Chiba had taken to meeting Usagi at the gates of her school when class let out. His university wasn't far from her school, and conveniently enough, he didn't have any classes for the first hour after Usagi's school let out. Some days he only had that first hour, other days (like the day they'd met) he didn't have any more classes at all. A benefit to being only a part-time student. Not taking the full load all at once also meant that he could give each subject more of his attention, so he was getting better grades, even if he would probably take more than the standard five years to become a doctor.

"Huh?" Usagi exclaimed softly in surprise as she halted their forward movement to look back at a spot they'd just passed. "There's usually a big line here," she noted, looking down into an alley where an old man had set up a table for fortune telling.

"There is," Chiba agreed, and the pair stepped into the space to talk to the old man. "What happened?" he asked.

The old man chuckled a little sadly. "I guess it's because there's competition now. Look," he suggested, and pointed out between them to a large, flashing sign across the road from him directly that read 'House of Fortune'.

"It's awfully gaudy," Usagi noted when she turned to look. "What is that?"

"The beauty from Juubangai," the old man answered.

"The same kind of fortune telling that you do?" Chiba asked, curious.

"Ah," the old man answered, and looked a bit sad. "Everybody likes new things," he said.

Usagi dug into her bag, then stepped up to his table again, gave a bright smile, and offered her palm hopefully. "Read me?" she requested.

The old man smiled. "Oh, thank you, young lady," he said, sincerely grateful, and picked up a magnifying glass so that he could read her palm better. "There is a man that likes you right now, and it's someone you see all the time," the old man said.

Usagi surprised Chiba by wincing at that bit of information. "Arigato," she said softly, and reached for her purse, to pay for the fortune he'd given her.

"Oh, I seem to have not given you good news?" the old man asked, concerned.

"I know there's a boy in my class who likes me, but... un," she said, and bit her lower lip. "He's..."

The old man chuckled softly, and patted her hand comfortingly. "Young lady, just because your palm tells me that there is someone who likes you right now, that doesn't mean you have to act on it," he explained kindly.

Usagi relaxed. "Ah, arigato!" she said happily, bowed gratefully, and turned to Chiba. "Huh, Chiba-san?" she asked.

He was eyeing the gaudy building across the street, but jerked a little when she called his name, and turned his attention to her. "Sorry," he said. "There's just something about that place that doesn't seem right to me."

The old man smiled. "There are few real fortune tellers who actually advertise that way," he explained. "The larger the sign, often, the less gifted they are at divining things. You have good senses young man, if you can tell that sort of thing just by looking."

Chiba shifted, a little discomforted by the observation, but said nothing.

Usagi blinked and stared up at the sign. "I just can't get past how gaudy it is," she admitted with a shrug.

Chiba and the old man both chuckled at her in amusement.

"Come on Tsukino, you have homework to do, and Motoki is on shift at the arcade today, so I'll get a coffee and you'll get a milkshake while you do it." Chiba ordered lightly.

"Hai, Chiba-taicho!" Usagi said with a grin and a salute that made him (and the old man) laugh again.

~oOo~

"Eh? Usagi? What are you doing out so late after school still in your uniform?"

Usagi turned, surprised. "Ah, Papa!" she greeted happily. "Chiba-san decided to have today's tutoring session at the café in the arcade," she explained.

Kenji nodded in acceptance. "Alright," he allowed. "I'd forgotten that Chiba-san said he'd tutor you there more often than at our house, so that he could talk with Motoki-san about university while you worked," he admitted with a smile.

"He has only been my tutor for a week," Usagi said, defending her father's memory easily. "And you've been shopping," she noted.

Kenji chuckled. "Yes," he agreed with a smile. "I got home early for once, and your mother caught me."

"You're sweet Papa," Usagi said happily.

"Well, when I leave all the housework to your mother, this is the least I can do," he said, holding up the shopping bags for emphasis. "And as a bonus, I get to walk home with my princess," he added with a grin.

"Ehe!" Usagi chirped happily, and turned to walk with her dad back home. "Oh, actually Papa, I've been meaning to ask you something, but it isn't the sort of thing I want to ask over the dinner table," she said.

