L

So, this is basically the continuation of yesterday's chapter, and I'm suddenly very unsure of it, but eh…

Just so you know. It's a bit of a reprieve, but very important for an upcoming story arc as well as simply for the way I want to portray their daily lives.

Also, it always struck me as odd that he never got formally introduced in the anime or Manga, even though they even talked about it in R that one time. So there, my take on it.

Meet the parents!

L

He was nervous about this.

They were walking the distance towards her house, after, for once, having finished all their studying at the arcade. He was pretty sure it was because Usagi wanted to ease his tingling nerves as best she could before meeting her parents. If she could feel only a fraction of his nervousness through their bond, she had a pretty good idea about the storm brewing in him. So she kept a calming hand on his knee all throughout their study session, and now practically dragged him along behind her.

"What are you going to tell them about us?" He murmured.

"That I love you." She beamed back at him.

"Uh." He grumbled thoughtfully and she slowed down a bit to match their paces side by side.

"I think we should tell them we've been seeing each other for a couple months already, though" She said.

That surprised him. "Why?" He looked down into her smiling face. "Won't that make the part about you not introducing me earlier a bit… worse?"

She thought for a moment, scrunching up her cute little nose again. "Let's face it." She began. "We're intense. If they knew this has only been two weeks they'd put me in a clinic."

"But—"

She didn't let him speak, instead she hurried with her explanation. "They wouldn't understand this." She stopped and walked in front of him, starting to gesticulate wildly with her arms, impersonating her introduction of him to her parents. "Gee, look, Mama and Papa, this is Mamo-chan, two weeks ago he still teased me about my hair and now he's my boyfriend but I'd much rather call him my husband because it feels much more appropriate, because I sent him dreams since I was little to come find me, and, by the way, we always come together." She twinkled at him, laughter shining in her eyes. "I don't think my father would approve."

He cleared his throat, and resumed walking alongside her towards her house. "I guess you're right." And as an afterthought he added, "And I still tease you about your hair."

He pulled at one of her pigtails, as if to prove his point.

She rolled her eyes. "You love my hair." She stated, daring him to say otherwise.

He just chuckled at her.

And with this they already could see her house looming around the corner. This was where he'd usually drop her off, still a safe distance away, and she would go home to dinner with her family. Not this time though, as she grabbed his hand a little tighter and pushed him along with her.

At the entrance she fumbled with her keys, and then thought for a moment, looking back at him. "Can you wait here for a second?" She squeezed his arm. "I'll warn them that I'm bringing you beforehand."

"Okay" He said, a bit worried her father would not allow him in once she went inside without him. But she obviously felt that little spark of fear and came back for a second to kiss his cheek and whisper a soft "Don't worry" to him.

Then she was inside, and he outside. She hadn't closed the door on him, only leaned it slightly ajar, and even if it were closed, with his ever so slightly enhanced hearing he would still be able to hear the conversation inside.

He could hear Usagi's springy steps on the wooden floors, skipping forward only a few inches away from him to what he assumed was the entrance to the kitchen/dining area, at least it was on the left side of the house from where he stood.

"SHINGOOOOO-", she yelled upstairs. "COME DOWN HERE" and then "Mama, Papa, I brought a guest, today. Someone I'd like you all to meet."

He could hear shuffling and movement and her mother's gentle voice. "Oh, what guest then? Where is she?" He winced a bit at that. The idea of Usako bringing home a boy seemed obviously a bit alien to her mother if she directly assumed it to be a girl.

"It's my boyfriend." He heard Usagi say with an unwavering voice.

He could hear strangled sounds of protest – her father, he was sure of it - and a loud guffaw "Baka-Usagi? A boyfriend?" from a little ways further away – Shingo must have come down the stairs - but she talked right over him. "I've been spending a lot of time away from home these past weeks to see him, because I was afraid of your reaction. But I'd like to change that now, and well… I love him, so you should meet him…" She trailed off. Her father still made indistinguishable noises.

"Where is this young man, then?" Her mother said. He couldn't pinpoint the emotion with which she said it, but her voice was gentle.

