Protecting the Heart
The moon was full and bright as both Usagi and Mamoru stood side by side at the park. They looked at each other, Usagi's chubby yet cute cheeks and her large eyes while Mamoru had a sleeker facial structure. Usagi always imagined her first kiss with the one that she loves, it was romantic after all. She had visions of this happening, it was her dream after all to love someone so handsome like Mamoru and closed her eyes to make it even more magical. Mamoru leaned back as he was just confused, he knew that he couldn't use the "One True Love" line anymore but felt nervous as in that he wasn't sure whether to kiss Usagi or not. She had pestered in her words the baka for so long, she was always in her face yet she did look cute.
Just as Usagi reached closer towards Mamoru with her lips out ready for that smack on his face, he quickly looked at his watch. It was 7:58PM but he had no where else to go, it looked peaceful. Maybe he wanted that kiss after all so he went to look at Usagi again, a part of him his logical side thinks she looks so strange as in no other person that he knows looks like her in terms of her hair and her face but a part of him his emotional side wanted someone to be with him, more than just a friend but a love as well.
Inside of Usagi she was wondering what is taking him so long to kiss me? Does he really like me? Despite her hyper-activeness, she doesn't realise that Mamoru was more like Ami as in shy but as cold as Rei without the back chat. She wanted to make the first move and as Mamoru relaxed, she wanted her eyes open this time in case she didn't kiss someone or something else, she wanted that smartly dressed Mamoru in her mind.
As Usagi leaned her head forward, a voice shouted "Noooooooo!"
A blonde man with a pink jacket had run towards Mamoru however he stopped within a metre to warn him not to go ahead as something wasn't right and felt worried.
"What about us?"
After Motoki had finished with his animated affection with his arms out as he wanted Mamoru who was his green jacket to Motoki's pink jacket, a long black haired woman marched up the stairs and pointed directly at him.
"We are still in a relationship Mamoru."
Then a tall ponytailed brunette had arrived walking on the grass with her blue haired friend behind her.
Makoto shouted, "Listen to your heart!"
Finally Ami was behind Makoto and just blinked her eyes. Usagi wasn't happy anymore since Motoki, Rei, Makoto and Ami had appeared taking her precious Mamo-chan away from her, yet she didn't realise that it was a tough decision for him while it was easy for her. Knock up Mamoru, have kids and be in love for the rest of their lives.
Ruffling his hair, Mamoru was getting very stressed seeing all the angry people and shouted at everyone, "I have to go away! Leave me alone!"
"Mamo-chan! Wait!", pleaded Usagi as she had her arm out for everlasting love even though it was getting too much for him.
Thinking that Zenigata was on his tail, Mamoru ran out of the park and then as they were just a blur, he walked away from the city streets towards his apartment with his hands in his trouser pockets. He had then arrived at his apartment and locked the door in case Usagi followed him, he just walked directly towards his couch and breathed out. He never thought that love life would be so complex and so confusing.
Mamoru had switched on the TV hoping that it would be another episode of Lupin to keep his mind off it however when he switched it on to NTV, aka the only TV channel that Mamoru watches unless another channel happens to be airing Lupin the 3rd Part 1 however it wasn't for today. Instead he saw a styled young detective at a restaurant tucking into a meal as some women posed for a selfie. Looking at the title of Gourmet Detective Goro Akechi, he sighed that TV had to resort to gimmicky detectives and switched the TV off in a disgruntle.
He didn't know what to do, he walked away from so many potential partners that he had to think, really think as he didn't want to upset any of them. Usagi really wanted that kiss, Motoki wanted a partner so badly, he technically hasn't broken up with Rei, Ami kept looking at him and Makoto told him to listen to his heart. The problem is that his heart is confused as the idea of romance hit him so heavily despite that in the past he was just a stoic man with a green jacket and perhaps why Rei wanted to go out with him as she understood. He didn't want to lay down on the chance that one of his partners would appear in a dream, after all he still couldn't understand that dream he had that had Mamo and Kyosuke Mamo but shrugged it off as a side effect of watching a Lupin marathon that had Part 1 episodes and The Secret of Mamo afterwards.
Going towards the top of his Lupin collection cabinet was a notebook and spent a hour writing down looking at the piece of paper and up to the ceiling writing down his thoughts, they were very clear writing down notes such as "intelligent but brash". As the hour was up, he came up with a portfolio of his friends and read the profiles at least twenty times however one stuck to his mind as he kept going back towards that page, he nodded and smiled.
