Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sunlight streams in through billowing curtains, catching dust moats in the rays like drifting stars. Bright sun falls across a pale cheek. The warmth of a calloused, but comforting hand spreading through her skin. She presses her face gently into his caress, closing her eyes for a moment to savor the feeling. Bright blue eyes glitter in the dim light under heavy blond lashes, and reflected in her eyes, the face of her lover. Slightly tanned skin from hours in the sun, stormy grey eyes lightly obscured by obsidian locks, a kind smile that opens to speak. But the words are carried away by the wind like petals from a blossoming tree. The lovers’ eyes lock, backed by the moonrise over the glittering horizon. Birds scream in the morning light and the lovers draw closer still. Lips but a mere inch apart.

“Usagi.”

The birds are louder now. A dove had landed on the woman’s shoulder, drawing her gaze. It’s beak opens to speak.

“Usagi you’re going to be late for school!”

Tsukino Usagi bolts upright in her bed, forehead colliding with her mother’s chin. The two reel apart.

“Usagi, are you alright?” Ikuko asks, rubbing her own chin, “Sweetie you slept in. It’s almost eight.”

“Yeah, mama, I’m okay. How’s your chin?” the young girl says through a yawn, her messy blonde hair half covering her face. “I had the strangest-“ Usagi pauses mid thought, her dream forgotten as the red numbers blare at her from the alarm clock on her nightstand.

7:25

“OH MY GOSH LOOK AT THE TIME!” Usagi practically scrambles out of bed, half hopping as her foot gets caught in the sheets. She manages to shake it free and looks back her mom who has already gone to the closet to retrieve Usagi’s uniform.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Usagi’s voice tremblesd, tears welling in her eyes.

“I tried dear,” Ikuko replies firmly, handing over the uniform, “Twice. You kept saying you would get up.”

“I was wrooong” Usagi whines, pulling up her socks. “I’m gonna be late again and Miss Haruna is gonna make me stand in the hallwaayyy”

“Well then you should get up the first time I come in to wake you.” her mom says matter-of-factly as she leaves Usagi’s room. “Hurry up and get dressed, and don’t forget your lunch this time.” 



Not even five minutes later Usagi comes tumbling down the stairs, her hair trailing behind her like ribbons, now neatly tied up in her signature buns. She slides to a halt in the entryway.

“Oweee” she wines, rubbing her back as she bends down to slip on her shoes. As she does she slips a tube of pale pink lip gloss into her book bag. They weren’t really allowed to wear lip gloss at school, but other girls did it all the time.

I can get away with it just this once Usagi thinks to herself, Naru wears lip gloss all the time! 

She takes a moment to check her reflection in the mirror, her eyes are slightly puffy from staying up late and she has to wipe a spot of toothpaste from her chin, but aside from that, fifteen-year-old high school student Tsukino Usagi was ready for school.

“Usagi!”

Or so she thought. Not even halfway down the front path, and Ikuko’s voice stops her dead in her tracks. For a moment, Usagi thinks she’s been busted. Her mom knows about the lip gloss. Somehow. Maybe she developed crazy psychic powers. Or x-ray vision! Or-

“You forgot your lunch.”

“Oh. Thanks mom” Usagi takes the carefully wrapped lunchbox. Her mom kisses the top of her head and straightens the bow on her collar.

“Have a good day sweetie.” There's a sadness in Ikuko’s eyes for a brief moment, but Usagi is too distracted to really notice as she speeds off down the street toward the bus stop. 

The bus has already begun to pull away from the stop as Usagi reaches it.  It rolls to a stop and even behind his sunglasses, she can tell the driver is annoyed. She mutters a small apology as she swipes her bus pass and heads further back on the crowded bus in search of an open seat. The bus jolts forward as it starts moving and Usagi falls forward onto another passenger.

“Hey, Bun Head. Watch where you’re going.” A smooth, deep voice comes from the person she has fallen on. Usagi didn’t think she had ever heard this voice before but something about it was startlingly familiar. She looks up at the face of the person she had collided with and the morning sun catches his stormy grey eyes.



