Thanks for the reviews on the stories so far! Glad to know people still remember them, and are enjoying them.

To reiterate, I'm reposting these one-shots in celebration of the new Sailor Moon Crystal series (which is utterly fantastic so far). There are only three episodes at the moment, with a new one being released on Hulu and Crunchyroll every other Saturday. Every Sailor Moon fan must check it out!

That being said, please remember that these stories were first written almost a decade ago, and are based on the original anime from 1995. I am, however, doing heavy revision on a lot of them, just to clean them up and update them a bit. Most of them are set in the first season, and all of them are centered around Usagi/Mamoru, and very occasionally Sailor Moon/Tuxedo Kamen.

Please enjoy, and reviews are always appreciated.

As always, I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters. I am merely borrowing them for my own amusement to write these little stories. I promise to return them unharmed once I'm finished.

This story is rated PG13 for lotsa fluff.

The Bet

It started out so simply, really.

Usagi and Naru sat at their usual booth in the Crown Arcade, amusing themselves by daring each other to do outrageous things for obscene amounts of money. It was just for laughs, of course, given the serious lack of actual money on Usagi's end, but that just made it all the more fun. They could think up the most ridiculous bets without the fear of having to actually go through with them. At the moment, Usagi was grinning at her friend, having just dared her to run down the street in nothing but her underwear for twenty-thousand yen.

Naru calmly took a bite of her chocolate parfait and appeared to think it over. Then she shrugged one slender shoulder. "Make it fifty thousand, and I'd do it," she announced cheerfully.

Usagi's mouth dropped open. "Naru-chan!" she hissed, caught between laughter and shock. "I never knew you were such a deviant!"

Naru snorted. "Look who's talking. I'm not the one who thought it up in the first place."

"Point," Usagi giggled, swiping a drip of ice cream off the side of her bowl with her finger. "Okay. So you'd streak for fifty thousand yen. But … would you streak past your mother's shop? On a big sale day? Without your undies?" she added, pointing a finger triumphantly at the red-head.

Naru rolled her eyes. "Not for all the yen in Japan. I'm not stupid," she deadpanned. "And that's two turns for you, so now it's my turn."

Usagi sat back with a grin and took a huge bite of her sundae, waiting for the next bet. She was confident, however, that even Naru wouldn't be able to come up with anything more outrageous than streaking.

She was wrong.

The red-head glanced around the arcade idly as she thought, until her gaze froze on one certain point. A sly grin made its way slowly across her face, and Usagi blinked, a shiver of apprehension running up her spine. She turned in her seat to discover what had so captured Naru's attention, and her curious gaze fell upon Chiba Mamoru, sitting two booths away and deeply absorbed in a thick textbook. An untouched milkshake sat on the table in front of him.

Usagi rolled her eyes. Oh. Was that all? "Earth to Naru-chan!" She waved a hand in front of her friend's face. Naru's gaze returned to her with a snap. "Get a good eyeful?" she teased. "Okay, I admit he's kinda cute, but really, your eyeballs are about to fall out of your head."

Naru pulled a face. "Go ahead and laugh, but I just thought up the perfect bet for you!" She took another bite of her dessert.

"What? Do I have to go kick Mamoru-baka in the butt for a million yen or something? Heck, I'll do that for free!"

Naru's smile turned even more cunning. "I don't want you to kick him," she said sweetly. "I want you to kiss him." She waited until Usagi finished choking on her ice cream before adding smugly, "For ten thousand yen."

"Not a snowflake's chance in hell," Usagi coughed, wiping at her tearing eyes.

Naru laughed. "Fifteen thousand?"

"No!"

"Okay, okay. Twenty thousand."

Usagi snorted a laugh. Obviously, Naru wasn't going to give up until she said yes. Well, it was only a game anyway, so why not? "Oh, all right. Since we're going crazy and all, I'd go over and give Mamoru-baka a big kiss for … say … enough money to buy a brand new Playstation," she announced.

Naru's eyebrows rose. "That's all? You'd kiss him for a new video game system?"

"Well, Shingo likes to hog the one in the living room so I thought if I got my own we wouldn't fight over it so much," Usagi joked. "My parents would probably be thrilled."

"But you'd need a television, too, right?"

