UsaMamo: 100 Examples of Everyday Love

theme #7: Things Left Unsaid

by a quirky little tune

disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon in any way, shape, or form.


Tsukino Usagi stomped down the street, her fists clenched and her eyes steely.

Despite her current horrible mood, this particular Saturday had actually started out really well. She had woken up relatively early, gotten to eat her mother's delicious homemade waffles, and even managed to finish one of her worksheets for school before her attention span copped out. Best of all, her father had been extremely distracted with the newspaper while he'd handed Usagi her weekly allowance; she had been able to rush out the house before he realized he had given her a 5,000 yen bill rather than a 1,000 yen bill.

She thought nothing would be able to spoil this magical kind of day…

She really should have known better.

All of those good feelings had ended as soon as she walked into the arcade and seen her arch nemesis hogging the crane game. Motoki had refilled the container with the latest toys the day before, and Usagi had been dreaming about winning the new bunny plush inside. She did her best to be patient, but after Mamoru's third consecutive failure, she tried to fight for her turn at the machine. The bickering that ensued somehow turned into a real argument, the kind where they fought viciously in circles over nothing.

It ended with Usagi running home in tears.

Luckily, her father had left to run some errands, and her brother was out playing soccer with his friends. Shingo probably would have snorted and laughed at Mamoru's insults, while her father would have thirsted for the upperclassman's blood.

Instead, she received the comfort of her mother, who listened to her rant about that horrid Mamoru-baka for nearly half an hour, and had only this to say:

"Usagi-chan, this boy should not be allowed to ruin your good mood just because he's feeling miserable himself. You need to speak your mind! Don't insult him back, that just means you're playing into his game. The next time you see him, you need to keep calm and tell him seriously that you don't appreciate his attempts to bring you down – that you want him to leave you alone from now on. And if that doesn't do the trick, you just let Mama know. I'll take care of him with my trusty spatula!"

Her words made Usagi realize something, something very important. Chiba Mamoru was not a bad man. He was irritating, conceited, cold, and insensitive – but at his core, she knew he was not evil, no matter how much she might insist otherwise to her friends. If she told him seriously to leave her alone, somehow she knew he would respect her wishes.

This meant that she alone had the power to stop his daily insults about her hair and her voice and her crush on Motoki-nii-san and her bad grades. With a little bit of strength, she could finally enjoy her visits to the arcade with her friends without having to worry if he would ruin her day.

Feeling invigorated, Usagi had splashed some cool water on her sore eyes and composed herself in front of the bathroom mirror. Then she took off for the arcade, ready to give that jerk a real piece of her mind. It was time to end things, once and for all!

You're rude and inconsiderate, she would start out. She wouldn't whine or screech this time; she needed him to take her seriously so he got all of this through his thick skull. All you do is put people down, and I'm sick of being your punching bag.

You can't go through life treating people like garbage, otherwise you'll end up all alone! The idea of anyone ending up truly alone made her heart wince. In a strange way, she realized that she might even been helping Mamoru with this little speech. These were things he surely needed to hear!

She was about three blocks away from the arcade, her courage still burning bright, when the sight of Mamoru down at the other side of the street stopped her cold. In one hand, he held a single yellow flower of some sort, and in the other, the hand of a sniffling little girl. She couldn't have been more than five or six at the oldest.

Her inner fire temporarily gone, Usagi squeaked at Mamoru's sudden appearance and hid behind a telephone pole, hoping he would stop walking before he reached her. All of the things she had been dying to tell him vanished in the face of her overwhelming curiosity.

Mamoru and the little girl stopped a few feet away. With the hand holding the flower, he gestured to a bright blue house across the street. "Is that the blue house you were talking about, Aya-chan? The one you saw before you got lost?"

The little girl, Aya, nodded shyly. "Mommy and I were walking here earlier! I 'member seeing this house, 'cause I wanted to stay and look at it, but Mommy kept saying she was already late, and then we got into an argument and I ran off." Aya frowned at the ground, new tears coming to her eyes. "But then I got lost and couldn't find Mommy again. Chiba-san, I didn't mean all the bad things I said to her. Did she go away on purpose so I wouldn't find her again?"