Mamoru got out his mobile phone, a basic mobile phone that he was pressured into buying since he keeps himself to himself. He didn't want to phone up the person in question so instead he decided to do a text that just said:
"Meet me at my apartment."
After the message was sent, he switched off the phone. Roughly fifteen minutes later, the door knocked and figured that it was the person that he sent the text to so he unlocked the door and opened. It was Makoto who looked stressed with a frown on her face as it was unexpected that she would get to someone's apartment for just after 9:30 PM.
She waved with a worry, "Hey Mamoru, it was hard finding your place."
Makoto went in and closed the door, even locked the door for security reasons as she walked on the wooden flooring that gave her a muted smile and went towards the couch as he sat that stressed out, having fluttering moments where his mind comes and goes confused about relationships. He had sent the text to Makoto as he thought of the most trustworthy person that he could think of and knowing that Motoki was probably either at a nightclub with Haruka and Michiru or watching a Lupin the Third Part III episode or six. Mamoru had made a smirk as Motoki was turning into pink jacket Lupin every day, he even wrote an early draft of The Gentleman Thief Motoki Lupin as he compared Motoki to Don Quixote with the fictional Daisuke Jigen being his Sancho Panza. The smirk was short lived as he felt a bit intimidated of Makoto and wanted it done as soon as possible.
"I need your impartial advice...", sighed Mamoru. "Do you think Usagi and I would last as a couple?"
Straight away Makoto firmly shook her head, it was a powerful nod with full emotion.
"She would lie to you and let you down..."
What Makoto had said had matched with his dreams. There was a dream where Usagi was dating a trans person, not sure whether it was a trans man or a trans woman. He had noticed that Usagi used to creep on Rei behind her back, he had noticed that Usagi had a crush on Motoki until he told both her and Makoto that he wasn't interested. Plus Usagi and Minako were always together, they are still interested in Mikan says it all... Usagi was unfaithful, would ditch someone for someone else at the right time. Considering her nature, not mean spirited but whoever would make her the happiest.
He was thinking more and more about the relationship between himself and Usagi. It was always her who pushed for the relationship, she always went to the Crown just so she can meet Mamoru, she had the dreams of him and her daily, sometimes twice a day. Mamoru wanted to have a relationship later once he has done his studies and when they are legal throughout the world but Usagi wanted one right now like a spoiled brat. He considers Usagi to be childish and more of a friend. He dressed up as Tuxedo Mask out of confusion and giving flowers to a lover that he wasn't sure whether it was the right one. Had their relationship go through and had the pink haired daughter that he had the dream about happen, it would have been no different than the stereotype of those trailer park families or chavs at a council estate of teenagers giving birth to kids who they can't even cope themselves at their current state. Usagi sometimes was more like a kid than a teenager as it is, she wouldn't be able to look after a child after the pregnancy despite her best intentions.
Mamoru thought, "Makoto, I think Usagi is rushing too much to date someone."
"I agree", nodded Makoto. "I know I desire romance but there's a difference between hanging out, dating someone and in Usagi's case her happily ever after."
"If I'm honest, I love someone else."
Her eyes had lit up since she always thought that Mamoru was only interested in Usagi and why she kept away despite her desire to have a man. It was why there were more level headed and mature but she did think that Mamoru did love someone as he did feel empty and uninterested in Motoki going on about the pink jacket. Sure they were Lupin fans but they were different types of Lupin fans, Mamoru was more popular and why Makoto could understand having a collection as she saw all of the Laserdisc, VHS, DVD and Blu-ray releases. She thinks that the collection suited and complimented alongside his books. Motoki however was a niche based on a more failed show and his favourite film is a very unpopular one.
"Is it Rei?"
Mamoru shook his head as he went towards his profile of Rei that he written down. He liked her intelligence and was more logical than Usagi but her personality would make him too stressed as she was brash. He didn't have any feelings for her but has yet to decline the relationship scared thinking that she would only shout at him for splitting up.
He crocked what sounded like, "You."
"Yuu Hazuki?, asked Makoto in a jokey way.
