Sorry you guys about the next chapter of Never Walk if Off. I didn't abandon you guys. I'm currently having it edited by my new beta,
and while it's being fixed for you, I decided to start up this challenge again. What better way to kick it off then on Valentine's Day, eh?
I don't own Sailor Moon, never have never will. More drabbles will be up shortly, for I have written almost ten of them already. I'm so proud ;)

Well, enough of that.
-Enjoy

Theme 23: Valentines (2,021 words)

Mamoru's POV

Today was just one of those days when you wake up with a dagger of anxiety protruding from your forehead, letting everybody that you come in contact with know to get the heck out of your way or by God you were going to run them through with a rusty pitch fork.

This was exactly how my day started. I was sweaty, cold, and greatly perturbed, and I didn't have an idea why. With all honesty, I didn't want to know why. Whenever I found something out, it usually involved a cluster of teenage girls in miniskirts throwing boomerangs at my head.

Nah-ah, you could immediately lock that door. I most definitely did not want to find out why now.

Today…was a strange day. I felt at every moment that I was about to make a decision that would turn out awesomely awesome, like I would punch Zoicite in the face, single handedly destroy the Dark Kingdom, find the princess, and protect that damn crystal that was just so important that she has to tell me about it in my dreams instead of person. Or, it would turn out awfully awful, like I would flunk out of college, get stomped on by zebras, my one true predator, and then get socked in the gut by Sailor Jupiter.

That was also why I hardly paid any attention to the millions and millions of cards and girl's phone numbers in my desk when I walked into class that day. I really didn't notice their predatory stares as I ate my lunch either. And I certainly didn't realize the way that they all seemed to be bumping into me, meekly apologizing, and then rushing away to giggle with their friends. Nope; I was oblivious, and I was glad that I was, or I'm sure that I would have pushed the girl that was brave enough to pinch my butt into the nearest shrubbery of roses.

But then, as I was walking home, the strangest, most bizarre thing ever happened.

And no, I wasn't stampeded by packs of wild zebras…I'd already checked for them at the crosswalk.

I saw a girl…a girl dressed in a mid-thigh, hot pink jumper dress, with long red sleeves beneath it, two knee length socks, one that was pink with purple polka dots, and one that was purple with pink polka dots. She wore what must have been almost forty parade beads around her neck, each one dangling with at least one heart charm or arrow or flower. Her hair was laced with pink ribbons, though her hair was so long, they didn't even manage to skim past her waist. She was wearing flat bottomed, shining white sneakers that looked like they had been written on with red, pink, and purple permanent markers. So did her face. And her neck. And her hands. And the expanse of her legs that weren't covered by the socks…not that I was looking of course.

But the sad part was I didn't even realize that I was staring into the face of Tsukino Usagi until she reached out with a baby pink nail and poked me softly in the chest.

"Mamoru-baka," she pronounced slowly and sweetly, as though she didn't actually hate me inside. "Happy Valentine's Day!"

And it hit me harder than when Nephrite kicked my jaw with enough force to knock my teeth out. My dentist couldn't have been happier. It was Valentine's Day. Of course. No wonder my friends and I were being stalked by the entire female population of Japan.

I stared back down into Usagi's sparkling eyes. Well, ninety nine point nine percent of it.

She stood patiently, the blasted angel, waiting for me to say something.

"Odango," I began slowly, chuckling a bit when her smile disintegrated. "Why do you look like cupid whacked you in the face with his sack of hearts and diapers?"

She huffed, fists clenching, cheeks rosing…my favorite expression. "That's right. It's the scrooge of all holidays. How could I forget?"

I took a step closer, marveling at the intimidation in her eyes. And around her eyes, were scribbles of hearts, and…names?

"Why do you have marker all over you?" I asked, a cube of uncertainty expanding in my stomach.

She licked her glossy lips, and I thought I saw them curl back into a smile.

"I had all my friends sign me!" she chirped.

I smirked. "No kidding…but why?"

She rolled her eyes as though I couldn't figure out where the last piece of the puzzle went.

"Well duh," she groaned. "Because it's so much greater than a card, that's why!"

I could have argued, but I didn't. Instead, I began to read all the names that had been tattooed on her face. Among them, I saw some familiar ones…Rei, Ami, Makoto, Minako, and Motoki. But I also saw some unfamiliar ones.

I saw phone numbers, and above them, names. Boy's names. Other boy's names. Not mine.

It made me feel angry and disappointed, and there was absolutely nothing that I could do about it.

I scrutinized her face, her hands, her—gulp—legs.

I felt my fists clenching in anger. How many 'friends' did this girl possibly have? I knew I was being childish, and I knew that I was being unreasonable, something that I had thought I had overcome back in the orphanage, but then I looked into her face.

She was smiling at me, kindly and patiently, not menacing and knowingly.

