Adventures In Time & Space

@starlingsinclair​ - It’s DONE!! I hope you like it!! Thank @tinacentury​ and @floraone​ too!! They helped me sooooo much! This would not exist (or at least not for another few months) without their support.  FF.net Version

Preview: 8:45. 

Mamoru had at least twenty more minutes to wait, but knowing Usagi, it would probably be another thirty.

He swept his hands through his hair, trying to settle the tension in his gut. It didn’t work. He wanted to see Usagi so badly. He needed to see her. He needed to talk to her. That she was Sailor Moon made him feel even less worthy of her time and attention. But it didn’t matter. He wasn’t expecting her to reciprocate his feelings. If they were going to continue this charade, she had to know what he was thinking. Assuming he could even figure it all out himself. 

He glanced towards the door again. No Usagi. 

He tried resting his hands on the countertop in front of him. They stayed there for maybe five seconds before he moved them to his lap and clutched at his pant legs without thought in an attempt to dry his damp hands.

He glanced at the clock again. 

8:47. 

Time could not pass any more slowly.

FF.net Version

@starlingsinclair - I have good news and bad news! 

Good news - I finished this chapter FINALLY! 

Bad news - The story is still not finished because this last bit just exploded, and I had to cut it. 

Anyway, I really hope you enjoy it!! I want to say thank you to @tinacentury and @floraone. This chapter would literally not exist without their support. I mean, really the whole story. Thank you ladies, for making everything I do a million times better. 

Preview:

Mamoru suspected he had been in love with Usagi long before he realized it. The question was when had it happened? Was it during their first date?

First fake date, his mind reminded him.

Had it been when her hands had enveloped his face and kept him calm when he panicked at Natumi’s unwelcome presence in the park? Or was it before that? Could his feelings have started as far back as her visits in the hospital when she had regaled him with one impossible story after the next about how he might have lost his memory? Could he have already loved her even then?

It seemed impossible. And it frustrated him that he couldn’t pick out a definite moment, or even a general timeframe. It was almost like his feelings had always been there, and it had just taken him time to recognize it. He was also sick of obsessing over it, but his mind refused to focus on anything besides Usagi for long.

Like right now, he was supposed to be eating his breakfast, but the miso broth with rice on the side had turned lukewarm, and remained almost untouched on his kitchen table. He sat lost in assessing every shared moment with his girlfriend.

Fake girlfriend.

He forced himself to shovel the food into his mouth. If he didn’t hurry, he would be late for their weekend date.

Fake weekend date.

Click one of the links above to continue reading. I recommend Ao3!! It doesn’t have stupid ads! 

Ff.net version

For @starlingsinclair​ - I can only imagine your emotional landscape at the moment. Perhaps, if you want to be distracted from life, hopefully this update can provide for a few minutes. And if not, maybe you can tuck it away for a day when you want to smile because this chapter is almost entirely tooth-rotting fluff! It also doubles the length of the fic mostly by itself. Hope you enjoy.  Thank you to @tinacentury​ and @floraone​ for helping me bring this story and especially this chapter to life! 

Preview: 

She’ll meet you at the park for your first date. I told her two, but she’s always late. When she gets there, try not to act like an awkward tool!

Mamoru sat on a wooden bench, his eyes scanning over the text repeatedly. He was too agitated to appreciate the perfect spring weather or the ephemeral pink blossoms that decorated every tree in his vicinity. His cobalt gaze scanned the park, searching desperately for Usagi’s familiar hairstyle amongst the other park goers. He was simultaneously hoping not to catch sight of a particular brunette before Usagi arrived. He glanced at his phone again. It was currently 2:20, and he was growing more antsy by the second. He wished he knew how late was normal for Usagi because he felt incredibly exposed every moment that he was here alone.

A hand fell onto his shoulder and he leapt to his feet, every nerve firing in automatic flight mode. When he turned and saw Usagi’s familiar blue eyes, he sagged in relief before clutching her to him.

“Oh my god!” she said into his chest. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I didn’t think.”

“It’s fine,” he murmured into her hair, trying to calm his still-racing heart. “I’ve just been really on edge today.”

“I can see that,” she observed, her hand moving up and down his arm reassuringly. “Did something happen?”

He pulled away slightly, cloaking himself in the stoic protective shell that he often wore like armor. “Something did, but I would prefer to talk about it later. For now, I believe I promised you ice cream?” he prompted, trying to smile. There was no point in regaling Usagi with the details of the texts he had started receiving, and kept receiving from new unknown numbers as soon as he blocked the previous one.

“Are you sure?” she asked, her eyes searching his face. “We can go somewhere else. Somewhere more private maybe, and you can tell me about it?”

He smiled, feeling surprised by and grateful for her concern.

“That would defeat the whole purpose, wouldn’t it?” he asked with a laugh. Usagi was supposed to be the solution to this problem. But if he didn’t deploy the strategy, he couldn’t expect it to work.

“R-right,” she stammered, looking startled.

Click one of the links above to keep reading!

@starlingsinclair - Part two has arrived!! Thank you to @uglygreenjacket for organizing this event! I feel like I’m going to have fic to read for weeks!  Thank you to @tinacentury and @floraone. This chapter would literally not be up without your support and patience and feedback. At two entirely different points when I wanted to throw this chapter through a proverbial window, these two talked me through it, so that I could share this installment with all of you today!! 