Usagi frowned, tapping a nail against her teeth. "Oh, yeah. Hadn't thought about that." She brightened. "Then a hand-held! I'd do it for Sony's new hand-held. And some games, too, of course."

She sat back and crossed her arms smugly, satisfied that she'd managed to thoroughly fluster her friend. However, it was once again her turn to be flustered when Naru nodded thoughtfully and replied, "Okay, then. It's a bet."

Usagi continued to grin for another moment, until the implications of those words abruptly hit home, and she sat bolt-upright and gaped. Naru was suddenly looking far too serious about all this for her liking. "What?" she squeaked. "What's a bet? What are you talking about?"

"A new gaming system and, say, two games runs around forty thousand, right? I'll give you the money for it, if you go over there and kiss Mamoru-san right now," Naru said, attempting to look innocent, and failing miserably.

"A-are you insane?" Usagi slid down in her seat until her head barely passed the back of the bench, just in case the subject of this most ridiculous conversation should happen to overhear it.

Naru was smiling again, shaking her head. "You said you'd do it," she pointed out, not about to let the blonde off the hook.

"I was joking! It's just a game," Usagi hissed. "Besides, where would you get that kind of money, anyway? You aren't that rich!"

Naru waved her spoon at her. "Unlike you, I don't blow all of my allowance in one day," she scolded. "I have my New Years and birthday money, too. There's more than enough to buy something like that."

"But Naru-chaaan," Usagi whined. "I have to kiss Mamoru-baka to get it?"

Naru grinned, completely unrepentant. "Come on. Just giving someone a little smooch for forty thousand yen is a fantastic bargain," she teased. "It's not like I'm asking you to sleep with him or anything!"

"Naru-chan! Pervert, what if he hears you?"

"He's not going to hear," she snorted. "He's too absorbed in studying. Look at him, he's totally zoned out right now. He'd never see you coming!"

"Couldn't I just kiss Motoki-onii-san instead?" Usagi asked hopefully.

"Of course not! That would defeat the whole purpose! Besides, he isn't even here today."

"And what is the purpose of this, Naru-chan?" Usagi growled, glaring at her friend suspiciously.

Naru shrugged, putting on her most innocent face. "Just want to see if you actually have the guts to kiss your worst enemy. I'd do it."

"I've got plenty of guts," Usagi grumbled.

"Then prove it!"

Usagi hesitated. Naru, sensing a crack in her friend's resistance, riffled through her wallet. "Look. I've got twenty thousand right here. You go over and kiss him, and you can have it. And we'll go back to my place right after and I'll give you the rest." She fanned the wad of bills.

Usagi's eyes bugged. That was like … like … three months of allowances right there in one bundle! She'd never seen so much money before! She fidgeted in her seat as temptation began to overrule common sense. Grinning, Naru waved the bills in front of her face, then started to tuck them back into her wallet. "Fine!" Usagi yelped, quickly reaching across the table to stop her. "I'll take your stupid bet. But you'd better pay me the rest!"

Naru grinned and placed the money into Usagi's waiting hand, only to snatch it back a moment later. "You have to kiss him on the mouth," she clarified sternly. "The cheek or forehead doesn't count!"

Usagi grumbled and snatched the bills. The cheek had been exactly where she'd planned to kiss him, damn it. Naru-chan knew her too well. And why did the girl have to be so rich? It was so inconvenient…

Muttering under her breath, she stuffed the money into the pocket of her uniform, strolled casually toward Mamoru's booth, attempting to look innocent (she suspected she failed miserably). He was still absorbed in his studies, and she smirked. Only he would think to bring his homework into an arcade of all places. Maybe all the peace and quiet helps him concentrate, she thought snidely. Still, if it kept him occupied…

She pursed her lips, wondering how best to go about this. Now that she was there, she was having serious doubts about the whole idea. Since he was so distracted, maybe she could just kinda … swoop in, kiss him, and hightail it out of there before he even looked up from his book.

Except, she had to kiss his mouth, and with his head bent like that, she'd never get to it without him noticing something. Curse Naru…

"So, Odango, did you want anything in particular or is it that you simply can't get enough of my gorgeous profile?"

Usagi sighed dejectedly, shoulders slumping. So much for a sneak attack.

"I'm not going to answer that since your bloated ego will probably explode all over the arcade," she muttered, only to realize a moment too late that she'd inadvertently managed to give him a compliment rather than an insult.

