A/N: A generic reveal for the MamoUsa Week 2019 on Tumblr! I think it's fun! Hopefully you do too!

I didn't get this done in time for a beta, so please forgive typos.

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Theme: Worry

Title: Word Vomit

This wasn't the first time a senshi battle had made the news, though their exploits tended to get covered in the tabloids far more often, but this time there was a video. Apparently, that meant it was taken more seriously and far harder to dismiss.

Usagi hated it.

It was all anyone was talking about. It was every screen. The ones on the street that usually showed ads or pop stars singing, now played the senshi video in slow motion. Her parents and Shingo were watching it this morning in abject horror. Even the televisions at the Crown that were usually showing some baseball game or Sumo wrestling match, had been taken over by the senshi footage.

And honestly, that wouldn't have been so awful if it had shown the senshi kicking some youma ass. But it didn't. It was a battle where Sailor Moon had tripped, fallen on her face, and then the rest of her team got hit trying to cover for her. Jupiter and Mars had both suffered significant injuries, which was on the film. Tuxedo Kamen had saved all of them by distracting the creature long enough for the five senshi to strategically retreat. The youma, now unchecked, had attacked dozens of civilians and thrashed three buildings downtown.

All of that had been captured on film.

The senshi had regrouped, formed a game plan, executed it flawlessly even with two injured members, and dispatched the youma. Sailor Moon had even healed the injured civilians, though she couldn't do anything about the buildings. But of course, none of that was featured in the video.

Instead she had to watch herself make a stupid and incredibly embarrassing mistake over and over while the rest of the city looked on and offered critique. She sighed, pushed her half-eaten milkshake away, and let her head fall into her arms. Not even Motoki's treats could cheer her up today.

"What's got you down Odango?"

She lifted her head just long enough to give the upper classman an unhappy frown as she pointed to the video on loop being analyzed by talking heads that had no doubt never seen a moment of any kind of combat.

"I wouldn't worry," he assured her softly. "I'm sure they are all okay."

She bolted upright, and stared at Mamoru in surprise. He didn't say anything else. Just took slow sips of his steaming coffee, his attention on the video playing on screen.

"What?" she finally managed. Was he not judging the senshi the same as every other citizen in Tokyo?

"Things go south quite often in battles, but afterwards Sailor Mercury usually patches them all up. I'm certain they are all fine, and Tokyo will be back to worshipping their senshi vigilantes as soon as the next monster strikes unexpectedly."

She could not handle the cognitive dissonance.

"How do you know that?" she demanded, leaning towards him in her urgency.

"The news cycle is short. Scandals typically blow over in a day or two."

"Not that part," she corrected shortly. "How do you know that Sailor Mercury patches up the senshi after battles?"

"I've witnessed a battle or two," he turned to her and shrugged nonchalantly as if it was no big deal.

But it was a huge deal! Suddenly, Sailor Moon's embarrassing failure was the last thing on her mind. "You have?" Usagi questioned, trying to hide the urgency with which she needed to know. She simply couldn't handle the idea of him being in danger. "Don't you know that's dangerous?"

"Worried about me Odango?" he bantered back with that stupid superior smile. "I didn't realize you cared."

"No one deserves to be subjected to a youma," she insisted emphatically. "Not even you."

"Relax Odango," Mamoru assured. "It's not like I'm throwing myself headfirst into battle."

She sighed with relief, and turned back to her milkshake if only to have something to do with her hands before he realized how upset she had actually been.

"I only go when I'm needed," he added under his breath. He probably didn't think she could hear him over the noise of the arcade.

But just like that her heart was racing again. She whirled him around to face her. "Mamoru-kun! This is serious! You can't go seeking out senshi battles. Promise me you won't."

He smiled at her. "You do care," he observed.

"Promise me!" she demanded.

"I don't go looking for them, Odango. I just kind've stumble onto them…"

"What are you talking about Mamoru-baka? I've never seen you at a battle."

