"I have nothing to apologize for."

"That is irreverent. The point is she thinks you have."

Mamoru considered correcting Minako on her word use, but he understood what she meant. And no amount of correcting had helped Minako's grammar before. "I don't think that way. I can assure you, Minako, that Usagi and I perfectly happy."

Minako's eyebrow flicked upward. "Then why did she look so sad?" she countered.

Mamoru wanted to point out that it could have been for any number of reasons. Usagi was an expressive girl. There wasn't a single emotion that she hid. His dearest love could have been sad because of anything. A bad grade on a test. Detention. An argument with her mother. And that was only the beginning of the list. Before Mamoru could point any of this out to Minako, another girl sat down next to her.

"Hey, guys. What are you doing?" Makoto flicked her eyes between the two of them. Her confusion was understandable. Mamoru did not, after all, often hang out with the Senshi without Usagi.

"Discussing Mamoru's apology to Usagi."

Makoto turned alarmed eyes to Mamoru. "Why? What did you do?"

He was pretty sure that he should be insulted that she was so quick to believe Minako. But he pushed that down. After all, these was precedence to their attitude. That didn't change the fact that Minako was wrong this time. "Nothing," Mamoru gritted out between clenched teeth.

But Minako overrode him. "Remember Friday?"

Makoto's appalled exclamation caused him to frown. Perhaps he should be more worried. He wondered how sad Usagi was to elicit such a reaction. It was true that she wore her heat on her sleeve, but it had been some time since he saw them this worried about her.

"That was you?!"

As the new voice entered the conversation, Mamoru wanted to bury his face in his hands. They twitched to move but he managed to keep them in his lap. This kept getting better and better. It was like they had telepathy sometimes.

Rei shoved her way into the booth. Nothing could get the beautiful priestess riled up like an insult to her princess.

Even if it was only a perceived insult.

Mamoru was still sure he had done nothing wrong. If Usagi was unhappy about something, she would have let him know. She would have held nothing back. As it was, he hadn't heard one word of any such incident on Friday. That had been two days ago. And he had seen Usagi yesterday. So, the excuse that he hadn't heard of it because he hadn't seen her couldn't be used.

"I don't see who else it could have been."

It could have been anything else. He wanted to make that point to Minako. The thought was on his tongue but he bit it back. Looking at the three girls in front of him, he realized his chances of winning this argument were slim to none. All three were fiercely protective of their princess. He was no less so, except he knew, this time, she did not need protecting from him. Mamoru supposed he could make a run for it, brushing them off completely. But if they complained to Usagi, then she really would be sad. And he couldn't be the cause of that.

The only thing that could make this worse was if Haruka showed up.

As that thought hit, Mamoru's eyes looked out the window of the arcade. He searched for the fierce Uranus warrior. There was no sign of the tall blonde, but he brightened as he caught sight of blue. Perhaps she could bring some sanity back to this conversation.

"I can't believe it! You're not even listening!"

Rei's harsh rebuke jolted Mamoru back to the present. He opened his mouth to reply but snapped it shut. She was right, after all. He hadn't listened to a word of their conversation since Rei arrived. Lucky, his probable salvation chose that moment to enter the doors. "Ami!" he called out, even though she was already walking towards them. He shifted over a little to give her space to sit down.

However, the moment she sat, he realized his mistake. He had effectively trapped himself in a corner surrounded by the Inner Senshi. Mamoru glanced at the window. He wondered how much force it would take to shatter it, and if he could do it untransformed. He was positive he could break it with his roses. Perhaps the destruction of property should be a last resort.

He felt like he was creeping closer and closer to "last resort" as this conversation continued.

"Where's Usagi?" A furrow marred Ami's brow as she looked at the group. It was a valid question. And one Mamoru could have answered if he concentrated for half a second. His bond to her and the Earth would allow him to pinpoint her exact location. But like Makoto, Ami wasn't really asking about Usagi's physical location. Her questions actually meant 'why are all of you here with Mamoru but without her?'

A part of Mamoru wanted to know the answer to that question himself.

"Not here," Minako said, waving her hand. "I called Mamoru out because he needs to apologize to Usagi." And answering her call was a mistake he would not soon repeat.

"What for?"

Rei glared at him. A shiver of fear ran down his back. The fire princess could be terrifying when she tried. "Remember Friday? How Usagi was frowning and brushed off our concerns?"

Ami looked at him. He felt a little reassured that she looked more confused than accusatory. "And you did that?"

"No!"

"Yes!"

He gave in to his desires. He rested his forehead in his hand at Rei's insistence. She hadn't even been here for the first part of the conversation. He was no longer just pretty sure. He was insulted on how quickly they all jumped on board this "diss Mamoru" train.

Ami frowned. "Did Usagi tell you it was Mamoru?" she asked. His head lifted in hope. Maybe it was still possible to salvage this situation.

All three wilted and glanced at each other. Minako pushed her two fingers together and bit her bottom lip. "Well, no…" she admitted.

"Then how do you know it was him?" It was official. Ami was his favorite Sailor Senshi (besides Usagi, of course). He knew he could count on Ami to be sensible about the situation.