I felt my very soul sigh in frustration. Damn her and her innocence and naiveté. Obviously, the Odango didn't see anything suspicious about all the boy's that seemed to want to sign her, and that just wasn't okay with me. But what could I do? The only thing I'd been able to do so far was huff enough carbon dioxide into the air so the trees and leaves and whatever wouldn't be able to get rid of it. Woo hoo…go Earth…

I noticed the way they travelled up her legs, underneath her socks and shoes, but I was positive that they stopped above the edge of her dress. Even Usagi wasn't that gullible.

I gulped. Or was she?

I saw red.

And pink, and purple.

And it was desecrating her perfect, creamy skin.

Concealing my obvious disdain, I turned to her again, and she was holding a red marker in front of my face.

"What's this?" I grumbled somewhat bitterly.

She gulped nervously, digging her sneaker into the concrete. "Do you want to sign?"

She gazed at me nervously, and I felt guilty for being mad at her.

How the hell in a hamster ball was she able to always do that?

I blinked and nodded, my tongue swelling in my mouth, invisible sweat slipping down my face. I snatched the marker from her outstretched hand, unsnapping the cap and holding it towards her face.

I scanned it for a moment, then her hands, and as quickly as I could, her legs.

She seemed to notice that something was strange also.

"What is it?" she whispered.

I gulped and met her unresponsive eyes. "Uh, there's no room left for me to sign."

She frowned. "None at all?"

I shook my head.

"What about my eyelids?" She closed her eyes tightly, but the tiny words of, 'Best friends forever, love Naru,' were scrawled across them.

"Nope."

She glanced down at her nails, but the letters of 'Valentine's' were already there.

I heard a frustrated, strangle noise come from her throat, and it made my heart fly out of my mouth and into the heavens. She acted as if it really mattered to her that my name was somewhere on her, and ego moved into my head and set up a residence.

"Uh…it looks like there's no room left," I admitted, defeated.

She bit her bottom lip, her brows drawing together dejectedly, all the different names crinkling along with them.

"Are you sure?" she asked in the smallest voice I had ever heard. My heart was sawed in half, thrown onto the ground, stomped on, ripped into tiny shreds, and then swept away by a leaf blower.

Well…there was one place that hadn't been signed yet, but I wasn't sure that I was courageous enough to put anything there.

I gazed into her eyes, which were sweltering with poorly concealed disappointment and…oh God, were those tears?

I thought back to this morning; I was a nervous wreck, and now I could see why. It was either do or die. And there was a chance that she would kill me if I did.

"Mamoru…" she breathed.

I inwardly growled. Zebras and precautions be damned, I was going to do it even if the sun exploded and killed us then and there.

I swooped down, grabbed her shoulders, ignored her nervous squeak, and captured her lips with mine. I saw her eyes widen, and her hands land against my chest.

Oh Jesus…she's going to kill me.

Her arms snaked around my neck, and just as I thought she was going to strangle me, she was kissing me back. Her glossy pink lips molded themselves to mine, and I could taste all the chocolate and candy that she had devoured today.

Not even the zebras could bring me down.

We stood there for what must have been twenty minutes, and I threw dirty looks at the people who were staring at us from the corner of my eyes. I just couldn't stop, and neither could she from the way she was running her hands through my hair.

But finally, she began to push on my chest, and I couldn't figure out for the life of me why.

Oh…air. That made sense. People needed air in order to---

I pushed her away gently, allowing her to greedily suck in all the oxygen she could. By the rate she was taking it in, my ego had claimed the moon in the name of Japan, and the trees would be working overtime tonight to replenish the rest of the world's oxygen supply.

She finally met my eyes, but she didn't say anything, and neither did I. I couldn't.

It was slightly awkward in the way that was exciting and happy at the same time, like those storied of when someone gives their friend their lottery ticket and then the friend ends up winning it all.

And I sure felt like a winner.

Slowly, she reached up and grabbed my hand, redirecting my cloudy eyes to hers. She stared at me, and I stared back. I had never been faced with a situation such as this before…not in all the years I could remember, even at the orphanage.

"What was that…" she began.

"I was just, uh---."

Did she hate me now? Please don't hate me, Odango…

She licked her lips. "It's okay, I'm the one that, err---you know."

I gulped. "If you want to forget, I would, you know, understand and stuff about things…"

She blinked at me and then giggled, and I couldn't even conceal the genuine smile that came to my face. I didn't even know what I was smiling about, but it felt so good.

I looked down at our entwined hands and blushed, staring at anything but her. Clearing my throat, I avoided her eyes, even when she looked curiously up at me.

"Odango," I began. "Um, would you like to go to Arcade with me and get a milkshake or something? It'll be my treat."

I held my breath, waiting for the inevitable no that I was about to receive.

It never came.

In a matter of seconds, she was dragging me along the sidewalk, chatting about everything and nothing at the same time, and I absolutely loved it.

I snaked my arm around her shoulder, ignoring my erratically thumping chest as she leant her head against me, her odangos bouncing along my heart.

In my mind, I recapped my golden pen, reveling where I had just inscribed Chiba Mamoru, all over her soul.

And even throughout the trials of our long eternity, through thick and thin, it never faded.

Happy Valentine's day! Review