He looked at her in confusion. "I would hope you had never been to one…" he whispered. "I mean, I know you're a magnet for trouble and perhaps a bit obsessed with Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen both, but I would think that even you had more sense than that."

"I… umm, yeah," she agreed too quickly as she realized her mistake. "I've never been to a battle. Never been even within a hundred meters of one."

"When have you been to a battle?" he asked, his tone sharp with anxiety as hers had been moments before.

"What are you talking about? I just said I had never been to one!" she defended.

"You were clearly back-tracking!" he whisper-shouted, leaning too close into her space.

"What about you?" she countered, not at all intimidated. "You just said that you stumble into them!"

Two sets of blue eyes threatened to drill holes into one another, but they both remained silent having arrived at an impasse.

Usagi's mind spun, trying to make sense of what he'd just said. He said he stumbled into battles, he clearly had been to enough of them to know how they recovered, that he went when he was needed. There was really only one explanation that made sense.

"You're Tuxedo-Kamen!" she concluded excitedly.

His hands covered her mouth rapidly. "Could you be any louder about it Odango?" he hissed.

Her own hands clamped over her his on her mouth, in horror at her lack of discretion. "Sorry!"

They both glanced nervously around. It didn't seem like anyone was listening. When no one charged up demanding answers, and certainly no reporters with cameras appeared to harass them, Usagi allowed herself to relax. But Mamoru was still stiff - his hand clutched urgently on her wrist.

"It's okay, Mamoru-baka," she said, peeling his hand away. "I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Because you're so good at keeping secrets!"

The sarcasm hurt. More than it should have really. She definitely wore her heart on her sleeve and she was a scatter-brained clumsy mess most of the time.

The video of Sailor Moon tripping on a fucking crack in the sidewalk - not from anything the youma had actually thrown at her - stole her attention.

"You're right," she conceded, her voice as small as she felt in that moment. "I'm just a clumsy screw up who can't be relied upon, even when it matters."

She stood up, unable to meet his eyes as she gathered her briefcase, and turned to leave. But his hand was on her wrist again. She stared at it in confusion.

"Wait, don't go," he entreated, pulling her back to the seat. "You weren't worried about the senshi earlier, were you?"

She stared at him for a moment, forcing her fight or flight instincts to chill. She knew she shouldn't engage in this line of questioning. That just because she knew who he was didn't mean that she had to give herself up. That's what Luna would say anyway. But his thumb was tracing comforting little circles on the inside of her wrist, that he had still not released, and she really didn't want to leave him - not like this anyway.

"No," she conceded.

"You were embarrassed?"

She hung her head. He already knew. Kami-sama, she was such a mess, and now he knew that went even further than usual hurricane that was Tsukino Usagi. Especially since he had the front row seat to all her screw ups as a senshi too.

"Hey," he said softly, his thumb still caressing her bare skin. "Sailor Moon has nothing to be embarrassed about."

She looked up then, and trembled at the sincerity and vulnerability she saw pouring from the cobalt-blue eyes before her.

"Sailor Moon has won every single time. She's never been defeated. Not once. No matter how many times she falls, she always gets back up."

"She's had a lot of practice," she mumbled.

He laughed. It was a sound as warm as the sun. And pulled her into his arms. And somehow, it felt even better when she wasn't afraid for her life at the same time.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?"

"For saying all that. It was nice of you."

"I didn't say it to be nice," he interjected with a slight frown. "I said it because it was true."

She shrugged. "And for always helping me to stand back up."

She removed his soothing hand from her wrist again, but instead of pulling away, she interlaced their fingers and looked up with a small smile.

His fingers tightened around hers as he smiled back. They had each other both in and out of the costume.

It was the best feeling in the world.

…

A/N: Hope to have one more reveal this week for a different theme and two other short stories/drabbles that will probably be added onto my Box of Chocolates Fic. We will see! Wish me luck!

You can also find me on Tumblr under the same name - kasienda.

Reviews are love!