Rei scoffed. Mamoru felt his bubble of hope burst with that one sound. "Come on, you know Usagi. How often does she brush off our concerns? She is usually quick to complain about anything bugging her." She slammed her hand on the table and pointed her finger at him. A part of Mamoru expected fire to burst from that finger and burn him to a crisp. "The last time she brushed us off was because he had died and she had altered her own memory of it."

Mamoru flicked his eyes around the arcade. Luckily, it seemed like no one had heard Rei's outburst. In the back recesses of his mind, he almost wanted an outing of their identities at the moment. It would at the very least get the girls off his back. He knew it wasn't what they needed. Mamoru was perfectly happy remaining an anonymous university student until his destiny forced the issue otherwise. "Okay," he said, focusing back on the girls in front of him. "First of all, none of that was my fault. I know for a fact that Usagi doesn't blame any of us for what Galaxia did." He glared at them to remind the girls that he was not the only one that died at the hands of Galaxia. "Second, I have not done anything to make Usagi upset. I saw her yesterday, and she was fine." He would repeat this as many times necessary until they understood.

The four girls fell silent. A rush of satisfaction and triumph flowed through him. It was about time that he finally got through to them. He might come out on top in the argument despite the odds against him.

"It's worse than I thought."

His heart sank as Minako and Makoto nodded at Rei's words.

"I believe in innocent until proven guilty," Ami said. Mamoru almost smiled. He knew she was his favorite. "And there is no proof that it was Mamoru who made Usagi sad." Her eyes turned to ice as she looked at him. "But if it was you, know there is no place on Earth you can hide from me."

It was on the tip of his tongue to retort that he was the Prince of Earth, and his planet would hide him just fine, thank you very much. He could escape to Elysian with a thought, and none of them could get there without him. Then, he frowned as he realized that Ami had moved to their side. Figuratively, at least. She was no longer his favorite.

Mamoru sighed. "Fine. I'll apologize to her." He caved before Haruka could actually show up. "Happy?"

They grinned at him. It did not make him feel better.

It was times like this that he missed his Generals.

This was stupid.

That was Mamoru's thought as he stood among flowers, balloons, and chocolate in the arcade. Not only did the girls insist on an apology, they demanded that it should be big and public. It was like they thought he was made of money. (Okay, he lived conservatively, so he did have a lot of money from his parents left. And he was going to be the King of Earth, so it wasn't like his future financials were at risk. But it was the principle of the thing. Just because he had money didn't mean he could waste it. He still had two years left of his undergrad. Not to mention medical school after that.)

Regardless, Mamoru had caved. So, he would go through with the apology like he said he would. No matter how stupid it was. From now on, all meetings with the Senshi would require the presence of Usagi. He was never getting roped into something like this again. Especially since he was still one hundred percent sure he had done nothing wrong.

The girls led a blindfolded Usagi into the arcade. A familiar rising rush went through his chest. Every time he saw her, it was like he fell in love with her all over again. She was the most beautiful woman in the universe.

"Okay. Stop right here." Minako had led her right in front of him.

Mamoru half-reached out to her when she tripped a little, but Minako and Rei's hands on her shoulders steadied their princess. "What's this about, Minako?" Usagi giggled.

"You'll see." Minako shot him a thumb up. Ami gave an encouraging smile. Makoto and Rei's matching glares promised fire and lightning would rain upon him if he screwed this up.

He might as well get this over with.

Mamoru reached out and began to untie the blindfold. Usagi stiffened under his touch. He knew by the hitch in her breath that she knew it was him. There was no way she didn't recognize his touch. He let the blindfold fall away, and Usagi blinked a few times in the light. She beamed at him with her radiant smile he couldn't help but return.

Then she looked around with a confused frown. He understood her confusion. He wasn't what anyone would call the romantic type. Mamoru loved Usagi. He knew she knew that, and he showed his love in other ways. But big romantic gestures (which is what this probably looked like) weren't exactly his thing.

He reached to the table beside him and picked up a bouquet of flowers. "Usako, I'm sorry." He held the flowers out to her.

"Oh!" Usagi took the flowers from his hands. "Thank you! But…um…" She bit her lower lip. "Why are you sorry?"

He knew it. He knew it. Mamoru sighed and muttered, "I have no idea." He glared at the Senshi over Usagi's head.

Minako jumped forward. "Usagi, don't you remember Friday?" Mamoru wanted to slap his hand to his forehead. For the love of all that was holy, why couldn't she let this go?

"Friday?" Usagi repeated.

"Yeah, you were sad and wouldn't tell us what is was about, remember?"

Usagi hummed in thought. Her head tilted to the side as she placed a finger on her chin. "Oh!" She brightened. "I remember now." She laughed. "I was sad that my milkshake was gone. I knew you would think I was being silly, so that's why I didn't tell you." She laughed again and she linked her arm around Mamoru's. "Mamo-chan hasn't done anything wrong." She beamed up at him. "Sorry, Mamo-chan."

He didn't blame her. There was nothing to forgive. He glared at the Senshi, who all looked a varying degree of contrite to sheepish. He would hold this over their heads forever. The next time they tried to interfere, he would pull this out and remind them that he and Usagi could work out their problems themselves. And when he said nothing was wrong, nothing was wrong.

Right now, he would remind them that he was the Prince of Earth and not to be trifled with like this.