He realized it, too, and shot her a sly glance from the corner of his eye. He closed his book and turned to face her, those dark blue eyes sparkling impishly as a little grin twitched at his perfect mouth. "Why, thank you, Odango. That's such a nice thing to say."

She gritted her teeth. "Don't get used to it. It'll never happen again."

"Are you sure?" Did he just wink at her?

She wanted to scream. How was she supposed to kiss him now? She shot a desperate glance at Naru, who merely made a little shooing motion with her hand, urging her on. Usagi closed her eyes and sighed softly, turning back to Mamoru, who was watching her carefully.

"Something the matter, Odango?" he asked, the smile vanishing as he searched her face. Yep. He was definitely suspicious.

She fidgeted nervously. Well, she'd already come this far. It'd be stupid to chicken out now. There would be no end to Naru's teasing. Besides, she really did want that gaming system. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and looked Mamoru straight in the eye. "Please don't take this the wrong way," she pleaded, and reached out to take his face between her hands. Ignoring his startled gasp, she leaned forward and pressed her lips firmly to his.

She wasn't sure what to expect, really. Although, Mamoru shoving her away and yelling at her was pretty much at the top of the list. She wouldn't have blamed him, given that's how she would react were the positions reversed. She certainly didn't expect him to just sit there and take it, however.

He didn't kiss her back, but he didn't push her away, either. A moment passed before she realized that he apparently wasn't going to do anything other than sit there like a lump. Which meant it was up to her to put an end to it. She slowly drew back, her cheeks burning hotly with embarrassment, unable to meet his eyes. A frown pulled at her mouth as she sought to process what she'd just done, and she could only reach one conclusion.

She felt strangely … disappointed.

She'd just kissed a man, for the first time ever, and it hadn't been anything like what she'd read in books or saw in the movies or even like what some of her friends had described to her with hushed giggles. There was no heavenly choir, or warmth, or feeling. It was just … a gesture. A meaningless gesture. It had been kinda nice (considering who she'd been kissing and all), but it was nothing close to fantastic. And now she knew that everything she'd ever heard about kisses was nothing but a lie.

She took a deep, unsteady breath, trying to gather her crumbling composure as she stepped away. Mamoru still sat there, gazing at her with wide eyes and parted lips, stunned beyond reason, and she couldn't help smirking a little. At least something good had come from all of this. She'd finally managed to knock the fight right out of Chiba Mamoru and leave him completely and utterly speechless. Better savor it while it lasted. "Sorry about that," she said flippantly, trying to ignore the fact that her idealistic perceptions of romance had just shattered like Cinderella's glass slipper. "That won't happen again, either."

He blinked, his mouth closing slowly as his dazed eyes sharpened on her, his expression growing stormy. She gulped; now was the time to beat a hasty retreat, before he gathered his wits enough to give her the tongue-lashing of a lifetime. She offered a mocking salute and quickly spun around, grabbing a stunned Naru's hand on the way to the exit and practically dragging her out the door.

"You did it! I can't believe you actually did it!" Naru squealed excitedly as she allowed herself to be dragged down the street at roughly the speed of a bullet train. "Soooo? What are you waiting for! Tell! Tell!"

"Tell what?" Usagi griped. "I kissed him. End of story."

"What was it like?" Naru pressed, wondering at her friend's uncharacteristic reluctance to share juicy gossip. "And can we slow down now? My legs are gonna fall off!"

Usagi slowed her pace to a sedate walk, strolling along demurely with her gaze fixed on the sidewalk. Naru frowned. This wasn't like her, either. Shouldn't she be whooping for joy and hopping around like a deranged rabbit or something? She'd just kissed the most gorgeous guy in Japan, and she looked miserable about it! "Usagi-chan." Naru reached out to grip her sleeve. "What's the matter?"

Usagi sighed and glanced up, catching Naru's concerned gaze. She hesitated, before pulling her off the sidewalk and under the canopy of an outdoor cafe. With extreme reluctance, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the money. "Here," she said softly. "Take it back."

Naru gaped at her. "Wh-what are you talking about? That's yours. Trust me, you earned it!"

"No, I didn't. And I don't want it." Usagi looked everywhere but at Naru. "I don't feel right, taking so much money for something as dumb as a kiss. I feel like I'm taking advantage of you or something."

