"Oi..."
Rubbing her bruised head she didn't even have to look up to recognize the voice.
"Idiot, you walked right into me!" She accused, stabbing a finger into the upperclassman's chest.
"I think you've got your head on backwards, because from where 'I' am standing, *you* walked into *me*." Mamoru dusted off his high school uniform as though it had somehow been dirtied by the collision. "How many times do I need to tell you to watch where you're going?"
"You're the one who needs to watch it, Mamoru Chiba! Where do you get off, picking on younger girls alone at night." She glared up at him.
"You are hardly a girl, what with that mustache you've got going..."
"How dare you! I'll have you know I am one of the prettiest girls in my class!"
"what the world must be coming to, if *you* are at the top of the gene pool."
"Oh and you're so much better!" She scoffed, giving him a drawn out appraisal. "An arrogant ass with some sort of mental retardation." She paused to make a disgusted face at his olive jacket. "And colorblind to boot."
"I'll have you know this was a gift." He crossed his arms defensively over the garment in question. "You can't even pass your middle school exams, so who are you to lecture me on mental retardation?"
"Someone with enough of a brain to know a jerk when I see one!"
"Real witty," he drawled. "You're just proving my point."
"You..." Usagi scrunched up her face as she searched for another insult. "chauvenistic prick!"
He lowered his arms again with a smug smirk, "I've never had any other women complain."
"ARGH!" Usagi threw her hands up in frustration, only then noticing that the streetlamps were flickering on. "I don't have time for this, I need to get home before 9:00." Ignoring him she brushed by and began walking again.
It took her another few minutes and some budding instincts to notice that he was following her.
Whirling around, she pinned him with a look that would have terrorified a lesser man. "What do you want? Why won't you just leave me alone!"
He shrugged, his face indifferent. "And let you buldoze over some other hapless victim and then scream like a banshee at them? I'd rather keep the streets of Tokyo safe for one night."
"You're the one without enough coordination to sidestep someone half your size." She turned again, dismissing him.
This time it only took her a minute to notice he was still shadowing her. She stopped walking without turning to look at him. "Just go."
"And deprive you of the karmic justice of being tortured by my mere presence? Never." He didn't mention how his chivalrous moral code would not allow him to let a girl younger than him walk home alone at night, especially in a park like this where anything could happen.
Usagi tipped her head, not feeding into his provocation for once. "Mamoru, I said just go. I don't need or want you following me, I can take care of myself."
"Fine," he acquiesed. "I have more important things to focus on anyway. If anything happens to you though, Motoki will never let me forget it, so don't do anything stupider than usual."
He didn't see the telltale smile at his teasing with her back turned toward him. "I promise, nothing stupid."
He nodded even though he knew she wouldn't see it, before turning and heading in the opposite direction.
Satisfied after a few seconds of listening to his footsteps grow fainter, Usagi began walking again.
For the rest of the walk home, the cold air and darkness around her became more obvious. Her solidarity did as well.
As she stepped up to her front door, she missed the black form peeking around from behind the bushes that had trailed her the final stretch of the way.
AN: Thanks for the reviews. If you guys make specific suggestions on what you want to see in later drabbles I'll try to appease them.