USAGI'S VERY IMPORTANT MISSION

A/N: I've been busy busy busy due to school and so I apologize for not updating as often as I usually do. I have a few days off so I'm hoping to start the next chapter soon, but I've got a couple of really big papers due. Anyway, please let me know what you think of this chapter. Happy reading!

Chapter 2--

Rei narrowed her eyes as she watched Usagi read. Not just "read", but actually read! And to top it off, it was not manga or a magazine. It was an actual textbook. Rei blinked several times expecting the vision before her to vanish and prove to be the mirage she suspected it to be. She furrowed her brows when she realized that what she was seeing was in fact, reality.

"Ok, Ami, so the pancreas produces digestive enzymes that travel to the intestines and from there the enzymes aid in the break down of food?" Usagi made her inquiry and actually sounded as if she was interested.

Rei could not understand for the life of her what was going on. What's this all of a sudden? Did Odango trip and hit her head, black out, and regain consciousness as a completely different person? That must be the only explanation!

Ami nodded. "Correct Usagi." Rei's eyes looked from Usagi to Ami and then from Ami to Usagi. Nothing else was said after that as both girls returned to their books. Was she the only one who thought something was wrong with this picture?

She was about to open her mouth when the door slid open and Yuuichirou poked his head through the opening. "Hey ladies." He said bashfully as he carefully placed a tray of snacks on the floor. "I thought you guys might need a little break." His eyes looked hopefully to Rei who immediately looked away when their eyes made contact.

"Thanks." Rei said monotonously. Yuuichirou waited for a few moments to see if Rei would say anything else, but his face fell a little when she didn't. "Let me know if you need anything else." He said before sliding the door closed.

"Thanks!" Ami and Usagi called out just as the door closed.

"Sheesh, Rei. You could show him a little more appreciation." Usagi commented.

Rei scowled. "I said thanks! What else was I supposed to say?"

Usagi and Ami exchanged looks.

"Don't even think about it guys. Besides, you both know I'm only interested in Mamoru." Rei fell back on the floor, her hands folded under her head.

Usagi lifted an eyebrow. "But...what about last week? Remember? You don't? Well then let me refresh your memory. He said that he only thinks of you as a pal--"

"Yeah, yeah! I remember!" Rei cut her off, annoyed that she had brought that up again. "That doesn't mean I have to give up. He thinks of me as a pal. At least that's a start! Now all I have to do is figure out how to make him fall in love with me!" Rei's eyes began to cloud over with a dreamy expression.

Usagi laughed heartily. "Oh come on Rei. Don't be ridiculous. Mamoru said that he can't even stay interested in a girl for five minutes. How could he stay interested in you?"

Rei sat up and glared at Usagi. In defense, Usagi held both hands up in the air. "Hey, I'm just repeating the words that came out of his own mouth."

Rei crossed her arms menacingly. "And what about you, Usagi?"

Usagi cocked an eyebrow. "What about me, Rei?"

Rei scoffed. "What about you and your little crush on Motoki? It's not very nice to try and steal guys away from their girlfriends."

Usagi's mouth fell open momentarily as her face began to turn red. "I am doing no such thing!"

Rei rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, we both know that you haven't given up on Motoki that easily. I saw you talking to him even after you found out he had a girlfriend."

Usagi's face turned a greater shade of red. "Is it not alright to talk to friends? I'm sure Motoki's girlfriend talks to her male friends!"

Rei shook her head. "Nope, it's not ok when you have the intention of stealing him away from his girlfriend!"

Usagi opened her mouth to retaliate, but Ami intercepted. "Stop you two! Please, we're here to study! Not argue about guys."

Usagi raised her chin in the air. "Yes, and I was doing exactly that before I was so rudely interrupted!"

Rei laughed incredulously. "Excuse me? You were the one--"

"No need to apologize Rei. I'm leaving." Usagi ceremoniously picked up her books and marched out of the room.

Rei glowered. "I was wrong, you haven't changed at all!" She yelled after Usagi, hoping that she would hear.

It was then that Rei's eyes fell to the plate full of snacks. The plate still full of snacks. Now that it was brought to her attention, Rei noticed that Usagi hadn't even looked at it.

--

Usagi kicked a stone that was in her path, fuming as she stomped her way down the sidewalk. That Rei! She just thinks I'm a pig, a klutz, and a loser. Well I'll show her when I win Motoki's heart! Yes, UVIM is still in progress! I'll show that Rei who thinks she can get Mamoru, but doesn't think I can get Motoki. UVIM!!

