Hidden Love - Chapter 1
by Sereko
princess-serenity@rocketmail.com


I'm back! I promised you Chapter 1 after the holidays, so here it is!
Enjoy! It may not be the best thing out there (I haven't edited it
yet, either...ugh), but it has it's quirks. Please send feedback! I 
really want to know if anyone is enjoying this. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters
associated with the story. I merely use Naoko Takeuchi's genius as a 
starting point for my own storytelling.




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Chapter 1
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	Days passed by normally in Juuban. Nobody new of the pent up 
attraction that Usagi and Mamoru were holding back from each other. To 
the outside world, it was as if no new realizations had come to the two 
teenagers. Usagi continued to be late to senshi meetings while Mamoru 
continued staying up until the wee hours of the morning perfecting his 
ten page term papers. As more and more weeks passed, the senshi began 
to notice a subtle change in Usagi. The effect of her longing helplessly 
after Mr. Dark-hair-and-perfect-body was starting to show externally 
in the form of lack of energy. Now, anyone that knows Usagi knows that 
when she isn't chipper beyond human capacity, something very serious 
has happened. 
	Usagi was aware of her friends' concerns. She would have tried 
to fake happiness, but she couldn't stop staring off at some 
indistinguishable point and letting her mind make up wonderful fantasies 
about a certain man at random times during the day. It was hard not to 
daydream with such a dreamy source. 
	So, without Usagi to supply them with answers, the senshi made 
up some of their own. One day while Minako was watching her blonde 
friend gaze sightlessly out of the arcade window, she mumbled, "It's 
like she's in love." She hadn't realized what she let slip from her 
lips until Usagi whipped around to stare at her. Before Minako had a 
chance to read what was swimming in her princess' eyes, Rei slapped her 
on the back with a laugh. The other girls were laughing as well. 
	"What's so funny?"
	"In love?! In LOVE? Usagi?" questioned the priestess while she 
burst out laughing once more. 
	"Really, Minako. Usagi doesn't fall in love, she falls in 
crush," this came from Makoto who was joining Rei in a good laugh. 
"Usagi likes a different guy every week. You know that." The girls 
giggled some more before the laughter faded and was replaced with talk 
of the hot guy in their math class. 
	Minako thoughtfully looked back at her blonde friend. When she 
had initially jolted at Minako's proclamation, it was because that 
thought had yet to cross her mind. As scary as it was, though, Usagi 
couldn't help but feel that maybe that was exactly what it was. She had 
known - and argued - with Mamoru for months. The amount of times they 
bickered was enough that Usagi felt that she actually did know the man 
pretty well - despite the fact that he wasn't exactly spouting out his 
life story, but insults. Her attraction to him was only increasing with 
everyday and she was finding it harder and harder not to kiss the man 
instead of sticking her tongue out at him. Maybe it was love after 
all...
	Knocked out of her reverie by someone running into the window 
as he walked by, Usagi tried to shut out her friends' humored words. 
They may have thought it was a funny prospect for the eternally flaky 
ditz to actually, truly care about someone...but it was depressing for 
her to realize that her friends thought so little of her. Her eyes 
moistened.
	Noticing this, the Venusian lay a hand on the girl's shoulder 
and whispered, "I'm sorry," when the girl turned at her touch. Usagi 
brushed her off with a smile to prove that she was all right. She left 
the arcade a few minutes later with Minako looking at her with sad eyes.   

-----

	And so the days passed. Minako kept an eye out for her friend, 
but didn't inform the others about her close watch. Things for Usagi 
seemed to keep getting worse, until one day...
	"You can't stop teasing me for one measly second! Jerk! I don't 
know why I waste my time with you, you creep!" Her hands were balled 
into fists, her body was taught, and her eyes held a righteous anger 
in them. 
	He didn't look much better. They had both had horrible days and 
were releasing their frustrations upon each other. Their meeting had 
started with the usual run-in, literally, and seeing as how Mamoru had 
just received a B- on a paper that he spent weeks perfecting and how 
Usagi had just been nagged at by one of the kids at school after having 
slipped and skidded her knee on the ground, both parties were on 
dangerous ground. 
	They had been arguing for a good ten minutes by now and had 
worked themselves up so much that steam was practically coming out of 
their ears. Usagi had raised herself on tip-toe so that she may seem 
more overbearing and was hitting Mamoru's chest repeatedly with her 
pointed index finger. Mamoru had nothing to do but stick his chest out 
and vent about every bad thing that had befallen him that day. There 
was one thing that he could definitely say about his Odango: she was a 
great therapist. After emptying himself of his troubles in the form of 
angered words, Mamoru always felt better and was more able to get a 
good night's rest than on the days when he didn't get to run into the 
dumpling head. He had a feeling that today he would feel ecstatic. He 
just couldn't stop venting and pretty soon he was either going to run 
out of things to say or was going to blurt out his troubled childhood 
to the blonde. 
	Steamy breath, boiled by the heated words coming out of her 
mouth, brushed across Mamoru's cheek and neck. Her hand was now splayed 
on his chest as if she were trying to push him away. Despite the fact 
that she was in the biggest fight of her young life, Usagi couldn't 
prevent herself from glancing down at the man's lips every time they 
opened with a shout. It didn't help that he had dipped his head down a 
bit in order to better glare Usagi in the face. 
	Sparks were flying in the air all around them. Passers-by 
couldn't tell if they resulted from the friction the two caused or 
from the close, heated proximity they were to each other. Either way, 
the two didn't cease their tirade until...well, until...
   