And then he heard his Usako's feet shuffle back to the door and pull it open fully and she smiled at him reassuringly, took his hand, and pulled him back with her. He stumbled a bit, taking of his shoes, while seeing three people huddle in the far side of the hallway in the corner of his eyes watching him. Anxiety swelled in him and he took a huge breath, steeling himself and looked at them.

Both her parents were wearing somewhat incredulous looks, the apron her mother wore was a bit spattered here and there – they must have interrupted her cooking. The small sandy haired teenager stood with his mouth almost open.

He ran a hand over the back of his neck and bowed deeply in greeting, while Usagi, taking his hand again, turned to her family. "Mama, Papa, Shingo, I would like you to meet Mamo-chan—eh, Chiba Mamoru, of course. My boyfriend."

"Tsukino-san-tachi" He greeted all of them with a shaky voice. "It is very nice to meet you all. Please call me Mamoru."

Usagi pulled him further into the house and her mother was first to come out of her stupor. "Oh, yes, yes, it is nice for all of us to meet you as well, of course. Please, Mamoru, come on in." She ushered them towards the dining area and pulled out a chair for him at the dining table - empty safe for a newspaper sprawled on it across from him, which Usagi's father hastily put away and then sat down across from Mamoru.

Usagi pulled a chair up towards the head of the table and sat there, so she could sit between Mamoru and her father, putting a bit of puffer between them by doing so. It calmed Mamoru down a bit and he looked at her gratefully. She just nodded at him reassuringly and put her hand on his knee.

Her father cleared his throat, eyes on his daughter's hand, and addressed Mamoru. "So, son, tell us more about you. We have to admit, this is the first time we are hearing about your existence." His voice was authoritarian, hard, and at the last bit he glared at Usagi. Shingo had sat down next to Mamoru, and looked at him as if he were a ghost, while her mother came in from the kitchen, carrying a tray of cups and a teapot. He jumped up, attempting to help her, wincing when he realized that meant he was not answering Kenji Tsukino's question right away. But Usagi's mother shooed him away, smiling, and Usagi pulled him back down to a sitting position.

"I…" he started, blushing. How could he be this nervous?

Usagi took over for him, feeling his distress. "Mamo-chan just turned 19, and he has enrolled to study at Keio University this year at their Faculty of Medicine. He'll be a doctor" She beamed, more at Mamoru than at her parents and he smiled back at her. "He lives here in Juuban and we met a year ago or so when I accidently threw one of my failed test-papers at his head and he teased me about it." She chuckled, but both her parents gasped.

"A YEAR ago?" Her father spluttered. "You've been keeping this from us for a year? Usagi—"

"No!" She hastily replied, and Mamoru shifted in his seat. "I said we MET a year ago. We haven't been dating for a year, though. His best friend is Motoki-onii-san, you know, from the arcade? So we kept running into each other frequently."

"I knew we shouldn't have let you hang out there so oft—" Her father began to ramble shaking his head and looked helplessly at his wife. Mamoru's heart sank.

"Papa!" Usagi interrupted him, looking stern, as if scolding him, and to Mamoru's surprise her father did stop and calmed down somewhat. So she has this effect on everyone, he thought, not just me. Calming, gentle, yet somehow decisive and dominant - when she wanted to be. "Please, Papa, this is important to me." She looked at Mamoru. "-To us. So please keep an open mind, for me." She looked back at her father, her voice becoming gentle. "I know you want to protect me. But there's nothing to protect me from. That's why I want you to meet Mamo-chan. So you can see that for yourself."

She looked at him then, and he knew he couldn't hide behind her forever. He looked from her father to her mother. "I love your daughter, Tsukino-san-tachi. I would never do anything she does not want as well, and I will respect her in every way, always, and I am fully committed to her." His voice was now steady, he was beginning to find his nerve, but still winced a bit. He sounded so melodramatic.

Usagi chuckled at him, raising an eyebrow, as if to say, you don't have to ask for my hand just yet. And he shrugged at her, a bit sheepishly.

