A/N: Written for the UsaMamo Week 2021 tumblr challenge. The theme for Day 5 was 'Free day or AU'. I opted for the latter more than the former...

I'd like to thank romanreloaded for beta reading this for me!

Also check out everyone else's amazing contributions to UsaMamo week on tumblr via the 'UsaMamoWeek2021' tag.


Mamoru Chiba made his way down the street towards the Crown Arcade. Just as he was about to cross the road a black cat streaked by, causing both him and some cars to abruptly halt. All in all, it took only a minute for the congestion to ease up enough for Mamoru to continue on his way.

Initially he was annoyed but then he caught himself. It was a silly thing to be upset about. After all, what difference would a minute make?


Usagi closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "I should have studied harder." She took another look at her atrocious 30% test score. "Oh, die!" She yelled, angrily scrunching up the paper and hurling it over her shoulder.

As she moved off, she dimly detected a soft crinkle behind her. The unmistakable sound of paper landing on concrete.


There was a soft crunching sound below Mamoru. He looked down and saw that he'd stepped on a balled-up piece of paper. He pursed his lips. Honestly, who'd be so inconsiderate as to just throw something like this onto the street. Not bothering to open up the paper, he deposited it into the nearest trash can and resumed his journey, completely failing to notice the jewellery store to his right.


Usagi's mood dipped lower and lower with every step. However, something caught her eye as she passed the Game Centre Crown, temporarily disrupting her depression. She walked backwards a few paces before stopping to examine the poster in the window. It was advertising a new arcade game, one all about the crime fighter Sailor V.

Usagi knelt down and drank in the poster, imagining life as a superheroine. Wouldn't that be something? Having fun beating up bad guys but not having to worry about tests...

… Her… test…?... Oh no!

What if Mama or Papa wanted to see her test!?

A nightmarish scenario hijacked her thoughts. As it played out within her mind, Usagi couldn't help the tears beginning to well up in her eyes…


Mamoru had walked to the Crown so many times he could get there by instinct. As such, he hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings. However, as he neared the arcade, he could hardly miss the crying blonde kneeling outside the establishment.

He almost turned away from her and continued on inside, but something made him pause for a moment. Moving away from the entrance he approached the girl, his body language somewhat tentative.

"Um… excuse me." The girl sniffled and looked up at him. "Sorry to bother you, but… are you alright? Do you need some help or something?"

The girl sniffled again. Mamoru knew it was probably his imagination, but was she blushing? "Oh, no. Thanks, but I'm…" She straightened up and wiped some tears from her face. "…I'm just having a lousy day is all." Now he could see her better Mamoru couldn't help but notice she had rather striking blue eyes. "And my Mama is probably gonna kill me later too."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, trying his best to sound consoling. He knew a thing or two about bad days. Maybe that was why he suddenly felt so sorry for her. "You know, if your Mama is likely to give you grief anyway, you might as well cheer yourself up a little before going home."

She tilted her head and shot him a softly confused look. He in turn jutted his thumb towards the arcade. "I happen to know this is the best arcade in town. I'm not much of a gamer myself, but I know they have plenty of stuff to blow off steam here. They even do milkshakes if you like that sort of thing."

The girl's face lit up. "I love milkshakes. And actually, I go here a lot myself."

"Oh really? Then you must know Motoki."

"Oh, yeah. I know Motoki." This time the girl unmistakably blushed.

For a moment, Mamoru felt a very small pang of annoyance within himself. "Motoki is a friend of mine. We go to college together."

"Wow, so cool! Must be nice being a college student instead of a middle schooler."

Mamoru, without really thinking about it, began to move towards the arcade door. "Well, the workload so far has been pretty intense. I only started recently and, to be honest, I'm kind of missing high school."

Not that he took much notice, but the blonde girl followed his lead. "At least you don't need to worry about high school entrance exams. I've got them coming up in less than a year!"

Together they entered the arcade.

"They're not as tough as people make them out to be."

The girl clutched her chest as if she'd had a near death experience. "That's a relief! I'm struggling to get good grades now!"

"Try joining a study group. I knew some people who were trailing behind in my middle school who managed to ace their entrance exams because their friends helped them prepare. Oh, I was going to grab a milkshake by the way, would you like one too?"

"Sure!"