A flame of rage ignited within Usagi and she pounded her fist into the brick wall she walked alongside of. "Owie!" She yelped as she withdrew her fist.

"Sheesh, Odango. The brick wall didn't do anything to you." Mamoru's voice filtered in among the sounds of passing cars and barking dogs.

Usagi slowly turned her head and her eyes caught sight of a smirking Mamoru. "You do not want to make me even angrier than I am right now Mamoru!" Usagi said viscously.

Mamoru didn't seem to be fazed. "Don't worry, I can handle you." He said as he let his eyes fall to her raw and now beginning to bleed knuckles.

"Yes, well I have to go. Goodbye!" Usagi said quickly as she turned and ran off, leaving Mamoru behind. A couple of blocks ahead, she slowed down to a walk. Who knows what might have come out of my mouth if I had stayed? For sure, I would have blown up and then UVIM might have been ruined! He is Motoki's best friend after all and so I must be careful with the way I act around that baka too!

Usagi stopped in her tracks when she realized what she had just thought.Mamoru is Motoki's best friend. He probably knows Motoki better than anyone. He most likely knows Motoki's favorite color, favorite song, favorite food, and favorite everything! He must know exactly what kind of girls Motoki likes!

Usagi briskly turned around and began to walk in the direction that she came from. Somehow, I have to get him to help me although I doubt he'd agree. He'd probably just laugh at me like he always does and say that I sound ridiculous. Nonetheless, he'd be a great asset to UVIM so I have to give this a try. Agh! Wait a minute, I can't tell him my reasons! No, I have to somehow get him to help me without knowing it! But how am I going to--

Usagi unexpectedly collided with a solid object, hurting her nose in the process. "Owie!" She said for the second time as she lightly clutched her nose and stepped back to look at what she had carelessly walked into.

"Odango, Odango, Odango." Mamoru said as he wagged his finger in her face. "You have to look up when you walk or else these things happen. After all your accidents, I would have thought you would already have learned this lesson, but I suppose not."

Usagi glared at him. "Well why didn't you move if you saw me coming?" She bit her tongue as soon as the words left her mouth. What am I doing?? UVIM!

Usagi cleared her throat. "Um, sorry, I didn't mean that. I was in a hurry and I was careless."

Mamoru's eyebrow lifted momentarily in surprise, but he didn't get a chance to reply.

"So,um how are you today Mamoru?" Usagi internally cringed. Being this nice to this jerk was harder than she thought it would be.

Instead of answering, he simply walked past her. "Why are you trying to be different today Usagi?"

Usagi whirled around and watched him as he walked away. "What are you talking about?" How dare he just walk away from me when I am actually trying to be nice!!She ran to catch up with him. "I'm just being me." Usagi forced herself not to sound annoyed.

Mamoru glanced at her for a moment. "Liar." With that word hanging in the air, Mamoru continued to walk down the street leaving Usagi behind as she clenched her teeth. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought! Why does that baka have to be so difficult?? No matter, I won't give up on UVIM!!

"Mamoru, please wait!" Usagi called out. To her relief, Mamoru stopped and slowly turned around. His expression displayed curiosity.

Usagi gathered up her courage and walked up to him, stopping only when a small distance was between them. She allowed her eyes to travel up to his face and stop to look into his eyes. So very blue eyes.

Her eyes softened as she looked up at him. There were a few moments of silence as she noticed Mamoru's eyes soften too, but they still displayed curiosity. Finally, she sighed and said, "Mamoru, why are we so rude to each other?"

Mamoru seemed to be taken aback by her question. His eyes momentarily fell to the ground as he seemed to be at a loss for words. His mouth opened slightly as if to indicate that he would say something, but no words emerged.

Usagi held out her hand to Mamoru. "Let's not be enemies. Truce?"

His eyes fell down to the hand she held out and then traveled up to her face and then back down to her hand.

Usagi watched him as he seemed to contemplate whether or not to take her hand. After a few seconds, Usagi thought that perhaps he would just leave her on the side walk with her open hand still lifted in the air, but to her relief, he took her hand.

"Ok, Usagi. Truce." He said quietly as she shook her hand.

Usagi was surprised at how gentle he was with her hand. It was as if her hand was made of delicate glass that he didn't want to break and instead of abruptly letting her hand fall, he gently let it slide out of his hand.