“I-I’m so sorry” Usagi stammered, pulling herself away from him. Another disgruntled voice calls out behind her as she bumps into another passenger on the crowded bus. The boy she had bumped into sighs and shuffles slightly to the side to make room for her to hold onto the fabric loops that hang from the roof of the bus. She offers a small smile in thanks and takes a step into the open space. The boy just scoffs and looks away, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes.

He wasn’t the most handsome man Usagi had ever seen, but he wasn’t bad to look at either. He is wearing the uniform for her high school and his hair is neatly combed, if a little long. He’s almost a foot taller than her, and she could tell even through the jacket of his uniform that he worked out. She catches herself staring and quickly turns away, hoping that he hasn’t noticed. Maybe she is just nervous, but the hair prickles on the back of her neck and she can’t help but feel as though someone is staring right at her.

Chapter Text

Miss Haruna did, in fact, make Usagi stand in the hallway. She hadn’t been late for school, but dozing off during attendance wasn’t her brightest move. She kicks her feet idly as she listens to homeroom announcements. Umino and Mizuno are on duty today, the school beautification committee wants some first year volunteers to help with the flower beds while the second years are on their trip next week, boring stuff like that. Usagi found her mind wandering, as it often does. Motoki-senpai had told her last weekend that the Crown Game Center would be getting the new Sailor V video game today. Maybe she could stop by after school to try it out. Who was Sailor V anyway? She had shown up out of nowhere to fight crime. She was like something out of a movie. Usagi wonders what it would be like to be a beautiful crime fighter like Sailor V. But if she’s going to be a super hero, she needs a cool catch phrase.

“For Love and Justice! No, that's not good enough… hmm… maybe… in the name of justice! no…” Usagi hadn’t realized she had started thinking out loud, but a laugh catches her attention. Snapped out of her daydream, Usagi looks up to see who else is in the hallway.

“Could you move, miss love and justice?” The boy from the bus is standing in front of her holding a stack of handouts. She knew they went to the same school, but she hadn’t expected to run into him again. Usagi’s cheeks burn and she huffs.

“And why should I, mister… handouts?” Hands on her hips, Usagi glares up at the boy.  

“You’re a real character, bunhead.” he laughs again, a warm reverberating laugh that reminds Usagi of the crackling of firewood. “My teacher asked me to bring these handouts to Miss Haruna. This is her classroom right?”

“Miss Tsukino!” Before Usagi can answer, the door slides open with a thud, “in case you had forgotten, this is a place of learning and- Oh!”

“Mister Sanjouin asked me to bring you these.” the boy says, offering Miss Haruna the stack of papers.

“Oh thank you, Chiba. Go on back to class.” Miss Haruna says, her expression softening at the mention of the Class 3 teacher. Everyone in Class 1 knows that Miss Haruna is smitten with him. Even just mentioning him puts her in a good mood, as evident by how she hums happily to herself as she returns to the podium.

“You can come back to class now too, Usagi.” Miss Haruna calls from the classroom.

“Tsukino Usagi, huh.” Chiba smiled as he said her name, trying out the feeling. “I think bunhead might be a better fit though.”

“Hey!” Usagi protests, but he is already walking away. She sighs and slinks back to her seat. Chiba, huh? She wonders what his first name is. Chiba doesn’t seem to fit him. It sounds too cute and he was more handsome than cute. Almost princely. Ew. She regrets the thought as soon as she thinks it. He was snarky and rude and definitely not princely. Nothing like the prince in her dream. Wait. Dream? Had she dreamt last night?

A tap on her back brings Usagi back to her senses, turning around, Osaka Naru is giving her a look. Usagi knows that look. Naru had been her best friend since they were kids and the two of them had developed a secret language of sorts. That look means “ tell me everything ”.

Turning back around quickly before Miss Haruna can notice she is distracted, Usagi scribbles a note in the corner of a page of her notebook:

Nothing happened, just an annoying guy in the hallway.