"But you aren't!" Naru protested. "I gave it to you willingly, and believe me, it was worth it to see the look on Mamoru-san's face!" She laughed for a moment, until she realized Usagi wasn't laughing with her. She gazed at her with open concern. "Usagi-chan, what happened?Did he say something mean to you? Was the kiss that horrible?"

Usagi leaned against the wall. "It … it was just…" She sighed. "It wasn't what I expected it to be, that's all," she finally admitted. "I mean, everyone always talks about how wonderful and special kisses are, but I didn't feel anything when I kissed him! It was just … I dunno." She shrugged helplessly, not sure how to explain her feelings.

Naru rolled her eyes. "Well, duh!" she snorted. "Of course that's how you'd feel. You don't care for Mamoru like that, so how could it feel special? It'd only feel that way if you kissed someone you actually liked."

"But…" Usagi bit her lip. "It's not like I hate him. I mean, he's a jerk and he always teases me and stuff, but sometimes he can be nice, too. Sometimes. But that was my first kiss and … well … I feel like I wasted it now. He didn't even kiss me back!"

"He was probably too busy trying to figure out what was going on to even think of kissing back," Naru laughed. She studied Usagi's downcast expression thoughtfully. "The question is, did you want him to kiss you back? Why does it matter whether he did or didn't? You don't care … right?"

Usagi looked stunned. "O-Of course not!" she sputtered, her cheeks beginning to warm again. Somehow, it felt like a lie. "At any rate, it's something I'll never do again, and I don't want the money. So take it back, okay? Please?"

Naru reluctantly accepted the crumpled bills and stuffed them back into her purse, her brow furrowed with worry. "Usagi-chan, are you okay?" she questioned timidly. "I-I'm sorry I let it get so out of hand. I should've just kept it a silly game."

"Don't worry, it's not your fault. I'm the one who accepted the bet, right?" Usagi flashed her a reassuring smile. "Anyway, it's getting a little late. I should probably get home before Mama has a fit about me being out so late and not finishing my—Oh!" She froze in stunned horror as realization suddenly hit her.

"What? What's the matter?" Naru glanced wildly around the cafe.

"My bag!" Usagi moaned, sliding down the wall. "I left it in the arcade! We ran out of there so fast that I forgot to grab it!"

"Oh, is that all?" Naru looked a little annoyed. "Don't scare me like that! Just go back and get it. It's probably still there."

"I can't go back. He's probably still there," Usagi groaned, burying her face in her arms. She looked up at Naru hopefully. "Could you—"

"No way!" she yelped. "Sorry, Usagi-chan, but he's probably figured out I had something to do with you kissing him, and that guy is scary when he's mad!"

"Only when he's mad at me," Usagi grumbled.

Naru giggled. "Just pick it up tomorrow."

"But we have school tomorrow. I can't go to school without my bag. Haruna-sensei will make me stand in the hallway again!" Usagi whined.

"You end up standing out there at least three times a week, anyway," Naru replied with a laugh.

Usagi pouted. "That's beside the point."

"Just go back for it later tonight, before the arcade closes. Someone will probably find it and turn it in at the counter. I wouldn't worry too much."

Usagi gave a sigh of defeat and nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow," she mumbled, starting to trudge home.

"Usagi-chan," Naru called, her face a mask of sympathy. "Don't worry too much about you-know-what. Just put it out of your head! Someday you'll meet someone really special and then you'll see for sure what everyone's talking about."

Usagi gave her a weak smile. "Thanks, Naru-chan," she replied. "And, you know…" She offered her most innocent smile. "If you really wanna buy me that game system, I do have a birthday coming up."

The house was empty when she got home. A note pinned to the fridge with a magnet told her that her father was working late, and her mother had taken Shingo to have dinner with a family friend across the city, and she could have gone along, had she been home on time, but since she wasn't she'd have to make due with warmed-up leftovers.

Some mother. Usagi sighed and took a cookie from the plate on the counter, more out of habit than hunger, and wandered into the living room to watch television. Even her favorite shows couldn't keep her interest, though; her mind was too fixated on other issues.

