Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All rights to respective owners.

A/N: Alright after seeing some of the reviews, I decided to finally tell ya guys that the story is wrapping up lol this chapter is the beginning of the end unfortunately (well I'm happy because I just really want this to be completed finally! XD)

So enjoy what I got and I've loved hearing what you guys think so plllleeeeaaasssseee continue with the wonderful reviews! Also this chapter should bring some heartache, dreams crushed, and revelation. SO I'm sorry for what's about to happen but its been the plan all the along.

Oh and this isn't the reveal chapter but still pretty juicy.

another disclaimer: sorry if it sucks?


Chapter Seven

It had been so obvious! Since the beginning really and she had been so stupid to really chase other leads that led to a dead end when the answer was right in front of her the entire time.

She was so oblivious to miss the obvious signs and of course it was him! It was like those romcom - with dashes of drama and angst - movies that her, Minako, and Makoto go see at the theater. And she was the main character, the love sick, but very lovable girl, who was desperately searching for her soulmate but was overlooking the least - or rather most obvious to the audience - likely person.

But now, she was no longer like the main character because she figured it out and didn't dare to question it.

It had to be him with how many things lined up perfectly. He knew her for years, thus giving motive, he's been suspiciously nice during this whole thing, helpful even. It couldn't be such a far-off guess-

"Usa it's more than a far-off guess," Minako interrupted her babbling friend, "You're like in outer space right now."

The highly caffeinated pigtailed blonde gaped at her friends. "What do you mean! It's sooo obvious now!"

"You actually think that your mysterious chess boy is-"

"Wasureta the barista," Usagi finished loudly for Makoto. "So obvious right?!"

All four beautiful women just stared, waiting for a lengthy explanation of just why it was so obviously obvious to their naïve friend.

"You guys don't believe me?!"

None of them spoke, just stared, threw glances at the others, and sipped at their alcoholic drinks on the outside patio of the restaurant, pleading mentally for one brave soul among them to ask the question that was buzzing in all their minds.

No surprise that the most logical and intelligent of them all decided to go for the kill. "No, it's not that we don't believe you Usagi-chan," Ami explained delicately, finding her words as she talked, "It's just there's no evidence besides what you have speculated."

"Perfect point Ami-chan," the blonde replied, face smug and almost sinister. "And I am fully set on getting that needed evidence to prove my very correct theory."

Rei raised her ebony eyebrows in shock and concern. Her lawyer senses tingling and growing worrisome, wondering if maybe she should start filing court paperwork for whatever disaster Usagi had schemed up. "Usssaaaggggii, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh nothing. But which one of you is free today?"

It was then that everyone noticed Usagi was in full black gear, wearing matching gloves, and her hair tied into a big bun. Panic set in and their minds raced for suitable excuses.

"I have to perform this really big heart transplant surgery-"

"Husband and I are catering to a party-"

"Gotta represent a couple in a lawsuit-"

Each one was said at virtually the same time and the scrapings of chairs echoed soon after as well as high heels clicking and only two blondes were left at the table.

Minako was still scratching her head and biting her lip for something - anything! to pop into her head. "Uhhuhuhuh…..me and the hubby are going cake tasting?"

Usagi rose her eyebrow and a big, hair-raising smirk stretched across her glossed lips, making Minako slump into her chair with a frown but open ears.


"So you want me to recite all of the ingredients we use in each of our drinks?"

The red-ribboned blonde gave him a brilliant, toothy smile. "Well it's just I'm getting married soon and I have a diet that I just absolutely have to follow so yes, I need the ingredients so I can chose a proper drink for my day."

'Usagi soooooo owes me,' Minako thought with a twitching smile as Wasu began the long venture into explaining everything that was used in the venti, whipped cream topped iced coffee.


The pigtailed blonde could hear Wasu's voice talking to Minako, giddy-filled to know that the distraction worked flawlessly, all thanks to her quick smarts. She grasped the door handle and pushed it open to enter the Employees Only area.

Softly closing the door, Usagi made quick work and made it to the wall of lockers that housed the workers belongings such as bags, keys, and phones. Pieces of tape adorned each metal cubby, and her crystal blue eyes scanned each one until Wasureta was seen. She breathed a huge breath of relief and amazement that the lockers weren't secured with codes and could merely just push up on the latch and have it swing open.

Her fingers fiddled with all the contents the locker held, to his winter coat pockets that were just filled with a pair of white gloves, the old backpack that sat at the base, filled to the brim with Japanese law textbooks and spiral bound notebooks, but no phone in sight yet.

