A/N: Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews! I'm very very glad everyone is enjoying the rewrite! :D

Enjoy chapter 3.

I do not own Itazura na Kiss or Sailor Moon.

Chapter 3

"Could you please pass the jam?" Usagi asked politely, a small smile on her lips as she looked up at the opposite side of the table.

Mamoru's gaze, however, did not falter as he continued to read the newspaper. "Too far."

Blinking in confusion, the blonde pointed at the container next to the older at the breakfast table. "But it's right next to you, why can't you pass it over?"

The other didn't respond, and continued to eat his toast, causing Usagi to pout. "Fine." she got up and headed towards the opposite side of the table, grabbing the small bottle and glancing at Mamoru before walking back to her spot.

"What am I supposed to say when everyone asks where I live?" she thought uneasily, biting her lip as she spread jam on her toast, "Mako and Mina would be ecstatic, Ami would probably not care, and Seiya would. . .probably kill someone." the blonde looked up at Mamoru, not taking her eyes off him. "But it's so strange. . .ten days ago, I was sitting in my room, writing a love letter to Chiba Mamoru. And now, I'm sitting at the same breakfast table as him, watching him eat breakfast in his school uniform before school even starts. . .I'm actually sitting here-"

"Oi, dummy!" Shingo yelled from Mamoru's right, glaring at Usagi, "Stop drooling over my brother!"

Before Usagi could respond, a smiling Saori entered the room in a flowery apron, holding up two bags, "Usagi, Mamoru! I packed lunch for both of you!"

"Thanks, Ma."

"Thank you, Auntie!" Usagi got up and hugged the older woman, grinning. "That's very thoughtful of you!"

"Of course, dear!" Saori giggled and leaned forward, a sly smile curved on her lips, "Usagi, this is the first step! You two are to walk to school together!" she whispered.

A faint blush coloured Usagi's cheeks as she blinked, stuttering uncontrollably. "A-Auntie! Are you sure-"

"Mamoru!" Saori called out, running over to her son and placing her hands on his shoulders. "You are to walk to school with Usagi now." she placed her hand on her heart dramatically, "You know how scared I get everytime you walk to school alone; it simply stops my heart!"

"But I walk with him every day-" Shingo tried to interrupt, but Saori simply waved her hand, pushing her younger son towards the door, "Shingo, go to school! You're in fourth grade, you can walk by yourself!"

Grumbling angrily under his breath, the younger boy grabbed his backpack and stomped out of the room, slamming the door on his way. His mother ignored his attitude and kept poking her older son, a grin on her lips. "Come on, Mamoru, walk with Usagi to school and show her the way! Be a gentleman."

Usagi tried to protest, biting her lip. "Auntie, I can walk by myself, I don't want to be a burden-"

"I don't want to walk with her. She'll simply slow me down."

An awkward silence followed as all of Usagi's guilt and feelings of being a burden immediately melted into rage and fury. "Slow him down?!" she thought angrily, steam pouring out of her ears.

"But she's a young girl!" Saori pleaded. "There are scary people out there, and this is her first time out on her own in this neighbourhood, and-"

"She'll probably bore them with her annoying, useless chatter." Mamoru replied lazily.

"'Annoying, useless chatter'?!" Usagi demanded. When the young man didn't look up from his newspaper, the blonde rose from her chair and grabbed her bag. "Fine! Auntie, I hope you have a nice day." she put on her shoes and stomped out the door as well in a manner not unlike that of Shingo's.

Saori sighed. This wasn't going to work if she wanted to bring the two together.

Scraping her feet harshly against the pavement as she growled profanities under her breath, Usagi crossed her arms, her eyes not leaving the sidewalk. Her long, navy blue skirt of her school uniform swished back and forth against her knees along with her long ponytails as she walked. "What a rude person!" she snapped, continuing to walk in no specific direction, "It's not nice to tell a cute girl that she's boring, nonetheless slow or annoying!"

After storming out of the Chiba household, Usagi had been walking by herself on the streets, not bothering to look up and notice that she was now lost. She had simply insulted Mamoru angrily and paced across different areas. Sighing unhappily a few minutes after her departure, the blonde finally looked up and noticed that she was in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, all of her fury dissolving. ". . .crap."

Walking around aimlessly, Usagi's grasp on her bag tightened as she looked around nervously, her gaze catching that of a few frightening men, who were now rubbing their chins, interested grins plastered on their faces. Her heart rate increasing exponentially, the young girl gulped and turned around in an attempt to possibly reach the Chiba's street once more, her feet now half-running.

