Telephone by April Rayne

AN: This is my feeble attempt at writing in commemeration of
Usagi-chan's birthday. (I know, belated birthday- gomen!) A quickie
(well, not really^^;) first season story about how the lovely couple
got together. There's a lot of dialogue (look at the title for goodness
sakes!) and there's no superflous language or anything, but please bear
with me. It may seem a little (ok, very^^;) cliche, but give me some room
to improve and read on to the end, please! Assume that you already know
that the two like each other. In this version, Rei does not, I repeat,
does NOT like Mamo-chan as anything more than friends. Thank you.

And Meredith just gave me the title of Evil Mad Scientist in Training -
(EMSIT) Thank you!!

To Sake- Wherever you are, girl, thank you so much for helping with this!

Shana- For encouraging me with this and keping my sanity (or helping me
lose it, same difference) thank you!

Psst… Camera Shy 2 is on its way and TGITM will be up sooner or later…
Sorry for the delay ^^;

Luv ya guys!

Enjoy!

The Queen Of Commas ^^;

TELEPHONE
Rated G
By April Rayne
Startear42@aol.com

----------------------------
Leave a Message At The Beep
----------------------------

"Hey! Watch where you're aiming that thing!"
Usagi winced. "Sorry Mako-chan," she sighed, taking her now
uncovered straw from out of her mouth and placing the end in her drink.
It bobbed up and down a few times, and then she frowned. "I meant to
hit the Supreme Baka over there."
Makoto sighed and looked over her shoulder, glanced at the
straw wrapper on the floor and then at Usagi's target sitting at the
counter three feet away.
As if on cue, he turned around. On seeing the girls, he smiled
and waved, totally oblivious to the fact that he was the lucky target
of Usagi's horrible aim.
The odangoed blonde grimaced as the handsome college student
winked at her and turned around.
"Oooh… I can't *stand* him!"

::bubble, bubble:: pop!

The brunette stopped her fork halfway towards her mouth, and
stared blankly at Usagi from across the booth table. Her blue eyes were
glaring threateningly past Makoto's shoulder at the counter. She was
blowing bubbles furiously into her coke, and they overflowed and popped
over the rim, tickling her nose.
"Eh… Usagi-chan, don't take your anger out on your drink,"
Makoto said blithely.

::bubblebubble::

pop!
Pop!
POP!

"Anger? What anger?" Usagi asked somewhat innocently. She
stared ahead, painting the red, white and blue bullseye on his head
with her imaginary paintbrush.
"Ne, Usagi-chan," Makoto asked, waving a hand in front of her
face, "What did Mamoru-san do to get you mad *this* time?"
The blonde's eyes widened. "You didn't see that?"
"See what?"
"He *winked* at me!"
After trying to suppress a laugh, her friend's sudden laughter
filled the air. "And your point is…?"
Her bubble blowing forgotten, Usagi took another straw from the
dispenser. She ripped one end off of the wrapper and callously placed
the unwrapped end of the straw in her mouth.

Ready… Aim…

Makoto sweatdropped. "Usagi-chan, don't-!"

Usagi blew with all of her might, and the wrapper sailed
through the air, zooming straight for his head. It was gonna make it
this time…

Mamoru decided to turn around that moment, and caught the
wrapper in his hand, unfazed by the fact that it was *thisclose* to
hitting his face.
"Nice try, Odango Atama," he mused, taking the crumpled wrapper
and tossing it onto her table as he walked by. "Maybe next time." The
girls stared, wide eyed, as he nonchalantly walked away from them. Soon
he was out the door of the Fruit Parlor.
The straw hung limply from the corner of her mouth and then
fell to the tabletop. Her face reddened to the color of her uniform bow, and
her eyes were still wide. Taking a look at the wrapper, her glance met
Makoto's.
"I told you not to," Makoto scolded.
Usagi's blush died down a bit.
"Usagi-chan," Makoto continued, "Honestly! He didn't say a word
to you until just now." She scratched her head, deep in thought. "Ever
since we walked in, it was as if you were already set to pounce on
him!"
The blush returned.

Makoto wasn't the type to point fingers, but the telltale blush
was tempting her to. "Hmmm…" she hummed to herself quietly. "If I
didn't know any better, I'd say that you-"
"No! No no no it's not like that!" Usagi yelled, waving her
hands wildly.
"So you don't just have a crazy obsession with-"
"No!"

