A Story of Love

Just a few main parts to start off with:

- Um, this fic's a bit choppy, I admit, but I'm hoping that it picks up in the continuing chapters. I have really fun plans for this, I promise.

- I wrote this and chapter two three years ago...so you may notice a slight difference starting in chapter three, hopefully for the better.

- Thanks to my beta-reader Serenyty, she's been a big help.

- I don't own Sailor Moon, etc.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The crystal clear sliding doors of Crown Café and Arcade opened in repeated succession, bells chiming merrily as the blue and white clad students from nearby Juuban Junior High entered, chattering excitedly about the break to come  The sunlight glinted through the doors, making little rainbows across the floor as they opened again to admit two more familiarly clad students in to the café. The brunette pointed excitedly at a booth in the back, and the blonde followed her somewhat resignedly.

Suddenly, the girls were lost in a sea of older students from the high school down the street, and lost the booth that they had had their eyes on to a group of girls who had slightly longer legs. Looking around desperately at the diminishing number of booths, the brunette suddenly pulled the blonde across the room and stared down a group of boys to get the last remaining one. As they sat across from one another, the brunette looked expectantly at the blonde for a moment, leaning in slightly so as not to miss a word of what ever the other girl had to say.

"Well, Usagi?"

The blonde looked downright uncomfortable. She pushed a long lock of hair from her face. "Well what, Naru?"

"Usagi-chan! You can't leave me hanging on this one, girl!"

"Leave you hanging? I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Come on! Are you going to say yes? You've gotta say yes…"

"What's happening, guys?" A voice came from right beside them, causing them both to jump about three feet into the air and turn bright red as they turned to see Furuhata Unazuki standing beside their table.

"What with the neon faces, guys?" The young waitress asked, always ready for gossip.

Usagi and Naru sat in uncomfortable silence.

"Come on, you can tell me. My lips are sealed." She made the motion of a zipper across her mouth.

"It…it's nothing." Mumbled Usagi, going from neon to a shade of red only found in a sunset.

"Liar!" Giggled Naru, "She's got a new boyfriend." She confided.

" Shut up! I do not!" Yelped Usagi, somehow finding yet another red shade to turn.

Unazuki raised her eyebrow archly, " Really? Do tell, do tell."

"It's nothing, nothing at all." Usagi stammered, " Some guy asked me out, but I'm not gonna accept."

Naru looked as if she was going to explode. "WHAT? Come on! He's cute, he's nice, and he's popular! What more can you ask?"

"Love."

"Love? Come on, Usagi-chan, first of all, you won't know if you love him 'til you try. Also, this isn't about love. He's a good guy; you two would have fun together. F-U-N. You do remember that word, right? Sometimes it's good to just enjoy yourself for awhile…"

"I know, Naru-chan, but…"

" No buts. You're still stuck on that baka, Chiba-sempai, aren't you? He dumped you Usagi. It's over. Move on. "

" No! He is not a baka! Mamo-chan…he...he loves me! I know he does! Or at least, he loved me…"

Unazuki watched the exchange between the girls with a kind of morbid fascination. Finally, she cut in before Usagi could be reduced to tears in front of the entire café. "Usagi! Usagi, it's okay. It's okay. I don't really know the story between you and this guy. Mamoru, did you say?" (My brother's friend? Could it be?) "Well, the guy who asked you out seems like a good guy, while this other guy seems -"

"Excuse me." A deep male voice sounded from above their heads. "The other waitress seems to have forgotten about my coffee. Would you please remedy that situation?"

Usagi's eyes got wide for a moment, and then she suddenly seemed very interested in a stain on the table.

"Oh!" Unazuki stood up in surprise. " I'll go deal with that right away!"

***

Mamoru didn't know what had led him to Crown once again, but there he was. Sitting in a booth, well hidden in the back, just minutes before he knew that she was bound to arrive, her face full of life and the promise of a love that he must never have. He sat there with his laptop trying to be nonchalant about the situation he had put himself in, but of course pathetically not succeeding. He barely glanced up as he ordered coffee from the waitress on duty, plugging away at the computer as if he had something more important than her to actually care about.

A flash of gold went by.

She hadn't noticed him (thank god! ), and she and that friend of hers ( Na… Naran?… Naru!! That's right. Naru. ) headed right into a booth and began to talk. He painfully pulled his eyes away, looking very hard at the screen full of tiny type.

"He's not a baka!"

The yell wafted across the room, attracting many stares from the other customers. Mamoru took a few deep breaths and began to read again.

Where was his damned coffee anyway?

He'd go ask Unazuki. Yes, that's what he'd do. She knew him and would get that other, lazy waitress to get him his coffee, which he sorely needed at the moment. And this was not an attempt to get near Usagi. No, of course not. He just wanted to talk to Unazuki…

"… Well, the guy who asked you out seems like a good guy, while this other guy seems -"

His feet had taken him over to the table even as he had made the decision to do so. Wait…Wait a second! Did she just say…did she say that a guy had asked Usagi out? He'd kill him! He'd rip the little bastard to shreds! Where was he? Where? He would soon learn that you don't mess with Chiba Mamoru's girl!

Oh yeah…they broke up.

Oh yeah…the coffee.

Crap.

"Excuse me." Unazuki glanced at him and colored deeply. So they had been talking about him! "The other waitress seems to have forgotten about my coffee. Would you please remedy that situation?"

He took grim satisfaction in the look in her eyes. Serves her right for talking about him. He kept his eyes on Unazuki as she fairly ran across the café, at least it meant he didn't have to look at Usagi.

***

The tension in the air was tangible. Usagi stared intently at Crown Center's fabulous selection of shakes, floats, and burgers, even though she practically had the menu memorized. Mamoru glanced emptily at the place Unazuki had been just seconds before, shuffling his feet nervously.

"Mamoru-sempai, right?"

Naru had decided to break the uncomfortable silence with some even more uncomfortable conversation.

Mamoru nodded hesitantly, what was going on?

"Great. Great! I've been wanting to meet you for months. Just dying to meet you in person…and give you a piece of my mind!!!"

"Naru-chan?" Usagi whispered urgently, as Mamoru stared at them in utter disbelief.

"Do you know what you've done to this girl?" Naru continued relentlessly, "Do you know what you've done to her heart? Do you?"

"Naru." A little more urgently this time.

"She's a wonderful girl, baka , a pretty, smart, wonderful girl. And you…dumped her?? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Naru!" Usagi was visibly angry by now.

"No, Usagi-chan. These things must be said. He is…"

" Damn it, Naru-chan, if you don't shut up right now, I'll never speak to you again."

The entire café had stopped. People were staring with their coffee half raised to their mouths and gamers had stopped in the middle of their games. Mamoru stood in silence, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"It's okay Usagi-san." He said, "I'll just leave, okay?"

And with that he walked across the café, grabbed his stuff, and blindly made his way through the crowd to the door.

***

It had taken all of Mamoru's strength not to stand there in that café and agree with Naru. He was an idiot, but he wasn't wrong to do what he did. What could he do about it ? If only she knew…if only she knew. He felt bad for the poor waitress he pushed aside as he left. Well, he'd make sure to tip extra next time.

The sunlight was blinding and gave him a headache the moment he stepped out doors. Outside was not much better than in, Makoto ran headlong into him. She and the girls gave him that one-of-a-kind glare that only works for the best friends of the terribly wronged, and filed past him in silence. As he entered his apartment building, a bird crapped on his shoulder.

Did the entire world hate him today?

Apparently yes.

In front of his door sat a gorgeous young woman with long brown hair.

Completely naked.

And unconscious.

My life is hell.

To be continued...