Hey guys! I'm really sorry I couldn't get this out sooner. I had massive writer's block and was stuck for weeks. Along with that I've been struggling to keep my grades up with all the stuff I'm doing after school. I'm not going to go into any detail, but it's been a stressful month.

I'm still not satisfied with this chapter. It's a lot shorter than the chapters I usually put out, but I felt like I just needed to put something out.

Enjoy!

Mamoru pulled the door to his apartment open and trudged inside. His tired eyes fell to his watch; the hands read 5:13 AM. He groaned loudly and squinted out the window where he could see the sun peeking out over the mountains.

He glanced around the apartment. Boxes were spread out around the living room along with dusty pieces for furniture he hadn't needed to bring to Harvard. He planned on selling this place and all of the stuff in it, but just never got around to it. He silently thanked himself, for it saved him the tiresome job of finding a new apartment and furniture.

Mamoru dragged himself into his bedroom and sat on the bed, pressing the heels of his hands into his closed eyes. He dragged his palms down his cheeks and studied the room around him. Everything looked just like he remembered it, with the small absence of items he had yet to unpack from his Harvard boxes. A small chuckle escaped his throat. Who knew he could get so nostalgic over an apartment?

His heart stopped when his eyes landed on a small photograph. His feet subconsciously dragged him over to the frame. His hands reached out to brush the glassy surface. His thumb brushed across Usagi's smiling face as she squeezed his arm tightly. They looked so young. So innocent. So happy.

The smile on his past self's face was bigger than it had ever been in the past six years. All of ones he had given were all half-hearted and almost entirely fake. His heart had never quite healed from the sudden loss of Usagi, and there seemed to be a piece missing.

As soon as he felt the sting of tears in his eyes, Mamoru opened a drawer and shoved the picture inside. He couldn't be acting so vulnerable. Not while he could see his ex at any moment. He needed to keep his guard up. He had to.

He didn't know if he could control himself if he didn't.

Usagi stepped out of the sliding glass doors of Crown, shivering at the cold weather that greeted her outside the warm arcade. She bit her numbing lips, shoving her paycheck into her pocket. Motoki had definitely been generous with her money this week, considering she showed up late almost every single day. Being childhood friends with your boss had its benefits.

As her hand slid out of her pocket, her eyes landed on the protruding lump underneath her mitten. She ripped off the white fabric, revealing the ring that had consumed her thoughts constantly over the past three days.

Usagi stared at it intently. Had she made the right decision by saying yes? Seiya was such a good guy and constantly showered her with love, but was marriage really the best idea? She loved him, sure, but she could never tell whether or not it was romantic.

She gnawed on her lip. They had been dating for four years. Saying no would have been impossible- she had made him wait for such a long time. It hadn't helped that his proposal was broadcasted on live television during a concert of his. She had felt so roped in that there was absolutely no way to reject him without being labeled "the whore who broke Seiya Kou's heart".

She gasped when her head smacked into the chest of another person, knocking her down. Usagi cursed herself; she hadn't had a klutz attack like that in years. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled, rubbing her head. She squinted her eyes open, seeing a pair of insanely bright purple pants. Deja vu pounded in the back of her brain. Her vision ascended and she saw a hideous green jacket on the person's torso. No way… she thought. He moved away years ago. Her breath caught in her throat when she made eye contact with shell-shocked cobalt blue eyes.

"Mamo-chan?" she whispered.

They were frozen in place as they stared at each other, unsure of what to do. She felt the cold December breeze blowing her hair into her face and heard complaints of passerbys telling them to move, but she couldn't.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mamoru cleared his throat. "It's… um… nice to see you, Usagi-san." The nod she replied with was so small that she wasn't even sure if he saw it or not. He extended his hand out to her, and she reluctantly took it. His palm felt the same; slightly calloused, but still soft and reassuring. As soon as she was back on her feet, she retracted her hand as if it was on fire.

Usagi blushed, hiding her left hand behind her back. She suddenly felt embarrassed by her engagement ring. Had he noticed?

She fought the urge to laugh at herself. As if he would even care.

"What brings you back to Juuban?" she forced out, the sentence sounding unfinished. She couldn't call him Mamo-chan, but she couldn't bring herself to call him Mamoru-san either. The corners of his lips turned upward, but his eyes averted themselves from her. She noticed the glassiness in them, but wasn't sure if it was just a trick of the lighting.

"I…" he pursed his lips. "I got an amazing offer for an internship at the hospital here in Juuban," he summarized. Usagi smiled despite the awkward atmosphere. It had always been a dream of Mamoru's to become a doctor, specifically at Juuban.

"Congrats!" she laughed, clasping her hands together under her chin. He turned toward her and nodded toward the hand that had freed itself from its hiding place behind her back.

"You too."

She blinked, before realizing what he meant. "Oh, right." The words lingered in the air as Usagi subconsciously twisted the ring around her finger. Her face grew red- not just from the cold.

"Well, it was good to see you," he told her, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Before she could respond, he walked past her and made his way down the street. Once he was out of her sight, she smacked herself in the forehead. She had always imagined being so smooth and charismatic when she ran into her ex, making him wish he had never given her up in the first place. Not slamming into him on the street and having an awkward conversation about jobs and engagement rings.

She groaned and began to walk home, making sure she didn't slam into any more old friends.

As soon as he was around the corner, Mamoru took a breath for the first time in five minutes. He had expected to run into Usagi sooner or later, but he wasn't prepared for the encounter on his way to catch up with Motoki on his first day back.

She looked different. So much so that he almost didn't recognize her at first. She was taller, having been almost the height of his nose despite only reaching his collarbone six years ago. Her hair was much shorter, too. The long, floor length locks and been chopped off at her shoulders. She seemed to have retired the odango hairstyle, which made Mamoru's heart sink at the very thought. He couldn't see the rest of her very well, due to her marshmallow of a coat and different assortments of winter apparel.

And then, of course, there was the ring.

Obviously, he wasn't expecting her to stay attached to him forever. When they were teenagers, she began to stop begging him to take her back after a couple of months. From what Motoki told him before he moved away, she hadn't wanted to date anyone after the break-up, but that didn't change the fact that usagi was breathtakingly gorgeous and was a walking ball of sunshine. Of course someone would come and sweep her off her feet. He just didn't expect it to happen so soon.

Usagi was 20. She was engaged at only 20. It wasn't exactly unheard of, but Mamoru thought he had a few more years before he had to let go for good.

He never planned on getting married. Nobody could ever come close to filling the void that leaving Usagi planted within his soul. Clearly Usagi was much different, but he would only have expected her to be in a relationship at the very most.

He turned and walked away, silently cursing himself. He couldn't care. He wouldn't care. It was none of his business.

Mamoru just hoped he could keep reminding himself of that.

I'm not making promises for when I'll be able to post the next chapter, but hopefully it won't be as long of a wait as this chapter had.