Mamoru stood up slowly. His head was spinning and his eyes were blurry. He
thought it was night, but couldn't quite tell the difference between
streetlights and the sun. However, he knew that he was in the middle of
town somewhere, standing outside a pub called 'The Rusty Bucket'. There
were women around him with brightly colored faces and lots of faux fur
wrapped around them.
One woman was clinging to his arm. She was wearing fishnet stockings, a short leather skirt, what seemed like a blue bikini top, and a purple boa around her shoulders. Her face was covered in makeup, and he could smell her cheap perfume. Why is she holding onto my arm? he thought warily. Who are these people. and why am I here?
Questions kept swimming around his head. His head was still spinning, and he could barely think the questions, so that he was sure he was saying them aloud. The women were cackling in loud, annoying voices. He only managed to catch about every other word they said, but when he put them together, his mouth open wide and his face turned white as snow.
Slowly, his head stopped spinning and his eyes came into focus. He wrenched his arm away from the woman tightly clutching it and ran down the street. It was starting to get cold as he slowed down, and he stuck his hands in his coat pockets.
He finally reached Usagi's house, and before he knocked on the door, took a quick glance at his watch. It ticked 3:23. "She shouldn't mind," he said to himself. Mamoru walked around the house and crawled up the trellis. He found himself on Usagi's balcony, and gently rapped on the glass door. Mumbling could be heard coming from inside the room, and to Mamoru's dismay, a man came to the door. It was Motoki; Mamoru's most cherished friend in the whole universe.
"Mamoru?" Motoki said wearily, rubbing his eyes.
Mamoru's expression became angrier than ever. "What is" - he paused to usher to Usagi who had just gotten out of bed and was wrapped in a sheet - "all this?"
Motoki blushed a deep red, then ducked behind the curtain, realizing he, too, was only in a sheet. "Look Mamoru," he started slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Hey, this isn't what it looks like. It's just -"
"It's just my fiancé was in bed with my ex- best friend. Well, that's how it looks, and that's how it seems, and judging from the exposure of your midriff and her bosoms, that's what it is."
"Mamo-chan." Usagi said through tears. "I was upset and Moto-chan came to see if you were here and. well."
"One thing led to another and you wound up in. bed?" Mamoru put a great deal of emphasis on the word "bed", as well as let a few tears drip from his eyes. "Well, if that's how you feel, you two can spend the rest of your lives together. I don't know why I even stayed with you, Usagi, after than incident with that man you met at The Rusty Bucket."
He was about to climb down the trellis and go back to his apartment, but Usagi stopped him. Her eyes were blurred with the amount of tears she was managing to keep in, but a good number managed to escape her would-be calm exterior. "Don't you. don't you love me anymore? Isn't love enough?"
Mamoru turned to look at her in the eye. "Usagi, love is a trick of the mind. There is nothing but what is real. You and your sailor senshi associates speak of nothing but the power of love and how it can prevail over anything and everything. But it's not true. I wish I could believe you, I wish I could want to be with you, but it's just not there. Too many times have you hurt me, and too many times have I hurt you.
"There's nothing left between us, and I wish you'd let it go. Stay with Motoki and stay bent on believing in such things as the power of love. But before I leave you forever, I'll tell you one more thing: There is no such thing as love! It is a trick of the mind created by the chemicals in your body and a bunch of hormones. So Usagi, give it up."
With that, Mamoru climbed down the trellis and set off for his apartment. He stole a quick glance back and saw Usagi kicking and punching at Motoki. This sight was one that gave Mamoru an uplifting spirit, and that uplift lasted all the way back to his apartment.
Mamoru woke up the next morning with a serious hangover. He remembered everything that had happened the night before starting from the time he realized who the women around him at The Rusty Bucket were. But to his amazement, there were flowers upon flowers strewn all around his apartment, especially his bedroom. The doorbell rang and he jumped up and pulled on his black robe, then strode to the door and opened it.
A funny looking man was standing in front of him, wearing a brown button- down shirt and brown shorts. He was holding a package and a clipboard in front of him. "Are you Mamoru?"
"Yes." Mamoru said slowly, unsure why he was getting packaged mail.
"You have a package from a miss" - the man looked down at the clipboard - "Tsukino Usagi. Please sign here."
The man pushed the clipboard at Mamoru and gave him a pen pulled from his pants pocket. Mamoru gave back the clipboard and pen, and the man thrust the package at him, tipped his brown hat, and walked off down the hallway to the elevator. Mamoru shut the door and walked over to the kitchen table, tore off the brown paper, and held the parcel in his hands for a moment, then thrust it down on the table and strode over to the bathroom.