	"With me?! I have to listen to your incessant babble everyday! 
I should be the one questioning why I waste my time with you!"
	"Well, I-"
	"You-"
	"I'm gonna-"
	"I can't believe-"

	And then everything came crashing together. 
	
	Usagi's lips were being crushed by Mamoru's. Desperate, 
bruising kisses passed between the two. Usagi was frantically grabbing 
onto Mamoru with one arm about his shoulders and the other one cradling 
his head. Her hand forcefully sifted through his deep black hair while 
the other hand was bunching up the back of his shirt. Mamoru, meanwhile,
 had one arm wrapped tightly around Usagi's waist and was clasping her 
neck with his other. His lips clamped down on hers once again. All of 
the fire, all of the passion, all of the emotion between them was let 
out in the embrace. They clung to each other as if their lives depended 
on it and captured each other's lips as if there were no tomorrow. As 
another wave of passion surged through them, their lips parted against 
one another. Mamoru's tongue was quick to delve into Usagi's mouth. 
Hers wasn't too far behind. 
	Behind her Usagi heard a woman drop something and exclaim, 
"Well I never...!" Quickly the parcel was picked up and small but 
precise steps could be heard leaving in the other direction. Usagi 
blushed becomingly when she realized what a scene they must be making...
when she realized that this wasn't a dream, it was real. She noticed 
that Mamoru had come to the same conclusion as his lips became less 
desperate upon her own. In light of the fact that they were within 
public view, the two reluctantly tore their lips apart. Their bodies, 
however, were still locked together. Both of them were panting heavily 
when they finally made eye contact. There was an intense glimmer in 
both of their eyes as they stared at each other and realized what just 
happened. "I've been wanting to do that for as long as I've known you." 
	Usagi's eyes went wide at Mamoru's statement. Before she could 
stop herself, her own mouth whispered, "So have I." She carefully 
nestled her head in the nape of Mamoru's neck, keeping her arms in 
their former position. In order to reciprocate, the young man kissed 
her hair and laid his cheek upon the top of her head. He then pressed 
her closer to him. Her heavy breath brushed past his skin in time with 
the gasps that were escaping his own mouth. 

	No sounds invaded their little world, only silence... 

