Merry Christmas Eve everyone! Hope you're all in a jolly mood—I know I definitely have the holiday spirits! I've been wearing my reindeer antlers all morning!

For those of you that are frustrated at the slow pace in which the story is unfolding, well… I don't know what to say except 1) I agree—it's frustrating that the main couple have not met yet and 2) that's just the way this story begins.

I get it that perhaps I haven't moved along the story fast enough, but that is exactly why I'm updating as frequently as I am. I just wanted to establish the Usa/Ichi relationship, Mamo/Motoki, Motoki/Reika, etc., but I understand how the waiting could be annoying.

And FYI, the reason why Mamoru hasn't mentioned Usagi is because, believe it or not, he hasn't thought about her. And considering his character, it's not that hard to understand why. He's just that type of guy.

Also… everything I do is purposeful. Everything. If a character seems like they're a certain way, then that's because it's their personality, which is the reason why I did the alternating POVs—to show the world as they see it, their opinions on matters. Mamoru for example, as it has been brought up by countless reviewers, seems misogynistic. I do not disagree with that. However, his thoughts are not necessarily mine; I'm just trying to develop the characters.

But thank you femmin for your insightful review and everyone else (from all three stories) that is just trying to watch out for Usagi. We hope she takes all of your advice and does right by women everywhere—just don't forget that things aren't always so black and white, and we all make mistakes even with the best intentions in mind.

With that said, that you all so much for your comments and as always, your thoughtful feedback is highly appreciated.

So without further ado...

(Standard disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sailor Moon characters of which I am writing about. This story is an original that I wrote for fun and without compensation. All characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi.)

Two More Weeks

Chapter 3

Binding Duties

*Motoki*

Many would consider it a privilege to be where he was. He was sitting in a meeting with the top executives of Chiba Inc. where thousands of others would fight to be in his position, and yet every time he closed his eyes he imagined being anywhere else. Mamoru had made him a permanent visitor to these gatherings for the sole purpose of gaining valuable 'experience' and while he appreciated the honor, he wasn't feeling so lucky now.

He didn't want to keep attending, but knew it would be disrespectful if he stopped showing up. These were the only times he Mamoru saw each other lately and while it was in a limited setting, it was better than not at all. However, the way things were going right now he wished he had bailed. Not only was it tiresome, but the arguing in the room had been going on for so long that he was ready to jump out the window if it meant he could escape. Everyone at the table landed somewhere in the spectrum between angry and murderous with no exceptions and he prayed to every god for it to be over soon.

Beside him Kunzite appeared calm, but the agitated shaking of his leg under the table said otherwise. Next to Kunzite at the head of the table Mamoru sat cross-armed, leaning back seemingly unperturbed. It amazed him at how Mamoru remained outwardly unfazed despite the hostility he was receiving, especially since he was probably the angriest of all. Still, Mamoru kept up the front and appeared helplessly bored, occasionally motioning with his hand to speed up the present speaker.

"…been proven to successfully mollify the workers; it's reckless to stop now. And then to give them additional benefits on top of that? Ridiculous."

Wiseman, the main enemy and Mamoru's number one opponent, was able to gather the collective sounds of affirmation of the men around him. The ex-CEO was still butthurt at having his title taken by Mamoru and if they thought he had it out for him before it was even crazier now. The side of which Wiseman sat on (and had full support from) consisted of a completely different generation of men with some old enough to be his grandfather and whose differences in ideas were as vast as their ages. All of the old men gave Mamoru disapproving frowns as Wiseman's confident posture further relaxed at the backing. Before Mamoru was able to address him another spoke up.

"You're missing the point. That budget is completely separate and you are being petty." Diamond's input made the men sitting closest to him groan in annoyance. Kunzite released a deep breath. "The key concern is as Chiba-san stated earlier. That's where our main focus of discussion should be. Move on."

Although Diamond sat with the wrong side and tended to represent the same group as Wiseman, he was the smidge of gray at the contrasting table. Diamond was the only young and sane member that sometimes sided with the oldies and that contradiction was the reason for why they were often weary of him. One could never predict whom he would support because Wiseman was his uncle and a familial bond was heard to break. If it weren't for their relation he was positive Diamond would be more reliably on their side since he often saw eye-to-eye with Mamoru on important matters.