"-blowing around straw wrappers?"

Usagi froze. "E… Eh?" Blinking, she suddenly realized what
Makoto was talking about. "Heh… That's funny, Mako-chan!" She
laughed, nervous.
The brunette's eyerow quirked. "Usagi-chan… what did you
*think* I was talking about?"
"Straw wrappers, of course!" her friend blurted out, taking a
*long* sip of her drink.
Makoto sighed. "And Mamoru-san?"
"Ack!" Usagi's eyes bugged out of her head, and she coughed a
few times after her coke went down the wrong tube. Her hand flew to
cover her mouth. "What about that baka?" She asked, still trying to get
out a few last choked coughs.
"Geez, Usagi-chan, you don't have to freak out about him like
that!"
"Freak out? Me? I don't ::cough:: freak out!"
Makoto sighed loudly. "Oh, c'mon girl! You know that there's
something going on… You like him, don't you?"
Usagi, face red, shook her head. "Nuh uh!"
"Uh huh!" Makoto felt her annoyance rise. This had to be the
fiftieth time that she'd seen the odangoed one oogle after Mamoru
without actually admitting to it. And their fights… Well, it once was
said that fighting is actually a sign of affection…
It was time for Usagi to 'fess up. And Makoto knew *exactly*
how to get her to do it… There was a sudden glint in her friends
eyes, and Usagi inwardly worried.
"Tell me the truth, Usagi-chan…" Makoto drawled, "Or *I'll*
just have to tell it!"
"What are you-?"
"All of us are sick of watching you two fooling around without
actually *doing* anything." She glanced outside of the window. "I'm
sure that Mamoru-san doesn't walk that fast. A quick dash down the
street and I could catch up with him and tell him-"
Usagi's eyes narrowed. "Umm… Tell him what?"
Makoto grinned. "That he has a little odangoed admirer."
The 'Odangoed Admirer''s eyes grew to the size of saucers and
her mouth gaped open, then closed like a fish out of water. She
couldn't find the right words to say. "You wouldn't!" She practically
yelled.
"I would!"
Usagi gulped so loudly that Motoki came from the back room to
check up on the two from behind the counter. Waving, Usagi sent him a
wide grin, and just as quickly turned to Makoto. "You wouldn't!"
"Your call," she smiled, getting up out of her seat.
The blonde yanked on her sleeve and Makoto landed back in her
seat. Grinning like a clown, she whispered, "I won't tell him, if you
admit to one simple thing- admit to liking him."
Usagi groaned. "But I *don't*! No fair! It's like I'm stuck
admitting either way!"
Makoto scrambled for the door. "Suit yourself!"
Quick as a rabbit, Usagi zipped to the front door and acted
like a human roadblock, plastering herself against the exit. "I won't
admit to it," she said through clenched teeth.
"Motoki-oni-chan! Is it okay if I use the back exit?"
A sigh escaped the shorter girl. She had to give up sooner or
later… "All right, all right…"
Grinning, Makoto walked back to their booth, Usagi behind her.
Taking their seats, Usagi took a sip of her drink. She leaned forwards
to whisper to Makoto, and covered her mouth to make sure that Motoki
couldn't see. "I… I guess I'll admit that he's cute."
"Cute?! That's it?! Usagi-"
"Shhh!" she hissed, covering her friend's mouth. "I'm telling
the truth! He's cute, that's all."
"That's all, huh?" Makoto asked, moving to the edge of the
booth seat.
"OK!" Usagi pulled her back. "All right, so maybe he's the
crushable type-"
"A ha!"
"But there is totally *nothing* past his looks."
"Riiiight, Usagi-chan."

"Hey guys!"

They turned their heads to find Minako coming through the door,
Rei and Ami close behind.
"Don't say a word!" Usagi pleaded as she weakly waved to the
other girls. "Tell Minako-chan and I'm guaranteed to have it plastered
in the school newspaper by tomorrow!"
Makoto sweatdropped and nodded.
Minako's chipper voice broke the negotiations as she slid into
the booth next to Makoto. "So, what were you guys talking about?"
The two exchanged glances.
"Straw wrappers!" they replied simultaneously.

--------------------
Static on the Line
--------------------

"Hey, Ami-chan! What *is* this stuff?" Makoto asked as she
picked up a test tube with a funny looking piece of equipment. They
were at the school Chem Lab to finish a project after school, and got a
promise not to be disturbed by anyone.
Ami looked in Makoto's direction across the school chemistry
lab. "Oh! You don't want to touch that, it's very corrosive-"

CRASH!