	Usagi's eyes gazed past Mamoru's shoulder down the street. The 
arcade greeted her. She let her eyes drift up to the expanse of the 
blue sky. Her eyes then lazily fell to a bird perched in a nearby tre-
Usagi's eyes shot open. She glanced again down the sidewalk and low and 
behold, the arcade was right there. It was staring at her with a little
smirk and she jumped in surprise. 
	The surprising movement landed her on her feet out of Mamoru's 
grasp. He looked at her blankly. She gave out another squeak when she 
saw, through the glass windows, that Motoki was exiting the arcade's 
back room. Mamoru stood slightly bemused at Usagi's action. He, however, 
gave out a manly squeak of his own when Usagi grabbed one of his hands 
and carted him off to the nearest alleyway. Once there, she shoved him 
up against one of the walls and carefully poked her head around the 
corner. After a while she gave out a sigh of relief and stepped back 
into the alley. Mamoru just stared at her questionably. 
	She only had to utter one word, "Motoki."
	Mamoru's eyes widened in shock. "Did he see...?"
	She shook her head.
	Mamoru began to breathe again. "Thank God. I would have never 
heard the end of that one!"
	"Tell me about it." Their conversation faded away. An awkward 
silence surrounded them. They both looked around nervously. 
	Usagi was the first one to start talking again, "So...what 
should we...do?"
	"What do you mean?"
	"I mean, what are we going to do about...well...this?" She 
motioned her hand towards his chest and then her own. "About...us?"
	Mamoru smiled. He had been expecting this question. He, himself, 
was wondering if she was going to just turn around and act as if 
nothing had happened. But he was sure now because of her response to 
him earlier that everything was going to be okay. He leaned towards her 
slowly. "What is there to do?" He leaned forward a bit more and gave 
Usagi a small, but sweet kiss. Then he leaned back and rested his head 
against the alley wall.
	The golden angel in front of him smiled while holding back a 
blush. "I could really get used to this." She lifted her head up and 
pressed her lips against his. After a moment she pulled back, threading 
her fingers through one of his hands. Mamoru brought his other hand up 
to her cheek and brushed the backs of his fingers against its smoothness. 
	"Gods, I never thought this would actually happen." He gave her 
a heartwarming smile. 
	"Neither did-"
	"Usagi?" The blonde blanched when she recognized whose voice 
had just called her. Mamoru reacted quickly by grabbing her shoulders 
and spinning her around so that she was the one up against the wall. 
Then, with his hands pressed up against the building on each side of 
her waist, he shoved his body against her own and laid his head next 
to hers. 
	Motoki passed by their little alcove a second later, not even 
noticing the two occupants who were smashed up against one side in 
order to blend in with their surroundings. "Usagi? Are you out here?" 
Mamoru pressed himself and Usagi closer to the wall and, in the process,
also pressed his cheek closer to hers. "I could have sworn I saw her..." 
Motoki's mumbling drifted away as the young man walked back toward his 
precious arcade. 
	The two in the alley let out the breath that they were holding. 
Mamoru reluctantly eased away from Usagi. He wasn't able to completely 
lose contact with her, however, for she had wrapped her arms around 
his waist when she sensed his movement. "No. Please."
	The black haired man looked down in confusion. He reached up 
with one hand and lifted the angel's face. What he saw shocked him. 
She was on the verge of tears. "Please, don't." The whisper barely 
escaped her lips.
	"What's wrong, Usagi?" He brushed her cheek with his fingers 
soothingly. "What is it?"
	The girl had managed to hold back her tears before, but now 
one slipped past her guard and fell down her face. Mamoru caught it 
and wiped it away without a second thought. Closing her eyes, to 
prevent the flow of any more tears, Usagi continued, "All of this is 
like a dream to me. I'm afraid that the moment you step away from me, 
I'll wake up. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to have to face 
reality, not the one where we fight everyday." Despite her efforts, a 
few more tears leaked out of her closed lids. "Never again, Mamoru. 
Never again." She brought her arms up to his back and buried her face 
in his shirt. 
	Mamoru smiled down at the top of her head. Giving her a 
reassuring squeeze while positioning his lips next to her left ear, he 
whispered, "Don't worry, Usagi." He leaned down to gently kiss her neck.
"I care about you too much to turn back to square one now. Since you 
don't want to forget about this new development, either, we can start 
fresh. No arguments." His lips tenderly trailed up her neck to her 
earlobe. "And though I understand completely how all of this can seem 
like a fantastical dream..." Brushing against her jaw, his lips 
continued their trek towards her chin. "It isn't one." One of his hands 
came up to cradle her neck while the other remained around her back, 
supporting her. His lips finally reached her chin and, without a moment's 
pause, he dove down to capture her mouth. The kiss was short and sweet, 
like all of the ones that he had been administering on her. Pulling 
