Hidden Love
by Sereko
princess-serenity@rocketmail.com


Revision #1. Just minor things. I didn't have that much time or 
inclination to do a really thorough edit job, but I caught a few errors
here and there. 

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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Prologue
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	Her days used to be normal. Her mother would wake her up and 
she would bat her away. Then, she'd wake up much later to find that 
she was running behind. She'd leap from bed and go through her morning 
rituals in a time that would impress any normal human being. Her 
teacher would give her detention after she had slid into her desk five 
minutes after the bell. A wooden ruler would hit her repeatedly over 
the head every time that she accidentally dozed off during class. With 
hands red from having cleaned too many erasers, she would mumble over 
the latest low test grade and drag herself to the local arcade. There 
she would unwind and vent all of her frustrations upon the Sailor V 
videogame console. After her joystick therapy, she'd reluctantly walk 
through her door in order to be yelled at by her mother for failing 
another exam. Finally, she would fall asleep after longingly looking 
at the full moon.  
	Now, however, she had to deal with slimy creatures from a 
horribly negative castle. She had to listen to lectures, not only from 
her mother, but also from her pet cat. She had to come home in the 
early morning hours with dark bruises and deep gashes that she picked 
up from the fight downtown. Worst of all, for Tsukino Usagi, was that 
she had to run into a dark-haired, pompous jerk at least twice a day.
Forget stinky, gooey creations made from evil. Her worst nemesis was a 
college student named Chiba Mamoru. 
	Yes, the same Chiba-san that was the heartthrob for most of the 
female population of the Juuban area.
	For some unknown reason, he had it in for her - or so she 
thought. Since the first time they laid eyes on each other, they had 
argued about anything and everything. He could get her more worked up 
than any battle in the dead of night. Somehow he always managed to push 
the wrong buttons when it came to her. She to him, as well. Every now 
and again, she could come up with some very biting comebacks. 
	All of this, unfortunately for Usagi, did not stop her from 
daydreaming about the fool. She didn't know when it had happened, but 
she had fallen for him and fallen hard. She kept this to herself, of 
course. If any of her friends found out about it they wouldn't be able 
to ever stop laughing at her. *Her* melting over her archenemy? 
	If that wasn't bad enough, Rei - a.k.a. her other tormentor in 
the form of a priestess - had to come in one day and tell the group 
that Chiba-san was the most wonderful guy in the world. This enraged 
Usagi to no end. 'He's mine! Back off!' Of course, she never actually 
said this. She couldn't. Especially now, with one of her *cough* good 
friends absolutely head-over-heels in love with the man. It would 
please Chiba-san to an extreme extent if he ever found out, too. He 
would probably laugh out-right into her face at the mere prospect of 
them being a couple. She could have her fantasies, but that is what 
they would remain. No one, least of all Chiba-san, would ever find out 
about her secret desires. 
	Usagi's life was slowly, but surely, becoming way too 
complicated for her liking.

---

	His days used to be normal. It wasn't too long ago, it seemed, 
when he was just your average recluse who was walking through life. 
He'd go to school, work, sleep, eat, pay his taxes - all of the 
essentials. 
	That all changed the moment he woke one night with a throbbing 
headache, only to find that he was sleeping in a wrinkled tuxedo. 
Tuxedo Mask. Try to come up with a stupider name and you will fail. For 
some ungodly reason it was the first thing to fall from his lips when 
his identity came into question. And a tuxedo? Don't ask about that 
either. He has no idea. Regardless, he found himself with a new 
profession - masked prowler of the night. It wasn't all that bad. It did 
give him the chance to do some good for the world and to catch glimpses 
of the underside of some very beautiful young girls' skirts. *wicked 
grin*
	No, it wasn't aiding a band of super heroines against evil that 
turned his world upside down. It was one measly little slip of a junior
-high student named Tsukino Usagi. Whennn he had first *literally* run 
into her, he thought that she was the most stunning creature on Earth. 
This realization immediately threw him into denial, for Chiba Mamoru 
never cared for or admired anyone to any extreme. Therefore, instead of 
his first words to this angel being an admission of his intense 
reaction, they formed a sarcastic insult. This resulted in a not-so-
happy reaction in the girl and the beginning of a very rocky 
relationship. 
	Since then, Mamoru had been unable to say a single nice word to 
his dear Odango Atama. What? Oh yes, he did actually manage to give her 
an insulting nickname to match all of his equally insulting comments. 
Isn't he a sweetie?
	Oh, if only things were normal once more. Then again, if they 
were he wouldn't be able to see his Odango every day at his best 
friend's arcade. Oh such tough choices. For now, though, he was happy 
expressing all of his feelings for his Odango through heated arguments 
at least twice a day.





End Prologue
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I know, I know! It's nothing great right now,
but I promise a shocking Chapter 1! Stay
tuned! ^_-


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