This all started when I figured out that a girlfriend could kind of be like family. Then I looked around my school. I hadn't found any girls in my grade, but one of my underclassmen, Asanuma, pulled me over to a first year class to talk to his girlfriend. I never was sure why he pulled me with him, but as he was talking to her, I was left alone, looking around the room. I spotted Usagi Tsukino.

Most people know Usagi Tsukino. Most people like Usagi Tsukino. I watched her for a few minutes as she stuttered to a few people around her, a large blush gracing her face and a small smile toying with her lips. I could see the test grade in her hands. She seemed greatly pleased with it. I then determined that Usagi was smart, shy, and sweet.

I couldn't watch her much longer as our next class was about to begin and Asanuma was running off. But I also knew one other thing—Usagi Tsukino was going to be my girlfriend.

I'd approached her after school one day as she'd been walking home. It actually took me a while to catch up with her. She was running away from the school as if spending another minute there would kill her. I finally caught up to her by a baseball diamond a couple blocks away. She had slowed her pace, staring distractedly into the bright spring grass.

"Tsukino-san!"

"Chiba-kun?" she exclaimed rather loudly, then blushed. I'd assumed she was surprised. "Do you need something?"

"Er," I began nervously, "would you go out with me?"

Her face brightened. She straightened her school skirt, adjusted her bag, and brushed her hair out of her still burning face before finally looking back up at me. She opened her mouth to answer, but flinched as a baseball hit the fencing that was protecting us. She giggled nervously and tried again. "S-sure!"

I smiled. "May I walk you home?"

"Well, actually, I was going to an arcade," Usagi said. "To meet up with my friends. We usually go there after school, you see. I'd invite you along, but I'm not sure you'd like to meet them yet. You'd be in for some questioning, most certainly. I'd hate to put you through that; after all, this is only the first day we've been going out. Oh, I'm sorry; I'm babbling, aren't I? I tend to do that as long as I have something to think and talk about and trust me, I have a lot. Crap, I'm still doing it! Goodbye, Chiba-kun!" I was a little flustered by the end of her speech, but I brushed it off on the fact that she was anxious. She started to walk away when suddenly she flipped around.

"I'll see you after school tomorrow. We can go to the park?"

"Sure," I responded. She grinned and ran off. I smiled back in her direction. I knew she was a good choice.

I felt Usagi before I saw her. She ran up from behind me and squeezed tightly in greeting. I turned red from this display. Many people were looking at us. I hadn't realized Usagi was going to do something like that.

"Morning, Chiba-kun!"

"Morning, Tsukino-san. Er, you want to take a walk?" I asked. She nodded happily.

"I like the park," Usagi said blandly as we walked the path like everyone else in the park. She turned her blue eyes up towards me. "Chiba-kun, you can call me Usagi. I think it's weird for couples not to be on a first name basis."

I was startled. I nodded. "Okay. You too . . . Usagi-chan."

She giggled. "You sure, Usagi-kun?"

"By my name!" I exclaimed. She was a lot sillier than I'd expected, but it was cute on her.

"You said . . ." defended Usagi. She grabbed my hand and leaned in to my side. "Mamoru-kun, what made you ask me out?"

"I, uh," I said. I was kind of flustered. I hadn't expected her to ask something like that. She giggled again. She was definitely a giggly girl. I wasn't sure if I liked that much.

"Aw, you're embarrassed! That's so cute!" Suddenly, she turned. "Mamoru-kun, I just saw my friends. Do you mind if I run over and say hi?"

I let her go on the account that I would get to see her friends. I recognized Ami Mizuno from school and there were two other girls I knew were in Usagi's class. I didn't know the last girl, but she had a Catholic school uniform on. Usagi hugged them all quickly, made quick conversation, and pointed over to me. The blonde from our school giggled, much like Usagi. The brunette grinned and yelled suddenly.

"Hey, Usagi's boyfriend! Come over here!"

I had no choice but to comply. I met up with them at the bench. Usagi began to introduce everyone.

"Mamoru-kun, these are my friends Ami Mizuno, Minako Aino, Makoto Kino, and Rei Hino. Guys, this is my boyfriend Mamoru Chiba." Another smile appeared on her face and Usagi giggled. The blonde—Minako, I told myself—jumped up and clasped hands with her.

"Oh, Usa-chan, you look so cute together!"

"Really?" my girlfriend squeaked. "Oh, I'm sorry, guys, I need to leave. Mamoru-kun and I are kind of on a date."

Her friends waved us away. I took Usagi to grab snow cones. As we sat at the white metal tables, she explained more about her friends.

