*********************************************
The Game Is the Mystery
Day 6- Risk
Rated PG-13 
By April Rayne
Startear42@aol.com
*********************************************

"Mmmmm..." Usagi mumbled, her comment coming out as a mumbled 
endearment from her closed lips, formed in a content smile. 

She was having the most *wonderful* dream...

She was dancing in a light fog, the bright white of her dress 
bringing out her twirling form in the light breeze. It was as if she 
was floating on air, the clouds acting as soft pillows beneath her bare 
feet, spreading the heady scent of roses. Eyes closed, she moved to the 
beat of her heart, moving with fluid strokes. She extended her hand, 
and felt another warm hand take hers, and pull her next to a strong 
body. From there, the dancing stopped, the world stopped, and her heart 
lay suspended in time. A familiar protective, loving feeling began to 
flow from within her, and the man's arms came around her, holding her 
in an embrace in which she felt she could never leave. She was safe, 
protected... and horribly in love...

But somehow, it wasn't a dream...

It was still fairly dark outside, the sun not having come out 
from its nightly rest. The moon still held the couple captive in its 
embrace, and neither one argued with its presence.

Aroused from her sleep, Usagi's eyelids opened slowly. Not seeing 
anything come into focus, she forced her energy to open her eyes wider. 
Still not noticing anything but lights upon a shadowed object, she 
squinted. 

A rose... 

It lay before her eyes, and, as if on cue, a sudden shift of the 
lace curtain allowed more light to shine upon it, bringing out its 
perfection. 

And that's when she realized that she heard something familiar...

A heartbeat...

Her eyes closed again, trying to go back to the blissful escape 
of dreamland that she had so carelessly left. For when she opened her 
eyes, she would be thrust back into the realm of reality again, 
subservient to fate and to her fears, her weaknesses... 
But the heartbeat that pounded with such a solid and steady beat 
next to her ear was calling her back, telling her that she had to face 
the truth. Opening her eyes once more, she again met the vision of the 
rose. From there her eyes traveled upwards.

Mamoru's sleeping face smiled down at her, caught up in a 
dreamworld of his own.

Sensing his peace, she began to relax, and could feel his arms 
shift around her, and the warmth they provided. Resting her head 
against his chest again, her lids slowly closed, only using her sense 
of hearing to listen to the constant beat. However, she couldn't 
restrain herself when something inside tempted her to look at his 
sleeping face again.
Taking one arm from its position around him, she tentatively 
brought her hand to his face. She had to take another deep intake of 
breath before she could continue, and she gently rested the pads of her 
fingertips against his cheek. His black bangs were still falling over 
his closed eyes. Gathering the guts she couldn't find earlier, she 
softly brushed them out of the way...

Blue eyes opened to meet blue.

"Oh no," she gasped, inaudible. "I..." Helplessly, she tried to 
search for the right word. Any notion of thought was lost to her as 
Mamoru, his blue eyes gazing sleepily into hers, felt a tired smile 
creep across his face. "Good morning to you too, Sleeping Beauty," he 
whispered. She lay there, still trying to muster a response, when he 
leaned closer to her. "Not everyday that I wake up and find an angel 
next to me..."

RING! RING!

They both paused. Usagi reluctantly moved away from him and 
reached for the phone while Mamoru sat back against the headboard, and 
then looked at the clock. "Who in the world would call at four in the 
morning?"
"Ohayo, Kaori-san. It's Yamino Beryl," an annoyingly chipper 
voice called out over the line, mocking the quiet peace that she knew 
she had disturbed. Usagi grimaced, and looked over at Mamoru. "It's the 
grim reaper herself," Usagi muttered while covering the mouthpiece.
"Beryl again?" Mamoru groaned, but sat up to attention. This was 
unexpected...

"Kaori-san... I know the truth behind the both of you, whether 
you like it or not." 

Usagi froze. "Wh...What?" 
"The truth, Kaori-san...Or is that even your real name? You see, 
*detectives*," she spat out, her voice running with an underlying 
venomous streak, "I could see behind your facade. I know what you're 
here for, and what you're after... I just went along with your game."
The blond tried desperately to come up with a quick, witty 
response, to snap back, protect what she thought she and Mamoru had so 
cleverly wrought out. "Look, Yamino-san, I don't know what twisted-"
"Don't interrupt me if you want to find out more about the 
jewelry heists."
Mamoru had already moved from the bed to the desk to pick up the 
other phone and transferred to line 1. He motioned to Usagi to continue 
to speak. "I suppose that we were mistaken about you, Beryl... What do 
you want us to do?"
A smug smile crossed the woman's face. "In fifteen minutes, I 
want to see the two of you at the street corner, three blocks west down 
from the hotel. Don't bring anyone else but yourselves, detectives. 
I'll be waiting."
"All right..."
"Oh, and Kaori-san?"
"...Hai?"
"Please tell Keisuke-chan that I had quite an...*enjoyable* time 
last night."
Click.

Usagi's face paled, the news making the blood drain from her 
face. Putting the receiver down with a shaky hand, she looked at her 
partner. "Mamoru..."
His eyes met hers, reflecting her concern, but he quickly hid 
them. "You're not going," he commanded, moving to stand up and gather 
his clothes from his bag. 
The blond frowned, and sat on the edge of the bed,"But she said-"
"No. And that's final."
Her anger mounting, she stood up and moved next to him, as he 
unpacked. She was going to reply with a smart remark, but she noticed 
the way that he gruffly rummaged though his bag, lips set in a straight 
line. Slowly reaching out her hand towards him, she brought her hand to 
his shoulder. Feeling something within him kindle at her touch, he 
looked back up at her. "You *can't* expect me to just sit here and wait 
for you like I did yesterday..." she whispered. "Do you know what that 
did to me?" 
Mamoru searched her eyes for a moment, but forced himself to look 
away when he could see the truth behind her words. He was certain that 
she could read him just as easily, and he winced at the thought. 'She's 
going after you, Usa... Why do you want to go?' He stood up, and taking 
one last look out to the far reaches of the balcony, and then back to 
her, he compelled himself to nod.
"All right. Let's get ready..."

Outdoors, the atmosphere was still dark, empty, and hollow, the 
last remnants of darkness making themselves known. Usagi and Mamoru 
walked down the sidewalk with an unnerving calm, both trying to hide 
their fear from the other. But the danger that was looming ahead 
prevented them from doing so. 
"Ne...Chiba..." Usagi paused at the corner before the next block, 
and turned to him. "We need a plan..."
"We already have one." She looked at him questioningly, and he 
continued. "Just do what your heart tells you to do."
"What your heart-"
"Your head, Tsukino..." he corrected quickly. "...What your head 
tells you to do. This is impromptu, so we have to be prepared for 
anything." Mamoru looked ahead at the next corner, where the three were 
supposed to meet. No one was present, and the streetlamp had 
prematurely died in anticipation of the morning light. 'Damn you, 
Beryl,' he thought to himself as he noticed Usagi follow his gaze with 
a strange expression on her face. 'I don't know what you're up to, but 
you're not going to get away with this.'
"Has this ever happened to you before...Chiba?" the blond girl 
asked slowly, not looking up at him, but focusing on the next street. 
"I've been in worse," he commented blandly, knowing that as much 
as he wanted to, his words wouldn't comfort her. Without explanation, 
Usagi moved her hand to his, and he took it gently. "Was this easier 
without me?"
"Usa... How can you say something like that?"
Just then, another shadow appeared at the end of the street, 
looked at them, and froze. 
"Damn..." Mamoru uttered under his breath. Grasping her hand 
tighter, he nodded, sending a silent signal to her. He took the first 
step forward...