Which was why Mamoru had left Diamond in charge over the summer when he was gone. Despite their low agreement rate, Mamoru and Diamond still got along dramatically better (business and otherwise) than anyone else on the opposing side of the table. Diamond was still young and way more relatable than the other croons that still had chairs, and while he shared many of his uncle's views, he often balanced them to make them bearable. Diamond was the lesser of the evils and no one else at this level was even a contender to represent the company—even temporarily (only Kunzite of course, but he had been away with Mamoru).

He made brief eye contact with Mamoru and his agony must have been obvious because Mamoru shuffled his papers together and capped his pen.

"I agree, but we'll have to discuss that next week. We're done for now." Mamoru stood up, effectively ending the meeting.

"How can we be done?" One of the gentlemen sitting a few seats from him slammed his hand on the table to get Mamoru's attention. No one else moved. "Nothing was resolved!"

"I'm busy," was Mamoru's only response, ignoring the man's cry of outrage. His folder was already tucked under his arm ready to exit. Wiseman calmed the man and spoke up in support.

"This is something that we have to figure out now," Wiseman insisted. "Nothing is more important." At Diamond's request to let it go, he escalated to a standing position and waging finger. "We are losing money. In the last quarter profits stagnated and I don't see it as a coincidence." He was staring at Mamoru with scorn, his accusations nothing unheard before. "A systematic cleaning is necessary to raise efficiency. Consolidate positions. Hire more interns. You need to do something."

Heat radiated off of Kunzite in waves and he almost imaged him picking up Wiseman's frail and hunched body and breaking it over his knee. Kunzite was close to opening his mouth to respond, but his fear of undermining Mamoru kept him silent.

"As if I'm doing nothing!"

The animal came out of Mamoru so unexpectedly that half the table, including himself, jumped, and if it weren't for the room being soundproof, the rest of the city would have jumped back too.

Though the reaction seemed a bit unwarranted, the worst part was that these outbursts had become routine. Mamoru had dealt with similar attitudes for over a year already, but since they'd returned it'd gotten much worse. There was so much pressure on him to perform and not only was it tough trying to meet expectations, but he'd grown much more sensitive to the critique.

His dear friend had inherited a responsibility that was nearly impossible to manage alone and Mamoru was struggling to hold on. Anyone that knew him would believe that Mamoru was born for this position. He was already authoritative by nature, but unbelievably that didn't exactly translate here. Mamoru was still very insecure in his position in the company and the fact that these loonies could get such a rise out of him was proof.

"You're still a punk boy. You have no clue about how things run around here."

The few that were seated echoed the disapproval, calling Mamoru a child and none of it in whispers. That was the thing about old people; they didn't care. They said shit to his face with no remorse. Which was why it wasn't surprising when Mamoru left the conference room like a raging ape, the 6-inch thick doors pushed with so much force that they actually hit the wall behind them.

"You have to talk to him." Kunzite had waited until most of the people had cleared out the room before standing to exit as well. He followed suit.

"Reika's waiting for me." It was a bad excuse, but at least it was the truth.

"Another time then."

He nodded, guilty at his presumed promise.

"Yeah. Another time."

*Usagi*

The CINC building was impressively tall and towered its surrounding neighbors by at least 10 stories. The exterior was a modern clean architecture nearly entirely comprised of glass and even the sidewalk seemed to sparkle brighter around it. It was sleek and chic, but the cool front quickly started to psyche her out. The commanding, yet elegant aura reminded her too much of a certain someone; it was practically Mamoru in edifice form!

She pushed those jittery thoughts aside. This was not the time for her to start chickening out. She had two missions coming into this building: finding Motoki and avoiding Mamoru—that was it (despite the tiny part of her wanting to catch a glimpse of him). She hoped lady luck was with her today as she took a deep breath and walked into the building lobby. She could do this!

Her anxiety increased as she pushed through the incredibly heavy revolving doors only to find a blockade of half a dozen armed guards. Surprised that she actually had to go through security to get inside the building, she patiently stood on a relatively short line to have her purse checked and pass through metal detectors. These were just the beginning trials of her journey, but she forced herself to cheer up and keep going. This was all in the name of friendship.

As the day had progressed yesterday, it became obvious that news of Motoki's girlfriend weighed Cass down. It was equipped with the knowledge of Cass's daunting state that she'd come to her logical conclusion, which had brought her here. Cass would not be able to move on until she cleared things up with Motoki. She came today to speak with Motoki to convince him to talk to Cass so that she could finally get the closure that she needed. Hopefully she could give Motoki the message quickly and not have to bump into anyone, especially Mamoru. She knew the risk she was taking by coming into his office building, but she had to do this for Cass. It was her moral obligation as a friend.