"Oops!" Makoto sweatdropped as she looked at the spilled
chemical burning and fizzing through the floor. She shrugged. "Nothing
new tiles can't fix," she murmured sheepishly. "I'm better with my
cooking stuff than all this lab equipment."
Ami laughed as she moved to get something to clean up the mess.
"Mako-chan, you're acting as clumsily as Usagi-chan," the blue haired
student smirked.
Makoto perked up at the mention of her friend's name. "Speaking
of Usagi-chan…" she started, sweeping up the glass shards and loading
them into the toxic bin, "What do you think about her and Mamoru-san?"
Her friend was surprised at such a prying question. "Eh…?
Isn't it obvious?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked back at the lab
table. "What suddenly made you think of them?"
Her friend shrugged. "Well, she kinda told me a secret…"
"Really? That's interesting."
Makoto nodded.
Ami took another look at her titration setup, where a
contraption was set to let solution slowly drip into a blue solvent. As
she stirred it, it was slowly turning a flourescent green in it's
beaker…

Drip............Drip.............

"This isn't good... We really should stop the chemical from
dripping any more than this," Ami mused casually.

Sweatdropping, Makoto eyed her friend curiously, and shrugged.
She turned the knob on the setup, never noticing that she was turning
the wrong way… "All right, if you really don't want to know…"

Drip......Drip.......Drip......

"So… What did Usagi-chan say?" Ami asked, blushing furiously.
Makoto waved a finger at her. "Tsk, Ami-chan, so you *do* have
a nosy side!"
She shook her head. "No! I… uh… I'm just concerned about
Usagi-chan!"
"Suuuure…*Anyway*," Makoto whispered, looking back at the
door to make sure no one was coming in, "Well, we were talking at the
Parlor yesterday, and Mamoru-san was there-"

Drip....Drip....

"So I got her to confess about him-"

Drip, drip...

"You did?!"
Makoto motioned for her to keep it down to a whisper. "Yeah,
she said that she thought he was cute."

DripDripDrip-

"And that he was the crusha-"

BBBBB
OOOOO
OOOOO
MMMMM
!!!!!!!

::cough:: ::cough:: ::cough:: ::cough::
::cough:: ::cough:: ::cough:: ::cough::

Caught in the midst of a thick grey fog, Ami fumbled across the
wall until she tipped the switch for the fan. The fog dissipated out of
the windows. They opened their eyes to find their set fallen to pieces,
the chemicals dripping all over the floor.
"I ::cough:: told you to close the valve!" Ami scolded.
They looked at each other, faces sullied with ash, and laughed.
"You look like a burnt marshmellow!" They said at the same
time.

::cough::

Their laughter stopped, and they gulped. That cough didn't come
from them… Slowly, their heads turned to the door

Their burnt chemistry teacher glared back at them, hair
standing on end…

"Ladies…!"

(AN: Obviously, don't do what they did in the lab, work and cleanup wise-
Hey, it's a fic, don't expect them to be *perfect* =Þ)

------------------
Darn Busy Signal
------------------

"Are you *sure* that's how you do it?" Rei groaned, sitting on
the edge of the outside walkway of the shrine.
Ami nodded, going over each of the math steps in the notebook
again and again. They had just had a Sailor Senshi meeting, but Rei
asked Ami if she could stay after to hang out and help her study.
Rei's eyes widened at how fast Ami was going through the trig
equations. The Shinto Priestess wasn't bad at math, but that didn't
particularly mean that she liked it… Soon the numbers jumbled
together to form dances in her head. The 8 and the 3 suddenly joined
together and danced the tango…
The long haired girl sighed. "Oh, my goodness!" she yawned. "If
I don't get my act together, I'm going to end up acting up like Usagi!"
Ami fiddled with the pen, deep in thought at hearing her other
friend's name. She had wanted to say something at the meeting, but she
promised Makoto that she wouldn't say anything about it… to Usagi,
that is.
"Rei-chan," she asked, "Could I trust you to keep a secret?"
"Ami-chan, keeping secrets, are we?" Rei jested, nudging a
blushing Ami. "Of course!"
Still blushing, she replied, "Well, it's about Usagi-chan,
actually."
"What did the Odangoed One do now?" Rei sighed. Expecting to
hear about another classic klutz attack, she began to doodle in her
notebook while listening.
"She admitted to liking Mamoru-san."
Her scrawl ran off the page and she ended up writing on her
other hand. "What?! When?! Took her long enough!"
Ami sighed. Uh oh.