Usagi gave him a friendly smile. "Ok then, I guess I"ll see you around!" She quickly turned around and began to run home. Yes! Now I'll get Mamoru to somehow help me with UVIM!

But for some reason, Usagi couldn't dismiss the feeling that she wasn't just running because she had to get home, but because she was running away from something.

And she was also trying very hard to forget the feeling of someone's gentle hand grasping hers so very delicately.

--

"That was close Sailor Moon. You should be careful next time." Tuxedo Mask gently placed Sailor Moon back on her own two feet.

Sailor Moon glanced up into her handsome hero's face as she tried to steady her wobbling knees. "Th-thank you, Tuxedo Kamen. I owe you greatly."

Tuxedo Kamen tipped his hat and said, "Take care. I'll be off now." He turned around, but before he could flee the scene, a small hand had taken hold of his arm.

"Wait, Tuxedo Kamen." He turned around to face Sailor Moon, her eyes pleading him to stay. "Why do you always have to leave? You're on our side, right? We can be a team. Join us."

Tuxedo Kamen glanced over at the other Senshi who stood a few feet away behind Sailor Moon. He could sense their uneasiness at Sailor Moon's request.

"You guys go on ahead. I'll be ok, I promise." Sailor Moon motioned for the other Senshi to leave as she kept her hold on Tuxedo Kamen's arm. They obeyed, albeit hesitantly.

When they were finally alone, he forced a smile and said, "Sorry, I work alone."

He felt Sailor Moon's grasp on his arm loosen considerably at his response. Her face fell and she let her chin drop to her chest.

With one last glance at the leader of the senshi, Tuxedo Kamen proceeded to walk away.

"I know who you are."

Tuxedo Kamen instantly froze in his tracks at this declaration. His feet were plastered to the ground and his brain nearly shut down at those five words.

"How?" Was all he could manage to say without even turning around. The beating of his heart was deafening.

"It's obvious." Sailor Moon replied quietly. There was a very long moment of silence as the moonlight shone down on the two still figures.

"If that's the case, then might I be brave enough to ask who you are?" Tuxedo Kamen felt as if the night air was suffocating him. Had he been too careless with his duties and in the process somehow revealed his identity?

She looked up into his eyes wanting so very much to just blurt out her name. Countless times, she had dreamed of revealing her identity to him and he in return would reveal his identity to her and the result would be him carrying her off in his arms to a far away place. Logic and reason battled against emotion and feelings.

"I'm closer to you than you think." Was all she decided to say. And this time, it was she who fled first.

--

The doors of the arcade slid open and through them, a girl with Odangos on her head ran through them, her two pigtails trailing behind.

"Motoki!" She yelled out as she whipped her head in various directions looking for a guy with sandy blonde hair. "Motoki!"

She spotted him behind the counter and her face instantly lit up 1000 watts. "Motoki, there you are! I was looking for you!"

"Yes, we know Odango. People all the way in Ethiopia could hear you shouting his name." Mamoru said without looking up from his newspaper.

Usagi clenched her fists as she forced herself to hold back the words that were about to shoot out like a cannon ball. "Hello to you too, Mamoru. Truce, remember?"

Before he could say anything, Usagi turned around to face Motoki and held up a piece of paper in his face. "See? See??" She said with glee and delight.

Motoki smiled and rubbed the top of her head. "Great going, kiddo. That's pretty remarkable." Usagi beamed, but momentarily frowned at the word "kiddo".

Motoki turned to Mamoru who was still reading his newspaper and didn't seem to be curious about the all the hustle and bustle. "Usagi got a 90 on her test, Mamoru. I think we should celebrate." Motoki said as he withdrew three sodas from the fridge.

Mamoru looked up at Usagi in sheer shock. "A 90? I didn't think you could pull it off, Odango! Congratulations!"

"Thank you, bak--, um, Mamoru. Um, diet soda, please Motoki!" Usagi chirped with delight. She saw Mamoru give her a leery look when she said diet soda. What was that about? Whatever, I don't care because Motoki is proud of me!! Motoki nodded and retreated to replace one soda with a diet soda.

"To Usagi!" Motoki said as he held his can of soda up in the air. Usagi giggled as she lifted her can of soda up in the air with Mamoru's and Motoki's. "I knew she was smart all along! Cheers!" Motoki said cheerfully as he brought his can of soda to his lips for a drink.