"Oh?"

Usagi nodded. "It isn't something I want to do, but I think it's something I probably should," she started. "Since I'm in eighth grade now, and the boys and girls in my class are starting to talk about dating..." she said softly.

"You are not getting a boyfriend before you're sixteen Usagi," Kenji said firmly. "You're much too young."

Usagi blinked. "That wasn't what I was going to ask," she said. "There aren't any boys in my class that I'd want to date," she added when he looked at her doubtfully.

Her father's shoulders relaxed slightly. "Alright, what then?" he asked.

"Self defence," Usagi answered. "I don't like the idea of fighting, but... what if one of the boys decides one day to not take 'no' for an answer?" she asked a little fearfully. "I know that at least one of the boys in class has a crush on me, and I don't like the idea of him taking my first kiss because I couldn't stop him."

It was not in the least bit put on. It was a genuine concern, and as she thought about it, tears started to gather – she was a bit of a crybaby after all. She was working on it, but she was still a bit of a crybaby.

It wasn't the only reason she was asking though. She was also asking because – as much as she really, really didn't like the idea of fighting – Luna was determined that she, Tsukino Usagi, was a chosen warrior with a mission, and that meant she'd almost definitely be doing more fighting. Frankly, she felt fortunate that, after that first incident, she'd been able to have a week without that sort of thing. The comics she read made it seem like the heroine had to fight a new enemy every day!

"That's a very responsible thing of you to say," Kenji noted softly. "And I don't like the idea of my little princess fighting either, but self defence... well, I like the idea of some scum boy taking advantage of my little princess even less than the idea of you fighting. I'll talk it over with your mother tonight after dinner, okay? If she agrees, and she probably will, then we'll look at dojos in the area this weekend, okay?"

"Ah! Thank you Papa!" Usagi cheered happily. "And who knows? Maybe it will help with my clumsiness!"

Her father laughed, and they walked together down the street quietly until...

"Usagi, is that cat following us?" Kenji asked a few minutes later.

"She's my friend!" Usagi answered quickly.

"You have some odd friends," he noted with amusement.

~oOo~

"Did Umino say anything to you?" Naru asked the next morning.

"About what?" Usagi countered, a little warily. Naru was a great friend, but she was also a dedicated romantic, and didn't think too much about the 'other' party when someone approached her for help in their romantic endeavours.

"I think Umino likes you," Naru stated plainly.

"Eh?!" Usagi yelped. Her friend was only just figuring it out? Clearly, they didn't talk enough. Or else Naru was dimmer than Usagi had been led to believe.

"But," Naru continued, wrapping one of Usagi's arms around her own in a confiding gesture, "he's so innocent he's too shy to say anything!"

"Usagi! Let's go on a date!" Umino's voice said from just behind them.

Usagi stiffened. "You were saying?" she asked Naru lowly as she turned, unwillingly, to look at the boy who had just asked her out. "What's -?!" Usagi nearly yelped at the sight of him.

Umino hadn't done anything about his glasses or hair, but he was wearing a suit. Not the uniform, but a suit. A suit with matching pale blue trousers and jacket, a rust-coloured vest, a grey tie... and a pink shirt. None of it matched, and none of it suited Umino.

"It's not a good idea to wear those sorts of clothes to school," Naru pointed out.

"It's not a good idea to wear those sorts of clothes at all," Usagi said under her breath. Few and far between were the guys who could wear pink shirts. Fewer still were guys who could wear pink shirts with pale blue suits.

"Who cares?" Umino asked, and closed the distance between himself and Usagi. "Let's go on a date today!"

"You've gotten brave all of a sudden," Naru noted pleasantly while Usagi fished for a way to refuse politely.

"Umino-kun," Haruna-sensei said in her scolding voice. "What is that outfit?"

Umino just smirked at her and pulled a roll – probably his lunch – out of his bag and stuck the end into his mouth.

"Umino-kun, what are you thinking?!" Haruna-sensei demanded.

Umino walked past her and flipped her skirt up as he went. "Thinking this!" he answered cheekily, then laughed before he continued walking.

