Hey everyone! I'm so sorry that this chapter is late, but I had a crazy weekend. Enjoy!

BTW- I'm just kidding at the end! He'll be fine.

Also, always practice safe sex. It's no joke. Protect yourself. You CAN have fun without being reckless, so wrap it up!

(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 9

Save Me

*Mamoru*

His phone had never looked more intriguing before in his entire life. He had over 200 contacts and countless apps that could entertain him for hours, but he'd never checked his phone for missed calls more than he had in the past 48hrs.

Why hadn't Usagi called him already?

Ever since she left his office he couldn't stop thinking about her, more specifically, what they'd done, and he knew that it was spelling out his doom. He'd gone into their lunch date thinking that he'd be the one trying to bait her in but clearly the roles had reversed.

He had to figure out a way for him to get back into his position of power and soon. His very masculinity was depending on how he handled this situation and right now the cards were not in his favor. He wanted her and she knew it—and that right there was the problem. She had the upper hand and there was nothing at all that he could do about it.

So he decided to call someone who had more experience with these types of situations. Who else would know more about how to deal with a dominating woman than the only man who seemed to attract them all? Motoki. Although things were still complicated between them, he felt that this could be the perfect way to patch things up.

Outside it was the ideal fall weather. It was barely 5pm and the sky was already turning dark, though the breezeless night didn't let it feel too cold. He and Motoki were planning to meet by the reservoir near Motoki's apartment and were probably going to walk around it while they talked. He didn't feel like being indoors today and hoped that the fresh air would help quickly resolve whatever issues they still had between them.

"Hey," he greeted Motoki after he joined him.

Motoki nodded his head, falling into sync with him as they started their way around. Neither one said anything and he knew that Motoki was waiting for him to speak. Mamoru was the one that brought him out here so he knew that he had to be the one to apologize first, but that didn't make it any easier.

"It sucks the way things have been lately," he said in hopes that Motoki would agree.

"I don't like it either," Motoki admitted. There was a long pause, neither one knowing how to continue from there. They didn't exactly do this often.

"I know I haven't been really…"

"Whatever, it's fine," Motoki sighed. "You weren't the only one. I've been avoiding you, too." They walked a little more in silence but the tension was finally gone. Now that their apologies were over, they could move on. "So what was it that you wanted to talk about?" Motoki prompted, his arms going up above his head in a relaxed stretch. "What's new?"

"I talked to Usagi," he started. "You were right about her and Cass." Motoki grunted. "Truly a partnership made in hell, but it could be worse. I was with them a few days ago and they didn't say a single bad thing about you."

"Fabulous." Motoki yawned and he decided to cut to the chase.

"Usagi came back to the office. We hooked up again."

"Hope you two had a great time," Motoki replied. "Doesn't. Concern. Me."

Clearly Motoki was still upset about his argument with Usagi, but how could it be that a single discrepancy would stop him from being Usagi's guardian angel? He and Usagi had been arguing for years and look at them now, lovers practically, but he was glad that at least now Motoki understood why he couldn't stand her for so long. She knew exactly how to get under your skin.

"You can do whatever you want with her. I'm not getting involved in whatever you two have going on. I really don't care anymore."

"Well," he continued, going back to the topic at hand, not caring whether Motoki wanted to hear him or not. He needed to share his momentous occasion. "We went raw."

"Good for you," Motoki drawled, but was suddenly interested in the conversation again. "Are you proud of yourself because you only sound like a complete failure." He rolled his eyes. Motoki always made fun of him about this.

He'd always heard his friends talk about how condoms sucked and of course he believed them. A tight, rubber barrier would undoubtedly loose at least a little sensitivity, but he hadn't understood just how much. The difference was night and day and now that he finally knew that, there was no turning back. Which only made it worse.

The problem was that he was Chiba fucking Mamoru. He didn't have the luxury of finding a girl to fuck that he trusted enough to believe when she said that she had everything under control. The amount of money that they could suck off of him by having one of his children! The thought alone made him gasp for breath. He couldn't even bear to think about it.