With each step, the figure came closer and closer to them. Usagi 
felt her heart run crazily in her head, her connection to Mamoru the 
only thing keeping her sanity. The blurred shadow was now more defined. 
When the couple reached Beryl, they found her wearing a long, black 
coat, eyes hidden by a pair of sunglasses. The obsidian pendant on the 
copper chain still hung around her neck, and her hair flew unbidden 
behind her.
"I see that you two do know how to follow directions," she 
smirked, trying to bridge the seven foot gap that Mamoru had 
intentionally placed between them. She stepped forward with large, 
deliberate steps. "Oh, don't worry, Keisuke-chan, I don't bite. But as 
for Kaori-san-"
"Leave her out of this," the detective replied sternly, his eyes 
piercing through her. He continued to grasp Usagi's hand tightly, and 
nudged her to move behind him. He could sense her argument when her 
eyes pleaded with his, but he shook his head. 
"Always playing the role of protective husband, eh, Keisuke-
chan?"
Mamoru's only response was to glare at her with such animosity 
that even Beryl bit her lip with a skittish impulse. Usagi, not wanting 
to stay behind the scenes, stepped forward until she was next to 
Mamoru, ignoring the dismayed look that he gave her.
"How did you find out that we were detectives?" the blonde called 
out defiantly, challenging her.
Beryl smirked. Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave a 
scalding and unruly grin. "Well, it's not everyday that someone spies 
on me with binoculars in a car, ne?" Usagi blanched as she remembered 
that exact moment when Beryl looked directly down on her, and her heart 
seemingly stopped in her chest. She knew she wasn't hallucinating, but 
she had hoped it would never come to this...
"Why are you leaking information?"
"I have my reasons," she replied with a mocking casualty. "I'm 
not happy with the way that the Society has been dealing with all of 
this."
"The Society?"
Ignoring the escaped question, Beryl tilted her head coyly, 
grinning. "And how could I *not* jump to the rescue of this *amazing* 
man," Beryl drawled as she put one of her hands to Mamoru's chest. He 
recoiled, and she scowled. 
"Just get to what we're here for, Beryl," he commanded.
She smiled, glad that they couldn't see the sudden gleam in her 
blood red eyes. 'Oh, yes, we'll get to that...'She moved to reach for 
something in her pocket, but something caught her attention and she 
stared ahead. They couldn't see her eyes widening in shock, but saw her 
lips separate to yell.
"Watch out!" Beryl cried. Just then, a black clothed figure came 
up from behind Usagi and wrenched a gloved hand over her mouth, 
suppressing her scream of horror. Mamoru turned around to the side in 
time to get a kick in the stomach. 

"Damn it!" Beryl cried out, moving over to help the man. "Keisu-
mmmmph!" Another black clothed figure emerged from the shadows and 
covered her mouth. She moved around frantically and kicked and flailed 
her arms, but to no avail. In doing so, her obsidian necklace landed 
with a clunk onto the pavement. A black car zoomed down the street, 
stopped in front of the struggling people and the back passenger door 
opened. The assailant, trying to drag a frantic Beryl into the car, 
elbowed her head. Her limp feet dragged across the floor as the 
attacker shoved her into the car, jumped in, and slammed the door 
behind him. The car sped off, leaving the two detectives and their 
attacker to battle on dangerous ground. 

Mamoru had no time to react to all that was happening. His mind 
revolved only around protecting Usagi. He could feel his blood roar in 
his ears, as his heartbeat quickened with adrenaline and the instinct 
that ran through him. 
'Protect her. If you love her, protect her.'
He saw her being dragged into the background, and he knew that he 
had nothing left to do but to fight. Running forward, he maneuvered his 
way around the kidnapper, sending a quick punch to his/her jaw. 
Stumbling from the impact, he let go of Usagi and she fell forward into 
Mamoru. There was nothing else left for him to do, because the attacker 
came thrashing at them again. Mamoru pushed Usagi to the side, and 
braced for the full impact of the collision. The attacker tried to 
punch Mamoru, and succeeded in hitting him at the side of his mouth. 
The blood made a thin, jagged line from the corner of his mouth to his 
chin. 
While he was distracted, the assailant went after Usagi again, 
but Mamoru ran and knocked the person to the ground. Usagi watched in 
horror as they landed in a tangled heap, Mamoru on the bottom as the 
attacker found his/her hands around his neck. All Mamoru could do was 
stare at the assailant with eyes full of hatred. He felt something 
within him grow, felt a power that was unfamiliar to him. Before he 
could think about what it was, an unknown strength came from his hands, 
tearing the grasp that the assailant had on his neck. Suddenly, after a 
dim light came from around his hands, the assailant fell to the ground, 
unconscious.
"Mamo-chan..." Usagi whimpered, falling into his arms. 
"Usa..."
They stood up silently, Usa clinging to him as she quivered and 
as he took in deep breaths. They would have stayed together, had the 
disturbing sight of the assailant's body lay before them, a grave 
reminder of what was to come. Unable to ignore its presence, Mamoru 
moved out of the embrace, leaving a stupefied Usagi to follow him as he 
leaned over to examine the body. Trying to stop the slight shaking of 
his hand, Mamoru pulled back the mask...

Gingano Hoshi. 

<6:15 A.M.> 

They dropped any charges against Gingano-san. She could not 
remember a thing about what had happened, and apologized profusely for 
the damage she had dealt.
In reality, Gingano Hoshi was the leader of the convention, and 
was the best liked and most renown of the doctors in the building. 
What the detectives assumed to be the effects of the Dark Star 
Lotus Blossom also died out. People had no recollection of receiving 
the gift, nor any recollection of their behavior around it. 
And as for Beryl... they still had yet to find out more about 
her. All her belongings, and everything found at the scene, would be 
forwarded to her house as they tried to contact her relatives.
They were back at square one again. 


"Thank you, officer," Mamoru said quietly as the policeman walked 
out of the hotel doors. With a sigh, he looked down at Usagi, who sat 
down on the couch next to him, staring blankly at a painting on the 
wall. "Usa..."
"I can't believe any of this," she said quietly, still fighting 
to keep back the tears. 
Mamoru could only look at her blankly, he himself trying to keep 
a calm face as the events of the incident replayed for him in slow 
motion. First the shock when Usa was taken captive, and the immediate 
change he felt within himself... the helplessness that pervaded his 
senses as he watched Beryl being dragged into the car, and the fear in 
his heart as he watched the captor slowly back into the shadows with 
Usagi... there was anger- not at the captor, but at himself for his 
foolishness. The weight of responsibility for what had happened had 
perched itself on his shoulders, and showed no signs of lifting itself. 
An overwhelming sense of the need to protect her had run through his 
veins. But when he finally held Usagi in his arms, relief washed over 
him like a wave. A refreshing, life-giving wave that could erase the 
emotions of the past and leave him stranded on an island where he knew 
only the bliss of companionship... existence... with her.

It was to be short lived.

Watching Usagi now, her fear fully expressed in the dulled light 
of her eyes, Mamoru could feel no relief, no sense of right after all 
that had been done. They had come there to complete what he had assumed 
would be an easy job. Now the stakes, for him, had grown considerably 
higher- and more dangerous.
"Mamo...?"
The recurring visions in his head leaving at the sound of that 
one voice, he turned to Usagi, wordlessly. Her lips were turned up 
slightly in an attempt to smile, but her eyelids, heavy with worry, 
beckoned for sleep. But as she saw the expression on his face, she 
seemed to wake up, her eyes lighting up with concern. Her lips parted, 
ready to ask him a question, when Mamoru himself tried to smile, and 
looked past her worried gaze to the elevator. 
"Let's go home," he murmured before turning around, taking a deep 
breath, and walking away.

Usagi, still weary, hastened her steps to catch him. She was at 
the point of confusion where she knew that she was beyond help. The 
ride in the elevator had been just as silent and Usagi's heart began to 
beat faster as they approached their suite door. Suddenly, uneasiness 
began to clench at her throat, and made her gaze travel from the end of 
the hall to Mamoru, whom she still felt that she was trailing behind. 
With the jingle of keys in the lock, and a slow turn of the knob, 
the door opened. Usagi's eyes traveled around the room, and tears 
almost sprang to her eyes. After what had happened, the room no longer 
held the air of a safe haven anymore. Even here, there was an unnerving 
fear lurking around, if not up front then within the own confined 
shadows of them. Usagi wanted more than anything to just collapse on 
the bed, and cry, and she shook her head slightly. A small smile, made 
in the midst of irony, came to her lips. When she was younger, she 
would always be made fun of because she cried at everything. But as she 
grew older, that habit had faded away. Now it only felt as if she was 
going back in time...
Mamoru saw the change in her expression and brought a hand to her 
shoulder, fighting the urge that he had to take it back. The touch of 
his hand sending a slight shiver of surprise down her spine, she looked 
up at him, and tried to reassure him with the biggest smile she could 
muster. Smiling back, but still doubtful of her true feelings, Mamoru 
took a step inside, and took her hand in his, leading her into the 
room. "We'll pack now, and we should be able to catch the next train to 
Tokyo within an hour. Sound good?"
She only nodded. 