Both her parents saw the quiet exchange between them, like the ones before, obviously sensing some of the connection between them, then looked at each other with part helplessness and part wonder at what they saw here.

Usagi's mother cleared her throat, and began to pour the leafy green tea. "Well, Mamoru, Usagi said you're studying to be a doctor? And at Keio of all places? That must be a whole lot of studying." Her voice was gentle. She was changing the subject, trying to put the situation at ease and he was thankful for that.

"Oh, it's okay actually. It is a lot of studying yes, but I have photographic memory, so that comes in handy." He said, feeling a bit awkward. Talking about his achievements and how they seemed to fall to him so easily always felt a bit like bragging.

"I see" Ikuko said, a bit impressed, and Shingo too, it seemed. "Maaaaan, if I had photographic memory…" He groaned, obviously thinking of his schoolwork and slumping on the table. "But what does a genius like you want with Baka-Usagi, then?" He piped up, bringing the topic back to their relationship.

"SHINGO!" All Tsukinos above twelve scolded the boy. But Mamoru chuckled at that, and Usagi whipped her head around at him, looked at him appalled, as if to say 'You traitor!' but could not keep the grin off her face.

"You would be surprised to see that your sister is actually pretty smart, Shingo-kun. She's just insanely lazy." He winked at her, she looked half offended, but then continued on. "But you see, I'm more of a lonely, introvert person. Talking to people, and expressing my feelings is very hard for me, and connecting to others even more so but with Usako—", he looked at her fondly and she propped her elbow up on the table and put her head in her hand, fully turned to him with that gentle smile of hers. "—well I think you realize how easily she connects with people and gets them to come out of their shells, so…" He trailed off, blushing.

That same look from before passed between her parents again and Ikuko stood up. "Well, Mamoru. We were just about to have dinner—"

At that he hastily stood up, as if to excuse himself, preparing to leave them to their family dinner, which surprised Ikuko.

"Please, Mamoru, sit down again. I was just about to ask you if you liked Katsudon. With my daughter in this house I prepare enough food for an army, so there is more than enough for you to join us, if you will?" She continued, warmly.

He sat down again, slowly, and looked at Usagi, who nodded at him. "Umm, I would be very honored to have dinner with you, thank you Tsukino-san."

"Please, dear, call me Ikuko" She smiled and left for the kitchen. "Usagi" She said, "Will you help me lay the table and bring the food in?" She looked at her daughter meaningfully.

Usagi was a bit startled but got up quickly, looking at him reassuringly, 'You'll be okay', and rushed to her mother who was striding into the kitchen.

Kenji Tsukino cleared his throat, obviously not knowing what to say to him, and neither did Mamoru.

The silence felt awkward, and he heard Usagi giggling in the kitchen, and then her mother giggled right with her. That at least served to reassure his nerves, though he didn't dare listen in on what they were actually talking about in there.

"So," Shingo said, obviously unaffected by the awkward silence. "Have you been like- kissing my sister?" He said, and for the look on his face the concept seemed disgusting to him, he could as well have said 'vomiting'.

Oh, if you knewand just across from your bedroom, too… Mamoru chuckled, raising his eyebrows amusedly and then froze, looking back at a very silent Kenji Tsukino that was watching him intently, hoping feverishly his thoughts hadn't been displayed clearly on his face, or at least that Usagi's father couldn't read him as easily as Usagi could.

But he was saved by Usagi, who carried in the plates and cutlery, and he jumped up quickly to help her place everything on the table, however much she insisted he didn't need to. Ikuko followed quickly with a tray of steaming, deliciously smelling food and he had to say, he'd never seen such huge bowls. She hadn't exaggerated when she'd said she usually cooked for an army.

Usagi shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'She told you so, didn't she.'

Usagi and her mother took over the conversation at the table from this point on, and, unsurprisingly in her presence, he grew more at ease and more comfortable to take part in it while they all dug in.