"That was a really quick meeting, but next time you see them, you'll probably be attacked. Rei-chan is a psychic—she works at the Hikawa Shrine—and Mako-chan used to be a street fighter, but don't worry, they won't do anything to you unless you hurt me. Minako-chan, on the other hand, will attack you as long as you date me. If she does, just tell her, 'Mina-chan, you're being annoying again,' and she'll stop. Ami is probably the best one to talk to when you're around them, okay? Don't worry too much. We're all just really close. Like family." She paused to take a breath and lick her blue cotton candy snow cone. "Speaking of which, you probably need to be really nice to my dad. He doesn't like me dating."

"I see," I replied. Frankly, I was surprised she shut up. She talked a lot more than I'd expected.

"Oh, I really need to get home! Bye, Mamoru-kun!" She leaned up to kiss my cheek. The faint syrupy scent of her snow cone mixed in with her flowery shampoo. I watched as she skipped off and slumped into my seat. Being around Usagi made me really tired.

"Be careful with this," I warned Usagi, dangling the key in front of her face. "But you can come over pretty much any time you feel like you need to."

"Okay!" She accepted it happily and took another drink of her milkshake. Usagi looked out the window into the gray, dreary day amplified by the stark white of the frame. Rain hit the window, making a harsh coolness radiate from it. That was why Usagi was sitting so close to me. "Hey, guess what, Mamo-chan?"

"Mamo-chan?" I exclaimed, suddenly aware of her.

"Well, lots of couples have pet names, so I can call you Mamo-chan," Usagi said decisively, leaning over my lap to get up to my face as if she could look in my eyes and know I understood. I nodded.

"So . . . I call you Usako?"

That seemed to make her happy. Usagi leaned over even farther and placed her mouth on mine.

"Mamo-chan . . . ."

"Usagi-chan."

She pulled away with a hurt look.

"Sorry," I apologized. "The nickname is going to take some getting used to."

She frowned unhappily, but gave her consent and leaned back into my side. That's when I noticed that this didn't feel right. I'd asked Usagi out because I thought she'd be a good person to talk to, someone who would understand being quiet. I hadn't expected to find outspoken, happy-go-lucky Usagi. Could I really last with her by my side?

The doorbell rang. I rose to answer it like always, but I grew increasingly nervous. I opened the door to find a grinning blonde. A pang of guilt fell to my stomach.

"Morning, Mamo-chan!"

I swallowed and leaned against the doorframe in weak attempt to disguise that I was blocking her from coming inside. "Er, Usagi-san . . . ."

That caught her attention. Her bright blue eyes focused on me once again.

"Usagi-san, I think we should break up."

Her face trembled. She stepped back. "Oh. Okay. I see. Goodbye, Chiba-san."

She had never called me by -san in our entire acquaintance. I watched Usagi walk down the hall before turning down the stairs. She was outside now, sitting on a bench. She shook with what looked like sobs and seemed to be muttering into her phone. I sat down on my couch. I had hoped Usagi wouldn't have cried like this. We had only gone out for a week. I hadn't gotten too attached and I'd presumed she had felt the same way. It didn't feel right to make her cry, but I'd had to do it. Because we didn't work well together. We just weren't compatible. That made sense, right?

I had never intended to return to that arcade. It seemed to be Usagi-territory. I still found myself walking there one day after I found out that a classmate I was on familiar terms with worked there. He'd invited me.

"It would be nice to have someone to talk to, Mamoru-kun," Motoki Furuhata said. "The only people I know there are this group of girls and while Mizuno-san and Tsukino-san are nice, Aino-san and Kino-san are rather . . . different."

"I don't know," I replied.

Motoki frowned. "What's the big deal?"

I just broke up with Usagi and I don't think being around her friends is a good idea. "Fine."

He then turned back to his schoolwork and stopped looking at me.

As it turned out, Motoki was really busy. I'd hoped that if I was talking to him, no one could approach me.

"Chiba-san," Ami called quietly. She was the only one there at the moment, thank heavens. "Please sit down."

"Hello, Mizuno-san," I greeted awkwardly.

Ami took a sip of her soda gracefully. "I would like to discuss why you broke up with Usagi. Don't worry! I'm not going to tell her anything. I just feel the need to have a conversation. So tell me—why?"

"I didn't like her anymore," I answered.

"You went out for a week."

I released a breath and shifted in the booth. "She wasn't like I'd expected," I admitted. "I thought she was shy and sweet—not that she's not sweet—but she's a lot louder than I thought. I guess I didn't know her very well. I'm sure she's a nice girl, but we just don't go well together."

Ami sat quietly, taking long drinks so she didn't have to speak. "I guess I can't blame you for that. But Usagi is only shy around people she doesn't know very well. She's rather excitable around friends though. Most people think it's cute . . . but I suppose you're entitled to your own opinion.