With a waning smile, Mamoru took a step forward and moved to the 
desk, checking for messages. When he found none, he picked up the 
receiver, looked back at Usagi, who still had not moved, and quickly 
put it down. "Are you all right?"
She nodded. "Yes, I'm fine." Again putting some semblance of a 
smile to her face, she walked to the bed and sat down, and began to 
rummage through her bag. He watched her for a few moments before he 
walked to the bathroom, putting away anything that he had left in 
there. Closing the door behind him, he sighed and took a good look at 
himself in the mirror. 
That's when he heard the slight whimpering outside. He wasn't 
sure if he was hallucinating or not, so he leaned in closer to the 
doorway. There it was again. Brows furrowing with worry, he opened the 
door slowly, making sure not to make a sound. Usagi was lying on her 
side, down on the bed. She wasn't crying, but he still heard her small 
intake of breath as she tried to fight against the tears. Normally, 
Mamoru would leave a person alone to deal with the problem themselves, 
but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the vision in front of him. 
"You know that I'm here... if you want to talk."
She sat up straight and looked up at him, wide eyed. She took the 
items that she had in her hand and shoved them to the side. "Mamoru... 
I-"
"Don't tell me you were just passing time, Usa." Mamoru walked up 
to the bed, and sat down next to her, feeling her tense up at his 
presence. Her eyes followed him as he moved, but diligently strayed 
down to her lap as he sat down next to her. 
"I'll get right back to packing-"
"Hold it. No you don't." He held her back by her arm as she 
moved, and she settled back down again. "Usa... Usa, look at me." 
Taking her chin in his hand, he tilted her head up to face him gently, 
as her eyes widened, unable to register what she was feeling deep 
within her chest. But she still held that weary aura. "I want you to 
talk to me- about anything- whenever you need to, okay?" He himself 
found his eyes straying to the side as he realized that there was a 
flaw to his words. Fighting the impulse down, he brought his hand to 
her shoulder and gently pushed her back onto the bed, so that her head 
rested against the pillows. Usagi blushed, and he inched his face 
closer to hers, until he was so close that she dared not breathe. "You 
need to rest," he whispered into her ear, making the heat in her cheeks 
flare. "It's been a long day-"
"It's only 7 AM," the blonde mused, a smile returning to her 
lips. Mamoru looked back down on her, and that quirky grin came back. 
"You're right. You need rest, Usa- I know that it's been really rough 
today."
'You have no idea,' she thought to herself as she found herself 
looking deeper into the depths of his eyes again. Scared of the 
memories it brought back, and afraid of what it could reveal, she 
suddenly turned onto her side, away from him. She took the items in her 
hand again, almost subconsciously. "I guess that you're right."
"I just want you to know that I'm here if you need me." She gave 
him no response. "I know that this was hard. And I know that there are 
a lot of things that we're still unsure about." The worry began to show 
on his face. 
"A lot of things..." Mamoru could sense that she was talking 
about far more than the case... He saw her gather the items in her arms 
closer to her, and he smiled. "But we'll get through it together, ne? 
... Usa?"
There Usagi lay on her side, sound asleep and looking peaceful, 
the worried look gone from her features. Smiling to herself in the 
realm of sleep, she hugged the items in her arms close to her chest.
Mamoru, relief coming to him again, smiled to himself. He looked 
down, and took in a sharp breath. He saw her clasp her locket... the 
bright red rose that she clutched... 
And the picture of him and his 'guardian angel' looked back up at 
him from her embrace. 

<12:30 P.M.>

Swimming back to consciousness, Usagi realized that there was a 
slight rumbling underneath her, but she could also feel another force 
beckoning her to awaken from her slumber... it was the voice that had 
cradled her to sleep in the first place...
"Usa... Usa..."
"Mamo-chan?" she called softly, before she could realize what was 
escaping her lips. Opening her eyes, she smiled lazily upon meeting 
Mamoru's midnight blue eyes. "Good morning," she mumbled. "And good 
night..." she added before closing her eyes again. 
"You mean good afternoon, ne, Us... Tsukino?"
"Eh...?"
That's when she still felt that same rumble underneath her. 
Opening her eyes and looking past Mamoru's face, she noticed the change 
in setting...
"The train...? But, that's impossi-"
"I think we're both in need of a good rest at home, ne?"
"But how did we get on the train? I don't remember-"
"Of course you don't. You were sleeping."
"But then how..." "You...you carried me?"
"It would probably be a lot easier than stuffing you into a body 
bag and putting you into cargo." "Even after pigging out like you do, 
Tsukino, you're not heavy at all. It's the eighth wonder of the world, 
if you ask me..."
"Chiba..." She looked back on what had happened earlier. 'Oh God.' 
"The picture!" she gasped. 
"What picture?"
"Eh.?" Confused, and unnerved, she looked at the inside of her 
purse, which he had left beside her for her convenience. She saw the 
picture inside. 
"But."
"Something wrong?" he asked. 
She shook her head. She could have sworn that she had it in her 
arms as she had fallen asleep. "Nothing. Nothing."


Usagi tried to go back to sleep, but she could not. So they sat 
there for an hour in a tangible, comfortable silence. 

<1:55 P.M.>

"Ne, Aren't you tired?" Usagi muttered, nudging her partner with 
her elbow.
"No."
Well, he certainly was quite the conversationalist. Uncomfortable, 
Usagi shifted in her seat. Mamoru was the one to offer 
to be there for her, to talk to whenever she needed him. She hadn't 
taken him up on the offer. Now it seems as if he had taken it back, and 
refused to talk for most of the ride. It unnerved her, and she wanted 
to find out what he was really thinking, but was too scared to find out 
the truth.
"Mamoru... tell me what's wrong. And don't go saying that 
something isn't wrong, or you're as bad as I am. What could be 
bothering you so much?"
"There's more to it than you think... Tsukino."
'Tsukino again?' "...Chiba" Usagi took her hand and placed it on 
his arm, causing him to look down on her as he felt a sensation from 
her touch. "You know that I'm here for-Whoa!"
Suddenly, the train came to a screeching halt, and both 
detectives lurched forward. However they came to balance themselves out 
as Mamoru grabbed onto Usagi and pulled her to him. They didn't move as 
their bodies came in contact with each other.
The murmur of the disturbed passengers grew, but they ignored it. 
However, when the murmuring soon crested and angry voices mounted, it 
blended in with the voice coming from the overhead. 

"I'm sorry, but we appear to be going through some technical 
difficulties. Please keep calm, sit back, and relax as we try to solve 
the problem."

The murmur, which had died down, grew again. The two detectives 
looked at each other and let go.

"What the hell do you mean, we can't restart the damned train?"
"Ummm... sir, the P.A. system..."
"<cough> I'm sorry ladies and gentleman, but it appears that 
we'll have to disembark the train due to difficulties larger than we 
anticipated. Please remain calm and we'll answer all your questions 
once we are outside of the train."

"Well, it looks like we're going to have to take another 
detour," Usagi remarked with a sigh. 

"@#$%!!"
"Sir, the P.A. System..."

They never noticed the person at the back of the car that watched 
them before switching to another car.

<2:41 P.M.>

After waiting outside of the train in the quickly darkening sky, 
they were lucky enough to be near a small town filled with sidewalk 
shops. From there, they found a phone and called the nearest taxicab
company. They could take the taxicab back to Tokyo, but it would be 
much faster and much cheaper to get to the closest station and take the 
train back. 
They sat in silence again in the taxi. The stormclouds that had 
built up for the past few hours had finally burst, and the droplets 
slid down the windows in a careless pattern, the only sound heard in 
the car being the swishing motion of the windshield wiper. Suddenly, 
the engine began to sputter and the driver pulled over to the side. He 
tried to restart the engine.
Vrrrrrmmm, vrrrmmmm...sputter sputter...

...

Stranded. *Again*.

The driver had agreed to stay by the car and attempt to fix it, 
because his communicator wasn't working properly either. The two 
detectives, meanwhile, were standing in the rain, ready to get to work 
themselves on finding a way out. 