"Caw!"

"Caw!"

"Attack of the Killer Crows! AHHHHH!"

The two girls looked up to find Yuichirou running around the
Shrine grounds, waving his hands in the air for help as two black crows
went to dive at him.

"So, what happened?" Rei asked, appearing to be totally
oblivious to his cries for help. Ami raised an eyebrow, looked back and
forth between the marathon running Yuichirou, and Rei. She sighed.

Time to focus on the more important things.

"Well, they were at the Fruit Parlor and Usagi confessed that
she thought that Mamoru was a cute guy and that he was..." She tried to
remember what Makoto has said before the blast in school yesterday.
'…the crusha-'
"The Crush… The Crush of her Li-" Ami nodded.

"HELLLLLLLLLLP!"

Rei was fuming at the interruption. She stood up from her place
on the floor and looked at the spectacle. "Phobos! Deimos! What's going
on?" Rei called out.

"I swear, that's the last time I'll ever try to take a nap when
I'm supposed to be working, but please Please PLEASE tell them to go
away!" he cried out, picking up a twig to toss at the crows.

"Caw!"

"Caw!"

"How dare you try and hurt them!" Rei cried, picking up her
textbook and knocking him smack in the head with it. Surprisingly, he
was so used to knocks on the head by now that he continued to run and
scream as if nothing had happened.

"Wait a sec, Ami-chan, can you say that again? I didn't get to
it with all this noise."
Ami sighed. "Well, Usagi-chan said that he was the c-"

"Caw! Caw!" Phobos and Deimos called out, swooping in closer to
his head.

"Whoa, stop that!" Yuichirou yelped, scrambling to climb up the
tree. He sighed with relief when he found himself sitting on a branch
hidden by the deep green leaves. "Sheesh, I thought they'd never leave
me alone."

"Caw!"

He cringed. Turning around, he found-

"Caw!"

"Caw!"

Two very intent crows looking back at him.

"AHHHH!"

CRASH!

Rei sighed as she looked at the mass of leaves. Conversation
put on hold, she mumbled, "Ami-chan, time to put your med expertise to
work…"

--------------------------------
Hey, What's the Number for 411?
--------------------------------

"He was *really* cute, too! You should've seen him!" Minako
gushed as she lay back in bed, cordless phone by her ear.
"Minako-chan, *everyone* is cute to you," Rei sighed over the
other end of the line.
The blond pouted. "No! That guy that we saw at the arcade the
other day wasn't that cute."
Artemis curled beside her and shook his head at the lovesick
puppy act that was going on.
"And why not?"
"He had a girl on his arm," she began to giggle, then sighed.
"But, we can't worry about guys now- we have Sailor business to attend
to… No time for guys…"
"Good," Artemis grumbled, suddenly acting paternal.

Whack!

"Meowch!"

Minako, stuffed bear in hand, had pretty good aim when her
target was so close. ^_^ She put the phone up to her ear again. "What
did you say, Rei-chan? I had a bit of a *disturbance*."
Rei decided not to ask any questions after she heard a cat
screech in the background. 'Poor Artemis,' she thought as she stroked
Luna's back. The guardian had decided to spend a night away from the
Odangoed one for a change.
The Priestess cleared her throat, and lay back on her pillow.
"All right, about what you were saying, about no time for guys… Well,
I don't think Usagi fits the type."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"I'm *saying* that Usagi has enough time for Mamoru-san." You
could almost hear her wink over the phone.
"Well, yeah, of course Usagi does- they argue as if they were
married." Artemis perked up at the mention of the Senshi leader and her
nemesis. Jumping off the bed as stealthily as a… well, cat… he made
his way out of the slightly open doorway. Luna, at the Shrine, had
gotten the same idea when she heard Rei speak.
"Yeah, but this time, she's actually admitting to it!"
"You're kidding!"
"Nope. You see, Usagi was in the Parlor with Mako-chan when she
confessed- and she said that-"

Click.

They both paused. "Did you hear something?"
Rei shrugged. "Yeah, it was probably just my phone." Ignoring
the sound, she continued. "Anyway, she said that he was a total
hottie-"

Click.

