Title: A Kiss In The Dark
Author: Princess Destiny
Email: In Profile
URL: destinysgateway DOT com
Couple: Usagi And Mamoru
Rating: M 15+
Summary: 'One Hour Challenge' #657: Response Fanfic. Eleven years ago, Mamoru's father married Usagi's mother. It's now almost Usagi's sixteenth birthday and she has to juggle her secret life as Sailor Moon, on top of school and a job at Motoki's shop. Her life is turned even more upside down when she begins to suspect the masked hero she is falling in love with is actually her awful step-brother!
Couple: Usagi And Mamoru
Chapters: 7/?
Status: Unfinished
Year Completed: N/A

Comments: Hi everyone! Wow, I got inspired. I didn't think I would get this out this quick. And it was written at 5 pm, rather than 5 am. LOL.

This is my Weekly Challenge Response for the 'One Hour Challenges' Mailing List! I've tried to write a Fanfic before where Usagi and Mamoru were step-siblings, but it wasn't well received. But umm, this idea grabbed a hold of me and wouldn't let go, so despite the bad feedback I might get, I'm writing this plot! So there! My idea was to have the two in a world where everything is exactly the same as it is in the Anime, but that their parents married when they were kids. They were brought up together and still have that acute dislike between them, but it's from long familiarity. Oh, and before anyone asks, it's perfectly okay to have a relationship with a step-brother, since they are not technically related. I don't want to hear any negative comments on this, okay? LOL.

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Princess Destiny

A KISS IN THE DARK

By Princess Destiny

Chapter Seven

"You're sometimes so irresponsible, Usagi, I don't know what to do with you." Luna said, disappointment in her red eyes. She watched as her charge de-transformed and sat on the bed, looking strangely dejected.

"Not tonight, Luna. Please." Usagi said, touching her fingers to her temples. The pain was throbbing through her head as if someone was shoving needles into her. As usual, the backlash from transforming into Sailor Moon was severe.

The black cat opened her mouth, then closed it without saying what she wanted to. Usagi looked wiped out. "Another headache?" She queried in concern. Her charge was getting head pain regularly now and it wasn't always happening when she was transformed. It worried her considerably, but they had not had a logical excuse to tell the other Senshi, so they had not consulted the others on this matter.

"It's a bad one," Usagi winced, reaching for her bedside drawer. She pulled out a packet of Tylenol and popped two into her mouth. The water bottle she always kept by her bed was nosed along the bedside table towards her by Luna. The cat liked to scold her, and nag...but she did care.

"Mamoru gets them also," Luna commented cryptically, tilting her head to the side. "If I didn't know that you two weren't related in any way, I would think it was a genetic problem."

"Yes, I've noticed he gets them-" The Senshi of the Moon began to respond, but Luna swept on, as if she hadn't spoken.

"At about the same time as you. Could it be an allergy?" Luna said, face thoughtful. She ran a paw over her face. "Alright, give me a brief version of the battle tonight. I'll save the for lecture tomorrow." She finally decided, seeing the strain in Usagi's eyes. The blonde was also holding her arm. "Did you get injured?!" The cat almost yowled.

Usagi winced at the shrill sound, then pulled up her sleeve to show the handkerchief wrapped about her upper arm. "A youma attacked-I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you, but it happened so fast-in the business district. We destroyed it." She took a big breath. "But here's the weird part, Luna. I destroyed it with the Moon Wand."

"Absurd!" The Moon Guardian said sharply, red eyes narrowing. "The Crescent Moon Wand turns humans back from youma."

"I'm not kidding," The small girl flopped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling as if she were picturing the battle again. She bit her lip as she recalled the building collapsing in upon itself. "I couldn't believe my eyes. I said the words and then 'boom' all this power came out. It put this really deep hole in the road and knocked down a building."

"Good lord," Luna breathed in horror, finally realising that her charge was not exaggerating about the Wand. "Was anyone hurt?"

The Senshi of the Moon turned onto her side and regarded her Guardian with hurt in her deep blue eyes. "A couple of people. I think if the building wasn't up for sale I would have killed someone."

There was a very long silence, in which both cat and owner was lost in their own thoughts. Luna sighed finally, and leapt onto the bed. "Let me see that wound." She said gently. Now was not the time to scold her change, because poor Usagi looked like she had been chastised already.

Usagi untied the knot as best she could with one hand, then tugged the rest away with her teeth. The wound didn't look as bad as it had an hour ago, but still, it was deep. "At least we don't scar," She joked with her cat, peering down at her wounded limp doubtfully. The Senshi got injured regularly, but the wounds always faded over the space of a couple of days. The longer they were transformed, the more likely the injured limb would repair itself faster.

A knock suddenly sounded on the door, sounding like the toll of doom to Usagi and her cat. The two exchanged a frightened look, and the blonde yanked her t-shirt down to cover the bloody arm.

The door opened and Mamoru stuck his head inside, a hand over his eyes. "Usagi, are you decent?" He asked, slightly embarrassed. What if she had no clothes on or something?

