Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

.

.

.

"If your heart was really broken, you'd be dead. So, shut up."
—Anonymous

Today is the day.

It's the day I'll finally tell Mamoru Chiba how I feel. I've remembered to put on my big girl panties, I've chugged three cups of tea to steel myself against the nerves that are threatening to make me hurl—although, all that's actually served to do is make the butterflies beat a slightly more violent samba on my ribcage—and I've rehearsed what I'm going to say to him for the last twenty-four hours.

I'm ready.

I can do this.

"Just go up to him and you say the words. The good words. The coherent words." I mumble the world's least inspiring pep-talk to myself as I round the corner of the connected corridor.

I would have no idea if anyone is saying 'good morning' or about to throw eggs at me; I'm too busy keeping an eye out for Mamo as I walk. I force my hands to relax out of the white-knuckle fists they've balled themselves into and to take a deep breath. "You can do this, Usagi," I mutter. "Rei agreed it sounded fine. It's fine. You can—"

I stop and feel someone run into me from behind. They say something distasteful, but I don't hear what the exact words are as I'm too busy having my heart ripped out of my chest and stomped on. I'm pretty sure it's then set on fire for good measure and the ashes are scattered prettily on a vat of acid.

Somehow, despite all that torture, the damned organ is still managing to beat furiously in my chest. It's gotten far too hot and suddenly the air seems far too thin. An inconvenient lump forms in my throat. I blink, not believing what I'm seeing. Surely, I'm dreaming?

I actually slap my own cheek, but the image in front of me is still clear as day.

Seeing Mamo and Rei Hino standing in the middle of the hallway, on a Monday morning, is not an unexpected sight; it happens on a weekly basis. But seeing Mamo with his hands on her hips, their foreheads and noses touching, and making goo-goo eyes at each other? That's something I've only ever seen in my nightmares.

And, the universe doesn't seem to think that's enough to throw at me this morning. My heart, too despondent even for theatrics, stutters to a stop when he presses a kiss to her lips. As far as kisses go, it's a simple thing; chaste, sweet, and completely appropriate for the school corridor. But, I feel nausea threatening again and I take an involuntary step forward as if that's going to make any difference.

I manage to drag my eyes off them for long enough to look around. No one seems at all concerned that Mamo and Rei are kissing in the hallway.

Which only means one thing.

Well, no. Actually, it means a multitude of things.

But, first and foremost, it means that I'm the last one to find out.

It also means that the whole time I was going over my speech to Rei in the last twenty-four hours—and she was telling me she thought it was great, and building up my confidence, and telling me I had to talk to him today—she was, what? Already…with him?

I feel sick and my eyes feel unusually hot and prickly.

Someone claps me on the back and I look over to see Gurio Umino grinning at me. "It finally happened—Chiba and Rei. Pretty great, huh, Usagi?" he asks, clapping me on the back again, and then walks off with a huge grin.

I slowly drag my eyes back to Mamo and Rei, only to find them looking at me like the corridor is the last place they expect to see me, like we haven't met here every morning since first year.

Concern floods Mamo's deep, sapphire eyes, but it's Rei's reaction that really hits home. The expression on her face says more to me than words ever could; the conniving bitch knows how I feel about Mamoru. She's known all these years how I've felt about him!

It's never been lost on us that a guy with two female friends could cause some issues as we grew up. That's been the whole reason Rei and I have always been honest when it comes to Mamo. We made a pact as ten-year-old that we would always tell each other if we started or stopped liking him—or, in my case, fall totally, completely, and irrevocably in love with him and won't stop even when I'm stone-cold dead.

Rei has crushed on Mamo plenty over the years, and we've always laughed about it. Each time, I've reassured her that he isn't mine and if she really liked him, and he liked her, then I'd step back—and, I've meant it... At least, I've wanted to mean it. But, Rei has always assured me that Mamo isn't her type and that she wouldn't get in my way.

Lies.

I just can't comprehend such betrayal.

I've been blindsided. I feel like I've been kicked in the gut and it hurts worse than those period cramps where it feels like a demon child is trying to rip its way out of your uterus.

I blink and realize my eyes are tearing up. Yay. Betrayal with a healthy sprinkling of humiliation. As if Mondays aren't hellish already...