Trying to walk away as quickly as she could, Usagi let out a small yelp as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she came eye-to-eye with a pair of creepy, cold grey eyes. "Hey, babe. Wanna come to my place?"

Squeaking once more, the blonde laughed nervously and tried to back away from the older man, whose hand was reaching for hers, a smirk on his lips. Noticing the knife in his belt, she immediately started screaming and bolted, running as fast as her legs could carry her. "No, no, no!" she thought desperately as she heard a pair of feet behind her, chasing her at a speed far quicker than her own. "Why did this have to happen?! Why couldn't I take in the insult and why did I risk my own safety?! Please, God, send someone, oh please, oh please, oh-"

Usagi let out a startled scream as she felt someone pull her wrist towards them, and brought up her other arm to try and push the offending party away, shutting her eyes, "Stop! I have pepper spray!" she shrieked, hoping the lie would bring up a scare, and tears started to form in her eyes, "Let me go, you freak, let me-"

"Shut up!" a familiar voice scolded, and Usagi looked up to see Mamoru holding her wrist, pulling her behind him protectively. He glared at the older man who was rushing behind Usagi, now staring at the taller with a bit of horror in his eyes as he halted.

"You do know, sir, that it is illegal to even attempt an assault on an individual of the opposite sex, right?" Mamoru asked coldly, keeping Usagi behind him. "Punishment can range from fifteen years to life in jail."

The man scowled and looked away, yet his lower lip quivered a bit. "I-I wasn't doing anything. The little girl seemed lost, and I was trying to help her." he spoke shakily, his voice giving away the falseness of his claim, and Mamoru shook his head, turning around and pushing Usagi in front of him. "Come on, Usagi."

Nodding quietly, Usagi, for whom this had all happened very quickly, started to follow him. She looked down at her shoes, continuing to walk, but would look up every few moments to take in the scenery and familiarise herself with the area.

After a long, quiet walk, the blonde cleared her throat, quickly wiping away the tears that had formed when Mamoru saved her. "Th-thank you for saving me, Mamoru. If you hadn't come. . ."

The older sighed, a crease between his eyebrows as he adjusted his crimson-coloured tie and navy blue school jacket. "I knew you would get lost. You seem like one of those kind of girls, Odango."

Jerking backwards, Usagi looked up at him in disbelief. She had been expecting a "you're welcome". "W-What?!"

"The word 'odango' means-"

"I know what it means!" she said impatiently, "Growing up with such a hairstyle, I know its definition."

"Well then, that's good, Odango."

"Don't call me that!" she crossed her arms after adjusting the strap of her bag across her shoulder, her lower lip sticking out further. "Anyways, thank you for saving me, so there!"

As the two approached the school gate, Mamoru started to distance himself from Usagi, his eyes averting her direction and walking at a different angle. "Don't talk to me at school," he murmured soft enough only for her to hear, "and don't tell anyone that we're living together."

"What, you think I would?" Usagi half-snapped.

"There's no telling with you, Tsukino." he muttered as his friend Motoki noticed him and started walking towards him, waving cheerfully.

Rolling her eyes, the blonde walked briskly towards the gate, ignoring eye contact.

"You're welcome." Mamoru whispered as she passed him, and her eyes widened as the words swirled themselves around in her mind, making her a bit dizzy.

Catching herself for a few moments, the blonde immediately half-raced to her first class.

"Soooo. . .?" Minako pushed again for what seemed like the tenth time that hour, pushing her chair backwards towards the shorter blonde's desk, staring at her with expectant eyes.

Usagi tried not to bite her lip, knowing that it would definitely show Minako how uncomfortable she would feel if the taller blonde asked to know about where she lived.

Which was exactly what the girl who called herself the "child of love" was looking for.

"So. . .what?" Usagi whispered innocently as she tried to listen to their teacher's lesson.

"Usagi!" Minako half-whined her name in disappointment, slamming her fist onto her desk.

"Aino!" Haruna-sensei, their teacher, barked from the front of the classroom, "Stop chatting with Tsukino and pay attention!"

"Yes, Haruna-sensei." Minako replied glumly, and turned around, shooting a glare at her friend every few minutes.

Sighing softly, Usagi looked out the window, drowning out her teacher's economics lecture and resting her head gently on a propped-up elbow. "Minako is definitely going to ask during lunch, now," she thought, "What am I supposed to tell her? That I just don't know? That Papa and I had reached the house so late at night that I wasn't able to look around or notice anything? What do I do?!"

