DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon is copyrighted 1992 by Naoko Takeuchi. All except the characters I created belong to her. I'm just borrowing them for awhile :-) ********* Author's Note: 1) This story contains foreshadowing of events in my on-going series, "Senshi in College." But, since now it's Valentine's Day, I figure it best for this short story to be featured on its own. 2) Commonly used Japanese terms: Hai = yes Konnichiwa = Good afternoon! minna = everyone, everybody Iie = no nani = what arigato = thank you gomen ne/nasai = I'm sorry Un! = yeah, okay, to be in general agreement with someone ********** "Usagi's Secret Admirer" by DQBunny ********** Chibi-Usa opened the scrapbook sitting on the coffee table. It was raining outside, and she was bored. Both Momo-chan and Kyosuke had been busy with their families, and Ikuko- momma had taken Chibi Chibi and Shingo to the doctor for checkups. She opened it up, and started looking through the familiar and not-so-familiar pictures. She turned one of the pages, and a dried white rose fell out and rolled under the sofa. She sighed, then put the book back on the table. She got down on her knees, then laid down on the floor and tried to squeeze under the couch. She couldn't do it. She wasn't as small as she used to be. She backed out, and sat back on her haunches for a moment, contemplating what to do. "Diana!" she called suddenly, looking off toward one of the bedrooms. The young cat ran in from the other room, her bell ringing merrily as she ran. "Hai, Small Lady?" she asked, stopping before her. "One of Usagi's flowers fell under the sofa. Can you get it?" "Un!" the cat disappeared under the sofa, then a moment later, the flower was pushed out just as Usagi walked in the room. Chibi-Usa grabbed the flower and sat back on the sofa, and smiled innocently. Diana decided to stay under the sofa. "Usagi, where did you get this?" Chibi-Usa asked, holding up the flowers. "And these?" she held up an assortment of cards and notes. "They're not in Mamo-chan's handwriting." She paused for a moment. "Where'd you get those?" "Your scrapbook on the table, so you can't yell at me." "Oh." Usagi glanced at the calendar. Valentine's Day was just a few days off. "It's hard to believe it's been only a year since the last Valentine's Day." "Someone gave these to you for Valentine's Day?" "Un. Last year." Usagi sat down next to Chibi-Usa, and took up one of the cards. "This was his first card to me." "Who is he?" Chibi-Usa's eyes narrowed for a moment. "My secret admirer." Her eyes grew huge. "NANI?? Secret admirer??" Usagi nodded. "Hai! It started a week before Valentine's Day last year. Mamo-chan had to spend a couple of weeks in Osaka for a course he was taking then, and wouldn't be able to spend the holiday with me, so I was upset. One day, I got to school..." ********** Juuban High School - one year earlier Usagi, Ami, Minako, and Makoto all walked into school together, chattering about nothing and everything, laughing the entire time. They garnered looks from various groups of students as they passed by. No one at Juuban knew of a tighter group of friends other than these four, plus Hino Rei, who went to T*A Girls School. It made some people quite envious at times. Usagi stopped in front of her locker, while the other girls walked down to theirs. She managed a bright smile until they were gone. Minako had been complaining about how she didn't have a boyfriend for Valentine's Day. Makoto had agreed with her. Ami had said they were placing too much importance on boys, and they needed to be studying for college. She didn't say anything. Instead, she glanced briefly at her left hand, and sighed. I wish you were here, Mamo-chan, she thought as she opened the door and spied an envelope sitting on top of her books with her name on it. Ami opened her locker, and sighed with relief. No love letter whatsoever inside. She started storing her books away. She didn't mind Valentine's Day as much as her friends did, but still, she had an adverse reaction to... "NANI?? A LOVE LETTER??" She looked up suddenly. Minako ran down from her locket to Usagi, who was standing in front of hers looking ready to pass out. She was holding an open note, and blushing furiously. Before she could react, Minako had grabbed the letter out of her hand, and was reading it. "Give it back, Minako, you're not suppose to read it!" Usagi lunged for the letter, but she held it out of reach. "Dear Usagi-san...Stop it, Usagi!" "Give it back, Minako!" Usagi leapt for it again. Her fingers almost closed around the paper when someone else snatched it out of Minako's hand. Both girls stared in shock as Umino sat on top of the lockers and read the letter aloud to the crowed which had gathered around