Again he shook his head as he never even met her but Mamoru was too scared to tell Makoto how he was feeling despite her saying that it was the best way instead of leaving it bottled in. Yet he wondered about Makoto, she did not give the same vibes as the rest of her friends however since he had some knowledge of the Western world and recalled seeing people like Makoto with ponytailed brunettes however most were not Japanese. Maybe Makoto wasn't Japanese?
On his notebook, he wrote Mamoru Chiba with his first name then his last name then he gave Makoto the notebook and she wrote down Makoto Kino, the same Western order that he used. He blinked his eyes as he thought that he was the only one that he knows that uses the same order.
Makoto sighed, "I do have a full name but I only say to the people who I really like, love and for legal documents."
Mamoru was curious as he never recalled that Makoto Kino was not her full name, he thought that it was her full name as people called her Mako-chan as a cutey nickname to the ones that she really likes and loved. It felt embarrassing to her.
"My full name is Makoto Mamoru Kino."
Straight away Mamoru was confused as he gasped, Makoto had his name and thought that this can't be right. Sincerity and Protecting of Wood? If she had his name then it is possible that she was more human than he thought. It did feel strange that Makoto had plant based powers when she was Sailor Jupiter who always had that image of lightning. Jupiter is a gas planet he thought, plants can't grow on there as they need soil in most cases to survive along with air and water. Makoto had an interest in flowers and Mamoru had a thought, a strange thought that he needed to clarify.
Mamoru scratched the side of his head and wondered, "I keep throwing roses to Usagi but I don't know why."
"Can you show me an example?", asked Makoto as she wondered about this.
He got up and walked into the hallway and there was a pile of roses near his disconnected phone on a shelf, he picked one up and threw it towards Makoto who easily yet carefully caught the bunch. Makoto had a sniff, she softly smiled in a bliss as Mamoru was watching processing the information.
"Mamoru... These are not roses... These are Sasanqua Camellia, my favourite!"
Mamoru was getting really confused and he needed some help but the help he needs just isn't there. He threw flowers to the wrong person after all... If the "roses" were actually Makoto's favourite flowers, then his dreams from the past must be mixed up. Was Makoto really Sailor Earth and Sailor Jupiter doing double duty? There wasn't a Sailor Earth or a Sailor Sun in the group that he knows about. He then went back to his dreams when he was Prince Endymion and people were furious that he dated the wrong woman. Every dream that involved Mamoru looked at Usagi or Prince Endymion looking at Princess Serenity, he was always got beaten up. In Rome, one of the most important places during this time along with China and Egypt people prayed for Jupiter as he was considered to the leading god, something that he knew about. Maybe Mamoru and Makoto were not Japanese originally but from Europe.
The more that Mamoru looked at Makoto, the more that he wanted her. The rose earrings really attracted him along with her nose, her mouth, her blushmarks and cheeks as well as her natural hair. He wondered whether she was erotic but she didn't give that vibe. She was like him, a bit down but when she was happy or content, she would be one of the best people to hang around with.
Mamoru breathed out, "I had a wet dream the other week..."
A wet dream?
"I had to ask Motoki what it meant and he said that I had an amazing dream."
"Yeah, if you have a wet dream it means that your body is happy", smiled Makoto as her blushmarks glowed. "Either that or you're scared..."
Mamoru awkwardly smiled out of embarrassment, if Makoto says that it make him happy then his logical side says that he should pursue with Makoto. It wasn't out of being terrified as it was all about him and her making love in a rose garden. Ever since they talked, he gathered that Makoto was pouring her heart at everything that she said. There were rumours that she was a cursed woman in terms of love as he remembered Minako being unusually petty for the day as she had her ex-senpai with him. That one dream that he had was the most relaxing and pleasant dream that he ever had, he knew that it was what they wanted someone to love each other, he doubts whether he is that man. Makoto is an amazing woman but her luck in men was heartbreaking. She even befriended a disabled man who she made his life better but even that was taken away from her as he collapsed on his way home.
Mamoru anxiously spoke, "I have feelings about you..."
The brunette gasped to herself, she did not expect Mamoru to ever say those words. He was quite an attractive man but she thought that he was out of her league.
Makoto in a shock asked, "You love me?"
Mamoru nodded, it was a confident nod but was too shy to say yes. It was all Makoto needed as she was just to nods and shakes from Ami.
"You are growing on me, I love you too Lupin", chuckled Makoto as she looked at Mamoru's crooked smile and his green jacket.
