Love Memoirs of Kino, Makoto

One

A/N: Mina-san, Konnichiwa! Hi, Everyone! Wow, it's been quite awhile since I've written anything. Well, this fanfic has been a long time coming... I've been contemplating writing it for 5 years, ever since I commissioned my profile picture of Makoto and Haruka.

As mentioned in previous journal entries in my DeviantArt account - the link to which I'm sure is in my profile, if you're interested - I'm probably one of the oldest Sailor Moon fans in North America, having watched the series when it first originally came out on American television. That's scary, realizing how long ago that was and realizing how that comment is giving away my age...

Never the less, Mako-chan/Sailor Jupiter has always been my favorite Sailor Scout, closely followed by Haruka/Sailor Uranus. It's not that I have anything against Haruka and Michiru being together, I just always liked the idea - in my head - of Makoto and Haruka being together - which, again, is why I commissioned my profile picture of the two of them together, 5 years ago - and now I'm getting it out of my head and on paper.

IF there's still anyone out there who understands my writing style, I do a lot of research to try to keep my fanfiction as closely related to the original series as possible.

The bases for my research and the storyline of this fanfic are the 12 recently re-released Sailor Moon manga volumes.

This first installment follows the storyline in volume 6, when Mako-chan still believes that Haruka is a boy.

Disclaimer: These characters, the setting, and many elements of this fanfic belong to Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailor Moon. I claim no right to anything other then the story idea of this fanfiction.

As I remember, it all began at the Game Center. That is where we all hung out after school – not to mention that it was the location of our secret command center, beneath the Sailor V game. I'd previously had a crush on Furu-chan, the guy who worked there. He reminded me of my first love – an older guy from the school I'd went to before transferring to Jûban Middle School.

On this day we discovered another hot looking guy in our Game Center playing on the new racing game. The game was a lot of fun. Mina and I played on it before Usagi – who reached a speed of 300km/h, but the new guy reached a top speed of 400km/h! It was no wonder once we discovered that he was none other than the famous race car driver, Ten'ô, Haruka.

Thus began my new crush... Except the odds were against me. It was all over the media that Kaiô, Michiru was already his girlfriend.

"That dumpling head's not with you today?" a voice interrupted my concentration a couple days later while I was playing the Sailor V game. I managed to bite back the annoyance that I felt when my eyes met with his gorgeous blue orbs. I could have melted on the spot.

"Who? Oh… Usagi? She'll… uh… be here later. Supplemental lessons…" I stammered, feeling the heat in my cheeks and an uncharacteristic shyness. The way he looked at me, it felt like he could see into my very soul. My heart fluttered into a furry and I had to peel my gaze away from his beautiful face.

"Then, why don't we go for a race while you wait?"

I glanced up in time to see the slightest smirk play across his lips just before he jerked his head towards the racing game in clarification. How could I resist. He was talking on my level, now. I could hear the challenge in his voice and was more than willing to answer it. "You bet!"

We took up our stations, each of us determined to win. I pushed the gas petal to the floor and watched my digital race car on the screen race after his down the game's race track. My hands gripped the steering wheel as if my life depended on it. I was catching up. I'd even be passing him, soon. I glanced at him sitting beside me with a look of triumph, until I noticed his amused smile aimed at me. His eyes actually twinkled just before he gave me a wink and a whole-hearted laugh as he returned his attention to the game. Flustered, it was too late by time I realized that his car flew passed mine and crossed the finish line at an astonishing 400km/h compared to my mere 350km/h.

"Not bad, you're pretty gutsy," he complimented me while helping me out of the driver's seat once we both had our helmets off.

Wow, he was totally amazing and way beyond sweet. I could feel myself falling head over heal. "It was nothing. It's just a game, after all. It's not like there's really a chance that I could get hurt or anything." I continued to hold onto him a moment longer then I probably should have. His hand wasn't overly large, but I could feel the strength behind his grip. He didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to let go of me, either and I soon found myself captivated by his charming smile.

"In that case, how about I take you for a ride?"