"Why would she send me a picture of myself, ChibiUsa, and her in the 30th century? It's not gonna happen, so why bother photographing them?" he said to himself as he stepped into the shower.
He was still mumbling when the water was turned on and his body was lathered in soap, when the doorbell rang again. Grumbling, he quickly washed off the soap and pulled on his black robe again. He opened the door only to reveal Setsuna, wearing a very teary expression.
"Oh, I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" Setsuna said politely, taking a mental note of Mamoru's appearance.
Mamoru smiled warmly. "No," he said, ushering for Setsuna to come in and shutting the door behind her. "I was just finishing up my shower, you mind if I take a couple more minutes washing out the shampoo in my hair?"
Setsuna's face wrinkled. There was no shampoo in his hair, but she said, in a slightly confused voice, "No, go right ahead. I'll just take a seat and wait for you."
With that, she walked over to the living room area of Mamoru's apartment and sat down on a white leather couch. Mamoru went back into the kitchen, quickly washed his hair, got dressed, and came back out to see Setsuna in a time span of only twelve minutes.
"Now," he said, still taking a towel to his wet hair. "What can I do for you?"
Setsuna wiped the tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I heard you broke up with Usagi. I. I know it's none of my business, but I beg of you, please reconsider? If you never have a relationship with Usagi, ChibiUsa will never have been born, and she is the only family besides Hotaru that I have. Hotaru is grown up now and she's spending more and more time with ChibiUsa, Michiru, and Haruka. You'll not only be taking away from me, but from everyone else as well."
Mamoru smiled contentedly. "I don't need Usagi to make a ChibiUsa. There are other fish in the sea, and in fact, there's one right in front of me."
Setsuna stupidly looked around, then realized he was talking about her. "But. but Mamoru, what are you getting at?"
Mamoru sat next to Setsuna and took her hands. "I'm saying that you've always been there for me. I'm saying that. when I told Usagi there was no such thing as love, I wasn't looking at love itself. We're both misunderstood and."
"I've loved you since for as far as I can remember. Maybe this will work out. all I know is that love does exist. and if it didn't, my life would mean nothing at all."
Mamoru pulled Setsuna closer to him, shut his eyes, and their lips met. That kiss could have lasted forever, at least for Setsuna, and in her heart, it did.
One woman was clinging to his arm. She was wearing fishnet stockings, a short leather skirt, what seemed like a blue bikini top, and a purple boa around her shoulders. Her face was covered in makeup, and he could smell her cheap perfume. Why is she holding onto my arm? he thought warily. Who are these people. and why am I here?
Questions kept swimming around his head. His head was still spinning, and he could barely think the questions, so that he was sure he was saying them aloud. The women were cackling in loud, annoying voices. He only managed to catch about every other word they said, but when he put them together, his mouth open wide and his face turned white as snow.
Slowly, his head stopped spinning and his eyes came into focus. He wrenched his arm away from the woman tightly clutching it and ran down the street. It was starting to get cold as he slowed down, and he stuck his hands in his coat pockets.
He finally reached Usagi's house, and before he knocked on the door, took a quick glance at his watch. It ticked 3:23. "She shouldn't mind," he said to himself. Mamoru walked around the house and crawled up the trellis. He found himself on Usagi's balcony, and gently rapped on the glass door. Mumbling could be heard coming from inside the room, and to Mamoru's dismay, a man came to the door. It was Motoki; Mamoru's most cherished friend in the whole universe.
"Mamoru?" Motoki said wearily, rubbing his eyes.
Mamoru's expression became angrier than ever. "What is" - he paused to usher to Usagi who had just gotten out of bed and was wrapped in a sheet - "all this?"
Motoki blushed a deep red, then ducked behind the curtain, realizing he, too, was only in a sheet. "Look Mamoru," he started slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Hey, this isn't what it looks like. It's just -"
"It's just my fiancé was in bed with my ex- best friend. Well, that's how it looks, and that's how it seems, and judging from the exposure of your midriff and her bosoms, that's what it is."
"Mamo-chan." Usagi said through tears. "I was upset and Moto-chan came to see if you were here and. well."
"One thing led to another and you wound up in. bed?" Mamoru put a great deal of emphasis on the word "bed", as well as let a few tears drip from his eyes. "Well, if that's how you feel, you two can spend the rest of your lives together. I don't know why I even stayed with you, Usagi, after than incident with that man you met at The Rusty Bucket."