Much to Usagi's surprise, Mamoru did not stutter or freeze in front of the sobbing little girl. Without even hesitating, he ducked down to kneel before Aya, looking her straight in the eyes. "Aya-chan, your Mommy loves you very much. The reason you had trouble finding her is because she's looking everywhere for you – even as we speak, she's trying desperately to get you back. That's why I thought we should wait for her here, because she's bound to come back to the spot where she last saw you."

Aya offered him a watery smile. "'Kay. I hope she gets here back soon... D'you think she'll be super mad at me?"

Mamoru tugged her over to a bus stop bench that was situated even closer to Usagi's hiding spot. Once he got her settled, he sat right beside the child and said, "Honestly, she might still be a little upset, Aya-chan. But that's only because she's so worried about you. When she sees that you're alright, I'm sure she'll feel more relief than anything else."

Shuffling her feet, Aya didn't say anything. Instead of letting her sulk, Mamoru casually asked, "Since we might be here for a few more minutes, Aya-chan, do you want to play a game?"

"A game? Sure!" the girl replied, perking up a bit. "Can we play Questions?"

Mamoru raised an eyebrow. "Questions? I've never heard of that game, but I'd be happy to play if you teach me the rules."

Aya giggled. "It's easy! I ask a question and you answer it. That way, we get to know each other and be friends!"

With the warmest grin, Mamoru said, "I'd like that very much. Why don't you start and show me how it's done, missy?"

Usagi couldn't help it – her heart melted. In the whole time she'd known him, she had never seen him look like that before. Suddenly, she remembered a conversation with Motoki-nii-san from a few weeks ago. He had said that Mamoru was generally a helpful and friendly guy with everybody else – except for her. At the time, all she had ever experienced was his bad attitude. The mere suggestion that Mamoru treated other people nicely had made her shake her head in stubborn denial.

But here it was. Proof before her eyes that the jerk who tormented her on a daily basis had the potential to be a real Prince Charming. What did it say about her that when Mamoru was around her, he just… chose not to be one?

Her thoughts had distracted her from the beginning of their game. Aya was finishing her question, "-favorite color?"

"My favorite color is green," Mamoru said in a playful tone, poking her gently in the stomach – which was covered by a light green t-shirt. Aya laughed and swatted his hand away. Usagi felt a little dizzy at how hard her heart was pounding. "What's your favorite color?"

"Mamo-chan!" Aya said with a pout, switching over to the cutsy nickname without even asking for permission. "You hafta ask your own question. No stealing mine!"

He nodded apologetically. "Sorry, sorry. You're right. Well then, what is your favorite food?"

"Hot dogs! Mm, lessee… Why are you carrying around that flower?"

Mamoru stared at the flower – now that they were closer, Usagi could see that it was a yellow tulip – and took a second to respond. "This… is an apology gift."

"Who is it for? Did you make somebody mad too, Mamo-chan?"

Laughing, he commented, "Hey now, I thought you only got one question per round. Are you cheating?"

Aya gave him the most serious look she could muster, telling him with her eyes that she didn't appreciate his accusation. "No, I am not! I never said that you couldn't ask more than one question."

"Touche," Mamoru muttered.

"Toosh-what?"

He gave her a small smile. "Never mind, Aya-chan. To answer your questions, I hurt somebody's feelings today by saying some things that weren't very nice. I wanted to apologize to her by giving her this flower."

Every nerve inside Usagi's body thrummed in anticipation. He was talking about her, right? Who else could it be? Was he really planning on apologizing to her? That had never happened before in the history of their relationship!

"Why were you mean to her?"

"That's a very good question," Mamoru said thoughtfully. "I was having a bad day, I guess, and even though it wasn't her fault at all, I took it out on her. It was an accident, but it ended up with her feelings getting hurt."

"D'you like her?"

He coughed nervously, running a hand through his dark hair. "I don't – we're not really like that. This girl, she just gets under my skin for some reason. I don't know how to talk to her normally, so I basically end up teasing her every time I see her…"

"Mamo-chan! You shouldn't tease her so much! Minato-kun from school teases me all the time on the playground, and I hate him," Aya said darkly, arms crossed over her chest.