Usagi looked up at the sky, the rain falling down on her face. 
"This has got to be the most...UGH!" she cried.
"Hey, be happy that you're sharing the misery," Mamoru called out 
to her jokingly, the roar of the rain beginning to drown out their voices. 
"If we stay out here, we're going to be drenched rats!"
Scanning the area, Mamoru noticed a small path that led into the 
woods, finally leading up to a large home. Grabbing Usagi's hand and 
pulling her closer to him, he sped off, Usagi in tow.

When they reached the front door, they were both panting, the run 
being hard up the slippery steps. Throwing her head back and laughing 
at the predicament they were in, Usagi closed her eyes and opened her 
mouth to take in the raindrops. Mamoru watched her, entranced by the 
nymph like sight of her and her ringing laugh. 
Feeling his eyes on her, she looked back up at him and smiled, 
eyelashes lined with the rain. "What, I can't be a kid anymore?"
He shook his head, laughing. A glint in his eye, he looked up at 
the sky and opened his mouth, copying her. He looked back down at her, 
and she blushed lightly. Before she could realize what she was doing, 
she took her hand and moved his damp bangs, which were again falling 
into his eyes. He grabbed her hand as she quickly pulled it back...

The door opened, and they froze. They could not see who was at 
the door very quickly, for the lights weren't on, and after quickly 
explaining their predicament, she let them in. It was then that she 
turned on the lights. 
There stood a beautiful woman with blue eyes, her long pink hair 
held back in half pigtails. From behind her came a handsome man with 
brown hair, and he put his hand on her shoulder as they smiled at the 
newcomers warmly.

"Hajimemashite. I'm Fuuma Yousuke."
"And I'm his wife, Momoko."

It was then that there was a flash of recognition between all of 
them within the room. Usagi and Mamoru introduced themselves, and the 
feeling waned, but came back again. The detectives were led into the 
gathering room, where Momoko offered them some tea. She seemed 
unusually excited, and the glint in her eyes was reflected in her 
husband. They excused themselves, came back after having a short 
discussion, and sat down across from the detectives on the couch.
"So, how did the two of you meet?"
"We've been working together as detectives for a while."
Seemingly confused, Yousuke and Momoko exchanged knowing glances, 
and nodded. They sat quietly for a while, Yousuke and Momoko eyeing the 
couple and watching them closely. Momoko couldn't help the feeling that 
was inside her, and opened her mouth before she realized that she was 
going against the 'rules'.
"I'm sorry, but I feel as though I've met you before..."
Usagi and Mamoru looked at each other, startled. "This is the 
first time we've been here," Usagi replied.
"Yes..." Momoko added, putting a hand against her forehead as her 
husband sat down next to her, giving her a questioning look. He knew 
what she was up to...
"They can't...It was a long time ago..." he mumbled.
"What?"

"Um, excuse me, is anyone up here?" the drivers voice came up 
through the doorway. The four exchanged glances before moving up to get 
to the front entrance. "You wouldn't believe it, but the engine's 
purring like a kitten," he finished proudly. 

Usagi and Mamoru thanked the Fuuma's before leaving, looking back 
at them before traveling down the path again.

"They don't remember us," Momoko said quietly, feeling her 
husbands arm snake around her waist.
"That was the plan, dear," he whispered, leaning down to kiss her 
forehead. "Remember? Part of the 'rules'."
She sighed, and frowned slightly as she watched them travel down 
the path, close together. 
"They can't even remember each other..."

<3:18 P.M.>

"Outta our way!"

After running through the train station like soaked madmen to 
catch the train, Usagi and Mamoru sat back in their seats, tired. 
"At least we weren't late."
Mamoru nodded. 

Silence.

Usagi looked up at Mamoru and sighed. He was tired, and she 
couldn't tell just by looking at him. She could feel it inside of him. 
It was unexplainable, but his fatigue was getting to her.
"Mamoru... Close your eyes."
"What?"
"Just close your eyes."
"Why? I told you-"
"You need to sleep. Don't argue with me. Just do it!"
He smirked. "Well, since you're being so *nice* about it, Ms. 
Dictator, I'll do it." He leaned back, and closed his eyes. 
A minute or two passed. Usagi sighed agitatedly. He still wasn't 
asleep, and was only pretending. This was another gut feeling that she 
had...

"Hush little baby, don't say a word..."

Mamoru cracked an eye open. "What the heck do you think you're 
doing?"
"See you weren't sleeping! Close your eyes again. I'm trying to 
make you go to sleep."
"I'm not 3 months old, Usa."
She ignored him at first but couldn't help it. "Maybe not, but 
you certainly act like it sometimes. Not paying attention to his 
annoyed look, she continued. "My mother used to sing this to me when I 
was younger. It was something she had picked up in America... Stop 
laughing! I'm trying to help you sleep!"
She waited until his chuckles had died down, then she started again 
after he had been silent for a minute. She sang slowly and quietly, ignoring 
the curious and wondering looks of the other passengers. "Hush little...baka, 
don't say a word, Usa's gonna buy you a mocking bird. And if that mocking 
bird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring. And if that diamond..."
Usagi saw the even rise and fall of his chest, and the content 
look on his face. She knew he was sleeping, for it was the same look he 
had on his face earlier this morning...
"Sleep tight," she whispered before sitting back to look out the 
window.

<7:24 P.M.>

This time, it was Usagi who woke up a surprised Mamoru. She 
watched him yawn, and smiled to herself. They were almost home. After 
they reached the station, she would be going 'home'... But she didn't 
want to. 

She needed more time...with him.

"Can... we go to HQ for now? I... I think I forgot something," 
she asked him timidly.
Mamoru was ready to ask her why, but held back. "Sure." 

<7:45 P.M.>

From Tokyo station, which had not been hit by the rainstorm, they 
went to the terminal parking lot, picked up Mamoru's car, and began the 
drive to HQ. Usagi looked out of the window at the scenery as they 
passed by. One building after another came into vision, and she was 
never so happy to see all of its concrete glory until that moment. 
Mamoru, meanwhile, kept his focus on the road ahead of him, and silence 
once again was the major point of the drive. He couldn't help looking 
out of the corner of his eye at the girl next to him. She sighed, and 
leaned her head against the side, her lips still set in a serious, 
straight line. It wasn't a long drive, and before either of them could 
realize it, they were pulling up to that familiar building again.
Back at square one again.

The weary detectives walked up to the front door, and realizing 
that Rei had left it open, went inside without any qualms. But when 
Usagi looked down the corridor, she paused, and held him back by the 
arm.
"Ne, Chiba... Did you give anyone else the keys to my room?" 
"No, but Rei has one of the skeleton keys, and she's out today. 
Why?"
Making sure to pull him against the wall, she pointed towards her 
room, her eyes sending him frantic signals. Following the direction in 
which her finger pointed, Mamoru's eyes narrowed. Against the opaque 
window, two shadowy figures seemed to be pacing within the room. As he 
watched, another figure seemed to be picking up a file folder from 
Usagi's desk, which the other person gathered closer to look at. 
'Damn it.' Mamoru thought to himself. 'This was *not* what I was 
expecting...' Both of them exchanged worried glances. It seems that 
trouble was following them today. Whoever took Beryl was responsible 
for the attack this morning... Maybe these were henchmen sent to finish 
the job.
"Follow me," Mamoru commanded. They slowly moved to the doorway, 
making sure to quickly move to the side of the doorway, out of view. He 
looked at his partner and they exchanged knowing glances. Now or never...
"On the count of one...two...three!" With all the strength he 
could muster, Mamoru kicked the door open, and ran in, Usagi right next 
to him, ready to strike. "Freeze! Stay right where you are!" 
The two trespassers, who had their backs to the door while 
looking at the file, screamed and practically jumped out of their 
skins, causing the folder and all its contents to go flying into the 
air. The flying papers temporarily helped to shield their true 
identities. Still keeping an offensive stance, the two detectives tried 
to determine who was spying on them through the chaos. Usagi squinted 
as the flutter died down and she was able to make out the figures 
identities... her eyes widened and a yelp of surprise became choked up 
in her throat. 
Mamoru's anger and angst was building up inside him, but for some 
reason, he couldn't feel a need to fight whomever these people were. 
Taking it as a sign of weakness, he forced himself to toughen up, and 
take charge. He wasn't going to let history repeat itself...
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" He asked 
gruffly as the two slowly turned around to face the detectives.
Usagi paled as the words escaped Mamoru's mouth, and her own 
suspicions were confirmed as she came face to face with the intruders.

