Hey folks! I know it's been a while but here's the next chapter of DOS! I hope you guys enjoy!

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Disclaimer: Nope. I still don't own Sailor Moon~

In the dark living room of his apartment, Mamoru checked his cell phone for what had to be the fifth time in the last hour. It had been an hour since Usagi left the Crown Arcade from home. The blonde had promised to call once she safely made it home yet he had yet to receive a call. Was she planning to call? Had she not had the great time he did? Of course she had. It was she that volunteered to call in the first place!

He stared at his phone for a sixth time. Did her silence meant that she had forgotten or that something had happened on her way home. His eyes widened! That was the most logical explanation! He quickly typed in her number and prayed that he was just being irrational out of fear of rejection.

"Hello?" Mamoru winced. Usagi's tears could be heard in her voice.

"Usagi? It's me."

Mamoru could hear her clear her throat in the background. "Mamoru-kun!" she tried her best to sound cheerful. Mamoru guessed that she hadn't look at the caller id before answering. "H-how are you? I'm sorry I couldn't get to the phone before."

"Is everything okay, Usagi? Where are you? I'll come and get you."

"No, no," Usagi protested. "I'm fine, really. I'm sorry for making you worry. I have to go."

"Usagi—."

The phone hung up. Mamoru slipped the phone in his back pocket. If that wasn't a cry for help, he didn't know what was!

He was about to run towards the door when a thought struck him. Usagi wasn't responding to him, but there was someone he was sure she would talk to. He knew she had an almost angering celebrity crush on his alter ego.

He pulled out his transformation rose and decided to take the balcony.

Tuxedo Kamen found it pretty easy to found Usagi. She was crouching in a dark alley. He could hear her sniffles even from his place on the roof.

He could feel rage boiling within him. What happened to Usagi to make her cry in an alley? Why didn't she call him?

He leapt from the roof and crouched beside her, wrapping her inside his cape to keep her warm.

She could recognize the soft velvet of his cape anywhere. "Tuxedo Kamen," her voice sounded weak even to her. "How did you find me?"

"Don't worry about it, Usagi," he winced, immediately recognizing his mistake. "Who hurt you?"

Usagi wept. "I was so stupid," she said through her tears. "I let my guard down and she took it."

Tuxedo Kamen gave a puzzled look from behind his mask. "What?"

"She took it. She had two youmas with her. They overpowered me… There was nothing I could do!"

"Calm down," he tried his best to comfort her. He petted her head lovingly. "It's okay."

This was what Usagi needed. After the torture that Yuri put her through since the festival prep started, the thing she needed most was a shoulder to cry on. She now knew that and took advantage of the one Tuxedo Kamen provided to her. She let her tears fall freely as Tuxedo Kamen soothed her.

He stood with her in his arms. "I'm taking you home. It's okay."

He jumped onto the roof, noting that she didn't even flinch at the sudden change in altitude. Wow, he thought, whatever happened must have really upset her.

He looked around, realizing he didn't know where she lived. "Hey, Usagi—." He looked down at her only to find out in the short time she was in his arms, she had fell asleep.

He sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was wake her up after the difficult time it took to get her to calm down. At this point he only had one option.

He leapt to his apartment as quickly as he could. Once safely inside, he laid her on the sofa and turned on the light to examine her wounds. He sighed and wiped a stray tear off of her face. "Don't worry, Usagi. I'll take care of you."

Thursday

Two days until the festival

Usagi woke up the next morning feeling sore all over. So terrible, in fact, she felt as if a bus ran her over, backed up, and ran her over again. She slowly opened her eyes and immediately panicked. Where was she? How did she get there?

"You're awake," Usagi head shot up at the sound of a familiar voice. Mamoru walked towards her carrying a small tray.

Usagi sat up, trying her best to ignore the shots of pain that went up her spine as she did. She smiled gracefully when Mamoru handed her a warm cup of tea. "Thanks," she sounded so weak that it surprised even her. "W-what happened to me?"