Haruna-sensei's hands had immediately gone to her skirt to keep it from flying up the whole way around, but her back-side had definitely been shown off, and her cheeks darkened in embarrassment as her skirt settled back into its right place. Abruptly, she burst into tears. "No one will marry me now!" she wailed, and fell to her knees on the floor.

"Haruna-sensei!" Usagi yelped in sympathy, and pulled out her handkerchief. "Here," she said, offering the linen square. "Only Naru-chan and I saw, and we won't tell any one," she promised.

"Right," Naru agreed quickly.

Haruna-sensei sniffled a moment, wiped her face, then looked up at the girls. Two of her students. "Thank you," she said softly. She gave one last sniff, and pulled herself to her feet. "It's time for class soon," she informed them in a business-like manner. "I'll see you there."

"Hai, sensei," the girls agreed.

Umino wasn't the only one acting strange though. Yuuji tripped Haruna-sensei in class, and they and a bunch of other boys threw stones through windows into the teacher's lounge. Naru was ready to go up to them and demand to know what they were doing, but Usagi held her back. After all, if they were doing that sort of thing to the grown-ups, what would they do to helpless female classmates?

Just before they heard the first smash of glass, Naru had been telling Usagi that she'd suggested Umino go to the House of Fortune, and she was fairly sure that Yuuji had as well. Naru, for all that she was an excellent source of information sometimes, probably didn't even realise the link. Usagi, on the other hand, did. More than that, she remembered Chiba had said that the place didn't seem right. There was also what the old man had said to take into account as well.

A fake fortune teller.

~oOo~

"Is that yours?" Chiba asked, the corner of his mouth ticked up as he looked over Usagi's shoulder at something sitting on the wall of their booth.

Usagi turned and found herself face to face with Luna. "Eh? Luna? What are you doing here?" she asked.

Luna hopped down from the booth to their table, and tugged on Usagi's sleeve.

"Looks to me like she's proving that, like all cats, she's the one who's boss," Chiba said with a chuckle. "I think we were pretty much done today anyway," he allowed with a smile.

Usagi smiled back. "Thank you for taking such good care of me, Chiba-san," she said, and bowed politely (or as best she could with a cat hanging off one sleeve). "Alright Luna, I'm coming. Just let me pack my homework away!" she complained, exasperated.

"You have a mission to complete, Sailor Moon," Luna reminded Usagi quietly as they walked the streets. "Something evil is causing the incidents with your classmates."

Usagi nodded. "So they're probably being controlled," she said thoughtfully. "The only other common link between all of them is that they went to the House of Fortune yesterday."

"Ah! Great job finding that out!" Luna praised. "Let's go!"

"Eh? Fighting again?" Usagi complained. "I'm kind of scared," she admitted.

Luna looked back at her with a frown on her face. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. "You're a chosen warrior! A Senshi!"

"I'm fourteen," Usagi answered, but sighed and followed the talking cat back to the House of Fortune.

"Time to transform," Luna instructed Usagi when they were hidden in a small gap between buildings and she had ascertained that the coast was clear.

"Do I have to?" Usagi asked with an unhappy sigh.

"Yes," Luna answered firmly. "You have to."

Usagi pulled a face, but did as she was told.

~oOo~

Usagi flinched when she realised she'd been chased into a corner. She could not get self defence lessons soon enough. This was why she was scared when Luna told her she would be fighting again. Hypnotised people – people she couldn't vaporise with her magic tiara – chasing after her and intent on causing her harm. And she'd had that minor-possession thing happen again, where she just stood there and waved her arms around as she announced herself to the enemy.

Then the boys who had been looming over her all froze. Barely inches away from touching her, they just stopped.

"Another intruder? Who's there?!" the monstrous woman demanded.

Usagi looked too as she wiggled her way out of the corner she'd been caught in. "My hero," she said with a grateful sigh, hand over her heart, as Tuxedo Kamen gave a satisfied, slightly smirking smile. He'd saved her life again. Hero was the right word for this guy.