"Ikuko-Mama! Kenji-Papa!"

This time, it was Mamoru's turn to blanche. "Wh...What?" he asked 
slowly, unable to look Usagi in the eye. A woman with long, deep blue 
hair and a man with black hair and glasses stood like they were in the 
middle of a shooting range, mouths agape. Only the woman spoke. "Usagi-
chan!" 
Unsure of whether to scream bloody murder or cry, Usagi opted for 
neither and instead ran to her parents, gathering them in a hug. 
On any other normal occasion, they would lovingly hug her back, 
but they were still standing like statues, blankly staring at her 
companion. Realizing how rigid they were, she stepped back and followed 
their gaze to Mamoru, who also looked like a fish out of water, frozen 
in his offensive stance. Grinning to herself like an idiot, she waved 
her hand in front of her parents' eyes. They blinked. 
"Eh... Mama, Papa... meet Chiba Mamoru-san, my partner."
"Charmed..."
"Mamoru-san, meet my parents, Tsukino Ikuko and Tsukino Kenji."
"Eh... Nice to meet you."

Silence.

*Uncomfortable* silence.

Usagi cringed as she recalled everything that had happened. 
"Mama! Papa! What...What the heck are you doing here?!"
"I was feeling uneasy at home and I wanted to see you... That's 
when Rei-chan told me that you were out on assignment and that you 
would be back sometime today. She let us in here," her mother responded.

Meanwhile, Kenji was intently glaring at Mamoru. 
The detective gulped, and in the quietest voice possible, asked 
Usagi, "Your father doesn't own a gun, does he?"
Looking up at him with a confused gaze, she answered, "No."
Mamoru let out the big breath he had been holding. 
"But he has become a big fan of archery, for some reason." The 
laughter in her voice killing the sudden fear rising in him, he smiled. 
That's when he looked back at her parents, who now had a serious look 
on their faces, Kenji distracted enough to stop giving Mamoru the evil 
eye.

"Usagi-chan... something's happened, hasn't it?" Kenji asked his 
daughter quietly.
The blond refused to answer and simply shook her head slowly.
Sighing, her mother moved over to her and out her daughter's hand 
in hers. "Don't lie to me, I know when something bad happens- I can see 
it in your eyes. Now come over here and tell Mama and Papa all about 
it."
This time, Usagi looked up, and her eyes were again full of all 
the pain that had been building up this morning. Things had finally 
been looking up, and once again, she was reminded about everything.
"Mama, Papa... I can't. Not now."
"Usagi-chan."
"I promise I'll talk to you about it tonight. I really promise. 
But right now isn't a good time."
"Why not?"
"Mamoru and I are going out for more work on the case- which, I 
should remind you, I'll tell you about myself before you look at my 
files."
Guilty about being caught in the act, they grinned sheepishly. 
They agreed to leave. The parents walked outside, and the couple gave 
Usagi a hug. Ikuko took Mamoru's hand in hers and smiled genuinely, 
even though his eyes seemed to be posing a simple challenge to her. 
Kenji shook Mamoru's hand.
He had *quite* a grip.

Mamoru watched them outside as they got into their car. There was 
something in his eyes... It was both reassuring and chilling, making 
Ikuko rethink what had happened. His gaze showed that he knew far more 
than they thought... "Do you think he knows about us?"
"I'm more worried about how Usagi-chan is doing with him."
"Oh, Kenji, he seems like a wonderful boy, stop being so 
overprotective."
"Overprotective? Me? Is there something wrong with looking out 
for my daughter?"
Ikuko sighed. "When you look at the man like he has red and white 
target circle over his heart, yes!"
They disappeared down the street. 


Usagi sighed. She didn't want to think about what had happened. 
"Where do we go from here?"
"I'll take you home, and I'll go to the Aino-san's mansion to 
tell her about what had happened."
He wasn't getting rid of her that easily. "I'm coming with you." 
"No you're not."
"I told my parents that I was gonna work on the case. Besides, 
why would I let you have all the fun?" the blonde added with a wry 
smile. "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."
"Well, when you put it that way, how can I refuse?"

<8:07 P.M.>

"And that's exactly what happened," the blonde finished with a 
quiet sigh. There. Over and done with.
"Tsukino, what are you doing?" Mamoru asked, slightly amused and 
slightly worried. 
"Eh? Oh, uh... just talking to myself." A small blush brought 
some color to her cheeks as she realized that she had said the last 
part aloud. Throughout the entire car ride so far, traffic and all, she 
had been mentally rehearsing what she was going to say to her friends 
in front of Mamoru. Mentally going over every scene that had happened 
that morning, she smiled, only for her face to give way to signs of 
worrying and fear. She was trying as hard as she could to make sure 
that she wasn't being expressive, but that was of no use. 
Mamoru had noticed her out of the corner of his eye once more. 
One timeless expression after another, he would watch her and her 
endless array of emotions, her lips moving with the smallest of 
movements as she carefully calculated the words. He stayed silent for a 
while after her response, keeping his eyes on the road. This wasn't 
easy for either of them, because, unbeknownst to her, he was doing the 
same as she, only quietly. That wasn't going to get either of them 
anywhere. "Ne... Usa..."
"Eh?" 
"Would it help if you talked to me?"
She stared at him with a profound silence as they pulled into the 
curb alongside the marble steps to the mansion. Without waiting for the 
answer to the question, Mamoru got out of his side of the car, and 
waited for Usa to do the same. That still shocked look was on her face, 
but he simply looked at her for a moment as she froze outside of her 
door, and then he turned and began to walk up the steps. Usagi felt her 
lips curl downward in a small frown, but quickly tried to force it 
down, and followed him.

*

"I'm not too sure about what's going on. I've had an uneasy 
feeling the whole day."
"Aww, don't be so negative all the time, Rei-chan. Look on the 
bright side."
"Geez, Minako-chan, if I hear you talking about the 'bright 
side' again-"
She wrinkled her nose. "Luna and Artemis said they were doing 
well, even though they had to be so stingy with the details." She 
smiled slyly. "I'm sure that they're having a *wonderful* time at the 
hotel..."
The other three ladies looked at their friend in shock, surprised 
that she would even go so far as to think like *that*.
"What?" Minako blinked, oblivious to their thoughts. "I heard 
that the hotel that they went to has one of the best hotel volleyball 
courts in Japan."
The girls sweatdropped.
"What?"

The doorbell rang. "I wonder who that is?" Ami asked to no one in 
particular as she moved up out of her seat to get the door. 
"What did you think I was talking about?" Minako asked again, 
still clueless. 
"Minako-chan, just give up while you're ahead," Makoto sighed, 
taking a sip of her tea. 

"Chiba-san! Tsukino-san! What are you doing here?"

Makoto spit out her tea, nearly choking.

*
After settling in and having a cup of tea, the detectives 
explained what had happened during the day with their travel plans, and 
the ladies listened intently. They also happened to eye the way that 
the detectives sat next to each other closely, and whispered to each 
other as their guests weren't looking. 

"So, how did your time together at the hotel go? *Really* good, I 
hope?"
"Minako-chan!" Rei hissed.

The time came for Usagi and Mamoru to finish what they had come 
here for. 

"You might want to sit down for this," the detective added 
wearily, running a tired hand through his jet-black hair. 
"We wanted to talk to you up at the hotel, but like we told you 
earlier, the connections were severed. Did anything happen?"
Mamoru felt Usagi visibly start next to him on the couch, and he 
looked at her for a moment, their eyes meeting for fleeting seconds, 
before he continued. "We did fall upon that lead that we were 
following, about the chemical properties of the flower Rei found the 
other day. And, after getting the results from the lab this afternoon, 
we found that our suspicions were correct."
Usagi tried to sit up straighter in her chair and added quietly, 
"This lead up to looking for any major suspects..." Following the small 
sound of her voice, Mamoru glanced at her again, but she gave no 
indication that she wished to say any more. Opening his mouth to 
continue, he found that he was wrong, and Usagi went on from where she 
had left. "We met up with the psychotherapist from the health center, 
Yamino Beryl. Mamoru had a conversation with her..." she trailed off, 
remembering that she was still clueless about what they had talked 
about. "Eventually... she found out about our role as detectives, and 
asked us to meet her to give up information on the jewel heists." Her 
voice broke a little as she confessed that their plan had been foiled, 
but it had nothing to do with her failure. There, she froze, unable to 
tell them the truth about the terms behind the transaction, or the fact 
that Beryl seemed to hate Usagi with a passion.
Mamoru felt her uneasiness and brought his hand to Usagi's, 
grasping it tightly. She looked up at him and they remained locked in 
the gaze. 
Minako's and Makoto's eyes widened, and Ami and Rei elbowed them 
discreetly. "What happened?" they egged on.
"We were attacked."