She sighed in frustration, knowing that it was a matter of time when Minako would run out of drinks to ask for and Wasu would go on his break after dealing with her.

Then she spotted a top shelf at the roof of the locker, sticking her hand up into it and nearly screaming "Eureka!" when a smooth, cool surface brushed against her fingertips. Usagi pulled it out with the biggest smile on her face, pressing the home button which brought up a generic-wallpapered lock screen and passcode.

Fishing out her own phone from her black zip-up's pocket, she sent an innocent "How are you?" to the contact "Chess Boy", thumb trembling with nerves as it hit the send button. Then her eyes darted back and forth between the smartphones, seeing the little delivery checkmark pop up on hers and then a still blank screen on the stolen ('I mean it's not really stolen because I'm obviously going to put it back once I get the evidence so I mean I'm not really a criminal right?') cell phone.

Nothing came.

She stayed there, waiting for the message to come pop up on his screen and give her the answer she already knew because it was him! There's no one else who it could be at this point!

Still nothing.

Usagi was now beyond determined, so much that when a worker's footsteps were heard she had dropped onto the floor and rolled under a bench right next to the lockers, remaining there even after the worker had long left.

Annnnddddd sttttilllll nooottthhiinnng.

Her eyes became glossy and good explanations raced in her thoughts.

'Maybe his notifications are off.'

'There's no signal in this room.'

'He's using a different phone to text me.'

But other alerts had popped onto his phone, connection bars illuminating in the upper corner indicating Wi-fi, and why would he go through the trouble of getting a new phone just to text her? Maybe she just call the number finally and surely that would pop up on his phone and confirm the suspicions but what if the blasted thing's ringtone would scream bloody murder and someone-

Usagi's eyes glanced up and back down but she froze in realization.

A pair of dark sneakers stood in the doorway she had come through and a soiled, yellow bucket with a drenched mop were right next to it.

She had hoped that maybe he didn't see her but the two eyes peeking out underneath the light brown, ball cap felt like lasers burning into her body. So she moved her head from under the bench and made wide-eyed contact with the janitor boy she saw yesterday. His face was scrunched up and black eyebrows raised to the sky at her position, under a bench, in a restricted area for customers.

'I was looking for my contact lense? Oh this isn't the bathroom? I thought the lost and found was here? I got eye surgery and I'm blind- COME ON USAGI THINK!'

"Rue you going on break," a voice near the kitchen entrance shout out, saving Usagi the chance at trying to explain her predicament, especially since she was sure that he could see both of the cell phones clenched in either of her hands.

He shook his head to break his gaze at her. "Uh yea I'm going on break." His eyes darted to her and panicking, Usagi held a finger to her lips, pleading for his silence. "I'll see you guys," he finally said, looking defeated while Usagi was about to pump her fist in victory.

He closed the door, giving her a wary glance and the blonde just barely heard his mutter of "I don't get paid enough for this."

Crisis diverted, Usagi's attention returned to the phones, where no new developments had been formed. How could that be though?

Wasu was chess boy! She knew it, she soooo knew it!

But if he was, why hadn't the text come through and dinged like it was suppose to? There was some explanation that could reason all these doubts in her mind. She just had to find it.

Remembering Minako's suffering, Usagi placed the phone back in its proper place, shut the locker, and snuck out the room, coming back to the cheery atmosphere of the coffee shop once more, except now she had more questions than answers.


"You're telling me that I stood there, listening endlessly about how the baristas freshly mix their own whipped cream every morning for nothing?!"

Usagi flinched at the high decibel pitch of her friend, falling deeper into the chair. "I mean not for nothing, at least now you know they make their own whipped cream?"

"I had no desire in the world to know that though!" Minako aggressively sucked on her straw, shooting ice spears through her cool indigo eyes.

"There's a reasonable explanation for all this," Usagi explained optimistically.

"Yea it's that you've finally fallen off the edge Usa," the fashion designer stated with concerned eyes. "Seriously, you just have to accept that maybe Wasu isn't chess boy."

"But Minako-"

"How dare you violate our policies Tsukino-san!"

'Oh this is exactly what I need right now.' The grad student dug her nails into her throbbing temples as the nasally, matter-of-fact voice of a fuming and incoming Yuko started a long demeaning lecture of why he should be kicking her out of the coffee shop right that instant, a blushing and sheepish janitor, Rue, shuffling behind him.

"-could have exposed millions of airborne diseases to our kitchen being back there!"

Minako scoffed, head turned away. "Snitch," she murmured, making the boy behind shift uncomfortably and redden further.