them. "Dear Usagi-san, I have always admired you for your beauty, strength, and courage. Won't you be mine on Valentine's Day? From, your secret admirer." "SECRET ADMIRER???" The other girls exclaimed. "Oh, how romantic!" One girl exclaimed. "I want a secret admirer," Naru said with a wistful look on her face. Minako crossed her arms in front of her chest. "It's not fair! You not only have Mamoru-san, but you also have a secret admirer!" "Ooooo..." Everyone said, crowding around her. "What are you going to tell him, Usagi-chan?" Naru asked. "Tell who?" Usagi finally got the note back from Umino, and glared at him for extra measure. "Mamoru-san, of course! He won't like that you have a secret admirer!" "I don't have a secret admirer!" Usagi crumpled the paper into a ball, and tossed it over her shoulder. "It's some- one trying to play a cruel joke. I have someone already." She pushed through the crowd, and started to walk away. Ami, who had been watching the commotion from afar, moved to walk beside Usagi, and linked her arm with hers. "I'm glad you're taking this calmly, Usagi." "Don't worry, Ami-chan," Usagi said happily. "I know who did this." "You do?" Makoto asked, joining them. Minako stopped to grab the letter, and ran up to join them. "Hai!" Her eyes took on a very mischevious look. "And I am going to figure out a way to get Umino back." "Nani? Umino?" The girls cried. "Who else?" The bell rang, saving Usagi from having to say anymore, and the girls all ran for class. ********** Rei started laughing. "Umino is trying to be your secret admirer?" "Who else could it be?" Usagi absently stirred her soda. The girls were at Crown's Fruit Parlor, sans the other senshi. Ami had the computer club, while Minako was working on a mysterious project. Makoto had been spending the past several days trying out new recipes, and preparing for the interviews and tests she would have to take the next week for the Washoku School of Cooking. She had probably been feeding the entire Tsukino family single-handedly for more than a month now, but Momma hadn't felt much like cooking anyhow. "I don't think Naru would like him doing that," Rei pointed out. "But, didn't he have a crush on you in 8th grade?" "That was before he started going out with Naru-chan." Usagi took a sip of her drink. "This is just so odd." "If it is him, how are you going to get him back?" Her clever mind, usually the first to think of many ideas, drew a blank for once. Something was telling her deep down in her heart that her admirer wasn't Umino. But, if it wasn't, who could it be? Outside, one of the church clocks began to ring, and both Usagi and Rei slipped from their seats and headed to Motoki, who was helping out in here instead of in the arcade that day. "Hey Usagi! Rei!" he called to them, cheerfully. "Don't worry about paying for those drinks and fries. They've been taken care of already." "Arigato, Motoki!" The girls cried. "That's extremely nice of you to let us have these on the house," Rei said. "Who said they were on the house? Complements from your secret admirer, Usagi," Motoki winked at her. Usagi's jaw dropped. So did Rei's. They stared at each other. Was it possible that her secret admirer wasn't Umino, but in fact Motoki? ********** "No way...trust me, Minako-chan...look, Minako-chan, I highly doubt that Motoki would. Umm...Momma's calling, so I need to go. Ja ne!" Usagi hung up her phone and sighed. It had been like that all evening. Apparently, Rei had run into Ami while Makoto had brought over her latest creation for dinner again, and both girls had told them. Then somehow, it had gotten back to Minako, and she was upset for being the last to know. Usagi sat down at her desk and stared at her homework, but her heart wasn't into doing it. "Usagi-chan?" Luna walked into the room, and hopped onto the bed. "What's wrong?" She turned around to face Luna. She looked so dejected that Luna immediately jumped into Usagi's lap, and settled herself in. Usagi started absently petting her. "There's someone that secretly likes me, but I don't know who," Usagi admitted. "There has been a note, and he paid for my snacks at Crown's." "Is that the guy who sent you those roses over there?" Luna asked. "Nani? What roses?" "Those roses. Your momma put them by the bed," Luna indicated the window ledge by the bed. Usagi gasped. How could she have missed them? It was a gorgeous arrangement of red and white roses. She immediately jumped up, dumping Luna to the ground, and landed on the bed to search for a card among the roses. "These can't be from that guy, Luna," she said, the cheerfulness back in her voice. "They've got to be from Mamo-chan! After all, they're roses, and you know what they mean." She snagged the envelope off its stick, and opened it. "Oh, I miss