The eyes that were widened in surprise soon turned into eyes that 
widened with shock and total horror. 
"We go out of the fight all right."
"Thank God!"
"-But Beryl was kidnapped."
Makoto's fists clenched, and all of the ladies looked ready to 
hit something. 
Mamoru continued. "The attackers were under the influence of the 
chemical, as were the other doctors at the convention." HE took a deep 
breath, getting himself prepared for what he knew was going to be a 
problem after he opened his mouth. But it had to be done. It would make 
no difference when he would do it, he had just hoped he wouldn't do it 
to Usagi. "Minna-san, I see only one way out of this, and I'm only 
going to put the suggestion forward. It's up to you whether or not you 
want to go along with it."
"Well, Mamoru-kun," Ami chided, "tell us what it is."
He refused to let his eyes meet with his partner, who simply 
stared at him blankly, unsure of where he was headed. He hadn't 
mentioned anything to her. In fact, he really hadn't told her anything 
that he had said he had intended to for the past two days, from their 
cut off time in the elevator to earlier that day when she asked him how 
he was feeling. 
Making sure that he had held eye contact with each of the ladies 
present, the idea flowed out of Mamoru's mouth without any problem, 
sounding as if it was something he brought up everyday. 

"We'll have to take the Ginzuisho and bring it out into the open 
as a trap."

Usagi inhaled sharply, quickly turning to her partner, who still 
did not get the nerve to face her. Rei's eyes narrowed, Makoto's fists 
clenched, Minako's eyes widened, and Ami looked at them with a 
contemplative expression in her blue eyes. 
"We can't *possibly* do that." Rei said bluntly, anger not hidden 
in her voice. The others nodded slowly, but Ami took her time before 
any plausible determining expression could be seen on her face.
"I understand if you want to do that, but you have to heighten 
security if you wish to keep the crystal safe."
Makoto's anger bubbled inside her, and she sat forward in her 
chair, a look of pure disbelief of her face. "You talk about 'keeping 
it safe' when you want to bring the crystal out into the public eye?! 
Are you insane?!" 
"Mamoru-san," Ami tried to interrupt, her small voice trying to 
outdo the growing tension in the room, "Can you please continue with 
your suggestion? I want to hear the rest of it."
Her friends looked at her incredulously while Usagi leaned back 
in her seat, looking as if she wanted to find a way out of there.
Mamoru simply nodded. "Minna-san, what I'm trying to say is that 
Beryl, when I was meeting with her, showed an extreme interest in the 
crystal."
Usagi only looked at him, eyes full og confusion. "Mamoru..." 
He didn't want to continue, because he knew that what he was 
doing would inevitably lead to disaster. But it was too late, and he 
was in too deep to pull himself out of the abyss. "Beryl... tried to 
use the Dark Star Lotus Blossom to manipulate me into telling her 
everything I knew..." Usagi only sat there, looking blankly at the four 
ladies across from her, the information slowly leaking into her. He 
waited for her to say something, but she denied him that relief, her 
silence acting like a wrench upon his conscience. "What Beryl didn't 
know is that I had done my research. I suspected the effects and called 
up a friend of mine, Fiore* Hanazaki, from the Japanese National 
Botanist Association. He told me of a flower extract that might combat 
the lotus' effects and I took his advice."
At this point, Usagi turned to look at him, and pulled a tendril 
of hair behind her ear, trying to appear calm. He could read everything 
in her eyes as they met. Confusion, pain... betrayal... Mamoru closed 
his eyes, trying to block out the signals she was sending him, and 
taking in another deep breath, he tried to finish what he had started. 
"It worked, and I was able to determine what Beryl was really after 
without her knowing about the truth. She wanted to know more about the 
crystal. Since she had already suspected that we were detectives, she 
wanted us to set up a meeting in which she would be able to capture the 
crystal. But, that's not what I'm trying to get at."
"Then what's the point of all this?"
"Beryl... her main objective was..." he paused, unsure of whether 
this new revelation was the right thing to say. "Beryl..." he repeated, 
turning to Usagi and making sure that he kept his tired eyes locked 
with her confused ones, "Beryl was after the princess." 
All four of the women stood up as if ready to defend the princess 
themselves. Minako looked angry, but a look of realization came into 
her, and she fell back into her seat, appearing to be truly scared. 
"But...But why me?"
"I'm not sure," Mamoru replied quietly. Meanwhile, Usagi slowly 
took her hand from out of his. 
Makoto's eyes narrowed. "So the whole point of this would be to 
put the princess in danger as well?!"
"No... This is where security measures have to be taken. The 
crystal that we'll use will be a fake, of course. And I'm sure that 
your princess, " he continued, gazing at Usagi before looking back at 
the four girls, "gets more than enough protection from her four 
guardians. Am I right?" 
They all exchanged glances, finally succumbing to the fact that 
Mamoru was too close to the truth for his own good. But the truth about 
the princess...

"It's the only logical option," Usagi added silently, eyes 
subdued with seriousness. "If we really want to find the truth, we 
can't go on a wild goose chase to look to them. We have to make whoever 
it is come to *us*."

"Usagi-san..." Ami said with shock evident in her voice. The 
other women still had objection evident in their eyes, but it soon 
faded away.

"If you feel that this will end all that we've gone through, then 
we have no choice but to agree with you," Minako said with finality.
Mamoru nodded and hung his head, as if he had just heard the 
guilty verdict for a life sentence. "Then it's settled then. When we 
hold this farce will be up to your discretion."

...

"May... May I be excused?" Usagi said, her face pale. "I just 
want to get a breath of fresh air."
"Are you okay, Usagi-san?"
She nodded. "Yes. I just need air, that's all." She didn't want 
to wait for a response, and walked out of the room as quickly as she 
could, not once meeting the eyes of her partner. As her figure 
disappeared from the doorway, the girls looked slowly back and forth 
between the door and Mamoru, who had gotten up out of his seat to 
follow her.
"She needs air," Minako said coolly. "Leave her be." Mamoru's 
eyes narrowed, but with a defeated sigh, he sat down. "We have this 
farce to discuss. When would it be best to do this?"
Mamoru ignored the chatter that had begun among the women, his 
gaze still riveted to the doorway. 

***

Usagi walked out of the door and into the slight chill of the 
early spring night. Wrapping her arms around herself, she began to walk 
down the marble steps, but froze when she was halfway down. Looking 
back up at the mansion, she trudged back up the steps, but with 
deliberate slowness. Making sure that no one was around, she began to 
traverse to the side path that wound to the back of the mansion, and 
the other main garden. The grounds were beautiful at night as well as 
in the morning, the moonflowers blooming underneath the pale moonlight. 
She tried to focus on that constant, that beauty... She shivered. With 
everything that had been going on lately, she began to even question if 
the flowers were really there, or part of her imagination.
Everything lately was an illusion. Everything was fake, something 
caught up in the insipid little game that they had conjured merely a 
week ago. 
It wasn't fun anymore. She wanted to stop playing. 
She wanted more than anything to know the truth, not about the 
crystal, not about Beryl, but about herself, and the man who had 
inevitably changed her life within the past six days. He was easily the 
most annoyingly handsome, impossibly intelligent, crass, sarcastic, 
sardonic pain in the butt she had ever met.

Simply put, he was perfect.

Usagi went farther down into the path, totally ignorant of the 
wind that began to pick up. Her hair flew carefree behind her, and she 
looked up at the moon, which was full that night. Suddenly, its visage 
blurred, and she found herself wiping a stray tear from her eye.
He had been hiding everything from her all this time. He had 
known about Beryl, and kept the truth from her. He'd been playing his 
own game, and she was the fool. 
Heck, for all she knew, he knew that she was his, hook, line, and 
sinker. And the idea scared her to death. How could she have any 
feelings for him when he couldn't trust her? Sighing to herself, she 
sat down on a patch of grass, surrounded by a mixture of dark roses and 
bright moonlilies. 
'Do I really care for him that much?' she asked herself, trying 
to reason with her irrational side. 'I don't care... If I did, I would 
have told him the truth about everything, about the photos, the 
princess, the crystal...' Taking her precious locket into her hands, 
she clutched it to her heart. At that moment, another realization ran 
through her head. 'If I had told him the truth, he would be in danger.'
A mocking laugh, unlike her, came from her throat. 'It was to 
late for that,' she conceded to herself, lips set in a straight line. 
The events of the earlier day replayed themselves in her mind. 