He watched Usagi devour plate after plate into that tiny body of hers, which didn't exactly surprise him, he knew what she ate at the arcade or when they were out someplace else, but it never failed to amaze him nonetheless. Which prompted him to ask her parents if she had always been like that or if Usagi's eating habits were just recently so… bottomless. At which they laughed and began tales of the food-devouring-toddler she had been and how scared they had been that she'd get diabetes by the time she was 5, and the one time at another child's birthday party when she had eaten the entire cake and then cried because the birthday girl had cried and she felt sorry.

At that point Usagi had begged for them to stop embarrassing her so, and her parents laughed at her, her father ruffling her pigtails a bit and saying that it was nothing to be embarrassed about. "Our little moonchild just needs a lot of energy to be such a ray of sunshine all the time." Her mother had said then, and Usagi had beamed at her, while he wondered about the curious, if sweet, nickname Ikuko had for her daughter.

They'd asked about this and that afterwards. If she took care that her grades weren't slipping further now that she spent so much time with him ("Papa, he forces me to at least start my homework every day. That's more than I did before…") or how long they'd been seeing each other (at which they both replied vaguely and simultaneously with "A while" and then Usagi quickly changed the subject) or why he wanted to become a physician ("I want to help people. I feel I might be good at…healing." He had said, flinching a bit, and Usagi had giggled.) He was still nervous. These were her parents after all, there was a lot at stake here, but he at least didn't feel that panicked about the whole thing anymore. It seemed they'd let her continue to see him, and that really was all he had hoped to achieve.

The dinner was slowly coming to its end, for everyone having cleared their plates and Usagi's fifth refill was now slowly being dissected instead of being inhaled in one go, which he took as a sign that she was almost done as well. The conversation at the table mimicked that behavior and trickled to a stop. Shingo had long since whined if he could go play video games now, which Usagi's parents had agreed to the second time he started to go on about it, and so it was just the four of them at the table anymore.

Which meant he felt his cue to leave. Not that he'd leave for long, but her parents didn't know that… "Tsukino-san—"

"Ikuko"

"—thank you so much for this wonderful dinner and for letting me into your home" He addressed both of them with the latter, bowing deeply, his voice shaking a bit, which didn't go unnoticed by both of Usagi's parents.

They exchanged a short glance and then Ikuko spoke "Oh honey, you sound as if you've never seen a home-cooked meal before. I'm sure your mother would do the same for Usagi, wouldn't she?"

"I…" He started, at a loss for words, looking at Usagi helplessly. They shared a moment, in which her eyes spoke volumes, as if to say, May I?

He nodded and Usagi turned to her parents. "Mamo-chan is an orphan. He has no memory of his parents… that's why he is so nervous. This is all very new to him."

Mamoru actually blushed a bit, and Ikuko gasped a little, looking at her husband in slight alarm and then back at Usagi and Mamoru. "Well that settles it then, doesn't it? You'll be joining us for dinner every evening from now on, young man. You're a part of this family now. "

Usagi beamed at her mother and then at him. He didn't know what to say, and frankly, that lump in his throat was getting huge. "Thank you, Tsukino-san—"

"Ikuko"

"I would love to join you for dinner." His voice was shaking hard by now. "Just promise me to let me know whenever I'm imposing—"

Both women at the table shrugged his last comment away with loud "Pffts" and "As ifs" which made her father roll his eyes and him chuckle a tiny bit. He looked up into the eyes of Usagi's father, who looked at him with what he thought were equal parts concern and wariness. To him he said, "If I impose, or you would rather not have me here at any time, please just say so."

But Kenji just began a small smile, and laughed a bit to himself, shaking his head. "You heard the women, son. You're welcome to join us for dinner from now on."

L

They'd shared a tiny, very chaste kiss goodbye when they parted and her father insisted on showing Mamoru out the door. Her mother was uncharacteristically silent, but smiled really softly at her while settling down onto the couch across from her. She heard her father and Mamoru talk in their deep voices for a moment, hoping her father wouldn't scare him away after all, but he returned a while later and planted himself in the middle of the room.

"Well… that was a surprise." He said, shaking his head a bit.

"Well, do you like him?" Usagi asked hopefully.