He wasn't a great distance away as he had been during Usagi's last brief encounter with him, this time just leaning against the door that she herself had entered by. Close enough for her to get a better look at him. Even with the mask hiding his eyes, the rest of his face was very handsome, and the way he just casually leant against the door after saving her she didn't even know how...

"Don't give up, no matter how hard it is," he told her, his tone supportive and his smile genuine.

Usagi blinked. That sounded familiar... Now was not the time to dwell though. "Hai," she agreed, and turned where she stood. She reached for her tiara.

When the monster was dust, Usagi turned back to the door, but Tuxedo Kamen was already gone. Usagi sighed softly in disappointment, and looked around the room. Cards floated up from the boy's who had been hypnotised, and they dissolved the same as the dust from the monster... and there was a rose wedged in the wall at eye-level.

Usagi smiled and collected it. The first rose was still drying, and she planned to buy a nice, simple vase and a glass cover to display the dried flower. She'd dry this rose as well, and it would join the first. If Tuxedo Kamen continued to save her this way, she'd end up with quite a collection of dried roses. That was really a pleasant thought.

But there was something familiar about him, now that she'd gotten to see him from close up. And what he'd said... Chiba-san had said that to her as encouragement over a tricky maths problem just that afternoon! That was why it had sounded familiar.

Usagi giggled softly to herself. Of course, there was no way that she could just ask Chiba-san if he had a secret, mask-wearing, super-hero alter-ego. It would be embarrassing if she'd guessed wrong, and hard to explain if she guessed right. She'd sit on the idea a while. Gather more clues if she could.

Get those self defence classes so that she wouldn't need to be rescued quite so often. However much she found it kind of romantic to have a guy in a sharp suit and mysterious mask come to her rescue, being in the situation of needing to be rescued was not her idea of a good time.

~oOo~

There had been a lot of talk from the girls in class about a late-night radio show. Apparently, a few of the older years listened to it last thing after getting home from evening cram school, and then talk about it had gotten more of the girls throughout the school listening to it. Usagi wasn't generally inclined towards staying up late. Staying out after school, sure, but up late? Not so much. She'd been up very late the first time she'd done the transformation bit, turned into Sailor Moon, and saved Naru from the monster.

Hence why she had wanted to get another nap in before class the next morning.

But... There was nothing to stop her from recording the show and listening to it the next afternoon when she got home.

"You are a chosen warrior," Luna said firmly as Usagi set up her radio to record. "A Senshi. You have a very important mission. You can't be wasting your time on late-night radio!"

"Luna, I'm fourteen. My very important mission is to graduate from school with good marks," Usagi countered. "But besides that, I have fought and killed two monsters in as many weeks, and because of it I've started attending a self defence class every other day after tutoring with Chiba-san. I need something normal and frivolous every now and then, or I'll completely flip my lid!" Usagi explained a little heatedly.

Luna had the grace to look a little sheepish at that.

"Sometimes that will be my comics, sometimes that will be a game at the arcade on days when I don't have self defence classes to hurry to after tutoring with Chiba-san. Tonight, that's setting my radio to record a late-night radio show so that I can listen to it on my way to school tomorrow morning," Usagi said more gently. "Now, no terrible, terrifying news of monsters tonight, okay?" she requested hopefully. "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight Luna."

"Goodnight, Usagi," Luna answered softly.

~oOo~

"Hmm, I'd like a flower broach," Usagi mused as she walked to school with her headphones on, listening to the show she'd recorded the previous night. "I've never written a love letter before though, and then there's the matter of who I'd write it to..." she mused, then shrugged, putting it out of her mind as she removed her headphones and tucked her walkman into her bag before stepping through the school gates.

It turned out that she could have saved herself the walk.

Haruna-sensei arrived (late) to class, and then when she finally stumbled in (literally), she was dropping books as she came. She tiredly declared that they would have a self-study day, and then fell asleep in front of them all.

They tried yelling, they tried poking, they tried shaking, one of the boys even went and got a glass of water to throw on Haruna-sensei's face. She still didn't wake up.

One of the girls who had to have a mobile phone with her at all times (because of family issues that were vaguely known of and definitely not talked about) called the ambulance, while one of the boys went to the office to tell one of the staff what had happened. And that an ambulance had already been called.