They could have captured her. 

They could have killed him. 

'Oh, God...'
She heard a rustle behind her and her heart skipped a beat. But 
it wasn't Mamoru. She could feel it. It was probably one of the girls, 
checking up on her in her 'poor, helpless' condition. Not bothering to 
glance behind her, she said gently but with evident fatigue, "I'm 
sorry, but I don't feel like talking right now."
Usagi wouldn't need to talk, for the person clamped a hand over 
her mouth, pulling her back into the darkness.

*****

"Then I suppose it's settled then. We'll set the invitations as 
soon as possible."
Mamoru nodded. They had finally settled on a date for the Crystal 
exhibit, but he had only been listening to the stray parts of their 
conversation. He still kept on gazing outside of the door, half 
expecting Usagi to come back in so that she could ignore his idiocy 
again.
This did not go unnoticed by the girls, who exchanged worried 
glances when he wasn't looking. Luna and Artemis had not mentioned 
anything to them about how the two detectives were doing, and they 
could only guess from what they had witnessed that things were not 
going well...
'This was a mistake,' Mamoru almost yelled to himself. 'I should 
have done something. But now it's too late. Usa...'
Suddenly, an uneasy feeling seemed to settle in the middle of his 
chest, and he couldn't pinpoint where it had come from. It only grew 
stronger, and soon he knew what it was. It was the same pain that he 
had felt that morning. Without any sound explanation, he bounded out of 
his chair, and with a quick look at the other ladies, he ran out of the 
door.

*****

"Mmmmmph! Mmmhhhmmmmmmph!" Usagi struggled as the captor, whoever 
it was, held her arms against her sides as his/her arm went around her 
stomach. soon, he/she was pulling her back and deeper into the mansion 
grounds, which would eventually lead to the forest. Unsure of what to 
do, her eyes frantically searched for a way out, and she racked her 
brain, trying to remember her sessions with Rei. She would do 
something, but her arms were so tightly bound that any attempts would 
be totally useless. "Mmmmph!" 
'Mamo-chan! Hurry!'
She wanted to yell as loud as she could, not for help, but to 
yell at herself. She had fallen into a trap again. 'C'mon... I need a 
way out!' Her eyes still searched for another person, something to 
release her... That's when she realized that the fountain was only a 
few feet behind her... If she did everything right... Trying to steady 
her feet on the ground as she was being pulled back, she used all of 
her strength to push back on her captor. 
SPLASH! 
The kidnapper landed inside the large fountain, but still holding 
on to Usagi. However, as the sudden shock came through, she was 
temporarily out of the perpetrator's grasp. Scrambling to get out of 
there, wet, devastated, and angry, she steadied herself and looked down 
into the fountain. 
She wasn't able to figure out who the person was, for there was a 
black ski mask over his/her face, and was dressed in black, just like 
that morning. But before she could react, either by hitting the person 
or running away, a hand shot out from the fountain and punched her in 
the stomach. "Ah!" The pain shot from her stomach to the rest of her 
body, and clouded her senses. She stumbled backwards from the impact, 
and it gave enough time for the person to get up and approach her, 
taking another swing while she was still clutching her stomach. However, 
it narrowly made it to her, and she was able to jump back and 
take up her defensive stance. From here, they stood facing each other, 
each waiting for the other to make their move. Usagi's eyes narrowed, 
still trying to block out the sting of the previous punch. 
Suddenly a an invisible force surrounded her and began to choke 
her, as if someone was physically there wringing her neck. The attacker 
simply watched. Her hand went for her locket, but it seemed that she 
was immobile as well. Her eyes closed shut tightly, trying to mentally 
block out what was going on. She stumbled backwards as her fight for 
air diminished, and landed on the ground with a thud. The attacker 
loomed above her, the huge black figure bringing a sense of dread in 
her heart. She wouldn't be able to get out. 

Then she heard it. 

That laugh.

That same laugh that had permeated her dreams and made her 
nightmares become so close to reality... it was her. Usagi's eyes 
widened and her heart began to thud erratically in her chest. Not 
knowing what to expect, she closed her eyes shut, and prepared for 
impact, or pain...

THUD.

Suddenly, the attacker was knocked to the ground next to Usagi. 
Half grateful and half afraid of finding out who it was, her gaze 
traveled upwards to meet that of Mamoru's. She would have remained 
frozen had he not grabbed her hand and pulled her up, only to push her 
behind him. 
Mamoru looked down at the attacker with the angriest eyes Usagi 
had ever seen from him. It sent a horrible shiver down her spine. She 
had never seen him like this. The attacker was motionless, face down on 
the ground, apparently knocked out. Wordlessly, Mamoru knelt down to 
find out who it was. 
The figure moved with the sharpness of a snake, and out of 
nowhere, a cloud of dark dust surrounded them. Mamoru was quick and 
stepped back, wrapping his arms around Usagi and holding her closely to 
him as tightly as possible. 
The fog cleared out, and each of them opened their eyes. The 
attacker was gone. But they did not move from their position. Usagi 
still had her head tucked in next to his chest, and she could feel the 
beat of his heart and hear his ragged breathing. She found that she was 
shaking slightly, but the motions died down as she found herself 
falling into his embrace again. 
He leaned his cheek against the top of her head, and only wrapped 
his arms around her even tighter, if possible. 

"Mamo-chan..." 

That was the chant that broke the spell. His arms around her 
going lax, he slowly let go and took a step back away from her, his 
expression hidden by the night shadow and the mask that he put on so 
effectively. 
"Mamo..." 'Oh God, please not this again.' Usagi tried to bridge 
the gap that he had placed between them, but he moved back even 
farther. Unsure of what to say, she felt her lip tremble. "Somehow it 
always ends up like this, doesn't it." It was more of a statement, 
rather than a question, and Mamoru wanted to mockingly laugh out loud 
with all the hurt inside. The fates were being especially cruel today, 
weren't they?
"You could say something," she said slowly, the way a child would 
shyly ask a teacher for help on a problem.
"You're soaking wet. We should go back-"
"That's not what I meant," she said solemnly, her disappointment 
evident. "What I meant..." she stepped forward again, and he didn't 
stir. "Is that there are a lot of things that we have to go over." 
Mamoru remained silent. Usagi moved to grasp him arm, but stopped as 
the cold, unresponsive look in his face deterred her. "Why didn't you 
tell me?" she asked quietly.
His only response was to stride past her and begin to walk back 
to the mansion. Usagi stood there, dumbfounded. What was going on? As 
she watched his steps take him further away from her, she felt 
something, and her chest constricted and her breathing became pained 
and labored.
"Why didn't you tell me?!" she cried, the tears suddenly making 
their way to the corners of her eyes. Fists clenched, she ran up to him 
until she passed him, and stopped him in his path. "Just explain the 
whole damn thing!"
Mamoru refused to look at her, and brought his head down, and 
then to the side. 
But he couldn't hide the emotion in his eyes as well as he had 
hoped to. She was beginning to see that there was something in him...
remorse... shame... she couldn't pinpoint it- just as she couldn't pinpoint 
what was possessing her to act in such a way. She 
calmed down a little, and brought her voice down. "Do you know what 
it's like, trying to go through everyday with this crazy... relationship 
of ours? Why can't you trust me?"
Mamoru set his lips in a straight line, and she could see his 
tension as well, in the way that he stood. He still refused to answer 
any of her questions. "Why can't you trust me?" she repeated, louder. 

He looked up at her, and she bit her lip to keep from crying. His 
midnight blue eyes were tired, weak, and defeated. "That's something we 
should be asking each other, Usa," Mamoru whispered. 