him so much, and he's being so...thoughtful..." "Usagi-chan?" Luna hopped onto the bed. The look on her face fell. She sighed and stared at the cat. "They're not from him." "Nani?" "To Usagi-san, your light can only match that of the moon's pure silver glow. Perhaps you have something to do with its perpetual loveliness, my love. Accept these as the humblest token of my devotion to you. Forever yours, your secret admirer." Usagi dropped the letter and showed it to Luna. "See, it's not Mamo-chan's handwriting. And he calls me Usako, not Usagi-san." "Gomen nasai, Usagi-chan," Luna said, comfortingly. "When does he return from Osaka?" "Ten days," Usagi flopped onto her back. "I don't know if I can last that long." "Valentine's Day is tomorrow," Luna commented. "Maybe he'll be able to call." "Un...I hope so." Usagi looked at the roses. My admirer can't be Motoki, she thought. He's Mamo-chan's best friend. He wouldn't do that to him. Besides, he has eyes for Mako-chan, I've seen that. If it's not Motoki, and if it's not Umino, and it most definitely can't be Mamo-chan, then who is it? ********** "I want it to be known that I, Aino Minako, am leading a campaign to fully get rid of Valentine's Day forever! Here's have a flier," Minako shoved a violet sheet of construction paper in an unususpecting girl's face as she tried to enter the high school. Watching her, Luna and Artemis sweatdropped. "It's odd for the senshi of love to want to get rid of Valentine's Day," Luna commented. "Ever since Usagi has been getting those secret admirer notes and gifts, she's been more and more depressed," Artemis replied. Luna thought for a moment. "Who is sending Usagi-chan those notes anyhow? There's not many people who don't know she's together with Mamoru-san, but then again, the ring on her left hand should say more than words that she's spoken for." "I hope some answers are found soon before Minako drives the school crazy," Artemis commented. He glanced over at Luna, then started blushing furiously. She glanced back. "What's wrong?" "I...um...," Artemis hung his head slightly, trying to force the words out. "If you're going to say it, spit it out." He glared at her. "If you'd stop nagging me, I would ask you out on a date tonight!" Luna stared at him for a moment, trying to disguise how happy she was he'd asked that. Finally, she started walking off. "Come over to Usagi-chan's at 7, and don't be late," she ordered as she left. Artemis sat there, and watched for a moment, not comprehending what she had said. Suddenly, he lept straight into the air with glee. "SHE ACCEPTED!!" he hollered, then pranced down the street toward Minako's house. He had to start getting ready now! ********** There was another note in her locker. Usagi took it out, then glanced about at the crowd which had gathered around outside of the locker, waiting for something to happen. She sighed, and tore open the note. "Happy Valentine's Day, my darling love," she read aloud only enough for her friends to hear. "Soon, I shall throw off my cloak of mystery and reveal myself to you. Until then, my love..." "Oooooo," the crowd gushed. "He's gonna be revealed to you sooner than you think, Usagi," Umino appeared, and grabbed her arm. He started dragging her down the hall. Everyone else followed him. Minako, who was standing by the front door of the school still handing out her fliers, stared after them for a moment. "Hey, wait up!" she hollered, then ran after them. Umino pulled Usagi into their classroom. "Him!" he said, pointing across the room. "Who?" Naru and Usagi asked, peering around his shoulders, their eyes landing on a sandy-haired boy dressed in a school uniform with his head buried in a book. "Ohhh!!" Naru exclaimed. "That's David Ross, the foriegn exchange student from America! He's soooo dreamy!" "No way!" Usagi whispered. "I have a guy from America with a crush on me?" "Not fair," Minako pouted, dragging herself in the room with her stack of fliers. "You have all the luck, Usagi." "What makes you think it's him, Umino?" Ami asked, walking in behind Minako, with Makoto right behind her. "He's always staring at you, Usagi, and I overheard him saying something into his cell phone about writing letters for you. Apparently, he's too shy to write them on his own and needs help from this mysterious friend of his about what to say!" "Sounds like he's infatuated with you, Usagi!" Naru added. "How romantic!" "I've got a boyfriend! See??" Usagi held up her left hand, which bore the ring Mamoru had given to her before the first time he had tried to leave for America two years before. "We're suppose to be getting married after graduation!" "Don't tell me that, tell him!" Naru pointed to the boy, who had lifted his eyes up and was staring at Usagi intensely. "Fine, I