away, he breathed out, "This is all very real." Usagi slowly opened her 
eyes. Mamoru gazed back at her. "This is all very real and I'm not 
going anywhere." He leaned down for another quick kiss. "Not without 
you."     
	Usagi's eyes widened, her mouth hanging agape. 
	"Gods, I do NOT deserve you." 
	Mamoru looked away in speculation. After a second he turned 
his attention back to Usagi. A comical smile graced his face, as he 
replied, "No, you probably don't." The golden angel cracked a smile and 
smacked Mamoru upside the head. 
	"Don't you start on me now, mister." She gave him an indignant 
look.
	"I'm glad I could take your mind off of things." The royal blue 
eyes smirking down at her suddenly turned dark, the smile falling from 
his face. "But we must talk about how we are going to...well, present 
ourselves to everyone." He paused for a moment, then started up again 
quietly, "*If* we present ourselves to everyone..."
	Usagi's head shot up to stare at him in shock. "If...?" Then 
she thought about it a second and her shock faded. Depression seeped 
into her face. "Nevermind, I understand what you mean." Her head 
drooped. "Oh, Rei-chan...she has the biggest crush on you. I'm not sure 
if I could ever break the news to her." 
	Mamoru sighed. "Motoki, too. He'd probably think it was some 
kind of joke."
	"Oh, I just don't think that I can face them all. Mako-chan, 
Ami...Minako might understand, but..." She glanced up into those 
endless midnight blue eyes. "I don't think that I could break Rei's 
heart like that..." Her eyes fell downcast again. "I just couldn't..." 
She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his chest and holding 
onto his shirt with both hands. 
	Mamoru rubbed her back soothingly. "I'm sorry, Usagi." He 
sighed. "I lied. It seems we will be arguing again." Her head shot up 
once more. With a soft gaze, he brought a hand to her cheek. "If we 
want the others to think that nothing has changed between us, we must." 
She nodded reluctantly. A silence settled between them. After absorbing 
not only what had just developed between them, but also what they would 
have to go through, they glanced at each other. A thought occurred to 
Mamoru and he let his hand drop from Usagi's cheek to one of her hands. 
He grasped it tightly. 
	"Usagi." Using his other hand to direct her chin so that she 
was staring straight at him, Mamoru continued. "I want you to know...to 
understand...that anything I may say during our upcoming fights IS NOT 
true!" 
	The earnestness in his voice shocked Usagi, but she nearly 
melted when she registered what he said. She squeezed his hand back 
and smiled up at him. "That goes for me, too. NONE of it's true." The 
stoic man sighed in relief.
	"I suppose we should be going. Motoki will be expecting us." He 
gave Usagi a searching gaze, trying to memorize her every feature 
before he had to leave her. 
	"Yes." She paused. "I suppose we should start a fight before 
we enter the arcade?"
	Mamoru nodded, "It would be best." Without hesitation, the two 
drew together. Their kiss started off chaste and soft. It was merely a 
meeting of lips to express their mutual affections for each other. 
However, when it finally occurred to them that they would rarely be 
able to act in such a way with one another, the kiss deepened. The 
passion that had sparked between the blond and black-haired teens 
returned. Usagi's heart raced in her chest as her blood boiled in her 
veins. She reached a hand around Mamoru's waist and slowly slipped it 
up and under his shirt. 
	He abruptly pulled away from her. "You play games with me?! 
Are you still a two-year-old, Odango Atama?" He brushed past her and 
walked out of the alleyway quickly. Immediately, he bumped into someone.
As if expecting such an accident and the person, Mamoru straightened 
himself up. "Ouch. Hey, Motoki. Sorry, I didn't see you there." The 
gleam in the back of his eyes suggested otherwise. The other young man 
waved a hand in dismissal and started up conversation.
	Usagi stood stock still in the darkness that the building walls 
provided. Her eyes were wide and trembling. Her lips still quivered 
from the intense emotions thrust upon them moments before. 'What just 
happened?'
	She brought a hesitant hand to her bruised mouth. 'Was that just
another daydream?' Her tongue slowly licked her parched lips. 'No...I 
can still taste him...chocolate and...and roses? It couldn't have been 
a dream. But then...' She glanced up at the two talking men. Motoki 
said something while tilting his head to the side and Mamoru answered 
back with one of his patented smirks.
	'Why did he...'
	Both of them were acting as if it were just another, normal day. 
'But is *isn't* a normal day!' Her mind protested. 'It isn't!'
	One of her hands found its way to her face while the other 
pressed up against the wall next to her. She leaned heavily against it 
for support. Without her consent, a tear coursed down her cheek. 'No! 
NO!' She thought as she harshly wiped the tears from her face. 'It 
wasn't a dream! Please...gods, *please* tell me it wasn't a dream!!' 
Her head forcefully shot up to stare at Motoki and...and...the stoic,
collected, emotionless stance of Chiba Mamoru glared back at her.  
	'NOOOOO!' Falling in a heap on the ground, she tried to hold 
back her sobs.

