-1-

She had been akward as long as she could remember. Sitting at her dresser and gazing upon her reflection, Usagi scrutinized her features. Her hair was too blonde, it was as if it had no color at all. Her eyes were simply too big for her face, and while their blue color was pleasing it was hard to notice when they were hidden behind her glasses. How she wished she didn't have to wear them. Taking her glasses off her reflection became a blurry blob. She sighed as she placed them back on her face.

Her looks weren't the only thing wrong with her. She glanced around her room. Antiques and a large four poster bed certainly didn't give the impression that a twelve year old inhabited the space. Neither did her clothes, she thought with a look down. Her father was an incredibly wealthy business man, but he was also extremely cheap. New clothes were only bought for her at the start of each school year, and they were clothes that were "built to last", to say the least. No wonder she didn't have any friends, she thought.

"Usagi-san?"

Usagi turned as her nanny walked into her room. Ms. Anderson was a pleasant women. She was kind and warm. Usagi wondered how her father had ever come to let her work for him.

"Usagi-san, your father is waiting for you. It's dinner time." Ms. Anderson said with a smile to the young girl.

"Thank you Ms. Anderson." Usagi replied.

She walked briskly to the dinning hall where her father was already seated. Dinner time was the only time she ever saw her father.

"You are tardy Usagi." He said to her while setting down his paper.

"My apologies father. I lost track of time." She said sincerely as she took her seat across from her father at the long table.

The first course was served and the two ate their meal in silence. Not being able to endure the silence any longer, Usagi began to ask her father about business.

"How did your board meeting go today?" She asked, with genuine interest. Her father ran the family company started by her grandfather, Carter Company, a large chain of high end retail stores. It was Usagi's dream to someday walk in her father's footsteps.

"The meeting was cancelled." he said simply.

Usagi wasn't deterred. Her father had always treated her like an adult, and she was used to his unresponsiveness.

"I'm surprised. I know this is a very busy time for the company. It must have been an emergency?" she asked.

"Mr. Graham was unable to attend due to illness. Stupid reason if you ask me. The meeting was rescheduled. Usagi, tomorrow Ms. Anderson will take you to get your supplies for the upcoming school year. I have given her a list of what is needed."

"Yes sir."

Kenji Carter glanced down at his pocket watch as the remaining dishes were removed from the table. Usagi knew instantly what was to come next. He would instruct her to "be off to bed", while he excused himself to the den, where he would have a glass of brandy and a cigar while he finished reading his Wall Street Journal.

"Well Usagi, you should be off to bed now. I will see you tomorrow." her father said as he rose from his seat.

Usagi walked to her father and gave him a quick hug.

"Goodnight sir." she said as she began to walk to her room. Her father didn't reply, he never did. Once back in her room Usagi sighed deeply. School was starting again next week, an idea that she was not happy about. Tomorrow Ms. Anderson would take her shopping for her supplies, list in hand from her father, a list she would never deviate from. Just once she would like to buy an outfit of her own choosing. Maybe an outfit that would gain the approval from Seiya Kou. This time it was a dreamy sigh that sounded from her lips. Seiya Kou, was four years her senior. His family belonged to the same country club as her father. He was extremely handsome and very kind. Last year he had danced with Usagi at the country club's summer dance. Usagi couldn't believe that he had even noticed her, standing in the corner like she was, but he had asked her to dance and Usagi was in love.

Crawling into her large bed Usagi soon found herself dreaming of shopping spree's and dances with handsome men.

Mamoru was taking his usual route to work. The handsome sixteen year old walked along the dirt roads that passed by little farms. It wasn't that far of a walk, about a mile or so from his home. He worked at the only gas station in town, fueling up cars and doing small mechanical work. His mom had died about five years ago, leaving only him, his father and his sister. His father worked as a elementary teacher and Mamoru had taken on his job to help with finances.

"Hey Mamoru." a blonde haired boy greeted from behind the counter at the gas station.

"Hey Andrew." he replied as he grabbed his time card from the wall.

It was only the two of them who worked here, besides the owner, Mr. Harris.

"Harris is out on lunch." Andrew said.

"Yeah? How's it been so far today?"

"You know, the usual, slow."

Mamoru nodded. Living in such a small town wasn't the best for business, but Mamoru didn't mind. It gave him time to do his homework. Just then the bell rang signaling that there were customer's outside.

"I got it." Mamoru said as he headed out the door.

A blue 84 mustang was parked next to the fuel pump, and three girls that Mamoru recognized from his high school were inside.

"Hi Mamoru!" the driver greeted with an all too big smile.

"What can I do for you?"

"Oh just fill it up."

"Alright."

"So, Mamoru? You going to be trying out for the football team this year? Cause I'm trying out for cheerleading, so I could like cheer ya on!"

Mamoru pushed his dark hair out of his eyes as he leaned in towards the driver window.

"That so?" he asked with a coy smile.

The girl blushed crimson and her passengers began to giggle. Mamoru's blue eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Yeah. But what about you? Football?"

"Nah. I wouldn't want anything to happen to my good looks."

The fuel pump dinged, letting him know that the car was done being fueled. He replaced the fuel cap and once again turned to the blushing brunette.

"That'll be $24.35."

The brunette fished out two twenty's from her purse.

"Here, keep the change." she said.

"Good luck at tryouts. You'll have to let me know how it goes."

"Yeah, maybe we could celebrate."

"Maybe."

With that the car pulled away from the station and back out onto the road. Mamoru shook his head with amusement before walking back inside.

"What's so funny?" Andrew asked, looking up from his magazine.

"Nothing."