She tears the page, carefully so as not to make a sound, and slips the note onto the desk behind her. A few moments of half paying attention to the lecture about the Tokugawa Shogunate pass before she feels a small folded paper slip into her waiting hand. 



An annoying Hottie! How do you know him?



Usagi rolls her eyes and turns in her chair to give Naru a look that says, “ Are you kidding me?” But much to her dismay, Naru’s face tells Usagi that it is already too late. The sound of a wooden ruler slaps down onto Usagi’s desk and Miss Haruna looms above her.

Chapter Text

The lunch period finally rolls around after what feels to Usagi like a million years. Her friends from Class 3 have popped their heads in, waiting for Naru and Usagi to join them outside for lunch, but Usagi doesn’t move.

“What’s eating you, Usagi?” her friend Yumiko asks, walking into the classroom. Yumiko is a beauty with long, silky dark hair that looks even darker next to her pale, flawless skin. If you ever told her she was pretty, she would deny it of course, citing one blemish or another or her boxy figure. The other girl with her, Kuri, is plain in comparison, but pretty in her own right. Kuri kept her hair short and it curled up at the ends, perfect for a sporty girl like her. She is the shortest in their friendgroup, shorter than Usagi by a measly three centimeters. Those three centimeters are very important to Usagi, even if Kuri says it’s all just her hair. The four of them have been good friends since middle school. Usagi suspects that Kuri and Yumiko are closer than just friends now, what with their new matching bracelets, but she won’t pry. When they are ready, they will tell her and Naru.

“Miss Haruna was watching her like a hawk so she couldn’t nap during class.” Naru giggles, grabbing her lunchbox from her bag.

“I’m sooo tired, I just wanna sleep,” Usagi whines looking up at her friends, tears welling in her eyes.

“Oh you’re such a crybaby.” Kuri says, digging in her bag. She pulls out a small bag tied with a simple green ribbon. “Come on, Yumiko baked cookies for us last night.”

“Excuse me,” a girl’s voice that Usagi doesn’t immediately recognize speaks up behind the group. Turning to look, she recognizes the girl as Mizuno Ami. Her eyes are hidden by the glare on her thick glasses, and not a strand of her blue-black hair is out of place on her head. She even stands perfectly straight like there is a string connected to her spine holding her up. It was no wonder how this girl was the top of the class and their class representative. She couldn’t be a more perfect looking student if she tried. She is holding a clipboard, and Usagi can hear the soft clicking of a pen in her other hand.

“Miss Osaka, Miss Tsukino. The class survey,” she spoke with a crisp clear voice, not wasting a single word, “It’s your turn. Please return it to my desk when you’re done.”

“Oh,” Usagi sits up in her chair to reach for the clipboard, “Yeah one second.”

Mizuno nods and walks away as quickly as she had appeared, probably toward the library where she spends every lunch period. Sometimes Usagi wonders if she even eats lunch or if she just subsists off studying like some kind of… classwork vampire? Her reverie doesn’t last long as she looks down at the clipboard. The characters swim on the page for a second, and she squints down at the paper. It takes Usagi far too long to read the question. She unclips one page and hands the clipboard to Naru.

“Guess we’re eating inside today.” Naru groans, taking the clipboard from Usagi reluctantly. Yumiko and Kuri help the girls push their desks together and sit around them to eat.

“I don’t even get why they want us to fill out these stupid surveys anyway. We’re just first years.” Yumiko grumbles, unwrapping her lunch. The smell of fried chicken wafts to Usagi’s nose and tempts her mind away from the paper in front of her. No! She has to fill it out. It’s just a couple questions and then she can eat all she wants. Kuri opens the little plastic baggie full of cookies, and the crinkle of the plastic draws Usagi’s attention once again away from the paper in her hands. Her stomach grumbles. She pouts down at the paper, pondering it in her hands. It can wait until after she eats, right? Naru hasn’t touched hers either, tucking it away under the cloth wrap on her lunchbox. Usagi reaches into her bag for hers, and finds the lip gloss she had snuck into her bag that morning. She pulls it out with the lunch box to apply it after she eats. Hopefully this far into the day Miss Haruna won’t notice, but Motoki-senpai will.

