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Previously in Chapter Six…..

"Looks like we have some work to do" Taiki said as he looked at everyone; a plan already forming in his head on how to get these two closer together.

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All I Want for Christmas

Chapter 7

At The Three Lights' Apartment

After Seiya got home, he wasn't much use. He couldn't do anything but sulk on the couch in the living room; he hadn't even bothered to change his clothes yet. He sat there staring into the empty black television screen, thinking quite hard yet unable to figure out what happened to Usagi back at The Crown. She didn't seem like herself, and it was the first time he had seen this quiet side of her. "Was she thinking of him?" Seiya said aloud to no one in particular. Seiya could start to feel his jealousy rise up as he kept thinking that this was the best possible scenario for what had happened. "Is she not over him yet? I thought..."

At the sound of keys opening the locks on the front door, Seiya stopped mid-sentence and jerked his head towards the apartment's entrance. Mere seconds later he could see Taiki's tall frame come into view, followed by Yaten. He stopped his thoughts about Usagi; he didn't want to bother talking about it tonight as he was too tired to hear what they even had to say. "Hey guys" Seiya said towards the two. "So how'd the date go?" Taiki said as both he stepped through the small entry way and headed his way to sit over on the chair opposite of Seiya. Plopping down to sit on the large brown leather chair, Taiki stared at Seiya's face and said "that bad huh?"

Meanwhile, Yaten had found himself in the kitchen poking around for a late night snack. He found a bag of chips on the kitchen's long granite island. He grabbed the bag and started munching away. As he looked across to the living room and said "Itf not lite ef endth of th endth oth da worth" Yaten said with his mouth full of chips. "I don't even know what language that is" Taiki said with a stone cold face. Yaten finished chewing down the mouthful of chips and reiterated; "it's not like it's the end of the world, Seiya."

"I...I just don't know what to do. I want to stay by her side, but I thought that maybe this time around we could have been more than just friends" Seiya said as he heavily sighed afterwards. Both Taiki and Yaten had caught each other's eyes and knew what to do next. "Well, I think we could help you with that Seiya" Taiki said. "Yeah, and how exactly would you plan to even do that?" Taiki's eyes glinted in response as he said "Let's just say we have a little inside help this time".

At Usagi's House

Usagi quietly went upstairs to her room and shut the door behind her. Everyone had been fast asleep, and she was actually relieved that she wouldn't have to give every single detail about her date to her mom that night. She was still feeling a lot of mixed emotions and couldn't get them off of her mind. She was getting ready for bed, and as she sat on the little stool of her makeup desk, her phone began to vibrate. The screen lit up and on it's display was 'Minako-Chan'. Usagi picked up her phone and said hello to her friend. "Usagi-chan!" Minko said as brightly as she could, so how'd the date go?! To Usagi's surprise, this small question which she wanted to avoid earlier, somehow ended up opening the flood gates for her. She sighed heavily and began to tell one of her closest friends how the date went. Usagi also confided to Minako what happened back at The Crown, and what her worries were about the outcome of her choices. On the other end of Minako's line; Rei, Ami, and Makoto were all craning their necks towards the phone to be able to hear Usagi and Minako's conversation. "Oh, Usagi...I know you have a lot on your mind, and you may want to know all of the answers right now; but just know this, you've come this far as Sailor Moon and as Usagi for a reason. Every choice you have made has led us all to where we are now; together. Usagi-chan; don't worry we'll be here for you. Just get some rest tonight, and tomorrow we'll meet up at Ryohu park and talk some more. Does that sound good?" "Mmmm...hai" Usagi said a little more brightly than before. Thanks Minako-chan, I can always count on you" Usagi said as she smiled a little and then said goodnight to her friend.

"Whoooaaaa this is more serious than we thought!" Rei said after Usagi and Minako hung up their phones. "Okay girls, we need a strategy here...a plan to get these two together once and for all!" Rei said as she shot up from her seat and determinedly clinched her hand into a small fist to show her seriousness. The other girls agreed and nodded their heads in unison at Rei's statement.

Sunday at Ryohu Park

The girls and Usagi had planned to meet up at Ryohu Park at 11:00 that day so they could do some more Christmas shopping together. Usagi waited at their usual meeting spot; a bench on the west side of the park. It was a clear and sunny winter day, and although the air was crisp and cool Usagi felt great. May be it was the conversation with Minako last night, but Usagi had seemed to have a new kind of outlook today and it felt great. She continued to wait and hummed one of her favorite Christmas songs (All I Want for Christmas is You), as she looked up at the crisp blue sky. "Usagi? Is that you" a voice called out. "Hm?" Usagi said with a small smile on her face as she turned her head away from the sky and turned to the source of the voice. As she turned around her small smile quickly faded away and surprise came over her. With a short intake of breath, Usagi said with surprise "Mamoru! What are you doing here?". "I was passing through on my way to campus, what about you?" Mamoru said. "I..um...was just waiting for the girls to get here so we could go Christmas shopping." Usagi said meekly. This was their first time seeing each other since they broke things off, and Usagi told herself over and over again what she would say if they did happen to see each other, but this definitely wasn't the way she had planned out in her head. "I see; well, would you like me to wait with you until they get here?" he said to Usagi. Usagi swiftly picked her eyes up from the ground and looked straight at Mamoru "Ah...ahaha...no it's okay, they should be here soon" Usagi said a bit uncomfortably. She didn't know what to say; it had definitely been an unexpected question. "Well, okay" Mamoru said a bit hesitantly. "Don't be out here for too long, it's too cold."