"What do you suppose it was, Usagi-chan?" Umino asked as they watched Haruna-sensei be carried away on a stretcher, still asleep.

"How would I know?" Usagi countered. "I'm not a doctor!"

"I've heard something about a sleeping sickness," Naru offered. "Some new, unknown disease that's going around, that when a person goes to sleep, they don't wake up again."

Usagi blinked as she absorbed that. On one hand, that sounded great – getting to sleep all the time, dreaming all the time, sounded really nice. On the other hand, that meant never getting to eat again, not ever really seeing the people she cared about ever again, worrying the people who cared about her by not waking up...

And Luna would be grouchy with her too, because sleeping all the time would mean she wouldn't complete the crazy dangerous mission that the talking cat had given her.

With the self-study day assigned to them owing to their teacher being... unwell... Usagi headed for the part of the school library where the newspapers were kept, and looked for whatever there was on this new disease that Haruna-sensei seemed to have contracted.

Pictures of other sleepers showed that they were all wearing the same flower brooch as Haruna-sensei, and Usagi's mind went back to the flower brooch that was promised to any listener whose love letter got read on Midnight Zero. It was deeply suspicious, but they could have all just bought the same brooch from a shop by coincidence.

Usagi flipped the paper over to the guide that said which programmes were on when on the different radio stations, and was confronted with another irregularity. There was supposed to be a chapter of a mystery novel being read at that time, not love letters. Usagi frowned at the discovery.

All very suspicious, but no solid proof, as such.

"Hey, Usagi! We're all writing love letters to send to Midnight Zero!" Naru called in a whisper – library and all. "You want to sit with us and write one too?" she asked.

Usagi shrugged. "I don't have anybody I'd write a love letter to," she pointed out.

Naru giggled and shook her head. "It doesn't matter," she countered. "Write a love letter to you future boyfriend," she suggested.

"I don't know how that would work out, but alright," Usagi agreed with another shrug, and left the newspapers to sit with Naru and a few of the other girls.

~oOo~

"How was class today?" Chiba asked when he collected Usagi from the school gate.

"Very easy," Usagi answered with a laugh. "Haruna-sensei fell asleep, so we all had self-study. We'll have a substitute if she isn't back tomorrow, but it looks like she has that sleeping disease that's been going around lately, so that's likely to happen."

"Ne, Usagi-chan, who's this?" Naru asked, hurrying up to her.

"Oh, you haven't met before. Naru-chan, this is Chiba-san, my tutor. Chiba-san, this is Osaka Naru-chan, my best friend," Usagi presented.

"Konnichiwa Osaka-san," Chiba greeted politely before he turned to Usagi. "Does that mean you have no homework today?" he asked.

Usagi shook her head. "It means I have more," she countered. "The teacher wrote out on the board what work we were to have done, and whatever we didn't do during school hours, we'd have to do at home."

Naru blushed. "That's my fault," she said. "I encouraged Usagi-chan to write a love letter to a future boyfriend, to send to Midnight Zero to be read on the radio," Naru explained sheepishly, then pouted. "Usagi-chan still probably got more of her work done today than I did though," she added.

Chiba stifled a laugh, nodded in understanding, and started to walk – clearly intending for Usagi to simply follow once she'd bid her friend goodbye for the afternoon.

"He's handsome," Naru whispered to Usagi. "Why didn't you write a love letter to him, rather than some imaginary future boyfriend?"

"He's a college student!" Usagi hissed back. "I'm fourteen. The age gap is kind of significant right now!"

"Coming, Tsukino-chan?" Chiba called from a few steps away.

"Hai!" Usagi answered. "See you tomorrow Naru-chan."

~oOo~

Again, Usagi listened to the previous night's Midnight Zero on her walkman as she headed to school, and this time she heard the host of the show read out Naru's letter. The one that Naru had written rather than working on her school work the previous day.

In class, before the bell sounded, Naru was pleased to show off a little parcel that had arrived in the mail that morning. She hadn't opened it yet, but it was surely the flower brooch from Midnight Zero.

"Open it!" the Kuri insisted.