Please enjoy!  Read on FF.net

Preview: 

Minako was curled up on the couch, her legs tucked to one side as she sipped carefully at her steaming tea. She watched in equal parts amusement and irritation as Usagi paced the living room floor forward and back, forward and back, again and again.

“Will you relax, already?” Minako barked.

“I feel like he should’ve been here by now,” Usagi muttered. “Do you think something happened to him?”

Minako rolled her eyes. “No, I think he’s fine. I think you’re used to him bounding over rooftops to get anywhere in like twenty minutes. But seeing as he doesn’t remember any of that, he has some obstacles.”

Usagi sighed, and flopped down beside Minako.

“If I told him what he’s forgotten, do you think he’d believe me?” she asked, her voice wistful.

“Stick in the mud, overly-rational Mamoru?”

“Hey! He’s not a stick in the mud!” Usagi objected.

“Probably not,” Minako concluded.

“Yeah, he’d probably think I was completely crazy,” Usagi concluded with a mournful sigh. She lasted another twenty seconds before she bolted back up from the couch and resumed her pacing.

Minako’s heart broke for her princess. Usagi brought only light and love into the world. She deserved to be happy. Minako privately thought Mamoru would eventually fall in love with her, but who knew how long that would take?

The boy was dense.

Minako has been shooting him hints for months. He missed them entirely. She whispered in his ear that Usagi had a thing for adopting lonely orphans.

“That sounds like her,” he had agreed as he took in her friend with soft, fond eyes.

But had he made a move? No!

So she announced loudly at parties he attended that Usagi needed a responsible sober driver to get safely home, knowing that Mamoru refused to partake in a single alcoholic beverage. (Apparently, he was afraid of memory loss or something. Minako didn’t bother to remember the exact details for why he insisted on being a stick in the mud). When he didn’t immediately volunteer, and let friggin’ Umino swipe the task away from him, she figured he would never get it unless she was direct.

She made an off-hand comment on how she was trying to set Usagi up with someone, but the girl was so picky. Minako had hoped that jealousy would get his act in gear, but he had merely told her that Usagi was allowed to be discerning. Connections weren’t always easy to make.

After that, she had just started making fun of him for being an awkward, oblivious nerd with no social skills. Artemis had told her it was counterproductive, but you know what? It made her feel just a little bit better.

Click one of the links to read more! 

FF.net Version

I’m so excited to finally post this!! This was written for @starlingsinclair for the Usamamo Spring Fic Exchange hosted by @uglygreenjacket (thank you for all your work, girl!!). She apparently is a sucker for the fake dating trope and particularly enjoys the Makai Tree Arc, so I bring you this fic where Natsumi is stalking Mamoru and in a moment of panic he kisses Usagi to make a point to his stalker. He didn't know Usagi was already in love with him, nor that she's Sailor Moon, nor that she would totally agree to do anything to protect him, including (but not limited to) pretending to date him for an indefinite amount of time. @tinacentury makes everything possible. She is the best beta and is so patient with my freak outs about deadlines and gets me writing again when I get stuck and gives such great insight on where I can flesh things out! ...

Preview:  Mamoru had always had more than his fair share of attention from the ladies (and a few gentlemen if he was being honest). He never really knew what to do with any of it. He had dabbled once with a girl he had met through a shared lab section, but although he liked and respected her, he had never really felt a connection. They had parted on friendly terms.

None of that past experience had prepared him for Ginga Natsumi. Natsumi was a blood hound and she made him feel like he was prey in an open field with nowhere to hide. She showed up everywhere. 

He had encountered her first at the student union at Tokyo University in between classes. She had plopped down next to him with a bright smile, and introduced herself as a freshman. 

“I’m new here,” she told him. “But you look like you know your way around. Would you mind helping a girl out?” 

He had smiled. Motoki had told him he needed to work on being friendlier so he was trying that out. He hadn’t thought sharing his name would be a problem. They had chatted for a few moments, before he had led her to the student information desk, so that she could get a more formal guide. 

Really, speaking to her at all was the worst mistake he had ever made. 

He hadn’t thought anything of it at first. The brunette had just started popping up into his path. She was outside his lecture hall when his anatomy class got out. She was at the train station. 

“Oh my god! You live in Azabu?! So do I! It’s such a small world Mamaru-kun!” 

He ran into her at the grocery.

“Mamoru-kun!” she crooned excitedly from behind him in line. “Fancy seeing you here. And we picked out the same ice cream flavor! Double chocolate fudge!” she exclaimed as if that alone was a sign of their everlasting compatibility. 

He had given her a polite smile, paid for his food, and while she was trapped in her own transaction, made a point of not going home. 

The next day, he had been in the library. He swung around between two shelves having retrieved four of the six reference books he needed for his paper, before he turned into her unfortunately familiar face.

“We’ve really got to stop meeting like this Mamoru-kun,” she had said coyly, her long lashes fluttering over her piercing eyes. “I’m going to think you’re stalking me.” 

And then everything got worse. 

...  Click the link to read more!