"I don't like girls who are weak," Tuxedo Mask said coldly as he walked away into the sunset.
'All right, I'll become stronger for you and win you back,' thought Sailor Moon. As she stared off into the distance while he disappeared, Luna came and told her about victims downstairs. But she was lost in thought. 'But how strong do I have to be? I rescued him from Queen Beryl's brainwashing and aliens who wanted to kill him! Maybe he's still the same jerk Mamoru I used to know before we found out we were Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion. Maybe he's right, maybe it is just a stupid story. Maybe we aren't meant to be together after all.'
"Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon!" Luna cried. "We have to rescue the people downstairs!" Sailor Moon turned in a daze, and without really knowing what she was doing, mechanically helped the victims back upstairs. Then she went home.
—
Despite resolving that Mamoru was still a jerk, Usagi slept fitfully. She dreamt of Mamoru kissing her and promising to keep her safe and then woke up crying when her dream turned to a nightmare as he broke up with her and ridiculed her for being weak. When her alarm went off, Usagi was already awake. 'How could they be the same person? A nice, warm man verses a cold cold-hearted jerk.' Without being nagged by Luna, she got up out of bed and dressed for school. It was summer now, so she put on her short-sleeved school uniform.
"Usagi!" Her mother exclaimed as Usagi slowly trudged downstairs, her eyes downcast and puffy from crying. "Well, you're up early! Here, have some toast."
Usagi sighed and ate her toast. Shingo and her dad looked at each other.
"So Usagi," Shingo teased, "how's your boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend!? He's too old for you Usagi!" Exclaimed her dad.
Usagi got up. "He's not my boyfriend," she said looking defeated. Usagi's mom looked concerned at her daughter.
"Usagi…" her mother said as Usagi walked to the door and changed her slippers for shoes. "Usagi," her mother said to her in the foyer. "Did that young man break your heart." Tears streamed down Usagi's face as she nodded. Her mother gave her a hug. "There, there, it will be okay. You know, your father came around after I went through a bad break up. You never know what could happen!" Usagi tried to smile. She didn't think anyone could replace Mamoru in her heart.
Usagi walked to school at a normal pace. She wasn't in a hurry to get to school for the first time in forever. Suddenly she felt like she ran into a brick wall.
"Watch where you're going, Bunhead!" said a familiar man's voice, harshly. Her face flushed as she looked up to see Mamoru in his jogging outfit. Her heart raced as she struggled to find words. "Mamo…" He hadn't called her Bunhead since before she rescued him from Ail and An. Then he started calling her Usako, a sweet nickname that made her heart flutter.
"B-but I—" she started, as he ran off. She yelled after him, "Don't call me that, Mamoru, you jerk!" 'How's that for a weak girl?' She thought to herself with a smile.
At school, Naru told everyone to leave Usagi alone because she was going through a rough time. She had been on the phone with Usagi until late the night before, trying to help Usagi figure out why Mamoru had such a sudden change. Usagi couldn't share everything about the Moon Kingdom and about being Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, but Naru knew that this man who had been teasing her had a change of heart or maybe, according to Naru, had been teasing her because he liked her in the first place.
Usagi spent most of class with her head down on her desk. She would also occasionally doodle a moon princess and earth prince or Mamo's name in her notebook. During lunch break outside, Usagi ate her lunch alone. Makoto and Ami decided to give her some space, as did Naru. Little did they know, this opportunity would be snatched up by a young man who had his eye on Usagi.
"Tsu-Tsukino?" Usagi looked up at a young man with a cracking voice. "Um, my name is Satoshi Togarashi. Um, I've been admiring you for a while. I like your hairstyle! Can I sit down?"
Usagi swallowed. 'Was this a confession of love? I don't think I can handle this right now.'
"Sure, Togarashi" she said, somewhat strained. Her face was blushing.