Sailor Moon barely dodged the broken bottle!

She stumbled into a sitting position against a pillar, a stinging sensation coursing through her knee. She chanced a glimpse and quickly spotted the red scratch on her skin.

"Oh no! I'm bleeding!"

"What are you doing, Sailor Moon?" Called Luna from around the pillar. "You have to fight. You have to destroy that Youma."

The monster laughed as it floated in the air, its hoard of mind-controlled shoppers steadily advancing upon her. Usagi began to tear up.

"Why? Why is this happening to me?"

They say that when you are about to die, your whole life flashes before your eyes. In Usagi's case though, the sting of the tears merely reminded her of all the other times she'd cried that day. The times before her world had turned upside down and she'd begun fleeing for her life!

She'd cried because she was running late. Her Mother had been typically unsympathetic.

She'd cried after Ms. Haruna had yelled at her for eating lunch early. Not even Naru had comforted her.

She'd cried when her mother had thrown her out the house for losing her test and when Shingo had literally kicked her butt. They'd only let her back in because her wailing had been disturbing the neighbours.

She'd cried… that's right. The arcade. That cute guy. Motoki's friend. What was his name again? Mamoru, right?

He'd been nice. He'd been the only one who'd been nice to her today. Even when she'd confessed that she hadn't studied and gotten a lousy 30% he hadn't been hard on her.

What was it he'd said?

"I'm not trying to lecture you Usagi, just give you some advice from someone who's been through school already. Nobody can afford to take their education for granted. But… it also isn't everything. There are some things that are more important."

"What sort of things?"

"Well… to me at least, being kind, and having the guts to help someone in need, even if it is risky. That's the sort of thing you'll never learn just from school or from reading a book…"

A kind heart? The guts to help someone? And doing it even if it is risky?

The Youma reached out her right hand.

Hadn't she come here because she cared about Naru?

The Youma brandished her talon-like nails.

Hadn't she seen that she was in trouble?

The Youma's arm began to stretch.

Hadn't she known it was because someone was attacking her?

The creature's arm gained speed.

Yes, she had.

The monster's talon had stretched beyond the heads of her servants now.

She'd done it because she was kind. Because she had the guts to help her friend. And she didn't care how scary it was.

The claw was rapidly closing the gap between itself and the Senshi.

A fierce determination burned behind Usagi's eyes, the sting from her right knee growing distant.

There was a light clicking noise from above, like a window opening.

She clenched her fist and gripped the pillar behind her, straining her arms and beginning to hoist herself triumphantly upwa-

"YOW!"

A new, far stronger, stinging sensation shot through her other knee and she crumpled back to the floor.

Through squinted eyes, she looked to her left and saw the root of her pain embedded in the ground. To her astonishment it was a bright red rose.

"Who's there?" Asked the Youma, contorting her neck behind her.

Usagi followed the monster's gaze upwards and behind them all, where a man in a tuxedo, cape and top hat stood dramatically in the window.

"I'm Tuxedo Mask. Crying isn't going to solve anything, Sailor Moon."

Something else burned in Usagi's eyes now. But it wasn't exactly determination.

"Hey buddy! Did I ask you for advice!?"

Tuxedo Mask looked taken aback. "I… I just thought… You looked like you needed some help."

"Help? You think cutting me with a plant is helpful!?"

"I… I… You stood up too fast! If you'd stayed still I wouldn't have hit you."

"Oh! So, it's my fault you sliced my knee open. I'm sooooooooo sorry I didn't just sit here and wait for this monster to kill me or for you to ride in and save the day."

Despite her inhuman features, the Youma looked distinctly confused and uncomfortable.

"Are you two-?"

"SHUT UP!" They chorused.


Usagi let out a deep sigh as she wolfed down one of the pork buns she'd purchased.

"Luna, I can't do anything like that again."

From her position on Usagi's shoulders, Luna gently pawed at her charge's uniform.

"It was only your first night Usagi. You'll soon get used to it."

Usagi's posture slumped over, causing Luna to almost dig in with her claws to maintain her grip. "Nooooooo," she moaned weakly. "My knee is killing me, I'm totally exhausted, and I need to study hard to make up for yesterday's test score."

"Hey! That's the spirit!"

Usagi straightened up and looked behind her.

