Chapter Two:

We'll Always Have the Supermakret

Motoki came in just moments after Usagi left, and looked at Mamoru with an amused expression. "You look tired."

"And to think you are majoring in premed instead of out solving crimes," Mamoru mumbled into his coffee mug and Motoki sighed.

"It's too early for your sarcasm."

"It's never too early for sarcasm."

Motoki rolled his eyes pulled out trash bag. "Are you gonna help clean up or just stand there watching?"

"I wasn't the one who threw the party," he countered, even as he grabbed another trash bag and started sweeping debris from the countertop with his hand.

Motoki laughed a little, "You never are." He shook the bag down and started piling dishes in the sink. "How's your 'girlfriend'?" he asked with a smirk and Mamoru shrugged.

"I lost track of her after Unazuki left."

His roommate stood and eyed him for a moment before saying, "Lost track of her? C'mon, Chiba, your bedroom's not that big."

So I guess Motoki did notice where we disappeared to, Mamoru thought. At the time, he hadn't given a second thought to being obvious - too distracted by the indescribable need to get that girl in his arms, and now.

Mamoru gave his roommate a look that gave a very clear message he didn't want to talk about it, but it didn't stop Motoki. Mamoru's 'leave me alone' looks never did work on Motoki, that's why they were friends in the first place.

Instead, Motoki just laughed a little. "It's fine, dude, glad to know you are, ya know, human like the rest of us. Usagi was extremely cute. Pretty hair. Legs for days. You could've done a lot worse."

"Does Reika know you talk about other girls like that?" he snapped and, infuriatingly, Motoki's response to laugh yet again.

In the light of day, Mamoru could see there were things he should have done differently last night. But he couldn't conceive of the night ending in any other way than kissing Usagi. Looking back, it'd seemed inevitable from the start. She'd caught his eye at the beginning of the night, and he was unable to stop himself from teasing her - just to see what would happen - and if her expressive eyes and miles of hair and gorgeous legs had something to do with playing along with her game, well. Motoki had said it, he was only human.

Last night was the first time Motoki had a party that Mamoru had actually enjoyed. Because, along with everything else she was, damn was Usagi... funny. Fun.

"So turned on by girls who pretend to date you," she laughed, raising an eyebrow in a way he knew was mimicking him. Her little hands pressed against his shoulders, pushing him back enough so she could look at him and it'd already been too long since he'd last kissed her but, oh, she was charming. Dangerously so. But it didn't matter. All that mattered was how she felt in his arms -all hair and breathless giggles -and that he was utterly lost already.

They ended up kissing and talking, sharing secrets in the twilight between night and morning, and he'd never been able to stop touching her, to be more than a few inches away. The pull was indescribable, but as real as the books he brought out for her, as real as her fingers with his, trailing on the page. As real as her knees against his ribs as they curled in his bed, when she'd whispered, "Now, it's your turn. Tell me something true."

For a while there was companionable silence as the boys worked together to clean up, every so often Motoki would speak up with something he'd learned last night about a mutual friend, or some observation he'd made about the guests. Mamoru mostly tuned him out until he moved on to Usagi.

"Anyway, turns out one of the girls at Reika's place went to high school with Usagi. She remembered her, really well-liked, she said, nice kid," Motoki chatted as he cleaned, "Serial dater, I guess. She'd go out with anyone who confessed to her but it never lasted long. 'Course, maybe she's grown up a bit now. Can't judge anyone on how they were in high school. Oh gosh, can you imagine? Remember when Unazuki when through her emo phase?" and Motoki was off and running again.

Mamoru got himself a third cup of coffee. This was going to be a long day.

Usagi was lounging on the sofa in the living area of her dorm when the door opened and Minako burst through, leading Ami along with Rei and Makoto. After her friends settled in (with greetings and hugs) Minako reached over for the remote and turned off the television.

"Hey! I was watching that!" Usagi said and her friend just gave her a gorgeous, white-toothed smile.

"TV time is over," Minako said, "because I just got to tell the best story to everyone on the way here."

Usagi narrowed her eyes a little, "Have I heard it?"

"You star in it!"

"Oh good," Usagi sighed, falling back on the sofa and putting a pillow over her head - which was immediately snatched away by Rei.

"I still can't believe you hooked up with Ami's tutor," she said.

Ami visibly bristled at the implication she'd ever need a tutor for anything. "He's not my tutor, he moderates a study group of which I am a part."