will! And with any luck, I'll give him to Minako-chan." Usagi turned around, and walked over to David's desk. Everyone in the classroom stopped what they were doing, and scooted into the corner of the room with the exception of David, who was still reading and copying something from a book, and Minako, who was sitting at her desk, muttering something under her breath about how cruel the people at Hallmark were. Makoto slid over to Minako and pulled her out of her desk and into the crowd. "Konnichiwa, David-san!" Usagi said, brightly, clutching her books to her chest for comfort. He looked up at her briefly, nodded, then returned to his work. "I ummm....," she faltered for a moment, before turning around to look at her friends. "Go on, go on!" they all mouthed at her. "Recommend me when you're done!" Minako added. Usagi rolled her eyes, turned back, and sighed. Better hurry and get this over with. "I wanted to thank you very much for the notes and flowers," she smiled brightly, and her eyes squeezed shut. "It was very thoughtful of you, but I have to return them, because I have a boyfriend who loves me very much, and we're going to get married soon. So, thank you, and I'm sorry that I couldn't be the one you admire anymore." Usagi opened her eyes to find the seat vacant. They grew huge, and she looked around quickly. "NANI? Where did he go?" Everyone in the class sweatdropped. "Usagi-chan," Makoto groaned. "She is so hopeless," Rei added, walking in the door. "Rei-chan!" The other senshi whirled around. "I'm suppose to be in homeroom," she slumped against the door and panted for a moment. "Who's the guy?" "David Ross, the American foriegn exchange student." Rei's eyes grew dark. "HIM??? No fair, Usagi always gets the good looking guys!" Minako passed a piece of paper to Rei. "Want to sign? It's my petition to get rid of Valentine's Day." "With pleasure," Rei snatched a pen out of Umino's hand, put the petition up on Makoto's back, and began to sign. ********** "O' my Luve's like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June; O my luve's like the melodie That's sweetly play'd in tune.- As fair art thou, my bonie lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will love thee still, my Dear, Till a' the seas gang dry." Ami looked up from the paper, and sighed with a romantic look on her face. "Robert Burns...he is one of my favorite poets." Usagi stared at her lunch dejectedly. "Only Mamo-chan can talk about roses with me." "Cheer up, Usagi-chan, he'll be back from Osaka soon," Makoto said. "Then you can just ignore David Ross. Maybe he'll attach himself to Minako-chan, and everyone will be happy...," she looked over at the boy, sitting under a tree nearby, chatting on a cell phone and glancing over at them every so often. "He does look a little like my senpai..." "Mako-chan," Ami and Usagi sweatdropped. ********** Usagi walked home from school that afternoon, feeling down. It's Valentine's Day, she thought. Mamo-chan's miles away, and some guy from America is chasing me. Sure, lots of girls want to be in the situation I'm in right now, but not me! She walked into her house, and kicked off her shoes. "Momma, I'm home!" she called, putting them away, and sliding her feet into her slippers. She left her satchel by the front door, then peered into the living room to find her mother curled on the sofa, looking through a scrapbook. Usagi gazed at her with worry. Momma had been like that ever since Poppa died last month. Mamoru had told her he had done a similar thing after his parents had died, and Fiore left. There was only the one picture rescued from the car they had been in, and he had stared at it for hours at a time. It was his only link to them, he had told her. The same was true for Momma. Her pictures and memories were her remaining link to Poppa. "Hey, Momma," she said, walking in the room. Ikuko looked up at her daughter with a tear-stained face, then suddenly set the book aside. "Usagi-chan, I didn't realize you would be home so soon. Shingo won't be far behind, I need to get your snacks ready..." "It's okay, Momma, I can get them myself," Usagi smiled. She had been doing more stuff like this on her own lately to try to help out. "What are you looking at?" "Some pictures of your poppa and me on Valentine's Day," Ikuko said, pointing to one photograph. "That was with you right before Shingo was born. I told you and your poppa that very day there was going to be another baby in our house. Both of you were very excited." As Ikuko pointed out different pictures, Usagi's mind began to wander. Why am I feeling so sorry for myself, she thought. I have Mamo-chan, and I have this admirer, but Momma doesn't have anyone anymore. I'd give up about anything to see Poppa walk in the door with flowers for