"To be honest," Mamoru placed the tray on the coffee table and sat in the seat across from her. "I was hoping you could tell me. When I found you, you were crying and covered with blood."

The images of the previous night flashed through her mind. Her eyes dimmed and her fists clenched. "I remember now," she announced. "But I don't want to talk about it."

"Usagi…"

"We don't have time anyway," she stood slowly, stretching her limbs in hopes of ridding them of some of the pain. "We have to go to the festival prep."

Mamoru frowned. "What about classes?"

"We got a little behind schedule. Kana-sensei talked with our teachers and as long as we finish our work on time, we can work through class. Everyone is really pitching in to make this a success. We should go. I need to go to my house before heading to school. I can't go to school looking like…this." The blonde motioned to her bloody and tattered clothes. She walked to the door.

"Usagi."

She turned back around to look at him. "Yes."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? You were pretty hurt yesterday."

Usagi nodded and smiled, seeing he was concerned about her. "Thanks but no thanks. I'll be fine, really."

"Let me get this straight," Rei said to Luna over the communicator. "Usagi-chan never came home last night?"

Luna sighed from her place on Usagi's neatly made bed. "It's true. Usagi came home to get ready for a date yesterday, left, and it was the last time I saw her."

Rei groaned and rubbed her temples. "Leave it to Usagi to get herself in trouble. Did she say who she was meeting?"

Luna shook her head. "She didn't. I don't know if she's in trouble or not but please, Rei-chan, keep an eye out for her. I'll call you if I hear any news."

Just a moment after Luna's and Rei's conversation ended, Luna's communicator began to beep again. She answered the call, "Hello?"

"Luna, is that you?" a male voice echoed over the communicator.

"A-Artemis?" Luna questioned the identity of the caller.

"Yes, Luna, it's me."

"Artemis!" Luna exclaimed. "It's been so long! How is everything on your end?"

"According to plan, for the most part," Artemis reported. "Sailor Venus was hoping to meet the girls soon so I told her that I'd schedule a meeting."

"Okay," Luna nodded. "What did you have in mind?"

"Sailor Venus is busy after school," Artemis started.

"As are Moon and Jupiter until Saturday," Luna added.

"But Venus wants to meet her new teammates as soon as possible. She's convinced something is about to happen and wants to meet them before then."

"How about today, then?" the white tom cat suggested. "They can meet at lunch."

"That sounds doable. I'll let my girls know."

"Great. See you then, Luna." The communicator shut off.

Luna sighed and laid on the bed in defeat. So there was a senshi meeting at lunch today. Hopefully Usagi would turn up before then.

The tree outside of Usagi's window began to rustle. Luna lifted her head just in time to see Usagi climb through the window. "Usagi," Luna exclaimed. "Where were you?"

"Mamoru's apartment," the blonde replied as if it was the most normal statement in the world. Looking at the cat's expression, Usagi laughed softly. "Let me explain before you jump to conclusions. He was my secret admirer all along. We had a wonderful date and went our separate ways last night. On my way home, I was ambushed. Tuxedo Kamen found me and this morning I woke up in…Mamoru's apartment." Her eyes widened as she finished her explanation. "Oh my goodness," she whispered.

"You were ambushed?" Luna asked with panic in her voice, completely ignoring anything Usagi said after that.

Usagi nodded as she made her way to her closet. She pulled out a fresh uniform and sat it on her bed. "Yes. Sailor Oblivion and two youma attacked me." She said, distracted due to her new revelation. "They slammed me into a wall, stole my brooch, and left me to die."

"They stole your brooch?!"

Usagi nodded. "I plan to get it back though," she mumbled. "I know who Sailor Oblivion is and I know how to find her."

"Usagi…"

"Trust me, Luna. In the name of the moon, I will definitely punish her."

Usagi glanced at the clock. There wouldn't be time to take the shower she so desired. She ran to the bathroom and took a quick shower to wash off the blood and dirt that covered her skin.