"Minako-chan, stop playing with the phone!"
Minako almost snorted. "I am *not* playing with the phone!"
Rei groaned again. "All right, so Usagi said the he was the
crush-"

Click.

"of her-"

Click.

"Okay, who's there?" Minako asked into the phone. "Speak up!"
Someone had to be listening in on their conversation. "Ya think
that…?" Both girls realizing that something... or rather, *someone*
was missing, they slowly sneaked out of their rooms, chatting all the
while. "So, what else is new?" Rei muttered, tiptoing down the hallway
to another room.
"Oh, I was watching the news just before, and they had
something on… something about…" that's when she noticed Artemis
sitting by the phone in the living room, speakerphone on. "Something
about… Curiosity killing the cat!" She ran over to Artemis before he
had a chance to get away and pulled him into her arms. She made sure to
give him a tight squeeze. "Hey! Don't you know that it's impolite to
listen to other people's phone calls?"
Minako could hear Rei loudly scolding Luna over the phone as
well, and put down the receiver.
"We're only doing what guardians do best," Artemis said matter
of factly to defend himself.
Minako rolled her eyes. "Yeah, spying?! Stop listening in on my
calls, you bad, bad cat!"

"Minako-chan?"

She looked up to find her mother staring at her from the
doorway. "Eh… Hi mama… I'm just…"
"You're just accusing your cat of listening in on your phone
calls, that's all," she said very nervously, walking towards her
daughter. "It's very late, go get some rest." Her mother gently prodded
her back down the hallway, cat in tow.
The phone was left on the living room table.

"Minako-chan!! Minako-chan, where did you go?!?!"

--------------
Call Waiting
--------------

He put the glass down on her table, smiling.
Minako batted her eyes at him, but he knew there was something
else she wanted to say. "Ne, Motoki-oni-chaaaan," she said coyly.
He sighed inwardly. When she called him that, she was in the
mood for some gossip.
"Can you sit down and talk for a little bit?"
A little bit usually turned out to be… oh, say, two hours? He
glanced nervously at the counter, and then back at her. As much as he
loved the girl like a sister, he wouldn't get himself stuck talking to
her about most of her rumors… "Well, there's a big turnout today, and
I have a lot of sorting to do in the back room-"
"But it's about Usagi-chan-"
'Not another klutz attack again.'
"-And Mamoru-san."
You could practically see his ears perk up at the mention of
the two names in the same sentence. There had to be a catch though.
"What about them?"
"Well," she began, then paused. She motioned for him to take a
seat across from her.
Oh good. A *long* talk. But if it had to do with his friends,
hey, why not? He slid into the booth, and she leaned over to whisper to
him.
She scanned the area before starting. "Okay, you just have to
promise not to tell the girls that I told you this, okay?" Before he
could nod, she began. "Well, the other day, Usagi confessed that she
liked Mamoru-san!"
Motoki stood up from his seat, hands landing on the table with
a thud. "She told him and he didn't tell me!"
The other blonde shook her head. "No! No, that's not it. She
told Mako-chan that she thought that Mamoru-san was absolutely
gorgeous-"
He stifled a laugh. Pouting because he interrupted her, she
nudged him hard on his elbow.
"Ow!"
"Serves ya right!" She smiled. "And then Usagi said-" She
paused. 'Wait a sec. What *did* she say?'
'…that he was the crush-'

'The crush… Oh!!"

"And she said that he was *the* crush!"
An eyebrow quirked. "*The* crush?"
"THE crush! The one! Her knight in shining armor, her prince!
You know! THE crush!"
He glanced back over to the counter and found that his friend
was there, on the dot as always. "Speak of the Devil…" Minako,
meanwhile, continued to gush about her exciting news, naming as many
adjectives as should could about THE crush. Smile waning, he turned to
her.
"I'll be right back, Okay? Just hold that thought."
"-her man, her numero uno… oh okay…" She nodded.
Sighing with relief, he boosted out of the booth and
practically ran towards the counter. Screeching to a halt, he smiled at
the black haired, blue eyed customer, playing around with a straw
wrapper.
Upon seeing his friend, he smiled. "What's up, Motoki-kun?"
Motoki walked behind the counter, and walked over to the coffee
machine. "You're never gonna believe what I have to tell ya."
Mamoru glanced over at the blond sitting at the booth
diligently sipping at her drink. She couldn't see them over the booth
divider. "Not more school news," he groaned. "I really can't deal with
that gossip without my cup of coffee-"
"It's about Usagi-chan."
The customer froze at the mention of her name, the wrapper
sitting crumpled in his hands. "What about her?" he asked almost
warily. "Is something the matter?"
"Not really… but it does concern you."
Mamoru's gulp was a little too audible. "What? She mad at me
for winking at her the other day? It was a jo-"
"She thinks you're gorgeous."
He watched as Mamoru's eyes widened out of shock, and then, out
of nowhere…

Laughter.