"Mm" was all Usagi could manage as a reply. The conversation was bit a awkward for her, and she didn't know how to reply. But why did Mamoru seem so at ease with her? "I won't." Usagi said.

Sunday Errands

This was the worst Seiya thought. "Ugh, what's wrong with me, I never lose to those guys!" he said with frustration as he made his way through the park while carrying armfuls of groceries home. He had somehow lost a best with Taiki and Yaten, and now he was tasked with getting groceries for the week. "Let's see who gets the last laugh when I get back. Those guys..." Seiya was distracted mid sentence. From a distance= he thought he had seen Usagi, so out of curiosity he started walking towards the petite figure he saw, and as he got closer there was no doubt that it was Odango. "Kind of hard to miss that hairstyle. This turned out better than I was expecting!" Seiya thought to himself. He thought of surprising her; so as she looked towards the sky Seiya darted over to the closest and largest tree. He stood there hidden so that he could scare her a bit by jumping out. "This is perfect! Now just for the right moment" he thought. As Seiya felt joy and excitement at the idea of giving Odango a small scare, that feeling quickly turned into disappointment and anger as soon as heard someone else's voice..."Usagi? Is that you?"

"Mamoru" Seiya whispered a bit angrily underneath his breath. "What is he doing here? What...wait with her!" Seiya repeated in his head as the conversation between Usagi and Mamoru played out right in front of him without their knowledge. He was about to step out and interrupt, but then he had stopped himself. It wasn't his place he thought, but he was also relieved that just mere moments later Usagi had rejected his proposal. Seiya had to get out of there, so as they kept on talking he found a moment to slip back and get out of the park so that he could get back to his original intended destination.

At the Three Lights' Apartment

The further and further Seiya had walked, the more and more the feeling of jealousy had pooled in the pit of his stomach. He kept replaying the scene he just saw between Mamoru and Usagi in his mind. He wondered why Mamoru would even offer to stay by Usagi; they had broken up and he wasn't obligated to. Did he have something up his sleeve? As Seiya entered the apartment he nearly slammed the grocery bags down on the kitchen island's counter top. He was getting angrier by the minute at the thought of Mamoru showing back up. At that instant Seiya had made up his mind; he wasn't taking any chances this time. Seiya was going to make sure that Usagi would be his, and only his.

Monday at Jubaan High School

"Minna!" Usagi waived brightly to Minako, Ami, and Makoto as they entered the classroom. They all sat in their respective seats and started talking about the Christmas presents they were hoping to get this year. The next thing they knew "Agggghh!" were screams of teenage girls in the hallway. "They must be here!" Minako said excitedly. Can you believe it?! The Three Lights are in our class again this year!"

At the entrance of the classroom Yaten, Taiki, and Seiya cooly nodded at the screaming fan girls in the hallway. They entered the classroom and proceeded towards the last row in the back. Taiki had sat behind Ami, Yaten begin Minako, and of course Seiya behind Usagi. Minako turned around to face an annoyed looking Yaten and said "Ohhhh! We're going to have so much fun this year!" Yaten pretended not to hear Minako as Taiki was taking his books out in preparation for class.

"So, guys...we were just talking about what Christmas presents we wanted this year; anything on your wish lists?" Minako coyly said as she tried to poke Yaten for an answer.

Both Yaten and Taiki gave their typical answers; Yaten not caring said "whatever' and Taiki getting excited about a new edition science book coming out. Seiya on the other hand was intently staring at Usagi. "Seiya, do I have something on my face? Why do you keep looking at me?" Usagi said questioning him as he kept glancing at her. "Oh nothing. Just thinking about a Christmas list. There's only one thing I want, and I intend to get it this year."

The sound of the door closing and the teachers footsteps stopped all of the students' conversations as they started to turn and face the front.

"Okay everyone. That's enough. Let's get started okay." the teacher said quite sternly. "This year we have a group project, and it's going to be a big part of your final grade." Groans from the students could be heard as they reluctantly started to grab their pens to take notes. "First thing's first, we have to make groups. To make it fair and easy, groups will be of 2 people."

"Okay first is grouping the rows; row one and two, row three and four, and lastly row five and six. Now those of you sitting in rows one, three, and five...turn around; those are your partners for this year's project." As the students turned to find their partner, you could hear some groans and squeals of joy (mainly from Minako). "Ugh, great" was all that Yaten could muster up as he held one finger in his ear so that Minako wouldn't scream if off. On the other corner of the room; Usagi started to develop a pink blush on her cheeks. Seiya was going to be her partner. She was excited and nervous. "Well Odango" Seiya said as he started to lean over towards Usagi "looks like it's just you and me now." Seiya said cheekly as he winked at a blushing Usagi.