“So who was that boy earlier, Usagi.” Naru says around bites of rolled omelette, “Miss Haruna cut us off before you could tell me.” Usagi rolls her eyes.

“I don’t even know him, I just ran into him this morning. His name is Chibi something.”

“Wait!” Kuri stops right before bringing a cookie to her mouth, “Chiba? Chiba Mamoru?” Yumiko has also turned her focus to Usagi, though she doesn’t stop eating. All three girls have their eyes locked on Usagi, waiting to hear more.

“I guess? I didn’t catch his name. He just bumped into me on the bus.” Usagi waves her chopsticks dismissively, almost losing her octopus dog in the process.

“You actually talked to him?” Yumiko asks, her mouthful of rice muffling her words a bit.

“Why is that such a big deal?” Usagi asks, poking at the tomato in her lunchbox distastefully. She hates tomato. When Kuri is distracted, she’ll slip the devil veggie into her lunchbox instead.

“He’s like, mega mysterious,” Kuri replies, “He doesn’t talk to anybody.”

“Kimura told me that he’s mega rich too. He lives all by himself in a fancy apartment.” Yumiko adds.

“Oh you can’t believe anything Kimura says,” Naru retorts, “remember when he told us that he was going out with Rie Kotou?”

“The idol?” Usagi asks

“Yeah that’s the one. Kimura is a pathological liar.” Naru says, crossing her arms matter of factly. While Kuri’s eyes are on Naru, Usagi quickly slips the tomato into her lunchbox. Yumiko raises an eyebrow at Usagi, but doesn’t say anything.

“I don’t know, Naru. Mr. Sanjouin did ask Kimura to bring him notes when he was out sick last month.” Kuri says, absentmindedly bringing the imposter tomato to her lips. She bites down and makes a face as the texture catches her off guard.

“Usagi!” Naru frowns at her best friend. Usagi tries to whistle nonchalantly like they do in cartoons, but she can’t make the sound so it ends up more like a raspberry than a whistle. “Well, since we’re sharing. You can have my green peppers.”

“Hey! Not fair!” Usagi protests as Naru puts pepper after pepper into her lunch box.

“You can have my carrots too, Usagi.” Kuri says, piling the veggies in with the peppers. Yumiko doesn’t join in, but she does eat the last cookie from the middle of the table.

“You guys are such meanies!!” Usagi cries out, but all four of them break into laughter. For a moment she thinks she catches a glimpse of Chiba Mamoru in the hallway. He can’t be listening to their conversation, can he? She turns her head to get a better look, but the figure in the window is gone now.

Chapter Text

Usagi drags her feet on the way to the bus. Yesterday’s English quiz feels like a lead weight in her bag. Twenty-Eight. How did she get a Twenty-Eight? She didn’t even think there were enough questions on the test to get a score of Twenty-Eight, though when you are as bad at English as Usagi is, she guesses anything is possible. Normally she would take the bus with Naru and the two of them would stop for crepes or ice cream on the way home to take their minds off their bad test scores. Of course Naru had scored better than Usagi, but she’d only barely passed. Ugh her mom is going to kill her. Scenarios of torment at the hands of her lovely housewife mother pass through her mind. Maybe she’ll make her stand outside again until dinner time. Or she’ll have Umino come over to help her study. Or she will stop making her octopus hot dogs for lunch! Thoughts of such cruel punishments make Usagi shudder.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how she looks at it, the bus is already waiting when she arrives at the stop. A crowd of people are waiting to board the bus. At the back of the line is that same tall figure she’d seen twice that morning. If she didn’t know better Usagi might think Chiba Mamoru is stalking her. Reluctantly, she joins the line to board the bus behind him, but as he steps up to get on the bus, the bus driver calls out.

“Sorry kids, the bus is full. Take the next one.” the driver calls out, pressing the button to close the door. Usagi and Chiba both groan loudly, and the sound of her voice seems to startle Chiba as he whips around to see who is there. The bus pulls off, leaving the students behind.