She followed the directions that Zoi had given her over the phone after she'd called Ami last night for help. Going over the instructions carefully, she made a right as soon as she got off the elevator on the last floor, the 53rd floor. On the wall there was a sign that read 'Communications' just as Zoi mentioned and she followed the arrows that lead her to a spacious waiting area with a woman at a reception desk in the center. The woman looked up at her and smiled politely.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm here to meet with uhh, Zoi-san," she fumbled embarrassed as she realized she didn't remember his last name.

The woman nodded, picking up her phone and called Fujji-san to let him know that she had arrived before hanging up and asking her to follow. She led her into the hallway behind her and they passed yet another waiting room before reaching his office door. It was open and she walked in cautiously after he called her in.

"Tsukino-san," he welcomed her and she smiled.

"Hello," she bowed her head politely. They'd only hung out once before and weren't all that familiar with each other. "Thank you for helping me."

"It's not a problem at all," he smiled. "Furuhata should still be in the meeting but I know that they're coming out soon." He grabbed a handful of colorful gumdrops from a glass plate on his desk and proceeded to shove them all in his mouth at once.

He'd been Ami's boyfriend for a while now even though Ami had only admitted it to them last week. Max had told Mako and she'd blurted it all out a couple of weeks back but made them promise not to say anything. It had been a surprise to all of them, the last thing they expected from her especially since she had been so stressed out over college that she claimed to not have enough time for anything.

It seemed that Zoi was really good at letting loose all of Ami's scholarly stress because apparently Ami had a few nights to spare. Just after midnight last night, she'd called Ami's home phone by mistake only to be redirected by her irritated mother. According to her, Ami hadn't slept at home the entire week. Surprised at the news, she called Ami's cell but didn't mention speaking to her mother. It was clear by the end of the conversation however, that Ami had no qualm in admitting where she was and had readily passed the phone over to Zoi so that he could direct her through the CINC building after hearing her plan.

It was interesting to her that Ami was with this guy. His long, wild ponytail and foxy features gave him a playful aura that was not what she'd thought Ami was into. He seemed a little spontaneous for her. His tie was hanging behind his chair, beaded bracelets stacked on his wrists and he had tattoos on both his arms where his sleeves were rolled up. Perhaps the saying held true after all; maybe opposites did attract. Cass and Ami certainly seemed to believe it.

After offering her some of his candy—which she graciously declined—Zoi led her to a private elevator opposite of where she came in from and it went an additional twelve floors higher than the other one. They stood in a comfortable silence while she contemplated exactly how she was going to approach the subject of Cass to Motoki. What if he didn't care at all and she'd just wasted her time by coming? She seriously hoped that she could convince him to at least clear the air with Cass; he owed her at least that much.

They got off on the actual the last floor, the 65th and she looked around her in awe. The outer walls were floor-to-ceiling windows and she could see the beautiful panorama view of the city below them. The sight was so breathtaking that she barely noticed when they reached the end of the hall and stood in front of large oak doors.

"They should be done any minute. I'll wait with you if you want," Zoi offered and she nodded gratefully. There was no way she could stay here all by herself while the most influential people in the company walked out of those important doors. "Want something to eat?"

She turned to what he was referring and saw a table set up with muffins, sushi, tea and even coffee. Unfortunately, she so was nervous that she couldn't even be tempted to eat the delicious looking chocolate chip cookies they had on a display. She had a feeling that she was about to see Mamoru for the first time in over five months. Considering their last encounter, she had no idea how they were supposed to behave. When she heard the doorknob jiggle, she slunk behind Zoi.

The door burst open and she peeked nervously over his shoulder to see—the one and only—Mamoru, storm out the room first, angrily striding right past them down the hall without even noticing them. She felt all of the nervous energy drain from her so quickly that she actually felt weak. She couldn't believe her luck. He'd been staring straight ahead and didn't even look around him to notice her. She took a deep breath. Now all she had to do was find Motoki.

The crowd was densely packed although there weren't more than twenty men. She scanned carefully and her heart sank as she noticed Diamond. Goddammit, she'd forgotten all about him. Ducking behind Zoi once again she prayed that he hadn't seen her and waited until he went in the elevator to move again. Apologizing to Zoi for handling him like stage curtain, he finally pointed out Motoki as he exited last with Kunzite.

The scowl came involuntarily as she walked over to them. She didn't really hate Kunzite, but he was part of the reason why she and Mina weren't friends anymore. The last time she'd exchanged words with him was the day that she ate lunch with him and Mamoru back in June and even then it had been awkward. Ever since then, she wasn't sure on what grounds they currently stood, but wished that they'd stay distant.