---

	Mamoru had been sparing glances at Usagi during his entire 
conversation with Motoki, but he couldn't see her very well since she 
was hidden in shadows. He sighed. Motoki said something to him and he 
distractedly replied back. 'I hope she didn't get the wrong idea...'
	"Mamoru? MaMOru?!" A hand waved in front of his face.
	"Wha-?" He looked over and saw Motoki staring at him oddly. 
"Oh, Motoki. I'm sorry. I dazed off for a second there. What did you-" 
He abruptly cut his sentence off when a shock flew through his system. 
'NOOOOO!' The word echoed throughout his head. The onslaught of sorrow 
that followed nearly drove him to his knees. 
	Motoki quickly grabbed his shoulders to keep him upright. "Mamoru?!"
	"I-I'm fine...Just got a little dizzy, that's all." He brushed 
Motoki's help away with a wave. "I have to run an errand, but I'll meet 
you back at the arcade soon, okay?" Confused, Motoki just nodded and 
walked away.
	Immediately Mamoru threw himself into the alley and knelt upon 
the ground. He frantically reached out with his senses. "Usagi? USAGI!!" 
His hand hit something. Turning his head to where his hand was, he 
came upon the small, shaking form of Usagi. He stopped. She had her 
knees drawn to her chest and was clutching them with all her might. 
Mamoru carefully reached out to her. "Usa?" 
	Her eyes flittered to his at the endearment. "Mamo-chan? W-Why 
did you...what's going on?...It isn't a dream...no...can't be...but why 
did..you..." Her ramblings continued and scared him to the core. 
	"Usagi?" He leaned forward and curled his fingers around her 
neck. Using his hand as support, he laid a kiss on her forehead and 
then proceeded to hug her about the shoulders. "Usagi, what's wrong?"
	In response to his touch, she stiffened. "Why?" Mamoru pulled 
away just enough to look into her eyes.
	"Nani?"
	Her eyes cleared a bit and she continued, "You just...we kissed 
and you...yelled..at me...and then Motoki came and..." She trailed off.
	It dawned on him then and he pulled Usagi closer to him. "Oh, 
Usa. No, no, no...I heard Motoki coming toward us. Luckily he never 
spotted you, but I was trying to start an argument in case he did. 
Gods, Usa. I didn't mean any of it. I'm so sorry." Mamoru tightened 
his grip and slowly rocked her back and forth. "I'm so sorry."

---

	Usagi's mind was a muddled mess after she fell to the ground. 
Everything was swarming around her, taunting her, laughing at her. How 
foolish she must have been. It was just one of her daydreams. Mamoru 
doesn't care for her. He never did. The earth beneath her didn't seem 
quite so stable anymore. The shock that shot threw her system at his 
actions left her disoriented. She couldn't think, couldn't formulate a 
coherent thought. 
	Then, out of the darkness she heard a desperate cry. Something 
touched her foot and then there was a pause. All of a sudden she could 
hear the world again. She could hear, "Usa?" With one of her senses 
back on track she tried out another, sight. Her head lifted and she 
opened her eyelids to gaze at him. 
	The next part was a jumble. She couldn't understand what was 
happening, what he was saying or what she was saying. However, it 
eventually led to him wrapping his arms about her. Then he whispered 
sweet words into her ear. Sweet words that she so needed to hear and 
that brought clarity back to her system. "Mamo..ru?"
	The man stopped his rocking, but continued to hold her in a 
warm embrace. She brought her arms about him to compensate. "I'm sorry." 
She shook her head. "Look at me, barely two minutes into a relationship 
and I'm already overreacting."
	Mamoru pulled away just enough to look her in the eye. "No. 
Don't say that. You had every right. You didn't know what was going 
on. I would've reacted in the exact same way, Usa." He leaned forward 
to bring her back into his arms. "Oh, gods...how are we going to get 
through this?"
	Usagi sighed, "We can do it. After this, I'll know what to 
expect. It won't happen again. No more misunderstandings. Anything 
mean that we say to one another is a lie, right?" She could feel his 
head bob in the affirmative. "We'll just have to remember that and not 
go second guessing how we feel about each other and such."
	The sensible nature emanating from the girl in his arms 
contrasted completely with the emotions that were flying off of her 
earlier. Mamoru just thanked his lucky stars that Usagi was as 
forgiving and understanding as she was. 
	He reluctantly pulled away. "I should get back to the arcade. 
Motoki is expecting me." He cupped one of her cheeks as silence swept 
between them. "I'm really happy that we both finally came to our senses.
I'm sorry for being so insulting, but arguing with you was the only way
that I thought I could get your attention. Well, that and the fact that
it is very hard to stay clear-minded in your presence." He gave her a 
small smile. "But all of that is behind us now. I really do care for 
you, Usa. Just know that and everything will be fine." Giving her one 
last lingering kiss, he tore himself from her presence letting his 
fingers entwine with hers until the very last moment before he left 
the alley. 






End Chapter 1
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Hope you liked it! Was it original
enough? Some of it may be a bit too 
much, but I like it. Please send me
feedback! Thanks to those who have
already sent me encouraging e-mails. 
I truly appreciate them, they make me 
work harder and longer on my stories!
Happy reading!


Please send ANY comments to me, Sereko. My e-mail is: 
princess-serenity@rocketmail.com