"No Rue did the right thing by telling me about this," Yuko defended, staring directly at Usagi, "Why in the hell were you back there? Were you stealin-"

"I think Wasu is the person that's been playing chess with me," the confused blonde cut off, hoping the confession would help sway the teenage boy to her side of reasoning.

At the statement, Yuko's face morphed into complete disbelief. "You think that Wasureta-sama is the ghost of a fool who you're imagining is playing that idiotic game of chess with you?!"

"It adds up with everything," Usagi explained, hands displayed out in front of her. "First, he has the perfect vantage point working here and moving the chess pieces without anyone noticing. Then his motive which is he has probably known me for years, and maybe he has a crush on me so this was a way of flirting with me. And then there's him coincidentally being so helpful to us in this whole situation-"

Yuko began shaking his head, dismissing all claims. "No, no, he's just being nice and it is a coincidence and Wasureta-sama has a gi-"

"Why don't you just get his phone number?"

Usagi, Minako, and Yuko all looked to the shifting worker that reeked of cleaning products. "What," Usagi asked, brows furrowed with interest.

The man was already fishing out his own phone from his jeans pocket. "You've been texting the guy who's playing you right?"

"Yea," she answered warily, eyes narrowing in state of confusion.

"Well I got Wasureta's phone number if you want?"

"Didn't Wasureta-sama switch phones," Yuko frantically asked, shocked at the information, "How did you get his new phone number?!"

Rue shrugged his shoulders. "He just gave me it?"

Yuko's eyes turned hurt and saddened. "Wasureta-sama," he whispered, hand sprayed on his chest, causing both Minako and Usagi to raise their eyebrows even more.

"Here," he handed the grad student his phone (Minako double taking at the new model), "This is Wasureta-san's contact page."

Usagi - maybe a bit too forcibly - ripped the phone out of his hand, her mind already having memorized the phone number and so she scanned the number line on the screen.

It wasn't the same.

But no, no, no, no Wasu was chess boy! It had to be him, he was the fairytale ending that she needed for this whole journey! He was smart, cute, funny, that adorable shyness he had, all traits she loved and never could find in the men that she actually she went out with. He was everything and she wondered if maybe he couldn't confess to her because she wouldn't see him in that way romantically. But she would…

And then she was getting up from her seat, everyone's pleas echoing in her ears, her only sense working was sight and all she could focus on was the tall, lanky accused coffee worker serving some coffees to a couple at a table, a gorgeous smile graced on his face until she tapped on his shoulder.

"Oh Usagi-cha-"

"Why couldn't you tell me?"

His smile turned confused and uncertain. "What are you talking about?"

"Why couldn't you tell me that you were the one doing this?" She didn't care if her voice was slightly high, that the table couple was staring at her, Wasu himself looking at her in a total state of confusion. All she cared for was his damn confession that would set her free of his lying, his deceit, but more importantly it could give her an explanation and maybe a fresh start to a future.

He gently touched her arm, guiding her away from the table. "Usagi-chan what are you talking about? Tell you what?"

She sighed, breathing in before releasing it and her words. "I know you're chess boy."

Now his eyes widened but not in the way she hoped. "What are you talking about?"

It had never crossed her mind that maybe he didn't want her, the possibility that he just wanted to be friends was never an option for her because he had seemed so straight forward, open to her with his feelings but was it all read wrong?

"Just please tell me the truth Wasu," she pleaded, seeds of doubt forming but still kept at bay, "Tell me your the one that's been playing the chess game with me. All the evidence points to you."

"W-what kind of evidence-U-Usagi you have it all upside-"

"No, I don't! It's you, it has to be you! Otherwise-" I'll be back to square one, I'll be back to losing my mind.

"Usagi I am not the one who has been playing you," he stated firmly with a pleading look.

"I get if you just want to be friends," she explained, tears of frustration brimming over in her eyes because he's making it so humiliating for her, "I was stupid to think that this whole thing was something more and that maybe you could-"

"Usagi listen," his hands landed squarely on her shoulders to emphasize his point being made, "I am not your guy. I am not the one who's been playing the chess pieces. I am not the one who you've been talking to either."

And the tears fell, dopey big and salty, with Wasu's face becoming distressed at the sight, and her legs wobbly underneath her. What if he was telling the truth?

"But Wasu you have to be-"

ding!

Usagi's face froze as her hand vibrated with the new text message alert. It could be Naru reminding her of their weekly lunch on Wednesday, Momoko sending her the assignments she asked for, her mom checking in, it could be anyone!-

Chess Boy:

"Blondie."

Her heart plummeted. No.

"You missed."

No.

"Again."

