Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Okay, but Mamo-chan, you have to admit you were hot as Moonlight Knight!"

"I wasn--"

"Semantics, he was still a part of you, so it still counts!"

The deep sigh that pulled from Mamoru's chest belied that of someone who had had this conversation before and was aware it was a losing battle. There were a few hills he would die on, but this one wasn't one of them. He was more willing to try to end the conversation than he was to try to argue with her, "If you say so, Usako."

"Thank you," She acknowledged primly, flicking some errant strands of a long blonde streamer of hair over her shoulder before continuing with the conversation despite him and his attempt to end it, "And it's not that you're not hotter as Tuxedo Mask, or even just you-- personally I don't really have a preference."

Mamoru's eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline because he knew very well that even if she didn't have a preference she definitely had way more fantasies concerning his masked alter ego than she would probably admit to. Right now, anyway.

She continued on, unfazed by his silent reaction, "But Moonlight Knight was just like... Different, you know? Definitely beat the 'dramaticness' of Tuxedo Mask sometimes and the white roses were so dreamy... And the way you said 'ad-ew' every tim--"

"Ad-ew?" He echoed, and she flashed him an adorably irritated look as his reaction actually interrupted her this time. The smirk that pulled at his lips was reflexive.

"Yes, the word for Goodbye in French? Ad-ew." She answered, her tone implying the unspoken duh.

The smirk became a full-blown smile as he looked at her from his place on the couch. It was a smile she had become very intimate with very quickly after she'd first met him, the smile of a Mamoru who was endlessly amused (and simultaneously thinking she was the most adorable thing in the world, though she had not learned that until much later) with her and her antics. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"What?"

"It's not Ad-ew, Usako."

"It's not?" She untensed, brow furrowed with slight confusion. She knew better than to argue with him about a foreign language when she had barely passed the one foreign language course she'd been required to take.

"No, it's not." He finally set the book he had been reading down on the coffee table, "It's adieu."

There was a small but very audible gasp from her and before he could look up from where he'd placed his book, Usagi had joined him on the couch and left absolutely no space between them as her small hands grasped his arm. He jolted slightly in surprise, gaze flying up to see Usagi staring at him with star-struck, adoration-filled blue eyes.

"Yes! That was it! Say it again!"

"Ad-adieu?" No matter how many times she'd done this, he couldn't help the blush that heated his cheeks and reddened the tips of his ears at the attention.

She practically melted against his side, hugging his arm as she did sometimes. A dreamy sigh left her.

"Say something else in French, Mamo-chan? Pleaseeee?"

"Usa-"

"My name isn't French!"

Chapter Text

It was late at night and Usagi, for one of the very few times in her life couldn't sleep. By all means, she should have been able to, she was certainly exhausted enough. Mamoru's sheets were always the softest, Tokyo Tower was dark because it was well after midnight and it was pretty much completely quiet sans the gentle sound of Mamoru's deep breathing against the side of her neck. She was warm, comfortable, completely cocooned, and feeling safe so why couldn't she fall asleep?

Maybe it was the fact that while she did feel all that, she hadn't felt it enough lately. He was visiting from America and the visits always seemed too short and too far in-between. The truth of it was that he was back almost every other month though, especially during summer. Still, the last leg of his fellowship seemed to be dragging on and Usagi missed him. All the time. She missed their almost nightly phone calls, their impromptu dates at the Crown Fruits Parlor (that usually ended up being meetings of some kind), their actual dates-- she even missed the faint trace of coffee that lingered on her lips when he kissed her. She usually hated the taste of coffee and its bitterness, but it was one of the best tastes when she got hints of it in Mamoru's kiss. She missed laying on his couch reading manga while he read whatever article or textbook that he was devouring intellectually that week. She missed moments like this.

Maybe that was why she couldn't sleep. She didn't want to miss this.

Carefully, she turned her head to get a better look at him, pale moonlight making his skin look like marble and she would have thought he was a beautiful statue of just that if not for the dark, slightly sleep-mussed hair that fell across his forehead.

He looked so... peaceful. Beautiful, soft. Sleep softened any lingering expression that might have filtered in from the events of that day. She wondered briefly if he slept as good when he was in America. If he missed this when he was gone too. A tiny voice in her mind questioned their strength, just because he was gone so often, but she knew now such feelings were silly. She knew now only because he'd told her he did. Many times. Galaxia's opportunistic attack had made it clear that they should say what they needed to say when they wanted to say it to each other. That was something she'd never had a problem with, but Mamoru was much more reserved than she was. Even so, since Galaxia's defeat, he murmured the sweetest of his truths to her during their quiet moments together, stood closer, held her longer. He told her everything he thought she'd understood without words. She knew it all now.