Usagi's thoughts were interrupted as the lunch bell trilled loudly, waking up a few of the students who had fallen asleep during the lecture. As their teacher sat down and the volume in the classroom steadily rose, Minako turned around, dropping her lunch on Usagi's desk and grinning widely, all of her teeth shining in the dim light glowing from the windows. "Do tell about this new home of yours."

"Yeah, Usagi!" Makoto smiled as she pulled a chair up to the blonde's desk, pushing her thick brown bangs out of her forest green eyes. She set her lunch down on Usagi's desk as well, sitting down beside her. "Tell us!"

"E-Erm, well, we kinda reached the house late at n-night, so-" lied Usagi, but Minako waved dismissively.

"You've always been an awful liar, Tsukino. Cut the bullcrap and tell us!" Minako leaned in, her blue eyes gleaming with interest, whereas Usagi could feel herself growing uncomfortable. "Wait a minute. . ." the taller blonde blinked a few times before letting out a loud shriek, startling everyone in the room as she pointed accusingly at Usagi.

"There's a cute boy where you live, isn't there?!" she screamed.

"N-No!" Usagi gulped, but Minako shook her head.

"Stop lying, or I swear I will push you down against the floor and force the truth out of you!"

"I-I-"

"Don't tell anyone that we're living together."

Mamoru's words repeated themselves over and over in her mind as Minako stared at her wildly, Makoto gently requesting that she "stop standing on my feet, let Usagi speak on her own, and please stop screaming, as people from a few classrooms over can hear". Minako, however, would not listen and simply grabbed Usagi by the shoulders.

"Usagi-"

"No, there's no boys!"

The shouting blonde finally stopped, her eyes squinting in an attempt to read Usagi's expression, as if to see whether there was truth or lies spread across it. Usagi flinched slightly, but remained unwavering under Minako's glare. Although she really wanted to tell her best friends about living under the same roof as Chiba Mamoru, she couldn't bring herself to speak. Even though the young man had seemed to make it clear to her that there would be no way, absolutely no way that he would end up returning her feelings, she felt as if his opinion of her mattered, as if, even though he had rejected her, all hell would break loose if she had let it slip that they lived only down the hall from each other.

Minako released Usagi and slumped back in her seat gloomily, slowly taking out her lunch and taking tiny bites of it, a slight pout apparent on her face.

Laughing softly, Makoto poked the shorter blonde. "So, how is living in the new house?"

"It's actually quite nice!" said Usagi, opening her lunch pack to reveal a note from Saori and a tin containing, she discovered later, her favourite kind of curry along with two fruit sandwiches. Quickly stuffing the note aside in case it had any mention of Mamoru, the blonde grinned and started eating her curry. "He lives in the rich neighbourhood of Juuban, so his house is really big. He and his wife are very kind people, and treat me as if I were their own daughter. Auntie Saori even decorated a room for me."

"What's their last name, Usagi?" Minako asked, now munching on a sweet bun. "Was it 'Ba', as you claimed yesterday?"

"Yes, it is," she lied, swallowing a bite of a fruit sandwich, "They don't have children that I know of."

A loud shriek suddenly vibrated throughout the entire classroom, this time the source being someone other than Minako. All of the Class F students looked up at the front, where Haruna-sensei was now clutching her chest as she her brown eyes looked down at her desk wildly. Makoto got up and ran over, concerned.

"Haruna-sensei, what's-"

"They want to fire me?!"

A collective gasp followed as their teacher held up a thick maize-coloured envelope, which Makoto took up and pulled out a letter, her eyes scanning the contents. "'Haruna Sakurada'. . .'we are unhappy to announce'. . .'this is due to the unsatisfactory teaching in Class 12-F'?!" the brunette looked up, her expression upset, "So the school board thinks we're all stupid?!"

"Well, we are the 'hit rock bottom class', Mako," sighed Minako, "I mean, what did you expect?"

Usagi, however, could feel anger starting to boil within her, her teeth gritting against each other.

"I don't like stupid girls."

The words stabbing her again, she immediately stood up, her chair falling back and crashing into the desk behind her, her fists slammed upon her desk. Everyone now turned to look at her, expressions shocked.

"We're not stupid!" growled Usagi, her fists shaking.

"T-Tsukino," Haruna-sensei began, "it's because they think the grades and way of teaching-"

"Well they're wrong!" roared the usually-bubbly blonde, and everyone flinched, not used to this scary side of Usagi. "I promise to get on the Top 100 list for the next midterm, and show them that Class 12-F is not to be messed with!"

"This was a bad, bad idea," groaned Usagi as she leaned forward, hitting her head against her desk, "Tsukino, why did you do this to yourself?"

