Author's Note: As always, don't forget to leave me some reviews!

Mercy Kiss
Lady Nakosha

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Mamoru was fuming. What's a better word for fuming? He wondered, trying to put the immense feeling of angry he was feeling into words.

"Pissed?" He mumbled, continuing down the sidewalk, barely paying any attention to where he was going.

His inability to do two things at once caught up with him when he collided into someone, sending her sprawling backwards. He smiled to himself as he rubbed his forehead, clenching his eyes closed. Odango couldn't get enough of him, could she?

"Usa—" The sweet name died on his lips when he realized she wasn't Usagi. He tried not to be disappointed. "Oh, hello?"

The dark-haired girl glared up at him. "I'm having about the worst day of my life, having to come here, leave home, leave everyone I love, and now some crazy person runs into me and doesn't even apologize!"

Mamoru wasn't sure she'd be amused that he found this all too familiar. Who did this girl think she was, anyway? "I'm sorry?"

She looked at him, clearly not amused. "That's hardly sincere, jerk!"

Usagi. The name lingered on his tongue, fresh on his mind. The little minx reminded him of Usagi. "Excuse me? Jerk? I've barely known you two minutes—you bump into me—by the way, and you're calling me a jerk?"

"Just get out of my way, okay? I'm late as it is, and you're really not helping me get there any faster."

This was definitely too weird for Mamoru. He decided he needed to get as far away from as many small, emotionally-unstable girls that started up fights with innocent pedestrians as soon as possible. She really shouldn't be so dramatic. "Accidents do happen, you know!" He called out from behind her, feeling slightly more courageous now that she had shoved him aside and wasn't within groin range.

She gazed at him darkly—Mamoru decided to ignore the deathly implications behind her look—before stalking off, shaking her head at the audacity of people these days.

This day was not looking up for Mamoru.

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Usagi was in a slightly dangerous mindset, Rei could immediately tell the moment she saw Usagi bustling up the stairs, her hair angrily whipping behind her.

"Usa?" Rei called out tentatively, holding her broom at her side defensively. "What's going on?" Rei vaguely recalled Luna reminding them that protecting Usagi was somewhere in the fine print of their destiny, but she was sure that really wouldn't apply if Rei's life was potentially endangered, specifically by the princess. Who read the fine print anyway?

Usagi bristled. "What's going on, you ask? What's going on?" Serena fought the urge to scream. Or vomit. She wasn't sure which at this point. "I'll tell you! That freak, Mamoru—you know, the guy you used to like, the guy I hate, Motoki's best-friend—"

Rei considered interrupting her, but decided safely against it. "Well, he said the rudest things to me this afternoon—like things I can't BELIEVE he had the nerve to bring up, and I slapped him—oh, and it felt so good, Rei—but I just can't figure out why he's so pathetic! Why he feels the need to make himself feel better by picking on me, an innocent, defenseless kid!"

Rei made sympathetic sounds, but she wasn't sure how defenseless Usagi was. She knew better than to disagree at this point. "Have some tea. That'll cheer you up."

Serena brightened. She had been so flustered by that idiot that she had forgotten about eating. Oh, he was able to sink to new lows everyday! Usagi twisted the strap on her purse, furious at herself once again for getting so tied up about him. "And cookies?" She added hopefully.

Rei led Usagi inside, where the rest of the girls were waiting for them. "And cookies."

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"Usagi! It sounded like someone was dying out there from the way you were shrieking." Makoto said immediately as the girls came in.

"I was not shrieking, Makoto."

Mina looked thoughtful. "More like howling?"

"You guys! I've just about had the worst afternoon ever and all you can do to comfort me is tell me that I was howling?" Usagi sniffed. "What kind of friends are you anyway?"

Ami laughed. "They're kidding, Usagi. But maybe we should get started on some of this summer homework. Get a head start...?"

The look on the girls' faces suggested otherwise.

"Ami, I didn't even bring my summer reading with me, that's how dedicated I am to getting a head start on our school work," Mina admitted, and Ami sighed in defeat.

"Where are my cookies?" Usagi sulked at the end of the table, hoping Rei would not flake on her promise.

Rei made her way into the room, carrying a tray complete with cookies and tea. "Patience, Odango. Yours will come."