"Furuhata-san, Kaku-san," she greeted as respectfully she could considering there were a few stragglers. Both men looked at her in utter surprise.

"Usagi-chan!" Motoki exclaimed, a huge smile slowly spreading across his face. She almost teared at the overwhelming feelings. It had also been five months since she'd seen him and she was so happy that he was still endearing her name. She refrained from hugging him, not knowing exactly what the consequences might be in the formal setting and just smiled goofily back. His situation with Cass aside, he'd always been a good friend to her and she hadn't realized just how much she had missed him.

"Tsukino," Kunzite addressed her and she found it incredibly strange that he actually looked glad to see her. "Do you have a few minutes? Could you could meet me on the 63rd floor when you two are done talking?" She nodded at his request, wondering what on Earth he could possibly want to talk to her about, but she didn't think much more about it as he left. She followed Motoki back into the meeting room they'd just exited, which was now empty. She hugged Motoki tightly once they were inside.

"It's so good to see you! What are you doing here?" he asked after she took the seat next to him.

She didn't speak right away and thought carefully about what to say. She didn't want to go straight into the subject of Cass, especially since seeing him in person brought up many more different feelings than she'd anticipated. It was just so good to finally see him again and she hadn't counted on being this excited. She honestly wished that she didn't have to bring up Cass at all and could just catch up on what was going on in their lives. It's been so long and it was like reuniting with her cool older brother. She just wanted to hold a casual conversation and gossip.

"I came to yell at you for not letting me know that you were back," she finally answered, crossing her arms in fake anger, but he had the decency to look embarrassed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you angry." She waited for him to continue, but he offered no other explanation.

"So that's it?" She was mad that he wouldn't even give her an excuse. "There's no good explanation why?" Motoki exhaled loudly as if she was annoying him with stupid questions, but looked at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry," he leaned back on his chair, "but I've been really busy." She took in a deep breath to relieve the irritation of his pathetic answer. "So, how was your summer?" he asked and as much as she reallywanted to talk about their vacations, she couldn't let him off the hook so easily.

"Does this have to do because of what happened between me and Mamoru?" she asked just to be clear. Although she doubted it, maybe Motoki felt awkward about his position in this considering they were both his friends. When she saw his guilty expression, it confirmed her suspicions and it made her wish that she hadn't asked in the first place.

But then it made her wonder if Mamoru had asked Motoki not to talk to her anymore. What if they both weren't talking to her anymore because she'd slept with one of them? She knew that the color had drained from her face from the concerned look Motoki was giving her, but she couldn't speak due to the large lump that had formed in the back of her throat. How had she not thought of that before?

"Are you ok, Usagi-chan?" Motoki asked leaning closer. "What happened?"

"I thought we were better friends this…" she whimpered while he tried prying her hands away from her face.

"Of course we are! What are you talking about?" Motoki pulled her into a loose embrace and apologized, repeating how he hadn't meant to hurt her feelings. "I'm sorry that I hadn't tried to contact you. I've been really busy. I'm sorry. It has nothing to do with anything else, I swear." She nodded, hearing the sincerity in his words and feeling better at his reassurance.

He sounded perfectly reasonable. Why was she over-reacting and jumping to horrible conclusions? Was she really insecure about their friendship? No, she knew this wasn't about Motoki at all… She took a deep breath. She really needed to calm down. She was getting emotional for no reason. Motoki wasn't like that; she didn't even think Mamoru would do that to her. She let go of Motoki and collected herself as best she could, feeling incredibly lucky that she'd held her composure.

She couldn't forget that she was here for a reason and she had to set aside her current line of thought for another time. What if Mamoru was still around and she managed to bump into him on his way to lunch or something? As much as she wanted to see him, half of her was still deathly afraid. She had to say what she needed to say and get out of there fast.

"I know that you have a girlfriend, Motoki." He moved away. "But I think that you need to clear things up with Cass soon." Motoki completely retracted from her now, giving her a confused look.

"What?" he asked dumbly and she sighed. She didn't feel like explaining how she and Cass had become friends.

"Cass, you know the girl you left to go gallivanting with Mamoru over the summer? That one. You need to talk to her about why you dumped her and then didn't even have the decency to tell her when you got back." Motoki was silent for a moment, trying to absorb as many things that were odd about this conversation as he could.

"Cass and I were never together…" he said slowly and she just wanted to smack him for making things difficult.