She opened her lunchbox. She had rice balls that weren't fully formed, tamagoyaki that weren't rolled correctly, octopus sausages without eyes and some cherry tomatoes. Satoshi looked at her lunch. "Hmm, would you like some of mine?" Satoshi's lunchbox looked like something Makoto would make. Usagi suddenly snapped out of her funk and salivated at Satoshi's lunch.
"Really? I can share this with you? I really don't eat much, but if you insist!" By the end of lunch, she had eaten all of her lunch and most of Satoshi's. He seemed pleased with himself. "Thank you, Togarashi," she said as she finished. "Oh, you can call me Satoshi." "O-ok, Satoshi," she stammered. "Can I call you Usagi?" She hesitated. She didn't know Satoshi at all, but he had shared his lunch and was really nice. She would like to be his friend. "Sure!" She said with more excitement than she felt.
"U-um, Usagi? Would you like to go for coffee with me after school? There's this new cafe called Impalleria I would like to take you too."
Usagi blushed. 'A date? But what about Mamo?' "O-ok, Satoshi. I will meet you after school."
In the Black Moon's UFO, Rubeus looked at the map of Crystal Tokyo. Red dots lit up on multiple points of the map.
"Berthier!" He called. She came out of a mirror.
"Yes, Master Rubeus."
"The next Crystal Point is this cafe, Impalleria. I want you to take it over and secure it for the Black Moon!"
"Your wish is my command, Master Rubeus." She giggled. "Expressyoma, come forth!"
"Yes, mistress," cackled Espressyoma.
On the way to the cafe, Satoshi suggested they stop at the arcade. Usagi smiled. This was her kind of date. She played the Sailor V game alongside Satoshi, who encouraged her even though she kept losing. Motoki said hi and was curious to see Usagi on a date with someone other than Mamoru, but he didn't ask.
As Satoshi and Usagi left the arcade, Usagi bumped into someone and fell to the ground.
"Second time today, Bunhead!" Said a grumpy Mamoru.
"Mamo…" she said quietly.
Satoshi looked astonished at the nickname and assumed they were probably close.
"Mamoru," she said louder. "I told you not to call me that!"
"Does this guy bother you, Usagi?"
Now it was Mamoru's turn to be astonished. He thought he knew Usagi's guy friends, like Umino and Motoki, but he hadn't met this one and they were on a first name basis.
"He's bothering me now," she said. Satoshi carefully helped Usagi up.
"Are you hurt?" He asked. Mamoru looked away. He should be the one helping Usagi.
"A little," she said, wincing, her eyes tearing up. "My wrist hurts."
Mamoru's eyes widened and he looked away. His stomach hurt thinking about how he had physically hurt his Usako.
"Let's go, Usagi," said Satoshi with care. He put his hands on Usagi's shoulders and steered her around Mamoru. Thankfully just down the street was an emergency care office and they were able to get Usagi's wrist wrapped.
"Are you still up for going to Impalleria?" By now, Usagi had really felt the care of Satoshi and was warming up to his kindness. This was similar to how Mamoru had treated her before the breakup. So warm and sweet.
"Sure, Satoshi. I would really like that a lot."
At the cafe, Usagi and Satoshi sat down and waited for the waitress to come take their order.
"So Usagi, what kinds of things are you interested in?"
"Oh, well, I really like the Sailor V manga!" She replied.
"Oh really? Who's your favorite Sailor Guardian? Mine is Sailor Moon! She's so beautiful. Come to think of it, your hairstyles are similar."
Usagi blushed and her heart raced.
"My favorite… my favorite is Sailor V," she said. "Will you excuse me a minute? I need to use the bathroom."
As she left, she kicked over her bag and her notebooks fell out.
"Wait, you…" Satoshi started to tell. But she was so flustered, she continued walking away.
Satoshi decided to help and carefully put the notebooks back in her bag. But as he did, a doodle caught his eye and he saw the name Mamo scribbled all over the page. He stared at the doodles for a minute. 'Now I understand', he thought.
As he finished putting the notebooks away, the waitress came. Or so he thought. He started to say that she should come back in a minute, when he looked up and saw a monster!