"Anyway, that's not the important part," Makoto said, with a grin. She sat down beside Usagi and wrapped her in a tight side hug. "The important part is - give us all the details!"

Usagi sighed. "He asked me how I knew the person giving the party and instead of saying, uh, 'I don't?' I decided to lie and say I was dating the party host's roommate."

"Why would you do that?" Ami asked and in response the other girl just shrugged.

His eyes were really blue and it super distracted me. "I dunno?"

"Wait- but he lives there?" Minako said, eyes shifting to the side as she put two and two together. "Wait. Wait. Are you telling us, you literally lied to this guy that you were dating him?"

Usagi waited until the laughter around her settled a little. Makoto kept her arm around Usagi, comfortingly, even as she giggled. "Only you, Usagi. Only you."

"Anyway, he played along for some reason and... we kinda teased his friends and stuff and... I just decided to crash there," she mumbled, knowing her blush was giving her away. "Nothing happened," she added, "Not that it's any of your business."

"You know she never kisses and tells," Rei said. "Even in high school, with all those boyfriends."

"With all my dozens of failed relationships," Usagi said, with a saccharine smile. "Thanks for the reminder."

"Dozens is an overstatement," Ami said, gently. "And, anyway, this isn't a 'relationship'. It was just a hook up, so no big deal."

Minako looked at Ami curiously. "You seem sure."

Ami seemed a bit flustered to suddenly be the center of attention. "Chiba doesn't date," Ami said, awkwardly. "I mean, I don't know a lot about him, but he's a bit of a figure in the science department. So... you know... rumors..." her voice had quieted so much all the girls were leaning forward to hear.

Rei's eyes flashed, "What rumors? Is this guy some kind of man whore?" She looked as if she was about to hunt him down and teach him a lesson for daring to treat Usagi like a notch on his belt.

Quickly, Ami shook her head. "No, no... the opposite actually. He's just this kinda private, closed-off guy." She cleared her throat. "That's why I was so amused to see him this morning... I guess he's human after all." She gave a little laugh. "Anyway, no one's really seen him with a romantic partner before, at events or out or anything."

"His friends said similar stuff last night," Usagi mused, not realizing her brows were knitting.

'Mamoru does take a lot of classes. Honestly, I'm surprised he even knows how to act on a date,' he'd said, before Usagi even knew he was talking about himself.

Makoto looked at Usagi with a kind expression. "You okay, girlie?"

In response, she just shrugged. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She stood up, stretched. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

To her surprise, Ami followed her into the bedroom, full of apologies. "Usagi, I didn't mean to say he wouldn't... I mean, I don't know what happened between you and him, so I d-"

Usagi just lifted her hand and laughed a little, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Ami, it's fine. I'm really am just tired."

Her friend sighed. "Look, at least come with me to my physics study group this week," she said and Usagi recoiled in horror.

"Why would I do that?" she gasped, and Ami gave her an 'are you serious?' look.

"Because Chiba moderates?" Ami said, slowly, as if she was talking to a small child. Usagi blinked a few times before realization dawned on her.

"Oh. Right."

"You don't have to sit through the whole thing, just come at the end. That way, you can talk to him, right? You can say you were coming to take me out for Froyo, if you want an excuse."

Usagi was quiet for a bit, then she nodded. "Okay," she said. "Thanks, Ami." Her friend took her hand and squeezed it for a second, before turning for the door.

"Hey, Ami?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we really do Froyo, though?"

Ami looked at the door to the classroom and sighed. The study session was already wrapping up, people were gathering their things and chatting softly among themselves about the material, and Usagi was nowhere to be found.

'She'd be late to her own funeral,' Ami thought, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

Mamoru skimmed his notes without really seeing them, before slowly packing up his shoulder bag as the students filed from the room. He had a class to get to, and then a second study session, and he really needed to put some time into his research lab. But he delayed his movements anyway.

There had been an awkwardish moment when he'd come in and met Ami's eyes, nodding slightly and looking away quickly - but now he was considering calling her over, only she got there first.

"Listen," she said, even before he could open his mouth to speak, "I'm not going to get into your private business or anything, but Usagi has been my friend since middle school-" at his surprised blink she shrugged and explained, "once you are Usagi's friend, you are her friend forever." She took a breath and continued, "Anyway, I just think you should talk to her. After what happened, you can't just walk away without a word."

"That wasn't my intention," he said, looking flustered. He met her eyes and Ami couldn't help thinking he looked very young at that moment, like a kid in high school asking after a crush. "Has she mentioned me?"