He'd seen the stupidest things happen to his gullible friends all the time and they were the reasons why he'd been able to abstain from acting brash all these years. Yes, it would be so easy to give in to the urge to go condom-less, but gold diggers were everywhere and if he wasn't careful, he'd be losing millions for a cheap cum shot. His money meant everything to him and he refused to lose a single coin to some whore with a get-rich-quick scheme.

"At least I can say I've never had to deal with chlamydia. It's safe to say I still win in this situation."

"You got me there," Motoki laughed. "It burns like hell when you pee." Motoki shivered thinking about particularly reckless times in his life and he couldn't stop laughing at his expression. He deserved it for being so stupid. Motoki shrugged it off. "You live and you learn." He nodded in agreement.

"You better."

* l * l *

They were a quarter around the lake, the lovely night welcoming a variety of joggers. A group of young girls went past them in a giggling gaggle and he quickly pulled his hood over his head, hoping he wasn't recognized.

"So what about Cass?" he asked finally, knowing it was the elephant in the room. He knew that Motoki probably didn't want to talk about it, but they had to sometime. "Are you going to speak to her?"

"You too?" Motoki sighed, the strain in his voice making it apparent that it wasn't a topic he wanted to talk about. "What the fuck am I supposed to do? Call her up and say I'm sorry that Reika isn't her?" He could tell that he'd put him in a bad mood, but he still felt like being honest would be the best solution.

"You know how I feel about Reika. I'm always going to take Cass's side on this."

"But say it wasn't Reika, say it was some other random girl, any girl, that you were indifferent to. Would you feel the same way? Would you still think that I'm supposed to be with Cass no matter what?"

That was a good question. Was he only agreeing with Cass because he hated Reika or did he genuinely believe that Cass and Motoki were meant to be? He already knew the answer before he finished asking himself.

"You and Cass are like a trend…" he said carefully, trying to formulate concisely what he thought about them together. "Sometimes styles come back so you never throw out those clothes."

"You think that I need to keep her in the back of my closet so the day I feel like throwing on a vintage tee I can just pull her out from storage?" He nodded. "I can't believe she thinks you're her friend," Motoki said disgusted.

"I mean…" Now he felt guilty. "I don't know what the right thing to do with her is. I'm just telling you that in the ultimate smack down between Cass and Reika, Cass will always win. So keep her around, just in case."

"Let's be honest," Motoki sighed, "there aren't a lot of people who could compete with her anyway. But say I take your advice. How do you suppose you keep someone like Cass tucked away like last season's fashion?" That was the stump. It was impossible. Cass wouldn't let herself get ignored for long. "So you see the flaw in what you're saying?" Mamoru nodded reluctantly. "Anything with her would be too complicated. There's no way."

"Because she can't be the main girl or the side piece…" It was like a revelation had just come to him.

"Exactly." Motoki just kept nodding vigorously, glad that they were finally on the same page. Now he finally understood what he was talking about. Holy shit. Poor Motoki.

*Motoki*

"I care about her so much…" There was that natural pause that came with his words and it indicated that there was a 'but' somewhere in there. But he couldn't think of one (except Cass's butt).

"But?"

"I care about her a lot. That's it. There are no 'buts'."

"Then why are you still with Reika?"

"There are lots of reasons."

"Tell me—and I fucking swear I will shoot down each and every one of them." Jed had been right. Mamoru was passionate about getting rid of Reika.

"You wouldn't understand," he sighed. There was no point in arguing with Mamoru. He didn't like Reika so there was no convincing him. Also, one could never underestimate Mamoru's powers of persuasion. It was better that they changed topics.

"That's right. I don't understand you. There are things that Cass will do to you that I doubt Reika ever heard of before, things that she couldn't even imagine. What more do I have to say?"

Sex with Reika was indeed still very guarded, but that wasn't the point! It made him so angry when Mamoru thought he knew everything. Relationships were not only about sex (which was why Mamoru was never in one) and until Mamoru started to genuinely care about someone, he refused to have this exchange with him. It was like trying to get a child to comprehend something way over his head.