“Way to go bunhead, now we have to wait.” Chiba laughs in a way that leaves Usagi wondering if he is actually joking or not. The cheeky grin he had worn in the hallway adorns his face, and she decides to take it as a joke and takes a second too long for a witty retort.

“Maybe the driver would have let us on if you didn’t have such a big dumb butt.” Usagi says, trying to match Chiba’s tone. She makes a show of turning away from him. Nice. Got him good. She thinks to herself, but as she turns to face the victim of her sweet burn, she realizes he’s said nothing. She expects him to be despondent, perhaps lying on the ground clutching his chest, reeling from the impact of her masterfully crafted comeback. Instead, he’s got a hand over his mouth and his shoulders are shaking. For a second, Usagi thinks she’s gone too far. Had she been too mean?

“Aw man, bunhead. ‘Big dumb Butt’ was too good,” he’s struggling to get his words out between laughs and Usagi feels the tips of her ears turn bright red. The intensity of his laughter brings tears to his eyes. She doesn’t realize how intense the expression of concern is on her face, but it fades to a more neutral, disapproving look as his booming laugh echoes out across the street.

“Hey, come on. Don’t get so upset. It was funny. I won’t be able to live with myself if you look at me like that until the next bus,”  Chiba catches his breath and stops laughing, his big grin fading to a small, friendly smile, “I’m Chiba by the way. Chiba Mamoru.”

“Tsukino Usagi,” Usagi relaxes after a moment, returning his smile with one of her own. Something about the moment is strangely familiar. Maybe it was just that after a month of meeting new people at a new school, introductions like this have become so routine.

“So I heard, Bunhead,” Chiba says, walking off.

“Hey where are you going?” Usagi asks

“The next bus isn’t for 20 minutes. What do you want to drink?” Chiba calls, looking back over his shoulder, not slowing down at all.

“I’ll get it myself!” Usagi says, running to catch up. They walk together in silence for a moment. The only sound is the click of their shoes on the sidewalk. The silence is crushingly awkward. Usagi opens her mouth to ask a question, but instead of her voice she hears the yowl of a cat. She turns to look, but Chiba is already moving. 

He’s halfway across the street before Usagi sees where he’s going. A group of middle schoolers are throwing rocks at a black cat up on a wall. Chiba puts himself between the kids and the cat and a rock hits his cheek. Usagi instead runs to the little black cat. For a street cat her hair is quite clean and silky. Usagi holds out a hand gingerly to the little cat and clicks her tongue. The cat hisses at her, but Usagi stands firm. After a moment, the cat relaxes and takes a step toward her, sniffing the air cautiously. Usagi reaches for the cat, who climbs into her open arms. Looking closer, the cat has a bandage stuck loosely to the fur on her head. She reaches for the bandage, and the cat stares at her with an uncanny intelligence in her eyes. Usagi carefully peels the bandage off. The cat yowls again as the bandage pulls at her fur and swats at Usagi who recoils and drops the little cat. She looks up at Usagi, revealing the bald spot that had been hidden by the bandage.

“Are you okay?” Chiba asks, drawing Usagi’s attention away from the cat. When she looks back, the cat is gone.

“Yeah, I’m alright, but you’re bleeding.” Usagi says, rummaging in her back for her first aid kit. Her bag is a mess and she can’t find it. Grabbing Chiba’s hand, she leads him to a nearby bench.

“Sit.” She demands as she rummages through her bag for the first aid kit. Eventually she gets frustrated and dumps it out. Chiba watches her intently as she digs around in the pile. With a triumphant “Ah-ha!” Usagi picks up the little pink case that holds her bandages. It is mostly full of wrappers, but at the bottom of the box is a single crumpled bandage and an antiseptic wipe. Of course, Usagi never remembers to refill her first aid kit, but her mom always makes sure it is at least in her bag. She reminds herself to thank her mom when she gets home.