More tears cascaded down her face and she sniffled over and over with Wasu asking if she was okay, and her blue eyes helplessly tried to see through blurry vision around the coffee shop to see who was looking but that was dumb because everyone was looking at the sobbing girl that the barista was attempting to console.

Why was she so hopeless? Why did this mean so much to her?

"Usagi, hey are you okay?"

His words were drowned out by the pounding in her head, and in her heart.

Why did she care so much for someone that she doesn't even know?


"Blondie?"

"Are you okay?"

"Hey you there?"

"Usagi?"

Seen 11:20 a.m.


"...so umm the theory of-"

"Usagi what did I do?"

Her chest tightened painfully. "S-sorry guys," she managed to say to her study group members, who gave her smiles of forgiveness as she shut off the phone to prevent any more unnecessary interruptions.

"So these theories.."


"I'm sorry."

Beads of moisture hit the pages softly.

Two words that could hold such emotion, even in written form.

She pushed the phone away and resumed her textbook reading in the limelight of her dark apartment.


"Usagi."

"Meet me."

"..."

"Please. I don't care what you look like if that is what has been holding you back."

"I just can't."

"I'm sorry."

"Usagi?"


"Please talk to me?"

She crumbled up the slip of paper in her hand. Even with her silent treatment, Usagi still engaged in their chess game at the shop due to the attachment she grew. She owed him a fair match, if anything.

But since the text messages were not reaching her anymore, he had turned again to the handwritten notes that were stuffed in the chess board. She couldn't stop herself from looking at them, a chunk of her hanging onto the dream that he would reveal himself in one of the notes.

Snowflakes frosted the window she sat near, the December winterly atmosphere was a sharp contrast to the pleasant warmth of the coffee house that she basked in.

She should be at home, preparing for the mid-term exams coming up in mere days, but the blonde was brought back to her second home the past three months.

'Three months,' she reminisced. It's been that long? 'I've been bad at keeping track of time.'

"Hey there." Usagi dragged her lazy eyes up to come upon Yuko and Rue smiling sympathetically at her. Great, more pity is just what she needed with all the self-pity she already had for herself.

"What's up you two," she deadpanned, resuming her gaze at the floor quickly as if her favorite soap opera was being broadcasted on it. There was nicks on her leather high-heeled boots and she made a face, struggling to stay optimistic about them making it through the Tokyo icy weather.

Instead, a velvet cupcake with champagne-flavored frosting popped into her downcast view. It was the ultimate desert, the one she always ogled in the glass case where the tasty brownies, warm cookies, and soft croissant were held also. The grad student knew better than to give into her cravings and resisted the allure of the treat and only ordered coffee each time but her stomach gurgled vengefully after said visits.

She shifted her eyes up to the workers. "What's this?"

"On the house," Yuko informed, with soft eyes and Rue nodded in agreement.

"Why," she questioned, straightening in her chair.

Rue shrugged his shoulders. "Just because."

Usagi remained suspicious but their sincere grins caused her body tension to fall a quarter as she set the plate down. "Thanks guys."

"Uh it's from Wasureta-san also," Yuko added as she began digging in.

She smiled before taking a bite.

After the accusation stint, Usagi had profusely apologized with the kind worker forgiving her and acknowledging that it did make some logical sense from her point of view. He had sat her down in the back, tenderly rubbing her shoulder, handing her tissues to stop the river of tears, and allowed the blonde to pick a variety of sweets to stuff her face with, all because he was just too darn generous. He promised to still help her with the mystery, their budding friendship not in the slightest shaken.

"Where is Wasu-chan," Usagi asked, wiping a napkin on her red-stained lips.

"Today he's off," Yuko answered. "Finals are coming up at the university so he wanted more free time to go study."

A frown deeply creased her facial features when the f-word was uttered. She really should be getting to her apartment and diving back into her exam materials, lest repeating this semester over because of failing grades on the final assessments. Usagi shivered in fright, the idea of enduring a whole 'nother four months with Professor Shiro alone would give her night terrors.

She balled up the cupcake wrapper, launching it into the trash can, gave them the plate, and bid her farewell to the two sweet co-workers.

"Wait Usagi-san." The pig-tailed blonde circled around to furrow her eyebrows at Rue's towering statue.

"Yea?"

"I hope you don't mind me asking," he said, eyes skimming under the ball cap's brim, "but why are you so obsessed with this?"

Yuko was the one to elbow him in the ribs. "I mean why are you so invested in it," Rue revised after glancing in the direction of Yuko's glare, "The guy doesn't seem the best if he can't even look at you in the eye in person. Why do you care?"