Of its own volition, her hand moved, reaching up to very, very gently, lightly brush some of his hair back from his forehead; the tips of her fingers caressing the sleep warm skin there, "If I was the sun and you were the sky, I'd never set." she breathed, barely a whisper. Because it was true. She'd rather stay here like this, watching him next to her than to close her eyes and sleep.

dark lashes fluttered against the skin of his eye before the dark midnight blue of his eyes met hers. He was sleepy, half awake, but he saw her staring at him and cleared his throat softyl. His hold on her tightened ever so slightly.

"Usa? S'everything okay?" His normally smooth baritone was husky with sleep.

She smiled.

"Mmm. Everything's fine, Mamo-chan." She whispered placatingly, "I was just thinking of how much I love you."

At her reassurance, his eyes had closed already, trusting in her completely. She could already see the slack in his expression as sleep was quickly reclaiming his consciousness.

"Mm-kay.... I love you too, Usa..." His breathing evened out once again and she tried her hardest not to giggle at just how quickly he fell asleep after that. Because, god, for some reason, him cuddling her and falling back to sleep that fast was just the cutest thing in the world at that second.

She wasn't aware of when she actually closed her eyes herself, or when she finally fell asleep herself. But when she woke up the next morning, it was to the sunlight streaming through his windows, warming her face. The bed was jostling ever so slightly, indicating Mamoru's attempt to sneak out of bed; likely to make some breakfast for the two of them. She blinked against the bright light initially, but smiled, snuggling further into the comfortable sheets around her when she saw the brilliant blue of the sky holding the sun in the sky.

Chapter Text

The day had started like any other. At least it had seemed that way to Usagi. She’d woken up late, arrived at school late, and stood out in the hallway for a while, while Haruna-sensei fumed within the classroom.

The normal routine.

After that, the day had gone as normally as usual. It wasn’t until her last class of the day that something seemed… Different. Her teacher told them they’d be receiving special guests today from a prestigious school and Usagi had passed a confused glance at Naru when the announcement was made. Maybe they had been told before, maybe they hadn’t, Usagi honestly didn’t remember. However, she did know that she was getting hungry and she wanted to go to the game center to get something to eat.

“Usagi-chan,” Naru whispered to her, leaning over toward her some, “You don’t remember that our class was entered into a tutoring program?”

Usagi’s eyes widened. “A tutoring program?” Her voice was probably a little louder than it should have been, “I don’t remember signing up for that! What do we need that fo–”

An authoritative voice rang out, “What we need that for, Tsukino-san, is to help improve the grades of students like yourself. You especially would do well to pay extra attention to your tutor. These are the brightest young minds in our district.” Her teacher interrupted from the front of the class, causing the blonde to blush and nod awkwardly.

“Ye-yes, Sensei.” She murmured, sinking into her seat some.

“The students from Moto-Azabu Private High School have generously offered their time to you as tutors for your upcoming exams.” Her teacher continued as the door to the classroom opened. An older man with salt and pepper parted hair and a stern expression entered and shook her teacher’s hand, a line of students wearing somewhat familiar blazers behind him standing patiently just outside the door.

Usagi groaned internally. Tutors? This was going to be so annoying. And yet that wasn’t the only thing that bothered her. Something about what her teacher had said was bugging her. That high school name… It sounded so familiar.

“Usagi-chan! Do you know who goes to that high school!?” Naru asked her excitedly as the classroom erupted into whispers.

"Huh?“ She turned to her friend, her brow creased. Did she know? Did she know…?

A name was being murmured among her peers. A name she wasn’t quite sure was the one she was thinking of but the more she tried to remember the more a pit in her stomach seemed to open. Oh no… It couldn’t possibly be… The same school HE went to, could it?

“Good afternoon, I am Yamamoto Sensei and these are my students.”

She hadn’t even noticed that students were filing into the classroom. She blinked out of her thoughts, realizing that the students were now entering the classroom as they were being introduced by Yamamoto Sensei before making their way to the back of the classroom.