"Mamoru..."
Shaking his head in disbelief, he grinned to himself, a helpless 
victim to the ironies of fate. It was when he saw the despair etched in 
her eyes that he brought himself to speak. He kept the eye contact, but 
again had put up the barrier. "The only reason I didn't tell you was 
because of what happened this morning. I was going to tell you...eventually. 
But... with everything that happened today, I couldn't bear 
to do it." He paused, but expected no answer, knowing that his stubborn 
nature had rubbed off on her. He sighed. "Wait- that's not true. I... 
Another reason that I didn't tell you this was because I don't want you 
involved with this anymore." 
Usagi's face became as pale as the moon whose light began to beam 
down on them once again. "Wh...what?"
"I don't want you involved."
Words escaped her. "But... Why?"
His eyes told her enough. "This isn't your place, Usa. You know 
what happened. You know that you're in danger."
Any semblance of concern, anguish and heartache that she had for 
the man slowly burned into something much more, and she found herself 
trying to douse the flames of anger that had arisen inside her. "And 
what about you! How can you say that?!" she cried. "I can take whatever 
they throw at me and shove it right back at them. I can take care of 
myself!"

"I won't deny that." 

This was wreaking havoc on her emotions, and soon she was left as 
a blubbering pool of confusion. Trying to maintain whatever sanity she 
had left within her, she tried to be as cool as Mamoru. "Then I have 
every right to know what's going on with you."
"Usa, you have to believe me, you just can't be involved in thi-" 
"Damn it, you aren't my guardian! I'm in this just as much as you 
are!" She saw him flinch and immediately wanted to take back what she 
had said. But she was too swept up in her current of emotions to give 
up on her fight. But she no longer knew the meaning of the fight, or 
what she was looking for. She just wanted to let everything out. "What 
else?" she questioned quietly. "What else did she tell you that you're 
hiding from me?"
He said nothing, only stared at her.
"Tell me. For goodness sake, just tell me. Please... How can I go 
through every day like this?" Again, no response. Soon she couldn't 
keep back the tears back any longer, and one coursed down her cheek. 
"You could've been killed! Damn you!" she yelled, uncaring of who her 
words reached as long as they reached the one person. Another tear slid 
down her cheek, and soon, others followed, resembling the downpour of 
rain that they had encountered earlier. He was still stoic, and she 
wanted to punch him. 
Instead, Usagi ran into him, the pent up emotions that she had 
harbored through the day finally cascading into one emotionally 
tangling mess. She brought her arms around him, and held on for all 
that it was worth, no longer afraid of what he was going to think of 
her, and uncaring of his response. 

So this wasn't about what had happened in the mansion, but...

"Usa..." he mumbled silently as he forced himself to stay rigid 
in her arms. 
"Mamo-chan!" 
Her voice crying out in pain was his undoing, and, his will 
breaking, he put his arms around her and held her. Confusion clouded 
his judgment as tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. This 
was too much. He wasn't supposed to be keeping her close. This wasn't 
supposed to happen.

Suddenly, they heard the slight rustle of the grass behind them. 
Mamoru looked up, and saw the four ladies standing before him. They 
asked for no explanation, and Mamoru knew that it was his time to go- 
he had already gotten himself too far into this to drag himself out, 
but he had to do something to keep himself away from her...
"Tomorrow, we'll finish this."
She was afraid of what his words meant, but took comfort in the 
gentle way that he said it before loosening his grasp and taking a step 
back. "Let's go-"

"I'll stay... Rei-chan will drive me home."
Mamoru said nothing, actually grateful for her decision. "Your 
bags..." 
"I'll get them," Minako volunteered. 
"Tomorrow, then," he murmured as he walked off, passing through 
the group of women, Minako moving to follow him, but not without a 
questioning glance at Usagi. 

"Tomorrow," Usagi whispered as he walked away. "Tomorrow."

<9:30 P.M.>

The four ladies had decided to leave Usagi alone, and did not ask 
any questions. She had been through enough for one day. 

Usagi had gotten herself settled back into the atmosphere of the 
mansion, her heart lightened because her friends surrounded her. She 
had taken a shower, and gotten dressed. As she looked at the closet, 
she picked out a white silk nightgown, and climbed into her bed, 
clutching her locket to her chest. She had decided not to put it back 
in the case.

She was finally *home*.

"Home is where the heart is..." Usagi mumbled carelessly to 
herself. And as far as she knew, her heart wasn't there, in the 
mansion, but with someone else... 
Tired from all the emotion that she had just put out, she fell 
straight into dreamland.

<11:45 P.M.>

Mamoru, however could not find the solace of sleep that Usagi had 
found, and instead spent his time in his bed, staring at the ceiling, 
blinking away any semblance of tears that arose.

He had not cried for as long as he could remember.

*What was she doing to him?*

Mind set, an idea came to mind, and it made the pace of his heart 
run faster with anticipation, fear, and excitement. He bounded out of 
bed, and walked onto the balcony.

<11:59 P.M.>

The four women were still gathered in the gathering room, unable 
to comprehend what had happened. Instead of discussing it, they had 
resorted to simply sitting down. Minako flipped carelessly through the 
channels, Ami tried to read a book, and Makoto and Rei were talking 
about a magazine article over tea. Suddenly the doorbell rang, and they 
all glanced up, surprised that a visitor would come that late at night.
All of them moved to the door, and when Minako opened it, they 
all gasped, Ami dropping her book. Makoto and Rei's tea sloshed onto 
the floor as their hands shook. Minako stood directly in front of the 
visitor, lips trembling as tears of surprise and joy rose to her face. 
"Oh my God..."
The woman outside smiled, a tired but genuine smile, her blue 
eyes tearing at the sight of the four women. As she stepped inside, 
they gathered around her and surrounded her in a hug. Tears flowing 
freely now, the woman pulled back, her pale hair glinting under the 
light of the chandelier, and her blue eyes, so similar to that of her 
daughter's were shining, with love and with worry. Without words, they 
knew that she was overjoyed to see them. But there was something else 
that came to her attention. "How is she...?"
Minako frowned a little, but pointed up the grand staircase to 
the royal bedroom. Without question, the visitor practically raced up 
the steps. 
"Finally home..." Ami whispered.

*
It was pure instinct. 
Something drove him to come here...

The man in the domino mask glanced through the balcony window. It 
was wide open, the night air flowing in and the moonlight shining 
directly upon the bed. He saw the glowing mass of golden hair, 
gloriously spread across the covers, as he took a step inside the large 
room. One glance to his right told him that the jewel case was empty. 
No surprise. 
Stepping forward, he moved stealthily to her side. It was then 
that he saw the visage of his angel, who smiled as he came closer to 
her. Leaning over, he brought his lips to hers in a stolen kiss. She 
stirred, but he bought his finger to her lips. "Shhh... We have all the 
time in the world..."
With that, he gathered her sleeping body into his arms. He placed 
an item onto the bed and carried her over to the balcony. He looked 
down at the girl who slept in his arms, and then disappeared off the 
balcony and into the night.

*

The visitor opened the door slowly, and stepped inside the dimly 
lit room. Her eyes widened in shock and she brought her hand to her 
mouth to smother the gasp that she could not control. 

On the bed, a bright red rose lay, a commitment and symbol of 
protection, and of love.

He had taken her.

The woman sighed, and traveled to the balcony, looking up at the 
moon for guidance. 

She trusted him.

It was meant to happen. They were a part of each other now, and 
they needed to be together. 

But would they be prepared for the truth?


*****************
End Day 6
*****************

AN: OK, first things first: too predictable? Angsty enough? Yeah, I 
know, I should stop having them switch back and forth between the Usa 
and Tsukino and Mamo-chan and Chiba, but heck, it adds to tension 
doesn't it? How am I doing so far? Better or worse? I mean, Mamoru just 
keeps on reverting back to being open to closing himself up again- but 
he has his reasons...

And we have another special guest from another season! ^^; Fiore is 
from the R Movie... and is a close friend of Mamoru's. That's all I'm 
going to say. And as for Yousuke and Momoko Fuuma, they are the 
wonderful creations of Nao Yazawa, the creator of Wedding Peach. (Go 
check out the manga!)Hanazaki is Momoko's maiden name, in case it was 
unrecognizable.

Feedback, please? It's what keeps me going through with these fics, 
despite the writer's block- and I can guarantee you that the next 
chapter is gonna be really hard for me conjure, considering the fact 
that I'll be away for a while. 

Do I have to revert back to Usa's locket again? 

^_^...'_'...o_o...o_O...O_O...@_@...

Now you *must* send April feedback...

TGITM6 4/2000 ^_^