Her expression was sober, concentrated, and searching because she didn't quite know the answer herself. The answer invaded her on numerous occasions and wondered if it always will until she finally sees him in the flesh.

"I don't know," Usagi croaked, voice pressed and hoarse, "But he moved that first piece for a reason, he started to talking to me- he started all of this and I want to know why. There's a reason and I've always been too curious."

"What if he doesn't want to meet you because he's scared," the janitor boy continued much to the annoyance of his teenage co-worker. "The person might not be the guy of your dreams you know."

She gave a half smile. "No, he is. The guy of my dreams has nothing to do with looks."

And that was the truth. And she wished that whoever he was, could know that.

She didn't care. Truly she didn't.

"I hope you do find him Usagi," Yuko solemnly said.

"Me too," Rue echoed.

Raising her hand as a goodbye, she pushed open the door and the harsh surge of winter pounded into her face which was quickly covered with her thick brocade scarf.

What if it was true? He was scared to confront her because he was scared of rejection?

Usagi could almost laugh at that statement since rejection is what has always plagued her. He didn't know that with all their differences, they both had the same crippling fear and worrisome doubt clouding their thoughts.

Soft melodies of holiday carols carried to her hat covered ears as she zoomed past other pedestrians, striving to keep the waterworks in and not sliding down her shivering cheeks.

He doesn't know how much her heart ached not answering his messages. He didn't understand that he had reserved a spot in her heart that no one else could ever occupy.

He doesn't know that every time she comes to the coffee shop, a part of her dreams that he would be there, sitting at the chess table, waiting for her and embracing her, lifting her off the ground from the passion of the hug, and pressing his lips to her in that one amazing, breathtaking, rising climax moment.

But.

He doesn't know that she's scared too.


"Tsukino Usagi," the blonde recited to the woman sitting at the table, gripping her bag a little bit tighter, her breath both erratic, heart pounding. 'This is it.'

The friendly woman whipped out a manila packet from the plastic crate, Usagi's name scribed on the front. She gave some quick instructions, such as "going in and finding the spot with your name on it", "don't open the packet until the appropriate instructor says so", and "good luck."

Usagi had warily smiled at the last comment, since she needed the luck more than anyone.

In the wide, colossal lecture room, the jittery grad student found her assigned seat at the bottom, closer to the platform that the teacher uses. Her booted-foot tapped furiously, fingers caught loose, gold strands of her messy top knot, and her mind still won out as the most frantic thing she had.

Her coat was hung neatly on the back of her chair, the flashy new handbag was leaning against the desk, and her usual coffee was almost empty.

To calm down, Usagi thought back to this morning, remembering what she had seen and got numb all over at the sight.

Her king was cornered. Everything was lined up for him to win the game in just a few easy moves and with the recent disconnect they've had because of her, she was sure that once he captured her king, the three month relationship that's been developing, would wilt and be marked as history in each of their minds.

'This isn't helping me calm down,' Usagi muttered mentally, tipping her head back to catch the last drops of her caffeinated drink from the paper cup. Slamming it back down with a sigh, the twenty-four year old felt a buzz in her sweatpants' pocket, digging out the cellular and the caller I.D. flashing.

"Minako what?!" Her friend's high voice began rambling.

"No, no, I can't talk about wedding details right now," Usagi sharply whispered. "Because I'm taking my final exam for grad school maybe?!"

The blonde slapped her hand across her forehead. "Yes, that one."

She sighed. "Well going off the fact that I haven't even started the test yet, I don't know if it's going good!"

"Welcome all. Please find your seats!"

"Minako I don't know if you should go with 'champagne' or 'cream' for the tablecloths."

"We're going to start the exam soon so all electronics we ask please be put away for the rest of the time."

Usagi could barely concentrate on what her bride-obsessed friend was saying with all the rustle and voices of everyone getting ready and putting their materials away. "Minako I don't know if you should have an updo or have your hair down. You still have a while to decide!"

"That means phones should be put away."

"Minako please slow down."

There was a clearing of a throat. "All phones put away, please."

"Hyphenate, I don't care it's your name!"

"Phones must-"

"Sure, do doves-"

"Miss please put your phone away," the booming voice finally addressed the blonde with anger and frustration.

Usagi ended the call with Minako still going on and on, and she swiveled around to meet the instructor's threatening gaze but instead she made direct eye contact with the softest and melting hazel eyes she had ever set upon.

Years later, and they still are so hypnotizing, still making the starch leave her legs as if they could ever lose their natural charm.

"Tsukino," he rolled out shocked, clearly recognizing her as well. Though she would be offended if he hadn't.