Luna wandered into the room and jumped into her lap, purring loudly as she curled into a furry little ball to sleep. Usagi smiled and absently stroked the soft, black fur. "I don't know why this is bugging me so much," she confessed to the snoozing cat. "I mean, besides the fact that Mamoru-baka's gonna chew me into tiny little scraps the next time he sees me. What am I supposed to do now?" She sighed heavily. "I won't be able to face him ever again!" Her head thumped against the back of the loveseat and she scowled at the ceiling. "I should've kept the money."

Her musings were interrupted by a knock on the front door. "Now what?" she mumbled, deciding to ignore it. She wasn't expecting company, and if it was for her parents, whoever it was would eventually get the hint and go away. The knock sounded again, a little harder. She rolled her eyes. Or not. "Sorry, Luna." She dumped the cat unceremoniously off her lap and stood. Luna gave her a baleful glare before curling into a tighter ball and going back to sleep.

The knock came a third time, followed by the rapid ringing of the doorbell. Usagi ran for the door, nearly braining herself on the wall when she tripped over her shoes, before she managed to find the knob. "Don't get your panties in a twist, I'm coming!" she complained, flinging the door open, and her eyes came to rest on Mamoru. She squeaked in shock, was about to slam the door in his face when he held up a familiar-looking bag. "Missing something?"

"Oh. Yeah. Thanks."

She reached for the bag, but he held it well out of range. She glared, but he merely smirked. "Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked.

"Mama says I should never invite strangers into the house," she sniffed.

A black eyebrow rose. "But kissing them is okay?" A grim smile pulled at his lips. "We're not really strangers anymore, right? I mean, a kiss is pretty familiar…"

"You've made your point," she snapped. "Now give me my bag and kindly leave."

His expression turned serious. "Not just yet. I think we're due for a little talk. You owe me an explanation, Odango."

She gritted her teeth, wanting to protest, but she knew deep down that he was right. She definitely owed him something. After a long moment of indecision, she heaved a sigh and turned to stalk away, letting the door hang open. Mamoru hesitated, then stepped into the house, slipping off his shoes and shutting the door quietly behind him. He followed her into the kitchen, where she pulled two cups from the cupboard before opening the fridge.

"I'm not really thirsty, Odango," he said, recognizing the distraction for what it was.

Her head snapped up from the fridge and she fixed him with an icy glare. "This is my house," she replied haughtily. "When you're in it, you will not call me rude names."

Mamoru blinked at her for a stunned moment, before silently nodding. Apparently, being on her home turf lent her some extra backbone she normally didn't possess. Besides that, she did have a point. "So…" he prodded, seating himself at the table and waiting for her to get her drink.

She sighed. "I told you not to take it the wrong way," she grumbled, pouring milk into the cups and carrying them to the table. She set one in front of him, then took the plate of cookies off the counter and put it between them.

He raised an eyebrow; did she even realize what she was doing, serving him like an invited guest? She blinked at him, glanced down at the cookies, and then rolled her eyes. "Whether I want you here or not, Mama taught me to always be polite to guests. So eat a cookie already," she sniffed, taking one for herself and taking a deliberate bite out of it.

He cleared his throat and put a cookie on the napkin she'd tossed at him. "So, are you gonna tell me what that scene at the arcade was all about, or do I have to draw my own conclusions? Because the only idea I can come up with is you have some kind of a crush on me and didn't know how else to express it."

Usagi found herself choking on her food for the second time that day. "That's definitely taking it the wrong way," she wheezed, attempting to clear her throat. "H-how do you know I wasn't just trying to shock you?"

"Well, there is that," he agreed ruefully. "I'd prefer that you find some other way to shock me in the future, if you don't mind."

"What? You didn't like my kiss?" she retorted.

He scratched his cheek and looked at the ceiling. "Well … it wasn't the best kiss I've ever had," he admitted, lips curling into a smile.

She glared, offended. "Oh, excuse me. It's not like I go around looking for guys to practice on or anything!" She closed her mouth before she foolishly revealed that she had, in fact, never been kissed. "All in all, it was a disappointment for me, too," she added, just to spite him.

"You've never kissed before, have you?" he observed quietly.

Usagi nearly tripped over her own feet. "None of your business!" He made a knowing sound in the back of his throat, and she glowered. "So what if I haven't? It's not like it's a big deal! There's nothing special about it, anyway! All that talk about how great it is … I say it's highly overrated!" She gave a haughty toss of her hair and stomped away. He followed her, of course, and stopped her in the living room, catching her arm in a gentle grip.

