I understand. Now if I could just understand Mamoru....."

The next day.....

"Class, today, we're going to participate in a little activity, in the holiday cheer." Haruna-sensei announced to the class.

Usagi, Minako, Ami, Motoki, Mamoru, Makoto, and Rei all looked at each other..... 'uh oh.....what is she planning this time????'

"This activity is called Secret Santas. You pick a name out of this hat, and you get to be that person's secret santa. You'll spy on them and then at the Christmas party, they'll get a gift from their 'secret santa' (which is you), and then they'll have to guess who their secret santa is."

The class started buzzing in excitement.

Motoki turned to Mamoru, who was sitting next to him.

"Maybe this won't be so boring after all!" Motoki whispered.

But Mamoru wasn't paying attention. He was staring at Usagi's golden hair.

"Now, class, will you please fill out these info sheets to help your secret santa decide what present to get you!" Haruna-sensei said cheerfully.

These are what the info sheets looked like:


Name________________

Birthdate______________

Favorite Color____________________

Favorite Animal___________________

Favorite Food_____________________

Hobbies_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Things you'd like from your secret santa (please, keep requests reasonable!) _____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

Everybody scrunched their eyebrows and started working. Many people sighed as they finished. Wow! That was like filling out a test form!

Mamoru finished and leaned back in his chair. 'What if I get Meatball Head?' he thought, 'In my dreams!!!'

"Is everyone finished?" asked Ms. Haruna.

Most people nodded.

"Okay, we'll give the rest of the people a few more minutes."

~Five minutes later~

"Okay, one at a time, come up here and draw a name, er... info sheet, out of this hat, starting with Naru."

Naru gave Usagi a terrified look, but Usagi returned that with a thumbs-up.

Naru went up, and she drew a name. She gave a little nod, and returned back to her seat. She looked happy, very happy.

'Hm....I wonder who she got.' thought Usagi. Then Usagi spotted Naru staring at Umino on the other side of the room. Naru then looked back at the info sheet, and sighed happily.

'UMINO??? She got Umino, and she's happy??? Hey....wait a second, what's that lovesick look on her face....ACK!!! How did I fail to realize that she had a crush on him!!! ACK....' Usagi asked herself, exasperated.

"Tsukino Usagi, stop daydreaming and come up here to draw a name!" said Ms. Haruna.

Usagi blushed and went to the front of the class to pick a name. She did, and after one look at the piece of paper, she froze. And she choked. She stood still. Then she held the chalkboard for support. While she was doing all this, Mamoru was called up, and he picked a name.

Mamoru froze, choked and stood still. He leaned against the chalkboard, and turned to stare at Usagi, who was still in shock. Their blue eyes mirrored eachother's.



Thats all for now! Cya l8r!