Her lungs constricted with nostalgia and nausea, cursing the fates above for making the chances of running into the last person she wanted right at that time so certain.

"Masao Osaukio," Usagi managed to spit out with the rapid beating of her heart and shallow breathe.

Masao Osaukio; the star quarterback of Juban High back in the day, average student, guy with a killer smile that could make ladies swoon from miles around, and her first true love.

The flushed blonde shut her eyes. 'Why me universe?'


She gawked at him sitting at the large, mahogany desk, reading a thick, intelligent-looking book with such intensity that she questioned if it was the same guy she had fallen in love with during her teenage years.

Flying through the exam with a renewed confidence, Usagi packed up the papers and arranged them in the correct way, leaving her to simply look at the guy Masao had become.

First she was utterly bewildered at the fact he had a profession that related to education, he had hated school and she was sure he would stay away from any said institutions. Second it was the initial shock of even running into him, out the other thousands of exam instructors in Japan, she receives her first boyfriend?

It also didn't help her case that the jerk was still as gorgeous as when he was younger, having that boyish charm replaced with mature allure. His luscious brown hair was cut more short, chin clean shaven, and his body was still fit but not overly like it had been with the vigorous regiments of football season. Plus he was well put together with his tie, button down, and slacks while her sweatshirt and sweats screamed 'bum'.

Not the best front you want to use when seeing your ex after how many years.

God. She filled her hands with her red face, cursing every spiritual deity and higher powers that were dragging her around like a ragdoll. First it had been the fight to the finish with grad school, her latest relationship disaster with Ito Youi, then this infamous chess fiasco, and now she was coming face to face with the guy that was her first for everything-and she meant everything.

First kiss, first make-out, first love, first….time. Her seventeenth birthday party was huge and it had been there on that night they took their almost one year relationship to the next stage. Usagi had been so questioning if it was the right decision but what had her convinced of his love was the four week romantic gestures before. Tender, loving notes were left at her school locker, a bouquet of red roses left at her seat during science class, little chocolate candies delivered during the last few days of school. All acts brilliantly set up by Masao himself just to woo her by June 30th.

He would have been perfect if it hadn't been for his enormous ego and big mouth of their night together to the entire football team who of course proceeded to tell the whole high school that sweet, innocent Usagi Tsukino was not as innocent looking anymore. It had been the number one, most embarrassing moment of her whole life, and that's saying a lot.

Cut to a blow out fight of tears, yelling, and storming off, only to never see each other, Usagi felt she really would never see Masao Osaukio again and she was perfectly content with that. He was a senior when they dated, so she never had to face him at school directly after breaking up and thus hadn't seen in person since, until now during her exam.

"Tsukino?"

Usagi emerged from her brain fog of haunting memories to flush further when she realized the exam was over, and everyone had left except her. "The exam is over."

She nodded and packed up her materials, struggling to stay out of this gaze. Damn his tall, intimidating figure. Her hand wavered slightly when it stretched out to give him the sealed up packet with her answer sheet and exam.

"Crazy seeing you here Tsukino," he joked half-heartedly, his teasing tone evident in her name.

"Crazy," she repeated with a tight smile, his face purposely out of focus in her sight.

Then they kind of stood there, her feet glued to the floor in uncertainty. 'You need to leave. Move!'

"So h-how are you?"

'Oh great so we're going to go the small talk route…' "I-I've been good," she answered, hesitant and not looking, "Just studying and doing grad school obviously."

Then silence engulfed them. Oh! "And how have you been?" The blonde met his gaze but kept herself strong.

"I've been good, good," he replied with a smile that was unfamiliar to her. It looked warm and sincere, not mischievous like in the past. "I'm a professor actually, starting out at Osaka University."

Usagi couldn't stop her eyes from bugging out of her head. "Wow."

Masao chuckled and gave way to some tension in the air. "Surprised?"

"Y-yea it's just," she paused, looking him over, "You've changed a lot from high school."

He nodded, looking down with a smile. "Probably for the better."

She nodded. "Well I think we all are capable of change for the better if we can let it happen."

"Yea," he agreed. And she didn't have to see to know that he was taking all of her in with his eyes. "You-you look great- beautiful."

"Uh thanks, you look good too. I wouldn't be shocked if you're still trying to fend off women left and right."