"Now *that's* a good one, Motoki-kun," he laughed. "You almost
sounded serious!"
Motoki shook his head. Mamoru was one of the smartest people he
knew, but right now he was one of the stupidest. "Look, Mamoru-kun. She
thinks your gorgeous, and according to my source, you're THE crush."
Now Mamoru had calmed down a bit. Motoki was looking
dangerously serious. "Mamoru-kun," Motoki began to whisper, "the way
Mina… my *source* is acting… It sounds like Usagi-chan is in love
with you…"
He didn't get a response from his friend, just a faded look to
his eyes, and a suddenly forced smile. "That's something else,
Motoki-kun- tell me when you come up with another one." He glanced at
his watch. "I just remembered that I was supposed to meet someone…
I'll talk to you later…"
Motoki noticed the hidden grin before Mamoru got up out of his
seat to rush out of the parlor door. The wrapper fell to the floor. The
blonde hoped that he hadn't done anything wrong… Glancing at his back
as he left the parlor, he yelled, "Hey! What about your coffee?!"
Mamoru was already gone.
Shrugging, Motoki walked back to Minako.
Minako looked at him quizzically as he slid into the booth.
There was something different about him… "What'd you have to do?"
He grinned slyly. "Just went to serve a customer… So what
were you saying?"

-----------
Caller ID
-----------

Mamoru walked down the street in a haze. It was kinda funny how
a simple joke like Motoki's bothered him so much…
It was just a joke… wasn't it?
And if it wasn't… His heart did a little somersault in his
chest, which he immediately regretted. He shouldn't be thinking that
way because she wouldn't feel that way about him…
He walked into someone as he rounded the corner, but didn't pay
much attention to it. He mumbled an apology and moved on his way, until
he heard the voice that followed him.

"Mamoru-baka!"

He stopped in his tracks, and turned around to face Usagi, who
was on her way to the Game Center and Parlor… "Ah… Odango Atama…"

She tilted her head to the side. He wasn't as quick as he
usually was… It almost scared her for a sec. Something was bothering
him, but she wasn't gonna be the one to show that *she* was concerned.
He waved goodbye and walked away, and she quickly changed her mind.
"Baka! Wait up!" She raced up to him and began to follow his
pace. "What's wrong? You usually aren't this quiet."
He stopped walking for a moment, looked at her, and then looked
ahead. Shrugging, he continued walking, mumbling, "I dunno." He gave
her a quick wave as he reached a park gate, ready to lose her and take
a quick breather there.
She followed him.
"Ne, Baka, something's wrong."
"Odango-chan," he began, stopping by the gate. Their blue eyes
made contact and they both froze. "Can I ask you something?"
She nodded, brows furrowed. Why was he acting so-
"What do you think about me?"
"Wha-? What… What do you mean?"
He should have kept his big mouth shut, but his curiosity, and
a bit of hope, were getting the better of him. "Odango… Do you care
about me?"
Her eyes widnened. All this after that conversation with
Makoto… She cringed. She hoped that Makoto hadn't told anyone… But
if she had… "That's funny, Mamoru-baka. What kind of a question-"
"I'm serious, Odango…"
Her mind flashed red blaring signals to her that said, 'Alert!
Alert! He knows!' She didn't want him to find out about anything… But
now that he had… He couldn't possibly know! He wasn't supposed to
find out until she had gotten over him… She groaned. She knew,
inside, that getting over him wouldn't be easy. And now that he knew…
There was only one thing to do.

"You're so vain! Do you actually think I'd spend most of my
time thinking about you! Like *that*!"