He was about to climb down the trellis and go back to his apartment, but Usagi stopped him. Her eyes were blurred with the amount of tears she was managing to keep in, but a good number managed to escape her would-be calm exterior. "Don't you. don't you love me anymore? Isn't love enough?"
Mamoru turned to look at her in the eye. "Usagi, love is a trick of the mind. There is nothing but what is real. You and your sailor senshi associates speak of nothing but the power of love and how it can prevail over anything and everything. But it's not true. I wish I could believe you, I wish I could want to be with you, but it's just not there. Too many times have you hurt me, and too many times have I hurt you.
"There's nothing left between us, and I wish you'd let it go. Stay with Motoki and stay bent on believing in such things as the power of love. But before I leave you forever, I'll tell you one more thing: There is no such thing as love! It is a trick of the mind created by the chemicals in your body and a bunch of hormones. So Usagi, give it up."
With that, Mamoru climbed down the trellis and set off for his apartment. He stole a quick glance back and saw Usagi kicking and punching at Motoki. This sight was one that gave Mamoru an uplifting spirit, and that uplift lasted all the way back to his apartment.
Mamoru woke up the next morning with a serious hangover. He remembered everything that had happened the night before starting from the time he realized who the women around him at The Rusty Bucket were. But to his amazement, there were flowers upon flowers strewn all around his apartment, especially his bedroom. The doorbell rang and he jumped up and pulled on his black robe, then strode to the door and opened it.
A funny looking man was standing in front of him, wearing a brown button- down shirt and brown shorts. He was holding a package and a clipboard in front of him. "Are you Mamoru?"
"Yes." Mamoru said slowly, unsure why he was getting packaged mail.
"You have a package from a miss" - the man looked down at the clipboard - "Tsukino Usagi. Please sign here."
The man pushed the clipboard at Mamoru and gave him a pen pulled from his pants pocket. Mamoru gave back the clipboard and pen, and the man thrust the package at him, tipped his brown hat, and walked off down the hallway to the elevator. Mamoru shut the door and walked over to the kitchen table, tore off the brown paper, and held the parcel in his hands for a moment, then thrust it down on the table and strode over to the bathroom.
"Why would she send me a picture of myself, ChibiUsa, and her in the 30th century? It's not gonna happen, so why bother photographing them?" he said to himself as he stepped into the shower.
He was still mumbling when the water was turned on and his body was lathered in soap, when the doorbell rang again. Grumbling, he quickly washed off the soap and pulled on his black robe again. He opened the door only to reveal Setsuna, wearing a very teary expression.
"Oh, I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" Setsuna said politely, taking a mental note of Mamoru's appearance.
Mamoru smiled warmly. "No," he said, ushering for Setsuna to come in and shutting the door behind her. "I was just finishing up my shower, you mind if I take a couple more minutes washing out the shampoo in my hair?"
Setsuna's face wrinkled. There was no shampoo in his hair, but she said, in a slightly confused voice, "No, go right ahead. I'll just take a seat and wait for you."
With that, she walked over to the living room area of Mamoru's apartment and sat down on a white leather couch. Mamoru went back into the kitchen, quickly washed his hair, got dressed, and came back out to see Setsuna in a time span of only twelve minutes.
"Now," he said, still taking a towel to his wet hair. "What can I do for you?"
Setsuna wiped the tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I heard you broke up with Usagi. I. I know it's none of my business, but I beg of you, please reconsider? If you never have a relationship with Usagi, ChibiUsa will never have been born, and she is the only family besides Hotaru that I have. Hotaru is grown up now and she's spending more and more time with ChibiUsa, Michiru, and Haruka. You'll not only be taking away from me, but from everyone else as well."
Mamoru smiled contentedly. "I don't need Usagi to make a ChibiUsa. There are other fish in the sea, and in fact, there's one right in front of me."
Setsuna stupidly looked around, then realized he was talking about her. "But. but Mamoru, what are you getting at?"
Mamoru sat next to Setsuna and took her hands. "I'm saying that you've always been there for me. I'm saying that. when I told Usagi there was no such thing as love, I wasn't looking at love itself. We're both misunderstood and."
"I've loved you since for as far as I can remember. Maybe this will work out. all I know is that love does exist. and if it didn't, my life would mean nothing at all."
Mamoru pulled Setsuna closer to him, shut his eyes, and their lips met. That kiss could have lasted forever, at least for Setsuna, and in her heart, it did.