The young girl was currently sitting in her room, staring at all the sheets of homework from that semester, knowing that going over study material would help her study.

However, all of it was all blank, which was bad news for the blonde, as that meant relearning everything for every single subject in three weeks, which was when the midterm exams would begin.

Usagi couldn't bring herself to blame Haruna-sensei, though; she would teach and give lectures and homework, it was just that, due to the procrastination and lack of motivation to work by the students, no one in Usagi's class would actually pay attention in class or work on the homework given out.

Which would explain why all the students in Class F, especially those in the twelfth grade, were looked down upon by the rest of the students at Juuban High.

Sighing, Usagi ran a hand through a ponytail. She had been on the first page of her math textbook, reading the same math question ("VECTORS: Describe how to translate a polar equation into a rectangular equation, and how to translate a rectangular equation into a polar equation.") ever since she reached home three hours ago, and was on the verge of giving up. Anyways, she didn't have a snack when she arrived, and was starting to feel rather. . .tired. . .

A soft, rhythmic knock woke Usagi from her half-trance, and she fluttered her eyes sleepily. "Yes?"

Saori entered the room, holding a tray with a bowl of soup, a sweet bun, and a cup of tea, her concerned expression turning into sheer happiness as she looked at Usagi. "How are you, dear?" she asked, shutting the door behind her, "Still studying?"

"Mm," the blonde nodded sleepily as she rose up from her previous position. "Thank you for bringing food, Auntie."

"Oh, it's nothing at all!" the brunette beamed, and sat on the bed. "Mamoru and Shingo never need to stay up late to study, so I've never had the opportunity to offer help. It's quite tiring."

"Mamoru never has to study for anything?!" Usagi asked, eyes wide in disbelief as she sat next to the older woman and took a sip of her tea. Here she was, sitting in her room, on the same page for hours, whereas the genius across the hall was probably sleeping.

"Yes, it's rather sad, isn't it?" Saori asked, running her hands through her own strands of ebony-black hair, her turquoise eyes concerned. "I always feel as if it will backfire on him, though. Mamoru seems to always have a feeling of superiority over all his classmates because of his marks, which can make people dislike him. I, unlike Kobayashi, don't care what Mamoru's grades or academic success is; I just want him to be happy in his future. Yet. . ." she sighed, ". .he seems to think that I'm just interfering in his life, when I'm only trying to help him."

Smiling at the woman's words, Usagi gently patted Saori on the back. "I think you're a great mother, Auntie."

Saori in turn, grinned, and laughed softly, her voice tinkling. "Usagi, would you like to take a break?"

"I'd love to, but-"

"Alright then, wait here! I'll be right back!"

The now-ecstatic woman ran out of the room, leaving a confused Usagi behind, sitting on her bed. A few moments later, Saori bounced into the room, her apron and dark hair flying as she closed the door and fell next to Usagi. In her arms was a silver-coloured book, the words "My Daughter, Chiba Akiko" printed on the front in a sparkly blue. "I want you to look at this." she stated, pushing the book into her hands.

Taking the book, Usagi pulled back the front cover and felt a smile take over her lips. Below, clipped into the pages, were glossy photos of a small girl with short, wavy black hair smiling and waving at the camera at a carnival, in the arms of Kobayashi, or in a field of flowers. "She's beautiful, Auntie." Usagi said, gently laughing at a picture of the girl picking at her bright blue kimono, a look of puzzled innocence on her face as she looked at the camera with confused sapphire eyes. "Who is she?"

"My dear, that is Mamoru."

A long silence followed before the blonde's bright blue eyes widened in shock, staring at Saori. "M-Mamoru?! As in, your son Mamoru?!"

Smiling sadly, the dark-haired woman turned to the next page, still looking at the pictures. "When I was pregnant, I was positive that I would have a daughter, so I bought and stitched lots of girl clothing. I even bought this scrapbook," Saori exhaled and turned another page, where pictures of a seemingly 3-year old Mamoru beaming in skirts were pasted. "It was a huge shock for me when Mamoru was born, but I didn't want to get rid of the clothes, so I put them to use." the woman laughed and winked at Usagi, who was now sliding out a picture of Mamoru, around 5, with shoulder-length wavy hair, in a sapphire dress with blue lilies in his hair.

"But I feel like that's why he's so stubborn now." Saori laughed softly again. "He's so stubborn he won't let anyone get near him, or be close to anyone, like teenagers your age, Usagi." the woman started to run her hands through the blonde's ponytails, smiling affectionately. "Anyways, I thought that'd be a nice treat for you!"