“My students are the best in their years and all volunteers, but we were fortunate enough to have a tutor for every one of you. Your teacher and I have discussed the pairings in great length and we are certain that they will best suit your individual needs.” The teacher droned on as the students walked in and Usagi sunk into her thoughts again thanks to the monotony on his voice. She hoped with all of her might that she was wrong. That wasn’t the school, was it? God, why couldn't she remember the name of the school on his stupid ID--

She saw him the second he walked into the class and she knew from that moment on that nothing would be the same. The air seemed to leave the room for her as her eyes made contact with his. The fact that they kept running into each other on the street was bad enough. But now he was at her school? And –oh god– he already knew about her grades. This was getting worse and worse by the moment. Of course, though, Usagi, in her own world of embarrassment and teenage anguish, did not seem to notice that she wasn’t the only one who saw him. And knew who he was.

Every other girl in the class giggled and whispered “It’s Chiba-Senpai!” to one another excitedly. It did not go unnoticed either, how Mamoru had seemed to smirk at one girl in particular as he entered the room and all of his attention was still on her as he followed his peers. The midnight blue of his eyes were focused solely on Usagi; the little upturn of his mouth was only for Usagi.

And naturally, she didn’t notice how everyone else seemed to notice.

Usagi, being herself, didn’t seem to clock how heads swiveled in her direction as this was realized. She did notice the smirk and narrowed her eyes at him slightly, suspiciously. Would he call her that atrocious name in her class? Oh god, she hoped not.

“Usagi-chan?” Naru whispered again, leaning toward her best friend as the students were introduced. She had noticed the eyes on Usagi when the blonde hadn’t and was just a little concerned for her friend’s safety. As well as wondering just why Mamoru was smiling at her. “Do you know Chiba-Senpai?”

Usagi’s eyes widened in mortification. He was that Chiba-Senpai?! The one she’d heard other girls fawning over because he was so smart and talented? That was him?! “Wha-what? N-no, I don’t, I don’t know what’s up with hi—” She was cut off mid-explanation as a warm hand –one that was not her own– moved through her bangs, ruffling them and she froze in her seat. Mamoru had just passed her in her row on the way to the back of the room and he saw it fit to already begin her torment by ruffling her bangs on the way. Naru’s shocked expression was enough to tell her what had just happened and she felt her face go as red as a maraschino cherry. She couldn’t deny knowing him now.

She wished she could disappear into the floor right at that moment. She would never live down not putting two and two together on this one. Especially because it was Chiba Mamoru. The same Chiba Mamoru who made her heart work double-time in her chest whenever he looked at her. Not that she’d ever admit that to him. That Chiba Mamoru was the same as Chiba-Senpai and she was just like every other girl in her class, wasn’t she? Fawning over him secretl--

What?! No, she wasn’t fawning over him. She just… She wasn’t doing anything!

“You DO know him! How do you know him, Usagi-chan? Why didn’t you ever tell me that you met Chiba-Senpai? I’m your best friend!” Naru urged as even more whispers erupted around them. Usagi didn’t even notice the other whispers, she was still in her own head, fighting with herself because her face was still unfairly red and warm and she wanted to disappear but she couldn’t.

The whispers quieted down briefly as Yamamoto Sensei cleared his throat commandingly and continued to speak, “Now that the students have been introduced, we will announce the pairings. Juuban students, please raise your hand when your name is called to allow your tutor to find you with ease. Abe Yoshiro-kun, you will be paired with Yamaguchi Naoko-san…”

Naru stared at Usagi intently as the teacher continued down the list and Usagi very, very intently did not look back at her. In fact, it was only when she heard the authoritative voice of Yamamoto Sensei call her name that she was pulled from her spiraling thoughts and she sat up straighter in her seat. “Yes!” She put her hand up only to hear Mamoru’s smooth voice answer just after.

“No need for that, Tsukino-chan and I are already acquainted.”

Oh no. No, no. Her hand fell and she slowly turned her head to look at him as he approached and she forgot, once again that she was being stared at by the rest of the class as her eyes met his again. He was looking at her with that infuriating smirk on his stupid, pretty face and her stomach flipped. Her expression turned sour in response to the betrayal by the one part of her body that she thought would always be on her side and she started to cross her arms. She quickly changed her mind though when Mamoru reached for her to once again ruffle her bangs and her hand came up automatically to swat at the warm one ruffling her bangs. As if she wasn’t red in the face enough at the moment, he was trying to make things worse.

“Isn’t that right, Tsukino-chan?” If she wasn’t certain that he was taking utter delight in her embarrassment she would have thought that the amusement behind his eyes was actually fondness.

“Yes, Chiba-Senpai.” She grumbled through a tight smile.

He was her tutor. Of course, he was. She had the worst luck in the world, didn’t she?