They walked on in silence and he didn't know how to pick up the conversation again. They had just made up and he didn't want it to become weird again, but he was about to loose his cool if Mamoru didn't stop looking at his phone. It made him feel like he was dying to leave.

"Are you busy?" he asked and Mamoru quickly put his phone away shaking his head.

"It's just…" Mamoru sighed. "This bitch was supposed to call me."

"Who?"

"Usagi."

All tension he previously felt towards Mamoru flew out the window. Usagi? He was sweating Usagi? Now that was truly hilarious!

"Wow!"

"It's just to hook up again, calm down." Mamoru's disgruntled attitude only made him laugh harder. "Wait." Mamoru stopped walking and stared at him in epiphany. "You have her number." He grinned, wondering what Mamoru would do if he said no. "How didn't I think about that before?" Mamoru muttered to himself, cursing. "Give it to me."

"I don't have it," he laughed, but Mamoru actually reached over to swoop into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. Now this was serious! He really wanted it.

"Are you going to be seeing her?" he asked, knowing that they had this conversation before.

"I haven't decided yet," Mamoru said offhandedly. What a liar. Even as Mamoru copied Usagi's number to his phone, he looked like a kid with a candy bar. "Why? Any words of advice?"

"None."

"Good." Mamoru put his phone away and passed his back. "Because you've lost credibility with me."

"Just for that, I do have something I would like to say." Mamoru grunted. "Watch out for Usagi." He thought back to their argument at the arcade. She had been determined. "I don't think she'll be playing the same game with you."

"She's easy to manipulate."

"Says the guy that just stole my phone from my pocket to get her number."

"You're forgetting that she's like 12 years old," Mamoru snickered. "She barely understands what's going on. I can keep her exactly where I want."

"That's what everyone believes at first. You think that it'll be easy, but trust me that's how it started with Cass. And look at me now. I'm still thinking about her."

"I'm nothing like you."

Had Mamoru never heard of karma? Using Kunzite as the perfect example, no one would have guessed that he'd be so serious about Mina since he was most unaffectionate person they'd ever met. Though they seemed incompatible, they brought out a better side of the other and that's what it was about. Whoever you were with should always make you a better person, at least better than if you were alone. Mamoru didn't know that because he wouldn't allow himself in such relationships and why he didn't understand anything about him and Reika.

"You'll never get it," he sighed.

"No," Mamoru clipped. "I get it. There's just a difference in how we approach things. I go in with a goal, accomplish it and move on. You go in as a dreamer and let things flow on their own, wherever that may be. That's your problem, not mine. If you can't figure things out with Cass that's because you let things get complicated."

While a small fraction of him understood Mamoru's view, he didn't appreciate the honest thoughts at the moment. Fuck Mamoru. He didn't know anything anyway. Feeling like he needed to have the last word in, he addressed Mamoru on a serious note because it was one thing that he really needed to concern himself with.

"Considering the fact that you have no privacy, Usagi could get you into a lot of trouble." He really wanted to stress the importance of his discretion. "Just don't forget that. It'd be a rookie mistake to worsen your reputation for someone you refuse to take seriously."

"I can guarantee that whatever I do with Usagi will not be even half as retarded as what happened between you and Cass. Nor as illogical as you and Reika. So don't worry about me. I know how to keep things under control."

He rolled his eyes. They'd gone back to being enemies again without even meaning to. Despite both their bad tempers, they continued on their walk silently. For both their sakes, he hoped that the cool night would allow their tension to simmer down because considering their varying levels of drama, neither of them could afford to be friendless.

* l * l *

The park was nearly empty, the plethora of joggers seemingly vanishing as the night grew darker, colder. They were on their second go around the reservoir and he knew it would be their last. Reaching the halfway mark they suddenly heard a loud shriek. It was up ahead at the bend of the path and he and Mamoru moved briskly until they were able to see what was going on.