Momma right now. She stared at her satchel. But I can do something. She walked over to her satchel, opened it, and took from it a heart-shaped card made out of pink and white construction paper. The edges were decorates with lace from a doilly, and on the inside, she had simply written "I Love You" and decorated with glitter. She had planned on giving it to Mamoru when he got back, but she knew he would understand. She walked back into the living room. "Momma," she asked, holding out the card. "Will you be my valentine?" Ikuko looked up from the pictures in shock. She took the card from her daughter and opened it. Tears gathered in her eyes, and she held her arms out. Usagi rushed into them, and hugged her tightly. "Arigato, Usagi-chan," her mother told her. "Arigato...I don't deserve this." "Hai. You're my momma. Shingo and I will be your valentines now," she said. Ikuko pulled back, and smiled. "You've grown up so much lately." She stood up, slipped the card into her apron pocket, and smiled. "I'll go see what we can have for dinner. We've taken advantage of dear Makoto long enough." "Momma..." Usagi watched her mother go into the kitchen with a smile on her face. At that moment, the doorbell rang. She ran into the other room, and opened the door to see the senshi gathered around. "Has he revealed himself yet?" Rei asked her. "We heard that he was going to come here!" Ami added. "Where did you hear this from?" Usagi asked. "Mako-chan!" Makoto nodded. "I heard him talking on his cell phone at lunch. He said something about the revelation being sometime this afternoon." "Good, he can get it out of his system, and have it all over with," Usagi said. "Can I have him, please?" Minako asked. "I can heal his heart from the severe beating you're about to give it." "Fine by me!" Usagi said, just as the doorbell rang again. The other girls suddenly dashed into the living room. She turned around, opened the door, and a white envelope fell onto her feet. She knelt down and picked it up. It was the same guy's handwriting, her secret admirer. This has got to stop!! Usagi didn't notice the other senshi gathering behind her, and their collective gasp. She was too busy trying to get the envelope open. I've about had enough of this guy trying to win my affections! She pulled out the note, handwritten on a very fancy card. "I suppose you want to hear this one, eh, minna?" Usagi asked, without looking up from the card. "If you want to discover who your secret admirer is, look up." She blinked. "Look up?" Then she noticed the shoes. The American boy was not much taller than she was, but the feet of this guy were larger. And the shoes were extremely, extremely familar. Her heart started racing. Her eyes slowly travelled up, up, up until she was staring into a pair of intense dark blue eyes. She couldn't believe it. Not in her wildest dreams she would have ever guess the logical choice, that her secret admirer was... "MAMO-CHAN!!!" ********** Chibi-Usa's mouth hung open. "He did all of that for you!" Usagi nodded. "Un! Hard to believe that all happened last year! He felt really sorry for me, because I still felt bad over Poppa's death, so he wanted to do something special, even though he had to be in Osaka for that class. He knew the American exchange student, David Ross, and got him to plant the notes, flowers, and other stuff for me! Then he worked it out so he could come back home for a day or two." Her daughter's eyes grew misty. "How romantic! I wish someone would do that for me one day." "Trust me, someone will, Chibi-Usa." She nodded, Elios's face flashing in her mind for a moment. "Un!" Suddenly, the apartment door banged open, and Minako marched in with a stack of colored paper, and several sheets of plain white pieces. "That's it! I've had it!" She tossed the papers down next to Chibi-Usa. "You'll sign it, won't you? You're single!" "Sign what?" "My petition! I'm on a quest to get rid of Valentine's Day for good! No more Ms. Nice Venus! For now on, this planet can represent something other than love!" Minako grabbed a banana out of the fruit bowl on the coffee table. "How about the senshi of justice and eating healthy snacks?" Usagi and Chibi-Usa both sweatdropped. Don't worry, Minako-chan, you're already going bananas, they both thought. "Rei-chan will help me for sure! And Mako-chan as well. I wonder if Aneko-san will sign it? Ukari- chan won't, I know that. And Ami-chan's not here..." Minako counted off people on her fingers. She glanced out the door, then grabbed the petition and a flyer off a stack next to Chibi-Usa. "Oh, Seiya-san! You're single! Will you sign this petition for me?" she cried, running out the door. Behind her, Usagi and Chibi-Usa watched her for a moment, glanced at each other, and began to laugh.