What Men Want by Lady Aisheteru Email: Lady_aisheteru@hotmail.com Website: http://www.oocities.org/anniemaniac_99/index.html Lady Aisheteru: Hn.....I guess I don't have much to say here.  Oh well.  Ja! Standard disclaimers go here. ~*~ around a person's name denotes point of view.  For example, ~*~Mamoru~*~ denotes Mamoru's POV. ' ' denotes thought. Chapter 2 - Hidden Love ~*~Usagi~*~ After our shopping spree, Naru and I went to Her apartment above the OSA-P jewelry store where her mom works.  We were exhausted, but happy because we had made quite a haul.  It was just after Christmas, and almost all of the stores in Juuban mall had marked down their prices to get rid of all of their extra stuff.  Naru and I like to buy holiday jewelry at this time of year because it's way cheaper.  I mean, who else would think of buying candy cane earrings after December 25th? We had dumped all of our bags on the floor of Naru's bedroom when I caught a glimpse of my watch.   '6:30', I thought.  It took a few minutes for it to sink in as I gleefully sorted through reindeer pins and Santa earrings.  "Ohmigosh!" I exclaimed. "Nani?" asked Naru, holding up ornament shaped earrings. "I completely forgot!  I have to go now!"  I hastily began grabbing my stuff. "What is it?  Where are you going?" "I have to meet...someone...at seven...OH MY GOD!  I don't even know where he lives!" I wailed. At this, Naru arched her eyebrows.  "He?  Is there something you're not telling me, Usagi?" I laughed nervously.  It wasn't that I didn't want to trust Naru.  Not really.  But she has this awful habit of telling things to her boyfriend, Umino...things that are best left unheard of.  And Umino has the habit of blabbing it all over cyberspace.  Sure, it may actually be an innocent tutoring session...but in Umino's skillful hands, he could spin a web of gossip that would make it look like a wild teenage makeout party...or worse.  I blushed madly at the thought. "Who, me?" I asked, putting on my most innocent expression.  "Come on, Naru-chan.  Why would I hide anything from you?" "Well, there was that one time in swim class..." "Geez!  Don't remind me!" Naru was talking about a certain incident that had happened in gym one day.   All eighth graders of Juuban middle school must take a swim class and learn the basics of swimming...you know, the backstroke and such.  It lasts about two weeks. Unfortunately, dear reader, one of the weeks was the week of my period.  I was really late for swim class one day.  I rushed like a madwoman to  put in my tampon and pull on my bathing suit, then I ran towards the pool. I might have gotten away with it, and gone the whole class being blissfully unaware of my problem.  But luck was not with me that day. It was diving day, you see.  Naru was the first person to notice, and she whispered it to the girl next to her, who pointed it out to her friend, and so on.   Then all of a sudden, Umino yelled out, "Hey, Usagi!  If I pull that string, will you talk?" At this, I looked down in horror to discover that the string of my tampon was sticking out of my...um...womany place...for the whole class to see.  The whole class burst out laughing.  Even the instructor was laughing.  For weeks after that,  I was known as Usa-Pull-And-Talk. "Well, anyways, I've gotta go.  Ja ne!" I said, rushing out the door before Naru could think of new ways to interrogate me. After making a quick stop at home to collect my books, I full out ran into the Crown Arcade, where Motoki and Reika were having a conversation.  "MOTOKI-KUN!  YOU'VE...*puff* GOT TO...*wheeze* HELP MEEEE!" I wailed. "Oh, uh, Hi...er...ah...Usagi..." he said.  Reika turned around to eye me suspiciously.  I must have been a sight, all out breath, my hair flying in a million directions. 'Oh no!  Not in front of my girlfriend!  AGH!  She suspects something!' "What can I do for you?" he said aloud. "I wanted to know...where does Mamoru-kun live?  He said he'd tutor me at his house." 'PHEW!'  I didn't need to have heard Motoki's thoughts to know that he was relieved, though.  I could see it in his face as Reika seemed to calm down. "That's easy," said Motoki.  "Here, I'll write down some directions for you," Motoki said, grabbing a napkin, hurriedly scrawling on it, then handing it to me. I read the makeshift map and nodded.  "Yeah, I know where this is. Pretty ritzy section of town.  Well, see you later!" I said, walking out before I began my breakneck sprint to Tokyo Heights. As I left, I heard Reika say, "Who is she?" "Just a friend of mine," he said. I shook my head, feeling a little guilty for causing so much trouble for poor Motoki.  (AN: It's not her fault, it's the evil author's. Motoki: KISAAAAAMAAAA!*chases after Lady A with a flamethrower*HEY! We're all friends here, ne?  *panics and hides*) This would take some fast talking on his part to get him out of this one! After asking the doorman which floor was Mamoru's, I dragged my feet to the elevator and groaned at the sign: 'ELEVATOR OUT OF ORDER.  -MGMT' I didn't know who M.G.M.T. was, but they were high on my hit list as I climbed all twelve flights of stairs to Mamoru's top floor penthouse suite, which was *conviniently* located at the opposite end of the long, winding hallway.  By the time I reached apartment 25L, I was too exhausted to knock.  I managed a thud with my body as I collapsed against the door. ~*~Mamoru~*~ I looked at the clock at 7:15.  I should have known Usagi would be late.  That girl would be late for her own funeral... *THUD!* The sound came from my door, and I rushed to see what had happened.  I opened the door to find an exhausted Usagi, sprawled out in the hallway, arms akimbo, books everywhere.  "Usagi?" I asked. No response. "Usagi?" I said, tapping her gently. "I lost Mr. Bunny and I can't find my Nook-Nook!" I heard her mumble before she turned over. I smiled.  She had fallen asleep at my door.  'Poor thing.  That long flight of stairs must have tired her out.' I thought.  I was hesitant to disturb the slumbering angel...she just looked too adorable.  I picked up the books first and then gently lifted Usagi and carried her into my apartment.  Luckily for me, she was a heavy sleeper.  She snuggled into my arms and sighed contentedly in her sleep.  I smiled and gently set her down on my couch, placing a blanket over her, content to watch her until she woke up. ~*~Usagi~*~ Waking up from a nice dream, I looked around me and realized I had no idea how I had gotten there.  "Wh..where am I?" I asked. "You're in my apartment.  You fell asleep in front of my door." said a deep voice from across the room. And what a room it was!  I had been sleeping on a plush leather couch Among the room's other graces were an expensive looking Turkish rug, a stereo, TV, VCR and DVD player, a bookcase filled with all kinds of thick books and a stone hearth fireplace. 'Well, that wasn't so bad.  Maybe I should have brought her in last night after all.  Oh, to wake up to that in the morning...' I smiled at Mamoru and stretched out lazily.  "Boy, I'm hungry," I said.  "Got anything to eat around here?" "Yep," he said, walking to the kitchen.  "I stocked my cupboards just for you, odango.  I know how much you like to eat." "Hmph!" I said, sticking my nose up in mock annoyance. He chuckled as I heard him rummaging through my the fridge.  Soon, my nose alerted me to a yummy scent coming from the kitchen. Following the smell, I walked in to find Mamoru, frying up some chicken on the stove.  "Wow, nice setup you have here," I said, whistling, although it wasn't the beauty of the well stocked kitchen that I was appreciating at the moment, but the powerful muscles I saw playing underneath a white tank top.  He somehow managed to make even an apron look sexy.  'Come ON, Usagi!  This is Mamoru, remember!  Your worst enemy?  The guy you love to hate?'  But somehow I was unable to convince myself, so instead I continued the conversation,  "How does a high schooler like you manage to land a fancy place like this?" "I'm a model," he said. "No.  What did you do, really?  Some deal with the Mafia, right?" "Really.  I work for Tokyo Inc." "THE Tokyo Inc.?  SUGOI!" I said.  "You must meet all kinds of interesting people." "I guess so..." he said aloud, but I heard him mentally add, 'But none as interesting as you, odango.' "Well, supper's on!" he said, dishing up some chicken on two separate plates. "Yea!  I could eat a bear!" I said, digging into the chicken. "Wow, this is really good, Mamoru.  How did you learn how to cook like this?" I asked between mouthfuls. "Unazuki gave me cooking lessons," he said, smiling.  "It's nice to cook for someone other than yourself," he said.  "Yeah, I guess so," I said.  "Me, I can't even microwave popcorn," I admitted, laughing. A memory came to my mind of a certain movie night where smoke had risen from my kitchen, Makoto getting up, sighing, and retrieving the fire extinguisher, which was sadly routine at our sleepovers. Mamoru smiled.  "I'm sure you could do anything if you put your mind to it." At this, I smiled back, licking up the last of the chicken from my fingers.  Suddenly, an image of Mamoru kissing me passionately, his arms wrapped around my middle and mine snaked up his neck assaulted me full force, causing me to blush furiously.  But his fantasy didn't end there.  As he continued to stare at me, I saw in his mind him laying butterfly kisses down my neck, then nibbling my ear and carrying me off... 'WOW!' I thought.  As interesting as I was finding these thoughts, I had to cut him off before it got X-rated.  "So, let's hit the books, shall we?" "Which subject is giving you trouble?" "All of them!" I moaned. We studied for hours in front of the fireplace, Mamoru explaining everything patiently and, surprisingly, every word he said was interesting.  I learned more from Mamoru in that one night than had ever learned from an entire semester of Ms. Haruna and her evil cronies. At some point, my eyelids grew heavy and I began to nod off.  Dreams of ballroom dances, masked men and stolen kisses kept me company throughout the night, and the next morning, I was surprised to wake up in my own bed. ~*~Mamoru~*~ As I was explaining the basics of Algebra to Usagi, her eyelids drooped, then she fell asleep, curling up like a potato bug in front of the fire.  "Well, you've worked hard tonight, Usako," I said, wishing I could call her that when she was awake.  As tempting as it was to keep Usagi there all to myself, I remembered Usagi's dad, Kenji Tsukino, who's neurotic overprotection of his daughter was famous all over Tokyo.  I had a feeling that he wouldn't be too willing to let me explain why his daughter was sleeping at a GUY's apartment, even if it was only sleeping, he wouldn't have believed me anyways.  I put Usagi's books into a backpack and carried her all the way to her home in Juuban, having found the address written on one of her notebooks.  I then hoisted her onto my shoulders like a sack of potatoes and climbed up the trellis to her bedroom, walked through the window and gently placed her on her bed, still asleep.  I laid a soft kiss on her forehead.  "Sweet dreams, Usako," I said, then spun around on my heel and exited into the cool night air. ***** Lady Aisheteru: Ironically, what happened to poor Usagi in swim class was from a story a girl on the swim team I was on told me when I was Usagi's age.  Hope you enjoyed chapter 2!  Now it's off to bed for me...I need my beauty sleep!  Ja minna!