There was just one question that was on Mamoru's mind. Minako kept teasing Makoto over Ami thinking that they were a couple, the only couple that the brunette deserves despite not being truthful.
He asked, "What about you and Ami?"
"I only love Ami that way only if she becomes a guy... You're kinda like her as a guy", firmly spoke Makoto but got higher and more relaxed by the end of her sentence.
Mamoru just blinked his eyes as he couldn't understand what she had just said.
"I want to be in a relationship with you but...", thought Mamoru as he was thinking of the right words. "I don't want it going too fast."
"Yeah, just take your time. Unlike Usagi, I won't rush and we do it when the time is right or when you feel comfy enough", smiled Makoto as she put her large hands on his smaller hands.
Being really relaxed and happy, Makoto went straight to the small kitchen to make onigiri as she went to get some rice from the cupboard to boil. Mamoru always dined out or had snacks so he was curious and had a look. She was such a natural as after the rice was boiled, she used her large hands to cuff the rice into balls then neatly wrapped it with the nori seaweed and going back to the almost empty cupboard, some preserved apricots to put in the middle. Mamoru never thought that he had access to a great and skilful self taught chef, not a cook as her skills were greater. It was no surprise that in his portfolio of the people that he knows, Makoto took up a page and a half unlike the others who ranged from three quarters of a page to a page. She had a lot of advantages, her strength, her cooking skills, her protective heart, her interest in flowers was compatible, her honesty and why he phoned her up instead of anyone else, she was best friends with Ami and she wanted a man. That last part was important to Mamoru as he had feelings for Ami but she didn't return them on the grounds of her allergy and only affects men and some women.
Looking at the onigiri, Mamoru explained, "Honestly, I only loved Usagi's stomach."
Expected her to growl, he stepped back waiting for the snarl and the lowered eyebrows that she does when she's annoyed. Yet it never happened...
"It's fine, I rub her tummy too", giggled Makoto as she remembered the one night in the chalet.
Since they had started their relationship on closer friendship grounds at first, Mamoru felt best that Makoto would sleep on the couch as he didn't have another single bed and she agreed as she knows that he would have to do things in baby steps. A wet dream like what Mamoru had regarding Makoto would have been too much for him for the first night, they both knew that. Despite being on the couch with her feet dangling, when Mamoru got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet, he looked at Makoto and smiled as she was sleeping away. He didn't realise how naturally pretty she was. Then he had another thought in his head, Makoto had her hair down and the first woman that Mamoru pursued was Rei, he got confused and thought that it was her. Being half a sleep, he kissed her cheeks that cause her to blissfully smile. He returned the expression as he enjoyed the kiss without any pressure and knows that it was a practice run for when they get closer together. In Makoto's dream, Mamoru was there and he gave her the kiss.
The next morning, Mamoru got up and was still surprised that Makoto had stayed the night instead of going back home as she was making a breakfast. She decided for them both to have some food. She wasn't having any so or an onsen tamago, the last thing she wanted was to pollute Mamoru's apartment with her flatulence. Instead she had already made the miso soup, some grilled asparagus and was sorting through the tin of pink salmon to remove the bones. There wasn't much in Mamoru's fridge and the salmon was bought months ago by Motoki. She was concentrating and pulled her tongue as she managed to remove the bones and put them inside the tin as she slightly warmed it up in a pan. She was disappointed that there was little to make a good breakfast but she had to make do. Five minutes later with her eyes closed, the breakfast was finished. They sat on a table and facing each other had the miso soup, the asparagus and the pink salmon. Mamoru was licking his lips as he hasn't had a breakfast that was tasty despite the lack of ingredients while Makoto was more annoyed yet still had a small smile as it was tasty enough.
Mamoru nodded, "I really enjoyed breakfast today, thanks Mako."
"No prob Mamoru", smiled Makoto as he complimented her cooking. "Later on, we are going to the food market and supermarket shopping to pick up some food from the heart."
After breakfast, he plugged his phone back in to contact Rei as Makoto had promised to give him a hug if she was mean to him. He told Rei that the relationship was officially over. Mamoru repeated what Rei had told him that was "Good, you're such a coward and you put me off men for life" and as promised, Makoto gave him a hug but warned him that he should have done it ages ago. He explained that he was too shy and Makoto understood due to Ami. Little did they know that Rei yelled and attacked Usagi for the rest of the day regarding Mamoru thinking that he went to Usagi instead of her.