He scoffed. "Well I've grown from that. I'm just looking for the one now." His voice still sent shivers down her spine but not the good, pleasant kind, more like the ones that you got from fear and jumpscares. "You know I can get someone to cover for me and if you're free right now…"

And the tension was back full force with her body becoming rigid. "Well I gotta get going, tomorrow I have another exam s-"

"Usagi wait." His soft fingers left burning marks where his gentle grip was on her wrist. She could achingly remember them running all over her skin even years later. His lips gazing her ear and the soft gasps and moans bouncing off the walls was being repeated like a tape in her ears. She never forgot her seventeenth party, she never let the memory of that night leave her and she felt pathetic for it.

"Yea," she asked, turned away, toward her chair.

"I know when we broke up I never got a chance to say," he paused and sighed heavy, "To say I'm sorry."

Her body trembled and she bit her lip. "Sorry for.." The words, she needed him to say the actual words if he was going to do this properly.

"I-I'm sorry for being an asshole back then, for what happened after-after your birthday party," he confessed, tone thick with guilt, "I never told you that I was sorry and that I regret it. I did a lot of things that I'm not proud of."

She wanted to laugh, to roll her eyes at the fact that his apology was about seven years too late. That saying sorry didn't erase the humiliation she faced after he graduated and left his legacy of taking a virgin. It didn't help that she could see the remorse in his face and so she took pity, didn't further it or mention how he was incredibly tardy with the apology. But Usagi gladly enjoyed the notion that his actions was something he still thought about in adulthood. He did grow up, afterall. "It's okay-I mean it's not okay but I forgive you," the blonde managed to say with a straight face.

"I wouldn't have been hurt to hear if you didn't," he said, breathlessly laughing, "I wasn't exactly the best boyfriend."

She laughed too, snippets of the more favorable periods of their relationships flashed in her mind's eye. "Despite how it ended, you still did sweet things and weren't that bad of a boyfriend. I mean the whole thing you did with the cute romantic notes, the flowers, and chocolates."

Masao's demeanor changed instantly to confusion. "What?"

"Before my birthday," she explained, "How you wooed me before our-our night?"

Then he understood, the recognition soon being replaced by a guilt-ridden, almost ill looking, expression. "Oh."

"What," she questioned, there was something more to it by the look of his facial features.

Masao swiveled away from Usagi, hand reaching behind to rub the back of his neck. "Like I said I did a lot of stupid, dumb things when I was younger, when I was with you especially."

'Should that be taken as an insult or compliment?' She shook her head and swallowed the lump in her throat, ignoring the constricting feel of her stomach knots. "Okay?"

"And after overhearing some gossip that my girlfriend was receiving gifts and she was over the moon about them," he turned on his heel, facing her again, sincerity shining in his hazel pools, "I wasn't the one who gave you those gifts Usagi. I stole the credit so that you'd...I don't know, you'd be ready to finally have sex."

The fury grew as a flame inside her and Usagi blinked again and again trying to comprehend the truth. "You what?"

"Okay look I found who was doing it and I threatened the kid to stay out of it, that he had no shot with you," Masao explained, eyes searching, "But I told him to keep doing it, so that you'd fall for me more. I saw how much you liked all the notes and chocolates so..."

Her head began to throb, her fingers there already, massaging. Of all recollections, Usagi could retain what some of those notes had said, how she felt so cherished and loved by someone was one of her wildest dreams. Those weeks of getting such presents was her first time of opening her heart, letting love and self-confidence flow through her. But it was all by someone she didn't know. "Wait, wait so….. all the things I was written, things I was sent, it wasn't you it was someone else?"

"Yes," he croaked, face fallen.

A part of her broke and she felt tears gathering at what seemed yet another love mishap in her endless life. "Then who was it," she asked, voice too broken and raspy.

"I promised him I would never tell you," Masao confided, shame speared on his features, "And if I'm being honest, I couldn't even tell you if I could. He was forgettable I'm pretty sure."

But the words he wrote weren't forgettable. All those poems, quotes, stunning sentences that she still harbored in her high school mementos box, those were anything but forgettable. She could never forget that perfect han-

It was like a light switch being flicked on to bathe the unknown darkness into a blinding, awakening light. Everything clicked and Usagi's mind was flooded with every emotion, every thought-every past thought..

"Oh my god," she cried softly, her hand muffling it.

And her legs carried her away from Masao, away from the lecture room, down the hallways, then the chilly sidewalks, up her building's stairs, and finally she was kicking her feet free of the stupid furry boots, panting and mind spinning with how she had made it to her apartment so quick, but those questions flew out of her mind when she was clawing at her closet's rusty doorknob.

She dug through her old, leather boots, tossed tops, jeans that had slipped from hangers, colorful shopping bags, forgotten receipts stuffed in pockets, and anything else that had accumulated on the floor of her closet.