Ami gave him a look that, she hoped anyway, clearly conveyed that she was far above playing cupid - when Usagi finally appeared in the doorway and caught her eye. Well, I guess not that far above playing cupid, Ami admitted to herself. After all, she had asked Usagi to come.

Usagi looked around the classroom warily, as if she thought a mathematical formula would come out of the wall and bite her. "Um," she smiled sheepishly and waved her fingers. "Hi?"

"Hey, my former girlfriend," Mamoru said, with a smirk Ami had never seen before. Usagi wrinkled her nose in response.

"Former? Did I miss our break-up? Was it dramatic? Did I throw a drink in your face?"

"And some punches," he said.

"I'm sure you had it coming," she quipped, putting her hands on her hips.

"At least we'll always have the supermarket."

Ami marveled at how quickly it was like she wasn't standing right there - they only had eyes for each other, and the energy around them was so intense she had to take a step back. She hovered in the doorway, giving them some privacy while they talked.

Mamoru was trying to find his footing in the conversation, as easy as it was to throw one-liners, he had to admit he was almost mesmerized - again- by those sparkling eyes and the way her fingers curled at her sides, the strands of hair skimming along her ears. God, he wanted to kiss her again. Or maybe just hold her hand and listen to her voice as she read from his book of poetry.

"I don't know if I like this one," Her fingers trailed down the lines on the page. "It's too sad." Her head leaned against his shoulder and he put his hand on her back, pulling her closer. "I want one where she doesn't die in the end," she said.

"Then you won't have much luck with Poe," he'd answered, and flipped some pages. "These are all in translation - what about Japanese poems?"

"Read me yours," she whispered and he shook his head, even as she begged. "One you wrote."

"I regret mentioning it," he muttered and she'd giggled, fingers tickling along his neck, lips at his ear.

"Write a poem about me," she said and he'd kissed her instead, his hand winding around the back of her head, twining through her hair.

"You are a poem," he'd said into her mouth and she'd laughed again, against his lips, her knee brushing up against his thigh.

"Cheesy."

He shook himself. In the light of day, it felt so strange to be that close to someone, so soon. Something about that night had him in some sort of trance, or something he couldn't explain. How he'd felt like he'd known her forever, and yet everything was so explicitly new and unexpected.

"We were going to get some frozen yogurt, did you want to come?" Usagi asked.

"I can't," he shifted his bag on his shoulder. "I have a class and then-."

"Right," she interrupted, biting her lip for a moment. "Always busy, like you said at the party." She sighed. "I guess... you don't really have time for anything... like dating or whatever." Smooth! Usagi congratulated herself sarcastically. "Because you already told me you. Don't."

He swallowed, his throat like sandpaper all of a sudden. "I'd like to be your friend," the words came out faster than he expected, but the relief that followed almost drained him. At least, he assumed that deflating feeling in his chest was relief. After all, Ami had said it herself, once you are Usagi's friend, you are her friend forever. From what Motoki told him, the boys she'd dated weren't so lucky. Logically, this was a much better option. 'Coward,' a voice whispered in his head.

"Sure, yeah," she said quickly. Without realizing it, she took a step backwards, away from him. "That makes sense. I'd really like that." Her smile was sincere. "I'm always up for making new friends."

"Come by the house this weekend," Mamoru said, and Usagi nodded.

Mamoru left in a hurry to get to his class, but he gave one last awkward wave and smile as he left. Ami stepped forward, stopped by Usagi's side as she lowered her arm.

"You okay?" Ami asked, searching Usagi's eyes.

"Tell me something true," she'd said and he'd sighed against her shoulder.

"You first."

Usagi blinked. Smiled. "I'm fine," she said.

"Ah! She wins again!" Motoki laughed, throwing up his hands in surrender.

Usagi put down her controller and preened a bit from her spot on the floor. Leaning back against Mamoru's legs, she grinned up at him. "Hey, look at that, I'm good at something you suck at."

"Yeah, too bad you can't major in video games."

"Oooh shots fired!" Unazuki said.

"Whatever, Mamo-chan," Usagi said, "Let me know if you need me to tutor you sometime."

"You don't practice, enough, that's what it is," Reika chimed in from where she was perched next to Motoki. "Drop a class or two, really put some time in. Then maybe you can finally win against Usagi."