Usagi pressed her lips together to prevent herself from cringing at the taste of diet soda. Nonetheless, she displayed a giddy expression and couldn't for the life of her stop smiling. She sighed with content as she placed her diet soda on the counter top.

"So...Motoki. What'd you do last night?" Usagi asked slyly as she toyed with a paper napkin. She would find out he was Tuxedo Kamen one way or another.

Motoki's face took on a thoughtful expression. "Hmm...let's see. Nothing special, really. I just stayed home and watched the football game."

Usagi lifted an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Motoki thought for a moment again before saying, "Yup." He brought out a cloth and began to wipe down the counter.

"Well," Usagi thought carefully about what she was going to say next. "I heard there was some sort of...fight near the school last night. I was walking past and I saw this green slimy looking monster and all the senshi were there."

To her surprise, she had caught both Motoki and Mamoru's attention.

"And just what were you doing walking around by yourself late at night?" Mamoru asked.

"Well...well, I was coming home from studying at Ami's house." Usagi's shoulders sank down slightly in relief that she had saved herself. "But everything turned out ok. Sailor Moon dusted that monster off, easy peasy." Usagi kept her eyes on Motoki's face hoping to see some sort of reaction that would give anything away. "She's really cool." Usagi added.

Motoki took another sip of his soda. "Agreed."

Usagi's eyes lit up. "Really? I'm glad we both think so!"

Mamoru decided to join the conversation. "Sailor Moon? You mean the clumsiest one of them all?"

Usagi nearly spit out her diet soda all over the counter, but she forced herself to hold it down and as a result, ended up having a momentary choking spasm.

"Are you ok, Usagi?" Motoki asked with concern as he handed her a paper napkin to wipe the diet soda dribbling down her chin.

She hastily dabbed the diet soda off her face. "She is not the clumsiest one of them all! She is the bravest, coolest, and most awesomest senshi of them all!" She snapped. As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted to shoot herself in the foot. Oh, no, now look what I've done! I have to be careful about what I say, what if Mamoru suspects something?

She glanced sideways to see that Mamoru was giving her a suspicious look. Fortunately, Motoki interrupted both their thoughts. "I have to agree with Usagi, I think she's the coolest one."

Usagi's eyes lit up once again. "Really??" She stopped herself immediately and calmed herself down. "I mean...really?" She said in a less excited tone. You have to stop doing that Usagi! Don't get so excited!

"Her whole tiara trick is really cool and maybe she's a scaredy cat sometimes," Usagi frowned at this, but continued to listen. "But when it really matters, she's the bravest one of them all." Usagi smile returned to her face at this part of Motoki's description of Sailor Moon.

She took another sip of her diet soda before saying, "It seems as if you know Sailor Moon quite well Motoki. Might I ask why that is?" She felt butterflies fluttering wildly about in her stomach as she anticipated Motoki's response.

"I've seen her around town. Hasn't everyone?" He didn't say anything else and took another sip of his soda.

Usagi didn't let her disappointment show. That's all he's going to say? "Well, not everyone has seen her around." She said hoping that this would prompt him to say more.

"Well, I've seen her running past the arcade a few times to go to battle and you know, stuff in the newspaper." Motoki replied simply.

"You know who I really think is the bravest?" Mamoru said, intercepting the conversation. Usagi inwardly groaned. "People don't realize, but that Tuxedo Kamen guy has saved the Senshi's butts one too many times."

Motoki nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the guy deserves more credit."

Usagi leaned forward a little, her eyes widening slightly in interest. Now was her chance!

"Do you know Tuxedo Kamen too, Motoki?" Usagi asked, butterflies fluttering once again incessantly.

"I guess you could say that." Motoki replied.

Usagi's heart stopped beating for a few moments. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"How do I say this?" Motoki began to think of how to phrase his next sentence. Usagi saw Mamoru narrow his eyes as the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Motoki continued saying, "He... helps to protect the arcade."

Usagi's eyes widened to the size of saucers. If that wasn't a clue, then I don't know what it was! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!! Motoki is...Tuxedo Kamen! This just confirms everything I've been suspecting! UVIM is stronger than ever!

--

A/N: This chapter took a lot longer to come out than I anticipated, but nonetheless, it's here! Stay tuned, because there will be more action, conflict, and drama, and funny moments to come.