He frowned. "He's…" He frowned some more. "…okay, I guess." Some even deeper frowning. "At least we can keep an eye on this when he's coming over every day from now on…. I'd rather this happened here under my roof then somewhere else."

Usagi sighed. Well, this was the best she would get from him, she assumed. At least he wasn't fuming at the mouth like he usually had done whenever someone had only mentioned a boy acquainted to her before. This was probably her father's way of praising Mamo-chan at his highest capability.

"Oh nonsense." Her mother said. "Usagi-chan, I think he's wonderful for you. And I'm happy to be able to get to know him better from now on and so is your father, don't listen to him." She glared at Kenji, a bit mischievously. "Your Papa is just being overprotective is all, as is his job as a loving father. Right, honey?" She directed the last bit at him. He grumbled in answer and sat down next to his wife on the couch.

Usagi stood up decisively. "Well, how about I do the washing up, then?" She said.

Her mother looked at her as if she'd grown a second head and started to stutter a bit.

Usagi got a bit flustered. It's not as if she never helped around the house… She did, she just usually never offered… …Her mother didn't have to treat this like the seventh world wonder…. But she was so grateful for her to offer him to eat with them from now on, so she wanted to show that somehow… "It's just that you were so nice to him, Mama, inviting him like that, so I want to… be nice, too? And help a bit around dinner from now on?" She said as an explanation.

Also, it helped her slightly guilty conscience that she was lying to them regarding her current sleeping arrangements… but there are just certain things you don't discuss with your parents, right?

Her mother flashed her the brightest smile she'd ever seen on her face. She could swear her eyes were a bit watery, too. "Oh Usagi-chan" She gushed. "I'm so proud of you" She said and Usagi had to smile right back at her. "Well, we'll do it together, how about that?"

But Usagi shook her head. "We can do it together from tomorrow on. Tonight I want to do it for you."

This time she was sure there was a tear involved and her mother hugged her tightly. "I love you, honey" She whispered to her. Usagi hugged her back, then smiled at both her parents and disappeared into the kitchen.

Dishes weren't her favorite thing in the world, but tonight she really didn't mind them so much at all. She put on the radio while she washed up and found herself almost enjoying the relaxing task. Yeah, she could do this from now on…

It took her a little while though, because she wanted to do it right for her mother today. So she was a bit slow, but in the end everything was done, and she'd put everything back where it belonged in the cupboard and even cleaned up all the counter tops. Her mother couldn't believe her eyes when she walked into the room in between for a glass of water.

She walked back into the living room to say goodnight to her parents. "All done" She said. "I'm gonna head up now."

Her mother beamed at her. She was in the best mood, it seemed. "Is that why we sometimes hear talking in your room?" She asked her and Usagi froze. Did they know?

But her mother's continuous grin didn't fit that thought. "Admit it," Her mother grinned. "You spend all your evenings on the phone with him, don't you? Thank god we got you that all-in option for your phone."

She exhaled, relieved. "Umm yeah. I talk to him a lot in the evenings." That technicially wasn't even a lie…

L

When she came back up the stairs and walked into her room she smiled, seeing him sitting on the left side of her bed, still fully clothed minus his socks, a book in hand, his back leaning against the headrest, his legs extending long and crossed over the other on top of her moon and bunnies-comforter with enough room left next to him for her to crawl in with him.

It felt so normal. She was already used to the sight, when in truth, she had just kissed him goodbye an hour ago on her doorstep and he had at least pretended to go home for the sake of her parents. "Hey" He smiled at her.

She grinned back at him and locked the door behind her, then started to take off her school uniform and hung it carefully on a hanger that she put on her door. Then she sat down at her vanity in just her underwear and quickly undid her buns. Reaching for her brush she felt his hand on hers suddenly, taking it from her.

"Let me" he whispered and with gentle touches began to brush out her hair.

"So…" She began. "Are you okay?" Although she really didn't need an answer. She probably wouldn't have needed their bond to feel the waves of contentment coming off of him... now starting to be mixed with a good portion of arousal, but she knew what it meant to sit in front of him in just her underwear and letting him touch her hair.