"That still doesn't justify what you did. And you have the nerve to come back with a girlfriend. What's wrong with you? I thought that you were better than that." Motoki just touched his temple soothingly as if trying to calm a migraine.

"I don't think that it's a good idea to go talk to her," he said finally. Why was he being so stubborn?

"Look, she'd probably kill me if she knew I was telling you this," she started, feeling bad for going against Cass's trust. "But she can't move on because she's not sure if you'll come back." Although Cass had never said any of this explicitly, it was more than implied.

The pained expression on Motoki's face was more than satisfying and it reminded her that she was doing the right thing. Clearly he still cared about Cass, but probably saw her as someone he could always fall back on when he wasn't with anyone else. Well she knew better than anybody that Cass was crazy in love with Motoki and wanted more from him than the fleeting fling he'd selfishly offered. She was not going to let Cass get the short end of the stick. If Motoki really wanted her he had to act now. Cass would not be waiting around for him forever. She would make sure of that.

"All you have to do is tell her is that whatever it was, it's definitely over between the two of you. That's all. You can live happily ever after with your new girlfriend and Cass will continue on with her life. All she needs is closure," she finished, giving him a firm look and he sighed again, shaking his head.

"I don't know…" he told her dubiously. "Maybe we could talk about this another time," he suggested, looking like he needed a little more convincing. "What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked. "We could have lunch or something; catch up."

"Sure," she agreed. Hopefully their conversation tomorrow would go much better than this one. "The arcade at say… 3?" She hadn't been there since the beginning of the summer, but it was their perfect rendezvous location. He nodded.

"Sounds fine," Motoki said, picking up his phone and adding it into his schedule. "Just you and me, right?" She nodded.

"Just us," she clarified. "I promise. It'll be our little date." He smiled in response.

"Ahem…" They heard a noise from the doorway and both turned to look at the source of their interruption. Her heart skipped. She should have known that things never went as planned.

It was Mamoru… and he looked even more confused at seeing her than Motoki and Kunzite had earlier. Unlike when she had seen him just a couple of minutes ago, he was no longer wearing a blazer or tie and the top buttons of his shirt were undone. His hair was messy as hell as if he'd just been pulling at it and she wondered what in the world could get him so worked up that would have him looking like that.

But all that didn't matter because he was still as perfect as ever.

His eyes were completely focused on her and the intensity of his stare made it impossible to turn away. It wasn't until that very moment that the full impact of seeing him in person rushed over her and she felt faint. She had missed him so much.

"Ahem!" She heard a little more urgently this time and realized that it was coming from a woman that was half shielded by Mamoru's tall frame.

She came around Mamoru to pointedly stare between her and Motoki with obvious contempt, her foot tapping angrily. Her hair was pulled back into a severe ponytail, but she was a beautiful woman and she couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed her right away. She wore a bright red blouse with black slacks, holding her coat in one arm as she raised her eyebrow expectantly at them.

"Motoki!" the woman screeched and Motoki immediately took a large step away from her. Could this possibly be who she thought it was?

"She was looking for you," Mamoru mentioned, staring at the seething harpy with a bored expression.

"Who is that?" the woman demanded, asking both men. Usagi looked between Motoki and Mamoru; was this woman serious? This bitch couldn't possibly be Motoki's girlfriend?

"Reika, babe, please-" Motoki said soothingly. "This is an old friend of ours," he explained, staring only at Reika while introducing them. Reika relaxed considerably, but the murderous intent didn't vanish from her eyes until he walked towards her. "I'll see you later, Usagi-chan," Motoki said in farewell while passing Mamoru with a curt nod.

"Bye," she replied weakly, frantically thinking about what was going to happen once she was alone with Mamoru for the first time in ages. She couldn't believe this was happening! Motoki was going to leave her so fast… but they'd just met up!

She looked at Mamoru nervously and her heart started racing again. Her breaths came out shorter and her hands were already shaking at her sides; she was a fidgety wreck! But deep in her soul there was a resolute calm. This was all that she'd ever really wanted from the moment she'd come up with the idea to come here. It was to see Mamoru, to talk to him, hug him, kiss him, have sex with him again.

Mamoru's hands were casually placed in his pockets as he watched Motoki and Reika kiss each other briefly in greeting on their way out. He then fully turned to her before addressing the couple behind him.

"Close the door," he requested smoothly. Motoki gave them a single backwards glance before complying.

A cliffhanger, I know…. but at least it finally happened. Usagi and Mamoru met. Haha!

Vent it out in a review! ;)

-CattyKitty