My surprise must have registered on my face, because he laughed. It was a cheerful sound and it suddenly struck me that he was teasing me. "A ride?" I asked suspiciously. "Like, a real ride, in a real race car?" my eyes narrowed. "Are you serious?"

"I've got something even better." He leaned in close to me and for a moment I thought he might kiss me. Instead his breath blew across my ear, making me shiver, as he said, "Meet me later at Ichi-no-Hashi Park." He straightened and moved passed me, making me turn to stare after him only to discover that Mina, Ami, and Rei had just arrived.

I'm not sure why I decided to go to the park later, after departing with my friends at the Game Center. It was blatantly obvious that Ten'ô, Haruka was playing games with me. It reminded me of my first love and all of the crushes that I'd had since. That was the problem with boys, none of them took me serious. On my way to the park, I knew I was walking straight towards my next heartbreak, yet I couldn't stop myself. I wanted to see him again. Sure, he already had a girlfriend, but we'd had a lot of fun on the racing game, and I couldn't help but to be curious about what he had planned for tonight.

Once I'd arrived at the park, I had to wait. He hadn't given a specific time, so I couldn't say how early I was. Surely I wasn't late. He'd have waited if he'd gotten there first, right? I tried not to let my worries consume me. It might be dark, but I had confidence that I could take care of myself. In the end, though, it wasn't long before I heard the sound of a motor cycle approaching. Not that I knew a lot about bikes, but even I recognized that it was a Ducati. I would later discover that it was a 500 S Desmo model. I watched the driver pull up beside me, confident of who it had to be, in spite of his face being covered by a helmet.

"Put this on," spoke a familiar voice as he reached for and unstrapped a spare helmet behind him.

My heart raced anew with anticipation. I was going to be riding on a motorcycle? The idea filled me with a mixture of excitement and uncertainty.

"Or is this too much for you to handle?" he said in jest, making me realize that I'd waited too long to take the helmet. He was challenging me again and of course I couldn't refuse.

"You're on!" I exclaimed, maybe more forcefully then I needed to, and snatched the helmet out of his hand. I thought I heard him snigger in response, which made me even more determined to see this through.

"Hold on tight," were his final words, once I'd put on the helmet and climbed onto the bike behind him, before he was off.

It took me a moment to find my center of gravity and as the bike roared and vibrated beneath me I found myself hanging on around his waist a lot tighter then I'd intended. He didn't seem to mind and I didn't realize how slow he'd been taking it until he turned onto a mostly abandoned highway that would lead around the outskirts of town and suddenly sped up.

The wind rushed passed us and the city lights turned into a blur. It wasn't long until I was thoroughly enjoying myself and silently urging him to go faster. I couldn't say how long we rode, only that it wasn't long enough. I was on an adrenalin rush and soaring high with the wind. It was hard to suppress my disappointment as we came back into the city. By then I was comfortable enough on the bike that I didn't feel the need to hold onto him anymore.

When we returned to the park I found it impossible to contain the rush that still flowed through me. After leaping off of the bike, I removed the helmet with a flourish and spun around with my arms outstretched. "That… Was… Awesome!" I exclaimed to the world. "Can we go again?" I asked before thinking. It wasn't until the sound of his laughter filled my ears that I became aware of how foolish I was acting. Suddenly feeling self-conscious I stood still, held the helmet with both hands in front of me, and became uncomfortably aware of the heat in my cheeks. "I'm sorry… Thank you for the ride. It was amazing. I'd very much like to go again sometime, if you don't mind."

I felt him take the helmet from me before being unexpectedly pulled towards the bike and against his side. His hand was under my chin before I could comprehend what was happening. The feel of his lips brushing against mine was brief and made me wish there could be more meaning behind it. It was my first kiss, after all. I stumbled back in shock. My hand flew to cover my mouth and I closed my eyes in order to block out the look of amusement on his face. I didn't want to believe that he was toying with me. "It was fun. I'll take you out again any time you want. In exchange, treat me to something nice." The bike's engine reeved and I opened my eyes to see him raise a hand in a gesture to say goodbye. "Be careful getting home. C-ya next time."

~To Be Continued~