"I keep thinking every single day for the last two weeks that I've never been this happy in my life." He whispered to her.

"I really like your mom." He added with some considerate emotion in his voice.

She smiled. "You don't have to whisper so much by the way." He found her eyes in the vanity mirror and looked at her as if she'd gone insane. Your parents are still in this house, they just know me now.

"They think I have my phone on loudspeaker every night." She giggled. "But they can just hear noises and voices, no content, don't worry. The walls are thick."

"Oh." He said, cocking his head to the side. He let her hair fall from his hands reluctantly and put the brush back on the vanity, then took off his own pants and dark dressy shirt that he had been wearing and sat back down on the bed. She crawled in next to him and lay down on her back, putting an arm over her eyes and sighing contently, yet a bit defeated. "Papa can be a piece of work. … I promise he's actually really sweet!" She peaked at him from underneath her arm. "I hope he wasn't too hard on you when you were alone with him?" She murmured.

"No. He was great. I'm surprised it wasn't bad, really, what with him being so protective of you…" He trailed off, laying on his side facing her, propping his head up on his elbow and drawing circles on her stomach for a little while, settling into a comfortable silence.

He continued playing with her stomach, switching sometimes to poking it, or putting his ear to it. She was amused. "What are you doing?"

"Well… being so tiny even though you eat so much is one thing… you probably just have a crazy fast metabolism…and it's not like it would matter to me how much you eat… but… all that food has to go somewhere doesn't it? You ate one of those giant's bowls out on your own. And yet your stomach is as flat and pliable as always." He stuck his finger into her navel and moved it around, as if trying to rummage in her stomach and she giggled. It tickled. "That must have been like three kilos worth of food. Where does it go? Why is your stomach not hard and bursting at the seams? "

"Well, I'm a freak of nature." She smiled. "Maybe I am a bottomless pit only filled with that strange light I seem to give off of me when my powers come through."

He looked at her for a moment. Then he put his ear back to her stomach. "Nah" he said. "I hear it growling, working. There're definitely organs in there."

She chuckled and laced her fingers through his hair. "My mom thinks you're hot, you know."

"What?!" He sat up straight in her bed, looking at her incredulously.

"Shhhh" She laughed, putting a finger to her mouth. "You're a phone, remember?" She giggled a bit more.

"When my mom asked me to help set the table, and we didn't come out for a while?" He nodded. "She gushed about you. How terribly cute and incredibly attractive you are, and what great taste I inherited. She was quite vocal and giggly about it. I think she's very happy for me." She smiled softly, thinking about the girlish and excited expression her mother had worn.

His returning grin was radiant. "Cute and attractive, huh?" He winked at her, while picking up stroking her stomach again. "Well, I wouldn't call myself cute exactly, now…"

"Well, I think you're cute." She grinned up at him.

He frowned a bit. She laughed at that. It seemed he obviously couldn't see himself from that angle, what with the vigilante superhero thing he got going on, going after alien monsters at night and teasing helpless high-school kids about their grades all the time.

"I push people away that come too close to me, kill Cardians at a nightly basis and my idea of flirting was to get you mad at me all the time. If that's cute to you…" He said, following her train of thought exactly.

She chuckled but pushed his arms off her momentarily to get off the bed and put out the lights, their surroundings once again only filled by moonlight.

It made him look aerial on the bed, she thought. Mama certainly got the attractive part right…

"Well, " she spoke softly "It was definitely very cute how nervous you were to meet my parents. So I do see where she's coming from" She climbed back on the bed, crawled to him slowly and straddled his middle, grinding into him for a moment, at which he groaned deeply. She smirked at him. "Also, you seem rather smitten with me. That's also very cute."

He wordlessly pulled her to him and began kissing her as softly as he could muster.

L

So, that is the groundwork basically done. I view last chapter as kind of the turning point of this story; I used it in order to skip the very first honey moon phase (or at least to fast-forward it via Mamoru's summarization and take on it) to be able to now have them go into all of this truly together, experience and figure out what's coming at them together.

Getting more into the meat and potatoes of this story from now on…

L