"Explain this to me, Usagi-chan," he said quietly. "I am seriously asking you. I really want to know why you'd go and spend your first kiss on me of all people. If it isn't attraction, then what?"

"It was a bet, okay? No big deal." Usagi yanked her arm free, daring to meet his eyes. She blinked; she had to have imagined the flash of hurt that lingered in them for a moment.

"A bet," he repeated quietly, with a hint of anger. "What kind of a bet?"

She shrugged, dropping her gaze, crossing her arms defensively. "Naru-chan bet me forty thousand yen that I wouldn't go over and kiss you, that's all." She shrugged. "We were just playing a silly game, betting ridiculous stuff like that. But she dared me to actually do this one, and it's not like she couldn't afford it or anything. So, I did it."

"Forty thousand yen." Mamoru's voice was deadly-soft. "Is that how much kisses go for these days?"

"Well, I only needed enough for a new gaming system," she retorted.

"Hmmm. I didn't think you were the kind of girl to sell yourself so short."

Her heart gave a strange lurch and she glared at him, trying not to show how much that barb had stung.

He continued. "And here I was, thinking someone like you would cherish something like a first kiss. I guess that was an error in judgment on my part."

His harsh words were like a knife twisting in her heart. She felt as though she'd somehow disgraced herself, that he respected her less now. Which was utterly ridiculous, of course. He'd never respected her to begin with! "I … I guess you don't know anything about me then," she stuttered, blinking rapidly to soothe her burning eyes. She wasn't quite able to keep the quaver from her voice. "Like I said, I don't get what all the fuss is about. A kiss is just a kiss. There was nothing special about it."

He gave a wry snort. "You're starting to sound like me now. Snap out of it!" He wasn't teasing so much as condemning.

She let herself plop down on the sofa. Her fingers absently sought Luna's furry back, but the cat had disappeared. "Can you just go away now?" she asked tightly, keeping her eyes trained on her folded hands. She wasn't sure how much longer she could stop herself from crying. Usually, she wailed away without caring who heard, but now she was determined to not break down in front of him. She wasn't about to let him see just how deeply his words cut her. She felt stupid enough as it was.

She heard a deep sigh. "At the very least," he said coldly, "you should give me half of that money. After all, I was an unwilling participant in your game. You owe me."

She froze, and then her shoulders slumped as her head drooped even more. "I can't," she whispered.

"Why not? Spend it already?"

She shook her head once. "I … I gave it back to Naru-chan."

"You gave it back?" He sounded startled. "Why the heck did you do that?"

She shrugged. "I didn't want it, that's all," she mumbled. "It felt wrong to keep so much money for something as dumb as kissing someone. But I'll ask Naru to give you half of it. Will that satisfy you?" She hesitated, then added reluctantly, "I-I'm sorry I let her involve you in our game."

There was a moment of silence. Then, the sound of shifting fabric, and a warm presence filled her vision. Mamoru knelt in front of her on the floor, one hand coming to rest on her knee as those dark eyes searched her face in confusion. "So … you agreed to kiss your worst enemy for a large sum of money that you didn't even keep in the first place?" he reiterated. "You know that doesn't make much sense, right?"

"You're telling me that?" She huffed a short laugh. "Nothing about this makes any sense at all!"

His gaze seemed to warm slightly; his eyes grew softer as he searched her face, the anger vanishing. "Was the kiss … really that big of a disappointment?" he asked, his tone just a little bit hurt. After all, she was offending his male pride…

She pouted, her cheeks warming slightly. "Do we have to keep talking about this?" she whined. "I said I was sorry! I'll even get you the stupid money! Just please pretend this never happened!"

He smiled. "It just … seems a shame that you wasted your first kiss and didn't even get anything out of it."

She huffed at him, confused by his sudden concerned persistence. "Why do you care?"

He shrugged. "I don't like hearing you talk like such a cynic about stuff like this. It isn't you," he replied honestly. "Even I can admit that first kisses—any kisses—are supposed to be special."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you," she growled, "but apparently what they're supposed to be and what they are, are two different things."