Only 20 yards away from them was a large brown grasshopper the size of a full-grown man. Standing on two of its hind legs it searched a nearby tree. Its shiny black pincers raked the ground leaving behind thick green sap. After a moment, it zoned in on a fat squirrel a couple of feet in front of it that was trying to hide its winter stash of nuts in the base of the tree. In a flash, it pierced the small critter with its claw and shoved it into its gaping hole of a mouth, the occasional crunch of bones the only sound. That is, until it turned to look at them as it shrieked again into the night.

"What is that?" he yelled, stepping backwards. He had seen youma on the news before, but never in person. That thing was hideous!

Mamoru hurriedly pulled him by the lapel of his jacket and dragged them back a few yards into the trees that lined the perimeter. The only light that reached the area was a tiny sliver of moon. The street lamps near them were either broken or flickering and Mamoru used it to his advantage to transform.

The insect was still in the same place, its head cocked to the side curiously wondering whether it should chase them or not. The moment Tuxedo Mask stepped from the shadows it made up its mind and used its creepy insect legs to crawl all the way to them with surprising speed.

His heart started pounding, but luckily he was ready. His fight-or-flight instincts had taken over and he was ready to book it! He looked around him frantically and realizing that there was no safety in the empty meadow behind him, he quickly made his way up the tree to his left.

When they were younger he and Mamoru would have contests on who could reach the highest. Lizzie always beat them both. The last time he'd tried to out climb her, he ended up falling 20ft to the ground and breaking his ankle. He hadn't climbed a tree since. Still, the feel for him was natural and he easily found his footing on the ridges of the bark, grabbed onto steady limbs and sat on a shelf. He moved some branches aside and looked down onto the battle.

He watched his friend beat the oversized insect with his cane and wished for Mamoru's sake that it could somehow turn into a giant fly swatter because he was doing absolutely no harm to the creature. Thankfully, Sailor Moon arrived only a few minutes into the fight and at first was surprised (and confused) at seeing Tuxedo Kamen fighting the mutant insect, but quickly got up to speed. Coming at it from a different angle, she tried distracting it away from him and moved so that it chased her into the far side of the park.

It worked and in no time it was chasing her into a large field of rocks and fallen branches. The youma was fast, but she was able to it dodge easily. Still, it came at her with ferocity and let out shrilling pitches of frustration as it tried to capture her causing Sailor Moon to cover her ears with both hands. After seeing her barely manage to dance around a particularly large tree stump, Tuxedo Kamen, knowing that it would only be a matter of time until she tripped over something, moved in to help her.

When he grabbed her arm, she jerked it back tossing a fearful glance over her shoulder. After giving her a moment to realize that it was not the youma that had grabbed her, he tried again even though she was doing just fine over the rocky terrain. Tuxedo Kamen then, not having realized that the youma was so close to him, jumped suddenly and in an attempt to elude a venomous pincer, spun around to avoid an attack. Sailor Moon hit the ground hard as his shoulder jammed straight into her chest.

He knew that Mamoru hadn't been in a fight in a while, but still. Goddamn. He knocked the wind out of her and he could see even in the distance her eyes bright and wide in panic as she struggled to regain her breath. She was doubled over on her knees, clutching her chest and stomach as she desperately tried to breathe.

Seeing her on the floor, the youma lunged for Sailor Moon, but she was able to luckily move out of the way, taking a high leap backwards. She landed somewhere out of view, Tuxedo Kamen going immediately to her rescue and he couldn't see either one of them anymore. With them both being out of his sight, he panicked and decided to move closer to make sure they were both ok.

He jumped off the tree and landed rougher than he'd anticipated, letting out a grunt as he smashed onto the ground. It was a mistake. The animal's head jerked backwards and despite their ridiculous distance from each other, focused squarely on him. It probably saw him as another, much larger, juicy squirrel. He poised his legs to run, but found that he couldn't. So he just stood there frozen like an idiot as the pincers extended their way to him aiming straight for his heart.

Run Forest, run! Lol

Review if you don't want Motoki to die! Muahaha!

I'm jk! ;)

He's going to die regardless.

CattyKitty