[Scene: The Midori house. Zoi arrives from the crown just as his father is getting ready to go to work.]

Chief Midori: Sit down, son. We need to have a talk…I got a call today from Susan Chiba. She said you need to stop bothering Mamoru.

Zoi: [flabbergasted] Excuse me? I've barely spoken to him since I return to Hen Tie.

Chief Midori: I know you mean well, and you miss seeing him, but don't you go making a pest of yourself. He's really tired, and he needs to rest.

Zoi: Making a pest of myself? I called him TWICE.

Chief Midori: Now, son. I know it may seem that way to you-

Zoi: [hold out his phone to his father] No! Check my call history! I called him twice! And the only reason I called him a second time is because we got cut off the first time.

Chief Midori: You didn't get cut off. He hung up on you.

Zoi: [wide-eyed] Why would he hang up on me?

Chief Midori: Sue said it was because these frequent calls of your are starting to border on harassment.

[Zoi's jaw drops]

Chief Midori: Sue knows what's best for Mamoru. He'll be up and around soon enough. Be patient.

Zoi: Are you saying I'm a liar?

Chief Midori: [looks away and shakes his head] All I know is that Sue told me that you've been pestering her nephew for days now, and he's getting very upset about it.

Zoi: And you believed her?

Chief Midori: Now, son. Its not that I don't trust you. It's just… [sighs] I've know Susan Chiba a lot longer than I've known you. She's very slow to anger, but once she's there, she'll take a grudge to her grave. She's not one to get rattled over minor mishaps and perceived slights. For her to get upset about something, it has to be serious… I'm not saying I don't believe you. I'm just saying, until she calms down about this, I don't want you calling him anymore.

Zoi: Oh my god! I call him TWICE…Yesterday, HE called ME! She must be delirious with fever, too, if she thinks I'm harassing him!… And why is he still sick? I don't understand why he's not better by now! I'm completely recovered and he gave it to me!

Chief Midori: I think he has something more serious. She took him to the urgent care clinic, and they told him he has mono. Mono is very serious. He may be out for more than a month.

Zoi: [scoffs] He doesn't have mono.

Chief Midori: What makes you say that?

Zoi: Because I don't have mono! And aren't you supposed to get it through kissing?

[Chief Midori stares at Zoi and Zoi claps both hands over his mouth]

Chief Midori: [grins] What did you say?

Zoi: [meek] Nothing.

Chief Midori: Then why are you turning bright red?

[Zoi torn between a need to explain, and the worry his father might freak out and arrest Mamoru.]

Zoi: It's not what you think. Go to work, Dad. I've got a bunch of laundry to do.

[Chief Midori heads out]

Chief Midori: Don't worry. I won't say anything to Kunzite.

Zoi: He already knows more about it than you do.

[Chief Midori gives him a sly look to indicate Kunzite's a lot more liberal minded than he thought.]

[Zoi is in a foul mood for the rest of the day as he does the laundry, upset that his father would believe such blatant lies about him. The bright spot of the evening is when his phone rings and he sees it's Usagi. She cheerfully informs him that he's been dazzling her family with her newfound math skills and her mother even promised that if she gets an A her next math quiz, she'll get to go to the Hen Tie Oktoberfest with Mamoru and her friends.]

[After she hangs up, Zoi finds himself smiling. If there is one thing Usagi's really good at, it's cheering people up without even trying.]

[Eventually his father returns, looking very perplexed and troubled, as Zoi's sitting on the couch watching TV]

Chief Midori: You were right. Something very strange is going on with Mamoru.

Zoi: Oh. What happened?

Chief Midori: I don't know..I was off investigating another disappearance and…well, it's just that I saw Mamoru and a bunch of girls your age standing outside a store in downtown. I waved hi, but when they saw my squad car, they took off running…I think maybe he was arguing with his friends… He looked…strange. Like he was upset about something. And…different. It's like you can watch that kid growing…he gets bigger every time I see him…

[hangs up his holster and his bulletproof vest]

Chief Midori: I don't get it. According to Sue, he should be in bed for another week at least… She told me she's been overwhelmed taking care of him…She said she doesn't know what she would do if she didn't have Minako Aino coming over a few times a day to help out.

Zoi: Did you say Minako Aino?

Chief Midori: Yes. Why?

Zoi: Dad, Mamoru doesn't even like Minako Aino. He said she creeps him out.

[A chill comes over Zoi as he remembers it was because Rei Hino started acting the same way Mamoru is acting now.]