Mamo takes a step forward as he ignores the person who calls out hello to him, but I turn and push my way through the throng of my peers. I can only hope to find somewhere quiet before my eyes decide to join in on the betrayal and embarrass me.

I round the corner and begin to search frantically for a safe place to hideout; I have no idea where to go, or what I plan to do once I get there.

Frantic, I push open a door and step inside what turns out to be a vacant classroom—thank God!—and quickly close the door behind me. I lean against the wooden surface, shifting my weight, and let out a quaky breath.

"Odango?" a bemused voice suddenly speaks, causing me to practically explode out of my own skin in shock.

I peer quickly to my left, only to drink in the sight of Seiya Kou, Juban High's resident playboy and celebrity. He's currently perched on one of the windowsills, his long, black hair tousled to messy perfection, school uniform rumpled, with a cigarette wedged between his pointer and middle fingers.

"Of all the girls I expected to see in here, you were not on the list." He tosses the cancer maker out of the window and jumps gracefully down, with cat-like reflexes, to the linoleum floor. His cocky smirk turns into a frown as he slowly approaches me, his navy eyes searching my face. "What's wrong?"

I blink and a tear actually has the audacity to run down my face. I sniff, look up at the ceiling overhead, and try surreptitiously to wipe under my eye. "Nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?"

The smirk is back. "You're certainly not the first girl brought to tears by my presence."

My tears are suddenly drying up and I'm starting to forget why they welled in the first place as I glare at him. "I imagine I'm not the first one scarred by the experience, either," I reply flippantly.

He only laughs and rubs his hand along his stupidly perfect jaw. "Can't say that's been the feedback so far. But, I'll take it on board," he says with a conceding nod.

I peer around and see that we're the only ones in the classroom, thankfully. The first bell rings and I mentally curse my bad luck. I turn to leave, but he catches my arm. Just as I turn back to say something scathing, my phone buzzes. I pull it out of my pocket, but at the sight of Mamo's name on the caller ID I hit ignore.

"Ah," he breathes. "You found out, then."

Tears threaten again and I huff a frustrated sigh in hopes I suddenly feel more angry than sad. "You almost say that like you care."

"About you? No. About that bastard fucking up? Yes."

I roll my eyes and turn to him with a glare I certainly am not feeling. "How is it so many girls want you when you're such an asshole?"

He grins at me with that easy manner he has. "Didn't you hear? I'm officially out of the game."

I give him a once over. "You, dating?" I scoff.

He barely suppresses a shudder, like the whole idea of commitment is morally disgusting to him. I certainly don't think the risk to my sanity is worth asking for clarification.

"No, Odango. I'm currently in the market to turn girls off my charms. By your rave review, I assume it's working." He's smiling now, like he thinks he's some kind of awesome genius.

I choose to ignore his remark and, instead ask, "Why are you in here, anyways?"

"Just wanted a smoke before first lesson," he states simply, shrugging his shoulders.

Right, then. Simple enough answer.

I turn to leave, but Seiya catches my arm. "What's the rush?"

"I don't want detention. Some of us don't get concessions when they're late to class."

Being a lead singer of a local boy band and being the star for our soccer team, Seiya is given a multitude of concessions; he gets to skip a lesson to do whatever it is that famous people do, he can be late, miss exams, have easier assignments, be a complete shit to the teachers, and they all just wish him well for his next performance or match.

"Ouch," Seiya retorts, chuckling, while running a hand nonchalantly through his hair. "You wound me, Odango."

"It's Usagi, to you," I correct him snottily. "Now, kindly get your hand off me."

Seiya chortles as he removes his hand, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, sorry. Didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

I'm unimpressed, quite frankly. "Who would have thought that I'd live to see the day that Seiya Kou thought about someone else's feelings?"

"Does my cock count? Because, I think about his feelings a lot."

I glare at him, wondering where he gets the confidence to just say things like that. "You're not as charming as you think you are."

"I think, Usagi, that you'll find that I am."

The second bell rings and I curse under my breath, which earns me a chuckle from Seiya. "I wish I could say it's been a pleasure," I tell him as I go to leave.

"Let me grab my bag and I'll walk you to class."

I frown as he turns and crosses the room in a few strides, eyeing his retreating figure. "What?"

Ignoring my question, Seiya scoops up a worn, brown satchel and throws the strap across his torso. "Ready?" he asks once he's in front of me again.

"I, erm..."