He noticed her blush, but shook his head. She sounded angry
enough. "It was only something I heard from someone, Odango, no need to
freak-"
"I do *not* freak out!" She didn't realize that her voice was
beginning to rise, scared that he had found out the truth. What in the
world was he thinking about her now? That she was some lovestruck
teenager? "That's kinda pushing your pompous ego a bit, isn't it? To
think- me care about you?"
There was a slight pause before he added quietly, "Odango, I
was just wondering if it was true, that's all."
Usagi hoped that he could not tell that she was visibly shaken.
"People like me don't care about people like you, Mamoru-baka." She
tried to put as much iciness into it as she could, and she saw that it
worked as she watched his expression change.
She bit her lip. He looked… upset?

Little did they know that they were being watched… A group of
loud talking girls had walked by, only to disappear into thin air… A
rustle came from behind the bushes.
Rei poked Makoto as she knelt down on the ground. "What are
they saying?"
Makoto waved her away. "I think he just said, 'do you care
about me?'"
Minako, who had left the parlor to meet up with the walking
girls, looked at both of them as if they were crazy. "No, he just told
her that he cared about her!"
"No… He's asking her about why she likes him!"
Ami sighed as she looked at the peanut gallery known as her
friends. "Look what we got ourselves into… I say that we just get
ourselves hearing aids the next time we decide to spy on someone…"

"I'll see you later, Odango," Mamoru said quickly, bringing the
conversation to a halt. He should have realized that it was some silly
joke. With that final thought, he stormed out of the park entrance, and
back out into the busy streets of Tokyo.

Usagi just watched, angry at his sudden questioning, angry at
finding that someone had told her secret… but inwardly crying because
he was walking away from her. She sniffed a little, and wiped the
corner of her eye, trying to hold back the pain as her throat
constricted. He was just being pompous and conceited, after all… She
didn't need that.
She walked out of the park, and on finding his figure going one
way, she paused. She took the other route, changing destinations to
head to Rei's shrine.

The girls appeared from their hiding spots, and stared
worriedly at both Mamoru and Usagi through the gate.

What had they done?

---------------------------------------------
"Hold On Please, We'll Connect You Shortly…"
---------------------------------------------

Motoki had told the girls that he needed a lot of help at the
Parlor that morning, to help set up after a big shipment of food and
other supplies came in. Minako had gotten him to put on the rouse so
that they could get Usagi to finally come out and not have a suspicion
of seeing the Supreme Baka.

Of course, Minako had also convinced him to get Mamoru to come,
too.

The girls watched Usagi with pangs of guilt. Ever since
yesterday, after finding out the truth about who told who at the night
senshi meeting, she had refused to talk to any of them. That is, unless
she was just going to say, "I'm not talking to any of you ever again!"
Of course, she wouldn't do that to her closest friends… But in all
honesty, she was still angry and wouldn't have gone that morning had it
not been for Motoki's offer to a free luch for helping out.

And she definetly would not have went if she knew about Mamoru.

She avoided him like the plague inside the parlor as they
waited.

It was eight o'clock, and they were supposed to get the
'shipment' at… hmm… seven?

They sat around, lifeless and bored. Mamoru and Usagi refused
to look at each other. There had to be something to do…

"I say we play telephone!"

The group stared at Minako as if she had just grown three
heads. "And just how old are we again?" Rei quipped.
Minako put her hands on her hips, mouth set in a straight line.
"It'll be something to pass the time, you know that! And it'll be
fun… *right*?" They exchanged glances.
There was no getting out of this one.

They arranged themselves on the seats in front of the counter,
and Minako stood up to look at the order.
"I never really liked this game," Mamoru grumbled angrily as he
shifted in his seat.
Minako's attention was caught, and she saw the two guys at the
end. Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't like it," she mused. Walking to
the other end, she grabbed Usagi's hands and tugged lightly. "Usagi-chan,
I think you should figure out the message first- go move to the last seat
and everyone shift down one."
Usagi looked at the end of the line and found out who she had
to sit next to. Her face flushed, she pouted. "Minako-chan," she
hissed, "I am *not* sitting next to *him*!"
"Well, you're going to have to, Usagi-chan, now get up!"
Pulling her out of her chair, Minako led her to the end. Mamoru and
Usagi's eyes caught each other, but they both turned away, blushing
furiously with frowns.
This was not looking good.
"Sit, Usagi-chan," Minako commanded, pushing her gently back
into the seat. With a "Hmph!", they turned away from each other.
Everyone sweatdropped.
Minako moved to the end, and sat down. Making sure that she
winked at the other four people, she whispered into Ami's ear. "Mamoru
has a thing for Usagi."
Ami nodded, smiling and blushing at the thought of Mamoru
having to tell Usagi… She turned to Makoto's ear. "Mamoru has
feelings for Usagi."
The brunette grinned. 'Just has feelings…? Ha!' She leaned
towards Rei. "Mamoru likes Usagi."
Rei shook her head. 'Silly Minako, that can't be it!' "Mamoru
cares for Usagi," she whispered.