For a change, Mamoru had made a green tea for himself and Makoto who smiled as they sat down together on the couch facing each other.
Makoto gently smiled, "I had a dream where you kissed my cheeks... It was so romantic."
Mamoru blushed as he really kissed her cheeks during the middle of the night, he felt shy but he also felt so calm as when Makoto is loved up it created a relaxing aroma around the apartment. He wanted to say it confidently but his mouth only made a stutter...
"Well... I... did... kiss... your cheeks."
Makoto dawwed as she enjoyed the kiss and knew that he really did love her, she was thinking how to return the love but was hesitating how to approach it. She would happily glamp on him with a massive hug but knew that it would hurt him and would do it another time. She turned her head and quickly kissed his left cheek while he was thinking, she smiled and he blushed straight away. She knew that he loved it but was too shy to say thanks yet gave a small nod to let her know.
On the table was Mamoru's notebook and he was thinking if himself and Makoto would work, why not match the other profiles with the others. Something like a more competent Minako. He already knew about Haruka and Michiru so that wouldn't change. The problem is that he knows two things, one was that he was shy and two love is a natural thing. The relationship that he would have had with Usagi was forced and Makoto had told him over the Sunday morning that Usagi can actually get quite controlling until she gets what she wants. She witnessed that Usagi and Rei are as equally control freaks with Minako also adding on top while she thought that she was more chill and Ami was quiet.
Suddenly Makoto had started to sing "One Night in Heaven" and Mamoru just blissfully smiled as it was his dream coming true. He didn't mind the deep voice at all, it was better than Mikan any day of the week.
Ten years have past and nearly everyone has had a happy natural relationship. Mamoru and Makoto, Usagi and Minako with Rei being the optional third partner, Ami and Rei, Haruka and Michiru, Nephrite and Jadeite, Kunzite and Zoicite, Naru and Umino, Setsuna and Hotaru as mother and daughter, even Queen Beryl and Mikan. All except one... Motoki.
Over the past ten years was rough for him, he was down to only his boxer shorts that had rips in them. He even got the nickname "Tokyo Drifter" as that's who he was. Forgotten by everyone including himself.
After he crawled from the tunnel, his head had popped up to reveal a palace looking like something from ancient history. That wasn't there before and considered going in as he found a gap through the wall. He managed to get down to a hallway that were just walls painted with patterns of crystals when he opened the hidden door that looked like a wall.
He had a look and his jaw dropped as the room was full of costumes, at least hundreds. Ranging from Usagi, Ami, Rei, Minako, Makoto, Hotaru, Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna with their standard clothes and Sailor Senshi outfits as they were naked skins next to them as mannequins to Mamoru, the generals and even that rapist Mikan was there with her nude sweaty body with that face mask of that brash smirk. The only person who was missing as he looked was Motoki himself, there was no mannequin or disguise there. It also had every single variation of Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, Fujiko and Zenigata. Motoki smiled when he saw the pink jacket but he knew it wasn't going to be that day especially what he went through. Abandoned by Mamoru, beaten up by what he thought were his friends, the Game Center Crown got demolished for a McDonalds, finding out that his creator Naoko Takeuchi coldly called him big brother instead of his name at least from what Mamoru had told him in the past, eating an animal in a cave to keep himself alive and realising that he has no partner as every single man that he knows was taken. Since the only men that he could date were Mamoru, Jadeite, Nephrite, Kunzite and Zoicite who were all taken. He was the odd one out without a partner and Daisuke Jigen was a figment of his imagination. Motoki sniffed when he saw the costumes of him including his Part 3 self that he was dating. Reika was also an imaginary friend that he had when he was younger and she didn't exist because he had no one else and his sister didn't want to know.
Then as he stared at that costume of Inspector Zenigata, the Part 3 costume and as he grabbed onto the hat, he had figured something out with a smile. After he put his pink collar shirt and his grey tie, his black overcoat, his black trousers, his olive green trench coat and with the face mask and the hat for the finishing touch, Motoki looked at the mirror that was near by and just silently nodded with then a grunt trying to sound like Goro Naya. He was satisfied on how he put on the clothes, he walked out of the room but then going into the trench coat, he took a photo of the room with all of its costumes as evidence.
Now disguised as Inspector Zenigata hoping to get any dignity left, he just kept walking throughout the white space stuck as he needed to escape from his living hell. He wishes that he would either die or to break out...