“This might sting,” Usagi warns, dabbing the cut with the antiseptic. Chiba winces slightly but says nothing. The wound isn’t deep, more a scratch than a cut really. For a second, Usagi feels a little embarrassed at having made such a big deal about it.

“You don’t have to do all this,” Chiba says softly.  For a fleeting moment, their eyes meet. Usagi has to look away. She focuses her attention on the wound, unable to meet his eyes any longer. His gaze is intense but kind. Why is he looking at her like that? If only she could read minds, his mind. She longs to know what he’s thinking, what he thinks of her. 

“Well I want to.” Usagi replies firmly as she applies the bandage gently to his cheek. Regardless of his deep grey eyes and his propensity for strange nicknames, it wouldn’t be right to let him walk around with an open wound. Besides, he helped out that little cat even though he didn’t have to.

“Well, thanks.” Chiba says, helping her gather her stuff to put back into her bag. He stops as he un-crumples a loose paper that had fallen to the ground. Usagi recognizes it immediately and snatches it out of his hand.

“If you really want to thank me you won’t go through my stuff.” Usagi snaps, any admiration she’d developed toward him is replaced by embarrassment.

“I didn’t even know you could score that low.” Chiba says, that cheeky grin of his returning to his face.

“Ugh, you’re the worst!” Usagi grumbles, stomping away toward the bus stop.

“Wait up!” Chiba calls, following after her.

Chapter Text

The bus ride is awkward. The later bus isn’t nearly as crowded so there is plenty of space, but Usagi sits as far away from Chiba as she can. He had tried to win her over by apologizing. She was briefly swayed by the look in his eyes, but held firm. Maybe she’ll talk to him tomorrow if he apologizes again, but today she’s too grumpy. After all, he had reminded her of her terrible test. She was so overjoyed to forget it, but now it keeps taunting her from the depths of her bag. Maybe if she just throws it away her mom will never know.

The bus dings and pulls up to her stop. She gets up to get off and Chiba gives her one final sad look. A pang of guilt hits her heart, and she smiles at him. Immediately his expression perks up, but she’s already off the bus and the doors close behind her. She shakes her head. What a weirdo, she thinks to herself.

If she goes straight down this road she’ll be home in no time, but if she takes a left here she can go to the Crown Game Center and take her mind off Chiba and her terrible test. Besides, she wanted to see Motoki-senpai.

Furuhata Motoki was a first year at the local university. His sister goes to the same high school as Usagi and until last year, so had he. Usagi cursed how young she was. If she was an older, more mature college student maybe Motoki would look her way. As it is, Motoki treats Usagi like a little kid, but she holds onto hope that one day he’ll see her as a woman.

He’s sweeping outside the game center that his family owns as Usagi walks up. The sun has begun to set and the warm light makes his sandy blond hair glitter like locks of gold. She hopes that the golden light paints her in a similarly beautiful light as she runs up to greet him.

“Motoki-senpai!” she calls out as she runs to where he is.

“Hey little Usagi,” Motoki smiles at her, pausing his chore. “Were you just eating something sticky? Your hair is all stuck to your lips.”

Usagi’s world crumbles. The lip gloss. That perfect shade of light peach that she had spent three hours choosing and been late to class after lunch so she could perfectly apply it in the bathroom. It has betrayed her. Quickly she picks the strands of blonde hair off her face.

“Oh no,” Usagi says, her voice cracking with embarrassment, “it must just have gotten stuck in my new lip gloss. Isn’t it pretty?” Nice Save! Motoki studies her face for a second and smiles.

“Looks good on you, Usagi. Are you here to try the new game?”

“Not today,” Usagi could just melt. He thinks she’s pretty! Well. The lip gloss is, but she’ll take it! “I’ve got to get home, but I wanted to stop by and say hi!”

“Oh. Well, Hi! Come by this weekend, okay? I’ll let you try the new game, on me.” he says, his smile piercing Usagi’s heart like Cupid's arrow.

“Goodnight, Motoki-senpai!” She grins back at him and nods before speeding off toward home.

As she arrives at her front door her heart is racing. She herself isn’t sure if it's from her fateful encounter with Motoki or if she’s winded from running. But she doesn’t care.