Although it'd only been a few weeks since she'd started regularly coming by the house, Reika and the Furuhata siblings had already welcomed her with open arms. She and Mamoru had to stand a few pointed barbs at their embarrassing party theatrics the night they met, but pretty soon it all faded into good-natured teasing. And if the others ever noticed the many charged moments between her and Mamoru - well, they were too polite to comment. At least to her. Mamoru continued to call her Usako, so Usagi kept 'Mamo-chan' - at first because it amused the others but now it sort of stuck.

"Ugh, speaking of classes I have some homework I need to do..." Usagi trailed off, eyeing her book bag with undisguised dislike.

"Maybe I can help you," Mamoru suggested. Sharing a pointed look, Motoki and Reika headed off, pulling Unazuki behind them as Usagi pulled her book out of her bag.

"What is it?" Mamoru slid down next to her on the floor, and she opened her book and frowned. "Shakespeare again?"

"Soseki's Kusamakura," she mumbled. "But it's hard to read."

"The kanji is kind of archaic," Mamoru said, "Does your copy have a glossary or...?" He moved closer to her and she showed him the words she'd circled. With a pencil, he started to gloss some of the harder terms in tiny, neat letters. Usagi leaned forward, watching him carefully.

"Thanks," she murmured, and suddenly Mamoru realized just how close she was, and how alone they were - for the first time since they'd met. He felt so drawn to her, still, just like the night they met. Staying in large groups and keeping their interactions light and teasing hadn't really worked to curb his feelings. No matter what, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her.

Mamoru forced his eyes back to the text, but she'd leaned in closer to the page and the nearness of her skin was too overpowering to be ignored. He only had to turn his head the slightest bit to brush his lips against her cheek - where the wisps of hair fell in front of her ear. Usagi inhaled quickly, eyes widening.

"I'm sorry-" he started, but she just shifted to face him, lifting her fingertips to brush the hair at the nape of his neck. He met her eyes for a moment, her gaze was steady and intense and then her eyelids fluttered shut and he kissed her - slowly, deliberately. He put a hand on her waist, shifting her over him, so her knees rested on the carpet on either side of his legs. She straightened her back and he leaned his head against the cushions of the sofa, mouth open under hers, her fingertips sending currents of electricity along his ears and neck.

Usagi was aware of her surroundings enough to realize that the living room of a shared house was probably not the most ideal location for what they were doing, and also that this wasn't really going to help her get through her literature homework. Neither thought bothered her much, especially as his kisses seemed to build in intensity, turning her thought process to mush.

It was only when he pulled away enough to sigh softly that something in her seemed to break, and she pushed away hurriedly, climbing off him as best she could without kneeing him in the stomach.

"I gotta go," she mumbled, grabbing her book and standing up. She straightened her skirt and shrugged her bag over her shoulder. She met Mamoru's gaze and smiled warmly until the worried look faded from his eyes. "Thanks for your help," she added, as an afterthought. He stood, but she hurried to the door before he could walk her out.

"Minako!" Usagi burst into their dorm, slamming the door against the wall with a loud bang that made Minako and Ami jump from where they were cuddled on the sofa, watching a movie.

"The hell happened to you?" Minako asked, concern coloring her voice as she noticed the tears coursing down her friend's face.

"I'll make some tea," Ami jumped up and headed toward the kitchen area, keeping an ear out as Usagi tearfully poured her heart out between sobs.

"I can't do this, Minako," she said, finally, scrubbing her hand over her eyes, "I thought I could, but I can't. I think I'm in love with him."

"So...," Minako was saying as Ami returned and handed Usagi a warm mug. "You just ran outta there without a word?"

Sniffling, Usagi nodded.

Minako sighed. "A-plus handling of the situation."

"I know," Usagi groaned, shutting her eyes. "But I didn't know what else to do. How can I be around him if I want him so badly and he just wants to be friends?"

"Usagi, if the man just wants to be friends, he needs to stop sticking his tongue down your throat, you know what I mean?"

"Minako!" Ami said. Then she paused, turned toward Usagi. "Actually, she has a point."

"You need to make boundaries," Minako said, firmly. "Tell him friends means 'friends'. You have to protect your heart first."

A fresh batch of tears threatened to fall, and Ami reached out and curled her arm around Usagi. "Usagi? Why don't do you just talk to him? He seems to really like you. Maybe he just needs to know you feel the same way?"

"Now it's your turn. Tell me something true."

He didn't loosen his grip on her, his head on her shoulder. He seemed to think for a while. "I lost my parents when I was little, and I don't remember them at all." His voice was matter-of-fact, but so quiet she had to strain to hear him even in the silence of the room.