Pulling the photograph out completely, Usagi now grinned at Saori. "Thank you very much for showing it to me, Auntie." she glanced down at the photo and then looked up again. "Is it alright if I borrow this?"

"'In order to convert from degrees to radians, one must multiply the angle with pi and then divide by 180'," Usagi recited before quickly peeking at her textbook and looking up, murmuring to herself once again, "and then. . .'to convert from radians to degrees, one must'-"

"Usagi, honestly, you're scaring us!" Minako pouted, gently shaking her friend's shoulders.

"Yeah, really." Makoto huffed as she sat down in her seat across the two blondes, raising an eyebrow. "Even Ami thinks you're crazy to try and get on the Top 100 list."

"Well that's because Ami is in perfect Class A, and she always makes somewhere in the first ten slots." Usagi replied, still not turning to look at them. "I really want to do this!"

"Usagi," Minako bit her lip, tugging on the crimson bow in her long hair, "You know that getting on the list won't get you any closer to Chiba, right?"

"Mina, I'm not-"

"Tsukino."

Twenty-four heads turned to stare at the doorway, where Mamoru was standing, arms crossed and glare directly pointed in Usagi's direction. It felt as if his eyes were piercing her, and she felt her heart starting to quicken.

"Yes?" she asked weakly.

"Will you please take your bag and come with me to the courtyard?"

Minako let out a squeal and Makoto started elbowing Usagi encouragingly, but the blonde was sure that his voice was polite just to put up a pleasant façade and to not arise suspicions from all of her classmates.

Slowly standing up, Usagi nodded and started to head over to the front door, following Mamoru out. She could hear her classmates murmuring among themselves, and she could even could pick up Makoto whispering to Mina, "It's too bad Seiya is sick today".

Walking out into the green, tree-filled side of the school, Usagi looked up as Mamoru was now rummaging through his bag, pulling out a familiar pink lunch bag, holding it out to her. "I think Ma switched our lunches."

Usagi looked down and pulled a dark blue bag out of her own, and blinked in confusion. "Oh."

After switching each other's bags, the taller crossed his arms, adjusting the strap of his bag. "I can't believe this. You've been staying at our house for only two days, and I can't even go to school without having something like our lunches being mixed up happen."

Annoyed at his behaviour, Usagi reached into a pocket in her bag, a rectangle poking her fingers. "Mm, you might even get my school uniform mixed up with yours, or wear one of my barettes, or even accidentally sleep in my room!"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Pulling out the photo, Usagi grinned, winking at him. "Well, you were a rather feminine child, weren't you, Mamoru?"

Mamoru's usually calm and cold eyes had immediately become surprised and shocked as his jaw dropped, making Usagi giggle. "How the hell did you get that?!" he demanded, pointing a shaky yet accusing finger at her.

"Your mother gave it to me!" she sang, swaying from side to side, "And I've seen all the other photos, too!"

"You little- give that back!"

"No way!"

Usagi began to run away, keeping the photo close to her, but Mamoru had quickly caught up to her and had grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "Tsukino Usagi, give it back right now!"

"Noooo!" she giggled, still keeping it close to her chest, noticing that his tie had become undone from chasing her.

"I swear-"

"It's not nice to swear, Mamoru. People can hear you." she grinned, clearly enjoying Mamoru's misery, and started smoothing out the wrinkles in her navy blue skirt. "Nonetheless, I will give it back to you, don't worry, on one condition."

"What's that?" Mamoru asked, straightening his tie.

"Tutor me for the midterms so I can get on the Top 100 list! You're always #1, so you can help me, right?"

The older blinked a few times before looking away, crossing his arms. "No way. It's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible, Chiba!" Usagi growled, upset by his lack of cooperation.

"Well, this is."

"Fine." Usagi turned away, starting to walk away, "Then I'll just have to email this picture to everyone at school, maybe show them who the so-called genius really is-"

"Okay, okay!" Mamoru grabbed Usagi by the arm again, and her lips burst into a satisfied smile. "I'll tutor you, but it won't be my fault if you don't get in, Odango. The list is usually taken up by Class A or B students, so don't come crying to me if you don't get in."

"Hmph, what a meanie!" Usagi muttered as she stomped away, but part of her leaped with joy as the obvious fact kept rolling over and over in her mind: Chiba Mamoru was going to privately tutor her.

"I'll show them!" she grinned triumphantly. "I'll show them all! Tsukino Usagi is not to be messed with!"

A/N: Woot, end of the new chapter! Next, we'll see Mamoru tutoring Usagi and all sorts of awesome stuff like that. New chapter should be out in a week or two. (:

Review please, my lovelies!