"I overheard you talking about Sailor Moon! Where is she?" The monster grabbed him by the shoulders and held him up.
"I-i-don't know Sailor Moon!" He said, terrified. The monster threw him through the window just as Usagi was exiting the bathroom. She immediately went back in and checked to make sure no one was in the stalls.
"Moon Crystal Power… Make UP!" She cried.
Her sparkling transformation filled the bathroom. As she went through the motions of her transformation she noticed her wrist still hurt. 'This is going to be a fun battle', she thought.
"Stop right there! Going to coffee is a sacred dating tradition and you ruined it! I cannot forgive you for ruining my date! I'm Sailor Moon! And in the name of the moon, I will punish you!"
The monster immediately sprayed hot coffee out of her arm at Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon clumsily ran toward the door. She saw Satoshi in a bed of glass with cuts on his face and arms. 'I'm sorry,' she thought.
The monster chased her out the door and began spraying acid caramel sauce at Sailor Moon. She dodged and screamed. Espressyoma cried, "Doubleshot coming right up!" And her arm turned into a laser gun shape. Just then a red lightning bolt appeared and a rose hit the ground.
Surprised, Sailor Moon looked up to see Tuxedo Mask in a nearby tree.
"Coffee dates are the bread and butter of young love. For tainting that sacred tradition, I can't forgive you."
"Tuxedo Mask! You came?"
"Sailor Moon?" Satoshi began to wake up.
"Hang in there, Satoshi!" She said. 'How does she know my name?' he thought.
Tuxedo Mask jumped down from the tree. The monster shot pastries at him and he blocked it by spinning his cane. He grabbed a handful of roses and pelted them at the monster to weaken it.
"Now, Sailor Moon!"
"Right!"
She took out her Cutie Moon Rod and tried to do her routine to activate it, but because of her wrist, she couldn't go through the motions.
"Ouch!" She cried. "I can't even hold the Moon Rod up!"
Behind his mask, Mamoru's eyes got very wide. Her hurt wrist from earlier was preventing her from finishing the monster off and it was all his fault. He ran over to her and put his arms around hers.
"Sailor Moon, let me help you stabilize your wrist."
"Moon Princess… Halation!" She cried as she and Tuxedo Mask used the wand to defeat the monster.
After the monster turned to dust, Sailor Moon turned to Tuxedo Mask.
"Mamo… I mean, Tuxedo Mask, you saved me and helped me defeat the monster. I know you have to still care about me!" Her eyes teared up. He was glad to have been able to hold her again, but instantly snapped out of it. She would die if they got back together!
"Usa...gi, Sailor Moon. I loved you once, so I take care of you for old times sake, nothing more. We are never getting back together." He walked away.
This interaction happened without them remembering that Satoshi was conscious. 'Usagi's Sailor Moon…and that mean guy from earlier is Tuxedo Mask,' Satoshi thought to himself.
Sailor Moon went back to the bathroom and checked the stalls again. She de-transformed and ran out to find Satoshi. He was bleeding in multiple places, but conscious. "Come on," she said, "let's go back to the emergency clinic."
After he was patched up, they sat on a park bench as the sun began to set. "You know, Usagi, I never plan to hurt you. And if you'd let me, I'd like to take you out on another date."
Usagi swallowed. She still loved Mamoru. Today she hadn't proved she wasn't weak. She was actually weaker than yesterday given her sprained wrist. He had to help. But that was so nice feeling when he was stabilizing her wrist.
"Satoshi, I…"
"You can't because you still love that other guy, Mamoru, right?"
"How did…?"
"Don't worry, Usagi, you're secrets are safe with me." He said as he got up and started running away.
"I still like you, Usagi Tsukino!" He called back.
She smiled. "Thank you, Satoshi, for showing me what a nice boyfriend would be like," she said to herself.
Mamoru sat on the couch in his apartment, dejected. 'She has a new man,' he thought. 'And there is nothing I can do.'