“Looks good on you, Usagi.”

She replays the words over and over in her mind, grinning ear to ear as she unlocks the front door and walks inside.

“Usagi.” The stern tone of her mother’s voice shocks her from her daydreaming, “You’re home later than usual.”

“Oh, the bus was running late.” she replies, quickly wiping her lip gloss off on the back of her hand before her mom can notice.

“Umino stopped by on the way home. He told me you got your English tests back today?” Ikuko says, rounding the corner from the kitchen. Her dark hair is tied back and she wears an apron over her simple dress, though there isn’t a spot on it. Usagi wishes she could be as effortlessly pretty as her mom. Wait, did she say English test?

“Oh haha, no no we didn’t get those back today,” Usagi lies, “We’re getting them back tomorrow.”

Ikuko stares her down, and Usagi produces the crumpled paper from her bag. Her mom doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t need to. Usagi can practically hear the steam coming out of her ears like a kettle. She knows a lecture is coming on.

“I’m sorry mama, I studied really hard, I promise!” she says, bracing for a lecture. But it doesn’t come. Ikuko sighs and hands the paper back to Usagi.

“I’m signing you up for tutoring.” Ikuko says, her tone cool and measured.

“But mooom!-”

“No buts,” Ikuko cuts her off, her tone rising, “I’ve already talked to your teachers and they’ve recommended a good cram school.”

“But I don’t want to go to cram school with Umino!” Usagi protests, feeling the pressure of tears behind her eyes, “He’s so annoying!”

“Umino is a very nice young man!” Ikuko snaps.

“But mom!” Usagi can’t stop the tears from spilling over. It’s not fair. How is she supposed to have any fun if her mom makes her go to cram school? Usagi stomps her feet. 

“Cry all you want, Missy. You’ll be attending Crystal Seminar starting Monday,” Ikuko says, “your English teacher spoke very highly of it.” 

“It’s not fair!” Usagi whines and runs up to her room.

Chapter Text

Usagi slams the door to her bedroom, and leans against the solid wood. She dabs at her cheeks with her sleeve, but they won’t dry. It isn’t her fault. She has never been good at studying. It doesn’t make sense. She can’t keep track of all the names and places and historical events. Math makes a little more sense, but it is getting so complicated faster than she can keep up with. It doesn’t help that math involves more letters now. Usagi has never been good with letters and characters. Reading makes her head hurt and the letters seem to swim around on the page, flipping around and changing every time she looks at them. None of her teachers ever understood, not in middle school either. She barely passed the high school entrance exam, but this first round of bad test scores in high school seems to be the last straw for her mom. 

“Don’t cry Usagi,” a small voice calls to her. Usagi is so startled she stops crying. Looking around the room, there’s no one there.

“This must be a bad dream,” Usagi reassures herself, “Yeah, I’m asleep in English class and dreamt up the bad test and the cram school.”

“This isn’t a dream, Usagi,” the voice calls again, from below her. Usagi looks down and a little black cat rubs itself against her leg. She bends down to pet the cat.

“Oh, it’s you, little kitty. How did you get here?” she asks. The cat looks up at her with that strange intelligence, the bald spot more visible than before, a perfect crescent moon in the center of her forehead. The cat opens her mouth and Usagi hears that voice again.

“There’s no time for that, Usagi. You have a very important job to do.” the little cat says. Usagi stares at her stunned for a moment. She stands up, laughing nervously to herself, as she walks to her bed to lie down.

“Goodnight.” Usagi says, pulling the covers over herself still dressed in her uniform. The blissful darkness only lasts a moment as a little paw pulls the covers off of her.

“No, not ‘Goodnight’,” the cat says sternly, sitting on the bed next to her. “You have work to do, Sailor Moon.” 

“This isn’t a dream, is it?” Usagi asks, sitting up in her bed. The little cat sighs and shakes her head no. 

