A/N: Many thanks to SinJazz for betaing this fic! You can find her on Instagram under the same name.

sinjazz1327/


The Game Centre Crown was practically unrecognizable. Tinsel, faux snow and baubles, paper snowflakes and other Christmas decorations adorned the arcade floor. Unsurprisingly, most of the foot traffic surrounded the food and drink table. However, it was practically deserted when two hands collided over the very last cup of egg-nog.

" Sorry, I didn't see- You! "

With the same synchrony with which they had spoken, Usagi and Mamoru turned their backs on one another and crossed their arms.

"Surprised to see you here, bun-head." The last word was underscored by a derisive huff.

"Why? Motoki invited all his friends, didn't he?"

"Because I thought that this party was for his more mature friends."

"Then I'm surprised to find you here, Mamoru-baka!" Usagi returned the huff in kind.

" I'm not the one who offered to cook and clean someone's apartment because of a schoolgirl crush."

" For your information, " she began icily. "I gave up on Motoki after his girlfriend left for Africa the other week."

"Good! Now if only Moto-..."

Usagi's eyes widened and she moved around to look at Mamoru's face. He'd stiffened and his cheeks had flushed a little.

"If only Motoki what? " She inquired forcefully.

"Nothing. It's none of our, I mean, none of your business."

She scowled. "If you don't tell me now I'm just going to bug you all night!"

Mamoru gritted his teeth nervously, then let out an exasperated sigh. "Alright, alright. But you better swear to keep quiet about this, bun-head."

She let out another derisive huff. "I'm actually really good at keeping secrets!"

He closed his eyes for a moment, as if gathering his strength. His face remained unchanged when he opened his eyes again. "Reika… sent Motoki a letter..."

Without realising it, Usagi's raised her hand to her mouth. "... She… She broke up with him?"

Mamoru squinted slightly, as if contemplating. "Not exactly. She told him it was okay if he… didn't wait for her…"

Usagi winced. "Ohhhh… That's…. Um…"

Mamoru nodded. "Exactly. I told him, after a little time, he should get out there. That it'd be good for him, so long as it wasn't too soon. But he just sort of shrugged me off and said he wanted to write Reika back."

Usagi suddenly made a kind of gagging noise. "Wait! So you mean he's technically single tonight!?"

Mamoru cocked an eyebrow at her. "Yes," he replied carefully. "But don't you go getting any id-"

" I'm not thinking about me! " Usagi snapped back. "I was thinking of… um… er…. nevermind…"

Now Mamoru's eyes widened. "Wait a minute… That friend of yours, the tall one, she was interested in Motoki too, wasn't she!"

Usagi looked away and suddenly became enraptured by one of her pigtails, running her fingers through one of them and looping some strands around her opposing index.

"He wouldn't. He couldn't. He said he wasn't interested in her like that."

"... Well…" Usagi began slowly. "...That was before…. Now…"

Mamoru half scowled at her. "You two would take advantage of him like that?"

"Hey!" She scowled back, planting her hands on her hips. "That wasn't what I was saying! I'm worried for Mako. She's seriously crushing on him and if she found out about this she might take it too far!"

"Farther than offering to cook and clean for a virtual stranger," he shot back "… in the middle of the rain …" he finished with a mutter.

Usagi pouted at Mamoru. "Alright, so Mako can be a little…" Usagi tilted her head searching for the right word but seemed to give up. "... The point is, if Motoki is single then I don't think it's a good idea for Mako to know about it tonight . If she's got a chance with him then it'd be better for her to wait a little bit."

Mamoru shot her a sly look. "That's… Surprisingly mature of you, bun-head."

"Why thank you," Usagi fired back with a small and derisive faux laugh.

"We should probably keep them apart then tonight. I'll go find Motoki, you go find your friend."

With that, he walked off leaving Usagi practically stamping her foot. "Don't tell me what to do, Mamoru-baka!" With a huff she too walked off and began scanning the crowd of partygoers.

"Saori, have you seen Motoki?"

Hiding a blush, the young woman shook her head at Mamoru.

"Ami, was Makoto in the bathroom just now?"

"Sorry Usagi, I didn't see her in there. Oh, Rei says she's running late by the way."

On and on they searched until they bumped into each other again in one of the arcade aisles.

"Well?" She asked testily.

Mamoru pursed his lips and shook his head solemnly. "You?"

"Nope."

Mamoru glared at her. "How could you not find her? She's so tall that even you would spot her."

"You jerk! Did you ever consider that maybe she was… sitting…. down…"

Usagi's jaw had dropped.

Whirling around and following her gaze, Mamoru soon did the same.

Several feet from them, seated in front of the Sailor-V arcade cabinet, were Motoki and Makoto, their lips locked in a kiss.

A mere second later they parted, blushing slightly, before they laughed casually and parted ways. It took another half-minute before Usagi and Mamoru moved a muscle and sought out their friends.

"Mako!"

"Motoki!"

"What was that?"

"How did that happen?"

Though they were on opposite sides of the arcade, Makoto and Motoki laughed in unison.

"It was nothing Usagi."

"You know how these go, right Mamoru?"

"It's Christmas, so there was…"

"... some mistletoe above us..."

"But you know, I'm really glad…"

"... that happened."

"I think it helped get Motoki out of my system."

"It made me realize that Reika really is the only one for me."

Hours later, when more than half the partygoers had departed, Makoto and Motoki, their body languages far more casual than earlier, happily chatted around the food and drink table. Back in the arcade aisles, Usagi and Mamoru watched them from afar.

"You know… It probably was for the best but… I think it's sort of a shame."

Mamoru nodded. "I know what you mean. It's not right for Motoki to spend his life waiting for Reika."

Usagi rolled her eyes at him. "I was talking about Mako. She and Motoki really would have made a cute couple. Although..." Her eyes glistened and she clasped her hands together in front of her. "I do think Motoki waiting for Reika is pretty romantic."

"Oh please." Mamoru waved his hand dismissively at her.

"What!? You don't believe in true love winning out in the end?"

" I don't believe in long distance relationships working out, let alone when one person is spending all their time waiting for the other person."

"Hmmph." Usagi crossed her arms and turned away from Mamoru, angling her nose upwards. "Well, don't worry. No girl would ever waste their time waiting on you."

"Oh, yeah, well no guy would ever even dream about you!"

She whirled around, her eyes full of fury. "Mamoru-baka!"

He leaned in, his own face angry. "Little miss bun-head!"

They had both opened their mouths, primed for another round, when they stopped and turned their heads towards the food and drink table. Motoki and Makoto were both suppressing giggles and pointing in their direction.

In perfect synchrony, confusion consumed their faces. Then, in equal unison, they looked up.

The mistletoe hung almost ominously above them.

Their heads moved back down and they locked eyes, their cheeks utterly crimson.

" No way! "

The aisles echoing with their chorus they marched off in the opposite direction.


A/N: This story was a Secret Santa gift for Danni-bunni who said they preferred: fluff & comedy types of stories. Their favorite characters are: Usagi Mamoru Makoto Motoki Their OTP is: UsaMamo but Makoto Motoki would also be nice Prompts are: First romance, enemies to lovers, dark kingdom arc, magical included Do not wants are: Silmil, Angst, cheating, violence

Happy Holidays to Danni-bunni (who's beautiful fics you should all check out!) and to everyone else too!

P.S. The title is a reference to a Walter de la Mare's poem 'Mistletoe'. Thank you SinJazz for that clever reference!