"Glad to see you're taking your studies more seriously."

Usagi blushed as Mamoru waved at her in greeting.

"Although, I hope you're not working too hard. Talking to yourself isn't a good sign."

Usagi's blush deepened for a moment, but then dissipated as an idea occurred to her. "I wasn't talking to myself. I was talking to Luna." She shot Mamoru a wry look and gestured towards the ebony feline draped on her shoulders.

Mamoru chuffed out a little laugh. "Well, that's okay then." He moved closer and presented his hand to the cat's nose. "Hello there Luna."

A confused look came across Usagi's face. "What're you doing?"

"I read somewhere that you should always let animals smell your hand when you first meet them. Otherwise, if you pet them, they can get upset."

Out of the corner of her eye, Usagi observed Luna give Mamoru's palm a brief sniff. A second later she nuzzled her head against his hand and he began petting her.

Usagi guessed that meant he got Luna's approval. Although she didn't show it, Usagi suddenly felt a strange pang of annoyance at her furry friend.

However, a moment later she'd pushed the feeling aside and continued on. "So that works with all animals?"

Mamoru shook his head. "No. Just domestic ones like cats, dogs, rab-" His cheeks flushed a little.

It took less than a second for Usagi to catch on and begin giggling. Despite his embarrassment, Mamoru began chuckling to himself. As they laughed together Usagi couldn't help but notice quite how striking the blue of his eyes were.

It was only when Luna meowed rather loudly that the pair quietened down.

"I better… I better get going."

Mamoru nodded. "Right, you've got studying to catch up on."

Usagi shrugged. "Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah," she sighed. "See ya around."

"Definitely. I hang out at the arcade whenever Motoki is on shift."

They waved goodbye and parted ways.

Usagi's knee smarted again, casting her mind back to the utter moron in the tuxedo. If he never saw that guy again it'd be too soon.

Usagi almost laughed as she continued to ruminate on last night. That jerk had butted in to help her and just wound up making things worse; and had patronized her for good measure. Meanwhile, Mamoru hadn't even been there but his advice had made all the difference. He was a pretty smart g-

Usagi paused, having only taken a handful of steps. Then she about faced, ignoring the stinging in her knee. "Hey. Hey Mamoru, wait a minute!" She called out.

Mamoru paused and looked back over his shoulder as she walked back up to him. "Everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, everything is fine I was just…"

She sucked in the inside of her cheek. Embarrassment threatened to well up within her. But then she thought back to how she'd defeated that monster last night. If she had the guts to do that then this would be nothing.

"…You know a lot about books and studying and stuff, right?"

Mamoru's brow furrowed. "Well… yeah I suppose."

"In that case, since you and I hang out at the arcade so often, maybe when I'm there you could help me to study?"

"You… You want me to tutor you?"

"Uh… Well… I was thinking more of it being a study group thing?"

"…With just the two of us?"

"Yeah! I mean… That'd probably be more focused right?"

Usagi couldn't quite read Mamoru's expression. She decided that was a bad sign. "Ah, never mind. It was a silly idea. You're probably real busy and everything." Gutsy as she was, she thought it best to leave as soon as possible and began to turn away.

"Are you free now?"

"Huh?"

Usagi turned back. She still couldn't quite read Mamoru's expression. But she wondered if there was something behind his eyes. A small flicker of… determination?

She nodded slowly. "Actually yeah, I am."

"Well, the arcade isn't too far from here. We could get started today if you wanted."

Usagi's face lit up and soon the pair were walking side by side.

"Thanks so much, Mamoru! I promise I'll pay you back!"

"Er… maybe we should leave money out of this."

"Alright, well at least have one of these." She extended her bag of pork buns out to him.

"Oh, thanks I was feeling kind of hungry." He plucked one of the buns from the bag and began to eat. "Mmmmmm. These are really good."

"Well, I know all the best places in Juban for pork buns."

"Oh, so you're a bun connoisseur?"

Usagi raised an eyebrow. "A what?"

Mamoru swallowed another mouthful before replying. "Sorry. It means you're like a… a fan of the food."

Usagi tittered. "Oh yeah, that's for sure. I'm a regular old bun-head me."

"Well…"

Mamoru nodded towards Usagi's hair.

Not for the first time, nor the last, the couple began laughing together again.