"You were Usagi's first boyfriend, you know. She was really excited that she was asked out. She spent most of the time around her friends talking about you or trying to think of something nice to do for you. She spent hours deciding her nickname for you."

I paled. "You know about that?"

Her eyes focused on me solemnly. "Nearly everyone does, Mamo-chan.

"Oh well. There will be other people who notice how great Usa-chan is," she said calmly. "I just hope none of them make her cry so much. She called Minako up because she felt too sad to walk by herself. Then everyone went over to Mina-chan's house to comfort her. She told us what happened. Usagi was crying too much to understand."

"Are you trying to make me guilty?" I asked.

The blue-haired girl gave a small smile—not the bright, genuine one she gave to her friends, but it was not fake. "Maybe."

"Mamoru-kun!" called Motoki. I stood up from the booth but not before asking Ami one more question.

"Is Tsukino-san going to be here today?"

"Soon," nodded Ami. I walked up to Motoki and tried to be invisible in hopes that when she came in, Usagi wouldn't see me. It worked.

I saw Makoto at the grocery store. She was the one I'd dreaded most about seeing again after what Usagi told me about her.

"Idiot!" she shrieked when she noticed me. I would've expected her to hit me except she was at that moment reaching for a box of cereal on the top shelf. She was uncommonly tall . . . .

"Er, hello, Kino-san."

She tossed the item in her cart, crossed her arms, and narrowed her eyes. "Tell me right now why you broke up with Usagi."

"I just didn't like her anymore!" I defended.

Makoto opened her mouth defensively then sighed. "I can't hurt you for that. It's better than leading her on. The longer you were with her, the more it would've hurt. I . . . I just wish you liked her. Usagi deserves someone who won't hurt her, someone who will never leave her." I removed my hands from my face, grateful I wouldn't be mauled today.

"Yes," I agreed, "she does." I was incapable of saying something intelligent as I was still completely in shock.

"You'd better leave. Usa-chan is shopping with me," she warned, now leaning up against her cart.

"Yes. Bye, Kino-san." I pushed my cart out of the aisle as I heard a bright cheery voice.

"Mako-chan, I found it!"

I hung back just long enough to see her long pigtails swing in, but not enough to see the buns atop her head.

I ran into Minako in front of my apartment building. She was sitting on the bench and as I passed her, she jumped up, grabbed my shoulders, and shook me frantically.

"Why did you break up with Usagi? You two were perfect together! I know! I know couples!"

I gasped for air. "Aino-san, please let me go!"

"No! You have to understand what your actions have caused! You have destroyed a love more sacred than Romeo and Juliet! Selene and Endymion! Usagi's heart is broken! She cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried for days!"

"Aino-san!"

"You went out for a week! That's a stupid, short, completely idiotic junior high romance! You are a mature, high school third year and Usagi is a mature, high school first year! You are horrible! You didn't even give her a proper first love! She'll never love again! You are so cruel! How could you do this—"

"Aino-san!"

"—to a poor, sweet, lovely, adorable, absolutely perfect princess like Usagi?"

"Aino-san!"

She made a large choking sound that must have been a gasp. "I've left her alone too long! She might kill herself!"

"Aino-san, I highly doubt Usagi-chan is suicidal," I said.

"Aha! You called her Usagi! You still like her!"

I started to refute, but Minako disappeared. I sighed. She was even more tiring to be around than Usagi.

I decided to go to the Hikawa Shrine, figuring since every one of her other friends had yelled at me, Rei deserved to too. I saw Rei sweeping the stairs. I cleared my throat and she looked up at me.

"You! You broke Usagi's heart! Get out of here! What made you even think you'd be welcome here?" she screeched.

"Mizuno-san, Aino-san, and Kino-san have already yelled at me. I thought you might want to too," I said dryly.

"I do!" she cried. "Do you know how much pain you caused her? You were her first boyfriend! And she only got a week with you! Why did you even ask her out in the first place? Don't even say you lost interest. You don't lost interest with someone in a week. I know!"

"I . . ." I stuttered. "I asked her because I wanted someone who would be there for me."

Rei raised her eyebrows. "And Usa-chan wasn't?"

"She wasn't what I had been expecting."

Rei closed her eyes. "Don't you have family to be there for you?"

I probably paled.

"Oh, Chiba-san, I'm sorry! I didn't realize— You know friends can be family too," she pointed out. "Ami, Makoto, and Minako are my sisters. Well, Usagi is too, but she's more like an annoying little sister."

I didn't answer. I think that's when I left.

For the next few days I didn't do much but go to school and come home. I'd get there and study until I could recite the book, then maybe I would turn on the TV. Mainly I watched the cartoons Usagi liked. They were kind of cheesy, but they were still interesting. I couldn't remember what I'd watched before I went out with her.