"I'm decent," Her blue eyes narrowed on him in displeasure for a moment, before she smiled.

The upperclassman dropped his hand and gave her a slight grimace, hand going to his head. "Do you have any painkillers? I couldn't find anything downstairs, so we must be out."

His step-sister's smile faded into a concerned look. "You have a headache too?" She asked him, feeling as if this was a very weird situation. Luna had mentioned that they had headaches at the same time... Mamoru's eyes were showing how much pain he was in, brow creased.

"Too?" He echoed, eyes meeting hers. Mamoru noted that his step-sister's expression was tight, as if she were fighting back an ache. The man wandered further into her room and he closed the door behind him. "You have a headache too, Odango?" He questioned, frowning. "This isn't the first time we've had headaches together, is it?"

"You noticed that? I thought it was weird." Usagi's voice faltered for a moment, as she remembered earlier. Tuxedo Kamen...Mamoru. Her eyes went to his hair, then darted quickly away. How strange that they both had headaches, and as he had mentioned, it usually happened at the same time. Was it something to do with being a superhero?

"Do you have something I can take?" Her step-brother sat down on the seat before her dressing table. "You know, for your periods?" Mamoru added teasingly.

"Hmm," The blonde growled at him, still unhappy about her humiliation of that afternoon. "You really know how to push it, jerk."

"People in pain should band together. And as we're living in the same house, and you're my step-sister, I think I'm in my rights to taunt you all I like," He said mockingly. His hands rubbed together like a corny cartoon villain. "You got me more times than was fair to our game today, Odango Atama. This is me warning you that your time is up."

Her step-brother was his usual annoying self, even this late at night! Usagi glared at him, then picked the box of painkiller up from her quilt and passed them to him. "Thanks a lot. Does this mean you're going to try something right now, or after I'm asleep?" She said suspiciously, crossing her arms.

Mamoru grinned at her, but then his eyes fell on her arm and he paled. "Usagi, are you bleeding?" There was a long streak of red running down from her elbow down to her wrist. He quickly rose and went over to the bed, then knelt before her. "Let me see." He ordered, reaching for her arm.

The blonde thought about putting her arm behind her to hide it, but he had already seen. She sighed and gave him her arm. "I was running to Rei's and tripped. You know how klutzy I am." Usagi said with an exaggerated tone.

Mamoru, however, was very silent as he studied her wound.

The cut on his step-sister's arm was pretty deep, and there was a lot of blood. "You're your own worst enemy, Odango." He shook his head, trying to keep his tone light. But it worried him a lot she had hurt herself running. The idiot hadn't even bothered to wrap it up or disinfect it! Mamoru wiped at the blood, then prodded at the cut to see if there was anything inside it.

Usagi winced and bit her lip, trying to ignore the pain. She had been injured heaps of times before, and just had to bear with it. Her jerk of a step-brother was being awfully caring though. Her blue eyes rested on his bent head thoughtfully. "It's fine. It isn't the first time I had a fall, Mamoru." To her surprise, she found herself trying to comfort him. He did look very distressed...

"Wait here a minute," The upperclassman said curtly, mind racing ahead. He had to get the medical kit and antiseptic, then maybe some butterfly clips. "I'll be right back."

"Oh, no! It's alright. I'm just going to wrap it up with this," Usagi said, groping behind her for the handkerchief. Her fingers closed over the material and she pulled it out, waving it's crumpled, bloody mess under his nose. "Ugh, I think I might need something else." She muttered, staring at the once-white material in dismay.

Luna made a choking noise as she saw how badly the wound had bled before her charge got him. Unwound like that, she could now clearly see how bad the bleeding was. Mamoru also was looking quite shocked, she noted with approval.

Yes, Mamoru was very shocked. He gaped at the handkerchief, liberally splashed with his step-sister's blood and three things went like lightening though his mind.

Usagi had bled way too much and must be feeling weak...

Sailor Moon had been wounded in round-about the exact same area as his step-sister...

Usagi was waving Tuxedo Kamen's handkerchief under his nose!

Oh no, no, no. It wasn't true. His step-sister wasn't the very girl he had a crush on and rescued regularly. "Usagi, let me see that!" He choked out, blue eyes darkening with disbelief. He reached for the material which would have the symbol of a rose embroidered on it if his hunch were correct.

Usagi, with an impending sense of doom, deftly pulled the handkerchief from his grasp and hid it behind her back, wincing as pain shot up her injured arm. She stared at him and he stared back. The expression in his eyes sort of reminded her of her own earlier that evening when she found out...found out... She gasped, making a sudden connection. If Mamoru was really Tuxedo Kamen as she fully suspected, then he had realised that Sailor Moon had been injured on the arm in the same place.

There was a long, tense, silence in the room.

Siblings locked eyes, a quiet battle between them.

Mamoru's mouth pursed in anger as he found the blonde giving him back stare for stare. Was it her? Sailor Moon? No, it just wasn't possible. He found himself looking at her features, eyes raking over long blonde hair, big blue eyes and a body a model would kill for. Not that he had ever really noticed, she was his step-sister after all.