"Hurry, hurry!" Yumiko agreed.

Naru obliged... and revealed a flower brooch identical to the one that Haruna-sensei had been wearing the day before. "I guess Haruna-sensei was the 'Haruna In Love' from the other night," Naru said as she pinned the brooch to her shirt, just over her heart. "Oh, I'm feeling sleepy," she noted next, and her eyes started to droop.

Usagi's eyes went wide. That fast? Haruna-sensei would have had to put the brooch on immediately before walking in the door if it was the cause of the sleeping 'disease', which Usagi was becoming more and more certain was the case.

Naru was taken to the hospital, just like Haruna-sensei had been the day before.

~oOo~

"Tsukino-dango-chan," Chiba scolded lightly as they sat in the arcade after she had been let out from school, and gently tugged on one of her pigtails. "You're not paying attention to your homework."

"Ah, gomen, Chiba-san. Naru-chan went to the hospital today," Usagi apologised.

Chiba blinked. "Eh? The girl you introduced me to yesterday? She looked very healthy to me," he commented.

Usagi nodded. "Hai. She just fell asleep today, like Haruna-sensei yesterday, and wouldn't wake up," she explained.

"Well, it makes sense that you would be concerned about your friend," Chiba allowed. "You're a good friend, Tsukino-chan. Still, it's important to be able to get things done even though you're worried about something."

Usagi understood that, and nodded. "Hai," she agreed. "Ne, Chiba-san? Do you have anything that worries you, that you have to put aside while you study?" she asked.

Chiba was silent a while, then nodded slightly. "Lately, I've been having black-outs. Not ever for very long, just a few minutes mostly, but it's a concern, and I'm always tired when I come to again, and my legs hurt like I ran a lot while I was unconscious."

Usagi blinked. "That is a worry," she agreed. "Right, if you can still get excellent scores on your papers when you have black-outs to worry about, then I can get excellent scores on my homework while a friend is in hospital!" Usagi decided, and pumped a fist in determination before she knuckled down to look over the question again. "Um... but I'm going to need help," she added softly, and looked up at Chiba hopefully.

He laughed, then bent over her and started to explain the theory of the equation she was trying to solve.

Luna interrupted the study session not five minutes later, a fierce expression on her face.

"I'm beginning to think my cat doesn't care about my grades," Usagi grumbled as she packed up her things. "Gomen, Chiba-san," she apologised. "And again thank you for taking such good care of me," she added as she stood from her seat.

"Go, maybe if she has some milk, she'll be in a better mood," Chiba suggested with a slight smirk – a smirk that had Usagi doing a double-take. She'd seen that smirk before – but on Tuxedo Kamen's face, not Chiba-san's.

"Grown cats are supposed to have water, not milk," Usagi said as she blinked back her shock, and looked down at Luna.

Who was pouting up at her.

Usagi sighed. "Maybe milk will make a difference," she agreed. "I'll see you in a couple of days, Chiba-san," she bid. "I know," she said once they were outside. "Midnight Zero and their flower brooches are suspicious, the only thing to do is investigate, and that means going out to FM ten this evening and checking it out. You're lucky tomorrow isn't a school day, and that my self defence class isn't until the afternoon."

Luna blinked. "That's very thoughtful of you Usagi-chan," Luna said with approval.

"Blonde, not stupid," Usagi said firmly, then sighed. "Well, let's go home. I want to get out of my school uniform, and we should think of a way to get past security into the building."

"That is easy," Luna said happily, and did one of her magic little back flips that conjured an item – that fell to the ground.

Usagi bent to pick it up.

"A new item," Luna said with a smile. "The Luna Pen. You simply call out 'moon power', and it will transform you into whatever you ask."

Usagi blinked at that, impressed. "So it can turn me into a beautiful newscaster, and I'll be able to get in that way," she decided.

"Did you have to add in the 'beautiful'?" Luna asked.

"Beautiful people get told 'yes' a lot more often than plain people," Usagi answered with a firm nod.

Luna sighed, but conceded the point.

~oOo~

Usagi grabbed a bit of paper and scrawled a hasty note once she was in the building, and delivered it to the studio where Midnight Zero was being broadcast from.

