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"Well, I do like the occasional challenge." Makoto admitted. "You know her best, I s'pose. I won't give up easy, that's for sure."

This argument wasn't going to be an easy one to win. "It's, you had a doppelganger standing outside of school shooting on the range all day. I really can't afford to miss school. And I really don't want to inconvenience you. Call it a price for being an unintentional peeping Tom." Makoto argued. She could tell, though, that Ite wasn't going to give up. The problem was, though, that Makoto was so used to taking care of herself that she was stuck on her pride and couldn't figure out how to accept it. She felt, for a moment, like she was Tohru from Fruits basket. Always working so hard to take care of others and having a hard time accepting help for herself.

Sighing, she said. "I s'pose, though... I'll let you give me a piggyback... If you really insist..."

Makoto had to admit, being carried around all day was something else. She didn't like so much attention being on her, but it was kind of fun at the same time. Until later on in the day, when she got a text message from a random number.

"I know what you're doing. Playing with Ite's heart won't be tolerated. Leave him now, or else."

Mako laughed at the threat. "Are you so much of a coward that you can't say that to my face? I have no tolerance for bullies." She responded back.

The rest of the day went smoothly. At one point, during one of her classes, a teacher asked her why she was being carried around. She told them about her foot and the nurse came in and looked at it.

"Yeah, you should probably take it easy on it for a couple days. But you should be able to walk on it just fine." She said. "Just keep it clean and wrapped."

On the way to the senshi gathering, Makoto relayed what the nurse had said to Ite. When they got to the Hikawa shrine, everyone was waiting for them, including Mamoru.

"Those of you who haven't met Ite yet, here he is." Makoto smild.

"Hi!" Everyone said.

Everybody greeted Ite with kindness. Except for Minako, who turned into a complete fangirl. "I can't believe we have a gold medalist on our team, now!" She squee'd.


"Yeah, that's pretty cool." Rei said. "I shoot bow as well. I'm a pretty good shot. But I'd love if you'd give me some pointers sometime." She added.


They got down to business, talking about the recent youma attacks. "I haven't had chance to analyze any of this yet. But it is clear we have a new enemy. I don't know if they really are youma from way back when or if its another being created by Chaos." Ami said.


"I haven't had any visions about it, yet." Rei said. "My psychic powers have been completely silent on this."


"The first one attempted to kill you, Makoto. When we got there, the Youma Hunter was already taking care of it. It was quite disturbing." They all looked at Ite.


"He doesn't remember." Makoto said.


"That's a problem. So you don't remember being transformed at all?" Ami asked.


Makoto filled them in on the last couple nights. Including how she had gone to sleep with the Youma Hunter and woken up to Ite.


"Mako-Chan! You just met him and you're already between the sheets with him!?" Minako's eyes went wide with sparkles. "I didn't know you were that kind of girl!"


"Its not like that!" Makoto insisted.


"Tell me, Ite." Minako whispered. "Do you like her BIG, soft and tender breasts? They're nice, aren't they?" she fluttered her eyes at him.


"Stop it, Minako!" Makoto blushed.


After the teasing ended, Mamoru chimed in. "When I first started becoming Tuxedo Mask, I didn't know what was happening, either. I'd get these headaches and then I'd wake up in places I don't remember being. It took me awhile to figure out what was going on and to become conscious of my other self." He said. "It wasn't until about the time when I met with Usagi as Sailor Moon that I realized who I was and what I had been doing."

Makoto was happy that Ite was doing his best to entertain the girls. She knew that the group could be a handful at times. She heard his comment in response to Minako's. "Ite!" she snapped. Then, she leaned in and Amberly whispered so nobody else could hear (and could only assume she was scolding him for his comment). "You bridge your two bodies and I'll let you play with them. "

Then, Ite asked a question nobody else expected him to. The entire room went silent as they all stared at him. Memoru flushed bright red in embarrassment as Usagi's face went dark red in anger.

"Endymion, actually. And yes, it's true. Before I met Princess Serenity, I was a bit of a ladie's man. What young prince of power wouldn't be?" he nervously chuckled.

"MA-MO-CHAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!" Usagi was about to blow a gasket. Clearly, Mamoru was clueless as to what he had just done.

"Look, Usagi. Yes, there were other people before you. I'm a college student. You just entered high school. Of course I dated others before I met you in both of our lifetimes. That doesn't mean I liked them anymore than you. Many people date many partners before they find the right one."

"Uh-oh..." Came the voice of Artemis, who was snoozing in the corner.

The tears welled up and Usagi immediately started bawling on her knees in the middle of the floor. Mamoru quickly swept in to console her and apologized. He took her outside for a few minutes, leaving the rest with sweat drops on their heads.