"Usagi-give me the handkerchief." He said sternly, determined to get to the bottom of this.

"No, I don't think so," Usagi said back on the same tone, her eyes narrowing on his. She suspected that he knew. But she was pretty damned sure he wasn't one hundred percent about it and for some reason, Tuxedo Kamen's handkerchief held the reason. Did it have his name on it or something?!

Panic suddenly crashed in around her and her heart sped up. Mamoru couldn't be Tuxedo Kamen. This was all a bad dream. And he didn't know she was Sailor Moon. This was her jerk of a step-brother, the guy she had known well for the last eleven years.

"And why is that?" Mamoru growled at her, bouncing on the balls of his feet and readying to charge. If he moved quickly enough, he could reach behind her and grab that damn handkerchief. It had to be his. What were the chances that Usagi had been injured in the same place as Sailor Moon?

"I don't feel like it!" She almost shouted in his face, leaning in closer. She stared hard into his eyes. "Do you have some fascination with my bloody handkerchief, brother?"

Out in the open, just like that! Damn it, but she was a pain in the neck, boldly throwing it into his teeth that way. What was he going to say? 'I think you're really Sailor Moon, but I can't prove it until I see if that handkerchief has my rose emblem on it?'. Yeah, that would work. Mamoru gnashed his teeth together, caught in yet another staring competition with his bratty step-sister. Only, she wasn't looking so bratty at the moment, since he was seeing her with new eyes.

Eyes that had mentally stripped a certain super heroine naked countless times, god damn it!

"Shit!" He swore, falling onto his backside in defeat. All the fighting energy went out of him, just like that. Was he crazy? "I just had the weirdest thought," He confided in her, giving a strained laugh. "You'll laugh when you hear it." Mamoru found himself glaring at her accusingly.

Usagi swallowed hard, then gave him a hesitant smile. "Yeah?" She said, eyes darting left, then right in panic again. He wasn't going to ask her, was he? No, her step-brother couldn't just come right out and say it? Could he? "It's that funny, is it?" The blonde held her breath, waiting.

Mamoru frowned, looked away, and then crossed his arms. He was quiet for a moment, considering. Now, he could up and ask her if she was Sailor Moon, but Usagi would deny it undoubtably. Even if he got a hold of that handkerchief to confirm it, she would make up an excuse. No, what he needed was more proof. His guess about who she was, was just absurd anyway.

And mind-altering! His step-sister was not super hero material, after all. She was klutzy and not too smart-unless she was plotting to get him back during their battles-and he had known her for eleven years. Sailor Moon was an airhead too sometimes, but he had never, ever had a hint that he knew her. "Hmm..." He murmured, thinking it all over carefully. Admittedly, Usagi had the same sort of hairstyle as Sailor Moon, but having pigtails wasn't that uncommon in japan. Neither was being a blonde that was japanese, although it wasn't a regular occurrence.

Usagi couldn't help giving him a nervous look. She nibbled on her lower lip and kept quiet, not liking the way her step-brother's mind was turning over everything. She knew that considering look well. He was putting all the facts together to make a conclusion, and she just hoped that he was his own worst enemy in that department. "Well?" She burst out finally, unable to stand the silence any more.

Mamoru help up one finger, halting her words. She looked uneasy, which didn't sit well with him. Considering that he had told her he was going to say something funny, Usagi looked awfully nervous. Since when had she been so uncomfortable in his presence? Maybe a guilty conscience?

No, he was being stupid! There was no way in hell Usagi was Sailor Moon, and he could have laughed at himself for such a stupid thought. "You got that wound falling you said?" He asked her calmly. Now that he had sorted out that problem, he could go back to treating her.

"I thought you were going to tell me something?" The Senshi of the Moon said suspiciously. Had he decided that she wasn't who he thought? God, this was so nerve-racking! Fingers clenched behind her back, not caring if she ripped the handkerchief in the process. Usagi threw Luna a quick look and confirmed that the cat was looking very confused. "I didn't tell her..." She muttered under her breath, realising that the cat had absolutely no idea why the atmosphere was so tense.

"It was just a joke," Her step-brother replied shortly. His blue eyes met hers again, this time with worry. "Never mind, I'm going to get that medical kit." While he had been here fantasising up unbelievable theories, his poor sister was bleeding everywhere!

Usagi gaped at him as he got to his feet and swiftly exited the room. "No way," She uttered loudly in disbelief. The blonde quickly stuffed the bloody handkerchief into her sub-space pocket so that Mamoru couldn't get a look at it, then she flopped onto her back and groaned. "I take it back, Mamoru is an idiot!"

But somehow this fact was more of a comfort than a worry.

To Be Continued...

Write me if you liked! Comments are adored and much appreciated.

The next Chapter will be out in a couple of days. I'm on a roll with the plot now. :) I didn't mean for Mamoru to find out so early, but oh well. He thinks he's wrong anyway.

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Hugs,
Princess Destiny