Mamoru's brow furrowed. "Hate… huh? Do you think she hates me then?"

The very idea seemed to bother him quite a bit. I've never actually hated you, Mamoru-baka, she almost yelled aloud, wanting to chase that faraway expression off his face.

"Well," the child hesitated. "You're really nice to me, plus you're so cool. You're nothing like that stupid Minato-kun. I'm sure she doesn't hate you."

"But in her eyes, I'm probably just like your Minato-kun. If that's the case, how can I ever get her to forgive me?" he asked, holding the tulip up so he could examine it in the light.

"I think you'll be fine just by being you, Mamo-chan. Just 'member to be nice when you say 'sorry,' and don't forget to give her the flower! All girls like pretty flowers," she decided imperiously. Her childlike logic left no room for argument. "Even I would like Minato-kun if he 'pologized to me with a flower like yours."

"Is that so? I'm glad that I bought it then. Thank you for your advice, Aya-chan," he said with sincerity, eyes crinkling with fondness.

"Thank you for finding me and being my friend!" Aya replied sunnily. "Now it's your turn again, Mamo-chan. Ask me a good one!"

The two then picked up the game where they left off, turning it into a ridiculous competition to see who could give the silliest answers. Aya couldn't breathe over her own laughter and Mamoru had trouble controlling his chuckles. At that moment, a frazzled woman came streaking round the corner.

"Oh my – Hideki, I found her, I found her! I'll call you back later, dear!" She snapped her cell phone shut and scooped the little girl up into her shaking arms. "Thank goodness you're here, do you know how crazy I was looking for you, Ayaka-chan? Are you okay, are you hurt anywhere? Don't you ever run off like that again, you hear me?! Oh, I'm just so glad you're safe!"

After pressing kiss after kiss to Ayaka's forehead and face, her mother hastily wiped away her own tears and turned to thank Mamoru profusely for watching over her little girl. Realizing with a jolt that the upperclassman would be leaving the bench soon now that Aya-chan was going home, Usagi backed away from the heartwarming scene as sneakily as she could.

Unfortunately, despite her head start, she only made it one block away before he caught up with her.

"Hey, Odan – I mean, Usagi-san! Can I talk to you for a minute?" She was suddenly terrified that he had run after her to yell at her. Had he seen her after all? Why else would he be hot on her heels?

"HEY! I just, I wanted to talk about what happened earlier today. I've been looking for you for a while now! Please?"

It was the 'please' that made her realize that he was only trying to apologize for their fight. He had been walking in her direction because it was the best way to get to her house – not because he was following her. She felt embarrassed at automatically thinking the worst.

She steadied her breathing and moved to face him; when she turned around, one of his large hands gently grabbed her wrist, placing the yellow tulip in her palm and folding her fingers over the stem.

As he started with his stilted, nervous apology, the Prince Charming she had seen with Ayaka melted away; but the man left in his place was no less genuine, no less sweet. The angry words she had recited to herself earlier once again flashed in her mind. But they were ultimately left unsaid, fading away like smoke in the wind. Oh, she would make him work hard for her forgiveness, of that there was no doubt. However, as to commanding him out of her life… she simply didn't want to anymore. Getting that first glimpse of the man he was, as a whole, was like getting the first sip of water after traveling years in the desert.

All she wanted was more.


Whew, this turned into a much longer one-shot than I was expecting, haha. Hope you all enjoyed it! This marks a small turning point in the story where Usagi finally starts noticing her own feelings.

Let's have a little fun: I already marked down which chapter/theme Usagi and Mamoru start to date in this story - if anyone wants to hazard a guess which chapter number or theme name it is, and gets it right, I'll write them a Sailor Moon one-shot (though the prompt needs to be within reason)! You should give it a try!

Thanks go out to LoveInTheBattlefield, Leslie wjack, and Trosario. You guys rock!

Lastly, if you haven't already, please check out my new Sailor Moon story, A Mother's Job, which you can find on my profile.

Best,

a quirky little tune