Usagi mindlessly threw her belongings over her shoulder, wanting no obstacles to her prize that laid beneath - the answers she desperately needed that were encased in that rotting old cardboard box she had long duct-taped shut with her mother when she had first moved out.

Finally she reached the back where the closet ended and felt a rough cube that was hidden with a skimpy pink dress slung over it. The blonde dragged the box across the wooden floor and into the open, lighted space where the brown lid and container could be seen in all its dull, decaying glory.

There was no dramatic pause, no hesitation, no 'should I really do this' thoughts, or really anything else with tape ripping, the lid flung off in mere seconds, and Usagi already rummaging around, fingers slipping against girly glittery notebooks and folders, an old, unopened box of condoms, broken and nawed on pencils, as well as an old partner science project.

Then she felt a small plastic box, pulling it out quickly before she lost it again in the mess. It was black and simple - meant for easy storage of writing utensils - but her breath was deep and ragged just taking in the sight.

With a blurry vision, she flicked the latch and opened it. She already knew the answer but she still picked out one of the slips of paper and nearly came undone on the floor of her bedroom.

It was the same. The slants. The kanji. The tilt of some of the symbols, the wording even.

She scooped out all the cards, faded paper slips, everything that was written on, reading every single quote, savoring tender poems.

"I wish I could explain your eyes, and how the sound of your voice gives me butterflies. How your smile makes my heart skip a beat and how every time I'm with you, I feel so complete."

"Seeing you happy and yourself is what makes the day a little more bearable for me. Thank you for being my reason to look forward to the next day."

"Somewhere in between our conversations, the looks, the jokes, the laughter, I fell for you."

"You had the sun behind your eyes, stars sitting in your hair. I see you as the whole sky because you are what I look up to."

"I can talk to hundreds of people in one day but none of them could compare to the smile you give me in one minute."

She fanned them out on her rug, catching a few but stopping at a particularly familiar one.

"A smile from you could make others smile, so bright and happy and infectious. When you laugh, it's angelic. Your smile could turn one's day around and a frown could make them feel your sadness. You are stunningly and dazzlingly you, and never change."

Her text messages were displayed in seconds and she scrolled up the infinite amount of texts to the one she needed.

"You're insanely beautif…..You have this smile that makes other people smile, it's just so bright and happy and infectious…..makes you laugh, it's just so angelic….how just a smile from you can make someone's entire day turn around or even a frown from you can make them feel your sadness. You're, you. Stunning, dazzling, happy you."

Then another one.

"Everyone deserves to have someone who will remind them how beautiful they are. To have fresh flowers on the doorsteps. Be given morning kisses with coffee. Be taken on dates where the smiles and laughter never leave. You deserve that more than anyone."

"Well everyone deserves to have someone who does give you that kind of flattery. You deserve to have flowers on your doorstep, and coffee in the morning, someone to kiss you every hour of the day, go on little dates, remind you of how beautiful you are and how much they love you. You deserve that."

The wording was different, sure. But the flow, tone, voice….it hit too close to home.

And there was one that broke her.

"I dream of the day when you'll see me. I dream of the day when I'll be brave enough to really talk to you. I dream of the day when I'll be able to move on."

Her tears pelted the paper, wondering how she would go on.


A whole night of crying and shifting through yearbook pictures later, Usagi stood in front of the chess board the next day, folded up piece of a paper in her clenched fist.

She had turned up with nothing and was left with one dire option. It was something she promised she wouldn't ask him anymore, or otherwise he would stop communication with her. She had obeyed because it was a simple request and just talking to him was enough back then.

But it wasn't anymore. It had never been enough but she fooled herself into believing it was.

Her hand stuffed the paper in the wooden container and left the coffee shop soundlessly and coffeeless.

Three clear words were printed on the paper.

"Who are you?"


It only took him a day, maybe less, to respond with a note.

Usagi could barely read the paper through her fuzzy eyesight. But she let the material slip from her fingers, landing near her captured white king that sat at the edge of the board, while his black knight occupied its space.

"Checkmate. Thanks for playing."


To be continued…...And guys I'm afraid the next chapter will be awhile since I am going on a hiatus from writing a little. Life's getting busy but I promise I won't leave you guys hanging for too long! A few weeks tops and I'll be updating some other stories since I still have some more time but I swear I will soooo update before Halloween, that's something lol

And quick note: THANK TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED, FAVED, OR FOLLOWED, ESPECIALLY YOU REVIEWERS! Please keep the reviews going because I'm in constant need of confidence and hearing you guys sound off on the story really helps me boast that low confidence lol