As the water hit her aching body, she took the opportunity to cry once again. No matter how many new discoveries she made or how many times she assured Luna, it still hurt so much. She let her guard down and Sailor Moon paid the price.

"Usagi?" Luna's voice could be heard outside the door. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes," Usagi called back, trying her best to make her voice steady. "I'm fine."

Once her sniffles ceased, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She dried off and wrapped the towel around her body. She went back to her room and began to get dressed.

"You're not going to dry your hair?" Luna asked.

Usagi silently shook her head before pulling her shirt over her head. "No," she mumbled. "It takes too much time. That's why I usually take baths at night."

"Oh," Luna said. "That makes sense. Listen, Usagi, there's a senshi meeting today at lunch. All the senshi are expected to meet outside of your school. Okay?"

"Okay." Once her skirt was on, she looked in the mirror to make sure she looked at least semi-decent. "I'll tell Mako-chan and Ami when I get to school." She grabbed a ribbon from her dresser and wrapped her hair into a quick ponytail. "Mamoru is waiting for me outside." She walked to her window and used the tree as a latter.

"Ah, Usagi!" Luna called after her. Usagi turned back with a questioning look. "Be careful, okay? Without your brooch, you're very vulnerable to the enemy."

Usagi smiled. "I'll be careful. I promise. Thanks, Luna." She closed the window and slipped down the tree until she was by Mamoru's side once again.

"Get everything you need?" Mamoru asked, noting her change of appearance.

Usagi nodded. "For now. We should get going."

The two made it to the middle school in a matter of ten minutes. Stopping only to check in with Usagi's first period teacher, they went to the courtyard where the festival prep was taking place.

Usagi looked around and sighed with relief. Yuri was nowhere in sight. She relaxed a little. "You haven't been here lately, Mamoru. You have to get your script from Kana-sensei. She want the lines memorized by tomorrow."

"Okay," Mamoru said, "I'll be right back." He left her side and walked away to find the teacher in charge.

The blonde looked in the direction that the dark haired man went in. She sighed. Although Mamoru was trying his best to act as if nothing had happened, she still felt like there was a hole in her. She couldn't transform. Yuri knew who and where she was. And she hated her. Usagi had three strikes against her.

"Are you ready to rehearse?" Mamoru asked when he returned with a script in hand.

She nodded. "Yeah," she said softly.

"Okay," Mamoru cleared his throat. "Let's start from here." He pointed to a line in the script.

Usagi nodded. "Citizens of the Silver Millennium," she said in the strongest voice she could muster. Prince Endymion and I, Princess Serenity, have a very important announcement to make."

Usagi's acting took Mamoru by surprise. It was as if she had given speeches on a regular basis. When she gave him a glance, he whispered an apology. He looked at the script. "For centuries, my kingdom, the kingdom of Earth and the kingdom of the Moon have been feuding for century. We are proud to announce that the feuding has come to an end!"

The two paused to allow the applause that the students would give on the day of the festival. After she felt the pause was long enough, Usagi continued with her next line. "And our kingdoms shall be unified through holy matrimony. Three months from the day, we are to be married. May our kingdoms forever be in happiness!" Once her line was over, Usagi blushed.

"And may our kingdoms forever prosper!" Mamoru looked up from his script to Usagi and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Read the next line of the script," she mumbled back.

Mamoru did as she said and immediately saw what she was red over. The kiss. "It's okay, Usagi," he whispered. "We don't have to do this now."

Usagi smiled. "Thank you," she said. "I'll be ready at the festival, I promise."

The dark haired man nodded. "No problem. Let's go over our lines again."

And that's the chapter! For those of you want to see the senshi find out about Yuri, that's in the next chapter. I'm already in the process of writing it. And two more chapters til the kiss! Yay!

Anyways, love it? Hate it? Tell me in a review!

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Annnnd I have another story in the making! (I should really stop dreaming. That's where I'm getting all these ideas) It'll be out soon! Keep an eyes out for it!

That's all for now! I'm going to sleep!

~Koneko~