"Is this really how I spent my life?" I asked myself. I then remembered that Usagi still had one of the keys to my apartment. I would need that if I ever moved out. That had to be a good reason to go over to Usagi's house. I just had to remember what her address was.

"I live on Sakura Lane, across the street from the gas station. You can tell which one in mine because we have a purple tree."

I ran to the subway station—because it would run over there soon and I didn't want to be late—and hopped on impatient to get there. As soon as I saw the stop come into view, I hurried to the door, jumped off, and ran. Once I got to Usagi's house, I knocked on the door and a young boy answered.

"Who are you?"

"Er, I go to school with Usagi-san, and she has something of mine that I need back."

The boy blinked before yelling, "Usagi, there's a boy here for you!"

He waited a minute before sighing. "She hasn't come out of her room much lately. Mom! Someone's here for Usagi and she won't come to the door!"

I felt some guilt at his words. A woman I assumed to be Usagi's mom walked up. "Is it Ami-chan? Usagi said— Oh! And who would you be?"

"Um, I'm Mamoru Chiba. Usagi-san has something of mine I need back."

"Go on up to her room. It's the back one," Usagi's mom said.

I awkwardly climbed the stairs while the boy—probably her brother—stared and the mother giggled—I guess that's why Usagi is like that.

I knocked on the door. She didn't answer. "Tsukino-san?"

I heard a tumble from behind the door. Usagi seemed to be scrambling. Finally, the door opened. Her hair was down, falling across her back, and her eyes, while bloodshot, were as attentive as always. I vaguely noticed that she had pink monkey pajamas on.

"Uh, hi. I need my key."

Her bright eyes widened. "Oh. Give me just a minute to find it."

I watched her dig through her room, which was rather messy for someone who seemed so intelligent. Minutes later she emerged from under the bed.

"I think I may have left it at Mako-chan's. Do you mind if I bring it tomorrow?"

I glanced to the side. A gleam caught my eye. "Tsukino-san, it's on your dresser."

She nodded and reached for it while I did the same. As soon as our hands touched, she turned towards me and began to cry, grabbing onto my shoulders for support. As I held her, I realized how small, soft, and delicate she was. Her words came out in indiscernible mutters, whimpers, and squeaks.

"I . . . I'm sorry, Chiba-san. I know you probably want to go," she sniffled. "I shouldn't cry so much."

"It's okay to cry," I said awkwardly. "Most girls do."

"You're not," she said. "Not to say you're girl though! And I guess it makes sense since you broke up with me and I'm just being silly, but it's not fair that you get to feel fine and I . . . I'm sorry; I'm babbling, aren't I? That must be why you broke up with me. Because I'm a whiny baby, a-and I'm too loud, and . . . a-and . . . ." She started to cry even more against me. I started to wonder how much I'd really broken Usagi. My shirt was getting wet and I tried to ignore it in fear she'd apologize again.

"You'll be okay."

She shook her head. "I . . . I'd actually been keeping the key so when I started to feel a little better, I could go and see you and you might think I was mature and pretty and . . . . I remembered it right when you broke up with me. 'I have Mamoru's key. I should return it to him.' I'm a bad person, aren't I?"

"No," I whispered. "You're hurting."

"I really like you," she said. I looked over her shoulder around her room. Usagi had a lot of rabbit things . . . . I noticed a vase with red roses. She seemed to notice me staring and looked up.

"In my family, we give them to each other for just about anything. Mom gives them to Dad on Valentine's Day. Shingo gives them to me when he forgets to buy me a birthday present. And D-Dad gave those to me because . . . . I once bought some for Mom when she had Shingo. It made her really happy."

I remembered a little girl with blonde buns and tiny pigtails handing me a flower just like that when I was in the hospital. I told Usagi the story. She wiped her eyes and laughed. "That was you?

"So is that why you asked me? Because you're lonely?" She grinned at my face. "I've been told I'm perceptive. Chiba-kun, you don't have to be alone. I'll be your friend."

"I don't want to be your friend . . . Usako."

Usagi gave a smile. "But why did you break up with me in the first place?"

"I—I guess I wasn't used to being around someone so much," I said. "And you weren't at all like I thought you were. I guess that's the fun of dating someone. Learning about them and stuff . . . ."

"You're a lot different than I thought too! At school you seem so mean and cold, but you're really nice!" She giggled and moved on. "Okay! Hm, I better call Mina-chan . . . And Mako-chan and Rei-chan and Ami-chan!"

I nearly groaned. I could only imagine how they'd yell at me when they found out we were back together.

I hope you all liked this. I thought it was interesting enough to keep attention, and it's also pretty long by my standards. I don't really have any notes with this piece, so I guess I'm done!