He sighed in mock exasperation and shook his head. "That's because you went about it the wrong way," he told her patiently. "You should have waited until you were somewhere quiet and private, not the middle of a noisy arcade."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure, if you say so."

He ignored her. "You also shouldn't have kissed for a reason as shallow as money," he added sternly.

"Thanks for the advice!" She glowered at him, annoyed that he actually had the gall to lecture her. "I'll try to remember that the next time I decide to kiss my worst enemy. Should I be taking notes?"

"Maybe you should," he agreed with a smile, and continued as though she'd never interrupted, "It helps as well if you're physically attracted to the person you kiss."

She had no smart comments about that, but the telltale blush coloring her cheeks gave away her thoughts well enough.

"And," he added quietly, his gaze softening as he studied her face, "it also helps if the person you kiss is attracted to you, too."

She clenched her teeth and forced herself to smile. "Well, guess that was my mistake right there," she chirped. "So, Casanova, got any more pearls of wisdom to drop into my lap, or are you done with the lesson now?"

She jumped when warm fingers settled under her chin, gently tilting her face to meet his deep, searching gaze. "To add to that last one," he nearly whispered, his eyes suddenly dancing with gentle humor, "I've found that it really helps things along when the person you kiss bothers to kiss back." The pad of his thumb traced briefly over her mouth, causing her eyes to widen in shock. Before she could process just what was going on, the warmth of his thumb was replaced with the much headier warmth of his mouth as he pressed it carefully to hers.

She stiffened at the unexpected invasion, but only for a moment. As he softly caressed her lips, she found herself slowly melting, eyes slipping closed as her blood heated and her heart raced. Suddenly, she knew what everyone had been talking about. She understood what all those movies and books had attempted to portray. She understood the dreamy expressions in the eyes of her friends when they related their experiences to her, because now she was finally experiencing it for herself, and it was better than she'd ever imagined.

This wasn't like the kiss in the arcade. This kiss was slow, gentle, filled with warmth and emotion. Reassurance. This was the kind of kiss she'd always dreamed of receiving, and that Mamoru was the one bestowing it didn't even matter. It helps if you kiss back… She recalled his advice, attempted to reciprocate, unsure of what she was doing.

Mamoru responded to her attempts by tilting his head a little to better fit their mouths, deepening their kiss skillfully. He slid his hands down her arms and lifted them to drape around his neck, allowed his hands to glide in a soft caress over her sides and slip around her waist, pulling her close. He'd ended up beside her on the sofa; she hadn't even realized he'd moved. She was enjoying herself far too much to be embarrassed about the fact that they were practically wrapped around each other in a rather passionate embrace. If her mother walked in to find her like that—or worse yet, her father—she'd be grounded for the rest of her life!

Somehow, that didn't seem to matter, either.

Finally, when the need for air became too much to ignore, Mamoru reluctantly eased away to gaze down at her face. He looked as astonished as she felt as they drew in deep breaths of much-needed oxygen; his dazed eyes were dark, shifting pools of emotion, and she felt herself being pulled into them as they watched her with studied intensity. His breath was hot against her face and neck, making her shiver with desire. She tried to whisper his name, but she'd hardly spoken the first syllable before she was silenced by his mouth darting in to cover hers again.

This kiss was as fierce as the other had been tender; she whimpered when she suddenly found herself trapped beneath him on the sofa. She tried to push him away, but he was too heavy. Realizing he was scaring her, he immediately gentled, eased the pressure on her mouth, tracing his tongue lightly along the seam of her lips. When they parted uncertainly, he carefully slipped inside to taste her. She stiffened in his arms; he hummed quietly, stroked a hand tenderly up and down her back to soothe her uncertainty; she slowly relaxed and allowed him to savor her fully, coaxing her timid response.

They took long, intimate moments to thoroughly explore each others' mouths, until need of oxygen again became a factor in their parting. Mamoru, with obvious reluctance, slowly lifted his head to take in Usagi's flushed appearance, completely breathless, eyes dark and languorous with arousal. "And that," he murmured, daring to taste the soft skin of her throat, "is what kisses are supposed to feel like. Any questions?"

"Yeah." Usagi cast a coquettish glance from beneath her lashes, a languid smile parting her kiss-swollen lips. "Will you do that again?"

He gladly complied.

And thus bloomed one of the most unusual romances in history.

~~Finish~~