"Operator."

They groaned. "Motoki-oni-chan!!"
He cringed. "I'm sorry, I didn't really hear her!" Rei, a
little louder, moved closer to Motoki. "Mamoru cares for Usagi… a
*lot*." Motoki took a look between the expectant girls and his best
friend, whose eyes were closed, facing away from Usagi.
"Psst… Mamoru-kun."

Nothing.

"Psst… Mamoru-kun!"

…

"Mamoru-kun!!!"

His eyes flew open. "What?" he spat out.
"Play the game," Motoki sighed. Mamoru rolled his eyes, but
leaned in next to his friend. He glanced one more time at the upset
Usagi before whispering, "This better be good."
'You have *no* idea.'

"Ok, Mamoru-kun… Mamoru cares for Usagi a *lot*…"

Motoki shuffled back on his seat and stared at his friend,
ready for a punch, but it never came… Mamoru only looked at him with
a blank stare, but then his gaze traveled to each of the girls that sat
huddled behind Motoki.
As far as Mamoru was concerned, the whole world probably knew
about his feelings. But as he watched all of their expectant faces, he
knew that he was being set up… He turned around to Usagi, who was
facing away from him, eyes closed. A really stupid remark was on the
tip of his tongue, a totally different line, like 'Odango is a klutz.'
Then, all he would have to do is make sure that he shut the others up
so that they wouldn't tell her the real message.
That's when he took a good look at her face, and his heart sped
up again. She was still blushing furiously, but there was something
else… There was a hint of a tear at the corner of her eye, as if…
as if she was hurt sitting next to him for a silly game. He began to
wonder what was wrong with him yesterday, acting as cold as he did at
the end. Then he began to wonder about her… she was more defensive
than ever that one afternoon… Maybe she really did have feelings for
him after all…
He glanced at the group again, and then back at her. He'd just
have to go with what his gut told him.
He leaned forward pretty far to even get his lips within range
of her ear. She still was turned away from him, but he got as close as
he could, his breath tickling her neck. His mouth opened, and the words
he had planned just flowed from his mouth in a whisper.

"Mamoru… Mamoru loves Usagi…"

Her eyes flew wide open, and she turned to face him… Their eyes
met, and there was something different in the air between them, as if his
words had just torn down a barrier. She could see in his eyes what she had
always wanted to see in him… And he could find the same in hers.

Her mouth was slightly parted as a squeak escaped her-

And he caught her lips in a gentle kiss.

They separated, and he looked her straight in the eyes, blue
meeting blue once again. Their eyes told each other everything they
refused to say aloud… She moved in and kissed him again, putting her
arms around him, as he did to her. Their bodies came together in a warm
embrace.

The group just… stared.

Makoto was gonna let out a holler, but Rei clamped a hand over
her mouth before she could say anything. Motoki's eyes bugged out of
his head, inwardly rooting for his friend. Ami blushed, noting that it
was supposed to be an intimate, private moment… she gawked at the
scene anyway. And of course, Minako was priding herself of being an
expert matchmaker…

Finally, the couple moved apart.

Usagi's face was still flushed, and as she noticed that they
had an audience "I have the biggest feeling that wasn't part of the
message…"

His only response was to look at her with bright eyes and
hold her in his arms. His actions told her more than any words could.

Usagi breathed in his scent and sighed. So something good did
come out of all the mishaps after all... Grinning, she moved to look
up at him- she could take advantage of this.

"Operator…" she whispered with a sly grin.

An eyebrow raised and Mamoru smiled, his lips moving to meet
hers as he went to give her the 'message'.

He could learn to love this game…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
End 'Telephone'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: Yes, corny, I know, but this was mean to be one of those cutesy
little stories... Well, what did ya think? Tell me in an e-mail,
please?

www.geocities.com/april_rayne_42
Not eye candy, but that's why it's under construction...