"Excuse me? But you're wanted on the roof," Usagi said, handing the note over to the woman who was standing, watching 'J-Dite' as he read love letters into the microphone. The crew who were supposed to be working on the radio show that was supposed to be broadcasting then were all asleep around her.

Usagi quickly ducked out again, and ran for the stairs to the roof, transforming as she went. She had just enough time to catch her breath before an ugly purple-skinned woman in a torn-up teal toga joined her, an unpleasant grin on her face.

Usagi didn't waste time. She immediately reached for her tiara and sent it at the monster woman.

The monster dodged, but Usagi smiled to herself as, with a gesture, she (somehow) made her tiara come around again like a boomerang. It caught the monster in the back and continued through her stomach, cutting her in two before she dissolved completely.

"Dusted," Usagi said happily.

"So you're the one who keeps interfering with us," a voice noted from behind her.

Usagi turned to see 'J-Dite', the radio host for Midnight Zero. He was frowning at her. "Are you the boss then?" she asked.

"My name is Jadeite," he answered with a sneer. "Do you want to fight with me now?" he offered.

"Want to? No. Will? That's another matter entirely," Usagi answered, and didn't hesitate after that to send her tiara at the bad guy. However handsome he was, he was the bad guy. That meant that (unless she could figure out a trick to make him good, but she was fairly sure that the moon tiara stardust wouldn't work on him, and he would be a bad first-subject to test it) he needed to be dusted the same as his minion had been.

Unfortunately, Jadeite proved himself to be stronger than his minions, not just higher up in the chain of command. He raised his hand and stopped her tiara before it reached him. That had never happened before.

"You're kidding me! That's never happened before!" Usagi wailed before she could stop herself. It wasn't professional. She knew that. She was just a little (or more than a little) panicked by her one serious 'magical' attack being rendered useless!

And he had the nerve to smirk at her.

Okay, she could handle this. Her self defence classes weren't meant for attacking with, but she could adjust. Usagi grit her teeth and charged at him.

Jadeite raised a hand and formed some kind of barrier between them. When she hit it, Usagi was sent flying back, and landed harshly on the rooftop.

"Ouch," she groaned softly, and forced herself to get up. With the pain from the rough landing, it was slightly slow going, and she could hear Jadeite advancing on her, one step at a time. She turned to look – taking her eyes off the enemy was bad – and he was wearing a superior, satisfied expression before he even reached her.

Not good.

Usagi grit her teeth and shifted. If nothing else, she should be able to land a good solid kick on him when he got close enough. The female self defence teacher had said it was a good basic for a girl to fall back on in emergencies against a male aggressor. The male self defence teacher and winced and frowned at her for telling the students that, but nodded, however reluctantly.

Before Jadeite got that close though, a rose appeared, the stem cutting into the roof like it was butter, and warning against Jadeite advancing any further.

Usagi watched as surprise and then... frustrated bewilderment crossed Jadeite's face for just a fraction of a second before he schooled his face back into a devious smirk. He jumped back, disappeared, reappeared in the air, and then vanished into a black portal. Carefully, Usagi got to her feet and pulled the rose from where it was lodged in the roof.

"We'll meet again!" Tuxedo Kamen called as he leapt away across the rooftops.

Usagi sighed. He really was very dashing. She winced at herself. In more ways than one. That was a terrible mental pun. Then another thought occurred to her. "Luna," she called softly. "Luna?" she called, more loudly, when the cat didn't immediately appear.

"Hai?" the little cat answered, appearing at her feet. "How did the fight go? I'm sorry, you got here faster than I could."

"The boss bad guy got away. He knows what I look like. What's to stop him from finding out who I am?" Usagi asked.

Luna smiled. "There's more magic to being Sailor Moon than just a change of clothes and a magic tiara," she said, pleased. "There's a special magic that prevents enemies from recognising you too easily when you're living your normal life."

"Oh, well, if you're sure," Usagi said, doubtful but somewhat relieved with the presentation of that information – information Luna had neglected to mention when being questioned before. "Now, time to go home."