He looks at me like I concern him for a moment, but then he's back to his sarcastically casual self. "Shall we get you out of here? Or, did you want to risk being found out by a teacher? I've got pull, but I don't know if I can get us out of detention if we're caught, just the two of us in a deserted classroom."

I glare at him and nod. "You know this from experience, I'm guessing."

He casts me a wry smirk that tells me he does, indeed, know that from experience and pushes the door open for me to go first.

I walk out into the hallway and am annoyed to find fellow students still milling about. And, of course, they don't fail to notice me walking out of the room while Seiya holds the door open for me. Of course, he doesn't care about their stares in the slightest; he's all but oblivious of their whispering and nudging between each other as we walk down the hallway like we just had the hook-up of the century.

"We've got French now, yeah?" he inquires absently as he wanders alongside me.

"You're actually coming to class today? You mean, there's not a good enough reason that will get you out of our quiz?"

Seiya snorts. "Unfortunately." There's a pause. "We have a quiz?"

I cast him a sickly sweet smile. "Yes. We do."

I've never seen panic cross his face before, but I take a singular pleasure in it. By the way his eyes narrow, he can tell and that pisses him off. I wish I could say that I care.

"So, a question. Where are you going to sit?" he asks slowly, as though it's something we discuss every day. My step falters at the sudden realization that I cannot, under any circumstances, sit in the vicinity of Mamo and Rei.

"You're not copying from my answers, Seiya," I grit out, hurrying my feet along.

"Oi, I never said I was gonna cheat," he retorts, faking offense, easily matching his footfalls with mine. Damn my short legs. "But since you brought it up—"

I interject, scoffing, feeling my blood begin to boil. "You're so unbelievable! First, I have to deal with seeing the love of my life kissing my best friend, and now I have to deal with the likes of you!"

"Whoa, whoa. Odango, wait." I fight off the urge to correct Seiya on his usage of that stupid nickname. He places a firm hand on my shoulder, causing me to stop in my tracks. "This may be a stupid question, but, are you okay?"

A little too late do I realize what I just said, and I find myself wishing I could grab my words, stuff them back into my mouth, and swallow them. "Never mind. It's not important..."

"Judging by the sad, puppy dog look in your eyes, I'd wager that it is important," Seiya contradicted, nudging me in my side. "So, out with it. "

I can't quite put a finger on the reason as to why I suddenly have the urge to spill my guts to Seiya Kou, but that doesn't stop me from doing so. "Seeing Mamo and Rei like that—kissing…" As the mental image of the two of them filter into my mind, i shake my head to dispel it. "I couldn't face it; face them."

"Why Chiba, of all people?" Irritation at Seiya's underlying condemnation regarding Mamo prickles just under my skin, but I bite my tongue

"Because he's sweet," is the first thing out of my mouth, without giving it much thought. "And smart. And sensitive. And—"

"Sounds too delicate, if you ask me," Seiya sniggers. "And what about your other kissing best friend…?"

"I really don't want to talk about this right now," I answer venomously.

"Ah," he breathes, suddenly somber, while nodding his head. "I'll tell you what. You can sit by me in class, give the prick something to think about, and I won't even cheat off your quiz."

"Wow. What an enticing offer," I reply, sarcasm-heavy. "Thanks. But, no thanks."

"You gonna sit in that empty seat up front, then?" Seiya cajoles.

I frown. "I, uh..."

And really—if I do—how obvious will it be? If I sit by Juban High's golden (play)boy, at least it will be less obvious I'm avoiding my (former?) best friends. Sitting next to someone is a just enough cause for not sitting next to someone else, isn't it? I mean, it is Seiya Kou, after all... But, the alternative is just so much less appealing.

Seiya rearranges the strap on his shoulder, strolling beside me. "You've got about two meters to reconsider my offer, Odango."

"It's Usagi, to you," I snap irately. "And I can sit wherever I like." And wherever I like is preferably not next to Seiya Kou.

"True. But if I'm in on it, you can really sock it to Chiba."

I glare at Seiya on Mamo's behalf, if only because I've temporarily forgotten that the latter boy just broke my heart.

"Fine. Thank you," I accept begrudgingly.

What have I got to lose at this point?

A/N: I'm a sucker for Seiya. I've been wanting to write a fanfic about him for a while, and this was the result... Hope you enjoy! :)