She'd shifted, pulling back to try to see his face. "What?" she'd whispered, and he shrugged as best he could from his position curled on the bed.

"I was six, we were in a car accident. I don't remember anything at all prior to that. I have pictures of them but... they might as well be strangers' faces."

"But then... you were just a kid. Who raised you?" she said, a her hand fumbling forward until it found his cheek. She felt the movement as his lips pulled back in a humorless smile.

"Children's homes, boarding school. Television. Books."

She didn't move her hand, and he put his on top of hers.

"So you were alone?" her voice hitched and this time he really did let out a short breath of laughter.

"Don't cry, odango atama, it was a long time ago."

"Still," Usagi said, sniffling. He pulled her into his arms and changed the subject.

But Usagi hadn't been able to stop thinking about it for a long time. I can't imagine being alone like that. Usagi always needed to be surrounded by people - family, friends - to be happy. Even the thought of being left alone scared her so much she wanted to cry.

Maybe it scared him, too.

"Hey, Mamoru? Watcha doing?" Unazuki came into his room, without knocking, making Mamoru jump slightly and look up with a half-glare before returning to his homework.

"Baking a pie," he muttered, lifting his pencil and jotting a formula down in his notebook.

The redhead laughed, "Okay, well, save me some," she said, refusing to take the hint.

He sighed as she pulled up a chair and sat it in backwards, resting her chin on her arms.

"Mamoru."

"What?"

"Did you always picture yourself alone forever or what?"

Mamoru gave her an exasperated look. "No," he said, flatly. Then made a big show of returning to his work. Unazuki, once again, refused to take the hint.

"Cuz you've got the perfect girl, like, right in front of you and it's been weeks and honestly." She raised her hands in frustration. "You are so textbook."

"Unazuki, I have asked you repeatedly not to refer to me as 'textbook'," he said, not looking up. "Psych majors," he muttered under his breath.

"Okay, Chiba, well, how about this: You never imagined yourself alone forever, but you did figure you'd eventually meet and marry some perfect, poised woman you'd certainly like but not necessarily love, and all the pieces would fall together so you'd have this picture-perfect life but without any of those scary feelings or attachments that you only read about in poetry anthologies."

Unazuki sat up straighter, spreading her hands in a frame, "Then comes along this girl who is nothing - NOTHING- like you imagined. And you fall in love faster and deeper than you ever thought possible, but you don't make it official with her because you need to keep a clear exit in case you need to cut and run since this isn't how it was 'supposed' to go and what if she leaves you too, right? Right?"

Mamoru sighed, put down his pencil and leveled his de facto sister with a glare that might make someone who hadn't grown up with him shrink away in fear. "It's not like that."

"Coulda fooled me," Unazuki shrugged. "Thing is... are you fooling her, too?"

He closed his book and stood up. "Later, Unazuki," he said, as he left his own room, leaving Unazuki sitting alone with a defeated sigh.

Ami darted across campus in an uncharacteristic fashion, not caring that she nearly knocked over students as she ran full-tilt for her friends' dorm. She got there just as Usagi was leaving for class, almost colliding with her as she opened the door.

"Usagi," Ami said, grabbing her hands. "Did you talk to Chiba yet?"

She shook her head. "No, I haven't seen him. Ami, are you okay?" Concerned, she pulled her friend inside, letting her catch her breath.

"I came to tell you - I was wrong. I gave bad advice, I'm really sorry. Minako was right: set boundaries, don't let him hurt you. Maybe just avoid him for a while until you get yourself sorted." Ami looked right at Usagi, "Protect your heart first."

"Ami, what's going on?"

Usagi felt fear curl in her stomach at the sympathetic expression in her friend's eyes.

"There's a gala this weekend to celebrate the opening of that new wing in the chemistry building, to honor the alum who donated all that money. All the physical science grad students are invited, which isn't too unusual. But the undergrads are total gossips and it's been all around the department twice that Mamoru Chiba's actually bringing a date. She's one of the top engineering grad students who also modeled in France or something." Ami rolled her eyes, giving a half shrug. "Bunch of gossips that I usually ignore, but I wanted to let you know before-"

"Before I made an idiot of myself, yeah," Usagi said, lowering her eyes. She felt blindsided, with no idea how to take this news. "Thanks, I guess... I mean, thank you. For real." She curled her arms around her stomach as if protecting herself from a physical blow. "I- have class."

"I'll walk you," Ami said. She closed and locked the door behind them, and walked with her arm tightly around her friend.