"Never, ever talk to a girl about other girlfriends like that." Ami said as she put her face in her hand. "Anyways, there is one thing I observed in all of this. You knew who Mamoru was. Which tells me that part of you is beginning to merge with the other part. I'm sure it will take some time, but before you know it, you'll be able to transform and change back at will. Until then, you're just going to have to do your best with the current situation. Since you and Makoto were lovers in the Silver Millenium, perhaps sticking around her will help you in the process. I'd also suggest recording a message to yourself. That way, when you transform, Makoto can play it back for you. Maybe if you create some keywords to tell yourself, that might help with the process." Ami suggested.

"Hey, that's a good idea!" Minako said. "Maybe setting some keywords or messages to yourself will help your other half remember you when transformed. And vice versa."

Mako nodded her head in agreement. "You can record yourself a message on my phone. What do you think?" She asked Ite.

Makoto could see the skepticism still living in Ite's eyes. She could understand why all this was hard to believe. "Of course." she said when he requested she not look. "I wouldn't want to look unless you wanted me to. Make yourself a folder so I don't accidentally open it if I need to get into my photo gallery." She said. She didn't want anymore accidents to happen. She wanted Ite's trust and she was more than happy to oblige his request.

"As for these Youma, we'll have to keep a close eye on them and see if we can find any patterns. There haven't been enough attacks yet to see what they're trying to get by feeding from people. They must have a leader and we need to figure out who it is." Minako said. "Other than that, I don't think there is much else to say.

"I agree." Rei said. "And when another shows up, we need to ensure we get in touch with each other."

Makoto and Minako nodded their heads in agreement. "Well, that's that, then. Shall we call it an afternoon? I don't think Usagi will be back in." Makoto said.

They agreed to adjourn. The only thing left to do was wait...

The girls chatted for a few minutes as Ite ran off to speak. "So, how was losing your virginity?" Minako devilishly asked.

"Ugh. Will you stop!? I still have it!" Makoto snapped. "Don't get me wrong... I want to... with him... Even though it has only been a couple days, I feel like I've known him my entire life. But I don't want to take advantage while he is in this state. I want us to fully enjoy the experience. Him as a whole person..."

"You know, now that you have memories of him, why don't you try to recreate something the two of you once did together? That might help speed things up." Smile suggested.

"Yeah, and then you can lose your V card!" Minako quipped.

"Shut up, Minako!" Rei snapped, throwing a heavy book at her head. "Look, maybe you're being too sensitive about this. Try a little aggression. Don't be so shy and go with the flow. He remembered Mamoru, so maybe he'll remember more of you, too."

"Oh... Thanks." Makoto said as he handed her phone back. "Uh, are you okay?" She asked, pointing to his nose. What was he doing looking at her photos? Rubbing one off?


"You should probably get home so you can take care of that." Minako whispered quietly into Makoto's ears."


"Hu-?" It was then that Makoto realized what everyone was staring at. Flag up at full mast. Makoto nearly fell over as blood spurted out of her nose. She was too embarrassed to point it out.


"So, Ite… What photos were you looking at?" Rei quipped. "Did she leave something naughty on there for you?" She said in a sultry voice.


"Rei! Minako!" Ami said quietly, as her own nose was bleeding and her cheeks were red. "What she does with Ite is her own private business. She shouldn't have to explain her sex life with any of us if she doesn't want to. I know how infatuated you get with boys who look like your old sempai, Makoto. Its okay for you to indulge yourself if you like a boy enough."


"Okay, that's enough! Lets go home!" Makoto said quickly, forgetting about her foot, grabbing Ite and dragging him out of the room.


"Get him, cowgirl!" Minako called after her.

"Yeah, sorry about that. The girls... I think are a little jealous... Usagi is the only person who has a boyfriend. Mamoru. The last couple of days have been unexpected, to say the least. And I think they're trying to embarrass me on purpose. We all have a bit of a perverted side to us, but I didn't think they would push the conversation that far. I guess when you are stuck fighting monsters all the time, finding someone to curl up with at night to release some of that stress on is something that rests in all of our heads." Makoto admitted. "I'm a virgin, but I've always dreamed about having someone to fall in love with, create a home for, and make sweet, passionate love with at the end of the day. Call me a pervert, but I guess that's probably what most teenagers think about these days, right? And then, suddenly, someone I had a past with dropped seemingly into my lap and now I feel as if maybe part of that dream will come true sooner than I thought."

She pointed to the entrance to a nearby park. "Lets go there for a little bit... If that's okay with you? I'd like to show you something." She said.