In an impossible feat of acrobatics, the cat leaps into the air and a golden broach appears in a shower of sparkles, falling onto her bed with a soft thump. Usagi reaches for the broach, examining the intricate details carved on its surface. She runs a finger over the small encircled star engraved in the center of the broach. A delicate swirling pattern adorns the large crescent shape beneath it that cradles the star like a marble. Something about the symbol is familiar but alien at the same time. The way that people in dreams can seem like friends and family even when you have never met. Set opposing each other are four crystal orbs, blue, red, green and yellow. The brooch is so brilliant that even in the fading sunlight, it casts a dazzling glow onto Usagi’s face. 

“Moon…” Usagi says in a daze, like she’s waking from a dream. The words come without her understanding why, but they feel so natural. Words that she has always known, but never spoken.

“Moon Prism Power… MAKE UP!” 

The gleam of the brooch grows brighter and brighter as glittering ribbons of light surround her. Usagi clutches the brooch close to her chest and a wave of light and power pulses through her. She drifts slowly off her bed and the ribbons embrace her in a gentle cocoon. As the glow fades, she settles back down, her feet landing softly on the ground with a click that she hadn’t anticipated. Her gaze drifts to the mirror on her vanity, and for a moment she doesn’t recognize herself. She looks down at herself, spinning around trying to get a better look. Usagi looks older, taller, stronger. Her tear stained school uniform has transformed. The style is not something Usagi would have chosen for herself, the skirt was too short and the bodysuit too form fitting, but somehow it was comfortable. She might even call it protective. Her gloved fingers fiddle with the hem of the skirt idly as she takes it all in. A soft inquisitive mew from the little cat brings her to her senses.

“Is that… me?” she asks the cat, slowly coming to her senses, “What just happened? How did that happen? Why can you talk?!” 

Usagi spins around to face the cat. She tries to piece together what just happened, but thinking about it too hard makes her head hurt. All the spinning wasn’t helping either. She stops, and feels the world wobble around her. What bothered her the most, though, was how she wasn’t bothered at all. Her eyes fall on the little black cat, sitting with a smug expression on its face. Usagi didn’t even think cats could look so smug.

“You have transformed into Sailor Moon, the leader and most powerful of the sailor guardians,” the cat says, as if this should have been obvious, “My name is Luna and I was sent by Queen Serenity to awaken you and the other guardians. You have a very important mission, Tsukino Usagi.”

Usagi stares at the cat, at Luna. Every drop of common sense says this must all be some crazy dream, maybe all the peppers at lunch had poisoned her! She’s fallen into a coma and she will never wake up! When did it happen? At school? On the bus? Maybe she fainted in front of Motoki and he had never told her she was pretty after all! How could her friends do this to her? At least she won’t have to go to cram school.

“Sailor Moon!” Luna chides, jumping onto Usagi’s shoulder. “This is not a dream. You must protect the Moon Princess and her legendary silver crystal from the forces of evil.”

“Moon Princess? Is that who I’ve been dreaming about?” Mention of the Moon Princess catches Usagi’s attention. That beautiful girl from her dreams, the one who was in love, she must be the Moon Princess. Usagi has to protect her? She tries to recall the lovers from her dream, but the more she tries to remember, the more distant the dream felt. She remembers how she felt the love the princess had for her prince as strongly as if it was her own. That thought makes Usagi feel as though a hole has opened up in her chest. She was not that princess. That prince was not her prince. That love was not her love.

“I will explain later, Sailor Moon, but there isn’t much time,” Luna says firmly, breaking Usagi’s train of thought, “your friend Naru is in danger.”

“What? We need to call the police!” Usagi protests. Luna rolls her eyes and jumps to the window, sliding it up and open.

“The police won’t be able to help. Hurry up.” 

“But-” Usagi starts to protest but Luna jumps out of the open window before she can finish the thought. Hurrying to catch up, Usagi climbs over her bed to reach the window. By the time she really thinks about what she’s doing she’s already perched on the window sill. Has the second floor always been so high up? Luna’s gleaming golden eyes peer back at her through the ever fading twilight and Usagi leaps. 

I should have just used the door.