Makoto snatched one off the tray as she collapsed beside Usagi, handing her the cookie in a sisterly way that Usagi appreciated from only having a younger brother. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Usagi groaned, stuffing the whole cookie into her mouth at once. "I'm—I'm going to need another"—she stopped, chewing was her first priority at this point—"cookie if I'm going to be able to retell this one."

Usagi explained the entire situation, from the beginning to Mamoru's stinging truths, to her promise to Motoki that she would make that terrible afternoon up to him.

"Sounds like someone had a rough time today," Rei said sympathetically, for once agreeing with the poor girl. Her heart dropped, she'd always wanted Mamoru's attention, but he seemed so preoccupied with either his privacy or bickering with Usagi that he never seemed to have time for her.

Usagi laughed bitterly. "And you know what the funny thing is? He was right. Every freaking thing he said was true and I was too embarrassed to come right out and say, Yes Mamoru! I've never been kissed! I am seventeen and I've never really even been on a proper date! Thank you, Captain-fucking-Obvious, I'm inexperienced and you've just broadcasted it to half the town."

The girls stared at Usagi, surprised by her stream of outbursts. Mina shook her head, sensing this would be the first of many. She'd kept her predictions to herself, but she'd always had a strong feeling about the two from the very beginning. They were so angry and hostile and Mina wondered if she was anywhere close to the truth. Oh, Mamoru. What have you done?

Usagi immediately regretted her outburst, humiliation seeped into her cheeks as they flushed dark red. Standing up, she self-consciously brushed imaginary crumbs off herself and looked out at the surprised faces of her friends. They meant well, but she could tell they thought she was blowing everything out of proportion. "I think I'm going to go now." She announced softly, inching slowly towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Minako called after her, catching the eye of the other girls in concern. "Why—"

"I've got a lot of things to do, I just remembered... and I, uh, really need to wash my hair..." Usagi cringed at her lies, however tiny they were.

"You have things to do?" Makoto repeated skeptically.

"And you need to wash your hair?"

Usagi swallowed the lump in her throat guiltily. "Yes."

Ami even looked up from the papers in front of her. "What's going on here, Usagi?"

"Oh, you know," she vaguely replied, almost out the door. "I've really got to be going. I'll see you guys tomorrow at three, right?"

At their silence, she continued rambling on to fill the quiet. "Okay, well, great. Bye!"

Once she had turned the corner, Usagi leaned her weight against the wall, closing her eyes in partial relief and partial guilt. "Why couldn't I have just told them the truth?" She murmured softly, feeling a growing distance between herself and her friends. She had come to them, after all, remembering how she had charged up the Shrine steps, demanding their understanding, Rei's cookies, and someone to listen to her declaration of hatred for that prick, Mamoru.

Shoving herself off the wall, she ignored the tight feeling in her chest, a knot she couldn't ignore forever.

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Motoki replayed the scene in his mind a hundred times and joyfully came to the same conclusion every time: Usagi was on the brink of falling in love with him!

Mamoru might hold some sort of influence over Usagi, but Motoki was sure of this, and figured it couldn't take too long for her to realize the same. "I mean seriously," Motoki thought aloud, "it can't possibly take that long, can it?"

He looked down at Artemis, that strange, white-furred cat that seemed to always be hanging around his arcade around closing time. "It's pretty obvious, don't you think? I wonder if I should somehow help her along? There's nothing wrong with a little intervention when Cupid is taking a five-minute break, right?"

Artemis meowed in response, his head cocked to the side, as if he were really listening. Motoki decided this cat was quite possibly the smartest cat he had ever come by, if that was even possible. "You know, that sounded like agreement to me. And I think you're right! Usagi isn't going to just suddenly wake up one morning and realize she loves me. She needs me to do my part and get her to that mental place where she is ready to admit it."

Artemis stood his ground, offering no reply. "Not such a hot idea, huh?" Motoki scratched the back of his head, puzzled by his situation. He didn't want to scare the girl, but he was only human, after all. "You know, I'll give her some time, how about that?"

Artemis padded over to Motoki's leg and nuzzled his head against Motoki's calf. "You're a good listener, Artemis. I'm going to go home now, and I think you should do the same. This arcade gets pretty lonely at night, and I'm sure you have some place to be. Your Mina's cat, so she probably wants you with her."

Artemis stared mournfully through the glass doors, but reluctantly made his way in the opposite direction, only pausing once to look back. Motoki shook his head. Funny, he could have sworn that cat glared at him.

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